writers, of any weight and authority, declare that John died a natural death in extreme old age,
Theophylact mentions a strange tradition that John is kept alive somewhere, and is to be slain, together with Elias, by j^ntichrist, when he appears I
(c) Some, as Grotius, Hammond, Lightfoot, Whitby, Scott, Alford, and Ellicott, hold that Jesus meant by His coming, not His second advent at the end of the world, but His coming spiritually in judgment, for the punishment of the Jews, the destruction of the temple, and the overthrow of the whole Jewish dispensation by the Romans. I cannot see this at all. I find no clear proof in the New Testament, that the over- throw of the Jewish dispensation is ever called the " coming of the Lord." Moreover, it is an awkward fact, that it is com- monly agreed that the Apostle John lived for many years after Jerusalem was taken, and the temple burned by Titus. Ge- rhard declares positively, that there is not one instance in Scrip- ture of the destruction of Jerusalem being called the " coming of the Lord."
(d) Bengel and Stier think it means that John was to tarry till the Lord came to reveal to him the visions recorded in the Book of Revelation.
(e) Some, as Hutcheson and Trench, think that Jesus did not mean to predict anything particular about John's future, but only used a general hypothetical expression. " Supposing I do will that he stay till I come, what is that to thee ? I do not say that I do will him to stay. But supposing it is my will, this is no affair of thine, and it becometh thee not to inquire."
The question is one that will never be settled, and the sen tence seems purposely left under a veil of mystery. If I must give an opinion, I decidedly lean to the last of the five views which I have stated.
2S.—[Then went this saying, etc.] In this verse John carefully de- scribes the rise of the earliest ecclesiastical tradition. He says that it became a common saying among the brethren, that he was not to die. Some very likely took it into their heads that, like Enoch and Elijah, he was to be translated and never see death, but pass into glory without dying. The Apostle takes pains to point out that Jesus never said that he was not to die, and had only supposed the possibility of his " tarrying till He came." To my own mind his manner of stating the point is strongly confirmatory of the view I have already supported : viz., that our Lord only used a hypothetical expression, and did not at all intend to make a positive prediction.
We should carefully notice in this passage how easy it is for traditions to begin ; and how soon, even with the best inten- tions, unfounded reports originate among religious men. Noth- ing is more unsatisfactory, nothing more uncertain, nothing