John 8

John 8:1-11

Christ, having spent the night in retirement, returns to the temple, where an adulteress is brought before him; but he avoids giving judgment in her case, and turns the consciences of his enemies on themselves. John VIII. 1—11.

JOHN VIII. 1. JESUS went unto the mount of Olives.

JOHN VIII. 1. THUS the Pharisees debated the case, and in such dissension their assembly broke up; but Jesus, choosing to retire in the evening, that he might by secret converse with his heavenly Father be animated to all the labours and dangers before him, went up to a mountain in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, which lay to the east of the city, on the other side of the brook Cedron, and is well known by the name of the mount of Olives, where he spent the night in meditation and prayer.

And early in the morning he came again into the temple; and all the people came unto

But, that his retirement might not break in upon the opportunity of public service, which the present concourse of people gave him, he returned to the temple early in the morning; and all the people who came to worship there before they returned to their respective habitations in the country (the feast being now ended) flocked around him to receive his instructions; and, such was his courage and zeal, notwithstanding the late conspiracy which had been

A woman caught in the act of adultery is brought formed against him, that sitting down in one of the cloisters, he instructed them as freely as he had ever done. And, while he was engaged in this exercise, the scribes and Pharisees brought to him a woman who had just been taken in the commission of adultery, having been unhappily betrayed into it among those intemperances which too often attend public feasts; and, as the court of judicature, before whom she should have been tried, was not yet assembled, they took that opportunity of laying a snare for Jesus, by setting her before him, in the midst of the people who were attending his discourse. And, as if they were desirous of information from him, they craftily said unto him, Master, as thou professest thyself an extraordinary Teacher, we desire thou wouldest pronounce thy judgment on this case: here is a woman who was taken in the very act of adultery: Now Moses in the law has commanded us, that such infamous women should be stoned, (Lev. xx. 10, and Deut. xx. 22); but, as thou takest upon thee, Brought to him a woman taken in adultery.] It is well known that this story is wanting in the Syriac version, as well as in the Alexandrian and Bodleian copies, and indeed in most of the oldest manuscripts; which engaged Beza to question, and Le Clerc, with many others, to reject its authority. But I acquiesce in the reasoning of the learned Dr. Mill, to whom I refer the reader for the arguments to prove it authentic; the critical examination of these matters lying quite out of the sphere of my present design. A mistaken apprehension that some circumstances in the story were indecent, and an excessive rigour with respect to those who had fallen into this truly detestable crime, might perhaps be the occasion of this omission, if it was not accidental in some early copies. Erasmus conjectures it might be added by St. John after some copies of his gospel had been taken; and Grotius, that some who heard the story from the apostle’s mouth recorded it with the approbation of Papias and other eminent persons in the church. The notice that Eusebius, (Eccles. Hist. lib. iii. cap. ult.) Jerom (adv. Pelag. lib. ii. cap. 6), and other ancient writers, have taken of the dubiousness of this passage, with a few other instances of the like nature, shews that critical exactness with which they examined into the genuineness of the several parts of the New Testament, and so, on the whole, strengthens the evidence of Christianity, which (as I have shewn at large in the ninth of my Ten Sermons) is so inseparably connected with the genuineness and purity of the New Testament. Such women should be stoned.] If they spoke accurately, this must have been a woman who had been betrothed to a husband, and had been guilty of this infamous crime before the marriage was completed; for such only are expressly condemned to be stoned. (Deut. xxii. 22-24.) The Jewish writers tell us, that when (as in the case of other adulteries) only death in general was denounced, without specifying the particular kind of it, strangling was to be used. Custom indeed (as Grotius observes) might have introduced stoning in all these cases (compare Ezek. xvi. 38, 40); yet that would not justify what they here say. But our Lord’s Spirit was too noble to take the advantage of such a slip, if it was a mistake: he had a much greater view, and silenced them in a far more effectual manner.

e guiltless person throw the first stone at her. either to supersede many of his precepts, or interpret them in a very singular manner, we would be glad to hear thy determination in an affair of so great importance; what therefore dost thou say? This they said tempting him, that, which way soever he should determine, they might have an opportunity to accuse him; either to the Jewish rulers, if he acquitted such a criminal; or to the Romans, if he ventured, though on the authority of the law, to pronounce a capital sentence against her, which he had no authority from the Romans to do, and which the Jewish rulers themselves had at present no power to execute. (Compare John xviii. 31.) But Jesus, stooping down, wrote something on the ground with his finger, choosing (as it were) to speak to them by that action, rather than by words. But as they, thinking that they had him at a great advantage, continued asking him with great importunity, he raised himself up, and, without replying directly to their demand, only said to them, Let him of you that is without sin, in this or any other respect, pursue the prosecution, and throw the first fatal stone at her, when she is condemned; (compare * To accuse him—to the Romans, if he ventured, [C.] It is very evident that the ewish sanhedrim sat by licence from the Roman governor; and though they had a right to try capital causes, it was necessary (as it seems from passages elsewhere examined) that the sentence they passed should be recognized and allowed by the Romans before it could be carried into execution. (See sect. clxxxvi. note, on Matt. xxvii. 2, and sect. clxxxviii. note, on John xix. 10.) For Christ therefore to have undertaken the decision of this case would ipso facto have rendered him obnoxious to the Romans, as well as to the sanhedrim: and had he condemned her, a new occasion of offence must have arisen, in consequence of that, to Pilate, if execution had been ordered without an application to him, and to the Jews, if Christ had directed such an application to be made. So that the snare here was much the same with that afterwards laid for him (Mat. xxii. 17—22, sect. cliv.) in the question about the lawfulness of paying tribute. * Wrote on the ground with his finger.] The following words, μn πρεστιωμωφ, as though he heard them not, or (as I would render them) as not regarding them, are wanting in the most valuable manuscripts. Dr. Mill therefore, I think justly, omits them, as several other printed editions of the Greek Testament do. Were they admitted, they would cut off most of the conjectures which learned men have advanced as to what Christ wrote; a question which it is impossible for us to determine, and which we have no need at all to be solicitous about. I am inclined to think there was a language in the action itself, either to intimate that these hypocritical Pharisees should be themselves (as the prophet expresses it, Jer. xvii. 13) written in the earth, or that they were to attend to what was written: but I can determine nothing, and must say with a great critic on these words, Nescire velle, quæ magister optimus nescire nos vult, erudita inscitia est: “To be willing to continue ignorant of what our great Master has thought fit to conceal, is no inconsiderable part of Christian learning.” * Let him of you that is without sin, throw the first stone at her.] Le Clerc makes the supposed impropriety of this reply a farther

