marriage be made to refer to "the bride", and they must therefore represent a yet further

and separate company who are neither restored Israel nor the elect remnant.

As the "Lamb" the Lord Jesus is "the King's Son", and for Him a marriage has been

made. The king's servants went out and called those who had been bidden, but they

would not come. A second invitation, corresponding with the renewal of the gospel in

Acts 2: where "all things were ready", was made, but this was met by excuses and abuse;

"they made light of it". The result of this hardness of heart was that these were destroyed

and their city burned up (Matt. 22: 7). This is plain allusion to the destruction of

Jerusalem in A.D.70, and the words "ye would not" of  Matt. 23: 37  and the

destruction of the temple (Matt. 24: 2) confirm the interpretation.

After A.D.70 the hope of Israel and the New Covenant were suspended. Necessarily,

with the suspension of that hope and that New Covenant, went the restoration of Israel as

the wife, and the calling of the remnant as the bride, but one feature was perpetuated,

namely, the calling of those who should be guests at the marriage. These were gathered

out from the highways, "bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests"

(Matt. 22: 9, 10). Those who "had been bidden" (Matt. 22: 3) and to whom a second

invitation had been sent (Matt. 22: 4) were Israel. Those who subsequently took the

place forfeited by Israel are referred to by John: "He came unto His own, and His own

received Him not, but as many as received Him . . . . ." (John 1: 11, 12). These are "the

other sheep" not acknowledged by Israel (John 10: 16).

John's Gospel differs from the synoptic Gospels in many ways, and prominent among

these is the dispensational position of those who believe its message. Such do not form

part of the kingdom of Israel, neither do they constitute the Bride of the Lamb, but they

do fit into Matt. 22: 9, 10, and those who to-day respond to the gospel of John 3: 16

and order their lives according to the teaching of that gospel constitute that distinctive

and blessed company who shall be the guests at the marriage of the Lamb, an honour

high indeed for such as were gathered from highways and byways, both bad and good.

In harmony with this intention, the first miracle recorded as a sign in John's Gospel is

that of a marriage, where the "friend of the bridegroom" is introduced (John 2: 9) and

where the Lord and His disciples were there as "guests".

John's Gospel is unique. It differs from Matthew in that it is not concerned with the

kingdom, but rather with one phase of that purpose of the ages by which God fills the

interval occasioned by Israel's failure. Both the prison ministry of Paul and the Gospel

according to John are written in view of the crisis of Acts 28: In John's prologue the

presentation of Christ as the Word is very close to the presentation of Christ as the Image

of the invisible God in Paul's prison ministry, but the callings are distinct and differ

essentially. In John's Gospel the believer is numbered among those of the Gentiles called

after A.D.70 to be guests of the marriage feast, whereas in Paul's prison ministry the

Gentile believer called after Acts 28: 28 becomes a member of the body of Christ. In

both Acts 28: and in the climax chapter of John 12:, the crisis is indicated by the

quotation of Isa. 6: 9, 10 (John 12: 40, 41; Acts 28: 26, 27).  In John 12: 20, 21 it