We enter now upon the third and last part of the second main division of the Gospel. The Evangelist having set before us the inner Glorification of Christ in His last Discourses (13 17), and His outer Glorification in His Passion and Death (18, 19), now gives us his record of the Resurrection and Th... [ Continue Reading ]
The first Evidence of the Resurrection 1. _The first day_ Better, BUT ON _the first day_; literally, -day one." We have the same expression Luke 24:1. _the stone taken away_ All four Gospels note the displacement of the stone; S. Mark alone notes the placing of it and S. Matthew the sealing. The w... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then she runneth She runneth_ THEREFORE, concluding that the body must be gone. _Simon Peter_ His fall was probably known and his deep repentance also: he is still chief of the Apostles, and as such the one consulted first. _and to the other_ The repetition of -to" implies that the two Apostles w... [ Continue Reading ]
_and that … sepulcher_ Better, _and_ THE _other disciple, and they_ WERE COMING TOWARDS _the sepulcher_.... [ Continue Reading ]
_So they ran_ More exactly, BUT _they_ BEGAN TO RUN. _did outrun_ Literally, RAN ON MORE QUICKLY THAN, as being much the younger man. Would a writer of the second century have thought of this in inventing a narrative?... [ Continue Reading ]
_stooping down, and looking in_ In the Greek this is expressed in a single word, which occurs again John 20:11 and Luke 24:12, in a literal sense, of -bending down to look carefully at;" and in a figurative sense in 1 Peter 1:12 and James 1:25 (see notes in both places). In Sir 14:23 it is used of t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then cometh_, &c. Better, _Simon Peter_ THEREFORE ALSO _cometh_; because S. John has remained standing there in awe and meditation. S. Peter with his natural impulsiveness goes in at once. Both Apostles act characteristically. _seeth_ Or, BEHOLDETH (_theôrei_). He takes a complete survey, and henc... [ Continue Reading ]
_the napkin_ See on John 11:44: the same word is used here. _about his head_ Literally, UPON _His head:_there is no need to mention His name. The writer is absorbed in his subject. _in a place by itself_ Literally, APART INTO ONE PLACE.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then … that other_ Better, THEREFORE _went in also_ THE _other_. He is encouraged by his older companion. Note how all the details tell of the eye-witness: he remembers even that the napkin was folded. Contrast the want of detail in Luke 24:12. _and believed_ More difficulty has perhaps been made a... [ Continue Reading ]
_they knew not the scripture_ S. John's belief in the Resurrection was as yet based only on what he had seen in the sepulchre. He had nothing derived from prophecy to help him. The candour of the Evangelists is again shewn very strongly in the simple avowal that the love of Apostles failed to grasp... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then the disciples The disciples_ THEREFORE; because nothing more could be done at the sepulchre.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Manifestation to Mary Magdalene 11. _But Mary_ She had returned to the sepulchre after the hurrying Apostles. Mark 16:9 states definitely, what we gather from this section, that the risen Lord's first appearance was to Mary Magdalene: the details of the meeting are given by S. John alone. _sto... [ Continue Reading ]
_seeth_ Or, BEHOLDETH, as in John 20:6, a long contemplative gaze. _two angels_ This is the only place where angels appear in S. John's narrative. Comp. John 1:51; John 12:29, [John 5:4]. _in white_ In the Greek -white" is plural, -garments" being understood, as in Revelation 3:4: in Revelation 3:5... [ Continue Reading ]
_Woman_ See on John 2:4; John 19:26. _my Lord, and I know not_ In John 20:2 it was - _the_Lord and _we_know not." In speaking to Apostles she includes other believers; in speaking to strangers she represents the relationship and the loss as personal. These words express the burden of her thoughts si... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when_ Omit -and." Perhaps she becomes in some way conscious of another Presence. _saw_ Better, BEHOLDETH, as in John 20:6_; John 20:12_. _knew not_ Christ's Risen Body is so changed as not to be recognised at once even by those who had known Him well. It has new powers and a new majesty. Comp... [ Continue Reading ]
_the gardener_ Because he was there at that early hour. _if thou have borne him hence_ The omission of the name is very lifelike: she is so full of her loss that she assumes that others must know all about it. -Thou" is emphatic; -Thou and not, as I fear, some enemy." _I will take him away_ In her... [ Continue Reading ]
_Mary_ The term of general address, -Woman" awoke no echo in her heart; the sign of personal knowledge and sympathy comes home to her at once. Thus -He calleth His own sheep _by name_" (John 10:3). _saith unto him_ We must add with the best authorities, IN HEBREW. The insertion is of importance as i... [ Continue Reading ]
