made no reply, for Jesus having conveyed himself away from the multitude, that they might not lay violent hands upon him, neither the man that was cured, nor the multitude knew who had performed the miracle. 13. And he that was healed avist not who it was, for Jesus had tude being in that place. conveyed himself away, a multi Some time after this, Jesus happening to be in the temple, found the man whom he had cured at Bethesda. Wherefore, to render the favour he had done him complete, he took that opportunity to put him in mind of his having brought the distemper upon himself by his wicked courses; for he desired him to abstain from sinning for the future, lest some heavier judgment should be inflicted on him. John.v. 14. Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold thou art mude whole, sin no more, lest a averse thing come unto thee.-15. The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus which had made him whole. Overjoyed to have discovered the author of his cure, he went away and innocently informed the Jews of it; perhaps because he thought it his duty to give his benefactor the honour of the miracle, and believed the Jews would have been glad to see so great a prophet. But instead of that, they attacked Jesus tumultuously in the temple, and it may be, tried him before the sanhedrim with a view to kill him, because, as they imagined, he had profaned the Sabbath by performing a cure upon it, and by ordering the person cured to carry away his bed. 16. And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the Sabbath day. By the Jews here, we are to understand the rulers. This I think plain from ver. 33. where Jesus speaking to the persons who sought to kill him, (ver. 18.) says unto them, "Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth." But the messengers that were sent to John, we are told were priests and Levites, (John i. 19.) persons of character, who would not have undertaken the office, unless by the appointment of the rulers, called on that occasion as well as here, the Jews, (John i. 19.) Moreover, the apology which Jesus now made for himself, is such as was proper to be pronounced before the most capable judges, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. For it is the most regular defence of his character and mission that is any where to be found in the gospels, comprehending the principal arguments in behalf of both, and setting them forth with the greatest strength of reason, clearness of method, and conciseness of expression. Jesus Ver. 13. Conveyed himself away.] Casaubon observes, that the word , by which the evangelist expresses Chrite cape, being a metaphor borrowed from swimming, signifies, that he glided through the mul titude, leaving no trace behind him of the way he had taken. Jesus began his defence with shewing the rulers the unreasonableness of their displeasure with him, because he had restored the infirm man to health on the Sabbath day. He told them, that in performing cures on the Sabbath, he only imitated his Father, who wrought every day of the week in doing good to men by his unwearied providence. For on the Sabbaths, as on other days, through the invisible operation of his power, Almighty God supports the whole frame of nature, and carries on the motions of the heavens, upon which the vicissitudes of day and night, and of the seasons depend, so necessary to the produc tion of food, with the other means of life. John v. 17. But Je sus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. As the Jews built their observation of the Sabbath upon God's having rested thereon from the works of creation, this argument was decisive. Nevertheless, the apology offended them exceedingly; for they thought he claimed a peculiar and proper relation to God, and by asserting that he acted like God, set himself on a level with God. 18. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. This conclusion Jesus did not deny, but shewed, that in all things he acted agreeably to the will of God, and that he was equal in power to God, doing whatever he saw the Father do, an honour which flowed to him from the immense love of the Father, and which was a clear, certain, convincing proof of the Father's love. 19. Then answered Jesus, and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do; for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. 20. For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth ;—and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel: will enable him to do greater miracles than any he has done hitherto, and which, though they may not convince, will certainly astonish you, and make it impossible for you to gainsay him, at least with any shew of reason. 21. For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom he will: the Son has power not only to heal the sick, but to raise the dead. Nay, he assured them that the power of judging the world, that is, of executing judgments temporal and eternal on his enemies, was committed unto him, in order that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father; honour him as the Maker and Governor of the world, by yielding to him the homage of faith, and love, and obedience; and that they might be rewarded therefore with everlasting life. So that being appointed of the Father, judge universal, they who did not honour him, did not honour the Father. John v. 22. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: 23. That all men men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. 24. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. Such a person hath a right to everlasting life, and shall not be condemned by me the judge at the last day. Nay, he is so sure of escaping condemnation, and of obtaining eternal life, that he may be said to have passed already from death to life. But to convince them that he was able to quicken whom he would, he bade them consider the effects of his power, which they had already seen in the resurrection of two dead persons to life, viz. Jairus's daughter, and the widow of Nain's son; and which they were yet to see in the resurrection of Lazarus, and perhaps of others not mentioned in the history. 25. Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is; the time is now, as you yourselves well know, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. For you cannot but have heard, that I have raised two persons from the dead already. 26. For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself: hath bestowed this honour upon him, to quicken or raise (see ver. 21.) what dead person soever he pleases, and that by his own power; in which respect our Lord differed from the prophets, and all the other messengers of God who raised the dead, neither at their own pleasure, nor by their own power. 