jected to the keenest tests by which, /
character can be searched, by passing through the ordeal of human life in this world, and by being found the best, the one only perfectly faithful servant of God and man.—Ver. 15. The words μὴ ἀπόληται ἀλλ᾽ of the Τ.Ε. ate omitted by Tisch., W.H.,and R.V. Further, the same editors replace the words ets αὖτον by ἐν αὐτῷ, and the R.V. translates ‘that whosoever believeth may in Him have eternal life,” in accordance with
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Johannine usage, which does not support .
the rendering ‘‘ believeth in Him”. This is the object to be accomplished by the “elevation οἳ the Son of Mah, viz., that whoever, Jew or Gentile, believes that there is life in Him that is thus exalted, may have life eternal.—Ver. 16. Several conservative theologians,
αἰώνιον.
κόσμον, ἵνα κρίνη τὸν κόσμον, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα σωθῇ ὁ κόσμος δι αὐτοῦ. c , > > ‘ > 4 ς a 4 , ” 18. 6 πιστεύων εἰς αὐτὸν οὐ κρίνεται: ὁ δὲ μὴ πιστεύων ἤδη
κέκριται, ὅτι
τοῦ Θεοῦ.
"μὴ πεπίστευκεν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ μονογενοῦς υἱοῦ 19. "αὕτη δέ ἐστιν ἡ κρίσις ὅτι τὸ φῶς ἐλήλυθεν εἰς τὸν
17. οὗ γὰρ ἀπέστειλεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν vidv αὑτοῦ εἷς τὸν
Ε Excep- tional constr. ; see bur ton, 474, Winer, 594, 602.
κόσμον, καὶ ἠγάπησαν ot ἄνθρωποι μᾶλλον τὸ σκότος, ἢ τὸ φῶς' εΊο.ν.τι
Neander, Tholuck, Westcott, are of opinion that the words of Jesus end with ver. 15, and that from vv. 16-21 we have an addition by the evangelist. There is much to be said in favour of this idea. The thoughts of these verses are ex- -planatory rather than progressive. Vv. _ 16 and 17 repeat the object of Christ’s mission, which has already been stated. Vv. 18 and το declare the historic results in faith and unbelief, results which at the date of the conversation were not conspicuous. Vv. 20 and 21 exhibit the causes of faith and unbelief. The tenses also forbid us to refer the passage directly to Jesus. In His lips the present would have been more natural. To John looking back on the finished story aorists and perfects are natural. Also, the designation “' only begotten son” is not one of the names by which Jesus designates Himself, but it is used by the evangelist, i. 18 and 1 John iv. 9.—otrw yap ἠγάπησεν .. . ζωὴν αἰώνιον. The love of God for the world of.men is the source of Christ’s mission with all its blessings. It was this which prompted Him to “ give,” that is, to give not solely to the death of the cross alluded to in ver. 14, but to all that the world required for salvation, His only begotten Son. ‘‘ The change from the aorist (ἀπόληται) to the present ‘ (xq) is to be noted, the utter ruin being spoken of as an act, the possession of life eternal as an enduring experience ” (Meyer, Weiss, Holtzmann).—Ver. 17. οὐ γὰρ ἀπέστειλεν . . . δι αὐτοῦ. For whatever the result of Christ’s coming has been, in revealing a love of sin and bringing heavier judgment on men, this was not God’s purpose in sending His Son. The Jewish idea was that the Messiah would come ‘‘ to judge,” {.6., to condemn the world.—-xptvw and κατα- Kptvw, though originally distinct, are in the N.T. sometimes identical in mean- ing, the result of judgment so commonly being condemnation; cf. crime. But although the result is judgment, the ‘bringing to light a distinction among men and the resulting condemnation of Many, yet the object was ἵνα σωθῇ 6
κόσμος. John repeats his favourite word κόσμος three times in. this verse that there may be no possibility of missing his point, that so far as God’s purpose was concerned, it was one of unmixed love, that all men might be saved. The emphasis was probably due to the ordinary Messianic expectation which limited and misrepresented the love of God. Westcott remarks on this verse: ‘The sad realities of present experience cannot change the truth thus made known, however little we may be able to understand in what way it will be accom- plished’’. It might on similar grounds be argued that because God wills that all men be holy in this life, all men are holy.—Ver. 18. 6 πιστεύων . . . τοῦ θεοῦ. Expansion of previous verse. God sent His Son not to judge but to save; and whoso accepts the Son and His revelation is not judged. It is no longer “every Jew,’ nor ‘‘every one chosen by God,”’ but every one that believeth. All here is spiritual. Although judgment was not the object it is the necessary result of Christ’s presence in the world. But it is a judgment very different from that which the Jews expected. It is determined by the attitude towards Christ, and this again, as afterwards shown, is determined by the moral con- dition of the individual.—é6 py πιστεύων ἤδη κέκριται, “he that believeth not is already judged’; not only is left under the curse of his own evil actions ; but, as the next clause shows, lies under the condemnation of not Ὀε]ενίης.-- ἤδη κέκριται, he is already judged: it is not some future assize he doubtfully awaits and which may or may not convict. He is judged, and on a ground which to John seems to indicate monstrous depravity, ὅτι μὴ πεπίστευκεν . . . ToUGeov. Not to perceive the glory of this august Being whom Jehn so adored, not to receive the revelation made by the Only Begotten, is proof not merely of human infirmity and passion, but of wickedness chosen and preferred in presence of re- vealed goodness.—Ver. 1ο. ‘This is turther explained in the following, αὕτη _ ... τὸ φῶς. The ground of the con-