In this chapter the important subject is the gift of the Holy Spirit, because the Lord, not being able to manifest Himself to the world, since He knew He was to be rejected and put to death, sends the Spirit (after He has been glorified), not, indeed, to the world, but to His own.
There were three principal feasts of the Jews: the Passover, figure of Christ sacrificed for us; Pentecost, figure of the descent of the Holy Spirit; and the feast of Tabernacles, which was the greatest of all. But this feast could be celebrated only in Palestine; it was a type of the fulfillment and enjoyment of all the blessings promised to Israel. It was, in fine, a testimony that all was fulfilled. This feast came after the harvest, and after the vintage-that is, after the separation of the good and the bad, and after the execution of judgment on the earth—as we see in Isa. 63, for the vintage, and for the harvest and the vintage Rev. 14.14-21.
Jesus then is in Galilee among the poor of the flock, and does not seek to manifest Himself, because before manifesting Himself to the world in power and glory, He must have us with Himself, His companions and co-heirs: “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”
We would remark here that, at the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem on the ass (in Luke 19:38), the crowd say, “Peace in heaven!” Why peace in heaven? Many believe that the devil is in hell, but it is evident he is not there yet, he is also in heavenly places, and it is only when he will be bound below that peace will be in heaven. This place is not, therefore, where God dwells; that is, in light inaccessible, but where Christ will reign with His own over the earth.
Our position is the same as that of the Lord Jesus, as well when we shall be in the glory as now, and therefore we need not look to be thought of in this world, because the world is at enmity against God. The object of Jesus in coming down here was that He might have us with Himself in the glory. And such is the difference between God and man in giving: man, when he gives a thing, has it no longer himself, it becomes the property of the person to whom it was given; but it is not so with God, when He gives something He loses nothing, but introduces man with Himself into the enjoyment of the things He gives—that is, into the enjoyment of Himself. This is God’s way of giving. Perfect love gives everything, and it is for this reason expressly that He became Man. Had He kept something by Himself, it would not have been perfect love. He has given us everything to enjoy along with Himself.
There is a difference between the Jews and the multitude; the first are those of Jerusalem, and the others those of Galilee who had followed Jesus. The Jews had a different spirit from that of the multitude; for example, at verse 20 they do not know who it was that wanted to kill Jesus, and in verse 25 we see that they of Jerusalem knew it.
Verse 17 is very important. It contains the promise that if anyone would do the will of God he should know of the doctrine whether it were of God. A man must have the desire to do God’s will if he wants God to give him the knowledge of divine things. Some may say, “But there are so few who have the truth that one is forced to ask oneself if it is possible that so small a number can know it and so vast a number be ignorant of it!” Let us remember that it was always so. Even in the time of Christ there were few who knew Him.
Jesus afterward went to the feast, but not to keep it. He went to the outside of it, and that secretly. Men had an instinctive feeling that God was there in the person of Christ (see verses 31 and 46). At verse 33 it is as though he said to them, Ye have no need to be in a hurry to kill me, because I have but a little time to stay with you.’ The Greeks of verse 35 are Gentiles. At verse 37 He cries out on the eighth day. This eighth day is a figure of the heavenly part, it was the beginning of a new creation. On this day the Holy Spirit has been given for the realization of heavenly things, and to put us in relationship with these heavenly things, this day being a figure of our Christian dispensation. However, in one sense we are not in, or of a dispensation, because we are of heaven. The first dispensation was that of the law, and the second, the new, that of the Messiah—that is, the millennium—and we are between the two. The new covenant is then made with the Jews; by it they will have the pardon of their sins, and each one will know God. (Heb. 8:8-13.) The church anticipates these blessings, and it has, besides, greater ones, and more precious.
The Spirit has come down to unite us to Christ in heaven. If one hurts my foot, I say, “You have hurt me,” because my foot is part of myself. This is the very language that Christ uses in heaven of us, because we are members of His body by the power of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit makes us walk in the footsteps of Christ. Because of our weaknesses, we have experiences accordingly, but we are now united to Christ. (See chapter 14:16-20.) The Holy Spirit could not be given before Christ was glorified, because Christ must first take His place in glory, and then the Holy Spirit says to us, “See, the place where Jesus is now yours. I am the pledge of this glory.” When the blood of Christ is before God, and Christ is our righteousness, seated at the right hand of God, the Holy Spirit can come to dwell in us; and if there are good fruits in the Christian they are the fruits of the Holy Spirit. It is then, the worth of the work of Christ which has been the ground of God’s having sent the Holy Spirit to us. We are cleansed by the blood of Christ, and at the same time we are sealed by the Holy Spirit for the glory.
(To be continued.)