Imatges de pàgina
PDF
EPUB

LECTURE V.

JOHN xvii. 3.

And this is life eternal; that they might know thee, the only true God; and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.

THE plan of God's mercy to mankind was one of those secrets of the divine government, into which even the angels might desire to look. Intimations of its nature and extent were at sundry times, and in divers manners, as the Apostle says, conveyed to mankind by the prophets; but it was not disclosed in all its important features, till it had been completed by the death of the Redeemer. Even the Apostles, the constant friends and followers of Christ, did not fully understand the vastness of the divine mercy, nor the means, by which it was to be conferred upon mankind, till the covenant of grace was sealed with the blood of the Mediator, and the promise of the Comforter

[ocr errors]

fulfilled by the descent of the Holy Ghost. How little appearance was exhibited by the Saviour of the world during his abode upon earth, of that exalted nature which alone could impart an adequate worthiness to the sacrifice about to be offered by him for the sins of the whole world! But this was the trial of men's faith. Jesus displayed sufficient proofs of his divine mission: A Pharisee confessed, we know that no man can do the things which thou doest, except God be with him.* It was therefore the part of reasonable men, and sincere lovers of truth, to commit themselves to his guidance; and to wait patiently for a knowledge of the plan of redemption, till he should think fit to impart it. This is the line of conduct which the Apostles pursued; and our Lord commended them for it, in that beautiful address to his heavenly Father, which is contained in the seventeenth chapter of St. John; I have manifested thy name to 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 * John iii. 2.

me; and they have received them, and have

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. Our Saviour here declares, that his Apostles were fully convinced of his being indeed the Messiah. This was the extent of their knowledge, and of their faith, at that period. They were to be endowed with a more perfect apprehension of the things concerning the Gospel covenant, upon receiving from on high the promised gift of the Spirit. In the mean time it was sufficient, for the purposes of proving their sincerity, and of securing their fidelity, if they were assured that Jesus was the Christ. Many things there were, relating to the great mystery of godliness, which they were not qualified to hear, till the season of their Lord's humiliation should be past. Our Saviour told them, I have yet many things to say unto you; but ye cannot bear them now.* But after his resurrection, during the forty days which he spent in the company of his disciples, he spake to them of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God; that is, relating to the Christian dispensation.

[ocr errors]

* John xvi. 12.

† Acts i. 3.

In his character of Messiah, as sent by the Father into the world, he offered up a prayer at the same time for his own glorification, and for the perseverance and final recompense of the Apostles: Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee.* Our Saviour, in his human nature, prays to the Father for the instruction and comfort of his disciples, in words, which at once express his humiliation, as the Son of Man, and his participation in the divine glory. The effect, for which he prayed, was to be reciprocal; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee. This is not the language of a creature to his Creator.

[ocr errors]

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 eternal life, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.

[ocr errors]

By those who deny the divinity of Christ, this passage has always been considered one of their strong-holds. We are desired to "observe, that there is but one true God, and that Jesus Christ is expressly excluded from being that true God, and contradistinguished from him as his messenger."

* John xvi. 1.

Y

That there is but one true God, we admit, and assert, as fully and unequivocally as these interpreters themselves: that there is any thing in this, or any other text of Scripture, which expressly excludes Jesus Christ from being that true God, we deny. There is no contradistinction in this passage between God, and Christ; but between the one true God, and the false gods of the heathens; this is apparent from the use of the epithet true, which has no force at all, as a mark of contradistinction, except as opposed to false. It is here applied, as it is by St. Paul, and how ye turned from IDOLS to serve the living and TRUE God.*

So far are our Saviour's words from containing a plain contradistinction between God and Christ, as to their nature, that the knowledge of Christ is put upon a level with the knowledge of God. The only distinction, which really is made, is between the Father, who sent his only-begotten Son into the world, and the Son, in his character of Messiah, who was so sent. The true meaning of the passage, both as to the knowledge of which it speaks, and the objects of that knowledge, is illustrated by the following words of St. John, in the conclusion of his first Epistle; * 1 Thess. i. 9.

« AnteriorContinua »