ON SIMILE AND METAPHOR IN THE FOURTH GOSPEL. 105 



And the writer in his exposition or report lays stress upon the 

 fact that this self-sacrifice is voluntary, and is a motive or ground 

 of the Father's love (vv. 17, 18). Thus again metaphor and 

 interpretation, comparison and the subject compared, meet, and 

 the inadequacy of the simile to the truth which it is designed 

 to set forth becomes apparent. The sheep, the fold, the wolf, 

 the rightful shepherd, all the external features of the simile, 

 belong as it were to the mortal and temporal sphere, in which the 

 life laid down is laid down once and for all. The interpretation 

 transcends this meaning and the earthly sphere. The Good 

 Shepherd abandons His hfe that He may take it again (ver. 18) 

 and is Himself the one Shepherd of the united flock. For the 

 moment the thought is pursued no further, or at least the 

 reporter has not preserved for us any further continuation of the 

 discourse, or given any clue to the significance of the other parts 

 of the parable. Some of them we interpret without difficulty, 

 or we are more or less familiar with a traditional interpretation. 

 A similar difficulty or reticence meets us in other instances. 

 It is as though it were upon the dominant significance of the 

 voluntary death and renewal of life of the Good Shepherd that 

 it was desired without distraction to concentrate attention ; as 

 a skilful painter makes all the details of his picture subservient 

 to the central theme. 



A further striking though simpler metaphor, one that has been 

 adopted into popular and ordinary speech, is the sleep of 

 Lazarus (ch. xi. 11). The misunderstanding of the disciples 

 is entirely simple and natural ; and Christ at once corrects it. 

 The analogy of course between physical death and the sleep of 

 the body has been recognised by many peoples, and no doubt 

 goes further than a mere superficial resemblance. Christ was 

 not the first to use the analogy, as He has not been the last. 

 In the instance of Lazarus there was a peculiar appropriateness 

 in the phrase, suggesting and doubtless intended to suggest 

 that the interruption to the activity of the bodily faculties and 

 to the expression of the vital powers was only temporary, that 

 these capacities were to be restored, as at the awakening from 

 sleep. 



Two of the greater metaphors of the Gospel, as they may be 

 called, claim more than a passing reference. The distinction 

 of greater or less is indeed artificial, and of no practical value or 

 importance. All the Hkenesses and similes of the evangehstic 

 teaching are instructive, and contribute to our knowledge of the 



