1‐8. *The Supper in Bethania six days before the Pasch.*
9‐11. *The chief priests think of killing Lazarus.*
12‐19. *On the day after the supper Christ enters Jerusalem in
triumph, to the disgust of the Pharisees.*
20‐22. *Some Gentile Proselytes wish to see Him.*
23‐33. *Christ (at the temple) foretells the near approach of His
passion, and a voice from heaven is heard.*
34‐36. *He continues to refer to His approaching death, and
exhorts the people to faith.*
37‐43. *Yet though they had witnessed many miracles, most of them
refused to believe, as the prophets had foretold.*
44‐50. *Christ’s testimony regarding the object of the
Incarnation, and the necessity of faith in Him.*
1. Iesus ergo ante sex dies 1. Jesus therefore six days
paschae venit Bethaniam, ubi before the pasch came to
Lazarus fuerat mortuus, quem Bethania, where Lazarus had
suscitavit Iesus. been dead, whom Jesus raised
to life.
1. Maldonatus connects with xi. 55: since the Pasch was near, Jesus on His
way to Jerusalem to celebrate it, came to Bethania. *Six days before the
pasch.* This peculiar Greek construction would be better rendered in
Latin; “sex diebus ante pascha.” We have now entered upon the last week of
our Divine Lord’s mortal life, but there is a diversity of opinion
regarding the exact day here indicated. The principal views regarding the
days of our Lord’s arrival at Bethania, of the supper there, and of the
triumphant entry into Jerusalem, are:—
(1) Arrival at Bethania on Friday; the supper (_a_) on the same evening,
or (_b_) according to others, on Saturday evening; the triumphal entry on
Sunday.
(2) Arrival at Bethania on Saturday evening; the supper on the same
evening; the entry into Jerusalem (_a_) on Sunday, or (_b_) according to
others, on Monday.
(3) Arrival on Sunday; supper on the same evening; the entry into
Jerusalem on Monday.
2. Fecerunt autem ei coenam 2. And they made him a supper
ibi: et Martha ministrabat, there: and Martha served, but
Lazarus vero, unus erat ex Lazarus was one of them that
discumbentibus cum eo. were at table with him.
2. In Bethania then (in the house of Simon the leper, as we learn from
Matt. xxvi. 6; Mark xiv. 3) a supper was prepared for Jesus, at which
Lazarus was present and Martha served. We take it as certain that Matthew
(xxvi. 6‐13) and Mark (xiv. 3‐9) refer to the same unction of Christ which
is recorded by St. John in the following verses here. If not, we should
have to suppose that the same murmuring for the same cause in the same
circumstances took place a second time within four days, though
reprehended by Christ on the first occasion it occurred. That SS. Matthew
and Mark seem to refer to an occasion _two_ days before the Pasch (Matt.
xxvi. 2; Mark xiv. 1), while St. John refers to an occasion _six_ days
before, is readily explained. The two Synoptic Evangelists record this
anointing of Jesus by Mary out of its place, and in connection with the
treachery of Judas, because it was it that finally determined Judas to
betray our Lord.(79)
3. Maria ergo accepit libram 3. Mary therefore took a pound
unguenti nardi pistici, of ointment of right
pretiosi, et unxit pedes Iesu, spikenard, of great price, and
et extersit pedes eius anointed the feet of Jesus,
capillis suis: et domus and wiped his feet with her
impleta est ex odore unguenti. hair: and the house was filled
with the odour of the
ointment.
3. When we bear in mind the prominence given to Lazarus, Martha, and Mary
in the preceding chapter, and find two of the three mentioned in verse 2
here, it is certain that the Mary mentioned here, in verse 3, can be no
other than she who was sister to Martha and Lazarus.
*Mary therefore took a pound of ointment of right spikenard.* We learn
from Matthew and Mark that the ointment was contained in an alabaster box.
Alabaster is a species of stone resembling marble, and derives its name
from Alabastron, a town in Egypt, near which it was found in large
quantities. The term “alabaster box” came in time to be applied to any box
for holding perfumes.
*Spikenard*, or nard, is a famous aromatic substance obtained from an
eastern plant of the same name. It is said in our Rhemish Version to be
*right* spikenard. The Greek adjective thus translated is πιστικῆς, which
may mean _genuine_, from πίστις; or _liquid_, from πίστος (πίνω, to
drink); or, as St. Augustine says, the nard may have been so called from
the place in which it was obtained. St. John tells us that Mary anointed
the _feet_ of our Lord, who, according to the Jewish custom, would be
reclining on His left side upon a couch, with His feet stretching out
behind. The first two Evangelists mention only the unction of our Lord’s
head, so that St. John supplements their account. The fact that the odour
of the ointment filled the house, is mentioned as a proof of its
excellence. Pliny (xiii. 3) refers to such unctions among the Romans:
“Vidimus etiam vestigia pedum tingi.”
4. Dixit ergo unus ex 4. Then one of his disciples,
discipulis eius, Iudas Judas Iscariot, he that was
Iscariotes, qui erat eum about to betray him, said:
traditurus:
5. Quare hoc unguentum non 5. Why was not this ointment
veniit trecentis denariis, et sold for three hundred pence,
datum est egenis? and given to the poor?
4, 5. From SS. Matt. and Mark, it would seem that at least two of the
disciples must have murmured, for St. Matt. says: “And the disciples
seeing it, had indignation;” and St. Mark: “Now there were some that had
indignation within themselves, and said: Why was this waste of the
ointment made?” We may admit, then, that some of the others joined Judas
in murmuring, but probably from a different motive; or, we may hold, with
some commentators, that the plural is used indefinitely for the singular.
*Judas Iscariot* (Gr. Judas Iscariot, _son of Simon_: see notes on vi. 72)
spoke out, asking why this ointment was not sold at 300 pence, and the
price given to the poor? We discussed above on vi. 7, the value of the
Roman silver penny at this time current in Palestine, from which it
appears that this box of ointment was thought to be worth nearly £10 of
our money.
6. Dixit autem hoc, non quia 6. Now he said this, not
de egenis pertinebat ad eum, because he cared for the poor;
sed quia fur erat, et loculos but because he was a thief,
habens, ea quae mittebantur and having the purse, carried
portabat. the things that were put
therein.
6. St. John here declares the motive of Judas. It was not love for the
poor, as he pretended, but because, being purse‐bearer, for our Lord and
the disciples, he was always anxious to receive money, that he might have
an opportunity of filching some of it for himself. Whether with our
Rhemish Version we give ἐβάσταζεν the meaning of “carried,” or, as others
prefer, “made away with,” at all events, it is plain from the verse, in
which Judas is declared a thief, that he sometimes appropriated to his own
uses money from the common purse. In his case, too, the saying was true:
“Nemo repente fit turpissimus.”
7. Dixit ergo Iesus: Sinite 7. Jesus therefore said: Let
illam ut in diem sepulturae her alone, that she may keep
meae servet illud. it against the day of my
burial.
7. There is a difference of reading in this verse. Many ancient
authorities read: *She has kept it* (τετήρηκεν) *against the day of my
burial*; and the meaning of this reading is plain. The more probable(80)
Greek reading, however, is: “_That she might keep it_ (ἱνα ... τηρήσῃ)
_against the day of My burial_.” In this reading we take our Lord’s reply
to mean: Let her alone: it was not sold (Judas had asked: Why was it not
sold?) in order that she might keep it against the day of My burial. Thus
we would read “servaret” instead of “servet” in the Vulgate; and we take
“ut” to depend not on “sinite,” but on some words such as “non veniit” (it
was not sold) understood. St. John’s report of Christ’s words agrees
substantially with that of St. Mark, who represents our Lord as saying:
“She is come beforehand to anoint My body for the burial” (Mark xiv. 8);
and both accounts, as well as that of St. Matt. (xxvi. 12), “She hath done
it for My burial,” signify that our Lord’s death was so close at hand that
this unction might be regarded as a preparation for His burial; and hence
Mary was not to be blamed, inasmuch as such honours were usually paid to
bodies before burial.
Immediately after their account of this unction, SS. Matt. and Mark
narrate the compact of Judas with the Jews to betray Jesus for thirty
pieces of silver; so that it is extremely probable that it was spite at
losing the price of the ointment used on this occasion that finally
determined Judas to betray our Lord.
8. Pauperes enim semper 8. For the poor you have
habetis vobiscum: me autem non always with you; but me you
semper habetis. have not always.
8. *But me you have not always.* Christ as God is, no doubt, everywhere,
even now; and even as man He is still upon our altars in the Blessed
Sacrament; but He is no longer with us in a mortal body capable of
deriving sensible pleasure and comfort from such ministrations as those of
Mary upon this occasion.
9. Cognovit ergo turba multa 9. A great multitude therefore
ex Iudaeis quia illic est: et of the Jews knew that he was
venerunt, non propter Iesum there: and they came, not for
tantum, sed ut Lazarum Jesus’ sake only, but that
viderent, quem suscitavit a they might see Lazarus, whom
mortuis. he had raised from the dead.
10. Cogitaverunt autem 10. But the chief priests
principes sacerdotum ut et thought to kill Lazarus also:
Lazarum interficerent.
11. Quia multi propter illum 11. Because many of the Jews
abibant ex Iudaeis, et by reason of him went away,
credebant in Iesum. and believed in Jesus.
9‐11. A great multitude, on learning that Christ was in Bethania, flocked
out to see the wonder‐worker, and Lazarus whom He had raised from the
dead; and so many were being converted by that miracle, that the chief
priests thought of putting Lazarus to death, that they might thus get rid
of a living and manifest proof of the almighty power of Jesus.
12. In crastinum autem turba 12. And on the next day a
multa, quae venerat ad diem great multitude, that was come
festum, cum audissent quia to the festival day, when they
venit Iesus Ierosolymam. had heard that Jesus was
coming to Jerusalem,
12. On the day after the supper, which we take to have been Sunday or
Monday, that is, the first or second day of the Jewish week, a great
multitude came to meet our Lord and escort Him into Jerusalem. Hundreds of
thousands always flocked to Jerusalem for the Pasch, and though the feast
was still some days off, a great number had already arrived. Doubtless
many of the inhabitants of Jerusalem were also among the crowd on this
occasion.
13. Acceperunt ramos palmarum, 13. Took branches of palm‐
et processerunt obviam ei, et trees, and went forth to meet
clamabant: Hosanna, benedictus him, and cried: Hosanna,
qui venit in nomine Domini, blessed is he that cometh in
rex Israel. the name of the Lord, the king
of Israel.
13. Carrying palm branches, with shouts of joy and triumph, they hailed
Jesus as the Messias, and King of Israel; in the words of the great
Paschal chant (Ps. cxvii. 26), *Hosanna* (הושׂענא, which is contracted for
הושׂיעה נא) means: _pray_, _save_, or: _save, I beseech_. It may be taken
here as a prayer to Jesus to save them, or rather as a prayer to God to
save and bless their Messias. Or it may be that it was used as an
expression of joy without attention to its literal meaning, as the
expressions “vivat,” “vive le roi,” and the like, are sometimes used at
the present day.
14. Et invenit Iesus asellum, 14. And Jesus found a young
et sedit super eum, sicut ass, and sat upon it, as it is
scriptum est: written:
14. From the Synoptic Evangelists we learn that Jesus sent His disciples
telling them where they should find the colt, and St. Matthew tells us
that they brought the colt and its mother, and spread their garments upon
both (ἐπ᾽ αὐτῶν, Matt. xxi. 7). They spread their garments upon both,
because they did not know upon which He would choose to sit. And St.
Matthew adds that Jesus sat _upon them_ (ἑπάνω αὐτῶν); that is, as we take
it, upon the garments that had been spread upon the colt. In this way the
accounts of the four Evangelists are reconciled.
Another difficulty occurs here, if we compare the parallel passage of St.
Luke (xix. 29). For, whereas St. John’s account naturally leads us to
suppose that the ass’s colt was procured on the way _between_ Bethania,
where Christ had supped on the preceding night (xii. 1, 2) and Jerusalem,
St. Luke, on the other hand, says: “And it came to pass _when He was come
nigh to Bethphage and Bethania_, unto the mount called Olivet, He sent two
of His disciples, saying, Go into the town which is over against you, at
your entering into which you shall find the colt of an ass tied,” &c. We
have searched in vain for a satisfactory solution of this difficulty. If
the words of St. Luke are to be taken strictly as meaning that Christ was
not merely near to, but _approaching_ Bethania, then we would hold that on
this morning, before the procession started, He had retired from Bethania
eastward, and therefore farther away from Jerusalem, and was now again
approaching the village on His way to the Holy City. There is nothing
improbable in this supposition, for Christ did many things which the
Evangelists have not recorded (John xxi. 25), and it enables us to
reconcile two accounts, which are not easily reconciled otherwise.
15. Noli timere filia Sion: 15. _Fear not, daughter of
ecce rex tuus venit sedens Sion: behold, thy king cometh,
super pullum asinae. sitting on an ass’s colt._
15. St. Matthew (xxi. 4) says that these things were done that prophecy
might be fulfilled; that is, they were brought about by God, not by the
disciples, who, as St. John tells us in the next verse, were ignorant that
they were fulfilling a prophecy. The whole quotation here is substantially
from Zach. ix. 9: “Rejoice greatly (‘fear not,’ of St. John) O daughter of
Sion; shout for joy, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold thy King will come to
thee, the Just and Saviour: He is poor and riding upon an ass, and (even)
upon a colt the foal of an ass.”
16. Haec non cognoverunt 16. These things his disciples
discipuli eius primum: sed did not know at the first: but
quando glorificatus est Iesus, when Jesus was glorified, then
tunc recordati sunt quia haec they remembered that these
erant scripta de eo, et haec things were written of him,
fecerunt ei. and that they had done these
things to him.
16. The disciples did not know at that time that prophecy was being
fulfilled; but when the light of the Holy Ghost had flooded their souls at
the first Pentecost (Acts ii. 4), then they recognised in these things the
fulfilment of prophecy.
