pulses of a true brotherly love, founded upon love to Christ, and as manifesting this love in kind acts to their brethreu without respect to persons. Yet they attach no merit to their works, and are amazed to find the LORD value them so highly as to consider them done unto himself. But those whose faith is lifeless and loveless, and who rely upon their outward confessions of the LORD for their acceptance, are amazed, on the other hand, at their rejection. Never conscious of the intimate connexion between faith and love, or of genuine Christian feelings referring everything to Christ, and seeing him in all things, they cannot understand why he interprets their lack of love for the brethren into lack of love for himself. The mere fact that faith is not expressly mentioned in connexion with the judgment does not affect our view; it is taken for granted that all have already professed the faith, and the genuine believers are to be separated from the spurious.

On the whole, then, we are not to look upon this representation as a picture of the final judgment. Its aim is to set forth, most vividly and impressively, the great and fundamental truth, that no faith but that which proves itself by works can secure a title to the kingdom of Heaven. We cannot fail to see in the "throne," the "right hand," the "left hand," &c., a figurative drapery, attending and setting off the one fundamental thought. Moreover, it was not Christ's usage to speak of himself directly under the title of "King." The form of the description, then, we suppose to have been parabolical; and its character in this respect was probably still more obvious when Christ delivered it.

§ 260.-The Heathens with Christ. (John xii. 20, seq.)

Among the hosts of visiters at the feast there were not a few heathens who had come to the knowledge of Jehovah as the true GOD, and were accustomed to worship statedly at Jerusalem; perhaps proselytes of the gate. Christ's triumphal entry and ministry attracted their attention. and all that

This may be inferred from the use of åvabaivóvτwv (v. 20).

There appears to be a discrepancy between John and the other Evangelists, if the facts related by him in xii. 20, seq. took place after Christ's entry, on the same day, and if Christ retired from the public immediately after his last warning to the Jews. On this supposition time could not have been afforded for the transactions we have already introduced in this interval from the synoptical Gospels. But it is evident from John's own narrative that Christ four d many followers just after his entry, and that

they heard found a point of contact in their awakened religicus longings. Not venturing to address him personally, they sought the mediation of one of his disciples. Seeing in these individual cases a prefiguring of the great results, in the moral regeneration of mankind and the diffusion of the kingdom of GOD, that were to flow from his own sufferings, he said, "The hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified." (The man Jesus, exalted to glory in heaven by his sufferings; the glorified one, who was to reveal himself in his influences upon mankind; especially in the invisible workings of his Divine power for the spread of the Divine kingdom.) The necessity of his death is next set forth. The seed-corn "abideth alone" unless it is thrown into the earth; but when it dies, it brings forth fruit: so the Divine life, so long as Jesus remained upon earth in personal form, was confined to himself; but when the earthly shell was cast off, the way was open for the diffusion of the Divine life among all mankind. As yet the disciples themselves were wholly dependent upon his personal appearance: and, therefore, he said that He alone, as the Son of Man, was yet in possession of this Divine life. And as He was to be glorified through sufferings, so he told his disciples that the happiness and glory destined for them was to be secured only by self-denial. "He that loveth his life (makes the earthly life his chief good) shall lose it (the true life); but he that hateth his life in this world (i. e. deems it valueless in comparison with the interests of His kingdom), shall keep it unto life eternal."

this led even his enemies to be cautious. It may be inferred, therefore, that Christ made use of the great impression produced by his appearance, and did not immediately withdraw himself. The chasm in John is well filled by the other Gospels, and with matter precisely suited to the time. John's main object was to give (as he alone could) the last discourses of Jesus with his disciples; and for this reason, probably, he omitted several features of Christ's public labours. Two hypotheses are possible: (1) Christ's conversation with the Greeks took place several days after his entry, and just before the end of his public labours; thereby leaving ample space for the transactions recorded in the synoptical Gospels; (2) or it took place on the day of his entry, and was occasioned by the sensation produced by that event; leaving a few days before his retirement, in which interval the events recorded in the synoptical Gospels occurred. These John did not mention; but after giving a brief summary of Christ's final warning to the Jews, hastened on to his last discourses with the disciples.

Philip does not take at once the bold step of presenting the heathen to Christ he tells Andrew, and then oth together tell Jesus. Thus natu rally does John relate it.

§ 261.-Christ's Struggles of Soul, and Submission to the Divine Will.—The Voice from Heaven. (John xii. 27-29.)

At the same time that the great creation to proceed from bis sufferings was expanding before his eyes, the struggles of soul to which we have before alluded were renewed within him. The life of GOD in him did not exclude the uprising of human feelings, in view of the sufferings and death that lay before him, but only kept them in their proper limits. Not by unhumanizing himself, but by subordinating the human to the Divine, was he to realize the ideal of pure human virtue; he was to be a perfect example for men, even in the struggles of human weakness.

"Now is my soul troubled!" But, sorely as the terrors of his dying struggle pressed upon him, they could not shake his will, strong in GOD, or disturb the steadfast calmness of his mind. He does not, in obedience to the voice of nature, pray to be exempted from the dying hour: "I cannot say, "Father, save me from this hour; for this cause have I been brought to this hour, not to escape, but to suffer it." In full consciousness he had looked forward to it from the beginning, as essential to the fulfilment of his work. Therefore all his feelings and wishes are concentrated upon the one central aim of his whole life, that GOD may be glorified in mankind by his sufferings: "Father, glorify thy name!"

As he uttered this fervent prayer, the very breathing of unselfish holiness, there came a voice from heaven, heard by

John xii. 27. Cf. Kling, Stud. u. Krit. 1836, iii. 676.

