The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 2 — Section 333

l'Utbnrity WRA implied in J,is inca.m,,tion and definite or infinite prolongitlfon of time, ~norilioe, end in the rMrtpitnlation of all Tht which Christ gives to tho&e who believe thing,; in him. St. Paul B&y&, "Bt'ORTI~e be in him, receive him, is the life of God him• tu•tod dent.Ii for every man, God has highly self. Jt is strongly urged by mn,ny that this mmltl'd him, and given him tlte Name tbnt is etemnl life is a present rooliznble poesession Rho\"e e\"ery name," et.o. Theec opening thnt he thRt lrnt,h the Son hnth lire, nnd that -..-orde reveal the unive?'llality and world-wide we Rre to disregard the future in the oon- nspeote of the mission and antbority 1md scious enjoyment of this blcssednees; but o:1ving power of the Son of God. He holds we must not forget that our Lord obviously 1he keys of the kingdom and oity of God. r<'fers the life eternal to the future in Matt. 'l'he gnvernment is upon his 11houlder. xix. 29; Mnrk x. 80; Luke xviii. 80; Mntt. 'l'hrougb him all the ntttions on e:trtb are xxv. 4.6. Nor are theee statements, BB some 1o be blessed. Bnt the dependence of "all hRVe said, inoompatible with the representa- fiC'llh" upon a Di,·ine gift of eternR.I lifo tions of this Gospel (see oh. vi. 4.0, 5-1; :xi. through him is no lPBS conspicuous; hence 25; xii. 25). The aioninn blesecdncss mo.y the hopok•ssness ()f human natnre as it is have a partial realization here o.nd now, but end apart from gmee. The end of this not till our vision is less clouded and our ,:'.lorification of the Son in the Father is perils o.re less severe shnll we fully ap- that, in the exercise of this authority, he may prehend it. Nor is this inconsistent with give etoma.J. life to all whom thou hast given ver. 8. him. The construction is unusua.1, and lite- Ver. 8.-The life eternal, of which Jesus ra.lly rendered would be, that wii,h referenee to has just spoken, is this ( cf. for construction, the whol,e of tl,at which thou hast gifien him, eh. xv. 12; I John iii. II, 23; v. 3), tho.t 1 to them he shotdd give eternal life. The they might know-should oome to ~ow- cla.11116, ..-iiv II 3J301rras, may be a nominative thee, the only veritable God. All ideas of oraccll8Rtive absolute, which, by the defining God which deviate from or fall short of abToi's, is subsequently resolved into indi- "the Father" revenled to us by Christ, are vidual element.a. The redeemed humanity not the veritable God, and the knowledge of all time has boen given to the incarnate of them is not life eternal. The Father is Son, and is undoubtedly different from the here set forth as the /om Deitatis. This ( 1rttcr1L cr,ip{) " all flesh " of the previous does not exclude "the Son," but is incon- cla uee, but it is further ei:pla.ined to mean ceivable without him. The Fatherhood the individual men and women who receive expresses a.n etemo.l relation. The one ele- from him et.ernal life. The bestowment of ment involves the other o.s integral to itself; eternal life on those thus given to him is "I am in the Father, a.nd the Father in me." the method in which he will glorify the There is o. knowledge of tho Father possible Father (see notes on eh. vi 37, where even now. "Henceforth, he baa said, ye the Father is snid to draw men to himself have seen him, end known him;" yet not till b,- means of the unveiling of his own true the veil is lifted, and we see face to face, oho.meter in the Son, and where this drawing shall we know as we are known (1 Cor. xiii. is seen to be another way of describing the 12; l John iii 2), shall we see him 611 he is. Father's gift to the Son). Thoee who are And him whom thou didst send, J'esus the given to Christ are those who are drawn by Cf.n.rist (not Jesu, to be, or as Christ, but the Father's grace to see his perfect self- re.ther "Jesue the Christ," as the expansion revelation in the fo.ce of Jesus CliriBt, of and explanation of the more indefinite term, ~·hom JesDB says, "I will by no means cost "him whom thou didst send"). Why does them out" ( eh. vi. 37), and concerning whom our Lord a.dd to this expression one that a.t he avere, ••Noone cometh Uilto the Father first sight seems so incompatible with the but by me" ( eh.xiv. G). Zrfni alc:w,os, life eter- idea. of this p1'ayer? It has led so careful unL ie frequently described 611 bis gift. From a.nd reverential a. commentator ee Westcott the first the evangelist ha.e regarded (rfni &B to remove the difficulty by supposing tho.t the inherent and inalienable prcroga.ti veof the the whole verse is a gloss of the eva.ngelist, " Logos," and the source of all the " light" expressing the sense of what our Lord mo.y which has lighted men. This "life,'' which ha.ve uttered at greater length. We 61'0 is "light," came into the world in his birth, loth to admit this method of exegesis, espe- a;,d b«ame the head of a new humanity. cially as the sole reo.soue for it o.re the sup- It is clea.rly more than, and profoundly posed strangeness of our Lord's here using different from, the prin~ iple of unending a. phrase so uuaccustomed, and thus giving E:xislenoe. Life is more than perpetuity of himself not only bis Pereonal Name, but being, e.nd eternity is not endlessness, nor his own official title. It is unusual. The ie "eternal life" e. mere prolongation of phrase does undoubtedly belong to a late, duration; it refers rather to state and 1 •11111 here has the defining force to the quelity tha.n to one contitionof that eto.te; it ic the 11£ptioo of time rauher thw.i ill• predicate a.rnij, cm. xvn. 1-26.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. ,JOHN. 34,q