thou art a Samaritan, and hast a| If a man keep my saying, he shal never see death. devil? was a term of contempt and reproach. See Note, ch. iv. 9. It had the force of charging him with being a heretic, or a schismatic, because the Samaritans were regarded as such. And hast a devil. See ch. vii. 20. This charge they brought against him because he had said that they were not of God, or were not the friends of God. This they regarded as the same as taking side with the Samaritans, for the question between the Jews and Samaritans was, which of them worshipped God aright. Ch. iv. 20. As Jesus affirmed that the Jews were not of God; and as he, contrary to all their views, had gone | and preached to the Samaritans (ch. iv.); they regarded it as a proof that he was disposed to take part with them. They also regarded it as evidence that he had a devil. The devil was an accuser or calumniator; and as Jesus charged them with being opposed to God, they considered it as proof that he was influenced by such an evil spirit. ¶ Devil. In the original, demon. Not the prince or chief of the devils, but an evil spirit. 49. I have not a devil. To the first part of the charge, that he was a Samaritan, he did not reply. To the other part he replied by saying that he honored his Father. He taught the doctrines that tended to exalt God. He taught that he was holy and true. He sought that men should love him and obey him. All his teaching proved this. An evil spirit would not do this, and this was sufficient proof that he was not influenced by such a spirit. 50. Mine own glory. My own praise or honor. In all his teaching this was true. He did not seek to exalt or to vindicate himself. He was willing to lie under reproach, and to be despised. He regarded little, therefore, their çaunts, and accusations, and even now, be says, he would not seek to vindicate 52 Then said the Jews unto lumiy Now we know that thou hast devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. 53 Art thou greater than our fa c Zec.1.5. himself. There is one that seeketh and judgeth. God will take care of my re putation. He seeks my welfare and ho nor, and I may commit my cause into his hands without attempting my own vindication. From these verses (46-50) we may learn, 1st. That where men have no sound arguments, they attempt to overwhelm their adversaries by calling odious and reproachful names. Accusations of heresy and schism, and the use of reproachful terms, are commonly proof that men are not only under the influence of unchristian feeling, but that they have no sound reasons to support their cause. 2d. It is right to vindicate ourselves from such charges, but it should not be done by rendering railing for railing. In meekness we should instruct those that oppose themselves, if God peradventure will give them re. pentance to the acknowledging of the truth." 2 Tim. ii. 25. 3d. We should not regard it as necessarily dishonorable if we lie under reproach. If we have & good conscience; if we have examined for ourselves; if we are conscious that we are seeking the glory of God; we should be willing, as Jesus was, to bear reproach, believing that God will in due time avenge us, and bring forth our judgment as the light, and our righte ousness as the noonday. Ps. xxxvii. S. 66 51. If a man keep my saying. If he believes on me, and obeys my com. mandments. ¶ He shall never see death. To see death, or to taste of death, is the same as to die. Luke ii. 26. Matt. xvi. 28. Mark ix. 1. The sense of this pas sage is, 'He shall obtain eternal life, or he shall be raised up to that life where there shall be no death.' See ch. vi. 49, 50, iii. 36, v. 24, xi. 25, 26. 52. Hast a devil. Art deranged. Because he affirmed a thing which they supposed to be contrary to all experi ence, and to be impossible. 53. Whom makest thou thyself? Or, whom dost thou pretend to be? Aithough the greatest of the prophets have died, yet thou-a Nazarene, a Samaritan, and a devil-pretendest that thou canst keep thy followers from dying! It would have been scarcely possible to have asked a question implying more contempt aud scorn. 54. If I honor myself. If I commend or praise myself. If I had no other honor, and sought no other honor than that which proceeds from a desire to glorify myself. My honor is nothing. My commendation or praise of myself would be of no value. See Note, ch. v. 31. word " 'day," here, is used to denote the times, the appearance, the advent, and the manner of life, of the Messiah. Luke xvii. 26. "As it was in the day of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.' See John ix. 4; Matt. xi. 12. The day of judgment is also called the day of the Son of man, because it will be a remarkable time of his manifestation. Or perhaps in both these cases it is called His day, because he will act the most conspicuous part; his person and work will characterize the times; as we speak of the days of Noah, &c., because he was the