Thomas Aquinas Commentary John 8

After discussing the origin of Christ’s doctrine, the Evangelist now considers its power. The doctrine of Christ has the power both to enlighten and to give life, because his words are spirit and life.

First, he discusses the power of Christ’s doctrine to enlighten. Second, he discusses its power to give life, beginning with, amen, amen I say to you: he who does not enter by the door into the sheepfold but climbs in another way is a thief and a robber (John 10:1).

He demonstrates the doctrine's power to enlighten first through words, and second through a miracle: and Jesus, passing by, saw a man blind from birth (John 9:1).

Regarding the first point, he does two things. First, he presents Christ's teaching. Second, he shows the power of this teaching, starting at the verse, Jesus spoke to them again (John 8:12).

The role of a teacher involves two things: instructing the sincere and refuting opponents.

Accordingly, Christ first instructs the sincere, and second, he refutes his opponents, beginning with the passage, and the scribes and Pharisees brought to him a woman caught in adultery.

In this first section, the Evangelist does three things: he mentions the place of the teaching, those who listened to it, and the teacher himself.

This teaching took place in the temple, so he first mentions that Jesus left the temple and then that he returned.

1. He mentions that Jesus left the temple, saying, and Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. When our Lord was in Jerusalem for the festival days, he made it his practice to preach in the temple and perform miracles during the day. When evening came, he would return to Bethany on the Mount of Olives as a guest of Lazarus’s sisters, Martha and Mary. Following this pattern, the Evangelist notes that after Jesus had preached in the temple on the last day of the great feast, in the evening, he went to the Mount of Olives, where Bethany was located.
2. This is also symbolically fitting. As Augustine says, where was it appropriate for Christ to teach and show his mercy, if not on the Mount of Olives, the mount of anointing and of grace? The olive signifies mercy; so also in Greek, oleos is the same as mercy. We are told that the Samaritan applied oil and wine, which correspond to mercy and the severity of judgment (Luke 10:34).
3. Again, oil is healing: wounds and bruises and swelling sores are not bandaged or dressed, or soothed with oil (Isaiah 1:6). It also signifies the medicine of spiritual grace which has been transmitted to us by Christ: God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows (Psalms 44:8); and again, like the precious ointment on the head which ran down upon the beard (Psalms 132:2).
4. Christ’s return to the temple is described as early: and early in the morning he came again into the temple. This signifies that he was about to impart knowledge and manifest his grace in his temple—that is, in his believers: we have received your mercy, O God, in the middle of your temple (Psalms 47:10). The fact that he returned early in the morning signifies the rising light of new grace: his going forth is as sure as the dawn (Hosea 6:3).
5. Those who listened to his teaching were the sincere among the people, as it says, all the people came to him: the assembly of the people will surround you (Psalms 7:8).
6. Their teacher is presented as seated—and sitting down—that is, lowering himself to their level so that his teaching would be more easily understood. His sitting down signifies the humility of his incarnation: you knew when I sat down, and when I rose (Psalms 138:2). Because our Lord became visible through the human nature he assumed, we began to be instructed in divine matters more easily. So he says, sitting down, he taught them, that is, the simple, and those who respected his teaching: he will teach his ways to the gentle, and will guide the mild in judgment (Psalms 24:9); he will teach us his ways (Isaiah 2:3).
7. Then, with the verse, and the scribes and Pharisees brought to him a woman caught in adultery, our Lord begins to counter his opponents. First, we see him being tested so that he can then be accused. Second, he rebukes his accusers, starting at the verse, but Jesus, bending down, wrote with his finger on the ground. Regarding the first point, the Evangelist does three things. First, he mentions the occasion for the test. Second, he describes the test itself, at and said to him: Master, this woman was just now caught in adultery. Third, he explains the purpose of those who were testing our Lord, at and they said this tempting him.
8. The occasion for the test is a woman’s adultery. First, her accusers detail the crime, and second, they present the sinner herself. As Augustine says, three things were noteworthy about Christ: his truth, his gentleness, and his justice. Indeed, it was predicted of him: Go forth and reign, because of truth, gentleness, and justice (Psalms 44:5).
9. He set forth the truth as a teacher, and the Pharisees and scribes had noticed this while he was teaching: if I say the truth to you, why do you not believe me? (John 8:46). Since they could find nothing false in his words or teachings, they had stopped accusing him on that point.
10. He showed his gentleness as a liberator or savior, which they saw when he could not be provoked by his enemies and persecutors: when he was reviled, he did not revile (1 Peter 2:23). Thus: learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart (Matthew 11:29). For this reason, they did not accuse him on this point.
