Thomas Aquinas Commentary John 12:37-41

"But though he had done so many signs before them, yet they believed not on him: that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? For this cause they could not believe, for that Isaiah said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and he hardened their heart; Lest they should see with their eyes, and perceive with their heart, And should turn, And I should heal them. These things said Isaiah, because he saw his glory; and he spake of him." — John 12:37-41 (ASV)

1. Above, the Evangelist gave many examples of Christ’s glory, because of which the Jews sought to kill Him out of envy. Now he deals with another of the occasions surrounding His passion: the unbelief of the Jews.

   First, their unbelief is discussed; second, it is reproved by our Lord: but Jesus cried (John 12:44).

   Concerning the first point, he does two things:

   • He reproves the unbelief of those who in no way believed.
   • He reproves the unbelief of those who believed, but in secret: however, many of the chief men also believed in him (John 12:42).

   As to the first of these, two things are done:

   • First, he mentions the strange hardness of their unbelief.
   • Second, to show that it came about not by chance or without reason, he mentions a prophecy: that the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled.

2. The Evangelist, as though at a loss to explain it, says that our Lord had done many miracles, such as changing water into wine (John 2), curing a paralytic (John 5), giving sight to a blind man (John 9), and raising a dead man to life (John 11). Nevertheless, and whereas he had done so many miracles before them, they believed not in him. They used to say, “What sign do you show, that we may see and believe you?” (John 6:30). But now the Evangelist says, and whereas he had done so many miracles before them, they believed not in him. As Christ says below, “If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin” (John 15:24). And so they could not say, “We do not see our signs” (Psalms 74:9).

3. Then the testimony of the prophet on this point is cited: that the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled.

   First, the prophecies are mentioned; second, it is shown that they refer to Christ: these things said Isaiah, when he saw his glory.

   Regarding the first point, he does two things:

   • He cites the prophecy foretelling their unbelief.
   • He adds the prophecy foretelling the reason for their unbelief: therefore they could not believe.

4. He says, “I say that they did not believe in Him, that the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled.”

   Here we should note that in Sacred Scripture the word ‘that’ sometimes indicates a cause, as in, “I have come that they may have life” (John 10:10). At other times, however, it indicates only a sequence of events and signifies a future occurrence; that is how it is used here. These people did not believe, but it was not because Isaiah predicted this. Rather, Isaiah predicted this because they were not going to believe. And so this saying of Isaiah is fulfilled by the fact that they did not believe. “Everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44); “not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished” (Matthew 5:18).

5. But if it was necessary that the saying of Isaiah be fulfilled, it seems that the Jews should be excused for not believing, for they could not act contrary to the prophecy.

   I answer that the prophecy took account of their freedom. For God, knowing the future beforehand, foretold their unbelief in the prophecy, but He did not bring it about. God does not force one to sin just because He already knows one’s future sins. And so our Lord, from whom nothing is hidden, predicted that the Jews would commit the sin which they did, in fact, commit.

6. Now the Evangelist states what the prophet said: “Lord, who has believed our hearing, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

   Here we should note that faith comes in two ways. Sometimes it comes by instruction from another, which is the usual way: “So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ” (Romans 10:17). Sometimes it comes by a divine revelation, which is the special way, spoken of by the Apostle: “For I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:12).

7. Isaiah foretold that there would be few believers, saying, “Who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?” (Isaiah 53:1). First, concerning those who would believe in the usual way, by instruction, he says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” This can be understood in two ways.

   In one way, the meaning is: “Who has believed our report?”—that is, what You reported to us, what we have heard from You. “We have heard tidings from the Lord” (Obadiah 1:1); “let us hear what the Lord will speak” (Psalms 85:8). It is as if they were saying, “Lord, we have heard these things from You. But who will believe us when we tell what we have heard from You about Your birth and passion?” This entire chapter of Isaiah (Isaiah 53) speaks of these things.

   Prophets are said to “hear” to suggest the way in which they are instructed. By sight, a person receives immediate knowledge of the thing seen, but by hearing, one does not have immediate knowledge of the thing itself; rather, one gains knowledge from certain signs of it. And so, because the prophets did not immediately see the divine essence, but only certain signs of divine realities, they are said to hear. “If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision, I speak with him in a dream”—by certain signs (Numbers 12:6). The Son, however, eternally sees the divine essence itself: “No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has made him known” (John 1:18), as was said above. “Who has believed our report?” That is, who has believed in the things we have heard and preached? “What I have heard from the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I announce to you” (Isaiah 21:10).

