John 3
DODDJohn 3:1-10
The former part of our Lord’s conference with Nicodemus, in which he states the nature and necessity of regeneration. John III. 1—10.
JOHN III. 1.
NOW, while our Lord was thus attending at Jerusalem to keep the passover there was a certain man of the sect of the Pharisees whose name was Nicodemus, a magistrate of the Jews, and a member of the great sanhedrim, (John vii. 50,) who being alarmed, as many of his brethren were, and filled with wonder at the miracles that Jesus wrought, made him a visit in person, that he might more distinctly be informed of the nature of his doctrine, and of the true intent and purpose of his coming. But, lest any offence should be taken at his conversing openly with him, he secretly came to Jesus by night, in order to a private conference with him at his own lodgings; and with the greatest reverence and respect, he said unto him, in his own name as well as in the name of several of his brethren, Rabbi, the wonders thou hast done have been related to us; and, having seriously considered the account that has been given us, we know and cannot but allow that thou art a teacher come with a commission from God: for we are thoroughly convinced that none can ever do these wondrous miracles that are in all respects so beneficial and Divine, which we perceive thou doest, unless he be invested with a power from on high, and God himself be with him in an extraordinary manner. (See John ix. 30, 33.) I am come therefore to desire a more particular account from thine own
a Said unto him, Rabbi.] This title cannot but appear very remarkable, as given by a person of so great dignity to one who, with regard to his education and rank in secular life, made so low an appearance as our blessed Lord did.
b I am come to desire a more particular account, &c.] Our Lord’s answer intimates that he either expressly made, or secretly
intended, such an inquiry; and it is impossible to enter into the beauty of this discourse without considering it in this view. Our Lord touches on the following grand points, in which it was of the utmost importance that Nicodemus and his brethren should be informed. That no external profession, nor any other social observances, or privileges of birth, could
Jesus informs him of the necessity of the new
mouth, both of the doctrine which thou teachest and of the kingdom which thou declarest God is about to erect.
Jesus, knowing the prejudices he laboured under both as a Jew and a Pharisee, judged it necessary immediately to acquaint him with the absolute necessity of a thorough change, by Divine grace, both in heart and life; a change so great as might appear like coming into a new world, and would bring the greatest and most learned men to the simplicity of little children. (Compare Mat. xviii. 3.) He therefore answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, and declare it with the utmost solemnity as a truth of the highest importance, That whatever great privileges any may inherit by his natural birth, or how exact and strict soever he may be in ceremonial observances, unless a man be born again he cannot possibly see the kingdom of God in such a manner as to secure an interest in its invaluable blessings.
Now, as this form of speech was figurative and concise, Nicodemus did not understand what it meant; and therefore says unto him, How can a
intitle any to the blessings of the Messiah’s kingdom; that an entire change of heart and life was necessary to that purpose; that this must be accomplished by a Divine influence on the mind; that mankind was in a state of condemnation and misery; that the free mercy of God had given his Son to deliver them from it, and to raise them to a blessed immortality, which was the great design and purpose of his coming; that all mankind, that is, Gentiles as well as Jews, were to share in the benefits of his undertaking; that they were to be procured by his being lifted up on the cross, and to be received by faith in him; but that if they rejected him there was no other remedy, and their eternal aggravated condemnation would be the certain consequence of it. Our Lord might enlarge more copiously on these heads; which it might be the more proper to do, as some of them were directly contrary to the notions commonly entertained by the Jews concerning the Messiah’s kingdom.
c Unless a man be born again; say unto him, Jesus, from above: but it is plain that
Nicodemus did not take it so; for he thought that, without entering a second time into his mother’s womb, there was no being born in the manner Christ spoke of, avar, that is, again. What is added at ver. 5 explains what was before undetermined as to the original of this birth. Dr. Owen with great propriety observes “That i regeneration here mean only reformation of life, our Lord, instead of making any new discovery, has only thrown a great deal of obscurity on what was before plain and obvious, and known not only to the Jews but the wiser heathens. And indeed (says he immediately after) this is the main article in dispute between many. Some think all things in scripture are expressed in condescension to our capacities, so that there is still to be conceived in many of them an inexpressible grandeur; while, on the other hand, others suppose that, under the pomp and grandeur of the most hyperbolical expressions, things of a low and ordinary sense are to be understood.” See Dr. Owen on the Spirit, p. 175. For the full import of the phrases used in this verse see my Sermons on Regeneration, No. IV. and V.
nd of the operation o the Spirit in it.
man be born again when he is old, as I now am? Can he possibly enter a second time into his mother’s womb and so be born over again? It would be perfectly absurd to think that thou intendest this should be taken in a literal sense; and I confess I am at a loss to know what figurative interpretation is to be put upon it.