They all retire, and he bids the woman sin no more.

sec. Deft. xvii. 7), thus prudently avoiding a decision of the case, and leading them to reflect on their own guilt. And stooping down again, he wrote on the ground, as he had done before, and left them to their own reflections.

And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.

But having heard [his answer], and being by a secret energy which went along with the word of Jesus, in a very awful and powerful manner, convicted in their consciences of their own personal and aggravated guilt, they were ashamed, even to look each other in the face; and so went out one by one, beginning from the eldest, whose age and office tended to increase their shame and remorse; and the impression passed even to the last, or the youngest and meanest of them. And Jesus was left alone by all the accusers, and the woman standing in the midst of the crowd, with which he had been surrounded before she was brought in.

And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

And Jesus raising himself up, and seeing none of those who had been soliciting his judgment, but only the woman they had brought before him, said to her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? Has no man condemned thee, or is there none remaining to bear witness against

When Jesus had lift up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?

thee? And she said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I take upon me, at this time, and under this circumstance, judicially to condemn thee, though thy crime has been undoubtedly great: go thy way therefore without any impediment from me; but, as the

She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I

argument against the genuineness of this text; since the law did not require the witnesses or executioners to be free from sin, in order to the efficacy of such a prosecution. But it may be answered, that our Lord’s certain knowledge of what the effect would be, vindicated the wisdom of his putting the matter upon this issue, by which it is plain in fact he escaped their snare.

[Went out one by one, beginning from the eldest.] It is strange any should have interpreted this clause so rigorously, as to imagine that every particular person went out just according to his age. It seems only to intimate that those elders of the people, who had been most eager in the prosecution, appeared under the most

sensible confusion, and were some of the first that left the assembly. And in this view it is very remarkable; especially considering that they were now in the presence of the multitude, before whom they would, no doubt, be desirous to keep up the strictest appearance of virtue, in order to maintain their influence over them. Though (as Dr. Whitby shows, on ver. 7) adultery prevailed much among the Jews about this time, yet I see no reason to conclude that their conscience convicted every one of them of this particular crime. Their partiality (as Dr. Lardner well observes) seems to appear in bringing only the woman, not the man, when the law condemned both. (Lard. Credib part. i. Vol. I. p. 79.)

Reflections on the force of an accusing conscience.

demn thee; go, and Messenger of God, and Friend of souls, I sect. sin no more. warn thee, that thou sin no more; for such enormous practices as these must subject thee to a severer judgment from God than man can pronounce or inflict.

IMPROVEMENT.

THE devout retirements of Christ, and his early renewed labours, so often come in view, that, after having made some progress in his history, we are ready to pass them over as things of course. But let us remember, that in some degree they call upon us to go and do likewise; and will another day condemn those who, while they call themselves his disciples, are given up to ease and luxury, and suffer every little amusement or sensual gratification to lead them into an omission of their duty to God and their fellowcreatures; an omission especially aggravated in those whom he has appointed to be teachers of others, and who have therefore so many peculiar errands to the throne of grace, and so many engagements in the morning to sow, or to prepare the seed of religious instruction, and in the evening not to withhold their hand from dispensing it. (Eccles. xi. 6.)

While Jesus is teaching, his enemies address him, not only as an instructor, but as a judge: and yet, by this specious form of honour and respect, they sought only to insnare and destroy him. So unsafe would it be always to judge of men’s intentions by the first appearances of their actions! But our Lord, in his answer, united, as usual, the wisdom of the serpent with the innocence and gentleness of the dove; and in his conduct to this criminal shewed at once that tenderness and faithfulness which might have the most effectual tendency to impress and reclaim her; if a heart capable of such infidelity and wickedness could be impressed and reclaimed at all. Go thy way, said he to this adulteress, and sin no more. Perhaps the charge may have little weight with such abandoned transgressors as she; but let all learn to improve their escapes from danger, and the continued exercise of Divine patience towards them, as an engagement to speedy and thorough reformation.

Let the force of conscience, and the power of Christ over it (both which so evidently appeared in this instance), teach us to

¶ Sin no more.] Elsner (Observ. Vol. I. p. 318), and Suicer (Thesaur. Vol. I. p. 205), have shewn that the word ἀμαξίαν, to sin, is used by the most elegant Greek classics (as the correspondent word peccare is by the Latin) to signify the commission of adultery; which strongly intimates that even the light of nature taught many of the Heathens the exceeding sinfulness of it: which is the more worthy of notice, as not only the greatest of their men, but (according to their scandalous theology) the great, of their gods too, gave it all the sanction it could have from example.

