The Voice from Heaven (Notes)

Saint John - Chapter 12

A voice therefore came from heaven. J-J Tissot

[27] Nunc anima mea turbata est. Et quid dicam? Pater, salvifica me ex hac hora. Sed propterea veni in horam hanc :
Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause I came unto this hour.

Now is my soul troubled. Because He had mentioned His approaching death, He allowed the natural dread of it to be aroused in His mind (as is the case with ourselves), and so was troubled. “Father,” He said, “save Me from this hour.” Just as in the garden he prayed, “Let this cup pass from Me.”

(1.) S. Chrysostom gives the reason, “Having exhorted His disciples to follow Him even to death,” for fear they should say that He could easily philosophise about death, He showed that He was in an agony, and yet that He did not refuse to die, to teach us to do the same, when dreading death and self-denial.

(2.) S. Cyril says, He did it to show that He was not only God, but true man, subject to all our passions and sorrows.

(3.) S. Augustine, and after him Bede, “that Christ by taking on Him our infirmities might heal and strengthen us. Thou tellest my soul to follow Thee. But I see that thy soul is troubled. What foundation shall I seek, if the Rock gives way? But I recognise thy compassion therein. For by being thus troubled by thy voluntary act of love, Thou comfortest the weak, lest they should perish through despair. Our Head took on Himself the feelings of His members.” And again, “As He has raised us up to things which are highest, so does He feel sympathy for us in those which are lowest.” And he brings in Christ as thus speaking, “Thou hast heard my mighty voice addressed to thee. Thou hast heard in Me the voice of thine own weakness: I give thee strength that thou mayest run; I check not thy speed, but I take upon Myself thy fear, and make a way for thee to pass over.”

And what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour. Theophylact and Leontius explain thus: “I know not what to do or say. Shall I say then, Father, save Me from this hour? Shall I shrink from death? By no means, I will master my agony, I will go willingly to meet my death.”

Others express it more simply and plainly, as expressing His natural dread of death, corrected at once by the exercise of His superior will. As in the Agony in the garden. For He immediately adds,

Yet for this cause have I come to this hour. Though I naturally dread death, yet I do not wish this natural desire of Mine to be fulfilled. For I came into the world for the very purpose of drinking this cup of the Passion. So S. Augustine, Bede, Rupertus, and others.

[28] Pater, clarifica nomen tuum. Venit ergo vox de caelo : Et clarificavi, et iterum clarificabo.
Father, glorify thy name. A voice therefore came from heaven: I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.

Father, glorify thy Name. That in My death, which I willingly undertake, I may glorify thy Name, by the entire obedience and devotion with which I will offer myself as a Victim for the sins of the whole world, thus restoring to the life of grace men who were lost in sin, reconciling them to Thee, and taking them to heaven to glorify Thee for ever. So S. Augustine, Chrysostom, Euthymius. It was said in like manner to S. Peter, that He would by His death glorify God (John 21:19). Hear S. Augustine: “Glorify Me by my Passion and Resurrection.” And S. Chrysostom: “His dying for the truth He calls ‘the glory of God:’ for after His death the Name of God would be acknowledged by the world.” And the gloss, “I seek salvation, but I refuse not to suffer, and for the sake of this passion glorify Me, for that is the glory of thy Name.”

Glorify Me at this very instant; that both Gentiles and Jews may acknowledge that I have been sent by Thee to redeem man, and will therefore glorify Thee for thy goodness. So Theodore of Heraclæa.

Then came there a voice, &c. I have glorified It—

(1) By communicating to Him, as my only begotten Son, my majesty, glory, and Godhead from all eternity. As He said chap. 17:5. So S. Augustine and Bede.

(2.) In creating the world, and all things therein by Him. So Rupertus.

(3.) Most sensibly. By

• the voice from heaven at His Baptism, and 
• the miracles and mighty works which He wrought. And also 
• the voice at this time uttered from heaven. He glorified Him also 
• His death and resurrection, His ascension, His sending the Holy Spirit, by the preaching of the Apostles, and the miracles, which will lead all nations to acknowledge, worship, love and adore Him as the Son of God. So S. Chrysostom, Cyril, and others.

[29] Turba ergo, quae stabat, et audierat, dicebat tonitruum esse factum. Alii dicebant : Angelus ei locutus est.
The multitude therefore that stood and heard, said that it thundered. Others said: An angel spoke to him.

The people therefore that stood by, and heard it (this trumpet voice of God the Father) said that it thundered. Because it was very loud and resonant. Or perhaps because it was not articulate, but like the confused sound of thunder. S. Chrysostom says, “The voice was clear and significant enough, but they being dull and carnal, it soon passed away, and they retained merely the sound of it.” And further on, “They knew it was articulate, but did not take in its meaning.” But the truer meaning, Rupertus, and after him Maldonatus, say is this, “That they all heard this articulate voice and understood its meaning, viz., that Jesus was the Son of God; but that on account of the loudness of the voice they could not persuade themselves it was really a voice, but that either it was thunder, and that they were mistaken in supposing they had heard an articulate voice as of a man, or that it was certainly the voice of an angel.” They thought also that the Evangelist mentioned this, in order to show that it was not a low or indistinct voice, such as Christ only could hear, and that there were no other witnesses, but that it was so loud and so clear that they not only all heard it, but heard it so plainly that some thought it was thunder, some the voice of an angel, while none considered it to be the voice of a man. And this consequently proved that what they considered thunder was in truth the voice of God, for thunder is commonly spoken of as His voice.

Symbolically. This thunder signified that Jesus was the Son of God, who thunders from heaven, and consequently that He Himself was God. For the thunder’s voice refers us back to its source, and leads us to venerate Him, and announce Him to the Gentiles. 

Again, it signified that Jesus, even as man, not merely thundered Himself with His mouth and flashed forth from His heart, to move hard hearts to penitence and to warm cold hearts with love; but also that He caused the Apostles and His followers to thunder and lighten. In fact, He gave that name to James and John, calling them Sons of Thunder (Mark 3:17). And S. Paul is called by S. Jerome (Epist. lxi.) “The trumpet of the Gospel, the roaring of our Lion, the thunder of the Gentiles,” adding, “for as often as I read him, I seem not to hear words only, but thunder.” 

Hear S. Chrysostom (Hom. xxxii. in Rom.), “Thunder is not so terrible, as was his voice to the devils. For if they dreaded his garments, much more did they dread his voice. For it led them bound and captive, it purified the world, it cured diseases, it expelled vice, it brought in truth; it had Christ dwelling within. For He accompanied him everywhere, and just as were the Cherubim, so also was the voice of Paul. For as God sat in the midst of these heavenly Powers, so sat He on the tongue of S. Paul.” And Nazienzen (Orat. 20.) says, “The words of S. Basil were as thunder, because his example shone as lightning.” Hence the voice of Christ is compared to the voice of many waters (Rev. 1:15) and to the voice of a multitude (Dan. 10:6).

Others said, an angel spake to Him. For this voice was more dignified than that of a man. It was therefore angelic, or rather divine. For an angel, assuming the Person of God the Father, had uttered it.

[30] Respondit Jesus, et dixit : Non propter me haec vox venit, sed propter vos.
Jesus answered, and said: This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.

Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of Me, but for your sakes. In order that ye may believe in Me, and be saved. I need not this voice for my own sake, for I am the Word of the Father, whom the Father and the Holy Spirit glorify with increate and boundless glory. But ye need it, because some of you object, that I am not the Son of God, nor sent by God; others have doubts on the matter. But this voice of the Father proclaims the contrary of both these statements, so as to remove all doubt. So SS. Augustine, Bede, Rupertus, &c.

[31] Nunc judicium est mundi : nunc princeps hujus mundi ejicietur foras.
Now is the judgment of the world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

Now is the judgment of this world, &c. Judgment here signifies condemnation, the condemnation of the Jews for condemning Me to death. So SS. Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Euthymius. But others understand it to mean judgment in favour of the innocent. It means, in this sense, the time is at hand for the deliverance of the world from the tyranny of Satan. For my death is at hand, by which this deliverance will be effected, and Satan will be cast out of the hearts of the faithful. Rupertus acutely observes, “Two worlds are here spoken of, one the enemy of God, the other reconciled to Him—the one lost, the other saved.” He founds this distinction on the absence or the presence of the article [but this does not appear in the Greek]. But what then is the judgment of this world, and the casting out of the prince of this world? Surely the coming Passion of Him who is speaking: for that is the judgment of this world, its salvation indeed, as separating from the reprobate the whole body of the elect from the beginning of the world to the hour of His Passion: and the casting out of the prince of this world, holding sway over the lovers of the world, is the reconciliation of the elect Gentiles. “Christ therefore here signifies 
(1) that He would by His death free the world (that is the Gentiles who would believe in Him) from sin and the devil; 
(2) that He would drive out the devil from the hearts of the faithful, and also from the temples, that the true God might be worshipped therein; 
(3) that He would deprive the devil of the power he had heretofore exercised in tempting men, and would also bestow all-powerful grace, by which, if they willed, they would be able to resist temptation; 
(4) Christ cast out many devils from the bodies of men, and consigned them to hell. 

So Prosper (in Dem. Temp.); and see Luke 8:31. S. Augustine writes, “He foresaw that after His Passion and glorification many people throughout the whole world would believe on Him, out of whose hearts the devil is cast when they renounce him by their faith. He was also cast out of the hearts of righteous men of old. But it is said here that he will be cast out, because that which then took place in a very few cases, would hereafter take place in many and great multitudes. He is cast out, but yet ceases not to tempt. But it is one thing to rule within, and another to assail from without.” S. Chrysostom in like manner says, “As if a man who assaults his debtors and casts them into prison, and with like madness throws another into prison, who owes him nothing at all, will have to pay the penalty for the wrongs he has done; so will the devil pay the penalty for the wrongs he has done us, by his bold assaults against Christ.”

Just as He Himself says, Luke 11:21.

Christ, therefore, knowing that the Gentiles longed to see Him, was grieved that the whole world was overwhelmed with heathenism, and therefore wishes His death to be hastened, in order that He might obtain for them faith and grace from God, and might send His apostles to convert them to God. And in like manner S. Gregory greatly desired the conversion of the Angles. [This Cornelius tells at length]:

[32] Et ego, si exaltatus fuero a terra, omnia traham ad meipsum.
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself.

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things unto Me. “Exalted by my resurrection and ascension,” says S. Chrysostom. But other commentators refer it to the Cross, as S. John himself explains it. “Christ,” says Maldonatus, “speaks of Himself as a soldier contending with the devil. For as a soldier has an advantage over his enemy if he is on higher ground, so would He, from His Cross, as from a very high and well-defended post, fight against the devil and overcome him. And therefore He called this kind of death an exaltation. When exalted He drew all to Himself, as an eagle carries his prey aloft with him.”

In like manner Mark, the Bishop of Arethusa in Syria, when lifted up on high, and besmeared with honey to attract the bees, laughed at his torturers, and said that they were grovelling on the earth, while he was lifted up above them. (See Theodoret, Hist. iii. 7, Soz. v. 10.) But Christ alludes to the lifting up of the brazen serpent (see chap. 3:14), and thus teaches us that the Cross is not to be dreaded, but desired, for it alone exalts.

All things. 
(1) “Soul and body,” say S. Augustine and Bede. 
(2) But Rupertus says: “Heaven and earth, men, angels, and devils. Because I will cause ‘every knee to bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth’ ” (Phil. 2:10). 
(3) All men who will believe in Me, all nations of men. The Greek Fathers read πάντας. But Cornelius prefers the Vulgate “omnia” as more expressive, signifying all the choicest things of the world, all the spoils of the devil. The Arabic version has “each one,” the Syriac “all.”

Draw. Will withdraw from the devil against his will, and not against their own will. For I will sweetly allure, and effectually draw them to Myself, and make them My brethren; nay more, My children, that as I am the Son of God by nature, so they may be the sons of God by adoption. The Greek word ἑλκύσω means, I will draw them by force, snatch them out of the power of the devil against his will, and strengthen men, moreover, to withstand their several temptations. See Matt. 11:12.

Hear S. Leontius (Serm. viii. de Pass.), treating this whole passage with grace and tenderness. “O wondrous power of the Cross! O ineffable glory of the Passion, wherein is seen the tribunal of Christ, the judgment of the world and the power of the Crucified! For Thou didst draw, O Lord, all things unto Thee. And when Thou didst stretch forth Thine hands all the day to a disobedient and gainsaying people, the whole world felt the force of Thine acknowledged Majesty. Thou didst draw all things to thyself, O Lord, when in execration of the sin of the Jews all the elements pronounced one and the same sentence, when the luminaries of heaven were obscured, and night was turned into day, the earth also was shaken with unwonted quakings, and the whole creation refused its aid to the service of the wicked.” 

He afterwards follows up the subject, and urges it still more forcibly. “Thou hast drawn all things to Thee, O Lord. When the veil of the temple was rent, and the holy of holies withdrawn from the unworthy priesthood, in order that the figure might be changed into Truth, prophecy into manifestation, and the Law into the Gospel. Thou didst draw all things to Thee, in order that that which was kept hid in the Jewish temple, by shadows and outward signs, the devotion of all nations might everywhere set forth in its full sacramental force before the eyes of all. For now there is a more illustrious order of Levites, a higher dignity of elders, and a more sacred unction of priests. Because thy Cross is the Fount of all blessings, the Source of all graces, and by it believers obtain strength out of weakness, glory out of shame, and life out of death.”

Moreover, Christ, when exalted on the Cross, between heaven and earth, drew all things to Himself. (1) Because He reconciled heaven and earth, Angels to the Gentiles, Gentiles to Jews, and God to men. For He is our peace, &c., Eph. 2:14. 
(2) Because He drew all nations of the world to the faith and love of Himself. He drew them from the earth to the Cross; to penitence, that is, to continual mortification and martyrdom; and from the Cross to heaven. He drew them by the merits and price of His Blood; by His example, and by His Blood. For if Christ, of His own accord, died for us on the Cross, who would not love Him in return? Who would not say with S. Ignatius among the lions, “My love is crucified?” See Zech. 13:6 on the words, “I was wounded in the house of my friends.” 
(3) Christ on the Cross drew all things to Himself, i.e. the Creator and His creatures. For God by this sacrifice was propitiated towards men, the sun and the heavens were astonished, and as though bewailing the death of their Creator, withdrew their rays from the earth, the air was involved in the thickest darkness, the whole earth, convulsed and shaken, trembled from its very centre; the rocks were rent, and the graves were opened, that both the dead as well as the living might bewail the death of Christ. All creatures therefore looked up towards Christ crucified, as if in amazement, and as offering themselves to fight in His behalf against His murderers and to scatter them abroad.

The Origenists wrongly inferred from this passage, that Christ brought the lost out of hell, and saved them. But as S. Gregory explains (Epist. lib. vi. 15). Christ drew all, that is, the elect. “For a man cannot be drawn to God after death who has separated himself from God by his evil life.”

Symbolically. S. Bernard (Serm. xxi. in Cant.) applies Christ’s words to himself, and all “Religious.” For they, by contempt of earthly and love of heavenly things, are lifted up from the earth, and therefore draw all things to them. For all things, whether adverse or prosperous, work together for their good: and they themselves possess a source of wealth by trampling it as it were under foot. “For to a faithful man the whole word is full of riches.”

[33] ( Hoc autem dicebat, significans qua morte esset moriturus.)
(Now this he said, signifying what death he should die.)

But this He said, &c. The death of the Cross. These are the words of S. John inserted parenthetically.

[34] Respondit ei turba : Nos audivimus ex lege, quia Christus manet in aeternum : et quomodo tu dicis : Oportet exaltari Filium hominis? quis est iste Filius hominis?
The multitude answered him: We have heard out of the law, that Christ abideth for ever; and how sayest thou: The Son of man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of man?

The people answered Him, We have heard out of the Law, that Christ abideth ever, and how sayest Thou, the Son of Man must be lifted up? The Jews understood that Christ spake of His death on the Cross. How then does He say that He would die, when the Law says that He would not die? S. Augustine says, “They understood Him to mean the very thing which they were contemplating. It was not inspired wisdom, but the sting of their conscience which disclosed to them the meaning of these obscure words.”

Out of the Law. By the Law is meant the whole of the Old Testament. They understood this from the following passages, Micah, 5:2; Ps. 110:1–4, 89:30, 38, 72:5; Is. 9:7, 40:8; Ezek. 37:27; Dan. 9:26. But these passages speak of the kingdom of Christ after His ascension. This kingdom will be eternal. But Christ elsewhere foretold His death. See Is. 53:3; Ps. 22:12, 17; Dan. 9:26; Jer. 11:19.

Who is this Son of Man? Meaning thereby, “If Thou art that Son of Man, as Thou art wont to call Thyself, how dost Thou wish to be regarded as the Christ? For Christ, according to the Scriptures, as has just been said, is eternal, and cannot die. Whereas Thou sayest, on the contrary, that the Son of Man must die and be raised up on the Cross. If there be any other Son of Man, tell us plainly who he is.” So Toletus and Jansen. Maldonatus somewhat differently; he thinks that the Jews insulted Christ, as if they had refuted His claims, and taunted Him, as a conqueror would taunt a king whom he had taken captive. As the Jews afterwards said (tauntingly) to Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”

[35] Dixit ergo eis Jesus : Adhuc modicum, lumen in vobis est. Ambulate dum lucem habetis, ut non vos tenebrae comprehendant; et qui ambulant in tenebris, nescit quo vadat.
Jesus therefore said to them: Yet a little while, the light is among you. Walk whilst you have the light, that the darkness overtake you not. And he that walketh in darkness, knoweth not whither he goeth.

Jesus therefore said unto them, Yet a little while is the Light with you, &c. “Christ would not answer their objections directly, as knowing that they deserved not a reply,” says S. Cyril. He therefore answers indirectly, that they should use Him as a light; for that that light would be soon extinguished by death, when they would have to seek for Him in vain. But if they desired to use that light they would be enlightened by it, so as to find an answer to their objection, and know other things which were necessary for their salvation. The Latin commentators take the word “modicum” as referring to the light, thus, “a little light.” Ye have but little light in thinking that Christ will abide for ever. But ye know not that He will also die and rise again. Walk therefore while ye have the light. Go on to investigate the truth. Ye will then learn how Christ will die, and yet rise again, and abide for ever. (So S. Augustine, S. Bernard, Serm. xlix. in Cant. Lyra, and others). But the word “modicum” does not refer to the light, but to the word “time” as is plain in the Greek. He calls Himself the light of the world, for the reasons which are mentioned in notes to chap. 1, and also 1 John 1:5.

(1.) S. Chrysostom and Theophylact think that Christ here likened Himself to the Light, or Sun, because as the light of the sun is not extinguished by night, but is only hid for awhile, and rises again in the morning, and shines throughout the day, so He would die and rise again, and reign for ever, which was the very thing the Jews were inquiring about.

(2.) It may be explained more clearly and to the point in this way,—I, Christ, the Light of the world, enlightening it with the doctrine and knowledge of God, of salvation and of things eternal, shall be but a short time (only three days) with you in the body. And, therefore, if ye are wise, as long as you have Me with you, embrace and follow this light, believe in Me, hearken unto Me, question Me, I will resolve all your doubts, especially how Christ will die, and yet abide for ever. But if ye do it not now, the light will shortly be taken from you. I shall soon die, and then the darkness of error will overwhelm you. For though I shall leave the Apostles after Me, to carry on the light of the Gospel which I brought: yet ye will not value them, and will persecute them, and then ye will in vain seek for Me, who am the very source of light. Just as He spake to the same Jews, John 7:33.

Christ calls Himself the Light. Wherefore S. Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Rupertus less appropriately understand by the light, the life of each faithful Christian, which is as it were to each one his own day. Believe in Me while the light of life lasts, for after it comes the darkness of death, when ye will not be able to believe, and do what is right.

Symbolically. Leontius by darkness understands sins; Rupertus, the sufferings of the lost in outer darkness.

[36] Dum lucem habetis, credite in lucem, ut filii lucis sitis. Haec locutus est Jesus, et abiit et abscondit se ab eis.
Whilst you have the light, believe in the light, that you may be the children of light. These things Jesus spoke; and he went away, and hid himself from them.

While ye have the light, walk as children of the light. Believe in Me, who am the light of the world; believe that I am the Messiah, the Son of God, the Saviour of the world; believe in Me and my Gospel (so S. Cyril and Theophylact), that ye may be my children, and consequently the children of grace, charity, virtue, and sanctity in this life, and the children of the Resurrection, of happiness, and glory in the next life (see notes on 1 John 1:5, John 1:4, Eph. 5:8).

Tropologically. When thou feelest the enlightenment, the emotions, the breath of the Holy Spirit, act on them at once, for they come and go like lightning. As S. Francis, when he heard the voice of God, stopped short even on a journey, that he might listen to it, and at once put it into practice.

These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide Himself from them. Because He knew that they wished to take Him before the time appointed of the Father. So S. Chrysostom, Theophylact, and others. He hid Himself, probably at night, for by day He taught in the temple, and at night He withdrew to Mount Olivet, and thence to Bethany (see Luke 21:37).

“He withdrew Himself not,” says S. Augustine and Bede, “from those who began to believe in Him and to love Him. Not from those who came out with palm branches and praises to meet Him. But from those who saw Him indeed, but with an evil eye; because in truth they saw Him not, but in their blindness stumbled at that stone of offence.”

Symbolically. Rupertus says, “He hid Himself from them not in place but in grace; because He left them in their unbelief, He blinded and hardened them.”

[37] Cum autem tanta signa fecisset coram eis, non credebant in eum;
And whereas he had done so many miracles before them, they believed not in him:

But though He had done so many (τοσαῦτα, so great) miracles before them, yet they believed not on Him. S. Chrysostom and Euthymius think that He wrought many miracles at this special time to lead the Jews to believe in Him, which S. John omitted for the sake of brevity. But others consider, more correctly, that S. John spoke of the many miracles Christ had wrought during the whole course of His ministry. As if Christ said, I have proved by so many miracles that I am the Messiah, why have ye not believed in Me? Ye cannot expect more. I am about to die: believe on Me at once, before I go hence.

