The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 1 — Section 453

parenthc~is aho"-s the author's strong recol- the.tout of Galilee ariseth I no prophet. 'fhe lection !lf the scene (eh. iii. 1, etc.), whon the present tense has very uco.rly tho force of the Lord !JR,l opened to his own mind, 81! well perfeot, nnd denotes the genoml rule of tho as to NiMdemus, the mystery of the 1..-ing- Divine providence in the m11tlor. The pro• dom, and the need of that very Spirit's phetic order can scarcely be thought to have power to which (John knew when he wrote been recruited from the northern province. that) the Lord WBS referring in his grea.t Even Hosea had his origin in Se.nm!'io.. disoourse. Nicodemus bad not proclaimed Amos was e.n inhabitant of Tekoah; twelve his own discipleship, but he moont to cover miles south of Jerusalem. Nahum tho El- e.ud shield the enthusiastic crowd from the koshite cannot be proved to have sprung sting of the cruel condemnation of this Pha- from the Galilrean town of Elkosh ; though risaic junta. Doth our Law judge a I man it is not impossible, it is e.t least probable, except it have first heard from himself, &nd that Elkosh in Assyrio., on the Tigris, two have oome to know whe.t he doeth 1 (Ei.od. miles north of Mosul and south of Nineveh, xxiii. 1 me.rgin, " Thou shalt not receive a was the pl[loe whence Ne.hum and his pro- fe.lse report;" Dent. i. 16, "Hear the causes phecies issued. Elijah the Tiehbi.te, of the between your brethren, and judge righteously land of Gilead, cannot be claimed as a Gali- between every ml\Il and his brother"). The lman. The case is different with reference Law is here personified in the person of the to Jonah of Gath-Hepher, of the tribe of judge. The process is not followed by this Zebulon (2 Kings xiv. 25), who, as a solite.ry hasty =-parte statement. The Law is tra- and by no means more.Hy impressive cha- versed by this forgetfulness of the first prin- aoter, might almost as an exception prove ciple of justice as between man and man. the truth of the genera.I statement. The They might he.ve rejoined that they did know historical error is far from difficult to ao- the teaching and the work of Jesus. They oount for in the stress of the discontent had been following him by their representa- whioh these Phe.riseee were now manifest- tives, and were now witnesses of hie extraordi- ing towards everything Gelilwan. Godet, nary 81!8ll.Dlption.s, and had evidence enough on the authority of ~lry•p-ra, being the text, on which t.o proceed. The retort which they would have it that "there has not now made is sufficient proof of the defective and arisen in the Person of Jesus e. Prophet." paBsion-blinded method of their own proce- Baumlein presses this still further, by dure. Moreover, it shows that the prophetio making the" prophet" nieau " the Messiah." mnk assigned to the Lord Jesus was the There is no reasonable ground for oharging ma.in question in the mind of Nicodemus on these Pharisees " an incredible ignorance and hie Pha.risa.ic companions. The rules for or incomprehensible misunderstanding." the judgment of a prophet were stringent, Such a charge is more like one of the in- and no attempt had been made to put these comprehensible misunderstandings of the prophetic claims to the test (Deut. xviii. modem critical sohool whenever a ohe.nce 19-22). Moreover, they ran off upon an opens of assailing the authenticity of the ntterly false tack, &nd were not free from Fourth Gospel. inaccumcy in their solemn appeal t.o Holy Ver. 53.-They went every me.n to hie Scripture. own house. Thie clause belongs to the peri- Ver. 52.-They a.newered and said to him, cope of the. woman taken in adultery, and Art thou also, a.e he is andhieeupportereare, is encumbered. with the textual and other from Galilee 1 and. therefore, is this criticism difficulties involved iu that pe.ragraph. The of yours on our he.ffled plan the dictate of words apply most imperfectly to the p1·e- provincial pride? They sought to fix e. ceding narrative, which terminates with a contemptuous country-cousin sobriquet upon private conversation between Nicodemus e.nd t.hie distinguished man, instead of replying other members of the Sanhedrin, o.nd, at to his sensible inquiry. Search, and see, the same time, rather suggest the eoe.ttoriug of the crowd or the 1·eturn of the pilgrims to Galilee, both of which form a ve1·y im- versions. T.R., with E, G, H, M, etc., some probable ooneequence of ver. 52. Italic Versions, Vulga.te, and Syriac, reads 1 The present, J-yelpETa,, is preferred by wlt'r&s instead of -rponpo11; so Godet ( cf. eh. xi.L 39). Tregellee, Alford,. Tieohendorf (8th edit.), 1 For this nee of the definite article, see Westcott, and B.T., ·on the authority of N, Matt. xv. 11. T..R. reads, .,,a.p' cw-roii .,,p&-r•• B, D, K, S, etc., about thirty cursives, the pov, with a great army of later uncials. The Vulgate and numerous versions; the perfeot., reading of R.T., with TreJ?elle~, Tiechendorf lyf,-y,p-ra,, by T.R., with E, G, M, and nu- (8th edit.), AHord. and WeBtcott ud Hort, merov.11 curai veB. ii spii,-ro11 -.ap' IWTOU. - ea. vn. 1-53,] THE GOSPEL ACOORDING TO ST. JOHN. 323 --------------------------~---- HOMILETICS. Ver. 1.-Our Lord's stay in Galilee. Notwithstanding the discouraaements of the last few days, he continued to reside in Galilee. "And after these thinas Jesus con- tinued to !\bide in Galilee: for he would not abide in J udiea, because the J :ws sou 0ah t to kill him." ' I. HE TOOK NEEDFUL PRECAUTION TO BA VE HIS LIFE. 1. He could lvtve put forth miraculous power for its preservation, but he practised that economy of miracle which is so manifest throughout his whole ministry. 2. He refused to expose himself to pre- mature risk at the hands of his Judrean enemies. They "sought to kill him." lie; acted upon the counsel he gave to his disciples, that when persecuted in ouc; city they should flee to another. Ile would not decline risk when his hour was come, but mean- while he used all prudence to avert danger. II. H1s ·coNTmUED MINISTRY m GALILEE. 1. Though discouraged by the defectwn of so many disciples, he continues to minister in Galilee. 2. His life was secure among the Galilmans. 'l'he difference between the Galilrea.ns and the Jews wa.s that, while the; Jews were actively hostile, the Galiheans were merely iudifl'erent. Vers. 2-10.-The appeal to Jesus on the part of his unbelieving brothers . . I. THE OCCASION OF THIS APPEAL. "B1,1t the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand." 1. It was the last and greatest of the three yearly feasts, and occurred in our month of October. 2. It was intende,l at once to commemorate the forty years' wan- dering in the wilderness, and also to celebrate the ingathering of the yearly harvest. 3. The pilgrims, as well as the inhabitants of Jerusalem, left their houses for seven days to dwell in tents made ef boughs. The feast was at once a. solemn and a. happy b~ -- II. THE APPEAL OF THE BROTHEBB. "Depa.rt hence, and go into Judrea., that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest." 1. W?io were these brothers, They are not disciples, for they expressly exclude themselves from this class by their own words (ver. 3). _The evangelist says expressly (ver. 5) they were not believers, and Jesus implies by his answer that they are not, for the hatred of the world could not touch them (ver; 7). , .The head of the brethren was James, afterwards chief pastor at Jerusalem. 2. It is this unbelieving attitude that ea;plains their appeal. "For neither did his brethren believe in him.",_ (1) They are, no doubt, afterwards fonnd identified with the ea.use of Christ (Acts i. 14), probably drawn to him by our Lord's appearance after his resurrection to. Ja.mes (1 Cor. xv. 7). (2) The appeal of the brethren was not dictated either (a) by the unna.t_ura.l desire to see him sacrificed to the fury of his enemies, (b) nor by an eagerness to precipitate events in his own honour, (c) but rather by their anxiety to put an end to the equivocal position in which he stood in their eyes. (a) They had known him so familiarly from childhood that his claims were hard to understand. • (/3) They thought that he ought to submit his claims to Messiahship to those most competent to jlldge of their value. " For no man doeth anything in secret "-Galilee, was an obscure corner of the land, far from the centre of ecclesiastical interest-:-'.' himself seeking to be famous. If thou doest these things, show thyself to the world." ,,,) The capital was the appropriate place for the recognition of his mission, and the approaching feast presented a favourable opportunity for making it known to Jews from all parts of the world. III.- OUR LoRD's .ANSWER TO THE APPEAL. 1. His t-ime was not yet tome. " My time is not yet come." (1) This refers to the period of his fiual manifestation, only to end in his death. Ifhe were to comply with the request of his brothers, he would only anticipate that period; but his time for .leaving the world was not yet come. (2) Our Lord regards the events of life ai. divinely ordered ia point of time. " Our times are in thy hand." (3). He marks the necessary contrast between his own position aod that of his brothers.. "But your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that its works are evil." (a) There was nothing discordant between the views of the brethren and the views of the world. There was a moral sympathy between. them that made ,it impossible ~is broth_ers s~o.ul~ ris~ Juything by going to the feast. (b) 'l'he worlds hatred to Christ had its ongtn ill hrn  824. THE GOSPEL AOOORDING TO ST. JOHN. [oe, vu. 1-63.