THE MORE EXCELLENT WAY (2)
THE MORE EXCELLENT WAY (2)
JT There are certain features entering into the pathway of the Lord in chapter 12 that should be noticed. A certain result is reached in the beginning of that chapter which affords a basis for chapters 13 and 14, indeed we may say for all the succeeding chapters till the end of chapter 17. The conditions among those at Bethany formed a basis, but the reception that the Lord received on entering Jerusalem and the presence of the Greeks desiring to see Him, brought into view His glory as the Messiah — the King of Israel, and as the Son of man. These two incidents in principle suggest the testimony. If we are to be brought into accord with Christ in this way of love the testimony of God necessarily has its place. The Lord began by referring to a loved one; but then all the thoughts of God must have their place. Whilst the Lord reached results in Bethany which ministered to His own heart, and found a circle of affection there, there also enters into this way of love all the thoughts of God. The testimony to Him as the Messiah — the King of Israel — rendered on His way to Jerusalem, and then the presence of the Greeks desiring to see Him in Jerusalem, brought a wide range of things into view, representing in principle the testimony of God as regards the earth — not yet the heavenly side, but what had reference to the earth. And this is an important feature in the way.
EM In what way do you connect this with what we had this morning?
JT Just in what I have been saying. The beginning of chapter 12 sets before us the results of chapter 11. The Lord has results for Himself. But then there are other things: God’s thoughts as regards Israel, His thoughts as regards the whole [p. 17] race of men — these taken together afford a great expansion or enlargement of the testimony which must enter into this way of love; otherwise we should be narrow and limited.
HD'AC Then you have the assembly, Jew, and Gentile?
JT Well, in the principle of it.
JB Would you say He waives His right to Messiahship and what is universal?
JT He not only waives His right for the moment, but He had to die. It is in the presence of these two testimonies to His earthly glory that He says — “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die it abideth alone”. John 12:24. His death comes in immediately as a necessity.
WSL That is the testimony connected with the thought of the ark of the Lord of all the earth.
JT Yes. The ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is moving forward.
WSL These testimonies would bear on that point?
JT They would. In this way of love you cannot omit these thoughts. They enter into the position. Every thought of God, every testimony of God necessarily enters into this position. The question is whether we have these thoughts; whether we cherish every testimony of God. They have a great place with Christ; He is “the faithful and true witness”. Revelation 3:14.
PL Is “part with me” having a place with Him in those thoughts?
JT Yes; certainly. He has all these things before Him; He cherishes them all.
AN The same principle would come in Ephesians 3:15 where the apostle enlarges upon the administration of the mystery. He goes on to say, “of whom every family in the heavens and on earth is named”. The assembly would hardly be a suitable companion for Christ apart from being in sympathy [p. 18] with Him in connection with Israel and with what is universally His in the kingdom.
JT That is good. The Father has all the families. It is a poor wife who does not enter into her husband’s interests.
EJMcB Do you not think that the assembly, being the vessel of the glory, would essentially hold every interest of Christ?
JT That is what comes out in the heavenly city. We have all the previous agencies of government — the twelve tribes of Israel and the angels — connected with the city; they are all there. But then the assembly includes them all. What I think the Lord would do for us is to bring in now the glory that is to characterise the city. John does not relate the actual ascension. The Lord says, “I ascend”, which is to be taken in spiritually; but he does relate the coming out or the coming down of the city. The going in or the going up is more a spiritual matter. The city when it comes down will be invested with the glory. That is really what the city is for — “having the glory of God”. Revelation 21:10. But the Lord is really investing the assembly now with the glory in bringing in the love of God, so that she will come out with it. It is not that she gets it in heaven; I do not apprehend that at all. She is being invested with it here and now in the Holy Spirit’s presence on earth under the administration of Christ; there is a wonderful service being carried on which involves that the city is to be invested with the glory. The glory is to reside there; it is to find its home in it, and I think that this is brought about by the vessels — the persons who form the assembly being brought into the good of the covenant — the love of God being shed abroad in our hearts. We are said to be “vessels of mercy which he had before prepared for glory” — a wonderful statement. I think what the Lord is doing is that He is filling us with the glory; 1 Peter [p. 19] 1:8.
JF Would you say that the investiture is not future?
JT No, it is present; glory has come in. Glory came in with the Spirit being given.
EJMcB In that way the assembly, so to speak, “shall be received up in glory”.
JT Yes, and so it shall be manifested in glory.
RG Is that the meaning of the scripture in Romans, “whom he has justified these also he has glorified”? Romans 8:30.
