50Nicodemus (he who came to him by night, being one of them) said to them,51“Does our law judge a man, unless it first hears from him personally and knows what he does?”
52They answered him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search, and see that no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.”
John 7:41(v52)Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “What, does the Christ come out of Galilee?
Proverbs 18:13(v51)He who answers before he hears, that is folly and shame to him.
John 1:46(v52)Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
John 19:39(v50)Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred Roman pounds.
Deuteronomy 1:17(v51)You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be afraid of the face of man, for…
Show all 21 cross-references
Isaiah 9:1-2(v52)But there shall be no more gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time, he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land…
Matthew 4:15-16(v52)“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, toward the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sat in darkness…
Deuteronomy 19:15-19(v51)One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin that he sins. At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth…
John 3:1-2(v50)Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to him by night, and said to him, “Rabbi, we know…
Acts 23:3(v51)Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit to judge me according to the law, and command me to be struck…
Deuteronomy 17:6(v51)At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death. At the mouth of one witness he shall not be put…
Deuteronomy 17:8-11(v51)If there arises a matter too hard for you in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being…
Psalms 33:10(v53)Yahweh brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. He makes the thoughts of the peoples to be of no effect.
Genesis 19:9(v52)They said, “Stand back!” Then they said, “This one fellow came in to live as a foreigner, and he appoints himself a judge. Now we will deal…
Exodus 2:14(v52)He said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you plan to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian?” Moses was afraid, and said,…
1 Kings 22:24(v52)Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near, and struck Micaiah on the cheek, and said, “Which way did Yahweh’s Spirit go from me to speak…
Job 5:12-13(v53)He frustrates the plans of the crafty, So that their hands can’t perform their enterprise. He takes the wise in their own craftiness; the…
Proverbs 9:7-8(v52)One who corrects a mocker invites insult. One who reproves a wicked man invites abuse. Don’t reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you. Reprove a…
John 9:34(v52)They answered him, “You were altogether born in sins, and do you teach us?” Then they threw him out.
Psalms 76:5(v53)Valiant men lie plundered, they have slept their last sleep. None of the men of war can lift their hands.
Psalms 76:10(v53)Surely the wrath of man praises you. The survivors of your wrath are restrained.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (24 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
John Calvin1540 · Public DomainOn vv50, 52, 5350. Nicodemus said to them. The Evangelist describes Nicodemus…
50. Nicodemus said to them. The Evangelist describes Nicodemus as a neutral man, who does not venture to undertake in good earnest the defense of sound doctrine, and yet cannot endure to have the truth oppressed.
He who came to Jesus by night. This circumstance is mentioned by the Evangelist, partly to the praise, and partly to the disgrace, of Nicodemus. If he had not loved the doctrine of Christ, he would never have dared to meet the rage of wicked men; for he knew that, if any of them but opened his mouth, he would be immediately exposed to dislike and to danger. When, therefore, he ventures to throw out one word, however feeble it may be, some small spark of godliness shines from his heart; but in not defending Christ openly, he manifests excessive timidity. Thus the Evangelist means that he has still a hankering after the concealment of the night, and is not a true disciple of Christ. He says that he once came to Jesus by night, but remained openly among his enemies, and kept his place in their camp.
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This ought to be the more carefully observed, because there are many in the present day who plead that they resemble Nicodemus, and hope that, by assuming this mask, they will mock God with impunity. Granting what they ask, that there is no difference between them and Nicodemus, what assistance, pray, do they derive from such an example? Nicodemus says that Christ ought not to be condemned until he be heard; and the same thing might be said of a robber or an assassin; for it is a well-known and proverbial sentiment, that it is better to acquit the innocent than to condemn the guilty. Besides, in his attempts to release the person of Christ, he leaves and abandons the doctrine. What shall we find here that is worthy of a believer or a Christian? Thus the seed of the gospel, which afterwards bore fruit, was still concealed and choked in him. We shall apply this example far more profitably to another purpose, that the Lord frequently causes the doctrine, which seemed to have perished, gradually to take a concealed root, and, after a long period, to put forth some bud, first like an untimely plant, afterwards lively and vigorous; just as the faith of Nicodemus acquired new and sudden vigor from the death of Christ.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv51, 53What he hath committed, who is accused.
What he hath committed, who is accused.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv50–5350 Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to…
50 Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,)
Ver. 50. Nicodemus saith unto them] Good blood will not belie itself; love, as fire, will not long be hidden. Croesus’s dumb son could not but speak to see his father ready to be slain, {a} Nicodemus, though hitherto a night bird, now shows himself for Christ in a council. How far had Judas outstripped Nicodemus till it came to the upshot! Nicodemus was only a night professor, Judas in the sight of all. Nicodemus a slow scholar, Judas a forward preacher. Yet at last, when Judas betrayed Christ in the night, Nicodemus faithfully professed him in the day, &c.
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{a} ανθρωπε, μη κτεινε Κροισον. Herod.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv50–53Of Nicodemus we read, and of his coming by…
Of Nicodemus we read, and of his coming by night to Jesus, Joh 3:1,2. He now, being one of this great court, stands up to speak for Christ, yet faintly, or at least very prudently and warily. He saith no more for him than he ought to have spoken for the greatest malefactor, viz.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt1703 · Public DomainOn v50Here observe, 1. How God stirs up Nicodemus, though…
Here observe, 1. How God stirs up Nicodemus, though he durst not openly own Christ, yet to plead for him, that he might not be condemned before heard; this was a common rule of justice, and nothing but what might have been said on behalf of the greatest malefactor; he could not well have said less; but God so ordered it, that it was enough to divert the storm from falling upon Christ at this time. One word shall be sufficient to blow over a persecution, when God will have it so.
Observe, 2. They answer Nicodemus with a taunt, a mock, and a scorn, that no prophet ever did rise out of Galilee, nor ever should. Therefore Christ arising out of Galilee, as they thought, could be no prophet.
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Observe, lastly, That though they were more and more enraged, yet they dispense without concluding any thing against Christ, for that time every one went to his own home. There is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel against the Lord.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn v50And every man went unto his own house. The…
And every man went unto his own house. The officers not bringing Jesus with them, and the sanhedrim being posed with Nicodemus, broke up without doing any business, and every member of it went home: this we may suppose was about the time of the evening sacrifice: for
"the great sanhedrim sat from the time of the morning daily sacrifice, to the time of the evening daily sacrifice (b):''
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and it is said (c), that
"after the evening daily sacrifice, the sanhedrim went, "to their own houses";''
as they now did, and not to their booths, the feast of tabernacles being now over.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv50, 52, 53Nicodemus, he that came to him by night -…
Nicodemus, he that came to him by night - Having now a little more courage, being one of them - Being present as a member of the great council, saith to them - Do not we ourselves act as if we knew not the law, if we pass sentence on a man before we hear him?
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv50–53Verse 50. Nicodemus - being one of them] That…
Verse 50. Nicodemus - being one of them] That is, a Pharisee, and a ruler of the Jews: See Clarke on Joh 3:1.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn v50Joh 7:50-53. Nicodemus, he who came to Jesus by…
Joh 7:50-53. Nicodemus, he who came to Jesus by night — Having now got a little more courage; being one of them — Being present, as a member of the great council, saith to them, Doth our law judge (κρινει, condemn) any man before it hear him — Before the magistrate, appointed to execute it, summon him into his presence, that he may hear from him what he has to say in his own defence; and know what he doeth — Namely, from credible witnesses? As if he had said, Do not we ourselves act as if we knew not the law, if we pass sentence on a man before we hear him? They answered — By personal reflection; the argument they could not answer, and therefore did not attempt it. For, notwithstanding that perfect knowledge of the law, and that high reverence for its precepts, which they made such boast of, they were acting directly contrary to the most essential principles of equity established by it. But, being greatly exasperated by Nicodemus’s reproof, which was the more poignant and provoking, because it was well founded; and being in a violent passion with him, for condemning their conduct, and speaking favourably of Jesus, they asked him, with an air of disdain and surprise mixed with fierceness, Art thou also of Galilee — Art thou one of his party? One of the ignorant, low faction, that has leagued to support a Galilean Messiah in opposition to the law, which has determined the Messiah’s nativity to Bethlehem? Search and look; for out of Galilee ariseth (or rather, hath arisen, as ουκ εγηγερται properly signifies) no prophet — They could not but know the contrary. They knew Jonah arose out of Gath-hepher; and Nahum from another village in Galilee. Yea, and Thisbe, the town of Elijah the Tishbite, was in Galilee also. They might, likewise, have known that Jesus was not born in Galilee, but at Bethlehem, even from the public register there, and from the genealogies of the family of David. Add to this, that many of the people had heard the shepherds declare, on the testimony of the angel, that he was born at Bethlehem, and had wondered at the words which had been told them by the shepherds, Luk 2:15-18. Nay, and the chief priests and Pharisees were not ignorant that the wise men from the East went to Bethlehem to worship him soon after he was born, as king of the Jews: the memory of which facts could not be lost in the space of thirty years. Here, then, we have a striking instance of the power of prejudice to shut men’s eyes against the clearest truth. Dr. Campbell, however, thinks they did not mean all that they expressed; because, when men’s passions are inflamed, they are not wont to be accurate in their words, or distinct in recollecting, on the sudden, things which make against them; and that therefore this expression of the Pharisees, whom prejudice, pride, and envy had concurred in blinding, need not appear surprising to us. And every man went unto his own house — The council separated immediately: for, being conscious that their poor answer would not bear examination, they took care, by rising up and dispersing, to prevent a reply. So that short, plain question of Nicodemus, spoiled all their measures, and for the present frustrated their designs. A word spoken in season, how good is it! especially when God gives it his blessing.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv50–53Nicodemus - See Joh 3:1.
Nicodemus - See Joh 3:1.
One of them - That is, one of the great council or Sanhedrin. God often places one or more pious men in legislative assemblies to vindicate his honor and his law; and he often gives a man grace on such occasions boldly to defend his cause; to put men upon their proof, and to confound the proud and the domineering. We see in this case, also, that a man, at one time timid and fearful (compare Joh 3:1), may on other occasions be bold, and fearlessly defend the truth as it is in Jesus. This example should lead every man entrusted with authority or office fearlessly to defend the truth of God, and, when the rich and the mighty are pouring contempt on Jesus and his cause, to stand forth as its fearless defender.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn v52They say to Nicodemus: Art thou also a Galilean,…
They say to Nicodemus: Art thou also a Galilean, who defendest this Galilean, whereas no prophet, nor especially the Messias, comes from Galilee? (Witham) --- A prophet, properly the prophet: for they could not be ignorant that the prophet Jonas was from Galilee. We have not indeed the article the in this verse, but we find it in ver. 40, with which this appears to correspond. (Haydock)
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George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv50–53Nicodemus--reappearing to us after nearly three years' absence from…
Nicodemus--reappearing to us after nearly three years' absence from the history, as a member of the council, probably then sitting.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv50–5350. Nicodemus saith—The words of Nicodemus are a model…
50. Nicodemus saith—The words of Nicodemus are a model of caution, but wonderfully to the point. They would have it that no ruler believed on Jesus; but here they are met by one who dares to be his advocate. They curse the people ignorant of the law, and he convicts them of violating the law.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv50–5350. he that came to Jesus by night] The…
50. he that came to Jesus by night] The better reading seems to be, he that came to Him before. See on Joh_3:1-2. His ‘being one of them’ contradicts what is implied in Joh_7:48, that no member of the Sanhedrin believed on Him.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv50–53(50) On the character of Nicodemus, see Notes on…
(50) On the character of Nicodemus, see Notes on John 3. His position here is that of a friend of Jesus, who still does not dare to declare himself His open follower.
He that came to Jesus by night.—Comp. Note on Joh_3:2. The better reading here is, probably, he that came to Him before.
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Being one of them contains the answer to their question, “Hath any one (as above) of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on Him?” (Joh_7:48).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv50, 52, 53Vers. 50, 51. They were hardly prepared for what…
Vers. 50, 51. They were hardly prepared for what followed; for one of their own order, one of their "rulers," "the teacher of Israel," a chief among the Pharisees, opens his lips to speak to them, and to call for a halt in their rash proceedings. He did not go far, but he directed attention to a fundamental principle of that very "Law" which the Pharisaic party were ignoring. Nicodemus saith to them (he who came to him formerly, although being one of them). The parenthesis shows the author"s strong recollection of the scene, (Joh_3:1, etc.) when the Lord had opened to his own mind, as well as to Nicodemus, the mystery of the kingdom, and the need of that very Spirit"s power to which (John knew when he wrote that) the Lord was referring in his great discourse. Nicodemus had not proclaimed his own discipleship, but he meant to cover and shield the enthusiastic crowd from the sting of the cruel condemnation of this Pharisaic junta. Doth our Law judge a man except it have first heard from himself, and have come to know what he doeth? (Exo_23:1 margin, "Thou shalt not receive a false report;" Deu_1:16, "Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother The Law is here personified in the person of the judge. The process is not followed by this hasty ex parte statement. The Law is traversed by this forgetfulness of the first principle of justice as between man and man. They might have rejoined that they did know the teaching and the work of Jesus. They had been following him by their representatives, and were now witnesses of his extraordinary assumptions, and had evidence enough on which to proceed. The retort which they made is sufficient proof of the defective and passion-blinded method of their own procedure. Moreover, it shows that the prophetic rank assigned to the Lord Jesus was the main question in the mind of Nicodemus and his Pharisaic companions. The rules for the judgment of a prophet were stringent, and no attempt had been made to put these prophetic claims to the test. (Deu_18:19-22) Moreover, they ran off upon an utterly false tack, and were not free from inaccuracy in their solemn appeal to Holy Scripture.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn v53And every man went to his own house.
Joh_7:53
And every man went to his own house.
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Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
If we group together the scenes of these chapters we might treat them.
