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on the nature and

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CCI. S.

CHAP. III.

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necessity of the new birth.

14 An. Olymp. serpent in the wilderness, even so b must the Son of man be lifted up; 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

And as Moses lifted up the || 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

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17 For God sent not his Son into the world

a Numb. 21. 9. ch. 8. 28. & 12. 32. ver. 36. ch. 6. 47.

Rom. 5. 8. 1 John 4. 9.- - Luke 9. 56. ch. 5. 45. & 8. 15. & 12. 47. 1 John 4. 14.

to heaven, in order to get the Law. It is not Moses who is to be heard now, but Jesus: Moses did not ascend to heaven; but the Son of man is come down from heaven to reveal the divine will.

That came down] The incarnation of Christ is represented under the notion of his coming down from heaven, to dwell upon earth.

Which is in heaven.] Lest a wrong meaning should be taken from the foregoing expression, and it should be imagined that in order to manifest himself upon earth, he must necessarily leave heaven; our blessed Lord qualifies it by adding, the Son of man who is in heaven: pointing out by this, the ubiquity or omnipresence of his nature: a character essentially belonging to God; for no being can possibly exist in more places than one at a time, but HE who fills the heavens and the earth.

Verse 14. As Moses lifted up] He shews the reason why he descended from heaven, that he might be lifted up, i. e. crucified for the salvation of mankind; and be, by the appointment of God, as certain a remedy for sinful souls, as the brazen serpent elevated on a pole, Numb. xxi. 9. was for the bodies of the Israelites, which had been bitten by the fiery serpents in the wilderness. It does not appear to me, that the brazen serpent was ever intended to be considered as a type of Christ. It is possible to draw likenesses and resemblances out of any thing: but in such matters as these, we should take heed that we go no farther than we can say, Thus it is written. Among the Jews, the brazen serpent was considered a type of the resurrection-through it the dying lived and so by the voice of God, they that were dead shall be raised to life. As the serpent was raised up, so shall Christ be lifted up: as they who were stung by the fiery serpents, were restored by looking up to the brazen serpent: so those who are infected with, and dying through sin, are healed and || saved by looking up to, and believing in Christ crucified. These are all the analogies which we can legitimately trace, between the lifting up of the brazen serpent, and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The lifting up of the Son of man, may refer to his mediatorial office at the right hand of God. See the note on Numb. xxi. 9.

Verse 15. That whosoever believeth] Bp. Pearce supposes that this verse is only the conclusion of the 16th, and that it has been inserted in this place by mistake. The words contain the reason of the subject in the following verse, and seem to break

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in upon our Lord's argument, before he had fully stated it. The words, un añoλntai aħha, may not perish but, are omitted by some very ancient MSS. aud Versions.

Verse 16. For God so loved the world] Such a love as that which induced God to give his only begotten Son to die for the world, could not be described :--Jesus Christ does not attempt it. He has put an eternity of meaning in the particle ourw, so, and left a subject for everlasting contemplation, wonder, and praise, to angels and to men. The same Evangelist uses a similar mode of expression, 1 Epist. iii. 1. Behold, WHAT MANNER of love, motапny ayun, the Father hath bestowed upon us.

From the subject before him, let the Reader attend to the following particulars.

First, The world was in a ruinous condemned state, about to perish everlastingly; and was utterly without power to rescue itself from destruction.

Secondly, That God, through the impulse of his eternal love, provided for its rescue and salvation, by giving his Son to die for it.

Thirdly, That the sacrifice of Jesus was the only mean by which the redemption of man could be effected, and that it is absolutely sufficient to accomplish this gracious design: for it would have been inconsistent with the wisdom of God, to have appointed a sacrifice, greater in itself, or less in its merit, than what the urgent necessities of the case required.

Fourthly, That sin must be an indescribable evil, when it required no less a sacrifice to make atonement for it, than God manifested in the flesh.

Fifthly, That no man is saved through this sacrifice, but he that believes, i. e. who credits what God has spoken concerning Christ, his sacrifice, the end for which it was offered, and the way in which it is to be applied, in order to become effectual.

