John 8:51

In these verses we have,

I. The doctrine of the immortality of believers laid down, Joh 8:51. It is ushered in with the usual solemn preface, Verily, verily, I say unto you, which commands both attention and assent, and this is what he says, If a man keep my sayings, he shall never see death. Here we have, 1. The character of a believer: he is one that keeps the sayings of the Lord Jesus, ton logon ton emon - my word; that word of mine which I have delivered to you; this we must not only receive, but keep; not only have, but hold. We must keep it in mind and memory, keep it in love and affection, so keep it as in nothing to violate it or go contrary to it, keep it without spot (Ti1 6:14), keep it as a trust committed to us, keep in it as our way, keep to it as our rule. 2. The privilege of a believer: He shall by no means see death for ever; so it is in the original. Not as if the bodies of believers were secured from the stroke of death. No, even the children of the Most High must die like men, and the followers of Christ have been, more than other men, in deaths often, and killed all the day long; how then is this promise made good that they shall not see death? Answer, (1.) The property of death is so altered to them that they do not see it as death, they do not see the terror of death, it is quite taken off; their sight does not terminate in death, as theirs does who live by sense; no, they look so clearly, so comfortably, through death, and beyond death, and are so taken up with their state on the other side death, that they overlook death, and see it not. (2.) The power of death is so broken that though there is no remedy, but they must see death, yet they shall not see death for ever, shall not be always shut up under its arrests, the day will come when death shall be swallowed up in victory. (3.) They are perfectly delivered from eternal death, shall not be hurt of the second death. That is the death especially meant here, that death which is for ever, which is opposed to everlasting life; this they shall never see, for they shall never come into condemnation; they shall have their everlasting lot where there will be no more death, where they cannot die any more, Luk 20:36. Though now they cannot avoid seeing death, and tasting it too, yet they shall shortly be there where it will be seen no more for ever, Exo 14:13.

II. The Jews cavil at this doctrine. Instead of laying hold of this precious promise of immortality, which the nature of man has an ambition of (who is there that does not love life, and dread the sight of death?) they lay hold of this occasion to reproach him that makes them so kind an offer: Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead. Observe here,

1. Their railing: "Now we know that thou hast a devil, that thou art a madman; thou ravest, and sayest thou knowest not what." See how these swine trample underfoot the precious pearls of gospel promises. If now at last they had evidence to prove him mad, why did they say (Joh 8:48), before they had that proof, Thou hast a devil? But this is the method of malice, first to fasten an invidious charge, and then to fish for evidence of it: Now we know that thou hast a devil. If he had not abundantly proved himself a teacher come from God, his promises of immortality to his credulous followers might justly have been ridiculed, and charity itself would have imputed them to a crazed fancy; but his doctrine was evidently divine, his miracles confirmed it, and the Jews' religion taught them to expect such a prophet, and to believe in him; for them therefore thus to reject him was to abandon that promise to which their twelve tribes hoped to come, Act 26:7.

2. Their reasoning, and the colour they had to run him down thus. In short, they look upon him as guilty of an insufferable piece of arrogance, in making himself greater than Abraham and the prophets: Abraham is dead, and the prophets, they are dead too; very true, by the same token that these Jews were the genuine offspring of those that killed them. Now, (1.) It is true that Abraham and the prophets were great men, great in the favour of God, and great in the esteem of all good men. (2.) It is true that they kept God's sayings, and were obedient to them; and yet, (3.) It is true that they died; they never pretended to have, much less to give, immortality, but every one in his own order was gathered to his people. It was their honour that they died in faith, but die they must. Why should a good man be afraid to die, when Abraham is dead, and the prophets are dead? They have tracked the way through that darksome valley, which should reconcile us to death and help to take off the terror of it. Now they think Christ talks madly, when he saith, If a man keep my sayings, he shall never taste death. Tasting death means the same thing with seeing it; and well may death be represented as grievous to several of the senses, which is the destruction of them all. Now their arguing goes upon two mistakes: - [1.] They understood Christ of an immortality in this world, and this was a mistake. In the sense that Christ spoke, it was not true that Abraham and the prophets were dead, for God is still the God of Abraham and the God of the holy prophets (Rev 22:6); now God is not the God of the dead, but of the living; therefore Abraham and the prophets are still alive, and, as Christ meant it, they had not seen nor tasted death. [2.] They thought none could be greater than Abraham and the prophets, whereas they could not but know that the Messiah would be greater than Abraham or any of the prophets; they did virtuously, but he excelled them all; nay, they borrowed their greatness from him. It was the honour of Abraham that he was the Father of the Messiah, and the honour of the prophets that they testified beforehand concerning him: so that he certainly obtained a far more excellent name than they. Therefore, instead of inferring from Christ's making himself greater than Abraham that he had a devil, they should have inferred from his proving himself so (by doing the works which neither Abraham nor the prophets ever did) that he was the Christ; but their eyes were blinded. They scornfully asked, Whom makest thou thyself? As if he had been guilty of pride and vain-glory; whereas he was so far from making himself greater than he was that he now drew a veil over his own glory, emptied himself, and made himself less than he was, and was the greatest example of humility that ever was.

III. Christ's reply to this cavil; still he vouchsafes to reason with them, that every mouth may be stopped. No doubt he could have struck them dumb or dead upon the spot, but this was the day of his patience.

1. In his answer he insists not upon his own testimony concerning himself, but waives it as not sufficient nor conclusive (Joh 8:54): If I honour myself, my honour is nothing, ean egō doxazō - if I glorify myself. Note, Self-honour is no honour; and the affectation of glory is both the forfeiture and the defeasance of it: it is not glory (Pro 25:27), but so great a reproach that there is no sin which men are more industrious to hide than this; even he that most affects praise would not be thought to do it. Honour of our own creating is a mere chimera, has nothing in it, and therefore is called vain-glory. Self-admirers are self-deceivers. Our Lord Jesus was not one that honoured himself, as they represented him; he was crowned by him who is the fountain of honour, and glorified not himself to be made a high priest, Heb 5:4, Heb 5:5.

2. He refers himself to his Father, God; and to their father, Abraham.

(1.) To his Father, God: It is my Father that honoureth me. By this he means, [1.] That he derived from his Father all the honour he now claimed; he had commanded them to believe in him, to follow him, and to keep his word, all which put an honour upon him; but it was the Father that laid help upon him, that lodged all fulness in him, that sanctified him, and sealed him, and sent him into the world to receive all the honours due to the Messiah, and this justified him in all these demands of respect. [2.] That he depended upon his Father for all the honour he further looked for. He courted not the applauses of the age, but despised them; for his eye and heart were upon the glory which the Father had promised him, and which he had with the Father before the world was. He aimed at an advancement with which the Father was to exalt him, a name he was to give him, Phi 2:8, Phi 2:9. Note, Christ and all that are his depend upon God for their honour; and he that is sure of honour where he is known cares not though he be slighted where he is in disguise. Appealing thus often to his Father, and his Father's testimony of him, which yet the Jews did not admit nor give credit to,

First, He here takes occasion to show the reason of their incredulity, notwithstanding this testimony - and this was their unacquaintedness with God; as if he had said, "But why should I talk to you of my Father's honouring me, when he is one you know nothing of? You say of him that he is your God, yet you have not known him." Here observe,

a. The profession they made of relation to God: "You say that he is your God, the God you have chosen, and are in covenant with; you say that you are Israel; but all are not so indeed that are of Israel," Rom 9:6. Note, Many pretend to have an interest in God, and say that he is theirs, who yet have no just cause to say so. Those who called themselves the temple of the Lord, having profaned the excellency of Jacob, did but trust in lying words. What will it avail us to say, He is our God, if we be not in sincerity his people, nor such as he will own? Christ mentions here their profession of relation to God, as that which was an aggravation of their unbelief. All people will honour those whom their God honours; but these Jews, who said that the Lord was their God, studied how to put the utmost disgrace upon one upon whom their God put honour. Note, The Profession we make of a covenant relation to God, and an interest in him, if it be not improved by us will be improved against us.

b. Their ignorance of him, and estrangement from him, notwithstanding this profession: Yet you have not known him. (a.) You know him not at all. These Pharisees were so taken up with the study of their traditions concerning things foreign and trifling that they never minded the most needful and useful knowledge; like the false prophets of old, who caused people to forget God's name by their dreams, Jer 23:27. Or, (b.) You know him not aright, but mistake concerning him; and this is as bad as not knowing him at all, or worse. Men may be able to dispute subtly concerning God, and yet may think him such a one as themselves, and not know him. You say that he is yours, and it is natural to us to desire to know our own, yet you know him not. Note, There are many who claim-kindred to God who yet have no acquaintance with him. It is only the name of God which they have learned to talk of, and to hector with; but for the nature of God, his attributes and perfections, and relations to his creatures, they know nothing of the matter; we speak this to their shame, Co1 15:34. Multitudes satisfy themselves, but deceive themselves, with a titular relation to an unknown God. This Christ charges upon the Jews here, [a.] To show how vain and groundless their pretensions of relation to God were. "You say that he is yours, but you give yourselves the lie, for it is plain that you do not know him;" and we reckon that a cheat is effectually convicted if it be found that he is ignorant of the persons he pretends alliance to. [b.] To show the true reason why they were not wrought upon by Christ's doctrine and miracles. They knew not God; and therefore perceived not the image of God, nor the voice of God in Christ. Note, The reason why men receive not the gospel of Christ is because they have not the knowledge of God. Men submit not to the righteousness of Christ because they are ignorant of God's righteousness, Rom 10:3. They that know not God, and obey not the gospel of Christ, are put together, Th2 1:8.

Secondly, He gives them the reason of his assurance that his Father would honour him and own him: But I know him; and again, I know him; which bespeaks, not only his acquaintance with him, having lain in his bosom, but his confidence in him, to stand by him, and bear him out in his whole undertaking; as was prophesied concerning him (Isa 50:7, Isa 50:8), I know that I shall not be ashamed, for he is near that justifies; and as Paul, "I know whom I have believed (Ti2 1:12), I know him to be faithful, and powerful, and heartily engaged in the cause which I know to be his own." Observe, 1. How he professes his knowledge of his Father, with the greatest certainty, as one that was neither afraid nor ashamed to own it: If I should say I know him not, I should be a liar like unto you. He would not deny his relation to God, to humour the Jews, and to avoid their reproaches, and prevent further trouble; nor would he retract what he had said, nor confess himself either deceived or a deceiver; if he should, he would be found a false witness against God and himself. Note, Those who disown their religion and relation to God, as Peter, are liars, as much as hypocrites are, who pretend to know him, when they do not. See Ti1 6:13, Ti1 6:14. Mr Clark observes well, upon this, that it is a great sin to deny God's grace in us. 2. How he proves his knowledge of his Father: I know him and keep his sayings, or his word. Christ, as man, was obedient to the moral law, and, as Redeemer, to the mediatorial law; and in both he kept his Father's word, and his own word with the Father. Christ requires of us (Joh 8:51) that we keep his sayings; and he has set before us a copy of obedience, a copy without a blot: he kept his Father's sayings; well might he who learned obedience teach it; see Heb 5:8, Heb 5:9. Christ by this evinced that he knew the Father. Note, The best proof of our acquaintance with God is our obedience to him. Those only know God aright that keep his word; it is a ruled case, Jo1 2:3. Hereby we know that we know him (and do not only fancy it), if we keep his commandments.

(2.) Christ refers them to their father, whom they boasted so much of a relation to, and that was Abraham, and this closes the discourse.

[1.] Christ asserts Abraham's prospect of him, and respect to him: Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it, and was glad, Joh 8:56. And by this he proves that he was not at all out of the way when he made himself greater than Abraham. Two things he here speaks of as instances of that patriarch's respect to the promised Messiah: -

First, The ambition he had to see his day: He rejoiced, ēgalliasto - he leaped at it. The word, though it commonly signifies rejoicing, must here signify a transport of desire rather than of joy, for otherwise the latter part of the verse would be a tautology; he saw it, and was glad. He reached out, or stretched himself forth, that he might see my day; as Zaccheus, that ran before, and climbed the tree, to see Jesus. The notices he had received of the Messiah to come had raised in him an expectation of something great, which he earnestly longed to know more of. The dark intimation of that which is considerable puts men upon enquiry, and makes them earnestly ask Who? and What? and Where? and When? and How? And thus the prophets of the Old Testament, having a general idea of a grace that should come, searched diligently (Pe1 1:10), and Abraham was as industrious herein as any of them. God told him of a land that he would give his posterity, and of the wealth and honour he designed them (Gen 15:14); but he never leaped thus to see that day, as he did to see the day of the Son of man. He could not look with so much indifferency upon the promised seed as he did upon the promised land; in that he was, but to the other he could not be, contentedly a stranger. Note, Those who rightly know any thing of Christ cannot but be earnestly desirous to know more of him. Those who discern the dawning of the light of the Sun of righteousness cannot but wish to see his rising. The mystery of redemption is that which angels desire to look into, much more should we, who are more immediately concerned in it. Abraham desired to see Christ's day, though it was at a great distance; but this degenerate seed of his discerned not his day, nor bade it welcome when it came. The appearing of Christ, which gracious souls love and long for, carnal hearts dread and loathe.

Secondly, The satisfaction he had in what he did see of it: He saw it, and was glad. Observe here,

a. How God gratified the pious desire of Abraham; he longed to see Christ's day, and he saw it. Though he saw it not so plainly, and fully, and distinctly as we now see it under the gospel, yet he saw something of it, more afterwards than he did at first. Note, To him that has, and to him that asks, shall be given; to him that uses and improves what he has, and that desires and prays for more of the knowledge of Christ, God will give more. But how did Abraham see Christ's day? (a.) Some understand it of the sight he had of it in the other world. The separate soul of Abraham, when the veil of flesh was rent, saw the mysteries of the kingdom of God in heaven. Calvin mentions this sense of it, and does not much disallow it. Note, The longings of gracious souls after Jesus Christ will be fully satisfied when they come to heaven, and not till then. But, (b.) It is more commonly understood of some sight he had of Christ's day in this world. They that received not the promises, yet saw them afar off, Heb 11:13. Balaam saw Christ, but not now, not nigh. There is room to conjecture that Abraham had some vision of Christ and his day, for his own private satisfaction, which is not, nor must be, recorded in his story, like that of Daniel's, which must be shut up, and sealed unto the time of the end, Dan 12:4. Christ knew what Abraham saw better than Moses did. But there are divers things recorded in which Abraham saw more of that which he longed to see than he did when the promise was first made to him. He saw in Melchizedek one made like unto the Son of God, and a priest for ever; he saw an appearance of Jehovah, attended with two angels, in the plains of Mamre. In the prevalency of his intercession for Sodom he saw a specimen of Christ's intercession; in the casting out of Ishmael, and the establishment of the covenant with Isaac, he saw a figure of the gospel day, which is Christ's day; for these things were an allegory. In offering Isaac, and the ram instead of Isaac, he saw a double type of the great sacrifice; and his calling the place Jehovah-jireh - It shall be seen, intimates that he saw something more in it than others did, which time would produce; and in making his servant put his hand under his thigh, when he swore, he had a regard to the Messiah.

b. How Abraham entertained these discoveries of Christ's day, and bade them welcome: He saw, and was glad. He was glad of what he saw of God's favour to himself, and glad of what he foresaw of the mercy God had in store for the world. Perhaps this refers to Abraham's laughing when God assured him of a son by Sarah (Gen 17:16, Gen 17:17), for that was not a laughter of distrust as Sarah's but of joy; in that promise he saw Christ's day, and it filled him with joy unspeakable. Thus he embraced the promises. Note, A believing sight of Christ and his day will put gladness into the heart. No joy like the joy of faith; we are never acquainted with true pleasure till we are acquainted with Christ.

[2.] The Jews cavil at this, and reproach him for it (Joh 8:57): Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Here, First, They suppose that if Abraham saw him and his day he also had seen Abraham, which yet was not a necessary innuendo, but this turn of his words would best serve to expose him; yet it was true that Christ had seen Abraham, and had talked with him as a man talks with his friend. Secondly, They suppose it a very absurd thing for him to pretend to have seen Abraham, who was dead so many ages before he was born. The state of the dead is an invisible state; but here they ran upon the old mistake, understanding that corporally which Christ spoke spiritually. Now this gave them occasion to despise his youth, and to upbraid him with it, as if he were but of yesterday, and knew nothing: Thou art not yet fifty years old. They might as well have said, Thou art not forty; for he was now but thirty-two or thirty-three years old. As to this, Irenaeus, one of the first fathers, with this passage supports the tradition which he says he had from some that had conversed with St. John, that our Saviour lived to be fifty years old, which he contends for, Advers. Haeres. lib. 2, cap. 39, 40. See what little credit is to be given to tradition; and, as to this here, the Jews spoke at random; some year they would mention, and therefore pitched upon one that they thought he was far enough short of; he did not look to be forty, but they were sure he could not be fifty, much less contemporary with Abraham. Old age is reckoned to begin at fifty (Num 4:47), so that they meant no more than this, "Thou art not to be reckoned an old man; many of us are much thy seniors, and yet pretend not to have seen Abraham." Some think that his countenance was so altered, with grief and watching, that, together with the gravity of his aspect, it made him look like a man of fifty years old: his visage was so marred, Isa 52:14.

[3.] Our Saviour gives an effectual answer to this cavil, by a solemn assertion of his own seniority even to Abraham himself (Joh 8:58): "Verily, verily, I say unto you; I do not only say it in private to my own disciples, who will be sure to say as I say, but to you my enemies and persecutors; I say it to your faces, take it how you will: Before Abraham was, I am;" prin Abraam genesthaî egō eimi, Before Abraham was made or born, I am. The change of the word is observable, and bespeaks Abraham a creature, and himself the Creator; well therefore might he make himself greater than Abraham. Before Abraham he was, First, As God. I am, is the name of God (Exo 3:14); it denotes his self-existence; he does not say, I was, but I am, for he is the first and the last, immutably the same (Rev 1:8); thus he was not only before Abraham, but before all worlds, Joh 1:1; Pro 8:23. Secondly, As Mediator. He was the appointed Messiah, long before Abraham; the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8), the channel of conveyance of light, life, and love from God to man. This supposes his divine nature, that he is the same in himself from eternity (Heb 13:8), and that he is the same to man ever since the fall; he was made of God wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, to Adam, and Abel, and Enoch, and Noah, and Shem, and all the patriarchs that lived and died by faith in him before Abraham was born. Abraham was the root of the Jewish nation, the rock out of which they were hewn. If Christ was before Abraham, his doctrine and religion were no novelty, but were, in the substance of them, prior to Judaism, and ought to take place of it.

