/udgeth him-the word (71.&"fo,) whioh I " The Law is ordain en unto life," Hid Paul, epBke, that will judge him at the last day. and "the goodness of God lea.deth oe onto 'fhcre is no more 11wful uttere.noe than this repentanoe." The rlepth of this sublime (comp. 1 John iv. 17: 2 Cor. v. 10, where experienoe goes down and ho.ck into the tho irresistible power of II searching in- eternal counsels. The things which there- violnblo Law is vindioated). How strange fore I 1pea.k (am speaking even at this tho.t eomo oritice should, with II view to moment), even as the Pather ha.a said unto dispo.ro.go the authenticity of the Gospel, me, 10 I apea.k. "In rejecting me and my mnke it nppoar that there is no reference in words, men reject aud insult the Father. it to jndgment to oome, or to the last day, His word they dare to renounce, as solemn and should deliberately ignore this fee.tore nnd unalterable ns the word spoken on of the Joh11nnine Gospel I Sinai. They not only reject me, but they Vere. 49, 50.-There is much emphasis to count themselves unworthy of eternal life. be laid upon tho 3n, which implies that They not only spurn Law, but love." Thus, our Lord would give a sacred reason for the at the conclusion of the pnblic ministry, the tremendous power with which hie 71.&"for evangelist sets forth, in a few burning words, would be invested. Tho 71.&"fos, the ~f,µa., is the theme of the prologue, so far as it is not simply his: it did not proceed from realized in the offer of a full revelation of himself only, from his humanity, or even the Logos to the world in human flesh. hie Divine Sonship alone, but from the This Logos found adequate utterance :Father which sent me. He stood nnd spake through the human lire and lips of Jesus. always as the Voice of the Eternal One,from "The Father has been so amply revealed whom he came, with saving powers. He has that the non-believer aud rejecter, who given me commandment what I should say, bears and does not keep my sayings, is dis- e.nd what I should speak. The two words believing and rejecting mM." These potent .1,..., and 71.a.ll.f,uc,, (dicam and loquar, Vul- words, and this wonderful conclusion of the go.te), though Hengstenberg says it is entire record of the public ministry of Jesus, frivolous to distinguish, are supposed by is the appropriate sllllllllary of teo.cliings Meyer, Westcott, and Godet, to discriminate which were now brought to a close. With- matter nnd form, as Godet says, " What I out any exact p>111'allels, they breathe the should say, and how I should say it." My spirit of the whole teaching, they supply words nnd their manner and opportunity the basis of the prologue. It is, however, and tone are all of them the outcome of clear that the style is different from the the Father's IV'Toll.~. It certainly is in- prologue, and from the reflection of the credible that John could have put these evangelist in previous venes. Just as the w01·ds into the lips of Jesus. They o.re no whole Gospel is a. series of recollections mere summary. They o.re set down with which form from their own intrinsic glory awful sincerity as having burned them- and truth a sacred inimit.able whole, so selves into his memory. But the Lord this spicilegium is a brief evangelium in added, "I may be rejected and my words evangelio-a gathering up of the whole in spurned, and yet they may go on as appari- the narrow compass of a few precious lines. tors of judgment, but however that may be, Though "the hour" has come, it waits. and I know ( olaa) that his oomme.nd.ment, his The compo.rison between this method of the commission to me, is life eternal-is so now" eva.ngelist and that of the apoca.lyptist ia ( cf. eh. iii. 86: xvii. 8; I John v. 12, 18). very impressive.
HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-11.-The s-u,pper at Bethany. While the hostility of the Jews grows day by day, the devotion of our Lord's friends visibly increases. I. 'l'nE TIME OF TRE SUPPER. "Six: days before the Passover." 1. The most probable opinion is that _it took place on the day after the Jewish sabbath. 2. The edict of the authorities at Jerusalem respecting Jes'll,S had no deterrent effect 1ipon his/Tienda at Bethany. This feast is their answer to it. II. THE PLACE OF THE SUPPER. 1. It was, as we learn from the other evangelists, lield in the house of Simon the leper, Probably ho had been healed by Jesus, and !!:ave the feast as a sign of his gratitude and love. 2. The guests were Jesus and his apostles; Martha, who gave her personal service; Mary, whose extra.ordinary act showed equal faith and love; and Lazarus, whose very presence glorified our Lord. III. 'l'RE AOT OF MARY. "'fhen took Mary a pound of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair." 1. Other ~anielists mention that she anointed his head; that, however, was a common courtesy. 150 THE GOSPEL AOOORDIN'G TO ST. JOHN. [ou, XII. 1-liO.