Sixthly, That those who believe, receive a double benefit. 1. They are exempted from eternal perdition-that they may not perish. 2. They are brought to eternal glory-that they may have everlasting life. These two benefits point out tacitly the state of man-he is guilty, and therefore exposed to punishment: he is impure, and therefore unfit for glory.

They point out also the two grand operations of grace, by which the salvation of man is effected. 1. Justification, by which the guilt of sin is removed, and consequently the person is no longer obnoxious to perdition. 2. Sunctification, or

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the purification of his nature, by which he is properly fitted quently used by the Jewish writers, for the angel of death and for the kingdom of glory. for the devil. See many examples in Schoetgen.

Verse 17. For God sent not, &c.] It was the opinion of the Jews, that the Gentiles, whom they often term the world, by ôlmuh, and by mis omoth hâolum, nations of the world, were to be destroyed in the days of the Messiah. Christ corrects this false opinion; and teaches here a contrary doctrine. God, by giving his Son, and publishing his design in giving him, shews that he purposes the salvation, not the destruction of the world—the Gentile people: nevertheless, those who will not receive the salvation he had provided for them, whether Jews or Gentiles, must necessarily perish; for this plain reason, There is but one remedy, and they refuse to apply it.

16.

Verse 18. He that believeth] As stated before on ver.

Is not condemned] For past sin, that being forgiven on his believing in Christ.

Because their deeds were evil.] An allusion to robbers and cut-throats, who practise their abominations in the night season, for fear of being detected. The sun is a common blessing to the human race-it shines to all, envies none, and calls all to necessary labour. If any one chuse rather to sleep by day, that he may rob and murder in the night season; he does this to his own peril, and has no excuse :—his punishment is the necessary consequence of his own unconstrained actions. So will the punishment of ungodly men be. There was light-they refused to walk in it. They chose to walk in the darkness, that they might do the works of darkness-they broke the divine law, refused the mercy offered to them, are arrested by divine justice, convicted, condemned, and pu nished. Whence then does their damnation proceed? From

THEMSELVES.

Verse 20. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light] He But he that believeth not] When the gospel is preached to who doth vile or abominable things: alluding to the subject him, and the way of salvation made plain.

Is condemned already] Continues under the condemnation which divine justice has passed upon all sinners: and has this superadded, he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God, and therefore is guilty of the grossest insult to the divine majesty, in neglecting, slighting, and despising the salvation, which the infinite mercy of God had provided|| for him.

Verse 19. This is the condemnation] That is, this is the reason why any shall be found finally to perish, not that they came into the world with a perverted and corrupt nature, which is true; nor that they lived many years in the practice of sin, which is also true; but because they refused to receive the salvation which God sent to them.

Light is come] That is, Jesus, the Sun of righteousness, the fountain of light and life; diffusing his benign influences. every where, and favouring men with a clear and full revelation of the divine will.

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mentioned in the preceding verse.

The word paulos, evil or vile, is supposed by some to come from the Hebrew wɔ phalas, to roll, and so cover oneself in dust or ashes, which was practised in token of humiliation and grief, not only by the more Eastern nations, see Job xlii. 6. but also by the Greeks and Trojans, as appears from Homer, Iliad, xviii. 1. 26. xxii. l. 414. xxiv. 1. 640. compare Virgil, Æn. x. 1. 844. and Ovid, Metam. lib. viii. 1. 528. From the above Hebrew word, it is likely that the Saxon ful, the English foul, the Latin vilis, and the English vile, are derived. See Parkhurst under Qavños.

Lest his deeds should be reproved.] Or discovered. To manifest or discover, is one sense of the original word xryxw, in the best Greek writers; and it is evidently its meaning in this place.

Verse 21. Wrought in God.] In his presence, and through his assistance. This is the end of our Lord's discourse to Nicodemus: and though we are not informed here of any

Men loved darkness] Have preferred sin to holiness, Belial good effects produced by it; yet we learn from other scripto Christ, and hell to heaven. n chushac, darkness, is fre- || tures, that it had produced the most blessed effects in his

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27 John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.