[4.] This great word ended the dispute abruptly, and put a period to it: they could bear to hear no more from him, and he needed to say no more to them, having witnessed this good confession, which was sufficient to support all his claims. One would think that Christ's discourse, in which shone so much both of grace and glory, should have captivated them all; but their inveterate prejudice against the holy spiritual doctrine and law of Christ, which were so contrary to their pride and worldliness, baffled all the methods of conviction. Now was fulfilled that prophecy (Mal 3:1, Mal 3:2), that when the messenger of the covenant should come to his temple they would not abide the day of his coming, because he would be like a refiner's fire. Observe here,

First, How they were enraged at Christ for what he said: They took up stones to cast at him, Joh 8:59. Perhaps they looked upon him as a blasphemer, and such were indeed to be stoned (Lev 24:16); but they must be first legally tried and convicted. Farewell justice and order if every man pretend to execute a law at his pleasure. Besides, they had said but just now that he was a distracted crack-brained man, and if so it was against all reason and equity to punish him as a malefactor for what he said. They took up stones. Dr. Lightfoot will tell you how they came to have stones so ready in the temple; they had workmen at this time repairing the temple, or making some additions, and the pieces of stone which they hewed off served for this purpose. See here the desperate power of sin and Satan in and over the children of disobedience. Who would think that ever there should be such wickedness as this in men, such an open and daring rebellion against one that undeniably proved himself to be the Son of God? Thus every one has a stone to throw at his holy religion, Act 28:22.

Secondly, How he made his escape out of their hands. 1. He absconded; Jesus hid himself; ekrubē - he was hid, either by the crowd of those that wished well to him, to shelter him (he that ought to have been upon a throne, high and lifted up, is content to be lost in a crowd); or perhaps he concealed himself behind some of the walls or pillars of the temple (in the secret of his tabernacle he shall hide me, Psa 27:5); or by a divine power, casting a mist before their eyes, he made himself invisible to them. When the wicked rise a man is hidden, a wise and good man, Pro 28:12, Pro 28:28. Not that Christ was afraid or ashamed to stand by what he had said, but his hour was not yet come, and he would countenance the flight of his ministers and people in times of persecution, when they are called to it. The Lord hid Jeremiah and Baruch, Jer 36:26. 2. He departed, he went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, undiscovered, and so passed by. This was not a cowardly inglorious flight, nor such as argued either guilt or fear. It was foretold concerning him that he should not fail nor be discouraged, Isa 42:4. But, (1.) It was an instance of his power over his enemies, and that they could do no more against him than he gave them leave to do; by which it appears that when afterwards he was taken in their pits he offered himself, Joh 10:18. They now thought they had made sure of him and yet he passed through the midst of them, either their eyes being blinded or their hands tied, and thus he left them to fume, like a lion disappointed of his prey. (2.) It was an instance of his prudent provision for his own safety, when he knew that his work was not done, nor his testimony finished; thus he gave an example to his own rule, When they persecute you in one city flee to another; nay, if occasion be, to a wilderness, for so Elijah did (Kg1 19:3, Kg1 19:4), and the woman, the church, Rev 12:6. When they took up loose stones to throw at Christ, he could have commanded the fixed stones, which did cry out of the wall against them, to avenge his cause, or the earth to open and swallow them up; but he chose to accommodate himself to the state he was in, to make the example imitable by the prudence of his followers, without a miracle. (3.) It was a righteous deserting of those who (worse than the Gadarenes, who prayed him to depart) stoned him from among them. Christ will not long stay with those who bid him be gone. Christ did again visit the temple after this; as one loth to depart, he bade oft farewell; but at last he abandoned it for ever, and left it desolate. Christ now went through the midst of the Jews, and none of them courted his stay, nor stirred up himself to take hold of him, but were even content to let him go. Note, God never forsakes any till they have first provoked him to withdraw, and will have none of him. Calvin observes that these chief priests, when they had driven Christ out of the temple, valued themselves on the possession they kept of it: "But," says he, "those deceive themselves who are proud of a church or temple which Christ has forsaken." Longe falluntur, cum templum se habere putant Deo vacuum. When Christ left them it is said that he passed by silently and unobserved; parēgen houtōs, so that they were not aware of him. Note, Christ's departures from a church, or a particular soul, are often secret, and not soon taken notice of. As the kingdom of God comes not, so it goes not, with observation. See Jdg 16:20. Samson wist not that the Lord was departed from him. Thus it was with these forsaken Jews, God left them, and they never missed him.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

51. If a man keep my saying] Better, if a man keep My word. This is important, to shew the connexion with Joh_8:31; Joh_8:43 and also with Joh_5:24. In all these the same Greek word is used, logos. The phrase ‘keep My word’ is one of frequent occurrence in this Gospel: Joh_8:52; Joh_8:55, Joh_14:23, Joh_15:20, Joh_17:6 : as also the kindred phrase ‘keep My commandments:’ Joh_14:15; Joh_14:21, Joh_15:10 : comp. 1Jn_2:3-5; 1Jn_3:22; 1Jn_3:24; 1Jn_5:2-3. ‘Keeping’ means not merely keeping in heart, but obeying and fulfilling. This is the way in which they may escape the judgment just spoken of. So that there is no need to suppose that while Joh_8:49-50 are addressed to His opponents, Joh_8:51 is addressed after a pause to a more friendly section, a change of which there is no hint.

shall never see death] Literally, shall certainly not behold death for ever. But ‘for ever’ belongs, like the negative, to the verb, not to ‘death.’ It does not mean ‘he shall see death, but the death shall not be eternal:’ rather ‘he shall certainly never see death,’ i.e. he already has eternal life (Joh_5:24) and shall never lose it. This is evident from Joh_4:14, which cannot mean ‘shall thirst, but the thirst shall not be eternal,’ and from Joh_13:8, which cannot mean ‘shalt wash my feet, but the washing shall not be eternal.’ In all three cases the meaning is the same, ‘shall certainly never.’ Comp. Joh_10:28, Joh_11:26.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh_8:51

If any man keep My saying he shall never see death.

I. THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED.

1. The saying of Christ means the whole system of truth which He has taught, and includes

(1) All the doctrines and precepts publicly inculcated by Himself as reported by the Evangelists.

(2) Those which He taught more privately to His apostles, the meaning of which was disclosed after His departure. Reserve on certain points during His lifetime was necessary. Had He explicitly avowed His divinity, e.g., it is hard to conceive how those prophecies which foretold His sufferings and death would have received fulfilment. After Pentecost the apostles were guided into all the truth.

(3) The inspired sayings of the apostles, because dictated by the Spirit of Christ.

(4) The whole canon of Scripture, for the Old Testament was written under the influence of the Spirit of Jesus.

2. To keep this saying implies

(1) A knowledge and belief of the Divine truth by the understanding. A man cannot keep what he does not know. This involves careful study with the use of every help, and prayer for the illumination of the Spirit.

(2) Retention of it in the memory. Ye are saved, if ye keep in memory 2Pe_2:3). This is accomplished only by continuous and diligent study and meditation.

(3) Love of it. No knowledge of Christs doctrine is of any utility, unless the heart be interested.

(4) A practical attention to its requirements: its adoption as the rule of life.

(5) A stedfast adherence to the cause of truth, and a profession of it according to our opportunities. To keep is opposed to desertion. Hence we must abide in Christs word.

II. Never see THE PRIVILEGE ATTACHED TO THIS CHARACTER Never see death means

1. Negatively.

(1) Not exemption from natural death. This is appointed unto all men. Enoch and Elijah were exempted: so will those be who are alive at Christs coming. And God could easily have extended the benefit of translation, but there are good reasons why He has not

(a) Such a course would have involved a perpetual miracle, and so have involved a waste of Divine power.

(b) By death Christs people become more exactly conformed to their Head.

(c) Death maintains a constant memorial of the evil of sin.

(d) The present abolition of death would deprive Christs second advent of half its splendour, and render the last judgment practically useless.

(2) Not continued existence merely to good men in opposition to annihilation. In this sense none shall see death. Continued existence will be the curse of the ungodly. They shall seek death, but death shall flee away from them.

2. Positively. Christs faithful people shall not see death

(1) In its natural horrors. Apart from the gospel death is a fearful enemy; but grace transforms it into a blessing, and makes it one of the things which work together for good. Death is yours if ye are Christs--a friendly messenger of deliverance. Hence the happy deaths of many Christians.

(2) Inasmuch as the prospect of death is neutralized by that of a joyful resurrection. (Jabez Bunting, D. D.)

Christs saying and the reward of keeping it

I. WHAT IS CHRISTS SAYING?

1. The law, promulgated in spirit and effect in Paradise, republished at Sinai, and reinforced by the Sermon on the Mount. This law was given to create a sense of sin and of the necessity of a Saviour, and so prepared the way for

2. The gospel (Rom_8:2-3). The law is the storm that drives the traveller to the shelter, the condemnation that makes the criminal long for and use the means for securing a reprieve.