Then Jesus, to explain his former meaning, answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, and again repeat it, That unless a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God; or, in plain terms, whosoever would become a regular member of it, he must not only be baptized, but as ever he desires to share in its spiritual and eternal blessings, he must experience the renewing and sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit on his soul, to cleanse it from the power of corruption, and to animate it to a Divine and spiritual life. For were it possible for a man to be born again, in the literal sense that you have mentioned, by entering a second time into his mother’s womb, such a second birth would do no more to qualify him for the kingdom of God than the first: for that which is born of the flesh, is only flesh; and what proceeds and is produced from parents that are sinful and corrupt, is sinful and corrupt as they are; but that which is born of the Spirit is formed to a resemblance of that blessed Spirit whose office it is to infuse a Divine life into the soul.
Wonder not, therefore, that I said unto thee, and have declared it as a truth that you are all concerned in, That you yourselves, even though you are Jews, and Pharisees, and rulers of the people, yet must be born again; since the degeneracy of the human nature is of so universal an extent as to be common to you all. Nor have you any cause to be surprised if there be some things in this doctrine of regeneration which are of an obscure and unsearchable nature; for
d Is sinful and corrupt as they are ] The vindicate it! (Compare Gen. vi. 3; Rom. viii. 8; Gal. v. 17—24; and Jude ver. 23.) Inced it seems to me impossible to clear up either the beauty of the antithesis, or even the truth of the assertion, on any other interpretation.
Vo
T
Nicodemus knows not how to conceive it.
even in the natural world, many things are so: The wind, for instance, bloweth where it will, sometimes one way and sometimes another, and is not subject to the direction or command of man; and though thou hearest the sound thereof, and feelest its sensible and powerful effects, yet thou canst not exactly tell from whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; for whatever general principles may be laid down concerning it, when you come to account for its particular variations, the greatest philosophers often find themselves at a loss; and in like manner so it is with every one that is born of the Spirit: and you are so far from being capable of accounting for it, that it is easy to be seen there is a sovereign freedom in that Divine agency, which makes it oftentimes impossible to say why it is imparted to one rather than to another; and there is a secret in the manner of its operation on the mind which it is neither necessary to know nor possible to explain.
But Nicodemus, who had been accustomed to the pomp and ceremony of an external religion, answered and said unto him, How can these things be? for, after all this explication, I am still at a loss to understand what this being born of the Spirit means, and therefore cannot conceive how it should be so absolutely necessary.
*Jesus then answered and said unto him, How Nicodemus! art thou a teacher of Israel, of so distinguished a rank and character, and dost thou not know these things!*ᵉ when so much is every where said in the scripture of the purifying and quickening operations of the Divine Spirit on men’s hearts? (Compare Jer. xxxi. 33, 34; and Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27.) It is high time thou shouldst be better informed concerning them.
*Art thou a teacher of Israel, and dost thou not know these things?*ᶠ Could it be proved that the Jewish Rabbis, so early as Christ’s time, called a baptized person one born again, or born of water, that would strongly illustrate the passage before us. But though Dr. Claget and Mr. Locke, and after them Dr. Clarke give the words this turn, the fact did not appear to me so evident as to allow of my inserting it in the paraphrase. However, it is strange to me that any should doubt whether rosel tes were ad-
mitted into the Jewish church by baptism, that is, by washing; when it is plain from express passages in the Jewish law, that no Jew who had lived like a Gentile for one single day, could be restored to the communion of their church without it. Compare Numb. xix. 19, 20, and many other precepts relating to ceremonial pollutions; by which the Jews were rendered incapable of appearing before God in the tabernacle or temple, till they were washed either by bathing or sprinkling.
