The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 2 — Section 452

look or pn11Re.'' Ilnt why need we 1uppou therefore, the other disoiple o.lso, h g who 11, point-blnnk oontradiction of Luke? Such oame flrat to the 1epulohre. Surely the a moclo or ontmnco is nlmoet unthinkable. charge thnt this WTiter, under the teaching Dut ho did more: And entered into the of second-century tondenci es, wo.s systemati- ■epulchre. How elrongely impnleive thi1 cally endeavouring to lower the common mon I how. chorncterietio or every other re- estimnte of Peter in favour of John, brco.ks corded nohon of Peter I 'fhere must hnve to pieces on the self-condemnation whioh is hcon n Peter who corroepondecl lo the four- or here recorded. The writer, whoever he w!ls, flvo-folcl portmilure or tho evan.,.cliatio his- emphasizes his own amnller coumgo, his tory. The last time thnt Peter a~w hie Lord tardy recognition ot' the fact; but ho e.dds, wu.s when a "look" of his cruelly insulted And he saw, and believed. According to Frioncl nnd Mosler ho.cl broken his own heo.rt; Augustine,Er:ismus,and Luther, he believed yet now ho we.e rushing impulsively to gaze wh11,t l\lary had said. He se.w now that t!ie ngnin upon thnt fnco with, so for n~ he knew, tomb was empt_v, a.nd believer] her report, nil the murks of infernnl insult yet upon it. whether it went on to describe the Jirst The contrast of chamcter bet1rnen John and angelic message or not; but Liicke, Longe, Peter is everywhere rnnintcLined. John, in Meyer, and Moulton, following Chrysostom, eh. xxi. 7, fhet recognizes the Lore! ; Peter etc., rightly interpret "he believed" that hurries through the wntera to fall onco more J osua ha.d not been taken by others from 11t bis feet. John is lost in eilont medita- the grave. He saw there wm·e n" signs of tions ; Peter excle.ime, o.nd wonders. And haste or confusion, or of a ritlecl tomb. He he beholdeth ( Oeo,pei, with a closer ancl more believed that he h~d risen, that this death careful, vivid, o.nd instructive go.ze, not of his had been done away, that he was merely {Jll.l,m, the word used by John of his living, e.s he said. This is one of the most own conduct) the linen oloths lying, and the vivid indications that the writer Rsaumes napkin (sudarium, schweisstuch) which was ncquciintance with the most inwcird expe- (had bee11) upon his head. He does not aa.y rience of that disciple whom Jesus loved. whose head. How full the writer's mind Luke says that "Peter wondereJ in hicaelf we.a of Christ I Not lying with the linen et that which had happened." John tell~ clothe, but separately in one place, rolled up, us tha.t, from that moment, the whole thing ns if it had been folded up or wrapped to- flashed upon himself. '.rhcre was something gether (see for this use of xo,p(s, lEschylus, for him to see which shed e. burning light • Agam.,' 623; Homer, 'Iliad,' 'IJ, 470-this upon Holy Scriptnre, upon the promises and is the only timci that xwpfr is thus ndver- acts of Jesus; a.ncl he "belie.ell" in the bie.lly used in the Nciw Testament-and triumph which ha,l been achiered. Godet see for EVTETul\t-yµlvov, preseut participle, thinks more-he believed in the Messiah- Luke xxiii. 53). It wns clear, then, that ship and Souship in a sense which had not the body hod not beeu c11rried awa.y for dawned upon him before. The apostle nnother burial, nor had it been hastily seems to link himself with those who hnd removed, seeing that there were signs the smaller e.nd less perfect benediction of deliberation, choice, nnd ea.re. All thet subsequently pronounced upon Thomas. wo.s suggested by this wonderful appear- Ver. 9.-For not as yet did thay know ance of the grave, e.11 thnt it means to us, (j6w1av has e.n imperfect, not pluperfect we caunot fathom. The nciw life has tense) the Scripture, which, if rightly inter• raiment cf its own, belonging to e. higher prated, ought to ha.ve made them triumphant region of existence, wovcin in spiritu!ll in the hour of the Lord's deepest humilia- looms; yet the hands that unwound these tion, and ought to have convinced them that bo.nde.ges nnd head-cloth, and laid them as the ideal Sufferer of Pa. :uii. would prove to Peter and John so.w them, were capable of be Lord of all; and that the L11.mb of God of physical exertions and nctivity. What dog- Isa. liii. must see his seed, e.nd prolong his I.aa.tio hints e.re involved in this recito.11 de.ye; that God's "Holy One" of Ps. xvi. He is a living Per~on, not an abstract prin- could not see corruption; that the Messiah ciple or vague force. There are evident of n hundred prophetic hopes must conquer proofs that, however great the change which all his foea. 'fhe words of Jesus himself, in had passed over him, the Living One wo.a the memory of John e.nd th,\t of the synop. the so.me mnn that he had ever been. tists, had been dark 11.nd confused, and they Ver. 8.-Then, emboldened by the obser- had not put all together into one glorions Tation of Peter, with e. courage reviving conviction tha.t he must (6,i, by e. Divine from his awe-struck stupefo.otion, entered in, necessity) rise from among the dead; nor hed they grasped the fa.et that it was not The authorities for it are very numerous, possible th11.t he should be holden in the but differ in details. Some nuthorities o:nit travail-pangs of death.. The signs which Luke xxiv. 12: Tischeudorf {Stjl edit.), b\lt John saw now broughhll bis hopes together. Dot R.T. Ver.10.-Tllo ~o1plee then, again departe(l JOIIN,-U. 2 lil  THR GORP"t AOOORDTNG TO RT. ,lOHN. [m. xx. 1-31.