Commentary on John, Chapter 20
CHAPT. XX.
Verſe. 1. The firſt day of the week.]
NOw the Chriſtian Sabbath in honour of Chriſts reſurrection, and therefore called, The Lords day, Revel. 1.10. as the holy Supper is called, The Lords Supper, 1 Cor. 10. as the Saints are called foreign, Kirk, Church. The title of the 24th Pſalm is, A Pſalm of David: To this the Greek addeth, Of the firſt day of the week, meaning that this Pſalm was wont to be ſung in the Temple every firſt day of the week, which now is the Chriſtians Sabbath; and of Chriſt, his Church and Kingdome, and the entertaining of his Goſpel, doth this Pſalm intreat. foreign, &c Igna… ep. 3 ad Magneſ.Let every one of us keep Sabbath, ſaith Ignatius, in a ſpirituallmanner, rejoycing in the meditation of the law, not in the reſt of the body. And in thoſe Primitive times, when the Queſtion was asked, ervasti Dominicum? Haſt thou kept the Lords-day? the anſwer was returned, Chriſtianus ſum, intermittere non poſſum: I am a Chriſtian, and may not do otherwiſe. See ve…ſtegan. Al… numerant, Feria prima, ſecunda, tertia, &c.The Jews gave that honour to their Sabbath, that they named from it all the other daies of the week, as the firſt, ſecond, third day, &c. of the Sabbath, which we from the Heathens (a worſe patern) name Munday, Tueſday, Wedneſday, &c. Ex inſtituto Mercurij Treſmegiſti.
Verſe 2. Then ſhe runneth.] Amor addidit alas, Love is impationt of delaies. Cant. 2.17.Chriſt commeth leaping over the Mountains of Bether, all manner le…s and impediments. And the Church, as impatient as he, bids him, Make haſte, my beloved, and be like to a Roe, or to a ſawn of the Hearts, which when it ſleeth, looketh behinde, duplicate page duplicate page duplicate page duplicate page it, ſaith the Chaldee Paraphraſt there. She affects not only an union, but an unity with him.
Verſe 3. Peter therefore went forth.] He deſpaired not, though he had grievouſly fallen. The Saints cannot fall ſo far, but that Gods ſupporting hand is ever under them. They may be dowzed over head and ears in the waters of iniquity, yea, ſink twice to the bottom, yet ſhall riſe again and recover; for the Lord puts under his hand; yea, as he that ſtumbleth, and yet falleth not, gets ground by his ſtumbling: So it is here.
Verſe 4. So they ran both together.] But the ſwifter of foot they were, the ſlower in faith: for he that believeth maketh not haſte, Iſa. 28.16. They believed not fully the refurrection: when they heard the news of it, and from the Angels too, they ſtirred not, but rejected it as a fable. Now that they hear (though but by a woman only) that the Lords body was removed to another ſepulchre (though that were but a raſh report, and nothing ſo) they run amain. Oh the dulnes that is found in the beſt!
Verſe 5. Yet went he not in.] He durſt not: ſo ſome fearfull are afraid of every ſtep, ſaying, as Caeſar at Rubicon, yet we may goe back: Pelago ſe non ita commiſſu… us eſser, quin quan do liberet pedem reſerre poſſetand as the King of Navar told Beza, That he would launch no further into the ſea, then he might be ſure to return ſafe to the haven.
Verſe 6. Following him, and went in] John came firſt, Peter entred firſt: Soft and fair goes far: Soft fire makes ſweet malt: Leap Chriſtians are not much to be liked; ſuch as quickly ſtep out of profaneneſſe into profeſſion. Hot at hand ſeldom holds out. The ſtony ground immediately received the ſeed with joy, foreign. Mat. 13. Prov 4 2…. Prov. 4.18.and ſtarted up ſuddenly: but the good ground brings forth fruit with patience or tarriance. Walk deliberately, and ponder the paths of thy feet, as Solomon bids. A Chriſtians progreſſe is as the ſun, which ſhines more and more to the perfect day: and as the Trumper in Mount Sion, Exod. 20. which ſounded louder and louder, till it was heard all the countrey over.
Verſe 7. And the napkin that was about his head] Theſe grave-cloaths were evidences of our Saviours reſurrection, and are therefore mentioned by the Evangeliſt. But what ſhift made Paleottus Archbiſhop of Bonony for matter, who wrote a great book of the ſhadow of Chriſts dead body in the ſindon or linen-cloth, wherein it was wrapped? This book was alſo commented upon by the Profeſſour of Divinity there. Had not theſe men little to doe? Did they not, as one ſaith, Magno conatu magnas nugas agere?
