Expositor's Bible: The Epistles of St. John Part 10

[144] John iii, 24, 25.

[145] Those who are perplexed by the ident.i.ty in style and turn of language between the Epistle and the discourse of our Lord in St.

John's Gospel may be referred to the writer's remarks in _The Speakers Commentary_ (N. T. iv. 286-89). It should be added that the Epp. to the Seven Churches (Apoc. ii., iii.)--especially to Sardis--interweave sayings of Jesus recorded by the Synoptical evangelists, _e.g._, "as a thief," Apoc. iii. 3, cf. Mark xiii. 37; "book of life," Apoc. iii. 5, cf. Luke x. 20; "confessing a name," Apoc. iii. 5, cf. Matt. x. 32; "He that hath an ear," Apoc. iii. 6, 13, 22, and ii. 7, 11, 17, 29.

This phrase, found in each of the seven Epp., occurs nowhere in the fourth Gospel, but constantly in the Synoptics. Cf. Matt. x. 27, xi.

15, xiii. 19, 43; Mark iv. 9, 23, vii. 16; Luke viii. 8, xiv. 35; cf.

also "giving power over the nations," Apoc. ii. 26--with the conception in Matt. xix. 28; Luke xxii. 29, 30. The word _repentance_ is nowhere in the fourth Gospel, nor given as part of our Lord's teaching; but we find it Apoc. ii. 5, 16, iii. 3, 19. If the author of the fourth Gospel was also the author of the Apocalypse, his choice of the style which he attributes to the Saviour was at least decided by no lack of knowledge of the Synoptical type of expression, and by no incapacity to use it with freedom and power.

[146] John xi. 16.

[147]

"Qui me suit, aux anges est pareil.

Quand un homme a marche tout le jour au soleil Dans un chemin sans puits et sans hotellerie, S'il ne croit pas quand vient le soir il pleure, il crie, Il est las; sur la terre il tombe haletant.

S'il croit en moi, qu'il prie, il peut au meme instant.

Continuer sa route avec des forces triples."

(_Le Christ et le Tombeau._) Tom. i. 44.

[148] King Henry VIII., Act 2, Sc. 1. Contrast again our Lord before the council with St. Paul before that tribunal. In the case of one of the chief of saints there is the touch of human infirmity, the "something spoken in choler, ill and hasty," the angry and contemptuous "whited wall"--the confession of hasty inconsiderateness (??? ?de??--?t? est?? a???e?e??) which led to a violation of a precept of the law (Exod. xxii. 28).

[149] Preface to _Ivanhoe_.

[150] _How_ the great sayings were accurately collected has not been the question before us in this discourse. But it presents little difficulty. It is not absurd to suppose (if we are required to postulate no divine a.s.sistance) that notes may have been taken in some form by certain members of the company of disciples. The profoundly thoughtful remark of Irenaeus upon his own unfailing recollection of early lessons from Polycarp, would apply with indefinitely greater force to such a pupil as John, of such a teacher as Jesus. "I can thoroughly recollect things so far back better than those which have lately occurred; for lessons which have grown with us since boyhood are compacted into a unity with the very soul itself." (t? ????

?????ta? a?t?) _Euseb._, v. 29. But above all, whatever subordinate agency may have been employed in the preservation of those precious words, every Christian reverently acknowledges the fulfilment of the Saviour's promise--"The Comforter, the Holy Ghost, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance _whatsoever I have said unto you_" (John xiv. 26).

[151] Duc de Broglie. _Revue des deux Mondes._ 15 Jan. 1882. c.o.xe, _House of Austria_, vol. iii., chap. xcix., p. 415, sqq.

[152] John xiii. 30, xi. 35, xix. 5, xxii. 29-35.

SECTION II.

GREEK. LATIN.

?a? a?t? est?? ? Et haec est adnuntiatio a??e??a ?? a????ae? quam audivimus ap' a?t??, ?a? ab eo, et adnuntiamus a?a??e???e? ???, ?t? vobis, quoniam Deus ? Te?? f?? est??, ?a? lux est, et tenebrae in s??t?a e? a?t? ??? est?? eo non sunt ullae. Si ??de?a. ea? e?p?e? dixerimus quoniam societatem ?t? ???????a? e??e? et' habemus c.u.m a?t??, ?a? e? t? s??te? eo et in tenebris ambulamus, pe??pat?e?, ?e?d?e?a, mentimur, et ?a? ?? p????e? t?? non facimus veritatem: a???e?a?? ea? de e? si autem in luce ambulamus t? f?t? pe??pat?e?, sicut et ipse ?? a?t?? est?? e? est in luce, societatem t? f?t?, ???????a? e??e? habemus ad invicem, et' a??????, ?a? et sanguis Iesu Christi, t? a?a ??s?? t?? Filii eius, mundat nos ???? a?t?? ?a?a???e? omni peccato. Si ?a? ap? pas?? ?a?t?a?. dixerimus quoniam ?a? e?p?e? ?t? peccatum non habemus, ?a?t?a? ??? e??e?, ipsi nos seducimus, ?a?t??? p?a??e?, ?a? et veritas in n.o.bis ? a???e?a e? ??? ??? non est. Si confiteamur est??. ea? ??????e? peccata nostra, ta? ?a?t?a? ???, fidelis et justus est, p?st?? est? ?a? d??a???, ut remittat n.o.bis peccata ??a ?f? ??? ta? nostra, et emundet ?a?t?a?, ?a? ?a?a??s? nos ab omni iniquitate.

