weymouth new testament in modern speech, 2 john third edition 1913 r. f. weymouth book 63 2 john 001:001 the elder to the elect lady and her children. truly i love you all, and not i alone, but also all who know the truth, 001:002 for the sake of the truth which is continually in our hearts and will be with us for ever. 001:003 grace, mercy and peace will be with us from god the father, and from jesus christ the son of the father, in truth and love. 001:004 it is an intense joy to me to have found some of your children living true christian lives, in obedience to the command which we have received from the father. 001:005 and now, dear lady, i pray you--writing to you, as i do, not a new command, but the one which we have had from the very beginning--let us love one another. 001:006 the love of which i am speaking consists in our living in obedience to god's commands. god's command is that you should live in obedience to what you all heard from the very beginning. 001:007 for many deceivers have gone out into the world--men who do not acknowledge jesus as christ who has come in human nature. such a one is `the deceiver' and `the anti-christ.' 001:008 keep guard over yourselves, so that you may not lose the results of your good deeds, but may receive back a full reward. 001:009 no one has god, who instead of remaining true to the teaching of christ, presses on in advance: but he who remains true to that teaching has both the father and the son. 001:010 if any one who comes to you does not bring this teaching, do not receive him under your roof nor bid him farewell. 001:011 he who bids him farewell is a sharer in his evil deeds. 001:012 i have a great deal to say to you all, but will not write it with paper and ink. yet i hope to come to see you and speak face to face, so that your happiness may be complete. 001:013 the children of your elect sister send greetings to you. weymouth new testament in modern speech, 3 john third edition 1913 r. f. weymouth book 64 3 john 001:001 the elder to his dear friend gaius. truly i love you. 001:002 my dear friend, i pray that you may in all respects prosper and enjoy good health, just as your soul already prospers. 001:003 for it is an intense joy to me when brethren come and bear witness to your fidelity to the truth--that you live in obedience to the truth. 001:004 i have no greater joy than to hear that my children are living in obedience to the truth. 001:005 my dear friend, you are acting faithfully in all your behaviour towards the brethren, even when they are strangers to you. 001:006 they have testified, in the presence of the church, to your love; and you will do well to help them on their journey in a manner worthy of your fellowship with god. 001:007 for it is for christ that they have gone forth, accepting nothing from the gentiles. 001:008 it is therefore our duty to show hospitality to such men, so that we may be fellow workers in promoting the truth. 001:009 i wrote to the church, but diotrephes, who loves to have the first place among them, refuses to listen to us. 001:010 for this reason, if i come, i shall not forget his conduct, nor his idle and mischievous talk against us. and he does not stop there: he not only will not receive the brethren, but those who desire to do this he hinders, and excludes them from the church. 001:011 my dear friend, do not follow wrong examples, but right ones. he who habitually does what is right is a child of god: he who habitually does what is wrong has not seen god. 001:012 the character of demetrius has the approval of all men, and of the truth itself. we also express our approval of it, and you know that we only give our approval to that which is true. 001:013 i have a great deal to say to you, but i do not wish to go on writing it with ink and pen. 001:014 but i hope to see you very soon, and then we will speak face to face. peace be with you. our friends send greetings to you. greet our friends individually. weymouth new testament in modern speech, 1 john third edition 1913 r. f. weymouth book 62 1 john 001:001 that which was from the beginning, which we have listened to, which we have seen with our own eyes, and our own hands have handled concerning the word of life-001:002 the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness, and we declare unto you the life of the ages which was with the father and was manifested to us-001:003 that which we have seen and listened to we now announce to you also, in order that you also may have fellowship in it with us, and this fellowship with us is fellowship with the father and with his son jesus christ. 001:004 and we write these things in order that our joy may be made complete. 001:005 this is the message which we have heard from the lord jesus and now deliver to you--god is light, and in him there is no darkness. 001:006 if, while we are living in darkness, we profess to have fellowship with him, we speak falsely and are not adhering to the truth. 001:007 but if we live in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of jesus, his son, cleanses us from all sin. 001:008 if we claim to be already free from sin, we lead ourselves astray and the truth has no place in our hearts. 001:009 if we confess our sins, he is so faithful and just that he forgives us our sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. 001:010 if we deny that we have sinned, we make him a liar, and his message has no place in our hearts. 002:001 dear children, i write thus to you in order that you may not sin. if any one sins, we have an advocate with the father--jesus christ the righteous; 002:002 and he is an atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 002:003 and by this we may know that we know him--if we obey his commands. 002:004 he who professes to know him, and yet does not obey his commands, is a liar, and the truth has no place in his heart. 002:005 but whoever obeys his message, in him love for god has in very deed reached perfection. by this we can know that we are in him. 002:006 the man who professes to be continuing in him is himself also bound to live as he lived. 002:007 my dearly-loved friends, it is no new command that i am now giving you, but an old command which you have had from the very beginning. by the old command i mean the teaching which you have already received. 002:008 and yet i *am* giving you a new command, for such it really is, so far as both he and you are concerned: because the darkness is now passing away and the light, the true light, is already beginning to shine. 002:009 any one who professes to be in the light and yet hates his brother man is still in darkness. 002:010 he who loves his brother man continues in the light, and his life puts no stumbling-block in the way of others. 002:011 but he who hates his brother man is in darkness and is walking in darkness; and he does not know where he is going- because the darkness has blinded his eyes. 002:012 i am writing to you, dear children, because for his sake your sins are forgiven you. 002:013 i am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who has existed from the very beginning. i am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. i have written to you, children, because you know the father. 002:014 i have written to you, fathers, because you know him who has existed from the very beginning. i have written to you, young men, because you are strong and god's message still has a place in your hearts, and you have overcome the evil one. 002:015 do not love the world, nor the things in the world. if any one loves the world, there is no love in his heart for the father. 002:016 for the things in the world--the cravings of the earthly nature, the cravings of the eyes, the show and pride of life- they all come, not from the father, but from the world. 002:017 and the world, with its cravings, is passing away, but he who does god's will continues for ever. 002:018 dear children, the last hour has come; and as you once heard that there was to be an anti-christ, so even now many anti-christs have appeared. by this we may know that the last hour has come. 002:019 they have gone forth from our midst, but they did not really belong to us; for had they belonged to us, they would have remained with us. but they left us that it might be manifest that professed believers do not all belong to us. 002:020 as for you, you have an anointing from the holy one and have perfect knowledge. 002:021 i have written to you, not because you are ignorant of the truth, but because you know it, and you know that nothing false comes from the truth. 002:022 who is a liar compared with him who denies that jesus is the christ? he who disowns the father and the son is the anti-christ. 002:023 no one who disowns the son has the father. he who acknowledges the son has also the father. 002:024 as for you, let the teaching which you have received from the very beginning continue in your hearts. if that teaching does continue in your hearts, you also will continue to be in union with the son and with the father. 002:025 and this is the promise which he himself has given us- the life of the ages. 002:026 i have thus written to you concerning those who are leading you astray. 002:027 and as for you, the anointing which you received from him remains within you, and there is no need for any one to teach you. but since his anointing gives you instruction in all things- and is true and is no falsehood--you are continuing in union with him even as it has taught you to do. 002:028 and now, dear children, continue in union with him; so that, if he re-appears, we may have perfect confidence, and may not shrink away in shame from his presence at his coming. 002:029 since you know that he is righteous, be assured also that the man who habitually acts righteously is a child of his. 003:001 see what marvellous love the father has bestowed upon us- that we should be called god's children: and that is what we are. for this reason the world does not recognize us--because it has not known him. 003:002 dear friends, we are now god's children, but what we are to be in the future has not yet been fully revealed. we know that if christ reappears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 003:003 and every man who has this hope fixed on him, purifies himself so as to be as pure as he is. 003:004 every one who is guilty of sin is also guilty of violating law; for sin is the violation of law. 003:005 and you know that he appeared in order to take away sins; and in him there is no sin. 003:006 no one who continues in union with him lives in sin: no one who lives in sin has seen him or knows him. 003:007 dear children, let no one lead you astray. the man who acts righteously is righteous, just as he is righteous. 003:008 he who is habitually guilty of sin is a child of the devil, because the devil has been a sinner from the very beginning. the son of god appeared for the purpose of undoing the work of the devil. 003:009 no one who is a child of god is habitually guilty of sin. a god-given germ of life remains in him, and he cannot habitually sin--because he is a child of god. 003:010 by this we can distinguish god's children and the devil's children: no one who fails to act righteously is a child of god, nor he who does not love his brother man. 003:011 for this is the message you have heard from the beginning- that we are to love one another. 003:012 we are not to resemble cain, who was a child of the evil one and killed his own brother. and why did he kill him? because his own actions were wicked and his brother's actions righteous. 003:013 do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you. 003:014 as for us, we know that we have already passed out of death into life--because we love our brother men. he who is destitute of love continues dead. 003:015 every one who hates his brother man is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has the life of the ages continuing in him. 003:016 we know what love is--through christ's having laid down his life on our behalf; and in the same way we ought to lay down our lives for our brother men. 003:017 but if any one has this world's wealth and sees that his brother man is in need, and yet hardens his heart against him- how can such a one continue to love god? 003:018 dear children, let us not love in words only nor with the lips, but in deed and in truth. 003:019 and in this way we shall come to know that we are loyal to the truth, and shall satisfy our consciences in his presence 003:020 in whatever matters our hearts condemn us--because god is greater than our hearts and knows everything. 003:021 dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have perfect confidence towards god; 003:022 and whatever we ask for we obtain from him, because we obey his commands and do the things which are pleasing in his sight. 003:023 and this is his command--that we are to believe in his son jesus christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us to do. 003:024 the man who obeys his commands continues in union with god, and god continues in union with him; and through his spirit whom he has given us we can know that he continues in union with us. 004:001 dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but put the spirits to the test to see whether they are from god; for many false teachers have gone out into the world. 004:002 the test by which you may recognize the spirit of god is that every spirit which acknowledges that jesus christ has come as man is from god, 004:003 and that no spirit is from god which does not acknowledge this about jesus. such is the spirit of the anti-christ; of whose coming you have heard, and it is already in the world. 004:004 as for you, dear children, you are god's children, and have successfully resisted them; for greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. 004:005 they are the world's children, and so their language is that of the world, and the world listens to them. we are god's children. 004:006 the man who is beginning to know god listens to us, but he who is not a child of god does not listen to us. by this test we can distinguish the spirit of truth from the spirit of error. 004:007 dear friends, let us love one another; for love has its origin in god, and every one who loves has become a child of god and is beginning to know god. 004:008 he who is destitute of love has never had any knowledge of god; because god is love. 004:009 god's love for us has been manifested in that he has sent his only son into the world so that we may have life through him. 004:010 this is love indeed--we did not love god, but he loved us and sent his son to be an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 004:011 dear friends, if god has so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 004:012 no one has ever yet seen god. if we love one another, god continues in union with us, and his love in all its perfection is in our hearts. 004:013 we can know that we are continuing in union with him and that he is continuing in union with us, by the fact that he has given us a portion of his spirit. 004:014 and we have seen and bear witness that the father has sent the son to be the saviour of the world. 004:015 whoever acknowledges that jesus is the son of god--god continues in union with him, and he continues in union with god. 004:016 and, as for us, we know the love which god has for us, and we confide in it. god is love, and he who continues to love continues in union with god, and god continues in union with him. 004:017 our love will be manifested in all its perfection by our having complete confidence on the day of the judgement; because just what he is, we also are in the world. 004:018 love has in it no element of fear; but perfect love drives away fear, because fear involves pain, and if a man gives way to fear, there is something imperfect in his love. 004:019 we love because god first loved us. 004:020 if any one says that he loves god, while he hates his brother man, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother man whom he has seen, cannot love god whom he has not seen. 004:021 and the command which we have from him is that he who loves god must love his brother man also. 005:001 every one who believes that jesus is the christ is a child of god; and every one who loves the father loves also him who is the father's child. 005:002 the fact that we love god himself, and obey his commands, is a proof that we love god's children. 005:003 love for god means obedience to his commands; and his commands are not irksome. 005:004 for every child of god overcomes the world; and the victorious principle which has overcome the world is our faith. 005:005 who but the man that believes that jesus is the son of god overcomes the world? 005:006 jesus christ is he who came with water and blood; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. and it is the spirit who gives testimony--because the spirit is the truth. 005:007 for there are three that give testimony--the spirit, the water, and the blood; 005:008 and there is complete agreement between these three. 005:009 if we accept the testimony of men, god's testimony is greater: for god's testimony consists of the things which he has testified about his son. 005:010 he who believes in the son of god has the testimony in his own heart: he who does not believe god has made him a liar, in that he has refused to accept the testimony which god has given about his son. 005:011 and that testimony is to the effect that god has given us the life of the ages, and that this life is in his son. 005:012 he who has the son has the life: he who has not the son of god has not the life. 005:013 i write all this to you in order that you who believe in the son of god may know for certain that you already have the life of the ages. 005:014 and we have an assured confidence that whenever we ask anything in accordance with his will, he listens to us. 005:015 and since we know that he listens to us, then whatever we ask, we know that we have the things which we have asked from him. 005:016 if any one sees a brother man committing a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask and god shall give him life- for those who do not sin unto death. there is such a thing as sin unto death; for that i do not bid him make request. 005:017 any kind of wrongdoing is sin; but there is sin which is not unto death. 005:018 we know that no one who is a child of god lives in sin, but he who is god's child keeps him, and the evil one cannot touch him. 005:019 we know that we are children of god, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. 005:020 and we know that the son of god has come, and has given us understanding so that we know the true one, and are in union with the true one--that is, we are in union with his son jesus christ. he is the true god and the life of the ages. 005:021 dear children, guard yourselves from idols. copyright (c) 2002 by lightheart. the gospel of john for readers editor's preface "we must know before we can love. in order to know god, we must often think of him. and when we come to love him, we shall then also think of him often, for our heart will be with our treasure " ... brother lawrence's the practice of the presence of god. the way to know god is by reading the gospels. gospel is interpreted good news god's good news to his world. it is the new testament and perspective we must have in order to know and love him as he means us to know and love him. the gospel of john is called the gospel of love. and, indeed, it is a love story, written by that disciple whose heart was totally surrendered. brother lawrence, whose heart was also totally surrendered, was a great believer in doing what was most practical, simple, and direct. the gospel of john for readers is the kjv lovingly and faithfully adapted to a flowing narrative style to allow for easy reading enjoyment. may it help us all to see the exquisite beauty and simple yet practical message of god's good news through eyes of love. in his gentle service, lightheart practicegodspresence.com august 2002 the gospel of john 1. in the beginning was the word, and the word was with god, and the word was god. the same was in the beginning with god. all things were made by him. without him was not any thing made that was made. in him was life; and the life was the light of men. the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. there was a man sent from god whose name was john. he came to bear witness of the light that all men through him might believe. john was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. that was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. he was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. he came unto his own, and his own received him not. but as many as received him, to them he gave power to become the sons of god, even to them that believe on his name: those who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of god. and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten son of the father, full of grace and truth. john bore witness of him and cried, saying, this was he of whom i spoke. he that cometh after me is preferred before me because he was before me. we have all received of his fullness, grace for grace. for the law was given by moses, but grace and truth came by jesus christ. no man hath seen god at any time. the only begotten son, which is in the bosom of the father, hath declared him. and this is the record of john, when the jews sent priests and levites from jerusalem to ask him, who art thou? and he confessed and did not deny. he confessed, i am not the christ. and they asked him, what then? art thou elias? and he saith, i am not. art thou that prophet? and he answered, no. then said they unto him, who art thou that we may give an answer to them that sent us? what sayest thou of thyself? he said, i am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the lord, as was said by the prophet esaias. and they who were sent by the pharisees asked him, why baptizest thou then if thou be not that christ nor elias nor that prophet? john answered them, saying, i baptize with water but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not. he it is, who, coming after me, is preferred before me and whose foot straps i am not worthy to unloose. these things were done in bethabara beyond jordan where john was baptizing. when john saw jesus coming toward him, he saith, behold the lamb of god who taketh away the sin of the world. this is he of whom i said, after me cometh a man which is preferred before me because he was before me. i knew him not except that he should be made manifest to israel. therefore i come baptizing with water. john bore record saying, i saw the spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. i knew him not except that he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, upon whom thou shalt see the spirit descending and remaining on him, this is he which baptizeth with the holy ghost. i saw him, and bare record that this is the son of god. the next day john and two of his disciples saw jesus as he walked. john said, behold the lamb of god! the two disciples heard john speak and followed jesus. jesus turned, saw them following, and saith unto them, what seek ye? they said to him, rabbi, (which is interpreted, master) where dwellest thou? he saith unto them, come and see. they came and saw where he dwelt and abode with him that day. it was about the tenth hour. one of the two which heard john speak and followed jesus was andrew, simon peter's brother. first he findeth his own brother, simon, and saith to him, we have found the messias, (which is interpreted, the christ) and he brought him to jesus. when jesus beheld him he said, thou art simon the son of jona. thou shalt be called cephas (which is interpreted, a stone). a day later, jesus went forth into galilee and findeth philip and saith unto him, follow me. now philip was of bethsaida, the city of andrew and peter. philip findeth nathanael and saith unto him, we have found him of whom moses in the law and the prophets did write, jesus of nazareth, the son of joseph. and nathanael said unto him, can any good thing come out of nazareth? philip saith unto him, come and see. jesus saw nathanael coming to him and saith of him, behold an israelite in whom is no guile! nathanael saith unto him, whence knowest thou me? jesus answered and said unto him, before philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, i saw thee. nathanael answered and saith unto him, rabbi, thou art the son of god. thou art the king of israel. jesus answered and said unto him, because i said unto thee i saw thee under the fig tree believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. and he saith unto him, verily, verily, i say unto you, hereafter ye shall see heaven open and the angels of god ascending and descending upon the son of man. 2. three days later there was a marriage in cana of galilee. the mother of jesus was there. and both jesus and his disciples were called to the marriage. and when they wanted wine, the mother of jesus saith unto him, they have no wine. jesus saith unto her, but what am i to do? mine hour is not yet come. his mother saith unto the servants, whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. now there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. jesus saith unto them, fill the waterpots with water. they filled them up to the brim. then he saith unto them, draw out now, and carry them unto the governor of the feast. when the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine and knew not whence it was, (but the servants which drew the water knew) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom. he saith unto him, every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine, and, when men have well drunk, then that which is worse, but thou hast kept the good wine until now! this beginning of miracles jesus did in cana of galilee. he showed forth his glory and his disciples believed on him. after this he went down to capernaum, he, his mother, his brethren, and his disciples. they continued there for a few days. the passover was at hand. jesus went up to jerusalem and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves and changers of money sitting. and when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple and overthrew the tables. he said unto them that sold doves, take these things hence. make not my father's house a house of merchandise. here his disciples remembered that it was written, the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. then answered the jews and said unto him, what sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? jesus answered and said unto them, destroy this temple, and in three days i will raise it up. then said the jews, forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou raise it up again in three days? but he spoke of the temple of his body. when, therefore, he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this to them and they believed the scripture and the word which jesus had said. when he was in jerusalem at the passover feast day, many believed in his name when they saw the miracles which he did. but jesus did not commit himself. 3. there was a man named nicodemus, a pharisee and a ruler of the jews. he came to jesus by night and said unto him, rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from god because no man can do these miracles that thou doest unless god be with him. jesus answered and said unto him, verily, verily, i say unto thee, except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of god. nicodemus saith unto him, how can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? jesus answered, verily, verily, i say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of god. that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. marvel not that i said unto thee, ye must be born again. the wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound but cannot tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth. the same is as i have said of the spirit. nicodemus answered and said unto him, how can these things be? jesus answered and said unto him, art thou a master of israel and knowest not these things? verily, verily, i say unto thee, we speak what we know, testify that we have seen, and ye receive not our witness. if i have told you earthly things and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if i tell you of heavenly things? no man hath ascended up to heaven except he that came down from heaven, the son of man. as moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the son of man be lifted up so that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life. for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. for god sent not his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world, through him, might be saved. he that believeth on him is not condemned. but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten son of god. this is the condemnation: light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. every one that doeth evil hateth the light and cometh not to the light lest his deeds should be reproved. but he that doeth truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be shown that they are wrought in god. after these things jesus and his disciples went into the land of judaea. there he tarried with them and baptized. and john also was baptizing in aenon near to salim because there was much water there, so many people came and were baptized. for john was not yet cast into prison. a question arose between some of john's disciples and the jews about purifying. they went to john and said, rabbi, he that was with thee beyond jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, he baptizeth and all men come to him. john answered and said, a man can receive nothing unless it be given him from heaven. ye yourselves bear me witness that i said i am not the christ but that i am sent before him. he that hath the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. this my joy therefore is fulfilled. he must increase, but i must decrease. he that cometh from above is above all. he that is of the earth is earthly and speaketh of the earth. he that cometh from heaven is above all. all that he hath seen and heard he testifieth and no one receiveth his testimony. he that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that god is true. for he whom god hath sent speaketh the words of god because god giveth unto him the spirit without limit. the father loveth the son and hath given all things into his hand. he that believeth on the son hath everlasting life. he that believeth not on the son shall not see life but the wrath of god abideth on him. 4. when the lord knew how the pharisees had heard that jesus made and baptized more disciples than john, (though jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples) he left judaea and departed again into galilee. he needed to go through samaria. there he came to a city of samaria called sychar, which is near the parcel of ground that jacob gave to his son joseph. now jacob's well was there. jesus, therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat down on the well. it was about the sixth hour. there cometh a woman of samaria to draw water. jesus saith unto her, give me to drink. (for his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) she said unto him, how is it that thou, being a jew, askest drink of me, a woman of samaria? the jews have no dealings with the samaritans? jesus answered and said unto her, if thou knewest the gift of god, and who it is that saith to thee give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him and he would have given thee living water. the woman saith unto him, sir, thou hast nothing to draw with and the well is deep. from whence hast thou that living water? art thou greater than our father jacob who gave us the well and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? jesus answered and said unto her, whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again. but whosoever drinketh of the water that i shall give him shall never thirst. the water that i give him shall be a well of water springing up in him into everlasting life. the woman saith unto him, sir, give me this water that i thirst not and never have to come hither to draw it. jesus saith unto her, go, call thy husband and come hither. the woman answered and said, i have no husband. jesus said unto her, thou hast well said, i have no husband for thou hast had five husbands. he whom thou now hast is not thy husband. in that saidst thou truly. the woman saith unto him, sir, i perceive that thou art a prophet. our fathers worshipped in this mountain and ye say that in jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. jesus saith unto her, woman, believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall, neither worship the father in this mountain nor at jerusalem. ye worship ye know not what. we know what we worship because salvation is of the jews. but the hour cometh, and is now, when the true worshippers shall worship the father in spirit and in truth because the father seeketh such to worship him. god is a spirit. they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. the woman saith unto him, i know that a messias cometh which is called christ. when he is come he will tell us all things. jesus saith unto her, i that speak unto thee am he. at this time his disciples came and they marvelled that he talked with the woman. yet no man said, what seekest thou? or, why talkest thou with her? the woman then left her waterpot and went her way. in the city she saith to the men, come, see a man which told me all the things that i ever did. is not this the christ? then they went out of the city and came unto him. in the meanwhile his disciples prayed him, saying, master, eat. but he said unto them, i have meat to eat that ye know not of. therefore said the disciples one to another, hath any man brought him ought to eat? jesus saith unto them, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to complete his work. say not ye, there are yet four months and then cometh harvest? behold, i say unto you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields. they are all ready to harvest. he that reapeth now receiveth wages and gathereth fruit unto life eternal so that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. and herein is that saying true, one soweth and another reapeth. i sent you to reap where ye bestowed no labour. other men laboured and ye are entered into their labours. and many of the samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman who testified, he told me all that ever i did. so when the samaritans were come unto him, they besought him to tarry with them. and he abode there two days. many more believed because of his own word. they said unto the woman, now we believe, not because of thy saying but because we have heard him ourselves and know that this is indeed the christ, the saviour of the world. now after two days he departed from there and went into galilee. jesus himself testified that a prophet hath no honour in his own country. when he come into galilee, the galilaeans received him after having seen all the things that he did at jerusalem at the feast because they also were at the feast. so jesus came again into cana of galilee where he turned the water into wine. now there was a certain nobleman at capernaum, whose son was sick. when he heard that jesus left judea and was in galilee, he went to him and besought him to come down and heal his son who was near death. then said jesus unto him, except ye see signs and wonders ye will not believe. the nobleman saith unto him, sir, come before my child dies. jesus saith unto him, go thy way. thy son liveth. the man believed the word that jesus had spoken unto him and he went his way. as he was going along his servants met him saying, thy son liveth. then inquired he of them the hour when the son began to mend. they said, yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. so the father knew that it was at the same hour in which jesus said to him, thy son liveth. and he believed, and his whole house believed. this is the second miracle that jesus did when he was come out of judaea into galilee. 5. after this there was a feast of the jews. jesus went up to jerusalem. at jerusalem, by the sheep market, there is a pool with five porches and, in hebrew, is called bethesda. on these porches lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, who wait for the moving of the water. for, at a certain season, an angel went down into the pool and stirred the water. whoever first stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. a certain man was there which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. when jesus saw him and knew that he had been such a long time in that condition, he saith unto him, wilt thou be made whole? the impotent man answered, sir, i have no man, when the water is stirred, to put me into the pool. before i come another steppeth down before me. jesus saith unto him, rise, take up thy bed and walk. immediately the man was made whole, took up his bed, and walked. this was on the sabbath day. the jews therefore said to him that was cured, it is the sabbath day. it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. he answered them, he that made me whole said unto me, take up thy bed and walk. then asked they him, what man is that which said unto thee, take up thy bed and walk? and he that was healed knew not who it was because jesus had conveyed himself away from the multitude gathered in that place. afterward jesus findeth him in the temple and said unto him, behold, thou art made whole. sin no more lest a worse thing come unto thee. the man departed and told the jews that it was jesus who had made him whole. therefore did the jews persecute jesus. they sought to slay him because he had done these things on the sabbath day. but jesus answered them, my father worketh hitherto, and i work. therefore the jews sought the more to kill him because he not only had broken the sabbath but he said also that god was his father, making himself equal with god. then answered jesus and said unto them, verily, verily, i say unto you, the son can do nothing of himself except what he seeth the father do, for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the son likewise. for the father loveth the son and showeth him all things that he himself doeth. and he will show him greater works than these that ye may marvel. for as the father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the son quickeneth whom he will. for the father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the son. this is so all men should honour the son, even as they honour the father. he that honoureth not the son honoureth not the father which hath sent him. verily, verily, i say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but pass from death unto life. verily, verily, i say unto you, the hour is coming, and is now, when the dead shall hear the voice of the son of god. they that hear shall live. for as the father hath life in himself so hath he given to the son to have life in himself. and he hath given him authority to execute judgment also because he is the son of man. marvel not at this because the hour is coming in which all that are in graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth. they that have done good go unto the resurrection of life. they that have done evil go unto the resurrection of damnation. i can of myself do nothing. as i hear, i judge. and my judgment is just because i seek not my own will but the will of the father who hath sent me. if i bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. there is another that beareth witness of me; and i know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true. ye sent unto john, and he bare witness unto the truth. but i receive not testimony from man. i say these things that ye might be saved. he was a burning and a shining light and ye were willing, for a season, to rejoice in his light. but i have greater witness than that of john, for the works which the father hath given me to complete are the same works that i do. witness that the father hath sent me. the father himself which hath sent me hath borne witness of me. ye have neither heard his voice at any time nor seen his shape. ye have not his word abiding in you because whom he hath sent ye believe not. search the scriptures. in them ye think ye have eternal life. they are that which testify of me. yet ye will not come to me that ye might have life. i receive not honour from men but i know you that have not the love of god in you. i am come in my father's name and ye receive me not. if another shall come in his own name him ye will receive. how can ye believe when ye receive honour one of another and seek not the honour that cometh only from god? do not think that i will accuse you to the father. there is already one that accuseth you: moses, in whom ye trust. for had ye believed moses ye would have believed me because he wrote of me. but if ye believe not his writings how shall ye believe my words? 6. after these things jesus went over the sea of galilee, which is the sea of tiberias. and a great multitude followed him because they saw the miracles which he did on those who were diseased. jesus went up into a mountain and there he sat with his disciples. the passover, a feast of the jews, was nigh. when jesus saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto philip, whence shall we buy bread that these may eat? this he said to test philip because jesus himself knew what he would do. philip answered him, two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for every one to take a little. one of his disciples, andrew, simon peter's brother, saith unto him, there is a lad here, who has five barley loaves and two small fishes. but what are they among so many? and jesus said, have the men sit down on the grass. so the men, about five thousand, sat down. then jesus took the loaves. when he had given thanks, he distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were seated. then the same with the fishes. when all were filled, he said unto his disciples, gather up the fragments that remain so that nothing be wasted. therefore they gathered them together and filled twelve baskets with the leftover fragments of the five barley loaves. those who, when they had seen the miracle that jesus did, said, this is truly that prophet that should come into the world. when jesus perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a king, he departed alone into a mountain. it was now evening. his disciples went down to the sea and entered into a boat and went toward capernaum. it grew dark and jesus had not come to them. then the sea arose by the force of a great wind. when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they saw jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat. they were afraid. but he saith unto them, it is i. be not afraid. then they willingly received him into the boat and immediately were at the land whither they went. the day following, the people who stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except the one his disciples entered. and they saw that jesus went not with his disciples but that his disciples left alone. (howbeit there came other boats from tiberias nigh unto the place where they ate bread after the lord had given thanks.) when the people saw that jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they took boats to capernaum to look for him. now when they found jesus on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, rabbi, when camest thou hither? jesus answered them and said, verily, verily, i say unto you, ye seek me not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye ate of the loaves and were filled. labour not for the meat which perisheth but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life. it is what the son of man shall give you for god the father hath sealed him. then said they unto him, what shall we do that we might work the works of god? jesus answered and said unto them, this is the work of god, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. and they said, what sign showest thou, then, that we may see and believe thee? what dost thou work? our fathers ate manna in the desert; as it is written, he gave them bread from heaven to eat. then jesus said unto them, verily, verily, i say unto you, moses gave you not that bread from heaven. my father giveth you the true bread from heaven. for the bread of god is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world. then said they unto him, lord, evermore give us this bread. and jesus said unto them, i am the bread of life. he that cometh to me shall never hunger. and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. but i also said to you that ye have seen me and believe not. all that the father giveth me shall come to me. and him that cometh to me i will not cast out because i came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. this is the father's will that hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me i should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. and this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life. and i will raise him up at the last day. the jews then murmured at him because he said, i am the bread which came down from heaven. and they said, is not this jesus, the son of joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, i came down from heaven? jesus therefore answered and said unto them, murmur not among yourselves. no man can come to me except that the father which hath sent me draw him to me. and i will raise him up at the last day. it is written in the prophets that they shall be all taught of god. every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the father, cometh unto me. no man hath seen the father except he which is of god. verily, verily, i say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. i am that bread of life. your fathers ate manna in the wilderness and are dead. this is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat, thereof, and not die. i am the living bread which came down from heaven. if any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever. and the bread that i will give is my flesh which i will give for the life of the world. the jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat? then jesus said unto them, verily, verily, i say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. whosoever eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life. i will raise him up at the last day. for my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and i in him. the living father hath sent me and i live by the father. therefore, he that eateth me shall also live by me. this is that bread which came down from heaven. not the manna your fathers ate. he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. these things said he in the synagogue as he taught in capernaum. when they heard this, many of his disciples said, this is a hard saying. who can hear it? jesus knew that his disciples murmured at it and said, doth this offend you? what and if ye shall see the son of man ascend up where he was before? it is the spirit that quickeneth. the flesh profiteth nothing. the words that i speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. but there are some of you that believe not. for jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not and who would betray him. and he said, therefore i said unto you that no man can come unto me except it were given of my father. from that time many of his followers went back and walked with him no more. then said jesus unto the twelve, will ye also go away? simon peter answered him, lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. we believe and are sure that thou art that christ, the son of the living god. jesus answered them, have not i chosen you twelve and one of you is a devil? he spoke of judas iscariot, the son of simon, for he it was, of that twelve, that should betray him. 7. after these things jesus walked in galilee. he would not walk in jewry because the jews sought to kill him. now the jews' feast of tabernacles was at hand. his brethren, therefore, said unto him, depart hence. go into judaea that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest. for there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. if thou do these things show thyself to the world. for neither did his own brethren believe in him. then jesus said unto them, my time is not yet come but your time is always ready. the world cannot hate you but me it hateth because i testify that the works thereof are evil. go ye up unto this feast. i go not up yet for my time is not yet fully come. when he had said these words unto them he remained in galilee. but when his brethren were gone up, then went he also to the feast, not openly, but in secret. the jews sought him at the feast and said, where is he? there was much murmuring among the people concerning him. some said, he is a good man. others said, nay; he deceiveth the people. however, no man spoke openly of him for fear of the jews. now about the midst of the feast jesus went up into the temple and taught. and the jews marvelled, saying, how knoweth this man letters having never learned? jesus answered them and said, my doctrine is not mine but his that sent me. if any man will do his will he shall know whether the doctrine be of god or whether i speak of myself. he that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory. he that seeketh his glory that sent him, no unrighteousness is in him. did not moses give you the law and yet none of you keepeth the law? why go ye about to kill me? the people answered and said, thou hast a devil who goeth about to kill thee? jesus answered and said unto them, i have done one work and ye all marvel. moses gave unto you circumcision (not because it is of moses, but of the fathers) and ye circumcise a man on the sabbath day. if a man receives circumcision on the sabbath day that the law of moses should not be broken, are ye angry at me because i have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day? judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. some of them said, is not this he whom they seek to kill? but, lo, he speaketh boldly and they say nothing to him. do the rulers know indeed that this is the very christ? howbeit we know this man whence he is but when christ cometh no man knoweth whence he is. then cried jesus in the temple as he taught saying, ye both know me and know whence i am. i am not come of myself but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not. but i know him for i am from him and he hath sent me. then they sought to take him but no man laid hands on him because his hour was not yet come. many of the people believed on him and said, when christ cometh will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done? the pharisees heard that the people murmured such things concerning him. and the pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him. jesus said unto them, yet a little while am i with you and then i go unto him that sent me. ye shall seek me and shall not find me. and where i go ye cannot come. then said the jews among themselves, whither will he go that we shall not find him? will he go unto the dispersed among the gentiles and teach the gentiles? what manner of saying is this that he said, ye shall seek me and shall not find me? and, where i am, thither ye cannot come? in the last day, that great day of the feast, jesus stood and cried, saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. he that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (but this spoke he of the spirit which they that believe on him would receive. the holy ghost was not yet given because jesus was not yet glorified.) 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. some of them would have taken him, but no man laid hands on him. then came the officers to the chief priests and pharisees. they said unto them, why have ye not brought him? the officers answered, never man spoke like this man. then answered the pharisees, are ye also deceived? have any of the rulers or any of the pharisees believed on him? these 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 to him, art thou also of galilee? search and look, for, out of galilee, ariseth no prophet. and every man went unto his own house. 8. jesus went unto the mount of olives. early in the morning he came again into the temple and all the people came unto him. he sat down and taught them. now the scribes and pharisees brought to him a woman taken in adultery. when they sat her in the midst, they say unto him, master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. what sayest thou? this they said, tempting him, that they might have reason to accuse him. but jesus stooped down and, with his finger, wrote on the ground as if he heard them not. so when they continued asking him, he lifted himself up and said to them, he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. then he stooped down again and wrote on the ground. those who heard this, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the eldest and down to the last. now jesus was left alone and the woman was standing in the midst. when jesus lifted himself up and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, woman, where are thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? she said, no man, lord. and jesus said unto her, neither do i condemn thee. go and sin no more. then spoke jesus again unto them, saying, i am the light of the world. he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. the pharisees said unto him, thou bearest record of thyself. thy record is not true. jesus answered and said unto them, though i bear record of myself, yet my record is true because i know whence i came, and whither i go. but ye cannot tell whence i come, and whither i go. ye judge after the flesh. i judge no man. and yet, if i judge, my judgment is true because i am not alone, but i and the father that sent me are one. it is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true. i am one that beareth witness of myself. the father that sent me also beareth witness of me. then said they unto him, where is thy father? jesus answered, ye neither know me nor my father. if ye had known me ye should have known my father also. jesus spoke these words in the treasury as he taught in the temple. no man laid hands on him becuase his hour was not yet come. jesus said unto them, i go my way. ye shall seek me and shall die in your sins. whither i go, ye cannot come. then said the jews, will he kill himself because he saith, whither i go, ye cannot come? and he said unto them, ye are from beneath. i am from above. ye are of this world. i am not of this world. i said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins because if ye believe not that i am he, ye shall die in your sins. then said they unto him, who art thou? and jesus saith. the same that i said to you from the beginning. i have many things to say and to judge of you. but he that sent me is true. i speak to the world those things which i have heard from him. they understood not that he spoke to them of the father. then said jesus, when ye have lifted up the son of man then shall ye know that i am he. i do nothing of myself. as my father hath taught me i speak these things. he that sent me is with me. the father hath not left me alone because i do always those things that please him. as he spoke these words many believed him. jesus said to those jews which believed on him, if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed. ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. they answered him, we are abraham's seed and were never in bondage to any man. how sayest thou, ye shall be made free? jesus answered them, verily, verily, i say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. the servant abideth not in the house forever, but the son doth abide forever. if the son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. i know that ye are abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me because my word hath no place in you. i speak that which i have seen with my father; and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. they answered and said unto him, abraham is our father. jesus saith unto them, if ye were abraham's children ye would do the works of abraham. but now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth which i have heard of god. ye do the deeds of your father. then said they to him, we were not born of fornication; we have one father, god. jesus said unto them, if god were your father ye would love me for i proceeded forth and came from god. i came not of myself, but of him who sent me. why do ye not understand my speech? is it because ye cannot hear my word? ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. he was a murderer from the beginning. he dealt not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. when he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own because he is a liar, and the father of all lies. yet, i tell you the truth and ye believe me not. which of you convinceth me of sin? and if i say the truth, why do ye not believe me? he that is of god heareth god's words. ye, therefore, hear them not because ye are not of god. the jews said, are we not right that thou art a samaritan and hast a devil? jesus answered, i have not a devil. i honour my father and ye dishonour me. i seek not my own glory. there is one that seeketh and judgeth. verily, verily, i say unto you, if a man keep my saying he shall never see death. then said the jews, now we know that thou hast a devil. abraham is dead, and so are the prophets. thou sayest, if a man keep my saying he shall never taste of death. art thou greater than our father abraham and the prophets who are dead? who makest thou thyself? jesus answered, if i honour myself, my honour is nothing. it is my father, whom you say is your god, that honoureth me. yet ye have not known him. but i know him and, if i should say i know him not, i shall be a liar like unto you. but i know him and keep his saying. your father abraham rejoiced to see my day. he saw and was glad for it. then said the jews unto him, thou art not yet fifty years old and hast thou seen abraham? jesus said unto them, verily, verily, i say unto you, before abraham was, i am. then they took up stones to cast at him. but jesus hid himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. 9. jesus passed by a man who was blind from birth. his disciples asked him, master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? jesus answered, neither hath this man sinned nor his parents; but that the works of god should be made manifest in him. i must work the works of him that sent me while it is day. the night cometh when no man can work. as long as i am in the world, i am the light of the world. when he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto him, go, wash in the pool of siloam (which means sent). he went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. the neighbours and they who before had seen he was blind, said, is not this he that sat and begged? some said, this is he. others said, he is like him. but he said, i am he. therefore said they unto him, how were thine eyes opened? he answered and said, a man that is called jesus made clay, and anointed my eyes, and said unto me, go to the pool of siloam and wash. i went and washed and i received my sight. then they said to him, where is he? and he said, i know not. they brought him to the pharisees. it was also the sabbath day when jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. then, once again, the pharisees asked him how he had received his sight. he said unto them, he put clay upon my eyes, and i washed and do see. therefore said some of the pharisees, this man is not of god because he keepeth not the sabbath day. others said, how can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? and there was a division among them. then they said to the blind man again, what sayest thou of he that hath opened thine eyes? he said, he is a prophet. but the jews did not believe that he had been blind and received his sight until they called his parents. and they asked them, is this your son who ye say was born blind? how then doth he see? his parents answered them, we know that this is our son and that he was born blind, but by what means he now seeth, we know not. or who hath opened his eyes, we know not. he is of age. ask him. he shall speak for himself. these words spoke his parents because they feared the jews, for the jews had agreed that, if any man said that he was the christ, that man should be put out of the synagogue. therefore said his parents, our son is of age; ask him. they called the man that was blind once again, and said unto him, give god the praise: we know that this man is a sinner. he answered and said, whether he be a sinner i know not. one thing i know, that, whereas i was blind, now i see. then said they to him again, what did he do to thee? how opened he thine eyes? he answered them, i have told you already and ye did not hear. wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples? then they reviled him and said, thou art his disciple; but we are moses' disciples. we know that god spoke to moses. as for this one, we know not from whence he comes. the man answered and said unto them, why here is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is come, and yet he hath opened my eyes. now we know that god heareth not sinners. but if any man be a worshipper of god, and doeth his will, him he heareth. since the world began was it ever heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind? if this man were not of god he could do nothing. they answered and said unto him, thou wast born in sin. dost thou dare teach us? and they cast him out. jesus heard that they had cast him out. when he found him he said unto him, dost thou believe on the son of god? he answered and said, who is he, lord, that i might believe on him? and jesus said unto him, thou hast both seen him and it is he that talketh with thee. and he said, lord, i believe. and he worshipped him. then jesus said, for judgment i am come into this world that they which see not might see; and they which see might be made blind. some of the pharisees who were with him heard these words and said unto him, are we blind also? jesus said unto them, if ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, we see; therefore your sin remaineth. 10. verily, verily, i say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way is a thief and a robber. but he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. to him the porter openeth. the sheep hear his voice. he calleth his own sheep by name and leadeth them out. and when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them and the sheep follow because they know his voice. a stranger they will not follow. instead, they will flee because they know not the voice of strangers. this parable spoke jesus unto them. yet they understood not what things he spoke about. then jesus said again, verily, verily, i say unto you, i am the door of the sheep. all that ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. i am the door. if any man enter in by me he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture. the thief cometh not except to steal and kill and destroy. i am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. i am the good shepherd. the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. but he that is a hireling and not the shepherd, whose sheep are not his own, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees. the wolf catcheth and scattereth the sheep. the hireling flees because he is a hireling and careth not for the sheep. i am the good shepherd. i know my sheep and am known by my sheep. the father knoweth me, even as i know the father. i lay down my life for the sheep. other sheep i have also who are not of this fold. them also i must bring and they shall hear my voice. there shall be one fold and one shepherd. therefore doth my father love me because i lay down my life that i might take it up again. no man taketh it from me, but i lay it down myself. i have power to lay it down, and i have power to take it up again. this commandment have i received of my father. there was a division therefore among the jews for these sayings. many of them said, he hath a devil and is mad; why hear ye him? others said, these are not the words of him that hath a devil. can a devil open the eyes of the blind? in jerusalem it was winter and the feast of the dedication. jesus walked in the temple upon solomon's porch. then the jews surrounded him and said, how long dost thou make us doubt? if thou be the christ, tell us plainly. jesus answered them, i told you and ye believed me not. the works that i do in my father's name bear witness of me. but ye believe not because ye are not of my sheep. as i said to you, my sheep hear my voice and i know them and they follow me. and i give them eternal life. they shall never perish, nor shall any man pluck them out of my hand. my father, who gave them to me, is greater than all. no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand. i and my father are one. then the jews took up stones to stone him. jesus answered them, many good works have i showed you from my father; for which of those works do ye stone me? the jews answered him, saying, for a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself god. jesus answered them, is it not written in your law, i said ye are gods? if he called them gods, unto whom the word of god came, and the scripture cannot be broken; say ye of him whom the father hath sanctified and sent into the world, thou blasphemest because i said i am the son of god? if i do not the works of my father, believe me not. but if i do, though ye believe not me, believe the works that ye may know and believe that the father is in me, and i in him. therefore they sought again to take him but he escaped out of their hand and went away again beyond jordan to the place where john at first baptized. there he abode. and many resorted unto him, and said, john did no miracle but all things that john spoke of this man were true. and many believed on him there. 11. now a certain man was sick. his name was lazarus of bethany. his sisters sent word to jesus, saying, lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. when jesus heard this, he said, this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of god, that the son of god might thereby be glorified. jesus loved martha and her sister and lazarus. however, he remained two more days in the same place where he was. then saith he to his disciples, let us go into judaea. his disciples say unto him, master, the jews have sought to stone thee. goest thou there again? jesus answered, are there not twelve hours in the day? if any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not because he seeth the light of this world. but if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth because there is no light in him. after that he saith to them, our friend lazarus sleepeth but i go, that i may awake him out of sleep. then said his disciples, lord, if he sleeps, he shall do well. however, jesus spoke of death but they thought that he had spoken of taking rest in sleep. then said jesus unto them plainly, lazarus is dead. and i am glad for your sakes that i was not there, to the extent ye may believe. let us go unto him. then thomas, called didymus, said to his fellow disciples, let us also go that we may die with him. when jesus came, he found that lazarus had already lain in the grave four days. now bethany was near jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off, and many of the jews came to martha and mary to comfort them concerning their brother. martha, as soon as she heard that jesus was coming, went and met him but mary remained in the house. then said martha unto jesus, lord, if thou hadst been here my brother would not have died. but i know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of god, god will give it thee. jesus saith unto her, thy brother shall rise again. martha saith unto him, i know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. jesus said unto her, i am the resurrection, and the life. he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. believest thou this? she saith unto him, yes, lord. i believe that thou art the christ, the son of god, which should come into the world. and when she had so said, she went and called mary, her sister, saying, the master is come and calleth for thee. as soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came unto him. now jesus was not yet come into the town but was in that place where martha met him. some jews that were with her in the house to comfort her, saw mary hastily rise up and go out. they followed her, saying, she goeth unto the grave to weep there. then, when mary came where jesus was and saw him, she fell down at his feet saying unto him, lord, if thou hadst been here my brother had not died. when jesus saw her weeping, and those who came with her also weeping, he groaned in the spirit and was troubled. he said, where have ye laid him? they said unto him, lord, come and see. jesus wept. then said the jews, behold how he loved him! and some of them said, could not he who opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that this man should not have died? jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. it was a cave and a stone lay upon it. jesus said, take ye away the stone. martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, lord, by this time he stinketh for he hath been dead four days. jesus saith unto her, said i not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of god? then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. and jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, father, i thank thee that thou hast heard me. and i know that thou hearest me always. because of these standing by i say it that they may believe that thou hast sent me. and when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, lazarus, come forth. now he that was dead came forth bound hand and foot with graveclothes and his face was wound about with a napkin. jesus saith unto them, loose him, and let him go. many of the jews which came to mary, and had seen the things which jesus did, believed on him. but some of them went to the pharisees and told them what things jesus had done. then the chief priests and the pharisees gathered a council, and said, what do we for this man doeth many miracles? if we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him and the romans shall come and take away both our place and nation. and one of them, named caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, ye know nothing at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people so the whole nation perish not. and this spoke he not of himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that jesus should die for that nation, and not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of god that were scattered abroad. then from that day forth they took counsel together to put him to death. jesus therefore walked no more openly among the jews but went unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called ephraim, and there continued with his disciples. now the jews' passover was near at hand. many went out of the country up to jerusalem before the passover in order to purify themselves. then sought they for jesus, and spoke among themselves, as they stood in the temple, what think ye, that he will not come to the feast? the chief priests and the pharisees had given a commandment, that, if any man knew where he was, he should show it, that they might take him. 12. six days before the passover, jesus came to bethany where he had raised lazarus from the dead. there they made him a supper. martha served. lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with him. then mary took a pound of very costly ointment of spikenard and anointed the feet of jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment. then saith one of his disciples, judas iscariot, simon's son, who would betray him, why was not this ointment sold for its great worth and given to the poor? this he said not that he cared for the poor but because he was a thief, and held the bag, and minded what was put therein. jesus said, let her alone. against the day of my burying hath she kept this. for the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always. many of the jews knew that he was there. but they came not for jesus' sake only, but that they might also see lazarus whom he had raised from the dead. the chief priests consulted that they might also put lazarus to death because he was the reason many of the jews went away and believed on jesus. on the next day many people who had come for the feast heard that jesus was coming to jerusalem. they took branches of palm trees, went forth to meet him, and cried, hosanna! blessed is the king of israel that cometh in the name of the lord. and jesus, when he had found a young colt, sat thereon; for it is written, fear not, daughter of sion. behold, thy king cometh, sitting on an ass's colt. these things his disciples did not at first understand. but when jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him. the people that were with him when he called lazarus out of his grave, and raised him from the dead, bore record. for this reason also the people met him because they heard he had done this miracle. the pharisees therefore said among themselves, perceive ye how ye prevail not? behold, the world is gone after him. there were certain greeks among these that came to worship at the feast. some of them went to philip, who was from bethsaida of galilee, and asked him, saying, sir, we would see jesus. philip cometh and telleth andrew. then andrew and philip told jesus. jesus answered them, saying, the hour is come, that the son of man should be glorified. verily, verily, i say unto you, unless a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. he that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. if any man serve me, let him follow me. where i am, there also shall my servant be. if any man serve me, him will my father honour. now my soul is troubled. but what shall i say? father, save me from this hour? yet for this reason came i unto this hour. father, glorify thy name. then there came a voice from heaven, saying, i have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. the people that stood by and heard it said that it thundered. others said, an angel spoke to him. jesus answered and said, this voice came not because of me, but for your sake. now is the judgment of this world. now shall the prince of this world be cast out. and i, if i be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. this he said, signifying what death he should die. the people answered him, we have heard out of the law that christ abideth for ever. how sayest thou, the son of man must be lifted up? who is this son of man? then jesus said unto them, yet a little while is the light with you. walk while ye have the light lest darkness come upon you. for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. while ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. these things jesus spoke and then departed and hid himself. even though he had done many miracles before them, they still did not believe him. thus it was that the saying of esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the lord been revealed? therefore they could not believe, because esaias also said, he hath blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart and be converted, and i should heal them. these things said esaias, when he saw his glory and spoke of him. nevertheless among the chief rulers many believed on him. but because of the pharisees they did not confess him lest they should be put out of the synagogue. they loved the praise of men more than the praise of god. jesus cried and said, he that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. and he that seeth me seeth him that sent me. i am come as a light into the world that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. if any man hear my words and believe not, i judge him not because i came not to judge the world but to save the world. he that rejects me and receives not my words, hath one that judgeth him. he whose words i have spoken shall judge him in the last day. for i have not spoken of myself, but of the father who sent me. he gave me a commandment of what i should say and what i should speak. i know that his commandment is life everlasting. whatever i speak i speak as the father said unto me. 13. it was before the feast of the passover. jesus knew that his hour was come and that he should depart out of this world unto the father. having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them unto the end. supper was ended. the devil now put it into the heart of judas iscariot, simon's son, to betray him. jesus knew that the father had given all things into his hands and that he came from god, and went to god. he arose from supper, laid aside his garments, took a towel, and girded himself. after that he poureth water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet. he then wiped them with the towel wherewith he was girded. when he came to simon peter, he saith unto him, lord, dost thou wash my feet? jesus answered and said unto him, what i do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. peter saith unto him, thou shalt never wash my feet. jesus answered him, if i wash thee not then thou hast no part with me. simon peter then saith unto him, lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head. jesus saith to him, he that is washed needeth not wash more than his feet, for he is clean every whit. ye are clean. but not all are clean. he said this last for he knew who should betray him. after he washed their feet, put on his garments, and sat down again, he said unto them, know ye what i have done to you? ye call me master and lord. and ye say well for so i am. if i, then, your lord and master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet. for i have given you an example that ye should do as i have done to you. verily, verily, i say unto you, the servant is not greater than his lord. neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. if ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. i speak not of all of you. i know whom i have chosen. but that the scripture may be fulfilled, he that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me. now i tell you before it comes so when it is come to pass, ye may believe that i am he. verily, verily, i say unto you, he that receiveth whomsoever i send receiveth me. he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. when jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit and testified saying, verily, verily, i say unto you that one of you shall betray me. then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spoke. now there was leaning on jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom jesus loved. simon peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spoke. he, then, lying on jesus' breast, saith unto him, lord, who is it? jesus answered, he it is to whom i shall give a sop when i have dipped it. when he had dipped the sop he gave it to judas iscariot, the son of simon. and, after the sop, satan entered into him. then said jesus to him, what thou doest, do quickly. no man at the table knew for what intent he said this to him. some of them thought, because judas had the bag, that jesus said unto him, buy those things that we have need of for the feast, or that he should give something to the poor. he then, having received the sop, went immediately out. it was night. after he was gone, jesus said, now is the son of man glorified, and god is glorified in him. if god be glorified in him, god shall also glorify him in himself. little children, yet a little while i am with you. ye shall seek me and, as i said unto the jews, whither i go, ye cannot come. so now i give you a new commandment. love one another as i have loved you. by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one for another. simon peter said unto him, lord, whither goest thou? jesus answered him, whither i go thou cannot follow me now, but thou shalt follow me afterwards. peter said unto him, lord, why cannot i follow thee now? i will lay down my life for thy sake. jesus answered him, wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? verily, verily, i say unto thee, thou shall deny me thrice before the cock crows. 14. let not your heart be troubled. ye believe in god. believe in me also. in my father's house are many mansions. if it were not so i would have told you. i go to prepare a place for you. and if i go and prepare a place for you, i will come again and receive you unto myself so that where i am, there ye may be also. and whither i go ye know, and the way ye know. thomas saith unto him, lord, we know not whither thou goest. how can we know the way? jesus saith unto him, i am the way, the truth, and the life. no man cometh unto the father but by me. if ye had known me, ye should have known my father also, and from now on ye know him and have seen him. philip saith unto him, lord, show us the father and it sufficeth us. jesus saith, have i been so long a time with you and still thou hast not known me, philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the father. how sayest thou then, show us the father? believest thou not that i am in the father and the father in me? the words that i speak unto you, i speak not of myself but of the father that dwelleth in me. he doeth the works. believe me that i am in the father and the father in me, or else believe me for the very works' sake. verily, verily, i say unto you, he that believeth on me shall also do the works that i do. and greater works than these shall he also do. whatever ye ask in my name i will do, so that the father may be glorified in the son. if ye shall ask anything in my name i will do it. if ye love me, keep my commandments. i will ask the father, and he shall give you another comforter to abide with you forever. this spirit of truth the world cannot receive because it seeth him not and will not know him. but ye know him for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you. i will not leave you comfortless. i will come to you. in a little while the world seeth me no more. but ye shall see me because i live and ye live also. at that day ye shall know that i am in my father, ye are in me, and i am in you. he that hath my commandments and keepeth them loveth me. and he that loveth me shall be loved of my father. i will love him and show myself to him. judas, not iscariot, saith unto him, lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us and not to the world? jesus answered and said, if a man love me, he will keep my words and my father will love him. we will come unto him and make our abode with him. he that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings. the word which ye hear is not mine, but the father's who sent me. these things have i spoken unto you being yet present with you. the comforter, which is the holy ghost, whom the father will send in my name, shall teach you all things. he will bring all things i have said to you to your remembrance. peace i leave with you. my peace i give unto you, not as the world giveth, give i unto you. let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. ye have heard how i said to you, i go away, and come again unto you. if ye loved me ye would rejoice because i said i go unto the father, for my father is greater than i. and now i have told you beforehand so that, when it comes to pass, ye might believe. hereafter i will not talk much with you, for the prince of this world cometh. he hath nothing on me but what i do i do so the world may know that i love the father, and do as the father commanded me. arise, let us go hence. 15. i am the true vine, and my father is the husbandman. every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away. every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth that it may bring forth more fruit. now ye are clean through the word which i have spoken unto you. abide in me, and i in you. as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me. i am the vine. ye are the branches. he that abideth in me, and i in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit for without me ye can do nothing. if a man abide not in me he is a branch that is cut off and will wither. men gather them and cast them into the fire to be burned. if ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you. herein is my father glorified, that ye bear much fruit and so shall ye be my disciples. as the father hath loved me, so have i loved you. continue in my love. if ye keep my commandments ye shall abide in my love as i have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. these things have i spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full. this is my commandment, that ye love one another as i have loved you. greater love hath no man than that he lay down his life for his friends. ye are my friends. if ye do whatever i command you, i call you not servants. the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth. but i have called you friends for all things that i have heard of my father i have made known unto you. ye have not chosen me, but i have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain so whatever ye shall ask of the father in my name, he may give it you. these things i command you, that ye love one another. if the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. if ye were of the world, the world would love his own. but ye are not of the world. i have chosen you out of the world. therefore the world hateth you. remember the word that i said unto you, the servant is not greater than his lord. if they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. but all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me. if i had not come and spoken unto them, they would be innocent of sin. but now they have no cloke to hide their sin. he that hateth me hateth my father also. if i had not done among them the works which no other man did, they had not had sin. but now they have seen and hated both me and my father. but this cometh to pass so that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, they hated me without a cause. but when the comforter comes, the spirit of truth who proceedeth from the father, he shall testify of me. and ye also shall bear witness because ye have been with me from the beginning. 16. these things have i spoken unto you that ye should not be offended. they shall put you out of the synagogues. yea, the time will come when whoever killeth you will think that he doeth god a service. and these things will they do unto you because they have not known the father nor me. but these things have i told you so that when the time comes, ye may remember that i told you of them. and these things i said not unto you at the beginning because i was with you. but now i go away to him that sent me. and none of you asketh me, whither goest thou? but because i have said these things unto you sorrow hath filled your heart. nevertheless i tell you the truth, it is best for you that i go away. if i go not away the comforter will not come to you. but if i depart, i will send him to you. when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. of sin, because they believe not on me. of righteousness, because i go to my father and ye see me no more. of judgment, because the evil one who is prince of this world is judged. i have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. however, when the spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth because he shall not speak of himself. but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak. and he will show you things to come. he shall glorify me for he shall receive my own, and shall show it unto you. all things that the father hath are mine. therefore i said that he shall take my own and shall show it unto you. a little while and ye shall not see me. and then, in a little while, and ye shall see me because i go to the father. then said some of his disciples among themselves, what is this that he saith unto us? a little while and ye shall not see me? and in a little while and ye shall see me because i go to the father? they said therefore, what is this that he saith, a little while? we cannot tell what he saith. now jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, do ye inquire among yourselves of that i said, a little while, and ye shall not see me, and in a little while, ye shall see me? verily, verily, i say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice. ye shall be sorrowful but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. a woman when she is in travail hath sorrow because her hour is come. but as soon as she is delivered of the child she remembereth no more the anguish because of her joy over a new birth to the world. so ye now have sorrow. but i will see you again. and your heart shall rejoice. and your joy no man can take from you. in that day ye shall need ask of me nothing. verily, verily, i say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the father in my name he will give it to you. until now ye have asked nothing in my name. ask. and ye shall receive so your joy may be full. these things i have spoken unto you in proverbs. but the time cometh when i shall no more speak unto you in proverbs but i shall show you plainly of the father. at that day ye shall ask in my name. and i say not unto you, that i will pray the father for you. for the father himself loveth you because ye have loved me and have believed that i came from god. i came forth from the father and am come into the world. now i leave the world and go to the father. his disciples said unto him, lo, now speakest thou plainly and speakest no proverb. jesus answered them, do ye now believe? behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own. ye shall leave me alone and, yet, i am not alone because the father is with me. these things i have spoken unto you so that in me ye might have peace. in the world ye shall have tribulation. but be of good cheer. i have overcome the world. 17. these words spoke jesus. then he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, father, the hour is come. glorify thy son that thy son also may glorify thee, as thou hast given him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true god and jesus christ, whom thou hast sent. i have glorified thee on the earth. i have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. and now, o father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which i had with thee before the world was. i have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. thine they were and thou gavest them me. they have kept thy word. now they know that all things thou hast given me are of thee. for i have given unto them the words which thou gavest me. they have received them and know surely that i came from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. i pray for them. i pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me because they are thine. all mine are thine, and thine are mine. and i am glorified in them. now i am no more in the world but these are in the world. i come to thee, holy father. keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me so they may be one just as we are one. while i was with them in the world i kept them in thy name. those that thou gavest me i have kept. none of them is lost except the son of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled. now come i to thee and speak these things in the world that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. i have given them thy word. the world hath hated them because they are not of the world as i am not of the world. i pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from evil. they are not of the world as i am not of the world. sanctify them through thy truth. thy word is truth. as thou hast sent me into the world so have i also sent them into the world. and for their sakes i sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified through the truth. neither pray i for these alone. but i pray also for them which shall believe on me through their word that they all may be one, as thou, father, art in me, and i in thee. they also may be one in us so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. and the glory which thou gavest me i have given them so that they may be one, even as we are one. i in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. father, i will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where i am. may they behold my glory, which thou hast given me for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. o righteous father, the world hath not known thee. but i have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. and i have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them and i in them. 18. when jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook cedron where he entered into a garden with his disciples. judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place for jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples. judas then, having been given a band of men and officers from the chief priests and pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, whom seek ye? they answered him, jesus of nazareth. jesus saith unto them, i am he. and judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. as soon as jesus said i am he, they were stunned. then he asked them again, whom seek ye? and they said, jesus of nazareth. jesus answered, i have told you that i am he. if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way. this he said so that the saying might be fulfilled, which he spoke, of them which thou gavest me i have lost none. then simon peter, having a sword, drew it, smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. the servant's name was malchus. jesus immediately said to peter, put up thy sword into the sheath. the cup which my father hath given me, shall i not drink it? then the band and the captain and officers of the jews took jesus, bound him, and took him to annas first, for he was father in law to caiaphas, the high priest that year. now it was caiaphas who gave counsel to the jews that it was expedient that one man should die for the people. simon peter followed jesus and so did another disciple who was known to the high priest and who went into the palace of the high priest with jesus. but peter stood outisde the door. then the other disciple came out, spoke unto her that kept the door, and brought peter inside. she, who kept the door saith unto peter, art not thou also one of this man's disciples? he saith, i am not. he stood by the fire along with both officers and servants who were warming themselves in the cold night. the high priest then asked jesus of his disciples, and of his doctrine. jesus answered him, i spoke openly to the world. i taught in the synagogue, and in the temple whither the jews always resort. in secret i have said nothing. why askest thou me? ask them which heard me what i have said unto them? behold, they know what i said. when he had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by struck jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, why answerest thou the high priest so? jesus answered him, if i have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil. but if well, why smitest thou me? then annas had him sent bound unto caiaphas the high priest. as simon peter stood and warmed himself. they said unto him, art not thou also one of his disciples? he denied it, and said, i am not. one of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman whose ear peter cut off, saith, did not i see thee in the garden with him? peter then denied again. immediately the cock crowed. then they led jesus from caiaphas unto the hall of judgment. it was early and they themselves went not into the judgment hall lest they should be defiled and might not eat the passover. pilate then went out unto them and said, what accusation bring ye against this man? they answered and said unto him, if he were not a malefactor we would not have delivered him up unto thee. then pilate said unto them, take him and judge him according to your law. the jews said to him, it is not lawful for us to put any man to death. this accorded with the saying of jesus when he spoke of what death he should die. pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called jesus, and said unto him, art thou the king of the jews? jesus answered him, sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me? pilate answered, am i a jew? thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me. what hast thou done? jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world. if my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight so i would not be delivered to the jews. but my kingdom is not from hence. pilate therefore said unto him, art thou a king then? jesus answered, thou sayest that i am a king. to this end was i born, and for this cause came i into the world, that i should bear witness unto the truth. every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. pilate saith unto him, what is truth? after he had said this, he went out again unto the jews, and saith to them, i find in him no fault at all. but ye have a custom that i should release someone unto you at the passover. will ye, therefore, that i release unto you the king of the jews? then cried they all again, saying, not this man, but barabbas. now barabbas was a robber. 19. then pilate took jesus and had him scourged. the soldiers platted a crown of thorns and put it on his head. and they put on him a purple robe and said, hail, king of the jews! they smote him with their hands. pilate therefore went forth again, and saith, behold, i bring him forth to you that ye may know that i find no fault in him. then came jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. pilate saith unto them, behold the man! when the chief priests and officers saw him they cried out, crucify him. crucify him. pilate saith unto them, take ye him and crucify him but i find no fault in him. the jews answered him, we have a law and, by our law, he ought to die because he made himself the son of god. when pilate heard that saying he was the more afraid. he went again into the judgment hall and saith unto jesus, whence art thou? but jesus gave him no answer. then saith pilate unto him, speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that i have power to crucify thee or release thee? jesus answered, thou couldest have no power at all against me except it were given thee from above. therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. thenceforth pilate sought to release him but the jews cried out, saying, if thou let this man go thou art not caesar's friend. whoever maketh himself a king speaketh against caesar. when pilate therefore heard that saying he brought jesus forth and sat down in the judgment seat in a place called the pavement, and in the hebrew, gabbatha. it was the preparation of the passover and about the sixth hour. he saith unto the jews, behold your king! but they cried out, away with him. away with him. crucify him. pilate saith unto them, shall i crucify your king? the chief priest answered, we have no king but caesar. then he delivered him unto them to be crucified. and they took jesus and led him away. bearing his cross he went forth into a place called the place of a skull, in the hebrew, golgotha. here they crucified him and two others. one on either side and jesus in the midst. pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. the writing was, 'jesus of nazareth the king of the jews'. this title was then read by many of the jews for the place where jesus was crucified was nigh to the city and the title written in hebrew, and greek, and latin. then said the chief priests of the jews to pilate, write not the king of the jews but write that he said, i am king of the jews. pilate answered, what i have written i have written. when they had put jesus upon the cross the soldiers took his garments and made four parts. each soldier took a part. but his coat was without seam and woven from the top throughout. they said to eachother, let us not rend it but cast lots for whose it shall be. thus the scripture was fulfilled which saith, they parted my raiment among them and for my vesture they did cast lots. there stood by the cross of jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, mary the wife of cleophas, and mary magdalene. when jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing by, he saith unto his mother, woman, behold thy son! then saith he to the disciple, behold thy mother! and from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home. after this, jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, and so that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, i thirst. now there was set a vessel full of vinegar. they filled a sponge and put it upon hyssop and put it to his mouth. when jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he bowed his head and said, it is finished. during the preparation for the sabbath, a high day, it was not fit that the bodies should remain upon the cross. the jews besought pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. then came the soldiers who broke the legs of the first and then of the other who was crucified with him. but when they came to jesus and saw that he was already dead, they broke not his legs. instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear and from his side came blood and water. he that saw it bore record, and his record is true. he knoweth that he saith truth that ye might believe. these things were done that this scripture should be fulfilled: a bone of him shall not be broken. and another scripture saith, they shall look on him whom they pierced. after this, joseph of arimathaea, who, for fear of the jews, was a secret disciple of jesus, besought pilate that he might take jesus' body. pilate gave him leave. with him came nicodemus, who at the first came to jesus by night. he brought a mixture of about a hundred pounds worth of myrrh and aloes. they took the body of jesus, wound it in linen clothes, and prepared it with the spices as the custom was of the jews for burial. in the place where he was crucified there was a garden. and in the garden was a new sepulchre wherein was never man yet laid. there laid they jesus. 20. on the first day of the week, when it was yet dark, mary magdalene came early unto the sepulchre. she saw that the stone had been taken away from the entrance. then she ran and met simon peter and the other disciple whom jesus loved. she saith unto them, they have taken away the lord out of the sepulchre and we know not where they have laid him. peter and the other disciple, therefore, started toward the sepulchre. they began running together. but the other disciple, having outrun peter, arrived at the entrance first. stooping down and looking in, he saw the linen clothes lying there but he did not go in. then came simon peter who went into the sepulchre, seeth the linen clothes and the napkin that was about his head. the napkin was not lying with the linen clothes, but was folded separately and in a place by itself. then the other disciple went in also, and he saw, and believed. as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. the disciples then returned to their own home. but mary stood outside at the entrance weeping. as she wept, she stooped down, looked into the sepulchre, and saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet where the body of jesus had lain. they said to her, woman, why weepest thou? she saith unto them, because they have taken away my lord and i know not where they have laid him. after she had thus said, she turned and saw jesus standing, and knew not that it was jesus. jesus saith unto her, woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? she, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him and i will take him away. jesus saith unto her, mary. she turned and saith unto him, rabboni; which is to say, master. jesus saith unto her, touch me not for i am not yet ascended to my father. but go to my brethren and say unto them, i ascend unto my father, and your father; and to my god, and your god. mary magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her. then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the jews, came jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, peace be unto you. and when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. then were the disciples glad, when they saw the lord. then said jesus to them again, peace be unto you: as my father hath sent me, even so send i you. when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, receive ye the holy ghost. whose sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose sins ye retain, they are retained. but thomas, one of the twelve, called didymus, was not with them when jesus came. the other disciples therefore said unto him, we have seen the lord. but he said unto them, except i shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, i will not believe. eight days passed and his disciples were within and thomas with them. then came jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, peace be unto you. then saith he to thomas, reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side. now be not faithless but believing. thomas answered and said unto him, my lord and my god. jesus saith, thomas, because thou hast seen me thou hast believed. blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed. and many other signs truly did jesus in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book. but these are written that ye might believe that jesus is the christ, the son of god; and, that believing, ye might have life through his name. 21. after these things jesus showed himself again to the disciples. it was at the sea of tiberias. gathered together were simon peter, thomas called didymus, nathanael of cana in galilee, the sons of zebedee, and two other of his disciples. simon peter saith unto them, i go a fishing. they say to him, we also go with thee. they went forth and immediately got into a fishing boat. that night they caught nothing. when the morning came, jesus stood on the shore. the disciples knew not that it was jesus. then jesus saith unto them, children, have ye anything? they answered him, no. and he said unto them, cast the net on the right side of the boat and ye shall find some. they, therefore, cast the net. now they were not able to draw it up for the multitude of fishes in the net. then the disciple whom jesus loved saith unto peter, it is the lord. when simon peter heard that it was the lord, he drew up his fisher's coat around him and cast himself into the sea. the other disciples came in the boat dragging the net with the fishes. they were only about two hundred cubits from the shore. as soon as they reached the shore, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish already laid thereon. and there was also bread. jesus saith to them, bring the fish which ye have caught. simon peter went over and drew in the net. it was full of great fishes, one hundred and fifty three. yet, even though there were so many, the net was not broken. jesus saith unto them, come and dine. none of the disciples durst ask him, who art thou? knowing that it was the lord. jesus then came, and served them bread and fish also. this is now the third time that jesus showed himself to his disciples. after they had dined, jesus saith to simon peter, simon, son of jonas, lovest thou me more than these? he saith unto him, yea, lord. thou knowest that i love thee. he saith unto him, feed my lambs. then he saith to him a second time, simon, son of jonas, lovest thou me? he saith unto him, yea, lord. thou knowest that i love thee. he saith unto him, feed my sheep. he saith unto him yet a third time, simon, son of jonas, lovest thou me? peter was grieved because he said to him a third time, lovest thou me? he said unto him, lord, thou knowest all things. thou knowest that i love thee. jesus saith unto him, feed my sheep. verily, verily, i say unto thee, when thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself and walkedst whither thou wouldest. but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee and carry thee whither thou wouldest not go. this spoke he, signifying by what death peter should glorify god. when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, follow me. then peter turned and saw the disciple whom jesus loved following them. this was the disciple who leaned on jesus breast at supper, and also asked, lord, who is he that betrayeth thee? peter, now seeing him, saith to jesus, lord, and what shall this man do? jesus saith unto him, if i will that he tarry till i come what is that to thee? you follow me. then the saying spread among the brethren that that disciple should not die. yet jesus said not unto him, he shall not die but, if i will that he tarry till i come what business is that to thee? this is the disciple who testifieth of these things, and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true. there are also many other things that jesus did which, if they were all told, i suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. amen. 08-2002 lightheart practicegodspresence.com from www.ebible.org with slight reformatting by martin ward. book 43 john 001:001 in the beginning was the word, and the word was with god, and the word was god. 001:002 the same was in the beginning with god. 001:003 all things were made through him. without him was not anything made that has been made. 001:004 in him was life, and the life was the light of men. 001:005 the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn't overcome{the word translated "overcome" (katelaben) can also be translated "comprehended." it refers to getting a grip on an enemy to defeat him.} it. 001:006 there came a man, sent from god, whose name was john. 001:007 the same came as a witness, that he might testify about the light, that all might believe through him. 001:008 he was not the light, but was sent that he might testify about the light. 001:009 the true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world. 001:010 he was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world didn't recognize him. 001:011 he came to his own, and those who were his own didn't receive him. 001:012 but as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become god's children, to those who believe in his name: 001:013 who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of god. 001:014 the word became flesh, and lived among us. we saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only son of the father, full of grace and truth. 001:015 john testified about him. he cried out, saying, "this was he of whom i said, 'he who comes after me has surpassed me, for he was before me.'" 001:016 from his fullness we all received grace upon grace. 001:017 for the law was given through moses. grace and truth came through jesus christ. 001:018 no one has seen god at any time. the one and only son,{nu reads "god"} who is in the bosom of the father, he has declared him. 001:019 this is john's testimony, when the jews sent priests and levites from jerusalem to ask him, "who are you?" 001:020 he confessed, and didn't deny, but he confessed, "i am not the christ." 001:021 they asked him, "what then? are you elijah?" he said, "i am not." "are you the prophet?" he answered, "no." 001:022 they said therefore to him, "who are you? give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. what do you say about yourself?" 001:023 he said, "i am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'make straight the way of the lord,'{isaiah 40:3} as isaiah the prophet said." 001:024 the ones who had been sent were from the pharisees. 001:025 they asked him, "why then do you baptize, if you are not the christ, nor elijah, nor the prophet?" 001:026 john answered them, "i baptize in water, but among you stands one whom you don't know. 001:027 he is the one who comes after me, who is preferred before me, whose sandal strap i'm not worthy to loosen." 001:028 these things were done in bethany beyond the jordan, where john was baptizing. 001:029 the next day, he saw jesus coming to him, and said, "behold, the lamb of god, who takes away the sin of the world! 001:030 this is he of whom i said, 'after me comes a man who is preferred before me, for he was before me.' 001:031 i didn't know him, but for this reason i came baptizing in water: that he would be revealed to israel." 001:032 john testified, saying, "i have seen the spirit descending like a dove out of heaven, and it remained on him. 001:033 i didn't recognize him, but he who sent me to baptize in water, he said to me, 'on whomever you will see the spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he who baptizes in the holy spirit.' 001:034 i have seen, and have testified that this is the son of god." 001:035 again, the next day, john was standing with two of his disciples, 001:036 and he looked at jesus as he walked, and said, "behold, the lamb of god!" 001:037 the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed jesus. 001:038 jesus turned, and saw them following, and said to them, "what are you looking for?" they said to him, "rabbi" (which is to say, being interpreted, teacher), "where are you staying?" 001:039 he said to them, "come, and see." they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. it was about the tenth hour.{4:00 pm.} 001:040 one of the two who heard john, and followed him, was andrew, simon peter's brother. 001:041 he first found his own brother, simon, and said to him, "we have found the messiah!" (which is, being interpreted, christ{"messiah" (hebrew) and "christ" (greek) both mean "anointed one".}). 001:042 he brought him to jesus. jesus looked at him, and said, "you are simon the son of jonah. you shall be called cephas" (which is by interpretation, peter). 001:043 on the next day, he was determined to go out into galilee, and he found philip. jesus said to him, "follow me." 001:044 now philip was from bethsaida, of the city of andrew and peter. 001:045 philip found nathanael, and said to him, "we have found him, of whom moses in the law, and the prophets, wrote: jesus of nazareth, the son of joseph." 001:046 nathanael said to him, "can any good thing come out of nazareth?" philip said to him, "come and see." 001:047 jesus saw nathanael coming to him, and said about him, "behold, an israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!" 001:048 nathanael said to him, "how do you know me?" jesus answered him, "before philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, i saw you." 001:049 nathanael answered him, "rabbi, you are the son of god! you are king of israel!" 001:050 jesus answered him, "because i told you, 'i saw you underneath the fig tree,' do you believe? you will see greater things than these!" 001:051 he said to him, "most certainly, i tell you, hereafter you will see heaven opened, and the angels of god ascending and descending on the son of man." 002:001 the third day, there was a marriage in cana of galilee. jesus' mother was there. 002:002 jesus also was invited, with his disciples, to the marriage. 002:003 when the wine ran out, jesus' mother said to him, "they have no wine." 002:004 jesus said to her, "woman, what does that have to do with you and me? my hour has not yet come." 002:005 his mother said to the servants, "whatever he says to you, do it." 002:006 now there were six water pots of stone set there after the jews' manner of purifying, containing two or three metretes{2 to 3 metretes is about 20 to 30 u. s. gallons, 16 to 25 imperial gallons, or 75 to 115 litres.} apiece. 002:007 jesus said to them, "fill the water pots with water." they filled them up to the brim. 002:008 he said to them, "now draw some out, and take it to the ruler of the feast." so they took it. 002:009 when the ruler of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and didn't know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the ruler of the feast called the bridegroom, 002:010 and said to him, "everyone serves the good wine first, and when the guests have drunk freely, then that which is worse. you have kept the good wine until now!" 002:011 this beginning of his signs jesus did in cana of galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. 002:012 after this, he went down to capernaum, he, and his mother, his brothers, and his disciples; and they stayed there a few days. 002:013 the passover of the jews was at hand, and jesus went up to jerusalem. 002:014 he found in the temple those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, and the changers of money sitting. 002:015 he made a whip of cords, and threw all out of the temple, both the sheep and the oxen; and he poured out the changers' money, and overthrew their tables. 002:016 to those who sold the doves, he said, "take these things out of here! don't make my father's house a marketplace!" 002:017 his disciples remembered that it was written, "zeal for your house will eat me up."{psalm 69:9} 002:018 the jews therefore answered him, "what sign do you show us, seeing that you do these things?" 002:019 jesus answered them, "destroy this temple, and in three days i will raise it up." 002:020 the jews therefore said, "forty-six years was this temple in building, and will you raise it up in three days?" 002:021 but he spoke of the temple of his body. 002:022 when therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he said this, and they believed the scripture, and the word which jesus had said. 002:023 now when he was in jerusalem at the passover, during the feast, many believed in his name, observing his signs which he did. 002:024 but jesus didn't trust himself to them, because he knew everyone, 002:025 and because he didn't need for anyone to testify concerning man; for he himself knew what was in man. 003:001 now there was a man of the pharisees named nicodemus, a ruler of the jews. 003:002 the same came to him by night, and said to him, "rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from god, for no one can do these signs that you do, unless god is with him." 003:003 jesus answered him, "most certainly, i tell you, unless one is born anew,{the word translated "anew" here and in john 3:7 (anothen) also means "again" and "from above".} he can't see the kingdom of god." 003:004 nicodemus said to him, "how can a man be born when he is old? can he enter a second time into his mother's womb, and be born?" 003:005 jesus answered, "most certainly i tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can't enter into the kingdom of god! 003:006 that which is born of the flesh is flesh. that which is born of the spirit is spirit. 003:007 don't marvel that i said to you, 'you must be born anew.' 003:008 the wind{the same greek word (pneuma) means wind, breath, and spirit.} blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don't know where it comes from and where it is going. so is everyone who is born of the spirit." 003:009 nicodemus answered him, "how can these things be?" 003:010 jesus answered him, "are you the teacher of israel, and don't understand these things? 003:011 most certainly i tell you, we speak that which we know, and testify of that which we have seen, and you don't receive our witness. 003:012 if i told you earthly things and you don't believe, how will you believe if i tell you heavenly things? 003:013 no one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended out of heaven, the son of man, who is in heaven. 003:014 as moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up, 003:015 that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 003:016 for god so loved the world, that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 003:017 for god didn't send his son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him. 003:018 he who believes in him is not judged. he who doesn't believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only son of god. 003:019 this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil. 003:020 for everyone who does evil hates the light, and doesn't come to the light, lest his works would be exposed. 003:021 but he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in god." 003:022 after these things, jesus came with his disciples into the land of judea. he stayed there with them, and baptized. 003:023 john also was baptizing in enon near salim, because there was much water there. they came, and were baptized. 003:024 for john was not yet thrown into prison. 003:025 there arose therefore a questioning on the part of john's disciples with some jews about purification. 003:026 they came to john, and said to him, "rabbi, he who was with you beyond the jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, the same baptizes, and everyone is coming to him." 003:027 john answered, "a man can receive nothing, unless it has been given him from heaven. 003:028 you yourselves testify that i said, 'i am not the christ,' but, 'i have been sent before him.' 003:029 he who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. this, my joy, therefore is made full. 003:030 he must increase, but i must decrease. 003:031 he who comes from above is above all. he who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks of the earth. he who comes from heaven is above all. 003:032 what he has seen and heard, of that he testifies; and no one receives his witness. 003:033 he who has received his witness has set his seal to this, that god is true. 003:034 for he whom god has sent speaks the words of god; for god gives the spirit without measure. 003:035 the father loves the son, and has given all things into his hand. 003:036 one who believes in the son has eternal life, but one who disobeys{the same word can be translated "disobeys" or "disbelieves" in this context.} the son won't see life, but the wrath of god remains on him." 004:001 therefore when the lord knew that the pharisees had heard that jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than john 004:002 (although jesus himself didn't baptize, but his disciples), 004:003 he left judea, and departed into galilee. 004:004 he needed to pass through samaria. 004:005 so he came to a city of samaria, called sychar, near the parcel of ground that jacob gave to his son, joseph. 004:006 jacob's well was there. jesus therefore, being tired from his journey, sat down by the well. it was about the sixth hour{noon}. 004:007 a woman of samaria came to draw water. jesus said to her, "give me a drink." 004:008 for his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 004:009 the samaritan woman therefore said to him, "how is it that you, being a jew, ask for a drink from me, a samaritan woman?" (for jews have no dealings with samaritans.) 004:010 jesus answered her, "if you knew the gift of god, and who it is who says to you, 'give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." 004:011 the woman said to him, "sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. from where then have you that living water? 004:012 are you greater than our father, jacob, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself, as did his children, and his livestock?" 004:013 jesus answered her, "everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, 004:014 but whoever drinks of the water that i will give him will never thirst again; but the water that i will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." 004:015 the woman said to him, "sir, give me this water, so that i don't get thirsty, neither come all the way here to draw." 004:016 jesus said to her, "go, call your husband, and come here." 004:017 the woman answered, "i have no husband." jesus said to her, "you said well, 'i have no husband,' 004:018 for you have had five husbands; and he whom you now have is not your husband. this you have said truly." 004:019 the woman said to him, "sir, i perceive that you are a prophet. 004:020 our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you jews say that in jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship." 004:021 jesus said to her, "woman, believe me, the hour comes, when neither in this mountain, nor in jerusalem, will you worship the father. 004:022 you worship that which you don't know. we worship that which we know; for salvation is from the jews. 004:023 but the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the father in spirit and truth, for the father seeks such to be his worshippers. 004:024 god is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." 004:025 the woman said to him, "i know that messiah comes," (he who is called christ). "when he has come, he will declare to us all things." 004:026 jesus said to her, "i am he, the one who speaks to you." 004:027 at this, his disciples came. they marveled that he was speaking with a woman; yet no one said, "what are you looking for?" or, "why do you speak with her?" 004:028 so the woman left her water pot, and went away into the city, and said to the people, 004:029 "come, see a man who told me everything that i did. can this be the christ?" 004:030 they went out of the city, and were coming to him. 004:031 in the meanwhile, the disciples urged him, saying, "rabbi, eat." 004:032 but he said to them, "i have food to eat that you don't know about." 004:033 the disciples therefore said one to another, "has anyone brought him something to eat?" 004:034 jesus said to them, "my food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work. 004:035 don't you say, 'there are yet four months until the harvest?' behold, i tell you, lift up your eyes, and look at the fields, that they are white for harvest already. 004:036 he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit to eternal life; that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 004:037 for in this the saying is true, 'one sows, and another reaps.' 004:038 i sent you to reap that for which you haven't labored. others have labored, and you have entered into their labor." 004:039 from that city many of the samaritans believed in him because of the word of the woman, who testified, "he told me everything that i did." 004:040 so when the samaritans came to him, they begged him to stay with them. he stayed there two days. 004:041 many more believed because of his word. 004:042 they said to the woman, "now we believe, not because of your speaking; for we have heard for ourselves, and know that this is indeed the christ, the savior of the world." 004:043 after the two days he went out from there and went into galilee. 004:044 for jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. 004:045 so when he came into galilee, the galileans received him, having seen all the things that he did in jerusalem at the feast, for they also went to the feast. 004:046 jesus came therefore again to cana of galilee, where he made the water into wine. there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at capernaum. 004:047 when he heard that jesus had come out of judea into galilee, he went to him, and begged him that he would come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 004:048 jesus therefore said to him, "unless you see signs and wonders, you will in no way believe." 004:049 the nobleman said to him, "sir, come down before my child dies." 004:050 jesus said to him, "go your way. your son lives." the man believed the word that jesus spoke to him, and he went his way. 004:051 as he was now going down, his servants met him and reported, saying "your child lives!" 004:052 so he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. they said therefore to him, "yesterday at the seventh hour,{1:00 p. m.} the fever left him." 004:053 so the father knew that it was at that hour in which jesus said to him, "your son lives." he believed, as did his whole house. 004:054 this is again the second sign that jesus did, having come out of judea into galilee. 005:001 after these things, there was a feast of the jews, and jesus went up to jerusalem. 005:002 now in jerusalem by the sheep gate, there is a pool, which is called in hebrew, "bethesda," having five porches. 005:003 in these lay a great multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, or paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water; 005:004 for an angel of the lord went down at certain times into the pool, and stirred up the water. whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was made whole of whatever disease he had. 005:005 a certain man was there, who had been sick for thirty-eight years. 005:006 when jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had been sick for a long time, he asked him, "do you want to be made well?" 005:007 the sick man answered him, "sir, i have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while i'm coming, another steps down before me." 005:008 jesus said to him, "arise, take up your mat, and walk." 005:009 immediately, the man was made well, and took up his mat and walked. now it was the sabbath on that day. 005:010 so the jews said to him who was cured, "it is the sabbath. it is not lawful for you to carry the mat." 005:011 he answered them, "he who made me well, the same said to me, 'take up your mat, and walk.'" 005:012 then they asked him, "who is the man who said to you, 'take up your mat, and walk'?" 005:013 but he who was healed didn't know who it was, for jesus had withdrawn, a crowd being in the place. 005:014 afterward jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "behold, you are made well. sin no more, so that nothing worse happens to you." 005:015 the man went away, and told the jews that it was jesus who had made him well. 005:016 for this cause the jews persecuted jesus, and sought to kill him, because he did these things on the sabbath. 005:017 but jesus answered them, "my father is still working, so i am working, too." 005:018 for this cause therefore the jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the sabbath, but also called god his own father, making himself equal with god. 005:019 jesus therefore answered them, "most certainly, i tell you, the son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the father doing. for whatever things he does, these the son also does likewise. 005:020 for the father has affection for the son, and shows him all things that he himself does. he will show him greater works than these, that you may marvel. 005:021 for as the father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the son also gives life to whom he desires. 005:022 for the father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the son, 005:023 that all may honor the son, even as they honor the father. he who doesn't honor the son doesn't honor the father who sent him. 005:024 "most certainly i tell you, he who hears my word, and believes him who sent me, has eternal life, and doesn't come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. 005:025 most certainly, i tell you, the hour comes, and now is, when the dead will hear the son of god's voice; and those who hear will live. 005:026 for as the father has life in himself, even so he gave to the son also to have life in himself. 005:027 he also gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is a son of man. 005:028 don't marvel at this, for the hour comes, in which all that are in the tombs will hear his voice, 005:029 and will come out; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment. 005:030 i can of myself do nothing. as i hear, i judge, and my judgment is righteous; because i don't seek my own will, but the will of my father who sent me. 005:031 "if i testify about myself, my witness is not valid. 005:032 it is another who testifies about me. i know that the testimony which he testifies about me is true. 005:033 you have sent to john, and he has testified to the truth. 005:034 but the testimony which i receive is not from man. however, i say these things that you may be saved. 005:035 he was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. 005:036 but the testimony which i have is greater than that of john, for the works which the father gave me to accomplish, the very works that i do, testify about me, that the father has sent me. 005:037 the father himself, who sent me, has testified about me. you have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form. 005:038 you don't have his word living in you; because you don't believe him whom he sent. 005:039 "you search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and these are they which testify about me. 005:040 yet you will not come to me, that you may have life. 005:041 i don't receive glory from men. 005:042 but i know you, that you don't have god's love in yourselves. 005:043 i have come in my father's name, and you don't receive me. if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 005:044 how can you believe, who receive glory from one another, and you don't seek the glory that comes from the only god? 005:045 "don't think that i will accuse you to the father. there is one who accuses you, even moses, on whom you have set your hope. 005:046 for if you believed moses, you would believe me; for he wrote about me. 005:047 but if you don't believe his writings, how will you believe my words?" 006:001 after these things, jesus went away to the other side of the sea of galilee, which is also called the sea of tiberias. 006:002 a great multitude followed him, because they saw his signs which he did on those who were sick. 006:003 jesus went up into the mountain, and he sat there with his disciples. 006:004 now the passover, the feast of the jews, was at hand. 006:005 jesus therefore lifting up his eyes, and seeing that a great multitude was coming to him, said to philip, "where are we to buy bread, that these may eat?" 006:006 this he said to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 006:007 philip answered him, "two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that everyone of them may receive a little." 006:008 one of his disciples, andrew, simon peter's brother, said to him, 006:009 "there is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these among so many?" 006:010 jesus said, "have the people sit down." now there was much grass in that place. so the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 006:011 jesus took the loaves; and having given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to those who were sitting down; likewise also of the fish as much as they desired. 006:012 when they were filled, he said to his disciples, "gather up the broken pieces which are left over, that nothing be lost." 006:013 so they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with broken pieces from the five barley loaves, which were left over by those who had eaten. 006:014 when therefore the people saw the sign which jesus did, they said, "this is truly the prophet who comes into the world." 006:015 jesus therefore, perceiving that they were about to come and take him by force, to make him king, withdrew again to the mountain by himself. 006:016 when evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 006:017 and they entered into the boat, and were going over the sea to capernaum. it was now dark, and jesus had not come to them. 006:018 the sea was tossed by a great wind blowing. 006:019 when therefore they had rowed about twenty-five or thirty stadia,{25 to 30 stadia is about 5 to 6 kilometers or about 3 to 4 miles} they saw jesus walking on the sea, and drawing near to the boat; and they were afraid. 006:020 but he said to them, "it is i{or, i am}. don't be afraid." 006:021 they were willing therefore to receive him into the boat. immediately the boat was at the land where they were going. 006:022 on the next day, the multitude that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except the one in which his disciples had embarked, and that jesus hadn't entered with his disciples into the boat, but his disciples had gone away alone. 006:023 however boats from tiberias came near to the place where they ate the bread after the lord had given thanks. 006:024 when the multitude therefore saw that jesus wasn't there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats, and came to capernaum, seeking jesus. 006:025 when they found him on the other side of the sea, they asked him, "rabbi, when did you come here?" 006:026 jesus answered them, "most certainly i tell you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves, and were filled. 006:027 don't work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to eternal life, which the son of man will give to you. for god the father has sealed him." 006:028 they said therefore to him, "what must we do, that we may work the works of god?" 006:029 jesus answered them, "this is the work of god, that you believe in him whom he has sent." 006:030 they said therefore to him, "what then do you do for a sign, that we may see, and believe you? what work do you do? 006:031 our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness. as it is written, 'he gave them bread out of heaven{greek and hebrew use the same word for "heaven", "the heavens", "the sky", and "the air".} to eat.'"{exodus 16:4; nehemiah 9:15; psalm 78:24-25} 006:032 jesus therefore said to them, "most certainly, i tell you, it wasn't moses who gave you the bread out of heaven, but my father gives you the true bread out of heaven. 006:033 for the bread of god is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world." 006:034 they said therefore to him, "lord, always give us this bread." 006:035 jesus said to them, "i am the bread of life. he who comes to me will not be hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. 006:036 but i told you that you have seen me, and yet you don't believe. 006:037 all those who the father gives me will come to me. him who comes to me i will in no way throw out. 006:038 for i have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. 006:039 this is the will of my father who sent me, that of all he has given to me i should lose nothing, but should raise him up at the last day. 006:040 this is the will of the one who sent me, that everyone who sees the son, and believes in him, should have eternal life; and i will raise him up at the last day." 006:041 the jews therefore murmured concerning him, because he said, "i am the bread which came down out of heaven." 006:042 they said, "isn't this jesus, the son of joseph, whose father and mother we know? how then does he say, 'i have come down out of heaven?'" 006:043 therefore jesus answered them, "don't murmur among yourselves. 006:044 no one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him, and i will raise him up in the last day. 006:045 it is written in the prophets, 'they will all be taught by god.'{isaiah 54:13} therefore everyone who hears from the father, and has learned, comes to me. 006:046 not that anyone has seen the father, except he who is from god. he has seen the father. 006:047 most certainly, i tell you, he who believes in me has eternal life. 006:048 i am the bread of life. 006:049 your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 006:050 this is the bread which comes down out of heaven, that anyone may eat of it and not die. 006:051 i am the living bread which came down out of heaven. if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. yes, the bread which i will give for the life of the world is my flesh." 006:052 the jews therefore contended with one another, saying, "how can this man give us his flesh to eat?" 006:053 jesus therefore said to them, "most certainly i tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you don't have life in yourselves. 006:054 he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and i will raise him up at the last day. 006:055 for my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 006:056 he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and i in him. 006:057 as the living father sent me, and i live because of the father; so he who feeds on me, he will also live because of me. 006:058 this is the bread which came down out of heaven--not as our fathers ate the manna, and died. he who eats this bread will live forever." 006:059 these things he said in the synagogue, as he taught in capernaum. 006:060 therefore many of his disciples, when they heard this, said, "this is a hard saying! who can listen to it?" 006:061 but jesus knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at this, said to them, "does this cause you to stumble? 006:062 then what if you would see the son of man ascending to where he was before? 006:063 it is the spirit who gives life. the flesh profits nothing. the words that i speak to you are spirit, and are life. 006:064 but there are some of you who don't believe." for jesus knew from the beginning who they were who didn't believe, and who it was who would betray him. 006:065 he said, "for this cause have i said to you that no one can come to me, unless it is given to him by my father." 006:066 at this, many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. 006:067 jesus said therefore to the twelve, "you don't also want to go away, do you?" 006:068 simon peter answered him, "lord, to whom would we go? you have the words of eternal life. 006:069 we have come to believe and know that you are the christ, the son of the living god." 006:070 jesus answered them, "didn't i choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?" 006:071 now he spoke of judas, the son of simon iscariot, for it was he who would betray him, being one of the twelve. 007:001 after these things, jesus was walking in galilee, for he wouldn't walk in judea, because the jews sought to kill him. 007:002 now the feast of the jews, the feast of booths, was at hand. 007:003 his brothers therefore said to him, "depart from here, and go into judea, that your disciples also may see your works which you do. 007:004 for no one does anything in secret, and himself seeks to be known openly. if you do these things, reveal yourself to the world." 007:005 for even his brothers didn't believe in him. 007:006 jesus therefore said to them, "my time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. 007:007 the world can't hate you, but it hates me, because i testify about it, that its works are evil. 007:008 you go up to the feast. i am not yet going up to this feast, because my time is not yet fulfilled." 007:009 having said these things to them, he stayed in galilee. 007:010 but when his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly, but as it were in secret. 007:011 the jews therefore sought him at the feast, and said, "where is he?" 007:012 there was much murmuring among the multitudes concerning him. some said, "he is a good man." others said, "not so, but he leads the multitude astray." 007:013 yet no one spoke openly of him for fear of the jews. 007:014 but when it was now the midst of the feast, jesus went up into the temple and taught. 007:015 the jews therefore marveled, saying, "how does this man know letters, having never been educated?" 007:016 jesus therefore answered them, "my teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. 007:017 if anyone desires to do his will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is from god, or if i am speaking from myself. 007:018 he who speaks from himself seeks his own glory, but he who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. 007:019 didn't moses give you the law, and yet none of you keeps the law? why do you seek to kill me?" 007:020 the multitude answered, "you have a demon! who seeks to kill you?" 007:021 jesus answered them, "i did one work, and you all marvel because of it. 007:022 moses has given you circumcision (not that it is of moses, but of the fathers), and on the sabbath you circumcise a boy. 007:023 if a boy receives circumcision on the sabbath, that the law of moses may not be broken, are you angry with me, because i made a man every bit whole on the sabbath? 007:024 don't judge according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment." 007:025 therefore some of them of jerusalem said, "isn't this he whom they seek to kill? 007:026 behold, he speaks openly, and they say nothing to him. can it be that the rulers indeed know that this is truly the christ? 007:027 however we know where this man comes from, but when the christ comes, no one will know where he comes from." 007:028 jesus therefore cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, "you both know me, and know where i am from. i have not come of myself, but he who sent me is true, whom you don't know. 007:029 i know him, because i am from him, and he sent me." 007:030 they sought therefore to take him; but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. 007:031 but of the multitude, many believed in him. they said, "when the christ comes, he won't do more signs than those which this man has done, will he?" 007:032 the pharisees heard the multitude murmuring these things concerning him, and the chief priests and the pharisees sent officers to arrest him. 007:033 then jesus said, "i will be with you a little while longer, then i go to him who sent me. 007:034 you will seek me, and won't find me; and where i am, you can't come." 007:035 the jews therefore said among themselves, "where will this man go that we won't find him? will he go to the dispersion among the greeks, and teach the greeks? 007:036 what is this word that he said, 'you will seek me, and won't find me; and where i am, you can't come'?" 007:037 now on the last and greatest day of the feast, jesus stood and cried out, "if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! 007:038 he who believes in me, as the scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water." 007:039 but he said this about the spirit, which those believing in him were to receive. for the holy spirit was not yet given, because jesus wasn't yet glorified. 007:040 many of the multitude therefore, when they heard these words, said, "this is truly the prophet." 007:041 others said, "this is the christ." but some said, "what, does the christ come out of galilee? 007:042 hasn't the scripture said that the christ comes of the seed of david,{2 samuel 7:12} and from bethlehem,{micah 5:2} the village where david was?" 007:043 so there arose a division in the multitude because of him. 007:044 some of them would have arrested him, but no one laid hands on him. 007:045 the officers therefore came to the chief priests and pharisees, and they said to them, "why didn't you bring him?" 007:046 the officers answered, "no man ever spoke like this man!" 007:047 the pharisees therefore answered them, "you aren't also led astray, are you? 007:048 have any of the rulers believed in him, or of the pharisees? 007:049 but this multitude that doesn't know the law is accursed." 007:050 nicodemus (he who came to him by night, being one of them) said to them, 007:051 "does our law judge a man, unless it first hears from him personally and knows what he does?" 007:052 they answered him, "are you also from galilee? search, and see that no prophet has arisen out of galilee.{see isaiah 9:1 and matthew 4:13-16.}" 007:053 everyone went to his own house, 008:001 but jesus went to the mount of olives. 008:002 now very early in the morning, he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him. he sat down, and taught them. 008:003 the scribes and the pharisees brought a woman taken in adultery. having set her in the midst, 008:004 they told him, "teacher, we found this woman in adultery, in the very act. 008:005 now in our law, moses commanded us to stone such.{leviticus 20:10; deuteronomy 22:22} what then do you say about her?" 008:006 they said this testing him, that they might have something to accuse him of. but jesus stooped down, and wrote on the ground with his finger. 008:007 but when they continued asking him, he looked up and said to them, "he who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone at her." 008:008 again he stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground. 008:009 they, when they heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning from the oldest, even to the last. jesus was left alone with the woman where she was, in the middle. 008:010 jesus, standing up, saw her and said, "woman, where are your accusers? did no one condemn you?" 008:011 she said, "no one, lord." jesus said, "neither do i condemn you. go your way. from now on, sin no more." 008:012 again, therefore, jesus spoke to them, saying, "i am the light of the world.{isaiah 60:1} he who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life." 008:013 the pharisees therefore said to him, "you testify about yourself. your testimony is not valid." 008:014 jesus answered them, "even if i testify about myself, my testimony is true, for i know where i came from, and where i am going; but you don't know where i came from, or where i am going. 008:015 you judge according to the flesh. i judge no one. 008:016 even if i do judge, my judgment is true, for i am not alone, but i am with the father who sent me. 008:017 it's also written in your law that the testimony of two people is valid.{deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15} 008:018 i am one who testifies about myself, and the father who sent me testifies about me." 008:019 they said therefore to him, "where is your father?" jesus answered, "you know neither me, nor my father. if you knew me, you would know my father also." 008:020 jesus spoke these words in the treasury, as he taught in the temple. yet no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come. 008:021 jesus said therefore again to them, "i am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sins. where i go, you can't come." 008:022 the jews therefore said, "will he kill himself, that he says, 'where i am going, you can't come?'" 008:023 he said to them, "you are from beneath. i am from above. you are of this world. i am not of this world. 008:024 i said therefore to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that i am he, you will die in your sins." 008:025 they said therefore to him, "who are you?" jesus said to them, "just what i have been saying to you from the beginning. 008:026 i have many things to speak and to judge concerning you. however he who sent me is true; and the things which i heard from him, these i say to the world." 008:027 they didn't understand that he spoke to them about the father. 008:028 jesus therefore said to them, "when you have lifted up the son of man, then you will know that i am he, and i do nothing of myself, but as my father taught me, i say these things. 008:029 he who sent me is with me. the father hasn't left me alone, for i always do the things that are pleasing to him." 008:030 as he spoke these things, many believed in him. 008:031 jesus therefore said to those jews who had believed him, "if you remain in my word, then you are truly my disciples. 008:032 you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."{psalm 119:45} 008:033 they answered him, "we are abraham's seed, and have never been in bondage to anyone. how do you say, 'you will be made free?'" 008:034 jesus answered them, "most certainly i tell you, everyone who commits sin is the bondservant of sin. 008:035 a bondservant doesn't live in the house forever. a son remains forever. 008:036 if therefore the son makes you free, you will be free indeed. 008:037 i know that you are abraham's seed, yet you seek to kill me, because my word finds no place in you. 008:038 i say the things which i have seen with my father; and you also do the things which you have seen with your father." 008:039 they answered him, "our father is abraham." jesus said to them, "if you were abraham's children, you would do the works of abraham. 008:040 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth, which i heard from god. abraham didn't do this. 008:041 you do the works of your father." they said to him, "we were not born of sexual immorality. we have one father, god." 008:042 therefore jesus said to them, "if god were your father, you would love me, for i came out and have come from god. for i haven't come of myself, but he sent me. 008:043 why don't you understand my speech? because you can't hear my word. 008:044 you are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. he was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn't stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. when he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it. 008:045 but because i tell the truth, you don't believe me. 008:046 which of you convicts me of sin? if i tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 008:047 he who is of god hears the words of god. for this cause you don't hear, because you are not of god." 008:048 then the jews answered him, "don't we say well that you are a samaritan, and have a demon?" 008:049 jesus answered, "i don't have a demon, but i honor my father, and you dishonor me. 008:050 but i don't seek my own glory. there is one who seeks and judges. 008:051 most certainly, i tell you, if a person keeps my word, he will never see death." 008:052 then the jews said to him, "now we know that you have a demon. abraham died, and the prophets; and you say, 'if a man keeps my word, he will never taste of death.' 008:053 are you greater than our father, abraham, who died? the prophets died. who do you make yourself out to be?" 008:054 jesus answered, "if i glorify myself, my glory is nothing. it is my father who glorifies me, of whom you say that he is our god. 008:055 you have not known him, but i know him. if i said, 'i don't know him,' i would be like you, a liar. but i know him, and keep his word. 008:056 your father abraham rejoiced to see my day. he saw it, and was glad." 008:057 the jews therefore said to him, "you are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen abraham?" 008:058 jesus said to them, "most certainly, i tell you, before abraham came into existence, i am." 008:059 therefore they took up stones to throw at him, but jesus was hidden, and went out of the temple, having gone through the midst of them, and so passed by. 009:001 as he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 009:002 his disciples asked him, "rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 009:003 jesus answered, "neither did this man sin, nor his parents; but, that the works of god might be revealed in him. 009:004 i must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day. the night is coming, when no one can work. 009:005 while i am in the world, i am the light of the world." 009:006 when he had said this, he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, anointed the blind man's eyes with the mud, 009:007 and said to him, "go, wash in the pool of siloam" (which means "sent"). so he went away, washed, and came back seeing. 009:008 the neighbors therefore, and those who saw that he was blind before, said, "isn't this he who sat and begged?" 009:009 others were saying, "it is he." still others were saying, "he looks like him." he said, "i am he." 009:010 they therefore were asking him, "how were your eyes opened?" 009:011 he answered, "a man called jesus made mud, anointed my eyes, and said to me, 'go to the pool of siloam, and wash.' so i went away and washed, and i received sight." 009:012 then they asked him, "where is he?" he said, "i don't know." 009:013 they brought him who had been blind to the pharisees. 009:014 it was a sabbath when jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 009:015 again therefore the pharisees also asked him how he received his sight. he said to them, "he put mud on my eyes, i washed, and i see." 009:016 some therefore of the pharisees said, "this man is not from god, because he doesn't keep the sabbath." others said, "how can a man who is a sinner do such signs?" there was division among them. 009:017 therefore they asked the blind man again, "what do you say about him, because he opened your eyes?" he said, "he is a prophet." 009:018 the jews therefore did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and had received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight, 009:019 and asked them, "is this your son, who you say was born blind? how then does he now see?" 009:020 his parents answered them, "we know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 009:021 but how he now sees, we don't know; or who opened his eyes, we don't know. he is of age. ask him. he will speak for himself." 009:022 his parents said these things because they feared the jews; for the jews had already agreed that if any man would confess him as christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. 009:023 therefore his parents said, "he is of age. ask him." 009:024 so they called the man who was blind a second time, and said to him, "give glory to god. we know that this man is a sinner." 009:025 he therefore answered, "i don't know if he is a sinner. one thing i do know: that though i was blind, now i see." 009:026 they said to him again, "what did he do to you? how did he open your eyes?" 009:027 he answered them, "i told you already, and you didn't listen. why do you want to hear it again? you don't also want to become his disciples, do you?" 009:028 they insulted him and said, "you are his disciple, but we are disciples of moses. 009:029 we know that god has spoken to moses. but as for this man, we don't know where he comes from." 009:030 the man answered them, "how amazing! you don't know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 009:031 we know that god doesn't listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshipper of god, and does his will, he listens to him.{psalm 66:18, proverbs 15:29; 28:9} 009:032 since the world began it has never been heard of that anyone opened the eyes of someone born blind. 009:033 if this man were not from god, he could do nothing." 009:034 they answered him, "you were altogether born in sins, and do you teach us?" they threw him out. 009:035 jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and finding him, he said, "do you believe in the son of god?" 009:036 he answered, "who is he, lord, that i may believe in him?" 009:037 jesus said to him, "you have both seen him, and it is he who speaks with you." 009:038 he said, "lord, i believe!" and he worshiped him. 009:039 jesus said, "i came into this world for judgment, that those who don't see may see; and that those who see may become blind." 009:040 those of the pharisees who were with him heard these things, and said to him, "are we also blind?" 009:041 jesus said to them, "if you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'we see.' therefore your sin remains. 010:001 "most certainly, i tell you, one who doesn't enter by the door into the sheep fold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 010:002 but one who enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 010:003 the gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. he calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out. 010:004 whenever he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 010:005 they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him; for they don't know the voice of strangers." 010:006 jesus spoke this parable to them, but they didn't understand what he was telling them. 010:007 jesus therefore said to them again, "most certainly, i tell you, i am the sheep's door. 010:008 all who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn't listen to them. 010:009 i am the door. if anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out, and will find pasture. 010:010 the thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. i came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. 010:011 i am the good shepherd.{isaiah 40:11; ezekiel 34:11-12,15,22} the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 010:012 he who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn't own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees. the wolf snatches the sheep, and scatters them. 010:013 the hired hand flees because he is a hired hand, and doesn't care for the sheep. 010:014 i am the good shepherd. i know my own, and i'm known by my own; 010:015 even as the father knows me, and i know the father. i lay down my life for the sheep. 010:016 i have other sheep, which are not of this fold.{isaiah 56:8} i must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. they will become one flock with one shepherd. 010:017 therefore the father loves me, because i lay down my life,{isaiah 53:7-8} that i may take it again. 010:018 no one takes it away from me, but i lay it down by myself. i have power to lay it down, and i have power to take it again. i received this commandment from my father." 010:019 therefore a division arose again among the jews because of these words. 010:020 many of them said, "he has a demon, and is insane! why do you listen to him?" 010:021 others said, "these are not the sayings of one possessed by a demon. it isn't possible for a demon to open the eyes of the blind, is it?"{exodus 4:11} 010:022 it was the feast of the dedication{the "feast of the dedication" is the greek name for "chanukkah," a celebration of the rededication of the temple.} at jerusalem. 010:023 it was winter, and jesus was walking in the temple, in solomon's porch. 010:024 the jews therefore came around him and said to him, "how long will you hold us in suspense? if you are the christ, tell us plainly." 010:025 jesus answered them, "i told you, and you don't believe. the works that i do in my father's name, these testify about me. 010:026 but you don't believe, because you are not of my sheep, as i told you. 010:027 my sheep hear my voice, and i know them, and they follow me. 010:028 i give eternal life to them. they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 010:029 my father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. no one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand. 010:030 i and the father are one." 010:031 therefore jews took up stones again to stone him. 010:032 jesus answered them, "i have shown you many good works from my father. for which of those works do you stone me?" 010:033 the jews answered him, "we don't stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy: because you, being a man, make yourself god." 010:034 jesus answered them, "isn't it written in your law, 'i said, you are gods?'{psalm 82:6} 010:035 if he called them gods, to whom the word of god came (and the scripture can't be broken), 010:036 do you say of him whom the father sanctified and sent into the world, 'you blaspheme,' because i said, 'i am the son of god?' 010:037 if i don't do the works of my father, don't believe me. 010:038 but if i do them, though you don't believe me, believe the works; that you may know and believe that the father is in me, and i in the father." 010:039 they sought again to seize him, and he went out of their hand. 010:040 he went away again beyond the jordan into the place where john was baptizing at first, and there he stayed. 010:041 many came to him. they said, "john indeed did no sign, but everything that john said about this man is true." 010:042 many believed in him there. 011:001 now a certain man was sick, lazarus from bethany, of the village of mary and her sister, martha. 011:002 it was that mary who had anointed the lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother, lazarus, was sick. 011:003 the sisters therefore sent to him, saying, "lord, behold, he for whom you have great affection is sick." 011:004 but when jesus heard it, he said, "this sickness is not to death, but for the glory of god, that god's son may be glorified by it." 011:005 now jesus loved martha, and her sister, and lazarus. 011:006 when therefore he heard that he was sick, he stayed two days in the place where he was. 011:007 then after this he said to the disciples, "let's go into judea again." 011:008 the disciples told him, "rabbi, the jews were just trying to stone you, and are you going there again?" 011:009 jesus answered, "aren't there twelve hours of daylight? if a man walks in the day, he doesn't stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 011:010 but if a man walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light isn't in him." 011:011 he said these things, and after that, he said to them, "our friend, lazarus, has fallen asleep, but i am going so that i may awake him out of sleep." 011:012 the disciples therefore said, "lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover." 011:013 now jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he spoke of taking rest in sleep. 011:014 so jesus said to them plainly then, "lazarus is dead. 011:015 i am glad for your sakes that i was not there, so that you may believe. nevertheless, let's go to him." 011:016 thomas therefore, who is called didymus,{"didymus" means "twin"} said to his fellow disciples, "let's go also, that we may die with him." 011:017 so when jesus came, he found that he had been in the tomb four days already. 011:018 now bethany was near jerusalem, about fifteen stadia{15 stadia is about 2.8 kilometers or 1.7 miles} away. 011:019 many of the jews had joined the women around martha and mary, to console them concerning their brother. 011:020 then when martha heard that jesus was coming, she went and met him, but mary stayed in the house. 011:021 therefore martha said to jesus, "lord, if you would have been here, my brother wouldn't have died. 011:022 even now i know that, whatever you ask of god, god will give you." 011:023 jesus said to her, "your brother will rise again." 011:024 martha said to him, "i know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." 011:025 jesus said to her, "i am the resurrection and the life. he who believes in me will still live, even if he dies. 011:026 whoever lives and believes in me will never die. do you believe this?" 011:027 she said to him, "yes, lord. i have come to believe that you are the christ, god's son, he who comes into the world." 011:028 when she had said this, she went away, and called mary, her sister, secretly, saying, "the teacher is here, and is calling you." 011:029 when she heard this, she arose quickly, and went to him. 011:030 now jesus had not yet come into the village, but was in the place where martha met him. 011:031 then the jews who were with her in the house, and were consoling her, when they saw mary, that she rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, "she is going to the tomb to weep there." 011:032 therefore when mary came to where jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying to him, "lord, if you would have been here, my brother wouldn't have died." 011:033 when jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the jews weeping who came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, 011:034 and said, "where have you laid him?" they told him, "lord, come and see." 011:035 jesus wept. 011:036 the jews therefore said, "see how much affection he had for him!" 011:037 some of them said, "couldn't this man, who opened the eyes of him who was blind, have also kept this man from dying?" 011:038 jesus therefore, again groaning in himself, came to the tomb. now it was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 011:039 jesus said, "take away the stone." martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to him, "lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days." 011:040 jesus said to her, "didn't i tell you that if you believed, you would see god's glory?" 011:041 so they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying.{nu omits "from the place where the dead man was lying."} jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, "father, i thank you that you listened to me. 011:042 i know that you always listen to me, but because of the multitude that stands around i said this, that they may believe that you sent me." 011:043 when he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "lazarus, come out!" 011:044 he who was dead came out, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. jesus said to them, "free him, and let him go." 011:045 therefore many of the jews, who came to mary and saw what jesus did, believed in him. 011:046 but some of them went away to the pharisees, and told them the things which jesus had done. 011:047 the chief priests therefore and the pharisees gathered a council, and said, "what are we doing? for this man does many signs. 011:048 if we leave him alone like this, everyone will believe in him, and the romans will come and take away both our place and our nation." 011:049 but a certain one of them, caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, "you know nothing at all, 011:050 nor do you consider that it is advantageous for us that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish." 011:051 now he didn't say this of himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that jesus would die for the nation, 011:052 and not for the nation only, but that he might also gather together into one the children of god who are scattered abroad. 011:053 so from that day forward they took counsel that they might put him to death. 011:054 jesus therefore walked no more openly among the jews, but departed from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called ephraim. he stayed there with his disciples. 011:055 now the passover of the jews was at hand. many went up from the country to jerusalem before the passover, to purify themselves. 011:056 then they sought for jesus and spoke one with another, as they stood in the temple, "what do you think--that he isn't coming to the feast at all?" 011:057 now the chief priests and the pharisees had commanded that if anyone knew where he was, he should report it, that they might seize him. 012:001 then six days before the passover, jesus came to bethany, where lazarus was, who had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. 012:002 so they made him a supper there. martha served, but lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with him. 012:003 mary, therefore, took a pound{a roman pound of 12 ounces, or about 340 grams} of ointment of pure nard, very precious, and anointed the feet of jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair. the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment. 012:004 then judas iscariot, simon's son, one of his disciples, who would betray him, said, 012:005 "why wasn't this ointment sold for three hundred denarii,{300 denarii was about a year's wages for an agricultural laborer.} and given to the poor?" 012:006 now he said this, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and having the money box, used to steal what was put into it. 012:007 but jesus said, "leave her alone. she has kept this for the day of my burial. 012:008 for you always have the poor with you, but you don't always have me." 012:009 a large crowd therefore of the jews learned that he was there, and they came, not for jesus' sake only, but that they might see lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead. 012:010 but the chief priests conspired to put lazarus to death also, 012:011 because on account of him many of the jews went away and believed in jesus. 012:012 on the next day a great multitude had come to the feast. when they heard that jesus was coming to jerusalem, 012:013 they took the branches of the palm trees, and went out to meet him, and cried out, "hosanna{"hosanna" means "save us" or "help us, we pray."}! blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord,{psalm 118:25-26} the king of israel!" 012:014 jesus, having found a young donkey, sat on it. as it is written, 012:015 "don't be afraid, daughter of zion. behold, your king comes, sitting on a donkey's colt."{zechariah 9:9} 012:016 his disciples didn't understand these things at first, but when jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about him, and that they had done these things to him. 012:017 the multitude therefore that was with him when he called lazarus out of the tomb, and raised him from the dead, was testifying about it. 012:018 for this cause also the multitude went and met him, because they heard that he had done this sign. 012:019 the pharisees therefore said among themselves, "see how you accomplish nothing. behold, the world has gone after him." 012:020 now there were certain greeks among those that went up to worship at the feast. 012:021 these, therefore, came to philip, who was from bethsaida of galilee, and asked him, saying, "sir, we want to see jesus." 012:022 philip came and told andrew, and in turn, andrew came with philip, and they told jesus. 012:023 jesus answered them, "the time has come for the son of man to be glorified. 012:024 most certainly i tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone. but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 012:025 he who loves his life will lose it. he who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life. 012:026 if anyone serves me, let him follow me. where i am, there will my servant also be. if anyone serves me, the father will honor him. 012:027 "now my soul is troubled. what shall i say? 'father, save me from this time?' but for this cause i came to this time. 012:028 father, glorify your name!" then there came a voice out of the sky, saying, "i have both glorified it, and will glorify it again." 012:029 the multitude therefore, who stood by and heard it, said that it had thundered. others said, "an angel has spoken to him." 012:030 jesus answered, "this voice hasn't come for my sake, but for your sakes. 012:031 now is the judgment of this world. now the prince of this world will be cast out. 012:032 and i, if i am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." 012:033 but he said this, signifying by what kind of death he should die. 012:034 the multitude answered him, "we have heard out of the law that the christ remains forever.{isaiah 9:7; daniel 2:44 (but see also isaiah 53:8)} how do you say, 'the son of man must be lifted up?' who is this son of man?" 012:035 jesus therefore said to them, "yet a little while the light is with you. walk while you have the light, that darkness doesn't overtake you. he who walks in the darkness doesn't know where he is going. 012:036 while you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become children of light." jesus said these things, and he departed and hid himself from them. 012:037 but though he had done so many signs before them, yet they didn't believe in him, 012:038 that the word of isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke, "lord, who has believed our report? to whom has the arm of the lord been revealed?"{isaiah 53:1} 012:039 for this cause they couldn't believe, for isaiah said again, 012:040 "he has blinded their eyes and he hardened their heart, lest they should see with their eyes, and perceive with their heart, and would turn, and i would heal them."{isaiah 6:10} 012:041 isaiah said these things when he saw his glory, and spoke of him.{isaiah 6:1} 012:042 nevertheless even of the rulers many believed in him, but because of the pharisees they didn't confess it, so that they wouldn't be put out of the synagogue, 012:043 for they loved men's praise more than god's praise. 012:044 jesus cried out and said, "whoever believes in me, believes not in me, but in him who sent me. 012:045 he who sees me sees him who sent me. 012:046 i have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in the darkness. 012:047 if anyone listens to my sayings, and doesn't believe, i don't judge him. for i came not to judge the world, but to save the world. 012:048 he who rejects me, and doesn't receive my sayings, has one who judges him. the word that i spoke, the same will judge him in the last day. 012:049 for i spoke not from myself, but the father who sent me, he gave me a commandment, what i should say, and what i should speak. 012:050 i know that his commandment is eternal life. the things therefore which i speak, even as the father has said to me, so i speak." 013:001 now before the feast of the passover, jesus, knowing that his time had come that he would depart from this world to the father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 013:002 after supper, the devil having already put into the heart of judas iscariot, simon's son, to betray him, 013:003 jesus, knowing that the father had given all things into his hands, and that he came forth from god, and was going to god, 013:004 arose from supper, and laid aside his outer garments. he took a towel, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 013:005 then he poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 013:006 then he came to simon peter. he said to him, "lord, do you wash my feet?" 013:007 jesus answered him, "you don't know what i am doing now, but you will understand later." 013:008 peter said to him, "you will never wash my feet!" jesus answered him, "if i don't wash you, you have no part with me." 013:009 simon peter said to him, "lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!" 013:010 jesus said to him, "someone who has bathed only needs to have his feet washed, but is completely clean. you are clean, but not all of you." 013:011 for he knew him who would betray him, therefore he said, "you are not all clean." 013:012 so when he had washed their feet, put his outer garment back on, and sat down again, he said to them, "do you know what i have done to you? 013:013 you call me, 'teacher' and 'lord.' you say so correctly, for so i am. 013:014 if i then, the lord and the teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 013:015 for i have given you an example, that you also should do as i have done to you. 013:016 most certainly i tell you, a servant is not greater than his lord, neither one who is sent greater than he who sent him. 013:017 if you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. 013:018 i don't speak concerning all of you. i know whom i have chosen. but that the scripture may be fulfilled, 'he who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me.'{psalm 41:9} 013:019 from now on, i tell you before it happens, that when it happens, you may believe that i am he. 013:020 most certainly i tell you, he who receives whomever i send, receives me; and he who receives me, receives him who sent me." 013:021 when jesus had said this, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, "most certainly i tell you that one of you will betray me." 013:022 the disciples looked at one another, perplexed about whom he spoke. 013:023 one of his disciples, whom jesus loved, was at the table, leaning against jesus' breast. 013:024 simon peter therefore beckoned to him, and said to him, "tell us who it is of whom he speaks." 013:025 he, leaning back, as he was, on jesus' breast, asked him, "lord, who is it?" 013:026 jesus therefore answered, "it is he to whom i will give this piece of bread when i have dipped it." so when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to judas, the son of simon iscariot. 013:027 after the piece of bread, then satan entered into him. then jesus said to him, "what you do, do quickly." 013:028 now no man at the table knew why he said this to him. 013:029 for some thought, because judas had the money box, that jesus said to him, "buy what things we need for the feast," or that he should give something to the poor. 013:030 therefore, having received that morsel, he went out immediately. it was night. 013:031 when he had gone out, jesus said, "now the son of man has been glorified, and god has been glorified in him. 013:032 if god has been glorified in him, god will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him immediately. 013:033 little children, i will be with you a little while longer. you will seek me, and as i said to the jews, 'where i am going, you can't come,' so now i tell you. 013:034 a new commandment i give to you, that you love one another, just like i have loved you; that you also love one another. 013:035 by this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." 013:036 simon peter said to him, "lord, where are you going?" jesus answered, "where i am going, you can't follow now, but you will follow afterwards." 013:037 peter said to him, "lord, why can't i follow you now? i will lay down my life for you." 013:038 jesus answered him, "will you lay down your life for me? most certainly i tell you, the rooster won't crow until you have denied me three times. 014:001 "don't let your heart be troubled. believe in god. believe also in me. 014:002 in my father's house are many homes. if it weren't so, i would have told you. i am going to prepare a place for you. 014:003 if i go and prepare a place for you, i will come again, and will receive you to myself; that where i am, you may be there also. 014:004 where i go, you know, and you know the way." 014:005 thomas said to him, "lord, we don't know where you are going. how can we know the way?" 014:006 jesus said to him, "i am the way, the truth, and the life. no one comes to the father, except through me. 014:007 if you had known me, you would have known my father also. from now on, you know him, and have seen him." 014:008 philip said to him, "lord, show us the father, and that will be enough for us." 014:009 jesus said to him, "have i been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, philip? he who has seen me has seen the father. how do you say, 'show us the father?' 014:010 don't you believe that i am in the father, and the father in me? the words that i tell you, i speak not from myself; but the father who lives in me does his works. 014:011 believe me that i am in the father, and the father in me; or else believe me for the very works' sake. 014:012 most certainly i tell you, he who believes in me, the works that i do, he will do also; and he will do greater works than these, because i am going to my father. 014:013 whatever you will ask in my name, that will i do, that the father may be glorified in the son. 014:014 if you will ask anything in my name, i will do it. 014:015 if you love me, keep my commandments. 014:016 i will pray to the father, and he will give you another counselor,{greek parakleton: counselor, helper, intercessor, advocate, and comfortor.} that he may be with you forever,-014:017 the spirit of truth, whom the world can't receive; for it doesn't see him, neither knows him. you know him, for he lives with you, and will be in you. 014:018 i will not leave you orphans. i will come to you. 014:019 yet a little while, and the world will see me no more; but you will see me. because i live, you will live also. 014:020 in that day you will know that i am in my father, and you in me, and i in you. 014:021 one who has my commandments, and keeps them, that person is one who loves me. one who loves me will be loved by my father, and i will love him, and will reveal myself to him." 014:022 judas (not iscariot) said to him, "lord, what has happened that you are about to reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?" 014:023 jesus answered him, "if a man loves me, he will keep my word. my father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him. 014:024 he who doesn't love me doesn't keep my words. the word which you hear isn't mine, but the father's who sent me. 014:025 i have said these things to you, while still living with you. 014:026 but the counselor, the holy spirit, whom the father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that i said to you. 014:027 peace i leave with you. my peace i give to you; not as the world gives, give i to you. don't let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful. 014:028 you heard how i told you, 'i go away, and i come to you.' if you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because i said 'i am going to my father;' for the father is greater than i. 014:029 now i have told you before it happens so that, when it happens, you may believe. 014:030 i will no more speak much with you, for the prince of the world comes, and he has nothing in me. 014:031 but that the world may know that i love the father, and as the father commanded me, even so i do. arise, let us go from here. 015:001 "i am the true vine, and my father is the farmer. 015:002 every branch in me that doesn't bear fruit, he takes away. every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 015:003 you are already pruned clean because of the word which i have spoken to you. 015:004 remain in me, and i in you. as the branch can't bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. 015:005 i am the vine. you are the branches. he who remains in me, and i in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 015:006 if a man doesn't remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 015:007 if you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you. 015:008 "in this is my father glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples. 015:009 even as the father has loved me, i also have loved you. remain in my love. 015:010 if you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love; even as i have kept my father's commandments, and remain in his love. 015:011 i have spoken these things to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be made full. 015:012 "this is my commandment, that you love one another, even as i have loved you. 015:013 greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 015:014 you are my friends, if you do whatever i command you. 015:015 no longer do i call you servants, for the servant doesn't know what his lord does. but i have called you friends, for everything that i heard from my father, i have made known to you. 015:016 you didn't choose me, but i chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you will ask of the father in my name, he may give it to you. 015:017 "i command these things to you, that you may love one another. 015:018 if the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you. 015:019 if you were of the world, the world would love its own. but because you are not of the world, since i chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 015:020 remember the word that i said to you: 'a servant is not greater than his lord.'{john 13:16} if they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. 015:021 but all these things will they do to you for my name's sake, because they don't know him who sent me. 015:022 if i had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 015:023 he who hates me, hates my father also. 015:024 if i hadn't done among them the works which no one else did, they wouldn't have had sin. but now have they seen and also hated both me and my father. 015:025 but this happened so that the word may be fulfilled which was written in their law, 'they hated me without a cause.'{psalms 35:19; 69:4} 015:026 "when the counselor{greek parakletos: counselor, helper, advocate, intercessor, and comfortor.} has come, whom i will send to you from the father, the spirit of truth, who proceeds from the father, he will testify about me. 015:027 you will also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning. 016:001 "these things have i spoken to you, so that you wouldn't be caused to stumble. 016:002 they will put you out of the synagogues. yes, the time comes that whoever kills you will think that he offers service to god. 016:003 they will do these things{tr adds "to you"} because they have not known the father, nor me. 016:004 but i have told you these things, so that when the time comes, you may remember that i told you about them. i didn't tell you these things from the beginning, because i was with you. 016:005 but now i am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, 'where are you going?' 016:006 but because i have told you these things, sorrow has filled your heart. 016:007 nevertheless i tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that i go away, for if i don't go away, the counselor won't come to you. but if i go, i will send him to you. 016:008 when he has come, he will convict the world about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment; 016:009 about sin, because they don't believe in me; 016:010 about righteousness, because i am going to my father, and you won't see me any more; 016:011 about judgment, because the prince of this world has been judged. 016:012 "i have yet many things to tell you, but you can't bear them now. 016:013 however when he, the spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself; but whatever he hears, he will speak. he will declare to you things that are coming. 016:014 he will glorify me, for he will take from what is mine, and will declare it to you. 016:015 all things whatever the father has are mine; therefore i said that he takes{tr reads "will take" instead of "takes"} of mine, and will declare it to you. 016:016 a little while, and you will not see me. again a little while, and you will see me." 016:017 some of his disciples therefore said to one another, "what is this that he says to us, 'a little while, and you won't see me, and again a little while, and you will see me;' and, 'because i go to the father?'" 016:018 they said therefore, "what is this that he says, 'a little while?' we don't know what he is saying." 016:019 therefore jesus perceived that they wanted to ask him, and he said to them, "do you inquire among yourselves concerning this, that i said, 'a little while, and you won't see me, and again a little while, and you will see me?' 016:020 most certainly i tell you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. 016:021 a woman, when she gives birth, has sorrow, because her time has come. but when she has delivered the child, she doesn't remember the anguish any more, for the joy that a human being is born into the world. 016:022 therefore you now have sorrow, but i will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. 016:023 "in that day you will ask me no questions. most certainly i tell you, whatever you may ask of the father in my name, he will give it to you. 016:024 until now, you have asked nothing in my name. ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full. 016:025 i have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. but the time is coming when i will no more speak to you in figures of speech, but will tell you plainly about the father. 016:026 in that day you will ask in my name; and i don't say to you, that i will pray to the father for you, 016:027 for the father himself loves you, because you have loved me, and have believed that i came forth from god. 016:028 i came out from the father, and have come into the world. again, i leave the world, and go to the father." 016:029 his disciples said to him, "behold, now you speak plainly, and speak no figures of speech. 016:030 now we know that you know all things, and don't need for anyone to question you. by this we believe that you came forth from god." 016:031 jesus answered them, "do you now believe? 016:032 behold, the time is coming, yes, and has now come, that you will be scattered, everyone to his own place, and you will leave me alone. yet i am not alone, because the father is with me. 016:033 i have told you these things, that in me you may have peace. in the world you have oppression; but cheer up! i have overcome the world." 017:001 jesus said these things, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, "father, the time has come. glorify your son, that your son may also glorify you; 017:002 even as you gave him authority over all flesh, he will give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 017:003 this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true god, and him whom you sent, jesus christ. 017:004 i glorified you on the earth. i have accomplished the work which you have given me to do. 017:005 now, father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which i had with you before the world existed. 017:006 i revealed your name to the people whom you have given me out of the world. they were yours, and you have given them to me. they have kept your word. 017:007 now they have known that all things whatever you have given me are from you, 017:008 for the words which you have given me i have given to them, and they received them, and knew for sure that i came forth from you, and they have believed that you sent me. 017:009 i pray for them. i don't pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 017:010 all things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and i am glorified in them. 017:011 i am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and i am coming to you. holy father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are. 017:012 while i was with them in the world, i kept them in your name. those whom you have given me i have kept. none of them is lost, except the son of destruction, that the scripture might be fulfilled. 017:013 but now i come to you, and i say these things in the world, that they may have my joy made full in themselves. 017:014 i have given them your word. the world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as i am not of the world. 017:015 i pray not that you would take them from the world, but that you would keep them from the evil one. 017:016 they are not of the world even as i am not of the world. 017:017 sanctify them in your truth. your word is truth.{psalm 119:142} 017:018 as you sent me into the world, even so i have sent them into the world. 017:019 for their sakes i sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. 017:020 not for these only do i pray, but for those also who believe in me through their word, 017:021 that they may all be one; even as you, father, are in me, and i in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me. 017:022 the glory which you have given me, i have given to them; that they may be one, even as we are one; 017:023 i in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that you sent me, and loved them, even as you loved me. 017:024 father, i desire that they also whom you have given me be with me where i am, that they may see my glory, which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world. 017:025 righteous father, the world hasn't known you, but i knew you; and these knew that you sent me. 017:026 i made known to them your name, and will make it known; that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and i in them." 018:001 when jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples over the brook kidron, where was a garden, into which he and his disciples entered. 018:002 now judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for jesus often met there with his disciples. 018:003 judas then, having taken a detachment of soldiers and officers from the chief priests and the pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. 018:004 jesus therefore, knowing all the things that were happening to him, went forth, and said to them, "who are you looking for?" 018:005 they answered him, "jesus of nazareth." jesus said to them, "i am he." judas also, who betrayed him, was standing with them. 018:006 when therefore he said to them, "i am he," they went backward, and fell to the ground. 018:007 again therefore he asked them, "who are you looking for?" they said, "jesus of nazareth." 018:008 jesus answered, "i told you that i am he. if therefore you seek me, let these go their way," 018:009 that the word might be fulfilled which he spoke, "of those whom you have given me, i have lost none."{john 6:39} 018:010 simon peter therefore, having a sword, drew it, and struck the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. the servant's name was malchus. 018:011 jesus therefore said to peter, "put the sword into its sheath. the cup which the father has given me, shall i not surely drink it?" 018:012 so the detachment, the commanding officer, and the officers of the jews, seized jesus and bound him, 018:013 and led him to annas first, for he was father-in-law to caiaphas, who was high priest that year. 018:014 now it was caiaphas who advised the jews that it was expedient that one man should perish for the people. 018:015 simon peter followed jesus, as did another disciple. now that disciple was known to the high priest, and entered in with jesus into the court of the high priest; 018:016 but peter was standing at the door outside. so the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to her who kept the door, and brought in peter. 018:017 then the maid who kept the door said to peter, "are you also one of this man's disciples?" he said, "i am not." 018:018 now the servants and the officers were standing there, having made a fire of coals, for it was cold. they were warming themselves. peter was with them, standing and warming himself. 018:019 the high priest therefore asked jesus about his disciples, and about his teaching. 018:020 jesus answered him, "i spoke openly to the world. i always taught in synagogues, and in the temple, where the jews always meet. i said nothing in secret. 018:021 why do you ask me? ask those who have heard me what i said to them. behold, these know the things which i said." 018:022 when he had said this, one of the officers standing by slapped jesus with his hand, saying, "do you answer the high priest like that?" 018:023 jesus answered him, "if i have spoken evil, testify of the evil; but if well, why do you beat me?" 018:024 annas sent him bound to caiaphas, the high priest. 018:025 now simon peter was standing and warming himself. they said therefore to him, "you aren't also one of his disciples, are you?" he denied it, and said, "i am not." 018:026 one of the servants of the high priest, being a relative of him whose ear peter had cut off, said, "didn't i see you in the garden with him?" 018:027 peter therefore denied it again, and immediately the rooster crowed. 018:028 they led jesus therefore from caiaphas into the praetorium. it was early, and they themselves didn't enter into the praetorium, that they might not be defiled, but might eat the passover. 018:029 pilate therefore went out to them, and said, "what accusation do you bring against this man?" 018:030 they answered him, "if this man weren't an evildoer, we wouldn't have delivered him up to you." 018:031 pilate therefore said to them, "take him yourselves, and judge him according to your law." therefore the jews said to him, "it is not lawful for us to put anyone to death," 018:032 that the word of jesus might be fulfilled, which he spoke, signifying by what kind of death he should die. 018:033 pilate therefore entered again into the praetorium, called jesus, and said to him, "are you the king of the jews?" 018:034 jesus answered him, "do you say this by yourself, or did others tell you about me?" 018:035 pilate answered, "i'm not a jew, am i? your own nation and the chief priests delivered you to me. what have you done?" 018:036 jesus answered, "my kingdom is not of this world. if my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would fight, that i wouldn't be delivered to the jews. but now my kingdom is not from here." 018:037 pilate therefore said to him, "are you a king then?" jesus answered, "you say that i am a king. for this reason i have been born, and for this reason i have come into the world, that i should testify to the truth. everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice." 018:038 pilate said to him, "what is truth?" when he had said this, he went out again to the jews, and said to them, "i find no basis for a charge against him. 018:039 but you have a custom, that i should release someone to you at the passover. therefore do you want me to release to you the king of the jews?" 018:040 then they all shouted again, saying, "not this man, but barabbas!" now barabbas was a robber. 019:001 so pilate then took jesus, and flogged him. 019:002 the soldiers twisted thorns into a crown, and put it on his head, and dressed him in a purple garment. 019:003 they kept saying, "hail, king of the jews!" and they kept slapping him. 019:004 then pilate went out again, and said to them, "behold, i bring him out to you, that you may know that i find no basis for a charge against him." 019:005 jesus therefore came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment. pilate said to them, "behold, the man!" 019:006 when therefore the chief priests and the officers saw him, they shouted, saying, "crucify! crucify!" pilate said to them, "take him yourselves, and crucify him, for i find no basis for a charge against him." 019:007 the jews answered him, "we have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the son of god." 019:008 when therefore pilate heard this saying, he was more afraid. 019:009 he entered into the praetorium again, and said to jesus, "where are you from?" but jesus gave him no answer. 019:010 pilate therefore said to him, "aren't you speaking to me? don't you know that i have power to release you, and have power to crucify you?" 019:011 jesus answered, "you would have no power at all against me, unless it were given to you from above. therefore he who delivered me to you has greater sin." 019:012 at this, pilate was seeking to release him, but the jews cried out, saying, "if you release this man, you aren't caesar's friend! everyone who makes himself a king speaks against caesar!" 019:013 when pilate therefore heard these words, he brought jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called "the pavement," but in hebrew, "gabbatha." 019:014 now it was the preparation day of the passover, at about the sixth hour.{noon} he said to the jews, "behold, your king!" 019:015 they cried out, "away with him! away with him! crucify him!" pilate said to them, "shall i crucify your king?" the chief priests answered, "we have no king but caesar!" 019:016 so then he delivered him to them to be crucified. so they took jesus and led him away. 019:017 he went out, bearing his cross, to the place called "the place of a skull," which is called in hebrew, "golgotha," 019:018 where they crucified him, and with him two others, on either side one, and jesus in the middle. 019:019 pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the cross. there was written, "jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews." 019:020 therefore many of the jews read this title, for the place where jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in hebrew, in latin, and in greek. 019:021 the chief priests of the jews therefore said to pilate, "don't write, 'the king of the jews,' but, 'he said, i am king of the jews.'" 019:022 pilate answered, "what i have written, i have written." 019:023 then the soldiers, when they had crucified jesus, took his garments and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also the coat. now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. 019:024 then they said to one another, "let's not tear it, but cast lots for it to decide whose it will be," that the scripture might be fulfilled, which says, "they parted my garments among them. for my cloak they cast lots."{psalm 22:18} therefore the soldiers did these things. 019:025 but there were standing by the cross of jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, mary the wife of clopas, and mary magdalene. 019:026 therefore when jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing there, he said to his mother, "woman, behold your son!" 019:027 then he said to the disciple, "behold, your mother!" from that hour, the disciple took her to his own home. 019:028 after this, jesus, seeing{nu, tr read "knowing" instead of "seeing"} that all things were now finished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, said, "i am thirsty." 019:029 now a vessel full of vinegar was set there; so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop, and held it at his mouth. 019:030 when jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, "it is finished." he bowed his head, and gave up his spirit. 019:031 therefore the jews, because it was the preparation day, so that the bodies wouldn't remain on the cross on the sabbath (for that sabbath was a special one), asked of pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. 019:032 therefore the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who was crucified with him; 019:033 but when they came to jesus, and saw that he was already dead, they didn't break his legs. 019:034 however one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 019:035 he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true. he knows that he tells the truth, that you may believe. 019:036 for these things happened, that the scripture might be fulfilled, "a bone of him will not be broken."{exodus 12:46; numbers 9:12; psalm 34:20} 019:037 again another scripture says, "they will look on him whom they pierced."{zechariah 12:10} 019:038 after these things, joseph of arimathaea, being a disciple of jesus, but secretly for fear of the jews, asked of pilate that he might take away jesus' body. pilate gave him permission. he came therefore and took away his body. 019:039 nicodemus, who at first came to jesus by night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.{100 roman pounds of 12 ounces each, or about 72 pounds, or 33 kilograms.} 019:040 so they took jesus' body, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as the custom of the jews is to bury. 019:041 now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden. in the garden was a new tomb in which no man had ever yet been laid. 019:042 then because of the jews' preparation day (for the tomb was near at hand) they laid jesus there. 020:001 now on the first day of the week, mary magdalene went early, while it was still dark, to the tomb, and saw the stone taken away from the tomb. 020:002 therefore she ran and came to simon peter, and to the other disciple whom jesus loved, and said to them, "they have taken away the lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have laid him!" 020:003 therefore peter and the other disciple went out, and they went toward the tomb. 020:004 they both ran together. the other disciple outran peter, and came to the tomb first. 020:005 stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths lying, yet he didn't enter in. 020:006 then simon peter came, following him, and entered into the tomb. he saw the linen cloths lying, 020:007 and the cloth that had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but rolled up in a place by itself. 020:008 so then the other disciple who came first to the tomb also entered in, and he saw and believed. 020:009 for as yet they didn't know the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 020:010 so the disciples went away again to their own homes. 020:011 but mary was standing outside at the tomb weeping. so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb, 020:012 and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of jesus had lain. 020:013 they told her, "woman, why are you weeping?" she said to them, "because they have taken away my lord, and i don't know where they have laid him." 020:014 when she had said this, she turned around and saw jesus standing, and didn't know that it was jesus. 020:015 jesus said to her, "woman, why are you weeping? who are you looking for?" she, supposing him to be the gardener, said to him, "sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and i will take him away." 020:016 jesus said to her, "mary." she turned and said to him, "rhabbouni!" which is to say, "teacher!" 020:017 jesus said to her, "don't touch me, for i haven't yet ascended to my father; but go to my brothers, and tell them, 'i am ascending to my father and your father, to my god and your god.'" 020:018 mary magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the lord, and that he had said these things to her. 020:019 when therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were locked where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the jews, jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "peace be to you." 020:020 when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. the disciples therefore were glad when they saw the lord. 020:021 jesus therefore said to them again, "peace be to you. as the father has sent me, even so i send you." 020:022 when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, "receive the holy spirit! 020:023 whoever's sins you forgive, they are forgiven them. whoever's sins you retain, they have been retained." 020:024 but thomas, one of the twelve, called didymus, wasn't with them when jesus came. 020:025 the other disciples therefore said to him, "we have seen the lord!" but he said to them, "unless i see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, i will not believe." 020:026 after eight days again his disciples were inside, and thomas was with them. jesus came, the doors being locked, and stood in the midst, and said, "peace be to you." 020:027 then he said to thomas, "reach here your finger, and see my hands. reach here your hand, and put it into my side. don't be unbelieving, but believing." 020:028 thomas answered him, "my lord and my god!" 020:029 jesus said to him, "because you have seen me,{tr adds " thomas,"} you have believed. blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed." 020:030 therefore jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book; 020:031 but these are written, that you may believe that jesus is the christ, the son of god, and that believing you may have life in his name. 021:001 after these things, jesus revealed himself again to the disciples at the sea of tiberias. he revealed himself this way. 021:002 simon peter, thomas called didymus, nathanael of cana in galilee, and the sons of zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. 021:003 simon peter said to them, "i'm going fishing." they told him, "we are also coming with you." they immediately went out, and entered into the boat. that night, they caught nothing. 021:004 but when day had already come, jesus stood on the beach, yet the disciples didn't know that it was jesus. 021:005 jesus therefore said to them, "children, have you anything to eat?" they answered him, "no." 021:006 he said to them, "cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." they cast it therefore, and now they weren't able to draw it in for the multitude of fish. 021:007 that disciple therefore whom jesus loved said to peter, "it's the lord!" so when simon peter heard that it was the lord, he wrapped his coat around him (for he was naked), and threw himself into the sea. 021:008 but the other disciples came in the little boat (for they were not far from the land, but about two hundred cubits{200 cubits is about 100 yards or about 91 meters} away), dragging the net full of fish. 021:009 so when they got out on the land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread. 021:010 jesus said to them, "bring some of the fish which you have just caught." 021:011 simon peter went up, and drew the net to land, full of great fish, one hundred fifty-three; and even though there were so many, the net wasn't torn. 021:012 jesus said to them, "come and eat breakfast." none of the disciples dared inquire of him, "who are you?" knowing that it was the lord. 021:013 then jesus came and took the bread, gave it to them, and the fish likewise. 021:014 this is now the third time that jesus was revealed to his disciples, after he had risen from the dead. 021:015 so when they had eaten their breakfast, jesus said to simon peter, "simon, son of jonah, do you love me more than these?" he said to him, "yes, lord; you know that i have affection for you." he said to him, "feed my lambs." 021:016 he said to him again a second time, "simon, son of jonah, do you love me?" he said to him, "yes, lord; you know that i have affection for you." he said to him, "tend my sheep." 021:017 he said to him the third time, "simon, son of jonah, do you have affection for me?" peter was grieved because he asked him the third time, "do you have affection for me?" he said to him, "lord, you know everything. you know that i have affection for you." jesus said to him, "feed my sheep. 021:018 most certainly i tell you, when you were young, you dressed yourself, and walked where you wanted to. but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you, and carry you where you don't want to go." 021:019 now he said this, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify god. when he had said this, he said to him, "follow me." 021:020 then peter, turning around, saw a disciple following. this was the disciple whom jesus sincerely loved, the one who had also leaned on jesus' breast at the supper and asked, "lord, who is going to betray you?" 021:021 peter seeing him, said to jesus, "lord, what about this man?" 021:022 jesus said to him, "if i desire that he stay until i come, what is that to you? you follow me." 021:023 this saying therefore went out among the brothers{the word for "brothers" here may be also correctly translated "brothers and sisters" or "siblings."}, that this disciple wouldn't die. yet jesus didn't say to him that he wouldn't die, but, "if i desire that he stay until i come, what is that to you?" 021:024 this is the disciple who testifies about these things, and wrote these things. we know that his witness is true. 021:025 there are also many other things which jesus did, which if they would all be written, i suppose that even the world itself wouldn't have room for the books that would be written. this ebook was produced by david widger with the help of derek andrew's text from january 1992 and the work of bryan taylor in november 2002. book 43 john 43:001:001 in the beginning was the word, and the word was with god, and the word was god. 43:001:002 the same was in the beginning with god. 43:001:003 all things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 43:001:004 in him was life; and the life was the light of men. 43:001:005 and the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 43:001:006 there was a man sent from god, whose name was john. 43:001:007 the same came for a witness, to bear witness of the light, that all men through him might believe. 43:001:008 he was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. 43:001:009 that was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. 43:001:010 he was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 43:001:011 he came unto his own, and his own received him not. 43:001:012 but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of god, even to them that believe on his name: 43:001:013 which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of god. 43:001:014 and the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the father,) full of grace and truth. 43:001:015 john bare witness of him, and cried, saying, this was he of whom i spake, he that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. 43:001:016 and of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. 43:001:017 for the law was given by moses, but grace and truth came by jesus christ. 43:001:018 no man hath seen god at any time, the only begotten son, which is in the bosom of the father, he hath declared him. 43:001:019 and this is the record of john, when the jews sent priests and levites from jerusalem to ask him, who art thou? 43:001:020 and he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, i am not the christ. 43:001:021 and they asked him, what then? art thou elias? and he saith, i am not. art thou that prophet? and he answered, no. 43:001:022 then said they unto him, who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. what sayest thou of thyself? 43:001:023 he said, i am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the lord, as said the prophet esaias. 43:001:024 and they which were sent were of the pharisees. 43:001:025 and they asked him, and said unto him, why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that christ, nor elias, neither that prophet? 43:001:026 john answered them, saying, i baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; 43:001:027 he it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet i am not worthy to unloose. 43:001:028 these things were done in bethabara beyond jordan, where john was baptizing. 43:001:029 the next day john seeth jesus coming unto him, and saith, behold the lamb of god, which taketh away the sin of the world. 43:001:030 this is he of whom i said, after me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. 43:001:031 and i knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to israel, therefore am i come baptizing with water. 43:001:032 and john bare record, saying, i saw the spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. 43:001:033 and i knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, upon whom thou shalt see the spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the holy ghost. 43:001:034 and i saw, and bare record that this is the son of god. 43:001:035 again the next day after john stood, and two of his disciples; 43:001:036 and looking upon jesus as he walked, he saith, behold the lamb of god! 43:001:037 and the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed jesus. 43:001:038 then jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, what seek ye? they said unto him, rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, master,) where dwellest thou? 43:001:039 he saith unto them, come and see. they came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour. 43:001:040 one of the two which heard john speak, and followed him, was andrew, simon peter's brother. 43:001:041 he first findeth his own brother simon, and saith unto him, we have found the messias, which is, being interpreted, the christ. 43:001:042 and he brought him to jesus. 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. 43:001:043 the day following jesus would go forth into galilee, and findeth philip, and saith unto him, follow me. 43:001:044 now philip was of bethsaida, the city of andrew and peter. 43:001:045 philip findeth nathanael, and saith unto him, we have found him, of whom moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, jesus of nazareth, the son of joseph. 43:001:046 and nathanael said unto him, can there any good thing come out of nazareth? philip saith unto him, come and see. 43:001:047 jesus saw nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, behold an israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! 43:001:048 nathanael saith unto him, whence knowest thou me? jesus answered and said unto him, before that philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, i saw thee. 43:001:049 nathanael answered and saith unto him, rabbi, thou art the son of god; thou art the king of israel. 43:001:050 jesus answered and said unto him, because i said unto thee, i saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. 43:001:051 and he saith unto him, verily, verily, i say unto you, hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of god ascending and descending upon the son of man. 43:002:001 and the third day there was a marriage in cana of galilee; and the mother of jesus was there: 43:002:002 and both jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. 43:002:003 and when they wanted wine, the mother of jesus saith unto him, they have no wine. 43:002:004 jesus saith unto her, woman, what have i to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. 43:002:005 his mother saith unto the servants, whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. 43:002:006 and there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. 43:002:007 jesus saith unto them, fill the waterpots with water. and they filled them up to the brim. 43:002:008 and he saith unto them, draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. and they bare it. 43:002:009 when the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, 43:002:010 and saith unto him, every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. 43:002:011 this beginning of miracles did jesus in cana of galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him. 43:002:012 after this he went down to capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days. 43:002:013 and the jews' passover was at hand, and jesus went up to jerusalem. 43:002:014 and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: 43:002:015 and when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; 43:002:016 and said unto them that sold doves, take these things hence; make not my father's house an house of merchandise. 43:002:017 and his disciples remembered that it was written, the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. 43:002:018 then answered the jews and said unto him, what sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? 43:002:019 jesus answered and said unto them, destroy this temple, and in three days i will raise it up. 43:002:020 then said the jews, forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 43:002:021 but he spake of the temple of his body. 43:002:022 when therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which jesus had said. 43:002:023 now when he was in jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. 43:002:024 but jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, 43:002:025 and needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man. 43:003:001 there was a man of the pharisees, named nicodemus, a ruler of the jews: 43:003:002 the same came to jesus by night, and said unto him, rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from god: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except god be with him. 43:003:003 jesus answered and said unto him, verily, verily, i say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of god. 43:003:004 nicodemus saith unto him, how can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? 43:003:005 jesus answered, verily, verily, i say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of god. 43:003:006 that which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. 43:003:007 marvel not that i said unto thee, ye must be born again. 43:003:008 the wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the spirit. 43:003:009 nicodemus answered and said unto him, how can these things be? 43:003:010 jesus answered and said unto him, art thou a master of israel, and knowest not these things? 43:003:011 verily, verily, i say unto thee, we speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. 43:003:012 if i have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if i tell you of heavenly things? 43:003:013 and no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the son of man which is in heaven. 43:003:014 and as moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up: 43:003:015 that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 43:003:016 for god so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 43:003:017 for god sent not his son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 43:003:018 he that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten son of god. 43:003:019 and this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 43:003:020 for every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 43:003:021 but he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in god. 43:003:022 after these things came jesus and his disciples into the land of judaea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized. 43:003:023 and john also was baptizing in aenon near to salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized. 43:003:024 for john was not yet cast into prison. 43:003:025 then there arose a question between some of john's disciples and the jews about purifying. 43:003:026 and they came unto john, and said unto him, rabbi, he that was with thee beyond jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. 43:003:027 john answered and said, a man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. 43:003:028 ye yourselves bear me witness, that i said, i am not the christ, but that i am sent before him. 43:003:029 he that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. 43:003:030 he must increase, but i must decrease. 43:003:031 he that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all. 43:003:032 and what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony. 43:003:033 he that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that god is true. 43:003:034 for he whom god hath sent speaketh the words of god: for god giveth not the spirit by measure unto him. 43:003:035 the father loveth the son, and hath given all things into his hand. 43:003:036 he that believeth on the son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the son shall not see life; but the wrath of god abideth on him. 43:004:001 when therefore the lord knew how the pharisees had heard that jesus made and baptized more disciples than john, 43:004:002 (though jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,) 43:004:003 he left judaea, and departed again into galilee. 43:004:004 and he must needs go through samaria. 43:004:005 then cometh he to a city of samaria, which is called sychar, near to the parcel of ground that jacob gave to his son joseph. 43:004:006 now jacob's well was there. jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. 43:004:007 there cometh a woman of samaria to draw water: jesus saith unto her, give me to drink. 43:004:008 (for his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) 43:004:009 then saith the woman of samaria unto him, how is it that thou, being a jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of samaria? for the jews have no dealings with the samaritans. 43:004:010 jesus answered and said unto her, if thou knewest the gift of god, and who it is that saith to thee, give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. 43:004:011 the woman saith unto him, sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? 43:004:012 art thou greater than our father jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? 43:004:013 jesus answered and said unto her, whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 43:004:014 but whosoever drinketh of the water that i shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that i shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. 43:004:015 the woman saith unto him, sir, give me this water, that i thirst not, neither come hither to draw. 43:004:016 jesus saith unto her, go, call thy husband, and come hither. 43:004:017 the woman answered and said, i have no husband. jesus said unto her, thou hast well said, i have no husband: 43:004:018 for thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. 43:004:019 the woman saith unto him, sir, i perceive that thou art a prophet. 43:004:020 our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 43:004:021 jesus saith unto her, woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at jerusalem, worship the father. 43:004:022 ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the jews. 43:004:023 but 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. 43:004:024 god is a spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. 43:004:025 the woman saith unto him, i know that messias cometh, which is called christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. 43:004:026 jesus saith unto her, i that speak unto thee am he. 43:004:027 and upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, what seekest thou? or, why talkest thou with her? 43:004:028 the woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, 43:004:029 come, see a man, which told me all things that ever i did: is not this the christ? 43:004:030 then they went out of the city, and came unto him. 43:004:031 in the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, master, eat. 43:004:032 but he said unto them, i have meat to eat that ye know not of. 43:004:033 therefore said the disciples one to another, hath any man brought him ought to eat? 43:004:034 jesus saith unto them, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. 43:004:035 say not ye, there are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, i say unto you, lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. 43:004:036 and he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. 43:004:037 and herein is that saying true, one soweth, and another reapeth. 43:004:038 i sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours. 43:004:039 and many of the samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, he told me all that ever i did. 43:004:040 so when the samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days. 43:004:041 and many more believed because of his own word; 43:004:042 and said unto the woman, now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the christ, the saviour of the world. 43:004:043 now after two days he departed thence, and went into galilee. 43:004:044 for jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country. 43:004:045 then when he was come into galilee, the galilaeans received him, having seen all the things that he did at jerusalem at the feast: for they also went unto the feast. 43:004:046 so jesus came again into cana of galilee, where he made the water wine. and there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at capernaum. 43:004:047 when he heard that jesus was come out of judaea into galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death. 43:004:048 then said jesus unto him, except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. 43:004:049 the nobleman saith unto him, sir, come down ere my child die. 43:004:050 jesus saith unto him, go thy way; thy son liveth. and the man believed the word that jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. 43:004:051 and as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, thy son liveth. 43:004:052 then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. and they said unto him, yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. 43:004:053 so the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which jesus said unto him, thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house. 43:004:054 this is again the second miracle that jesus did, when he was come out of judaea into galilee. 43:005:001 after this there was a feast of the jews; and jesus went up to jerusalem. 43:005:002 now there is at jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the hebrew tongue bethesda, having five porches. 43:005:003 in these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. 43:005:004 for an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. 43:005:005 and a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. 43:005:006 when jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, wilt thou be made whole? 43:005:007 the impotent man answered him, sir, i have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while i am coming, another steppeth down before me. 43:005:008 jesus saith unto him, rise, take up thy bed, and walk. 43:005:009 and immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath. 43:005:010 the jews therefore said unto him that was cured, it is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. 43:005:011 he answered them, he that made me whole, the same said unto me, take up thy bed, and walk. 43:005:012 then asked they him, what man is that which said unto thee, take up thy bed, and walk? 43:005:013 and he that was healed wist not who it was: for jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place. 43:005:014 afterward jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. 43:005:015 the man departed, and told the jews that it was jesus, which had made him whole. 43:005:016 and therefore did the jews persecute jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day. 43:005:017 but jesus answered them, my father worketh hitherto, and i work. 43:005:018 therefore the jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that god was his father, making himself equal with god. 43:005:019 then answered jesus and said unto them, verily, verily, i say unto you, the son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the son likewise. 43:005:020 for the father loveth the son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. 43:005:021 for as the father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the son quickeneth whom he will. 43:005:022 for the father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the son: 43:005:023 that all men should honour the son, even as they honour the father. he that honoureth not the son honoureth not the father which hath sent him. 43:005:024 verily, verily, i say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. 43:005:025 verily, verily, i say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the son of god: and they that hear shall live. 43:005:026 for as the father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the son to have life in himself; 43:005:027 and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the son of man. 43:005:028 marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 43:005:029 and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. 43:005:030 i can of mine own self do nothing: as i hear, i judge: and my judgment is just; because i seek not mine own will, but the will of the father which hath sent me. 43:005:031 if i bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. 43:005:032 there is another that beareth witness of me; and i know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true. 43:005:033 ye sent unto john, and he bare witness unto the truth. 43:005:034 but i receive not testimony from man: but these things i say, that ye might be saved. 43:005:035 he was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. 43:005:036 but i have greater witness than that of john: for the works which the father hath given me to finish, the same works that i do, bear witness of me, that the father hath sent me. 43:005:037 and the father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. 43:005:038 and ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. 43:005:039 search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. 43:005:040 and ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. 43:005:041 i receive not honour from men. 43:005:042 but i know you, that ye have not the love of god in you. 43:005:043 i am come in my father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. 43:005:044 how can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from god only? 43:005:045 do not think that i will accuse you to the father: there is one that accuseth you, even moses, in whom ye trust. 43:005:046 for had ye believed moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me. 43:005:047 but if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words? 43:006:001 after these things jesus went over the sea of galilee, which is the sea of tiberias. 43:006:002 and a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. 43:006:003 and jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. 43:006:004 and the passover, a feast of the jews, was nigh. 43:006:005 when jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto philip, whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? 43:006:006 and this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. 43:006:007 philip answered him, two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. 43:006:008 one of his disciples, andrew, simon peter's brother, saith unto him, 43:006:009 there is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? 43:006:010 and jesus said, make the men sit down. now there was much grass in the place. so the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 43:006:011 and jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. 43:006:012 when they were filled, he said unto his disciples, gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. 43:006:013 therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. 43:006:014 then those men, when they had seen the miracle that jesus did, said, this is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world. 43:006:015 when jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone. 43:006:016 and when even was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea, 43:006:017 and entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward capernaum. and it was now dark, and jesus was not come to them. 43:006:018 and the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew. 43:006:019 so when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid. 43:006:020 but he saith unto them, it is i; be not afraid. 43:006:021 then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went. 43:006:022 the day following, when the people which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was none other boat there, save that one whereinto his disciples were entered, and that jesus went not with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples were gone away alone; 43:006:023 (howbeit there came other boats from tiberias nigh unto the place where they did eat bread, after that the lord had given thanks:) 43:006:024 when the people therefore saw that jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they also took shipping, and came to capernaum, seeking for jesus. 43:006:025 and when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, rabbi, when camest thou hither? 43:006:026 jesus answered them and said, verily, verily, i say unto you, ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. 43:006:027 labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the son of man shall give unto you: for him hath god the father sealed. 43:006:028 then said they unto him, what shall we do, that we might work the works of god? 43:006:029 jesus answered and said unto them, this is the work of god, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. 43:006:030 they said therefore unto him, what sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work? 43:006:031 our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, he gave them bread from heaven to eat. 43:006:032 then jesus said unto them, verily, verily, i say unto you, moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 43:006:033 for the bread of god is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. 43:006:034 then said they unto him, lord, evermore give us this bread. 43:006:035 and jesus said unto them, i am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. 43:006:036 but i said unto you, that ye also have seen me, and believe not. 43:006:037 all that the father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me i will in no wise cast out. 43:006:038 for i came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 43:006:039 and this is the father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me i should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 43:006:040 and this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and i will raise him up at the last day. 43:006:041 the jews then murmured at him, because he said, i am the bread which came down from heaven. 43:006:042 and they said, is not this jesus, the son of joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, i came down from heaven? 43:006:043 jesus therefore answered and said unto them, murmur not among yourselves. 43:006:044 no man can come to me, except the father which hath sent me draw him: and i will raise him up at the last day. 43:006:045 it is written in the prophets, and they shall be all taught of god. every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the father, cometh unto me. 43:006:046 not that any man hath seen the father, save he which is of god, he hath seen the father. 43:006:047 verily, verily, i say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. 43:006:048 i am that bread of life. 43:006:049 your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 43:006:050 this is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 43:006:051 i am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that i will give is my flesh, which i will give for the life of the world. 43:006:052 the jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat? 43:006:053 then jesus said unto them, verily, verily, i say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 43:006:054 whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and i will raise him up at the last day. 43:006:055 for my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 43:006:056 he that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and i in him. 43:006:057 as the living father hath sent me, and i live by the father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. 43:006:058 this is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. 43:006:059 these things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in capernaum. 43:006:060 many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, this is an hard saying; who can hear it? 43:006:061 when jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, doth this offend you? 43:006:062 what and if ye shall see the son of man ascend up where he was before? 43:006:063 it is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that i speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. 43:006:064 but there are some of you that believe not. for jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. 43:006:065 and he said, therefore said i unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my father. 43:006:066 from that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. 43:006:067 then said jesus unto the twelve, will ye also go away? 43:006:068 then simon peter answered him, lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 43:006:069 and we believe and are sure that thou art that christ, the son of the living god. 43:006:070 jesus answered them, have not i chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? 43:006:071 he spake of judas iscariot the son of simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve. 43:007:001 after these things jesus walked in galilee: for he would not walk in jewry, because the jews sought to kill him. 43:007:002 now the jew's feast of tabernacles was at hand. 43:007:003 his brethren therefore said unto him, depart hence, and go into judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest. 43:007:004 for there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. if thou do these things, shew thyself to the world. 43:007:005 for neither did his brethren believe in him. 43:007:006 then jesus said unto them, my time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready. 43:007:007 the world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because i testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. 43:007:008 go ye up unto this feast: i go not up yet unto this feast: for my time is not yet full come. 43:007:009 when he had said these words unto them, he abode still in galilee. 43:007:010 but when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. 43:007:011 then the jews sought him at the feast, and said, where is he? 43:007:012 and there was much murmuring among the people concerning him: for some said, he is a good man: others said, nay; but he deceiveth the people. 43:007:013 howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the jews. 43:007:014 now about the midst of the feast jesus went up into the temple, and taught. 43:007:015 and the jews marvelled, saying, how knoweth this man letters, having never learned? 43:007:016 jesus answered them, and said, my doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. 43:007:017 if any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of god, or whether i speak of myself. 43:007:018 he that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. 43:007:019 did not moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? why go ye about to kill me? 43:007:020 the people answered and said, thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee? 43:007:021 jesus answered and said unto them, i have done one work, and ye all marvel. 43:007:022 moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of moses, but of the fathers;) and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man. 43:007:023 if a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because i have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day? 43:007:024 judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. 43:007:025 then said some of them of jerusalem, is not this he, whom they seek to kill? 43:007:026 but, lo, he speaketh boldly, and they say nothing unto him. do the rulers know indeed that this is the very christ? 43:007:027 howbeit we know this man whence he is: but when christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is. 43:007:028 then cried jesus in the temple as he taught, saying, ye both know me, and ye know whence i am: and i am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not. 43:007:029 but i know him: for i am from him, and he hath sent me. 43:007:030 then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come. 43:007:031 and many of the people believed on him, and said, when christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done? 43:007:032 the pharisees heard that the people murmured such things concerning him; and the pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him. 43:007:033 then said jesus unto them, yet a little while am i with you, and then i go unto him that sent me. 43:007:034 ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where i am, thither ye cannot come. 43:007:035 then said the jews among themselves, whither will he go, that we shall not find him? will he go unto the dispersed among the gentiles, and teach the gentiles? 43:007:036 what manner of saying is this that he said, ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where i am, thither ye cannot come? 43:007:037 in the last day, that great day of the feast, jesus stood and cried, saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 43:007:038 he that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 43:007:039 (but this spake he of the spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the holy ghost was not yet given; because that jesus was not yet glorified.) 43:007:040 many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, of a truth this is the prophet. 43:007:041 others said, this is the christ. but some said, shall christ come out of galilee? 43:007:042 hath not the scripture said, that christ cometh of the seed of david, and out of the town of bethlehem, where david was? 43:007:043 so there was a division among the people because of him. 43:007:044 and some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him. 43:007:045 then came the officers to the chief priests and pharisees; and they said unto them, why have ye not brought him? 43:007:046 the officers answered, never man spake like this man. 43:007:047 then answered them the pharisees, are ye also deceived? 43:007:048 have any of the rulers or of the pharisees believed on him? 43:007:049 but this people who knoweth not the law are cursed. 43:007:050 nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to jesus by night, being one of them,) 43:007:051 doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth? 43:007:052 they answered and said unto him, art thou also of galilee? search, and look: for out of galilee ariseth no prophet. 43:007:053 and every man went unto his own house. 43:008:001 jesus went unto the mount of olives. 43:008:002 and early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. 43:008:003 and the scribes and pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, 43:008:004 they say unto him, master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. 43:008:005 now moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? 43:008:006 this they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. but jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. 43:008:007 so when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. 43:008:008 and again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. 43:008:009 and they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 43:008:010 when jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? 43:008:011 she said, no man, lord. and jesus said unto her, neither do i condemn thee: go, and sin no more. 43:008:012 then spake jesus again unto them, saying, i am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. 43:008:013 the pharisees therefore said unto him, thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true. 43:008:014 jesus answered and said unto them, though i bear record of myself, yet my record is true: for i know whence i came, and whither i go; but ye cannot tell whence i come, and whither i go. 43:008:015 ye judge after the flesh; i judge no man. 43:008:016 and yet if i judge, my judgment is true: for i am not alone, but i and the father that sent me. 43:008:017 it is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true. 43:008:018 i am one that bear witness of myself, and the father that sent me beareth witness of me. 43:008:019 then said they unto him, where is thy father? jesus answered, ye neither know me, nor my father: if ye had known me, ye should have known my father also. 43:008:020 these words spake jesus in the treasury, as he taught in the temple: and no man laid hands on him; for his hour was not yet come. 43:008:021 then said jesus again unto them, i go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither i go, ye cannot come. 43:008:022 then said the jews, will he kill himself? because he saith, whither i go, ye cannot come. 43:008:023 and he said unto them, ye are from beneath; i am from above: ye are of this world; i am not of this world. 43:008:024 i said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that i am he, ye shall die in your sins. 43:008:025 then said they unto him, who art thou? and jesus saith unto them, even the same that i said unto you from the beginning. 43:008:026 i have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and i speak to the world those things which i have heard of him. 43:008:027 they understood not that he spake to them of the father. 43:008:028 then said jesus unto them, when ye have lifted up the son of man, then shall ye know that i am he, and that i do nothing of myself; but as my father hath taught me, i speak these things. 43:008:029 and he that sent me is with me: the father hath not left me alone; for i do always those things that please him. 43:008:030 as he spake these words, many believed on him. 43:008:031 then said jesus to those jews which believed on him, if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 43:008:032 and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. 43:008:033 they answered him, we be abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, ye shall be made free? 43:008:034 jesus answered them, verily, verily, i say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 43:008:035 and the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the son abideth ever. 43:008:036 if the son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. 43:008:037 i know that ye are abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. 43:008:038 i speak that which i have seen with my father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. 43:008:039 they answered and said unto him, abraham is our father. jesus saith unto them, if ye were abraham's children, ye would do the works of abraham. 43:008:040 but now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which i have heard of god: this did not abraham. 43:008:041 ye do the deeds of your father. then said they to him, we be not born of fornication; we have one father, even god. 43:008:042 jesus said unto them, if god were your father, ye would love me: for i proceeded forth and came from god; neither came i of myself, but he sent me. 43:008:043 why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. 43:008:044 ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. he was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. when he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 43:008:045 and because i tell you the truth, ye believe me not. 43:008:046 which of you convinceth me of sin? and if i say the truth, why do ye not believe me? 43:008:047 he that is of god heareth god's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of god. 43:008:048 then answered the jews, and said unto him, say we not well that thou art a samaritan, and hast a devil? 43:008:049 jesus answered, i have not a devil; but i honour my father, and ye do dishonour me. 43:008:050 and i seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth. 43:008:051 verily, verily, i say unto you, if a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. 43:008:052 then said the jews unto him, now we know that thou hast a devil. abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, if a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. 43:008:053 art thou greater than our father abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself? 43:008:054 jesus answered, if i honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your god: 43:008:055 yet ye have not known him; but i know him: and if i should say, i know him not, i shall be a liar like unto you: but i know him, and keep his saying. 43:008:056 your father abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. 43:008:057 then said the jews unto him, thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen abraham? 43:008:058 jesus said unto them, verily, verily, i say unto you, before abraham was, i am. 43:008:059 then took they up stones to cast at him: but jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. 43:009:001 and as jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. 43:009:002 and his disciples asked him, saying, master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? 43:009:003 jesus answered, neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of god should be made manifest in him. 43:009:004 i must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. 43:009:005 as long as i am in the world, i am the light of the world. 43:009:006 when he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, 43:009:007 and said unto him, go, wash in the pool of siloam, (which is by interpretation, sent.) he went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. 43:009:008 the neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, is not this he that sat and begged? 43:009:009 some said, this is he: others said, he is like him: but he said, i am he. 43:009:010 therefore said they unto him, how were thine eyes opened? 43:009:011 he answered and said, a man that is called jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, go to the pool of siloam, and wash: and i went and washed, and i received sight. 43:009:012 then said they unto him, where is he? he said, i know not. 43:009:013 they brought to the pharisees him that aforetime was blind. 43:009:014 and it was the sabbath day when jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes. 43:009:015 then again the pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. he said unto them, he put clay upon mine eyes, and i washed, and do see. 43:009:016 therefore said some of the pharisees, this man is not of god, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. others said, how can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? and there was a division among them. 43:009:017 they say unto the blind man again, what sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? he said, he is a prophet. 43:009:018 but the jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight. 43:009:019 and they asked them, saying, is this your son, who ye say was born blind? how then doth he now see? 43:009:020 his parents answered them and said, we know that this is our son, and that he was born blind: 43:009:021 but by what means he now seeth, we know not; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not: he is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself. 43:009:022 these words spake his parents, because they feared the jews: for the jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. 43:009:023 therefore said his parents, he is of age; ask him. 43:009:024 then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, give god the praise: we know that this man is a sinner. 43:009:025 he answered and said, whether he be a sinner or no, i know not: one thing i know, that, whereas i was blind, now i see. 43:009:026 then said they to him again, what did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes? 43:009:027 he answered them, i have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples? 43:009:028 then they reviled him, and said, thou art his disciple; but we are moses' disciples. 43:009:029 we know that god spake unto moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is. 43:009:030 the man answered and said unto them, why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes. 43:009:031 now we know that god heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of god, and doeth his will, him he heareth. 43:009:032 since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. 43:009:033 if this man were not of god, he could do nothing. 43:009:034 they answered and said unto him, thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? and they cast him out. 43:009:035 jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, dost thou believe on the son of god? 43:009:036 he answered and said, who is he, lord, that i might believe on him? 43:009:037 and jesus said unto him, thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. 43:009:038 and he said, lord, i believe. and he worshipped him. 43:009:039 and jesus said, for judgment i am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. 43:009:040 and some of the pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, are we blind also? 43:009:041 jesus said unto them, if ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, we see; therefore your sin remaineth. 43:010:001 verily, verily, i say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 43:010:002 but he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 43:010:003 to him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. 43:010:004 and when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. 43:010:005 and a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. 43:010:006 this parable spake jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. 43:010:007 then said jesus unto them again, verily, verily, i say unto you, i am the door of the sheep. 43:010:008 all that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. 43:010:009 i am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. 43:010:010 the thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: i am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. 43:010:011 i am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. 43:010:012 but he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. 43:010:013 the hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. 43:010:014 i am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. 43:010:015 as the father knoweth me, even so know i the father: and i lay down my life for the sheep. 43:010:016 and other sheep i have, which are not of this fold: them also i must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. 43:010:017 therefore doth my father love me, because i lay down my life, that i might take it again. 43:010:018 no man taketh it from me, but i lay it down of myself. i have power to lay it down, and i have power to take it again. this commandment have i received of my father. 43:010:019 there was a division therefore again among the jews for these sayings. 43:010:020 and many of them said, he hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him? 43:010:021 others said, these are not the words of him that hath a devil. can a devil open the eyes of the blind? 43:010:022 and it was at jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. 43:010:023 and jesus walked in the temple in solomon's porch. 43:010:024 then came the jews round about him, and said unto him, how long dost thou make us to doubt? if thou be the christ, tell us plainly. 43:010:025 jesus answered them, i told you, and ye believed not: the works that i do in my father's name, they bear witness of me. 43:010:026 but ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as i said unto you. 43:010:027 my sheep hear my voice, and i know them, and they follow me: 43:010:028 and i give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 43:010:029 my father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand. 43:010:030 i and my father are one. 43:010:031 then the jews took up stones again to stone him. 43:010:032 jesus answered them, many good works have i shewed you from my father; for which of those works do ye stone me? 43:010:033 the jews answered him, saying, for a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself god. 43:010:034 jesus answered them, is it not written in your law, i said, ye are gods? 43:010:035 if he called them gods, unto whom the word of god came, and the scripture cannot be broken; 43:010:036 say ye of him, whom the father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, thou blasphemest; because i said, i am the son of god? 43:010:037 if i do not the works of my father, believe me not. 43:010:038 but if i do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the father is in me, and i in him. 43:010:039 therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand, 43:010:040 and went away again beyond jordan into the place where john at first baptized; and there he abode. 43:010:041 and many resorted unto him, and said, john did no miracle: but all things that john spake of this man were true. 43:010:042 and many believed on him there. 43:011:001 now a certain man was sick, named lazarus, of bethany, the town of mary and her sister martha. 43:011:002 (it was that mary which anointed the lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother lazarus was sick.) 43:011:003 therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. 43:011:004 when jesus heard that, he said, this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of god, that the son of god might be glorified thereby. 43:011:005 now jesus loved martha, and her sister, and lazarus. 43:011:006 when he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was. 43:011:007 then after that saith he to his disciples, let us go into judaea again. 43:011:008 his disciples say unto him, master, the jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again? 43:011:009 jesus answered, are there not twelve hours in the day? if any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. 43:011:010 but if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him. 43:011:011 these things said he: and after that he saith unto them, our friend lazarus sleepeth; but i go, that i may awake him out of sleep. 43:011:012 then said his disciples, lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. 43:011:013 howbeit jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. 43:011:014 then said jesus unto them plainly, lazarus is dead. 43:011:015 and i am glad for your sakes that i was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him. 43:011:016 then said thomas, which is called didymus, unto his fellowdisciples, let us also go, that we may die with him. 43:011:017 then when jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already. 43:011:018 now bethany was nigh unto jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off: 43:011:019 and many of the jews came to martha and mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. 43:011:020 then martha, as soon as she heard that jesus was coming, went and met him: but mary sat still in the house. 43:011:021 then said martha unto jesus, lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. 43:011:022 but i know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of god, god will give it thee. 43:011:023 jesus saith unto her, thy brother shall rise again. 43:011:024 martha saith unto him, i know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. 43:011:025 jesus said unto her, i am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 43:011:026 and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. believest thou this? 43:011:027 she saith unto him, yea, lord: i believe that thou art the christ, the son of god, which should come into the world. 43:011:028 and when she had so said, she went her way, and called mary her sister secretly, saying, the master is come, and calleth for thee. 43:011:029 as soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him. 43:011:030 now jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where martha met him. 43:011:031 the jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, she goeth unto the grave to weep there. 43:011:032 then when mary was come where jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. 43:011:033 when jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled. 43:011:034 and said, where have ye laid him? they said unto him, lord, come and see. 43:011:035 jesus wept. 43:011:036 then said the jews, behold how he loved him! 43:011:037 and some of them said, could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died? 43:011:038 jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. it was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. 43:011:039 jesus said, take ye away the stone. martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. 43:011:040 jesus saith unto her, said i not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of god? 43:011:041 then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. and jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, father, i thank thee that thou hast heard me. 43:011:042 and i knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by i said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. 43:011:043 and when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, lazarus, come forth. 43:011:044 and he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. jesus saith unto them, loose him, and let him go. 43:011:045 then many of the jews which came to mary, and had seen the things which jesus did, believed on him. 43:011:046 but some of them went their ways to the pharisees, and told them what things jesus had done. 43:011:047 then gathered the chief priests and the pharisees a council, and said, what do we? for this man doeth many miracles. 43:011:048 if we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the romans shall come and take away both our place and nation. 43:011:049 and one of them, named caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, ye know nothing at all, 43:011:050 nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. 43:011:051 and this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that jesus should die for that nation; 43:011:052 and not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of god that were scattered abroad. 43:011:053 then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death. 43:011:054 jesus therefore walked no more openly among the jews; but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called ephraim, and there continued with his disciples. 43:011:055 and the jews' passover was nigh at hand: and many went out of the country up to jerusalem before the passover, to purify themselves. 43:011:056 then sought they for jesus, and spake among themselves, as they stood in the temple, what think ye, that he will not come to the feast? 43:011:057 now both the chief priests and the pharisees had given a commandment, that, if any man knew where he were, he should shew it, that they might take him. 43:012:001 then jesus six days before the passover came to bethany, where lazarus was, which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. 43:012:002 there they made him a supper; and martha served: but lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. 43:012:003 then took mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. 43:012:004 then saith one of his disciples, judas iscariot, simon's son, which should betray him, 43:012:005 why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? 43:012:006 this he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. 43:012:007 then said jesus, let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. 43:012:008 for the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always. 43:012:009 much people of the jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came not for jesus' sake only, but that they might see lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead. 43:012:010 but the chief priests consulted that they might put lazarus also to death; 43:012:011 because that by reason of him many of the jews went away, and believed on jesus. 43:012:012 on the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that jesus was coming to jerusalem, 43:012:013 took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, hosanna: blessed is the king of israel that cometh in the name of the lord. 43:012:014 and jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written, 43:012:015 fear not, daughter of sion: behold, thy king cometh, sitting on an ass's colt. 43:012:016 these things understood not his disciples at the first: but when jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him. 43:012:017 the people therefore that was with him when he called lazarus out of his grave, and raised him from the dead, bare record. 43:012:018 for this cause the people also met him, for that they heard that he had done this miracle. 43:012:019 the pharisees therefore said among themselves, perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world is gone after him. 43:012:020 and there were certain greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast: 43:012:021 the same came therefore to philip, which was of bethsaida of galilee, and desired him, saying, sir, we would see jesus. 43:012:022 philip cometh and telleth andrew: and again andrew and philip tell jesus. 43:012:023 and jesus answered them, saying, the hour is come, that the son of man should be glorified. 43:012:024 verily, verily, i say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 43:012:025 he that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. 43:012:026 if any man serve me, let him follow me; and where i am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my father honour. 43:012:027 now is my soul troubled; and what shall i say? father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came i unto this hour. 43:012:028 father, glorify thy name. then came there a voice from heaven, saying, i have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. 43:012:029 the people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, an angel spake to him. 43:012:030 jesus answered and said, this voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. 43:012:031 now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. 43:012:032 and i, if i be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. 43:012:033 this he said, signifying what death he should die. 43:012:034 the people answered him, we have heard out of the law that christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, the son of man must be lifted up? who is this son of man? 43:012:035 then jesus said unto them, yet a little while is the light with you. walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. 43:012:036 while ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. these things spake jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them. 43:012:037 but though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him: 43:012:038 that the saying of esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the lord been revealed? 43:012:039 therefore they could not believe, because that esaias said again, 43:012:040 he hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and i should heal them. 43:012:041 these things said esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him. 43:012:042 nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: 43:012:043 for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of god. 43:012:044 jesus cried and said, he that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. 43:012:045 and he that seeth me seeth him that sent me. 43:012:046 i am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. 43:012:047 and if any man hear my words, and believe not, i judge him not: for i came not to judge the world, but to save the world. 43:012:048 he that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that i have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. 43:012:049 for i have not spoken of myself; but the father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what i should say, and what i should speak. 43:012:050 and i know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever i speak therefore, even as the father said unto me, so i speak. 43:013:001 now before the feast of the passover, when jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. 43:013:002 and supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of judas iscariot, simon's son, to betray him; 43:013:003 jesus knowing that the father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from god, and went to god; 43:013:004 he riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. 43:013:005 after that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. 43:013:006 then cometh he to simon peter: and peter saith unto him, lord, dost thou wash my feet? 43:013:007 jesus answered and said unto him, what i do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. 43:013:008 peter saith unto him, thou shalt never wash my feet. jesus answered him, if i wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. 43:013:009 simon peter saith unto him, lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. 43:013:010 jesus saith to him, he that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. 43:013:011 for he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, ye are not all clean. 43:013:012 so after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, know ye what i have done to you? 43:013:013 ye call me master and lord: and ye say well; for so i am. 43:013:014 if i then, your lord and master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. 43:013:015 for i have given you an example, that ye should do as i have done to you. 43:013:016 verily, verily, i say unto you, the servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. 43:013:017 if ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. 43:013:018 i speak not of you all: i know whom i have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, he that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me. 43:013:019 now i tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that i am he. 43:013:020 verily, verily, i say unto you, he that receiveth whomsoever i send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. 43:013:021 when jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, verily, verily, i say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. 43:013:022 then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake. 43:013:023 now there was leaning on jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom jesus loved. 43:013:024 simon peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake. 43:013:025 he then lying on jesus' breast saith unto him, lord, who is it? 43:013:026 jesus answered, he it is, to whom i shall give a sop, when i have dipped it. and when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to judas iscariot, the son of simon. 43:013:027 and after the sop satan entered into him. then said jesus unto him, that thou doest, do quickly. 43:013:028 now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him. 43:013:029 for some of them thought, because judas had the bag, that jesus had said unto him, buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor. 43:013:030 he then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night. 43:013:031 therefore, when he was gone out, jesus said, now is the son of man glorified, and god is glorified in him. 43:013:032 if god be glorified in him, god shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him. 43:013:033 little children, yet a little while i am with you. ye shall seek me: and as i said unto the jews, whither i go, ye cannot come; so now i say to you. 43:013:034 a new commandment i give unto you, that ye love one another; as i have loved you, that ye also love one another. 43:013:035 by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. 43:013:036 simon peter said unto him, lord, whither goest thou? jesus answered him, whither i go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards. 43:013:037 peter said unto him, lord, why cannot i follow thee now? i will lay down my life for thy sake. 43:013:038 jesus answered him, wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? verily, verily, i say unto thee, the cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice. 43:014:001 let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in god, believe also in me. 43:014:002 in my father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, i would have told you. i go to prepare a place for you. 43:014:003 and if i go and prepare a place for you, i will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where i am, there ye may be also. 43:014:004 and whither i go ye know, and the way ye know. 43:014:005 thomas saith unto him, lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? 43:014:006 jesus saith unto him, i am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the father, but by me. 43:014:007 if ye had known me, ye should have known my father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. 43:014:008 philip saith unto him, lord, shew us the father, and it sufficeth us. 43:014:009 jesus saith unto him, have i been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the father; and how sayest thou then, shew us the father? 43:014:010 believest thou not that i am in the father, and the father in me? the words that i speak unto you i speak not of myself: but the father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. 43:014:011 believe me that i am in the father, and the father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake. 43:014:012 verily, verily, i say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that i do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because i go unto my father. 43:014:013 and whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will i do, that the father may be glorified in the son. 43:014:014 if ye shall ask any thing in my name, i will do it. 43:014:015 if ye love me, keep my commandments. 43:014:016 and i will pray the father, and he shall give you another comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 43:014:017 even the spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 43:014:018 i will not leave you comfortless: i will come to you. 43:014:019 yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because i live, ye shall live also. 43:014:020 at that day ye shall know that i am in my father, and ye in me, and i in you. 43:014:021 he that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my father, and i will love him, and will manifest myself to him. 43:014:022 judas saith unto him, not iscariot, lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? 43:014:023 jesus answered and said unto him, if a man love me, he will keep my words: and my father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. 43:014:024 he that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the father's which sent me. 43:014:025 these things have i spoken unto you, being yet present with you. 43:014:026 but the comforter, which is the holy ghost, whom the father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever i have said unto you. 43:014:027 peace i leave with you, my peace i give unto you: not as the world giveth, give i unto you. let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 43:014:028 ye have heard how i said unto you, i go away, and come again unto you. if ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because i said, i go unto the father: for my father is greater than i. 43:014:029 and now i have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. 43:014:030 hereafter i will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. 43:014:031 but that the world may know that i love the father; and as the father gave me commandment, even so i do. arise, let us go hence. 43:015:001 i am the true vine, and my father is the husbandman. 43:015:002 every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 43:015:003 now ye are clean through the word which i have spoken unto you. 43:015:004 abide in me, and i in you. as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 43:015:005 i am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and i in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 43:015:006 if a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 43:015:007 if ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 43:015:008 herein is my father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. 43:015:009 as the father hath loved me, so have i loved you: continue ye in my love. 43:015:010 if ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as i have kept my father's commandments, and abide in his love. 43:015:011 these things have i spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. 43:015:012 this is my commandment, that ye love one another, as i have loved you. 43:015:013 greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 43:015:014 ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever i command you. 43:015:015 henceforth i call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but i have called you friends; for all things that i have heard of my father i have made known unto you. 43:015:016 ye have not chosen me, but i have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the father in my name, he may give it you. 43:015:017 these things i command you, that ye love one another. 43:015:018 if the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 43:015:019 if ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but i have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. 43:015:020 remember the word that i said unto you, the servant is not greater than his lord. if they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. 43:015:021 but all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me. 43:015:022 if i had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin. 43:015:023 he that hateth me hateth my father also. 43:015:024 if i had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my father. 43:015:025 but this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, they hated me without a cause. 43:015:026 but when the comforter is come, whom i will send unto you from the father, even the spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the father, he shall testify of me: 43:015:027 and ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning. 43:016:001 these things have i spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. 43:016:002 they shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth god service. 43:016:003 and these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the father, nor me. 43:016:004 but these things have i told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that i told you of them. and these things i said not unto you at the beginning, because i was with you. 43:016:005 but now i go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, whither goest thou? 43:016:006 but because i have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. 43:016:007 nevertheless i tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that i go away: for if i go not away, the comforter will not come unto you; but if i depart, i will send him unto you. 43:016:008 and when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 43:016:009 of sin, because they believe not on me; 43:016:010 of righteousness, because i go to my father, and ye see me no more; 43:016:011 of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. 43:016:012 i have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 43:016:013 howbeit when he, the spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. 43:016:014 he shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. 43:016:015 all things that the father hath are mine: therefore said i, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you. 43:016:016 a little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because i go to the father. 43:016:017 then said some of his disciples among themselves, what is this that he saith unto us, a little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me: and, because i go to the father? 43:016:018 they said therefore, what is this that he saith, a little while? we cannot tell what he saith. 43:016:019 now jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, do ye enquire among yourselves of that i said, a little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me? 43:016:020 verily, verily, i say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. 43:016:021 a woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. 43:016:022 and ye now therefore have sorrow: but i will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. 43:016:023 and in that day ye shall ask me nothing. verily, verily, i say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the father in my name, he will give it you. 43:016:024 hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. 43:016:025 these things have i spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when i shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but i shall shew you plainly of the father. 43:016:026 at that day ye shall ask in my name: and i say not unto you, that i will pray the father for you: 43:016:027 for the father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that i came out from god. 43:016:028 i came forth from the father, and am come into the world: again, i leave the world, and go to the father. 43:016:029 his disciples said unto him, lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. 43:016:030 now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from god. 43:016:031 jesus answered them, do ye now believe? 43:016:032 behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet i am not alone, because the father is with me. 43:016:033 these things i have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. in the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; i have overcome the world. 43:017:001 these words spake jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, father, the hour is come; glorify thy son, that thy son also may glorify thee: 43:017:002 as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. 43:017:003 and this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true god, and jesus christ, whom thou hast sent. 43:017:004 i have glorified thee on the earth: i have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. 43:017:005 and now, o father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which i had with thee before the world was. 43:017:006 i have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. 43:017:007 now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. 43:017:008 for i have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that i came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. 43:017:009 i pray for them: i pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. 43:017:010 and all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and i am glorified in them. 43:017:011 and now i am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and i come to thee. holy father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. 43:017:012 while i was with them in the world, i kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me i have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. 43:017:013 and now come i to thee; and these things i speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 43:017:014 i have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as i am not of the world. 43:017:015 i pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 43:017:016 they are not of the world, even as i am not of the world. 43:017:017 sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. 43:017:018 as thou hast sent me into the world, even so have i also sent them into the world. 43:017:019 and for their sakes i sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. 43:017:020 neither pray i for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 43:017:021 that they all may be one; as thou, father, art in me, and i in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 43:017:022 and the glory which thou gavest me i have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 43:017:023 i in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. 43:017:024 father, i will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where i am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. 43:017:025 o righteous father, the world hath not known thee: but i have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. 43:017:026 and i have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and i in them. 43:018:001 when jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples. 43:018:002 and judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place: for jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples. 43:018:003 judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. 43:018:004 jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, whom seek ye? 43:018:005 they answered him, jesus of nazareth. jesus saith unto them, i am he. and judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. 43:018:006 as soon then as he had said unto them, i am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground. 43:018:007 then asked he them again, whom seek ye? and they said, jesus of nazareth. 43:018:008 jesus answered, i have told you that i am he: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way: 43:018:009 that the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, of them which thou gavest me have i lost none. 43:018:010 then simon peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. the servant's name was malchus. 43:018:011 then said jesus unto peter, put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my father hath given me, shall i not drink it? 43:018:012 then the band and the captain and officers of the jews took jesus, and bound him, 43:018:013 and led him away to annas first; for he was father in law to caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year. 43:018:014 now caiaphas was he, which gave counsel to the jews, that it was expedient that one man should die for the people. 43:018:015 and simon peter followed jesus, and so did another disciple: that disciple was known unto the high priest, and went in with jesus into the palace of the high priest. 43:018:016 but peter stood at the door without. then went out that other disciple, which was known unto the high priest, and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in peter. 43:018:017 then saith the damsel that kept the door unto peter, art not thou also one of this man's disciples? he saith, i am not. 43:018:018 and the servants and officers stood there, who had made a fire of coals; for it was cold: and they warmed themselves: and peter stood with them, and warmed himself. 43:018:019 the high priest then asked jesus of his disciples, and of his doctrine. 43:018:020 jesus answered him, i spake openly to the world; i ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the jews always resort; and in secret have i said nothing. 43:018:021 why askest thou me? ask them which heard me, what i have said unto them: behold, they know what i said. 43:018:022 and when he had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by struck jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, answerest thou the high priest so? 43:018:023 jesus answered him, if i have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil: but if well, why smitest thou me? 43:018:024 now annas had sent him bound unto caiaphas the high priest. 43:018:025 and simon peter stood and warmed himself. they said therefore unto him, art not thou also one of his disciples? he denied it, and said, i am not. 43:018:026 one of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman whose ear peter cut off, saith, did not i see thee in the garden with him? 43:018:027 peter then denied again: and immediately the cock crew. 43:018:028 then led they jesus from caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover. 43:018:029 pilate then went out unto them, and said, what accusation bring ye against this man? 43:018:030 they answered and said unto him, if he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee. 43:018:031 then said pilate unto them, take ye him, and judge him according to your law. the jews therefore said unto him, it is not lawful for us to put any man to death: 43:018:032 that the saying of jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death he should die. 43:018:033 then pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called jesus, and said unto him, art thou the king of the jews? 43:018:034 jesus answered him, sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me? 43:018:035 pilate answered, am i a jew? thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done? 43:018:036 jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that i should not be delivered to the jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. 43:018:037 pilate therefore said unto him, art thou a king then? jesus answered, thou sayest that i am a king. to this end was i born, and for this cause came i into the world, that i should bear witness unto the truth. every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. 43:018:038 pilate saith unto him, what is truth? and when he had said this, he went out again unto the jews, and saith unto them, i find in him no fault at all. 43:018:039 but ye have a custom, that i should release unto you one at the passover: will ye therefore that i release unto you the king of the jews? 43:018:040 then cried they all again, saying, not this man, but barabbas. now barabbas was a robber. 43:019:001 then pilate therefore took jesus, and scourged him. 43:019:002 and the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, 43:019:003 and said, hail, king of the jews! and they smote him with their hands. 43:019:004 pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, behold, i bring him forth to you, that ye may know that i find no fault in him. 43:019:005 then came jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. and pilate saith unto them, behold the man! 43:019:006 when the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, crucify him, crucify him. pilate saith unto them, take ye him, and crucify him: for i find no fault in him. 43:019:007 the jews answered him, we have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the son of god. 43:019:008 when pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid; 43:019:009 and went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto jesus, whence art thou? but jesus gave him no answer. 43:019:010 then saith pilate unto him, speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that i have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? 43:019:011 jesus answered, thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. 43:019:012 and from thenceforth pilate sought to release him: but the jews cried out, saying, if thou let this man go, thou art not caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against caesar. 43:019:013 when pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the pavement, but in the hebrew, gabbatha. 43:019:014 and it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the jews, behold your king! 43:019:015 but they cried out, away with him, away with him, crucify him. pilate saith unto them, shall i crucify your king? the chief priests answered, we have no king but caesar. 43:019:016 then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. and they took jesus, and led him away. 43:019:017 and he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the hebrew golgotha: 43:019:018 where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and jesus in the midst. 43:019:019 and pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. and the writing was jesus of nazareth the king of the jews. 43:019:020 this title then read many of the jews: for the place where jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in hebrew, and greek, and latin. 43:019:021 then said the chief priests of the jews to pilate, write not, the king of the jews; but that he said, i am king of the jews. 43:019:022 pilate answered, what i have written i have written. 43:019:023 then the soldiers, when they had crucified jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. 43:019:024 they said therefore among themselves, let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, they parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. these things therefore the soldiers did. 43:019:025 now there stood by the cross of jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, mary the wife of cleophas, and mary magdalene. 43:019:026 when jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, woman, behold thy son! 43:019:027 then saith he to the disciple, behold thy mother! and from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home. 43:019:028 after this, jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, i thirst. 43:019:029 now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. 43:019:030 when jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, it is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. 43:019:031 the jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. 43:019:032 then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. 43:019:033 but when they came to jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: 43:019:034 but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. 43:019:035 and he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. 43:019:036 for these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, a bone of him shall not be broken. 43:019:037 and again another scripture saith, they shall look on him whom they pierced. 43:019:038 and after this joseph of arimathaea, being a disciple of jesus, but secretly for fear of the jews, besought pilate that he might take away the body of jesus: and pilate gave him leave. he came therefore, and took the body of jesus. 43:019:039 and there came also nicodemus, which at the first came to jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. 43:019:040 then took they the body of jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the jews is to bury. 43:019:041 now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. 43:019:042 there laid they jesus therefore because of the jews' preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand. 43:020:001 the first day of the week cometh mary magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. 43:020:002 then she runneth, and cometh to simon peter, and to the other disciple, whom jesus loved, and saith unto them, they have taken away the lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him. 43:020:003 peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre. 43:020:004 so they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun peter, and came first to the sepulchre. 43:020:005 and he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. 43:020:006 then cometh simon peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, 43:020:007 and the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. 43:020:008 then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed. 43:020:009 for as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. 43:020:010 then the disciples went away again unto their own home. 43:020:011 but mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, 43:020:012 and seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of jesus had lain. 43:020:013 and they say unto her, woman, why weepest thou? she saith unto them, because they have taken away my lord, and i know not where they have laid him. 43:020:014 and when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw jesus standing, and knew not that it was jesus. 43:020:015 jesus saith unto her, woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? she, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and i will take him away. 43:020:016 jesus saith unto her, mary. she turned herself, and saith unto him, rabboni; which is to say, master. 43:020:017 jesus saith unto her, touch me not; for i am not yet ascended to my father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, i ascend unto my father, and your father; and to my god, and your god. 43:020:018 mary magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her. 43:020:019 then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the jews, came jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, peace be unto you. 43:020:020 and when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. then were the disciples glad, when they saw the lord. 43:020:021 then said jesus to them again, peace be unto you: as my father hath sent me, even so send i you. 43:020:022 and when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, receive ye the holy ghost: 43:020:023 whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. 43:020:024 but thomas, one of the twelve, called didymus, was not with them when jesus came. 43:020:025 the other disciples therefore said unto him, we have seen the lord. but he said unto them, except i shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, i will not believe. 43:020:026 and after eight days again his disciples were within, and thomas with them: then came jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, peace be unto you. 43:020:027 then saith he to thomas, reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. 43:020:028 and thomas answered and said unto him, my lord and my god. 43:020:029 jesus saith unto him, thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. 43:020:030 and many other signs truly did jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 43:020:031 but these are written, that ye might believe that jesus is the christ, the son of god; and that believing ye might have life through his name. 43:021:001 after these things jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of tiberias; and on this wise shewed he himself. 43:021:002 there were together simon peter, and thomas called didymus, and nathanael of cana in galilee, and the sons of zebedee, and two other of his disciples. 43:021:003 simon peter saith unto them, i go a fishing. they say unto him, we also go with thee. they went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing. 43:021:004 but when the morning was now come, jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was jesus. 43:021:005 then jesus saith unto them, children, have ye any meat? they answered him, no. 43:021:006 and he said unto them, cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. they cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. 43:021:007 therefore that disciple whom jesus loved saith unto peter, it is the lord. now when simon peter heard that it was the lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea. 43:021:008 and the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes. 43:021:009 as soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. 43:021:010 jesus saith unto them, bring of the fish which ye have now caught. 43:021:011 simon peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken. 43:021:012 jesus saith unto them, come and dine. and none of the disciples durst ask him, who art thou? knowing that it was the lord. 43:021:013 jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise. 43:021:014 this is now the third time that jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead. 43:021:015 so when they had dined, jesus saith to simon peter, simon, son of jonas, lovest thou me more than these? he saith unto him, yea, lord; thou knowest that i love thee. he saith unto him, feed my lambs. 43:021:016 he saith to him again the second time, simon, son of jonas, lovest thou me? he saith unto him, yea, lord; thou knowest that i love thee. he saith unto him, feed my sheep. 43:021:017 he saith unto him the third time, simon, son of jonas, lovest thou me? peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, lovest thou me? and he said unto him, lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that i love thee. jesus saith unto him, feed my sheep. 43:021:018 verily, verily, i say unto thee, when thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. 43:021:019 this spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify god. and when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, follow me. 43:021:020 then peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? 43:021:021 peter seeing him saith to jesus, lord, and what shall this man do? 43:021:022 jesus saith unto him, if i will that he tarry till i come, what is that to thee? follow thou me. 43:021:023 then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet jesus said not unto him, he shall not die; but, if i will that he tarry till i come, what is that to thee? 43:021:024 this is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true. 43:021:025 and there are also many other things which jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, i suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. amen. weymouth new testament in modern speech, john third edition 1913 r. f. weymouth book 43 john 001:001 in the beginning was the word, and the word was with god, and the word was god. 001:002 he was in the beginning with god. 001:003 all things came into being through him, and apart from him nothing that exists came into being. 001:004 in him was life, and that life was the light of men. 001:005 the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overpowered it. 001:006 there was a man sent from god, whose name was john. 001:007 he came as a witness, in order that he might give testimony concerning the light--so that all might believe through him. 001:008 he was not the light, but he existed that he might give testimony concerning the light. 001:009 the true light was that which illumines every man by its coming into the world. 001:010 he was in the world, and the world came into existence through him, and the world did not recognize him. 001:011 he came to the things that were his own, and his own people gave him no welcome. 001:012 but all who have received him, to them--that is, to those who trust in his name--he has given the privilege of becoming children of god; 001:013 who were begotten as such not by human descent, nor through an impulse of their own nature, nor through the will of a human father, but from god. 001:014 and the word came in the flesh, and lived for a time in our midst, so that we saw his glory--the glory as of the father's only son, sent from his presence. he was full of grace and truth. 001:015 john gave testimony concerning him and cried aloud, saying, "this is he of whom i said, `he who is coming after me has been put before me,' for he was before me." 001:016 for he it is from whose fulness we have all received, and grace upon grace. 001:017 for the law was given through moses; grace and truth came through jesus christ. 001:018 no human eye has ever seen god: the only son, who is in the father's bosom--he has made him known. 001:019 this also is john's testimony, when the jews sent to him a deputation of priests and levites from jerusalem to ask him who he was. 001:020 he avowed--he did not conceal the truth, but avowed, "i am not the christ." 001:021 "what then?" they inquired; "are you elijah?" "i am not," he said. "are you the prophet?" "no," he answered. 001:022 so they pressed the question. "who are you?" they said--"that we may take an answer to those who sent us. what account do you give of yourself?" 001:023 "i am the voice," he replied, "of one crying aloud, `make straight the lord's way in the desert,' fulfilling the words of the prophet isaiah." 001:024 they were pharisees who had been sent. 001:025 again they questioned him. "why then do you baptize," they said, "if you are neither the christ nor elijah nor the prophet?" 001:026 "i baptize in water only," john answered, "but in your midst stands one whom you do not know-001:027 he who is to come after me, and whose sandal-strap i am not worthy to unfasten." 001:028 this conversation took place at bethany beyond the jordan, where john was baptizing. 001:029 the next day john saw jesus coming towards him and exclaimed, "look, that is the lamb of god who is to take away the sin of the world! 001:030 this is he about whom i said, `after me is to come one who has been put before me, because he was before me.' 001:031 i did not yet know him; but that he may be openly shown to israel is the reason why i have come baptizing in water." 001:032 john also gave testimony by stating: "i have seen the spirit coming down like a dove out of heaven; and it remained upon him. 001:033 i did not yet know him, but he who sent me to baptize in water said to me, "`the one on whom you see the spirit coming down, and remaining, he it is who baptizes in the holy spirit.' 001:034 "this i have seen, and i have become a witness that he is the son of god." 001:035 again the next day john was standing with two of his disciples, 001:036 when he saw jesus passing by, and said, "look! that is the lamb of god!" 001:037 the two disciples heard his exclamation, and they followed jesus. 001:038 then jesus turned round, and seeing them following he asked them, "what is your wish?" "rabbi," they replied--`rabbi' means `teacher'--"where are you staying?" 001:039 "come and you shall see," he said. so they went and saw where he was staying, and they remained and spent that day with him. it was then about ten o'clock in the morning. 001:040 andrew, simon peter's brother, was one of the two who heard john's exclamation and followed jesus. 001:041 he first found his own brother simon, and said to him, "we have found the messiah!"--that is to say, the anointed one. 001:042 he brought him to jesus. jesus looked at him and said, "you are simon, son of john: you shall be called cephas"- that is to say, peter (or `rock'). 001:043 the next day, having decided to leave bethany and go into galilee, jesus found philip, and invited him to follow him. 001:044 (now philip came from bethsaida, the same town as andrew and peter.) 001:045 then philip found nathanael, and said to him, "we have found him about whom moses in the law wrote, as well as the prophets--jesus, the son of joseph, a man of nazareth." 001:046 "can anything good come out of nazareth?" replied nathanael. "come and see," said philip. 001:047 jesus saw nathanael approaching, and said of him, "look! here is a true israelite, in whom there is no deceitfulness!" 001:048 "how do you know me?" nathanael asked. "before philip called you," said jesus, "when you were under the fig-tree i saw you." 001:049 "rabbi," cried nathanael, "you are the son of god, you are israel's king!" 001:050 "because i said to you, `i saw you under the fig-tree,'" replied jesus, "do you believe? you shall see greater things than that." 001:051 "i tell you all in most solemn truth," he added, "that you shall see heaven opened wide, and god's angels going up, and coming down to the son of man." 002:001 two days later there was a wedding at cana in galilee, and the mother of jesus was there, 002:002 and jesus also was invited and his disciples. 002:003 now the wine ran short; whereupon the mother of jesus said to him, "they have no wine." 002:004 "leave the matter in my hands," he replied; "the time for me to act has not yet come." 002:005 his mother said to the attendants, "whatever he tells you to do, do it." 002:006 now there were six stone jars standing there (in accordance with the jewish regulations for purification), each large enough to hold twenty gallons or more. 002:007 jesus said to the attendants, "fill the jars with water." and they filled them to the brim. 002:008 then he said, "now, take some out, and carry it to the president of the feast." 002:009 so they carried some to him. and no sooner had the president tasted the water now turned into wine, than--not knowing where it came from, though the attendants who had drawn the water knew- he called to the bridegroom 002:010 and said to him, "it is usual to put on the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then that which is inferior. but you have kept the good wine till now." 002:011 this, the first of his miracles, jesus performed at cana in galilee, and thus displayed his glorious power; and his disciples believed in him. 002:012 afterwards he went down to capernaum--he, and his mother, and his brothers, and his disciples; and they made a short stay there. 002:013 but the jewish passover was approaching, and for this jesus went up to jerusalem. 002:014 and he found in the temple the dealers in cattle and sheep and in pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 002:015 so he plaited a whip of rushes, and drove all--both sheep and bullocks--out of the temple. the small coin of the brokers he upset on the ground and overturned their tables. 002:016 and to the pigeon-dealers he said, "take these things away. do not turn my father's house into a market." 002:017 this recalled to his disciples the words of scripture, "my zeal for thy house will consume me." 002:018 so the jews asked him, "what proof of your authority do you exhibit to us, seeing that you do these things?" 002:019 "demolish this sanctuary," said jesus, "and in three days i will rebuild it." 002:020 "it has taken forty-six years," replied the jews, "to build this sanctuary, and will you rebuild it in three days?" 002:021 but he was speaking of the sanctuary of his body. 002:022 when however he had risen from among the dead, his disciples recollected that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the teaching which jesus had given them. 002:023 now when he was in jerusalem, at the festival of the passover, many became believers in him through watching the miracles he performed. 002:024 but for his part, jesus did not trust himself to them, because he knew them all, 002:025 and did not need any one's testimony concerning a man, for he of himself knew what was in the man. 003:001 now there was one of the pharisees whose name was nicodemus- a ruler among the jews. 003:002 he came to jesus by night and said, "rabbi, we know that you are a teacher from god; for no one can do these miracles which you are doing, unless god is with him. 003:003 "in most solemn truth i tell you," answered jesus, "that unless a man is born anew he cannot see the kingdom of god." 003:004 "how is it possible," nicodemus asked, "for a man to be born when he is old? can he a second time enter his mother's womb and be born?" 003:005 "in most solemn truth i tell you," replied jesus, "that unless a man is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of god. 003:006 whatever has been born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever has been born of the spirit is spirit. 003:007 do not be astonished at my telling you, `you must all be born anew.' 003:008 the wind blows where it chooses, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. so is it with every one who has been born of the spirit." 003:009 "how is all this possible?" asked nicodemus. 003:010 "are you," replied jesus, "`the teacher of israel,' and yet do you not understand these things? 003:011 in most solemn truth i tell you that we speak what we know, and give testimony of that of which we were eye-witnesses, and yet you all reject our testimony. 003:012 if i have told you earthly things and none of you believe me, how will you believe me if i tell you of things in heaven? 003:013 there is no one who has gone up to heaven, but there is one who has come down from heaven, namely the son of man whose home is in heaven. 003:014 and just as moses lifted high the serpent in the desert, so must the son of man be lifted up, 003:015 in order that every one who trusts in him may have the life of the ages." 003:016 for so greatly did god love the world that he gave his only son, that every one who trusts in him may not perish but may have the life of ages. 003:017 for god did not send his son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. 003:018 he who trusts in him does not come up for judgement. he who does not trust has already received sentence, because he has not his trust resting on the name of god's only son. 003:019 and this is the test by which men are judged--the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness more than they loved the light, because their deeds were wicked. 003:020 for every wrongdoer hates the light, and does not come to the light, for fear his actions should be exposed and condemned. 003:021 but he who does what is honest and right comes to the light, in order that his actions may be plainly shown to have been done in god. 003:022 after this jesus and his disciples went into judaea; and there he made a stay in company with them and baptized. 003:023 and john too was baptizing at aenon, near salim, because there were many pools of water there; and people came and received baptism. 003:024 (for john was not yet in prison.) 003:025 as the result, a discussion having arisen on the part of john's disciples with a jew about purification, 003:026 they came to john and reported to him, "rabbi, he who was with you on the other side of the jordan and to whom you bore testimony is now baptizing, and great numbers of people are resorting to him." 003:027 "a man cannot obtain anything," replied john, "unless it has been granted to him from heaven. 003:028 you yourselves can bear witness to my having said, `i am not the christ,' but `i am his appointed forerunner.' 003:029 he who has the bride is the bridegroom; and the bridegroom's friend who stands by his side and listens to him, rejoices heartily on account of the bridegroom's happiness. therefore this joy of mine is now complete. 003:030 he must grow greater, but i must grow less. 003:031 he who comes from above is above all. he whose origin is from the earth is not only himself from the earth, his teaching also is from the earth. he who comes from heaven is above all. 003:032 what he has seen and heard, to that he bears witness; but his testimony no one receives. 003:033 any man who has received his testimony has solemnly declared that god is true. 003:034 for he whom god has sent speaks god's words; for god does not give the spirit with limitations." 003:035 the father loves the son and has entrusted everything to his hands. 003:036 he who believes in the son has the life of the ages; he who disobeys the son will not enter into life, but god's anger remains upon him. 004:001 now as soon as the master was aware that the pharisees had heard it said, "jesus is gaining and baptizing more disciples than john"-004:002 though jesus himself did not baptize them, but his disciples did-004:003 he left judaea and returned to galilee. 004:004 his road lay through samaria, 004:005 and so he came to sychar, a town in samaria near the piece of land that jacob gave to his son joseph. 004:006 jacob's well was there: and accordingly jesus, tired out with his journey, sat down by the well to rest. it was about six o'clock in the evening. 004:007 presently there came a woman of samaria to draw water. jesus asked her to give him some water; 004:008 for his disciples were gone to the town to buy provisions. 004:009 "how is it," replied the woman, "that a jew like you asks me, who am a woman and a samaritan, for water?" (for jews have no dealings with samaritans.) 004:010 "if you had known god's free gift," replied jesus, "and who it is that said to you, `give me some water,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." 004:011 "sir," she said, "you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; so where can you get the living water from? 004:012 are you greater than our forefather jacob, who gave us the well, and himself drank from it, as did also his sons and his cattle?" 004:013 "every one," replied jesus, "who drinks any of this water will be thirsty again; 004:014 but whoever drinks any of the water that i shall give him will never, never thirst. but the water that i shall give him will become a fountain within him of water springing up for the life of the ages." 004:015 "sir," said the woman, "give me that water, that i may never be thirsty, nor continually come all the way here to draw from the well." 004:016 "go and call your husband," said jesus; "and come back." 004:017 "i have no husband," she replied. "you rightly say that you have no husband," said jesus; 004:018 "for you have had five husbands, and the man you have at present is not your husband. you have spoken the truth in saying that." 004:019 "sir," replied the woman, "i see that you are a prophet. 004:020 our forefathers worshipped on this mountain, but you jews say that the place where people must worship is in jerusalem." 004:021 "believe me," said jesus, "the time is coming when you will worship the father neither on this mountain nor in jerusalem. 004:022 you worship one of whom you know nothing. we worship one whom we know; for salvation comes from the jews. 004:023 but a time is coming--nay, has already come--when the true worshippers will worship the father with true spiritual worship; for indeed the father desires such worshippers. 004:024 god is spirit; and those who worship him must bring him true spiritual worship." 004:025 "i know," replied the woman, "that messiah is coming--`the christ,' as he is called. when he has come, he will tell us everything." 004:026 "i am he," said jesus--"i who am now talking to you." 004:027 just then his disciples came, and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. yet not one of them asked him, "what is your wish?" or "why are you talking with her?" 004:028 the woman however, leaving her pitcher, went away to the town, and called the people. 004:029 "come," she said, "and see a man who has told me everything i have ever done. can this be the christ, do you think?" 004:030 they left the town and set out to go to him. 004:031 meanwhile the disciples were urging jesus. "rabbi," they said, "eat something." 004:032 "i have food to eat," he replied, "of which you do not know." 004:033 so the disciples began questioning one another. "can it be," they said, "that some one has brought him something to eat?" 004:034 "my food," said jesus, "is to be obedient to him who sent me, and fully to accomplish his work. 004:035 do you not say, `it wants four months yet to the harvest'? but look round, i tell you, and observe these plains- they are already ripe for the sickle. 004:036 the reaper gets pay and gathers in a crop in preparation for the life of the ages, that so the sower and the reapers may rejoice together. 004:037 for it is in this that you see the real meaning of the saying, `the sower is one person, and the reaper is another.' 004:038 i sent you to reap a harvest which is not the result of your own labours. others have laboured, and you are getting benefit from their labours." 004:039 of the samaritan population of that town a good many believed in him because of the woman's statement when she declared, "he has told me all that i have ever done." 004:040 when however the samaritans came to him, they asked him on all sides to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. 004:041 then a far larger number of people believed because of his own words, 004:042 and they said to the woman, "we no longer believe in him simply because of your statements; for we have now heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the saviour of the world." 004:043 after the two days he departed, and went into galilee; 004:044 though jesus himself declared that a prophet has no honour in his own country. 004:045 when however he reached galilee, the galilaeans welcomed him eagerly, having been eye-witnesses of all that he had done in jerusalem at the festival; for they also had been to the festival. 004:046 so he came once more to cana in galilee, where he had made the water into wine. now there was a certain officer of the king's court whose son was ill at capernaum. 004:047 having heard that jesus had come from judaea to galilee, he came to him and begged him to go down and cure his son; for he was at the point of death. 004:048 "unless you and others see miracles and marvels," said jesus, "nothing will induce you to believe." 004:049 "sir," pleaded the officer, "come down before my child dies." 004:050 "you may return home," replied jesus; "your son has recovered." he believed the words of jesus, and started back home; 004:051 and he was already on his way down when his servants met him and told him that his son was alive and well. 004:052 so he inquired of them at what hour he had shown improvement. "yesterday, about seven o'clock," they replied, "the fever left him." 004:053 then the father recollected that that was the time at which jesus had said to him, "your son has recovered," and he and his whole household became believers. 004:054 this is the second miracle that jesus performed, after coming from judaea into galilee. 005:001 after this there was a festival of the jews, and jesus went up to jerusalem. 005:002 now there is in jerusalem near the sheep gate a pool, called in hebrew `bethesda.' it has five arcades. 005:003 in these there used to lie a great number of sick persons, and of people who were blind or lame or paralyzed. 005:004 [] 005:005 and there was one man there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 005:006 jesus saw him lying there, and knowing that he had been a long time in that condition, he asked him, "do you wish to have health and strength?" 005:007 "sir," replied the sufferer, "i have no one to put me into the pool when the water is moved; but while i am coming some one else steps down before me." 005:008 "rise," said jesus, "take up your mat and walk." 005:009 instantly the man was restored to perfect health, and he took up his mat and began to walk. 005:010 that day was a sabbath. so the jews said to the man who had been cured, "it is the sabbath: you must not carry your mat." 005:011 "he who cured me," he replied, "said to me, `take up your mat and walk.'" 005:012 "who is it," they asked, "that said to you, `take up your mat and walk'?" 005:013 but the man who had been cured did not know who it was; for jesus had passed out unnoticed, there being a crowd in the place. 005:014 afterwards jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "you are now restored to health. do not sin any more, or a worse thing may befall you." 005:015 the man went and told the jews that it was jesus who had restored him to health; 005:016 and on this account the jews began to persecute jesus- because he did these things on the sabbath. 005:017 his reply to their accusation was, "my father works unceasingly, and so do i." 005:018 on this account then the jews were all the more eager to put him to death--because he not only broke the sabbath, but also spoke of god as being in a special sense his father, thus putting himself on a level with god. 005:019 "in most solemn truth i tell you," replied jesus, "that the son can do nothing of himself--he can only do what he sees the father doing; for whatever he does, that the son does in like manner. 005:020 for the father loves the son and reveals to him all that he himself is doing. and greater deeds than these will he reveal to him, in order that you may wonder. 005:021 for just as the father awakens the dead and gives them life, so the son also gives life to whom he wills. 005:022 the father indeed does not judge any one, but he has entrusted all judgement to the son, 005:023 that all may honour the son even as they honour the father. the man who withholds honour from the son withholds honour from the father who sent him. 005:024 "in most solemn truth i tell you that he who listens to my teaching and believes him who sent me, has the life of the ages, and does not come under judgement, but has passed over out of death into life. 005:025 "in most solemn truth i tell you that a time is coming- nay, has already come--when the dead will hear the voice of the son of god, and those who hear it will live. 005:026 for just as the father has life in himself, so he has also given to the son to have life in himself. 005:027 and he has conferred on him authority to act as judge, because he is the son of man. 005:028 wonder not at this. for a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear his voice and will come forth-005:029 they who have done what is right to the resurrection of life, and they whose actions have been evil to the resurrection of judgement. 005:030 "i can of my own self do nothing. as i am bidden, so i judge; and mine is a just judgement, because it is not my own will that guides me, but the will of him who sent me. 005:031 "if i give testimony concerning myself, my testimony cannot be accepted. 005:032 there is another who gives testimony concerning me, and i know that the testimony is true which he offers concerning me. 005:033 "you sent to john, and he both was and still is a witness to the truth. 005:034 but the testimony on my behalf which i accept is not from man; though i say all this in order that you may be saved. 005:035 he was the lamp that burned and shone, and for a time you were willing to be gladdened by his light. 005:036 "but the testimony which i have is weightier than that of john; for the work the father has assigned to me for me to bring it to completion--the very work which i am doing- affords testimony concerning me that the father has sent me. 005:037 and the father who sent me, *he* has given testimony concerning me. none of you have ever either heard his voice or seen what he is like. 005:038 nor have you his word dwelling within you, for you refuse to believe him whom *he* has sent. 005:039 "you search the scriptures, because you suppose that in them you will find the life of the ages; and it is those scriptures that yield testimony concerning me; 005:040 and yet you are unwilling to come to me that you may have life. 005:041 "i do not accept glory from man, 005:042 but i know you well, and i know that in your hearts you do not really love god. 005:043 i have come as my father's representative, and you do not receive me. if some one else comes representing only himself, him you will receive. 005:044 how is it possible for you to believe, while you receive glory from one another and have no desire for the glory that comes from the only god? 005:045 "do not suppose that i will accuse you to the father. there is one who accuses you, namely moses, on whom your hope rests. 005:046 for if you believe moses, you would believe me; for he wrote about me. 005:047 but if you disbelieve his writings, how are you to believe my words?" 006:001 after this jesus went away across the lake of galilee (that is, the lake of tiberias). 006:002 a vast multitude followed him, because they witnessed the miracles on the sick which he was constantly performing. 006:003 then jesus went up the hill, and sat there with his disciples. 006:004 the jewish festival, the passover, was at hand. 006:005 and when he looked round and saw an immense crowd coming towards him, he said to philip, "where shall we buy bread for all these people to eat?" 006:006 he said this to put philip to the test, for he himself knew what he was going to do. 006:007 "seven pounds' worth of bread," replied philip, "is not enough for them all to get even a scanty meal." 006:008 one of his disciples, andrew, simon peter's brother, said to him, 006:009 "there is a boy here with five barley loaves and a couple of fish: but what is that among so many?" 006:010 "make the people sit down," said jesus. the ground was covered with thick grass; so they sat down, the adult men numbering about 5,000. 006:011 then jesus took the loaves, and after giving thanks he distributed them to those who were resting on the ground; and also the fish in like manner--as much as they desired. 006:012 when all were fully satisfied, he said to his disciples, "gather up the broken portions that remain over, so that nothing be lost." 006:013 accordingly they gathered them up; and with the fragments of the five barley loaves--the broken portions that remained over after they had done eating--they filled twelve baskets. 006:014 thereupon the people, having seen the miracle he had performed, said, "this is indeed the prophet who was to come into the world." 006:015 perceiving, however, that they were about to come and carry him off by force to make him a king, jesus withdrew again up the hill alone by himself. 006:016 when evening came on, his disciples went down to the lake. 006:017 there they got on board a boat, and pushed off to cross the lake to capernaum. by this time it had become dark, and jesus had not yet joined them. 006:018 the lake also was getting rough, because a strong wind was blowing. 006:019 when, however, they had rowed three or four miles, they saw jesus walking on the water and coming near the boat. 006:020 they were terrified; but he called to them. "it is i," he said, "do not be afraid." 006:021 then they were willing to take him on board; and in a moment the boat reached the shore at the point to which they were going. 006:022 next morning the crowd who were still standing about on the other side of the lake found that there had been but one small boat there, and they had seen that jesus did not go on board with his disciples, but that his disciples went away without him. 006:023 yet a number of small boats came from tiberias to the neighbourhood of the place where they had eaten the bread after the lord had given thanks. 006:024 when however the crowd saw that neither jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves also took boats and came to capernaum to look for jesus. 006:025 so when they had crossed the lake and had found him, they asked him, "rabbi, when did you come here?" 006:026 "in most solemn truth i tell you," replied jesus, "that you are searching for me not because you have seen miracles, but because you ate the loaves and had a hearty meal. 006:027 bestow your pains not on the food which perishes, but on the food that remains unto the life of the ages- that food which will be the son of man's gift to you; for on him the father, god, has set his seal." 006:028 "what are we to do," they asked, "in order to carry out the things that god requires?" 006:029 "this," replied jesus, "is above all the thing that god requires- that you should be believers in him whom he has sent." 006:030 "what miracle then," they asked, "do you perform for us to see and become believers in you? what do you *do*? 006:031 our forefathers ate the manna in the desert, as it is written, `he gave them bread out of heaven to eat'." 006:032 "in most solemn truth i tell you," replied jesus, "that moses did not give you the bread out of heaven, but my father is giving you the bread--the true bread--out of heaven. 006:033 for god's bread is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world." 006:034 "sir," they said, "always give us that bread." 006:035 "i am the bread of life," replied jesus; "he who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never, never thirst. 006:036 but it is as i have said to you: you have seen me and yet you do not believe. 006:037 every one whom the father gives me will come to me, and him who comes to me i will never on any account drive away. 006:038 for i have left heaven and have come down to earth not to seek my own pleasure, but to do the will of him who sent me. 006:039 and this is the will of him who sent me, that of all that he has given me i should lose nothing, but should raise it to life on the last day. 006:040 for this is my father's will, that every one who fixes his gaze on the son of god and believes in him should have the life of the ages, and i will raise him to life on the last day." 006:041 now the jews began to find fault about him because of his claiming to be the bread which came down out of heaven. 006:042 they kept asking, "is not this man joseph's son? is he not jesus, whose father and mother we know? what does he mean by now saying, `i have come down out of heaven'?" 006:043 "do not thus find fault among yourselves," replied jesus; 006:044 "no one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him; then i will raise him to life on the last day. 006:045 it stands written in the prophets, `and they shall all of them be taught by god'. every one who listens to the father and learns from him comes to me. 006:046 no one has ever seen the father--except him who is from god. he has seen the father. 006:047 "in most solemn truth i tell you that he who believes has the life of the ages. 006:048 i am the bread of life. 006:049 your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, and they died. 006:050 here is the bread that comes down out of heaven that a man may eat it and not die. 006:051 i am the living bread come down out of heaven. if a man eats this bread, he shall live for ever. moreover the bread which i will give is my flesh given for the life of the world." 006:052 this led to an angry debate among the jews. "how can this man," they argued, "give us his flesh to eat?" 006:053 "in most solemn truth i tell you," said jesus, "that unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 006:054 he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has the life of the ages, and i will raise him up on the last day. 006:055 for my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 006:056 he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in union with me, and i remain in union with him. 006:057 as the ever-living father has sent me, and i live because of the father, so also he who eats me will live because of me. 006:058 this is the bread which came down out of heaven; it is unlike that which your forefathers ate--for they ate and yet died. he who eats this bread shall live for ever." 006:059 jesus said all this in the synagogue while teaching at capernaum. 006:060 many therefore of his disciples, when they heard it, said, "this is hard to accept. who can listen to such teaching?" 006:061 but, knowing in himself that his disciples were dissatisfied about it, jesus asked them, 006:062 "does this seem incredible to you? what then if you were to see the son of man ascending again where he was before? 006:063 it is the spirit which gives life. the flesh confers no benefit whatever. the words i have spoken to you are spirit and are life. 006:064 but there are some of you who do not believe." for jesus knew from the beginning who those were that did not believe, and who it was that would betray him. 006:065 so he added, "that is why i told you that no one can come to me unless it be granted him by the father." 006:066 thereupon many of his disciples left him and went away, and no longer associated with him. 006:067 jesus therefore appealed to the twelve. "will you go also?" he asked. 006:068 "master," replied simon peter, "to whom shall we go? your teachings tell us of the life of the ages. 006:069 and we have come to believe and know that *you* are indeed the holy one of god." 006:070 "did not i choose you--the twelve?" said jesus, "and even of you one is a devil." 006:071 he alluded to judas, the son of simon the iscariot. for he it was who, though one of the twelve, was afterwards to betray him. 007:001 after this jesus moved from place to place in galilee. he would not go about in judaea, because the jews were seeking an opportunity to kill him. 007:002 but the jewish festival of the tent-pitching was approaching. 007:003 so his brothers said to him, "leave these parts and go into judaea, that not only we but your disciples also may witness the miracles which you perform. 007:004 for no one acts in secret, desiring all the while to be himself known publicly. since you are doing these things, show yourself openly to the world." 007:005 for even his brothers were not believers in him. 007:006 "my time," replied jesus, "has not yet come, but for you any time is suitable. 007:007 it is impossible for the world to hate you; but me it does hate, because i give testimony concerning it that its conduct is evil. 007:008 as for you, go up to the festival. i do not now go up to this festival, because my time is not yet fully come." 007:009 such was his answer, and he remained in galilee. 007:010 when however his brothers had gone up to the festival, then he also went up, not openly, but as it were privately. 007:011 meanwhile the jews at the festival were looking for him and were inquiring, "where is he?" 007:012 among the mass of the people there was much muttered debate about him. some said, "he is a good man." others said, "not so: he is imposing on the people." 007:013 yet for fear of the jews no one spoke out boldly about him. 007:014 but when the festival was already half over, jesus went up to the temple and commenced teaching. 007:015 the jews were astonished. "how does this man know anything of books," they said, "although he has never been at any of the schools?" 007:016 jesus answered their question by saying, "my teaching does not belong to me, but comes from him who sent me. 007:017 if any one is willing to do his will, he shall know about the teaching, whether it is from god or originates with me. 007:018 the man whose teaching originates with himself aims at his own glory. he who aims at the glory of him who sent him teaches the truth, and there is no deception in him. 007:019 did not moses give you the law? and yet not a man of you obeys the law. why do you want to kill me?" 007:020 "you are possessed by a demon," replied the crowd; "no one wants to kill you." 007:021 "one deed i have done," replied jesus, "and you are all full of wonder. 007:022 consider therefore. moses gave you the rite of circumcision (not that it began with moses, but with your earlier forefathers), and even on a sabbath day you circumcise a child. 007:023 if a child is circumcised even on a sabbath day, are you bitter against me because i have restored a man to perfect health on a sabbath day? 007:024 do not form superficial judgements, but form the judgements that are just." 007:025 some however of the people of jerusalem said, "is not this the man they are wanting to kill? 007:026 but here he is, speaking openly and boldly, and they say nothing to him! can the rulers really have ascertained that this man is the christ? 007:027 and yet we know this man, and we know where he is from; but as for the christ, when he comes, no one can tell where he is from." 007:028 jesus therefore, while teaching in the temple, cried aloud, and said, "yes, you know me, and you know where i am from. and yet i have not come of my own accord; but there is one who has sent me, an authority indeed, of whom you have no knowledge. 007:029 i know him, because i came from him, and he sent me." 007:030 on hearing this they wanted to arrest him; yet not a hand was laid on him, because his time had not yet come. 007:031 but from among the crowd a large number believed in him. "when the christ comes," they said, "will he perform more miracles than this teacher has performed?" 007:032 the pharisees heard the people thus expressing their various doubts about him, and the high priests and the pharisees sent some officers to apprehend him. 007:033 so jesus said, "still for a short time i am with you, and then i go my way to him who sent me. 007:034 you will look for me and will not find me, and where i am you cannot come." 007:035 the jews therefore said to one another, "where is he about to betake himself, so that we shall not find him? will he betake himself to the dispersion among the gentiles, and teach the gentiles? 007:036 what do those words of his mean, `you will look for me, but will not find me, and where i am you cannot come'?" 007:037 on the last day of the festival--the great day--jesus stood up and cried aloud. "whoever is thirsty," he said, "let him come to me and drink. 007:038 he who believes in me, from within him--as the scripture has said- rivers of living water shall flow." 007:039 he referred to the spirit which those who believed in him were to receive; for the spirit was not bestowed as yet, because jesus had not yet been glorified. 007:040 after listening to these discourses, some of the crowd began to say, "this is beyond doubt the prophet." 007:041 others said, "he is the christ." but others again, "not so, for is the christ to come from galilee? 007:042 has not the scripture declared that the christ is to come of the family of david and from bethlehem, david's village?" 007:043 so there was a violent dissension among the people on his account. 007:044 some of them wanted at once to arrest him, but no one laid hands upon him. 007:045 meanwhile the officers returned to the high priests and pharisees, who asked them, "why have you not brought him?" 007:046 "no mere man has ever spoken as this man speaks," said the officers. 007:047 "are *you* deluded too?" replied the pharisees; 007:048 "has any one of the rulers or of the pharisees believed in him? 007:049 but this rabble who understand nothing about the law are accursed!" 007:050 nicodemus interposed--he who had formerly gone to jesus, being himself one of them. 007:051 "does our law," he asked, "judge a man without first hearing what he has to say and ascertaining what his conduct is?" 007:052 "do you also come from galilee?" they asked in reply. "search and see for yourself that no prophet is of galilaean origin." 007:053 [so they went away to their several homes; 008:001 but jesus went to the mount of olives. 008:002 at break of day however he returned to the temple, and there the people came to him in crowds. he seated himself; 008:003 and was teaching them when the scribes and the pharisees brought to him a woman who had been found committing adultery. they made her stand in the centre of the court, and they put the case to him. 008:004 "rabbi," they said, "this woman has been found in the very act of committing adultery. 008:005 now, in the law, moses has ordered us to stone such women to death. but what do you say?" 008:006 they asked this in order to put him to the test, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. but jesus leant forward and began to write with his finger on the ground. 008:007 when however they persisted with their question, he raised his head and said to them, "let the sinless man among you be the first to throw a stone at her." 008:008 then he leant forward again, and again began to write on the ground. 008:009 they listened to him, and then, beginning with the eldest, took their departure, one by one, till all were gone. and jesus was left behind alone--and the woman in the centre of the court. 008:010 then, raising his head, jesus said to her, "where are they? has no one condemned you?" 008:011 "no one, sir," she replied. "and *i* do not condemn you either," said jesus; "go, and from this time do not sin any more."] 008:012 once more jesus addressed them. "i am the light of the world," he said; "the man who follows me shall certainly not walk in the dark, but shall have the light of life." 008:013 "you are giving testimony about yourself," said the pharisees; "your testimony is not true." 008:014 "even if i am giving testimony about myself," replied jesus, "my testimony is true; for i know where i came from and where i am going, but you know neither of these two things. 008:015 you judge according to appearances: i am judging no one. 008:016 and even if i do judge, my judgement is just; for i am not alone, but the father who sent me is with me. 008:017 in your own law, too, it is written that the testimony of two men is true. 008:018 i am one giving testimony about myself, and the father who sent me gives testimony about me." 008:019 "where is your father?" they asked. "you know my father as little as you know me." he replied; "if you knew me, you would know my father also." 008:020 these sayings he uttered in the treasury, while teaching in the temple; yet no one arrested him, because his time had not yet come. 008:021 again he said to them, "i am going away. then you will try to find me, but you will die in your sins. where i am going, it is impossible for you to come." 008:022 the jews began to ask one another, "is he going to kill himself, do you think, that he says, `where i am going, it is impossible for you to come'?" 008:023 "you," he continued, "are from below, i am from above: you are of this present world, i am not of this present world. 008:024 that is why i told you that you will die in your sins; for, unless you believe that i am he, that is what will happen." 008:025 "you--who are you?" they asked. "how is it that i am speaking to you at all?" replied jesus. 008:026 "many things i have to speak and to judge concerning you. but he who sent me is true, and the things which i have heard from him are those which i have come into the world to speak." 008:027 they did not perceive that he was speaking to them of the father. 008:028 so jesus added, "when you have lifted up the son of man, then you will know that i am he. of myself i do nothing; but as the father has taught me, so i speak. 008:029 and he who sent me is with me. he has not left me alone: for i do always what is pleasing to him." 008:030 as he thus spoke, many became believers in him. 008:031 jesus therefore said to those of the jews who had now believed in him, "as for you, if you hold fast to my teaching, then you are truly my disciples; 008:032 and you shall know the truth, and the truth will make you free." 008:033 "we are descendants of abraham," they answered, "and have never at any time been in slavery to any one. what do those words of yours mean, `you shall become free'?" 008:034 "in most solemn truth i tell you," replied jesus, "that every one who commits sin is the slave of sin. 008:035 now a slave does not remain permanently in his master's house, but a son does. 008:036 if then the son shall make you free, you will be free indeed. 008:037 you are descendants of abraham, i know; but you want to kill me, because my teaching gains no ground within you. 008:038 the words i speak are those i have learnt in the presence of the father. therefore you also should do what you have heard from your father." 008:039 "our father is abraham," they said. "if you were abraham's children," replied jesus, "it is abraham's deeds that you would be doing. 008:040 but, in fact, you are longing to kill me, a man who has spoken to you the truth which i have heard from god. abraham did not do that. 008:041 you are doing the deeds of your father." "we," they replied, "are not illegitimate children. we have one father, namely god." 008:042 "if god were your father," said jesus, "you would love me; for it is from god that i came and i am now here. i have not come of myself, but *he* sent me. 008:043 how is it you do not understand me when i speak? it is because you cannot bear to listen to my words. 008:044 the father whose sons you are is the devil; and you desire to do what gives him pleasure. *he* was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand firm in the truth--for there is no truth in him. whenever he utters his lie, he utters it out of his own store; for he is a liar, and the father of lies. 008:045 but because i speak the truth, you do not believe me. 008:046 which of *you* convicts me of sin? if i speak the truth, why do you not believe me? 008:047 he who is a child of god listens to god's words. you do not listen to them: and why? it is because you are not god's children." 008:048 "are we not right," answered the jews, "in saying that you are a samaritan and are possessed by a demon?" 008:049 "i am not possessed by a demon," replied jesus. "on the contrary i honour my father, and you dishonour me. 008:050 i, however, am not aiming at glory for myself: there is one who aims at glory for me--and who judges. 008:051 in most solemn truth i tell you that if any one shall have obeyed my teaching he shall in no case ever see death." 008:052 "now," exclaimed the jews, "we know that you are possessed by a demon. abraham died, and so did the prophets, and yet *you* say, `if any one shall have obeyed my teaching, he shall in no case ever taste death.' 008:053 are you really greater than our forefather abraham? for he died. and the prophets died. who do you make yourself out to be?" 008:054 "were i to glorify myself," answered jesus, "i should have no real glory. there is one who glorifies me--namely my father, who you say is your god. 008:055 you do not know him, but i know him perfectly; and were i to deny my knowledge of him, i should resemble you, and be a liar. on the contrary i do know him, and i obey his commands. 008:056 abraham your forefather exulted in the hope of seeing my day: and he saw it, and was glad." 008:057 "you are not yet fifty years old," cried the jews, "and have you seen abraham?" 008:058 "in most solemn truth," answered jesus, "i tell you that before abraham came into existence, i am." 008:059 thereupon they took up stones with which to stone him, but he hid himself and went away out of the temple. 009:001 as he passed by, he saw a man who had been blind from his birth. 009:002 so his disciples asked him, "rabbi, who sinned--this man or his parents--that he was born blind?" 009:003 "neither he nor his parents sinned," answered jesus, "but he was born blind in order that god's mercy might be openly shown in him. 009:004 we must do the works of him who sent me while there is daylight. night is coming on, when no one can work. 009:005 when i am in the world, i am the light of the world." 009:006 after thus speaking, he spat on the ground, and then, kneading the dust and spittle into clay, he smeared the clay over the man's eyes and said to him, 009:007 "go and wash in the pool of siloam"--the name means `sent.' so he went and washed his eyes, and returned able to see. 009:008 his neighbours, therefore, and the other people to whom he had been a familiar object because he was a beggar, began asking, "is not this the man who used to sit and beg?" 009:009 "yes it is," replied some of them. "no it is not," said others, "but he is like him." his own statement was, "i am the man." 009:010 "how then were your eyes opened?" they asked. 009:011 "he whose name is jesus," he answered, "made clay and smeared my eyes with it, and then told me to go to siloam and wash. so i went and washed and obtained sight." 009:012 "where is he?" they inquired, but the man did not know. 009:013 they brought him to the pharisees--the man who had been blind. 009:014 now the day on which jesus made the clay and opened the man's eyes was the sabbath. 009:015 so the pharisees renewed their questioning as to how he had obtained his sight. "he put clay on my eyes," he replied, "and i washed, and now i can see." 009:016 this led some of the pharisees to say, "that man has not come from god, for he does not keep the sabbath." "how is it possible for a bad man to do such miracles?" argued others. 009:017 and there was a division among them. so again they asked the once blind man, "what is your account of him?--for he opened your eyes." "he is a prophet," he replied. 009:018 the jews, however, did not believe the statement concerning him- that he had been blind and had obtained his sight--until they called his parents and asked them, 009:019 "is this your son, who you say was born blind? how is it then that he can now see?" 009:020 "we know," replied the parents, "that this is our son and that he was born blind; 009:021 but how it is that he can now see or who has opened his eyes we do not know. ask him himself; he is of full age; he himself will give his own account of it." 009:022 such was their answer, because they were afraid of the jews; for the jews had already settled among themselves that if any one should acknowledge jesus as the christ, he should be excluded from the synagogue. 009:023 that was why his parents said, "he is of full age: ask him himself." 009:024 a second time therefore they called the man who had been blind, and said, "give god the praise: we know that that man is a sinner." 009:025 "whether he is a sinner or not, i do not know," he replied; "one thing i know--that i was once blind and that now i can see." 009:026 "what did he do to you?" they asked; "how did he open your eyes?" 009:027 "i have told you already," he replied, "and you did not listen to me. why do you want to hear it again? do you also mean to be disciples of his?" 009:028 then they railed at him, and said, "you are that man's disciple, but we are disciples of moses. 009:029 we know that god spoke to moses; but as for this fellow we do not know where he comes from." 009:030 "why, this is marvellous!" the man replied; "you do not know where he comes from, and yet he has opened my eyes! 009:031 we know that god does not listen to bad people, but that if any one is a god-fearing man and obeys him, to him he listens. 009:032 from the beginning of the world such a thing was never heard of as that any one should open the eyes of a man blind from his birth. 009:033 had that man not come from god, he could have done nothing." 009:034 "you," they replied, "were wholly begotten and born in sin, and do *you* teach *us*?" and they put him out of the synagogue. 009:035 jesus heard that they had done this. so having found him, he asked him, "do you believe in the son of god?" 009:036 "who is he, sir?" replied the man. "tell me, so that i may believe in him." 009:037 "you have seen him," said jesus; "and not only so: he is now speaking to you." 009:038 "i believe, sir," he said. and he threw himself at his feet. 009:039 "i came into this world," said jesus, "to judge men, that those who do not see may see, and that those who do see may become blind." 009:040 these words were heard by those of the pharisees who were present, and they asked him, "are *we* also blind?" 009:041 "if you were blind," answered jesus, "you would have no sin; but as a matter of fact you boast that you see. so your sin remains!" 010:001 "in most solemn truth i tell you that the man who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs over some other way, is a thief and a robber. 010:002 but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 010:003 to him the porter opens the door, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by their names and leads them out. 010:004 when he has brought out his own sheep--all of them- he walks at the head of them; and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice. 010:005 but a stranger they will by no means follow, but will run away from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers." 010:006 jesus spoke to them in this figurative language, but they did not understand what he meant. 010:007 again therefore jesus said to them, "in most solemn truth i tell you that i am the door of the sheep. 010:008 all who have come before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep would not listen to them. 010:009 i am the door. if any one enters by me, he will find safety, and will go in and out and find pasture. 010:010 the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy: i have come that they may have life, and may have it in abundance. 010:011 "i am the good shepherd. a good shepherd lays down his very life for the sheep. 010:012 the hired servant--one who is not a shepherd and does not own the sheep--no sooner sees the wolf coming than he leaves the sheep and runs away; and the wolf worries and scatters them. 010:013 for he is only a hired servant and cares nothing for the sheep. 010:014 "i am the good shepherd. and i know my sheep and my sheep know me, 010:015 just as the father knows me and i know the father; and i am laying down my life for the sheep. 010:016 i have also other sheep--which do not belong to this fold. those also i must bring, and they will listen to my voice; and they shall become one flock under one shepherd. 010:017 for this reason my father loves me, because i am laying down my life in order to receive it back again. 010:018 no one is taking it away from me, but i myself am laying it down. i am authorized to lay it down, and i am authorized to receive it back again. this is the command i received from my father." 010:019 again there arose a division among the jews because of these words. 010:020 many of them said, "he is possessed by a demon and is mad. why do you listen to him?" 010:021 others argued, "that is not the language of a demoniac: and can a demon open blind men's eyes?" 010:022 the dedication festival came on in jerusalem. it was winter, 010:023 and jesus was walking in the temple in solomon's portico, 010:024 when the jews gathered round him and kept asking him, "how long do you mean to keep us in suspense? if you are the christ, tell us so plainly." 010:025 "i have told you," answered jesus, "and you do not believe. the deeds that i do in my father's name--they give testimony about me. 010:026 but you do not believe, because you are not my sheep. 010:027 my sheep listen to my voice, and i know them, and they follow me. 010:028 i give them the life of the ages, and they shall never, never perish, nor shall any one wrest them from my hand. 010:029 what my father has given me is more precious than all besides; and no one is able to wrest anything from my father's hand. 010:030 i and the father are one." 010:031 again the jews brought stones with which to stone him. 010:032 jesus remonstrated with them. "many good deeds," he said, "have i shown you as coming from the father; for which of them are you going to stone me?" 010:033 "for no good deed," the jews replied, "are we going to stone you, but for blasphemy, and because you, who are only a man, are making yourself out to be god." 010:034 "does it not stand written in your law," replied jesus, "`i said, you are gods'? 010:035 if those to whom god's word was addressed are called gods (and the scripture cannot be annulled), 010:036 how is it that you say to one whom the father consecrated and sent into the world, `you are blaspheming,' because i said, `i am god's son'? 010:037 if the deeds i do are not my father's deeds, do not believe me. 010:038 but if they are, then even if you do not believe me, at least believe the deeds, that you may know and see clearly that the father is in me, and that i am in the father." 010:039 this made them once more try to arrest him, but he withdrew out of their power. 010:040 then he went away again to the other side of the jordan, to the place where john had been baptizing at first; and there he stayed. 010:041 large numbers of people also came to him. their report was, "john did not work any miracle, but all that john said about this teacher was true." 010:042 and many became believers in him there. 011:001 now a certain man, named lazarus, of bethany, was lying ill- bethany being the village of mary and her sister martha. 011:002 (it was the mary who poured the perfume over the lord and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother lazarus was ill.) 011:003 so the sisters sent to him to say, "master, he whom you hold dear is ill." 011:004 jesus received the message and said, "this illness is not to end in death, but is to promote the glory of god, in order that the son of god may be glorified by it." 011:005 now jesus loved martha, and her sister, and lazarus. 011:006 when, however, he heard that lazarus was ill, he still remained two days in that same place. 011:007 then, after that, he said to the disciples, "let us return to judaea." 011:008 "rabbi," exclaimed the disciples, "the jews have just been trying to stone you, and do you think of going back there again?" 011:009 "are there not twelve hours in the day?" replied jesus. "if any one walks in the daytime, he does not stumble- because he sees the light of this world. 011:010 but if a man walks by night, he does stumble, because the light is not in him." 011:011 he said this, and afterwards he added, "our friend lazarus is sleeping, but i will go and wake him." 011:012 "master," said the disciples, "if he is asleep he will recover." 011:013 now jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought he referred to the rest taken in ordinary sleep. 011:014 so then he told them plainly, 011:015 "lazarus is dead; and for your sakes i am glad i was not there, in order that you may believe. but let us go to him." 011:016 "let us go also," thomas, the twin, said to his fellow disciples, "that we may die with him." 011:017 on his arrival jesus found that lazarus had already been three days in the tomb. 011:018 bethany was near jerusalem, the distance being a little less than two miles; 011:019 and a considerable number of the jews were with martha and mary, having come to express sympathy with them on the death of their brother. 011:020 martha, however, as soon as she heard the tidings, "jesus is coming," went to meet him; but mary remained sitting in the house. 011:021 so martha came and spoke to jesus. "master, if you had been here," she said, "my brother would not have died. 011:022 and even now i know that whatever you ask god for, god will give you." 011:023 "your brother shall rise again," replied jesus. 011:024 "i know," said martha, "that he will rise again at the resurrection, on the last day." 011:025 "i am the resurrection and the life," said jesus; "he who believes in me, even if he has died, he shall live; 011:026 and every one who is living and is a believer in me shall never, never die. do you believe this?" 011:027 "yes, master," she replied; "i thoroughly believe that you are the christ, the son of god, who was to come into the world." 011:028 after saying this, she went and called her sister mary privately, telling her, "the rabbi is here and is asking for you." 011:029 so she, on hearing that, rose up quickly to go to him. 011:030 now jesus was not yet come into the village, but was still at the place where martha had met him. 011:031 so the jews who were with mary in the house sympathizing with her, when they saw that she had risen hastily and had gone out, followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep aloud there. 011:032 mary then, when she came to jesus and saw him, fell at his feet and exclaimed, "master, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." 011:033 seeing her weeping aloud, and the jews in like manner weeping who had come with her, jesus, curbing the strong emotion of his spirit, 011:034 though deeply troubled, asked them, "where have you laid him?" "master, come and see," was their reply. 011:035 jesus wept. 011:036 "see how dear he held him," said the jews. 011:037 but others of them asked, "was this man who opened the blind man's eyes unable to prevent this man from dying?" 011:038 jesus, however, again restraining his strong feeling, came to the tomb. it was a cave, and a stone had been laid against the mouth of it. 011:039 "take away the stone," said jesus. martha, the sister of the dead man, exclaimed, "master, by this time there is a foul smell; for it is three days since he died." 011:040 "did i not promise you," replied jesus, "that if you believe, you shall see the glory of god?" 011:041 so they removed the stone. then jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "father, i thank thee that thou hast heard me. 011:042 i know that thou always hearest me; but for the sake of the crowd standing round i have said this--that they may believe that thou didst send me." 011:043 after speaking thus, he called out in a loud voice, "lazarus, come out." 011:044 the dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped in cloths, and his face wrapped round with a towel. "untie him," said jesus, "and let him go free." 011:045 thereupon a considerable number of the jews--namely those who had come to mary and had witnessed his deeds- became believers in him; 011:046 though some of them went off to the pharisees and told them what he had done. 011:047 therefore the high priests and the pharisees held a meeting of the sanhedrin. "what steps are we taking?" they asked one another; "for this man is performing a great number of miracles. 011:048 if we leave him alone in this way, everybody will believe in him, and the romans will come and blot out both our city and our nation." 011:049 but one of them, named caiaphas, being high priest that year, said, "you know nothing about it. 011:050 you do not reflect that it is to your interest that one man should die for the people rather than the whole nation perish." 011:051 it was not as a mere man that he thus spoke. but being high priest that year he was inspired to declare that jesus was to die for the nation, 011:052 and not for the nation only, but in order to unite into one body all the far-scattered children of god. 011:053 so from that day forward they planned and schemed in order to put him to death. 011:054 therefore jesus no longer went about openly among the jews, but he left that neighbourhood and went into the district near the desert, to a town called ephraim, and remained there with the disciples. 011:055 the jewish passover was coming near, and many from that district went up to jerusalem before the passover, to purify themselves. 011:056 they therefore looked out for jesus, and asked one another as they stood in the temple, "what do you think?--will he come to the festival at all?" 011:057 now the high priests and the pharisees had issued orders that if any one knew where he was, he should give information, so that they might arrest him. 012:001 jesus, however, six days before the passover, came to bethany, where lazarus was whom he had raised from the dead. 012:002 so they gave a dinner there in honour of jesus, at which martha waited at table, but lazarus was one of the guests who were with him. 012:003 availing herself of the opportunity, mary took a pound weight of pure spikenard, very costly, and poured it over his feet, and wiped his feet with her hair, so that the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 012:004 then said judas (the iscariot, one of the twelve--the one who afterwards betrayed jesus), 012:005 "why was not that perfume sold for 300 shillings and the money given to the poor?" 012:006 the reason he said this was not that he cared for the poor, but that he was a thief, and that being in charge of the money-box, he used to steal what was put into it. 012:007 but jesus interposed. "do not blame her," he said, "allow her to have kept it for the time of my preparation for burial. 012:008 for the poor you always have with you, but you have not me always." 012:009 now it became widely known among the jews that jesus was there; but they came not only on his account, but also in order to see lazarus whom he had brought back to life. 012:010 the high priests, however, consulted together to put lazarus also to death, 012:011 for because of him many of the jews left them and became believers in jesus. 012:012 the next day a great crowd of those who had come to the festival, hearing that jesus was coming to jerusalem, 012:013 took branches of the palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting as they went, "god save him! blessings on him who comes in the name of the lord--even on the king of israel!" 012:014 and jesus, having procured a young ass, sat upon it, just as the scripture says, 012:015 "fear not, daughter of zion! see, thy king is coming riding on an ass's colt." 012:016 the meaning of this his disciples did not understand at the time; but after jesus was glorified they recollected that this was written about him, and that they had done this to him. 012:017 the large number of people, however, who had been present when he called lazarus out of the tomb and brought him back to life, related what they had witnessed. 012:018 this was also why the crowd came to meet him, because they had heard of his having performed that miracle. 012:019 the result was that the pharisees said among themselves, "observe how idle all your efforts are! the world is gone after him!" 012:020 now some of those who used to come up to worship at the festival were greeks. 012:021 they came to philip, of bethsaida in galilee, with the request, "sir, we wish to see jesus." 012:022 philip came and told andrew: andrew and philip told jesus. 012:023 his answer was, "the time has come for the son of man to be glorified. 012:024 in most solemn truth i tell you that unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains what it was- a single grain; but that if it dies, it yields a rich harvest. 012:025 he who holds his life dear, is destroying it; and he who makes his life of no account in this world shall keep it to the life of the ages. 012:026 if a man wishes to be my servant, let him follow me; and where i am, there too shall my servant be. if a man wishes to be my servant, the father will honour him. 012:027 now is my soul full of trouble; and what shall i say? father, save me from this hour. but for this purpose i have come to this hour. 012:028 father, glorify thy name." thereupon there came a voice from the sky, "i have glorified it and will also glorify it again." 012:029 the crowd that stood by and heard it, said that there had been thunder. others said, "an angel spoke to him." 012:030 "it is not for my sake," said jesus, "that that voice came, but for your sakes. 012:031 now is a judgement of this world: now will the prince of this world be driven out. 012:032 and i--if i am lifted up from the earth--will draw all men to me." 012:033 he said this to indicate the kind of death he would die. 012:034 the crowd answered him, "we have heard out of the law that the christ remains for ever. in what sense do you say that the son of man must be lifted up? who is that son of man?" 012:035 "yet a little while," he replied, "the light is among you. be faithful to the light that you have, for fear darkness should overtake you; for a man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. 012:036 in the degree that you have light, believe in the light, so that you may become sons of light." jesus said this, and went away and hid himself from them. 012:037 but though he had performed such great miracles in their presence, they did not believe in him-012:038 in order that the words of isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, "lord, who has believed our preaching? and the arm of the lord--to whom has it been unveiled?" 012:039 for this reason they were unable to believe--because isaiah said again, 012:040 "he has blinded their eyes and made their minds callous, lest they should see with their eyes and perceive with their minds, and should turn, and i should heal them." 012:041 isaiah uttered these words because he saw his glory; and he spoke of him. 012:042 nevertheless even from among the rulers many believed in him. but because of the pharisees they did not avow their belief, for fear they should be shut out from the synagogue. 012:043 for they loved the glory that comes from men rather than the glory that comes from god. 012:044 but jesus cried aloud, "he who believes in me, believes not so much in me, as in him who sent me; 012:045 and he who sees me sees him who sent me. 012:046 i have come like light into the world, in order that no one who believes in me may remain in the dark. 012:047 and if any one hears my teachings and regards them not, i do not judge him; for i did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 012:048 he who sets me at naught and does not receive my teachings is not left without a judge: the message which i have spoken will judge him on the last day. 012:049 because i have not spoken on my own authority; but the father who sent me, himself gave me a command what to say and in what words to speak. 012:050 and i know that his command is the life of the ages. what therefore i speak, i speak just as the father has bidden me." 013:001 now just before the feast of the passover this incident took place. jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the father; and having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 013:002 while supper was proceeding, the devil having by this time suggested to judas iscariot, the son of simon, the thought of betraying him, jesus, 013:003 although he knew that the father had put everything into his hands, and that he had come forth from god and was now going to god, 013:004 rose from the table, threw off his upper garments, and took a towel and tied it round him. 013:005 then he poured water into a basin, and proceeded to wash the feet of the disciples and to wipe them with the towel which he had put round him. 013:006 when he came to simon peter, peter objected. "master," he said, "are *you* going to wash my feet?" 013:007 "what i am doing," answered jesus, "for the present you do not know, but afterwards you shall know." 013:008 "never, while the world lasts," said peter, "shall you wash my feet." "if i do not wash you," replied jesus, "you have no share with me." 013:009 "master," said peter, "wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head." 013:010 "any one who has lately bathed," said jesus, "does not need to wash more than his feet, but is clean all over. and you my disciples are clean, and yet this is not true of all of you." 013:011 for he knew who was betraying him, and that was why he said, "you are not all of you clean." 013:012 so after he had washed their feet, put on his garments again, and returned to the table, he said to them, "do you understand what i have done to you? 013:013 you call me `the rabbi' and `the master,' and rightly so, for such i am. 013:014 if i then, your master and rabbi, have washed your feet, it is also your duty to wash one another's feet. 013:015 for i have set you an example in order that you may do what i have done to you. 013:016 in most solemn truth i tell you that a servant is not superior to his master, nor is a messenger superior to him who sent him. 013:017 if you know all this, blessed are you if you act accordingly. 013:018 i am not speaking of all of you. i know whom i have chosen, but things are as they are in order that the scripture may be fulfilled, which says, `he who eats my bread has lifted up his heel against me.' 013:019 from this time forward i tell you things before they happen, in order that when they do happen you may believe that i am he. 013:020 in most solemn truth i tell you that he who receives whoever i send receives me, and that he who receives me receives him who sent me." 013:021 after speaking thus jesus was troubled in spirit and said with deep earnestness, "in most solemn truth i tell you that one of you will betray me." 013:022 the disciples began looking at one another, at a loss to know to which of them he was referring. 013:023 there was at table one of his disciples--the one jesus loved- reclining with his head on jesus's bosom. 013:024 making a sign therefore to him, simon peter said, "tell us to whom he is referring." 013:025 so he, having his head on jesus's bosom, leaned back and asked, "master, who is it?" 013:026 "it is the one," answered jesus, "for whom i shall dip this piece of bread and to whom i shall give it." accordingly he dipped the piece of bread, and took it and gave it to judas, the son of the iscariot simon. 013:027 then, after judas had received the piece of bread, satan entered into him. "lose no time about it," said jesus to him. 013:028 but why he said this no one else at the table understood. 013:029 some, however, supposed that because judas had the money-box jesus meant, "buy what we require for the festival," or that he should give something to the poor. 013:030 so judas took the piece of bread and immediately went out. and it was night. 013:031 so when he was gone out, jesus said, "now is the son of man glorified, and god is glorified in him. 013:032 moreover god will glorify him in himself, and will glorify him without delay. 013:033 dear children, i am still with you a little longer. you will seek me, but, as i said to the jews, `where i am going you cannot come,' so for the present i say to you. 013:034 a new commandment i give you, to love one another; that as i have loved you, you also may love one another. 013:035 it is by this that every one will know that you are my disciples- if you love one another." 013:036 "master," inquired simon peter, "where are you going?" "where i am going," replied jesus, "you cannot be my follower now, but you shall be later." 013:037 "master," asked peter again, "why cannot i follow you now? i will lay down my life on your behalf. 013:038 "you say you will lay down your life on my behalf!" said jesus; "in most solemn truth i tell you that the cock will not crow before you have three times disowned me." 014:001 "let not your hearts be troubled. trust in god: trust in me also. 014:002 in my father's house there are many resting-places. were it otherwise, i would have told you; for i am going to make ready a place for you. 014:003 and if i go and make ready a place for you, i will return and take you to be with me, that where i am you also may be. 014:004 and where i am going, you all know the way." 014:005 "master," said thomas, "we do not know where you are going. in what sense do we know the way?" 014:006 "i am the way," replied jesus, "and the truth and the life. no one comes to the father except through me. 014:007 if you--all of you--knew me, you would fully know my father also. from this time forward you know him and have seen him." 014:008 "master," said philip, "cause us to see the father: that is all we need." 014:009 "have i been so long among you," jesus answered, "and yet you, philip, do not know me? he who has seen me has seen the father. how can *you* ask me, `cause us to see the father'? 014:010 do you not believe that i am in the father and that the father is in me? the things that i tell you all i do not speak on my own authority: but the father dwelling within me carries on his own work. 014:011 believe me, all of you, that i am in the father and that the father is in me; or at any rate, believe me because of what i do. 014:012 in most solemn truth i tell you that he who trusts in me- the things which i do he shall do also; and greater things than these he shall do, because i am going to the father. 014:013 and whatever any of you ask in my name, i will do, in order that the father may be glorified in the son. 014:014 if you make any request of me in my name, i will do it. 014:015 "if you love me, you will obey my commandments. 014:016 and i will ask the father, and he will give you another advocate to be for ever with you--the spirit of truth. 014:017 that spirit the world cannot receive, because it does not see him or know him. you know him, because he remains by your side and is in you. 014:018 i will not leave you bereaved: i am coming to you. 014:019 yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me: because i live, you also shall live. 014:020 at that time you will know that i am in my father, and that you are in me, and that i am in you. 014:021 he who has my commandments and obeys them--he it is who loves me. and he who loves me will be loved by my father, and i will love him and will clearly reveal myself to him." 014:022 judas (not the iscariot) asked, "master, how is it that you will reveal yourself clearly to us and not to the world?" 014:023 "if any one loves me," replied jesus, "he will obey my teaching; and my father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 014:024 he who has no love for me does not obey my teaching; and yet the teaching to which you are listening is not mine, but is the teaching of the father who sent me. 014:025 "all this i have spoken to you while still with you. 014:026 but the advocate, the holy spirit whom the father will send at my request, will teach you everything, and will bring to your memories all that i have said to you. 014:027 peace i leave with you: my own peace i give to you. it is not as the world gives its greetings that i give you peace. let not your hearts be troubled or dismayed. 014:028 "you heard me say to you, `i am going away, and yet i am coming to you.' if you loved me, you would have rejoiced because i am going to the father; for the father is greater than i am. 014:029 i have now told you before it comes to pass, that when it has come to pass you may believe. 014:030 in future i shall not talk much with you, for the prince of this world is coming. and yet in me he has nothing; 014:031 but it is in order that the world may know that i love the father, and that it is in obedience to the command which the father gave me that i thus act. rise, let us be going." 015:001 "i am the vine--the true vine, and my father is the vine-dresser. 015:002 every branch in me--if it bears no fruit, he takes away; and every branch that bears fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 015:003 already you are cleansed--through the teaching which i have given you. 015:004 continue in me, and let me continue in you. just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself--that is, if it does not continue in the vine--so neither can you if you do not continue in me. 015:005 i am the vine, you are the branches. he who continues in me and in whom i continue bears abundant fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 015:006 if any one does not continue in me, he is like the unfruitful branch which is at once thrown away and then withers up. such branches they gather up and throw into the fire and they are burned. 015:007 "if you continue in me and my sayings continue in you, ask what you will and it shall be done for you. 015:008 by this is god glorified--by your bearing abundant fruit and thus being true disciples of mine. 015:009 as the father has loved me, i have also loved you: continue in my love. 015:010 if you obey my commands, you will continue in my love, as i have obeyed my father's commands and continue in his love. 015:011 "these things i have spoken to you in order that i may have joy in you, and that your joy may become perfect. 015:012 this is my commandment to you, to love one another as i have loved you. 015:013 no one has greater love than this--a man laying down his life for his friends. 015:014 you are my friends, if you do what i command you. 015:015 no longer do i call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing; but i have called you friends, because all that i have heard from the father i have made known to you. 015:016 it is not you who chose me, but it is i who chose you and appointed you that you might go and be fruitful and that your fruit might remain; so that whatever petition you present to the father in my name he may give you. 015:017 "thus i command you to love one another. 015:018 if the world hates you, remember that it has first had me as the fixed object of its hatred. 015:019 if you belonged to the world, the world would love its own property. but because you do not belong to the world, and i have chosen you out of the world--for that reason the world hates you. 015:020 bear in mind what i said to you, `a servant is not superior to his master.' if they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you: if they have obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 015:021 but they will inflict all this suffering upon you on account of your bearing my name--because they do not know him who sent me. 015:022 "if i had not come and spoken to them, they would have had no sin; but as the case stands they are without excuse for their sin. 015:023 he who hates me hates my father also. 015:024 if i had not done among them, as i have, such miracles as no one else ever did, they would have had no sin; but they have in fact seen and also hated both me and my father. 015:025 but this has been so, in order that the saying may be fulfilled which stands written in their law, `they have hated me without any reason.' 015:026 "when the advocate is come whom i will send to you from the father's presence--the spirit of truth who comes forth from the father's presence--he will be a witness concerning me. 015:027 and you also are witnesses, because you have been with me from the first. 016:001 "these things i have spoken to you in order to clear stumbling-blocks out of your path. 016:002 you will be excluded from the synagogues; nay more, the time is coming when any one who has murdered one of you will suppose he is offering service to god. 016:003 and they will do these things because they have failed to recognize the father and to discover who i am. 016:004 but i have spoken these things to you in order that when the time for their accomplishment comes you may remember them, and may recollect that i told you. i did not, however, tell you all this at first, because i was still with you. 016:005 but now i an returning to him who sent me; and not one of you asks me where i am going. 016:006 but grief has filled your hearts because i have said all this to you. 016:007 "yet it is the truth that i am telling you--it is to your advantage that i go away. for unless i go away, the advocate will not come to you; but if i go, i will send him to you. 016:008 and he, when he comes, will convict the world in respect of sin, of righteousness, and of judgement;-016:009 of sin, because they do not believe in me; 016:010 of righteousness, because i am going to the father, and you will no longer see me; 016:011 of judgement, because the prince of this world is under sentence. 016:012 "i have much more to say to you, but you are unable at present to bear the burden of it. 016:013 but when he has come--the spirit of truth--he will guide you into all the truth. for he will not speak as himself originating what he says, but all that he hears he will speak, and he will make known the future to you. 016:014 he will glorify me, because he will take of what is mine and will make it known to you. 016:015 everything that the father has is mine; that is why i said that the spirit of truth takes of what is mine and will make it known to you. 016:016 "a little while and you see me no more, and again a little while and you shall see me." 016:017 some of his disciples therefore said to one another, "what does this mean which he is telling us, `a little while and you do not see me, and again a little while and you shall see me,' and `because i am going to the father'?" 016:018 so they asked one another repeatedly, "what can that `little while' mean which he speaks of? we do not understand his words." 016:019 jesus perceived that they wanted to ask him, and he said, "is this what you are questioning one another about- my saying, `a little while and you do not see me, and again a little while and you shall see me'? 016:020 in most solemn truth i tell you that you will weep aloud and lament, but the world will be glad. you will mourn, but your grief will be turned into gladness. 016:021 a woman, when she is in labour, has sorrow, because her time has come. but when she has given birth to the babe, she no longer remembers the pain, because of her joy at a child being born into the world. 016:022 so you also now have sorrow; but i shall see you again, and your hearts will be glad, and your gladness no one will take away from you. 016:023 you will put no questions to me then. "in most solemn truth i tell you that whatever you ask the father for in my name he will give you. 016:024 as yet you have not asked for anything in my name: ask, and you shall receive, that your hearts may be filled with gladness. 016:025 "all this i have spoken to you in veiled language. the time is coming when i shall no longer speak to you in veiled language, but will tell you about the father in plain words. 016:026 at that time you will make your requests in my name; and i do not promise to ask the father on your behalf, 016:027 for the father himself holds you dear, because you have held me dear and have believed that i came from the father's presence. 016:028 i came from the father and have come into the world. again i am leaving the world and am going to the father." 016:029 "ah, now you are using plain language," said his disciples, "and are uttering no figure of speech! 016:030 now we know that you have all knowledge, and do not need to be pressed with questions. through this we believe that you came from god." 016:031 "do you at last believe?" replied jesus. 016:032 "remember that the time is coming, nay, has already come, for you all to be dispersed each to his own home and to leave me alone. and yet i am not alone, for the father is with me. 016:033 "i have spoken all this to you in order that in me you may have peace. in the world you have affliction. but keep up your courage: *i* have won the victory over the world." 017:001 when jesus had thus spoken, he raised his eyes towards heaven and said, "father, the hour has come. glorify thy son that the son may glorify thee; 017:002 even as thou hast given him authority over all mankind, so that on all whom thou hast given him he may bestow the life of the ages. 017:003 and in this consists the life of the ages--in knowing thee the only true god and jesus christ whom thou hast sent. 017:004 i have glorified thee on earth, having done perfectly the work which by thine appointment has been mine to do. 017:005 and now, father, do thou glorify me in thine own presence, with the glory that i had in thy presence before the world existed. 017:006 "i have revealed thy perfections to the men whom thou gavest me out of the world. thine they were, and thou gavest them to me, and they have obeyed thy message. 017:007 now they know that whatever thou hast given me is from thee. 017:008 for the truths which thou didst teach me i have taught them. and they have received them, and have known for certain that i came out from thy presence, and have believed that thou didst send me. 017:009 "i am making request for them: for the world i do not make any request, but for those whom thou hast given me. because they are thine, 017:010 and everything that is mine is thine, and everything that is thine is mine; and i am crowned with glory in them. 017:011 i am now no longer in the world, but they are in the world and i am coming to thee. "holy father, keep them true to thy name- the name which thou hast given me to bear--that they may be one, even as we are. 017:012 while i was with them, i kept them true to thy name--the name thou hast given me to bear--and i kept watch over them, and not one of them is lost but only he who is doomed to destruction- that the scripture may be fulfilled. 017:013 "but now i am coming to thee, and i speak these words while i am in the world, in order that they may have my gladness within them filling their hearts. 017:014 i have given them thy message, and the world has hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as i do not belong to the world. 017:015 i do not ask that thou wilt remove them out of the world, but that thou wilt protect them from the evil one. 017:016 they do not belong to the world, just as i do not belong to the world. 017:017 make them holy in the truth: thy message is truth. 017:018 just as thou didst send me into the world, i also have sent them; 017:019 and on their behalf i consecrate myself, in order that they may become perfectly consecrated in truth. 017:020 "nor is it for them alone that i make request. it is also for those who trust in me through their teaching; 017:021 that they may all be one, even as thou art in me, o father, and i am in thee; that they also may be in us; that the world may believe that thou didst send me. 017:022 and the glory which thou hast given me i have given them, that they may be one, just as we are one: 017:023 i in them and thou in me; that they may stand perfected in one; that the world may come to understand that thou didst send me and hast loved them with the same love as that with which thou hast loved me. 017:024 "father, those whom thou hast given me--i desire that where i am they also may be with me, that they may see the glory- my glory--my gift from thee, which thou hast given me because thou didst love me before the creation of the world. 017:025 and, righteous father, though the world has failed to recognize thee, i have known thee, and these have perceived that thou didst send me. 017:026 and i have made known thy name to them and will make it known, that the love with which thou hast loved me may be in them, and that i may be in them." 018:001 after offering this prayer jesus went out with his disciples to a place on the further side of the ravine of the cedars, where there was a garden which he entered- himself and his disciples. 018:002 now judas also, who at that very time was betraying him, knew the place, for jesus had often resorted there with his disciples. 018:003 so judas, followed by the battalion and by a detachment of the temple police sent by the high priests and pharisees, came there with torches and lamps and weapons. 018:004 jesus therefore, knowing all that was about to befall him, went out to meet them. "who are you looking for?" he asked them. 018:005 "for jesus the nazarene," was the answer. "i am he," he replied. (now judas who was betraying him was also standing with them.) 018:006 as soon then as he said to them, "i am he," they went backwards and fell to the ground. 018:007 again therefore he asked them, "who are you looking for?" "for jesus the nazarene," they said. 018:008 "i have told you," replied jesus, "that i am he. if therefore you are looking for me, let these my disciples go their way." 018:009 he made this request in order that the words he had spoken might be fulfilled, "as for those whom thou hast given me, i have not lost one." 018:010 simon peter, however, having a sword, drew it, and, aiming at the high priest's servant, cut off his right ear. the servant's name was malchus. 018:011 jesus therefore said to peter, "put back your sword. shall i refuse to drink the cup of sorrow which the father has given me to drink?" 018:012 so the battalion and their tribune and the jewish police closed in, and took jesus and bound him. 018:013 they then brought him to annas first; for annas was the father-in-law of caiaphas who was high priest that year. 018:014 (it was this caiaphas who had advised the jews, saying, "it is to your interest that one man should die for the people.") 018:015 meanwhile simon peter was following jesus, and so also was another disciple. the latter was known to the high priest, and went in with jesus into the court of the high priest's palace. 018:016 but peter remained standing outside the door, till the disciple who was acquainted with the high priest came out and induced the portress to let peter in. 018:017 this led the girl, the portress, to ask peter, "are you also one of this man's disciples?" "no, i am not," he replied. 018:018 now because it was cold the servants and the police had lighted a charcoal fire, and were standing and warming themselves; and peter too remained with them, standing and warming himself. 018:019 so the high priest questioned jesus about his disciples and his teaching. 018:020 "as for me," replied jesus, "i have spoken openly to the world. i have continually taught in some synagogue or in the temple where all the jews are wont to assemble, and i have said nothing in secret. 018:021 why do you question me? question those who heard what it was i said to them: these witnesses here know what i said." 018:022 upon his saying this, one of the officers standing by struck him with his open hand, asking him as he did so, "is that the way you answer the high priest?" 018:023 "if i have spoken wrongly," replied jesus, "bear witness to it as wrong; but if rightly, why that blow?" 018:024 so annas sent him bound to caiaphas the high priest. 018:025 but simon peter remained standing and warming himself, and this led to their asking him, "are you also one of his disciples?" he denied it, and said, "no, i am not." 018:026 one of the high priest's servants, a relative of the man whose ear peter had cut off, said, "did i not see you in the garden with him?" 018:027 once more peter denied it, and immediately a cock crowed. 018:028 so they brought jesus from caiaphas's house to the praetorium. it was the early morning, and they would not enter the praetorium themselves for fear of defilement, and in order that they might be able to eat the passover. 018:029 accordingly pilate came out to them and inquired, "what accusation have you to bring against this man?" 018:030 "if the man were not a criminal," they replied, "we would not have handed him over to you." 018:031 "take him yourselves," said pilate, "and judge him by your law." "we have no power," replied the jews, "to put any man to death." 018:032 they said this that the words might be fulfilled in which jesus predicted the kind of death he was to die. 018:033 re-entering the praetorium, therefore, pilate called jesus and asked him, "are *you* the king of the jews?" 018:034 "do you say this of yourself, or have others told it you about me?" replied jesus. 018:035 "am i a jew?" exclaimed pilate; "it is your own nation and the high priests who have handed you over to me. what have you done?" 018:036 "my kingdom," replied jesus, "does not belong to this world. if my kingdom did belong to this world, my subjects would have resolutely fought to save me from being delivered up to the jews. but, as a matter of fact, my kingdom has not this origin." 018:037 "so then *you* are a king!" rejoined pilate. "yes," said jesus, "you say truly that i am a king. for this purpose i was born, and for this purpose i have come into the world- to give testimony for the truth. every one who is a friend of the truth listens to my voice." 018:038 "what is truth?" said pilate. but no sooner had he spoken the words than he went out again to the jews and told them, "i find no crime in him. 018:039 but you have a custom that i should release one prisoner to you at the passover. so shall i release to you the king of the jews?" 018:040 with a roar of voices they again cried out, saying, "not this man, but barabbas!" now barabbas was a robber. 019:001 then pilate took jesus and scourged him. 019:002 and the soldiers, twisting twigs of thorn into a wreath, put it on his head, and threw round him a crimson cloak. 019:003 then they began to march up to him, saying in a mocking voice, "hail king of the jews!" and they struck him with the palms of their hands. 019:004 once more pilate came out and said to the jews, "see, i am bringing him out to you to let you clearly understand that i find no crime in him." 019:005 so jesus came out, wearing the wreath of thorns and the crimson cloak. and pilate said to them, "see, there is the man." 019:006 as soon then as the high priests and the officers saw him, they shouted "to the cross! to the cross!" "take him yourselves and crucify him," said pilate; "for i, at any rate, find no crime in him." 019:007 "we," replied the jews, "have a law, and in accordance with that law he ought to die, for having claimed to be the son of god." 019:008 more alarmed than ever, pilate no sooner heard these words than he re-entered the praetorium and began to question jesus. 019:009 "what is your origin?" he asked. but jesus gave him no answer. 019:010 "do you refuse to speak even to me?" asked pilate; "do you not know that i have it in my power either to release you or to crucify you?" 019:011 "you would have had no power whatever over me," replied jesus, "had it not been granted you from above. on that account he who has delivered me up to you is more guilty than you are." 019:012 upon receiving this answer, pilate was for releasing him. but the jews kept shouting, "if you release this man, you are no friend of caesar's. every one who sets himself up as king declares himself a rebel against caesar." 019:013 on hearing this, pilate brought jesus out, and sat down on the judge's seat in a place called the pavement- or in hebrew, gabbatha. 019:014 it was the day of preparation for the passover, about six o'clock in the morning. then he said to the jews, "there is your king!" 019:015 this caused a storm of outcries, "away with him! away with him! crucify him!" "am i to crucify your king?" pilate asked. "we have no king, except caesar," answered the high priests. 019:016 then pilate gave him up to them to be crucified. accordingly they took jesus; 019:017 and he went out carrying his own cross, to the place called skull-place--or, in hebrew, golgotha-019:018 where they nailed him to a cross, and two others at the same time, one on each side and jesus in the middle. 019:019 and pilate wrote a notice and had it fastened to the top of the cross. it ran thus: jesus the nazarene, the king of the jews. 019:020 many of the jews read this notice, for the place where jesus was crucified was near the city, and the notice was in three languages--hebrew, latin, and greek. 019:021 this led the jewish high priests to remonstrate with pilate. "you should not write `the king of the jews,'" they said, "but that he claimed to be king of the jews." 019:022 "what i have written i have written," was pilate's answer. 019:023 so the soldiers, as soon as they had crucified jesus, took his garments, including his tunic, and divided them into four parts- one part for each soldier. the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. 019:024 so they said to one another, "do not let us tear it. let us draw lots for it." this happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which says, "they shared my garments among them, and drew lots for my clothing." that was just what the soldiers did. 019:025 now standing close to the cross of jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, mary the wife of clopas, and mary of magdala. 019:026 so jesus, seeing his mother, and seeing the disciple whom he loved standing near, said to his mother, "behold, your son!" 019:027 then he said to the disciple, "behold, your mother!" and from that time the disciple received her into his own home. 019:028 after this, jesus, knowing that everything was now brought to an end, said--that the scripture might be fulfilled, "i am thirsty." 019:029 there was a jar of wine standing there. with this wine they filled a sponge, put it on the end of a stalk of hyssop, and lifted it to his mouth. 019:030 as soon as jesus had taken the wine, he said, "it is finished." and then, bowing his head, he yielded up his spirit. 019:031 meanwhile the jews, because it was the day of preparation for the passover, and in order that the bodies might not remain on the crosses during the sabbath (for that sabbath was one of special solemnity), requested pilate to have the legs of the dying men broken, and the bodies removed. 019:032 accordingly the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and also of the other who had been crucified with jesus. 019:033 then they came to jesus himself: but when they saw that he was already dead, they refrained from breaking his legs. 019:034 one of the soldiers, however, made a thrust at his side with a lance, and immediately blood and water flowed out. 019:035 this statement is the testimony of an eye-witness, and it is true. he knows that he is telling the truth--in order that you also may believe. 019:036 for all this took place that the scripture might be fulfilled which declares, "not one of his bones shall be broken." 019:037 and again another scripture says, "they shall look on him whom they have pierced." 019:038 after this, joseph of arimathaea, who was a disciple of jesus, but for fear of the jews a secret disciple, asked pilate's permission to carry away the body of jesus; and pilate gave him leave. so he came and removed the body. 019:039 nicodemus too--he who at first had visited jesus by night- came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, in weight about seventy or eighty pounds. 019:040 taking down the body they wrapped it in linen cloths along with the spices, in accordance with the jewish mode of preparing for burial. 019:041 there was a garden at the place where jesus had been crucified, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried. 019:042 therefore, because it was the day of preparation for the jewish passover, and the tomb was close at hand, they put jesus there. 020:001 on the first day of the week, very early, while it was still dark, mary of magdala came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from it. 020:002 so she ran, as fast as she could, to find simon peter and the other disciple--the one who was dear to jesus- and to tell them, "they have taken the master out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have put him." 020:003 peter and the other disciple started at once to go to the tomb, both of them running, 020:004 but the other disciple ran faster than peter and reached it before he did. 020:005 stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths lying there on the ground, but he did not go in. 020:006 simon peter, however, also came, following him, and entered the tomb. there on the ground he saw the cloths; 020:007 and the towel, which had been placed over the face of jesus, not lying with the cloths, but folded up and put by itself. 020:008 then the other disciple, who had been the first to come to the tomb, also went in and saw and was convinced. 020:009 for until now they had not understood the inspired teaching, that he must rise again from among the dead. 020:010 then they went away and returned home. 020:011 meanwhile mary remained standing near the tomb, weeping aloud. she did not enter the tomb, but as she wept she stooped and looked in, 020:012 and saw two angels clothed in white raiment, sitting one at the head and one at the feet where the body of jesus had been. 020:013 they spoke to her. "why are you weeping?" they asked. "because," she replied, "they have taken away my lord, and i do not know where they have put him." 020:014 while she was speaking, she turned round and saw jesus standing there, but did not recognize him. 020:015 "why are you weeping?" he asked; "who are you looking for?" she, supposing that he was the gardener, replied, "sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him and i will remove him." 020:016 "mary!" said jesus. she turned to him. "rabboni!" she cried in hebrew: the word means `teacher!' 020:017 "do not cling to me," said jesus, "for i have not yet ascended to the father. but take this message to my brethren: `i am ascending to my father and your father, to my god and your god.'" 020:018 mary of magdala came and brought word to the disciples. "i have seen the master," she said. and she told them that he had said these things to her. 020:019 on that same first day of the week, when it was evening and, for fear of the jews, the doors of the house where the disciples were, were locked, jesus came and stood in their midst, and said to them, "peace be to you!" 020:020 having said this he showed them his hands and also his side; and the disciples were filled with joy at seeing the master. 020:021 a second time, therefore, he said to them, "peace be to you! as the father sent me, i also now send you." 020:022 having said this he breathed upon them and said, "receive the holy spirit. 020:023 if you remit the sins of any persons, they remain remitted to them. if you bind fast the sins of any, they remain bound." 020:024 thomas, one of the twelve--surnamed `the twin'--was not among them when jesus came. 020:025 so the rest of the disciples told him, "we have seen the master!" his reply was, "unless i see in his hands the wound made by the nails and put my finger into the wound, and put my hand into his side, i will never believe it." 020:026 a week later the disciples were again in the house, and thomas was with them, when jesus came--though the doors were locked- and stood in their midst, and said, "peace be to you." 020:027 then he said to thomas, "bring your finger here and feel my hands; bring you hand and put it into my side; and do not be ready to disbelieve but to believe." 020:028 "my lord and my god!" replied thomas. 020:029 "because you have seen me," replied jesus, "you have believed. blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." 020:030 there were also a great number of other signs which jesus performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 020:031 but these have been recorded in order that you may believe that he is the christ, the son of god, and that, through believing, you may have life through his name. 021:001 after this, jesus again showed himself to the disciples. it was at the lake of tiberias. the circumstances were as follows. 021:002 simon peter was with thomas, called the twin, nathanael of cana in galilee, the sons of zabdi, and two others of the master's disciples. 021:003 simon peter said to them, "i am going fishing." "we will go too," said they. so they set out and went on board their boat; but they caught nothing that night. 021:004 when, however, day was now dawning, jesus stood on the beach, though the disciples did not know that it was jesus. 021:005 he called to them. "children," he said, "have you any food there?" "no," they answered. 021:006 "throw the net in on the right hand side," he said, "and you will find fish." so they threw the net in, and now they could scarcely drag it along for the quantity of fish. 021:007 this made the disciple whom jesus loved say to peter, "it is the master." simon peter therefore, when he heard the words, "it is the master," drew on his fisherman's shirt- for he had not been wearing it--put on his girdle, and sprang into the water. 021:008 but the rest of the disciples came in the small boat (for they were not far from land--only about a hundred yards off), dragging the net full of fish. 021:009 as soon as they landed, they saw a charcoal fire burning there, with fish broiling on it, and bread close by. 021:010 jesus told them to fetch some of the fish which they had just caught. 021:011 so simon peter went on board the boat and drew the net ashore full of large fish, 153 in number; and yet, although there were so many, the net had not broken. 021:012 "come this way and have breakfast," said jesus. but not one of the disciples ventured to question him as to who he was, for they felt sure that it was the master. 021:013 then jesus came and took the bread and gave them some, and the fish in the same way. 021:014 this was now the third occasion on which jesus showed himself to the disciples after he had risen from among the dead. 021:015 when they had finished breakfast, jesus asked simon peter, "simon, son of john, do you love me more than these others do?" "yes, master," was his answer; "you know that you are dear to me." "then feed my lambs," replied jesus. 021:016 again a second time he asked him, "simon, son of john, do you love me?" "yes, master," he said, "you know that you are dear to me." "then be a shepherd to my sheep," he said. 021:017 a third time jesus put the question: "simon, son of john, am i dear to you?" it grieved peter that jesus asked him the third time, "am i dear to you?" "master," he replied, "you know everything, you can see that you are dear to me." "then feed my much-loved sheep," said jesus. 021:018 "in most solemn truth i tell you that whereas, when you were young, you used to put on your girdle and walk whichever way you chose, when you have grown old you will stretch out your arms and some one else will put a girdle round you and carry you where you have no wish to go." 021:019 this he said to indicate the kind of death by which that disciple would bring glory to god; and after speaking thus he said to him, "follow me." 021:020 peter turned round and noticed the disciple whom jesus loved following--the one who at the supper had leaned back on his breast and had asked, "master, who is it that is betraying you?" 021:021 on seeing him, peter asked jesus, "and, master, what about him?" 021:022 "if i desire him to remain till i come," replied jesus, "what concern is that of yours? you, yourself, must follow me." 021:023 hence the report spread among the brethren that that disciple would never die. yet jesus did not say, "he is not to die," but, "if i desire him to remain till i come, what concern is that of yours?" 021:024 that is the disciple who gives his testimony as to these matters, and has written this history; and we know that his testimony is true. 021:025 but there are also many other things which jesus did--so vast a number indeed that if they were all described in detail, i suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would have to be written. this ebook was produced by david widger from etext #1581 prepared by dennis mccarthy, atlanta, georgia and tad book, student, pontifical north american college, rome. the holy bible translated from the latin vulgate diligently compared with the hebrew, greek, and other editions in divers languages the old testament first published by the english college at douay a.d. 1609 & 1610 and the new testament first published by the english college at rheims a.d. 1582 with annotations the whole revised and diligently compared with the latin vulgate by bishop richard challoner a.d. 1749-1752 the holy gospel of jesus christ according to st. john st. john the apostle and evangelist was the son of zebedee and salome, brother to james the greater. he was called the beloved disciple of christ and stood by at his crucifixion. he wrote the gospel after the other evangelists, about sixty-three years after our lord's ascension. many things that they had omitted were supplied by him. the original was written in greek; and by the greeks he is titled: the divine, st. jerome relates that, when he was earnestly requested by the brethren to write the gospel, he answered he would do it, if by ordering a common fast, they would all put up their prayers together to the almighty god; which being ended replenished with the clearest and fullest revelation coming from heaven, he burst forth into that preface: in the beginning was the word. john chapter 1 the divinity and incarnation of christ. john bears witness of him. he begins to call his disciples. 1:1. in the beginning was the word: and the word was with god: and the word was god. 1:2. the same was in the beginning with god. 1:3. all things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made. 1:4. in him was life: and the life was the light of men. 1:5. and the light shineth in darkness: and the darkness did not comprehend it. 1:6. there was a man sent from god, whose name was john. 1:7. this man came for a witness, to give testimony of the light, that all men might believe through him. 1:8. he was not the light, but was to give testimony of the light. 1:9. that was the true light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world. 1:10. he was in the world: and the world was made by him: and the world knew him not. 1:11. he came unto his own: and his own received him not. 1:12. but as many as received him, he gave them power to be made the sons of god, to them that believe in his name. 1:13. who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of god. 1:14. and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us (and we saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the father), full of grace and truth. 1:15. john beareth witness of him and crieth out, saying: this was he of whom i spoke: he that shall come after me is preferred before me: because he was before me. 1:16. and of his fulness we all have received: and grace for grace. 1:17. for the law was given by moses: grace and truth came by jesus christ. 1:18. no man hath seen god at any time: the only begotten son who is in the bosom of the father, he hath declared him. 1:19. and this is the testimony of john, when the jews sent from jerusalem priests and levites to him, to ask him: who art thou? 1:20. and he confessed and did not deny: and he confessed: i am not the christ. 1:21. and they asked him: what then? art thou elias? and he said: i am not. art thou the prophet? and he answered: no. 1:22. they said therefore unto him: who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us? what sayest thou of thyself? 1:23. he said: i am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the lord, as said the prophet isaias. 1:24. and they that were sent were of the pharisees. 1:25. and they asked him and said to him: why then dost thou baptize, if thou be not christ, nor elias, nor the prophet? 1:26. john answered them, saying: i baptize with water: but there hath stood one in the midst of you, whom you know not. 1:27. the same is he that shall come after me, who is preferred before me: the latchet of whose shoe i am not worthy to loose. 1:28. these things were done in bethania, beyond the jordan, where john was baptizing. 1:29. the next day, john saw jesus coming to him; and he saith: behold the lamb of god. behold him who taketh away the sin of the world. 1:30. this is he of whom i said: after me there cometh a man, who is preferred before me: because he was before me. 1:31. and i knew him not: but that he may be made manifest in israel, therefore am i come baptizing with water. 1:32. and john gave testimony, saying: i saw the spirit coming down, as a dove from heaven; and he remained upon him. 1:33. and i knew him not: but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me: he upon whom thou shalt see the spirit descending and remaining upon him, he it is that baptizeth with the holy ghost. 1:34. and i saw: and i gave testimony that this is the son of god. 1:35. the next day again john stood and two of his disciples. 1:36. and beholding jesus walking, he saith: behold the lamb of god. 1:37. and the two disciples heard him speak: and they followed jesus. 1:38. and jesus turning and seeing them following him, saith to them: what seek you? who said to him: rabbi (which is to say, being interpreted, master), where dwellest thou? 1:39. he saith to them: come and see. they came and saw where he abode: and they stayed with him that day. now it was about the tenth hour. 1:40. and andrew, the brother of simon peter, was one of the two who had heard of john and followed him. 1:41. he findeth first his brother simon and saith to him: we have found the messias, which is, being interpreted, the christ. 1:42. and he brought him to jesus. and jesus looking upon him, said: thou art simon the son of jona. thou shalt be called cephas, which is interpreted peter. 1:43. on the following day, he would go forth into galilee: and he findeth philip, and jesus saith to him: follow me. 1:44. now philip was of bethsaida, the city of andrew and peter. 1:45. philip findeth nathanael and saith to him: we have found him of whom moses, in the law and the prophets did write, jesus the son of joseph of nazareth. 1:46. and nathanael said to him: can any thing of good come from nazareth? philip saith to him: come and see. 1:47. jesus saw nathanael coming to him and he saith of him: behold an israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile. 1:48. nathanael saith to him: whence knowest thou me? jesus answered and said to him: before that philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, i saw thee. 1:49. nathanael answered him and said: rabbi: thou art the son of god. thou art the king of israel. 1:50. jesus answered and said to him: because i said unto thee, i saw thee under the fig tree, thou believest: greater things than these shalt thou see. 1:51. and he saith to him: amen, amen, i say to you, you shall see the heaven opened and the angels of god ascending and descending upon the son of man. john chapter 2 christ changes water into wine. he casts the sellers out of the temple. 2:1. and the third day, there was a marriage in cana of galilee: and the mother of jesus was there. 2:2. and jesus also was invited, and his disciples, to the marriage. 2:3. and the wine failing, the mother of jesus saith to him: they have no wine. 2:4. and jesus saith to her: woman, what is that to me and to thee? my hour is not yet come. what is that to me, etc... these words of our saviour, spoken to his mother, have been understood by some commentators as harsh, they not considering the next following verse: whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye, which plainly shows that his mother knew of the miracle that he was to perform, and that it was at her request he wrought it; besides the manner of speaking the words as to the tone, and the countenance shown at the same time, which could only be known to those who were present, or from what had followed: for words indicating anger in one tone of voice, would be understood quite the reverse in another. 2:5. his mother saith to the waiters: whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye. 2:6. now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of the purifying of the jews, containing two or three measures apiece. 2:7. jesus saith to them: fill the waterpots with water. and they filled them up to the brim. 2:8. and jesus saith to them: draw out now and carry to the chief steward of the feast. and they carried it. 2:9. and when the chief steward had tasted the water made wine and knew not whence it was, but the waiters knew who had drawn the water: the chief steward calleth the bridegroom, 2:10. and saith to him: every man at first setteth forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse. but thou hast kept the good wine until now. 2:11. this beginning of miracles did jesus in cana of galilee and manifested his glory. and his disciples believed in him. 2:12. after this, he went down to capharnaum, he and his mother and his brethren and his disciples: and they remained there not many days. 2:13. and the pasch of the jews was at hand: and jesus went up to jerusalem. 2:14. and he found in the temple them that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting. 2:15. and when he had made, as it were, a scourge of little cords, he drove them all out of the temple, the sheep also and the oxen: and the money of the changers he poured out, and the tables he overthrew. 2:16. and to them that sold doves he said: take these things hence, and make not the house of my father a house of traffic. 2:17. and his disciples remembered, that it was written: the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up. 2:18. the jews, therefore, answered, and said to him: what sign dost thou shew unto us, seeing thou dost these things? 2:19. jesus answered and said to them: destroy this temple; and in three days i will raise it up. 2:20. the jews then said: six and forty years was this temple in building; and wilt thou raise it up in three days? 2:21. but he spoke of the temple of his body. 2:22. when therefore he was risen again from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this: and they believed the scripture and the word that jesus had said. 2:23. now when he was at jerusalem, at the pasch, upon the festival day, many believed in his name, seeing his signs which he did. 2:24. but jesus did not trust himself unto them: for that he knew all men, 2:25. and because he needed not that any should give testimony of man: for he knew what was in man. john chapter 3 christ's discourse with nicodemus. john's testimony. 3:1. and there was a man of the pharisees, named nicodemus, a ruler of the jews. 3:2. this man came to jesus by night and said to him: rabbi, we know that thou art come a teacher from god; for no man can do these signs which thou dost, unless god be with him. 3:3. jesus answered and said to him: amen, amen, i say to thee, unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of god. 3:4. nicodemus saith to him: how can a man be born when he is old? can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born again? 3:5. jesus answered: amen, amen, i say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the holy ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of god. unless a man be born again, etc... by these words our saviour hath declared the necessity of baptism; and by the word water it is evident that the application of it is necessary with the words. matt. 28. 19. 3:6. that which is born of the flesh is flesh: and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. 3:7. wonder not that i said to thee: you must be born again. 3:8. the spirit breatheth where he will and thou hearest his voice: but thou knowest not whence he cometh and whither he goeth. so is every one that is born of the spirit. 3:9. nicodemus answered and said to him: how can these things be done? 3:10. jesus answered and said to him: art thou a master in israel, and knowest not these things? 3:11. amen, amen, i say to thee that we speak what we know and we testify what we have seen: and you receive not our testimony. 3:12. if i have spoken to you earthly things, and you believe not: how will you believe, if i shall speak to you heavenly things? 3:13. and no man hath ascended into heaven, but he that descended from heaven, the son of man who is in heaven. 3:14. and as moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the son of man be lifted up: 3:15. that whosoever believeth in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting. 3:16. for god so loved the world, as to give his only begotten son: that whosoever believeth in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting. 3:17. for god sent not his son into the world, to judge the world: but that the world may be saved by him. 3:18. he that believeth in him is not judged. but he that doth not believe is already judged: because he believeth not in the name of the only begotten son of god. is not judged... he that believeth, viz., by a faith working through charity, is not judged, that is, is not condemned; but the obstinate unbeliever is judged, that is, condemned already, by retrenching himself from the society of christ and his church. 3:19. and this is the judgment: because the light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather than the light: for their works were evil. the judgment... that is, the cause of his comdemnation. 3:20. for every one that doth evil hateth the light and cometh not to the light, that his works may not be reproved. 3:21. but he that doth truth cometh to the light, that his works may be made manifest: because they are done in god. he that doth truth... that is, he that acteth according to truth, which here signifies the law of god. thy law is truth. psa. 118. 142. 3:22. after these things, jesus and his disciples came into the land of judea: and there he abode with them and baptized. 3:23. and john also was baptizing in ennon near salim: because there was much water there. and they came and were baptized. 3:24. for john was not yet cast into prison. 3:25. and there arose a question between some of john's disciples and the jews, concerning purification. 3:26. and they came to john and said to him: rabbi, he that was with thee beyond the jordan, to whom thou gavest testimony: behold, he baptizeth and all men come to him. 3:27. john answered and said: a man cannot receive any thing, unless it be given him from heaven. 3:28. you yourselves do bear me witness that i said that i am not christ, but that i am sent before him. 3:29. he that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, who standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth with joy because of the bridegroom's voice. this my joy therefore is fulfilled. 3:30. he must increase: but i must decrease. 3:31. he that cometh from above is above all. he that is of the earth, of the earth he is, and of the earth he speaketh. he that cometh from heaven is above all. 3:32. and what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth: and no man receiveth his testimony. 3:33. he that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that god is true. 3:34. for he whom god hath sent speaketh the words of god: for god doth not give the spirit by measure. 3:35. the father loveth the son: and he hath given all things into his hand. 3:36. he that believeth in the son hath life everlasting: but he that believeth not the son shall not see life: but the wrath of god abideth on him. john chapter 4 christ talks with the samaritan woman. he heals the ruler's son. 4:1. when jesus therefore understood the pharisees had heard that jesus maketh more disciples and baptizeth more than john, 4:2. (though jesus himself did not baptize, but his disciples), 4:3. he left judea and went again into galilee. 4:4. and he was of necessity to pass through samaria. 4:5. he cometh therefore to a city of samaria, which is called sichar, near the land which jacob gave to his son joseph. 4:6. now jacob's well was there. jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well. it was about the sixth hour. 4:7. there cometh a woman of samaria, to draw water. jesus saith to her: give me to drink. 4:8. for his disciples were gone into the city to buy meats. 4:9. then that samaritan woman saith to him: how dost thou, being a jew; ask of me to drink, who am a samaritan woman? for the jews do not communicate with the samaritans. 4:10. jesus answered and said to her: if thou didst know the gift of god and who he is that saith to thee: give me to drink; thou perhaps wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. 4:11. the woman saith to him: sir, thou hast nothing wherein to draw, and the well is deep. from whence then hast thou living water? 4:12. art thou greater than our father jacob, who gave us the well and drank thereof, himself and his children and his cattle? 4:13. jesus answered and said to her: whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but he that shall drink of the water that i will give him shall not thirst for ever. 4:14. but the water that i will give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into life everlasting. 4:15. the woman said to him: sir, give me this water, that i may not thirst, nor come hither to draw. 4:16. jesus saith to her: go, call thy husband, and come hither. 4:17. the woman answered and said: i have no husband. jesus said to her: thou hast said well: i have no husband. 4:18. for thou hast had five husbands: and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband. this, thou hast said truly. 4:19. the woman saith to him: sir, i perceive that thou art a prophet. 4:20. our fathers adored on this mountain: and you say that at jerusalem is the place where men must adore. this mountain... garizim, where the samaritans had their schismatical temple. 4:21. jesus saith to her: woman, believe me that the hour cometh, when you shall neither on this mountain, nor in jerusalem, adore the father. 4:22. you adore that which you know not: we adore that which we know. for salvation is of the jews. 4:23. but the hour cometh and now is, when the true adorers shall adore the father in spirit and in truth. for the father also seeketh such to adore him. 4:24. god is a spirit: and they that adore him must adore him in spirit and in truth. 4:25. the woman saith to him: i know that the messias cometh (who is called christ): therefore, when he is come, he will tell us all things. 4:26. jesus saith to her: i am he, who am speaking with thee. 4:27. and immediately his disciples came. and they wondered that he talked with the woman. yet no man said: what seekest thou? or: why talkest thou with her? 4:28. the woman therefore left her waterpot and went her way into the city and saith to the men there: 4:29. come, and see a man who has told me all things whatsoever i have done. is not he the christ? 4:30. they went therefore out of the city and came unto him. 4:31. in the mean time, the disciples prayed him, saying: rabbi, eat. 4:32. but he said to them: i have meat to eat which you know not. 4:33. the disciples therefore said one to another: hath any man brought him to eat? 4:34. jesus saith to them: my meat is to do the will of him that sent me, that i may perfect his work. 4:35. do not you say: there are yet four months, and then the harvest cometh? behold, i say to you, lift up your eyes, and see the countries. for they are white already to harvest. 4:36. and he that reapeth receiveth wages and gathereth fruit unto life everlasting: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. 4:37. for in this is the saying true: that it is one man that soweth, and it is another that reapeth. 4:38. i have sent you to reap that in which you did not labour. others have laboured: and you have entered into their labours. 4:39. now of that city many of the samaritans believed in him, for the word of the woman giving testimony: he told me all things whatsoever i have done. 4:40. so when the samaritans were come to him, they desired that he would tarry there. and he abode there two days. 4:41. and many more believed in him, because of his own word. 4:42. and they said to the woman: we now believe, not for thy saying: for we ourselves have heard him and know that this is indeed the saviour of the world. 4:43. now after two days, he departed thence and went into galilee. 4:44. for jesus himself gave testimony that a prophet hath no honour in his own country. 4:45. and when he was come into galilee, the galileans received him, having seen all the things he had done at jerusalem on the festival day: for they also went to the festival day. 4:46. he came again therefore into cana of galilee, where he made the water wine. and there was a certain ruler, whose son was sick at capharnaum. 4:47. he having heard that jesus was come from judea into galilee, sent to him and prayed him to come down and heal his son: for he was at the point of death. 4:48. jesus therefore said to him: unless you see signs and wonders, you believe not. 4:49. the ruler saith to him: lord, come down before that my son die. 4:50. jesus saith to him: go thy way. thy son liveth. the man believed the word which jesus said to him and went his way. 4:51. and as he was going down, his servants met him: and they brought word, saying, that his son lived. 4:52. he asked therefore of them the hour wherein he grew better. and they said to him: yesterday at the seventh hour, the fever left him. 4:53. the father therefore knew that it was at the same hour that jesus said to him: thy son liveth. and himself believed, and his whole house. 4:54. this is again the second miracle that jesus did, when he was come out of judea. into galilee. john chapter 5 christ heals on the sabbath the man languishing thirty-eight years. his discourse upon this occasion. 5:1. after these things was a festival day of the jews: and jesus went up to jerusalem. 5:2. now there is at jerusalem a pond, called probatica, which in hebrew is named bethsaida, having five porches. probatica... that is, the sheep pond; either so called, because the sheep were washed therein, that were to be offered up in sacrifice in the temple, or because it was near the sheep gate. that this was a pond where miracles were wrought is evident from the sacred text; and also that the water had no natural virtue to heal, as one only of those put in after the motion of the water was restored to health; for if the water had the healing quality, the others would have the like benefit, being put into it about the same time. 5:3. in these lay a great multitude of sick, of blind, of lame, of withered: waiting for the moving of the water. 5:4. and an angel of the lord descended at certain times into the pond and the water was moved. and he that went down first into the pond after the motion of the water was made whole of whatsoever infirmity he lay under. 5:5. and there was a certain man there that had been eight and thirty years under his infirmity. 5:6. him when jesus had seen lying, and knew that he had been now a long time, he saith to him: wilt thou be made whole? 5:7. the infirm man answered him: sir, i have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pond. for whilst i am coming, another goeth down before me. 5:8. jesus saith to him: arise, take up thy bed and walk. 5:9. and immediately the man was made whole: and he took up his bed and walked. and it was the sabbath that day. 5:10. the jews therefore said to him that was healed: it is the sabbath. it is not lawful for thee to take up thy bed. 5:11. he answered them: he that made me whole, he said to me: take up thy bed and walk. 5:12. they asked him therefore: who is that man who said to thee: take up thy bed and walk? 5:13. but he who was healed knew not who it was: for jesus went aside from the multitude standing in the place. 5:14. afterwards, jesus findeth him in the temple and saith to him: behold thou art made whole: sin no more, lest some worse thing happen to thee. 5:15. the man went his way and told the jews that it was jesus who had made him whole. 5:16. therefore did the jews persecute jesus, because he did these things on the sabbath. 5:17. but jesus answered them: my father worketh until now; and i work. 5:18. hereupon therefore the jews sought the more to kill him, because he did not only break the sabbath but also said god was his father, making himself equal to god. 5:19. then jesus answered and said to them: amen, amen, i say unto you, the son cannot do any thing of himself, but what he seeth the father doing: for what things soever he doth, these the son also doth in like manner. 5:20. for the father loveth the son and sheweth him all things which himself doth: and greater works than these will he shew him, that you may wonder. 5:21. for as the father raiseth up the dead and giveth life: so the son also giveth life to whom he will. 5:22. for neither does the father judge any man: but hath given all judgment to the son. 5:23. that all men may honour the son, as they honour the father. he who honoureth not the son honoureth not the father who hath sent him. 5:24. amen, amen, i say unto you that he who heareth my word and believeth him that sent me hath life everlasting: and cometh not into judgment, but is passed from death to life. 5:25. amen, amen, i say unto you, that the hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the son of god: and they that hear shall live. 5:26. for as the father hath life in himself, so he hath given to the son also to have life in himself. 5:27. and he hath given him power to do judgment, because he is the son of man. 5:28. wonder not at this: for the hour cometh wherein all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the son of god. 5:29. and they that have done good things shall come forth unto the resurrection of life: but they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment. unto the resurrection of judgment... that is, condemnation. 5:30. i cannot of myself do any thing. as i hear, so i judge. and my judgment is just: because i seek not my own will but the will of him that sent me. 5:31. if i bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. 5:32. there is another that beareth witness of me: and i know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true. 5:33. you sent to john: and he gave testimony to the truth. 5:34. but i receive not testimony from man: but i say these things, that you may be saved. 5:35. he was a burning and a shining light: and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. 5:36. but i have a greater testimony than that of john: for the works which the father hath given me to perfect, the works themselves which i do, give testimony of me, that the father hath sent me. 5:37. and the father himself who hath sent me hath given testimony of me: neither have you heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. 5:38. and you have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him you believe not. 5:39. search the scriptures: for you think in them to have life everlasting. and the same are they that give testimony of me. or... you search the scriptures. scrutamini... it is not a command for all to read the scriptures; but a reproach to the pharisees, that reading the scriptures as they did, and thinking to find everlasting life in them, they would not receive him to whom all those scriptures gave testimony, and through whom alone they could have that true life. 5:40. and you will not come to me that you may have life. 5:41. i receive not glory from men. 5:42. but i know you, that you have not the love of god in you. 5:43. i am come in the name of my father, and you receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him you will receive. 5:44. how can you believe, who receive glory one from another: and the glory which is from god alone, you do not seek? 5:45. think not that i will accuse you to the father. there is one that accuseth you, moses, in whom you trust. 5:46. for if you did believe moses, you would perhaps believe me also: for he wrote of me. 5:47. but if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words? john chapter 6 christ feeds five thousand with five loaves. he walks upon the sea and discourses of the bread of life. 6:1. after these things jesus went over the sea of galilee, which is that of tiberias. 6:2. and a great multitude followed him, because they saw the miracles which he did on them that were diseased. 6:3. jesus therefore went up into a mountain: and there he sat with his disciples. 6:4. now the pasch, the festival day of the jews, was near at hand. 6:5. when jesus therefore had lifted up his eyes and seen that a very great multitude cometh to him, he said to philip: whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? 6:6. and this he said to try him: for he himself knew what he would do. 6:7. philip answered him: two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them that every one may take a little. 6:8. one of his disciples, andrew, the brother of simon peter, saith to him: 6:9. there is a boy here that hath five barley loaves and two fishes. but what are these among so many? 6:10. then jesus said: make the men sit down. now, there was much grass in the place. the men therefore sat down, in number about five thousand. 6:11. and jesus took the loaves: and when he had given thanks, he distributed to them that were set down. in like manner also of the fishes, as much as they would. 6:12. and when they were filled, he said to his disciples: gather up the fragments that remain, lest they be lost. 6:13. they gathered up therefore and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which remained over and above to them that had eaten. 6:14. now those men, when they had seen what a miracle jesus had done, said: this is of a truth the prophet that is to come into the world. 6:15. jesus therefore, when he knew that they would come to take him by force and make him king, fled again into the mountains, himself alone. 6:16. and when evening was come, his disciples went down to the sea. 6:17. and when they had gone up into a ship, they went over the sea to capharnaum. and it was now dark: and jesus was not come unto them. 6:18. and the sea arose, by reason of a great wind that blew. 6:19. when they had rowed therefore about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see jesus walking upon the sea and drawing nigh to the ship. and they were afraid. 6:20. but he saith to them: it is i. be not afraid. 6:21. they were willing therefore to take him into the ship. and presently the ship was at the land to which they were going. 6:22. the next day, the multitude that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other ship there but one: and that jesus had not entered into the ship with his disciples, but that his disciples were gone away alone. 6:23. but other ships came in from tiberias, nigh unto the place where they had eaten the bread, the lord giving thanks. 6:24. when therefore the multitude saw that jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they took shipping and came to capharnaum, seeking for jesus. 6:25. and when they had found him on that other side of the sea, they said to him: rabbi, when camest thou hither? 6:26. jesus answered them and said: amen, amen, i say to you, you seek me, not because you have seen miracles, but because you did eat of the loaves and were filled. 6:27. labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth unto life everlasting, which the son of man will give you. for him hath god, the father, sealed. 6:28. they said therefore unto him: what shall we do, that we may work the works of god? 6:29. jesus answered and said to them: this is the work of god, that you believe in him whom he hath sent. 6:30. they said therefore to him: what sign therefore dost thou shew that we may see and may believe thee? what dost thou work? 6:31. our fathers did eat manna in the desert, as it is written: he gave them bread from heaven to eat. 6:32. then jesus said to them: amen, amen, i say to you; moses gave you not bread from heaven, but my father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 6:33. for the bread of god is that which cometh down from heaven and giveth life to the world. 6:34. they said therefore unto him: lord, give us always this bread. 6:35. and jesus said to them: i am the bread of life. he that cometh to me shall not hunger: and he that believeth in me shall never thirst. 6:36. but i said unto you that you also have seen me, and you believe not. 6:37. all that the father giveth to me shall come to me: and him that cometh to me, i will not cast out. 6:38. because i came down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him that sent me. 6:39. now this is the will of the father who sent me: that of all that he hath given me, i should lose nothing; but should raise it up again in the last day. 6:40. and this is the will of my father that sent me: that every one who seeth the son and believeth in him may have life everlasting. and i will raise him up in the last day. 6:41. the jews therefore murmured at him, because he had said: i am the living bread which came down from heaven. 6:42. and they said: is not this jesus, the son of joseph, whose father and mother we know? how then saith he: i came down from heaven? 6:43. jesus therefore answered and said to them: murmur not among yourselves. 6:44. no man can come to me, except the father, who hath sent me, draw him. and i will raise him up in the last day. draw him... not by compulsion, nor by laying the free will under any necessity, but by the strong and sweet motions of his heavenly grace. 6:45. it is written in the prophets: and they shall all be taught of god. every one that hath heard of the father and hath learned cometh forth me. 6:46. not that any man hath seen the father: but he who is of god, he hath seen the father. 6:47. amen, amen, i say unto you: he that believeth in me hath everlasting life. 6:48. i am the bread of life. 6:49. your fathers did eat manna in the desert: and are dead. 6:50. this is the bread which cometh down from heaven: that if any man eat of it, he may not die. 6:51. i am the living bread which came down from heaven. 6:52. if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that i will give is my flesh, for the life of the world. 6:53. the jews therefore strove among themselves, saying: how can this man give us his flesh to eat? 6:54. then jesus said to them: amen, amen, i say unto you: except you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. except you eat and drink, etc... to receive the body and blood of christ, is a divine precept, insinuated in this text; which the faithful fulfil, though they receive but in one kind; because in one kind they receive both body and blood, which cannot be separated from each other. hence, life eternal is here promised to the worthy receiving, though but in one kind. ver. 52. if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread that i will give, is my flesh for the life of the world. ver. 58. he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me. ver. 59. he that eateth this bread, shall liver for ever. 6:55. he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath everlasting life: and i will raise him up in the last day. 6:56. for my flesh is meat indeed: and my blood is drink indeed. 6:57. he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me: and i in him. 6:58. as the living father hath sent me and i live by the father: so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me. 6:59. this is the bread that came down from heaven. not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead. he that eateth this bread shall live for ever. 6:60. these things he said, teaching in the synagogue, in capharnaum. 6:61. many therefore of his disciples, hearing it, said: this saying is hard; and who can hear it? 6:62. but jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at this, said to them: doth this scandalize you? 6:63. if then you shall see the son of man ascend up where he was before? if then you shall see, etc... christ by mentioning his ascension, by this instance of his power and divinity, would confirm the truth of what he had before asserted; and at the same time correct their gross apprehension of eating his flesh, and drinking his blood, in a vulgar and carnal manner, by letting them know he should take his whole body living with him to heaven; and consequently not suffer it to be as they supposed, divided, mangled, and consumed upon earth. 6:64. it is the spirit that quickeneth: the flesh profiteth nothing. the words that i have spoken to you are spirit and life. the flesh profiteth nothing... dead flesh separated from the spirit, in the gross manner they supposed they were to eat his flesh, would profit nothing. neither doth man's flesh, that is to say, man's natural and carnal apprehension, (which refuses to be subject to the spirit, and words of christ,) profit any thing. but it would be the height of blasphemy, to say the living flesh of christ (which we receive in the blessed sacarament, with his spirit, that is, with his soul and divinity) profiteth nothing. for if christ's flesh had profitedus nothing, he would never have taken flesh for us, nor died in us nothing, he would never have taken flesh for us, nor died in the flesh for us. are spirit and life... by proposing to you a heavenly sacrament, in which you shall receive, in a wonderful manner, spirit, grace, and life, in its very fountain. 6:65. but there are some of you that believe not. for jesus knew from the beginning who they were that did not believe and who he was that would betray him. 6:66. and he said: therefore did i say to you that no man can come to me, unless it be given him by my father. 6:67. after this, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. 6:68. then jesus said to the twelve: will you also go away? 6:69. and simon peter answered him: lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 6:70. and we have believed and have known that thou art the christ, the son of god. 6:71. jesus answered them: have not i chosen you twelve? and one of you is a devil. 6:72. now he meant judas iscariot, the son of simon: for this same was about to betray him, whereas he was one of the twelve. john chapter 7 christ goes up to the feast of the tabernacles. he teaches in the temple. 7:1. after these things, jesus walked in galilee: for he would not walk in judea, because the jews sought to kill him. 7:2. now the jews feast of tabernacles was at hand. 7:3. and his brethren said to, him: pass from hence and go into judea, that thy disciples also may see thy works which thou dost. 7:4. for there is no man that doth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. if thou do these things, manifest thyself to the world. 7:5. for neither did his brethren believe in him. 7:6. then jesus said to them: my time is not yet come; but your time is always ready. 7:7. the world cannot hate you: but me it hateth, because i give testimony of it, that the works thereof are evil, 7:8. go you up to this festival day: but i go not up to this festival day, because my time is not accomplished. 7:9. when he had said these things, he himself stayed in galilee. 7:10. but after his brethren were gone up, then he also went up to the feast, not openly, but, as it were, in secret. 7:11. the jews therefore sought him on the festival day and said: where is he? 7:12. and there was much murmuring among the multitude concerning him. for some said: he is a good man. and others said: no, but he seduceth the people. 7:13. yet no man spoke openly of him, for fear of the jews. 7:14. now, about the midst of the feast, jesus went up into the temple and taught. 7:15. and the jews wondered, saying: how doth this man know letters, having never learned? 7:16. jesus answered them and said: my doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. 7:17. if any man will do the will of him, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of god, or whether i speak of myself. 7:18. he that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh the glory of him that sent him, he is true and there is no injustice in him. 7:19. did not moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? 7:20. why seek you to kill me? the multitude answered and said: thou hast a devil. who seeketh to kill thee? 7:21. jesus answered and said to them: one work i have done: and you all wonder. 7:22. therefore, moses gave you circumcision (not because it is of moses, but of the fathers): and on the sabbath day you circumcise a man. 7:23. if a man receive circumcision on the sabbath day, that the law of moses may not be broken: are you angry at me, because i have healed the whole man on the sabbath day? 7:24. judge not according to the appearance: but judge just judgment. 7:25. some therefore of jerusalem said: is not this he whom they seek to kill? 7:26. and behold, he speaketh openly: and they say nothing to him. have the rulers known for a truth that this is the christ? 7:27. but we know this man, whence he is: but when the christ cometh, no man knoweth, whence he is. 7:28. jesus therefore cried out in the temple, teaching and saying: you both know me, and you know whence i am. and i am not come of myself: but he that sent me is true, whom you know not. 7:29. i know him, because i am from him: and he hath sent me. 7:30. they sought therefore to apprehend him: and no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come. 7:31. but of the people many believed in him and said: when the christ cometh, shall he do more miracles than this man doth? 7:32. the pharisees heard the people murmuring these things concerning him: and the rulers and pharisees sent ministers to apprehend him. 7:33. jesus therefore said to them: yet a little while i am with you: and then i go to him that sent me. 7:34. you shall seek me and shall not find me: and where i am, thither you cannot come. 7:35. the jews therefore said among themselves: whither will he go, that we shall not find him? will he go unto the dispersed among the gentiles and teach the gentiles? 7:36. what is this saying that he hath said: you shall seek me and shall not find me? and: where i am, you cannot come? 7:37. and on the last, and great day of the festivity, jesus stood and cried, saying: if any man thirst, let him come to me and drink. 7:38. he that believeth in me, as the scripture saith: out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 7:39. now this he said of the spirit which they should receive who believed in him: for as yet the spirit was not given, because jesus was not yet glorified. 7:40. of that multitude therefore, when they had heard these words of his, some said: this is the prophet indeed. 7:41. others said: this is the christ. but some said: doth the christ come out of galilee? 7:42. doth not the scripture say: that christ cometh of the seed of david and from bethlehem the town where david was? 7:43. so there arose a dissension among the people because of him. 7:44. and some of them would have apprehended him: but no man laid hands upon him. 7:45. the ministers therefore came to the chief priests and the pharisees. and they said to them: why have you not brought him? 7:46. the ministers answered: never did man speak like this man. 7:47. the pharisees therefore answered them: are you also seduced? 7:48. hath any one of the rulers believed in him, or of the pharisees? 7:49. but this multitude, that knoweth not the law, are accursed. 7:50. nicodemus said to them (he that came to him by night, who was one of them): 7:51. doth our law judge any man, unless it first hear him and know what he doth? 7:52. they answered and said to him: art thou also a galilean? search the scriptures, and see that out of galilee a prophet riseth not. 7:53. and every man returned to his own house. john chapter 8 the woman taken in adultery. christ justifies his doctrine. 8:1. and jesus went unto mount olivet. 8:2. and early in the morning he came again into the temple: and all the people came to him. and sitting down he taught them. 8:3. and the scribes and pharisees bring unto him a woman taken in adultery: and they set her in the midst, 8:4. and said to him: master, this woman was even now taken in adultery. 8:5. now moses in the law commanded us to stone such a one. but what sayest thou? 8:6. and this they said tempting him, that they might accuse him. but jesus bowing himself down, wrote with his finger on the ground. 8:7. when therefore they continued asking him, he lifted up himself and said to them: he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. 8:8. and again stooping down, he wrote on the ground. 8:9. but they hearing this, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest. and jesus alone remained, and the woman standing in the midst. 8:10. then jesus lifting up himself, said to her: woman, where are they that accused thee? hath no man condemned thee? 8:11. who said: no man, lord. and jesus said: neither will i condemn thee. go, and now sin no more. 8:12. again therefore, jesus spoke to: them, saying: i am the light of the world. he that followeth me walketh not in darkness, but shall have the light of life. 8:13. the pharisees therefore said to him: thou givest testimony of thyself. thy testimony is not true. 8:14. jesus answered and said to them: although i give testimony of myself, my testimony is true: for i know whence i came and whither i go. 8:15. you judge according to the flesh: i judge not any man. 8:16. and if i do judge, my judgment is true: because i am not alone, but i and the father that sent me. 8:17. and in your law it is written that the testimony of two men is true. 8:18. i am one that give testimony of myself: and the father that sent me giveth testimony of me. 8:19. they said therefore to him: where is thy father? jesus answered: neither me do you know, nor my father. if you did know me, perhaps you would know my father also. 8:20. these words jesus spoke in the treasury, teaching in the temple: and no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come. 8:21. again therefore jesus said to them: i go: and you shall seek me. and you shall die in your sin. whither i go, you cannot come. 8:22. the jews therefore said: will he kill himself, because he said: whither i go you cannot come? 8:23. and he said to them: you are from beneath: i am from above. you are of this world: i am not of this world. 8:24. therefore i said to you that you shall die in your sins. for if you believe not that i am he, you shall die in your sin. 8:25. they said therefore to him: who art thou? jesus said to them: the beginning, who also speak unto you. 8:26. many things i have to speak and to judge of you. but he that sent me, is true: and the things i have heard of him, these same i speak in the world. 8:27. and they understood not that he called god his father. 8:28. jesus therefore said to them: when you shall have lifted up, the son of man, then shall you know that i am he and that i do nothing of myself. but as the father hath taught me, these things i speak. 8:29. and he that sent me is with me: and he hath not left me alone. for i do always the things that please him. 8:30. when he spoke these things, many believed in him. 8:31. then jesus said to those jews who believed him: if you continue in my word, you shall be my disciples indeed. 8:32. and you shall know the truth: and the truth shall make you free. 8:33. they answered him: we are the seed of abraham: and we have never been slaves to any man. how sayest thou: you shall be free? 8:34. jesus answered them: amen, amen, i say unto you that whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 8:35. now the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the son abideth for ever. 8:36. if therefore the son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. 8:37. i know that you are the children of abraham: but you seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. 8:38. i speak that which i have seen with my father: and you do the things that you have seen with your father. 8:39. they answered and said to him: abraham is our father. jesus saith them: if you be the children of abraham, do the works of abraham. 8:40. but now you seek to kill me, a man who have spoken the truth to you, which i have heard of god. this abraham did not. 8:41. you do the works of your father. they said therefore to him: we are not born of fornication: we have one father, even god. 8:42. jesus therefore said to them: if god were your father, you would indeed love me. for from god i proceeded and came. for i came not of myself: but he sent me. 8:43. why do you not know my speech? because you cannot hear my word. 8:44. you are of your father the devil: and the desires of your father you will do. he was a murderer from the beginning: and he stood not in the truth, because truth is not in him. when he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof. 8:45. but if i say the truth, you believe me not. 8:46. which of you shall convince me of sin? if i say the truth to you, why do you not believe me: 8:47. he that is of god heareth the words of god. therefore you hear them not, because you are not of god. 8:48. the jews therefore answered and said to him: do not we say well that thou art a samaritan and hast a devil? 8:49. jesus answered: i have not a devil: but i honour my father. and you have dishonoured me. 8:50. but i seek not my own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth. 8:51. amen, amen, i say to you: if any man keep my word, he shall not see death for ever. 8:52. the jews therefore said: now we know that thou hast a devil. abraham is dead, and the prophets: and thou sayest: if any man keep my word, he shall not taste death for ever. 8:53. art thou greater than our father abraham who is dead? and the prophets are dead. whom dost thou make thyself? 8:54. jesus answered: if i glorify myself, my glory is nothing. it is my father that glorifieth me, of whom you say that he is your god. 8:55. and you have not known him: but i know him. and if i shall say that i know him not, i shall be like to you, a liar. but i do know him and do keep his word. 8:56. abraham your father rejoiced that he might see my day: he saw it and was glad. 8:57. the jews therefore said to him: thou art not yet fifty years old. and hast thou seen abraham? 8:58. jesus said to them: amen, amen, i say to you, before abraham was made, i am. 8:59. they took up stones therefore to cast at him. but jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. john chapter 9 he gives sight to the man born blind. 9:1. and jesus passing by, saw a man who was blind from his birth. 9:2. and his disciples asked him: rabbi, who hath sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind? 9:3. jesus answered: neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents; but that the works of god should be made manifest in him. 9:4. i must work the works of him that sent me, whilst it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. 9:5. as long as i am in the world, i am the light of the world. 9:6. when he had said these things, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and spread the clay upon his eyes, 9:7. and said to him: go, wash in the pool of siloe, which is interpreted, sent. he went therefore and washed: and he came seeing. 9:8. the neighbours, therefore, and they who had seen him before that he was a beggar, said: is not this he that sat and begged? some said: this is he. 9:9. but others said: no, but he is like him. but he said: i am he. 9:10. they said therefore to him: how were thy eyes opened? 9:11. he answered: that man that is called jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me: go to the pool of siloe and wash. and i went: i washed: and i see. 9:12. and they said to him: where is he? he saith: i know not. 9:13. they bring him that had been blind to the pharisees. 9:14. now it was the sabbath, when jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. 9:15. again therefore the pharisees asked him how he had received his sight. but he said to them: he put clay upon my eyes: and i washed: and i see. 9:16. some therefore of the pharisees said: this man is not of god, who keepeth not the sabbath. but others said: how can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? and there was a division among them. 9:17. they say therefore to the blind man again: what sayest thou of him that hath opened thy eyes? and he said: he is a prophet. 9:18. the jews then did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight, 9:19. and asked them, saying: is this your son, who you say was born blind? how then doth he now see? 9:20. his parents answered them and said: we know that this is our son and that he was born blind: 9:21. but how he now seeth, we know not: or who hath opened his eyes, we know not. ask himself: he is of age: let him speak for himself. 9:22. these things his parents said, because they feared the jews: for the jews had already agreed among themselves that if any man should confess him to be christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. 9:23. therefore did his parents say: he is of age. ask himself. 9:24. they therefore called the man again that had been blind and said to him: give glory to god. we know that this man is a sinner. 9:25. he said therefore to them: if he be a sinner, i know not. one thing i know, that whereas i was blind now i see. 9:26. they said then to him: what did he to thee? how did he open thy eyes? 9:27. he answered them: i have told you already, and you have heard. why would you hear it again? will you also become his disciples? 9:28. they reviled him therefore and said: be thou his disciple; but we are the disciples of moses. 9:29. we know that god spoke to moses: but as to this man, we know not from whence he is. 9:30. the man answered and said to them: why, herein is a wonderful thing, that you know not from whence he is, and he hath opened my eyes. 9:31. now we know that god doth not hear sinners: but if a man be a server of god and doth his, will, him he heareth. 9:32. from the beginning of the world it hath not been heard, that any man hath opened the eyes of one born blind. 9:33. unless this man were of god, he could not do anything. 9:34. they answered and said to him: thou wast wholly born in sins; and dost thou teach us? and they cast him out. 9:35. jesus heard that they had cast him out. and when he had found him, he said to him: dost thou believe in the son of god? 9:36. he answered, and said: who is he, lord, that i may believe in him? 9:37. and jesus said to him: thou hast both seen him; and it is he that talketh with thee. 9:38. and he said: i believe, lord. and falling down, he adored him. 9:39. and jesus said: for judgment i am come into this world: that they who see not may see; and they who see may become blind. i am come, etc... not that christ came for that end, that any one should be made blind: but that the jews, by the abuse of his coming, and by their not receiving him, brought upon themselves this judgment of blindness. 9:40. and some of the pharisees, who were with him, heard: and they said unto him: are we also blind? 9:41. jesus said to them: if you were blind, you should not have sin: but now you say: we see. your sin remaineth. if you were blind, etc... if you were invincibly ignorant, and had neither read the scriptures, nor seen my miracles, you would not be guilty of the sin of infidelity: but now, as you boast of your knowledge of the scriptures, you are inexcusable. john chapter 10 christ is the door and the good shepherd. he and his father are one. 10:1. amen, amen, i say to you: he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold but climbeth up another way, the same is a thief and a robber. 10:2. but he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 10:3. to him the porter openeth: and the sheep hear his voice. and he calleth his own sheep by name and leadeth them out. 10:4. and when he hath let out his own sheep, he goeth before them: and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice. 10:5. but a stranger they follow not, but fly from him, because they know not the voice of strangers. 10:6. this proverb jesus spoke to them. but they understood not what he spoke. 10:7. jesus therefore said to them again: amen, amen, i say to you, i am the door of the sheep. 10:8. all others, as many as have come, are thieves and robbers: and the sheep heard them not. 10:9. i am the door. by me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved: and he shall go in and go out, and shall find pastures. 10:10. the thief cometh not, but for to steal and to kill and to destroy. i am come that they may have life and may have it more abundantly. 10:11. i am the good shepherd. the good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep. 10:12. but the hireling and he that is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep and flieth: and the wolf casteth and scattereth the sheep, 10:13. and the hireling flieth, because he is a hireling: and he hath no care for the sheep. 10:14. i am the good shepherd: and i know mine, and mine know me. 10:15. as the father knoweth me, and i know the father: and i lay down my life for my sheep. 10:16. and other sheep i have that are not of this fold: them also i must bring. and they shall hear my voice: and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. 10:17. therefore doth the father love me: because i lay down my life, that i may take it again. 10:18. no man taketh it away from me: but i lay it down of myself. and i have power to lay it down: and i have power to take it up again. this commandment have i received of my father. 10:19. a dissension rose again among the jews for these words. 10:20. and many of them said: he hath a devil and is mad. why hear you him? 10:21. others said: these are not the words of one that hath a devil. can a devil open the eyes of the blind? 10:22. and it was the feast of the dedication at jerusalem: and it was winter. 10:23. and jesus walked in the temple, in solomon's porch. 10:24. the jews therefore came round about him and said to him: how long dost thou hold our souls in suspense? if thou be the christ, tell us plainly. 10:25. jesus answered them: i speak to you, and you believe not: the works that i do in the name of my father, they give testimony of me. 10:26. but you do not believe, because you are not of my sheep. 10:27. my sheep hear my voice. and i know them: and they follow me. 10:28. and i give them life everlasting: and they shall not perish for ever. and no man shall pluck them out of my hand. 10:29. that which my father hath given me is greater than all: and no one can snatch them out of the hand of my father. 10:30. i and the father are one. i and the father are one... that is, one divine nature, but two distinct persons. 10:31. the jews then took up stones to stone him. 10:32. jesus answered them: many good works i have shewed you from my father. for which of those works do you stone me? 10:33. the jews answered him: for a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy: and because that thou being a, man, makest thyself god. 10:34. jesus answered them: is it not written in your law: i said, you are gods? 10:35. if he called them gods to whom the word of god was spoken; and the scripture cannot be broken: 10:36. do you say of him whom the father hath sanctified and sent into the world: thou blasphemest; because i said: i am the son of god? 10:37. if i do not the works of my father, believe me not. 10:38. but if i do, though you will not believe me, believe the works: that you may know and believe that the father is in me and i in the father. 10:39. they sought therefore to take him: and he escaped out of their hands. 10:40. and he went again beyond the jordan, into that place where john was baptizing first. and there he abode. 10:41. and many resorted to him: and they said: john indeed did no sign. 10:42. but all things whatsoever john said of this man were true. and many believed n him. john chapter 11 christ raises lazarus to life. the rulers resolve to put him to death. 11:1. now there was a certain man sick, named lazarus, of bethania, of the town of mary and of martha her sister. 11:2. (and mary was she that anointed the lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair: whose brother lazarus was sick.) 11:3. his sisters therefore sent to him, saying: lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. 11:4. and jesus hearing it, said to them: this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of god: that the son of god may be glorified by it. 11:5. now jesus loved martha and her sister mary and lazarus. 11:6. when he had heard therefore that he was sick, he still remained in the same place two days. 11:7. then after that, he said to his disciples: let us go into judea again. 11:8. the disciples say to him: rabbi, the jews but now sought to stone thee. and goest thou thither again? 11:9. jesus answered: are there not twelve hours of the day? if a man walk in the day he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world: 11:10. but if he walk in the night, he stumbleth, because the light is not in him. 11:11. these things he said; and after that he said to them: lazarus our friend sleepeth: but i go that i may awake him out of sleep. 11:12. his disciples therefore said: lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. 11:13. but jesus spoke of his death: and they thought that he spoke of the repose of sleep. 11:14. then therefore jesus said to them plainly: lazarus is dead. 11:15. and i am glad, for your sakes; that i was not there, that you may believe. but, let us go to him. 11:16. thomas therefore, who is called didymus, said to his fellow disciples: let us also go, that we may die with him. 11:17. jesus therefore came: and found that he had been four days already in the grave. 11:18. (now bethania was near jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off.) 11:19. and many of the jews were come to martha and mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. 11:20. martha therefore, as soon as she heard that jesus was come, went to meet him: but mary sat at home. 11:21. martha therefore said to jesus: lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. 11:22. but now also i know that whatsoever thou wilt ask of god, god will give it thee. 11:23. jesus saith to her: thy brother shall rise again. 11:24. martha saith to him: i know that he shall rise again, in the resurrection at the last day. 11:25. jesus said to her: i am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, although he be dead, shall live: 11:26. and every one that liveth and believeth in me shall not die for ever. believest thou this? 11:27. she saith to him: yea, lord, i have believed that thou art christ, the son of the living god, who art come into this world. 11:28. and when she had said these things, she went and called her sister mary secretly, saying: the master is come and calleth for thee. 11:29. she, as soon as she heard this, riseth quickly and cometh to him. 11:30. for jesus was not yet come into the town: but he was still in that place where martha had met him. 11:31. the jews therefore, who were with her in the house and comforted her, when they saw mary, that she rose up speedily and went out, followed her, saying: she goeth to the grave to weep there. 11:32. when mary therefore was come where jesus was, seeing him, she fell down at his feet and saith to him. lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. 11:33. jesus, therefore, when he saw her weeping, and the jews that were come with her weeping, groaned in the spirit and troubled himself, 11:34. and said: where have you laid him? they say to him: lord, come and see. 11:35. and jesus wept. 11:36. the jews therefore said: behold how he loved him. 11:37. but some of them said: could not he that opened the eyes of the man born blind have caused that this man should not die? 11:38. jesus therefore again groaning in himself, cometh to the sepulchre. now it was a cave; and a stone was laid over it. 11:39. jesus saith: take away the stone. martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith to him: lord, by this time he stinketh, for he is now of four days. 11:40. jesus saith to her: did not i say to thee that if thou believe, thou shalt see the glory of god? 11:41. they took therefore the stone away. and jesus lifting up his eyes, said: father, i give thee thanks that thou hast heard me. 11:42. and i knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people who stand about have i said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. 11:43. when he had said these things, he cried with a loud voice: lazarus, come forth. 11:44. and presently he that had been dead came forth, bound feet and hands with winding bands. and his face was bound about with a napkin. jesus said to them: loose him and let him go. 11:45. many therefore of the jews, who were come to mary and martha and had seen the things that jesus did, believed in him. 11:46. but some of them went to the pharisees and told them the things that jesus had done. 11:47. the chief priests, therefore, and the pharisees gathered a council and said: what do we, for this man doth many miracles? 11:48. if we let him alone so, all will believe in him; and the romans will come, and take away our place and nation. 11:49. but one of them, named caiphas, being the high priest that year, said to them: you know nothing. 11:50. neither do you consider that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people and that the whole nation perish not. 11:51. and this he spoke not of himself: but being the high priest of that year, he prophesied that jesus should die for the nation. 11:52. and not only for the nation, but to gather together in one the children of god that were dispersed. 11:53. from that day therefore they devised to put him to death. 11:54. wherefore jesus walked no more openly among the jews: but he went into a country near the desert, unto a city that is called ephrem. and there he abode with his disciples. 11:55. and the pasch of the jews was at hand: and many from the country went up to jerusalem, before the pasch, to purify themselves. 11:56. they sought therefore for jesus; and they discoursed one with another, standing in the temple: what think you that he is not come to the festival day? and the chief priests and pharisees had given a commandment that, if any man knew where he was, he should tell, that they might apprehend him. john chapter 12 the anointing of christ's feet. his riding into jerusalem upon an ass. a voice from heaven. 12:1. jesus therefore, six days before the pasch, came to bethania, where lazarus had been dead, whom jesus raised to life. 12:2. and they made him a supper there: and martha served. but lazarus was one of them that were at table with him. 12:3. mary therefore took a pound of ointment of right spikenard, of great price, and anointed the feet of jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. 12:4. then one of his disciples, judas iscariot, he that was about to betray him, said: 12:5. why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence and given to the poor? 12:6. now he said this not because he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief and, having the purse, carried the things that were put therein. 12:7. jesus therefore said: let her alone, that she may keep it against the day of my burial. 12:8. for the poor you have always with you: but me you have not always. see the annotation of st. matt. 26. 11. 12:9. a great multitude therefore of the jews knew that he was there; and they came, not for jesus' sake only, but that they might see lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 12:10. but the chief priests thought to kill lazarus also: 12:11. because many of the jews, by reason of him, went away and believed in jesus. 12:12. and on the next day, a great multitude that was come to the festival day, when they had heard that jesus was coming to jerusalem, 12:13. took branches of palm trees and went forth to meet him and cried hosanna. blessed is he that cometh in the name of the lord, the king of israel. 12:14. and jesus found a young ass and sat upon it, as it is written: 12:15. fear not, daughter of sion: behold thy king cometh, sitting on an ass's colt. 12:16. these things his disciples did not know at the first: but when jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of him and that they had done these things to him. 12:17. the multitude therefore gave testimony, which was with him, when he called lazarus out of the grave and raised him from the dead. 12:18. for which reason also the people came to meet him, because they heard that he had done this miracle. 12:19. the pharisees therefore said among themselves: do you see that we prevail nothing? behold, the whole world is gone after him. 12:20. now there were certain gentiles among them, who came up to adore on the festival day. 12:21. these therefore came to philip, who was of bethsaida of galilee, and desired him, saying: sir, we would see jesus. 12:22. philip cometh and telleth andrew. again andrew and philip told jesus. 12:23. but jesus answered them, saying: the hour is come that the son of man should be glorified. 12:24. amen, amen, i say to you, unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, 12:25. itself remaineth alone. but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit. he that loveth his life shall lose it and he that hateth his life in this world keepeth it unto life eternal. 12:26. if any man minister to me, let him follow me: and where i am, there also shall my minister be. if any man minister to me, him will my father honour. 12:27. now is my soul troubled. and what shall i say? father, save me from this hour. but for this cause i came unto this hour. 12:28. father, glorify thy name. a voice therefore came from heaven: i have both glorified it and will glorify it again. 12:29. the multitude therefore that stood and heard said that it thundered. others said: an angel spoke to him. 12:30. jesus answered and said: this voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. 12:31. now is the judgment of the world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. 12:32. and i, if i be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself. 12:33. (now this he said, signifying what death he should die.) 12:34. the multitude answered him: we have heard out of the law that christ abideth for ever. and how sayest thou: the son of man must be lifted up? who is this son of man? 12:35. jesus therefore said to them: yet a little while, the light is among you. walk whilst you have the light, and the darkness overtake you not. and he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither be goeth. 12:36. whilst you have the light, believe in the light, that you may be the children of light. these things jesus spoke: and he went away and hid himself from them. 12:37. and whereas he had done so many miracles before them, they believed not in him: 12:38. that the saying of isaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he said: lord, who hath believed our hearing? and to whom hath the arm of the lord been revealed? 12:39. therefore they could not believe, because isaias said again: they could not believe... because they would not, saith st. augustine, tract. 33, in joan. see the annotation, st. mark 4. 12. 12:40. he hath blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart and be converted: and i should heal them. 12:41. these things said isaias, when he saw his glory, and spoke of him. 12:42. however, many of the chief men also believed in him: but because of the pharisees they did not confess him, that they might not be cast out of the synagogue. 12:43. for they loved the glory of men more than the glory of god. 12:44. but jesus cried and said: he that believeth in me doth not believe in me, but in him that sent me. 12:45. and he that seeth me, seeth him that sent me. 12:46. i am come, a light into the world, that whosoever believeth in me may not remain in darkness. 12:47. and if any man hear my words and keep them not, i do not judge him for i came not to judge the world, but to save the world. 12:48. he that despiseth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judgeth him. the word that i have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. 12:49. for i have not spoken of myself: but the father who sent me, he gave me commandment what i should say and what i should speak. 12:50. and i know that his commandment is life everlasting. the things therefore that i speak, even as the father said unto me, so do i speak. john chapter 13 christ washes his disciples' feet. the treason of judas. the new commandment of love. 13:1. before the festival day of the pasch, jesus knowing that his hour was come, that he should pass out of this world to the father: having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them unto the end. before the festival day of the pasch... this was the fourth and last pasch of the ministry of christ, and according to the common computation, was in the thirty-third year of our lord: and in the year of the world 4036. some chronologers are of opinion that our saviour suffered in the thirty-seventh year of his age: but these different opinions on this subject are of no consequence. 13:2. and when supper was done (the devil having now put into the heart of judas iscariot, the son of simon, to betray him), 13:3. knowing that the father had given him all things into his hands and that he came from god and goeth to god, 13:4. he riseth from supper and layeth aside his garments and, having taken a towel, girded himself. 13:5. after that, he putteth water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. 13:6. he cometh therefore to simon peter. and peter saith to him: lord, dost thou wash my feet? 13:7. jesus answered and said to him: what i do, thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. 13:8. peter saith to him: thou shalt never wash my feet, jesus answered him: if i wash thee not, thou shalt have no part with me. 13:9. simon peter saith to him: lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head. 13:10. jesus saith to him: he that is washed needeth not but to wash his feet, but is clean wholly. and you are clean, but not all. 13:11. for he knew who he was that would betray him; therefore he said: you are not all clean. 13:12. then after he had washed their feet and taken his garments, being set down again, he said to them: know you what i have done to you? 13:13. you call me master and lord. and you say well: for so i am. 13:14. if then i being your lord and master, have washed your feet; you also ought to wash one another's feet. 13:15. for i have given you an example, that as i have done to you, so you do also. 13:16. amen, amen, i say to you: the servant is not greater than his lord: neither is the apostle greater than he that sent him. 13:17. if you know these things, you shall be blessed if you do them. 13:18. i speak not of you all: i know whom i have chosen. but that the scripture may be fulfilled: he that eateth bread with me shall lift up his heel against me, 13:19. at present i tell you, before it come to pass: that when it shall come to pass, you may believe that i am he. 13:20. amen, amen, i say to you, he that receiveth whomsoever i send receiveth me: and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. 13:21. when jesus had said these things, he was troubled in spirit; and he testified, and said: amen, amen, i say to you, one of you shall betray me. 13:22. the disciples therefore looked one upon another, doubting of whom he spoke. 13:23. now there was leaning on jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom jesus loved. 13:24. simon peter therefore beckoned to him and said to him: who is it of whom he speaketh? 13:25. he therefore, leaning on the breast of jesus, saith to him: lord, who is it? 13:26. jesus answered: he it is to whom i shall reach bread dipped. and when he had dipped the bread, he gave it to judas iscariot, the son of simon. 13:27. and after the morsel, satan entered into him. and jesus said to him: that which thou dost, do quickly. that which thou dost, do quickly... it is not a license, much less a command, to go about his treason: but a signification to him that christ would not hinder or resist what he was about, do it as soon as he pleased: but was both ready and desirous to suffer for our redemption. 13:28. now no man at the table knew to what purpose he said this unto him. 13:29. for some thought, because judas had the purse, that jesus had said to him: buy those things which we have need of for the festival day: or that he should give something to the poor. 13:30. he therefore, having received the morsel, went out immediately. and it was night. 13:31. when he therefore was gone out, jesus said: now is the son of man glorified; and god is glorified in him. 13:32. if god be glorified in him, god also will glorify him in himself: and immediately will he glorify him. 13:33. little children, yet a little while i am with you. you shall seek me. and as i said to the jews: whither i go you cannot come; so i say to you now. 13:34. a new commandment i give unto you: that you love one another, as i have loved you, that you also love one another. 13:35. by this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another. 13:36. simon peter saith to him: lord, whither goest thou? jesus answered: whither i go, thou canst not follow me now: but thou shalt follow hereafter. 13:37. peter saith to him: why cannot i follow thee now? i will lay down my life for thee. 13:38. jesus answered him: wilt thou lay down thy life for me? amen, amen, i say to thee, the cock shall not crow, till thou deny me thrice. john chapter 14 christ's discourse after his last supper. 14:1. let not your heart be troubled. you believe in god: believe also in me. 14:2. in my father's house there are many mansions. if not, i would have told you: because i go to prepare a place for you. 14:3. and if i shall go and prepare a place for you, i will come again and will take you to myself: that where i am, you also may be. 14:4. and whither i go you know: and the way you know. 14:5. thomas saith to him: lord, we know not whither thou goest. and how can we know the way? 14:6. jesus saith to him: i am the way, and the truth, and the life. no man cometh to the father, but by me. 14:7. if you had known me, you would without doubt have known my father also: and from henceforth you shall know him. and you have seen him. 14:8. philip saith to him: lord, shew us the father; and it is enough for us. 14:9. jesus saith to him: have i been so long a time with you and have you not known me? philip, he that seeth me seeth the father also. how sayest thou: shew us the father? 14:10. do you not believe that i am in the father and the father in me? the words that i speak to you, i speak not of myself. but the father who abideth in me, he doth the works. 14:11. believe you not that i am in the father and the father in me? 14:12. otherwise believe for the very works' sake. amen, amen, i say to you, he that believeth in me, the works that i do, he also shall do: and greater than these shall he do. 14:13. because i go to the father: and whatsoever you shall ask the father in my name, that will i do: that the father may be glorified in the son. 14:14. if you shall ask me any thing in my name, that i will do. 14:15. if you love me, keep my commandments. 14:16. and i will ask the father: and he shall give you another paraclete, that he may abide with you for ever: paraclete... that is, a comforter: or also an advocate; inasmuch as by inspiring prayer, he prays, as it were, in us, and pleads for us. for ever... hence it is evident that this spirit of truth was not only promised to the persons of the apostles, but also to their successors through all generations. 14:17. the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, nor knoweth him. but you shall know him; because he shall abide with you and shall be in you. 14:18. i will not leave you orphans: i will come to you. 14:19. yet a little while and the world seeth me no more. but you see me: because i live, and you shall live. 14:20. in that day you shall know that i am in my father: and you in me, and i in you. 14:21. he that hath my commandments and keepeth them; he it is that loveth me. and he that loveth me shall be loved of my father: and i will love him and will manifest myself to him. 14:22. judas saith to him, not the iscariot: lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself to us, and not to the world? 14:23. jesus answered and said to him: if any one love me, he will keep my word. and my father will love him and we will come to him and will make our abode with him. 14:24. he that loveth me not keepeth not my words. and the word which you have heard is not mine; but the father's who sent me. 14:25. these things have i spoken to you, abiding with you. 14:26. but the paraclete, the holy ghost, whom the father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever i shall have said to you. teach you all things... here the holy ghost is promised to the apostles and their successors, particularly, in order to teach them all truth, and to preserve them from error. 14:27. peace i leave with you: my peace i give unto you: not as the world giveth, do i give unto you. let not your heart be troubled: nor let it be afraid. 14:28. you have heard that i said to you: i go away, and i come unto you. if you loved me you would indeed be glad, because i go to the father: for the father is greater than i. for the father is greater than i... it is evident, that christ our lord speaks here of himself as he is made man: for as god he is equal to the father. (see phil. 2.) any difficulty of understanding the meaning of these words will vanish, when the relative circumstances of the text here are considered: for christ being at this time shortly to suffer death, signified to his apostles his human nature by these very words: for as god he could not die. and therefore as he was both god and man, it must follow that according to his humanity he was to die, which the apostles were soon to see and believe, as he expresses, ver. 29. and now i have told you before it come to pass: that when it shall come to pass, you may believe. 14:29. and now i have told you before it come to pass: that when it shall come to pass, you may believe. 14:30. i will not now speak many things with you. for the prince of this world: cometh: and in me he hath not any thing. 14:31. but that the world may know that i love the father: and as the father hath given me commandments, so do i. arise, let us go hence. john chapter 15 a continuation of christ's discourse to his disciples. 15:1. i am the true vine: and my father is the husbandman. 15:2. every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he will take away: and every one that beareth fruit, he will purge it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 15:3. now you are clean, by reason of the word which i have spoken to you. 15:4. abide in me: and i in you. as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me. 15:5. i am the vine: you the branches. he that abideth in me, and i in him, the same beareth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing. 15:6. if any one abide not in me, he shall be cast forth as a branch and shall wither: and they shall gather him up and cast him into the fire: and he burneth. 15:7. if you abide in me and my words abide in you, you shall ask whatever you will: and it shall be done unto you. 15:8. in this is my father glorified: that you bring forth very much fruit and become my disciples. 15:9. as the father hath loved me, i also have loved you. abide in my love. 15:10. if you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love: as i also have kept my father's commandments and do abide in his love. 15:11. these things i have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be filled. 15:12. this is my commandment, that you love one another, as i have loved you. 15:13. greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 15:14. you are my friends, if you do the things that i command you. 15:15. i will not now call you servants: for the servant knoweth not what his lord doth. but i have called you friends because all things, whatsoever i have heard of my father, i have made known to you. 15:16. you have not chosen me: but i have chosen you; and have appointed you, that you should go and should bring forth fruit; and your fruit should remain: that whatsoever you shall ask of the father in my name, he may give it you. 15:17. these things i command you, that you love one another. 15:18. if the world hate you, know ye that it hath hated me before you. 15:19. if you had been of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but i have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. 15:20. remember my word that i said to you: the servant is not greater than his master. if they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. if they have kept my word, they will keep yours also. 15:21. but all these things they will do to you for my name's sake: because they know not him that sent me. 15:22. if i had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin: but now they have no excuse for their sin. 15:23. he that hateth me hateth my father also. 15:24. if i had not done among them the works that no other man hath done, they would not have sin: but now they have both seen and hated both me and my father. 15:25. but that the word may be fulfilled which is written in their law: they hated me without cause. 15:26. but when the paraclete cometh, whom i will send you from the father, the spirit of truth, who proceedeth from the father, he shall give testimony of me. whom i will send... this proves, against the modern greeks, that the holy ghost proceedeth from the son, as well as from the father: otherwise he could not be sent by the son. 15:27. and you shall give testimony, because you are with me from the beginning. john chapter 16 the conclusion of christ's last discourse to his disciples. 16:1. these things have i spoken to you things have i spoken to you that you may not be scandalized. 16:2. they will put you out of the synagogues: yea, the hour cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doth a service to god. 16:3. and these things will they do to you; because they have not known the father nor me. 16:4. but these things i have told you, that when the hour shall come, you may remember that i told you of them. 16:5. but i told you not these things from the beginning, because i was with you. and now i go to him that sent me, and none of you asketh me: whither goest thou? 16:6. but because i have spoken these things to you, sorrow hath filled your heart. 16:7. but i tell you the truth: it is expedient to you that i go. for if i go not, the paraclete will not come to you: but if i go, i will send him to you. 16:8. and when he is come, he will convince the world of sin and of justice and of judgment. he will convince the world of sin, etc... the holy ghost, by his coming brought over many thousands, first, to a sense of their sin in not believing in christ. secondly, to a conviction of the justice of christ, now sitting at the right hand of his father. and thirdly, to a right apprehension of the judgment prepared for them that choose to follow satan, who is already judged and condemned. 16:9. of sin: because they believed not in me. 16:10. and of justice: because i go to the father: and you shall see me no longer. 16:11. and of judgment: because the prince of this world is already judged. 16:12. i have yet many things to say to you: but you cannot bear them now. 16:13. but when he, the spirit of truth, is come, he will teach you all truth. for he shall not speak of himself: but what things soever he shall hear, he shall speak. and the things that are to come, he shall shew you. will teach you all truth... see the annotation on chap. 14. ver. 26. 16:14. he shall glorify me: because he shall receive of mine and shall shew it to you. 16:15. all things whatsoever the father hath are mine. therefore i said that he shall receive of me and shew it to you. 16:16. a little while, and now you shall not see me: and again a little while, and you shall see me: because i go to the father. 16:17. then some of his disciples said one to another: what is this that he saith to us: a little while, and you shall not see me: and again a little while, and you shall see me, and, because i go to the father? 16:18. they said therefore: what is this that he saith, a little while? we know not what he speaketh. 16:19. and jesus knew that they had a mind to ask him. and he said to them: of this do you inquire among yourselves, because i said: a little while, and you shall not see me; and again a little while, and you shall see me? 16:20. amen, amen, i say to you, that you shall lament and weep, but the world shall rejoice: and you shall be made sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. 16:21. a woman, when she is in labour, hath sorrow, because her hour is come; but when she hath brought forth the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. 16:22. so also you now indeed have sorrow: but i will see you again and your heart shall rejoice. and your joy no man shall take from you. 16:23. and in that day you shall not ask me any thing. amen, amen, i say to you: if you ask the father any thing in my name, he will give it you. 16:24. hitherto, you have not asked any thing in my name. ask, and you shall receive; that your joy may be full. 16:25. these things i have spoken to you in proverbs. the hour cometh when i will no longer speak to you in proverbs, but will shew you plainly of the father. 16:26. in that day, you shall ask in my name: and i say not to you that i will ask the father for you. 16:27. for the father himself loveth you, because you have loved me and have believed that i came out from god. 16:28. i came forth from the father and am come into the world: again i leave the world and i go to the father. 16:29. his disciples say to him: behold, now thou speakest plainly and speakest no proverb. 16:30. now we know that thou knowest all things and thou needest not that any man should ask thee. by this we believe that thou camest forth from god. 16:31. jesus answered them: do you now believe? 16:32. behold, the hour cometh, and it is now come, that you shall be scattered every man to his own and shall leave me alone. and yet i am not alone, because the father is with me. 16:33. these things i have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. in the world you shall have distress. but have confidence. i have overcome the world. john chapter 17 christ's prayer for his disciples. 17:1. these things jesus spoke: and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said: the hour is come. glorify thy son, that thy son may glorify thee. 17:2. as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he may give eternal life to all whom thou hast given him. 17:3. now this is eternal life: that they may know thee, the only true god, and jesus christ, whom thou hast sent. 17:4. i have glorified thee on the earth; i have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. 17:5. and now glorify thou me, o father, with thyself, with the glory which i had, before the world was, with thee. 17:6. i have manifested thy name to the men whom thou hast given me out of the world. thine they were: and to me thou gavest them. and they have kept thy word. 17:7. now they have known that all things which thou hast given me are from thee: 17:8. because the words which thou gavest me, i have given to them. and they have received them and have known in very deed that i came out from thee: and they have believed that thou didst send me. 17:9. i pray for them. i pray not for the world, but for them whom thou hast given me: because they are thine. 