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Joh_15:26-27. Over against this hatred of the world, Jesus further appeals confidently, and in the certainty of His future justification, to the testimony which the Paraclete, and also the disciples themselves, will bear regarding Him. The Paraclete was to give testimony of Christ through the disciples, in speaking forth from them (Mat_10:20; Mar_13:11). But the testimony of the disciples of Christ was at the same time also their own, since it expressed their own experiences with Christ from the beginning onwards, Joh_1:14; 1Jn_1:1; Act_1:21-22. Both were, in so far as they, filled and enlightened by the divine πνεῦμα , delivered His instructions (Joh_14:26), and what they themselves had heard and seen of Jesus, both consequently ἐν πνεύματι , one witness; it is, however, separated into its two actual factors (comp. Act_1:8; Rom_8:16; Rom_9:1), and they are kept apart.
ὃν ἑγὼ πέμψω ὑμ . παρὰ τοῦ πατρ .] How? see Joh_14:16. As ἐγώ is used with the weight of authority, so also has the more exact definition: τὸ πνεῦμα τ . ἀληθ . (see on Joh_14:17), and the addition ὃ π . τ . πατρ . ἐκπορ ., in emphatic confirmation of the above παρὰ τοῦ πατρός , the pragmatic weight of causing to be felt the truth and validity of the Spirit’s testimony, which thus goes back to the Father. The general expression ἐκπορ ., however, which is without any definite limitation of time, does not refer to the immanent relation of subsistence (actus hypostaticus), but, agreeably to the connection, to the being efficaciously communicated outwards[170] from the Father, by means of which, in every case that occurs, the Spirit is received. “Itaque hujusmodi testimonia nec a Graecis (against the filioque) nec contra Graecos (against the διὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ ἐκ τοῦ πατρός ) … satis apposite sunt citata,” Beza. For the dogmatic use in the interest of the Greek Church, see already in Theodore of Mopsuestia. Recently, Hilgenfeld especially has laid great stress on the hypostatic reference, and that in the sense of a Gnostic emanation.
ἘΚΕῖΝΟς ] opposed to the Christ-hating world.
ΠΕΡῚ ἘΜΟῦ ] of my Person, my work, etc. Comp. 1Jn_5:6.
ΚΑῚ ὙΜΕῖς ΔΈ ] atque vos etiam. Comp. on Joh_6:51, Joh_8:17.
μαρτυρεῖτε ] ye also are witnesses, since ye from the beginning (of my Messianic activity) are with me (consequently are able to bear witness of me from your experience). Jesus does not say μαρτυρήσετε , because the disciples were already the witnesses which they were to be in future. They were, as the witnesses, already forthcoming. ἐστέ denotes that which still continues from the commencement up to the present moment. Comp. 1Jn_3:8. ΜΑΡΤΥΡ . taken as imperative would make the command appear too abrupt; considering its very importance, a more definite unfolding of it was necessarily to be expected, which, however, is not missed, if the words are only a part of the promise to bear witness (in answer to B. Crusius and Hofmann, Schriftbew. II. 2, p. 19). An echo of this word of Christ regarding the united testimony of the Spirit and of the apostles is found in Act_5:32, also in Act_15:28.
[170] The Spirit goes out if He is sent, Joh_14:16; Joh_14:26; Gal_4:6. Comp. the figurative expression of the outpouring. Seo also Hofmann, Schriftbew. I. p. 203 f.