VOL. 2. 10

Christ speaks of himself as the light of the world.

reverence the dictates of our own minds, and to do nothing to bring them under a sense of guilt; which, through the secret energy of our Redeemer, wrought so powerfully on these Pharisees, that, hypocritical and vainglorious as they were, they could not command themselves so far as even to save appearances; but the eldest and gravest among them were the first to confess their guilt, by withdrawing from the presence of so holy a Prophet, from the temple of God, and from the criminal whom they came to prosecute. A like consciousness of being ourselves to blame will abate the boldness and freedom of our proceedings with others for their faults, if, while we judge them, we are self-condemned; nor will the authority of a superior age or station of life bear us out against these inward reproaches.

John 8:12-29

Our Lord speaks of himself as the light of the world, urges the concurrent testimony of his Father, and gives the Jews repeated warning of the danger they would incur by persisting in their infidelity. John VIII. 12—29.

JOHN VIII. 12.

THEN Jesus, after the interruption that he met with while he was speaking to the people in the temple, by the Pharisees bringing in the adulteress, resumed the work he was before engaged in, and again proceeded to instruct the people; and observing the sun lately risen, and shining with great lustre and beauty, he spake unto them, saying, I am the true light of the world, in whose appearance you ought chiefly to rejoice: a this sun arises, in a few hours to descend again, and may fail many of you before your intended journey is dispatched; b whereas he that follows me, and governs himself by the dictates of my word and Spirit, shall not be left to walk in the darkness of ignorance, error, and sin, but shall have the light of life continually shining upon him, to diffuse over his soul

JOHN VIII. 12 THEN spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me, shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

a I am the true light of the world.] The Messiah was often represented under this view. Isa. xlii. 6; xlix. 6; and Mal. iv. 2. Compare Luke ii. 32; John i. 4—9; iii. 19; ix. 5; and xii. 46. b The sun arises to descend again, and may fail many of you, &c.] The reader

will remember this was the morning after the conclusion of the feast of tabernacles, and probably might be before the morning sacrifice: after which, no doubt, many would be setting out for their habitations in the country.

not only his own, but his Father’s testimony;

knowledge, holiness, and joy, till he is guided by it to eternal happiness.

Some of the Pharisees therefore, who were then present, but different persons from those who had brought in the woman, enraged at the late disappointment of their brethren, said unto him, Thou bearest witness of thyself, and therefore, by thine own confession (chap. v. 31), thy testimony is not to be admitted as true, but may rather be suspected of vain glory; nor can we believe such great things of thee, unless we have some farther proof than thine own affirmation.

Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I indeed bear witness of myself, [yet] as I speak from my own certain knowledge, and have already shewn that I am come with a Divine commission, my testimony is entirely and perfectly true, and as such you ought to admit it: for I well know from whence I came, and whither I am going, and the most evident demonstrations of it have been given you, both in the nature of my doctrine, and in the miracles which I have wrought among you; but you are so perverse, that, as often as I have hinted or declared it, you know not to this day from whence I come, and whither I am going: Which is not to be ascribed to the want of sufficient evidence, but merely to the force of your own prejudices; for you judge according to the maxims of flesh and sense, and will believe nothing in opposition to these principles which you have so rashly imbibed, and by this means are justly liable to condemnation: but I wave that for the present, as I now judge no man, but rather appear under the character of a Saviour. (Compare chap. iii. 17.) Yet if I should judge, my determination and sentence is apparently true and right, and you would justly be condemned for not receiving my testimony; for I am not alone in what I say, but I and the Father that sent me, as we are in other respects inseparably united, do evidently concur together in the testimony that I give.

You judge according to the flesh, &c.] The same carnal prejudices still prevail in the minds of the Jews, and prevent their reception of Christ; they laying it down as a first principle that he is to be a great temporal Prince, and Deliverer. And the admission of false principles, which are constantly taken for granted, and never examined, will, I fear, be attended with fatal consequences to thousands more.

But they neither knew his Father nor hi

And it is written in your own law, for which you profess so sacred a regard, that the testimony of two men is to be admitted as true, and matters of the greatest consequence are without scruple to be determined by it. (Deut. xvii. 6. and xix. 15.) Now I am [one] who bear this witness of myself, in a fact, the truth of which I cannot but certainly know; and the Father who sent me is another, and surely a most credible Person, who also bears his testimony to me; thereby asserting the truth of every doctrine I teach, and the justice of every sentence I might pass.

Then said they to him, Where is this thy Father, to whom thou so frequently appealest? mention him plainly, that we may know how far he is to be regarded, and produce him as a witness. Jesus answered, You may well ask; for it plainly appears by your conduct, that you neither know me, nor my Father, however you may boast an acquaintance with him: and indeed, if you had known me aright, and regarded me as you ought to have done, you would also long ere this have known who and what my Father is, in another manner than you now do; for I bear his complete resemblance, and it is my great business to reveal him to those who submit to my instructions.

These words Jesus spake with the greatest freedom, as he was teaching in the temple, in a certain part of it called the treasury, where the chests stood in which the people put their gifts for the service of that sacred house, (see Mark xii. 41, sect. clix.) the stores of which were laid up in chambers over that cloister: and though he so plainly intimated that God was his Father, and charged the Jews with being ignorant of him, in whom they boasted as so peculiarly their God, yet their spirits were kept under such a powerful, though secret restraint, that no one seized him; which was the more wonderful, as it was a place from whence it would not have been easy to have escaped without a miracle, and which was much frequented by his greatest enemies: but the true reason was, because his hour was not yet come in which he was, by Divine permission, to be delivered into their hands.

hat rejected him should die in their sins;

Confiding therefore in the protection of Divine Providence, Jesus then said to them again, as he had done before (chap. vii. 33, 34, p. 52), I am speedily going away from among you, and you shall seek me, and inquire after the Messiah in vain; but, as a just punishment for your having rejected me, you shall die in this your sin, and perish for your unbelief by a singular stroke of Divine vengeance, which shall sink you into final condemnation. Remember then, that I have warned you with the greatest faithfulness, and now again I solemnly repeat the warning, That though you should be ever so desirous of admittance to me, it will be in vain; for you cannot come to the place whither I am now going, either to molest me, or to secure yourselves.

