The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 1 — Section 181

first timo with the title of Rabbi, or tencher greater things than these. There aho.11 bo -Thou nrt the Son of God, Nothing is vouchea.fccl e. fuller, cleFLrer revelation of more obvious tbnn that this is the reflection what I e.m, which ehrill pour new o.nrl of the tc"timony of the Baptist. " The Son deeper meanin2: into the confession thmt or Goel," uot II a Son of Goel," or " a Man of host made. Hitherto the Lord vrns speak- Gotl," but the Pcrsonnge whose rnnk ancl ing to the one me.n; hut now he says whnt glory my master John ho.d recognized. He would be o.pplicoble, not only to Nathanael, may ho.ve cloubted before whether the Bo.p- but to all_who had _found him, and accepter! tiHt ho.cl not gone wild with ho.llncino.tion, that outl,ne of bis functions and claims and could ho.vo meo.nt what he so.id. Now which had formed the substance of tue the reality he.a Ila.shed upon his mind from lo.test teaching of John the Baptist. the glance of the Saviour's eye e.nd the tones ".er. 51.-And he sa.ith unto him, Verily, of his voice (see notes on ver. 34). The verily, I aay nnto yon. The reduplirated gree.t term could not he.ve mee.nt to him 'Aµ¾Jv occurs twenty-five times in John's whe.t it does now to the Church. Still the Gospel, and is in this form peculiar to the truth involved in his worcls is of priceless sig- Gospel, although in its single form it occnr 3 nificance. Luthe.rdt se.ys, 11 N e.thane.el's faith fifty times in the three synoptists. The will never possess more the.n it embraces at word is, strictly speaking, an adjective this moment." Godet adds, "The gold- meaning "firm," "trustworthy," corresponu'. seeker puts his he.nd on an ingot; when he ing with the substantive J!lk, truth, and ,7Jt:i{ he.s coined it, he he.s it better, but not more." The iclee. of the Divine sonship comes from and :i19N, confidence, the covenant (N~h: the Old Testament prophecy, ho.s its root x. 1). The repetition of the word in a.n in Ps. ii. und lxx ii., and in o.11 the strange adverbial sense is found in Numb. v. 22 nncl wonderful literature which recognized in N eh. viii. 6. In Rev. iii. 1-! " Amen" is the idea.I King upon Zion and upon David's the no.me given to the Faithful Witness. throne One who for evermore ho.s stood e.nd The repetition of the wor<l involves a will stand in personal relations with the powerful asseveration, made to overcome a. Father. The Divine sonship is the ho.sis rising donbt and meet a po,sible objection. on which Nathanael rears his further faith The "I say unto you" takes, ou the lips of that he is the Xing of Israel. He is Jesus, the place which "Thus sa.ith the l\lessiah-King, because he is " Son of Go<l." Lord" occupied on those of the ancient The true Israelite recognizes his King (cf. prophets. He speaks in the fulness of Luke i. 32; Matt. ii. 2; eh. xii. 13). We conscious authority, with the certain lrnow- are not bound to I believe that N a.thana.el ledge that he is therein ma.king Divine saw all tha.t Peter subsequently confessed revelation. He Irnows that he so.Ith true : to be the unanimous conviction of the his word is truth. Verily, verily, I say twelve (eh. vi. 69; Matt. xvi. 16); but the nnto yon, [From 1 henoeforth] ye shall see various symphonies of this great confession the heaven that has been opened, and the encompass the Lore.I from his cradle to the angels of God ascend.in~ and desoending cross, The synoptic narrative is as e:i.- upon the Son of man. Notwithstanding the pressive and convincing ns the Johannine. formidable superficial difficulty in the com- Vers. 50, 51.-(d) The Son of 111an, the mon reading, which declares that from the link between heaven and earth. moment when the Lord spa.ke, Nathanael Ver. 50,-.Teeus answered and said to him, should see what there is no other record Beoa.11Se I said unto thee, that I saw thee that he ever literally saw; yet a. deeper undemeath the fig tree, thou believest. pondering of the passage shows the sublime There is no need to transform this into spiritual sense in which those disciples who e. question, as though Jesus smiled a fully realized that they had been brought gentle reproof upon the ra.pidity with which into blessed relationship with the "Son of Na.tba.ne.el espoused his co.use (cf. eh. :i.vi. man," saw also--thnt heaven, the abode of 31 J xx. 29). The Lord, on the contre.ry, blessedness and righteousness, the throne congratulates him upon the sincerity with of God, had been opened behind him and which he had a.t once admitted claims a.round him. The dree.m of Ja.cob is ma.ni- which had never been more explicitly ex- pressed. Thou hast believed because I 1 'A-rr' il.pT, is now rejected by Tischendorf he.ve ma.de thee feel that I ho.ve sounded (8th edit.), Tregelles, Westcott and Hort, the depths of thy heart, by means which R. T., on the authority of~. B, L, and several pa.sa understnnding. There a.re profounder versions, quotations from Origen, Epi- abysses tho.n the human heart. There phanius, Cyril, although e.11 the secondary are powers at my dispose.I ce.lrulnted to uncials and numerous quotations ce.n be create a more tender and inspiring faith, cited for it. 'l'he argument for its retention one which sho.11 cimy thee into other worlds is its difficulty, and also the fact that it u well as through this. Thou shalt see could scarcely ho.ve been l\ddcd by a. copyist.  42 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. ..TORN. [OH. I. 1-51.