JT That is what it means. It has been remarked that the gift of the Spirit, the reception of the Spirit, involves the glory — that we are glorified in having received the Spirit.
JJ It says, “The, spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you”. 1 Peter 4:14.
JT Quite.
EM “The glory thou hast given me I have given them”. Does that refer to the Spirit?
JT I suppose it would involve it.
RG Would it not include the future — the glorified body?
JT I think it refers to the present time. Of course the Lord is speaking anticipatively. Unity, too, is brought in in that connection. “That they may be all one” is now. “And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them that they may be one” — one in glory. See John 17:21,22. The difference between saints is the difference in glory. There are no two strictly alike. In one sense all are alike — all are like Christ; but in another sense each has a distinctiveness, as the apostle says, “for star differs from another star in glory”. 1 Corinthians 15:41. It is in glory; that is what we are being formed in now.
SMcA Is your thought that the glory is discovered in the way of love?
JT That is where it is seen — seen in the way of love, really the way of glory. Glory is moral now;
[p. 20] no doubt there will be the actual shining in the future which is difficult to define perhaps, but this is the way of it. We are brought into accord with the Lord; we cherish every testimony. I think that is why we have these two incidents brought together here.
JBC-l You get Lazarus being invested with the glory in that way. The Spirit calls attention to the fact that he was a dead man whom Jesus had raised. Then you get the affections that centre in the Lord personally, and the anointing of His feet gives the kind of affection that takes up all the testimonies and carries them through for the pleasure of Christ and the glory of God. Is that your thought?
JT Yes; it was a circle of glory that ministered to the Lord. His thought was that the thing should be perpetuated. These chapters are largely to bring out the provisions by which that may be perpetuated in this world whilst He remains away. He had tasted it; it was a precious moment for Him. And the service of feet washing and the instruction that follows is to fortify us so that a circle of glory should be continued here. Lazarus was one of those that sat at the table with Him, meaning that he distinguished or gave character to the company, as seated with the Lord.
EJMcB It is rather interesting that the character of the scene around is declared by the prophecy of Isaiah and it is connected with his seeing the glory.
JT These things said Esaias because he saw His glory and spoke of Him. The combination of Isaiah 53 and 6 is very beautiful; see verses John 12:38 - 41.
FF It also says there that “In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne ... and one cried unto another ... the whole earth is full of his glory”, Isaiah 6:1 - 3. Glory comes into the view of the prophet.
JT Yes. In John 12, Isaiah 53 is mentioned first, “Lord who hath believed our report”; then chapter 6 is quoted, “he hath blinded their eyes”. John 12:38 - 41. The first glory is what you might call the moral glory of the humbled Jesus — a path which affected the eunuch. It was Philip’s theme too in preaching to the eunuch, “his life was taken from the earth”. Acts 8:33. The other refers to the judicial blinding of the nation, but what Isaiah saw was the glory. In the year that king Uzziah died he saw the Lord high and lifted up and his train filled the temple. By the seraphim there was the announcement as to His holiness, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts”. Isaiah 6:3. It is a wonderful combination of glory, fully qualifying Isaiah to speak; in fact, the suggestion I think is that no one can speak of Christ rightly who has not seen His glory.
HD'AC Is chapter 53 hidden in chapter 6? The live coal taken from off the altar?
JT I should say so. The sixth chapter is really reached by chapter 53, the humbled Man here. The moral precedes the official.
PB Is not that glory set forth in John 11 and 12; the ointment suggesting, perhaps, His train filling the temple, but the Lord Himself the object of everything?
JT You mean the glory of Isaiah 6. I think the effect of what we are considering is that the saints come in as the Lord’s train, filling the temple.
PL It is a question of God receiving glory from man, and man receiving glory from God.
JT Yes. He announces that He has to die to bring forth much fruit. Then He says, “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour”. John 12:32. This is the way now to honour.
[p. 22] FW In chapter 11 we have the Son of God glorified. In this chapter it is the Son of man. How would you distinguish?
JT It does not say He is glorified here. The hour had come that He should be, that the Son of man should, meaning that the presence of the Greeks brought to His attention that He had right to humanity as the Son of man. But in chapter 13, “Now is the Son of man glorified” — that is a different glory from the glory He spoke of in chapter 12. The latter is His place in relation to the habitable earth; He has got a right there — the habitable earth to come; but the glory in chapter 13 is the glory that He has acquired in dying, and is present.
FW Are you connecting that with Isaiah 53?