17:10. and all my things are thine, and thine are mine: and i am glorified in them. 17:11. and now i am not in the world, and these are in the world, and i come to thee. holy father, keep them in thy name whom thou hast given me: that they may be one, as we also are. 17:12. while i was with them, i kept them in thy name. those whom thou gavest me have i kept: and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition: that the scripture may be fulfilled. 17:13. and now i come to thee: and these things i speak in the world, that they may have my joy filled in themselves. 17:14. i have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them: because they are not of the world, as i also am not of the world. 17:15. i pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from evil. 17:16. they are not of the world, as i also am not of the world. 17:17. sanctify them in truth. thy word is truth. 17:18. as thou hast sent me into the world, i also have sent them into the world. 17:19. and for them do i sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. 17:20. and not for them only do i pray, but for them also who through their word shall believe in me. 17:21. that they all may be one, as thou, father, in me, and i in thee; that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 17:22. and the glory which thou hast given me, i have given to them: that, they may be one, as we also are one. 17:23. i in them, and thou in me: that they may be made perfect in one: and the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them, as thou hast also loved me. 17:24. father, i will that where i am, they also whom thou hast given me may be with me: that they may see my glory which thou hast given me, because thou hast loved me before the creation of the world. 17:25. just father, the world hath not known thee: but i have known thee. and these have known that thou hast sent me. 17:26. and i have made known thy name to them and will make it known: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and i in them. john chapter 18 the history of the passion of christ. 18:1. when jesus had said these things, he went forth with his disciples over the brook cedron, where there was a garden, into which he entered with his disciples. 18:2. and judas also, who betrayed him, knew the place: because jesus had often resorted thither together with his disciples. 18:3. judas therefore having received a band of soldiers and servants from the chief priests and the pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. 18:4. jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth and said to them: whom seek ye? 18:5. they answered him: jesus of nazareth. jesus saith to them: i am he. and judas also, who betrayed him, stood with them. 18:6. as soon therefore as he had said to them: i am he; they went backward and fell to the ground. 18:7. again therefore he asked them: whom seek ye? and they said: jesus of nazareth. 18:8. jesus answered: i have told you that i am he. if therefore you seek me, let these go their way, 18:9. that the word might be fulfilled which he said: of them whom thou hast given me, i have not lost any one. 18:10. then simon peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. and the name of thee servant was malchus. 18:11. jesus therefore said to peter: put up thy sword into the scabbard. the chalice which my father hath given me, shall i not drink it? 18:12. then the band and the tribune and the servants of the jews took jesus and bound him. 18:13. and they led him away to annas first, for he was father-in-law to caiphas, who was the high priest of that year. 18:14. now caiphas was he who had given the counsel to the jews: that it was expedient that one man should die for the people. 18:15. and simon peter followed jesus: and so did another disciple. and that disciple was known to the high priest and went in with jesus into the court of the high priest. 18:16. but peter stood at the door without. the other disciple therefore, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the portress and brought in peter. 18:17. the maid therefore that was portress saith to peter: art not thou also one of this man's disciple? he saith i am not. 18:18. now the servants and ministers stood at a fire of coals, because it was cold, and warmed themselves. and with them was peter also, standing and warming himself. 18:19. the high priest therefore asked jesus of his disciples and of his doctrine. 18:20. jesus answered him: i have spoken openly to the world. i have always taught in the synagogue and in the temple, whither all the jews resort: and in secret i have spoken nothing. 18:21. why askest thou me? ask them who have heard what i have spoken unto them. behold they know what things i have said. 18:22. and when he had said these things, one of the servants standing by gave jesus a blow, saying: answerest thou the high priest so? 18:23. jesus answered him: if i have spoken evil, give testimony of the evil; but if well, why strikest thou me? 18:24. and annas sent him bound to caiphas the high priest. 18:25. and simon peter was standing and warming himself. they said therefore to him: art not thou also one of his disciples? he denied it and said: i am not. 18:26. one of the servants of the high priest (a kinsman to him whose ear peter cut off) saith to him: did not i see thee in the garden with him? 18:27. again therefore peter denied: and immediately the cock crew. 18:28. then they led jesus from caiphas to the governor's hall. and it was morning: and they went not into the hall, that they might not be defiled, but that they might eat the pasch. 18:29. pilate therefore went out to them, and said: what accusation bring you against this man? 18:30. they answered and said to him: if he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up to thee. 18:31. pilate therefore said to them: take him you, and judge him according to your law. the jews therefore said to him: it is not lawful for us to put any man to death. 18:32. that the word of jesus might be fulfilled, which he said, signifying what death he should die. 18:33. pilate therefore went into the hall again and called jesus and said to him: art thou the king of the jews? 18:34. jesus answered: sayest thou this thing of thyself, or have others told it thee of me? 18:35. pilate answered: am i a jew? thy own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee up to me. what hast thou done? 18:36. jesus answered: my kingdom is not of this world. if my kingdom were of this world, my servants would certainly strive that i should not be delivered to the jews: but now my kingdom is not from hence. 18:37. pilate therefore said to him: art thou a king then? jesus answered: thou sayest that i am a king. for this was i born, and for this came i into the world; that i should give testimony to the truth. every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. 18:38. pilate saith to him: what is truth? and when he said this, he went out again to the jews and saith to them: i find no cause in him. 18:39. but you have a custom that i should release one unto you at the pasch. will you, therefore, that i release unto you the king of the jews? 18:40. then cried they all again, saying: not this man, but barabbas. now barabbas was a robber. john chapter 19 the continuation of the history of the passion of christ. 19:1. then therefore pilate took jesus and scourged him. 19:2. and the soldiers platting a crown of thorns, put it upon his head: and they put on him a purple garment. 19:3. and they came to him and said: hail, king of the jews. and they gave him blows. 19:4. pilate therefore went forth again and saith to them: behold, i bring him forth unto you, that you may know that i find no cause in him. 19:5. (jesus therefore came forth, bearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment.) and he saith to them: behold the man. 19:6. when the chief priests, therefore, and the servants had seen him, they cried out, saying: crucify him, crucify him. pilate saith to them: take him you, and crucify him: for i find no cause in him. 19:7. the jews answered him: we have a law; and according to the law he ought to die, because he made himself the son of god. 19:8. when pilate therefore had heard this saying, he feared the more. 19:9. and he entered into the hall again; and he said to jesus: whence art thou? but jesus gave him no answer. 19:10. pilate therefore saith to him: speakest thou not to me? knowest thou not that i have power to crucify thee, and i have power to release thee? 19:11. jesus answered: thou shouldst not have any power against me, unless it were given thee from above. therefore, he that hath delivered me to thee hath the greater sin. 19:12. and from henceforth pilate sought to release him. but the jews cried out, saying: if thou release this man, thou art not caesar's friend. for whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against caesar. 19:13. now when pilate had heard these words, he brought jesus forth and sat down in the judgment seat, in the place that is called lithostrotos, and in hebrew gabbatha. 19:14. and it was the parasceve of the pasch, about the sixth hour: and he saith to the jews: behold your king. the parasceve of the pasch... that is, the day before the paschal sabbath. the eve of every sabbath was called the parasceve, or day of preparation. but this was the eve of a high sabbath, viz., that which fell in the paschal week. 19:15. but they cried out: away with him: away with him: crucify him. pilate saith to them: shall i crucify your king? the chief priests answered: we have no king but caesar. 19:16. then therefore he delivered him to them to be crucified. and they took jesus and led him forth. 19:17. and bearing his own cross, he went forth to the place which is called calvary, but in hebrew golgotha. 19:18. where they crucified him, and with him two others, one on each side, and jesus in the midst. 19:19. and pilate wrote a title also: and he put it upon the cross. and the writing was: jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews. 19:20. this title therefore many of the jews did read: because the place where jesus was crucified was nigh to the city. and it was written in hebrew, in greek, and in latin. 19:21. then the chief priests of the jews said to pilate: write not: the king of the jews. but that he said: i am the king of the jews. 19:22. pilate answered: what i have written, i have written. 19:23. the soldiers therefore, when they had crucified him, took his garments, (and they made four parts, to every soldier a part) and also his coat. now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. 19:24. they said then one to another: let us not cut it but let us cast lots for it, whose it shall be; that the scripture might be fulfilled, saying: they have parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture they have cast lots. and the soldiers indeed did these things. 19:25. now there stood by the cross of jesus, his mother and his mother's sister, mary of cleophas, and mary magdalen. 19:26. when jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he saith to his mother: woman, behold thy son. 19:27. after that, he saith to the disciple: behold thy mother. and from that hour, the disciple took her to his own. 19:28. afterwards, jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, said: i thirst. 19:29. now there was a vessel set there, full of vinegar. and they, putting a sponge full of vinegar about hyssop, put it to his mouth. 19:30. jesus therefore, when he had taken the vinegar, said: it is consummated. and bowing his head, he gave up the ghost. 19:31. then the jews (because it was the parasceve), that the bodies might not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day (for that was a great sabbath day), besought pilate that their legs might be broken: and that they might be taken away. 19:32. the soldiers therefore came: and they broke the legs of the first, and of the other that was crucified with him. 19:33. but after they were come to jesus, when they saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 19:34. but one of the soldiers with a spear opened his side: and immediately there came out blood and water. 19:35. and he that saw it hath given testimony: and his testimony is true. and he knoweth that he saith true: that you also may believe. 19:36. for these things were done that the scripture might be fulfilled: you shall not break a bone of him. 19:37. and again another scripture saith: they shall look on him whom they pierced. 19:38. and after these things, joseph of arimathea (because he was a disciple of jesus, but secretly for fear of the jews), besought pilate that he might take away the body of jesus. and pilate gave leave. he came therefore and took away the body of jesus. 19:39. and nicodemus also came (he who at the first came to jesus by night), bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. 19:40. they took therefore the body of jesus and bound it in linen cloths, with the spices, as the manner of the jews is to bury. 19:41. now there was in the place where he was crucified a garden: and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein no man yet had been laid. 19:42. there, therefore, because of the parasceve of the jews, they laid jesus: because the sepulchre was nigh at hand. john chapter 20 christ's resurrection and manifestation to his disciples. 20:1. and on the first day of the week, mary magdalen cometh early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre: and she saw the stone taken away from the sepulchre. 20:2. she ran therefore and cometh to simon peter and to the other disciple whom jesus loved and saith to them: they have taken away the lord out of the sepulchre: and we know not where they have laid him. 20:3. peter therefore went out, and the other disciple: and they came to the sepulchre. 20:4. and they both ran together: and that other disciple did outrun peter and came first to the sepulchre. 20:5. and when he stooped down, he saw the linen cloths lying: but yet he went not in. 20:6. then cometh simon peter, following him, and went into the sepulchre: and saw the linen cloths lying, 20:7. and the napkin that had been about his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but apart, wrapped up into one place. 20:8. then that other disciple also went in, who came first to the sepulchre: and he saw and believed. 20:9. for as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. 20:10. the disciples therefore departed again to their home. 20:11. but mary stood at the sepulchre without, weeping. now as she was weeping, she stooped down and looked into the sepulchre, 20:12. and she saw two angels in white, sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of jesus had been laid. 20:13. they say to her: woman, why weepest thou? she saith to them: because they have taken away my lord: and i know not where they have laid him. 20:14. when she had thus said, she turned herself back and saw jesus standing: and she knew not that it was jesus. 20:15. jesus saith to her: woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? she, thinking that it was the gardener, saith to him: sir, if thou hast taken him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him: and i will take him away. 20:16. jesus saith to her: mary. she turning, saith to him: rabboni (which is to say, master). 20:17. jesus saith to her: do not touch me: for i am not yet ascended to my father. but go to my brethren and say to them: i ascend to my father and to your father, to my god and to your god. 20:18. mary magdalen cometh and telleth the disciples: i have seen the lord; and these things he said to me. 20:19. now when it was late the same day, the first of the week, and the doors were shut, where the disciples were gathered together, for fear of the jews, jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them: peace be to you. the doors were shut... the same power which could bring christ's whole body, entire in all its dimensions, through the doors, can without the least question make the same body really present in the sacrament; though both the one and the other be above our comprehension. 20:20. and when he had said this, he shewed them his hands and his side. the disciples therefore were glad, when they saw the lord. 20:21. he said therefore to them again: peace be to you. as the father hath sent me, i also send you. 20:22. when he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: receive ye the holy ghost. 20:23. whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them: and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained. whose sins, etc... see here the commission, stamped by the broad seal of heaven, by virtue of which the pastors of christ's church absolve repenting sinners upon their confession. 20:24. now thomas, one of the twelve, who is called didymus, was not with them when jesus came. 20:25. the other disciples therefore said to him: we have seen the lord. but he said to them: except i shall see in his hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the place of the nails and put my hand into his side, i will not believe. 20:26. and after eight days, again his disciples were within, and thomas with them. jesus cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said: peace be to you. 20:27. then he said to thomas: put in thy finger hither and see my hands. and bring hither the hand and put it into my side. and be not faithless, but believing. 20:28. thomas answered and said to him: my lord and my god. 20:29. jesus saith to him: because thou hast seen me, thomas, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen and have believed. 20:30. many other signs also did jesus in the sight of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 20:31. but these are written, that you may believe that jesus is the christ, the son of god: and that believing, you may have life in his name. john chapter 21 christ manifests himself to his disciples by the sea side and gives peter the charge of his sheep. 21:1. after this, jesus shewed himself to the disciples at the sea of tiberias. and he shewed himself after this manner. 21:2. there were together: simon peter and thomas, who is called didymus, and nathanael, who was of cana of galilee, and the sons of zebedee and two others of his disciples. 21:3. simon peter saith to them: i go a fishing. they say to him: we also come with thee. and they went forth and entered into the ship: and that night they caught nothing. 21:4. but when the morning was come, jesus stood on the shore: yet the disciples knew not that it was jesus. 21:5. jesus therefore said to them: children, have you any meat? they answered him: no. 21:6. he saith to them: cast the net on the right side of the ship; and you shall find. they cast therefore: and now they were not able to draw it, for the multitude of fishes. 21:7. that disciple therefore whom jesus loved said to peter: it is the lord. simon peter, when he heard that it was the lord, girt his coat about him (for he was naked) and cast himself into the sea. 21:8. but the other disciples came in the ship (for they were not far from the land, but as it were two hundred cubits) dragging the net with fishes. 21:9. as soon then as they came to land they saw hot coals lying, and a fish laid thereon, and bread. 21:10. jesus saith to them: bring hither of the fishes which you have now caught. 21:11. simon peter went up and drew the net to land, full of great fishes, one hundred and fifty-three. and although there were so many, the net was not broken. 21:12. jesus saith to them: come and dine. and none of them who were at meat, durst ask him: who art thou? knowing that it was the lord. 21:13. and jesus cometh and taketh bread and giveth them: and fish in like manner. 21:14. this is now the third time that jesus was manifested to his disciples, after he was risen from the dead. 21:15. when therefore they had dined, jesus saith to simon peter: simon, son of john, lovest thou me more than these? he saith to him: yea, lord, thou knowest that i love thee. he saith to him: feed my lambs. 21:16. he saith to him again: simon, son of john, lovest thou me? he saith to him: yea, lord, thou knowest that i love thee. he saith to him: feed my lambs. 21:17. he said to him the third time: simon, son of john, lovest thou me? peter was grieved because he had said to him the third time: lovest thou me? and he said to him: lord, thou knowest all things: thou knowest that i love thee. he said to him: feed my sheep. feed my sheep... our lord had promised the spiritual supremacy to st. peter; st. matt. 16. 19; and here he fulfils that promise, by charging him with the superintendency of all his sheep, without exception; and consequently of his whole flock, that is, of his own church. 21:18. amen, amen, i say to thee, when thou wast younger, thou didst gird thyself and didst walk where thou wouldst. but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee and lead thee whither thou wouldst not. 21:19. and this he said, signifying by what death he should glorify god. and when he had said this, he saith to him: follow me. 21:20. peter turning about, saw that disciple whom jesus loved following, who also leaned on his breast at supper and said: lord, who is he that shall betray thee? 21:21. him therefore when peter had seen, he saith to jesus: lord, and what shall this man do? 21:22. jesus saith to him: so i will have him to remain till i come, what is it to thee? follow thou me. 21:23. this saying therefore went abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die. and jesus did not say to him: he should not die; but: so i will have him to remain till i come, what is it to thee? 21:24. this is that disciple who giveth testimony of these things and hath written these things: and we know that his testimony is true. 21:25. but there are also many other things which jesus did which, if they were written every one, the world itself. i think, would not be able to contain the books that should be written. quiet talks on _john's gospel_ by s. d. gordon 1915 preface _everything depends on getting jesus placed._ that lies at the root of all--living, serving, preaching, teaching. john had jesus placed. he had him up in his own place. this settles everything else. then one gets himself placed, too, up on a level where the air is clear and bracing, the sun warm, and the outlook both steadying and stimulating. get the centre fixed and things quickly adjust themselves about it to your eyes. it will be seen very quickly that this little book makes no pretension to being a commentary on, or an exposition of, john's gospel. that is left to the scholarly folk who eat their meals in the sacred classical languages of the past. it is simply a homely attempt to let out a little of what has been sifting in these years past of this wondrous miniature bible from john's pen. the proportions of this homely little messenger of paper and type may seem a little odd at first. the longest chapter is devoted to only the opening eighteen verses of john, the prologue. while the whole of the first twelve chapters of john, excepting that prologue, is brought into one smaller chapter. it wasn't planned so, though i felt it coming as the wondrous mood of this book came down over me. i think it mast be the effect of the atmosphere of john's book. sometimes john packs so much in so little space, and again he goes so particularly into the details of some one incident. the prologue is a miniature bible. the whole bible story is there in its cream. and on the other hand john spends five chapters (xiii.-xvii.), almost a fifth of the whole, on a single evening. he devotes seven chapters (xiii.-xix.), almost a third of all, on the events of twenty-four hours. john is controlled not by mere proportion of space or quantity, but by the finer proportions of thought and quality. it has been difficult to hold these homely talks down to the limit of space they take here. so many veins of gold in this mine, showing clearly large nuggets of pure ore, lie just at hand untouched in this little mining venture. but it seemed clearly best to get the one clear grasp of the whole. that helps so much. but there'll be strong temptation to get one's pick and spade and go at this gold mine again. but now these things are written that we common folk may understand a bit better, and in a warm way, that jesus was god on a wooing errand to the earth; and that we may join the blest company of the won ones, and become co-wooers with god of the others. s. d. g. contents i. john's story ii. the wooing lover who it was that came. iii. the lover wooing a group of pictures illustrating how the wooing was done and how the lover was received. iv. closer wooing an evening with opening hearts: the story of a supper and a walk in the moonlight and the shadows. v. the greatest wooing a night and a day with hardening hearts: the story of tender passion and of a terrible tragedy. vi. an appointed tryst unexpectedly kept a day of startling joyous surprises. vii. another tryst a story of fishing, of guests at breakfast, and of a walk and talk by the edge of blue galilee. i john's story "i fled him, down the nights and down the days; i fled him, down the arches of the years; i fled him down the labyrinthine ways of my own mind; and in the midst of tears i hid from him, and under running laughter. up vistaed hopes, i sped; and shot, precipitated, adown titanic glooms of chasméd fears, from those strong feet that followed, followed after." --_francis thompson, in "the hound of heaven_." "these are written that ye may believe that jesus is the christ, the son of god; and that believing ye may have life in his name."--_john xx. 31_. i john's story the heart-strings of god. there's a tense tugging at the heart of god. the heart-strings of god are tight, as tight as tight can be. for there's a tender heart that's easily tugged at one end, and an insistent tugging at the other. the tugging never ceases. the strings never slack. they give no signs of easing or getting loose. it's the tug of man's sore need at the down-end, the man-end, of the strings. and it's the sore tug of grief over the way things are going on down here with men, at the other end, the up-end, the heart-end, of the strings. it's the tense pull-up of a love that grows stronger with the growth of man's misunderstanding. but the heart-strings never snap. the heart itself breaks under the tension of love and grief, grieved and grieving love. but the strings only strengthen and tighten under the strain of use. those heart-strings are a bit of the heart they're tied to, an inner bit, aye the innermost bit, the inner heart of the heart. they are the bit pulled, and pulled more, and pulled harder, till the strings grew. man was born in the warm heart of god. was there ever such a womb! was there ever such another borning, homing place! it was man's going away that stretched the heart out till the strings grew. the tragedy of sin revealed the toughness and tenderness of love. for that heart never let go of the man whom it borned. man tried to pull away, poor thing. in his foolish misunderstanding and heady wilfulness he tried to cut loose. if he had known god better he would never have tried that. he'd never have _started_ away; and he'd never have tried to _get_ away. for love never faileth. a heart--the real thing of a heart, that is, god's heart--never lets go. it breaks; but let go? not once: never yet. the breaking only loosens the red that glues fast with a tighter hold than ever. the fibre of the heart--god's heart--is made of too strong stuff to loosen or wear out or snap. love never faileth. it can't; because it's love. now all this explains jesus. it was man's pull on these heart-strings that brought him down. the pull was so strong and steady. it grew tenser and more insistent. and straight down he came by the shortest way, the way of those same heart-strings. for the heart-strings of god are the shortest distance between two given points, the point of god's giving, going love, and the point of man's sore need, given a sharper-pointed end by its very soreness. it is a sort of blind pull, this pull of man on the heart of god; a confused, unconscious, half-conscious, dust-blinded, slippery-road sort of pulling, but one whose tight grip never slacks. man needs god, but does not know it. he knows he needs _some_thing. he feels that keenly. but he does not know that it's god whom he needs, with a very few rare exceptions. it doesn't seem to have entered his head that he'll never get out of his tight corner till god gets him out. down the street of life he goes, eyes blinded by the thick dust, ears deafened by the cries of the crowd, by the noise of the street without, and the noise of passions and fevered ambitions within, heart a-wearied by the confusion of it all, groping, stumbling, jostled and jostling, hitting this way and that, with the fever high in his blood, and his feet aching and bleeding; sometimes the polish of culture on the surface; _some_times rags and dirt; but underneath the same thing. yet under all there's a vague but very real feeling of that unceasing pull upward upon his heart-strings. but though blind and vague and confused that tugging is never the less tense, but ever more, and then yet more. jesus was god answering the tug of man's need on his heart-strings. and so naturally there was an answering feel in man's heart. man felt the answer a-coming. there was a great stir in the spirit-currents of earth when jesus came. a thrill of expectancy ran through the world, roman, greek, barbarian, far and wide, as jesus drew near. the book-makers of that time all speak of it. it was the vibration of those same heart-strings connecting man and god. the move at god's end was felt at man's. the coming down along the highway of the strings thrilled and stirred and awed the hearts into which those strings led, and where they were so tightly knotted. the earth-currents spread the news. man heard; he felt; he knew: vaguely, blindly, wearily, yet very really he heard and felt and recognized that help, a friend, some one, was nearing. and then when jesus walked among men how he did pull upon their hearts! so quietly he went about. so sympathetically he looked and listened. so warm was the human touch of his hand. so strong was the lift of his arm to ease their load. so potent was the spell of his unfailing power to give relief. how he did pull! and how men did answer to that pull! unresistingly, eagerly, as weary child in mother's arms at close of day, they came crowding to him. the fourfold message. it is fascinating to find one book in this old book of god given up wholly to telling of this, john's gospel. of course the whole of the book is really given up to it, when one gets the whole simple view of it at one glance. but so many of us don't get that whole simple glance. so to make it easier for us simple common folk, and to make sure of our getting it, there is one little book, hardly big enough to call a book, just a few pages devoted wholly to letting us see this one thing. you can see the whole of the sun in a single drop of water. you can see the whole of the book of god in this one little book that john wrote. john's gospel is like the small tracing of the artist's pen on the lower corner of an etching, the remarque, put there as a signature, the artist's personal mark that the picture is genuine, the real thing. the whole consummate skill of the artist is revealed at a glance in the simple outline-tracing on the margin. the whole of the god-story in the larger picture of the whole book is given in few simple clear lines in this exquisite little thing commonly called john's gospel. it is striking to make the discovery that john's little book has _a distinctive message as a book_. it is full of messages, of course. but i mean that there is a distinct story told by the book as a whole, by the very way it is put together. it is told by the very sort of language used, the words chosen as the leading words of the book. it is told by the picture that clearly fills john's eye as he writes, and by the very spirit that floods the pages as a soft light, and that breaks out of them as the subtle fragrance of locust blossoms in the spring. the fragrance of flowers cannot be analyzed: it must be smelled and felt. that's the only way you'll ever know it. the fine scholarly analyses of john are helpful. but there's the subtler something that cannot be diagramed or analyzed or synthesized. it eludes the razor-edged knife, and the keenly critical survey. it is recognized only by one's spirit, and then only when the spirit is warm, and in tune with john's. of course each of the gospel stories has a message of its own, quite apart from the group of facts common to them all. and these four messages together give us the fuller distinctive message of these four little books. and a very winsome message it is, too, that takes hold of one's heart, and takes a warm strong hold at that. _matthew_ tells us that jesus is a _king_. for a great purpose he chose to live as a peasant, as one of the common folks. but he was of the blood royal. he has the long unbroken kingly lineage. he showed kingly power in his actions, kingly wisdom in his teachings, and the fine kingly spirit in his gracious kindliness of touch. he was gladly accepted and served as king by those who understood him best. he was acknowledged as king by the roman governor; and he died as a king, and as a king was laid in a newly hewn tomb. _mark_ adds a fine touch to this picture, a warm touch with colour in it,--this king of ours is _a serving king_. this comes not only with a warm feel, but it comes as a distinct surprise. men's kings are _served_ kings. there have been kings, and are, who rendered their people a fine high service, and do. but the overpowering impression given the common crowd watching on the street is that kings are superior beings, to be waited upon, humbly bowed to, and implicitly obeyed. they are to be served. bat mark's picture shows us a king whose passion is to serve. the service which he draws out of his followers is drawn out by his warm serving spirit towards us. the words on the royal coat-of-arms are, "not to be ministered unto, but to minister." and in the first meaning of the words he himself used that means "not to be _served_ but to _serve_." in mark the air is tense with rapid action. the quick executive movement of a capable servant is felt in the terse words short sentences and swift action of the story. there's yet warmer colouring in _luke's_ picture. this serving king is _nearest of kin to us!_ he is not only of the blood royal, but of the blood human. he is bone of our bone, blood of our blood, and life of our common life. he came to us through a rare union of god's power with human consent and human function, never known before nor repeated since. this is the bit that luke adds to the composite message of these four little god-story books. here jesus has a tenderness of human sympathy with us men, for he and we are brothers. there's an outlook as broad as the race. no national boundaries limit its reach. no sectional prejudices warp or shut him off from sympathetic touch with any. he shares our common life. he knows our human temptations, and knows them with a reality that is painful, and with an intensity that wets his brow and shuts his jaw hard. this king who serves is _a man_. he _can_ be a king of men for he is a _man_. he has the first qualification. i might use an old-fashioned word in the first old-time meaning,--he is _a fellow_, one who shares the bed and bread of our common experience. and so he is _kin to us_, both in lineage and in experience, in blood and in spirit. and john's share in this partnership message adds a simple bold touch of colouring that makes the picture a masterpiece, _the_ masterpiece. this king who serves, and is nearest of kin to us, is also _nearest of kin to god_. he is not only of the blood royal, and the blood human, but of the blood divine. he was with god before calendars came into use. he was the god of that creative genesis week. he came on an errand down to the earth, and when the errand was done, and well done, he went back home, bearing on his person the marks of his fidelity to the father's errand. this is john's bit of rich high colouring. and so _we are nearest of kin to god_ through jesus. kinship is always a matter of blood. there is a double kinship, through the blood of inheritance, and the blood of sacrifice. our _inherited_ kinship of blood has been lost. but his blood of sacrifice has made a new kinship. we had broken the entail of our inheritance clean beyond mending. we were _outcasts_ by our own act. but he _cast in_. his lot with us, and so drew us back and up and in. he made a new entail through his blood. and that new entail is as unbreakable as the old broken one is unmendable. and so we come into the family of a king. and we are kingliest in character when we are christliest in spirit and action. we are most like the king when we are helping others. our true motto, in our relation to our fellows, is: "i am among you as he that serveth." towel and basin, bended knee and comforted pilgrim-feet and refreshed spirit,--this is our family crest. we're kin to all the race through jesus. black skin and white, yellow and brown; round heads and long, slanting eyes and oval, in slum alley and palatial home, below the equator and above it,--all are our kinsmen. we are reaching highest when we are stooping lowest to help some one up. we're nearest like god in character when we're getting nearest in touch to those needing help. we are kingliest and godliest and christliest when we're controlled by men's needs, but always under the higher control of the holy spirit. this is the composite message of the four gospels; and this is its practical human outworking. god on a wooing errand. but it's the other john message we are especially after just now. there's another message of john's book quite distinct from this, though naturally allied with it. and this other is the crowding message of his book. its thought crowds in upon you till every other is crowded into second place. and as it gets hold of you it crowds your mind and heart and life till every other is either crowded out, or crowded to a lower place; _out_, if it jars; _lower place_, if it agrees, for every agreeing bit yields to the lead of this tremendous message. but one must get hold of john before john's message gets hold of him. john was swayed by a passion. it was a fiery passion flaming through all his life. it burned through him as the fierce forest fire burns through the underbrush. every base thing was eaten up by its flame. every less worthy thing came under its heat. it melted and mellowed and moulded his whole being. it was _the jesus-passion_. it was kindled that memorable afternoon early in his life down in the jordan bottoms.[1] john's namesake, the herald, applied the kindling match. from then on the flames never flickered nor burned low. they increased steadily, and they increased in purity, until his whole life was under their holy heat. john didn't always understand his master. sometimes he misunderstood. but he never failed in his trust of him, nor in his fidelity to him. of the chosen inner circle john was the one who remained true through the sorest test, that betrayal-night test. judas betrayed; peter denied; the nine fled in terror down the road to save their cowardly lives; john went in "_with_ jesus." that fiery nature of his, that early won for him the stormy name "son of thunder," came completely under the sway of this holier tenderer stronger flame, and burned itself out in a passion of love for jesus. the jesus-passion swayed john completely. this explains the man, and his career. it explains this little book of his ripe old age. and only this can. one must read the book through john's own heart, then he begins to understand it. this jesus-passioned man is the key to the book, the human key. and the distinctive message of the book is simply this: _jesus was god on a wooing errand to the earth_. that simple sentence covers fully all that is found in john's twenty-one chapters. every line in these fourteen or fifteen pages can be traced back into that brief statement. indeed this becomes an outline of the book. see: in the opening paragraphs the wooing lover is coming down to earth.[2] in the first twelve chapters the lover is pleading winsomely and earnestly for acceptance.[3] then he is seen in closest touch with the inner group of those who have accepted, opening his heart yet more, wooing still closer.[4] then comes the last tragic pleading, pleading in intensest action, with those who persist in rejecting.[5] and then the last close heart-touches with the inner circle.[6] the water-mark of john's gospel. the very words john so thoughtfully chooses as his leading words bear the distinct impress of this, like the sharply indented stamp of the mint on the new coin. two such words stand out above all others, "believe" and "witness." the first actually occurs oftenest, sounding out like the dominant chord of music running throughout a symphony. the second is like the chief warp-thread into which the fabric is being woven. the two words are really twins, born at the same time, of the same mother. they grow up together and work in perfect accord. the witnessing is that men may understand and believe. it's the servant leading up to the belief that shall become the mastering thing. the belief is servant, too, in turn, leading up to the witnessing that becomes the mastering passion in those who believe. these words are worth digging into for the fine gold that lies hidden within waiting the miner's pick. the word "believe" is a nugget of pure gold, whether you take our english word or john's word lying underneath. the underneath word, that john uses in his own mother tongue, runs a sliding scale of meaning. it's a ladder rising from bottom round to topmost. it means to be persuaded that a thing is true; then to place confidence in it, to trust. and _trust_ always contains the idea of _risk_. the heart-meaning always is that you _risk_ something very precious to you, risk it to the point of heart-breaking disaster if your trust proves wrong. our english word is of very close kin. it runs the same sort of sliding scale, from something valuable and precious in itself, on to something that _satisfies you_ regarding the matter in hand. you are not only satisfied but pleased, content. and so there is the same trusting and risking, the same leaning your whole weight upon the thing. deep down at its root, _believe_ is a close kinsman to _love_. they both spring out of the same warm creative womb. when we dig a bit into that word _believe_ in the usage of common life it means three distinct things, each leading straight into the other,--knowledge, belief, trust. that is, _facts_, facts _accepted_, facts _trusted_ in regard to something that takes hold of your life. you hear something. you believe it's true. but there must be the third thing, risking something valuable. there's no belief in the heart-meaning without this thing of _risking_. the trust that risks is the life blood of faith. the rest is only the bony skeleton with tendons and sinews and flesh. there's no life without the blood. there's no belief without trust. and the word _witness_ is the same pure-gold sort of nugget, assaying full weight. john's native word and our own are just the same in meaning. their meaning is _to tell what you know_. we shall be running across this word again, and digging a bit deeper into it. but this is the thing that stands out in it. you tell something that you yourself know. there's personal knowledge. there's a telling some one else this thing you know. and yet more, there's the purpose in the telling, that others may know what you know, and get all the good that comes with knowing it. the _witnessing_ is that others may _believe_. it is a striking thing in john that the _thought_ of witness is more common than the _word_. the word occurs several times, and always in a leading way. but the thought of witnessing is the colouring of every page, and the chief colouring. i said that these two words were twins, born at the same time, of the same mother. that warm-hearted brooding mother is the word _wooing_. originally _wooing_ means bending towards, inclining forward or reaching out towards another. and the purpose of the reaching out is to get the other to reach forward towards you. and that purpose puts the warm feel into the reaching out. all words were pictures first. here in this word _wooing_ is a picture, by one of the old masters, waiting to be restored, with all the dusty accumulations of the years carefully removed. and here's the picture: a man standing, with the light of the morning shining in his eyes, body bending forward, hands reaching out, with an eagerness, an expectancy in every line of his body, and tender love glowing out of his face, and sounding in the very tones with which the voice is calling. this picture is really the water-mark on the paper of john's gospel. hold up the paper of john's gospel to the light. the best light for the purpose is found on mount calvary. high altitudes have clearer light. you see more distinctly. now look. hold still that you may see all the outlines more distinctly. there's the form of a man standing in pleading attitude, with outstretched hands. his face combines all the fineness of the finest woman's face, with all the strength of the strongest man's, and more, immensely more, all the purity and tenderness and power of _god's_ face. it _is_ god himself in human form coming a-wooing to earth, and we call his name jesus. this conception is the very atmosphere of john's gospel. jesus is the witness of the father to men. he knew the father. he knew him by closest intimacy. he lived with him. he came down to _tell_ what he knew. he wanted others to know too. he wanted them to know _even as_ he knew. _telling_ is the whole of jesus; telling men of the father. his mere presence, his character, his warm sympathy, his practical helpfulness, his words, his actions, most of all his dying and his rising, all these were a _telling_, a witnessing, a wooing; telling the father's love, telling the damnableness of our sin by giving his very life blood to get it out of us; so telling us how we might really know the mother-heart of the father. jesus the dividing line. there are several contrasts between the first three gospels and john's. it is very striking to notice one in particular in this connection. one reading the first three gospels for the first time is impressed with the fact of jesus' _rejection_. this stands out peculiarly and dominantly. it was the great fact, told most terribly in the death of jesus. it was the thing that stood out sharpest in the generation to which jesus belonged, the generation for whom these three gospels were written at the first. but john wrote his story for an after-generation, a generation that had not known the man jesus by personal touch and observation. and so it was for all after-generations. and john makes it very clear that jesus was rejected, _and_ accepted. he was indeed _rejected_; that fact stands out as painfully here as in the others. he was rejected by the little inner clique that held the national reins, and held them with fevered tenacity, and drove hard. and the reason for it is made to stand out as plainly as the fact. the envy and jealousy, the intense bitterness and viciousness and devilish obstinacy back of the rejection stand as boldly out to all eyes as to pilate's. but the other side stands out sharply too. jesus was _accepted_. he was accepted by all classes, by the cultured, and the scholarly, by thoughtful studious leaders and officials of the nation. he was accepted by the great middle classes and by those in lowest scale socially, and by the moral outcasts. intense hebrews, roman officials of high rank, half-breed samaritans, and men of outside nations group themselves together by their full acceptance of jesus. he was listened to, doubted, questioned, discussed, thought over, _and then accepted._ and he was accepted with a faith and with a love that counted not suffering nor sacrifice for the sake of him whom they believed and trusted and loved. john makes this clear, rejected _and_ accepted. jesus divided the crowds. down the road he comes, with quiet strength, witnessing to the great simple truth of the father's pure strong wooing love. and the crowd looks and listens and--_divides_. some reject; clearly they are a minority, but entrenched in a position of power that proves quite sufficient for their purpose. though it took all the power at their command to carry out their purpose. others accept. these are the crowds, the majority. some don't understand. their motives are selfish or mixed, like some other folks' motives. some are played upon by the cunning of the leaders and swung away. but there remain the thoughtful ones whose faith goes from weakness to strength; it grows from more to yet more. it mellows from a true simple faith to a deepened, seasoned, sorely-tested, surely-toughened faith that loves, loves clear down to the roots, and endures gladly. this is the simple warp-thread into which john's very simple story of jesus is woven. spelling god. _i_ want to give you _a bunch of keys_, as we start into these homely talks in john's gospel. they are simple keys. any one can use them. they fit easily and smoothly into every lock, the lock of your life, the lock of any circumstance, any sore problem that may come up to baffle all your efforts. they bring treasures within easy reach. they open up the way into all you need. there is a key to god, a key to the book of god, and then there are three keys to this little john book. _the key to god_ is in one little word. it has two spellings, sometimes with four letters, sometimes with five, and both correct spellings. the four-lettered spelling is for all the world. the five-lettered spelling is chiefly used in the western half of the earth, and along certain lines and in certain spots here and there in the eastern half where the word is known. that first spelling is l-o-v-e. god is love. love is of god. _god is always controlled by a purpose_ in all his dealings with the race, and with you and me. there is no chance-happening with him, no caprice, no shadow in his path that tells of his being swerved aside, by anything we do, from a steady purpose. and that controlling purpose is _always a purpose of love._ it's a purpose of strong steady pure clinging brooding love. the bother is we don't know what that word _love_ means; none of us. we know words but not the real things they stand for. we don't know the real thing of love because we don't know the real thing of god. if we knew, oh! if we but knew it--him--how that simple statement would melt us down, and mellow us through, and mould us all over anew! that's the shorter spelling. it is the universal spelling. that love is being spelled out to all the race by every twinkling star in the upper blue, every shade of green in the lower brown, by every cooling shading night, and every fragrantly dewy morning. every breath of air and bite of food and draught of water is repeating god's spelling lesson. these are the pages in god's primer. so we all may learn to spell out god. and so we get the right spelling of our own lives. then there's the other spelling, the five-lettered, j-e-s-u-s. it's the same thing, only spelled differently; spelled in a yet better way. the spelling grows bigger to us when jesus comes. when we know him it takes more to spell out and to tell out god's love. god grows larger to our eyes as he comes walking among us as jesus. no, he doesn't grow larger. we simply begin to find out how large he is. this is the closer, more human spelling. the letters are nearer and seem bigger as they come walking down the street where we live, and knock at our own door. they're easier spelled out. we can get hold of them better. love is a thing, we _think_. jesus is _a person_. it's so different to touch a person. but when we know, we know that both spellings tell the same thing. so far, only about a third of us have heard anything about this second, this closer spelling. two out of three haven't heard about it yet. but those who really know this spelling are eager for the others to get it, too. god is always controlled by a great simple purpose in thinking of you and me. and it is an unfailing purpose of strong tender love. this is the first key. any one may take it and use it. it is unfailing. it will fit every lock. it unlock every problem. it will open up the riches to any life. they're brought within easy reach of any hand by the steady use of this key. this is the key to god. it unlocks the doors and lets him freely into our lives. then we find out how much truer it is than we can understand. then there's _the key to the book of god._ there are many keys here, of course. daily time alone with the book, thoughtful reading, prayer, some simple plan, putting into your life what has been put in its pages,--these are all good keys. but there's a master-key, _the_ master-key. it is simply this: glad surrender of will to the god of the book. i mean a strong intelligent yielding to his mastery in all of one's plans and life. the highest act of the strongest will is yielding to a higher will when you find it. and you find the higher, the highest, will here. this is the master-key. bending the will affects eyes and ears and mind. the hinges of eye and ear are in the will. as the will bends those hinges move of themselves. eye and ear and mind open. the lower the will bends, the more fully and habitually, the more will eyes and ears open, the keener and more alert will be the mental processes, the more intelligent the understanding. and there comes to be a continual mutual shifting. with better understanding can come stronger more intelligent yielding of will, and so again clearer light. and it is striking to discover that there's a practical connection between the joints of the knees and the joint of the will. the bending of knees to a sharp right angle affects the will. it is easier to bend it. it bends better and more. and this grows. the habitual bending of the knees helps make habitual and stronger and more intelligent the bending of the will. this is the master-key to the book of god. it opens every lock and page. it opens us to the book, and opens the book to us. it frees out to us the wondrous spirit who is in these pages. and so through the opened book there come to be the direct touch with the god of the book. we don't come to the book merely; we come _through_ it to him who comes through it to us. this is the second key in this bunch. three keys. now, i want to give you _the three keys to john's gospel._ there's a back-door key, a side-door key, and a front-door key. these keys hang outside the doors, low down, that so any one who wants to can easily reach up, and get them. and if used faithfully and simply they will be found to unlock every page and line and difficult question. _the back-door key_ hangs right at the back door. it is the very last verse of chapter twenty. that really was the last chapter at first. the thought of the book comes to a close there. the story is complete. then the holy spirit led john to add a little, a second last-chapter, an added touch for good measure. love is never content. it is always adding more. here is the key: "_these are written that ye may believe that jesus is the christ, the son of god; and that believing ye may have life through his name_." this was john's whole thought in telling the jesus-story. the practical gripped him wholly and hard. this is the thing that guides his selection of incidents. this purpose shapes the shape of the book. it explains everything told, and just why it is told in just the way it is told. john lets jesus walk before our eyes fresh from his father's presence. the mere fact of his presence, the winsomeness of his personality, the clearness of his teaching, the power of his actions, the uncompromising purity of his character amidst sin-stained crowds and sin-dirtied surroundings, the unflinching rigidity of his ideals, the persuasiveness of his very manner and tone of speech, the patience and gentleness, the rugged granite strength, the mother tenderness, above all the willingness to suffer so terribly,--all this is a plea, a tremendous overpowering plea, all the stronger because presented so simply and briefly. jesus is a lover and this is his wooing. and john's one thought in writing is the same as the one thought in the lover's heart. john has become simply an echo of jesus. it is this, that _you_, whoever you are, wherever, whatever, that you may _believe_. you look and listen, question, puzzle a bit maybe, but keep on listening and looking, thinking, weighing, till you are clear these things are just so as john tells them. yon accept them as trustworthy. then you accept _him_, jesus, as he comes to you, your wooing lover, your lover-god, your saviour and lord. you _believe_: that is you _love_. the grammar of the word works itself out inside you thus,--believe, trust, love. the truth comes in through eyes and ears and feeling, into brain and will; through emotion clear down into your heart. you love. you cannot help yourself. you love _him_, jesus, the one so lovable. john says that you _may_ believe. it is possible. it is the reasonable intelligent thing to do after such a presentation. john makes it easy for us to believe. his telling of the story is so strong and convincing, though so simple and short, that believing is the natural thing. jesus himself, as he conies to us through john's eyes and speech, is so believable, so trustworthy, so lovable. now we _may_ believe. it's the thing to do after a thoughtful kneeful study of the case as put by john. we _may believe_ clear into and through intellect and emotions and will, right down into the depths of heart and love, clear out into every action of the life. and john sweeps in the whole crowd of the world in the way he puts it here. listen: "that you may believe that jesus is _the christ_." that was for the jew peculiarly in the first instance. the jew had been taught through generations that there was one coming who was god's chosen one for the hebrew nation. he was the _anointed one_. the hebrew said _messiah_. the greek said _christ_. both mean the same, the one chosen of god, anointed by him as the king and leader of his chosen people, and through them of all the race. listen further: "that jesus is _the son of god." that_ is for all of us, jew and foreigner, insider and outsider. this jesus is in a distinctive sense _the_ son of god, the only begotten son. this pure loving pleading wooing suffering dying rising-again jesus, this is the only begotten son of the father. all there is in a father comes to, and is in, an only begotten son. this is god himself coming to us in his son. once let this sift into thought and heart, then who would _not_ believe, _and_ trust, _and_ love, _and_ fall on his face in the utter devotion of a voluntary slave before such a god! and so believing, trusting, loving, touching, his life flows in and fills up and floods out. we have it _now_. that word _eternal_, used so often by john with the word _life_, is not a mere _length_ word. it is not a calendar word. it tells the sort of life, the quality of life, that comes in through the opening door of our believing. this is john's back-door key, but it lets you clear in through the whole house. then there is _the side-door key_. it hangs at the side, a bit towards the back. it is in the thursday night talk, as we commonly call it, that last heart-talk with the inner group on the betrayal night. it is in chapter sixteen, verse twenty-eight: "_i came out from the father, and am come into the world: again, i leave the world, and go unto the father_." run through this gospel with that fresh in your mind, and it is perfectly fascinating to find how much like a magnet it is, picking out to itself so many bits from the master's lips that fit exactly into it. jesus' constant thought was that he used to be with the father; he came down on an errand to the earth. by and by when the errand was done he would go back home again. this sentence becomes a simple, exact, comprehensive outline of the entire gospel. notice: "_i came out from the father_": that is chapter one, verses one to eighteen. there jesus is seen coming down from his father's own presence. then chapter one, verse nineteen through to the close of the twelfth chapter is fully described and covered by the next clause, "_and am come into the world_." here he is seen in the world, in the midst of its crowds and contentions and oppositions. "_again, i leave the world_,"--chapters thirteen to nineteen. in chapters thirteen to seventeen he is tenderly leaving the inner circle. in chapters eighteen and nineteen he is going out of the world by the terrible doorway of the cross it had carpentered for him. how quietly he says the words, though the terrible going is yet to come, and is now so near that he can already feel the shame and the thorns and the nails. and as quietly he looks beyond and adds, "_and go unto the father_." in chapters twenty and twenty-one he lingers a little for the sake of these being left behind, but his face is already turned homeward. they would hold him in their midst. he quietly tells them that he is going back home to the father to get things ready for them, as he had said. he comes to his own. _the front-door key_ hangs right at the very front, outside, low down, where even a child's hand can reach it. it is in chapter one, verses eleven and twelve: "_he came unto his own, and they that were his own received him not. but as many as received him to them gave he the right to become children of god, even to them who believe on his name_." this is the great key, the chief key to this whole house. it flings the front door wide open and you are inside at once, and take in the whole of the house at a glance, one glance, one wonderful glance. the first twelve chapters tell of jesus coming to his own, his own nation, humanly, racially, his own chosen people. he is coming steadily and persistently, in spite of rebuffs; coming patiently, tenderly, earnestly; coming ever closer in the ever increasing measure of divine power seen in his actions. and continually, persistently, he is being rejected and accepted. he is rejected silently and contemptuously, then aggressively and bitterly, viciously and murderously. "his own received him not." but many received him, eagerly and warmly and thoughtfully. they received him with a growing depth of conviction and deepening tenderness of love. and as they come, he is ever receiving them, giving them that touch of new life that marks only the children of god. in chapters thirteen to seventeen he is receiving into closer fellowship those who have received him, and at the same time wooing them into yet closer touch. the story of the trial and crucifixion in chapters eighteen and nineteen, puts the most terrific emphasis on the words, "_received him not_." they not only keep him out of his own possessions, but do their worst in putting him out of life. and the little book closes in its last two chapters with his receivers being received into the sweetest intimacies of tested triumphant love and into the inner secrets of rarest resurrection power. this is the most heart-breaking of all of john's heart-breaking sentences. john had a hard time writing this gospel of his. he was not simply writing a book; that might have been fairly easy. but he was telling about a friend of his, _the_ friend of his life, his one dearest friend. and when he remembers how they treated him his eyes fill up, and his heart beats till it thumps, and his quill sticks into the paper in sheer reluctance to tell the story. i think likely in the original manuscript, john's own first copy, the writing was a bit shaky and uneven here. the dew of his wet eyes drops and blurs the words a bit as he puts down, "he came to his own, and . . they who were his own . . _received . . him . . not_." one day a young student was crossing the quadrangles of one of the old scottish universities towards his quarters in the dormitory. he was not feeling well. his eyes had troubled him and made his work very difficult. on the advice of a friend he sought the judgment of an expert in the treatment of the eyes. the specialist made a very thorough examination and then informed the young student tactfully but plainly that he would lose his eyesight, surely and not slowly. lose his eyesight? a sudden terrific actual blow between his eyes could not have stunned his body more than this stunned brain and heart. lose his eyesight! all his plans and coveted ambitions seemed slipping clean out from his grasp. with the loss of eyes would go the loss of university training, and so of all his dreams. dazed, blinded, he groped his way rather than walked out of the physician's office. his life was to be joined with another's. and now he turned his distracted steps towards her home, hungry doubtless for some word or touch of comfort for his sore heart. and he was thinking, too, that with this utter break-up of the future she must be told. and as he talked he said in quiet manly words that under these unexpected circumstances, and the radical change in his prospects, she must be free to do as she thought best. and she took her freedom! yet she was a woman. and a woman's mission is to teach man love by the real thing of love, by being it herself, and drawing it out into full flower in him. that was the second staggering blow. a second time he groped his dazed way out of the house, down the street, into his lone student quarters. but another one was near, brooding over him, and tenderly holding his breaking heart, and speaking words of warm comfort, and breathing in the freshing breath of true love. and as he yielded to this it overcame all else. a new mood came and dominated. and it became the fixed thing mastering all his life. now he sits down, and out of his torn bleeding but newly-touched heart writes the words we have all learned to sing: "o love that will _not_ let me go, i rest my weary soul in thee, i give thee back the life i owe, that in thine ocean depths its flow may richer, fuller be. "o light that followest all my way, i yield my flickering torch to thee; my heart restores its borrowed ray that in thy sunshine's glow its day may brighter, fairer be. "o joy that seekest me through pain, i cannot close my heart to thee; i trace the rainbow through the rain, and feel the promise is not vain that morn shall tearless be. "o cross that liftest up my head, i dare not ask to hide from thee; i lay in dust life's glory dead, and from the ground there blossoms red life that shall endless be." and with but a single change, the change of a word or two in one line, they stand as at first written. i suppose his biographer omitted the incident for the same reason that the first three gospels may have omitted the incident of lazarus while he was still living. so there was a sheltering from personal embarrassment. he came to his own and his own received him not. _he_--jesus came to _his_ own and they that were his own received him not. aye, there's more to add: he _comes_ to his own--you and me--to-day. and his own-you and i must finish that sentence, each in his own way. and we will; and we do. we may copy out in our lives just what these men of old did as told by john. some of us do. we _may_ do some fine revision work on the text of john's version as we translate it now into the experience of our own hearts, and into the life of our own lives. that's the only way to understand the next sentence about being taken into the family of god and sharing the fullness of life that is common there. and this bit that is put down here is only a bit of copy work. _these things_ are talked and written only that we may be given a lift into closer touch of heart and life with the christ, the son of god, and the brother and saviour of men. ii the wooing lover _who it was that came_ "but with unhurrying chase, and unperturbed pace, deliberate speed, majestic instancy, they beat--and a voice beat more instant than the feet- _'all things betray thee, who betrayest me'_" --"_the hound of heaven._" "behold, i stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, i will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." --_rev. iii. 20._ ii the wooing lover (john i. 1-18.) in his own image. love gives. it gives freely and without stint, yet always thoughtfully. it gives itself out, its very life. this is its life, to give its life. it lives most by giving most. so it comes into fullness of life. so it _gets_. a thing of life, in its own image, comes walking eagerly with outstretched arms to its embrace. it gives that it may get. yet the giving is the greater. it brings most joy. this is the very essence of life, this giving creating spirit. it is everywhere, in lower life and higher and highest, wherever the touch of god has come. the sun gives itself out in life and light and warmth. and out to greet it comes a bit of itself--the fine form and sweet fragrance of the rose, the tender blade of grass, the unfolding green of the leaf, the wealth of the soil, the song of the bird and the grateful answer of all nature. the hen sits long patient days on her nest. and forth comes cheeping life in her own image, answering the call of her mothering spirit. the mother-bird in the nest in the crotch of the tree gives her life day by day in brooding love. and her wee nestling offspring, in her own image, answers with glad increase of strength and growth. father and mother of our human kind give of their very life that new life may come. and under the overshadowing touch of an unseen presence comes a new life made in their image, and in his who broods unseen over all three. and over the life wrecked by sin broods the spirit of god. and out through the doorway of an opening will, comes a new creature of winsome life in the very image of that brooding spirit of god. this is the holy commonplace of all life. it is the touch of god. it is everywhere about us, and beneath and above. the father-mother spirit of god broods over all our common life. and when things go wrong, he broods a bit closer and tenderer. he meets every need of the life he has created. and he meets it in the same way, by giving himself. and there's always the response. the fragrance of the rose answers the sun. the pipped shell brings the longed-for answer to the gladdened mother-bird. the ever wondrous babe-eyes give unspeakable answer to the yearning of father and mother heart. the heart of man leaps at the call of his god. this makes quite clear the wondrous response men gave jesus when he walked among us. jesus was god coming a bit closer in his brooding love to mend a break and restore a blurred image. and men answered him. they couldn't help it. how they came! they didn't understand him, but they felt him. they couldn't resist the tender, tremendous pull upon their hearts of his mere presence. and jesus drew man into the closest touch of intimate friendship. the long-range way of doing things never suited him. and it doesn't. he didn't keep man at arm's length. and he doesn't. and then because they were friends, he and they, they were eager to serve, and willing even to suffer, to walk a red-marked roadway for him they loved. the gospel according to--you. among all those who felt and answered the call of jesus was one called john, john the disciple. jesus drew john close. john came close. john lived close. john came early and he stayed late. he stayed to the very end, into the evening glow of life. and all his long life he was under the tender holy spell of jesus' presence. he was swayed by the jesus-passion. always burning, he was yet never consumed; only the alloy burned up and burned out, himself refined to the quality of life called eternal. then john came to the end of his long life. and he knew he would be slipping the tether of life and going out and up and in to the real thing of life. and i think john was a bit troubled. not because he was going to die. this never troubles the man who knows jesus. the jesus-touch overcomes the natural twinges of death. but he was troubled a bit in spirit for a little by the thought that he would not be on earth any longer to talk to people about jesus. and to john this was the one thing worth while. this was the life-passion. and so i think john prayed about it a bit. for this is what he did. he said to himself, "i will write a book. i'll make it a little book, so busy people can quickly read it. i'll pick out the simplest words i know so common folks everywhere that don't have dictionaries can easily understand. and i'll make them into the shortest simplest sentences i can so they can quickly get my story of jesus." and so john wrote his little book. and we call it the story of jesus according to john, or, as we commonly say the gospel--the god-story--according to john. and all this is a simple bit of a parable. it is a parable in action. jesus is brooding over us, giving himself, warmly wooing us. he woos us into personal friendship with himself. and then he asks that each of us shall write a gospel. this is the gospel according to john; and these others according to luke and mark and matthew. he means that there shall be the gospel according to--_you_. what is your name? put it in there. then you get the master's plan. there is to be the gospel according to charles and robert and george, and mary and elizabeth and margaret. and you say, "write a gospel? i couldn't do that. you don't mean that. that's just a bit of preaching." no, it isn't preaching. it's so. i do not mean to write with a common pen of steel or gold; nor on just common paper of rags or wood-pulp. but i do mean--_he_ means--that you shall write with the pen of your daily life. and that you shall write on the paper of the lives of those you're touching and living with every day. clearly, he meant, and he means, that you and i shall live such simple unselfish lovable jesus-touched lives, in just the daily commonplace round of life, that those we live with shall know the whole story of jesus' love and life; his love burned out for us till there were no ashes, and his life poured out for us till not a red drop was left unspilled. are _you_ writing _your_ gospel? is your life spelling out this simple wondrous god-story? i can find out, though, of course, i shall not. what i mean is this,--_the crowd knows._ the folks that touch you every day, they know. this old bible was never printed so much as to-day, nor issued more numerously. and--thoughtfully--it was never read _less_ by the common crowd on the common street of life than to-day. that doesn't mean that the crowd doesn't read what it supposes to be religious literature. it does. i wish we church folk read our religious literature as faithfully as this crowd i speak of reads its. it is reading _the gospel according to you,_ and reading it daily, and closely, and faithfully, and remembering what it reads, and being shaped by it. this bible i have here is bound in--i think it is called sealskin. i tried to get the best wearing binding i could. but i've discovered that there's a better binding than this. the best binding for the gospel is shoe-leather. the old gospel of the son of god is at its best as it is being tramped out on the common street of life. its truths stand out clearest as they're walked out. its love comes warmest, its power is most resistless as it comes to you in the common give-and-take of daily touch in home and shop and street. are you writing your copy of the gospel? you know that sometimes scholars have found some precious manuscripts in old monasteries. they have gone into some old, grey, stone monkery in the near east, and they have run across old manuscripts hidden away in some dark cell, covered with dust and with rubbish, perhaps. with much tact and diplomacy they have at length managed to get possession of the coveted manuscript. and they have been fairly delighted to find that they have gotten hold of a remnant, a very precious remnant, of one of these gospels. in just this way much invaluable light has been gotten that made possible these precious revised versions. i wonder if _your_ gospel--the one you're writing with your life--is _just a remnant,_ a ragged remnant. and perhaps there's a good bit of dusting necessary, and removing of rubbish, to get even at what there is there. and some of the shy hungry hearts that touch you and me need to use quite a bit of unconscious diplomacy perhaps to get even as much as they do. i wonder. the crowd knows. it could throw a good bit of light here. how much of this old jesus-story _are_ you really _living!_ of course, there's a special touch of inspiration in these four gospels. the holy spirit brooded over these men in a special way as they wrote. that is true. these are the standard gospels. we would never know the blessed story but for these four spirit-breathed little books. but it is also true that that same holy spirit will guide you in the writing of your version of the gospel. these four gospels are different from each other. the colouring of luke's warm personality, and of his physician habit of thought is in his gospel very plainly. and so it is with each one of these gospels. and, even so, there will be the colouring of your personality, your habit of thought, the distinct tinge of the experience you have been through, in the gospel you write with the pen of your life, and bind up in the shoe-leather of your daily round. but through all of this there will be the simple, subtle, but very real, atmosphere of the holy spirit, helping you make the story plain and full, and helping people to understand that story as it is _lived_, as they never can simply by hearing it told with tongues or read through eyes. are you writing your gospel? is your daily life spelling out the life and love of jesus, that life that was poured out till none was left, that love that was burned out till even the ashes were burned up, too? this is the master's plan. and practically it is the crowd's only chance. god in human garb. now i want to have you turn with me to the opening lines of john's gospel. there are not many of these opening lines. the whole story is a short one. these lines at the beginning are like an etching, there are the fewest touches of pen on paper, of black ink on white surface. but the few lines are put in so simply and skilfully that they make an exquisite picture. it's the picture of _god coming in human garb as a wooing lover._ i think it might be best perhaps if i might simply give you _a sort of free reading_ of these opening lines, with a word of comment or illustration to try to make the meaning simpler. it will be a putting of john's words into the simple every-day colloquial speech that we english-speaking people use. john used very simple language in his own telling of the story in his mother-tongue. and it may help if we try to do the same. you will quickly see how very simple this free translation will be. yet, let me say, that though homely and simple it will be strictly accurate to what john is thinking and saying in his own native speech. i mean of course, so far as i can find out just what he is thinking and saying. let us turn then to john's gospel, at its beginning. and it will help very much if we keep our bibles open as we talk and read together. listen: _in the beginning there was a wondrous one_. he was the mind of god thinking out to man. he was the heart of god throbbing love out to man's heart. he was the face of god looking into man's face. he was the voice of god, soft and low, clear and distinct, speaking into man's ears. he was the hand of god, strong and tender, reaching down to take man by the hand and lead him back to the old trysting-place under the tree of life, down by the river of water of life. he was the person of god wearing a human coat and human shoes, hand-pegged, walking in freely amongst us that we might get our tangled up ideas about god and ourselves and about life untangled, straightened out. he was god himself wrapped up in human form coming close that we might get acquainted with him all over again. this is part of the meaning of the little five-lettered word in his own tongue that john chooses and uses, at the first here, as a new name for him who was commonly called jesus. it was because of our ears that he used the new word. if he had said "jesus" at once, they would have said "oh! yes, we know about him." and at once their ears would have gone shut to the thing that john is saying. for they didn't know. and we don't. we know _words_. the thing, the real thing, we know so little. so john uses a new word at the first, and so floods in new light. and then we come to see whom he is talking about. it's a bit of the diplomacy of god so as to get in through dulled ears and truth-hardened minds down in to the heart. nature always seems eager to meet a defect. it seems to hurry eagerly forward to overcome defects and difficulties. the blind man has more acute hearing and a more delicate sense of feel. the deaf man's eyes grow quicker to watch faces and movements and so learn what his ears fail to tell him. the lame man leans more on other muscles, and they answer with greater strength to meet the defect of the weaker muscles. the bat has shunned the light so long through so many bat-generations that it has become blind, but it has remarkable ears, and nature has grown for it an abnormal sense of touch, and a peculiar sensitiveness even where there is no contact, so that it avoids obstacles in flying with a skill that seems uncanny, incredulous. i remember in cincinnati one night, sitting on the platform of a public meeting by the side of a widely known christian worker and speaker who was blind. as various men spoke he quietly made brief comments to me,--" _he_ doesn't strike fire." and then, "_he_ doesn't touch them." and then, "ah! _he's_ got them; that's it; now they're burning." and it was exactly so as he said. i sat fascinated as i watched the crowd and heard his comments. the sense of discerning what was going on in another way than by sight had been grown in him by the very necessity of his blindness. defect in one sense was overcome by nature, by increase in another sense. when queen victoria was in residence in scotland at balmoral it was her kindly custom to present the various clergymen who preached in the castle chapel with a photograph marked with her autograph. when george matheson, the famous blind preacher, came she showed the fine thoughtful tact for which she was famous. clearly an autographed photograph would not mean much in itself to a blind man. so the queen had a miniature bust-statue made and presented to him as her acknowledgment of his service. and so where his eyes failed to let him see, his sense of touch would carry to his mind and heart the fine features of the gracious sovereign he was so glad to serve. jesus was god coming in such a way that we could know him _by the feel_. we had gone blind to his face. we couldn't read his signature plainly autographed by his own hand on the blue above and the brown below. but when jesus came _men knew god by the feel_. they didn't understand jesus. but the sore hungry crowds reached out groping trembling fingers, and they knew him. they began to get acquainted with their gracious sovereign. all this gives the simple clue to this word "_word_" which john uses as a new name for jesus. man had grown deaf to the music of god's voice, blind to the beauty of his face, slow-hearted to the pleading of his presence. his hand was touching us but we didn't feel it. so he came in a new way, in a very homely close-up way and walked down our street into our own doors that we might be caught by the beauty of his face, and thrilled by the music of his voice, and thralled by the spell of his presence. god at his best. john goes on: _and this wondrous one was with god_. there were two of them. and the two were together. they were companions, they were friends, fellows together. _and this one was god_. each was the same as the other. _this is the same one who was in the later creative beginning with god. it was through this one that all things were made. and, of all things that have been made, not any thing was made without him_. you remember that john's gospel and genesis begin in the same way,--"in the beginning." but john's "in the beginning," the first one, is not the same as the genesis "in the beginning." john's is the beginning before there was any beginning. it is the beginning before they had begun making calendars on the earth, because there wasn't any earth yet to make calendars on. then this second time the phrase is used john comes to the later creative beginning with which genesis opens. this is what john is saying here. "_in him was life_." out of him came life. out of him comes life. there was no life, there is none, except what was in this one, and what came, and comes out from him all the time. how patient god is! there walks a man down the street. he leaves god out of his life. he may remember him so far as to use his name blasphemously to punctuate and emphasize what he is saying. yonder walks a woman in the shadow of the street at night. and her whole life is spent walking in the dark shadow of the street of life. and her whole life is a blasphemy against her personality, and against the god who gave her that precious sacred personality. take these two as extreme illustrations. there is life there; life of the body, of the mind, life of the human spirit. listen softly, all the life there is there, is coming out all the time from this one of whom john is talking. it is not given once as a thing to be taken and stored. it is _being_ given. it is coming constantly with each breath, from this wondrous one. this is what john is saying here. how _patient_ god is! only we don't know what patience is. we know the word, the label put on the outside. we don't know the thing, except sometimes in very smallest part. for patience is love at its best. patience is god at his strongest and tenderest and best. i think likely when we get up yonder, we'll stop one another on the golden streets. there'll be a hand put out, gripping the other hard. and we'll look into each other's eyes with our eyes big. and we'll say with breaking voices, "how _patient_ god was with us down there on the earth, down there in london and new york." in him was life. out of his hand and heart is coming to us all the time all we are and all we have. we may leave god practically out. so many of us do. but he never leaves us out. the creating, sustaining touch of his hand is ever upon each of us, upon all the world. though he cannot do all for us he would except as we gladly come and let him. what he is giving us is so _much_. it's our _all_. yet it is the smaller part. there's the fuller part. this is the whole drive of john's story, this fuller part. out of him jesus, into us will come the newer, the better, the abundant quality of life, if he may have his way. and john adds,--"_and the life was the light of men."_ he was what we _have_. he gives himself; not things, but a person. with god everything is _personal_. we men go to the impersonal so much, or we try to. we do our best at it. we have a great genius for organization, especially in this western half of the earth. as i came back from a four years' absence from my own country, i was instantly conscious of a change. either my ears were changed or things about me were. i think likely both. but the wheels were going faster than ever. there were more wheels, and their whir seemed never out of ear-shot. commercial wheels, and educational, philanthropic and religious, political and humanitarian, thicker and faster than ever, driving all day, and with almost no night there. and the whole attempt is to make the machine do the thing with as little dependence as possible on the human element, even though the human element was never emphasized more. contradictory? yet there it is. we men go to the _im_personal. yet deep down in our hearts we hunger for the human touch, the warm personal touch. this after all is _the_ thing. we all feel that. yet the whole crowding of life's action is to crowd it out. but with god everything is personal. the life is the light of men. what he is in himself--that is what he gives. and this is all the light and life we ever have. men make botany. god makes flowers breathing their freshening fragrance noiselessly up into your face. man makes astronomy. god makes the stars, shaking their firelight out of the blue down into your wondering eyes on a clear moonless night. man makes theology. and theology has its place, when it's kept in its place. _god gives us jesus_. i don't know much about botany. my knowledge of astronomy is very limited. and the more i read of theology, whether western or eastern, latin church or greek, the first seven councils or the later ones, the more i stand perplexed. it's a thing fearsomely and wonderfully manufactured, this theology. but i frankly confess to a great fondness for flowers, and for stars, and a love for jesus that deepens ever more in reverential awe and in tenderness and grateful devotion. the life was the light of men. he himself is all that we have. we go to _things_. we reckon worth and wealth by things. he gives _himself_. and he asks, not _things_, but one's self. packing most in least. and john goes quietly on with his great simple story: "_and the light shineth in the darkness_," john has a way of packing much in little. here he packs four thousand years into three english letters. for he has been back in that creative genesis week. and now with one long stride he puts his foot down in the days when jesus walks among us as a man. forty centuries, by the common reckoning, packed into three letters e-t-h. rather a skilful bit of packing that. yet it is not unusual. it is characteristic both of john and of the one that guides john's pen. when he is allowed to have free sway the holy spirit packs much in little. that rugged old hebrew prophet of fire and storm, elijah, standing in the grey dawn, in the mouth of an arabian cave, had the whole of a new god--a god of tender gentle love--packed into an exquisite sound of gentle stillness, that smote so subtly on his ear, and completely melted and changed this man of rock and thunder. it's a new man that turns his face north again. the new god that had compacted himself anew inside the ruggedly faithful old man is revealed in the prophet's successor. this is the new spirit, so unlike the old elijah, that comes as a birth-right heritage upon young elisha. great packing work that. that fine-grained young university fellow on the damascus road, driving hard in pursuit of his earnest purpose, had the whole of a god, a new god to him, packed into a single flash of blinding light out of the upper blue. he had the whole of a new plan, an utterly changed plan for his life, packed into a single sentence spoken into his amazed ears as he lies in the dust. and if this holy spirit may have his way--a big if? yes: yet not too big to be gotten rid of at once: god puts in the if's, that we may get the strength of choosing. we put them out, _if_ we do. _if_ he may have his way he'll pack--listen quietly, with your heart--he'll pack _the whole of a jesus_ inside you and me. much in little! most in least! and the more we let him in, the bigger that "most" prints itself to our eyes, and the more that "least" dwindles down to the disappearing point. god gives us his own self in jesus. jesus comes to live inside of us. he doesn't give us things, but himself. we talk about salvation. there's something better--_a saviour_. we talk about help in trouble. there's something immensely more--_a friend_, alongside, close up. we talk about healing--sometimes, not so much these days; the subject is so much confused. there's something much better--a _healer_, living within, whose presence means healing and health for body and spirit. then john says, "the light shineth _in the darkness_." this is god's way of treating darkness. there are two ways of treating darkness, man's and god's. man's way is to attack the darkness. suppose this hall where we are were quite dark, all shuttered up, and suppose we were new on the earth, and not familiar with darkness. we want to hold a meeting. but how shall we get rid of this strange darkness that has come down over everything? let's each of us get a bucket or pail or basin, and take some of the darkness out. so we'll get rid of it, and its inconvenience. and if the suggestion were made seriously there might be talk of putting the suggestor in a certain sort of institution for the safety of the community. yet this is the way we go at the other darkness, the worse moral darkness. _god's way_ is quite different; indeed just the exact reverse _let the light shine._ the darkness can't stand the light. if the hall _were_ quite dark, and i scratched only a parlour-match, instantly as the little flame broke out of the end of the stick some of the darkness would go. it's surprising how much would go, and how quickly. the darkness can't stand the light. it flees like a hunted hare before a pack of hounds. there may be times when action must betaken by a community against certain forms of evil, so damnable, and so strongly entrenched, and so threatening to the purity of home and young and of all. but note keenly that this is _incidental_. it is immensely important at times, but it is distinctly _secondary._ the great simple plan of god is this: _let the light shine_. the darkness flees like a whipped cur, tail tightly curled down and in, before the real thing of light. let me ask you a question. come up a bit closer and listen quietly, for this is tremendously serious. and it's the quietest spoken word that reaches the inner cockles of the heart. listen: is it a bit dark down where you live? morally dark? spiritually? how about that? in commercial circles and social and fraternal, in church and home and city and neighbourhood. is it a bit dark? or, have i found the garden of eden at last before the serpent entered? because if it be a bit dark, softly, please, let me say it very quietly, for it may sound critical, and i would not have that for anything. we are talking only to help. though sometimes the truth itself does have a merciless edge. if it be a bit dark does it not suggest that _the light has not been shining as it was meant to_? for where the light shines the darkness goes. for, you see, this is still god's plan for treating darkness. it is meant to be true to-day of each of us,--"_the light shineth in the darkness_." of course, _we_ are not the light. he is the light. but we are the light-holders. i carry the light of the world around inside of me. and so do you, _if you do_. it is not because of the "me," of course, but because of the great patience and faithfulness of him who is the light. a very rickety cheap lantern may carry a clear light, and the man in the ditch find good footing in the road again. you and i are meant to be the human lanterns carrying the light, and letting it shine clearly fully out. and you know when some one else is providing the light the chief thing about the lantern is that the glass of the lantern be kept dean and clear so the light within can get freely out. the great thing is that _we shall live clean transparent lives_ so the light within may shine clearly out. we may live unselfish clean christly lives, by his great grace. and through that kind of lives, the light itself shines out, and shines out most, and most clearly. over at the mouth of the hudson, where i call it home, there are some strange things seen. sometimes the glass of this human lantern gets smoky, badly smoked. and sometimes it even gets cobwebby, rather thickly covered up. and even this has been known to happen up there,--it'll seem very strange to you people doubtless--_this_; they write finely phrased essays on the delicate shading of grey in the smoke on the glass of the human lantern. they meet together and listen to essays, in rarely polished english, on the exquisite lace-like tracery of the cobwebs on the glass of the human lantern. but look! hold your heart still and look! there's the crowd in the road in the dark, struggling, jostling, stumbling, and falling into the ditch at the side of the road, ditched and badly mired, because the light hasn't gotten to them. the light's there. it's burning itself out in passionate eagerness to help. but the human lanterns are in bad shape. "rhetoric!" do you say? i wish it were. i wish with my heart it were. look at the crowds for yourself. there they go down the street, pell-mell, bewildered, blinded, some of them by will-o'-the-wisp lights, ditched and mired many of them. the thing is only too terribly true. our lord's great plan, bearing the stamp of its divinity in its sheer human simplicity, is this: we who know jesus are to _live him_. we're to let _the whole of a jesus_, crucified, risen, living, shine out of _the whole of our lives_. is it a bit dark down where you are? _let the light shine_. let the clear sweet steady jesus-light shine out through your true clean quiet jesus-swayed and jesus-controlled life. then the darkness must go. it can't stand the light. it can't withstand the purity and insistence of its clear steady shining. and the darkness _will_ go: slowly, reluctantly, angrily, doggedly, making hideous growling noises sometimes, raising the dust sometimes, but it will go. it must go before the light. the light's resistless. this is our lord's wondrous plan _through_ his own, and his irresistible plan _for_ the crowd, and his plan against the prince of darkness. the heart-road to the head. then john goes on to say, "_the darkness apprehended it not_." the old common version says "comprehended"; the revisions, both english and american, say "apprehended." both are rather large words, larger in english than john would use. john loved to use simple talk. yet there's help even in these english words. comprehend is a mental word. it means to take hold of with your mind; to understand. apprehend is a physical word. it means to take hold of with your hand. you can't _comprehend_ jesus. that is just the simple plain fact. you may have a fine mind. it may be well schooled and trained. you may have dug into all the books on the subject, english and german and the few french. you may have spent a lifetime at it. but at the end there is immensely more of jesus that you don't understand than the part that you do understand. you've touched the smaller part only, just the edges. you cannot take jesus in with your mind simply. the one is too big and the other too limited for that particular process. but, listen with your heart, you can _apprehend_ him. you can _take hold_ of him. there isn't one of us here, however poorly equipped mentally and in training, and too busy with life's common duties to get much time for reading, not one of us, who may not reach out your hand, the hand of your heart, the hand of your life, the hand of your simple childlike trust--if you're great enough in simplicity to be childlike, to be natural, not one of us, but may reach out the hand and _take in all there is of jesus_. and the striking thing to mark is this, that we don't really begin to comprehend until we apprehend. only as we take him into heart and life _can_ we really understand. it's as if the heat in the heart made by his presence there loosens up the grey juices of your brain, and it begins to work freely and clearly. of course, this is a commonplace in the educational world. it is well understood there that no student does his best work, no matter what that work may be, in science or philosophy or in mathematics or in laboratorial research, his mind cannot do its best, or be at its best, until his heart has been kindled by some noble passion. the key to the life is in the heart, that is the emotions and purposes tied together. the approach to the mind is through the heart. the fire of pure emotion and of noble purpose burning together, works out _through_ the mind _into_ the life. this is nature's order. but what john is saying here, put into as simple language as he would use, is this: "_the darkness wouldn't let the light in, and couldn't shut it out, and couldn't dull the brightness of its shining_." it tried. it tried first at bethlehem. the first spilling of blood came there. there was the shedding of blood at both ends of jesus' career, and innocent blood each time. it tried at the nazareth precipice, and in the spirit-racking wilderness. it tried by stones, then in gethsemane, then at calvary. and there it seemed to have succeeded. at last the light was shut in and down; the door was shut and barred and bolted. and i suppose there was great glee in the headquarters of darkness. but the third morning came. and the bars of darkness were broken, as a woman breaks the sewing-cotton at the end of the seam. the light could not be held down by darkness. it broke out more brightly than ever. the darkness couldn't shut the light out. and it can't. _let the light shine._ let it shine out through the clear clean glass of an unselfish, jesus-cleansed jesus-fired life lived for him in the commonplace round, and the shut-away corner. _and the darkness will go_. the darkness cannot shut out the light, nor keep it down, nor resist the gentle resistless power of its soft clear flooding. let the light shine down in that corner where you are. and the darkness, darkness that can be felt, and _is_ felt so sorely deep down in your spirit, in its uncanny egyptian blackness, that darkness will break, and more, clear, and go, go, go, till it's clear gone. and so ends john's first great paragraph. it is so tremendous in its simplicity that, greek-like, men stumble over its simple tremendousness. away back in the beginning god revealed himself in making a home for man, and in bringing the man, made in his own image, to his home. and then when the damp unwholesome darkness came stealing in swamping the home and man he came himself, flooding in the soft clear pure light of his presence, to free man from the darkness and woo him out into the light. tarshish or nineveh? then john goes on into his second paragraph. "_there came a man, sent from god, whose name was john_." why? because man was in the dark. he sent a man to help a man. he used a man to reach a man. he always does. run clear through this old book of god, and then clear through that other book of god--the book of life, and note that this is god's habit. he, himself, uses the path he had made for human feet. with greatest reverence let it be said that god _must_ use a human pathway for his feet. even when he would redeem a world he came, he must needs come, as a man, one of ourselves. he touches men through men. the pathway of his helping feet is always a common human pathway. and, will you mark keenly that _the highest level any life ever reaches_, or _can_ reach, is this: _to be a pathway for the feet of a wooing winning god_. and this is still true. it is meant to be true to-day that there came a man, sent from god, whose name is--_your name_. you put in your own name in that sentence, then you get god's plan for you. for as surely as this particular john of the desert and of the plain living, and the burning speech, was sent by god, so surely is every man of us a man sent by god on some particular errand. and the greatest achievement of life is to find and fit into the plan of god for one's life. this is the only great thing one can do. anything else is merely _labelled_ "great." and that label washes off. this is the one thing worth while. the bother is we don't always get the verbs, the action words, of that sentence straight. john was a man _sent_ from god. and he _came_. all men are sent but they don't all come, some _go_; go their own way. there was a man sent from god whose name was jonah. but he didn't come. he went. he was sent to nineveh on the extreme east. he went towards tarshish on the extreme west; just the opposite direction. every man is headed either for nineveh or tarshish, god's way or his own. which way are you headed? some of us go to tarshish _religiously_. we go our own way, and sing hymns and pray, to make it seem right and keep from hearing the inner voice. we hold meetings at the boat-wharf, while waiting for the tarshish ship to lift anchor. we have services in the steerage and second-class and distribute tracts and new testaments; but all the time we're headed for tarshish; our way, not god's. it won't do simply to do good. we must do god's will. find that and fit into it. the meetings and tracts are only good but they ought to be on the train to nineveh, and in nineveh where god's sent you. are you berthed on the boat for tarshish? or have you a seat engaged on the train for nineveh? going your own way? or god's? john was _sent_ and he _came_. you and i are sent. are we coming or going? coming god's way? or, going our own? living martyrs. this true-hearted burning man of the deserts _came for a witness_. here we strike one of john's great words. you remember the three things that _witness_ means? that you know something; that you tell what you know; and that you tell it most with your life. and telling it _with your life_ means, not only by the way you live, but, too, even though the telling of it _may cost you your life_. it came to mean all of that with this witness. it came to mean that with a new fullness of meaning, a peculiar significance, to _the great witness_, of whom john told. this was the very throbbing heart of the wooing errand. this explains the tenderness and tenacity of the lover in his wooing in the midst of intensest opposition, and in spite of it. the opposition brought about the terrific grouping of circumstances which the great lover-witness used as the tremendous climax of both wooing and witnessing. no one doubts the reality of jesus' witness to the father's love before men. and no one, who has had any touch at all with him, doubts the tremendous pull upon one's heart of such a wooing appeal as that calvary climax of witnessing made, and makes. and this, mark it keenly, is still the plan. "the-same-came-for-witness" is meant to be true of each follower of the christ. this is to be the dominant underchording of all our lives. this is to be the never-absent motive gripping us, and our possessions and our plans. the rest is incidental in a true life. it may be a "rest" that takes most of the waking hours with most of us, most of our strength and thought. but there's an undercurrent in every life. and the undercurrent is the controlling current. it makes us what we really are. it may be quite different from the upper current controlled by the outer necessities of circumstances. and with the true jesus-man _this_ is the undercurrent, this thing of witnessing. do you know something of jesus? do you know the cleansing of his blood? do you know the music of his peace in your heart? do you know a bit of the subtle fragrance of his presence? do you know the power of his name when temptations come, when the road gets slippery, and your feet go out from under you--almost. then his name, its power, and you hold steady. do you know something about such things? then _tell_ it. this is the plan--_telling_. it's a gospel of _telling_. tell it with your lips tactfully, gently, boldly, earnestly. but tell it far more, and most with your life. let what you are, when you're not thinking about this sort of thing, let that tell it. that's the greatest telling, the best. and, softly, now, when you get to the end of telling what you know, listen quietly, don't go to digging into books for something to tell your class or the meeting or the crowd. don't do that. books have their place, good books, but it's always a sharply secondary place, or third, or lower down yet. poor crowd that must be fed on retailed books worked over! don't do that. _know more._ know jesus better. trust him more fully. risk more on following where he clearly leads. then you can tell more and better. sometimes i'm asked, "how can i have more faith?" well, not by thinking about your faith. not by books or definitions chiefly, however they may help some. i can tell you how: _follow where the master's quiet voice is clearly calling._ go where it is plain to you that that pierced hand is leading. "ah! but the way is a bit narrow," you think. "and it's steep. there are sharp-edged stones under foot. and those bushes are growing rank on both sides narrowing the path. and thorns scratch and hurt and sting. this other road where i am now--this is a good christian road. my christian brothers are here. i'd rather stay here." and so you _stay_. you don't _say_ "no" to the calling voice. you simply _act_ "no." no wonder you get confused and tangled. it's only in the path of following clear leading that there comes sweetest peace, with no nagging doubts and mental confusion. there only will you have more faith, know more of him, touch with whom is the realest faith. and so only will the witness be told out to the crowd on the street of your life, of the power and satisfying peace of this jesus. this is the witnessing we're sent to do. and the crowds crowd to listen, when it's given. this is the way _the_ witness did. he followed the clear father-voice, though the road led straight across the regular roads through thorn hedges and thick underbrush. should not the servant tread it still? the word that john uses here underneath our english word _witness_ is the word from which our english word _martyr_ comes. and martyr has come to mean one who gives his life clear out in a violent way for the truth he believes. but, do you know, that is easy. "easy?" you say, "surely not, you're certainly wrong there." no, you are right. it is not easy. to face a storm of lead, or feel the sharp-edged blade, or yield to the eating flame,--that is never easy. but this is what i mean. there's the heroic in it, and that helps. you brace yourself for it. the terrible crisis comes. you pull together and pray and resolutely, desperately, face it. a little while, and it's over. you've been true in the sharp crisis. you have taken a place with the noble army of martyrs. and we who hear of it have a martyr's halo about your head. but there's something immensely harder to do. without making a whit less than it is the splendid courage of martyrdom, there's something that takes immensely more courage, and a deeper longer-seasoned heroism, and that is to be a _living_ martyr, to bear the simple true witness tactfully but clearly, when it takes the very life of your life to do it, though it doesn't take your bodily life in a violent way. you know they don't martyr people these days for their christian faith. at least not in the western half of the earth, the christian hemisphere. no, that's quite behind the calendar. that's rather crude, quite behind the cultured advanced christian progress of _our_ day. our christian civilization has gone long strides beyond that. we have grown much more refined. now we kill them _socially_. many a one who would live true to the jesus-ideals in daily life in a simple sane way finds certain social doors shut and carefully barred. we kill them _commercially_ now. the man who will quietly hew to the jesus-line in business is quite apt to find his income reduced. the bulk of business shrinks. the thermometer is run down below the living point. we kill men by _frost_ now. the blockade system is skilfully used; isolation and insulation from certain circles. we are much more refined. the great need to-day is of _living_ witnesses to the christ in home, and social circle, in the street, and in the market-place. "so he died for his faith; that is fine, more than the most of us do. but stay, can yon add to that line that he _lived_ for it, too? "it's easy to die. men have died for a wish or a whim- from bravado or passion or pride. was it hard for him? "but to live: every day to live out all the truth that he dreamt, while his friends met his conduct with doubt, and the world with contempt. "was it thus that he plodded ahead, never turning aside? then we'll talk of the life that he led" even more than the death that he died. the forgotten preacher. with a simplicity in sticking to his main point, john goes quietly on: "_that he might be a witness of the light_." that's rather interesting. it was of the _light_ he was to bear witness; not of himself. it was not the technical accuracy of his work, not its scholarliness and skill that absorbed him, but that the _crowd got the light_. rather striking that, when you break away from the atmosphere round about, and think into it a bit. here's a man walking down a country road. it's a hot day. the road's dusty. he gets a bit weary and thirsty. he comes across a bit of a spring by the side of the road. clear cool water it is. and some one has thoughtfully left a tin-cup on a ledge of rock near by. and the man gratefully drinks and goes on his way refreshed. he quite forgets the tin-cup. sometimes the tin-cup seems to require much attention, up in the corner of the world where my tent is pitched. it has to be handled very carefully and considerately if one is to get what possible drops of water it may contain. the human tin-cup seems to bulk very big in the drinking process, sometimes, in my corner of the planet. it is silver-plated sometimes; just common tin under the plating. there's some fine engraving on the silver-plating, noble sentiment, deftly expressed, and done in the engraver's best style. but the water is apt to be scanty, the drops rather few, in this sort of tin-cup. it's a bit droughty. and sometimes even this has been known to occur: they have associations of these human tin-cups for self-admiration and other cultural purposes. and they have highly satisfactory meetings. but meanwhile, ah! look! hold still your heart, and look here. there's the crowd on the street, hot dusty street, exhausted, actually fainting for want of water, just good plain water of life. but there's none to be had; only tin-cups! john was eager to have men get a good drink. he was content as he watched them drink, and their eyes lighten. he was discontent and restless with anything else or less. do you remember the greatest compliment ever paid john, john the herald? john was a great preacher. he had great drawing power. to-day we commonly go where people are hoping they'll stay while we talk to them. but john did otherwise. he went down to the jordan bottoms, where the spirit ventilation was better, and called the people to him. and they came. they came from all over the nation, of every class. literally thousands gathered to hear john. he had great drawing power. and then something happened. here is john to-day talking earnestly to great crowds down by the river-road. and here he is again to-morrow; but where are the crowds? john has lost his crowd. same pulpit out in the open air, same preacher, same simple intense message burning in his heart, but--no congregation! the crowd's gone. poor john! you must feel pretty bad. it's hard enough to fail, but how much harder after succeeding. poor john, i'm so sorry for you. but if you get close enough to john to see into his eye you quit talking like that. and if you get near enough to hear you find your sympathy is not needed. for john's eye is ablaze with a tender light, and the sound of an inner heart music reaches your ear as you get near him. and if you follow, as you instinctively do, the line of the light in his eye you quickly look down the road. oh! there's john's crowd. _they're listening to jesus._john's crowd has left him for his master. and the forgotten preacher is the finest evidence of the faithfulness of the preacher. the crowd's getting the water, sweet cool refreshing water of life, direct from the fountain. they've clean forgotten the faithful common tin-cup. and john's so glad. john came that he might bear witness of _the light_. and he did. and the crowd heard. and they flocked to the light. here's a man preaching. and the people are listening. the benediction is pronounced. and they go out. and as they move slowly out they're talking, always talking. we don't seem yet to have demitted our privilege of talking after service. here are two. listen to them. "isn't he a great preacher? so scholarly, so eloquent, so polished; and all those classical allusions. i didn't understand half he said; he certainly is a great preacher. we're very fortunate in such a man." and the preacher, whoever he be, may know this for a bit of the certainty that occasionally _will_ sift in. he may be a scholar. i wouldn't question it. and a polished orator. i wouldn't question that. but in the main thing, the one thing he's for, as a _jesus-witness_, he is a splendid scholarly polished failure. men are talking about _him_. they've forgotten his master, if indeed--ah, yes, if indeed he _have_ a master! he has a _saviour_, let us earnestly hope, and willingly believe. but a _master_! one that sweeps and sways his mind and culture and life like the strong wind sweeps the thin young saplings in the storm--clearly he knows nothing of that. men are talking of _him_. and here's another talking a bit it may be just a simple homely talk. or he may likewise be scholarly and eloquent. a man should bring his best. the old classic is beaten oil for the lamps of the sanctuary. but there's the soft burning fire of the real thing in his message. and the people feel it. the air seems a-thrill with its quiet tensity. and the last amen is said. and again they go out. and here are two walking down the road together, and as they come to the cross-street, one says to his companion, "excuse me, please, i have to go down _this_ way." and the "have-to" is the have-to of an intense desire to get off alone. and as he goes down the side street he's talking, but--to himself. listen to him: "i'm not the man i ought to be, i wonder if jesus is really like he said. i wonder if the thing's really so. i believe--yes, i really think i'll risk it. my life isn't like it should be. i'll risk trying this jesus-way. i'll do it." the man's clean forgotten the speaker. oh, yes, he remembers the tone of the voice, and the look of the face, but indistinctly, far away. he's face-to-face with jesus! and the forgotten speaker is the finest evidence of the faithfulness of his speaking. he is holding up the light. and men run into the light. they've clean forgot the little tin candlestick, they are so taken up with the light it holds. the one thing to aim at. and john keeps driving in on the point in his mind: "_that all might believe through him_"; that they might listen, stop to think, agree as to the thing being believable, then trust it; then trust _him_, the light, risk something, risk, _themselves_ to _him_, then love, love with a passionate devotion. this was john's objective. it was the bull's-eye of his target never out of his keen spirit-opened eye. nothing else figured in. this is _the_ thing in all our living and serving and doing and giving, _that men may know jesus_ to the trusting, risking, loving point, the glad point. everything that we can bring of gold and learning and labour and skill is precious, it is as purest gold, _if_ it lead men into heart-touch with jesus. and it clean misses the mark if it does less. who would be content to give a belgian or polish starveling a bare bit of bread, and a lonely stick of wood, and a rag of cloth. bite and stick and cloth are good, but it's a _meal_ and a _fire_, and some _clothing_, the man wants. and you have both ready at hand. _things_ are good, provided by money and skill and research and painstaking efforts. they _do_ good. but it's jesus men need. it's the warm touch that lets _him_ fully in with all of his human sympathy and all of his god-power, that's what they need. given the sun and quickly come warmth and food and shelter, health and vigour and increase of life. given jesus, and the warm touch with him, in his simple fullness, just as he is, and surely and not slowly, there come flooding in all the rest of an abundant life, physical and mental and of the spirit. john "_was not the light_." he was only the candlestick. and he was content to be that. he was a good candlestick. the light was held up. it could shine out. how grateful the crowd was. the road had been so dark. it is a bad thing when light and candlestick change places. the crowd seems to get the two confused sometimes. we get to thinking that the candlestick is the light, and the light is--lost sight of. we gather about the candlestick. it'll surely lead the way out through the dark night into day. it's such a good candlestick, so highly polished. and sometimes the human candlestick itself gets things a bit mixed. it thinks, then it feels, then it knows, with a peculiar quality of self-assertive certainty, that after all _it_ is the light that lighteth every one that is so blessed as to come within the radius of its shining. and brass does take a high polish, and makes an attractive appearance. it does send out a sparkle and radiance _if_ only it is somewhere within range of some real light, patient enough to keep on shining in the dark, regardless of non-appreciation or misrepresentation or misunderstanding. is it any wonder the road is so full of people wandering in the night gathered about candlesticks? is it surprising that the ditches are so full of men and candlesticks mixed up and mired up together? yet it is always heart-breaking. there may be talent and training of the highest and best, and scholarship and culture, eloquence and skill, institutions and philanthropies. and there is so much of these. and these are good in themselves, and of priceless practical worth when seen and held in their right relation to _the_ thing. but it needs to be said often and earnestly: _these are not the light_. they are given to point men better to the light. they're road-signs, index-fingers. and they are seen at their best when they point to the light so clearly that the crowd quite forgets them in hastening to the light they point out. they serve their true purpose in being so forgotten. they are still serving and serving best even while forgotten. the real thing of light. and john goes on to intensify yet more what he is thinking and saying: _there was the true light_, _the real thing of light_. they were bothered, in john's old age when he is writing, with false lights, make-pretend lights, that led people astray. every generation seems to have been so bothered and confused. and even our own doesn't seem to have entirely escaped the subtle contagion. the ground is a bit swampy in places, boggy. low-lying land runs to bog and swamp. and the air gets thick with heavy vapours. and strange will-of-the-wisp lights form out of the foul damp gasses, and they flit about in the gloom this way and that. and people are led astray by them deeper into swamp and bog. it's surprising to find how many, that grow up in well-lit neighbourhoods, wander off after the swamp lights, and even follow them so contentedly. that's partly due, without doubt, to the false lights borrowing so much of the mere outer incidentals from the true. and they succeed in producing a make-up that easily deceives the unwary and untaught. there's a teaching to-day, for instance, that magnifies bodily healing. the name of christ is freely used. and the old book of god freely quoted. and men are really healed. there can be no question of that. there are sufficient facts at hand to make that incontestably clear. but bodily healing does not necessarily argue divine power. there are results secured through the operation of unfamiliar mental powers that seem miraculous. and clearly there are devilish miracles as well as divine. miracles simply reveal a supernatural power, that is, a power above the ordinary workings of nature. then one must apply a touchstone, a test, to learn what that power is. it is striking that in this teaching i speak of now there is never mention of the atoning blood of christ. and this is the sure touchstone by which to detect the real thing of light and the make-believe. the outstanding thing in the life of christ is his death, and the tremendous meaning which his own teaching put into that fact of his death. there is none of the red tinge to this make-believe light. it has the unwholesome unnatural tingeing of swamp lights. and those who are healed through this teaching will find themselves in a bondage the more terrible because so subtle. and only the power of the blood of christ can ever break that bondage. there was the real thing of light. here _is_ the real thing of light. there's a distinct tingeing of red in it. it's the only light. it only is the light. every other is a make-pretend light, however subtle its imitations and reflections: it will lead only into swamp and bog and ditch and worse. and then john goes on to add a very simple bit that has not always been quite understood in its simplicity. there was the real thing of light _that lighteth every man that cometh into the world_. there is a little group of varied readings into the english here, found in the margin of the various revisions. but the central statement remains the same. whether john is saying that the light, that lighteth every man, was now coming down into the world in a closer way. or, that every man is lighted as _he_ comes into the world, the chief thing being told is the same. every man in the world is lighted by this light. through nature, the nightly twinklers in the wondrous blue overhead, the unfailing freshness of the green out of the brown under foot; through the never-ceasing wonders of these bodies of ours, so awesomely and skilfully made, and kept going; through that clear quiet inner voice that does speak in every human heart amidst all the noises of earth and of passion; through these the light _is_ shining, noiselessly, softly, endlessly, by day and night. it is the same identical light that john is telling us of here that so shines in upon every man, and always has. there is no light but his. his later name is jesus. from the first, and everywhere still, it is the light that shines from him that lights men. he was with the father in the beginning. he acted for the father in that creation week. he gave and sustained all life of every sort everywhere, and does, though only a third of us know his later, nearer, newer name--jesus. but the light was obscured, terribly beclouded and bedimmed, hindered by earth-fogs, and swampy clouds rising up, until we are apt to think there was no light, and is none; only darkness. then he came closer, and yet closer. he came in nearer form so as to get the light closer, and let it shine _through_ fog and cloud, for the sake of the befogged, beswamped crowd. and then--ah! hold your heart still--_then_ he let _the_ light-holder, the great human lantern, be _broken_, utterly broken, that so the light might flash out through broken lantern in its sweet soft wondrous clearness into our blinded blinking eyes, and show us the real way back home. it was in that breaking that it got that wondrous exquisite red tingeing that becomes the unfailing hall-mark, the unmistakable evidence of the real thing of light. and it's only as men know of this latest coming of the light, this tremendous tragic jesus-coming of the light, that they can come into the full light. that's the reason he came in the way he did. that's the reason when he gets possession of us there's the passion to take the full jesus-light out to every one. and this passion burns in us and through us, and ours, and sweeps all in the sweep of its tender holy flame. in this way every man may be fully lit, and so in following the jesus-light he shall not walk in the darkness where he has been, but in the sweet clear light of life. looking for recognition. then we come to the first of john's heart-breaking sentences. john had a hard time writing his gospel. he was not simply writing a book. that might have been fairly easy for him with his personal knowledge and all the facts so familiar. but he is telling about his dearest friend. and the telling makes his heart throb harder, and his eyes fill up, and the writing look dim to him, as he tries to put the words down. listen: _he was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world recognized, or rather acknowledged, him not._ it was his world, his child, his creation. he had made it. but it failed to acknowledge him. he came walking down the street of life. he met the world going the other way. and he gave it a warm good-morning greeting. and it knew him full well. it knew who he was. but it turned its face aside and walked by with no return greeting. this is what john is saying. it recognized, it acknowledged him not. you mothers know the glad hour that comes in a mother's life when her little babe of the wee weeks knows her _for the first time._ she's busy bathing or nursing, or, she's just hovering over the precious morsel of humanity when there's really nothing needing to be done. and the babe's eyes catch her own and _a smile comes,_ the first smile of recognition. and the mother-heart gives a glad leap. she murmurs to herself, "oh, baby knows me!" and when the father comes home that night she greets him with, "baby knew me to-day." and there's a soft bell-like tender ring in her voice that vibrates on the strings of his heart. and all the folks within range are advised of the day's event. and the mother clear forgets all the sharp-cutting pain back there just a little before, in this joy, this look of recognition. i knew of a woman. she was of an old family, of unusual native gift, and rare accomplishment. and her babe came. and the time came when ordinarily there would be that first sweet look of recognition, but--_it didn't come._ there was a defect; something not as it should be. and you mothers all know how she felt, yes, and you true fathers, too. she was heart-broken. and she turned aside from all the busy round of activity in which she had been the natural leader. and for years she devoted all her splendid talents, her strength and time, to just one thing, a very simple thing; only this,--_getting a look of glad recognition out of two babe-eyes._ _he_ looked into the face of his child, his world, for the look of recognition. but there was none. and he was heart-broken. and he devoted all his strength and time, himself, for those human years to--what? one thing, just one thing, a very simple thing, only this: to getting a look of recognition out of the eyes of his child. aye, there's more yet here. he _looks_ into our faces, eager for that simple direct answering look into his face and out of our eyes, yours and mine. and we give him--things, church-membership, orthodox belief, intense activity, aggressive missionary propaganda, money in good measure, tireless, and then tired-out service--_things!_ and all good things. but _the_ thing, the direct look into his own face answering his own hungry searching look, that look in the face that reveals the inner heart that he _waits_ for so often, and waits, a bit sore at heart. for you know the eye is the face of the face. it's the doorway into the soul, out through which the soul, the man within, looks. i look at you, the man inside here looks out at you through my eye. and i look at the real you down through your eye. the real man is hidden away within, but looks out through the eye and is looked at only through the eye. we really give ourselves to jesus in the look direct into his face which tells him all, and through which he transforms us. a heart-breaking verse. then comes john's second heart-breaking verse; but it is just a bit more heart-breaking in what it says. listen: _he came to his own home, and they that were his own kinsfolk received him not into the house but kept him standing out in the cold and storm of the wintry night._ one of you men goes home to-night. it's your own home, shaped on your own personality through the years. it's a bit late. you've had a long hard day. you're tired. it's stormy. the wind and the rain chill you as you turn the corner. and you pull your coat a bit snugger as you quicken your steps and think of home, warmth and comfort, loved ones, and rest for body and spirit, too. as you come to the door you reach for your latch-key, and find, in the busy rush, you seem to have forgotten it, somehow. so you ring the bell or knock. and suppose--be patient with me a bit, please. suppose your loved ones know you're there. you even see a hand drawing aside the edge of the window shade, and two eyes that you know so well peer out through the crack at you; then the shade goes to again. yes, they know you're there. but the door, your own door, doesn't open. how would you feel? and some one says to himself, "that's not a good illustration. that thing couldn't happen. it isn't natural." no: you're right. it _isn't_ natural. it could not happen to _you_. i am sure it could not happen to _me_. if it could i'd be heart-broken. _but this is what happened to him!_ this is what john is saying here. he came to his own front door, and they whose very image revealed their close kinship to him, received him not into the home, but kept the door fast in his face. then there's a later translation. this old king james version bears the date of 1611, i think. and the english revision is dated 1881, i believe. and this american standard revision i am using has 1901 on its title page. but there's a later revision. it bears a yet later date, 1915, april 27. but it is a shifting date. each translator fixed his own date. this latest translation runs something like this: he _comes_ to his own. that's you and myself. we belong to him. he gave his breath to us in eden. he gave his breath to you and me at our birth. he gave his blood for us on calvary. we belong to him. the image of his kinship is stamped upon us. we may not acknowledge it, but that can't change the fact. _he comes to his own, and his own_--and here, as the scholars would say, there are variant readings. let me give you one or two i have found. here is one: he comes to his own, and his own--puts a chair outside the door on the top-step. it's a large armchair with a cushion in, perhaps. and then his own talks about him through the crack of the door, or likelier, the window. it's reckoned safer to keep the door fast. listen to what he says: "he's a wonderful man this jesus; great teacher, the greatest; the greatest man of the race; his philosophy, his moral standards are the ideals; wonderful life; great example." they fairly exhaust the language in talking about this man. but notice. it seems a bit queer. the man they're talking _about_ is _outside the door_. his own claim is left severely outside. some make it read like this: he comes to his own, and they who are his own open the door a _crack_, maybe a fairly respectably wide crack. we all like the word _saviour_. yes, we cling tenaciously to that. selfishly, would you say? we want to be saved from a certain place we think of as _down_, that we've been taught about, and don't want to go to--_if it's there;_ the way men talk about it to-day. and we want to be saved into another certain place we think of as _up_, and where we surely want to go _after_ we get through down on the earth, and _must_ go away somewhere else; with that "after" and "must" carefully underscored. and we want to be saved from all the inconveniences possible along the way, and to secure all the advantages and help available: yes, yes, open the door a crack. but be careful about the width of the opened crack. let it be just the proper conventionalized width. let there be no extremeism about the wideness of that opening. things must be proper. for what would the other crack-open-door-owners think? and then, too, yet more serious, this jesus has a way, a most inconsiderate way of coming in as far as you let him, and of taking things into his own hands. certain people use that word "inconsiderate"--to themselves, in secret. jesus changes some things when he is allowed all the way in. he might change your personal habits, your home arrangements, some of your social customs and your business plans. of course he changes only what needs changing, as he sees it. but--then--you--well, some things can be carried _too far_--to suit _you_. this jesus has the _all_ habit. he contracted it when he was down on the earth. our needs grew the habit. he _gave_ all. and he has a way of coming in all the way, and of reaching in his pierced hand and _taking_ all. he might even put his hand in on that most sacred thing, that holiest of all, that you guard most jealously--that box. it has heavy hinges, and double padlocks, and the keys are held hard under the thumb of your will. of course there may really not be much in it; and again there may be very much. but much or little, it is securely kept under that thick broad thumb of yours. oh! you _give_; of _course_; yes, yes, we're all good proper christian folk here. we give a tenth, and even much more. we support an aggressive missionary propaganda. that's the thing, you know, in our day, for good church people. we give to all the good things. ye-es, no doubt. and we are very careful, too, that that _inconsiderate_ hand shall not disturb the greater bulk that remains between hinge and lock. that's _yours_. of course you are _his_, redeemed, saved by his blood. well, well, how these pronouns, "his," "ours," do get mixed up! how lovely some things are to _sing_ about, in church, and special services, at keswick and northfield. but through it all we hold hard to that key, we don't let go--_even to him_, though it is he who entrusts all to our temporary keeping. we do guard the width of that opening crack, do we not? one day i looked through that crack and caught a glimpse of _his face_ looking through full in my own, with those eyes of his. and at first i wanted to take the door clear off of its hinges and stand it outside against the bricks, and leave the whole door-space wide for him. but i've learned better. no man wants to leave the doorway of his life unguarded. he must keep the strong hand of his controlling purpose on the knob of the front door of his life. there are others than he, evil ones, cunningly subtle ones, standing just at the corner watching for such an opportunity. and they step quickly slyly in under your untaught unsuspicious eyes, and get things badly tangled in your life. there's a better, a stronger way. here's the personal translation that i try now, by his help, to work out into living words, the language of life. he comes to his own, and his own opens the door wide, and _holds_ it wide open, that he may come in all the way, and cleanse, and change, readjust, and then shape over on the shape of his own presence. but every one must work out his own translation of that; and every one does. and the crowd reads--not this printed version. it reads this other translation, the one nearest, in such big print, the one our lives work out daily. that's the translation they prefer. and that's the translation they're being influenced by, and influenced by tremendously. he came to his own. in certain circles in england, they tell of a certain physician years ago. he came of a very humble family. his father was a gardener on a gentleman's estate. and the father died. and the mother wasn't able to pay her son's schooling. but a storekeeper in the village liked this little bright boy and sent him to school. and he went on through the higher schooling, became a physician, and began his practice in london. he became skilled, and then famous, and then wealthy. he remembered his dear old mother, of course. he sent her money, and fabrics for dresses, and wrote her. but for a long time, in the busy absorption of his life, he had not been to see her. and the dear old mother in the little cottage in the country lived in the sweet consciousness that her son was a great physician up in the great london. he was her chief topic of conversation. when the neighbours were in she would always talk of her son, her laddie, she called him. "he's so good to me, my laddie is. he sends me money. i put it in the bank. he sends me cloth for dresses; it's quite too good for a plain body like me. and he writes me letters, such good letters, wonderful letters. but he's so busy up there, that he hasn't been to see me for a long time now. you know he's a great doctor now, and he has great skill, and there are so many needing him. and he's no time at all, even for himself, i expect. but"--she would always finish her talk as they sat over the tea by saying, half to herself, really more to herself than to the little group, with a half-repressed longing sigh, "but, i wish, i just _wish_ i could _see_ my _laddie_." then some changes took place on the estate. and the cottage where she had lived so long must be given up. and the dear old woman had to make new plans. and she cudgeled her old head, and thought, and at last she said to herself, "i know what i'll do. i'll go-up to london, and i'll live with laddie. he'll be so glad to have me." and bright-coloured visions flitted through her mind, as she sat over her tea by the open grate. but she wouldn't send him word; no, no, she would surprise him, and add to his pleasure. and the dear old soul, in her fine simplicity, did not think into what this would mean, nor of the difference that had grown up with the years, in manner of life, between her son and herself. he was a cultured gentleman, with his well-appointed city home, and the circle of friends that had grown up about him. and she was a simple uncultured country woman with a broad provincial twist on her tongue. but she was blissfully unconscious of this. she would go and live with her laddie. it would be so delightful for them both. and so she went. it was her first train journey, and quite a time of it she had finding the house. but at last she stands looking up at the house. "ugh! does my laddie live here! in this great mansion?" but there was the name on the door-plate. there was no mistaking that. and so she rang the bell. "is the doctor in?" she could hardly get the word "doctor" out. she had never called him that before, just laddie. but now she must say it. "is the doctor in?" and the word almost stuck in her throat as she thought to herself, "this poor man opening the door doesn't know that the 'doctor' really belongs to _me_." but in a hard voice the servant said that it was past the hours. she couldn't see the doctor. "ah! bat," she said, quite taken by surprise at being held there, "i _must_ see him." "but, i tell you, it's quite too late to see him to-day." but she resolutely put her stout country-boot in the crack of the door, and her english jaw set in true english fashion, and she said with that quietness that has the subtle touch of danger in it, "i'll see the doctor." and the servant looked puzzled and went to report about this strangely insistent woman. and the doctor was annoyed by the interruption in the midst of something that was absorbing him. he said sharply, "it's past the hours; i can see no one." "i told her so, sir," replied the man deferentially, "but she insists in a strange way, sir." "what's she like?" "oh, just a plain country body, sir." "well, show her up." and i am glad to remember that she had a warm embrace of his strong arms, as he instantly recognized her in the doorway, while the servant stared. then he said rather nervously as the servant discreetly withdrew, "how did yon happen to come? why didn't you send word? has anything happened?" and then as she sat by the fire sipping a cup of tea, she told the story, in her own simple slow way, and ended up with, "and now i'm coming to live with you, laddie." and the old eyes behind the spectacles beamed, and the dear old wrinkled face glowed. and he poked the fire, and tried to think you know, our english friends depend almost wholly on the open grate fire, as we do so largely in the south. and it's a great thing, is the open grate fire. it's a fire. it warms your body, at least in front in extreme weather. but it's more than a fire. it's a stimulus to thought. it refreshes your spirit, and rests your tired nerves, and it is a wonderful thing to help you unravel knotty problems. so he poked the fire and thought, while she, quite unconscious of his embarrassment, went on sipping her tea and talking. it would never do to have her come there, he thought. and his thoughts went to the circle of friends at the dinner table in the evening, and to the critical city servants that ran his bachelor establishment. and just then his ear caught anew the broad provincial twist on her tongue. he had never noticed it so broad, so decided, before. and she was talking the small countryside talk, chickens and an epidemic among them. and that grated strangely. it certainly wouldn't do to have her come there. then the tide began to rise gently on the beach of his heart. he thought, "she's my _mother_. and if mother wants to come here, here she comes." and he straightened up in his chair, as he gave a gentler touch to a blazing lump of coal. then the tide ebbed. it began running out again. "no, it would hardly do." and he poked and thought. finally he broke into her run of talk. "mother, you know it is not very healthful here. we have bad fogs in london. and you're used to the wholesome country air. it wouldn't agree with you here, i'm afraid. i'll get a little cottage on the edge of town, and i'll come and see you very often." and the dear old woman _sensed_ at once just what he was thinking. she was not stupid, if she was just a plain homely body. he got his brains from his simple country mother, as many a man of note has done. but she spoke not of what she felt. she simply said, with that quietness which grows out of strong self-control: "it's a bit late the night, laddie, i'm thinking, to be talking about new plans." and he said softly, "forgive me, mother: it is late, i forgot." and he showed her to her sleeping apartment. "and where do you sleep, laddie?" "right here, mother, this first door on the left. be sure to call me if you need anything." and he bade her a tender "good-night," and went back to his study to do some more thinking and planning. and very late he came up to his sleeping-chamber. and he was just cuddling his head into the soft pillow for the night, when the door opened, so softly, and in there came a little body in simple white night garb, with a quaint old-fashioned nightcap on, candle in hand. she came in very softly. and he started up. "mother, are you ill? what's the matter?" and she came over very quietly, and put down the candle on the table before she answered. and then softly: "no, no, laddie, i'm not ill. i just came to tuck you in for the night as i used to do at home. ... lie still, my laddie." and she tucked the clothes about his neck, and smoothed his hair, and patted his cheek, and kissed his face. and she crooned over him as mother with little child. the years were quite forgot. she had her little son again. and she talked mother's love-talk to a child. "good-night, laddie ... good-night ... good-night ... mother's own boy." and a little more tucking and smoothing and patting and kissing, and then she turned so quietly, picked up the candle, and went out, closing the door so softly, her great strength revealed in her gentleness. and he was just on the point of starting up and saying, "mother, you must stay with me, right here"--no, the morning will do, he thought. but when the morning came she wasn't down for breakfast. and when he went to her room she wasn't there. it turned out afterwards that she had said to herself, "it doesn't suit my laddie's plans to have me here. i don't understand why. it isn't his fault at all. it just doesn't suit. and i'll never be a trouble to my laddie." and so with that rare characteristic english trait of independence, she had quietly gone off early that morning before the house was astir. and he broken-hearted--i'm always glad to remember that--he searched through the wilderness of london for more than a year, searched diligently, but could find no trace of her. and then he was graciously permitted to minister to her last hours in a hospital where a street accident had sent her unconscious, and where he was chief of the medical staff. _she came to her own and her own received her not._ he loved her, but it didn't suit his plans. _he, jesus_, came to _his_ own, and his own received him not; it didn't suit their plans. ah! listen yet further: he _comes_ to his own, you and me, and his own--_you_ finish it. have we some plans, too, set plans, that we don't propose to change, even for--(softly) even for _him_? each of us is finishing that sentence, not in words so much if at all, in the words of our action. and the crowd reads our translation. the oldest family. "but," john goes on. that was a steadying "but." it was hard on john to recall how they treated his friend and master. but there is a "but." there's another aide, an offset to what he's been saying, a bright bit to offset the black bit. but as many as did receive him. some received. jesus was rejected, yes, abominably, contemptibly rejected. but he was also accepted, gladly, joyously, wholeheartedly accepted, even though it came to mean pain and shame. _as many as received him_, john says, _he received into his family_. the conception of a family and of a home where the family lives, runs all through underneath here. they would not receive this jesus because he didn't belong to the inner circle of the old families which they represented. they regarded themselves as the custodians of the exclusive aristocratic circles of jerusalem. and jerusalem was the upper circle of israel. and every one knew that israel was the chiefest, the one uppermost nation, of the earth, with none near enough to be classed second. they were the favourites of god, all the rest were "dogs of gentiles," outsiders, not to be mentioned in the same breath. to these national leaders of jesus' day, this was the very breath of their life. "and _this jesus_!" they spat on the ground to relieve the intensity of their contempt. "who was he? a peasant! a galilean! nazareth!" nazareth was put in as a sort of superlative degree of contempt. of course, they could easily have found out about the lineage of jesus. in the best meaning of the word, jesus was an aristocrat. apart from its philological derivation that word means one who traces his lineage back through a worthy line for a long way, and so one who has the noble traits of such lineage. in the best meaning of the word jesus was an _aristocrat_. his line traced back without slip or break to the great house of david, and that meant clear back to adam. the records were all there, carefully preserved, indisputable. they could easily have found this out. i recall talking one day in london with a gentle lady of an old, titled scottish family, an earnest christian, trained in the latin church. in the course of the conversation she remarked, "of course, jesus was a _peasant_." and i replied as gently as i could so as not to seem to be arguing, "of course, he was _not_ a peasant. he chose to _live_ as a peasant, for a great strong purpose. but he was an aristocrat in blood. his family line traced directly back through the noblest families clear to the beginning. no one living had a longer unbroken lineage. and that is the very essence of aristocracy." in some circles, they count much, or most, on old families. in certain cities of our own country, east and south, this is reckoned as the hall-mark of highest distinction. when one goes across the water to england and the continent, he finds the old families of america are rather young affairs. and as he pushes on into the east, some of the old families of europe sometimes seem fairly recent. i remember in the orient running across a family where the father had been a shinto priest, father and son successively, through forty-five generations; and another where the father of the family has been successively a court-musician for thirty-eight generations. i thought maybe i had run into some really old families at last. i come of a rather old family myself. it runs clear back without break or slip to adam in eden. i've not bothered much with tracing it, for there are some pretty plain evidences of ugly stains on the family escutcheon, running all through, and repeatedly. and then even more than that i've become intensely interested in another family, an older family, the oldest family of all. arrangements have been made whereby i have been taken into this oldest family of all with full rights and privileges. my claims to aristocracy are now of the very highest, with all the noble obligations that go with it. that's what john is talking of here. _as many as received him, he received into his family, the oldest family of all._ these people refused jesus because he didn't belong to their set. in their utterly selfish prejudice and wilful ignorance, these leaders shut him out from the circles they controlled. but with great graciousness he received into his circle any, of any circle, high or low, who would receive him into their hearts. to as many as received him into their hearts he opened the door into his own family. he gave them the technical right of becoming children of his father. their part of the thing is put very simply in two ways. they _believed_. they were told, they listened and thought, they accepted as true, they risked what they counted most precious, they loved. so they believed. and so they _received._ the door opened, the inner door, the heart door. he went in. that settled things for them. when he graciously entered their hearts, the inner citadel of their lives, that settled their place in this oldest family of all. how we don't get in, and how we do. it is of intensest interest in our day to have john go on to tell, in his own simple taking way, just how we get into this god-family. first of all, he tells us how we _don't_ get in. listen: "_not of blood_," that is, not by our natural generation; "_nor of the will of the flesh_," that is, not by anything we can do of ourselves, though this has a place, a distinctly secondary place; "_nor of the will of man_," that is, not by what somebody else can do for us, though this too has its place. these are the three "_nots_"; the three ways we are _not_ saved. and it becomes of intensest interest to notice that these are the very three ways that the crowd is emphasizing to-day, some this, others that, as the way of being saved. the three modern words we commonly use for these three "nots" of john are, _family, culture_, and _influence_. some of us seem to be fully expecting to walk into the presence of god, and to get all there is to be gotten there, because of the family we belong to. this is probably stronger in some of us than we are conscious of. it's a matter of blood with us, our blood, our natural generation. we take greatest pride in showing what blood it is that runs in our veins. we trace the line far back to those whose names are well known. and this sort of thing has overpowering influence in our human affairs down here. his gracious majesty king george is king of england, because he is the child of edward and alexandra. his one and only claim to the english throne is that at the time of accession he was their oldest living son. but that won't figure a farthing's worth when he comes up to the hearthfire of god's family. and i think he understands this full well. i'm expecting to see him there; not as king of england, but as a brother. it is not a matter of blood. it's a blessed thing to be well-born. it makes a tremendous difference to have the blood of an old noble family in one's veins, if it is good clean blood. but it'll never save us. salvation is not by lineal descent, not by family line. it is "not of blood." john clears that ground. some of us put great stress on what we are in ourselves. this looms big with a great crowd scattered throughout the earth. we know so much. we have gotten it by dint of hard work. we can do some things so skilfully. we have worked into positions of great power among men. our names are known. sometimes they are spelled in large letters. the broad word for this is _culture_, what we have gained and gotten by our effort, of that which is reckoned good, and which _is_ good. culture is one of the chief words in our language to-day. whether spelled the english way or the german, it looms big. it is one of our modern tidbits. it is chewed on much, and pleases our palate greatly. and culture is good, if it is good culture. but, have you noticed, that you have to have a thing before you can culture it? no amount of the choicest culture will get an apple out of a turnip, nor a bartlett pear out of a potato, nor make a chinese into an englishman, nor an american into a japanese. culture can improve the stock, but _it can't change it_. it takes some other power than culture to change the kind. here we have to be made of the same kind as they are up in the old family of god. there must be a change at the core. then culture of that new stock is only good and blessed. this is john's second "not." it seems rather radical. it completely undercuts so much of our present day notions. if john is right, some of us are wrong, radically, dangerously wrong. yet john had a wonderful teacher whom he lived with for a while. and after he had gone, john had another teacher, unseen but very real, who guided, especially in the writing of the old jesus-story. the whole presumption is in favour of john's way of it being wholly right. and if that makes us wrong, we would better be grateful to find it out _now_, while there's time to change. being saved is not a matter of what we can do, of our culture, though this has its proper place. and some of us put tremendous stress to-day on _influence_, what we can command from others, in furtherance of our desires. influence is spelled in biggest type and printed in blackest ink. whether in political matters at washington or at london; in financial, whether lombard street or wall street; or in the all-important social matters, or even in the educational, the university world, the chief question is, "whose influence can you get?" "what name can you quote?" "whose backing have you?" influence and culture are the twin gods to-day. the smoke of their incense goeth up continuously. their places of worship are crowded, with bent knees and prostrate forms and reverential hush. have you noticed that _jesus_ hadn't enough influence with the officials of his day to keep from the cross? no: but he had enough _power_ to break the official emblem of earth's greatest authority, the roman seal on the joseph tomb. rather striking that; intensely significant for us moderns. _peter_ hadn't enough _influence_ with the authorities to keep out of jail. sounds rather disgraceful that, does it not? aye, but he had enough _power_ with god to open jail-doors and walk quietly out against the wish of those highest in authority. influence has its proper place. it's good, _if_ it is. but we are not saved by it. we are not saved by what some one else can do for us; "not of the will of man." your mother's prayers and your wife's, and the influence of their godly lives will have great weight. it's a great blessing to have them. they help enormously. but the thing itself that takes a man into the presence of god, saved and redeemed, is something immensely more than this, some action of his own that goes to the roots as none of these other things do. one time a deputation waited on lincoln to press a matter of public concern. but his keenly logical mind discerned flaws in their impassioned and carefully worked out arguments. he waited patiently till their case was complete. and then in that quiet way for which he was famous, he said, "how many legs would a sheep have if you called its tail a leg?" as he expected, they promptly answered "five." "no," he said, "it wouldn't; it would have only four. _calling_ a tail a leg does not make it one." so a simple bit of his homely sense and accurate logic scattered their finely spun argument. calling either family or culture or influence the chief thing doesn't make it so. these are john's three tremendous "nots." they rather cut straight across the common current of thought and belief and conduct to-day. we may indeed be grateful if a single homely drop of black ink from john's pen put into the beautifully cloudy-grey solution of modern thought clears the liquid and makes a precipitate of sharply defined truth that any eye can plainly see. this is how we _won't_ be saved. this is how we _don't_ get into the family of god. it is "not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man"; not through family connection, nor by what we can do of ourselves simply, nor by what we can get some of our fellows to do for us, simply. "_but of god_," john says. it is by someone else, outside of us, above us, reaching down from a higher level, and putting the germ of a new life within us, and lifting us up to his own level. he puts his hand _through_ the open door of our will, what we do in opening up to him, _through_ "the will of the flesh." he walks along the pathway of the earnest desire of those who would help us up, "the will of man." but it is what _he_ does that does the one thing that all depends upon. his is the decisive action, _through_ our choosing and our friends' helping. i said it isn't a matter of blood, of lineage. yet it is. that statement must be modified. family relationship is of necessity a matter of blood. that's the very blood of it. this _is_ a matter of blood; but not _our_ blood; _his._ there has to be a new strain of blood. our blood is stained. it is at fault. it is impure. there's been a bad break far back there in the family record, a complete break. we were powerless either to purify the stock, or to get over that gap, even if we admitted the need. there had to be a bridging of that gap. it had to be from the upper side. the other fell short. the gap was still there. there had to be a new strain of blood. this was, this _is_, the only way. we get into that old first family only by the father of the family reaching over the break and putting in the new strain of blood, the germ of the family life, and so lifting us up to the new level. and jesus was god doing just that. our tented neighbour. then john begins a new paragraph. he goes back to tell just how the thing was done. listen: _the word, this wondrous one, became a man, one of ourselves, and pitched his tent in close amongst our tents._there's only a stretch of canvas between him and any of us. he wanted to get close, close enough to help, yet never infringing upon the privacy of our tents, only coming in as he was invited. but he has remarkable ears. a whisper reaches him at once. and he is out of his tent into ours to help at the faintest call. that was why he pitched his tent in amongst ours, to be one of ourselves, and to be at hand in our need. and then a touch of awe creeps into john's spirit as he writes, and the light flashes out of his eye with the intensity of an old picture surging to the front of his imagination again. there was more than a _tent_ here, more than a _man_. out of the man, out through the tent doorway, and tent canvas, flashes a wondrous, soft, clear light, that transfigures canvas and tent and man. john's face glows as he writes, "and we beheld his _glory_." i suppose he is thinking chiefly of that still night on white hermon. this despised man had called the inner three away from the crowd, in the dark of night, and had gently drawn aside the exquisite drapery of his humanity, and let some of the inner glory shine out before their eyes. so the way was lightened for them as their feet were turned with his down towards the dark valley of the cross. i suppose john is thinking chiefly of this. but this is not all, i am very sure. there's more, even though this may have been most. glory is the character of goodness. it is not something tacked on the outside. it is some native thing looking out from within. so much of what we think of as glory and splendour in scenes of magnificence is a something in the externals, the outer arrangements. splendid garbing, brilliant colours, dazzling shining of lights, seats removed a distance apart and up, magnificent outer appointments,--these seem connected in our thought with an occasion and a scene being glorious. but john is using the word in its simple true first meaning. glory is something within shining out. it is the inner native light that goodness gives out. "we beheld _his glory_." i think john must have been thinking of nazareth. thirty out of thirty-three years were spent in homely nazareth. ten-elevenths of jesus' life was spent in--_living_, simply living the true pure strong gentle life amid ordinary circumstances, homely surroundings. this was the greatest thing jesus did short of dying. he _lived_. next to calvary where the glory shined out incomparably, it shined out most in nazareth. he hallowed the common round of life by living an uncommon life there. this was a revealing of his glory. so he revealed the inner spirit of simple full obedience to his father's plan for his earth-life. if we would only rise to his level! the way up is down. we are likest him when we live the true jesus-life _regardless of where it is lived_, on the street, in the house, amidst the ideals--or lack of ideals--of those we touch closest. it was a wondrous glory john beheld. and the crowd--no wonder that crowd couldn't resist jesus. they can't even yet, when he is _lived_. then john goes on quietly to explain about that glory, how it came. he says it was "_glory as of an only begotten of a father_." the common versions with which we are familiar, the old king james, the english and american revisions, all say "the," "_the_ only begotten of _the_ father." i suppose the translators wanted to make it quite clear that jesus was in an exceptional way the very son of god. and so they don't translate quite as john put it. they try to help him out a little in making his meaning clear. but you will notice that this old book of god never needs any helping out in making the truth quite clear. when you can sift through versions and languages down to what is really being said, you find it said in the simplest strongest way possible. here john is saying, "glory as of _an_ only begotten from _a_ father." it is a family picture, so common in the east. here in the west, the unit of society is the individual. the farther west you come the more pronounced this becomes, until here in our own land individualism seems at times to run to extremes. custom in the east is the very reverse of this. there the unit of action is not the individual, but the _family_. the family controls the individual in everything. we westerners think we can see where it runs to such extremes as to constitute one of the great hindrances to progress there. in the east, if a young man is to be married, he has actually nothing to do with it, except to be present in proper garb when the time comes. the fact that he should now be married, the choice of his bride, the betrothal, the time, all arrangements and adjustments,--all this is done by the families. the two that we westerners think of as the principals have nothing to do, except to acquiesce in the arrangements of their elders. it is strictly a family affair. even so all that belongs to the family, of wealth, fame, inheritance, distinction, vests distinctly in the head of the family, the father. he stands for the whole family. and so, too, all of this descends directly from the father at his death to his eldest son. in some parts the father retires at a certain age, either really or nominally, and all becomes vested technically in his eldest son. and if the son be an only begotten son, then literally all that is in the father comes into the son. all the fame, the inheritance, the traditions, the obligations, the wealth, in short all the glory of the father comes of itself, by common action of events, to the son. now this is what john is thinking of as he writes, "we beheld his glory, glory as of _an_ only begotten of _a_ father." that is to say, all there is in the father is in jesus. when you see jesus, you are seeing the father. the whole of god is in this jesus. this is what john is saying here. grace and truth coupled. and then john does a bit of exquisite packing of much in little. he tells the whole story of the character, the revealed glory, of jesus in such a few simple words,--"_full of grace and truth_." not grace without truth. that would be a sort of weakly, sickly sentimentalism. and not truth without grace. that would be a cold stern repellent insistence on certain high standards. but grace and truth coupled, intermingling. of course real grace and truth always are coupled. they tell the exquisite poise that is in everything god does. truth is the back-bone of grace. grace is the soft cushioning of flesh upon the bony framework of truth. it is the soft warm breath of life in truth. truth is grace holding up the one only standard of purity and right and insisting upon it. and as we look we know within ourselves we never can reach it. grace is truth reaching a strong warm hand down to where we are and _helping_ us reach it. with god these things are always coupled. _we_ get them separated badly, or would i better say, imitations of them. there is a sort of thing we have called truth. it is not so common now as a generation or more ago. it is a sort of stern elevated preaching of righteousness, but with no warm feel of life to it. i can remember hearing preaching in my immature boy days that made me feel that the man and the thing must be right, but neither had any attraction for me. it was as though a man went fishing with a carefully-made properly-labelled metallic-bait at the end of a long stout cord, and said, as he dangled it in the sinful waters to the elusive fish, "now, bite; or be damned." it was never put so baldly, of course, in words. and i was only a child with immature childish imaginations. yet that was the feeling about the thing the child got. but it's scarcely worth while talking of that now except to point the contrast; things have swung so far to the other extreme. the current thing to-day is grace without truth, or what is supposed to be grace. it is a sort of man-made substitute. it's something like this. here's a man in the gutter, the moral gutter. it may be the actual gutter. or, there may be the outer trappings of refinement that easy wealth provides; or, the real refinement that culture and inheritance bring. but morally and in spirit, it's a gutter. the slime of sin and low passion, of selfishness and indulgence and self-ambition, oozes over everything in full sight. the man's in the gutter. and along comes the modern philosopher of grace, so-called. he looks down compassionately, and says, "poor fellow, i'm so sorry for you. too bad you should have gotten down there. let me help you a bit, my brother." so he puts some flowering plants down in the slime of the gutter, and he brushes the man's clothes a bit, and his hair, and sprinkles the latest-labelled cologne-water over him, and pats him on the shoulder, and says, "now, you feel better, my man, don't you?" and the man sniffs the perfume, and is quite sure he does. _but he is still in the gutter._ there seems to be an increasing amount of this sort of thing over in my neighbourhood. how is it in your corner of the planet? there's an intense stress on environment; that means the _outside_ of things. better sanitation, improved housing, purer milk supply, and segregation of vice which seems to mean putting some of the viler smelling slime of the gutter, the slimer slime, all over in one guttered section by itself. but there can be no health there. it's a _change of location_ that is needed! the wondrous jesus-plan is different. it holds things in poise. grace _and_ truth. truth is jesus stretching his hand up high, up to the limit of arm's length, and saying, "here is the standard, purity, righteousness, utter honesty of heart and rigid purity of motive and life. you _must_ reach this standard. it can't be lowered by the half thickness of a paper-thin shaving. you must come to this standard. the standard never comes down to you." and the man in the gutter says, "i'll never reach it." and he is right. _he_ never will--of himself, alone. yet that's truth, true truth. "a hopeless case" you say; "utter impractical idealizing! case ruled out of court." just wait, that's only half the case, and not the warm half either. grace is jesus going down into the gutter, the gutterest gutter, and taking the man by his outstretching hand, and _lifting_ him _clean up_ out of the gutter, up, and up, _till the man reaches the standard_, and is never content till he does. that was a tremendous going down, and a yet more tremendous lifting up. jesus broke his heart and lost his life in the going down. but out from the broken heart came running the blood that proved both cleansing and a salve. and out of the grave of that lost life came a new life that proved an incentive, and a tremendous dynamic. the blood cleanseth the _inside_ of the man in the gutter, and heals his sores, restores his sight and hearing and sensitiveness of touch. the new life put inside the man makes him rise up and _walk determinedly_ out of the gutter to a _new location_. he is a new man, with a new inside, in a new location. that threefold cord is ahead of solomon's--it _can't_ be broken. and, if you'll mark it keenly, a new _in_side includes a new _out_side. the thing that in religious talk is called conversion is a sociological factor that cannot be ignored by the thoughtful student. the drunkard goes down to the old-fashioned sort of mission where they insist on teaching that the blood of jesus cleanseth from all sin, and that the holy spirit will make a new man of you, and burn the sin out. and _something_ happens to the drunkard. he kneels a drunkard, drunk; he rises a man, sober. he goes to the hole he calls home. and at once a change begins to work gradually out. he treats his wife and children differently. he works. they are fed better and clothed warmer. he gets a better house in a better neighbourhood. the new sociological factor is at work. it began inside; it revolutionizes the outside. settlement houses, better environment, improved outer conditions of every sort, are blessed, and only blessed, after the inside is fixed or in helping to get it fixed. if that isn't done, they are simply as a lovely bit of pink-coloured court-plaster skilfully adjusted over an ugly incurable ulcer. the man is befooled while the ulcer eats into his vitals. it's only the blood-power of a jesus, _the jesus,_ that can fix the inside. he cuts out the ulcer and puts in a new strain of blood. then the inner includes the outer. and the most grateful of all is the man. this is the jesus-plan, john says, "_full of grace and truth._" grace is named first. it _comes_ first. that is a bit of the graciousness of it. that's love's exquisite diplomacy. we feel the grateful warmth of the sun in the winter's air, and are drawn by it. we smell the fragrance of the roses and come eagerly nearer. we hear the winsomeness of a gentle wooing voice a-calling, and instinctively answer to it. and then we find the sun's power to heal and cleanse and its insistence on burning up what can't stand its heat. we find the inspiring, purifying uplift of the flowers, drawing us up the hillside to the top. we find the voice--the man--gently but with unflinching unbending determination that never yields a hairbreadth, insisting on our coming clear up to the topmost level. that's a wondrous order of words, and coupling of helps, grace and truth. and this is jesus. this is john's simple tremendous picture. this man comes down into our neighbourhood, on our earth. he sticks up his stretch of tent-canvas right next ours. he insists on being his own true self in the midst of the unlikeliest surroundings. the glow of his presence shines out over all the neighbourhood of human tents. there's a purity of air that stimulates. men take deep breaths. there's a fragrance breathing subtly out from his tent that draws and delights. men come a-running with childlike eagerness. grace flooding. and now as jesus comes quietly down the river road where john's crowd is gathered, john the witness points his finger tensely out, and eagerly cries out: _there he is! this is the man i've been telling you about! he that cometh after me in point of time is become first in relation to me in point of preeminence: for he was before me both in time and in preeminence._ and then john adds a tremendous bit. he had just been talking about jesus being _full_ of that great combination of grace and truth. now his thought runs back to that. listen: "of _his fullness_ have we all received." there's another translation of this sentence that i have run across several times. it reads in this way: "of his _skimpiness_ have we all received." i never found that in common print; only in the larger print of men's lives. but in that printing it seems to have run into a large edition, with very wide circulation. men don't read this old book of god much; less than ever. they get their impression of god wholly from those who call themselves his followers. they watch the procession go by. here they come crippled diseased maimed weakened in body, piteously pathetically crutching along, singed and burned with the flames of the same low passion that the onlooking crowds know so well, struggling, limping, crutching along bodily and in every other way. and that's a crowd with very keen logic, those onlookers. it judges god by those bearing his name, very properly. and it says more or less _unconsciously_,--"what a poor sort of god he must be those people have. no doubt he has a great job of management on his hands. there are so many of them to provide for. and apparently there can't be any abundance, certainly no overflow, no surplus. he has to piece it out the best he can to make it go as far as possible." "i think maybe i needn't be in any hurry to join that crowd, at least till i have to, along towards the end of things here. there would only be one more to carry. he has such a crowd now. and the resources are pretty badly strained, judging by appearances." so the crowd talks. poor god! how he is misrepresented by some walking translations. "of his _skimpiness_---!" be careful. don't take too much. be grateful for the crumbs. please clean your spectacles, and readjust them carefully, and if you are afflicted with the small-print bible that seems in such common use, get a reading-glass and look here at the proper translation. that crutching, leather-bound translation is grossly inaccurate, if it _is_ in such big print, and in such wide circulation. look here. can you see the words? this is the only correct reading: "of his _fullness_ have all we received." put that into the print of your life, for your own sake and for the crowd's sake, yes, and for god's sake, too, that the crowd may know the kind of a god god is. and as if john had a suspicion about possible bad translations, he did a bit of underscoring. that word _fullness_ is underscored in john's original copy. it's a heavy underscoring, in red. the underscoring is in three words he adds: "grace for grace." that is, grace _in place of_ grace. it's a sort of picture. some grace has been received. and it is so wondrous that nothing seems so good. and the man is singing as he goes about his work. then comes a sudden soft inrushing of a flood of grace so great that it seems to displace all that was there. oh! the man didn't know there was such grace as this. it seems as if he had never known grace before. and the work-song is hushed into a great stillness, though the wondrous rhythm of peace is greater than before. and then before he quite knows how it happens in comes another soft subtle inrushing flood-tide of grace that seems to displace all again. some temptation comes, some sore need, some tight corner. you look to him; lean on him; risk all on his response. he _responds_; and in comes the fresh inrush. and then this sort of thing becomes a habit, god's habit of responding to your need, need of every sort. it becomes the commonplace, the blessed commonplace that can never be common. that's john's underscoring of the word "fullness." may the crowds whose elbows we jostle get this underscored translation, bound in shoe-leather, _your_ shoe-leather. then in his eagerness to make us understand the thing really, john makes a contrast. "the law was _given_ through moses; grace and truth _came_ through jesus christ." the law was a thing, _given_, through a man. grace and truth was _a man coming_, the very embodiment in himself of what the two words stand for. the law, the old mosaic law, was not a statement of the _full_ message of god. that was given much earlier. it was given to all. it came directly. it was given first in eden, in its flood; and then continuously to every man wherever he was. it was given within each man's own heart, and through the unfailing flooding light in nature above and below and all around. the tide of its coming has never ceased in volume nor in steadiness of flow; and does not cease. that tide came to flood in jesus. and that flood has never known an ebb. but men's eyes got badly affected. they didn't let the light in, either clearly or fully. the light was there, but it was not getting in. something had to be done to help out those eyes. so the law was given. it was merely a mirror to let a man see his face, what it was like. here's a mother calling to her little son, "come here and let me wash your face." and he calls out, "it isn't dirty." "yes, dear, it is very dirty, come at once." "why, no, mother, it isn't dirty; you washed it this morning." and the child's tone blends a hurt surprise and a settled conviction that his mother is certainly wrong _this_ time about the condition of his face. and if the mother be of the thoughtful brooding kind, she says nothing, but gets a hand mirror, and holds it before the child's face. that will always get a child's attention. and the boy looks; he sees his dirty face reflected. the blank astonishment on his face can't be put into words. it tells the radical upsetting revolution in his thought on that subject. how could it have happened that his face got into that condition! and the washing process is yielded to at least; possibly even asked for. that's what the law did and does. it showed man his face, his heart, his need. it brings upsetting revolutionary ideas regarding one's self. there it stops. that's its limit. then the man who in himself is grace and truth does the rest. the spokesman of god. then john quietly, deftly draws the line around to the starting point in that first tremendous statement. he completes a circle perfect in its strength and beauty and simplicity, as every circle is. if we follow the order of the words somewhat as john wrote them down, we find the bit of truth coming in a very striking, as well as in a fresh way. "_god no one has ever, at any time, seen_." that seems rather startling, does it not? what do these older pages say? adam talked and walked and worked with god, and then was led to the gate of the garden. god appeared to abraham, and gave him a never-to-be-forgotten lesson in star study. moses spent nearly six weeks with him, twice over, in the flaming mount, and carried the impress of his presence upon his face clear to nebo's cloudy top. the seventy elders "saw the god of israel, and did eat and drink," the simple record runs. and young isaiah that morning in the temple, and ezekiel in the colony of exiles on the chebar, and daniel by the tigris at the close of his three weeks' fast,--these all come quickly to mind. john's startling statement seems to contradict these flatly. but push on. john has a way of clearing things up as you follow him through. listen to him further: the only-begotten god who is in the bosom of the father--_he_ has always been the _spokesman_ of god. look into that sentence of john's a little. it seems quite clear, clear to the point of satisfying the most critical research, that john wrote down the words, "the only-begotten _god_." the contrast in his mind is not between "god," and the "only begotten son." it is a contrast whose verbal terms fit with much nicer exactness than that. it is a contrast between "god" and the "only-begotten god." there is only one such person whichever way unity. they tell the whole story hanging at the end of john's pen. this little bit commonly called the prologue is a gem of simplicity and compactness. it is john's gospel in miniature, even as john's gospel is the whole bible story in miniature. you can see the whole of the sun reflected in a single drop of water. you can see the whole of both father and son in the action of love in these simple opening lines of john's gospel. have you ever been walking down a country road till, weary and thirsty, you stopped at an old farmhouse and refreshed yourself at the old-fashioned well, with its bucket and long sweep? and as you rested a bit by the well you wondered how deep it was. it didn't look deep at all. the water was near, and it was so clear and sweet and refreshing, and so easy to get at for a drink. _is_ it deep? so you fish a rather long bit of string out of your pocket, and tie it to a bit of stone you find lying close by. and you let the stone down, and down, and down, till you are surprised to find that the well is deeper than your string is long. well, john's opening bit is just like that. it seems very simple, easily understood at first flush in the mere statements made. the water is near the top. you easily drink. and you are refreshed. but when you try to find out how deep it is, you are startled to find that it is clear over your head. but it is _never over your heart_. it is too deep for you to grasp and understand. you never touch bottom. _but_ it's never beyond heart-understanding. you can sense and feel and love. you can open the sluice-gates into your heart, and have the blessed flood-tide lift and lift and bear you aloft and along. you can _love._ and that is the whole story. was john an artist? is he making a rare painting for us here? is he studying perspective, shading and spacing, to an exquisite nicety that is revealed in the very way he puts words and sentences and paragraphs together? i do not know. and if any of you think the thing i am about to speak of is due to a mere mechanical chance of the pen, i'll not quarrel with you. though i shall still have my own personal thought in the matter. but will you notice this? john begins his prologue with a description of a wonderful personality. he ends it with another description of this same personality. both descriptions are rare in beauty and boldness, in simplicity and brevity. and right midway between the two, at almost the exact middle line of the reading, at what is the artistic center, stands the word "_came_." that word "came" gathers up into itself and tells out to you the whole story about this twice-described personality. "he came" john says. that's the whole thing. first the _he_ fills your eye, and then what he did--_came_. and as you step off a bit for better perspective, and change your personal position this way and that to get the best light, you find the picture standing out before your awed eyes. it is a man coming down the road with face looking into yours. he is truly a man, every line of the picture makes that clear to you. but such a man as never was seen before, with the rarest blending of the kingly and the kindly in his bearing. the purest purity, the utmost graciousness, the highest ideals, the gentlest manner, nobility beyond what we have known, and kindliness past describing,--all these blend in the pose of his body and most of all in the look of his face. and he is in motion. he is walking, walking towards us, with hands outstretched. this is john's picture of jesus. he came to his own. he came because his own drew him. out from the bosom of his father, into the womb of a virgin maid, and into the heart of a race he came. out of the glory-blaze above into the gloom of the shadow, and the glare of false lights below, he came. out of the love of a father's heart, the only-begotten came, into contact with the hate that was the only-begotten of sin, that he might woo us men up, and up, and up, into the only-begotten life with the father. jesus was god on a wooing errand to the earth. iii the lover wooing _a group of pictures illustrating how the wooing was done, and how the lover was received_ "still with unhurrying chase, and unperturbed pace, deliberate speed, majestic instancy came the following feet, and a voice above their beat- _naught shelters thee, who will not shelter me_.'" --"_the hound of heaven_." "o thou hope of israel, the saviour thereof in the time of trouble, why shouldst thou be as a sojourner in the land, and as a wayfaring man that spreadeth his tent for a night?"--_jeremiah xiv. 8_. he came unto his own home, and they who were his own kinsfolk received him not into the house, but left him standing outside in the cold and dark of the winter's night. but as many as did receive him he received into his home, and gave each a seat in the inner circle at the hearthfire of god.--_john i. ii, 12. free translation_. iii the lover wooing (john i. 19-xii. 50) the mother of all love-words. brooding is love at its tenderest and best it is love giving its best, and so bringing out the best possible in the one brooded over. look into the nest where the word itself was brooded. it is a warm something, warm in itself, not a borrowed warmth. the warmth is its chief trait. it is a soft tender unfailing cuddling warmth. it cuddles and coos, it glows and floods a gentle comforting stimulating warmth. and the best there is lying asleep within the thing so brooded over awakes. it answers to that creative mothering warmth. it pushes out, against all obstacles, and comes shyly and winsomely, but steadily and strongly, out to the brooding warmth, growing as it comes and growing most as it comes into closest touch with the warm brooder. brooding is the mother of all love-words,--friendship, wooing, pitying, helping, mothering, fathering, witnessing, believing. it is the mother-word, from out whose warm womb all these others come, warm, too, and full of gentle strong life. its mother quality is so strong that we are apt to think of it only in connection with actual mothers, mothers among animals and birds and of our human kind. but this is only one meaning, really a surface meaning, though such a fine deep meaning in itself. its real heart meaning lies much deeper. _brooding is the mother of all love._ it is its warmth that draws out that fine feeling that makes and marks friendship. it is its tender warmth that draws out that finest degree of friendship which knits with unbreakable bonds two lives into one. it reaches out most subtly to knit up again the ends that have ravelled out under the sore stress of life. it bends compassionately over those hurt in body, and hurt yet more in their spirit by the greedy rivalry of life, and nurses into newness of life the shivering shredded hurt parts. in the more familiar use of the word it fathers and mothers the newly minted morsels of precious humanity, coming into life with big wondering eyes. and it warms into highest life that highest love that, through the process of hearing, assenting, trusting, risking, giving the heart's devotion, comes to know god as a tender father, and christ as a precious personal saviour. whether in close friend, or ardent lover, gracious philanthropist, devoted parent, or earnest witness, it is the same warm thing underneath, at its fine task--brooding. we think of it most in the mother. for it comes to its highest human perfection there. the true thoughtful mother is first and chiefest a brooder. she broods in spirit till her child looks into her eyes, bearing the image, in face and mental impress and spirit, which the brooding months have given. she broods over the inarticulate days when the babe cannot tell the felt needs except to a brooding mother's keen insight. she broods over the baby-talk days; over the struggling days when the child would tell its awakening thoughts out in words, but doesn't know how yet; over the wilful days which come so early when the first battles come that decide the whole future. with a warmth of tenderness and patience, and a strength of gentle wise insistence, more than human, she broods. it takes the very strength of her life, far far more than in prenatal days. so there comes, slowly, but as she keeps true to the brooding spirit, surely, the strong gentle self-controlled life out of the warm womb of her brooding life. so comes the child's higher birth, so preparing the way for the yet higher. now all this is at its native best in god. there only does it reach finest fruitage. some day we shall recognize the meaning of that modest but tremendous little sentence,--_god is love_. this warm brooding something that comes, gentle as the dawning light in the grey east, fragrant as the dew of the new morning, irresistible in its pervasive persuasive presence as the rays of the growing sun, giving to us warmth, and life, and drawing out from within us warmth and life and beauty and strength, all in its own image, this is the thing called love. this is the thing that god is. as we know _it_ we are getting acquainted with _him_. and if a break comes, instantly love in its grief sets itself with warmth and renewed strength to the new harder brooding task. it gives itself out yet more, regardless of cost, until in place of the broken fragments there comes a finer sort of life out of the warm womb of love, brooding, redeeming, bringing-back-again love. this is god. this is jesus. john shows us jesus as a picture of the brooding god. five pictures of jesus. there are five wondrous pictures of jesus in these newer leaves of the old book. three of them hang on the walls of paul's tent-weaving study-room. there's the colossian picture, the _creator-jesus,_ infinite in power, making all things above and below and around, and holding all things together.[7] close by it in wondrous contrast is seen the philippian picture. it is the _man-jesus,_ emptied of all the upper-glory native to him, bowing down low and lower and lowest, till in the form of a slave he hangs on a cross.[8] and in contrast yet more striking and startling, close by its side hangs the ephesian picture. it is the _enthroned-jesus,_ back again in the soft, blazing, blinding glory of the father's presence, seated at his right hand, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named. and as you stand awed before this picture your eye is caught by the artist's remarque sketch at the bottom. it is a broken roman seal, and an open tomb, and a bird with swelling throat singing joyously.[9] then there's john's later patmos picture of the _present-jesus_, standing now down on the earth in the midst of his candle-holding church, but seen only by opened eyes. there he is seen as a man of fire, ablaze with light, intently watching, with tender but omnipotent touch waiting, ever waiting; with a patience unknown except in him, still waiting.[10] but john's earlier gospel picture is of the _brooding-jesus_. the word "brooding" here takes in its fine deep significance. jesus is seen here as a brooding lover, by the warmth of his wooing love drawing out the warmth of an answering love. this is peculiarly and distinctively the picture of john's gospel. there is _a man walking towards you_ in these pages. turn where you will there he is, and always facing you, with a gentle eagerness in his face and in the bend-forward of his body. there is always a warmth, a gentle radiating comforting drawing warmth in his presence. this is the thing you feel most, the warmth. but it isn't the only thing. there's the purity. there are ideals that seem out of reach in their great height. there's the insistence on these ideals, rigid stern absolutely unbending insistence. you _see_ these. you can't help it. you feel them tremendously. they seem to leave you clear out of reckoning, they are so high up. but there's the warmth, drawing arousing wooing, irresistible. you come to find that the warmth of that presence is as irresistible as the ideals and the insistence are unbending. and the warmth woos you. it warms you, till there come the intense admiration of the ideals, and then the eager reaching of the whole being up towards them. this is john's picture of the brooding wooing jesus. this is god, in human garb as he comes to us in john's pages. jesus is god brooding over us to woo out of us the love and purity, the purity and love, that he woos into us by the touch of his own warm presence. john's little book is put together as simply as his sentences. and as you take it up, it falls apart almost of itself, so simple and natural are its divisions. we had a look at the opening paragraphs of the gospel, those eighteen brief verses that open the doorway into all the gospel holds for us. _there_ is given chiefly john's simple vivid tremendous picture of _a person_, coming with swift long stride and outreached hands. now we turn to the second part of the book. it runs from the nineteenth verse of the opening chapter on through to the end of chapter twelve. it is devoted to _the great winsome wooing_ of this great human person. here we see him on his wooing errand. he woos individual men. he gives the personal touch. he devotes himself to one person, now here, now there. his skill and tact in personal dealing are matchless. but this is not the chief wooing of these pages. it is _the nation_ he is wooing. with rarest strategy and boldness and persistence he lays loving siege to the nation through its leaders. this is central and dominant in all his movements here. this is the second picture in the gallery of john's gospel. it is a good thing to run through these fourteen pages of john's gospel _several times;_ to run through _rapidly_, though not hurriedly; to run through them as a story until it stands out in your mind as _one simple connected, story_. and then it will help greatly, if you are so blest as to have some boy or girl near at hand to whom you can tell it as a story in simple child (not childish) talk. pack the whole into one story of ten minutes, or fifteen: the man of the story;[11] how he tried to win the people's hearts;[12] how towards the end he spent a long evening with those who loved him;[13] how awfully he was treated by those who hated him;[14] then how wondrously he surprised his friends;[15] and then the little bit at the end where he prepares breakfast and has a walk and talk on the seashore with a little group of those who loved him most.[16] tell that to a boy or girl as a short story. use sensible words, but _not one_ that your little listener wouldn't at once understand. pretty sharp discipline for the story-teller, especially if you stop to put in a simpler word when you've blundered into a big one. the child will be held by it but you will get the most yourself out of the telling. warp-threads. now as you read the second part over, it gradually sifts itself into several incidents about which the story is woven. these incidents form the warp-threads of the narrative. into this warp are woven, sometimes little connecting links, sometimes quarrelsome discussion, sometimes exquisite bits of jesus' teaching, and sometimes john's comments. and as the story grows it reaches one climax after another, each increasing in intensity, until the intensest is reached.[17] and these incidents fall naturally into groups. there are three _chief groups_ that seem to stand out as giving the bolder points of the outline, and then _smaller groups_ or _single incidents_ that lie in between. it is very natural that the story begins with the accounts of the deputation that was sent from jerusalem by the official leaders of the nation, down to the jordan bottoms where john the witness was drawing such great crowds. john modestly answers their questions about himself, and then the next day with dramatic intensity points out the man for whom the whole nation has been looking for so long. the only response from deputation and officials is a most significant disappointing silence, a silence fully understood both by john[18] and by jesus.[19] but five galileans in the crowd listening to john's reply seek out, or are brought into personal questioning touch with, jesus, and then yield him unquestioning belief and personal devotion. and these five come, in after years, to be leaders known wherever christ's name is known.[20] so there begins the sharp contrast running throughout these pages, between the two sides into which jesus' presence divides the crowds. then john traces the simple way in which the faith of these five men ran its tiny but tough tenacious tendril-roots down into their very vitals. a simple neighbourhood wedding occasion up near the old nazareth home drew jesus thither with his kinsfolk and his new-made friends. and then he meets the need of the homely occasion by helping out the shortened supply of wine in such an unusual way as reveals his character. and the conviction takes great fresh hold upon these five men that they have made no mistake. this man is all they had taken him for, and he is immensely more than they had thought into at first.[21] then comes a little connecting link. after the cana visit, jesus runs into the near-by town of capernaum with his kinsfolk and friends for a few days, a sort of continuation of the neighbourhood courtesies.[22] and then at once john goes to the intensest, and the most significant incident of this whole section of the book. it is the drastic turning out, by jesus, of the traders in the temple-area at jerusalem. this touched at once the national leaders' most sensitive nerve, and touched it roughly. it never ceased aching. this turning of the temple-area into a common market-place, which so jarred on the holy atmosphere of the place, and on jesus' fine spirit, this was by arrangement with these leaders, and yielded them large profit. here was the sore spot. with one deft stroke john lays bare the secret of the intense hatred of jesus by these national leaders, with which these pages teem, and which came to its bursting head at the cross. long after, when jesus had died and been raised, these five leading disciples find a new strengthening of their faith in recalling words spoken at this time by jesus.[23] growing naturally out of this passover visit comes the nicodemus incident. many of the passover crowds were caught by the power of jesus shown in the miracles he did, but had not the seasoned thoughtful faith of these first disciples. but one man sifts himself out by his spirit of earnest inquiry. the sharp contrast that runs throughout these incidents stands out here. this man is of the inner upper cultured circle, that controlled national affairs, that sent that jordan committee, and that had been so upset by the temple cleansing. yet not only nicodemus' earnest search for truth, and the questions asked by him, but the fullness and fineness of spirit truth in jesus' words to him reveal the true faith of this rare inquirer; and this is verified by his later actions.[24] clearly jesus found here an opened door. here is the first of those exquisite bits of jesus' teaching that mark john's gospel.[25] these four incidents make up the first group of, what i think of as, the three chief groups of incidents in this section of john. the group begins at the jordan, and runs up into galilee, but in its interest and its chief incident, centres in jerusalem. the action begins with john the witness, and swings naturally to jesus. the contrast in this group of incidents is intense. with the same evidence at hand, first contemptuous silence and loving allegiance, then the beginnings of bitterest hate and of tenderest personal love, grow up side by side. then there is a sort of swing-away-from-jerusalem group that includes three incidents. after the rejection of john's witness to jesus[26] by the nation's leaders, jesus withdraws from jerusalem to the country districts of judea. there he takes up the sort of work john has been doing, so bearing his witness to john. john had drawn great crowds down to the jordan and in the neighbourhood of its tributary streams. now jesus helps in arousing and instructing these crowds. there are two men preaching instead of one, and jesus has the greater crowds. this is used to make trouble. it stirs up gossipy disputings. it is made to look like a jealous rivalry between the two men. and this supposed rivalry and disputing about the various claims of the two men become the uppermost thing. it reflects the characteristic spirit of the leaders. john greatly renews his witness to jesus with fresh emphasis and earnestness.[27] but as jesus sees that his presence is only being made a bone of contention he quietly slips away from judea, turning north through samaria towards galilee. then comes the great story of the visit to sychar, with the exquisitely tactful winning of the sinful woman to a life of purity, and then using her as a messenger to her people. imbedded in the story is another bit of jesus' simple great teaching talk.[28] then comes a brief connecting link. finding no acceptance in judea, his own country, jesus goes to galilee, where visitors at the jerusalem feast of passover had been spreading the news of his words and deeds, and so a gracious welcome now awaits him.[29] and here in galilee he wins the believing love of a roman officer of noble birth, whose son is desperately ill. the father's faith passes through three stages, the belief that comes to ask for help, the deeper belief that rests upon jesus' word to him and starts back home, and the yet deeper that gets confirmation of jesus' word and power in the recovery of his son from the very time jesus spoke the assuring word.[30] these are the three incidents in this group away from the jerusalem district. it is striking that this group away from jerusalem stands in sharp contrast with that first group centering in jerusalem. _there_ is rejection by the nation's leaders running from contemptuous silence to the beginning of open opposition. _here_ with less evidence there is acceptance by a samaritan and a roman; the one of no social standing; the other of the highest. the rejection of jesus by the leaders stands in contrast thus far with acceptance of him by five galileans, by a cultured scholarly aristocrat, a half-breed samaritan, and a roman of gentle birth. acceptance seems to grow with the distance from jerusalem. yet everything hinged in jerusalem. _there_ had been the flood-light. jerusalem was meant to be the gateway to the world. the irony of sin! the blinding of greed! the self-cheating of being self-centered! climbing towards the climax. and now, true to his controlling thought, john goes straight back to jerusalem with his story, ignoring intervening events. there's another feast, not called a passover, but commonly and probably correctly so reckoned, another crowd-gathering passover. an extreme chronic case of bodily infirmity draws out the pity and power of jesus, and the healed man takes his first walk after thirty-eight years. but the thing is done on a sabbath day, and gives rise to bitterest and murderous persecution, first on the score of sabbath observance, and then because jesus claimed god as "his own father" in a distinctive sense. friction fire may send out beautiful sparks. and the opposition brings out one of the choicest bits of jesus' teaching to be found in john. this incident stands by itself.[31] and now john reaches over a whole year with only a sentence or two for connection, and comes again to a passover. the passover was _the pivot_ of the jewish year and of jewish national life. this passover is made notable by _jesus' absence from jerusalem_, the only passover absence of his ministry. and the reason is the violence of the persecution by the national leaders. there is the feeding of the hungry thousands with a handful of loaves and fish. was this the real passover celebration? the multitudes fed by him who was the lamb of god and the true bread of life? while the technical observance was empty of life! it wouldn't be the only thing of the sort, in ancient times or modern.[32] jesus withdraws from the crowds who would like a bread-maker for a king, gets a bit of quiet alone with his father on the mountainside, and then walks on the water in the storm to keep his appointment with the disciples. then follows a long disputation and another fine bit of jesus' teaching.[33] these two incidents make another distinct group, separated from the previous one by a year on the far side and six months on the hither side. and the contrast continues, between the acceptance by the galilean crowds and the intensifying opposition by the chief group of jerusalem leaders. then comes _the second chief group of incidents_. about six months later jesus returns to jerusalem for the autumn feast of tabernacles. he boldly teaches in the temple in the midst of much opposition, bitter discussion, and concerted official effort against him.[34] the dramatic incident of the accused woman and the conscience-stricken leaders[35] is followed by a yet more bitter discussion and by the first passionate attempt at stoning.[36] then the incident of the man born blind but now blessedly given his sight leads to the bitterest opposition thus far, and the casting of the man out from all religious privileges; and is followed by the rare bit of sheepfold and shepherd teaching.[37] these four incidents make up the second great outstanding group of incidents, and mark the sharpest clash and crisis thus far. a few months later at another jerusalem feast called the feast of the dedication, comes a second hotly impulsive riotous attempt at stoning, and then an attempt to arrest, both foiled by the restraint of jesus' mere presence and personal power.[38] and another connecting link traces his going away beyond the jordan river, where the crowds gather to him, and are won to warm personal belief.[39] another little gap of a few months passed over in silence, brings the narrative to the _third_ and last _chief group of incidents_ in this part of the book, and so leads immediately up to the great final events of the whole book. the illness and death of lazarus draws jesus back to a suburb of jerusalem, bethany. then the stupendous incident of the raising of lazarus leads to the official decision to put jesus to death.[40] and a connecting link of verses tells of jesus' cautious withdrawal, of the inquiring crowds coming to the approaching passover, and of the public notice given that jesus was under official condemnation.[41] it is at the home feast given in bethany as a tribute of love to jesus that judas, coldly criticizing a warm act of tender love, and gently rebuked by jesus, gets into that bad heat of temper out of which came the foul bargaining and betrayal.[42] another brief connecting link lets us see the crowds more eagerly inquiring for jesus because of the raising of lazarus, and the determined priests coolly plotting lazarus' death, too.[43] then comes jesus' faithful open offer of himself in kingly fashion to the nation, with the tremendous enthusiasm of the multitudes, and the hardening of the official purpose to do the one thing that will offset this wild-fire enthusiasm.[44] and then comes the apparently simple, but in meaning tremendous, incident of the inquiring greeks. the jew door is slamming shut, but the outside door is opening. here the whole world opens its door, its front door, in these greek representatives of the best culture the earth knew. but jesus' vision never blurs. he understands; he alone. the only route to greece and the whole outer world is the underground route, the way through joseph's tomb. and as the intense spirit-struggle passes, jesus quietly goes on with his searching appealing talk to the crowd, and then slips away into hiding till his hour had full come.[45] and with breaking heart john sadly recalls isaiah's wondrous foresight of just these days and events.[46] these are the four incidents in this third chief group. and so the door shuts. the wooing ceases. this bit of john's story is done. the evidence is all in. the case is made up. the nation's door to its king shuts. the lover's wooing of the nation ceases. john turns to a new chapter. no further evidence is brought forward. the case rests with the jury. the door had been shutting for a good while. the inside door-keepers had been pulling it hard. but the great man outside had his hand on the knob delaying the shutting process, in the earnest hope that it yet might be quite stopped. now his hand reluctantly loosens its hold. the knob is free. the inside pull does its work. the door goes to with a vigorous slam. the wooing is not _wholly_ done. there is still the indirect, the tacit wooing. there's still opportunity. all through that fateful night from gethsemane's gate, to the last word at pilate's seat the lover is wooing. but it is wooing by action, by presence, by yielding. no pleading word is spoken. the direct wooing is done. tender, earnest, insistent, patient, tremendous, irresistible in itself save to those who willed to resist anything and everything no matter what or whom,--wondrous wooing it has been. now it's over. that chapter is done. way-marks in john's narrative. out of this simple running account several things sift themselves, and stand out to our eyes. the action of the story swings chiefly _about jerusalem_. the other parts seem but background to make jerusalem stand out big. in this john's gospel differs radically from the other three. they are absorbed chiefly with the tireless gracious galilean ministry of jesus, till the last great events force them to jerusalem. and the reason is plain. jerusalem is israel. it is the nation. jesus is wooing the _nation_ through its leaders. why? for the nation's sake? for israel's sake? yes and no. because these jews were favourites of god? distinctly _no_, though so highly favoured they had been in the wondrous mission entrusted to them. but because israel was the gateway to a world yes, for israel's sake. _through_ this gateway, so carefully prepared when every other gate was closing, _through_ this out to a world--this was the plan of action. and this will yet be found to be the plan. through a jewish gateway the king will one day go out to touch his world. this is the geography of john's story. the action of the story swirls largely, too, about the great national feasts, the passovers, the tabernacles or harvest-home feast of the autumn, and one called "the dedication," not elsewhere spoken of. to these came great crowds of pilgrim jews from all quarters of the world, speaking many languages beside their national hebrew, giving large business, especially to money-brokers and traders in the animals and birds used in the sacrifices. that classical pentecost chapter of acts gives the wide range of countries and of languages represented by these pilgrim thousands. these feasts are the central occasions of john's story. _the time_ begins with john's preaching in the jordan bottoms and reaches up practically to the evening of the betrayal. it is commonly reckoned three and a half years. that is, there are some months before that first passover, and then the events run through and up to the fourth passover, reckoning the unnamed feast of chapter five as a passover. this is the chronology of john's gospel. john's gospel gives the only clue to the length of jesus' ministry. there are three groups _of persons_. there are _the jews_. that is one of john's distinctive phrases. by it he means as a rule the official leaders of the nation, whom in common with the other writers he also designates by their party names, pharisees, scribes, chief priests, and so on. among these the name of caiaphas stands out, and later annas. then there are _the crowds_, the masses of people that flock together in any new stirring movement. there are galilean crowds, feast-time crowds including the great numbers of foreign pilgrim jews, city crowds, and country crowds. they gather to john's preaching. they gather in great numbers in jerusalem, and on the galilean visits. they are easily impressionable, swayed by subtle crowd-contagion, stirred up and played upon cunningly by the opposition leaders. they appeal greatly to jesus, like unshepherded sheep. and the sick and needy ones, so numerous, draw out his pity and warm touch and healing power. they believe quickly, and almost as quickly are turned away and desert the cause they had so quickly and warmly rallied to. fickle, unthoughtful, easily-swayed, needy crowds, but with the thoughtful ones and groups here and there who are really helped and who stick. these crowds are always in evidence. and there are _the disciples_. there is the inner group of chosen ones who companion with jesus, sharing his bread and bed, and close witnesses of his gracious spirit and unfailing power, with impulsive heady peter and faithful steady john always nearest by. what a schooling all this was for them! and there are other disciples, not of this picked circle, but on most intimate personal terms with the master, some of them, like thoughtful cautious nicodemus, like the bethany group of three, and mary the magdalene. and there is the larger, looser, changing body of disciples, mingling with the crowds, sometimes deserting, but no doubt with many thoughtful devoted ones among them. these are the leading persons figuring in john's story, grouped about the person of jesus. but these are simply interesting incidentals giving local colouring to john's story. we pass by them quickly now to a few things that take great hold of one's heart, that stand out biggest, and give the real action of life to the story. tapestry threads. as we unravel the fabric of john's gospel there are three threads that stand out by reason of the distinctness of their colours. there's a thread of clear decided blue. there's a dark ugly black thread that gets blacker as it weaves itself farther in. and then there's a bright yellow glory-colour thread that shines with brighter lustre as the black gets blacker. trace the blue first, the thread of a simple glad acceptance of jesus, and trust in him. it deepens in its fine shading of blue as you follow it, true blue, the colour true hearts wear. from the very first jesus is accepted by some, by many. and this continues steadily through to the very last. some doors open at once to him. then under the influence of his presence and gentle resistless power they open wide, and then wider. it is fascinating to trace the simply told story of growing faith, until one's own faith gets clearer and steadier and has more warm glow to it. to adapt tennyson's fine lines, as knowledge grows from more to more there dwells in us more of the deep tender reverence of love, until all the powers of mind and spirit chord into one symphony of unending music. and the wheels of our common life move always to its rhythmic swing. see how _the crowds_ crowd to jesus, and open up to the appeal of his words and acts and presence. many of the pilgrim crowds of that first passover believe, impressed by jesus' spirit of helpfulness and his unusual power.[47] and the galileans among them give him warm welcome as he comes up into their country.[48] it is a great multitude that follows eagerly up on the east coast of the galilean sea, hail him as the long-expected prophet of their nation, talk of plans for making him their king, and earnestly cry out, "lord, evermore give us this (true) bread."[49] even in the midst of the bickering discussions at the tabernacles feast many of the multitude believed on him, some as the long-talked-of prophet, some as the very christ himself.[50] and as he talks to his critics of his purpose always to please the father, still others are drawn in heart to him and believe.[51] and at this same time, as the criticism gets uglier, many make bold to speak out on his behalf[52] though it was getting to be a dangerous thing to do. as he feels compelled to withdraw from the tense atmosphere of jerusalem, and goes away into the country districts beyond the jordan the people come flocking to him with open hearts.[53] the lazarus incident made inroads into the upper circles of jerusalem, many of the influential social class with whom these dear bethany friends seem on close terms, and who had been out there during those stirring days, believe on jesus, and many of the common people, too, are won by that occurrence.[54] that tremendous raising of lazarus had much to do with the great acclaim of the multitudes as jesus rode into jerusalem on the kingly colt.[55] it is without doubt a sincere homage that these multitudes from far and near, and the home crowds, render, with their palm branches and garment-strewn roads, and spontaneous outburst of joyous song.[56] and now as john put his bit of a knotted summary on the end of this part of his story, he points out that even among the members of the jewish senate there were many real believers.[57] but a crowd is a strange complex thing. it doesn't know itself. it's easily swept along to do as a crowd what would never be done by each one off by himself. and this works in good ways as well as in bad. jesus drew the crowds and was drawn by them. he couldn't withstand the pull of the crowd. the lure of its intense need was irresistible to him. yet he knew crowds rarely. he was never blinded by their enthusiasm. his keen insight saw under the surface, though it never held him critically back from helping. he quickly notes that the belief of those first passover crowds has not reached the dependable stage.[58] he is never held back from showing the red marks in the road to be trodden even though many of his disciples balk at going farther on such a road, and some turn away to an easier road,[59] so revealing an utter lack of the real thing. and even where there's real faith of the sincere sort it is yet sometimes not of the seasoned sort that can stand the storms.[60] these crowds seem of close kin to more modern crowds. one touch of a crowd rubs out centuries of difference and shows one family blood in us all. yet keep things poised. it was out of these crowds that there came the disciples and close friends to whom we now turn. there's gold in the crowds, finest twenty-four carat gold. it's all a matter of mining. skilful mining gets out the gold. this wondrous lover used the magnetic-current method of mining, the love-current. the strong warm current, the fine personal spirit current, drew out to him the fine grains of gold in these human crowds. growing faith. now we climb the hill where _the disciples_ are. the crowds are in the bottom-lands. many have started up the hill. jesus always woos men uphill. you can always tell a man by where he is standing, bottom-land, hillside, higher-hill-slope, hilltop. we turn now from the crowds that believed to those whose personal acceptance of jesus drew them into the inner circle. the first three incidents trace the beginnings of faith in those first close disciples who came to be numbered among the picked inner twelve.[61] the first story is one of the rarest of john's many rare stories. it is characteristic of the real thing of faith that beginning with two they quickly number five. the attachment of the two to john, the witness, reveals them as of the earnest inquiring sort, after the very best. john never forgot that talk with jesus in the gathering twilight by the jordan. it sends andrew out for peter, and john likely for james, while the master gets philip, and he in turn nathaniel. that reveals the real stuff of faith. it has a mind whose questionings have been satisfied, a heart that catches fire, and feet that hasten out-of-doors for others. that's the real thing. their faith takes deeper root at cana. a new personal experience of jesus' power is a great deepener of faith, the great deepener. this is the only pathway from faith to a deeper realer sturdier faith. a man can get a deeper faith only by walking on his own feet where jesus leads. their faith grows imperceptibly but by leaps and bounds. it grows down deeper and so up stronger and out farther by their _companionship with jesus_ through those brief packed years. what a school that was! the school of companionship with jesus, with lessons daily, but the chiefest lesson the teacher himself. what a school it _is_! the only one for learning the real thing of faith: still open: pupils received at any time. if we would shut our eyes and go with them as they company with jesus through those wondrous days and events and experiences we may get some hold on how their faith grew. they actually saw the handful of loaves and fishes grow in their hands until thousands were fed. their own eyes saw jesus walking on the water. it was out of their very hearts that they cry out through peter's lips in answer to jesus' pathetic pleading question and say, "to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life."[62] and without doubt thomas acts as spokesman for all when jesus announced his intention of returning to the danger zone, and thomas sturdily says, "let us _also_ go, that we may die with him."[63] but you are thinking of that terrible break of theirs on the betrayal night, are you? well, perhaps if we call to mind with what an utter shock the events of that terrific twenty four hours came, intensified the more by the unexpectedness and the suddenness of it; and then if--perhaps--we may call to mind the more recent behaviour of some modern disciples who have had enormous advantages over them in regard to that terrific experience it may chasten our feelings a bit and soften the edge of our thought about them. but dear faithful john never faltered. we must always love him for that. how humiliating for us if not even one had stood that test. and how their after-contact with john must have affected the others. john pulled the others back and up. and how their faith so sorely chastened and tested came to its fine seasoned strength afterwards. these very events of the early days now come back with new meaning to them. jesus' words at the temple cleansing, and the kingly entry into jerusalem, shine now in a new light and give new strength to their faith.[64] but john himself brings us back to this again in that long talk of the betrayal night. so we leave it now. but blue is a good colour for the eyes. it reveals great beauty in the bit of tapestry-pattern john is weaving for us to trace these true blue threadings. but there's more here, much more, that adds greatly to the pattern. there are faithful disciples _and precious intimate friendships_ outside the circle of these future leaders. take only a moment for these as we push on. there's that night visitor of the early jerusalem days. aristocrat, ruler, scholar, with all the supercautiousness that these qualities always grain in, nicodemus actually left the inner circle of temple-rulers who were as sore to the touch as a boil over john's drastic cleansing, and comes for a personal interview. his utter sincerity is shown in the temper of his remarks and questions, and shown yet more in the openness of jesus' spirit in talking with him. for this is a trait in jesus' dealings,--openness when he finds an opening door. it _must_ be so, then and now. he can open up only where there is an opening up to him. openness warms and loosens. the reverse chills and locks up.[65] it is in another just such situation but far more acute, that this man speaks out for jesus in an official meeting of these same rulers. timidly? have you thought, cautiously? yet he spoke out when no one else did, though others there believed in jesus. a really rare courage it was that told of a growing faith.[66] and the personal devotion side of his faith, evidence again of the real thing, stands out to our eyes as we see him bring the unusual gift of very costly ointments for the precious body of his personal friend.[67] it's a winsome story, this of nicodemus. may there be many a modern duplicate of it. in utter social contrast stands the next bit of this sort following so hard that the contrast strikes you at once. it's a half-breed samaritan this time, and a woman, and an openly bad life. the samaritans were hated by jew and gentile alike as belonging to neither, ground between the two opposing social national millstones. womanhood was debased and held down in the way all too familiar always and everywhere. and a moral outcast ranks lowest in influence. but true love discerns the possible lily in the black slime bulb at the pond's bottom and woos it into blossoming flower, till its purity and beauty greet our delighted eyes. under the simple tact of love's true touch, out of such surroundings grows a faith, through the successive stages of gossipy curiosity, cynical remark, interest, eagerness, guilty self-consciousness that would avoid any such personal conversation, out and out comes a faith that means a changed life, and then earnest bringing of others till the whole village acclaims jesus a saviour, _the_ saviour. and the very title they apply to jesus reveals as by a flash-light the chief personal meaning the interview had for this outcast woman. in one way her faith meant more than nicodemus', for it meant a radical change of outer life with her. and many a one stops short of that, though the real thing never does, and can't.[68] then the circle widens yet more, geographically. jew, samaritan, it is a _roman_ this time, one of the conquering nation under whose iron heel the nation writhes restlessly. he is of gentle birth and high official position. it is his sense of acute personal need that draws him to jesus. the child of his love is slipping from his clinging but helpless grasp. there's the loose sort of hearsay groping faith that turns to jesus in desperation. things can't be worse, and possibly there might be help. there's the very different faith that looks jesus in the face and hears the simple word of assurance so quietly spoken. he actually heard the word spoken about _his_ dying darling, "_thy son liveth_." then there is that wondrous new sort of faith whose sharper hooks of steel enter and take hold of your very being as you actually _experience_ the power of jesus in a way wholly new to you. as it came to his keenly awakened mind that the favourable turn had come at the very moment jesus uttered those quiet words, and then as he looked into the changed face of his recovering child, he became a changed man. the faith in jesus was a part of his being. the two could never be put asunder. so the roman world brought its grateful tribute of acceptance to this great wooing brooding lover. the wooing had won again. and now there's another extreme social turnabout in the circle that feels the power of jesus' wooing. we turned from jerusalem aristocrat to samaritan outcast; now it's from gentle roman official to a beggaring pauper. it is at the tabernacles' visit. jesus, quietly masterfully passing out from the thick of the crowd that would stone him, noticed a blind ragged beggar by the roadway. one of those speculative questions that are always pushing in, and that never help any one is asked: "who's to blame here?" with his characteristic intense practicality jesus quietly pushes the speculative question aside with a broken sentence, a sentence broken by his action as he begins helping the man. in effect he says, "neither this man nor his parents are immediately to blame; the thing goes farther back. but"--and he reaches down and begins to make the soft clay with his spittle--"_the_ thing is to see the power of god at work to help." and the touch is given and the testing command to wash, and then eyes that see for the first time. but the one thing that concerns us now in this great ninth chapter is the faith that was so warmly wooed up out of nothing to a thing of courageous action and personal devotion to jesus. it is fairly fascinating to watch the man move from birth-blind hopelessness through clay-anointed surprise and wonder and siloam-walking expectancy on to water-washing eyesight. it is yet more fascinating to see his spirit move up in the language he uses, from "the _man_ called jesus," and the cautious but blunt "i don't know about his being a sinner, but i know i can _see_," on to the bolder "clearly not a sinner but a man in reverent touch with god himself." then the yet bolder, "a man _from god_," brings the break with the dreaded authorities which branded him before all as an outcast and as a damned soul. and then the earnest reverent cry "who is he, lord, that i may believe?" reveals the yearning purpose of his own heart. and then the great climax comes in the heart cry, "lord, i believe, i believe thee to be the very son of god." and the outcast of the rulers casts in his lot with jesus and begins at once living the eternal quality of life which goes on endlessly. what a day for him from hopeless blindness of body and heart to eyesight that can see jesus' face and know him as his saviour and lord! growth of faith clearly is not limited to the counting of hours. it waits only on one's walking out fully into all the light that comes, no matter where it may lead your steps. the bethany height of faith. the bethany story is one of the tenderest of all. it touches the heights. it's a hilltop story, both in its setting amidst the bethany blue hills where it grew up, and in the height of faith it records. it has personal friendship and love of jesus and implicit trust in him as its starting point. and from this it reaches up to levels unknown before. faith touches high water here. it rises to flood, a flood that sweeps mightily through the valleys of doubt and questionings all around about. at the beginning there is faith in jesus of the tender, personal sort. at the close there's faith that he will actually meet the need of your life and circumstance _without limit_. the highest faith is this: connecting jesus' power and love with the actual need of your life. abraham believed god with full sincerity that covenant-making night under the dark sky. but he didn't connect his faith in god with his need and danger among the philistines.[69] peter believed in jesus fully but his faith and his action failed to connect when the sore test came that gethsemane night. the bethany pitch of faith makes connections. it ties our god and our need and our action into one knot. this is the pith of this whole story. jesus' one effort in his tactful patient wooing is to get martha up to the point of ordering that stone aside. he got her faith into touch with the gravestone of her sore need. her faith and her action connected. that told her expectancy. creeds are best understood when they're acted. moving the stone was her confession of faith. _not_ that jesus was the son of god. that was settled long before. no: it meant this--that the son of god was now actually going to _act as son of god_ to meet her need. under his touch her dead brother was going to live. the deadness that broke her heart would give way under jesus' touch. the bethany faith doesn't believe that god _can_ do what you need, merely. it believes that he _will_ do it and so the stone's taken away that he _may_ do it. god has our active consent. are we up on the bethany level? has god our active consent to do all he would? is our faith being lived, acted out? and the feast of grateful tribute that followed has an exquisite added touch. the faith that lets god into one's life to meet its needs gets clearer eyesight. acted faith affects the spirit vision. there is a spirit sensitiveness that recognizes god and discerns how things will turn out. notice jesus' words about mary's act of anointing. there is a singularly significant phrase in it. "let her _keep it_ against (or in view of) the day of my burying." "keep it" is the striking phrase. what does that mean? we speak of _keeping_ a day, as christmas, meaning to hallow the memories for which it stands. "keep it" here seems to mean that. let her keep a memorial. yet it would be a memorial _in advance_ of the event remembered and hallowed. it seems to suggest that mary thus discerned the outcome for jesus of the coming crisis, and more, its great significance. the disciples expected jesus' power to overcome all opposition. she alone sensed what was coming, his death and its tremendous spirit-meaning. and it is possible that the raising of her brother helped her to sense ahead another raising. for there is no mention of her at the tomb, as would otherwise have been most natural. her simple love-lit faith could _see_, and could see _beyond_ to the final outcome. this is the story of the bethany faith, faith at flood. this highest simplest truest faith, that had come in answer to jesus' patient persistent wooing for it, opens the way for the greatest use of his power on record. there's one story more in this true-blue faith list. it is the story of the greeks. at first it seems not to belong in here. there is no mention made of the faith of these men nor of their acceptance of jesus. but the more you think into it the more it seems that here is its true place, and that this is why john brings it in, not simply to show how the outside world was reaching for jesus, but to show the inner spirit of these men towards jesus. whether the term _greeks_ is used in the looser sense for the greek-speaking jews,[70] or for non-jewish foreigners, or, as i think most likely, in the meaning of men of grecian blood, residents of greece, the significance is practically the same, it was the outer world coming to jesus. these had come a long journey to do homage to the true god at jerusalem. their presence reveals their spirit. they were eye and ear-witnesses of the stirring events of those last days in jerusalem. the stupendous story of the raising of the man out in the bethany suburb was the talk of the city. and then there was that intense scene of the kingly entry into the city amid the acclaiming multitudes. they knew of the official opposition, and the public proclamation against jesus. they breathed the jerusalem air. that put them in touch with the whole situation. now notice keenly they seek a personal interview with jesus. this is the practical outcome of the situation _to them_. it reminds one of that other man, under similar conditions though less intense, at an earlier stage, cautiously seeking a night interview. their desire tells not curiosity but earnestness, and the very earnestness reveals both purpose and attitude towards jesus. and this is made the plainer by the very words they use as they seek out the likeliest man of the master's inner circle to secure the coveted interview. they say, "sir, _we would see jesus_." the whole story of conviction, of earnestness, of decision, is in that tremendous little word "would." it was their will, their deliberate choice, to come into personal relations with this man of whom they were hearing so much. and it seems like a direct allusion to that tremendous word, and an answer to it, when jesus, in effect, in meaning, says, "if any man _would_ follow me." both the coming under such circumstances, and the form of the request, seem to tell the attitude of these men towards jesus and their personal purpose regarding him. it would be altogether likely that they accompany philip as he seeks out andrew. it would be the natural thing. and so they are with philip and andrew as they come to tell jesus. then this would be the setting of these memorable intense words that jesus now utters.[71] he senses at once the request and the earnest purpose of these men seeking him out. it is for them especially that these words are spoken. and if, as some thoughtful scholars think, jesus spake here, not in his native aramaic, but in the greek tongue, it gives colouring to the supposition. the intense earnestness of his words, and the revealing of the intense struggle within his spirit as he breathes out the simple prayer,--all this is a tacit recognition of the spirit of these greeks. the parallel is striking with the nicodemus interview where no direct mention is made of the faith that later events showed was unquestionably there. it seems like another of those silences of john that are so full of meaning.[72] and the silence seems, as with nicodemus, to mean the acquiescence of the inquirers in the message they hear. this then would seem to be the reply to the request. they have indeed seen jesus. and they accept it and him, as most likely they linger through the passover-days at hand and then turn their faces homeward. and so the warm wooing has drawn out this warm response from the cultured greek world. so we trace the blue thread in john's tapestry picture, the true faith that is drawn out from nothing to little and more and much and most, under the warmth of the brooded wooing of this great lover. the ugly thread in the weaving. now for that ugly dark thread, the opposition to, the rejection of, the lover's wooing. but we'll not linger here. we've been seeing so much of this thread as we traced the other and studied the whole. ugly things stand out by reason of their very ugliness. this stands out in gloomy disturbing contrast with all the rest. a brief quick tracing will fully answer our present purpose. and then we can hasten on to the dominating figure in the pattern. the opposition begins with silent rejection, moves by steady stages, growing ever intenser clear up to the murderous end. the sending of the committee to the jordan to examine john and report on him was an official recognition of his power. the questions asked raise the possibility clearly being discussed of john being the promised prophet, or elijah, or even the christ himself, and this is an expression of the national expectancy. the utter silence with which john's witness to jesus is met is most striking.[73] its significance is spoken of by both jesus and john.[74] the intensity of the resentment over the cleansing of the temple-area can be almost felt rising up out of the very page, in the critical questions and cynical comment of the jews. one can easily see all the bitterness of their hate tracking its slimy footprints out of that cleansed courtyard.[75] the cunning discussion among the great jordan crowds about the purifying rite of baptism, stirred up so successfully by "_a jew_," that is, probably by one of the jerusalem leaders, would seem to be a studied attempt to discredit the two preachers, jesus and john, and swing the crowds away. it was shrewdly done and might have dissipated the fine spiritual atmosphere by bitter strife and discussion had not jesus quietly slipped away.[76] this attitude of theirs is clearly recognized and felt by jesus. he plainly points out that vulgarizing hurt of sin whereby god's own messenger is not recognized when he comes in the garb of a neighbour.[77] then things get more acute. the blessed healing of a thirty-eight-year-old infirmity leads to outspoken persecution, to a desire and purpose actually to kill jesus. it grew intenser as jesus' claim grew clearer. the issue was sharply drawn. he "called god _his own father_, making himself _equal with god_." they begin plotting his death.[78] his prudent absence from jerusalem at the time of the next passover reveals graphically how tense the opposition had gotten. but even up by galilee's shores they have messengers at work amongst the crowds exciting discussion and discontent and worse. in the discussion it is easy to pick out the two elements, the nagging critics and the earnest seekers. and the saddening result is seen in many disciples leaving jesus and going back again to their old way.[79] then things got so intense that jesus' habit of life was broken or changed. he could no longer frequent judea as he had done, but kept pretty much to the northern province of galilee. the settled plan to kill made his absence a matter of common prudence. this makes most striking his great courage in going up to jerusalem at the autumn feast of tabernacles. he quietly arrived in the midst of much rumour and hot discussion about himself, and begins teaching the crowds openly, to the great amazement of many. at once begin the wordy critical attacks, egged on probably by the warmth with which many receive jesus' teachings. there are three attempts to take him by force, including an official attempt at arrest. but, strangely enough, the very officers sent to arrest are so impressed by jesus' teaching that they return with their mission not done, to the intensest disgust and rage of their superiors.[80] early on the morning following there's a cunning coarse attempt to entrap him into saying something that can be used against him. a woman is brought accused of wrong-doing of the gravest sort, and his opinion is asked as to the proper punishment for so serious an offense. there's nothing more dramatic in scripture than the withdrawal of these accusers, one by one, actually conscience-stricken in the presence of the few simple words of this wondrous man.[81] this is followed by the intensest give-and-take of discussion thus far, in which they give vent to their bitterest degree of vile language in calling him "a samaritan," and accusing him of being possessed with "a demon." and then the terrible climax is reached in the enraged passionate attempt of stoning. it is the worst yet to which their fanatical rage has gone.[82] now they reach out to intimidate the multitude, by threatening to cut off from religious and civic privileges all who would confess belief in jesus as christ. and their spleen vents its rage on the man born blind but now so wondrously given sight of two sorts.[83] the winter feast of the dedication a few months later finds jesus back again in jerusalem teaching. and again their enraged attempt at stoning, the second one, is restrained by a something in him they can neither understand nor withstand.[84] the lazarus incident arouses their opposition to the highest pitch.[85] this is recognized as a crisis. such power had never been seen or known. the inroads of belief are everywhere, in the upper social circles, among the old families, even in the jewish senate itself, notwithstanding the threatened excommunication. on every hand men are believing. things are getting desperate for these leaders. they determine to use all the authority at hand arbitrarily and with a high hand. what strange blindness of stubborn self-will to such open evidence of power! a special meeting of the jewish senate is held, not unlikely hastily summoned of those not infected with belief. and there it is officially determined to put jesus to death, and serve public notice that any one knowing of his whereabouts must report their information to the authorities. and as the incoming crowds thicken for the passover, and the talk about lazarus is on every tongue, it is determined to put lazarus to death, too. this is the pitch things have risen to as john brings this part of his story to a close. the glory-coloured thread. it is a relief to turn now to the chief figure in this tapestried picture of john's weaving. here are glory-coloured threads of bright yellow. they easily stand out, thrown in relief both by the pleasing blues and the disturbing blacks. it is the figure of the man on the errand, intent on his wooing, absorbed in his great task. thia man, his tremendous wooing, wins glad grateful ever-growing acceptance. and with rarest boldness and courage he persists in his wooing in spite of the terrific intensifying opposition. the gentle softening dew persists in distilling even on the hardest stoniest soil. the _gentle winsomeness of the wooing_ stands out appealingly as one goes through those fragments of teaching talks running throughout. the rare faithfulness of it to the nation and its leaders is thrown into bold relief by the very opposition that reveals their dire spiritual plight and their sore need. the _power of it_ is simply stupendous. as gentle in action as the falling dew it grows in intensity until neither the gates of death nor even the stubborn resistance of a human will can prevail against it. it is power sufficient to satisfy the most critical search, and to make acceptance not only possible with one's reasoning power in fullest exercise but the rational thing. look a bit at the power at work here. for in looking at the power we are getting a better look at the man, and at the purpose that grips him. of the nineteen incidents in these twelve chapters fifteen give exhibitions of power. it is of two sorts, power over the human will, and miraculous power. eight incidents reveal _power working upon the human will_. in three of these--nicodemus, the samaritan woman, the accused sinful woman--the will becomes pliant and is radically changed, so morally affecting the whole life. in five--the temple cleansing, at the tabernacles feast, the first and second attempt at stoning, and the kingly entry into the city--the human will is stubbornly aggressively antagonistic to jesus, but is absolutely restrained from what it is fully set upon doing. in the other seven incidents the power is _miraculous_ or supernatural. in three--turning the water into wine, multiplying food supplies, walking on the water--it is power in _the realm of nature_. in four--healing the roman nobleman's son, the thirty-eight-year infirmity, giving sight to the man born blind, and the raising of lazarus--it is power in _the realm of the body_, radically changing its conditions. it will help to remember what those words _miraculous_ and _supernatural_ mean. miraculous means something wonderful, that is, something filling us with wonder because it is so unusual. supernatural means something above the usual natural order. the two words are commonly taken as having one meaning. neither word means something contrary to nature, of course, but simply on a higher level than the ordinary workings of nature with which we are familiar. the action is in accord with some higher law in god's world which is brought into play and is seen to be superior to the familiar laws. but the power, or the man that can call this higher law into action, is of a higher order. there is revealed an intimacy of acquaintance with these higher laws, and even more a power that can command and call them into action down in the sphere of our common ordinary life, until we stare in wonder. this is really the remarkable thing. not supernatural action itself simply, tremendous as that is, but the man in such touch with higher power as to be able to call out the action, and to command it at will. this is one of the things that marks jesus off so strikingly from other holy men. there are miracles in the old testament and in the book of acts. but there's an abundance and a degree of power in jesus' miracles outclassing all others. it is fascinating and awesome to watch the growth of power in these movements of jesus. it is as though he woos more persistently in the very degree and variety of power that he uses so freely, and with such apparent ease. which calls out greater power, creating or healing? making water into wine or healing bodily ailment? which is the greater, power in the realm of nature or the body? _or_ in the realm of the human will? multiplying food _or_ changing a human will? which is greater, to induce a man voluntarily to change his course of action, _or_ to restrain him (by moral power only, not by force) from doing something he is dead-set on doing? this is the range through which jesus' action runs in these fifteen incidents. is there a growth in the power revealed? is there an intenser plea to these men as the story goes on? is there a steady piling up of evidence in the wooing of their hearts? well, creating is bringing into material being what didn't so exist before. healing does something more. it creates new tissue, makes new or different adjustments and conditions, _and_ it overcomes the opposite, the broken tissue, the diseased conditions, the weakness, the tendency towards decay and death. clearly there's a greater task in healing, and a greater power at work, or more power, or power revealed more. then, too, of course, the human is above the physical. man is higher than nature. he is the lord of creation. it is immensely more to affect a human will than to affect conditions in nature. the whole thing moves up to a measureless higher level. and clearly enough it is a less difficult task to enlighten and persuade one who seeks the light, and to woo up one who is simply carelessly indifferent, than it is to overcome and restrain a will that is dead-set against you and is bitterly set on an opposite course. of course, all of this is not commonly so recognized. it seems immensely more to heal the body than to change a man's course of action, or, at least, it appeals immensely more to the imagination. the man who can heal is magnified in our eyes above the other. the miraculous always seems the greater. it is more unusual. stronger wills are influencing others daily. that's a commonplace. bodily healing is rare. and all the world is ill. things are ripe to have such power seize upon the imagination then and always. and then, too, there are interlacings here of things we see and things we don't see. there is the element of the use of the human will in all miraculous action, whether in nature or among men. behind both nature's forces and human forces are unseen spirit personalities, both evil and good. the real battle of our human life lies there in the spirit realm. victory there means full victory in the realm of nature and of human lives. there is a devil with hosts of spirit attendants. the wilderness was a spirit-conflict of terrific intensity, ending in jesus' unqualified victory. jesus' power was more than simply creative, or healing, or over human wills. it was the power of a pure, strong, surrendered will having the mastery over a giant, unsurrendered, god-defiant will. this underlies all else. but we've run off a bit. come back to the simple story, and see how the power of jesus is revealed more and more before their eyes. and in seeing the faithfulness and winsomeness of his power, see his wooing. intenser wooing. a look at the _miraculous_ power first. the turning of the water into wine was simple creative power at work, creating in the liquid the added constituents that made it wine. the healing of the nobleman's son rises to a higher level. the power overcomes diseased weakened conditions and creates new life in the parts affected. the healing of a thirty-eight year old infirmity rises yet higher in the scale of power seen at work. the roman's child was an acute case; this an extreme chronic case of long standing. the acute case of illness may be most difficult and ticklish, demanding a quick masterful use of all the physician's knowledge and skill. the chronic case is yet more difficult eluding his best studied and prolonged and repeated effort. clearly the power at work is accomplishing more; and so it is pleading more eloquently. the feeding of the five thousand is creative power simply, like the water-wine case, but it moves up higher in the greater abundance of power shown, the increase of quantity created, and the far greater and intenser human need met and relieved. the walking on the water was an overcoming one of nature's laws, a rising up superior to it. the universal law of gravitation would naturally have drawn his feet through the surface of the water and his whole body down. he overcomes this law, retaining his footing on the water as on land. it was done in the night, but an oriental community, like any country community, anywhere, is a bulletin-board for all that happens. no detail is omitted, and no one misses the news. and this like all these other incidents become the common property of the nation. it is interesting to note in the language john uses[86] that the motive underneath the action was not to reveal power but simply to keep an appointment. but then jesus never used his power to show that he had power, but only to meet the need of the hour. yet each exhibition of power revealed indirectly, incidentally _who he was_. there is an instance similar to this in the borrowed axe-head that swam in obedience to elisha's touch of power to meet the need of the distressed theological student.