28 Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, "I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.

29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but' the friend of the bridegroom, which stand

26 And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jor-eth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of

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they dipped themselves, tends to remove the difficulty expressed in the note on Matt. iii. 6. See the observations at the end of Mark.

Verse 25. John's disciples and the Jews] Instead of Ioudaiwy, Jews, ABELS. M. BV. nearly 100 others, some Versions and Fathers, read Ioudatov, a Jeru, which Griesbach has admitted into the text. The person here spoken of, was probably one who had been baptized by the disciples of our Lord; and the subject of debate seems to have been, whether the baptism of John or that of Christ, was the most efficacious towards puri

Verse 22. Came-into the land of Judea] Jerusalem itself, where Christ held the preceding discourse with Nicodemus, was in Judea but the Evangelist means, that our Lord quitted the city and its suburbs, and went into the country parts. The same distinction between Jerusalem and Judea is made, Acts i. 8. x. 39. and in 1 Macc. iii. 34. and in 2 Macc. i.|fying. 1, 10. See Bp. Pearce.

And baptized.] It is not clear that Christ did baptize any with water, but his disciples did: chap. iv. 2. and what they did by his authority and command, is attributed to himself. It is a common custom in all countries and in all languages, to attribute the operations of those who are under the government and direction of another, to him by whom they are directed and governed. Some however suppose, that Christ at first did baptize; but when he got disciples, he left this work to them and thus these two places are to be understood:1. this place, of Christ's baptizing before he called the twelve disciples; and 2. chap. iv. 2. of the baptism administered by the disciples, after they had been called to the work by Christ.

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Verse 26. And they came unto John] That he might decide the question.

Verse 27. A man can receive nothing, &c.] Or, A man can receive nothing from heaven, unless it be given him. I have received not only my commission, but the power also by which I have executed it, from above. As I took it up at God's command, so I am ready to lay it down when he pleases. I have told you from the beginning, that I was only the forerunner of the Messiah; and was sent, not to form a separate party, but to point out to men that Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world: ver. 28.

Verse 29. He that hath the bride] The congregation of be lievers.

Is the bridegroom] The Lord Jesus-the Head of the Verse 23. In Ænon] This place was eight miles southward church. See Matt. xxii. 2, &c. where the parable of the from Scythopolis, between Salim and Jordan.

marriage feast is explained.

The friend of the bridegroom] The person whom the Greeks called the paranymph-there were two at each wedding: one waited on the bride, the other on the bridegroom: their business was to serve them, to inspect the concerns of the bride

There was much water] And this was equally necessary, where such multitudes were baptized, whether the ceremony were performed either by dipping or sprinkling. But as the Jewish custom required the persons to stand in the water, and having been instructed, and entered into a covenant to re-chamber, and afterwards to reconcile differences between nounce all idolatry, and take the God of Israel for their God, then plunge themselves under the water; it is probable that the rite was thus performed at non. The consideration that

husband and wife, when any took place. John considers himself as standing in this relation to the Lord Jesus, while espousing human nature, and converting souls to himself:

Believers on Christ

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A. D. 27. An. Olymp. Col. s.

A. M. 4031. the bridegroom's voice: this my joy || 33 He that hath received his testimony A. M. 4031. An. Olymp. therefore is fulfilled. f hath set to his seal that God is true. 34 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit" by measure unto him.

crease.

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30 He must increase, but I must de

31 He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly; and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.

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Ver. 13. ch. 8. 23.b Matt. 28. 18. ch. 1. 15, 27. 1 Cor. 15. 47. ch. 6. 33. 1 Cor. 15. 47. Eph. 1. 21. e ver. 11. ch. 8. 26. & 15. 15.