1. A day with Jesus; in which we have not merely His answers to the disputing Jews, but His proclamation of love.
2. A night with Jesus on the Mount of Olives.
3. Dawn with Jesus in the Temple, listening to tits early teaching.
4. Sunrise with Jesus, as pointing to the East, He says, I am the light of the world. These two verses suggest--Man at home, Jesus not at home:
The crowd which had surrounded Him all the day gradually drops off,one by one, as the evening draws on, and Jesus is left alone. Each one has a home to go to, and retires to rest with his family; Jesus has nowhere to lay His head; they go one way, He goes another; they keep within the city walls, tie goes without the gate to Olivet, there to spend the night in prayer. He is not at home; even in the Temple which is His Fathers house, He must not stay; its gates are closing, and He is shut out. He can only go to the places where man is not; to the solitudes where, outside of Jerusalem, outside even of Bethany, He can meet with God. This homelessness was for us; that we might have a home in His Fathers house. He went without the gate that we might enter in. He became an exile, taking our place and life of banishment, that we might enter the celestial city, the paradise of God. Hast thou entered in? Or art thou still an exile from God though at home on earth? (H. Bonar, D. D.)
The Saviour and the Sanhedrim
We have here a notable instance of the injury done to the Scriptures by the arbitrary division into chapters and verses. The severance here diverts the attention from the object which the writer had in view. The greater part of chap. 7. is occupied with the conflicting opinions of the populace respecting Christ, and closes with a striking representation of a scene which took place in the council chamber of the metropolis. The officers had returned without their prisoner, and one of their own number dared to protest against their injustice. The distracted council break up and go home to concoct fresh schemes; the tranquil Saviour quietly departs to Olivet to meditate and pray. What a contrast! Those seventy men crossed in their cruel project; that one harmless wanderer, sustained by the conscious rectitude of His life! They seeking new channels for the pent up torrent of their wrath; He calm in the rich tides of peace that filled His soul; they to their luxuriant dwellings, whose enchantments were all marred by the days discomfiture; He to the mountain and the midnight, whose dark shadows threw into bold relief the presence of God and His glory. On their side all worldly influence; on His side all heaven. Their purpose, murder, and suppression of the truth; His purpose, salvation, and Gods eternal glory by His own self-sacrifice. (W. G. Lewis.)
The moral tangent
This parting of the ways exhibited
I. THE SEPARATENESS OF CHRIST AMID HIS OWN PEOPLE. It bears out chap
1:11. How could it have occurred in a region and amongst a race so notedfor hospitality? Such experiences may have begotten the realization Mat_8:20). Some offer may have been made, but, if so, it was either too half-hearted to tempt the great solitary, or still, night-wrapped Olivet exercised an irresistible fascination.
1. That the Founder of society in its true conception should have been Himself an outcast; imagination dwells on such a paradox.
2. To take the mildest view of the circumstance it was not to the credit of the social life of Jerusalem. Some defect in those home circles rendered them uncongenial. Hearts there were that hated Him, but the general sentiment was indifference.
3. And how did He regard their attitude? It was impossible for Him to be unconcerned. Not yet was the passionate wail, O Jerusalem, etc., but the woeful sorrow of which it was the outcry was even then gathering. Incarnate love could not but desire to be loved by those for whom He had descended to such depths; but it must be on His own terms.
II. A DIFFERENCE IN SPIRITUAL TENDENCY AND AIM.
1. The isolation of Christ did not arise from obscurity or insignificance. His departure must have been observed and felt. That lonely form, the centre of so much observation as with calm dignity it stepped from the wrangling crowd into the quiet fields, did it not judge them?
2. The mere departure convicted them of a lack of moral earnestness. The deadly conspiracy which had been hatched in their midst, and which had been arrested just when success seemed easy ought to have put every true man upon his honour, and made him open his doors to the homeless One. He had disturbed Judaean thought and life to its core. To an onlooker it might have seemed as if a moral revolution were impending. How near they were to the kingdom of God! But assenting to Christs lofty truths their hearts were indisposed to receive them. They lacked the courage of their convictions. Good men! it did not impair their digestion nor break the continuity of their little life. How trifling the spirit that can shelve the greatest question and stifle the grandest inspiration thus.
3. Not so easy was it for the Son of Man to put behind Him the strenuous controversy in which He had engaged. With Him heart as well as intellect were enlisted. Stung by their indifference, or horror-struck at their villany, the Great Sensitive Soul hurries forth to the only house of prayer where He can be alone with His Father, and to brace Himself for the effort of tomorrow. Yet how incomprehensible it must have been to minds so besotted with earthliness! They knew not that commerce with the skies. Conclusion: In every life there is such a moment quick with spiritual issues. Shall we follow Christ to Olivet or go to our own house? (St. John A. Frere, M. A.)
Diverging paths
I. EVERY MAN WENT TO HIS OWN HOUSE. A symbol of the general conduct of humanity. We have turned every one to his own way.
1. Our house is where we live, and represents all that we live for.
(1) Some men live for wealth and adorn their noble houses with elegant furniture and costly pictures.
(2) Some men live for pleasure, and their houses will be supplied with all that gratifies the senses--luxurious couches, expensive wines, and elaborate menus.
(3) Some men live for learning, and the principal room in the house will be the well-furnished library, and every department will proclaim, A scholar lives here.
(4) Some men live for friendship, and keep open house for their boon companions.
(5) Some men live for domestic felicities, and consult the comfort and fellowship of wife and children in all the appointments of the house.
2. We may go to our own house without Christ. A Christless house, a Christless life is that in which something else besides Christ predominates. Where wealth, pleasure, etc., are supreme Christ is not. He has gone to the Mount of Olives.
II. JESUS WENT TO THE MOUNT OF OLIVES.
1. Jesus went
(1) To cool His fevered brain and heart after the anxieties and labours of the day.
(2) To pray, and realize more deeply His union and communion with the Father. To brace Himself for the efforts of the coming day.
2. Jesus went alone, yet every member of the crowd He left needed to go with Him--and for the same reason. So do we. Only with Jesus shall we find rest, communion, strength.
3. Jesus came back to judge those who had forsaken Him (chap. 8:16), and will come to judge those who are forsaking Him now.
III. THE ALTERNATIVE
1. Is not house or Christ. He does not require us to break up our homes or desolate our lives. Let it be remembered that one reason for going to Olivet was because there was not a home in Jerusalem that would take Him in. He would have supped with the meanest who would have accorded Him a welcome.
2. The alternative is house without Christ or house with Him. We must take our Saviour into our house, and then take our house to Olivet--make Him the sacred centre round which wealth, pleasure, etc., may cluster, and sanctify all by sympathy with Him, prayer and consecration.
3. Thus the alternative sharply put is self or Christ. Which?
Conclusion:
1. If we let Christ alone He will let us alone. Hell in this life and in the next is abandonment by Christ.
2. Christ ascended Olivet--the Jews descended from Moriah. With Christs companions it is ever a going up till heaven at last is reached. With Christ-forsakers it is ever down--down until the depths of the bottomless pit are fathomed. (J. W. Burn.)
Chapter 8
Introduction to Joh_8:1-11
These verses, with Joh_7:53, form, perhaps, the gravest critical difficulty in the New Testament.
I. THE ARGUMENTS AGAINST the passage.
1. That it is not found in some of the oldest and best MSS.
2. That it is wanting in some of the earlier versions.
3. That it is not commented on by Greek Fathers, Origen, Cyril, Chrysostom, and Theophylact, in their exposition of St. John, nor quoted or referred to by Tertullian and Cyprian.
4. That it differs in style from the rest of St. Johns Gospel, and contains several words and forms of expression which are nowhere else used in his writings.
5. That the moral tendency of the passage is somewhat doubtful, and that it seems to represent our Lord as palliating a heinous sin.
II. THE ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR of the passage are as follows:
1. That it is found in many old manuscripts, if not in the very oldest and best.
2. That it is found in the Vulgate Latin, and in the Arabic, Coptic, Persian, and Ethiopian versions.
3. That it is commented on by Augustine in his exposition of this Gospel; while in another of his writings he expressly refers to and explains its omission from some manuscripts; that it is quoted and defended by Ambrose, referred to by Jerome, and treated as genuine in the Apostolical constitutions.
4. That there is no proof whatever that there is any immoral tendency in the passage. Our Lord pronounced no opinion on the sin of adultery, but simply declined the office of a judge.
I lean decidedly to the side of those who think the passage is genuine, for the following reasons:
1. The argument from manuscripts appears to me inconclusive. We possess comparatively few very ancient ones. Even of them, some favour the genuineness of the passage. The same remark applies to the ancient versions. Testimony of this kind, to be conclusive, should be unanimous.
2. The argument from the Fathers seems to me more in favour of the passage than against it. On the one side the reasons are simply negative. Certain Fathers say nothing about the passage, but at the same time say nothing against it. On the other side the reasons are positive. Men of such high authority as Augustine and Ambrose not only comment on the passage, but defend its genuineness, and assign reasons for its omission by some mistaken transcribers. Let me add to this, that the negative evidence of the Fathers is not so weighty as it appears. Cyril of Alexandria is one. But his commentary on this chapter is lost, and what we have was supplied by a modern hand in 1510. Chrysostoms commentary on John consists of popular public homilies, in which we can easily imagine such a passage as this might possibly be omitted. Theophylact was notoriously a copier and imitator of Chrysostom. Origen, the only remaining commentator, is one whose testimony is not of first-rate value, and he has omitted many things in his exposition of St. John. The silence of Tertullian and Cyprian is, perhaps, accountable on the same principles by which Augustine explains the omission of the passage in some copies of this Gospel in his own time. Some, as Calovius, Maldonatus, Flacius, Aretius, and Piscator, think that Chrysostom distinctly refers to this passage in his Sixtieth Homily on John, though he passes it over in exposition.
3. The argument from alleged discrepancies between the style and language of this passage, and the usual style of St. Johns writing, is one which should be received with much caution. We are not dealing with an uninspired, but with an inspired, writer Surely it is not too much to say that an inspired writer may occasionally use words and constructions and modes of expression which he generally does not use, and that it is no proof that he did not write a passage because he wrote it in a peculiar way. The whole discussion may leave in our minds, at any rate, one comfortable thought. If even in the case of this notoriously disputed passage--more controverted and doubted than any in the New Testament--so much can be said in its favour, how immensely strong is the foundation on which the whole volume of Scripture rests! If even against this passage the arguments of opponents are not conclusive, we have no reason to fear for the rest of the Bible. After all, there is much ground for thinking that some critical difficulties have been purposely left by Gods providence in the text of the New Testament, in order to prove the faith and patience of Christian people. They serve to test the humility of those to whom intellectual difficulties are a far greater cross then either doctrinal or practical ones. To such minds it is trying, but useful, discipline to find occasional passages involving knots which they cannot quite untie, and problems which they cannot quite solve. Of such passages the verses before us are a striking instance. That the text of them is a hard thing it would be wrong to deny. But I believe our duty is not to reject it hastily, but to sit still and wait. In these matters, he that believeth shall not make haste. (Bp. Ryle.)
The internal evidence in favour of the passage
It bears the same relation to revelation as a ray of light does to the sun. Its consummate knowledge of the human heart; its masterly harmonizing of the demands of the Mosaic law with the gospel; its triumphant turning of the tables in the presence of insolent foes; its matchless teachings of mercy, mingled with the sternest rebuke to sin; its complete and glorious victory in their terrible defeat and shame, all point out and prove the handwriting of God. Gods Word is a great fact in the moral world, as the Alps are in the natural. A fragment of granite taken from the Alps proves God its Creator quite as fully as the mountain range. (W. H. Van Doren, D. D.)
The intrinsic truthfulness of the passage
Were the critical evidence against its genuineness far more overwhelming than it is, it would yet bear upon its surface the strongest proof of its authenticity. It is hardly too much to say that the mixture which it displays of tragedy and tenderness--the contrast which it involves between low, cruel cunning, and exalted nobility of intellect and emotion--transcends all power of the human imagination to have invented it; while the picture of a divine insight reading the inmost thoughts of the heart, and a yet diviner love which sees those inmost secrets with larger eyes than ours, furnish us with a conception of Christs power and person at once too lofty and too original to have been founded on anything but fact. No one could have invented, for few could even appreciate, the sovereign purity and ineffable charm--the serene authority of condemnation and pardon--by which the story is so deeply characterized. The repeated instances in which, without a moments hesitation, He foiled the crafty designs of His enemies, and in foiling them taught forever some eternal principles of thought and action, are among the most unique and decisive proofs of His more than human wisdom; and yet not one of those gleams of sacred light which were struck from Him by collision with the malice of man was brighter or more beautiful than this. The very fact that the narrative found so little favour in the early centuries; the fact that whole Churches regarded the narrative as dangerous in its tendency; the fact that eminent Fathers either ignore it or speak of it in a semi-apologetic tone--in these facts we see the most decisive proof that its real moral and meaning are too transcendent to admit of its having been originally invented or interpolated without adequate authority into the sacred text. Yet it is strange that any should have failed to see that, in the ray of mercy which thus streamed from heaven upon the wretched sinner, the sin assumed an aspect tenfold more hideous and repulsive to the conscience of mankind. (Archdeacon Farrar.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson1891 · Public DomainOn v5050–52. Nicodemus. See John 3:1.
50–52. Nicodemus. See John 3:1.
Dost our law judge, etc.? Of course it did not, but for him to say a word in defense of justice brought the charge that he was a follower of the Galilean.
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Out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. The rulers in their rage make a false statement. Jonah (2 Kings 14:25), Elijah (1 Kings 17:1) and Nahum (Nah. 1:1) were all of Galilee.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary1892 · Public DomainOn v53Joh_7:1-12. For the general exposition of this section see…
EXPLANATORY AND CRITICAL NOTES
Joh_7:1-12. For the general exposition of this section see Homiletic Notes, pp. 233–235.
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Joh_7:2. Early in the morning (ὄρθρου).—St. John’s usual word is πρωῒ (Joh_20:1, and comp. Luk_21:38).