[87] in each instance it is the same habit of nature that yields homage to a higher power at work. but though there is here no increase of power shown yet the action itself was of the sort to appeal much more to the crowd. it has in it the dramatic. it would appear to the crowd a yet more wonderful thing than they had yet witnessed. the giving of sight to the man born blind is distinctly a long step ahead of any healing power thus far related in john's story. there is here not only the chronic element, but the thing is distinctly in a class by itself, quite outclassing in the difficulty presented any case of mere chronic infirmity. it was not a matter of restoring what disease had destroyed but of supplying what nature had failed to give in its usual course. it was a meeting of nature's lack through some slip in the adjustment of her action in connection with human action. there is not only the appealing dramatic element, as in the walking on the water, but the appealing sympathetic element in that this poor man's lifelong burden is removed. and then the seventh and last of these, the actual raising of lazarus up from the dead, is a climax of power in action nothing short of stupendous. of the six recorded cases of the dead being raised this is easily the greatest in the power seen at work. in the other five, in the elijah record,[88] the elisha,[89] the moabite's body at elisha's grave,[90] jairus' daughter,[91] and the widow's son at nain,[92] there was no lapse of time involved. here four days of death had intervened, until it was quite certain beyond question that in that climate decomposition would be well advanced. utter human impotence and impossibility was in its last degree. man stands utterly powerless, utterly helpless in the presence of death. it is not the last degree of improbability. there _is_ no improbability. it's an _impossibility_. the thing is in a class by itself, the hopeless class. and the four days give death its fullest opportunity. and death never fails in grim faithfulness to opportunity. it is no wonder that all jerusalem was so stirred. the common crowds of home people and pilgrims, the aristocratic families, the inner official circles, among _all_ classes, this tremendous event won recognition of jesus' power and claim, and with recognition personal faith. nothing like this had ever happened. this is the superlative degree of miraculous power revealed in this matchless wooing of a faithless nation. love wooing yet more. now a look at the power at work _in the realm of the human will_, really a higher power, or power at work in a higher realm, though not commonly so recognized by the crowd. there are eight incidents here. and again we shall find the steady rise of the power seen at work. three of these tell of the human will changed, and four of its being restrained against its will from doing that which it was dead-set on doing. the ruler who withdrew from the midst of the disturbed temple managers for a night-call upon jesus was radically changed in his convictions and his life-purpose. he had an open mind. the work was begun at that first jerusalem passover. under the holy spell of john's presence he is drawn away from his enraged brother-rulers to seek the night talk. the frankness and fullness of jesus' talk shows plainly how open he was and how much more he opened and yielded that evening. and the after protest in the official meeting of the rulers, and the loving care for the body of jesus reveal how radical was the transformation wrought upon his will and heart by jesus.[93] the samaritan woman is changed from utter indifference to a change of will and purpose that makes her an eager messenger to her people until they hail jesus as the saviour of the world. the change involved a radical face-about in habit and life amongst the very people who knew her past sinful life best. it meant more than change of conviction, that change actually put into practice across the grain of the habits of years, and of the lower passions, so hard to change. it is a distinct step up from the change in nicodemus simply because there was so much more to change. the same power had more to do. and it did it.[94] the story of the woman accused of the gravest offense is a double one in the power seen at work. she would naturally be hardened, and stony hard, shameless to the point of hopeless indifference in moral sense, and all this increased by their coarse publicity of her. and so little is said, but so much suggested of a change in her. the purity of jesus' face and presence would be a tremendous power of conviction. the gentleness of his quiet question would couple softening of heart with conviction of her sin. the word of counsel as she is dismissed would seem a mirror reflecting the inner longing of her heart and the new purpose stirring within, as memory recalls early days of virgin purity, and a wild hope within struggles towards life that there may yet be a change even for her. the change in her accusers is, at least, as remarkable though wholly different. morally hardened, as shameless and coarse as the woman as regards a fine moral sensibility; by their own tacit confession no better in practice than she in the point of morals raised; in their malignant cunning only concerned with the woman's sin as a means of venting their spleen upon the man they hated and feared,--what a hideous spirit-photograph! under the strange compelling power of jesus' word and will, utterly conscience-stricken at being as guilty as she in the particular item under discussion, they turn, one by one, and slink softly out, until the last one is gone. as an instance of one will controlling and changing another will wholly against its will to the point of forcing out confession of personal guilt, it is most remarkable. one wonders if, under that tremendous conviction of personal sin, some of these were later included in those of the sanhedrin who openly accepted jesus. it is quite possible. it is not improbable.[95] the fact is noted that the very language used here under the english indicates a different authorship of the incident than john's. possibly a thoughtful delicacy of regard for the woman restrains john's pen if she were still living as he writes. and then later the holy spirit, who so tactfully restrains john's pen, guides another to fit the remarkable story in its place in the record. the drastic turning of bargaining cattle-dealers and bickering money-brokers, out of the temple-area, and restoring it from a barn-yard to a place of holy worship, is a most remarkable illustration of _restraint upon antagonistic wills_ at the point of their greatest concern. these leaders would gladly have turned _him_ out. and who was he, this man with flashing eye and quiet stern word? a stranger, unknown, from the despised country district of galilee. and they have authority, law-officers, everything of the sort on their side. yet the restraint of his presence and will over them is as absolute as though they were in chains. they weakly ask for a sign and evidence of power. they themselves experienced the most tremendous exhibition of power the old temple-area had known for generations.[96] the power of restraint at the feast of tabernacles is yet greater. or it might be more accurate to say that it is a greater antagonism that is restrained by the same power. they are fully prepared now. the cleansing incident took them unawares. it made them gasp to think that any one would dare oppose them like that. now they are on guard. then, too, their antagonism has intensified and embittered to the point of plotting his death. and they have grown more openly aggressive. there are three attempts at his arrest. yet that strange noiseless power of restraint is upon them. they do not do as they would. clearly they cannot. they are restrained. the man whose presence so aroused, also held them in check, apparently without thinking about it. his _presence_ is a restraint.[97] then a second clash of wills comes a day or so later. their opposition is yet intenser. there has been no cooling-off interval. his continued open teaching in face of their attempts at arrest puts fresh kindling on the fire. "no man took him," but clearly they wanted to. their open relations become more strained. he uses yet plainer speech in exposing their hypocrisies. this stirs them still more. their hooked fingers reach passionately for the stones that would make a finish at once, and the green light flashes out of their enraged eyes. it's the sharpest clash yet. they are at a high fever point. it seems to take a greater use of power to restrain. "he hid himself" is the simple sentence used. this is one of four times that we are told of his overcoming the hostile attack of a crowd by simply passing through their midst and going on his way.[98] perhaps something in the glance of that eye of his, or in the set of his face,[99] _something_ in him restrained them as he quietly passes through the uproarious crowd and goes on his way undisturbed. they are held back against their wills from doing the thing they are so intent on doing.[100] a few months later he is back in jerusalem. but the interval seems not to have cooled their passion, only to have heated and hardened their enmity. they at once begin an aggressive wordy attack. then losing self-control in their rage they again reach down for the stones to kill him at once. and again they are restrained from their passionate purpose, as jesus quietly goes on talking with them. again they attempt to seize his person. and the simple striking sentence used, "he went forth out of their hand," points to the extent of their purpose and to a yet greater use of his power of restraint over their unwilling wills.[101] the last incident of this sort is the kingly entry into the city amid the enthusiasm of the pilgrim and city crowds. it says not a word about any attempt on their part nor of his restraint over them. but the very boldness of this wholly unexpected move on his part constituted a tremendous restraint. their hate had gone through several stages of refined hardening during the few months preceding. the formal decision to kill, the edict of excommunication, the public notice that any information of his whereabouts must be made known, and the decision to kill lazarus also,--all indicate the hotter burning of the flames of their rage. yet into just such a situation he quietly turns the head of his untamed unridden young colt of an ass and rides through the city surrounded by the crowds under the very eyes of these leaders and their hireling legal minions. the tenseness of the whole scene, the power of restraint so put forth, the volcano smouldering underfoot waiting the slightest extra jar to loose out its explosion, all are revealed in the little sentence so pregnant in its concealed dynamic meaning, jesus "_hid himself from, them_." there's an exquisite blending of restraint over them and boldness with cautious prudence. he was walking very close to the edge that time.[102] so his power, shown so quietly but irresistibly before the eyes of all during those brief years, rises to a double climax nothing short of stupendous. miraculous power in the realm of nature and of the human body had reached its climax in the raising of lazarus, attested beyond question. power over the human will both in affecting a voluntary change, and in actually restraining its action against its own set purpose, had risen to its climax in the bold open entry in broadest daylight into the capital where his death was officially and publicly decreed. the two climaxes touch. and it is tremendously significant that whereas they sometimes question his miraculous power, they could not deny his restraining power over themselves. how gladly they would if only they could. and all this, mark you keenly, is a bit of his wooing. the wooing is ever the dominant thought in his heart. so he was revealing to them who he was. he claims to be the son of god, their kingly messiah. and _he lived his claim_. power is the one universally recognized touchstone by which we judge god and man. his power told _who he was_ even more than his tremendous words did. he was acting naturally. his presence among them thus natural, true to the power native in him,--this was the wooing. but there was more than power. there was _love_. there was a perfect blend of the two. with the power went the love. nay, rather, with the love went the power. love was the dominating thing. jesus was love in shoes, god in action. always there was the tenderness, the gentleness, the patience, the purity, the unflinching ideals, yes, the courage, the utter fearlessness tempered with a wise prudence. all _these are the fuller spelling of love_. always these went in closest touch with the resisted but resistless power. these are the two traits of god, two traits that are one. men always think most of the power. god himself always emphasizes most the love. but true power is simply love in action. the power is the outcome of love, and under the control of love. this is the second of john's great impelling pictures. the first shows us _the person,_ the man jesus, god with us, god making a world, and then, in homely human garb walking amongst its people, one of themselves. this second shows us _the wooing_. this man, so tender in touch, so gentle in speech, so thoughtful in action, so pure in life, so unbending in ideals, so fearless in the thick of opposition, so faithful to the chosen faithless nation,--this man himself is the wooing. his words, his actions, his power, his persistence, his patience, this also is the wooing of this great god-man-lover. this is god spelling himself out into human speech, wooing men out and up and in to himself. jesus recognised by all the race. and it is most striking to sit still and think into how this lover was _recognized_ by men of all nations, and how his wooing was _understood_ and yielded to by men of all sorts. the intense jew, the half-breed samaritan, the aggressive roman, the cultured refined greek,--that was _all the world_. and all these recognized him as some one kin to themselves, bound by closest spirit-ties, to whom they were drawn by the strong cords of his common kinship with themselves. the waves of his personal influence were, geographically, like his last commandment to his disciples. the movement was from jerusalem to judea, through samaria, and out into the uttermost part of the earth and the innermost heart of the race. and all sorts of men understood. jesus wiped out social differences and distinctions in the crowds that gently jostled each other in his presence. the aristocrat and the cultured, the student and the gentle folk, mingled freely with simple country folk, the unlettered, the humblest and lowliest, all drawn alike to him, and all unconscious of differences when under the holy spell of his presence. the wealthy like joseph of arimathea, and the beggar like the man born blind, the pure in heart like mary of bethany and the openly bad in life like the accused woman of jerusalem,--all felt alike that this jesus belonged to them, and they to him. the underneath tie of real kinship of heart rubbed out all outer distinctions. the old families of jerusalem were glad to unlock their jealously guarded doors to him. and the simple capernaum fisherfolk were grateful when he shared bread and roof with them. all men recognized jesus as belonging to themselves. and the calendar has not changed this, neither gregorian nor old style. time finds the race the same always. centuries climb slowly by, but the human heart is the same, and--so is jesus. i was greatly struck with this in my errand among the nations. the east balks at the ways of the west sometimes. many books say there is no point of contact between the two. the east balks at our western organization, our rule of the clock, and our rush and hurry. our westernized church systems and our closely mortised logical theologies are sometimes a bit bewildering, not exactly comprehensible to their orientalized mode of thought. but they never balk at jesus. when they are told of him, and get some glimpse of him, their eyes light, their faces glow, their hearts leap in response. you book people say there is no point of contact between orient and occident? but there is. jesus is the point of contact. one real touch of jesus makes all the world akin. no; that can be put better. one touch of jesus reveals the kinship that is there between him and men, _and_ between all men. in japan it was the portuguese that first took the gospel a few hundred years ago. and you still find japanese churches founded by the portuguese. fifty odd years ago it was the english tongue that again brought that message of life to them. but as i mingled among japanese christians of different communions and heard them pray, they were not praying in portuguese nor in english. they had no thought that he was a portuguese saviour they prayed to, nor yet an english. _they prayed in japanese_. they felt that jesus spoke their tongue. he belonged to them. he and they understood each other. as i listened to manchu and chinese, to korean and hawaiian pour out their hearts in prayer, i could feel the close personal burning touch of their spirits with jesus. they and he were kin to each other. their very voices told the certainty in their hearts on this point. i recall a little old bent-over woman of seventy-odd years up in northern sweden, a laplander. she had come a long three days' journey on her snow-shoes to the meetings. night after night as i talked through interpretation her deep-set black eyes glowed and glowed. but when one night an hour or more was spent in voluntary prayer she needed no interpreter. and as i listened i needed none. i _felt_ that she _knew_ that _jesus spoke lappish_. the two were face to-face in closest touch of spirit. and so it is everywhere. the flaxen-haired holland maid kneeling by her single cot _knows_ that jesus talks dutch, and her homely hearthfire dutch, too, at that. and the earnest polish peasant in his carpathian cabin bowed before the symbol his eyes have known from infancy is talking into an ear that knows both polish accent and polish heart. so with the german of the saxon highlands, and of the simpler speech of the teutonic lowlands. so with the olive-skinned latin and the darker-hued african kneeling on opposite sides, north and south, of the great central-earth sea. wherever knowledge of jesus has been carried, he is _recognized_ and claimed _as their own_ regardless of national or social lines. i knew a minister of our southland, but whose public service took him to all parts of our country. he had been reared in the south and knew the coloured people by heart, and loved them. and when he returned to his southern home town he would frequently preach for the coloured people. he was preaching to them one sabbath with the simplicity and fervour for which he was noted. at the close among others, one big black man grasped his hand hard as he thanked him for the preaching. and then with his great child-eyes big and aglow, he said, "youse got a white skin, but youse got a black heart." and you know what he meant,--you have a black man's heart, you have a heart like mine. your heart makes my heart burn. now _jesus had a hack heart_. he had a white heart. he had a yellow, a brown heart. he had a jew heart, a roman, a greek, a samaritan heart. aye, he had a _world_ heart, he had _a human heart_. and he _has_. there's a _man_ on the throne yonder, bone of our bone, heart of our heart, pain of our pain. there's more of god since jesus went back. human experience has been taken up into the heart of god. jesus belonged to us. and now belongs to us more than ever, and we to him. the human heart has felt his tremendous wooing. it has recognized its kinsman wherever he has been able to get to them, and it has gladly yielded to the plea of his love. jerusalem might carpenter a cross for him, but the world would weave its heartfelt devotion into a crown of love for him, bestudded with the dewy tears of its gratitude, sparkling like diamonds in the light of his face. iv closer wooing _an evening with opening hearts: the story of a supper and a walk in the moonlight and the shadows_ nigh and nigh draws the chase, with unperturbed pace, deliberate speed, majestic instancy, and past those noised feet a voice comes yet more fleet- "_lo, naught contents thee, who content'st not me._" --"_the hound of heaven._" "i came forth from the father, and am come into the world: again, i leave the world, and go unto the father."--_john xvi. 28_. "i thought his love would weaken as more and more he knew me; but it burneth like a beacon, and its light and heat go through me; and i ever hear him say, as he goes along his way, wand'ring souls, o _do_ come near me; my sheep should never fear me. i am the shepherd true." --_frederick william faber._ iv closer wooing (chapters xiii.-xvii.) knots. the knot tied on the end of the thread holds the seam. the clinching of the nail on the underside holds all that has been done. love ties knots to hold what has been gotten. the bit of prayer knots up the kindly act. the warm hand-grasp knots the timely word. the added word and act tie up all that's gone before. hate imitates love the best it can. but its intense fires are never so hot. the rest of john's book is simple. it is tying knots on the ends of threads. five knots are tied on the ends of these same three threads we have been tracing. there's a triple knot on the end of the blue thread of acceptance; an ugly tangled knotty knot on the end of that black thread of opposition and rejection; and a knot of wondrous beauty on the end of that yellow thread of winsome wooing. chapters eighteen and nineteen tie two of these, the black and the glory-coloured. chapters thirteen through seventeen, is the first knot on the faith thread, the betrayal-night knot. chapter twenty is the second, the resurrection knot; chapter twenty-one the extra knot, the love-service knot. we take a look now at the patient skilful tying of the first knot on the end of that true-blue faith thread. it's taken a good bit of careful work to _get_ that thread, tearing loose, cleansing, spinning, twisting, careful handling, till at last a good thread is gotten, and is being woven into the warp. now a knot is tied on its end to hold what has been gotten, and keep it from ravelling out, for there's a desperately hard place coming in the weaving. there's a clean finish at the end of the twelfth chapter of john. there's a sharp break, an abrupt turn off to something quite different. the direct-wooing case is made up. there is no more added to it, except the indirect, the incidental. the evidence is all in. wondrous wooing it has been, in its winsomeness, its faithfulness, its rare power. now it is over. it's done, and well done. that door is shut, the national door. now another door opens. the inner door into jesus' heart is being opened by him. and the inner door into the disciples' heart is being knocked at that it, too, may open. it is the betrayal night. jesus is alone with the inner circle. they have received him. now he will receive them into closer intimacy than yet before. they have opened their hearts to his love. now he opens his heart to let out more the love that is there. love accepted is free to reveal itself. and love revealing its warmth and tenderness and depth yet more calls out quickly a deeper, a tenderer love. it's the passover evening. they have met, the twelve and their master, by appointment, in the home of one of jesus' faithful unnamed friends. in a large upper room they are shut in, gathered about the supper board. as they eat jesus is quietly but intently thinking. four trains of thought pass through his mind side by side.[103] the father had trusted all into his hands. he had come down from the father on an errand and would return when the errand was done. and now the hour was come. the turn in the road was reached, the sharp turn down leading to the sharp turn up and then back. it had seemed slow in coming, that hour.[104] dreaded things seem to linger even while they hasten, dreaded longed-for things, dreaded in the experience of pain to be borne, eagerly longed for in the blessed result; as with an expectant mother. now the hour's here.[105] and yonder across the board sits the man so faithfully wooed, yet dead-set in his inner heart on a dark purpose, more evil in its outcome than he realizes. there must be more and tenderer wooing. he shall have yet another full opportunity. and under all is the heart-throb of love for these who are his own, being birthed into a new life by the giving of his very own life these months past. he loves his own, and will to the uttermost, the utterest, the mostest, limit of love and of time left him before _the_ great event. these are the thoughts passing quietly, clearly, intensely, through jesus' mind as they sit at supper. teaching three things in one action. now he acts.[106] quietly he rises from the table, picks up a towel and fastens its end in his waistband for convenience in use, after the servant's usual fashion. then he pours water into a basin and turning stoops over the feet of the disciple nearest him. and before they can recover from their wide-eyed astonishment he begins bathing his feet and then carefully wiping them with the convenient towel. and so around the circle. peter, of course, protests, and so calls out a little of the explanation. and then with tender passionateness he asks for the washing to take in all his extremities, head and hands as well as feet. how their hearts must have felt the touch upon their feet! then follows a bit of explanation.[107] but the chief thing had already been done. the acting was more than the speech. three things the master was doing. the teaching about humility lies on the surface, within easy reach. it was acted, then spoken; done, then said. it was sorely needed, and is. in it was the key to jesus' great victory within the twenty-four hours following,[108] and would have been for them had they used it. humility is the foundation of all strength and victory. only the strong can stoop. it takes the strongest to stoop lowest. he who so stoops is revealing strength. humility is not thinking meanly of yourself; it is merely getting into correct personal relation with god, and so with men. it is our true normal attitude, as dependent creatures, as those who have sinned, as those who have been bought with blood. everything we have is from another, originally and continuously; we are utterly dependent. all rights have been forfeited by our wilful conduct; we retain nothing in our own right. and all we have now has been secured for us at the cost of blood; we are being carried at enormous expense. not much room there for self-satisfaction, is there? humility is simply _recognizing_ our _utter dependence upon another_, and _living_ it. and this controls our touch with our fellows. in this lies the secret of all strength,--mental keenness and vigour, sympathetic touch with others, and power of action in life and in service. all this touches the _weakest_ spot in these men, and in--us. but there's more here. the humility teaching is out on the surface. there's a bit _under_ the surface, that they would soon be needing and needing badly. it's this: the thing in you that's wrong _must_ be made right; and it _can_ be. every sin done by the man who is trusting christ as his saviour, every such sin _must_ be cleansed away. and it _can_ be. the feet-washing told this bit of tremendous truth. these men trusted christ. but their moral feet would get badly messed that night, mired and slimed by passionate betrayal and blasphemous denial and cowardly flight. the man going to the bath-house was clean on returning home except where his sandalled feet had gathered some soil from the road. these men were cleansed in heart through christ. but the foot-soilings must be cleansed. these two things ring out. sin _must_ be reckoned with and cleansed out. _and_, blessed truth! it _can_ be. this is the second bit. it would be brought to their remembrance that same night when the road they took dirtied them up so badly, and afterwards. but there's a deeper, a tenderer bit yet here. there is _the love touch_. jesus was giving them the tenderest touch yet of his love, to _hold_ them. the personal touch is the tenderest. man yearns for the personal touch, of presence, of lips, of hands. something seems to go _through_ the personal touch from heart to heart. the spirit-currents find their connection so. jesus gave the tender personal touch that evening, the closest yet. his hands touched their feet, but he was not thinking most about their feet. he was reaching higher up. his hands reached past their feet for their hearts. and they felt it so. their hearts understood, if their heads didn't yet. judas felt those hands reaching to touch his heart. and he had to set himself afresh to resist that touch. john felt it, and _remained steady_. peter felt it and came back with flooded eyes. the fleeing nine felt that touch and yielded to it as they penitently returned. love won. that personal touch did it. but jesus feels judas' heart hardening as he touches his feet, and the gentle word already spoken availed not.[109] now his great heart is sorely troubled for judas.[110] he tries once again to reach his heart and stay his wayward feet. he reaches for his feet through his heart this time. they're all together about the table again. quietly, but with tactful indirectness, jesus lets judas know that _he_ knows. he says, "one of you is planning to betray me." the men stare one at another in questioning astonishment. peter touches john's arm and with eye and word quietly asks him to find out. john reclining next to jesus asks the question in undertone. and as quietly jesus makes reply. then the last appeal is made to judas in the last delicate touch of special personal attention. judas' unchanged spirit makes wordless answer. the hardening of the purpose is a further opening of a downward door and that door is quickly used by the evil one. and judas rises abruptly with jaw set and eye tense, and goes out into the blackest night the clouds ever shut in. so the first tremendous part of the evening's drama is now done. the wooing of judas has been intense and tender clean up to the last moment, _and_ resisted. now that chapter is done. another corner is passed. the extremes have--parted. one man has gone out. eleven stay in, and in staying come closer. believe--love--obey. the atmosphere clears now. that black cloud shifts. the pressure is relieved. the air changes. breathing is easier. jesus did his best to keep judas in by trying to have him turn something--some one--out. but the something that held the some one is kept within, so the man goes out. that inside air was getting a bit thick for judas. love's tender pleading unyielded to makes breathing difficult. again jesus begins talking in the cleared air. the hour had full come. the character of the son of man would now be revealed,[111] and in being revealed god's character would also be understood, and god himself would show what _he_ thought of jesus by his personal recognition and acknowledgment of him, and he would do it at once. the clock is striking the hour. now he was going away. they would not understand.[112] then jesus strikes the great key-note of their future conduct as he goes on. _the_ thing is this: _love one another_. this is the badge he gives them to wear. it will always identify them as his very own. peter picks up the one bit he understands, and is told that he cannot yet follow in the tremendous experience lying just ahead for jesus, but some day he can, and will. and then to peter's blundering self-confidence comes a plain tender reminder of his weakness.[113] so that wondrous fourteenth chapter that christendom loves begins back in the thirteenth. and jesus goes quietly on as they still linger about the table.[114] he had been sorely troubled,[115] but he would have them not troubled by their doubtings regarding himself. it is true that they were outcasts with him, from their national home, but he would provide them a home, and a better one. they did believe in god. they should believe him just as implicitly. this is the warp into which is woven the whole fabric of that evening's talk. the whole talk is a plea for their trusting loving acceptance of himself as fully as of god. this word "_believe_" changes its outer shape three times during that evening, making four words in all, but it's always the same thing underneath. so now the teaching goes on in freest exchange of question and answer. what a picture of how we may talk everything out with our lord and get fully answered. thomas' question helps jesus to turn them away from thinking of a roadway of clay and sand to a man. philip's helps him to insist on the presence of the father in a distinctive sense within this man so familiarly talking with them. and then four times over he rings out that word _believe_. then by a subtle turn he changes the word, though not the thing, to help them understand better: "if ye _love_ me."[116] that puts the thing at once up on the _heart_ level. believing is a thing of the heart. their heads were bothered. he said in effect,--all your head questions will be answered in good time, but this thing is higher up than that. it's a matter of your heart. and so that word _believe_ becomes _love_, its second shape. and with that is quickly coupled _obey_, the third outer shape he gives the word believe that night. it is all the same thing underneath. _love_ is the heart side of _believe_, the inner side. _obey_ is the life-side of believe, the outer, the action side. the love looks out the window of the life and then _comes_ out and _walks_ down the street on an errand. love doesn't simply love: it loves _some one_. love that simply loves isn't love. love comes to life only in the personal touch. and love keeps in perfect rhythm of action with the one loved. that is the other way of saying _obey_. obedience is the music of two wills acting together. _believe_ me, _love_ me, _obey_ me,--this is the three-noted music of the upper room; three notes but one music; a fourth note to be added later. this is the wondrous closer wooing. "i go to the father. we, the father and i, will send the holy spirit to you. he will come in through this opened door of obedience. he will abide in you, come in to stay. he will be everything and do everything that you need in every sort of circumstance. keep in closest touch with him: this is to be your one rule. your part is simple. _believe_; that means _love_; that means _obey_." so they talk around the table. then there's thoughtful silence, which the master breaks by saying, "arise, let us go." the great vine picture. now they're walking down the street, silently, the master in the lead, with john and peter close by.[117] the moon is at the full. now they see the temple, the moonlight falling full upon it. and the great brass grape-vine with which it had been beautified by herod at his building of it shines with wondrous beauty in the enchantment of moonlight. and now the master is speaking again. very quietly the words come as they still gaze at the beauty of the brass vine. listen to him, "i am the _true_ vine, and my father the vine-gardener." here is the illustration that exactly pictures what he had been saying in the upper room. it supplies the fourth word, the fourth outer shape that word _believe_ takes on, _believe_, that is--_love_, that is--_obey_, that is--_abide_. look at the vine, then you have the whole story pictured, simple, clear, full. each of these four words grows out of the other as fruit out of blossom, and blossom out of the new branch and that out of the old stock of the vine: believe, love, obey, abide; vine, new branches, tiny blossom, fruit. the fruit grows out of the vine; yet it is the very life of the vine. _abide_ grows out of _believe_, yet it is the very heart and inner life of believe. so he goes on ringing the changes back and forth, now here, now there. _pruning_--that insures fruit, and more and better. _praying_--that _is_ the fruit, some of it; that naturally grows out of the abiding. "_my words_"--that is part of the abiding, the life-juice of the vine coming into branch and blossom and fruit. "joy"--that is the rich red juice of the grape in your mouth. "_friends_"--that is the other word for abide. that's what abiding makes and reveals. _abiding_--that is what friends do: that's what friendship is, the real thing. _obey_--that is the swing of step with our great friend as we go along the road together. so these clusters of rich ripe fruit hang thick on the vine of this simple teaching-talk as they walk along in the moonlight. and now they're passing through some of the narrower streets as they make their way east towards the city gate.[118] and these narrow streets are shadowed. and you feel the shadows creeping into his talk. the world will _hate_ them. of course. this is a natural result of the abiding. the outer crowd can no more put up with the jesus-swayed man than with jesus himself. and the hate would be aggressive. but if they would clearly understand ahead what to expect it would help them keep their feet when the worst storm came. and by staying steady and true through the worst that came, they would be of the greatest service. the holy spirit in them would reach out and talk to that outer crowd. he would make clear to them their awful sin in killing jesus, the spotless purity and rightness of the absent jesus, and the terrific fact that the prince of the world whom they rally to so faithfully is actually judged, doomed and damned. then he adds, "now in a little bit i'll be gone from you. then a little later, i'll be with you again." so he goes on ringing the changes back and forth on this in simple conversational style. and now they are silent. the narrow street is quite shadowed. he lets them think a bit over his words. and the personal part takes hold most. and they talk softly together of what this means,--a little while and he is gone; again a little while, and he is back. they're plainly puzzled, yet restrained from breaking in upon his deep mood. but with characteristic gentleness he speaks of what they would ask.[119] clearly there is some terrible experience for him and for them just at hand. but he reaches past to the joy beyond, as the mother forgets sharp pains in the joy of her new-born babe. and as he talks they think they understand now, but again he gently reminds of the storm about to break. and then he leaves them three wondrous words,--_peace, good-cheer, overcome_. in the midst of the worst storm there may be peace. in the thickest of tribulation the song of cheer may ring out. he _has_ overcome. the outcome is settled. no doubts need nag. sing! sing louder! _christ is victor_! this is the second bit of the evening's closer wooing, this long quiet talk about the supper table and along the road. it is wooing them up to more intelligence in their believing and loving. it's wooing them to trust _him_, hold hard to _him_, during the coming storm, when they wouldn't understand. even when they can't understand, but stand in hopeless helpless bewilderment, they still can trust _him_. taken into the innermost life. they're outside the city-gate now, going down the path towards the kidron brook. now comes the third bit of that evening's closer wooing.[120] and this is the tenderest, the most personal, the least resistible bit, the closest wooing of all. he takes them into his innermost heart-life for a brief moment. it must have reminded john afterwards of that mountain-top experience when jesus drew aside the drapery of his humanity and let a little of the inner glory shine out. here he takes them with him into the holy of holies of his own inner life with his father. let not any one think that jesus was simply letting them hear him pray, so they might learn. not that; not that. he was taking them into the sacred privacy of his own innermost life. that was a bit of the wooing, under the desperate happenings just ahead. but now as he takes them in he quite forgets them, though he knows they are there. _he is absorbed with the father_. he isn't thinking now of the effect of all this on them. that's past. he is alone in spirit with the father, talking out freely even as though actually quite alone. we are in the innermost holy of holies here. the heart of the world's life is its literature. the heart of all literature is this sacred book of god. the heart of this book is the gospels. the heart of these four gospels is john's. the heart of john's is this exquisite bit, chapters thirteen to seventeen. and there's yet an inner heart here. it is this bit, the seventeenth chapter, where the inner side of jesus' prayer-life lies open to us. and we shall find an innermost heart yet again here. the simplicity of speech here catches the ear. the holy intimacy of contact with god hushes the spirit. the certainty of the father's presence awes the heart greatly. the unquestioning confidence in the outcome is to one's faith like a glass of kingdom wine fresh from the king's own hand. the tenseness and yet exquisite quietness holds one's being still with a great stillness. both shoes and hat go off instinctively and we stand with head bowed low and heart hushed for this is holiest ground. of course, no paraphrase of this prayer can possibly approach its own beauty and simplicity. but it may perhaps send one back to the prayer itself to see better what is there. they're out in the open, down near the kidron. jesus stops and looks up towards the blue, the father's open door, and quietly talks out of his heart into his father's heart, "father: the hour is come"; talked of long before this errand was started upon, brooded over these human years, felt in his inner being as it ticked itself nearer in the tremendous passing events. now it is come. the clock is striking the hour, striking on earth and echoed distinctly in the father's ear. "father: reveal now the true character of the son; yet only that the son may reveal thy true character.[121] thou hast already done so in the control thou hast given him over all men, that so he may give to them the eternal life. and this is the real life to come into intimate touch of heart and life with thee and with thine anointed one, jesus." "i have already revealed thy character in doing fully the errand thou didst send me on. (and it _was_ fully done in all the active part, though the greatest thing yet remained to be done in the tremendous yielding, the strong passive yielding to hate's worst that so love's truest and best might be clearly seen by men.) and now i am coming back to be recognized and acknowledged and received by thine own self even as it was before i came away on this errand." thus far he has been alone with the father face-to-face; just the two together in closest communion. now the prayer moves on from communion and petition to intercession. he is thinking of others, of these men who are grouped near by. he has prayed for them before. he is simply picking up the thread of the accustomed prayer he had prayed, and would still pray when he had gone from them up through the doorway of the blue. he has revealed the father to them, and they have understood and believed and have followed. now he _prays for them_, that they may be _kept_; not taken out of the world; kept in it, giving their witness to it, yet never of its spirit, always controlled by another spirit. they were being sent into the world for witness even as he had been. and a great word breaks out like the bursting of a flood of sunlight out of dark clouds,--_joy_. he had used it that evening before in the upper room, and again along the road. now it flashes out again. this reveals the meaning of that _good-cheer_ and _overcome_ with which the roadway talk closed. with the clouds of hate at their blackest, and the storm just about to break in uncontrolled wild fury, he speaks of "my _joy_." he is _singing_. in the thick of hatred and plotting here's the bit of music, in the major key, rippling out. such a spirit cannot be defeated. joy is faith singing in the storm because it sees already the clearing light beyond. and so he prays on, touching the same keys of the musical instrument of his heart, back and forth, yet ever advancing in the theme. now he broadens out, in clear vision, beyond the gathering storm, to those, through all the earth, and down the centuries, who would believe through these men who are listening. what a sweep of faith. that singing cleared his vision. and then he sees them all, of many races and languages and radical differences, all blended into one body of earnest loving believers drawn by the one vision of himself back in the glory of the father's presence, where they will all gather. and then love ties the knot on the end. a personal love ties together father and son and--us, who humbly give the glad homage of our hearts. right in the very midst of the prayer lies that innermost heart of which i spoke a moment ago. it is in verse ten. jesus says, "_all things that are mine are thine, and thine are mine_." there lies the very inner heart of all carried to the last degree. _there_ is glad giving and full taking; surrender and appropriation. he who gives all may reach in and take all. here is, humanly, the secret of jesus' stupendous character and career. and it is the same for the humblest of us. the road is no different. we _may_ say, by his great grace, in the insistence of our sovereign wills, "all that is mine is thine: i give it thee. i give it back to thee: i use all the strength of my will in yielding all to thee, and in doing it habitually." then we _can_ say, with greatest reverence and humility and yet bold confidence, "all that is thine _is mine._" yet being mine it is thine. still being thine it is mine. so comes the perfection of the rhythmic action of love. our love gives our all to _him_. and then _takes_ the greater all of his--no, not _from_ him, _for_ him, held in trust, used _for_ him, while we keep knees and face close to the ground, lest we stumble and slip and worse. so the prayer closes. and if we might go back over it, alone in secret, prayerfully, quietly thinking thoughtfully into it, until this great simple prayer gets its hold upon our hearts. and then gradually it would come to us that _so_ he is now praying for us, _you and me_. what must it have meant to these men to stand there quietly, awed as they listen to him praying that prayer. how it reveals the deep consciousness of the intimacy of relation between father and son. how it must have touched and stirred them to the very depths to hear jesus telling the father so simply about _their_ faith in himself, and _their_ obedience, their break with their national allegiance to follow himself. and that word _joy_--did they wonder about it? and wonder more later that night, and the days after? but the key-note of the music _caught_, and soon they were singing the same tune, and in the same pitch. what wooing! this was the closest wooing. the fine wooing of this matchless lover came to its superlative degree that night. positive degree, that touch upon their feet; comparative, that talk about the board and along the road; superlative, this taking them in for a brief moment into the secrecy of his inner communion with the father. simplified spelling. and this closer wooing is not over. it hasn't quit yet. that vine is still hanging out in fine view, all softly ablaze with the clear beautifying light, not of a fine passover moon; no, the light of his _face_, his _life_, his _words_. that vine becomes for all time to every heart the pictured meaning of _abide_. and that word _abide_ gives the whole of the true life. we say _christian_ life, and rightly. i like to say also, the true, the natural, life. any other is abnormal, unnatural, untrue. i might say, "of the higher christian life," following the common usage of these latter days. i still prefer to say _true_ life. higher means that there is a lower life. and that this lower is reckoned christian, too. that is the bother, the cheapening of things; we _call_ a thing christian which is less than the thing it is called. some of us need to go to school, and to sit down in the lower classes where spelling is taught. we can spell _believe_ in the common way with seven letters. we must learn to spell it with four letters--l-o-v-e. we need to learn to spell _love_ with a _b_ and a _y_--o-b-e-y. we need to learn to spell obey with five letters a-b-i-d-e. we need to find that _abide_ is spelled best with four letters o-b-e-y. we need to learn this simplified spelling a bit, then _all_ will become simplified, living, loving, witnessing, praying, winning, singing with joy over the results of our new spelling in the syllables of daily life. blessed master, we would come to school to thee to-day. please let us start down in the spelling class. and teach us, thou thyself teach us. but the vine--let us make that the central picture on the wall, with the master in the picture pointing to the vine. and under the picture the one word _abide_. then the whole story is in easy shape to help, pictured before our eyes. abide--that is _jesus walking around in your shoes_, looking out through your eyes, touching in your hand, speaking through your lips and your presence. he is _free_ to; that's _your_ side of it. he's unhindered. he _does_ it; that's _his_ side of it. look up at the picture on the wall. the whole vine is in the fruit, is it not? the whole of the fruit is in the vine, is it not? that's abiding. the whole of jesus will be in you as you go about your daily common task, singing. the whole of you is in jesus as everything simple and great, is done _to please him_, singing as you do it. and just as between vine and fruit there are branch and blossom, pruning and careful handling, sun and shade, dew and rain, so there are _betweens_ here before full ripening of fruit comes. there's purifying, cleansing by blood, cleansing by a soft fire burning within, and pruning by the gardener and by his human assistant, you, sharp, incisive, hurting pruning. there's _feeding_,--the juice of the vine _flows_ in, and is _taken_ in; the divine word of the divine master is meditated, the cud of it is chewed daily. there's _obedience_,--perfect rhythm of action between vine and branches. there's _prayer_, the intercourse of our spirits, his and ours, together, the drawing from him all we need, and the letting him use us in his interceding for his world. these are some of the _betweens_. through these comes the ripening fruit. and the outer crowd comes eagerly for the fruit hanging over the fence within easy reach. there's a warm sympathy with one's fellows; only the thing's more than the words sound. the jesus-spirit within will be felt by those outside, something warm and gentle and helpful. there will be things done, many things, earnestly thoughtfully done. the proper word is service. but the thing's so much more than the word ever seems to mean. and there'll be yet more, a more of a surprising sort. the classical fox called the grapes sour because he _couldn't_ reach them. there'll be some outside sour talk because some of the crowd _won't_ reach the fruit. it wouldn't agree with them the way they insist on living. the jesus-life abiding within and flowing freely out is a protest against the opposite. the mere presence of a _christ-abiding_ man convicts people of the sin of their lives and their treatment of jesus. it convinces them that the absent jesus is right, and so they are wrong. so there's trouble out in the crowd just because of the ripe good fruit hanging in plain sight and easy reach over the vineyard fence. and that double result goes on getting more so, some coming to the vine drawn by the fruit, some talking against fruit and vine. but the man abiding is of good cheer. he sings. for the outcome is assured. so every grape-vine, in garden, by roadway, or on hillside, with its vine-stock, branches, blossom, and fruit, tells of the father's ideal for men, a unity of life with himself, and with each other. and every bunch of grapes hanging on one stem, with its many in one, tells of that same ideal, the concord of love with the father and with each other. and that unity of love dominating all is irresistible to the outer crowd, in the winsomeness of its wooing. v the greatest wooing _a night and a day with hardening hearts: the story of tender passion and of a terrible tragedy_ "now of that long pursuit comes on at hand the bruit; that voice is round me like a bursting sea: 'and is thy earth so marred, shattered in shard on shard? _lo, all things fly thee, for thou fliest me_! strange, piteous, futile, thing! wherefore should any set thee love apart? seeing none but i makes much of naught' (he said) 'and human love needs human meriting: how hast thou merited- of all man's clotted clay the dingiest clot? alack, thou knowest not how little worthy of any love thou art! whom wilt thou find to love ignoble thee, save me, save only me? all which i took from thee i did but take, not for thy harms, but just that thou might'st seek it in my arms. all which thy child's mistake fancied as lost, i have stored for thee at home: rise, clasp my hand, and come.'" --"_the hound of heaven_ "i will betroth thee unto me forever; yea, i will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in justice, and in loving kindness, and in mercies. i will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness."--_hosea ii. 19, 20._ "jesus, lover of my soul, let me to thy bosom fly, while the nearer waters roll. while the tempest still is high. hide me, o my saviour, hide, 'til the storm of life is past; safe into the haven guide, o receive my soul at last." --_charles wesley_. v the greatest wooing (john xviii.-xix.) wider wooing. at the top of the mountain is the peak. the peak is the range at its highest reach. the peak grows out of the range and rests upon it and upon the earth under all. the whole of the long mountain range and of the earth lies under the peak. the peak tells the story of the whole range. at the last the highest and utmost. all the rest is for this capstone. the great thing in jesus' life is his death. the death crowns the life. the whole of the life lies under and comes to its full in the death. the highest point is touched when death is allowed to lay him lowest. it was the life that died that gives the distinctive meaning to the death. let us take off hat and shoes as we come to this peak event. there's a change in john's story here. the evening has gone, the quiet evening of communion. the night has set in, the dark night of hate. the intimacies of love give place to the intrigues of hate. the joy of communion is quickly followed by the jostling of the crowd. out of the secret place of prayer into the hurly-burly of passion. and the master's rarely sensitive spirit feels the change. yet with quiet resolution he steps out to face it. this is part of _the hour_, part of his great task, the greatest part. for the holy task of wooing is not changed. it still is wooing, but there's a difference now. there's a shifting. the wooing goes from closer to wider, from the disciples to the outer crowd, from the direct wooing of the national leaders by personal plea to the indirect by action, tremendously personal action. it moves out into a yet wider sweep. it goes from the wooing of a nation to the wooing of a race, from jew distinctively to roman representatively, from annas standing in god's flood light rejected to pilate in nature's lesser light obscured, from god's truant messenger nation to the world's mighty ruling nation. in the epochal event just at hand jesus begins his great wooing of a race. and that wooing has gone on ever since, wherever he has been able to get through the human channels to the crowd. he was lifted up and at once men began coming a-running broken in heart by the sight. he is being lifted up, and men of all the race are coming as fast as the slow news gets to them. but back now to john's story. they pick their way over the stones of the little kidron into the garden of the olives. there, quite alone in the deep shadows of the inner trees, jesus has his great spirit-conflict, and great victory. the touch with sin so close, so real, now upon him within a few hours, the sin of others upon his sinless soul,--this shakes him terrifically beyond our understanding, who don't know purity as he did. but the tremendous strength of yielding brings victory, as ever. and the battle of the morrow is fought in spirit, and won. now the trailers of hate come seeking with torch and lantern, soldiers and officers, chief priests and rulers, the ever present rabble, and in the lead the shameless traitor. they are pushing their quest now, seeking jesus in the hiding whence he had gone days before[122] led by the man who knew his accustomed haunts. but there's no need for seeking now. jesus is full ready. he decides the action that follows. he is masterful even in his purposeful yielding. quietly he walks out from the cover of the trees to meet them. and as their torches turn full upon his advancing figure again that marvellous power not only of restraint but decidedly more is felt by them. and the whole company, traitor, soldiers, rulers, rabble, overpowered in spirit, fall back and then drop to the ground utterly overawed and cowed by the lone man they are seeking. does judas expect this? will this power they are unable to resist not open the eyes of these rulers! but there's no stupidity equal to that which goes with stubbornness. in a moment jesus reveals his purpose in this, to shield his disciples. now the power of restraint is withdrawn and he yields to their desires. they shall have fullest sway in using their freedom of action as they will. and peter's foolish attempts are quietly overruled. they keep up the forms by taking jesus to annas the real jewish ruler of the nation. but it is simply an opportunity for the coarseness of their hate to vent itself upon his person. they pretend an examination here in the night's darkness suited to their deeds. he quietly reminds them of the frank openness of all his teachings. meanwhile john's friendly act has gotten peter entrance. the attitude of the two men is in sharpest contrast. john is avowedly jesus' friend, regardless of personal danger. peter just the reverse. and the hate of the leaders has soaked into all their surroundings even down to the housemaids. and john notes how exactly jesus foreknew all, even to a thrice-spoken denial before the second crowing of a cock. now comes the great pilate phase. it was the intense malignity of their hate that made them bother with pilate. they could easily have killed jesus and pilate would never have concerned himself about it. but they couldn't have put him to such exquisite suffering and such shameful indignity before the crowds as by the roman form of death by crucifixion. clearly there is a hate at work _behind_ theirs. their hate is distinctly _inhuman_. is _all_ hate? there's an unseen personal power in action here set on spilling out the utmost that malignant hate can upon the person of jesus. but these men are cheerful tools. hate is tying its hardest knot with ugliest black thread on the end of its opportunity. this is pilate's opportunity and he seems to sense it. and a struggle begins between conscience and cowardice, between right action with an ugly fight for it, and yielding to wrong with an easy time of it. clearly he feels the purity and the personal power of this unusual prisoner. the motive of envy and hate under their action is as plain to his trained eyes. twice the two men, pilate and jesus, are alone together. did ever man have such an opportunity, personally, and historically? with rare touch and winsomeness jesus woos. and pilate feels it to the marrow under all his rough speech. his repeated attempts with the leaders make that clear. but cowardice gripped him hard. it's a way cowardice has. the name of caesar conjures up fears,--loss of position, of wealth, of reputation, maybe of life itself. he surrenders. conscience is slain on the judgment seat. cowardice laughs and wins. a sharp fling brings a cry of allegiance to caesar from their reluctant throats, as their hatred wins the day. he strikes them back an ugly blow as he surrenders. that reluctant caesar cry told out the intensity of their hate. they hated caesar much, but they hated jesus immeasurably more. they gulp down caesar to be able to vent their spleen upon jesus. and so they crucified him. at last they succeed. they have gotten what they were bent on. the hate burning within, these months and years, finds its full vent. its hateful worst is done, and horribly well done. and they stand about the cross with unconcealed gloating in pose and face and speech and eyes. their part of the story is done. masterful dying. but jesus' part--ah! that was just begun. john lays emphasis on the mastery of jesus here. it is marked, and reveals to john's faithful love-opened eyes the dominating purpose of jesus in yielding to death. strong, thoughtful, self-controlled, anticipating every move, he was using all the strength of his great strong will in yielding. he was doing it masterfully, intelligently. this is marked throughout. at the arrest he walks frankly out to meet those seeking him, and restrains them in that strangely powerful way till he was quite ready. he makes the personal plea to pilate for _pilate's_ sake, impressing him so greatly, but interposing nothing to change the purpose of his accusers. when pilate's final decision is given john notes that jesus "went out _bearing the cross for himself,_" though provision had been made for this.[123] his influence upon pilate is seen in the accuracy of the kingly inscription that hangs over the cross. in the midst of the excruciating bodily pain he thinks of his mother, and with marvellous self-control speaks the quiet word to her and to john that insures her future under his filial care. and then john significantly adds, "_jesus, knowing that all things are now finished._"[124] with masterly forethought, and self-control and deliberation he had done the thing he had set himself to do. never was yielding so masterful. never was a great plan carried out so fully through the set purpose of one's enemies. his every action bears out the word he had spoken, "no man taketh my life away from me, i lay it down of myself."[125] so now his great work is done, and thoroughly done. his lips speak the tremendous word, "it is finished." and he bowed his head and _gave up_ his spirit. it was his own act. the self-restraint was strong upon him till all was done that was needed for the great purpose in hand. then his head is bowed, his great heart broke under the terrific strain on his spirit as he allowed his life to go out. from that moment no indignity touches his body. the jews with their wearisome insistence on empty technicalities would have added further indignity to crucifixion. but that body is sacredly guarded from their profane hand by unseen restraint. john with solemn simplicity points to the unmistakable physical evidence, in the separation of blood and water, that jesus had actually died; no swooning, but death. and reverently he finds the confirmation of scripture. only tender love touches that body now. two gentlemen of highest official and social standing and of large wealth, brothers in their faith in jesus, and also in their timidity, now take steps at once to have the precious body of their dear friend tenderly cared for without regard to expense. so he is laid away in a new tomb in a garden among the flowers of the spring time. the last touch is one of tender love. so his greatest wooing was done, and begun; the great act done, its tremendous wooing influence only just begun. jesus died deliberately. this is quite clear. it was done of love aforethought. it was his own act fitted into the circumstances surrounding him. this makes his death mean just what he meant it to mean. run back through his teachings rather carefully and that meaning stands clearly out. he was the father's messenger; simply this; but all of this. the ideals of right so insistently and incessantly held up and pressed were the father's ideals. his mere presence told the father's great love for men. they two were so knit that when the one suffered the other suffered, too. it was the love for men in his own heart that drew him down here and drove him along even to the calvary hill. he died _for_ men, in their place, on their behalf. this was his one thought. through this their bondage to sin and to satan would be broken and they would be set free.[126] and they would be drawn, their hearts would be utterly melted and broken by his love for them.[127] the influence would reach out until all the race would feel its power and respond; and it would reach into each one's life who came till the life he lived was of the abundant, eternal sort. the devil was a real personality to jesus. this whole terrific struggle ending at the cross was a direct spirit-battle with that great spirit prince. so jesus understood it. all the bitter enmity to himself traces straight back to that source. that enmity found its worst expression in jesus' death. the pitched spirit-battle was there. but that prince was judged, condemned, utterly defeated and cast out in that battle, and his hold upon men broken.[128] and so this was the greatest wooing of all. it was greatest in its intensity of meaning _to the father_ looking eagerly down. it revealed his unbending, unflinching ideals of right, and the great strength and tenderness of his love for men. he would even give his son. it was greatest in its intensity of meaning _to the son_. it meant the utmost of suffering ever endured, the utmost of love underneath ever revealed; and it would mean the race-wide sweep of his gracious power. it was greatest in its intensity of meaning _to satan_, the hater of god and man. it told his utter defeat, and loss of power over man. so it broke our bonds and made us free to yield to the wooing. and it was greatest in its intensity of meaning _to us men_. for it showed to our confused eyes the one ideal of right standing out clear and full. it set us free from the fetters of our bondage, gave us the tremendous incentive of love to reach up to the ideal of right, and more, immensely more, gave us _power to reach it_. it was the greatest wooing _in the out-reach_ of its influence, for all men of all the earth would be touched.[129] and it was greatest _in the in-reach_ to all the life of each one who came under its blessed influence. the whole ministry taught this. it would mean newness of life in body, in mind, in social nature, in spirit, and in the eternal quality of life lived here, and to be lived without any ending. and all the world has responded to this greatest wooing as they have come to know of it. that three-languaged inscription on the cross was a world appeal and a world prophecy. in hebrew the religious language of the world whose literature told of the one true god, in latin the language of the masters of the world, in greek the language of the culture of the world, that message went out to all the world. this jesus is our kinsman-king, our brother-ruler, our love-autocrat. he revealed his love for us in his death for us. and men answer to jesus' great plea. with flooded eyes and broken hearts, and bending wills, and changed lives, men of all the race bow gratefully at the feet of jesus, our saviour and lord and coming king. vi an appointed tryst unexpectedly kept _a day of startling joyous surprises_ "halts by me that footfall: is my gloom, after all, shade of his hand outstretched caressingly? 'ah, fondest, blindest, weakest, i am he whom thou seekest! _thou drawest love from thee, who drawest me._'" --"_the hound of heaven._ "after i am raised up i will go before you into galilee."--_mark xiv. 28._ vi an appointed tryst unexpectedly kept (john xx.) the appointment. jesus had made an appointment. it was with these dear friends who had responded so lovingly to his wooing. it was a significant appointment, most significant. he had appointed to meet them three days after his death. he had made a further appointment to meet them in galilee. what a stupendous appointment to make! it was a sacred appointment, sacred as the love that made it, sacred to jesus as the friendship of these men with whom it was made, sacred as his word that never was broken. our scottish friends use a most significant word for appointment, the word _tryst_. they used to use it some for ordinary appointments, but chiefly it is used for friendship and for love-appointments. the appointment is a tryst. tryst is the same word as _trust_. in the old gothic language it was one of the words used for a covenant or treaty. in medieval latin it was a pledge given that an agreement would be kept. it is a fine turn of a word that uses the very spirit of confidence in one's heart in another as the name for the appointment made with him. the trust in the heart gives the name to the appointment. it's an appointment with one who _can_ be trusted to keep his word, and who _is_ trusted. so an appointed tryst becomes more than a mere appointment. it is a pledge of faith. now this is the real force of the word here. jesus had appointed a tryst with these men, and in making it he was plighting his troth, pledging his word to them. he had asked them to risk all for him. in this tryst he is pledging all to them. he never forgot that sacred appointment. he had thought much before he made it. he knew it would involve much to keep it. the power of god was at stake in the making and the keeping of it. he knew that. he thought of it. he made the appointment and he kept it. jesus keeps his appointments. his word never fails. not even the gates of death, nor the power of the evil one, can prevail against it. this was a staggering appointment. it took so much for granted. it reckons god's power is as big as it is. but then that's a way jesus had, and has. and it is a way he will come to have who companions much with jesus. jesus had spoken of this indirectly but distinctly when first he told his disciples of his suffering and death, six months before. and each time afterwards when he told them of his death the words were always added, "and the third day rise again."[130] i the two things are nearly always linked. but they hadn't seemed to sense what he meant. the thing seems quite beyond them. he spoke of it again on that never-to-be-forgotten night of the betrayal, the night of the feet-washing, and that last long talk, and that wondrous kidron-prayer. he spoke of it more than once that night. it was a very emphatic word he spoke as they were walking along the darkly shadowed jerusalem streets out towards the east gate. he said, "a little while and ye shall behold me no more; and again a little while and ye shall see me."[131] and the disciples pick this up and puzzle over it. and the master explains rather carefully and at some length. there was a time of sore trouble coming for him and for them. and while they were sorrowing the outer crowd would be making merry. but it would be just as with the expectant mother, he said. all the while even when the pains cut she is thinking of the great delight that is to be hers. her after-joy clean wipes out of her thought the sharp cutting of the pain. so it would be. "_i will see you again_," he said in plainest speech. and again that same night he said, "after i am raised up, _i will go before you into galilee_." could any appointment be more explicit as to time and place? but they forget. aye, there's the bother, this thing of forgetting. the memory is ever the index of the heart and the will and the understanding. you can tell the one by the other. some things are never forgot. a bit embarrassing and odd this thing of forgetting what jesus says. his _enemies_ remembered, and took special pains to head off any breaking of their careful plans.[132] and even when the angels remind the women of the promised appointment, and they with great joy repeat the reminder to the disciples, it seems like "_idle talk_" and is not accepted. the thing couldn't be, they think.[133] finally the evidence becomes so convincing that they start off for the trysting place, "into galilee, unto the mountain where jesus had appointed them."[134] how the appointment was kept. let us look a bit at the wonderful keeping, so unexpected, of this sacred tryst. it's the third day now since jesus' death. it is in the dark dusk of the early morning. a little knot of women make their way slowly along the road leading out of the city gate. mary magdalene is in the lead, so far ahead of the others as to be alone. they are carrying packages of perfumed ointments. they are thinking only of a dear dead body and of clinging fragrant memories. they are troubling themselves about how to get the big stone at the tomb pushed aside. it was too much for their strength. as she drew near the tomb mary magdalene's love-quickened eyes notice something quite unexpected. the stone is moved aside! she naturally thinks some one has taken the body secretly away in the night. quickly she turns and runs back towards the city to tell peter and john. and as quickly as they hear the startling news they are off on a smart run towards the tomb. meanwhile the other women go on into the tomb. they are further startled to see a glorious looking person who assures them that jesus is living, having risen up out of death. all a-quiver with fear intermingled with the first glimmering light of a great hope that they hardly dare hope, they flee hastily back to town to tell the others. now peter and john, who have been eagerly running, arrive breathless, with john in the lead. gazing reverently, intently, in through the opening john sees, not a body, but on the spot where the body had been laid, the linen wrappings lying, held up in the shape of a body by nicodemus' abundant and heavy ointments just as when they held the body of jesus. but clearly there is nothing in them now. now peter comes up, and, just like him, goes straight in, and is at once struck by the arrangement of these cloths, just as john had been. then they comment on the fact that the head cloths are lying where they naturally would be, a little apart from the others, the distance of the head from the body. the evidence convinces them that jesus' spirit had indeed returned to his body, and that he had risen up _through the cloths_, and gone. and they start back to town in a great maze of wonder and delight. and now mary magdalene, knowing nothing of all this, comes slowly back absorbed with her thoughts that the body has been secretly removed. she stands at the open tomb weeping. then for the first time she stoops down and looks in. she is startled to see two angels left there to explain matters. they gently say "why weepest thou?" still sobbing, she says, "they have taken away my lord, and i know not where they have laid him." and turning aside as she speaks she sees some one standing near her. her tear-misted eyes think him the attendant in charge of the garden. again the question by this man, "why weepest thou?" how strangely they talk, these angels and this gardener! she makes a plea for the body. then the one word, her name, spoken in that voice she knew so well--"_mary_." ah! there's no question about _that voice_. she needs no explanation nor evidence more than this, as she cries out, "oh, my beloved master." then he acts so like himself; he gives her an errand to do for him. and off she goes. she has had the wondrous privilege of the first sight of him, and the first errand for him. the tryst has been kept with mary magdalene. and now the other women who had gone running down the road after hearing the angels' startling message are amazed to meet jesus standing in the roadway in front of them. and the same quiet rich voice so gently and simply gives them the usual "good-morning" salutation. at once they are on their knees at his feet. and he softly says, "don't be afraid. go tell my brethren to meet me at the old place appointed, up by the blue waters of galilee." and again the tryst is kept. but before all this, the soldiers on guard, terror-stricken by the earthquake that had taken place, and dazed at the sight of the "angel of the lord" had fled at top speed to the chief priests with their startling story. here was a wholly unexpected bothersome finish to the thing. but quick consultation follows. and then free use of money makes the soldiers willing to tell what they know to be a lie. and so the two utterly different stories, the truth and the lie, get into circulation at once. the soldiers and the chief priests' circle have learned that the appointment was kept. meanwhile peter has gone down the road back to town in a maze of conflicting emotions. john, lighter of foot, had hurried ahead, very likely to tell the great news to jesus' mother, now his own. peter plods slowly along, thinking hard. it was still early morning, the air so still and fragrant with the dew. maybe down by some big trees he is walking, absorbed, when all at once, _some one is by his side_. it's the master. the appointment has been kept with peter. but we must leave them alone together. peter has some things to straighten out. that's a sacred interview meant only for him. that afternoon two disciples walking out to a little village a few miles away are joined by a stranger whose talk makes their hearts burn like the master's used to. and as they gather about the evening meal with him, and he gives thanks and breaks the loaf, all at once their eyes _see_. it is _jesus himself_ who has been with them all the time. again the appointment is kept. at once they hasten back to town, and are just telling the news in joyously broken speech to the disciples gathered in an upper room with locked doors when again, all at once, jesus appears in their midst, and eats some bread and fish, and tells them to know by the feel that it is really himself with them. he has kept his sacred appointment with the twelve. then a week later he comes in like manner among them again for the sake of one man, thomas. so he keeps the appointment with thomas, also. our guarantee of his promises. two things stand out sharply. the resurrection was not expected. it was the most tremendous surprise. the news was received at first by those most interested with utter stubborn unbelief. then the evidence was so clear and repeated, and incontestable that these same men staked their lives on it. they suffered to the extreme for their witness that jesus had indeed risen. jesus rose from the dead. his body was re-inhabited by his spirit. the spirit didn't die. spirits neither sleep nor die. the body died. then life came into it again. it was a real body that could eat and be touched. it was recognized as the same one they had known. but it was changed. the old limitations were gone. new powers had come. jesus keeps his appointments. his pledged word never fails. not a word he has spoken can ever be broken. some day he is coming back. it is an appointment.[135] then we, too, who have slipped the tether of life and left our bodies temporarily in the dust, shall rise up again to meet him. it is a sacred appointment he has made with us. and some of us who live in that day shall be changed instead of dying, and shall be caught up to meet him and our own loved ones in the air. that's his true tryst with us up in the blue, some day. and he will keep it. and meanwhile everything he has promised us in the book is sure, as being his plighted word. his resurrection is our bond, our guarantee. as surely as he rose on that third morning he will keep his word regarding every matter to you and me. his appointments never fail, whether of guidance, of bodily health and strength, of supplies for every sort of need, of peace, of power, of victory. the power that raised jesus up from out the dead is pledged to us for every promise of this book for to-day's life. he will do an act of creation before he will let his word fail. he will leave no power unused to keep the appointment of his word with us. let us trust his word to us fully. and let us _live_ our trust. vii another tryst _a story of fishing, of guests at breakfast, and of a walk and talk by the edge of blue galilee_ "i come unto you."--_john xiv. 18._ "lo, i am with you all the days."--_matthew xxviii. 20_. vii another tryst (john xxi.) jesus unrecognised. john's story is done. and it is well done. with the skill of a tried jurist he has drawn up a clear full line of evidence and presented it in a vigorous straightforward way. and he plainly states his case. his whole purpose is that those who read his little book shall come into warm personal touch of life with the lord jesus. that ties the knot on tight at the end of chapter twenty. john's case has gone to the jury of his readers. but now john reaches for his pen again. the guiding spirit has put another bit into his heart to write down. this time it is a special bit, not for all to whom the book is sent, but for a selected class of his readers, namely, for those of them who have given john a favourable verdict on the evidence presented. it grows out of chapter xx. 31 as rose out of bud, and fruit out of blossom. it is for those who "believe that jesus is the christ the son of god," and so "have life in his name." and a very tender precious bit it is, more wondrous in its sheer simplicity than any of us seem to suspect. it is simply this: _this jesus is with us all the time_. this same jesus who was so swayed by the need of the crowd, who burned his life out day by day warmly responding to their sore need--_he is here._ this jesus who fed the hungry, healed the sick of every sort, and freed men from devilish power, who convicted men so tremendously of their wrong, restrained their evil power to hurt, wooed the hearts of all so irresistibly, and led them into changed lives; this jesus who died and then did the stupendously mighty thing of rising up out of death,--_this jesus is with us now_ by your side and mine. and he is just the same jesus in his warm love and resistless power. the _words_ are rather familiar. the _fact_--no one of us seems to have gotten hold of it yet. this is the thing that makes john eagerly reach for his pen again before his little book-messenger goes out on its errand. the thing isn't new in _information_, but in actual living _experience_ it seems to be so new as to be an unknown thing to some of us. the master had spoken of this that betrayal-night around the supper board. it was really a continuation of that trysting appointment he had made with them that evening, a wonderful continuation. clearly they didn't understand him that night. but during those after-pentecost days they were given a continuous graphic unforgetable illustration of its meaning. we to-day seem able to explain the part they didn't understand, the teaching that betrayal-night. we don't seem to get hold of the part they did understand and experience, the real presence of the risen jesus in the midst actively at work. that night jesus said: "i will make request of the father, and he will send you another unfailing powerful friend to be always at your side." then he added: "he abides _with_ you now (in my presence) and shall be _in_ you (after i send him)." then he said, "_i_ come unto you. yet a little while and the world _seeth_ me no more but ye _see_ me." and again, "he that hath my commandments and keepeth them he it is that (in that sheweth that he) loveth me and ... i will _manifest_ or _shew_ myself unto him." here is the simple teaching: he would send the holy spirit; in the holy spirit's coming jesus himself, the new risen exalted empowered enthroned jesus, he came; _and_ he would let them see himself with them. now this added chapter of john's is _the illustration in advance_ to these men of what these words mean. _the great standing illustration_ is that book of acts which, will you notice, doesn't end. it only breaks off, abruptly, without even a punctuation point. it wasn't meant to end. we are supposed to be living in it yet. but these men haven't come to the experience of the pentecostal acts yet. this is an illustration in advance to them. and it remains an illustration to us of what we seem a bit slow in taking in. but let us get at the simple bit of story itself. there's a little group of the inner circle, seven including the leaders. these men haven't found their feet yet. the stupendous events of those days, coming in such startling succession, have left them dazed. the crucifixion left them stupidly dazed; the resurrection left them joyous, but still dazed. they don't know just where they are, nor what to do. so peter proposes fishing; an ideal proposition, when you want to get off and think things through and out. any fisherman knows that. and the others readily join in. they see the good sense of it. but the fish don't catch. and the morning finds them tired in body and more tired in the spiritless uncertainty that hangs over them like a clinging damp fog. yonder is some one standing on the beach. but that's nothing unusual. they barely notice him. and now this stranger calls out to them a cheery common question, "caught anything?" and now he gives a--no, it can hardly be called a _command_, so quietly is it said. yet they are subtly conscious of a something in the word that makes them obey, though it's the last sort of thing to do. and now at once the net-ropes pull _so hard;_ astonishing this! then john's keen spirit detects _who_ it is. is he thinking of the other big unexpected haul in those same waters![136] and peter's over the side of the boat shoreward. fishing has lost all attraction for him. and when they all got ashore with their haul, tired, wet, chilled to the marrow, hungry, what's this? a blazing fire of coals burning cheerfully on the sands. and some fish dexterously poised, doing to a brown turn, and some bread. and the stranger, no, _jesus_, he's no longer a stranger, jesus says quietly, "boys, better bring the haul up on the beach." and the old fishing habit still strong on them counts the fish. it's such an unusual haul, they must know how many. john must be thinking again about that earlier haul. the net couldn't stand the strain then. but now it's different. ah! _every_thing's blessedly different now. "the net was not rent." then the gracious call to breakfast by their host. was ever fish done to such a fine turn? did ever any fish have such an exquisite flavour? or taste so good? did ever men eat so gladly and yet quietly with a distinct touch of awe in their spirits? for they _know_ it is the master, though no word of that has been spoken. words were needless. now they're walking along the beach, jesus and peter in the lead but the others quite near. and there's the bit of talk between the two. very gently jesus says, "do you love me, peter?" and peter feels he hardly dare use the sacred word for "love" that the master has used. he had made such an awful break at just that point. and with breaking voice he says, "yea, lord, thou knowest i have the highest regard for thee." and again the question, and the answer, with peter still humbly clinging to his more modest word. and now jesus says, "do you really love me even as you yourself say?" and peter with his heart in his face says passionately, "lord, thou knowest better than i can tell thee." and because he loves, peter is given the full privilege of shepherding the whole flock, from feeding little lambkins on to feeding all, and guiding, through the hard places, even the wayward ones. and more yet and higher, because peter loves, he will be privileged to suffer, even as his master had suffered. the fellowship would extend even to that. and peter's eye falls on john. and apparently he is thinking of the contrast between john's faithfulness and his own break that betrayal-night. if poor faulty peter may be so privileged how john would be rewarded. but jesus quietly turns peter, and all peter's numerous kinsfolk of this sort, away from human comparisons. and instead he seeks to turn their hearts to this: he is coming back in person some day for an advance step in the kingdom program. and there they are, walking and talking, along the beach by the blue galilean waters. the same jesus here now. an unrecognized stranger who turns out to be jesus; an unusual haul of fish gotten in a very unusual way; a warm fire and tasty breakfast for cold hungry men; a tender talk about love and service and sacrifice, and about jesus' return;--all this is a moving-picture illustration of the meaning of a word, one word. it is a word jesus used in that last long quiet talk. it's the key-word to this added chapter, occurring three times. in the old version it is the word "_shew_"; in the revision "manifest." "after these things jesus _manifested_ himself again ... and he _manifested_ himself on this wise." "this is now the third time that jesus was _manifested_ to the disciples after that he was risen from the dead."[137] the word used underneath literally means "to make manifest or _visible_ or know, what has been hidden or unknown."[138] then each time it is used it gets its local colouring from its connection. the simple tremendous meaning here clearly is this: jesus let himself _be seen_ and known. _he did not come_. he was there. but their eyes couldn't see him. in effect he was hidden, not seeable. now the change that comes is this: _he is seen_. and he is seen in his true native character; so certain results follow. he had said, "i will _manifest_ myself."[139] and this was now the third time that he did it, to the disciples, after that he was risen. this is _the advance illustration of the book of acts_. this is the tremendous thing he is burning into their hearts through eyes and ears:--_he is always present_. he, whose power they had felt so stupendously, and whose warm sympathy so tenderly, _he is always with them_. the coming of the holy spirit meant just this. the spirit would be as jesus' other self, as jesus himself. the one thing the spirit would do would be to manifest, to _shew openly_, the power of jesus. then four pictures pass before their eyes to illustrate the meaning, a fishing picture and a breakfast picture _in action_; then _in words_, a love-service-suffering picture, and a picture of jesus returning in person seen by all to take an advance-step. the fishing picture clearly meant this: great numbers of people, surprisingly great numbers, coming, drawn not by any human skill, but by the supernatural power of jesus manifesting himself in that way. the breakfast picture meant this: that this wondrous jesus would take tender personal care of those in this blessed gathering ministry, even to their bodily needs and strength. and the love-service-suffering word-picture said so plainly this: true service grows out of love. the chief thing is the loyal tender attachment to the person of jesus. then out of this will naturally come service, and willingness to suffer. the touchstone won't be service but personal love. the service will simply be an expression of the love. and the jesus-return word-picture fills their vision with this same jesus coming in open glory before all eyes to carry out the kingdom plan. as these men learned to live always in the presence of a jesus whom their outer eyes saw not, these pictures would become living pictures seen in open daily life. so this is a further bit of the tryst appointment. this is the fuller tryst, the greater, the yet more wondrous tryst. not only would he rise up out of death, and appear to them in person seen by the outer eyes, but he would be with them continually manifesting himself in rarest power of action, in tenderest personal care, in talking and walking with them. they would see the power plainly at work; then they would say with a soft hush, "_he_ is here." they would find new bodily strength, new guidance in perplexity, new peace in the midst of confusion, and they would say to each other in awed tones, "_he is here: it's the master's touch_." and so it would come to be a habit to _anticipate_ his presence. they would figure him in, and figure him in big, as big as he is, in all sorts of circumstances and planning and meeting of difficulties. it is most striking that john closes his gospel so differently from the others. they close with the master rising up and disappearing on a cloud into the upper blue. john closes with jesus walking along the beach, talking with the little group of trusted ones. jesus did ascend up into the blue whence he shall some day descend. but the holy spirit sends john back to his pen to give us this as the last picture, impressed on the sensitive plate of the eyes of our heart. _this_: jesus present with us all the while walking along the shore of our common round of life, clothed with matchless power, and devoting himself to us as we to him. along about the middle of the eighteenth century there came to england a young french-swiss, named de la fléchère, hungry hearted for the truth. he was so helped by john wesley that he cast in his lot with the new methodist movement and john williams fletcher became one of wesley's most faithful co-labourers. late in life he married a woman of unusual mental and spiritual attainment. i ran across a simple story over there of this mrs. john fletcher which interested and helped me much. this saintly gifted woman told of a dream which came to her with such vividness as to seem to her mature mind more than a common passing vagary of sleep. in her dream she was engaged in an intense struggle with an evil spirit. she was having a most difficult fight. she noticed some one standing a little bit to one side watching the fight but taking no active part in it. the fighting became so intense and her strength so sorely strained that she was on the point of giving up. then this one came over near and touched her gently and said, "be strong." instantly a wondrous strength came to her and she held on. again the evil one attacked her viciously. she wondered why this helping friend did not come to her assistance in the fight. then she was moved to say to her enemy, "depart, _in jesus' name_." and instantly he fled. and she was free and victorious. that was her dream. as she awoke there came to her the most real sense of the presence of her lord. this is only one simple illustration from life. i have run across many of the same, wholly different each from the other, but each emphasizing the one simple tremendous fact of _the constant presence with us of this same mighty jesus_. it is of keenest help to mark that humanly the _initiative of action_ is in _our_ hands. the fight is _ours_. we decide our stand. we choose, and we bear the brunt or result of our choice. we step out as the need comes. prayer and a spirit of humblest dependence on another guides our decision and action. but _we_ take the action. the initiative is ours. and _always alongside is one standing close up_, putting all his limitless power _at our disposal_, in our action. all he did in living and dying and rising up out of death was done _on our behalf_. and now all the tremendous result of his victory is at our command. all the power native in him is for our use. this is the other tryst our lover-lord makes with us. "_lo! i_ am _with you_ all the days, sunny days and shadowy, bright days and dark, all the days clear to the end." this is the sacred tryst he has made with us. and he _keeps_ the tryst. we may count on him, and as we do we shall cast nets into hopeless waters and get a great haul. we shall find his presence anticipating all our personal needs. we shall rejoice to serve and--if so it prove to be--to suffer for the one we love with tenderest devotion. and we shall look eagerly forward to seeing him who is always in touch with us, here and now, to seeing him with these outer eyes of ours, _coming in glory_ with his resistless power, _to make some blessed changes_. footnotes [1] john i. 35-42. [2] i. 1-18. [3] i. 19-xii. 50. [4] chapters xiii.-xvii. [5] chapters xviii.-xix. [6] chapters xx.-xxi. [7] colossians i. 15-17. [8] philippians ii. 6-8. [9] ephesians i.19-23. [10] revelation i. 13-18. [11] i. 1-18. [12] i. 19-xii. 50. [13] chapters xiii.-xvii. [14] chapters xviii.-xix. [15] chapter xx. [16] chapter xxi. [17] there are nineteen of these incidents: 1. the official deputation, i. 19-51. 2. marriage in cana, ii. 1-11. 3. cleansing the temple, ii. 13-22. 4. nicodemus, iii. 1-21. 5. dispute about purifying, iii. 22-36. 6. samaritan woman, iv. 1-42. 7. nobleman's son, iv. 46-54. 8. thirty-eight years infirmity, v. 9. feeding five thousand, vi. 1-15. 10. walking on water and discussion, vi. 16-71. 11. at feast of tabernacles, vii. 12. accused woman, viii. 1--11. 13. first attempt to stone, viii. 12-59. 14. man born blind, ix. 1-x. 21. 15. second stoning, x. 22-42. 16. lazarus, xi. 17. bethany feast, xii. 1-11. 18. triumphal entry, xii. 12-19. 19. the greeks, xii. 20-50. [18] iii. 32. [19] iii. 11. [20] i. 19-51. [21] ii.1-11. [22] ii. 12. [23] ii. 13-22. [24] vii. 50, 51; xix. 39. [25] ii. 23-iii. 21. [26] iii. 11, 19, 32. [27] iii. 22-36. [28] iv 1-42. [29] iv. 43-45. [30] iv. 46-54. [31] v. 1-47. [32] vi. 1-14. [33] vi. 15-71. [34] vii. 1-52. [35] viii. 1-11. [36] viii 12-59. [37] ix. l-x. 21. [38] x. 22-39. [39] x. 40-42. [40] xi. 1-53. [41] xi. 54-57. [42] xii. 1-8. [43] xii. 9-11. [44] xii. 12-19. [45] xii. 20-36. [46] xii. 37-50. [47] ii. 23. [48] iv. 45. [49] vi. 1-2, 14, 15, 34. [50] vii. 31, 40, 41. [51] viii. 30. [52] x. 20, 21. [53] x. 40-42. [54] xi. 45; xii. 9-12. [55] xii 17-18. [56] xii. 12-14. [57] xii. 42. [58] ii. 23-25 [59] vi. 60-66. [60] xii. 42-43. [61] i. 35-51; ii. 1-11; iii. 13-28. [62] vi. 66-69. [63] xi. 16. [64] ii. 22; xii. 16. [65] iii. 1-21. [66] vii. 50-51 with xii. 42, 43. [67] xix. 39. [68] iv. 5-42. [69] genesis xv. 6 with xx. 11. [70] vii. 35. [71] xii. 24-36. [72] note the official deputation incident (chapter i.), and the nicodemus incident (chapter iii.). [73] i. 19-34. [74] iii. 11, 32. [75] ii. 13-20. [76] iii. 22-iv. 3. [77] iv. 44. [78] v. 16-18. [79] vi. 30-36, 41-42, 52, 60-66. [80] vii. throughout. [81] viii. 1-11. [82] viii. 12-59. [83] ix. 1-x. 21. [84] x. 22-39. [85] xi. 47-57. [86] "jesus had _not yet_ come," intimating that they were expecting him in accordance with an understanding between him and them. vi. 17. [87] kings vi. 1-7. [88] kings xvii. 17-24. [89] kings xiii. 20-21. [90] kings iv. 32-37. [91] luke viii. 40-42, 49-56. [92] luke vii. 11-17. [93] iii. 1-21. [94] iv. 7-42. [95] viii. 1-11. [96] ii. 13-21. [97] vii. throughout. [98] luke iv. 30; john viii. 59; x. 39; xii. 36. [99] mark x. 32; luke ix. 53. [100] viii. 12-59. [101] x. 22-39. [102] xii. 12-19, 36. [103] xiii. 1-3. [104] ii. 4; vii. 6, 8, 30; viii. 20. [105] xii 23, 27; xiii. 1, 31-32; xvii. 1. [106] xiii. 4-11. [107] xiii. 12-20. [108] philippians ii. 6-11. [109] xiii. 18. [110] xiii. 21-30. [111] the word "glory" with its companion "glorify," is frequent in john. we shall understand better if we remember that originally the word he uses means the opinion that one has of another, especially a good opinion. but as the word is used commonly here the underlying thought is, not what one thinks of another, nor yet something that one may give to another, but _the actual character in the one so thought of._ glory is the character of goodness. so _to see one's glory_ is to see his real inner character, and to see that character openly recognized and acknowledged. so to _glorify_ means to recognize and acknowledge openly the true character of one. twice in john the word is used in the cheaper meaning of outer honour among men. vii. 18; viii. 50. [112] xiii. 31-33. [113] xiii. 34-38. [114] xiv. 1-14. [115] xi. 33; xii. 27; xiii. 21. [116] xiv. 15-31. [117] xv. 1-17. [118] 18-xvi. 18. [119] xvi. 19-33. [120] xvii. throughout. [121] see footnote on "glory." [122] xii. 36. [123] matthew xxvii. 32 and parallels. [124] xix. 28. [125] x. 17-18. [126] viii. 31-32, 34-36. [127] xii. 32. [128] some references for this whole paragraph,--viii. 44; xii. 31; xiii. 2, 27; xiv. 30; xvi. 11. [129] x. 16; xii. 32; xvii. 20. [130] matthew xvi. 21; xvii. 9, 23; xx. 19; mark viii. 31; ix. 31; x. 34; luke ix. 22; xviii. 33. [131] xvi. 16. [132] matthew xxvii. 63. [133] mark xvi. 6-7; luke xxiv. 6-11. [134] matthew xxviii. 16. [135] john xiv. 3, and others. [136] luke v. 1-11. [137] xxi. 1, 14. [138] so thayer. [139] xiv. 21, 1. c. love to the uttermost expositions of john xiii--xxi. by f. b. meyer, b. a. author of "the life and light of men: expositions of john i.--xii.;" "old testament heroes;" "the shepherd psalm;" etc. new york ---chicago ---toronto fleming h. revell company publishers of evangelical literature copyright, 1898-1899 by fleming h. revell company this book on the uttermost love of christ is dedicated to my dear wife, whose patient care of our home has enabled me to write so much and travel so far in his service. preface the former book on the first twelve chapters of this sublime gospel was called, _the life and light of men_. the title was naturally suggested by the subject-matter of those chapters. we had little difficulty in finding a title for the present book, which covers, however cursorily, the remainder of the gospel. it lay open before us in the opening verses of the thirteenth chapter, as translated in the margin of the revised version. "having loved his own which were in the world, _he loved them to the uttermost_." it has been impossible, in the limited space at my disposal, to deal with these chapters as i would. indeed, to do so, it would be necessary to know the length, and breadth, and depth, and height of the love of god, which passeth knowledge. time has been allowed to elapse, in the hope that the view would be clearer, and the expression more adequate, of the deep things to which the lord gave expression. but it is useless to wait till one is satisfied of the adequacy of one's work, else life will have run its course before a beginning has been made. at the end of ten more years, the task would seem still more impracticable. in the closing chapters i have woven together the narratives of the four evangelists, so as to give a succinct and connected account of the last hours of our lord's life, and especially of his death. it has been a great delight thus to tread the _via crucis_, which is also the _via lucis_--the way of the cross, which is the way of life, and light, and love. f. b. meyer. contents i the laver in the life of jesus ii thrice bidden to love iii heaven delayed, but guaranteed iv "many mansions" v the reality of which jacob's dream was the shadow vi christ revealing the father vii the great deeds of faith viii how to secure more and better prayer ix the other paraclete x the three dispensations xi three paradoxes xii many mansions for god xiii christ's legacy and gift of peace xiv the story of the vine xv "abide in me, and i in you" xvi prayer that prevails xvii the hatred of the world xviii the work of the holy spirit on the world xix christ's reticence supplemented by the spirit's advent xx the conqueror of the world xxi consecrated to consecrate xxii the lord's prayer for his people's oneness xxiii the love that bound christ to the cross xxiv drinking the cup xxv the hall of annas xxvi how it fared with peter xxvii the trial bffore caiaphas xxviii "judas, which betrayed him" xxix the first trial before pilate xxx the second trial before pilate xxxi the seven sayings of the cross xxxii christ's burial xxxiii the day of resurrection xxxiv the lake of galilee xxxv peter's love and work xxxvi the life-plan of peter and john xxxvii back to the father love to the uttermost expositions of john xiii.-xxi. i the laver in the life of jesus "he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with a towel wherewith he was girded."--john xiii. 5. in the court of the temple there were two objects that arrested the eye of the entering worshipper--the brazen altar, and the laver. the latter was kept always full of pure, fresh water, for the constant washings enjoined by the levitical code. before the priests were consecrated for their holy work, and attired in the robes of the sacred office, they washed there (ex. xxix. 4). before they entered the holy place in their ordinary ministry, and before aaron, on the great day of atonement, proceeded to the most holy place, with blood, not his own, it was needful to conform to the prescribed ablutions. "he shall bathe his flesh in water" (lev. xvi. 4). first, then, the altar, and then the laver; the order is irreversible, and the teaching of the types is as exact as mathematics. hence, when the writer of the epistle to the hebrews invites us to draw near, and make our abode in the most holy place, he carefully obeys the divine order, and bids us "draw near, with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water." in this scene (john xiii. 1-14), on the eve of our lord's betrayal, we find the spiritual counterpart of the laver, just as the cross stands for the brazen altar. i. the circumstance that led to this act of love.--in order fully to understand this touching incident, it is necessary to remember the circumstances out of which it sprang. on the way from bethany to the upper room in which the supper had been prepared, and on entering therein, our lord must have been deeply absorbed in the momentous events in which he was to be the central figure; but he was not unmindful of a contention which had engaged his disciples, for they had been disputing one with another as to which of them should be the greatest. the proud spirit of the flesh, which so often cursed the little group, broke out in this awful hour with renewed energy, as though the prince of this world would inflict a parting blow on his great antagonist, through those whom he loved best. it was as if he said, "see the results of thy tears and teachings, of thy prayers and pleadings; the love which thou hast so often inculcated is but a passing sentiment, that has never rooted itself in the soil of these wayward hearts. it is a plant too rare and exotic for the climate of earth. take it back with thee to thine own home if thou wilt, but seek not to achieve the impossible." it was heartrending that this exhibition of pride should take place just at this juncture. these were the men who had been with him in his temptations, who had had the benefit of his most careful instructions, who had been exposed to the full influence of his personal character; and yet, notwithstanding all, the rock-bed of pride, that cast the angels down from heaven, that led to the fall of man, obtruded itself. this occasion in which it manifested itself was very inopportune; already the look of calvary was on the saviour's face, and the sword entering his heart. surely, they must have been aware that the shadow of the great eclipse was already passing over the face of their sun. but even this did not avail to restrain the manifestation of their pride. heedless of three years of example and teaching; unrestrained by the symptoms of our lord's sorrow; unchecked by the memory of happy and familiar intercourse, which should have bound them forever in a united brotherhood, they wrangled with high voices and hot faces, with the flashing eye and clenched fist of the oriental, as to who should be first. and if pride thus asserted itself after _such_ education, and under _such_ circumstances, let us be sure that it is not far away from any one of us. we do not now contend, in so many words, for the chief places; courtesy, politeness, fear of losing the respect of our fellows, restrain us. but our resentment to the fancied slight, or the assumption by another of work which we thought our own; our sense of hurtness when we are put aside; our jealousy and envy; our detracting speeches, and subtle insinuations of low motive, all show how much of this loveless spirit rankles in our hearts. we have been planted in the soil of this world, and we betray its flavor; we have come of a proud stock, we betray our heredity. ii. love's sensitiveness to sin on the part of its beloved.--consider these epithets of the love of christ: _it was unusually tender_.--when the hour of departure approaches, though slight reference be made to it, love lives with the sound of the departing wheels, or the scream of the engine, always in its ear; and there are given a tenderness to the tone, a delicacy to the touch, a thoughtfulness for the heartache of those from which it is to be parted, which are of inexpressible beauty. all that was present with christ. he was taking that supper with them before he suffered. he knew that he would soon depart out of this world unto the father; his ear was specially on the alert; his nature keenly alive; his heart thrilling with unusual tenderness, as the sands slowly ran out from the hour-glass. _it was supreme love_.--"having loved his own that were in the world, he loved them unto the end." those last words have been thought to refer to the end of life, but it surely were superfluous to tell us that the strong waters of death could not quench the love of the son of man. when once he loves, he loves always. it is needless to tell us that the divine heart which has enshrined a soul will not forsake it; that the name of the beloved is never erased from the palms of the hands, that the covenant is not forgotten though eternity elapse. of course christ loves to the end, even though that end reaches to endlessness. we do not need to be assured that the immortal lover, who has once taken us up to union with himself, can never loose his hold. therefore it is better to adopt the alternative suggested by the margin of the revised version, "he loved them to the uttermost." there was nothing to be desired. nothing was needed to fill out the ideal of perfect love. not a stitch was required for the needle-work of wrought gold; not a touch demanded for the perfectly achieved picture; not a throb additional to the strong pulse of affection with which he regarded his own. it is very wonderful that he should have loved such men like this. as we pass them under review at this time of their life, they seem a collection of nobodies, with the exception perhaps of john and peter. but they were his own, there was a special relationship between him and them. they had belonged to the father, and he had given them to the son as his special perquisite and belonging. "thine they were, and thou gavest them me." may we dare, in this meaning, to apply to christ that sense of proprietorship, which makes a bit of moorland waste, a few yards of garden-ground, dear to the freeholder? "breathes there the man with soul so dead, who never to himself hath said, this is my own . . .?" it was because these men were christ's own, that the full passion of his heart set in toward them, and he loved them to the utmost bound; that is, the tides filled the capacity of the ocean-bed of possibility. _it was bathed in the sense of his divine origin and mission_.--the curtain was waxing very thin. it was a moment of vision. there had swept across his soul a realization of the full meaning of his approaching triumph. he looked back, and was hardly conscious of the manger where the horned oxen fed, the lowly birth, the obscure years, in the sublime conception that he had come forth from god. he looked forward, and was hardly conscious of the cross, the nail, the thorn-crown, and the spear, because of the sublime consciousness that he was stepping back, to go to him with whom he realized his identity. he looked on through the coming weeks, and knew that the father had given all things into his hands. what the devil had offered as the price of obeisance to himself, that the father was about to give him, nay, had already given him, as the price of his self-emptying. and if for a moment he stooped, as we shall see he did, to the form of a servant, it was not because of any failure to recognize his high dignity and mission, but with the sense of godhead quick on his soul. the love which went out toward this little group of men had deity in it. it was the love of the throne, of the glory he had with the father before the worlds were, of that which now fills the bosom of his ascended and glorified nature. _he was aware of the task to which he was abandoning these men_.--he knew that as he was the high priest over the house of god, they were its priests. he knew that cleansing was necessary before they could receive the anointing of the holy ghost. he knew that the great work of carrying forward his gospel was to be delegated to their hands. he knew that they were to carry the sacred vessels of the gospel, which must not be blurred or fouled by contact with human pride or uncleanness. he knew that the very mysteries of gethsemane and calvary would be inexplicable, and that none might stand on that holy hill, save those that had clean hands and a pure heart; and because of all this, he turned to them, by symbol and metaphor, to impress upon their heart and memory the necessity of participating in the cleansing of which the laver is the type. the highest love is ever quickest to detect the failures and inconsistencies of the beloved. just because of its intensity, it can be content with nothing less than the best, because the best means the blessedest; and it longs that the object of its thought should be most blessed forever. it is a mistake to think that green-eyed jealousy is quickest to detect the spots on the sun, the freckles on the face, and the marring discords in the music of the life; love is quicker, more microscopic, more exacting that the ideal should be achieved. envy is content to indicate the fault, and leave it; but love detects, and waits and holds its peace until the fitting opportunity arrives, and then sets itself to remove, with its own tenderest ministry, the defect which had spoiled the completeness and beauty of its object. perhaps there had never been a moment in the human consciousness of our lord, when, side by side with this intense love for his own, there had been so vivid a sense of oneness with his father, of his unity with the source of infinite purity and blessedness. we might have supposed that this would have alienated him from his poor friends, but in this our thoughts are not as his. just because of his awful holiness, he was quick to perceive the unholiness of his friends, and could not endure it, and essayed to rid them of it. just because of his divine goodness he could detect the possibilities of goodness in them, and be patient enough to give it culturing care. the most perfect musician may be most tortured by incompetence; but he will be most likely to detect true merit, and give time to its training. "the powerfullest magnet will pick out, in the powdered dust of the ironstone, fine particles of metal that a second or third-rate magnet would fail to draw to itself." do not dread the awful holiness of jesus; it is your hope. he will never be content till he has made you like himself; and side by side with his holiness, never fail to remember his gentle, tender love. iii. the divine humility, that copes with human sin.--"he riseth from supper, and layeth aside his garments; and he took a towel and girded himself." this is what the apostle calls taking upon himself the form of a servant. the charm of the scene is its absolute simplicity. you cannot imagine christ posturing to the ages. there was no aiming at effect, no thought of the beauty or humility of the act, as there is when the pope yearly washes the feet of twelve beggars, from a golden basin, wiping them with a towel of rarest fabric! christ did not act thus for show or pretence, but with an absolutely single purpose of fulfilling a needed office. and in this he set forth the spirit of our redemption. _this is the key to the incarnation_.--with slight alteration the words will read truly of that supreme act. he rose from the throne, laid aside the garments of light which he had worn as his vesture, took up the poor towel of humanity, and wrapped it about his glorious person; poured his own blood into the basin of the cross, and set himself to wash away the foul stains of human depravity and guilt. as pride was the source of human sin, christ must needs provide an antidote in his absolute humility--a humility which could not grow beneath these skies, but must be brought from the world where the lowliest are the greatest, and the most childlike reign as kings. _this is the key to every act of daily cleansing_.--we have been washed. once, definitely, and irrevocably, we have been bathed in the crimson tide that flows from calvary. but we need a daily cleansing. our feet become soiled with the dust of life's highways; our hands grimy, as our linen beneath the rain of filth in a great city; our lips are fouled, as the white doorstep of the house, by the incessant throng of idle, unseemly and fretful words; our hearts cannot keep unsoiled the stainless robes with which we pass from the closet at morning prime. constantly we need to repair to the laver to be washed. but do we always realize how much each act of confession, on our part, involves from christ, on his? whatever important work he may at that moment have on hand; whatever directions he may be giving to the loftiest angels for the fulfillment of his purposes; however pressing the concerns of the church or the universe upon his broad shoulders, he must needs turn from all these to do a work he will not delegate. again he stoops from the throne, and girds himself with a towel, and, in all lowliness, endeavors to remove from thee and me the strain which his love dare not pass over. he never loses the print of the nail; he never forgets calvary and the blood; he never spends one hour without stooping to do the most menial work of cleansing filthy souls. and it is because of this humility he sits on the throne and wields the sceptre over hearts and worlds. _this is the key to our ministry to each other_.--i have often thought that we do not often enough wash one another's feet. we are conscious of the imperfections which mar the characters of those around us. we are content to note, criticise, and learn them. we dare not attempt to remove them. this failure arises partly because we do not love with a love like christ's--a love which will brave resentment, annoyance, rebuke, in its quest,--and partly because we are not willing to stoop low enough. none can remove the mote of another, so long as the beam is left in the eye, and the sin unjudged in the life, none can cleanse the stain, who is not willing to take the form of a servant, and go down with bare knees upon the floor. none is able to restore those that are overtaken in a fault, who do not count themselves the chief of sinners and the least of saints. we need more of this lowly, loving spirit: not so sensitive to wrong and evil as they affect us, as anxious for the stain they leave on the offender. it is of comparatively small consequence how much we suffer; it is of much importance that none of christ's disciples should be allowed to go on for a moment longer, with unconfessed and unjudged wrongs clouding their peace, and hindering the testimony which they might give. let us therefore watch for each other's souls: let us consider one another to provoke to love and good works; let us in all sincerity do as christ has done, washing each other's feet in all humility and tender love. but this spirit is impossible save through fellowship with the lamb of god, and the reception of his holy, humble nature into the inmost heart, by the holy ghost. ii thrice bidden to love "a new commandment i give unto you, that ye love one another; as i have loved you, that ye also love one another."--john xiii. 34. anacreon complains that when they asked him to sing of heroic deeds, he could only sing of love. but the love with which he fills his sonnets will bear as much comparison with that of which jesus spoke in his last discourse, as the flaring oil of a country fair with the burning of the heavenly constellations. even the love that binds young hearts is too selfish and exclusive to set forth that pure ray which shone from the heart of the son of man, and shines and will shine. what word shall we use to describe it? _charity?_--the disposition denoted by this great word does not fulfill the measure of the love of christ. it is cold and severe. it can be organized. it casts its dole to the beggar and turns away, content to have relieved the sentiment of pity. by being employed for one manifestation of love, charity is too limited and restricted in its significance to become an adequate expression of the divine love which drought jesus from the throne, and should inspire us to lay down our lives for the brethren. _philanthropy?_--this is a great word, "the love of man." and yet the philanthropist is too often content with the general patronage of good works, the elaboration of schemes, the management of committees, to do much personal work for the amelioration of the world. the word is altogether too distant, too deficient in the personal element, too extensive in its significance. it will not serve to represent the divine compassion with which the heart of christ was, at the moment of speaking, in tumult. _complacency?_--no; for this is the emotion excited by the contemplation of merit and virtue, which turns away from sin and deformity; and the sentiment denoted by our master's words is one that is not brought into existence by virtue, nor extinguished by demerit and vice. since all these words fail, we are driven to speak of love, as christ used the word, as being the essence of the divine nature, for god is love. it is the indwelling of god in the soul. it is the transmitting through our lives of that which we have received in fellowship with the uncreated glory of the divine being. that which was in the beginning between the father and the son; that which constrained our emmanuel to sojourn in this world of sin; that which inspired his sacrifice; that which dwells perennially in his heart, vanquishing time and distance; which overflows all expressions, and defies definition--is the love of which these words speak, and which we are commanded to entertain toward each other. _it is a commandment_: "these things i command you." "this is his commandment: that we should believe in the name of his son jesus christ, and love one another even as he gave us commandment." obviously, then, obedience must be possible. christ had gauged our nature not only as creator, but by personal experience. he knew what was in man. the possibilities of our nature were well within his cognizance; therefore it must be possible for us to love one another qualitatively, if not quantitatively, as he has loved us. do not sit down before this great command and say it is impossible; that were to throw discredit on him who spake it. dare to believe that no word of his is vain. he descries eminences of attainment which it is possible for us all to reach: let us surrender ourselves to him, that he should fulfill in us his ideal, and make us experts in the science of love. _it is a new commandment_.--archbishop ussher on a memorable occasion called it the eleventh. it is recorded that having heard of the simplicity and beauty of the ordering of rutherford's home, he resolved to visit it for himself. one saturday night he arrived alone at the manse, and asked for entertainment over the next day. a simple but hearty welcome was accorded him; and after partaking of the frugal fare, he was invited to join the household in religious exercises which ushered in the lord's day. "how many commandments are there?" the master asked his guest, wholly unaware who he was. "eleven," was the astonishing reply; at which the very servants were scandalized, regarding the newcomer as a prodigy of ignorance. but the man of god perceived the rare light of character and insight which gleamed beneath the answer, and asked for a private interview. this issued in the invitation to preach on the following day. to the amazement of the household, so scandalized on the previous night, the stranger appeared in the master's pulpit, and announced the words on which we are meditating as his text, adding, "this may be described as the eleventh commandment." _obedience to this fulfills the rest_.--love is the fulfilling of the law. do we need to be told to have no other gods but god, to forbear taking his name in vain, and to devote one day in seven to the cultivation of a closer relationship with him, if we love him with all our soul and mind and strength? do we need to be warned against killing our neighbor, stealing his goods, or bearing false witness against his character, if we love him as ourselves? only let a man be filled with this divine disposition which is the unique characteristic of god; let him be filled with the spirit of love; let him be perfected in love, and, almost unconsciously, he will not only be kept from infringing the prohibitions of the law of sinai, but will be inspired to fulfill the requirements of the mount of beatitudes. love, and do as you like. you will like to do only what god would like you to do. _there is a very important purpose to be realized in obeying this command_.--"by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." every church claims to be the true representative of christ. the eastern, because it occupies the lands where christianity was cradled. the roman catholic, because it professes to be able to trace its orders to the apostles. but, amid the hubbub of rival claims, the world, unconvinced, still awaits the emergence of the true bride of the lamb. the one note of the true church is love. when once men of different nationalities and countries behold its manifestation, they do not hesitate to acknowledge the presence of god, and to admit that those who are animated by perfect love to him and to one another constitute a unique organization, which cannot have originated in the will or intellect of man, but, like the new jerusalem, must have come out of heaven from god. so sublime, so transcendent, so unearthly is love, that its presence is significant of the handiwork of god, as the fire that burned in the bush indicated that the "i am" was there. love is a supreme test, not only of the church, but of the individual. it has been the mistake of every age to make faith rather than love the test of christianity. "tell me how much a man believes, and i shall know how good a christian he is!" the whole endeavor of the mediaeval church was to reduce the followers of christ to a uniformity of belief. and in our own time, a man is permitted by consent to be grasping after money, imperious in temper, uncharitable in speech, without losing position in the church, so long as he assents to all the clauses of an orthodox creed. with christ, however, love is all-important. a man may have faith enough to remove mountains, but if he have not love, he is nothing, and lighter than vanity in the estimation of heaven. faith ranks with hope and love, but it is destined to pass as the blossoms of spring before the fruit of autumn, whilst love shall abide forevermore. a man may have a very inadequate creed; like the woman of old, he may think there is virtue in a garment, or a rite; like thomas, he may find it impossible to attain to the exuberant confidence of his brethren; but if he loves christ enough to be prepared to die for him, if through the narrow aperture of a very limited faith, love enough has entered his soul from the source of love, christ will entrust him with the tending of his sheep and lambs, and call him into the secret place. of course, the more full-orbed and intelligent our faith, the quicker and intenser will be our love. but faith, after all, is but the hand that takes, whilst love is the fellowship of kindred hearts that flash each on the other the enkindling gleam. if you do not love, though you count yourself illumined with the light of perfect knowledge, you are in the dark. "he that hateth his brother is in the darkness, even until now." if you do not love, you are dead. "he that loveth not, abideth in death." the light sparkle of intellectual or emotional life may light up your words, and fascinate your immediate circle of friends, but there will be no life toward god. love is the perfect tense of live. whoso does not love does not live, in the deepest sense. there are capacities for richer existence that never unfold until love stands at the portal and sounds his challenge, and summons the sleeper to awake and arise. if you do not love, you are under the thrall of the devil, into whose dark nature love never comes. "herein the children of god are manifest and the children of the devil. cain was of the wicked one, and slew his brother." "as i have loved you." life is one long education to know the love of god. "we have known and believed the love that god hath to us," is the reflection of an old man reviewing the past. each stage of life, each phase of experience, is intended to give us a deeper insight into the love wherewith we are loved; and as each discovery breaks upon our glad vision, we are bidden to exemplify it to others. does jesus forgive to the seventy-seventh time? we must forgive in the same measure. does jesus forget as well as forgive? we, too, must forgive after the same fashion. does jesus seek after the erring, and endeavor to induce the temper of mind that will crave forgiveness? we also must seek the man who has transgressed against us, endeavoring to lead him to a better mind. the christian knows no law or limit but that imposed by these significant words, spoken on the eve of christ's sacrifice, "as i have loved you." thus all life gives opportunities for the practice of this celestial temper and disposition. it has been said that talent develops in solitude, whilst character is made in the strain of life. be it so. then the character of loving may be made stronger by every association we have with our fellows. each contact with men, women, and children, may give us an opportunity of loving with a little more of the strength, purity, and sweetness of the love of christ. the busiest life can find time for the cultivation of this spirit. that which is spent in a crowd will even have greater opportunities than the one which is limited to solitude. the distractions and engagements that threaten to break our lives up to a number of inconsiderable fragments may thus conduce to a higher unity than could be gained by following one occupation, or concentrating ourselves on one object. let us gird up the loins of our minds, and resolve to seek a baptism of love from the holy ghost, that we may be perfected in love; that we may love god first, and all else in him, ascending from our failures to a more complete conformity to the love wherewith he has loved us; embracing the sinful and erring in the compass of our compassion, as we embrace the divine and eternal in the compass of our adoration and devotion. iii heaven delayed, but guaranteed "simon peter said unto him, lord, whither goest thou? jesus answered him. whither i go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterward."--john xiii. 36. these chapters are holy ground. the last words of our dearest, spoken in the seclusion of the death-chamber to the tear-stained group gathered around, are not for all the world, and are recorded only to those whose love makes them able to appreciate. and what are these words that now begin to flow from the master's lips, but his last to his own? they were held back so long as judas was there. there was a repression caused by his presence which hindered the interchange of confidences; but, when he was gone, love hastened to her secret stores, and drew forth her choicest, rarest viands to share them, that they might be in after days a strength and solace. this marvellous discourse, which begins in chapter xiii. 31, continues through chapters xiv., xv., xvi., and closes in the sublime prayer of chapter xvii. better that all the literature of the world should have shared the fate of the alexandrian library, than that these precious words should have been lost amid the fret of the ages. the lord commences his discourse by speaking of his speedy departure. "little children," he said, using a term which indicated that he felt toward them a parental tenderness, and spoke as a dying father might have done to the helpless babes that gathered around his bed, "i am to be with you for a very little time longer; the sand has nearly run out in the hour-glass. i know you will seek me; your love will make you yearn to be with me where i am, to continue the blessed intimacy, the ties which within the last few weeks have been drawn so much closer; but it will not be possible. as i said to the jews, so must i say to you, whither i go, ye cannot come." he then proceeds to give them a new commandment of love, as though he said: "the _cannot_ which prevents you following me now is due to a lack of perfect love on your part, as well as for other reasons; it is necessary, therefore, that you wait to acquire it, ere you can be with me where i am." simon peter hardly hears him uttering these last words; he is pondering too deeply what he has just heard, and calls the master back to that announcement, as though he had passed it with too light a tread: "going away! lord, whither goest thou?" to that question our lord might have given a direct answer: "heaven! the father's bosom! the new jerusalem! the city of god!" any of these would have been sufficient; but instead he says in effect: "it is a matter of comparative indifference whither i go; i have no wish to feed curiosity with descriptions of things in the heavens, which you could not understand." the main point for you, in this brief life, is so to become assimilated to me in humility, devotion, likeness, and character, that you may be able to be my companion and friend in those new paths on which i am entering, as you have been in those which i am now leaving. "whither i go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterward." the words staggered peter; he could not understand what christ meant; he could not see how much had to be done before he could share in christ's coming glory. he made the same mistake as james and john had done before, and wanted the throne, without perceiving that it was conditioned on fellowship in the cup and the baptism into death. with deep emotion he persisted in his inquiries: "why cannot i follow thee now? there is no place on earth to which i would not go with thee. have i not already left all to follow thee? have i not been with thee on the transfiguration mount, as well as in thy journeyings? there is but one experience through which i have not passed with thee, and that is death; but if that stands next in thy life-plan, i will lay down my life for thy sake. anything to be with thee." how little peter knew himself! how much better did christ know him. "what! dost thou profess thyself willing to die with me? verily, verily, i say unto thee, thou shalt deny me thrice, between now and cock-crow to-morrow morning." these words silenced peter for all the evening afterward. he does not appear to have made another remark, but was absorbed in heart-breaking grief: though all the while there rang in his heart those blessed words of hope: "whither i go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterward"--words which our lord caught up and expanded for the comfort of them all, who now with peter for the first time realized that they were about to be parted from jesus, and were almost beside themselves with grief: "let not your heart be troubled. . . ." i. the desire to be with christ.--this was paramount. these simple men had little thought of heaven as such. if christ had begun to speak of golden pavement, gates of pearl, and walls of chrysolite, they would have turned from his glowing words with the one inquiry, "wilt thou be there?" if that question had been answered uncertainly, they would have turned away heart-sick, saying: "if thou art not there, we have no desire for it; but if thou wert in the darkest, dreariest spot in the universe, it would be heaven to us." there were three desires, the strands of which were woven in this one yearning desire and prayer to be with christ. they wanted his love, his teaching, his leading into full, richer life. and is not this our position also? we want christ, not hereafter only, but here and now, for these three self-same reasons. _we want his love._--there is no love like his--so pure and constant and satisfying. what the sun is to a star-light, and the ocean to a pool left by the retiring tide, such is the love of jesus compared with all other love. to have it is superlative blessedness; to miss it is to thirst forever. _we want his light._--he speaks words that cast light on the mysteries of existence, on the dark problems of life, on the perplexing questions which are perpetually knocking at our doors. _we want his life._--fuller and more abundant life is what we crave. it is of life that our veins are scant. we desire to have the mighty tides of divine life always beating strongly within us, to know the energy, vigor, vitality of god's life in the soul. and we are conscious that this is to be found only in him. therefore we desire to be with him, to drink deeper into his fellowship, to know him and the power of his resurrection, to be brought into an abidingness from which we shall never recede. we have known christ after the flesh; we desire to know him after the spirit. we have known him in humiliation; we want to know him in his glory. we have known him as the lamb of the cross; we want to know him as the divine man on the throne. ii. the fatal obstacle to the immediate granting of these desires.--"thou canst not follow me _now_." there is thus a difference in his words to his disciples, and those to the jews. these also were told that they could not follow him, but the word now was omitted. there was no hope held out to them of the great gulf being bridged. that was the _cannot_ of moral incompatibility; this, of temporary unfitness, which by the grace of god would finally pass away, and the whole of their aspirations be realized (john vii. 34; viii. 21). it is easy to see why peter was unfit for the deeper realization of christ in his resurrection. our lord had just spoken of being glorified through death. it was as judas left the chamber, intent on his betrayal, that jesus said, "now is the son of man glorified!" he saw that the hidden properties of his being could only be unfolded and uttered through death and resurrection. but peter had little sympathy with this; he might avow his determination to die, but he had never really entered into the meaning of death, and all it might involve. he could not detect evil. the traitor was beside him; but he had to ask the beloved disciple to elicit from jesus who it might be by whom the master would be betrayed. he was out of sympathy with the lord's humiliation, so that he chode with him for stooping to wash his feet; and if he could not understand the significance and necessity of this lowly deed of love, how could he enter into the spirit of that life which was planted in death, and which bore even in resurrection the print of the nails? he strove with the rest for the primacy. who should be the greatest? was the question that agitated them, as the other evangelists tell us, in that solemn hour. and none that was possessed with that spirit of pride and emulation could be in harmony with that blessed world where the greatest are the lowliest, the highest the least, and the king set on the right hand of power, because more capable of humbling himself than any beside. but, besides all this, peter was animated by the strong spirit of self-assertion and determination. always on the lake shore he had been able to get to the front by his stronger voice, and broader shoulders, and more vehement manner. why should he not do the same now? why could he not keep pace with christ even through the dark valley, and accompany him through unknown worlds? it cannot be, said christ; you are too strong in your carnal strength, too self-reliant, too confident. it is not possible for you to be with me, in the life that springs from death, and to which death is the door, till you have deeply drunk into the spirit of my death. you are too strong to follow me when i descend to the lowest on my way to the highest; i must take for my companion now a forgiven malefactor; but i will some day come for you, and receive you to myself. so peter had to be broken on the wheel of a servant-girl's question, and humbled to the dust. in those bitter hours he was thoroughly emptied of his old proud, self-reliant, vain-glorious spirit, and became as a little child. this must be our path also. we must descend with christ, if we would ascend to sit at his side. we must submit to the laying of our pride in the very dust. we must accept humiliations and mortifications, the humblings of perpetual failure and shortcoming, the friction and fret of infirmity and pain; and when we have come to an end of ourselves, we shall begin to know christ in a new and deeper fashion. he will pass by and say, "live!" the spirit of his life will enter into us; the valley of achor will become a door of hope, and we shall sing god's glad new song of hope. the ideal which had long haunted us, in our blood, but unable to express itself, will burst into a perfect flower of exquisite scent and hue. iii. the certainty of the ultimate gratification of every desire god has implanted.--this is an absolute certainty, that god inserts no desire or craving in our nature, for which there is no appropriate gratification. the birds do not seek for food which is not ready for them. the young lions do not ask for prey that is not awaiting them somewhere in the forest glade. hence the absoluteness of that _shall_--"thou _shalt_ follow me afterward." it is as if jesus said, "i have taught you to love me, and long after me; and i will certainly gratify the appetite which i have created." pentecost was the divine fulfillment of all those conditions of which we have been speaking. it was not enough that peter should be an emptied and broken man; he must become also a god-possessed, a spirit-filled man. thus only could he be fitted to know christ after a spiritual sort, and to participate in his resurrection life. it was surely to the advent of the holy ghost that our lord referred in that significant _afterward_. we too must seek our share in pentecost. do not be content with "not i"; go on to say, "but christ." do not be satisfied with the emptying of the proud self-life; seek the infilling of the holy spirit. do not stop at the cross, or the grave; hasten to the upper room, where the disciples are baptized in fire and glory. the holy spirit will enable you to abide in christ, because he will bring christ to abide in you; and life, through his dear grace, shall be so utterly imbued with fellowship with the blessed lord, that, whether present or absent, you will live together with him. it is the man who is really filled with the spirit of god who can follow jesus, as peter afterward did, to prison and to death, who can drink of the cup of which he drank, and be baptized with the baptism with which he was baptized. "why should i fear?" asked basil, of the roman prefect. "nothing you have spoken of has any effect upon me. he that hath nothing to lose is not afraid of _confiscation_. you cannot banish me, for the earth is the lord's. as to _torture_, the first stroke would kill me, and _to kill me is to send me to glory_." iv "many mansions" "i go to prepare a place for you."--john xiv. 2. the cure for heart-trouble, when the future is full of dread, is faith--faith directed to jesus; and just such faith as we give god, for he is god. he has shown himself well worthy of that trust; all his paths toward us have been mercy and truth; and we may therefore safely rest upon his disclosures of that blessed life, of which the present is the vestibule. "let not your heart be troubled," he says, "ye believe in god, believe also in me." or it might be rendered, "believe in god, believe also in me." let us listen to him, as he discourses of the father's house and its many mansions. _heaven is a home._--"my father's house." what magic power lies in that word! it will draw the wanderer from the ends of the earth; will nerve the sailor, soldier, and explorer with indomitable endurance; will bring a mist of tears to the eyes of the hardened criminal, and soften the heart of stone. one night in the trenches of the crimea the bands played "home, sweet home," and a great sob went through the army. but what makes home home? not the mere locality or building; but the dear ones that lived there once, now scattered never to be reunited, only one or two of whom are still spared. it was father's house, though it was only a shepherd's shieling; he dwelt there, and mother, and our brothers and sisters. and where they dwell, or where wife and child dwell, there is home. such is heaven. think of a large family of noble children, of all ages, from the little child to the young man beginning his business career, returning after long severance to spend a season together in the old ancestral home, situated in its far-reaching grounds, and you can form some idea of what it will be, when the whole family of the redeemed gather in the father's house. all reserve, all shyness, all restraint gone forever. god has given us all the memory of what home was, that we may guess at what awaits us, and be smitten with homesickness. as the german proverb puts it: "blessed are the homesick, for they shall reach home." _heaven is very spacious._--there are "_many_ mansions." there is no stint in its accommodation. in the olden temple there were spacious courts, long corridors, and innumerable chambers, in which a vast multitude could find a home day and night. the children trooped about and sang around their favorite teacher. the blind and lame sheltered themselves from heat or storm. the priests and levites in great numbers lived there. all of this probably suggested the master's words. heaven too will contain immense throngs, without being crowded. it will teem with innumerable hosts of angels, and multitudes of the redeemed which no man can number. its children will be as the grains of sand that bar the ocean's waves, or the stars that begem the vault of night. but it can easily hold these, and myriads more. yet there is room! as age after age has poured in its crowds, still the cry has gone forth, there is still room! the many mansions are not all tenanted. the orchestra is not full. the complement of priests is not complete. do not believe those little souls, who would make you believe that heaven is a little place for a select few. if they come to you with that story, tell them to begone! tell them that they do not know your father's heart; tell them that all he does must be worthy of himself. jesus shall see of the travail of his soul, and be satisfied. _heaven is full of variety._--it is not like one great hall; there are myriads of adjacent rooms, "mansions," which will be fitted up, so to speak, differently. one for the sweet singer, another for the little ones and their teachers, another for the student of the deep mysteries of the kingdom, another for those who may need further instruction in the mysteries of god. heaven's life and scenery are as various as the aptitudes and capacities of souls. its music is not a monotone, but a chorale. it is as a home, where the parents delight to develop the special tastes of their children. this is surely what jesus meant when he said, "i go to prepare a place for you." he is ever studying our special idiosyncrasies--what we need most, and can do best; and when he has ascertained it, he suits our mansion accordingly. when a gardener is about to receive some rare exotic, he prepares a place where it will flower and fruit to the best advantage. the naturalist who is notified of the shipment of some new specimen, prepares a habitat as suited as possible to its peculiarities. the mother, whose son is returning from sea, prepares a room in which his favorite books and pictures are carefully placed, and all else that her pondering heart can devise to give him pleasure. so our lord is anxious to give what is best in us its most suitable nourishment and training. and he will keep our place against our coming. it will not suit another, and will not be given to another. that all this will be so, is witnessed by the instincts of our hearts, and if it had not been so, he would have told us. that little clause is inimitably beautiful; it seems to teach that where he permits his children to cherish some natural presentiment of the blessed future--its solemn troops and sweet societies; its friendships, recognitions, and fellowships; its holy service, and special opportunities--that he really assents to our deepest and most cherished thoughts. if it had not been so, he would have told us. _the charm of heaven will be the lord's presence._--"where i am, ye shall be also." we shall see his face, and be forever with him. what would not men give, if some old manuscripts might turn up with new stories of his wondrous life, new parables as charming as those of the good shepherd and the prodigal son; new beatitudes; new discourses like that on the vine. god might have permitted this. but what would it be in comparison with all that lies before! the past has lost much; but the future holds infinitely more. we shall see new gospels enacted before our eyes, behold christ as a real visible person in the glory of divine manhood, hear him speak to us as his friends, and shall know what he meant when he promised to gird himself, and come forth to serve his servants. if you are in doubt as to what heaven is like, is it not enough to know that it will be in accord with the nature and presence and choice of jesus christ? after his resurrection, he spent forty days among his disciples, that men might see what the risen life was like. as he was, and is, so shall we be. his body is the pattern in accordance to which this shall be fashioned. what he was to his friends after his resurrection, we shall be to ours, and they to us. we shall hear the familiar voices and the dear old names, shall resume the dear relationships which death severed, and shall speak again of the holy secrets of our hearts with those who were our twin-spirits. and he will come again, either in our death hour or in his second advent, "to receive us" to himself. if we only could believe this, and trust him who says it, our hearts could not be troubled, though death itself menaced us; for we should realize, that to be received at the moment of dissolution by the hands of jesus, into the place on which he has lavished time and thought and love, must be "far better" than the best that earth could offer. v the reality of which jacob's dream was the shadow "jesus saith unto him, i am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the father, but by me."--john xiv. 6. we all know more truth than we give ourselves credit for. a moment before the lord had said, "whither i go ye know, and the way ye know." thomas, the pessimist--always inclined to look at the dark side of things--directly contradicted him, saying, "master, we are absolutely ignorant of the goal to which thy steps are bending; it is impossible, therefore, for us to know the path that lies through the gloom, and by which thou art to come to it." it was a strange collision, the master's "ye know," and thomas's "we know not." which was right? there is no doubt that jesus was right, and they did know. in many a discourse he had given sufficient materials for them to construct a true conception of the father's house, and the way to it. these materials were lying in some dusty corner of their memory, unused, and christ knew this. he said, therefore, in effect, "go back to the teachings i have given you; look carefully through the inventory of your knowledge; let your instincts, illumined by my words, supply the information you need: there are torches in your souls already lighted, that will cast a radiant glow upon the mysteries to the brink of which you have come." this is true of us all. christ never conducts to experiences for which he has not previously prepared us. as the great ocean-steamers take in their stores of coal and provision, day and night, for weeks previous to their sailing; so, by insensible influences, christ is ever anticipating the strain and stress of coming circumstance, passing in words which are spirit and life, though they may stand in their heavy packing-cases in the hold, until we are driven to unpack, examine, and use their contents. not unseldom sorrow is sent for no other purpose than to compel us to take cognizance of our possessions. many a fabric of manufacture, many an article of diet, many an ingenious process has been suggested in days of scarcity and famine. so, old words and truths come back in our sore need. christ often speaks to us, as a teacher to a nervous child, saying, "you know quite well, if you would only think a little." more truth is stored in memory than recollection can readily lay hands upon. thomas persisted in his protestations of ignorance, and so the lord uttered for his further information the royal sentence, which sums up christianity in the one simple pronoun "i." it was as if he said to his disciples gathered there, and to his church in all ages, "to have me, to know me, to love and obey me, this is religion; this is the light for every dark hour, the solution for all the mysteries." christianity is more than a creed, a doctrinal system, a code of rules--it is christ. i. christ, as the way.--"i am the way," said our lord. the conception of life as a pilgrimage is as old as human speech. on the third page of our bibles we are told that "enoch walked with god." the path of the israelites through the desert was a pilgrim's progress, and the enduring metaphor for our passage from the cross to the sabbath-keeping. isaiah anticipated the rearing up of a highway which should be called the way of holiness, which should not be trodden by the unclean; no lion should be there, or ravenous beast go up thereon; but the ransomed of the lord should walk there, and go with singing to zion. but in the furthest flights of inspired imagination, the prophet never dreamed that god himself would stoop to become the trodden path to himself, and that the way of holiness was no other than that divine servant who so often stood before him for portrayal. "_i_ am the way," said christ. he fulfills all the conditions of isaiah's prediction. he saw a highway. a highway is for all: for kings and commoners; for the nobleman daintily picking his way, and the beggar painfully plodding with bare feet. and jesus is for every man. "whosoever will, let him come"; let him step out and walk; let him commit himself to him who comes to our doors that he may conduct us to the pearly gate. it was a way of holiness, where no unclean or leprous person was permitted to travel. neither can we avail ourselves of the gracious help of christ, so long as we are harboring what he disapproves, or doing what he forbids. it was so plain and straight, that wayfaring men though fools could not mistake it. and the master said, that whilst the wise and prudent might miss his salvation, babes would find it. "hidden from the wise and prudent, but revealed to babes." it afforded perfect immunity from harm. the wild beasts of the forest might roar around it, but they were kept off that thoroughfare by an invisible and impassable fence. who is he that can harm us whilst we follow that which is good? the special divine permission was necessary, before satan could tempt job, whose heart was perfect with his god. it was trodden with song. and who can describe the waves of joy that sometimes roll in on the believing, loving soul. there is always peace, but sometimes there is joy unspeakable and full of glory. the hands of jesus shed the oil of gladness on our heads, whilst the lamentation and regret that haunt the lives of others are abashed, as the spectres of the night before the roseate touch of morn. what further thought did christ mean to convey, when he said, "i am the way"? we cannot see the other side of the moon. the full import of these words, as they touch his wonderful nature, as it lies between him and his father, is beyond us; but we may at least study the face they turn toward our lives. the true value of a way is never realized until we are following it through an unknown country, or groping along it in almost absolute darkness. i remember, during a tour in switzerland, on starting for a long day's march, the comfort of the assurance that i had only to keep to one road which was clearly defined, and it would inevitably bring me to my destination. how different this to another experience of making my way, as i might, across the hillsides in the direction which i fancied was the right one! all that had to be done in the first instance was to follow the roadway, to obey its sinuous windings, to climb the hills where it climbed, to descend the valleys where it descended, to cross the rivers and torrents at the precise point with it. it seemed responsible for me as long as i kept to it. whenever i thought to better myself by wandering right or left, i found myself landed in some difficulty, and when i returned to it, it seemed to say, "why did you leave me? i know that sometimes i am rough and difficult; but i can do better for you, than you can for yourself, and indeed i am the only possible way. obey me, and i will bring you home." it is so that christ speaks to us. each day, as we leave our home, we know that the prepared path lies before us, in the good works which god has prepared for us to walk in. and when we are ignorant of their direction, and are at a loss as to where to place our steps, we have only to concern ourselves with christ, and almost unconsciously we shall find ourselves making progress on the destined way. christ is the way: love christ, trust christ, obey christ, be concerned with christ, and all else will be added. christ is the way. when the heart is wrapped up in him, it is on the way, and it is making progress, although it never counts the rate or distance, so occupied is it with him. "i fear i make no progress," sighs the timid soul. "but what is christ to thee?" "everything." "then if he be all in all to thee, thou art most certainly on god's way; and thou art making progress toward thy home, albeit that it is unconsciously. be of good cheer, christ is the way; remember the ancient pilgrims, of whom it is written, that the way was in their hearts." "but god the father is so little to me!" "but to deal with christ is to deal with god: to be wrapped up in the love of christ is to make ever deeper discoveries into the heart of god. he is the way to god: to know him is to come to the father." ii. christ as the truth.--the thought grows deeper as we advance. obedience to the way conducts to the vision of the truth; ethics to spiritual optics. the truth-seeker must first submit himself in all humility and obedience to christ; and when he is willing to do his will, he is permitted to know. (1) christ is more than a teacher. "we know that thou art a teacher, come from god," said nicodemus. he is more, he is the truth of god. all truth is ensphered in him. all the mysteries of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in him. we fully know truth only as it is in jesus. when the spirit of truth would lead us into all truth, he can do nothing better than take of the things of christ, and reveal them to us, because to know christ is to know the truth in its most complete, most convenient, and most accessible form. if you know nothing else, and know christ intimately and fully, you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. if you love truth, and are a child of the truth, you will be inevitably attracted to christ, and recognize the truth that speaks through his glorious nature. "he that is of the truth heareth my voice." (2) distinguish between christ the truth, and truth about him. many true things may be said about him; but we are not saved by truths about him, but by himself the truth. not the indubitable fact that jesus died; but the person of him who died and lives forevermore. not the certain fact that jesus lay in the grave; but the blessed man himself, who lay there for me. not the incontestable facts of his resurrection and ascension; but that he has borne my nature to the midst of the throne, and has achieved a victory which helps me in my daily struggle. this is the ground basis of all true saving faith. the soul may accept truths about christ, as it would any well-authenticated historical fact; but it is not materially benefited or saved until it has come to rest on the bosom of him of whom these facts are recorded. (3) to know christ as truth demands truth in heart and life. the insincere man; the trifler; the flippant jester who takes nothing seriously; the superficial man who uses the deepest expressions, as counters for society talk; the inconsistent man who is daily doing violence to his convictions, by permitting things which his conscience condemns--must stand forever on the outskirts of the temple of truth: they have no right to stand before the king of truth. if you have never discerned the truth as it is in jesus, it becomes a serious question whether you are perfectly true, or whether you are not, like pilate, harboring insincerity in your heart, which blinds your eyes to his ineffable attributes. (4) concern yourself with christ. be content to let the world and its wisdom alone. "the wisdom of this world is foolishness with god . . . he taketh the wise in their own craftiness." give yourself to know christ, who is made unto us wisdom, as well as sanctification and redemption. to know him is to be at the fountain-head of all truth; and the soul which has dwelt with him by day and night will find itself, not only inspired by an undying love for the true, but will be able to hold fellowship with truth-lovers and truth-seekers everywhere; nay, will be able even to instruct those who have the reputation of great learning and knowledge in the schools of human thought. "i have more understanding than all my teachers; for thy testimonies are my meditation. i understand more than the aged, because i have kept thy precepts." to know and to possess christ, is to have the word, that is the wisdom of god, enshrined as a most sacred possession in the heart. iii. christ as the life.--it is not enough to know; we need life. life is, indeed, the gate to knowledge. "this is life eternal _that_ they should know thee." it was imperative, therefore, that jesus should become a source of life to men, that they might know the truth, and be able to walk in the way, and more especially since death had infected and exhausted all the springs of the world's vitality. it was into a world of death that the son of god came. the spring of life in our first parents had become tainted at its source. at the best adam was only a living soul. dead--dead--dead in trespasses and sins; such was the divine verdict, such the course of this world. earth resembled the valley in the prophet's vision, full of bones, very many and very dry. all the reservoirs of life were spent; its fountains had died away in wastes of sand. then the son of god brought life from the eternal throne, from god himself; and became a life-giving spirit. his words were spirit and life: he was himself the resurrection and the life: those that believed in him became partakers of the divine nature. the tree of life was again planted on the earth's soil, when jesus became incarnate. "i give eternal life unto my sheep," he said, "and they shall never perish." "he that believeth on the son hath eternal life." if, then, you are wanting life, and life more abundantly, you must have christ. do not seek _it_, but _him_: not the stream but the fountain; not the word, but the speaker; not the fruit, but the tree. he is the life and light of men. and if you have christ you have life. you may not be competent to define or analyze it; you may not be able to specify the place or time, when it first broke into your soul; you may hardly be able to distinguish it from the workings of your own life: but if you have christ, trust christ, desire christ above all, you have the life. "he that hath the son hath the life; he that hath not the son of god hath not the life." "we know him that is true, and we are in him that is true . . . this is eternal life." "i," said jesus, "am the way, the truth, and the life." vi christ revealing the father "philip saith unto him, lord, shew us the father and it sufficeth us. jesus saith unto him, he that hath seen me hath seen the father."--john xiv. 8, 9. the longing of the universal heart of man was voiced by philip, when he broke in, rather abruptly, on our lord's discourse with the challenge that he should answer all questions, dissipate all doubt, by showing them the father. is there a god? how can i be sure that he is? what does he feel toward us?--these are questions which men persistently ask, and wait for the reply. and the master gave the only satisfactory answer that has ever been uttered in the hearing of mankind, when he said in effect, "the knowledge of god must be conveyed, not in words or books, in symbols or types, but in a life. to know me, to believe in me, to come into contact with me, is to know the deepest heart of god. 'he that hath seen me hath seen the father; how sayest thou then, show us the father?'" i. philip's inquiry.--_it bore witness to the possible growth of the human soul_. only three short years before, as we are told in the first chapter of this gospel, christ had found him. at that time he was probably much as the young men of his age and standing. not specially remarkable save for an interest in, and an earnestness about, the advent of the messiah; his views, however, of his person and work were limited and narrow: he looked for his advent as the time for the reã«stablishment of the kingdom of david, and deliverance from the roman yoke. but three years of fellowship with jesus had made a wonderful difference in this young disciple. the deepest mysteries of life and death and heaven seemed within his reach. he is not now content with beholding the messiah, he is eager to know the father, and to stand within the inner circle of his presence-chamber. the highest watermark ever touched by the great soul of moses was when he said, amid the sublimities of sinai, "i beseech thee, show me thy glory." but in this aspiration philip stands beside him. there is a close kinship between the mighty lawgiver and the fishermen of bethsaida. how little there is to choose between, "show me thy glory," and "show us the father." great and marvellous is the capacity of the soul for growth! _it truly interpreted the need of man._--"it sufficeth us." from nature, with all her voices that speak of god's power and godhead; from the page of history, indented with the print of god's footprints; from type and ceremony and temple, though instituted by god himself; even from the unrivalled beauty of our saviour's earthly life--these men turned unsatisfied, unfilled, and said, "we are not yet content, but if thou wouldest show us the father, we should be." and would it not suffice _us_?--would it not be sufficient to give new zest and reality to _prayer_, if we could realize that it might be as familiar as the talk of home, or like the petitioning of a little child? would it not suffice to make the most irksome _work_ pleasant, if we could look up and discern the father's good pleasure and smile of approval? would it not suffice to rob _pain_ of its sting, if we could detect the father's hands adjusting the heat of the furnace? would it not suffice to shed a light across the dark mystery of _death_, if we felt that the father was waiting to lead us through the shadows to himself? how often the cry rises from sad and almost despairing hearts, "show us the father, and it sufficeth us." _but surely this request was based on a mistake._--philip wanted a visible theophany, like that which moses beheld, when the majestic procession swept down the mountain pass; or as the elders saw, when they beheld the paved sapphire work; or after the fashion of the visions vouchsafed to elijah, isaiah, or ezekiel. he wanted to see the father. but how can you make wisdom, or love, or purity visible, save in a human life? yet this is the mistake we are all liable to make. we feel that there must be an experience, a vision, a burst of light, a sensible manifestation, before we can know the father. we strain after some unique and extraordinary presentation of the deity, especially in the aspect of fatherhood, before we can be completely satisfied, and thus we miss the lesson of the present hour. philip was so absorbed in his quest for the transcendent and sublime, that he missed the revelations of the father which for three years had been passing under his eyes. god had been manifesting his tenderest and most characteristic attributes by the beauty of the master's life, but philip had failed to discern them; till now the master bids him go back on the photographs of those years, as fixed in his memory, to see in a thousand tiny illustrations how truly the father dwelt in him, and lived through his every word and work. are you straining after the vision of god, startled by every footstep, intently listening till the very atmosphere shall become audible, expecting an overwhelming spectacle? in all likelihood you will miss all. the kingdom comes not with outward show. when men expected christ to come by the front door, he stole in at the back. whilst philip was waiting for the father to be shown in thunder and lightning, in startling splendor, in the stately majesty that might become the highest, he missed the daily unfolding of the divine nature that was being afforded in the life with which he dwelt in daily contact. _philip's request emphasized the urgent need of the ministry of the holy spirit._--"if ye had known me". . . the saviour said. "have i been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me?" they failed to know the father, because they failed to know christ, and they failed in this because they knew him only after the flesh. they were so familiar with him as their friend, his love was so natural, tender, and human, he had become so closely identified with all their daily existence, that they did not recognize the fire that shone behind the porcelain, the deity that tabernacled beneath the frail curtains. often those who dwell amid the loveliest or grandest scenery miss the beauty which is unveiled to strangers from a distance. certain lives have to be withdrawn from us before we understand how fair they were, and how much to us. and jesus had to leave his disciples before they could properly appreciate him. the holy spirit must needs take of the things of christ, and reveal them, before they could realize their true significance, symmetry, and beauty. two things are needful, then: first, we must know christ through the teaching of the holy ghost; and next, we must receive him into our hearts, that we may know him, as we know the workings of our own hearts. each knows himself, and could recognize the mint-mark of his own individuality; so when christ has become resident within us, and has taken the place of our self-life, we know him as we know ourselves. "what man knoweth the things of man save the spirit of man which is in him?--but we have the mind of christ?" ii. the lord's reply.--"he that hath seen me, hath seen the father." he did not rebuke the request, as unfit to proffer, or impossible to satisfy. he took it for granted that such a desire would exist in the heart, and that his disciples would always want to be led by him into the father's presence. in this his ministry resembled that of the great forerunner, who led his disciples into the presence of the bridegroom, content to decrease if only he might increase. the master's answer was, however, widely different from john's. the forerunner pointed to jesus as he walked, and said, "behold the lamb of god"; jesus pointed to himself, and said, "i and my father are one; to have seen me is to have seen the father; to have me is to possess the father." it troubled the lord greatly that he had been so long time with them, and yet they had not known him; that they had not realized the source of his words and works; that they had concentrated their thought on him, instead of passing, as he meant them to do, from the stream to the source, from the die to the seal, from the beam of the divine glory to its sun. he bade them, therefore, from that moment realize that they knew and had seen the father in knowing and seeing himself. not more surely had the shechinah dwelt in the tabernacle of old, than did it indwell his nature, though too thickly shrouded to be seen by ordinary and casual eyes. let us get help from this. many complain that they know christ, pray to christ, are conscious of christ, but that the father is far away and impalpable. they are therefore straining after some new vision or experience of god, and undervaluing the religious life to which they have already attained. it is a profound mistake. to have jesus is to have god; to know jesus is to know god; to pray to jesus is to pray to god. jesus is god manifest in the flesh. look up to him even now from this printed page, and say, "my lord and my god." jesus is not simply an incarnation of god in the sense in which, after the fashion of the greek mythology, gods might come down in the likeness of men, adopting a disguise which they would afterward cast aside; jesus is god. all the gentle attributes of his nature are god's; and all the strong and awful attributes of power, justice, purity, which we are wont to associate with god, are his also. happy is the moment when we awake to realize that in jesus we have god manifest and present; to know this is the revelation of the father by the son, of which our saviour spoke in matt. xi. 27. iii. a glimpse into the lord's inner life.--this gospel is the most lucid and profound treatise in existence on his inner life. it is the revelation of the principles on which our saviour lived. so absolutely had he emptied himself that he never spake his own words: "the words that i speak unto you, i speak not of myself." he never did his own works: "my father worketh hitherto, and i work. . . . the father abiding in me doeth his works." this was the result of that marvellous self-emptying of which the apostle speaks. our lord speaks as though, in his human nature, he had a choice and will of his own. "not my will, but thine be done," was his prayer. perhaps it was to this holy and divine personality that satan made appeal in the first temptation, bidding him use his powers for the satisfaction of his hunger, and in independence of his father's appointment. but however much of this independence was within our lord's reach, he deliberately laid it aside. before he spoke, his spirit opened itself to the father, that he might speak by his lips; before he acted. he stilled the promptings of his own wisdom, and lifted himself into the presence of the father, to ascertain what he was doing, and to receive the inflow of his energy (john v. 19; xii. 44, 49). these are great mysteries, which will engage our further consideration. in the meanwhile, let us reason that if our lord was so careful to subordinate himself to the father that he might be all in all, it well becomes us to restrain ourselves, to abstain from speaking our own words or doing our own works, that jesus may pour his energies through our being, and that those searching words may be fulfilled in us also, "striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily." vii the great deeds of prayer "verily, verily, i say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that i do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because i go unto my father."--john xiv. 12. whenever our lord was about to say something usually important, he introduced it by the significant expression, "_verily, verily_"; or, as it is in the original, "amen, amen, i say unto you." the words well become his lips, who in the book of revelation is called "the amen, the faithful and true witness." they are really our lord's most solemn affirmation of the truth of what he was about to utter, as well as an indication that something of importance is about to be revealed. indeed, it was necessary in the present case that the marvellous announcement of the text should receive unusual confirmation, because of its wide extent. if our lord had ascribed this power of doing greater works than himself in his earthly life, to apostle, prophet, or illustrious saint, we should have required no special assurance of its deliberate truth; but to learn that powers so transcendent are within the reach of any ordinary believer, to learn that any one who believes may outdo the miracles on the outskirts of nain, and at the tomb of bethany, is as startling as it is comforting. there is no reason why the humblest soul that ponders this page should not become the medium and vehicle through which the christ of the glory shall not surpass the christ of galilee, jerusalem, and judea. the best method of treating these words is to take them clause by clause as they stand. i. the first note is faith.--"he that believeth on me." three varieties of faith are alluded to in the context. faith in his works: "believe the works." faith in his words: "believe me." faith in himself, as here. in the greek the preposition translated _in_, would be better rendered _into_, as though the believer was ever approaching the heart of christ in deeper, warmer, closer fellowship; perpetual motion _toward_, combined with unbroken rest _in_. each of these three forms of faith plays an important part in the christian life. arrested by the works of christ--his irresistible power over nature, his tender pity for those who sought his aid, the blessed and far-reaching results of his miracles--we cry with nicodemus, "verily, this is a teacher come from god; for none can do such miracles, except god be with him." the master perpetually appealed to the witness borne by his works to his divine mission, as when he said, "if i had not done among them the works which none other did, they had not had sin, but now have they both seen and hated both me and my father." and again, "the very works that i do bear witness of me." but at the best the works of christ are only like the great bell ringing in the church-tower calling attention to the life being unfolded within, and are not calculated to induce the faith to which the greater works are possible. next we come to the words of christ. they are spirit and life: they greatly feed the soul. he speaks as none other has ever spoken of the mysteries of life, death, god, and eternity. it is through the words that we come to the speaker. by feeding on them we are led into vital union with himself. but his words, as such, and apart from him, will not produce works that shall surpass those he wrought in his earthly ministry. therefore from works and words we come to the lord himself with a trust which passes up beyond the lower ranges of faith; which does not simply receive what he waits to give, or reckon upon his faithfulness, but which unites us in indissoluble union with himself. this is the highest function of faith; it is _unitive_: it welds us in living union with our lord, so that we are one with him, as he is one with god. we are in him in the divine purpose which chose us in him before the foundation of the world; grafted into him in his cross; partaking of a common life with him through the regeneration of the holy ghost. but all these become operative in the union wrought by a living faith; so that the strongest assertions which jesus made of the close relationship between his father and himself become the current coin of holy speech, as they precisely describe the union which subsists between us and jesus. the living saviour has sent us, and we live by the saviour. the words we speak are not from ourselves, but the saviour within us, he doeth his works. we are in him and he in us, all ours are his, and his ours. stay, reader, and ask thyself whether thou hast this faith which incorporates thee with the man who died for thee on the cross, and now occupies the throne, the last adam who has become a life-giving spirit. ii. a true faith always works.--"he that believeth in me, the works that i do shall he do also." there are many counterfeits of faith in the world. electroplate! veneer! they will inevitably fail in the last supreme test, if not before. james especially calls attention to the distinction between a living and a dead faith. it becomes us to be on our guard. the test of genuine faith are twofold. in the _first_ place, a genuine, living faith has christ for its object. the hand may tremble, but it touches his garment's hem; the eye may be dimmed by doubt, but it is directed toward his face; the feet may stumble, but as the fainting pilgrim staggers onward, this is his repeated cry, "thou, o christ, art all i want." in the _second_ place, a true faith works. its works approve its nature, and show that it has reached the heart of christ, and becomes the channel through which his life-forces pour into the soul. jacob knew that joseph was alive and that his sons had opened communications with him, because of the wagons that he sent; and we may know that jesus lives beyond the mist of time, and that our faith has genuinely connected us with him, because we feel the pulse of his glorious nature within our own. and when this is so, we cannot but work out what he is working within. ask me why a true faith must work! ask why the branch can do no other than bear clusters of ruddy grapes; its difficulty would be to abstain from bearing; the vitality of the root accounts for its life and productiveness. blame the lark, whose nature vibrates in the sunshine, for pouring from its small throat acres of sound; blame the child, full of bounding health, for laughing, singing, and leaping; blame the musician, whose soul has caught some fragments of the music of eternity, for pouring it forth in song, before you wonder why it is that the true faith which has opened the way from the believer to his lord produces those greater works. iii. there are two kinds of work indicated.--(1) "_the works that i do shall he do also._"--what a blessing christ's ministry must have been to thousands of sufferers! he passed through galilee as a river of water of life. in front of him were deserts of fever blasted by the sirocco, and malarious swamps of ague and palsy, and the mirage of the sufferer's deferred hope; but after he had passed, the parched ground became a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water, the eyes of the blind were opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped, the lame man leaped as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sang. how glad the sick of any district must have been when it was rumored that he was on his way to it! what eager consultations must have been held as to the best means of conveying them into his presence! what sleepless nights must have been spent of speculation as to whether, and how, he would heal! such results followed the labors of the apostles. the lame man at the beautiful gate of the temple; the palsied aeneas; the dead dorcas; the crowds in the streets over-shadowed by peter's passing figure; the miracles wrought by paul at paphos, lystra, philippi, and malta--all attested the truth of the master's words, "the works that i do shall ye do also." there is no doubt that, if it were necessary, such miracles might be repeated, if only the church exercised the same faith as in those early days of her ministry to the world. but there are greater works than these. (2) "_greater works than these shall ye do._"--the soul is greater than the body, as the jewel than the casket. all work, therefore, which produces as great an effect on the soul-life as miracles on the physical life, must be proportionately greater, as the tenant is greater than the house, as the immortal than the mortal. it is a greater work to give sight to the blind soul than to the blind body; to raise the soul from its grave than lazarus from his four days' sleep. again, eternity is also greater than time, as the ocean is greater than a creek. the ills from which the miracles of christ delivered the suppliant crowds, were at the most limited by years. the flesh of the leper became wrinkled with old age; jairus' daughter fell again on sleep; the generation which had been benefited by the mighty works, passed away without handing on a legacy of health to succeeding time! but if a sinner is turned from the error of his ways, if salvation comes to a nature destined for immortality, and lifts it from the slough of sin to the light of god, the results must be greater because more permanent and far-reaching. moreover, the pain from which the word of the gospel may save, is infinitely greater than that which disease could inflict. men have been known to brave any physical torture rather than endure the insupportable anguish of a sin-laden conscience. the worm that never dies is more intolerable than cancer; the fire that is never quenched keener than that of fever. to save a soul from these is, therefore, a greater work. christ hinted at this distinction in one of his earliest miracles, when he proposed to forgive the sick of the palsy his sins, before bidding him walk; and bade the seventy rejoice more that their names were written in heaven than that the devils were subject to them. the apostles bear witness to a growing appreciation of this distinction, by the small space given in the acts of the apostles to their miracles, compared with the greater attention concentrated on their discourses; and surely the history of christendom bears witness to the great and permanent character of spiritual work. the church could not have influenced the world as she has done, had she been nothing more than a healer of diseases and an exorciser of demons. iv. the source of these greater works.--"because i go to the father." clearly the church has had an argument to present to men which even her master could not use. he could not point, except indefinitely, to the cross, its flowing blood, its testimony to a love which the cold waters of death could not staunch. through the ages this has been the master-motive, the supreme argument. then, again, the master could not count upon the coã¶peration of the spirit in his convicting power, as we can. "when he is come, he will convict the world of sin"; but he did not come till after that brief career of public ministry had closed. speaking reverently, we may say that the church has an ally that even her master had not. but the main reason is yet to come. perhaps an illustration will best explain it. supposing the great painter, raphael, were to infuse his transcendent power, as he possessed it during his mortal life, into some young brain, there is no reason why the genius of the immortal painter should not effect, through a mere tyro in art, results in form and color as marvellous as those which he bequeathed to coming time. but suppose, further, that after having been three hundred years amid the tones, forms, and colors of the heavenly world, he could return, and express his thoughts and conceptions through some human medium, would not these later productions be greater works than those which men cherish as a priceless legacy? so if the lord were to work in us such works only as he did before he ascended to his glory, they would be inferior to those which he can produce now that he has entered into his glorified state, and has reassumed the power of which he emptied himself when he stooped to become incarnate. this is what he meant when he said, "because i go unto the father." open your hearts to the living, risen, glorified saviour. let him live freely in your life, and work unhindered through your faith; expect him to pour through you as a channel some of those greater works which must characterize the closing years of the present age. remember how the discourses and miracles of his earthly life even increased in importance and meaning; for such must be the law of his ministry in the heavenlies. according to our faith it will be unto us. the results which we see around us are no measure of what christ would or could do, they indicate the straitening effect of our unbelief. lift up your heads, o ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye low-browed doors of unbelief; and the king of glory shall come in with his bright and mighty retinue, and shall go out through human lives to do greater works by the instrumentality of his people than ever he wrought in the course of his earthly ministry. viii how to secure more and better prayer "and i will pray the father, and he shall give you another comforter, that he may abide with you forever."--john xiv. 16. the great lack of our life is that we do not pray more. and there is no failure so disastrous or criminal as this. it is very difficult to account for it. if in all times of discouragement and vicissitude we could have access to one of the wisest and noblest of our fellow creatures, or to some venerated departed saint, or to the guardian angel deputed to attend our steps, or to the archangel that presides as vicegerent over this system of worlds, how strong and brave we should become! whatever our need, we would at once seek his august presence, and obtain his counsel and assistance. how extraordinary is our behavior then with respect to prayer, and that we make so little of our opportunities of access into the presence of our father, in whom wisdom, power, and love blend perfectly, and who is always willing to hear us--nay, is perpetually urging us to come! the reason may lie in the very commonness of our opportunities. the swing-door of prayer stands always waiting for the least touch of faith to press it back. if our father's presence-chamber were opened to us only once a year, with how much greater reverence would we enter it, how much more store would we set on it! we should anticipate the honor and privilege of that interview for the whole year, and eagerly avail ourselves of it. alas, that familiarity with prayer does not always increase our appreciation of its magnificence! the cause of our apathy is probably also to be sought in the effort which is required to bring our sensuous and earth-bound natures into true union with the spirit of god. true prayer is labor. epaphras labored in his intercessions. our feet shrink from the steep pathway that climbs those heights; our lungs do not readily accustom themselves to the rare air that breathes around the summit of the mount of communion. but there is a deeper reason yet: we have not fully learned or obeyed the laws and conditions of prayer. until they are apprehended and complied with, it is not possible for us to pray as we might. they are not, however, very recondite. the least advanced in the divine school may read them on this page, where christ unbares the deepest philosophy of devotion in the simplest phrases. it is evident that he expected that the age which pentecost was to inaugurate, and to which he so frequently refers as "in that day," would in a special sense be the age of prayer. mark how frequently in this last discourse he refers to it--(xiv. 13, 14; xv. 7, 16; xvi. 24, 26). clearly the infilling of the holy spirit has a special bearing on the prayerfulness of the individual and the church. but this will unfold as we proceed. i. the praying christ.--"i will pray the father." it is true that he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, because he had completed the work for which he became man. that session indicated a finished atonement. as the father rested from the work of creation, so the son entered into his rest, having ceased from the work of redemption, so far as it could be effected in his death, resurrection, and ascension. but as in his rest the father worked in providence, sustaining that which he had created, so did the saviour continue to work after he had entered into his sabbath-keeping. we have already dealt with one branch of his twofold activity, in _his work through those who believe_. the greater works which the risen saviour has been, and is, achieving through his people bear witness to the perpetual energy streaming from his life in the azure depths. "the apostles," mark tells us, "went forth and preached everywhere, the lord working with them, and confirming their word with signs following." the other branch of his twofold ministry is _his intercession on our behalf_. he says, "i will pray the father" for you. (1) what a contrast to the assertions which we have already pondered of his oneness with the father, and to his assurance in almost the same breath that he would himself answer his people's prayers! it is inexplicable, save on the hypothesis that he has a dual nature, by virtue of which, on the one hand, he is god, who answers prayer, and on the other the son of man, who pleads as the head and representative of a redeemed race. (2) it is, however, in harmony with old testament symbolism. the high priest often entered the presence of god with the names of the people on his breast, the seat of love, and on his shoulder, the seat of power; and once a year, with a bowl of blood and sprig of thyme in his hands, pleaded for the entire nation. what more vivid portrayal could there be of the ceaseless intercession of that high priest who was once manifested to bear the sin of many, and who now appears in the presence of god for us. (3) in the days of his flesh, he pleaded for his _church_, as in the sublime intercessory prayer of chapter xvii.; for _individuals_, as when he said, "simon, simon, satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat; but i have prayed for thee"; and for _the world_, as when he first assumed his high-priestly functions, saying from his cross, "father, forgive them; they know not what they do." thus he pleads still. for zion's sake he does not hold his peace, and for jerusalem's sake he does not rest. for his church, for individual believers, for thee and me, he says in heaven, as on earth, "father, i pray for them." perennially from his lips pours out a stream of tender supplication and entreaty. this is the river that makes glad the city of god. anticipating coming trial; interposing when the cobra-coil is beginning to encircle us; pitying us when the sky is overcast and lowering; not tiring or ceasing, though we are heedless and unthankful; he pleads on the mountain brow through the dark hours, whilst we sleep. (4) these intercessions are further stimulated by our love and obedience. "if ye love me, keep my commandments, _and_ i will pray the father." he looks on us, and where love is yearning to love more fully, and obedience falters in its high endeavors, he prays yet more eagerly, that grace may be given us to be what we long to be. he prays for those who do not pray for themselves; but he is even more intent on the perfecting of those who are the objects of his special interest, because of their loyalty and love--"i pray for them; i pray not for the world." (5) his special petition is that we may receive the gift of pentecost. "i will pray the father, and he shall give you another comforter." it would almost seem as though he spent the mysterious ten days between his ascension and pentecost in special intercession that his church might be endued with power from on high. the pleading church on earth and the pleading saviour in heaven were at one. the two voices agreed in perfect symphony, and pentecost was the father's answer. the saviour prayed to the father, and he gave another comforter. nor has he ceased in this sublime quest. it is not improbable that every revival of religion, every fresh and deeper baptism of the spirit, every new infilling of individual souls, has been due to our saviour's strong cryings on our behalf. it may be that at this hour he is engaged in asking the father that he would dower the universal church with another pentecost; and if so, let us join him in the prayer. ii. the praying church.--"whatsoever ye shall ask in my name." (1) prayer must be addressed to the father. as soon as we utter that sacred name, the divine nature responds; and, to put it vividly, is on the alert to hear what we desire. a little child cannot utter a sigh however slight, a sob however smothered, without awakening the quick attention of its mother; and at the first whisper of our father's name, he is at hand to hear and bless. alas! we have too often grieved his holy spirit by a string of selfish petitions, or a number of formal platitudes! to the wonderment of angels, we thus fritter away the most precious and sacred opportunities. be still, then, before you pray, to consider what to ask; order your prayers for presentation: and be sure to begin the blessed interview with words of sincere and loving appreciation and devotion. (2) the conditions of successful prayer are clearly defined in these words. there must be _love_ to christ and to all men; _obedience_ to his will, so far as it is revealed; _recognition_ of his mediation and intercession, as alone giving us the right to draw nigh; _identification_ with him, so as to be able to use his name; _passionate desires for the father's glory_. where these five conditions exist, there can be no doubt as to our receiving the petitions which we offer. prayer that complies with them cannot fail, since it is only the return tide of an impulse which has emanated from the heart of god. (3) note how the saviour lives for the promotion of his father's glory. how often, during his earthly ministry, he declared that he was desiring and seeking this beyond all else! though his prayer could only be granted by his falling into the ground to die, he never flinched from saying, "father, glorify thy name." but here he tells us that through the ages as they pass he will still be set on the same quest. by all means he must glorify his father; and if, in any prayer of ours, we can show that what we ask will augment the father's glory, we are certain to obtain his concurrence and glad acquiescence. "that," he says, "will i do." (4) we must pray "in his name." as the ambassador speaks in the name of queen and country; as the tax-collector appeals in the name of the authorities; both deriving from their identification with their superiors an authority they could not otherwise exercise; so our words become weighted with a great importance when we can say to our father, "we are so one with jesus that he is asking in and through us; these words are his; these desires his; these objects those on which his heart is set. we have his sanction and authority to use his name." when we ask a favor in the name of another, that other is the petitioner, through us; so when we approach god in the name of jesus, it is not enough to append his sacred name as a formula, but we must see to it that jesus is pleading in us, asking through our lips, as he is asking through his own in the heart of the sapphire throne. iii. the link between these two.--"he will give you another comforter." the word comforter might be rendered advocate. we have two advocates; one with the father, jesus christ the righteous, and one with us. as the one went up, the other came down. as the one sat down at the right hand of god, the other rested on the heads and hearts of the company in the upper room. as the one has compassion on our infirmities, so the other helps our infirmities. as the one ever liveth to intercede for us in heaven, so the other maketh intercession in us for the saints with groanings that cannot be uttered. this is the clue to the mystery of prayer. it is all-important that the church on earth should be in accord with its head in his petitions before the throne. of what avail is it for a client and advocate to enter an earthly court of justice unless they are in agreement? of what use is it to have two instruments in an orchestra which are not perfectly in tune? and how can we expect that god will hear us unless we ask what is according to his will, and, therefore, what is in the heart and thought of jesus? this, then, is the problem that confronts us. how can we ascertain what jesus is pleading for? we may guess it generally, but how be assured of it particularly? who will tell us the direction in which the current of his mighty pleadings is setting, that we may take the same direction? these inquiries are answered in the ministry of the holy spirit. on the one hand, he fills and moves the head, and on the other, his members. there is one spirit of life between jesus in the glory and his believing people everywhere. one ocean washes the shores of all natures in which the life of god is found. be still, therefore, and listen carefully to the voice of the spirit of god speaking in thine heart, as thou turnest from all other sounds toward his still small whisper, and he will tell thee all. coming, as he does, from the heart of jesus, he will tell thee his latest thought. in him we have the mind of christ. then, sure that we are one with him, and therefore with the father, we shall ask what is according to his will to give. prayer goes in an eternal circle. it begins in the heart of god, comes to us through the saviour and by the spirit, and returns through us again to its source. it is the teaching of the raindrops, of the tides, of the procession of the year; but wrought out and exemplified in the practice of holy hearts. ix the other paraclete "he shall give you another comforter."--john xiv. 16. there was no doubt in our lord's mind that his asking would be at once followed by the father's giving. indeed, the two actions seemed, in his judgment, indissolubly connected--"i will ask, and he shall give." from which we learn that prayer is a necessary link in the order of the divine government. though we are assured that what we ask is in god's purpose to communicate--that it lies in the heart of a promise, or in the line of the divine procedure, yet we must nevertheless make request. "ye have not," said the apostle james, "because ye ask not." "ask," said the master, his eye being open to the laws of the spiritual world, "and it shall be given you." the prayer of the head of the church was heard, and he received the holy spirit to bestow him again. "having received of the father the promise of the holy spirit," said the apostle peter, "he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear." thus the holy spirit is the gift of the father, through the son, though he is equal with each of the blessed persons in the trinity, and is with them to be worshipped and glorified. i. the personality of the holy ghost.--that word, "another"--"he shall give you _another_ comforter"--is in itself sufficient to prove the divinity and personality of the holy ghost. if a man promises to send another as his substitute, we naturally expect to see a man like himself, occupying his place, and doing his work. and when jesus foreannounced another comforter, he must have intended a person as distinct and helpful as he had been. a breath, an afflatus, an impersonal influence could not have stood in the same category with himself. there are those who think that the holy spirit is to the lord jesus what a man's spirit is to his body; and imagine that our lord simply intended that the spirit of his life-teaching and self-sacrifice would brood over and inspire his followers; but this could not have fulfilled the promise of "the other comforter." it would simply have been himself over again, though no longer as a living person; rather as the momentum and energy of a receding force which gets weaker and ever weaker as the ages pass. thus the spirit of napoleon or of caesar is becoming little more than a dim faint echo of footsteps that once shook the world. jesus knew how real and helpful he had been to his followers--the centre around which they had rallied; their teacher, brother, master; and he would not have tantalized them by promising another paraclete, unless he had intended to announce the advent of one who would adjust himself to their needs with that quickness of perception, and sufficiency of resource, which characterize a personal leader and administrator. there were times approaching when the little band would need counsel, direction, sympathy, the interposition of a strong wise hand--qualities which could not be furnished by the remembrance of the past, fading like the colors on clouds when the sun has set; and which could only be secured by the presence of a strong, wise, ever-present personality. "i have been one paraclete," said the lord in effect; "but i am now going to plead your cause with the father, that another paraclete may take my place, to be my other self, and to abide with you forever." there is no adequate translation for that word _paraclete_. it may be rendered comforter, helper, advocate, interpreter; but no one word suffices. the greek simply means one whom you call to your side, in a battle, or a law-court, to assist you by word or act. such a one is christ; such a one is the holy spirit. he is a definite person whom you can call to, and lean on, and work with. if a man were drowning, he would not call to the wandering breath of the wind; but to any person who might be on the bank. the spirit is one whom you can summon to your side; and it is therefore quite in keeping with scripture to pray to the holy spirit. on the whole we are taught to direct prayer to the father, through the son, and as prompted by the holy spirit; but as a matter of practice and habit, it is indifferent which person in the holy trinity we address, for each is equally god. as the father is god, so also is the son, and so the holy spirit. in her hymns and liturgies the church has never hesitated to summon the holy spirit to her help. it is in recognition of the personality of the holy spirit that the historian of the acts of the apostles quotes his solemn words, "separate _me_ barnabas and saul"; tells us that ananias and sapphira lied to him; and records that the church at jerusalem commenced its encyclical letter with the words, "it seemed good to the holy ghost and to us." happy that body of christians which has come to realize that the holy ghost is as certainly, literally, and personally present in its midst, as jesus christ was present when, in the days of his flesh, he tarried among men! ii. a sevenfold parallel between the advents of the two paracletes.--(1) _each was in the world before his specific advent._--long before his incarnation the delights of the son of god were with men. in angel-form, he visited their tents, spoke with them face to face, calmed their fears, and fought on their behalf. he trod the holy fields of palestine with noiseless footfall that left no impress on the lightest sands, long before he learned to walk with baby-feet, or bore his cross up calvary. so with the holy spirit. he brooded over chaos, strove with men before the deluge, moved holy men to write the scriptures, foreshadowed the advent of the messiah, equipped prophets and kings for their special mission. in restraining evil, urging to good, preparing the way for christ, the holy spirit found abundant scope for his energies. but his influence was rather external than internal; savored rather of gift than grace; and dealt more often with the few than with the many--with the great souls that reared themselves to heaven like alpine summits touched with the fires of dawn, rather than with the generality of men, who dwelt in the valley of daily commonplace, enwrapped in the mists of ignorance and unbelief. it was to be the special prerogative of this age, that he should be poured out on all flesh, so that sons and daughters should prophesy, whilst servants and handmaidens participated in his gracious influences. (2) _the advent of each was previously announced._--from the fall, the coming of the great deliverer was foretold in type and sign, in speech and act, in history and prophecy. indeed, as the time of the incarnation drew nigh, as milton tells us in his sublime ode on the incarnation, surrounding nations had caught from the chosen people the spirit of expectancy, and the world was in feverish anticipation of the coming of its redeemer. he was the desire of all nations. all the ages, and all the family of man, accompanied mary to bethlehem, and worshipped with the magi. so with the holy spirit. joel distinctly foretold that in the last days of that dispensation. god would pour out of his spirit; and his message is echoed by isaiah, zechariah, ezekiel, and others; till jesus came, who more specifically and circumstantially led the thoughts of his disciples forward to the new age then dawning, which should be introduced and signalized by the coming and ministry of the spirit. (3) _each was manifested in a body._--the lord jesus in that which was prepared for him by the father, and born of a pure virgin. we are told, that he took on him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man. similarly the holy spirit became, so to speak, incorporate in that mystical body, the church, of which jesus is the head. on the day of pentecost, the hundred and twenty who were gathered in the upper room, and who, up to that time, had had no corporate existence, were suddenly constituted a church, the habitation and home of the divine spirit. what the human body of jesus was to the second person of the holy trinity, that the infant church was to the third; though it did not represent the whole body, since we must add to those gathered in the upper room many more in heaven and on earth, who by virtue of their union with the risen christ constituted with them the holy catholic church, which is his body, the fullness of him who filleth all in all. "this," said the blessed spirit, "is my rest forever; here will i dwell, for i have desired it." (4) _each was named before his advent._--"thou shalt call his name emmanuel." "his name shall be called wonderful, counsellor, the mighty god, the everlasting father, the prince of peace." thus was the lord jesus designated to loving hearts before his birth. so also with the holy spirit. the last discourses of jesus are full of appellatives, each setting forth some new phase of the holy spirit's ministry; some freshly-cut facet of his character. the spirit of truth; the holy spirit; the paraclete; the spirit of conviction--such are some of the names by which he was to be known. (5) _each was dependent on another._--our lord said distinctly, "the son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the father do"; and he said of the holy spirit, using the same preposition, "he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak." what a conception is here! it is as though the holy spirit were ever listening to the divine colloquy and communion between the father and the son, and communicating to receptive hearts disclosures of the secrets of the deity. the things which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, god hath revealed unto us by his spirit; "for the spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of god." (6) _each received witness._--the father bore witness to his son on three separate occasions. on the first, at his baptism, he said, "this is my beloved son, in whom i am well pleased"; on the second, when the three apostles were with him on the holy mount, and he received from the father glory and honor; and on the third, when the inquiry of the greeks reminded him of his approaching death, and the voice from heaven assured him that glory would accrue to the father through his falling into the ground to die. so in regard to the holy spirit. seven times from the throne the ascended lord summons those that have ears, to hear what the spirit saith to the churches; as though to emphasize the urgent importance of his message, and the necessity of giving it our most earnest heed, lest we should drift past it. (7) _the presence of each is guaranteed during the present age._--"i am with you," saith the lord, and they were among the closing words of his posthumous ministry, "all the days, even unto the end of the age"; and here it is foretold that the comforter would abide during the age, for so the phrase might more accurately be rendered. this is specially the age of the holy spirit. he may be grieved, ignored, and rejected; but he will not cease his blessed ministry to the bride, till the bridegroom comes to claim her for himself. oh, let us avail ourselves of his gracious presence to the utmost of our opportunity, that he may realize in us the full purpose of his ministry. let us not pray for him, as if in any degree he had been withdrawn, but as believing that he is as much with the church of to-day as on the day of pentecost; as near us as when awe-struck eyes beheld him settling in flame on each meekly-bowed head. the lord said, "he shall remain with you to the end of the age." the age is not closed, therefore he must be with us here and now. there can be no waning of his grace or power. the pot of oil is in the church, only she has ceased to bring her empty vessels. the mine is beneath our feet, but we do not work it as of yore. the electric current is vibrating around, but we have lost the art of switching ourselves on to its flow. it is not necessary then for us to pray the father that he should give the holy paraclete in the sense in which he bestowed him on the day of pentecost in answer to the request of our lord. that prayer has been answered: the paraclete is here; but we need to have the eyes of our heart opened to perceive, and the hand of our faith strengthened that we may receive, him. the work of the holy spirit in and through us is conditioned by certain great laws, which call for our definite and accurate obedience. not on emotion, nor on hysteric appeals, nor on excitement, but on obedience, does the power of god's spirit pass into human hearts and lives. therefore, let us walk in the paracletism of the paraclete, continually in the current of his gracious influences, which will bear us on their bosom ever nearer to our lord. oh to glorify him; to know and love him; to become passionately eager that all hearts should enthrone him regardless of the personal cost it may involve! glory be to the father, and to the son, and to the holy ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be forevermore. amen. x the three dispensations "the spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."--john xiv. 17. they are lofty themes which we have been discussing in the foregoing pages; and just because they touch the highest matters of the spiritual life, they involve us in profound responsibility. it was because capernaum had been exalted to heaven in privilege, that she could be cast down to hell. of those to whom much is given, much is required. better not to have known these truths of the inner life, if we are content to know them only by an intellectual apprehension, and make no effort to incorporate them into the texture of our character. few things harden more certainly than to delight in the presentation of the mysteries of the kingdom, without becoming the child of the kingdom. the object, therefore, which now engages us is less one of elucidation than of self-examination. let us discern ourselves. let us see whether we be in the faith. let us expose soul and spirit to the discrimination of the word of god, which is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. i. there are two avenues of knowledge.--"whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him." three things are specified as beyond the range of the world's power: it does not receive, it does not know, it does not see, the things of the unseen and eternal world. it cannot see them, therefore it does not know them, and therefore does not receive them, and this is especially true of its attitude toward the holy ghost. when the world hears talk of the holy spirit it brings to bear upon him those organs of cognition which it has been accustomed to apply to the objects of the natural world, and even to the human life of christ. but, as might have been expected, these are altogether useless. it is as absurd to endeavor to detect the presence of the spiritual and eternal by the faculties with which we discern what is seen and temporal, as it would be to attempt to receive the impression of a noble painting by the sense of taste, or to deal with the problems of astronomy by the tests that are employed in chemical analysis. the world, however, does not realize its mistake. it persists in applying tests to the spirit of god which may be well enough in other regions of discovery, but which are worse than useless here. "the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of god, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." "whom the world cannot receive, for it beholdeth him not, neither knoweth him." there was a touch of this worldly spirit even in thomas, when he said, "except i see in his hand the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, i will not believe"; and in so far as the world-spirit is permitted to hold sway within us, our powers of spiritual perception will be blunted, and become infected with the tendency to make our intellect or imagination our sole means of apprehending divine truth. there is a better way than this; and our lord indicates it when he says, "ye know him, for he abideth with you, and shall be in you." pascal said, "the world knows in order to love: the christian loves, in order to know." the same thought underlies these words of christ. the world attempts to see the spirit, that it may know and receive him; the child of god receives him by an act of faith that he may know him. an illustration of this habit is given in the story of naaman. the spirit of the world whispered to him of the desirability of _knowing_ that the waters of israel possessed curative properties, before he committed himself absolutely to the prophet's directions; and if he had waited to know before bathing in them, he would have remained a helpless leper to the end of his days. his servants, however, had a clearer perception of the way of faith, and persuaded him to dip seven times in the jordan. he acted on the suggestion, dipped seven times, and his flesh came as that of a little child. similarly we are called to act upon grounds which the world would hold to be inadequate. we hear the testimony of another; we recognize a suitability in the promise of the scripture to meet the deep yearnings of our soul; we feel that the words and works of jesus christ constitute a unique claim for him, and we open our hearts toward him. in absolute humility and perfect obedience we yield to him our whole nature. though the night be yet dark, we fling wide our windows to the warm southwest wind coming over the sea. the result is that we begin to know, with an intuitive knowledge that cannot be shaken by the pronouncements of the higher criticism. we have received the spirit, and our after life is too short to unfold all that is involved in that unspeakable gift. we know him because he abideth with us, and is in us. no man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him; and we can only know the spirit of god when he has taken up his residence within us, and witnesses with our spirit, as one who is interwoven with the very texture of the inner life. consecration is therefore the key to this higher knowledge, and if any who read this page are yearning after a discernment of the things of god on which they may build the house of their faith amid the swirl of the storm and the beat of the wave of modern doubt, let them open their entire nature, humbly to receive, diligently to obey that spirit whom christ waits to give to all who seek. ii. the characteristic of this dispensation.--"he shall be _in_ you." it has been repeatedly said that creation is the work of the father, redemption of the son, and regeneration of the holy spirit. it may also be said, that there are three dispensations: that of the father, in the earlier history of mankind; that of the son, culminating in our lord's ascension; and that of the holy spirit, in which we are now living. in the history of the world these were successive. in the history of souls they may be the contemporaneous. in the same house one member may be in the dispensation of the father, another in that of the son, and a third in that of the holy ghost. it is highly necessary, says the saintly fletcher, that every good steward of the mysteries of god should be well acquainted with this fact, otherwise he will not rightly divide the word of life. there is peril lest we should give the truth of one order of dispensation to those who are living on another level of experience. there is a remarkable illustration of this in the life of john the baptist, who clearly realized the distinction on which we are dwelling, and used it with remarkable nicety, when approached by various classes of character. when gentile soldiers came to him, in roman regimentals, he merely bade them do violence to no man, and be content with their wages. when jews came he said, "behold the lamb of god!" to his eagle eye a further dispensation was unveiled to which he alluded when he said, "he shall baptize you with the holy ghost, and with fire." similarly they to whom inquirers address themselves should diagnose their spiritual standing, that they may lovingly and wisely administer the truth suitable to their condition. _the dispensation of the father_ includes those who hope that he has accepted and forgiven them, but have no clear perception of the atoning work of christ; are governed rather by fear than love; tremble beneath the thunders of sinai more often than they rejoice at the spectacle of calvary; are tossed to and fro between hope and despair; desire the favor of god, but hesitate to speak confidently of having attained it. such are to be found in churches where the gospel is veiled beneath heavy curtains of misconception and formalism. in the same class we might put men like cornelius, who in every nation fear god and work righteousness. _the dispensation of the son_ includes those who clearly perceive his divine nature, and rejoice in his finished propitiation; they know that they are accepted in the beloved; they receive his teachings about the father; they submit to the rule of life which he has laid down; but they know comparatively little of the inner life, or of their oneness with christ in resurrection and ascension; they understand little of what the apostle meant by speaking of christ being formed in the soul; and like the disciples at ephesus they know but little of the mission and in-filling of the holy spirit. _the dispensation of the holy spirit_ includes those who have claimed their share in pentecost. in their hearts the paraclete dwells in sanctifying grace, on their heads he rests in mighty anointing. the previous class resemble ruth the gleaner; the latter, ruth the bride. the one dwells in romans vii. and hebrews iii.; the other in romans viii. and hebrews iv. for those the water has to be drawn from the well, in these it springs up to everlasting life. oh to know the "in-ness" of the holy ghost. know ye not that jesus christ is in you by the spirit, unless ye be reprobate! iii. the symptoms of the indwelling.--we must distinguish here, as dr. steele suggests, between what is variable, and what is constant. _these vary_--(1) the joy of realization, which is sometimes overpowering in its intensity, at other times like the ebbing tide. (2) agony for souls, which would be insupportable if it were permanent. christ only asks us to watch in gethsemane for one hour. (3) access in prayer. sometimes the vision is face to face; at others, though we grasp as in jacob's night-wrestle, we cannot behold. like esther, we seem to wait in the ante-chamber. as the lark of which jeremy taylor speaks, we rise against the east wind. (4) the openings of scripture. the bible does not seem to be always equally interesting. at times it is like the scented letter paper, smelling of aloes and cassia, bearing the handwriting we love; at others it resembles the reading book of the blind man, the characters in which, by constant use, have become almost obliterated, so as hardly to awake answering thought. (5) the pressure of temptation. we sometimes think that we are getting out of the zone of temptation. the pressure is so reduced that we think we shall never suffer again as we have done. then, all suddenly, it bursts upon us, as the fury of the storm, when, after an hour's cessation, it takes the mariner unawares. all these symptoms are too variable to be relied upon for a diagnosis of our spiritual condition, or an evidence of the dispensation to which we belong. _these are constant_--(1) the consciousness of being god's. this is to be distinguished from the outgoing of our faith and love toward god. at the beginning of our experience we hold him, but as the holy spirit dwells more fully we realize that we are held by him. it is not our love to god, but his love to us; not our faith, but his faithfulness; not the sheep keeping near the shepherd, but the shepherd keeping the sheep near to himself. a happy sense steals over the heart, as over the spouse, "i am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me." (2) the supremacy of jesus in the heart. there is no longer a double empire of self and christ, as in the poor indian who said to the missionary, "i am two indians, good and bad"; but there is the undivided reign of christ, who has put down all rule and authority and power--as in the case of martin luther, who said, "if any one should ask of my heart, who dwells here, i should reply, not martin luther, but christ." (3) peace, which looks out upon the future without alarm, because so sure that christ will do his very best in every day that lies hidden beneath the haze of the future; which forbears to press its will too vehemently, or proffer its request too eagerly, because so absolutely certain that jesus will secure the highest happiness possible, consistently with his glory and our usefulness to men. (4) love. when the spirit of god really dwells within, there is a baptism of love which evinces itself not only in the household, and to those naturally lovable, but goes out to all the world, and embraces in its tenderness such as have no natural traits of beauty. thus the soft waters of the southern ocean lap against unsightly rocks and stretches of bare shingle. where love reigns in the inner chamber of the soul, doors do not slam, bells are not jerked violently, soft tones modulate the speech, gentle steps tread the highways of the world, bent on the beautiful work of the messengers of peace, and the very atmosphere of the life is warm and sunny as an aureole. there is no doubt of the indwelling spirit where there is this outgoing love. (5) deliverance from the love and power of sin, so that it becomes growingly distasteful, and the soul turns with loathing from the carrion on which it once fed contentedly. this begets a sense of purity, robed in which the soul claims kinship to the white-robed saints of the presence-chamber, and reaches out toward the blessedness of the pure in heart who see god. there is still a positive rain of smut and filth in the world around; there is a recognition of the evil tendencies of the self-life, which will assert themselves unless graciously restrained; but triumphing above all is the purity of the indwelling lord, who himself becomes in us the quality for which holy souls eagerly long. xi three paradoxes "i will not leave you comfortless: i will come to you." "the world seeth me no more; but ye see me." "because i live, ye shall live also."--john xiv. 18, 19. the bible and christian life are full of paradoxes. paul loved to enumerate them; they abound also in the discourses of our lord. here are three. the master had declared his purpose of leaving his apostles and friends and returning to his father: but in the same breath he says, "i will not leave you desolate; i come to you." again, he had forewarned them that he would be hidden from them; yet now he tells them that they would still behold him. further, with growing emphasis and clearness, he had unfolded his approaching death by the cruel roman method of the cross; yet he claims the timeless life of an ever-present tense and insists that their life will depend on his. absent, yet present; hidden, yet visible; dying, yet living and life-giving--such are the paradoxes of this paragraph in his marvellous farewell discourse; and they reveal three facts of which we may live in perpetual cognizance. i. we may enjoy the perpetual recognition of the advent of christ.--"i will not leave you orphans, or desolate, i come unto you" (r. v.). note the majesty of those last words; they are worthy of deity; he speaks as though he were always drawing nigh those he loves: "i come unto you." _christ is always present, yet he comes._--the creator had been always immanent in his universe, but he came in each creative act; the lawgiver had been ever-present in the church in the wilderness, but he came down on sinai, and his glory lit up the peaks of sandstone rock; the deliverer was never for a moment absent from the side of the shepherd-king, but in answer to his cry for help he came down riding upon a cherub, flying on the wings of wind; the holy spirit had been in the world from the earliest days of prayer and inspired speech, but he came down from the throne to sit on each bowed head in lambent flame. so christ is with us all the days, yet he comes. he will come at last to receive his own to himself, and to judge the world; but he comes in dark and lonely hours that we may not be desolate. "for warm, sweet, tender, even yet a present help is he; and faith has yet its olivet and love its galilee. the heeling of his seamless dress is by our beds of pain; we touch him in life's throng and press, and we are whole again." _he comes when we need him most._--when the storm is high, and the water is pouring into the boat; when the house is empty because the life that made it home has fled; when jericho has to be attacked on the morrow, and the jordan crossed; when lover and friend stand aloof; when light is fading before dimming eyes, and names and faces elude the grasp of the aged mind; when the last coal is turning to grey ash; when the rush of the river is heard in the valley below--jesus says, i come. it is in the hour of desolation, when lazarus has been in the grave four days already, that the glad tidings are whispered in the ear of the mourner, "the master is come." "i will not leave you orphans," he said, "i come unto you." oh, blessed orphanhood, it were well to be bereaved, to have such comforting! _he pays surprise visits._--he does not always wait to be invited; but sometimes, when we lie sleeping with wakeful hearts, we hear his gentle voice calling to us, "arise, my love, and come away." then as we lift the door-latch, our hand drops with the sweet-smelling myrrh which betrays his presence. how often when we have been losing ground, getting lukewarm and worldly, we have suddenly been made aware of his reviving presence, and he has said, i come. he comes, as the wood-anemones and snowdrops (the most fragile and tender flowerets of spring) penetrate the hard ground to announce that the winter is over and gone, and that the time of the singing of birds is come. _it is well to put ourselves in his way._--there are certain beaten tracks well-worn by his feet, and if we would meet him we must frequent their neighborhood. olivet, where he used to pray; calvary, where he died; joseph's garden, where he rose, are dear to him yet. when we pray or meditate; when we commemorate his dying love at the memorial feast; when we realize our union with him in death and resurrection; when we open our hearts to the breathing of the holy spirit--we put ourselves in his way, and are more likely to encounter him when he comes. "to them that look for him shall he appear." "behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him"--but take the path by which he is sure to travel. be in the upper room, with the rest of the disciples, so that you may not, like thomas, miss him when he comes. _his footsteps are noiseless._--it is said of old, "thy footsteps are not known," therefore we need not be surprised if he steal in upon us as a thief in the night, or as spring over the wolds. there is no blare of trumpet or voice of herald; we cannot say, lo here, or lo there; when the king comes there is no outward show; "he does not strive, nor cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street." "he entered not by the eyes," says st. bernard, "for his presence was not marked by color; nor by the ears, for there was no sound; nor by the touch, for he was impalpable. how then did i know that he was present? because he was a quickening power. as soon as he entered he awoke my slumbering soul. he moved and pierced my heart, which before was stony, hard, and sick. he began also to pluck up and destroy, to build and plant, to freshen the inner drought, to enlighten the darkness, to open the prison-house, to make the crooked straight and the rough smooth; so that my heart could bless the lord with all that was within me." oh, lonely, desolate soul, open thy door to him; wait not on the alert to detect his entrance, only believe that he is there; and presently, and before ever thou art aware, thou wilt find a new fragrance distilling through the heart-chamber, a new power throbbing in thy pulse. ii. we may enjoy the perpetual recognition of the presence of christ.--"the world beholdeth me no more, but ye behold me." nothing makes men so humble and yet so strong as the vision of christ. _it induces humility._--when isaiah beheld his glory more resplendent than the sheen of the sapphire throne, he cried that he was undone; when peter caught the first flash of his miraculous power gleaming across the waves of galilee, just when the fish were struggling in the full net, he besought him to depart, because he felt himself a sinful man; and when john saw him on the isle of patmos, he fell at his feet as dead, though, surely, if any of the apostles could have faced him unabashed, it had been he. this is specially noticeable in the book of job. few books are so misunderstood. it is supposed to contain the description of the victory of job's patience; in reality it delineates its testing and failure. it shows how he who was perfect, according to the measure of his light, broke down in the fiery ordeal to which he was exposed; and finally was forced to cry, "i have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee; wherefore i abhor myself and repent, in dust and ashes." wouldst thou be humble, wouldst thou know thyself a worm and no man, wouldst thou see that thou art verily undone, defiled, and helpless? then ask the blessed spirit to reveal jesus in all his matchless beauty and holiness, eliciting the confession that thou are the least of saints and the chief of sinners. this is no forced estimate, when we take into account the opportunities we have missed, the gifts we have misused, the time we have wasted, the light which we have resisted, the love which we have requited with neglect. _it produces strength._--see that man of god prone on the floor of his chamber, shedding bitter tears of godly sorrow, not forgiving himself, albeit that he knows himself forgiven; bowing his head as a bulrush, crying that he is helpless, broken, and at the end of himself--will he be able to stand as a rock against the beat of temptation, and the assault of the foe? yes, verily, for the same presence which is a source of humility in private, will inspire to great deeds of faith and heroism when he is called to stand in the breach or lead the assault. it is this vision of the present lord that, in every age of the church, has made sufferers strong. "the lord is on my right hand, i shall not be moved," said one. "the lord stood by me, and strengthened me," said another. in many a dark day of suffering and persecution; in the catacombs; in the dens and caves where waldenses hid; on the hillsides where the covenanters met to pray; in the beleaguered cities of the netherlands; in prison and at the stake--god's saints have looked to him, and been lightened, and their faces have not been ashamed. "behold," said the first martyr, "i see the heavens opened, and the son of man standing on the right hand of god." oh for more of the open vision of jesus, ministered to us by the gracious spirit! would that his words were oftener verified in our experience: "ye behold me!" he is always with us; and if only our eyes were not holden, we should behold him with the quick perception of the heart. indeed, the race can only be rightly run by those who have learned the blessed secret of looking off unto him. "we see jesus." it is a most salutary habit to say often, when one is alone, "thou art near, o lord." "behold, the lord is in this place." we may not at first realize the truth of what we are saying. his presence may be veiled, as the forms of mountains swathed in morning cloud. but as we persist in our quest, putting away from us all that would grieve him, and cultivating the attitude of pure devotion, we shall become aware of a divine presence which shall be more to us than a voice speaking from out the infinite. iii. we may enjoy the perpetual recognition of the living christ.--"because i live, ye shall live also." there are many life-verses in this gospel which shine like stars in the firmament of scripture. amongst them, in the first chapter, that, in the word as manifested to men, was _life_; and in the fifth chapter, that, "as the father had life in himself he gave to the son to have life also in himself." the father is the fountain of life. eternal life is ever rising up in his infinite being with perennial vigor; and all things living, from the tiny humming-birds in the tropical forest to the strongest archangel beside the sapphire throne, derive their being from him. thus we have seen ferns around a fountain, nourishing their fronds on its spray. all things owe their existence and continued being to the unmeasured life, which has been from all eternity treasured up in god, and is ever flowing out from god. this life was christ's, in the mystery of the eternal trinity, before the worlds were made; but it was necessary that he should receive it into his human nature, so as to become the reservoir and storehouse from which all who were one with him might receive grace on grace. "i am come," he said, "that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." this life dwelt in him during his earthly ministry, though comparatively few availed themselves of it; his death set it abroach for all the world; the smitten rock yielded streams of living water; the last adam became a life-giving spirit; from his throne he proclaimed himself as he that liveth, though he became dead, and is alive forevermore. _we live by his life._--our life is as dependent upon him as a babe's on its mother. could ought happen to him, we should instantly feel the effect. long before he succumbed, we must. we have no independent, self-derived, or self-sustained life. apart from him we wither. _we live in his life._--the tiny streamlet of our being has joined his, is merged in it, and flows on together with it, to the great ocean of eternity. to us to live is christ, both here and hereafter. our aims and purposes are merged in his; we are enriched in all that enriches him; gladdened by all that promotes his happiness and glory; made more than conquerors through our oneness with him, in the victory that has overcome the world. _we live because he lives in us._--at the moment of regeneration he came to indwell. he that hath the son hath life; he that hath life hath the son. it has pleased god to reveal his son in us. we have found him of whom moses in the law and the prophets did write, and we have found him in our hearts. where dwellest thou? we asked him; and he replied, come and see; and he manifested himself as having become to us the inward principle of an endless life. christ dwells deep in our heart, and we are beginning to comprehend the immensity of the divine love of which he is the exponent. let us draw on this life more confidently, availing ourselves of it perpetually in all our time of need--in all time of our sickness and of our wealth, in adversity and prosperity, in the hour of mortal anguish and the day of judgment; and finding what we could not do or bear or encounter, jesus can do and bear and meet in and through us, to the father's eternal glory. "lord jesus christ, grow thou in me, and all things else recede." xii many mansions for god "if a man love me, he will keep my words: and my father will love him; and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him."--john xiv. 23. the immanence of god! that god should be willing to make his home _with_ man is much; but that he should be willing to come in--to indwell, occupy, and possess our nature--this is incomprehensible to the intellect, though it may be received and rejoiced in by the heart. this is no subject for light and thoughtless speech. we touch on the profoundest mysteries of the being of the infinite, and the capacity of human nature. be reverent, o my soul, in the consideration of such a theme, and take the shoes from off thy feet, for the bush burns with fire! it was owing to the question of jude, that the universal application of our master's words is so clear. a day or two before, our lord had entered jerusalem amid the enthusiasm of the crowds, and the disciples fondly thought the long-expected time had arrived when he would manifest himself to the world as the messiah. "this is the beginning of the messianic reign," said each apostle in his secret heart, as the great procession passed over the shoulder of olivet; and each began to wonder what special post would be allotted to him in the new empire that seemed so close at hand. these nascent hopes, however, had been rudely dissipated by our lord's declaration that the world was to see him no more, accompanied by the promise, "but ye see me." the apostles therefore were inclined to think that in some special form the manifestations of his grace and glory would be confined to them. hence jude's question, "what is come to pass, master, that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?" jesus answered in effect, "think not that thou and thy fellows are to have the exclusive right of beholding and communing with me. what i offer to you is open to all who believe, love, and obey. the gate which i throw open shall stand wide for all who choose to enter. the veil shall be rent, that any who fulfill the spiritual conditions may see the light, and hear the voice, and stand in the inner court. if a _man_ love me . . ." note those emphatic words, "a man,"--any man; thou and i. i. the divine immanence.--"we will make our abode." the word "abode" is here a translation of the greek word which is rendered "mansions" in a former part of this chapter. "we will make our _mansion_ with him." god is willing to become the mansion of the soul that believes in christ, but asks in return that such a one should prepare a guest-chamber, and become a mansion in which he may dwell. as he steals with noiseless tread into the loving, believing heart, i hear him say, "this is my rest forever; here will i dwell, for i have desired it." (1) _it is the immanence of the father._--consider who this is of whom the saviour speaks. the infinite god! time with all its ages is but the flash of a moment in his eternity! space, "beyond the soar of angel wings," is but a corner in his dwelling-place; matter, with its ponderous mass, but the light dust that will not affect the level of the scale! the mighty sun, which is the centre of all worlds, but a mote floating in the beam of his being! all the gathered wisdom of man, stored in the libraries of the world, but as a glow-worm's spark compared with the meridian light of his wisdom! o souls of men, consider how marvellous that such a one, whom the heavens cannot contain, who overflows their limits, asking for room that he may dwell, will yet become the resident of our nature! _its motive is love._--"the father will love him." this is wonderful! the more so as we are told that his love toward us is identical with that which he has toward our lord. speaking of those who shall believe through his apostles' words, jesus said, "that the world may know that thou lovest them even as thou lovest me." that god should condescend to think about our planet, which is as a leaf in the forest of being! that he should deign to regard mankind, who, in size at least, are less than a colony of ants that may have built their home at the foot of the himalaya! that he should pity our race! this were much. but that he should _love_ the world, that he should _love_ individuals belonging to our race, that he should love them with the love he has toward the only-begotten--we could not have believed this unless we had been assured by the lips of infallible truth. but the supreme revelation which towers above the rest, like some great banyan tree amid the slender growth of the indian forest, is that the creator should indwell and find a mansion in the heart of his creatures. _it is dual, yet one._--"we will come." we! then, is there more than one? who is this who dares class himself with the supreme god within the limits of a common pronoun, that challenges the love and trust and obedience of man, that poses as king? the meekest and humblest of men. the one who, above all others of the human family, seemed to have least to disturb or darken the incidence of the rays of truth upon his soul; who has cast a light on all the dark problems of human life, and could not possibly have been deceived in respect to his own nature. his conceptions of the holiness, greatness, and purity of god have stood out in unrivalled magnificence from all others whatsoever; yet it is he who couples in one small word his humanity with deity, his meekness with the infinite majesty, his personality with god's. is not this proof enough that he was conscious of his divine nature? is not the fact of his not counting it robbery to be equal with god evidence that he was god? what can they make of this _we_, who hold that he was only a good man and a great teacher? good men are humble men, great teachers know best their own limitations! it is in, and with, and through the son, and by the spirit, that the father comes to indwell. (2) _it is the immanence of the son. to be loved by him were much!_--"i will love him." his love is of the rarest quality. most free of the soil of selfishness, of any human love. true and tender, strong and sweet, inexorable in its demands upon himself, inexhaustible in its outflow toward the objects of his affectionate regard. such love as he gave to john, who grew like him beneath the magic power of that environment; as he gave to mary, who perhaps most deeply understood him; as he gave to peter, winning him back from his waywardness--brings with it a heaven of bliss, for which a man may well be prepared to count all things but loss. but there is a bliss beyond all this. the lover of men would indwell them. _it were much that he should seek our love._--"he that loveth me." we might have supposed that he would have been satisfied with the vastness of his dominion, and the myriad bright spirits that wait on his word! but no, the thirst for love cannot be satisfied with gold, or bright angelic servants. as isaac could not find a companion among those who tended the cattle that browsed over the wolds of canaan, or the troops of slaves that gathered round his father's tents, but eliezer must bring a bride from across the desert; so the son of god must needs come as a suitor to our world to find his bride, who can share his inner thoughts and purposes. here is a marvel indeed. as the village becomes famous which provides the emperor's bride, so earth, though it be least among her sister-spheres, shall have the proud preã«minence of having furnished from her population the spouse of the lamb. but, great as this marvel is, it is followed by the greater, that the immortal lover is willing to tenant the poor hearts, whose love at the best is so faint and cold. _it were much that he should give us manifestations of his love._--"i will manifest myself unto him." have you not sometimes taken up a daisy, and looked into its little upturned eye, and thought and thought again, till through the gate of the flower you have passed into an infinite world of life, beauty, and mystery? there are moments when even a flower is transfigured before us, and manifests itself to us as a thought of god, a ray of his glory, the frail product of his infinite mind, the wick around which trembles the fire of the shekinah! have you not sometimes stood alone amid mountains, glaciers, wooded valleys, and rushing streamlets, till nature has dropped her veil, and revealed herself in a phase of beauty and a depth of meaning which struck you as altogether unique and singular? so there are moments in the life of the believer, when christ, who is ever with us, manifests himself as he does not to the world. there is borne in upon the spirit a consciousness that he is near; there is a waft of his breath, a savor of his fragrant dress, fresh from the ivory palaces. all this is much: but how much more to be told that this glorious christ, the fellow of jehovah, who with the father and the spirit is god; the organ of creation; the mouthpiece of the godhead; the mediator of redemption; the monarch of all worlds; the supreme teacher, guide, and saviour of men--is prepared to repeat the experiences of bethlehem, and make his abode in man! "_we_ will come unto him, and make our abode with him." (3) _learn to revere the work of god in the souls of others._--"for thy meat," said the apostle, "destroy not the soul for whom christ died." he might have added, "and in whom christ lives." weak and erring, trying and vexatious, that fellow-believer may be, yet there is a chamber in his nature in which god has already taken up his abode. the conflict between the light and darkness, the christ-spirit and the self-spirit, may be long and arduous, but the issue is certain. help, but do not hinder the process. be reverent, careful, mindful of the presence of god. _be hopeful for thyself._--when an art-student asked mr. ruskin whether he would ever be able to paint like turner, the great critic replied, "it is more likely that you will become emperor of all the russias!" but god never daunts a soul with such discouragement. he first sets before it a great ideal--the faith of abraham, the meekness of moses, the prayer of an elijah, the love of a john--and then, as the source of all perfection, enters the soul, to be in it all that he has taught it to desire. _count on the indwelling of his power._--the merchant of to-day has facilities granted to no previous age. the cablegram, telegram, and telephone put him in communication with the markets of the world: steam and electricity are his willing slaves in manufacture: machinery with its unwearying iron fingers toils for him. a single human brain, which knows how to avail itself of these resources, can multiply its conceptions indefinitely. how vast the space between the untutored savage, doing everything with his hands, and the merchant prince, who has but to press the ivory-plated pushes fixed upon the walls of his room! but not less is the difference between the work we can accomplish by our natural resources, and that which we achieve when we recognize that what is impossible to us is possible to him who has come in to abide. i cannot; but god is within me, and he can. ii. the conditions of the divine immanence.--(1) love to christ.