In this verse, we
have another universal statement as to the identity and Person of the
Saviour. The context is Jesus’
conversation with the woman at Jacob’s well in Samaria, and the statement is
that of those Samaritans who believed in Christ, not just because of the
testimony of the woman, but because they had heard Him for themselves during
one interview with Him. As Jews had no
dealings[1]
with the Samaritans,[2] it
is quite amazing that these ‘unclean’ humans were enabled by God’s Spirit to
see the truth about Jesus. Many had
believed because of the woman’s testimony and besought Him to remain with them,
and Jesus stayed a further two days in that vicinity.[3] The effectiveness and authenticity of her
testimony brought these men not only to where Jesus was, but right into a new
saving relationship with Him. This
spiritual re-awakening amongst the Samaritans indicated that Jesus was not only
the Saviour for the Jewish people, but also for the Samaritans. God’s salvation was not confined to any one
nation or people, but was sent into the entire world. Brown is correct when he avers that Christ’s
two day stay not only brings over many more to the same faith in Him, but
raises that faith to a conviction – never reached by the Jews, and hardly as
yet attained by His own disciples – that as the Christ, he was “the Saviour of the world.’”[4]
As “Saviour of the
world,” He was to bring “deliverance ... from serious danger.”[5] What more serious danger is there than to be
under the divine wrath on account of our sin; and from this we need
deliverance. This implies that Jesus is
more than a perfect example for us to follow.
He is the One Who saves. The
general term “Saviour” is sometimes applied to the Father[6]
and also to the Son[7]
but is found nowhere else in the New Testament.
To the word “Saviour” John, adds a qualifier, “of the world,” which has
the impact of enlarging His role and work.
He is the “Saviour of the world.”
Morris comments that this
elevates
the title to one of infinite grandeur.
Jesus is not concerned simply with petty, minor issues. Nor is He the Saviour of few unimportant
individuals. He is the Saviour of the
world.[8]
Calvin comments,
Again,
when they proclaim that Jesus is the Saviour of the world and the Christ, they
have undoubtedly learned this from hearing Him ... And He declared that the
salvation He had brought was common to the whole world, so that they should
understand more easily that it belonged to them also. [9]
All exclusivity is
hereby ruled out by our Lord. The
salvation that He came to bring transcends all geographical and ethnic
barriers. It is for all men because all
are sinners. God’s love is for “the
whole world” because then salvation His Son brought is common to all.[10]
Ryle contends, with
Calvin and contra Owen and Hendriksen,[11]
that “the singular fullness of the confession” that the Samaritan believers
made is significant because it provides the fullest declaration of the
Saviour’s office as “the Saviour of the world” that is unequalled in the
Gospels.[12]
He raises the interesting point as to whether the Samaritans really understood
the significance of the term “Saviour” as applied to Jesus was fully
understood, and Ryle suggests that it was not.
However, he affirms that whatever deficiencies existed in their
understanding of that term, there
were none regarding their grasp of the universal scope of what He came to
do. To them, He was the world’s Saviour,
not just the Saviour of the Jews. In
Ryle’s language, He came to be “a Redeemer for all mankind.”[13] The religious Jews did not see this truth
despite His being with them for upwards of three years, but these people of
mixed race and of semi-heather origin who had only had Jesus with them for two
days, grasped the true identity of this Preacher, and affirmed His universal and
crucial role for mankind.
DML-J preached, as he was bringing his sermon on Ac.5:1-13,
and upbraided the church for her cowardice. “The church must
stop apologising, stop accommodating, stop taking bits out of the Bible. We must face the world and proclaim Jesus of
Nazareth, Son of God and Saviour of mankind.”[14] He was already retired from the active
Christian ministry for five years by this time, and his universal Gospel preaching
was still uppermost in his emphasis.
Regularly, he referred to Jesus Christ as “Son of God, Saviour of the
world.”[15] In answering the question as to the reason
for the incarnation, he said, “Why
does he do that? There is only one
answer: he has come into the world to save the world.”[16] When seeking to expound why some men hold
tenaciously to the truth of the Gospel, he said, “Here were men who would
sooner die than refrain from preaching the glory of the Son of God as the only
Saviour of the world.”[17] That Christ was and is the only truly cosmic
Saviour there is, was an emphasis in his preaching that none can gainsay. He died as the Saviour of the world, which
implies that He died for all men without exception. His death was as much for the unbeliever as
it was for the believer. When sinners
reject the only Saviour of mankind, they are rejecting a Saviour Who suits
their case perfectly. Listen to DML-J as
he describes those leaders who “[reject] of the
Saviour of the world.”[18] Little did they know but the One they were
rejecting was “God’s only begotten Son, Jesus of Nazareth, ... the Saviour of
the world.”[19]
It was He Who died on the Cross, and the only way sinners have of being
reconciled to Him is by believing in and surrendering to, the Saviour of the
world.[20]
An examination of
these expository comment by the Doctor will confirm that he is well suited to
the company of men like Calvin, Baxter, Davenant, Wesley, Ryle, Morris,
etc. His expositions do not fit nearly
as well with those of Owen and Hendriksen whose confessionalism determines the
meaning of Scripture.
[1] The Geneva Bible 1599 translates this word
as “meddle.” The Geneva Bible notes add,
“There is no
familiarity nor friendship” between these groupings.
[2] Jn 4:9.
[3] Jn 4:40, 43.
[4] Brown, 1684/1969:375.
[5] Morris, 1972:284. Brown cites the Greek as “the Saviour of the
world, the Christ (p.374). Cf also Ryle,
1869/1987:251.
[6] Lk. 1:47; 1 Tim.1:1; etc. The LXX uses this term for the Father, and
secular Greek writers uses it of a
multitude of deities.
[7] 1 Jn 4:14
[8] Morris, 1972:285.
[9] Comment on Jn 4:42.
[10] Calvin, comm.. on Jn 4:42.
[11] Hendriksen, 1954:176.
[12] Ryle, 1869/1987:251. He points out that the conversion of these
Samaritans can be attributed solely
to the
grace of God, and that while the Jews were hardened under Christ’s preaching,
miracles and
wonderful works, the Samaritans were softened and believed.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Selection #358.
[15] Selection #357.
[16] Selection #327.
[17] Selection #236.
[18] Selection #232.
[19] Selection #100.
[20] Selection #99.
No comments:
Post a Comment