Ssople of God,' is quite Johannine ; but indirectly e will show in their true colours, and condemn, those who are the enemies of Jesus Christ. See, further, art. Holy Spirit, 14 (6).
3. Scheme of the Fourth Gospel.— After tlie Prolot'ue begins a section of the Gospel which may be called 'The Testimony.' We have first the testimony of John the Baptist, then of the disciples, then of ' signs '—the miracle at Cana. The Evan- gelist next describes how Jesus manifests Himself, lirst in Judiva, then in Samaria, and thirdly in I liililee. But another thread .semis to run I hnmgh ilic'se chapters, which also Icml^ itsrli Id the ar- i.ingenient in triplets. We ini;jlii <all tlir>c lirst c liiipters the doctrine of Water. First \m- Iiave tlie water of the Law superseded by the wine of the Gospel, typified by the changing of the water into wine at the marriage-feast ; next we have the water of purification mentioned in tiie discourse witli
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JOHN, GOSPEL OF
JOHN, GOSPEL OF
Nicodemus ; and thirdly, the water of life, the nature of which is expounded in the dialogue with the woman of Samaria. In ch. 5 begins the second of the three great divisions of the book, which should be called the Cm^flkt or (.ptiris. After two more 'signs' a jsrolonged controversy with the Jews is described, in which the divergence between Christ and the hierarchy becomes more and more acute, till the final catastrophe is seen to be in- evitable. The tension comes to breaking point after the final ' sign,' and the end of Christ's public ministry. It is at this point that the unstable ' multitude ' quits the scene with the significant question, unanswered like that of Pilate, ' Who is this Son of Man?' (12^^). In these chapters also a subordinate thread may be discovered in the do('- trine of Bread (ch. 6), the doctrine of Light {cli. S), and the doctrine of Life, (the transit through deatli into life a .spiritual law). The third part of the Gospel may be called the Glorification (56^o). Jesus reveals Himself to His disciples in a .series of esoteric discourses, addressed to them only, in view of His approaching departure from them. This section culminates in the High-Priestly prayer (ch. 17). Then follows the narrative of the Passion, conceived throughout as the glorification of Christ through self-chosen suffering. The humiliation and sacrifice, no less than the triumph of death, are part of the Sii|o. This part of the Gospel ends with the appearance to Thomas, and the 'last beatitude.' Ch. 21 is an epilogue.
i. CharacteFistic Words in the Fourth Gospel. — (1) Life (ia-ff). — In the Prologue an interesting and rather important (question of punctuation arises in connexion with this word. Ought we to read with AV xwp" ai'/ToO iyivero ovSk lt> 8 yiyovcv. in aiiTt^ ^oiri ijv, or, with ACD and nearly all the Ante-Nicene Fathers who comment on it, should we put the full stop at Iv ? The former view, which is supported by Chrysostom, has prevailed in modern times, though several authorities, such as WH, put the stop at Iv. The latter tlieory seems to give a richer and deeper meaning, and one more completely in accordance with the religious phil- osophy of the Gospel. ' All things \\ere made by Him (as the Instrument), and without Him nothing came into being. That whicli has come into bein^,' was, in Him, life.' The Logos is thr \ ital ]iiiiici|ilc from whom all that lives derivt'> ils life \\'li:iii>\ n life exists in the world wax, etiTii.ill\ , tiimlr^sly, in Him. To have 'life in Him^ult ' is mi eteiii;il attribute of God the Son ; all that appears on this fleeting scene exists, so far as it exists, by partici- pation in His life. In short, tlie Logos, as life, is a cosmic principle. The idea that all things [ire- existed eternally in the mind of God, and are, as it were, unrolled as the ages "o on, was familiar to Jewish thought. But St. John's doctrine is more Greek—that the things of time derive whatever reality they possess from a sphere of higlier reality beyond time and place. AVith this accord tlie other passages in the Gospel where Life is mentioned. In 6"-'« Christ is declared to be the Bread of God which cometh do\vii from heaven to give life to the world. Whoso eateth His flesh and driiiketh His blood hath eternal life. He who is closely united to Cliiist — who makes the life of Christ his own-h,i~ I lie |iiiii<i|)]e of life within him. In 17' the kiii.wlrd-i- iif till' Father and of the Son is said to constituti' I'tciM.-il life. This knowledge can be possessed only tlirough the indwelling of Him who is the principle of life. The same idea recurs in lp5, and in 14" Christ, 'in whom all things consist,' as St. Paul says (Col 1"), is Himself tlie Resurrection and the Life, and the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Accordingly, the Life is a present possession rather than a future hope. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life (3-"' r>-').
Christ came that we might have life, and have it abundantly (10"). See LIFE.
(2) Tniih (dXijSeia). — St. John's use of this word cannot be paralleled in the Synoptics, but it occurs in the Epistles of St. James, St. Peter, and St. Paul. Typical examples of the use of the word in tliis Gospel are 1" 'grace and truth came by Jesus Christ ' ; 8^" ' the truth shall make you free ' ; 14" ' I am the truth ' ; 16" ' the Spirit of truth shall guide you into all truth ' ; 17" ' thy word is truth.' Christ, however, came 'to bear witness to the truth ' (18''), so that it must have been in the world before the Incarnation. Those that 'are of the truth' heard and accepted Him. From these passages we gather that ' the truth ' is all that really exists in every sphere, and this is why Jesus Christ, as the Logos, calls Himself the Truth (cf. Scotus Erigena : ' certius cognoscas Verbum natu- ram omnium esse '). Kecognition of this brings freedom, because truth corresponds with the law of our being. For those who have eyes to see, all experience is a commentary on, and witness to, Christ's religion. But the children of the evil one, who was a liar from the beginning, cannot hear the words of truth {»"<■).