17. Testimonium ergo 17. The multitude therefore
perhibebat turba quae erat cum gave testimony, which was with
eo quando Lazarum vocavit de him when he called Lazarus out
monumento, et suscitavit eum a of the grave, and raised him
mortuis. from the dead.
17. *When he called Lazarus out of the grave.* It is doubtful, and
authorities are much divided, whether the true reading here is _when_
(ὅτε), or _that_ (ὅτι). In the former reading, eye‐witnesses of the
miracle now bore testimony of it; in the latter, the crowd that was now
with Him having heard and believed that the miracle had been wrought, now
bore witness _that_ Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead.
18. Propterea et obviam venit 18. For which reason also the
ei turba, quia audierunt eum people came to meet him:
fecisse hoc signum. because they heard that he had
done this miracle.
18. It was on account of this miracle too that the crowd had come out to
meet Him. We take “the multitude” in this verse to be the same as that
referred to in the preceding (ὁ ὄχλος); and what St. John tells us is,
that their coming out to meet Him, and their testimony regarding Him, both
proceeded from the fact that He had raised Lazarus from the dead.
19. Pharisaei ergo dixerunt ad 19. The Pharisees therefore
semetipsos: Videtis quia nihil said among themselves: Do you
proficimus? ecce mundus totus see that we prevail nothing?
post eum abiit. behold, the whole world is
gone after him.
19. The jealousy of the Pharisees is at once aroused, and, as often
happens in such circumstances, they exaggerate, saying that the whole
world had gone after Him.
Our Lord moved on towards Jerusalem, riding upon the ass,(81) between two
enthusiastic crowds (see Matt. xxi. 9; Mark xi. 9). As He approached the
city, and shouts of joy and thanksgiving rose from the crowds which
preceded and followed, some Pharisees, as we learn from St. Luke, bade
Jesus rebuke His disciples for the words of homage they were using. To
whom He replied: “I say to you, if these shall hold their peace, the
stones will cry out” (Luke xix. 40). Then when He had mounted the summit
of Olivet, and the city and temple burst upon His view, He wept, and “went
on to prophesy the destruction of the city with a particularity of detail,
to the exactness of which the subsequent history bears wonderful
testimony.” (Coleridge, _Life of our Life_, vol. ii., p. 187). See Luke
xix. 41‐44.
When the procession entered Jerusalem, the “whole city was moved, saying,
Who is this?” And the people said, “This is Jesus the Prophet from
Nazareth of Galilee” (Matt. xxi. 10, 11). As we learn from St. Mark, Jesus
went up to the temple, and there the events occurred which St. John
records down to verse 36.
20. Erant autem quidam 20. Now there were certain
gentiles, ex his qui gentiles among them who came
ascenderant ut adorarent in up to adore on the festival
die festo. day.
21. Hi ergo accesserunt ad 21. These therefore came to
Philippum, qui erat a Philip, who was of Bethsaida
Bethsaida Galilaeae, et of Galilee, and desired him,
rogabant eum, dicentes: Domine saying: Sir, we would see
volumus Iesum videre. Jesus.
22. Venit Philippus, et dicit 22. Philip cometh and telleth
Andreae: Andreas rursum et Andrew. Again Andrew and
Philippus dixerunt Iesu. Philip told Jesus.
20‐22. Some Gentiles, who were probably proselytes, had come to Jerusalem
for the Pasch, and they ask Philip that they may see, that is, speak with
Jesus. Philip consults his fellow‐townsman, Andrew (John i. 44), and they
both make known the request to Jesus. Our Lord was probably in the Court
of the Jews, into which the Gentiles could not enter, so that their
request meant that Jesus should come out into the Court of the Gentiles.
See above on ii. 14.
23. Iesus autem respondit eis, 23. But Jesus answered them
dicens: Venit hora, ut saying: The hour is come, that
clarificetur Filius hominis. the son of man should be
glorified.
23. The Evangelist does not tell us whether Jesus granted an audience to
these Gentiles, but goes on to record His reply to the disciples: *The
hour is come that the son of man should be glorified*: _i.e._, the hour of
His death to be followed by His glorious resurrection and ascension by the
descent of the Holy Ghost, and the call of the Gentiles.
24. Amen, amen dico vobis, 24. Amen, amen, I say to you,
nisi granum frumenti cadens in unless the grain of wheat
terram, mortuum fuerit, falling into the ground die;
25. Ipsum solum manet: si 25. Itself remaineth alone.
autem mortuum fuerit, multum But if it die, it bringeth
fructum affert. Qui amat forth much fruit. He that
animam suam, perdet eam: et loveth his life shall lose it:
qui odit animam suam in hoc and he that hateth his life in
mundo, in vitam aeternam this world, keepeth it unto
custodit eam. life eternal.