Joh_7:3. The scribes and Pharisees.—St. John does not name the scribes in his Gospel; they are included under the general name the Jews.
Joh_7:6. As though He heard them not.—Omitted in best copies.
Joh_7:12. Again.—See Joh_7:37. Our Lord here perhaps makes use of the other great symbolical feature of the feast of tabernacles—the lighting of the candelabra at night in the Court of the Women. There were divided opinions regarding Him among the people, and He gave them another opportunity of arriving at the truth.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Chap. Joh_7:53 to Joh_8:12
The Light of the World as Revealer.—Whatever view be taken of the position of this narrative in the gospel, its authenticity is generally held. The feast of tabernacles, with all its joyousness, was past. The joyous morning assemblages were over, the lights at eventide blazed no more in the temple courts. But the Saviour came early to the temple intent on His great work; and as the crowds of festival worshippers still remaining in Jerusalem gathered round Him, “assuming the position of an authoritative teacher” (Mat_5:1) He sat down and taught.
I. Jesus is the light of the world in revealing the evil in men’s hearts.—
1. Whilst engaged in teaching He was interrupted by His ever-vigilant foes. They brought before Him a poor creature, who, instead of having her heart brought nearer God in the religious and joyous feast just ended, had given herself over to sin of the grossest and most debasing nature. The guilty wretch had evidently been brought before the Sanhedrin for judgment; and it was so clear a case that had they dared they would have carried out the old sentence of capital punishment. Hearing that Jesus was teaching in the temple, they brought the guilty woman before Him, hoping thereby to entrap Him, and gain for themselves the name of being zealous for the law.
2. The Pharisees had formerly tempted Him on this subject (Mar_10:2-12), and had been sharply reproved for the laxity of their conceptions regarding the holiness of the marriage tie. On this occasion they probably thought they might “turn the tables” on Christ, by entrapping Him either into giving a too lenient judgment, or by answering their question in the affirmative, thus bringing Himself under the penalties of the Roman law.
3. And, moreover, they either misread their own law, or presumed that Jesus was ignorant of it. The punishment for adultery was stoning only in special circumstances (Deu_22:23-24). In what form the punishment was to be carried out in other cases was not specified (Lev_20:10). Here, then, “Jesus seemed forced to occupy a position opposed either to the law of Moses or to the Roman authority” (Luthardt). It was the same kind of snare into which they endeavoured to draw Him on the question of the tribute money (Mat_22:17).
4. But Jesus knew the hearts of these men (Joh_2:24-25). Their hypocrisy could not hide their true feelings and motives from Him. They professed to revere the law; but in reality this law, like others, had become a dead letter to them. The whole Jewish community, during our Lord’s time on earth, had become more or less corrupted by Roman licentiousness, and the sanctity of the marriage tie was disregarded. The more enlightened and spiritual custom of the time was to deprive the guilty woman of her dowry and divorce her; and our Lord seems to have stamped this method with His approval so far (Mat_5:31-32). But He sternly disapproved of the granting of divorce for trifling causes, and with so much facility as seems to have obtained. But these Jews did not want any direction or guidance as to their procedure; they simply wished to entrap the Saviour, and to render Him obnoxious to the people as a subverter of the law, or to the Roman authorities, as recommending the exercise of the power of life and death to the Jews.
II. Jesus is the light of the world in the revelation of the higher and spiritual law.—
1. The divine wisdom of the Saviour defeated the evil purpose of His enemies. He came “not to judge the world”—not to usurp the functions of human justice, but to reveal the higher law toward which human law and justice should ever be more closely conformed as men come under the influence of the gospel. He raised the case above a merely human level; and did He not perhaps point to what is too often forgotten, even among Christian communities, that the framers and administrators of the law should model their enactments and actions as nearly as possible to the revealed and eternal law of righteousness?—
“And earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy seasons justice.… Consider this—
That in the course of justice none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach as all to render
The deeds of mercy.”
Shakespeare.
2. These men had no true sense of this divine attribute of justice; in brutal fashion they dragged in this poor criminal before the assembled people. They were therefore not the men to administer the law, since they had no true sense of the spirit of the law. Our Lord did not say that human justice in this and other cases should not be carried into effect; but the men who carry it into effect must have true ideas concerning it.
3. He, therefore, raised the case to a higher tribunal. He brought accusers and accused alike before the bar of conscience. Stooping down, He wrote on the ground (Joh_7:6), as if intimating that a judicial sentence such as they desired was to be delivered; for such sentences were not only spoken, but written. And when the sentence came it was with crushing effect—not first on the accused, but on the accusers: “He that is without sin,” etc. (Joh_7:7). Here the claims of the holy law were vindicated perfectly; and those self-constituted judges, conscience-smitten, stole away one by one in utter confusion.
III. Jesus is the light of the world in that He points out the way of safety.—
1. When the last footfall of the baffled and retreating conspirators had died away on the ear, our Lord turned to the poor sinner brought thus before Him in shame and disgrace.
2. The question, “Where are?” etc. (Joh_7:10), does not mean, Has no man accused and convicted thee of this crime? That, alas! was evidently plain enough. The meaning is, Hath no man offered to carry out the death sentence they threatened? Therefore His further words, “Neither do I,” etc., simply mean, “Neither do I pronounce that sentence.” He gave her indeed an opportunity for repentance, as His closing words show, while at the same time He intimated the enormity of her guilt: “Go and sin no more.”
3. He condemned the sin; and it is noteworthy there is no word of forgiveness and peace, such as we find at Luk_7:48. As in the case of the woman of Samaria, our Lord’s manner of reference to the sin stamps it with its true nature.
4. Thus “the judges were made to feel that freedom from outward guilt is no claim to sinlessness; and the offender, in her turn, was led to see that flagrant guilt does not bar hope” (Westcott).
5. We learn that human justice should be modelled on the divine righteousness; that those who carry into effect the decrees of human justice should be men of a righteous, God-fearing disposition; that there is another bar before which men, even though acquitted or condemned by human law, must stand; and that men must forsake sin ere they can have forgiveness and peace.
Joh_7:12. The world’s need of Christ, the Sun of righteousness.—How important is the material sun in its relation to our world! Without its light and heat-rays darkness and death would reign. The world’s existence, humanly speaking, depends on the continuity of our earth’s relation to that star. It is the most important to us of all the starry hosts. It would, therefore, be a bold assertion for any man to make that he was as important to the moral and spiritual life of men as the sun to their physical life. Yet here we have such an assertion made. Jesus came, as it appears from the narrative as it stands, over-night from Bethany to the temple early in the morning. The sun had lately risen, clothing in light “the mountains round Jerusalem,” and gladdening all nature by its rising. Jesus, in view of the glorious scene, seems to say, Just as the sun has awakened animated nature to new life in a new day, so am I come to give spiritual awakening to those slumbering in the darkness of sin and error. [Or if the narrative is to be continued from Joh_7:52 to Joh_8:12, then His reference may have been to the candelabra in the temple court, and His meaning somewhat similar.] And Jesus had given good reason to those who heard Him for this claim of His. His works of power, His words of wisdom, marked Him out as more than human—to be what He claimed to be, the Messiah, the promised Sun of righteousness, the Light of the world. Notice:—
I. The world needed such a light.—
1. There are some questions which have in all ages engrossed, and will engross, the minds of men, and which cannot be answered by unaided reason. There are problems that puzzle and perplex which no merely human intellect has solved or can solve. These subjects lie in lofty regions, on heights to which philosophy and science vainly attempt to climb. They have been shrouded in darkness, like earth at midnight—have been dimly discerned, as through a mist, distorted, etc.
2. This has been so with the knowledge of God, of the means of approach to Him, of a future life. By reason men have attained to only dim and illusory conceptions of these great subjects, and it has been long felt that reason alone cannot here pronounce decisively.
3. By the light of natural religion men can go only a little toward the verification of such great truths; and even when they seem to have attained to a clearer view, the mists of doubt roll down, and it vanishes from their ken.
II. Jesus is the light of the world in that He leads men to a true knowledge of the nature and character of God.—
1. Among the nations at large, as regards this, darkness prevailed. The most cultured nations of antiquity had not risen above idolatry. Only a few voices called men to a better knowledge, and they were either unheeded or stopped.
2. Amongst barbarous tribes the darkness “was such as might be felt.”
3. There was but one exception—Israel; and in their case tradition had encrusted the windows of the soul and darkened their spiritual vision.
4. The further men had gone from the primitive revelation, the further they had fallen from the true knowledge and love of God. They bowed down to all the hosts of heaven, and finally came to “worship devils” (1Co_10:20). And this description is still true of the great heathen world.
5. But in the gospel of Christ there is given such a view of the nature and character of God as satisfies the heart. The existence of such a Being clears up the enigmas of life, and makes what at first sight seems “a dubious maze without a plan” to appear full of meaning and order. There is revealed to us One immeasurably removed above our highest uninspired conceptions. His government is seen to be founded on laws which are the expression of His own perfect character, and obedience to which is seen to be for the welfare of the race, etc.
III. Jesus is the light of the world in that He made known the way by which men can approach to God acceptably.—
1. It is not enough for sinful men to know that there is a God; they must know how they stand related to Him. All the religions of the world were framed with a view to this end.
2. Even the chosen people, when Jesus came to earth, needed light on this subject of subjects. They had retained the letter of their law, but had lost the spirit of the law (Joh_7:23-24). They misapprehended the prophets. Tradition and ritual were what the Pharisee trusted in; whilst the Essene leaned to asceticism and the Sadducee to rationalism. But in none of these ways was there any true approach to God (Mic_6:6).
3. Jesus has shown us the way of access to the Father. He revealed God as holy, abhorring sin, by no means clearing the guilty; and as the sinner, gazing on His revelation of the Holy One, cries out, “Depart from me,” etc., Jesus presents Himself as the Lamb of God, etc. (Joh_1:29). Sinners are shown that, though eternal Justice forbids that a free, unconditional escape from the guilt and penalty of sin should be granted, yet a way has been found whereby justice and mercy can be and are reconciled. It is true certain conditions are affixed to this boon. Men are required to repent of and renounce sin, and accept the pardon and peace offered in Christ.
4. Thus Christ enlightened the world on this fact of such importance. The Morning Star of promise gleamed in sacrifice and rite and prophecy in the early Church. But it was when He came to earth that the full light shone on our world; and in view of His redemptive work He could say, “I am the light,” etc.
IV. Jesus is the light of the world in revealing to men the existence and eternity of life beyond the grave.—
1. For the assurance of the existence of a future life men have ever longed. This has been to them a supreme question. Reason can offer no final solution of the problem. The disproportion in the allotment of rewards and punishments here, and the longing after immortality, deep seated in the human heart, may lead to a presumption that there is a life beyond. But reason has no absolute authority, and cannot state definitely whether that life she longs and hopes for will be eternal.
2. Revelation tells us of a future spiritual life. In patriarchal times God’s people lived in the consciousness of that higher life. He was the God of the living, and not of the dead (Mat_22:32). But it was reserved for Jesus Christ, not only by His teaching, but by His actual rising from the dead, to bring “life and immortality to light.”
3. In view of all this Jesus has proved Himself to be “the light of the world.” But the knowledge of the truth will not avail unless He is to each individual the Sun of righteousness. He who enters some gloomy cell, shutting himself in from the brightness of noonday, may indirectly benefit from the sun, for its heat rays will warm even the air of his prison; but he cannot rejoice in its light. So if men shut themselves up in their sin and self-righteousness, the radiancy of the Light of the world will be well-nigh vain, so far as they are concerned. They must open their hearts to receive Him, if they would be blest by the brightness of His rising. And those on whom He has risen will shine in ever-increasing light until the perfect day of which Christ is the eternal light.
HOMILETIC NOTES
Joh_7:1-11. Pericope adulterœ.—Most Biblical scholars are now agreed that this narrative forms no part of the original text of this Gospel. Their conclusions rest not only on external but on internal grounds. Several great scholars, however, admit its genuineness, and defend it as part of the sacred text. The evidence for and against its retention may be briefly stated.
1. It must have existed as a part of the Gospel narrative in the third or even in the second century; for it is quoted in the Apostolic Constitutions.
2. The Church fathers Jerome, Ambrose, Augustine, etc., admit the genuineness of the passage, and comment upon it.
3. It is contained in MSS. ranging from the fifth to the eleventh century (D, F, G, H, etc.), and in about three hundred cursives; and, of course, some of these may be copies of earlier MSS. than any now known. Jerome, e.g., mentions that it was found in many MSS. of his time. And his evidence here is unimpeachable. It appears also in early MSS. of the Vulgate and Ethiopic versions, among others. Such are the main facts of the evidence for its genuineness as part of this Gospel. On the other hand, there is a great weight of evidence which seems to exclude it from its position here.
1. It is not found in the great uncial MSS. א, (A), B, (C), L, X, etc.; for although A and C are defective at this point, it is considered from an estimate of the extent of the portions missing that it was not in the complete copies. It is omitted also in fifty cursives.
2. The passage is marked with asterisks, etc., in several of the MSS. which contain it; whilst in others its position is altered. In one document it is placed after Joh_7:36; in others at the end of the Gospel; and in others still after Luk_21:3. It is not commented on by Origen, Cyril, Chrysostom, and others.—Scrivener, “Intro.,” etc.
Internal evidence.—
1. There is great variation in the texts where it is admitted. Griesbach distinguished three distinct texts: (a) the Textus Receptus, (b) that of Codex D, and (c) what might be called a composite text (see Godet).
