Fritzsche, p. 21). So bright was His glory, so concerned was the Father in maintaining it, so immense the blessing if received, so tremendous the stake involved in its loss, that God vouchsafed the amplest and clearest witnesses. 2. : an apostle who according to various Christian traditions wrote the fourth Gospel, the three Johannine Epistles, and the Book of It was not the time now to demonstrate in public power these coming, yea, then present truths. (Verses John 5:13-16), A graver issue, however, was to be tried; for Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. that we may give an answer to them that sent us. 17 This is how love is made complete (sometimes initial capital letter) a fellow; guy. But what we learn is, that our Lord (viewed as having entered into heaven as man on the ground of redemption, i.e., ascended, after having passed through death, into glory) from that glory confers meanwhile the Holy Ghost on him that believes, instead of bringing in at once the final feast of gladness for the Jews and the world, as He will do by-and-by when the anti-typical harvest and vintage has been fulfilled. Here the Lord introduces the cross. Still the eternal day alone will show out the full virtue of that which belongs to Jesus as the Lamb of God, who takes away the world's sin. WebThe Witness of John. They spoke of the world; the world might hear them. Life resurrection will display how little they had to be ashamed of, who believed the record given of His Son; the resurrection of judgment will make but too plain, to those who despised the Lord, both His honour and their sin and shame. What can be more evident, or more instructive? Expand. 7 He came as a witness to testify about the Light, so that through him everyone might believe. (Ver. Mark what, as such, He does declare Him. WebPulpit Commentary Verse 19. But let them beware how they perverted it. God is love. "But He said to them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of." This closes the various aspects of the Lord Jesus, completely blotting out Judaism, viewed as resting in a system of law and ordinances, as looking to a Messiah with present ease, and as hoping for the display of Messianic glory then in the world. The ignorance of the world has been proved, the rejection of Israel is complete: then only is it that we hear of this new place of children. Notably He is now applying it to the reconciliation of a people, who are also baptized by the Holy Ghost into one body. At once their malice drops the beneficent power of God in the case, provoked at the fancied wrong done to the seventh day. Hence, then, we have the Lord Jesus alluding to this fresh necessity, if man was to be blessed according to God. The hour was one for faith, or unbelief. Verse John 1:29 opens John's testimony to his disciples. How blessed the contrast with the people's state depicted in this chapter, tossed about by every wind of doctrine, looking to "letters," rulers, and Pharisees, perplexed about the Christ, but without righteous judgment, assurance, or enjoyment! Of course, the experience will still be intense. For the astonishing thought is, not merely that Jesus receives the Holy Ghost without measure, but that God gives the Spirit also, and not by measure, through Him to others. Had it been meant, it was no wonder that Nicodemus did not know how these things could be. That means that under Biden's budget plan the federal debt would increase by $16.411 trillion or 57.8% in the 11 fiscal years from when he first took office in fiscal 2021 through fiscal 2032. (VersesJohn 7:33-36; John 7:33-36) Jesus was returning to Him that sent Him, and the Holy Ghost would be given. The chapter pursues this subject, showing that it is not only God who thus deals first, with the necessity of man before His own immutable nature; next, blessing according to the riches of His grace but, further, that man's state morally is detected yet more awfully in presence of such grace as well as holiness in Christ. Nor could any question be more momentous. Author. The Father seeks worshippers. No doubt there are intervening applications; but such is the ultimate result of His work as the Lamb of God. But knowing what will happen, and realizing it's part of a plan, greatly reduces our fear. The disciples of John dispute with a Jew about purification; but John himself renders a bright witness to the glory of the Lord Jesus. It is the revelation of God yea, of the Father and the Son, and not merely the detecter of man. (Ver. Jesus declared of God the Father, God is Spirit, (John 4:24) meaning that God the Father has no tangible body which may be seen. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. This would make all manifest. 2 He was with God in the beginning. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? And then the apostle returns to his former exhortation to brotherly love, which he enforces by the following reasons, because it is of God, a fruit of his Spirit and grace, and because it is an evidence of being born of God, and of having a true knowledge of him; whereas he that is destitute of it does not know him, seeing God is love, 1Jo 4:7,8, and having affirmed that God is love, he proves it, by the mission of his Son, to be a propitiation for the sins of such that did not love him, and that they might live through him; wherefore he argues, that if God had such a love to men, so undeserving of it, then the saints ought to love one another, 1Jo 4:9-11. Jesus not only could go up, as He did later, but He had come down thence, and, even though man, He was the Son of man that is in heaven. How, indeed, could it be stayed within narrow limits? For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." In this podcast we refer to Being Disciples by Rowan Williams, a terrific sermon by Rev Dr (Verses John 7:3-5) The Lord intimates the impossibility of anticipating the time of God; but then He does it as connected with His own personal glory. This leads Philip to Nathanael, in whose case, when he comes to Jesus, we see not divine power alone in sounding the souls of men, but over creation. He would have every soul to know assuredly how he stands for eternity as well as now. And while He does not hide the privilege of the Jews, He nevertheless proclaims that "the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. It finds, of course, a present application, and links itself with that activity of grace in which God is now sending out the gospel to any sinner and every sinner. infinite truth! The Son had not come to execute the judgments of the law they knew, nor even to promulgate a new and higher law. Here was a meeting, indeed, between such an one and Him, the Son, true God and eternal life. John 3:19; John 3:19) Other things, the merest trifles, may serve to indicate a man's condition; but a new responsibility is created by this infinite display of divine goodness in Christ, and the evidence is decisive and final, that the unbeliever is already judged before God. And worship is viewed both in moral nature and in the joy of communion doubly. 19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Web40 One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. The disciples come; the woman goes into the city, leaving her waterpot, but carrying with her the unspeakable gift of God. But here it was not God's purpose to record it. He would apply himself more to preaching work, which was the more excellent, 1 Cor 1 17. First, a new nature is insisted on the Holy Ghost's quickening of each soul who is vitally related to God's kingdom; next, the Spirit of God takes an active part not as source or character only, but acting sovereignly, which opens the way not only for a Jew, but for "every one." "For God sent not his Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world through him might be saved." ii. Henrys plan (1173) to assign to John, his favourite son (whom he had nicknamed Lackland), extensive lands upon his marriage with the daughter of Humbert III, count of Maurienne (Savoy), was defeated by the rebellion the proposal provoked among Johns elder brothers. One of the peculiarities of our gospel is, that we see the Lord from time to time (and, indeed, chiefly) in or near Jerusalem. In vain did any come to the Baptist to report the widening circle around Christ. His death on the cross included much more, clearly answering to the first; His baptizing with the Holy Ghost followed His going to heaven. Glory would be displayed in its day. As the new birth for the kingdom of God, so the cross is absolutely necessary for eternal life. What a witness all this to His person! God orders matters so that a favoured teacher of men, favoured as none others were in Israel, should come to Jesus by night. he might be; and this, too, as the expression of the true and full grace of God in His only-begotten Son given. John 1:19-37; John 1:19-37) It is here presented historically. (16-19) Jesus speaks of her sinful life. Proud member 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. (VersesJohn 3:20-21; John 3:20-21). How singularly is the glory of the Lord Jesus thus viewed, as invested with the testimony of God and its crown! 1 John 4:16-19 New International Version 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. (VersesJohn 3:7-8; John 3:7-8), It is hardly necessary to furnish detailed disproof of the crude, ill-considered notion (originated by the fathers), that baptism is in question. Do any believe on His name? They should have understood more about Him those that were specially favoured. But if the Spirit speaks of the Son of God, the law dwindles at once into the smallest possible proportions: everything yields to the honour the Father puts oil the Son. Web1. Thus a despised Christ is not merely a crucified Son of man, and given Son of God, as in John 3:1-36, but Himself a divine giver in communion with the Father, and in the power of the Holy Ghost who is given to the believer, the source of worship, as their God and Father is its object for the worshippers in spirit and truth (though surely not to the exclusion of the Son, Hebrews 1:1-14). The Jews were not satisfied with that, but demanded still that he should be put to death, John 19:39-40. So it must be now; for God is revealed; and the Father in grace seeks true worshippers (be they Samaritans or Jews) to worship Him. WebJohn was the most popular name given to male infants in the United States until 1924, and though its use has fallen off gradually since then, John was still the 20th most common name for boys on the Social Security Administration 's list of names given in 2006. But He, being God, was manifesting and, on the contrary, maintaining the divine glory here below. Thus, manifestly, the whole question is terminated at the very starting-point of our gospel; and this is characteristic of John all through: manifestly all is decided. John then declared his own waning before Christ, as we have seen, the issues of whose testimony, believed or not, are eternal; and this founded on the revelation of His glorious person as man and to man here below. Rest is not the question now at all; but the flow of the Spirit's power while Jesus is on high. Let them learn, then, that as Son of man (for which nature they despised Him, and denied His essential personal glory) He will judge; and this judgment will be no passing visitation, such as God has accomplished by angels or men in times past. His glorious person would have none now in relation to God but members of the family. He is ever God; He is the Son; He quickens and raises from the dead. The man went off, and told the Jews that it was Jesus: and for this they persecuted Him, because He had done these things on the sabbath. 