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READING

JT I thought we might look at John’s gospel in view of the thought of the house of God. There are many indications that this gospel is written as having our own time in view. Things are assumed to exist without being formally named, without being designated, and one of these is the house of God. The house is not visible today, but we know and have proved its existence. We have it suggested in John 8, “The servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever”. Then in this chapter (12) we have the thought of the house, and in chapter 20 we have “doors”, which suggest a house. So the Spirit of God may help us to dwell on these passages with these thoughts before us. I think the Son abiding in the house for ever would fit in with what we have in chapter 12 — that it should be filled with a sweet odour.

Ques Would the thought of the odour have reference particularly to the affections?

JT Yes, I think it has. Chapter 9 brings in the Son of God as introduced to an outcast, and he worships Him. Chapter 10 being based on that emphasises the idea of life and unity — one flock and one Shepherd — and the sheep know Him as the Father knows Him and He knows the Father. Then you have the idea of a family in chapter 11 (and each member known personally) in connection with whom God is to be glorified and the Son of God glorified; so that there seems to be a building up, a constructive line of thought, leading up to the house as the sphere in which affections are expressed in a family way.

Rem The service of Christ would free us to understand the place He fills for ^[p. 156] God.

JT Yes, the service of the Son sets us free, and then we are really free. The man in chapter 9 is the man who is really free.

Rem You get the thought of the Son over God’s house in Hebrews.

JT Yes, I think that through John we are let into all that we have in the apostolic epistles. We take our place in the acceptance of the ruin, but we see that notwithstanding the ruin everything is intact; and so coming into any given thing, you can treat it according to what it is in the apostolic epistles; you see it in all its bearings. It seems to me to be most attractive, that one may emerge from the religious world through adhering to the light as it comes to one, and find oneself introduced into a system of affections. This is illustrated for us from chapters 9 - 12. What we get is, “O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me”. As you adhere to the light, your connections with the religious world will gradually loosen. You will not fit, and you will be gradually edged out. You will leave, or be cast out, and so find yourself outside. So when they cast the man out the Lord finds him. The Lord is scanning Christendom today for such; He is outcast too.

Ques Would “The son abides for ever” be the relationship of those in the house?

JT Quite; you feel that John lets you into what abides. There is no “if” attached to it, as in Hebrews, “If ye continue”.

Rem We get “the Son shall set you free”, and “the truth shall set you free”.

JT Truth comes first, I think. Light sheds its beams not only on you, but on everything around you. It may be that things hold you authoritatively. There are many in the systems of men who think they are rightly there and who think it is of God to be there. Hence the truth applied soon discloses the ^[p. 157] many details that are not right. Truth takes account of every detail, and it delivers from the authority of darkness. There are things that may have authority in our consciences, and we have to be shown that these things are not scriptural. That is the effect of the truth. But the Son delivers in a positive way. The man in chapter 9 was set free by being cast out, but there was nothing positive in that. But when the Lord finds him and asks him, “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?” the man is set free positively. The light and the truth work negatively. They set me free from what is wrong, but the Son brings me into what is positive.

Think of the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, just waiting there to take you up. That is what He is occupied with; to take up the outcasts, and to take them on to what is positive — to the system of affection. The teaching of chapter 10 is to encourage us in the care of the Lord. The figures used, the Shepherd and the sheep, suggest that. Then we get, “and shall go in and out, and find pasture”; we are set free. Then there is the unity: “There shall be one flock, one shepherd”; and intimacy follows “I know those that are mine, and am known of those that are mine, as the Father knows me and I know the Father”. We are brought into a kind of knowledge that has existed eternally. It is that kind of knowledge.

Ques Does the character of it come before us in the incident where the two ask, “Where dwellest thou?” and the Lord says, “Come and see”?

JT That stands at the beginning of it. The Lord is contemplated as in the bosom of the Father in chapter 1. Then on the inquiry of the two, “Where abidest thou?” we have the suggestion that they want to know where He abides. It does not say where, but as you proceed in the gospel there are indications. The Lord says, “Come and see”.

^[p. 158] Rem As things are now it is a question of coming and seeing.

JT Exactly; it is a question of getting souls in movement.

Rem We are set in motion by the light.

JT That is it. I believe popular evangelisation leaves people where they are; there is no thought of moving them at all.

Ques Do you suggest that “The truth shall set you free” involves that you are disentangled from things here?

JT Yes; so that the family comes into view after chapter 10. In that chapter you are made to feel that you are cared for, as if you did not need to care for yourself. You are impressed with the sense of infinite care. That is a great thought to get into the soul — that there is infinite care for me. The man in chapter 9 is a typical sheep, and he becomes a subject of infinite care; and it is the care that leads him into liberty in affections. So when you come to chapter 11 you have a family all loved by Christ. With the sheep it is knowing and caring for them, but when you come to the family He loved them.

