1-59 CHAPTER 8 VER. 1. _But Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives._ On the last day of the Feast Jesus had taught in the temple, and confuted the Pharisees, while they, after their wont, returned home to a sumptuous banquet. But no one showed hospitality to Jesus for fear of the rulers and Pharisees.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And early in the morning_, &c. He gave the night to prayer, the day to teaching, setting an example to apostolic men, as S. Paul, S. Francis Xavier, and others. VERS. 3, 4, 5. _But the Scribes and Pharisees brought unto Him a woman taken in adultery_, &c. _Now Moses in the Law commanded us that suc... [ Continue Reading ]
_This they said, tempting Him, that they might have to accuse Him_, as being opposed to the law, if He said that she was not to be stoned, but as cruel and harsh if He said otherwise. But they rather supposed He would not order her to be stoned, "in order to keep up His appearance of gentleness, and... [ Continue Reading ]
_When therefore they continued asking Him._ Because they did not see clearly what He had written, or pretended they did not. They therefore urge Him to reply explicitly to their captious question, believing that He could not escape from the horns of a dilemma by going against the law if He acquitted... [ Continue Reading ]
_But on hearing this they went out one by one._ Some Greek copies add, _"Convicted by their own conscience,"_ as being adulterers, or even worse. For what Jesus said was true, and ought to strike home to them. And hence S. Augustine says (_Epist._ liv.), "Methinks that even the husband himself who h... [ Continue Reading ]
_When Jesus had lifted up Himself_, &c. Lifting up on her His eyes of gentleness, as He had repulsed His adversaries with the words of righteousness, as saith S. Augustine. He spoke to her, (1.) to show that He had driven away her accusers, and that she could acknowledge what Jesus had, in His mercy... [ Continue Reading ]
_She said, No man, Lord_, &c. I who am alone free from all sin, and appointed by God to judge the world, might most justly condemn thee. But I do not, because I came not to judge, but to save the world. Thus S. Ambrose; "See how He moderated His answer, so that the Jews could not accuse him for acqu... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then said Jesus again unto them, I am the Light of the world._ The Gloss connects these words with what had immediately preceded, in this way: "He adds what His Divinity could effect, in order that no one should doubt His power of forgiving sin." Marvel not that I set free the adulteress from the d... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Pharisees therefore_, &c. That is, is not worthy of credit. For no one is accepted as a witness in his own case, but must produce other witnesses (see above, v. 31). These were not the same Pharisees as those who had accused the adulteress, but others, who wished to avenge the disgrace of thei... [ Continue Reading ]
_Jesus answered_, &c. Not only true in itself, but such as ought to be accepted and believed. This testimony of the Light is true, whether it show or hide Itself, says S. Augustine. The light itself needs no other witness. It shows itself clearly by its own light to be bright and shining. And thus i... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ye judge after the flesh._ (1.) Ye judge of Me, not according to truth and equity, but from the carnal hatred ye have against Me; as living according to the flesh is to live ill, so judging according to the flesh is to judge unjustly. (2.) From My Body, which ye see, ye count Me a mere man; because... [ Continue Reading ]
_And yet if I judge_ (i.e., bear witness of Myself) _My judgment_ (i.e., witness) _is true_, i.e., fit to be taken in court, _for I am not alone_, &c. S. Chrysostom explains, "If I judge, I should justly condemn you, because I should not judge by Myself, but I and the Father together." But the true... [ Continue Reading ]
_It_ _is also written in your Law_ (Deuteronomy 27:6, Deu 19:5), _that the testimony of two men is true_ : that is to be admitted by the judge, who can base on it a legal sentence, though the testimony may as a matter of fact be false. But a judge must go by the evidence; and so his sentences may be... [ Continue Reading ]
. _am one that bear witness of Myself,_ &c. But thou wilt say, no one's testimony is accepted in his own case, and therefore Christ's testimony to Himself ought not to be accepted. But the answer is, that Christ as God witnesses to Himself as man. But God and man are two beings, and in Christ God wa... [ Continue Reading ]
_These words_, &c.... _in the temple_ (_i.e._, the Court of the Temple). Rupertus thinks that the reason why no man laid hands on Him was because the treasury was a remote spot, frequented only by the Priests who wished to take money out, and the lay people who wished to pay it in. But it was in fac... [ Continue Reading ]
_Jesus therefore said to them again._ (1.) Some think that "therefore" only indicates the beginning of a new discourse. (2.) Origen thinks it indicates that what follows was spoken by Christ at the same time and place. (3.) Maldonatus refers it to verse 19, _Ye neither know Me nor My Father._ The ti... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then said the Jews_, &c. The officers made a wiser inquiry (Joh 7:35), _Will He go to the dispersion of the Gentiles?_ But the Pharisees, blinded by their hatred, thought He had no way of escape but by killing Himself. Wherever He may go, we will follow Him up. If He goes to the Gentiles, we will d... [ Continue Reading ]
_And_ (therefore) _He said unto them_, &c. Ye cleave to your sins and will go to the lowest depth, while I shall return to heaven, and therefore ye will seek Me and will not find Me. For I am like the soaring eagle, dwelling in the loftiest mountains of eternity, while ye are as worms and insects cr... [ Continue Reading ]
. _said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins._ The sin of unbelief, and all your other sins, for there is no forgiveness of sin, save through faith in Christ, whom ye reject. _For if ye believe not that I am_ the Saviour of the world, as I constantly affirm and prove also by so many m... [ Continue Reading ]
_They said therefore to Him, Who art Thou?_ Because they did not understand, or pretended they did not, they appositely ask _, Who art Thou? _ Jesus said to them, the Beginning (Vulg.), _I who am speaking to you._ S. Augustine, Bede, Rupertus, and S. Ambrose (_De Fide_, iii. 4), consider the word,... [ Continue Reading ]
_They knew not,_ &c. For Jesus spake covertly and obscurely, for fear of exciting the hatred of the Pharisees. But some of the more acute of them began to suspect the true meaning of His words, though they did not clearly understand them, and could not refute Him. None of them fully knew it. And God... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then said Jesus_, &c. When ye have lifted Me up on the Cross. He calls it His exaltation, for though it seemed to be His greatest degradation and disgrace, yet it was made to be, by God's Providence, His greatest exaltation and glory, that all nations should adore Christ crucified, and hope for par... [ Continue Reading ]
_And He that sent Me is with Me._ He adds this (says S. Chrysostom) lest He should be accounted inferior to the Father who taught Him. The one relates to the Incarnation (_dispensationem_), the other to the Godhead. "The Father," says S. Augustine, "sent the Son, but did not leave Him." Moreover, th... [ Continue Reading ]
_As He spake these wards many_, &c.; _i.e._, many of the simple-minded, candid and teachable people, but few or none of the proud Pharisees. And they believed, not only as convinced by the force of His arguments, but charmed by the grace and power of His words. "Never man spake like this man.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then said Jesus_, &c. He wished to confirm them in the faith they had accepted. If ye are so faithful and constant as to follow Me through persecutions and crosses, even to heaven itself, ye will be worthy not only of the name and title of My disciples, but also of their deserts and reward. VER. 3... [ Continue Reading ]
_They answered Him_, &c. Christ in what He had said indirectly charged the Jews with ignorance and bondage. But as glorying in their descent from Abraham, they felt wounded; and putting aside the charge of ignorance, they proudly deny the charge of bondage, and say that they had no need of the liber... [ Continue Reading ]
_Veri1y, verily_, &c. Most assured, _i.e._, the saying is, and specially commended to their notice. But our Lord speaks to them modestly and becomingly, using only general terms and the third person. He might have said, Ye commit many sins, and are therefore the servants of sin, and from this bondag... [ Continue Reading ]
_The servant abideth not,_ &c. He who is the servant of sin, like you Jews, has not the right of remaining in his Master's house (that is the Church of God) for ever: for after death he will be cast into the outer darkness of hell, as ye too will be cast out. But the Son abideth for ever in His Fath... [ Continue Reading ]
_If therefore the Son_, &c. I alone can make you free, not Abraham or Moses, though most beloved servants of God. So S. Chrysostom and others.... [ Continue Reading ]
. _know_, &c. By nature ye are Abraham's children, but in your deeds ye are degenerate. Your descent from Abraham will not therefore profit you. It will increase your damnation, for he will say at the last day, I acknowledge you not as my children, for ye have crucified Christ, my son and your broth... [ Continue Reading ]
VER. 37.. _know_, &c. By nature ye are Abraham's children, but in your deeds ye are degenerate. Your descent from Abraham will not therefore profit you. It will increase your damnation, for he will say at the last day, I acknowledge you not as my children, for ye have crucified Christ, my son and yo... [ Continue Reading ]
_I speak_, &c. Ye not only speak, but do that which ye have learnt from your father, the devil, especially in seeking to kill Me, implying that Abraham was not their father. See this more clearly declared verse 44.... [ Continue Reading ]
_They answered, _... [ Continue Reading ]
_But now ye seek_, &c. Abraham did not injure any one, but saved Lot, and as many as he could. But the Jews were eager to kill Christ. The Jews (_Perke. Avoth. cap._ v.) draw the same contrast between a disciple of Abraham and of Balaam.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ye do the works of your father._ He persists in saying that they were not Abraham's children, but does not say whose children they were. _Then said they unto Him, We be not born of fornication,_ &c. Origen, Cyril, and Leontius think that in these words they implicitly reproached Him with His own bi... [ Continue Reading ]