?a? ap? pas?? ad???a?. Si dixerimus ea? e?p?e? ?t? ??? quoniam non peccavimus, ?a?t??ae?, ?e?st?? mendacem faciemus p????e? a?t??, ?a? ? eum, et verb.u.m ????? a?t?? ??? est?? e? eius in n.o.bis non est.

???. Filioli mei, haec scribo vobis, ut non peccetis: ?e???a ??, ta?ta sed et si quis peccaverit ??af? ???, ??a ? advocatum habemus ?a?t?te? ?a? ea? t?? apud Patrem, Iesum ?a?t?, pa?a???t?? Christum iustum et e??e? p??? t?? pate?a, ipse est propitiatio pro ??s??? ???st?? d??a???? peccatis nostris, non ?a? a?t?? ??as?? est? pro nostris autem tantum pe?? t?? ?a?t??? ???? sed etiam pro ?? pe?? t?? ?ete??? totius mundi.

de ????, a??a ?a? pe??

???? t?? ??s??.

AUTHORISED VERSION. REVISED VERSION.

This then is the message And this is the message which we have which we have heard of Him, and declare heard from Him, and unto you, that announce unto you, G.o.d is light, and in that G.o.d is light, and Him is no darkness at _in_ Him is _no darkness_ all. If we say that we at all. If we say that have fellowship with we have fellowship Him, and walk in darkness, with him, and walk in we lie, and do not the darkness, we lie, and the truth: but if we do not the truth: but walk in the light, as if we walk in the light, He is in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one we have fellowship one with another, and the with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ blood of Jesus His Son His Son cleanseth us cleanseth us from all from all sin. If we say sin. If we say that that we have no sin, we have no sin, we we deceive ourselves, deceive ourselves, and and the truth is not in the truth is not in us.

us. If we confess our If we confess our sins, He is faithful and sins He is faithful and just to forgive us _our_ righteous to forgive us sins, and to cleanse us our sins, and to cleanse from all unrighteousness. us from all unrighteousness.

If we say that If we say that we have not sinned, we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in and His word is not in us. My little children, us. My little children, these things write I these things write I unto you, that ye sin unto you, that ye may not. But if any man not sin. And if any sin, we have an man sin, we have advocate with the an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and He the righteous: and He is the propitiation for is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our sins; and not for our's only, but also for ours only, but also for _the sins of_ the whole the whole world.

world.

ANOTHER VERSION.

And this is the message which we have heard from Him and are announcing unto you that G.o.d is light, and darkness in Him there is none. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and are walking in the darkness, we lie and are not doing the truth; but if we walk in the light as He is in the light we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus His Son is purifying us from all sin. If we say that we have not sin, we mislead ourselves and the truth in us is not. If we confess our sins He is faithful and righteous that He may forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

If we say that we have not sinned a liar we are making Him, and His word is not in us. My children these things write I unto you that ye may not sin. And yet if any may have sinned, an Advocate have we with the Father Jesus Christ _who is_ righteous: and He is propitiation for our sins; yea, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

DISCOURSE III.

_EXTENT OF THE ATONEMENT._

"My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."--1 JOHN ii. 1, 2.

Of the Incarnation of the Word, of the whole previous strain of solemn oracular annunciation, there are two great objects. Rightly understood it at once stimulates and soothes; it supplies inducements to holiness, and yet quiets the accusing heart. (1) It urges to a pervading holiness in each recurring circ.u.mstance of life.[153] "That ye may not sin" is the bold universal language of the morality of G.o.d.

Men only understand moral teaching when it comes with a series of monographs on the virtues, sobriety, chast.i.ty, and the rest.

Christianity does not overlook these, but it comes first with all-inclusive principles. The morality of man is like the sculptor working line by line and part by part, partially and successively. The morality of G.o.d is like nature, and works in every part of the flower and tree with a sort of ubiquitous presence. "These things write we unto you." No dead letter--a living spirit infuses the lines; there is a deathless principle behind the words which will vitalize and permeate all isolated relations and developments of conduct. "These things write we unto you that ye may not sin."

(2) But further, this announcement also soothes. There may be isolated acts of sin against the whole tenor of the higher and n.o.bler life.