2. There are in the narrative forms of expression which seem to distinguish the passage from the Gospel as a whole. But this part of the internal evidence must not be pressed too strongly. The occurrence here of one or two words and phrases nowhere else found in this Gospel is not conclusive against the authenticity of the passage. If τὸ ὅρος τῶν ἐλαιῶν, e.g., occurs here only, so does κέδρος in Joh_18:1. Nor must what seems a “want of harmony between the spirit of the narrative and the context of St. John” (Godet) be too much insisted on. Many scholars have failed to see this want of harmony. A consideration of the evidence for and against the passage seems to lead, at all events, to the conclusion that the narrative is a genuine apostolic tradition; and there is much force in the suggestion of Augustine that it was kept out of the text by those of little faith, who were afraid it might lead to moral laxity. It is not impossible that it was first “bracketed” in some MSS., as not to be read in the public assemblies, and in copies of the MSS. omitted. The following weighty words of Dr. Reynolds wisely sum up the controversy: “Though the spirit, atmosphere, and phrase suggest the Synoptic tradition rather than the Johannine, yet it must not be forgotten that there are many Synoptic passages in John’s Gospel, and Johannine phrases in the Synoptists. The criticism proceeding from moral timidity has failed to recognise the grandeur of the entire proceeding. It contains no palliation of incontinence, but a simple refusal of Jesus to assume the position of a civil judge or executor of the law, in face of the established political supremacy of Rome; while the Lord made a demand for personal holiness, and an appeal to conscience so pungent that, in lieu of condemning to death a sinful woman, He judged a whole crowd of men, convincing them of sin, while He gave the overt transgressor time for repentance and holier living.” Bishop Wordsworth (Greek Testament in loc.), whilst concluding that the passage contains a true history, in all probability from St. John, and delivered by him orally, considers that it was not a part of his written Gospel, and was probably added first on the margin of MSS., and thence crept into the text. And he draws from the investigation of the whole difficulty these moral inferences: a. Thankfulness to God for the solid foundation on which the proof of the genuineness and inspiration of the canon of Scripture rests. This passage consists of twelve verses only. Few doubt its authenticity. But its canonicity is the question at issue. How much and minutely has this been discussed! How rigid has been the scrutiny to which the canonical Scripture has been subjected before being received as the work of the Holy Spirit by the universal Church! And, in proportion to the rigidness of the scrutiny, how solid the ground of our belief in the inspiration of Scripture! b. It reminds us of our privilege in possessing so many MSS. belonging to an early age of the Church’s history—proofs of the genuineness of the text. c. It leads to a careful examination of the grounds on which our belief in the inspiration of Scripture is based. d. It excites us to thank Him who not only gave Scripture, but founded the Church universal to guard Scripture and assure us of its inspiration.
Joh_7:1-12. Illumination of the temple court at the feast of tabernacles.—One of the features of the joyful feast of tabernacles was the illumination of the city at nightfall, on at least the first evening of the festival, but probably on the other evenings as well. Large candelabra were lighted in the court of the women, and threw their radiance afar. Probably a partial illumination of the city took place; at all events, “many in the assembly carried flambeaux.” The wicks of the lamps in the temple court are said to have been “furnished from the cast-off garments of the priests.” Festivities were kept up for some time after the lighting of the lamps, the light of which was seen far and wide. Very striking must have been the spectacle on such occasions. And the ceremony had a meaning. Just as the pouring out of the water of Siloam in the morning reminded the people of God’s goodness to them at the rock in Horeb, so the sudden lighting up of the darkened temple court, and adjacent parts of the city, reminded the festive crowds of the “pillar of fire by night” (Exo_13:21) which guided them in the wilderness. If the passage Joh_7:53 to Joh_8:11 is not retained as part of this Gospel, then it may be held that in Joh_7:12 our Lord was referring to the preparations for lighting the candelabra or the actual lighting of them. He would thus call attention to Himself as the true guide over life’s pilgrim ways in the darkness of our present state: “He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness.” If, however, the pericope be retained (from Joh_7:53 to Joh_8:11), we should infer that our Lord, entering the temple in the early morning and pointing to the rising sun, then drew attention to Himself as the true and only light of the world of men. Both images may be legitimately referred to Him (Isa_4:5; Mal_4:2).
ILLUSTRATIONS
Joh_7:12. The manner in which mankind had wandered from the light.—The early fathers of the race would hand down to their children the knowledge of God they possessed as the framer of the heavens and earth, which continually tell of His glory. “But,” as one has beautifully said, “this precious truth was vitiated among their hands. By dint of admiration for the works of God they took them in the end for God Himself; and the stars which appeared to announce His glory became in turn their divinities” (Massillon).
Joh_7:12. Men by nature have wandered far from the light and knowledge of God.
Chaldean shepherds, ranging trackless fields,
Beneath the concave of unclouded skies
Spread like a sea, in boundless solitude,
Look’d on the polar star, as on a guide
And guardian of their course, that never closed
His steadfast eye. The planetary five
With a submissive reverence they beheld;
Watch’d, from the centre of their sleeping flocks,
Those radiant Mercuries, that seem’d to move,
Carrying through ether, in perpetual round,
Decrees and resolutions of the gods;
And, by their aspects, signifying works
Of dim futurity, to man reveal’d.
The imaginative faculty was lord
Of observations natural; and, thus
Led on, those shepherds made report of stars
In set rotation passing to and fro,
Between the orbs of our apparent sphere
And its invisible counterpart, adorn’d
With answering constellations, under Earth,
Removed from all approach of living sight,
But present to the dead, who, so they deem’d,
Like those celestial messengers, beheld
All accidents, and judges were of all.
The lively Grecian, in a land of hills,
Rivers, and fertile plains, and sounding shores,
Under a cope of variegated sky,
Could find commodious place for every god,
Promptly received, as prodigally brought,
From the surrounding countries, at the choice
Of all adventurers. With unrivall’d skill,
As nicest observation furnish’d hints
For studious fancy, did his hand bestow
On fluent operations a fix’d shape;
Metal or stone, idolatrously served.
And yet, triumphant o’er this pompous show
Of art, this palpable array of sense,
On every side encounter’d; in despite
Of the gross fictions chanted in the streets
By wandering rhapsodists; and in contempt
Of doubt and bold denials hourly urged
Amid the wrangling schools—a “spirit” hung,
Beautiful region! o’er thy towns and farms,
Statues and temples, and memorial tombs;
And emanations were perceived, and acts
Of immortality, in nature’s course,
Exemplified by mysteries that were felt
As bonds, on grave philosopher imposed
And armèd warrior; and in every grove
A gay or pensive tenderness prevail’d
When piety more awful had relax’d.
Wordsworth
Joh_7:12. Reason not the light of men.
Dim as the borrow’d beams of moon and stars
To lonely, weary, wandering travellers,
Is reason to the soul: and as, on high,
Those rolling fires discover but the sky,
Not light as here; so reason’s glimmering ray
Was sent, not to assure our doubtful way,
But guide us upward to a better day.
And as those nightly tapers disappear
When day’s bright lord ascends our hemisphere;
So pale grows reason at religion’s sight;
So dies, and so dissolves in supernatural light.
Some few, whose lamp shone brighter, have been led
From cause to cause, to nature’s secret head,
And found that one first principle must be;
But what or who, that UNIVERSAL HE;
Whether some soul encompassing this ball,
Unmade, unmoved, yet making, moving all;
Not even the Stagirite himself could see,
And Epicurus guess’d as well as he.
As blindly groped they for a future state,
As rashly judged of Providence and fate,
But least of all could their endeavours find
What most concern’d the good of human kind.
Thus anxious thoughts in endless circles roll,
Without a centre where to fix the soul:
In this wild maze their vain endeavours end:
How can the less the greater comprehend?
Or finite reason reach Infinity?
For what could fathom God were more than He.—John Dryden.
Joh_7:12. Christians in Christ are lights in the world.—Every Christian is a light of the world; for he should know and be assured what manner of man he is, and what is his standing with God—that he comes from God, and … in Christ has a holy standing, having become a new man, and shall eternally abide with God. In this condition I live and bear the cross; therefore I know whence I have come. I am truly no more the old Hans or Claus, who was descended from Adam; but I am a Christian. I bear a name common to all, with all those who are new born.… And at the end of this life heaven stands open for me, so that with all the saints I may go thither. I am sure of my position; my glory has a most precious foundation. But the “evil men and seducers” stand in great peril; they know not whence they come and whither they go, are uncertain of their condition, and pass on as in a dream.—Luther, quoted by Besser.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey1900 · Public DomainOn v50Joh 7:50-52. “Nicodemus says to them, being one of…
NICODEMUS VINDICATES HIM
Joh 7:50-52. “Nicodemus says to them, being one of them, Whether does our law condemn a man until it may first have a hearing with him, and know what he doeth? They responded, and said to him, Whether are you also from Galilee? Search and see that no prophet riseth from Galilee.” You see here they are ringing charges of reproach on Galilee, because most remote from Jerusalem, the center of light and knowledge, the home of the hierarchy, the seat of the rabbinical colleges, and the glory of Israel. Consequently they look down with contempt on the poor, ignorant Galileans, and think they have made a point, because the prophecies do not specify a great prophet in that age rising out of Galilee, whereas it was not at all applicable to Jesus, who had simply used it as an evangelistic field. Nicodemus never survived that memorable nocturnal sermon which Jesus preached to him, more than two years ago, on the new birth. As he was an influential member of the Sanhedrin, which was solid against Jesus, how beautiful to see him, true to his convictions, standing alone, and thus daring to vindicate Him! It is a significant fact that Jesus was actually mobbed, being denied a fair trial according to Jewish law, as you here see from the testimony of Nicodemus, which, like the English and American Magna Charta, guaranteed to every accused person a fair trial, bringing the witnesses face to face, and giving them a chance to “implead one another.”
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It is equally true in reference to Roman law, as testified by Festus in case of Paul, that every man under accusation had a right to bring the witnesses face to face, prove the guilt or innocence of the accused, and thus bring about a true verdict of acquittal or condemnation in harmony with right and equity. Jonah, one of the first Hebrew prophets, called of God to preach to the Ninevites, was a Galilean, despite all this howl against Jesus on the allegation of no prophet rising from Galilee.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey1914 · Public DomainOn v53J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [LXXIX. Story of…
J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [LXXIX. Story of the Adulteress].
LXXIX. THE STORY OF THE ADULTERESS. (Jerusalem.) dJOHN VII. 53-VIII. 11.
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[This section is wanting in nearly all older manuscripts, but Jerome (A. D. 346-420) says that in his time it was contained in "many Greek and Latin manuscripts," and these must have been as good or better than the best manuscripts we now possess. But whether we regard it as part of John's narrative or not, scholars very generally accept it as a genuine piece of history.] d53 And they went every man unto his own house [confused by the question of Nicodemus, the assembly broke up and each man went home]: 1 but Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. [Probably crossing the mountain to the house of Lazarus and sisters.] 2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down [as an authoritative teacher did-- Mat_5:1], and taught them. 3 And the scribes and the Pharisees bring a woman taken in adultery; and having set her in the midst, 4 they say unto him, Teacher, this woman hath been taken in adultery, in the very act. [The woman had probably been brought to the rulers for trial, and they had seen in her case what appeared to be a promising means of entrapping Jesus. In the presence of the woman and the form of their accusation we see their coarse brutality. The case could have been presented to Jesus without the presence of the woman, and without a detailed accusation.] 5 Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such [It was a case under Deu_22:22. Stoning was the legal method of capital punishment]: what then sayest thou of her? 6 And this they said, trying him, that they might have i whereof to accuse him. [They were placing Jesus in a dilemma. They reasoned that he [451] could not set aside the law of Moses and clear the woman without so losing the confidence and favor of the people as to frustrate his claim to be Messiah. They thought he would therefore be compelled to condemn the woman. But if he ordered her to be put to death, he would be assuming authority which belonged only to the Roman rulers, and could therefore be accused and condemned as a usurper.] But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground. [His act was intended to make them vehement, and to give his answer greater effect. What he wrote is unimportant and immaterial, and hence was not told.] 7 But when they continued asking him [they insisted on an answer, hoping that he would so explain away the seventh commandment as to encourage them in breaking the sixth], he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. [Under the law ( Deu_17:7), the witnesses were to cast the first stone. Jesus maintained and vindicated the law, but imposed a condition which they had overlooked. The one who executed the law must be free from the same crime, lest by stoning the woman he condemn himself as worthy of a like death. There is no doubt that the words of Jesus impressed upon them the truth that freedom from the outward act did not imply inward purity or sinlessness-- Mat_5:27, Mat_5:28.] 8 And again he stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground. [Thus giving them the opportunity to retire without the embarrassment of being watched.] 9 And they, when they heard it, went out one by one, beginning from the eldest, i even unto the last [the oldest was first to be convicted of his conscience, because his experience of life's sinfulness was necessarily the fullest]: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the midst. [I. e., in the midst of the court, where the crowd had been.] 10 And Jesus lifted up himself, and said unto her, Woman, where are they? did no man condemn thee? [This question is asked to pave the way for the dismissal of the woman.] 11 And she said, No man, Lord. ["Lord" is ambiguous; it [452] may mean "Master" or simply "sir."] And Jesus said, Neither do I condemn thee: go thy way; from henceforth sin no more. [The woman did not ask forgiveness, so no words of pardon are spoken. Compare this case with Luk_12:14. Jesus did not come as an earthly judge; neither did he come to condemn, but to save. The narrative shows how Jesus could deal with malice and impurity in a manner so full of delicacy and dignity as to demonstrate the divine wisdom which dwelt within him.]
[FFG 451-453]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield1917 · Public DomainOn v53and every man
and every man
Joh 7:53 to Joh 8:11; is not found in some of the most ancient manuscripts. Augustine declares that it was stricken from many copies of the sacred story because of a prudish fear that it might teach immorality! But the immediate context Joh 7:12-46 beginning with Christ’s declaration, "I am the light of the world." seems clearly to have its occasion in the conviction wrought in the hearts of the Pharisees, as recorded in; Joh 7:9; as also, it explains the peculiar virulence of the Pharisee’s words (Joh 7:41).
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv50, 53one of the Pharisees, who came to him earlier
one of the Pharisees, who came to him earlier
John provides this information to remind us of who Nicodemus is. Your language may have a special way to mark background information. (See: Background Information)
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Does our law judge a man ... what he does?