JT Yes; it is in keeping with Isaiah 53; that is what Isaiah saw, he saw Him die.
JJ “I, if I be lifted up from the earth”. John 12:32. Does that go beyond the earth in chapter 12?
JT The point there is that He dies an ignominious death. What a death! It was a spectacle to angels and to men. And in that way He becomes the gathering centre. You must come to Him there; not as the King of Israel or as the Son of man ruling in the habitable earth, but as the One lifted up on a gibbet ignominiously.
SMcA “The Son of man which is in heaven”. Is that what you mean?
JT No, not quite. In chapter 13 when Judas went out He said, “Now is the Son of man glorified”, meaning that a halo of moral glory should surround Him as dying. As a matter of fact all moral glory centres there. It is what was there when Judas went out; his going out was the sign that the end had come and the Lord felt it. He says, “Now is the Son of man glorified”.
HD'AC Was it not the culmination of glory, the whole pathway ending in [p. 23] that way?
JT Quite. Instead of entering on the glory that was proper to Him as Heir of all things, He covered Himself as it were with moral glory in dying. He was not yet to enter on His Messianic glory, or His glory as the Son of man in relation to the habitable earth, but He was going into death for the glory of God, that God might be glorified in Him. Hence he says — “And God is glorified in him”. There again it is moral glory. And then — “If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him”. “Glorify him immediately”. That is the thing. Before His official glories which are now secured are entered upon He has got an immediate glory in God Himself. It is not deferred; it is immediate.
HEF Do you distinguish between those two glories you have just spoken of — “Now is the Son of man glorified” and “God shall straightway glorify him”?
JT Oh yes. The one is moral and the other is actual. The glory into which He has entered immediately is the present glory He has in heaven, exalted to God’s right hand. God does that immediately. It is a provisional position He gets, and it involves grace for us. But He was to be personally glorified forthwith.
HEF So you have three glories in your mind. You have spoken of Messianic glory, then “now is the Son of man glorified”, and again “God shall straightway glorify him”.
JT Yes. The two former are still future. He has not entered upon them. But the moral has brought His present exaltation. God has delight in Him personally as having glorified Him in death, and has given Him a place in heaven. He is in it for the moment pending the time of His entering on His official glory.
JBC-l You mean that it is essential for us to understand the present position of Christ as glorified.
[p. 24] Our connection with the testimony of God must result from the fact that we know the glory of the Lord; otherwise the position would be dark and uncertain for us.
JT Quite. I think we ought to dwell on the glory of the Son of man because it involves what man is to God in Christ; what God has found in Christ as Man. His glory as the Son of God is that He raises the dead, involving the question of affection bringing about the assembly, and serving it; but then there is the question between man and God, and as having become man He glorifies God.
AAT What connection has that word ‘now’ with Judas going out?
JT Because Judas was the agent of the devil — “That thou doest, do quickly”. Judas going out meant that His death would be immediate, and so it was. “Now” means that it is not deferred. “Now is the Son of man glorified ... and shall glorify him immediately”. Immediately is the point there.
PB Does “Now is the Son of man glorified” refer to the Lord’s death?
JT Yes; it refers to His death — His moral glory.
JJ What does it mean — “glorifying him in himself”?
JT It means that it was personal between the Father and the Son. It is not a question of inherited glory, or of the glory He had with Him before the world was. It is the glory He has as having glorified God in death as Man.
WCG The effect of that is that He ministers the covenant to us? “We all with open face, beholding ... the glory of the Lord”. 2 Corinthians 3:18.
JT I suppose that God glorifying Him in Himself may involve the assembly, and what He is and has in the assembly. But the point is that God does it in Himself, and does it at [p. 25] once.
AG The ultimate issue of the sickness of Lazarus was not death but the glory of God?
JT Quite. Not only the ultimate, but really the immediate result. Whatever the result for the creation or the universe the immediate result is the glory of God in that death.
AG Is it connected in any way with what is in the beginning of the chapter — “Having loved his own”?
JT I think that has reference to His service to us. There are the two things in the chapter — what He is to us, the service that He renders to His people; but then there is what He is to God, “God is glorified in him”.
EJMcB Is there not the thought that He has secured in that small company that which has no element of Satan in it, in that Judas had gone out? The ‘now’ seems to be connected with the fact that Judas had gone out and that the dying of Jesus was going to take place immediately. The moral consequence of both was there in that company.
JT Quite.
AN It would be akin to Jordan overflowing all its banks — the power of Satan now coming out. But it would only be an opportunity for the display of His glory. It was at that time the ark went through.
