The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 1 — Section 122

the t,wo cxcrplionnl CMesof the dying Stephen, who beheld him in his glory, nndof St. J,,hn in the ApocnlyI:'~e). The occasions on which our Lord thus nameR himself by no menns lny ~pecial emphns1s thereby on the humiliation of the Christ. Thus it is as "Son of mnn" thRt he "forgives sin "-a function which nono can discharge but God only (Mntt. ix. G and pHl'llllel passages). The Son ot man is" Lord of the sabbath" (Matt. xii. 8 and J'Rrallel pa.~ages), is "the Sow:r" of the seed of the kingdom (Matt. xiii. 37); he seeks end seves the lost (Luke xix. 10); comes not to be served, hut to serve (Matt. xx. 2S; :Mark x. 45). The Son of man will rise from the dead and judo-e the world (Mark viii. 38; Luke ix. 26; xii. 8, etc. ; Matt. xix. 28). The Fourth Gosp~l corresponds with the synoptists in the same usage, and eh. i. 61 and iii. 13 show that the Lord spoke of himself as " Son of man " when implying that, behind the attributes of his humanity, and conferring upon that humanity its e.rchetypal character, was his Divine nature. He was "Son of man" because he was "Son of God." 'l'he heavens are opened round nhout him ; though on earth, he is in heaven. He is lifted up in the likeness of sinful flesh, that he may heal the deadly poison of that flesh (eh. iii. 14). He will judge all men because he is the" Son of man" (eh. v. 27); not a lertium quid, neither God nor man; but God in the plenitude of his power, man in the sufficiency of his knowledge and sympathy. The consciousness of his pre-existence with God must have intensified the sense of contrast between "the form of God" and "the form of a. servant," between the eternal "Effulgence of the Fa.ther·s glory" and "the fashion of man," through ,,hich for certain ends the glory was veiled for all, and but dimly and slowly perceived by any. There can be no doubt that the evangelist's conception of the Godhead was not com- plete by thr. bare ascription of the name of Father to the Deity. Having learned in the school of Christ, he considered and taught that, in order to _appreciate the Father, we . must recognize and realize the existence of his only begotten Son. He held that the fulness of God is not an impersonal unity, but an eternal relationship ; that the relation between " God '' and " the Word " between " the Father " and " the Son " is necessa.ry to any adequate conception of th; Fatherhood of God. Jesus was thorefdre a. revelation of both the Father and the Son. (7) The Spirit and the Triunity. But the Johannine conception"of the Godhoo.d. was not consummated in this duality. A mysterious method of speech pervades the Scripture, hy which the self-consciousness of both Father and Son is reduced to a personal unity. The Old Testament as well as the New is charged with this aid to our imagination and this solace to our faith. There is no place here for a. review of the doctrine or idea of the Holy Spirit as set forth either in the earlier Scriptures or in the Pauline Epistles beyond this-that the Spirit of God is there described as the Source and Agent of Di vine activity in the old creation; as effecting and preserving the i=anence of God in nature ; a.s itsol f the Source of human ego; as the element of order and beauty in heaven and earth; as the silent but mighty energy which lifts and develops the intellect of man to its highest flights, and encourages the heart and stimulates the conscience to their noblest exercise. 'l'he prophets and psalmists confess the power of the Spirit of God, and anticipate that the highest functioru; of Messiah will be conferred upon him by the Holy Spirit. Certainly this appellation is sometimes used as though the term meant nothing more than a Hebrew parallelism for God himself, but yet in other places it expressly defines the Spirit as the mighty Agency, by which God himself works in the nature of man. The 11ynoptists preserve this same phraseology and attitude to the Holy Spirit, the formation of the humanity of Jesus (Matt. i. 20; Luke i. 35), the direction of his purposes (Mark i. 12), the comecration of that humanity to the Messianic office (Mark i. 10, 11 and parallel passages), the order and power by which Jesus met and foiled the tempter. The Spirit of God is the power by or in which Jesus commences his ministry (Luke iv. 1) and per- forms his miracies on those possessed by the devil (Matt. xii. 28). In the synoptiats the Lord contrasts the dispensation of the Son of man with that which is inaugurated ·by the Holy Spirit (Matt. xii. 29-32 and parallel passages). Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matt. iii. 11), and promises the Spirit as the greatest and best gift of the Father's love (Luke xi. 13). This is the "promise of the Father " for which the early Church waited (Luke xxiv. 49), and which came upon the disciples with strange µotency on Pente~ost (Acts L, ii.). 'l'his Spirit, which bound discordant elements into a unity, into a Ludy, a.nd produced in individuals and on the comm llnity the mosL  1'llE GOSPEL ACCORDlNG TO ST. JOHN. CXJl:1'1 ··- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -