48 Then said Jesus unto him, 'Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. f 1 Cor. i. 22. 49 The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die. 50 Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. 51 And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth. 51. "Thy son liveth." A., N, B., C., Vulg., "that his son liveth," omitting "saying." 48. "Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe." It is more difficult than appears at first sight to account for this reproof on the part of Christ. The words are certainly said by way of reproach, and are much used by Rationalists, who desire to get rid of miracles altogether, to show that the faith which depends upon signs is a very imperfect faith compared to that which accepts Christ on account of His preaching or teaching. And so miracles, being comparatively useless, may be first ignored, and then all sorts of devices may be innocently used for eliminating them from the narrative. But all this is beside the mark, for the faith which accepts Christ as a Saviour from sin does not at this stage of the narrative come at all into consideration. The nobleman beseeches Jesus to perform the miracle, not to confirm his religious faith, but to heal his child. His one object in coming was the recovery of his son, probably his only son. His faith might be established without a miracle, but surely his child could not be healed without one! Christ did not heal by natural means, but by a word, by a single touch, and for the exercise of this power for a temporal, rather than a spiritual purpose, the nobleman came and sought His help. One of two things is certain, either that our Lord referred to something in his state of mind utterly unknown to us, or, which is more probable, that the nobleman had but a half-belief that our Lord could effect the cure of his son. Chrysostom seems to put this interpretation on our Lord's words, and appeals to the fact that when the nobleman reached home he inquired of his servants at what hour the fever had left his child, and it was not till he 52 Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. 53 So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth and himself believed, and his whole house. found that it was at the same hour in which Jesus had said "Thy son liveth," that he was fully persuaded of the almighty power of Christ. He (Chrysostom) accounts for the fact that he came to Jesus, and so showed some faith, on this ground-that parents in their great affliction are wont to resort not only to physicians in whom they have confidence, but also to take up with those in whom they have no confidence, desiring to omit nothing by which they can possibly receive benefit for their children. On this hypothesis, what our Lord meant was, that this man and many like him, such as the people of Nazareth, desired to see miracles wrought upon others before they could firmly believe that our Lord actually had the supernatural power which He claimed to have. The miracles which the Galilæans had seen our Lord perform in Jerusalem ought to have been sufficient to dispel any doubt as to His power. Chrysostom may have judged this man somewhat too harshly, but certainly his case presents a striking contrast to that of the centurion from the very same place. The centurion is an example of a strong faith, this of a weak faith; the centurion counts that if Jesus will but say the word his servant will be healed, whilst this nobleman is so earnest that the Lord should come down, because he limits Christ's power, and considers that His actual presence only will avail; and so the one has the highest praise possible given to him by Christ, whilst the other is, at the first, rebuked. 53. "So the father knew... himself believed, and his whole house." This notice of the household believing is so similar to several cases in the Acts, as that of Lydia and of the jailer, that we cannot but think that this was religious belief in Jesus as the Christ, and not merely belief in His power of healing. Some have even supposed that this man was Chuza, Herod's steward. 54. "This is again the second miracle... out of Judæa into Galilee." This should be rendered, "This again a second sign did 54 This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judæa into Galilee. Jesus, having come out of Judæa into Galilee." I cannot help thinking that we must look to the reason assigned by antiquity for the composition of this Gospel to explain the interjection of this remark. St. John wrote to describe that which the other Evangelists had omitted, the ministry previous to the incarceration of the Baptist. The chief incidents of this occurred in Jerusalem, but two occurred in Galilee and in Cana, of which the Synoptics had said nothing; and this is mentioned as the second in Cana, thereby showing that this Evangelist knew well the Galilean ministry, though his object was to describe a ministry in another part of the Holy Land. CHAP. V. A FTER a this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. a Lev. xxiii. 2. 1. "A feast." So A., B., D., and some later Uncials, and most editors, but N, C., E., L., and most Cursives read, "the feast;" so Tischendorf. 