The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 1 — Section 53

reprcaentntion is that these are some of the greater works which the ap0stlc~ were beginning to perform (eh. v. 20), because the Lord is exalted to tl,e glory which he had witli the Fnther before the world was (eh. xvii. 5; xvi. 7). The Iloly Spirit is given bec11use Jesus is glorified (eh. vii. 39). Peter, the intimate friend of John, i~ the spokesman, but his words are B remarkable comment on the last words of the Lord as reported in the Fourth G(lspel. The references which Peter made to the prophecies o(Joel aud of David do but confirm, by quotations from the Scriptnre, the great cycle of thought eo prominent in eh. xii.-xvii., viz. of triumph through death ann over death which is thus become the element of the glory of the Christ, the trnva.il-pang of death issuing in a new joy and an eternal crown, the gift of the Holy Spirit, the bestow- ment of the free gift of the Spirit on whomsoever the Lord God sho11Jd call. These phra.~es strikingly clothe in new words the prayer and thought of Jesus," Thine they were, and thou gavest them me," and" \Vhosoever bath seen and learnen of the F,\ther, cometh unto me." (d) John is mentioned by name as accompanying Peter to the temple (Acts iii. 1). 'l'hc whole tenor of the discourse of Peter, who is again the spokesman, is in deep harmony with the extraordinary teaching that both he and John bad received on the night cf the Passion (cf. vers. 15, 16); and the conclusion of the entire transaction after Peter and John had been arrested and released is" They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and spake the word of God µe-ra. 1ro.p~11rrlas." \Ve readily grant that Peter is intent on impressing the Sanhedrin, priests, and populace with the true McssiJnic dignity of the Lord, notwithstanding his death; but John, if he be the author of the Fourth Gospel, was none the less impressed with the fulfilment of prophecy in the closing scenes of our Lord's life (eh. xii. 38, etc.; xiii. 18; xix. 24, 36, 37), and in eh. xx. 31 bri expressly says that "these things are written, thnt ye may believe that Jesus is the CHRIST, the Son of God; and that believing ye may have life in his Name." The language of Peter follows the awful events of the Crucifixion and the luminous interpreting fact of the Resurrection, ond is concerned to show their bearing on the world of Judaism and on the heart of unbelief. In the Gospel, written, moreover, years afterwards, when the exaltation of the Lord had by the events recorded in the Acts become a grand commonplace of Christian belief, the author reproduced the spiritual promises and bepes which the Lord had kindled within them by his valedictory discourse. (e) Wherever the twelve apostles are spoken of in the Acts, we ma:y suppose the Apostle John present, though we catch no word and hear no speech of him. He i~, ns in the Fourth Gospel, a silent presence. He allows Peter to speak for him. The S,m- hedrin take knowledge of the two men, thnt they bad been "with Jesus." Po3,tbly a tone of Peter's voice, a flash in his companion's eye, a word of one, a look of the other, a common spirit in them both, provoked the comparison. They may, moreover, have been remembered and recognized as having been "with Jesus" on the night of the Passion and the trial-a fact which is only known to us from John's own account of the transactions. In the eighth chapter of the Acts, Peter and John went down to Samaria, to endorse with their authority the proclamation which the deacon Philip had made to the Samaritans; and to be the means of communicating those special gifts of the Holy Ghost which had been the earliest witness to the presence of the risen and glorified Lord in his Church, and "there was great joy in the city." Few things throw more light upon that joy, and the rnpi<l success of Philip's ministry, than the memory of the visit of the Lord to Samaria, of which the Fourth Gospel retains the record. The manner in which Peter rebuked Simon the sorcerer is evidently chnrncteristic of him; and the silent co-operation of John is another trait of that character which was bold in thought, but which did not hurry into prominence or cause his voice to be heard. (f) When St. P,utl paid his first visit to Jerusalem after his conversion, John was not presont (Gal. i. 19) there, and therefore cannot be accused of taking part in any of the natural hesitancy which some of the opostles felt with reference to the reality of Saul's conversion; but when afterwards, Paul, Barnabas, Titus, and others went up from Antioch to Jerusalem, to discuss the terms of Gentile communion, though (Acts xv.) much discussion is reported, and though J aruos tho brother of our Lord and Simon Peter are described as setting forth in a liberal spirit the now law of the covenant, and as finally proposing a comp1•omise to tho Gentiles who had believed through grace, exonerating them from the bondage of Jowish customs, John is not mentioned. A.gain, in cbamc- tcristic fashion, ho retires bl;)himl the other apostles, though St.. Paul (na!. ii< 9), ia  INTRODUCTION 'l'O