27. And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man; hath conferred on him, not only the honour of giving life to the dead by his own power, but authority also to punish the living with death, and that because he has humbled himself so low as to become the Son of man, Philip. ii. 9,-11. The power of giving life to the dead, our Lord frequently made use of while on earth, but never the power of punishing men with death. The apostles indeed. exercised it sometimes. But he seems now to have had the destruction of Jerusalem more particularly in his eye, an exercise of judgment which he constantly ascribed to himself. 28. Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice; 29. And shall come forth, they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation. Be not surprised at my saying that the Son has power to raise a few particular per * sons Ver. 27. To execute judgment also.] The Syraic version, Chrysostom, Theophilact, and Euthymius, put a full stop after the words go oELY, and join the clause, because he is the Son of man, to the next verse, thus, Because he is the Son of man, marvel not at this. And Chrysostom in particular affirms, that Paul of Samosatena contrived the pointing now in use. Yet it seems to be the true pointing, the other making a very harsh ungramį matical construction. sons from the dead, and authority to inflict punishment on a few particular offenders. There is a far greater power committed to him, even that of raising all men at the last day, and of judging and rewarding them according to their works. Now in this judgment I will not act absolutely or arbitrarily, but according to the laws of equity, unalterably established by my Father, so that, I shall not act therein so properly by my own, as by my Father's authority. 30. I can of mine ownself do nothing; as I hear I judge: in allusion to human courts, where the judges found their sentences upon the testimony of witnesses, and the laws of the country. Yet the expression by no means implies, that our Lord at the great day shall receive information from any one whatsoever, concerning the persons he is to judge. Having been him-' self privy to their actions, he needs no evidence, but knows all things that ever were thought, said, or done by mankind, from the beginning to the end of time, fully and certainly. And my judgment is just; not only because it is thus a judgment according to truth and equity, but likewise, because I seek not mine own will, but the will of my Father who hath sent me; I have no interest to pursue, no inclination to fulfil, different from that of my Father. These were very grand assertions of his own dignity. But he did not require his hearers to believe them, merely on the authority of his own testimony; a circumstance by which Jesus Christ, the only Son and greatest messenger of the true God, is distinguished from Mahomet, and all other impostors whatever. He told them that he had the testimony of John, given him in the hearing of their own deputies. But at the same time he observed, that the truth of his mission did not depend merely on human testimony, though it was given by one who was a burning and shining light, and in whom they greatly rejoiced, because the prophetic Spirit which had so long ceased seemed to be again revived in him. John v. 31. If I alone bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. That the word alone is pertinently sup plied here, seems plain from what follows, not to mention that it reconciles this passage with John viii. 14. § 77. which see. 32. There is another that beareth witness of me, and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true. 33. Te sent unta John, and he bare witness unto the truth. 34. But I receive not testimony from man only: that is, the truth of my mission does not depend merely on human testimony, see ver. 36. But these things I say, that ye may be saved: I say them to induce you to believe, that ye may be saved. 35. He was a burning and a shining light, and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. Some from this latter clause infer, that the Baptist was now dead. Yet he does not seem to have been killed till a little before the third passover. The reason is, the miracle of the Joaves performed in the desert of Bethsaida immediately after word was brought of John's death, is said to have happened a little before that feast, John vi. 4. If so, our Lord's meaning is, that John was a burning and a shining light, an illustrious prophet, not w le he lay in prison, but while his ministry lasted; for during his imprisonment his light may be said to have been extinguished. Accordingly it is added, And ye west wilLing to rejoice in his light for a season; ye hearkened to him with great pleasure, till his credit was impaired in your estimation by his imprisonment. Farther, he told them that he had the testimony of one infinitely greater than John, even the testimony of the Father, who was continually bearing witness to him, by the many miracles which he empowered him to perform, and who had given him a peculiar and direct testimony at his baptism, by declaring from heaven in a grand, audible, articulate voice, that he was his beloved Son; which voice many then living had heard, and no doubt remembered. 36. But I have greater witness than that of John; for the works which the Fa ther hath given me to finish, the same works that I do bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me. 37. And the Father himself which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. For this latter wit ness he appealed to themselves, Outs Owen œuтy axnxOATE AUTOTI UTI fdes aute iaganun, which in our translation runs thus, Ye have seither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. But the proper translation seems to be interrogatively, Have ye never at any time heard his voice, or seen his shape? The word ados, tran' slated in this passage shape, significs any thing in a person that appears to the eye, by which he is distinguished from others; and therefore the form of his countenance, as well as the shape of his body. Many of the ancient Jews had heard the voice of God at Sinai, when the law was given, Deut. iv. 12, 33. And though it is said there that they saw no similitude, (LXX. quowux) the meaning is not, that they saw no corporeal appearance, for they saw fire and smoke, ver. 15. but that they saw no resem, blance, no figure or likeness of any thing in the heavens above, or in the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth, which the heathens worshipped as God.. This fire which the Israelites saw on Sinai, was the symbol of the divine presence, as was the pillar of fire, and cloud of smoke which attended them in their journeyings through the wilderness. Hence, because Moses was often admitted to a clear and near view of this fire, he is said to have "beheld the similitude of the Lord," and to have spoken with God mouth to mouth, even apparently," (d) Numb. xii. 8. By parity of reason, as often as God manifested his sence in the symbol of light er fire, as at Christ's baptism, that light might be called his shape or similitude («dos avty). And all who beheld that glorious appearance, as the multitude did at VOL. II. Christ's F pre |