The reason why so few believed on Jesus, and the many did not, was partly their animal life, by which they were tied down to earthly desires, and did not understand the heavenly blessings and that contempt for worldly things which Christ taught: and partly their fear of the Scribes and Chief Priests, whom they knew to be opposed to Christ, for the people follow the belief of those above them: and partly the poverty, lowliness, and humility of Christ, which they themselves despised. For they hoped, and even now hope, that their Messiah would come with great pomp and wealth, as a second Solomon.

[38] ut sermo Isaiae prophetae impleretur, quem dixit : Domine, quis credidit auditui nostro? et brachium Domini cui revelatum est?
That the saying of Isaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he said: Lord, who hath believed our hearing? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?

That the saying of Esaias, &c. The word “that” does not signify the end and purpose intended by God, but simply the result. The fulfilment of the prophecy resulted from the unbelief of the Jews. So S. Chrysostom, Cyril, and others.

The passage quoted is Is. 53:1, on which see a full comment.

Our report. Our hearing, the Hebrew word scemaa, hearing, being put for that which was heard by an ordinary Hebraism.

The arm of the Lord. That is Christ. (1.) So called as being “of one Substance with the Father,” as the arm is of the same substance as the body. (2.) Because Christ, as God, is the “arm” of the Father, His virtue and strength, whereby He works all things mightily. (3.) Because as man He performed, in the flesh, the mighty and powerful works of God. (So S. Augustine, Maldonatus, and others, on this passage; and S. Jerome on Is. 53 and S. Athanasius, “De communi essentia Patris et Filii et Sp. Sancti opus dubium.”) But it may be more simply understood of the Divine power which manifested itself in Christ’s miracles. The meaning being, How few Jews recognised the power of God, working as it did in Christ’s Person so many and great miracles. So Jansenius and Maldonatus.

[39] Propterea non poterant credere, quia iterum dixit Isaias :
Therefore they could not believe, because Isaias said again:

Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, &c. The words “therefore” and “because” signify not the cause of their unbelief, as Calvin supposes, but marking the necessary consequence. It could not but be so, because it had been foretold, and Scripture cannot lie. But God foretold it, because He foresaw that through their freedom of will, their obstinacy and malice, they would not believe in Christ. God therefore saw that they would not believe, because they, of their own free will, would not do so. But they did not refuse to believe, because God foresaw that they would not believe. For their unbelief was prior to God’s foreseeing. God foresees the future, because it will surely come to pass. For God cannot foresee anything, unless it is presupposed that it will really take place. For the object which is seen is prior to the act of seeing it. For nothing can be seen but that which either now is, or hereafter will be. So S. Chrysostom, Jansenius, Maldonatus, and others.

But S. Augustine, and after him Toletus, explain it thus: the Jews could not believe in Christ, because they were hardened and blinded, as Isaiah foretold. But then the words “could not” do not signify absolute necessity, but either a moral, that is a great, difficulty, or else a conditional difficulty. That is to say, the Jews could not believe in Christ, supposing they continued to hold fast to their sins, darkness, and ignorance; and therefore blinded and hardened themselves by their own wickedness. For otherwise, though they were blinded and hardened, yet as having free will, and sufficient grace to enable them, they could (speaking abstractedly) give up their hardness of heart and turn to God.



[40] Excaecavit oculos eorum, et induravit cor eorum ut non videant oculis, et non intelligant corde, et convertantur, et sanem eos.
He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.

He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their hearts. Christ quotes Is. 6:9, 10. Having fully explained this passage before, I will here briefly repeat what I there said. Observe then (1) that properly speaking the intellect is said to be blinded, but the affections and will to be hardened; (2) that the direct and proper cause of a man’s blindness and hardening, is his own free will and wickedness. See Wisdom 2:21. The Arabic and Syriac versions understand it in this way, “their eyes are blinded, and their heart is hardened.” But yet God is said indirectly and in a less strict sense (improprie) to harden a man, because He gradually withdraws from Him the light of truth and grace, and allows opportunities of error and sin to be presented to him by the world, the flesh, and the devil, in punishment for his former sins.

Moreover, in Isaiah we read “blind thou the heart of this people,” these being the words of God to Isaiah. But it comes to the same meaning. For “blind thou,” is the same as “foretell that a man will, indirectly, be blinded by Me.” “He blinded” is then the same as “He will blind.” The past is put for the future, to signify the certainty of the thing, that it will as surely come to pass as though it had already happened; that the Jews will be as surely blinded, as though they had been blinded already.