This remark appears in the form of a question to add emphasis. This can be translated as a statement. AT: "Our Jewish law does not allow us to judge a man ... what he does!" (See: Rhetorical Question)
Does our law judge a man
Here Nicodemus speaks of the law as if it were a person. If this is not natural in your language, you may translate it with a personal subject. AT: "Do we judge a man" or "we do not judge a man" (See: Personification)
Are you also from Galilee?
The Jewish leaders know that Nicodemus is not from Galilee. They ask this question as a way of scoffing at him. AT: "You must also be one of those inferior persons from Galilee!" (See: Rhetorical Question and Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
Search and see
This is an ellipsis. You may wish to include the information that does not appear. AT: "Search carefully and read what is written in the Scriptures" (See: Ellipsis)
no prophet comes from Galilee
This probably refers to the belief that Jesus was born in Galilee.
Tyndale Open Study Notes2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv52–537:52 no prophet ever comes from Galilee! The Jewish…
7:52 no prophet ever comes from Galilee! The Jewish leaders were apparently unaware that Jesus had been born in Bethlehem of Judea, not in Galilee (see Matt 2:1; Luke 2:1-7).
GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv50, 52, 53 50. Nicodemus said to them. The Evangelist describes Nicodemus…
50. Nicodemus said to them. The Evangelist describes Nicodemus as a neutral man, who does not venture to undertake in good earnest the defense of sound doctrine, and yet cannot endure to have the truth oppressed.
He who came to Jesus by night. This circumstance is mentioned by the Evangelist, partly to the praise, and partly to the disgrace, of Nicodemus. If he had not loved the doctrine of Christ, he would never have dared to meet the rage of wicked men; for he knew that, if any of them but opened his mouth, he would be immediately exposed to dislike and to danger. When, therefore, he ventures to throw out one word, however feeble it may be, some small spark of godliness shines from his heart; but in not defending Christ openly, he manifests excessive timidity. Thus the Evangelist means that he has still a hankering after the concealment of the night, and is not a true disciple of Christ. He says that he once came to Jesus by night, but remained openly among his enemies, and kept his place in their camp.
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This ought to be the more carefully observed, because there are many in the present day who plead that they resemble Nicodemus, and hope that, by assuming this mask, they will mock God with impunity. Granting what they ask, that there is no difference between them and Nicodemus, what assistance, pray, do they derive from such an example? Nicodemus says that Christ ought not to be condemned until he be heard; and the same thing might be said of a robber or an assassin; for it is a well-known and proverbial sentiment, that it is better to acquit the innocent than to condemn the guilty. Besides, in his attempts to release the person of Christ, he leaves and abandons the doctrine. What shall we find here that is worthy of a believer or a Christian? Thus the seed of the gospel, which afterwards bore fruit, was still concealed and choked in him. We shall apply this example far more profitably to another purpose, that the Lord frequently causes the doctrine, which seemed to have perished, gradually to take a concealed root, and, after a long period, to put forth some bud, first like an untimely plant, afterwards lively and vigorous; just as the faith of Nicodemus acquired new and sudden vigor from the death of Christ.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv51, 53 What he hath committed, who is accused.
What he hath committed, who is accused.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv50–53 50 Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to…
50 Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,)
Ver. 50. Nicodemus saith unto them] Good blood will not belie itself; love, as fire, will not long be hidden. Croesus’s dumb son could not but speak to see his father ready to be slain, {a} Nicodemus, though hitherto a night bird, now shows himself for Christ in a council. How far had Judas outstripped Nicodemus till it came to the upshot! Nicodemus was only a night professor, Judas in the sight of all. Nicodemus a slow scholar, Judas a forward preacher. Yet at last, when Judas betrayed Christ in the night, Nicodemus faithfully professed him in the day, &c.
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{a} ανθρωπε, μη κτεινε Κροισον. Herod.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv50–53 Of Nicodemus we read, and of his coming by…
Of Nicodemus we read, and of his coming by night to Jesus, Joh 3:1,2. He now, being one of this great court, stands up to speak for Christ, yet faintly, or at least very prudently and warily. He saith no more for him than he ought to have spoken for the greatest malefactor, viz.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v50 Here observe, 1. How God stirs up Nicodemus, though…
Here observe, 1. How God stirs up Nicodemus, though he durst not openly own Christ, yet to plead for him, that he might not be condemned before heard; this was a common rule of justice, and nothing but what might have been said on behalf of the greatest malefactor; he could not well have said less; but God so ordered it, that it was enough to divert the storm from falling upon Christ at this time. One word shall be sufficient to blow over a persecution, when God will have it so.
Observe, 2. They answer Nicodemus with a taunt, a mock, and a scorn, that no prophet ever did rise out of Galilee, nor ever should. Therefore Christ arising out of Galilee, as they thought, could be no prophet.
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Observe, lastly, That though they were more and more enraged, yet they dispense without concluding any thing against Christ, for that time every one went to his own home. There is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel against the Lord.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On v50 And every man went unto his own house. The…
And every man went unto his own house. The officers not bringing Jesus with them, and the sanhedrim being posed with Nicodemus, broke up without doing any business, and every member of it went home: this we may suppose was about the time of the evening sacrifice: for
"the great sanhedrim sat from the time of the morning daily sacrifice, to the time of the evening daily sacrifice (b):''
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and it is said (c), that
"after the evening daily sacrifice, the sanhedrim went, "to their own houses";''
as they now did, and not to their booths, the feast of tabernacles being now over.
(b) Maimon. Hilchot Sanhedrin, c. 3. sect. 1. (c) Piske Tosephot Sanhedrin, art. 35.
Next: John Chapter 8
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv50, 52, 53 Nicodemus, he that came to him by night -…
Nicodemus, he that came to him by night - Having now a little more courage, being one of them - Being present as a member of the great council, saith to them - Do not we ourselves act as if we knew not the law, if we pass sentence on a man before we hear him?
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv50–53 Verse 50. Nicodemus - being one of them] That…
Verse 50. Nicodemus - being one of them] That is, a Pharisee, and a ruler of the Jews: See Clarke on Joh 3:1.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v50 Joh 7:50-53. Nicodemus, he who came to Jesus by…
Joh 7:50-53. Nicodemus, he who came to Jesus by night — Having now got a little more courage; being one of them — Being present, as a member of the great council, saith to them, Doth our law judge (κρινει, condemn) any man before it hear him — Before the magistrate, appointed to execute it, summon him into his presence, that he may hear from him what he has to say in his own defence; and know what he doeth — Namely, from credible witnesses? As if he had said, Do not we ourselves act as if we knew not the law, if we pass sentence on a man before we hear him? They answered — By personal reflection; the argument they could not answer, and therefore did not attempt it. For, notwithstanding that perfect knowledge of the law, and that high reverence for its precepts, which they made such boast of, they were acting directly contrary to the most essential principles of equity established by it. But, being greatly exasperated by Nicodemus’s reproof, which was the more poignant and provoking, because it was well founded; and being in a violent passion with him, for condemning their conduct, and speaking favourably of Jesus, they asked him, with an air of disdain and surprise mixed with fierceness, Art thou also of Galilee — Art thou one of his party? One of the ignorant, low faction, that has leagued to support a Galilean Messiah in opposition to the law, which has determined the Messiah’s nativity to Bethlehem? Search and look; for out of Galilee ariseth (or rather, hath arisen, as ουκ εγηγερται properly signifies) no prophet — They could not but know the contrary. They knew Jonah arose out of Gath-hepher; and Nahum from another village in Galilee. Yea, and Thisbe, the town of Elijah the Tishbite, was in Galilee also. They might, likewise, have known that Jesus was not born in Galilee, but at Bethlehem, even from the public register there, and from the genealogies of the family of David. Add to this, that many of the people had heard the shepherds declare, on the testimony of the angel, that he was born at Bethlehem, and had wondered at the words which had been told them by the shepherds, Luk 2:15-18. Nay, and the chief priests and Pharisees were not ignorant that the wise men from the East went to Bethlehem to worship him soon after he was born, as king of the Jews: the memory of which facts could not be lost in the space of thirty years. Here, then, we have a striking instance of the power of prejudice to shut men’s eyes against the clearest truth. Dr. Campbell, however, thinks they did not mean all that they expressed; because, when men’s passions are inflamed, they are not wont to be accurate in their words, or distinct in recollecting, on the sudden, things which make against them; and that therefore this expression of the Pharisees, whom prejudice, pride, and envy had concurred in blinding, need not appear surprising to us. And every man went unto his own house — The council separated immediately: for, being conscious that their poor answer would not bear examination, they took care, by rising up and dispersing, to prevent a reply. So that short, plain question of Nicodemus, spoiled all their measures, and for the present frustrated their designs. A word spoken in season, how good is it! especially when God gives it his blessing.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv50–53 Nicodemus - See Joh 3:1.
Nicodemus - See Joh 3:1.
One of them - That is, one of the great council or Sanhedrin. God often places one or more pious men in legislative assemblies to vindicate his honor and his law; and he often gives a man grace on such occasions boldly to defend his cause; to put men upon their proof, and to confound the proud and the domineering. We see in this case, also, that a man, at one time timid and fearful (compare Joh 3:1), may on other occasions be bold, and fearlessly defend the truth as it is in Jesus. This example should lead every man entrusted with authority or office fearlessly to defend the truth of God, and, when the rich and the mighty are pouring contempt on Jesus and his cause, to stand forth as its fearless defender.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v52 They say to Nicodemus: Art thou also a Galilean,…
They say to Nicodemus: Art thou also a Galilean, who defendest this Galilean, whereas no prophet, nor especially the Messias, comes from Galilee? (Witham) --- A prophet, properly the prophet: for they could not be ignorant that the prophet Jonas was from Galilee. We have not indeed the article the in this verse, but we find it in ver. 40, with which this appears to correspond. (Haydock)
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George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv50–53 Nicodemus--reappearing to us after nearly three years' absence from…
Nicodemus--reappearing to us after nearly three years' absence from the history, as a member of the council, probably then sitting.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv50–53 50. Nicodemus saith—The words of Nicodemus are a model…
50. Nicodemus saith—The words of Nicodemus are a model of caution, but wonderfully to the point. They would have it that no ruler believed on Jesus; but here they are met by one who dares to be his advocate. They curse the people ignorant of the law, and he convicts them of violating the law.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv50–53 50. he that came to Jesus by night] The…
50. he that came to Jesus by night] The better reading seems to be, he that came to Him before. See on Joh_3:1-2. His ‘being one of them’ contradicts what is implied in Joh_7:48, that no member of the Sanhedrin believed on Him.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv50–53 (50) On the character of Nicodemus, see Notes on…
(50) On the character of Nicodemus, see Notes on John 3. His position here is that of a friend of Jesus, who still does not dare to declare himself His open follower.
He that came to Jesus by night.—Comp. Note on Joh_3:2. The better reading here is, probably, he that came to Him before.
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Being one of them contains the answer to their question, “Hath any one (as above) of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on Him?” (Joh_7:48).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv50, 52, 53 Vers. 50, 51. They were hardly prepared for what…
Vers. 50, 51. They were hardly prepared for what followed; for one of their own order, one of their "rulers," "the teacher of Israel," a chief among the Pharisees, opens his lips to speak to them, and to call for a halt in their rash proceedings. He did not go far, but he directed attention to a fundamental principle of that very "Law" which the Pharisaic party were ignoring. Nicodemus saith to them (he who came to him formerly, although being one of them). The parenthesis shows the author"s strong recollection of the scene, (Joh_3:1, etc.) when the Lord had opened to his own mind, as well as to Nicodemus, the mystery of the kingdom, and the need of that very Spirit"s power to which (John knew when he wrote that) the Lord was referring in his great discourse. Nicodemus had not proclaimed his own discipleship, but he meant to cover and shield the enthusiastic crowd from the sting of the cruel condemnation of this Pharisaic junta. Doth our Law judge a man except it have first heard from himself, and have come to know what he doeth? (Exo_23:1 margin, "Thou shalt not receive a false report;" Deu_1:16, "Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother The Law is here personified in the person of the judge. The process is not followed by this hasty ex parte statement. The Law is traversed by this forgetfulness of the first principle of justice as between man and man. They might have rejoined that they did know the teaching and the work of Jesus. They had been following him by their representatives, and were now witnesses of his extraordinary assumptions, and had evidence enough on which to proceed. The retort which they made is sufficient proof of the defective and passion-blinded method of their own procedure. Moreover, it shows that the prophetic rank assigned to the Lord Jesus was the main question in the mind of Nicodemus and his Pharisaic companions. The rules for the judgment of a prophet were stringent, and no attempt had been made to put these prophetic claims to the test. (Deu_18:19-22) Moreover, they ran off upon an utterly false tack, and were not free from inaccuracy in their solemn appeal to Holy Scripture.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v53 And every man went to his own house.
Joh_7:53
And every man went to his own house.
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Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
If we group together the scenes of these chapters we might treat them.
1. A day with Jesus; in which we have not merely His answers to the disputing Jews, but His proclamation of love.
2. A night with Jesus on the Mount of Olives.
3. Dawn with Jesus in the Temple, listening to tits early teaching.
4. Sunrise with Jesus, as pointing to the East, He says, I am the light of the world. These two verses suggest--Man at home, Jesus not at home:
The crowd which had surrounded Him all the day gradually drops off,one by one, as the evening draws on, and Jesus is left alone. Each one has a home to go to, and retires to rest with his family; Jesus has nowhere to lay His head; they go one way, He goes another; they keep within the city walls, tie goes without the gate to Olivet, there to spend the night in prayer. He is not at home; even in the Temple which is His Fathers house, He must not stay; its gates are closing, and He is shut out. He can only go to the places where man is not; to the solitudes where, outside of Jerusalem, outside even of Bethany, He can meet with God. This homelessness was for us; that we might have a home in His Fathers house. He went without the gate that we might enter in. He became an exile, taking our place and life of banishment, that we might enter the celestial city, the paradise of God. Hast thou entered in? Or art thou still an exile from God though at home on earth? (H. Bonar, D. D.)
