The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 2 — Section 169

world." (3) Faith in Christ, as the Light, alone can res,dt ir,,faith in the Object which it TY1•eals. "That whosoever believeth on me," etc. The enjoyment of light can alone ~a<'e us from darknesa, and bring us face to faoe with the objects around \18. The enjoy- ment of Christ by faith alone can bring us to enjoy the Father. II. THE MISSION OF CHRIST m RELATION TO UNBELI'.EF. 1. Unbelitf develops itself in two u·ays. (1) In a,ttenti~ hl',(lring but non-obsert1ance. (Ver. 47.) (2) Eneit·a ,-ejedi.on. (Ver. 48.) 2. Both these classes incur judgment. (1) Not directly by Christ. "1 judge him not.." (2) The prirrw,ry; purpose of <Jhrist's mission was not fwlgment. (3) Its primary pwrpose was salvation.. 3. The un'believer'sjwlge is Christ's message. "'l'he Word that I spake," etc. (1) Jud,gment is the secondary result of Christ's Word. Its primary and natural result is eternal life. Man turns it into judgment by rejection. Vvhen it fails to save on account of unbelief it judges and condemns. (2) The judgment of the \\7 ord is partly present. "He bath," etc. Now the unbeliever is condemned by his 011·n reason and conscience, and in the light of the Word he is self-condemned. (3) It is more suitable that the Word should judge now than if Christ were to do so. He. could not directly judge and eave at the same time. But his Word must condemn when it fails to benefit. C.,4) The final a11dfulljudg'TTUmt of the Word will be in the future. "At the last day, etc. '!'hen the judgment by the Word will be published, and reach its finality. The Word, like Christ, is unchangeable. The rejected Word will judge. It will be the same a.t the last day as now, and will deliver its final verdict. III. THE :MISSION OF CHRIST IN RELATION TO HIMSELF AND THE FATHER. 1. His mission wa,s purely Divine. (1) It was not self-derived. "I have not spoken of myself," etc. Th.is in his case would be an impossibility, for be and the Father are one. (2) It was wt a mixture of the human and the Divine. (3) It was purely the will of the Father. 2. His mission was minutely defined. (1) It was embodied in a Divine command. (Ver. 49.) (2) This command embraced the minutest details of hi, mission. " What I should say and speak," etc. (3) This command was ever present to him in his inward ccnsciou.sness, written as a law in his heart. It wa.s the inspiration of every thought and the burden of every word. It was, in fact, a. pa.rt of himself. , 3. Hu mission was fully undersfx>od by -him. "A.nd I know," etc. (1) Understood in' its natural results. "Life everlasting." (2) Understood in its awful importance. The fate of the human family hung on his mcssage. (3) Understood most absolutely. "I know." It is not~ I think or believe.n 4. His mission was most faithfully discharged. (1) Without 1.ny additions. (2) Without any deductions. (3) With the most devoted fidelity. With regard to its substance and spirit, it was discharged with the greatest care. There was no partiality for favours, no evasions on· account of frowns, no riandering to taste, no fishing for praise; there was no attempt to please any one but hie Father. IV. THE MISSION OF CBllIBT IN BELATIOl!I' TO ITS LAST PUllLIC NOTES. 1. There wasinter.se earnestnesa. "He cried," and w'hy? (1) There was great danger. Judgment was a.t ha.nd. (2) There was a slight possioility to avert it. There was a little •inter- vening time. It .was brief, but must be used, and his message must b!l published. (3) It was his last opportunity. His farewell sermon to the public. 2. .A special effort is made. "He cried." (1) He was intensely desirous to gain hearing and attention. (2) He was intensely desirous to be understood. (3) He was intensely desirous to be believed, Hence he did wha.t was unnsua.l for him-"he cried;" and the ministry to this day is the echo of that cry of Jesus.-B. T_ • Vers. 1-8.-.A good work wroug1.t in season. When Jesus lay, a. helpless Infant, in the manger a.t Bethlehem, there ca.JLa strangers from the East a.nd poured rich offerings· at his feet-gold and frankincense and myrrh; and now that he wa.s a.bout to leave the world, an unexpected act of homage was done to him, not indeed by a. stranger, but by a gentle and unobtrwuve disciple. The occasion was this. Our Lord, weary with hiiJ journey from the country beyond Jordan, his last long earthly journey, was resting the last sabbath of his earthly JUe at his favourite Bethany. There they made him a. mpper, and the disciples were present, and Martha was in waiting, and Lazarus, as might be expected, was a noted guest. It was then that Mary took her pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly-we ma.y well suppose the most precious thwg which lltt, xu. 1-50.