most conspicuous person of the age. ¶ He saw it. See Heb. xi. 13; These all 56. Your father Abraham. The tes- died in faith, not having received (ob. timony of Abraham is adduced by Je- tained the fulfilment of the promises, sus because the Jews considered it to but having seen them afar off, and were be a signal honor to be his descend-persuaded of them," &c. Though Abra ants. (Ver. 39.) As they regarded the ham was not permitted to live to see sayings and deeds of Abraham as pecu- the times of the Messiah, yet he was liarly illustrious, and worthy of their permitted to have a prophetic view of imitation, so they were oc und in con- him, and also of the design of his comsistency to listen to what he had said of ing: for, 1st. God foretold his advent the Messiah. Rejoiced. This word clearly to him. Gen. xii. 3, xviii. 18. includes the notion of desire as well as Compare Gal. iii. 16: "Now to Abraham rejoicing. It denotes that act when, and his seed were the promises made. impelled with strong desire for an ob. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; ject, we leap forward toward its attain- but as of one, And to thy seed, which ment with joy. And it expresses, 1st. is Christ." 2d. Abraham was permit. The fact that this was an object that ted to have a view of the death of the filled the heart of Abraham with joy; Messiah as a sacrifice for sin, repre and, 2d. That he earnestly desired to sented by the command to offer Isaac. We have no single word which Gen. xxii. 1-13. Compare Heb. xi. 19. expresses the meaning of the original. The death of the Messiah, as a saeriIn Matt. v. 12, it is rendered "be ex-fice for the sins of men, was that which ceeding glad." To see. Rather, he characterized his work, which distin earnestly and joyfully desired that he guished his times and his advent; and might see. To see, here, means to have this was represented to Abraham clearly a view or distinct conception of. It does by the command to offer nis son. From not imply that Abri ham expected that this arose the proverb among the Jews, Che Messiah would appear during his (Gen. xxii. 14), "In the mount of the life; but that he might have a represen- Lord it shall be seen;" or, it shall be tation of, or a clear description and fore- provided for; a proverb evidently resight of the times of the Messiah. ¶ My ferring to the offering of the Messiah on dau. The day of the Messiah. The the mount for the sins of men. By this see it. 57 Then said the Jews unto him, | verily, I say unto you, Before Abra Thou art not yet fifty years old, and ham was, I am. hast thou seen Abraham? 58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, 59 Then took they up stones t cast at him: but Jesus hid himself a Ex.3.14. Is.43.13. c.1.1,2. Col.1.17. Re.1.9 be affirmed. Note, ch. iii. 5. Before Abraham was. Before Abraham lived. ¶ I am. The expression I am, though in the present tense, is clearly designed to express a past time. Thus, in Ps. xc. 2, John i. 9, " From everlasting to everlasting thou art God.” Applied to God, it denotes continued existence without respect to time, so far as he is concerned. We mean time; we divide it into the past, the present, and the fu ture. The expression, applied to God, denotes that he does not measure his event Abraham was impressively told that a parent would not be required to offer in sacrifice his sons for the sins of his soul-a thing which has often been done by Heathens; but that God would provide a victim, and in due time an offering would be made for the world. Was glad. Was glad in view of the promise, and that he was permitted so distinctly to see it represented. If the father of the faithful rejoiced so much to see this afar off, how should we rejoice that he has come; that we are not required to look into a distant futu-existence in this manner, but that the rity, but know that he has appeared; that we may learn the manner of his coming, his doctrine, and the design of his death! Well might the eyes of a patriarch rejoice to be permitted to look in any manner on the sublime and glorious scene of the Son of God dying for the sins of men! And our chief honor and happiness is to contemplate the amazing scene of man's redemption, where the Saviour groaned and died to save a lost and ruined race. 57. Fifty years old. Jesus is supposed to have been, at this time, about thirty-three. It is remarkable that when he was so young they should have mentioned the number fifty. But they probably designed to prevent the possibility of a reply. Had they said forty, they might have apprehended a reply, or could not be so certain that they were correct. ¶ Hast thou seen Abraham? It is remarkable, also, that they perverted his words. His affirmation was not that he had seen Abraham, but that Abraham had seen his day. The design of Jesus was to show that he was greater than Abraham. (Ver. 53.) To do this, he says that Abraham, great as he was, earnestly desired to see his time; thus acknowledging his inferiority to the Messiah. The Jews perverted this, and affirmed that it was impossible that he and Abraham should have seen each other. 