Rom. 9. 5.
Phil. 2. 9.-

f Rom. 3. 4. 1 John 5. 10.5 ch. 7. 16. ch. 1. 16.-
27. & 28. 18. Luke 10. 22. ch. 5. 20, 22. & 13. 3. & 17. 2.
* Hab. 2. 4. ch. 1. 12. & 6. 47. ver. 15, 16. Rom. 1. 17.

Matt. 11.

Hebr. 2. 81 John 5. 10.

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Spirit as none before him ever did. Without measure—not for a particular time, people, purpose, &c. but for the whole com Verse 30. He must increase] His present success is but the pass of time, and in reference to all eternity. Former disbeginning of a most glorious and universal spread of right-pensations of the Holy Spirit made partial discoveries of ineousness, peace, truth, and good-will among men.

finite justice and mercy: but now the sum of justice, in requiring such a sacrifice, and the plenitude of mercy, in pro

I must decrease.] My baptism and teaching, as pointing out the coming Messiah, must cease; because the Messiah isviding it, shall, by that Spirit with which he baptizes, be now come, and has entered publicly on the work of his glorious ministry.

Verse 31. Is above all] This blessed bridegroom, who has descended from heaven, ver. 13. is above all, superior to Moses, the Prophets, and me.

made manifest to all the children of men. It is worthy of remark, that this was fully done after the out-pouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, Acts ii. 1, &c. as may be clearly seen in all the apostolic epistles. The Jews observe, that the Holy Spirit was given only in certain measures to the He that is of the earth] John himself, who was born in the prophets; some writing only one book, others two. So Rab. common way of man.

Speaketh of the earth] Cannot speak of heavenly things as Christ can do; and only represents divine matters by these earthly ordinances; for the spirit and meaning of which, you must all go to the Messiah himself.

Verse 32. And no man receiveth his testimony.] Or, And this his testimony no man taketh up. That is, the testimony which John had borne to the Jews, that Jesus was the promised Messiah. No man taketh up-No person is found to tread in my steps, and to publish to the Jews that this is the Christ, the Saviour of the world. See this sense of the original, fully proved and vindicated by Kypke in loc.

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Verse 35. All things into his hand.] See on Matt. xi. 27. A principal design of John is, to shew that Christ was infinitely above every teacher, prophet, and divine messenger, that had ever yet appeared. The prophets had various gifts: some had visions, others dreams; some had the gift of teaching, others of comforting, &c. but none possessed all these gifts; Christ alone possessed their plenitude, and is all things in all.

Verse 36. Hath everlasting life] He has already the seed of this life in his soul, having been made a partaker of the grace and spirit of him, in whom he has believed. See on ver. 8.

Verse 33. Hath set to his seal] That is, hath hereby confirmed the truth of the testimony which he has borne; as a He that believeth not] Or, obeyeth not-azwy: from 2, testator sets his seal to an instrument in order to confirm it, || negative, and dw, to persuade, or doμas, to obey—the and such instrument is considered as fully confirmed by hav-want of the obedience of faith. The person who will not be ing the testator's seal affixed to it: so I, by taking up this persuaded, in consequence does not believe; and not having testimony of Christ, and proclaiming it to the Jews, have believed, he cannot obey. fully confirmed it, as I know it to be a truth; which knowledge I have from the immediate inspiration of the Holy Spirit. See chap. i. 33, 34.

Shall not see life] Shall never enjoy it: there being no way to the kingdom of God, but through Christ Jesus, Acts iv. 12. And none can expect to enter into this kingdom, but those who obey him; for to such only he is the author of eternal

Verse 34. For God giveth not the Spirit by measure] He is the most perfect of all teachers, as having received the Holy || salvation, Heb. v. 9.

Observations on the office of

CHAP. III.

the friend of the bridegroom.

2. He was the internuncio between her and her spouse elect; carrying all messages from her to him, and from him to her: for before marriage, young women were very strictly guarded at home with their parents or friends.