JT I think that is good. Judas represents the power of Satan that was being brought to bear upon Him now.
JJ But Peter in the end of the chapter is an element of failure. What about that? Judas is a different feature?
JT Peter is not an instrument of the devil. He is not so regarded. Peter represents failure truly enough, but it is remediable; it comes within the range of love. There is that which is outside the pale of love, outside the range of it — “Behold, I [p. 26] will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds”. Revelation 2:22. I think that Judas is a type of that feature in the history of the assembly that would betray the Lord. It is outside the pale of the service of love. He waited on her in patience, and then He says — “she repented not”. Revelation 2:21. And He knows that; we may accept that as final. But Peter is more a type of Protestantism as being a denial of the Lord, but not without remedy. There is hope in it, and I think that that ought to stimulate us in the way of recovery — I do not say the recovery of every one, but there is in that domain, in that sphere, those who love the Lord; so let us hope. They may have denied Him by using other names, but there is remedy.
JB Judas goes out in the face of the very greatest service.
JF He goes out in the presence of the greatest possible light — the light of love.
AAT Was the glory that Stephen saw the same glory as is spoken of in this connection?
JT That was the glory of God, referring back to Abraham — “the God of glory appeared” Acts 7:2 to Abraham. God intended to work out things in taking up Abraham for His own glory, and they are all secured now. Stephen had that in mind. His address is the summing up of the whole testimony of God and He sees it all secured in heaven.
AAT “He saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God”. Acts 7:55.
JT That is it. The glory is all secured there. The chapter begins with the God of glory. You cannot limit that. It is the God of glory. Whatever glory there is He is the God of it, and it is all secured in Jesus. I have no doubt the present dispensation is worked out from that. It is worked out from the glory, the special glory He has received from God.
[p. 27] JBC-I Do you connect the service of feet washing with the dignity of the Lord in chapter 13? The chapter opens with the fact that everything is in the Lord’s hands. He has the supremacy — “knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands ...”.
JT That is how the matter stands — a very wonderful position. And he lays aside His garment, meaning that in the consciousness of all that dignity He becomes a servant. He was conscious of all the dignity involved in what is stated — “knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God and went to God”. In the consciousness of all that, He laid aside His garments, girded Himself with a linen towel (the word ‘linen’ should be noted) and having poured water into a basin He began to wash His disciples’ feet. He does everything.
FW Is all that connected with His glory as the Son of man?
JT Well, it is the glory of a “Lord and Master”. It is the glory of one in an official position to lay that aside and take a servant’s place. It is descending love. There is ascending love, of which He speaks later, but this is descending love.
FW Would the glory of the Son of man be on that line?
JT It would, no doubt. He is Administrator. The Father has given all things into His hands; He was come from God and went to God. The reference is, I think, to the hierarchical and clerical system developed in the history of the assembly. The Holy Spirit foresaw all that, and He set this down as a model. All the official dignity in which the so-called servants of Christ carry on their service is incompatible with the example of the Lord. They talk about Him as their Lord and Master but what about these robes of office? The Holy Spirit in this chapter anticipates [p. 28] that in the history of the assembly, and the Lord sets the example which undermines this whole hierarchical system that the people of God suffer from; it disposes of it. The principle is laying all that aside and girding yourself with a towel and getting down to the feet of the saints.
HD'AC That hierarchical system simply means that I must have a place.
JT It is remarkable how quickly we get the cloth on — an indication of official place in the service of God. The Lord’s moral glory is the descending glory. It is the way of love. “Yet shew I unto you — shew I unto you — a way of more surpassing excellence”. 1 Corinthians 12:31. The apostle could do it because he had the love; he could shew that way. The Lord is shewing that way.
AN In Hebrews 2, while we get His glory as the Son of man, immediately after that we have the thought of many sons being brought to glory and the Captain of their salvation being made perfect through suffering. His coming down was to lead us into privilege.
JT That is the thing; it is the descending love. Presently the assembly will come down — “I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God”. Revelation 21:10. It is the glory descending and that in liberty — coming down. There is dignity inwardly, but it comes down in the grace of that dignity. The Lord washing the disciples’ feet is the means by which He maintains us to have part with Him.
PB Part with Him in what?
JT Everything that He is going on with now — everything. Whatever He is going on with you want to be with Him, and He lays down the rule here which is the principle of having part with Him. You cannot have it without it. The great thing that the glory may be resident among us is the example that He sets for us. “Hereby shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another” — “love among yourselves”.
