_Then Jesus six days before the Passover._ --The following calendar of the Passover week is taken from Lightfoot (2.586): NISAN IX;_ The Sabbath_. Six days before the Passover, Jesus sups with Lazarus at the going out of the Sabbath, when according to the custom of that country their suppers were... [ Continue Reading ]
_Much people of the Jews therefore knew that He was there._ LEARN 1. Where Christ pleaseth to make Himself known, He will get respect and followers, were there never so much hazard and opposition in the way; for albeit the Rulers had concluded to put Him to death, and He had withdrawn upon that, a... [ Continue Reading ]
_On the next day much people … when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of the palm trees_ THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY OF CHRIST INTO JERUSALEM In the morning Jesus set forth on His journey. Three pathways lead, and probably always led, from Bethany to Jerusalem; one a long circui... [ Continue Reading ]
_These things understood not His disciples at first_ 1. Men may be in the midst of great mercies and actings, and may not only be witnesses of the Lord’s working and the works of others, but even actors themselves in that which for the time they do little or nothing understand; for these things un... [ Continue Reading ]
_Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing?_ Behold the world is gone after Him THE FAILURE OF INFIDELITY Like the prediction of Caiaphas and the inscription of Pilate, an unconscious prophecy is hidden in these words. What the Pharisee affirmed hyperbolically Christ’s friends may now affirm almost lite... [ Continue Reading ]
_And there came certain Greeks;…the same came therefore to Philip … saying, Sir, we would see Jesus_ THE INCIDENT AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE These Greeks belonged to those numerous Gentiles who, like the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:1) had embraced Judaism and came to Jerusalem to keep its festivals. They m... [ Continue Reading ]
_The hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified._ THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS DECLARATION IN CONNECTION WITH THE INCIDENT Why should this be such an hour of trouble and glory? How should the appearance of a few strangers have led to a discussion respecting the falling of wheat into the groun... [ Continue Reading ]
_Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die_ A CORN OF WHEAT The original word is not _sperma, _a seed, but _kokkos, _a berry, a fruit. It shows the extreme, even scientific, accuracy of our Saviour’s language; for the corn of wheat, and other cereal grains, consist of seeds incorporated... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now is My soul troubled._ This struggle is like one of those fissures in its crust which enables science to fathom the bowels of the earth. It lets us read the very inmost depths of our Lord’s being. And what do we discover? Just the reverse of that impassive Jesus attributed by criticism to St. J... [ Continue Reading ]
_Father, glorify Thy name_ THE GLORIFIED NAME 1_._ One important aspect of Christian life is the imitation of Christ. But this is not necessarily doing the same things that Christ did, but involves the discovery of the principles by which His life was ruled, and the imitation of ways of expressin... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now is the Judgment of this world_ THE WORLD’S HOUR OF DEEPEST REVOLUTION It was the signal I. OF ITS JUDGMENT. To judge is to verify the moral condition. The judgment of the world is based upon the Cross, inasmuch as this discloses the moral condition of man in his natural state. Man, by raising... [ Continue Reading ]
_We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth forever._ MISUNDERSTANDINGS AND EXPLANATIONS I. MISUNDERSTANDINGS (John 12:34). They considered perhaps that Ps Isaiah 9:7; Daniel 7:13 referred to Christ. Their question would be, therefore, “If Thou art to die, how canst Thou be the Messiah? We k... [ Continue Reading ]
_But though He had done so many miracles … yet they believed not on Him_ OUR LORD’S MINISTRY I. ITS DETAILS. 1. The doctrines He taught (John 12:44). These words are an abridged statement of our Lord’s words uttered at different times. In John 12:36 we have, the formal close of our Lord’s mission... [ Continue Reading ]
_If any man hear My words_ I. THE GREATEST SPIRITUAL PRIVILEGE THAT MAN CAN ENJOY. It is a priceless privilege to hear the words of any great sage, poet, moralist. But what are the best human words compared with those of Christ? They are spirit and life; more pure than crystal, more refreshing tha... [ Continue Reading ]
_For I have not spoken of Myself._ CHRIST AS A TEACHER I. HIS PROFOUND HUMILITY. “I have not spoken of Myself.” As if He had said, I take no credit for the thoughts that I have addressed to men: they are not the flashes of my own genius, or the conclusions of my own reason. I am not their fountain... [ Continue Reading ]