John 7

Chapter 7. Ten Incidents in the Gospel of JohnWe find in this wonderful gospel some remarkable incidents, illustrating the grace, glory and character of Jesus. Varieties of Conversion (John 1:29-51)

1. Interview with the First Disciples or the Varieties of Conversion Through the Gospel We have here an illustration of the varieties of conversion. The first of these disciples was led to Christ by the preaching of John the Baptist. It would be well if all preaching were as definite and evangelical. There would be more Andrews if there were more John the Baptists. The great preacher knew that he was sending away his own disciples, but he did not shrink from pointing them to the greater Master. He was not ashamed to repeat the same sermon the next day. This is a text in which no minister need ever be ashamed to repeat himself. The story of the cross is a gospel that never grows old. Through Personal Effort Andrew, like every true convert, becomes an evangelist, and for the rest of his life the notices that we have of him represent him in this aspect of helping others. In the present case, he first finds his own brother and brings him to Jesus; so the second conversion here is through personal influence on the part of our own immediate relatives. What a lesson it teaches us of our obligation to the souls of those who are nearest to us. Forever Andrew will be a partner of the fruits of Simon’s life, for he brought him to Jesus. The way he brought him was by his own personal testimony; the reason he was able to give so clear a testimony was because he himself had come so near to Jesus. He had not only gone to Him, but he had gone with Him. The whole previous day he and John had spent at home with the new Master, which was a wonderful type of that deeper fellowship which the converted soul may enter and must enter if it would be able to bring others to Christ. A Day with Jesus What a sweet picture of the soul’s introduction to the Savior. These two disciples had followed Jesus at the invitation of John, but no one ever follows Christ unnoticed. Turning around and recognizing them, He asks them a very simple but searching question: “What do you want?” (John 1:38). If they had been seeking anything but Himself, the interview would have ended here; happily for them, however, that they could answer, “Rabbi… where are you staying?” (John 1:38). They did not have to wait for the welcome to His presence and His home; they went with Him and abode that whole day, and many a wondrous unfolding of heavenly truth entered their hearts as they waited the happy hours at His blessed feet. So, still, He waits to receive His humblest disciples to abide. Peter is welcomed with no less frankness and simplicity; the Lord knows him from the beginning and intimates in His first words His honest opinion of Simon, the son of John, the impulsive and unsteady man; but He also reveals the stronger qualities which are to come to him through the grace of God and make him the very rock cut out from the Rock of Ages, which is to be one of the foundation stones of the Christian Church. The Call of Jesus The next conversion in this group is through the direct call of Christ Himself. It is Philip of Bethsaida. He, too, responds immediately, and becomes in turn, like Andrew, a messenger to others and afterwards, along with Andrew, he is the instrument of bringing to Jesus the strangers in the temple who came to seek the Savior. The Call of a Friend The last of this group of disciples was brought to Christ by the personal influence, not of a relative, but of a friend. Philip found Nathaniel and brought him to Jesus. Nathaniel, however, was not willing to take so great a matter on the word of Philip; yet, like a wise man, was willing to come and see. As he met Jesus, a single sentence from Him made the old Israelite feel that he was in the presence of the searcher of his heart; and falling at His feet, gave Him homage in the loftiest faith as the “Son of God… the King of Israel” (John 1:49). Nathaniel was a true Israelite, a man of upright and blameless character, and yet even the highest morality needs something more, even the revelation of Jesus Christ and the spirit of childlike faith in the divine Savior. In these five disciples we have a beautiful picture representing, in miniature, the story of Christianity and the various ways in which, since then, Christ has been leading myriads of souls to Himself. Nicodemus (John 3:1-21)
2. Nicodemus, or the first inquirer. We have already seen in this incident the spiritual teaching of the Lord Jesus with regard to the new life and the necessity of regeneration. We also may learn from it many precious lessons respecting Christ Himself and His method of dealing with souls. This man, like many other inquirers, came to talk and argue, but Jesus declined all speculations and questionings about even the truth, and threw him at once back upon himself and his need of a radical change of heart. Indeed, He tells him that without a new spiritual nature his ideas and opinions are of no value, for he cannot even see the kingdom of God until he is born again. Nicodemus’ first word was, “We know,” and most people, like him, are hindered by what they know. He represented the highest type of an ancient moralist and formalist, still destitute however, of true spiritual life. His first step therefore, is to humble him and show him his deep spiritual need; His next step is to lead him sweetly to see in the gospel God’s full provision for this need. We should never preach regeneration apart from Christ and simple faith in Him. The true place to obtain a new heart is not by looking into our old one or trying to improve it, but by bowing at the feet of Jesus and believing in Him as our sin-atoning Savior. Soul Winning (John 4:1-38)
