The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 1 — Section 91

frequent rcfer<'nces to it in the synoptists. (d) Attention h1ts 1tlrel\dy been 1.nllcd to the apparent acqu11intnnce with the chamcter and power of tho Lord displayed by Peter in his first introdnct1on to him as narrated in Luke v. G (of. eh. iv. 38 with Matt. iv. 18; l\Iark i. 16, 29). These events are all illuminated, 1tnd especially Mark's chrono- 1012:_v, by the fact of a previous acquaintance with Jesns where John nt first baptized. (e) There are sundry and subtle indications in ,Tohn's majestic description of the night of the Passion and of the trial before Pilate, that the writer was perfectly familiar with the ~ynoptic nnrrativo, and presupposed acquaintance with its special details in the repre- ~entntion he made of the incarnate love. The profoundest insight into the blended agony and peace of the Saviour's spirit is given in the Fourth Gospel. Ch. xii. 23-36 throws much needed light on the sorrows of Gethsemane. Ch. xviii, 11, addressed to Peter and recorded by John, provides a thrillin~ reminiscence of the prayer, recorded on the authority of one or both of them, in the synoptio narrative. The supplementary theory will only account for some of the facts. Each of the Gospels presents some special revelation of the wondrous life with strange breviloquence. When these touches of divinely suggested portraiture are bronght together, we find that we are not distracted with two or four Christs, but we behold one, and one only. (2) 'l'h<'re are several striking and difficult OMISSIONS by John of cardinal and momen- tous revelations of the Lord, which, if they had le~ no trace upon the Fourth Gospel, might threaten the unity and identity of the Christ as portrayed therein. These omissions are mainly "the temptation of Christ," 11 the transfiguration," "the institu- tion of the Lord's Supper," " the agony in the garden," "the ascension of Ch1ist to the right hand of God." A brief consideration of these omissions must suffice, I have omitted further reference to the baptism, arid proceed to the temptation, (a) '/'he temptation. The temptation is described in the synoptic narrative as occurring immediately after the baptism, and before II John was cast into prison," therefore in the interva.l that elapses in the Fourth Gospel between the first testimony of the BaptiA and the return to Galilee in the close of the fourth chapter. The question arises-Does the fourth evangelist reveal the presence, in the course of his na1Tative, of the essential elements of the typical temptation ? It is not necessary to insist on the recognition in this Gospel of the assault on Jesus by the prince of this world (see eh. xii. 31; xvi. 11), the devilish malice of Judas (eh. vi. 70), the suggestion made by Christ's brothers (eh. ,-iL 8), and the probable explanation of the great abrupt cry (eh. i. 29), "Behold the Lamb of God!" but it seems as though the special group of temptations recorded in the Rynoptic narrative was neither unknown nor unappreciated by the fourth evangelist. The jirlft temptation seizes on the suffering humanity of Jesus, when he was famished by forty days of fasting. "If thou be the Son of God," as the voice from heaven has proclaimed thee to be, 11 command that these stones be made bread." Employ thy supernatural power for the miraculous supply of thine own need. 'l'hou art above the ordinary conditions of nature; therefore triumph over thy circumstances. Assert thyself. Do not demean thine origin by earning or begging thy daily bread I The reply of Jesus was," Man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word that pro- ceedeth out of the mouth of God." So far the synoptists; but John tells us that one of the earliest incidents of our Lord's ministry brings the God-Man to a marriage-feast, where the voice of a lovin" temptress said to him, "They have no wine." The virgin- mother longed that her royal Son should show forth his glory by expressing in imperial tones his claim to all the riches of these vine-clad hills, Our Lord resented this intrusion upon the choice of the method or hour of his self-manifestation; but he did not hesitate in the royalty of his love to give to others, and to do for them what he utterly refrained from doin" for himself in his own dire extremity. None but they who drew the water knew th~t the Creator's hand had touched it, The governor of the feast simply attested the reality and excellence of the wine. The disciples believed. They had learned a lesson of bis power, but caught a deeper insight into his heart Christ never implied that he could not or would not turn stones into bread, or water into wine but declared that the Word and the place of his Father for him were to give, not to gr;sp--to give himself for the life of the world; for his flesh was meat indeed, his blood wine mdeed, for a starving and perishing humanity. A similar lesson is taught even more vividly in the fourth chapter of the Gospel, There we fuid him seated, weary in th~ noonti<le heat, by Jacob's well (ver. 6). Why  THE OOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. ,JOHN.