I have no doubt chapter 8 is the covenant. It brings in God, because the Lord comes in there from the mount of Olives, as if He came in in the sense of what is in heaven, and He exhibits all the grace of heaven toward the woman. In coming in to meet this situation He stoops down. I think the suggestion in the chapter is really the house of God. The way in is paved; it is paved with grace in humiliation. He stoops down twice and makes effective the grace of God in the poor woman and at the same time drives out her accusers — hypocritical religionists are effectively driven out. The woman is retained. She is retained in the light of the writing through the application of the light and the truth, and then the Son setting her free. Stooping down is an example ^[p. 159] for us in relation to the people of God; you can help them by stooping down.

Ques What do the two writings refer to?

JT The first writing refers to the law; who could say he was without sin in the presence of the law? For it is “By the law is the knowledge of sin” — not in another, but in myself. I discover what I am by law, and this they did. “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her”. He lifts Himself up and they go out one by one. Then He says to the woman, “Woman, where are those thine accusers?” They need not have gone out; they might have stayed and got the benefit of the second writing. The benefit of the first writing is that you discover sin in yourself, and then you see how that sin has been dealt with; “God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh”.

Ques Is the second writing connected with the new covenant?

JT Yes, I think it is. The way into the house is there; now what part have I in this house? In Acts 2 the sound from heaven fills the house where they were sitting; that is more definite and formal; here the odour of the ointment fills the house.

Ques Is your thought that the house of God develops to “my Father’s house”?

JT The two statements are contrasted. In the second chapter you have, “my Father’s house”. “Make not my Father’s house a house of merchandise”. That is past now. Then you have the same expression in chapter 14, “In my Father’s house are many mansions”. That is future. We have these two formal references, but what is present is not formal, because He does not want to set us up in what is formal now; He wants us to be in the good and enjoyment of the thing itself. The Lord knew the family at Bethany by being with them, so I ^[p. 160] think they represent the thought of a family, without introducing it formally — and a family, too, loved by Christ. That family is present in chapter 12. There are others, but Lazarus was there. While some are mentioned by name, they are all on the same footing.

Ques You have a family without a head. Is there anything in that?

JT I think they had not yet come to recognise the Lord’s place. They had learnt He could do things. “Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died”. They did not seem to know that He could act at a distance. We know that He can act at a distance. They did not apprehend Him then as head of the family, but they were going to; and in chapter 12 they have come to that. “This sickness is not unto death”; whatever happens is under the direction of infinite love and wisdom. John will never have it that any accident happens. The glory of God shone in that family, so He comes in in that light. The glory of God and the glory of the Son of God shone there; and as the result of that, instead of being occupied with Lazarus they are occupied with Him. They made Him a supper. It takes you off the natural line. He “came to Bethany where Lazarus was ... there they made him a supper”. It is a question of what is done locally, but whilst it is done locally it suggests the house. Chapter 12 shows that He had acquired the place of Head. If He comes back to Bethany, it is to give occasion for the expression of what has already been effected. He knew what was there. “There they made him a supper”. It is very informal. We do not know how many there were, but there were more than one we know, and thus the matter stands. If you have two, they can make Him a supper. You arrive at the thing without any pretension to having it.

Ques How do you distinguish between making Him a supper, and the odour filling the house?

^[p. 161] JT The odour brings out one who is more spiritual than the others. They are all included in the ‘they’ that made the Supper. There was a state of unity amongst them to make Him a supper. As the occasion proceeds there is opportunity for the display of spiritual power. What you have is there to show itself. Therefore you would be concerned to have your box, to have something.

Ques How does making Him a supper take form now?

JT It is having things that He can enjoy, that He can partake of. We are not told what was on the table. Things are left very indefinite; we are not told what they ate. The supper is a time of freedom. It is not the Lord’s supper, because that is what He provides. This is what is available for Him. In Luke 24 He ate before them, but that is not mutual; here, they made Him a supper and sat at table with Him. The glory had shone, and now they are put to the test as to what effect it has had on them.

Ques If this is not the Supper, when would you expect it to take place?

JT Any time when the saints are together. I have no doubt that the occasion of the Lord’s supper would synchronise with this in a special way, only we must not say this is the Lord’s supper, because that is what He prepares in a special way.

You want to have something. Mary is signalised here in that she had kept the ointment against the day of His burial. You have something that is costly and its fragrance is felt. What I had in mind was that we might see that the house is filled. The fragrance pervades everywhere — a very great suggestion, yet in connection with what is very unpretentious!

Ques Is your thought that it would be an expression of holy love to the Lord?

JT Yes, I think it is. She anointed ^[p. 162] His feet.

She recognised that He Himself was going to die; His own feet were carrying Him to the grave.

Ques What is your special thought as to the ointment?