[41] Haec dixit Isaias, quando vidit gloriam ejus, et locutus est de eo.
These things said Isaias, when he saw his glory, and spoke of him.

These things said Esaias, when he saw His glory, and spake of Him. The glory of Christ the Incarnate Son of God, who is spoken of in what preceded, and what follows. So SS. Augustine, Cyril, and all the Fathers, as against the Arians. It is therefore quite clear that Christ the Son of God is “of one substance” with the Father, having the same substance, majesty, and glory with Him. For the Jews deny not that these words and that Divine glory pertain to God the Father, nor can there be any doubt on the matter. But here it is said that the same glory belongs to the Son. And it is plain that the same is the glory of the Holy Ghost (Acts 28:25). And therefore when the Holy Trinity thus appeared to Isaiah, the Seraphim thrice exclaimed, Holy, Holy, Holy, &c.

This glory then which Isaiah saw, was that glorious vision in which the Essential Nature of the Holy Trinity and the Three Persons severally were represented in some ineffable manner by some outward symbol addressed to the imagination. But yet it was a kind of human appearance; for God appeared to Isaiah as a king seated on a lofty throne, and the prophet describes His countenance and His feet. And this appearance was most glorious, bright, and majestic. And accordingly, S. John terms it “glory.” Therefore Ribera, Maldonatus, Toletus, and others say that Isaiah in that vision most clearly discerned (as far as man can discern in this mortal state) the Three Persons in Unity of Essence. And this too both from the words of the Seraphim, as also from that most exalted revelation which was made to him. And therefore he says, “When he saw His glory,” when there was shown to him by revelation the Person of the Son as co-equal and consubstantial with the Father and the Holy Ghost. (See more on Is. 6:1).

[42] Verumtamen et ex principibus multi crediderunt in eum : sed propter pharisaeos non confitebantur, ut e synagoga non ejicerentur.
However, many of the chief men also believed in him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, that they might not be cast out of the synagogue.

Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on Him, &c. By the chief rulers are not meant the chief priests and the magistrates, for they shortly afterwards took Jesus and put Him to death. But the chief persons, those who were pre-eminent for their wisdom, their authority, and their means, both among the priests and the common people. S. Rupertus. They therefore were convinced by the truth of Christ’s doctrine, by His holiness and miracles, but yet did not dare to confess Him openly, for the reason mentioned above, chap. 9:22.

[43] Dilexerunt enim gloriam hominum magis quam gloriam Dei.
For they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God.

For they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God. “Glory” may here be taken in an active sense. They loved to give glory to men—to the Jews, e.g., and the Pharisees—by saying that they were wise and sound teachers of the Law, rather than to Jesus Christ, by acknowledging Him to be the Messiah.

Secondly, in the passive sense (and this is the best meaning), they preferred to be glorified by men rather than by God, to hear the Pharisees say, “Ye are the true Israelites, who abide in the faith of your fathers, and prefer Moses to this innovator Jesus, and the ancient religion of the Israelites to the novelties of this sect of Christians. So Augustine, Cyril, Bede, Chrysostom, Theophylact, and others. They therefore had the faith of Christ, but not charity. For if they had had it they would have loved the glory of God, rather than that of men, and would have professed with their lips the faith of Christ which they held in their heart.” See Rom. 10:10.

Many such are found at the present time in England, Germany, and Poland, who cherish in their minds faith and piety, but who dare not profess them outwardly, for fear of incurring the derision and scoffs of worldlings or heretics. Against these Christ thunders forth, “Whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and of my words,” &c. (Luke 9:26.)

The Gloss says wisely (quoting S. Augustine in loc.), “The Cross is marked on the forehead, which is the seat of shame, to keep us from blushing at the Name of Christ, and seeking the praise of men rather than the praise of God.”

[44] Jesus autem clamavit, et dixit : Qui credit in me, non credit in me, sed in eum qui misit me.
But Jesus cried, and said: He that believeth in me, doth not believe in me, but in him that sent me.

Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on Me, believeth not on Me (“only” as adds the Arabic version) but (also) on Him that sent Me. It is uncertain whether Jesus said these words at the same time as those which precede, them (ver. 35), as Maldonatus thinks, i.e. before he hid Himself and withdrew (as I said, ver. 36), being there mentioned by anticipation, when in the regular order it should be placed at the end of the chapter; or at another time, as Theophylact supposes. It is in fact a question to be solved. For Christ in these last three days of His life, came back in the morning to the Temple. But when He saw that some believed not, and that others believed but did not dare to profess their faith, for shame, and for fear of the Pharisees, He cried with a loud voice, to drive away this shame and fear: “He that believeth in Me” believeth not in a mere poor and wretched man, but in a man who is also God, and he therefore “believes in God who sent Me,” in God the Father with Whom I am consubstantial. Be not ashamed of my poverty and humility, for though I am outwardly poor and humble, yet in my inward nature I am rich and highly exalted. For I am God of God. And therefore he that believeth in Me believeth in God. But what is more noble and glorious than to believe in God? What can he fear or be ashamed of who believes in God? S. Cyril adds, “Jesus cried out, to signify that He did not wish to be worshipped in a cowardly and stealthy way, but that He wished us boldly and clearly to profess and proclaim the faith.” “Again He cried out,” says Rupertus, “because He had but little time left Him to preach in. He then who wishes to hear Me, to believe and be saved, should do so at once, for after three days no one will be able to hear Me.” And so S. Chrysostom says, “Why do ye fear to believe in Me? Faith in God comes through Me. Just as he who drinks the water of the river, drinks he not of the source?” And S. Augustine, “Because the manhood only appeared to men, and the Godhead was latent, lest they should think Him to be only that which they saw (a man), and He wished Himself to be believed in (as God) the same and as great as the Father; He saith, ‘He that believeth in Me, believeth not in Me,’ that is, in that which He seeth, ‘but in Him who sent Me, that is, in the Father.’ ”

It is, however, quite plain that the Son is God, consubstantial with God the Father. The Arians denied this, and objected: He who believeth in the Apostles who were sent by God, believeth in God, and yet does not believe that the Apostles are gods. I reply by denying the conclusion. We believe the Apostles, but not in the Apostles. But Christ here says, “He who believeth in Me, believeth in Him who sent Me.” But no one believes in any one, excepting in Him who is God. If, then, we believe in Christ, we believe that He is God: and since there is but one God, we believe that He is numerically the same God with God the Father. And therefore He says, “He that believeth in Me, believeth in Him that sent Me;” He who believes in Me as God the Son, believes also in God My Father, for we have both one nature and one majesty. So SS. Augustine, Cyril, Theophylact, Euthymius, and others. Whence Christ adds, to make it clearer still,

[45] Et qui videt me, videt eum qui misit me.
And he that seeth me, seeth him that sent me.

And he that seeth Me, seeth Him that sent Me. Because the nature of us both is one only. And just as through My manhood he sees the Godhead which is latent therein, so does he also see the Godhead of My Father, since it is one and the same. And so S. Augustine says, “He shows that there is no difference whatever between Himself and the Father, insomuch that He who seeth Him seeth the Father.”

Hear S. Cyril in the Council of Ephesus (speaking in our Lord’s name): “Oh, my faithful hearers, do not think meanly and humbly of Me. But rather be most fully persuaded of this respecting Me, that if ye believe in Me, ye will believe in Him who is not merely one among many, but in the Father Himself through Me His Son, and that though I became man for your sakes, yet am I in every respect equal to the Father, and in no respect whatever severed or separated from Him, inasmuch as I am endowed with the same nature, power, and glory with Him.”

Site of the Court of the Gentiles. J-J Tissot

Excerpt from The Life of our Lord Jesus Christ by JJ Tissot (1897) 

In my picture, [above] Jesus is seen standing on the Chel, which was, as is well known, the terrace approached by 12 steps surrounding the sacred buildings in the enceinte of the Temple.  It was from 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 yards wide and the Gentiles were forbidden to set foot on it under pain of death, as announced in inscriptions on the stones already referred to, set up at regular intervals and rising above the ornate balustrade protecting it.  Those on this terrace could look down into the Court of the Gentiles, the largest of the various temple courts, and all the people there assembled were witnesses of the extraordinary miracle related in the Gospel.  Judging from the comments made by the author of the sacred text, to the effect that some that stood by and heard it said that it thundered, we are, we think, justified in supposing that the sky was overcast as if threatening a storm.  We see, however, from the words of Jesus himself, as quoted in the text, that He asserted the supernatural character of the incident, claiming the voice as a witness to His doctrine.  'This voice;' He said, 'came not because of me but for your sakes,' and further on the Evangelist adds that on account of the many manifestations of the divine power which took place during the last few days of the Master's life on earth among the chief rulers, etc., many believed on him, but, because of the Pharisees, they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue.

Totus tuus ego sum 

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam