seeing thnt, as Bon or rnnn, he gave himself m11inerl open." The nies of ee.rth, the for a ransom, o.nd wo.s ne one that serveth, answers of heaven, Rre like e.ngPls evermore nnd presented his flesh nnd hlood e.s the ascending and descending on the Word- epirituo.l food of e.11 tho.t live ;-the synthetic made-tlesh. It is perfectly true, though in thought that iesu(ls from the twofold survey a different sense than that which Thoma is tho.t his highest glory is hosed upon his e.dopts it, tho.t this prehistory (vorge- entire o.nd utter sympo.thy with mo.n. His schichte) is the vrngeschichte of Christendom, humanity is that which gives him all his e.s of ee.eh soul becoming Chri.tie.n, the hold upon our heart; his so.criflce is bis different eventualities which lend from one title to universe.I sovereignty. "He humbled revelation to another betoken the severe.I himself to the deo.th of the cross, wherefore stations on the hle,~cd pilgrimage (hei'-8- God also ho.a highly exalted him, giving weg). (Cf. Introduct10n; the excursuses of even to him [humanity included] THE NAME Godet; Westcott on 'ThP- Son of Man;' thiit is o.bove every name." Archdeacon Orme's dblsertation on 'Sin against tho W o.tkius, in loco, he.a co.lied attention to the Holy Ghost;' Schatrs not13 to Lange, ou fact that it is not a.vifp, but t.v8ponros, "man John, in loco; Schmidt,' Bibi. Theo!. N. T ..' o.s me.n, not Jew as holier than Greek, not pp. 107, etc.; Weids, 'Bibi. Theo!. N. T.,' § freeman as nobler tbe.n bondme.n, not man 144; Liddon, 'Divinity of Our Lorrl,' lect. e.s distinct from woman, but humanity. . . . i.; Pee.rson on the Creed, Oxford edit., p. The ladder from earth to heaven is in the 122; Andrew Jakes, 'The New Ma.n,' Ject. truth, • The Word we.s made flesh.' In ii.: " The Openings of Heaven in the Ex- the.t greo.t truth hee.ven was e.nd has re- perience of Christ e.nd of Christia.no.")
HOMILETICS. Vers. 1, 2.-Prologue of the Gospel. The prologue is in harmony with the design or a biographic history which is to set forth Jesus Christ as the Son of God. The Fourth Gospel is thus a distinct advance, dogmatically, upon the other Gospels, for Matthew exhibits him in his Messianic royalty; Mark, as the Son of man and the Servant of God; Luke, as the Son of man and Saviour of the race of man, without distinction of Jew or Gentile. The Apostle John exhibits him in the glorious activity of his Divine nat.ure. I. THE SUBJECT OF THE PROLOGUE. "The Word." Jesus Christ is the Word as he is the essential Revealer of the Divine Being. "There is in the Divine Essence a principle by which God reveals himself-the Logos; and a principle by which he communicates himself-the Spirit." Christ is "the express Image of the Father's Person" (Heb. i. 3), just as a word is an image or picture of a thought. But he is also the Interpreter of the Divine will. "The only begotten Son hath declared the Father" ( eh. i. 18), through Creation, through prophets, through the Incaroation. He was called the Word. 1. Not as man; for as man he was not in the beginning with God, neither was he Creator. 2. Be was the Word before he was man; for it was as the Word he became flesh (ver.14). 3. He was the Word as he was the Son of God-" the only begotten Son of the Father." 4. Yet he is called here the Word rather than the Son of God, because the Jews were familiar with this name as applied to the Messiah, and, as he.s been suggested, the apostle would not at first alienate their hearts by the title "Son of God," which was so offensive to the unbelieving Jews (eh. x. 30, 33). II. THE ESSENTIAL NATURE OF THE WORD. 1. He is an absolute Eternal Being. "In the beginning was the Word." (1) The beginning carries us back to the initial point of time. As the "beginning" of the Book of Genesis starts from that point, dating Creation from it, the apostle carries us still further be.ck, even beyond "the beginning." (2) 'l'he Word existed in the beginning. The word "was" suggests a continuous state. 'l'he Word was therefore in existence before time and before Creation. It was "before o.11 things," It w11s from all eternity. Jesus spoke of the glory which he bad with the Father "before the world was" (eh. xvii. 5). (3) This passage condemns alike the Socinian and the Arian theories; for it asserts, against the first, that Christ had an existence before his birth at Bethlehem; and, against the second, that he existed before the highest angels, who are created beings,'.for he "was," not "he we.s created." Basil says, "These two terms, 'boµ;inning' and 'was,' are like two e.nchors," which the ship of a man•~ soul may safely ride at, whatever storms of heresy may come. 'l'here never, therefore, was a time when Christ was not. 2. He is a distinct Person from God, yet H THE GOSPEL ACOORDING TO ST. JOHN. [oH. I, 1--61,