SIR ROBERT ANDERSON
Secret Service
Theologian
THE LORD FROM HEAVEN
CHAPTER SIX
THE TESTIMONY OF THE FOURTH GOSPEL
As already noticed, the four Gospels have been described
as so many different portraits of Christ - portraits, not biographies; and the
portrait presented to us in the Gospel of John is that of Christ as Son of God.
To the intelligent reader its omissions, of which unbelief makes much for its
evil purposes, afford a striking indication of its Divine authorship, and of
the purpose for which it has been given.
The Apostle John is the only one
of the four Evangelists who was with the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration,
and yet he is the only one whose Gospel makes no mention of that vision of
glory. He is the only one of the Evangelists who witnessed the agony in the
Garden, and yet he is the only one whose Gospel is silent with respect to it.
And though one of the eleven disciples who were with the Lord on the Mount of
Olives when He was "taken up from them into heaven," his book contains never a
word of direct record about the Ascension. May not these extraordinary
omissions be explained if we remember that in the vision of the Holy Mount the
Lord appeared in His glory as Son of Man, whereas the purpose of the Fourth
Gospel is to reveal Him as Son of God. So also with regard to Gethsemane, we
have the Lord's explicit words, "The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of
sinners." And though His exaltation, to the right hand of God proclaimed Him to
be the Son of God, this was beyond the scope of the Evangelist's commission,
for it was of the earthly ministry that He was inspired to write.
But there
is another "omission," far more extraordinary even than these. The writer is
the disciple to whom the Lord in His dying hour entrusted the care of His
mother; "and from that hour," we read, "that disciple took her unto his own
home." What talks they must have had together about the sacred birth and
childhood! What unnumbered hours he must have spent in listening to her
thrilling reminiscences! And how ineffaceably must the record have been stamped
upon his memory and his heart! And yet not a word is to be found here about the
angel's visit, the Bethlehem inn, or the home life at Nazareth. "He was in the
world." "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." And that is all! For
though He of whom the Evangelist speaks is the Man of Bethlehem and Nazareth,
yet here again it is not of Him as Man that he is inspired to write, but as the
Son of God. (Footnote - The Messianic Gospel-Matthew-also
omits the Ascension be-cause the closing words of it belong dispenstztionally
to the time when Zech. xiv. 4 shall be fulfilled (compare Acts i. 11), and
Christ will send out His earthly people as His missionaries to evangelise the
world.)
"Inspired," I say again advisedly; for if these omissions
are not to be accounted for by the divine guidance and restraint that we call
"inspiration," what explanation can be given of them? "Put yourself in his
place." If any one of us had had the Apostle John's experiences, is it
conceivable that we could write a book about the Lord without referring to
them? Indeed, if this Gospel be a merely human work, it presents a
psychological phenomenon so extraordinary as to have no parallel in the
literature of the world. Here are the opening words of it: "In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in
the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not
any thing made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of
men" (chapter i. 1-4).
The book was written, we are expressly told, that we
might believe that He is the Son of God; and it begins by proclaiming that He
is God. Could there be a clearer proof of the significance of the title "Son of
God"? He is called the "Son of Man" because He is "very man," and He is called
the "Son of God" because He is "very God." The book as a whole is designed to
confirm faith in His Godhood.
The layman is apt to exaggerate the relative
value of direct evidence, but the lawyer recognises that no testimony is more
convincing than that which is incidental; and here, as in the preceding notice
of the First Gospel, it is to the indirect and incidental proof that I would
briefly claim attention.
To the Christian the positive statement that "the
Word was God" seems to be "an end of controversy"; but this statement was used
by the Arians to prove that He held a subordinate position. And when the
alternative reading of verse 18 (" the only begotten God ") was pressed on
them, they seized on the words as distinguishing Him from the Father, who alone
was God in the highest sense.
1 Chap. xx. 31. 2 Critics who take the Arian
view urge the absence of the article before Oeôs in the sentence "the
Word was God"; but "the writer could not have written ó eth without
manifest absurdity" (Bis)iop Middle-ton), for that would imply that He was God
in an exclusive sense.
The Arian controversy indeed affords signal proof
of what has been often noticed, that the Fathers were influenced by the
paganism which prevailed around them, and in which so many of them had been
steeped before their conversion to Christianity. And to the pagan mind there
was nothing absurd, or even incongruous, in the conception of a subordinate
God; whereas to us, who think of God only as the Supreme Being, it involves a
contradiction in terms, and seems mere nonsense. With us, therefore, the issue
is a definite and simple one, namely, whether Christ is God, or only man.
