rendered, I am, is expressed by the words It is I, but the original Greek is Eyo au, which literally translated is I AM, thus again marking the supreme divinity of the speaker, by identifying Him with Jehovah, to whom alone belongs the significant appellation I AM. Verse 27. For Him hath the Father sealed the God. This is a literal translation from the original Greek, which is thus written, Τετον γαρ ὁ πατηρ εσφραγισεν ὁ Θεος. Verse 35. He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth in me shall never thirst. A distinction is here made between coming to and believing in, because coming to hath relation to the will or love, since every man, according to the spiritual idea, advances towards an object, or recedes from it, in proportion as the object affects his ruling will or love, whereas believing in bath reference to the understanding or wisdom, all belief being grounded in the knowledge and acknow ledgment of truth in that principle of the human mind. Verses 53, 54. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life. It is remarkable that in the original Greek two distinct terms are here used to express the act of eating; for when the blessed Jesus saith, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, &c. He applies the term payntɛ to express ye eat, whereas when He saith, He that eateth my flesh, &c. He applies the term 7pwywv to express he that eateth. The same distinction occurs again at verse 58, where it is written, This is the bread that came down from heacen, not as your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead; he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever; for in speaking of the fathers eating manna in the wilderness, the term eating is expressed in the original by ɛpayov, but in speaking of him that eateth of this bread, the term rpwywv is used. Hence it should appear that the act of spiritual eating is of two kinds, or degrees, one interior, and the other exterior, and that the former is expressed by rpwyw, and the latter by payo. Thus one man, in reading the HOLY WORD, may receive from it more interior nourishment than another, because he may feed on the bread of coelestial love, or love to the Lord, whilst another receives more exterior nourishment, by feeding only on the bread of spiritual love, which is love to his neighbour.-Quere, whether this is not the case also in regard to corporeal eating, so that although two different persons shall eat the same food, yet one shall derive from it a more interior nourishment than the other, and this according to the state and temper of mind in which he eats ? Verse 66. From this [time] many of His disciples went back, &c. What is here rendered back, is expressed in the original Greek by eis тa oñow, which literally means to things behind, or, according to the spiritual idea, to external things, thus teaching the edifying lesson, that the love of external things, such as relate to the world and the body, is a motive with many for no longer following the BLESSED JESUS in the regeneration, or in pursuit of the internal things of His everlasting kingdom. Verse 69. And we have believed and known, that thou art the Christ, &c. Two terms, believing and knowing, are here applied by Simon Peter to express his attachment, and that of the rest of the apostles, to their DIVINE LORD, the former having relation to the manner in which their understandings were affected towards Him, and the latter having relation to the manner in which their wills were affected, thus both united denoting a full and complete attachment, grounded in the union of faith and love. 7. The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it that it's works are evil. 8. Go ye up to this feast; I go not up yet unto this feast, for my time is not yet fulfilled. 9. But when He had said these things unto them, He remained in Galilee. 10. But when His brethren were gone up, then He himself also went up to the feast, not openly, but as in secret. 11. Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, Where is He? 12. And there was much murmuring amongst the multitudes concerning Him; for some said, He is a good [man]; but others said, Nay, but He deceiveth the multitude. 13. Howbeit no one spake freely about Him, for fear of the Jews. 14. But about the midst of the feast, JESUS went up into the temple, and taught. 15. And the Jews wondered, saying, How knoweth this [man] letters, having never learned? R On which account natural men are enjoined the use of representative worship, but not so the LORD, since the glorification of His humanity is the end of all representations, and therefore He remains with those who receive Him according to that end, v. 8, 9. At the same time He interiorly is in the good of that representative worship, which relates to the implantation of good in truth, and thus to the glorification of His humanity, but not exteriorly, v. 10. By which means He excites enquiry in the church concern ing himself, which enquiry leads some to justify Him, and some to condemn Him, yet all are afraid to speak their sentiments, being over-awed by public opinion, v. 11, 12, 19. That from divine good, and consequent elevation into the light of divine truth, the LORD gives instruction, v. 14. The interior source of which instruction cannot be apprehended by the natural man, v. 15. 16. JESUS answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me. 17. If any one will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of GoD, or I speak from myself. 18. He that speaketh from himself seeketh his own glory, but He that seeketh the glory of Him that sent Him, the same is true, and injustice is not in Him. 19. Did not Moses give you the law, and none of you doeth the law? Why seek ye to kill me? 20. The multitude answered and said, Thou hast a dæmon; who seeketh to kill thee? 21. JESUS answered and said unto them, I have done one work, and ye all wonder. 22. For this Moses gave you circumcision, (not that it is of Moses, but of the fathers) and on the sabbath ye circumcise a man. 23. If a man on the sabbath receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken, are ye angry at me because I bave made a man altogether sound on the sabbath? Until he is taught, that the truth proceeding from the LORD's humanity is not of the humanity only, but of the divine good dwelling in it, and one with it, v. 16. And that therefore all, who live in conformity with that good, will be instructed as to the origin of truth, v. 17. Since self-love always gives birth to false principles, whilst divine and heavenly love gives birth to principles of truth and justice, v. 18. Hence comes the DIVINE WORD, which still is not obeyed, and therefore the LORD in His DIVINE HUMANITY is rejected, and His operation imputed to infernal agency, whilst they who reject Him are not aware of the crime which they are committing, v. 19, 20. Therefore they are taught, that since the LORD in His DIVINE HUMANITY had manifested, by their own confession, an operation more than human; and since on this account the Word, both in the Israelitish church, and in the ancient church, required purification from unclean loves, which requirement they fulfilled, as to it's external representation, therefore out of regard to the Word, they ought not to oppose that humanity in it's purpose of communicating spiritual life, which was represented by the sabbath, v. 21, 22, 23. |