--"he that loveth me shall. . . ." we would love him, but how? do not think of your love, but of his. "love is of god." open the shutters of your being toward the love of god; we love because he first loves. love is the reflection from us of what we have first received from god. love is shed abroad in the heart by the holy spirit. the fruit of the spirit is love. seek the in-filling and in-working of the spirit; be careful to obey his promptings to love; avoid grieving him by bitterness, wrath, or evil speaking; sit as his willing pupil in the school of love; cast on him the responsibility of securing in your nature obedience to the primal law which is fulfilled in the one word, "thou shalt love." beneath the nurturing grace of the spirit, we shall be led to meditate much on the love of jesus to us, especially as manifested in the death of the cross; and as we muse, the fire will burn, love will glow, and afford the condition of soul which is infinitely attractive to the divine lover, who requires our love, and produces the love which he requires. (2) obedience to christ.--where there is true love, there will be obedience. this rather than emotion. many a sincere soul who questions its love, because its emotions are low or fluctuating, would rather die than disobey the least jot or tittle of his commandments. such a one loves. "he that hath my commandments" (treasured in memory and heart), "he it is that loveth me." why do ye call him, lord, lord, and do not the things that he says? there may be the luscious language of the lip, but it does not deceive him. he looks under the leaves for fruit. disobedience robs the soul of the sweet sense of christ's indwelling. nothing can compensate for failure to obey. whatever the protestations, there is no real love to christ where his commands are knowingly disregarded and set at nought. but each time we dare to step out in simple obedience to his will, it seems as though the inner light shines deeper down into the hidden places of our being, and the residence of christ extends to new chambers of the heart. xiii christ's legacy and gift of peace "peace i leave with you, my peace i give unto you: not as the world giveth give i unto you. let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."--john xiv. 27. it seems a little anomalous to talk of peace at a time when the war-clouds are being swiftly blown up from the horizon, the sea roaring, and men's hearts failing them for fear: and yet, in the deepest aspects, this is of all times the most suitable. it is when the storm rattles on the window-panes that the family draws closer round the fire, and the mother clasps her babe to her breast. the word peace is the eastern salutation and benediction. when one stranger encounters another, as they meet and part, they wish each other peace. it was befitting, therefore, that at christ's entrance into our world, the first salutation to men, as conveyed by the angels, should be, "peace on earth"; and that his parting words should be, "peace be unto you." but with what a wealth of meaning does the lord invest familiar words when they issue from his lips! let us draw nigh, and allow his sweet and soothing consolations to have their full effect. i. let us distinguish between "peace" and "my peace."--"peace i leave with you, my peace i give unto you." there is a distinction between these two. the former refers to the result of his work for us on the cross: "being justified by faith, we have peace with god through our lord jesus christ"; the latter refers to _his_ indwelling, who is our peace. the one he has bequeathed as a legacy to all men: the testator died, and left in his will a perfect reconciliation between god and man, which is for all who are willing to avail themselves of it; the other is a _gift_, which must be appropriated and used, or it will be ineffectual. _the order of these two varieties of peace is invariable._--we must have peace _with_ god before we can enjoy the peace _of_ god. we must receive the atonement, with all its blessed comfort, before we can enter upon our heritage in christ jesus. a believer, whose feet were dipping in the chill waters of the river, said to me recently, when speaking of her enjoyment of some of the deeper aspects of christian experience, "i am afraid i have been building from the top. i see now, as i come near eternity, that one's foundations must be strong and sure before one can build on them. i need now more than ever the blood of christ." this, perhaps, is one of the perils of the present day. the church is arraying herself in her beautiful garments. the gold pieces of christian thought and life are becoming current coin, taken from the coffers, where they have too long lain, and distributed broadcast. treatises and tractlets on the innermost aspects of the blessed life are plentiful as flowers in may. there is a danger, therefore, of young converts and others occupying themselves with such themes, and not paying sufficient attention to the divine order. christ dying _for_ us on the cross must precede christ living _in_ us by his spirit; justification with its evidences must be well apprehended before sanctification with its fruits; the peace _with_ god must shed its benediction over the soul before it can enter upon the peace _of_ god. ah soul! thou hast experienced the former; dost thou know the latter? dost thou know what it is for christ to enter into the closed doors of the inner chamber of the heart, and say, "peace be unto thee"? what it is to hear his voice speaking above the tumult of the inland lake of thy soul, and making a great calm? what it is for him to deal with the springs of the inner life, which lie deeper than emotion or fancy, and pour in his infinite serenity, so that the outflow may be pellucid and tranquil? christ lays stress on _his_ peace. he must mean the very peace that filled his own heart; not something like it, but the same, always keeping the heart with the affections, and the mind with its thoughts. this being so, we infer-_that his peace is consistent with a perfect knowledge of coming sorrow._--he knew all things that awaited him (john xviii. 4): the treachery of judas, the denial by peter, the forsaking by all, the shame and spitting, the cross and grave; and yet he spoke serenely of his peace. it is therefore consistent with the certain outlook toward darkness and the shadow of death. you may know from certain symptoms that cancer has struck its fangs into your flesh, and that paralysis has begun to creep along your spine, that your dearest is barked by the woodsman for felling, that your means of subsistence will inevitably dry up; but, facing all these, as jesus faced the cross, you may still be conscious of a peace that passeth understanding. _that it is consistent with energetic action._--men are disposed to think that peace is one of the last fruits of the tree of life, which drops into the hand of the aged. a man says to himself, i shall have to relinquish this active life, to settle in some quiet country home in the midst of nature, and then perhaps i shall know what peace means. a snug home and a competence, the culture of flowers, the slow march of the seasons, tender home-love, far away from the hustling throng of the world--these are the conditions of peace. not so, says christ: "arise, let us go hence." let us leave this quiet harbor, and launch out into the stormy deep. let us leave this still chamber, around the windows of which the vines cling, and go forth into the garden where the cedars fight with the tempest, and amidst it all we shall find it possible to enjoy the peace that passeth knowledge. let men and women immersed in the throng of daily toil, young men, busy men, understand that christ's peace is for those who hear the bugle note of duty summoning them to arise, and go hence. _that the chief evidence of this peace is in the leisureliness of the heart._--christ's possession of peace was very evident through all the stormy scenes that followed. with perfect composure he could heal the ear of malchus, and stay the impetuosity of peter; could reason quietly with the slave that smote him, and bid the daughters of jerusalem not to weep; could open paradise to the dying thief, and the door of john's home to the reception of his mother. few things betray the presence of his peace more than the absence of irritability, fretfulness, and feverish haste, which expend the tissues of life. oh that you may now receive from christ this blessed gift! let the peace of christ rule in your heart; it is your high privilege, be not backward in availing yourself of it. it will be as oil to the machinery of life. ii. the sources of christ's peace.--(1) _the vision of the father._--"if ye loved me, ye would rejoice because i said, i go unto the father." throughout these closing chapters he seems able to speak of nothing else. his mind ranges from the disciples whom he was leaving to the father to whom he was going. almost unconsciously he gives us a glimpse of his self-repression in staying so long away from his father's manifested presence, when he says that if we loved him we would be glad to lose his bodily presence because he had gone to be with the father. he gives us to understand how real and near the father was to him, and how he longed to be again in his bosom! he was so occupied with this thought, that he reckoned little of what lay between. hail! ye stormy waters of death, stormy winds, and boisterous waves, ye do but waft my soul nearer its haven in the father's love! it is the thought of the father that gives peace, because it robs life of its terrors and death of its sting. why fear what life may bring when the father has arranged each successive step of its pathway! why dread judas or caiaphas, herod or pilate since the father lies between the soul and them as a rampart of rock! why lose heart amid the perplexities and discouragements, whose dark shadows lie heavily on the hills, when in the green pastures of the valley the father's love tends the sheep! ask christ to reveal the father to you. live in his everlasting love, and learn what he can be amid the storm and tumult as a very present help. (2) _disentanglement from the world._--"the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me." he came first at the beginning of the saviour's life, with temptations to his ambitions; he came again at its close, with temptations to that natural shrinking from pain which is characteristic of a highly organized nature. "back, son of man! thou canst not bear the cross and spear, the nail and thorn! thy tender flesh will ill sustain thee when the sorrows of death and the pains of hell get hold upon thee!" so satan came; but there was no response in the heart of christ, no answering voice from the depths of his soul, no traitor within to join hands with the tempter without. there was no square inch of territory in all christ's nature which the devil could claim, or from which he could operate. this is a clue to christ's peace, which we do well to follow till it lead us out into the open. as long as we are entangled with this world, peace evades us, just as sleep, which comes easily to the laboring man who has nothing beyond his daily wage, vanishes from the pillow of the merchant, who on stormy nights thinks uneasily of the vessels which carry his wealth far out at sea. we must stand clear of the ambitions of the world, of the fear or favor of man, of the avaricious craving for wealth, or the fear of poverty. we must put the cross of christ between us and the world, which was judged at calvary. we must be able to say truly that our treasure is in heaven and our heart also, and that we seek the things where christ sitteth at the right hand of god. then the stock-market may fluctuate, riches go or come, men praise or hate, nought will affect our peace, any more than the tumults of a continental city, in which we are spending a night in transit, can cause us serious disturbance. (3) _supreme love._--"i love the father." i have so often noticed how a supreme love in a young girl's life seems to calm and quiet her, because it draws the whole of her nature in one strong flow toward the man of her choice. before that, there was a waywardness, a vacillation, a nervous excitement, which passed away as soon as love dawned upon her soul. so long as the heart is subject to every influence, it quivers and wavers as the magnet needle when swept by streams of electricity. a strong uniting love does for us what the strong attraction of the pole does for the needle. christ loved the father. there was no difficulty in bearing what he sent, or doing what he bade. there were no rival claimants, no questionings or debate within the palace of his heart. every passion and emotion of his human nature was quieted and stilled in the set of his whole being toward the father. if you too would have peace, you must love; you must love supremely him who alone is worthy, who can never disappoint or fail. and in proportion as you love god, you will find pleasure in all beautiful things, in all lovely persons, in all the fair gifts of nature and life. oh, love the lord, o my soul, and all that is within me, love his holy name! (4) _a supreme source of authority._--"as the father gave me commandment, even so i do." every soul must have a supreme source of authority in its life, if it is to have peace. its own whim, the suggestion of passion, the vagrant impulse of the moment, are inconsistent with tranquillity. there must be for each of us one voice which is imperative, one command which is indisputable, one authority which admits of no gainsaying. if you will search your heart you will see that this is so. compare the restlessness of the book of judges with the tranquillity of the reign of solomon, and you will have an apt illustration of your own experience before consecration put christ on his throne, and afterward. when the true melchizedek established his reign within you, at once your heart became salem, the city of peace. when you put the government upon his shoulder, he set up his reign within you as the prince of peace. happy for you, if to the increase of his government there is no end; for of the increase of your peace there will be no end either. combine these four--the sense of god's presence and providence in the details of life; detachment from the world; a supreme love to god; the recognition in everything that you are his slave--and you will comply with the conditions of participating in the peace of christ which he offers. some persons have a marvellous faculty of imparting their own tranquillity in an accident, a storm, an illness; their aspect, tones, manner, are like the repose of a summer's evening after a sultry day: so shall christ be to you, and you to others. iii. christ's giving contrasted with the world's.--"not as the world giveth, give i unto you." the world wishes peace, but lightly speaks the word; frequently wishing it when there is least warrant for it; wishing it without doing anything to produce it; wishing it whilst glorying over a wrong, healing slightly a wound, covering with the turf the crater of a volcano. christ, on the other hand, lays the foundations of peace in suitable conditions of a holy and healthy life. with the world, peace is a passing emotion; with christ, a settled principle of action--the perfect balance and equilibrium of the soul, out of which comes all that is fair, strong, wholesome. the world's peace consists in the absence of untoward circumstances; christ's is altogether independent of circumstances, and consists in the state of the heart. it matters nothing to him that in the world we have tribulation. he bids us be of good cheer, because in him we shall have peace. the wildest conjunction of outward things cannot break the perfect peace which nestles to his heart, as noah's dove to the hand which plucked it in from the weltering waters. "let not your heart be troubled," the master says again. you may be troubled on every side, but be not troubled. do not let the trouble come inside. watch carefully against its intrusion, as you would against that of any other form of temptation. let my peace, like a sentinel, keep you; and as you look forward to the unknown future, out of which spectral figures emerge, do not be afraid. there is a part for you to do, as well as for me. i can give you my peace, but you must avoid any and everything that will militate against its possession and growth. xiv the story of the vine "i am the true vine, and my father is the husbandman."--john xv. i. we have now a story to tell which, in the eye of heaven, will make our world forever memorable and wonderful among her sister spheres. it is the story of the vine, and how it was the divine purpose our earth should be its fruitful soil, and our race intimately associated with its growth and history. "i am the _true_ vine," said our lord. not improbably, as he was passing forth with his disciples into the moonlit air, he perceived a vine clustering around the window or door; and with an eye ever awake to each touch of natural beauty, and a heart always alert for spiritual lessons, he turned to them and said, what that vine is in the world of nature i am in relation to all true and faithful souls. i am the _true_ vine--true, not as opposed to false, but true in the sense of real, substantial, and enduring. the essential, as distinguished from the circumstantial; the eternal, as distinct from the temporary and transient. nature is a parable of god. in each of her forms we have a revelation of god. not so complete as that given through the mind of prophets, or the life of jesus christ, but still a revelation of the divine. each natural object, as it stood in eden's untainted beauty, displayed some aspect of him, whom no man can see and live. the apple-tree among the trees of the wood; the rose of sharon: the lily of the vale; the cedar, with its dark green foliage; the rock for strength; the sea for multitudinousness; the heaven with its limpid blue, like the divine compassion, overarching all--these are some of the forthshadowings in the natural world of spiritual qualities in the nature of god. the vine was made the clinging, helpless plant it is, that it might forever remind men of certain deep characteristics of the divine nature. i. the vine and its branches.--_the unity of the vine_. the vine and its branches constitute one plant. some branches may be trailed along the trellis-work outside the cottage door, others conducted through hothouse after hothouse; yet one life, one stream of sap, one essential quality and character pervades them all, from the dark root, buried in the soil, to the furthest twig or leaf. yonder branch, waving its fronds high up against the hothouse glass, cannot say to that long leafless branch hidden beneath the shelf, you do not belong to me, nor i to you. no twig is independent of another twig. however different the functions, root and branches, leaves and cluster, all together make one composite but organic whole. so is it with christ. all who are one with him are one with each other. the branches that were nearest the root in the days of pentecost are incomplete without the last converts that shall be added in the old age of the world. those without these will not be made perfect. this is the underlying truth of the holy catholic church. men have tried to show that it must be an outward and visible organization, consisting of those who had received, through a long line of apostolical succession, some mystic power for administering rites and conferring absolution, together with those who came beneath the touch of their priestly hands. that theory has notoriously broken down. but the truth of which it is a grotesque travesty is presented in our lord's conception of the vine, deeply planted in the dark grave of joseph's garden, which had reached down its branches through the ages, and in which every believing soul has a part. touch christ, become one with him in living union, abide in him, and you are one with the glorious company of the apostles, the goodly fellowship of the prophets, the noble army of martyrs and the church of the first-born, whose names are written in heaven. _the pliancy of the vine._--more than most plants it needs a husbandman. it cannot stand upright like other fruit-trees, but requires a skillful hand to guide its pliant branches along the espaliers, or to entwine them in the trellis-work. it suggests a true thought of the appearance presented to the world by christ and his church. mrs. hamilton king, in her description of the sermon preached in the hospital by ugo bassi, on the eve of the great movement which, by the expulsion of the austrians, gave italy to the italians, specially dwells on this. down five wards the prisoners are lying on the hospital-beds from which they will never rise again. to them the deep voice of the hero-preacher tells the story of the vine: how "it is tied to a stake, and if its arms stretch out, it is but cross-wise; they are also forced and bound." thus it was with christ. never following his own way; always bound to the imperative _must_ of the father's will; yielded to the cross as a willing sufferer. and so it has been with his followers. not strong to stand alone, but always yielded to the father's will, that he should lead them whither he would--to a cross, if needs were; to persecution and shame, if this would better serve his purpose; to a gethsemane, if that were the only gate to life. yield thyself to those loving hands. they may lead thee afar from thy original purpose--twisting thee in and out with many a contortion; fixing thee with nail and fastening; trailing thee over the wall, to droop thy clusters to the hands of strangers. nevertheless, be sure to let him have his way with thee; this is necessary for the accomplishment of his purpose. _the suffering of the vine._--when, in the spring, "the grace of the green vine makes all the land lovely, and the shoots begin to wind and wave in the blue air," the husbandman comes in with pruning-hook and shears, and strips it bare of all its innocent pride. nor is this all. even in the vintage it is not allowed to glory in the results of the year, "the branches are torn down and trodden in the wine-press, while the vine stands stripped and desolate." so it has always been. the well-being of the world has been greatly promoted through the church, but always at an infinite cost to herself. christ's people have always been a suffering people, and it is in exact proportion to their anguish that they have enriched mankind. they have saved others, but not themselves. the red stream of blood that has vitalized the world, has flowed from broken hearts. "measure thy life by loss instead of gain, not by the wine drunk, but by the wine poured forth; for love's strength standeth in love's sacrifice, and whoso suffers most hath most to give." _the interdependence of vine and branches._--in god from eternity dwelt a wealth of love, pity, and yearning over the souls of men, that could not express themselves directly. there was no language for the infinite passion of the divine heart. hence the gift of the son, through whom, when he had become flesh, the infinite might express himself. but even this was not sufficient. the vine-root is not enough in itself, it must have branches to carry its rich juices to the clusters, so that these may hang free of each other in the sun and air. christ must have branches--long lines of saved souls extending down the centuries--through which to communicate himself to men. we have seen how necessary the root is to the branches. only from it can our fruit be found. but let us humbly, yet gladly, believe that we are also necessary to christ. he cannot do without us. the son wants sons; angels will not suffice. through redeemed men alone can he achieve his eternal purpose. i hear the root pleading for more and yet more branch-life, that it may cover the world with goodly shadow and fruit. ii. fruit or no fruit.--from all that has been said, it is clear that the one purpose in the vine is fruit-bearing. see, here, how the divine teacher accentuates it. "fruit," "much fruit," "more fruit." nothing less will content him in any one of us. for this we were taken out of the wild vine in which we were by nature, and grafted into him; for this the regeneration of the holy ghost, and the discipline of life; for this the sunshine of his love, and the dew of the holy ghost. it becomes each seriously to ask, "am i bringing forth fruit unto god? there may be orthodoxy of doctrine, correctness in life, and even heartiness of service; but is there fruit, much fruit, more fruit?" _fruit!_--this is the only condition of being retained in living union with the vine. _much fruit!_--only thus will the father be glorified. _more fruit._--otherwise there must be the repeated use of the knife. nowhere does the lord contemplate a _little fruit_. a berry here and there! a thin bunch of sour, unripened grapes! yet it is too true that many believers yield no more than this. he comes to us hungry for grapes, but behold a few mildewed bunches, not fit to eat! where there is _no fruit_, there has been no real union with the vine. probably you are a professor, but not a possessor; a nominal christian, an attendant at church or chapel, but not really one with christ. true union with him produces a temper, a disposition, a ripe and mellow experience which certainly indicates that christ is within. you cannot simulate the holy joy, the thoughtful love, the tranquil serenity, the strong self-control, which mark the soul which is in real union with jesus; but where there is real abiding, these things will be in us and abound, and we shall be neither barren, nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our lord jesus christ. iii. the knife and the fire.--"every branch in me that beareth fruit," the father who is the husbandman "purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit." too many children of god, when passing through great physical and other suffering, account it punishment. nay, it is not punitive, but purgative. this is the pruning-knife, cutting away the shoots of the self-life, that the whole energy of the soul may be directed to the manifesting of the life of the lord jesus. it may seem a grievous waste to see the floor of the hothouse or vineyard littered with fronds and shoots and leaves, but there need be no lament: the branches of the autumn will well repay each stroke of that keen edge with fuller, richer fruit. so we gain by loss, we live as we die, the inward man is renewed as the outer decays. the knife is in the father's hand; let us never forget that. he will not intrust this delicate and difficult work to man or angel. shall we not be in subjection to the father of our spirits and live? blessed be the father of our lord jesus, and our father in him. he that spared not christ may be trusted to do the best for us. employing the same word, the master said, "now ye have been pruned through the word that i have spoken to you." perhaps if we were more often to yield ourselves to the pruning of the word, we should escape the pruning of sore pain and trial. if the work were done by the golden edge of scripture, it might make the iron edge of chastisement needless. therefore, when we take the word of god in hand, let us ask the great husbandman to use it for the pruning away of all that is carnal or evil, so that his life may have unhindered sway. but if we will not bear fruit we must be taken away. we shall lose our sphere of christian service, and be exposed as hollow and lifeless professors. the vine-branch that has no wealth of purple clusters is good for nothing. salt which is savorless is fit neither for the land nor the dunghill. vine-branches that bear no fruit are cast into the fire. professors that lack the grace of a holy temper, and the beauty of a consistent life are taken away. "men cast them into the fire and they are burned." these three years the divine husbandman has come hungrily seeking fruit of thee, yet in vain. nevertheless, he will spare thee for this year also, that thou mayest mend thy ways. this is the reason of thy multiplied anxieties; he is pruning thee. if thou bearest fruit, it will be well, eternally well; but if not, then it is inevitable that thou shalt be cut away as dead and useless wood. xv "abide in me, and i in you" "abide in me, and i in you. as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me."--john xv. 4. these words are so familiar by constant repetition, that their power to awaken the soul is greatly lessened. they go and come through ear and mind, as a lodger who has gone and come with exactly the same appearance and at precisely the same hours for years, and no one notices him now, because there is nothing novel about him to awake notice or remark. how good would it be if we could hear this tender injunction for the first time. next to this, let us ask the divine spirit to rid it of the familiarity of long use, to re-mint it, and to make it fresh and vital, that it may seem to us that we have never before realized how much jesus meant, when he said, _abide in me_. perhaps it may assist us, if we adopt another english word for _abide_, and one which, in some respects even more neatly, and certainly in sound, resembles the greek. it is the word _remain_; so that we may read the master's bidding thus: _remain in me, and i in you_. this word is often employed in the new testament in connection with house and home. "mary abode [or remained] with elizabeth for three months"; and "there abide [or remain]," said our lord, when giving his disciples direction for their preaching tour, and referring to some hospitable house which has been opened to welcome them. it is used three times in that memorable colloquy which introduced john and andrew to their future teacher and lord; "master," they said, "where abidest [or remainest] thou; he saith unto them, 'come and ye shall see.' they came therefore, and saw where he is remaining, and they remained with him that day." and again: "zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for to-day i must remain in thy house." we are to remain in christ as a man stays in his home. _it is inferred, of course, that we are in christ._--it would be absurd to bid a man remain in a house unless he were already within its doors. we must be sure that we are in christ. naturally we were outside--"remember," says the apostle, "that aforetime ye were separate from christ, alienated from the commonwealth of israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without god in the world." we were shoots in the wild vine, partaking of its nature, involved in its curse, threatened by the axe which lay at its root. but all this is altered now. the father, who is the husbandman, of his abundant grace and mercy, has taken us out of the wild vine and grafted us into the true. "of god are ye in christ jesus." it is quite true that we repented of our sins, and turned toward god; that we have believed in christ, and taken his yoke; that we have found rest under the shelter of his cross, and joy in expecting his advent; but we must never forget that behind all these movements of our will, and choice, and faith, were the willing and doing of god himself. it is the lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes. "blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ, who hath begotten us again unto a living hope." what confidence this gives us! we are in christ by the act of god's grace and power, and surely he who put us in, can keep us there. did he not shut noah into the ark, and keep him there amid all the crash of the pitiless deluge! we have only to consent to remain, and allow god to perfect that which concerneth us. be confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you, will perform it until the day of jesus christ. _the stress which the master lays on our abiding in him._--he appears to summon all his forces to accentuate his parting message. you always reserve your most important injunctions to the last, that they may remain fresh and impressive, as the train steams out of the station, as the boat leaves the landing-stage; so christ left this entreaty to the last, that it might carry with it the emphasis of a parting message forevermore. but note how he drives it home. its keyword occurs eleven times in eleven consecutive verses. he depicts the terrible result if we do not abide: we shall wither, be taken away, and consigned to the fire. he shows how utterly we shall miss the one end of our existence, the glorification of the father by fruit-bearing, unless we strenuously and continuously abide. he allures by the thought of the much fruit; by the assurance of success in prayer; by the promise of fullness of joy, of love, and of blessedness. he entreats, commands, exhorts, all in one breath. it is as though he were to say, "children, i am leaving you; there are many things i desire for you, many commands to utter, many cautions, many lessons; but i am content to leave all unsaid, if only you will remember this one all-inclusive bidding, abide in me, remain in me; stay where god has put you; deepen, emphasize, intensify the union already existing between you and me. from me is your fruit found. without me ye can do nothing. abide in me, and i in you. grow up into me in all things, which am the head, rooted and built up in me, and stablished by your faith, even as ye were taught." _there are many analogies to this appeal._--the sun says to the little earth-planet, _abide in me_. resist the temptation to fly into space, remain in the solar sphere, and i will abide in the formation of thy rocks, the verdure of thy vegetation, and all living things, baptizing them in my fire. abide in me, says the ocean to the alcove, that shows symptoms of division from its waves. keep thy channel unsilted and open, and i will pour my fullness up to thy farthest shore, twice in every twenty-four hours. _abide in me_: the vine says it to the branch, that it may impart supplies of life and fruit; the air says it to the lung, that it may minister ozone and oxygen to its cells; the magnet says it to the needle, that it may communicate its own specific quality, and fit it to guide across the ocean the mighty steamer, laden with the freight of human life. _abide in me_: the artist says it to the novice; edison would say it to some young faraday; the preacher to the student. any man who is eager to impart his ideas to coming time is glad when some young life, eager, quick to receive formative impressions, presents itself. here, says he, is my opportunity of incarnating myself afresh, and still living, speaking, painting, when my life is done. "stay with me, young soul, share my home, saturate yourself with my ideas and methods of expression, go to no other fields to glean, and i will give my best self in return." so, also, the mother speaks to the child. if she is wise she will be chary of handing it over to the nurse, or sending it away to the care of strangers, except for the hours necessary for education. companions and games, books and studies, shall be within the influences of her mother's love; and she, in return, will gladly bestow herself to the eager life that waits on her every movement, look, and word. in all these cases, it is always the stronger that pleads with the weaker to abide, promising the communication to fuller life. each, in measure, says, in the words of the glorious christ, "i am stronger, wiser, fuller, better than you; all is mine that it may be yours, therefore, abide in me, and i will abide in you." _notice christ's consciousness of sufficiency for the needs of men._--it were blasphemous audacity to speak thus, if he were not more than man. he affirms that there can be no life apart from him; that souls not united with him wither on the forest floor. he says, that fruit-bearing is only possible to those who receive from his fullness grace for grace. he says, that to be in union with him will secure union with all holy souls. he says, that if his words are carefully pondered and obeyed, we shall make no petition which his father will not grant. he says, that his love, in quality and quantity, is like the love that god has toward himself; that his commands take rank with those of deity. he offers himself to all mankind in coming ages, as their contemporary, and as the one sufficient source of life and godliness. all these assumptions are made in the range of these verses; and as we ponder them, we feel that the speaker must be conscious of being other than human, and as possessing those infinite attributes which are the sole property of the eternal. yet, who shall say that he has offered more than he can give? have not we tested him in each of these particulars, and do not we, who have come to him by faith, know that in no one item has he been guilty of exaggeration? we were dead, but behold, we live! we spent our energies in profitless work; but now we bear fruit unto god. we were lonely and isolated, but now have come to the heavenly jerusalem, to the innumerable company of angels, and to the church of the firstborn. our prayers were aimless and ineffective; but now we have the petitions we desired. new hope and joy have filled our hearts, as the ruddy clusters hang full and ripe in the autumn. prove him for yourself and see if this shall not be so for you also. only give yourself entirely up to christ. abide in him. remain in him. let thought and speech and life be bathed in the influences of his holy spirit; let the sap of his life flow where the sap of the self-life was wont to flow; and lo! old things will pass away, and all things will become new. _the law and method of abiding._--there are two currents always flowing within our reach: the not i, and the i. the last adam, and the first. the spirit, and the flesh. god has put us by his grace into the first of these. the master says, "stop there." much as when a father puts his little boy in the railway carriage, _en route_ for home, and says, "my boy, stop where you are. do not get out; no change is necessary." we are in christ by regeneration and faith. we may not always be thinking about him; but we remain in him, unless by unfaithfulness or sin we consciously and voluntarily leave him. and if we have left him for a single moment, it is always possible by confession and renewal to regain our old position. this is confessedly an inadequate figure of speech. there is a sense in which the member cannot be amputated from the body, and the soul cannot be divorced from its union with christ. but we are not dealing now with our integral oneness with christ for life, but with our abiding union with him for fruit-bearing and service. and again we say, for those who are so immersed in daily business, as to be unable for long together to keep their minds fixed on christ, that their abiding in him does not depend on their perpetual realization and consciousness of his presence, but on the faith that they have done and said nothing inconsistent with the holy bond of fellowship. you are in a lift until you step out of it, though you may not be thinking of the lift. you keep on a road until you take a turning right or left, although, engrossed in converse with your friend, you do not think of the road. you are in christ amid the pressure of daily care, and the haste of business, so long as your face is toward the lord, your attitude that of humble submission, and your conscience void of offence. during the day it is therefore possible at any moment to say, "i am in thee, o blessed christ. i have not all the rapture and passion of more radiant hours, but i am in thee, because i would not by a single act, leave thy secret place." if at such a moment you are conscious that you are not able to say as much, instantly go back over the past few hours, discover the place when you severed yourself from your lord, and return. study godet's beautiful definition of abiding: "it is the continuous act by which the christian lays aside all he might draw from his own wisdom, strength and merit, to desire all from christ by the inward aspiration of faith." whenever, therefore, temptation arises to leave the words of christ (ver. 7), for the maxims of the world, step back, remain in him, deny yourself. whenever you are tempted to leave the narrow path of his commandments (ver. 10), to follow the impulses of your own nature, reckon yourself dead to these that you may _run_ in those. whenever you are tempted to forsake the holy temper of christ's love, for jealousy, envy, hatred, step back and say, i will not go out of my hiding-place, i elect to remain in the love of god. the one effort of life is therefore reduced to a persistent resistance to all the suggestions of the world, the flesh and the devil; that we should step out of that blessed man into whom the father has grafted us. then he abides in us. he is strong where we are weak, loving and tender where we are thoughtless, holy where we fail. he is in us as wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption; and as the hope of glory. xvi prayer that prevails "if ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you."--john xv. 7. christ expected answers to his prayers, and in all his teaching leads us to feel that we shall be able to obtain, through prayer, what otherwise would not come to our hand. he knew all that was to be known of natural law and the father's heart; but notwithstanding his perfect acquaintance with the mysteries of the father's government, he said, "ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." a careful comparison between the confident assurances of the master, and the experience of christians, as detailed in their biographies or personal confessions, discloses a wide difference between his words and the findings of his disciples. many have become accustomed to disappointment in prayer. they have asked so many things which they have never received; have sought so much without finding; have knocked so repeatedly, but the door has remained closed. we are in the habit of accounting for our failure by saying that probably our prayer was not according to the will of god, or that god withheld the less that he might give us something better. in some cases there may be even an unspoken misgiving about the harmony of prayer with our father's love and wisdom, or with a perfect confidence in him as doing the best for us in the world. we forget that if we prayed as we should, we should ask what was according to his will. we evade christ's definite words, "_whatsoever_ ye shall ask in my name, that will i do." when we consider the lives of some who have wrought mightily for god, it is clear that they had learned a secret which eludes many of us. take this, for instance, from the biography of dr. burns thomson. "when much together as students," writes his friend, "we agreed on special petitions, and the lord encouraged us by giving answers, so early and so definite, as could only have come from himself, so that no room was left for the shadow of a doubt that god was the hearer and answerer of prayer. once the answer came the same day, and at another time, whilst we were yet speaking. my friend often spoke of our agreement, to the glory of him who fulfilled to us his promise, and i refer to it, to encourage others." this is but one leaf out of the great library of prayers, intercessions, and supplications for all saints, which stand recorded before god. we naturally turn to our lord's last utterances in which his instructions about prevailing prayer are fuller than those of the sermon on the mount; and than those given in the mid-passage of his earthly life, which depict the importunity of the widow with the unjust judge, and of the friend with his friend at midnight. the words spoken in the chapter we are now considering are particularly pertinent to our purpose, because they deal exclusively with the age to which our lord frequently referred as "that day," the day of pentecost, the age of the holy ghost, the day of this dispensation. our lord teaches that any prayer which is to prevail with god must pass five tests, though these are but different phases of the same attitude. (1) _the glory of the father._--"that the father may be glorified in the son" (john xiv. 13). the one purpose of christ on earth was to glorify the father; and at the close of his life here he was conscious that he had not striven in vain. "now," said he, "is the son of man glorified, and god is glorified in him." this was the purpose of his earthly career, and it was perfectly consistent with that of his eternal being; for each person of the holy trinity is ever intent on unfolding and displaying the moral beauty of the other twain. having sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, christ still pursues his cherished purpose of making his father known, loved, and adored. no prayer, therefore, can hope to succeed with him, or can claim his concurrent intercession, which is out of harmony with this sublime intent. whatever petition we offer should be submitted to this standard. can we establish it in the presence of christ, that our request will promote the glory of the father? bring in your evidence--establish your pleas--adduce your strong reasons. if you can make good your claim, your prayer is already granted. but be sure that it is impossible to seek the glory of god consistently with selfish aims. these two can no more coexist than light and darkness in the same cubic space. the glory of god will ever triumph at our cost. it is equally certain that none of us can truly pray for the glory of god, unless we are living for it. it is only out of the heart that has but one purpose in life and death, that those prayers emanate which touch the tenderest chord in the saviour's nature, and awaken all his energies to their highest activity, "that will i do." (2) _in christ's name._--"whatsoever ye shall ask in my name" (john xiv. 13). throughout the holy scriptures, _name stands for nature_. the master says, "you must ask my nature." in other words, when we pray, it must not be as the self-nature, but as the christian-nature dictates. we always know when that is paramount. it excludes boasting; it is pure, peaceable and loving; it is far removed from the glare and gaud of the world, it is full of calvary, olivet, and pentecost. there are days in our life when we feel borne along on its tidal current; when christ is in us, the hope of glory; when a power is working within us beyond what we can ask or think; when we live, yet not we, but christ in us--these are the times most propitious for prayer. pour out your heart before god. let christ, who is in you by the holy spirit, speak to the christ who is above you on the throne. let the living water, which has descended from the eternal city, return back to its source through the channel of your heart. this is praying in his name, and according to his nature. before we can expect our prayers to prosper, let us sit quietly down, and, putting aside all other voices, permit the christ-nature to speak. it is only in proportion as it countersigns our petitions that they will reach the audience-chamber of eternity. surely, if this test were properly applied, many of the petitions we now offer so glibly would never leave our lips, and we should be satisfied about the fate of many another prayer which, like some ill-fated barque, has left our shores, and never been heard of again. but again let it be remembered that none can pray in the name of christ who do not live for that name, like those early evangelists of whom john says that for the sake of the name they took nothing of the gentiles. the name of christ must be predominant in life, if it is to be efficacious in prayer. (3) _abide in christ._--"if ye abide in me, . . . ask what ye will" (john xv. 7). we are in christ, by the grafting of the great husbandman, who took us out of the wild vine of nature, and incorporated us with christ. that union is forever, but its conscious enjoyment and helpfulness arise only in so far as we keep his commandments. a limb may be in the body, and yet be dislocated and useless. if you are in a train running through to your destination at the terminus, all that is necessary is to resist the temptation to alight at the stations _en route_, and to remain where you are. if, then, god the father has put you into christ, and is seeking to establish you in him, be careful to resist every temptation or suggestion to depart from living fellowship by any act of disobedience or unbelief. if you abide in christ in daily fellowship, it will not be difficult to pray aright, for he has promised to abide in those who abide in him; and the sap of the holy ghost, securing for you fellowship with your unseen lord, will produce in you, as fruit, desires and petitions similar to those which he unceasingly presents to his father. throughout the ages christ has been asking of god. this is the perpetual attitude of the son to the father. he cannot ask what the father may not give. to get then into the current of his prayer is to be sure of success. abide in him, that he may abide in you; not only in the activities of holy service, but in the intercessions and supplications of the hour of private prayer. (4) _submit prayer to the correction of the word._--"if my words abide in you" . . . (john xv. 7). christ's words have been compared to a court of solemn and stately presences, sitting to try our prayers before they pass on into the master's presence. here is a prayer which is selfish and earth-born, grasping at the prizes of worldly ambition and greed. but as it enters it encounters that solemn word, "_seek ye first the kingdom of god and his righteousness,_" and it turns back surprised and ashamed. here is another prayer, full of imprecation and unkindness toward some one who has maligned or injured the petitioner. but it is met by that solemn word of the master, "_love your enemies, pray for them that despitefully use you,_" and it hastens to retire. here is another prayer full of murmuring regret because of the pressure of the cross, the weight of the restraining yoke. but forthwith that notable word of christ forbids its further progress, saying, "_in the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, i have overcome the world._" in the presence of that reminder and rebuke, the prayer, abashed, turns away its face and departs. like the accusers of the woman taken in the act of sin, prayers like these are inwardly convicted of unfitness, and go forth. the words of christ forbid unsuitable prayer, but they also stir the heart with great desire for the realization of those good things which christ has promised to them that love him. in this sense prayer becomes a dialogue between the master who says, "seek ye my face," and the disciple who responds, "thy face, lord, will i seek." (5) _fruit-bearing._--"i appointed you that ye should bear fruit that . . ." (john xv. 16). in other words, answers to prayers depend very largely on our ministry to others. if we are prompted by desire for our own comfort, peace, or enjoyment, we shall stand but a poor chance of audience in the secret of his presence. if, on the other hand, our prayers are connected with our fruit-bearing--that is, with our ministry to others, with the coming of the kingdom, and the accomplishment of god's purpose of salvation--the golden sceptre will be extended to us, as when ahasuerus said to esther, "what is thy request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed." is sun needed to ripen the fruit? ask for it. the father waits to give it. is dew or rain needed that the pitchers may be filled to the brim with water which is to be made wine? ask for it. god is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love. ask for all but pruning; this the father will administer, according to the good pleasure of his goodness. the fruit-bearing branches have a right to claim and appropriate all that is needed for the sweetening and ripening of their precious burden. the temple of prayer is thus guarded from the intrusion of the unprepared footstep by many tests. at the foot of the marble steps, we are challenged for the watchword; and if we do not speak in harmony with god's glory, our further passage is peremptorily stayed. the key, engraven with the name of jesus, will only obey the hand in which his nature is throbbing. we must be in him, if he is to plead in us. his words must prune, direct, and control our aspirations; his service must engage our energies. we must take part in the camp with his soldiers, in the vineyard with his husbandmen, in the temple-building with his artificers. it is as we serve our king, that we can reckon absolutely on his answer to our prayers. three concluding thoughts remain. _first_. it is clear that our prayers depend very largely on our inner life. where that is vigorous and healthy, they will be the same. but let deterioration and failure set in there, and the effect will be instantly apparent in our prayers. they act and react. out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks; and when the mouth is opened in prayer and supplication, the heart speaks. _second_. bespeak the spirit's indwelling. he is the bond of communion and fellowship between the father and the son, and will lift us into the holy circle of that eternal life, so that the current may pass through us with uninterrupted velocity and force. he makes inward intercession for the saints according to the will and mind of god. _third_. expect that prayer will become ever more engrossing, as the divine impulse is yielded to; so that what now occupies but a comparatively small portion of time and energy will become with us, as with the great apostle, an exercise which we prosecute with unceasing ardor, an ever-delightful method of promoting the redeemer's kingdom. xvii the hatred of the world "they shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth god service. and these things they will do unto you, because they have not known the father, nor me."--john xvi. 2, 3. how near love and hate dwell in these words of jesus! he had been urging his disciples to cultivate perfect love, the love of god; he now turns to describe the inevitable hatred with which they would be assailed in the world that knew neither the father nor himself. and if an additional motive were needed to induce that love, it would surely be given by the consideration of that hate. this is no unimportant theme. it touches, very nearly, the lives of thousands of believers amongst us. though they have not to face the thumbscrew and the stake, they discover painfully enough that the offence of the cross has not ceased. there are amongst us many who daily quiver under the venomous gibe of neighbor and fellow-workman, and find that their acceptance of jesus christ as saviour and master has suddenly changed their family and working-life from a garden of roses into a bed of thorns. many a young man in the city counting-house, many a mechanic at the bench, many a traveller in the commercial-room, many a student on the college-benches, is doomed to discover that the world does not love the church better than in those days when the fires gleamed in smithfield, and men and women were burned to death for loving god. but how sweet to know that all this verifies the master's words: ye are not of the world, even as i am not of the world. if ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but i have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. i. what then is the world?--it consists of those who are destitute of the life and love of god, as contrasted with those who have received and welcomed the unspeakable gift which is offered to all in jesus christ. the great mass of the unregenerate and unbelieving, considered as a unity, is the world, as interpreted by our lord and his apostles. the world has its god and its religion, which was first instituted by cain at the gates of eden; its prince, and court, and laws; its maxims and principles; its literature and pleasures. it is dominated by a peculiar spirit which the apostle calls a lust or fashion, and resembles the german _zeit-geist_: an infection, an influence, a pageantry, a witchery; reminding us of the fabled mountain of loadstone which attracted vessels to itself for the iron that was in them, and presently drew the nails from the timbers, so that the whole fabric fell a helpless, shapeless mass into the waves. the votaries of the world attach themselves to the objects of sense, to the things which are seen and temporal. they have the utmost horror of poverty, suffering, and humiliation; these they consider their chief evils to be avoided at any cost; whilst they regard as the chief good, riches, pleasure, and honor. the world is thus a great unity and entity; standing together as a mighty kingdom; united and compacted together as nebuchadnezzar's image; environing the church, as the great kingdoms of assyria and egypt did the chosen people of god in the days of the kings. it resembles a pack of wolves. "behold," said christ, "i send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves." between such irreconcilable opposites as the church and the world, there cannot but be antagonism and strife. each treasures and seeks what the other rejects as worthless. each is devoted to ends that are inimical to the dearest interests of the other. each follows a prince, who met the prince of the other, in mortal conflict. let us thank him, who out of this world chose us for himself. ii. let us trace the story of the world's hatred.--_it was foretold in eden_. "i will put enmity," so god spoke to the serpent, "between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed." we are not disposed to treat that ancient record with which our bible opens as romance or fairy story, but to regard it as containing a true and authentic record of what actually transpired. that declaration is the key to the bible. on every page we meet the conflict, the bruising of the church's heel by the dark powers, and the increasing area of victory covered by our emmanuel, the virgin's child. this hatred is then in the very nature of things, for this is but another name for god. it is, like others of the deepest facts in the experience of man, fundamental and inevitable, the outcome of mysteries which lie beyond the ken of man. _and it has characterized every age._--abel is slain by cain, who was of the evil one, and slew his brother. joseph is put into a pit by his brethren, and into a prison by his master's wife; the hebrew is smitten by the egyptian; david is hunted by saul as a partridge on the mountains; micaiah is hated by ahab because he always testifies against him; jeremiah lives a very suffering stricken life, until he is slain in egypt for remonstrating against a policy he could not alter; each of the little company then listening to christ is forecast for a martyr's death, with, perhaps, the exception of john himself, whose life was martyrdom enough; stephen sheds the blood of his pure and noble nature, and from that day to this the blood of the saints has poured in streams, until the last harrowing records, which have come to light, only of recent years, of the indescribable tortures and death of armenian martyrs. each age has had its martyr-roll. they have been tortured, not accepting deliverance, have had trial of mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment; have been stoned, sawn asunder, tempted, and slain with the sword; wandering in deserts and mountains and caves, and the holes of the earth: of whom the world was not worthy. _the root or ground of hatred is not due to the evil discovered in the persons, who are the objects of the world's hate._--"they hated me without a cause," our saviour sorrowfully said. there might have been some cloke for the shamelessness of the world's sin, if he had not spoken words and done works among them such as none other ever said and did; but in the face of the perfect beauty of his character, the grace and truth of his words, and the loveliness of his deeds, it was by their perfidy he was crucified and slain. in vain he challenged them to convince him of sin, and to bear witness to any evil which might justify their malicious cruelty. they knew it was innocent blood; but this knowledge, so far from mollifying them, only exasperated them the more. the world hates the church, not for the evil that is in it, but for the good. it hates without cause. the holier and purer a life is, the more certainly it will attract to itself malignity and dislike. the more christlike we are, the more we must suffer the relentless hate that drove the nails into his hands, and the spear into his side. do not be surprised at this. think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which cometh to prove you, as though a strange thing happened unto you; but doubt and question and be in fear, if you meet only smiles and flattery and such honors as the world can give. you may then ask yourselves whether you are not one of the world's own. _the real origin and fountain of the hatred of the world is due to satan's antagonism to god._--in his original creation, he was doubtless as fair as any of the firstborn sons of light; but in his pride he substituted himself for god, and love faded out of his being, making way for the unutterable darkness of diabolic hate. satan hates god with a hatred for which there are no words; and therefore when the father sent the son to be the saviour of the world, satan gathered up every energy and resource of his nature to dog his steps, and make his course through the world as painful as possible. do you wonder that the life of jesus was so full of suffering? it could not have been otherwise. directly god, in the person of jesus, stepped down into the time-sphere, and assumed the conditions of earth and death, he came within the range of the utmost that satan could do to molest and injure him. similarly, when the blessed lord becomes the tenant of the heart, and in proportion as he is so, that heart attracts to itself the hatred with which the devil from the beginning has hated god. "if they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. and these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the father nor me." _it is natural for the evil to hate the good._--first, the sinner has an uneasy conscience, and it hurts him to come in contact with those whose character reminds him of what he ought to be, and might be, and perhaps once was. the diseased eye dreads the light. the uncanny, slimy things that lurk beneath stones, and in dark caves, squirm in pain when you let in the day. the turkish sultan dislikes the presence of british representatives, and correspondents of the daily press, amid the dark deeds of blood and lust by which he is making armenia a desert. "every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved." in addition to an uneasy conscience, the sinner has an unbroken will. he stoutly resists the impression of a superior and condemning goodness. he hardens his heart, and strengthens its defences. "who is the lord, that i should obey his voice? double the tale of bricks: summon the choice chariots and veteran soldiers of egypt, that we may pursue, overtake, and divide the spoil." such are the successive boats and challenges of the hardened heart. is it to be wondered at, under such conditions, that the wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth, that he draws his sword and bends his bow, to shoot privily at the upright of heart? "the wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him. the lord will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged." _the great object of this hatred is to overcome the good._--in this respect the hate of the world is like the love of the church. the child of god loves, that he may overcome the evil in the world, by converting evil-doers from the error of their ways and assimilating them to holiness; the child of the devil hates, that he may overcome the good of the world, by arresting their goodness, and assimilating to evil. ah, how thankful we may be that we are not of the world, but have been chosen out of it; for it lieth in the wicked one, and is infected with the hatred of hell. it is not difficult, therefore, to go through the world, and escape its hate. we have only to adopt its maxims, speak its language, and conform to its ways. in the well-known picture of the huguenots, the young girl, with pleading, upturned face, seeks to tie the royalist scarf around her lover's arm. she will secure his safety if she succeeds! ah, how many pleading glances are cast at us to induce us to spare ourselves and others, by toning down our speech, and covering our regimentals by the disguising cloke of conformity to the world around! "if you do not approve, at least you need not express your disapproval." "if you cannot vote for, at least do not vote against." if you dissent, put your sentiments in courtly phrase, and so pare them down that they may not offend sensitive ears. such is the advice, which is freely proffered. but those who follow it quickly discover that the compromise of principle involves certainly and awfully the loss of influence for good. iii. our behavior amid the world's hatred.--we have fallen on evil days. the world has been coated over with a christian veneer, whilst the church has become leavened with the subtle spirit of the world. it is hard to come out and be separate, because in the dim twilight one is apt to mistake friend and foe. the bribes are so rich for those who conform, the dissuasive so strong for those who refuse to bow to the great golden image. but our duty is clear. we must be true to the spirit of christ. we must live a holy and unworldly life; we must avoid all that might be construed as an unworthy compromise of the interests of our master's kingdom. and through all the pitiless storm of hate that beats in our faces, we must be glad. "blessed are ye," said our lord, "when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake: rejoice and be exceeding glad." and why rejoice? because your reward is great in heaven; because you know that you are not of the world; because you are shown to be on the path trodden by the saints before you, every step of which has been trodden amid similar manifestations of the devil's hate. moreover, abound in love. let there be no slackening of the patient, tender, pitying love, which heaps coals of fire on the head of the wrongdoer, and will never rest content until it has subdued the evil of his heart, overcoming it with good. love must ultimately conquer hate, as surely as tomorrow's sun will conquer the darkness that now veils the landscape. xviii the work of the holy spirit on the world "he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment."--john xvi. 8. three facts forced themselves home on the apostles during the lord's parting words. _first_, that they were to be bereaved of their master's presence (ver. 5). _second_, that they were to be left alone, amid the world's hatred--"whosoever killeth you" (ver. 2). _third_, that their mission would be witness-bearing to the unseen lord (xv. 27). and as they fully realized all that these facts involved, they became too absorbed in their own sorrowful conclusions to inquire what bourn the master sought as he set sail from these earthly shores. "o master," they said in effect, "why canst thou not stay? our orphaned hearts will never be able to endure the blank which thy absence will cause. easier could a flock of sheep withstand the onset of a pack of wolves than we the hatred of the world! and as for our witness-bearing, it will be too feeble to avail aught." and the master, in effect, answered thus: "i will not leave you without aid. i shall still be with you, though unseen. my presence shall be revealed to your spirits, and made livingly real through the blessed comforter. he will be with you, and in you. he will authenticate and corroborate your witness. he shall testify of me; and when he is come, he will convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. you see then that i shall be able to help you better by sending the holy spirit than by staying with you myself. it is expedient for _you_ that i go away; for if i go not away the comforter will not come to you, but if i depart i will send him unto you." we may not be able to fathom all the reasons for christ's withdrawal before the spirit's advent was possible. but some of them are obvious enough. the full union of the son of god with our race must be secured through death and resurrection, and his full union with the father must be indicated in his glorification with the glory he had or ever the worlds were made, before he could be the perfect channel of communicating the divine fullness to our human nature. the head must be anointed before the body. there must be no physical distraction arising from the outward life of jesus to compete with the spiritual impression of his unseen presence. the text must be completed before the sermon can be preached. christ must die, or there can be no witness to his atonement; must rise, or there can be no testimony to his resurrection; must ascend, or there can be no declaration as to his finished work and eternal intercession. since the spirit reveals christ, all that was appointed unto christ to do must be completed ere the spirit can commence his ministry. the work of the spirit on the world is through the church, and is described by our lord as threefold. by his revelation of christ he creates three convictions. each of these is necessary to the regeneration of man. there must be the sense of sin, or he will not seek the saviour. there must be a belief that righteousness is possible, or the convicted sinner will die of despair. there must be the assurance that sin is doomed, and shall be finally vanquished, or the baffled warrior will give up the long conflict as hopeless. i. the conviction of sin.--we are constantly meeting people who are perfectly indifferent to christianity, because they say they do not feel their need of it. why should they trouble about it, when they suppose themselves able to do perfectly well without it? in dealing with these, it is a great mistake to entice them toward the gospel by describing the moral grandeur of christ's character and teaching. we should at once seek to arouse them to a sense of their great sinfulness. when a man realizes that his life is being eaten out by some insidious disease, he will need no further urging to go to a physician. this is the weakness of modern preaching--that we expatiate on the value of the remedy to men who have never realized their dire necessity. but what is the truth most appropriate for producing the conviction of sin in the human breast? "preach the ten commandments in all their stern and uncompromising 'shalts' and 'shalt-nots,'" cries one. "read out the descriptions given in scripture of the evil things that lurk in the heart of man as filthy things in darksome caves," says another. "show men the results of sin, take them to the edge of the bottomless pit," insists a third. but not one of these is the chosen weapon of the holy spirit. he convicts men of the sin of refusing to believe in jesus christ. there stands the cross, the evidence and symbol of god's love; and there stands the risen christ, offering himself to men. there is nothing which more certainly proves the innate evil of the human heart than its refusal of that mystery of grace. disbelief is the creature, not of the intellect, but of the will. it is not the result of inability to understand, but of stubborn obstinacy and stiffneckedness. here is the supreme manifestation of moral beauty, but man has no eyes for it. here is the highest revelation of god's desire for man to be reconciled with him, and be at one with him, his happy child; but man either despises or spurns his overtures. here is the offer of pardon for all the past, of heirship of all the promises, of blessedness in all the future, but man owns that he is indifferent to the existence and claims of god, and is quite willing to accept the sleeping retribution of bygone years, and to risk a future irradiated by no star of hope. here is god in christ beseeching him to be reconciled, declaring how much the reconciliation has cost, but the frail child of yesterday absolutely refuses to be at peace. no trace of tears in his voice, no shame on his face, no response to god's love in his heart. this is sin at its worst. not in a nero drenched with the blood of relatives and saints; nor in an alva expert to invent new methods of torture; nor in the brutalized expression of the felon; nor in the degradation of the heathen: but in those beside you, who have heard of the love of jesus from their earliest childhood, and who know that he died for them, and waits to bless them, but who deliberately and persistently refuse him, you will find the most terrible revelations of what man is capable of. "this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." conviction in itself is not enough. many have been convicted who have never gone on to conversion. they have dropped to the ground as untimely fruit, blighted before its maturity. conviction of sin does not come to all in the same manner or to the same extent. indeed, those who have come to christ in early life are in a degree exempt from drinking this bitter cup, though they have much tenderness of conscience afterward. do not wait for more conviction, but come to jesus as you are, and tell him that the saddest symptom in your case is your inability to feel as you know you should. do not tarry to be convinced of sin. do not stay away till you feel more deeply. do not suppose that strongly roused emotions purchase his favor. his command is absolute--_believe_. but whenever that true repentance is wrought which needs not to be repented of, or those tears of penitence fall from the eyes of the suppliant, the means will always be the person and work and love of jesus christ. this is the burning-glass through which the spirit focuses the rays of god's love on ice-bound hearts. ii. the conviction of righteousness.--the aggravation of sin of which the spirit convicts the sinner seems to present a gloom too dark for any ray to penetrate. he cannot forget. the dead past will not bury its dead. the wind of eternity blows away the leaves with which he tries to hide the corpses of murdered opportunities, broken hearts, and dissipated years. he cannot forget. he may close his eyes, but still the memories of the past will haunt him, the deeds he would undo, the words he would recall, the dark ingratitude toward the love of jesus. conscience is a flaming terror till a man finds christ as his saviour. her brow is girt with fire, her voice peals with doom. "can i ever be cleansed?" cries the convicted soul. "can these awful gnawings be silenced, and these terrors laid? can i rise from this ruin and become a new, righteous, god-like man?" these questions are answered by the spirit who induced them. "there is righteousness," he says, "because christ is gone to the father, and ye see him no more." he is gone to the father; and the seal of divine authenticity has therefore been placed on all he said and did in the father's name. he is gone to the father; and it is clear, therefore, that he has been accepted as the saviour and redeemer of men. he is gone to the father in the likeness and nature of men; evidently, then, man is an object of god's love, is reconciled to god, and is admitted to the rights and privileges of a son and heir. the work of jesus on man's behalf finished at the cross, accepted by the father--of which the resurrection is witness--presented by our great high priest within the veil, is the momentous truth which the holy spirit brings home to the convinced sinner. and inasmuch as we are unable to see within the veil and discern the divine marks of approval and acceptance, the holy spirit descends, and in his advent proves that jesus has gone where he said, and done what he promised. how do we know that the work of jesus christ has been accepted in the courts of eternity? on this wise. before he died the master said that he went to the father, and that when he was glorified he would ask and receive the spirit in his fullness. after days had elapsed and the second week from his ascension was already passing, the spirit in pentecostal fullness fell upon the waiting church, giving it an altogether new power to combat with the world. what the wagons were to jacob, proving that joseph lived and thought of him still, and was indeed supreme in egypt, that the day of pentecost was in declaring that christ's personal righteousness had been vindicated, and that the righteousness he had wrought out for man had received the hallmark of the divine assay. therefore the apostle says, "the holy ghost also is a witness to us that he hath perfected forever by one offering them that are sanctified." and again, "him hath god exalted with his right hand to be a prince and a saviour; and the holy ghost, whom god hath given to them that obey him, is witness of these things." iii. the conviction of judgment.--when we have been freed _from_ sin, and made righteous in christ, we are left face to face with a tremendous struggle against sin. the sin of the past is indeed forgiven, the voice of conscience has been hushed, the sinner rejoices to know that he is accepted on the ground of righteousness; but the old temptations still crop up. passion prompts us to live for present gratification; the flesh deadens the burning aspirations of the spirit. we ask in sad earnestness, how shall we be able to survive the terrible struggle and to come off victorious? it appears a vain hope that we should ever rise to perfect and victorious purity. at such a time the comforter convinces us of judgment. not, as the words are so often misquoted, of judgment to come, but in the sense in which our lord spoke of judgment to the inquiring greeks: "now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out." our lord's references to the existence and power of satan are always distinct and unhesitating. it is impossible to accept him as our supreme teacher without accepting his statements concerning his great antagonist, to undo whose work brought the son of god to earth. the whole gospel is a story of the duel in which our lord forever worsted and mastered satan. the conflict began with the lonely struggle of the temptation in the wilderness; it pervaded christ's earthly career; it culminated in the cross. its first note was, "if thou be the son of god, command that these stones be made bread"; its last note was, "if thou be the son of god, come down from the cross." but when our lord cried, "it is finished," with the shout of a conqueror, he proclaimed to the universe that, though tempted to the uttermost, he had not yielded in one particular, that evil was not an eternal power, that wrong was not omnipotent. the cross was the crisis of this world's history: the prince of this world measured himself for one final wrestle with the son of god. had he succeeded, evil would have reigned; but since he failed he fell as lightning from heaven. on this fact the holy spirit loves to dwell. he unfolds its full meaning. "see," he says, "christ has conquered for you, and in your nature. you meet a foe who is not invincible. christ conquered, not for himself, but for all who believe. the prince of this world has been judged and found wanting. he is condemned forevermore. only abide in the last adam, the lord from heaven, and let him abide in you, and he will repeat through you his olden victories." what a majestic thought is here! the world comes to us first with its fascinations and delights. she comes to us next with her frowns and tortures. behind her is her prince. but since he has been cast out by a stronger than himself, and exists only on sufferance, his most potent bribes and lures, his most violent onsets, his most unscrupulous suggestions, must collapse. believer, meet him as a discredited and fallen foe. he can have no power at all over thee. the cross bruised his head. thou hast no need to fear judgment. it awaits those only who are still in the devil's power. but thou mayest rejoice that for thee a victory waits, the measure of which will only be explored when thou seest the devil cast into the bottomless pit, and thence into the lake of fire. xix christ's reticence supplemented by the spirit's advent "i have yet many things to say unto you; but ye cannot bear them now."--john xvi. 12-15. how confidently our lord speaks of the spirit's advent; not more so did the prophets foretell his own. repeatedly he returns to the phrase, _when he is come_. the advent of the spirit to the heart of the church on the day of pentecost, was as distinct and marked an event as the advent of the son of god himself to the manger-bed of bethlehem. let every reader of these words be sure of having taken the full advantage of his presence, just as we would wish to have availed ourselves to the uttermost of the physical presence of christ, had our lot so befallen. i. the theme of this paragraph is the incompleteness of our lord's teaching.--for three and a half years he was perpetually pouring forth his wonderful words; in many _different places_--the market-place, the home at bethany, the hillside, the temple cloister; to many _different audiences_--now in thronging crowds, and again to the secret disciple whose footfall startled the night, or the lone woman drawing water from the well; on many _different themes_--to mention all of which would be impossible, though he never spoke on any subject, common as a wayside flower, without associating with it thoughts that can never die. we have but a small portion of his words recorded in the gospels, it is therefore the more remarkable that he left anything unsaid, and that at the close of his ministry he should have to say, _i have yet many things to say unto you_. many parables, fair as his tenderest, woven in the productive loom of his imagination, remained unuttered; many discourses, inimitable as the sermon on the mount, or as this in the upper room, unspoken; many revelations of heavenly mystery not made. a comparison between the gospels and the epistles will indicate how much our lord had left unsaid. the relation of the law of moses to his finished work was left to the epistle to the romans: the relation between his church and the usages of the heathen world, for the epistle to corinth: the effect of his resurrection on the sleeping saints for the epistle to the thessalonians. he said nothing about the union of jew and gentile on terms of equality in his church; this mystery, hidden from ages and from generations, was only fully unveiled in the epistle to the ephesians. it was left for the epistle to the hebrews to disclose the superseding of the temple and its ritual by the realities of the christian dispensation. the practical precepts for the right ordering of the churches were left for the pastoral epistles; and the course of the church through the ages of the world's history, for the apocalypse of the beloved apostle. when we perceive the many things, taught in the epistles, which were not unfolded by the lord, we discern a fresh meaning in his assurance that he left much unsaid. we are perpetually assailed by the cry, "back to christ," which is significant of men's weariness of theological system, and organized ecclesiasticism, and of a desire to get away from the accretions of the middle ages and the dead hand of church tradition, into the pure, serene, and holy presence of jesus of nazareth. it always seems to us as if the cry should be _up to_ christ, rather than _back_ to him. to put it as men generally do, suggests the inference that christ lies far in the wake of human progress, and behind the haze of eighteen centuries; that he was, but is no longer, a potent factor in the world's life; whereas he is here, now, with us, in us, leading us as of old through rugged passes, and to mountains of transfiguration. if the endeavor to get back to christ means the synoptic gospels to the exclusion of the fourth, or the epistles; or the sermon on the mount to the exclusion of the epistle to the romans; or jesus to the exclusion of his apostles, we feel it is but half the truth. our lord himself protested that his teachings were incomplete, that there was much left unsaid which would be said by the comforter, as even he could not, because the spirit of god speaks in the inner shrine of the soul, uttering to the inner ear, truths which no voice could speak or ear receive. let us always remember therefore that the gospels must be completed by the epistles, and that the spirit who spake in the son, spake also in those whom the son had prepared to be his mouthpieces to men. ii. the partial measure of human ability to know.--"ye cannot bear them now." our lord's reticence did not arise from ignorance, he could have said so much had he not been able to say more. all things were naked and open to his eye, but he had a tender regard for these men whom he loved. _their bodies_ could not bear more. when the mind is strongly wrought upon, the delicate organism of the body is deeply affected. on the banks of the river hiddekel, words of such wondrous importance were uttered to the lonely exile, that daniel fainted, and was sick many days. "when i saw him," says john, "i fell at his feet as dead." flavel, on more than one occasion, asked that the excessive revelation might be stayed. our lord, therefore, feared that in their weakened state, torn by anxiety and sorrow, his followers would collapse if further strain were imposed upon their powers of spiritual apprehension. _their minds_ could not bear more. the mind cannot receive more than a certain amount. after a while its eye gets weary, it ceases to receive, and even to remember. there are multitudes of cases in which, when too great a weight has been crowded on the delicate organism through which thoughts move, its balance has been upset, and it has drivelled into idiocy. against this danger, also, our lord guarded, for his disciples were already excited and over-strained. their brains were so exhausted that in a few moments they would be sleeping on the cold ground of gethsemane. had he poured the light of the other world in full measure upon them, the tide of glory had submerged them, like spent swimmers. _their affections_ could not bear more. because he had spoken to them, sorrow had filled their heart, and he forbore to describe the valley of shadow through which they were still to pass, lest their hearts should break. they had hardly commenced to drink its cup: what would its dregs be? the footmen had wearied them: how would they contend with horses? the brink had terrified them: how would they do in the swellings of jordan? it is thus that he deals with us still. he knows our frame, and proportions our trials to our strength. he carefully feels our pulse before commencing the operation through which he would lead us to perfect health. he tempers his discipline to our spiritual capacity. we desire to know many things: the reason why sin has been permitted, the fate of the impenitent; the state of the great masses of men who have passed into eternity without a true knowledge of god. peter asks for john, "what shall this man do?" each wants to know the secret plans, whether for himself, or his beloved, which are lying in the mind and purpose of the eternal. what will the end be? where does that path lead by which i am going, and which descends steeply into the ravine? will the fight between evil and good be much prolonged? what are hell, and the bottomless pit, and the meaning of christ's references to the undying worm and unquenchable flame? and christ says, "my child, you cannot bear it; you could not sleep at night, you could not play with the merry children by day, you could not perform your slender tasks, if you knew all that i know, and see as i see. be at rest. trust me. i will tell you as soon as you are strong enough. nothing shall be kept back from you, all shall be revealed." and surely the sufferings and limitations of this present time will not be worthy to be compared with the exceeding weight of glory, when in the presence of our lord we shall see eye to eye, and know even as we are known. in the light of these words we may get comfort. when some crushing trouble befalls us, he who only spoke as they were able to bear, will not permit the flame to be hotter, the tide stronger, or the task more trying than we have strength for. we often do not know our strength nor the power of his grace. sorrow may be sent to reveal us to ourselves, and show how much spiritual energy we have been silently acquiring. do not, therefore, run to and fro, and say, "it is too much, i cannot bear it." but know and be sure that christ has ascertained your resources, and is sure of your ability, before he permits the extreme ordeal to overtake you. dare to say with the apostle, "i can do all things through christ who strengtheneth me." iii. the teaching of the divine spirit.--his _personality_ is unmistakable; though the greek word for spirit is neuter, a masculine pronoun is used in conjunction with it when jesus says, "he, the spirit of truth." the personal christ sent as a substitute for himself no mere breath or influence, but the personal spirit. the advocate before the throne is well represented by the advocate in the heart of the church, and these two agree in one. distinct as different persons, but one in the mystical unity of the holy trinity. note the _method_ of the holy spirit. he teaches truth by taking of the things of christ and revealing them. there are two methods of teaching children, by precept, and by example. i go into a schoolroom one summer afternoon, and remark the hot cheeks and tired eyes of the little ones. outside the open window the bees are droning past, the butterflies flit from flower to flower, and nature seems to cry to the little hearts, "come and play with me." does a garden ever look so beautiful as to children shut up to their studies? "what are you learning, little ones?" i say. "botany," is the sad answer "we've got to learn all these hard names, and copy these diagrams." "well," i say, "shut up your books, and come with me." and presently i teach them more botany by contact with the flowers themselves, than they would have learned by hours of poring over lesson-books. it is so the spirit teaches. is gentleness or purity, self-sacrifice or prayer, the lesson that we are set to acquire? there is no need for him to make a new revelation to us. it is enough if he but bring us face to face with jesus, and show these qualities shining through his words and deeds. the truth certainly, but the truth as it is in jesus. the condition of proficiency in the spirit's school is _obedience_. "he will _guide_ you into all truth." this word is very significant. literally it means, _show the way_. ordinarily men ask to know the truth before they obey. the spirit demands that they should obey before they know. let me know the outcome of this act; its philosophy, its reasonableness, its result, then i will obey. but the spirit answers, "it is enough for thee, o child of man, to know me. canst thou not trust? wilt thou not obey? and as thou obeyest thou shalt know. take this path, plod along its difficult way, climb where it climbs, so shalt thou ascend the steep of obedience, and at each step a further horizon of the truth will open outspread beneath thee." let us be more sensitive to the guidance of the spirit, following whithersoever he clearly indicates, as when the spirit said to philip, "go, join thyself to this chariot." we shall know when we follow on to know the lord. his going forth is prepared for those who are prepared to obey whatsoever he may appoint. the aim of the spirit is to glorify our lord. "he shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine." the spirit's presence, as such, should not be a subject of our close scrutiny, lest we conflict with his holy purpose of being hidden, that jesus may be all in all before the gaze of saint and sinner. he is so anxious that nothing should divert the soul's gaze from the lord whom he would reveal, that he carefully withdraws himself from view. "there must be nothing, not even god himself, to distract the heart from jesus, through whom we come to god. but remember that when you have the most precious views of your dear lord, it is because the holy spirit, all unseen, is witnessing and working within you." the _authority_ of the holy spirit appears in the words, "he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak." where does he hear the truths he utters? where? there is only one place. in the depths of the eternal throne, in the heart of deity itself, in the secret place of the most high. oh, marvel! surpassing thought, yet true! that things which pass between the father and the son, in the depths which no angel can penetrate, may be disclosed and made known to those humble and contrite hearts who are willing to make a space and pause for the divine spirit to speak the deep things of god. may it be ours to be patient and willing pupils in this heavenly school in which the holy spirit is teacher, and jesus the text-book, and character the essential condition of knowledge. xx the conqueror of the world "in the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; i have overcome the world."--john xvi. 33. it was the road between jerusalem and the gate of the garden. behind, lay the city bathed in slumber; before, the mount of olives with its terraced gardens; above, the passover moon, pouring down floods of silver light that dropped to the ground through the waving branches of the trees. the lord was on his way to betrayal and death, along that path flecked by checkered moonlight. the farewell talk had been prolonged until the disciples had grasped something of the master's meaning. with many a comforting assurance it had borne them forward to the magnificent but simple declaration, "_i came forth from the father, and am come into the world; again, i leave the world, and go to the father_" (ver. 28). at that announcement light seems to have broken in upon their hearts, and they said unto him, "_lo, now speakest thou plainly, . . . by this we believe that thou camest forth from god._" jesus replied, not as translators render it, "_do ye now believe_"; but as it should be rendered, "_at last ye believe_"; and he proceeded to formulate three paradoxes: first, that within an hour or so he would be alone, yet not alone. secondly, that they would have tribulation, and yet be in peace. thirdly, that though he was going to his death, he was certainly a conqueror, and had overcome the world, whose princes were about to crucify him. that word _overcome_ appears to have been used only this once by our lord; but it made a lasting impression on the apostle john, who constantly makes use of it in his epistle. we meet with it _six_ times in his brief first epistle, and _sixteen_ times in the book of revelation. who can forget the sevenfold promise spoken by the risen lord to those who overcome; or the sublime affirmation concerning the martyrs, that they overcame by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony? i. christ and his disciples have a common foe--"the world."--and what is the world? _it is well to take the inspired definition given in 1 john ii. 16_. after enumerating her three daughters--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--the apostle goes on to say: "all that is in the world is not of the father," _i.e._, does not originate or proceed from him, but has its source in the world itself. we might reverse this proposition and say: "all that does not emanate from the father, which you cannot trace back to his purpose in creation, is that mysterious indefinable influence or spirit which makes the world." the world, in this sense, is not primarily a thing, or a collection of people, but a spiritual influence poured out into the very atmosphere of our lives. the spirit of the world insinuates itself everywhere. it is what we call society; the consensus of fashionable opinion; the spirit which finds its satisfaction in the seen and transient; the ambition that is encircled by the rim of an earthly horizon; the aims, plans, and activities which are comprehended, as the preacher says, "under the sun." you meet it in the school, where little children judge each other by their dress and the number of horses their fathers keep; in the country town, where strict lines are drawn between the professional or wholesale man and the retailer; in gatherings of well-dressed people, stiff with decorum and the punctilious observance of etiquette. the world has formulated its _beatitudes_, thus: "blessed are the rich, for they shall inherit the earth." "blessed are the light-hearted, for they shall have many friends." "blessed are the respectable, for they shall be respected." "blessed are they who are not troubled by a sensitive conscience, for they shall succeed in life." "blessed are they who can indulge their appetites to the full, for they shall be filled." "blessed are they who have no need to conciliate their rivals, for they will be saved from anxiety." "blessed are they who have no poor relations, for they shall be delivered from annoyance." "blessed are they of whom all men speak well." the world's code says, "do as others do; don't be singular; never offend against good taste; have a tinge of religiousness, but remember too much is impracticable for daily life; whatever you do, don't be poor; never yield an inch, unless you are going to make something by the concession; take every advantage of bettering your position, it matters not at what cost to others--they must look after themselves, as you to yourself." but it was reserved for john bunyan to draw madame bubble's portrait: "this woman is a witch. 'i am mistress of the world,' she says, 'and men are made happy by me.' she wears a great purse at her side; and her hand is often in her purse fingering her money. yea, she has bought off many a man from a pilgrim's life after he had fairly begun it. she is a bold and impudent slut also, for she will talk to any man. if there be one cunning to make money, she will speak well of him from house to house. none can tell of the mischief she does. she makes variance betwixt rulers and subjects, 'twixt parents and children, 'twixt a man and his wife, 'twixt the flesh and the heart. had she stood by all this while,' said standfast, whose eyes were still full of her, 'you could not have set madame bubble more amply before me, nor have better described her features.' 'he that drew her picture was a good limner,' said mr. honest, 'and he that so wrote of her said true.' 'oh,' said standfast, 'what a mercy it is that i did resist her! for to what might she not have drawn me?'" ii. christ and his disciples have a common conflict.--it is inevitable that there should be collision, and therefore conflict, and as a result tribulation. the world-spirit will not brook our disagreement with its plans and aims, and therefore they who persist in living godly lives in this present evil world must suffer persecution. _conflict about the use of power and prerogative._--at his baptism our lord was proclaimed to be the son of the highest, and anointed with the holy ghost and with power. instantly the prince of this world came to him with the suggestion that he should use it for the purposes of his own comfort and display. "make these stones bread for thine hunger; cast thyself down and attract the attention of the crowds." here were the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes. but our lord refused to use for himself the power which was entrusted to him for the benediction and help of men. _conflict as to the way of helping and saving men._--the world's way was to leap into the seat of power at any cost, and from the height of universal authority administer the affairs of the world. but christ knew better. he saw that he must take the form of a servant, and humble himself to the lowest. if he would save men, he cannot save himself: if he would bring forth much fruit, he must fall into the ground to die: if he would ascend far above all heavens, bearing us with him to the realms of eternal day, he must descend first into the lower parts of the earth. _conflict in the estimate of poverty and suffering._--the world looked on these as the most terrible disasters that could befall. christ, on the other hand, taught that blessedness lay most within reach of the poor in spirit, the mourners, the merciful, the forgiving, and the persecuted. but the pharisees, who were lovers of money, when they heard all these things, scoffed at him. _conflict in their diverse notions of royalty._--the jews looked for a messiah who should revive the glories of the days of david and solomon, driving the gentiles from the land, and receiving the homage of the surrounding nations, whilst every son of abraham enjoyed opulence and ease. referring to this expectation, the master said, "my kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight." his conception of royalty was founded on service, which would wash the disciples' feet; on humility, which meekly bore the heavy yoke, on patience, which would not quench the smoking flax, on suffering, which flinched not from the cross; on the nobility and dignity of the inner life, which shone through the most humble circumstances, as the transfiguration glory through his robes. for this he died. the chief priests and scribes hunted him to death, because he persisted in asserting that he was the true king of men. "and pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the cross, _jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews_." _there was conflict in regard to religion._--the people of christ's day were very religious. the world likes a flavor of religion. it makes a good background and screen, it serves to hide much that is unbecoming and questionable; it is respectable, and satisfies an instinctive longing of the soul. but the world manages its religion in such a way as not to interfere with its self-aggrandizement; but, in fact, to promote it. christ, on the other hand, taught that religion was for the father in secret; and consisted, not in the rigorous observance of outward rite, but in pity, mercy, forgiveness, solitary prayer, and purity of heart. thus the lord's life was the reversal of everything that the world prized. wherever he touched it there was conflict and collision, strong antagonism was evoked, and profound irritation on the part of the poor hollow appearance-loving world. so it must be with his followers. "these pilgrims must needs go through the fair. well, so they did; but behold, even as they entered into the fair, all the people in the fair were moved, and the town itself, as it were, in a hubbub about them. they were clothed with such kind of raiment as was diverse from the raiment of any who traded in that fair; few could understand what they said; and the pilgrims set very light by all their wares. and they did not believe them to be any other than bedlams and mad. therefore they took them and beat them, and besmeared them with dirt, and then put them in the cage, that they might be made a spectacle to all the men at the fair." child of god, your conflict may be altogether _hidden_ from the eyes of those around you, _lonely_ with the awful loneliness of one in a crowd of unsympathizing strangers, _painful_ with the tribulation that christ foretold. you have been ridiculed, sneered at, maligned; your tools hidden, your goods injured, violence threatened or executed. you have been as a speckled bird, pecked at by the birds around. but this is the way the master went. by these marks you may be sure that you are in the way of his steps. iii. the common victory.--"be of good cheer, i have overcome the world." in the midst of a battle, when the soldiers are weary with fatigue, galled with fire, and grimed with smoke, if the general rides into the midst to cheer them with a few hearty words, and tells them that the key to the position is in their hands, they cheer him enthusiastically, and take up new hope. so down the line our leader and commander sends the encouragement of these inspiring words. let us drink their comfort and encouragement to the full, that, amid our tribulation, in him we may have peace. _he conquered for himself._--the lord has shown that a great and blessed life is possible on conditions which the world pronounces simply unendurable. he would not accept the world's maxims, would not be ruled by the world's principles, did despite to the world's most favorite plans. he even tasted the dregs of reprobation that the world metes out to those who oppose her, enduring the cross, and despising the shame. but his life was blessed while it lasted, his name is the dearest and fairest treasure of our race, and he holds an empire such as none of the world's most favored conquerors ever won. does not this show that the world is a lying temptress, that there is another and a better policy of life than hers, that the real sweets and prizes of this brief existence are, after all, not in her gift. christ has overcome the world. her prince came to him, but found no response to any of his proposals. he disregarded her flatteries and threatenings; he would not have her help and despised her hate; he prosecuted his path in defiance of her, and has left an imperishable glory behind. thus he overcame the world. _and he conquered as our representative and head._--what he did for himself he is prepared to repeat in the life-story of his followers. ah! lonely soul, thou shalt not be left unaided to withstand the seductions of the temptress world; jesus is with thee, thy great-heart and champion. as the father was with him, so he is with thee; so thus thou mayest boldly say, "the lord is my helper, i will not fear what man can do unto me." he does more. behind the light of this world's glory, jesus reveals another; and it is as when the sun rises, while the yellow moon still lingers in the sky. the world has no glory by reason of that glory, which excelleth. we are content with this world until he reveals the glory of the unseen and eternal; then a holy discontent arises with us, such as the patriarchs felt toward canaan, when by faith they beheld the city which hath foundations. i only say to you, get that vision, and it becomes as easy for you to refuse the passing and worthless attractions of the world as for an angel to ignore a wanton's beauty, or a child to make light of diamonds in the rough. in jesus you may have peace. it is not certainly ours, unless we follow the two conditions he lays down. first, of abiding in him; and, secondly, of meditating on his words. but if these be observed we shall have in the midst of strife, just as there is an oratory in the heart of the castle keep; a hollow cone in the midst of the candle flame; and a centre of safety in the midst of the sweeping whirlwind. oh, abide there, child of god! and, in addition to peace, there shall one day be victory. we also shall overcome, and shall sit with christ on his throne, as he overcame, and sits with the father upon his. then the fruit of the tree of life, immunity from the second death, the hidden manna, the white stone, the morning star, the confession before the angels of god, and the pillar in the temple of eternity! xxi consecrated to consecrate "for their sakes i sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth."--john xvii. 19. "the most precious fragment of the past," is the unstinted eulogium which a thoughtful man has passed on this transcendent prayer; transcending in its scope of view, its expressions, its tender pathos, all other prayers of which we have record. its primary characteristic is _timelessness_. though uttered within a few hours of calvary, it contains thoughts and expressions which must have been familiar to our lord at any moment during the centuries which have followed. as we study it, therefore, we are listening to words which have been uttered many times on our behalf, and will be uttered until we are with him, where he is, beholding the glory of the divine son, superadded to that of the perfect servant. the r. v. margin substitutes the word _consecrate_ for _sanctify_, and it probably conveys a better meaning, because devotion to the will of god is prominent, rather than the holiness of personal character. devotion to god's will is the primary thought suggested by the word; but of course it involves a blameless and spotless character. thus we might read the words, "for their sakes i consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth." through the dim twilight the lord clearly foresaw what was awaiting him--the agony and bloody sweat, the cross and passion, the foresakenness and travail of his soul. the cross with out-stretched arms waited to receive him; the midnight darkness to engulf him, the murderous band to wreak their hate on the unresisting lamb--and yet he flinched not, but went right forward, consecrating himself. "twas thus he suffered, though a son, foreknowing, choosing, tasting all, until the dreadful work was done and drank the bitter cup of gall." i. the subjects of christ's solicitude.--in the earlier verses the lord speaks of himself, of his finished work, of the glory which he had left, of that to which he went, asking only that he might be able to glorify the father in every movement of his coming sorrow (1-5). then he launches himself on the full current of intercession, and pleads for those who had been given to him, as distinguished from the world of men out of which they had come. evidently the same thought was in his mind as inspired his words in john x., when he spoke of the sheep whom the father had given to him, that he might give them eternal life (27-29). and it may be that each of these two utterances was inspired by older words yet, that zechariah had addressed to the poor of the flock when he cut asunder his two slaves, beauty and bands (zech. xi. 7-14). the underlying conception in all these passages seems to be that the father has entrusted to the special keeping of jesus certain elect spirits having an affinity to his nature, and who should stand in the inner circle to him because associated with him from high redemptive purpose. all souls are god's by right of creation, and all are included in the redemption wrought on the cross; but not all had been included in the divine gift of which jesus speaks, "thine they were, and thou gavest them me." we conclude that in the eternity of the past, as the father beheld all future things as though they were present, and surveyed the vast multitudes of the human family, he discerned those who would be attracted by indissoluble union with his son, manifest in the flesh; and whom he did foreknow, these also he did predestinate to be his flock, his brethren and sisters, his chosen band of associates in his redemptive purpose. these were the subjects of his powerful solicitude, "i make request, not for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me." what then? did not god care for the world? certainly. he so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. how then can we reconcile the love of god to the world with the selection of some as the flock of the lamb, whilst the great world seems expressly excluded from his prayer? that question is fitly put. the emphasis is on the word seems. it is only to the superficial view that the world is excluded. are the planets excluded from the law of gravitation because suns are filled with fire and light? are the lower orders of creation excluded from the circle of enjoyment because man with his high organization is more richly endowed than they? are sufferers excluded from the healing virtues of nature because a comparative few are specially qualified as surgeons and physicians? can a missionary be charged with neglecting a dark continent because he concentrates thought and care on a few elect spirits gathered around him? for instance, could columba be held guilty of neglecting the picts and scots when on iona's lone isle he focused his care upon the handful of followers who assembled around the ancient pile, whose ruins are his lasting memorial? there is but one answer to these questions. election is not exclusive, but inclusive. its purpose is not primarily the salvation or delectation of the few, but their equipment to become the apostles to the many. and if jesus thought, cared, and prayed so much for those whom the father had given him, his ulterior thought was that the world might believe that the father had sent him (ver. 21). if then it should be proved that you, my reader, are not included in the band of the given ones, that would not necessarily involve you in the eternal condemnation and loss of the future; though it would exclude you from sharing with christ in his lofty mission to the sons of men. what are the marks then that we belong to the inner circle of the given ones? they are these-1. that we have come to him (john vi. 37). 2. that we hear his voice, listening for the slightest indication of his will (john x. 27). 3. that we follow his steps through the world. 4. that we receive his words and believe that the father sent the son to be our saviour. 5. that the world hates us (ver. 14). wheresoever these marks are present, they indicate the hand of the great shepherd and bishop of souls, and though we be amongst the most timid and worthless of the flock, he is pledged to keep us, so that none shall snatch us from his hand, and conduct us through the valley of the shadow to those dewy upland lawns over which he will lead us forevermore. ii. what he sought for them--"that they might be consecrated in truth." christ does not ask that his own should be forgiven, comforted, supplied with the good things of life--all thought for these pales in the presence of his intense desire that they should be consecrated, _i.e._, inspired by the same consuming passion as was burning in his heart. he knew that he was no more in the world. high business connected with its interests summoned him to the far country, whither he went to receive the kingdom and return. but he desired that the passion which filled his soul, his tears, his prayers, and, to an extent, his sufferings, might always be represented amongst the sons of men, embodied in human lives, finding utterance through human lips. he could not himself perpetuate his corporeal visible ministry among men, and therefore desired with a great desire that those whom the father had given him should evermore show forth his death till he came. not simply by gathering at his table, but by going forth to live his life, and fill up that which is behind of his sufferings. is this your life? we have sometimes heard consecration stated as though it were a matter of choice whether believers should bind themselves by its obligations or not. when a student enters the university there are certain subjects in which he must matriculate, but there are special ones which he may graduate in or not, as he pleases. should he refuse them, he is not blamed. the matter was within his option. now, let it be clearly understood from these words of christ that consecration is not in the same sense optional, but obligatory. for all those whom the father had given him he pleaded with his dying breath that they should be consecrated; and if you are not consecrated, if there are extensive reserves in your life, if you are holding back part of the price, if you are saying of aught that you have, it is my own, i shall do as i choose, then understand that you are in direct conflict against christ's purpose and prayer. he asked that you might be consecrated; and you have chosen to regard consecration as the craze of the fervid enthusiast. iii. christ's method of securing the consecration of his servants.--"for their sakes i consecrate myself." (1) _there is the potency of example._--"he hath left us an example to follow in his steps." "he that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk even as he walked." once when he was praying in a certain place his disciples said, "lord, teach us to pray." they had come within the powerful attraction of his spirit. like a swift current it had caught them, and they were eager to emulate him. it is impossible for the saint to gaze long on the stigmata without becoming branded with the marks of jesus; impossible to see him hasting to the cross without being stirred to follow him; impossible to behold the intensity of his purpose for a world's redemption without becoming imbued with it; impossible to see him in love with the cross without feeling a similar infatuation; impossible to behold him plunging into the dark floods of death that he might emerge in the sunlit ocean, without the consciousness of the uprising of an insatiable desire to be like him, to drink of his cup, and be baptized with his baptism, to fall into the ground to die, that he may not abide alone, to know the fellowship of his sufferings, and conformity to his death, that he may appoint unto us a kingdom, as the father hath appointed to him. (2) _there is our implication in his mediatorial work._--"i have been crucified with christ," the apostle said. and, again, "ye died with christ from the rudiments of the world." of course, christ died _for_ us, presenting to the claims of a broken law a perfect satisfaction and oblation. it is also true that we died _with_ him, were _in_ him as our representative, wrought _through_ him as our forerunner; the first fruit-sheaf contained the promise of all its companions. consider for a moment a remarkable expression that casts light on this whole subject. in that memorable discussion with the jews in solomon's porch, which practically closed our lord's public ministry, he said that the father had sanctified and consecrated him and sent him into the world (john x. 36). in these sublime words he undoubtedly refers to a moment which preceded the incarnation, when the godhead designated the second person to redeem men? was it the same moment, think you, as that in which jesus said, "sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but a body thou hast prepared for me (or, mine ears hast thou pierced). i delight to do thy will, o my god." if so, what an august scene that must have been when, in the presence of the assembled hierarchies of heaven, the father solemnly set apart the son for his redemption work, consecrating him to bring in everlasting salvation, to destroy the works of the devil, and to bring together in one the children of god that are scattered abroad! in that solemn consecration of the head all the members were included. the king stood for his kingdom; the shepherd for his flock. any who refuse to be consecrated contravene and contradict that momentous decision. when christ approached his death, in these words he renewed his act of consecration, and again implicated those who belong to him; bearing us with him, he went to the cross, involving us by his actions, he yielded himself up to death. in his holy purpose we were quickened together with him, and raised up together, and made to sit together in the heavenly places; and by the same emphasis that we declare ourselves to be his, we confess that we are amongst those who are bound to a life of consecration. we are pledged to it by union with our lord. we cannot draw back from the doorpost to which he was nailed without proving that we are deficient in appreciating the purpose which brought him to our world, the surrender that withheld not his face from spitting, his soul from the shadow of death. iv. our duty.--"yield yourselves unto god." when abraham lincoln dedicated, for the purposes of a graveyard, the field of gettysburg, where so many brave soldiers had lost their lives, he said: "we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. the brave men who struggled here have consecrated it far beyond our power to add or detract. it is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. it is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; and that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain." these noble words, when we have made the needful alterations and adaptations, are most applicable to our present point. let us dedicate ourselves to the great task before us, and to which jesus has pledged us. let us devote ourselves to this great cause for which jesus died. let us highly resolve that he shall not have died in vain. let us offer and present ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice unto god, that his will might be done through us, as it is done in heaven. "my master, lead me to thy door; pierce this now willing ear once more; thy bonds are freedom, let me stay with thee, to toil, endure, obey. "yes; ear and hand, and thought and will! use all in thy dear slavery still! self's weary liberties i cast beneath thy feet; there keep them fast." xxii the lord's prayer for his people's oneness "that they may all be one. . . . one in us. . . . that they may be one, even as we are one. . . . perfect in one."--john xvii. 21-23. thus our high priest pleaded, and thus he pleads. in all the power of his endless life, he ever liveth to bear this great petition on his heart: and as the weight of the jewelled breast-plate lay heavy on the heart of the high priests of old, so does it press on him, as the ages slowly pass by in their never-ceasing progress toward the consummation of all things. listen to that voice, sweet and full as the distant rush of many waters, as it pleads in the midst of eternity that those which believe in him may be one. nor is it true that this prayer awaits an answer indefinitely future. there seems good reason to believe, as we shall see, that in these words our lord was making a request, which began to be fulfilled on the day of pentecost: and is being fulfilled continually, although the oneness which is being realized is still, like his kingdom, in mystery, and is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of god. then, as the gauzy mists of time part before the breath of god, the accomplished oneness of the church shall stand revealed. i. the oneness of believers is a spiritual oneness.--can there be any reasonable doubt of this when our master asks so clearly that we may be one, _as the father and he are one_? the model for christian unity is evidently the unity between the father and son by the holy spirit; and since that unity, the unity of the blessed god, is not corporeal, nor physical, nor substantial to the eye of the flesh, may we not infer--nay, are we not compelled to infer--that the oneness of believers is to be after the same fashion, and to consist in so close an identity of nature, so absolute an interfusion of spirit, as that they shall be one in aim, and thought, and life, and spirit, spiritually one with each other, because spiritually one with him? the church of rome, which has ever travestied in gross material forms the most spiritual conceptions of god, sought to prove herself the true church by achieving a oneness of her own. it was an outward and visible oneness. in the apostate church every one must utter the same formularies, worship in the same postures, and belong to the same ecclesiastical system. and its leaders did their best to realize their dream. they endeavored to exterminate heresy by fire, and sword, and torture. they spread their network through the world. and just before the dawn of the reformation they seemed to have succeeded. at the beginning of the sixteenth century, europe reposed in the monotony of almost universal uniformity, beneath the almost universal supremacy of the papacy. rome might indeed have adopted the insolent language of the assyrian of prophecy: "as one gathereth eggs, so have i gathered all the earth, and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped." and what was the result? _what but the deep sleep of spiritual death_? and herein lay the most crushing condemnation of the roman catholic conception of the unity of the church. many modern notions of christian unity seem to proceed on the same line. the assent to a certain credal basis, the meeting in great catholic conventions, the exchange of pulpits--these seem to exhaust the conceptions of large numbers, and to satisfy their ideal. but surely there is a bond of union deeper, holier, more vital and more blessed than any of these, which shyly reveals itself, now and again, in one or more of them, but is independent of all, and when all of them are wanting, still constitutes us _one_. and what is that bond of union but the possession of a common spiritual life, like that which unites the father and the son, and which pervades us also, making us one with each other, because we are already one with god? you may not care to admit it; you may even be ignorant of the full meaning of this marvellous fact; you may live an exclusive life, never going beyond the walls of some small conventicle, or the barriers of some strict ecclesiastical system; you may bear yourself impatiently and brusquely toward those who differ from you; you may even brand them with your anathema: but if they are one with god, by his gracious indwelling spirit of life, and if you are also one with him, you positively cannot help being one with them. your creed may differ, or your mode of worship, or your views about the church; but you cannot be otherwise than one with those who are one with god, in a union which is not material but spiritual. ii. this oneness also admits of great variety.--"one, as thou, father, art in me, and i in thee." now, of course, we all admit the unity of the godhead. the first article of the jew is also the first article of the christian, that the lord our god is one god, one in essence, one in purpose, one in action. the son does nothing of himself; the father does nothing apart from the son; the holy ghost proceedeth from the father and the son. we cannot, as yet, understand this mystery; but with reverence we accept it as the primary basis of our faith. but though god is one, there is evidently a variety of function in the ever-blessed trinity. the father decrees, the son executes. the father sends, the son is sent. the father works in creation, the son in redemption and judgment. and the functions of both father and son differ from those of the holy spirit. if, then, the unity of the church is to resemble the unity of the godhead, according to our lord's request, we may expect that it will not be physical, nor mechanical, nor a uniformity; but it will be a variety in unity--a unity of spirit and purpose, and yet a unity which admits of very diverse functions and operations. diversities of gifts, but the same spirit. differences of administrations, but the same lord. diversities of operations, but the same god which worketh all in all. (1) _the very conception of unity involves variety._--you take me out into a piece of waste land, and pointing to a heap of bricks say, "there is a unity." i at once rebut your assertion; there is uniformity undoubtedly, but not unity. unity requires that a variety of _different_ things should be combined to form one structure and carry out one idea. a collection of bricks is not a unity, but a house is. a pole is not a unity, but a hop-plant is. a snow atom is not a unity, but a snow crystal is. and when our lord spoke of his disciples as one, he not only expected that there would be varieties amongst them, in character, mind, and ecclesiastical preference; but by the very choice of his words he meant us to infer that it would be so. the unity on which he set his heart was not a uniformity. (2) _but with variety there may be the truest unity._--there is variety in the human body--from eyelash to foot, from heart to blood-disc, from brain to quivering nerve-fibre; yet, in all this variety, each one is conscious of an indivisible unity. there is variety in the tree: the giant arms that wrestle with the storm, the far-spreading roots that moor it to the soil, the myriad leaves in which the wind makes music, the cones or nuts which it flings upon the forest floor; yet for all this it is one. there is a variety in the bible: variety of authorship--king, prophet, priest, herdsman, and fisherman, scholar, sage, and saint; variety of style--prose, poetry, psalmody, argument, appeal; variety of age--from the days of moses to those of john, the beloved apostle, writing amid the persecutions of the empire; yet for all this there is a oneness in the bible which no mere binding could give. so with the church of christ: there may be, there must be infinite varieties and shades of thought and work. some will prefer the methods of wesley, others the freedom of congregationalism. some will pray most naturally through the venerable words of a liturgy, others in the deep silence of a friends' meeting. some will thrive best beneath the crozier of the bishop, others in the plain barracks of the salvation army; but, notwithstanding all this variety, there may be a deep spiritual unity. many folds, but one flock; many regiments, but one army; many stones, but one breast-plate. "there is one body, and one spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one lord, one faith, one baptism, one god and father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." iii. the basis of christian unity is the union of each believer to christ.--"i in them, that they may be made perfect in one." however much true believers in christ differ, there are two points in which they agree. (1) _each believer is in christ_: in christ's heart, loved with an everlasting love, the beloved name engraven on its secret tables; in christ's book, enrolled on those pages which are sealed so fast that he alone can break the seven-fold seal; in christ's hand, which holds the ocean as a drop upon its palm, and which was pierced on calvary, from which no power shall ever pluck the trembling soul; in christ's grace, rooted as a tree in luxuriant soil, or a house in a foundation of rock; but above all in christ's person, for he is the head, "from whom the whole body is fitly framed and knit together by that which every joint supplieth." there are innumerable texts which speak of the church as the body of christ (eph. i. 23; col. i. 24); and directly a man believes in christ, he becomes a member of that mystical body. "we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones." you may be a very obscure member, or even a paralyzed member; but be sure of this, if you are a christian you are in christ, as the eye is in the eye-socket, the arm in the shoulder-joint, and the finger in the hand. (2) _christ is in each believer._--the texts that teach christ's real presence in the believer are as numerous as spring flowers. "christ liveth in me." "know ye not that jesus christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" "ye shall know that i am in my father, and ye in me, and i in you." the lord jesus is in the heart which makes him welcome, as the steam is in the piston, as the sap is in the branch, as the blood is in the heart, as the life is in the body. it would be impossible for words to describe a more intense spiritual oneness than that which is here presented to us. the saviour is in each of us, as the father is in him, and we are in him, and he in god. "our life is hid with christ in god." therefore we are not only one with jesus christ, but through him we are one with god. "i in them, thou in me." the very life of god is pouring its glorious tides through us, and would do so more largely if only we were more receptive and obedient. he pours water out of the mouth of the congo at the rate of 1,000,000 tons per second; and is willing to do marvels as mighty through each believer. and as this life permeates us all alike, it makes us not only one with the blessed god, but one with all who believe, as the blood makes all the members of the body one, and the sap the branches of the tree. iv. _the means of this spiritual unity are the influences of the holy spirit._--influence means _inflow_. it was by the holy spirit that our lord's human nature was made one with his father's. and this same holy spirit he has bequeathed to us, that he may be the same bond of spiritual life between us and our lord as he was between our lord and his father. may not this be the meaning of his words: "the glory which thou gavest me i have given them, that they may be one as we are one"? may not that glory have consisted in the oneness of his human nature with god the father, by the holy spirit? and if so, it may be shared by us. the more that believers receive the indwelling of the holy spirit, the more clearly will they appreciate this great mystery, and the more closely will they be drawn to all other believers, hushing jealous thoughts and uncharitable words, and "endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace." _it is abundantly clear, then, that this unity cannot be broken unless we break away from christ_. men have used that word schism with terrible effect. if a man has broken away from some visible church, they have pointed to him as a schismatic. but what is schism? it is a breaking away from the body of christ. but what is the body of christ? the roman catholic will tell you that it is the church of rome; the anglican will tell you that it is the church of england; the high churchman will tell you that it is the collection of churches which hold the doctrine of apostolic succession. what vestige of scriptural proof is there for these assertions? what an absurdity it is to be told that we must submit to an outward rite, or we cannot belong to the body of christ! what then would become of all the saints and martyrs who died without membership with one of these visible organizations? no, the body of christ, as scripture plainly teaches, is that great multitude which no man can number, of all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues, and sects, and eras, who are united by faith with the saviour. the church of christ is not conterminous with any earthly or visible organization; it is long as the ages, wide as the poles, broad as the charity of god; it includes all in heaven and on earth who hold the head. the only condition of membership in that church is simple faith in christ. and the only method of severance from that church is through the severance of the soul's trust in christ. he only is a schismatic who ceases to be christ's. the papal legate told savonarola that he cut him off from the church militant and from the church triumphant. "from the church militant you may," was the martyr's reply; "but from the church triumphant, never." it was well spoken; but savonarola might have gone further, and defied the scarlet-coated functionary even to cut him off from the church militant--nothing could do that but apostasy. a man may be excommunicated from our church systems, or he may never have belonged to one of them; but so long as he believes in christ, he is a member of the holy catholic church. and schism is more likely to be charged against those who violate the spirit of christian charity in making harsh and false statements against their fellow-members in the body of christ. let us not retaliate, lest we also commit that sin. we can afford to wait. _five minutes in heaven, or less, will settle it all_. _the object for which christ prayed_ is already being partially accomplished. the world may not be as yet surrendering to the claims of jesus christ, but it is becoming increasingly impressed with his divine mission: "that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." and in proportion as the holy spirit pervades and fills the hearts of the children of god, the manifestation of the life of god in them, and through them, will have an ever-increasing effect, and will do what church systems and even the preachings of her thousand pulpits cannot effect in convincing and saving men. let us remember that christ's own conception of the unity of his church is that which is the result of the indwelling of the one spirit. such unity is already a fact in the eye of god, though undiscerned as yet in all its fullness by men. let us thank god that this marvellous request has been already so largely realized, and let us dare to hold fellowship as christians with all those who are indwelt by the spirit of the life, which is also in christ jesus. xxiii the love that bound christ to the cross "jesus, therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, whom seek ye?"--john xviii. 4. the cedron was never more than a mountain brook, and it is now dry. its stony bed alone shows where it used to flow through the valley that separated mount zion from the mount of olives. the main road which led from the city gate, over the mount of olives to bethany and jericho, crossed it by an ancient bridge, from which, on this especial night, a fair scene must have presented itself. above, the passover moon was shining in full-orbed splendor turning night into day. beneath, the little stream was brawling down the valley, catching the moonlight on its wavelets. on the one slope dark, thick woods, above which rose the ancient walls and gates of the city, on the other, the swelling slopes of olivet. presently the lord emerged out of the shadow, engaged in earnest converse with the apostles; crossed the bridge, but, instead of pursuing the path as it wound upward toward bethany and bethphage, they all turned into a large enclosure, well-known as the garden of the oil-press, and which we know best as gethsemane. somewhere, no doubt, within its enclosure stood the rock-hewn trough in which the rich juicy olives were trodden by naked feet. "when jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook cedron, where was a garden, into which he entered, and his disciples." the sequel was so fully narrated by the other evangelists that there was no need for the writer of this narrative to tell of the awful anguish, the broken cries, the bloody sweat, the running to and fro of the disciples, the sleep of the chosen three, the strengthening angel. he confines himself almost entirely to the circumstances of the lord's arrest. two hours only had passed since judas left the supper-table; but that had given him all the time needed for the completion of his plan. hastening to the authorities, he had told them that the favorable moment had arrived for his master's arrest; that he knew the lonely spot to which he was wont to resort for meditation and prayer; and that he had need of an armed band to overpower all possible resistance on the part of himself or his followers. this they were able to supply from the guards and custodians of the temple. they were going against one who was deserted and defenceless; yet the soldiers were armed with sticks and staves. they were about to arrest one who would make no attempt at flight or concealment, and the moon was full; yet, lest he should make his escape to some limestone grotto, or amid the deep shadows, they carried torches and lanterns. the lord had just awoke his disciples for the third and last time, when probably his ear detected the tread of hurrying feet, the muffled clank of swords, the stifled murmur of an advancing crowd; perhaps he saw also the glancing lights, as they advanced through the garden shrubs, and began to encircle the place where he had prayed. by such signs, and especially by the inner intimation of the holy spirit, he knew all things that should come upon him, and without waiting for his enemies to reach him, with calm and dignified composure he went forth to meet the rabble band, stepping out into the moonlight and saluting them with the inquiry, "whom seek ye?" there are some deep and memorable suggestions here as to the voluntariness of christ's death. in order to his death having any value it must be free. if it could be shown that he had no choice than to die, because his own purpose was overmastered by the irresistible force of circumstances, his death could not have met the claims of a broken law, or inaugurated a new code of morals to his church. but there are several points in this narrative which make it clear that he laid down his life of himself, that none took it from him, that he had power to lay it down, and power to take it again. (1) when jesus asked them the question, "whom seek ye?" there were, no doubt, many in the band who knew him well enough, and that he was the object of their midnight raid; but not one of them had the courage to answer, "thee." a paralyzing awe had already commenced to cast its spell over their spirits. those who knew him shrank from identifying him, and were content to answer generally, "jesus of nazareth." but when he answered, "i am he," what was it that so suddenly affected them? did some stray beams of concealed glory burst forth from their confinement to indicate his majesty? did they dread the putting-forth of that power which had been so often exerted to save and bless? or, was there a direct miracle of divine power, which secured their discomfiture? we cannot tell. but, whatever the cause, the crowd suddenly fell back in confusion, and were flung to the ground. here, for a moment, the would-be captors lay, as though pinioned to the dust by some unseen hand. the spell was soon withdrawn, and they were again on their feet, cursing themselves for their needless panic. but--and this is the point--the power that sent that rough hireling band reeling backward to the ground could easily have held them there, or plunged them as korah, dathan, and abiram, into living graves. "one flash came forth to tell of the sleeping lightning which he would not use"; and then, having revealed the might, which could have delivered him from their puny arms, he returned to his attitude of willing self-surrender. who, then, shall say that our saviour's death was not his own act and deed? (2) when that rabble crew were again on their feet, confronting jesus, he asked them a second time, _whom seek ye_? again they replied, "jesus of nazareth." jesus answered, "i have told you that i am he; if, therefore, ye seek me, let these go their way." and, forthwith, he put forth such a power over his own as secured their freedom from arrest. it is evident that it was no part of his foes' purpose beforehand to let them go; for, on their way back they arrested a young man, probably mark himself, whom curiosity had drawn from his bed, and whom they took for one of his disciples. he escaped with great difficulty from their hands. it is hardly doubtful that if some special power had not been exerted over them, they would have treated the whole of the followers of jesus as they sought to treat him. is it not evident, then, that the power which secured the safety of his disciples could have secured that of the master himself; or that he might have passed away through the midst of them, as he did through the infuriated crowd which proposed to cast him headlong over the precipice near nazareth at the commencement of his ministry? every arm might have been struck nerveless, every foot paralyzed with lameness. who, then, shall deny that christ's death was his own act? (3) but again, when jesus had spoken thus there seemed some wavering among his captors, perhaps a hesitation as to who should first lay hand on him. at this juncture, when the whole enterprise threatened to miscarry, judas felt that he must, at all hazards, show how safe it was to touch the person of his master; so, though the bold challenge of jesus had made the preconcerted signal needless, he resolved still to give it, that the spell of that presence might be broken. the traitor, therefore, stepped up and kissed the lord. encouraged by this sacrilegious act, his myrmidons now laid hands on jesus, grasping his sacred person as they might have done barabbas, or some other member of his gang. they then proceeded to bind him after the merciless roman fashion. peter could not bear to see this. he sprang forth from the covert of the shadow, drew his sword, and cut at the nearest assailant's head. but the blade, glancing off the helmet, cut off the ear. it was an unwelcome interference with the behavior of the meek and gentle lord, whose hand was already bound. it could not be permitted. "suffer ye thus far," he said to the rude soldier who was binding him, and with his own finger touched the ear, stanched the flowing blood, and healed it. it has been remarked that this was the only act of healing wrought on one for whom it was neither asked of him, and who had no faith in his beneficent power. but, surely, the hand that could work that miracle could have broken from the bonds that held it as easily as samson from the two new cords which burned as flax in the flame. the power with which jesus saved others might have saved himself. who, then, shall say that his death was not his own free act? listen, moreover, to his own words. then said jesus unto peter, "put up thy sword into the sheath; the cup which my father hath given me, shall i not drink it?" "thinkest thou that i cannot now pray to my father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels; but how then shall the scripture be fulfilled that thus it must be?" as, then, we view the death of the cross we must ever remember the voluntariness of that supreme act, which is all the more conspicuous as the agony of the garden reminds us how greatly the lord's spirit dreaded the awful pressure of the world's sin, which made him cry: "my god, my god, why hast thou forsaken me?" how greatly he must have loved us! it was love, and only love, that kept him standing at the bar of pilate, bending beneath the scourge of the soldiers, hanging in apparent helplessness on the cross. not the iron hand of relentless fate; not the overpowering numbers or closely-woven plots of his foes; not the nails that pierced his quivering flesh. no, it was none of these. it was not even the compulsion of the divine purpose. it was his own choice, because of a love that would bear all things if only it might achieve redemption for those whom he loved more than himself. "he loved me, and gave himself for me." surely we may trust that love. if it moved him to endure the cross and despise the shame, is there anything that it will withhold, anything that it will not do? his love is stronger than death, and mightier than the grave. strong waters cannot quench it, floods cannot drown it. it silences all praise, and beggars all recompense. to believe and accept it is eternal life. to dwell within its embrace is the foretaste of everlasting joy. to be filled by it is to be transfigured into the image of god himself. xxiv drinking the cup "the cup which my father hath given me, shall i not drink it?"--john xviii. 1-14. in our master's arrest the one feature which stands out in unique splendor is its voluntariness. he went into the garden "knowing all things that should come upon him." even at the last moment he might have evaded the kiss of the traitor, and the binding thong with which malchus sought to manacle his gracious hands. the spell of his intrinsic nobleness and glory, which had flung his captors to the ground, might have held them there; the power that could heal the wounded ear might have destroyed with equal ease the entire band. the reason for all this hardly needs explaining. his life and death were not merely a sacrifice, but a self-sacrifice. he freely gave himself up for us all. each believer may dare to appropriate the words of the apostle: "he loved me, and gave himself for me." it was through the eternal spirit that he offered himself without spot to god. it was from his own invincible love that he gave himself for the church, his bride. "from beginning to end the moving spring of all his actions was deliberate self-devotedness to the good of men, and the fulfillment of god's will, for these are equivalents. and his death as the crowning act of this career was to be conspicuously a death embodying and exhibiting the spirit of self-sacrifice." let us learn: i. the supreme nobility of surrender to the evitable.--it is, of course, most noble, when the martyr goes to his death without a murmur of complaint; allowing his enemies to wreak their vengeance without recrimination or threatening; bowing the meek head to the block; extending the hand to the hungry flame. he has no alternative but to die; there are no legions waiting under arms to obey his summons; no john of gaunt to stand beside him, as beside wycliffe, to see him fairly tried and insist on his acquittal. then, there is nothing for it but to evince the patience and gentleness of christ in being led as a lamb to the slaughter. but though this spectacle stirs the hearts of men, there is one still more illustrious--when the sufferer bends to a fate which he might easily avoid, but confronts for the sake of others. the former is submission to the inevitable, this to the evitable. that is bearing a yoke which is imposed by superior authority; this taking a yoke which might be evaded without blame, as judged by the tribunal of public opinion. and this is the sublimest spectacle on which the eye of man or angel can rest; for thus the sacrifice of christ finds its noblest counterpart and fulfillment. when a missionary, with ample means and loving friends, deliberately spends among squalid and repulsive conditions, the precious years which might have been passed among congenial society and luxurious comfort in the homeland; chooses a lot from which nature inevitably shrinks instead of that to which every conclusion but one points, and stays at his post, though his return, so far from being resented, would actually be favored by all whose opinion is of weight--this is a voluntary submission to the evitable. when a home pastor stays by his poor flock because they need him so sorely, and sets his face toward grinding poverty and irksome toil when the city church invites him to a larger stipend and wealthier surroundings--this again is a voluntary surrender to the evitable. when a wealthy bachelor is willing to forego the ease and quiet of his beautiful home in order to welcome the orphans of his deceased brother, who might have been sent to some charitable institution or cast on strangers, that they may be beneath his personal supervision, and have a better chance in life--this again is voluntary submission to the evitable. in each such case, it is not inevitable that the cross should be borne, and the hands yielded to the binding thong. the tongue of scandal could hardly find cause for criticism if the easier path were chosen. perhaps the soul hardly realizes the kindredness of its resolve with the loftiest that this world has seen. but it is superlatively beautiful, nevertheless. and let it never be forgotten, that nothing short of this will satisfy the standard of christ. no christian has a right to use all his rights. none can claim immunity from the duty of seeking the supreme good of others, though it involve the supreme cost to himself. ii. the recognition of god's will in his permissions.--in the bitter anguish which had immediately preceded the arrest, our lord had repeatedly referred to his cup. "if this cup," he said, "may not pass from me, except i drink it, thy will be done." the cup evidently referred to all the anguish caused to his holy nature in being numbered among the transgressors, and having to bear the sin of the world. whether it was the anguish of the body, beneath which he feared he would succumb, as some think; or the dread of being made a sin-offering, a scape-goat laden with sin, as others, or the chill of the approaching eclipse, which extorted the cry of forsakenness, as seems to me the more likely--is not pertinent to our present consideration. it is enough to know that, whilst there was much that cried, "back!" there was more that cried, "on!"--and that he chose from the profoundest depths of his nature, to do the father's will, to execute his part in the compact into which they had entered before the worlds were made, and to drink to the dregs the cup which his father had placed in his hands. but here we note that to all appearances the cup was mingled, prepared, and presented by the malignity and hate of man. the high priests had long resolved to put him to death, because his success with the people, his fresh and living comments on the law, his opposition to their hypocrisies and pretensions had exasperated them to madness. judas also seemed to have had a conspicuous share in his discovery and arrest. had we been left to our unaided reasonings we might have supposed that the most bitter ingredients of his cup had been supplied by the ingratitude of his own, the implacable rancor of the priests, and the treachery of judas; but, see, he recognizes none but the father--it is always _the father_, always the cup which the father had given. there had been times in our lives when we may have been tempted to distinguish between god's appointments and permissions, and to speak of the former as being manifestly his will for us, whilst we suspended our judgment about the latter, and questioned if we were authorized in accounting them as being equally from heaven. but such distinctions are fatal to peace. our souls were kept in constant perturbation, as we accounted ourselves the shuttlecock of rival powers, now god's, now man's. and we ended in ruling god out of more than half our life, and regarding ourselves as the hapless prey of strong and malicious forces to which we were sold, as joseph to the ishmaelites. a deeper reading of scripture has led us to a truer conclusion. there is no such distinction there. what god permits is as equally his will as what he appoints. joseph tells his brethren that it was not they who sent him to egypt, but god. david listens meekly to shimei's shameful words, because he felt that god allowed them to be spoken. and here jesus refuses to see the hand of his foes in his sufferings, but passes beyond the hand which bore the cup to his lips to the father who was permitting it to be presented, and reposed absolutely in the choice of him of one who loved him with a love that was before the foundation of the world. oh, sufferer! whether by those strokes, which, like sickness or bereavement, seem to come direct from heaven, or by those which, like malicious speeches or oppressive acts, seem to emanate from man, look up into the face of god, and say, "my father, this is thy will for me; thine angels would have delivered me had it been best. but since they have not interposed, i read thy choice for thy child, and i am satisfied. it is sweet to drink the cup which thy hands have prepared." iii. the deep law of substitution.--some of the rabble crowd had probably shown signs of a disposition to arrest some of christ's followers. he, therefore, interfered, and reminded them of their own admission, that _he_ was the object to their midnight raid, and bade them allow _these_ to go their way. is it surprising that the evangelist generalizes this act, finding in it an illustration of his master's ceaseless interposition on behalf of his own--that of those whom the father had given him he should lose none. in brief, this scene affords a conspicuous and striking illustration of the great doctrine of substitution. as the good shepherd steps to the front and sheathes the swords of his foes in his own breast, while he demands the release of the cowering flock, he is doing on a small scale what he did once and forever on calvary; when, exposing himself to the penalty due to sin, and braving the concentrated antagonism of a broken law, the drawn sword of inviolable justice, the sharpness of death, the shame of the cross, and the humiliation of the grave, he said, "if ye seek me, let these go their way." christ sheltered us without reckoning the cost to himself. he stood to the front, and bore the extreme brunt of all that was to be borne. he substituted his suffering for ours, his wounds for our pain, his death for our sins. if you are fearing the just recompense of your sins, like a band of arresting soldiers lurking in the dark shadows and threatening to drag you forth to pay the uttermost farthing, take heart; jesus has met, and will meet, them for you. listen to his majestic voice, saying, "take me, but let this soul, who clings to the skirts of my robe, go his way." he is arrested, and led away; thou art free--that in thy freedom thou shouldest give thyself to be his very slave. xxv the hall of annas "they led him away to annas first, for he was father-in-law to caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year."--john xviii. 13. the band that had arrested jesus led him back across the kedron bridge, up the steep ascent, and through the ancient gateway, which at this season of the year stood always open, even at night. the passage of the armed men through the quiet streets must have aroused from their slumbers many sleepers, who hurried to the windows to see them pass below in the clear moonlight. but no one guessed who was being taken into custody, and most of them probably thought that the soldiers had captured some more of the barabbas gang, who, at that season of the year, would make a rare harvest by plundering pilgrims to the feast. their destination, in the first place, was the mansion of annas, the head of the reigning priestly family, who was father-in-law of the actual high priest. he was now an old man; wealthy, aristocratic, and laden with all the honors his nation could give. for many years he had worn the high priest's robes, and though he had now nominally retired from that exalted office, he still kept his hand upon the reins of government. caiaphas, at the time of which we speak, had held the priesthood for seventeen years under his tutelage; and he retained it for five years after. it is easy therefore to understand why annas is described as the high priest. he was still the most powerful living bearer of that title. the whole family partook of his character, and was notorious for unwearied plotting. the gliding, deadly, snake-like smoothness with which annas and his sons seized their prey is said to have won them the name of hissing vipers. annas and caiaphas probably shared the same cluster of buildings, which was presumably the official residence of the high priestly family. in the east the houses of the great are frequently a group of buildings of unequal height standing near each other and surrounded by the same court, but with passages between, independent entrances, and separate roofs. sometimes they would form a square or quadrangle with porticos and corridors around it, plants and fountains in the midst, and a slight awning overhead to protect the open courtyard from the sun or rain, the communication with the street being through a smaller courtyard and archway, called in the gospels "a porch." in some such cluster of splendid buildings annas and caiaphas and others of their family would live, and the whole would be called the high priest's palace. in one of the large reception halls annas waited, impatient and feverish, to know the result of the midnight expedition. he had a nervous dread of what jesus might do when driven to bay; and dreaded lest the secret should leak out, and the galilean pilgrims rise in defence of their favorite prophet, whom four days before they had escorted into the city with shouts. what if judas should not prove true? all these disquieting thoughts chased each other like pursuing phantoms through his mind, and it was an immense relief when the clank of weapons in the court assured him of the safe return of malchus' party, and answering voices told him that jesus was at last safe within his power. the prisoner was at once brought before the old man, who eagerly scrutinized his features in the flickering light of lanterns and flambeaux, casting shadows which a rembrandt would have loved to paint. one or two intimates may have stood around him; but the main inquiry was left to himself, as he put the master through a preliminary and informal examination, in the hope of extracting from his replies materials on which the court, which was hastily summoned for an early hour in the morning, might proceed. on the surface the inquiry seemed fair and innocent enough. the high priest, we learn from verse 19, asked jesus of his disciples and his doctrine. but the lamb-skin hid a wolf. for the questions were so worded as to entangle, and to provide material on which to found the subsequent charge, which was even then being framed, that jesus was a disturber of the public peace, and a teacher of revolutionary doctrine. _first, then, about his disciples._--annas would like to be informed what this association of men meant. why were they formed into a society? by what bond were they united? what secret instructions had they received? what hidden objects had they in view? if jesus refused to answer these questions, might it not be made to appear that an attempt was on foot to organize a confederation throughout the entire country? if so, it would be easy to awaken the jealousy of the roman authorities, and lead them to feel that they must take immediate steps to stamp out the plot by executing the ringleader. _and, next, as to his doctrine._--had not jesus repeatedly spoken about the kingdom of heaven? what did this mean? was he contemplating the setting up of a kingdom? did he intend it to be understood that he was the expected messiah, and that he meditated revolt against rome? was the manifestation of force, which had accompanied his recent entrance into the city, at his instigation? our lord at once penetrated the design of his crafty interrogator. and in his answer he took care not to mention his disciples, speaking only of himself. he affirmed that he had nothing to say which he had not already said a hundred times in the synagogues and the temple, before friends and foes. he had no secret doctrines for the initiated, but had declared all that was in his heart. between his disciples and himself there had been no connection other than was obvious on the surface. no meetings under cover of night; no discussions of revolutionary topics; nothing that could not bear the fullest scrutiny. "i spake openly to the world; i ever taught in the synagogue and in the temple, whither the jews always resort; and in secret [that is, in the sense in which you use the word] i have said nothing. why askest thou me? ask them which heard me what i have said unto them: behold, they know what i have said." our lord's reference to those who had heard him is probably an allusion to the armies of spies whom annas had set on his track, watching his actions, reporting his words. was not this examination of the prisoner a confession that the close scrutiny to which he had been subjected for so long had failed to elicit aught on which a criminal charge could be based? jesus knew that his most secret words had been tortured in vain to yield an accusation against him. how great then was the hypocrisy which could feign ignorance! how evident it was that annas was only intent on inveigling his prisoner to say something on which to base his after-accusation. all this was implied in our lord's noble and transparent words. we shall see that he adopted another tone when he was properly arraigned before the assembled sanhedrim; but in this more private, injudicial, inquisitorial interview, with one scathing rebuke he tore away the cloak of assumed ignorance with which this crafty man veiled his sinister purpose, and laid his secret thoughts open to the gaze of all. for the time annas was silenced. he had made small headway in the informal examination of his prisoner, and he now gave it up. whatever resentment he may have felt at our lord's answer he carefully concealed, biding the hour when he might vent the vials of his hate without stint. we must not suppose there was any anger in that long-suffering heart toward this judge. he was even then about to die for _him_, and to bear the guilt of the very sin he so pitilessly exposed. but surely it was the part of love to show annas what he was, and to utter words of rebuke in which, as in a mirror, his secret thoughts might be revealed. but if, in the moment of his humiliation, jesus could thus search and reveal a man, what will he not do when he is no longer prisoner, but judge? oh, those awful eyes, which are as a flame of fire! oh, those awful words, which pierce to the dividing asunder of the joints and marrow, and discern the thoughts and intents of the heart! what wonder that men shall at last call on the rocks to hide them from the wrath of the lamb! kiss the son, lest ye perish from his presence, when his wrath is kindled but a little! blessed are they who can stand before him without blame! then followed one of the grossest indignities to which our lord was at this time subjected. on speaking thus, one of the officers, in the spirit of that despicable flunkeyism which will sacrifice all nobility and self-respect to curry the flavor of a superior, smote our lord with a rod, saying, "answerest thou the high priest so?" when afterward they came around him to mock and smite, he answered nothing; but when this first stroke was inflicted the master said quietly, "if i have spoken what is false or unbecoming, prove that i have done so; but if you cannot, why do you strike me? no one has the right to take the law into his own hands, much less a servant of the court." it is impossible not to recall the mighty utterances against the resistance of wrong, spoken from the mount, in the messiah's manifesto: "i say unto you that ye resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." clearly our lord did not literally do so in this instance, because he saw an opportunity of revealing to this man his true condition, and of bringing him to a better mind. our bearing of wrong must always be determined by the state of mind of those who ill-use us. in the case of some we may best arrest them by the dignity of an unutterable patience, which will bear to the utmost without retaliation--this is to turn the other cheek. in the case of others we may best serve them by leading them calmly and quietly to take the true measure of their crime. in all cases our prime consideration should be, not what we may be suffering, nor the utter injustice which is meted out to us; but how best to save the evil-doer, who is injuring his own soul more fatally than he can possibly injure us, and who is sowing seeds of harvest of incredible torture to his own conscience, in the long future which lies behind the veil of sense. if only we could drink in the pure love of jesus, and view all wrong and wrong-doers, not in the light of _our_ personal interest, but of _their_ awful condition and certain penalty; if only we could grieve over the infinite horror of a warped and devil-possessed soul, drifting like a ship on fire before the breeze, straight to the rocks; if only we could see the wrong done to our father god and his sorrow, we should understand chrysostom's beautiful comment on this scene: "think on him who said these words; on him to whom they were said; and on the reason why they were said; and, with divine power, they will cast down all wrath that may arise within thy soul." xxvi how it fared with peter "peter stood at the door without. then went out that other disciple, which was known unto the high priest, and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in peter."--john xviii. 16. remember that this very circumstantial account was given by one who was an eyewitness of the whole scene; and who, withal, was then and in after years the warm friend and companion of peter. but his love did not lead him to conceal his brother's sins. peter himself would not have wished him to do so, because where sin had abounded, grace had had the greater opportunity to super-abound. at the moment of the lord's arrest, all the disciples forsook him and fled. "the shepherd was smitten and the flock scattered." two of them, however, speedily recovered their self-possession, and followed at a distance, eager to see what would befall. when the procession reached the palace gate john seems to have entered with the rest of the crowd, and the ponderous, massive doors closed behind him. on looking round for peter he missed him, and concluding that he had been shut out and was still standing without, he went to the maid that kept the wicket-gate, opening in the main entrance doors for the admission of individuals, and asked her to admit his friend. she recognized him as being well known to the high priest, and readily assented to his request. a fire of wood had been hastily lighted in the open courtyard, and cast its rays on the chilly april night; so that whilst jesus was being examined by annas the men who had taken part in the night adventure were grouped around the fire, discussing the exciting incident, with its moment of panic, the case of the arrest, the hurt and healing of the ear of malchus, the seizure of the rich eastern dress from the young man whom they had encountered on their homeward march. peter did not wish to be recognized, and thought that the best way of preserving his incognito was to put on a bold face and take his place among the rest as though he, too, had been one of the capturing band, and had as much right to be there as any other of that mixed company. so he stood with them, and warmed himself. meanwhile, the doorkeeper, leaving her post, came to the fire, and in its kindling ray her eye fell upon peter's face. she was surprised to see him there, feigning to be one of themselves. if, like john, he had gone quietly into some recess of the court, and waited unobtrusively in the shadow, she could have said nothing. in her kind-heartedness she would have respected them both; for she knew that they sympathized with the arrested nazarene. but to find him there talking and acting as though he had no personal interest in the matter was so unseemly and unfit that she was provoked to expose him. she looked at him earnestly--as another evangelist tells us--to be quite sure that she was not mistaken; and feeling quite certain in her identification, said abruptly, "art _thou_ not one of this man's disciples?" peter was taken off his guard. if he had been arrested, and taken for trial, he would no doubt have played the hero--he had braced himself up for that; but he had not expected that the supreme trial of his life could come in the question of a servant-maid. it is so often thus. we lock and bolt the main door, and the thief breaks in at a tiny window which we had not thought of. we would burn at the stake; but in an hour of social intercourse with our friends, or a trivial business transaction, we say the word which fills our life with regret. confused at the sudden pause in the conversation, and the turning of all eyes toward himself, peter's first impulse was to allay suspicion, and he said bluntly, "i am not." such was his _first_ denial. after this, as matthew and mark tell us, he went out into the outer porch or gateway, perhaps to avoid the glare of the light and the scrutiny of those prying eyes. he remembered afterward that, at the same moment, a cock was heralding the dawn--the dawn of the blackest, saddest day that ever broke upon jerusalem, or the world. but its warning notes were just then lost on him; for there another maid, speaking to some male acquaintances, pointed him out as one of the nazarene's friends. "this man also was with jesus the nazarene." probably no harm was meant, but the words alarmed peter greatly, and he denied, as matthew says, with an oath, "i know not the man." this was the _second_ denial. an hour passed; peter, as we learn from the twenty-fifth verse, was again at the fire, and it was hardly possible for him to talk in a large company without unconsciously, and by force of character, coming to the front and taking the lead. his perturbed spirit was perhaps the more vehement to drown conscience. but now he is challenged by many at once. they say unto him, "art not thou also one of his disciples?" and another saith, "of a truth, thou wast with him"; and another, a kinsman to malchus, and therefore specially likely to remember his relative's assailant, saith, "did i not see thee in the garden with him?" beset and badgered thus, peter begins to curse and to swear, saying, "i know not the man of whom ye speak." when men lose their temper, they drop naturally into their native speech; and so, as peter's fear and passion vented themselves in the guttural _patois_ of galilee, he gave a final clue to his identification. "thou art a galilean, thy speech betrayeth thee." and again he denied with an oath, "i know not the man." this was his _third_ denial. and immediately the cock crew. it may have happened that, at this moment, jesus was passing from annas to caiaphas, and cast on peter that marvellous look of mingled sorrow and pity, of suffering more for his sake than his own, and of tender allusion to the scene and words of the previous evening, which broke peter's heart, and sent him forth to weep bitterly. the light was breaking over the hills of moab, flushing with roseate hues the marble pinnacles of the temple, whilst the city and surrounding valleys were still shrouded in the grey gloom, as peter went forth alone from the high priest's palace. only those whose last words to the beloved dead were rude and thoughtless--not expecting that there would be no opportunity to unsay them and ask forgiveness, but that, ere they met again, death would have sealed in silence the only lips that could speak words of relief and peace--can realize just what peter felt. did he know him? of course he did, and ever since that memorable hour, when andrew first brought him into his presence, he had been growing to a more perfect knowledge. did he love him? of course he did; and jesus, who knew all things, knew it too. but why had he acted thus? ah, the reasons were not far to seek. he had boasted of his superiority to all his brethren; had relied on his own braggart resolutions; had counted himself strong because he could speak strongly and loudly when danger was not near; had thought that he could cope with satan, though arrayed in no stronger armor than that which his red-hot impulse forged. he thought his resolutions wheat and his master's cautions light as chaff; he had to learn his weakness and see his confidence winnowed away as clouds of chaff while satan sifted him. the resolutions of the evening are not strong enough to carry us victoriously through the morning conflict. we must learn to watch and pray, to lie low in humility and self-distrust, and to be strong in the grace which awaits all tempted ones in god. and where could peter go to weep his bitter tears but to gethsemane! he would surely seek out the spot where his master's form was still outlined in the crushed grass, and his tears would fall where the bloody sweat had fallen but a few hours before. but how different the cause of sorrow! the anguish of the blessed lord had none of the ingredients that filled the cup of peter to the brim! and all the while the memory of that sorrow, of those broken cries, of that coming and going for sympathy, of those remonstrances against his senseless sleep, and of that last tender, yearning, pitiful look of love, came back on him to arouse successive surges of grief. contrast christ's love with your ingratitude, christ's constancy with your fickle devotion, christ's meekness to take the yoke of his father's will, and your unwillingness to bear his cross of shame, and ask if you, too, have no cause for tears like those that peter shed. it is remarkable that peter should have fallen here. his open, ingenuous nature was not given to lying, his impetuous character was not prone to cowardice. accustomed from boyhood to meet death in the wrestle with nature for daily sustenance, he was not subject to the apprehensions of a nervous dread. none of his fellow-disciples would have expected the rock-man to show that he was clay or sand after all. but this was permitted that we might learn that our noblest natural qualities as much need to be dealt with by the grace of god as our vices and defects. many a fortress has been taken from a side which was deemed impregnable. no one expected that wolfe would assail quebec from the heights of abraham. how often we have fallen into the same trap! we have, perhaps, been thrown into a company where it was fashionable to sneer at evangelical religion, and we have held our peace; where the ready sneer was passed on those who dared still to believe in miracle and inspiration, and we have been silent, where condemnation has been freely passed on some man of god whom we owned as friend, and knew to be innocent, and we have not tried to vindicate him; where some great religious movement in which we were interested was being discussed and condemned, whilst we have coolly joined in the conversation as if we had not made up our minds, or were totally indifferent. we have been unwilling to be unpopular, to stand alone, to bear the brunt of opposition, to seem eccentric and peculiar. let those who are without sin cast their stones at peter; but the most of us will take our place beside him, and realize that we, too, have given grief to christ, and grave cause to his enemies to blaspheme. but, be it remembered, the true quality of the soul is shown, not in the way in which it yields to temptation in some moment of weakness and unpreparedness, but in the way in which it repents afterward. do we weep, not for the penalty we dread, but because we have sinned against christ? are we broken down before him, waiting till he shall restore? do we dare still to believe in his forgiving and renewing grace? then this is a godly repentance, which needs not to be repented of. these are tears which his love shall transform to pearls. how different this to the attitude of a judas! each fell; but in their demeanor afterward the one was shown to be gold, silver, precious stones; the other wood, hay, and stubble. how may we be kept from falling again? (1) let us not sleep through the precious moments which heaven affords before each hour of trial; but use them for putting on the whole armor of god, that we may be able to stand in the evil day. (2) let us not cast ourselves needlessly into situations where our most cherished convictions are likely to be assailed by wanton men; though if god should lead us there we need not fear, for it will be given us in the same hour what to answer. take care of warming yourself at the world's fire. (3) let us keep within the environing presence of our lord. it is always right to do right; always safe; always blessed. satan can only hurt us when he allures us out of that safe hiding-place. never forsake the things which are pure, and lovely, and of good report. you, in jesus, shall yet overcome the world if you refuse to allow the world to come between him and you. xxvii the trial before caiaphas "annas had sent him bound unto caiaphas the high priest."--john xviii. 24. it was as yet but two or three o'clock in the morning. jerusalem was still asleep, and well it was for the foes of jesus that no suspicion of what was on foot had breathed into the minds of the crowds of pilgrims; for, had the galileans only known what was being done to their favorite prophet, they would have risen, and the plot must have miscarried before jesus was handed over to the romans. but, as the lord said, "it was their hour and the power of darkness." the darkest hour before the dawn! when annas had completed his preliminary inquiry he gave orders that he should again be bound with the thongs of which he had been relieved, and led to that part of the palace specially used by caiaphas, who was high priest, but a mere puppet in the hands of the wily annas. by this time the leading pharisees, sadducees, and priests, had been got together, summoned by special messengers; and though the formal meeting of the council was probably not held till a little later (compare matt. xxvi. 57 with xxvii. 1, 2), the trial was really conducted at that untimely hour, and the evidence procured on which final action was taken. they awaited the prisoner in one of the larger halls of the palace, sitting in oriental fashion on cushions and pillows, in a half-circle, with turbaned heads, crossed legs, and bare feet; the high priest in the centre, the others, on either side, according to age. all the rules of justice were violated. the judge was chief inquisitor; witnesses against the prisoner were alone summoned; and the court set itself from the first to get evidence to put the accused to death. ever since jesus had commenced his ministry it had been certain that he would have to face some such tribunal as this. his soul was aflame for righteousness and truth; it was inevitable that he should come into conflict with these representatives of a traditional and external religiousness, which consisted in a number of formal rules and rites from which the life had long since fled. this gospel specially narrates the progress of the quarrel in the holy city. as far back as ch. ii. 18 we are told that there had been an altercation on the lord's right to cleanse the temple. ch. iv. 1-3.--he left judaea because of the irritation of the pharisees at the numerous baptisms which were taking place under his ministry. ch. v. 18.--he was only at the beginning of the second year of his ministry, and had just healed the impotent man at the pool of bethesda, and we find the jews consulting how they might kill him, and he was compelled again to retire from judaea. ch. vii. 19.--such was the spirit of vindictiveness excited against our lord that when twelve months afterward he came to jerusalem at the feast of tabernacles, one of his first words was, "why go ye about to kill me?" the people were well acquainted with the designs of the rulers (vers. 25, 26); and ultimately officers were sent to arrest him (vers. 30, 32). ch. viii. 59.--they were so exasperated with his words that they took up stones to stone him. ch. ix. 34.--they excommunicated the blind man because their hated foe had cured him, and he in his favor had dared to protest. ch. x. 31.--the jews (and the apostle always uses that word of the sanhedrim and their allies) took up stones to cast at him; and in verse 39 we read that they sought again to take him; but he escaped out of their land to perea, where he remained until the message of the sisters called him from his retreat. ch. xi. 47.--the raising of lazarus produced such an effect that a special council was called to consider what should be done, with the result that from that day they took counsel to put him to death. ch. xii. 10.--their malignity was so great that they consulted whether they should not put lazarus to death also; because by reason of him many of the jews went away and believed in jesus. it was all this that made them fall in so eagerly with the proposal of judas that he should betray him unto them. now at last they had him in their power, and their object was to convict him of some crime which would justify the infliction of the severest sentence of the law. to preserve the appearance of justice, witnesses were called to testify to some action or speech which would involve blasphemy against their law, and, if possible, against the roman law as well; and it was necessary that two of them should agree in some specific charge. the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, matthew tells us, sought for witness against jesus to put him to death. they brought forward many, but either their charges did not reach the required degree of criminality, or the clumsy witnesses, brought hastily forward, undrilled beforehand, broke down so grossly in their story that for shame's sake they had to be dismissed. at last two witnesses appeared who seemed likely to agree on a very momentous charge. they said they had heard him utter, more than two years ago, words which seemed to threaten the very existence of the temple. but, when more closely questioned, their witness also broke down utterly. it seemed as though jesus was not to die, except on his own testimony to his own supreme claims. all lesser counts failed. all this time, as witness after witness was brought in, our lord maintained an unbroken silence. he seemed as though he heard not, but was absorbed in some other scenes from those transpiring around. what need was there for him to interpose, when all the charges proved abortive? he was, moreover, waiting till the father gave him the signal to open his lips. at last caiaphas could restrain his impatience no longer; he sprang to his feet, and with unconcealed fury fixed his eyes on jesus and said: "answerest thou nothing? hast thou nothing to say, no question to put, no explanation to offer as to what these witnesses say?" jesus quietly returned the look, but held his peace. there are times when it is treason to hold our peace, when god demands of us to raise our voice and cry like a trumpet. but when it is clear that high-handed wrong is bent on securing the condemnation of the innocent, and that the case is prejudged, it is the highest wisdom to be as a lamb dumb before its shearers, and not open the mouth. there was a last alternative. caiaphas might put jesus on his oath, and extort from his own lips the charge on which to condemn him; but he was evidently reluctant to do it, and only availed himself of this process as a last resource. it was well known to this astute and cunning priest that jesus on more than one occasion had claimed, not only to be the long-expected messiah, but to stand to god in the unique relationship of son. nearly two years before, he had called god his own father, making himself equal with god (john v. 18); and again, comparatively recently, at the feast of dedication, he had claimed that he and the father were one; in consequence of which the bystanders threatened to take his life because that, being a man, he made himself god (x. 31-33). gathering, therefore, the two claims in one, and in the most solemn form, putting jesus on his oath, the high priest said unto him, "i adjure thee by the living god, that thou tell us whether thou be the christ, the son of the blessed?" (matt. xxvi. 63; mark xiv. 61). there was no need for further hesitation. charged in this way, in the highest court of his nation, and by the representative of his people, he could not hold his peace without inconsistency with the whole tenor of his life and teaching. john, representing his disciples and friends, must be assured that his master did not vacillate by a hair's-breadth at that supreme moment. those high officials must understand, beyond the smallest possibility of doubt, that if they put him to death he would die on the supreme count of his messianic and divine claims; and, therefore, amid the breathless silence of the court, without a falter in the calm, clear voice, jesus said, "i am." the father that sent him was with him; he had not left him in that awful moment _alone_, and it was a great pleasure to the saviour to be able publicly to avow the relationship, which was shedding its radiance through his soul. then, with evident allusion to the sublime vision of daniel, he added, "ye shall see the son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven." though son of god, he was not less the son of man; and though one with the father, before the worlds were made, was yet prepared to exercise the functions of the expected prince of the house of israel. this is the force of _nevertheless_ in matt. xxvi. 64--"i am son of god: _nevertheless_, ye shall see the son of man sitting on the right hand of power." the words were very grateful to the ears of caiaphas and his confederates, as they afforded ground for the double charge they needed. for a man to claim to be son of god would make him guilty of blasphemy, and he must be put to death according to jewish law; whilst if there was a prospect of his setting up a kingdom, the romans' suspicions would be at once aroused. but in their glee at having entrapped their victim they must not forget to show a decorous horror of his crime. in well-assumed dismay the high priest rent his clothes, saying, "he hath spoken blasphemy: what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard the blasphemy." and then came the decisive question which the judge was wont to put to his co-assessors, "what think ye? and they all condemned him to be guilty of death." then ensued a brief interval, until the early formal session of the sanhedrim could be held: and during this recess the disgraceful scenes were repeated which had already taken place in the hall of annas. luke tells us that the men that held jesus mocked him, beat him, and asked him to prophesy who it was that smote him. matthew adds that they spat in his face. but mark lets in still more light on the horror of the scene, when he appears to distinguish between _some_ who began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and _the officers_ who received him with blows of their hands. and the expression some occurs so immediately after the record of their condemning him, that the suggestion seems irresistible that several of these reverend dignitaries did not hesitate to disgrace their grey hairs in personally insulting the meek and holy sufferer, venting their spleen on one who gave no show of retaliation, though one word from those pale compressed lips would have laid them low in death, or withdrawn the veil of eternity, behind which legions of angels were waiting impatient to burst upon the impious scene. but do not condemn them as though they were sinners beyond all others; remember that we have all the same evil human heart. at last the morning broke, and as soon as it was day the assembly of the elders of the people was gathered together, both chief priest and scribes; and they led jesus away into their council (luke xxii. 66). this scene had already been so well rehearsed that it probably did not take many minutes to run through the necessary stages, according to the precise formulae of jewish procedure. the method that had already proved so valuable was quickly repeated. questioning him first as to his messiahship, caiaphas, as spokesman to the rest, said formally, "if thou art christ, tell us." it was a sorry figure that stood before them. dishevelled and in disarray, with disordered garments, the spittle still hanging about his face, and the marks of the awful storm and mental anguish stamped on every feature, the innate dignity and glory of jesus shone out in his every movement, and notably in his majestic answer, "what do you ask me? you have no real desire to know! if i tell you, ye are in no mood to believe! and if i ask you your warrant for refusing to believe, if i argue with you, if i adduce scripture to support my claims, ye will not answer; but though i read the motive of your inquiry, i will give you all the evidence you desire. from henceforth shall the son of man be seated at the right hand of god." as to the other charge, involving his divine nature, the admission of which involved the crime of blasphemy, they were too eager to wait for caiaphas; but with swollen faces, excited gestures, and loud cries, rising from their seats, and gesticulating with the fury of religious frenzy, they _all_ said, "art thou then the son of god?" and he said unto them, solemnly and emphatically, "ye say that which i am." then they turned to one another and said, "what further need have we of witness? for we have heard from his own mouth." the inquiry was at an end so far as jesus was concerned. but they held a further council against him, how to construct the indictment which would compel pilate to inflict death; for the execution of the sentence of death was kept resolutely by the roman procurator in his own hands. finally, as soon as they dared disturb him, they led jesus from caiaphas into the praetorium, the palace of the roman governor, who, in accordance with his custom, had come up from his usual residence at caesarea to the jewish capital, partly to keep order amid the vast crowds that gathered there at the feast, seething with religious fanaticism, and partly to try the cases which awaited his decision. the jewish authorities anticipated no great difficulty in securing from him the necessary ratification of the death sentence. it surely would not matter to him to add another to the long tale of robbers and revolutionaries which are awaiting the cross, the more especially as they were able to prefer a charge of treason against the roman power substantiated by the prisoner's own admissions made recently in their presence. it is an awful spectacle, and one over which we would fain draw a veil; but let us dare to stay to watch the evolution of the diabolical plot to the end. this, at least, will become manifest--that jesus died, because he claimed to be the son of god, in the unique sense of oneness with the father; that made him equal with god, and constituted blasphemy in the eye of the jewish law. and he who has taught the world truth could neither have been a deceiver, nor deceived, in this high claim. xxviii "judas, which betrayed him" "judas, which betrayed him."--john xviii. 2. on the wednesday evening before our lord died, he supped with his disciples in bethany at the house of simon. lazarus was there, and his sisters--martha, who served, and mary, who anointed him beforehand for his burying. the master's reception of this act of love, and his rebuke of the parsimony which sought to check all such manifestations of devotion, exasperated judas beyond all bounds; so, after supper, when jesus and the rest had retired to their humble lodgment, he crossed the intervening valleys and returned by the moonlight to jerusalem. at that untimely hour the sanhedrim may have been still in session, plotting to destroy jesus. at any rate, the chief priests and captains were quickly summoned. judas may have been in communication with some of them before; but, in any case, he met with a glad welcome. they were glad, and covenanted to give him money. in the word, _communed_ with them, used by the evangelist luke, it is suggested that there was a certain amount of bargaining and haggling before the sum was fixed. perhaps he wanted more, and they offered less, and at last he was induced to take less than he had hoped, but more than they had offered; and the price of betrayal was fixed at thirty pieces of silver, about 8 pounds, the price of a slave. from that moment he sought opportunity to betray him unto them. at the passover supper provided on the next day by peter and john in the upper room, judas must have reclined on the lord's left, and john upon his right, so that the beloved disciple could lean back his head on the bosom of his friend. when all were settled, jesus exclaimed, with a sigh of innermost satisfaction, "with desire i have desired to eat this passover with you before i suffer"; and as he uttered the words, judas must have felt a thrill passing through his nature, as he realized more clearly than any around that table, what was approaching. evidently, then, the master had guessed what was being prepared for him! did he also know the share that he had had in preparing it? in any case, it was clear that, so far from resisting, he was prepared to suffer. apparently, he would not take the opportunity of asserting his claims; but would allow events to take their course, yielding himself to the will of his foes! when he had given thanks, the lord passed round the first cup; then followed the washing of the disciples' feet, in the midst of which he looked sorrowfully toward judas, exclaiming, "ye are clean, but not all"; for he knew from the first who would betray him. it was with a strange blending of awe and wonder that the little group saw the dark cloud of anguish gather and rest on the beloved face when, on resuming his place, he was troubled in the spirit, and testified, and said, "verily, verily, i say unto you, that one of you shall betray me." the disciples looked at one another, doubting of whom he spoke, and peter beckoned to john to ask. but judas knew. and when he went on to say, "the son of man goeth, even as it is written of him; but woe unto that man through whom the son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had not been born"--again judas' heart smote him. it may be that he asked himself whether he might not even now draw back. for three years he had played his part so well that, in spite of his constant pilfering from the bag which held the slender resources of the little band, no one suspected him. his fellow-disciples might contend for the first places at the table, but all felt that judas, at any rate, had a prescriptive right to sit near jesus. all round, in sorrowful tones, the question passed, "lord, is it i?" each, conscious of the unfathomed evil of his own nature, thought himself more likely to be the traitor than that the admirable judas should do the deed. it was terrible to know that the shepherd should be smitten, and the flock scattered; but more, that the master would be betrayed by the inner circle of his friends! but there seemed no reason for challenging his announcement, backed as it was by a quotation from a familiar psalm, "he that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me." from these words also it was evident that the traitor must be one of two or three; for only these could reach the common dish in which jesus dipped his food. it became, therefore, more and more clear to judas, that the master knew perfectly well all that had transpired, and he said to himself, "if he knows so much, it is almost certain that he knows all." therefore, partly to disarm any suspicions that might be suggested to the others if he did not take up their question, partly because he felt that probably there was nothing to be gained by maintaining his disguise before jesus, and being withal feverishly anxious to know how much of his plan was discovered, he asked, adopting the colder title rabbi, rather than that of lord, as employed by the others, "rabbi, is it i?" probably the question was asked under his breath, and that jesus replied in the same tone, "thou hast said." immediately the thoughts of judas sprang back to the foot-washing, and all the other marks of extraordinary tenderness with which jesus had treated him. at the time he had thought, "he would not act like this if he knew all." now, however, he realized that jesus had acted in the full knowledge of all that had passed, and was passing in his heart. it must have struck him as extraordinary that the master should continue to treat him thus when he had read the whole dark secret. why did he not unmask and expose him? why not banish him from his company? why count him still on speaking terms? not till afterward was he aware of jesus' motive, nor did he detect the loving purpose which was laying siege to his stony heart as though to turn him from his evil purpose before it was too late. once more the lord made an effort to prove to him that though he knew all he loved him still, even to the end. it was the jewish custom for one to dip a morsel in the common dish and pass it to another in token of special affection, so when he had dipped the sop, jesus took and gave it to judas, the son of simon. he had previously answered john's whispered question, "lord, who is it?" which had been suggested by a sign from peter, by saying, "he it is to whom i shall give a sop when i have dipped it." but he did not give the token of love merely as a sign to john and peter, but because he desired to assure judas that, notwithstanding his perfect knowledge, his heart was full of tender affection. but when the sun strikes on a foetid pond, its rays, beneath which all creation rejoices, bring out the repulsive odors that otherwise had slept undiscovered; so the love of god is ever a savor of life unto life or of death unto death, and the very fervor of christ's love seems to have driven judas almost to madness. shutting his heart against the saviour, he opened it to satan, who was waiting his opportunity. "after the sop, then satan entered into him." instantly the master saw the change, and knew that he could do nothing more to save his disciple from the pit which he had digged for himself. nothing could be gained by further delay. jesus therefore said unto him, "that thou doest, do quickly." so carefully had the lord concealed his knowledge of judas' real character that none of those who sat at table guessed the real significance and purport of his words. for some thought, because judas had the bag, that jesus said unto him, "buy what things we have need of for the feast"; or that he should give something to the poor. only john, and perhaps peter, had the slightest suspicion of his possible errand. the sacred narrative adds significantly, "he then having received the sop, went out straightway, and it was night"; as though the black pall of darkness were a befitting symbol of the blackness of darkness that was enveloping his soul--a night broken only by one star, when jesus once more in the garden sought to arrest him with the words, "friend, to what a deed thou art come! betrayest thou the son of man with a kiss?" but that lone star was soon obscured. the cloud-wreath hastened to conceal it. head-long and precipitate over every obstacle, he rushed to his doom, until his career was consummated in the despairing act which the evangelist so solemnly records. the specified fee was no doubt paid to judas, on his delivery of jesus into the hands of the high priest. as soon as the great doors closed behind the arresting band, judas went to some inner pay-office, claimed his money, and then waited in the shadow to see what befell. perhaps he met john; and if so, avoided him. perhaps he heard peter deny the lord with oaths, and congratulated himself that there was not much to choose between them. but for the most part his mind was absorbed in what was transpiring. he beheld the shameful injustice and inhumanity of the trial. though he had kissed his master's face, his soul winced from the blows and spittle that befell it. perhaps he had entertained some lingering hope and expectation that when the worst came to the worst the master would use on his own behalf the power he had so often used for others. but if that thought had lodged in his mind, the dream was terribly dissipated. "he saw that he was condemned." then the full significance of his sin burst upon him. the veil fell from his eyes, and he stood face to face with his crime in all its naked horror. his ingratitude, his treachery, his petty pilfering, his resistence of a love which the strong waters of death could not extinguish. and the money scorched his hand. a wild and haggard man, he made his way into the presence of the chief priests and scribes, as they were congratulating themselves on the success of their plot. there was despair on his face, a piercing note in his voice, anguish in his soul; the flames of hell were already consuming him, the thirst of the bottomless pit already parching his lips; his hand convulsively clutched the thirty pieces of silver. "i have sinned," he cried. "i have sinned. he whom you have condemned is innocent; take back your money, only let him go free; and oh, relieve me, ye priests, accustomed to deal with burdened hearts, relieve me of this intolerable pain." but they said, with a gleam as of cold steel, "what is that to us? that is your business. you made your bargain, and you must stand to it: see thou to it." he knew that it was useless to parley with them. that icy sarcasm, that haughty indifference, told him how man must ever regard his miserable act. he had already refused the love of god, and dared not expect anything more from it. he foresaw how coming ages would spurn and abhor him. there seemed, therefore, nothing better than to leap into the awful abyss of suicide. it could bring nothing worse than he was suffering. oh, if he had only dared to believe in the love of god, and had fallen even then at the feet of jesus, he might have become a pillar in his temple, and an apostle of the church. but he dared not think that there could be mercy for such as he was. he passes out into the morning air, the most wretched of men, shrinks away into some lonely spot, puts a rope around his neck, and dies. we have been accustomed to think of judas as one whose crime has put him far in front of all others in the enormity of his guilt. dante draws an awful picture of him as alone even in hell, shunned by all other sinners, as turkish prisoners will shun christians, though sharing the same cell. but let us remember that he did not come to such a pitch of evil at a single bound. there was a time, no doubt, when, amid the cornfields, vineyards, and pastoral villages of his native kerioth, he was regarded as a promising youth, quick at figures, the comfort of his parents, the pride of his instructors, the leader of his comrades. during the early years of his manhood, jesus came through that court country on a preaching tour, and there must have been a wonderful fascination in him for young men, so many of whom left their friends and callings to join and follow him. judas felt the charm and joined himself to the lord; perhaps jesus even called him. at that time his life must have been fair, or the master would never have committed himself to him. he was practical, prompt, and businesslike, the very man to keep the bag. but the continual handling of the money at last awoke within him an appetite of the presence of which he had not been previously aware. he did not banish it, but dwelt on it, allowing it to lodge and expand within him, till, like a fungus in congenial soil, it ate out his heart and absorbed into itself all the qualities of his nobler nature, transmuting them into rank and noisome products. all love for christ, all care for the poor, all thought of his fellow-disciples, were quenched before that remorseless passion; and at last he began to pilfer from those scant treasures, which were now and again replenished by those that loved to minister to the master's comfort. at first, he must have been stung by keen remorse; but each time he sinned his conscience became more seared, until he finally reached the point when he could sell his master for a bagatelle, and betray him with a kiss. alas! judas is not the only man of whom these particulars have been true. change the name and you have an exact description of too many. many a fair craft has come within the reach of the circling eddies of the same boiling whirlpool, and, after a struggle, has succumbed. the young man hails from his native village home, earnest and ingenuous. at first he stands firm against the worldly influences around; but gradually he becomes careless in his watch, and as money flows in he realizes the fascination of the idea of being a wealthy man. he becomes increasingly absorbed, until he begins to drift toward a goal from which in other days he would have shrunk in horror. if any reader of these words is conscious of such a passion beginning to lay hold of him, let him beware, lest, like judas, he be lost in the divers hurtful lusts which drown men in perdition. and if already you have been betrayed into sins which would bear comparison with that of judas, do not despair--true, you have sinned against light and love, the eager, tender pleadings of god's love; but do not give up hope. cast yourself on a love which wants to abound over sin, and glories in being able to save to the uttermost. xxix the first trial before pilate "then led they jesus from caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be denied; but that they might eat the passover."--john xviii. 28. there is no doubt that had pilate been absent from jerusalem at the time of our lord's trial before the sanhedrim, they would have rushed him to death, as afterward stephen, and have risked the anger of the governor. but they dared not attempt such a thing beneath the eyes of the dreaded roman eagles. they must needs obtain pilate's countersign to their death sentence, and, indeed, consign their victim to him for execution. the lord was to die, not the jewish death by stoning, but the terrible roman death of crucifixion. the day then breaking was that before the passover. if the order for execution were not obtained that morning, the case could not come on for seven days, and it would have been highly impolitic, from their point of view, to keep jesus so long in bonds. the national sentiment might have awoke and refused to sanction their treachery. for the same reason it was necessary to carry the sentence into effect with as little delay as possible, or the whole plot might miscarry. then led they jesus from caiaphas to the official residence of pilate, which had been the palace of the magnificent herod--_and it was early_. in the palace there was a hall where trials were usually conducted; but the jewish dignitaries who had not scrupled shamelessly to condemn jesus were too scrupulous to enter the house of a gentile on the eve of the feast, for fear there might be a single grain of leaven there, and the mere suspicion of such a thing would have disqualified them from participating in the feast. remember that these men had just broken every principle of justice in their treatment of jesus, and now they palter over minute points of rabbinical casuistry. so philip of spain abetted the massacres of alva, but rigorously performed all the rites of the church; and the italian bandit will carefully honor priest, and host, and church. how well our lord's sharp sword cut to the dividing of soul and spirit, in such cases as these: "ye pay tithe of mint, and cummin, and anise, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law." it is an evil day when religion and morality are divorced. pilate knew too well the character of the men with whom he had to do, to attempt to force their scruples, and went out to them; so that for most of the time his intercourse with jesus was apart from their interference and scrutiny. without much interchange of formalities, the governor asked, "what accusation bring ye against this man?" it was not a little disappointing to their pride to be obliged to adduce and substantiate capital charges against jesus, so they replied in general terms, and with the air of injured innocence, "if he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him unto thee." it was as though they said, "there is no need for thee to enter into the details of this case; we have thoroughly investigated it, and are satisfied with the conclusive evidence of our prisoner's guilt; you may be sure that men like ourselves would never come to thee at such an hour, on such an errand, unless there were ample grounds for it." but pilate was in no mood to be talked with thus. he saw their eagerness to ward off inquiry, and this was quite enough to arouse his proud spirit to thwart and disappoint them. he knew well enough that they wanted him to pronounce the death sentence; but he pretended not to, and said, in effect, "if your judgment, and yours only, is to settle the case, take ye him and judge him according to your law, inflicting such penalty as it directs." the jewish notables at once saw that they must adopt a more conciliatory tone, or they would lose their case; they therefore explained that they wanted a severer sentence than they had the right to inflict. "it is not lawful," they said, "for us to put any man to death." pilate again asked for a statement of the crime of which jesus was accused. now mark the baseness of their reply. the only crime on which they had condemned jesus to death was his claim to deity; but it would never have done to tell pilate that. he would simply have laughed at them. they must find some charge which would bring him within the range of the common law, and be of such a nature that pilate must take cognizance of it, and award death. it was not easy to find ground for such a charge in the life of one who had so studiously threaded his way through the snares they had often laid for him; who had bade them render caesar's things to caesar; and protested that he was neither a ruler nor judge. their only hope was to rest their charge on his claim to be the messiah, construing it as the jews were wont to do, but as jesus never did, into a claim to an outward and visible royalty. they said, therefore, as luke informs us, "we found this man perverting the nation and forbidding to give tribute to caesar, saying that he himself is christ a king." this was quite enough to compel pilate to institute further inquiry. there were thousands of jews who questioned caesar's right to tax them, and were willing to revolt under the lead of any man who showed himself capable. it was certainly suspicious that such a charge should be made by men who themselves abhorred the yoke of rome. however, pilate saw that he had no alternative but to investigate the case further. he therefore went within the palace to the inner judgment hall, summoned jesus before him, and said, not without a touch of sarcasm in his tones, "art thou the king of the jews?" thou poor, worn, tear-stained outcast, forsaken by every friend in this thy hour of need, so great a contrast to him who built these halls and aspired to the same title--art thou a king? he probably expected that jesus would at once disclaim any such title. but instead of doing so, instead of answering directly, our lord answered his question by propounding another--"sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee concerning me?" the purport of this question seems to have been to probe pilate's conscience, and make him aware of his own growing consciousness that this prisoner was too royal in mien to be an ordinary jewish visionary. it was as though he said: "dost thou use the term in the common sense, or as a soul confronted by a greater than thyself? do you speak by hearsay or by conviction? is it because the jews have so taught thee, or because thou recognizest me as able to bring order and peace into troubled hearts like thine?" whatever thoughts had instinctively made themselves felt were instantly beaten back by his strong roman pride. never before had he been catechised thus. and he answered haughtily, "am i a jew? thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done?" our lord did not answer that question by enumerating deeds which had filled palestine with wonder; but contented himself by saying that he had committed no political offence, and had no idea of setting himself up as king, in the sense in which pilate and the jews used the word: "my kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that i should not be delivered to the jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence." never in the history of this world did the lips of man speak or his ears listen to a more pregnant or remarkable utterance. but it has been shamefully misunderstood. men have misread the words, and said, see, the religion of jesus is quite unworldly, has nothing to do with the institutions and arrangements of human life. it deals with the spiritual, and not with the secular. it treats of our spirits, not our hands or pockets. so long as we recognize christ's authority in the church, we may do as we like in the home, the counting-house, the factory, and the shop. it was in no such sense that jesus uttered these words, and the mistake has largely arisen through the misunderstanding of the word _of_ as used by our translators. it has not the force of belonging to, or being the property of; but is the translation of a greek preposition, meaning out of, springing from, originating in. we might freely translate the master's words thus: "my kingdom does not originate from this world; it has come down from another, to bring the principles, methods, and inspirations of heaven to bear on all the provinces of human thought and activity." the son of man claims the whole of man and all that he does as a subject of his realm. he cannot spare one relationship of human life, one art, one industry, one interest, one joy, one hope from the domain of his empire. he has a word about the weight in the pedlar's bag, the dealings of the merchant on 'change, the justice and injustice of wars that desolate continents. the one conspicuous proof of the absolutely foreign origin of this heavenly kingdom is its refusal to employ force. its servants do not fight. in the garden the king had repudiated the use of force, bidding his servant sheathe his sword. whenever you encounter a system that cannot stand without the use of force, that appeals to the law court or bayonet, you are sure that, whatever else it is, it is not the kingdom of christ. christ's kingdom distinctly and forever refuses to allow its subjects to fight. they who would surround christianity with prestige, endow it with wealth, and guard it with the sword, expel its divine spirit, and leave only its semblance dead upon the field. but if the aid which might be deemed essential is withheld, whether of funds or force, it thrives and spreads until the hills are covered with its goodly shadow, and its products fill the earth with harvests of benediction. all the gospel asks for is freedom--freedom to do what jesus did, in the way he did it; freedom because of its belief that the power of truth is greater than all the power of the adversary. oh for a second pentecost! oh for the holy days of apostolic trust and simplicity! oh for one of the days of the son of man, who came to our world armed with no authority save that of truth, clothed with no power but that of love. in pilate's next question there seems a touch of awe and respect: "art thou a king then?" that moral nature which is in all men, however debased, seemed for a moment to assert itself, and a strange spell lay on his spirit. with wondrous dignity our lord immediately answered, "thou sayest that i am--a king." but he hastens to show that it was a kingship not based upon material force like that of the caesars, nor confined to one race of men: "to this end was i born, and for this cause came i into the world, that i should bear witness to the truth. every one that is of the truth heareth my voice." there is no soul of man, in any clime or age, devoted to the truth, which does not recognize the royalty and supremacy of jesus christ. there is an accent in his words which all the children of the truth instantly recognize. the idea here given of jesus gazing ever into the depths of eternal truth, and bearing witness of what he saw, not in his words alone, but in his life and death; and of the assent given to his witness by all who have looked upon the sublime outlines of truth, is one of those majestic conceptions which cannot be accounted for on any hypothesis than that the speaker was divine. when pilate heard these words, he probably thought of the epicureans, and stoics, and other philosophers, who were perpetually wrangling about the truth, and demanding men's allegiance. "oh," said he to himself, "here is another enthusiast, touched with the same madness, though he does seem nobler than many of his craft. one thing is clear, that my lord has nothing to fear from his pretensions. he may sit as long as he likes on his ideal throne without detriment to the empire of the caesars." with mingled bitterness and cynicism, he answered, "what is truth?" and, without waiting for an answer, went out to the group of jewish rabbis waiting in the opening daylight, and threw them into convulsions of excitement by saying, "i find in him no fault at all." they were the more urgent, saying, "he stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all judaea, and beginning from galilee even unto this place." the mention of galilee came as a gleam of light to pilate. he was sincerely desirous not to be an accomplice in the death of jesus, by falling into the plot which he had been astute enough to detect. but not daring to take the only honorable and safe way of declaring his innocence, and summoning a cohort of soldiers to clear the court, he endeavored to exculpate himself by throwing the responsibility on herod. he congratulated himself on the ingenuity of a plan which should relieve him of the necessity of grieving his conscience on the one hand, or of irritating the jews on the other, and which would conciliate herod, with whom he was at this time on unfriendly terms. when he knew therefore that he was of herod's jurisdiction he sent him unto herod, who himself was at jerusalem in those days. herod was glad to see the wonderful miracle-worker of whom he had heard so much, and hoped that he might do some wonder in his presence; and, in the hope of extorting it, set him at nought, and mocked him, with his mighty men. but the lord remained absolutely silent in his presence, as though the love of god could say nothing to the murderer of the baptist, who had not repented of his deed. finally, therefore, disappointed and chagrined, herod sent jesus back to pilate, admitting that he had found in him no cause of death. xxx the second trial before pilate "ye have a custom, that i should release unto you one at the passover: will ye therefore that i release unto you the king of the jews?"--john xviii. 39. pilate must have felt mortified when he heard that herod had sent jesus back to his tribunal. he had hoped that the jewish monarch would so settle the matter that there would be no need for him to choose between his conscience and his fear of the jewish leaders. but it was not to be. it was decreed that he should pronounce the judicial sentence on our lord, and so on himself. now was the time for him to act decisively, and to say clearly that he would be no party to the unrighteous deed to which these priests were urging him. to have done so firmly and decisively, and before they could further inflame popular passion, the whole matter would have come to an end. alas! he let the golden moment slip past him unused, and every succeeding moment made it more impossible for him to retrieve it. pilate is one of the most notable instances in history of the fatal error of preferring expediency to principle. he wished to do right, but not to do it avowedly because it was right. he wished to do right without seeming to do it, or making a positive stand for it. and in consequence he was finally entrapped into doing the very deed which he had taken the greatest trouble to avoid. therefore, on the plains of time he stands as a beacon and warning; and to all who do not dare to oppose the stream of public passion and practice with the single affirmation of inflexible adherence to righteousness, the voice of inspiration cries aloud, "remember pilate!" however promising a tortuous course may look, it will certainly end in disaster. however discouraging a righteous one may appear, it will at last lead out into the open. and in doing the right thing, be sure to speak out firmly at once. it may be harder for the moment, but it will be always easier afterward. one brave word will put you into a position of moral advantage, from which no power shall avail to shake or dislodge you. such a word, however, pilate failed to speak; and when jesus was again brought before him, he began to think of some way by which he might do as conscience prompted, without running counter to the jewish leaders. he, therefore, summoned around him the chief priests and rulers of the people. the latter are particularly mentioned, as though pilate thought that his best method of saving jesus would be by appealing over the heads of the priests to the humanity of the common people. when all were again assembled he made, as luke tells us, a short speech to them, reiterating his conviction of his innocence, corroborating his own opinion by herod's, and closing by a proposal which he hoped would meet the whole case. "i will therefore chastise him and release him." was there ever such a compromise? a little before he had solemnly affirmed that he could find in him no fault at all, but if that were the case, why chastise him? and if he were guilty of the charges brought against him, as chastisement might seem to suggest, surely he should not be released. pilate meant to do the best. the chastisement was intended as a sop to the priests, and to win their acquiescence to their victim's release. but it was not straightforward, or strong, or right. and, like all compromises, it miserably failed. those keen jewish eyes saw in a moment that pilate had left the ground of simple justice. he had shifted from the principle on which roman law was generally administered, and they saw that it was only a question of bringing sufficient pressure to bear on him, and they could make him a tool for the accomplishment of the fell purpose on which their heart was set. the proposal, therefore, was swept ignominiously away, and pilate could never regain the position he had renounced. pilate then resorted to another expedient for saving jesus. it was the custom to carry out capital sentences at feast times, which were the occasions of great popular convocations; but it was also customary for the governor to release any one prisoner, condemned to death, whom the multitude, on the passover week, might agree to name. pilate recollected this, and also that there was a notorious criminal awaiting execution, who for sedition and murder had been arrested and condemned to die. it occurred to him that, instead of asking the people generally whom they wished him to release, he should narrow the choice and present the alternative between barabbas and jesus. they would hardly fail, he thought, to choose the release of this pale prisoner, who was innocent of crime, and, indeed, had lived a life notable for its benevolence. pilate took care to announce his proposal with the greatest effect. the vast space before his palace was rapidly filling with excited crowds, who guessed that something unusual was astir, and were pouring in surging volumes into the piazza, although it was still early. that he might be the better seen and heard he ascended a movable rostrum, or judgment-seat, which was placed on the tessellated pavement that ran from end to end of the palace. "whom will ye," he asked, "that i release unto you--barabbas, or jesus which is called the christ?" and then he suggested the answer: "will ye that i release unto you the king of jews?" at this moment, and perhaps whilst waiting for their answer, a messenger hurried to speak to him from his wife. it must have been most unusual for her to interfere with his judicial acts; but she had been so impressed by a dream about her husband's connection with jesus, the unwonted prisoner who stood before him, that she was impelled to urge him to have nothing to do with him. it was a remarkable episode, and must have made pilate more than ever anxious to extricate himself from his dilemma. it was still not absolutely too late to set himself free by the resolute expression of his will. but his temporizing policy was making it immensely difficult, and he was becoming every moment more entangled in the meshes of the merciless priests. he had hoped much from his last proposal, but was destined to be bitterly disappointed. the chief priests and elders had been busy amongst the crowds, persuading and moving them. we do not know the arguments they would employ; but we all know how inflammable a mob is, and presently the name of barabbas began to sound ominously from amid the hubbub and murmur of that sea of human beings. presently the isolated cries spread into a tumultuous clamor, which rang out in the morning air, "not this man, but barabbas!" pilate seems to have been dumbfoundered at this unexpected demand; and said, almost pitifully, "what then shall i do with jesus, which is called christ?" as though he had said, "you surely cannot mean that he should suffer the fate prepared for a murderer!" then they cried out for the first time, to the cross, to the cross! "crucify him! crucify him!" pilate had failed twice; he felt that he was being swept away by a current which already he could not stem, and which was becoming at every moment deeper and swifter. but he was very anxious to release jesus; and so he tried to reason with them, and said, "why, what evil hath he done?" but he might as hopefully have tried to argue with an angry sea, or with a pack of wolves. he felt this, and, mustering a little show of authority, said: "i have found no cause of death in him; i will, therefore, chastise him, and release him." but this announcement was met by an infuriated shout of disapproval. "they were instant with loud voices, requiring that he might be crucified." "they cried out the more exceedingly, crucify him." a little before this pilate had been besieged for six days in his palace at caesarea by similar crowds, whose persistent fury at last compelled him to give in to them. he dared not provoke similar scenes, lest they should result in a revolution. when he saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he called for water. he said to himself, "i am very sorry, this man is innocent, and i should like to save him. but i have done my best, and can do no more. i will, at least, relieve myself of the responsibility of his blood. 'slave, bring me water!'" as he washed his hands he said, "i am innocent of the blood of this righteous man; see ye to it." "yes, yes," cried those bloodthirsty voices, "his blood be on us, and on our children." see how god sometimes takes men at their word. the blood of jesus was required of that generation at the sack of jerusalem, forty years after; and it has been required of their children through all the ages. why that wandering foot, found in every land, yet homeless in all? why the hideous tortures, plunderings, and massacres of the middle ages? why the modern jew-hate, disguised under the more refined term _anti-semitism_? why the banishment from their holy places for eighteen centuries? all is attributable to that terrible imprecation which attracted to the race the blood of an innocent victim. it does not exculpate them to say that they did not realize who jesus was, and that they would not have crucified him if they had realized his divine dignity. they are being punished to-day, not because they crucified the son of god, knowing him to be such, but because they crucified one against whom they could allege no crime, and whose life had been full of truth and grace. after he had washed his hands "pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required, and released unto them him that for sedition and murder had been cast into prison, whom they desired; but he delivered jesus to their will." those condemned to die by crucifixion first underwent the hideous torture of the scourge. this, then, was inflicted on jesus, and it was carried out in the inner courtyard by the roman soldiery, under pilate's direction. "then pilate therefore took jesus, and scourged him." stripped to the waist, and bound in a stooping posture to a low pillar, he was beaten till the officer in charge gave the signal to stop. the plaited leathern thongs, armed at the ends with lead and sharp-pointed bone, cut the back open in all directions, and inflicted such torture that the sufferers generally fainted, and often died. but the scourging in this case did not satisfy the soldiers, whom scenes of this nature had brutalized. they had been told by their comrades of the mockery of herod's palace, and they would not lag behind. had he been robed in mockery as king of the jews, then he shall pose as mock emperor. they found a purple robe, wove some tough thorns into a mimic crown, placed a long reed in his hand as sceptre, then bowed the knee, as in the imperial court, and cried, "hail, king of the jews!" finally, tiring of their brutal jests, they tore the reed from his hands, smote him with it on his thorn-girt brow, and struck him with their fists. we cannot tell how long it lasted, but jesus bore it all--silent, uncomplaining, noble. there was a majesty about him which these indignities could not suppress or disturb. pilate had never seen such elevation of demeanor, and was greatly struck by it. he was more than ever desirous to save him, and it suddenly occurred to him that perhaps that spectacle of sorrow and majesty might arrest the fury of the rabble. he therefore led jesus forth wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and, stationing him where all could see, said, "behold the man! behold him and admire! behold him and pity! behold him and be content!" but the priests were obdurate. there is no hate so virulent as religious hate, and they raised again the cry, "crucify him, crucify him!" pilate was not only annoyed, but provoked. "take ye him," he said, in surly tones, "crucify him as best ye can, my soldiers and i will have nothing to do with the foul deed." then it was that the jewish leaders, in their eagerness not to lose their prey, brought forward a weapon which they had been reluctant to use. "we have a law," they said, "and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the son of god." we hardly know how much those words meant to pilate, but they awakened a strange awe. "he was the more afraid." he had some knowledge of the old stories of mythology, in which the gods walked the world in the semblance of men. could this be the explanation of the strange majesty in the wonderful sufferer, whose presence raised such extraordinary passion and ferment? so he took jesus apart, and said to him, "whence art thou?" "art thou of human birth, or more?" but jesus gave him no answer. this is the fifth time that he had answered nothing; but we can detect the reason. it would have been useless to explain all to pilate then. it would not have arrested his action, for he had lost control, but would have increased his condemnation. yet his silence was itself an answer; for if he had been only of earth, he could never have allowed pilate to entertain the faintest suspicion that he might be of heaven. pilate's pride was touched by that silence. it was at least possible to assert a power over this defenceless prisoner, which had been defied by those vindictive jews. "speakest thou not unto _me_? knowest thou not that i have power to release or to crucify thee?" and jesus answered, "thou wouldst have no power against me, except it were given thee from above; therefore, he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin." in these words our lord seems to refer to the mystery of evil, and specially the power of the prince of this world, who was now venting on him all his malice. at this moment the serpent was bruising the heel of the son of man, who shortly would bruise his head. it would appear as though our lord were addressing kind and compassionate words to pilate. "great as your sin is, in abusing your prerogative, given to you from above, it is less than the sin of that evil spirit who has cast me into your power, and is urging you to extreme measures against me. the devil sinneth from the beginning." even in his sore travail, the lord was tender and pitiful to this weak and craven soul, and spoke to it as though pilate and not he were arraigned at the bar. pilate was now more than ever set on his deliverance. "he sought to release him." and then the jews brought out their last crushing and conclusive argument, "if thou release this man, thou art not caesar's friend; every one that maketh himself a king, speaketh against caesar." pilate knew what that meant, and that if he did not let them have their way, they would lodge an accusation against him for complicity with treason before his imperial master. already strong representations had been made in the same quarter against his maladministration of his province, and he positively dare not risk another. "when, therefore, he heard these words, he brought jesus out, and sat down in the judgment-seat at a place called the pavement, and it was about the sixth hour." with ill-concealed irritation, and adopting the recent phraseology of the priests, he said, "behold your king!" at which they cried, "we have no king but caesar. away with him; away with him; crucify him." it gave pilate savage pleasure to put the cup of humiliation to their lips, and make them drain it to its dregs. "what!" said he; "shall i crucify your king?" then they touched the lowest depth of degradation, as, abandoning all their messianic hopes, and trampling under foot their national pride, they answered, "we have no king but caesar." at last, therefore, he delivered jesus to them to be crucified, signed the usual documents, gave the customary order, and retired into his palace, as one who had heard his own sentence pronounced, and carried in his soul the presage of his doom. long years after, when, stripped of his procuratorship, which he had sacrificed christ to save, worn out by his misfortunes, and universally execrated, he was an exile in a foreign land, with his faithful wife, how often must they have spoken together of the events of that morning, which had so strangely affected their lives! xxxi the seven sayings of the cross "then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. and they took jesus and led him away."--john xix. 16. driven from one position after another by the jewish notables and rabble, pilate at last, much against his will, gave directions for the lord's crucifixion. the purple robe flung over his shoulders was replaced by his own simple clothes, though the crown of thorns was not improbably left upon his head. two others were led out to suffer with him--highwaymen lately captured in some red-handed deed. barabbas, their chief, for whom the central cross had been designed, had escaped it by a miracle; but they were to suffer the just reward of their deeds. a detachment of soldiers was told off under a centurion, to see to the execution of the sentence, and the heavy crosses were placed upon the shoulders of the sufferers, that they might bear them to the place of execution. it was probably about ten a. m. when the sad procession started on its way. two incidents took place as it passed through the crowded streets, which surely had never witnessed such a spectacle: no, not even in the days when david traversed them in flight from absalom. the beams laid on our lord proved too heavy in the steeper ascents for his exhausted strength, and his slow advance so delayed the procession that the guard became impatient. here comes a foreigner! a jew of cyrene! harmless and inoffensive, gladly would he make way for the crowd. why should he not bear this burden under which jesus of nazareth is falling to the ground? the insolent soldiers, with oath and jest, constrain him, and he dares not resist. probably simon had no previous knowledge of him for whom he bore this load, and loathed the service he was compelled to render; but that compulsory companionship with jesus carried him to calvary. he beheld the wondrous tragedy, heard the words which we are to recite; from that day became, with his family, a humble follower of jesus. we at least infer this from mark's emphatic mention of the fact that he was father of alexander and rufus; whilst the apostle paul, in the epistle to the romans, tenderly refers to rufus and his mother. this is not the only instance in the history of christianity, when the compulsion of an apparent accident has led a man to christ. many a time has compulsory cross-carrying led men to the crucified. of the vast multitude who followed jesus, a large contingent consisted of women. from the men, in that moving crowd, he does not appear to have received one word of sympathy. timidity, or questioning with their own hearts, or inveterate hatred closed their lips. but the women expressed their sorrow with all the outcry of oriental grief, rending the air with piercing cries. "weep not for me," the saviour said, ever more thoughtful for others than himself; "but for yourselves and your children." and he who had been mocked because of his claim to be a king, and who would shortly from the cross begin to minister as a priest, then as prophet foretold the approaching fate of that fair city, asking significantly, since the romans dealt thus with himself an innocent sufferer, what would they not do when exasperated by the pertinacious resistance of the jewish people in the protracted siege. just outside the city gates, by the side of the main road, was a little conical eminence which, from its likeness to the shape of a skull, was called in the aramaic _golgotha_, in the greek _cranion_, in the latin _calvary_. as we speak of the _brow_ of a hill, they called the bald eminence a _skull_. there the procession stayed, and what transpired may be best followed as we touch on the seven sentences our lord uttered on the cross, as we collate them and set them in order from the four gospels. i. "_father, forgive them; for they know not what they do._"--arrived at the place of execution, jesus would be stripped once more, a linen cloth at most being left about his loins. he would then be laid upon the cross, as it rested on the ground, his arms stretched along the crossbeams, his body resting on a projecting piece of rough wood, misnamed a seat. huge nails would then be driven through the tender palm of each hand, and the shrinking centre of each foot. the cross would then be lifted up and planted in a hole previously dug to receive it, with a rude shock causing indescribable anguish. "so they crucified him, and two others with him, on either side one, and jesus in the midst." pilate had written a title to be nailed to the head-piece of the cross, according to the usual custom, with the name and designation of the crucified, "this is jesus, the king of the jews." it was written in greek, the language of science; latin, the language of government; and hebrew, the language of religion. it is this fact that accounts for the differences in the gospels. one evangelist translates from one language, another from another. the inscription was meant to insult the jews. it was equivalent to saying, "this nation cannot produce a better monarch than this; and this is the fate which will be meted out to all such pretenders." the authorities were indignant, and did their utmost to induce pilate to alter it. but in vain. he would be master this time, and dismissed them with the curt reply, "what i have written i have written." each man is writing his conception of the nature and claims of christ by the way in which he treats him, either acknowledging his divine glory as he enthrones him, or repudiating his claims as he tramples him under foot, and turns away to his sin. the criminal's clothes fell as a perquisite to the soldiers specially charged with the execution of the sentence. with our lord's outer clothes they had no difficulty; they were too poor to be worth keeping entire, so they tore them up into equal pieces. but the inner tunic was of unusual texture; perhaps it had been woven for him by his mother's hands, or by one of the women who so carefully administered to him. in any case it was too good to tear. the dice were ready in the pocket, one of the helmets would serve as dice-box; and so "they parted his raiment among them, and for his vesture they did cast lots. these things therefore the soldiers did." it was probably during this byplay that our lord uttered the first cry of the cross, and entered on that work of intercession, which he ever lives to perpetuate and crown. he thinks, not of himself, but of others; is occupied, not with his own pains, but with their sins. not a threat, nor a menace; but the purest, tenderest accents of pleading intercession. when was that prayer answered? seven weeks after this, on the day of pentecost, three thousand of these people, whom peter described as the murderers of christ, repented and believed, and in the days that followed thousands more, and a great company of the priests. that was the answer to this intercession. when we see our brethren sinning a sin not unto death, without realizing its full significance and enormity, if we ask god, as jesus did, he will give us life for those that sin not unto death. there is a sin unto death, and concerning that we are not encouraged to pray. "i obtained mercy," said the great apostle, "because i did it ignorantly in unbelief." ii. "_woman, behold thy son; son behold thy mother._"--the second saying was about his mother. his cross was the centre of bitter mockery. the chief priests, and scribes, and elders challenged him to descend from the cross, pledging themselves to believe if he did. the crowd caught their spirit with contemptible servility, and repeated their words, "son of god, come down from the cross, that we may believe." a passer-by called out derisively, "where is now the boast that he could raise the temple in three days? let him do it if he can." the soldiers even caught up the abuse, and vented their coarse jokes on one whose innocence and gentleness appeared to exasperate them. and the malefactors who were hanged cast the same in his teeth. were there no sympathizers in all that crowd to exchange glances of love and faith? yes, there was one little group. when peter left the hall of caiaphas john probably lingered there still, followed to the bar of pilate, waited long enough to know how the matter would fall, and then hastened to the humble lodgings where mary and a few other women, in awful suspense, were awaiting tidings. as soon as the mother knew all, she resolved to see her beloved son once more. "it is no place for women," john would say. but she answered, "i must see him yet again." then said john, "if you will indeed go, i will take you." "i too will go," sadly said mary, her sister, the wife of cleophas; "and i also," said mary of magdala. what a sight for those loving hearts, when they saw the crosses in the distance, and knew that on one of them was hanging the dearest to them of all on earth! but the love that makes the timid deer turn to fight valiantly for its young made them oblivious to everything except to get near him. but how little had the young mother realized that simeon meant this, when he told her that a sword would one day pierce her soul! jesus knew how much she was suffering, and how lonely she would be when he was gone. he had neither silver nor gold to leave, but would at least provide a home and tender care as long as she required them. elevated but very little above the ground, he could easily speak to the little group. "woman," he said, not calling her "mother," lest identification with himself might expose her to insult, "behold thy son." then, looking tenderly toward john, he consigned her to his care. did he give a further look, which john interpreted to mean that he should lead her away? it may have been so, for from that hour he took her to his home; and so she passes from the page of scripture, except for the one glimpse we have of her, in the upper room, awaiting the baptism of the holy spirit. iii. "_to-day thou shalt be with me in paradise._"--we cannot explore all the causes which brought about so great a change in this man, and produced so lofty an ideal of his fellow-sufferer. we have to deal rather with the response of jesus. lost by the first adam, paradise was being regained by the last; and it is now not far away. a dying man may see the sun leave the zenith, but ere it set in the western wave he may be in the land of paradise. absent from the body, present with the lord. there is no state of unconsciousness between the two. we close our eyes on the dimming spectacles of this world at one moment, to behold the king in his beauty the next. men may strip jesus of everything, but they cannot touch his power to save. in a moment of his greatest weakness he was able to rescue a man from the very brink of perdition, and take him as a trophy of his power to heaven. what will he not be able to do now that the mortal weakness is passed, and that he is exalted to be a prince and a saviour! iv. "_my god, my god, why hast thou forsaken me?_"--it would be between eleven o'clock and noon that these incidents took place; but from noon till three in the afternoon a pall of darkness hung over the cross and city. we know not how it came, but it appears to have silenced all the uproar which had surged around the cross, and to have filled the minds of all with awe. men might have gazed rudely on his dying agony; nature refused to behold it. men had stripped him, but an unseen hand drew drapery about him. for three hours it lasted, and was a befitting emblem of the darkness that enveloped his soul, when he who knew no sin was made to be sin for us, "that we might be made the righteousness of god in him." do you wonder that he felt thus, and question how such a forsaking had been possible at such an hour? there is but one explanation. this was not a normal human experience. only once in the history of the race has all iniquity been laid on one head; only once has the curse of the sin of the world been borne by one heart; only once has it been possible, in drinking the cup of death, to taste death for every man. "he who knew no sin was made sin for us. he was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities." on no other hypothesis than that jesus was the lamb of god, bearing away the sin of the world, can you account for the darkness of that midday midnight which obscured his soul. i cannot tell what transpired; i have no philosophy of the atonement to offer; i only believe that the whole nature of god was in christ, reconciling the world unto himself; and that, in virtue of what was done there, we may apply for forgiveness to the faithfulness and justice of god. v. "_i thirst._"--during the hours of spiritual anguish, our lord was largely oblivious to his physical needs; now, as the long hours passed, these latter began to assert themselves. inflammation, spreading from hands and feet, had resulted in a fever of thirst. he had refused the medicated drink offered at the beginning of his sufferings, because he had no desire to avoid one throb of anguish which lay in his path; but there was no reason why he should not drink of the sour wine which stood hard by the cross, now that he had drunk the cup which god had placed to his lips. as he looked through the long line of predictions that bore on his passion. he could see that they had all been fulfilled save one; and, that this scripture might be fulfilled, he said, "i thirst." some, who stood near the cross, and, in the growing light, began to regain their confidence, tried to make ridicule of this plaintive ejaculation; but one who noticed his pale and parched lips was touched with pity, and took a stalk of hyssop, which was just long enough to reach the mouth of the sufferer, and elevating a sponge dipped in vinegar, fulfilled thus unwittingly the ancient prediction, "they gave me also gall for my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." vi. "_it is finished._"--as we compare the gospels, we find that these words were spoken with a loud voice. it was, in fact, the shout of a conqueror. finished the long list of prophecies, which closed, like gates, behind him. finished the types and shadows of the jewish ritual. finished the work which the father had given him to do. finished the matchless beauty of a perfect life. finished the work of man's redemption. through the eternal spirit, he had offered himself without spot to god; and by that one sacrifice for sin, once for all and forever. he had perfected them that are being sanctified. he had done all that was required to reconcile the world unto god, and to make an end of sin. finished! let the words roll in volumes of melody through all the spheres! there is nothing now left for man to do but enter on the results of christ's finished work. as the creator finished on the evening of the sixth day all the work which he had made, so did the redeemer cease on the sixth day from the work of atonement, and, lo! it was very good. vii. "_father, into thy hands i commend my spirit._"--the words were quoted from the book of psalms, which he so dearly loved. he only prefixed the name of father; for the cloud which had extorted the cry, _my god, my god_, had broken, and under a blue heaven of conscious fellowship he exchanged it for _father_. if the words, "it is finished," be taken as our lord's farewell to the world he was leaving, these words are surely his greeting to that on whose confines he was standing. it seems as though the spirit of christ were poising itself before it departed to the father, and it saw before no dismal abyss, no gulf of darkness, no footless chaos, but hands, even the hands of the father, and to these he committed himself. the first martyr, who died after christ, passed away with words of the same import upon his lips, with a significant alteration, "_lord jesus_, receive my spirit." we may use them as they have been used by countless thousands in all ages; and we know him whom we have believed, and are persuaded that he is able to keep that which we have committed unto him. and when jesus had said these words, he bowed his head upon his breast, and breathed out his spirit. no one took his life from him: he laid it down of himself: he had power to lay it down. so ended that marvellous scene. the expectation of all the ages was more than realized. if it be true that on that day a tidal wave of immense volume swept around the world, and rose high up in all rivers and estuaries, this may be taken as an emblem of the much more abounding grace, which on that day rose high above the mighty obstacles of human sin, and is destined to lift the entire universe nearer god. for by it god will reconcile all things to himself, whether in heaven or on earth. three items remain to be noticed. at the moment that jesus died there was a great earthquake, which made the earth tremble and the rocks rend, so that the ancient graves were opened, preparatory to the rising of the bodies of the saints on the resurrection morning, following the lord from the power of death. and when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching jesus, charged to see the sentence executed, saw the earthquake and the things that were done, they feared exceedingly, saying, "truly this was the son of god." the vail of the temple, also, was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, at the moment that the great high priest jesus was entering the temple not made with hands, with the blood of his propitiation. is it to be wondered at that afterward many priests, who had been in close contiguity to that marvellous type, became obedient to the faith? finally, from the pierced side of christ came out blood and water, as john solemnly attests. "he knoweth that he saith true." this was a symptom that there had been heart-rupture, and that the lord had literally died of a broken heart. but it was also a symbol of "the double cure" which jesus has effected. blood to atone; water to cleanse. "this is he that came by water and blood, not with the water only." xxxii christ's burial "then took they the body of jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the jews is to bury."