The Jews then said, with a very perverse and foolish contempt, What, will he kill himself, that he says, You cannot come whither I am going? We shall not desire to follow him upon those terms.

And he said to them yet more plainly, So vile and malicious an insinuation as this evidently shews that you are from beneath, the slaves of earth, and the heirs of hell; while, on the other hand, I am from above, and shall quickly return thither: you are originally of this world, and your treasure and hearts are here; but as I am not of this world, my thoughts therefore naturally turn to that celestial abode from whence I came, and I incessantly labour to conduct men thither. But as to you I labour in vain: and therefore I just now said unto you, that you shall die in your sins; and it is really a great and awful truth, and deserves another kind of regard than you give it; so that I yet again would call you to consider it; for if you believe not that I am [he,] whom I have represented myself to be,⁴ you shall unavoidably die in your sins, and are in effect the murderers of your own souls.⁵

⁴ That I am he, &c. &c. &c. &c. &c.] There is evidently an ellipsis here, to be supplied by comparing it with ver. 12. Compare John xiii. 19; Mark xiii. 6; and Acts xiii. 25.

⁵ Are in effect the murderers of your own souls. The re-petition of the threat-

ening here, from ver. 21, is a very awful rebuke to the folly of their answer, ver. 22, as if our Lord had said, “It very ill becomes you to trifle and amuse yourselves with such silly and spiteful turns, when your life, even the life of your souls, is at stake; and to talk of my killing myself,

For he only spake what the Father had

Then said they to him, in proud derision, Whe-art thou, that such great regard should be paid to thee, and that it should be so fatal a thing to neglect thee? And Jesus said to them, Truly, because I am still speaking to you to this very day in so plain and affectionate a manner. I have many things to say and judge concerning you, and justly might upbraid you with the utmost severity, and pass an immediate sentence of condemnation upon you: but, for the present, I content myself with reminding you, that he who sent me is true; and, as I speak to the world only those things which I have heard from him, he will finally verify my words, and it will be at the peril of your souls if you continue to treat me with such perverseness and contempt.

These things were very intelligible, when compared with what he had said before; [yet] so exceeding stupid were they, and so blinded by the prejudices of their minds, that they did not understand that he spake to them of God the Father as the Person who sent him.

Jesus therefore said to them, I know that, notwithstanding all I have said, you will be still so obstinate as to persist in your infidelity, till you proceed even to take away my life; but when, after all your professed desire of his appearance

when by your unbelief and impenitency you are plunging yourselves into eternal death.” Thus do those passages in our Lord’s discourses, which to a careless reader might seem flat tautologies, appear, in an attentive review, to be animated with a most penetrating Spirit, and to be full of Divine dignity. A remark which will frequently occur, especially in reading those important discourses of Christ, which John has, through the infinite goodness of God to his church, recorded after they had been omitted by the other evangelists.

Truly, because I am still speaking to you, I have many things to say and judge concerning you.] I entirely agree with the learned Raphaelus (Annot. ex Herod. p. 292-303), that all the difficulty of these words arises from a mistake in the pointing, as they stand in most copies; and I think his method of restoring the true reading and sense the easiest and justest I have ever met with. He would point them thus,

Ἐπ’ ἀρχήν, ὅτι καὶ λαίαν ὑμῖν, στόλλᾳ ἐχω σήμν ὑμῶν λαίλιν καὶ κρίνιον. All that know any thing of the Greek language, know that ἐπ’ ἀρχήν often signifies in leed, or truly; and so the translation I have given is very literal, and makes a very good sense. Mr. Fleming would render it, I am, as I said unto you, The Beginning, that is, the Person spoken of, Gen. i. 1, and elsewhere, under that title: but this, as well as our own version, is not any thing like a just and grammatical translation; though to be sure there is a sense in which Christ may most properly be called the Beginning. Compare Col. i. 18; Rev. i. 8; xxi. 6; xxii. 13. (See Fleming’s Christology, Vol. I. p. 281.) I shall only add, that some would render it, The same I am speaking to you of: but the version here given is more agreeable to the original, and by a proper pointing would appear natural and easy, if what should be considered as one sentence had not been separated into two parts by a wrong division of the verses.

tions on the danger of neglecting Christ.

and kingdom, you shall have lifted up that glorious Person, the Son of man, from the earth, and hath even proceeded so far as to put him to a violent death, instead of seeing his cause and interest overborne by that outrageous attempt, you shall then know, by some new and convincing tokens, that I am [he],⁵ and [that] I do nothing separately of myself, but, in exact agreement with him, speak all these things according as my Father has instructed me: And even now he that sent me is graciously present with me, to bear his testimony to the truth of what I say, and to support and vindicate me: and whatsoever you may foolishly surmise, the Father has not left me alone, nor will he ever leave me; for I always do the things which are most pleasing to him, and faithfully and constantly pursue the important work which he has committed to my trust.

IMPROVEMENT.

SUCH may our character ever be, as we desire the supports ver.29 of the Divine presence! Whoever be displeased, may we always do the things which please him; and with all diligence let us labour, whether present in the body, or absent from it, to be still approved and accepted of him! (2 Cor. v. 9.)

Our blessed Redeemer is the light of the world. With how 12 much pleasure should we behold his rays! With how much cheerfulness should we follow, whithersoever he leads us; as well knowing that we shall not then walk in darkness; and God forbid we should ever choose to continue in it, as the shelter and screen of wicked works!

