Christ is Love In Chapter s 5 and 6 two miracles, the healing of the paralytic and the feeding of the five thousand, formed the introduction to two discourses in which Christ is set forth as the _Source and the Support of Life_. In Chapter s 7 and 8 we have a discourse in which He is set forth as t... [ Continue Reading ]
The Allegory of the Door of the Fold 1. _Verily, verily_ This double affirmation, peculiar to this Gospel (see on John 1:51), never occurs at the beginning of a discourse, but either in continuation, to introduce some deep truth, or in reply. This verse is no exception. There is no break between the... [ Continue Reading ]
John 2:13 TO JOHN 11:57. The Work We here enter on the second portion of the first main division of the Gospel, thus subdivided: The Work (1) among _Jews_, (2) among _Samaritans_, (3) among _Galileans_, (4) among _mixed multitudes_.... [ Continue Reading ]
"The form of the discourse in the first half of chap. 10 is remarkable. It resembles the Synoptic parables, but not exactly. The parable is a short narrative, which is kept wholly separate from the ideal facts which it signifies. But this discourse is not a narrative; and the figure and its applicat... [ Continue Reading ]
_is the shepherd of the sheep_ Better, _is_ A _shepherd of the sheep_. There is more than one flock in the fold, and therefore more than one shepherd to visit the fold. The Good Shepherd has not yet appeared in the allegory. The allegory indeed is two-fold; in the first part (1 5), which is repeated... [ Continue Reading ]
_To him the porter openeth_ The -porter" is the door-keeper or gate-keeper, who fastens and opens the one door into the fold. In the allegory the fold is the Church, the Door is Christ, the sheep are the elect, the shepherds are God's ministers. What does the porter represent? Possibly nothing defin... [ Continue Reading ]
_when he putteth forth his own sheep_ Better, _when he_hath put forth all _his own_. Most of the best MSS. have -all" for -sheep:" -there shall not an hoof be left behind" (Exodus 10:26). The word for -put forth" is remarkable; it is the same as is used in John 9:34-35 of the Pharisees -casting out... [ Continue Reading ]
_And a stranger will they not follow_ Better, BUT _a stranger they will_assuredly _not follow_. The form of negative is very strong, as in John 4:14; John 4:48; John 6:35; John 6:37; John 8:12; John 8:51-52: see on John 8:51. By -a stranger" is meant quite literally anyone whom they do not know, not... [ Continue Reading ]
_This parable_ Better, _This_ ALLEGORY. The word which the Synoptists use for -parable" (_parabolê_) is never used by S. John; and the word here used by S. John (_paroimia_) is never used by the Synoptists. This should be brought out in translation; both are rendered by our translators sometimes -pa... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then said Jesus unto them again_ Better, THEREFORE _said Jesus again_. They did not understand; _therefore_He went through the allegory _again_more explicitly, interpreting the main features. -Unto them" is of doubtful authority. _Verily, verily_ This is _the_important point, to recognise that the... [ Continue Reading ]
_All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers_ These words are difficult, and some copyists seem to have tried to avoid the difficulty by omitting either -all" or -before Me." But the balance of authority leaves no doubt that both are genuine. Some commentators would translate -instead of Me... [ Continue Reading ]
_by me_ Placed first for emphasis; -through Me and in no other way." The main point is iterated again and again, each time with great simplicity, and yet most emphatically. "The simplicity, the directness, the particularity, the emphasis of S. John's style give his writings a marvellous power, which... [ Continue Reading ]
_and to kill_ To slaughter as if for sacrifice. _I am come_ Better, I CAME. -I" is emphatic, in marked contrast to the thief. This is the point of transition from the first part of the allegory to the second. The figure of the Door, as the one entrance to salvation, is dropped; and that of the Good... [ Continue Reading ]
The Allegory of the Good Shepherd 11. _I am the Good Shepherd_ The word translated -good" cannot he adequately translated: it means -beautiful, noble, good," as opposed to -foul, mean, wicked." It sums up the chief attributes of ideal perfection. Christ is the Perfect Shepherd, as opposed to His own... [ Continue Reading ]
_an hireling_ The word occurs nowhere else in N.T. excepting of the -hired servants" of Zebedee (Mark 1:20). The Good Shepherd was introduced in contrast to the thief. Now we have another contrast to the Good Shepherd given, the _hired_shepherd, a mercenary, who tends a flock not his own for his own... [ Continue Reading ]
