The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 2 — Section 38

Yer. 4.-Thc limit~ of opport1mity. Here is a universal illustration, ,vo need no invl1stigntio(1 of the local and the ancient to comprehend its meaning. We all under- ~tand the ~11fe_ren:e between night and day in respect of opportunity for work. Not J,nt what c1nlumt10n has made considerable encroachments on the realm of night in this particular. It is now true, not only of the astronomer and of the ardent student _but of man! besides, that "night is the time for toil." And yet, even with all th~ mcreased mght-work of the world, it is to be hoped that such work will over be the exception and not the rule. Night is Nature's way of announcing her daily sabbnth, Day is peculiarly the seAson for useful work, for honest pursuits ; to take too m uoh of the day for rest is, in a measure, to waste it. Night is peculiarly the season for rest, and those who are out in it must be on some special, perchance some dishonest, errand. Day is the largest opportunity the honest man can get; night is the largest opportunity for the thief. I. APPLY THE LIMITS OF OPPORTUNITY m THE CASE OF JESUS HIMSELF. Of course, it is only true in a particular sense that a night came to Jesus in which he could not work. But in that sense there was great importance in the truth. There were certain things which Jesus could do in flesh and blood, but let him pass into the spiritual body, and those things become impossible. When the records of his life came to be written, those records had to be filled with instances of benevolent industry. Every day found him looking out for every chance of doing a good work. No one can bring against Jesus the charge of being one who talked a great deal and did very little. Every human being comes into this world to do a work of God, though the vast majority never seem to apprehend the mission. .All the more reason that Jesus, therefore, shouht make m!lnifest that he came into the world for action. Others were busy about their own work, and, however long life might be, it would be all too short to complete their aims. .And so Jesus felt that life had to be full of useful, strenuous, God-manifesting work. II. THE LESSON TO UB FROM THE :BRIEF LmITB OF WORKING TIME. We waste much of life through not making the best of opportunities. Here were the disciples· idlr speculating on how a certain thing had come about. There was no way of know- ing, and no practical result could come from the inquiry. Not that Jesus would deter us from speculations and conjectures; there can be no harm in imagining the causes of what is; no harm in guessing at the possibilities and probabilities of the future. But in this world of need there is so much to do, that we must never let. anything come between us and doing. To know what men have thought is all very well; and we do well to meditate on every possible cause and origin of what is evil; but we may_ meditate so much as to become mere sceptics, hanging in uncertainty between belief: and unbelief. When life has all closed up and its last day faded into the west, the question will be, "What hast thou done 1" This life of flesh and blood is given to· serve our day and generation.-Y. T"er. 22.-Ezcommunication. Here is a weapon that attacks religion in the name of religion. Here are people whom the plainest facts would prompt into a co~fe~si~u of Jesus as the Christ, if only they were left to themselves. The truth as 1t 1s 1n Jesus is on one side; threatenings of dire consequences on the other; and truth suffers for the time from the ecclesiastical powers that be. I. SUPEilSTITION AB OPPOSED TO JEsus. Here is a special foe, over and above the ordinary foes with whom Jesus has to deal. Whether any real confession of Jesus would have come from the parents of the blind m;m, if they had been left to them- selves cannot be conjectured- '!'bat which deters one does not deter another. There are pe~ple who would not be deterred from confessing Jesus by any amount of physical pain. They can rise above that; it is merely a thing of the body; something specific and mea.6Urable. But the same people, if a threat of excommunication came in, would at once begin to hesitate. We do well to study the difficulties the gospel has tiver met with through superstition, just because they are ?ifliculties foreign to most who. are brought up in a Christian land. We are not likely either to be threatened mto Christianity or threatened out of it. But undoubtedly there are many parts of tho world where the fear of some dreadful spiritual consequence operates to keep me.ny from even looking at the claimo of Jesus. How different the spirit of the true religion on. tx. 1-41.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOlIN. 39