But the wrath of God abideth on him.] Ogyn, the displea- [] and it was upon this testimony of this friend, that the bridesure of God. I should prefer displeasure to wrath, because groom chose his bride. the common acceptation of the latter, (fury, rage) is not properly applicable here. Perhaps the original word is used in the same sense here, as in Rom. ii. 5. iii. 5. xiii. 4, 5. Eph. v. 6. 1 Thess. i. 10. v. 9. where it evidently means punishment, which is the effect of irritated justice. Taken in this sense, we may consider the phrase as a Hebraism: punishment of God, i. e. the most heavy and awful of all punishments; such as sin deserves, and such as it becomes divine justice to inflict. And this abideth on him—endures as long

as his unbelief and disobedience remain! and how shall these

be removed in a hell of fire! Reader! pray God that thou mayest never know what this continuing punishment means!

II. At the wedding it was the business of the shoshabin, if necessary,

1. To vindicate the character of the bride.

2. To sleep in an apartment contiguous to the new married pair, to prevent the bride from receiving injury.

3. It was his office to see that neither the bride nor bridegroom should be imposed on by each other and therefore, it was his business to examine and exhibit the tokens of the bride's purity, according to the law, Deut. xxii. 13-21. Of

There are many very important topics brought forward in their office in this case, the Rabbins thus speak: Olim in Juthis chapter; the principal of which have been already illus-dea paranymphi perscrutati sunt locum (lectum) sponsi et spontrated in the notes: the subject in the 29th verse is of great consequence, and requires some farther explanation.

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1. There were generally two shoshabinim; one for the bride, another for the bridegroom: though in many instances, we find the shoshabin of the bride only mentioned.

sa-ad scrutandum et officiosè observandum ea, quæ sponsi illa
nocte fecerint: ne scilicet alter alteri dolo damnum inferat: ne
sponsus, sanguinem virginitatis agnoscat, illum celet aut tollat:
et ne sponsa pannum sanguine tinctum, secum inferat.
4. When they found that their friend had got a pure and
chaste virgin, they exulted greatly; as their own character,
Baptist alludes, ver. 29. This my joy is fulfilled.
and the happiness of their friend, were at stake. To this the

5. They distributed gifts to the new married couple, which, on their marriage, were repaid either by their friend, or by his father.

6. They continued with the bride and bridegroom the seven 2. These officers were chosen out of the most intimate and days of the marriage, and contributed variously to the festiparticular friends of the parties :-a brother might be shosha-vity and hilarity of the occasion.

bin or paranymph to his brother.

3. Though it is probable that such persons were not always found in ordinary weddings; yet they were never absent froin the marriages of kings, princes, and persons of distinction.

4. The Jews believe that this was an ordinance appointed by God; and that he himself was shoshabin to Adam. But in Bereshith Rabba it is said, that God took the cup of blessing, and blessed the first pair; and that Michael and Gabriel were shoshabins to Adam.

5. So important was this office esteemed among them, that it was reckoned one of the indispensable works of charity: much depending on the proper discharge of it, as we shall afterwards find.

6. Those who were engaged in this office, were excused for the time, from some of the severer duties of religion: because they had so much to do about the new married pair, especially during the seven days of the marriage feast.

These shoshabinim had a threefold office to fulfil, viz. before, ut, and after the marriage: of each of these in order.

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2. They appear to have had the keeping of the marriage contract, which in certain cases they tore, when they had reathe marriage was dissolved; and thus the suspected person son to suspect infidelity on the part of the woman, by which was prevented from suffering capitally. Schoetgen produces a case like this from R. Bechai, in legem, fol. 114. "A king visited foreign parts, and left his queen with her maids: they raised an evil report on her, and the king purposed to put her to death. The shoshabin hearing of it, tore the matrimonial contract, that he might have it to say, the marriage is dissolved. The king having investigated the case, found the queen innocent: she was immediately reconciled to her hus

I. Before the marriage: it was the business of the sho- band, and the shoshabin was directed to write another conshubin,

1. To procure a husband for the virgin, to guard her, and to bear testimony to her corporeal and mental endowments:

tract."

3. Schoetgen very modestly hazards a conjecture, that if the husband had either abandoned or divorced his wife, the

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