The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 2 — Section 146

strength, and joy, 3. The ea;clamalion of the pe,opl~, whi.di is taken fr()'TTI, PB. cxviii., wa., a recognition of the MeBsiahsliip of Jesus. II. CONSIDER OUB LonD's RESPONSE TO THE SALUTATIONS OF THE PEOPLE. "Jesus having found o. young BBB, sat thereon; BB it is written, Fear not, daughter of Zion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt." I. The action was a Messianic ,,ign of humility. The ass is BB despised in the En.et as in the West.. The entry of Jesu, upon it setforlh the essentially spiritual aspect of his Kingship. 2. The quotationfr()'TTI, ancient prophecy might a~sure the Jews that this King would be no tyrant. 3. Yet the true import of the sign was not directly understood even by the disciples. "Now the disciples understood not these things at the time." (1) The disciples were oft.en "slow of heo.rt" to believe all that the prophets had spoken. (2) But, in the light of onr Lord's ascension, they saw the import of his action, and understood the part which they themselves had contributed to it. III. THE EXPLANATION OF Tms DEMONSTRATION. "The multitude therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of his grave, and raised him from the dead, bare him witness; and for this cause also the multitude met him, because they bad heard that he had done this miracle." Both the Jews of Jerusalem and the stra.ngers bore witness to the miracle which led to the demonstration It shows how profound was the impression made by the miracle. IV. 'fHE EFFECT OF THE DEMONtlTBATION ON THE PHARISEES. "Whereupon the Pharisees said among themselves, You see that you prevail nothing; behold, the whole world is gone away arter him." 1. This ia the language of weak and irresolute despair. 2. They seem to blame each other f 0'1' the fr,u;tration of their plans. 3. They evidently deem that the time is past /or mere half-measures, and are prepared to adopt the more enerietic and extreme measures suggested by Caiaphas. Vera. 20-36.-The interview of the Greeks with Christ. This is the only incident recorded between the entry into Jerusalem and the institution of the Lord's Supper. I. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS INTERVIEW. " And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast." 1. They were not Gentiles, but proselytes of the gate, of Gentile ~traction, who ha,d, been, admitted to Jewish pri,m1eges. They came to the Passover as reverent and earnest worshippers. 2. They probably "belonged to one of the Greek cities of Decapolis, which were full of Greeks. These cities were on the other side of the sea of Galilee. Thus we understand their application to Philip of Bethsaida in the first instance. 3. It is signifi=t that Phi1ip and .Andrew were the only disciples whose names are of·Greek origin. 4. The request of the Greeks was for a private conversation with Jesus on religious subjects. "We would see Jesus." 5. R is significant that these Greeks should 'bring our Lord into relation with the Genti1e world at the end, as the Magifr<nn, the East did at the beginning. 6. It is still more significant that these proselytes of the Gentiles should be so ana:ious to see Jesus at a time whem, the Pharisees were taking steps/or his destruction in a spirit of the deepest hate. 7. The interview was readily conceded, after the two disciples consulted cautiollllly with one another about the matter, as they must have remembered our Lord's words, "I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." II. Oun LORD'S ANSWER TO THE APPLICATION OF THE GREEKS. It is, in substance, that the extension of the gospel to the Gentiles was conditioned by his death. 1. The presence of the Greeks suggests the thought of the scattered sheep for whose gathering the Shepherd must lay down his life. (Oh. x. 16-19.) Jesus sees already "the other sheep" as ready to be ~athered into the fold. (1) His language implies that the hour of his Passion was at hand. "'l'he hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified." (2) It implies that the conversion of the Greeks would be a ohief feature in bis glorification. (3) It implies that his human nature would be exalted. It is as the Represe:itative of humanity that Jesus is to be glorified. 2. Jesus states the condition of his communi- cating blessing to the Gentiles. "Except B corn of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." (1) The principle here stated is true of nil life. The partiole of grain seems to be dead, but there is lodged in it the possibility of a manifold life. The seed by dying is united to the life that quickens all seeds. (2) The principle is illustrated in the life of Christ. (a) His denth took him out of the loneliness of his unapproachable glory and connected him  162 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO S'l'. JOHN. [oit. xn. 1-50,