Let us, then, shake ourselves free from the prejudices which religion seems to
excite in the minds of many, and also from the slovenly-mindedness that leads
us to give an unthinking assent to truths which, if really believed, would
influence our whole life; and, in the spirit of honest and earnest seekers
after truth, let us try to grasp the significance of the words of the Lord
Jesus as recorded in this book. Here are a few of His sayings, culled almost at
random, and from a single section of it:- "I am the bread of life: he that
cometh to Me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never
thirst" (vi. 35).
"He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life: I am the
bread of life" (vi. 47, 48).
"I am the living bread which came down from
heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread
that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world" (vi.
51).
"He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly
shall flow rivers of living water" (vii. 38).
"I am the light of the world"
(viii. 12).
"If a man keep My word, he shall never see death" (viii.
51).
"Before Abraham was, I am" (viii. 58).
"Therefore doth My Father
love Me, because I lay down My life, that I may take it again. No one taketh it
from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have
power to take it again" (x. 17, 18).
"I am the Good Shepherd. . . . My
sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give unto them
eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out
of My hand. . . . I and My Father are one" (x. 11, 27-28, 30).
As we ponder
such words as these we seem to be basking in the sunshine, and we are ready to
exclaim, as Thomas did, "My Lord and my God." But some of us have minds so
constituted that clouds of doubt cover our sky at times, and we ask ourselves,
How can we be sure that these are really the very words of Christ ?- Let us
then look at other sayings of His, the genuineness of which is confirmed by
facts. The following are His words recorded in the fifth chapter (verses 21-29)
:- "For as the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them; even so the Son
quickeneth whom He will. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all
judgment unto the Son; that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour
the Father. He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father which hath
sent Him. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and
believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto
you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the
Son of God; and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in
Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself; and hath given
Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Marvel
not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves
shall hear His voice and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the
resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of
damnation."
The Lord here unequivocally claims equal honour with God the
Father. He declares that as the Father raises the dead, so He Himself "gives
life to whom He will." He has life in Himself: not life derived or delegated,
but life as God has life. And He adds that it will be at His command that the
graves shall yet give up their dead.
What meaning shall we give to such
words as these? The narrative of the eleventh chapter supplies the answer; for
there we read that, standing by a tomb which covered a decaying corpse, "He
cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth; and he that was dead came
forth."
Martha's halting faith could credit Him with power to save her
brother's life. She held, moreover, a conventional belief in "the resurrection
at the last day." But she was utterly incapable of grasping the truth or
meaning of His words, "I am the resurrection and the life"; and so, when He
directed the opening of the grave, she at once exclaimed, "Lord, by this time
he stinketh, for he hath been dead four days." "Said I not unto thee," was the
Lord's gracious rebuke, "that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the
glory of God?" And then and there she had a vision of that glory, for in
obedience to His word, "he that was dead came forth."
People who reject the
divine direction implied in inspiration may reasonably doubt the accuracy of a
record of spoken words. But this is a narrative of facts. The writer here gives
a detailed account of events which happened before his eyes. Lazarus of Bethany
he knew personally. And he saw hini come out of his grave in obedience to the
call of Christ, "bound hand and foot with grave-clothes." The casuistry of
scepticism may belittle the account of miracles of another kind, but here is a
case in which mistake was impossible. Unless the whole story be a fabrication -
and in that case the writer was a profane impostor - the resurrection of
Lazarus is a fact. And if the resurrection is a fact, "the riddle of the
universe" is solved: God, "the author and giver of life," has manifested
Himself to men. The Deity of Christ is established.
The Rationalist is too
intelligent not to recognise this; and so, "to save his face," he rejects the
Fourth Gospel. But if any one who professes to believe the Scriptures denies or
questions the Deity of Christ, he not only belies his Christian profession, but
outrages reason itself. For none but God could give life to a decaying corpse.
But it may be said, perhaps, the Apostle Peter called Dorcas back to life, and
notable miracles were wrought by the other Apostles also. Yes, and this would
in itself be proof of the Deity of the Lord Jesus; for it was in His name that
all their mighty works were done. In His name: not in the name of the Father,
but of the Son. When the Apostle Paul declared that he was in no respect
"behind the very chiefest Apostles," he added "though I be nothing." And to his
amazing boast, "I can do all things," he added, "through Christ who strengthens
me." In himself he had no power. But here is One who not only has power in
Himself, but who can empower others to act in His name. And He has life in
Himself - life in the sense in which none but God has life, so that He can say
"I am the life."
But, it may be asked, was not His prayer at the grave of
Lazarus an acknowledgment of His dependence on the Father? Dependence, yes; but
not in the sense of incompetence or weakness, but of entire submission. That
prayer is to be read in the light of His words, "I do nothing of Myself."
Though He could say, "The Son giveth life to whom He will," that power and that
will were held in absolute subjection to the will of the Father.
Chapter Seven
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