Church Fathers Commentary John 7:19-24

"Did not Moses give you the law, and [yet] none of you doeth the law? Why seek ye to kill me? The multitude answered, Thou hast a demon: who seeketh to kill thee? Jesus answered and said unto them, I did one work, and ye all marvel because thereof. Moses hath given you circumcision (not that it is of Moses, but of the fathers); and on the sabbath ye circumcise a man. If a man receiveth circumcision on the sabbath, that the law of Moses may not be broken; are ye wroth with me, because I made a man every whit whole on the sabbath? Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment." — John 7:19-24 (ASV)

St. John Chrysostom: The Jews brought two charges against Christ: one, that He broke the Sabbath; the other, that He said God was His Father, making Himself equal with God. He first addressed the latter charge by showing that He did nothing in opposition to God, but that they both taught the same thing.

Then, turning to the charge of breaking the Sabbath, He says, Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keeps the law? This is as if to say, "The law says, You shall not kill, whereas you kill." And then, Why are you trying to kill Me? It is as if to say, "If I broke a law to heal a man, it was a transgression, but a beneficial one; whereas you transgress for an evil end, so you have no right to judge Me for breaking the law." He then rebukes them for two things: first, because they were trying to kill Him, and second, because they were trying to kill another when they did not even have any right to judge Him.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Or, He means to say that if they kept the law, they would see Him pointed to in every part of it and would not seek to kill Him when He came. The people give an answer that is completely off the subject and only shows their angry feelings. The people answered and said, You have a devil! Who is trying to kill You? He who cast out devils was told that He had a devil. Our Lord, however, in no way disturbed but retaining all the serenity of truth, did not return evil for evil, or insult for insult.

The Venerable Bede: In this, He left us an example to be patient whenever unjust criticisms are passed against us. We should not answer them by asserting the truth, even if we are able to, but rather by offering some wholesome advice to the people involved, just as our Lord does. Jesus answered and said to them, I have done one work, and you all marvel.

St. Augustine of Hippo: It is as if He said, "What if you saw all of My works?" For everything they saw happening in the world was His work, but they did not see Him who made all things. He did one thing—He made a man whole on the Sabbath day—and they were in an uproar. It is as if, when any one of them recovered from a disease on the Sabbath, the one who made him whole was anyone other than He, who had now offended them by making one man whole on the Sabbath.

St. John Chrysostom: You all marvel—that is, you are disturbed and in an uproar. Observe how well He argues with them from the law. He wishes to prove that this work was not a violation of the law. Accordingly, He shows that there are many things more important to observing the Sabbath than the rule itself, and by observing them, the law is not broken but fulfilled. He says, Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath day.

St. Augustine of Hippo: It is as if He said, "You have done well to receive circumcision from Moses—not because it is from Moses, but from the fathers, for Abraham first received circumcision from the Lord. And you circumcise on the Sabbath." Moses has convicted you: you received a law to circumcise on the eighth day, and you received a law to rest on the seventh day. If the eighth day after a child is born happens to be the Sabbath, you circumcise the child. This is because circumcision pertains to salvation and is a sign of it, and people ought not to rest from the work of salvation on the Sabbath.

Alcuin of York: Circumcision was given for three reasons: first, as a sign of Abraham’s great faith; second, to distinguish the Jews from other nations; and third, so that receiving it on the male organ might admonish us to observe chastity in both body and mind. Circumcision then possessed the same virtue that baptism does now, only the gate was not yet open. Our Lord concludes, If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath day so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I have made a man every whit whole on the Sabbath day?

St. John Chrysostom: This is as much as to say, "Breaking the Sabbath for circumcision is actually keeping the law, and in the same way, I have kept the law by healing on the Sabbath. You, who are not the legislators, enforce the law beyond its proper bounds, whereas Moses made the law yield to the observance of a commandment that did not come from the law, but from the fathers." His saying, I have made a man every whit whole on the Sabbath day, implies that circumcision was only a partial healing.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Circumcision was also, perhaps, a type of our Lord Himself. For what is circumcision but a stripping away of the flesh, which signifies stripping the heart of its carnal lusts? It was not without reason, therefore, that it was applied to that member by which mortal life is propagated, for by one man sin entered into the world. Everyone is born with a foreskin because everyone is born with the fault inherent in that propagation. God does not change us from the corruption of our birth, or from what we have contracted through a bad life, except through Christ.

Therefore, they circumcised with knives of stone to prefigure Christ, who is the Stone. They did this on the eighth day because our Lord’s resurrection took place on the day after the seventh day—and it is this resurrection that circumcises us, that is, destroys our carnal appetites. Our Lord intended this as a type of His good work in making a man every whit whole on the Sabbath day, for the man was healed so that he might be whole in body, and he believed so that he might be whole in mind. You are indeed forbidden to do servile work on the Sabbath, but is it servile work to heal on the Sabbath? You eat and drink on the Sabbath because it is necessary for your health, which shows that works of healing are by no means to be omitted on the Sabbath.

St. John Chrysostom: He does not say, however, "I have done a greater work than circumcision." He only states the facts and leaves the judgment to them, saying, Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. This is as if to say, "Do not decide based on personal prominence, just because Moses has a greater name with you than I do. Instead, decide based on the nature of the act itself, for this is to judge righteously." No one, however, has blamed Moses for making the Sabbath yield to the commandment of circumcision, which was not derived from the law but from another source. Moses, then, commands the law to be broken to give effect to a commandment not from the law, and he is more worthy of belief than you are.

St. Augustine of Hippo: What our Lord tells us to avoid here—judging by the person—is very difficult to avoid in this world. His admonition to the Jews is an admonition to us as well, for every sentence our Lord uttered was written for us, is preserved for us, and is read for our benefit. Our Lord is in heaven, but as the Truth, He is here as well. The body with which He rose can be in only one place, but His truth is spread everywhere.

Who, then, is the one who does not judge by the person? It is the one who loves all alike. For we are not guilty of showing partiality when we pay people different degrees of honor according to their station in life. For example, there may be a case to decide between a father and a son. We should not put the son on an equal level with the father in terms of honor. However, in respect to the truth, if the son has the better case, we should give him preference. In this way, we give each their due, so that justice does not undermine what is deserved.