Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXIMaclaren, Alexander
Religion
Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI
Maclaren, Alexander
Bible. John -- Commentaries
Then, still further, there were here 'the two sons of Zebedee.' These
were the men of whom the Master said that they were 'sons of thunder,'
who, by natural disposition, in so far as they resembled one another
(which they seem to have done), were eager, energetic, somewhat
bigoted, ready with passionate rebukes, and not unwilling to invoke
destructive vengeance, all for the love of Him. They were also touched
with some human ambition which led them to desire a place at His right
hand and His left, but the ambition, too, was touched with love towards
Him, which half redeemed it. But by dwelling with Him one of them, at
least, had become of all the group the likest his Master. And the old
monastic painters taught a very deep truth when, in their pictures of
the apostles, they made John's almost a copy of the Master's face. To
him, too, there was granted in like manner a place amongst this blessed
company, and it is surely a trace of _his_ hand that his place should
seem so humble. Any other but himself would certainly have put James
and John in their natural place beside Peter. It must have been himself
who slipped himself and his brother into so inconspicuous a position in
the list, and further veiled his personality under the patronymic, 'the
sons of Zebedee.'
Last of all come 'two other of His disciples,' not worth naming.
Probably, as I have said, they were the missing two out of the five of
the first chapter; but possibly they were only 'disciples' in the wider
sense, and not of the Apostolic group at all. Nobody can tell. What
does it matter? The lesson to be gathered from their presence in this
group is one that most of us may very well take to heart. There is a
place for commonplace, undistinguished people, whose names are not
worth repeating in any record; there is a place for us one-talented
folk, in Christ's Church, and we, too, have a share in the
manifestation of His love. We do not need to be brilliant, we do not
need to be clever, we do not need to be influential, we do not need to
be energetic, we do not need to be anything but quiet, waiting souls,
in order to have Christ showing Himself to us, as we toil wearily
through the darkness of the night. Undistinguished disciples have a
place in His heart, a sphere and a function in His Church, and a share
in His revelation of Himself.
III. The last point that I touch is this, that the purpose of this
group is significant.
What did they thus get together for? 'Simon Peter saith, I go a
fishing. They say, We also go with thee.' So they went back again to
their old trade, and they had not left the nets and the boats and the
hired servants for ever, as they once thought they had.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account