Reflections on the nature and necessity of the new birth.
SECT.^()[] XXV
IMPROVEMENT.
He that hath ears to hear, let him hear with attention what the blessed Redeemer said on this great occasion. It is surely a matter of universal concern: for who would not desire to enter into the kingdom of God? to be an acceptable member of Christ’s church now, and an heir of glory beyond the grave? But how is this blessing to be expected and secured? Thus saith the Lord himself, Unless a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Let us remember therefore that it is not enough that a new name be given us, or that a new profession be assumed; it is not enough that we are descended from the most pious ancestors, that we have been externally devoted to God by the early seal of his covenant, or that we openly have made a solemn and express profession of our own faith and obedience, and have been born of baptismal water in our riper years! There must be a new nature implanted, a new creation formed in our souls by the almighty energy of the eternal Spirit, or it had been better for us that we had never been born at all.
That which is born of the flesh, is flesh; and as we all proceed from a corrupt original, we do not more evidently bear the image of the earthly Adam in the infirmities of a mortal body than in the degeneracy of a corrupted mind. Oh, let us earnestly entreat that, being born of the sanctifying influences of the Spirit, we may bear the image of the heavenly! And to these influences let us with all humility and thankfulness be ready to yield up our souls, as remembering that they are of a free and sovereign nature, like the wind that bloweth where it will, and does not stay for the command of the children of men.
Let none of us indulge a vain and useless curiosity with respect to the manner of the Spirit’s operations, or wonder that we meet with some things that are secret and unknown in matters of a spiritual nature, when we see daily there are so many things unknown in the common appearances of the natural world, and indeed so few that we can perfectly understand.
May the pride of a falsely pretended reason be subdued to the authority of faith! And more especially, may such as are teachers in Israel, or who are designed for that important office, take their instructions with all humility from this teacher sent from God! For it must surely be not only their calamity, but that too of the church in general, if its guides continue ignorant of those sublime and spiritual truths which Christ came down from heaven to reveal, or are so biassed by the carnal reasonings of a depraved mind as to be indisposed and backward to receive them.
Jesus goes on in his conference with Nico e
John 3:11-21
atter part of our Lord’s conference with Nicodemus the design of his coming into the world, and shessity of faith in him. John III. 11—21.
JOHN III. 11.
JESUS, pursuing his discourse with Nicodemus, said, I find that you are stumbled at this doctrine of regeneration which I have now been opening to you: but howsoever it may still appear to be obscure and strange, yet labour to subdue the prejudices that arise against it; for, verily, verily, I say unto thee, That in the doctrine we have now delivered we speak nothing but what we certainly know,ᵃ and testify no other than that which we have seen,ᵇ and can declare upon the surest grounds to be a most important truth, and to be perfectly agreeable to what we have received in commission from God himself: and yet the disposition of the Jewish rulers and people is generally such, that ye receive not our testimony, and are likely still to reject it: For these things which I have already told you are but the first principles to make way for what is yet more marvellous. Now, if I hitherto have told you things which have been capable of being represented to you in a familiar way, and being
ᵃ We speak what we know.] Some have supposed that, as Christ speaks here in the plural number, he may refer not only to the doctrine that was delivered by himself, but to the testimony that was given to the truth of it by John the Baptist, and to the preaching also of his own disciples, who all concurred in testifying the same things; the certainty of which they were assured of by the teachings of the Spirit, and by their own experience, while it was known to Christ by his omniscience, and by the intimate acquaintance that he had with all the councils of the Father. And others have supposed that he includes here, with himself the Father and the Spirit, who are expressly spoken of in other passages as bearing witness to the truth of what he said, and as agreeing with him in the testimony that he gave. (Compare John viii. 18; xiv. 20—26; and I John v. 6—8.) But there is
no necessity we should suppose him to refer to any other than himself: since nothing is more usual than for a person of authority to speak of himself in the plural number, as Christ may be observed to have done elsewhere (Mark iv. 30;) and in the next verse he appears to have restrained it to himself, where he says only in the singular number, If I have told you earthly things, &c. See Lightfoot’s Harmony in loc.
