Explanation of John 20
By Rev. John Clowes M.A.
Explaining the Inner Meaning of John 20
Verses 20:1, 2. That at the commencement of a new church, they who are in the affection of good, but not yet in the light of truth, are earnest about regeneration through the removal of false and evil principles, and therefore consult with those, who are in faith and love, about the Lord's glorification.
Verses 20:3, 4. Thus exciting attention, so that the principle of love is exalted above that of faith.
Verses 20:5, 6, 7, 8. Nevertheless the principle of love cannot enter into the regeneration without the principle of faith, since it is the office of this latter principle to discern and discriminate truths, by distinguishing between those which are exterior and those which are interior, in which case love and faith are united and become one.
Verses 20:9, 10. And are admitted to the knowledge of the glorification of the Lord's humanity, as it is taught in the Word, with which knowledge they are fully satisfied.
Verses 20:11, 12. But they who are in the affection of good, yet not in the light of truth, remain in an external state, until through humiliation it is given them to discover divine truth, both in its first and in its ultimate principles, proceeding from the Lord.
Verses 20:13, 14, 15, 16. 17. By which discovery they are led to a state of conversion, and thus to a view of the Lord, first as the giver of spiritual intelligence, and next as the source of all divine truth, and lastly as one with the divine good.
Verses 20:18, 19, 20. Which view they impart to those who are principled in truth, so that to them also the Lord is made manifest as the divine source of all good and truth, and as the giver of those heavenly principles to man.
Verses 20:21, 22, 23. And they are required to communicate to others what has been communicated to them, so that through the divine truth and divine good, proceeding from the Lord, all may be brought to the knowledge of their own natural evils, and to deliverance from their power.
Verses 20:24, 25. That they who are in sensual truth, are with difficulty persuaded to believe in the Lord's glorification.
Verses 20:26, 27. 28. Therefore the Lord in his mercy accommodates himself to their apprehension by the glorification of his body even to its ultimates, so that they confess him to be the only source of all divine good and divine truth.
Verse 20:29. Yet they are instructed that faith insinuated by an internal way is more blessed than that which is insinuated by an external way.
Verses 20:30, 31. For all that was said and done by the Lord, during his abode here on earth, was for this purpose, that he may be acknowledged by faith and love as the Supreme God of heaven and earth, and that through that acknowledgement mankind may attain conjunction of life with him.
John 19
1
Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.
2
And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe,
3
And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands.
4
Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him.
5
Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man!
6
When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him.
7
The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.
8
When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid;
9
And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.
10
Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?
11
Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.
12
And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.
13
When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.
14
And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!
15
But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priest answered, We have no king but Caesar.
16
Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.
17
And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:
18
Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.
19
And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.
20
This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin.
21
Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews.
22
Pilate answered, What I have written I have written.
23
Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.
24
They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.
25
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.
26
When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!
27
Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.
28
After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.
29
Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth.
30
When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
31
The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
32
Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him.
33
But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs:
34
But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.
35
And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.
36
For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.
37
And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.
38
And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.
39
And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.
40
Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.
41
Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid.
42
There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews' preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.