Tenet inſanabile multos ſcribendi cacoethes.
Verſe 8. And he ſaw and believed.] i.e. He believed his own eyes, that the Lords body was not in the ſepulchre; but, as Mary Magdalen had told them, ſo they miſ-believed, that it was taken away to ſome other place, further from Calvary, for honours ſake, that he might not lie buried with the wicked. Hence it is that in the next verſe it is added, that as yet they knew not the Scripture.
Verſe 9. For as yet they knew not the Scripture.] Which yet was clear enough in this point, Pſ. 16.10. & 110.1. Iſa. 53.10, 11. The reſurrection of our Saviour was not obſcurely ſhadowed out in Adam, waking out of ſleep, Iſaac received after a ſort from the dead, Joſeph drawn out of priſon to be Lord of Egypt, Samſon bearing away the gates of Gaza, David advanced to the Kingdome, when there was but a ſtep betwixt him and death, Jonah preferved in the Whales belly, &c.
Verſe 10. Went again to their own home.] Waiting till God ſhould further enlighten both organ and object, as Mary alſo did, Luk. 2.
Verſe 11. Mary ſtood at the ſepulchre, weeping.] Some thinke it was, becauſe ſhe conceived that the Jews had gotten away our Saviours dead body to diſhonour it: as the Popiſh perſecutours digd up Bucers, and many other good mens bones to burn them. She wept, where ſhe had no ſuch cauſe: ſo doe too many, women eſpecially, who ſhould doe well to keep their tears for better uſes, and not waſh foul rooms with ſweet waters. Needleſſe tears muſt be unwept again.
Verſe 12. And ſeeth two Angels.] Sent for her ſake, and the reſt, to certifie them of the reſurrection. It is their office (and they are glad of it) to comfort and counſell the Saints ſtill, as it were by ſpeaking and doing after a ſpirituall manner, though we ſee them not, as ſhe here did. foreign.The Philoſopher told his friends when they came into his little and low cottage, The gods are here with me: ſure it is, that God and his Angels are ever with his people, when they are weeping eſpecially.
Verſe 13. Woman, why weepeſt thou?] Angels pity humane frailty ſtill, and ſecretly ſuggeſt comfort. But Mary had no ſuch cauſe to cry, if ſhe had known all, but to rejoyce rather: ſo hath a Chriſtian, in what condition ſoever, all things reckoned. Had Elizabeth known ſhe ſhould have been Queen, ſhe would not have wiſht her ſelf a milk-maid. Jam. 1.Saints are heirs of the kingdom, ſaith James, heads deſtinated to the diadem, ſaith Tertullian; what mean they then to be at any time in their dumps?
Verſe 14. She turned her ſelf back.] As not able to abide the brightnes of thoſe glorious Angels any longer. To the Gardener therefore ſhe addreſſeth her ſelf for further direction. See what a happineſſe it is to be taught by the miniſtery of men, like our ſelves, and to have Angels about us, but inviſible.
Verſe 15. Woman, why weepeſt thou? whom ſeekeſt thou?] Where the Angels left, the Lord begins. God hath, for our ſakes, taken the preaching of the Goſpel from the Angels, and given it to Miniſters, who have thenceforth alſo changed names: for Miniſters are called Angels Rev. 2.1. and Angels, Miniſters, Heb. 1.14.
Verſe 16. Jeſus ſaith unto her, Mary.] Chriſt is neereſt to ſuch, as, with Mary cannot ſee him for their tears, if, with her, in humility they ſeek after him. He cals her but by her name, and ſhe acknowledgeth him. The ear, we ſay, is firſt up in a morning: and nothing ſo ſoon awakes us, as to be called by our names. How eaſily can Chriſt call up our drouſie hearts, when he pleaſeth: and (when we are even turned away from him, as Mary here was) make us reciprocate and cry Rabboni?
Verſe 17. Touch me not, &c.] She had caught him by the feet (as the Shunammite did Eliſha, as the Shulamite did her Spouſe) and there ſhe would have held him longer, Mat 28 …. Cant. 3 4out of inconſiderate zeal: but that he takes her off this corporall conceit, that ſhe may learn to live by faith, and not by ſenſe: to be drawn after him to heaven, Ne morare, ſed ad perturoatos diſciputos accurre, & quod vid ſt…renuncia Pet. Martyrwhither he was now aſcending, and to go tell his brethren what ſhe had ſeen and heard.
Verſe 18. Mary Magdalen came and told] She had told them and troubled them before with a conceit that they had (but to what end, or whether, ſhe knew not) removed the Lords body: fitly therefore is ſhe ſent to aſſure them of the reſurrection. And, though loth to depart, yet ſhe bridles her affections though never ſo impetuous, and brings them to be wholly at Chriſts beck and check.
Verſe 19. When the doors, &c. for fear of the Jews] The ſheep had been ſcattered, but now were by the great ſhepherd recollected (according to the promiſe, Lech. 13.7. I will turn my hand upon the little ones) yet ſenſible of their late fright, they ſhew ſome trepidation. Afterwards, when the Spirit came down upon them, they not only ſet open the doors, but preached Chriſt boldly in the Temple, without dread of danger. So did Baſil; when the Emperour threatned him with bonds, baniſhment, Pueris illa terriculamenta proponeuda.&c. he wiſht him to affright babies with ſuch bugbears: his life might be taken away, but not this faith: his head, but not his crown. So Luther, at firſt ſo fearfull and faint-hearted, that in the year 1518. he wrote thus to Pope Leo the tenth: I lay my ſelf proſtrate at your Holineſſe feet, Viviſica, occide, voca, revoca, approba, reproba, vocem tuā, vocem Chriſti in te praeſidentis & loquentis agnoſcam.together with all that I am, and have: quicken me, kill me, call me, recall me, approve me, reprove me, I ſhall acknowledge your voice to be the very voice of Chriſt, ruling and ſpeaking in you, &c. Yet afterwards he took more courage, witneſſe among many other things, that brave anſwer of his to one that told him, that both the Pope and the Emperour had threatned his ruine, Contemptus eſt à me Romanus & favor & furor. And when Spalatinus had ſent unto him, to enquire whether he would go to Worms, and appear in the Goſpels cauſe, if Caeſar ſummoned him? Go, ſaid he, I am reſolved to go, though I were ſure to encounter ſo many devils there, as are tiles upon the houſes. Omnia de me praeſumas, Luth. Epiſt.praeter fugam & palinodiam. Fugere nolo, multò minus recantare.
Verſe 20, He ſhewed unto them his hands, &c.] For their further confirmation: ſo he doth unto us every time we come to his table. But oh, how ſhould our hearts long to look for ever upon the humane nature of Chriſt, cloathed with an exuberancy of glory, at the right hand of his heavenly Father? And to conſider that every vein in that bleſſed body bled, to bring us to heaven? Auguſtin was wont to wiſh that he might have the happineſſe to ſee theſe three things, Romam in flore, Paulum in ore, & Chriſtum in corpore. But I ſhould take venerable Bedes part rather, and ſay with him, Anima mea deſiderat Chriſtum regem meum videre in decore ſuo: Let me ſee my King Chriſt in his heavenly beauty.
Verſe 21. Then ſaid Jeſus to them again, Peace] The common ſalutation amongſt the Jewes (the Turks at this day ſalute in like ſort, Salaum aleck: the reply is, Aleek ſalaum, that is, Blunts voy into Levant.Peace be unto you) This our Saviour purpoſely redoubleth, to perſwade them of pardon for their late ſhamefull defection from him, and their backwardneſſe to believ his reſurrection. Sin is ſoon committed, but not ſo eaſily remitted: or, if in heaven, yet not in our own conſciences, till which ther's little comfort. Chriſt, to confirm them, is pleaſed again to imploy them, and to count them faithfull, putting them again into the miniſtery. 1 Tim. 1.13.A calling not more honourable then comfortable: the very truſt that God commits to a man therein, ſeales up love and favour to him.
Verſe 22. He breathed on them, and ſaith, &c.] Otherwiſe, who had been ſufficient for theſe things? The Miniſtery is a burden to be trembled at by the Angels themſelves, On… ipſis etiā Angel…s tremendum.ſaith Chryſoſtome. Father Latimer when at the comming in of the ſix Articles, he, to keep a good conſcience, reſigned up his Biſhoprick, putting off his rochet, he ſuddenly gave a skip in the floor for joy, feeling his ſhoulders ſo light, Act. and Mon. fo. 1578. Rom. 8.26. foreign Eſt manus proprium, ut att Galenus.and being diſcharged, as he ſaid, of ſuch an heavy burden. Now the Spirit where he is beſtowed by Chriſt heaves at one end (as S. Pauls word imports) and takes off the brunt of the buſineſſe from us. He oyls our wheels, and makes us drive merrily. He helps our infirmities, edgeth our ſpirits, ſteeleth our faces, filleth us with matter, furniſheth us with words, does all our work for us. When I firſt came into this City (ſaid Calvin upon his death-bed, in his ſpeech to his fellow-Miniſters) I found all out of frame, and met with many malicious oppoſites. But our Lord Chriſt ſo ſettled and ſtrengthned me, Melch. Adam. in vita Calv.who by nature (to ſpeak truth) am eaſily daunted, Ʋt nullis illorum conatibus ceſſerim, that I ſtoutly withſtood them.