   The second way of understanding “who has believed our report?” is to take it as meaning the things we report to them, what they have heard from us. “They hear what you say but they will not do it, for they turn them into a song of their mouth” (Ezekiel 33:31).

8. As to the special way faith comes, by revelation, he says, “and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” The arm refers to the Son, through whom the Father does all things, just as we accomplish things through our arm. If we accomplished things only through an interior word, then this word would be called our arm. And so the Son is called the arm of God not because God the Father has a human shape and a physical arm, but because “all things were made through him,” the Son (John 1:3). “Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his?” (Job 40:9); “he has shown strength with his arm” (Luke 1:51).

9. Note that Sabellius misunderstood this passage and said that the Father and the Son are the same person. Arius also did when he said that the Son is inferior to the Father. The reasons for this were that a person and his arm do not form two persons, but only one, and an arm is not equal to the person.

   The answer to this is that in expressions of this kind, the similarities are not truly adequate, for what we find in creatures does not perfectly represent what is in God. Thus Dionysius says that symbolic theology is not argumentative. The Son is not called an arm as though He is the same person as the Father or inferior to the Father, but because the Father does all things through Him. When he says, “and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” it is like saying, “Only to a few,” that is, to the apostles: “God has revealed to us through the Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:10).

10. When the Evangelist says, “therefore they could not believe,” he states the prophecy which foretold the reason for their unbelief. If we examine these words of the Evangelist, they seem, if taken at face value, difficult to understand.

    First, if it is said that “therefore they could not believe” because Isaiah said this, the Jews seem to be excusable. For is it a sin for a person not to do what he cannot do? What is more serious, the fault will be cast back on God, since He blinded their eyes. This could be accepted if it were said of the devil: “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers” (2 Corinthians 4:4). But here it is said of our Lord: “I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne” (Isaiah 6:1); and later: “Blind the heart of this people and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and be converted and I heal them” (Isaiah 6:10).

11. To clarify this, let us first explain the statement, “therefore they could not believe.” Here we should note that something is said to be impossible or necessary in two ways: absolutely, and conditionally (that is, given a certain presupposition). For example, it is absolutely impossible for a human being to be a donkey. But given a certain presupposition, it is impossible for me to be outside my house, presupposing that I remain sitting inside it. With this in mind, we may say that a person is excused if he does not do things that are absolutely impossible for him. But he is not excused if he does not do things that are impossible for him given some presupposition. So, if someone has the evil intention of always stealing and says that it is impossible for him not to sin as long as he continues with that intention, he is not excused. This impossibility is not absolute but is based on a certain presupposition, for he can abandon his evil intention. So he says, “therefore they could not believe,” that is, because they had a will clouded over by their wickedness: “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil” (Jeremiah 13:23); “How can you do good things when you are evil?” (Matthew 12:34). It is like someone saying, “I can in no way love him, because I hate him.”

    As to the second point, when we read that God blinds and hardens, we should not think that God puts malice into us or forces us to sin. We should understand it as meaning that God does not infuse grace. He infuses grace because of His mercy, while the cause of His not infusing grace is due to us, insofar as there is something in us which opposes divine grace. As far as He is concerned, “he enlightens every man coming into this world” (John 1:9); “he desires all men to be saved” (1 Timothy 2:4). But because we leave God, He takes His grace from us: “Because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you” (Hosea 4:6); “Your destruction, O Israel, is from yourself; your help is only in me” (Hosea 13:9). It is like a person who closes the shutters of his house, and someone says to him, “You cannot see because you lack the light of the sun.” This would not be due to a failure of the sun, but because he shut out the light of the sun. In the same way, we read here that they could not believe because God blinded them; that is, they were the cause of their being deprived of sight: “Their wickedness blinded them” .

12. With these distinctions in mind, let us consider the words of this prophecy. It is found in Isaiah, not in these exact words, but with the same meaning (Isaiah 6:10). Three things are mentioned here:

    1. The hardening and blinding of the Jews.
    2. The effect of each of these: that they should not see.
    3. Their end: and be converted, and I should heal them.

13. In regard to the first, note that our Lord brought people to the faith in two ways: by His miracles and His teaching. And so He rebukes them on both points: “If I had not done among them the works that no other man has done, they would not have sin” (John 15:24); and again: “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin” (John 15:22). For they had derided both.