JT The supper and the ointment are distinct. The supper they made for Him has to do with local unity centred on Christ. Mary has got something that the others have no part in until she breaks the box. That represents something that is special to one and that is excess. There is that in which we can have common part, “Whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing”, Philippians 3: 16. We cannot by that statement exclude individual progress. There must be scope for individual power and spirituality. How serious it would be if we were to say that there must be only certain elements on the table; these are the only things that we are to provide for this special occasion. That would be serious; you would just stay where you are. So when Mary broke the box there was something special. The effect of it would be an incentive to others to have something like it on another occasion.

Ques Where did she get it?

JT Well, you can have it. I think one great element in securing this box is quietness: “Mary sat still in the house”. Many of us live in activity, in meetings; but the acquiring of this box is by knowing how to sit still and appreciate the Lord as He is.

Rem The spirit of quietness marked Mary.

JT Yes, but as soon as He calls for her she moves. It was restfulness in sorrow, but it nevertheless indicated a certain state. Martha comes out to meet the Lord, whereas Mary sat still. Martha looked as if she were more interested than Mary, but she was not.

^[p. 163] Ques Was it the appreciation of His death that Mary had?

JT I think she saw that it was not now Lazarus’ death but His death. Before it was, “My brother had not died”, but now it is the Lord. She is a person who can contemplate; and that is one of the words that help us in John. How can you do that unless you stop, and look, and sit? She was one who could contemplate.

Ques Would the excess fit in here with the spiritual manifestations in 1 Corinthians 14?

JT Yes, I think that is right. It may be the five words only, spoken with the understanding. Something comes in that is wholly spiritual and it pervades all — the house is filled with the odour. In chapter 20 the doors are shut; it is the exclusive side of the house. Chapter 12 enlarges on the affections — the devotedness of those who are in it. It is what they did. When you come to chapter 20 you have a precious thing added to that; you have the light that Mary Magdalene brought — another Mary. A message from the Lord brought into the house; and it seems that these things are to be preserved. They are very precious. The things inside must not be in any way diluted or corrupted, so the doors are shut.

We have something now in the light that has been restored, and in the saints having been revived in spiritual affections; we have something that is most precious, in fact we have heaven here upon earth. The doors being shut suggests that you want that kept. “Where the disciples were”. Note where they were. They represent the preciousness of all this, so we do not let in anything that corrupts.

Ques Do you suggest that the doors being shut is preservative?

JT Yes; you will observe it is not ‘door’, it is “doors”. The house is composed of the saints, as ^[p. 164] we see in the epistles. I think in that way every saint has got a door.

Ques Do you see that in the first epistle of John, then would the second epistle suggest each one closing the door?

JT Quite so. Anything that would corrupt this precious thing, or the saints in it, must not be allowed in. I think it is for each one to take care of his own heart. “Keep thy heart with all diligence” we are told. We may easily carry in things that dilute. The thing must be preserved; it is most precious. We may easily bring in things that, even if they do not corrupt, may dilute the precious thing. Each believer is really a door, as in Canticles (chapter 8: 9), and it is a question of keeping the door shut.

Ques What would be the thought in that verse of inclosing her with boards of cedar?

JT That would be to dignify her. We must shut out things of the world, especially of the religious side; it is a question of every one keeping his own heart. “The doors shut where the disciples were”.

Ques “For fear of the Jews” would bring in the religious element, would it not?

JT Yes; it supposes that we have come to see what we have got. The epistle to the Hebrews enlarges on what we have. Over and over again we get “we have”. We want to keep what we have. In the Hebrews we are told, “Whose house are we”. And in that house are all these things. In John 20 we have these things. “Where the disciples were”; “Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples”. It is so made that these things should be kept, hence the doors being shut. We reach things through John. It comes home to every one of us when we are together as to whether I have left anything in, or carried anything in, that would corrupt what we have. We must be rigid in regard to this. The Jewish spirit brings in an accredited religion of the ^[p. 165] day. It will always seek to find a place where the people of God are.

You can see thus how John brings out the thing in its spiritual character, but he goes on, as if to say, It is not that I am making little of what is official or outward, and so he brings in the new Jerusalem, the heavenly city. There we get all that could be desired in regard to what is official and administrative; there are the twelve apostles of the Lamb, twelve gates, and so on. But that is not now, it is future. Meantime we have to be set to go in for the thing spiritually. The same things that we are occupied with today are the things that will come out in the heavenly city, only there they will have official names.

Ques Would John 20 be the answer to what the Lord died for, to “gather together in one the children of God”? They are brought into unison one with another as to Him.

JT Yes, that is chapter 12, and then we have the increased light in chapter 20: “Go to my brethren” — the precious relationship He gives us as with His God and our God, with His Father and our Father, and we do not want to lose it.

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