The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 1 — Section 309

unflatterin~ scorn of the nrnn to whom such desires which dwMf the desires of the flesh, "' coufession WRB made; and then, in most and they forget to eat their bread, Nor cnn natural nnd nppropriete fashion, added, we forget thnt the eynoptio norrotive plaoes He ii not however the Christ, iB he 1 'l'he the forty days' fast in this very epooh of quel!tion, by its form, llllggest.e ll negative Christ's life, chronologically speaking. (See nnswer; ••but," Westcott Bllys, "hope bursts note nt end of this chupter.) through it (cf. Matt. xii. 23)." She 1.-nows , Ver. 33.-Therefore the disoiple1 (almost that he u the Christ, but she wishes the as obtuse 1U1 W!ls Nicodemus, or the Samari- townspeople to gne&! it-to come to n like taness, or as the Jews generally were, in C'onolusion with herself. penetrating the hidden meaning of the Yer. 30.-They went out 1 of the oity, and Lord's words) unintentionally illustrate the were ooming on their way towards him. parabolic method, the tissue of symbolio nnd The nvidness of the picture is remarkable, metaphoric phrase which Jesus ndopted and is mnde more so by observing the tense throughout his ministry; they did not ven- of lipxov,o. The men were already crossing ture to question him further, but all.id one to the green fields that lny between Sychar u.nother, Kath any one brought him aught and Ja.cob's well. This rema.rkablo touch to eat 1 Did that So.maritnn woman or any explains the conversation that immediately other? They could not, or did not, rise to the follows. We have the twofold scene de- spiritual or unseen, nor for the moment did picted : on the one side, the disciples eager they get beyond the pressing needs of the for their meal, and absorbed for the moment 11.esh. Still, in the form of their question with thoughts of " terrene provender," they leave room for doubt, whether he had unconscious of the vo.st yearnings of their not been nble to sntisfy the craving of the Lord, and his passion for the regeneration 11.esh, to make stones into bread, or water and saving of men ; and on the other side, into wine. Surely flOt1 (The µ.+,T1s suggests the immedia.tc effect, produced neither by a negative answer.) signs nor wonders, but by bis word only, on Ver. 34.-Jesns said to them, l!rly food- a few susceptible souls, who appe!ll'ed to that which satisfies my strongest desire, and him living representatives and firstfruit.s of quenches all other desire-is that I may n redeemed humanity. do continuously 1 the will of him that sent me Ver. 31.-In the mean while (xp&v,,. under- on my mission to this people and to this stood)-wbile ilie menofSycharwerecoming world. " Lo, I come to do thy will, 0 across the green corn-fields in excited and God," was the motto and burden of his life. eager longing for the bread of life and the "Not my will, but thine," was the sacrificial water of life et.ernal-his disciples besought cry which redeemed the world. To teach him ; rather, were entreating him-the verb man to do the will of the Father is the tporr&,,., is used for question nnd interrogation, motive which sustained him, and the prayer and is generally used of one who feels on he put upon human lips was, "Thy will be terms of eqn.ality with the peraon addressed done." Meyer here rightly says that 1vc& is on the matter in hand (cf. eh. xiv. 16; xv. 7; not equal to 3n Some expression is given xvi 19, 23; uii. 15, for its distinctness from by it as to the end and purpose of the atTE.,)-saying, Rabbi, eat. Have we not mysterious life of which we have these gone to Sychar to find provisions for thee? SRcred illustrations. The doing of the will Do not despise our effort. of God is a perpetual and sublime activity, Ver. 32.-But he saith to them, I have food e. continuing, ceaseless purpose; while the to eat that ye know not; of which you ere completion of the work will be one consum- ignorant, but which you may come to know mating e.ct, towards which all the daily by-and-by. Bpwrnv and fjpwµ.e, are ~oth doing of the will is a preparation, and of used. The first denotes, strictly speaking, which, in some sense, every day we discern the act of eating ; and the second the e. prelibation and forthshadowing. In eh. material for food; but they are, in Greek xvii 4 he says, T•ll.•1~rT<1r, "having com- litemtnre, generally used almost interchange- pleted the work thou,"' etc. This passage ably. There were Divine desires and eacred 1 Tischendorf (8th edit.) e.nd Meyer do satisfactions \'l"hich discriminated the Lord's consciowme:&B from that of his disciples. not accept, with Revised Version and West- Thoma refers to the mighty fasts gf the cott and Hort, 1ro11/rTw in place of '11'01w, The great lawgiver and prophet as the literary authority for T.R. here is very strong, ~. antecedent of this significant event; but thi.e A, r, A, eto., with numerous quotations ; superiority to food is true of every peat soul. whilo 1ro,.firT.,, though read bY. B, O, D, etc., TJ,e men of the spirit are consumed with and quotations, is more likely to have been the correction with the view of bring- • oiv is omitted by modern editors; it is ing it into more apparent harmony with found in te, A, and in 1, 33, but all the other T•A••~rT.,, but the beauty of the two t.enees uncial.a omit it. would thus bo lost. Oil, IV. 1-64.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. 173