_Jesus said,_ &c. Put syllogistically, our Lord's argument runs this, "He who loves God, loves also the Son of God. But ye do not love Me, who am the Son of God. Therefore ye love not God. Just as the Arians, who by denying Christ to be the Son of God, deny the Father also; for if He has not a Son,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Why do ye not understand_, &c. Because cleaving to your pride, avarice, hatred, and enmity against Me, ye will not hear Me and understand. "They could not hear," says S. Augustine, "because they refused to be corrected by what they heard;" but (as says the Gloss) ye are of the devil, and have elect... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ye are of your father the devil._ "Not by descent but by imitation," says S. Augustine, quoting Ezek. xvi. 4; and adding, "The Jews, by imitating their impieties, found for themselves parents, not of whom to be born, but with whom they would be lost, by following their evil ways." S. Epiphanius (_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Which of you_, &c. This is to anticipate an objection of the Jews. For they might say, "We do not believe thee, because thou art a violater of our law, in healing the sick on the Sabbath-day." Produce any other charge against Me, and I will submit to your disbelieving Me. My healing on the Sabbath... [ Continue Reading ]
_He that is of God,_ &c. He here assigns the true reason for the unbelief of the Jews, because they were born not of God, but of the devil; that is, ye do not listen to the spirit and instinct of God, but of the devil. For the devil has blinded your hearts with covetousness, hatred, and envy of Me.... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Jews answered and said_, &c. They used to say it, though it is written nowhere else. But why did they call Him a Samaritan? (1.) Because He associated with the Samaritans. (2.) Because He came from Galilee, which was near Samaria. (3.) Because the Samaritans were partly Jews and partly Gentiles... [ Continue Reading ]
_I have not a devil,_ &c. As loving truth He denies the false charge, but though all-powerful He returns not their reproach. "God, though receiving an injury, replies not with words of contumely; and thou, when insulted by thy neighbours, shouldest abstain from their evil words, lest the exercise of... [ Continue Reading ]
_I seek not,_ &c. It is God the Father who will most sharply punish those who seek not My glory, but in every way dishonour and discredit Me. S. Chrysostom. It may be said, "This is contrary to what Christ says (v. 22), _The Father judgeth man_." But there Christ speaks of the public and general ju... [ Continue Reading ]
_Verily, verily, I say_. He says this not from indignation but from pity of the Jews, showing that He is seeking not His own glory, but their salvation. "I say in very truth," and as S. Augustine thinks, he means _I swear_, "that if ye keep My commandments ye shall never die the death of the soul; y... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now we know_, &c. "The devil suggests to Thee such proud and absurd boasting, that Thy word will drive away death from those who believe in Thee, when we see that Prophets and holy men, as Abraham, all died. But as says S. Gregory (_Hom._ xviii.), looking only to the death of the body, they were da... [ Continue Reading ]
_Jesus answered_, &c. This was in answer to their question _, Whom makest thou Thyself?_ He refers all His glory to His Father from whom He is, and who is God. What I say of Myself is of no value or weight, and that not only with you, as S. Chrysostom says, but with others. For in every court no one... [ Continue Reading ]
_Yet ye have not known Him,_ &c. (1.) Ye know not the true God whom ye worship; ye know Him not to be one in essence and threefold in person, for ye think Him to be one in Person, as He is one in essence. Ye know not that God is a Father, and that He begat Me His Son, and that we two by our Breath p... [ Continue Reading ]
_Your father Abraham_, &c. He longed for it with exulting mind; "He feared not, but exulted," says S. Augustine. "Believing he exulted with hope, that he might see by understanding." It is a catachresis. But what day? S. Augustine understands by it, that day of all eternity, wherein from all eternit... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou art not yet_, &c. So that Abraham on his part could have seen Thee, and rejoiced at the sight. Irenæus hence infers that Christ lived fifty years on earth (_adv. Hær._ ii. 39, 40). But it is the common opinion that He was on earth for only thirty four (and those not complete) years. S. Chrysos... [ Continue Reading ]
_Jesus said_, &c. That is, _I am God._ The word _am_ denotes eternity, which is ever present, and has no past or future. I am eternal, immutable, and ever the same. So S. Augustine, Bede, S. Gregory. I as God exceed the age of Abraham not by fifty years, but by infinite durations of years. For as Te... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then they look up_, &c., as a blasphemer, who placed Himself above Abraham, and made Himself equal to God. Blasphemers were ordered to be stoned (Lev 24:16). It is clear that these Jews were not those who were said to have believed in Him (as Theophylact supposes), but the others who were opposed t... [ Continue Reading ]