ᵇ And testify that which we have seen.] Christ seems here to allude to what was mentioned in the law as qualifying a man to be a witness, that he was able to declare what he testified, that he had seen or known it. (Levit. v. 1.) And as he therefore had a clear perception, and a certain knowledge of the truth of what he said, there was the highest reason to receive his testimony, and to regard him as a true and faithful witness.
celare the certainty of what he reveals.
illustrated by obvious and well known similitudes; so that by reason of their plainness, and of the frequent references to them in the Old Testament, they may be called earthly things; and ye believe not even these: how then would you believe if I should yet go on to tell you other doctrines which are not capable of being thus explained; and which indeed are so much more mysterious and sublime that, in comparison of what has been already told you, they may be called heavenly things?c (Compare Heb. vi. 1, 2; Psal. ciii. 11; and Isa. lv. 9.) Yet even these you will have no just reason to suspect when you consider whence they come, and who it is that reveals them to you: for no one ever has ascended up to heaven to search into the secret counsels and to obtain an intimate and perfect knowledge of the truths of God;d unless, as you will see hereafter, he has done it who is really descended from heaven; [even] the Son of man who is in heaven, as there is the place of his stated abode, whither he shortly will return, and as he now is present there by his Divine nature, which fills both heaven and earth.
And now I mention the Son of man, let me rectify that grand mistake of yours concerning his kingdom, which otherwise may be attended with such fatal consequences. You expect to see him raised on a magnificent throne, and not only breaking off the yoke from the Jewish nation, but leading them on to conquer and
c Heavenly things] This has been understood by some, of those sublime and heavenly doctrines that were afterwards revealed, of the eternal generation of the Son, and of the fulness of the Godhead dwelling in him bodily, and of those other mysteries of godliness that are above the reach of human reason, and cannot be illustrated by earthly things; (see Lightfoot’s Harmony in loc.) Though it would rather seem that our Lord does more immediately refer to the doctrines which he mentions in the remaining part of his discourse to Nicodemus, of his descent from heaven to instruct us in the things of God, and be united to the human nature here below, while by his divine nature he still continued to be present above; of the design for which he came into the world to be lifted upon
the cross, that he might save us from our sins; of everlasting life and happiness to be obtained by faith in his death; and of the condemnation of all those that should reject him: which may be counted as the deep things of God, which he reveals unto us by his Spirit, and which the natural man who disregards that spirit receiveth not, so they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned; 1 Cor. ii. 10.—14.
d Ascended up to heaven to search into the truths of God.] The phrase of ascending into heaven is plainly used in this sense, Deut. xxx. 12; Rom. x. 6, and Prov. xxx. 4. As for the turn here given to the particle u μ, see the note on John xvii, 12; sect. clxxix.
God sent his Son not to condemn but to save t
destroy the Gentiles: but I must assure you that *as Moses lifted up the brasen serpent on a pole in the wilderness, to heal those that were dying by the venom of the fiery serpents there (see Numb. xxi. 8, 9,) so also must the Son of man be first lifted up on a cross (compare John viii. 28; xii. 32, 34,) and then publicly exhibited in the preaching of the gospel, that sinners may by him receive a far more noble and important cure:*ᵉ Even that whoever believeth on him may not perish, as all in their natural state would otherwise do,ᶠ but may obtain so perfect a recovery as certainly to have eternal life. For this is indeed the summary of that important message which I bring to the children of men, that God so loved the world,ᵍ apostate and miserable as it was; yea, to such an amazing and unutterable degree did he love it that he gave even his only begotten Son from his embraces, that whoever believeth on him, whatever be the nation he belongs to, or whatever his guilt be, he may not perish under the sentence of Divine justice, but may have everlasting life and glory. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, and to execute that vengeance upon them which their guilt might have taught them to fear; nor did he send him to destroy the Gentile nations, as your Jewish prejudices are ready to represent it; but that the world of mankind, whether Jews or Gentiles, might be saved by him, even all without exception who will listen to the overtures of
ᵉ A far more noble and important cure.] The grand point of similitude here is in the manner of performing the cure, that is, by believing regards to something lifted up for that purpose by a Divine appointment. It would be blasphemy to run a parallel between Christ and that which gave us the deadly wound: and to talk, as Grotius and Dr. Clarke here do, of the resemblance between him and the image of the serpent, as he was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, seems in this connection to be foreign to the purpose.
