The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 2 — Section 176

lmt a(l the time JC':3us felt that he was getting the fl\rue which was only his in part. H ~M ngbt _nn,l ~crv1~C'11.ble _that men should talk of him; but that t.alk would only lead int.o dcluswn and d1sappomtment unless they could talk of his Fathtll: also. II. THE EFFORTS OF J EBUB TO GLORIFY HTB F ATHEB. How he kept tbe Name or hie Father before his disoipli,e ! ne talked of the Father M of Ono with whom he was In con~tant and most familiar connection. But men could not see the Father as they could see Jesus, and hence the Father-Name rem11ined but a name. And thus we have this strange fact to notice, that whereas Jesus came to reveal the Father, he rather fi6Cmed at fimt to hide him. 'I'he fact was that Jesus hid the revelation of the Father for a while in himself, just Rs the revelation of the full-developed plant is hidden In the seed. Jesus had to speak of things which his audience understood not as yet, hut those same things would by-and-by be unveiled, and not only unveiled but th~ brightest light of heaven would be cast upon them. • ' III. 'l'rrn FATHER GLORIFYING HIS NAME. The hour was impending when •Jesus would appear to the natural man utterly weak, shorn of his habitual strenath 0 and resources, just as Samson was when he lost his locks. Many a one would be puzzled to reconcile the JC'sus, so mighty in doing wonderful works in Galilee, with the Jesus i;eemingly so helpless in the hands of liis enemies at Jerusalem. But eclipse is not the &'lrue thing as <lestruction. Jesus went into obscurity for a little while that the glory of the Father mi;.:ht more di,tinctly appear. When Jesus breathed h. is last, the Father got the opportunity, to be fully u~ed, of glorifying his Name. .And then the Church entered fully upon its privilege, and was permitted to behold the Father glorifying himself in the Son, and the Son correspondently glorified in the Father.-Y. Ver. 32.-77u: all-attracting Je.sus. I. THE A.ms AND' DOPES 01!' JESUS DIFFERENT FROM THOSE TO WH0H BE SPOKE. Those who questioned and criticized him cared for no country but their own. Not that they were ignorant of other countries, for they went to live in them, but they still kept communion and close touch with Jerusalem. The Jew liked to make nioney out of the Gentile, and so he would go and live iil. the Gentile city, hut it never seemed to strike him that the God of the Jew was God also of the Gentile, and that the Christ for whom the Jew waited was needed by the Gentile just as much. But Jesus, being himself the Christ, longed inexpressibly for the hour when he should begin to draw all men to himself. Eveii in the days of his flesh he began to draw the Gentiles. For even as Jews went to dwell in· Gentile lands, so Gentiles came to dwell in the Jewish land; and when Jesus went abont doing good. humanity in e.11 its pressing need overleaped the bounds of nationality, and came to him for help. II. OUR A.IMS .um B0PEB A.B.E ALSO DII!'FEB.ENT. Most part of men certainly do not care to be drawn to Jesus. Jesns is interested in everybody', while our deep, underlying desire is to get as many people as possible interested in us. We are mightily grieved if other people do not think almost as much about us as we do about ourselves. But it is not quite so much a matter of course to be interested in other people. And to be interested in Jesus, to set ourselves in real sober earnest to find out all we can about him, may strike us as an eminently unpractical thing. III. Looi.: AT THIB DBA WING POWER IN THE EXERCISE 01!' IT. 1. The purpose of Je:;us is clear. He made that abundantly plain while he lived under the condition8 of ordinary humanity. The times of retirement and avoidance of men were only exceptional. The miracles of Jesus were advertisements in the best sense of the word; Bi~ wor,drow; works were things that people ta.lk.ed about, and were meant to have this effect. 2. The motive also is clear. .All were to be drawn, because of the need of all, w-e all need Jesus, just as every growing plant in the field needs the sunshine and the rain. ,A£, none can live the natural life without air and food, so none can live the higher life without Jesus. We can never be what we were meant to be, until Jesus the Christ 1£ using us for himself. We a.re like unlighted candles, and Jesus alone can light us. TLe glory of a cancile is in its burning, and the glor,r of a human being is in his shining Christianity. We ourselves feel the para.rn~unt claim of _need upon us,_and shall Jesus not feel it? 3. The =m must be noticed, Drawing, not driving. The only effectua.J compulsion is that of love. We must be drawn because we cannot help it. So loug as we prefer self-indulgence, ciise, mere drifting, we shall not be drawn, We  M. xu. 1-50.J TllE GOSPEL ACCORDlNG TO ST. JOBN. 183