Thomas Aquinas Commentary John 14:22-26

"Judas (not Iscariot) saith unto him, Lord, what is come to pass that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my word: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my words: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father`s who sent me. These things have I spoken unto you, while [yet] abiding with you. But the Comforter, [even] the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you." — John 14:22-26 (ASV)

1. Previously, our Lord promised the disciples that He would come to them; here He clears up a point of confusion for one of the disciples.

First, we see the bewildered disciple. Second, we see Christ’s answer: Jesus answered and said to him.

2. Regarding the first point, when humble and saintly people hear great things about themselves, they are usually astonished and bewildered. The disciples had just heard our Lord say, yet a little while, and the world will see me no more. But you will see me (John 14:19), and so on. It seemed that He was preferring the apostles over the entire world. Thus Judas, the brother of James, whose letter is part of Holy Scripture, was bewildered and astonished, and said, Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world? (John 14:22). This is like saying, “Why will you do this? Are we superior to the whole world?” David said something similar: Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? (2 Samuel 7:18). And the righteous also say: Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you? (Matthew 25:37).

3. Then, with the words, Jesus answered and said to him, Christ’s answer is given. His answer is structured as follows:

• First, Christ states the reason why He will manifest Himself to the disciples and not to the world.
• Second, He explains something He had said: and the word which you have heard, is not mine.

Within the first part, He shows:

• First, why He will manifest Himself to His disciples.
• Second, why He will not manifest Himself to the world, which is explained in the phrase, he who does not love me, keeps not my words.

Regarding the disciples, we see:

• First, their fitness to have Christ manifest Himself to them.
• Second, the manner and order of this manifestation, beginning with, and my Father will love him.

In regard to their fitness, He mentions two things that make a person fit to receive God’s manifestation: the first is love, and the second is obedience.

4. Regarding love, He says, if anyone loves me. Three things are necessary for a person who wants to see God. First, one must draw near to God: those who approach his feet will receive his teaching (Deuteronomy 33:3). Second, one must lift up his eyes to see God: lift up your eyes on high and see who created these things (Isaiah 40:26). And third, one must take time to look, for spiritual things cannot be seen if one is absorbed by earthly things: take time and see that the Lord is sweet (Psalms 34:8).

It is love that accomplishes these three things. Love joins our soul to God: he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him (1 John 4:16). It also makes us look at God: for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:21). As the saying goes, “Where your love is, there your eyes are.” Love also frees us from worldly matters: if anyone loves the world, perfect love for God is not in him (1 John 2:15). Conversely, one who perfectly loves God does not love the world.

5. Obedience follows from love, and so He says, he will keep my word. Gregory says: The proof of love is one’s actions. Love for God is never lazy: if it is present it accomplishes great things; if it refuses to work, it is not love.Forty Gospel Homilies 30.1.

The will, especially when it is concerned with an end, moves the other faculties to their actions. A person does not rest until he does what will bring him to his intended end, especially if it is intensely desired. Therefore, when a person’s will is intent on God as its end, it moves all its faculties to do those things that attain Him. It is love that makes one intent on God, and thus it is love that causes us to keep the commandments: the love of Christ controls us (2 Corinthians 5:14); its flashes are flashes of fire (Song of Solomon 8:6). And through obedience, a person is made fit to see God: through your precepts, that is, as I have kept them, I get understanding (Psalms 119:104). Again, I understood more than the aged (Psalms 119:100).

6. Then when He says, and my Father will love him, we see the manner and order of this manifestation. Three things are needed for a divine manifestation to be made to us.

The first is divine love, and He refers to this when He says, and my Father will love him. We explained above why the future tense is used, will love: He is referring to the effect of love. From the point of view of His will to do good, God loves us from eternity: yet I have loved Jacob but I have hated Esau (Malachi 1:2–3). Jesus does not say here, “I will love him,” because He had already made that clear to them before: I love those who love me (Proverbs 8:17). It remained for Him to say that the Father would love them: he loved the people: all the saints are in his hand (Deuteronomy 33:3).

7. The second thing needed is for the divine to come to us; referring to this, He says, and we will come to him.

An objection to this is that for something to come, it has to change its location. But God does not change.

Therefore, I answer that God is said to come to us not because He moves to us, but because we move to Him. Something comes into a place where it previously was not, but this does not apply to God since He is everywhere: Do I not fill heaven and earth? (Jeremiah 23:24). Rather, God is said to come to someone because He is there in a new way—a way He had not been there before—that is, by the effect of His grace. It is by this effect of grace that He makes us approach Him.

8. According to Augustine, God comes to us in three ways, and we go to Him in the same three ways.Tractates on the Gospel of John 76.2–3.

1. First, He comes to us by filling us with His effects, and we go to Him by receiving them: Come to me, you who desire me, and eat your fill of my produce .
2. Second, God comes to us by enlightening us, and we go to Him by thinking of Him: Come to him and be enlightened (Psalms 34:5).
3. Third, He comes to us by helping us, and we go to Him by obeying, because we cannot obey unless helped by Christ: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord (Isaiah 2:3).

9. Why does He not mention the Holy Spirit?

Augustine says that we should not read this to mean the Spirit will be excluded when the Father and Son come, because we read above that the Spirit was given so that he may abide with you forever (John 14:16).Tractates on the Gospel of John 76.4. Since in the Trinity there is a distinction of persons and a unity of essence, sometimes the three persons are mentioned to indicate the distinction of the persons. At other times, only two of the three persons are mentioned to indicate the unity of essence.

Alternatively, one could say that since the Holy Spirit is nothing other than the love of the Father and the Son, when the Father and Son are mentioned, the Spirit is implied.

10. The third thing required for the manifestation of God is the continuation of each of the above, that is, of the love of God and of His coming to us. Regarding these, He says, and make our abode with him. Two things are indicated here. First, when He says, abode, He indicates the stability with which we cling to God. God comes to some by faith but does not remain, because they believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away (Luke 8:13). He comes to others through their sorrow for sin, yet He does not stay with them because they return to their sins: like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool that repeats his folly (Proverbs 26:11). But He remains forever in His predestined ones: I am with you always, to the close of the age (Matthew 28:20).

Second, these words indicate the intimacy of Christ with us: with him, that is, with the one who loves and obeys Him. He takes pleasure in us, and has us take pleasure in Him, delighting in the sons of men (Proverbs 8:31). And your God will rejoice over you (Isaiah 62:5).

11. Chrysostom gives this a different meaning.Commentary on Saint John 75.3. He says that when Judas heard, I will not leave you orphans (John 14:18), and again, but you see me (John 14:19), he thought that after His death Christ would come to them as the dead appear to us in a dream. So he asks, how is it, that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world? This was like saying, “How unfortunate for us! You will die and can only help us as the dead do.” To exclude this idea, Christ says, “I and the Father will come to him,” that is, as the Father manifests Himself, so I do also, and make our abode with him, which is not done in dreams, where there is no duration of time.

12. Now He gives the reason why He will not manifest Himself to the world: this reason is the lack of those things for which He says He will manifest Himself. For when the cause is absent, the effect is absent. The causes for a divine manifestation are not found in worldly people, and so God will not manifest Himself to the world and the worldly.

It is clear that they do not have the cause, because the world does not love him. Referring to this, He says, he who does not love me. Furthermore, they do not obey Him, and so He says, keeps not my words. As Gregory says: To love God it is necessary to use our words, our minds, and our lives.Forty Gospel Homilies 30.2. The reason is obvious why God will manifest Himself to His own and not to the world. It is because His own truly have love, and it is love that distinguishes the saints from the world: he hides the light from the proud. He shows his friend that he owns it (Job 36:32); the deep says: ‘It is not in me,’ and the sea, that is, one who is disordered, says: ‘It is not with me’ (Job 28:14).