_Touch me not, for_, &c. This is a passage of well-known difficulty. At first sight the reason given for refraining from touching would seem to be more suitable to a permission to touch. It is perhaps needless to enquire whether the -for" refers to the whole of what follows or only to the first sent... [ Continue Reading ]
_came and told_ Better, COMETH AND TELLETH; literally, _cometh telling_instead of the more usual -having come telleth." Thus as Mary's love seems to have been the first to manifest itself (John 20:1), so the first Manifestation of the Risen Lord is granted to her. It confirms our trust in the Gospe... [ Continue Reading ]
The Manifestation to the Ten and others 19. _Then the same day_, &c. Rather, WHEN THEREFORE IT WAS EVENING ON THAT DAY, THE FIRST day of the week. Note the great precision of the expression. -That day," that memorable day, the -day of days." Oh! day of days! shall hearts set free No minstrel rapt... [ Continue Reading ]
_his hands and his side_ S. Luke (Luke 24:40), who does not mention the piercing of the side, says -His hands and His feet," and adds that He told them to -handle" Him, the very word used in 1 John 1:1. _Then were the disciples The disciples_ THEREFORE _were_. Their sorrow is turned into joy (John... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then said Jesus Jesus_ THEREFORE _said_; because now they were ready to receive it. Their alarm was dispelled and they knew that He was the Lord. He repeats His message of -Peace." _as my Father_, &c. Better, _As the Father hath sent Me_. Christ's mission is sometimes spoken of in the _aorist_tense... [ Continue Reading ]
_he breathed on them_ The very same Greek verb (here only in N.T.) is used by the LXX. in Genesis 2:7 (Wis 15:11) of breathing life into Adam. This Gospel of the new Creation looks back at its close, as at its beginning (John 1:1), to the first Creation. We are probably to regard the breath here no... [ Continue Reading ]
_Whose soever sins_, &c. This power accompanies the gift of the Spirit just conferred. It must be noticed (1) that it is given to the whole company present; not to the Apostles alone. Of the Apostles one was absent, and there were others who were not Apostles present: no hint is given that this powe... [ Continue Reading ]
The Manifestation to S. Thomas and others Peculiar to S. John 24. _Thomas_ See on John 11:16. _the twelve_ See on John 6:67. _was not with them_ His melancholy temperament might dispose him to solitude and to put no trust in the rumours of Christ's Resurrection if they reached him on Easter Day.... [ Continue Reading ]
_print … put … print … thrust_ The A. V. preserves the emphatic repetition of -print" but obliterates the similar repetition of -put." The verb (_ballein_) rendered -thrust" here and in John 20:27 is the same as that rendered -put." Its literal meaning is -throw" or -cast;" but in late Greek its mea... [ Continue Reading ]
_after eight days_ Including both extremes, according to the Jewish method. This is therefore the Sunday following Easter Day. We are not to understand that the disciples had not met together during the interval, but that there is no appearance of Jesus to record. The first step is here taken toward... [ Continue Reading ]
_saith_, &c. He at once shews to S. Thomas that He knows the test that he had demanded. _behold_ Better, see; it is the same word as S. Thomas used in John 20:25. _be not_ Rather, BECOME _not_. The demand for this proof did not make S. Thomas faithless, but it placed him in peril of becoming so. -... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Thomas answered_ Omit -and." This answer and Christ's comment, -because thou hast _seen_," seem to shew that S. Thomas did not use the test which he had demanded. In accordance with his desponding temperament he had underrated the possibilities of being convinced. _My Lord and my God_ Most unna... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thomas, because_, &c. -Thomas" must be omitted on overwhelming evidence, although the addition of the name seems natural here as in John 14:9. -Thou hast believed" is half exclamation, half question (comp. John 16:31). _blessed are they that have not seen_ Rather, _Blessed are they that_saw not. T... [ Continue Reading ]
The Conclusion and Purpose of the Gospel 30. _And many other signs truly_ The Greek cannot be exactly rendered without awkwardness: THEREFORE (as might be expected from what _has_been written here) _many_ AND _other signs_. The context shews that -signs" must not be limited to proofs of the Resurre... [ Continue Reading ]
_but these are written_ On the one hand there were many unrecorded; _but_on the other hand some have been recorded. Note in the Greek the _men_and the _de_and comp. John 19:23; John 19:25. It was not S. John's purpose to write a complete -Life of Christ;" it was not his purpose to write a -Life" at... [ Continue Reading ]