PL Would 2 Corinthians 8: 23 suggest the thought of glory being resident in the assembly?
JT I have often thought of that passage, “messengers of assemblies, Christ’s glory”.
Ques How are we to deal with a brother like Peter? His opposition raised the question. He says, “Thou shalt never wash my feet”. How are we to meet that condition of things?
JT It is a question of appealing to his affections. That is how the Lord met it. “If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me”. The only hope for a brother is, Has he got any love? If he has no love you can do nothing; you can have no part with the Lord unless this is dealt with. If he love the Lord then he will submit. He may raise a question as Peter did, but nevertheless He will submit.
FW I suppose it is the way of surpassing excellence — the path available for us.
JT That is the thing. That is what the apostle brought to the Corinthians; he showed it to them. How he showed the way of surpassing excellence is worth considering. The Lord girded Himself with a linen towel and I think the apostle carefully thought over the fabric he would use in writing his second epistle to the Corinthians. There is a great use now of cotton and even paper, instead of linen, but they are very poor substitutes. I think the second epistle is his towel; the first epistle is the water. He was in much exercise as to what he would use, that which would be most absorbent, and would effectively remove what may have irritated in the first letter.
Ques It is constraining love brought in?
JT That is what it was; that is the linen.
JJ Linen was the fabric the priest had to wear.
JT The priest should know the meaning of [p. 30] it.
Rem I suppose the hierarchical officials have not got that towel.
JT I do not think they have.
FWB What do you say the linen is?
JT The linen is the second letter to the Corinthians. We have to understand the way. Paul says, “Yet shew I unto you a way of more surpassing excellence”. 2 Corinthians 12:31. We must understand the way of love.
HD'AC That shows that righteousness is connected with love. There is a tender way of dealing which is only right.
Rem The apostle says, “Our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged”. 2 Corinthians 6:11. Is that the thought of the linen?
JT That enters into it. Before the apostle wrote the second letter he had been to the gates of death himself. God had brought him down; he had had new experiences, experiences that drew out more tender compassions, so that he speaks about the God of all encouragement. He had had the sentence of death in himself and had had to do with the God who raiseth the dead and who delivered him from so great a death; so that he brings in the ministry of the covenant and the ministry of reconciliation. I think these two ministries set us down in ease. Whatever may have happened, as they are received into our souls they set us down in perfect liberty of spirit in the presence of God.
Ques Would you help us as to His girding Himself?
JT It means that He took a servant’s place; as has often been referred to in Exodus 21, the servant there loved his master, his wife, and his children and would not go out free, but would remain a servant for ever.
JB Do you think the Lord intends that His own should take account of His movements here, that moral dignity may be produced in [p. 31] them?
JT That is the thing, to get into this way of surpassing excellence. Exercise of gift is, of course, undoubtedly of great value, especially as Paul says, the gift of prophecy; but this way of more surpassing excellence is the thing to follow after. “Follow after love”. 1 Corinthians 14:1.
FF In John 11 the Lord refers to the twelve hours of the day. Would that be the full day of glory? And this way is carried out in the light of that? He speaks of walking in the light, and stumbling if we walk in the night.
JT I think that the day — twelve hours — would be the day in which the glory shines; we are to walk in the light of that. Chapter 11 is the shining out of the glory, and chapter 12 sets before us the results of that. The light of the glory of Christ shines in the circle of the saints, as seen in principle in the company at Bethany.
FF I was thinking of the Corinthian epistle and the apostle bringing in the way of more surpassing excellence in the light of that glory.
JT Quite. The light of the glory had shone into his heart, and so it shone there for others. It is in the assembly, the Spirit dwelling there.
JBC-l Is it not glory that influences the heart in taking up the attitude of feet-washing, not merely meeting conditions displeasing, but a sense of the valuation connected with the saints. The disciples’ feet in His eyes had a definite glory apart from a human standpoint. It would be the investing of the saints with thoughts according to the divine pleasure.
JT Some of us were speaking the other evening on the last chapter of Leviticus. Every bit of the divine nature is to be taken account of in the saints. Everything of God is to be gathered up. The chapter provides for every little bit that is of God being valued. Even if a man were poorer than the valuation [p. 32] placed upon him by Moses, his case was to be looked into. If there is something there, the priest discerns it. The spiritual discernment among the people of God discovers there is something of God there. Well then, you clothe the person with that something. You want to get that, and get it in relation to Christ.