3. The woman of Samaria, or the wisdom that wins souls. We have already referred to this incident in connection with the love of Christ for sinners. For a moment let us still glance at it as a lesson in soul-winning. The first thing that strikes us about it is the incidental character of His work in saving this woman. It was one of those opportunities which come to us constantly by the way, and which He was always ready to meet and improve. Much of our best work should be unstudied and spontaneous. The real secret of His usefulness in this and in every case, was His intense love for souls. He could truly say to His disciples, “My food… is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34). Work like this was His very life and joy. And so, if we are to win souls, it must be our delight, and we must be watching for them. The literal translation of the word, “welcomes” (Luke 15:2), is, “this man lies in wait for sinners.” We also see in this case the finest tact in His interesting the woman before He attempts to impress her. He awakens her interest and confidence by meeting her in an easy and friendly manner and asked a little favor of her. He stooped to her level, and even surprised her by His entire freedom from all the prejudices which she expected from a Jewish rabbi. If we would save people we must come near them. The earliest Moravian missionaries to the West Indies became slaves that they might win the confidence of the degraded natives. Then He awakens her curiosity and spiritual hunger by hinting at the needs of her own sad heart, and the blessings He is able to give in return, if she but knew. There is always a sore place in every human heart that a loving hand can touch and find in it a point of contact with the gospel. To speak of the living water is often enough to awaken the thirst. Her Conscience But there is a deeper need, and that is her sin. It would not do to tell her of it, for this might offend her; she must see it herself, and so a simple question, “Go, call your husband” (John 4:16), becomes the occasion of awakening her conscience and bringing from her lips the frank confession that lays her poor guilty heart at the feet of the Savior. But now she tries for a moment to turn aside and evade her conscience and the leadings of God’s Spirit by a spirit of controversy about the difference between Jewish and Samaritan worship. Revelation of Jesus The Master refuses to enter into the controversy further than to use it to awaken her own sense of God’s spirituality and her need of a personal acquaintance with Him in her secret heart. She feels the lack of this, and her soul instinctively cries out for someone to lead her to God, and she exclaims, “‘I know that Messiah’ (called Christ) ‘is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us’” (John 4:25). She has been led thus step by step up to the very portals of faith, and all that is necessary now is to draw aside the veil and reveal Himself to her heart. No human language can express all that is meant in that little sentence that follows, “I who speak to you am he” (John 4:26). We must go back to the moment when He revealed Himself to us to understand it. It is proper that a curtain should here fall upon the scene, and she be left, with the secret of her new and eternal joy. She is saved, she has found her Lord, but she cannot keep the secret, and she, too, in turn, becomes a messenger of love, to bring her countrymen to the same wondrous Teacher that has searched and saved her own soul. The Sinful Woman (John 8:2-11)
4. The sinful woman, or the mercy that pardons without palliating sin. We refer elsewhere to the critical question connected with this passage; here it is enough to see in it the heartless severity of weak man toward sin in others, in contrast with the tenderness and long-suffering of Christ to the erring. These Pharisees were, by their own confession, as impure as this poor woman, and yet they could drag her forward into shameful exposure, and without a touch of mercy demand her instant death and all the eternal ruin it must bring. Jesus, on the other hand, with an infinite hatred of sin, being free from a spot or stain of defilement, could see deeper than her sin. He could feel the tenderest compassion and mercy toward the poor sinner, while giving no indulgence or countenance to the sin. What a lesson we also learn about the necessity of our own blamelessness if we would sit in judgment upon others. When we are without sin then we can cast the stone of censoriousness at our fellows, and “be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete” (2 Corinthians 10:6). What a beautiful example we learn of being blind to the faults of others when in the presence of the accuser. While they were talking against this poor woman, Jesus wrote upon the ground as though He heard them not. Happy for us all if we had thus learned