The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 1 — Section 78

I;" "I do a\wa:n those things which ple~so him," et D. Now, these rem11rkable words c01Tespond with tli~ opening ,rnrds of Hcv. i. 1, and with the use in llov. iii. 12 of the words, "My God," th1ice repeated. These two books combine the boldest utterances to11ching the Divinity of our Lord with a recognition of the subordination of the Son, and of the Person of the Lord in respect of his eternal derivation and his humiliation In the fle8h, Great prerogatives are nssigned to the Messiah-Logos of the Gospel, and to the great central Personality of the ApoCl\lypse, which correspond in a remarkable way. Thus Christ claims the jndgment of the world, because he is " Son of man," nnd "the Son" (eh. v. 30). In Rev. xix. 2, 11 the jndgment of the world is attributed to him. Compare the two-eilged sword going out of his mouth, with the power of judc,ment daime,l (eh. v. 22-27; xii. 48). Jesus, as Christ, knew what was in man;° so in Rev. ii. 23, "he senrcheth the hearts and reins." The feeding of the flock, etc., in Rev. vii. 17 is imaged in the parable of the good Shepherd (eh. x.; cf. eh. iv. 10- 14). 'Se cannot expect to find in the Gospel, recording the earthly humiliation of the eternal Logos, which wa.s his highest glory, the peculiar functions of the tiiumphant Christ, who has become indeed "King of kings, and Lord of lords," " the Lamb in the midst of the throne;" but we may expect to find that the way is prepared for this great glory-for the rea.ssumption in and with his humanity of " the glory he had wi-th the Father before all worlds" (when, as St. Paul expressed it, Christ Jesus received the Name which is above every name, Phil. ii. 10). So, on the other hand, while we do not expect t.o find in the Apocalyptic visions the signs of that humiliation, we do find him revealing a wondrous union with our humanity, we do find the recognition of his atoning death, of the blood which he shed, and mention made of his resurrection and ascension, and of the sympathy he felt for his own. Because he has been " slain " (an idea involving and not concealing the whole of his humiliation), he receives the acclamations of the universe. (f) The doctrine of the Holy Spirit. In the Gospel we read that the Holy Spirit abode on Christ (eh. i 32), wa.s given t.o him without measure (eh. iii. 34), constituted the grace of God which the Christ would use, just as the Baptist used the element of water (eh. i 33, 34). Christ anticipates the bestowment of the multiform powers of the Spirit after he should have been glorified (eh. vii. 39). He is spoken of as the Giver, the Other Advocate (Paraclete), which is the Holy Spirit, whom he would send to his disciples, and whom the Father would send in his Name. In this most gracious effusion, it would be found not only that he would return himsel,f to his broken-hearted disciples, but that the Father himself would also come and take up his abode with them nnd in them. This extraordinary series of statements is wonderfully confirmed in the history of the Church and in the writings of St. Paul; but in the visions of the seer we discover the relation of the glorified Christ to the Spirit throughout the history of the Church and to the end of time. Accordingly, we find "the seven Spitits of God " (Rev. i. 4 ; iii 1 ; iv. 5 ; v. 6) represented, as in the prophecies of Zechariah, as the sevenfold, i.e. the perfect, expression of the effluence of all the energies of the Holy Spirit of God. They appear under different imagery, described as "seven lamps " and " seven eyes." This sevenfold energy is clearly spoken of as "the Spirit" (Rev. ii 7). The " seven and one" are blended, as in the prophecies of Zechariah, with those " eyes of the Lord which run to and fro throughout the whole earth." This representation is preserved when the prophet is speaking of the Holy Ghost in his Divine Personality and independence (Rev. i. 4) ; but we do not fail to observe that he represents Christ as " having the seven Spirits of God" (Rev. iii. 1 ; v. 6), just as in the Gospel he sends forth the Comforter. Thus the energy of the Spirit is his energy. "The testi- mony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" (Rev. xix. 10). As the language of Christ in the Gospel shows " the Paraclete to be the Spirit of truth, who will lead to all truth," and declares, "He shall take of mine, and show it to yon," so when the prophet is •• in the Spirit," he sees the sublime, commanding, regulative vision of the entire Apoca- lypse. The Spirit speaks in the lips of Jesus Christ, through his servant John, to the Churches (Rev. ii, iii). As Kostlin, quoted by Gebhart, p. 133, says, "The exalted Christ continually sends forth from himself the Spirit, and the presence of the Spirit to the earth is an effective _looking down upon it on the part of Christ, a streaming fol'th of hia llpt."  THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. lxxxv