James Nisbet Commentary - John 7:18 - 7:18

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James Nisbet Commentary - John 7:18 - 7:18


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

THE NEGATION OF SELF

‘He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh His glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.’

Joh_7:18

There is no feature in our Saviour’s life, no single word or act of His more distinctive of the Deity revealed in Him than the persistent will to deny and efface Himself. Among the innumerable forms under which self-love swells into pride, and becomes the root of sin in man and suffering in society, we shall by way of practical illustration select one only whose dangers lie chiefly in its subtle and plausible character. We shall endeavour to trace how the spirit of emulation develops into the love of interference and pre-eminence, contrasting it with true humility in doing the work of God.

I. At first, indeed, to ‘excel’ would appear to be a duty which we owe both, to ourselves and to God: it is the very spring of progress, both in the arts and in morals, as men strive to realise in their lives or in outward material such glimpses as they attain of perfection; neither does the good craftsman, as Plato taught us, ‘seek to go beyond his fellow.’ But when, instead of devoting ourselves with single eye to our own appointed work, we begin to cast another upon our neighbours’, to measure ourselves against them, endeavouring to surpass, to outshine—then the praiseworthy ambition to excel degenerates into the vulgar passion of emulation and the proud love of superiority. And therewith enter in one evil spirit after another: the spirit of competition, which drives the weakest to the wall; the spirit of envy and discontent, which can embitter the sweetest blessings of life; the spirit of vainglory, which cares only for outward recognition; the spirit of hypocrisy, hiding its festering burden within. But where, on the other hand, the spirit of Christ is, where self-will is lost in the single-hearted desire to do the work and declare the message from above, there indeed is liberty: no rivalries, no anxious comparisons with other men, no dependence for our happiness upon what others may think or say, no slavery to any will outside our own, which is, to do the will of God. Such a self-surrendering spirit is quite compatible, and indeed directly conduces to what is well called ‘proper pride.’

II. ‘Proper pride’ can only be truly and radically distinguished by this, that it is centred, not in ourselves or in our own achievements, but in the work to which we are called, and extends at furthest to a grateful recognition that therein we have been enabled in some measure, however humble, to assist. Here, therefore, proper pride and true humility meet in one. For true humility again bears more semblance to that base counterfeit which is for ever parading a pretended inferiority, wasting time and breath in mutually obsequious hypocrisies. On the contrary, it will have nothing at all to do with personal estimations of character, with the comparing and appraising of one man with another. It springs only from the just appreciation of human nature when viewed in the light of Divine perfection, and the Divine calling of which it is all unworthy. Thus and thus only it learns to put a higher value upon the gifts and efforts of other men, leading us to deem those who differ from ourselves as more exceeding honourable, just because they are what is required in order to supplement our own imperfections in order to carry out the common aim and work of redeemed humanity.

III. Where the true humility of self-effacement does not exist, the very opposite result takes place.—We attach undue importance to the particular gifts which we possess ourselves; we imagine that they are just what are needed at this particular epoch, at that particular juncture. We think perhaps that we are marked out to solve some special problem in religion, in politics, in society, or to fulfil the requirements of the work in some other department of the Lord’s vineyard; and instead of waiting still upon God, making Him both guide and goal, we become impatient, interfering, and finally end in seeking our own glory.

—
Rev. Dr. Bidder.

Illustration

‘It is one mark of a man being a true servant of God, and really commissioned by our Father in heaven, that he ever seeks his Master’s glory more than his own. The principle here laid down is a very valuable one. By it we may test the pretensions of many false teachers of religion, and prove them to be unsound guides. There is a curious tendency in every system of heresy, or unsound religion, to make its ministers magnify themselves, their authority, their importance, and their office. It may be seen in Brahminism to a remarkable extent. Alford’s remark, however, is very true, that in the highest and strictest sense, “the latter part of the sentence is only true of the Holy One Himself, and that owing to human infirmity, purity of motive is no sure guarantee for correctness of doctrine”; and therefore in the end of the verse it is not said, “he who seeketh God’s glory,” but “he who seeketh His glory that sent Him”—specially indicating Christ Himself.’