II. WHAT IS IT TO KEEP CHRISTS SAYING?

1. Reading it carefully and constantly.

2. Hearing it, Faith cometh by hearing.

3. Understanding it. What we thoroughly understand we do not easily forget.

4. Obeying it. This fixes it in the memory.

III. THE REWARD OF KEEPING CHRISTS SAYING. He shall never see

(1) Spiritual death. The word which is spirit and life is the seed of regeneration.

(2) Eternal death. Christs saying is a promise of a blessed immortality which the keeper thereof by faith has made his own. (I. Saunders.)

What saying is it to which our Lord refers?

Our Lord uttered multitudes of sayings while He was upon the earth. He was a great speaker; no man spake like Him. He was the greatest of talkers; and hence innumerable sayings dropped from His lips--parables, proverbs, criticisms, invitations, exhortations, warnings, commandments, remonstrances, encouragements, and exceeding great and precious promises. To which of His sayings, then, is it that He here refers? I would say in reply, that it is not to any single saying in particular, any detached or separate saying, that our Lord had reference. To hit at random on any one of His multitudinous sayings would indicate an utter ineptitude for the grasp of the Saviours ideas, or indeed for the grasp of anyones ideas. What then? The saying referred to is manifestly that grand multiple message from God to men which constituted the sum total of our Lords teaching. Or we might put it thus: It is the sum total or condensed essence of all the revelations that were divinely made by our Lord, in our Lord, and through our Lord. And what is that? It is evidently the glorious gospel of Gods grace, the good news and glad tidings coming from behind the veil of all terrestrial things, and manifesting to men a living, loving, compassionating, sin-hating, yet sin-forgiving God. It is, in short, the joyful announcement of free and full salvation for the chief of sinners. That, that is the saying, the life-giving saying, of Christ Jesus, which, if a man keeps, he shall never see death. Whosoever liveth, said our Lord to Martha, and believeth in Me shall never die. (J. Morison, D. D.)

Would you wish to be in the blissful condition depicted in our Saviours language? Then keep His saying. Keep His words. Keep His Word. Keep the truth about Himself; keep Himself, the living Word, the living gospel. Keep Him in your thoughts, affections, mind, heart. Let everything slip and pass away from you which you cannot keep side by side with Him. (J. Morison, D. D.)

Immunity from death

What means the Saviour? Death is. It is a reality. It exists far and wide over the length and breadth of this world, in which we are all tenants at will. But in the profounder and only awful acceptation of the term, death will never come nigh the man who keeps Christs saying.

1. The grave is dark: Death to the unbeliever is like a sky with neither sun, nor moon, nor stars overhead, and no prospect of a dawn on the morrow. Is it not so? Is not that the death that is looming over the impenitent? If it bet never shall the man who believes in Jesus, and who keeps the saying of Jesus, never shall he see death, never shall he die. The true believer of Christs gospel dwells in true light; and lives in it. Contact with Jesus insures his illumination; and all the way along lifes highways and byways he enjoys the light.

2. Many regard death as the total and final rupture and cessation of all further possibilities of sweet companionship and friendship. He who dies enters inevitably, according to their anticipation, into utter loneliness and dreariness. He is deserted forever. But, most assuredly, there is no such death to the believing. Their true life is not cut short at the end, or arrested midway, or otherwise impaired. It has no end and no interruption. It is life everlasting. And one of the many true elements that enter into the blessedness that is its nature is everlasting companionship with the holy and the happy in glory.

3. To multitudes death means violent removal from all their carefully accumulated treasures, all their most highly-prized possessions. Death to the unbeliever is the loss, not only of all these things, but likewise of all possibility of the enjoyment of them, and of the enjoyment of any possession whatsoever. But if so, if all this be death, then the believer in Jesus will never see it; for that which men call death, in their common parlance with one another, will only translate the believer into the possession of the fulness of life and joy. Neither things present, nor things to come, neither things below, nor things above, no depth, no height, no length, no breadth, will be able to separate the believer from that love of God and of Jesus which is the never-failing source and fountain of inextinguishable bliss. (J. Morison, D. D.)

The unimportance of death to a Christian

It is a matter of small importance how a man dies. If he is prepared, if he is a Christian, it matters not how he goes to his crown. There have been some triumphant deaths, some wonderful deaths, before which the gates of paradise seem to swing open and flood them with light, and the superior splendour of the invisible turned the dying hour into the souls nuptials. Such were the deaths of St. Stephen and Polycarp, of Latimer and Payson and Hervey, and of some known to you and to me. But such angels visits to the dying couch are few and far between. Most souls go out in clouds or storms; in unconsciousness or pain. But what does it matter? The only sinless soul that ever descended the valley of the shadow of death cried from the Stygian darkness and solitude, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? But in that hour He conquered! He vanquished death and robbed the grave of its victory. What does it matter, then, if we follow Him through the darkness to the light, through the battle to the triumph? What does it matter if I tremble? Underneath me are the everlasting arms. What does it matter if I cannot see? He is leading me through the ebon shades. What does it matter if I seem alone? He goes with me, as He has gone so often with others before, through what seems the untrod solitudes of death. The last hour of the labourers summer day may be hot and weary, but the rest of eventide will be sweet, and the night will be cool. The last mile of the homeward journey may burn the travellers bleeding feet, but love and welcome will soothe the pain and wipe the pilgrims brow. As we approach the land, the winds may be boisterous, and the waves break loud upon the rocky coast; but the harbour will throw its protecting arms around the home-bound ship, and we shall be safe. (R. S. Barrett.)

The antidote of death

I. THE ANTIDOTE ITSELF. The text suggests

1. The life-giving power of the Word of Christ. We all know something of the power of a word--of an orator on his audience, of a general on his army, of a friend on his tempted or afflicted associate. Hence, we may conceive how a saying of Christ may have power. He in fact is the Word, and His words are spirit and life. Thus we read that we are born again by it, and that it must dwell in us richly, which shows that the Word of Christ is the seed corn of the souls life, which sown in the heart germinates into the tree of righteousness.

2. The reception which the Word of Christ requires. It is necessary that it should be listened to, understood and remembered: but all this may be done without the experience of its life-giving virtue. It must as seed be hid in the soul accompanied by the energy of the Holy Ghost. We do not keep it unless we live in Christ, walk in Christ, and have our whole being fashioned after Him. Without this literary knowledge and controversial defence of it are worthless.

3. Here we see

(1) The proof of the conscious Divinity of our Lord. None else ever dared to say this.

(2) The extent of His life-giving power. This wonderful saying is confined to none.

(3) The necessity of a Christian life here. The antidote must be applied before the mischief has done its last and fatal work.

II. THE OPERATION OF THIS ANTIDOTE.

1. Negatively. Not exemption from the common lot.

(1) Constantly occurring facts forbid this. The righteous man dies as well as the sinner.

(2) The necessities and frailties of our own frame forbid this. We no sooner begin to live than we begin to die.

(3) Scripture forbids this.

2. Positively. The leading thought is brought out fully in Joh_5:24.

(1) The penalties of the second death will be avoided.

(2) The terrors of physical death will be mitigated.

(3) The consequences of physical death will be overcome.

(4) The souls highest life will be perfected.

Conclusion

1. See the power of Christianity. Nothing else can conquer death--no philosophy, morality, religion.

2. Hence the importance of keeping the saying of Christ--not admiring it merely.

3. What solace does this truth afford a dying world? (H. Gammidge.)

The undying

This is part of Christs answer to the charge of Joh_8:48. The latter portion of the charge was answered in Joh_8:49-50; the former, Thou art a Samaritan, answered here. The Samaritans held the Sadducees doctrine of annihilation. Christ proves that He is not a Samaritan, but He proves far more.

I. A DUTY OF THE PRESENT. If a man keep, etc.

1. The Word of Christ is a comprehensive term for the substance of His teaching: repentance; trust in the saving grace of God in Christ; response to the love of God; the practice of holiness, philanthropy, etc.

2. Keeping His Word implies that it is

(1) A revelation to be retained in the mind.

(2) A stay and comfort for the heart.

(3) A rule of conduct for the life.

3. If a man makes the statement universally applicable. Therefore its efficacy is essential, not accidental or arbitrary.

II. A DOCTRINE OF THE FUTURE. He shall never, etc. One interpretation is that certain persons mortal by nature are to be made immortal. The meaning to be preferred is that to such the earthly experience of dying will not be the same as to the unrighteous, that for them there is and will be the realization of a deathless life. Look at this

1. As a revelation. It is of the first magnitude. The Rig Veda--oldest of Hindoo sacred books--does not even hint this. Moses is silent, at least oracular. There gradually grew up in Judaism a hope of it. In Christs time Jewish opinion was divided. Christ speaks clearly, authoritatively. The words are best taken simply, and mean that what makes death truly death will be removed. The sting of death, and consequent separation from God will no longer exist. As this involves a continuity of experience from the present to the heavenly state, it is obvious that the believer is conceived of as at once entering into eternal life with the first act of faith that unites him to Christ. The life thus begun and continued is one life, and must signify, therefore, more than mere duration, viz., a spiritual relation and condition.

