The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 2 — Section 140

110 moro till ho nppe11red ns II crimin11l in to the most nmoz,ng of all his solf-rlirl- tho hrinds of the officers of the Sanhedrin, cloan~e•. 'rho lva. rr/\71pw1Jfi must not Lo on his way to tho Prll!torium. In tho silence explamed away, the outline was presenttd of the home nt Dethnny he probably spent by Isaioh of the reception which the the lust dny of his enrthly ministry, which favoured but prejudiced cmd h1mknerl house terminn~ed in the mo.rvellous converse at of Israel go.ve to Di vi □ e revelations. It the Last Supper, "This time it w11s no would be filled iu by the eventd which wore mere clollll which obscured the sun, for to then nbout to be enacted. God's intuition them the sun itself had set." Anrl now, of actual fncts, hie unconditional foreknow- throng h sovernl verses, the evo.ngelist pre- ledge of nil contingent phenomena., do nnt son ta his own reflections on the cause of necessitate their occurrence so as to dcpri ve the strange po.rndoxicnl proceeding which sinners of their guilt; yet when they hnve led "his own" not to receive him. occurred, the ea.uses which produced tbo Vere. 37-43.-6. The reflectiona of I.he widespread unbelief in the days of Isaiah evungelist. were seen to be still at work, and to account Ver. 37.-Though he had done so many for the strange incomprehew,ible mystery signs in their presence, yet they believed not that blindness in pa.rt had happened to on him. (TonuTa is discriminated from Israel. God works by law, and works freely Totaun, Plat., ' Gorgias,' p. 456, c. The by men and in them, not only foreseeing passages oh. vi. 9; xiv. 9; xxi, 11, nre the evil a.ud blindness, but positively generally held to establish tho meaning of punishing sin by blindness, ta.king away "so many," rather "so great; " the proof is from e. ma.n that which he aeemeth to have. not conol uai ve.) If " so many " be the cor- By thilt--..meana the "e.ltar was built, the rect roe.ding, John is simply implying what wood and the knife" for the great sacrifice. he elsewhere expresses, that a widespread The use made of various portiong of this knowledge wo.a possessed by him of groups oracle, by the Lord, by evangelists, by the of miraculous signs, of which herecorded only apostles, by the dee.con Philip, by Paul and seven crucial symbolic specimens; (1) wine; Peter, shows that the early Church regarcled (2) bread; (3) walking on the sea; (4) heal- it e.s the dete.iled description of the character ing nobleman's son; (5) healing impotent su.ft'ering, and work of Uhrist. It becamo man ; (6) resurrection of Lazarus; to be virtually a portion of the New Testament, followed by (7) the healing of the ear of and it we.s practically treated as such by Malchus, and the resurrection of the Lord Bame.bas (c. 5, 'Ep. to Diog.,' c. 49) and himself. (a) Signs in heaven, earth and Justin Martyr (1 • Apol.,' c. 50). The fifty- sea; (b) startling miracles on human nature, third of Isaiah may have been imperfectly and (o) on dead men, did not compel belief. understood by its e.uthor, may in his min,l The inncceeaibility of the people reveals he.ve had this, that, or the other original their mental condition, but no reprolUlh is reference, and have au.ft'ered various Judaic thrown upon the method which the Lord interpretations. Modern criticism may scoff took to reveal hie Di vine mission. The at it e.s a Messianic prophecy. All this tragic refrain still echoes on, "He cama does not touch the patent fa.et that nearly unto his own, and his own received him all the writers of the New Testament and not." numerous classes in the ee.rlv Church need it Ver. 38.-In order that the words of Isaiah as descriptive of their idea. of Christ's work. the prophet might be fulfilled, whioh he It thus becomes of priceless value. spake, Lord, who believed our report t or Vera. 39, 40.-In these verses, however, a. the message which the prophets have deeper difficulty still is involved. The 6,a. delivered-the prediction they made of a TouTo ... oTt leave us no option (see eh. vii. suffering and rejected Obrist, of One who 21, 22) but to translate : For from this would '' sprinkle many nations," and in the reason they were unable to believe ( see very "trave.il of his soul see his seed." To other illustrations of the usage, eh. v. 1S; whom was the arm of the Lord revealed 1 viii. 47; x.17). There was a. moral impossi• It does not mean that no hearts responded bility inherited by them through e.ges of to the appee.l, that the voice from hee.veu rebellion and insensibility to Divine grace, fell on no susceptible ears; but that it is one and through their misuse of Divine revela- of the anome.lies of human life that man tion, The issue of it was, "they could not does seem so insensible to his own highest believe." Beoause Isaiah said a.gain; i.e. fa interests. Prophet.ll aro always wondering another place; illustrative of this great Mes- at the oondition of mankind Even Jesus sie.nio oracle and the reception it would meet mnrvelled at the unbelief of his hearers. with from the nation as e. whole. In the The ,\O-yos of lsaie.h shows that prophets pe.saage whioh follows we havo e. trausle.tion foresaw the issue of the kind of reception which does not directly correspoucl with that a people who had been eo faithl888 to either the Hebrew or the LXX. of Isa. vi. 9, Jehovuh'e lesser manifestations would give 10. The prophet is bidden by the Lord to JOUN,-ll, L 146 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. Le&, xn. 1--tiO,