--john xix. 40. "against the day of my burying hath she kept this!" so had jesus spoken when mary anointed his feet with the very precious spikenard. i do not suppose that any in the room save herself and her lord understood his reference; not one of them believed that he would really die, and his body be carried to the tomb; but mary knew better. she had sat at his feet, and drunk in his very spirit. in the glow of the evening twilight, when martha was busy in the house, and lazarus was away in the field, they two had sat together, and jesus, in words similar to those he had so often used to his apostles, had told her of what was coming upon him. mary believed it all. she knew that she would not be present at that scene. she did not think that any would be able to perform the last loving rites for that beloved form. she feared that it might be utterly dishonored; but she did what she could, she came beforehand to anoint the lord's body for his burying. it was a beautiful act of tender foresight. but in the sense of being absolutely necessary, as the only act of care and love bestowed on the lord's dead body, it was not required; for he who at birth had prepared the body for his son, took care that in death it should receive due honor. when jesus expired, luke tells us that many of his acquaintances, and the women that had followed him from galilee were standing afar off, beholding all that was done; john too was there, and others who had loved him and were the grateful monuments of his healing power: they must have wondered greatly what would be done with that loved form. yet what could they do?--they were poor and unimportant; they had no influence with the capricious and terrible pilate; they seemed helpless to do more than wait with choking sobs until some possible chance should allow them to intervene. meanwhile god was preparing a solution of the difficulty. amongst the crowd around the cross there stood a very wealthy man named joseph. he was a native of the little town of arimathea, that lay among the fruitful hills of ephraim; but was resident in jerusalem, where he had considerable property. some of this lay in the close neighborhood of the highway by which the cross of our lord had been erected. he was also a member of the jewish sanhedrim, but it is expressly stated that he had not consented to the counsel or deed of them; if indeed he was summoned to that secret midnight meeting in the palace of caiaphas, he certainly did not go; he was therefore innocent of any complicity in our lord's condemnation and death. he was a good man and a just; and like nathanael, and simeon, and many more, he waited for the kingdom of god. more than this, he was a disciple of jesus, though secretly. whatever our judgment may be about his action during the lifetime of our lord, we have nothing but admiration for the way in which he acted when he died. what he had seen had more than decided him. christ's meekness and majestic silence under all reproaches and indignities; the veiled sky and trembling earth; the cry of the forsaken which ended in the trustful committal of the soul to the father; the loud shriek and the sudden death--all these had convinced him and awed his soul, and lifted him far above the fear of man. he had been waiting for the kingdom, he would now identify himself with the king. by his side there would seem to have stood an old friend of ours, nicodemus. our evangelist identifies him as having at the first come to jesus by night. the very opening of the lord's ministry in jerusalem seems to have made a deep impression on his mind; but he was very timid. he was an old man, a very rich man, a member of the sanhedrim, and he did not like to risk his position or prestige. it was much therefore for him to come to jesus at all, and especially to come to him in the spirit of deep respect and inquiry. there must have been something very engaging in him; for our lord, who did not commit himself to men in general, made very clear unfoldings of his great work to this inquiring rabbi. from that night, even if not a real disciple, nicodemus was strongly prejudiced in favor of jesus; and on one occasion, at least, brought on himself reproach for attempting indirectly to shield him. he had not dared, however, to go beyond his first nervous question. then, like joseph, he was decided by what he had seen: come what may, he will now avow the thoughts which have long been in his heart. the two men exchange a few hurried sentences. "what will be done with his body?" "at least it must not suffer the fate of common malefactors. yet how shall it be prevented?" "look you," says joseph, "in my garden close at hand there is a new tomb, hewn out in the rock, wherein was man never yet laid, i had prepared it for myself; but i will gladly use it for him, if i can but get pilate to yield me his body. i will go at once and ask for it." "well," says nicodemus, "if you can succeed in getting the body, i will see to it that there are not wanting the garments and spices of death." without a moment's delay, for the sun is fast sinking toward the west, joseph hastens to pilate, and asks that he may take away the body of jesus; and not unlikely he quickens pilate's response by an offer of a liberal bribe if he will but accede to his request. pilate, who had just given orders to the soldiers to hasten the death of the crucified, marvelled that jesus was really dead; nor was he reassured until he had asked the centurion; and when he knew it of him, he gave to joseph the necessary leave, with which he hastened back to the cross. the sun would be very low on the horizon, flinging its last beams upon the scene, as he reached calvary. the crowds would for the most part have dispersed. the soldiers might be engaged in taking down the bodies of the thieves. the body of jesus was however still on the cross; and not far off would be the little band of attached friends of whom we have already spoken, and who would be the sole remnants of the vast crowds who had now ebbed away to their homes. what wonder, what joy, as they see joseph reverently and lovingly begin to take him down; with evident authority from the governor, with manifest preparations for his careful burial; they had never before known him to be interested in their master. and who is this that waits beneath the cross with the clean linen shroud, and the wealth of spices? ah! that is nicodemus; but who would have thought that he would help to perform these last offices! oh to be a painter, and depict that scene! the discolored corpse stained with blood, muscles flaccid, eyes closed, head helpless; joseph, and nicodemus, and john, and other strong men busy. the women weeping as if their hearts must break, but ready at any moment to give the needed aid. between them they carry the body into joseph's garden, and to the mouth of his new sepulchre. there on some grassy bank they rest it for a moment, that it may be tenderly washed and wrapped in the white linen cloth on which powdered myrrh and aloes had been thickly strewn. a white cloth would then be wrapped about the head and face, after long farewell looks, and reverent kisses. then lifted once again, the precious burden was born into the sepulchre, and laid in a rocky niche. there was no door; but a great stone, probably circular, prepared for the purpose, was rolled with united and strenuous efforts against the aperture, to prevent the entrance of wild beasts and unkindly foe. and then as the chill twilight was flinging its shadows over the world, they reverently withdrew. joseph and nicodemus had done their work and had gone to their homes, and yet there were some who lingered as if unable to leave the spot. there were mary magdalene, and the other mary, sitting over against the sepulchre, gazing through their tears at the place where jesus was laid. how keen was their mental anguish! there was bereaved love; with all purity the strongest love had grown up around christ; and now that he was gone, it seemed as if there was nothing more to live for. the prop had been rudely taken away, and the tendrils of their hearts' affection were torn and wrenched. then there would come a rush of hot tears, indignant passion with those who had pursued him, with such unrelenting torture, to his bitter end. then again, broken-hearted grief at the remembrance of his anguish, and gentle patience, and shame. and, mingling sadly with all these, were disappointed hopes. was this the end? he who died thus could not have been the messiah! he had taught them to believe he was! he must have been self-deceived! for this life only they had hope in christ, and they were of all most miserable! that gravestone hid not only the body of christ, but the structure of the brightest, fairest hopes that had ever filled the hearts of mortals! in spite of all, they love. this is the love of women: the object of their fond attachment may be misrepresented and abused, the life may seem to be an entire failure; they may themselves be suffering greatly from the results of the beloved one's mistakes and follies--yet will they love still! and so through the gathering gloom and evening stillness they lingered on, until the increasing darkness told them that the sabbath had come. then they returned and rested the sabbath day, according to the commandment; but neither they, nor joseph, nor nicodemus, nor john, would be able to partake of the paschal festivities. to take part in a burial at any time would defile them for seven days, and make everything which they touched unclean; to do so at that time involved seclusion through the whole of the passover week, with all its holy observances and rejoicings. as we peruse this narrative, many thoughts are suggested. _we see the minute fulfillment of prophetic scriptures._--it had been written by isaiah on the page of inspiration, that the messiah would make his grave with the rich. when jesus died that prophecy seemed most unlikely of accomplishment; but it was literally fulfilled. there is not a prophecy, however minute, concerning our lord's life and death, which did not have an actual fulfillment; and does not this show us how we are to treat the prophecies which foretell his future glory and second advent? they too shall have a literal and exact fulfillment. _we learn, too, that there are more friends of christ in the world than we know._--they sit in our legislature, in our councils, in our pews; we meet them day after day: they give little or no sign of their discipleship: the most large-hearted friend would be surprised to hear that they were christians. but they are christ's. christ knows and owns them. but if they are secret disciples now, they will not be secret disciples always. a time will come when the fire of their love will burn the bushel that hides it, and they will avow themselves on the lord's side. _we gather, too, that god can always find instruments to carry out his purposes._--the immediate followers of christ could not see how to preserve the beloved corpse from defilement, but god had his place and his servants ready; and at the very crisis of need he brought them to the point. so has it been again and again: when influence and money and men have been really required for the work of god, they have been all at once forthcoming. he says to men like joseph, go, and he goeth; and to men like nicodemus, come, and he cometh; and to his servants, do this, and it is done. even the king's heart is in the hand of the lord; as the rivers of water, he turneth it wheresoever he will. _there is also a very significant meaning contained in verse 41_: "in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre." there is something startling in the association--the cross, the garden. the one--the symbol of shame and suffering, the most awful witness to the destructive power of that sin which has laid waste our world; the other--where flowers, eden's brightest relics, were guarded for man's enjoyment. flowers, blooming in all the luxuriance of an oriental spring, shed their fragrance around our saviour when he died; one loves to dwell upon the thought that golgotha was part of the garden--that earth's fairest, brightest, gentlest nurslings were there, mingling their smiles and balm with the trampling angry footsteps and the cursings of malignant foes. they had been very dear to him in his life-course; it was only meet that they should be near him when he died. was it not symbolical? in a garden man fell; in a garden he was redeemed! and that death of christ has sown our world with the flowers of peace and joy and blessedness, so that many a wilderness has begun to rejoice and to blossom as the rose. whilst the burial of christ was proceeding, the chief priests and their party were holding a meeting in all haste before the sabbath began. the success of their scheme was no doubt the theme of hearty congratulation. but they dreaded him still; they feared that all might not be over; they could not forget that he had spoken of rising the third day; and at the least, might not the disciples steal away the body, and spread abroad the report that he had risen, and so the last error would be worse than the first? a deputation was therefore appointed to wait on pilate representing their fears. tired of them and the whole case, he was in no humor to please them. "ye have a guard," said he, brusquely, "go, make it as sure as you can!" this they did. they passed a strong cord across the stone, and sealed its ends, and then placed soldiers to keep due watch and ward that none should lay hands upon the body that lay within. so christ lay entombed; but he was not there. he was in the world of spirits. the place of disembodied spirits was called, by the jews, sheol. it had two divisions, paradise and gehenna. christ, we know from his own words, went to the former; and from peter we gather that he also went through the realms of gehenna, proclaiming his victory. the practical conclusion of the whole is, however, contained in romans vi. just as the body of christ after crucifixion was buried in the grave, so our sinful, sensual, selfish selves must be done away in the grave of forgetfulness and oblivion and disuse--buried with christ, "that like as christ was raised from the dead, through the glory of the father, so we also should walk in newness of life." xxxiii the day of resurrection "the first day of the week."--john xx. 1. it may be helpful if we tabulate in a brief and concise form the various appearances of our lord on the great day, when he was declared to be the son of god with power by the resurrection from the dead. mary of magdala--a squalid arab village on the south of the plain of gennesaret still bears that name--with another mary had remained beside the tomb, till the trumpet of the passover sabbath and the gathering darkness had warned them to retire. they rested the sabbath day, according to the commandment, in the saddest, darkest grief that ever oppressed the human heart; for they had not only lost the dearest object of their affection, under the most harrowing circumstances, but their hopes that this was the messiah seemed to have been rudely shattered. but how tenacious is human love, especially the love of women! how it will cling around the ruins of the temple, even when some rude shock of earthquake has shattered it to the ground! so, when the sabbath was over (after sundown on saturday), they stole out to purchase additional sweet spices, which they prepared that night in order to complete the embalming of the body, which had been left incomplete on the day of crucifixion. they would probably sleep outside the city gates, which only opened at daybreak, because they were resolved to reach the sepulchre while it was yet dark. but before they could arrive the sublime event had occurred, which has filled the world with light and joy in all succeeding years. for behold, whilst the roman sentries were pacing to and fro before the sepulchre, there had been a great earthquake, and the angel of the lord had descended from heaven, rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. then from that opened door the lord had come forth unperceived by the eye of man (for the watchers were dazed and dazzled by the appearance of the angel and the terror of the earthquake), and in sublime majesty had become the firstborn from among the dead, and the first-fruits of them that sleep. the women, meanwhile, were hurrying to the grave, debating as they did so, how they would be able to roll away the stone from its mouth. probably they had heard nothing of the seals and sentries with which the sanhedrim had endeavored to guard against all eventualities; for, had they known, they would hardly have ventured to come at all. they were greatly startled, however, when, on approaching the grave, they saw that the stone was rolled away. mary of magdala apparently detected this first; and without staying to see further, and with the conviction that it must have been rifled of its precious contents, started off to apprise simon peter and the disciple whom jesus loved. what a shock, as she broke in on their grief, with the tidings, "they have taken away the lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him." what a series of mistakes was hers! she had gone to anoint the dead while the morning light still lingered over the hills of moab; she did not realize that he could not be holden by the bands of death, and had passed out into the richer, fuller life, of which death is the portal. she came with aromatic spices that her means had bought, and her hands prepared; she did not know that all his garments were already smelling of aloes and cassia, of the perfume of heaven with which his father had made him glad. she came to a victim, so she thought, who had fallen beneath the knife of his foes as a lamb led to slaughter, she was not aware that he was a priest on the point of entering the most holy place on her behalf. she came for the vanquished; but failed to understand that he was a victor over the principalities and powers of hell; and that the keys of hades and the grave were hanging at his girdle, whilst the serpent was bruised beneath his feet. she thought that she had come to put a final touch, such as only a woman can, to a life of sad and irremediable failure; but had no conception that on that morning a career had been inaugurated which was not only endless and indissoluble in itself, but was destined to vitalize uncounted myriads. she thought that the empty tomb could only be accounted for by the rifling hands that had taken away the precious body, but could not guess that the rifler of the perquisites of death was none other than the lord himself. we all make mistakes like this. our treasures, whether of things or people, which had been our pride and joy, pass from us; and we stand beside the grave, gazing in on vacancy and emptiness; we think that we can never be happy again: we suppose that god's mercies are clean gone forever, and that his mercies have failed forevermore. but, all the while, near at hand, the radiant vision of a transfigured blessing waits to greet us, and to fill us with an ecstasy that shall never pall upon us, but make our after-life one long summer day. in the meanwhile, the other women had pursued their way to the grave. the guard had already fled in terror, so there was none to intercept or frighten them; and entering the sepulchre they saw a young man, emblem of the immortal youth of god's angels, sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment, and they were affrighted. presently, as they were much perplexed, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments; and as they were afraid and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, "be not affrighted, ye seek jesus, which was crucified. he is not here; for he is risen, as he said. remember how he said into you when he was yet in galilee, that he would rise again. come, see the place where they laid him. and go quickly, tell his disciples, and peter, that he goeth before you into galilee; there shall ye see him, as he said unto you." and they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word. in the meanwhile, peter and john were hurrying to the sepulchre by another route, and probably reached it just after the women had left. john, younger than peter, had outrun him, but was withheld by reverential awe from doing more than peering into the empty grave. the linen clothes, lying orderly disposed, seem to have specially arrested his notice, yet went he not in. peter, however, went at once into the sepulchre; he also saw the linen clothes, and especially that the cloth which had covered the face of the dead was wrapped together in a place by itself. then john also went in; he saw and believed. it was evident to them both that the tomb had not been rifled, nor the body stolen by violent hands; for these garments and the spices would have been of more value to thieves than a naked corpse. in any case, thieves would not have been at the pains to fold the garments up so carefully. whilst the same indications proved that the body had not been removed by friends; for they would not have left the grave-clothes behind. when the disciples had gone back to their own home, mary stood without at the door of the sepulchre weeping; and as she wept she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre. what earnest heart is there, that has not at some time stood there with her, looking down into the grave of ordinances, of spent emotions, of old and sacred memories, seeking everywhere for the redeemer, who had been once the dearest reality, the one object of love and life? the two sentry-angels, who sat, the one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of jesus had lain, sought in vain to comfort her. "woman," they said, in effect, "there is no need for tears; didst thou but know, couldst thou but understand, thy heart would overflow with supreme joy, and thy tears become smiles." "they have taken away my lord," she said, "and i know not where they have laid him." what could angel voices do for her, who longed to hear one voice only? what were the griefs of others in comparison with hers? in an especial sense jesus was hers! _my_ lord! had he not cast out from her seven devils? some slight movement behind, or perhaps, as chrysostom finely supposes, because of an expression of love and awe which passed over the angel faces, led her to turn herself back, and she saw jesus standing, but she knew not that it was jesus. supposing him, in her grief and confusion, to be the gardener, she said that if he knew the whereabouts of the body she sought, she would gladly have it removed at her expense: nay, she even volunteered to bear it off herself. then he spoke the old familiar name with the old intonation and emphasis, and she answered in the country tongue they both knew and loved so well, "rabboni!" in her rapture she sought to embrace him, but this must not be; and there was need for christ to work in her love, with his high art, as the artificer may carve the stone, or engrave some legend on the intaglio. he therefore withdrew himself, saying, "touch me not." to thomas afterward he said, "behold my hands and my side; reach hither thy finger": because there was no danger of his abusing the permission, or leaning unduly on the sensuous and physical. but mary must learn to exchange the outward for the inward, the transient for the eternal, and to pass from the old fellowship with jesus as friend and companion into a spiritual relationship which would subsist to all eternity. therefore jesus spoke of his ascension, and bade her look upward, and see, gleaming on high, diviner things. so she was prepared for the time, when, in the upper room, she should continue steadfastly in prayer, and come nearer to him whom she loved than ever previously. did you ever realize that the intonations of the voice of jesus, which had passed unimpaired through death, suggest that in that new life, which lies on the other side of death, we shall hear the voices speak again which have been familiar to us from childhood? as is the heavenly, so are they who are heavenly; and as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall bear that of the heavenly, and shall speak again with those whom we have lost awhile, and they with us. mary magdalene went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept, that she had seen the lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her. but they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not. in close succession, the lord appeared to others of the little group. to the women, as they did run to bring his disciples word. to peter, whom he encountered on his way back, in lonely astonishment and awe, and restored with gracious words of forgiveness. to the two that walked to emmaus, in the afternoon, and talked of all that had happened. finally he appeared to the whole company of the apostles, as they sat at meat. they had carefully shut their doors, since there was every reason to fear that the rumors of the events of the morning would arouse against them the strong hate and fear of the pharisees. it may be that they were startled by every passing footfall, and every movement on the stair, as when the two returned from emmaus to tell how jesus had been made known unto them in the breaking of bread. then, suddenly, without announcement or preparation, the figure of their beloved master stood in the midst of them, with the familiar greeting of peace! and, as the sacred historian naã¯vely puts it, they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they were gazing on a spirit. but the lord allayed their fears, first by showing them his hands and his feet; and next, by partaking of a piece of broiled fish and of an honeycomb. evidently he was clothed in the resurrection or spiritual body of which the apostle paul speaks. he was not subject to all the laws that govern our physical life. he could pass freely through unopened doors, and at will he could manifest himself, speak, stand, and walk, or subject himself to physical sense. his words were very significant. he began by upbraiding them for their reluctance to believe that he had risen. again he said, "peace be unto you"; and accompanied his words with the indication of his wounds--"he showed them his hands and side." this was the peace of forgiveness, which falls on our conscience-stricken hearts, as the dew distils on the parched heritage. "look at the wounds of jesus," cried staupitz to luther; and there is no other sign that will give rest to the penitent. after this he opened their understandings, that they might understand the scriptures, and showed them that a suffering messiah was the thought which pervaded the entire hebrew scriptures. "thus it is written, and thus it behoved the messiah to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day." what would we not give to have some transcript of that wonderful conversation! with what new eyes should we read the bible, if only we could know what jesus said on that occasion! next he repeated the "peace be unto you," and told them that he was sending them forth as the father had sent him--"go ye unto all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." but he added, "behold, i send the promise of my father upon you; but tarry ye in the city of jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high." "and these signs shall follow them that believe. in my name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." then, to fit them for this time of waiting, and that the holy spirit might prepare them to receive his fuller inflow, the lord breathed on them and said, "receive ye the holy ghost: whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained." by which he surely meant that there was no other way by which sins would be forgiven and put away than by the preaching of the gospel, which he now committed to their trust. they are therefore parallel with peter's statement in after days, "neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name given under heaven, among men, by which we must be saved." the church of god alone can proclaim to men the conditions of evangelical repentance,--and those who refuse her testimony, and disbelieve her gospel, expose themselves to unspeakable condemnation and loss. "there remaineth no other sacrifice for sin; but a certain looking for of judgment, and fiery indignation." refuse christ, and there is no alternative way of salvation. whatever else is contained in these words, it is quite clear that there was nothing exclusively reserved to the apostles and their successors, which is not equally the possession of all who believe; for we know that the lord's words were spoken not to the apostles only, but to the two that had come from emmaus with burning hearts, and to those who were in the habit of commingling with the immediate followers of christ. "them that were with them" (luke xxiv. 33, 35, 36). all had been witnesses of these things, and all were now to proclaim in his name repentance and remission of sins among all nations, beginning at jerusalem. thomas was not there on that memorable occasion. he was always accustomed to look on the dark side of things. when jesus proposed to go into judaea to raise lazarus, he made sure that there was no alternative but to die with him; and when the master spoke of his impending absence, he said gloomily, "lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way?" he was doubtless at this time wandering alone over the scenes of that awful tragedy, which had so deeply imprinted itself on his imagination that he could not forget the print of the nails, and the wound in his side, and the unlikelihood of any surviving such treatment as he had received. when he heard the story of the others, he seemed inclined to treat them as too credulous; and with the air of superior caution said, that he must not only see the wounds which death had made, but touch them with his fingers and hand. yet we may be grateful for this story. first, because it wears the aspect of truth. what weaver of an imaginary history would ever have dared to suggest that the resurrection was impugned by some of christ's close followers? and, next, because it shows us that the resurrection was subjected to the severest tests, just those which we would ourselves apply. thomas was left for a whole week. day after day he heard the repeated story of christ's appearances; and waited for him to come again; and became more and more confirmed in his sad presentment that the whole story was a myth. how great must have been his anguish during those days, as he tossed between hope and fear, saw on other faces the light which he might not share, and thought that the master, if really living, was neglectful of his friend! at last jesus came, not to anathematize or exclude him, not to break the bruised reed or quench the smoking flax, but to restore him, and to lift on him the light of his countenance. he suited himself to his needs. he stooped to comply with the conditions that his poor faith had laid down. he was willing to give proofs, over and above those which were absolutely necessary, to win faith. so eager was he to win one poor soul to himself and blessedness, that he said unto thomas, "reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side; and be not faithless but believing." i do not suppose that thomas availed himself of the invitation. it was sufficient to see. such an act of cold scrutiny would hardly have been compatible with his joyous shout, "my lord and my god." christ's voice and form, omniscience and humility, in taking such trouble to win one to himself--these were sufficient to convince him, and dispel all doubt. ah, thomas, in that glad outburst of thine, thou reachedst a higher level than all the rest; and thou art not the last man, who has seemed a hopeless and helpless wreck, unable to exercise the faith that seemed so natural to others; but who, after a time, under the teaching of jesus, has been enabled to assume a position to which none of his associates could aspire! because he saw, he believed. too many wait for signs and manifestations, for sensible emotion and conviction: but there is a more excellent way--when we do not see, and yet believe. when there is no star on the bosom of night, no chart on the unknown sea, no lover or friend or interpreter of the ways of god; and when, in spite of all, the soul knows him whom it has believed, and clings to him though unseen, and reckons that neither life, nor death, nor principalities, nor powers, can shut out the love of god in christ. "blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed." xxxiv the lake of galilee "jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the sea of tiberias."--john xxi. 1. "all ye shall be offended because of me this night; for it is written, i will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. but after that i am risen, i will go before you into _galilee_." so had the chief shepherd spoken to his sad and anxious followers on the night of his betrayal. they little understood his meaning, and would perhaps have even forgotten the appointment of the rendezvous, unless it had been recalled again and yet again to their minds. but they were not allowed to forget. on the resurrection morn, the angel said to the first visitants at the empty grave: "go your way, tell his disciples, and peter, that he goeth before you into _galilee_; there shall ye see him as he said unto you." and as they went to execute this bidding, jesus himself met them and said: "be not afraid; go tell my brethren, that they go into _galilee_; there shall they see me." the customs of the passover feast forbade their instant compliance with this command, and the master sanctioned their delay by appearing to them twice whilst they yet lingered in the metropolis. but as soon as it was possible they hastened back to the familiar scenes of their early life and of the master's ministry. we cannot fathom all the reasons that led our lord to make such special arrangements for meeting with them in galilee; but it was natural that he should wish to associate his risen life with scenes in which he had spent so large a part of his earthly ministry; and there the greatest proportion of his followers was gathered, and he would have the quietest and securest opportunity of meeting with the five hundred brethren at once. the disciples little thought that this was a farewell visit to their homes, and that within a few weeks they must return to jerusalem, to stay there for a time, and then to wander forth to all lands, from the ancient indus on the east to the far-famed shores of tarshish on the west. i. it was in the early part of may when they returned to galilee. they were in evident bewilderment as to their next step. what should they do? should they continue to lead the artificial life which they had taken up during the master's ministry? that seemed impossible and needless. should they do nothing but wait? that appeared unwise when life was yet strong in them, and their means of livelihood were scant. it was of course possible to go back to fishing-smacks and fishing-tackle; but should they? and they hesitated. but one evening came; the fragrance of thyme and rosemary and of a hundred flowers filled the air; the lake lay dimpled in the light of the setting sun; the purple hills that stood sentinel around seemed by their very peacefulness to promise that no storm should imperil the lives of those that ventured on the blue depths. there stood the boats, yonder lay the nets, in those waters were the finny tribes; the old instinct of the fisherman arose in their hearts, and found expression on the lips of the one from whom we should have expected it. "_peter_ said unto them, i go a-fishing." i see no harm in it. the master never forbade it. he cannot mean us to loiter our time away. we cannot be preachers without him. i shall go back to the life from which he called me three years ago, and if it pleases him to come again, he can find us now, as he found us once, among the fishing-tackle. the proposal met with an instant assent: "we also go with thee." and in a few moments peter with six others had leaped into a boat, and they were preparing for the night's work with all the enthusiasm with which men throw themselves into a craft which for some time they have disused. but their ardor was soon checked. hour after hour passed. the lights went out in the hamlets and towns. the chill night damps enwrapped them. the grey morning at last began to break, whilst again and again the nets were hauled up and let down, but in vain; not a single fish had entered them. "that night they caught nothing." why this non-success? the night was the most favorable time! these men knew the lake well, and were experienced in their craft. they did their best, but they caught nothing! why was this? was it a chance? no, it was a providence; it was carefully arranged, disappointing and vexing though it was, by one who was too wise to err, too good to be unkind, and who was preparing to teach them a lesson which should enrich them and the whole church forever. the failure put an arrest on their temporal pursuits. had they been successful that night, it would have been very much harder for them to renounce the craft forever; but their non-success made them more willing to give it up, and to turn their thoughts to the evangelization of the world. then, too, our lord surely meant to teach them that whilst they were doing his work, whether that work was waiting or active service, it was not necessary for them to be anxious about their maintenance; he himself would see to that, though he had, for each meal, to light a fire and prepare it himself. and, deeper than all this, there were surely great spiritual lessons to be gained respecting the conditions of success in catching men in the net of his gospel. it is difficult to understand how a man can call himself a christian, and how he can face the awful possibilities of life, except he believes that all is ruled by one who loves us with a love that is infinite, and who wields all power on earth and in heaven. if, however, that be your fixed belief, you may find it often severely tested. "i have waited this livelong night; can this be christ's will?" "i have done my best in vain; can this be christ's will?" "i have labored without a single gleam of success; can this be christ's will?" yes, most certainly it is. it is his love which is arranging all, in order to teach you some of the sweetest, deepest lessons that ever entered your heart. there is not a cross, a loss, a disappointment, a case of failure in your life, which is not arranged and controlled by the loving saviour, and intended to teach some lesson which else could never be acquired. fitfully, curiously, without apparent art or fixed design, is the web of our lives woven; thread seems thrown with thread at random, no orderly pattern immediately appears, but yet of all that web there is not a single thread whose place and color are not arranged with consummate skill and love. but what good can failure do? it may shut up a path which you were pursuing too eagerly. it may put you out of heart with things seen and temporal, and give you an appetite for things unseen and eternal. it may teach you your own helplessness, and turn you to trust more implicitly in the provision of christ. it is clear that christians have often to toil all night in vain, that christ may have a background black and sombre enough to set forth all the glories of his interposition. ii. in the morning jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples knew not that it was jesus. it was customary for fish-dealers to go down to greet fishers on their return from the night's toil, in order to buy up fish. such a one now seemed waiting on the sand in the grey light, and his question was such as a fish-dealer might put: "children, have you any food?" it therefore never occurred to the disciples to think that it was jesus. and indeed, after the miracle was wrought, it was only the keen eye of love that knew him to be the lord. how often is the lord near us, and we know him not! he is standing there in the midst of scenes of natural beauty though his foot leaves no impression on the untrodden sand, and his form casts no shadow on the flowers or greensward. he is standing there in that dingy counting-house, or amid the whirr of the deafening machinery, though he fills no space, and utters no word audible to human ears. he is standing there in that home, watching the sick, noting unkindness and rudeness, smiling on the little deeds done for his sake, though none ever heard the floors creak beneath his weight, or saw the doors open to admit his person. how much we miss because we fail to discern him! by acting thus he not only taught his disciples the reality of his presence, but he prepared them also for that new kind of life which they were henceforth to lead--a life of faith rather than of sense; a life of spiritual communion rather than of physical fellowship. he kept showing them that, though out of sight, he was still in their midst. by easy stepping-stones he joined calvary and olivet. by gentle progressive lessons those who had believed because they had seen were taught to walk by faith, not by sight, and to love one whom they did not see. and thus it came about that they trod no shore however desolate, went to no land however distant, dealt with no people however boorish, without carrying ever with them the thought, the master is here! but let me say here that if you would see christ everywhere, you must be like john, the disciple of love. love will trace him everywhere, as dear friends detect each other by little touches that are meaningless to others. love's quick eye penetrates disguises impenetrable to colder scrutiny. not for the wise, nor for the few, but for the least that love, is the vision possible that can make a desert isle like patmos gleam with the light of paradise itself. iii. how great a difference christ's directions made! before he spoke they were disconsolately dragging an empty net to shore. the moment after he had spoken, and they had done his bidding, that net was filled with a shoal of fish so heavy that it was no easy matter to drag it behind the ship. great lessons await us here! we, like these, have embarked in a great fishing enterprise--we are fishers of men! our aim is to catch men alive for christ our lord. for this we are ready to toil, to pray, to wait. but our success depends wholly upon our lord. he will not give it us until we can bear it, and have learned the lesson of the night of fruitless toil. and if we are to succeed it must be in his realized companionship, and in obedience to his word. there is a right side of the ship, and a wrong one; there is a time to plant, and a time to be still; to everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven. we do not know these. if we are left to ourselves, we may cast the net on the left side of the ship at the time when we should be casting it on the right, and on the right side of the ship when we should be casting it on the left. christ alone knows, and he will teach us exactly how and when to act with the very best results. iv. christ's provision for the needs of his servants. i should imagine that the disciples were somewhat anxious about their bodily needs and their supply. they did not realize that if they were doing christ's work, christ would look after their real needs. christ let them meet with non-success to show how fruitless their toil was. and in the morning, when he stood on the shore, he filled their nets with fish, and called them to fire and bread and fish, to show how easily he could supply all their need. of course this does not apply to all promiscuously, but it does apply to those who give up time, and labor, and earthly toil, for the cause of christ. if they are really called to the work, christ seems to say to them: "do the best you can for me, and do not try in addition to make up for your time and labor by night work--you had better use the night for necessary rest; the longest night spent in unbelieving labor will not profit; but i in a single moment in the morning can more than make up to you for all you have spent." christ never lets us be in his debt. if we lend him a boat for pulpit, he weighs it down to the gunwale. if we give him time, he makes up what we have lost. if we seek first the kingdom of god and his righteousness, he sees that all things else are added. it is vain for you to rise up early and to sit up late, to eat the bread of carefulness. he giveth his beloved when they sleep. what delicate attentions to these men! christ knew that they were drenched with spray, chilled with the keen air, and so he prepared a fire--so thoughtful is he of the tiniest matters that will alleviate discomfort and increase our pleasure. at the same time he is frugal of the miraculous. he will deal lavishly in miracles so long as needed, but not an inch beyond. he might have created fish enough on that fire to supply them all, but that was needless so long as a hundred fifty and three great fishes lay within easy reach; so jesus said, "bring of the fish which ye have now caught." when peter heard john say, "it is the lord," true to his character he sprang into the sea and swam to shore, leaving the rest to drag the heavy net as best they could. now he seems to remember his failure to bear his share in the toil; so he goes to the margin of the lake, lands the net, counts its contents, and examines the meshes, to find them unbroken, and then returns with fish enough to make a breakfast for them all. it was only when all this was done that jesus said to them, "come and dine." then he came forward and took the bread and fish, and gave to them. all were convinced that it was jesus, but they were dumb with amazement and awe; they would have liked to ask questions, but they felt that they need not; their senses were convinced almost in spite of themselves. "none of the disciples durst ask him, who art thou? knowing that it was the lord." this, says john, was the third time that jesus had showed himself; not literally the third time that he had shown himself to any one; but the third time that he had shown himself to the disciples assembled in any considerable number. the first time was in the evening of the resurrection day; the second, when thomas was there; the third, in the incident here recorded. we all need our rest times, our times of learning, our times of fellowship with jesus. happy are we when jesus says, "come and dine," and leads us off to sup with him in desert places! it may be in the loneliness of nature, or of the sick-bed, or of thwarted love; but, wherever it is, it is well if only he is there to feed us with his own dear hand. the time will come when the night of this sunless world shall be over, and the morning of eternity shall break upon us; it may be that in the hour of death we shall find that our work has not been so fruitless as we feared: on the quiet beach we shall see jesus standing and know that it is he. then one last plunge through the chill flood, and we shall partake of the preparations which his love has made, and he will say, "come and dine." xxxv peter's love and work "thou knowest that i love thee. . . . feed my lambs."--john xxi. 15. that miraculous catch of fish on which we have dwelt was a parable to the disciples of the kind of work in which they were thenceforward to be engaged. they were to catch men. but there was one amongst them who must have wondered much how he would fare, and what part he would take when that work was recommenced. might he have a share in it? he would seem to have forfeited all right. with oaths and curses he had thrice denied that he belonged to jesus. he had given grievous occasion to the enemy to blaspheme. he had failed in a most important part of an apostle's character. true, he had repented with bitter tears, and had received a message from the empty tomb; on that easter morn he had heard his forgiveness spoken by the lips of his lord, and he would not have exchanged that forgiveness for an imperial crown; but he was not quite at ease. his uneasiness betrayed itself in his plunge into the water to swim to christ's feet, and in his rush to drag the net to the shore. he wished to be restored to the position in the apostolate which his sin had forfeited; not because of the honor which it would bring, but because nothing less would assure him of the undiminished confidence and the entire affection of jesus. the lord read his heart; and when the morning meal was done, he singled him out from the rest of his disciples, and asked him three times if he loved him, and then thrice gave him the injunction to feed his flock. in addressing him our lord calls him by his old name, simon bar jonas, not by his new name, peter; as if to remind him that he had been living the life of nature rather than of grace. in considering this subject, it will be convenient to speak of the question, the answer; the command. i. our lord's searching question--"lovest thou me?" _it is a very remarkable question._--we should have expected the inquiry, dost thou believe me? wilt thou obey me? art thou prepared to carry out my plans? but lo! the risen lord seems not anxious about aught of these, and only asks for love, and this from the rugged, manly, headstrong peter. yet as we hear the question asked, we realize it is the true one. he who has asked it has struck the right method of dealing with men; and if he only get the love, he will get easily enough the faith and the obedience as well. in this startling question you have unbared to you the distinctive feature which makes christianity what it is, and which makes it different from all other religions which have flung their clouds or their rainbows over human spirits. it is the religion of love: and a man may speak with a seraph's burning tongue to defend christianity; he may give his goods to feed the poor in obedience to the precepts of christianity; he may even burn at the stake rather than renounce christianity as his intellectual creed; but if he does not love, he is no christian. if a man love not the lord jesus, he is anathema. but if only there be love--love to god, love to man--then though there may be many deficiencies in head and heart, there is the one prime evidence of christianship. it was on such grounds that the rev. adam gibb of edinburgh once acted. he had once or twice dissuaded a young woman from joining the church, deeming her ill-informed, and unable to answer elementary questions; and on his third refusal she answered, "weel, weel, sir, i may na', an' i dinna, ken sae muckle as mony; but when ye preach a sermon aboot my lord and saviour, i fin' my heart going out to him, like lintseed out of a bag." any one who has observed the process will know how lifelike the illustration was, and will not wonder that mr. gibb admitted her, and that she lived to be one of the fairest members of his church. _it is a universal question._--its universality suggests that in christ there is something universally lovable, and that every one has the power of loving him, if only the rubbish is removed which chokes the springs of affection. there are different shades in love--the love of gratitude, where the rescued spirit sings the praise of him who took it from the terrible pit and miry clay; the love of complacency, with which the holy soul admires him who is fairer than the sons of men, and dwells with rapture on his majestic beauty and endearing goodness; the love of friendship, in which by constant intercourse a deep attachment arises between the confiding soul and the all-sufficient saviour. and there are as many methods of manifestation of love as there are different temperaments. with some, it is silent; with others, it speaks. with some, it sits listening at christ's feet; with others, it hurries too and fro to serve. with some, it is exuberant and enthusiastic; with others, it is still and deep. but whatever be the shade or the evidence, in each christian heart there must be love to christ, and the heart must be willing to give up its throne to the reign of jesus as its lord. _often it carries a special emphasis._--peter had grievously sinned. jesus could not pass it by in utter silence. for his disciples' sake and his own, it was necessary to allude to, and to probe it. but each was performed as gently as possible. thrice he had been warned, thrice he had denied, and now thrice shall he be asked if he really loves. and in asking him if he loved him more than the rest, our lord surely reminded him of his boast that if all the rest forsook him, he never would. christ delicately reminded him that his actions had not been consistent with his professions, at the same time giving him an opportunity of wiping out the record of failure by a new avowal of attachment. thus he deals with us still. he does not drag our secret sins to light before our brethren and friends, and parade them before the sun; but he asks with deep meaning if we love him, leaving conscience to apply the question. and is there not good reason for him to ask it? how you have forgotten him! you have been occupied with the world, pleasure, or even sin. and there is nothing that breaks us down so quickly as this. peter was grieved. an old man, eighty years of age, reared in connection with a church, once found his way to the penitent form, crying, "i've come here to be broke." ah, there is nothing that so breaks us down as this! _the question must be asked as a preliminary to service._--thrice he asked peter, as if to be perfectly sure ere he sent him forth on a shepherd's work. all the self-denial, patience, tenderness, and delicacy of love are needed, as the lord knew well, in dealing with men, who are naturally uninteresting, or perhaps repulsive, and hence our lord saw the necessity that there should be love. but how could there be love to _them_? it was impossible to expect it; and so christ introduced himself, saying, in effect, "dost thou love me? henceforth there will be little opportunity of doing anything for me, thou canst not now shelter me in thy home, or let me use thy fishing boats, or share my toils; but as thou lovest me, and desirest to show it, expend it on those whom i love, for whom i died, and whom i long to see brought into my fold. if only thou lovest, thou art fit for this." you may not be naturally fitted to teach children, or shepherd adults; but if you love christ you will do better than those more cultured. it is not science, nor intellect, nor eloquence, that wins souls; but love to christ pouring over in love to man. love will give you a delicacy of perception, an ingenuity, a persuasiveness, which no heart shall be able to resist. love will reconcile the accomplished scholar to a life among savages, and will carry the refined and cultured lady up to the sultry attic, or down to the damp and airless cellar. love will bear all, believe all, hope all, endure all, if only it may win wild wandering sheep for christ. ii. the contrite reply.--_it was very humble_. peter did not now boast that he excelled the rest, he did not even dare to stand sponsor for his own affection; he threw the matter back on his lord's omniscience, and without mentioning the degree more or less, he said simply, "thou knowest all things, thou knowest that i love thee." there is a delicate shade of meaning in the greek. the words translated _love_ are not the same. jesus asks peter if he cherishes toward him love--spiritual, holy, heavenly. peter declines to use that term, and contents himself with speaking of a simpler, more personal, more human affection. if i do not give thee that love which is thy due as son of god, i at least give thee that which befits thee as son of man. there are many who could not go even as far as this. yet here are tests of love! would you be able to enjoy heaven if christ were not there? would you be willing to go to hell itself if you might have him? do you feel drawn out to him in service? do you do things which you certainly would not do except for his sake? are you glad to hear of him in sermon or talk, so that there is a warm feeling rising to him at the mention of his name? does it cost you pain to hear him evil spoken of? do you sorrow that you do not love him more? then you can challenge him, saying, "despite my worldliness, my faithlessness, my sins, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that i love thee." _it was very confident._--"thou knowest all things." jesus is omniscient. he can see with microscopic eye the lichen on the grey stone, the enamel on the shell, the modest flower; and he can see the love that is in the disciple's heart, though it be but a tiny seed. when we sin, we are tempted to believe that we have no love to christ. but let this incident encourage us. it is impossible for any true lover of christ to go on in a course of sin, but quite possible for him to be betrayed into a single sin. and if that has been your case, do not shun the master; he still believes that it is possible for you to love, and he is willing even to reinstate you in his blessed service. who is there, that does not long to speak more confidently of his love to christ? cease then to think of your love to christ, dwell much on his love to you--"he loved me, he gave himself for me." think of its unwearied patience, its delicacy, its tenderness. consider the character of christ as unfolded in the new testament. commune with christ as friend with friend. above all, put away from your heart all that might grieve him, and throw it open to the holy ghost, with prayer that he would shed christ's love abroad. then, almost unconsciously, it will arise, though it may not become palpable till some great crisis calls you to the front, and demands some heroic sacrifice, which you will give, not feeling it great. iii. the divine command.--in the miracle peter had been commissioned to do the work of a fisherman, that is, of an evangelist; here he is commissioned to do the work of a shepherd, that is, of a pastor. feeding and tending lambs and sheep. it is not every one that is able to care for the sheep; but there is hardly any one who loves, that cannot feed or tend the lambs. and even if you shrink from the former, what good reason have you to refuse to comply with the latter? there are in this land hundreds of young lives whom the morning light awakes to hunger, filth, and wretchedness, and whom the evening shadows limit to rooms in which you would not care to keep your dogs. they are growing up without the least sense of decency, or the slightest reverence for god. their existence is one long struggle against the constituted guardians of society; or if they do not resist, they are always eluding. in addition to these are the children of our homes and families and schools. "_feed my lambs!_" it is worthy of note that two greek words are used in these injunctions. in the first and last, the master says simply, feed. in the middle he adds, do the work of a shepherd. so that the lover of christ has not fulfilled all his duty, when he has given his sacred lesson or instruction: he must go further, and be prepared to act as shepherd. xxxvi the life-plan of peter and john "what is that to thee? follow thou me."--john xxi. 22. we are standing on the eastern shore of the lake of galilee. the morning breeze blows fresh in our faces; the tiny wavelets run up with a silvery ripple, and die on the white sand; across the expanse of water the white buildings of tiberias and capernaum gleam forth. with gunwale all wet and slippery a fishing smack is drawn up on the deserted shore; near it the nets unbroken, although they had been heavy with finny spoils; yonder the remnants of a fisherman's breakfast and the dying embers of a fire. the master has just reinstated his erring apostle and friend, and proceeded to describe the death by which he was ultimately to glorify god: "verily, verily, i say unto thee, when thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest; but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not." how different this forecast to what peter would have chosen for himself! what a contrast between that yielding to the will of another, and that impetuous nature which so constantly betrayed itself! take, for instance, the occasions that are offered in this chapter. as soon as he hears john's suggestion that the lord is standing on the beach, he lets go the fish that he had spent all night to catch, the nets which it cost hours to make, the boat which was probably his own property, binds his fisher's coat about him, plunges into the water, and never rests till he has cast himself at his master's feet. as soon as the lord expresses his desire to mingle some of the recent haul with his own preparations for breakfast, he springs up, hastens to the margin of the sea, drags the net to land, counts its contents, and brings specimens to the little group gathered about the master. every movement so quick and energetic! to wish, is to act! to desire a thing, to do it! he makes us think of young manhood in all its vigorous, nervous life. the lord did not damp or repress his fervid disciple. he looked on him, to borrow the thought of another, with tender pity; as a parent, who has passed through many of the world's darkest places, beholds the child who is speaking of what he expects life to bring. fresh from his own agony, the lord knew how different a temper that would be which had been induced by prolonged suffering and patience: and he knew how necessary it was that that temper should be induced in his beloved disciple, so that he might become a pillar in his church, and the tender sympathetic writer of that first epistle, which is so saturated with a spirit of tender patience and sympathy for all who suffer. having uttered these cautionary words our lord seems to have moved away, bidding peter follow--a mandate which was intended to carry a deeper meaning. john followed them some few steps in the rear. hearing footsteps, peter turned and saw him, and with a touch of unworthy curiosity, hardly compatible with the seriousness of the statement jesus had just made, said, "lord, and what shall this man do?" the question was objectionable. it savored too much of peter's old, hasty, forward self. the lord would not become a mere fortune-teller to gratify his inquisitiveness. he put a check, therefore, on the unbefitting inquiry, and yet, in rebuking, answered it: "if i will that he tarry till i come, what is that to thee? follow thou me." it is not easy to explain certainly the import of christ's reply. some have interpreted it as meaning christ's coming in death. but this can hardly be, for he would as certainly come to peter dying amid the agony of martyrdom, as to john dying in a peaceful old age. surely the period referred to must have been the fall of jerusalem, only forty years distant, and to which our lord so often referred as one phase at least of his coming. then the old economy would fall and pass away; christianity assume a world-wide importance, and the cross become one of the mightiest factors of human history. when those words were repeated to them, some of the disciples interpreted them as meaning that john should not die, but they did not convey that meaning to john himself; he only saw in them a general intimation that his lot was in his master's hands, and in any case would be a very different one from peter's. i. our life-plan is fashioned by the will of christ.--what royalty there is in those words, _if i will_! if jesus were less than divine, how blasphemous they would appear! what arrogance to suppose that he could regulate the time and manner of life or death! yet how natural it is to hear him speak thus. no one starts or is surprised, and in that calm acquiescence there is a testimony to the homogeneousness of christ's character. it is of one piece throughout. there is a perfect consistency between his acts and words. the ancients thought of their _lives_ as woven on the loom of spiteful fates, whom they endeavored to humor by calling euphonious names. the materialist supposes that his life is the creature of circumstances, a rudderless ship in a current, mere flotsam and jetsam on the wave. the christian knows that the path of his life has been _prepared_ for him to walk in; and that its sphere, circumstances, and character are due to the thought and care of him who has adapted it to our temperament and capabilities, to repress the worst, and educate the best within us. we are ignorant of the place and mode of our _death_. our grave may be in ocean depths with storm-blasts as our dirge, or the desert-waste with the sands as our winding-sheets. like that of moses in a foreign land, unknown and untended; or within the reach of friendly hands, which will keep it freshly decked with evergreens. but wherever it may be, it must befall as christ has willed. we may die by some lingering agony, or the gentle slackening of life's silver cord. the temple may be shattered by an earthquake, or taken down stone by stone. but whether the one or the other, it will be determined by his will. he who makes the hue of each fading leaf different from that of any other in the forest has some new trait of godliness, some fresh feature of grace to illustrate and enforce in the dying hour; it is therefore written, "precious in the sight of the lord is the death of his saints." there is no lasting happiness, no comfort, no peace, to be had in this life, apart from the belief that the so-called trifles, as well as the apparently greater incidents of existence, are included in the circumference of christ's will, either executive or permissive. but in speaking thus, i discriminate between ourselves and our surroundings. i am speaking more particularly of the latter, and urge that even where they are apparently moulded by the carelessness or malignity of others, yet these are, unconsciously indeed, but really, effecting what he predetermined should be done. "if i will." bind this to your heart. it may be appointed for you to die in early prime, when the purpose of your life seems unfulfilled; or to live a sequestered life, banished to the patmos of exile and suffering, dying after long years. but in any case, your saviour has contrived and adjusted all. and he will send the angel of his presence with you, to help you, and to bring you to the place that he has prepared. ii. the life-course of any is determined by the peculiarities of character and service.--christ tells us that we are destined to a long future; and in doing so gives us the only satisfactory clue to the mystery of existence. if there be no life beyond death, life is a maze of endless wandering, to which there is no clue. but if there be--and after all there is no _if_ in it--we can easily understand that the present needs to be carefully adjusted to our nature and our future niche in the great universe of god, that we may be able, to the farthest limit, to realize our master's anticipations. there is a conspicuous illustration of this before us. peter was to be the apostle of sufferers, and write a letter, which should help, as perhaps no other writing has helped, all sufferers to the end of time; but he could never have penned it apart from the fiery trials through which his character was softened and sanctified. how could he have spoken of the humility, meekness, and patience of the suffering believer, had he not drunk deeply of the cup of suffering for himself and lived in constant anticipation of the martyr-death of which the lord spoke? john's work, on the other hand, was to declare, as he does in the book of revelation, that jesus is the living one, unchanged and unchanging, the king of earth and heaven. and how could he have produced that marvellous work, and received and reported those sublime visions, if he had not lingered on, in loneliness and exile, till jerusalem had fallen before titus and his legions, the temple been destroyed, and the jews scattered to every nation under heaven? neither of these men understood at the time what he was being prepared for. but as each now from heaven reviews the work he did, and the way in which he was prepared for doing it; as each compares the discipline through which he passed with the peculiarities of the people he was to address, and the testimony he was to deliver, he must be full of glad acknowledgments of the perfect adaptation of means to ends, of instrumentalities to results. and what is manifestly true of them is equally so of each of us. not always in this world, but in the next, we shall discern the admirable fitness of the discipline through which we passed, to prepare us for our position and ministry both here and hereafter. "great and marvellous are thy works, o lord god the almighty; righteous and true are thy ways, thou king of the ages." iii. whilst god is working out our life-plan, we must give ourselves to practical obedience.--"follow thou me." the master reiterated this command, both when he told peter his destiny, and when his apostle was prying into secrets with which he had no immediate concern. whatever threatens us, looming in the future, we must not be deterred from following our master; and we are not to waste our time in speculation as to matters which lie beyond our ken, but apply ourselves to the practical duties, which lie ready to our hand. but what is it to follow christ? it is not to live an oriental life beneath these northern skies, nor wear an eastern garb, nor speak in the hebrew tongue. a man might do all these, and in addition wander like him, homeless and outcast, through the land, and yet not follow in his steps. no! following jesus means our identification in the principles that underlay his life, in his devotion and prayer, in his absolute compliance with god's will, in his constant service of mankind, in the sweetness and gentleness and strength of his personal character. there is no path of legitimate duty into which we are called to go, in which he does not precede; for when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and his sheep follow. as of old, his disciples saw him going before them ascending up to jerusalem, and they followed him; there is no path of arduous duty and suffering in which he does not still precede. following christ involves almost certain suffering at first. when peter asked what they would have, who had left all to follow jesus, the master did not hesitate to say that the bitter herb of suffering would mingle with all the dishes with which their table might be spread: and when james and john tried to bespeak the right and left seats of the throne, he spoke of the cup and baptism of pain. but afterward, when the cross and grave are passed, then the fullness of joy and the pleasures, which are at god's right hand forever-more! we may follow christ, and yet our paths diverge. peter and john had been close friends. in them, the binary stars of love and zeal, labor and rest, action and contemplation, revolved in a common orbit. together at the grave, in the boat, in the temple, in prison; but their outward fellowship was not permitted to continue; perhaps if it had, it would have been too absorbing. it is in silence and solitude that spirits attain their complete beauty, and so the master is sometimes obliged to say to us, "what is that to thee? follow thou me." in following jesus, with the shadow of the cross always on his spirit, peter learned to sympathize with his master's anticipation of death, which in earlier years had been incomprehensible to him, and had led him to say, "that be far from thee, lord"; and it gave him finally the opportunity of fulfilling his first resolve to go with him to prison and to death. we often think ourselves strong to do and suffer long before patience had done her perfect work. we rush impetuously forward, and are overwhelmed. then our master has to lead us about, to take us round by another and longer route, to train us by toils and tears and teachings, till, hopeless of our own strength and confident in his, in our old age we cry, "i must put off this my tabernacle, even as our lord jesus christ hath showed me." if the old legend is true, peter was crucified with his head downward, because he felt unworthy to be so like his lord--following him with humility and reverence. but whatever befalls us, whatever be the nature of our experience in life or death, let it be our one aim to glorify god. "and the god of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory in christ, after that we have suffered a little while, shall himself perfect, stablish, strengthen us. to him be the dominion forever and ever. amen." xxxvii back to the father "and there are also many other things which jesus did."--john xxi. 25. once more, as we learn both from the gospel according to matthew and the first epistle to corinthians, our lord met the eleven apostles, together with some five hundred brethren beside, on a mountain in galilee, chosen partly for retirement and seclusion, and partly that all might see him. the majority of these were alive when paul wrote. "and jesus came and spake unto them, saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them into the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever i have commanded you; and lo, i am with you alway, even unto the end of the age." only once or twice beside did the lord appear. he was seen of james, and this interview seems to have determined this saintly man, who was his own brother either through a previous marriage of joseph, or as born after his own birth, of mary, to become a humble follower of him, with whose existence his own was so mysteriously blended. then he appeared once more to all the apostles, and being assembled with them commanded them to wait in jerusalem till the promise of the father was fulfilled, that he would send them another comforter, the holy ghost. "for john," he said, "truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the holy ghost not many days hence." there seems to have been an interval at that point, during which the disciples had time to think over what the lord had said. it had suggested to them the idea of the setting up of the messianic kingdom, which had always been viewed as coincident with the bestowal of the holy ghost. "lord," they said when they came together again, "wilt thou restore at this time the kingdom to israel!" the lord would not gratify their curiosity, and at that moment it would have been useless to combat and explain their erroneous views. this must be left to the education of time, and circumstance, and that same spirit. these things were kept in the father's secret councils. it was not for them to know, but they should receive power. then, with the tenacity of affection for the scenes of his former life, he led them out as far as bethany. and when they had reached the beloved spot, associated with so many sacred and tender memories, he lifted up his hands and blessed them; and while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and a cloud became both vail and chariot, parting them and receiving him out of their sight. thence he ascended far above all principality, power, might, and dominion, through all heavens to the right hand of the father, there to pursue his life of ministry and prayer for men, and specially for those he loved. and angels stood beside the little group of lovers, assuring them of his return in the same manner as they had seen him go. and they worshipped him, and went forth, and preached everywhere, the lord working with them, and confirming their word with signs following. expositions of holy scripture alexander maclaren, d. d., litt. d. st. john chaps. xv to xxi expositions of holy scripture alexander maclaren, d. d., litt. d. st. john chaps. xv to xxi contents the true vine (john xv. 1-4) the true branches of the true vine (john xv. 5-8) abiding in love (john xv. 9-11) the oneness of the branches (john xv. 12, 13) christ's friends (john xv. 14-17) sheep among wolves (john xv. 18-20) the world's hatred, as christ saw it (john xv. 21-25) our ally (john xv. 26, 27) why christ speaks (john xvi. 1-6) the departing christ and the coming spirit (john xvi. 7, 8) the convicting facts (john xvi 9-11) the guide into all truth (john xvi. 12-15) christ's 'little whiles' (john xvi. 16-19) sorrow turned into joy (john xvi. 20-22) 'in that day' (john xvi. 23, 24) the joys op 'that day' (john xvi. 25-27) 'from' and 'to' (john xvi. 28) glad confession and sad warning (john xvi. 29-32) peace and victory (john xvi. 33) the intercessor (john xvii. 1-19) 'the lord thee keeps' (john xvii. 14-16) the high priest's prayer (john xvii. 20-26) the folded flock (john xvii. 24) christ's summary of his work (john xvii. 26) christ and his captors (john xviii. 6-9) jesus before caiaphas (john xviii. 15-27) 'art thou a king?' (john xviii. 28-40) jesus sentenced (john xix. 1-16) an eye-witness's account of the crucifixion (john xix. 17-30) the title on the cross (john xix. 19) the irrevocable past (john xix. 22) christ's finished and unfinished work (john xix. 30; rev. xxi. 6) christ our passover (john xix. 36) joseph and nicodemus (john xix. 38, 39) the grave in a garden (john xix. 41, r.v.) the resurrection morning (john xx. 1-18) the risen lord's charge and gift (john xx. 21-23) thomas and jesus (john xx. 28) the silence of scripture (john xx. 30, 31) an eloquent catalogue (john xxi. 2) the beach and the sea (john xxi. 4) 'it is the lord' (john xxi. 7) 'lovest thou me?' (john xxi. 15) youth and age, and the command for both (john xxi. 18, 19) 'they also serve who only stand and wait' (john xxi. 21, 22) the true vine 'i am the true vine, and my father is the husbandman. every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. now ye are clean through the word which i have spoken unto you. abide in me, and i in you. as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.'--john xv. 14. what suggested this lovely parable of the vine and the branches is equally unimportant and undiscoverable. many guesses have been made, and, no doubt, as was the case with almost all our lord's parables, some external object gave occasion for it. it is a significant token of our lord's calm collectedness, even at that supreme and heart-shaking moment, that he should have been at leisure to observe, and to use for his purposes of teaching, something that was present at the instant. the deep and solemn lessons which he draws, perhaps from some vine by the wayside, are the richest and sweetest clusters that the vine has ever grown. the great truth in this chapter, applied in manifold directions, and viewed in many aspects, is that of the living union between christ and those who believe on him, and the parable of the vine and the branches affords the foundation for all which follows. we take the first half of that parable now. it is somewhat difficult to trace the course of thought in it, but there seems to be, first of all, the similitude set forth, without explanation or interpretation, in its most general terms, and then various aspects in which its applications to christian duty are taken up and reiterated, i simply follow the words which i have read for my text. i. we have then, first, the vine in the vital unity of all its parts. 'i am the true vine,' of which the material one to which he perhaps points, is but a shadow and an emblem. the reality lies in him. we shall best understand the deep significance and beauty of this thought if we recur in imagination to some of those great vines which we sometimes see in royal conservatories, where for hundred of yards the pliant branches stretch along the espaliers, and yet one life pervades the whole, from the root, through the crooked stem, right away to the last leaf at the top of the farthest branch, and reddens and mellows every cluster, 'so,' says christ, 'between me and the totality of them that hold by me in faith there is one life, passing ever from root through branches, and ever bearing fruit.' let me remind you that this great thought of the unity of life between jesus christ and all that believe upon him is the familiar teaching of scripture, and is set forth by other emblems besides that of the vine, the queen of the vegetable world; for we have it in the metaphor of the body and its members, where not only are the many members declared to be parts of one body, but the name of the collective body, made up of many members, is christ. 'so also is'--not as we might expect, 'the church,' but--'christ,' the whole bearing the name of him who is the source of life to every part. personality remains, individuality remains: i am i, and he is he, and thou art thou; but across the awful gulf of individual consciousness which parts us from one another, jesus christ assumes the divine prerogative of passing and joining himself to each of us, if we love him and trust him, in a union so close, and with a communication of life so real, that every other union which we know is but a faint and far-off adumbration of it. a oneness of life from root to branch, which is the sole cause of fruitfulness and growth, is taught us here. and then let me remind you that that living unity between jesus christ and all who love him is a oneness which necessarily results in oneness of relation to god and men, in oneness of character, and in oneness of destiny. in relation to god, he is the son, and we in him receive the standing of sons. he has access ever into the father's presence, and we through him and in him have access with confidence and are accepted in the beloved. in relation to men, since he is light, we, touched with his light, are also, in our measure and degree, the lights of the world; and in the proportion in which we receive into our souls, by patient abiding in jesus christ, the very power of his spirit, we, too, become god's anointed, subordinately but truly his messiahs, for he himself says: 'as the father hath sent me, even so i send you.' in regard to character, the living union between christ and his members results in a similarity if not identity of character, and with his righteousness we are clothed, and by that righteousness we are justified, and by that righteousness we are sanctified. the oneness between christ and his children is the ground at once of their forgiveness and acceptance, and of all virtue and nobleness of life and conduct that can ever be theirs. and, in like manner, we can look forward and be sure that we are so closely joined with him, if we love him and trust him, that it is impossible but that where he is there shall also his servants be; and that what he is that shall also his servants be. for the oneness of life, by which we are delivered from the bondage of corruption and the law of sin and death here, will never halt nor cease until it brings us into the unity of his glory, 'the measure of the stature of the fullness of christ.' and as he sits on the father's throne, his children must needs sit with him, on his throne. therefore the name of the collective whole, of which the individual christian is part, is christ. and as in the great old testament prophecy of the servant of the lord, the figure that rises before isaiah's vision fluctuates between that which is clearly the collective israel and that which is, as clearly, the personal messiah; so the 'christ' is not only the individual redeemer who bears the body of the flesh literally here upon earth, but the whole of that redeemed church, of which it is said, 'it is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all.' ii. now note, secondly, the husbandman, and the dressing of the vine. the one tool that a vinedresser needs is a knife. the chief secret of culture is merciless pruning. and so says my text, 'the father is the husbandman.' our lord assumes that office in other of his parables. but here the exigencies of the parabolic form require that the office of cultivator should be assigned only to the father; although we are not to forget that the father, in that office, works through and in his son. but we should note that the one kind of husbandry spoken of here is pruning--not manuring, not digging, but simply the hacking away of all that is rank and all that is dead. were you ever in a greenhouse or in a vineyard at the season of cutting back the vines? what flagitious waste it would seem to an ignorant person to see scattered on the floor the bright green leaves and the incipient clusters, and to look up at the bare stem, bleeding at a hundred points from the sharp steel. yes! but there was not a random stroke in it all, and there was nothing cut away which it was not loss to keep and gain to lose; and it was all done artistically, scientifically, for a set purpose--that the plant might bring forth more fruit. thus, says christ, the main thing that is needed--not, indeed, to improve the life in the branches, but to improve the branches in which the life is--is excision. there are two forms of it given here--absolutely dead wood has to be cut out; wood that has life in it, but which has also rank shoots, that do not come from the all-pervading and hallowed life, has to be pruned back and deprived of its shoots. it seems to me that the very language of the metaphor before us requires us to interpret the fruitless branches as meaning all those who have a mere superficial, external adherence to the true vine. for, according to the whole teaching of the parable, if there be any real union, there will be some life, and if there be any life, there will be some fruit, and, therefore, the branch that has no fruit has no life, because it has no real union. and so the application, as i take it, is necessarily to those professing christians, nominal adherents to christianity or to christ's church, people that come to church and chapel, and if you ask them to put down in the census paper what they are, will say that they are christians--churchmen or dissenters, as the case may be--but who have no real hold upon jesus christ, and no real reception of anything from him; and the 'taking away' is simply that, somehow or other, god makes visible, what is a fact, that they do not belong to him with whom they have this nominal connection. the longer christianity continues in any country, the more does the church get weighted and lowered in its temperature by the aggregation round about it of people of that sort. and one sometimes longs and prays for a storm to come, of some sort or other, to blow the dead wood out of the tree, and to get rid of all this oppressive and stifling weight of sham christians that has come round every one of our churches. 'his fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor,' and every man that has any reality of christian life in him should pray that this pruning and cutting out of the dead wood may be done, and that he would 'come as a refiner's fire and purify' his priesthood. then there is the other side, the pruning of the fruitful branches. we all, in our christian life, carry with us the two natures--our own poor miserable selves, and the better life of jesus christ within us. the one flourishes at the expense of the other; and it is the husbandman's merciful, though painful work, to cut back unsparingly the rank shoots that come from self, in order that all the force of our lives may be flung into the growing of the cluster which is acceptable to him. so, dear friends, let us understand the meaning of all that comes to us. the knife is sharp and the tendrils bleed, and things that seem very beautiful and very precious are unsparingly shorn away, and we are left bare, and, as it seems to ourselves, impoverished. but oh! it is all sent that we may fling our force into the production of fruit unto god. and no stroke will be a stroke too many or too deep if it helps us to that. only let us take care that we do not let regrets for the vanished good harm us just as much as joy in the present good did, and let us rather, in humble submission of will to his merciful knife, say to him, 'cut to the quick, lord, if only thereby my fruit unto thee may increase.' iii. lastly, we have here the branches abiding in the vine, and therefore fruitful. our lord deals with the little group of his disciples as incipiently and imperfectly, but really, cleansed through 'the word which he has spoken to them,' and gives them his exhortation towards that conduct through which the cleansing and the union and the fruitfulness will all be secured. 'now ye are clean: abide in me and i in you. as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me.' union with christ is the condition of all fruitfulness. there may be plenty of activity and yet barrenness. works are not fruit. we can bring forth a great deal 'of ourselves,' and because it is of ourselves it is nought. fruit is possible only on condition of union with him. he is the productive source of it all. there is the great glory and distinctive blessedness of the gospel. other teachers come to us and tell us how we ought to live, and give us laws, patterns and examples, reasons and motives for pure and noble lives. the gospel comes and gives us life, if we will take it, and unfolds itself in us into all the virtues that we have to possess. what is the use of giving a man a copy if he cannot copy it? morality comes and stands over the cripple, and says to him, 'look here! this is how you ought to walk,' and he lies there, paralysed and crippled, after as before the exhibition of what graceful progression is. but christianity comes and bends over him, and lays hold of his hand, and says, 'in the name of jesus christ of nazareth, rise up and walk,' and his feet and ankle bones receive strength, and 'he leaps, and walks, and praises god.' christ gives more than commandments, patterns, motives; he gives the power to live soberly, righteously, and godly, and in him alone is that power to be found. then note that our reception of that power depends upon our own efforts. 'abide in me and i in you.' is that last clause a commandment as well as the first? how can his abiding in us be a duty incumbent upon us? but it is. and we might paraphrase the intention of this imperative in its two halves, by--do you take care that you abide in christ, and that christ abides in you. the two ideas are but two sides of the one great sphere; they complement and do not contradict each other. we dwell in him as the part does in the whole, as the branch does in the vine, recipient of its life and fruit-bearing energy. he dwells in us as the whole does in the part, as the vine dwells in the branch, communicating its energy to every part; or as the soul does in the body, being alive equally in every part, though it be sight in the eyeball, and hearing in the ear, and colour in the cheek, and strength in the hand, and swiftness in the foot. 'abide in me and i in you.' so we come down to very plain, practical exhortations. dear brethren, suppress yourselves, and empty your lives of self, that the life of christ may come in. a lock upon a canal, if it is empty, will have its gates pressed open by the water in the canal and will be filled. empty the heart and christ will come in. 'abide in him' by continual direction of thought, love, desire to him; by continual and reiterated submission of the will to him, as commanding and as appointing; by the honest reference to him of daily life and all petty duties which otherwise distract us and draw us away from him. then, dwelling in him we shall share in his life, and shall bring forth fruit to his praise. here is encouragement for us all. to all of us, sometimes, our lives seem barren and poor; and we feel as if we had brought forth no fruit to perfection. let us get nearer to him and he will see to the fruit. some poor stranded sea-creature on the beach, vainly floundering in the pools, is at the point of death; but the great tide comes, leaping and rushing over the sands, and bears it away out into the middle deeps for renewed activity and joyous life. let the flood of christ's life bear you on its bosom, and you will rejoice and expatiate therein. here is a lesson of solemn warning to professing christians. the lofty mysticism and inward life in jesus christ all terminate at last in simple, practical obedience; and the fruit is the test of the life. 'depart from me, i never knew you, ye that work iniquity.' and here is a lesson of solemn appeal to us all. our only opportunity of bearing any fruit worthy of our natures and of god's purpose concerning us is by vital union with jesus christ. if we have not that, there may be plenty of activity and mountains of work in our lives, but there will be no fruit. only that is fruit which pleases god and is conformed to his purpose concerning us, and all the rest of our busy doings is no more the fruit a man should bear than cankers are roses, or than oak-galls are acorns. they are but the work of a creeping grub, and diseased excrescences that suck into themselves the juices that should swell the fruit. open your hearts to christ and let his life and his spirit come into you, and then you will have 'your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.' the true branches of the true vine 'i am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and i in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. if a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. if ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. herein is my father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.'--john xv. 5-8. no wise teacher is ever afraid of repeating himself. the average mind requires the reiteration of truth before it can make that truth its own. one coat of paint is not enough, it soon rubs off. especially is this true in regard to lofty spiritual and religious truth, remote from men's ordinary thinkings, and in some senses unwelcome to them. so our lord, the great teacher, never shrank from repeating his lessons when he saw that they were but partially apprehended. it was not grievous to him to 'say the same things,' because for them it was safe. he broke the bread of life into small pieces, and fed them little and often. so here, in the verses that we have to consider now, we have the repetition, and yet not the mere repetition, of the great parable of the vine, as teaching the union of christians with christ, and their consequent fruitfulness. he saw, no doubt, that the truth was but partially dawning upon his disciples' minds. therefore he said it all over again, with deepened meaning, following it out into new applications, presenting further consequences, and, above all, giving it a more sharp and definite personal application. are we any swifter scholars than these first ones were? have we absorbed into our own thinking this truth so thoroughly and constantly, and wrought it out in our lives so completely, that we do not need to be reminded of it any more? shall we not be wise if we faithfully listen to his repeated teachings? the verses which i have read give us four aspects of this great truth of union with jesus christ; or of its converse, separation from him. there is, first, the fruitfulness of union; second, the withering and destruction of separation; third, the satisfaction of desire which comes from abiding in christ; and, lastly, the great, noble issue of fruitfulness, in god's glory, and our own increasing discipleship. now let me touch upon these briefly. i. first, then, our lord sets forth, with no mere repetition, the same broad idea which he has already been insisting upon--viz., that union with him is sure to issue in fruitfulness. he repeats the theme, 'i am the vine'; but he points its application by the next clause, 'ye are the branches.' that had been implied before, but it needed to be said more definitely. for are we not all too apt to think of religious truth as swinging _in vacuo_ as it were, with no personal application to ourselves, and is not the one thing needful in regard to the truths which are most familiar to us, to bring them into close connection with our own personal life and experience? 'i am the vine' is a general truth, with no clear personal application. 'ye are the branches' brings each individual listener into connection with it. how many of us there are, as there are in every so-called christian communion, that listen pleasedly, and, in a fitful sort of languid way, interestedly, to the most glorious and most solemn words that come from a preacher's lips, and never dream that what he has been saying has any bearing upon themselves! and the one thing that is most of all needed with people like some of you, who have been listening to the truth all your days, is that it should be sharpened to a point, and the conviction driven into you, that _you_ have some personal concern in this great message. 'ye are the branches' is the one side of that sharpening and making definite of the truth in its personal application, and the other side is, 'thou art the man.' all preaching and religious teaching is toothless generality, utterly useless, unless we can manage somehow or other to force it through the wall of indifference and vague assent to a general proposition, with which 'gospel-hardened hearers' surround themselves, and make them feel that the thing has got a point, and that the point is touching their own consciousness. '_ye_ are the branches.' note next the great promise of fruitfulness. 'he that abideth in me, and i in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.' i need not repeat what i have said in former sermons as to the plain, practical duties which are included in that abiding in christ, and christ's consequent abiding in us. it means, on the part of professedly christian people, a temper and tone of mind very far remote from the noisy, bustling distractions too common in our present christianity. we want quiet, patient waiting within the veil. we want stillness of heart, brought about by our own distinct effort to put away from ourselves the strife of tongues and the pride of life. we want activity, no doubt, but we want a wise passiveness as its foundation. 'think you, midst all this mighty sum of things for ever speaking, that nothing of itself will come, but we must still be seeking?' get away into the 'secret place of the most high,' and rise into a higher altitude and atmosphere than the region of work and effort; and sitting still with christ, let his love and his power pour themselves into your hearts. 'come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers and shut thy doors about thee.' get away from the jangling of politics, and empty controversies and busy distractions of daily duty. the harder our toil necessarily is, the more let us see to it that we keep a little cell within the central life where in silence we hold communion with the master. 'abide in me and i in you.' that is the way to be fruitful, rather than by efforts after individual acts of conformity and obedience, howsoever needful and precious these are. there is a deeper thing wanted than these. the best way to secure christian conduct is to cultivate communion with christ. it is better to work at the increase of the central force than at the improvement of the circumferential manifestations of it. get more of the sap into the branch, and there will be more fruit. have more of the life of christ in the soul, and the conduct and the speech will be more christlike. we may cultivate individual graces at the expense of the harmony and beauty of the whole character. we may grow them artificially and they will be of little worth--by imitation of others, by special efforts after special excellence, rather than by general effort after the central improvement of our nature and therefore of our life. but the true way to influence conduct is to influence the springs of conduct; and to make a man's life better, the true way is to make the man better. first of all be, and then do; first of all receive, and then give forth; first of all draw near to christ, and then there will be fruit to his praise. that is the christian way of mending men, not tinkering at this, that, and the other individual excellence, but grasping the secret of total excellence in communion with him. our lord is here not merely laying down a law, but giving a promise, and putting his veracity into pawn for the fulfilment of it. 'if a man will keep near me,' he says, 'he shall bear fruit.' notice that little word which now appears for the first time. 'he shall bear _much_ fruit.' we are not to be content with a little fruit; a poor shrivelled bunch of grapes that are more like marbles than grapes, here and there, upon the half-nourished stem. the abiding in him will produce a character rich in manifold graces. 'a little fruit' is not contemplated by christ at all. god forbid that i should say that there is no possibility of union with christ and a little fruit. little union will have little fruit; but i would have you notice that the only two alternatives which come into christ's view here are, on the one hand, 'no fruit,' and on the other hand, 'much fruit.' and i would ask why it is that the average christian man of this generation bears only a berry or two here and there, like such as are left upon the vines after the vintage, when the promise is that if he will abide in christ, he will bear much fruit? this verse, setting forth the fruitfulness of union with jesus, ends with the brief, solemn statement of the converse--the barrenness of separation--'apart from me' (not merely 'without,' as the authorised version has it) 'ye can do nothing.' _there_ is the condemnation of all the busy life of men which is not lived in union with jesus christ. it is a long row of figures which, like some other long rows of algebraic symbols added up, amount just to _zero_. 'without me, nothing.' all your busy life, when you come to sum it up, is made up of plus and minus quantities, which precisely balance each other, and the net result, unless you are in christ, is just nothing; and on your gravestones the only right epitaph is a great round cypher. 'he did not do anything. there is nothing left of his toil; the whole thing has evaporated and disappeared.' that is life apart from jesus christ. ii. and so note, secondly, the withering and destruction following separation from him. commentators tell us, i think a little prosaically, that when our lord spoke, it was the time of pruning the vine in palestine, and that, perhaps, as they went from the upper room to the garden, they might see in the valley, here and there, the fires that the labourers had kindled in the vineyards to burn the loppings of the vines. that does not matter. it is of more consequence to notice how the solemn thought of withering and destruction forces itself, so to speak, into these gracious words; and how, even at that moment, our lord, in all his tenderness and pity, could not but let words of warning--grave, solemn, tragical--drop from his lips. this generation does not like to hear them, for its conception of the gospel is a thing with no minor notes in it, with no threatenings, a proclamation of a deliverance, and no proclamation of anything from which deliverance is needed--which is a strange kind of gospel! but jesus christ could not speak about the blessedness of fruitfulness and the joy of life in himself without speaking about its necessary converse, the awfulness of separation from him, of barrenness, of withering, and of destruction. separation is withering. did you ever see a hawthorn bough that children bring home from the woods, and stick in the grate; how in a day or two the little fresh green leaves all shrivel up and the white blossoms become brown and smell foul, and the only thing to be done with it is to fling it into the fire and get rid of it? 'and so,' says jesus christ, 'as long as a man holds on to me and the sap comes into him, he will flourish, and as soon as the connection is broken, all that was so fair will begin to shrivel, and all that was green will grow brown and turn to dust, and all that was blossom will droop, and there will be no more fruit any more for ever.' separate from christ, the individual shrivels, and the possibilities of fair buds wither and set into no fruit, and no man is the man he might have been unless he holds by jesus christ and lets his life come into him. and as for individuals, so for communities. the church or the body of professing christians that is separate from jesus christ dies to all noble life, to all high activity, to all christlike conduct, and, being dead, rots. withering means destruction. the language of our text is a description of what befalls the actual branches of the literal vine; but it is made a representation of what befalls the individuals whom these branches represent, by that added clause, 'like a branch.' look at the mysteriousness of the language. 'they gather them.' who? 'they cast them into the fire.' who have the tragic task of flinging the withered branches into some mysterious fire? all is left vague with unexplained awfulness. the solemn fact that the withering of manhood by separation from jesus christ requires, and ends in, the consuming of the withered, is all that we have here. we have to speak of it pityingly, with reticence, with terror, with tenderness, with awe lest it should be our fate. but o, dear brethren! be on your guard against the tendency of the thinking of this generation, to paste a bit of blank paper over all the threatenings of the bible, and to blot out from its consciousness the grave issues that it holds forth. one of two things must befall the branch, either it is in the vine or it gets into the fire. if we would avoid the fire let us see to it that we are in the vine. iii. thirdly, we have here the union with christ as the condition of satisfied desires. 'if ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.' notice how our lord varies his phraseology here, and instead of saying 'i in you,' says 'my words in you.' he is speaking about prayers, consequently the variation is natural. in fact, his abiding in us is largely the abiding of his words in us; or, to speak more accurately, the abiding of his words in us is largely the means of his abiding in us. what is meant by christ's words abiding in us? something a great deal more than the mere intellectual acceptance of them. something very different from reading a verse of the gospels of a morning before we go to our work, and forgetting all about it all the day long; something very different from coming in contact with christian truth on a sunday, when somebody else preaches to us what he has found in the bible, and we take in a little of it. it means the whole of the conscious nature of a man being, so to speak, saturated with christ's words; his desires, his understanding, his affections, his will, all being steeped in these great truths which the master spoke. put a little bit of colouring matter into the fountain at its source, and you will have the stream dyed down its course for ever so far. see that christ's words be lodged in your inmost selves, by patient meditation upon them, by continual recurrence to them, and all your life will be glorified and flash into richness of colouring and beauty by their presence. the main effect of such abiding of the lord's words in us which our lord touches upon here is, that in such a case, if our whole inward nature is influenced by the continual operation upon it of the words of the lord, then our desires will be granted. do not so vulgarise and lower the nobleness and the loftiness of this great promise as to suppose that it only means--if you remember his words you will get anything you like. it means something a great deal better than that. it means that if christ's words are the substratum, so to speak, of your wishes, then your wishes will harmonise with his will, and so 'ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.' christ loves us a great deal too well to give to our own foolish and selfish wills the keys of his treasure-house. the condition of our getting what we will is our willing what he desires; and unless our prayers are a great deal more the utterance of the submission of our wills to his than they are the attempt to impose ours upon him, they will not be answered. we get our wishes when our wishes are moulded by his word. iv. the last thought that is here is that this union and fruitfulness lead to the noble ends of glorifying god and increasing discipleship. 'herein is my father glorified, that ye bear much fruit.' christ's life was all for the glorifying of god. the lives which are ours in name--but being drawn from him, in their depths are much rather the life of christ in us than our lives--will have the same end and the same issue. ah, dear brethren, we come here to a very sharp test for us all. i wonder how many of us there are, on whom men looking think more loftily of god and love him better, and are drawn to him by strange longings. how many of us are there about whom people will say, 'there must be something in the religion that makes a man like that'? how many of us are there, to look upon whom suggests to men that god, who can make such a man, must be infinitely sweet and lovely? and yet that is what we should all be--mirrors of the divine radiance, on which some eyes, that are too dim and sore to bear the light as it streams from the sun, may look, and, beholding the reflection, may learn to love. does god so shine in me that i lead men to magnify his name? if i am dwelling with christ it will be so. i shall not know it. 'moses wist not that the skin of his face shone'; but, in meek unconsciousness of the glory that rays from us, we may walk the earth, reflecting the light and making god known to our fellows. and if thus we abide in him and bear fruit we shall 'be' or (as the word might more accurately be rendered), we shall '_become_ his disciples.' the end of our discipleship is never reached on earth: we never so much _are_ as we are in the process of _becoming_, his true followers and servants. if we bear fruit because we are knit to him, the fruit itself will help us to get nearer him, and so to be more his disciples and more fruitful. character produces conduct, but conduct rests on character, and strengthens the impulses from which it springs. and thus our action as christian men and women will tell upon our inward lives as christians, and the more our outward conduct is conformed to the pattern of jesus christ, the more shall we love him in our inmost hearts. we ourselves shall eat of the fruit which we ourselves have borne to him. the alternatives are before us--in christ, living and fruitful; out of christ, barren, and destined to be burned. as the prophet says, 'will men take of the wood of the vine for any work?' vine-wood is worthless, its only use is to bear fruit; and if it does not do that, there is only one thing to be done with it, and that is, 'they cast it into the fire, and it is burned.' abiding in love 'as the father hath loved me, so have i loved you: continue ye in my love. if ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as i have kept my father's commandments, and abide in his love. these things have i spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.'--john xv. 9-11. the last of these verses shows that they are to be taken as a kind of conclusion of the great parable of the vine and the branches, for it looks back and declares christ's purpose in his preceding utterances. the parable proper is ended, but the thoughts of it still linger in our lord's mind, and echo through his words, as the vibration of some great bell after the stroke has ceased. the main thoughts of the parable were these two, that participation in christ's life was the source of all good, and that abiding in him was the means of participation in his life. and these same thoughts, though modified in their form, and free from the parabolical element, appear in the words that we have to consider on this occasion. the parable spoke about abiding in christ; our text defines that abiding, and makes it still more tender and gracious by substituting for it, 'abiding in his love.' the parable spoke of conduct as 'fruit,' the effortless result of communion with jesus. our text speaks of it with more emphasis laid on the human side, as 'keeping the commandments.' the parable told us that abiding in christ was the condition of bearing fruit. our text tells us the converse, which is also true, that bearing fruit, or keeping the commandments, is the condition of abiding in christ. so our lord takes his thought, as it were, and turns it round before us, letting us see both sides of it, and then tells us that he does all this for one purpose, which in itself is a token of his love, namely, that our hearts may be filled with perfect and perennial joy, a drop from the fountain of his own. these three verses have three words which may be taken as their key-notes--love, obedience, joy. we shall look at them in that order. i. first, then, we have here the love in which it is our sweet duty to abide. 'as the father hath loved me, so have i loved you. abide ye in my love.' what shall we say about these mysterious and profound first words of this verse? they carry us into the very depths of divinity, and suggest for us that wonderful analogy between the relation of the father to the son, and that of the son to his disciples, which appears over and over again in the solemnities of these last hours and words of jesus. christ here claims to be, in a unique and solitary fashion, the object of the father's love, and he claims to be able to love like god. 'as the father hath loved me, so have i loved you'; as deeply, as purely, as fully, as eternally, and with all the unnameable perfectnesses which must belong to the divine affection, does christ declare that he loves us. i know not whether the majesty and uniqueness of his nature stand out more clearly in the one or in the other of these two assertions. as beloved of god, and as loving like god, he equally claims for himself a place which none other can fill, and declares that the love which falls on us from his pierced and bleeding heart is really the love of god. in this mysterious, awful, tender, perfect affection he exhorts us to abide. that comes yet closer to our hearts than the other phrase of which it is the modification, and in some sense the explanation. the command to abide in him suggests much that is blessed, but to have all that mysterious abiding in him resolved into abiding in his love is infinitely tenderer, and draws us still closer to himself. obviously, what is meant is not our continuance in the attitude of love to him, but rather our continuance in the sweet and sacred atmosphere of his love to us. for the connection between the two halves of the verse necessarily requires that the love in which we are to abide should be identical with the love which had been previously spoken of, and _that_ is clearly his love to us, and not ours to him. but then, on the other hand, whosoever thus abides in christ's love to him will echo it back again, in an equally continuous love to him. so that the two things flow together, and to abide in the conscious possession of christ's love to me is the certain and inseparable cause of its effect, my abiding in the continual exercise and outgoing of my love to him. now note that this continuance in christ's love is a thing in our power, since it is commanded. although it is his affection to us of which my text primarily speaks, i can so modify and regulate the flow of that divine love to my heart that it becomes my duty to continue in christ's love to me. what a quiet, blessed home that is for us! the image, i suppose, that underlies all this sweet speech in these last hours, about dwelling in christ, in his joy, in his words, in his peace, and the like, is that of some safe house, into which going, we may be secure. and what sorrow or care or trouble or temptation would be able to reach us if we were folded in the protection of that strong love, and always felt that it was the fortress into which we might continually resort? they who make their abode there, and dwell behind those firm bastions, need fear no foes, but are lifted high above them all. 'abide in my love,' for they who dwell within the clefts of that rock need none other defence; and they to whom the riven heart of christ is the place of their abode are safe, whatsoever befalls. 'as the father hath loved me, so have i loved you. abide ye in my love.' ii. now note, secondly, the obedience by which we continue in christ's love. the analogy, on which he has already touched, is still continued. 'if ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as i have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love.' note that christ here claims for himself absolute and unbroken conformity with the father's will, and consequent uninterrupted and complete communion with the father's love. it is the utterance of a nature conscious of no sin, of a humanity that never knew one instant's film of separation, howsoever thin, howsoever brief, between him and the father. no more tremendous words were ever spoken than these quiet ones in which jesus christ declares that never, all his life long, had there been the smallest deflection or want of conformity between the father's will and _his_ desires and doings, and that never had there been one grain of dust, as it were, between the two polished plates which adhered so closely in inseparable union of harmony and love. and then notice, still further, how christ here, with his consciousness of perfect obedience and communion, intercepts _our_ obedience and diverts it to himself. he does not say, 'obey god as i have done, and he will love you'; but he says, 'obey _me_ as i obey god, and _i_ will love you.' who is this that thus comes between the child's heart and the father's? does he come _between_ when he stands thus? or does he rather lead us up to the father, and to a share in his own filial obedience? he further assures us that, by keeping his commandments, we shall continue in that sweet home and safe stronghold of his love. of course the keeping of the commandments is something more than mere outward conformity by action. it is the inward harmony of will, and the bowing of the whole nature. it is, in fact, the same thing (though considered under a different aspect, and from a somewhat different point of view), as he has already been speaking about as the 'fruit' of the vine, by the bearing of which the father is glorified. and this obedience, the obedience of the hands because the heart obeys, and does so because it loves, the bowing of the will in glad submission to the loved and holy will of the heavens--this obedience is the condition of our continuing in christ's love. he will love us better, the more we obey his commandments, for although his tender heart is charged towards all, even the disobedient, with the love of pity and of desire to help, he cannot but feel a growing thrill of satisfied and gratified affection towards us, in the measure in which we become like himself. the love that wept over us, when we were enemies, will 'rejoice over us with singing,' when we are friends. the love that sought the sheep when it was wandering will pour itself yet more tenderly and with selector gifts upon it when it follows in the footsteps of the flock, and keeps close at the heels of the good shepherd. 'if ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love,' so we will put nothing between us and him which will make it impossible for the tenderest tenderness of that holy love to come to your hearts. the obedience which we render for love's sake will make us more capable of receiving, and more blessedly conscious of possessing, the love of jesus christ. the lightest cloud before the sun will prevent it from focussing its rays to a burning point on the convex glass. and the small, thin, fleeting, scarcely visible acts of self-will that sometimes pass across our skies will prevent our feeling the warmth of that love upon our shrouded hearts. every known piece of rebellion against christ will shatter all true enjoyment of his favour, unless we are hopeless hypocrites or self-deceived. the condition of knowing and feeling the warmth and blessedness of christ's love to me is the honest submission of my nature to his commandments. you cannot rejoice in jesus christ unless you do his will. you will have no real comfort and blessedness in your religion unless it works itself out in your daily lives. that is why so many of you know nothing, or next to nothing, about the joy of christ's felt presence, because you do not, for all your professions, hourly and momentarily regulate and submit your wills to his commandments. do what he wants, and do it because he wants it, if you wish that his love should fill your hearts. and, further, we shall continue in his love by obedience, inasmuch as every emotion which finds expression in our daily life is strengthened by the fact that it is expressed. the love which works is love which grows, and the tree that bears fruit is the tree that is healthy and increases. so note how all these deepest things of christian teaching come at last to a plain piece of practical duty. we talk about the mysticism of john's gospel, about the depth of these last sayings of jesus christ. yes! they are mystical, they are deep--unfathomably deep, thank god!--but connected by the shortest possible road with the plainest possible duties. 'let no man deceive you. he that doeth righteousness is righteous.' it is of no use to talk about communion with jesus christ, and abiding in him, in possession of his love, and all those other properly mystical sides of christian experience, unless you verify them for yourselves by the plain way of practice. doing as christ bids us, and doing that habitually, and doing it gladly, then, and only then, are we in no danger of losing ourselves on the heights, or of forgetting that christ's mission has for its last result the influencing of character and of conduct. 'if ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as i have kept my father's commandments, and abide in his love.' iii. lastly, note the joy which follows on this practical obedience. 'these things have i spoken unto you, that my joy might remain,' (or 'might _be_') 'in you, and that your joy might be full.' 'my joy might be in you'--a strange time to talk of his 'joy.' in half an hour he would be in gethsemane, and we know what happened there. was christ a joyful man? he was a 'man of sorrows' but one of the old psalms says, 'thou hast loved righteousness ... therefore god hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.' the deep truth that lies there is the same that he here claims as being fulfilled in his own experience, that absolute surrender and submission in love to the beloved commands of a loving father made him--in spite of sorrows, in spite of the baptism with which he was baptized, in spite of all the burden and the weight of our sins--the most joyful of men. this joy he offers to us, a joy coming from perfect obedience, a joy coming from a surrender of self at the bidding of love, to a love that to us seems absolutely good and sweet. there is no joy that humanity is capable of to compare for a moment with that bright, warm, continuous sunshine which floods the soul, that is freed from all the clouds and mists of self and the darkness of sin. self-sacrifice at the bidding of jesus christ is the recipe for the highest, the most exquisite, the most godlike gladnesses of which the human heart is capable. our joy will remain if his joy is ours. then our joy will be, up to the measure of its capacity, ennobled, and filled, and progressive, advancing ever towards a fuller possession of his joy, and a deeper calm of that pure and perennial rapture, which makes the settled and celestial bliss of those who have 'entered into the joy of their lord.' brother! there is only one gladness that is worth calling so--and that is, that which comes to us, when we give ourselves utterly away to jesus christ, and let him do with us as he will. it is better to have a joy that is central and perennial--though there may be, as there will be, a surface of sorrow and care--than to have the converse, a surface of joy, and a black, unsympathetic kernel of aching unrest and sadness. in one or other of these two states we all live. either we have to say, 'as sorrowful yet always rejoicing' or we have to feel that 'even in laughter the heart is sorrowful, and the end of that mirth is heaviness.' let us choose for ourselves, and let us choose aright, the gladness which coils round the heart, and endures for ever, and is found in submission to jesus christ, rather than the superficial, fleeting joys which are rooted on earth and perish with time. the oneness of the branches 'this is my commandment, that ye love one another, as i have loved you. greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.'--john xv. 12, 13. the union between christ and his disciples has been tenderly set forth in the parable of the vine and the branches. we now turn to the union between the disciples, which is the consequence of their common union to the lord. the branches are parts of one whole, and necessarily bear a relation to each other. we may modify for our present purpose the analogous statement of the apostle in reference to the lord's supper, and as he says, 'we being many, are one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread,' so we may say--the branches, being many, are one vine, for they are all partakers of that one vine. of this union amongst the branches, which results from their common inherence in the vine, the natural expression and manifestation is the mutual love, which christ here gives as _the_ commandment, and commends to us all by his own solemn example. there are four things suggested to me by the words of our text--the obligation, the sufficiency, the pattern, and the motive, of christian love. i. first, the obligation of love. the two ideas of commandment and love do not go well together. you cannot pump up love to order, and if you try you generally produce, what we see in abundance in the world and in the church, sentimental hypocrisy, hollow and unreal. but whilst that is true, and whilst it seems strange to say that we are commanded to love, still we can do a great deal, directly and indirectly, for the cultivation and strengthening of any emotion. we can either cast ourselves into the attitude which is favourable or unfavourable to it. we can either look at the facts which will create it or at those who will check it. we can go about with a sharp eye for the lovable or for the unlovable in man. we can either consciously war against or lazily acquiesce in our own predominant self-absorption and selfishness. and in these and in a number of other ways, our feelings towards other christian people are very largely under our own control, and therefore are fitting subjects for commandment. our lord lays down the obligation which devolves upon all christian people, of cherishing a kindly and loving regard to all others who find their place within the charmed circle of his church. it is an obligation because he commands it. he puts himself here in the position of the absolute lawgiver, who has the right of entire and authoritative control over men's affections and hearts. and it is further obligatory because such an attitude is the only fitting expression of the mutual relation of christian men, through their common relation to the vine. if there be the one life-sap circling through all parts of the mighty whole, how anomalous and how contradictory it is that these parts should not be harmoniously concordant among themselves! however unlike any two christian people are to each other in character, in culture, in circumstances, the bond that knits those who have the same relations to jesus christ one to another is far deeper, far more real, and ought to be far closer, than the bond that knits either of them to the men or women to whom they are likest in all these other respects, and to whom they are unlike in this central one. christian men! you are closer to every other christian man, down in the depths of your being, however he may be differenced from you by things that are very hard to get over, than you are to the people that you like best, and love most, if they do not participate with you in this common love to jesus christ. i dread talking mere sentiment about this matter, for there is perhaps no part of christian duty which has been so vulgarised and pawed over by mere unctuous talk, as that of the fellowship that should subsist between all christians. but i have one plain question to put,--does anybody believe that the present condition of christendom, and the relations to one another even of good christian people in the various churches and communions of our own and of other lands, is the sort of thing that jesus christ meant, or is anything like a fair and adequate representation of the deep, essential unity that knits us all together? we need far more to realise the fact that our emotions towards our brother christians are not matters in which our own inclinations may have their way, but that there is a simple commandment given to us, and that we are bound to cherish love to every man who loves jesus christ. never mind though he does not hold your theology; never mind though he be very ignorant and narrow as compared with you; never mind though your outlook on the world may be entirely unlike his. never mind though you be a rich man and he a poor one, or you a poor one and he rich, which is just as hard to get over. let all these secondary grounds of union and of separation be relegated to their proper subordinate place; and let us recognise this, that the children of one father are brethren. and do not let it be possible that it shall be said, as so often has been said, and said truly, that 'brethren' in the church means a great deal less than _brothers_ in the world. lift your eyes beyond the walls of the little sheepfold in which you live, and hearken to the bleating of the flocks away out yonder, and feel--'other sheep he has which are not of this fold'; and recognise the solemn obligation of the commandment of love. ii. note, secondly, the sufficiency of love. our lord has been speaking in a former verse about the keeping of his commandments. now he gathers them all up into one. 'this is my commandment, that ye love one another' all duties to our fellows, and all duties to our brethren, are summed up in, or resolved into, this one germinal, encyclopaediacal, all-comprehensive simplification of duty, into the one word 'love.' where the heart is right the conduct will be right. love will soften the tones, will instinctively teach what we ought to be and do; will take the bitterness out of opposition and diversity, will make even rebuke, when needful, only a form of expressing itself. if the heart be right all else will be right; and if there be a deficiency of love nothing will be right. you cannot help anybody except on condition of having an honest, beneficent, and benevolent regard towards him. you cannot do any man in the world any good unless there is a shoot of love in your heart towards him. you may pitch him benefits, and you will neither get nor deserve thanks for them; you may try to teach him, and your words will be hopeless and profitless. the one thing that is required to bind christian men together is this common affection. that being there, everything will come. it is the germ out of which all is developed. as we read in that great chapter to the corinthians--the lyric praise of charity,--all kinds of blessing and sweetness and gladness come out of this, it is the central force which, being present, secures that all shall be right, which, being absent, ensures that all shall be wrong. and is it not beautiful to see how jesus christ, leaving the little flock of his followers in the world, gave them no other instruction for their mutual relationship? he did not instruct them about institutions and organisations, about orders of the ministry and sacraments, or church polity and the like. he knew that all these would come. his one commandment was, 'love one another,' and that will make you wise. love one another, and you will shape yourselves into the right forms. he knew that they needed no exhortations such as ecclesiastics would have put in the foreground. it was not worth while to talk to them about organisations and officers. these would come to them at the right time and in the right way. the 'one thing needful' was that they should be knit together as true participators of his life. love was sufficient as their law and as their guide. iii. note, further, the pattern of love. 'as i have loved you. greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.' christ sets himself forward then, here and in this aspect, as he does in all aspects of human conduct and character, as being the realised ideal of them all. and although the thought is a digression from my present purpose, i cannot but pause for a moment to reflect upon the strangeness of a man thus calmly saying to the whole world, 'i am the embodiment of all that love ought to be. you cannot get beyond me, nor have anything more pure, more deep, more self-sacrificing, more perfect, than the love which i have borne to you.' but passing that, the pattern that he proposes for us is even more august than appears at first sight. for, if you remember, a verse or two before our lord had said, 'as the father hath loved me so i have loved you.' now he says, 'love one another as i have loved you.' there stand the three, as it were, the father, the son, the disciple. the son in the midst receives and transmits the father's love to the disciple, and the disciple is to love his fellows, in some deep and august sense, as the father loved the son. the divinest thing in god, and that in which men can be like god, is love. in all our other attitudes to him we rather correspond than copy. his fullness is met by our emptiness, his giving by our recipiency, his faithfulness by our faith, his command by our obedience, his light by our eye. but here it is not a case of correspondence only, but of similarity. my faith _answers_ god's gift to me, but my love is _like_ god's love. 'be ye, therefore, imitators of god as beloved children'; and having received that love into your hearts, ray it out, 'and walk in love as god also hath loved us.' but then our lord here, in a very wonderful manner, sets forth the very central point of his work, even his death upon the cross for us, as being the pattern to which our poor affection ought to aspire, and after which it must tend to be conformed. i need not remind you, i suppose, that our lord here is not speaking of the propitiatory character of his death, nor of the issues which depend upon it, and upon it alone, viz., the redemption and salvation of the world. he is not speaking, either, of the peculiar and unique sense in which he lays down his life for us, his friends and brethren, as none other can do. he is speaking about it simply in its aspect of being a voluntary surrender, at the bidding of love, for the good of those whom he loved, and that, he tells us--that, and nothing else--is the true pattern and model towards which all our love is bound to tend and to aspire. that is to say, the heart of the love which he commands is self-sacrifice, reaching to death if death be needful. and no man loves as christ would have him love who does not bear in his heart affection which has so conquered selfishness that, if need be, he is ready to die. the expression of christian life is not to be found in honeyed words, or the indolent indulgence in benevolent emotion, but in self-sacrifice, modelled after that of christ's sacrificial death, which is imitable by us. brethren, it is a solemn obligation, which may well make us tremble, that is laid on us in these words, 'as i have loved you.' calvary was less than twenty-four hours off, and he says to us, '_that_ is your pattern!' contrast our love at its height with his--a drop to an ocean, a poor little flickering rushlight held up beside the sun. my love, at its best, has so far conquered my selfishness that now and then i am ready to suffer a little inconvenience, to sacrifice a little leisure, to give away a little money, to spend a little dribble of sympathy upon the people who are its objects. christ's love nailed him to the cross, and led him down from the throne, and shut for a time the gates of the glory behind him. and he says, 'that is your pattern!' oh, let us bow down and confess how his word, which commands us, puts us to shame, when we think of how miserably we have obeyed. remember, too, that the restriction which here seems to be cast around the flow of his love is not a restriction in reality, but rather a deepening of it. he says, 'greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.' but evidently he calls them so from his point of view, and as he sees them, not from their point of view, as they see him--that is to say, he means by 'friends' not those who love him, but those whom he loves. the 'friends' for whom he dies are the same persons as the apostle, in his sweet variation upon the words of my text, has called by the opposite name, when he says that he died for his 'enemies.' there is an old, wild ballad that tells of how a knight found, coiling round a tree in a dismal forest, a loathly dragon breathing out poison; and how, undeterred by its hideousness and foulness, he cast his arms round it and kissed it on the mouth. three times he did it undisgusted, and at the third the shape changed into a fair lady, and he won his bride. christ 'kisses with the kisses of his mouth' his enemies, and makes them his friends because he loves them. 'if he had never died for his enemies' says one of the old fathers, 'he would never have possessed his friends.' and so he teaches us here in what seems to be a restriction of the purpose of his death and the sweep of his love, that the way by which we are to meet even alienation and hostility is by pouring upon it the treasures of an unselfish, self-sacrificing affection which will conquer at the last. christ's death is the pattern for our lives as well as the hope of our hearts. iv. lastly, we have here by implication, though not by direct statement, the motive of the love. surely that, too, is contained in the words, 'as i have loved you.' christ's commandment of love is a new commandment, not so much because it is a revelation of a new duty, though it is the casting of an old duty into new prominence, as because it is not merely a revelation of an obligation, but the communication of power to fulfil it. the novelty of christian morality lies here, that in its law there is a self-fulfilling force. we have not to look to one place for the knowledge of our duty, and somewhere else for the strength to do it, but both are given to us in the one thing, the gift of the dying christ and his immortal love. that love, received into our hearts, will conquer, and it alone will conquer, our selfishness. that love, received into our hearts, will mould, and it alone will mould, them into its own likeness. that love, received into our hearts, will knit, and it alone will knit, all those who participate in it into a common bond, sweet, deep, sacred, and all-victorious. and so, brethren, if we would know the blessedness and the sweetness of victory over these miserable, selfish hearts of ours, and to walk in the liberty of love, we can only get it by keeping close to jesus christ. in any circle, the nearer the points of the circumference are to the centre, the closer they will necessarily be to one another. as we draw nearer, each for himself, to our centre, we shall feel that we have approximated to all those who stand round the same centre, and draw from it the same life. in the early spring, when the wheat is green and young, and scarcely appears above the ground, it comes up in the lines in which it was sown, parted from one another and distinctly showing their separation and the furrows. but when the full corn in the ear waves on the autumn plain, all the lines and separations have disappeared, and there is one unbroken tract of sunny fruitfulness. and so when the life in christ is low and feeble, his servants may be separated and drawn up in rigid lines of denominations, and churches, and sects; but as they grow the lines disappear. if to the churches of england to-day there came a sudden accession of knowledge of christ, and of union with him, the first thing that would go would be the wretched barriers that separate us from one another. for if we have the life of christ in any adequate measure in ourselves, we shall certainly have grown up above the fences behind which we began to grow, and shall be able to reach out to all that love the lord jesus christ, and feel with thankfulness that we are one in him. christ's friends 'ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever i command you. henceforth i call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but i have called you friends; for all things that i have heard of my father i have made known unto you. ye have not chosen me, but i have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatsoever ye shall ask of the father in my name, he may give it you. these things i command you, that ye love one another.'--john xv. 14-17. a wonderful word has just dropped from the master's lips, when he spoke of laying down his life for his friends. he lingers on it as if the idea conveyed was too great and sweet to be taken in at once, and with soothing reiteration he assures the little group that they, even they, are his friends. i have ventured to take these four verses for consideration now, although each of them, and each clause of them, might afford ample material for a discourse, because they have one common theme. they are a description of what christ's friends are to him, of what he is to them, and of what they should be to one another. so they are a little picture, in the sweetest form, of the reality, the blessedness, the obligations, of friendship with christ. i. notice what christ's friends do for him. 'ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever i command you.' in the former verse, 'friends' means chiefly those whom he loved. here it means mainly those who love him. they love him because he loves them, of course; and the two sides of the one thought cannot be parted. but still in this verse the idea of friendship to christ is looked at from the human side, and he tells his disciples that they are his lovers as well as beloved of him, on condition of their doing whatsoever he commands them. he lingers, as i said, on the idea itself. as if he would meet the doubts arising from the sense of unworthiness, and from some dim perception of how he towers above them, and their limitations, he reiterates, 'wonderful as it is, you poor men, half-intelligent lovers of mine, _you_ are my friends, beloved of me, and loving me, if ye do whatsoever i command you.' how wonderful that stooping love of his is, which condescends to array itself in the garments of ours! every form of human love christ lays his hand upon, and claims that he himself exercises it in a transcendent degree. 'he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister and mother.' that which is even sacreder, the purest and most complete union that humanity is capable of--that, too, he consecrates; for even it, sacred as it is, is capable of a higher consecration, and, sweet as it is, receives a new sweetness when we think of 'the bride, the lamb's wife,' and remember the parables in which he speaks of the marriage supper of the great king, and sets forth himself as the husband of humanity. and passing from that holy of holies out into this outer court, he lays his hand, too, on that more common and familiar, and yet precious and sacred, thing--the bond of friendship. the prince makes a friend of the beggar. even if we do not think more loftily of jesus christ than do those who regard him simply as the perfection of humanity, is it not beautiful and wonderful that he should look with such eyes of beaming love on that handful of poor, ignorant fishermen, who knew him so dimly, and say: 'i pass by all the wise and the mighty, all the lofty and noble, and my heart clings to you poor, insignificant people?' he stoops to make them his friends, and there are none so low but that they may be his. this friendship lasts to-day. a peculiarity of christianity is the strong personal tie of real love and intimacy which will bind men, to the end of time, to this man that died nineteen hundred years ago. we look back into the wastes of antiquity: mighty names rise there that we reverence; there are great teachers from whom we have learned, and to whom, after a fashion, we are grateful. but what a gulf there is between us and the best and noblest of them! but here is a dead man, who to-day is the object of passionate attachment and a love deeper than life to millions of people, and will be till the end of time. there is nothing in the whole history of the world in the least like that strange bond which ties you and me to the saviour, and the paradox of the apostle remains a unique fact in the experience of humanity: 'jesus christ, whom, having not seen, ye love.' we stretch out our hands across the waste, silent centuries, and there, amidst the mists of oblivion, thickening round all other figures in the past, we touch the warm, throhbing heart of our friend, who lives for ever, and for ever is near us. we here, nearly two millenniums after the words fell on the nightly air on the road to gethsemane, have them coming direct to our hearts. a perpetual bond unites men with christ to-day; and for us, as really as in that long-past paschal night, is it true, 'ye are my friends.' there are no limitations in that friendship, no misconstructions in that heart, no alienation possible, no change to be feared. there is absolute rest for us there. why should i be solitary if jesus christ is my friend? why should i fear if he walks by my side? why should anything be burdensome if he lays it upon me and helps me to bear it? what is there in life that cannot be faced and borne--aye, and conquered,--if we have him, as we all may have him, for the friend and the home of our hearts? but notice the condition, 'if ye do what i command you.' note the singular blending of friendship and command, involving on our parts the cultivation of the two things which are not incompatible, absolute submission and closest friendship. he commands though he is friend; though he commands he is friend. the conditions that he lays down are the same which have already occupied our attention in former sermons of this series, and so may be touched very lightly. 'ye are my friends if ye do the things which i command you,' may either correspond with his former saying, 'if a man love me he will keep my commandments,' or with his later one, which immediately precedes our text, 'if ye keep my commandments ye shall abide in my love.' for this is the relationship between love and obedience, in regard to jesus christ, that the love is the parent of the obedience, and the obedience is the guard and guarantee of the love. they who love will obey, they who obey will strengthen love by acting according to its dictates, and will be in a condition to feel and realise more the warmth of the rays that stream down upon them, and to send back more fully answering obedience from their hearts. not in mere emotion, not in mere verbal expression, not in mere selfish realising of the blessings of his friendship, and not in mere mechanical, external acts of conformity, but in the flowing down and melting of the hard and obstinate iron will, at the warmth of his great love, is our love made perfect. the obedience, which is the child and the preserver of love, is something far deeper than the mere outward conformity with externally apprehended commandments. to submit is the expression of love, and love is deepened by submission. ii. secondly, note what christ does for his friends. 'henceforth i call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth.' the slave may see what his lord does, but he does not know his purpose in his acts--'theirs not to reason why.' in so far as the relation of master and servant goes, and still more in that of owner and slave, there is simple command on the one side and unintelligent obedience on the other. the command needs no explanation, and if the servant is in his master's confidence he is more than a servant. but, says christ, 'i have called you friends'; and he had called them so before he now named them so. he had called them so in act, and he points to all his past relationship, and especially to the heart-outpourings of the upper room, as the proof that he had called them his friends, in the fact that whatsoever he had heard of the father he had made known to them. jesus christ, then, recognises the obligation of absolute frankness, and he will tell his friends everything that he can. when he tells them what he can, the voice of the father speaks through the son. every one of christ's friends stands nearer to god than did moses at the door of the tabernacle, when the wondering camp beheld him face to face with the blaze of the shekinah glory, and dimly heard the thunderous utterances of god as he spake to him 'as a man speaks to his friend.' that was surface-speech compared with the divine depth and fullness of the communications which jesus christ deems himself bound, and assumes himself able, to make to them who love him and whom he loves. of course to christ's frankness there are limits. he will not pour out his treasures into vessels that will spill them; and as he himself says in the subsequent part of this great discourse, 'i have many things to say unto you, but you are not able to carry them now.' his last word was, 'i have declared thy name unto my brethren, and _will declare_ it.' and though here he speaks as if his communication was perfect, we are to remember that it was necessarily conditioned by the power of reception on the part of the hearers, and that there was much yet to be revealed of what god had whispered to him, ere these men, that clustered round him, could understand the message. that frank speech is continued to-day. jesus christ recognises the obligation that binds him to impart to each of us all that each of us is in our inmost spirits capable of receiving. by the light which he sheds on the word, by many a suggestion through human lips, by many a blessed thought rising quietly within our hearts, and bearing the token that it comes from a sacreder source than our poor, blundering minds, he still speaks to us, his friends. ought not that thought of the utter frankness of jesus make us, for one thing, very patient, intellectually and spiritually, of the gaps that are left in his communications and in our knowledge? there are so many things that we sometimes think we should like to know, things about that dark future where some of our hearts live so constantly, things about the depths of his nature and the divine character, things about the relation between god's love and god's righteousness, things about the meaning of all this dreadful mystery in which we grope our way. these and a hundred other questionings suggest to us that it would have been so easy for him to have lifted a little corner of the veil, and let a little more of the light shine out. he holds all in his hand. why does he thus open one finger instead of the whole palm? because he loves. a friend exercises the right of reticence as well as the prerogative of speech. and for all the gaps that are left, let us bow quietly and believe that if it had been better for us he would have spoken. 'if it were not so i would have told you.' 'trust me! i tell you all that it is good for you to receive.' and that frankness may well teach us another lesson, viz., the obligation of keeping our ears open and our hearts prepared to receive the speech that does come from him. ah, brother! many a message from your lord flits past you, like the idle wind through an archway, because you are not listening for his voice. if we kept down the noise of that 'household jar within'; if we silenced passion, ambition, selfishness, worldliness; if we withdrew ourselves, as we ought to do, from the babel of this world, and 'hid ourselves in his pavilion from the strife of tongues'; if we took less of our religion out of books and from other people, and were more accustomed to 'dwell in the secret place of the most high,' and to say, 'speak, friend! for thy friend heareth,' we should more often understand how real to-day is the voice of christ to them that love him. 'such rebounds the inward ear catches often from afar; listen, prize them, hold them dear, for of god--of god--they are.' iii. thirdly, notice how christ's friends come to be so, and why they are so. 'ye have not chosen,' etc. (verse 16). our lord refers here, no doubt, primarily to the little group of the apostles; the choice and ordaining as well as 'the fruit that abides,' point, in the first place, to their apostolic office, and to the results of their apostolic labours. but we must widen out the words a great deal beyond that reference. in all the cases of friendship between christ and men, the origination and initiation come from him. 'we love him because he first loved us.' he has told us how, in his divine alchemy, he changes by the shedding of his blood our enmity into friendship. in the previous verse he has said, 'greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.' and as i remarked in my last sermon, the friends here are the same as 'the enemies' for whom, the apostle tells us that christ laid down his life. since he has thus by the blood of the cross changed men's enmity into friendship, it is true universally that the amity between us and christ comes entirely from him. but there is more than that in the words. i do not suppose that any man, whatever his theological notions and standpoint may be, who has felt the love of christ in his own heart in however feeble a measure, but will say, as the apostle said, 'i was apprehended of christ.' it is because he lays his seeking and drawing hand upon us that we ever come to love him, and it is true that his choice of us precedes our choice of him, and that the shepherd always comes to seek the sheep that is lost in the wilderness. this, then, is how we come to be his friends; because, when we were enemies, he loved us, and gave himself for us, and ever since has been sending out the ambassadors and the messengers of his love--or, rather, the rays and beams of it, which are parts of himself--to draw us to his heart. and the purpose which all this forthgoing of christ's initial and originating friendship has had in view, is set forth in words which i can only touch in the lightest possible manner. the intention is twofold. first, it respects service or fruit. 'that ye may _go_'; there is deep pathos and meaning in that word. he had been telling them that he was going; now he says to them, 'you are to go. we part here. my road lies upward; yours runs onward. go into all the world.' he gives them a _quasi_-independent position; he declares the necessity of separation; he declares also the reality of union in the midst of the separation; he sends _them_ out on their course with his benediction, as he does _us_. wheresoever we go in obedience to his will, we carry the consciousness of his friendship. 'that ye may bring forth fruit'--he goes back for a moment to the sweet emblem with which this chapter begins, and recurs to the imagery of the vine and the fruit. 'keeping his commandments' does not explain the whole process by which we do the things that are pleasing in his sight. we must also take this other metaphor of the bearing of fruit. neither an effortless, instinctive bringing forth from the renewed nature and the christlike disposition, nor a painful and strenuous effort at obedience to his law, describe the whole realities of christian service. there must be the effort, for men do not grow christlike in character as the vine grows its grapes; but there must also be, regulated and disciplined by the effort, the inward life, for no mere outward obedience and tinkering at duties and commandments will produce the fruit that christ desires and rejoices to have. first comes unity of life with him; and then effort. take care of modern teachings that do not recognise these two as both essential to the complete ideal of christian service--the spontaneous fruit-bearing, and the strenuous effort after obedience. 'that your fruit should remain'; nothing corrupts faster than fruit. there is only one kind of fruit that is permanent, incorruptible. the only life's activity that outlasts life and the world is the activity of the men who obey christ. the other half of the issues of this friendship is the satisfying of our desires, 'that whatsoever ye shall ask the father in my name he may give it you.' we have already had substantially the same promise in previous parts of this discourse, and therefore i may deal with it very lightly. how comes it that it is certain that christ's friends, living close to him and bearing fruit, will get what they want? because what they want will be 'in his name'--that is to say, in accordance with his disposition and will. make your desires christ's, and christ's yours, and you will be satisfied. iv. and now, lastly, for one moment, note the mutual friendship of christ's friends. we have frequently had to consider that point--the relation of the friends of christ to each other. 'these things i command you, that ye love one another.' this whole context is, as it were, enclosed within a golden circlet by that commandment which appeared in a former verse, at the beginning of it, 'this is my commandment, that ye love one another,' and reappears here at the close, thus shutting off this portion from the rest of the discourse. friends of a friend should themselves be friends. we care for the lifeless things that a dear friend has cared for; books, articles of use of various sorts. if these have been of interest to him, they are treasures and precious evermore to us. and here are living men and women, in all diversities of character and circumstances, but with this stamped upon them all--christ's friends, lovers of and loved by him. and how can we be indifferent to those to whom christ is not indifferent? we are knit together by that bond. we are but poor friends of that master unless we feel that all which is dear to him is dear to us. let us feel the electric thrill which ought to pass through the whole linked circle, and let us beware that we slip not our hands from the grasp of the neighbour on either side, lest, parted from them, we should be isolated from him, and lose some of the love which we fail to transmit. sheep among wolves 'if the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. if ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but i have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. remember the word that i said unto you, the servant is not greater than his lord. if they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.'--john xv. 18-20. these words strike a discord in the midst of the sweet music to which we have been listening. the key-note of all that has preceded has been love--the love of christ's friends to one another, and of all to him, as an answer to his love to all. that love, which is one, whether it rise to him or is diffused on the level of earth, is the result of that unity of life between the vine and the branches, of which our lord has been speaking such great and wonderful things. but that unity of life between christians and christ has another consequence than the spread of love. just because it binds them to him in a sacred community, it separates them from those who do not share in his life, and hence the 'hate' of our context is the shadow of 'love'; and there result two communities--to use the much-abused words that designate them--the church and 'the world'; and the antagonism between these is deep, fundamental, and perpetual. unquestionably, our lord is here speaking with special reference to the apostles, who, in a very tragic sense, were 'sent forth as sheep in the midst of wolves.' if we may trust tradition, every one of that little company, speaker as well as hearers, died a martyr's death, with the exception of john himself, who was preserved from it by a miracle. but, be that as it may, our lord is here laying down a universal statement of the permanent condition of things; and there is no more reason for restricting the force of these words to the original hearers of them than there is for restricting the force of any of the rest of this wonderful discourse. 'the world' will be in antagonism to the church until the world ceases to be a world, because it obeys the king; and then, and not till then, will it cease to be hostile to his subjects. i. what makes this hostility inevitable? our lord here prepares his hearers for what is coming by putting it in the gentle form of an hypothesis. the frequency with which 'if' occurs in this section is very remarkable. he will not startle them by the bare, naked statement which they, in that hour of depression and agitation, were so little able to endure, but he puts it in the shape of a 'suppose that,' not because there is any doubt, but in order to alleviate the pain of the impression which he desires to make. he says, 'if the world hates,' not 'if the world hate'; and the tense of the original shows that, whilst the form of the statement is hypothetical, the substance of it is prophetic. jesus points to two things, as you will observe, which make this hostility inevitable. 'if the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.' and again, 'if ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but i have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.' the very language carries with it the implication of necessary and continual antagonism. for what is 'the world,' in this context, but the aggregate of men, who have no share in the love and life that flow from jesus christ? necessarily they constitute a unity, whatever diversities there may be amongst them, and necessarily, that unity in its banded phalanx is in antagonism, in some measure, to those who constitute the other unity, which holds by christ, and has been drawn by him from 'out of the world.' if we share christ's life, we must, necessarily, in some measure, share his fate. it is the typical example of what the world thinks of, and does to, goodness. and all who have 'the spirit of life which was in jesus christ' for the animating principle of their lives, will, just in the measure in which they possess it, come under the same influences which carried him to the cross. in a world like this, it is impossible for a man to 'love righteousness and hate iniquity,' and to order his life accordingly, without treading on somebody's corns; being a rebuke to the opposite course of conduct, either interfering with men's self-complacency or with their interests. from the beginning the blind world has repaid goodness by antagonism and contempt. and then our lord touches another, and yet closely-connected, cause when he speaks of his selecting the apostles, and drawing them out of the world, as a reason for the world's hostility. there are two groups, and the fundamental principles that underlie each are in deadly antagonism. in the measure in which you and i are christians we are in direct opposition to all the maxims which rule the world and make it a world. what we believe to be precious it regards as of no account. what we believe to be fundamental truth it passes by as of little importance. much which we feel to be wrong it regards as good. our jewels are its tinsel, and its jewels are our tinsel. we and it stand in diametrical opposition of thought about god, about self, about duty, about life, about death, about the future; and that opposition goes right down to the bottom of things. however it may be covered over, there is a gulf, as in some of those american canons: the towering cliffs may be very near--only a yard or two seems to separate them; but they go down for thousands and thousands of feet, and never are any nearer each other, and between them at the bottom a black, sullen river flows. 'if ye were of the world, the world would love its own.' if it loves you, it is because ye are of it. ii. and so note, secondly, how this hostility is masked and modified. there are a great many other bonds that unite men together besides the bonds of religious life or their absence. there are the domestic ties, there are the associations of commerce and neighbourhood, there are surface identities of opinion about many important things. the greater portion of our lives moves on this surface, whore all men are alike. 'if you tickle us, do we not laugh; if you wound us, do we not bleed?' we have all the same affections and needs, pursue the same avocations, do the same sort of things, and a large portion of every one's life is under the dominion of habit and custom, and determined by external circumstances. so there is a film of roofing thrown over the gulf. you can make up a crack in a wall with plaster after a fashion, and it will hide the solution of continuity that lies beneath. but let bad weather come, and soon the bricks gape apart as before. and so, as soon as we get down below the surface of things and grapple with the real, deep-lying, and formative principles of a life, we come to antagonism, just as they used to come to it long ago, though the form of it has become quite different. then there are other causes modifying this hostility. the world has got a dash of christianity into it since jesus christ spoke. we cannot say that it is half christianised, but some of the issues and remoter consequences of christianity have permeated the general conscience, and the ethics of the gospel are largely diffused in such a land as this. thus christian men and others have, to a large extent, a common code of morality, as long as they keep on the surface; and they not only do a good many things exactly alike, but do a great many things from substantially the same motives, and have the same way of looking at much. thus the gulf is partly bridged over; and the hostility takes another form. we do not wrap christians in pitch and stick them up for candles in the emperor's garden nowadays, but the same thing can be done in different ways. newspaper articles, the light laugh of scorn, the whoop of exultation over the failures or faults of any prominent man that has stood out boldly on christ's side; all these indicate what lies below the surface, and sometimes not so very far below. many a young man in a manchester warehouse, trying to live a godly life, many a workman at his bench, many a commercial traveller in the inn or on the road, many a student on the college benches, has to find out that there is a great gulf between him and the man who sits next to him, and that he cannot be faithful to his lord, and at the same time, down to the depths of his being, a friend of one who has no friendship to his master. still another fact masks the antagonism, and that is, that after all, the world, meaning thereby the aggregate of godless men, has a conscience that responds to goodness, though grumblingly and reluctantly. after all, men do know that it is better to be good, that it is better and wiser to be like christ, that it is nobler to live for him than for self, and that consciousness cannot but modify to some extent the manifestations of the hostility, but it is there all the same, and whosoever will be a christian after christ's pattern will find out that it is there. let a man for christ's sake avow unpopular beliefs, let him try honestly to act out the new testament, let him boldly seek to apply christian principles to the fashionable and popular sins of his class or of his country, let him in any way be ahead of the conscience of the majority, and what a chorus will be yelping at his heels! dear brethren, the law still remains, 'if any man will be a friend of the world he is at enmity with god.' iii. thirdly, note how you may escape the hostility. a half-christianised world and a more than half-secularised church get on well together. 'when they do agree, their agreement is wonderful.' and it is a miserable thing to reflect that about the average christianity of this generation there is so very little that does deserve the antagonism of the world. why should the world care to hate or trouble itself about a professing church, large parts of which are only a bit of the world under another name? there is no need whatever that there should be any antagonism at all between a godless world and hosts of professing christians. if you want to escape the hostility drop your flag, button your coat over the badge that shows that you belong to christ, and do the things that the people round about you do, and you will have a perfectly easy and undisturbed life. of course, in the bad old slavery days, a christianity that had not a word to say about the sin of slave-holding ran no risk of being tarred and feathered. of course a christianity in manchester that winks hard at commercial immoralities is very welcome on the exchange. of course a christianity that lets beer barrels alone may reckon upon having publicans for its adherents. of course a christianity that blesses flags and sings _te deums_ over victories will get its share of the spoil. why should the world hate, or persecute, or do anything but despise a christianity like that, any more than a man need to care for a tame tiger that has had its claws pared? if the world can put a hook in the nostrils of leviathan, and make him play with its maidens, it will substitute good-nature, half contemptuous, for the hostility which our master here predicts. it was out-and-out christians that he said the world would hate; the world likes christians that are like itself. christian men and women! be you sure that you deserve the hostility which my text predicts. iv. and now, lastly, note how to meet this antagonism. reckon it as a sign and test of true union with jesus christ. and so, if ever, by reason of our passing at the call of duty or benevolence outside the circle of those who sympathise with our faith and fundamental ideas, we encounter it more manifestly than when we 'dwell among our own people,' let us count the 'reproach of christ' as a treasure to be proud of, and to be guarded. be sure that it is your goodness and not your evils or your weakness, that men dislike. the world has a very keen eye for the inconsistencies and the faults of professing christians, and it is a good thing that it has. the loftier your profession the sharper the judgment that is applied to you. many well-meaning christian people, by an injudicious use of christian phraseology in the wrong place, and by the glaring contradiction between their prayers and their talks and their daily life, bring down a great deal of deserved hostility upon themselves and of discredit upon christianity; and then they comfort themselves and say they are bearing the 'reproach of the cross.' not a bit of it! they are bearing the natural results of their own failings and faults. and it is for us to see to it that what provokes, if it does provoke, hostile judgments and uncharitable criticisms, insulting speeches and sarcasms, and the sense of our belonging to another regiment and having other objects, is our cleaving to jesus christ, and not the imperfections and the sins with which we so often spoil that cleaving. be you careful for this, that it is christ in you that men turn from, and not you yourself and your weakness and sin. meet this antagonism by not dropping your standard one inch. keep the flag right at the masthead. if you begin to haul it down, where are you going to stop? nowhere, until you have got it draggling in the mud at the foot. it is of no use to try to conciliate by compromise. all that we shall gain by that will be, as i have said, indifference and contempt; all that we shall gain will be a loss to the cause. a great deal is said in this day, and many efforts are being made--i cannot but think mistaken efforts--by christian people to bridge over this gulf in the wrong way--that is, by trying to make out that christianity in its fundamental principles does approximate a great deal more closely to the things that the world goes by than it really does. it is all vain, and the only issue of it will be that we shall have a decaying christianity and a dying spiritual life. keep the flag up; emphasise and accentuate the things that the world disbelieves and denies, not pushing them to the 'falsehood of extremes,' but not by one jot diminishing the clearness of our testimony by reason of the world's unwillingness to receive it. our victory is to be won only through absolute faithfulness to christ's ideal. and, lastly, meet hostility with unmoved, patient, christlike, and christ-derived love and sympathy. the patient sunshine pours upon the glaciers and melts the thick-ribbed ice at last into sweet water. the patient sunshine beats upon the mist-cloud and breaks up its edges and scatters it at the last. and our lord here tells us that our experience, if we are faithful to him, will be like his experience, in that some will hearken to our word though others will persecute, and to some our testimony will come as a message from god that draws them to the lord himself. these are our only weapons, brethren! the only conqueror of the world is the love that was in christ breathed through us; the only victory over suspicion, contempt, alienation, is pleading, persistent, long-suffering, self-denying love. the only way to overcome the world's hostility is by turning the world into a church, and that can only be done when christ's servants oppose pity to wrath, love to hate, and in the strength of his life who has won us all by the same process, seek to win the world for him by the manifestation of his victorious love in our patient love. dear brethren, to which army do you belong? which community is yours? are you in christ's ranks, or are you in the world's? do you love him back again, or do you meet his open heart with a closed one, and his hand, laden with blessings, with hands clenched in refusal? to which class do i belong?--it is the question of questions for us all; and i pray that you and i, won from our hatred by his love, and wooed out of our death by his life, and made partakers of his life by his death, may yield our hearts to him, and so pass from out of the hostility and mistrust of a godless world into the friendships and peace of the sheltering vine. and then we 'shall esteem the reproach of christ' if it fall upon our heads, in however modified and mild a form, 'greater riches than the treasures of egypt,' and 'have respect unto the recompense of the reward.' may it be so with us all! the world's hatred, as christ saw it 'but all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me. if i had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin. he that hateth me, hateth my father also. if i had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my father. but this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, they hated me without a cause.'--john xv. 21-25. our lord has been speaking of the world's hostility to his followers, and tracing that to its hostility to himself. in these solemn words of our text he goes still deeper, and parallels the relation which his disciples bear to him and the consequent hostility that falls on them, with the relation which he bears to the father and the consequent hostility that falls on him: 'they hate you because they hate me.' and then his words become sadder and pierce deeper, and with a tone of wounded love and disappointed effort and almost surprise at the world's requital to him, he goes on to say, 'they hate me, because they hate the father.' so, then, here we have, in very pathetic and solemn words, christ's view of the relation of the world to him and to god. i. the first point that he signalises is the world's ignorance. 'these things they will do unto you,' and they will do them 'for my name's sake'; they will do them 'because they know not him that sent me.' 'the world,' in christ's language, is the aggregate of godless men. or, to put it a little more sharply, our lord, in this context, gives in his full adhesion to that narrow view which divides those who have come under the influence of his truth into two portions. there is no mincing of the matter in the antithesis which christ here draws; no hesitation, as if there were a great central mass, too bad for a blessing perhaps, but too good for a curse; which was neither black nor white, but neutral grey. no! however it may be with the masses beyond the reach of the dividing and revealing power of his truth, the men that come into contact with him, like a heap of metal filings brought into contact with a magnet, mass themselves into two bunches, the one those who yield to the attraction, and the other those who do not. the one is 'my disciples,' and the other is 'the world.' and now, says jesus christ, all that mass that stands apart from him, and, having looked upon him with the superficial eye of those men round about him at that day, or of the men who hear of him now, have no real love to him--have, as the underlying motive of their conduct and their feelings, a real ignorance of god, 'they know not him that sent me.' our lord assumes that he is so completely the copy and revealer of the divine nature as that any man that looks upon him has had the opportunity of becoming acquainted with god, and that any man who turns away from him has lost that opportunity. the god that the men who do not love jesus christ believe in, is not the father that sent him. it is a fragment, a distorted image tinted by the lens. the world has its conception of god; but outside of jesus christ and his manifestation of the whole divine nature, the world's god is but a syllable, a fragment, a broken part of the perfect completeness. 'the father of an infinite majesty,' and of as infinite a tenderness, the stooping god, the pitying god, the forgiving god, the loving god is known only where christ is accepted. in other hearts he may be dimly hoped for, in other hearts he may be half believed in, in other hearts he may be thought possible; but hopes and anticipations and fears and doubts are not knowledge, and they who see not the light in christ see but the darkness. out of him god is not known, and they that turn away from his beneficent manifestation turn their faces to the black north, from which no sun can shine. brother, do you know god in christ? unless you do, you do not know the god who is. but there is a deeper meaning in that word than simply the possession of true thoughts concerning the divine nature. we know god as we know one another; because god is a person, as we are persons, and the only way to know persons is through familiar acquaintance and sympathy. so the world which turns away from christ has no acquaintance with god. this is a surface fact. our lord goes on to show what lies below it. ii. his second thought here is--the world's ignorance in the face of christ's light is worse than ignorance; it is sin. mark how he speaks: 'if i had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.' and then again: 'if i had not done amongst them the works which none other men did, they had not had sin.' so then he puts before us two forms of his manifestation of the divine nature, by his words and his works. of these two he puts his words foremost, as being a deeper and more precious and brilliant revelation of what god is than are his miracles. the latter are subordinate, they come as a second source of illumination. men who will not see the beauty and listen to the truth that lie in his word may perchance be led by his deed. but the word towers in its nature high above the work, and the miracle to the word is but like the picture in the child's book to the text, fit for feeble eyes and infantile judgments, but containing far less of the revelation of god than the sacred words which he speaks. first the words, next the miracles. but notice, too, how decisively, and yet simply and humbly and sorrowfully, our lord here makes a claim which, on the lips of any but himself, would have been mere madness of presumption. think of any of us saying that our words made all the difference between innocent ignorance and criminality! think of any of us saying that to listen to us, and not be persuaded, was the sin of sins! think of any of us pointing to our actions and saying, in these god is so manifest that not to see him augurs wickedness, and is condemnation! and yet jesus christ says all this. and, what is more wonderful, nobody wonders that he says it, and the world believes that he is saying the truth when he says it. how does that come? there is only one answer; only one. his words were the illuminating manifestation of god, and his deeds were the plain and unambiguous operation of the divine hand then and there, only because he himself was divine, and in him 'god was manifested in the flesh.' but passing from that, notice how our lord here declares that in comparison with the sin of not listening to his words, and being taught by his manifestation, all other sins dwindle into nothing. 'if i had not spoken, they had not had sin.' that does not mean, of course, that these men would have been clear of all moral delinquency; it does not mean that there would not have been amongst them crimes against their own consciences, crimes against the law written on their own hearts, crimes against the law of revelation. there were liars, impure men, selfish men, and men committing all the ordinary forms of human transgression amongst them. and yet, says christ, black and bespattered as these natures are, they are white in comparison with the blackness of the man who, looking into his face, sees nothing there that he should desire. beside the mountain belching out its sulphurous flame the little pimple of a molehill is nought. and so, says christ, heaven heads the count of sins with this--unbelief in me. ah, brother, as light grows responsibility grows, and this is the misery of all illumination that comes through jesus christ, that where it does not draw a man into his sweet love, and fill him with the knowledge of god which is eternal life, it darkens his nature and aggravates his condemnation, and lays a heavier burden upon his soul. the truth that the measure of light is the measure of guilt has many aspects. it turns a face of alleviation to the dark places of the earth; but just in the measure that it lightens the condemnation of the heathen, it adds weight to the condemnation of you men and women who are bathed in the light of christianity, and all your days have had it streaming in upon you. the measure of the guilt is the brightness of the light. no shadows are so black as those which the intense sunshine of the tropics casts. and you and i live in the very tropical regions of divine revelation, and 'if we turn away from him that spoke on earth and speaketh from heaven, of how much sorer punishment, think you, shall we be thought worthy' than those who live away out in the glimmering twilight of an unevangelised paganism, or who stood by the side of jesus christ when they had only his earthly life to teach them? iii. the ignorance which is sin is the manifestation of hatred. our lord has sorrowfully contemplated the not knowing god, which in the blaze of his light can only come from wilful closing of the eyes, and is therefore the very sin of sins. but that, sad as it is, is not all which has to be said about that blindness of unbelief in him. it indicates a rooted alienation of heart and mind and will from god, and is, in fact, the manifestation of an unconscious but real hatred. it is an awful saying, and one which the lips 'into which grace was poured' could not pronounce without a sigh. but it is our wisdom to listen to what it was his mercy to say. observe our lord's identification of himself with the father, so as that the feelings with which men regard him are, _ipso facto_, the feelings with which they regard the father god. 'he that hath seen me hath seen the father.' 'he that hath loved me hath loved the father.' 'he that hath hated me hath hated the father.' an ugly word--a word that a great many of us think far too severe and harsh to be applied to men who simply are indifferent to the divine love. some say, 'i am conscious of no hatred. i do not pretend to be a christian, but i do not hate god. take the ordinary run of people round about us in the world; if you say god is not in all their thoughts, i agree with you; but if you say that they _hate_ god, i do not believe it.' well, what do you think the fact that men go through their days and weeks and months and years, and have not god in all their thoughts, indicates as to the central feeling of their hearts towards god? granted that there is not actual antagonism, because there is no thought at all, do you think it would be possible for a man who loved god to go on for a twelvemonth and never think of, or care to please, or desire to be near, the object that he loved? and inasmuch as, deep down at the bottom of our moral being, there is no such thing possible as indifference and a perfect equipoise in reference to god, it is clear enough, i think, that--although the word must not be pressed as if it meant conscious and active antagonism,--where there is no love there is hate. if a man does not love god as he is revealed to him in jesus christ, he neither cares to please him nor to think about him, nor does he order his life in obedience to his commands. and if it be true that obedience is the very life-breath of love, disobedience or non-obedience is the manifestation of antagonism, and antagonism towards god is the same thing as hate. dear friends, i want some of my hearers to-day who have never honestly asked themselves the question of what their relation to god is, to go down into the deep places of their hearts and test themselves by this simple inquiry: 'do i do anything to please him? do i try to serve him? is it a joy to me to be near him? is the thought of him a delight, like a fountain in the desert or the cool shadow of a great rock in the blazing wilderness? do i turn to him as my home, my friend, my all? if i do not, am i not deceiving myself by fancying that i stand neutral?' there is no neutrality in a man's relation to god. it is one thing or other. 'ye cannot serve god and mammon.' 'the friendship of the world is enmity against god.' iv. and now, lastly, note how our lord here touches the deep thought that this ignorance, which is sin, and is more properly named hatred, is utterly irrational and causeless. 'all this will they do that it might be fulfilled which is written in their law, they hated me without a cause.' one hears sighing through these words the master's meek wonder that his love should be so met, and that the requital which he receives at men's hands, for such an unexampled and lavish outpouring of it, should be such a carelessness, reposing upon a hidden basis of such a rooted alienation. 'without a cause'; yes! that suggests the deep thought that the most mysterious and irrational thing in men's whole history and experience is the way in which they recompense god in christ for what he has done for them. 'be astonished, o ye heavens! and wonder, o ye earth!' said one of the old prophets; the mystery of mysteries, which can give no account of itself to satisfy reason, which has no apology, excuse, or vindication, is just that when god loves me i do not love him back again; and that when christ pours out the whole fullness of his heart upon me, nay dull and obstinate heart gives back so little to him who has given me so much. 'without a cause.' think of that cross; think, as every poor creature on earth has a right to think, that he and she individually were in the mind and heart of the saviour when he suffered and died, and then think of what we have brought him for it. de we not stand ashamed at-if i might use so trivial a word,--the absurdity as well as at the criminality of our requital? causeless love on the one side, occasioned by nothing but itself, and causeless indifference on the other, occasioned by nothing but itself, are the two powers that meet in this mystery-men's rejection of the infinite love of god. my friend, come away from the unreasonable people, come away from the men who can give no account of their attitude. come away from those who pay benefits by carelessness, and a love that died by an indifference that will not cast an eye upon that miracle of mercy, and let his love kindle the answering flame in your hearts. then you will know god as only they who love christ know him, and in the sweetness of a mutual bond will lose the misery of self, and escape the deepening condemnation of those who see christ on the cross and do not care for the sight, nor learn by it to know the infinite tenderness and holiness of the father that sent him. our ally 'but when the comforter is come, whom i will send unto you from the father, even the spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the father, he shall testify of me: and ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.'--john xv. 26, 27. our lord has been speaking of a world hostile to his followers and to him. he proceeds, in the words which immediately follow our text, to paint that hostility as aggravated even to the pitch of religious murder. but here he lets a beam of light in upon the darkness. these forlorn twelve, listening to him, might well have said, 'thou art about to leave us; how can we alone face this world in arms, with which thou dost terrify us?' and here he lets them see that they will not be left alone, but have a great champion, clad in celestial armour, who, coming straight from god, will be with them and put into their hands a weapon, with which they may conquer the world, and turn it into a friend, and with which alone they must meet the world's hate. so, then, we have three things in this text; the great promise of an ally in the conflict with the world; the witness which that ally bears, to fortify against the world; and the consequent witness with which christians may win the world. i. now consider briefly the first of these points, the great promise of an ally in the conflict with the world. i may touch, very lightly, upon the wonderful designation of this champion-friend whom christ sends, because on former occasions in this course of sermons we have had to deal with the same thoughts, and there will be subsequent opportunities of recurring to them. but i may just emphasise in a few sentences the points which our lord here signalises in regard to the champion whom he sends. there is a double designation of that spirit, 'the comforter' and 'the spirit of truth.' there is a double description of his mission, as being 'sent' by jesus, and as 'proceeding from the father,' and there is a single statement as to the position from which he comes to us. a word about each of these things. i have already explained in former sermons that the notion of 'comforter,' as it is understood in modern english, is a great deal too restricted and narrow to cover the whole ground of this great and blessed promise. the comforter whom christ sends is no mere drier of men's tears and gentle consoler of human sorrows, but he is a mightier spirit than that, and the word by which he is described in our text, which means 'one who is summoned to the side of another,' conveys the idea of a helper who is brought to the man to be helped, in order to render whatever aid and succour that man's weakness and circumstances may require. the verses before our text suggest what sort of aid and succour the disciples will need. they are to be as sheep in the midst of wolves. their defenceless purity will need a protector, a strong shepherd. they stand alone amongst enemies. there must be some one beside them to fight for them, to shield and to encourage them, to be their safety and their peace. and that paraclete, who is called to our side, comes for the special help which these special circumstances require, and is a strong spirit who will be our champion and our ally, whatever antagonism may storm against us, and however strong and well-armed may be the assaulting legions of the world's hate. then, still further, the other designation here of this strong succourer and friend is 'the spirit of truth,' by which is designated, not so much his characteristic attribute, as rather the weapon which he wields, or the material with which he works. the 'truth' is his instrument; that is to say, the spirit of god sent by jesus christ is the strengthener, the encourager, the comforter, the fighter for us and with us, because he wields that great body of truth, the perfect revelation of god, and man, and duty, and salvation, which is embodied in the incarnation and work of jesus christ our lord. the truth is his weapon, and it is by it that he makes us strong. then, still further, there is a twofold description here of the mission of this divine champion, as 'sent' by christ, and 'proceeding from the father.' in regard to the former, i need only remind you that, in a previous part of this wonderful discourse, our lord speaks of that divine spirit as being sent by the father in his name and in answer to his prayer. the representation here is by no means antagonistic to, or diverse from, that other representation, but rather the fact that the father and the son, according to the deep teaching of scripture, are in so far one as that 'whatsoever the son seeth the father do that also the son doeth likewise,' makes it possible to attribute to him the work which, in another place, is ascribed to the father. in speaking of the _persons_ of the deity, let us never forget that that word is only partially applicable to that ineffable being, and that whilst with us it implies absolute separation of individuals, it does not mean such separation in the case of its imperfect transference to the mysteries of the divine nature; but rather, the son doeth what the father doeth, and therefore the spirit is sent forth by the father, and also the son sends the spirit. but, on the other hand, we are not to regard that divine spirit as merely a messenger sent by another. he 'proceeds from the father.' that word has been the battlefield of theological controversy, with which i do not purpose to trouble you now. for i do not suppose that in its use here it refers at all to the subject to which it has been sometimes applied, nor contains any kind of revelation of the eternal depths of the divine nature and its relations to itself. what is meant here is the historical coming forth into human life of that divine spirit. and, possibly, the word 'proceeds' is chosen in order to contrast with the word 'sent,' and to give the idea of a voluntary and personal action of the messenger, who not only is _sent_ by the father, but of himself _proceeds_ on the mighty work to which he is destined. be that as it may, mark only, for the last thought here about the details of this great promise, that wonderful phrase, twice repeated in our lord's words, and emphasised by its verbal repetition in the two clauses, which in all other respects are so different--'from the father.' the word translated '_from_' is not the ordinary word so rendered, but rather designates _a position at the side of_ than an _origin from_, and suggests much rather the intimate and ineffable union between father, son, and spirit, than the source from which the spirit comes. i touch upon these things very lightly, and gather them up into one sentence. here, then, are the points. a person who is spoken of as 'he'--a divine person whose home from of old has been close by the father's side--a person whose instrument is the revealed truth ensphered and in germ in the facts of christ's incarnation and life--a divine person, wielding the truth, who is sent by christ as his representative, and in some sense a continuance of his personal presence--a divine, personal spirit coming from the father, wielding the truth, sent by christ, and at the side of all the persecuted and the weak, all world-hated and christian men, as their champion, their combatant, their ally, their inspiration, and their power. is not that enough to make the weakest strong? is not that enough to make us 'more than conquerors through him that loved us'? all nations have legends of the gods fighting at the head of their armies, and through the dust of battle the white horses and the shining armour of the celestial champions have been seen. the childish dream is a historical reality. it is not we that fight, it is the spirit of god that fighteth in us. ii. and so note, secondly, the witness of the spirit which fortifies against the world. 'he shall bear witness of me.' now we must especially observe here that little phrase, 'unto you.' for that tells us at once that the witness which our lord has in mind here is something which is done within the circle of the christian believers, and not in the wide field of the world's history or in nature. of course it is a great truth that long before jesus christ, and to-day far beyond the limits of his name and knowledge, to say nothing of his faith and obedience, the spirit of god is working. as of old he brooded over the chaotic darkness, ever labouring to turn chaos into order, and darkness into light, and deformity into beauty; so today, all over the field of humanity, he is operating. grand as that truth is, it is not the truth here. what is spoken of here is something that is done in and on christian men, and not even through them on the world, but in them for themselves. 'he shall testify of me' to you. now it is to be noted, also, that the first and special application of these words is to the little group listening to him. never were men more desolate and beaten down than these were, in the prospect of christ's departure. never were men more utterly bewildered and dispirited than these were, in the days between his crucifixion and his resurrection. think of them during his earthly life, their narrow understandings, their manifold faults, moral as well as intellectual. how little perception they had of anything that he said to them, as their own foolish questions abundantly show! how little they had drunk in his spirit, as their selfish and ambitious janglings amongst themselves abundantly show! they were but jews like their brethren, believing, indeed, that jesus christ was the messiah, but not knowing what it was that they believed, or of what kind the messiah was in whom they were thus partially trusting. but they loved him and were led by him, and so they were brought into a larger place by the spirit whom christ sent. what was it that made these dwarfs into giants in six weeks? what was it that turned their narrowness into breadth; that made them start up all at once as heroes, and that so swiftly matured them, as the fruits and flowers are ripened under tropical sunshine? the resurrection and ascension of jesus christ had a great deal to do with the change; but they were not its whole cause. there is no explanation of the extraordinary transformation of these men as we see them in the pages of the gospels, and as we find them on the pages of the acts of the apostles, except this--the resurrection and the ascension of jesus christ as facts, and the spirit on pentecost as an indwelling interpreter of the facts. he came, and the weak became strong, and the foolish wise, and the blind enlightened, and they began to understand--though it needed all their lives to perfect the teaching,--what it was that their ignorant hands had grasped and their dim perceptions had seen, when they touched the hands and looked upon the face of jesus christ. the witness of the spirit of god working within them, working upon what they knew of the historical facts of christ's life, and interpreting these to them, was the explanation of their change and growth. and the new testament is the product of that change. christ's life was the truth which the spirit used, and a product of his teaching was these epistles which we have, and which for us step into the place which the historical facts held for them, and become the instrument with which the spirit of god will deepen our understanding of christ and enlarge our knowledge of what he is to us. so, dear friends, whilst here we have a promise which specially applies, no doubt, to these twelve apostles, and the result of which in them was different from its result in us, inasmuch as the spirit's teaching, recorded in the new testament, becomes for us the authoritative rule of faith and practice, the promise still applies to each of us in a secondary and modified sense. for there is nothing in these great valedictory words of our lord's which has not a universal bearing, and is not the revelation of a permanent truth in regard to the christian church. and, therefore, here we have the promise of a universal gift to all christian men and women, of an actual divine spirit to dwell with each of us, to speak in our hearts. and what will he speak there? he will teach us a deeper knowledge of jesus christ. he will help us to understand better what he is. he will show us more and more of the whole sweep of his work, of the whole infinite truth for morals and religion, for politics and society, for time and for eternity, about men and about god, which is wrapped up in that great saying which we first of all, perhaps under the pressure of our own sense of sin, grasp as our deliverance from sin: 'god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' that is the sum of truth which the spirit of god interprets to every faithful heart. and as the days roll on, and new problems rise, and new difficulties present themselves, and new circumstances emerge in our personal life, we find the truth, which we at first dimly grasped as life and salvation, opening out into wisdom and depth and meaning that we never dreamed of in the early hours. a spirit that bears witness of christ and will make us understand him better every day we live, if we choose, is the promise that is given here, for all christian men and women. then note that this inward witness of christ's depth and preciousness is our true weapon and stay against a hostile world. a little candle in a room will make the lightning outside almost invisible; and if i have burning in my heart the inward experience and conviction of what jesus christ is and what he has done and will do for me--oh! then, all the storm without may rage, and it will not trouble me. if you take an empty vessel and bring pressure to bear upon it, in go the sides. fill it, and they will resist the pressure. so with growing knowledge of christ, and growing personal experience of his sweetness in our souls, we shall be able, untouched and undinted, to throw off the pressure which would otherwise have crushed us. therefore, dear friends, here is the true secret of tranquillity, in an age of questioning and doubt. let me have that divine voice speaking in my heart, as i may have, and no matter what questions may be doubtful, this is sure--'we know in whom we have believed'; and we can say, 'settle all your controversies any way you like: one thing i know, and that divine voice is ever saying it to me in my deepest consciousness--the son of god is come and hath given us an understanding that we may know him that is true; and we are in him that is true.' labour for more of this inward, personal conviction of the preciousness of jesus christ to strengthen you against a hostile world. and remember that there are conditions under which this voice speaks in our souls. one is that we attend to the instrument which the spirit of god uses, and that is 'the truth.' if christians will not read their bibles, they need not expect to have the words of these bibles interpreted and made real to them by any inward experience. if you want to have a faith which is vindicated and warranted by your daily experience, there is only one way to get it, and that is, to use the truth which the spirit uses, and to bring yourself into contact, continual and reverent and intelligent, with the great body of divine truth that is conveyed in these authoritative words of the spirit of god speaking through the first witnesses. and there must be moral discipline too. laziness, worldliness, the absorption of attention with other things, self-conceit, prejudice, and, i was going to say, almost above all, the taking of our religion and religious opinions at secondhand from men and teachers and books--all these stand in the way of our hearing the spirit of god when he speaks. come away from the babble and go by yourself, and take your bibles with you, and read them, and meditate upon them, and get near the master of whom they speak, and the spirit which uses the truth will use it to fortify you. iii. and, lastly, note the consequent witness with which the christian may win the world. 'and ye also shall bear witness of me, because ye have been with me from the beginning.' that 'also' has, of course, direct reference to the apostles' witness to the facts of our lord's historical appearance, his life, his death, his resurrection, and his ascension; and therefore their qualification was simply the companionship with him which enabled them to say, 'we saw what we tell you; we were witnesses from the beginning.' but then, again, i say that there is no word here that belongs only to the apostles; it belongs to us all, and so here is the task of the christian church in all its members. they receive the witness of the spirit, and they are christ's witnesses in the world. note what we have to do--to bear witness; not to argue, not to adorn, but simply to attest. note what we have to attest--the fact, not of the historical life of jesus christ, because we are not in a position to be witnesses of that, but the fact of his preciousness and power, and the fact of our own experience of what he has done for us. note, that that is by far the most powerful agency for winning the world. you can never make men angry by saying to them, 'we have found tho messias.' you cannot irritate people, or provoke them into a controversial opposition when you say, 'brother, let me tell you my experience. i was dark, sad, sinful, weak, solitary, miserable; and i got light, gladness, pardon, strength, companionship, and a joyful hope. i was blind--you remember me when my eyes were dark, and i sat begging outside the temple; i was blind, now i see--look at my eyeballs.' we can all say that. this is the witness that needs no eloquence, no genius, no anything except honesty and experience; and whosoever has tasted and felt and handled of the word of life may surely go to a brother and say, 'brother, i have eaten and am satisfied. will you not help yourselves?' we can all do it, and we ought to do it. the christian privilege of being witnessed to by the spirit of god in our hearts brings with it the christian duty of being witnesses in our turn to the world. that is our only weapon against the hostility which godless humanity bears to ourselves and to our master. we may win men by that; we can win them by nothing else. 'ye are my witnesses, saith the lord, and my servants whom i have chosen.' christian friend, listen to the master, who says, 'him that confesseth me before men, him will i also confess before my father in heaven.' why christ speaks 'these things have i spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. they shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth god service. and these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the father, nor me. but these things have i told you, that, when the time shall come, ye may remember that i told you of them. and these things i said not unto you at the beginning, because i was with you. but now i go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, whither goest thou? but because i have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.'--john xvi. 1-6. the unbroken flow of thought, and the many subtle links of connection between the parts, of these inexhaustible last words of our lord make any attempt at grouping them into sections more or less unsatisfactory and artificial. but i have ventured to throw these, perhaps too many, verses together for our consideration now, because a phrase of frequent recurrence in them manifestly affords a key to their main subject. notice how our lord four times repeats the expression, 'these things have i spoken unto you.' he is not so much adding anything new to his words, as rather contemplating the reasons for his speech now, the reasons for his silence before, and the imperfect apprehension of the things spoken which his disciples had, and which led to their making his announcement, thus imperfectly understood, an occasion for sorrow rather than for joy. there is a kind of landing place or pause here in the ascending staircase. our lord meditates for himself, and invites us to meditate with him, rather upon his past utterances than upon anything additional to them. so, then, whilst it is true that we have in two of these verses a repetition, in a somewhat more intense and detailed form, of the previous warnings of the hostility of the world, in the main the subject of the present section is that which i have indicated. and i take the fourfold recurrence of that clause to which i have pointed as marking out for us the leading ideas that we are to gather from these words. i. there is, first, our lord's loving reason for his speech. this is given in a double form. 'these things have i spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.' and, again, 'these things have i told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that i told you of them.' these two statements substantially coalesce and point to the same idea. they are separated, as i have said, by a reiteration, in more emphatic form, of the dark prospect which he has been holding out to his disciples. he tells them that the world which hates them is to be fully identified with the apostate jewish church. 'the synagogue' is for them 'the world.' there is a solemn lesson in that. the organised body that calls itself god's church and house may become the most rampant enemy of christ's people, and be the truest embodiment on the face of the earth of all that he means by 'the world.' a formal church is the true world always; and to-day as then. and such a body will do the cruellest things and believe that it is offering up christ's witnesses as sacrifices to god. that is partly an aggravation and partly an alleviation of the sin. it is possible that the inquisitor and the man in the _san benito_, whom he ties to the stake, may shake hands yet at his side up yonder. but a church which has become, the world will do its persecution and think that it is worship, and call the burning of god's people an _auto-da-fe_ (act of faith); and the bottom of it all is that, in the blaze of light, and calling themselves god's, 'they do not know' either god or christ. they do not know the one because they will not know the other. but that is all parenthetical in the present section, and so i say nothing more about it; and ask you, rather, just to look at the loving reasons which christ here suggests for his present speech--'that ye should not be offended,' or stumble. he warns them of the storm before it bursts, lest, when it bursts, it should sweep them away from their moorings. of course, there could be nothing more productive of intellectual bewilderment, and more likely to lead to doubt as to one's own convictions, than to find oneself at odds with the synagogue about the question of the messiah. a modest man might naturally say, 'perhaps i am wrong and they are right.' a coward would be sure to say, 'i will sink my convictions and fall in with the majority.' the stumbling-block for these first jewish converts, in the attitude of the whole mass of the nation towards christ and his pretensions, is one of such a magnitude as we cannot, by any exercise of our imagination, realise. 'and,' says christ, 'the only way by which you will ever get over the temptation to intellectual doubt or to cowardly apostasy that arises from your being thrown out of sympathy with the whole mass of your people, and the traditions of the generations, is to reflect that i told you it would be so, before it came to pass.' of course all that has a special bearing upon those to whom it was originally addressed, and then it has a secondary bearing upon christians, whose lot it is to live in a time of actual persecution. but that does not in the slightest degree destroy the fact that it also has a bearing upon every one of us. for if you and i are christian people, and trying to live like our master, and to do as he would have us to do, we too shall often have to stand in such a very small minority, and be surrounded by people who take such an entirely opposite view of duty and of truth, as that we shall be only too much disposed to give up and falter in the clearness, fullness, and braveness of our utterance, and think, 'well, perhaps after all it is better for me to hold my tongue.' and then, besides this, there are all the cares and griefs which befall each of us, with regard to which also, as well as with regard to the difficulties and dangers and oppositions which we may meet with in a faithful christian life, the principles of my text have a distinct and direct application. he has told us in order that we might not stumble, because when the hour comes and the sorrow comes with it, we remember that he told us all about it before. it is one of the characteristics of christianity that jesus christ does not try to enlist recruits by highly-coloured, rosy pictures of the blessing and joy of serving him, keeping his hand all the while upon the weary marches and the wounds and pains. he tells us plainly at the beginning, 'if you take my yoke upon you, you will have to carry a heavy burden. you will have to abstain from a great many things that you would like to do. you will have to do a great many things that your flesh will not like. the road is rough, and a high wall on each side. there are lovely flowers and green pastures on the other side of the hedge, where it is a great deal easier walking upon the short grass than it is upon the stony path. the roadway is narrow, and the gateway is very strait, but the track goes steadily up. will you accept the terms and come in and walk upon it?' it is far better and nobler, and more attractive also, to tell us frankly and fully the difficulties and dangers than to try and coax us by dwelling on pleasures and ease. jesus christ will have no service on false pretences, but will let us understand at the beginning that if we serve under his flag we have to make up our minds to hardships which otherwise we may escape, to antagonisms which otherwise will not be provoked, and to more than an ordinary share of sorrow and suffering and pain. 'through much tribulation we must enter the kingdom.' and the way by which all these troubles and cares, whether they be those incident and peculiar to christian life, or those common to humanity, can best be met and overcome, is precisely by this thought, 'the master has told us before.' sorrows anticipated are more easily met. it is when the vessel is caught with all its sails set that it is almost sure to go down, and, at all events, sure to be badly damaged in the typhoon. but when the barometer has been watched, and its fall has given warning, and everything movable has been made fast, and every spare yard has been sent below, and all tightened up and ship-shape--then she can ride out the storm. forewarned is forearmed. savages think, when an eclipse comes, that a wolf has swallowed the sun, and it will never come out again. we know that it has all been calculated beforehand, and since we know that it is coming to-morrow, when it does come, it is only a passing darkness. sorrow anticipated is sorrow half overcome; and when it falls on us, the bewilderment, as if 'some strange thing had happened,' will be escaped when we can remember that the master has told us it all beforehand. and again, sorrow foretold gives us confidence in our guide. we have the chart, and as we look upon it we see marked 'waterless country,' 'pathless rocks,' 'desert and sand,' 'wells and palm-trees.' well, when we come to the first of these, and find ourselves, as the map says, in the waterless country; and when, as we go on step by step, and mile after mile, we find it is all down there, we say to ourselves, 'the remainder will be accurate, too,' and if we are in 'marah' to-day, where 'the water is bitter,' and nothing but the wood of the tree that grows there can ever sweeten it, we shall be at 'elim' to-morrow, where there are 'the twelve wells and the seventy palm trees.' the chart is right, and the chart says that the end of it all is 'the land that flows with milk and honey.' he _has_ told us _this_; if there had been anything worse than this, he would have told us _that_. 'if it were not so i would have told you.' the sorrow foretold deepens our confidence in our guide. sorrow that comes punctually in accordance with his word plainly comes in obedience to his will. our lord uses a little word in this context which is very significant. he says, 'when _their hour_ is come.' 'their hour'--the time allotted to them. allotted by whom? allotted by him. he could tell that they would come, because it was as his instruments that they came. 'their time' was his appointment. it was only an 'hour,' a definite, appointed, and brief period in accordance with his loving purpose. it takes all sorts of weathers to make a year; and after all the sorts of weathers are run out, the year's results are realised and the calm comes. and so the good old hymn, with its rhythm that speaks at once of fear and triumph, has caught the true meaning of these words of our lord's- 'why should i complain of want or distress, temptation or pain? he told me no less.' 'these things have i spoken unto you that ye might not be offended.' ii. still further, note our lord's loving reasons for past silence. 'these things i said not unto you from the beginning, because i was with you.' of course there had been in his early ministry hints, and very plain references, to persecutions and trials, but we must not restrict the 'these things' of my text to that only, but rather include the whole of the previous chapter, in which he sets the sorrow and the hostility which his servants have to endure in their true light, as being the consequences of their union with him and of the closeness and the identity of life and fate between the vine and the branches. in so systematic and detailed fashion, and with such an exhibition of the grounds of its necessity, our lord had not spoken of the world's hostility in his earlier ministry, but had reserved it to these last moments, and the reason why he had given but passing hints before was because he was there. what a superb confidence that expresses in his ability to shield his poor followers from all that might hurt and harm them! he spreads the ample robe of his protection over them, or rather, to go back to his own metaphor, 'as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings' so he gathers them to his own breast, and stretches over them that which is at once protection and warmth, and keeps them safe. as long as he is there, no harm can come to them. but he is going away, and so it is time to speak, and to speak more plainly. that, too, yields for us, dear brethren, truths that apply to us quite as much as to that little group of silent listeners. for us, too, difficulties and sorrows, though foretold in general terms, are largely hidden till they are near. it would have been of little use for christ to have spoken more plainly in those early days of his ministry. the disciples managed to forget and to misunderstand his plain utterances, for instance, about his own death and resurrection. there needs to be an adaptation between the hearing ear and the spoken word, in order that the word spoken should be of use, and there are great tracts of scripture dealing with the sorrows of life, which lie perfectly dark and dead to us, until experience vitalises them. the old greeks used to send messages from one army to another by means of a roll of parchment twisted spirally round a baton, and then written on. it was perfectly unintelligible when it fell into a man's hands that had not a corresponding baton to twist it upon. many of christ's messages to us are like that. you can only understand the utterances when life gives you the frame round which to wrap them, and then they flash up into meaning, and we say at once, 'he told us it all before, and i scarcely knew that he had told me, until this moment when i need it.' oh, it is merciful that there should be a gradual unveiling of what is to come to us, that the road should wind, and that we should see so short a way before us. did you never say to yourselves, 'if i had known all this before, i do not think i could have lived to face it'? and did you not feel how good and kind and loving it was, that in the revelation there had been concealment, and that while jesus christ had told us in general terms that we must expect sorrows and trials, this specific form of sorrow and trial had not been foreseen by us until we came close to it? thank god for the loving reticence, and for the as loving eloquence of his speech and of his silence, with regard to sorrow. and take this further lesson, that there ought to be in all our lives times of close and blessed communion with that master, when the sense of his presence with us makes all thought of sorrows and trials in the future out of place and needlessly disturbing. if these disciples had drunk in the spirit of jesus christ when they were with him, then they would not have been so bewildered when he left them. when he was near them there was something better for them to do than to be 'over exquisite to cast the fashion of uncertain evils' in the future--namely, to grow into his life, to drink in the sweetness of his presence, to be moulded into the likeness of his character, to understand him better, and to realise his nearness more fully. and, dear brethren, for us all there are times--and it is our own fault if these are not very frequent and blessed--when thus, in such an hour of sweet communion with the present christ, the future will be all radiant and calm, if we look into it, or, better, the present will be so blessed that there will be no need to think of the future. these men in the upper chamber, if they had learnt all the lessons that he was teaching them then, would not have gone out, to sleep in gethsemane, and to tell lies in the high priest's hall, and to fly like frightened sheep from the cross, and to despair at the tomb. and you and i, if we sit at his table, and keep our hearts near him, eating and drinking of that heavenly manna, shall 'go in the strength of that meat forty days into the wilderness,' and say- 'e'en let the unknown to-morrow bring with it what it may.' iii. lastly, i must touch, for the sake of completeness, upon the final thought in these pregnant verses, and that is, the imperfect apprehension of our lord's words, which leads to sorrow instead of joy. 'now i go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, whither goest thou? but because i have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.' he had been telling them--and it was the one definite idea that they gathered from his words--that he was going. and what did they say? they said, 'going! what is to become of _us_?' if there had been a little less selfishness and a little more love, and if they had put their question, 'going! what is to become of _him_?' then it would not have been sorrow that would have filled their hearts, but a joy that would have flooded out all the sorrow, 'and the winter of their discontent' would have been changed into 'glorious summer,' because he was going to him that sent him; that is to say, he was going with his work done and his message accomplished. and therefore, if they could only have overlooked their own selves, and the bearing of his departure, as it seemed to them, on themselves, and have thought of it a little as it affected him, they would have found that all the oppressive and the dark in it would have disappeared, and they would have been glad. ah, dear brethren, that gives us a thought on which i can but touch now, that the steadfast contemplation of the ascended christ, who has gone to the father, having finished his work, is the sovereign antidote against all sense of separation and solitude, the sovereign power by which we may face a hostile world, the sovereign cure for every sorrow. if we could live in the light of the great triumphant, ascended lord, then, oh, how small would the babble of the world be. if the great white throne, and he that sits upon it, were more distinctly before us, then we could face anything, and sorrow would 'become a solemn scorn of ills,' and all the transitory would be reduced to its proper insignificance, and we should be emancipated from fear and every temptation to unfaithfulness and apostasy. look up to the master who has gone, and as the dying martyr outside the city wall 'saw the heavens opened, and the son of man standing'--having sprung to his feet to help his poor servant--'at the right hand of god,' so with that vision in our eyes and the light of that face flashing upon our faces, and making them like the angels', we shall be masters of grief and care, and pain and trial, and enmity and disappointment, and sorrow and sin, and feel that the absent christ is the present christ, and that the present christ is the conquering power in us. dear brethren, there is nothing else that will make us victors over the world and ourselves. if we can grasp him by our faith and keep ourselves near him, then union with him as of the vine and the branches, which will result inevitably in suffering here, will result as inevitably in joy hereafter. for he will never relax the adamantine grasp of his strong hand until he raises us to himself, and 'if so be that we suffer with him we shall also be glorified together.' the departing christ and the coming spirit 'nevertheless i tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that i go away: for if i go not away, the comforter will not come unto you; but if i depart, i will send him unto you. and when he is come, he will _convince_ the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.'--john xvi. 7, 8. we read these words in the light of all that has gone after, and to us they are familiar and almost thread-bare. but if we would appreciate their sublimity, we must think away nineteen centuries, and all christendom, and recall these eleven poor men and their peasant leader in the upper room. they were not very wise, nor very strong, and outside these four walls there was scarcely a creature in the whole world that had the least belief either in him or in them. they had everything against them, and most of all their own hearts. they had nothing for them but their master's promise. their eyes had been dimmed by their sorrowful hearts, so that they could not see the truth which he had been trying to reveal to them; and his departure had presented itself to them only as it affected themselves, and therefore had brought a sense of loss and desolation. and now he bids them think of that departure, as it affects themselves, as pure gain. 'it is for your profit that i go away.' he explains that staggering statement by the thought which he has already presented to them, in varying aspects, of his departure as the occasion for the coming of that great comforter, who, when he is come, will through them work upon the world, which knows neither them nor him. they are to go forth 'as sheep in the midst of wolves,' but in this promise he tells them that they will become the judges and accusers of the world, which, by the spirit dwelling in them, they will be able to overcome, and convict of error and of fault. we must remember that the whole purpose of the words which we are considering now is the strengthening of the disciples in their conflict with the world, and that, therefore, the operations of that divine spirit which are here spoken of are operations carried on by their instrumentality and through the word which they spake. with that explanation we can consider the great words before us. i. the first thing that strikes me about them is that wonderful thought of the gain to christ's servants from christ's departure. 'it is expedient for you that i go away.' i need not enlarge here upon what we have had frequent occasion to remark, the manner in which our lord here represents the complex whole of his death and ascension as being his own voluntary act. he 'goes.' he is neither taken away by death nor rapt up to heaven in a whirlwind, but of his own exuberant power and by his own will he goes into the region of the grave and thence to the throne. contrast the story of his ascension with that old testament story of the ascension of elijah. one needed the chariot of fire and the horses of fire to bear him up into the sphere, all foreign to his mortal and earthly manhood; the other needed no outward power to lift him, nor any vehicle to carry him from this dim spot which men call earth, but slowly, serenely, upborne by his own indwelling energy, and rising as to his native home, he ascended up on high, and went where the very manner of his going proclaimed that he had been before. 'if _i go_ away, i will send him.' but that is a digression. what we are concerned with now is the thought of christ's departure as being a step in advance, and a positive gain, even to those poor, bewildered men who were clustering round him, depending absolutely upon himself, and feeling themselves orphaned and helpless without him. now if we would feel the full force and singularity of this saying of our lord's, let us put side by side with it that other one, 'i have a desire to depart and to be with christ, which is far better. nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.' why is it that the apostle says, 'though i want to go i am bound to stay?' and why is it that the master says, 'it is for your good that i am going,' but because of the essential difference in the relation of the two to the people who are to be left, and in the continuance of the work of the two after they had departed? paul knew that when he went, whatever befell those whom he loved and would fain help, he could not stretch a hand to do anything for them. he knew that death dropped the portcullis between him and them, and, whatever their sore need on the one side of the iron gate, he on the other could not succour or save. jesus christ said, 'it is better for you that i should go,' because he knew that all his influences would flow through the grated door unchecked, and that, departed, he would still be the life of them that trusted in him; and, having left them, would come near them, by the very act of leaving them. and so there is here indicated for us--as we shall have occasion to see more fully, presently,--in that one singular and anomalous fact of christ's departure being a positive gain to those that trust in him, the singularity and uniqueness of his work for them and his relation to them. the words mean a great deal more than the analogies of our relation to dear ones or great ones, loves or teachers, who have departed, might suggest. of course we all know that it is quite true that death reveals to the heart the sweetness and the preciousness of the departed ones, and that its refining touch manifests to our blind eyes what we did not see so clearly when they were beside us. we all know that it needs distance to measure men, and the dropping away of the commonplace and the familiar ere we can see 'the likeness' of our contemporaries 'to the great of old.' we have to travel across the plains before we can measure the relative height of the clustered mountains, and discern which is manifestly the loftiest. and all _this_ is true in reference to jesus christ and his relation to us. but that does not go half-way towards the understanding of such words as these of my text, which tell us that so singular and solitary is his relation to us that the thing which ends the work of all other men, and begins the decay of their influence, begins for him a higher form of work and a wider sweep of sway. he is nearer us when he leaves us, and works with us and in us more mightily from the throne than he did upon the earth. who is he of whom this is true? and what kind of work is it of which it is true that death continues and perfects it? so let me note, before i pass on, that there is a great truth here for us. we are accustomed to look back to our lord's earthly ministry, and to fancy that those who gathered round him, and heard him speak, and saw his deeds, were in a better position for loving him and trusting him than you and i are. it is all a mistake. we have lost nothing that they had which was worth the keeping; and we have gained a great deal which they had not. we have not to compare our relation to christ with theirs, as we might do our relation to some great thinker or poet, with that of his contemporaries, but we have christ in a better form, if i may so speak; and we, on whom the ends of the world are come, may have a deeper and a fuller and a closer intimacy with him than was possible for men whose perceptions were disturbed by sense, and who had to pierce through 'the veil, that is to say, his flesh,' before they reached the holy of holies of his spirit. ii. note, secondly, the coming for which christ's going was needful, and which makes that going a gain. 'if i go not away the comforter will not come unto you, but if i depart i will send him unto you.' now we have already, in former sermons, touched upon many of the themes which would naturally be suggested by these words, and therefore i do not propose to dwell upon them at any length. there is only one point to which i desire to refer briefly here, and that is the necessity which here seems to be laid down by our lord for his departure, in order that that divine spirit may come and dwell with men. that necessity goes down deeper into the mysteries of the divinity and of the processes and order of divine revelation than it is given to us to follow. but though we can only speak superficially and fragmentarily about such a matter, let me just remind you, in the briefest possible words, of what scripture plainly declares to us with regard to this high and, in its fullness, ineffable matter. it tells us that the complete work of jesus christ--not merely his coming upon earth, or his life amongst men, but also his sacrificial death upon the cross--was the necessary preliminary, and in some sense procuring cause, of the gift of that divine spirit. it tells us--and there we are upon ground on which we can more fully verify the statement--that his work must be completed ere that spirit can be sent, because the word is the spirit's weapon for the world, and the revelation of god in jesus must be ended, ere the application of that revelation, which is the spirit's work, can be begun in its full energy. it tells us, further, (and there our eyesight fails, and we have to accept what we are told), that jesus christ must ascend on high and be at the right hand of god, ere he can pour down upon men the fullness of the spirit which dwelt uncommunicated in him in the time of his earthly humiliation. 'thou hast ascended up on high,' and therefore 'thou hast given gifts to men.' we accept the declaration, not knowing all the deep necessity in the divine nature on which it rests, but believing it, because he in whom we have confidence has declared it to us. and we are further told--and there our experience may, in some degree, verify the statement,--that only those, in whose hearts there is union to jesus christ by faith in his completed work and ascended glory, are capable of receiving that divine gift. so every way, both as regards the depths of deity and the processes of revelation, and as regards the power of the humanity of christ to impart his spirit, and as regards the capacity of us poor recipients to receive it, the words of my text seem to be confirmed, and we can, though not with full insight, at any rate with full faith, accept the statement, 'if i go not away, the comforter will not come to you.' that coming is gain. it teaches a deeper knowledge of him. it teaches and gives a fuller possession of the life of righteousness which is like his own. it draws us into the fellowship of the son. iii. lastly, note here the threefold conflict of the spirit through the church with the world. 'when he is come he will convict the world' in respect 'of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.' by the 'reproof,' or rather 'conviction,' which is spoken about here, is meant the process by which certain facts are borne in upon men's understanding and consciences, and, along with these facts, the conviction of error and fault in reference to them. it is no mere process of demonstration of an intellectual truth, but it is a process of conviction of error in respect to great moral and religious truth, and of manifestation of the truths in regard to which the error and the sin have been committed. so we have here the triple division of the great work which the divine spirit does, through christian men and women, in the world. 'he shall convict the world of sin.' the outstanding first characteristic of the whole gospel message is the new gravity which it attaches to the fact of sin, the deeper meaning which it gives to the word, and the larger scope which it shows its blighting influences to have had in humanity. apart from the conviction of sin by the spirit using the word proclaimed by disciples, the world has scarcely a notion of what sin is, its inwardness, its universality, the awfulness of it as a fact affecting man's whole being and all his relations to god. all these conceptions are especially the product of christian truth. without it, what does the world know about the poison of sin? and what does it care about the poison until the conviction has been driven home to the reluctant consciousness of mankind by the spirit wielding the word? this conviction comes first in the divine order. i do not say that the process of turning a man of the world into a member of christ's church always begins, as a matter of fact, with the conviction of sin. i believe it most generally does so; but without insisting upon a pedantic adherence to a sequence, and without saying a word about the depth and intensity of such a conviction, i am here to assert that a christianity which is not based upon the conviction of sin is an impotent christianity, and will be of very little use to the men who profess it, and will have no power to propagate itself in the world. everything in our conception of the gospel of jesus christ and of his work for us depends upon what we think about this primary fact of man's condition, that he is a sinful man. the root of all heresy lies there. every error that has led away men from jesus christ and his cross may be traced up to defective notions of sin and a defective realisation of it. if i do not feel as the bible would have me feel, that i am a sinful man, i shall think differently of jesus christ and of my need of him, and of what he is to me. christianity may be to me a system of beautiful ethics, a guide for life, a revelation of much precious truth, but it will not be the redemptive power without which i am lost. and jesus christ will be shorn of his brightest beams, unless i see him as the redeemer of my soul from sin, which else would destroy and is destroying it. is christianity merely a better morality? is it merely a higher revelation of the divine nature? or does it _do_ something as well as _say_ something, and what does it do? is jesus christ only a teacher, a wise man, an example, a prophet, or is he the sacrifice for the sins of the world? oh, brethren, we must begin where this text begins; and our whole conception of him and of his work for us must be based upon this fact, that we are sinful and lost, and that jesus christ, by his sweet and infinite love and all-powerful sacrifice, is our soul's redeemer and our only hope. the world has to be convicted and convinced of sin as the first step to its becoming a church. the next step of this divine spirit's conviction is that which corresponds to the consciousness of sin, the dawning upon the darkened soul of the blessed sunrise of righteousness. the triple subjects of conviction must necessarily belong to the world of which our lord is speaking. it must be the world that is convinced, and it must be the world's sin and the world's righteousness and the world's judgment of which my text speaks. how, then, can there follow on the conviction of sin as mine a conviction of righteousness as mine? i know but one way, 'not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is of god through faith.' when a man is convinced of sin, there will dawn upon the heart the wondrous thought that a righteousness may be his, given to him from above, which will sweep away all his sin and make him righteous as christ is righteous. that conviction will never awake in its blessed and hope-giving power unless it be preceded by the other. it is of no use to exhibit medicine to a man who does not know himself diseased. it is of no use to talk about righteousness to a man who has not found himself to be a sinner. and it is of as little use to talk to a man of sin unless you are ready to tell him of a righteousness that will cover all his sin. the one conviction without the other is misery, the second without the first is irrelevant and far away. the world as a world has but dim and inadequate conceptions of what righteousness is. a pharisee is its type, or a man that keeps a clean life in regard to great transgressions; a whited sepulchre of some sort or other. the world apart from christ has but languid desires after even the poor righteousness that it understands, and the world apart from christ is afflicted by a despairing scepticism as to the possibility of ever being righteous at all. and there are men listening to me now in every one of these three conditions--not caring to be righteous, not understanding what it is to be righteous, and cynically disbelieving that it is possible to be so. my brother, here comes the message to you--first, thou art sinful; second, god's righteousness lies at thy side to take and wear if thou wilt. the last of these triple convictions is 'judgment.' if there be in the world these two things both operating, sin and righteousness, and if the two come together, what then? if there is to be a collision, as there must be, which will go down? christ tells us that this divine spirit will teach us that righteousness will triumph over sin, and that there will be a judgment which will destroy that which is the weaker, though it seems the stronger. now i take it that the judgment which is spoken about here is not merely a future retribution beyond the grave, but that, whilst that is included, and is the principal part of the idea, we are always to regard the judgment of the hereafter as being prepared for by the continual judgment here. and so there are two thoughts, a blessed one and a terrible one, wrapped up in that word--a blessed thought for us sinful men, inasmuch as we may be sure that the divine righteousness, which is given to us, will judge us and separate us day by day from our sins; and a terrible thought, inasmuch as if i, a sinful man, do not make friends with and ally myself to the divine righteousness which is proffered to me, i shall one day have to front it on the other side of the flood, when the contact must necessarily be to me destruction. time does not allow me to dwell upon these solemn matters as i fain would, but let me gather all i have been feebly trying to say to you now into one sentence. this threefold conviction, in conscience, understanding, and heart, of sin which is mine, of righteousness which may be mine, and of judgment which must be mine--this threefold conviction is that which makes the world into a church. it is the message of christianity to each of us. how do you stand to it? do you hearken to the spirit who is striving to convince you of these? or do you gather yourselves together into an obstinate, close-knit unbelief, or a loose-knit indifference which is as impenetrable? beware that you resist not the spirit of god! the convicting facts 'of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because i go to my father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.'--john xvi. 9-11. our lord has just been telling his disciples how he will equip them, as his champions, for their conflict with the world. a divine spirit is coming to them who will work in them and through them; and by their simple and unlettered testimony will 'convict,' or convince, the mass of ungodly men of error and crime in regard to these three things--sin, righteousness, and judgment. he now advances to tell them that this threefold conviction which they, as counsel for the prosecution, will establish as against the world at the bar, will be based upon three facts: first, a truth of experience; second, a truth of history; third, a truth of revelation, all three facts having reference to jesus christ and his relation to men. now these three facts are--the world's unbelief; christ's ascension and session at the right hand of god; and the 'judgment of the prince of this world.' if we remember that what our lord is here speaking about is the work of a divine spirit through the ministration of believing men, then pentecost with its thousands 'pricked to the heart,' and the roman ruler who trembled, as the prisoner 'reasoned of righteousness and judgment to come,' are illustrations of the way in which the humble disciples towered above the pride and strength of the world, and from criminals at its bar became its accusers. these three facts are the staple and the strength of the christian ministry. these three facts are misapprehended, and have failed to produce their right impression, unless they have driven home to our consciences and understandings the triple conviction of my text. and so i come to you with the simple questions which are all-important for each of us: have you looked these three facts in the face--unbelief, the ascended christ, a judged prince of the world, and have you learned their meaning as it bears on your own character and religious life? i. the first point here is the rejection of jesus christ as the climax of the world's sin. strange words! they are in some respects the most striking instance of that gigantic self-assertion of our lord, of which we have had occasion to see so many examples in these valedictory discourses. the world is full of all unrighteousness and wickedness, lust and immorality, intemperance, cruelty, hatred; all manner of buzzing evils that stink and sting around us. but jesus christ passes them all by and points to a mere negative thing, to an inward thing, to the attitude of men towards himself; and he says, 'if you want to know what sin is, look at that!' _there_ is the worst of all sins. there is a typical instance of what sin is, in which, as in some anatomical preparation, you may see all its fibres straightened out and made visible. look at that if you want to know what the world is, and what the world's sin is. some of us do not think that it is sin at all; and tell us that man is no more responsible for his belief than he is for the colour of his hair, and suchlike talk. well, let me put a very plain question: what is it that a man turns away from when he turns away from jesus christ? the plainest, the loveliest, the loftiest, the perfectest revelation of god in his beauty and completeness that ever dawned, or ever will dawn upon creation. he rejects that. anything more? yes! he turns away from the loveliest human life that ever was, or will be, lived. anything more? yes! he turns away from a miracle of self-sacrificing love, which endured the cross for enemies, and willingly embraced agony and shame and death for the sake of those who inflicted them upon him. anything more? yes! he turns away from hands laden with, and offering him, the most precious and needful blessings that a poor soul on earth can desire or expect. and if this be true, if unbelief in jesus christ be indeed all this that i have sketched out, another question arises, what does such an attitude and act indicate as to the rejector? he stands in the presence of the loveliest revelation of the divine nature and heart, and he sees no light in it. why, but because he has blinded his eyes and cannot behold? he is incapable of seeing 'god manifest in the flesh,' because he 'loves the darkness rather than the light.' he turns away from the revelation of the loveliest and most self-sacrificing love. why, but because he bears in himself a heart cased with brass and triple steel of selfishness, against the manifestation of love? he turns away from the offered hands heaped with the blessings that he needs. why, but because he does not care for the gifts that are offered? forgiveness, cleansing, purity a heaven which consists in the perfecting of all these, have no attractions for him. the fugitive israelites in the wilderness said, 'we do not want your light, tasteless manna. it may do very well for angels, but we have been accustomed to garlic and onions down in egypt. they smell strong, and there is some taste in _them_. give us _them_.' and so some of you say, 'the offer of pardon is of no use to me, for i am not troubled with my sin. the offer of purity has no attraction to me, for i rather like the dirt and wallowing in it. the offer of a heaven of your sort is but a dreary prospect to me. and so i turn away from the hands that offer precious things.' the man who is blind to the god that beams, lambent and loving, upon him in the face of jesus christ--the man who has no stirrings of responsive gratitude for the great outpouring of love upon the cross--the man who does not care for anything that jesus christ can give him, surely, in turning away, commits a real sin. i do not deny, of course, that there may be intellectual difficulties cropping up in connection with the acceptance of the message of salvation in jesus christ, but as, on the one hand, i am free to admit that many a man may be putting a true trust in christ which is joined with a very hesitant grasp of some of the things which, to me, are the very essence and heart of the gospel; so, on the other side, i would have you remember that there is necessarily a moral quality in our attitude to all moral and religious truth; and that sin does not cease to be sin because its doer is a thinker or has systematised his rejection into a creed. though it is not for us to measure motives and to peer into hearts, at the bottom there lies what christ himself put his finger on: 'ye _will_ not come to me that ye might have life.' then, still further, let me remind you that our lord here presents this fact of man's unbelief as being an instance in which we may see what the real nature of sin is. to use learned language, it is a 'typical' sin. in all other acts of sin you get the poison manipulated into various forms, associated with other elements, disguised more or less. but here, because it is purely an inward act having relation to jesus christ, and to god manifested in him, and not done at the bidding of the animal nature, or of any of the other strong temptations and impulses which hurry men into gross and coarse forms of manifest transgression, you get sin in its essence. belief in christ is the surrender of myself. sin is living to myself rather than to god. and there you touch the bottom. all those different kinds of sin, however unlike they may be to one another--the lust of the sensualist, the craft of the cheat, the lie of the deceitful, the passion of the unregulated man, the avarice of the miser--all of them have this one common root, a diseased and bloated regard to self. the definition of sin is,--living to myself and making myself my own centre. the definition of faith is,--making christ my centre and living for him. therefore, if you want to know what is the sinfulness of sin, there it is. and if i may use such a word in such a connection, it is all packed away in its _purest_ form in the act of rejecting that lord. brother, it is no exaggeration to say that, when you have summoned up before you the ugliest forms of man's sins that you can fancy, this one overtops them all, because it presents in the simplest form the mother-tincture of all sins, which, variously coloured and perfumed and combined, makes the evil of them all. a heap of rotting, poisonous matter is offensive to many senses, but the colourless, scentless, tasteless drop has the poison in its most virulent form, and is not a bit less virulent, though it has been learnedly distilled and christened with a scientific name, and put into a dainty jewelled flask. 