ll\le. Jesus has done his last greRt work in the body according to the flesh-he ha~ miscd LazRrus from the deR<l. 'fhese Greeks have come a little too late fvr one set <>f uperiences, nnd a little too soon for another. Any day up to the timf, of sowing thP soe~ you mny see it; but when sown, you must wait to see the seed in the glory of the fn11t that comes from it. I. SEASONS WHEN TEE WORDS ARE SPECIALLY SUGGESTIVE. 1. Sowincr-time. 2. Renping-time, There might be an ecclesiastical calendar according to the order of nl\ture. JcHus would have us think specially of his death at the sowing-time, when the corns of wheat are being scattered abroad over so much of the surface of Gotl'~ cnrth. ·what an immense quantity of grain finds its way into the soil the wide world over I And every one sowing, and every one who sees the sowing, is invited to consider that most wondrous of all seed-corns laid away in the soil when Jesus breathed hi11 last natural breath. And as to natural emblems and reminders of the resurrection, there is a long time in which to study them. The moment we see the delicate blades timidly peeping above the surface, then the word comes to our hearts that Jesus also rose from the dead; and then at last, when, instead of the seed that was sown, we behold the stalk with its h1mdredfold, why, we are helped to feel what a difference there is between Jesus in the days of his flesh and Jesus according to his resurrection from the dead. II. WE MUST LOOK AB CLOSELY AS POSSIBLE AT THE WORDS. The more closely, the niore encouraging and inspiring they will be. Put a corn of wheat away in a drawer. Leave it for twelve months, and then look. It is there still, abiding al011e. But put that corn of wheat into a flower-pot. Let it grow till it is ripe, and then you have a great company of grains of wheat exactly similar to the one you sowed. This indicates just what Jesus wants as the greatest result of his presence among men. He wanted to see.countless multitudes with a spirit and a character like his own-holy as ho was holy, loving as he was loving, and becoming fit for the glory to which he himself was going. During the days of his flesh, he remained like the unsown corn of wheat, alone. He produced nothing like himself. People would not say of his disciples when they met them, "What good, holy, lovable men these are I" How could anybody say that of them, seeing that not long before their Master's death they were wrangling which should be the greatest? Bnt what a difference when Jesus has died and risen again I Jesus no longer abides alone. He is truly the Firstborn among many brethren. If we be true Christians at all, we are more like Christ than we are to those of our fellow- men who are not Christians. Jesus sees great differences where we see great resem- blances, and vice 11ersci. It is demanded of all the children of the heavenly Father that they should be fruitful, and to this end they are to be as branches in the vine. And he who is peculiarly the Son of the Father sets the example that makes our fruitfulness possible. The risen Saviour himself brings forth much fruit. A handful of corn has been sown in the earth on the top of the mountains, and the fruit thereof shakes like Lebanon. 'l.'here is a double resurrection. Not only did Jesus rise again in his own proper personality; he has also risen again in that great multitude concerning every one of whom this is true, "I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." There is no way of making Christians except through the Spirit of the living Christ working in them. A stalk of wheat cannot be got save by sowing the seed from which it is to spring. A.nd so, too, Jesus himself must be the principle in us of a new, a holy, and an eternal life.-Y.
Ver. 28.-Thi, Father glorifying his Name. I. THE DESIRE OF JESUS FOB ms FATHEn's GLORY. Jesus did not seek that the eyes of men should be fixed in admira- tion on him. With powers such as never belonged to any other being of flesh and blood, he never used them for his own advancement among men. The pleasures of human ambition and human fame were far from his heart. No one truly glorifies Jesus unless he glorifies the Father of Jesus. Jesus was glad to find men drawn to him in ever-increasing numbers; he would be glad to find such as these Greeks who had just been inquiring for him; but all the time he felt how there was another Name and another power to which human attention needed to be increasingly directed. The name of Jesus had been already made glorious after a fashion; men had made it glorious. 'l.'hey talked about Jesus; no name would be better known through the land than his; 182 THE GOSPEL ACOORDING TO ST. JOHN. [oH. :1.n. 1-50.