468 cxcviii. Thomas's unbelief overcome. SECT. common duties of life! May we try our state by the characters which they have laid down in their inspired writings; in which sense, among others, we may assure ourselves, that, if they have 23 declared our sins to be remitted, they are remitted: and, if indeed they are so, we need not to be much concerned by whom they are retained. Vain and arrogant men may claim a despotic power, which God never gave, and which these words are far from implying. But, whatsoever be the sentence they may pass, they whom God blesseth, are blessed indeed. (1 Chron. xvii. 27.) May we always esteem it a very small thing to be judged of man's judgment, (1 Cor. iv. 3.) pitying, rather than resenting, the rashness of those who claim any such discretionary sacerdotal power as can give the real penitent any alarm, or the impenitent any encouragement to continue in sin! SECT. схсіх. SECT. CXCIX. Christ appears to the eleven a second time, a week after the former; particularly offering to Thomas, who had before been absent, the most sensible proofs of his resurrection. John XX. 24—29. JOHN XX. 24. JOHN XX. 24. of the twelve, call WE mentioned in the last section Christ's BUT Thomas, one appearing to his disciples on the evening ed Didymus, was not John of that day on which he arose ; but it is farther with them when Jesus XX. 24. to be observed, that Thomas one of the twelve, came. ciples therefore said But nails, and thrust my who was also called Didymus, or the twin-brother, was not with them at that time when Jesus 25 came: The other disciples therefore, as soon 25 The other disas they met with him, told him in a transport unto him, We bave of joy, We have seen the Lord with our own seen the Loid. eyes, and consequently can have no farther he said unto them, Exdoubt of the truth of his resurrection, for he hands the print of the cept I shall see in his has condescended to shew us the very marks of nails, and put my finger those wounds he received on the cross. But he into the print of the said to them, This is a matter of too great im- hand into his side, portance for me to believe on any report, even I will not believe. on yours; and more is necessary to convince me of the truth of it, than merely a transient sight of mine own eyes: for unless I shall evidently see in his hands, as you say you have done, the mark of the nails, and, more than that, shall put my finger upon the very individual mark of the nails, and put my hand upon the very scar made by tors, to wave the repetition and to render it, and put my finger into it: but, on farther reflection, there seems to be a beauty Happy are they who have not seen, and yet believe. 26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Tho 469 by the spear in his side, I will not by any SECT. means, or on any testimony whatsoever, believe excix. his resurrection. John And, as there was a great degree of faulty xx. 26. obstinacy in such a resolution, our Lord left him mas with them then a whole week under the perplexity which it must came Jesus, the doors necessarily give him: but after eight days, or being shut, and stood on that day seven-night from our Lord's rising, in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. his disciples were again within doors as before, and Thomas was with them; [and] Jesus came to them again, the doors being shut and fastened, as in the former instance; and suddenly throwing them open, and in a moment shutting them again, he stood in the midst of them, and said, as in his former gracious salutation, Peace be unto you! 27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither And then, to let them sec that he was not 27 thy finger, and behold unacquainted with what had lately passed amy hands; and reach mong them in his absence, as well as to conhither thy hand, and vince the over-scrupulous disciple, he said to thrust it into my side; Thomas, Reach forth thy finger hither, and behold, and examine my hands, and reach thine hand hither, and put it on my side and be not incredulous any longer, but believe on this evidence at least which addresses itself at once to so many of thy senses. and be not faithless, but believing. 