8 He himself was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light. So in the baptism with the Holy Ghost, who would pretend to such a power? Christ was the true sanctuary, not that on which man had laboured so long in Jerusalem. Without it there is no divine understanding of Christ, or of His word, or of Scripture. WebThe proof of the later date of John's Gospel is in such references as 1:32, and 3:24, which assume a previous knowledge of the facts on the part of his readers. Law, means, ordinances, could not meet the need no pool, nor angel nothing but the Son working in grace, the Son quickening. (Ver. But the Spirit would not confine His operations to such bounds, but go out freely like the wind. It is not a question of the law, but of hearing Christ's word, and believing Him who sent Christ: he that does so has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment; but is passed from death unto life. 18 The fact From the very first, man, being a sinner, was wholly lost. But see the blessed fruit of receiving it. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. As this chapter sets forth the Lord Jesus with singular fulness of glory, on the side both of His Godhead and of His manhood, so it closes with the most varied and remarkable testimonies God has given to us, that there may be no excuse. Still, such is the effect on man under law, that he could not take advantage of an adequate remedy. It is found also in the omissions of all the material of the Synoptics down to the passion. (Ver. (Psalms 132:1-18) Then they wanted to make Him a king. John 5:19-29), It is evident, then, that the Lord presents life in Himself as the true want of man, who was not merely infirm but dead. They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time WebThis summary of the Gospel of John provides information about the title, author(s), date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the Gospel of John. And they asked him, What then? "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." What sayest thou of thyself? it was no lack of testimony; their will was for present honour, and hostile to the glory of the only God. By and by He will apply it to "that nation," the Jews, as to others also, and finally (always excepting the unbelieving and evil) to the entire system, the world. So we see in the attractive power, afterwards dealing with individual souls. Web1 John 4:16-19 NIV 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. GOD LOVES YOU. Simon was one of the commonest names at the time (along with Jesus, Joseph, John and Levi), and so he is distinguished from others by his nickname, which Matthew assumes he has already been given; we hear of an earlier He wanted nothing; He came to give yea, the very best, so to speak, that God has. (Ver. Though He could not, would not deny Himself (and He was the Son, and Word, and God), yet had He taken the place of a man, of a servant. If believers genuinely love God they will also obey his commandments. The brethren of the Lord Jesus, who could see the astonishing power that was in Him, but whose hearts were carnal, at once discerned that it might be an uncommon good thing for them, as well as for Him, in this world. "He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true. Nor was it yet complete. If He judges, it is not without full warning. A person falling thousands of feet through the air would experience sheer terrorunless they knew a parachute would soon open. Just as in John 4:1-54, so here it is a question of power in the Holy Ghost, and not simply of Christ's person. A greater work was in hand; and this, as the rest of the chapter shows us, not a Messiah lifted up, but the true bread given He who comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world; a dying, not a reigning, Son of man. Just as distinct and beyond comparison is His testimony who, coming from heaven and above all, testifies what He saw and heard, however it might be rejected. John told us that he was at Jesus crucifixion and saw these things with his own eyes (John 19:35). It was not so. He saw him under the fig tree. All is fitly closed by the declaration, that "the Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand." On the third day is the marriage in Cana of Galilee, where was His mother, Jesus also, and His disciples. And so, in fact, it was and is. Meanwhile, for Christian worship, the hour was coming and in principle come, because He was there; and He who vindicated salvation as of the Jews, proves that it is now for Samaritans, or any who believed on account of His word. Here the Lord was really owned by the multitudes as the great Prophet that should come; and this in consequence of His works, especially that one which Scripture itself had connected with the Son of David. Not only man under law has no health, but he has no strength to avail himself of the blessing that God holds out. He who, living, was received for eternal life, is our meat and drink in dying, and gives us communion with His death. This testimony differs from the rest in having a more permanent character. Very simple words! His name was John. 16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. Copyright 2023, Bible Study Tools. Indeed, He was the great Prophet, as He was the great King, and as He is now the great Priest on high. And such was Jesus. In the five porches, then, of this pool lay a great multitude of sick, blind, lame, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. None else could do either work: for here we see His great work on earth, and His heavenly power. John 19 Jesus Is Crucified A. Jesus is condemned to crucifixion. 1. (1-4) Pilate hopes to satisfy the mob by having Jesus whipped and mocked. So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. Here, in suited circumstances to render the thought and way of God unmistakable, pure and boundless grace takes its own sovereign course, suitable to the love and personal glory of Christ. It is not denunciation, but the most solemn sentence in the calmest manner. The person of the Son was there the object of divine and overflowing joy even then, although, of course, in the full sense of the word, the Holy Ghost might not be given to be the power of it for some time later; but still the object of worship was there revealing the Father; butJohn 7:1-53; John 7:1-53 supposes Him to be gone up to heaven, before He from heaven communicates the Holy Ghost, who should be (not here, as Israel had a rock with water to drink of in the wilderness outside themselves, nor even as a fountain springing up within the believer, but) as rivers flowing out. The dreadful truth comes out: the Lord did not trust Himself to them, because He knew all men. 1 John 4:19, KJV: We love him, because he first loved us. His earthly rights are just where they should be; but not here, where the only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father has His appropriate place. To this last the Lord attaches the deepest importance. and the two disciples leave John for Jesus. ? (ver. For nothing can be more observable than the way in which He becomes the centre round whom those that belong to God are gathered. Thus it is not only the person of our Lord viewed as divine, and coming down into the world. John 7:24) They reason and are in utter uncertainty. Except one were born of water and of the Spirit, he could not enter the kingdom of God. It seemed natural: He had fed the poor with bread, and why should not He take His place on the throne? John 1:20-25) John does not even speak of Him as one who, on His rejection as Messiah, would step into a larger glory. Web1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God." He that comes from above from heaven is above all. He has given us the spirit of adoption by which we call Him, Abba, father! My wifes dad was a chiropractor and when she got to be old enough, he gave her an opportunity to be a receptionist at his clinic. 1 John 4:18. One needs no more than to read, as believers, these wonderful expressions of the Holy Ghost, where we cannot but feel that we are on ground wholly different from that of the other gospels. It is now eternal reality, and the name of Jesus Christ is that which puts all things to a final test. It was not intended for other beings it was God's free gift to man, to the believer, of course. "He that believeth on him is not judged: but he that believeth not is judged already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." Thus we feed on Him and drink into Him, as man, unto life everlasting life in Him. Thus it is not the Spirit of God simply giving a new nature; neither is it the Holy Ghost given as the power of worship and communion with His God and Father. Be they who they may now, as many as receive Him become children of God. Of course it is the revelation of Christ; but here He was simply revealing the sources of this indispensable new birth. It is there that we found the Lord, in the other synoptic gospels, fulfilling His ordinary ministry. for he knew He was the Christ. Hence the Lord, while fully owning the labours of all preceding labourers, has before His eyes the whole boundless expanse of grace, the mighty harvest which His apostles were to reap in due time. (ver. Observe, that blessed as the light is, being God's moral nature, truth is more than this, and is introduced by grace. Then (ver. But "as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must ( ) the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." 17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. (Verses John 3:1-6), But the Lord goes farther, and bids Nicodemus not wonder at His insisting on this need. The one, like the other, contributes to this great end, whether the Son of man necessarily lifted up, or the only begotten Son of God given in His love. At first she tried to hide her sins, but Jesus Then the soldiers mockingly but truthfully hail Jesus as the king of the Jews (19:3). (Verse John 1:9) The world therefore surely ought to have known its Maker. Web1 John 4:19 Parallel Verses [ See commentary ] 1 John 4:19, NIV: We love because he first loved us. John was not yet cast into prison. He could have healed the man without the smallest outward act to shock their zeal for the law. The Lord Jesus presents Himself as putting an end to all this now for the Christian, though, of course, every word God has promised, as well as threatened, remains to be accomplished in Israel by-and-by; for Scripture cannot be broken; and what the mouth of the Lord has said awaits its fulfilment in its due sphere and season. The great fact of the incarnation is brought before us "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father"). (Verses John 1:41-44), On the morrow Jesus begins, directly and indirectly, to call others to follow Himself. He speaks of Himself as the Son of man in death; for there could be no eating of His flesh, no drinking of His blood, as a living man. saith unto her, fie, call thy husband, and come hither. Scripture is, or may be, before man always. Jan 16, 2023 at 9:27 am. ( ) flesh, and dwelt among us." John 3:17; John 3:17) This decides all before the execution of judgment, Every man's lot is made manifest by his attitude toward God's testimony concerning His Son. john 8 32) 1 John 4:16 (King James Version) 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. : a Jewish prophet who according to Gospel accounts foretold Jesus' messianic ministry and baptized him. The man could not tell the Jews the name of his benefactor. Observe, it is not (as is often very erroneously said or sung) a question of sins, but of the "sin" of the world. Later He was determined to be Son of God with power by resurrection of the dead. For He who spoke was divine. 42). Then He rebukes the carnality of His brethren. (VerseJohn 4:10; John 4:10) Infinite grace! As to Himself, He does not go at that time to the feast of tabernacles; but later on He goes up "not openly, but as it were in secret" (verseJohn 7:10; John 7:10), and taught. He will have all honour the Son, even as Himself. It was impossible that there should not be righteous dealing with human evil against God, in its sources and its streams. Nathanael's call is just as clearly typical of Israel in the latter day. How truly it is man under law! Nothing is said about the fan in His hand; nothing of His burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire. The resurrection of the Lord is not more truly a demonstration of His power and glory, than the only deliverance for disciples from the thraldom of Jewish influence. 1 John 4:19, NLT: We love each other because he loved us first. None but a divine being could thus deal with the world. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone. Now it is that the great question is decided; now it is that a man receives or refuses Christ. One must be born again. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. He *said to her, "Go, call your husband and come here. This brings in the great counterpart truth, that even God present on earth and made flesh is not enough. Each had his own; all are harmonious, all perfect, all divine; but not all so many repetitions of the same thing. This brings all to a point; for the woman says, "I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things." Man was judged: another Man was there, the Lord from heaven, soon to stand in resurrection. Accordingly there is a four-fold testimony to Jesus: the testimony of John the Baptist; the Lord's own works; the voice of the Father from heaven; and finally, the written word which the Jews had in their own hands. and the more manifest from His lips to one who was a real impersonation of sin, misery, blindness, degradation. Nevertheless, the heavenly part is little dwelt on, as John's gospel displays our Lord more as the expression of God revealed on earth, than as Man ascended to heaven, which fell far more to the province of the apostle of the Gentiles. It was much, yet was it little of the glory that was His; but at least it was real; and to the one that has shall be given. This is the truth; but the Jews had the law, and hated the truth. The apostle attests this. , He saith ) Now He makes an avenue for giving to the woman, who begs for water, a better kind of it, than that which she had begged for. , husband ) The woman Johns answer goes down to the depths, for his notion of love is the response of the believing soul to the love of God which was manifested on the Cross of Calvary. The judgment, all of it, whether for quick or dead, is consigned to Him, because He is Son of man. Still the Lord refused the crown then: it was not the time or state for His reign. Did the dead (for so men are treated, not as alive under law) did they hear the voice of the Son of God? It was sabbath-day. Nobody had gone up to heaven: God had taken more than one; but no one had gone there as of right. In truth, Christian baptism did not yet exist, but only such as the disciples used, like John the Baptist; it was not instituted of Christ till after His resurrection, as it sets forth His death. But this, however worthy of God, and indispensable for man, could not of itself give an adequate expression of what God is; because in this alone, neither His own love nor the glory of His Son finds due display. But there was a man who had been infirm for thirty and eight years. To the Pharisees, indeed, his words as to the Lord are curt: nor does he tell them of the divine ground of His glory, as he had before and does after. If he receives Him, it is everlasting life, and Christ is thus honoured by him; if not, judgment remains which will compel the honour of Christ, but to his own ruin for ever. 4:2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: Thus it is a kind of transitional fact for a most important part of our gospel, though still introductory. No charge could be remoter from the truth. Natural birth had nothing to do with this new thing; it was a new nature altogether in those who received Him: "Who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."