_The hireling fleeth_ These words are of still more doubtful authority. Omitting both the doubtful portions the sentence will run (The hireling) _leaveth the sheep and fleeth; and the wolf snatcheth them and scattereth_(_them_); _because he is an hireling and careth not_, &c.... [ Continue Reading ]
_and know my sheep, and am known of mine_ Better, _and_ I KNOW MINE, AND MINE KNOW ME.... [ Continue Reading ]
Further description of the True Shepherd. (1) His intimate knowledge of His sheep; (2) His readiness to die for them. This latter point recurs repeatedly as a sort of refrain, like -I will raise him up at the last day," in chap. 6.... [ Continue Reading ]
_As the Father knoweth me, even so_, &c. This rendering entirely obscures the true meaning. There should be no full stop at the end of John 10:14, and the sentence should run; I KNOW MINE, AND MINE KNOW ME, EVEN AS THE FATHER KNOWETH ME AND I KNOW THE FATHER. So intimate is the relation between the... [ Continue Reading ]
_other sheep I have_ Not the Jews in heathen lands, but Gentiles, for even among them He had sheep. The Jews had asked in derision, -Will He go and teach the Gentiles?" (John 7:35). He declares here that among the despised heathen He has sheep. He was going to lay down His life, -not for that nation... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore_ Better, _On this account_, or, FOR THIS CAUSE (John 12:18; John 12:27). See on John 7:22 and John 8:47, and comp. John 5:16; John 5:18; John 6:65. The Father's love for the incarnate Son is intensified by the self-sacrifice of the Son. _that I might take it again_ literally, IN ORDER THA... [ Continue Reading ]
_No man taketh it from me_ Better, _No_one _taketh it from Me_; not even God. See on John 10:28. Two points are insisted on; (1) that the Death is entirely voluntary; (2) that both Death and Resurrection are in accordance with a commission received from the Father. Comp. -Father, into Thy hands I co... [ Continue Reading ]
Opposite Results of the Teaching 19. _again_ As about the man born blind (John 9:6) among the Pharisees, and at the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7:43), among the multitude. -Therefore" should be omitted here as wanting authority; and -there arose" would be more accurate than -there was" (see on John... [ Continue Reading ]
_He hath a devil_ See last note on John 8:48, and comp. John 7:20.... [ Continue Reading ]
_of him that hath a devil_ Better, _of_ ONE POSSESSED WITH A DEMON: the expression differs from that in John 10:20. _Can a devil_ Or, _Surely a_ DEMON _cannot_. See on John 9:40. It was too great and too beneficent a miracle for a demon. But here they stop short: they state what He _cannot_be; they... [ Continue Reading ]
_And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication_ More literally, NOW THERE TOOK PLACE _at Jerusalem the Feast of the Dedication_. This feast might be celebrated anywhere, and the pointed insertion of -at Jerusalem" seems to suggest that in the interval between John 10:21 and John 10:22 Christ h... [ Continue Reading ]
The Discourse at the Feast of the Dedication Again we seem to have a gap in the narrative. Between John 10:21 (but see below) there is an interval of about two months; for the Feast of Tabernacles would be about the middle of October, and that of the Dedication towards the end of December. In this... [ Continue Reading ]
_in Solomon's porch_ This was a cloister or colonnade in the Temple-Courts, apparently on the east side. Tradition said that it was a part of the original building which had survived the various destructions and rebuildings. No such cloister is mentioned in the account of Solomon's Temple, and perha... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then came the Jews round about_, &c. Better, THE JEWS THEREFORE COMPASSED HIM ABOUT (Luke 21:20; Hebrews 11:30; Revelation 20:9) _and_ KEPT SAYING _to Him_. They encircled Him in an urgent and obtrusive manner, indicating that they were determined to have an answer. _How long dost thou make us to d... [ Continue Reading ]
_I told you, and ye believed not_ The best authorities have, _and ye_ BELIEVE _not:_their unbelief still continues. To some few, the woman at the well, the man born blind, and the Apostles, Jesus had explicitly declared Himself to be the Messiah; to all He had implicitly declared Himself by His work... [ Continue Reading ]
_as I said unto you_ These words are omitted by some of the best authorities, including the Vatican and Sinaitic MSS. But they may possibly have been left out to avoid a difficulty. _If_they are genuine they are best joined, as in our version, with what _precedes_. Nowhere in the Gospels does Christ... [ Continue Reading ]
Note the simple but very impressive coupling of the clauses by a simple -and" throughout and comp. John 10:3_; John 10:12_: note also the climax.... [ Continue Reading ]
_I give unto them_ Not - _will_give." Here as in John 3:15; John 5:24 and often, the gift of eternal life is regarded as already possessed by the faithful. It is not a _promise_, the _fulfilment_of which depends upon man's conduct, but a _gift_, the _retention_of which depends upon ourselves. _they... [ Continue Reading ]
