IN this chapter " the disciple whom Jesus loved " has furnished us with a collection of the personal names and titles of Christ-magnificent in their grandeur, of vast range and extent, stretching from eternity (the Word) to the kingdom (Son of man), and so comprehensive that every personal glory and dignity is embraced.
The eternity of His being, His personality, His deity, His equality with God are the profound truths of the first twenty-five words of the gospel. There never was penned or uttered a more exact or wonderful collocation of words. It was God-like to state these truths in a few pregnant sentences; it would have been human to have supported them with labored proofs, but God is God, and man is man. Enough, God has spoken, and it is for faith to implicitly receive and worship in presence of such an astonishing revelation-a revelation which scatters the ancient and modern heathen philosophies as chaff before the wind.
But " the word" was not the expression of a thought— an " it," but a living and eternal person, for the third verse, which coincides in time with the first verse of the Bible, says, " All things were made by Him," that is, the word; nor did the Lord Himself come into being, or begin to exist, as taught by the Gnostics in John's day, " for without him was not anything made that was made." Then comes the precious sentence-the characteristic truth of " the gospel of the Son:" " in him was life." (Ver. 4.) We have, through grace, life in Him. He had it in Himself. He is fountain and source. He was life, and sheaved its character and blessedness in His ways amongst men. "And the life was the light of men." All previous and preparatory dealings, as conscience, government, promise and law, had as their main design the testing and proving of man. Was there recovery for the race? Was there an atom of goodness in the creature such as God could accept? Could man, the Jew even, earn a title to life on the ground of a legal righteousness? "He," is the emphatic answer proclaimed at each point of human history and notably so at the close. Man under Adam is a sinner, under Moses he is a transgressor, under Christ he is an enemy to God. But " eternal life " is God's gift, sovereignly bestowed on the believer; not revealed although it existed in Old Testament times (only twice mentioned in the former oracles, Psa. 133:33As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore. (Psalm 133:3); Dan. 12:22And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. (Daniel 12:2)). It was God's eternal promise to Christ (Titus 1:22In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; (Titus 1:2)) and hence a treasure too precious to be deposited in a prophet of the Old Testament, or an apostle of the New. The Son must have the priceless boon, and manifest it too: yea, He will hold it for the heirs of glory through eternal ages.
But, he adds, " And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not." The life was the light of men, not of angels, fallen or unfallen; nor of other orbs, and there are millions, vaster and grander than ours. " The light of men:" what a marvelous blessing to shine in the midst of our human circumstances-sorrows, griefs, tears and death; yea more, it " shineth in darkness," fit and expressive emblem of man's state, which is not one of guilt merely. As guilty he needs justification; as dead he needs life; as darkness he needs light. Carefully note the tenses, " the light shineth"-the present; " the darkness comprehended it not "-the historical past. Here God who knows the end from the beginning gives in one sentence the result of the light's bright beams in the darkness. It shone beneath the eye of God and in presence of wretchedness and sin. Bring a light into a dark room and at once the darkness comprehends the light and disappears; but when the " true light " shone, the moral darkness on the soul of man, and Israel, was so dense and settled that it, refused to "apprehend" the light; such is the word used by the Holy Ghost. Who could " comprehend" the light? Could man, saint, or angel? " No man knoweth the Son but the Father." You may " apprehend" what you cannot possibly " comprehend.' (See also Eph. 3:1818May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; (Ephesians 3:18), read "apprehend.")
We have merely indicated what and where these wonderful verities are to be found, and to assist in further study, we add the following divisions of the chapter. Its four main parts are, first, God revealed, verses 1-18; second, the Baptist, a " voice" announcing the coming of Jehovah, verses 19-28; third, Christ's twofold work-on the cross dealing with sin as God's Lamb, on the throne, baptizing with the Holy Ghost, verses 29-34; fourth, the gathering, of the church, and of Israel to the Person of the Lord, on distinct occasions, on different days, and in various ways, verses 35-51.
The following subdivisions will also be found useful:
Christ as the " Word" and " God" in the majesty and perfection of His being. (Vers. 1-5.)
John's testimony to Him as the light, and His reception only by those born of God. (Vers. 6-13.)
His manifestation in flesh, and its gracious character. (Vers. 14-18.)
John's testimony to Christ as Jehovah, according to prophecy. (Vers. 19-28.)
John's testimony to Christ as Lamb of God taking away the sin of the world. (Vers. 29-31.)
John's testimony to Christ as sealed with the Holy Ghost. (Vers. 32-34.)
7, Gathering of the church to Christ, and following Him to His dwelling-place. (Vers. 35-42.)
8. Gathering of Israel to Christ as Son of God and king of Israel. (Vers. 43-51.) w. S.
IT is beautiful to see (in John 12) bow Jesus veiled the glory that was due to Him on earth as David's Son. He received it with the pall of death hanging over Him and it. He veiled the glory by death! In chapter 11. we have another scene, we have death veiled. And how is it veiled? By resurrection! Death to the saint is only a quieter, to the world it is a disturber. w. F. B.