He afferts, that he and the Father are one.

them out of my Father's

Hand.

30

one.

I and my Father are

31 Then the Jews took up Stones again to stone him.

32 Jefus answered them, Many good Works have I fhewed you from my Father; for which of thofe Works do ye stone me?

33 The Jews answered him, faying, For a good

Work we ftone thee not;

but for Blafphemy, and because that thou, being a Man, makeft thyfelf GOD.

34 Jefus answered them,

Law, I faid, Ye are Gods?

219
able to pluck [them] out of my Father's Hand. Sect. 134.
But it is a moft great and certain Truth, that I
and the Father are one (e); and the Union be- John X. 30.
tween us is fo ftrict and intimate, in Nature, as
well as in Affection and Defign, that his Almighty
Power is mine, to be employed for the Defence
of my Sheep; and no one can deprive them of
Eternal Life, without prevailing against him, as
well as me.

Then the Jews, tranfported with Rage, took 31
up fome Fragments of Stones, which lay in the
Court of the Temple, where they were still re-
pairing fome of the Buildings; and armed them-
felves with them again, as they had formerly
done, (John viii. 59. pag. 80.) in order to ftone
bim:

But Jefus, with his usual Mildness and Strength 32
of Reason, answered them, I have fhewed you many
good Works from my Father; and for which of
thefe Works do you go about to ftone me? or what
have I ever done among you, but Acts of Bene-
ficence and Kindness?

The Jews replying faid unto him, Whatever thy 33
other Works have been, it is very apparent from
what has juft now paffed, that we do not fone
thee for a good Work, but for the most deteftable
Blafphemy; even becaufe thou, being only a wretch-
ed, mortal, finful Man, makeft thyfelf GOD;
pretending to be One with him in fo extraordinary
a Manner, that his Omnipotence and other Di-
vine Perfections are thine.

Jefus, not judging it proper at that Time to 34 Is it not written in your bring the fublime Doctrine of his Deity into farther Debate, anfwered them, Is it not written in your Law, or in thofe Sacred Books which you own to be of Divine Original, (Pfal. lxxxii. 6.) where it is plain the Perfons that are spoken of

are

(e) I and the Father are one.] If we attend, not only to the obvious Meaning of thefe Words, in Comparison with other Paffages of Scripture, but to the Connection of this celebrated Text, it fo plainly demonftrates the Deity of our Bleffed Redeemer, that I think it may be left to fpeak for itfelf, without any laboured Comment. -How widely different that Senfe is, in which Chriftians are faid to be one with GOD, (John xvii. 21.) will fufficiently appear, by confidering, how flagrantly abfurd and blafphemous it would be, to draw that Inference from their Union with GOD, which Chrift does from his.

E e 2

(f) To

220

Magiftrates are called Gods, much more may be claim the Title.

Sect. 134. are Princes and Magiftrates, "I have faid, Ye are Gods; and all of you are Children of the John X. 35. "Moft High ?" Now if the Pfalmift thus applied this Character, and it appears be called them Gods, to whom the Word of GOD then came (f), merely with Regard to that Office which by Divine Designation they bore; (and certainly the Scripture cannot be broken, nor can you with any Shew of Reafon pretend to cenfure the Propriety of thofe Expreffions, which a divinely in36 fpired Writer has used ;) How is it then, that you are so offended now? or how do you pretend to fay concerning him, whom the Father bath fo folemnly fanctified, or fet apart to this great Work in his eternal Counfels, and whom he at length has fent into the World under fuch an exalted Character, Thou blafphemeft; because I faid, I am the Son of GOD? when you allow there is a Senfe, in which even oppreffive Magiftrates may be honoured with fuch a Title (g).

37

And when I claim this Character, and speak fo highly of myself, I do not expect to be credited, merely on my own Affirmation: If I do not the Works of my Father, fuch glorious Works as could not be performed by any but a Divine 38 Agent, believe me not.

38 But if I do, tho ye

But if it be apparent believe not me, believe the that I do fuch Works, tho' you believe not me, and

are

Works:

(f) To whom the Word of GOD came.] I apprehend, the Coming of the Word of GOD to them here, refers to the Meffage then delivered to them in the Name of GoD, rather than in the general, to their receiving a Commiffion from him: But the Difference is not very material.