ᶠ As all in their natural state would otherwise do.] This is strongly implied here, and yet more strongly in ver. 18, where all that do not believe are said to be condemned already: and till men enter deeply into this important truth the gospel
may indeed be their amusement, but I see not how it is like to be their joy or their cure. ᵍ God so loved the world.] It is not only a very arbitrary criticism by which Erasmus makes these the words of the evangelist rather than of Christ, but if it were admitted, it would destroy much of the beauty and energy of that awful admonition which our Lord gives to Nicodemus, and by him to his brethren, in this his first entrance on his ministry. No doubt many of them attended him to learn the result of this conference, which to the best of his understanding we may conclude he honestly reported: and it is sad to think what an aggravation it was of the unbelief and impenitence of that grand council who afterwards treated Christ with so much contempt and malignity.
that believeth not is condemned already.
his gospel. And therefore, on the one hand, he that believeth on him, how great soever his sins may have been, and however unpardonable according to the tenor of the Mosaic law, yet shall not be finally condemned, but shall obtain a complete pardon: and on the other hand, he that believeth not, whatever his external profession and privileges may be, is condemned already, remaining under the sentence of his former guilt, yea, and subjecting himself by his refusal of the only remedy to greater and more aggravated wo; because he hath not believed in the illustrious name of the only begotten Son of God, though expressly revealed to him on so glorious and important an occasion.
Now, through the great perverseness of mankind, I certainly foresee that this will be the case with multitudes: for this is the great condemnation, the crime that fills up the measure of men’s iniquities, and proves the surest cause of their final and speedy ruin, that a Divine light is come into the world, and yet men have loved darkness rather than light and have chosen to remain ignorant rather than to submit themselves to the teachings of this heavenly revelation; and the reason is plainly this, because their deeds were evil, and they have not virtue enough to resolve on a thorough reformation. For every one who is conscious to himself that he doeth evil, and will persist in his wickedness, hateth the light, as the cause of anguish and shame to his guilty mind; and he cometh not to the light lest his actions should be reproved by it, and so his character exposed, and his conscience disquieted, (Compare Eph. v. 13.) But he that practises truth and virtue, sincerely endeavouring to adjust his actions
h Believed in the illustrious name.] Though the name of a person be often put for the person himself, yet I think it is farther intimated in that expression, that the person spoken of is great and magnificent; and therefore it is generally used to express either God the Father or our Lord Jesus Christ.
i He that practises truth: o womw mw exnbuw.] This phrase often occurs as the character of a good man: (compare Psal. cxix. 30. Isa. xxvi. 2; 1 Pet. i. 22; 15.
John i. 6; and 2 John, ver. 4.) And it is used with great propriety, since the is as really a truth or falsehood in actions as in words: as Mr. Wollaston in particular has shewn at large; see Relig. of Nature, chap. i. Of the same kind is the phrase. womw fwd@, used more than once by St. John, perhaps in a beautiful opposition to this before us; and should it be rendered practiseth a lie, that opposition would be more apparent; see Rev. xxi. 27; xxi. 15.
Reflections on the design.
according to the eternal law of righteousness or the nature and obligation of things, comes to the light with confidence and pleasure, and takes all opportunities of improving his knowledge, that his actions may be made manifest as in open day; knowing it will appear that they are wrought in God, that is, that they are agreeable to the Divine nature and will, and the consequence of that union of soul with him which is the highest dignity and happiness of a rational creature. Be it therefore known unto you all that this gospel which I preach is the great touchstone of men’s true characters; and, as nothing but a corruption of heart can oppose it, so I faithfully warn you that if you reject it it is at the peril of your souls.
This was the purport of our Lord’s discourse with Nicodemus; and it appears by some following circumstances of the story, that it made a deep and lasting impression on his mind. See John vii. 50; and xix. 39.
IMPROVEMENT.
