Bible from John's pen.

The proportions of this homely little messenger of paper and type may
seem a little odd at first. The longest chapter is devoted to only the
opening eighteen verses of John, the prologue. While the whole of the
first twelve chapters of John, excepting that prologue, is brought into
one smaller chapter. It wasn't planned so, though I felt it coming as
the wondrous mood of this book came down over me. I think it mast be
the effect of the atmosphere of John's book.

Sometimes John packs so much in so little space, and again he goes so
particularly into the details of some one incident. The prologue is a
miniature Bible. The whole Bible story is there in its cream. And on the
other hand John spends five chapters (xiii.-xvii.), almost a fifth of
the whole, on a single evening. He devotes seven chapters (xiii.-xix.),
almost a third of all, on the events of twenty-four hours. John is
controlled not by mere proportion of space or quantity, but by the finer
proportions of thought and quality.

It has been difficult to hold these homely talks down to the limit of
space they take here. So many veins of gold in this mine, showing
clearly large nuggets of pure ore, lie just at hand untouched in this
little mining venture. But it seemed clearly best to get the one clear
grasp of the whole. That helps so much. But there'll be strong
temptation to get one's pick and spade and go at this gold mine again.

But now these things are written that we common folk may understand a
bit better, and in a warm way, that Jesus was God on a wooing errand to
the earth; and that we may join the blest company of the won ones, and
become co-wooers with God of the others.