cordingly, for he made them no anfwer. Perhaps there were in this woman's cafe, fome circumftances tending to alleviate her guilt, fuch as her past innocence known to Jefus, her present repentance which he could eafily discern, and the ftrength of the temptations by which fhe had been hurried into the fin. There may have been fomething likewife in her accufers characters, well known to him, which made it proper for them to defift from the profecution. Alfo Jefus might now, as on other occafions, decline affuming the character and office of a civil magistrate. Lastly, the perfons who demanded his opinion, were by no means the judges to whom the execution of the law was committed, but Pharifees who at bottom were grofs hypocrites, notwithstanding they profeffed the greatest concern for the honour of the divine law. Whatever was the reason, Jefus did not encourage this profecution. But Jefus flooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not, or had not been attending to what they faid; for to write on the ground is the action of one, who being wholly wrapt up in his own thoughts, does not take notice of any thing that paffes without. 7. So when they continued asking him, i. e, preffed him to give an anfwer, be lift up bimself, and faid unto them, in allufion to the law, Deut. xvii. 7. which ordered that the hands of the witneffes, by whofe teftimony an idolater was convicted, fhould be firft upon him, and afterwards the hands of all the people: He that is without fi among you, let him first cast a stone at her. His meaning was, that perfons exceedingly zealous in getting punishment executed on others, ought to be free themfelves, at leaft from grofs fins; for which caufe, as you are all guilty of equal or greater, or, it may be, the like offences, and deferve the damnation of God, ye fhould fhew mercy to this finner, who may have fallen through the ftrength of temptation, rather than of evil inclination, and who is now truly forry for her offence. Our Lord's words made fuch an impreffion on the minds of these hypocrites, and raised in them fuch strong convictions of fin, as foon put their zeal to fhame, and made them afraid to ftay, left Jefus might have made their particular fins public. John viii. 8. And again be stooped down, and wrote on the ground, giving them an opportunity to withdraw, which they embraced. 9. And they. which beard it, being convicted by their own confcience, that is, their confcience fmiting them with remorfe, because they at fome time or other of their lives had been guilty of the very fin for * which Ver. 7. He that is without fin, &c.] Bede, Fabricius, Wolf, and others, are of opinion, that there were the words which Jefus wrote on the ground; but the defcription which the evangelift gives of that action, does not agree with this conjecture, for he fays, Jefus wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not; which could not so properly have teen fand of him, had he wrote an answer to their queftion. which they proposed to have this woman ftoned, went out one by one, beginning at the eldeft, even unto the laft: and this they did although when they first came they had been exceedingly incenfed against her. The woman's accufers being all fled, Jefus told her, that fince none of them had doomed her to the punishment of death which the deferved, or rather, fince none of them had executed that punishment on her, neither would he; withal, he advised her to beware of the like fin for the future, and fo difmiffed her, very glad no doubt of having escaped ftoning, the death she had been dreading the moment before 10. When Fefus lift up himself, and faw none but the woman, be faid unto her, Woman, where are thofe thine accufers? + bath no man condemned thee? Hath no man punished thee in cafting the first stone at thee? 11. She faid, No man, Lord. And Jefus faid unto her, Neither do I condemn thee, I do not order that thou shouldest be now punished, go and fin no more : Though I do not order thee to be punished at this time, thou must not think that I approve of thy conduct. Thou haft committed a great fin, and I charge thea to beware of committing it any more. In this tranfaction Jefus appears unspeakably great, having displayed on the occafion a degree of wisdom, and knowledge, and power, and goodness, vaftly more than human. His wildom he fhewed in defending himself against the malicious attacks of his enemies; his knowledge, in difcovering the invifible state of their mind; his power, in making use of their own fecret thoughts and convictions to disappoint their crafty intentions; and his goodnefs in pitying, and not punishing inftantly, one who had been guilty of an atrocious act of wickednefs. Wherefore it was with fingular propriety, that after this remarkable decision, addreffing himself to his difciples and the multitude, he called himfelf the light of the world, in allufion either to Mal. iv. 2. where Meffiah is foretold under the name of the Sun of righteousness, or to the bright shining of the fun that morning. John viii. 12. Then Spake Jefus again unto them, faying, I am the light of the world: * Ver. 9. Beginning at the eldest, even unto the lafl] aęžαuevos año тwr πρεσβυτέρων έως των εσχάτων. This Keuchenius interprets, beginning at the moft honourable, even unto the loweft of them." Ver. 10. Hath no man condemned thee?] That is, hath no man punished thee? For, as the critics obferve, xgvw and xaranga are frequently used in the sense of chaflifing and punishing. LXX. Gen. xv. 4. 2 Chron. xx. 11. Pfal. ix 20. Acts vii. 7. Heb. xiii. 4. The paragraph in the text which contains the hiftory of the adulterefs, is wanting in many MSS. But as Auguftine long ago rightly conjectured, De adulterinis conjugiis, lib. ii. cap. 7. it was dropped, for fear the ignorant vulgar might have taken occafion from it, to think lightly of fins againft the marriage-bed. Nevertheless, if it is rightly understood, and especially if the charge with which our Lord difmiffed this adultere fs is attended to, it will fhew us that adultery is an heinous offence, an offence which Jefus is fo far from approving, that he has openly and exprefsly condemned it. world: I am the spiritual fun that difpels the darkness of ignorancé and fuperftition, with which the minds of men are overcaft; for by my doctrine and example, I fhew clearly everywhere, the will of God and the way of falvation. But he likened himself to the great luminary of the day, with this express difference, that he never leaves those in darkness who walk by his light, as the fun does travellers, when he fets and occafions the darkness of night. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. 13. The Pharifees therefore faid unto him, Thou beareft record of thyself; thy record is not true: thou art a vain-glorious boafter, and therefore muft certainly be a deceiver; alluding perhaps to what he had faid, chap. vii. 18. 14. Jefus answered and faid 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 Į come, and whither I go: though I call myself the light of the world, ye are not to imagine that I do it from a spirit of pride and falfehood. I gave myself the title for no other reason but because it truly belongs to me; and that it does fo you yourselves would acknowledge, if you knew as well as I do, by what authority I act, for what end I am come, and to whom I must return, after I have executed my commiffion. But these things you are entirely ignorant of; nor can it be otherwife in regard that-15. Te judge after the flesh, I judge no man: Ye judge of me according to outward appearances, and condemn me for this, among other things, that I judge no man. You think that I cannot be the Meffiah, because I do not deftroy those who oppofe me, as you imagine the Meffiah will do; but in this you are altogether mistaken, for the defign of the Meffiah's coming is not to deftroy but to fave mankind. At the fame time he told them, that if he should condemn any perfon for unbelief, the condemnation of such would be just, because his mission was true, being confirmed not by his own teftimony only, but by the Father's alfo; and because every sentence of that kind which he fhould pafs, would be pronounced by the authority, and agreeably to the will of his Father. 16. And yet if I judge, my judg ment is true, i. e. juft, equitable; for I am not alone, but I and the Father that fent me This led him to speak of the testimony which the Father bare to his miffion. 17. It is alfo written in your law, that the teftimony of two men is true: You could not justly complain, if I fhould punish you for your unbelief in fuch a cafe as this, fince your own law directs you to believe every matter that is confirmed by the concurring teftimony of two witneffes, as my miffion evidently is. For, 18. I am one that bear witness of myself, not by words only, but by all the actions of my life, which are perfectly agreeable to the character of a messenger from heaven: and the Father that fent me beareth witness witness of me, by the miracles which he has enabled me to perform, (fee on John v. 32. 36. § 45.) fo that you are altogether culpable in rejecting me. John viii. 19. Then faid they unto bim, Where is thy Father, the other witnefs to whom thou appealeft? Jefus answered, It plainly appears by your conduct, that ye neither know me, nor my Father; for if ye had known me, ye fhould have known my Father alfo: If ye had any juft notion of me, ye fhould have known who it is that I call my Father; that is to fay, if you knew me to be the Meffiah, you would know that my Father is God. 20 Thefe words pake Fefus in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; and no man. laid bands on him, for his bour was not yet come. The treasury was that part of the womens court where the chefts were placed for receiving the offerings of those who came to worship, (fee on Mark xii. 41. § 122.) and confequently was a place of great concourse, being reforted unto even by the priests and