2. As a conditional promise. If a man keep, etc., discovers

(1) The basis of this life--a Word, or Christ Himself as the Word, i.e., a spiritual, intelligible entity (Is not this mortal life built upon and out of ideas?). My Words, they are spirit and life. The Divine life of the spirit of man is

(a) Word created.

(b) Word sustained and continued.

(c) Word enlarged and glorified.

(2) That it is a contingent and not an absolute possession. Keep. With what earnestness ought we to lay hold on this life, and so guard and cultivate it that we shall never lose it! He that keeps Christs word will be kept by it. (A. F. Muir, M. A.)

Death invisible to the Christian

He who follows the light of life which shines from the words of Jesus, does not see death, just as one who goes to meet the sun does not see the shadows behind him. (Rieger.)

Christians do not taste of death

A daughter of Mrs. Gov. Wright recently passed away amid Tabor splendour. As she approached death, she said, Im going up! Im going up! You see Im going up on the ineffable glory. What a glorious approach! To her husband she said, Oh! if you could only see what I see, you would know why I long to go. To her pastor, who was reading of the valley of the shadow of death, she said, There is no valley. The night preceding her death, she abode in the third heaven of rapture. Being informed that her feet were in the Jordan, she said, Oh, I am so glad! Her last words were, Jesus is peace. (C. D.Foss.)

Oh what has the Lord discovered to me this night! Oh the glory of God! the glory of God and heaven! Oh the lovely beauty, the happiness, of paradise! God is all love, He is nothing but love. Oh, help me praise Him! Oh, help me to praise Him! I shall praise Him forever! I shall praise Him forever. (Robert Wilkinson.)

Glory to God in the height of His Divinity! Glory to God in the depths of His humanity! Glory to God in His all-sufficiency. Into His hands I commend my spirit. (Edward Perronet.)

Believers never see death

His (John Wesleys) death scene was one of the most peaceful and triumphant in the annals of the Church. Prayer, praise, and thankfulness were ever on His lips. Many golden sentences, worthy to be had in everlasting remembrance, were uttered during his last hours. Our friend Lazarus sleepeth. He is all! He is all! There is no need for more than what I said in Bristol; my words then were--I the chief of sinners am, But Jesus died for me! We have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. That is the foundation, the only foundation, and there is no other. How necessary it is for everyone to be on the right foundation! The Lord is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge. Never mind the poor carcase. The clouds drop fatness. He giveth His servants rest. Be causeth His servants to lie down in peace. Ill praise: Ill praise. Lord, Thou givest strength to those that can speak, and to those that cannot. Speak, Lord, to all our hearts, and let them know that Thou looseth the tongue. Jesus! Jesus! His lips are wetted, and he says his usual grace, We thank Thee, O Lord, for these and all Thy mercies. Bless the Church and king; and grant us truth and peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord, forever and ever. Those who look out of the windows are darkened, and he sees only the shadow of his friends around his bed: Who are these? We are come to rejoice with you: you are going to receive your crown. It is the Lords doing, he calmly replies, and marvellous in our eyes. I will write, he exclaims, and the materials are placed within his reach; but the right hand has forgotten her cunning, and the pen of the once ready writer refuses to move. Let me write for you, sir, says an attendant. What would you say? Nothing, but that God is with us. Now we have done all. Let us all go. And now, with all his remaining strength, he cries out, The best of all is, God is with us! And again, lifting up his fleshless arm in token of victory, and raising his failing voice to a pitch of holy triumph, he repeats the heart-reviving words, The best of all is, God is with us! A few minutes before ten oclock on the morning of the 2nd of March, 1791, he slowly and feebly whispered, Farewell! farewell!--and, literally, without a lingering groan, calmly fell on sleep, having served his generation by the will of God. (H. Moore.)

Happy dying

I am so far from fearing death, which to others is the king of terrors, exclaimed Dr. Donne, that I long for the time of dissolution. When Mr. Venn inquired of the Rev. W. Grimshaw how he did, As happy as I can be on earth, and at sure of glory as if I were in it: I have nothing to do but to step out of this bed into heaven. The fear of death destroyed:--Fox relates, in his Acts and Monuments, that a Dutch martyr, feeling the flames, said, Ah, what a small pain is this, compared with the glory to come! The same author tells us that John Noyes took up a faggot at the fire, and kissing it, said, Blessed be the time that ever I was born, to come to this preferment. When an ancient martyr was severely threatened by his persecutors, he replied, There is nothing visible or invisible that I fear. I will stand to my profession of the name and faith of Christ, come of it what will. Hilary said to his soul, Thou hast served Christ this seventy years, and art thou afraid of death? Go out, soul, go out! An old minister remarked, a little before his death, I cannot say I have so lived as that I should not now be afraid to die; but I can say I have so learned Christ that I am not afraid to die. A friend, surprised at the serenity and cheerfulness which the Rev. Ebenezer Erskine possessed in the immediate view of death and eternity, proposed the question, Sir, are you not afraid of your sins? Indeed, no, was his answer; ever since I knew Christ I have never thought highly of my frames and duties, nor am I slavishly afraid of my sins. (Religious Tract Society Anecdotes.)

Contrasts in death

One of our old Scottish ministers, two hundred years ago, lay dying. At his bedside were several of his beloved brethren, watching his departure. Opening his eyes, he spoke to them these singular words: Fellow passengers to glory, how far am I from the New Jerusalem? Not very far, was the loving answer; and the good man departed, to be with Christ. Im dying, said one of a different stamp, and I dont know where Im going. Im dying, said another, and its all dark. I feel, said another, as if I were going down, down, down! A great and a terrible God, said another, three times over; I dare not meet Him. Stop that clock! cried another, whose eye rested intently on a clock which hung opposite the bed. He knew he was dying and he was unready. He had the impression that he was to die at midnight. He heard the ticking of the clock, and it was agony in his ear. He saw the hands, minute by minute, approaching the dreaded hour, and he had no hope. In his blind terror he cried out, Stop that clock! Alas! what would the stopping of the clock do for him? Time would move on all the same. Eternity would approach all the same. The stopping of the clock would not prepare him to meet his God.

Realizations of the text

Throw back the shutters and let the sun in, said dying Scoville MCollum, one of my Sabbath school boys. (Talmage.)

Light breaks in! light breaks in! Hallelujah! exclaimed one when dying. Sargeant, the biographer of Martyn, spoke of glory, glory, and of that bright light; and when asked, What light? answered, his face kindling into a holy fervour, The light of the Sun of Righteousness. A blind Hindoo boy, when dying, said joyfully, I see I now I have light. I see Him in His beauty. Tell the missionary that the blind see. I glory in Christ. Thomas Jewett, referring to the dying expression of the English infidel, Im going to take a leap in the dark, said to those at his bedside, Im going to take a leap in the light. While still another dying saint said, I am not afraid to plunge into eternity. A wounded soldier, when asked if he were prepared to depart, said, Oh yes; my Saviour, in whom I have long trusted, is with me now, and His smile lights up the dark valley for me. A dying minister said, It is just as I said it would be, There is no valley, emphatically, repeating, Oh, no valley. It is clear and bright--a kings highway. The light of an everlasting life seemed to dawn upon his heart; and touched with its glory, he went, already crowned, into the New Jerusalem. A Christian woman lay dying. Visions of heaven came to her. She was asked if she really saw heaven. Her answer was, I know I saw heaven; but one thing I did not see, the valley of the shadow of death. I saw the suburbs. A young man who had but lately found Jesus was laid upon his dying bed. A friend who stood over him asked, Is it dark? I shall never, said he, forget his reply. No, no, he exclaimed, it is all light! light! light! and thus triumphantly passed away. (American Messenger.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 8:51. Ἐάν τις, if any [if a man]) Jesus proves from the future effect, wherewith the Father is about to honour Him, that He and His word have nothing in common with the proud and murderous devil.—τηρήσῃ, will keep), as I keep My Father’s word, Joh 8:55, “I know Him, and keep His saying.” We ought to keep the doctrine of Jesus, by believing in it; His promises, by hoping for them; His injunctions, by obeying them.—θάνατον, death) Jesus hereby shows, that He is not a Samaritan. The Samaritans were Sadducees, opposed to the doctrine of immortality, according to the testimony of Epiphanius. At least the Jews, who speak here, seem to have attributed that error to the Samaritans. Yet I will admit that it was the smaller portion of the latter, who laboured under that error.—οὐ μὴ θεωρήσῃ, he shall not see) A most effectual argument against the maintainers of soul-annihilation.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 8:51 . Therefore the emphasis in the next verse, precisely as in Joh 8:24 of chap. 5, is on “ my word”. ἐάν τις … αἰῶνα , “if any one keeps my word, he shall never see death”. For τηρεῖν see Joh 14:15-23 , Joh 15:10-20 , Joh 17:6 , Joh 17:1 John and Rev. passim ; it is exactly equivalent to “keep”. θεωρεῖν θάνατον occurs only here. It is probably stronger than the commoner ἰδεῖν θάνατον (Luk 2:26 , Heb 11:5 ), “expressing fixed contemplation and full acquaintance” (Plummer); although in John this fuller meaning is sometimes not apparent.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

51. τὸν ἐμὸν λόγον for τ. λ. τ. ἐμ. (S. John’s common use).

