The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 1 — Section 497

prophets, who were dea.d. "Theee all died : trasting the JewiBh knowledge of God with who art thou?" that of the Samaritans and identifying him- Vor. 51.-Our Lord doee not immediately self with the Jews (eh. iv. 22), he TIBea or directly reply to their question. He was ol6a.µ,v. If I should say tha.t I know him not making himself to be o.nything. He not--which I do not and dare not say. wns simply declaring the fact. He does Christ could not admit that his absolute not retlll'n on the astounding o.esortion of knowledge was a. delusion. The reality of ver. 51, but confirms it by reaflirming his the Father in hie Divine-human consciouo- ·own relo.tion to the Father, and that sense ness, expressing itself through hia human of o.bsolute and perfect union with the thought and word, was supreme, overmas- Fo.ther on which his entire ministry was tering, soblime-1 shall be, like yon, a based. J'eellB answered, Il I glorify myself lisr; I should deceive you wilfully, as you -if I, from the ground of my own human a.re deceiving yourselves. We cannot fail consciousness, and apart from the Father here again to observe the severity of Jesus who is with me and in me, a.nd who a.s portrayed in this Gospel. (There is "seeketh my glory" (ver. 50), if I have no nothing surely here, or in other numeroos unique relation a.ad access to the Father, as utterances in this discourse, inconsistent you Jews seem to imply-then my glory- with the Son of Thunder.) No cowardly the glory of giving eternal life, of conferring modesty (Lange) is possible to him. He perfect freedom and sonship upon those who knows, a.nd must spea.k. He cannot, do.re continue in and keep my word; then all this not, be silent, or allow these bitter enemies, glory which I claim-is nothing. But neither with their ready malice and perverse and is the hypothesis one of fact, nor is the con- continuous mi.interpretation of his words, clusion (fair enough on that hypothesis) a to be ignorant, either of t ae ground of hia truth. "I a.m not glorifying myself, making self-consciousness or his penetration of their myself anything other than I am." It is flimsy excuses. So once more he adds, But my :rather who is glorifying me (cf. ver. 50, I know him, and keep (-r11piii) his word. He 1:ioth for construction and sense) ; of whom will not allow this Divine consciousness to 1e say, that he is our [your 1] God. They be ta.ken from him, even by the she.me and claimed for themselves tha.t they were "of agony of the cross (Lange). God," and that the Father of whom he Ver. 56.-Christ then proceeds to the spake was no other tha.n their God and allegation that he was greater tha.n A.bra.- Father as well as his, But they have not ham, and exclaims, Abraham, your father, comprehended their own Scriptures nor exulted (a word is used of tnmnltnous joy, God's providence, nor all the revelation Luke i. 47}-trinmphantly rejoiced that he which the Father was making of himself in ahonld see my day (so Revised Version, the S(;m ; w bile their special and monopo- margin), Winer translates the "'" fli?7 in lizing claim concealed from them the face the same way, though that tro.nslation really of the Father, mea.ns "exulted in the knowledge that he Ver. 55.-And (i.e. while you thus speak, should see." The "rejoiced to see," of the and though you call him your God ; of. a Authorized Version and Revised Version, similar use of 1<a.(, very ne:nly expressed, but implies that, when he thus exulted, he had not exactly, by the" yet" of the Authorized seen, which is not exactly compatible or Version) ye have not oome to know him by consistent with the following clause. If . , ,all the experiences through which you have Canon Evans's theory of the use of '6," in passed ( cf. eh. vii. 29 ; xvii. 25 ; and ver. the New Testament in the sense of "the 19). You do not know the only true God, contempla.ted result" be sound, we have a. you have not the knowledge whioli is life sufficient tni.nsla.tion in " exulted that ha eternal. But I know him, absolutely, in- tDov.ld OT should see" my day. In Luke tuitively, by the open eye of oleo.rest con- xvii. 22 we hea.r of " one of the days of the sciousness, with invincible and perfect Son of man." All those days seem gathered assent. The use and contrast of the two together in the expression, "my day," and verbs i-yvd,1<a.T< and oilia., here and elsewhere, can only mean the whole da.y of his mani- is very striking (see oh. iii. 10; u.i. 17). festation as the incarnate Word-the day in When our Lord, however, was broadly con- which, through himself, God ha.d visited his people. When did A.bra.ham exult with 1 Westcott and Hort, Tregelles, Tischen- so lofty a.n expeota.tion and desire ? Many dorf (8th edit.), and Alford read ~µii,,i rather times in solemn vision and by heavenly than ~µ.ii>v, with A., B•·•, 0, L, r, t,,., one voioe and holy promise A.bra.ham was led hundred cursives, and numerous Versions. to believe tha.t in himself and in his seed The " our God " is a.n important variation a.11 the nations of the world would be blessed from the T.R., because it is a further indica- (Gen. xv. 4; ivii. 17; xviii. 10; x:rii. 18). tion tlu1.t our Lord does not repudiate the This promise made him young again. He God of those whom he wu addressing. staggered not ~t the promise of God. Hi~  372 THE GOSPEL .ACCORDING '10 ST. JOHN. [cu. vm.1-59.