13. Then when He says, and the word which you have heard, is not mine, He clarifies what He had just said: if anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him. Someone might say that there was no reason for this statement, and that it would be more reasonable to have said, “I will love him, and I will come to him.” To exclude this idea, He says, and the word which you have heard is not mine, that is, it is not Mine as coming from Myself, but it is Mine as coming from another—from the Father, who sent Me. It is like saying, “One who does not hear this word does not just fail to love Me; he also does not love the Father.” Therefore, one who loves both Christ and the Father deserves a manifestation of each. So He says: and the word which you have heard, spoken by Me as a human being, is indeed Mine insofar as I speak it, and yet it is not mine, insofar as it is Mine from another: my doctrine is not mine (John 7:16); the words that I speak to you, I speak not of myself (John 14:10).

14. Augustine remarks that when our Lord refers to His own words He uses the plural, my words, but when He speaks of the utterance of the Father, He uses the singular form, the word which you have heard is not mine. He does this because He wants us to understand that the word of the Father is Himself, the unique Word of the Father.Tractates on the Gospel of John 76.5. Thus He says He is from the Father and not from Himself, because He is neither His own image nor His own Son, but the Son and Image of the Father. Yet all the words in our heart are from this unique Word of the Father.

15. Here our Lord promises gifts to His disciples. He had promised them both the Holy Spirit and Himself. So now He first mentions what they will receive when the Holy Spirit comes, and second, what they will receive from Himself: peace I leave with you, my peace I give you (John 14:27).

From the coming of the Holy Spirit they will receive great things, namely an understanding of all the words of Christ. In regard to this, He first mentions what He taught them, and second, He promises they will understand them: but the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit . . . he will teach you all things.

16. He says, regarding the first point, these things, what I have said, have I spoken to you, by the instrument of My human nature, abiding with you, as bodily present. It is indeed a very great favor that the Son Himself should speak to us and teach us: God, who at various times and in various ways spoke to the fathers through the prophets, in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son (Hebrews 1:1–2); what is all flesh that it should hear its Lord? (Deuteronomy 5:26).

17. He promises them that they will understand His teachings through the Holy Spirit, who will give Himself to them. He says, the Paraclete . . . will teach you all things.

He does three things concerning the Holy Spirit:

• He describes Him.
• He mentions His mission.
• He mentions His effect.

18. He describes the Holy Spirit in several ways: as the Paraclete, as Spirit, and as Holy.

He is the Paraclete because He consoles us. He consoles us in our sorrows which arise from the troubles of this world: fighting without and fear within (2 Corinthians 7:5); who comforts us in all our affliction (2 Corinthians 1:4). He does this because He is love, and causes us to love God and give Him great honor. For this reason we endure insults with joy: then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name (Acts 5:41); rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven (Matthew 5:12). He also consoles us in our sadness over past sins; Matthew refers to this in blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted (Matthew 5:4). He does this because He gives us the hope of forgiveness: receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you will forgive, they are forgiven them (John 20:22–23); to appoint to the mourners of Zion (Isaiah 61:3).

He is the Spirit because He moves hearts to obey God: he will come like a rushing stream, which the Spirit of the Lord drives (Isaiah 59:19); for all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God (Romans 8:14).

He is Holy because He consecrates us to God, and all consecrated things are called holy: do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you (1 Corinthians 6:19); there is a river whose streams make glad the city of God (Psalms 46:4).

19. Then when He says, whom the Father will send in my name, He refers to the mission of the Spirit. We should not think the Spirit comes by a physical motion, but rather by being in them in a new way in which He was not before: when you send forth your Spirit, they are created, that is, with a spiritual existence (Psalms 104:30).