How happy is it for us that, since none of the children of men ever ascended up into heaven to learn the mysteries of Divine knowledge there, the only begotten Son of God has been pleased to come down from thence that he might instruct us! He spake what he knew, and testified what he had seen: Oh that men were so wise as to receive his testimony, be the discoveries ever so near or the doctrines ever so sublime!
Let us with peculiar pleasure attend unto that abstract of the gospel which he exhibited in this profitable and comprehensive discourse with Nicodemus. It presents to our view Christ, and him crucified. It opens the treasures of Divine beneficence and compassion, and shews us the Father of mercies so loving world, which he might justly have abhorred and destroyed as to give his only begotten Son to be a ransom for it.
Let us behold him lifted up on the cross as the great attractive to whom all were to be drawn! In him shall we find the Divine cure for our souls, infected as they are with the poison of sin, if we behold him not merely with a curious but a believing eye.
That they are wrought in God: et Oi it expresses. His instance of the like use of the particle in I Cor. vii. 39, seems insufficient; for to marry et na Kogia in the Lord, signifies there the marrying one who is in Christ, that is a Christian.
of Christ’s coming.
Whatever our wounds be, if in the exercise of faith we look to him, we shall not die of them; but it is owing to our own obstinacy and impenitence if we yet perish.
He might justly have appeared in a different form for the condemnation of sinners, rather than their salvation. The Son of God might have come into an apostate world armed with thunderbolts of flaming vengeance, to punish the violation of his Father’s law; but his hands are filled with eternal blessings.
As we love our own souls, let us apply to him in time for this salvation. Let us dread the aggravated condemnation of those who, when light is come into the world, prefer darkness to it, and obstinately shut their eyes against it, though it be the dawnings of an eternal day.
May integrity and an uprightness preserve us! (Psal. xxv. 21.) And, conscious of a real desire to govern ourselves according to the light we have, may we cheerfully lay ourselves in the way of more; that in the last awful day, when the sentence of Divine wrath shall be executed on all the servants of sin, and their character shall stand disclosed in the most odious colours, ours may shine out beautiful and fair, and the good deeds that we have done, being now wrought in God, may then not only be accepted and applauded, but through the grace of the Redeemer abundantly rewarded by him!
John 3:22
John the Baptist’s last testimony to Christ on occasion of a dispute concerning his baptism, and that administered by our Lord’s disciples. John III. 22, to the end.
JOHN III. 22.
A F T E R these things, came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judea, and there he tarried with them, and baptized. A F T E R these things, Jesus and his disciples came from Jerusalem, where they had kept the passover together, into a part of the land of Judea, at some distance from the capital city; and there he continued with them, and by their ministry, though not in his own person, baptized. (See John iv. 2.)
And John also was baptizing in E-non, near to Salim, because there was much water there: And John was also at that time baptizing at Enon, which was a place near Salim, a town on the west side of Jordan; and he particularly chose that place because there was a great quantity of water there, which made it very con-
a At Enon, because there was a great quantity of water there.] It is exceeding difficult to determine the true situation of this place, about which geographical writers
John’s disciples tell him that Jesus also bapt
venient for his purpose: and they came from all parts, and were baptized by him. For the reader will observe that John the Baptist was not yet thrown into prison; as he was a few months after, by the injustice of Herod, in whose territories that place lay.
And there was about this time a warm dispute [between some] of the disciples of John and a [certain] Jew, who had been baptized by Christ, about this right of purifying, or baptism, which was administered in different parts by these two Divine teachers; for notwithstanding their commissions and administrations were so harmonious, yet some, through ignorance and weakness, were ready to oppose them to each other.
And such was the concern of John’s disciples upon this occasion, that they came to John, and said unto him, Rabbi, we are solicitous for thy honour in the present conjuncture of affairs: for he that was lately with thee on the other side Jordan, and to whom thou gavest such an honourable testimony there, behold, he now baptizeth, and people from all parts, yea even such as have before received thy baptism, come unto him; which, as we fear, may cause thy baptism to be neglected, and tend to the injury of thy character, since some are already making very invidious comparisons between him and thee.
