The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 1 — Section 136

nnd denth through which the seed-corn of the great harvest should bring forth rn11ch fruit. Consequently, it faces both ways. Moreover, it contains the anticipation of Gethsemanp, nnd thne anticipates the agony and victory of the cross. Luthardt and Godet disagree about the close connection of eh. xiii.-xvii. with eh. xviii.-xx. 'l'hey are simply two sidee of one and the same thing according to Luthardt. In Godet's view they are utterly disparate, and cannot be reri;arded under the one heading of "Jesus and his own." II they a.re looked at in their union of idea, Godet is right in repudiating the title "Jesus and his own;" but if the whole notion be love in its uttermost manifestation-the •is -ril 1ra.nb.u of eh. xiii. 1-then it corre- sponds with the -r•-rb,•<1-ra.& of eh. xix. The pedilaviwm of eh. xiii. is closely linked with the tragedy of self-abandonment that follows in eh. xviii., xix. The warning to Peter (eh. xiii.) and tbe expulsion of Judas are connected with the story of the treachery of Judas and the denial of Peter (eh. xviii.). The whole conception of the departure (eh. xiv.-xvi.)_prepa.rcs for the manner of its occurrence, and the intercessory prayer for" the resurrection," the promise of the Comforter with the spiration (eh. xx.). But to let this pass. Luthardt is singularly happy in his perception of the dramatic unity of the whole book. "In the first part the threads are laid; in the second the knots are twisted; in the third the whole is resolved into the glorification of Jesus on the one hand, and in the completion of both faith and unbelief, and of the spiritual communion of the believers with Jesus, on the other." I. The introduction of the Logos incarnate to the- world. (Oh. i.-iv.) II. The struggle between Jesus as thus revealed, and the Jews. III. The revelations of love in word and deed. (Oh. xiii.-x.x.) IV. The epilogue. (Oh. xxi.) Albrecht Thoma, in his 'Genesis des Johnnnis Evangeliums,' has arranged the matter as follows in five sections :-I. The significance of the essence and work of Ohrist. II. The worlc of Ohrist: Associatirm and division. III. The conflict with the world. IV. FAREWELL commission and promise. V. THE HOUR: the glorification of sorrow. Appendia,: an outline of apostolic history. There is no reason to conclude, even if we proceed to set forth in detail a more abundant classification of these discourses, narrations, and lessons, that the author of the Gospel needs to have strained a fact, or to have altered the chronological order of a ~ingle narrative, or to have invented a solitary revelation of the eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifested to the world. The possible point of view on which the evangelist took his stand was entirely justified by the history. He does not clash with the current synoptic narrative. All along he acknowledges its existence, and gives hints that he is aware of the charge of possible or apparent discrepancy, and by a side note or parenthetical expression he leaves room for all the additional matter that belongs to the Galilrean ministry, Throughout, the synoptists are necessary for a right under- standing of the Fourth Gospel. Moreover, there is so much of profound transcendental utterance and claim in the synoptic narratives, that they are to a large extent incom- prehensible if the customary aspects in which the Lord appears in the Fourth Gospel had not been historically prepared for our use. We ought never to forget that the synoptic narratives do not, any more than the Fourth Gospel does, consist of sustained biographical treatment of the life of Jesus. Each of the Gospels betrays a distinct purpose on the part of its author to justify the presupposition on which it rests. Matthew discerns with vivid insight the Messiahship; Mark, the great features of the Son of God; Luke, the dominating grace of his perfect humanity; and John proceeds on the sup- position that he was notbing short of, and nothing less than, all of these, because he was the J,ogos madeflesh-the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. The biography is neither exhausted nor completed by the fourfold representation. Each narrative abounds in startling lacunes, in blank spaces of time, of which a few solitary expressions or incidents only have been preserved. The portraitures are none the less real because they preserve only specimens of the life-work of Jesus, characteristic moments in the great life, not the successive hours, days, weeks, and years of his sublime and wondrous existence. The Holy Spirit of truth and revelation has followed here the great method which has been virtually followed in preserving the memory of the greatest men of our world'3 history. Many of the philosophers and poets of antiquity, of its princes, legislators, and patriots are preserved for us in a few scenes only of their busy and protracted  oliv INTHODUOTION TO