'.'n t.he word _C1f Jesus made him linger in his hieto1ic narrative on the principles of 1udgment whwh are evermore at work, nnd to which the Lord had rerorred. Morec>v<.>r, in the Epistle we do find that the author anticipates an approaching climax ~fall thi8 judgment (1 John ii. 18, 28; iv. 17). The Lord is coming, and those th11t believe ought not to be ashamed before him, but should have boldness in tho day c>f judgment. Reuss admit~(' Theo}. Chret.,' ii. 563) a difference between the view or the future contem1,lated by the author of the Gospel and of the Epistle, and some have pressed it into a reason for assigning the two documents to different hands (pp. lxii., lxiii.). '!'here are, however, too many indications of harmony between the two writings to justify such nn interpretation. Reuss concedes this, but imagines "tho fm=entary residue of notions familiar to the author in his earlier life, which had not been°absorbed completely nor pelfectly repudiated by his mysticism." But are not the views mutually compatible and reconcilable? Is there not enough in the Gospel, In the passages referred to above, to justify all the solemn fear and sacred hopes discernible in the Epistle? 5. The Johannine i,eachi11g with referenCIJ to the formation of a kingdom, the founding and training of the Ohwrch. In harmony with the previous synoptic and Pauline teaching, Jesus, in the Fourth Gospel, is "King of Israel." He came to his own, and some, though not all, received him as such. As a Prophet and Master of the old theocracy he cleansed the temple. He declared that neither, at Gerizim nor Jeru- salem would men worship the Father. Though recognizing the patriarchs, the fathers, the Moses of the ol<l covenant, he anticipated the time when all who were of the truth would hear his voice. He rejoiced that there were sheep of different folds who would hear his voice, whom he would bring into and make part of one flock. When the· Greeks were anxious to see him, he broke forth into a great exclamation, "Now is the Son of man glorified 1" He declared to Pilate that he was a King, though not of this world. The Fourth Gospel represents the very accusation placed over his head upon the cross as nothing short of the fart, not assumption, " Tms Is THE KING OF THE JEws." The ironical restimony borne by a heathen governor to the agelong hope of Israel was transfigured and displayed in the agony of a suffering Saviour, in the dying and uplifting upon the cross of One who would thereby draw all men to himself. The fellowship in his death and resurrection, in his Person and glory, is to embrace all who believe on him through the word of the apostles. The union o.nd communion of ,t)J.e disciples in mutual love iB to be the most powerful testimony to his mission from heaven, and the reality of his spiritual presence. The baptism of John is referred to, and we are expressly told, what we learn nowhero else, that at the beginning of our Lord's ministry the disciples baptized men into a general admission of his claims-into the confession of Christ, and the hope of One who would baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost. The society was thus commenced, but Jesus declares the supreme importance of birth from the Spitit, and of worship in spirit and truth. The true meaning of the well-known Supper of the Lord was illus- t~ated by John, not by the record of the institution, but by the discourse in Caper- naum, which lay deep foundations for a spiritual brotherhood of those who assimilated his flesh and drank into the spirit of his life, who could appreciate the Divine back- ground of his human personality, and accept the fact of his sacrifice. Thoma concludes his view of this great theme, " Christ is the Shepherd of the sheep, who only have to follow him to find rest.... He is the all-dominant Idea, the Light of the world, the Sun to which every eye must turn, by which all things live, and to which all things tend. The doctrine of the Johannine Gospel is throughout nothing less than a Christology."
X. ABBANGEMENT OF THE CoNTENTS OF THE FounTn GoBPEL, The perception of the plan of this Gospel_ has varied_ with ~very theorr of its ~ut~or- ship, and every hypothesis as to the occasion or motiv~ which led to its_ publication. Augustine, Chrysostom, Theophylact, and even later. wr1~!s who entertain no breath of suspicion as to the apostolic origin and perfect h1Btonc1ty of the Gospel, Wllre con- tent to ignore the qucstion of its plan. It was enough for them that the facts came 'l'HE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST, JOHN. cli