The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 1 — Section 63

thnt ho woul<l not have spoken of "the twelve apostles of the Lamb," if he bad considered himself to havo been ono of the number (Rev, xviii. 20; xxi. 11). Tho Apostle Paul, however, does speak of" the apostles" in the third per,;on (1 Cor. xii. 28; Eph, iii. 5, in which latter passage he uses the very image which the ap,Jcalyptist treats more pictorially). Seeing that even the synoptic Gospels record Christ's own decloro.tion that his kingdom and Church as an edifice was built upon the 'lffrpa. of Peter, and upon hie solemn confession (Matt. xvi. 18), there is no greater difficulty in the fnct that John should refer to the apostolic foundations of the new Jerusalem. (ii.) The writer declares himself to be one" who bare witness to the Lo;;os of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ." This phrase, if it docs not p0siti vcly identify him with the author of the Fourth Gospel, puts him in the nearest circle of tlrn Lord's disciples; and this cannot apply to any other John mentioned in the New Testament. Neither the ''John" of the Fourth Gospel, viz." the Baptist," nor" John Mark" (Acts xii. 12), nor the John, or" Jonas," the father of Peter (Revised Version text of John i. 43 and xxi. 15), nor the John who was one of the Sadducman party (Acts iv. 6), could by any possibility have been the author of the .Apocalypse. Nevertheless, the "John" was a well-known personage standing in close relationship to the Churches of Asia, and representing himself as intimately acquainted with the risen and glorified Lord. In Acts xii. 2 "James the brother of John" is referred to, and the synoptic narrative leaves no option as to the fact that this John was the son of Zehedee. (iii.) The great similarity between the John of the synoplists, of the Acts, of the Epistle to the Galatians, and the John of the .Apocalypse, has been a standing argument with the opponents of the Fourth GospeL We have already shown that, so far as these features of character are supposed to indicate a fiery, impulsive, revengeful, ambitious spirit, they have been grossly exaggerated. It will readily be conceded that they do reveal a Jewish, rather than a spiritual, conception of the Messiah, at that particular stage in the apostle's history; but one perfectly compatible also with the severe side of his character, wbich is far from being concealed in the narratives and portraitures of the Fourth Gospel. They reveal the training which may account for the visions of wrath and justice which the Jewish and heathen enemies of the Lamb of God will have ultimately meted out to them. But the entire structure and purpose of the Gospel of John are so strangely similar and parallel to the structure a.nd significance of the .Apocalypse, that that Gospel, as well as the synoptic Gospels, becomes a tetrachordon of evidence to the authenticity of the .Apocalypse. '!'his wiD, however, require, and receive a little later, more careful attention. Apart from the Fourth Gospel, the internal evidence for the apostolicity of the Revelation cannot be said to be so copious or important as its opponents assume. It is readily accepted by many critics of the Tiibingen school, though similar arguments for the Fourth Gospel are summarily rejected. (iv,) The writer declares that he was in "the island of Patmos, by reason of the Logos of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ" (Rev. i. 9). The external evidence that John the son of Zebedec did suffer exile in that island is conclusive. It is to the following effect:- Jerome (' De Viris Illust.,' c. 19): "In his fourteenth year, Domitian having instigated a second persecution after Nero, John, the apostle whom Jesus loved, was exiled to the island Patmos, and wrote the .Apocalypse." And Irenrens (quoted by Eusebius, 'Hist. Eccl.,' v. 8) says," John beheld the vision, almost in our generation, towards the end of the reign of Domitian." A statement as bearing on the date is elsewhere repeated by Irenreus (' Hrer.,' ii. 22. 5); and Eusebius adds the remark," John, at once apostle and evangelist, as is reported, while still continuing in life, was con- demned to dwell in the island of Patmos, on account of the testimony which he bore to the Divine Word." Corresponding references to the same fact occur in Clemens .Alex. and in Origen (quoted by Eusebius), and in his commentary on Matthe1v he cites Rev. i. 9 in proof or the fact of John's virtual martyrdom. Hippolytue (' De Christo et .Antichr.,' c. 36), referring to the .Apocalypso of John, says of its nuthor, "who, when on the isle of Patmos, saw the apocalypse." 'rhe preface to the Inter Syriac Version, given in Walton's Polyglott, runs thus: "'l'he rovcl11tion which was given by God to tho Evangelist John, on the island of Patmos, on which he was cnst by Nero Crosar."  lxi: INTRODUCTION TO