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. li5 --------·----------- -- · - - --- ehe posseseed-e.nd poured it on Jesus' feet e.s he reclined at the be.nquet, and wiped his feet with her hair. The evangelist takes care to note that "the house was filled with the odour of the ointment," aind it has been beautifully said that " the Church, whloh is the house of God, sUII smells the fragrance. of that woman's spikenard; " for how wonderfully he.vo the words of Jesne, which we may borrow from another Gospel, boon fulfilled, "Verily I any unto yon, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she bath done shall be told for a memorinl of her" I And how does the consciousness of hie own Divine authority burst forth in these words of Jesus! Who else was ever certain that by a simple word he could make an action memorable till the end of time? Consider- !. 'l'HE MOTIVE!! OF MARY'S ACT OF HOMAGE. One of them at least lies on the surface. Jesus bad not been in ·Bethany since be raised Lazarus from the dead; an,l whon Mary saw her brother sitting at the same table with him who turned her mourn• ing into joy, could any gift be too great or precious to express her gratitude?' Her eyes a.re homes of silent prayer, Nor other thought her mind admits: But he was dead, and there he sits; And he that brought him back is there." This was enough; but there was a cleeper obligation still. It was not in vain that Mary herself had sat at Jesus' feet and heard his Word. She knew that he was the Ghrist, the Saviour of the world. He had come to deliver her and all believers from a deeper darkness than that of the tomb, and a death more terrible than the death of the body. Gentle and amiable as she was, she could not receive the gift of eternal life without" <lying unto sin;" and who can doubt that it was with a contrite and forgiven heart that she poured her precious ointment on the feet of Jesns? This gave the alabaster box its highest value. "The sacrifices of God a.re a broken spirit." But once more. Had Mary the impression that so fitting an opportunity of testifying her gratitude to the Redeemer might never occur again? She was not called, like bis dis- ciples, to follow him from place to place as he went about preaching the kingdom, and the visits of Jesus tc, Bethany were necessarily few in number. She could not, indeed, have foreseen all that was· coming so soon-the conspiracy, the betrayal, the cross of agony and shame. She could not have known that on the very next sabba.th her beloved Master would be lying cold and still in Joseph's sepulchre. But, on the other hand, Jesus had spoken again and again to his clisciples of his approaching death and departure to the Father. They indeed were incredulous; but some report of his words would reacl::. Mary's ears. An undefined presentiment that her Master was not to be long upon earth may well have arisen in her mind, and· all the more eagerly would she seize the present opportunity of doing him honour. Hence '' she did what she could." U. THE GENERAL MURMUR. While the house was filled with the odour of the ointment, a murmur of dissatisfaction arose. !(came first from the lips of the traitor. "Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred pence [about £10], and given to the poor? and this he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief," etc. • This picture of the son of perdition is almost too painful to dwell upon. His blind.ness to ~h'e moral loveliness of Mary's action. His vexation at losing an imagined chance of plunder. His avarice, bis jealousy; and, worst of all, his mask so readily assumed of zeal for the cause of the poor I So ripe was he for Satan's last temptation, that the next thing we read of him is his stealing away to the priests at Jerusalem to bargain with them about bis Master's blood, and sell his own soul. "When lust bath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." But while Judas stood alone in bis covetousness and hypocrisy, we learn from the Gospel of Matthew that others joined him in his censure of Mary of Bethany. The disciples said, "'l.'o wht1t purpose is this waste?" 'l'heir common thought was, "This sacrifice is too great, too costly for the occasion. The spikenard is of 11:reat price. Surely it would have been better to bestow its value on the poor. 'fo spend it on an evanescent fragrance is extravagance and waste." Hero pause for a moment. .Are we certain that, had we ourselves been present, we might not have joined in the rising murmur? At all events, how often bas the spirit of the censure broken out afresh? It is not so lot>~ ago eince the Churches of our own country awoke to the duty :if  176 TIIE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. [oR. xn. 1--50,