28 And Thomas answered and said unto my God. c And Thomas, overwhelmed at once with such 28 him, My Lord, and abundant demonstration, and such humble condescension, fell under the conviction in a moment; and, instead of entering on any farther scrutiny answered and said to him, in the utmost transport of astonishment and joy, My Lord, and my God! as if he should have said, I do in this repetition which admirably represents the language of a positive man, declaring again and again what he insisted upon; which I have therefore endeavoured to express in the paraphrase, in terms which such persons often use. b And put my hand upon his side.] So I would choose to render it, rather than into his side; agreeable to Dr. Stevenson's just criticism, that us here signifies upon; as Tyyny (John viii. 6.) is upon the ground; and Thy xpe av (Luke xv. 22.) upon his hand. See Dr. Stevenson against Woolston on Christ's Miracles, p. 324. c Reach forth thy finger hither, &c.] It is observable, that Spinoza himself could find out no more plausible objection against this evidence of the resurrection of Christ, than to say, that the disciples were deceived in what they imagined they saw, heard, and felt, (Vie de Spin. p. 32.) which, if d Instead of entering on any farther : e My 470 cxcix. Reflections on Christ's appearance when Thomas was present. SECT. I do not only now acknowledge thee to be Jesus my Lord, infallibly risen from the dead, but I confess thy Divine knowledge and power, and John XX. 28. prostrate myself before thee, as the great incar nate Deity, the glorious Emmanuel. 29 Jesus says to him, Thomas thou hast believed, because thou hast seen me, and hast received these sensible demonstrations of my resurrection; and it is well: but still more happy are they who have not seen me themselves, and [yet] have believed on the credible testimony of others; for they have shewn a greater degree of candour and humility, which renders the faith it produces so much the more acceptable f, 29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not lieved. yet have be seen, and Ver25 26 IMPROVEMENT, WE most evidently see in this instance of Thomas, as well as in many circumstances of the story mentioned above, how far the apostles were from being rashly credulous in the important fact of Christ's resurrection. It is apparent, they erred in the contrary extreme; yet our gracious Lord condescended to satisfy scruples which were carried to an extravagance, He renewed his visit, and at the same time renewed his salutation too, Peace be unto you was still his language; nor did he only speak, but act, as one who wished it, and was determined to give it. What peace must it administer to the mind of this good man 27 when his Lord said, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands and reach hither thine hand, and put it on my side; and be not faithless, but believing! Evidently did he hereby shew, not only that he was risen from the dead, but that he circumstantially knew those events which had passed in his bodily absence, and needed e My Lord, and my God!] The irrefragable argument arising from these words in proof of the deity of our blessed Lord (which so many good writers have stated at large,) cannot be evaded by saying, that these words are only an exclamation of surprise, as if he had said, Good God, is it indeed thus! For it is expressly declared he spoke these words to him; and, no doubt, Christ would severely have reproved him if there had not been just reason to address him thus. f Happy are they who have not seen, and yet have believed.] If it be queried, Why a greater blessedness is pronounced on those who believe on more slender evidence : it may be answered, that our Lord by no means intended to assert, that every one who believes without seeing, is happier than any one believing on sight; for then the meanest Christian now would be more happy than the greatest of the apostles; but only, that where the effects of that faith were equal, it argued greater simplicity, candor, and wisdom, to yield to reasonable evidence without seeing, than could be argued merely from having believed on sight, after sufficient evidence of another kind had been proposed. It was therefore in effect telling Thomas" It would have been more acceptable to him if he had not stood out so long:" and it was doing it in such a manner as would be most calculated for the comfort and encouragement of believers in future ages, to whom, in many of his speeches to the apostles themselves, our Lord expresses a most obliging and affectionate regard. a Some Jesus appears to several disciples as they were fishing. 