The Saviour and the Sanhedrim
We have here a notable instance of the injury done to the Scriptures by the arbitrary division into chapters and verses. The severance here diverts the attention from the object which the writer had in view. The greater part of chap. 7. is occupied with the conflicting opinions of the populace respecting Christ, and closes with a striking representation of a scene which took place in the council chamber of the metropolis. The officers had returned without their prisoner, and one of their own number dared to protest against their injustice. The distracted council break up and go home to concoct fresh schemes; the tranquil Saviour quietly departs to Olivet to meditate and pray. What a contrast! Those seventy men crossed in their cruel project; that one harmless wanderer, sustained by the conscious rectitude of His life! They seeking new channels for the pent up torrent of their wrath; He calm in the rich tides of peace that filled His soul; they to their luxuriant dwellings, whose enchantments were all marred by the days discomfiture; He to the mountain and the midnight, whose dark shadows threw into bold relief the presence of God and His glory. On their side all worldly influence; on His side all heaven. Their purpose, murder, and suppression of the truth; His purpose, salvation, and Gods eternal glory by His own self-sacrifice. (W. G. Lewis.)
The moral tangent
This parting of the ways exhibited
I. THE SEPARATENESS OF CHRIST AMID HIS OWN PEOPLE. It bears out chap
1:11. How could it have occurred in a region and amongst a race so notedfor hospitality? Such experiences may have begotten the realization Mat_8:20). Some offer may have been made, but, if so, it was either too half-hearted to tempt the great solitary, or still, night-wrapped Olivet exercised an irresistible fascination.
1. That the Founder of society in its true conception should have been Himself an outcast; imagination dwells on such a paradox.
2. To take the mildest view of the circumstance it was not to the credit of the social life of Jerusalem. Some defect in those home circles rendered them uncongenial. Hearts there were that hated Him, but the general sentiment was indifference.
3. And how did He regard their attitude? It was impossible for Him to be unconcerned. Not yet was the passionate wail, O Jerusalem, etc., but the woeful sorrow of which it was the outcry was even then gathering. Incarnate love could not but desire to be loved by those for whom He had descended to such depths; but it must be on His own terms.
II. A DIFFERENCE IN SPIRITUAL TENDENCY AND AIM.
1. The isolation of Christ did not arise from obscurity or insignificance. His departure must have been observed and felt. That lonely form, the centre of so much observation as with calm dignity it stepped from the wrangling crowd into the quiet fields, did it not judge them?
2. The mere departure convicted them of a lack of moral earnestness. The deadly conspiracy which had been hatched in their midst, and which had been arrested just when success seemed easy ought to have put every true man upon his honour, and made him open his doors to the homeless One. He had disturbed Judaean thought and life to its core. To an onlooker it might have seemed as if a moral revolution were impending. How near they were to the kingdom of God! But assenting to Christs lofty truths their hearts were indisposed to receive them. They lacked the courage of their convictions. Good men! it did not impair their digestion nor break the continuity of their little life. How trifling the spirit that can shelve the greatest question and stifle the grandest inspiration thus.
3. Not so easy was it for the Son of Man to put behind Him the strenuous controversy in which He had engaged. With Him heart as well as intellect were enlisted. Stung by their indifference, or horror-struck at their villany, the Great Sensitive Soul hurries forth to the only house of prayer where He can be alone with His Father, and to brace Himself for the effort of tomorrow. Yet how incomprehensible it must have been to minds so besotted with earthliness! They knew not that commerce with the skies. Conclusion: In every life there is such a moment quick with spiritual issues. Shall we follow Christ to Olivet or go to our own house? (St. John A. Frere, M. A.)
Diverging paths
I. EVERY MAN WENT TO HIS OWN HOUSE. A symbol of the general conduct of humanity. We have turned every one to his own way.
1. Our house is where we live, and represents all that we live for.
(1) Some men live for wealth and adorn their noble houses with elegant furniture and costly pictures.
(2) Some men live for pleasure, and their houses will be supplied with all that gratifies the senses--luxurious couches, expensive wines, and elaborate menus.
(3) Some men live for learning, and the principal room in the house will be the well-furnished library, and every department will proclaim, A scholar lives here.
(4) Some men live for friendship, and keep open house for their boon companions.
(5) Some men live for domestic felicities, and consult the comfort and fellowship of wife and children in all the appointments of the house.
2. We may go to our own house without Christ. A Christless house, a Christless life is that in which something else besides Christ predominates. Where wealth, pleasure, etc., are supreme Christ is not. He has gone to the Mount of Olives.
II. JESUS WENT TO THE MOUNT OF OLIVES.
1. Jesus went
(1) To cool His fevered brain and heart after the anxieties and labours of the day.
(2) To pray, and realize more deeply His union and communion with the Father. To brace Himself for the efforts of the coming day.
2. Jesus went alone, yet every member of the crowd He left needed to go with Him--and for the same reason. So do we. Only with Jesus shall we find rest, communion, strength.
3. Jesus came back to judge those who had forsaken Him (chap. 8:16), and will come to judge those who are forsaking Him now.
III. THE ALTERNATIVE
1. Is not house or Christ. He does not require us to break up our homes or desolate our lives. Let it be remembered that one reason for going to Olivet was because there was not a home in Jerusalem that would take Him in. He would have supped with the meanest who would have accorded Him a welcome.
2. The alternative is house without Christ or house with Him. We must take our Saviour into our house, and then take our house to Olivet--make Him the sacred centre round which wealth, pleasure, etc., may cluster, and sanctify all by sympathy with Him, prayer and consecration.
3. Thus the alternative sharply put is self or Christ. Which?
Conclusion:
1. If we let Christ alone He will let us alone. Hell in this life and in the next is abandonment by Christ.
2. Christ ascended Olivet--the Jews descended from Moriah. With Christs companions it is ever a going up till heaven at last is reached. With Christ-forsakers it is ever down--down until the depths of the bottomless pit are fathomed. (J. W. Burn.)
Chapter 8
Introduction to Joh_8:1-11
These verses, with Joh_7:53, form, perhaps, the gravest critical difficulty in the New Testament.
I. THE ARGUMENTS AGAINST the passage.
1. That it is not found in some of the oldest and best MSS.
2. That it is wanting in some of the earlier versions.
3. That it is not commented on by Greek Fathers, Origen, Cyril, Chrysostom, and Theophylact, in their exposition of St. John, nor quoted or referred to by Tertullian and Cyprian.
4. That it differs in style from the rest of St. Johns Gospel, and contains several words and forms of expression which are nowhere else used in his writings.
5. That the moral tendency of the passage is somewhat doubtful, and that it seems to represent our Lord as palliating a heinous sin.
II. THE ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR of the passage are as follows:
1. That it is found in many old manuscripts, if not in the very oldest and best.
2. That it is found in the Vulgate Latin, and in the Arabic, Coptic, Persian, and Ethiopian versions.
3. That it is commented on by Augustine in his exposition of this Gospel; while in another of his writings he expressly refers to and explains its omission from some manuscripts; that it is quoted and defended by Ambrose, referred to by Jerome, and treated as genuine in the Apostolical constitutions.
4. That there is no proof whatever that there is any immoral tendency in the passage. Our Lord pronounced no opinion on the sin of adultery, but simply declined the office of a judge.
I lean decidedly to the side of those who think the passage is genuine, for the following reasons:
1. The argument from manuscripts appears to me inconclusive. We possess comparatively few very ancient ones. Even of them, some favour the genuineness of the passage. The same remark applies to the ancient versions. Testimony of this kind, to be conclusive, should be unanimous.
2. The argument from the Fathers seems to me more in favour of the passage than against it. On the one side the reasons are simply negative. Certain Fathers say nothing about the passage, but at the same time say nothing against it. On the other side the reasons are positive. Men of such high authority as Augustine and Ambrose not only comment on the passage, but defend its genuineness, and assign reasons for its omission by some mistaken transcribers. Let me add to this, that the negative evidence of the Fathers is not so weighty as it appears. Cyril of Alexandria is one. But his commentary on this chapter is lost, and what we have was supplied by a modern hand in 1510. Chrysostoms commentary on John consists of popular public homilies, in which we can easily imagine such a passage as this might possibly be omitted. Theophylact was notoriously a copier and imitator of Chrysostom. Origen, the only remaining commentator, is one whose testimony is not of first-rate value, and he has omitted many things in his exposition of St. John. The silence of Tertullian and Cyprian is, perhaps, accountable on the same principles by which Augustine explains the omission of the passage in some copies of this Gospel in his own time. Some, as Calovius, Maldonatus, Flacius, Aretius, and Piscator, think that Chrysostom distinctly refers to this passage in his Sixtieth Homily on John, though he passes it over in exposition.
3. The argument from alleged discrepancies between the style and language of this passage, and the usual style of St. Johns writing, is one which should be received with much caution. We are not dealing with an uninspired, but with an inspired, writer Surely it is not too much to say that an inspired writer may occasionally use words and constructions and modes of expression which he generally does not use, and that it is no proof that he did not write a passage because he wrote it in a peculiar way. The whole discussion may leave in our minds, at any rate, one comfortable thought. If even in the case of this notoriously disputed passage--more controverted and doubted than any in the New Testament--so much can be said in its favour, how immensely strong is the foundation on which the whole volume of Scripture rests! If even against this passage the arguments of opponents are not conclusive, we have no reason to fear for the rest of the Bible. After all, there is much ground for thinking that some critical difficulties have been purposely left by Gods providence in the text of the New Testament, in order to prove the faith and patience of Christian people. They serve to test the humility of those to whom intellectual difficulties are a far greater cross then either doctrinal or practical ones. To such minds it is trying, but useful, discipline to find occasional passages involving knots which they cannot quite untie, and problems which they cannot quite solve. Of such passages the verses before us are a striking instance. That the text of them is a hard thing it would be wrong to deny. But I believe our duty is not to reject it hastily, but to sit still and wait. In these matters, he that believeth shall not make haste. (Bp. Ryle.)
The internal evidence in favour of the passage
It bears the same relation to revelation as a ray of light does to the sun. Its consummate knowledge of the human heart; its masterly harmonizing of the demands of the Mosaic law with the gospel; its triumphant turning of the tables in the presence of insolent foes; its matchless teachings of mercy, mingled with the sternest rebuke to sin; its complete and glorious victory in their terrible defeat and shame, all point out and prove the handwriting of God. Gods Word is a great fact in the moral world, as the Alps are in the natural. A fragment of granite taken from the Alps proves God its Creator quite as fully as the mountain range. (W. H. Van Doren, D. D.)
The intrinsic truthfulness of the passage
Were the critical evidence against its genuineness far more overwhelming than it is, it would yet bear upon its surface the strongest proof of its authenticity. It is hardly too much to say that the mixture which it displays of tragedy and tenderness--the contrast which it involves between low, cruel cunning, and exalted nobility of intellect and emotion--transcends all power of the human imagination to have invented it; while the picture of a divine insight reading the inmost thoughts of the heart, and a yet diviner love which sees those inmost secrets with larger eyes than ours, furnish us with a conception of Christs power and person at once too lofty and too original to have been founded on anything but fact. No one could have invented, for few could even appreciate, the sovereign purity and ineffable charm--the serene authority of condemnation and pardon--by which the story is so deeply characterized. The repeated instances in which, without a moments hesitation, He foiled the crafty designs of His enemies, and in foiling them taught forever some eternal principles of thought and action, are among the most unique and decisive proofs of His more than human wisdom; and yet not one of those gleams of sacred light which were struck from Him by collision with the malice of man was brighter or more beautiful than this. The very fact that the narrative found so little favour in the early centuries; the fact that whole Churches regarded the narrative as dangerous in its tendency; the fact that eminent Fathers either ignore it or speak of it in a semi-apologetic tone--in these facts we see the most decisive proof that its real moral and meaning are too transcendent to admit of its having been originally invented or interpolated without adequate authority into the sacred text. Yet it is strange that any should have failed to see that, in the ray of mercy which thus streamed from heaven upon the wretched sinner, the sin assumed an aspect tenfold more hideous and repulsive to the conscience of mankind. (Archdeacon Farrar.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On v50 50–52. Nicodemus. See John 3:1.
50–52. Nicodemus. See John 3:1.
Dost our law judge, etc.? Of course it did not, but for him to say a word in defense of justice brought the charge that he was a follower of the Galilean.
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Out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. The rulers in their rage make a false statement. Jonah (2 Kings 14:25), Elijah (1 Kings 17:1) and Nahum (Nah. 1:1) were all of Galilee.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v53 Joh_7:1-12. For the general exposition of this section see…
EXPLANATORY AND CRITICAL NOTES
Joh_7:1-12. For the general exposition of this section see Homiletic Notes, pp. 233–235.
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Joh_7:2. Early in the morning (ὄρθρου).—St. John’s usual word is πρωῒ (Joh_20:1, and comp. Luk_21:38).
Joh_7:3. The scribes and Pharisees.—St. John does not name the scribes in his Gospel; they are included under the general name the Jews.
Joh_7:6. As though He heard them not.—Omitted in best copies.
Joh_7:12. Again.—See Joh_7:37. Our Lord here perhaps makes use of the other great symbolical feature of the feast of tabernacles—the lighting of the candelabra at night in the Court of the Women. There were divided opinions regarding Him among the people, and He gave them another opportunity of arriving at the truth.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Chap. Joh_7:53 to Joh_8:12
The Light of the World as Revealer.—Whatever view be taken of the position of this narrative in the gospel, its authenticity is generally held. The feast of tabernacles, with all its joyousness, was past. The joyous morning assemblages were over, the lights at eventide blazed no more in the temple courts. But the Saviour came early to the temple intent on His great work; and as the crowds of festival worshippers still remaining in Jerusalem gathered round Him, “assuming the position of an authoritative teacher” (Mat_5:1) He sat down and taught.