not to listen to the backbiting tongue. How vividly the power of conscience appears in the presence of innocence. One look from His honest face into their hearts and they felt all their secret sin exposed and hurried from His presence to hide themselves from their own consciences and His searching gaze. His Delicacy Jesus dealt with this poor woman, too, but He deals with her alone; not in the presence of others can we tell the soul of its faults, nor when it feels we have listened to evil reports, or unfriendly tongues. How beautifully He preserved the confidence of this poor heart by His manly and lofty sensitiveness to her feelings, refusing even to look in her face or to see her blush of shame while her enemies were near; but only when they are alone He looks into that weeping countenance and speaks the word of mercy and yet of faithfulness. Christ’s first word to her is forgiveness, free and full, not founded upon her innocence or promises of amendment, but springing only from His own undeserved grace; but His next word is a word of infinite holiness, “Go now and leave your life of sin” (John 8:11). “But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared” (Psalms 130:4). There is no such remedy for sin as love. “We have tried everything to reform him,” said the Duke of Wellington about a deserter they had punished till it seemed vain. “We have tried everything to reform him, and it is useless; there is nothing left but to execute him.” “Please your highness,” said a poor soldier, “there is one thing you have never tried.” “What is that?” asked the duke. “Please your highness, you have never tried forgiving him.” And so it was tried, and not in vain, for the hardened deserter became the noblest and truest heart of all the soldiers of the Peninsula. Mary of Bethany (John 12:1-11)
5. The anointing at Bethany, or the preeminence of love. This beautiful incident is the highest expression of love to Jesus that we meet with during His earthly life. We have already seen that it was from one who best of all understood the meaning of His death, and that it was an act of faith quite as much as a gift of love. It was this that inspired Mary’s love, that she understood so well that He at whose feet she sat with delight was about to die for her. And so our love must still draw its inspiration from the cross. But the chief lesson of this scene is that Jesus appreciates and requires our personal and highest love directly for Himself. Judas, like many people still, thought that the ointment was wasted because it had not been given to the poor. Christ replies that there is something even more than giving to the poor, namely, the offering that is placed directly at His feet and offered only to Himself. Each of us has a vessel we can break and a fragrance we can pour at those sacred feet, namely, our own heart with all its treasures of love. It is possible to do much work and even give all our goods to feed the poor, and yet be strangers to true love to Jesus. Nothing can be a substitute for love to Jesus. The very perfume of Christianity has ever been the incense of fervent pity and personal love to Christ. The world may call it waste, but Jesus treasures it in vials full of odors sweet before the throne. Humility (John 13:1-10)
6. Washing the disciples’ feet, or the humility that springs from true greatness. The first lesson taught by this picture is that of Christ’s humility. Like Him, we cannot truly stoop until we have learned our high calling and know that we are indeed the sons of God. Then we shall not fear the most menial service or think that the lowliest place can degrade our true dignity, but shall prove that we are the chief by becoming the servant of all. The next lesson is love, that, instead of exposing the stains of one another, seeks to wash them away. But the deepest spiritual teaching of these words is the unfolding of Christ’s own constant cleansing as our ever-living Advocate and High Priest. Still He is girded with the towel, and still He stoops to cleanse the stains of defilement from our feet day by day. Cleansing This is not the act of justification by which He forgives the sinner, but it is the constant keeping of His own disciples. Two expressive words are used in the passage for cleansing; the first, luo, signifying a complete washing of the whole person; the second, nipto, meaning a partial washing, as the feet. The first of these, He says, does not need to be repeated; once for all they have been justified, but day by day they need to be thoroughly and constantly cleansed from the travel stains of the way. The tense used for the first is the perfect tense, “A person who has had a bath [in his justification] needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean” (John 13:10). In the first chapter of his beautiful epistle, John has taught the same truth in the words: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin…. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:7, 1 John 1:9) His Mother (John 19:25-27)