51. ἐμὸν λόγον τηρήση. Keep My word. The connexion with Joh 8:31; Joh 8:43 and Joh 5:24 must be preserved by retaining the same translation for λόγος: ‘keeping My word’ here corresponds to ‘abiding in My word’ in Joh 8:31. Τὸν λόγον τηρεῖν is a phrase of frequent occurrence in S. John; Joh 8:52; Joh 8:55; Joh 14:23; Joh 15:20; Joh 17:6; Rev 3:8; Rev 3:10: τοὺς λόγους τηρεῖν, Joh 14:24; Rev 22:7; Rev 22:9: so also the analogous phrase τὰς ἐντολὰς τηρεῖν; Joh 14:15; Joh 14:21, Joh 15:10; 1Jn 2:3-5; 1Jn 3:22; 1Jn 3:24; 1Jn 5:2-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 14:12. Of the three phrases the first is the most comprehensive; τὸν λόγον τ. is to observe the Divine revelation as a whole; τοὺς λ. or τὰς ἐντ. τ. is to observe certain definite injunctions. Τηρεῖν is not merely keeping in mind, but being on the watch to obey and fulfil. Comp. φυλάσσειν (τὸν νόμον, τὰ δόγματα, τὴν παραθήκην), which is being on the watch to guard and protect. By ‘keeping His word’ they may escape the judgment just mentioned. There is no need to suppose, therefore, that Joh 8:49-50 are addressed to His opponents, and Joh 8:51 to a more friendly group; a change of which there is no hint.

θ. οὐ μὴ θ. εἰς τ. αἰῶνα. Shall certainly not behold death for ever: i.e. shall never behold or experience death. Εἰς τ. αἰῶνα belongs like οὐ μή to θεωρήσῃ, not to θάνατον: it does not mean ‘he shall see death,’ but ‘death shall not be eternal.’ This is evident from Joh 4:14, which cannot mean ‘shall thirst,’ but ‘the thirst shall not be eternal,’ and from Joh 13:8, which cannot mean ‘shalt wash my feet,’ but ‘the washing shall not be eternal.’ In all three cases the meaning is ‘shall certainly never.’ Comp. Joh 10:28, Joh 11:26; 1Co 8:13.

θεωρήσῃ. Θεωρεῖν θάνατον occurs here only in N.T. It is stronger than ἰδεῖν θαν. (Luk 2:26; Heb 11:5) and ἰδεῖν διαφθοράν (Act 2:27; Act 2:31; Act 13:35), expressing fixed contemplation and full acquaintance. Just as ‘keep My word’ here corresponds to ‘abide in My word’ in Joh 8:31, so ‘exemption from death’ here corresponds to ‘freedom’ there: εἰς τ. αἰῶνα occurs in both passages. The firm believer has (not shall have) eternal life and real freedom, and shall never lose either. Of this Christ solemnly (ἀμὴν ἀμήν Joh 8:34; Joh 8:51) assures them.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

ADDITIONAL NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR.

Vv. 51-59.

1. In Joh 8:51 Jesus turns the discourse to the more positive side, and brings out one of the great thoughts presented in this Gospel, namely, that the eternal life, which begins in the soul at the moment of believing, has no experience of death forever. Physical death is a mere incidental event in the continuous progress of that life; death as the contrast to the life of the Messianic Kingdom (that is, in the spiritual sense), and thus the death of the future, is altogether excluded.

2. It is the misunderstanding and opposition of the Jews which leads Jesus away from the direct development of the thought of Joh 8:51, and brings Him again to set forth and defend His claims, and to carry forward His expressions to greater distinctness. The two special points of consideration in the verses which follow are those in Joh 8:56 and Joh 8:58.

3. The statement of Joh 8:56 is to be explained in view of the contrast between ἠγαλλ. ἵνα ἴδη and εἶδεν . No satisfactory account can be given of this contrast, except on the supposition of a vision given to Abraham during his earthly life, and the realization of the vision as he saw the fact from his heavenly abode. This verse is Jesus’ answer to the question of the Jews in Joh 8:53, “Art thou greater than our father Abraham?”

4. Joh 8:58 may be said to be, in a certain sense, His answer to their question, “Whom makest thou thyself?” That Joh 8:58 declares His pre-existence is placed beyond doubt, (a) by the contrast between εἰμί andγενέσθαι; (b) by the fact that, as distinguished from the other places in this Gospel where the phrase ἐγώ εἰμι is found, no predicate is here suggested by the context, and that thus εἰμί must have the meaning to exist; (c) by the reference to time in the words of the Jews in Joh 8:57; (d) by the fact that the whole thought of the context is that of His superiority to Abraham, as connected with having seen him and with freedom from death.

5. If we take into consideration the various points in this chapter:—The uniting of Himself with the Father as the only two witnesses who can bear witness as to the one sent from heaven; the declaration that, if they knew Him, they would know God, and that their true relation to God was dependent on their true relation to Him; the claim that His words are the truth of God, and that He derives what He says from what He has seen with His Father; the making death in sins and exclusion from the Messianic Kingdom, on the one hand, and freedom from all real sight and experience of death, on the other, to rest upon the acceptance or rejection of Him; the affirmation of pre-existence, of a coming out from God, of a being from Him, of being all that is contained in His discoursing with respect to Himself from first to last;—if we take all this into consideration, we may clearly perceive how closely related this chapter is to ch. 5, and how, here, as there, He “makes Himself equal with God”—only there He calls the thoughts of His hearers to His life-giving power and the final judgment and resurrection as the proofs of this equality, while here He refers them to His pre-existence and His intimate knowledge of God and union with Him. In the natural order of presentation, as well as of impressiveness in the way of proof for the minds of the disciples, the thoughts of the fifth chapter belong before those of the eighth. Ch. 5 sets forth the fact of His life-giving power for the soul; ch. 6 explains this power as like that of food in the physical life; ch. Joh 7:37, Joh 8:14, present it as the quickening and enlivening spiritual force and the light of the soul; ch. 8 exhibits it as the Divine truth known by Jesus from His intimate union with the Father and revealed to the world by Him as sent from the Father.

6. The action of the Jews in Joh 8:59 is similar to that in Joh 8:18—they were moved by the claims which they understood Him to make, to attempt to kill Him. When the progress and connection of the thought in the chapters are observed, this action on their part may be regarded as indicating that they still thought Him, in the eighth chapter, to be claiming for Himself equality with God. In this connection it is also noticeable that, while Jesus had in ch. 5 presented God only as the witness for His claims, in this chapter He places Himself with God, and demands recognition in view of the testimony of the two as fulfilling the requirement of the Mosaic law.

7. The discourses of chs. 5, 7, 8 were given to the Jews of Jerusalem, that of ch. 6 to a company of people in Galilee; but the condition of heart and will was alike in both. Though addressed to different audiences, the thoughts fall into a natural order, and they are presented by the author, according to his principle of selection, in the succession both of time and proof.

Vv. 51-53. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, If any one keep my word, he shall never see death. 52. The Jews therefore said to him, Now we know that thou art possessed of a demon; Abraham is dead and the prophets also, and thou sayest, If any one keep my word, he shall never taste of death. 53. Art thou greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets also are dead. Whom dost thou pretend to be?”

The various relations of ideas which it has been sought to establish between Joh 8:50 and Joh 8:51 seem to me hardly natural. With the last word of Joh 8:50 : and who judges, Jesus has come to an end with His present interlocutors. But He knows that among these numerous hearers who had believed in Him (Joh 8:30) and of whom many had immediately succumbed to the test (Joh 8:32), there are a certain number who have fulfilled the condition imposed by Him (Joh 8:31): If you abide in my word; it is to these, as it seems to me, as well as to His disciples in general, that He addresses the glorious promise of Joh 8:51. So Calvin, de Wette, etc., think. Weiss holds that the discourse simply continues: Jesus shows that His word will be the means through which God will glorify Him, by giving life to some and judging others by means of it,—which will show to all that He is the Messiah. The expression: keep my word, as well as the tone of the promise, carries us back to the exhortation of Joh 8:31 : Abide in my word; and the promise of never seeing death is the opposite of the threatening of Joh 8:35 : The slave does not abide in the house for ever. The term death is not taken in the exclusively spiritual sense, as if Jesus meant: shall not be condemned. Would there not be some charlatanism on Jesus’ part in giving Himself the appearance of saying more than He really meant? It is indeed death, death itself, in the full sense of the word, which He denies for the believer. See at Joh 6:50 and Joh 14:3. What an encouragement presented to those who persevered in His word: no longer to have to experience death in death!

The Jews do not altogether misapprehend therefore, as is claimed, when they conclude from these words that Jesus promises to believers a privilege which was enjoyed neither by Abraham nor by the prophets, and that He makes Himself greater than these; for it is manifest that He must Himself possess the prerogative which He promises to His own. The expression: taste of death, rests upon the comparison of death with a bitter cup which a man is condemned to drink. The word εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, for ever, in Joh 8:51-52, should not be explained in the sense: “He will die indeed, but not for ever.” The sense is: “He shall never perform the act of dying.” Comp. Joh 13:8. The pronoun ὅστις, instead of the simple ὅς, signifies: “who, Abraham though he was.” This objection forces Jesus to rise to the highest affirmation which He has uttered with reference to Himself, that of His divine pre-existence.

