John 13:1-19 Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world to the Father… It is very sad to fail in duty from ignorance. And when that ignorance is very gross, the failure is generally so complete and so visible, that it is sure to meet with its appropriate punishment. The utter worthlessness into which men can sink who have never been taught any portion of the truth is a visible proof to us how much we owe to the light which has been shed over our own lives. Their condition clearly tells us what education does for us: what we gain from mere unassisted light. Mere light of intellect, without any direct consciousness of God or of Heaven, or of Christ, or of conscience, does a great and visible work. It sets a man free from many temptations, so that without making him, as far as we can see, at all a better man, it puts him in a better position. There are many gross sins which lose all their power over him, simply because other attractions are presented which are still more powerful. But this is not all, though this is much. Light of any kind invariably throws light upon duty, and if we know anything we are sure to have thereby a clearer knowledge of right from wrong. The mere awakening of the understanding must awaken the conscience in some degree. You cannot gain more intellectual power without also gaining moral light. Just as the coming of the daylight shows you the beauty of nature at the same moment that it shows you the position of surrounding objects, so, too, even the merest science must reveal in some slight degree the beauty of the Will of God. (Bishop Temple.) Parallel Verses KJV: Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. |
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