There may be, G.o.d forbid!--but it may be--some glaring act of inconsistency. In this case the Apostle uses a form of expression which includes himself, "we have," and yet points to Christ, not to himself, "we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ"--and that in view of His being One who is perfectly and simply righteous; "and He is the propitiation for our sins."

Then, as if suddenly fired by a great thought, St. John's view broadens over the whole world beyond the limits of the comparatively little group of believers whom his words at that time could reach. The Incarnation and Atonement have been before his soul. The Catholic Church is the correlative of the first, humanity of the second. The Paraclete whom he beheld is ever in relation with, ever turned towards the Father.[154]

His propitiation _is_, and He _is_ it. It _was_ not simply a fact in history which works on with unexhaustible force. As the Advocate is ever turned towards the Father, so the propitiation lives on with unexhausted life. His intercession is not verbal, temporary, interrupted. The Church, in her best days, never prayed--"Jesus, pray for me!" It is interpretative, continuous, unbroken. In time it is eternally valid, eternally present. In s.p.a.ce it extends as far as human need, and therefore takes in every place. "Not for our sins only," but for men universally, "for the whole world."[155]

It is implied then in this pa.s.sage, that Christ was _intended_ as a propitiation for the whole world; and that He is _fitted_ for satisfying all human wants.

(1) Christ was intended for the whole world. Let us see the Divine intention in one incident of the crucifixion. In that are mingling lines of glory and of humiliation. The King of humanity appears with a scarlet camp-mantle flung contemptuously over His shoulders; but to the eye of faith it is the purple of empire. He is crowned with the acanthus wreath; but the wreath of mockery is the royalty of our race. He is crucified between two thieves; but His cross is a Judgment-Throne, and at His right hand and His left are the two separated worlds of belief and unbelief. All the Evangelists tell us that a superscription, a t.i.tle of accusation, was written over His cross; two of them add that it was written over Him "in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew" (or in Hebrew, Greek, Latin). In Hebrew--the sacred tongue of patriarchs and seers, of the nation all whose members were in idea and destination those of whom G.o.d said, "My prophets." In Greek--the "musical and golden tongue which gave a soul to the objects of sense and a body to the abstractions of philosophy;" the language of a people whose mission it was to give a principle of fermentation to all races of mankind, susceptible of those subtle and largely indefinable influences which are called collectively Progress. In Latin--the dialect of a people originally the strongest of all the sons of men. The three languages represent the three races and their ideas--revelation, art, literature; progress, war, and jurisprudence. Beneath the t.i.tle is the thorn-crowned head of the ideal King of humanity.

Wherever these three tendencies of the human race exist, wherever annunciation can be made in human language, wherever there is a heart to sin, a tongue to speak, an eye to read, the cross has a message.

The superscription, "written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin," is the historical symbol translated into its dogmatic form by St. John--"He is the propitiation[156] for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world."

FOOTNOTES:

[153] Observe in the Greek the ? ?a?t?te, which refers to single acts, not to a continuous state--"that _ye may not sin_."

[154] 1 John ii. 2. As a translation, "towards" seems too pedantic; yet p??? is _ad-versus_ rather than _apud_, and with the accusative signifies either the direction of motion, or the relation between two objects. (Donaldson, _Greek Grammar_, 524). We may fittingly call the preposition here p??? _pictorial_.

[155] The various meanings of ??s?? are fully traced below on 1 John ii. 17. There is one point in which the notions of ??s?? and a???

intersect. But they may be thus distinguished. The first signifies the world projected in _s.p.a.ce_, the second in _time_. The supposition that the form of expression at the close of our verse is elliptical, and to be filled up by the repet.i.tion of "for the sins of the whole world"

"is not justified by usage, and weakens the force of the pa.s.sage."

(_Epistles of St. John_, Westcott, p. 44.)

[156] As to doctrine. There are three "grand circles" or "families of images" whereby Scripture approaches from different quarters, or surveys from different sides, the benefits of our Lord's meritorious death.

These are represented by, are summed up in, three words--ap???t??s??, ?ata??a??, ??as??. The last is found in the text and in iv. 10; nowhere else precisely in that form in the New Testament. "??as?? (expiation or propitiation) and ap???t??s?? (redemption) is fundamentally one single benefit, _i.e._, the rest.i.tution of the lost sinner. ?p???t??s?? is in respect of _enemies_; ?ata??a?? in respect of _G.o.d_. And here again the words ??as. and ?ata??. differ. _Propitiation_ takes away offences as against _G.o.d_. _Reconciliation_ has two sides. It takes away (_a_) G.o.d's _indignation_ against _us_, 2 Cor. v. 18, 19; (_b_) _our alienation_ from _G.o.d_, 2 Cor. v. 20." (Bengel on Rom. iii. 24. Whoever would rightly understand all that we can know on these great words must study _New Testament Synonyms, Archbp. Trench_, pp. 276-82.)