58. Verily, verily. This is an expression used only in John, expressing strong affirmation, and particularly the great importance of what was about to word by which we express the present, denotes his continued and unchanging existence. Hence he assumes it as his name, "I AM ;" and "I AM THAT I AM.' Ex. iii. 14. Compare Isa. xliv. 6, xlvii 8. There is a remarkable similarity between the expression employed by Jesus in this place, and that used is Exodus to denote the name of God. The manner in which Jesus used it would strikingly suggest the application of the same language to God. The question here was about his pre-exist ence. The objection of the Jews was, that he was not fifty years old, and could not, therefore, have seen Abraham Jesus replied to that that he existed before Abraham. As in his human nature he was not yet fifty years old, and could not as a man have existed before Abraham, this declaration must be referred to another nature; and the passage proves that while he was a man, he was also endowed with another nature exist ing before Abraham, and to which he applied the term (familiar to the Jews as expressive of the existence of God), I AM; and this declaration corresponde to the affirmation of John (ch. i. 1), that he was in the beginning with God, ana was God. This affirmation of Jesus is one of the proofs on which John relier to prove that he was the Messiah (ch xx. 31), to establish which was the de sign of writing this book. It 59. Then took they up stones. seems they understood him as blasphe. ming, and proceeded, even without form of trial, to stone him. as such, because and went out of the temple, going | saying, Master, who did sin, this through the midst of them, and so man, or his pa ents, that he was passed by. born blind? CHAPTER IX. 3 Jesus answered, Neither hath AND as Jesus passed he saw this man sinned, nor a man which was blind from but that a the works of God should his birth. be made manifest in him. 2 And his disciples asked him, this was the punishment prescribed in the law for blasphemy. Lev. xxiv. 16. Sce ch. x. 31. The fact that the Jews understood him in this sense is strong proof that his words naturally conveyed the idea that he was divine. This was in the temple. Herod the Great had not yet completed its repairs, and Dr. Lightfoot has remarked that stones would be lying around the temple in repairing it, which the people could easily use in their indignation. ¶ Jesus hid himself. See Luke iv. 30. That is, he either by a miracle rendered himself invisible; or he so mixed with the multitude that he was concealed from them, and escaped. Which is the meaning cannot be determined. CHAPTER IX. 1. As Jesus passed by. As he was leaving the temple. Ch. viii. 59. This man was in the way in which Jesus was going to escape from the Jews. 2. Master, who did sin? &c. It was a universal opinion among the Jews that calamities of all kinds were the effects of sin. See Note, Luke xiii. 1-4. The case, however, of this man, was that of one that was blind from his birth, and it was a question which the disciples could not determine whether it was his fault or that of his parents. Many of the Jews, as it appears from their writings (see Lightfoot), believed in the doctrine of the transmigration of souls; or that the soul of a man, in consequence of sin, might be compelled to pass into other bodies, and be punished there. They also believed that an infant might sin before it was born (see Lightfoot), and that consequently this blindness might come upon the child as a consequence of that. It was also a doctrine with many that the crime of the parent might be the cause of deformity in the child, particularly the violation of the command in Lev. xx. 18. Neither hath his man sinned, &c. a c.11.4. That is, his blindness is not the effect of his sin, or that of his parents. Jesus did not, evidently, mean to affirm that he, or his parents, were without any sin, but that this blindness was not the effect of sin. This answer is to be interpreted by the nature of the question submitted to him. The sense is, his blindness is not to be traced to any fault of his or of his parents.' But that the works of God. This thing has happened that it might appear how great and wonderful are the works of God. By the works of God, here, is evidently intended the miraculous power which God would put forth to heal the man, or rather, perhaps, the whole that happened to this man in the course of divine providence-first his blindness, as an act of his providence, and then his healing him, as an act of his mercy and his power. It has all happened, not by the fault of his parents or of himself, but by the wise arrangement of God, that it might be seen in what way ca lamities come, and in what way God meets and relieves them. And from this we may learn, 1st. To pity, and not to despise and blame those who are afflicted with any natural deformity or calamity. While the Jews regarded it as the effect of sin, they looked upon it without compassion. Jesus tells us that it is not the fault of man, but pro. ceeds from the wise arrangement of God. 2. All suffering in the world is not the effect of sin. In this case it is expressly so declared. And there may be many modes of suffering that cannot be traced to any particular transgression. We should be cautious, therefore, in affirming that there can be no calamity in the universe but by trans gression. 