1. “ After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem." There is the greatest difference of opinion amongst commentators as to which feast of the Jews this was. If we read it the feast of the Jews, no doubt the Passover is meant. As Archbishop Trench remarks, "All other feasts fall into the background for a Jew, as compared with the Passover; the feast with no further addition or qualification could hardly mean any other feast but this." (John iv. 45, Matth. xxvii. 15.) If it be a feast, one of the inferior feasts must be meant, and many commentators have thought that it was Purim. The only reason against this seems to be that Purim was not kept religiously by the mass of Jews, and it is assumed that our Lord went up to keep the feast. But as it was kept as a great national festival of deliverance, He may have observed it religiously, though His countrymen did not. 2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep || market a b Neh. iii. 1. pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Be & xii. 39. || Or, gate. thesda, having five porches. 3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. 2. "Bethesda." So A., C.; "Bethzatha," N, L.; "Bethsaida," B. 3. "In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered," &c. ; rather, "A great multitude of sick, blind, halt, withered." No word answering to "folk" after word rendered "impotent;" multitudo magna languentium, cæcorum, claudorum, aridorum (Vulg.). Waiting for the moving of the water" omitted by N, A., B., C. 2. "Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool." Rather, by the sheep gate. Nothing can be gathered from the present tense being used here respecting an earlier date of the Gospel as written before the destruction of Jerusalem (it being assumed that the pool would be destroyed with the destruction of the city), for St. John might easily have written as if he had the whole scene before him, and so spake of the past as if it were then existing. "A pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda." If verses 3 (latter part) and 4 are genuine, then this may be any pool or cistern within the circuit of the walls. If, on the contrary, verse 4 is not genuine, then we have to account for the "moving of the water," recognized in verse 7, in some other way than by an angelic ministry. In this case it is most probable that the pool was fed from below by an intermittent spring, which welled up at irregular times, which required that those waiting to be healed should continually be on the watch, so that they might be plunged into it the moment it boiled up, this being supposed to be the time when the water was efficacious. Now there is at present in Jerusalem such an intermittent spring, called the Fountain of the Virgin, which discharges itself by a long tunnel into the Pool of Siloam, and many suppose that this is the actual pool. As it exists at present, however, there is no room about it for the five porches. After such a lapse of time, and so many destructions of Jerusalem, it seems impossible to identify the site. "Having five porches." Five spaces roofed over for the shelter of those who "waited for the moving of the water." 3. "In these lay a [great] multitude of impotent folk," literally, 4 For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. 5 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been 4. "For an angel," &c. This whole verse omitted by N, B., C., D., and a few Cursives, but retained by A., C., E., F., G., H., I., K., L., most Cursives, Old Latin [a, b, c, e, f], Vulg., Peshito. But see excursus. 5. "Which had an infirmity thirty and eight years." "Which had been thirty and eight years in his infirmity." Triginta et octo annos habens in infirmitate suâ (Vulg.). of sick, blind, halt, withered. No word answering to "folk" after the word rendered "impotent." 4. "For an angel went down . . . of whatsoever disease he had." In a short excursus at the end of this Gospel I shall (D.V.) examine the question of the genuineness of this passage. The reader, however, should very distinctly realize that the healing bestowed on those who were the first to descend into the water, was in no sense one of our Lord's miracles. It did not in any way witness to His mission and we cannot gather from the account that He recognized in the least degree its genuineness. His whole conduct is perfectly consistent with the fact that those who waited were mistaken in supposing that the water had any healing virtue from the stirring of an angel, or from any other cause. Supposing that such persons were under a delusion, they would not have listened to Him if He had attempted to show them their mistake. The very fact, also, of His making no allusion to a work of His Father, performed constantly on the spot, whilst He healed the impotent man by His own power, seems to cast doubts upon the benefit which the crowd was waiting for. It is not at all improbable that His own act of instantaneous healing of such an inveterate disorder may have (in part, at least) been done to convince them that, by His Presence amongst them, they had a far speedier and surer means of being cured than that which they looked for from the agitation of the pool. 5. "And a certain man was there, which had," &c. This, of course, does not imply that the man had been all these years an attendant at the side of the pool. 6. "When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a |