May we, with all candour and humility, regard and submit to 17, 18 the testimony which the Father has borne to him in so express and incontestable a manner! Dreadful would be the consequence of our refusing to do it. The doom of these wretched Jews 21, 24 would be ours, to die in our sins. And oh, how insupportable will that guilty burden prove in a dying hour, and before the tribunal of God! How will it sink us into condemnation and despair! In vain shall those who now despise him then seek

⁵ You shall then know that I am he.] This undoubtedly refers to the progiciles attending his death, his resurrection, and ascension, the descent of the Spirit, the amazing miracles wrought by the apostles in his name, &c. But I am careful not to put such words into our Lord’s mouth in the paraphrase as would have been unsuit-

able to the reserve which, on some of these heads, prudence obliged him to keep; or such as, in other instances, would have superseded farther inquiry into the meaning of what he said. I think it most natural to refer these to the notes, or to the paraphrase on some following passage

Many believe and are inclined to follow him.

admittance to the world where he is: thither they cannot come; GIII. and if excluded from him, must be excluded from happiness.

ve. 25 Justly might it long since have been our case: for surely he 26 has many things to say of us, and to judge concerning us, should he lay judgment to the line, and righteousness to the plummet, after his having been so long with us, yea, after we have, as it were, seen him lifted up and set forth as crucified among us. (Gal. iii. 1.)

May this faithful admonition prevail to our conviction and reformation; that our everlasting condemnation may not farther illustrate the reasonableness, yea, the necessity, of it, and the madness of hardening our hearts against it!

John 8:30-47

Our Lord continues his discourse with the Jews in the treasury; the day after the feast of tabernacles; and labours to convince them how vain their pretences to liberty and to the privileges of the children of Abraham were, while they continued to reject and persecute him. John VIII. 30—47.

JOHN VIII. 30.

THUS did Jesus warn the Jews of the danciv. ger of rejecting him, and appeal to his John heavenly Father as authorizing the whole of his viii.30 administration; and, as he was speaking these words, many of his hearers were so struck with them, that they believed in him, and were strongly inclined to follow him as the Messiah.

Then Jesus, knowing the weakness and treachery of the human heart, and the difficulties which would lie in the way, if they attempted to put that inclination into practice, said to those of the Jews who were now ready to profess that they believed in him, If you con-

JOHN VIII. 30.

A S he spake these words, many believed on him.

Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue

• Many believed in him.] One can hardly think that the ambiguity of the expression of the Son of man’s being lifted up (ver. 28) engaged them to this, in hope that it might intimate some exaltation to a temporal kingdom. It is more reasonable to believe that they felt their hearts impressed with what they heard from him in the whole preceding discourse. Yet it is observable, that in the series of it he advances no new proof of his mission: so that probably these people were wrought upon by what they observed in the temper and conduct of

Christ; bearing the perverseness of his enemies with so much patience, speaking of an ignominious and painful death with such holy composure, and expressing so genuine and lively a sense of his heavenly Father’s approbation, and so sweet a complacency in it. And, perhaps, would ministers generally allow themselves to open with freedom the native workings of a heart deeply impressed with the gospel, the secret charm might subdue those whose subtlety and prejudice might be proof against the most conclusive abstract reasoning

could make them free who had been slaves to sin.

tinue stedfast in your adherence to my word, and yield a constant and universal obedience to it, [then] you are my disciples indeed, and I will finally own you as such. And you shall then know the truth of my gospel in its full compass and extent, so far as it is necessary to your salvation, or conducive to your comfort; and the truth shall make you free, and fix you in that state of glorious liberty which is the privilege of my disciples alone.

But some that heard him were not a little displeased at this, as an insinuation that they were not already free; and strangely forgetting the servitude of Egypt and Babylon, and how often their nation had been conquered by others, and even how low it was at present reduced by the Roman power, they confidently answered him, We are the seed of Abraham, a person always free, and the peculiar favourite of heaven; and we have never been in slavery to any man whatever, nor do we fear that God will permit us to be so; how then dost thou say to us, You shall be made free upon becoming my disciples?

Jesus, waving what he might easily have replied as to their former history, and the present state of their civil affairs, that he might give no unnecessary offence, answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, and recommend it to your consideration as a most important truth, That every one who habitually practises sin, and goes on in a course of it, is the slave of sin; and that is a servitude by far meaner and more dreadful than the yoke of an earthly tyrant. Now, as the servant does not always abide in the family of his master, but is at his lord’s pleasure liable to be dismissed or transferred to another;

b The truth shall make you free.] According to Sir Isaac Newton, (on Proph. p. 149) these words were spoken in a sabbatical year, when at the feast of tabernacles, which was just about the beginning of the civil year, great numbers of servants were set at liberty: and he supposes that the answer of the Jews (ver. 33) is to be explained with a peculiar reference to this, and contains two distinct thoughts: “We are Abraham’s seed, and consequently, had we ever been in bondage, we should have been set at liberty at this season, though Gentile slaves are still detained; and, be-

sides that, we never were in bondage to any man at all.” But the arguments by which this is fixed to a sabbatical year are dubious; and the words will make a good sense, independent of this peculiar interpretation; which yet seemed remarkable enough to deserve a mention here.

c Who habitually practises sin.] How many angels seems a phrase of the very same import with working iniquity: I have therefore rendered it practises sin, as that word generally signifies an habitual course of action.

VOL. 2.

If the Son made them free, they should be free

much less can you, who are the servants, not of God, but of sin, promise yourselves that you shall still, on account of your descent from Abraham, continue in those privileges which, by undeserved mercy, you hitherto enjoy: [but] the eldest son and heir of the family continually abides in his father’s house, and his power and influence [there] are always increasing. Thus do I ever continue, and have power of receiving whom I will into the family: if therefore I, who am the Only begotten Son of God, and the Heir of all things, make you free, you, claiming in virtue of my right and authority, will be free indeed, and will not only be delivered from the bondage of corruption and the tyranny of Satan, but be entitled to those immunities and blessings here, and to that future inheritance of eternal glory, to which at present you have no claim.

