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34 who consorted with them, saying, "The Lord is risen in35 deed, and hath appeared to Simon." And they told the things which had happened on the way, and that Jesus was known by them in the breaking of bread.

36

And while they were thus speaking, he1 stood in the midst of them, and saith to them, "Peace be unto you." 37 But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that 38 they beheld a spirit. And he said unto them, "Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? 39 see my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me,

and see me for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye be40 hold that I have." And when he had thus spoken, he 41 showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still

believed not through joy, and wondered, he said unto them, 42 "Have ye here any food?" And they gave him a piece of 43 a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took and ate of them in their presence.

44

And he said unto them, "These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you: That all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.' 45 Then he opened their mind, that they might understand the 46 scriptures; and said unto them, "Thus it is written, and

thus the Christ ought to suffer3, and to rise again from the 47 dead the third day: and repentance and remission of sins ought to be preached in his name among all the nations, 48 having begun from Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of 49 these things. And, behold, I will send upon you the promise made by my Father: but stay ye in the city' until ye be endued with power from on high.”

'Jesus himself, R. T. and N. 2 Or, doubts. See 1 Tim. ii. 8;- Phil. ii. 14. Sn. 3 Or, and said unto them, that thus it is written. And so it was necessary that the Christ should suffer and should rise again, &c. Sn. 4 dwell, N. see W. 5 of Jerusalem, R. T. and N.

50

And he led them out to Bethany; and lifted up his hands, 51 and blessed them. And it came to pass that, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into 52 heaven. And they did him obeisance, and returned to Je53 rusalem with great joy: and were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God'.

*

Amen. R. T.

The postscripts to Luke's history are various and uncertain. In some it is said that the gospel according to Luke was written in Greek, and published at Alexandria; others say at Rome, and others, more probably, in Achaia and Boeotia. It is added, in some copies, that it was written at the suggestion of the blessed Paul, fifteen years after the ascension of Christ.

THE GOSPEL

ACCORDING TO JOHN.

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CHAPTER 1.

¡ THE Word* was in the beginning †, and the Word was 2 with God, and the Word was a god §. This Word was

*The Word.] "Jesus is so called because God revealed himself or his word by him." Newcome. The same title is given to Christ, Luke i. 2. For the same reason he is called the Word of life, 1 John i. 1. which passage is so clear and useful a comment upon the proem to the gospel, that it may be proper to cite the whole of it. "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the Word of life, for the Life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you, that eternal Life which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us, that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you." By a similar metonymy Christ is called the Life, the Light, the Way, the Truth, and the Resurrection. See Cappe's Dissert. vol. i. p. 19.

+ in the beginning.] Or, from the first, i. e. from the commencement of the gospel dispensation, or of the ministry of Christ. This is the usual sense of the word in the writings of this evangelist. John vi. 64, Jesus knew from the beginning, or from the first; ch, xv. 27, ye have been with me from the beginning. See ch. xvi. 14; ii. 24; ii. 11; also 1 John i. 1; ii. 7, 8; 2 John 6, 7. Nor is this sense of the word uncommon in other passages of the New Testament. 2 Thess. ii. 13; Phil, iv. 15; Luke i. 2.

the Word was with God.] He withdrew from the world to commune with God, and to receive divine instructions and qualifications previously to his public ministry. As Moses was with God in the mount, Exod. xxxiv. 28, so was Christ in the wilderness, or elsewhere, to be instructed and disciplined for his high and important office. See Cappe, ibid. p. 22.

and the Word was a god.] "was God," Newcome. Jesus received a commission as a prophet of the Most High, and was invested with extraordinary miraculous powers. But in the Jewish phraseology they were called gods to whom the word of God came. John x. 35. So Moses is declared to be a god to Pharaoh. Exod. vii. 1. Some translate the passage, God was the Word. q. d. it was not so properly he that spake to men as God that spake to them by him. Cappe, ibid. See John x. 30, compared with xvii. 8, 11, 16; iii. 34; v. 23; xii. 44. Crellius conjectured that the true reading was Ots, the Word was God's, q. d. the first teacher of the gospel derived his commission from God. But this conjecture, however plausible, rests upon no authority.

3 in the beginning with God *. All things were done by

him; and without him was not any thing done that hath 4 been done. By him was life; and the life was the light 5 of men. And the light shone in darkness; and the darkness overspread it not §.

6

There was a man sent from God ||, whose name was John. 7 This man came for a testimony, to testify of the Light; so 8 that through him all might believe. He was not that Light, 9 but was sent to testify of that Light. That was the true Light, which having come into the world is enlightening ¶

1 Gr. shineth.

was in the beginning with God.] Before he entered upon his ministry he was fully instructed, by intercourse with God, in the nature and extent of his commission.