rulers. Wherefore the evangelift's remark, that the preceding converfation happened in the treasury, gives us a notion of our Lord's intrepidity; though he was in the midst of his enemies, he spake boldly, not fearing them in the leaft. It seems the providence of God to overruled the fpirits of thefe wicked men, that none of them attempted to feize Jefus, because the time of his fufferings was not yet come. John viii. 21. Then faid Fefus again unto them, probably in the treasury, where the preceding difcourfe was pronounced, I go my way, and ye shall feek me, and shall die in your fins; whither I go, ye cannot come. He had faid this to them in a former difcourfe, (chap. vii. 34. § 76.) and repeated it now, that it might make the deeper impreffion upon them. He meant, that after his afcenfion into heaven, when the Roman armies were fpreading defolation and death in every corner of the land, they would earnestly defire the coming of Meffiah, in expectation of deliverance, but fhould die for their fins, and under the guilt of them, without any faviour whatfoever, and be excluded for ever from heaven. Perhaps in this our Lord oppofed a common error of the Jews, who imagined, that by death they made atonement *for all their fins. 22. Then faid the Jews, Will be kill himself? becaufe be faith, Whither I go, ye cannot come. 23. And be faid unto them, Ye are from below, I am from above; ye are of this world, I am not of this world: Such a vile infinuation evidently fhews what fort of perfons ye are and from whence you have derived your original, Being from the earth, ye are obnoxious to all the evil paffions wherewith human nature is infested; and from what you feel in yourfelves, you fancy that I am capable of murdering myself. But your thought is foolish, as is evident from this, that being actuated by no evil paffion, I cannot have the leaft temptation to commit fo grofs an act of wickedness. My 425 My extraction is heavenly, and my mind pure; and therefore I cannot be guilty of felf-murder, or of any other fin whatever. 24. I faid therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your fins: becaufe ye are from below, and are full of evil inclinations, they will hinder you from believing; which is the reason that I faid you shall die in your fins, and be your own murderers: *for if ye believe not that I am be, ye ball die in your fins if you do not believe that I am the bread of life, the heavenly manna, the light of the world, the Meffiah, ye shall die in your fins. What followed, fhews this to have been our Lord's meaning, though he did not exprefs himself fully, having handled these matters before at great length in this and other difcourfes. John viii. 25. Then faid they unto him, Who art thou? They had already asked where his Father was, verse 19. they now demand to know what fort of perfon he was himself. Jefus faith unto them, Even the fame that I faid unto you from the beginning. 26. İ bave many things to fay and to judge of you; but he that fent me is true, and I Speak to the world thofe things which I have beard of bim. On fuppofition that this is the proper translation of the paffage, our Lord's meaning was, I am that which I said to you at the beginning of this difcourfe, viz. the light of the world. But according to the tranflation mentioned in the note, the meaning is, Because I have long exercised my ministry among you, and ye have not profited thereby as ye ought to have done, I have many reproofs to give you, and a fevere fentence of condemnation to pafs upon you; nevertheless, I fall wave them all at prefent, and tell you only one thing, that you may think upon it seriously, namely, that he who fent me is truth and goodness itself, and that I fpeak to the world nothing but what I have received from him, however dark or difagreeable these things may be to perfons of your wicked difpofitions. Accordingly, fuch was their ftupidity, that they did not understand he was speaking to them of God. 27. They understood not that he spake to them of the Father. 28. Then faid Jefus unto them, When ye bave lift up the Son of Man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father bath taught me, I speak these things: When ye have crucified me, ye shall VOL. II. Cc know Ver 24. For if ye believe not that I am he, &c.] Le Clerc propofes the following tranflation of this claufe: Unless ye believe me to be that which Lam, dividing the word d after this manner,, as it is verfe 25. But the common reading is more agreeable to the scope of the discourse. + Ver. 25. Jefus faith unto them, &c.] Kaι Hey autois o Inous Tav aç. χεν ό, τι και λαλῳ υμίν. Πολλα εχω περι ὑμῶν λαλειν και κρίνειν. Raphemas (Ex. Herod. p. 291:) would have this fentence pointed in fuch a manner as to give this tranflation: Truly, becaufe I am speaking to you. I bave many things to fay and judge concerning you. For, as Glaffas, Hottinger, Fabricius, &c. have observed, tw agx", in the Greek, frequently figuifies (prorfus, omnino) indeed, truly. |