PL “Every good thing”, Paul says to Philemon 6 Every good thing that is in the brother. It gives a wide range, for there is a good deal more in the people of God than we are apt to think. The last chapter of Leviticus shows every brother is to be taken account of. There is a wide range for service. What an opportunity there is to bring all into evidence for Christ!
HD'AC A man might waste time. A man after sixty is not of the same value as the man of twenty. He cannot make up for the past.
JT That is true. After he is sixty he is only worth fifteen shekels, but nevertheless he is worth that much.
Rem Do you mean that John 13 is the way of entrance into all spiritual blessing in our day?
JT Quite. Entrance into things from our side.
JJ Is that why it is connected with the Supper?
JT It is not the Lord’s supper, it is the passover, but we know that the Lord’s supper was instituted at that time. John, however, deals with the spirit of the thing, that which shines there, so that this chapter necessarily enters into our position at the Lord’s supper. He gives the spirit that accompanied its institution; he enlarges on that so that we might be there in a right spirit.
WSL Did you say John 13 was the passover supper?
JT Yes.
Rem “There they made him a supper”. John 12:2. Would that answer to the Lord’s supper?
JT I do not think so. We do not make the Lord’s supper; neither do we make it to Him. He has instituted the Supper. It is His institution.
WSL The Lord’s supper is what He has made for us.
JT Exactly.
JJ We could not think of John leaving out the spirit of the Supper.
JT No; but he leaves the thought of the Lord’s supper to the synoptic gospels, because it is connected with the previous testimony. It is connected with the public testimony.
Ques Is it because the Lord is with them in John?
JT I think John in his gospel avoids official things. The Lord’s supper, baptism, the word “assembly” —these are terms that belong to the candlestick, to the public position of the assembly. He does not deal with that; but deals with what supports it. He deals really with recovery. His is a ministry that brings us into accord with these public things. What is the use of knowing the public things if we are not secretly with God?
WSL Would “part with him” involve our having part with Him in all His interests here in connection with the testimony?
JT That is what He has in view. It is not a question of our entering on heavenly privilege exactly; the Father had given all things into His hand, and He had come from God and was going to God, and thus the administration of everything is in His hands. That is the position rather.
WSL I thought that from the fact of what you have mentioned in chapter 12, the glory of the kingdom, and of the Son of man.
JT Well, I think that enters into it, as we have said.
JJ Where would you go for the heavenly side?
JT To chapter 20.
EM [p. 34] The spirit in which we carry out service — would that be the leading thought?
JT Yes. I would connect this passage with the covenant more. While John does not mention it formally, it falls into accord with it. “He came out from God and was going to God”. But in chapter 20 He says, “I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God”. John 20:17.
FW Is the passover connected with descending love and the Lord’s supper with ascending love?
JT I think the Lord’s supper is connected with His descending love.
FW “With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer”. Luke 22:15.
JT But then He institutes His own Supper there, and says, “This is my body which is given for you”. Luke 22:19 The love in the Supper seems to carry us further than the passover.
JT But then it is a question of Him coming in that carries us further. It is His obtaining a place in the assembly that makes room for the ascent. It is His leadership; hence the memorial brings Him in.
LM Would it be that the Lord introduces His own Supper after Judas has gone out?
JT I do not know about that; according to Luke Judas was there.
FF At the close of this chapter the Lord refers to children and a new commandment.
JT Yes, that is the parental thought which is enlarged on in John’s epistle. He was here representative of the Father; the parental idea was there. I think that is what is meant by “has been begotten of God”. 1 John 2:29. In John’s epistle it is “begotten of him”, and you cannot always be sure if the reference is to the Father or the Son. The parental thought necessarily entered into the Lord’s position here, and I think that is where the idea begins of the children of God.
JB The Lord intends us to be here in correspondence with Himself in the service of love.
JT Yes; and in speaking to His disciples as children, He is bringing in a word that belongs to a parent. It tends to strengthen the position and the teaching if we take on His own character — that of a parent — in any part we may have in the service of love.
PL Would it embody the ideals of love in His parental love for them?
JT Yes; it would.
JBC-l Do you think the fact that John wrote his epistle at the time of apostasy raises the question as to how far we have part with Him in these things?
JT Quite. I think that John’s epistle somewhat grows out of the teaching of this chapter. “They went out from us”. 1 John 2:19. There were those who had gone out. Judas went out. And then he brings out the features of the children of God. “Ye know that everyone that practises righteousness is begotten of him”. 1 John 2:29. The knowledge that God is righteous has come out in Christ. The parental thought necessarily enters into the Lord’s way here, for that is where God is known.