But John replied to his disciples, with an humility and integrity agreeable to the rest of his
are not at all agreed. We may conclude however from ver. 26, that it was on the west side of Jordan, as Bethabara, where John had baptized before, was on the other side. But nothing surely can be more evident than that σοκκια υδίω, many waters, signifies a large quantity of water, it being sometimes used for the Euphrates, Jer. li. 13. Septuag. To which I suppose there may also be an allusion, Rev. xvii. 1. Compare Ezek. xliii. 2; and Rev. i. 15; xiv. 2; xix. 6; where the voice of many waters does plainly signify the roaring of a high sea.
b John was not yet thrown into prison.] I think it probable from hence, as well as from tradition, and many other passages in this gospel itself, that St. John wrote it as a supplement to the rest. For he speaks of the Baptist’s imprisonment as a thing gen-
erally known, and yet says nothing of his martyrdom, though he had given so large an account of his ministry. We cannot suppose he would have omitted so material a fact, had he not known that the other evangelists had recorded it at large; as will be seen in the next section, and in sect. lxxvii.
c A certain Jew.] The many copies which read it thus, as well as the authority of the Syriac version, and the citations of some of the fathers, determine me to prefer this reading, which I think gives rather an easier sense: as a single Jew might most properly be opposed to John’s disciples, who were Jews themselves; and as a considerable part of the nation had entered themselves into that number, at least so far as receiving his baptism was a token of it.
and he again acknowledges his superior dignity.
character, and said, in order to convince them, farther of the superior honours due to the blessed Jesus, Do not give way to such vain partiality and fondness for me: for a man can indeed receive, and therefore ought to assume, nothing to himself unless it be given him from heaven; but we are just what God is pleased to make us, and must stand in that rank which his infinite wisdom has seen fit to assign us. Nor have you any reason to be surprised at the report you bring me, or to imagine I shall regard it as a matter of complaint: for you yourselves, in what you now have said, bear witness to me, and cannot but remember that, even from the very first of my appearance, I expressly said, and was on all occasions ready to repeat it, that I am not the Christ; but that I am sent as a harbinger before him; and therefore am so far from being in any opposite and separate interest, that his success is my greatest joy. It is the bridegroom only that hath the bride; and it is his peculiar right to enjoy her as his own: but as for the intimate friend of the bridegroom, who standeth near him, and heareth him express his delight and complacency in her, he is so far from envying and repining at it that, if he really deserves the name of a friend, he rather rejoices with exceeding great joy on account of the bridegroom’s voice. Such therefore is the friendship and the high regard I have for Jesus, that this that you have told me is my joy; which is so far from being at all impaired, that it is heightened and completed on this happy occasion, which you should rather have been ready to congratulate than to have made it matter of complaint.
d You yourselves bear witness to me: αὕσι μοινοπαις μοινοπαις. ] There seems to be an intimation in those words, that what they themselves had just been saying was a sufficient proof of what the Baptist was going to declare; for they had described Jesus by the character of him to whom John had borne witness.
e Heareth him express his delight and complacency in her. ] Some have supposed that this alludes to a peculiar ceremony attending the marriages among the Jews;
which the reader may find in Dr. Hammond in loc. and Selden. Uxor. Heb. lib. ii. cap. 16. But perhaps it may be a more general reference to any of the natural expressions of joy on such an occasion. I pretend not to determine how far Bishop Patrick may be right, in supposing “that this is an allusion to the cabalistic doctrine, that Tipheret, the Great Adam, or the Messiah, is married to Malcuth, the congregation of Israel, as the terrestrial Adam was to Eve.” See his Preface to Canticles. § 4.
He testifies his joy in Christ’s success
the Spirit given not by measure to him.
furnished to fulfil his ancient promises to his people. For he whom God hath sent into the world as the promised Messiah, speaking the words of God, and all that he reveals should be regarded as Divine oracles: for God giveth not the powers and the inspiration of his Spirit [to him] by measure, under such limitations and with such interruptions as he gives it to his other messengers; but it dwells in him by a constant presence, and operates by a perpetual energy. For the Almighty Father loveth the Son incomparably beyond the most faithful of his servants; and hath not only established him as the great Teacher of his church, but hath given the government of all things into his hand, that he may be regarded as the universal Lord.
So that instead of repining at his growing glories, you should rather be solicitous to secure an interest in his favour: for this is the substance, and this the end of my whole testimony, that he who believeth on the Son, hath a sure title to eternal life, and hath already the beginnings of it wrought in his soul; but he that is disobedient to the Son, and obstinately persists in his unbelief and impenitence, shall not see and enjoy that life; but, on the contrary, is so far from it, that the wrath of God, and the unpardoned aggravated guilt of all his sins, abideth even now upon him, and will quickly sink him into final condemnation and ruin.
Thus did that holy man John the Baptist conclude those testimonies to Christ which are recorded in the gospel, and was quickly after
Under such limitations and with such interruptions as he gives it to his other messengers.] With what limitations and interruptions the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit were given, even to the greatest of the children of men, we shall have repeated occasion to observe in the process of this work.
This is the substance, and this the end of my whole testimony.] Erasmus here destroys (as he had done before at ver. 16) the beauty of this discourse by supposing that the latter part of it is to be considered as the reflection and attestation of the evangelist, upon occasion of the testimony that was given by the Baptist; though he seems himself at a loss to fix the clause at
this supposed change of the person speaking begins.
He that is disobedient to the Son.] I think it is of great importance to preserve a difference in the translation, correspondent to that in the original, between ο στίχων εις των υἱο, and ο στίβων των υἱο; and because the latter phrase explains the former, and shews that the faith to which the promise of life is annexed is an effectual principle of sincere and unreserved obedience; and it is impossible to make one part of scripture consistent with another, unless this be taken into our idea of saving faith; as I have shewn at large in the first of my Sermons on Salvation by Grace through faith.
Reflections on the Baptist’s joy in Christ’s success.
SEC. imprisoned by Herod the tetrarch; as the xxvii course of this history will presently shew.
IMPROVEMENT.
Verse 26 It is indeed too true that the spirit which naturally dwelleth in us all lusteth to envy. (Jam. iv. 5.) and it is far from being a low attainment in religion to look with complacency and thankfulness on the superior abilities and acceptance of others, especially of those who once appeared in an inferior rank. But for the cure of this unreasonable and restless passion, so contrary to the true spirit of the gospel, let us remember that a man can receive nothing at all except it be given him from heaven. It is God that makes one man to differ from another; and surely nothing can be more unreasonable than that, when we ourselves have received all from his bounty, our eye should be evil because he is good. (Mat. xx. 15.) 29 If we are indeed the friends of Christ we shall rejoice to see his interest advance, and especially to see souls espoused to him as the great Bridegroom of the church, whoever are the instruments of promoting so happy a work. Would to God that in this sense all the Lord’s people were even as the greatest of the prophets, or as the very chief of the apostles! (Numb. xi. 29.) 30 But if indeed they were so, yet, like those brightest luminaries of the church, they must in time have their change and their wane. If God does not darken their glories by a sudden eclipse, yet they who are now, like the Baptists, burning and shining lights, must like him gradually decrease, while others are increasing about them; as they, in their turns, grew up amidst the decays of the former generation. Let us know how to set as well as to rise; and let it comfort our declining days to trace in those that are like to succeed us in our work, the openings of yet greater usefulness. So shall we grow in our meenness for that world, where all the righteous shall shine forth together, as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father, in a bright resemblance of him with whom there is no variableness nor shadow of turning. 33 As the surest means of guiding us to that happy world, let us make it our great care, by receiving the testimony of Christ, to set our seal to the truth of God, engaged in his cause. With how much pleasure should we do it, and with what joy should we reflect that the Father so loveth the Son that he has not only given him the rich and unmeasurable communications of the Spirit, but has committed also into his hand the reins of government! Let his faithful servants remember it with joy, and cheerfully commit their concerns to him who is made head over all things for the benefit of his church. (Eph. i. 22.)
And to conclude; let it engage us to see to the sincerity of our
John had reproved Herod for his marriage.
faith in him, and subjection to him; since it is not a light matter, but our life, even the very life of our souls. May God awaken those on whom his wrath now abideth to a sense of their danger; and may he strengthen in each of our souls that faith which is the pledge of a happy immortality!