The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 2 — Section 47

mime le which haJ just taken plooe, which Judns i.raccabmue after the grose profanntion prMcs thRt his friends on this ooCBBion were of it by ~n liochus Epiph11ues (I !\for<', i. ..-er_,- rar fro 11, the ru:td wickeuness of those 20-60: 1v._ ~6-57), It occupied eight wlinse moral sPn~e Juul been eo perverted B8 d,iys, was d1stmguishcd by illumination of fo say that "he casts out dmmons by the the city and ternplo nnd of other plncos prince nf <lremons" (see Mntt. xii. 2-1-, eto., throughout tho land, nod hence wo.s co.Hod and parallel passages). Can II dmmon open the "Fel\St of Lights." l\Inny interesting the eyes of the blind 1 It is not in tho nature peculiarilies of this fcn.st nre detailed in of "· <lroruon to heel diseas.}, and pour light Edersbeim's 'Life of Jesus,' vol. ii. 228, n~ s1g1,tless eyes. The goodness of the Lord etc. One feature was the increnso night by tnumphs over the ..-ile insinuation. ,ve night of the number of lights which com- must have better explanation than this of memorated the restoration of the ten1ple. his mysterious claims. The ooutest was All fasting and public mourning were pro- sharp.· The confliPt for a wllile silenced hibited (seo 'l\Ioed. K.,' iii, 9). The high opposition, only to hrea.k out again with enthusiasm of the people made them Iona greater malice and fury. for deliverance from the Roman yoke. Th: Ycrs. 22-42.-6. The 0711lMS$ of Christ Jews would probably have eagerly o.ccepted ,cill, the Father. The discourse at the Fca;;t J esl18 I\S l\Icssiah if lie had been ready to o_f Dedication, with its resulu. take up lho role of n. political lender. Doubtless he was the Christ or the Hebrew Yers. 22-26.-(1) 17,e Feast of Dedica- prophecies, and in his own human con- tion, and the euitement of the peopl.e. sciousness his high position swea,lled bis The poragrapll is pregnant with meaning, loftiest thought; but he we.s not the Chl"ist arising from the place, the time, and the of their Jewish expectation. action of the Jews. It contains the dis- Ver. 23.-And Jesus walked in the temple i.n Solomon's poroh. He walked in Solomon's crimination between the Jews and those portico-that pa.rt of the temple of Herod who woro in spirituel union "ith himself, which the apostles afterwards adopted as viz. his sheep. Then follow the character- the scene of some of their most explicit istics and prhileges of his sheep, which assertions of the gospel (Acts iii. 11; v. 12). lead up to the climax in which he risks the It was associated with the gro.ndest events in their national history ; for it we.s reared deadly animosity of his hearers, by claiming on the substructions of Solomon's temple, identity of saving power with the Father. which even to the present day are into.et He acconnta for this by asserting what is (Robinson's ' Palestine,' i. 289 ; Palestine expressive of positive consubstantiality with Exploration Society's Reports; ' Recovery the Father. On any exegesis, this solemn of Jerusalem,' frontispiece, pp. 17,226, 309- 319). The Lord walked there because it o.nnouncement is a stupendous assumption was winter, and wintry weather. This reveals of personal dignity, o.nd was regarded by a little touch of the hand of e.n eye-witness. his hearers as blasphemol18 madness. We need not ask for e.ny more tre.nsceudental Ver. 22.-Now,1 the Feast of Dedication explanation, The note of time, moreover, (the en1'ainia) was (celebrated) in Jernsalem. implies that two months had ele.psecl since This feast is not elsewhere noticed in the the Feast of Tabernacles. Wieseler co.lcu- New Testament. The account of its origin le.tes that the Feast of Tabernacles closed is found .in l Mace. iv. 36, etc.; 2 Mace. x. l on October 19, and the Feo.st of Dedication -8: Joseph 118, 'Ant.,' xii. 7. 7. And it was began on December 20, o.nd, if so, time is winter. It was held on the 25th of Chisleu, left for a portion of the Galilmo.n ministry which, in .A..D. 29, would correspond with the cited in Luke 1.-xili. Ezra x. 9-13 19th or December, in commemoration of the shows that the time referred to was o.rter a " renewal," reconsecration, of the temple by period of heavy re.in, and may account for J esl18 we.I.king in the shelter of the portico. 1 'E-yli,,To a, is the reading of ~. A, D, Ver. 24.-Then the J'ews oe.me round X, a.nd most of the uncials and cursives: a.bout him. Not necessarily (with Godet) Vulgate,/acta 1111,nl; but Westcott and Hort separating him from his disciples, but in a here introduce .,-,fr, in place of a,, on tile threateniug e.nd impere.tive fashion, demand- e.nthority of B, L, 33, and versions. ti.• .,.1,.,-, ing an immecliate answer. It is probable are read by et:veral eursi..-es. Neither Tre- that he he.d absented himself for two months gelles, Alford, nor Tischendorf (8th edit.) in the neighbourhood, he.d even been in introduce these words into tile text. Should Perma ( cf. Luke ix.), and met tbe mu! titudes it be the correct reading, it connects the coming up to the fe11.Sts. The ..-d.11.w 1dpa.i, following discW1Bion with that which pre- -roii 'lop5d.vo11 of ver. 40, is best understood cedes, and so allows of no break till the by his having been there before. The cloae or eh. z:i. difficulty of his making retrospective re- OH, X, 1-42.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN.