Bible Commentaries
John

John

THIS ACCOUNT presents our Lord in the character of the Son of God. Matthew portrays Him as the Son of David and the Son of Abraham. Luke impresses us with His humanity, Mark with His service, but here we rise above these lesser glories, and learn of His divine relationship. The genealogies of Matthew and Luke are each in accord with the truth they teach, Mark needs none for the Servant, but John unveils Him as the Word before His advent in fleshly form. The keynote is struck in the first sentence. He is the Word, the Expression, the Logos. God is revealing Himself here through the medium of sound. He appeals to human ears. While this is a higher method than an appeal to power or acts, it is a much lower means than that used in this day of grace, for to us He is presented as the Image of God. He appeals to our spiritual sight. A comparison of John's ministry and Paul's for the nations is suggested by the name given to John. In recognition of His tempestuous character, the Lord calls him a "son of thunder". Paul's first meeting with the Lord was like the lightning. The light of a flash travels about a million times as fast as the thunderclap which it occasions, and perhaps a billion times as far.

No sound reaches us except from earth and even then, at no great distance. We can see stars so far from us that no human speech can more than suggest their remoteness. So then, John presents the Son of God as the Word, in His relation to the earth. Paul also presents Him as the Son of His love, but rather in relation to the celestial universe. And, high as the spiritual flights of the beloved disciple, the apostle of the nations reveals a transcendent realm of truth to which John was a stranger. He was a minister of the Circumcision, and such blessing as he doles out to the nations is entirely dependent on Israel's prior bliss. Paul bases all his blessing for the nations on Israel's previous apostasy. It is a notable fact that this account was not written until after the apostolic ministry had closed. Possibly none of the other apostles even saw it. They never used it in the period comprised by the Acts. Paul never read it. He was able to fulfill the most marvelous of all ministries without a single glance into this narrative. Indeed, his later ministries were not concerned with Christ after the flesh and it would have had but little appeal to him so far as its proclamation was concerned. Being, then, given after all present need for it was past, it undoubtedly is intended for the Israel of the future, especially in the millennia! era. Unlike the other accounts, it suggests Christ's rejection at its commencement, and soon unveils a preview of the marriage of the Lambkin which takes place during the thousand years, and gives a series of seven signs, all of which find their fulfillment in the day of Jehovah. The seven signs are specially designed to support the central thought that He is the incarnate Word. Unlike the accounts elsewhere, there is no personal contact, or action. He speaks and it is done. His word has power because of what He is. The water blushed into wine at the word of Him Who was the true Vine ( Joh_15:1 ). He not only said "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life" ( Joh_14:6 ), but could tell the courtier, "Go. Your son is living" ( Joh_4:50 ). He is the Door ( Joh_10:7 ) through which the impotent man was saved. He is the Bread ( Joh_6:35 ) that fed the five thousand ( Joh_6:5-14 ). As the Good Shepherd ( Joh_10:11 ) He seeks His sheep in the storm ( Joh_6:18 ). As the Light ( Joh_9:5 ) He opens the blind man's eyes ( Joh_9:7 ). As the Resurrection and the Life ( Joh_11:25 ) He rouses Lazarus (11) from the tomb. It is the word of "I AM" which displays its potency in the seven signs of this evangel. Briefly, the words of Christ are substantiated by a divine sign language which only those who knew the Word of God could understand.