St John Chapter xviii : Verses 34-40
Contents
- St John Chapter xviii : 34-40
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) text, Greek (SBLG) & Latin text (Vulgate); - Annotations based on the Great Commentary of Cornelius A Lapide (1567-1637)
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) text, Greek (SBLG) & Latin text (Vulgate);
St John Chapter xviii : Verses 34-40
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| For this was I born, and for this came I into the world, that I should give testimony to the truth. J-J Tissot. Brooklyn Museum. |
35 Pilate answered: Am I a Jew? Thy own nation, and the chief priests, have delivered thee up to me: what hast thou done?
36 Jesus answered: My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would certainly strive that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now my kingdom is not from hence.
37 Pilate therefore said to him: Art thou a king then? Jesus answered: Thou sayest that I am a king. For this was I born, and for this came I into the world; that I should give testimony to the truth. Every one that is of the truth, heareth my voice.
38 Pilate saith to him: What is truth? And when he said this, he went out again to the Jews, and saith to them: I find no cause in him.
39 But you have a custom that I should release one unto you at the pasch: will you, therefore, that I release unto you the king of the Jews?
40 Then cried they all again, saying: Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.
34 ⸀ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς· ⸂Ἀπὸ σεαυτοῦ⸃ σὺ τοῦτο λέγεις ἢ ἄλλοι ⸂εἶπόν σοι⸃ περὶ ἐμοῦ;
34 Respondit Jesus : A temetipso hoc dicis, an alii dixerunt tibi de me?
35 ἀπεκρίθη ὁ Πιλᾶτος· Μήτι ἐγὼ Ἰουδαῖός εἰμι; τὸ ἔθνος τὸ σὸν καὶ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς παρέδωκάν σε ἐμοί· τί ἐποίησας;
35 Respondit Pilatus : Numquid ego Judaeus sum? gens tua et pontifices tradiderunt te mihi : quid fecisti?
36 ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς· Ἡ βασιλεία ἡ ἐμὴ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου τούτου· εἰ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου τούτου ἦν ἡ βασιλεία ἡ ἐμή, οἱ ὑπηρέται ⸂οἱ ἐμοὶ ἠγωνίζοντο ἄν⸃, ἵνα μὴ παραδοθῶ τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις· νῦν δὲ ἡ βασιλεία ἡ ἐμὴ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐντεῦθεν.
36 Respondit Jesus : Regnum meum non est de hoc mundo. Si ex hoc mundo esset regnum meum, ministri mei utique decertarent ut non traderer Judaeis : nunc autem regnum meum non est hinc.
37 εἶπεν οὖν αὐτῷ ὁ Πιλᾶτος· Οὐκοῦν βασιλεὺς εἶ σύ; ἀπεκρίθη ⸀ὁ Ἰησοῦς· Σὺ λέγεις ὅτι βασιλεύς ⸀εἰμι. ἐγὼ εἰς τοῦτο γεγέννημαι καὶ εἰς τοῦτο ἐλήλυθα εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἵνα μαρτυρήσω τῇ ἀληθείᾳ· πᾶς ὁ ὢν ἐκ τῆς ἀληθείας ἀκούει μου τῆς φωνῆς.
37 Dixit itaque ei Pilatus : Ergo rex es tu? Respondit Jesus : Tu dicis quia rex sum ego. Ego in hoc natus sum, et ad hoc veni in mundum, ut testimonium perhibeam veritati : omnis qui est ex veritate, audit vocem meam.
38 λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Πιλᾶτος· Τί ἐστιν ἀλήθεια; Καὶ τοῦτο εἰπὼν πάλιν ἐξῆλθεν πρὸς τοὺς Ἰουδαίους, καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· Ἐγὼ οὐδεμίαν ⸂εὑρίσκω ἐν αὐτῷ αἰτίαν⸃·
38 Dicit ei Pilatus : Quid est veritas? Et cum hoc dixisset, iterum exivit ad Judaeos, et dicit eis : Ego nullam invenio in eo causam.
39 ἔστιν δὲ συνήθεια ὑμῖν ἵνα ἕνα ⸂ἀπολύσω ὑμῖν⸃ ἐν τῷ πάσχα· βούλεσθε οὖν ⸄ἀπολύσω ὑμῖν⸅ τὸν βασιλέα τῶν Ἰουδαίων;
39 Est autem consuetudo vobis ut unum dimittam vobis in Pascha : vultis ergo dimittam vobis regem Judaeorum?
40 ἐκραύγασαν οὖν ⸀πάλιν λέγοντες· Μὴ τοῦτον ἀλλὰ τὸν Βαραββᾶν. ἦν δὲ ὁ Βαραββᾶς λῃστής.
40 Clamaverunt ergo rursum omnes, dicentes : Non hunc, sed Barabbam. Erat autem Barabbas latro.
Annotations
37. Pilate therefore said to him: Art thou a king then? Jesus answered: Thou sayest that I am a king. i.e. I am in truth the King of the Jews, to rule in the faithful by faith and grace, and bring them to My heavenly Kingdom.
For this was I born, and for this came I into the world; that I should give testimony to the truth. To evangelical truth, which mainly consists in these things—(1.) In the true knowledge of God, namely, that He is One in Essence, and threefold in Person.
For every being is true, that is a true and not an imaginary thing, and is true in itself. Wherefore God, who is Very Being (I am that I am) is also truth, and good itself. Because His essential Being is Truth and Goodness. Again, the Son who proceedeth: from the Father, as His Word, is Truth Itself, not merely of existence but of mind. Whence S. Augustine says, when Jesus bears witness to the truth, He bears witness to Himself, for He Himself is truth.
(2.) In the knowledge of the Incarnation; namely, to know that the Son was sent into the world in the flesh, that He might save the world, and that no one can be saved, except by faith in Him (see John xvii. 3).
(3.) In the knowledge of true blessedness: viz., that it consists not in wealth, honours, &c., but in the kingdom of heaven, i.e. in the vision and possession of God. For the sum of Christ’s preaching was, “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. iii. 2).
Christ says that He was born to bear witness to the Truth. (1.) To keep Pilate from wondering that He owned Himself to be a King, for it was but speaking the truth. (2.) That Pilate might learn the innocence and candour of Jesus; for in this truth consists. (3.) To remind him of the justice with which he ought to decide His cause, and that he should not be so moved by the false charges and clamours of the Chief Priests, so as to condemn Him against truth and justice.
Every one that is of the truth, heareth my voice. Those, i.e., who are studious and desirous of the truth; who earnestly and with their whole heart seek the Truth, i.e. the true God and the true Messiah, true happiness and salvation. And who when they have found it embrace it before all things beside. They are opposed to those who are “of contention” (Rom. ii. 8), who, like the philosophers of that time, are ever striving to contend, dispute, and argue. To be, then, “of the truth” is the same as being “of God.” For the Son of God is the Son of the Truth; for God is truth, according to John viii. 47, “He that is of God heareth God’s words. Ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.” Because, though ye are “of God” by creation, yet ye are not “of Him” by election, faith, and grace. “He commended,” says S. Augustine (in loc.), “that grace which calls according to His purpose.” For he that hath received his testimony (the testimony of the Baptist) “hath set to his seal that God is true” (John iii. 33). And how true it is, is shown by the statements of enemies. For Josephus (Antiq. xiv. 8) writes, “At that time lived a wise man called Jesus, if indeed it is allowable to call Him a man, for He performed wonderful works, and taught those who willingly received the truth.”
Christ tactily answers Pilate’s objection, viz. “If Thou bearest witness to the truth, why do the Scribes and Pharisees, who profess the truth, hear Thee not—nay more, persecute Thee even to the death?” He answers, “Because they themselves are not of the truth, but of a lie. For they follow the false opinions of wealth, honours, &c., which the devil suggests to them.” See John viii. 44.
38. Pilate saith to him: What is truth? And when he said this, he went out again to the Jews, and saith to them: I find no cause in him. Pilate supposed Christ to be a philosopher or prophet, who speculated about truth. And therefore he asked Him what that truth was to which He was born to bear witness. But this was not much to the point which he was aiming at, viz., the deliverance of Jesus, who was a grave, wise, and innocent man. And therefore he thought on a very fitting means for His deliverance. For he was about to set free one at the feast; and therefore compared Jesus and Barabbas, in order that the Jews should rather ask for Jesus than Barabbas. He therefore rushed out to propose it to them.
Symbolically. What is truth? S. Augustine answers (in Sententiœ, 386),
“Truth is God Himself, who is the primal source of life, and the primal essence, as He is the highest wisdom. For He is that unchangeable truth which is rightly termed ‘the law of all arts, and the art of the Almighty Artificer.’ ”
And also (Epist. ix.),
“The truth held by Christians is incomparably more beautiful than Helen of Greece. For our martyrs contended more boldly in its behalf against this Sodom of ours, than these heroes fought for her against Troy.”
Nay, Christ Himself died as the first martyr for the truth.
What is truth? Hear Lactantius (de Ira Dei, cap. ii.) pointing out its three steps. (1.) The first is to know what religions are false, and to cast aside the impious worship of gods made by man’s hands. (2.) To understand that there is one supreme God, whose power and providence created the world at the first, and governed it afterwards. (3.) To recognise His minister and messenger and delegate to man. By whose teaching we shall be set free from the error in which we were entangled, that being fashioned for the worship of the true God we might learn righteousness.
What is truth? “I am the way, the Truth, and the life.” (John xiv)
What is truth? It is the very highest good, says S. Basil in Antonius, surnamed Melissa.*
What is truth? It is God, says S. Dionysius, “inasmuch as He is in His nature one only, and not many. For the truth is one—falsehood is manifold.”
What is truth? It is the faculty which brings to the light things which are shrouded in darkness, says Philo.
What is truth? The mightiest of all things, says Nazianzen (Orat. xiii.)
What is truth? It is a firm apprehension of an object in the mind, says S. Chrysostom. Hence the saying of Zorobabel, 3 Esdr. iii., “A king is strong, wine is strong, but truth is strongest of all.” And chap iv. 36, “All the earth invokes truth, heaven also blesses it, and all things are moved by, and tremble at it;” and ver. 40, “There is no iniquity in its judgment, but strength and sovereignty and power, and the majesty of all ages. Blessed be the God of truth.” Accordingly, Alphonso King of Arragon says, “Truth ought to be innate in all men. But it ought to be the chief ornament of kings, so that a single word of a prince ought to be of as great weight for settling the truth as the oath of private men.” (See Panormitan. de Gestis Alphonsi, lib. 1.) Hence the Jewish High Priest bore written on his breastplate (rationali) Urim and Thummim. Exod. 28:30.
The Gentiles saw this in shadow (Stobæus, Serm. xi.), and Menander says, Truth is a citizen of heaven, and alone enjoys converse with the gods.
Plato used to term “Truth” a most sweet mode of speech. Iamblicus speaks of it as “conversant with the gods and their purity of action.” Æschines, “So mighty is truth, that it transcends all human thought.” Plato again (de Legg. v.), “Truth is the guide to all good both in gods and men. Every one who would hereafter be good and happy ought to have a share in it, in order to live as long as he can a life of truthfulness.” Trismegistus, “Truth exists only in eternal subsistences; and those subsistences are themselves true. All things therefore on earth are not truth itself, but merely its imitations and shadows. Truth is the most perfect virtue and the very highest good, which is neither disquieted with matter, nor encompassed with a body, but is pure, conspicuous, august, unchangeable, and unalterable good.” Plutarch (in Antonius, cap. xxi.) says, “equality is tested by a balance, but truth by reasons of philosophy.” And Evagrius (ibid.), “To keep back the truth is to bury gold.” And Democritus, “Piety should be openly declared, and truth stedfastly defended.” And Epictetus, “Nothing should be counted more precious than truth, not even friendship, as being under the influence of our feelings, which hinder what is just, and cast it into the shade.” Whence the saying, “Plato is dear, but truth is dearer:” and also, “Truth is an eternal and undying thing, for it bestows not a beauty which will gradually fade, nor does it deprive us. of that confidence which arises from justice. But it sets forth those things which are just and rightful, refuting and distinguishing from them those which are unjust.” Demosthenes was asked, “What should men have which is like God?” and he answered, “To act kindly, and to love the truth.” (Val. Max. viii.)
Pythagoras used to say, “The most gracious gifts bestowed by God on man, were to embrace the truth, and to devote oneself to acts of kindness; for both these can be compared with the actions of the immortal gods.” (Ælian, Var. Hist. lib. xii.)
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SUB tuum præsidium confugimus, Sancta Dei Genitrix. Nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus, sed a periculis cunctis libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedicta. Amen.
The Vladimirskaya Icon. >12th century.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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