I. Jesus is the light of the world in revealing the evil in men’s hearts.—
1. Whilst engaged in teaching He was interrupted by His ever-vigilant foes. They brought before Him a poor creature, who, instead of having her heart brought nearer God in the religious and joyous feast just ended, had given herself over to sin of the grossest and most debasing nature. The guilty wretch had evidently been brought before the Sanhedrin for judgment; and it was so clear a case that had they dared they would have carried out the old sentence of capital punishment. Hearing that Jesus was teaching in the temple, they brought the guilty woman before Him, hoping thereby to entrap Him, and gain for themselves the name of being zealous for the law.
2. The Pharisees had formerly tempted Him on this subject (Mar_10:2-12), and had been sharply reproved for the laxity of their conceptions regarding the holiness of the marriage tie. On this occasion they probably thought they might “turn the tables” on Christ, by entrapping Him either into giving a too lenient judgment, or by answering their question in the affirmative, thus bringing Himself under the penalties of the Roman law.
3. And, moreover, they either misread their own law, or presumed that Jesus was ignorant of it. The punishment for adultery was stoning only in special circumstances (Deu_22:23-24). In what form the punishment was to be carried out in other cases was not specified (Lev_20:10). Here, then, “Jesus seemed forced to occupy a position opposed either to the law of Moses or to the Roman authority” (Luthardt). It was the same kind of snare into which they endeavoured to draw Him on the question of the tribute money (Mat_22:17).
4. But Jesus knew the hearts of these men (Joh_2:24-25). Their hypocrisy could not hide their true feelings and motives from Him. They professed to revere the law; but in reality this law, like others, had become a dead letter to them. The whole Jewish community, during our Lord’s time on earth, had become more or less corrupted by Roman licentiousness, and the sanctity of the marriage tie was disregarded. The more enlightened and spiritual custom of the time was to deprive the guilty woman of her dowry and divorce her; and our Lord seems to have stamped this method with His approval so far (Mat_5:31-32). But He sternly disapproved of the granting of divorce for trifling causes, and with so much facility as seems to have obtained. But these Jews did not want any direction or guidance as to their procedure; they simply wished to entrap the Saviour, and to render Him obnoxious to the people as a subverter of the law, or to the Roman authorities, as recommending the exercise of the power of life and death to the Jews.
II. Jesus is the light of the world in the revelation of the higher and spiritual law.—
1. The divine wisdom of the Saviour defeated the evil purpose of His enemies. He came “not to judge the world”—not to usurp the functions of human justice, but to reveal the higher law toward which human law and justice should ever be more closely conformed as men come under the influence of the gospel. He raised the case above a merely human level; and did He not perhaps point to what is too often forgotten, even among Christian communities, that the framers and administrators of the law should model their enactments and actions as nearly as possible to the revealed and eternal law of righteousness?—
“And earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy seasons justice.… Consider this—
That in the course of justice none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach as all to render
The deeds of mercy.”
Shakespeare.
2. These men had no true sense of this divine attribute of justice; in brutal fashion they dragged in this poor criminal before the assembled people. They were therefore not the men to administer the law, since they had no true sense of the spirit of the law. Our Lord did not say that human justice in this and other cases should not be carried into effect; but the men who carry it into effect must have true ideas concerning it.
3. He, therefore, raised the case to a higher tribunal. He brought accusers and accused alike before the bar of conscience. Stooping down, He wrote on the ground (Joh_7:6), as if intimating that a judicial sentence such as they desired was to be delivered; for such sentences were not only spoken, but written. And when the sentence came it was with crushing effect—not first on the accused, but on the accusers: “He that is without sin,” etc. (Joh_7:7). Here the claims of the holy law were vindicated perfectly; and those self-constituted judges, conscience-smitten, stole away one by one in utter confusion.
III. Jesus is the light of the world in that He points out the way of safety.—
1. When the last footfall of the baffled and retreating conspirators had died away on the ear, our Lord turned to the poor sinner brought thus before Him in shame and disgrace.
2. The question, “Where are?” etc. (Joh_7:10), does not mean, Has no man accused and convicted thee of this crime? That, alas! was evidently plain enough. The meaning is, Hath no man offered to carry out the death sentence they threatened? Therefore His further words, “Neither do I,” etc., simply mean, “Neither do I pronounce that sentence.” He gave her indeed an opportunity for repentance, as His closing words show, while at the same time He intimated the enormity of her guilt: “Go and sin no more.”
3. He condemned the sin; and it is noteworthy there is no word of forgiveness and peace, such as we find at Luk_7:48. As in the case of the woman of Samaria, our Lord’s manner of reference to the sin stamps it with its true nature.
4. Thus “the judges were made to feel that freedom from outward guilt is no claim to sinlessness; and the offender, in her turn, was led to see that flagrant guilt does not bar hope” (Westcott).
5. We learn that human justice should be modelled on the divine righteousness; that those who carry into effect the decrees of human justice should be men of a righteous, God-fearing disposition; that there is another bar before which men, even though acquitted or condemned by human law, must stand; and that men must forsake sin ere they can have forgiveness and peace.
Joh_7:12. The world’s need of Christ, the Sun of righteousness.—How important is the material sun in its relation to our world! Without its light and heat-rays darkness and death would reign. The world’s existence, humanly speaking, depends on the continuity of our earth’s relation to that star. It is the most important to us of all the starry hosts. It would, therefore, be a bold assertion for any man to make that he was as important to the moral and spiritual life of men as the sun to their physical life. Yet here we have such an assertion made. Jesus came, as it appears from the narrative as it stands, over-night from Bethany to the temple early in the morning. The sun had lately risen, clothing in light “the mountains round Jerusalem,” and gladdening all nature by its rising. Jesus, in view of the glorious scene, seems to say, Just as the sun has awakened animated nature to new life in a new day, so am I come to give spiritual awakening to those slumbering in the darkness of sin and error. [Or if the narrative is to be continued from Joh_7:52 to Joh_8:12, then His reference may have been to the candelabra in the temple court, and His meaning somewhat similar.] And Jesus had given good reason to those who heard Him for this claim of His. His works of power, His words of wisdom, marked Him out as more than human—to be what He claimed to be, the Messiah, the promised Sun of righteousness, the Light of the world. Notice:—
I. The world needed such a light.—
1. There are some questions which have in all ages engrossed, and will engross, the minds of men, and which cannot be answered by unaided reason. There are problems that puzzle and perplex which no merely human intellect has solved or can solve. These subjects lie in lofty regions, on heights to which philosophy and science vainly attempt to climb. They have been shrouded in darkness, like earth at midnight—have been dimly discerned, as through a mist, distorted, etc.
2. This has been so with the knowledge of God, of the means of approach to Him, of a future life. By reason men have attained to only dim and illusory conceptions of these great subjects, and it has been long felt that reason alone cannot here pronounce decisively.
3. By the light of natural religion men can go only a little toward the verification of such great truths; and even when they seem to have attained to a clearer view, the mists of doubt roll down, and it vanishes from their ken.
II. Jesus is the light of the world in that He leads men to a true knowledge of the nature and character of God.—
1. Among the nations at large, as regards this, darkness prevailed. The most cultured nations of antiquity had not risen above idolatry. Only a few voices called men to a better knowledge, and they were either unheeded or stopped.
2. Amongst barbarous tribes the darkness “was such as might be felt.”
3. There was but one exception—Israel; and in their case tradition had encrusted the windows of the soul and darkened their spiritual vision.
4. The further men had gone from the primitive revelation, the further they had fallen from the true knowledge and love of God. They bowed down to all the hosts of heaven, and finally came to “worship devils” (1Co_10:20). And this description is still true of the great heathen world.
5. But in the gospel of Christ there is given such a view of the nature and character of God as satisfies the heart. The existence of such a Being clears up the enigmas of life, and makes what at first sight seems “a dubious maze without a plan” to appear full of meaning and order. There is revealed to us One immeasurably removed above our highest uninspired conceptions. His government is seen to be founded on laws which are the expression of His own perfect character, and obedience to which is seen to be for the welfare of the race, etc.
III. Jesus is the light of the world in that He made known the way by which men can approach to God acceptably.—
1. It is not enough for sinful men to know that there is a God; they must know how they stand related to Him. All the religions of the world were framed with a view to this end.
2. Even the chosen people, when Jesus came to earth, needed light on this subject of subjects. They had retained the letter of their law, but had lost the spirit of the law (Joh_7:23-24). They misapprehended the prophets. Tradition and ritual were what the Pharisee trusted in; whilst the Essene leaned to asceticism and the Sadducee to rationalism. But in none of these ways was there any true approach to God (Mic_6:6).
3. Jesus has shown us the way of access to the Father. He revealed God as holy, abhorring sin, by no means clearing the guilty; and as the sinner, gazing on His revelation of the Holy One, cries out, “Depart from me,” etc., Jesus presents Himself as the Lamb of God, etc. (Joh_1:29). Sinners are shown that, though eternal Justice forbids that a free, unconditional escape from the guilt and penalty of sin should be granted, yet a way has been found whereby justice and mercy can be and are reconciled. It is true certain conditions are affixed to this boon. Men are required to repent of and renounce sin, and accept the pardon and peace offered in Christ.
4. Thus Christ enlightened the world on this fact of such importance. The Morning Star of promise gleamed in sacrifice and rite and prophecy in the early Church. But it was when He came to earth that the full light shone on our world; and in view of His redemptive work He could say, “I am the light,” etc.
IV. Jesus is the light of the world in revealing to men the existence and eternity of life beyond the grave.—
1. For the assurance of the existence of a future life men have ever longed. This has been to them a supreme question. Reason can offer no final solution of the problem. The disproportion in the allotment of rewards and punishments here, and the longing after immortality, deep seated in the human heart, may lead to a presumption that there is a life beyond. But reason has no absolute authority, and cannot state definitely whether that life she longs and hopes for will be eternal.
2. Revelation tells us of a future spiritual life. In patriarchal times God’s people lived in the consciousness of that higher life. He was the God of the living, and not of the dead (Mat_22:32). But it was reserved for Jesus Christ, not only by His teaching, but by His actual rising from the dead, to bring “life and immortality to light.”
3. In view of all this Jesus has proved Himself to be “the light of the world.” But the knowledge of the truth will not avail unless He is to each individual the Sun of righteousness. He who enters some gloomy cell, shutting himself in from the brightness of noonday, may indirectly benefit from the sun, for its heat rays will warm even the air of his prison; but he cannot rejoice in its light. So if men shut themselves up in their sin and self-righteousness, the radiancy of the Light of the world will be well-nigh vain, so far as they are concerned. They must open their hearts to receive Him, if they would be blest by the brightness of His rising. And those on whom He has risen will shine in ever-increasing light until the perfect day of which Christ is the eternal light.
HOMILETIC NOTES
Joh_7:1-11. Pericope adulterœ.—Most Biblical scholars are now agreed that this narrative forms no part of the original text of this Gospel. Their conclusions rest not only on external but on internal grounds. Several great scholars, however, admit its genuineness, and defend it as part of the sacred text. The evidence for and against its retention may be briefly stated.
1. It must have existed as a part of the Gospel narrative in the third or even in the second century; for it is quoted in the Apostolic Constitutions.
2. The Church fathers Jerome, Ambrose, Augustine, etc., admit the genuineness of the passage, and comment upon it.
3. It is contained in MSS. ranging from the fifth to the eleventh century (D, F, G, H, etc.), and in about three hundred cursives; and, of course, some of these may be copies of earlier MSS. than any now known. Jerome, e.g., mentions that it was found in many MSS. of his time. And his evidence here is unimpeachable. It appears also in early MSS. of the Vulgate and Ethiopic versions, among others. Such are the main facts of the evidence for its genuineness as part of this Gospel. On the other hand, there is a great weight of evidence which seems to exclude it from its position here.
1. It is not found in the great uncial MSS. א, (A), B, (C), L, X, etc.; for although A and C are defective at this point, it is considered from an estimate of the extent of the portions missing that it was not in the complete copies. It is omitted also in fifty cursives.
2. The passage is marked with asterisks, etc., in several of the MSS. which contain it; whilst in others its position is altered. In one document it is placed after Joh_7:36; in others at the end of the Gospel; and in others still after Luk_21:3. It is not commented on by Origen, Cyril, Chrysostom, and others.—Scrivener, “Intro.,” etc.
Internal evidence.—
1. There is great variation in the texts where it is admitted. Griesbach distinguished three distinct texts: (a) the Textus Receptus, (b) that of Codex D, and (c) what might be called a composite text (see Godet).
2. There are in the narrative forms of expression which seem to distinguish the passage from the Gospel as a whole. But this part of the internal evidence must not be pressed too strongly. The occurrence here of one or two words and phrases nowhere else found in this Gospel is not conclusive against the authenticity of the passage. If τὸ ὅρος τῶν ἐλαιῶν, e.g., occurs here only, so does κέδρος in Joh_18:1. Nor must what seems a “want of harmony between the spirit of the narrative and the context of St. John” (Godet) be too much insisted on. Many scholars have failed to see this want of harmony. A consideration of the evidence for and against the passage seems to lead, at all events, to the conclusion that the narrative is a genuine apostolic tradition; and there is much force in the suggestion of Augustine that it was kept out of the text by those of little faith, who were afraid it might lead to moral laxity. It is not impossible that it was first “bracketed” in some MSS., as not to be read in the public assemblies, and in copies of the MSS. omitted. The following weighty words of Dr. Reynolds wisely sum up the controversy: “Though the spirit, atmosphere, and phrase suggest the Synoptic tradition rather than the Johannine, yet it must not be forgotten that there are many Synoptic passages in John’s Gospel, and Johannine phrases in the Synoptists. The criticism proceeding from moral timidity has failed to recognise the grandeur of the entire proceeding. It contains no palliation of incontinence, but a simple refusal of Jesus to assume the position of a civil judge or executor of the law, in face of the established political supremacy of Rome; while the Lord made a demand for personal holiness, and an appeal to conscience so pungent that, in lieu of condemning to death a sinful woman, He judged a whole crowd of men, convincing them of sin, while He gave the overt transgressor time for repentance and holier living.” Bishop Wordsworth (Greek Testament in loc.), whilst concluding that the passage contains a true history, in all probability from St. John, and delivered by him orally, considers that it was not a part of his written Gospel, and was probably added first on the margin of MSS., and thence crept into the text. And he draws from the investigation of the whole difficulty these moral inferences: a. Thankfulness to God for the solid foundation on which the proof of the genuineness and inspiration of the canon of Scripture rests. This passage consists of twelve verses only. Few doubt its authenticity. But its canonicity is the question at issue. How much and minutely has this been discussed! How rigid has been the scrutiny to which the canonical Scripture has been subjected before being received as the work of the Holy Spirit by the universal Church! And, in proportion to the rigidness of the scrutiny, how solid the ground of our belief in the inspiration of Scripture! b. It reminds us of our privilege in possessing so many MSS. belonging to an early age of the Church’s history—proofs of the genuineness of the text. c. It leads to a careful examination of the grounds on which our belief in the inspiration of Scripture is based. d. It excites us to thank Him who not only gave Scripture, but founded the Church universal to guard Scripture and assure us of its inspiration.