(g) When you allow Magiftrates &c.] A late learned and pious Paraphraft apprehends, that our Lord here vindicates his Claim to Supream Divinity, by pleading that the Jewish Rulers are called Gods, not in a general Regard to their Office as Rulers, but as Types of the Meffiah, the great Sovereign of the Church, who (as it is expreffed at the Clofe of this lxxxiid Pfalm,) was to inherit all Nations. But not to urge, that it seems improbable, that fuch wicked Magiftrates, as are there spoken of, fhould be defcribed as Types of Chrift; this Explication feems to imply, that every Perfon whofe Office was Typical of the Meffiah might be called a God; and on the other Hand, that a Creature's being called by that Name, would intimate, that he was a Typical Perfon; the Confequences of which I am fure that worthy Writer would abhor. (Compare 2 Cor. iv. 4.) I think myself therefore obliged to acquiefce in that plain and natural Senfe of the Paffage, which the Generality of Commentators, both Antient, and Modern, have given.-Jefus was charged here by the Jews with afcribing Divinity to his Human Nature; and in Reply to this he fhews, that calling himself the Son of GÓD did not imply that; and that his Works proved fuch a Union of the Human Nature with the Divine, as he had before afferted; than which no Anfwer could have been more wife and pertinent,

Works: that ye may know and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.

221

He efcapes from the Jews, and goes again beyond Jordan. are regardless of my own Teftimony in the Cafe, Sect. 134. yet at leaft believe the mighty Works that I perform; and let the Evidence of these remove the John X. 38. Prejudices you have entertained, that ye may know, and believe, that the Father [is] in me, and I in him, by fuch a Union, as abundantly juftifies the Expreffion, which feems to give you fuch pecu

39 Therefore they fought again to take him but he escaped out of their Hand,

40 And went again be

where John at first baptized'; and there he abode.

41 And many reforted unto him, and faid, John Things that John fpake of

did no Miracle: but all

this Man, were true.

liar Offence.

Then, tho' they knew not what to answer him, 39
the Jews were fo enraged against him, that they
fought again to feize him, that they might accuse
him of Blafphemy before the Sanhedrim: But he
withdrew himself, as he had done before, in an
extraordinary Manner, and fo efcaped out of their
Hands. (Compare Luke iv. 3.0. Sect. 32. and John
viii. 59. Sect. 105.)

And prefently departing from Jerufalem, be 40
yond Jordan, into the Place went away again into the Country beyond Jordan,
to the Place called Bethabara, where (as it has
been observed before, John i. 28. Vol. i. pag. 120.)
John was at first baptizing; and there he abode for
a while, till the Fury of the Multitude was a
little abated. And many of the Inhabitants of 41
that Place, who had been formerly acquainted
with the Baptist, and remembered the strong and
repeated Testimonies which he had borne to Jefus,
came to him there, to attend upon his Preaching,
and faid among themselves, John indeed did no
Miracle himfelf; but he foretold extraordinary
Things of another; and we now find, that all
the Things which John faid of this Man, were
exactly true, which is a Divine Atteftation to the
42 And many believed Authority of both. And many of them be- 42
lieved on him there, and happily improved this little
Seafon of his Recefs among them, as the Means.
of their Inftruction and Establishment in Piety..

en him there.

IMPROVEMENT

T is worthy of Remark, that we here fee our Lord Jefus at a Festival, John x. 22. appointed only by Human Authority, in Commemoration of a National Deliverance. He came from Galilee to obferve it in the Temple, tho' it was Winter; and brought with him, as at all Times, a Heart

glow

222

Reflections on our Safety under the Care of CHRIST. Sect. 134. glowing with the most ardent and amiable Zeal, for the Honour of GoD, and the Salvation of Men, even of those who were studying to infnare and destroy him.

Ver. 24, 25.

Ver. 28.

What Prudence, mingled with Spirit and Sweetness, runs thro' his Anfwers to them! What ineftimable Bleffings does he propofe, to invite them to enter into his Fold! May we never forget thofe gracious Words! May we ever be intitled to all the Comfort of them! I give unto my Sheep Eternal Life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my Hand. Lord, may we be found in the Number of those secure and happy Souls, even of those who know thee, and who obey thy Voice, and follow thee, whitherfoever thou leadeft them by thine Example, thy Providence, and thy Spirit! Then may we look on our Eternal Life and Happiness, as inviolably fecure. Safely indeed may we truft it in his Hands, who could fay, in fo fublime, and fo glorious a Senfe, I and the Father are one. The Enemies of our Salvation muft triumph then over Ver. 28, 29. Omnipotence itself, before they can wreft the Sheep of Chrift out of his Hands; nor will his Fidelity to GOD, or his Love to them, fuffer them to be feduced by Fraud, any more than deftroyed by Violence.

Ver. 27.

Ver. 30.

Ver. 31.

Ver. 32.

Ver. 39. Ver. 40.