+ All things were done by him.] "All things were made by him, and without him was not any thing made, that was made." Newcome: who explains it of the creation of the visible material world by Christ, as the agent and instrument of God. See his notes on ver. 3. and 10. But this is a sense which the word sys will not admit. Topas occurs upwards of seven hundred times in the New Testament, but never in the sense of create. It signifies in this gospel, where it occurs fifty-three times, to be, to come, to become, to come to pass: also, to be done or transacted, chap. xv. 7 ; xix. 36. It has the latter sense, Matt. v.18; vi.8; xxi. 42; xxvi. 6. All things in the christian dispensation were done by Christ; i.e. by his authority, and according to his direction; and in the ministry com. mitted to his apostles, nothing has been done without his warrant. See John xv. 4, 5, “Without me ye can do nothing." Compare ver. 7, 10, 16; John xvii. 8; Col. i. 16, 17. Cappe, ibid.

By him was life.] "In him was life," Newcome. Christ was the revealer of life. "With him were the words of eternal life;" John vi. 68; 1 John v. 11. Hence he is called the" Word of Life," 1 John i. 1. “This Life,” i. e. Jesus, who is now called the Life, as he was before called the Word, "was the light of men," the great instructor of mankind.

the darkness overspread it not.] See ch. xii. 35. "Its lustre was not impaired by the darkness which surrounded it," Newcome. Or, "the darkness admitted it not." See ver. 10-12; ch. iii. 19.

a man sent from God.] This illustrates ver. 1,2. To be sent from God implies that he had been first with God. Cappe, ibid. p. 23.

¶ which coming into the world is enlightening every man.] “which enlighteneth every man coming into the world," Newcome; but in his notes he gives the former interpretation; and refers to ch. iii. 19; xii. 46. This light is enlightening every man, not every individual, but every one who is willing to improve it: or rather is diffusing light without distinction, both over the Jewish and the Heathen world. Matt. xxviii. 19; John xii. 32 ; Col. i. 23 ; Rum. ii. 10; 1 Tim. ii. 4. Cappe, ibid. p. 48.

10 every man. He was in the world*, and the world was 11 enlightened by him †, and yet the world knew him not. He

came to his own; and yet those who were his own received 12 him not. But as many as received him, to them he gave

authority to be the children of God §, even to them who be13 lieve in his name : who were born ¶, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, [nor of the will of man,] but of God. 14 And the Word was flesh **, and full of kindness and truth

*He was in the world.] He appeared in public as the prophet and messenger of God. John xvii. 18; xviii. 37.

✦ and the world was enlightened by him.] è xooμes di' autu sysvsto. The common version adopted by Abp. Newcome is, "the world was made by him," meaning that "the visible material world was created by him." But this, as was observed before in the note on ver. 3, is inadmissible, as the word yжT never bears that sense. In the present version #iQwrioμervor, enlightened, is understood after sysvero, as best connecting with the preceding verse. So ver. 7, a man was sent from God, sysvsTo axsgadμesvos. And Matt. xxiii. 15. gornλUTOS is understood after yevra. Mr. Cappe translates the words, "the world was made for him," understanding by the world the Jewish dispensation, Gal. iv. 3; Col. ii. 8, 20, and taking a with a genitive to express the final cause: of which he has produced several remarkable instances. Cappe, ibid. p. 50. The reader will judge which of these interpretations is to be preferred.

He came to his own, &c.] Mr. Cappe's version is, "He came into his own country, and his countrymen received him not."

gave authority to be the children of God.] to participate of spiritual gifts. Gal. iv. 6; Rom. viii. 16. to be admitted to the privileges of children, to be partakers of a divine nature, to be heirs of better promises, to rejoice in hope of eternal life. Cappe.

believe in his name] received him, believed in him and honoured him as the word of God. A person's name is a Hebraism to express a person himself. Jer. xxxiii. 9; Rev. xi. 13; Psalm xx. 1. Cappe.

who were born, &c.] to which privileges they were born, not by natural descent nor by proselytism, nor in any way which under the Jewish dispensation entitled to the privilege of that peculiarity, but the pure good-will of God. Cappe. The clause, "nor of the will of man," is omitted in the text of the Vatican manuscript, and has the appearance of a marginal gloss. Newcome. Griesbach.

** Or, Nevertheless, the Word was flesh, or, a man. See John xvii. 2; Mark xiii. 20; Luke iii. 6; Gal. ii. 16. "Though this first preacher of the gospel was honoured with such signal tokens of divine confidence and favour, though he was invested with so high an office, he was nevertheless a mortal man." Cappe. In this sense the word flesh is used in the preceding verse. "Flesh," says Mr. Lindsey, Sequel to the Apology, p. 136," is frequently put for man." Psalm lxv. 2; Rom. iii. 20. But it frequently and peculiarly stands for man as mortal; subject to infirmities and sufferings: and as such is particularly P

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