'this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil.' i lay that upon the hearts and consciences of some of my present hearers as the key to their rejection or disregard of christ and his salvation. ii. now, secondly, notice the ascension of jesus christ as the pledge and the channel of the world's righteousness--'because i go to the father, and ye see me no more.' he speaks as if the process of departure were already commenced. it had three stages--death, resurrection, ascension; but these three are all parts of the one departure. and so he says: 'because, in the future, when ye go forth to preach in my name, i shall be there with the father, having finished the work for which he sent me; therefore you will convince the world of righteousness.' now let me put that briefly in two forms. first of all, the fact of an ascended christ is the guarantee and proof of his own complete fulfilment of the ideal of a righteous man. or to put it into simpler words, suppose jesus christ is dead; suppose that he never rose from the grave; suppose that his bones mouldered in some sepulchre; suppose that there had been no ascension--would it be possible to believe that he was other than an ordinary man? and would it be possible to believe that, however beautiful these familiar records of his life, and however lovely the character which they reveal, there was really in him no sin at all? a dead christ means a christ who, like the rest of us, had his limitations and his faults. but, on the other hand, if it be true that he sprang from the grave because 'it was not possible that he should be holden of it,' and because in his nature there was no proclivity to death, since there had been no indulgence in sin; and if it be true that he ascended up on high because that was his native sphere, and he rose to it as naturally as the water in the valley will rise to the height of the hill from which it has descended, then we can see that god has set his seal upon that life by that resurrection and ascension; and as we gaze on him swept up heavenward by his own calm power, a light falls backward upon all his earthly life, upon his claims to purity, and to union with the father, and we say, 'surely this was a perfectly righteous man.' and further let me remind you that with the supernatural facts of our lord's resurrection and ascension stands or falls the possibility of his communicating any of his righteousness to us sinful men. if there be no such possibility, what does jesus christ's beauty of character matter to me? nothing! i shall have to stumble on as best i can, sometimes ashamed and rebuked, sometimes stimulated and sometimes reduced to despair, by looking at the record of his life. if he be lying dead in a forgotten grave, and hath not 'ascended up on high,' then there can come from his history and past nothing other in kind, though, perhaps, a little more in degree, than comes from the history and the past of the beautiful and white souls that have sometimes lived in the world. he is a saint like them, he is a teacher like them, he is a prophet like some of them, and we have but to try our best to copy that marble purity and white righteousness. but if he hath ascended up on high, and sits there, wielding the forces of the universe, as we believe he does, then to him belongs the divine prerogative of imparting his nature and his character to them that love him. then his righteousness is not a solitary, uncommunicative perfectness for himself, but like a sun in the heavens, which streams out vivifying and enlightening rays to all that seek his face. if it be true that christ has risen, then it is also true that you and i, convicted of sin, and learning our weakness and our faults, may come to him, and by the exercise of that simple and yet omnipotent act of faith, may ally our incompleteness with his perfectness, our sin with his righteousness, our emptiness with his fullness, and may have all the grace and the beauty of jesus christ passing over into us to be the spirit of life in us, 'making us free from the law of sin and death.' if christ be risen, his righteousness may be the world's; if christ be not risen, his righteousness is useless to any but to himself. my brother, wed yourself to that dear lord by faith in him, and his righteousness will become yours, and you will be 'found in him without spot and blameless,' clothed with white raiment like his own, and sharing in the throne which belongs to the righteous christ. iii. lastly, notice the judgment of the world's prince as the prophecy of the judgment of the world. we are here upon ground which is only made known to us by the revelation of scripture. we began with a fact of man's experience; we passed on to a fact of history; now we have a fact certified to us only on christ's authority. the world _has_ a prince. that ill-omened and chaotic agglomeration of diverse forms of evil has yet a kind of anarchic order in it, and, like the fabled serpent's locks on the gorgon head, they intertwine and sting one another, and yet they are a unity. we hear very little about 'the prince of the world' in scripture. mercifully the existence of such a being is not plainly revealed until the fact of christ's victory over him is revealed. but however ludicrous mediaeval and vulgar superstitions may have made the notion, and however incredible the tremendous figure painted by the great puritan poet has proved to be, there is nothing ridiculous, and nothing that we have the right to say is incredible, in the plain declarations that came from christ's lips over and over again, that the world, the aggregate of ungodly men, _has_ a prince. and then my text tells us that that prince is 'judged.' the cross did that, as jesus christ over and over again indicates, sometimes in plain words, as 'now is the judgment of this world,' 'now is the prince of this world cast out'; sometimes in metaphor, as 'i beheld satan as lightning fall from heaven,' 'first bind the strong man and then spoil his house.' we do not know how far-reaching the influences of the cross may be, and what they may have done in those dark regions, but we know that since that cross, the power of evil in the world has been broken in its centre, that god has been disclosed, that new forces have been lodged in the heart of humanity, which only need to be developed in order to overcome the evil. we know that since that auspicious day when 'he spoiled principalities and powers, making a show of them openly and leading them in triumph,' even when he was nailed upon the cross, the history of the world has been the judgment of the world. hoary iniquities have toppled into the ceaseless washing sea of divine love which has struck against their bases. ancient evils have vanished, and more are on the point of vanishing. a loftier morality, a higher notion of righteousness, a deeper conception of sin, new hopes for the world and for men, have dawned upon mankind; and the prince of the world is led bound, as it were, at the victorious chariot wheels. the central fortress has been captured, and the rest is an affair of outposts. my text has for its last word this--the prince's judgment prophesies the world's future judgment. the process which began when jesus christ died has for its consummation the divine condemnation of all the evil that still afflicts humanity, and its deprivation of authority and power to injure. a final judgment will come, and that it will is manifested by the fact that christ, when he came in the form of a servant and died upon the cross, judged the prince. when he comes in the form of a king on the great white throne he will judge the world which he has delivered from its prince. that thought, my brother, ought to be a hope to us all. are you glad when you think that there is a day of judgment coming? does your heart leap up when you realise the fact that the righteousness, which is in the heavens, is sure to conquer and coerce and secure under the hatches the sin that is riding rampant through the world? it was a joy and a hope to men who did not know half as much of the divine love and the divine righteousness as we do. they called upon the rocks and the hills to rejoice, and the trees of the forest to clap their hands before the lord, 'for he cometh to judge the world.' does your heart throb a glad amen to that? it ought to be a hope; it is a fear; and there are some of us who do not like to have the conviction driven home to us, that the end of the strife between sin and righteousness is that jesus christ shall judge the world and take unto himself his eternal kingdom. but, my friends, hope or fear, it is a fact, as certain in the future, as the cross is sure in the past, or the throne in the present. let me ask you this question, the question which christ has sent all his servants to ask--have you loathed your sin? have you opened your heart to christ's righteousness? if you have, when men's hearts are failing them for fear, and they 'call on the rocks and the hills to cover them from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne,' you will 'have a song as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept,' and lift up your heads, 'for your redemption draweth nigh.' 'herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness before him in the day of judgment.' the guide into all truth 'i have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. howbeit when he, the spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. he shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. all things that the father hath are mine: therefore said i, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you.'--john xvi. 12-15. this is our lord's last expansion, in these discourses, of the great promise of the comforter which has appeared so often in them. first, he was spoken of simply as dwelling in christ's servants, without any more special designation of his work than was involved in the name. then, his aid was promised, to remind the apostles of the facts of christ's life, especially of his words; and so the inspiration and authority of the four gospels were certified for us. then he was further promised as the witness in the disciples to jesus christ. and, finally, in the immediately preceding context, we have his office of 'convincing,' or convicting, 'the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.' and now we come to that gracious and gentle work which that divine spirit is declared by christ to do, not only for that little group gathered round him then, but for all those who trust themselves to his guidance. he is to be the 'spirit of truth' to all the ages, who in simple verity will help true hearts to know and love the truth. there are three things in the words before us--first, the avowed incompleteness of christ's own teaching; second, the completeness of the truth into which the spirit of truth guides; and, last, the unity of these two. i. first, then, we have here the avowed incompleteness of christ's own teaching. 'i have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.' now in an earlier portion of these great discourses, we have our lord asserting that '_all_ things whatsoever he had heard of the father he had made known' unto his servants. how do these two representations harmonise? is it possible to make them agree? surely, yes. there is a difference between the germ and the unfolded flower. there is a difference between principles and the complete development of these. i suppose you may say that all euclid is in the axioms and definitions. i suppose you may also say that when you have learned the axioms and definitions, there are many things yet to be said, of which you have not grown to the apprehension. and so our lord, as far as his frankness was concerned, and as far as the fundamental and seminal principles of all religious truth were concerned, had even then declared all that he had heard of the father. but yet, in so far as the unfolding of these was concerned, the tracing of their consequences, the exhibition of their harmonies, the weaving of them into an ordered whole in which a man's understanding could lodge, there were many things yet to be said, which that handful of men were not able to bear. and so our lord himself here declares that his words spoken on earth are not his completed revelation. of course we find in them, as i believe, hints profound and pregnant, which only need to be unfolded and smoothed out, as it were, and their depths fathomed, in order to lead to all that is worthy of being called christian truth. but upon many points we cannot but contrast the desultory, brief, obscure references which came from the master's lips with the more systematised, full, and accurate teaching which came from the servants. the great crucial instance of all is the comparative reticence which our lord observed in reference to his sacrificial death, and the atoning character of his sufferings for the world. i do not admit that the silence of the gospels upon that subject is fairly represented when it is said to be absolute. i believe that that silence has been exaggerated by those who have no desire to accept that teaching. but the distinction is plain and obvious, not to be ignored, rather to be marked as being fruitful of blessed teaching, between the way in which christ speaks about his cross, and the way in which the apostles speak about it after pentecost. what then? my text gives us the reason. 'you cannot bear them now.' now the word rendered 'bear' here does not mean 'bear' in the sense of endure, or tolerate, or suffer, but 'bear' in the sense of carry. and the metaphor is that of some weight--it may be gold, but still it is a weight--laid upon a man whose muscles are not strong enough to sustain it. it crushes rather than gladdens. so because they had not strength enough to carry, had not capacity to receive, our lord was lovingly reticent. there is a great principle involved in this saying--that revelation is measured by the moral and spiritual capacities of the men who receive it. the light is graduated for the diseased eye. a wise oculist does not flood that eye with full sunshine, but he puts on veils and bandages, and closes the shutters, and lets a stray beam, ever growing as the curve is perfected, fall upon it. so from the beginning until the end of the process of revelation there was a correspondence between men's capacity to receive the light and the light that was granted; and the faithful use of the less made them capable of receiving the greater, and as soon as they were capable of receiving it, it came. 'to him that hath shall be given.' in his love, then, christ did not load these men with principles that they could not carry, nor feed them with 'strong meat' instead of 'milk,' until they were able to bear it. revelation is progressive, and christ is reticent, from regard to the feebleness of his listeners. now that same principle is true in a modified form about us. how many things there are which we sometimes feel we should like to know, that god has not told us, because we have not yet grown up to the point at which we could apprehend them! compassed with these veils of flesh and weakness, groping amidst the shadows of time, bewildered by the cross-lights that fall upon us from so many surrounding objects, we have not yet eyes able to behold the ineffable glory. he has many things to say to us about that blessed future, and that strange and awful life into which we are to step when we leave this poor world, but 'ye cannot bear them now.' let us wait with patience until we are ready for the illumination. for two things go to make revelation, the light that reveals and the eye that beholds. now one remark before i go further. people tell us, 'your modern theology is not in the gospels.' and they say to us, as if they had administered a knockdown blow, 'we stick by jesus, not paul.' well, as i said, i do not admit that there is no 'pauline' teaching in the gospels, but i do confess there is not much. and i say, 'what then?' why, this, then--it is exactly what we were to expect; and people who reject the apostolic form of christian teaching because it is not found in the gospels are flying in the face of christ's own teaching. you say you will take his words as the only source of religious truth. you are going clean contrary to his own words in saying so. remember that he proclaimed their incompleteness, and referred us, for the fuller knowledge of the truth of god, to a subsequent teacher. ii. so, secondly, mark here the completeness of the truth into which the spirit guides. i must trouble you with just a word or two of remark as to the language of our text. note the personality, designation, and office of this new teacher. 'he,' not '_it_,' he, is the spirit of truth whose characteristic and weapon is truth. 'he will guide you'--suggesting a loving hand put out to lead; suggesting the graciousness, the gentleness, the gradualness of the teaching. 'into all truth '--that is no promise of omniscience, but it is the assurance of gradual and growing acquaintance with the spiritual and moral truth which is revealed, such as may be fitly paralleled by the metaphor of men passing into some broad land, of which there is much still to be possessed and explored. not to-day, nor to-morrow, will all the truth belong to those whom the spirit guides; but if they are true to his guidance, 'to-morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant,' and the land will all be traversed at the last. 'he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak.' mark the parallel between the relation of the spirit-teacher to jesus, and the relation of jesus to the father. of him, too, it is said by himself, 'all things whatsoever i have heard of the father i have declared unto you.' the mark of satan is, 'he speaketh of his own'; the mark of the divine teacher is, 'he speaketh not of himself, but whatsoever things,' in all their variety, in their continuity, in their completeness, 'he shall hear,'--where? yonder in the depths of the godhead--'whatsoever things he shall hear there,' he shall show to you, and especially, 'he will show you the things that are to come.' these apostles were living in a revolutionary time. men's hearts were 'failing them for fear of the things that were coming on the earth.' step by step they would be taught the evolving glory of that kingdom which they were to be the instruments in founding; and step by step there would be spread out before them the vision of the future and all the wonder that should be, the world that was to come, the new constitution which christ was to establish. now, if that be the interpretation, however inadequate, of these great and wonderful words, there are but two things needful to say about them. one is that this promise of a complete guidance into truth applies in a peculiar and unique fashion to the original hearers of it. i ventured to say that one of the other promises of the spirit, which i quoted in my introductory remarks, was the certificate to us of the inspiration and reliableness of these four gospels. and i now remark that in these words, in their plain and unmistakable meaning, there lie involved the inspiration and authority of the apostles as teachers of religious truth. here we have the guarantee for the authority over our faith, of the words which came from these men, and from the other who was added to their number on the damascus road. they were guided 'into _all_ the truth,' and so our task is to receive the truth into which they were guided. the acts of the apostles is the best commentary on these words of my text. there you see how these men rose at once into a new region; how the truths about their master which had been bewildering puzzles to them flashed into light; how the cross, which had baffled and dispersed them, became at once the centre of union for themselves and for the world; how the obscure became lucid, and christ's death and the resurrection stood forth to them as the great central facts of the world's salvation. in the book of the apocalypse we have part of the fulfilment of this closing promise: 'he will show you things to come'; when the seer was 'in the spirit on the lord's day,' and the heavens were opened, and the history of the church (whether in chronological order, or in the exhibition of symbols of the great forces which shall be arrayed for and against it, over and over again, to the end of time, does not at present matter), was spread before him as a scroll. now, dear friends, this great principle of my text has a modified application also to us all. for that divine spirit is given to each of us if we will use him, is given to any and every man who desires him, does dwell in christian hearts, though, alas! so many of us are so little conscious of him, and does teach us the truth which christ himself left incomplete. only let me make one remark here. we do not stand on the same level as these men who clustered round christ on his road to gethsemane, and received the first fruits of the promise--the spirit. they, taught by that divine guide and by experience, were led into the deeper apprehension of the words and the deeds, of the life and the death, of jesus christ our lord. we, taught by that same spirit, are led into a deeper apprehension of the words which they spake, both in recording and interpreting the facts of christ's life and death. and so we come sharp up to this, 'if any man thinketh himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which i speak unto him are the commandments of the lord.' that is how an apostle put his relation to the other possessors of the divine spirit. and you and i have to take this as the criterion of all true possession of the spirit of god, that it bows in humble submission to the authoritative teaching of this book. iii. lastly, we have here our lord pointing out the unity of these two. in the verse on which i have just been commenting he says nothing about himself, and it might easily appear to the listeners as if these two sources of truth, his own incomplete teaching, and the full teaching of the divine spirit, were independent of, if not opposed to, one another. so in the last words of our text he shows us the blending of the two streams, the union of the two beams. 'he shall glorify me.' think of a _man_ saying that! the spirit who will come from god and 'guide men into all truth' has for his distinctive office the glorifying of jesus christ. so fair is he, so good, so radiant, that to make him known _is_ to glorify him. the glorifying of christ is the ultimate and adequate purpose of everything that god the father, son, and holy spirit has done, because the glorifying of christ is the glorifying of god, and the blessing of the eyes that behold his glory. 'for he shall take of mine, and show it unto you.' all which that divine spirit brings is christ's. so, then, there is no new revelation, only the interpretation of the revelation. the text is given, and its last word was spoken, when 'the cloud received him out of their sight,' and henceforward all is commentary. the spirit takes of christ's; applies the principles, unfolds the deep meaning of words and deeds, and especially the meaning of the mystery of the cradle, and the tragedy of the cross, and the mystery of the ascension, as declaring that christ is the son of god, the sacrifice for the world. christ said, 'i am the truth.' therefore, when he promises, 'he will guide you into all the truth,' we may fairly conclude that 'the truth' into which the spirit guides is the personal christ. it is the whole christ, the whole truth, that we are to receive from that divine teacher; growing up day by day into the capacity to grasp christ more firmly, to understand him better, and by love and trust and obedience to make him more entirely our own. we are like the first settlers upon some great island-continent. there is a little fringe of population round the coast, but away in the interior are leagues of virgin forests and fertile plains stretching to the horizon, and snow-capped summits piercing the clouds, on which no foot has ever trod. 'he will guide you into all truth'; through the length and breadth of the boundless land, the person and the work of jesus christ our lord. 'all things that the father hath are mine, therefore said i that he shall take of mine and show it unto you.' what awful words! a divine, teaching spirit can only teach concerning god. christ here explains the paradox of his words preceding, in which, if he were but human, he seems to have given that teaching spirit an unworthy office, by explaining that whatsoever is his is god's, and whatsoever is god's is his. my brother! do you believe that? is that what you think about jesus christ? he puts out here an unpresumptuous hand, and grasps all the constellated glories of the divine nature, and says, 'they are mine'; and the father looks down from heaven and says, 'son! thou art ever with me, and all that i have is thine.' do you answer, 'amen! i believe it?' here are three lessons from these great words which i leave with you without attempting to unfold them. one is, believe a great deal more definitely in, and seek a great deal more consciously and earnestly, and use a great deal more diligently and honestly, that divine spirit who is given to us all. i fear me that over very large tracts of professing christendom to-day men stand up with very faltering lips and confess, 'i believe in the holy ghost.' hence comes much of the weakness of our modern christianity, of the worldliness of professing christians, 'and when for the time they ought to be teachers, they have need that one teach them again which be the first principles of the oracles of god.' 'quench not, grieve not, despise not the holy spirit.' another lesson is, use the book that he uses--else you will not grow, and he will have no means of contact with you. and the last is, try the spirits. if anything calling itself christian teaching comes to you and does not glorify christ, it is self-condemned. for none can exalt him highly enough, and no teaching can present him too exclusively and urgently as the sole salvation and life of the whole earth, and if it be, as my text tells us, that the great teaching spirit is to come, who is to 'guide us into all truth,' and therein is to glorify christ, and to show us the things that are his, then it is also true, 'hereby know we the spirit of god. every spirit that confesseth that jesus christ is come in the flesh is of god; and every spirit that confesseth not that jesus christ is come in the flesh is not of god. and this is the spirit of antichrist.' christ's 'little whiles' 'a little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because i go to the father. then said some of his disciples among themselves, what is this that he saith unto us, a little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me: and, because i go to the father? they said therefore, what is this that he saith, a little while? we cannot tell what he saith. now jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, do ye inquire among yourselves of that i said, a little while, and ye shall not see me: and again a little while, and ye shall see me?'--john xvi. 16-19. a superficial glance at the former part of these verses may fail to detect their connection with the great preceding promise of the spirit who is to guide the disciples 'into all truth.' they appear to stand quite isolated and apart from that. but a little thought will bring out an obvious connection. the first words of our text are really the climax and crown of the promise of the spirit; for that spirit is to 'guide into all the truth' by declaring to the disciples the things that are christ's, and in consequence of that ministration, they are to be able to see their unseen lord. so this is the loftiest thought of what the divine spirit does for the christian heart, that it shows him a visible though absent christ. then we have in the subsequent part of our text the blundering of the bewildered disciples and the patient answer of the long-suffering teacher. so that there are these three points to take up: the times of disappearance and of sight; the bewildered disciples; and the patient teacher. i. first of all, then, note the deep teaching of our lord here, about the times of disappearance and of sight. the words are plain enough; the difficulty lies in the determination of the periods to which they refer. he tells us that, after a brief interval from the time at which he was speaking, there would come a short parenthesis during which he was not to be seen; and that upon that would follow a period of which no end is hinted at, during which he is to be seen. the two words employed in the two consecutive clauses, for 'sight,' are not the same, and so they naturally suggest some difference in the manner of vision. but the question arises, where are the limits of these times of which the lord speaks? now it is quite clear, i suppose, that the first of the 'little whiles' is the few hours that intervened between his speaking and the cross. and it is equally clear that his death and burial began, at all events, the period during which they were not to see him. but where does the second period begin, during which they are to see him? is it at his resurrection or at his ascension, when the process of 'going to the father' was completed in all its stages; or at pentecost, when the spirit, by whose ministration he was to be made visible, was poured out? the answer is, perhaps, not to be restricted to any one of these periods; but i think if we consider that all disciples, in all ages, have a portion in all the rest of these great discourses, and if we note the absence of any hint that the promised seeing of christ was ever to terminate, and if we mark the diversity of words under which the two manners of vision are described, and, above all, if we note the close connection of these words with those which precede, we shall come to the conclusion that the full realisation of this great promise of a visible christ did not begin until that time when the spirit, poured out, opened the eyes of his servants, and 'they saw his glory.' but however we settle the minor question of the chronology of these periods, the great truth shines out here that, through all the stretch of the ages, true hearts may truly see the true christ. if we might venture to suppose that in our text the second of the periods to which he refers, when they did not see him, was not coterminous with, but preceded, the second 'little while,' all would be clear. then the first 'little while' would be the few hours before the cross. 'ye shall not see me' would refer to the days in which he lay in the tomb. 'again, a little while' would point to that strange transitional period between his death and his ascension, in which the disciples had neither the close intercourse of earlier days nor the spiritual communion of later ones. and the final period, 'ye shall see me,' would cover the whole course of the centuries till he comes again. however that may be, and i only offer it as a possible suggestion, the thing that we want to fasten upon for ourselves is this--we all, if we will, may have a vision of christ as close, as real, as firmly certifying us of his reality, and making as vivid an impression upon us, as if he stood there, visible to our senses. and so, 'by this vision splendid' we may 'be everywhere attended,' and whithersoever we go, have burning before us the light of his countenance, in the sunshine of which we shall walk. brother! that is personal christianity--to see jesus christ, and to live with the thrilling consciousness, printed deep and abiding upon our spirits, that, in very deed, he is by our sides. o how that conviction would make life strong and calm and noble and blessed! how it would lift us up above temptation! 'he endured as seeing him who is invisible.' what should terrify us if christ stood before us? what should charm us if we saw him? competing glories and attractions would fade before his presence, as a dim candle dies at noon. it would make all life full of a blessed companionship. who could be solitary if he saw christ? or feel that life was dreary if that friend was by his side? it would fill our hearts with joy and strength, and make us evermore blessed by the light of his countenance. and how are we to get that vision? remember the connection of my text. it is because there is a divine spirit to show men the things that are christ's that therefore, unseen, he is visible to the eye of faith. and therefore the shortest and directest road to the vision of jesus is the submitting of heart and mind and spirit to the teaching of that divine spirit, who uses the record of the scriptures as the means by which he makes jesus christ known to us. but besides this waiting upon that divine teacher, let me remind you that there are conditions of discipline which must be fulfilled upon our parts, if any clear vision of jesus christ is to bless us pilgrims in this lonely world. and the first of these conditions is--if you want to see jesus christ, think about him. occupy your minds with him. if men in the city walk the pavements with their eyes fixed upon the gutters, what does it matter though all the glories of a sunset are dyeing the western sky? they will see none of them; and if christ stood beside you, closer to you than any other, if your eyes were fixed upon the trivialities of this poor present, you would not see him. if you honestly want to see christ, meditate upon him. and if you want to see him, shut out competing objects, and the dazzling cross-lights that come in and hide him from us. there must be a 'looking _off_ unto jesus.' there must be a rigid limitation, if not excision, of other objects, if we are to grasp him. if we would see, and have our hearts filled with, the calm sublimity of the solemn, white wedge that lifts itself into the far-off blue, we must not let our gaze stop on the busy life of the valleys or the green slopes of the lower alps, but must lift it and keep it fixed aloft. meditate upon him, and shut out other things. if you want to see christ, do his will. one act of obedience has more power to clear a man's eyes than hours of idle contemplation; and one act of disobedience has more power to dim his eyes than anything besides. it is in the dusty common road that he draws near to us, and the experience of those disciples that journeyed to emmaus may be ours. he meets us in the way, and makes 'our hearts burn within us.' the experience of the dying martyr outside the city gate may be ours. sorrows and trials will rend the heavens if they be rightly borne, and so we shall see christ 'standing at the right hand of god.' rebellious tears blind our eyes, as mary's did, so that she did not know the master and took him for 'the gardener.' submissive tears purge the eyes and wash them clean to see his face. to do his will is the sovereign method for beholding his countenance. brethren, is this our experience? you professing christians, do you see christ? are your eyes fixed upon him? do you go through life with him consciously nearer to you than any beside? is he closer than the intrusive insignificances of this fleeting present? have you him as your continual companion? oh! when we contrast the difference between the largeness of this promise--a promise of a thrilling consciousness of his presence, of a vivid perception of his character, of an unwavering certitude of his reality--and the fly-away glimpses and wandering sight, and faint, far-off views, as of a planet weltering amid clouds, which the most of christian men have of christ, what shame should cover our faces, and how we should feel that if we have not the fulfilment, it is our own fault! blessed they of whom it is true that they see 'no man any more save jesus only'! and to whom all sorrow, joy, care, anxiety, work, and repose are but the means of revealing that sweet and all-sufficient presence! 'i have set the lord always before me, therefore i shall not be moved.' ii. now notice, secondly, these bewildered disciples. we find, in the early portion of these discourses, that twice they ventured to interrupt our lord with more or less relevant questions, but as the wonderful words flowed on, they seem to have been awed into silence; and our lord himself almost complains of them that 'none of you asketh me, whither goest thou?' the inexhaustible truths that he had spoken seem to have gone clear over their heads, but the verbal repetition of the 'little whiles,' and the recurring ring of the sentences, seem to have struck upon their ears. so passing by all the great words, they fasten upon this minor thing, and whisper among themselves, perhaps lagging behind on the road, as to what he means by these 'little whiles.' the revised version is probably correct, or at least it has strong manuscript authority in its favour, in omitting the clause in our lord's words, 'because i go to the father.' the disciples seem to have quoted, not from the preceding verse, but from a verse a little before that in the context, where he said that 'the spirit will convince the world of righteousness because i go to my father, and ye see me no more.' the contradiction seems to strike them. these disciples in their bewilderment seem to me to represent some very common faults which we all commit in our dealing with the lord's words, and to one or two of these i turn for a moment. note this to begin with, how they pass by the greater truths in order to fasten upon a smaller outstanding difficulty. they have no questions to ask about the gifts of the spirit, nor about the unity of christ and his disciples as represented in the vine and the branches, nor about what he tells them of the love that 'lays down its life for its friends.' but when he comes into the region of chronology, they are all agog to know the 'when' about which he is so enigmatically speaking. now is not that exactly like us, and does not the christianity of this day very much want the hint to pay most attention to the greatest truths, and let the little difficulties fall into their subordinate place? the central truths of christianity are the incarnation and atonement of jesus christ. and yet outside questions, altogether subordinate and, in comparison with this, unimportant, are filling the attention and the thoughts of people at present to such an extent that there is great danger of the central truth of all being either passed by, or the reception of it being suspended on the clearing up of smaller questions. the truth that christ is the son of god, who has died for our salvation, is the heart of the gospel. and why should we make our faith in that, and our living by it, contingent on the clearing up of certain external and secondary questions; chronological, historical, critical, philological, scientific, and the like? and why should men be so occupied in jangling about the latter as that the towering supremacy, the absolute independence, of the former should be lost sight of? what would you think of a man in a fire who, when they brought the fire-escape to him, said, 'i decline to trust myself to it, until you first of all explain to me the principles of its construction; and, secondly, tell me all about who made it; and, thirdly, inform me where all the materials of which it is made came from?' but that is very much what a number of people are doing to-day in reference to 'the gospel of our salvation,' when they demand that the small questions--on which the central verity does not at all depend--shall be answered and settled before they cast themselves upon that. another of the blunders of these disciples, in which they show themselves as our brethren, is that they fling up the attempt to apprehend the obscurity in a very swift despair. 'we cannot tell what he saith, and we are not going to try any more. it is all cloud-land and chaos together.' intellectual indolence, spiritual carelessness, deal thus with outstanding difficulties, abandoning precipitately the attempt to grasp them or that which lies behind them. and yet although there are no gratuitous obscurities in christ's teaching, he said a great many things which could not possibly be understood at the time, in order that the disciples might stretch up towards what was above them, and, by stretching up, might grow. i do not think that it is good to break down the children's bread too small. a wise teacher will now and then blend with the utmost simplicity something that is just a little in advance of the capacity of the listener, and so encourage a little hand to stretch itself out, and the arm to grow because it is stretched. if there are no difficulties there is no effort, and if there is no effort there is no growth. difficulties are there in order that we may grapple with them, and truth is sometimes hidden in a well in order that we may have the blessing of the search, and that the truth found after the search may be more precious. the tropics, with their easy, luxuriant growth, where the footfall turns up the warm soil, grow languid men, and our less smiling latitude grows strenuous ones. thank god that everything is not easy, even in that which is meant for the revelation of all truth to all men! instead of turning tail at the first fence, let us learn that it will do us good to climb, and that the fence is there in order to draw forth our effort. there is another point in which these bewildered disciples are uncommonly like the rest of us; and that is that they have no patience to wait for time and growth to solve the difficulty. they want to know all about it now, or not at all. if they would wait for six weeks they would understand, as they did. pentecost explained it all. we, too, are often in a hurry. there is nothing that the ordinary mind, and often the educated mind, detests so much as uncertainty, and being consciously baffled by some outstanding difficulty. and in order to escape that uneasiness, men are dogmatical when they should be doubtful, and positively asserting when it would be a great deal more for the health of their souls and of their listeners to say, 'well, really i do not know, and i am content to wait.' so, on both sides of great controversies, you get men who will not be content to let things wait, for all must be made clear and plain to-day. ah, brethren! for ourselves, for our own intellectual difficulties, and for the difficulties of the world, there is nothing like time and patience. the mysteries that used to plague us when we were boys melted away when we grew up. and many questions which trouble me to-day, and through which i cannot find my way, if i lay them aside, and go about my ordinary duties, and come back to them to-morrow with a fresh eye and an unwearied brain, will have straightened themselves out and become clear. we grow into our best and deepest convictions, we are not dragged into them by any force of logic. so for our own sorrows, questions, pains, griefs, and for all the riddle of this painful world, 'take it on trust a little while, thou soon shalt read the mystery right, in the full sunshine of his smile.' iii. lastly, and very briefly, a word about the patient teacher. 'jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him.' he knows all our difficulties and perplexities. perhaps it is his supernatural knowledge that is indicated in the words before us, or perhaps it is merely that he saw them whispering amongst themselves and so inferred their wish. be that as it may, we may take the comfort that we have to do with a teacher who accurately understands how much we understand and where we grope, and will shape his teaching according to our necessities. he had not a word of rebuke for the slowness of their apprehension. he might well have said to them, 'o fools and slow of heart to believe!' but that word was not addressed to them then, though two of them deserved it and got it, after events had thrown light on his teaching. he never rebukes us for either our stupidity or for our carelessness, but 'has long patience' with us. he does give them a kind of rebuke. 'do ye inquire _among yourselves_?' that is a hopeful source to go to for knowledge. why did they not ask him, instead of whispering and muttering there behind him, as if two people equally ignorant could help each other to knowledge? inquiry 'among yourselves' is folly; to ask him is wisdom. we can do much for one another, but the deepest riddles and mysteries can only be wisely dealt with in one way. take them to him, tell him about them. told to him, they often dwindle. they become smaller when they are looked at beside him, and he will help us to understand as much as may be understood, and patiently to wait and leave the residue unsolved, until the time shall come when 'we shall know even as we are known.' in the context here, jesus christ does not explain to the disciples the precise point that troubled them. olivet and pentecost were to do that; but he gives them what will tide them over the time until the explanation shall come, in triumphant hopes of a joy and peace that are drawing near. and so there is a great deal in all our lives, in his dealings with us, in his revelation of himself to us, that must remain mysterious and unintelligible. but if we will keep close to him, and speak plainly to him in prayer and communion about our difficulties, he will send us triumphant hope and large confidence of a coming joy, that will float us over the bar and make us feel that the burden is no longer painful to carry. much that must remain dark through life will be lightened when we get yonder; for the vision here is not perfect, and the knowledge here is as imperfect as the vision. dear friends! the one question for us all is, do our eyes fix and fasten on that dear lord, and is it the description of our own whole lives, that we see him and walk with him? oh! if so, then life will be blessed, and death itself will be but as 'a little while' when we 'shall not see him,' and then we shall open our eyes and behold him close at hand, whom we saw from afar, and with wandering eyes, amidst the mists and illusions of earth. to see him as he became for our sakes is heaven on earth. to see him as he is will be the heaven of heaven, and before that face, 'as the sun shining in his strength,' all sorrows, difficulties, and mysteries will melt as morning mists. sorrow turned into joy 'verily, verily, i say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. a woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. and ye now, therefore, have sorrow; but i will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.'-john xvi. 20-22. these words, to which we have come in the ordinary course of our exposition, make an appropriate text for easter sunday. for their one theme is the joy which began upon that day, and was continued in increasing measure as the possession of christ's servants after pentecost. our lord promises that the momentary sadness and pain shall be turned into a swift and continual joy. he pledges his word for that, and bids us believe it on his bare word. he illustrates it by that tender and beautiful image which, in the pains and bliss of motherhood, finds an analogy for the pains and bliss of the disciples, inasmuch as, in both cases, pain leads directly to blessedness in which it is forgotten. and he crowns his great promises by explaining to us what is the deepest foundation of our truest gladness, 'i will see you again,' and by declaring that such a joy is independent of all foes and all externals, 'and your joy no man taketh from you.' there are, then, two or three aspects of the christian life as a glad life which are set before us in these words, and to which i ask your attention. i. there is, first, the promise of a joy which is a transformed sorrow. 'your sorrow shall be turned into joy,' not merely that the one emotion is substituted for the other, but that the one emotion, as it were, becomes the other. this can only mean that _that_, which was the cause of the one, reverses its action and becomes the cause of the opposite. of course the historical and immediate fulfilment of these words lies in the double result of christ's cross upon his servants. for part of three dreary days it was the occasion of their sorrow, their panic, their despair; and then, all at once, when with a bound the mighty fact of the resurrection dawned upon them, that which had been the occasion for their deep grief, for their apparently hopeless despair, suddenly became the occasion for a rapture beyond their dreams, and a joy which would never pass. the cross of christ, which for some few hours was pain, and all but ruin, has ever since been the centre of the deepest gladness and confidence of a thousand generations. i do not need to remind you, i suppose, of the value, as a piece of evidence of the historical veracity of the gospel story, of this sudden change and complete revolution in the sentiments and emotions of that handful of disciples. what was it that lifted them out of the pit? what was it that revolutionised in a moment their notions of the cross and of its bearing upon them? what was it that changed downhearted, despondent, and all but apostate, disciples into heroes and martyrs? it was the one fact which christendom commemorates to-day: the resurrection of jesus christ. that was the element, added to the dark potion, which changed it all in a moment into golden flashing light. the resurrection was what made the death of christ no longer the occasion for the dispersion of his disciples, but bound them to him with a closer bond. and i venture to say that, unless the first disciples were lunatics, there is no explanation of the changes through which they passed in some eight-and-forty hours, except the supernatural and miraculous fact of the resurrection of jesus christ from the dead. that set a light to the thick column of smoke, and made it blaze up a 'pillar of fire.' that changed sorrow into joy. the same death which, before the resurrection, drew a pall of darkness over the heavens, and draped the earth in mourning, by reason of that resurrection which swept away the cloud and brought out the sunshine, became the source of joy. a dead christ was the church's despair; a dead and risen christ is the church's triumph, because he is 'the christ that died... and is alive for evermore.' but, more generally, let me remind you how this very same principle, which applies directly and historically to the resurrection of our lord, may be legitimately expanded so as to cover the whole ground of devout men's sorrows and calamities. sorrow is the first stage, of which the second and completed stage is transformation into joy. every thundercloud has a rainbow lying in its depths when the sun smites upon it. our purest and noblest joys are transformed sorrows. the sorrow of contrite hearts becomes the gladness of pardoned children; the sorrow of bereaved, empty hearts may become the gladness of hearts filled with god; and every grief that stoops upon our path may be, and will be, if we keep near that dear lord, changed into its own opposite, and become the source of blessedness else unattainable. every stroke of the bright, sharp ploughshare that goes through the fallow ground, and every dark winter's day of pulverising frost and lashing tempest and howling wind, are represented in the broad acres, waving with the golden grain. all your griefs and mine, brother, if we carry them to the master, will flash up into gladness and be "turned into joy." ii. still further, another aspect here of the glad life of the true christian is, that it is a joy founded upon the consciousness that christ's eye is upon us. 'i will see you again and your heart shall rejoice.' in other parts of these closing discourses the form of the promise is the converse of this, as for instance--'yet a little while, and ye shall see _me_.' here christ lays hold of the thought by the other handle, and says, '_i_ will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice.' now these two forms of putting the same mutual relationship, of course, agree, in that they both of them suggest, as the true foundation of the blessedness which they promise, the fact of communion with a present lord. but they differ from one another in colouring, and in the emphasis which they place upon the two parts of that communion. '_ye_ shall see _me_' fixes attention upon us and our perception of him. '_i_ will see you' fixes attention rather upon him and his beholding of us. 'ye shall see me' speaks of our going out after him and being satisfied in him. 'i will see you' speaks of his perfect knowledge, of his loving care, of his tender, compassionate, complacent, ever-watchful eye resting upon us, in order that he may communicate to us all needful good. and so it requires a loving heart on our part, in order to find joy in such a promise. 'his eyes are as a flame of fire,' and he sees all men; but unless our hearts cleave to him and we know ourselves to be knit to him by the tender bond of love from him, accepted and treasured in our souls, then 'i will see you again' is a threat and not a promise. it depends upon the relation which we bear to him, whether it is blessedness or misery to think that he whose flaming eye reads all men's sins and pierces through all hypocrisies and veils has it fixed upon us. the sevenfold utterance of his words to the asiatic churches-the last recorded words of jesus christ-begins with 'i know thy works.' it was no joy to the lukewarm professors at laodicea, nor to the church at ephesus which had lost the freshness of its early love, that the master knew them; but to the faithful souls in philadelphia, and to the few in sardis, who 'had not defiled their garments,' it was blessedness and life to feel that they walked in the sunshine of his face. is there any joy to us in the thought that the lord christ sees us? oh! if our hearts are really his, if our lives are as truly built on him as our profession of being christians alleges that they are, then all that we need for the satisfaction of our nature, for the supply of our various necessities, or as an armour against temptation, and an amulet against sorrow, will be given to us, in the belief that his eye is fixed upon us. _there_ is the foundation of the truest joy for men. 'there be many that say, who will show us any good? lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. thou hast put gladness in my heart more than in the time when their corn and their wine abound.' one look _towards_ christ will more than repay and abolish earth's sorrow. one look _from_ christ will fill our hearts with sunshine. all tears are dried on eyes that meet his. loving hearts find their heaven in looking into one another's faces, and if christ be our love, our deepest and purest joys will be found in his glance and our answering gaze. if one could anyhow take a bit of the arctic world and float it down into the tropics, the ice would all melt, and the white dreariness would disappear, and a new splendour of colour and of light would clothe the ground, and an unwonted vegetation would spring up where barrenness had been. and if you and i will only float our lives southward beneath the direct vertical rays of that great 'sun of righteousness,' then all the dreary winter and ice of our sorrows will melt, and joy will spring. brother! the christian life is a glad life, because christ, the infinite and incarnate lover of our souls, looks upon the heart that loves and trusts him. iii. still further, note how our lord here sets forth his disciples' joy as beyond the reach of violence and independent of externals. 'no man taketh it from you.' of course, that refers primarily to the opposition and actual hostility of the persecuting world, which that handful of frightened men were very soon to face; and our lord assures them here that, whatsoever the power of the devil working through the world may be able to filch away from them, it cannot filch away the joy that he gives. but we may extend the meaning beyond that reference. much of our joy, of course, depends upon our fellows, and disappears when they fade away from our sight and we struggle along in a solitude, made the more dreary because of remembered companionship. and much of our joy depends upon the goodwill and help of our fellows, and they can snatch away all that so depends. they can hedge up our road and make it uncomfortable and sad for us in many ways, but no man but myself can put a roof over my head to shut me out from god and christ; and as long as i have a clear sky overhead, it matters very little how high may be the walls that foes or hostile circumstances pile around me, and how close they may press upon me. and much of our joy necessarily depends upon and fluctuates with external circumstances of a hundred different kinds, as we all only too well know. but we do not need to have all our joy fed from these surface springs. we may dig deeper down if we like. if we are christians, we have, like some beleaguered garrison in a fortress, a well in the courtyard that nobody can get at, and which never can run dry. 'your joy no man taketh from you.' as long as we have christ, we cannot be desolate. if he and i were alone in the universe, or, paradoxical as it may sound, if he and i were alone, and the universe were not, i should have all that i needed and my joy would be full, if i loved him as i ought to do. so, my brother! let us see to it that we dig deep enough for the foundation of our blessedness, and that it is on christ and nothing less infinite, less eternal, less unchangeable, that we repose for the inward blessedness which nothing outside of us can touch. that is the blessedness which we may all possess, 'for i am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us' from the eye and the heart of the risen christ who lives for us. but remember, though externals have no power to rob us of our joy, they have a very formidable power to interfere with the cultivation of that faith, which is the essential condition of our joy. they cannot force us away from christ, but they may tempt us away. the sunshine did for the traveller in the old fable what the storm could not do; and the world may cause you to think so much about it that you forget your master. its joys may compel him to hide his face, and may so fill your eyes that you do not care to look at his face; and so the sweet bond may be broken, and the consciousness of a living, loving jesus may fade, and become filmy and unsubstantial, and occasional and interrupted. do you see to it that what the world cannot do by violence and directly, it does not do by its harlot kisses and its false promises, tempting you away from the paths where alone you can meet your master. iv. lastly, note that this life of joy, which our lord here speaks of, is made certain by the promise of a faithful christ. 'verily, verily, i say unto you,'--he was accustomed to use that impressive and solemn formula, when he was about to speak words beyond the reach of human wisdom to discover, or of prime importance for men to accept and believe. he tells these men, who had nothing but his bare word to rely upon, that the astonishing thing which he is going to promise them will certainly come to pass. he would encourage them to rest an unfaltering confidence, for the brief parenthesis of sorrow, upon his faithful promise of joy. he puts his own character, so to speak, in pawn. his words are precisely equivalent in meaning to the solemn old testament words which are represented as being the oath of god, 'as i live saith the lord,' 'you may be as sure of this thing as you are of my divine existence, for all my divine being is pledged to you to bring it about.' 'verily, verily, i say unto you,' 'you may be as sure of this thing as you are of me, for all that i am is pledged to fulfil the words of my lips.' so christ puts his whole truthfulness at stake, as it were; and if any man who has ever loved jesus christ and trusted him aright has not found this 'joy unspeakable and full of glory,' then jesus christ has said the thing that is not. then why is it that so many professing christians have such joyless lives as they have? simply because they do not keep the conditions. if we will love him so as to set our hearts upon him, if we will desire him as our chief good, if we will keep our eyes fixed upon him, then, as sure as he is living and is the truth, he will flood our hearts with blessedness, and his joy will pour into our souls as the flashing tide rushes into some muddy and melancholy harbour, and sets everything dancing that was lying stranded on the slime. if, my brother, you, a professing christian, know but little of this joy, why, then, it is _your_ fault, and not _his_. the joyless lives of so many who say that they are his disciples cast no shadow of suspicion upon his veracity, but they do cast a very deep shadow of doubt upon their profession of faith in him. is your religion joyful? is your joy religious? the two questions go together. and if we cannot answer these questions in the light of god's eye as we ought to do, let these great promises and my text prick us into holier living, into more consistent christian character, and a closer walk with our master and lord. the out-and-out christian is a joyful christian. the half-and-half christian is the kind of christian that a great many of you are--little acquainted with 'the joy of the lord.' why should we live half way up the hill and swathed in mists, when we might have an unclouded sky and a visible sun over our heads, if we would only climb higher and walk in the light of his face? 'in that day' 'and in that day ye shall ask me nothing. verily, verily, i say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the father in my name, he will give it you. hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.'--john xvi. 23, 24. our lord here sums up the prerogatives and privileges of his servants in the day that was about to dawn and to last till he came again. there is nothing absolutely new in the words; substantially the promises contained in them have appeared in former parts of these discourses under somewhat different aspects and connections. but our lord brings them together here, in this condensed repetition, in order that the scattered rays, being thus focussed, may have more power to illuminate with certitude, and to warm into hope. 'ye shall ask me nothing.... ask and ye shall receive.... your joy shall be full.' these are the jewels which he sets in a cluster, the juxtaposition making each brighter, and gives to us for a parting keepsake. now it is to be noticed that the two askings which are spoken of here are expressed by different words in the greek. our english word 'ask' means two things, either to question or to request; to ask in the sense of interrogating, in order to get information and teaching, or in the sense of beseeching, in order to get gifts. in the former sense the word is employed in the first clause of my text, with distinct reference to the disciples' desire, a moment or two before, to ask him a very foolish question; and in the second sense it is employed in the central portion of my text. so, then, there are three things here as the marks of the christian life all through the ages: the cessation of the ignorant questions addressed to a present christ; the satisfaction of desires; and the perfecting of joy. these are the characteristics of a true christian life. my brother, are they in any degree the characteristics of yours? i. note then, first, the end of questionings. 'in that day ye shall ask me nothing,' and do not you think that when the disciples heard that, they would be tempted to say, 'then what in all the world are we to do?' to them the thought that he was not to be at their sides any longer, for them to go to with their difficulties, must have seemed despair rather than advance; but in christ's eyes it was progress. he tells them and us that we gain by losing him, and are better off than they were, precisely because he does not any longer stand at our sides for us to question. it is better for a boy to puzzle out the meaning of a latin book by his own brains and the help of a dictionary than it is lazily to use an interlinear translation. and, though we do not always feel it, and are often tempted to think how blessed it would be if we had an infallible teacher visible here at our sides, it is a great deal better for us that we have not, and it is a step in advance that he has gone away. many eager and honest christian souls, hungering after certainty and rest, have cast themselves in these latter days into the arms of an infallible church. i doubt whether any such questioning mind has found what it sought; and i am sure that it has taken a step downwards, in passing from the spiritual guidance realised by our own honest industry and earnest use of the materials supplied to us in christ's word, to any external authority which comes to us to save us the trouble of thinking, and to confirm to us truth which we have not made our own by search and effort. we gain by losing the visible christ; and he was proclaiming progress and not retrogression, when he said: 'in that day ye shall ask me no more questions.' for what have we instead? we have two things: a completed revelation, and an inward teacher. we have a completed revelation. great and wonderful and unspeakably precious as were and are the words of jesus christ, his deeds are far more. the death of christ has told us things that christ before his death could not tell. the resurrection of christ has cast light upon all the darkest places of man's destiny which christ, before his resurrection, could not by any words so illuminate. the ascension of christ has opened doors for thought, for faith, for hope, which were fast closed, notwithstanding all his teachings, until he had burst them asunder and passed to his throne. and the facts which are substituted for the bodily presence of jesus with his disciples tell us a great deal more than they could ever have drawn from him by questionings, however persistent and however wisely directed. we have a completed revelation, and therefore we need 'ask him nothing.' and we have a divine spirit that will come to us if we will, and teach us by means of blessing the exercise of our own faculties, and guiding us, not, indeed, into the uniform perception of the intellectual aspects of christian truth, but into the apprehension and the loving possession, as a power in our lives, of all the truth that we need to mould our characters and to raise us to the likeness of himself. only, brother! let us remember what such a method of teaching demands from us. it needs that we honestly use the revelation that is given us; it needs that we loyally, lovingly, trustfully, submit ourselves to the teaching of that spirit who will dwell in us; it needs that we bring our lives up to the height of our present knowledge, and make everything that we know a factor in shaping what we do and what we are. if thus we will to do his will, 'we shall know of the doctrine'; if thus we yield ourselves to the divine spirit, we shall be taught the practical bearings of all essential truth; and if thus we ponder the facts and principles that are enshrined in christ's life, and the apostolic commentary on them, as preserved for us in the scripture, we shall not need to envy those that could go to him with their questions, for _he_ will come to us with his all-satisfying answers. ah! but you say experience does not verify these promises. look at a divided christendom; look at my own difficulties of knowing what i am to believe and to think. well, as for a divided christendom, saintly souls are all of one church, and however they may formulate the intellectual aspects of their creed, when they come to pray, they say the same things. roman catholic and protestant, and quaker and churchman, and calvinist and arminian, and greek and latin christians--all contribute to the hymn-book of every sect; and we all sing their songs. so the divisions are like the surface cracks on a dry field, and a few inches down there is continuity. as for the difficulty of knowing what i am to believe and think about controverted questions, no doubt there will remain many gaps in the circle of our knowledge; no doubt there will be much left obscure and unanswered; but if we will keep ourselves near the master, and use honestly and diligently the helps that he gives us--the outward help in the word, and the inward help in his teaching spirit--we shall not 'walk in darkness,' but shall have light enough given to be to us 'the light of life.' brother, keep close to christ, and christ--present though absent--will teach you. ii. secondly, satisfied desires. this second great promise of my text, introduced again by the solemn affirmation, 'verily, verily, i say unto you,' substantially appeared in a former part of these discourses with a very significant difference. 'whatsoever ye shall ask in my name that will i do.' 'if ye shall ask anything in my name i will do it.' there christ presented himself as the answerer of the petitions, because his more immediate purpose was to set forth his going to the father as his elevation to a yet loftier position. here, on the other hand, he sets forth the father as the answerer of the petitions, because his purpose is to point away from undue dependence on his own corporeal presence. but the fact that he thus, as occasion requires, substitutes the one form of speech for the other, and indifferently represents the same actions as being done by himself and by the father in heaven, carries with it large teachings which i do not dwell upon now. only i would ask you to consider how much is involved in that fact, that, as a matter of course, and without explanation of the difference, our lord alternates the two forms, and sometimes says, 'i will do it,' and sometimes says, 'the father will do it.' does it not point to that great and blessed truth, 'whatsoever thing the father doeth, that also doeth the son likewise?' but passing from that, let me ask you to note very carefully the limitation, which is here given to the broad universality of the declaration that desires shall be satisfied. 'if ye shall ask anything in my name'; there is the definition of christian prayer. and what does it mean? is a prayer, which from the beginning to the end is reeking with self-will, hallowed because we say, as a kind of charm at the end of it, 'for christ's sake. amen'? is _that_ praying in christ's name? surely not! what is the 'name' of christ? his whole revealed character. so these disciples could not pray in his name 'hitherto,' because his character was not all revealed. therefore, to pray in his name is to pray, recognising what he is, as revealed in his life and death and resurrection and ascension, and to base all our dependence of acceptance of our prayers upon that revealed character. is that all? are any kind of wishes, which are presented in dependence upon christ as our only hope and channel of divine blessing, certain to be fulfilled? certainly not. to pray 'in my name' means yet more than that. it means not only to pray in dependence upon christ as our only ground of hope and source of acceptance and god's only channel of blessing, but it means exactly what the same phrase means when it is applied to us. if i say that i am doing something in your name, that means on your behalf, as your representative, as your organ, and to express your mind and will. and if we pray in christ's name, that implies, not only our dependence upon his merit and work, but also the harmony of our wills with his will, and that our requests are not merely the hot products of our own selfishness, but are the calm issues of communion with him. _thus_ to pray requires the suppression of self. heathen prayer, if there be such a thing, is the violent effort to make god will what i wish. christian prayer is the submissive effort to make my wish what god wills, and that is to pray in christ's name. my brother! do we construct our prayers thus? do we try to bring our desires into harmony with him, before we venture to express them? do we go to his footstool to pour out petulant, blind, passionate, un-sanctified wishes after questionable and contingent good, or do we wait until he fills our spirits with longings after what it must be his desire to give, and then breathe out those desires caught from his own heart, and echoing his own will? ah! the discipline that is wanted to make men pray in christ's name is little understood by multitudes amongst us. notice how certain such prayer is of being answered. of course, if it is in harmony with the will of god, it is sure not to be offered in vain. our revised version makes a slight alteration in the order of the words in the first clause of this promise by reading, 'if ye ask anything of the father he will give it you _in my name_.' god's gifts come down through the same channel through which our prayer goes up. we ask in the name of christ, and get our answers in the name of christ. but, whether that be the true collocation of ideas or not, mark the plain principle here, that only desires which are in harmony with the divine will are sure of being satisfied. what is a bad thing for a child cannot be a good thing for a man. what is a foolish and wicked thing for a father down here to do cannot be a kind and a wise thing for the father in the heavens to do. if you wish to spoil your child you say, 'what do you want, my dear? tell me and you shall have it.' and if god were saying anything like that to us, through the lips of jesus christ his son, in the text, it would be no blessing, but a curse. he knows a great deal better what is good for us; and so he says: 'bring your wishes into line with my purpose, and then you will get them'; 'delight thyself in the lord, and he will give thee the desires of thine heart.' if you want god most you will be sure to get him; if your heart's desires are after him, your heart's desires will be satisfied. 'the young lions do roar and suffer hunger.' that is the world's way of getting good; fighting and striving and snarling, and forcibly seeking to grasp, and there is hunger after all. there is a better way than that. instead of striving and struggling to snatch and to keep a perishable and questionable portion, let us wait upon god and quiet our hearts, stilling them into the temper of communion and conformity with him, and we shall not ask in vain. he who prays in christ's name must pray christ's prayer, 'not my will, but thine be done.' and then, though many wishes may be unanswered, and many weak petitions unfulfilled, and many desires unsatisfied, the essential spirit of the prayer will be answered, and, his will being done in us and on us, our wishes will acquiesce in it and desire nothing besides. to him who can thus pray in christ's name in the deepest sense, and after christ's pattern, every door in god's treasure-house flies open, and he may take as much of the treasure as he desires. the master bends lovingly over such a soul, and looks him in the eyes, and with outstretched hand says, 'what wilt thou that i should do unto thee? be it unto thee even as thou wilt.' iii. lastly, the perfect joy which follows upon these two. 'that your joy may be fulfilled.' again we have a recurrence of a promise that has appeared in another connection in an earlier part of this discourse; but the connection here is worthy of notice. the promise is of joy that comes from the satisfaction of meek desires in unison with christ's will. is it possible then, that, amidst all the ups and downs, the changes and the sorrows of this fluctuating, tempest-tossed life of ours we may have a deep and stable joy? 'that your joy may be full,' says my text, or 'fulfilled,' like some jewelled, golden cup charged to the very brim with rich and quickening wine, so that there is no room for a drop more. can it be that ever, in this world, men shall be happy up to the very limits of their capacity? was anybody ever so blessed that he could not be more so? was your cup ever so full that there was no room for another drop in it? jesus christ says that it may be so, and he tells us how it may be so. bring your desires into harmony with god's, and you will have none unsatisfied amongst them; and so you will be blessed to the full; and though sorrow comes, as of course it will come, still you may be blessed. there is no contradiction between the presence of this deep, central joy and a surface and circumference of sorrow. rather we need the surrounding sorrow, to concentrate, and so to intensify, the central joy in god. there are some flowers which only blow in the night; and white blossoms are visible with startling plainness in the twilight, when all the flaunting purples and reds are hid. we do not know the depth, the preciousness, the power of the 'joy of the lord,' until we have felt it shining in our hearts in the midst of the thick darkness of earthly sorrow, and bringing life into the very death of our human delights. it may be ours on the conditions that my text describes. my dear friends! there are only two courses before us. either we must have a life with superficial, transitory, incomplete gladness, and an aching centre of vacuity and pain, or we may have a life which, in its outward aspects and superficial appearance, has much about it that is sad and trying, but down in the heart of it is calm and joyful. which of the two do you deem best, a superficial gladness and a rooted sorrow, or a superficial sorrow and a central joy? 'even in laughter the heart is sorrowful, and the end of that mirth is heaviness.' but, on the other hand, the 'ransomed of the lord shall return, and come to zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. they shall obtain joy and gladness; and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.' the joys of 'that day' 'these things have i spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when i shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but i shall show you plainly of the father. at that day ye shall ask in my name: and i say not unto you, that i will pray the father for you: for the father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that i came out from god.'--john xvi. 25-27. the stream which we have been tracking for so long in these discourses has now nearly reached its close. our lord, in these all but final words, sums up the great salient features which he has already more than once specified, of the time when his followers shall live with an absent and yet present christ. he reiterates here substantially just what he has been saying before, but in somewhat different connection, and with some slight expansion. and this reiteration of the glad features of the day which was about to dawn suggests how much the disciples needed, and how much we need, to have repeated over and over again the blessed and profound lessons of these words. what a sublime self-repression there was in the master! not one word escapes from his lips of the personal pain and agony into which he had to plunge and be baptized, before that day could dawn. all that was crushed down and kept back, and he only speaks to the disciples and to us of the joy that comes to them, and not at all of the bitter sorrow by which it is bought. there are set forth in these words, as it seems to me, especially three characteristics which belong to the whole period between the ascension of jesus christ and his coming again for judgment. it is a day of continual and clearer teaching by him. it is a day of desires in his name. it is a day of filial experience of a father's love. these are the characteristics of the christian period, and they ought to be the characteristics of our individual christian life. my brother! are they the characteristics of yours? let us note them in order. i. first, our lord tells us that the whole period of the christian life upon earth is to be a period of continuous and clearer teaching by himself. 'hitherto i have spoken to you in proverbs,' or parables. the word means, not only a comparison or parable, but also, and perhaps primarily, a mysterious and enigmatical saying. the reference is, of course, directly to the immediately preceding thoughts, in which his departure and the sorrow that accompanied it and was to merge into joy, were described under that touching figure of the woman in travail. but the reference must be extended very much farther than that. it includes not only this discourse, but the whole of his teaching by word whilst he was here upon earth. now the first thing that strikes me here is this strange fact. here is a man who knew himself to be within four-and-twenty hours of his death, and knew that scarcely another word of instruction was to come from his lips upon earth, calmly asserting that, for all the subsequent ages of the world's history, he is to continue its teacher. we know how the wisest and profoundest of earthly teachers have their lips sealed by death, so as that no counsel can come from them any more, and their disciples long in vain for responses from the silenced oracle, which is dumb whatever new problems may arise. but jesus christ calmly poses before the world as not having his teaching activity in the slightest degree suspended by that fact which puts a conclusive and complete close to all other teachers' words. rather he says that after death he will, more clearly than in life, be the teacher of the world. what does he mean by that? well, remember first of all the facts which followed this saying--the cross, the grave, olivet, the heavens, the throne. these were still in the future when he spoke. and have not these--the bitter passion, the supernatural resurrection, the triumphant ascension, and the everlasting session of the son at the right hand of god--taught the whole world the meaning of the father's name, and the love of the father's heart, and the power of the father's son, as nothing else, not even the sweetest and tenderest of his utterances, could have taught them? when, then, he declares the continuance of his teaching functions unbroken through death and beyond it, he refers partly to the future facts of his earthly manifestation, and still more does he refer to that continuous teaching which, by that divine spirit whom he sends, is granted to every believing soul all through the ages. this great truth, which recurs over and over again in these discourses of our lord, is far too much dropped out of the consciousness and creeds of the modern christian church. we call ourselves christ's disciples. if there be disciples, there must be a master. his teaching is by no means merely the effect of the recorded facts and utterances of the lord, preserved here in the book for us, and to be pondered upon by ourselves, but it is also the hourly communication, to waiting hearts and souls that keep themselves near the lord, of deeper insight into his will, of larger views of his purposes, of a firmer grasp of the contents of scripture, and a more complete subjection of the whole nature to the truth as it is in jesus. christian men and women! do you know anything about what it is to learn of christ in the sense that he himself, and no poor human voice like mine, nor even merely the records of his past words and deeds as garnered in these gospels and expounded by his apostles, is the source of your growing knowledge of him? if we would keep our hearts and minds clearer than we do of the babble of earthly voices, and be more loyal and humble and constant and patient in our sitting on the benches in christ's school till the master himself came to give us his lessons, these great words of my text would not, as they so often do in the mass of professing christians, lack the verification of experience and the assurance that it is so with us. have you sat in christ's school, and do you know the secret and illuminative whispers of his teaching? if not, there is something wrong in your christian character, and something insincere in your christian profession. notice, still further, that our lord here ranks that subsequent teaching before all that he said upon earth, great and precious as it was. now i do not mean for one moment to allege that fresh communications of truth, uncontained in scripture, are given to us in the age-long and continuous teaching of jesus christ. that i do not suppose to be the meaning of the great promises before us, for the facts of revelation were finished when he ascended, and the inspired commentary upon the facts of revelation was completed with these writings which follow the gospels in our new testament. but christ's teaching brings us up to the understanding of the facts and of the commentary upon them which scripture contains, so that what was parable or proverb, dimly apprehended, mysterious and enigmatical when it was spoken, and what remains mysterious and enigmatical to us until we grow up to it, gradually becomes full of significance and weighty with a plain and certain meaning. this is the teaching which goes on through the ages--the lifting of his children to the level of apprehending more and more of the inexhaustible and manifold wisdom which is stored for us in this book. the mine has been worked on the surface, but the deeper it goes the richer is the lode; and no ages will exhaust the treasures that are hid in christ jesus our lord. he uses the new problems, the new difficulties, the new circumstances of each successive age, and of each individual christian, in order to evolve from his word larger lessons, and to make the earlier lessons more fully and deeply understood. and this generation, with all its new problems, with all its uneasiness about social questions, with all its new attitude to many ancient truths, will find that jesus christ is, as he has been to all past generations,--the answer to all its doubts, using even these doubts as a means of evolving the deeper harmonies of his word, and of unveiling in the ancient truth more than former generations have seen in it. 'brethren, i write unto you no new commandment. again, a new commandment i write unto you.' the inexhaustible freshness of the old word taught us anew, with deeper significance and larger applications, by the everlasting teacher of the church, is the hope that shines through these words. i commend to you, dear brethren, the one simple, personal question, have i submitted myself to that teacher, and said to men and systems and preachers and books and magazines, and all the rest of the noisy and clamorous tongues that bewilder under pretence of enlightening this generation--have i said to them all, 'hold your peace! and let me, in the silence of my waiting soul, hear the teacher himself speak to me. speak, lord! for thy servant heareth. teach me thy way and lead me, for thou art my master, and i the humblest of thy scholars'? ii. in the next place, another of the glad features of this dawning day is that it is to be a day of desires based upon christ, and christlike. 'in that day ye shall ask in my name.' our translators have wisely put a colon at the end of that clause, in order that we may not hurry over it too quickly in haste to get to the next one. for there is a substantial blessing and privilege wrapped up in it. our lord has just been saying the same thing in the previous verses, but he repeats it here in order to emphasise it, and to set it by the subsequent words in a somewhat different light. but i dwell upon it for a very simple, practical purpose. i have already explained in former sermons the full, deep meaning of that phrase, 'asking in christ's name,' and have suggested to you that it implies two things--the one, that our desires should all be based upon his great work as the only ground of our acceptance with god; and the other, that our desires should all be such as represent his heart and his mind. when we 'ask in his name' we ask, first, for his sake, and, second, as in his person. and such desires, resting their hopes of answer solely upon his mighty sacrifice and all-sufficient merit, and shaped accurately and fully after the pattern of the wishes that are dear to his heart, are to be the prerogative and the joy of his servants, in the new 'day' that is about to dawn. note how beautifully this thought, of wishes moulded into conformity with jesus christ, and offered in reliance upon his great sacrifice, follows upon that other thought, 'i will tell you plainly of the father.' the master's voice speaks, revealing the paternal heart, the scholar's voice answers with desires kindled by the revelation. longings and aspirations humbly offered for his sake, and after the pattern of his own, are our true response to his teaching voice. as the astronomer, the more powerful his telescope, though it may resolve some of the nebulae that resisted feebler instruments, only has his bounds of vision enlarged as he looks through it, and sees yet other and mightier star-clouds lying mysterious beyond its ken--so each new influx and tidal wave of knowledge of the father, which christ gives to his waiting child, leads on to enlarged desires, to longings to press still further into the unexplored mysteries of that magnificent and boundless land, and to nestle still closer into the infinite heart of god. he declares to us the father, and the answer of the child to the declaration of the father is the cry, 'abba! father! show me yet more of thy heart.' thus aspiration and fruition, longing and satisfaction in unsatiated and inexhaustible and unwearying alternation, are the two blessed poles between which the life of a christian may revolve in smoothness and music. my friend! is that anything like the transcript of our experience, that the more we know of god, the more we long to know of, and to possess, him? and the more we long to know of, and to possess, him, the more full, gracious, confidential, tender, and continuous are the teachings of our master? is not this a far higher level of christian life than that we live upon? and why so? is christ's word faithless? hath he forgotten to be gracious? was this promise of his idle wind? or is it that you and i have never grasped the fulness of privileges that he bestows upon us? iii. note, lastly, that that day is to be a day of filial experience of a father's love. 'i say not unto you that i will pray the father for you, for the father himself loveth you because ye have loved me, and have believed that i came out from god.' jesus christ does not deny his intercession. he simply does not bring it into evidence here. to deny it would have been impossible, for soon afterwards we find him saying, 'i pray for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine.' but he does not emphasise it here, in order that he may emphasise another blessed source of solace--viz., that to those who listen to the master's teaching, and have their desires moulded into harmony with his, and their wishes and hopes all based upon his sacrifice and work, the divine father's love directly flows. there is no need of any intercession to turn him to be merciful. men sometimes caricature the thought of the intercession of christ, as if it meant that he, by his prayer, bent the reluctant will of the father in heaven. all such horrible misconceptions christ sweeps out of the field here, even whilst there remains, in the fact that the prayers of which he is speaking are offered in his name, the substance and reality of all that we mean by the intercession of jesus christ. and now note that god loves the men who love jesus christ. so completely does the father identify himself with the son, that love to christ is love to him, and brings the blessed answer of his love to us. whosoever loves christ loves god. whosoever loves christ must do so, believing that he 'came forth from god.' there are the two characteristics of a christian disciple,--faith in the divine mission of the son, and love that flows from faith. now, of course, it does not follow from the words before us, that this divine love which comes down upon the heart which loves christ is the original and first flow of that love towards that heart. 'we love him because he first loved us.' christ is not here tracking the stream to its source, but is pointing to it midway in its flow. if you want to go up to the fountain-head you have to go up to the divine father's heart, who loved when there was no love in us; and, because he loved, sent the son. first comes the unmotived, spontaneous, self-originated, undeserved, infinite love of god to sinners and aliens and enemies; then the cross and the mission of jesus christ; then the faith in his divine mission; then the love which is the child of faith, as it grasps the cross and recognises the love that lies behind it; and then, after that, the special, tender, and paternal love of god falling upon the hearts that love him in his son. there is nothing here in the slightest degree to conflict with the grand universal truth that god loves enemies and sinners and aliens. but there is the truth, as precious as the other, that they who have 'known and believed the love that god hath to us' live under the selectest influences of his loving heart, and have a place in its tenderness which it is impossible that any should have who do not so love. and that sweet commerce of a divine love answering a human, which itself is the answer to a prior divine love, brings with it the firm confidence that prayers in his name shall not be prayers in vain. so, dear friends, growing knowledge, an ever-present teacher, the peace of calm desires built upon christ's cross and fashioned after christ's spirit, and the assurance in my quiet and filial heart that my father in the heavens loves me, and will neither give me 'serpents' when i ask for them, thinking them to be 'fishes,' nor refuse 'bread' when i ask for it--these things ought to mark the lives of all professing christians. are they our experience? if not, why are they not, but because we do not believe that 'thou art come forth from god,' nor love thee as we ought? 'from' and 'to' 'i came forth from the father, and am come into the world: again, i leave the world, and go to the father.'--john xvi. 28. these majestic and strange words are the proper close of our lord's discourse, what follows being rather a reply to the disciples' exclamation. there is nothing absolutely new in them, but what is new is the completeness and the brevity with which they cover the whole ground of his being, work, and glory. they fall into two halves, each consisting of two clauses; the former half describing our lord's _descent_, the latter his _ascent_. in each half the two clauses deal with the same fact, considered from the two opposite ends as it were--the point of departure and the point of arrival. 'i came forth _from_ the father, and am come _into the world: again i _leave_ the world and go _to_ the father.' but the first point of departure is the last point of arrival, and the end comes round to the beginning. our lord's earthly life is, as it were, a jewel enclosed within the flashing gold of his eternal dwelling with god. so i think we shall best apprehend the scope, and appropriate to ourselves the blessing and power of these words, if we deal with the four points to which they call our attention--the dwelling with the father; the voluntary coming to the earth; the voluntary departure from the earth; and, once more, the dwelling with the father. we must grasp them all if we would know the whole christ and all that he is able to do and to be to us and to the world. so, then, i deal simply with these four points. i. note then, first, the dwelling with the father. if we adopt the most probable reading of the first clause of my text, it is even more forcible than in our version: 'i came forth _out of_ the father.' such an egress implies a being _in_ the father in a sense ineffable for our words, and transcending our thoughts. it implies a far deeper and closer relation than even that of juxtaposition, companionship, or outward presence. now, in these great words there is involved obviously, to begin with, that, during his earthly life, our lord bore about with him the remembrance and consciousness of an individual existence prior to his life on earth. i need not remind you how frequently such hints drop from his lips--'before abraham was, i am,' and the like. but beyond that solemn thought of a remembered previous existence there is this other one--that the words are the assertion by christ himself of a previous, deep, mysterious, ineffable union with the father. on such a subject wisdom and reverence bid us speak only as we hear; but i cannot refrain from emphasising the fact that, if this fourth gospel be a genuine record of the teaching of jesus christ--and, if it is not, what genius was he who wrote it?--if it be a genuine record of the teaching of jesus christ, then nothing is more plain than that over and over again, in all sorts of ways, by implication and by direct statement, to all sorts of audiences, friends and foes, he reiterated this tremendous claim to have 'dwelt in the bosom of the father,' long before he lay on the breast of mary. what did he mean when he said, 'no man hath ascended up into heaven save he which came down from heaven'? what did he mean when he said, 'what and if ye shall see the son of man ascend up where he was before'? what did he mean when he said, 'i came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me'? and what did he mean when, in the midst of the solemnities of that last prayer, he said, 'glorify thou me with the glory which i had with thee before the world was'? dear friends! it seems to me that if we know anything about jesus christ, we know _that_. if we cannot believe that he thus spoke, we know nothing about him on which we can rely. and so, without venturing to enlarge at all upon these solemn words, i leave this with you as a plain fact, that the meekest, lowliest, and most sane and wise of religious teachers made deliberately over and over again this claim, which is either absolutely true, and lifts him into the region of the deity, or else is fatal to his pretensions to be either meek or modest, or wise or sane, or a religious teacher to whom it is worth our while to listen. ii. note, secondly, the voluntary coming into the world. 'i came forth from the father, and am come into the world.' we all talk in a loose way about men coming into the world when they are born; but the weight of these words and the solemnity of the occasion on which they were spoken, and the purpose for which they were spoken--viz., to comfort and to illuminate these disciples--forbid us to see such a mere platitude as that in them. there would have been no consolation in them unless they meant something a great deal more than the undeniable fact that jesus christ was born, and the melancholy fact that jesus christ was about to die. 'i am _come_ into the world.' there has been a man who chose to be born. there has been a man who appeared here, not 'of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man,' but by his own free choice. he willed to take upon him the form of humanity. now the voluntariness of the entrance of jesus christ into the conditions of our human life is all-important for us, for it underlies the whole value of that life and its whole power to be blessing and good to us. it underlies, for instance, the personal sinlessness of jesus christ, and hence his power to bring a new beginning of pure and perfect life into the midst of humanity. all the rest of mankind, knit together by that mysterious bond of natural descent which only now for the first time is beginning to receive its due attention on the part of men of science, by heredity have the taint upon them. and if jesus christ is only one of the series, then there is no deliverance in him, for there is no sinlessness in that life. however fair its record may seem on the surface, there is beneath, somewhere or other, the leprosy that infects us all. unless he came in another fashion from all the rest of us, he came with the same sin as all the rest of us, and he is no deliverer from sin. rather he is one of the series who, like the melancholy captives on the road to siberia, each carries a link of the hopeless chain that binds them all together. but, if it be true that of his own will he took to himself humanity, and was born as the scripture tells us he was born, his birth being his 'coming' and not his being brought, then, being free from taint, he can deliver us from taint, and, himself unbound by the chain, he can break it from off our necks. the stream is fouled from its source downwards, and flows on, every successive drop participant of the primeval pollution. but, down from the white snows of the eternal hills of god, there comes into it an affluent which has no stain on its pure waters, and so can purge that into which it enters. jesus christ willed to be born, and to plant a new beginning of holy life in the very heart of humanity which henceforth should work as leaven. let me remind you, too, that this voluntary assumption of our nature is all-important to us, for unless we preserve it clear to our minds and hearts, the power to sway our affections is struck away from jesus christ. unless he voluntarily took upon himself the nature which he meant to redeem, why should i be thankful to him for what he did, and what right has he to claim my love? but if he willingly came down amongst us, and 'to this end was born, and for this cause,' of his own loving heart, 'came into the world,' then i am knit to him by cords that cannot be broken. one thing only saves for jesus christ the unbounded and perpetual love of mankind, and that is, that from his own infinite and perpetual love he came into the world. we talk about kings leaving their palaces and putting on the rags of the beggar, and learning 'love in huts where poor men lie,' and making experience of the conditions of their lowliest subjects. but here is a fact, infinitely beyond all these legends. it is set forth for us in a touching fashion, in the incident that almost immediately preceded these parting words of our lord, when 'jesus, knowing that he came forth from god, laid aside his garments and took a towel, and girded himself,' and washed the foul feet of these travel-stained men. that was a parable of the incarnation. the consciousness of his divine origin was ever with him, and that consciousness led him to lay aside the garments of his majesty, and to gird himself with the towel of service. that he had a body round which to wrap it was more humiliation than that he wrapped it round the body which he took. and we may learn there what it is that gives him his supreme right to our devotion and our surrender--viz., that, 'being in the form of god, he thought not equality with god a thing to be covetously retained, but made himself of no reputation, and was found in fashion as a man.' iii. note the voluntary leaving the world. the stages of that departure are not distinguished. they are threefold in fact--the death, the resurrection, the ascension, and in all three we have the majestic, spontaneous energy of christ as their cause. there was a voluntary death, i have so often had occasion to insist upon that, in the course of these sermons, that i do not need to dwell upon it now. let me remind you only how distinctly and in what various forms that thought is presented to us in the scriptures. we have our lord's own words about his having 'power to lay down his life.' we have in the story of the passion hints that seem to suggest that his relation to death, to which he is about to bow his head, was altogether different from that of ours. for instance, we read: 'into thy hands i _commend_ my spirit'; and 'he _gave up_ the spirit.' we have hints of a similar nature in the very swiftness of his death and unexpected brevity of his suffering, to be accounted for by no natural result of the physical process of crucifixion. the fact is that jesus christ is the lord of death, and was so even when he seemed to be its servant, and that he never showed himself more completely the prince of life and the conqueror of death than when he gave up his life and died, not because he must, but because he would. there is a scene in a modern book of fiction of a man sitting on a rock and the ocean stretching round him. it reaches high upon his breast, but it threatens not his life, till he, sitting there in his calm, bows his head beneath the wave and lets it roll over him. so christ willed to die, and died because he willed. there was also a voluntary resurrection by his own power; for although scripture sometimes represents his rising again from the dead as being the father's attestation of the son's finished work, it also represents it as being, in accordance with his own claim of 'power to lay down my life, and to take it again,' the son's triumphant egress from the prison into which, for the moment, he willed to pass. jesus 'was raised from the dead by the glory of the father,' but also jesus rose from the dead by his own power. there was also a voluntary ascension to the heavens. there was no need for elijah's chariot of fire. there was no need for a whirlwind to sweep a mortal to the sky. there was no need for any external vehicle or agency whatsoever. no angels bore him up upon their wings. but, the cords of duty which bound him to earth being cut, he rose to his own native sphere; and, if one might so say, the natural forces of his supernatural life bore him, by inverted gravitation, upward to the place which was his own. he ascended by his own inherent power. thus, by a voluntary death, he became the sacrifice for our sins; by the might of his self-effected resurrection he proclaimed himself the lord of death and the resurrection for all that trust him; and by ascending up on high he draws our hearts' desires after him, so that we, too, as we see him lost from our sight, behind the bright shekinah cloud that stooped to conceal the last stages of his ascension from our view, may return to our lowly work 'with great joy,' and 'set our affection on things above, where christ is, sitting at the right hand of god.' iv. so, lastly, we have here the dwelling again with the father. but that final dwelling with god is not wholly identical with the initial one. the earthly life was no mere parenthesis, and he who returned to the throne carried with him the manhood which he had assumed, and bore it thither into the glory in which the word had dwelt from the beginning. and this is the true consolation which christ offered to these his weeping servants, and which he still offers to us his waiting children, that now the manhood of jesus christ is exalted to participation in the divine glory, and dwells there in the calm, invisible sweetness and solemnity of fellowship with the father. if that be so, it is no mere abstract dogma of theology, but it touches our daily life at all points, and is essential to the fullness of our satisfaction and our rest in christ. 'we see not all things put under him, but we see jesus.' our brother is elevated to the throne, and, if i might so say, he makes the fortunes of the family, and none of them will be poor as long as he is so rich. he sends us from the far-off land where he is gone precious gifts of its produce, and he will send for us to share his throne one day. christ's ascension to the father is the elevation of our best and dearest friend to the throne of the universe, and the hands that were pierced for us on the cross hold the helm and sway the sceptre of creation, and therefore we may calmly meet all events. the elevation of jesus christ to the throne fills heaven for our faith, our imagination, and our hearts. how different it is to look up into those awful abysses, and to wonder where, amidst their crushing infinitude, the spirits of dear ones that are gone are wandering, if they are at all; and to look up and to think 'my christ hath passed through the heavens,' and is somewhere with a true body, and with him all that loved him. without an ascended christ we recoil from the cold splendours of an unknown heaven, as a rustic might from the unintelligible magnificence of a palace. but if we believe that he is 'at the right hand of god,' then the far-off becomes near, and the vague becomes definite, and the unsubstantial becomes solid, and what was a fear becomes a joy, and we can trust ourselves and the dear dead in his hands, knowing that where he is they are, and that in him they and we have all that we need. so, dear friends! it all comes to this--make sure that you have hold of the whole christ for yourselves. his earthly life is little without the celestial halo that rings it round. his life is nothing without his death. his death without his resurrection and ascension maybe a little more pathetic than millions of other deaths, but is nothing, really, to us. and the life and death and resurrection are not apprehended in their fullest power until they are set between the eternal glory before and the eternal glory after. these four facts--the dwelling in the father; the voluntary coming to earth; the voluntary leaving earth; and, again, the dwelling with the father--are the walls of the strong fortress into which we may flee and be safe. with them it 'stands four square to every wind that blows.' strike away one of them, and it totters into ruin. make the whole christ your christ; for nothing less than the whole christ, 'conceived of the holy ghost, born of the virgin mary, ... crucified, dead, and buried, ... ascended into heaven, and sitting at the right hand of god,' is strong enough to help your infirmities, vast enough to satisfy your desires, loving enough to love you as you need, or able to deliver you from your sins, and to lift you to the glories of his own throne. glad confession and sad warning 'his disciples said unto jesus, lo! now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou earnest forth from god. jesus answered them, do ye now believe? behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet i am not alone, because the father is with me.'--john xvi. 29-32. the first words of these wonderful discourses were, 'let not your heart be troubled.' they struck the key-note of the whole. the aim of all was to bring peace and confidence unto the disciples' spirits. and this joyful burst of confession which wells up so spontaneously and irrepressibly from their hearts, shows that the aim has been reached. for a moment sorrow, bewilderment, dullness of apprehension, had all passed away, and the foolish questioners and non-receptive listeners had been lifted into a higher region, and possessed insight, courage, confidence. the last sublime utterance of our lord had gathered all the scattered rays into a beam so bright that the blindest could not but see, and the coldest could not but be warmed. but yet the calm, clear eye of christ sees something not wholly satisfactory in this outpouring of the disciples' confidence. he does not reject their imperfect faith, but he warns them, as if seeing the impending hour of denial which was so terribly to contradict the rapture of that moment. and then, with most pathetic suddenness, he passes from them to himself; and in a singularly blended utterance lets us get a glimpse into his deep solitude and the companions that shared it. my words now make no attempt at anything more than is involved in following the course of thought in the words before us. i. note the disciples' joyful confession. their words are permeated throughout with allusions to the previous promises and sayings of our lord, and the very allusions show how shallow was their understanding of what they thought so plain. he had said to them that, in that coming day which was so near its dawn, he would speak to them 'no more in proverbs, but show them plainly of the father'; and they answer, with a kind of rapture of astonishment, that the promised day has come already, and that even now he is speaking to them 'plainly,' and without mysterious sayings. did they understand his words when they thought them so plain? 'i came forth from the father, and am come into the world? again i leave the world and go unto the father,' that summary statement of the central mysteries of christianity, which the generations have found to be inexhaustible, and which to so many minds has been absolutely incredible, seemed to the shallow apprehension of these disciples to be sun-clear. if they had understood what he meant, could they have spoken thus, or have left him so soon? they begin with what they believed to be a fact, his clear utterance. then follows a conviction which has allusion to his previous words. 'now', say they, 'we know that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee.' he had said to them, 'in that day ye shall ask me nothing'; and from the fact that he had interpreted their unspoken words, and had anticipated their desire to ask what they durst not ask, they draw, and rightly draw, the conclusion of his divine omniscience. they think that therein, in his answer to their question before it is asked, is the fulfilment of that great promise. was that all that he meant? certainly not. did he merely mean to say, 'you will ask me nothing, because i shall know what you want to know, without your asking'? no! but he meant, 'ye shall ask me nothing, because in that day you will have with you an illuminating spirit who will solve all your difficulties.' so, again, a shallow interpretation empties the words which they accept of their deepest and most precious meaning. and then they take yet a further step. first, they begin with a fact; then from that they infer a conviction; and now, upon the basis of the inferred conviction, they rear a faith, 'we believe that thou camest forth from god.' but what they meant by 'coming forth from god' fell far short of the greatness of what he meant by the declaration, and they stand, in this final, articulate confession of their faith, but a little in advance of nicodemus the rabbi, and behind peter the apostle when he said: 'thou art the son of the living god.' so their confession is a strangely mingled warp and woof of insight and of ignorance. and they may stand for us both as examples to teach us what we ought to be, and as beacons teaching us what we should not be. let me note just one or two lessons drawn from the disciples' demeanour and confession. the first remark that i would make is that here we learn what it is that gives life to a creed--experience. these men had, over and over again, in our lord's earlier utterances, heard the declaration that 'he came forth from god'; and in a sort of fashion they believed it. but, as so many of our convictions do, it lay dormant and half dead in their souls. but now, rightly or wrongly, experience had brought them into contact, as they thought, with a manifest proof of his divine omniscience, and the torpid conviction flashed all up at once into vitality. the smouldering fire of a mere piece of abstract belief was kindled at once into a glow that shed warmth through their whole hearts; and although they had professed to believe long ago that he came from god, now, for the first time, they grasp it as a living reality. why? because experience had taught it to them. it is the only teacher that teaches us the articles of our creed in a way worth learning them. every one of us carries professed beliefs, which lie there inoperative, bedridden, in the hospital and dormitory of our souls, until some great necessity or sudden circumstance comes that flings a beam of light upon them, and then they start and waken. we do not know the use of the sword until we are in battle. until the shipwreck comes, no man puts on the lifebelt in his cabin. every one of as has large tracts of christian truth which we think we most surely believe, but which need experience to quicken them, and need us to grow up into the possession of them. of all our teachers who turn beliefs assented to into beliefs really believed none is so mighty as sorrow; for that makes a man lay a firm hold on the deep things of god's word. then another lesson that i draw from this glad confession is--the bold avowal that always accompanies certitude. these men's stammering tongues are loosed. they have a fact to base themselves upon. they have a piece of assured knowledge inferred from the fact. they have a faith built upon the certitude of what they know. having this, out it all comes in a gush. no man that believes with all his heart can help speaking. you silent christians are so, because you do not more than half grasp the truth that you say you hold. 'thy word, when shut up in my bones, was like a fire'; and it ate its way through all the dead matter that enclosed it, until at last it flamed out heaven high. can you say, 'we know and we believe,' with unfaltering confidence? not 'we argue'; not 'we humbly venture to think that on the whole'; not 'we are inclined rather to believe'; but 'we _know_--that thou knowest all things, and that thou hast come from god.' seek for that blessed certitude of knowledge, based upon the facts of individual experience, which 'makes the tongue of the dumb sing,' and changes all the deadness of an outward profession of christianity into a living, rejoicing power. then, further, i draw this lesson. take care of indolently supposing that you understand the depths of god's truth. these apostles fancied that they had grasped the whole meaning of the master's words, and were glad in them. they fed on them, and got something out of them; but how far they were from the true perception of their meaning! this generation abhors mystery, and demands that the deepest truths of the highest subject, which is religion, shall be so broken down into mincemeat that the 'man in the street' can understand them in the intervals of reading the newspaper. there are only too many of us who are disposed to grasp at the most superficial interpretation of christian truth, and lazily to rest ourselves in that. a creed which has no depth in it is like a picture which has no distance. it is flat and unnatural, and self-condemned by the very fact. it is better that we should feel that the smallest word that comes from god is like some little leaf of a water plant on the surface of a pond; if you lift that you draw a whole trail after it, and nobody knows how far off and how deep down are the roots. it is better that we should feel how infinity and eternity press in upon us on all sides, and should take as ours the temper that recognises that till the end we are but learners, seeing 'in a glass, in a riddle,' and therefore patiently waiting for light and strenuously striving to stretch our souls to the width of the infinite truth of god. ii. so, then, look, in the second place, at the sad questions and forebodings of the master. 'do ye _now_ believe?' that does not cast doubt on the reality of their faith so much as on its permanence and power. 'behold the hour cometh that ye shall be scattered'--as he had told them a little while before in the upper room, like a flock when the shepherd is stricken down--'every man to his own.' he does not reject their imperfect homage, though he discerns so clearly its imperfection and its transiency, but sadly warns them to beware of the fleeting nature of their present emotion; and would seek to prepare them, by the knowledge, for the terrible storm that is going to break upon them. so let us learn two or three simple lessons. one is that the dear lord accepts imperfect surrender, ignorant faith and love, of which he knows that it will soon turn to denial. oh! if he did not, what would become of us all? _we_ reject half hearts; we will not have a friendship on which we cannot rely. the sweetness of vows is all sucked out of them to our apprehension, if we have reason to believe that they will be falsified in an hour. but the patient master was willing to put up with what you and i will not put up with; and to accept what we reject; and be pleased that they gave him even that. his 'charity suffereth long, and is kind.' let us not be afraid to bring even imperfect consecration- 'a little faith all undisproved'-to his merciful feet. then another lesson is the need for christian men sedulously to search and make sure that their inward life corresponds with their words and professions. i wonder how many thousands of people will stand up this day and say, 'i believe in god the father almighty, and in jesus christ his only son,' whose words would stick in their throats if that question of the master's was put to them, '_do_ ye now believe?' and i wonder how many of us are the fools of our own verbal acknowledgments of christ. self-examination is not altogether a wholesome exercise, and it may easily be carried too far, to the destruction of the spontaneity and the gladness of the christian life. a man may set his pulse going irregularly by simply concentrating his attention upon it, and there may be self-examination of the wrong sort, which does harm rather than good. but, on the other hand, we all need to verify our position, lest our outward life should fatally slip away from correspondence with our inward. our words and acts of christian profession and service are like bank notes. what will be the end if there is a whole ream of such going up and down the world, and no balance of bullion in the cellars to meet them? nothing but bankruptcy. do you see to it that your reserve of gold, deep down in your hearts, always leaves a margin beyond the notes in circulation issued by you. and in the midst of your professions hear the master saying, '_do ye_ now believe?' another lesson that i draw is, trust no emotions, no religious experiences, but only him to whom they turn. these men were perfectly sincere, and there was a glow of gladness in their hearts, and a real though imperfect faith when they spoke. in an hours time where were they? we often deal far too hard measure to these poor disciples, in our estimate of their conduct at that critical moment. we talk about them as cowards. well, they were better and they were worse than cowards; for their courage failed second, but their faith had failed first. the cross made them dastards because it destroyed their confidence in jesus christ. 'we _trusted_.' ah! what a world of sorrow there is in those two final letters of that word! 'we trusted that it had been he who should have redeemed israel.' but they do not trust it any more, and so why should they put themselves in peril for one on whom their faith can no longer build? would we have been any better if we had been there? suppose you had stood afar off and seen jesus die on the cross, would your faith have lived? do we not know what it is to be a great deal more exuberant in our professions of faith--and real faith it is, no doubt--in some quiet hour when we are with him by ourselves, than when swords are flashing and we are in the presence of his antagonists? do we not know what it is to grasp conviction at one moment, and the next to find it gone like a handful of mist from our clutch? is our christian life always lived upon one high uniform level? have we no experience of hours of exhaustion coming after deep religious emotion? 'let him that is without sin among you cast the first stone'; there will not be many stones flung if that law be applied. let us all, recognising our own weakness, trust to nothing, either in our convictions or our emotions, but only to him, and cry, 'hold thou me up, and i shall be safe!' iii. lastly, note the lonely christ and his companion. 'ye shall leave me alone'; there is sadness, though it be calm, in that clause, and then, i suppose, there was a moment's pause before the quiet voice began again: 'and yet i am not alone, for the father is with me.' there are two currents there, both calm; but the one bright and the other dark. jesus was the loneliest man that ever lived. all other forms of human solitude were concentrated in his. he knew the pain of unappreciated aims, unaccepted love, unbelieved teachings, a heart thrown back upon itself. no man understood him, no man knew him, no man deeply and thoroughly loved him or sympathised with him, and he dwelt apart. he felt the pain of solitude more sharply than sinful men do. perfect purity is keenly susceptible; a heart fully charged with love is wounded sore when the love is thrown back, and all the more sorely the more unselfish it is. solitude was no small part of the pain of christ's passion. remember the pitiful appeal in gethsemane, 'tarry ye here and watch with me!' remember the threefold vain return to the sleepers in the hope of finding some sympathy from them. remember the emphasis with which, more than once in his life, he foretold the loneliness of his death. and then let us understand how the bitterness of the cup that he drank had for not the least bitter of its ingredients the sense that he drank it alone. now, dear friends! some of us, no doubt, have to live outwardly solitary lives. we all of us live alone after all fellowship and communion. physicists tell us that in the most solid bodies the atoms do not touch. hearts come closer than atoms, but yet, after all, we die alone, and in the depths of our souls we all live alone. so let us be thankful that the master knows the bitterness of solitude, and has himself trod that path. then we have here the calm consciousness of unbroken communion. jesus christ's sense of union with the father was deep, close, constant, in manner and measure altogether transcending any experience of ours. but still he sets before us a pattern of what we should aim at in these great words. they show the path of comfort for every lonely heart. 'i am not alone, for the father is with me.' if earth be dark, let us look to heaven. if the world with its millions seems to have no friend in it for us, let us turn to him who never leaves us. if dear ones are torn from our grasp, let us grasp god. solitude is bitter; but, like other bitters, it is a tonic. it is not all loss if the trees which with their leafy beauty shut out the sky from us are felled, and so we see the blue. christ's company is to us what the father's fellowship was to christ. he has borne solitude that he might be the companion of all the lonely, and the same voice which said, 'ye shall leave me alone,' said also, 'i am with you always, even to the end of the world.' but _that_ communion of christ with the father was broken, in that awful hour when he cried: 'my god, why hast thou forsaken me?' we tread there on the verge of mysteries, beyond our comprehension; but this we know--that it was our sin and the world's, made his by his willing identifying of himself with us, which built up that black wall of separation. that hour of utter desolation, forsaken by god, deserted by men, was the hour of the world's redemption. and jesus christ was forsaken by god and deserted by men, that you and i might never be either the one or the other, but might find in his sweet and constant companionship at once the society of man and the presence of god. peace and victory 'these things i have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. in the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; i have overcome the world.'--john xvi. 33. so end these wonderful discourses, and so ends our lord's teaching before his passion. he gathers up in one mighty word the total intention of these sweet and deep sayings which we have so long been pondering together. he sketches in broad outline the continual characteristics of the disciples' life, and closes all with the strangest shout of victory, even at the moment when he seems most utterly defeated. we shall, i think, best lay on our hearts and minds the spirit and purpose of these words if we simply follow their course, and look at the three things which christ emphasises here: the inward peace which is his purpose for us; the outward tribulation which is our certain fate; and the courageous confidence which christ's victory for us gives. i. note, then, first, the inward peace. 'these things have i spoken unto you that in me ye might have peace.' peace is not lethargy; and it is very remarkable to notice how, in immediate connection with this great promise, there occur words which suggest its opposite--tribulation and battle. 'in the world ye have tribulation.' 'i have overcome'--that means a fight. these are to go side by side with the peace that he promises. the two conditions belong to two different spheres. the christian life bifurcates, as it were, into a double root, and moves in two realms--'in me' and 'in the world' and the predicates and characteristics of these two lives are, in a large measure, diametrically opposite. so here, without any contradiction, our lord brackets together these two opposite conditions as both pertaining to the life of a devout soul. he promises a peace which co-exists with tribulation and disturbance, a peace which is realised in and through conflict and struggle. the tree will stand, with its deep roots and its firm bole, unmoved, though wildest winds may toss its branches and scatter its leaves. in the fortress, beleaguered by the sternest foes, there may be, right in the very centre of the citadel, a quiet oratory through whose thick walls the noise of battle and the shout of victory or defeat can never penetrate. so we may live in a centre of rest, however wild may be the uproar in the circumference. 'in me... peace,' that is the innermost life. 'in the world... tribulation,' that is only the surface. but, then, note that this peace, which exists with, and is realised through, tribulation and strife, depends upon certain conditions. our lord does not say, 'ye have peace,' but 'these things i have spoken that you _may_ have it.' it is a possibility; and he lays down distinctly and plainly here the twofold set of conditions, in fulfilment of which a christian disciple may dwell secure and still, in the midst of all confusion. note, then, these two. it is peace, if we have it at all, _in him_. now you remember how emphatically and loftily, as one of the very key-notes of these discourses, our lord has spoken to us, in them, of 'dwelling in him' as the prerogative and the duty of every christian. we are in him as in an atmosphere. in him our true lives are rooted as a tree in the soil. we are in him as a branch in the vine, in him as the members in a body, in him as the residents in a house. we are in him by simple faith, by the trust that rests all upon him, by the love that finds all in him, by the obedience that does all for him. and it is only when we are 'in christ' that we rest, and realise peace. all else brings distraction. even delights trouble. the world may give excitement, the world may give vulgar and fleeting joys, the world may give stimulus to much that is good and true in us, but there is only one thing that gives peace, and that is that our hearts should dwell in the fortress, and should ever be surrounded by jesus christ. brother! let nothing tempt us down from the heights, and out from the citadel where alone we are at rest; but in the midst of all the pressing duties, the absorbing cares, the carking anxieties, the seducing temptations of the world, and in the presence of all the necessity for noble conflict which the world brings to every man that is not its slave, let us try to keep the roots of our lives in contact with that soil from which they draw all their nourishment, and to wrap ourselves round with the life of jesus christ, which shall make an impenetrable shield between us and 'the fiery darts of the wicked.' keep on the lee side of the breakwater and your little cock-boat will ride out the gale. keep christ between you and the hurtling storm, and there will be a quiet place below the wall where you may rest, hearing not the loud winds when they call. 'these things have i spoken that in me ye might have peace.' but there is another condition. christ speaks the great words which have been occupying us so long, that they may bring to us peace. i need not do more than remind you, in a sentence, of the contents of these wonderful discourses. think of how they have spoken to us of our brother's ascension to heaven to prepare a place for us; of his coming again to receive us to himself; of his presence with us in his absence; of his indwelling in us and ours in him; of his gift to us of a divine spirit. if we believed all these things; if we realised them and lived in the faith of them; if we meditated upon them in the midst of our daily duties; and if they were real to us, and not mere words written down in a book, how should anything be able to disturb us, or to shake our settled confidence? cleave to the words of the master, and let them pour into your hearts the quietness and confidence which nothing else can give. and then, whatsoever storms may be around, the heart will be at rest. we find peace nowhere else but where mary found her repose, and could shake off care and 'trouble about many things,' sitting at the feet of jesus, wrapt in his love and listening to his word. ii. then note, secondly, the outward tribulation which is the certain fate of his followers. of course there is a very sad and true sense in which the warning, 'in the world ye shall have tribulation,' applies to all men. pain and sickness, loss and death, the monotony of hard, continuous, unwelcome toil, hopes blighted or disappointed even in their fruition, and all the other 'ills that flesh is heir to,' afflict us all. but our lord is not speaking here about the troubles that befall men as men, nor about the chastisement that befalls them as sinners, nor about the evils which dog them because they are mortal or because they are bad, but of the yet more mysterious sorrows which fall upon them because they are good, 'in the world ye have tribulation,' is the proper rendering and reading. it had already begun, and it was to be the standing condition and certain fate of all that followed him. i have already said that the christian life moves in two spheres, and hence there must necessarily be antagonism and conflict. whoever realises the inward life in christ will more or less, and sooner or later, find himself coming into hostile collision with lives which only move on the surface and belong to the world. if you and i are christians after the pattern of jesus christ, then we dwell in the midst of an order of things which is not constituted on or for the principles that regulate our lives and the objects at which we aim. and hence, in that fundamental discordance between the christian life and society as it is constituted, there must always be, if there be honesty and consistency on the side of the christian man, more or less of collision between him and it. all that you regard as axiomatic the world regards as folly, if you take christ for your teacher. all that you labour to secure the world does not care to possess, if you have him for your aim. all that you live to seek it has abandoned; all that you desire to obey it will not even consult, if you are taking christ and his law for your rule. and therefore there must come, sooner or later, and more or less intensely in all christian lives, opposition and tribulation. you cannot get away from the necessity, so it is as well to face it. no doubt the form of antagonism varies. no doubt the more the world is penetrated by christian principles divorced from their root and source, the less vehement and painful will the collision be. but _there_ is the gulf, and there it will remain, until the world is a church. no doubt some portion of the battlements of organised christianity has tumbled into the ditch, and made it a little less deep. christians have dropped their standard far too much, and so the antagonism is not so plain as it ought to be, and as it used to be, and as, some day, it will be. but there it is, and if you are going to live out and out like a christian man, you will get the old sneers flung at you. you will be 'crotchety,' 'impracticable,' 'spoiling sport,' 'not to be dealt with,' 'a wet blanket,' 'pharisaical,' 'bigoted,' and all the rest of the pretty words which have been so frequently used about the men that try to live like jesus christ. never mind! 'in the world ye have tribulation.' 'i bear in my body the marks of the lord jesus,' the branding-iron which tells to whom the slave belongs. and if it is his initials that i carry i may be proud of the marks. but at any rate there will be antagonism. you young men in your warehouses, you men that go on 'change', we people that live by our pens or our tongues, and find ourselves in opposition to much of the tendencies of the present day--we have all, in our several ways, to bear the cross. do not let us be ashamed of it, and, above all, do not let us, for the sake of easing our shoulders, be unfaithful to our master. 'in the world ye have tribulation'; and the christian man's peace has to be like the rainbow that lives above the cataract--still and radiant, whilst it shines above the hell of white waters that are tortured below. iii. lastly, notice the courageous confidence which comes from the lord's victory. 'be of good cheer!' it is the old commandment that rang out to joshua when, on the departure of moses, the conduct of the war fell into his less experienced hands: 'be strong, and of a good courage; only be thou strong and very courageous.' so says the captain of salvation, leaving his soldiers to face the current of the heady fight in the field. like some leader who has climbed the ramparts, or hewed his way through the broken ranks of the enemies, and rings out the voice of encouragement and call to his followers, our captain sets before us his own example: 'i have overcome the world,' he said that the day before calvary. if that was victory, what would defeat have been? notice, then, how our lord's life was a true battle. the world tried to draw him away from god by appealing to things desirable to sense, as in the wilderness; or to things dreadful to sense, as on the cross; and both the one and the other form of temptation he faced and conquered. it was no shadow fight which evoked this paean of victory from his lips. the reality of his conflict is somewhat concealed from us by reason of its calm and the completeness of his conquest. we do not appreciate the force that drives a planet upon its path because it is calm and continuous and silent, but the power that kept jesus christ continually faithful to his father, continually sure of that father's presence, continually averse to all self-will and selfish living, was a power mightier then all others that have been manifested in the history of humanity. the captain of our salvation has really fought the fight before us. but mark, again, that our lord's life is the type of all victorious life. the world conquers me when it draws me away from god, when it makes me its slave, when it coaxes me to trust it, and urges to despair if i lose it. the world conquers me when it comes between me and god, when it fills my desires, when it absorbs my energies, when it blinds my eyes to the things unseen and eternal. i conquer the world when i put my foot upon its temptations, when i crush it down, when i shake off its bonds, and when nothing that time and sense, with their delights or their dreadfulnesses, can bring, prevents me from cleaving to my father with all my heart, and from living as his child here. whoso thus coerces time and sense to be the servants of his filial love has conquered them both, and whoso lets them draw him away from god is beaten, however successful he may dream himself to be and men may call him. my friends! there is a lesson for manchester people. jesus christ was not a very successful man according to the standard of market street and the exchange. he made but a poor thing of the world, and he was going to be martyred on the cross the day after he said these words. and yet that was victory. ay! many a man beaten down in the struggle of daily life, and making very little of it, according to our vulgar estimate, is the true conqueror. success means making the world a stepping-stone to god. still further, note our share in the master's victory--'_i_ have overcome the world. be _ye_ of good cheer.' that seems an irrelevant way of arguing. what does it matter to me though he has overcome? so much the better for him; but what good is it to me? it may aid us somewhat to more strenuous fighting, if we know that a brother has fought and conquered, and i do not under-estimate the blessing and the benefit of the life of jesus christ, as recorded in these scriptures, even from that, as i conceive it, miserably inadequate and imperfect point of view. but the victory of jesus christ is of extremely little practical use to me, if all the use of it is to show me how to fight. ah! you must go a deal deeper than that. 'i have overcome the world, and i will come and put my overcoming spirit into your weakness, and fill you with my own victorious life, and make your hands strong to war and your fingers to fight; and be in you the conquering and omnipotent power.' my friends! jesus christ's victory is ours, and we are victors in it, because he is more than the pattern of brave warfare, he is even the son of god, who gave himself for us, and gives himself to us, and dwells in us our strength and our righteousness. lastly, remember that the condition of that victory's being ours is the simple act of reliance upon him and upon it. the man who goes into the battle as that little army of the hebrews did against the wide-stretching hosts of the enemy, saying, 'o lord! we know not what to do, but our eyes are up unto thee,' will come out 'more than conqueror through him that loved him.' for 'this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.' the intercessor 'these words spake jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, father, the hour is come; glorify thy son, that thy son also may glorify thee: as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. and this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true god, and jesus christ, whom thou hast sent. i have glorified thee on the earth: i have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. and now, o father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which i had with thee before the world was. i have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me, are of thee. for i have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that i came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. i pray for them: i pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. and all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and i am glorified in them. and now i am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and i come to thee. holy father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. while i was with them in the world, i kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me i have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. and now come i to thee; and these things i speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. i have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as i am not of the world. i pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. they are not of the world, even as i am not of the world. sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. as thou hast sent me into the world, even so have i also sent them into the world. and for their sakes i sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.'--john xvii. 1-19. we may well despair of doing justice to the deep thoughts of this prayer, which volumes would not exhaust. who is worthy to speak or to write about such sacred words? perhaps we may best gain some glimpses of their great and holy sublimity by trying to gather their teaching round the centres of the three petitions, 'glorify' (vs. 1, 5), 'keep' (v. 11), and 'sanctify' (v. 17). i. in verses 1-5, jesus prays for himself, that he may be restored to his pre-incarnate glory; but yet the prayer desires not so much that glory as affecting himself, as his being fitted thereby for completing his work of manifesting the father. there are three main points in these verses-the petition, its purpose, and its grounds. as to the first, the repetition of the request in verses 1 and 5 is significant, especially if we note that in the former the language is impersonal, 'thy son,' and continues so till verse 4, where 'i' and 'me' appear. in verses 1-3, then, the prayer rests upon the ideal relations of father and son, realised in jesus, while in verses 4 and 5 the personal element is emphatically presented. the two petitions are in their scope identical. the 'glorifying' in the former is more fully explained in the latter as being that which he possessed in that ineffable fellowship with the father, not merely before incarnation, but before creation. in his manhood he possessed and manifested the 'glory as of the only-begotten of the father, full of grace and truth'; but that glory, lustrous though it was, was pale, and humiliation compared with the light inaccessible, which shone around the eternal word in the bosom of the father. yet he who prayed was the same person who had walked in that light before time was, and now in human flesh asked for what no mere manhood could bear. the first form of the petition implies that such a partaking in the uncreated glory of the father is the natural prerogative of one who is 'the son,' while the second implies that it is the appropriate recompense of the earthly life and character of the man jesus. the petition not only reveals the conscious divinity of the son, but also his willing acceptance of the cross; for the glorifying sought is that reached through death, resurrection, and ascension, and that introductory clause, 'the hour is come,' points to the impending sufferings as the first step in the answer to the petition. the crucifixion is always thus treated in this gospel, as being both the lowest humiliation and the 'lifting up' of the son; and here he is reaching out his hand, as it were, to draw his sufferings nearer. so willingly and desiringly did this isaac climb the mount of sacrifice. both elements of the great saying in the epistle to the hebrews are here: 'for the joy that was set before him, [he] endured the cross.' the purpose of the petition is to be noted; namely, the son's glorifying of the father. no taint of selfishness corrupted his prayer. not for himself, but for men, did he desire his glory. he sought return to that serene and lofty seat, and the elevation of his limited manhood to the throne, not because he was wearied of earth or impatient of weakness, sorrows, or limitations, but that he might more fully manifest by that glory, the father's name. to make the father known is to make the father glorious; for he is all fair and lovely. that revelation of divine perfection, majesty, and sweetness was the end of christ's earthly life, and is the end of his heavenly divine activity. he needs to reassume the prerogatives of which he needed to divest himself, and both necessities have one end. he had to lay aside his garments and assume the form of a servant, that he might make god known; but, that revelation being complete, he must take his garments and sit down again, before he can go on to tell all the meaning of what he has 'done unto us.' the ground of the petition is twofold. verses 2 and 3 represent the glory sought for, as the completion of the son's mission and task. already he had been endowed with 'authority over all flesh,' for the purpose of bestowing eternal life; and that eternal life stands in the knowledge of god, which is the same as the knowledge of christ. the present gift to the son and its purpose are thus precisely parallel with the further gift desired, and that is the necessary carrying out of this. the authority and office of the incarnate christ demand the glory of, and consequent further manifestation by, the glorified christ. the life which he comes to give is a life which flows from the revelation that he makes of the father, received, not as mere intellectual knowledge, but as loving acquaintance. the second ground for the petition is in verse 4, the actual perfect fulfilment by the son of that mission. what untroubled consciousness of sinless obedience and transparent shining through his life of the father's likeness and will he must have had, who could thus assert his complete realisation of that father's revealing purpose, as the ground of his deserving and desiring participation in the divine glory! surely such words are either the acme of self-righteousness or the self-revealing speech of the son of god. ii. with verse 6 we pass to the more immediate reference to the disciples, and the context from thence to verse 15 may be regarded as all clustered round the second petition 'keep' (v. 11). that central request is preceded and followed by considerations of the disciples' relation to christ and to the world, which may be regarded as its grounds. the whole context preceding the petition may be summed up in two grounds for the prayer--the former set forth at length, and the latter summarily; the one being the genuine, though incomplete discipleship of the men for whom christ prays (vs. 6-10), and the latter their desolate condition without jesus (v. 11). it is beautiful to see how our lord here credits the disciples with genuine grasp, both in heart and head, of his teaching. he had shortly before had to say, 'have i been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me?' and soon 'they all forsook him and fled.' but beneath misconception and inadequate apprehension there lived faith and love; and he saw 'the full corn in the ear,' when only the green 'blade' was visible, pushing itself above the surface. we may take comfort from this generous estimate of imperfect disciples. if he did not tend, instead of quenching, 'dimly burning wicks,' where would he have 'lights in the world?' verse 6 lays down the beginning of discipleship as threefold: christ's act in revealing; the father's, in giving men to jesus; and men's, in keeping the father's word. 'thy word' is the whole revelation by christ, which is, as this gospel so often repeats, not his own, but the father's. these three facts underlying discipleship are pleas for the petition to follow; for unless the feeble disciples are 'kept' in the name, as in a fortress, christ's work of revelation is neutralised, the father's gift to him made of none effect, and the incipient disciples will not 'keep' his word. the plea is, in effect, 'forsake not the works of thine own hands'; and, like all christ's prayers, it has a promise in its depths, since god does not begin what he will not finish; and it has a warning, too, that we cannot keep ourselves unless a stronger hand keeps us. verses 7 and 8 carry on the portraiture of discipleship, and thence draw fresh pleas. the blessed result of accepting christ's revelation is a knowledge, built on happy experience, and, like the acquaintance of heart with heart, issuing in the firm conviction that christ's words and deeds are from god. why does he say, 'all things whatsoever thou hast given,' instead of simply 'that i have' or 'declare'? probably it is the natural expression of his consciousness, the lowly utterance of his obedience, claiming nothing as his own, and yet claiming all, while the subsequent clause 'are of thee' expresses the disciples' conviction. in like fashion our lord, in verse 8, declares that his words, in their manifoldness (contrast v. 6, 'thy word'), were all received by him from the father, and accepted by the disciples, with the result that they came, as before, to 'know' by inward acquaintance with him as a person, and so to have the divinity of his person certified by experience, and further came to 'believe' that god had sent him, which was a conviction arrived at by faith. so knowledge, which is personal experience and acquaintance, and faith, which rises to the heights of the father's purpose, come from the humble acceptance of the christ declaring the father's name. first faith, then knowledge, and then a fuller faith built on it, and that faith in its turn passing into knowledge (v. 25)--these are the blessings belonging to the growth of true discipleship, and are discerned by the loving eye of jesus in very imperfect followers. in verse 9 jesus assumes the great office of intercessor. 'i pray for them' is not so much prayer as his solemn presentation of himself before the father as the high-priest of his people. it marks an epoch in his work. the task of bringing god to man is substantially complete. that of bringing men by supplication to god is now to begin. it is the revelation of the permanent office of the departed lord. moses on the mount holds up the rod, and israel prevails (exod. xvii. 9). the limitation of this prayer to the disciples applies only to the special occasion, and has no bearing on the sweep of his redeeming purpose or the desires of his all-pitying heart. the reasons for his intercession follow in verses 9-11a. the disciples are the father's, and continue so even when 'given' to christ, in accordance with the community of possession, which oneness of nature and perfectness of love establish between the father and the son. god cannot but care for those who are his. the son cannot but pray for those who are his. their having recognised him for what he was binds him to pray for them. he is glorified in disciples, and if we show forth his character, he will be our advocate. the last reason for his prayer is the loneliness of the disciples and their exposure in the world without him. his departure impelled him to intercede, both as being a leaving them defenceless and as being an entrance into the heavenly state of communion with the father. in the petition itself (v. 11b), observe the invocation 'holy father!' with special reference to the prayer for preservation from the corruption of the world. god's holiness is the pledge that he will make us holy, since he is 'father' as well. observe the substance of the request, that the disciples should be kept, as in a fortress, within the enclosing circle of the name which god has given to jesus. the name is the manifestation of the divine nature. it was given to jesus, inasmuch as he, 'the word,' had from the beginning the office of revealing god; and that which was spoken of the angel of the covenant is true in highest reality of jesus: 'my name is in him.' 'the name of the lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it and is safe.' observe the issue of this keeping; namely, the unity of believers. the depths of that saying are beyond us, but we can at least see thus far--that the true bond of unity is the name in which all who are one are kept; that the pattern of the true unity of believers is the ineffable union of father and son, which is oneness of will and nature, along with distinctness of persons; and that therefore this purpose goes far deeper than outward unity of organisation. then follow other pleas, which are principally drawn from christ's relation to the disciples, now ending; whereas the former ones were chiefly deduced from the disciples' relation to him. he can no more do what he has done, and commits it to the father. happy we if we can leave our unfinished tasks to be taken up by god, and trust those whom we leave undefended to be shielded by him! 'i kept' is, in the greek, expressive of continuous, repeated action, while 'i guarded' gives the single issue of the many acts of keeping. jesus keeps his disciples now as he did then, by sedulous, patient, reiterated acts, so that they are safe from evil. but note where he kept them--'in thy name.' that is our place of safety, a sure defence and inexpugnable fortress. one, indeed, was lost; but that was not any slur on christ's keeping, but resulted from his own evil nature, as being 'a son of loss' (if we may so preserve the affinity of the words in the greek), and from the divine decree from of old. sharply defined and closely united are the two apparent contradictories of man's free choice of destruction and god's foreknowledge. christ saw them in harmony, and we shall do so one day. then the flow of the prayer recurs to former thoughts. going away so soon, he yearned to leave them sharers of his own emotions in the prospect of his departure to the father, and therefore he had admitted them (and us) to hear this sacred outpouring of his desires. if we laid to heart the blessed revelations of this disclosure of christ's heart, and followed him with faithful gaze as he ascends to the father, and realised our share in that triumph, our empty vessels would be filled by some of that same joy which was his. earthly joy can never be full; christian joy should never be anything less than full. then follows a final glance at the disciples' relation to the world, to which they are alien because they are of kindred to him. this is the ground for the repetition of the prayer 'keep', with the difference that formerly it was 'keep _in_ thy name,' and now it is '_from_ the evil.' it is good to gaze first on our defence, the 'munitions of rocks' where we lie safely, and then we can venture to face the thought of 'the evil,' from which that keeps us, whether it be personal or abstract. iii. verses 16-19 give the final petition for the immediate circle of disciples, with its grounds. the position of alienation from the world, in which the disciples stand by reason of their assimilation to jesus, is repeated here. it was the reason for the former prayer, 'keep'; it is the reason for the new petition, 'sanctify.' keeping comes first, and then sanctifying, or consecration. security from evil is given that we may be wholly devoted to the service of god. the evil in the world is the great hindrance to that. the likeness to jesus is the great ground of hope that we shall be truly consecrated. we are kept 'in the name'; we are consecrated 'in the truth,' which is the revelation made by jesus, and in a very deep sense is himself. that truth is, as it were, the element in which the believer lives, and by abiding in which his real consecration is possible. christ's prayer for us should be our aim and deepest desire for ourselves, and his declaration of the condition of its fulfilment should prescribe our firm adhesion to, and constant abiding in, the truth as revealed and embodied in him, as the only means by which we can attain the consecration which is at once, as the closing verses of the passage tell us, the means by which we may fulfil the purpose for which we are sent into the world, and the path on which we reach complete assimilation to his perfect self-surrender. all christians are sent into the world by jesus, as jesus was sent by the father. we have the charge to glorify him. we have the presence of the sender with us, the sent. we are inspired with his spirit. we cannot do his work without that entire consecration which shall copy his devotion to the father and eager swiftness to do his will. how can such ennobling and exalted consecration be ours? there is but one way. he has 'consecrated himself,' and by union with him through faith, our selfishness may be subdued, and the spirit of christ may dwell in our hearts, to make us 'living sacrifices, consecrated and acceptable to god.' then shall we be truly 'consecrated,' and then only, when we can say, 'i live; yet not i, but christ liveth in me.' that is the end of christ's consecration of himself--the prayer which he prayed for his disciples--and should be the aim which every disciple earnestly pursues. 'the lord thee keeps' '...they are not of the world, even as i am not of the world. i pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. they are not of the world, even as i am not of the world.'--john xvii. 14-16. we have here a petition imbedded in a reiterated statement of the disciples' isolated position when left in a hostile world without christ's sheltering presence. we cannot fathom the depth of the mystery of the _praying_ christ, but we may be sure of this, that his prayers were always in harmony with the father's will, were, in fact, the expression of that will, and were therefore promises and prophecies. what he prays the father for his disciples he gives to his disciples. once only had he to say, 'if it be possible'; at all other times he prayed as sure that 'thou hearest me always,' and in this very prayer he speaks in a tone of strange authority, when he prays for all believers in future ages, and says: 'i will that, where i am, they also may be with me.' in this high-priestly prayer, offered when gethsemane was almost in sight, and the judgment hall and calvary were near, our lord's tender interest in his disciples fills his mind, and even in its earlier portion, which is in form a series of petitions for himself, it is in essence a prayer for them, whilst this central section which concerns the apostles, and the closing section which casts the mantle of his love and care over all who hereafter shall 'believe on me through their word,' witnesses to the sublime completeness of his self-oblivion. gethsemane heard his prayer for himself; here he prays for his people, and the calm serenity and confident assurance of this prayer, set against the agitation of that other, receives and gives emphasis by the contrast. our text falls into two parts, the enclosing circle of the repeated statement of the disciples' isolation in an alien world, and the enclosed jewel of the all-sufficient prayer which guarantees their protection. we shall best make its comfort and cheer our own by dealing with these two successively. i. the disciples' isolation. of course we are to interpret the 'world' here in accordance with the ethical usage of that term in this gospel, according to which it means the aggregate of mankind considered as apart from and alien to god. it is roughly equivalent to the modern phrase, 'society.' with that order of things christ's real followers are not in accord. that want of accord depends upon their accord with jesus. every christian has the 'mind of christ' in him, in the measure of his christianity. 'it is enough for the disciple that he be as his master' but christian discipleship has a better guarantee for the assimilation of the disciple to his lord than the ordinary forms of the relation of teacher and taught ever present. there is a participation in the master's life, an implantation in the scholar's spirit of the teacher's spirit. 'christ in us' is not only 'the hope of glory,' but the power which makes possible and actual the present possession of a life kindred with, because derived from, and essentially one with, his life. they whose spirits are touched by the indwelling christ to the 'fine issues' of sympathy with the law of his earthly life cannot but live in the world as aliens, and wander amid its pitfalls with 'blank misgivings' and a chill sense that this is not their rest. they are knit to one whose 'meat and drink' was to do the will of the father in heaven, who 'pleased not himself,' whose life was all one long service and sacrifice for men, whose joys were not fed by earthly possessions or delights. how should they have a sense of community of aims with grovelling hearts that cling to wealth or ambition, that are not at peace with god, and have no holdfasts beyond this 'bank and shoal of time'? a man who has drunk into the spirit of christ's life is thereby necessarily thrown out of gear with the world. happy is he if his union with jesus is so deep and close that it is but deepened by his experience of the lack of sympathy between the world and himself! happy if his consciousness of not being 'of the world' but quickens his desire to help the world and glorify his lord, by bringing his all-sufficiency into its emptiness, and leading it, too, to discern his sweetness and beauty! but how little the life of the average christian corresponds to this reiterated utterance of our lord! who of us dare venture to take it on our lips and to say that we are 'not of the world even as he is not of the world'? is not our relation to that world of which jesus here speaks a contrast rather than a parallel to his? the 'prince of this world' had nothing in christ, as he himself declared, but he has much in each of us. there are stored up heaps of combustibles in every one of us which catch fire only too swiftly, and burn but too fiercely, when the 'fiery darts of the wicked' fall among them. instead of an instinctive recoil from the view of life characteristic of 'the world,' we must confess, if we are honest, that it draws us strongly, and many of us are quite at home with it. why is this but because we do not habitually live near enough to our lord to drink in his spirit? the measure of our discord with the world is the measure of our accord with our saviour. it is in the degree in which we possess his life that we come to be aliens here, and it is in the degree in which we keep in touch with jesus, and keep our hearts wide open for the entrance of his spirit, that we possess his life. a worldly christian--no uncommon character--is a christian who has all but shut himself off from the life which christ breathes into the expectant soul. ii. the disciples' guarded security. jesus encloses his prayer between the two parts of that repeated statement of the disciples' isolation. it is like some lovely, peaceful plain circled by grim mountains. the isolation is a necessary consequence of the disciples' previous union with him. it involves much that is painful to the unrenewed part of their natures, but their lord's prayer is more than enough for their security and peace. 'i pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world.' they are in it by god's appointment for great purposes, affecting their own characters and affecting the world, with which christ will not interfere. it is their training ground, their school. the sense of belonging to another order is to be intensified by their experiences in it, and these are to make more vivid the hopes that yearn towards the true home, and to develop the 'wrestling thews that throw the world.' the discipline of life is too precious to be tampered with even by a saviour's prayer, and he loves his people too wisely to seek to shelter them from its roughness, and to procure for them exemption which would impoverish their characters. so let us learn the lesson and shape our desires after the pattern of our lord's prayer for us, nor blindly seek for that ease which he would not ask for us. false asceticism that shrinks from contact with an alien world, weak running from trials and temptations, selfish desires for exemption from sorrows, are all rebuked by this prayer. christ's relation to the world is our pattern, and we are not to seek for pillows in an order of things where he 'had not where to lay his head.' but he does ask for his people that they may be kept 'from evil,' or from 'the evil one.' that prayer is, as we have said, a promise and a prophecy. but the fulfilment of it in each individual disciple hinges on the disciple's keeping himself in touch with jesus, whereby the 'much virtue' of his prayer will encompass him and keep him safe. we do not discuss the alternative renderings, according to one of which 'the evil' is impersonal, and according to the other of which it is concentrated in the personal 'prince of this world.' in either case, it is 'the evil' against which the disciples are to be guarded, whether it has a personal source or not. here, in christ's intercession, is the firm ground of our confidence that we may be 'more than conquerors' in the life-long fight which we have to wage. the sweet strong old psalm is valid in its assurances to-day for every soul which puts itself under the shadow of christ's protecting intercession: 'the lord shall keep thee from all evil, he shall keep thy soul.' we have not 'to lift up our eyes unto the hills,' for 'vainly is help hoped for from the multitude of the mountains,' but 'our help cometh from the lord which made heaven and earth.' therefore we may dwell at peace in the midst of an alien world, having the father for our keeper, and the son, who overcame the world, for our intercessor, our pattern and our hope. the parallel between christ and his people applies to their relations to the present order of things: 'they are not of the world, even as i am not of the world.' it applies to their mission here: 'as thou didst send me into the world, even so sent i them into the world.' it applies to the future: 'i am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and i come to thee,' and in that 'coming' lies the guarantee that his servants will, each in his due time, come out from this alien world and pass into the state which is home, because he is there. the prayer that they might be kept from the evil, while remaining in the scene where evil is rampant, is crowned by the prayer: 'i will that, where i am, they also may be with me, that they may behold my glory.' the high priest's prayer 'neither pray i for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, father, art in me, and i in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. and the glory which thou givest me i have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: i in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. father, i will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where i am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. o righteous father, the world hath not known thee: but i have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. and i have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it; that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and i in them.'--john xvii. 20-26. the remainder of this prayer reaches out to all generations of believers to the end. we may incidentally note that it shows that jesus did not anticipate a speedy end of the history of the world or the church; and also that it breathes but one desire, that for the church's unity, as though he saw what would be its greatest peril. characteristic, too, of the idealism of this gospel is it that there is no name for that future community. it is not called 'church,' or 'congregation,' or the like--it is 'them also that believe on me through their word,' a great spiritual community, held together by common faith in him whom the apostles preached. is not that still the best definition of christians, and does not such a conception of it correspond better to its true nature than the formal abstraction, 'the church'? we can but touch in the most inadequate fashion the profound words of this section of the prayer which would take volumes to expound fitly. we note that it contains four periods, in each of which something is asked or stated, and then a purpose to be attained by the petition or statement is set forth. first comes the prayer for unity and what the answer to it will effect (v. 21). now in this verse the unity of believers is principally regarded as resulting from the inclusion, if we may so say, of them all in the ineffable union of the father and the son. jesus prays that 'they may all be one,' and also 'that they also may be in us' (rev. ver.). and their unity is no mere matter of formal external organisation nor of unanimity of creed, or the like, but it is a deep, vital unity. the pattern of it is the unity of the father and the son, and the power that brings it about is the abiding of all believers 'in us.' the result of such a manifestation in the world of a multitude of men, in all of whom one life evidently moves, fusing their individualities while retaining their personalities, will be the world's conviction of the divine mission of jesus. the world was beginning to feel its convictions moving slowly in that direction, when it exclaimed: 'behold how these christians love one another!' the alienation of christians has given barbs and feathers to its arrows of scorn. but it is 'the unity of the spirit,' not that of a, great corporation, that christ's prayer desires. the petitions for what would be given to believers passes for a moment into a statement of what jesus had already given to them. he had begun the unifying gift, and that made a plea for its perfecting. the 'glory' which he had given to these poor bewildered galilaeans was but in a rudimentary stage; but still, wherever there is faith in him, there is some communication of his life and spirit, and some of that veiled and yet radiant glory, 'full of grace and truth,' which shone through the covering when the incarnate word 'became flesh.' it is the christ-given christ-likeness in each which knits believers into one. it is christ in us and we in christ that fuses us into one, and thereby makes each perfect. and such flashing back of the light of jesus from a million separate crystals, all glowing with one light and made one in the light, would flash on darkest eyes the lustre of the conviction that god sent christ, and that god's love enfolded those christlike souls even as it enfolded him. again (v. 24) comes a petition with its result. and here there is no mention of the effect of the answer on the world. for the moment the thoughts of isolation in, and a message to, the world fade away. the partially-possessed 'glory' seems to have led on christ's thoughts to the calm home of perfection waiting for him who was 'not of the world' and was sent into it, and for the humble ones who had taken him for lord. 'i will that'--that is a strange tone for a prayer. what consciousness on christ's part does it involve? the disciples are not now called 'them that should believe on me,' but 'that which thou hast given me,' the individuals melt into the great whole. they are christ's, not merely by their faith or man's preaching, but by the father's gift. and the fact of that gift is used as a plea with him, to 'perfect that which concerneth' them, and to complete the unity of believers with jesus by bringing them to be 'with him' in his triumphant session at the right hand. to 'behold' will be the same as to share his glory, not only that which we beheld when he tabernacled among us, but that which he had in the pouring out on him of god's love 'before the foundation of the world.' our dim eyes cannot follow the happy souls as they are lost in the blaze, but we know that they walk in light and are like him, for they 'see him as he is.' the last statement (vs. 25, 26) is not petition but vow, and, to our ears, promise. the contrast of the world and believers appears for the last time. what made the world a 'world' was its not knowing god; what made believers isolated in, and having an errand to, the world, was that they 'knew' (not merely 'believed,' but knew by experience) that jesus had been sent from god to make known his name. all our knowledge of god comes through him; it is for us to recognise his divine mission, and then he will unveil, more and more, with blessed continuity of increasing knowledge, the name, and with growing knowledge of it growing measures of god's love will be in us, and jesus himself will 'dwell in our hearts by faith' more completely and more blessedly through an eternity of wider knowledge and more fervent love. the folded flock 'i will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where i am; that they may behold my glory.'--john xvii. 24. this wonderful prayer is (_a_) for jesus himself, (_b_) for the apostles, (_c_) for the whole church on earth and in heaven. i. the prayer. 'i will' has a strange ring of authority. it is the expression of his love to men, and of his longing for their presence with him in his glory. not till they are with him there, shall he 'see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied.' we have here a glimpse of the blessed state of the dead in christ. (_a_) local presence with christ. his glorified body is somewhere. the value of this thought is that it gives solidity to our ideas of a future life. there they _are_. we need not dwell on the metaphysical difficulties about locality for disembodied spirits. if a spirit can be localised in a body, i suppose it can be localised without a body; but passing by all that, we have the hope held out here of a real local presence with the glorified humanity of our lord. we speak of the dead as gone _from us_, and we have that idea far more vividly in our minds than that of their having gone _to him_. we speak of the 'departed,' but we do not think of them as 'arrived.' we look down to the narrow grave, but we forget 'he is not here, he is risen. why seek ye the living among the dead?' ah! if we could only bring home to our hearts the solid prose of the conviction that where christ is there his servants are, and that not in the diffused ubiquity of his divine omnipresence, it would go far to remove the darkness and vague mist which wrap the future, and to set it as it really is before us, as a solid definite reality. we see the sails glide away out into the west as the sun goes down, and we think of them as tossing on a midnight sea, an unfathomable waste. try to think of them more truly. as in that old miracle, he comes to them walking on the water in the night watch, and if at first they are terrified, his voice brings back hope to the heart that is beginning to stand still, and immediately they are at the land whither they go. now, as they sink from our sight, they are in port, sails furled and anchor dropped, and green fields round them, even while we watch the sinking masts, and cannot yet rightly tell whether the fading sail has faded wholly. (_b_) communion with christ. our lord says not only 'that where i am, they also may be,' but adds 'with me.' that is not a superfluous addition, but emphasises the thought of a communion which is more intimate and blessed than local presence alone would be. the communion here is real but imperfect. it is perfected there on our part by the dropping away of flesh and sin, by change of circumstances, by emancipation from cares and toils necessary here, by the development of new powers and surroundings, and on his side by new manifestations. (_c_) vision of his glory. the crown of this utterance of christ's will is 'that they may behold my glory.' in an earlier part of this prayer our lord had spoken of the 'glory which i had with thee before the world was.' but probably the glory 'given' is not that of essential divinity, but that of his mediatorial work. to his people 'with him where he is,' are imparted fuller views of christ as saviour, deeper notions of his work, clearer perception of his rule in providence and nature. this is the loftiest employment of the spirits who are perfected and lapped in 'pleasures for evermore' by their union with the glorified jesus. surely this is grander than all metaphorical pictures of heaven. ii. the incipient fulfilment now going on. the prayer has been in process of fulfilment ever since. the dead in christ have entered on its answer now. we need not discuss difficulties about the 'intermediate state,' for this at all events is true, that to be 'absent from the body' is to be 'present with the lord.' a christian death is an answer to this prayer. true, for christians as for all, the physical necessity is an imperative law. true, the punitive aspect of death is retained for them. but yet the law is wielded by christ, and while death remains, its whole aspect is changed. so we may think of those who have departed in his faith and fear as gone in answer to this prayer. how beautiful that is! slowly, one by one, they are gathered in, as the stars one by one light up. place after place is filled. thus through the ages the prayer works on, and our dear ones have gone from us, but they have gone to him. we weep, but they rejoice. to us their departure is the result of an iron law, of a penal necessity, of some secondary cause; but to them it is seen to be the answer to his mighty prayer. they hear his voice and follow him when he says, 'come up hither.' iii. the final fulfilment still future. the prayer looks forward to a perfect fulfilment. his prayer cannot be vain. (_a_) perfect in degree. (_b_) perfect in extent, when all shall be gathered together and the 'whole family' shall be 'in heaven,' and christ's own word receives its crowning realisation, that 'of all whom the father hath given him he has lost nothing.' and these are not some handful picked out by a decree which we can neither fathom nor alter, but christ is given to us all, and if we choose to take him, then for us he has ascended; and as we watch him going up the voice comes to us: 'i go to prepare a place for you. i will come again and receive you unto myself, that where i am, there ye may be also.' christ's summary of his work 'i have declared onto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and i in them.'--john xvii. 26. this is the solemn and calm close of christ's great high-priestly prayer; the very last words that he spoke before gethsemane and his passion. in it he sums up both the purpose of his life and the petitions of his prayer, and presents the perfect fulfilment of the former as the ground on which he asks the fulfilment of the latter. there is a singular correspondence and contrast between these last words to god and the last words to the disciples, which immediately preceded them. these were, 'in the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, i have overcome the world.' in both he sums up his life, in both he is unconscious of flaw, imperfection, or limitation; in both he shares his own possessions among his followers. but his words to men carry a trace of his own conflict and a foreboding of theirs. for him life had been, and for them it was to be, tribulation and a battle, and the highest thing that he could promise them was victory won by conflict. but from the serene elevation of the prayer all such thoughts disappear. unbroken calm lies over it. his life has been one continual manifestation of the name of god; and the portion that he promises to his followers is not victory won by strife, but the participation with himself in the love of god. both views are true--true to his experience, true to ours. the difference between them lies in the elevation of the beholder's eye. looked at on the outward side, his life and ours must be always a battle and often a sorrow. looked at from within, his life was an unbroken abiding in the love of god, and a continual impartation of the name of god, and our lives may be an ever growing knowledge of god, leading to and being a fuller and fuller possession of his love, and of a present christ. so let us ponder these deep words: our lord's own summing up of his work and aims; his statement of what we may hope to attain; and the path by which we may attain it. i shall best bring out the whole fullness of their meaning if i simply follow them word by word. i. note, first, the backward look of the revealing son. 'i have declared thy name.' the first thing that strikes one about these words is their boldness. remember that they are spoken to god, at the close of a life the heights and depths of which they sum up. they are an appeal to god's righteous judgment of the whole character of the career. do they breathe the tone that we might expect? surely the prophet or teacher who has most earnestly tried to make himself a mirror, without spot to darken and without dint to distort the divine ray, will be the first to feel, as he looks back, the imperfections of his repetition of his message. but jesus christ, when he looks back over his life, has no flaw, limitation, incompleteness, to record or to confess. as always so here, he is absolutely unconscious of anything in the nature of weakness, error, or sin. as when he looked back upon his life as a conflict, he had no defeats to remember with shame, so here, when he looks upon it as the revelation of god he feels that everything which he has received of the father he has made known unto men. and the strange thing is that we admit the claim, and have become so accustomed to regard it as being perfectly legitimate that we forget how enormous it is. he takes an attitude here which in any other man would be repulsive, but in him is supremely natural. we criticise other people, we outgrow their teachings, we see where their doctrines have deviated from truth by excess or defect, or disproportion; but when he says 'i have declared thy name,' we feel that he says nothing more than the simple facts of his life vindicate and confirm. not less remarkable is the implication in these words, not only of the completeness of his message, but of the fullness of his knowledge of god, and its entirely underived nature. so he claims for himself an altogether special and unique position here: he has learned god from none; he teaches god to all. 'that was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.' looking a little more closely at these words before us, we have here christ's own account of his whole life. the meaning of it all is the revelation of the heart of god. not by words, of course; not by words only, but far more by deeds. and i would have you ask yourselves this question--if the deeds of a man are a declaration of the name of god, what sort of a man is he who thus declares him? must we not feel that if these words, or anything like them, really came from the lips of jesus christ, we are here in the presence of something other than a holy life of a simple humanity, which might help men to climb to the apprehension of a god who was perfect love; and that when he says 'he that hath seen me hath seen the father,' we stand before 'god manifest in the flesh.' what is that name of god which the revealing son declares? not the mere syllables by which we call him, but the manifested character of the father. that one name, in the narrower sense of the word, carries the whole revelation that jesus christ has to make; for it speaks of tenderness, of kindred, of paternal care, of the transmission of a nature, of the embrace of a divine love. and it delivers men from all their creeping dreads, from all their dark peradventures, from all their stinging fears, from all the paralysing uncertainties which, like clouds, always misty and often thunder-bearing, have shut out the sight of the divine face. if this christ, in his weakness and humanity, with pity welling from his eyes, and making music of his voice, with the swift help streaming from his fingers-tips to every pain and weariness, and the gracious righteousness that drew little children and did not repel publicans and harlots, is our best image of god, then love is the centre of divinity, and all the rest that we call god is but circumference and fringe of that central brightness. 'so through the thunder comes a human voice saying, "o heart i made! a heart beats here."' he has declared god's name, his last best name of love. need i dwell for one moment on the fact that that name is only declared by this son? there is no need to deny the presence of manifold other precious sources in men's experience and lives from which something may be inferred of what god truly is. but all these, rich and manifold as they are, fall into nothingness before the life of jesus christ, considered as the making visible of god. for all the rest are partial and incomplete. 'at sundry times and in divers manners' god flung forth syllables of the name, and 'fragments of that mighty voice came rolling down the wind.' but in jesus christ the whole name, in all its syllables, is spoken. other sources of knowledge are ambiguous, and need the interpretation of christ's life and cross ere they can be construed into a harmonious whole. life, nature, our inmost being, history, all these sources speak with two voices; and it is only when we hear the deep note that underlies them in the word of christ that their discord becomes a harmony. other sources lack authority. they come at the most with a 'may be.' he comes with a 'verily, verily.' other sources speak to the understanding, or the conscience, or to fear. christ speaks to the heart. other sources leave the man who accepts them unaffected. christ's message penetrates to the transforming and assimilation of the whole being. so, dear brethren! for all generations, and for this generation most of all, the plain alternative lies between the declaration of the name of god in jesus christ and a godless and orphan world. modern thought will make short work of all other sources of certitude about the character of god, and will leave men alone in the dark. christ, the historical fact of the life and death of jesus christ, is the sole surviving source of certitude, which is blessedness, as to whether there is a god, and what sort of a god he is. ii. secondly, note here that strange forward look of the dying man: 'i have declared thy name and _will declare it_.' and that was said within eight and forty hours of the cross, which, if he had been a simple human teacher and martyr, would have ended all his activity in the world. but here he is not merely summing up his life, and laying it aside, writing the last sentence, as it were, which gathers up the whole of the completed book, but he is closing the first volume, and in the act of doing so he stretches out his hand to open the second. 'i will declare it.' when? how? did not earthly life, then, put a stop to this teacher's activity? was there still prophetic function to be done after death had sealed his lips? certainly. that anticipation, which at once differentiates him from all the brood of merely human teachers and prophets, even the highest, does indeed include as future, at the moment when he speaks, the swiftly coming and close cross; but it goes beyond it. how much of christendom's knowledge of god depended upon the passion, on the threshold of which christ was standing? he, hanging on the cross in weakness, and dying there amidst the darkness that overspread the land, is a strange revealer of the omnipotent, infinite, ever-blessed god. but oh! if we strike gethsemane and calvary out of christ's manifestation of the father, how infinitely poorer are we and the world! 'god commendeth,' (rather 'establisheth,') 'his love toward us in that whilst we were yet sinners christ died for us.' and so as we turn ourselves to the little knoll outside the gate, where the nazarene carpenter hangs faint and dying, we--wonder of wonders, and yet certainty of certainties!--have to say, 'lo! this is our god; we have waited for him.' but that future revelation extends beyond the cross, and includes resurrection, ascension, pentecost, and the whole history of the church right onwards through the ages. the difference between the two volumes of revelation--that which includes the work of christ upon earth, and that which includes his revelation from the heavens--is this, that the first volume contains all the facts, and the second volume contains his interpretation and application of the facts in the understandings and hearts of his people. we have no more facts from which to construe god than these which belong to the earthly life of jesus christ, and we never shall have, here at all events. but whilst the first volume to the bottom of the last page is finished and tolerates and needs no additions, day by day, moment by moment, epoch by epoch christ is bringing his people to a fuller understanding of the significance of the first volume, and writing the second more and more upon their hearts. so we have an ever-living christ, still the active teacher of his church. times of unsettlement and revolutionary change and the 'shaking of the things that are made,' like the times in which we live, are but times in which the great teacher is setting some new lesson from the old book to his slow scholars. there is always a little confusion in the schoolroom when the classes are being rearranged and new books are being put into old hands. the tributary stream, as it rushes in, makes broken water for a moment. do not let us be afraid when 'the things that can be shaken' shake, but let us see in the shaking the attendant of a new curriculum on which the great teacher is launching his scholars, and let us learn the new lessons of the old gospel which he is then teaching. iii. thirdly, note the participation in the father's love which is the issue of the knowledge of the father's name. christ says that his end, an end which is surely attained in the declaration of the divine name, is that 'the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them.' we are here touching upon heights too dizzy for free and safe walking, on glories too bright for close and steady gaze. but where christ has spoken we may reverently follow. mark, then, that marvellous thought of the identity between the love which was his and the love which is ours. 'from everlasting' that divine love lay on the eternal word which in the hoary beginning, before the beginning of creatures, 'was with god, and was god.' the deepest conception that we can form of the divine nature is of a being who in himself carries the subject and the object of an eternal love, which we speak of in the deep emblem of 'the word,' and the god with whom he eternally 'was.' that love lay upon christ, without limitation, without reservation, without interruption, finding nothing there from which it recoiled, and nothing there which did not respond to it. no mist, no thunderstorm, ever broke that sunshine, no tempest ever swept across that calm. continuous, full, perfect was the love that knit the father to the son, and continuous, full, and perfect was the consciousness of abiding in that love, which lay like light upon the spirit of him that said 'i delight to do thy will.' 'the father hath not left me alone.' and all that love christ gives to us as deep, as continuous, as unreserved. our consciousness of god's love is meant by christ to be like his own. alas! alas! is that our experience, christian people? the sun always shines on the rainless land of egypt, except for a month or two in the year. the contrast between the unclouded blue and continuous light and heat there, and our murky skies and humid atmosphere, is like the contrast between our broken and feeble consciousness of the shining of the divine love and the uninterrupted glory of light and joy of communion which poured on christ's heart. but it is possible for us indefinitely to approximate to such an experience; and the way by which we reach it is that plain and simple one of accepting christ's declaration of the father's name. iv. and so, lastly, notice the indwelling christ who makes our participation in the divine love possible: 'and i in them.' one may well say, 'how can it be that love should be transferred? how can it be that the love of god to me shall be identical with the love of god to christ?' there is only one answer. if christ dwells in me, then god's love to him falls upon me by no transference, but by my incorporation into him. and i would urge that this great truth of the actual indwelling of christ in the soul is no mere piece of rhetorical exaggeration, nor a wild and enthusiastic way of putting the fact that the influence of his teaching and the beauty of his example can sway us; but it is a plain and absolute truth that the divine christ can come into and abide in the narrow room of our poor hearts. and if he does this, then 'he that is joined to the lord is one spirit'; and the christ in me receives the sunshine of the divine love. that does not destroy, but heightens, my individuality. i am more and not less myself because 'i live, yet not i, but christ liveth in me.' so, dear brethren! it all comes to this--we may each of us, if we will, have jesus christ for guest and inhabitant in our hearts. if we have, then, since god loves him, he must love me who have him within me, and as long as god loves christ he cannot cease to love me, nor can i cease to be conscious of his love to me, and whatsoever gifts his love bestows upon jesus, pass over in measure, and partially, to myself. thus immortality, heaven, glory, all blessedness in heaven and earth, are the fruit and crystallisation, so to speak, of that oneness with christ which is possible for us. and the conditions are simply that we shall with joyful trust accept his declaration of the father's name, and see god manifest in him; and welcome in our inmost hearts that great gospel. then his prayer, and the travail of his soul, will reach their end even in me, and 'the love wherewith the father loved the son shall be in me,' and the son himself shall dwell in my heart. christ and his captors 'as soon then as he had said unto them, i am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground. then asked he them again, whom seek ye? and they said, jesus of nazareth. jesus answered, i have told you that i am he: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way: that the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, of them which thou gayest me have i lost none.'--john xviii. 6-9. this remarkable incident is narrated by john only. it fits in with the purpose which he himself tells us governed his selection of the incidents which he records. 'these things are written,' says he, near the end of the gospel, 'that ye might believe that jesus is the son of god, and that, believing, ye might have life in his name.' the whole of the peculiarities of the substance of john's gospel are to be explained on the two grounds that he was writing a supplement to, and not a substitute for, or a correction of, the gospels already in existence; and that his special business was to narrate such facts and words as set forth the glory of christ as 'the only begotten of the father.' the incident before us is, as i think, one of these. the evangelist would have us see in it, as i gather from his manner of narrating it, mainly three things. he emphasises that strange recoil of the would-be captors before christ's majestic, calm 'i am he'; that was a manifestation of christ's glory. he emphasises our lord's patient standing there, in the midst of the awe-struck crowd, and even inciting them, as it would seem, to do the work for which they had come out; that was a manifestation of the voluntariness of christ's sufferings. and he emphasises the self-forgetting care with which at that supreme moment he steps between his faithless, weak friends and danger, with the wonderful words, 'if ye seek me, let these go their way'; to the evangelist that little incident is an illustration, on a very low level, and in regard to a comparatively trivial matter, of the very same principle by which salvation from all evil in time and in eternity, is guaranteed to all that believe on him:-i. first, then, consider this remarkable, momentary manifestation of our lord's glory. 'i am he!' when the band were thus doubly assured by the traitor's kiss and by his own confession, why did they not lay hands upon him? there he stood in the midst of them, alone, defenceless; there was nothing to hinder their binding him on the spot. instead of that they recoil, and fall in a huddled heap before him. some strange awe and terror, of which they themselves could have given no account, was upon their spirits. how came it about? many things may have conspired to produce it. i am by no means anxious to insist that this was a miracle. things of the same sort, though much less in degree, have been often enough seen; when some innocent and illustrious victim has for a moment paralysed the hands of his would-be captors and made them feel, though it were but transiently, 'how awful goodness is.' there must have been many in that band who had heard him, though, in the uncertain light of quivering moonbeams and smoking torches, they failed to recognise him till he spoke. there must have been many more who had heard of him, and many who suspected that they were about to lay hands on a holy man, perhaps on a prophet. there must have been reluctant tools among the inferiors, and no doubt some among the leaders whoso consciences needed but a touch to be roused to action. to all, his calmness and dignity would appeal, and the manifest freedom from fear or desire to flee would tend to deepen the strange thoughts which began to stir in their hearts. but the impression which the narrative seems intended to leave, appears to me to be of something more than this. it looks as if there were something more than human in christ's look and tone. it may have been the same in kind as the ascendency which a pure and calm nature has over rude and inferior ones. it may have been the same in kind as has sometimes made the headsman on the scaffold pause before he struck, and has bowed rude gaolers into converts before some grey-haired saint or virgin martyr; yet the difference is so great in degree as practically to become quite another thing. though i do not want to insist upon any 'miraculous' explanation of the cause of this incident, yet i would ask, may it not be that here we see, perhaps apart from christ's will altogether, rising up for one moment to the surface, the indwelling majesty which was always there? we do not know the laws that regulated the dwelling of the godhead, bodily, within that human frame, but we do know that at one other time there came upon his features a transfiguration, and over his very garments a lustre which was not thrown upon them from without, but rose up from within. and i am inclined to think that here, as there, though under such widely different circumstances and to such various issues, there was for a moment a little rending of the veil of his flesh, and an emission of some flash of the brightness that always tabernacled within him; and that, therefore, just as isaiah, when he saw the king in his glory, said, 'woe is me, for i am undone!' and just as moses could not look upon the face, but could only see the back parts, so here the one stray beam of manifest divinity that shot through the crevice, as it were, for an instant, was enough to prostrate with a strange awe even those rude and insensitive men. when he had said 'i am he,' there was something that made them feel, 'this is one before whom violence cowers abashed, and in whose presence impurity has to hide its face.' i do not assert that this is the explanation of that panic terror. i only ask, may it not be? but whatever we may think was the reason, at all events the incident brings out very strikingly the elevation and dignity of christ, and the powerful impressions made by his personality, even at such a time of humiliation. this evangelist is always careful to bring out the glory of christ, especially when that glory lies side by side with his lowliness. the blending of these two is one of the remarkable features in the new testament portraiture of jesus christ. wherever in our lord's life any incident indicates more emphatically than usual the lowliness of his humiliation, there, by the side of it, you get something that indicates the majesty of his glory. for instance, he is born a weak infant, but angels herald his birth; he lies in a manger, but a star hangs trembling above it, and leads sages from afar, with their myrrh, and incense, and gold. he submits himself to the baptism of repentance, but the heavens open and a voice proclaims, 'this is my beloved son!' he sits wearied, on the stone coping of the well, and craves for water from a peasant woman; but he gives her the water of life. he lies down and sleeps, from pure exhaustion, in the stern of the little fishing-boat, but he wakes to command the storm, and it is still. he weeps beside the grave, but he flings his voice into its inmost recesses, and the sheeted dead comes forth. he well-nigh faints under the agony in the garden, but an angel from heaven strengthens him. he stands a prisoner at a human bar, but he judges and condemns his judges. he dies, and that hour of defeat is his hour of triumph, and the union of shame and glory is most conspicuous in that hour when on the cross the 'son of man is _glorified_, and god is glorified in him.' this strange blending of opposites--the glory in the lowliness, and the abasement in the glory--is the keynote of this singular event. he will be 'delivered into the hands of men.' yes; but ere he is delivered he pauses for an instant, and in that instant comes a flash 'above the brightness of the noonday sun' to tell of the hidden glory. do not forget that we may well look upon that incident as a prophecy of what shall be. as one of the suggestive, old commentators on this verse says: 'he will say "i am he," again, a third time. what will he do coming to reign, when he did this coming to die? and what will his manifestation be as a judge when this was the effect of the manifestation as he went to be judged?' 'every eye shall see him'; and they that loved not his appearing shall fall before him when he cometh to be our judge; and shall call on the rocks and the hills to cover them. ii. there is here, secondly, a manifestation of the voluntariness of our lord's suffering. when that terrified mob recoiled from him, why did he stand there so patiently? the time was propitious for flight, if he had cared to flee. he might have 'passed through the midst of them and gone his way.' as he did once before, if he had chosen. he comes from the garden; there shall be no difficulty in finding him. he tells who he is; there shall be no need for the traitor's kiss. he lays them low for a moment, but he will not flee. when peter draws his sword he rebukes his ill-advised appeal to force, and then he holds out his hands and lets them bind him. it was not their fetters, but the 'cords of love' which held him prisoner. it was not their power, but his own pity which drew him to the judgment hall and the cross. let us dwell upon that thought for a moment. the whole story of the gospels is constructed upon the principle, and illustrates the fact, that our lord's life, as our lord's death, was a voluntary surrender of himself for man's sin, and that nothing led him to, and fastened him on, the cross but his own will. he willed to be born. he 'came into the world' by his own choice. he 'took upon him the form of a servant.' he 'took part' of the children's 'flesh and blood.' his birth was his own act, the first of the long series of the acts, by which for the sake of the love which he bore us, he 'humbled himself.' step by step he voluntarily journeyed towards the cross, which stood clear before him from the very beginning as the necessary end, made necessary by his love. as we get nearer and nearer to the close of the history, we see more and more distinctly that he willingly went towards the cross, take; for instance, the account of the last portion of our lord's life, and you see in the whole of it a deliberate intention to precipitate the final conflict. hence the last journey to jerusalem when 'his face was set,' and his disciples followed him amazed. hence the studied publicity of his triumphal entry into jerusalem. hence the studied, growing severity of his rebukes to the priests and rulers. the same impression is given, though in a somewhat different way, by his momentary retreat from the city and by the precautions taken against premature arrest, that he might not die before the passover. in both the hastening toward the city and in the retreating from it, there is apparent the same design: that he himself shall lay down his life, and shall determine the how, and the when, and the where as seems good to him. if we look at the act of death itself, jesus did not die because he must. it was not the nails of the cross, the physical exhaustion, the nervous shock of crucifixion that killed him. he died because he would. 'i have power to lay down my life,' he said, 'and i have power'--of course--'to take it again.' at that last moment, he was lord and master of death when he bowed his head to death, and, if i might so say, he summoned that grim servant with a 'come!' and he came, and he set him his task with a 'do this!' and he did it. he was manifested as the lord of death, having its 'keys' in his hands, when he died upon the cross. now i pray you to ask yourselves the question, if it be true that christ died because he would, why was it that he would die? if because he chose, what was it that determined his choice? and there are but two answers, which two are one. the divine motive that ruled his life is doubly expressed: 'i must do the will of my father,' and 'i must save the world.' the taunt that those jewish rulers threw at him had a deeper truth than they dreamed, and was an encomium, and not a taunt. 'he saved others'--yes, and _therefore_, 'himself he cannot save.' he cannot, because his choice and will to die are determined by his free love to us and to all the world. his fixed will 'bore his body to the tree,' and his love was the strong spring which kept his will fixed. you and i have our share in these voluntary sufferings, and our place in that loving heart which underwent them for us. oh! should not that thought speak to all our hearts, and bind us in grateful service and lifelong surrender to him who gave himself for us; and _must_ die because he loved us all so much that he _could not_ leave us unsaved? iii. we have, lastly, here, a symbol, or, perhaps, more accurately, an instance, on a small scale, of christ's self-sacrificing care for us. his words: 'if ye seek me, let these go their way,' sound more like the command of a prince than the intercession of a prisoner. the calm dignity of them strikes one just as much as the perfect self-forgetfulness of them. it was a very small matter which he was securing thereby. the apostles would have to die for him some day, but they were not ready for it yet, and so he casts the shield of his protection round them for a moment, and interposes himself between them and the band of soldiers in order that their weakness may have a little more time to grow strong. and though it was wrong and cowardly for them to forsake him and flee, yet these words of my text more than half gave them permission and warrant for their departure: 'let these go their way.' now john did not think that this small deliverance was all that christ meant by these great words: 'of them which thou gavest me have i lost none!' he saw that it was one case, a very trifling one, a merely transitory one, yet ruled by the same principles which are at work in the immensely higher region to which the words properly refer. of course they have their proper fulfilment in the spiritual realm, and are not fulfilled, in the highest sense, till all who have loved and followed christ are presented faultless before the father in the home above. but the little incident may be a result of the same cause as the final deliverance is. a dew-drop is shaped by the same laws which mould the mightiest of the planets. the old divines used to say that god was greatest in the smallest things, and the self-sacrificing care of jesus christ, as he gives himself a prisoner that his disciples may go free, comes from the same deep heart of pitying love, which led him to die, the 'just for the unjust.' it may then well stand for a partial fulfilment of his mighty words, even though these wait for their complete accomplishment till the hour when all the sheep are gathered into the one fold, and no evil beasts, nor weary journeys, nor barren pastures can harass them any more. this trivial incident, then, becomes an exposition of highest truth. let us learn from such an use of such an event to look upon all common and transitory circumstances as governed by the same loving hands, and working to the same ends, as the most purely spiritual. the visible is the veil which drapes the invisible, and clings so closely to it as to reveal its outline. the common events of life are all parables to the devout heart, which is the wise heart. they speak mystic meanings to ears that can hear. the redeeming love of jesus is proclaimed by every mercy which perishes in the using; and all things should tell us of his self-forgetting, self-sacrificing care. thus, then, we may see in that picture of our lord's surrendering himself that his trembling disciples might go free, an emblem of what he does for us, in regard to all our foes. he stands between us and them, receives their arrows into his own bosom, and says, 'let these go their way.' god's law comes with its terrors, with its penalties, to us who have broken it a thousand times. the consciousness of guilt and sin threatens us all more or less, and with varying intensity in different minds. the weariness of the world, 'the ills that flesh is heir to,' the last grim enemy, death, and that which lies beyond them all, ring you round. my friends! what are you going to do in order to escape from them? you are a sinful man, you have broken god's law. that law goes on crashing its way and crushing down all that is opposed to it. you have a weary life before you, however joyful it may sometimes be. cares, and troubles, and sorrows, and tears, and losses, and disappointments, and hard duties that you will not be able to perform, and dark days in which you will be able to see but very little light, are all certain to come sooner or later; and the last moment will draw near when the king of terrors will be at your side; and beyond death there is a life of retribution in which men reap the things that they have sown here. all that is true, much of it is true about you at this moment, and it will all be true some day. in view of that, what are you going to do? i preach to you a saviour who has endured all for us. as a mother might fling herself out of the sledge that her child might escape the wolves in full chase, here is one that comes and fronts all your foes, and says to them, 'let these go their way. take me.' 'by his stripes we are healed.' 'on him was laid the iniquity of us all.' he died because he chose; he chose because he loved. his love had to die in order that his death might be our life, and that in it we should find our forgiveness and peace. he stands between our foes and us. no evil can strike us unless it strike him first. he takes into his own heart the sharpest of all the darts which can pierce ours. he has borne the guilt and punishment of a world's sin. these solemn penalties have fallen upon him that we, trusting in him, 'may go our way,' and that there may be 'no condemnation' to us if we are in christ jesus. and if there be no condemnation, we can stand whatever other blows may fall upon us. they are easier to bear, and their whole character is different, when we know that christ has borne them already. two of the three whom christ protected in the garden died a martyr's death; but do you not think that james bowed his neck to herod's sword, and peter let them gird him and lead him to his cross, more joyfully and with a different heart, when they thought of him that had died before them? the darkest prison cell will not be so very dark if we remember that christ has been there before us, and death itself will be softened into sleep because our lord has died. 'if therefore,' says he, to the whole pack of evils baying round us, with their cruel eyes and their hungry mouths, 'ye seek me, let these go their way.' so, brother, if you will fix your trust, as a poor, sinful soul, on that dear christ, and get behind him, and put him between you and your enemies, then, in time and in eternity, that saying will be fulfilled in you which he spake, 'of them which thou gavest me, have i lost none.' jesus before caiaphas 'and simon peter followed jesus, and so did another disciple: that disciple was known unto the high priest, and went in with jesus into the palace of the high priest. but peter stood at the door without. then went out that other disciple, which was known unto the high priest, and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in peter. then saith the damsel that kept the door unto peter, art not thou also one of this man's disciples? he saith, i am not. and the servants and officers stood there, who had made a fire of coals; for it was cold: and they warmed themselves: and peter stood with them, and warmed himself. the high priest then asked jesus of his disciples, and of his doctrine. jesus answered him, i spake openly to the world; i ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the jews always resort; and in secret have i said nothing. why askest thou me? ask them which heard me, what i have said unto them: behold, they know what i said. and when he had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by struck jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, answerest thou the high priest so? jesus answered him, if i have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil: but if well, why smitest thou me? now annas had sent him bound unto caiaphas the high priest. and simon peter stood and warmed himself. they said therefore unto him, art not thou also one of his disciples? he denied it, and said, i am not. one of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman whose ear peter cut off, saith, did not i see thee in the garden with him? peter then denied again: and immediately the cock crew.'--john xviii. 15-27. the last verses of the preceding passage belong properly to this one, for they tell us that jesus was 'first' brought before annas, a fact which we owe to john only. annas himself and his five sons held the high-priesthood in succession. to the sons has to be added caiaphas, who, as we learn from john only, was annas' son-in-law, and so one of the family party. that jesus should have been taken to him, though he held no office at the time, shows who pulled the strings in the sanhedrim. the reference to caiaphas in verse 14 seems intended to suggest what sort of a trial might be expected, presided over by such a man. but verse 15 tells us that jesus entered in, accompanied by 'another disciple,' 'to the court,' not, as we should have expected, of annas, but 'of the high priest,' who, by the testimony of verse 13, can be no one but caiaphas. how came that about? apparently, because annas had apartments in the high-priest's official residence. as he obviously exercised the influence through his sons and son-in-law, who successively held the office, it was very natural that he should be a fixture in the palace. what john's connection was with this veteran intriguer (assuming that john was that 'other disciple') we do not know. probably it was some family bond that united two such antipathetic natures. at all events, the apostle's acquaintance with the judge so far condoned his discipleship to the criminal, that the doors of the audience chamber were open to him, though he was known as 'one of them.' so he and poor peter were parted, and the latter left shivering outside in the grey of the morning. john had not missed him at first, for he would be too much absorbed in watching jesus to have thoughts to spare for peter, and would conclude that he was following him; but, when he did miss him, like a brave man he ran the risk of being observed, and went for him. the sharp-witted porteress, whose business it was to judge applicants for entrance by a quick glance, at once inferred that peter 'also' was one of this man's disciples. her 'also' shows that she knew john to be one; and her 'this man' shows that either she did not know jesus' name, or thought him too far beneath her to be named by her! the time during which peter had been left outside alone, repenting now of, and alarmed for what might happen to him on account of, his ill-aimed blow at malchus, and feeling the nipping cold, had taken all his courage out of him. the one thing he wished was to slip in unnoticed, and so the first denial came to his lips as rashly as many another word had come in old days. he does not seem to have remained with john, who probably went up to the upper end of the hall, where the examination was going on, while peter, not having the _entree_ and very much terrified as well as miserable, stayed at the lower end, where the understrappers were making themselves comfortable round a charcoal fire, and paying no attention to the proceedings at the other end. he seemed to be as indifferent as they were, and to be intent only on getting himself warmed. but what surges of emotion would be tossing in his heart, which yet he was trying to hide under the mask of being an unconcerned spectator, like the others! the examination of our lord was conducted by 'the high priest,' by which title john must mean caiaphas, as he has just emphatically noted that he then filled the office. but how is that to be reconciled with the statement that jesus was taken to annas? apparently by supposing that, though annas was present, caiaphas was spokesman. but did not a formal trial before caiaphas follow, and does not john tell us (verse 24) that, after the first examination, annas sent jesus bound to caiaphas? yes. and are these things compatible with this account of an examination conducted by the latter? yes, if we remember that flagrant wresting of justice marked the whole proceedings. the condemnation of jesus was a judicial murder, in which the highest court of the jews 'decreed iniquity by a law'; and it was of a piece with all the rest that he, who was to pose as an impartial judge presently, should, in the spirit of a partisan, conduct this preliminary inquiry. observe that no sentence was pronounced in the case at this stage. this was not a court at all. what was it? an attempt to entrap the prisoner into admissions which might be used against him in the court to be held presently. the rulers had jesus in their hands, and they did not know what to do with him now that they had him. they were at a loss to know what his indictment was to be. to kill him was the only thing on which they had made up their minds; the pretext had yet to be found, and so they tried to get him to say something which would serve their purpose. 'the high priest therefore asked jesus of his disciples, and of his teaching'! if they did not know about either, why had they arrested him? cunning outwits itself, and falls into the pit it digs for the innocent. jesus passed by the question as to his disciples unnoticed, and by his calm answer as to his teaching showed that he saw the snare. he reduced caiaphas and annas to perpetrating plain injustice, or to letting him go free. elementary fair play to a prisoner prescribes that he should be accused of some crime by some one, and not that he should furnish his judges with materials for his own indictment. 'why askest thou me? ask them that have heard me,' is unanswerable, except by such an answer as the officious 'servant' gave--a blow and a violent speech. but christ's words reach far beyond the momentary purpose; they contain a wide truth. his teaching loves the daylight. there are no muttered oracles, no whispered secrets for the initiated, no double voice, one for the multitude, and another for the adepts. all is above-board, and all is spoken 'openly to the world.' christianity has no cliques or coteries, nothing sectional, nothing reserved. it is for mankind, for all mankind, all for mankind. true, there are depths in it; true, the secrets which jesus can only speak to loving ears in secret are his sweetest words, but they are 'spoken in the ear' that they may be 'proclaimed on the housetops.' the high-priest is silent, for there was nothing that he could say to so undeniable a demand, and he had no witnesses ready. how many since his day have treated jesus as he treated him--condemned him or rejected him without reason, and then looked about for reasons to justify their attitude, or even sought to make him condemn himself! an unjust judge breeds insolent underlings, and if everything else fails, blows and foul words cover defeat, and treat calm assertion of right as impertinence to high-placed officials. caiaphas degraded his own dignity more than any words of a prisoner could degrade it. our lord's answer 'reviled not again.' it is meek in majesty and majestic in meekness. patient endurance is not forbidden to remonstrate with insolent injustice, if only its remonstrance bears no heat of personal anger in it. but jesus was not so much vindicating his words to caiaphas in saying, 'if i have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil,' as reiterating the challenge for 'witnesses.' he brands the injustice of caiaphas, while meekly rebuking the brutality of his servant. master and man were alike in smiting him for words of which they could not prove the evil. there was obviously nothing to be gained by further examination. no crime had been alleged, much less established; therefore jesus ought to have been let go. but annas treated him as a criminal, and handed him over 'bound,' to be formally tried before the man who had just been foiled in his attempt to play the inquisitor. what a hideous mockery of legal procedure! how well the pair, father-in-law and son-in-law, understood each other! what a confession of a foregone conclusion, evidence or no evidence, in shackling jesus as a malefactor! and it was all done in the name of religion! and perhaps the couple of priests did not know that they were hypocrites, but really thought that they were 'doing god service.' john's account of peter's denials rises to a climax of peril and of keenness of suspicion. the unnamed persons who put the second question must have had their suspicions roused by something in his manner as he stood by the glinting fire, perhaps by agitation too great to be concealed. the third question was put by a more dangerous person still, who not only recognised peter's features as the firelight fitfully showed them, but had a personal ground of hostility in his relationship to malchus. john lovingly spares telling of the oaths and curses accompanying the denials, but dares not spare the narration of the fact. it has too precious lessons of humility, of self-distrust, of the possibility of genuine love being overborne by sudden and strong temptation, to be omitted. and the sequel of the denials has yet more precious teaching, which has brought balm to many a contrite heart, conscious of having been untrue to its deepest love. for the sound of the cock-crow, and the look from the lord as he was led away bound past the place where peter stood, brought him back to himself, and brought tears to his eyes, which were sweet as well as bitter. on the resurrection morning the risen lord sent the message of forgiveness and special love to the broken-hearted apostle, when he said, 'go, tell my disciples and peter,' and on that day there was an interview of which paul knew (1 cor. xv. 5), but the details of which were apparently communicated by the apostle to none of his brethren. the denier who weeps is taken to christ's heart, and in sacred secrecy has his forgiveness freely given, though, before he can be restored to his public office, he must, by his threefold public avowal of love, efface his threefold denial. we may say, 'thou knowest that i love thee,' even if we have said, 'i know him not,' and come nearer to jesus, by reason of the experience of his pardoning love, than we were before we fell. art thou a king? 'then led they jesus from caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover. pilate then went out unto them, and said, what accusation bring ye against this man? they answered and said unto him, if he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee. then said pilate unto them, take ye him, and judge him according to your law. the jews therefore said unto him, it is not lawful for us to put any man to death: that the saying of jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death he should die. then pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called jesus, and said unto him, art thou the king of the jews? jesus answered him, sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me? pilate answered, am i a jew? thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done? jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that i should not be delivered to the jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. pilate therefore said unto him, art thou a king then? jesus answered, thou sayest that i am a king. to this end was i born, and for this cause came i into the world, that i should bear witness unto the truth. every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. pilate saith unto him, what is truth? and when he had said this, he went out again unto the jews, and saith unto them, i find in him no fault at all. but ye have a custom, that i should release unto you one at the passover: will ye therefore that i release unto you the king of the jews? then cried they all again, saying, not this man, but barabbas. now barabbas was a robber.'--john xviii. 28-40. john evidently intends to supplement the synoptic gospels' account. he tells of christ's appearance before annas, but passes by that before caiaphas, though he shows his knowledge of it. similarly he touches lightly on the public hearing before pilate, but gives us in detail the private conversation in this section, which he alone records. we may suppose that he was present at both the hearing before annas and the interview within the palace between jesus and herod, for he would not be deterred from entering, as the jews were, and there seems to have been no other impediment in the way. the passage has three stages--the fencing between the sanhedrists and pilate, the 'good confession before pontius pilate,' and the preference of barabbas to jesus. i. the passage of arms between the priests and the governor. 'it was early,' probably before 6 a.m. a hurried meeting of the sanhedrim had condemned jesus to death, and the next thing was to get the roman authority to carry out the sentence. the necessity of appeal to it was a bitter pill, but it had to be swallowed, for the right of capital punishment had been withdrawn. a 'religious' scruple, too, stood in the way--very characteristic of such formalists. killing an innocent man would not in the least defile them, or unfit for eating the passover, but to go into a house that had not been purged of 'leaven,' and was further unclean as the residence of a gentile, though he was the governor, that would stain their consciences--a singular scale of magnitude, which saw no sin in condemning jesus, and great sin in going into pilate's palace! perhaps some of our conventional sins are of a like sort. pilate was, probably, not over-pleased at being roused so early, nor at having to defer to a scruple which would to him look like insolence; and through all his bearing to the sanhedrim a certain irritation shows itself, which sometimes flashes out in sarcasm, but is for the most part kept down. his first question is, perhaps, not so simple as it looks, for he must have had some previous knowledge of the case, since roman soldiers had been used for the arrest. but, clearly, those who brought him a prisoner were bound to be the prosecutors. whether or not pilate knew that his question was embarrassing, the rulers felt it so. why did they not wish to formulate a charge? partly from pride. they hugged the delusion that their court was competent to condemn, and wanted, as we all often do, to shut their eyes to a plain fact, as if ignoring it annihilated it. partly because the charge on which they had condemned jesus--that of blasphemy in calling himself 'the son of god'--was not a crime known to roman law, and to allege it would probably have ended in the whole matter being scornfully dismissed. so they stood on their dignity and tried to bluster. 'we have condemned him; that is enough. we look to you to carry out the sentence at our bidding.' so the 'ecclesiastical authority' has often said to the 'secular arm' since then, and unfortunately the civil authority has not always been as wise as pilate was. he saw an opening to get rid of the whole matter, and with just a faint flavour of irony suggests that, as they have 'a law'--which he, no doubt, thought of as a very barbarous code--they had better go by it, and punish as well as condemn. that sarcastic proposal compelled them to acknowledge their subjection. pilate had given the reins the least touch, but enough to make them feel the bit; and though it went sore against the grain, they will own their master rather than lose their victim. so their reluctant lips say, 'it is not lawful for us.' pilate has brought them on their knees at last, and they forget their dignity, and own the truth. malicious hatred will eat any amount of dirt and humiliation to gain its ends, especially if it calls itself religious zeal. john sees in the issue of this first round in the duel between pilate and the rulers the sequence of events which brought about the fulfilment of our lord's prediction of his crucifixion, since that was not a jewish mode of execution. this encounter of keen wits becomes tragical and awful when we remember who it was that these men were wrangling about. ii. we have jesus and pilate; the 'good confession,' and the indifferent answer. we must suppose that, unwillingly, the rulers had brought the accusation that jesus had attempted rebellion against rome. john omits that, because he takes it for granted that it is known. it is implied in the conversation which now ensued. we must note as remarkable that pilate does not conduct his first examination in the presence of the rulers, but has jesus brought to him in the palace. perhaps he simply wished to annoy the accusers, but more probably his roman sense of justice combined with his wish to assert his authority, and perhaps with a suspicion that there was something strange about the whole matter--and not least strange that the sanhedrim, who were not enthusiastic supporters of rome, should all at once display such loyalty--to make him wish to have the prisoner by himself, and try to fathom the business. with roman directness he went straight to the point: 'art thou the king of the jews, as they have been saying?' there is emphasis on 'thou'--the emphasis which a practical roman official would be likely to put as he looked at the weak, wearied, evidently poor and helpless man bound before him. there is almost a touch of pity in the question, and certainly the beginning of the conviction that this was not a very formidable rival to caesar. the answer to be given depended on the sense in which pilate asked the question, to bring out which is the object of christ's question in reply. if pilate was asking of himself, then what he meant by 'a king' was one of earth's monarchs after the emperor's pattern, and the answer would be 'no.' if he was repeating a jewish charge, then, 'a king' might mean the prophetic king of israel, who was no rival of earthly monarchs, and the answer would be 'yes,' but that 'yes' would give pilate no more reason to crucify him than the 'no' would have given. pilate is getting tired of fencing, and impatiently answers, with true roman contempt for subject-people's thoughts as well as their weapons. 'i ... a jew?' is said with a curl of the firm lips. he points to his informants, 'thine own nation and the chief priests,' and does not say that their surrender of a would-be leader in a war of independence struck him as suspicious. but he brushes aside the cobwebs which he felt were being spun round him, and comes to the point, 'what hast thou done?' he is supremely indifferent to ideas and vagaries of enthusiasts. this poor man before him may call himself anything he chooses, but _his_ only concern is with overt acts. strange to ask the prisoner what he had done! it had been well for pilate if he had held fast by that question, and based his judgment resolutely on its answer! he kept asking it all through the case, he never succeeded in getting an answer; he was convinced that jesus had done nothing worthy of death, and yet fear, and a wish to curry favour with the rulers, drove him to stain the judge's robe with innocent blood, from which he vainly sought to cleanse his hands. our lord's double answer claims a kingdom, but first shows what it is not, and then what it is. it is 'not _of_ this world,' though it is _in_ this world, being established and developed here, but having nothing in common with earthly dominions, nor being advanced by their weapons or methods. pilate could convince himself that this 'kingdom' bore no menace to rome, from the fact that no resistance had been offered to christ's capture. but the principle involved in these great words goes far beyond their immediate application. it forbids christ's 'servants' to assimilate his kingdom to the world, or to use worldly powers as the means for the kingdom's advancement. the history of the church has sadly proved how hard it is for christian men to learn the lesson, and how fatal to the energy and purity of the church the forgetfulness of it has been. the temptation to such assimilation besets all organised christianity, and is as strong to-day as when constantine gave the church the paralysing gift of 'establishing' it as a kingdom 'of this world.' pilate did pick out of this saying an increased certainty that he had nothing to fear from this strange 'king'; and half-amused contempt for a dreamer, and half-pitying wonder at such lofty claims from such a helpless enthusiast, prompted his question, 'art thou a king then?' one can fancy the scornful emphasis on that 'thou.' and can understand how grotesquely absurd the notion of his prisoner's being a king must have seemed. having made clear part of the sense in which the avowal was to be taken, our lord answered plainly 'yes.' thus before the high-priest, he declared himself to be the son of god, and before pilate he claimed to be king, at each tribunal putting forward the claim which each was competent to examine--and, alas! at each meeting similar levity and refusal to inquire seriously into the validity of the claim. the solemn revelation to pilate of the true nature of his kingdom and of himself the king fell on careless ears. a deeper mystery than pilate dreamed of lay beneath the double designation of his origin; for he not only had been 'born' like other men, but had 'come into the world,' having 'come forth from the father,' and having been before he was born. it was scarcely possible that pilate should apprehend the meaning of that duplication, but some vague impression of a mysterious personality might reach him, and jesus would not have fully expressed his own consciousness if he had simply said, 'i was born.' let us see that we keep firm hold of all which that utterance implies and declares. the end of the incarnation is to 'bear witness to the truth.' that witness is the one weapon by which christ's kingdom is established. that witness is not given by words only, precious as these are, but by deeds which are more than words. these witnessing deeds are not complete till calvary and the empty grave and olivet have witnessed at once to the perfect incarnation of divine love, to the perfect sacrifice for the world's sin, to the victor over death, and to the opening of heaven to all believers. jesus is 'the faithful and true witness,' as john calls him, not without reminiscences of this passage, just because he is 'the first-begotten of the dead.' as here he told pilate that he was a 'king,' because a 'witness,' so john, in the passage referred to, bases his being 'prince of the kings of the earth' on the same fact. how little pilate knew that he was standing at the very crisis of his fate! a yielding to the impression that was slightly touching his heart and conscience, and he, too, might have 'heard' christ's voice. but he was not 'of the truth,' though he might have been if he had willed, and so the words were wind to him, and he brushed aside all the mist, as he thought it, with the light question, which summed up a roman man of the world's indifference to ideas, and belief in solid facts like legions and swords. 'what is truth?' may be the cry of a seeking soul, or the sneer of a confirmed sceptic, or the shrug of indifference of the 'practical man.' it was the last in pilate's case, as is shown by his not waiting for an answer, but ending the conversation with it as a last shot. it meant, too, that he felt quite certain that this man, with his high-strained, unpractical talk about a kingdom resting on such a filmy nothing, was absolutely harmless. therefore the only just thing for him to have done was to have gone out to the impatient crowd and said so, and flatly refused to do the dirty work of the priests for them, by killing an innocent man. but he was too cowardly for that, and, no doubt, thought that the murder of one poor jew was a small price to pay for popularity with his troublesome subjects. still, like all weak men, he was not easy in his conscience, and made a futile attempt to get the right thing done, and yet not to suffer for doing it. the rejection of barabbas is touched very lightly by john, and must be left unnoticed here. the great contribution to our knowledge which john makes is this private interview between the king who reigns by the truth, and the representative of earthly rule, based on arms and worldly forces. jesus sentenced 'then pilate therefore took jesus, and scourged him. and the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe. and said, hail, king of the jews! and they smote him with their hands. pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, behold, i bring him forth to you, that ye may know that i find no fault in him. then came jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. and pilate saith unto them, behold the man! when the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, crucify him, crucify him. pilate saith unto them, take ye him, and crucify him: for i find no fault in him. the jews answered him, we have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the son of god. when pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid; and went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto jesus, whence art thou? but jesus gave him no answer. then saith pilate unto him, speakest thou not unto me i knowest thou not that i have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? jesus answered, thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. and from thenceforth pilate sought to release him: but the jews cried out, saying, if thou let this man go, thou art not caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against caesar. when pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the pavement, but in the hebrew, gabbatha. and it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the jews, behold your king! but they cried out, away with him, away with him, crucify him! pilate saith unto them, shall i crucify your king? the chief priests answered, we have no king but caesar. then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. and they took jesus, and led him away.'--john xix. 1-16. the struggle between the vacillation of pilate and the fixed malignity of the rulers is the principal theme of this fragment of christ's judicial trial. he himself is passive and all but silent, speaking only one sentence of calm rebuke. the frequent changes of scene from within to without the praetorium indicate the steps in the struggle, and vividly reflect the irresolution of pilate. these changes may help to mark the stages in the narrative. i. the cruelties and indignities in verses 1-3 were inflicted within the 'palace,' to which pilate, with his prisoner, had returned after the popular vote for barabbas. john makes that choice of the robber the reason for the scourging of jesus. his thought seems to be that pilate, having failed in his attempt to get rid of the whole difficulty by releasing jesus, according to the 'custom,' ordered the scourging, in hope that the lighter punishment might satisfy the turbulent crowd, whom he wished to humour, while, if possible, saving their victim. it was the expedient of a weak and cynical nature, and, like all weak attempts at compromise between right and wrong, only emboldened the hatred which it was meant to appease. if by clamour the rulers had succeeded in getting pilate to scourge a man whom he thought innocent, they might well hope to get him to crucify, if they clamoured loudly and long enough. one attitude only befitted pilate, since he did not in the least believe that jesus threatened the roman supremacy; namely, to set him at liberty, and let the disappointed rulers growl like wild beasts robbed of their prey. but he did not care enough about a single half-crazy jewish peasant to imperil his standing well with his awkward subjects, for the sake of righteousness. the one good which rome could give to its vassal nations was inflexible justice and a sovereign law; but in pilate's action there was not even the pretence of legality. tricks and expedients run through it all, and never once does he say, this is the law, this is justice, and by it i stand or fall. the cruel scourging, which, in roman hands, was a much more severe punishment than the jewish 'beating with rods' and often ended in death, was inflicted on the silent, unresisting christ, not because his judge thought that it was deserved, but to please accusers whose charge he knew to be absurd. the underlings naturally followed their betters' example, and after they had executed pilate's orders to scourge, covered the bleeding wounds with some robe, perhaps ragged, but of the royal colour, and crushed the twisted wreath of thorn-branch down on the brows, to make fresh wounds there. the jest of crowning such a poor, helpless creature as jesus seemed to them, was exactly on the level of such rude natures, and would be the more exquisite to them because it was double-barrelled, and insulted the nation as well as the 'king.' they came in a string, as the tense of the original word suggests, and offered their mock reverence. but that sport became tame after a little, and mockery passed into violence, as it always does in such natures. these rough legionaries were cruel and brutal, and they were unconscious witnesses to his kingship as founded on suffering; but they were innocent as compared with the polished gentleman on the judgment-seat who prostituted justice, and the learned pharisees outside who were howling for blood. ii. in verses 4-8 the scene changes again to without the palace, and shows us pilate trying another expedient, equally in vain. the hesitating governor has no chance with the resolute, rooted hate of the rulers. jesus silently and unresistingly follows pilate from the hall, still wearing the mockery of royal pomp. pilate had calculated that the sight of him in such guise, and bleeding from the lash, might turn hate into contempt, and perhaps give a touch of pity. 'behold the man!' as he meant it, was as if he had said, 'is this poor, bruised, spiritless sufferer worth hate or fear? does he look like a king or a dangerous enemy?' pilate for once drops the scoff of calling him their king, and seeks to conciliate and move to pity. the profound meanings which later ages have delighted to find in his words, however warrantable, are no part of their design as spoken, and we gain a better lesson from the scene by keeping close to the thoughts of the actors. what a contrast between the vacillation of the governor, on the one hand, afraid to do right and reluctant to do wrong, and the dogged malignity of the rulers and their tools on the other, and the calm, meek endurance of the silent christ, knowing all their thoughts, pitying all, and fixed in loving resolve, even firmer than the rulers' hate, to bear the utmost, that he might save a world! some pity may have stirred in the crowd, but the priests and their immediate dependants silenced it by their yell of fresh hate at the sight of the prisoner. note how john gives the very impression of the fierce, brief roar, like that of wild beasts for their prey, by his 'crucify, crucify!' without addition of the person. pilate lost patience at last, and angrily and half seriously gives permission to them to take the law into their own hands. he really means, 'i will not be your tool, and if my conviction of "the man's" innocence is to be of no account, _you_ must punish him; for _i_ will not.' how far he meant to abdicate authority, and how far he was launching sarcasms, it is difficult to say. throughout he is sarcastic, and thereby indicates his weakness, indemnifying himself for being thwarted by sneers which sit so ill on authority. but the offer, or sarcasm, whichever it was, missed fire, as the appeal to pity had done, and only led to the production of a new weapon. in their frantic determination to compass jesus' death, the rulers hesitate at no degradation; and now they adduced the charge of blasphemy, and were ready to make a heathen the judge. to ask a roman governor to execute their law on a religious offender, was to drag their national prerogative in the mud. but formal religionists, inflamed by religious animosity, are often the degraders of religion for the gratification of their hatred. they are poor preservers of the church who call on the secular arm to execute their 'laws.' rome went a long way in letting subject peoples keep their institutions; but it was too much to expect pilate to be the hangman for these furious priests, on a charge scarcely intelligible to him. what was jesus doing while all this hell of wickedness and fury boiled round him? standing there, passive and dumb, 'as a sheep before her shearers,' himself is the least conspicuous figure in the history of his own trial. in silent communion with the father, in silent submission to his murderers, in silent pity for us, in silent contemplation of 'the joy that was set before him,' he waits on their will. iii. once more the scene changes to the interior of the praetorium (vs. 9-11). the rulers' words stirred a deepened awe in pilate. he 'was the more afraid'; then he had been already afraid. his wife's dream, the impression already produced by the person of jesus, had touched him more deeply than probably he himself was aware of; and now this charge that jesus had 'made himself the son of god' shook him. what if this strange man were in some sense a messenger of the gods? had he been scourging one sent from them? sceptical he probably was, and therefore superstitious; and half-forgotten and disbelieved stories of gods who had 'come down in the likeness of men' would swim up in his memory. if this man were such, his strange demeanour would be explained. therefore he carried jesus in again, and, not now as judge, sought to hear from his own lips his version of the alleged claim. why did not jesus answer such a question? his silence was answer; but, besides that, pilate had not received as he ought what jesus had already declared to him as to his kingdom and his relation to 'the truth,' and careless turning away from christ's earlier words is righteously and necessarily punished by subsequent silence, if the same disposition remains. that it did remain, christ's silence is proof. had there been any use in answering, pilate would not have asked in vain. if jesus was silent, we may be sure that he who sees all hearts and responds to all true desires was so, because he knew that it was best to say nothing. the question of his origin had nothing to do with pilate's duty then, which turned, not on whence jesus had come, but on what pilate believed him to have done, or not to have done. he who will not do the plain duty of the moment has little chance of an answer to his questions about such high matters. the shallow character of the governor's awe and interest is clearly seen from the immediate change of tone to arrogant reminder of his absolute authority. 'to me dost thou not speak?' the pride of offended dignity peeps out there. he has forgotten that a moment since he half suspected that the prisoner, whom he now seeks to terrify with the cross, and to allure with deliverance, was perhaps come from some misty heaven. was that a temper which would have received christ's answer to his question? but one thing he might be made to perceive, and therefore jesus broke silence for the only time in this section, and almost the only time before pilate. he reads the arrogant roman the lesson which he and all his tribe in all lands and ages need--that their power is derived from god, therefore in its foundation legitimate, and in its exercise to be guided by his will and used for his purposes. it was god who had brought the roman eagles, with their ravening beaks and strong claws, to the holy city. pilate was right in exercising jurisdiction over jesus. let him see that he exercised justice, and let him remember that the power which he boasted that he 'had' was 'given.' the truth as to the source of power made the guilt of caiaphas or of the rulers the greater, inasmuch as they had neglected the duties to which they had been appointed, and by handing over jesus on a charge which they themselves should have searched out, had been guilty of 'theocratic felony.' this sudden flash of bold rebuke, reminding pilate of his dependence, and charging him with the lesser but yet real 'sin,' went deeper than any answer to his question would have done, and spurred him to more earnest effort, as john points out. he 'sought to release him,' as if formerly he had been rather simply unwilling to condemn than anxious to deliver. iv. so the scene changes again to outside. pilate went out alone, leaving jesus within, and was met before he had time, as would appear, to speak, by the final irresistible weapon which the rulers had kept in reserve. an accusation of treason was only too certain to be listened to by the suspicious tyrant who was then emperor, especially if brought by the authorities of a subject nation. many a provincial governor had had but a short shrift in such a case, and pilate knew that he was a ruined man if these implacable zealots howling before him went to tiberius with such a charge. so the die was cast. with rage in his heart, no doubt, and knowing that he was sacrificing 'innocent blood' to save himself, he turned away from the victorious mob, apparently in silence, and brought jesus out once more. he had no more words to say to his prisoner. nothing remained but the formal act of sentence, for which he seated himself, with a poor assumption of dignity, yet feeling all the while, no doubt, what a contemptible surrender he was making. judgment-seats and mosaic pavements do not go far to secure reverence for a judge who is no better than an assassin, killing an innocent man to secure his own ends. pilate's sentence fell most heavily on himself. if 'the judge is condemned when the guilty is acquitted,' he is tenfold condemned when the innocent is sentenced. pilate returned to his sarcastic mood when he returned to his injustice, and found some satisfaction in his old jeer, 'your king.' but the passion of hatred was too much in earnest to be turned or even affected by such poor scoffs, and the only answer was the renewed roar of the mob, which had murder in its tone. the repetition of the governor's taunt, 'shall i crucify your king?' brought out the answer in which the rulers of the nation in their fury blindly flung away their prerogative. it is no accident that it was 'the chief priests' who answered, 'we have no king but caesar.' driven by hate, they deliberately disown their messianic hope, and repudiate their national glory. they who will not have christ have to bow to a tyrant. rebellion against him brings slavery. an eye-witness's account of the crucifixion 'and he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the hebrew golgotha: where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and jesus in the midst. and pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. and the writing was, jesus of nazareth the king of the jews. this title then read many of the jews: for the place where jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in hebrew, and greek, and latin. then said the chief priests of the jews to pilate, write not, the king of the jews; but that he said, i am king of the jews. pilate answered, what i have written i have written. then the soldiers, when they had crucified jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. they said therefore among themselves, let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, they parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. these things therefore the soldiers did. now there stood by the cross of jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, mary the wife of cleophas, and mary magdalene. when jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, woman, behold thy son! then saith he to the disciple, behold thy mother! and from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home. after this, jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, i thirst. now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. when jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, it is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.'