Verſe 23. Whoſoevers ſins ye remit, &c.] Remiſſion of ſin is the chief benefit of the Goſpel: And for the Creed (which is the ſum of the Goſpel) All the former Articles are perfected in that of Remiſſion of ſins: and all the following Articles are effects of it. Rhem. Teſt.Now none can remit ſins, but God; to ſpeak properly: Papiſts tell us of one that could remove mountains: but to remit ſins is peculiar to God alone. Man may remit the treſpaſſe, but God only the tranſgreſſion. Howbeit Miniſters may, and in ſome caſes muſt declare unto man his righteouſneſſe; Job 33.23.pronounce in Chriſts name, the truly penitent righteous in Gods ſight, by Chriſts righteouſneſſe freely imputed, and given unto them. They muſt alſo retain, by the ſame authority, and binde upon impenitent ſinners (ſo continuing) their ſins to deſtruction, 2 Cor 10.6.Having in a readineſſe to revenge all diſobedience. This we may doe, as Miniſters, and more we claim not.
Verſe 24. But Thomas one of the twelve.] A man cannot be wilfully abſent from the publike Aſſemblies but once, without great danger and damage. Thomas was abſent, perhaps about ſome weighty cauſe. It may be he lurkt and lay cloſe for fear of the Jews: or it may be he was providing, and ſetling his own private affairs, now his Maſter was ſlain: but what ever the cauſe was, the effect was grievous; he was wofully hardened.
Verſe 25. I will not believe.] Ah wilfull Thomas (quoth Mr Bradford, Martyr) I will not, ſaith he: ſo adding to his incredulity, Serm of Repent. 56.obſtinacy. But yet Chriſt appeared unto him, and would not leeſe him, &c.
Verſe 26. The doors being ſhut.] Although it be ſaid, that when Chriſt came to his Diſciples the doors were ſhut, Act. and Mon. fol. 1536.yet have I as much to prove that the doors opened at his comming, as ye to prove that he came thorow the door, ſaid Robert Smith, Martyr, to the Doctour that diſputed with him.
Verſe 27. Then ſaith he to Thomas] Who was not excommunicated by the reſt, but gently born with, till Chriſt ſhould cure him. Neither did he forſake their meetings, though he believed not their relation. It is good to ſtand in Chriſts way, to be found at the foddering-place, Cant. 1.8. But ſome, like ſpirituall vagabonds, as Cain, excommunicate themſelves from Gods preſence, in the uſe of the means: we may write, Lord have mercy upon ſuch, as utterly deplored.
Verſe 28. My Lord, and my God.] This is true faith indeed, that individuates God, and appropriates him to it ſelf. foreign. Chryſoſt.Were it not for this poſſeſſive (Mine) the devil might ſay the Creed to as good purpoſe as we. He believes there is a God and a Chriſt: but that which torments him, is, he can ſay (My) to never an Article of the faith.
Verſe 29. Bleſſed are they that have not ſeen.] We ſee Chriſt in the fleſh by the eyes of the Apoſtles; like as the Iſraelites ſaw Canaan by the eyes of the ſpies: and this is ſufficient unto faith, as the Evangeliſt ſheweth in the next verſes.
Verſe 30. And many other ſigns, &c.] If Cicero could ſay of Socrates (whoſe words Plato had recorded) and could requeſt the like of his Readers, concerning Lucius Craſſus, that they would imagine much more good of them, then they found written; De orat. l. 3.how much more might S. John do the ſame concerning Chriſt?
Verſe 31. Theſe things are written.] He ſpeaks this of the writ of the other three Evangeliſts alſo. Matthew wrote his Goſpel eight years after Chriſt. Mark ten. Luke fifteen, and John fourty two, in the daies of Trajan. He died in the 101. year of his own age.