_which gave them_ Better, _which_ HATH GIVEN _them_. Comp. John 17:6; John 17:24. This enforces the previous assertion. -To snatch them out of My hand, he must snatch them out of My Father's hand; and My Father is greater than all:" even than the Son (John 14:28). But the reading is not certain. The... [ Continue Reading ]
_I and my Father are one_ -One" is neuter in the Greek; not one. Person, but one Substance. There is no -My" in the Greek; _I and_ THE _Father are one_. Christ has just implied that His hand and the Father's hand are one, which implies that He and the Father are one; and this He now asserts. They ar... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then the Jews_ Better, THEREFORE _the Jews:_their picking up stones was a direct consequence of His words. But -therefore" should perhaps be omitted. They prepare to act on Leviticus 24:16 (Comp. 1 Kings 21:10). -Again" refers us back to John 8:59. The word for -took up" is not the same in each cas... [ Continue Reading ]
_Many good works_ It is the same word as is used John 10:14 of the _Good_Shepherd: many beautiful, noble, excellent works. Comp. -He hath done all things _well_" (Mark 7:37) and -God saw that it was _good_" (Genesis 1:8; Genesis 1:10; Genesis 1:12, &c.). These excellent works proceed from the Father... [ Continue Reading ]
_For a good work_ The preposition is changed in the Greek; CONCERNING _a good work_. -That is not the subject-matter of our charge?" _and because_ -And" is explanatory, shewing wherein the blasphemy consisted: it does not introduce a separate charge.... [ Continue Reading ]
_in your law_ -Law" is here used in its widest sense for the whole of the Old Testament; so also in John 12:34 and John 15:25; in all three places the passage referred to is in the Psalms. Comp. Joh 7:19, 1 Corinthians 14:21. The force of the pronoun is, -for which you profess to have such a regard:... [ Continue Reading ]
Christ answers the formal charge of blasphemy by a formal argument on the other side.... [ Continue Reading ]
_If he called them gods_ More probably, _If_ IT _called them gods_, viz. the Law. -Them" is left unexplained; a Jewish audience would at once know who were meant. But how incredible that any but a Jew should think of such an argument, or put it in this brief way! These last eight verses alone are su... [ Continue Reading ]
_Say ye_ -Ye" with great emphasis, -Do _ye_, in opposition to the Scripture, say?" _of him, whom the Father hath sanctified_ Omit -hath;" both verbs are aorists. This also is emphatic, in opposition to -them unto whom the word of God came." Men on whom God's word has conferred a fragment of delegate... [ Continue Reading ]
_believe me not_ A literal command. If His works are not those which His Father works, they _ought_not (not merely have no _need_) to believe what He says. Comp. John 5:24; John 5:46; John 6:30; John 8:31; John 8:45. His works are His Father's (John 9:3; John 14:10).... [ Continue Reading ]
Having met their technical charge in a technical manner He now proceeds to justify the assertion of His unity with the Father by an appeal to His works.... [ Continue Reading ]
_believe the works_ -Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed" (John 20:29); but it is better to have the faith that comes with sight than none at all. _that ye may know, and believe_ The better reading probably is, _that ye may_ COME TO KNOW AND CONTINUALLY KNOW; -attain to knowled... [ Continue Reading ]
Opposite Results of the Discourse 39. _Therefore they sought again_ -Therefore" is of rather doubtful authenticity; some important witnesses omit -again" also. -Again" refers us back to John 7:30; John 7:32; John 7:44, and shews that -to take Him" means, not, take Him and stone Him (John 10:31), bu... [ Continue Reading ]
_again beyond Jordan_ Referring back to John 1:28. The hostility of the hierarchy being invincible and becoming more and more dangerous Jesus retires into Peraea for quiet and safety before His Passion. This interval was between three and four months, from the latter part of December to the middle o... [ Continue Reading ]
"The chapter ends with a note of place which is evidently and certainly historical. No forger would ever have thought of the periphrasis -where John at first baptized" … -John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true." It would be impossible to find a stronger incidental... [ Continue Reading ]
_many resorted unto him_ There is no reason why the usual translation -came" should be changed to -resorted." The testimony of the Baptist, and perhaps the miraculous voice at Christ's Baptism, were still remembered there. Since then there had been the mission of the Seventy and Christ's own work in... [ Continue Reading ]
_many believed on him there_ -There" is emphatic. - _There_,... [ Continue Reading ]