The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 1 — Section 77

(e) Further peculi1uities, bearing on the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, are fonn<l in both Goepel and Apocalypse. (1) Important ideaR, touching the intimate blending of the human life with the heavenly glory of the Lord, occur in both documents. The consciousuess of Chri8t is revealed in the Gospel, that thou!,;h in the flesh (seeing he had come from God), he was" going to God;" that he had" come forth from the Father, and was going to the Father." His death was to be the highest manifestation of the Father's glory, and is followed by such a rad\cal change, that resurrection and ascension are spoken of as one grand datum of the eternal life which was in him. The Sun of man will ascend to where he was before. Mary of Magdala is not to touch him with mere human hands. In his ascension he will stand in such spiritual relations with his people that they shall touch him by other faculties than those of physical sense. The " descending" and" ascending" in eh. iii. 13; vi. 62; viii. 14, are the two great moments of the entire manifestation, between which the life is lived in such a way as to render these terms entirely applicable to the manner of his coming into and leaving the world. How wonderfully does the Apocalypse dwell in the same region of thoughtt In Rev. xii. 1-6 the man-child is to rule all nations with the rod, and is caught up to God upon his throne. (2) References to the accompaniments of his death. The Fourth Gospel refers to the piercing of Jesus by the Roman's spear. This is treated both in the Gospel and Apocalypse ae fulfilment of Zechariah'e prophecy. There is no other New Testament reference to the prophecy (cf. eh. xix. 32-37 with Rev. i. 7). In like manner, the entire representation of the career of the two witnesses, and the joy of the world at their death (Rev. xi. 9), corresponds with the joy of the world at the Lord's death (eh. xvi. 20); and the three days and a half of the two witnesses correspond with the three days of the resurrection of the spiritual temple in eh. ii. 18-20. A whole group of phrases descriptive of the resurrection and subsequent activity of the witnesses, their ascension, etc. (Rev. xi. 12), corresponds with those used by the evangelist to describe the death, resurrection-activity, and uplifting of Jesus; while the substance of the Apoca- lyptic vision ie irradiated by the Divine presence of him who is alive, but "became dead," and "is alive for evermore." (3) The identification of the Logos with the Messiah. The evangelist and apoca- lyptist both found their notions of the Christ rationalized by the Old Testament doctrine of the Logos, The Gospel never loses sight of the fact that he who was in the beginning with God (his life, light, and energy) was not only the Son of God, but the Hebrew Messiah; and in eh. x:x. 31 the evangelist, pointing back to the doctrine of the prologue, shows that this was his reason for writing the Gospel. Throughout the latter we find the characteristics of both Messiah and Logos continually attributed to Jesus. The words of Jesus reflect throughout this double consciousness, and John's report of them cannot be unhistorical. The :;ame kind of remark is not infrequently found in the synoptics. These great utterances go far beyond the current Messianic idea, which was corrected and ennobled by them. Thus Nathanael, John the Baptist, and some of the most intimate circle of our Lord's friends, such as Philip, Martha, and John himself, were conscious of this sublime blending of two thoughts, far enough apart in popular faith. Now, the evangelist notices that the Christ had his foothold on the earth, belonged to the tribe of Judah, of the seed of David (eh. vii. 42 and notes), and answers to certain noble expectations of a prophet (eh. iv. 19, 29, 44) who would teach them all things, solving difficult problems. In all these wonderful respects the Apoca- lypse is most explicit. "Jesus Christ" occurs at the beginning and ending of the Apocalypse, as in eh. i. 17 and xxii. 21, and frequently in the First Epistle. The Lion of the tribe of Judah opens the book fastened with the seven seals (Rev. v. 5; nii 16). Jesus describes himself as" Son of God" (Rev. ii. 18), having been so styled eight times in the Gospel. Throughout both documents, the Divine-human Personality, Jesus Christ, receives the predicates and activities of both Messiah and Logos. (4) One extraordinary peculiarity wherewith, in the highest majesty of his self- dependent Divinity, the Lord Jesus Christ spoke of his inferior rank to the Father. This has often been a crux to theologians in dealing with the Fourth Gospel. Through- out it the Lord speaks of God aa " my Father;" and even in eh. xx. 17, " My God"- an expression which throws light upon such expressions as," My Father is greater thaa  lx:1:xiv INTRODUCTION TO