--john xix. 17-30. in great and small matters john's account adds much to the narrative of the crucifixion. he alone tells of the attempt to have the title on the cross altered, of the tender entrusting of the virgin to his care, and of the two 'words' 'i thirst' and 'it is finished.' he gives details which had been burned into his memory, such as christ's position 'in the midst' of the two robbers, and the jar of 'vinegar' standing by the crosses. he says little about the act of fixing jesus to the cross, but enlarges what the other evangelists tell as to the soldiers 'casting lots.' he had heard what they said to one another. he alone distinctly tells that when he went forth, jesus was bearing the cross which afterwards simon of cyrene had to carry, probably because our lord's strength failed. who appointed the two robbers to be crucified at the same time? not the rulers, who had no such power but probably pilate, as one more shaft of sarcasm which was all the sharper both because it seemed to put jesus in the same class as they, and because they were of the same class as the man of the jews' choice, barabbas, and possibly were two of his gang. jesus was 'in the midst,' where he always is, completely identified with the transgressors, but central to all things and all men. as he was in the midst on the cross, with a penitent on one hand and a rejecter on the other, he is still in the midst of humanity, and his judgment-seat will be as central as his cross was. all the evangelists give the title written over the cross, but john alone tells that it was pilate's malicious invention. he thought that he was having a final fling at the priests, and little knew how truly his title, which was meant as a bitter jest, was a fact. he had it put into the three tongues in use--'hebrew,' the national tongue; 'greek,' the common medium of intercourse between varying nationalities; and 'latin' the official language. he did not know that he was proclaiming the universal dominion of jesus, and prophesying that wisdom as represented by greece, law and imperial power as represented by rome, and all previous revelation as represented by israel, would yet bow before the crucified, and recognise that his cross was his throne. the 'high-priests' winced, and would fain have had the title altered. their wish once more denied jesus, and added to their condemnation, but it did not move pilate. it would have been well for him if he had been as firm in carrying out his convictions of justice as in abiding by his bitter jest. he was obstinate in the wrong place, partly because he was angry with the rulers, and partly to recover his self-respect, which had been damaged by his vacillation. but his stiff-necked speech had a more tragic meaning than he knew, for 'what he had written' on his own life-page on that day could never be erased, and will confront him. we are all writing an imperishable record, and we shall have to read it out hereafter, and acknowledge our handwriting. john next sets in strong contrast the two groups round the cross--the stolid soldiers and the sad friends. the four legionaries went through their work as a very ordinary piece of military duty. they were well accustomed to crucify rebel jews, and saw no difference between these three and former prisoners. they watched the pangs without a touch of pity, and only wished that death might come soon, and let them get back to their barracks. how blind men may be to what they are gazing at! if knowledge measures guilt, how slight the culpability of the soldiers! they were scarcely more guilty than the mallet and nails which they used. the sufferer's clothes were their perquisite, and their division was conducted on cool business principles, and with utter disregard of the solemn nearness of death. could callous indifference go further than to cast lots for the robe at the very foot of the cross? but the thing that most concerns us here is that jesus submitted to that extremity of shame and humiliation, and hung there naked for all these hours, gazed on, while the light lasted, by a mocking crowd. he had set the perfect pattern of lowly self-abnegation when, amid the disciples in the upper room, he had 'laid aside his garments,' but now he humbles himself yet more, being clothed only 'with shame.' therefore should we clothe him with hearts' love. therefore god has clothed him with the robes of imperial majesty. another point emphasised by john is the fulfilment of prophecy in this act. the seamless robe, probably woven by loving hands, perhaps by some of the weeping women who stood there, was too valuable to divide, and it would be a moment's pastime to cast lots for it. john saw, in the expedient naturally suggested to four rough men, who all wanted the robe but did not want to quarrel over it, a fulfilment of the cry of the ancient sufferer, who had lamented that his enemies made so sure of his death that they divided his garments and cast lots for his vesture. but he was 'wiser than he knew,' and, while his words were to his own apprehension but a vivid metaphor expressing his desperate condition, 'the spirit which was in' him 'did signify' by them 'the sufferings of christ.' theories of prophecy or sacrifice which deny the correctness of john's interpretation have the new testament against them, and assume to know more about the workings of inspiration than is either modest or scientific. what a contrast the other group presents! john's enumeration of the women may be read so as to mention four or three, according as 'his mother's sister, mary the wife of cleophas,' is taken to mean one woman or two. the latter is the more probable supposition, and it is also probable that the unnamed sister of our lord's mother was no other than salome, john's own mother. if so, entrusting mary to john's care would be the more natural. tender care, joined with consciousness that henceforth the relation of son and mother was to be supplanted, not merely by death's separating fingers, but by faith's uniting bond, breathed through the word, so loving yet so removing, 'woman, behold thy son!' dying trust in the humble friend, which would go far to make the friend worthy of it, breathed in the charge, to which no form of address corresponding to 'woman' is prefixed. jesus had nothing else to give as a parting gift, but he gave these two to each other, and enriched both. he showed his own loving heart, and implied his faithful discharge of all filial duties hitherto. and he taught us the lesson, which many of us have proved to be true, that losses are best made up when we hear him pointing us by them to new offices of help to others, and that, if we will let him, he will point us too to what will fill empty places in our hearts and homes. the second of the words on the cross which we owe to john is that pathetic expression, 'i thirst.' most significant is the insight into our lord's consciousness which john, here as elsewhere, ventures to give. not till he knew 'that all things were accomplished' did he give heed to the pangs of thirst, which made so terrible a part of the torture of crucifixion. the strong will kept back the bodily cravings so long as any unfulfilled duty remained. now jesus had nothing to do but to die, and before he died he let flesh have one little alleviation. he had refused the stupefying draught which would have lessened suffering by dulling consciousness, but he asked for the draught which would momentarily slake the agony of parched lips and burning throat. the words of verse 28 are not to be taken as meaning that jesus said 'i thirst' with the mere intention of fulfilling the scripture. his utterance was the plaint of a real need, not a performance to fill a part. but it is john who sees in that wholly natural cry the fulfilment of the psalm (ps. lxix. 21). all christ's bodily sufferings may be said to be summed up in this one word, the only one in which they found utterance. the same lips that said, 'if any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink,' said this. infinitely pathetic in itself, that cry becomes almost awful in its appeal to us when we remember who uttered it, and why he bore these pangs. the very 'fountain of living water' knew the pang of thirst that every one that thirsteth might come to the waters, and might drink, not water only, but 'wine and milk, without money or price.' john's last contribution to our knowledge of our lord's words on the cross is that triumphant 'it is finished,' wherein there spoke, not only the common dying consciousness of life being ended, but the certitude, which he alone of all who have died, or will die, had the right to feel and utter, that every task was completed, that all god's will was accomplished, all messiah's work done, all prophecy fulfilled, redemption secured, god and man reconciled. he looked back over all his life and saw no failure, no falling below the demands of the occasion, nothing that could have been bettered, nothing that should not have been there. he looked upwards, and even at that moment he heard in his soul the voice of the father saying, 'this is my beloved son, in whom i am well pleased!' christ's work is finished. it needs no supplement. it can never be repeated or imitated while the world lasts, and will not lose its power through the ages. let us trust to it as complete for all our needs, and not seek to strengthen 'the sure foundation' which it has laid by any shifting, uncertain additions of our own. but we may remember, too, that while christ's work is, in one aspect, finished, when he bowed his head, and by his own will 'gave up the ghost,' in another aspect his work is not finished, nor will be, until the whole benefits of his incarnation and death are diffused through, and appropriated by, the world. he is working to-day, and long ages have yet to pass, in all probability, before the voice of him that sitteth on the throne shall say 'it is done!' the title on the cross 'pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the cross.'--john xix. 19. this title is recorded by all four evangelists, in words varying in form but alike in substance. it strikes them all as significant that, meaning only to fling a jeer at his unruly subjects, pilate should have written it, and proclaimed this nazarene visionary to be he for whom israel had longed through weary ages. john's account is the fullest, as indeed his narrative of all pilate's shufflings is the most complete. he alone records that the title was tri-lingual (for the similar statement in the authorised version of luke is not part of the original text). he alone gives the jews' request for an alteration of the title, and pilate's bitter answer. that angry reply betrays his motive in setting up such words over a crucified prisoner's head. they were meant as a savage taunt of the jews, not as an insult to jesus, which would have been welcome to them. he seems to have regarded our lord as a harmless enthusiast, to have had a certain liking for him, and a languid curiosity as to him, which came by degrees to be just tinged with awe as he felt that he could not quite make him out. throughout, he was convinced that his claim to be a king contained no menace for caesar, and he would have let jesus go but for fear of being misrepresented at rome. he felt that the sacrifice of one more jew was a small price to pay to avert his accusation to caesar; he would have sacrificed a dozen such to keep his place. but he felt that he was being coerced to do injustice, and his anger and sense of humiliation find vent in that written taunt. it was a spurt of bad temper and a measure of his reluctance. besides the interest attaching to it as pilate's work, it seems to john significant of much that it should have been fastened on the cross, and that it should have been in the three languages, hebrew (aramaic), greek, and latin. let us deal with three points in succession. i. the title as throwing light on the actors in the tragedy. we may consider it, first, in its bearing on jesus' claims. he was condemned by the priests on the theocratic charge of blasphemy, because he made himself the son of god. he was sentenced by pilate on the civil charge of rebellion, which the priests brought against him as an inference necessarily resulting from his claim to be the son of god. they drew the same conclusion as nathanael did long before: 'rabbi, thou art the son of god,' and therefore 'thou art the king of israel.' and they were so far right that if the former designation is correct, the latter inevitably follows. both charges, then, turned on his personal claims. to pilate he explained the nature of his kingdom, so as to remove any suspicion that it would bring him and his subjects into collision with rome, but he asserted his kingship, and it was his own claim that gave pilate the material for his gibe. it is worth notice, then, that these two claims from his own lips, made to the authorities who respectively took cognisance of the theocratic and of the civic life of the nation, and at the time when his life hung on the decision of the two, were the causes of his judicial sentence. the people who allege that jesus never made the preposterous claims for himself which christians have made for him, but was a simple teacher of morality and lofty religion, have never fairly faced the simple question: 'for what, then, was he crucified?' it is easy for them to dilate on the hatred of the jewish officials and the gross earthliness of the masses, as explaining the attitude of both, but it is not so easy to explain how material was found for judicial process. one can understand how jesus was detested by rulers, and how they succeeded in stirring up popular feeling against him, but not how an indictment that would hold water was framed against him. nor would even pilate's complaisance have gone so far as to have condemned a prisoner against whom all that could be said was that he was disliked because he taught wisely and well and was too good for his critics. the question is, not what made jesus disliked, but what set the law in motion against him? and no plausible answer has ever been given except the one that was nailed above his head on the cross. it was not his virtues or the sublimity of his teaching, but his twofold claim to be son of god and king of israel that haled him to his death. we may further ask why jesus did not clear up the mistakes, if they were mistakes, that led to his condemnation. surely he owed it to the two tribunals before which he stood, no less than to himself and his followers, to disown the erroneous interpretations on which the charges against him were based. even a caiaphas was entitled to be told, if it were so, that he meant no blasphemy and was not claiming anything too high for a reverent israelite, when he claimed to be the son of god. if jesus let the sanhedrim sentence him under a mistake of what his words meant, he was guilty of his own death. we note, further, the light thrown by the title on pilate's action. it shows his sense of the unreality of the charge which he basely allowed himself to be forced into entertaining as a ground of condemning jesus. if this enigmatical prisoner had had a sword, there would have been some substance in the charge against him, but he was plainly an idea-monger, and therefore quite harmless, and his kingship only fit to be made a jest of and a means of girding at the rulers. 'practical men' always under-estimate the power of ideas. the title shows the same contempt for 'mere theorisers' as animated his question, 'what is truth?' how little he knew that this 'king,' at whom he thought that he could launch clumsy jests, had lodged in the heart of the empire a power which would shatter and remould it! in his blindness to the radiant truth that stood before him, in the tragedy of his condemnation of that to which he should have yielded himself, pilate stands out as a beacon for all time, warning the world against looking for the forces that move the world among the powers that the world recognises and honours. if we would not commit pilate's fault over again, we must turn to 'the base things of this world' and the 'things that are not' and find in them the transforming powers destined to 'bring to nought things that are.' pilate's gibe was an unconscious prophecy. he thought it an exquisite jest, for it hurt. he was an instance of that strange irony that runs through history, and makes, at some crisis, men utter fateful words that seem put into their lips by some higher power. caiaphas and he, the jewish chief of the sanhedrim and the roman procurator, were foremost in christ's condemnation, and each of them spoke such words, profoundly true and far beyond the speaker's thoughts. was the evangelist wrong in saying: 'this spake he not of himself?' ii. the title on the cross as unveiling the ground of christ's dominion. it seemed a ludicrous travesty of royalty that a criminal dying there, with a crowd of his 'subjects' gloating on his agonies and shooting arrowy words of scorn at him, should be a king. but his cross _is_ his throne. it is so because his death is his great work for the world. it is so because in it we see, with melted hearts, the sublimest revelation of his love. absolute authority belongs to utter self-sacrifice. he, and only he, who gives himself wholly to and for me, thereby acquires the right of absolute command over me. he is the 'prince of all the kings of the earth,' because he has died and become the 'first-begotten from the dead.' from the hour when he said, 'i, if i be lifted up, will draw all men unto me,' down to the hour when the seer heard the storm of praise from 'ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands' breaking round the throne, every new testament reference to christ's dominion is accompanied with a reference to his cross, and every reference to his cross merges in a reference to his throne. the crown of thorns was a revelation of the inmost nature of christ's rule. the famous iron crown of milan is a hard, cold circlet within a golden covering blazing with jewels. christ's right to sway men, like his power to do so, rests on his sacrifice for men. a christianity without a cross is a christianity without authority, as has been seen over and over again in the history of the church, and as is being seen again today, if men would only look. a christ without a cross is a christ without a kingdom. the dominion of the world belongs to him who can sway men's inmost motives. hearts are his who has bought them with his own. iii. the title as prophesying christ's universal dominion. the three tongues in which it was written were chosen simply to make it easy to read by the crowd from every part of the empire assembled at the passover. there were palestinian jews there who probably read aramaic only, and representatives from the widely diffused jewish emigration in greek-speaking lands, as well as roman officials and jews from italy who would be most familiar with latin. pilate wanted his shaft to reach them all. it was, in its tri-lingual character, a sign of israel's degradation and a flourishing of the whip in their faces, as a government order in english placarded in a bengalee village might be, or a russian ukase in warsaw. its very wording betrayed a foreign hand, for a jew would have written 'king of israel,' not 'of the jews.' but john divined a deeper meaning in this title, just as he found a similar prophecy of the universality of christ's death in the analogous word of caiaphas. as in that saying he heard a faint prediction that jesus should die 'not for that people only, but that he might also gather into one the scattered children of god,' so he feels that pilate was wiser than he knew, and that his written words in their threefold garb symbolised the relation of christ and his work to the three great types of civilisation which it found possessed of the field. it bent them all to its own purposes, absorbed them into itself, used their witness and was propagated by means of them, and finally sucked the life out of them and disintegrated them. the jew contributed the morality and monotheism of the old testament; the greek, culture and the perfected language that should contain the treasure, the fresh wine-skin for the new wine; the roman made the diffusion of the kingdom possible by the _pax romana_, and at first sheltered the young plant. all three, no doubt, marred as well as helped the development of christianity, and infused into it deleterious elements, which cling to it to-day, but the prophecy of the title was fulfilled and these three tongues became heralds of the cross and with 'loud, uplifted trumpets blew' glad tidings to the ends of the world. that title thus became an unconscious prophecy of christ's universal dominion. the psalmist that sang of messiah's world-wide rule was sure that 'all nations shall serve him,' and the reason why he was certain of it was '_for_ he shall deliver the needy when he crieth.' we may be certain of it for the same reason. he who can deal with man's primal needs, and is ready and able to meet every cry of the heart, will never want suppliants and subjects. he who can respond to our consciousness of sin and weakness, and can satisfy hungry hearts, will build his sway over the hearts whom he satisfies on foundations deep as life itself. the history of the past becomes a prophecy of the future. jesus has drawn men of all sorts, of every stage of culture and layer of civilisation, and of every type of character to him, and the power which has carried a peasant of nazareth to be the acknowledged king of the civilised world is not exhausted, and will not be till he is throned as saviour and ruler of the whole earth. there is only one religion in the world that is obviously growing. the gods of greece and rome are only subjects for studies in comparative mythology, the labyrinthine pantheon of india makes no conquests, buddhism is moribund. all other religions than christianity are shut up within definite and comparatively narrow geographical and chronological limits. but in spite of premature jubilations of enemies and much hasty talk about the need for a re-statement (which generally means a negation) of christian truth, we have a clear right to look forward with quiet confidence. often in the past has the religion of jesus seemed to be wearing or worn out, but it has a strange recuperative power, and is wont to startle its enemies' paeans over its grave by rising again and winning renewed victories. the title on the cross is for ever true, and is written again in nobler fashion 'on the vesture and on the thigh' of him who rides forth at last to rule the nations, 'king of kings, and lord of lords.' the irrevocable past 'what i have written i have written.'--john xix. 22. this was a mere piece of obstinacy. pilate knew that he had prostituted his office in condemning jesus, and he revenged himself for weak compliance by ill-timed mulishness. a cool-headed governor would have humoured his difficult subjects in such a trifle, as a just one would have been inflexible in a matter of life and death. but this man's facile yielding and his stiff-necked obstinacy were both misplaced. 'so i will, so i command. let my will suffice for a reason,' was what he meant. he had written his gibe, and not all the jews in jewry should make him change. but his petulant answer to the rulers' request for the removal of the offensive placard carried in it a deeper meaning, as the title also did, and as the people's fierce yell, 'his blood be on us and on our children,' did. possibly the evangelist had some thought of that sort in recording this saying; but, at all events, i venture to take a liberty with it which i should not do if it were a word of god's, or if it were given for our instruction. so i take it now as expressing in a vivid way, and irrespective of pilate's intention, the thought of the irrevocable past. i. every man is perpetually writing a permanent record of himself. it is almost impossible to get the average man to think of his life as a whole, or to realise that the fleeting present leaves indelible traces. they seem to fade away wholly. the record appears to be written in water. it is written in ink which is invisible, but as indelible as invisible. grammarians define the perfect tense as that which expresses an action completed in the past and of which the consequences remain in the present. that is true of all our actions. our characters, our circumstances, our remembrances, are all permanent. every day we make entries in our diary. ii. that record, once written, is irrevocable. we all know what it is to long that some one action should have been otherwise, to have taken some one step which perhaps has coloured years, and which we would give the world not to have taken. but it cannot be. remorse cannot alter it. wishes are vain. repentance is vain. a new line of conduct is vain. what an awful contrast in this respect between time future and time past! think of the indefinite possibilities in the one, the rigid fixity of the other. our present actions are like cements that dry quickly and set hard on exposure to the air--the dirt of the trowel abides on the soft brick for ever. many cuneiform inscriptions were impressed with a piece of wood on clay, and are legible millenniums after. we have to write _currente calamo_, and as soon as written, the ms. is printed and stereotyped, and no revising proofs nor erasures are possible. an action, once done, escapes from us wholly. how needful, then, to have lofty principles ready at hand! the fresco painter must have a sure touch, and a quick hand, and a full mind. what a boundless field the future offers us! how much it may be! how much, perhaps, we resolve it shall be! what a shrunken heap the harvest is! are you satisfied with what you have written? iii. this record, written here, is read yonder. our actions carry eternal consequences. these will be read by ourselves. character remains. memory remains. we shall read with all illusions stripped away. others will read--god and a universe. 'we shall all be _manifested_ before the judgment-seat of christ.' iv. this record may be blotted out by the blood of christ. it cannot be made not to have been, but god's pardon will be given, and in respect to all personal consequences it is made non-existent. circumstances may remain, but their pressure is different. character may be renewed and sanctified, and even made loftier by the evil past. our dead selves may become 'stepping-stones to higher things.' memory may remain, but its sting is gone, and new hopes, and joys, and work may fill the pages of our record. 'he took away the handwriting that was against us, nailing it to his cross.' our lives and characters may become a palimpsest. 'i will write upon him my new name.' 'ye are an epistle of christ ministered by us.' christ's finished and unfinished work 'jesus ... said, it is finished.'--john xix. 30. 'he said unto me, it is done.'--rev. xxi. 6. one of these sayings was spoken from the cross, the other from the throne. the speaker of both is the same. in the one, his voice 'then shook the earth,' as the rending rocks testified; in the other, his voice 'will shake not the earth only but also heaven'; for 'new heavens and a new earth' accompanied the proclamation. in the one, like some traveller ready to depart, who casts a final glance over his preparations, and, satisfied that nothing is omitted, gives his charioteer the signal and rolls away, jesus christ looked back over his life's work, and, knowing that it was accomplished, summoned his servant death, and departed. in the other, he sets his seal to the closed book of the world's history, and ushers in a renovated universe. the one masks the completion of the work on which the world's redemption rests, the other marks the completion of the age-long process by which the world's redemption is actually realised. the one proclaims that the foundation is laid, the other that the headstone is set on the finished building. the one bids us trust in a past perfected work; the other bids us hope in the perfect accomplishment of the results of that work. taken singly, these sayings are grand; united, they suggest thoughts needed always, never more needful than to-day. i. we see here the work which was finished on the cross. the evangelist gives great significance to the words of my first text, as is shown by his statement in a previous verse: 'jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, said, i thirst,' and then--'it is finished.' that is to say, there is something in that dying voice a great deal deeper and more wonderful than the ordinary human utterance with which a dying man might say, 'it is all over now. i have done,' for this utterance came from the consciousness that all things had been accomplished by him, and that he had done his life's work. now, there, taking the words even in their most superficial sense, we come upon the strange peculiarity which marks off the life of jesus christ from every other life that was ever lived. there are no loose ends left, no unfinished tasks drop from his nerveless hands, to be taken up and carried on by others. his life is a rounded whole, with everything accomplished that had been endeavoured, and everything done that had been commanded. 'his hands have laid the foundation; his hands shall also finish.' he alone of the sons of men, in the deepest sense, completed his task, and left nothing for successors. the rest of us are taken away when we have reared a course or two of the structure, the dream of building which brightened our youth. the pen drops from paralysed hands in the middle of a sentence, and a fragment of a book is left. the painter's brush falls with his palette at the foot of his easel, and but the outline of what he conceived is on the canvas. all of us leave tasks half done, and have to go away before the work is completed. the half-polished columns that lie at baalbec are but a symbol of the imperfection of every human life. but this man said, 'it is finished,' and 'gave up the ghost.' now, if we ponder on what lies in that consciousness of completion, i think we find, mainly, three things. christ rendered a complete obedience. all through his life we see him, hearing with the inward ear the solemn voice of the father, and responding to it with that 'i must' which runs through all his days, from the earliest dawning of consciousness, when he startled his mother with 'i must be about my father's business,' until the very last moments. in that obedience to the all-present necessity which he cheerfully embraced and perfectly discharged, there was no flaw. he alone of men looks back upon a life in which his clear consciousness detected neither transgression nor imperfection. in the midst of his career he could front his enemies with 'which of you convinceth me of sin?' and no man then, and no man in all the generations that have elapsed since--though some have been blind enough to try it, and malicious enough to utter their attempts,--has been able to answer the challenge. in the midst of his career he said, 'i do always the things that please him'; and nobody then or since has been able to lay his finger upon an act of his in which, either by excess or defect, or contrariety, the will of god has not been fully represented. at the beginning of his career he said, in answer to the baptist's remonstrance, 'it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness,' and at the end of his career he looked back, and knowing that he had thus done what became him--namely, fulfilled it all--he said, 'it is finished!' the utterance further expresses christ's consciousness of having completed the revelation of god. jesus christ has made known the father, and the generations since have added nothing to his revelation. the very people, to-day, that turn away from christianity, in the name of higher conceptions of the divine nature, owe their conceptions of it to the christ from whom they turn. not in broken syllables; not 'at sundry times and in divers manners,' but with the one perfect, full-toned name of god on his lips, and vocal in his life, he has declared the father unto us. in the course of his career he said, 'he that hath seen me hath seen the father'; and, looking back on his life of manifestation of god, he proclaimed, 'it is finished!' and the world has since, with all its thinking, added nothing to the name which christ has declared. the utterance farther expresses his consciousness of having made a completed, atoning sacrifice. remember that the words of my first text followed that awful cry that came from the darkness, and as by one lightning flash, show us the waves and billows rolling over his head. 'my god! my god! why hast thou forsaken me?' in that infinitely pathetic and profound utterance, to the interpretation of which our powers go but a little way, jesus christ blends together, in the most marvellous fashion, desolation and trust, the consciousness that god is his god, and the consciousness that he is bereft of the light of his presence. brethren! i know of no explanation of these words which does justice to both the elements that are intertwined so intimately in them, except the old one, which listens to him as they come from his quivering lip, and says, 'the lord hath made to meet on him the iniquity of us all.' ah, brethren! unless there was something a great deal more than the physical shrinking from physical death in that piteous cry, jesus christ did not die nearly as bravely as many a poor, trembling woman who, at the stake or the block, has owed her fortitude to him. many a blood-stained criminal has gone out of life with less tremor than that which, unless you take the explanation that scripture suggests of the cry, marred the last hours of jesus christ. having drained the cup, he held it up inverted when he said 'it is finished!' and not a drop trickled down the edge. he drank it that we might never need to drink it; and so his dying voice proclaimed that 'by one offering for sin for ever,' he 'obtained eternal redemption' for us. ii. now, secondly, note the work which began from the cross. between my two texts lie untold centuries, and the whole development of the consequences of christ's death, like some great valley stretching between twin mountain-peaks on either side, which from some points of view will be foreshortened and invisible, but when gazed down upon, is seen to stretch widely leagues broad, from mountain ridge to mountain ridge. so my two texts, by the fact that millenniums have to interpose between the time when 'it is finished!' is spoken, and the time when 'it is done!' can be proclaimed from the throne, imply that the interval is filled by a continuous work of our lord's, which began at the moment when the work on the cross ended. now it has very often been the case, as i take leave to think, that the interpretation of the former of these two texts has been of such a kind as to distort the perspective of christian truth, and to obscure the fact of that continuous work of our lord's. therefore it may not be out of place if, in a sentence or two, i recall to you the plain teaching of the new testament upon this matter. 'it is finished!' yes; and as the lower course of some great building is but the foundation for the higher, when 'finished' it is but begun. the work which, in one aspect, is the close, in another aspect is the commencement of christ's further activity. what did he say himself, when he was here with his disciples? 'i will not leave you comfortless, i will come to you.' what was the last word that came fluttering down, like an olive leaf, into the bosoms of the men as they stood with uplifted faces gazing upon him as he disappeared? 'lo! i am with you alway, even to the end of the ages.' what is the keynote of the book which carries on the story of the gospels in the history of the militant church? 'the former treatise have i made... of all that jesus _began_ both to do and to teach, until the day in which he was taken up'--and, being taken up, continued, in a new form, both the doing and the teaching. thus that book, misnamed the acts of the apostles, sets him forth as the worker of all the progress of the church. who is it that 'adds to the church daily such as were being saved?' the lord. who is it that opened the hearts of the hearers to the message? the lord. who is it that flings wide the prison-gates when his persecuted servants are in chains? the lord. who is it that bids one man attach himself to the chariot of the eunuch of ethiopia, and another man go and bear witness in rome? the lord. through the whole of that book there runs the keynote, as its dominant thought, that men are but the instruments, and the hand that wields them is christ's, and that he who wrought the finished work that culminated on calvary is operating a continuous work through the ages from his throne. take that last book of scripture, which opens with a view of the ascended christ 'walking in the midst of the seven candlesticks, and holding the stars in his right hand;' which further draws aside the curtains of the heavenly sanctuary, and lets us see 'the lamb in the midst of the throne,' opening the seven seals--that is to say, setting loose for their progress through the world the forces that make the history of humanity, and which culminates in the vision of the final battle in which the incarnate word of god goes forth to victory, with all the armies of heaven following him. are not its whole spirit and message that jesus christ, the lamb who is the antagonist of the beast, is working through all the history of the world, and will work till its kingdoms are 'become the kingdoms of our god and of his christ?' now, that continuous operation of jesus christ in the midst of men is not to be weakened down to the mere continued influence of the truths which he proclaimed, or the gospel which he brought. there is something a great deal more than the diminishing vibrations of a force long since set in operation, and slowly ceasing to act. dead teachers do still 'rule our spirits from their urns'; but it is no dead christ who, by the influence of what he did when he was living, sways the world and comforts his church; it is a living christ who to-day is working in his people, by his spirit. further, he works on the world through his people by the word; they plant and water, he 'gives the increase.' and he is working in the world, for his church and for the world, by his wielding of all power that is given to him, in heaven and on earth. so that the work that is done upon earth he doeth it all himself; and christian people unduly limit the sphere of christ's operations when they look back only to the cross, and talk about a 'finished work' there, and forget that that finished work there is but the vestibule of the continuous work that is being done to-day. christian people! the present work of christ needs working servants. we are here in order to carry on his work. the apostle ventured to say that he was appointed 'to fill up that which is behind of the sufferings of christ'; we may well venture to say that we are here mainly to apply to the world the benefits resulting from the finished work upon the cross. the accomplishment of redemption, and the realisation of the accomplished redemption, are two wholly different things. christ has done the one. he says to us, 'you are honoured to help me to do the other.' according to the accurate rendering of a great saying of the old testament, 'take no rest, and give him no rest, till he establish and make jerusalem a praise in the earth, christ's work is finished; there is nothing for us to do with it but trust it. christ's work is going on; come to his help. ye are fellow-labourers with and to the incarnate truth. iii. i need not say more than a word about the third thought, suggested by these texts--viz., the completion of the work which began on the cross. 'it is done!' that lies, no man knows how far, ahead of us. as surely as astronomers tell us that all this universe is hastening towards a central point, so surely 'that far-off divine event' is that 'to which the whole creation moves.' it is the blaze of light which fills the distant end of the dim vista of human history. its elements are in part summed up in the context--the tabernacle of god with men, the perfected fellowship of the human with the divine, the housing of men in the very home and heart of god; 'a new heaven and a new earth,' a renovated universe; the removal of all evil, suffering, sorrow, sin, and tears. these things are to be, and shall be, when he says 'it is done!' brethren! nothing else than such an issue can be the end of creation, for nothing else than such is the purpose of god for man, and god is not going to be beaten by the world and the devil. nothing else than such can be the issue of the cross; for 'he shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied,' and christ is not going to labour in vain, and spend his life, and give his breath and his blood for nought. nothing but the work finished on the cross guarantees the coming of that perfected issue. i know not where else there is hope for mankind, looking on the history of humanity, except in that great message, that jesus christ, the son of god, has come, has died, lives for ever, and is the world's king and lord. so for ourselves, in regard to the one part of the work, let us listen to him saying 'it is finished!' abandon all attempts to eke it out by additions of our own, and cast ourselves on the finished revelation, the finished obedience, the finished atonement, made once for all on the cross. but as for the continuous work going on through the ages, let us cast ourselves into it with earnestness, self-sacrifice, consecration, and continuity, for we are fellow-workers with christ, and christ will work in, with, and for us if we will work for him. christ our passover 'these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, a bone of him shall not be broken.'--john xix. 36. the evangelist, in the words of this text, points to the great feast of the passover and to the paschal lamb, as finding their highest fulfilment, as he calls it, in jesus christ. for this purpose of bringing out the correspondence between the shadow and the substance he avails himself of a singular coincidence concerning a perfectly unimportant matter--viz., the abnormally rapid sinking of christ's physical strength in the crucifixion, by which the final indignity of breaking the bones of the sufferers was avoided in his case. john sees, in that entirely insignificant thing, a kind of fingerpost pointing to far more important, deeper, and real correspondences. we are not to suppose that he was so purblind, and attached so much importance to externals, as that this outward coincidence exhausted in his conception the correspondence between the two. but it was a trifle that suggested a greater matter. it was a help aiding gross conceptions and common minds to grasp the inward relation between jesus and that passover rite. but just as our lord would have fulfilled the prophecy about the king coming 'meek, and having salvation,' though he had never ridden on a literal ass into the literal jerusalem, so our lord would have 'fulfilled' the shadow of the passover with the substance of his own sacrifice if there had never been this insignificant correspondence, in outward things, between the two. but whilst my text is the evangelist's commentary, the question arises, how did he come to recognise that our lord was all which that passover signified? and the answer is, he recognised it through christ's own teaching. he does not record the institution of the lord's supper. it did not fall into his scheme to deal with external events of that sort, and he knew that it had been sufficiently taught by the three earlier gospels, to which his is a supplement. but though he did not narrate the institution, he takes it for granted in the words of my text, and his vindication of his seeing the fulfilment of 'a bone of him shall not be broken' in the incident to which i have referred, lies in this, that jesus christ himself swept away the passover and substituted the memorial feast of the lord's supper. 'this do in remembrance of me,' said at the table where the paschal lamb had been eaten, sufficiently warrants john's allusion here. so then, marking the fact that our evangelist is but carrying out the lesson that he had learned in the upper room, we may fairly take the identification of the paschal lamb with the crucified christ as being the last instance in which our lord himself laid his hand upon old testament incidents and said, 'they all mean me.' and it is from that point of view, and not merely for the purpose of dealing with the words that i have read as our starting-point, that i wish to speak now. i. now then, the first thing that strikes me is that in this substitution of himself for the passover we have a strange instance of christ's supreme authority. try to fling yourself back in imagination to that upper room, where jesus and a handful of galileans were sitting, and remember the sanctity which immemorial usage had cast round that centre and apex of the jewish ritual, established at the exodus by a solemn divine appointment, intended to commemorate the birth of the nation, venerable by antiquity and association with the most vehement pulsations of national feeling, the centre point of jewish religion. christ said: 'put it all away; do not think about the exodus; do not think about the destroying angel; do not think about the deliverance. forget all the past; do this in remembrance of me.' take into account that the passover had a double sacredness, as a religious festival, and also as commemorating the birthday of the nation, and then estimate what a strange sense of his own importance the man must have had who said: 'that past is done with, and it is _me_ that you have to think of now.' if i might venture to take a very modern illustration without vulgarising a great thing, suppose that on the other side of the atlantic somebody were to stand up and say, 'i abrogate the fourth of july and independence day. do not think about washington and the establishment of the united states any more. think about me!' that is exactly what jesus christ did. only instead of a century there were millenniums of observance which he thus laid aside. so i say that is a strange exercise of authority. what does it imply? it implies two things, and i must say a word about each of them. it implies that christ regarded the whole of the ancient system of judaism, its history, its law, its rites of worship, as pointing onwards to himself, that he recognised in it a system the whole _raison d'etre_ of which was anticipatory and preparatory of himself. for him the decalogue was given, for him priests were consecrated, for him kings were anointed, for him prophets spake, for him sacrifices smoked, for him festivals were appointed, and the nation and its history were all one long proclamation: 'the king cometh! go ye forth to meet him.' you cannot get less than that out of the way in which he handled, as is told in this gospel, jacob's ladder, the serpent in the wilderness, the manna that fell from heaven, the pillar of cloud that led the people, the rock that gushed forth water, and now, last of all, the passover, which was the very shining apex of the whole sacrificial and ritual system. and remember, too, that this way of dealing with all the institutions of the nation as meaning, in their inmost purpose, himself, is exactly parallel to his way of dealing with the sacred words of mosaic commandment and prohibition in the sermon on the mount, where he set side by side as of equal--i was going to say, and i should have been right in saying, identical--authority what was 'said to them of old time' and what 'i say unto you.' amidst the dust of our present controversies as to the processes by which, and the times at which, the old testament books assumed their present form, there is grave danger that the essential thing about the whole matter should be obscured. the way in which what is called higher criticism may finally locate the origins and dates of the various parts of that ancient record and that ancient system does not in the slightest degree affect the outstanding characteristic of the whole, that it is the product of the divine hand, working (if you will) through men who had more freedom of action whilst they were its organs than our grandfathers thought. be it so; but still that divine hand shaped the whole in order that, besides its educational effects upon the generations that received it, there should shine through it all the expectation of the coming king. and i venture to say that, however grateful we may be to modern investigation for light upon these other points to which i have referred, the ignorant reader that reads jesus christ into all the old testament may be very uncritical and mistaken in regard to details, but he has got hold of the root of the matter, and is nearer to the apprehension of the essence and spirit and purpose of the ancient revelation than the most learned critic who does not see that it is the preparation for, and the prophecy of, jesus christ himself. and the vindication of such a position lies in this, among other facts, that he in the upper room, in harmony with, and in completion of, all that he had previously spoken about his relation to the old testament, claimed the passover as the prophecy of himself, and said, 'i am the lamb of god.' i need not dwell, i suppose, on the other consideration that is involved in this strange exercise of authority--viz., the naturalness, as without any sense of doing anything presumptuous or extraordinary, with which christ assumes his right to handle divine appointments with the most perfect freedom, to modify them, to reshape them, to divert them from their first purpose, and to enjoin them with an authority equal to that with which the lord said unto moses, 'keep ye this day through your generations.' there is only one supposition on which i, for my part, can understand that conduct--that he was the possessor of authority the same as the authority that had originally instituted the rite. and so, dear brethren! when our lord said, 'do this in remembrance of me,' i pray you to ask yourselves, what did that involve in regard to his nature and the source of his authority over us? and what did it involve in regard to his relation to that ancient revelation? ii. and now another point that i would suggest is--we have, in this substitution of the new rite for the old, our lord's clear declaration of what was the very heart of his work in the world. 'this do in remembrance of me.' what is it, then, to which he points? is it to the wisdom, the tenderness, the deep beauty, the flashing moral purity that gleamed and shone lambent in his words? no! is it to the gracious self--oblivion, the gentle accessibility, the loving pity, the leisurely heart always ready to help, the eye ready to fill with tears, the hand ever outstretched and ever laden with blessings? no! it is the death on the cross which he, if i might so say, isolates, at least which he underscores with red lines, and which he would have us remember, as we remember nothing else. brethren, rites are insignificant in many aspects, but are often of enormous importance as witnesses to truths. and i point to the lord's supper, the one rite of the christian church, which is to be repeated over and over and over again, and see in it the great barrier which has rendered it impossible, and will render it impossible, as i believe, for evermore, that a christianity, which obscures the atoning sacrifice of christ on the cross, should ever pose as the full representation of the master's mind, or as the full expression of the saviour's word. what do men and churches that falter in their allegiance to the truth of christ's redemptive death do with the lord's supper? nothing! for the most part they ignore it, or if they retain it, do not, for the life of them, know how to explain it, or why it should be there. the explanation of why it is there is the great truth, of which it is the clear utterance and the strong defence, the truth that 'jesus christ died for our sins according to the scriptures,' and that 'the son of man came... to give his life a ransom for the many.' what did that passover say? two things it said, the blood that was sprinkled on the lintels and on the door-posts was the token to the destroying angel, as with his broad, silent pinions he swept through the land, bringing a blacker night into egyptian darkness, and leaving behind him no house 'in which there was not one dead.' all the houses of which the occupants had put the ruddy mark on the lintels and on the doorposts, and were wise enough not to go forth from behind the shelter of that mark on the door, were safe when the morning dawned. and so to us all who, by our sinfulness, have brought down upon our heads exposedness to that retribution, which, in a righteously governed universe, must needs follow sin, and to that death which the separation from god--the necessary result of sin--most surely is, there is proffered in that great sacrifice shelter from the destroying sword. but that is not all. whilst the blood on the posts meant security, the lamb on the table meant emancipation. so they who find in the dying christ their exemption from the last consequences of transgression, find, in partaking of the christ whose sacrifice is their pardon, the communication of a new power, which sets them free from a worse than egyptian bondage, and enables them to shake from their emancipated limbs the fetters of the grimmest of the pharaohs that have wielded a tyrannous dominion over them. pardon and freedom, the creation of a nation subject only to the law of jehovah himself--these were the facts that the passover festival and the passover lamb signified, and these are the facts which, in nobler fashion, are brought to us by jesus christ. so, i beseech you, let him teach you what his work in the world is, as he lays his own hand on that highest of the ancient festivals, and endorses the baptist's declaration, 'behold the lamb of god, which taketh away the sin of the world!' iii. now, lastly, let me ask you to notice how, in this regal and authoritative dealing by our lord with that ancient festival, there lies a loving provision for our weakness. surely we may venture to say that jesus christ desired to be remembered, even by that handful of poor people, and by us, not only for our sakes, but because his heart, too, craved that he should not be forgotten by those whom he was leaving. as you may remember, the dying king turned to the bishop standing by him, with the enigmatical word which no one understood but the receiver of it--'remember!' so did jesus christ. he appeals to our thankfulness, he appeals to our affections, he lets us see that he wishes to live in our memories, because he delights in it, as well as because it is for our profit. the passover was purely and simply a rite of remembrance. i venture to believe that the lord's supper is nothing more. i know how people talk about the bare, bald, zwinglian ideas of the communion. they do look very bald and bare by the side of modern notions and mediaeval notions resuscitated. well, i had rather have the bareness than i would have it overlaid by coverings under which there is room for abundance of vermin to lurk. christ puts the lord's supper in the place of the passover. the passover was a purely memorial rite. you christian people will understand the spirituality of the whole gospel system, and the nature of the only bond which unites men to jesus and brings spiritual blessings to them--viz. faith--all the better, the more you cling, in spite of all that is going on round us to-day, to that simple, intelligible, scriptural notion that we commemorate the sacrifice, not offer the sacrifice. jesus christ said that the lord's supper was to be observed 'in remembrance of me.' that was his explanation of its purpose, and i for one am content to take as the expounder of the laws of the feast, the feast's own founder. now one more word. in the passover men fed on the sacrifice. jesus christ presents himself to each of us as at once the sacrifice for our sins and the food of our souls. if you will keep your minds in touch with the truth about him, and with him whom the truth about him reveals to you, if you will keep your hearts in touch with that great and unspeakable sign of god's love, if you will keep your wills in submission to his authority, if you will let his blood, 'which is the life,' or as you may otherwise word it, his spirit, come into your lives, and be your spirit, your motive, then you will go out from the table, not like the disciples to flee, and deny, and forget, nor like the israelites to wander in a wilderness, but strengthened for many a day of joyous service and true communion, and will come at last to what he has promised us: 'ye shall sit with me at my table in my kingdom,' whence we shall go 'no more out.' joseph and nicodemus 'and after this joseph of arimathea, being a disciple of jesus, but secretly for fear of the jews, besought pilate that he might take away the body of jesus; ... and there came also nicodemus which at the first came to jesus by night.'--john xix. 38, 39. while christ lived, these two men had been unfaithful to their convictions; but his death, which terrified and paralysed and scattered his avowed disciples, seems to have shamed and stung them into courage. they came now, when they must have known that it was too late, to lavish honour and tears on the corpse of the master whom they had been too cowardly to acknowledge, whilst acknowledgment might yet have availed. how keen an arrow of self-condemnation must have pierced their hearts as they moved in their offices of love, which they thought that he could never know, round his dead corpse! they were both members of the sanhedrim; the same motives, no doubt, had withheld each of them from confessing christ; the same impulses united them in this too late confession of discipleship. nicodemus had had the conviction, at the beginning of christ's ministry, that he was at least a miraculously attested and god-sent teacher. but the fear which made him steal to jesus by night--the unenviable distinction which the evangelist pitilessly reiterates at each mention of him--arrested his growth and kept him dumb when silence was treason. joseph of arimathea is described by two of the evangelists as 'a disciple'; by the other two as a devout israelite, like simeon and anna, 'waiting for the kingdom of god.' luke informs us that he had not concurred in the condemnation of jesus, but leads us to believe that his dissent had been merely silent. perhaps he was more fully convinced than nicodemus, and at the same time even more timid in avowing his convictions. we may take these two contrite cowards as they try to atone for their unfaithfulness to their living master by their ministrations to him dead, as examples of secret disciples, and see here the causes, the misery, and the cure of such. i. let us look at them as illustrations of secret discipleship and its causes. they were restrained from the avowal of the messiahship of jesus by fear. there is nothing in the organisation of society at this day to make any man afraid of avowing the ordinary kind of christianity which satisfies the most of us; rather it is the proper thing with the bulk of us middle-class people, to say that in some sense or other we are christians. but when it comes to a real avowal, a real carrying out of a true discipleship, there are as many and as formidable, though very different, impediments in the way to-day, from those which blocked the path of these two cowards in our text. in all regions of life it is hard to work out into practice any moral conviction whatever. how many of us are there who have beliefs about social and moral questions which we are ashamed to avow in certain companies for fear of the finger of ridicule being pointed at us? it is not only in the church, and in reference to purely religious belief, that we find the curse of secret discipleship, but it is everywhere. wherever there are moral questions which are yet the subject of controversy, and have not been enthroned with the hallelujahs of all men, you get people that carry their convictions shut up in their own breasts, and lock their lips in silence, when there is most need of frank avowal. the political, social, and moral conflicts of this day have their 'secret disciples,' who will only come out of their holes when the battle is over, and will then shout with the loudest. but to turn to the more immediate subject before us, how many men and women, i wonder, are there who ought to be and are not, distinctly and openly united with the christian community? i do not mean to say--god forbid that i should--that connection with any existing church is the same as a connection with jesus christ, or that the neglect to be so associated is tantamount to secret discipleship; i know there are plenty of other ways of acknowledging him than that, but i am quite sure that this is one department in which a large number of men, in all our congregations--and there are not a few in this congregation--need a very plain word of earnest remonstrance. it is one way of manifesting whose you are, that you should unite yourselves openly with those who belong to him, and who try to serve him. i do not dwell upon this matter, because i do not wish to be misunderstood, as if i supposed that union to a church is equivalent to union with him; or that a connection with a church is the only, or even the principal way of making an open avowal of christian principle; but i am certain that amongst us in this day there is a laxity in this matter which is doing harm both to the church and to some of you. therefore i say to you, dear friends, suffer the word of exhortation as to the duty of openly uniting yourselves with the christian community. but far higher and more important than that--do you ever say anyhow that you belong to jesus christ? in a society like ours, in which the influence of christian morality affects a great many people who have no personal connection with him, it is not always enough that the life should preach, because over a very large field of ordinary daily life the underground influence, so to speak, of christian ethics has infiltrated and penetrated, so that many a tree bears a greener leaf because of the water that has found its way to it from the river, though it be planted far from its banks. even those who are not christians live outward lives largely regulated by christian principle. the whole level of morality has been heaved up, as the coastline has sometimes been by hidden fires slowly working, by the imperceptible, gradual influence of the gospel. so it needs sometimes that you should _say_ 'i am a christian,' as well as that you should live like one. ask yourselves, dear friends! whether you have buttoned your greatcoat over your uniform that nobody may know whose soldier you are. ask yourselves whether you have sometimes held your tongues because you knew that if you spoke people would find out where you came from and what country you belonged to. ask yourselves, have you ever accompanied the witness of your lives with the commentary of your confession? did you ever, anywhere but in a church, stand up and say, 'i believe in jesus christ, his only son, _my_ lord'? and then ask yourselves another question: have you ever dared to be singular? we are all of us in this world often thrust into circumstances in which it is needful that we should say, 'so do not i because of the fear of the lord.' boys go to school; they used always to kneel down at their bedsides and say their prayers when they were at home. they do not like to do it with all those critical and cruel eyes--and there are no eyes more critical and more cruel than young eyes--fixed upon them, and so they give up prayer. a young man comes to manchester, goes into a warehouse, pure of life, and with a tongue that has not blossomed into rank fruit of obscenity and blasphemy. and he hears, at the next desk there, words that first of all bring a blush to his cheek, and he is tempted into conduct that he knows to be a denial of his master. and he covers up his principles, and goes with the tempters into the evil. i might sketch a dozen other cases, but i need not. in one form or other, we have all to go through the same ordeal. we have sometimes to dare to be in a minority of one, if we will not be untrue to our master and to ourselves. now the reasons for this unfaithfulness to conviction and to christ, are put by the apostle here in a very blunt fashion--'for fear of the jews.' that is not what we say to ourselves; some of us say, 'oh! i have got beyond outward organisations. i find it enough to be united to christ. the christian communities are very imperfect. there is not any of them that i quite see eye to eye with. so i stand apart, contemplating all, and happy in my unsectarianism.' yes, i quite admit the faults, and suppose that as long as men think at all they will not find any church which is entirely to their mind; and i rejoice to think that some day we shall all outgrow visible organisations--when we get there where the seer 'saw no temple therein.' admitting all that, i also know that isolation is always weakness, and that if a man stand apart from the wholesome friction of his brethren, he will get to be a great diseased mass of oddities, of very little use either to himself, or to men, or to god. it is not a good thing, on the whole, that people should fight for their own hands, and the wisest thing any of us can do is, preserving our freedom of opinion, to link ourselves with some body of christian people, and to find in them our shelter and our home. but these two in our text were moved by 'fear.' they dreaded ridicule, the loss of position, the expulsion from sanhedrim and synagogue, social ostracism, and all the armoury of offensive weapons which would have been used against them by their colleagues. so, ignobly they kept their thumb on their convictions, and the two of them sat dumb in the council when the scornful question was asked, 'have any of the rulers or of the pharisees believed on him?' when they ought to have started to their feet and said 'yes, we have!' and when nicodemus ventured a feeble remonstrance, which he carefully divested of all appearance of personal sympathy, and put upon the mere abstract ground of fair play--'doth our law judge any man before it hear him?'--one contemptuous question was enough to reduce him to silence. 'art thou also of galilee?' was enough to cow him into dropping his timid plea for him whom in his heart he believed to be the messiah. so with us, the fear of loss of position comes into play. i have heard of people who settled the congregation which they should honour by their presence from the consideration of the social advantages which it offered. i have heard of their saying, 'oh! we cannot attach ourselves to such and such a community; there is no society for the children.' then many of us are very much afraid of being laughed at. ridicule, i think, to sensitive people in a generation like ours, is pretty nearly as bad as the old rack and the physical torments of martyrdom. we have all got so nervous and high-strung nowadays, and depend so much upon other people's good opinion, that it is a dreadful thing to be ridiculed. timid people do not come to the front and say what they believe, and take up unpopular causes, because they cannot bear to be pointed at and pelted with the abundant epithets of disparagement, which are always flung at earnest people who will not worship at the appointed shrines, and have sturdy convictions of their own. ridicule breaks no bones. it has no power if you make up your mind that it shall not have. face it, and it will only be unpleasant for a moment at first. when a child goes into the sea to bathe, he is uncomfortable till his head has been fairly under water, and then after that he is all right. so it is with the ridicule which out-and-out christian faithfulness may bring on us. it only hurts at the beginning, and people very soon get tired. face your fears and they will pass away. it is not perhaps a good advice to give unconditionally, but it is a very good one in regard of all moral questions--always do what you are afraid to do. in nine cases out of ten it will be the right thing to do. if people would only discount 'the fear of men which bringeth a snare' by making up their minds to neglect it, there would be fewer 'dumb dogs' and 'secret disciples' haunting and weakening the church of christ. ii. i have spent too much time upon this part of my subject, and i must deal briefly with the following. let me say a word about the illustrations that we have in this text of the miseries of this secret discipleship. how much these two men lost--all those three years of communion with the master; all his teaching, all the stimulus of his example, all the joy of fellowship with him! they might have had a treasure in their memories that would have enriched them for all their days, and they had flung it all away because they were afraid of the curled lip of a long-bearded pharisee or two. and so it always is; the secret disciple diminishes his communion with his master. it is the valleys which lay their bosoms open to the sun that rejoice in the light and warmth; the narrow clefts in the rocks that shut themselves grudgingly up against the light, are all dank and dark and dismal. and it is the men that come and avow their discipleship that will have the truest communion with their lord. any neglected duty puts a film between a man and his saviour; any conscious neglect of duty piles up a wall between you and christ. be sure of this, that if from cowardly or from selfish regard to position and advantages, or any other motive, we stand apart from him, and have our lips locked when we ought to speak, there will steal over our hearts a coldness, his face will be averted from us, and our eyes will not dare to seek, with the same confidence and joy, the light of his countenance. what you lose by unfaithful wrapping of your convictions in a napkin and burying them in the ground is the joyful use of the convictions, the deeper hold of the truth by which you live, and before which you bow, and the true fellowship with the master whom you acknowledge and confess. and when these men came for christ's corpse and bore it away, what a sharp pang went through their hearts! they woke at last to know what cowardly traitors they had been. if you are a disciple at all, and a secret one, you will awake to know what you have been doing, and the pang will be a sharp one. if you do not awake in this life, then the distance between you and your lord will become greater and greater; if you do, then it will be a sad reflection that there are years of treason lying behind you. nicodemus and joseph had the veil torn away by the contemplation of their dead master. you may have the veil torn away from your eyes by the sight of the throned lord; and when you pass into the heavens may even there have some sharp pang of condemnation when you reflect how unfaithful you have been. blessed be his name! the assurance is firm that if a man be a disciple he shall be saved; but the warning is sure that if he be an unfaithful and a secret disciple there will be a life-long unfaithfulness to a beloved master to be purged away 'so as by fire.' iii. and so, lastly, let me point you to the cure. these men learned to be ashamed of their cowardice, and their dumb lips learned to speak, and their shy, hidden love forced for itself a channel by which it could flow out into the light; because of christ's death. and in another fashion that same death and cross are for us, too, the cure of all cowardice and selfish silence. the sight of christ's cross makes the coward brave. it was no small piece of courage for joseph to go to pilate and avow his sympathy with a condemned criminal. the love must have been very true which was forced to speak by disaster and death. and to us the strongest motive for stiffening our vacillating timidity into an iron fortitude, and fortifying us strongly against the fear of what man can do to us, is to be found in gazing upon his dying love who met and conquered all evils and terrors for our sakes. that cross will kindle a love which will not rest concealed, but will be 'like the ointment of the right hand which bewrayeth itself.' i can fancy men to whom christ is only what he was to nicodemus at first, 'a teacher sent from god,' occupying nicodemus' position of hidden belief in his teaching without feeling any need to avow themselves his followers; but if once into our souls there has come the constraining and the melting influence of that great and wondrous love which died for us, then, dear brethren, it is unnatural that we should be silent. if those 'for whom christ has died' should hold their peace, 'the stones would immediately cry out.' that death, wondrous, mysterious, terrible, but radiant, and glorious with hope, with pardon, with holiness for us and for all the world--that death smites on the chords of our hearts, if i may so speak, and brings out music from them all. the love that died for me will force me to express my love, 'then shall the tongue of the dumb sing,' and silence will be impossible. the sight of the cross not only leads to courage, and kindles a love which demands expression, but it impels to joyful surrender. joseph gave a place in his own new tomb, where he hoped that one day his bones should be laid by the side of the master against whom he had sinned--for he had no thought of a resurrection. nicodemus brought a lavish, almost an extravagant, amount of costly spices, as if by honour to the dead he could atone for treason to the living. and both the one and the other teach us that if once we gain the true vision of that great and wondrous love that died on the cross for us, then the natural language of the loving heart is- 'here, lord! i give _myself_ away; 'tis all that i can do.' if following him openly involves sacrifices, the sacrifices will be sweet, so long as our hearts look to his dying love. all love delights in expression, and most of all in expression by surrender of precious things, which are most precious because they give love materials which it may lay at the beloved's feet. what are position, possessions, reputation, capacities, perils, losses, self, but the 'sweet spices' which we are blessed enough to be able to lay upon the altar which glorifies the giver and the gift? the contemplation of christ's sacrifice--and that alone--will so overcome our natural selfishness as to make sacrifice for his dear sake most blessed. i beseech you, then, look ever to him dying on the cross for each of us. it will kindle our courage, it will make our hearts glow with love, it will turn our silence into melody and music of praise; it will lead us to heights of consecration and joys of confession; and so it will bring us at last into the possession of that wondrous honour which he promised when he said, 'he that confesseth me before men, him will i also confess; and he that denieth me before men, him will i also deny.' the grave in a garden 'in the garden a new tomb.'--john xix. 41 (r.v.). this is possibly no more than a topographical note introduced merely for the sake of accuracy. but it is quite in john's manner to attach importance to these apparent trifles and to give no express statement that he is doing so. there are several other instances in the gospel where similar details are given which appear to have had in his eyes a symbolical meaning--e.g. 'and it was night.' there may have been such a thought in his mind, for all men in high excitement love and seize symbols, and i can scarcely doubt that the reason which induced joseph to make his grave in a garden was the reason which induced john to mention so particularly its situation, and that they both discerned in that garden round the sepulchre, the expression of what was to the one a dim desire, to the other 'a lively hope by the resurrection of jesus christ from the dead'--that they who are laid to rest in the grave shall come forth again in new and fairer life, as 'the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to bud.' to us at all events on easter morning, with nature rising on every hand from her winter death, and 'life re-orient out of dust,' that new sepulchre in the garden may well serve for the starting-point of the familiar but ever-precious lessons of the day. i. a symbol of death and decay as interwoven with all nature and every joy. we think of eden and the first coming of death. the grave was fittingly in the garden, because nature too is subject to the law of decay and death. the flowers fade and men die. meditative souls have ever gathered lessons of mortality there, and invested death with an alien softness by likening it to falling leaves and withered blooms. but the contrast is greater than the resemblance, and painless dropping of petals is not a parallel to the rending of soul and body. the garden's careless wealth of beauty and joy continues unconcerned whatever befalls us. 'one generation cometh and another goeth, but the earth abideth for ever.' the grave is in the garden because all our joys and works have sooner or later death associated with them. every relationship. every occupation. every joy. the grave in the garden bids us bring the wholesome contemplation of death into all life. it may be a harm and weakening to think of it, but should be a strength. ii. the dim hopes with which men have fought against death. to lay the dead amid blooming nature and fair flowers has been and is natural to men. the symbolism is most natural, deep, and beautiful, expressing the possibility of life and even of advance in the life after apparent decay. there is something very pathetic in so eager a grasping after some stay for hope. all these natural symbols are insufficient. they are not proofs, they are only pretty analogies. but they are all that men have on which to build their hopes as to a future life apart from christ. that future was vague, a region for hopes and wishes or fears, not for certainty, a region for poetic fancies. the thoughts of it were very faintly operative. men asked, shall we live again? conscience seemed to answer, yes! the instinct of immortality in men's souls grasped at these things as proofs of what it believed without them, but there was no clear light. iii. the clear light of certain hope which christ's resurrection brings. the grave in the garden reversed adam's bringing of death into eden. christ's resurrection as a fact bears on the belief in a future state as nothing else can. it changes hope into certainty. it shows by actual example that death has nothing to do with the soul; that life is independent of the body; that a man after death is the same as before it. the risen lord was the same in his relations to his disciples, the same in his love, in his memory, and in all else. it changes shadowy hopes of continuous life into a solid certainty of resurrection life. the former is vague and powerless. it is impossible to conceive of the future with vividness unless as a bodily life. and this is the strength of the christian conception of the future life, that corporeity is the end and goal of the redeemed man. it changes terror and awe into joy, and opens up a future in which he is. we shall be with him. we shall be like him. now we can go back to all these incomplete analogies and use them confidently. our faith does not rest upon them but upon what has actually been done on this earth. christ is 'the first fruits of them that slept.' what will the harvest be! as the single little seed is poor and small by the side of the gorgeous flower that comes from it; so will be the change. 'god giveth it a body as it hath pleased him.' how then to think of death for ourselves and for those who are gone? thankfully and hopefully. the resurrection morning 'the first day of the week cometh mary magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. then she runneth, and cometh to simon peter, and to the other disciple, whom jesus loved, and saith unto them, they have taken away the lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him. peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre. so they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun peter, and came first to the sepulchre. and he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. then cometh simon peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, and the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed. for as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. then the disciples went away again unto their own home. but mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, and seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of jesus had lain. and they say unto her, woman, why weepest thou? she saith unto them, because they have taken away my lord, and i know not where they have laid him. and when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw jesus standing, and knew not that it was jesus. jesus saith unto her, woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? she, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and i will take him away. jesus saith unto her, mary. she turned herself, and saith unto him, rabboni; which is to say, master. jesus saith unto her, touch me not; for i am not yet ascended to my father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, i ascend unto my father, and your father; and to my god, and your god. mary magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.'--john xx. 1-18. john's purpose in his narrative of the resurrection is not only to establish the fact, but also to depict the gradual growth of faith in it, among the disciples. the two main incidents in this passage, the visit of peter and john to the tomb and the appearance of our lord to mary, give the dawning of faith before sight and the rapturous faith born of sight. in the remainder of the chapter are two more instances of faith following vision, and the teaching of the whole is summed up in christ's words to the doubter, 'because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed!' i. the open sepulchre and the bewildered alarm it excited. the act of resurrection took place before sunrise. 'at midnight,' probably, 'the bridegroom came.' it was fitting that he who was to scatter the darkness of the grave should rise while darkness covered the earth, and that no eye should behold 'how' that dead was 'raised up.' the earthquake and the descent of angels and the rolling away of the stone were after the tomb was empty. john's note of time seems somewhat earlier than that of the other gospels, but is not so much so as to require the supposition that mary preceded the other women. she appears alone here, because the reason for mentioning her at all is to explain how peter and john knew of the empty tomb, and she alone had been the informant. in these eastern lands, 'as it began to dawn,' 'very early at the rising of the sun,' and 'while it was yet dark,' are times very near each other, and mary may have reached the sepulchre a little before the others. her own words, 'we know not,' show that she had spoken with others who had seen the empty grave. we must therefore suppose that she had with the others come to it, seen that the sacred corpse was gone and their spices useless, exchanged hurried words of alarm and bewilderment, and then had hastened away before the appearance of the angels. the impulse to tell the leaders of the forlorn band the news, which she thinks to be so bad, was womanly and natural. it was not hope, but wonder and sorrow that quickened her steps as she ran through the still morning to find them. whether they were in one house or not is uncertain; but, at all events, peter's denial had not cut him off from his brethren, and the two who were so constantly associated before and afterwards were not far apart that morning. the disciple who had stood by the cross to almost the last had an open heart, and probably an open house for the denier. 'restore such an one, ... considering thyself.' mary had seen the tomb empty, and springs to the conclusion that 'they'--some unknown persons--have taken away the dead body, which, with clinging love that tries to ignore death, she still calls 'the lord.' possibly she may have thought that the resting-place in joseph's new sepulchre was only meant for temporary shelter (ver. 15). at all events the corpse was gone, and the fact suggested no hope to her. how often do we, in like manner, misinterpret as dark what is really pregnant with light, and blindly attribute to 'them' what jesus does! a tone of mind thus remote from anticipation of the great fact is a precious proof of the historical truth of the resurrection; for here was no soil in which hallucinations would spring, and such people would not have believed him risen unless they had seen him living. ii. peter and john at the tomb, the dawning of faith, and the continuance of bewildered wonder. in the account, we may observe, first, the characteristic conduct of each of the two. peter is first to set out, and john follows, both men doing according to their kind. the younger runs faster than his companion. he looked into the tomb, and saw the wrappings lying; but the reverent awe which holds back finer natures kept him from venturing in. peter is not said to have looked before entering. he loved with all his heart, but his love was impetuous and practical, and he went straight in, and felt no reason why he should pause. his boldness encouraged his friend, as the example of strong natures does. some of my readers will recall bushnell's noble sermon on 'unconscious influence' from this incident, and i need say no more about it. observe, too, the further witness of the folded grave-clothes. john from outside had not seen the napkin, lying carefully rolled up apart from the other cloths. it was probably laid in a part of the tomb invisible from without. but the careful disposal of these came to him, when he saw them, with a great flash of illumination. there had been no hurried removal. here had been no hostile hands, or there would not have been this deliberation; nor friendly hands, or there would not have been such dishonour to the sacred dead as to carry away the body nude. what did it mean? could he himself have done for himself what he had bade them do for lazarus? could he have laid aside the garments of the grave as needing them no more? 'they have taken away'--what if it were not 'they' but he? no trace of hurry or struggle was there. he did 'not go out with haste, nor go by flight,' but calmly, deliberately, in the majesty of his lordship over death, he rose from his slumber and left order in the land of confusion. observe, too, the birth of the apostle's faith. john connects it with the sight of the folded garments. 'believed' here must mean more than recognition of the fact that the grave was empty. the next clause seems to imply that it means belief in the resurrection. the scripture, which they 'knew' as scripture, was for john suddenly interpreted, and he was lifted out of the ignorance of its meaning, which till that moment he had shared with his fellow-disciples. their failure to understand christ's frequent distinct prophecies that he would rise again the third day has been thought incredible, but is surely intelligible enough if we remember how unexampled such a thing was, and how marvellous is our power of hearing and yet not hearing the plainest truth. we all in the course of our lives are lost in astonishment when things befall us which we have been plainly told will befall. the fulfilment of all divine promises (and threatenings) is a surprise, and no warnings beforehand teach one tithe so clearly as experience. john believed, but peter still was in the dark. again the former had outrun his friend. his more sensitive nature, not to say his deeper love--for that would be unjust, since their love differed in quality more than in degree--had gifted him with a more subtle and swifter-working perception. perhaps if peter's heart had not been oppressed by his sin, he would have been readier to feel the sunshine of the wonderful hope. we condemn ourselves to the shade when we deny our lord by deed or word. iii. the first appearance of the lord, and revelation of the new form of intercourse. nothing had been said of mary's return to the tomb; but how could she stay away? the disciples might go, but she lingered, woman-like, to indulge in the bitter-sweet of tears. eyes so filled are more apt to see angels. no wonder that these calm watchers, in their garb of purity and joy, had not been seen by the two men. the laws of such appearance are not those of ordinary optics. spiritual susceptibility and need determine who shall see angels, and who shall see but the empty place. wonder and adoration held these bright forms there. they had hovered over the cradle and stood by the shepherds at bethlehem, but they bowed in yet more awestruck reverence at the grave, and death revealed to them a deeper depth of divine love. the presence of angels was a trifle to mary, who had only one thought--the absence of her lord. surely that touch in her unmoved answer, as if speaking to men, is beyond the reach of art. she says 'my lord' now, and 'i know not,' but otherwise repeats her former words, unmoved by any hope caught from john. her clinging love needed more than an empty grave and folded clothes arid waiting angels to stay its tears, and she turned indifferently and wearily away from the interruption of the question to plunge again into her sorrow. chrysostom suggests that she 'turned herself' because she saw in the angels' looks that they saw christ suddenly appearing behind her; but the preceding explanation seems better. her not knowing jesus might be accounted for by her absorbing grief. one who looked at white-robed angels, and saw nothing extraordinary, would give but a careless glance at the approaching figure, and might well fail to recognise him. but probably, as in the case of the two travellers to emmaus, her 'eyes were holden,' and the cause of non-recognition was not so much a change in jesus as an operation on her. be that as it may, it is noteworthy that his voice, which was immediately to reveal him, at first suggested nothing to her; and even his gentle question, with the significant addition to the angels' words, in 'whom seekest thou?' which indicated his knowledge that her tears fell for some person dear and lost, only made her think of him as being 'the gardener,' and therefore probably concerned in the removal of the body. if he were so, he would be friendly; and so she ventured her pathetic petition, which does not name jesus (so full is her mind of the one, that she thinks everybody must know whom she means), and which so overrated her own strength in saying, 'i will take him away,' the first words of the risen christ are on his lips yet to all sad hearts. he seeks our confidences, and would have us tell him the occasions of our tears. he would have us recognise that all our griefs and all our desires point to one person--himself--as the one real object of our 'seeking,' whom finding, we need weep no more. verse 16 tells us that mary turned herself to see him when he next spoke, so that, at the close of her first answer to him, she must have once more resumed her gaze into the tomb, as if she despaired of the newcomer giving the help she had asked. who can say anything about that transcendent recognition, in which all the stooping love of the risen lord is smelted into one word, and the burst of rapture, awe, astonishment, and devotion pours itself through the narrow channel of one other? if this narrative is the work of some anonymous author late in the second century, he is indeed a 'great unknown,' and has managed to imagine one of the two or three most pathetic 'situations' in literature. surely it is more reasonable to suppose him no obscure genius, but a well-known recorder of what he had seen, and knew for fact. christ's calling by name ever reveals his loving presence. we may be sure that he knows us by name, and we should reply by the same swift cry of absolute submission as sprung to mary's lips. 'rabboni! master!' is the fit answer to his call. but mary's exclamation was imperfect in that it expressed the resumption of no more than the old bond, and her gladness needed enlightenment. things were not to be as they had been. christ's 'mary!' had indeed assured her of his faithful remembrance and of her present place in his love; but when she clung to his feet she was seeking to keep what she had to learn to give up. therefore jesus, who invited the touch which was to establish faith and banish doubt (luke xxiv. 39; john xx. 27), bids her unclasp her hands, and gently instils the ending of the blessed past by opening to her the superior joys of the begun future. his words contain for us all the very heart of our possible relation to him, and teach us that we need envy none who companied with him here. his ascension to the father is the condition of our truest approach to him. his prohibition encloses a permission. 'touch me not! for i am not yet ascended,' implies 'when i am, you may.' further, the ascended christ is still our brother. neither the mystery of death nor the impending mystery of dominion broke the tie. again, the resurrection is the beginning of ascension, and is only then rightly understood when it is considered as the first upward step to the throne. 'i ascend,' not 'i have risen, and will soon leave you,' as if the ascension only began forty days after on olivet. it is already in process. once more the ascended christ, our brother still, and capable of the touch of reverent love, is yet separated from us by the character, even while united to us by the fact, of his filial and dependent relation to god. he cannot say 'our father' as if standing on the common human ground. he is 'son' as we are not, and we are 'sons' through him, and can only call god our father because he is christ's. such were the immortal hopes and new thoughts which mary hastened from the presence of her recovered lord to bring to the disciples. fragrant though but partially understood, they were like half-opened blossoms from the tree of life planted in the midst of that garden, to bloom unfading, and ever disclosing new beauty in believing hearts till the end of time. the risen lord's charge and gift 'then said jesus to them again, peace be unto yon: as my father hath sent me, even so send i you. and when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, receive ye the holy ghost. whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.'--john xx. 21-23. the day of the resurrection had been full of strange rumours, and of growing excitement. as evening fell, some of the disciples, at any rate, gathered together, probably in the upper room. they were brave, for in spite of the jews they dared to assemble; they were timid, for they barred themselves in 'for fear of the jews.' no doubt in little groups they were eagerly discussing what had happened that day. fuel was added to the fire by the return of the two from emmaus. and then, at once, the buzz of conversation ceased, for 'he himself, with his human air,' stood there in the midst, with the quiet greeting on his lips, which might have come from any casual stranger, and minimised the separation that was now ending: 'peace be unto you!' we have two accounts of that evening's interview which remarkably supplement each other. they deal with two different parts of it. john begins where luke ends. the latter evangelist dwells mainly on the disciples' fears that it was some ghostly appearance that they saw, and on the removal of these by the sight, and perhaps the touch, of the hands and the feet. john says nothing of the terror, but luke's account explains john's statement that 'he showed them his hands and his side,' and that, 'then were the disciples glad,' the joy expelling the fear. luke's account also, by dwelling on the first part of the interview, explains what else is unexplained in john's narrative, viz. the repetition of the salutation, 'peace be unto you!' our lord thereby marked off the previous portion of the conversation as being separate, and a whole in itself. their doubts were dissipated, and now something else was to begin. they who were sure of the risen lord, and had had communion with him, were capable of receiving a deeper peace, and so 'jesus said to them again, peace be unto you!' and thereby inaugurated the second part of the interview. luke's account also helps us in another and very important way. john simply says that 'the disciples were gathered together,' and that might mean the eleven only. luke is more specific, and tells us what is of prime importance for understanding the whole incident, that 'the eleven... and they that were with them' were assembled. this interview, the crown of the appearances on easter day, is marked as being an interview with the assembled body of disciples, whom the lord, having scattered their doubts, and laid the deep benediction of his peace upon their hearts, then goes on to invest with a sacred mission, 'as my father hath sent me, even so send i you'; to equip them with the needed power, 'receive ye the holy ghost'; and to unfold to them the solemn issues of their work, 'whose sins ye remit they are remitted; and whose sins ye retain they are retained.' the message of that easter evening is for us all; and so i ask you to look at these three points. i. the christian mission. i have already said that the clear understanding of the persons to whom the words were spoken, goes far to interpret the significance of the words. here we have at the very beginning, the great thought that every christian man and woman is sent by jesus. the possession of what preceded this charge is the thing, and the only thing, that fits a man to receive it, and whoever possesses these is thereby despatched into the world as being christ's envoy and representative. and what are these preceding experiences? the vision of the risen christ, the touch of his hands, the peace that he breathed over believing souls, the gladness that sprang like a sunny fountain in the hearts that had been so dry and dark. those things constituted the disciples' qualification for being sent, and these things were themselves--even apart from the master's words--their sending out on their future life's-work. thus, whoever--and thank god i am addressing many who come under the category!--whoever has seen the lord, has been in touch with him, and has felt his heart filled with gladness, is the recipient of this great commission. there is no question here of the prerogative of a class, nor of the functions of an order; it is a question of the universal aspect of the christian life in its relation to the master who sends, and the world into which it is sent. we nonconformists pride ourselves upon our freedom from what we call 'sacerdotalism.' ay! and we nonconformists are quite willing to assert our priesthood in opposition to the claims of a class, and are as willing to forget it, should the question of the duties of the priest come into view. you do not believe in priests, but a great many of you believe that it is ministers that are 'sent,' and that you have no charge. officialism is the dry-rot of all the churches, and is found as rampant amongst democratic nonconformists as amongst the more hierarchical communities. brethren! you are included in christ's words of sending on this errand, if you are included in this greeting of 'peace be unto you!' 'i send,' not the clerical order, not the priest, but 'you,' because you have seen the lord, and been glad, and heard the low whisper of his benediction creeping into your hearts. mark, too, how our lord reveals much of himself, as well as of our position, when he thus speaks. for he assumes here the royal tone, and claims to possess as absolute authority over the lives and work of all christian people as the father exercised when he sent the son. but we must further ask ourselves the question, what is the parallel that our lord here draws, not only between his action in sending us, and the father's action in sending him, but also between the attitude of the son who was sent, and of the disciples whom he sends? and the answer is this--the work of jesus christ is continued by, prolonged in, and carried on henceforward through, the work that he lays upon his servants. mark the exact expression that our lord here uses. 'as my father _hath_ sent,' that is a past action, continuing its consequences in the present. it is not 'as my father _did_ send once,' but as 'my father _hath_ sent,' which means 'is also at present sending,' and continues to send. which being translated into less technical phraseology is just this, that we here have our lord presenting to us the thought that, though in a new form, his work continues during the ages, and is now being wrought through his servants. what he does by another, he does by himself. we christian men and women do not understand our function in the world, unless we have realised this: 'now, then, we are ambassadors for christ' and his interests and his work are entrusted to our hands. how shall the servants continue and carry on the work of the master? the chief way to do it is by proclaiming everywhere that finished work on which the world's hopes depend. but note,--'_as_ my father hath sent me, so send i you,'--then we are not only to carry on his work in the world, but if one might venture to say so, we are to reproduce his attitude towards god and the world. he was sent to be 'the light of the world'; and so are we. he was sent to 'seek and to save that which was lost'; so are we. he was sent not to do his own will, but the will of the father that sent him; so are we. he took upon himself with all cheerfulness the office to which he was appointed, and said, 'my meat is to do the will of him that sent me,--and to finish his work'; and that must be our voice too. he was sent to pity, to look upon the multitudes with compassion, to carry to them the healing of his touch, and the sympathy of his heart; so must we. we are the representatives of jesus christ, and if i might dare to use such a phrase, he is to be incarnated again in the hearts, and manifested again in the lives, of his servants. many weak eyes, that would be dazzled and hurt if they were to gaze on the sun, may look at the clouds cradled by its side, and dyed with its lustre, and learn something of the radiance and the glory of the illuminating light from the illuminated vapour. and thus, 'as my father hath sent me, even so send i you.' now let us turn to ii. the christian equipment. 'he breathed on them, and said, receive ye the holy ghost!' the symbolical action reminds us of the creation story, when into the nostrils was breathed 'the breath of life, and man became a living soul.' the symbol is but a symbol, but what it teaches us is that every christian man who has passed through the experiences which make him christ's envoy, receives the equipment of a new life, and that that life is the gift of the risen lord. this prometheus came from the dead with the spark of life guarded in his pierced hands, and he bestowed it upon us; for the spirit of life, which is the spirit of christ, is granted to all christian men. dear brethren! we have not lived up to the realities of our christian confession, unless into our death has come, and there abides, this life derived from jesus himself, the communication of which goes along with all faith in him. but the gift which jesus brought to that group of timid disciples in the upper room did not make superfluous the further gift on the day of pentecost. the communication of the divine spirit to men runs parallel with, depends on, and follows, the revelation of divine truth, so the ascended lord gave more of that life to the disciples, who had been made capable of more of it by the fact of beholding his ascension, than the risen lord could give on that easter day. but whilst thus there are measures and degrees, the life is given to every believer in correspondence with the clearness and the contents of his faith. it is the power that will fit any of us for the work for which we are sent into the world. if we are here to represent jesus christ, and if it is true of us that 'as he is, so are we, in this world,' that likeness can only come about by our receiving into our spirits a kindred life which will effloresce and manifest itself to men in kindred beauty of foliage and of fruit. if we are to be 'the lights of the world,' our lamps must be fed with oil. if we are to be christ's representatives, we must have christ's life in us. here, too, is the only source of strength and life to us christian people, when we look at the difficulties of our task and measure our own feebleness against the work that lies before us. i suppose no man has ever tried honestly to be what christ wished him to be amidst his fellows, whether as preacher or teacher or guide in any fashion, who has not hundreds of times clasped his hands in all but despair, and said, 'who is sufficient for these things?' that is the temper into which the power will come. the rivers run in the valleys, and it is the lowly sense of our own unfitness for the task which yet presses upon us, and imperatively demands to be done, that makes us capable of receiving that divine gift. it is for lack of it that so much of so-called 'christian effort' comes to nothing. the priests may pile the wood upon the altar, and compass it all day long with vain cries, and nothing happens. it is not till the fire comes down from heaven that sacrifice and altar and wood and water in the trench, are licked up and converted into fiery light. so, dear brethren! it is because the christian church as a whole, and we as individual members of it, so imperfectly realise the a b c of our faith, our absolute dependence on the inbreathed life of jesus christ, to fit us for any of our work, that so much of our work is ploughing the sands, and so often we labour for vanity and spend our strength for nought. what is the use of a mill full of spindles and looms until the fire-born impulse comes rushing through the pipes? then they begin to move. let me remind you, too, that the words which our lord here employs about these great gifts, when accurately examined, do lead us to the thought that we, even we, are not altogether passive in the reception of that gift. for the expression, 'receive ye the holy ghost' might, with more completeness of signification, be rendered, 'take ye the holy ghost.' true, the outstretched hand is nothing, unless the giving hand is stretched out too. true, the open palm and the clutching fingers remain empty, unless the open palm above drops the gift. but also true, things in the spiritual realm that are given have to be asked for, because asking opens the heart for their entrance. true, that gift was given once for all, and continuously, but the appropriation and the continual possession of it largely depend upon ourselves. there must be desire before there can be possession. if a man does not take his pitcher to the fountain the pitcher remains empty, though the fountain never ceases to spring. there must be taking by patient waiting. the old friends had a lovely phrase when they spoke about 'waiting for the springing of the life.' if we hold out a tremulous hand, and our cup is not kept steady, the falling water will not enter it, and much will be spilt upon the ground. wait on the lord, and the life will rise like a tide in the heart. there must be a taking by the faithful use of what we possess. 'to him that hath shall be given.' there must be a taking by careful avoidance of what would hinder. in the winter weather the water supply sometimes fails in a house. why? because there is a plug of ice in the service-pipe. some of us have a plug of ice, and so the water has not come, '_take_ the holy spirit!' now, lastly, we have here iii. the christian power over sin. i am not going to enter upon controversy. the words which close our lord's great charge here have been much misunderstood by being restricted. it is eminently necessary to remember here that they were spoken to the whole community of christian souls. the harm that has been done by their restriction to the so-called priestly function of absolution has been, not only the monstrous claims which have been thereon founded, but quite as much the obscuration of the large effects that follow from the christian discharge by all believers of the office of representing jesus christ. we must interpret these words in harmony with the two preceding points, the christian mission and the christian equipment. so interpreted, they lead us to a very plain thought which i may put thus. this same apostle tells us in his letter that 'jesus christ was manifested to take away sin.' his work in this world, which we are to continue, was 'to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.' we continue that work when,--as we have all, if christians, the right to do--we lift up our voices with triumphant confidence, and call upon our brethren to 'behold the lamb of god which taketh away the sin of the world!' the proclamation has a twofold effect, according as it is received or rejected; to him who receives it his sins melt away, and the preacher of forgiveness through christ has the right to say to his brother, 'thy sins are forgiven because thou believest on him.' the rejecter or the neglecter binds his sin upon himself by his rejection or neglect. the same message is, as the apostle puts it, 'a savour of life unto life, or of death unto death.' these words are the best commentary on this part of my text. the same heat, as the old fathers used to say, 'softens wax and hardens clay.' the message of the word will either couch a blind eye, and let in the light, or draw another film of obscuration over the visual orb. and so, christian men and women have to feel that to them is entrusted a solemn message, that they walk in the world charged with a mighty power, that by the preaching of the word, and by their own utterance of the forgiving mercy of the lord jesus, they may 'remit' or 'retain' not only the punishment of sin, but sin itself. how tender, how diligent, how reverent, how--not bowed down, but--erect under the weight of our obligations, we should be, if we realised that solemn thought! thomas and jesus 'and after eight days, again his disciples were within, and thomas with them. then came jesus.'--john xx. 26. there is nothing more remarkable about the narrative of the resurrection, taken as a whole, than the completeness with which our lord's appearances met all varieties of temperament, condition, and spiritual standing. mary, the lover; peter, the penitent; the two disciples on the way to emmaus, the thinkers; thomas, the stiff unbeliever--the presence of the christ is enough for them all; it cures those that need cure, and gladdens those that need gladdening. i am not going to do anything so foolish as to try to tell over again, less vividly, this well-known story. we all remember its outlines, i suppose: the absence of thomas from christ's first meeting with the assembled disciples on easter evening; the dogged disbelief with which he met their testimony; his arrogant assumption of the right to lay down the conditions on which he should believe, and christ's gracious acceptance of the conditions; the discovery when they were offered that they were not needful; the burst of glad conviction which lifted him to the loftiest height reached while christ was on earth, and then the summing up of all in our lord's words--'blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed!'--the last beatitude, that links us and all the generations yet to come with the story, and is like a finger pointing to it, as containing very special lessons for them all. i simply seek to try to bring out the force and instructiveness of the story. the first point is-i. the isolation that misses the sight of the christ. 'thomas, one of the twelve, was not with them when jesus came.' no reason is assigned. the absence may have been purely accidental, but the specification of thomas as 'one of the twelve,' seems to suggest that his absence was regarded by the evangelist as a dereliction of apostolic duty; and the cause of it may be found, i think, with reasonable probability, if we take into account the two other facts that the same evangelist records concerning this apostle. one is his exclamation, in which a constitutional tendency to accept the blackest possibilities as certainties, blends very strangely and beautifully with an intense and brave devotion to his master. 'let us also go,' said thomas, when christ announced his intention, but a few days before the passion, of returning to the grave of lazarus, 'that we may die with him.' 'he is going to his death, that i am sure of, and i am going to be beside him even in his death.' a constitutional pessimist! the only other notice that we have of him is that he broke in--with apparent irreverence which was not real,--with a brusque contradiction of christ's saying that they knew the way, and they knew his goal. 'lord! we know not whither thou goest'--there spoke pained love fronting the black prospect of eternal separation,--'and how can we know the way?'--there spoke almost impatient despair. so is not that the kind of man who on the resurrection day would have been saying to himself, even more decidedly and more bitterly than the two questioning thinkers on the road to emmaus had said it, 'we trusted that this had been he, but it is all over now'? the keystone was struck out of the arch, and this brick tumbled away of itself. the hub was taken out of the wheel, and the spokes fell apart. the divisive tendency was begun, as i have had occasion to remark in other sermons. thomas did the very worst thing that a melancholy man can do, went away to brood in a corner by himself, and so to exaggerate all his idiosyncrasies, to distort the proportion of truth, to hug his despair, by separating himself from his fellows. therefore he lost what they got, the sight of the lord. he 'was not with them when jesus came.' would he not have been better in the upper room than gloomily turning over in his mind the dissolution of the fair company and the shipwreck of all his hopes? may we not learn a lesson? i venture to apply these words, dear friends, to our gatherings for worship. the worst thing that a man can do when disbelief, or doubt, or coldness shrouds his sky, and blots out the stars, is to go away alone and shut himself up with his own, perhaps morbid, or, at all events, disturbing thoughts. the best thing that he can do is to go amongst his fellows. if the sermon does not do him any good, the prayers and the praises and the sense of brotherhood will help him. if a fire is going out, draw the dying coals close together, and they will make each other break into a flame. one great reason for some of the less favourable features that modern christianity presents, is that men are beginning to think less than they ought to do, and less than they used to do, of the obligation and the blessing, whatever their spiritual condition, of gathering together for the worship of god. but, further, there is a far wider thought than that here, which i have already referred to, and which i do not need to dwell upon, namely, that, although, of course, there are very plain limits to be put to the principle, yet it is a principle, that solitude is not the best medicine for any disturbed or saddened soul. it is true that 'solitude is the mother-country of the strong,' and that unless we are accustomed to live very much alone, we shall not live very much with god. but on the other hand, if you cut yourself off from the limiting, and therefore developing, society of your fellows, you will rust, you will become what they call eccentric. your idiosyncrasies will swell into monstrosities, your peculiarities will not be subjected to the gracious process of pruning which society with your fellows, and especially with christian hearts, will bring to them. and in every way you will be more likely to miss the christ than if you were kindly with your kind, and went up to the house of god in company. take the next point that is here: ii. the stiff incredulity that prescribed terms. when thomas came back to his brethren, they met him with the witness that they had seen the lord, and he met them as they had met the witnesses that brought the same message to them. they had thought the women's words 'idle tales.' thomas gives them back their own incredulity. i need not remind you of what i have already had occasion to say, how much this frank acknowledgment that none of these, who were afterwards to be witnesses of the resurrection to the world, accepted testimony to the resurrection as enough to convince them, enhances the worth of their testimony, and how entirely it shatters the conception that the belief in the resurrection was a mist that rose from the undrained swamps of their own heated imaginations. but notice how thomas exaggerated their position, and took up a far more defiant tone than any of them had done. he is called 'doubting thomas.' he was no doubter. flat, frank, dogged disbelief, and not hesitation or doubt, was his attitude. the very form in which he puts his requirement shows how he was hugging his unbelief, and how he had no idea that what he asked would ever be granted. 'unless i have so-and-so i will not,' indicates an altogether spiritual attitude from what 'if i have so-and-so, i will,' would have indicated. the one is the language of willingness to be persuaded, the other is a token of a determination to be obstinate. what right had he--what right has any man--to say, 'so-and-so must be made plain to me, or i will not accept a certain truth'? you have a right to ask for satisfactory evidence; you have no right to make up your minds beforehand what that must necessarily be. thomas showed his hand not only in the form of his expression, not only in his going beyond his province and prescribing the terms of surrender, but also in the terms which he prescribed. true, he is only saying to the other apostles, 'i will give in if i have what you had,' for jesus christ had said to them, 'handle me and see!' but although thus they could say nothing in opposition, it is clear that he was asking more than was needful, and more than he had any right to ask. and he shows his hand, too, in another way. 'i will not believe!'--what business had he, what business have you, to bring any question of will into the act of belief or credence? thus, in all these four points, the form of the demand, the fact of the demand, the substance of the demand, and the implication in it that to give or withhold assent was a matter to be determined by inclination, this man stands not as an example of a doubter, but as an example, of which there are too many copies amongst us always, of a determined disbeliever and rejecter. so i come to the third point, and that is: iii. the revelation that turned the denier into a rapturous confessor. what a strange week that must have been between the two sundays--that of the resurrection and the next! surely it would have been kinder if the christ had not left the disciples, with their new-found, tremulous, raw conviction. it would have been less kind if he had been with them, for there is nothing that is worse for the solidity of a man's spiritual development than that it should be precipitated, and new thoughts must have time to take the shape of the mind into which they come, and to mould the shape of the mind into which they come. so they were left to quiet reflection, to meditation, to adjust their thoughts, to get to understand the bearings of the transcendent fact. and as a mother will go a little way off from her little child, in order to encourage it to try to walk, they were left alone to make experiments of that self-reliance which was also reliance on him, and which was to be their future and their permanent condition. so the week passed, and they became steadier and quieter, and began to be familiar with the thought, and to see some glimpses of what was involved in the mighty fact, of a risen saviour. then he comes back again, and when he comes he singles out the unbeliever, leaving the others alone for the moment, and he gives him back, granted, his arrogant conditions. how much ashamed of them thomas must have been when he heard them quoted by the lord's own lips! how different they would sound from what they had sounded when, in the self-sufficiency of his obstinate determination, he had blurted them out in answer to his brethren's testimony! there is no surer way of making a good man ashamed of his wild words than just to say them over again to him when he is calm and cool. christ's granting the request was christ's sharpest rebuke of the request. but there was not only the gracious and yet chastising granting of the foolish desire, but there was a penetrating warning: 'be not faithless, but believing.' what did that mean? well, it meant this: 'it is not a question of evidence, thomas; it is a question of disposition. your incredulity is not due to your not having enough to warrant your belief, but to your tendency and attitude of mind and heart.' there is light enough in the sun; it is our eyes that are wrong, and deep below most questions, even of intellectual credence, lies the disposition of the man. the ultimate truths of religion cannot be matters of demonstration any more than the fundamental truths of any science can be proved; any more than euclid's axioms can be demonstrated; any more than the sense of beauty or the ear for music depend on the understanding. 'be not faithless, but believing.' the eye that is sound will see the light. and there is another lesson here. the words of our lord, literally rendered, are, 'become not faithless, but believing.' there are two tendencies at work with us, and the one or the other will progressively lay hold upon us, and we shall increasingly yield to it. you can cultivate the habit of incredulity until you descend into the class of the faithless; or you can cultivate the opposite habit and disposition until you rise to the high level of a settled and sovereign belief. it is clear that thomas did not reach forth his hand and touch. the rush of instantaneous conviction swept him along and bore him far away from the state of mind which had asked for such evidence. our lord's words must have pierced his heart, as he thought: 'then he was here all the while; he heard my wild words; he loves me still.' as nathanael, when he knew that jesus had seen him under the fig-tree, broke out with the exclamation, 'rabbi! thou art the son of god,' so thomas, smitten as by a lightning flash with the sense of jesus' all-embracing knowledge and all-forgiving love, forgets his incredulity and breaks into the rapturous confession, the highest ever spoken while he was on earth: 'my lord and my god!' so swiftly did his whole attitude change. it was as when the eddying volumes of smoke in some great conflagration break into sudden flame, the ruddier and hotter, the blacker they were. sight may have made thomas believe that jesus was risen, but it was something other and more inward than sight that opened his lips to cry, 'my lord and my god!' finally, we note-iv. a last beatitude that extends to all generations. 'blessed are they who have not seen and yet have believed.' i need not do more than just in a sentence remind you that we shall very poorly understand either this saying or this gospel or the greater part of the new testament, if we do not make it very clear to our minds that 'believing' is not credence only but trust. the object of the christian's faith is not a proposition; it is not a dogma nor a truth, but a person. and the act of faith is not an acceptance of a given fact, a resurrection or any other, as true, but it is a reaching out of the whole nature to him and a resting upon him. i have said that thomas had no right to bring his will to bear on the act of belief, considered as the intellectual act of accepting a thing as true. but christian faith, being more than intellectual belief, does involve the activity of the will. credence is the starting-point, but it is no more. there may be belief in the truth of the gospel and not a spark of faith in the christ revealed by the gospel. even in regard to that lower kind of belief, the assent which does not rest on sense has its own blessing. we sometimes are ready to think that it would have been easier to believe if 'we had seen with our eyes, and our hands had handled the (incarnate) word of life' but that is a mistake. this generation, and all generations that have not seen him, are not in a less advantageous position in regard either to credence or to trust, than were those that companied with him on earth, and the blessing which he breathed out in that upper room comes floating down the ages like a perfume diffused through the atmosphere, and is with us fragrant as it was in the 'days of his flesh.' there is nothing in the world's history comparable to the warmth and closeness of conscious contact with that christ, dead for nearly nineteen centuries now, which is the experience today of thousands of christian men and women. all other names pass, and as they recede through the ages, thickening veils of oblivion, mists of forgetfulness, gather round them. they melt away into the fog and are forgotten. why is it that one person, and one person only, triumphs even in this respect over space and time, and is the same close friend with whom millions of hearts are in loving touch, as he was to those that gathered around him upon earth? what is the blessing of this faith that does not rest on sense, and only in a small measure on testimony or credence? part of its blessing is that it delivers us from the tyranny of sense, sets us free from the crowding oppression of 'things seen and temporal'; draws back the veil and lets us behold 'the things that are unseen and eternal.' faith is sight, the sight of the inward eye. it is the direct perception of the unseen. it sees him who is invisible. the vision which is given to the eye of faith is more real in the true sense of that word, more substantial in the true sense of that word, more reliable and more near than that sight by which the bodily eye beholds external things. we see, when we trust, greater things than when we look. the blessing of blessings is that the faith which triumphs over the things seen and temporal, brings into every life the presence of the unseen lord. brethren! do not confound credence with trust. remember that trust does involve an element of will. ask yourselves if the things seen and temporal are great enough, lasting enough, real enough to satisfy you, and then remember whose lips said, 'become not faithless but believing,' and breathed his last beatitude upon those 'who have not seen and yet have believed.' we may all have that blessing lying like dew upon us, amidst the dust and scorching heat of the things seen and temporal. we shall have it, if our heart's trust is set on him, whom one of the listeners on that sunday spoke of long after, in words which seem to echo that promise, as 'jesus in whom though now ye see him not, yet believing ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.' the silence of scripture 'and many other signs truly did jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: but these are written, that ye might believe that jesus is the christ, the son of god; and that believing ye might have life through his name.'--john xx. 30, 31. it is evident that these words were originally the close of this gospel, the following chapter being an appendix, subsequently added by the writer himself. in them we have the evangelist's own acknowledgment of the incompleteness of his gospel, and his own statement of the purpose which he had in view in composing it. that purpose was first of all a doctrinal one, and he tells us that in carrying it out he omitted many things that he could have put in if he had chosen. but that doctrinal purpose was subordinate to a still further aim. his object was not only to present the truth that jesus was the christ, the son of god, but to present it in such a way as to induce his readers to believe in that christ. and he desired that they might have faith in order that they might have life. now, it is a very good old canon in judging of a book that 'in every work' we are to 'regard the writer's end,' and if that simple principle had been applied to this gospel, a great many of the features in it which have led to some difficulty would have been seen to be naturally explained by the purpose which the evangelist had in view. but this text may be applied very much more widely than to john's gospel. we may use it to point our thoughts to the strange silences and incompletenesses of the whole of revelation, and to the explanation of these incompletenesses by the consideration of the purpose which it all had in view. in that sense i desire to look at these words before us. i. first, then, we have here set forth the incompleteness of scripture. take this gospel first. anybody who looks at it can see that it is a fragment. it is not meant to be a biography; it is avowedly a selection, and a selection under the influence, as i shall have to show you presently, of a distinct dogmatic purpose. there is nothing in it about christ's birth, nothing in it about his baptism, nor about his selection of his apostles. there is scarcely anything about the facts of his outward life at all. there is scarcely a word about the whole of his ministry in galilee. there is not one of his parables, there are only seven of his miracles before the resurrection, and two of these occur also in the other evangelists. there is scarcely any of his ethical teaching; there is not a word about the lord's supper. and so i might go on enumerating many remarkable gaps in this gospel. nearly half of it is taken up with the incidents of one week at the end of his life, and the incidents of and after the resurrection. of the remainder-by far the larger portion consists of several conversations which are hung upon miracles that seem to be related principally for the sake of these. the whole of the phenomena show us at once the fragmentary character of this gospel as stamped upon the very surface. and when we turn to the other three, the same thing is true, though less strikingly so. why was it that in the church, after the completion of the scriptural canon, there sprang up a whole host of apocryphal gospels, full of childish stories of events which people felt had been passed over with strange silence, in the teachings of the four evangelists: stories of his childhood, for instance, and stories about what happened between his death and his resurrection? a great many miracles were added to those that have been told us in scripture. the condensed hints of the canonical gospels received a great expansion, which indicated how much their silence about certain points had been felt. what a tiny pamphlet they make! is it not strange that the greatest event in the world's history should be told in such brief outline, and that here, too, the mustard seed, 'less than the least of all seeds,' should have become such a great tree? put the four gospels down by the side of the two thick octavo volumes, which it is the regulation thing to write nowadays, as the biography of any man that has a name at all, and you will feel their incompleteness as biographies. they are but a pen-and-ink drawing of the sun! and yet, although they be so tiny that you might sit down and read them all in an evening over the fire, is it not strange that they have stamped on the mind of the world an image so deep and so sharp, of such a character as the world never saw elsewhere? they are fragments, but they have left a symmetrical and an unique impression on the consciousness of the whole world. and then, if you turn to the whole book, the same thing is true, though in a modified sense there. i have no time to dwell upon that fruitful field, but the silence of scripture is quite as eloquent as its speech. think, for instance, of how many things in the bible are taken for granted which one would not expect to be taken for granted in a book of religious instruction. it takes for granted the being of a god. it takes for granted our relations to him. it takes for granted our moral nature. in its later portions, at all events, it takes for granted the future life. look at how the bible, as a whole, passes by, without one word of explanation or alleviation, a great many of the difficulties which gather round some of its teaching. for instance, we find no attempt to explain the divine nature of our lord; or the existence of the three persons in the godhead. it has not a word to say in explanation of the mystery of prayer; or of the difficulty of reconciling the omnipotent will of god on the one hand, with our own free will on the other. it has not a word to explain, though many a word to proclaim and enforce, the fact of christ's death as the atonement for the sins of the whole world. observe, too, how scanty the information on points on which the heart craves for more light. how closely, for instance, the veil is kept over the future life! how many questions which are not prompted by mere curiosity, our sorrow and our love ask in vain! nor is the incompleteness of scripture as a historical book less marked. nations and men appear on its pages abruptly, rending the curtain of oblivion, and striding to the front of the stage for a moment, and then they disappear, swallowed up of night. it has no care to tell the stories of any of its heroes, except for so long as they were the organs of that divine breath, which, breathed through the weakest reed, makes music. the self-revelation of god, not the acts and fortunes of even his noblest servants, is the theme of the book. it is full of gaps about matters that any sciolist or philosopher or theologian would have filled up for it. there it stands, a book unique in the world's history, unique in what it says, and no less unique in what it does not say. 'many other things truly did' that divine spirit in his march through the ages, 'which are not written in this book; but these are written that ye might believe.' ii. and so that brings me next to say a word or two about the more immediate purpose which explains all these gaps and incompletenesses. john's gospel, and the other three gospels, and the whole bible, new testament and old, have this for their purpose, to produce in men's hearts the faith in jesus as 'the christ' and as 'the son of god.' i need not speak at length about this one gospel with any special regard to that thought. i have already said that the evangelist avows that his work is a selection, that he declares that the purpose that determined his selection was doctrinal, and that he picked out facts which would tend to represent jesus christ to us in the twofold capacity,--as the christ, the fulfiller of all the expectations and promises of the old covenant, and as the son of god. the one of these titles is a name of office, the other a name of nature; the one declares that he had come to be, and to do, all to which types and prophecies and promises had dimly pointed, and the other declares that he was 'the eternal word,' which 'in the beginning was with god and was god,' and was manifest here upon earth to us. this was his purpose, and this representation of jesus christ is that which shapes all the facts and all the phenomena of this gospel, from the very first words of it to its close. and so, although it is wide from my present subject, i may just make one parenthetical remark, to the effect that it is ridiculous in the face of this statement for 'critics' to say, as some of them do: 'the author of the fourth gospel has not told us this, that, and the other incident in christ's life, therefore, he did not know it.' then some of them will draw the conclusion that john's gospel is not to be trusted in the given case, because he does not give us a certain incident, and others might draw the conclusion that the other three evangelists are not to be trusted because they do give it us. and the whole fabric is built up upon a blunder, and would have been avoided if people had listened when john said to them: 'i knew a great many things about jesus christ, but i did not put them down here because i was not writing a biography, but preaching a gospel; and what i wanted to proclaim was that jesus is the christ, the son of god.' but now we may extend that a great deal further. it is just as true about the whole new testament. the four gospels are written to tell us these two facts about christ. they are none of them merely biographies; as such they are singularly deficient, as we have seen. but they are biographies _plus_ a doctrine; and the biography is told mainly for the sake of carrying this twofold truth into men's understandings and hearts, that jesus is, first of all, the christ, and second, the son of god. and then comes the rest of the new testament, which is nothing more than the working out of the theoretical and practical consequence of these great truths. all the epistles, the book of revelation, and the history of the church, as embodied in the acts of the apostles,--all these are but the consequences of that fundamental truth; and the whole of scripture in its later portions is but the drawing of the inferences and the presenting of the duties that flow from the facts that 'jesus is the christ, the son of god.' and what about the old testament? why, this about it: that whatever may be the conclusion as to the date and authorship of any of the books in it,--and i am not careful to contend about these at present;--and whatever a man may believe about the verbal prophecies which most of us recognise there,--there is stamped unmistakably upon the whole system, of which the old testament is the record, an onward-looking attitude. it is all anticipatory of 'good things to come,' and of a person who will bring them. sacrifice, sacred offices, such as priesthood and kingship, and the whole history of israel, have their faces turned to the future. 'they that went before, and they that followed after, cried "hosanna! blessed be he that cometh in the name of the lord!"' this christ towers up above the history of the world and the process of revelation, like mount everest among the himalayas. to that great peak all the country on the one side runs upwards, and from it all the valleys on the other descend; and the springs are born there which carry verdure and life over the world. christ, the son of god, is the centre of scripture; and the book--whatever be the historical facts about its origin, its authorship, and the date of the several portions of which it is composed--the book is a unity, because there is driven right through it, like a core of gold, either in the way of prophecy and onward-looking anticipation, or in the way of history and grateful retrospect, the reference to the one 'name that is above every name,' the name of the christ, the son of god. and all its incompleteness, its fragmentariness, its carelessness about persons, are intended, as are the slight parts in a skilful artist's handiwork, to emphasise the beauty and the sovereignty of that one central figure on which all lights are concentrated, and on which the painter has lavished all the resources of his art. so god--for _god_ is the author of the bible--on this great canvas has painted much in sketchy outline, and left much unfilled in, that every eye may be fixed on the central figure, the christ of god, on whose head comes down the dove, and round whom echoes the divine declaration: 'this is my beloved son, in whom i am well pleased.' but it is not merely in order to represent jesus as the christ of god that these things are written, but it is that that representation may become the object of our faith. if the intention of scripture had been simply to establish the fact that jesus was the christ and the son of god, it might have been done in a very different fashion. a theological treatise would have been enough to do that. but if the object be that men should not only accept with their understandings the truth concerning christ's office and nature, but that their hearts should go out to him, and that they should rest their sinful souls upon him _as_ the son of god and the christ, then there is no other way to accomplish that, but by the history of his life and the manifestation of his heart. if the object were simply to make us know about christ, we do not need a book like this; but if the object is to lead us to put our faith in him, then we must have what we have here, the infinitely touching and tender figure of jesus christ himself, set before us in all its sweetness and beauty as he lived and moved and died for us. and so, dear friends, let me put one last word here about this part of my subject. if this be the purpose of scripture, then let us learn on the one hand the wretched insufficiency of a mere orthodox creed, and let us learn on the other hand the equal insufficiency of a mere creedless emotion. if the purpose of scripture, in these gospels, and all its parts, is that we should believe 'that jesus is the christ, the son of god,' that purpose is not accomplished when we simply yield our understanding to that truth and accept it as a great many people do. that was much more the fault of the last generation than of this, though many of us may still make the mistake of supposing that we are christians because we idly assent to--or, at least, do not deny, and so fancy that we accept--christian truth. but, as luther says in one of his rough figures, 'human nature is like a drunken peasant; if you put him up on the horse on the one side, he is sure to tumble down on the other.' and so the reaction from the heartless, unpractical orthodoxy of half a century ago has come with a vengeance to-day, when everybody is saying, 'oh! give me a christianity without dogma!' well, i say that too, about a great many of the metaphysical subtleties which have been called doctrinal christianity. but this doctrine of the nature and office of jesus christ cannot be given up, and the christianity which christ and his apostles taught be retained. do you believe that jesus is the christ, the son of god? do you trust your soul to him in these characters? if you do, i think we can shake hands. if you do not, scripture has failed to do its work on you, and you have not reached the point which all god's lavish revelation has been expended on the world that you and all men might attain. iii. now, lastly, notice the ultimate purpose of the whole. scripture is not given to us merely to make us know something about god in christ, nor only in order that we may have faith in the christ thus revealed to us, but for a further end--great, glorious, but, blessed be his name! not distant--namely, that we may 'have life in his name.' 'life' is deep, mystical, inexplicable by any other words than itself. it includes pardon, holiness, well-being, immortality, heaven; but it is more than they all. this life comes into our dead hearts and quickens them by union with god. that which is joined to god lives. each being according to its nature, is, on condition of the divine power acting upon it. this bit of wood upon which i put my hand, and the hand which i put upon it, would equally crumble into nothingness if they were separated from god. you can separate your wills and your spiritual nature from him, and thus separated you are 'dead in trespasses and in sins.' and, o brother! the message comes to you: there is life in that great christ, 'in his name'; that is to say, in that revealed character of his by which he is made known to us as the christ and the son of god. union with him in his sonship will bring life into dead hearts. he is the true 'prometheus' who has come from heaven with 'fire,' the fire of the divine life in the 'reed' of his humanity, and he imparts it to us all if we will. he lays himself upon us, as the prophet laid himself on the little child in the upper chamber; and lip to lip, and beating heart to dead heart, he touches our death, and it is quickened into life. the condition on which that great name will bring to us life is simply our faith. do you believe in him, and trust yourself to him, as he who came to fulfil all that prophet, priest, and king, sacrifice, altar, and temple of old times prophesied and looked for? do you trust in him as the son of god who comes down to earth that we in him might find the immortal life which he is ready to give? if you do, then, dear brethren! the end that god has in view in all his revelation, that christ had in view in his bitter passion, has been accomplished for you. if you do not it has not. you may admire him, you may think loftily of him, you may be ready to call him by many great and appreciative names, but oh! unless you have learned to see in him the divine saviour of your souls, you have not seen what god means you to see. but if you have, then all other questions about this book, important as they are in their places, may settle themselves as they will; you have got the kernel, the thing that it was meant to bring you. many an erudite scholar, who has studied the bible all his life, has missed the purpose for which it was given; and many a poor old woman in her garret has found it. it is not meant to wrangle over, it is not meant to be read as an interesting product of the religious consciousness, it is not to be admired as all that remains of the literature of a nation that had a genius for religion; but it is to be taken as being god's great word to the world, the record of the revelation that he has given us in his son. the eternal word is the theme of all the written word. have you made the jewel which is brought us in that casket your own? is jesus to you the son of the living god, believing on whom you share his life, and become 'sons of god' by him? can you take on to your thankful lips that triumphant and rapturous confession of the doubting thomas,--the flag flying on the completed roof-tree of this gospel--'my lord and my god'? if you can, you will receive the blessing which christ then promised to all of us standing beyond the limits of that little group, 'who have not seen and yet have believed'--even that eternal life which flows into our dead spirits from the christ, the son of god, who is the light of the world, and the life of men. an eloquent catalogue 'there were together simon peter, and thomas called didymus, and nathanael of cana in galilee, and the sons of zebedee, and two other of his disciples.'--john xxi. 2. this chapter, containing the infinitely significant and pathetic account of our lord's appearance to these disciples by the sea of tiberias, is evidently an appendix to the gospel of john. the design of that gospel is complete with the previous chapter, and there is a formal close, as of the whole book, at the end thereof. but whilst obviously an appendix, this chapter is as obviously the work of the same hand as wrote the gospel. there are many minute points of identity between the style of it and of the rest of the work, so that there can be no difficulty or doubt as to whence it came. this enumeration of these seven disciples, regarded as being the work of john himself, seems to me to be significant, and to contain a good many lessons. and i desire to turn to these now. i. first of all, the fact that they were together is significant. how did they come to hold together? how had they not yielded to the temptation to seek safety by flight, which would have been the natural course after the death of their leader on a charge of treason against the roman power? the process of disintegration had begun, and we see it going on in the conduct of the disciples before the resurrection. the 'shepherd was smitten,' and, as a matter of course, 'the sheep' began to 'scatter.' and yet here we find them back in galilee, in their old haunts, and not trying to escape by separation, which would have been the first step suggested to ordinary men in an ordinary state of things. but where everybody knew them, and they knew everybody, and everybody knew them to be disciples of jesus christ, thither they go, and hold together as if they had still a living centre and a uniting bond. how did that come about? the fact that after christ's death there was a group of men united together simply and solely as disciples, and exhibiting their unity as disciples conspicuously, in the face of the men that knew them best, this forms a strange phenomenon that needs an explanation. and there is only one explanation of it, that jesus christ had risen from the dead. that drew them together once more. you cannot build a church on a dead christ; and of all the proofs of the resurrection, i take it that there is none that it is harder for an unbeliever to account for, in harmony with his hypothesis, than the simple fact that christ's disciples held together after he was dead, and presented a united front to the world. so, then, the fact of the group is itself significant, and we may claim it as being a morsel of evidence for the historical veracity of the resurrection of jesus christ. ii. then the composition of this group is significant. taken in comparison with the original nucleus of the church, the calling of which we find recorded in the first chapter of this gospel, it is to be noticed that of the five men who made the primitive church, there are three who reappear here by name--viz. simon peter, john and nathanael, and nathanael never appears anywhere else except in these two places. then, note that there are two unnamed men here, 'two other of his disciples'; who, i think, in all probability are the two of the original five that we do not find named here--viz. 'philip and andrew, simon peter's brother'--both of them connected with bethsaida, the place where probably this appearance of the risen lord took place. so, then, i think, the fair inference from the list before us is that we have here the original nucleus again, the first five, with a couple more, and the couple more are 'thomas, who is called didymus'--and we shall see the reason for _his_ presence in a moment--and the brother of john, one of the first pair. thus, then, to the original little group that had gathered round him at the first, and to whom he had been so often manifested in this very scene where they were standing now, he is revealed again. there, along the beach, is the place where james and john and simon and andrew were called from their nets three short years ago. across yonder, on the other side of the lake, is the bit of green grass where the thousands were fed. behind it is the steep slope down which the devil-possessed herd rushed. there, over the shoulder of the hill, is the road that leads up to cana of galilee, which they had trod together on that never-to-be-forgotten first morning, and from which little village one of the group came. they who had companied with him all the time of his too short fellowship, and had seen all his manifestations, were fittingly chosen to be the recipients of this last appearance, which was to be full of instruction as to the work of the church, its difficulties, its discouragements, its rewards, its final success, and his benediction of it until the very end of time. it was not for nothing that they who were gathered together were that first nucleus of the church, who received again from their master the charge to be 'fishers of men.' and then, if we look at the list, having regard to the history of those that make it up, it seems to me that that also brings us some valuable considerations. foremost stand, as receiving this great manifestation of jesus christ, the two greatest sinners of the whole band, 'simon peter, and thomas, which is called didymus,' the denier and the doubter. singularly contrasted these two men were in much of their disposition; and yet alike in the fact that the crucifixion had been too much for their faith. the one of them was impetuous, the other of them slow. the one was always ready to say more than he meant; the other always ready to do more than he said. the one was naturally despondent, disposed to look ahead and to see the gloomiest side of everything--'let us also go that we may die with him'--the other never looking an inch beyond his nose, and always yielding himself up to the impulse of the moment. and yet both of them were united in this, that the one, from a sudden wave of cowardice which swept him away from his deepest convictions and made him for an hour untrue to his warmest love, and the other, from giving way to his constitutional tendency to despondency, and to taking the blackest possible view of everything--they had both of them failed in their faith, the one turning out a denier and the other turning out a doubter. and yet here they are, foremost upon the list of those who saw the risen christ. well, there are two lessons there, and the one is this--let us christian people learn with what open hearts and hands we should welcome a penitent when he comes back. the other is,--let us learn who they are to whom jesus christ deigns to manifest himself--not immaculate monsters, but men that, having fallen, have learned humility and caution, and by penitence have risen to a securer standing, and have turned even their transgressions into steps in the ladder that lifts them to christ. it was something that the first to whom the risen saviour appeared when he came victorious and calm from the grave, was the woman 'out of whom he had cast seven devils,' and the blessed truth which that teaches is the same as that which is to be drawn from this list of those whom he regarded, and whom we regard, as then constituting the true nucleus of his church--a list which is headed by the blackest denier and the most obstinate and captious sceptic in the whole company. 'there were together simon peter and thomas, which is called didymus,' and the little group was glad to have them, and welcomed them, as it becomes us to welcome brethren who have fallen, and who come again saying, 'i repent.' well, then, take the next: he was 'nathanael, of cana in galilee'; a guileless 'israelite indeed,' so swift to believe, so ready with his confession, so childlike in his wonder, so ardent in his love and faith. the only thing that christ is recorded as having said to him is this: 'because i said... believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.' a promise of growing clearness of vision and growing fullness of manifestation was made to this man, who never appears anywhere else in scripture but in these two scenes, and so may stand to us as the type of the opposite kind of christian experience from that stormy one of the doubter and the denier--viz. that of persistent, quiet, continuous growth, which is marked by faithful use of the present amount of illumination, and is rewarded by a continual increase of the same. if the keynote to the two former lives is, that sin confessed helps a man to climb, the keynote to this man's is the other truth, that they are still more blessed who, with no interruptions, backslidings, inconsistencies, or denials, by patient continuousness in well-doing, widen the horizon of their christian vision and purge their eyesight for daily larger knowledge. to these, as to the others, there is granted the vision of the risen lord, and to them also is entrusted the care of his sheep and his lambs. we do not _need_ to go away into the depths and the darkness in order to realise the warmth and the blessedness of the light. there is no _necessity_ that any christian man's career should be broken by denials like peter's or by doubts like thomas's, but we may 'grow in grace and in the knowledge of our lord and saviour.' 'so is the kingdom of heaven, first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.' then, still further, there were here 'the two sons of zebedee.' these were the men of whom the master said that they were 'sons of thunder,' who, by natural disposition, in so far as they resembled one another (which they seem to have done), were eager, energetic, somewhat bigoted, ready with passionate rebukes, and not unwilling to invoke destructive vengeance, all for the love of him. they were also touched with some human ambition which led them to desire a place at his right hand and his left, but the ambition, too, was touched with love towards him, which half redeemed it. but by dwelling with him one of them, at least, had become of all the group the likest his master. and the old monastic painters taught a very deep truth when, in their pictures of the apostles, they made john's almost a copy of the master's face. to him, too, there was granted in like manner a place amongst this blessed company, and it is surely a trace of _his_ hand that his place should seem so humble. any other but himself would certainly have put james and john in their natural place beside peter. it must have been himself who slipped himself and his brother into so inconspicuous a position in the list, and further veiled his personality under the patronymic, 'the sons of zebedee.' last of all come 'two other of his disciples,' not worth naming. probably, as i have said, they were the missing two out of the five of the first chapter; but possibly they were only 'disciples' in the wider sense, and not of the apostolic group at all. nobody can tell. what does it matter? the lesson to be gathered from their presence in this group is one that most of us may very well take to heart. there is a place for commonplace, undistinguished people, whose names are not worth repeating in any record; there is a place for us one-talented folk, in christ's church, and we, too, have a share in the manifestation of his love. we do not need to be brilliant, we do not need to be clever, we do not need to be influential, we do not need to be energetic, we do not need to be anything but quiet, waiting souls, in order to have christ showing himself to us, as we toil wearily through the darkness of the night. undistinguished disciples have a place in his heart, a sphere and a function in his church, and a share in his revelation of himself. iii. the last point that i touch is this, that the purpose of this group is significant. what did they thus get together for? 'simon peter saith, i go a fishing. they say, we also go with thee.' so they went back again to their old trade, and they had not left the nets and the boats and the hired servants for ever, as they once thought they had. what sent them back? not doubt or despair; because they had seen jesus christ up in jerusalem, and had come down to galilee at his command on purpose to meet him. 'there shall ye see him, lo! i have told you,' was ringing in their ears, and they went back in full confidence of his appearance there. it is very like peter that he should have been the one to suggest filling an hour of the waiting time with manual labour. the time would be hanging heavily on his hands. john could have 'sat still in the house,' like mary, the heart all the busier, because the hands lay quietly in the lap. but that was not peter's way, and john was ready to keep him company. peter thought that the best thing they could do, till jesus chose to come, was to get back to their work, and he was sensible and right. the best preparation for christ's appearance, and the best attitude to be found in by him, is doing our daily work, however secular and small it may be. a dirty, wet fishing boat, all slimy with scales, was a strange place in which to wait for the manifestation of a risen saviour. but it was the right place, righter than if they had been wandering about amongst the fancied sanctities of the synagogues. they went out to do their work; and to them was fulfilled the old saying, 'i, being in the way, the lord met me.' jesus christ will come to you and me in the street if we carry the waiting heart there, and in the shop, and the factory, and the counting-house, and the kitchen, and the nursery, and the study, or wherever we may be. for all things are sacred when done with a hallowed heart, and he chooses to make himself known to us amidst the dusty commonplaces of daily life. he had said to them before the crucifixion: 'when i sent you forth without purse or scrip, lacked ye anything? and they said, nothing.' and then he said, as changing the conditions: 'but now he that hath a purse or scrip, let him take it.' as long as he was with them they were absolved from these common tasks. now that he had left them the obligation recurred. and the order of things for his servants in all time coming was therein declared to be: no shirking of daily tasks on the plea of wanting divine communications; keep at your work, and if it last all night, stick to it; and if there are no fish in the net, never mind; out with it again. and be sure that sooner or later you will see him standing on the beach, and hear his voice, and be blessed by his smile. the beach and the sea 'when the morning was now come, jesus stood on the shore; but the disciples knew not that it was jesus.'--john xxi. 4. the incident recorded in this appendix to john's gospel is separated from the other appearances of our risen lord in respect of place, time, and purpose. they all occurred in and about jerusalem; this took place in galilee. the bulk of them happened on the day of the resurrection, one of them a week after. this, of course, to allow time for the journey, must have been at a considerably later date. their object was, mainly, to establish the reality of the resurrection, the identity of christ's physical body, and to confirm the faith of the disciples therein. here, these purposes retreat into the background; the object of this incident is to reveal the permanent relations between the risen lord and his struggling church. the narrative is rich in details which might profitably occupy us, but the whole may be gathered up in two general points of view in considering the revelation which we have here in the participation of christ in his servants' work, and also the revelation which we have in the preparation by christ of a meal for his toiling servants. we take this whole narrative thus regarded as our subject on this easter morning. i. first we have here a revelation of the permanent relation of jesus christ to his church and to the individuals who compose it, in this, that the risen lord on the shore shares in the toil of his servants on the restless sea. the little group of whom we read in this narrative reminds us of the other group of the first disciples in the first chapter of this gospel. four out of the five persons named in our text appear there: simon peter, nathanael of cana in galilee, and the sons of zebedee, james and john. and a very natural inference is that the 'two others' unnamed here are the two others of that chapter, viz. andrew and philip. if so, we have at the end, the original little group gathered together again; with the addition of the doubting thomas. be that as it may, there they are on the shore of the sea, and peter characteristically takes the lead and suggests a course that they all accept: 'i go a fishing.' 'we also go with thee.' now we must not read that as if it meant: 'it is all over! our hopes are vain! we dreamed that we were going to be princes in the messiah's kingdom, we have woke up to find that we are only fishermen. let us go back to our nets and our boats!' no! all these men had seen the risen lord, and had received from his breath the gift of the holy spirit. they had all gone from jerusalem to galilee, in obedience to his command, and were now waiting for his promised appearance. very noble and beautiful is the calm patience with which they fill the time of expectation with doing common and long-abandoned tasks. they go back to the nets and the boats long since forsaken at the master's bidding. that is not like fanatics. that is not like people who would be liable to the excesses of excitement that would lead to the 'hallucination,' which is the modern explanation of the resurrection faith, on the part of the disciples. and it is a precious lesson for us, dear brethren! that whatever may be our memories, and whatever may be our hopes, the very wisest thing we can do is to stick to the common drudgery, and even to go back to abandoned tasks. it stills the pulses. 'study to be quiet; and to do our own business' is the best remedy for all excitement, whether it be of sorrow or of hope. and not seldom to us, if we will learn and practise that lesson, as to these poor men in the tossing fisherman's boat, the accustomed and daily duties will be the channel through which the presence of the master will be manifested to us. so they go, and there follow the incidents which i need not repeat, because we all know them well enough. only i wish to mark the distinct allusion throughout the whole narrative to the earlier story of the first miraculous draught of fishes which was connected with their call to the apostleship, and was there by christ declared to have a symbolical meaning. the correspondences and the contrasts are obvious. the scene is the same; the same green mountains look down upon the same blue waters. it was the same people that were concerned. they were, probably enough, in the same fishing-boat. in both there had been a night of fruitless toil; in both there was the command to let down the net once more; in both obedience was followed by instantaneous and large success. so much for the likenesses; the contrasts are these. in the one case the master is in the boat with them, in the other he is on the shore; in the one the net is breaking; in the other, 'though there were so many, yet did it not break.' in the one peter, smitten by a sense of his own sinfulness, says, 'depart from me, for i am a sinful man, o lord!' in the other, peter, with a deeper knowledge of his own sinfulness, but also with the sweet knowledge of forgiveness, casts himself into the sea, and flounders through the shallows to reach the lord. the one is followed by the call to higher duty and to the abandonment of possessions; the other is followed by rest and the mysterious meal on the shore. that is to say, whilst both of the stories point the lesson of service to the master, the one of them exhibits the principles of service to him whilst he was still with them, and the other exhibits the principles of service to him when he is removed from struggling and toiling on the billows to the calm of the peaceful shore in the morning light. so we may take that night of toil as full of meaning. think of them as the darkness fell, and the solemn bulk of the girdling hills lay blacker upon the waters, and the syrian sky was mirrored with all its stars sparkling in the still lake. all the night long cast after cast was made, and time after time the net was drawn in and nothing in it but tangle and mud. and when the first streak of the morning breaks pale over the eastern hills they are still so absorbed in their tasks that they do not recognise the voice that hails them from the nearer shore: 'lads, have ye any meat?' and they answer it with a half surly and wholly disappointed monosyllabic 'no!' it is an emblem for us all; weary and wet, tugging at the oar in the dark, and often seeming to fail. what then? if the last cast has brought nothing, try another. out with the nets once more! never mind the darkness, and the cold, and the wetting spray, and the weariness. you cannot expect to be as comfortable in a fishing-boat as in your drawing-room. you cannot expect that your nets will be always full. failure and disappointment mingle in the most successful lives. christian work has often to be done with no results at all apparent to the doer, but be sure of this, that they who learn and practise the homely, wholesome virtue of persistent adherence to the task that god sets them, will catch some gleams of a presence most real and most blessed, and before they die will know that 'their labour has not been in vain in the lord.' 'they that sow in tears shall reap in joy.' and so, finally, about this first part of my subject, there stands out before us here the blessed picture of the lord himself, the risen lord, with the halo of death and resurrection round about him; there, on the firm beach, in the increasing light of the morning, interested in, caring about, directing and crowning with his own blessing, the obedient work of his servants. the simple prose fact of the story, in its plain meaning, is more precious than any 'spiritualising' of it. take the fact. jesus christ, fresh from the grave, who had been down into those dark regions of mystery where the dead sleep and wait, and had come back into this world, and was on the eve of ascending to the father--this christ, the possessor of such experience, takes an interest in seven poor men's fishing, and cares to know whether their ragged old net is full or is empty. there never was a more sublime and wonderful binding together of the loftiest and the lowliest than in that question in the mouth of the risen lord. if men had been going to dream about what would be fitting language for a risen saviour, if we had to do here with a legend, and not with a piece of plain, prosaic fact, do you think that the imagination would ever have entered the mind of the legend-maker to put such a question as that into such lips at such a time? 'lads, have ye any meat?' it teaches us that anything that interests us is not without interest to christ. anything that is big enough to occupy our thoughts and our efforts is large enough to be taken into his. all our ignoble toils, and all our petty anxieties, touch a chord that vibrates in that deep and tender heart. though other sympathy may be unable to come down to the minutenesses of our little lives, and to wind itself into the narrow room in which our histories are prisoned, christ's sympathy can steal into the narrowest cranny. the risen lord is interested in our poor fishing and our disappointments. and not only that, here is a promise for us, a prophecy for us, of certain guidance and direction, if only we will come to him and acknowledge our dependence upon him. the question that was put to them, 'lads, have ye any meat?' was meant to evoke the answer, 'no!' the consciousness of my failure is the pre-requisite to my appeal to him to prosper my work. and just as before he would, on the other margin of that same shore, multiply the loaves and the fishes, he put to them the question, 'how many have ye?' that they might know clearly the inadequacy of their own resources for the hungry crowd, so here, in order to prepare their hearts for the reception of his guidance and his blessing, he provides that they be brought to catalogue and confess their failures. so he does with us all, beats the self-confidence out of us, blessed be his name! and makes us know ourselves to be empty in order that he may pour himself into us, and flood us with the joy of his presence. then comes the guidance given. we may be sure that it is given to us all to-day, if we wait upon him and ask him. 'cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find.' his command is followed by swift, unanswering, unquestioning obedience, which in its turn is immediately succeeded by the large blessing which the master then gave on the instant, which he gives still, though often, in equal love and unquestioned wisdom, it comes long after faith has discerned his presence and obedience has bowed to his command. it may be that we shall not see the results of our toil till the morning dawns and the great net is drawn to land by angel hands. but we may be sure that while we are toiling on the tossing sea, he watches from the shore, is interested in all our weary efforts, will guide us if we own to him our weakness, and will give us to see at last issues greater than we had dared to hope from our poor service. the dying martyr looked up and saw him 'standing at the right hand of god,' in the attitude of interested watchfulness and ready help. this easter morning bids us lift our eyes to a risen lord who 'has not left us to serve alone,' nor gone up on high, like some careless general to a safe height, while his forsaken soldiers have to stand the shock of onset without him. from this height he bends down and 'covers our heads in the day of battle.' 'he was received up,' says the evangelist, 'and sat on the right hand of god, and they went forth and preached everywhere.' strange contrast between his throned rest and their wandering toils for him! but the contrast gives place to a deeper identity of work and condition, as the gospel goes on to say, 'the lord also _working with them_ and confirming the word with signs following.' though we be on the tossing sea and he on the quiet shore, between us there is a true union and communion, his heart is with us, if our hearts be with him, and from him will pass over all strength, grace, and blessing to us, if only we know his presence, and owning our weakness, obey his command and expect his blessing. ii. look at the other half of this incident before us. i pass over the episode of the recognition of jesus by john, and of peter struggling to his feet, interesting as it is, in order to fix upon the central thought of the second part of the narrative, viz. the risen lord on the shore, in the increasing light of the morning, 'preparing a table' for his toiling servants. that 'fire of coals' and the simple refreshment that was being dressed upon it had been prepared there by christ's own hand. we are not told that there was anything miraculous about it. he had gathered the charcoal; he had procured the fish; he had dressed it and prepared it. they are bidden to 'bring of the fish they had caught'; he accepts their service, and adds the result of their toil, as it would seem, to the provision which his own hand has prepared. he summons them to a meal, not the midday repast, for it was still early morning. they seat themselves, smitten by a great awe. the meal goes on in silence. no word is spoken on either side. their hearts know him. he waits on them, making himself their servant as well as their host. he 'taketh bread and giveth them and fish likewise,' as he had done in the miracles by the same shore and on that sad night in the upper room that seemed so far away now, and in the roadside inn at emmaus, when something in his manner or action disclosed him to the wondering two at the table. now what does all that teach us? two things; and first--neglecting for a moment the difference between shore and sea--here we have the fact of christ's providing, even by doing menial offices, for his servants. these seven men were wet and weary, cold and hungry. the first thing they wanted when they came out of the fishing-boat was their breakfast. if they had been at home, their wives and children would have got it ready for them. jesus had a great deal to say to them that day, a great deal to teach them, much to do for them, and for the whole world, by the words that followed; but the first thing that he thinks about is to feed them. and so, cherishing no overstrained contempt for material necessities and temporal mercies, let us remember that it is his hand that feeds us still, and let us be glad to think that this christ, risen from the dead and with his heart full of the large blessings that he was going to bestow, yet paused to consider: 'they are coming on shore after a night's hard toil, they will be faint and weary; let me feed their bodies before i begin to deal with their hearts and spirits.' and he will take care of you, brother! and of us all. the 'bread will be given' us, at any rate, and 'the water made sure.' it was a modest meal that he with his infinite resources thought enough for toiling fishermen. 'one fish,' as the original shows us, 'one loaf of bread.' no more! he could as easily have spread a sumptuous table for them. there is no covenant for superfluities, necessaries will be given. let us bring down our wishes to his gifts and promises, and recognise the fact that 'he who needs least is the nearest the gods,' and he that needs least is surest of getting from christ what he needs. but then, besides that, the supply of all other deeper and loftier necessities is here guaranteed. the symbolism of our text divides, necessarily, the two things which in fact are not divided. it is not all toiling on the restless sea here, any more than it is all rest and fruition yonder; but all that your spirit needs, for wisdom, patience, heroism, righteousness, growth, christ will give you _in_ your work; and that is better than giving it to you after your work, and the very work which is blessed by him, and furthered and prospered by him, the very work itself will come to be moat and nourishment. 'out of the eater will come forth meat,' and the slain 'lions' of past struggles and sorrows, the next time we come to them, will be 'full of honey.' finally, there is a great symbolical prophecy here if we emphasise the distinction between the night and the morning, between the shore and the sea. we can scarcely fail to catch this meaning in the incident which sets forth the old blessed assurance that the risen lord is preparing a feast on the shore while his servants are toiling on the darkling sea. all the details, such as the solid shore in contrast with the changeful sea, the increasing morning in contrast with the toilsome night, the feast prepared, have been from of old consecrated to shadow forth the differences between earth and heaven. it would be blindness not to see here a prophecy of the glad hour when christ shall welcome to their stable home, amid the brightness of unsetting day, the souls that have served him amidst the fluctuations and storms of life, and seen him in its darkness, and shall satisfy all their desires with the 'bread of heaven.' our poor work which he deigns to accept forms part of the feast which is spread at the end of our toil, when 'there shall be no more sea.' he adds the results of our toil to the feast which he has prepared. the consequences of what we have done here on earth make no small part of the blessedness of heaven. 'their works and alms and all their good endeavour stayed not behind, nor in the grave were trod.' the souls which a paul or a john has won for the master, in their vocation as 'fishers of men,' are their 'hope and joy and crown of rejoicing, in the presence of our lord jesus.' the great benediction which the spirit bade the apocalyptic seer write over 'the dead which die in the lord,' is anticipated in both its parts by this mysterious meal on the beach. 'they rest from their labours' inasmuch as they find the food prepared for them, and sit down to partake; 'their works do follow them' inasmuch as they 'bring of the fish which they have caught.' finally, christ himself waits on them, therein fulfilling in symbol what he has told us in great words that dimly shadow wonders unintelligible until experienced: 'verily i say unto you, he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth, and serve them.' so here is a vision to cheer us all. life must be full of toil and of failure. we are on the midnight sea, and have to tug, weary and wet, at a heavy oar, and to haul an often empty net. but we do not labour alone. he comes to us across the storm, and is with us in the night, a most real, because unseen presence. if we accept the guidance of his directing word, his indwelling spirit, and his all-sufficient example, and seek to ascertain his will in outward providences, we shall not be left to waste our strength in blunders, nor shall our labour be in vain. in the morning light we shall see him standing serene on the steadfast shore. the 'pilot of the galilean lake' will guide our frail boat through the wild surf that marks the breaking of the sea of life on the shore of eternity; and when the sun rises over the eastern hills we shall land on the solid beach, bringing our 'few small fishes' with us, which he will accept. and there we shall rest, nor need to ask who he is that serves us, for we shall know that 'it is the lord!' 'it is the lord!' 'therefore that disciple whom jesus loved saith unto peter, it is the lord.--john xxi. 7. it seems a very strange thing that these disciples had not, at an earlier period of this incident, discovered the presence of christ, inasmuch as the whole was so manifestly a repetition of that former event by which the commencement of their ministry had been signalised, when he called them to become 'fishers of men.' we are apt to suppose that when once again they embarked on the lake, and went back to their old trade, it must have been with many a thought of him busy at their hearts. yonder--perhaps we fancy them thinking--is the very point where we saw him coming out of the shadows of the mountains, that night when he walked on the water; yonder is the little patch of grass where he made them all sit down whilst we bore the bread to them: there is the very spot where we were mending our nets when he came up to us and called us to himself; and now it is all over. we have loved and lost him; he has been with us, and has left us. 'we trusted that it had been he who should have redeemed israel,' and the cross has ended it all! so, we are apt to think, they must have spoken; but there does not seem to have been about them any such sentimental remembrance. john takes pains in this narrative, i think, to show them to us as plain, rough men, busy about their night's work, and thinking a great deal more of their want of success in fishing, than about the old associations which we are apt to put into their minds. then through the darkness he comes, as they had seen him come once before, when they know him not; and he speaks to them as he had spoken before, and they do not detect his voice yet; and he repeats the old miracle, and their eyes are all holden, excepting the eyes of him who loved, and _he_ first says, 'it is the lord!' now, besides all the other features of this incident by which it becomes the revelation of the lord's presence with his church, and the exhibition of the work of the church during all the course of the world's history, it contains valuable lessons on other points, such as these which i shall try to bring before you. now and always, as in that morning twilight on the galilean lake, christ comes to men. everywhere he is present, everywhere revealing himself. now, as then, our eyes are 'holden' by our own fault, so that we recognise not the merciful presence which is all around us. now, as then, it is they who are nearest to christ by love who see him first. now, as then, they who are nearest to him by love, are so because he loves them, and because they know and believe the love which he has to them. i find, then, in this part of the story three thoughts,--first, they only see aright who see christ in everything. secondly, they only see christ who love him. lastly, they only love him who know that he loves them, i. first then, they only see aright who see christ in everything. this word of john's, 'it is the lord!'--ought to be the conviction with the light of which we go out to the examination of all events, and to the consideration of all the circumstances of our daily life. we believe that unto christ is given 'all power in heaven and upon earth.' we believe that to him belongs creative power--that 'without him was not anything made which was made.' we believe that from him came all life at first. in him life was, as in its deep source. he is the fountain of life. we believe that as no being comes into existence without his creative power, so none continues to exist without his sustaining energy. we believe that he allots to all men their natural characters and their circumstances. we believe that the history of the world is but the history of his influence, and that the centre of the whole universe is the cross of calvary. in the light of such convictions, i take it, every man that calls himself a christian ought to go out to meet life and to study all events. let me try, then, to put before you, very briefly, one or two of the provinces in which we are to take this conviction as the keynote to all our knowledge. no man will understand the world aright, to begin with, who cannot say about all creation, 'it is the lord!' nature is but the veil of the invisible and ascended lord: and if we would pierce to the deepest foundations of all being, we cannot stop until we get down to the living power of christ our saviour and the creator of the world, by whom all things were made, and whose will pouring out into this great universe, is the sustaining principle and the true force which keeps it from nothingness and from quick decay. why, what did christ work all his miracles upon earth for? not solely to give us a testimony that the father had sent him; not solely to make us listen to his words as a teacher sent from god; not solely as proof of his messiahship,--but besides all these purposes there was surely this other, that for once he would unveil to us the true author of all things, and the true foundation of all being. christ's miracles interrupted the order of the world, because they made visible to men for once the true and constant orderer of the order. they interrupted the order in so far as they struck out the intervening links by which the creative and sustaining word of god acts in nature, and suspended each event directly from the firm staple of his will. they revealed the eternal orderer of that order in that they showed the incarnate word wielding the forces of nature, which he has done from of old and still does. we are then to take all these signs and wonders that he wrought, as a perennial revelation of the real state of things with regard to this natural world, and to see in them all, signs and tokens that into every corner and far-off region of the universe his loving hand reaches, and his sustaining power goes forth. into what province of nature did he not go? he claimed to be the lord of life by the side of the boy's bier at the gate of nain, in the chamber of the daughter of jairus, by the grave of lazarus. he asserted for himself authority over all the powers and functions of our bodily life, when he gave eyes to the blind, hearing to the deaf, feet to the lame. he showed that he was lord over the fowl of the air, the beasts of the earth, the fish of the sea. and he asserted his dominion over inanimate nature, when the fig-tree, cursed by him, withered away to its roots, and the winds and waves sunk into silence at his gentle voice. he let us get a glimpse into the dark regions of his rule over the unseen, when 'with authority he commanded the unclean spirits, and they came out.' and all these things he did, in order that we, walking in this fair world, encompassed by the glories of this wonderful universe, should be delivered from the temptation of thinking that it is separated from him, or independent of his creative and sustaining power; and in order that we should feel that the continuance of all which surrounds us, the glories of heaven and the loveliness of earth, are as truly owing to the constant intervention of his present will, and the interposition beneath them of his sustaining hand, as when first, by the 'word of god' who 'was with god and who was god,' speaking forth his fiat, there came light and beauty out of darkness and chaos. o christian men! we shall never understand the christian thought about god's universe, until we are able to say, preservation is a continual creation; and beneath all the ordinary workings of nature, as we faithlessly call it, and the apparently dead play of secondary causes, there are welling forth, and energising, the living love and the blessed power of christ, the maker, and monarch, and sustainer of all. 'it is the lord!' is the highest teaching of all science. the mystery of the universe, and the meaning of god's world, are shrouded in hopeless obscurity, until we learn to feel that all laws suppose a lawgiver, and that all working involves a divine energy; and that beneath all which appears there lies for ever rising up through it and giving it its life and power, the one true living being, the father in heaven, the son by whom he works, and the holy ghost the spirit. darkness lies on nature, except to those who in 'the light of setting suns, and the round ocean, and the living air, and the blue sky,' see that form which these disciples saw in the morning twilight. let 'it is the lord!' be the word on our lips as we gaze on them all, and nature will then be indeed to us the open secret, the secret of the lord which 'he will show to them that fear him.' then again, the same conviction is the only one that is adequate either to explain or to make tolerable the circumstances of our earthly condition. to most men--ah! to all of us in our faithless times--the events that befall ourselves, seem to be one of two things equally horrible, the play of a blind chance, or the work of an iron fate. i know not which of these two ghastly thoughts about the circumstances of life is the more depressing, ruining all our energy, depriving us of all our joy, and dragging us down with its weight. but brethren, and friends, there are but these three ways for it--either our life is the subject of a mere chaotic chance; or else it is put into the mill of an iron destiny, which goes grinding on and crushing with its remorseless wheels, regardless of what it grinds up; or else, through it all, in it all, beneath it and above it all, there is the will which is love, and the love which is christ! which of these thoughts is the one that commends itself to your own hearts and consciences, and which is the one under which you would fain live if you could? i understand not how a man can front the awful possibilities of a future on earth, knowing all the points at which he is vulnerable, and all the ways by which disaster may come down upon him, and retain his sanity, unless he believes that all is ruled, not merely by a god far above him, who may be as unsympathising as he is omnipotent, but by his elder brother, the son of god, who showed his heart by all his dealings with us here below, and who loves as tenderly, and sympathises as closely with us as ever he did when on earth he gathered the weary and the sick around him. is it not a thing, men and women, worth having, to have this for the settled conviction of your hearts, that christ is moving all the pulses of your life, and that nothing falls out without the intervention of his presence and the power of his will working through it? do you not think such a belief would nerve you for difficulty, would lift you buoyantly over trials and depressions, and would set you upon a vantage ground high above all the petty annoyances of life? tell me, is there any other place where a man can plant his foot and say, 'now i am on a rock and i care not what comes'? the riddle of providence is solved, and the discipline of providence is being accomplished when we have grasped this conviction--all events do serve me, for all circumstances come from his will and pleasure, which is love; and everywhere i go--be it in the darkness of disaster or in the sunshine of prosperity--i shall see standing before me that familiar and beloved shape, and shall be able to say, 'it is the lord!' friends and brethren, that is the faith to live by, that is the faith to die by; and without it life is a mockery and a misery. once more this same conviction, 'it is the lord! should guide us in all our thoughts about the history and destinies of mankind and of christ's church. the cross is the centre of the world's history, the incarnation and the crucifixion of our lord are the pivot round which all the events of the ages revolve. 'the testimony of jesus was the spirit of prophecy,' and the growing power of jesus is the spirit of history, and in every book that calls itself the history of a nation, unless there be written, whether literally or in spirit, this for its motto, 'it is the lord!' all will be shallow and incomplete. 'they that went before and they that came after,' when he entered into the holy city in his brief moment of acceptance and pomp, surrounded him with hosannas and jubilant gladness. it is a deep and true symbol of the whole history of the world. all the generations that went before him, though they knew it not, were preparing the way of the lord, and heralding the advent of him who was 'the desire of all nations' and 'the light of men'; and all the generations that come after, though they know it not, are swelling the pomp of his triumph and hastening the time of his crowning and dominion. 'it is the lord!' is the secret of all national existence. it is the secret of all the events of the world. the tangled web of human history is only then intelligible when that is taken as its clue, 'from him are all things, and to him are all things.' the ocean from which the stream of history flows, and that into which it empties itself, are one. he began it, he sustains it. 'the help that is done upon earth he doeth it himself,' and when all is finished, it will be found that all things have indeed come from christ, been sustained and directed by christ, and have tended to the glory and exaltation of that redeemer, who is king of kings and lord of lords, maker of the worlds, and before whose throne are for ever gathered for service, whether they know it or not, the forces of the gentiles, the riches of the nations, the events of history, the fates and destinies of every man. i need not dwell upon the way in which such a conviction as this, my friends, living and working in our hearts, would change for us the whole aspect of life, and make everything bright and beautiful, blessed and calm, strengthening us for all which we might have to do, nerving us for duty, and sustaining us against every trial, leading us on, triumphant and glad, through regions all sparkling with tokens of his presence and signs of his love, unto his throne at last, to lay down our praises and our crowns before him. only let me leave with you this one word of earnest entreaty, that you will lay to heart the solemn alternative--either see christ in everything, and be blessed; or miss him, and be miserable. oh! it is a waste, weary world, unless it is filled with signs of his presence. it is a dreary seventy years, brother, of pilgrimage and strife, unless, as you travel along the road, you see the marks that he who went before you has left by the wayside for your guidance and your sustenance. if you want your days to be true, noble, holy, happy, manly, and godlike, believe us, it is only when they all have flowing through them this conviction, 'it is the lord!' that they all become so. ii. then, secondly, only they who love, see christ. john, the apostle of love, knew him first. in religious matters, love is the foundation of knowledge. there is no way of knowing a person except love. the knowledge of god and the knowledge of christ are not to be won by the exercise of the understanding. a man cannot argue his way into knowing christ. no skill in drawing inferences will avail him there. the treasures of wisdom--earthly wisdom--are all powerless in that region. man's understanding and natural capacity--let it keep itself within its own limits and region, and it is strong and good; but in the region of acquaintance with god and christ, the wisdom of this world is foolishness, and man's understanding is not the organ by which he can know christ. oh no! there is a better way than that: 'he that loveth not knoweth not god, for god is love.' as it is, in feebler measure, with regard to our personal acquaintance with one another, where it is not so much the power of the understanding, or the quickness of the perception, or the talent and genius of a man, that make the foundation of his knowledge of his friend, as the force of his sympathy and the depth of his affection; so--with the necessary modification arising from the transference from earthly acquaintances to the great friend and lover of our souls in heaven--so is it with regard to our knowledge of christ. love will trace him everywhere, as dear friends can detect each other in little marks which are meaningless to others. love's quick eye pierces through disguises impenetrable to a colder scrutiny. love has in it a longing for his presence which makes us eager and quick to mark the lightest sign that he for whom it longs is near, as the footstep of some dear one is heard by the sharp ear of affection long before any sound breaks the silence to those around. love leads to likeness to the lord, and that likeness makes the clearer vision of the lord possible. love to him strips from our eyes the film that self and sin, sense and custom, have drawn over them. it is these which hide him from us. it is because men are so indifferent to, so forgetful of, their best friend that they fail to behold him, 'it is the lord!' is written large and plain on all things, but like the great letters on a map, they are so obvious and fill so wide a space, that they are not seen. they who love him know him, and they who know him love him. the true eye-salve for our blinded eyes is applied when we have turned with our hearts to christ. the simple might of faithful love opens them to behold a more glorious vision than the mountain 'full of chariots of fire,' which once flamed before the prophet's servant of old--even the august and ever-present form of the lord of life, the lord of history, the lord of providence. when they who love jesus turn to see 'the voice that speaks with them,' they ever behold the son of man in his glory; and where others see but the dim beach and a mysterious stranger, it is to their lips that the glad cry first comes, 'it is the lord!' and is it not a blessed thing, brethren! that thus this high and glorious prerogative of recognising the marks of christ's presence everywhere, of going through life gladdened by the assurance of his nearness, does not depend on what belongs to few men only, but on what may belong to all? when we say that 'not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called'--when we say that love is the means of knowledge--we are but in other words saying that the way is open to all, and that no characteristics belonging to classes, no powers that must obviously always belong to but a handful, are necessary for the full apprehension of the power and blessedness of christ's gospel. the freeness and the fullness of that divine message, the glorious truth that it is for all men, and is offered to all, are couched in that grand principle, love that thou mayest know; love, and thou art filled with the fullness of god, not for the handful, not for the _elite_ of the world; not for the few, but for the many; not for the wise, but for all; not for classes, but for humanity--for all that are weak, and sinful, and needy, and foolish, and darkened he comes, who only needs that the heart that looks should love, and then it shall behold! but if that were the whole that i have to say, i should have said but little to the purpose. it very little avails to tell men to love. we cannot love to order, or because we think it duty. there is but one way of loving, and that is to see the lovely. the disciple who loved jesus was 'the disciple whom jesus loved.' generalise that, and it teaches us this, that iii. they love who know that christ loves them. his divine and eternal mercy is the foundation of the whole. our love, brethren, can never be any thing else than our echo to his voice of tenderness than the reflected light upon our hearts of the full glory of his affection. no man loveth god except the man who has first learned that god loves him. 'we love him, because he first loved us.' and when we say, 'love christ,' if we could not go on to say, 'nay, rather let christ's love come down upon you'--we had said worse than nothing. the fountain that rises in my heart can only spring up heavenward, because the water of it has flowed down into my heart from the higher level. all love must descend first, before it can ascend. we have, then, no gospel to preach, if we have only this to preach, 'love, and thou art saved.' but we have a gospel that is worth the preaching, when we can come to men who have no love in their hearts, and say, 'brethren! listen to this--you have to bring nothing, you are called upon to originate no affection; you have nothing to do but simply to receive the everlasting love of god in christ his son, which was without us, which began before us, which flows forth independent of us, which is unchecked by all our sins, which triumphs over all our transgressions, and which will make us--loveless, selfish, hardened, sinful men--soft, and tender, and full of divine affection, by the communication of its own self. oh, then, look to christ, that you may love him! think, brethren, of that full, and free, and boundless mercy which, from eternity, has been pouring itself out in floods of grace and loving-kindness over all creatures. think of that everlasting love which presided at the foundation of the earth, and has sustained it ever since. think of that saviour who has died for us, and lives for us. think of christ, the heart of god, and the fullness of the father's mercy; and do not think of yourselves at all. do not ask yourselves, to begin with, the question, do i love him or do i not? you will never love by that means. if a man is cold, let him go to the fire and warm himself. if he is dark, let him stand in the sunshine, and he will be light. if his heart is all clogged and clotted with sin and selfishness, let him get under the influence of the love of christ, and look away from himself and his own feelings, towards that saviour whose love shed abroad is the sole means of kindling ours. you have to go down deeper than _your_ feelings, _your_ affections, _your_ desires, _your_ character. there you will find no resting-place, no consolation, no power. dig down to the living rock, christ and his infinite love to you, and let _it_ be the strong foundation, built into which you and your love may become living stones, a holy temple, partaking of the firmness and nature of that on which it rests. they that love do so because they know that christ loves them; and they that love see him everywhere; and they that see him everywhere are blessed for evermore. and let no man here torture himself, or limit the fullness of this message that we preach, by questionings whether christ loves him or not. are you a man? are you sinful? have you broken god's law? do you need a saviour? then put away all these questions, and believe that christ's personal love is streaming out for the whole world, and that there is a share for you if you like to take it and be blessed! there is one last thought arising from the whole subject before us, that may be worth mention before i close. did you ever notice how this whole incident might be turned, by a symbolical application, to the hour of death, and the vision which may meet us when we come thither? it admits of the application, and perhaps was intended to receive the application, of such a symbolic reference. the morning is dawning, the grey of night going away, the lake is still; and yonder, standing on the shore, in the uncertain light, there is one dim figure, and one disciple catches a sight of him, and another casts himself into the water, and they find 'a fire of coals, and fish laid thereon, and bread,' and christ gathers them around his table, and they all know that 'it is the lord!' it is what the death of the christian man, who has gone through life recognising christ everywhere, may well become:--the morning breaking, and the finished work, and the figure standing on the quiet beach, so that the last plunge into the cold flood that yet separates us, will not be taken with trembling reluctance; but, drawn to him by the love beaming out of his face, and upheld by the power of his beckoning presence, we shall struggle through the latest wave that parts us, and scarcely feel its chill, nor know that we _have_ crossed it; till falling blessed at his feet, we see, by the nearer and clearer vision of his face, that this is indeed heaven. and looking back upon 'the sea that brought us thither,' we shall behold its waters flashing in the light of that everlasting morning, and hear them breaking in music upon the eternal shore. and then, brethren, when all the weary night-watchers on the stormy ocean of life are gathered together around him who watched with them from his throne on the bordering mountains of eternity, where the day shines for ever--then he will seat them at his table in his kingdom, and none will need to ask, 'who art thou?' or 'where am i?' for all shall know that 'it is the lord!' and the full, perfect, unchangeable vision of his blessed face will be heaven! 'lovest thou me?' 'jesus saith to simon peter, simon, son of jonas, lovest thou me more than these? he saith unto him, yea, lord; thou knowest that i love thee. he saith unto him, feed my lambs.'--john xxi. 15. peter had already seen the risen lord. there had been that interview on easter morning, on which the seal of sacred secrecy was impressed; when, alone, the denier poured out his heart to his lord, and was taken to the heart that he had wounded. then there had been two interviews on the two successive sundays in which the apostle, in common with his brethren, had received, as one of the group, the lord's benediction, the lord's gift of the spirit, and the lord's commission. but something more was needed; there had been public denial, there must be public confession. if he had slipped again into the circle of the disciples, with no special treatment or reference to his fall, it might have seemed a trivial fault to others, and even to himself. and so, after that strange meal on the beach, we have this exquisitely beautiful and deeply instructive incident of the special treatment needed by the denier before he could be publicly reinstated in his office. the meal seems to have passed in silence. that awe which hung over the disciples in all their intercourse with jesus during the forty days, lay heavy on them, and they sat there, huddled round the fire, eating silently the meal which christ had provided, and no doubt gazing silently at the silent lord. what a tension of expectation there must have been as to how the oppressive silence was to be broken! and how peter's heart must have throbbed, and the others' ears been pricked up, when it was broken by 'simon, son of jonas, lovest thou me?' we may listen with pricked-up ears too. for we have here, in christ's treatment of the apostle, a revelation of how he behaves to a soul conscious of its fault; and in peter's demeanour an illustration of how a soul, conscious of its fault, should behave to him. there are three stages here: the threefold question, the threefold answer, and the threefold charge. let us look at these. i. the threefold question. the reiteration in the interrogation did not express doubt as to the veracity of the answer, nor dissatisfaction with its terms; but it did express, and was meant, i suppose, to suggest to peter and to the others, that the threefold denial needed to be obliterated by the threefold confession; and that every black mark that had been scored deep on the page by that denial needed to be covered over with the gilding or bright colouring of the triple acknowledgment. and so peter thrice having said, 'i know him not!' jesus with a gracious violence forced him to say thrice, 'thou knowest that i love thee.' the same intention to compel peter to go back upon his past comes out in two things besides the triple form of the question. the one is the designation by which he is addressed, 'simon, son of jonas,' which travels back, as it were, to the time before he was a disciple, and points a finger to his weak humanity before it had come under the influence of jesus christ. 'simon, son of jonas,' was the name that he bore in the days before his discipleship. it was the name by which jesus had addressed him, therefore, on that never-to-be-forgotten turning-point of his life, when he was first brought to him by his brother andrew. it was the name by which jesus had addressed him at the very climax of his past life when, high up, he had been able to see far, and in answer to the lord's question, had rung out the confession: 'thou art the christ, the son of the living god!' so the name by which jesus addresses him now says to him in effect: 'remember thy human weakness; remember how thou wert drawn to me; remember the high-water mark of thy discipleship, when i was plain before thee as the son of god, and remembering all these, answer me--lovest thou me?' the same intention to drive peter back to the wholesome remembrance of a stained past is obvious in the first form of the question. our lord mercifully does not persist in giving to it that form in the second and third instances: 'lovest thou me more than these?' more than these, what? i cannot for a moment believe that that question means something so trivial and irrelevant as 'lovest thou me more than these nets, and boats, and the fishing?' no; in accordance with the purpose that runs through the whole, of compelling peter to retrospect, it says to him, 'do you remember what you said a dozen hours before you denied me, "though all should forsake thee, yet will not i"? are you going to take that stand again? lovest thou me more than these that never discredited their boasting so shamefully?' so, dear brethren! here we have jesus christ, in his treatment of this penitent and half-restored soul, forcing a man, with merciful compulsion, to look steadfastly and long at his past sin, and to retrace step by step, shameful stage by shameful stage, the road by which he had departed so far. every foul place he is to stop and look at, and think about. each detail he has to bring up before his mind. was it not cruel of jesus thus to take peter by the neck, as it were, and hold him right down, close to the foul things that he had done, and say to him, 'look! look! look ever! and answer, lovest thou me?' no; it was not cruel; it was true kindness. peter had never been so abundantly and permanently penetrated by the sense of the sinfulness of his sin, as after he was sure, as he had been made sure in that great interview, that it was all forgiven. so long as a man is disturbed by the dread of consequences, so long as he is doubtful as to his relation to the forgiving love, he is not in a position beneficially and sanely to consider his evil in its moral quality only. but when the conviction comes to a man, 'god is pacified towards thee for all that thou hast done'; and when he can look at his own evil without the smallest disturbance rising from slavish fear of issues, then lie is in a position rightly to estimate its darkness and its depth. and there can be no better discipline for us all than to remember our faults, and penitently to travel back over the road of our sins, just because we are sure that god in christ has forgotten them. the beginning of christ's merciful treatment of the forgiven man is to compel him to remember, that he may learn and be ashamed. and then there is another point here, in this triple question. how significant and beautiful it is that the only thing that jesus christ cares to ask about is the sinner's love! we might have expected: 'simon, son of jonas, are you sorry for what you did? simon, son of jonas, will you promise never to do the like any more?' no! these things will come if the other thing is there. 'lovest thou me?' jesus christ sues each of us, not for obedience primarily, not for repentance, not for vows, not for conduct, but for a heart; and that being given, all the rest will follow. that is the distinguishing characteristic of christian morality, that jesus seeks first for the surrender of the affections, and believes, and is warranted in the belief, that if these are surrendered, all else will follow; and love being given, loyalty and service and repentance and hatred of self-will and of self-seeking will follow in her train. all the graces of human character which christ seeks, and is ready to impart, are, as it were, but the pages and ministers of the regal love, who follow behind and swell the _cortege_ of her servants. christ asks for love. surely that indicates the depth of his own! in this commerce he is satisfied with nothing less, and can ask for nothing more; and he seeks for love because he is love, and has given love. oh! to all hearts burdened, as all our hearts ought to be--unless the burden has been cast off in one way--by the consciousness of our own weakness and imperfection, surely, surely, it is a gospel that is contained in that one question addressed to a man who had gone far astray, 'simon, son of jonas, lovest thou?' here, again, we have jesus christ, in his dealing with the penitent, willing to trust discredited professions. we think that one of the signs of our being wise people is that experience shall have taught us 'once' being 'bit, twice' to be 'shy,' and if a man has once deceived us by flaming professions and ice-cold acts, never to trust him any more. and we think that is 'worldly wisdom,' and 'the bitter fruit of earthly experience,' and 'sharpness,' and 'shrewdness,' and so forth. jesus christ, even whilst reminding peter, by that 'more than these,' of his utterly hollow and unreliable boasting, shows himself ready to accept once again the words of one whose unveracity he had proved. 'charity hopeth all things, believeth all things,' and jesus christ is ready to trust us when we say, 'i love thee,' even though often in the past our professed love has been all disproved. we have here, in this question, our lord revealing himself as willing to accept the imperfect love which a disciple can offer him. of course, many of you well know that there is a very remarkable play of expression here. in the two first questions the word which our lord employs for 'love' is not the same as that which appears in peter's two first answers. christ asks for one kind of love; peter proffers another. i do not enter upon discussion as to the distinction between these two apparent synonyms. the kind of love which christ asks for is higher, nobler, less emotional, and more associated with the whole mind and will. it is the inferior kind, the more warm, more sensuous, more passionate and emotional, which peter brings. and then, in the third question, our lord, as it were, surrenders and takes peter's own word, as if he had said, 'be it so! you shrink from professing the higher kind; i will take the lower; and i will educate and bring that up to the height that i desire you to stand at.' ah, brother! however stained and imperfect, however disproved by denials, however tainted by earthly associations, jesus christ will accept the poor stream of love, though it be but a trickle when it ought to be a torrent, which we can bring him. these are the lessons which it seems to me lie in this triple question. i have dealt with them at the greater length, because those which follow are largely dependent upon them. but let me turn now briefly, in the second place, to-ii. the triple answer. 'yea, lord! thou knowest that i love thee.' is not that beautiful, that the man who by christ's resurrection, as the last of the answers shows, had been led to the loftiest conception of christ's omniscience, and regarded him as knowing the hearts of all men, should, in the face of all that jesus christ knew about his denial and his sin, have dared to appeal to christ's own knowledge? what a superb and all-conquering confidence in christ's depth of knowledge and forgivingness of knowledge that answer showed! he felt that jesus could look beneath the surface of his sin, and see that below it there was, even in the midst of the denial, a heart that in its depths was true. it is a tremendous piece of confident appeal to the deeper knowledge, and therefore the larger love and more abundant forgiveness, of the righteous lord--'thou knowest that i love thee.' brethren! a christian man ought to be sure of his love to jesus christ. you do not study your conduct in order to infer from it your love to others. you do not study your conduct in order to infer from it your love to your wife, or your husband, or your parents, or your children, or your friend. love is not a matter of inference; it is a matter of consciousness and intuition. and whilst self-examination is needful for us all for many reasons, a christian man ought to be as sure that he loves jesus christ as he is sure that he loves his dearest upon earth. it used to be the fashion long ago--this generation has not depth enough to keep up the fashion--for christian people to talk as if it were a point they longed to know, whether they loved jesus christ or not. there is no reason why it should be a point we long to know. you know all about your love to one another, and you are sure about that. why are you not sure about your love to jesus christ? 'oh! but,' you say, 'look at my sins and failures'; and if peter had looked only at his sins, do you not think that his words would have stuck in his throat? he did look, but he looked in a very different way from that of trying to ascertain from his conduct whether he loved jesus christ or not. brethren, any sin is inconsistent with christian love to christ. thank god, we have no right to say of any sin that it is incompatible with that love! more than that; a great, gross, flagrant, sudden fall like peter's is a great deal less inconsistent with love to christ than are the continuously unworthy, worldly, selfish, christ-forgetting lives of hosts of complacent professing christians to-day. white ants will eat up the carcase of a dead buffalo quicker than a lion will. and to have denied christ once, twice, thrice, in the space of an hour, and under strong temptation, is not half so bad as to call him 'master' and 'lord,' and day by day, week in, week out, in works to deny him. the triple answer declares to us that in spite of a man's sins he ought to be conscious of his love, and be ready to profess it when need is. iii. lastly, we have here the triple commission. i do not dwell upon it at any length, because in its original form it applies especially to the apostolic office. but the general principles which underlie this threefold charge, to feed and to tend both 'the sheep' and 'the lambs,' may be put in a form that applies to each of us, and it is this--the best token of a christian's love to jesus christ is his service of man for christ's sake. 'lovest thou me?' 'yea! lord.' thou hast _said_; go and _do_, 'feed my lambs; feed my sheep.' we need the profession of words; we need, as peter himself enjoined at a subsequent time, to be ready to 'give to every man that asketh us a reason of the hope,' and an acknowledgment of the love, that are in us. but if you want men to believe in your love, however jesus christ may know it, go and work in the master's vineyard. the service of man is the garb of the love of god. 'he that loveth god will love his brother also.' do not confine that thought of service, and feeding, and tending, to what we call evangelistic and religious work. that is one of its forms, but it is only one of them. everything in which christian men can serve their fellows is to be taken by them as their worship of their lord, and is taken by the world as the convincing proof of the reality of their love. love to jesus christ is the qualification for all such service. if we are knit to him by true affection, which is based upon our consciousness of our own falls and evils, and our reception of his forgiving mercy, then we shall have the qualities that fit us, and the impulse that drives us, to serve and help our fellows. i do not say--god forbid!--that there is no philanthropy apart from christian faith, but i do say that, on the wide scale, and in the long run, they who are knit to jesus christ by love will be those who render the greatest help to all that are 'afflicted in mind, body, or estate'; and that the true basis and qualification for efficient service of our fellows is the utter surrender of our hearts to him who is the fountain of love, and from whom comes all our power to live in the world, as the images and embodiments of the love which has saved us that we might help to save others. brethren! let us all ask ourselves christ's question to the denier. let us look our past evils full in the face, that we may learn to hate them, and that we may learn more the width and the sweep of the power of his pardoning mercy. god grant that we may all be able to say, 'thou knowest all things; thou knowest that i love thee!' youth and age, and the command for both _annual sermon to the young_ '... when thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.... and when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, follow me.'--john xxi. 18, 19. the immediate reference of these words is, of course, to the martyrdom of the apostle peter. our lord contrasts the vigorous and somewhat self-willed youth and the mellowed old age of his servant, and shadows forth his death, in bonds, by violence. and then he bids him, notwithstanding this prospect of the issue of his faithfulness, 'follow me.' now i venture, though with some hesitation, to give these words a slightly different application. i see in them two pictures of youth and of old age, and a commandment based upon both. you young people are often exhorted to a christian life on the ground of the possible approach of death. i would not undervalue that motive, but i seek now to urge the same thing upon you from a directly opposite consideration, the probability that many of you will live to be old. all the chief reasons for our being christians are of the same force, whether we are to die to-night, or to live for a century. so in my text i wish you to note what you are now; what, if you live, you are sure to become; and what, in the view of both stages, you will be wise to do. 'when thou wast young thou girdedst thyself, and wentest whither thou wouldest. when thou shalt be old another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.' therefore, 'follow me.' i. so, then, note the picture here of what you are. most of you young people are but little accustomed to reflect upon yourselves, or upon the special characteristics and prerogatives of your time of life. but it will do you no harm to think for a minute or two of what these characteristics are, that you may know your blessings, and that you may shun the dangers which attach to them. 'when thou wast young thou girdedst thyself.' _there_ is a picture easily translated, and significant of much. the act of girding implies preparation for action, and may be widened out to express that most blessed prerogative of youth, the cherishing of bright imaginations of its future activity and course. the dreams of youth are often laughed at, but if a young man or woman be faithful to them they are the prophecies of the future, and are given in order that at the opening of the flower nature may put forth her power; and so we may be able to live through many a dreary hour in the future. only, seeing that you do live so much in rich foreshadowings and fair anticipations of the times that are to come, take care that you do not waste that divine faculty, the freshness of which is granted to you as a morning gift, the 'dew of your youth.' see that you do not waste it in anticipations which cling like mist to the low levels of life, but that you lift it higher and embrace worthy objects. it is good that you should anticipate, that you should live by hope. it is good that you should be drawn onwards by bright visions, whether they be ever fulfilled or no. but there are dangers in the exercise, and dreaming with some of you takes the place of realising your dreams, and you build for yourselves fair fabrics in imagination which you never take one step to accomplish and make real. be not the slaves and fools of your imaginations, but cultivate the faculty of hoping largely; for the possibilities of human life are elastic, and no man or woman, in their most sanguine, early anticipations, if only these be directed to the one real good, has ever exhausted or attained the possibilities open to every soul. again, girding _one's self_ implies independent self-reliance, and that is a gift and a stewardship given (as all gifts are stewardships) to the young. we all fancy, in our early days, that we are going to build 'towers that will reach to heaven.' now _we_ have come, and we will show people how to do it! the past generations have failed, but ours is full of brighter promise. there is something very touching, to us older men almost tragical, in the unbounded self-confidence of the young life that we see rushing to the front all round us. we know so well the disillusion that is sure to come, the disappointments that will cloud the morning sky. we would not carry one shadow from the darkened experience of middle life into the roseate tints of the morning. the 'vision splendid' will fade away into the light of common day,' soon enough. but for the present this self-reliant confidence is one of the blessings of your early days. only remember, it is dangerous, too. it may become want of reverence, which is ruinous, or presumption and rashness. remember what a cynical head of a college said, 'none of us is infallible, not even the youngest,' and blend modesty with confidence, and yet be buoyant and strong, and trust in the power that may make you strong. and then your self-confidence will not be rashness. 'thou wentest whither thou wouldest.' that is another characteristic of youth, after it has got beyond the schoolboy stage. your own will tends to become your guide. for one thing, at your time of life, most other inward guides are comparatively weak. you have but little experience. most of you have not cultivated largely the habit of patient reflection, and thinking twice before you act once. that comes: it would not be good that it should be over-predominant in you. 'old heads on young shoulders' are always monstrosities, and it is all right that, in your early days, you should largely live by impulse, if only, as well as a will, there be a conscience at work which will do instead of the bitter experience which comes to guide some of the older of us. again, yours is the age when passion is strong. i speak now especially to young men. restraints are removed for many of you. there are dozens of young men listening to me now, away from their father's home, separated from the purifying influence of sisters and of family life, living in solitary lodgings, at liberty to spend their evenings where they choose, and nobody be a bit the wiser. ah, my dear young friend! 'thou wentest whither thou wouldest' and thou wouldest whither thou oughtest not to go. there is nothing more dangerous than getting into the habit of saying, 'i do as i like,' however you cover it over. some of you say, 'i indulge natural inclinations; i am young; a man must have his fling. let me sow my wild oats in a quiet corner, where nobody will see the crop coming up; and when i get to be as old as you are, i will do as you do; young men will be young men,' etc., etc. you know all that sort of talk. take this for a certain fact: that whoever puts the reins into the charge of his own will when he is young, has put the reins _and the whip_ into hands which will drive over the precipice. my friend! 'i will' is no word for you. there is a far diviner and better one than that--'i ought.' have you learnt that? do you yield to that sovereign imperative, and say, 'i _must_, because i _ought_ and, therefore, i _will_'? bow passion to reason, reason to conscience, conscience to god--and then, be as strong in the will and as stiff in the neck as ever you choose; but only then. so much, then, for my first picture. ii. now let me ask you to turn with me for a moment to the second one--what you will certainly become if you live. i have already explained that putting this meaning on the latter portion of our first verse is somewhat forcing it from its original signification. and yet it is so little of violence that the whole of the language naturally lends itself to make a picture of the difference between the two stages of life. all the bright visions that dance before your youthful mind will fade away. we begin by thinking that we are going to build temples, or 'towers that shall reach to heaven,' and when we get into middle life we have to say to ourselves: 'well! i have scarcely material enough to carry out the large design that i had. i think that i will content myself with building a little hovel, that i may live in, and perhaps it will keep the weather off me.' hopes diminish; dreams vanish; limited realities take their place, and we are willing to hold out our hands and let some one else take the responsibilities that we were so eager to lay upon ourselves at the first. strength will fade away. 'even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fail.' physical weariness, weakness, the longing for rest, the consciousness of ever-narrowed and narrowing powers, will come to you, and if you grow up to be old men, which it is probable that many of you will do, you will have to sit and watch the tide of your life ebb, ebb, ebbing away moment by moment. self-will will be wonderfully broken, for there are far stronger forces that determine a man's life than his own wishes and will. we are like swimmers in the surf of the indian ocean, powerless against the battering of the wave which pitches us, for all our science, and for all our muscle, where it will. call it environment, call it fate, call it circumstances, call it providence, call it god--there is something outside of us bigger than we are, and the man who begins life, thinking 'thus i will, thus i command, let my determination stand instead of all other reason'; has to say at last, 'i could not do what i wanted. i had to be content to do what i could.' thus our self-will gets largely broken down; and patient acceptance of the inevitable comes to be the wisdom and peace of the old man. and, last of all, the picture shows us an irresistible approximation to an unwelcome goal: 'another shall carry thee whither thou wouldest not.' life to the old seems to you to be so empty and ashen grey that you wonder they care to live. but life to them, for all its disappointments, its weariness, its foiled efforts, its vanished hopes, its departed companions, is yet life, and most of them cling to it like a miser to his gold. but yet, like a man sucked into niagara above the falls, they are borne on the irresistible, smooth flood, nearer and nearer to the edge of the rock, and they hear the mighty sound in their ears long before they reach the place where the plunge is to be taken from sunshine into darkness and foam. so 'when thou shalt be old' your fancy will be gone, your physical strength will be gone, your freshness will be gone, your faculty of hoping will work feebly and have little to work on; on earth your sense of power will be humbled, and yet you will not want to be borne to the place whither you must be borne. fancy two portraits, one of a little chubby boy in child's dress, with a round face and clustering curls and smooth cheeks and red lips, and another of an old man, with wearied eyes, and thin locks, and wrinkled cheeks, and a bowed frame. the difference between the two is but the symbol of the profounder differences that separate the two selves, which yet are the one self--the impetuous, self-reliant, self-willed, hopeful, buoyant youth, and the weary, feeble, broken, old man. and that is what you will come to, if you live, as sure as i am speaking to you, and you are listening to me. iii. and now, lastly, what in the view of both these stages it is wise for you to do. 'when he had spoken thus, he saith unto him, follow me.' what do we mean by following christ? we mean submission to his authority. 'follow me' as captain, commander, absolute lawgiver, and lord. we mean imitation of his example. these two words include all human duty, and promise to every man perfection if he obeys. 'follow me'--it is enough, more than enough, to make a man complete and blessed. we mean choosing and keeping close to him, as companion as well as leader and lord. no man or woman will ever be solitary, though friends may go, and associates may change, and companions may leave them, and life may become empty and dreary as far as human sympathy is concerned--no man or woman will ever be solitary if stepping in christ's footsteps, close at his heels, and realising his presence. but you cannot follow him, and he has no right to tell you to follow him, unless he is something more and other to you than example, and commander, and companion. what business has jesus christ to demand that a man should go after him to the death? only this business, that he has gone to the death for the man. you must follow christ first, my friend, by coming to him as a sinful creature, and finding your whole salvation and all your hope in humble reliance on the merit of his death. then you may follow him in obedience, and imitation, and glad communion. that being understood, i would press upon you this thought, that such a following of jesus christ will preserve for you all that is blessed in the characteristics of your youth, and will prevent them from becoming evil. he will give you a basis for your hopes and fulfil your most sanguine dreams, if these are based on his promises, and their realisation sought in the path of his feet. as isaiah prophesies, 'the mirage shall become a pool.' that which else is an illusion, dancing ahead and deceiving thirsty travellers into the belief that sand is water, shall become to you really 'pools of water,' if your hopes are fixed on jesus christ. if you follow him, your strength will not ebb away with shrunken sinews and enfeebled muscles. if you trust christ, your self-will will be elevated by submission, and become strong to control your rebellious nature, because it is humble to submit to his supreme command. and if you trust and follow jesus christ, your hope will be buoyant, and bright, and blessed, and prolong its buoyancy, and brightness, and blessedness into 'old age, when others fade.' if you will follow christ your old age will, if you reach it, be saved from the bitterest pangs that afflict the aged, and will be brightened by future possibilities. there will be no need for lingering laments over past blessings, no need for shrinking reluctance to take the inevitable step. an old age of peaceful, serene brightness caught from the nearer gleam of the approaching heaven, and quiet as the evenings in the late autumn, not without a touch of frost, perhaps, but yet kindly and fruitful, may be ours. and instead of shrinking from the end, if we follow jesus, we shall put our hands quietly and trustfully into his, as a little child does into its mother's soft, warm palm, and shall not ask whither he leads, assured that since it is he who leads we shall be led aright. dear young friends! 'follow me!' is christ's merciful invitation to you. you will never again be so likely to obey it as you are now. well begun is half ended. 'i would have you innocent of much transgression.' you need him to keep you in the slippery ways of youth. you could not go into some of those haunts, where some of you have been, if you thought to yourselves, 'am i following jesus as i cross this wicked threshold?' you may never have another message of mercy brought to your ears. if you do become a religious man in later life, you will be laying up for yourselves seeds of remorse and sorrow, and in some cases memories of pollution and filth, that will trouble you all your days. 'to-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.' 'they also serve who only stand and wait' 'peter, seeing him, saith to jesus, lord, and what shall this man do! jesus saith unto him, if i will that he tarry till i come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.'--john xxi. 21, 22. we have seen in a former sermon that the charge of the risen christ to peter, which immediately precedes these verses, allotted to him service and suffering. the closing words of that charge 'follow me!' had a deep significance, as uniting both parts of his task in the one supreme command of imitation of his master. but the same words had also a simpler meaning, as inviting the apostle to come apart with christ at the moment, for some further token of his love or indication of his will. peter follows; but in following, naturally turns to see what the little group, sitting silent there by the coal fire on the beach, may be doing, and he notices john coming towards them, with intent to join them. what emboldened john to thrust himself, uncalled for, into so secret an interview? the words in which he is described in the context answer the question. 'he was the disciple whom jesus loved, which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, lord! which is he that betrayeth thee?' he was also bound by close ties to peter. so with the familiarity of 'perfect love which casteth out fear,' he felt that the master could have no secrets from him, and no charge to give to his friend which he might not share. peter's swift question, 'lord! and what shall this man do?' though it has been often blamed, does not seem very blameworthy. there was perhaps a little touch of his old vivacity in it, indicating that he had not been sufficiently subdued and sobered by the prospect which christ had held out to him; but far more than that there was a natural interest in his friend's fate, and something of a wish to have his company on the path which he was to tread. christ's answer, 'if i will that he tarry till i come, what is that to thee? follow thou me!' gently rebukes any leaven of evil that there may have been in the question; warns him against trying to force other people into his groove; with solemn emphasis reiterates his own duty; and, in effect, bids him let his brother alone, and see that he himself discharges the ministry which he has received of the lord. the enigmatical words of christ, and the long life of the apostle, which seemed to explain them, naturally bred an interpretation of them in the early church which is recorded here, as i believe, by the evangelist himself, to the effect that john, like another enoch at the beginning of a new world, was to escape the common lot. and very beautiful is the quiet way in which the evangelist put that error on one side, by the simple repetition of his master's words, emphasising their hypothetical form and their enigmatical character: 'jesus said not unto him, he shall not die; but _if_ i will that he _tarry_ till i come, what is that to thee?' now all this, i think, is full of lessons. let me try to draw one or two of them briefly now. i. first, then, we have in that majestic 'if i will!' the revelation of the risen christ as the lord of life and death. in his charge to peter, christ had asserted his right absolutely to control his servant's conduct and fix his place in the world, and his power to foresee and forecast his destiny and his end. but in these words he goes a step further. 'i _will_ that he tarry'; to communicate life and to sustain life is a divine prerogative; to act by the bare utterance of his will upon physical nature is a divine prerogative. jesus christ here claims that his will goes out with sovereign power amongst the perplexities of human history and into the depths of that mystery of life; and that he, the son of man, 'quickens whom he will,' and has power 'to kill and to make alive.' the words would be absurd, if not something worse, upon any but divine lips, that opened with conscious authority, and whose utterer knew that his hand was laid upon the innermost springs of being. so, in this entirely incidental fashion, you have one of the strongest and plainest instances of the quiet, unostentatious and habitual manner in which jesus christ claimed for himself properly divine prerogatives. remember that he who thus spoke was standing before these seven men there, in the morning light, on the beach, fresh from the grave. his resurrection had proved him to be the lord of death. he had bound it to his chariot-wheels as a conqueror. he had risen and he stood there before them with no more mark of the corruption of the grave upon him than there are traces of the foul water in which a sea bird may have floated, on its white wing that flashes in the sunshine as it soars. and surely as these men looked to christ, 'declared to be the son of god with power, by his resurrection from the dead, 'they may have begun, however 'foolish and slow of heart' they were 'to believe,' to understand that 'to this end christ both died and rose and revived, that he might be the lord both of the dead and of the living,' both of death and of life. these two apostles' later history was full of proofs that christ's claim was valid. peter is shut up in prison and delivered once, at the very last moment, when hope was almost dead, in order that he might understand that when he was put into another prison and _not_ delivered, the blow of martyrdom fell upon him, not because of the strength of his persecutors, but because of the will of his lord. and john had to see his brother james, to whom he had been so closely knit, with whom he had pledged himself to drink the cup that christ drank of, whom he had desired to have associated with himself in the special honours in the messianic kingdom--he had to see him slain, first of the apostles, while he himself lingered here long after all his early associates were gone. he had, no doubt, many a longing to depart. solitary, surrounded by a new world, pressed by many cares, he must often have felt that the cross which he had to carry was no lighter than that laid on those who had passed to their rest by martyrdom. to him it would often be martyrdom to live. his personal longing is heard for a moment in the last words of the apocalypse, 'amen! even so, come, lord jesus!'--but undoubtedly for the most part he stayed his heart on his lord's will, and waited in meek patience till he heard the welcome announcement, 'the master is come and calleth for thee.' and, dear friends! that same belief that the risen christ is the lord of life and death, is the only one that can stay our hearts, or make us bow with submission to his divine will. he who has conquered death by undergoing it is death's lord as well as ours, and when he wills to bring his friends home to himself, saith to that black-robed servant, 'go, and he goeth; do this and he doeth it.' the vision which john saw long after this on another shore, washed by a stormier sea, spoke the same truth as does this majestic 'i will'--'he that liveth and became dead and is alive for evermore,' is by virtue of his divine eternal life, and has become in his humanity by virtue of his death and resurrection the lord of life and death. the hands that were nailed to the cross turn the keys of death and hades. 'he openeth and no man shutteth; he shutteth and no man openeth.' ii. we have here before us, in this incident, the service of patient waiting. 'if i will that he tarry, what is that to thee? follow thou me.' peter is the man of action, not great at reflection; full of impulse, restless until his hands can do something to express his thoughts and his emotions. on the very mount of transfiguration he wanted to set to work and build 'three tabernacles,' instead of listening awed to the divine colloquy. in galilee he cannot wait quietly for his master to come, but must propose to his friends to 'go a fishing.' in the fishing-boat, as soon as he sees the lord he must struggle through the sea to get at him; whilst john sits quiet in the boat, blessed in the consciousness of his master's presence and in silently gazing at him verily there. all through the first part of the acts of the apostles his bold energy goes flashing and flaming. it is always his voice that rings out in the front, whether preaching on the pentecost day, bringing healing to the sick, or fronting the sanhedrim. his element is in the shock of conflict and the strain of work. john, on the other hand, seldom appears in the narrative. when he does so he stands a silent figure by the side of peter, and disappears from it altogether before very long. we do not hear that he did anything. he seems to have had no part in the missionary work of the church. he 'tarried,' that was all. the word is the same--'abide'--which is so often upon his lips in his gospel and in his epistles, as expressive of the innermost experience of the christian soul, the condition of all fruitfulness, blessedness, knowledge and christ-likeness. christ's charge to john to 'tarry' did not only, as his brethren misinterpreted it, mean that his life was to be continued, but it prescribed the manner of his life. it was to be patient contemplation, a 'dwelling in the house of the lord,' a keeping of his heart still, like some little tarn up amongst the silent hills, for heaven with all its blue to mirror itself in. and that quiet life of contemplation bore its fruit. in his meditation the deeds and words of his master slowly grew ever more and more luminous to him. deeper meanings came out, revealing new constellations, as he gazed into that opening heaven of memory. he reaped 'the harvest of a quiet eye' and garnered the sheaves of it in his gospel, the holy of holies of the new testament; and in his epistles, in which he proclaims the first and last word of revelation, 'god is love'--the pure diamond that hangs at the end of the golden chain let down from heaven. often, no doubt, his brethren thought him 'but an idler in the land,' but at last his 'tarrying' was vindicated. now, dear brethren! in all times of the world's history that form of christian service needs to be pressed upon busy people. and there never was a time in the world's history, or in the church's history, when it more needed to be pressed upon the ordinary christian man than at this day. the good and the bad of our present christianity, and of our present social life, conspire to make people think that those who are not at work in some external form of christian service for the good of their fellows are necessarily idlers. many of them are so, but by no means all, and there is always the danger that the external work which good, earnest people do shall become greater than can be wholesomely and safely done by them without their constant recourse to this solitary meditation, and to tarrying before god. the stress and bustle of our everyday life; the feverish desire for immediate results; the awakened conviction that christianity is nothing if not practical; the new sense of responsibility for the condition of our fellows; the large increase of all sorts of domestic, evangelistic, and missionary work among all churches in this day--things to be profoundly thankful for, like all other good things have their possible dangers; and it is laid on my heart to warn you of these now. for the sake of our own personal hold on jesus christ, for the sake of our progress in the knowledge of his truth, and for the sake of the very work which some of us count so precious, there is need that we shall betake ourselves to that still communion. the stream that is to water half a continent must rise high in the lonely hills, and be fed by many a mountain rill in the solitude, and the men who are to keep the freshness of their christian zeal, and of the consecration which they will ever feel is being worn away by the attrition even of faithful service, can only renew and refresh it by resorting again to the master, and imitating him who prepared himself for a day of teaching in the temple by a night of communion on the mount of olives. further, there is here a lesson of tolerance for us all. practical men are always disposed, as i said, to force everybody else into their groove. martha is always disposed to think that mary is idle when she is 'sitting at christ's feet,' and wants to have her come into the kitchen and help her there. the eye which sees must not say to the hand which toils, nor the hand to the eye, 'i have no need of thee.' there are men who cannot think much; there are men who cannot work much. there are men whom god has chosen for diligent external service; there are men whom god has chosen for solitary retired musing; and we cannot dispense with either the one or the other. did not john bunyan do more for the world when he was shut up in bedford gaol and dreamed his dream than by all his tramping about bedfordshire, preaching to a handful of cottagers? and has not the christian literature of the prison, which includes three at least of paul's epistles, proved of the greatest service and most precious value to the church? we need all to listen to the voice which says, 'come ye apart by yourselves into a solitary place, and rest awhile.' work is good, but the foundation of work is better. activity is good, but the life which is the basis of activity is even more. there is plenty of so-called christian work to-day which i fear me is not life but mechanism; has slipped off its original foundations, and is, therefore, powerless. let us tolerate the forms of service least like our own, not seek to force other men into our paths nor seek to imitate them. let peter flame in the van, and beard high priests, and stir and fight; and let john sit in his quiet horns, caring for his lord's mother, and holding fellowship with his lord's spirit. iii. lastly, we have here the lesson of patient acquiescence in christ's undisclosed will. the error into which the brethren of the apostle fell as to the meaning of the lord's words was a very natural one, especially when taken with the commentary which john's unusually protracted life seemed to append to it. we know that that belief lingered long after the death of the apostle; and that legends, like the stories that are found in many nations of heroes that have disappeared, but are sleeping in some mountain recess, clustered round john's grave; over which the earth was for many a century believed to heave and fall with his gentle breathing. john did not know exactly what his master meant. he would not venture upon a counter-interpretation. perhaps his brethren were right, he does not know; perhaps they were wrong, he does not know. one thing he is quite sure of, that what his master said was: '_if_ i will that he tarry.' and he acquiesces quietly in the certainty that it shall be as his master wills; and, in the uncertainty what that will is, he says in effect: 'i do not know, and it does not much matter. if i am to go to find him, well! if he is to come to find me, well again! whichever way it be, i know that the patient tarrying here will lead to a closer communion hereafter, and so i leave it all in his hands.' dear brethren! that is a blessed state that you and i may come to; a state of quiet submission, not of indifference but of acquiescence in the undisclosed will of our loving christ about all matters, and about this alternative of life or death amongst the rest. the soul that has had communion with jesus christ amidst the imperfections here will be able to refer all the mysteries and problems of its future to him with unshaken confidence. for union with him carries with it the assurance of its own perpetuity, and 'in its sweetness yieldeth proof that it was born for immortality.' the psalmist learned to say, 'thou shalt afterward receive me to glory,' because he could say, 'i am continually with thee.' and in like manner we may all rise from the experience of the present to confidence in that immortal future. death with his 'abhorred shears' cuts other close ties, but their edge turns on the knot that binds the soul to its saviour. he who has felt the power of communion with the ever-living christ cannot but feel that such union must be for ever, and that because christ lives, and as long as christ lives, he will live also. therefore, to the soul thus abiding in christ that alternative of life or death which looms so large to us when we have not christ with us, will dwindle down into very small dimensions. if i live there will be work for me to do here, and his love to possess; if i die there will be work for me to do there too, and his love to possess in still more abundant measure. so it will not be difficult for such a soul to leave the decision of this as of all other things with the lord of life and death, and to lie acquiescent in his gracious hands. that calm acceptance of his will and patience with christ's '_if_' is the reward of tarrying in silent communion with him. my dear friend! has death to you dwindled to a very little thing? can you say that you are quite sure that it will not touch your truest self? are you able to leave the alternative in his hands, content with his decision and content with the uncertainty that wraps his decision? can you say, 'lord! it belongs not to my care, whether i die or live'? the answer to these questions is involved in the answer to the other:--have you trusted your sinful soul for salvation to jesus christ, and are you drawing from him a life which bears fruit in glad service and in patient communion? then it will not much matter whether you are in heaven or on earth, for in both places and states the essence of your life will be the same, your companion one, and your work identical. if it be 'christ' for me to live it will be 'gain' for me to die. end of vol. iii. 