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THE KING’S BUSINESS
is for “all peoples” (2:31, 32). The seventy are sent to the Gentile nations as the twelve were sent to the Jews (Matt. 10:5) ; Elijah is sent to a heathen widow (4:26) ; Naaman, the Syrian, is cleansed ( 4 :27); the gratitude o f the Samaritan is recorded (17:17, 18); the parable o f the Good, Samaritan is found here (10:28-36). THE CHRIST OF JOHN The fourth Gospel has for its purpose the presentation o f those elements of Christ’s life which tend to prove the deity o f the Saviour. Indeed this is the express purpose o f the writer: “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence o f his disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that, believing, ye might have life through His name” (20:30, 31). In harmony with this purpose, John’s Gospel begins with the statement o f Christ’s deity (Introduction 1 :1-18—“the Word was God,” “the only begotten God,” 1:1, 18, R. V. M .), and closes with the exclamation of Thomas: “My Lord and my God” (2 0 :28). Chapter 21 o f this Gospel may be consid ered as epilogue, the Gospel really being complete, in a sense, at the end o f the twentieth chapter. Great prominence is given to discussions and discourses regarding the deity o f Christ in this Gospel (cf. 5:18-47; 8:12-59; 10:22- 42). W e have the record in John o f three attempts to stone Christ and in each instance it was becau se'of His claim to deity (5:18; 8:59; 10:31). The crime with which he was charged was blasphemy, in that he claimed deity (10:33, with Mark 16:64), John seeks to present the claims o f Jesus upon the people by. setting forth in the simplest form and manner those manifesta tions o f the glory o f the incarnate Son o f
God which elicited faith from those 'who beheld these signs (20:13, 31) which He did in their presence. To the w riter,'it seemed a reasonable thing to believe that the presentation o f the same evidence would produce similar results in the lives o f those who would read his Gospel. While the deity, o f Christ is the main theme o f John’s Gospel, it nevertheless comprises all the characteristics o f the other Gospels: Jesus.is the Messiah, as presented by Matthew (1:49; 4:25, 26; 18:36, 37 ); the Servant o f God, as in Mark (3:16; 5:30; 6 :3 8 ); and the Son o f Man as in Luke (4 :6 ; 6:54; 11:34; 12:27; 19;2§, 30, 31). But John presents Jesus Christ, above all, as the Son o f God; as God manifest in the flesh (1:18; 20 :28); His eternal pre existence ( 1 :1 ); His separate existence (1 :1) ; He is God (1 :1 ); Creator o f all things ( 1 :3 ); the only begotten Son, liter ally, “the only begotten God” (1:18 R. V. M .) ; the Son o f God ( 1 :49) ; equal with the Father (5:23), etc. John has been called the Gospel for the Christian, as Matthew is the Gospel for the Jew, Mark for the Román, and Luke for the Greek, probably because it comprises all the elements o f the other three. Just as the inscription on the cross was written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek, representing the three leading races o f mankind, so the Gospel is recorded in the same three-fold way. When the Hebrew, the Roman and the Greek have believed in Christ they are “ Christians,” and so are ready for John, the “ Gospel for the Christian.” These three nationalities lose their identity in the Christian, who is the perfect man: intellect (Greek—Luke), sensibilities (Jew—Mat thew), and will (Roman—Mark), being surrendered to the service o f the Christ. In the next issue we begin the study o f Matthew.
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