Bleffed Situation of thy little Flock! Oh thou faithful, thou compaffionate, thou Almighty Shepherd, gather thou our Souls with theirs; and never fuffer us to forget of how great Importance it is, that we ftill continue near thee, and confide not in our own Power and Wisdom, but in thine!

Who could have imagined, that any Heart could have been fo base, as to have intended Evil, or any Hands fo cruel, as to have armed themfelves with Inftruments of Death, against fuch a Perfon, while fpeaking fuch Words as these? Yet behold, thefe Jews do it; and that even in fo facred a Place, as the Temple itself; as the genuine Offspring of those, who flew the Prophet and Priest of the Lord, even at his Altar. (Compare Mat. xxiii. 31, 35. and Luke xi. 48, 51.) But his wife and gentle Reply difarmed them for a few Months; and the Divine Care and Power once more rescued him from their murtherous Hands.

Happy the Inhabitants of the Country about Jordan, to which he retired! efpecially happy, in that they knew the Day of their Vifitation! Ver. 41, 42. The Teftimony of John the Baptift is now recollected to excellent Purposes, tho' he himself was mouldering in his Tomb: Nor is there any Thing, which a faithful Minister will more earnestly defire, than that even while dead, he may yet speak, for the Honour of Christ, and the Salvation of Souls.

SECT.

Multitudes follow CHRIST, and he preaches to them.

SE C T. CXXXV.

CHRIST declares against Divorces, except in Cafe of Adultery, and adds fome other Particulars relating to the Married State. Mat. XIX. 1,---12. Mark X. 1,---1 2.

MAT. XIX. 1.

AND

ND it came to pass, that when Jefus had finished thefe Sayings, he [arofe from

thence, and ] departed from Galilee, and came into the Coafts of Judea, beyond Jordan. [MARK IC. I.—]

2 And great Multitudes fol

MAT. XIX. 1.

223

Mat. XIX.

I.

AND
ND after the Inftructions that were given Sect. 135.
by our Lord to his Difciples at Capernaum,
(which were recorded above, from Sect. 93. to
96.) it came to pass, that when Jefus had finished
thefe Difcourfes (a), be arofe from thence, [and]
departed from Galilee, where he had dwelt fo
long, and thro' which he had made fuch repeated
Journies. And after he had firft been up at Je-
rufalem, (as was before related, John vii. 10. pag.
44.) and feveral other Things had happened, which
have already been confidered in their proper Place,
he came at length (as was observed in the last
Section, John x. 40.) into the Borders of Judea,
beyond Jordan (b), where he spent fome of the
Winter Months, croffing the River, as he faw
Occafion. And his Arrival was no fooner 2
known,

(a) When Jefus had finished thefe Difcourfes.] The Paffages which Matthew and Mark
have mentioned, immediately before they introduce this Story, are thofe Difcourfes on
Humility and the Forgivenefs of Injuries, which have been confidered above, from Sect.
93. to 96. And I have fometimes been inclined to think, that this, and the next fol-
lowing Sections, might have been introduced there, as previous to that Feast of Tabernacles,
which we have fo often mentioned. But moft Harmonizers without any Scruple or Apology
place them here, being determined, I fuppofe, by the clofe Connection between the Paffages
that are here related, and thofe Events that follow them, which happened but a very little
while before Chrift's Death.—It is of very little Importance to us, whether thefe Dif-
courfes were delivered now, or a few Months before. However, he might truly be faid, to
arife from Galilee, and come into thefe Parts, tho' he took a confiderable Compafs, and
fpent feveral Weeks in the Journey. Compare Note (n) on Luke ii. 39. Vol. i. pag. 66.
(b) Beyond Jordan.] Mark has expreffed this with fome little Variation, dia to wear th
Igdave, by the farther Side of Jordan, or, as the learned Beza, and fome other Criticks
chufe to render it, on the Banks of Jordan; and this may feem to be more fuitable to what
is faid of Chrift's coming to the Coafts of Judea, which was bounded by Jordan, and had
no Coafts beyond it. But it appears from John x. 40. that Bethabara, where John at first
baptized, (John i. 28.) was the Place to which our Lord removed, which was undoubtedly
beyond Jordan, and over-againft Jericho. (Compare Joh. iii. 16. and Judg. vii. 24.) And
this was fo near to the Coafts of Judea, that we might very well retain the ufual Verfion, and
take the Phrafe as Matthew hath expreffed it; efpecially, as it is probable, that Jefus during
his Abode in thefe Parts might often crofs the River, and pafs from Bethabara to Judea,
which lay on the oppofite Side.

(c) To