If Jesus is the conqueror of death for His own, it is because He Himself belongs to the eternal order. He comes from a sphere in which there is no transition from nothingness to existence, and consequently no more falling from existence into death, except in the case in which He Himself consented to give Himself up to its power.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The only doctrine of the Gospel apprehended by faith, is a sure remedy against death.

That is, he shall not feel it: for even in the midst of death, the faithful see life.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death--Partly thus vindicating His lofty claims as Lord of the kingdom of life everlasting, and, at the same time, holding out even to His revilers the scepter of grace. The word "keep" is in harmony with Joh 8:31, "If ye continue in My word," expressing the permanency, as a living and paramount principle, of that faith to which He referred: "never see death," though virtually uttered before (Joh 5:24; Joh 6:40, Joh 6:47, Joh 6:51), is the strongest and most naked statement of a very glorious truth yet given. (In Joh 11:26 it is repeated in nearly identical terms).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 51. Shall never see death.] As Moses promised a long life, with abundance of temporal blessings, to those who should keep his statutes and ordinances, so he who keeps my doctrine shall not only have a long life, but shall never see death-he shall never come under the power of the death of the soul, but shall live eternally with me in glory.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

51. Verily, verily, I say to you. Christ unquestionably knew that some persons in that multitude were curable, and that others of them were not opposed to his doctrine. For this reason, he intended to terrify the wicked whose malice was desperate, but to do so in such a manner as to leave ground of consolation for the good, or to draw to him those who were not yet ruined. Whatever dislike of the word of God, therefore, may be entertained by the greatest part of men, yet the faithful teacher ought not to be wholly employed in reproving the wicked, but ought also to impart the doctrine of salvation to the children of God, and endeavor to bring them to sound views, if there be any of them who are not perfectly incurable. In this passage, therefore, Christ promises eternal life to his disciples, but demands disciples who shall not only prick up their ears, like asses, or profess with the mouth that they approve of his doctrine, but who shall keep his doctrine as a precious treasure. He says that they shall never see death; for, when faith quickens the soul of a man, death already has its sting extracted and its venom removed, and so cannot inflict a deadly wound.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(51) If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.—Better, If a man keep My word. Our version obscures the close connection with the thought of “continuing in His word” in Joh_8:31; and also that with “He that heareth my word,” in Joh_5:24. This last passage is the key to the words before us. Here, as there, the thought of judgment and death leads to the opposite thought of coming not into judgment, but passing out of death into life. Here, as there, the believer is thought of as possessing the true spiritual life which cannot see death, but shall pass into the fuller spiritual life hereafter.

Another interpretation of the phrase rendered “He shall never see death,” is “he shall not see death for ever”—i.e., “he shall indeed die, but that death shall only be in this world, it shall not be in the world which is for ever.” This is the thought in the collect in “The Order for the Burial of the Dead “. . . “our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the resurrection and the life; in whom whosoever believeth shall live, though he die; and whosoever liveth and believeth in him shall not die eternally.”

The following are the only passages in St. John where exactly the same formula is used, and a comparison of them will make it clear that it means, as does the Hebrew formula on which it is based, that which we express by “never,” or “certainly never.” “by no means ever,” for the negative is in its strongest form (Joh_4:14, Joh_8:52 in this Joh_10:28; Joh_11:26; Joh_13:8). The first and last of these passages refer to subjects (“shall never thirst,” “shall never wash my feet”), which do not admit any possibility of doubt. The others are all parallel to the present text, in thought as well as in word. In all there is the fuller meaning that for the believer who now has spiritual life, and continues to live in communion with God, there cannot be death. “He shall never see death.” What we think of as death is but a sleep. (See Note on Joh_11:11.) Death has been swallowed up of life, and physical death is thought of, in its true sense, as an entering into life.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jesus answered, if I honour myself, my honour is nothing,.... It is empty and vain, and will not continue; see Co2 10:18;

it is my Father that honoureth me: by a voice from heaven, both at his baptism, and transfiguration, declaring him to be his beloved Son, and by the works and miracles he did by him; as he afterwards also honoured him by raising him from the dead, and setting him at his own right hand, by pouring forth his Spirit on his disciples, and succeeding his Gospel in every place:

of whom ye say that he is your God; your covenant God and Father, being the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; of this the Jews boasted. The Alexandrian copy, and some others, and all the Oriental versions read, "our God".

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

51 Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.

Ver. 51. Verily I say unto you] This he speaketh for the comfort of the better sort among those refractory Jews whom he had so sharply handled. So Zuinglius, when in his sermons he had thundered out God’s judgments against the wicked, he would commonly conclude with these words, Probe vir, hoc nihil ad te: this is not spoken to thee, thou good soul.

He shall never see death] That is, shall never taste of death, as the Jews interpret it, Joh 8:52. Chrysostom distinguisheth between seeing and tasting death. Sed hallucinatur; eodem enim recidunt, saith Drusius. But Chrysostom is out here, for they are the same. And our Saviour meaneth that such a one shall die not eternally; he shall mori vitaliter, as one saith, live though he die. (See Mr Dugard’s Death and the Grave.)

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

If a man keep my saying - If he believes on me and obeys my commandments.

He shall never see death - To see death, or to taste of death, is the same as to die, Luk 2:26; Mat 16:28; Mar 9:1. The sense of this passage is, “He shall obtain eternal life, or he shall be raised up to that life where there shall be no death.” See Joh 6:49-50; Joh 3:36; Joh 5:24; Joh 11:25-26.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

He shall not see death, he shall not die, for ever. That is, he shall not incur an eternal death, as they who die in sin: but they understood his words of the death of the body. (Witham) --- You accuse me of being possessed with a devil, because I preach to you a doctrine far different from what you are accustomed to hear; but I speak nothing but the truth; I give honour to my Father, I execute his orders; and the words I now speak to you, are the words of eternal life. Whoever observes them shall not die. Moses promised a long life to those who observed what was commanded in the old law, and offered them as their reward goods and temporal prosperity. But I now offer you an eternal life. Believe my words, keep them, and observe my ordinances, and you shall not feel the death of the soul, the second, eternal, and most miserable of deaths. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

To see death, in this text, signifieth to die, but in an apparently differing sense from what it is taken in Luk 2:26, where it is to be understood of a natural death; of which it cannot be understood here, for the holiest men shall die: the body is dead (that is, in dying) because of sin; or, shall die because of sin, Rom 8:10. It must therefore be understood of death eternal; and in that sense the proposition is certainly true, That a holy man that keepeth the sayings of Christ shall not see death, that is, shall have eternal life; which is no more than what we have often before met with, viz. the promise of life eternal to faith and holiness.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

51. Verily—Having asserted his own nature as God’s Son, Jesus now concentrates into one sentence the object of his mission as Son, eternal life to all who accept him.

Never see death—Even in dying he shall not die but live. Death shall be swallowed up in victory. Eternal life shall rob the process of dissolution of real death, and transform it into a mere transition into higher existence.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verily, verily. This impressive recommencement of discourse implies that a new turn is given to the conversation, and that the gravest solemnity and importance is attached to the utterance. It is impossible that the Jews should have listened unmoved to Christ"s rejoinder on their rude taunt, or been unimpressed by the self-composed and lofty way in which the honour of our Lord was calmly entrusted by him to the Father. The Jews may say what they please, call him by any opprobrious name they choose; "there is One that seeketh" his glory, and he is content. He has, in earlier portions of this discourse, promised freedom and sonship to those who abide in his word; and now to those who believed on him he says, with extraordinary emphasis, If a man (any one) have kept my word, he shall never behold death. This "keeping" is more than "abiding" in the word. There is the additional notion of intently watching the "keeping," which issues in "fulfilling" and "obeying" (Meyer and Tholuck); see ver. 55; Joh_14:15, Joh_14:21, 23 15:20 17:6. The opposite of threin would be "to disregard;" the opposite of fulassein would be "to let slip" (Westcott). The promise is dazzling: "He shall never behold," i.e. steadily or exhaustively know by experience, what death means and is. He may pass through physical death, he may (geushtai) taste of dissolution, he may come before the judgment seat, he may see corruption (idein diafyoran); but he will not behold (yewrein) death. He will never know what death is. (cf. here; Joh_4:14 Joh_5:24 Joh_6:51, where the Saviour speaks of the "living water," and "life eternal," and "living bread," which whoso partaketh shall never die.. See also Joh_11:26) He does not tell his disciples that they shall not see the grave, but that in the deepest sense they shall never die. "Death" and "life" are words that are lifted into a higher connotation. Death is a moral state, not an event in their physical existence.

Vers. 51-59. Deliverance of the believer from death.

The dialogue now takes a new turn.

I THE BLESSED PROMISE MADE TO THE OBEDIENT DISCIPLE. "If a man keep my Word, he shall never see death." he evidently now addresses those Jews who believe in him.

1. The character of discipleship. It

a. receives the gospel in love,

b. obeys it from the heart, and

c. holds it fast as a precious treasure of comfort.

2. The blessed destiny of discipleship.

a. There will be no experience of spiritual death,

b. or of eternal death;

c. and physical death will be no penal evil, but robbed of its sting through him who has given us the victory. (1Co_15:57)

II FRESH MISAPPREHENSION OF THE JEWS. "Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. Art thou greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? whom makest thou thyself?

