Song of Solomon 5:6

John 8:21

Verse 21. I go my way. Jn 7:33.

Ye shall die in your sins. That is, you will seek the Messiah; you will desire his coming, but the Messiah that you expect will not come; and, as you have rejected me, and there is no other Saviour, you must die in your sins. You will die unpardoned, and as you did not seek me where you might find me, you cannot come where I shall be. Observe,

1st. All those who reject the Lord Jesus must die unforgiven. There is no way of pardon but by him. Acts 4:12.

2nd. There will be a time when sinners will seek for a Saviour but will find none. Often this is done too late, in a dying moment, and in the future world they may seek a deliverer, but not be able to find one.

3rd. Those who reject the Lord Jesus must perish. Where he is they cannot come. Where he is is heaven. Where he is not, with his favour and mercy, there is hell; and the sinner that has no Saviour must be wretched for ever.

(s) "ye shall seek me" Jn 7:34 (t) "and shall die" Job 20:11

John 12:35

Verse 35. Yet a little while is the light with you. Jesus did not reply directly to may their question. He saw that they were offended by the mention of his death, and he endeavoured to arrive at the same thing indirectly. He tells them, therefore, that the light would be with them a little while, and that they ought to improve the opportunity while they had it to listen to his instructions, to inquire with candour, and thus to forsake their false notions respecting the Messiah.

The light. Jn 1:4. It is probable that they understood this as denoting the Messiah. See Jn 8:12 "I am the light of the world;" Jn 9:4

Walk, &c. Jn 11:9. Whatever you have to do, do it while you enjoy this light. Make good use of your privileges before they are removed. That is, while the Messiah is with you, avail yourselves of his instructions and learn the way to life.

Lest darkness. Lest God should take away all your mercies, remove all light and instruction from you, and leave you to ignorance, blindness, and woe. This was true that darkness and calamity were to come upon the Jewish people when the Messiah was removed; and it is also true that God leaves a sinner to darkness and misery when he has long rejected the gospel.

For he, &c. See Jn 11:10.

(m) "the light" Jn 8:32 (n) "with you" Jer 13:16

John 13:33

Verse 33. Little children. An expression of great tenderness, denoting his deep interest in their welfare. As he was about to leave them, he endeavours to mitigate their grief by the most tender expressions of attachment, showing that he felt for them the deep interest in their welfare which a parent feels for his children. The word children is often given to Christians as implying--

1st. That God is their Father, and that they sustain toward him that endearing relation, Rom 8:14,15.

2nd. As denoting their need of teaching and guidance, as children need the aid and counsel of a father. See the corresponding term babes used in 1Cor 3:1, 1Pet 2:2

3rd. It is used, as it is here, as an expression of tenderness and affection. See Gal 4:19, 1Jn 2:1, 12, 28, 3:7, 18, 4:4, 5:21.

Yet a little while I am with you. He did not conceal the fact that he was soon to leave them. There is something exceedingly tender in this address. It shows that he loved them to the end; that as their friend and guide, as a man, he felt deeply at the thoughts of parting from them, and leaving them to a cold and unfeeling world. A parting scene at death is always one of tenderness; and it is well when, like this, there is the presence of the Saviour to break the agony of the parting pang, and to console us with the words of his grace.

As I said unto the Jews. See Jn 7:34.

So now I say to you. That is, they could not follow him then, Jn 13:36, 14:2. He was about to die and return to God, and for a time they must be willing to be separated from him. But he consoled them (Jn 13:36) with the assurance that the separation would be only temporary, and that they should afterward follow him.

(w) "as I said unto the Jews" Jn 7:34, 8:21

John 16:5-7

Verses 5,6. Now I go my way. Now I am about to die and leave you, and it is proper to announce all these things to you.

None of you asketh me, &c. They gave themselves up to grief instead of inquiring why he was about to leave them. Had they made the inquiry, he was ready to answer them and to comfort them. When we are afflicted we should not yield ourselves to excessive grief. We should inquire why it is that God thus tries us; and we should never doubt that if we come to him, and spread out our sorrows before him, he will give us consolation. Verse 6.

(d) "sorrow hath filled" Jn 16:21 Verse 7. It is expedient for you, &c. The reason why it was expedient for them that he should go away, he states to be, that in this way only would the Comforter be granted to them. Still, it may be asked why the presence of the Holy Spirit was more valuable to them than that of the Saviour himself? To this it may be answered,

1st. That by his departure, his death, and ascension--by having these great facts before their eyes--they would be led by the Holy Spirit to see more fully the design of his coming than they would by his presence. While he was with them, notwithstanding the plainest teaching, their minds were filled with prejudice and error. They still adhered to the expectation of a temporal kingdom, and were unwilling to believe that he was to die. When he should have actually left them they could no longer doubt on this subject, and would be prepared to understand why he came. And this was done. See the Acts of the Apostles everywhere. It is often needful that God should visit us with severe affliction before our pride will be humbled and we are willing to understand the plainest truths.

2nd. While on the earth the Lord Jesus could be bodily present but in one place at one time. Yet, in order to secure the great design of saving men, it was needful that there should be some agent who could be in all places, who could attend all ministers, and who could, at the same time, apply the work of Christ to men in all parts of the earth.

3rd. It was an evident arrangement in the great plan of redemption that each of the persons of the Trinity should perform a part. As it was not the work of the Spirit to make an atonement, so it was not the work of the Saviour to apply it. And until the Lord Jesus had performed this great work, the way was not open for the Holy Spirit to descend to perform his part of the great plan yet, when the Saviour had completed his portion of the work and had left the earth, the Spirit would carry forward the same plan and apply it to men.

4th. It was to be expected that far more signal success would attend the preaching of the gospel when the atonement was actually made than before. It was the office of the Spirit to carry forward the work only when the Saviour had died and ascended; and this was actually the case. See Acts chapter 2. Hence it was expedient that the Lord Jesus should go away, that the Spirit might descend and apply the work to sinners. The departure of the Lord Jesus was to the apostles a source of deep affliction, but had they seen the whole case they would not have been thus afflicted. So God often takes away from us one blessing that he may bestow a greater. All affliction, if received in a proper manner, is of this description; and could the afflicted people of God always see the whole case as God sees it, they would think and feel, as he does, that it was best for them to be thus afflicted.

It is expedient. It is better for you.

The Comforter. Jn 14:16.
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