SECTION II. EXORDIUM OF ST. JOHN: SETTING FORTH THE PRE-EXISTENCE, DIVINITY, AND INCARNATION OF THE WORD, OR ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD; AND THE TESTIMONY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST CONCERNING THe Light. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Gen. i. 1. -from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. Prov. viii. 23. bO Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was. John xvii. 5. The Son is before all things. Col. i. 17. That Eternal Life which was with the Fa ther. 1 John i. 2. Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is the everlasting Father. given the nighty God, IN John i. 1-18. N the beginninga of the Creation, and from all eternity, was the divine Word in existence: and the Word was originally with God the Father, pre-existing as a distinct Person in the closest union with Him; and the Word was Himself Gode (1) (the Eternal Jehovah), participating in the same divine nature and the same essential perfections. The same was in the very beginning with God, being equally the Author of Creation, and not a subordinate instrument in that work of Omnipotence. "By the WORD of the Lord were the heavens made" (Ps. xxxiii. 6); and in like manner all things, visible and invisible, throughout the universe, were made by Him;d (2) and without Him (without His co-operating agency and power) was not anything whatsoever made, that was made. And not only did He create the material and inanimate world; but centered Christ who is over all, in Him was the power of giving life,e natural and spiritual, Isa. ix. 6. And Thomas answered and said unto Him, My Lord and my God. John xx. 28. God blessed for ever. Christ Jesus, being in Amen. Rom. ix. 5. to the whole creation; and He, the fountain of all Life, the form of God, thought was especially the Lightf (the Enlightener and Instructor) it not robbery to be equal with God. Phil. ii. 6.-Unto the Son, God saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever. Heb. i. 8.-This (Jesus Christ) is the true God and Eternal Life, 1 John v. 20.-the only wise God, our Saviour. Jude 25. d Thus saith thy Redeemer, and He that formed thee from the womb: I am the Lord that maketh all things. Isa. xliv. 24.-By Him (the Son) were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible. Col. i. 16.-The worlds were framed by the Word of God. Heb. xi. 3. As the Father hath life in Hunself, so hath He given the Son to have life in Himself. He giveth life unto the world. John vi. 33.-Jesus said, I am the Resurrection and the Life. God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 1 John v. 11. John v. 26.- Then spake Jesus, I am the Light of the world. He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the Light of Life. John viii. 12.-The darkness is past, and the True Light now shineth. 1 John ii. 8. (1) The Word was God.] This is one of the two principal passages which establish the Divinity of the Saviour (the other being Rom. ix. 5); and, after the most diligent inquiry into different Versions,-especially by those who impugn the doctrine conveyed,-not a single various reading of this passage has yet been discovered. The doctrine, instead of being shaken by such collations, has been rendered more certain than ever.-By the "Word" or Logos, here plainly declared to be a Person equal with the Father, and not an Attribute, it is plain that St. John means Jesus Christ; for he goes on to speak of the Baptist as preceding Him. (See also 1 John i. 1, and Rev. xix. 13.) Eleven times in this first chapter of his Gospel is the word "God" used in its proper sense by the Evangelist, nor can a single instance be produced from the entire New Testament, where in the singular number it is used in any other sense. "The The very remarkable expression, Word," is derived both from the Jewish and Gentile theology of that period, and its then familiar use accounts for the Evangelist's brevity in delivering so great a mystery. It was always used to signify a vital and divine subsistence. Philo applies it to Jehovah, or the Creator of the world; and in the Jewish synagogues the expected Messiah was designated under the same term. And for this other simple reason, St. John might adopt so appropriate an expression: the Father makes known His will by His Son, the Word (see Heb. i. 1, 2), in the same manner as a man makes known his mind by means of words. (2) All things were made by Him.] There can be no higher proof of Omnipotence than this; and it is to His work of Creation that Jehovah appeals as the particular proof that He is the true God in opposition to idols. (See Ps. c. 3.) To the same proof our Saviour himself appeals. (John x. 37.)-And yet the First Great Cause as plainly declares, "My glory I will not give to another." "Beside Me there is no God." (Isa. xlii. 8; xliv. 6.)—It appears from Gen. i. 2, that the Third Person in the Holy Trinity is also equally the Creator; and the patriarch has said, "The Spirit of God hath made me; the breath of the Almighty hath given me life." (Job xxxiii. 4.) EXORDIUM OF ST. JOHN. of men. And this, the glorious Light, shineth in darkness, enlightening with its beams a benighted, ignorant, and wicked world; and the darkness was so thick that at first it comprehended it note-it would not admit even that Light to penetrate and disperse it. 3 This is the condemnation, that Light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than Light, because their deeds were evil. John iii. 19. h Behold, I will send My messenger, and he fore Me. Mal. iii. 1. shall prepare the way be 1 John verily baptized with the baptism of re pentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on Him which It was in the manner following that this Divine Dispensation commenced.-There was a man,-for he was not a divine person as some supposed, though unquestionably, as had been foretold,-sent from God;h whose name was John, afterwards called also the Baptist. The same came expressly for a Witness, i to bear witness of the Light, that so all men, without exception of any,—having through him their attention powerfully awakened to the truth,-might believe in their Saviour when He appeared. He (John), although a shining light, was not that Great predicted Light, -the Sun of Righteousness and fountain of all Light,-but was sent, as the morning-star and harbinger of its rising That was the upon the world, to bear witness of that Light. only true and infallible Light that cometh into the world; (3) which, setting aside all the false lights of merely human philosophy, effectually lighteth (is able to enlighten) every of thy people Israel. mank whose mind is duly prepared for the reception of it. should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. Acts xix. 4. k I will also give Thee for a Light unto the Gen tiles, that Thou mayest be My Salvation unto the end of the earth. Isa. xlix. 6. A Light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory Lnke ii. 32. 1 We hid as it were our faces from Him: He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Isa. liii. 3. Ye are all the chil Christ Jesus. Gal. iii. 26. Of His own will begat He us with the Word Blessed be the God of Truth. Jas. i. 18. Jesus Christ, which ac He was incarnate in the world; and the world itself was made by Him, and yet the blind and ungrateful men of the world knew (acknowledged) Him not, either as their Maker or Redeemer. He came unto His own,-for every territory was His,-but He was pleased to make the land dren of God by faith in of the Jews His peculiar dwelling-place upon earth; and even His own people, favoured as they had ever been above all other nations, received Him not as their Benefactor. But as many as received Him,-for some there were waiting for the redemption of Israel,—to them gave He power (privilege, MARG.) to become the adopted sons of God, even to them that so believe on His namem (in Him) as the Creator of the world, the Source of Life, the Light of men: which were born to that sonship and inheritance form of a servant, and not of blood (by natural descent from their parents), nor of the will of the flesh, nor in any way,-whether by affinity or adoption,-of the will of man; but entirely of the will and free mercy of God" conforming them to His image and accepting them through His Son. From this Divine Source was their birth thenceforward to be reckoned. And to procure for us so glorious an adoption, the fesseth that Jesus Christ Word was made (became) flesh, o (4)and dwelt (pitched His God. 1 John iv. 2. (3) That cometh into the world.] These words are transposed on the best critical authority, and that they must be referred to "the Light" is corroborated by John iii. 19; xii. 46. (*) The Word was made flesh.] The fourth Christ. 1 Pet. i. 3. He took on Him the was made in the likeness of men. Phil. ii. 7. God was manifest in the flesh. 1 Tim. iii. 16. As the children are partakers of flesh and likewise took part of the blood, He also Himself same. Heb. ii. 14. Every spirit that con is come in the flesh is of General Council thus defines this great mystery: "He was so made flesh, that He ceased not to be the Word, never changing that He was, but assuming that He was not. The Godhead was not converted into flesh, but the Manhood taken into God. EXORDIUM OF ST. JOHN. tent, GR.) among us,-even as the manifestation of the Deity had been visibly present of old in the Tabernacle,full of grace and truth. And we, His disciples, beheld His glory,P so plainly manifested in His mighty works, and the wisdom with which He spake: more particularly did some of us (Peter, James, and John) behold His transcendent of His majesty; for He glory, when He was transfigured on the Holy Mount; Father honour and glory, which was indeed the glory such as might be expected of Voice to Him from the the only-begotten Son of the Father. P Jesus manifested forth received from God the when there came such a Excellent Glory, This is My beloved Son, in whom this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with Him in the Holy Mount. 2 Pet. i. 16-18. It pleased the Father that in Him should all John bare the like witness of Him, asserting His pre I am well pleased. And eminence above all; and cried aloud, saying, This was He of whom I spake, He that cometh into His high office after me is to be preferred before me; and most fitly so, for He ever was (He existed) before me.-And of His inexhaustible and overflowing fulness (the fulness of the eternal Godhead) have all we that believe, without any exception of persons, received; and grace for grace (grace upon grace, in abundant and still-increasing measure)—even Freely ye have re the grace of Remission, the grace of Holiness, and the grace of Acceptance: He remains our complete Saviour,--our Guide in every step we make to Eternal Life. fulness dwell. Col. i. 19. In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. Col. ii. 9. ceived. Matt. x. 8. -justified freely by His grace through the re demption that is in Christ Jesus. Rom. iii. 24. Ye are not under the Rom. vi. 14. Even to our Lawgiver, great though he was, the Blessed Word is manifestly superior: for the Law was given indeed by (through) Moses, which was a high distinction conferred upon that patriarch: but the Law was only a preparatory and so far imperfect dispensation; and Grace, bringing a free pardon instead of its rigorous demands, and Truth,t the substance of those good things which the Law did but Law, but under Grace. shadow forth in types and ceremonies, these came (had their very being, GR.) by Jesus Christ.-Since He is infiyon free. John viii. 32. nitely above all, there can be no other way of arriving at Truth or of obtaining Grace: no man,-not Moses himself,-hath seen, or hath ever been able perfectly to comprehend the nature and attributes of God at any time;" the only-begotten Son, for such was Jesus Christ by a mode of and the Father in Me generation peculiar to Himself,-and which is in the bosom of the Father, (5) being intimately and inseparably conNo man knoweth the nected with Him,-He alone hath declared His will and Father, save the Son. Matt. xi. 27. fully made Him known.w The Truth shall make And the Lord said, Thou canst not see My face, for there shall no man see Me and live. Exod. xxxiii. 20. John xiv. 10. V (3) In the bosom of the Father.] This phrase denotes the most entire intimacy and affection. See Deut. xiii. 6, where it is spoken of a wife. The metaphor is probably taken from the familiar custom among the ancients of reclining at meals. (See John xiii. 23.) SECTION III. THE BIRTH of the Baptist foretold in a VISION TO ZACHARIAS; AND THE CONCEPTION OF ELIZABETH. THE Luke i. 5-25. Thus were the priests divided by lot. .. .. The eighth lot came forth to Abijah. 1 Chron. xxiv, 5, 10. HERE was in the days of Herod the Great, the King of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia,a (2) or Abijah; and his wife was one of the daughters (female descendants) of Aaron; and her name, like that of the wife of the first High-priest, was Elizabeth.-And they were both accepted as righteous before God, for they were persons of genuine uprightness and integrity, walking in the observance of all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord (the moral as well as the ceremonial Law), and blameless before men as well as pious towards God.-And they had no child, nor indeed now the hope of any, because that Elizabeth was barren-notwithstanding which she had 6. never been divorced by her attached and pious husband; and they both were now well stricken (advanced) in years.(3) C And it came to pass, that while he executed (discharged) the priest's office before God, in the order of his course, his lot, the most solemn and honourable of all the offices so distributed,-was, according to the custom of the priest's office, to burn the evening incense (4) when he went into the Temple () (the Sanctuary) of the Lord, where the golden Altar of incense stood.-And the whole multitude of the people assembled were silently praying in the courts without the Sanctuary at the time of the oblation of incense -a solemnity which lasted about half an hour.—And as Zacharias entered the Sanctuary with his face towards the (1) Herod, the King of Judea.] This Herod, misnamed the Great,-for he was remarkable only for the greatness of his vices,-obtained the crown through the influence of Marc Antony at Rome. He was a foreigner and a cruel prince, but by his address reigned thirty-seven years. (*) Of the course of Abia.] This was the eighth of those twenty-four courses or classes into which the priests had been divided by David, each officiating one week. (See 1 Chron. xxiv. 3, &c.) Abia is the Greek for the Hebrew Abijah. (3) Well stricken in years.] Yet the age of Zacharias could not have exceeded fifty years, for after that a priest was superannuated. (See Numb. iv. 3.) (*) To burn incense.] A rite typical of the Intercession of Christ.-Incense was an aromatic compound, consisting chiefly of a gum obtained from the trees of Arabia, and only allowed to be used in the Temple. This part of the Jewish ceremonial supposed the prayers of devout worshippers to be wafted to heaven in odoriferous wreaths. So David says, "Let my prayer be set b Touching the righteousness which is in the Law blameless. Phil. iii. e And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon the altar, a perpetual in cense before the Lord throughout your genera tions. Exod. xxx. 8. forth before Thee as the incense." (Ps. cxli. 2.) See also Rev. viii. 4. () When he went into the Temple.] This is a general expression for all the numerous buildings connected with the sacred edifice; but Zacharias entered the Inner Temple or Sanctuary. This was separated from the Holy of Holies (into which the High-priest entered only once a year on the great day of Atonement) by a Vail, the same which was rent at the Crucifixion. The surrounding courts were thus divided: - the Outer Court, encompassing the whole, was named the Court of the Gentiles, which they alone occupied, and beyond which they could not pass: within this court, and separated by a stone wall (to which St. Paul alludes, Ephes. ii. 13, 14), stood the Court of the Israelites, where the people were assembled for prayer on the present occasion; it was divided into two parts, one for the women and the other for the men. Again, within this court was the Court of the Priests, and here the Altar stood, to which the people brought their oblations, though not permitted to enter.For an historical account of this Second Temple, see Section XXII. Note 5. 6 stood on the right side of the house when the man went in, and the cloud Ezek. x. 3. • And Elizabeth brought forth a rejoiced with her. Luke i. 57, 58. fA Nazarite shall se parate himself from wine and strong drink. Numb. vi. 3. The child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb Judg. xiii. 5. forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Jer. i. 5. God separated me from my mother's womb. Gal. Then went out to i. 15. THE BIRTH OF THE BAPTIST FORETOLD. Now the cherubims west, there appeared unto him an Angel of the Lord standing near the table of shew-bread on the right,-or filled the inner court. north, which was reckoned the propitious,-side of the Altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was trouson, and her bled at an appearance so unusual in those days, and fear neighbours and cousins fell upon him. But the Angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias; for thy prayer now offered up for the welfare and delivery of the people is heard, (6) as also the prayer of thy youth for offspring: and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, the forerunner of that illustrious Deliverer who is to come; and thou shalt call his name John (signifying Before thou camest that "God is gracious" to you). And thou shalt have joy and gladness at his birth, and many more shall rejoice with thee: for he shall be a blessing to all mankind, and be great,-not indeed in outward splendour, but, which is of infinitely greater moment,-in the sight of the Lord Himself, on account of his distinguished office. And, since it will be his part to preach Repentance, preparatory to the remission of sins, he shall set forth in his own person a remarkable pattern of self-denial: devoted entirely unto God, he shall drink neither wine nor strong drink (fermented liquor of any kind); and he shall be filled with the influence of the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's wombs and his days of childhood.-And many of the children of Israel shall he turn (convert) by repentance to seek the Lord their God,h worshipping Him henceforth in spirit and in truth. And as the Prophet foretold, he shall things: but I say unto go before HIM,—the Redeemer,—in the spirit and power already..... Then the dis. of Eliasi (the zeal and mighty endowments of Elijah, the ciples understood that He restorer of the Law), to turn again the hearts of the fathers to the children,know so divided among themselves through their differences,-by directing them all to One Master; and by guiding the disobedient to the wisdom of the Just John Jerusalem, and all round about Jordan, and were baptized of him in Judea, and all the region Jordan, confessing their sins. Matt. iii. 5, 6. iBehold, I will send you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. Mal. iv. 5. His disciples asked Him, saying, Why say the Scribes that Elias must first come? Jesus answered, Elias truly shall first come and restore all you, that Elias is come spake unto them of John the Baptist. Matt. xvii. 10-13. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the the children to their fa children, and the heart of thers. Mal. iv. 6. 1 And being not weak in faith, Abraham consi now dead, when he was old, neither vet the dead One: thus, to make ready a people prepared for the service of the Lord. And Zacharias,-being weak in faith, and forgetful of dered not his own body the example of his great ancestor Abraham upon a like about an hundred years occasion,-said unto the Angel, Whereby (by what sign) ness of Sarah's womb: he shall I know this improbable thing to be true? for I am mise of God through un- growing an old man, and my wife is already well stricken belief. Rom. iv. 19, 20. in years. And the Angel answering said unto him, I am While I was speak- Gabrielm (7) (i.e." the Power of God"), of whom thou hast staggered not at the pro ing in prayer, even Ga (6) Thy prayer is heard.] That the prayer of Zacharias on this occasion was for the public welfare we must conclude, as the priests in this office considered themselves as the mouth of the people. Yet from the known wish of Jewish parents for offspring,-especially those who, like this aged couple, were looking for the Messiah,and also from the exulting speech of Elizabeth, that her reproach was at length taken away, we may conceive that they had in their younger days wished for a son. () I am Gabriel.] This angel, who appeared to Daniel at the same time of the Evening Oblation, had been in like manner sent to speak to that prophet concerning the Messiah, and to reveal the particular time of His coming. |