49 Nathanael said to him, Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are King of Israel!
This I saw myself and my witness is that he is the Son of God.
A saviour of others, he has no salvation for himself. If he is the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will have faith in him.
Be full of joy, O daughter of Zion; give a glad cry, O daughter of Jerusalem: see, your king comes to you: he is upright and has overcome; gentle and seated on an ass, on a young ass.
And Jesus, turning round, saw them coming after him and said to them, What are you looking for? They said to him, Rabbi (which is to say, Master), where are you living?
Say to the daughter of Zion, See, your King comes to you, gentle and seated on an ass, and on a young ass.
The Lord has taken away those who were judging you, he has sent your haters far away: the King of Israel, even the Lord, is among you: you will have no more fear of evil.
Took branches of palm-trees and went out to him, crying, A blessing on him who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel! And Jesus saw a young ass and took his seat on it; as the Writings say, Have no fear, daughter of Zion: see your King is coming, seated on a young ass.
And Pilate put on the cross a statement in writing. The writing was: JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS. The writing was seen by a number of the Jews, for the place where Jesus was put to death on the cross was near the town; and the writing was in Hebrew and Latin and Greek. Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, Do not put, The King of the Jews, but, He said, I am the King of the Jews. But Pilate made answer, What I have put in writing will not be changed.
Then Pilate said to him, Are you then a king? Jesus made answer, You say that I am a king. For this purpose was I given birth, and for this purpose I came into the world, that I might give witness to what is true. Every lover of what is true gives ear to my voice.
No man has seen God at any time; the only Son, who is on the breast of the Father, he has made clear what God is.
Saying, A blessing on the King who comes in the name of the Lord; peace in heaven and glory in the highest.
See, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will give to David a true Branch, and he will be ruling as king, acting wisely, doing what is right, and judging uprightly in the land. In his days Judah will have salvation and Israel will be living without fear: and this is the name by which he will be named, The Lord is our righteousness.
Of the increase of his rule and of peace there will be no end, on the seat of David, and in his kingdom; to make it strong, supporting it with wise decision and righteousness, now and for ever. By the fixed purpose of the Lord of armies this will be done.
And Thomas said in answer, My Lord and my God! Jesus said to him, Because you have seen me you have belief: a blessing will be on those who have belief though they have not seen me!
And say to him, These are the words of the Lord of armies: See, the man whose name is the Branch, under whom there will be fertile growth. And he will be the builder of the Temple of the Lord; and the glory will be his, and he will take his place as ruler on the seat of power; and Joshua will be a priest at his right hand, and between them there will be a design of peace.
Have then the certain knowledge that from the going out of the word for the building again of Jerusalem till the coming of a prince, on whom the holy oil has been put, will be seven weeks: in sixty-two weeks its building will be complete, with square and earthwork.
And say to them, These are the words of the Lord: See, I am taking the children of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and will get them together on every side, and take them into their land: And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king over them all: and they will no longer be two nations, and will no longer be parted into two kingdoms: And they will no longer make themselves unclean with their images or with their hated things or with any of their sins: but I will give them salvation from all their turning away in which they have done evil, and will make them clean; and they will be to me a people, and I will be to them a God. And my servant David will be king over them; and they will all have one keeper: and they will be guided by my orders and will keep my rules and do them. And they will be living in the land which I gave to Jacob, my servant, in which your fathers were living; and they will go on living there, they and their children and their children's children, for ever: and David, my servant, will be their ruler for ever.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on John 1
Commentary on John 1 Matthew Henry Commentary
An Exposition, With Practical Observations, of
The Gospel According to ST. John
Chapter 1
The scope and design of this chapter is to confirm our faith in Christ as the eternal Son of God, and the true Messiah and Saviour of the world, that we may be brought to receive him, and rely upon him, as our Prophet, Priest, and King, and to give up ourselves to be ruled, and taught, and saved by him. In order to this, we have here,
Jhn 1:1-5
Austin says (de Civitate Dei, lib. 10, cap. 29) that his friend Simplicius told him he had heard a Platonic philosopher say that these first verses of St. John's gospel were worthy to be written in letters of gold. The learned Francis Junius, in the account he gives of his own life, tells how he was in his youth infected with loose notions in religion, and by the grace of God was wonderfully recovered by reading accidentally these verses in a bible which his father had designedly laid in his way. He says that he observed such a divinity in the argument, such an authority and majesty in the style, that his flesh trembled, and he was struck with such amazement that for a whole day he scarcely knew where he was or what he did; and thence he dates the beginning of his being religious. Let us enquire what there is in those strong lines. The evangelist here lays down the great truth he is to prove, that Jesus Christ is God, one with the Father. Observe,
Jhn 1:6-14
The evangelist designs to bring in John Baptist bearing an honourable testimony to Jesus Christ, Now in these verses, before he does this,
Jhn 1:15-18
In these verses,
Jhn 1:19-28
We have here the testimony of John, which he delivered to the messengers who were sent from Jerusalem to examine him. Observe here,
Jhn 1:29-36
We have in these verses an account of John's testimony concerning Jesus Christ, which he witnessed to his own disciples that followed him. As soon as ever Christ was baptized he was immediately hurried into the wilderness, to be tempted; and there he was forty days. During his absence John had continued to bear testimony to him, and to tell the people of him; but now at last he sees Jesus coming to him, returning from the wilderness of temptation. As soon as that conflict was over Christ immediately returned to John, who was preaching and baptizing. Now Christ was tempted for example and encouragement to us; and this teaches us,
Jhn 1:37-42
We have here the turning over of two disciples from John to Jesus, and one of them fetching in a third, and these are the first-fruits of Christ's disciples; see how small the church was in its beginnings, and what the dawning of the day of its great things was.
Jhn 1:43-51
We have here the call of Philip and Nathanael.