'THE MAN OF THE EIGHTH OF JOHN'
‘[p. 506] THE MAN OF THE EIGHTH OF JOHN’
My thought is to be very brief, for I apprehend that brevity should, in general, mark ministry. I have selected this gospel of John. Much has been said of it; persons who should know have said much of it, and no doubt every one of us has some sense of the peculiarity, and preciousness, I should add, of John’s gospel. This chapter speaks of Abraham. The Lord says here, “Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad”. How beautifully and preciously the Lord Jesus is presented in this gospel! Well might the Lord say, “Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad”, and so there is a certain gladness that one has in undertaking to speak a word from John.
I am reminded in speaking thus of a servant not known to me personally but certainly known to most of us by record — that is, Mr. John Bellett — who, as he was about to die, referred to ‘the Man of the eighth of John’. Many a time I have been touched in reading what he said when he was about to die, and it is very important, dear brethren, as many of us probably will have to die, although it may not be, for the Lord’s coming is near. At the same time, the apostle Paul said that “to depart, and to be with Christ” is “far better”, and one does not hesitate to say that he believes in that word, “to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better”. At the same time, the coming of the Lord is imminent, and should be expected by us; in fact we should love His appearing. And so I took the liberty of referring to this servant who said, ‘the Man of the eighth of John’. That is a word that ought to touch us — not simply the Man of the gospel [p. 507] of John, but the Man of the eighth of John, and I am reading it now. I may say, dear brethren, I am not without feeling about it, too, that there were such men in earlier days, comparatively recent days, too. We rejoice to think of the great revival that we have to do with; we are participating in it on this very day, the revival that the Spirit of God has brought about, and amongst those having part in it was this dear man whom I have quoted, who said this of the Lord Jesus, ‘the Man of the eighth of John’.
John 8 is a most crucial chapter, in which, as I might say, things are fought out, the Lord Himself combating for the truth, not simply using others but coming down Himself to combat for the truth. He has shown us an example, for it is a time of combating for the truth and the spirit of the truth, and so the word here is, “Jesus answered”. Many things had been said, for it is a very long chapter, and it is occupied with combat, the Lord combating Himself for the truth against the Jews. And so it is here, in verse 54, “Jesus answered”. How lovely it is to stop to listen to what the Lord would say in an answer! What answers He made! So here — you would hardly get one more glorious. “Jesus answered, if I glorify myself, my glory is nothing”. We can see how this word ‘nothing’ enters into the matter, how utterly it is out of place if we apply it to the Lord Jesus, but it says of love in 1 Corinthians 13, “if I ... have not love, I am nothing”. That is a very humbling thing, a very searching thing, when we are inclined to be ambitious in ministry and the like — “if I ... have not love, I am nothing”. So there is no encouragement at all for anyone to be ambitious on the line of man’s will. It is a time of love, dear brethren, and we are living in it. There has never been such a time as this dispensation; there never will be, because the millennium which is coming after it will not be equal to this time, but the Lord says, “How is it then that ye do not discern this time?” Luke 12: 56. It is our time; it is the time of the assembly, the time in which the Spirit of God is opening up the truth of the assembly, and building it up, too.
The Lord says, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing: it is my Father who glorifies me”. Beautiful! “It is my Father who glorifies me”. The Lord was not depending on the Jews’ praise, nor is He on ours in that sense. The Father is abundant in His praise of the Lord Jesus, glorifying the Lord. “This is my beloved Son”, He says, “hear him”, and again, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”. And so there is abundance of praise for the Lord Jesus by the Father, and that is what He is saying here, and, of course, we might well rest in it, too, and imitate it, understand how to praise the Lord in everything, and again in everything how to give thanks. And so it goes on, “Jesus answered, If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing: it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom ye say, He is our God. And ye know him not”. How the Lord met everything in combat, not hesitating to say the strongest things in support of the truth — an excellent example for us! And so He goes on to say, “and if I said, I know him not, I should be like you, a liar”. He does not hesitate to use that strong word in the ears of men who are opposing Him; and again He says, “But I know him, and I keep his word”. How God comes into the chapter! It is full of Christ, but full of Christ in combat for the truth, ‘the Man of the eighth of John’. It is a question of what He was here in testimony and in contention for the truth. He goes on further, “Your father Abraham exulted in that he should see my day”. Now the Lord brings Abraham in; it is not Adam, or Enoch, or Noah — it is Abraham; it is a question of the man whom God has selected in a fatherly way; that is to say,
[p. 509] to bring out the idea of generation among the people of God — the true generation on the ground of the new birth, because that is what John brings forward. So it says, “The Jews therefore said to him, Thou hast not yet fifty years”. They were challenging Him as to His age, implying that they thought He was nearly fifty years old, as if He was suggestive of that in His appearance. Our hearts should be touched at such allusions; but then they are the allusions of the world. They say, “Thou hast not yet fifty years, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said to them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am”.
That is my word, dear brethren, and I commend it to you; the testimony of the Lord Jesus here, according to John’s gospel — what it is, what it is in the body of it, this wonderful book, and this wonderful chapter. And so it may not be wondered at that “they took up therefore stones that they might cast them at him; but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and thus passed on”. So we can well rejoice that He passed on; His hour had not yet come; they could not kill Him till the time came, but He submitted to it when it did come. He delivered up His spirit; it was His own action. They did not do it; it was His own action. We can thank God and rejoice in it. The Lord Jesus did not have to die, but He did die. They could not take His life from Him; “no one takes it from me”, He says, “but I lay it down of myself”. We glory in this, that they could not take His life from Him, but then it says that they took up stones to cast at Him. So that it is a time of persecution, and this chapter is to bring out, among other things, how the Lord stood the test of combat for the truth against all comers — He did not give way for a moment. So it says, “Jesus hid himself”.
Why did He do that? Was it cowardice? It was [p. 510] not cowardice; it was wisdom. Why should we put ourselves in the way of destruction if we do not have to? We are to avoid such; and so it says here, “Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and thus passed on”. He passed on; it was His own doing; they could not take His life from Him till He allowed them. And so, dear brethren, we may therefore rejoice in the Saviour that we have, and the Person that we have, who is presented to us in this gospel, and above all in this wonderful chapter — the Lord Jesus contending for the truth, and ready to die, but, not yet having to do so, hiding Himself. The time had not come; so that He was entirely superior, entirely in charge of everything, so that nothing could be done against or without Him.