1. The Jews argued that Abraham and the prophets had kept God"s Word, yet were not exempted from the bitter experience of death. Therefore the declaration of Jesus seemed to prove his utter self-delusion.

2. Their question "Art thou greater than our father Abraham?" implies that they refused to regard Jesus as the Messiah, or as the Son of God, or even as a divinely sent Prophet.

III JESUS DECLARES THERE IS NO COMPARISON BETWEEN ABRAHAM AND HIMSELF. "If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God.

1. The question of the relative dignity of himself and Abraham is not due to any personal ambition on his part, but in obedience to the will of his Father.

2. His higher dignity was due to his complete knowledge of his Father, and his perfect obedience to his will.

3. The true relation of Abraham to Christ. "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.

(1) Comparison of personal dignity was therefore out of the question.

(2) Abraham, as a man of faith, saw the historic manifestation of Christ through the vista of two thousand years. Faith was, indeed, to him "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." He was pre-eminently "strong in faith". (Rom_4:20)

(3) The sight of Christ inspired him with holy joy for the blessings the Redeemer was to bring

(a) to himself,

(b) to the Jews,

(c) to the world.

4. The joy of Abraham contrasts strangely with the hatred and malice excited by the visible presence of the same Redeemer among Abraham"s descendants.

IV A FRESH MISAPPREHENSION OF OUR LORD"S WORDS. "Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?

1. The Jews did not believe in Christs preexistence. He was only the Son of Joseph and Mary.

2. His allusion to his age exaggerates the actual years of his life, probably because, as "the Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief," he had aged fast in the hard stress of daily anxieties, caused by the increasing signs of Jewish hostility.

3. Our Lords answer is an explicit revelation of his Divinity. "Before Abraham was, I am.

(1) The words imply that there was a time when Abraham was not, but there never was a time when the Son of God was not.

(2) They imply more than the anteriority of Jesus to Abraham, for he does not say, "Before Abraham was, I was.

(3) They imply Christ"s timeless existence am." He is the eternal Son of God. He was, and is, and shall be, the Life of man, because he lives with an absolute life, (Joh_14:19) and believers may therefore rejoice in him as their Life. "Because I live, ye shall live also.

V EFFECT OF THIS DECLARATION UPON THE JEWS. "Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple.

1. The Jews at last understood the meaning of our Lords words.

2. Their attempt to stone him implied their definite rejection of him.

3. Jesus placed himself at once out of their reach, as "his time was not yet come.

Obedience and immortality.

The phase of our Lord"s ministry brought before us in this part of St. John"s Gospel is a combative, a controversial, phase. The Jews were perpetually opposing Christ, carping and cavilling at every work he performed, and almost at every word he uttered. Jesus took up the challenge, and met the objections and the allegations of his enemies. He defied them; he turned upon them with an unanswerable question or a startling paradox. There is not always apparent even an attempt to conciliate his adversaries to win them over. He did not even stop to explain, when he knew perfectly well that explanation would be unavailing; he left his words to be instructive to the enlightened, and an enigma to the unspiritual.

I THE CONDITION HERE PROPOUNDED. "If a man keep my word.

1. This implies upon Christ"s part a special revelation and authority. By his "word" doubtless Jesus meant the whole manifestation of his character and will; his doctrine relating to the Father and to himself; his precepts relating to his disciples.

2. It implies upon the part of his followers a reverent, loyal, and affectionate obedience. They keep, i.e. they retain in memory and observe in practice, the word of their Master. As a faithful servant keeps the word of his lord, as a diligent scholar keeps the word of his teacher, as a loyal soldier keeps the word of his officer, his general, as a reverent son keeps the word of his father, so the Christian keeps the word of his Saviour.

II THE PROMISE HERE RECORDED. "He shall never see death.

1. The death from which Christ promises exemption is not the death of the body, as was understood by the Jews; it is the spiritual death which is the effect of sin, and which consists in insensibility to everything Divine. This should be more dreaded than physical death.

2. The way in which Christ fulfils this promise. He died in the body that those who believe on him may not experience spiritual death. The redemption of our Saviour is a redemption from death and sin. And Christ communicates the Spirit of life, who quickens dead souls, imparting to them the newness of life which is their highest privilege, and which is the earnest and the beginning of an immortality of blessedness. T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

If a man keep my word - So will my Father consult my glory. We keep his doctrine by believing, his promises by hoping, his command by obeying. He shall never see death - That is, death eternal. He shall live forever. Hereby he proves that he was no Samaritan; for the Samaritans in general were Sadducees.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Observe here, 1. The blessed fruit and effect of observing our Saviour’s doctrine: He that keeps my sayings shall never see death; that is, shall be secured from eternal misery, and enjoy eternal life.

Observe, 2. How the Jews misunderstood our Saviour’s words. He that keeps my saying shall never see death; as if he meant a freedom from temporal death, and hereupon they looked upon him as beside himself, to promise a privilige which neither Abraham, nor the prophets did ever enjoy. Whereas it was not exemption from temporal death, but freedom from eternal destruction, which our Saviour promised to them that keep his saying.

Hence learn, That the misunderstanding of Christ’s doctrine, and taking it in a carnal sense, has given occasion for the many cavils and objections made against it.

Observe, 3. How Christ clears himself of all ambition in this matter, and shews that he did not make this promise of delivering his followers from death vain-gloriously, but that God, whom they called their father had honoured him with power, to make good whatever he had promised to them that keep his saying.

Learn hence, That as Christ entirely sought his Father’s glory; so the Father conferred all honour and glory upon Christ as Mediator: thereby testifying, how infinitely pleased he was with the redemption of mankind performed by him. If I honour myself, my honour is nothing; it is my Father that honoureth me.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

51. If a man keep my word, he shall never see death. Here again is a condition and a promise. Notice (1) Its universal character. If any one, Jew or Gentile, male or female, bond or free. (2) The condition: Keep my words. By obedience we are not only freed, but enter into life. (3) Shall not see death. Death of the body is not reckoned death, but merely the gate through which the believer enters upon a more perfect life. The real death is that of the soul.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

51.] There is no pause (De Wette) between ver. 50 and this. This is the direct carrying on of the discourse, arising out of κρίνων in the last verse, and forming a “novum tentamen gratiæ” (Lampe). ‘Ye are now children of the devil, but if ye keep My word ye shall be rescued from that ἀνθρωποκτόνος.’

τὸν ἐμ. λόγ. τηρ., as ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τῷ ἐμῷ μένειν, ver. 31, is not only outward obedience, but the endurance in, and obedience of faith.

θεωρεῖν θάν., as γεύεσθαι θαν., is a Hebraism for to die,—see reff.,—and must not be pressed to mean, ‘shall not feel (the bitterness of) death,’ in a temporal sense, as has been done by Stier (iv. 433, edn. 2). The death of the body is not reckoned as death, any more than the life of the body is life, in our Lord’s discourses: see ch. 11:25, 26, and notes. Both words have a deeper meaning.

52,

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

51. ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν introduces a summary (see on 1:51) of what Jesus has been leading up to (cf. vv. 34, 58). If they keep His teaching, they will have eternal life.

ἐάν τις τὸν ἐμὸν λόγον κτλ. So אBCDLW; the rec., with NO, has τὸν λόγον τὸν ἐμόν (from v. 43). “To keep the word” of Christ or of God (τὸν λογὸν τηρεῖν) is a characteristic phrase in Jn.; cf. vv. 52, 55, 14:23, 24, 15:20, 17:6, 1Jn 2:5. It is practically identical in meaning with τηρεῖν τὰς ἐντολὰς τὰς ἐμάς (see on 14:21; and cf. Introd., p. lxvii). Cf. 5:24, where he who “hears” and “believes” is promised eternal life; and see 11:26, 12:47.

The phrase “shall never see death” is a Hebraism for “shall never die.” See on 3:3 for ἰδεῖν, used as θεωρεῖν (see on 2:23) is used here, in the sense of “participate in” or “have experience of.” “To see death,” meaning “to die,” is found Psa 89:48, Luk 2:26, Heb 11:5. The promise given here is not, of course, one of exemption from the death of the body, which is not in question. But the man who “keeps the word” of Christ has eternal life already. See 14:23.

To the Jews’ Suggestion that Jesus is Not as Great as Abraham Was, Despite His Claims, He Replies that He Was in Existence Before Abraham (vv. 52-58)

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Keep [τηρηση] . See on 1Pe 1:4.

Saying [λογον] . Better, word, as Rev. See on ver. 43.

He shall not see death [θανατον ου μη θεωρηση] . The phrase qewrein qanaton, to see death, occurs only here in the New Testament. The double negative signifies in nowise, by no means. Qewrhsh see, denoting steady, protracted vision, is purposely used, because the promise contemplates the entire course of the believer 's life in Christ. It is not, shall not die forever, but shall live eternally. Upon this life, which is essentially the negation and contradiction of death, the believer enters from the moment of his union with Christ, and moves along its entire course, in time no less than in eternity, seeing only life, and with his back turned on death. The reverse of this truth, in connection with the same verb, is painfully suggestive. The question is pertinent why the Revisers have retained see, and have not substituted behold, as in so many instances.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.