471 needed not human information. Let us then ever behave our- SECT. cxcix. selves as in the presence of Christ. Let us act, and speak, and think, in such a manner as may bear his inspection; and, struck Ver, with these united demonstrations of wisdom, power and grace, 27 let us prostrate ourselves before him, and say, Our Lord, and our 28 God! thus honouring the Son as we honour the Father (John v. 23), and adoring the indwelling Deity, through this veil of flesh, in which it has been pleased to enshrine itself, and kindly to attemper, though not entirely to conceal, its rays. Though we have not those sensible manifestations which were granted to Thomas, let it suffice us that the apostles were the appointed witnesses of all these things; and what they saw with their eyes, and their hands handled of the word of life, that have they declared unto us (1 John i. 1, 3). Let us thankfully receive so convincing a testimony. Let us shew an upright and candid mind in accepting such evidence as the wisdom of God has seen fit to give us; remembering that a truly rational faith is the 29 more acceptable to God, in proportion to the difficulties which it is able to surmount; and that there are peculiar blessings in store for them who have not seen and yet have believed. SECT. CC. Christ discovers himself to Peter and several other disciples at the sea of Tiberias, while they were fishing there. John XXI. 1-14. JOHN XXI. 1. AFTER these things, Jesus shewed himself again to the dis ciples at the sea of Tiberias: and on this wise shewed he himself: 2 There were toge JOHN XXI. 1. SECT. CC. John OME time after these thingsa, between the last interview he had with the apostles at Jerusalem, and the public appearance which he afterwards made to the whole body of his XXI. 1. disciples, Jesus manifested himself again to the disciples, at the sea of Tiberias, near that mountain in Galilee where he had appointed to meet them (Mat. xxviii. 16, sect. ccii.) And the manner in which he now manifested [himself] to them was thus:· Simon Peter, and Thomas who was called Di- 2 ther Simon Peter, and dymus, and Nathaniel who was an inhabitant of mus, and Nathaniel of Cana, a town in Galilee often mentioned in the Thomas called Didy Cana, a Some time after these things] Grotius thinks this whole chapter was written by some elders of the church of Ephesus, and added to the rest of the book by the approbation of that society, as agreeable to the relations which they had heard from the mouth of St. John; and Le Clerc fol foregoing lows him in this conjecture; but Dr. Mill b Nathaniel 472 SECT. CC. He directs them to cast the net on the right side of the ship. and two other of his foregoing history, and also the [two sons] of Cana, in Galilee, and Zebedee, James and John, and two other of his the sons of Zebedee, disciples with them, were one day together in disciples. XXI. 2. Galilee; whither they were returned by Christ's John 3 Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishhim, We also go with thee. They went forth, ing. They say unto direction, to wait for the accomplishment of what he had promised, that they should see him on a certain mountain in those parts, and where they expected in a few days to meet with most of their brethren. (Compare Mat. xxviii. ver. 7, 3 10, sect. cxcv. and ver. 16, sect. ccii.) And while they were thus waiting, Simon Peter, that their time might not lie on their hands, and that he might make some provision for his own support, and for the entertainment of his friends, and entered into a ship says to them, I will go a fishing and they say night they caught noimmediately; and that to him, We also will go along with thee, and give thee what assistance we can. They went out therefore, and immediately took ship, and spent not only that evening, but all the following night, in throwing their nets; but though it was the properest time for fishing, yet they caught nothing worth the mentioning. thing. it now 5 Theu Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, 4 And when the morning was now come, Jesus b Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee.] There is no doubt but this Nathaniel is the person mentioned before, John i. 45.-Dr. Lightfoot (Hor. Heb. on Mat. x. 3.) Mr. Fleming (Christol. Vol. II. p. 176), and some others, take him to have been Bartholomew the apostle; but I think they give no convincing reason for that opinion. c Two other of his disciples.] It is indeed uncertain who these two disciples were; though Dr. Lightfoot conjectures they were Andrew and Philip (Hor. Heb. in loc.) which is not probable, as they were both inhabitants of Bethsaida, ne ar the sea of Tiberias. (John i. 44.) It is they No. 6 And he said unto the right side of the They however a strange argument against it, to say "that John must be one, though he is not here mentioned," when he is so well known to have been one of the sons of Zebedee, who are numbered here among those that were present. d I will go a fishing.] It appears from this story, that several of the apostles were now returned to Galilee, where Christ had appointed to meet them; which shews that the discourse (Luke xxiv. 49, sect. ccii.) in which our Lord commanded them to continue at Jerusalem till the Holy Ghost fell upon them, must come in after this chapter, and not before it, as it is placed in many harmonies, e They |