7. The message concerning His mother, or the humanity and divinity of Christ. Of course, the first thought suggested by this exquisite picture is the love of Jesus to His mother and the enduring example which exalts filial piety and affection to so high a place. But following this, comes the other lesson of His transcendent superiority to her and to all His earthly relationships, and the unmistakable protest which He leaves by this incident against any undue exaltation of even His holy mother unto a place of peculiar veneration and worship. Therefore He calls her “woman” instead of mother, and transfers her, not to some place of deification, but to the humble protection of John and the relationship of a mother to him. Therefore, if Mary has been lifted into a place of divinity, what place shall we give to John, her son? The third lesson of this scene is the duty we owe to friends of Christ and the spiritual relationships into which we come to them through our union with Him, so that they are to us truly as Mary was to John, as mother, and brothers, and sisters. Here we see the dream of the household of faith and the family of God in its mutual as well as its divine relations, and the bonds of affection and care which are far too weak in the Church of God. Mary Magdalene (John 20:1-18)
8. Mary at the sepulcher, or the new revelation of the risen Lord. This woman was singularly honored by the love of her risen Lord, as the first witness of His resurrection. She had been saved from more than perhaps any of His disciples. His strong arm of love had rescued her from the sevenfold possession of demoniac power. There is no reason to suppose that her womanhood had been degraded by the sin which has been associated with her name, but something more terrific, and on her part involuntary and irresistible, had bound perhaps all the powers of her body and soul. Set free by His almighty love, her heart was now bound to Him by cords of everlasting love. No sadder or truer heart lingered at the cross through the dark hours of His dying agony, and no more fearless or devoted feet hastened on the Easter morning to anoint His body in Joseph’s sepulcher. Finding the stone rolled away and the door open, she hastens to tell His brethren, Peter and John. When they have come and gone, she lingers still in the garden believing that the body has been removed by the gardener’s hands, perhaps because of its being inconvenient to keep it longer. It is then that Jesus appears to her, disguised at first in a form that she mistakes for the gardener; but the disguise only brings out more beautifully her tender love. Her willing hands are ready to bear away the precious body, but His living voice dispels the illusion, and her hands clasp with rapture the feet of her Lord. His New Resurrection Life Dear as was her love to Jesus, and tenderly as He welcomed and responded to it, yet He saw that there was too much of the old human apprehension in her faith, and that she must be gently taught now to rise to the higher realization of His resurrection and His ascension life, and therefore He adds, “Do not hold on to me” (John 20:17). It was as if He had said, “Think of Me henceforth as ascended to My Father and your Father, and go and tell My brethren.” This was the same thought expressed by the apostle, namely, that though he had known the Lord Jesus after the flesh, yet now henceforth He knew Him thus no more. Thus the cords that bound Mary’s heart to Him were transformed from earth to heaven, and her spirit taught to recognize Him as a spiritual presence, while His body was to be enthroned at the right hand of God. Perhaps she also had to be taught to lose her own self-consciousness and joy by thinking of her brethren and the higher ministry of service, and that henceforth her hands were not so much to clasp her Lord, for her own exclusive possession, as to give Him forth for the salvation and consolation of others. Among the many sweet lessons of this beautiful incident we may learn: a. Love is the element of highest vision. Mary’s affection for her Lord led to her being the first to see Him. b. Jesus is often with us unrecognized, even as Mary supposed Him to be the gardener. c. Christ’s love to us is personal. He called her by her own name, and then there was no mistake about His identity. They who know Him personally know Him unmistakably. d. We must know Jesus spiritually, not by the touch of flesh, but by the contact of faith as the living and ascended One at God’s right hand, and yet the Ever-present in our hearts and lives. e. We must be unselfish in our love to Christ and remember that every revelation and blessing He bestows upon us is a trust for others and must not be held as a selfish joy. Thomas (John 20:24-28)
9. Thomas, or Christ’s patience with our doubts. a. Many of our doubts arise from neglected duty. Had Thomas been in his place on the first Sabbath evening, he would have been saved a week of agony. And were we always where Christ comes to meet us or bids us go, we should escape many conflicts. Much of our spiritual darkness comes from disobedience. b. Much of Thomas’ unbelief arose from self-will. He had ample evidence in the testimony of his brethren, but he had made up his mind that he must have his own way and his own kind of proof, and nothing else would satisfy him. So many persons have a preconceived plan of blessing or salvation, and their own will is the hindrance to the blessing they seek. c. Much of Thomas’ doubt arose from his deep love to Christ and his fear lest it might not be true. Many truehearted Christians are chronic doubters, and their very love to the cross of Christ and the