3d. We see the wise and wonderful arrangement of Divine Pro vidence. It is a part of his great plan to adapt his mercies to the woes of men; and often, calamity, want, pov erty, and sickness, are permitted, tha 4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. a c.1.5,9. 8.12. 12.35,46. he may show the provisions of his mercy; that he may teach us to prize his blessings; and that deep-felt gratitude for deliverance may bind us to him. 4th. Those who are afflicted with blindness, deafness, or any deformity, should be submissive to God. It is his appointment, and is right and best. God does no wrong, and the universe will, when all his works are seen, feel and know that he is just. opportunities of doing good, and suffer none to pass without improving it. We go but once through the world, and we cannot return to correct errors, and recall neglected opportunities of doing our duty. 3d. We should be especially diligent in doing our Lord's work, from the fact that the night of death is com. ing. This applies to the aged, for they must soon die; and to the young, for they may soon be called away from this world to eternity. am I, although my days are drawing to a close, the night of the spiritual world. What a sublime description is this! Jesus occupied the same place, filled the same measure, shed his beams as far, in the moral world, as the sun does on natural objects! And as all is dark, when that sun sinks to the west; so when he withdraws from the souls of men, all is midnight and gloom! When we look on the sun in the firmament, or in the west, let us remember that such is the great Sun of righteousness in regard to our souls; that his shining is as necessary, and his beams as mild and lovely on the soul, as is the shining of the natural sun to illuminate the ma terial creation. See Note, ch. i. 4. 4. The works of him, &c. The works of beneficence and mercy which God 5. As long as I am, &c. As the sethas commissioned me to do, and which ting sun is the natural light of the world, are expressive of his goodness and pow-even while it sinks away to the west, so er. This was on the sabbath-day (ver. 14); and though Jesus had endangered his life (ch. v. I-16) by working a similar miracle on the sabbath, yet he knew that this was the will of God that he should do good, and that he would take care of his life. While it is day. The day is the proper time for work. Night is not. This is the general, the universal sentiment. While the day lasts it is proper to labor. The term day, here, refers to the life of Jesus, and to the opportunity thus afforded of working miracles. His life was drawing to a close. It was probably but about six months after this when he was put to death. The meaning is, my life is near its close. While it continues I must employ it in doing the works which God has appointed. ¶ The night cometh. Night, here, represents death. It was drawing near, and he must, there fore, do what he had to do soon. It is not improbable, also, that this took place near the close of the sabbath, as the sun was declining, and the shades of evening about to appear. This supposition will give increased beauty to the language which follows. No man can work. It is literally true that day is the appropriate time for toil, and that the night of death is a time when nothing can be done. Eccl. ix. 10: "There is no work, nor device, no wisdom, nor knowledge in the grave." From this we may learn, 1st. That it is our duty to employ all our time in doing the will of God. 2d. That we should seek for 6. And made clay, &c. Two reasons may be assigned for making this clay, and anointing the eyes with it. One is, that the Jews regarded spittle as medicinal to the eyes when diseased, and that they forbade the use of medi cines on the sabbath. They regarded the sabbath so strictly that they consi dered the preparation and use of medi cines as contrary to the law. Especially it was particularly forbidden among them to use spittle on that day to heal diseased eyes. See instances in Lightfoot. sus, therefore, by making this spittle, showed them that their manner of keep ing the day was superstitious, and that he dared to do a thing which they esteemed unlawful. He showed that their interpretation of the law of the sabbath was contrary to the intention Je. |