    Insofar as they did not give due consideration to Christ’s miracles, he says, “He has blinded their eyes”—that is, the eyes of their hearts, about which we read: “having the eyes of your hearts enlightened” (Ephesians 1:18). For they should have understood that such miracles could only be done by divine power: “You see many things, but do not observe them” (Isaiah 42:20); and again, “Who is blind but my servant? Or deaf, except he to whom I have sent my messengers?” (Isaiah 42:19).

    Because they were not moved by the teaching of Christ, he adds, “and hardened their heart.” That which is not melted by intense heat nor broken by divine blows is very hard. Now the words of Christ are “like fire... and like a hammer which breaks the rock in pieces” (Jeremiah 23:29). They are like fire because they inflame through love, and like a hammer because they terrify when they threaten and break one by the revelation of the truth. And still the hearts of the Jews paid no attention to the words of Christ. Thus it is obvious that they were hardened: “His heart is hard as a stone” (Job 41:24); “He has mercy upon whomever he wills, and he hardens the heart of whomever he wills” (Romans 9:18).

14. The effect of their becoming blind is mentioned when he says, “that they should not see with their eyes”—that is, their spiritual eyes—and perceive the divinity of Christ: “They have eyes, but do not see” (Psalms 115:5). In contrast, Luke says, “Blessed are the eyes which see what you see!” (Luke 10:23). The effect of their becoming hard of heart is mentioned when he says, “nor understand with their heart”: “Because no one understands, they will perish forever” (Job 4:20); “He would not understand so that he might act well” (Psalms 36:3).

    Here it should be noted that the word that does not indicate a cause, but merely the sequence of events.

15. The end of their becoming blind and hard in heart is given when he says, “and be converted, and I should heal them.” This can be understood in two ways, as Augustine says in his work, On Gospel Questions. In one way, both parts are negative, and the meaning would be: and they do not turn to Me, and I do not heal them. For the way of salvation from sin is to turn to God: “Restore us to thyself, O Lord, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old!” (Lamentations 5:21). But to those who prove themselves unworthy to have their sins forgiven, God does not offer the gifts by which they might turn to Him and be healed, as is obvious in the case of the non-elect.

    The other interpretation is to regard only the first part as negative. Then the meaning would be: they were blinded and hardened so they should not see or understand for a time, and so not seeing or understanding—that is, not believing in Christ—they would put Him to death, but afterwards they would repent, turn to God, and be healed. For at times God permits us to fall into sin so that, being humbled, we may arise firmer in holiness.

    Each of these interpretations is verified in the case of some of the Jews: the first in those who persisted to the end in their unbelief, and the second in those who turned to Christ after His passion, namely, those with remorse in their hearts at the words of Peter, who said to the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37).

16. Then, when the Evangelist shows that these words of Isaiah apply here, he says, “These things Isaiah said when he saw his glory and spoke of him.” He says, “These things Isaiah said when he saw his glory”—the glory of God. For when he saw the glory of God, he saw at the same time that the Jews would be blinded, as is clear from, “I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne” (Isaiah 6:1), followed by, “Blind the heart of this people and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and be converted, and I heal them” (Isaiah 6:10). And because it is fitting that one should testify about what he has seen, as we read in 1 John 1:1, he adds, “and spoke of him”—that is, of Christ, whose glory he saw: “To him all the prophets bear witness” (Acts 10:43); “which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures, the Gospel concerning his Son” (Romans 1:2).

17. We read that Isaiah saw and said these things. As to the first, we should avoid the error of the Arians, who say that the Father alone is invisible to every creature, but that the Son was seen in the visions of the Old Testament. But since it is stated that “he who has seen me has seen the Father also” (John 14:9), it is obvious that the Father and the Son are visible in one and the same way. And so Isaiah, seeing the glory of the Son, also saw the glory of the Father, and indeed of the entire Trinity, which is one God, seated upon a high throne before whom the seraphim cry out, “Holy, holy, holy!” This does not mean that Isaiah saw the essence of the Trinity; rather, in an imaginary vision, with understanding, he perceived certain signs of this majesty: “If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision, I speak with him in a dream” (Numbers 12:6).

18. As to the second thing, that Isaiah “spoke of him,” this excludes the error of the Manicheans, who said that there were no prophecies about Christ in the Old Testament, as Augustine reports to us in his book Against Faustus. It also excludes the error of Theodore of Mopsuestia, who said that all the prophecies of the Old Testament bore on some current event, but the apostles and evangelists appropriated them to the life of Christ, just as things said about one event can be appropriated to another.

    But all this is excluded by the statement, “and spoke of him,” just as Christ said of Moses that “he wrote of me” (John 5:46).