The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 2 — Section 159

the unk--nown, makes himself known to us; God, the unseea, mBkee himself visible to 11~. For we can believe on Christ, our Frien<l, our Brothe,r; we can behold him, the humBn Immanuel. We greet, him 88 he comae to us from heaven; we listen to him as he speaks to us in e&rthly language. For us the problem is solved, the chasm is bridgl'd, t.he impossible is achieved; as Jesus says, "He that believetln. on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me." Some pel'Bons have found it hard to believe that "God was manifest in the flesh." But it seems far harder to believe that God was ,wt in Obrist, that Christ was not "God with us." It seems hard to imagine how otherwise we could be brought to realize the unspeakable nearness of our heavenly Father, how otherwise we could look into his face, recognize his voice, love him and delight in him. God is in nature; but can it be said, "He that believeth in physical law, that seeth material glory, believes in and beholds the Father above"? He spake by the prophets ; but could Moses assert, or ElijBh, "He that sooth me seeth him that sent me"? The incongruity must strike every mind; such language from human lips would send a shock through every Christian heart. There are good men living now; will the best of them stand up before the world, and, claiming to come from God, declare, "He that seeth me seeth him that sent me"? But how naturally do such words come from Jesus of Nazareth I How simple! How free from exaggeration and assumption! And how justly and confidently do many hearts rest in his Divine, his welcome, his precious, his authoritative assurance, " He that hath seon me bath seen the Father" I II. CHRIST'S woans ARE THE WORDS OF Goo. This is indeed the meaning of the ministry of Jesus, as a ministry of teaching. In the context this truth is brought out with special distinctuess and power. "I have not," says the great Teacher, "spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. . . . Whatsoever I speak, therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak." It is true that all human language i8 imperfect, and that, if it is not capable of expressing all the thoughts, and especially all the feelings of men, it is not reasonable to expect that it shall utter in completeness the mind of the infinite God. This objection is brought by some against a revelation in words-against the Bible itself. lint it is no valid objection. Because the most high and eternal God cannot make himseU fully known to man, inasmuch as no means by which he can communicate can do other than partake of human imperfection, shall he therefore rofuse to commune with us at all? His fatherly pity will not consent to this. He " spake to the fathers by the prophets,'' and "in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son." And what words they are in which our Lord has addressed us! Who can believe them without believing the Father, who sent as Messenger his own honoured and beloved Son? He is indeed "the Word," being, in his own faultless Person and sacred ministry, the very speech of the Divine mind, appealing to humanity with the summons, " He that bath ears to hear, let him hear." His words were true. Of himself he could speak as "a Man who telleth you the truth." The unbeliever may come to believe his words, and so to believe in himself; the Christian believes in him, and therefore receives his utterances with an unquestioning faith. On the highest themes, on themes of the deepest and most imperishable interest for man, Christ has spoken; and his words a.re final, never to be questioned, never to be disproved. His words a.re words of power. As he himself declared, "The words which I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." His words are immortal. "Heaven and earth," said he, "shall pass a.way, bnt my words shall not pass away." His words a.re more than human. The officers were conscious of the authority of his teaching, when they returned and said, "Never man spake like this Man!" IIL CllRil!T's LOVE IS THE LOVE oF GoD. This is the meaning of the ministry of Jesus as a display of character and disposition, as a constant extension to men of healing, pardon, grace, and help. Our Saviour struck the key-note of his ministry in the words he addressed to Nicodemus: "God sent not his Son into the world to con- demn the world, but that the world through him might be saved." The worst evils which men suffer they inflict upon themselves; the greatest blessings which they experience are given them by God. How conld men be convinced that God is a Saviour? The beBt answer to this question is the fact that they have been so convinced by the mission and the ministry of Christ. Ai he "went about doing good;" as " he tu:. xn. 1-50.J 'rl!E GO8PlllL ACCORDING '.1'0 ST. JOHN. 165