And as to what you say, that you are Abraham’s seed, I know that you indeed are, in a natural way, the posterity of Abraham, as Ishmael also was; but what can that avail you, while you are so unlike Abraham in your temper, and are so far from being of a disposition suitable to your descent from him, that you not only deride, but seek to kill me, because my word has no place in your hearts, and has not any weight or influence upon you, but is of a tenor directly contrary to your prejudices and lusts. And, on the whole, there is so great a difference between us, that it is really impossible to reconcile your practice with my doctrine: for I speak that which I have seen with my Father, and which I know to be agreeable

the servant does not always abide in the ; but the son abides [there] always.] Dr. Guyse’s ingenious and pious rase and note on these words contain cellent illustration of them. The sense of what he says on this passage h the same with what I have given (much as I had writ it several years the casting out Ishmael, though a Abraham by the bondwoman, beauillustrates the remark and the con- . It is strange that Dr. Claget should that Moses was the servant here ; and stranger yet that Dr. Clarke adopt so unnatural an interpreta- See his Sermons, Vol III p 4, 5

If the Son make yo Tillotson (Vol. III. p. alludes to a custom of Greece, and else son and heir had a li ren, and give them family.

I know that yo Abraham.] It seems speaks this, not to him, but to some ot and that the phrase ver. 33, only signifie who were present in

f being Abraham’s seed, yet do not his works;

to his mind and will; and you do that which you have seen with your father, and shew a visible conformity in your works to him: by which he intimated that their works as much resembled the nature of the devil, as his doctrine answered to that of God.

But they replied with some warmth, and said to him, Take heed on whom this reflection may fall; for Abraham is our father, and surely thou wouldest not insinuate any thing to the injury of that holy patriarch’s memory, who was expressly called the friend of God.

Jesus says to them, If you were indeed, and in the most important sense, the children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham, and would make it the great business of your life to imitate so wise and holy an example. But now you seek and contrive to slay me, a blameless and innocent Man, for no other reason but because I am one who has faithfully told you the truth, which I have heard and received in commission from God: Abraham, your boasted ancestor, did not any thing like this; but gave the readiest credit, and the most joyful welcome, to all the messages which God sent him. Nevertheless, though you are so far from doing the works of Abraham, I may well say, as I have just now intimated (ver. 38), that you do the works of him who is indeed your father.

Then said they to him, We would have thee to know that we are not born of fornication; we are not bastard Jews, whose blood has been contaminated with idolatrous alliances; but, by virtue of our descent from his people, and our profession of his religion, we have all one great and common Father, [which is] God.

Jesus said to them, If God were indeed your Father, as you pretend, instead of attempting to take away my life, you would honour and love me: for, to speak without any reserve on this important head, I renew the declaration, That I proceeded originally, and do come from God,‡

‡ I proceeded originally, and do come from God.] This seems to be the proper distinction between ἑξανῶν and ἑκα. The events (as several commentators have ob-

served) use the first of these words to express the descent of children from their parents; (compare Gen. xv. 4; xxxv. 11; and Isa. xi. 1.) The form in which the

But imitate the devil, and he therefore is their father. and appear among you as his Messenger; for I came not of myself, but He has sent me, and I constantly keep his commission in view. And why do you not understand this my language, and acknowledge it, simple as it is, to be indeed divine? [Is it] because you cannot hear my word?h Can you pretend to say that I decline giving you the most public and frequent instructions, or that those instructions are unintelligible and obscure? Your consciences in general know the contrary as to the main series of them. The case indeed is sufficiently plain, nor do I fear to represent it in the most express terms: I tell you therefore, You are the genuine children of your father the devil; and the malicious and abominable lusts of that accursed spirit, whom I justly call your father, you will resolutely and obstinately persist to do: and even now there is the plainest evidence of your resemblance to him, in your design to murder me, and in your opposition to the truth that I deliver to you; for he has always acted as the enemy of mankind, and was a murderer from the beginning, in his attempt to bring destruction on the world by sin: (compare 1 John iii. 8). And to accomplish his destructive purpose, as his original integrity was lost by his apostacy from God, he threw off all regard to what was right, and continued not in the truth, but, by an audacious and most pernicious lie, ruined the first parents of the human race, because there was and is no truth in him: and, indeed, when he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own, and indulges the bias of his own fraudulent and perfidious nature; for he is himself a liar, and was the father of it, or the first forger of that stands favours the rendering I have (do come from God), and may intinot only his first mission, but his exact ance to every particular message. Is it because you cannot hear my word?] pose to place a mark of interrogation this clause, O'1 u δυνασδε ακων τον τον εμον; and δυνασδε ακων may reeither to their opportunity of hearing, is the most common sense of the or to their capacity of understanding: therefore included both. The word in the preceding clause, evisignifies to understand, Acts viii. 30, distin ish, John x. 14. You are of your fat account Josephus give of the Jews about vindicates this assert any appearance of u Joseph. Bell. Jud. lib. § 5; cap. 13 (al. 16), § and Dr. Lardner’s Cre i. chap. 6, Vol. I. p. 30 You will resolut persist to do.] This of the words, SIXL John i. 43, Vol. I. p. 1

s on the regard due to the words of Christ.

detestable and pernicious crime. And, as you are of such a disposition, if I would flatter your prejudices and vices, you would hear me with pleasure; but because I plainly and faithfully speak the truth, without desire of favour, or fear of offence, you, being under the influence of this false spirit, do not believe me. If you take upon you to deny this, and accuse me of falsehood and prevarication in any degree, how will you prove your charge? Which of you convinces me of that, or any other, sin? But, on the other hand, if it be evident that I speak the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God, or that is really a child of God, and a partaker of his Spirit, hears, with an affectionate and obedient regard, the words of God, his heavenly Father, and receives them with reverence, by whomsoever they are brought: the reason therefore, why you do not hear mine, is because, as I have often said, you are not the children of God.

