The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 1 — Section 82

A. Ge11erol staf.e'Tn(!nt of disc1·epancies. On p!\l'siug from the atmosphere of the synoptic~, with their indubitable platform or Jewish rites and Gali\rean villages; with their genealogical details and birth-stories, with the Messianic idea of one born in llethlehem of the seed of David; with their portrai- tures of the leading heroes of the apostolic band, of the mother of the Lord, of the high priest Caiaphas, and of J onn the Baptist; and, above all, with a portion also of their representation of the Man of sorrows, and the gradual and partial exhibition of the Divine nature of the Lord ;-on passing from all this to the Fourth Gospel, we are conscious, and must admit, that we have been transferred to a new scene and breathe a different air. We are at once confronted with great generalizations touching the power and nature, the order and significance, of Divine manifestations. Much is made of the ministry and testimonies of John the Baptist; hut at first he is rather treated as a typical representative of the prophetic order than as the historic and well-known son of Zacharias the priest. His definite testimony is, moreover, resumed at the very point where it is laid down by Matthew and Luke; and, in fact, when he has passed through the experiences detailed in the synoptics, and is face to face with One whom he has recog- nized publicly as the Son of God, and as one competent to baptize with the Holy Ghost. We are made acquainted with several of the disciples, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Judas (not Iscariot), Nathanael, Lazarus, and Nicodemus, of whom we hear nothing but the names elsewhere; of Nathanael, Nicodemus, Lazarus, not even the names. 'l'he principal scenes of the biography are laid in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, instead of in Galliee. Our Lord appears to have made repeated journeys to the metropolis, and to have excited from. the first querulous antagonism, if not open persecution. The time during which the ministry of Jesus has extended has lengthened out from one year to more than two, if not three. A succession of feasts are mentioned, notably three Pass- overs, if not/our, are referred to, whereas the synoptic narrative does not positively make mention of any Passover except that at which our Lord was crucified. Extra- ordinary events like the temptation, the sermon on the mount, the Transfiguration, the death of the Baptist, the institution of the Lord's Supper, the agony in the garden, the scenes before the Sanhedrin, are omitted, aod a number of oth~r events are mentioned concerning which the synoptists are silent, such as the two miracles in Cana, and three great miracles in Jerusalem. Two events might seem to have been inverted in their place. The synoptists represent a miraculous draught of fishes as the apparent occasion of the call of four apostles. These same apostles are favoured with a miracu- lous draught of fishes after the Resurrection; but in this Gospel they are represented as being called in the first instance by the simple summons of the Master. On the other band, a cleansing of the temple, which the syuoptists place at the close of our Lord's life, the Fourth Gospel pbces at the very commencement of th~ Jerusalem minist1y. 'l'he synoptists appear to imply that our Lord celebrated the Paschal supper on its legal day-the night before he suffered-whereas all the prima facie suggestions of the Fourth Gospel imply that, though a.n important meal preceded the Passion, the Jews kept their Passover on the very day or evening of the Crucifixion. Moreover, whereas Luke aod the appendix to Mark speak of a. visible ascension to heaven, the fourth evangelist closes the Gospel with the special promises and injunctions to Peter and the beloved disciple. These discrepancies of time, period, place, and subject-matter are by no means the most serious. We readily admit that a. different tone characterizes the teaching of the Lord in the two groups of discourses. 'l'he great subject-matter of the diBCOurses of Jesus in the synoptists is the kingdom of God and his righteousness, the personal conditions of approval and acceptance with God, the relation of the new tea.ching to the old Law, the principles of discipleship, the future development of the kingdom, the last things of the theocracy, the judgment of the great day; the leading thernee of our Lord's discourses and dialogues in the Fourth Gospel concern the new hirth, the revelation of the Divine love, the spirituality of true worship, the eternal principles on which the la.w of the sabbath turns, the Divine claims of Christ's own Per- "'nality, his pre-existence, the personal incarnation of the Eternal Son of God, hia  THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. lxxxix