interests committed to them keep them in constant unrest as they bear their own burdens and anxieties. Christ has much sympathy for the doubts and fears He sees in the truehearted, and while He chides and reproves them, yet He gently bears with these troubled ones and constantly proves to them how useless are their fears. d. Christ sometimes meets our unreasonable and willful demands, but when He does, as in the case of Thomas, He makes us ashamed of our willfulness and shows us how little we needed the thing we so insisted upon. When Thomas was allowed to thrust his hand into his Savior’s side he did not want to do it, and, no doubt, was thoroughly ashamed that he had ever asked it. The patience of Jesus in stooping to our unreasonableness may well break our hearts with love. e. Thomas sets a good example to other doubters in putting himself in the way of getting light by assembling the next time with the disciples. And so, if the doubter would only come into the light, or even come to meet it, he would soon find, like Thomas, his Lord ready to shed the light of life on all his darkness. f. Thomas was convinced, not by material evidence, but by the spiritual character of his Lord, by the heart-searching omniscience which read his own secret thoughts, and by the tender grace and love which dealt so generously with his unbelief. And so we shall find the best answer to all our questionings in the manifestation of Jesus Himself to our hearts, as the Searcher of all their secrets and the Supply of all their needs. g. Let us not miss the blessing here pronounced on the higher kind of faith which we all may have and for which all the discipline of life is the best school, the faith of him who has not seen and yet has believed. Peter (John 21:15-22)
10. Peter’s restoration, or Christ’s love and grace for the backslider. Already Peter had met the Lord alone and, doubtless, had poured out his penitential confession at His feet, and received, we may be sure, the Master’s forgiveness. But weeks have elapsed since their return to Galilee, the Master has not come as He appointed, and Peter’s faith has begun to fail. This is doubtless the reason why he returned to his fishing nets, and led with him, as his strong nature usually did, so many of his brethren. But their labor was all in vain, as it ever is when God is calling us from a forbidden path to Him. On the incidents of the miracle that followed we do not dwell here, with all its significant teachings regarding their future service. Perhaps their thoughts had already reverted to that first miracle of the catch of fishes where they had been called to become fishers of men, and Peter may have been already wondering about the significance of this second call as they sat together at their morning meal on the shore. Then the words of Jesus fell upon his ear, “Simon son of John” (John 21:15). It was a good while since he had been called by that name, and it may have reminded him of his human weakness; but there could be no question now of his Lord’s meaning as He follows the name with the humiliating question, “Do you truly love me?” (John 21:15), especially as the word He uses is the strongest word for love (agapao) and seems to imply a doubt of the disciple’s devotion. There is also a little hint in the words, “more than these,” reminding him of his claims of superior devotion the night on which Peter betrayed Jesus. And in the threefold question as it is at length repeated, there is an unmistakable allusion to the threefold denial on that dreadful night. But Peter appeals to his Lord’s omniscience, and using a less intense word (phileo) than Christ had used for love, he answers, “Yes, Lord… you know that I love you” (John 21:15). The Lord accepts the answer and then gives him the first apostolic charge, “Feed My lambs” (John 21:15). A second time Christ asks the question in the very same words, still using the stronger term for love, and the second time Peter answers with the weaker profession, and the Lord adds the second apostolic charge, “Take care of my sheep” (John 21:16). The third time Jesus asks the question, using now at length the same word for love which Peter had employed. Peter, grieved that he had again been doubted, appeals most solemnly to Christ’s all-searching wisdom and repeats his former asseveration, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you” (John 21:17). Then Jesus gives the third apostolic command and the tenderest of all, “Feed my sheep” (John 21:17), giving him that special ministry of consolation to the weak and tired which we find so exquisitely fulfilled in Peter’s epistle of consolation. One lesson more is to be learned; it is the lesson of self-crucifixion, the surrender and subjugation of Peter’s strong self-will and the suppression of his strong hand and curious inquiring mind with respect to others, even to John, his truest friend. “Someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go” (John 21:18), is the message which sends him forth henceforth with bowed spirit and head to follow his Lord to the very cross itself. The other message with respect to John, “What is that to you? You must follow me” (John 21:22), silences all his questionings, takes his eyes off all but Jesus, and lays at last all that is left of Simon, son of John, in the bottomless sepulcher of his risen Lord.