IMPROVEMENT.

MAY we approve ourselves the sincere disciples of Jesus, by ver. 32 continuing in his word, and being faithful even unto death, as ever we expect a crown of life! (Rev. ii. 10.) Without this, exter. 37, 38 al privileges will turn to but little account. The children of Abraham may be the children of Satan; and they are so, if they 44 imitate the temper and works of the accursed fiend, rather than of the holy patriarch. The devil was from the beginning a liar, and a murderer; and all falsehood and malice are from him. Let us earnestly pray that we may be freed from them, and from the tyranny of every other sin to which we have been enslaved; that Christ, the Son, may make us free of his Father’s family, and 36 of his heavenly kingdom! Then we shall be free indeed, and no more be reduced to bondage.

May we prove that we are the children of God by our readiness 47 o hear and receive the words of our blessed Redeemer, the words of incarnate truth, and wisdom, and love; whom none of his enemies could ever convict of sin, nor ever accused him of it, 46 ut to their own confusion! May we resemble him in the innocence and holiness of his life; that we may the more easily and carefully imitate that courage and zeal with which he reproved he haughtiest sinners, and bore his testimony against the errors and vices of that degenerate age and nation in which he lived!

They call him a Samaritan, and say he is possessed.

John 8:48

Jesus promising immortality to his followers, an own existence as prior to that of Abraham, the ple attempt to stone him; but he miraculously e hands. John VIII. 48, to the end.

JOHN VIII. 48.

NOW when the Jews heard Jesus so expressly declaring that they were ignorant of God, and were the children, not of Abraham, but of the devil, they answered him therefore with great rage and contempt, and said unto him, Do we not well say, that thou, who speakest of Israelites in such language as this, art a Samaritan, rather than one of the holy seed, and art possessed by a demon, who hurries thee on to such outrage and madness?ᵃ

But to this insolent charge Jesus meekly answered, It is plain, from the whole series of my discourses and actions, that I am not a demoniac nor can any of you produce any thing in all that I have said or done which looks like lunacy or impiety; but the truth is, I honour my Father, by bearing a steady and consistent testimony to the doctrine he sent me to reveal to the world; and, because this is contrary to your corrupt prejudices and passions, therefore you dishonour me by such opprobrious reflections, in hope of discrediting my message. But as for what personally relates to me I am little affected with it; for I seek not my own glory; nevertheless, I know there is one that seeketh, and will secure it, and who now judgeth of all that passes, and will at length evidently shew the exact notice he has taken of it, to my honour and to your confusion. For God will not only finally glorify me, but will confer the highest honours and rewards on all my faithful servants; and therefore, verily, verily, I say unto you, If any one keep my word, he shall never see death,ᵇ but shall assuredly be entitled

possessed by a demon, who hurries thee such outrage and madness.] See John vii. 20, sect. xcix. he shall never see death.] The turn to this expression in the paraphrase accounts, not only fi that in John xi. 26 (a is said of Christ’s hav Tim. i. 10), having (Heb. ii. 14), and

at keeps his word shall never see death.

to eternal life, and shall immediately be advanced to so glorious and happy a state, that the dissolution of this mortal nature shall, with respect to him, hardly deserve to be called death.

Then the Jews, thinking he had asserted that his disciples should be exempted from the common lot of mortality, said again to him in a reproachful way, Now we assuredly know that thou hast a demon dwelling in thee, which hurries thee on to this madness and pride, otherwise thou couldest never talk at this extravagant rate: for Abraham, the friend of God, and the great founder of our nation, is dead; and all the holy prophets, whom God raised up in succeeding ages, were so far from being able to bestow immortality on their followers, that even they themselves are long since dead; and yet thou presumptuously sayest, If any one keep my word, he shall never taste of death. What, art thou greater than that venerable patriarch our father Abraham, who is dead, and than all the most illustrious prophets, who are also dead? Whom dost thou then pretend thyself to be, that thou shouldest thus assume such a distinguishing glory to thyself?

Jesus replied, If I only glorify myself, by high encomiums on my own dignity and excellence, while I neglect the honour and service of my Father, my glory is nothing but a mere empty sound; [but] it evidently appears by all the series of my converse and miracles, compared with each other, that it is my Father himself that effectually glorifies me, even he, of whom you confidently say, that he is your God, though in this respect you pay so little regard to his

with himself, and made them sit with him in heavenly places (Eph. ii. 6). Death is as nothing, compared to what it would otherwise have been to the sinner; and the felicity of heaven is so sure and so near, that, by an easy and common figure, true Christians are spoken of as already there. See the following note.

Yet thou sayest, If any one keep my word, he shall never taste of death.] This is not the phrase which our Lord used, ver. 51, though perhaps its signification is nearly equivalent. But I think it shews how

improper it would be to interpret the preceding words, Ἀνάλογι μὴ δώσῃς ἢ τίς τὸν αἰώνα, He shall not see death for ever; as if they signified, He shall not die eternally: for on this interpretation of the words there could have been no shadow of force in the argument they use, unless they had meant to assert that Abraham and the prophets were dead, τίς τὸν αἰώνα, for ever; than which nothing could be farther from the thoughts of any of the Jews, except the Sadducees, who do not seem to have been the persons speaking here. See note on John iv. 14, Vol. I. p. 170.

Abraham desired to see his ay, and saw it, testimony. And, notwithstanding all your boasts, yet nevertheless you have not truly known him; but I well know him: and if I should deny it, and say that I know him not, or retract my pretensions to that peculiar and intimate knowledge of him which I have so often professed, I should be a liar like you: but I repeat it again, notwithstanding all your enmity and your scorn, that I perfectly know him, and continually keep his word in its fullest extent and exactest purity. And I will tell you farther, that though you despise me, as unworthy of your notice, your father Abraham himself was even transported with a joyful desire that he might see my day,d or the time of my appearance and glory; and in some degree he saw [it] by faith, and rejoiced in the distant and imperfect view,e thankfully receiving every intimation of the purposes of my coming which God was pleased to give him. Then the Jews said unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old,f and hast thou, who but half a century ago was not in being, any room to pretend that thou hast seen and conversed with as even transported with a joyful desire he might see my day: ἠγαλμαστὸν τὴν ἠμῖν τὴν ἑμῖν.] It is necessary state the word ἠγαλμαστὸν thus, not avoid the tautology which our transcasions, but also to preserve the of the words ἰδος. And indeed expression may with the strictest pro-signify leaping forward with joy to the object of our wishes, as well as in the possession of it. See Blackw. Classics, Vol. I. p. 46-48. saw it by faith, and rejoiced in the I cannot think with Mr. Fleming (tology, Vol. I. p. 221), that the ap-ence of Christ to Abraham (Gen.) could with any propriety be here ed to as Christ’s day. It seems much reasonable to conclude with Dr. Scot r. Henry, that it intimates some pe-discoveries which the Spirit of God make to Abraham for his own pri-onsolation, though not expressly led in scripture. And thus, with d to him, as well as many other saints that dispensation, the secret of the light in an extraordinary manner be them, and he might shew them much f his covenant than they could have vered without such extraordinary assistance. Compar see Dr. Scot’s Christian Since I drew up thi and learned Dr. W that there is great r Lord here particular revelation made to Ab ceived that command Isaac; by which he v sacrifice then enjoined the method which G for the redemption of death and resurrection Divine Legation, Vol. the vindication of it, of Occasional Remark f Thou art not yet fi was not now five and thinks that, worn wi appear older than he agines, that as the Lev from the temple servi Numb. iv. 3, 23), that used; as I think it mi out any such institut It is little to the cred ment to have inferre mitted on an uncertain on St. Luke, that Ch of forty. See Iren. lib

ously escapes when they would have stone him.

Abraham, who has been dead more than two thousand years?

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, and solemnly affirm it as a most certain truth, how incredible soever it may seem, that before Abraham was born, I had a glorious existence with the Father, and I am still invariably the same, and one with him.

This appeared to them so direct a claim to the name and properties of the eternal JEHOVAH, that, being ignorant of the divine nature of Christ, they thought it intolerable blasphemy; and though he was then discoursing in so sacred a place as the temple, they immediately took up some loose stones, with which they were repairing either the pavement or the building, that they might cast them at him to destroy him: but Jesus in a miraculous manner concealed himself from their sight, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them unknown, and so passed on to another place till their fury was a little appeased.

IMPROVEMENT.

WITH what patience did our blessed Redeemer bear, and with what meekness of wisdom did he answer, the most virulent and opprobrious language? When he was rudely charged with being a Samaritan, and having a demon, he endured the contradiction of sinners against himself (Heb. xii. 3); and being thus reviled, he reviled not again (1 Pet. ii. 23). And shall we too keenly resent the reflections which are thrown upon us! May but our conscience witness for us, and we need not fear all that are against us!

Before Abraham was born.] Erasmus observes, that this is the meaning of the 3:1; and Raphelius abundantly justifies the interpretation. Annot. ex. Xen. p. 133. I am invariably the same, &c.] Com. re Heb. xiii. 8. I have long (with Chrysostom and many others) looked on his text as at least a strong intimation of the Deity of Christ, nearly parallel to Heb. 12, 20 & 6 & 20: 11, thou art the same. I cannot apprehend that you may is ever used for I was; nor imagine that if our Lord had been a mere creature, he would have ventured to express himself in a manner

so nearly bordering on blasphemy, or have permitted his beloved disciple so dangerously to disguise his meaning. Took up some loose stones, with which they were repairing, &c.] See Lightfoot, Hor. Hebr. on this place; and note on John ii. 20, Vol. I. p. 144. Going through the midst of them.] The omission of these words in this passage, as quoted by Chrysostom and Augustin, as well as in some manuscripts, has led some to suspect they were added from Luke iv. 30. See Vol. I. sect. xxxii. note p, p. 188.

VOL. 2.

Reflections on Christ’s promise to deliver us from death.

Christ honoured his Father, and sought not his own glory. So cv. may we be careful of the honour of God, and cheerfully commit ver. to him the guardianship and care of our reputation! And we 49,50 shall find there is one that seeketh, and judgeth in our favour.

It is a great and important promise which our Lord here makes, If any one keep my word, he shall never see death. Sense seems to plead against it; but he is the resurrection and the life, and hath assured us he will make it good. Let us therefore be 52 strong in faith, giving glory to God; (Rom. iv. 20.) Though not only Abraham and the prophets, but Peter and Paul, and the other apostles, are dead, yet this word shall be gloriously accomplished. Still they live to him, and shortly shall they be for ever recovered from the power of the grave; so that death is to them comparatively as nothing. With them may our final portion be, and we may set light by the reproaches, clamours, and accusations of prejudiced, ignorant, and sinful men!

Adored be that gracious Providence that determined our existence to begin in that happy day which prophets and patri- 54 archs desired to see, and in the distant view of which Abraham rejoiced! Let it be also our joy; for Jesus Christ is the same 58 yesterday, today, and for ever; nor could the heart of those holy men fully conceive those things which God had prepared for them that love him, and which he has now revealed unto us by his Spirit. (1 Cor. ii. 9, 10.)