Joh_7:1-12. Illumination of the temple court at the feast of tabernacles.—One of the features of the joyful feast of tabernacles was the illumination of the city at nightfall, on at least the first evening of the festival, but probably on the other evenings as well. Large candelabra were lighted in the court of the women, and threw their radiance afar. Probably a partial illumination of the city took place; at all events, “many in the assembly carried flambeaux.” The wicks of the lamps in the temple court are said to have been “furnished from the cast-off garments of the priests.” Festivities were kept up for some time after the lighting of the lamps, the light of which was seen far and wide. Very striking must have been the spectacle on such occasions. And the ceremony had a meaning. Just as the pouring out of the water of Siloam in the morning reminded the people of God’s goodness to them at the rock in Horeb, so the sudden lighting up of the darkened temple court, and adjacent parts of the city, reminded the festive crowds of the “pillar of fire by night” (Exo_13:21) which guided them in the wilderness. If the passage Joh_7:53 to Joh_8:11 is not retained as part of this Gospel, then it may be held that in Joh_7:12 our Lord was referring to the preparations for lighting the candelabra or the actual lighting of them. He would thus call attention to Himself as the true guide over life’s pilgrim ways in the darkness of our present state: “He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness.” If, however, the pericope be retained (from Joh_7:53 to Joh_8:11), we should infer that our Lord, entering the temple in the early morning and pointing to the rising sun, then drew attention to Himself as the true and only light of the world of men. Both images may be legitimately referred to Him (Isa_4:5; Mal_4:2).
ILLUSTRATIONS
Joh_7:12. The manner in which mankind had wandered from the light.—The early fathers of the race would hand down to their children the knowledge of God they possessed as the framer of the heavens and earth, which continually tell of His glory. “But,” as one has beautifully said, “this precious truth was vitiated among their hands. By dint of admiration for the works of God they took them in the end for God Himself; and the stars which appeared to announce His glory became in turn their divinities” (Massillon).
Joh_7:12. Men by nature have wandered far from the light and knowledge of God.
Chaldean shepherds, ranging trackless fields,
Beneath the concave of unclouded skies
Spread like a sea, in boundless solitude,
Look’d on the polar star, as on a guide
And guardian of their course, that never closed
His steadfast eye. The planetary five
With a submissive reverence they beheld;
Watch’d, from the centre of their sleeping flocks,
Those radiant Mercuries, that seem’d to move,
Carrying through ether, in perpetual round,
Decrees and resolutions of the gods;
And, by their aspects, signifying works
Of dim futurity, to man reveal’d.
The imaginative faculty was lord
Of observations natural; and, thus
Led on, those shepherds made report of stars
In set rotation passing to and fro,
Between the orbs of our apparent sphere
And its invisible counterpart, adorn’d
With answering constellations, under Earth,
Removed from all approach of living sight,
But present to the dead, who, so they deem’d,
Like those celestial messengers, beheld
All accidents, and judges were of all.
The lively Grecian, in a land of hills,
Rivers, and fertile plains, and sounding shores,
Under a cope of variegated sky,
Could find commodious place for every god,
Promptly received, as prodigally brought,
From the surrounding countries, at the choice
Of all adventurers. With unrivall’d skill,
As nicest observation furnish’d hints
For studious fancy, did his hand bestow
On fluent operations a fix’d shape;
Metal or stone, idolatrously served.
And yet, triumphant o’er this pompous show
Of art, this palpable array of sense,
On every side encounter’d; in despite
Of the gross fictions chanted in the streets
By wandering rhapsodists; and in contempt
Of doubt and bold denials hourly urged
Amid the wrangling schools—a “spirit” hung,
Beautiful region! o’er thy towns and farms,
Statues and temples, and memorial tombs;
And emanations were perceived, and acts
Of immortality, in nature’s course,
Exemplified by mysteries that were felt
As bonds, on grave philosopher imposed
And armèd warrior; and in every grove
A gay or pensive tenderness prevail’d
When piety more awful had relax’d.
Wordsworth
Joh_7:12. Reason not the light of men.
Dim as the borrow’d beams of moon and stars
To lonely, weary, wandering travellers,
Is reason to the soul: and as, on high,
Those rolling fires discover but the sky,
Not light as here; so reason’s glimmering ray
Was sent, not to assure our doubtful way,
But guide us upward to a better day.
And as those nightly tapers disappear
When day’s bright lord ascends our hemisphere;
So pale grows reason at religion’s sight;
So dies, and so dissolves in supernatural light.
Some few, whose lamp shone brighter, have been led
From cause to cause, to nature’s secret head,
And found that one first principle must be;
But what or who, that UNIVERSAL HE;
Whether some soul encompassing this ball,
Unmade, unmoved, yet making, moving all;
Not even the Stagirite himself could see,
And Epicurus guess’d as well as he.
As blindly groped they for a future state,
As rashly judged of Providence and fate,
But least of all could their endeavours find
What most concern’d the good of human kind.
Thus anxious thoughts in endless circles roll,
Without a centre where to fix the soul:
In this wild maze their vain endeavours end:
How can the less the greater comprehend?
Or finite reason reach Infinity?
For what could fathom God were more than He.—John Dryden.
Joh_7:12. Christians in Christ are lights in the world.—Every Christian is a light of the world; for he should know and be assured what manner of man he is, and what is his standing with God—that he comes from God, and … in Christ has a holy standing, having become a new man, and shall eternally abide with God. In this condition I live and bear the cross; therefore I know whence I have come. I am truly no more the old Hans or Claus, who was descended from Adam; but I am a Christian. I bear a name common to all, with all those who are new born.… And at the end of this life heaven stands open for me, so that with all the saints I may go thither. I am sure of my position; my glory has a most precious foundation. But the “evil men and seducers” stand in great peril; they know not whence they come and whither they go, are uncertain of their condition, and pass on as in a dream.—Luther, quoted by Besser.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On v50 Joh 7:50-52. “Nicodemus says to them, being one of…
NICODEMUS VINDICATES HIM
Joh 7:50-52. “Nicodemus says to them, being one of them, Whether does our law condemn a man until it may first have a hearing with him, and know what he doeth? They responded, and said to him, Whether are you also from Galilee? Search and see that no prophet riseth from Galilee.” You see here they are ringing charges of reproach on Galilee, because most remote from Jerusalem, the center of light and knowledge, the home of the hierarchy, the seat of the rabbinical colleges, and the glory of Israel. Consequently they look down with contempt on the poor, ignorant Galileans, and think they have made a point, because the prophecies do not specify a great prophet in that age rising out of Galilee, whereas it was not at all applicable to Jesus, who had simply used it as an evangelistic field. Nicodemus never survived that memorable nocturnal sermon which Jesus preached to him, more than two years ago, on the new birth. As he was an influential member of the Sanhedrin, which was solid against Jesus, how beautiful to see him, true to his convictions, standing alone, and thus daring to vindicate Him! It is a significant fact that Jesus was actually mobbed, being denied a fair trial according to Jewish law, as you here see from the testimony of Nicodemus, which, like the English and American Magna Charta, guaranteed to every accused person a fair trial, bringing the witnesses face to face, and giving them a chance to “implead one another.”
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It is equally true in reference to Roman law, as testified by Festus in case of Paul, that every man under accusation had a right to bring the witnesses face to face, prove the guilt or innocence of the accused, and thus bring about a true verdict of acquittal or condemnation in harmony with right and equity. Jonah, one of the first Hebrew prophets, called of God to preach to the Ninevites, was a Galilean, despite all this howl against Jesus on the allegation of no prophet rising from Galilee.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On v53 J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [LXXIX. Story of…
J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [LXXIX. Story of the Adulteress].
LXXIX. THE STORY OF THE ADULTERESS. (Jerusalem.) dJOHN VII. 53-VIII. 11.
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[This section is wanting in nearly all older manuscripts, but Jerome (A. D. 346-420) says that in his time it was contained in "many Greek and Latin manuscripts," and these must have been as good or better than the best manuscripts we now possess. But whether we regard it as part of John's narrative or not, scholars very generally accept it as a genuine piece of history.] d53 And they went every man unto his own house [confused by the question of Nicodemus, the assembly broke up and each man went home]: 1 but Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. [Probably crossing the mountain to the house of Lazarus and sisters.] 2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down [as an authoritative teacher did-- Mat_5:1], and taught them. 3 And the scribes and the Pharisees bring a woman taken in adultery; and having set her in the midst, 4 they say unto him, Teacher, this woman hath been taken in adultery, in the very act. [The woman had probably been brought to the rulers for trial, and they had seen in her case what appeared to be a promising means of entrapping Jesus. In the presence of the woman and the form of their accusation we see their coarse brutality. The case could have been presented to Jesus without the presence of the woman, and without a detailed accusation.] 5 Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such [It was a case under Deu_22:22. Stoning was the legal method of capital punishment]: what then sayest thou of her? 6 And this they said, trying him, that they might have i whereof to accuse him. [They were placing Jesus in a dilemma. They reasoned that he [451] could not set aside the law of Moses and clear the woman without so losing the confidence and favor of the people as to frustrate his claim to be Messiah. They thought he would therefore be compelled to condemn the woman. But if he ordered her to be put to death, he would be assuming authority which belonged only to the Roman rulers, and could therefore be accused and condemned as a usurper.] But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground. [His act was intended to make them vehement, and to give his answer greater effect. What he wrote is unimportant and immaterial, and hence was not told.] 7 But when they continued asking him [they insisted on an answer, hoping that he would so explain away the seventh commandment as to encourage them in breaking the sixth], he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. [Under the law ( Deu_17:7), the witnesses were to cast the first stone. Jesus maintained and vindicated the law, but imposed a condition which they had overlooked. The one who executed the law must be free from the same crime, lest by stoning the woman he condemn himself as worthy of a like death. There is no doubt that the words of Jesus impressed upon them the truth that freedom from the outward act did not imply inward purity or sinlessness-- Mat_5:27, Mat_5:28.] 8 And again he stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground. [Thus giving them the opportunity to retire without the embarrassment of being watched.] 9 And they, when they heard it, went out one by one, beginning from the eldest, i even unto the last [the oldest was first to be convicted of his conscience, because his experience of life's sinfulness was necessarily the fullest]: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the midst. [I. e., in the midst of the court, where the crowd had been.] 10 And Jesus lifted up himself, and said unto her, Woman, where are they? did no man condemn thee? [This question is asked to pave the way for the dismissal of the woman.] 11 And she said, No man, Lord. ["Lord" is ambiguous; it [452] may mean "Master" or simply "sir."] And Jesus said, Neither do I condemn thee: go thy way; from henceforth sin no more. [The woman did not ask forgiveness, so no words of pardon are spoken. Compare this case with Luk_12:14. Jesus did not come as an earthly judge; neither did he come to condemn, but to save. The narrative shows how Jesus could deal with malice and impurity in a manner so full of delicacy and dignity as to demonstrate the divine wisdom which dwelt within him.]
[FFG 451-453]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v53 and every man
and every man
Joh 7:53 to Joh 8:11; is not found in some of the most ancient manuscripts. Augustine declares that it was stricken from many copies of the sacred story because of a prudish fear that it might teach immorality! But the immediate context Joh 7:12-46 beginning with Christ’s declaration, "I am the light of the world." seems clearly to have its occasion in the conviction wrought in the hearts of the Pharisees, as recorded in; Joh 7:9; as also, it explains the peculiar virulence of the Pharisee’s words (Joh 7:41).
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv50, 53 one of the Pharisees, who came to him earlier
one of the Pharisees, who came to him earlier
John provides this information to remind us of who Nicodemus is. Your language may have a special way to mark background information. (See: Background Information)
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Does our law judge a man ... what he does?
This remark appears in the form of a question to add emphasis. This can be translated as a statement. AT: "Our Jewish law does not allow us to judge a man ... what he does!" (See: Rhetorical Question)
Does our law judge a man
Here Nicodemus speaks of the law as if it were a person. If this is not natural in your language, you may translate it with a personal subject. AT: "Do we judge a man" or "we do not judge a man" (See: Personification)
Are you also from Galilee?
The Jewish leaders know that Nicodemus is not from Galilee. They ask this question as a way of scoffing at him. AT: "You must also be one of those inferior persons from Galilee!" (See: Rhetorical Question and Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
Search and see
This is an ellipsis. You may wish to include the information that does not appear. AT: "Search carefully and read what is written in the Scriptures" (See: Ellipsis)
no prophet comes from Galilee
This probably refers to the belief that Jesus was born in Galilee.
translationWords
judge
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv52–53 7:52 no prophet ever comes from Galilee! The Jewish…
7:52 no prophet ever comes from Galilee! The Jewish leaders were apparently unaware that Jesus had been born in Bethlehem of Judea, not in Galilee (see Matt 2:1; Luke 2:1-7).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.