24, 25. In a beautiful comparison our Lord points out that as the grain of
wheat dies in order that it may fructify, so in the providence of God His
death is necessary to His triumph and His glory. And applying this
doctrine to His disciples, He points out that whoever loveth his life
inordinately here, shall lose it for eternity, and he that hateth (a
Hebraism for _loveth less_) his life in this world, keepeth it unto life
eternal.
26. Si quis mihi ministrat, me 26. If any man minister to me,
sequatur: et ubi sum ego, let him follow me: and where I
illic et minister meus erit. am, there also shall my
Si quis mihi ministraverit, minister be. If any man
honorificabit eum Pater meus. minister to me, him will my
Father honour.
26. *If any man minister to me, let him follow me.* This exhortation to
follow Christ in despising this life for God’s sake, is addressed to all
His followers, who are to minister to Him by the service of devout lives;
but it is applicable in a special way to Priests, for to them belongs the
privilege of the special ministry. To such as imitate Him He gives the
glorious promise, that where He is, that is, in the glory of the Father,
which as God He then enjoyed, and which as man He was to merit by His
passion, there also shall His followers be.
27. Nunc anima mea turbata 27. Now is my soul troubled.
est. Et quid dicam? Pater, And what shall I say? Father,
salvifica me ex hac hora. Sed save me from this hour. But
propterea veni in horem hanc. for this cause I came unto
this hour.
27. The thought of His approaching Passion now disturbed His human soul,
for as He was true man, His humanity naturally shuddered at the suffering
and death He was about to undergo. Compare Matt. xxvi. 38; Mark xiv. 34.
Christ, of course, permitted this fear to seize upon Him, so that it was
wholly voluntary; and He manifested it at this particular time, probably
lest His disciples should be tempted to say that it was easy for Him who
was God to exhort others to despise their life and endure suffering. He
shows them, therefore, that He dreads death like the rest of men; and St.
John records the fact because of the Docetae, who denied the reality of
the Incarnation, and consequently of Christ’s sufferings. See above on i.
14, and Introd. IX.
*Father save me from this hour.* Some read this with a note of
interrogation after it, as if the meaning were: Shall I say to the Father
to save Me from this hour? But we may understand the words as a
conditional prayer proceeding from Christ’s human will; conditional, that
is, upon his Father’s will to save Him from the Passion which He was to
undergo, just as in St. Luke xxii. 42: “Father, if Thou wilt, remove this
chalice from Me; but not My will, but Thine be done.” That such, indeed,
is the meaning here, is proved by what follows, where Jesus retracts this
conditional prayer, saying that it was for the very purpose that He might
suffer, that He came unto this hour.
28. Pater, clarifica nomen 28. Father, glorify thy name.
tuum. Venit ergo vox de coelo: A voice therefore came from
Et clarificavi, et iterum heaven: I have both glorified
clarificabo. it, and will glorify it again.
28. In this verse, then, He prays absolutely to the Father to glorify His
name by the sufferings and death of the Son. And a voice came from the
air, produced there by God or an angel, saying: *I have both glorified
(it), and will glorify (it) again*. The sense of these words of the Father
is disputed. The Latin fathers understand the sense to be; I have
glorified Thee from all eternity, and will glorify Thee again as God‐man
after Thy ascension. In favour of this view is the prayer of Christ: “And
now glorify Thou Me, O Father, with Thyself, with the glory which I had
before the world was, with Thee” (John xvii. 5). The Greek fathers, on the
other hand, all take the sense to be: I have already glorified Thee by
many miracles, and will again glorify Thee in the miracles to be wrought
at Thy death, resurrection, and ascension, and afterwards by Thy followers
in Thy name. It will be noted that the fathers generally understand the
words of God the Father in reference to the glorification of Christ,
whereas Christ’s prayer regarded the glorification of the Father’s name.
We feel convinced, however, that the _direct_ object of glorification in
both instances is the Father’s name. For when Christ prays: “Glorify Thy
name,” and the Father answers: “I have glorified, and will again glorify,”
obviously the answer must refer to the glorification of the Father’s name,
for which Christ had prayed. Since, however, the glorification of the
Father was to be brought about by the glorification of the Son; hence,
this too is indirectly referred to, and our interpretation agrees
substantially with that of the fathers.
29. Turba ergo quae stabat et 29. The multitude therefore
audierat, dicebat tonitruum that stood and heard, said
esse factum. Alii dicebant: that it thundered. Others
Angelus ei locutus est. said, An Angel spoke to him.
30. Respondit Iesus, et dixit: 30. Jesus answered and said:
Non propter me haec vox venit, This voice came not because of
sed propter vos. me, but for your sakes.
30. Jesus declares that the voice from heaven was the Father’s testimony
to Him, given for their sakes, in order that they might believe in Him.
31. Nunc iudicium est mundi: 31. Now is the judgment of the
nunc princeps huius mundi world: now shall the prince of
eiicietur foras. this world be cast out.
31. *Now is the judgment of the world.* There is a difference of opinion
as to what judgment is here spoken of; whether the judgment of liberation
of the world in general, or the judgment of condemnation of the _wicked_
world. In favour of the former, it is argued—(_a_) that since Satan was to
be cast out, or deprived of his dominion over the world, therefore the
world was to be liberated; (_b_) that verse 32 declares the effect of this
judgment: the world shall be liberated, and as a consequence I shall draw
all things to Myself; (_c_) that the world to be judged is that over which
Satan had ruled, and from which he was now to be cast out. But before the
Incarnation he had held sway over the whole world (Rom. iii. 23, xi. 32;
Gal. iii. 22). Therefore, it is the whole world that is to be judged, and
hence there must be question of the judgment of liberation. So St. Aug.,
Mald., A Lap., Tolet., Beel., Patriz.
In favour of the latter view, which is held by St. Chrysostom and most of
the Greek fathers, it is argued—(_a_) that St. John always uses κρίσις of
the judgment of condemnation; (_b_) that the world in the beginning of the
verse is the same whose prince is to be deprived of his dominion; that,
therefore, it should stand or fall with its prince; hence since he is to
be stripped of his dominion, it is to be condemned; (_c_) that in the
discourse after the Last Supper, Christ always means by the world, the
_wicked_ world, opposed to Himself (John xiv. 17, 22, 30; xv. 18, 19;
xviii. 9, 16, 25); therefore, also here, and hence there must be question
of the judgment of condemnation. *The prince of this world* is plainly the
devil. See also 2 Cor. iv. 4; Eph. ii. 2, vi. 12. In the Talmud the same
title is given to the prince of devils. By Christ’s death the devil was
cast out: that is, deprived of that almost universal sway which he had
exercised over men before the coming of Christ. “At nondum diabolus e
mundo ejectus videtur esse, cum in eo adhuc grassetur. Ejectus foras
dicitur non quod nunc in mundo non sit, et in multis etiamnum dominetur;
sed quod, quantum in Christo fuit, ejectus fuerit, ita ut, si homines
vellent, nihil prorsus in ipsos haberet potestatis. Homines illi postea
portam arcis aperuerunt, et proditione quadam in suam quisque domum
admittit. Itaque etiam nunc regnat et operatur, sed in filios
diffidentiae, Eph. ii. 2” (Mald. on this verse).
32. Et ego si exaltatus fuero 32. And I, if I be lifted up
a terra, omnia traham ad from the earth, will draw all
meipsum: things to myself.
32. *And I, if I be lifted up from the earth.* Christ here predicted that
after His death on the cross (see next verse) He should become a centre of
attraction, and draw all men (πάντας is the more probable reading, not
πάντα), both Jews and _Gentiles_ to Himself. This marvellous prophecy
began to be fulfilled in the centurion and his companions (Matt. xxvii.
54), and the rest of the multitude that witnessed the crucifixion (Luke
xxiii. 48), and is daily receiving its fulfilment still.
33. Hoc autem dicebat, 33. (Now this he said,
significans qua morte esset signifying what death he
moriturus. should die.)
33. St. John here gives us an authentic interpretation.
34. Respondit ei turba: Nos 34. The multitude answered
audivimus ex lege quia him: We have heard out of the
Christus manet in aeternum; et law, that Christ abideth for
quomodo tu dicis, Oportet ever; and how sayest thou: The
exaltari Filium hominis? Quis son of man must be lifted up?
est iste Filius hominis? Who is this son of man?
34. The multitude understood Jesus to speak of His death, or at least of
His withdrawal from them, and object that He cannot be the Messias, who,
as they understood the Scriptures (the law is here put for the whole
Scriptures), was to remain for ever. They quote no single text, but
probably they had gathered this idea from many passages; _e.g._, Isai. ix.
6, 7; Ps. cix. 4; Dan. vii. 13, 14, &c. It is not unlikely that they had
the passage of Daniel specially before their minds, for there the power of
the _Son of Man_ is described as “an everlasting power that shall not be
taken away, and His kingdom (a kingdom) that shall not be destroyed.”
Hence, they argued, if Christ was to die, He could not be the Messias, but
must be some other _Son of Man_ than he spoken of by Daniel.
35. Dixit ergo eis Iesus: 35. Jesus therefore said to
Adhuc modicum, lumen in vobis them: Yet a little while, the
est. Ambulate dum lucem light is among you. Walk
habetis, ut non vos tenebrae whilst you have the light,
comprehendant: et qui ambulat that the darkness overtake you
in tenebris, nescit quo vadat. not. And he that walketh in
darkness knoweth not whither
he goeth.
35. Christ might have easily replied, showing them from the same
Scriptures that the Messias was to suffer and die (see, _e.g._, Isai.
liii.; Dan. ix. 26); but probably because He saw that the motive of the
multitude in objecting was not to seek light, but to disprove His claim to
be the Messias, He did not vouchsafe a reply to their objection, but went
on to exhort them to believe, for thus they should find a solution of all
their difficulties.
*Yet a little while*; _i.e._, a few days more, the light, which is
Himself, is to be among them. He exhorts them, therefore, to walk, that
is, to believe, while He is present among them, in order that darkness,
that is, the time when He is gone from among them, may not find them still
in their unbelief.
*And* (καί = γάρ) *he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he
goeth*. Christ does not mean to say that they could not believe after His
death; but just as, though it is quite possible to walk during the time of
darkness, still it is easier to walk in daylight, so it was easier for
them to believe now, when He, the Sun of Justice was corporally present
among them, than it would be when He had withdrawn His light. We take,
“darkness,” then, with Mald., not of sin, nor of unbelief, but, as opposed
to the light which is Christ, of the time when Christ could be no longer
present among them, after His death, as in verse ix. 4; xi. 9, 10.
36. Dum lucem habetis, credite 36. Whilst you have the light,
in lucem, ut filii lucis believe in the light, that you
sitis. Haec locutus est Iesus: may be the children of light.
et abiit, et abscondit se ab These things Jesus spoke, and
eis. he went away, and hid himself
from them.
36. He now explains what He means by telling them to walk. It is that they
should believe. *That you may be* (become) *the children of light*. The
phrase “children of light” is a Hebraism, meaning those who are to possess
the light, who are destined for it. Compare Luke xvi. 8; Eph. v. 8.
*And he went away, and hid himself from them.* SS. Matt. and Mark tell us
that He went to Bethania with the twelve and remained there (Matt. xxi.
17; Mark xi. 11).
37. Cum autem tanta signa 37. And whereas he had done so
fecisset coram eis, non many miracles before them,
credebant in eum: they believed not in him.
38. Ut sermo Isaiae prophetae 38. That the saying of Isaias
impleretur, quem dixit: the prophet might be
Domine, quis credidit auditui fulfilled, which he said:
nostro? et brachium Domini cui _Lord, who hath believed our
revelatum est? hearing? and to whom hath the
arm of the Lord been
revealed?_
39. Propterea non poterant 39. Therefore they could not
credere, quia iterum dixit believe, because Isaias said
Isaias: again.
40. Excaecavit oculos eorum, 40. _He hath blinded their
et induravit cor eorum: ut non eyes, and hardened their
videant oculis, et non heart, that they should not
intelligant corde, et see with their eyes, nor
convertantur, et sanem eos. understand with their heart,
and be converted, and I should
heal them._
37‐40. Before closing this first part of the _narrative_ portion of the
Gospel (see Introd. iv.), St. John pauses in the history to note the hard‐
hearted incredulity of the Jews, notwithstanding the fact that Christ had
wrought _so many_ miracles; an incredulity, however, which had been
foretold by Isaias, which, therefore, came to pass now _in order that_
(ἱνα) the prediction of the Prophet should be fulfilled (verses 37, 38);
and which came to pass necessarily (_necessitate consequente_), because,
as Isaias declared, they no longer had the abundant graces necessary in
order that they might believe (verses 39, 40). Thus the incredulity of the
Jews in our Lord’s time was _necessary_ to the end that prophecy might be
fulfilled. How then, we may ask, was that incredulity culpable, if those
who were incredulous were not free and able to believe? The answer is,
that this incredulity was necessary by a necessity consequent upon the
prediction of the inspired Prophet, which prediction was itself consequent
upon God’s foreknowledge that the Jews would, culpably and of their own
free will, remain incredulous. God foresaw this incredulity, predicted it,
because He foresaw it was to be; and, of course, it came to pass, as He
had foreseen it would. Hence, when God foresees, or His Prophet predicts,
the commission of a certain sin, that sin is infallibly, yet freely
committed. It is, as if we saw a man walking across a plain; he does so,
not because we see him, but we see him because he walks. Similarly, in the
boundless plain of His eternal present, God sees all things that are to
be, and they happen, not because He sees them, but He sees them because
they are to happen.
Note, in verse 38, that *our hearing* means what has been heard _from_ us,
for the preachers of the Gospel are represented in Isaias as complaining
of the small number of those who listened to them. *The arm of the Lord*
is Christ, according to several of the fathers; or we may take it to mean
the power of the Lord in the work of man’s redemption.
Note, in verse 40, where the prophecy is cited freely, after neither the
Hebrew nor the Septuagint, that it is not meant that God blinded any man
_positively_, but only negatively, by the withdrawal of His more abundant
graces.