Notice that the Holy Spirit is sent by the Father and the Son. To show this, Christ sometimes says that the Father sends Him, as He does here; and He sometimes says that He Himself sends Him: I will send him to you (John 16:7). Yet Christ never says that the Spirit is sent by the Father without mentioning Himself. So He says here, whom the Father will send in my name. Nor does Christ say that the Spirit is sent by Himself, the Son, without mentioning the Father: the Paraclete . . . whom I will send to you from the Father (John 15:26).

20. Why does He say, in my name? Will the Holy Spirit be called the Son?

One could answer that this was said because the Holy Spirit was given to the faithful when they invoked the name of Christ. But it is better to say that just as the Son comes in the name of the Father, I have come in the name of my Father (John 5:43), so the Holy Spirit comes in the name of the Son. Now the Son comes in the name of the Father not because He is the Father, but because He is the Son of the Father. In a similar way, the Holy Spirit comes in the name of the Son not because He was to be called the Son, but because He is the Spirit of the Son: anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him (Romans 8:9); God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts (Galatians 4:6). He is the Spirit of His Son, not because He was to be called the Son: he predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son (Romans 8:29). The basis for this is the consubstantiality of the Son with the Father and of the Holy Spirit with the Son. Likewise, as the Son comes in the name of the Father, so His faithful are subject to the Father—and have made us to our God as a kingdom and priests and we will reign on the earth (Revelation 5:10)—so the Holy Spirit conforms us to the Son, insofar as He adopts us to be sons of God: you have received the spirit of adoption of sons, by which we cry: Abba (Romans 8:15).

21. Next He mentions the effect of the Holy Spirit, saying, he will teach you all things. Just as the effect of the mission of the Son was to lead us to the Father, so the effect of the mission of the Holy Spirit is to lead the faithful to the Son. Now the Son, since He is begotten Wisdom, is truth itself: I am the way, and the truth, and the life (John 14:6). And so the effect of this mission is to make us sharers in the divine wisdom and knowers of the truth. The Son, since He is the Word, gives teaching to us; but the Holy Spirit enables us to grasp it.

He says, he will teach you all things, because no matter what a person may teach by his outward actions, he will have no effect unless the Holy Spirit gives understanding from within. For unless the Spirit is present to the heart of the listener, the words of the teacher will be useless: the breath of the Almighty makes him understand (Job 32:8). This is true even to the extent that the Son Himself, speaking by means of His human nature, is not successful unless He works from within by the Holy Spirit.

22. We read before that everyone who has heard of the Father and has learned, comes to me (John 6:45, as discussed in the commentary on chapter 6, lecture 5). Here He is expanding on this, because one does not learn without the Holy Spirit teaching. He is saying in effect: “One who receives the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son knows the Father and the Son and comes to them.” The Spirit makes us know all things by inspiring us from within, by directing us, and by lifting us up to spiritual things. Just as one whose sense of taste is impaired does not have a true knowledge of flavors, so one who is tainted by love of the world cannot taste divine things: the natural man does not perceive the things of the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 2:14).

23. Since reminding a person of something is the task of a subordinate, like an agent in divine affairs, will we say that the Holy Spirit, who brings things to our mind, is inferior to us?

According to Gregory, we should say that the Holy Spirit is said to remind us of things not as though He brought us knowledge from below, but because in a hidden way He aids our ability to know.Forty Gospel Homilies 30.3. Or, one could say the Spirit teaches because He makes us share in the wisdom of the Son, and He brings things to our remembrance because, being love, He incites us. Or, the Spirit will bring all things to your mind, whatever I have said to you, that is, He will recall them to your memory: all the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord (Psalms 22:27).

We should notice that of all the things Christ said to His disciples, some were not understood, and others were not remembered. Thus our Lord says, he will teach you all things, which you cannot now understand, and bring all things to your mind that you cannot remember. How could John the Evangelist, after so many years, have remembered all the sayings of Christ he wrote in his Gospel unless the Holy Spirit had brought them to his mind?