Sermonic Glances at the Gospel of St. John.

As our purpose in the treatment of this Gospel is purely the development, in the briefest and most suggestive form, of Sermonic outlines, we must refer our readers to the following works for all critical inquiries into the author and authorship of the book, and also for any minute criticisms on difficult clauses. The works we shall especially consult are:-"Introduction to New Testament," by Bleek; "Com. mentary on John," by Tholuck; "Commentary on John," by Hengstenberg; "Introduction to the Study of the Gospels," by Westcott; "The Gospel History," by Ebrard; "Our Lord's Divinity," by Liddon; "St. John's Gospel," by Oosterzee; "Doctrine of the Person of Christ," by Dorner; Lange; etc., etc.

Subject: Christ's first two Discourses at the Feast of Tabernacles.

"Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet. Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was? So there was a division among the people because of him. And some of them would have taken Him; but no man laid hands on Him. Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought Him? The officers answered, Never man spake like this man. Then answered them the Pharisees, Arc ye also deceived? Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on Him? But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed. Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,) Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth? They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee ? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. And every man went unto his own house."-John vii. 40–53. EXPOSITION: Ver. 40.—“ Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet." There was an expectation amongst some of the Jews that one of the old prophets would appear and precede the Messiah. Many of them thought that Jesus was one. They felt certain of this. "Of a truth."

"Some of the Jews held

Ver. 41. Others said, This is the Christ." that the prophet who was to come was different from the Messiah, and was to herald His coming. Others held that He was the same with Christ. Here they seem to be distinguished. Some took Jesus for the prophet, and others for the Christ Himself. See ch. i. 20. But some said.' These objectors were always ready, ever stifling by the Scripture itself the yearnings of faith. A true sample this of the world's wisdom in things spiritual. Knowing so much, and yet knowing so little-ready enough to bring forward difficulties and pick flaws, but not at all ready with the proper explanations, even when they are plain to a child "-Jacobus. "Shall Christ come out of Galilee?" Those who put this question insinuated falsehood or a desire to pervert facts. Christ did not come out of Galilee in the sense of being born there. He was born in Bethlehem. He was brought up, it is true, in Nazareth in Galilee, but not born there. Ver. 42.-"Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was ?” (Isaiah xi. 1; Jer. xxiii. 5; Micah v. 2). "Where David was " (1 Sam. xvi.). Ver. 43.-" So there was a division among the people (¿v tŵ öxλw) because of Him." "This division, or violent split, among those who accorded recognition to the Lord in different degrees, must be distinguished from the division between all those who are friendly to Him and the enemies of whom (ver. 44) he goes on at once to speak, or the analogous divisions in ch. ix. 6 and x. 18. There were at first but a few among the people who made common cause with the hostile

Pharisees."-Lange.

Ver. 44.-" And some of them would have taken Him." "Some." Who? Not any of the two preceding classes; but the people who heard His words and were exasperated. "No man laid hands on Him." Why not? What held them back? Conscience, and the restraining force of justice.

Ver. 45.-" Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees." These officers are the same in all probability as those spoken of in verse 32, who were sent by the Sanhedrim to take Him. They had been on the watch for some hours during this public excitement. Why did they pause so long? This is the question the chief priests and Pharisees asked them. "Why have ye not brought Him?" Why? They could not, for the causes that prevented some of the people from taking Him.

Ver. 46.-"The officers answered, Never man spake like this man." This was their answer, and explains the reason why they had not brought Him, viz., the impression they had received of His transcendent excellence as a Teacher. There was a grandeur, an independency, a purity, a power, and a catholicity in His words that impressed them with the surpassing greatness of the Teacher.

Ver. 47.-" Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived?”

Is it possible that you, our servants, our officers, are cheated by this Impostor?

Ver. 48.-"Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on Him?” This means, Since none of the rulers or the Pharisees believed on Him, how monstrous it is that such men as you, ignorant hirelings, should yield the smallest pretension to His claims. Ver. 49.-"But this people." The language is contemptuous, this ignorant rabble. "Who knoweth not the law are cursed." They are

utterly ignorant of all law, are cursed, that is, We, who are the religious law-givers, have cursed them.

Ver. 50.-" Nicodemus saith unto them." He was a member of the Sanhedrim. "He that came to Jesus by night being one of them." We have an account of his appearing to Christ in the third chapter. This timid and cowardly disciple, instead of thundering condemnation in their ears, puts a question.

Ver. 51.-" Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?" As if he had said, You talk about law, but where is the law in your conduct? Law requires an honest trial, before even a criminal is condemned (Exod. xxiii, 1; Deut. i. 16, 17; xix, 15). Ver. 52.-"They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee!" This fierce rejoinder of the Pharisees strikingly and solemnly contrasts with the very feeble defence which Nicodemus had put forth. It expresses utter scorn for the man who in any way sympathized with Jesus. "Search and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet." Here they showed their ignorance; for was not Jonah a prophet, and Elijah a prophet, and came they not out of Galilee? Besides, Christ did not come out of Galilee in the sense of being born there, He came out of Bethlehem.

Ver. 53.—“ And every man went unto his own house." Finding their malignant attempts so far unsuccessful, the members of the Sanhedrim went to their own houses.

HOMILETICS.-The incidents recorded in the verses before us present certain facts connected with Christ's discourses at the feast of tabernacles additional to those which have already been noticed. These facts indeed are generally developed through the teaching of Christ in every age and land. And in relation to His teaching it appears,

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I. That it produced a VAST VARIETY OF OPINIONS CONCERNING HIM. Many of the people," etc. Some of His hearers on this occasion said He was a prophet; some, that He was the Christ; whilst many denied that He was either, and were ready to wreak vengeance on Him as an impostor. So there was a division, a schism amongst them. Diversity of

opinion amongst the hearers of Christ is shown on another occasion. "Jesus said, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that Thou art John the Baptist; some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets" (Matt. xvi. 13, 14). The variety of speculative opinion which Christ's teaching has always produced, reveals,

First: The great diversity in the minds of men. No two minds are exactly alike in the kind or measure of faculty and tendency, nor have any two minds passed through exactly the same educational process; hence it is almost impossible for any two minds to form exactly the same opinions concerning any person or proposition. This variety gives a freshness to the great field of human thought, and it should teach man to treat the conclusions of his brother with respect, however much they may differ from his own. It should also warn those ecclesiastics and rulers who presume to govern the opinions of men of their folly and their wickedness.

Secondly: The moral perversity in the souls of men. Wrong opinions in all cases on moral subjects indicate a perversion of judgment. The broad eternal principles of moral virtue are so self-obvious and radiant, that wrong conclusions concerning them are inexcusable in the case of all to whom they are presented. Christ's life was at once the incarnation and brightest revelation of those principles; and hence diversity of opinion in relation to His character implies perversity of heart. Were all men, whatever their diversity of mind, to give to Him a proper study, they would say, "Master, we know that Thou art true."

Thirdly: The intellectual freedom which Christ allows men. Mighty as He is in power, far reaching as His influence is in the depths of the human soul, and potent as are His truths, He does not coerce thought, does not compel men to believe, He leaves them free. "Will ye also go away ?"

In relation to His teaching, it appears,·

II. That it produced a PROFOUND IMPRESSION AS TO HIS TRANSCENDENT WORTH. "Never man spake like this man."

This was the utterance of the rough Roman officers who were sent forth by their masters to seize Him; and it is the language that impartial minds in all times and lands must adopt; there never was such a teacher. "Never man spake like this man." So original, so independent, so suggestive, so natural, so tender, so faithful, so devout, so soul-commanding. As a Teacher, in all these respects He throws the greatest sages of antiquity in the shade, and makes modern scientists dwindle into insignificance.

"Never man spake like this man." Such is the opinion of the greatest men,-legislators, philosophers, and poets,-of the world. He stands alone. The thoughts of the greatest thinkers of all times are, as compared to His, only as the frail productions of human art compared to the magnificent organizations of living nature. "The whole world," says a modern author, "has confirmed this sentence. Believers have felt its truth, as they have imbibed the instructions of their heavenly Master; and infidels have not been able to suppress their admiration at the Sermon on the Mount, the Golden Rule, the parables of the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, and the prayer of Jesus with His disciples before His death. May it not be found at last that He lifted up in vain His voice of sweet persuasion and awful warning, to plead with our negligent and hardened hearts, and to win us to God and heaven; but, hearing, may we understand; and understanding, feel; and feeling, practise the precepts of life and immortality." In relation to His teaching, it appears,―

III. That it produced A DEADLY HOSTILITY TOWARDS HIM. "Some of them would have taken Him," etc. In the hostility which the teaching of Christ roused in the minds of these Chief Priests and Pharisees we discover several evils.

First Intolerance. Exasperated by the doctrines He proclaimed and the influence He was exerting upon the people, they wickedly resolved to crush Him. "Some of them would have taken Him." Deep and strong was the desire they had to arrest His progress, cripple His energies, and even destroy His very existence. Antagonism to Christianity