41. Haec dixit Isaias, quando 41. These things said Isaias
vidit gloriam eius, et locutus when he saw his glory, and
est de eo. spoke of him.
41. See Isaias vi. 1, 9, 10, where the Prophet says: “I saw the Lord”
(אדני = the Supreme God), words which are here referred by St. John to the
Prophet’s having seen Christ; therefore, according to St. John, Christ is
the Supreme God.
It would also seem from this verse that the Son of God Himself, and not
merely an angel representing Him, appeared to Isaias on that occasion. It
was the common opinion of the fathers, though denied by most of the
scholastics, that God sometimes appeared in the O. T. apparitions.
*And spoke of him*, rather, “and he spoke of Him,” for this clause does
not depend upon the preceding “when.” It is a statement that it was of
Christ Isaias spoke the words just quoted.
42. Verumtamen et ex 42. However many of the chief
principibus multi crediderunt men also believed in him: but
in eum: sed propter pharisaeos because of the Pharisees they
non confitebantur, ut e did not confess _him_, that
synagoga non eiicerentur: they might not be cast out of
the synagogue.
42. See above on ix. 22.
43. Dilexerunt enim gloriam 43. For they loved the glory
hominum magis quam gloriam of men, more than the glory of
Dei. God.
44. Iesus autem clamavit, et 44. But Jesus cried, and said:
dixit: Qui credit in me, non He that believeth in me, doth
credit in me sed in eum qui not believe in me, but in him
misit me. that sent me.
44. These words of our Lord recorded in the remainder of this chapter seem
to have been spoken on a subsequent day of Holy Week (see verse 36); but
on what precise day, it is difficult to determine. *Doth not believe in
me* is the Hebrew way of saying: doth not _so much_ believe in Me, as in
Him that sent Me. Compare Mark ix. 36.
45. Et qui videt me, videt eum 45. And he that seeth me,
qui misit me. seeth him that sent me.
45. In these words Christ declares His unity of nature with the Father.
“Sensus est de visione corporali, non quod Deus oculo corporeo videatur
immediate, et per se, sed mediante humanitate, cui Divina substantia
Patris et Filii est unita” (Tolet.).
46. Ego lux in mundum veni: ut 46. I am come a light into the
omnis qui credit in me, in world; that whosoever
tenebris non maneat. believeth in me, may not
remain in darkness.
46. *Darkness* here means unbelief and sin.
47. Et si quis audierit verba 47. And if any man hear my
mea, et non custodierit, ego words and keep them not: I do
non iudico eum, non enim veni not judge him: for I came not
ut iudicem mundum, sed ut to judge the world, but to
salvificem mundum. save the world.
47. *I do not judge him*; _i.e._, I do not _condemn_ him. Compare iii. 17;
viii. 15, 50. At his _first_ coming Christ did not come to condemn, but to
save.
48. Qui spernit me, et non 48. He that despiseth me, and
accipit verba mea, habet qui receiveth not my words, hath
iudicet eum: sermo quem one that judgeth him: the word
locutus sum, ille iudicabit that I have spoken, the same
eum in novissimo die. shall judge him in the last
day.
48. *Hath one that judgeth him*; namely, the Father (viii. 50). Hence the
sense of the verse is that he that despiseth Me ... hath one that judgeth
him _even now_; and moreover, on the last day My words shall rise in
judgment against him.
49. Quia ego ex meipso non sum 49. For I have not spoken of
locutus, sed qui misit me myself, but the Father who
Pater, ipse mihi mandatum sent me, he gave me
dedit quid dicam, et quid commandment what I should say,
loquar. and what I should speak.
49. This verse gives the reason why the words of Christ shall stand in
judgment against the unbeliever; because His words were not merely His
own, uttered by His private authority, but spoken by the command of His
Father, whom therefore they despise, in despising Him. In our view Christ
here speaks of Himself as man.
If *say* and *speak* are to be distinguished, then “say” (εἴπω) refers to
the formal discourses, “speak” (λαλήσω) to the ordinary conversations; so
that in all His words Christ had spoken to them the words of God.
50. Et scio quia mandatum eius 50. And I know that his
vita aeterna est. Quae ergo commandment is life
ego loquor, sicut dixit mihi everlasting. The things
Pater, sic loquor. therefore that I speak; even
as the Father said unto me, so
do I speak.
50. To show them their folly, and in the hope of yet inducing them to
believe, He tells them He knows with certainty that the command of the
Father (that is, what the Father had commanded Him to say and do, and
hence, all His own words and works) is the cause of life eternal to
mankind. Hence their folly in not believing.
*The things therefore that I speak; even as the Father said unto me, so do
I speak.* Thus He concludes, insisting on the fact that He is the legate
of God (consubstantial with the Father, verse 45), and as such worthy to
be believed.