Some interpret this account as a mythus, founded upon the Jewish idea of the Bath-Col. But the difficulties in the account are not of a nature to justify this view, or to impeach the veracity of the narrator. On the contrary, the very point on which the mythical theory seizes, viz. that in this case a natural phenomenon conveyed a special import to the religious consciousness, and the very difficulty itself of defining the relation between the subjective and the objective, tend to confirm the narrative as a statement of fact. Would the writer have said that the multitude heard only the thunder, and not the words, if he meant to describe a voice sounding in majesty amid the thunder, or a voice sounding with a noise like thunder? Certainly he would have represented it as heard by all, and thus have avoided the possible interpretation that the whole phenomenon was merely subjective. Only on the supposition that it was a real fact, related by an eye-witness, can we account for the clear distinction made by the writer between his own experience in the case and that of others, difficult as it may be for us to discover the common ground of these diverse experiences.

It is supposed by some that the Bath-Col was nothing else but a sub. jective interpretation of the Divine rice in thunder, considered as ar

the believing souls who stood by as witnesses, saying, "I have both glorified my name in thee, and will continue to glorify it." All his previous life, in which human nature had been inade the organ of the perfect manifestation of GOD in the glory of His holy law, had glorified the name of God; and now his sufferings, and their results, were more and more to glorify that Name, in the establishment of his kingdom among men. The Saviour himself, however, needed no assuranced that his prayer was accepted: "This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes."

He interpreted the voice, and showed them how God was to be glorified in him: "Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” His sufferings

omen or Divine sign of answer to prayer. Even if this theory be correct, it is clear that John did not mean to record such an omen and interpretation; he really heard the words, and the natural phenomenon must have only been a connecting link for the actual apprehension in his religious consciousness. The matter would have to be thus conceived: The impression made upon John by Christ's words, and the natural phenomena that attended them, conspired so to affect the susceptible by-standers, that the word of God within them re-echoed the words of Christ. They were assured that His prayer was answered; receiving, in fact, the same impression as that reported in the narrative, though in a different form. And, as the natural phenomenon coincided with the inward operation of the Divine Spirit-a word from the Omnipresent God, who works alike in nature and in spirit-so Christ, who knew that His work was the Father's, and always recognized God's omnipresent working, both in nature and in the hearts of men, allowed it to be interpreted as a voice from Heaven.

But the conception of the Bath-Col, on which this whole interpretation is founded, cannot be sustained. In the Rabbinical passages collected by Meuschen and Vitringa there are no traces of it: they interpret the BathCol as a real voice, accompanied by thunder. In the Old Testament, thunder often appears as a sign, indeed, but as a sign of God's anger or majesty, not of his grace. Still there are difficulties in the way of supposing that in the case before us this voice was audible simply to the senses. In every place in the New Testament in which such a voice is mentioned, it can be traced back to an inward fact; and, in the case in question, the voice was heard only by a part, the susceptible minds. The hearing, then, depended upon the spiritual condition of the hearer.

Two points are clearly obvious: (1) there was thunder, and this alor.e was heard by the unsusceptible multitude; (2) there was a voice from God, heard by the susceptible; and these last, again, lost to outward and sen sible impressions, did not hear the thunder.

In my view of this event, agree for the most part (and gladly) with my worthy friend Kling; and I agree with him, also, that it is better to acknowledge the existence of inexplicable difficulties, than to twist the text and history, in order to carry out some theory which may suit ou ow: notions (Stud. u. Krit. 1ɔc. cit. 676, 677). d Cf. p. 377.

are his triumph. He finishes his work in them; and they form the sentence of condemnation to the ungodly world. The baselessness of Satan's kingdom is laid bare. The Evil One is cast down from his throne among men. And Christ's triumph will still go forward; the power of evil will be more and more diminished; and the Glorified One will not only free his fullowers from that evil power, but will exalt them to communion with himself in heaven.

§ 262.-Christ closes his Public Ministry.-Final Words of Warning to the Multitude.

The public ministry of Jesus was closed with these warning words addressed to the assembled multitude: "Yet a little while is the light with you; walk while ye have the light (receive it by faith, and become, by communion with it, children of the light), lest darkness come upon you (lest, lost in darkness, ye hasten headlong to your own destruction); for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.'

§ 263.-Machinations of Christ's Enemies.

The few hours that intervened between the end of Christ's public ministry and his arrest were devoted to instructing and comforting his disciples in view of his approaching departure, and the severe conflicts they were to undergo. In these conversations he displayed all his heavenly love and calmness of soul; his loftiness and his humility. In order that our contemplation of these sweet scenes may not be interrupted, we shall, before entering upon them, glance at the machinations of his enemies which brought about his capture and his death.

As we have seen, the Sanhedrim had resolved upon his death; all that remained was to decide how and when it should be brought about. The time of the feast itself would have been unpropitious for the attempt;e it must be made, there

e Matt. xxvi. 5, implies that Jesus was arrested before the commencement of the Jewish Passover. I do not see the justice of Weisse's (i. 444) assertion, that this view of the passage is opposed to its natural sense. The passage certainly implies (what is most important for my purpose) that he was not apprehended on the feast-day; whether before or after is left undecided. But this information is not sufficient to show an inaccuracy in the chronology of the first three Gospels. For we might suppose that the Sanhedrim were led, by the opportunity afforded by the treachery of Judas, to seize Jesus quietly at night, abandoning their original design. 't would therefore follow, at any rate, that they had not decided to effect heir purpose during the feast; and they may have made up their minds to wait until its close, when the unexpected proposition of Judas led them to attempt it during the feast. But it is not probable that they would