11. He also exercised justice as its advocate. He did this because his justice was not yet understood among the Jews, especially in legal proceedings. It was on this point that they wanted to test him, to see if he would abandon justice for the sake of mercy. So they present him with a known crime deserving of denunciation—adultery: every woman who is a harlot will be walked on like dung on the road . Then they present the sinner in person to influence him further: and they set her in the midst. This woman will be brought into the assembly, and among the sons of God .
12. At the verse, and said to him: Master, this woman was just now caught in adultery, the Evangelist shows them proceeding with their test. First, they point out the woman’s sin. Second, they state the requirement of justice according to the Law. Third, they ask him for his verdict.
13. They point out the woman’s sin when they say, this woman was just now caught in adultery. They detail her sin in three ways, calculated to turn Christ from his gentle manner. First, they mention the recency of her sin, saying just now, for an older sin does not affect us as much, because the person might have made amends. Second, they note its certainty, saying, caught, so that she could not excuse herself. This is characteristic of women: she wipes her mouth and says: I have done no evil (Proverbs 30:20). Third, they point out the gravity of her sin, in adultery, which is a serious crime and the cause of many evils. Every woman who is adulterous will sin (Sirach 9), first of all against the law of her God.
14. They appeal to the justice contained in the Law when they remark, in the law—that is, in Leviticus (Leviticus 20:10) and Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 22:21)—Moses commanded us to stone such a woman.
15. They ask Jesus for his verdict, saying, but what do you say? Their question is a trap. They are saying, in effect, that if he decides she should be let go, he will not be acting according to justice. Yet he cannot condemn her, because he came to seek and save the lost: for God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him (John 3:17). The Law could not command anything unjust. Therefore, Jesus does not say, “Let her go,” lest he seem to be acting in violation of the Law.
16. The Evangelist reveals the malicious intention of those questioning Jesus when he says, they said this tempting him, that they might accuse him. They thought Christ would say she should be let go, so as not to act contrary to his gentle manner. Then they could accuse him of violating the Law: let us not test Christ as they did (1 Corinthians 10:9).
17. Then, at the verse, but Jesus, bending down, wrote with his finger on the ground, Jesus rebukes his enemies with his wisdom. The Pharisees were testing him on two points: his justice and his mercy. But Jesus preserved both in his answer. First, the Evangelist shows how Jesus adhered to what was just. Second, he shows that Jesus did not abandon mercy, beginning at the verse, he lifted himself up and said to them. Regarding the first point, he does two things. First, he mentions the sentence in accordance with justice. Second, he shows the effect of this sentence, starting at, but hearing this, they left one by one. Concerning the first of these, he does three things. First, we see Jesus writing his sentence; then, pronouncing it; and third, continuing to write it down.
18. Jesus wrote his sentence on the earth with his finger: but Jesus, bending down, wrote with his finger on the ground. Some say he wrote the words: O earth, earth, listen . . . write down this man as sterile (Jeremiah 22:29). According to others—and this is the better opinion—Jesus wrote the very words he spoke: he who is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. However, neither of these opinions is certain.
19. Jesus wrote on the earth for three reasons. First, according to Augustine, to show that those who were testing him would be written on the earth: O Lord, all who leave you will be written on the earth (Jeremiah 17:13). But those who are just and the disciples who follow him are written in heaven: rejoice, because your names are written in heaven (Luke 10:20). Second, he wrote on the earth to show that he would perform signs on earth, for one who writes makes signs. Thus, to write on the earth is to make signs. And so it says that Jesus was bending down, signifying the mystery of the incarnation, by which he performed miracles in the flesh he had assumed. Third, he wrote on the earth because the old Law was written on tablets of stone (Exodus 31; 2 Corinthians 3), which signifies its harshness: a man who violates the law of Moses dies without mercy (Hebrews 10:28). The earth, however, is soft. Jesus therefore wrote on the earth to show the gentleness and softness of the new law he gave us.
20. From this, we can see that three things should be considered when giving sentences. First, there should be kindness in humbling oneself before those to be punished; and so it says, Jesus, bending down. As Scripture says, there is judgment without mercy to him who does not have mercy (James 2:13), and, if a man is overtaken in any fault, you who are spiritual instruct him in a spirit of mildness (Galatians 6:1). Second, there should be discretion in determining the judgment, and so it says that Jesus wrote with his finger, which signifies discretion because of its flexibility: the fingers of a man’s hand appeared, writing (Daniel 5:5). Third, there should be certainty about the sentence given, and so it says, Jesus wrote.
21. It was at their insistence that Jesus gave his sentence. The Evangelist says, when they continued asking him, he lifted himself up and said to them: he who is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. The Pharisees were violators of the Law, yet they tried to accuse Christ of violating the Law and attempted to make him condemn the woman. So Christ proposes a sentence in accord with justice, saying, he who is without sin. He is saying, in effect: let the sinner be punished, but not by sinners; let the Law be fulfilled, but not by those who break it, because when you judge another you condemn yourself (Romans 2:1). Therefore, either let this woman go, or suffer the penalty of the Law with her.
22. Here the question arises as to whether a sinful judge sins by passing sentence against another person who has committed the same sin. It is obvious that if the judge who passes sentence is a public sinner, he sins by causing scandal. Yet, this also seems to be true if his sin is hidden, for we read: when you judge another you condemn yourself (Romans 2:1). However, it is clear that no one condemns himself except by sinning. Thus, it seems that he sins by judging another.
23. My answer is that two distinctions must be made. The judge is either continuing in his determination to sin or has repented of his sins. Furthermore, he is either punishing as a minister of the Law or on his own initiative. If he has repented of his sin, he is no longer a sinner, and so he can pass sentence without sinning. But if he continues in his determination to sin, he does not sin by passing sentence if he does this as a minister of the Law, although he would be sinning by doing the very things for which he himself deserves a similar sentence. But if he passes sentence on his own authority, then I say that he sins—not in the act of justice itself, but from some evil root. Otherwise, he would first punish in himself what he notices in someone else, because a just person is the first to accuse himself (Proverbs 18:17).
24. Jesus continued to write: and again bending down, he wrote. He did this, first, to show the firmness of his sentence: God is not like a man, who may lie, or like a son of man, so that he may change (Numbers 23:19). Second, he did it to show that they were not worthy to look at him. Because he had disturbed them with his zeal for justice, he did not think it fitting to look at them, but turned from their sight. Third, he did this out of consideration for their embarrassment, to give them complete freedom to leave.
25. The effect of his justice is their shame: but hearing this, they left one by one. They left both because they had been involved in more serious sins and their consciences gnawed at them more (iniquity came out from the elder judges who were seen to rule the people,Daniel 13:5), and because they better realized the fairness of his sentence (I will go therefore to the great men and speak to them: for they have known the way of the Lord and the judgment of their God, Jeremiah 5:5). And Jesus alone remained, and the woman standing in the midst—that is, mercy and misery remained.
26. Jesus alone remained because he alone was without sin. As the Psalm says, there is no one who does what is good, not even one (Psalms 13:1), except for Christ. So perhaps this woman was afraid and thought she would be punished by him. If only Jesus remained, why does it say the woman was standing in the midst? I answer that the woman was standing in the center of the disciples, so the word alone excludes the outsiders, not the disciples. Or, we could say she was in the midst of doubt, uncertain whether she would be forgiven or condemned. Thus, it is clear that our Lord’s answer preserved justice.
27. Then, at the verse, then Jesus lifting himself up, said to her, the Evangelist shows that Jesus did not abandon mercy but gave a merciful sentence. First, Jesus questions the woman; second, he forgives her; and finally, he cautions her.
28. Jesus questioned her about her accusers. Thus it says that Jesus, lifting himself up—that is, turning from the ground on which he was writing and looking at the woman—said to her: woman, where are they who accused you? He asks about her condemnation, saying, has no man condemned you? She answers, no one, Lord.
29. Jesus forgives her, and so it says, then Jesus said: neither will I condemn you. He says, in effect, “I, whom you perhaps feared would condemn you because you saw that I was without sin, will not condemn you.” This should not surprise us, for God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him (John 3:17), and I do not desire the death of the sinner (Ezekiel 18:23).
30. He forgave her sin without imposing any penance. This is because by outwardly forgiving her, he also made her inwardly just. He was able to change her heart so completely with sufficient sorrow for her sins that she was freed from any need for penance. This should not be taken as a precedent for anyone to forgive another without confession and the assigning of a penance based on Christ’s example. Christ has power over the sacraments and could confer their effect without the sacrament itself. No mere human can do this.
31. Finally, Jesus cautions her, saying, go, and sin no more. There were two things in that woman: her nature and her sin. Our Lord could have condemned both. For example, he could have condemned her nature if he had ordered them to stone her, and he could have condemned her sin if he had not forgiven her. He was also able to absolve both. For example, he could have given her license to sin, saying: “Go, live as you wish, and put your hope in my deliverance. No matter how much you sin, I will free you even from Gehenna and the tortures of hell.” But our Lord does not love sin and does not condone wrongdoing. Therefore, he condemned her sin but not her nature, saying, go, and sin no more. We see here how kind our Lord is because of his gentleness, and how just he is because of his truth.

1. The Evangelist has presented Christ as teaching; now he shows two things. First, he shows the power this teaching has to give light. Second, he shows what Christ himself said about it, beginning with the Pharisees’ objection: you give testimony about yourself.

   With respect to the first point, the Evangelist does three things. First, he states Christ’s prerogative concerning spiritual light. Second, he shows the effect of this prerogative: he who follows me does not walk in darkness. Third, he reveals its fruit: but will have the light of life.

2. Regarding Christ’s prerogative as the spiritual light, the Evangelist says, Jesus spoke to them again, saying: I am the light of the world. We can connect this statement to what came before. Christ had just forgiven the woman’s sin, saying, neither will I condemn you (John 8:11). So that they would have no doubt that He could forgive sins, He chose to show the power of His divinity more openly by declaring that He is the light that drives away the darkness of sin.

   Alternatively, we can connect this statement with what the Pharisees said earlier: search the Scriptures and see that, out of Galilee, a prophet does not rise (John 7:52). Because they thought of Him as a Galilean, linked to a specific place, they rejected His teaching. In response, our Lord shows them that He is the universal light of the entire world, saying, I am the light of the world—not just of Galilee, or of Palestine, or of Judea.

3. As Augustine relates, the Manicheans misunderstood this. Because they judged by their imagination, which cannot rise to intellectual and spiritual realities, they believed that only bodies existed. Thus, they said that God was a body and a kind of infinite light. They further thought that the sun we see with our physical eyes was Christ the Lord, and that this is why Christ said, I am the light of the world.

   However, this opinion is untenable, and the Catholic Church rejects such a fiction. The physical sun is a light that can be perceived by the senses. Consequently, it is not the highest light, which the intellect alone grasps. This higher light is the intelligible light characteristic of the rational creature, and it is this light Christ speaks of here: I am the light of the world. As we read earlier: he was the true light, which enlightens every man coming into this world (John 1:9).

   Perceptible light is an image of spiritual light. Every sensible thing is particular, whereas intellectual things are a kind of whole. Just as physical light affects both the thing seen (by making colors visible) and the one seeing (by conditioning the eye for sight), so intellectual light enables the intellect to know. This is because all light in a rational creature is derived from that supreme light which enlightens every man coming into the world.

   Furthermore, this supreme light makes all things intelligible, since all forms—which give things the capacity to be known—are derived from it, just as the forms of artifacts are derived from the art and reason of the artisan. As it is written, how magnificent are your works, O Lord! You have made all things in wisdom (Psalms 103:24). Thus, Christ truly says, I am the light of the world; He is not the sun that was made, but the One who made the sun. Yet as Augustine says, the light who made the sun was Himself made under the sun and covered with a cloud of flesh, not to be hidden but to be moderated.

4. This also eliminates the heresy of Nestorius, who said that the Son of God was united to human nature by a mere indwelling.

   For it is obvious that the one who said, I am the light of the world, was a human being. Therefore, unless the one who spoke and appeared as a human being was also the person of the Son of God, he could not have said, I am the light of the world, but rather, "the light of the world dwells in me."

5. The effect of this light is to expel darkness, and so He says, he who follows me does not walk in darkness. Because this light is universal, it universally expels all darkness.

   Now, there are three kinds of darkness. First is the darkness of ignorance: they have neither known nor understood; they walk in darkness (Psalms 81:5). This is the darkness of reason in itself, insofar as it is darkened by its own limitations. Second is the darkness of sin: you were at one time darkness, but now you are light in the Lord (Ephesians 5:8). This darkness belongs to human reason not from itself, but from affections that, being badly disposed by passion or habit, seek something as good that is not truly good. Third is the darkness of eternal damnation: cast the unprofitable servant into the exterior darkness (Matthew 25:30).

   The first two kinds of darkness are found in this life, but the third is at the end of life. Thus, one who follows Christ does not walk in darkness: not in the darkness of ignorance, because I am the truth; nor in the darkness of sin, because I am the way; nor in the darkness of eternal damnation, because I am the life.

6. He next adds the fruit of His teaching, but will have the light of life, for one who has the light is outside the darkness of damnation.

   He says, he who follows me, because just as one who does not want to stumble in the dark has to follow the one carrying the light, so one who wants to be saved must, by believing and loving, follow Christ, who is the light. This is how the apostles followed Him (Matthew 4:20). Because physical light can fail when it sets, it happens that one who follows it meets with darkness. But the light we are talking about here does not set and never fails. Consequently, one who follows it has an unfailing light of life. For the light that is visible does not give life, but gives us an external aid. We live insofar as we have understanding, and this is a participation in this divine light. When this light completely shines upon us, we will then have perfect life: with you is the fountain of life, and in your light we will see the light (Psalms 35:10). This is the same as saying we will have life perfectly when we see this light as it is. Thus we read further on: this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent (John 17:3).

   Note that the phrase, he who follows me, pertains to our merits, while the statement, will have the light of life, pertains to our reward.

7. Beginning with the Pharisees’ objection, the Evangelist presents three statements Jesus makes about Himself. The first is discussed here. The second begins with, again Jesus said to them: I go and you will seek me (John 8:21). The third begins with, amen, amen I say to you: if any man keep my word, he will never see death (John 8:51).

   The first statement He made was, I am the light of the world, and this troubled the Jews. In response, the Evangelist first shows their opposition, and second, how Jesus refuted them by proving His statement was true, beginning with His words, Jesus answered and said to them: although I give testimony about myself.

8. Regarding the first point, it is obvious that what Jesus said in the temple, He said in the presence of the people. But now He is speaking before the Pharisees, and so they said to Him, you give testimony about yourself, but your testimony is not true. They were saying, in effect, that because He was bearing witness to Himself, His testimony was not true.

   Now, in human affairs it is neither acceptable nor appropriate for a person to praise himself: let another praise you, and not your own mouth (Proverbs 27:2). Self-praise does not make a person commendable; being commended by God does: it is not he who commends himself who is approved, but he whom God commends (2 Corinthians 10:18), because only God perfectly knows a person. But no one can sufficiently commend God except God Himself. It is therefore fitting that He bear witness to Himself, and also to men: my witness is in heaven (Job 16:20). Thus, the opinion of the Jews was mistaken.

9. Next, with the words Jesus answered and said to them: although I give testimony about myself, our Lord rejects their opposition. He does this first by the authority of His Father, and second, by answering their objection concerning His Father, which begins with, they therefore said to him: where is your father?

   The opposition of the Jews arose from a certain conclusion they drew. Therefore, first, He shows that their conclusion is not true. Second, He proves that His own testimony is true, beginning with, I do not judge any man.

   Concerning the first point, He does two things. First, He shows that their conclusion is false. Second, He adds the reason for their error, at but you do not know where I come from or where I go.

10. Their conclusion was that the testimony of Christ was not true because He bore witness to Himself. But our Lord says the opposite: that precisely because of this, it is true. Jesus replied, although I give testimony about myself, my testimony is true; and it is true because I know where I came from and where I go. According to Chrysostom, this is like saying, "My testimony is true because I am from God, I am God, and I am the Son of God," for God is truthful (Romans 3:4).

    He says, I know where I came from, that is, My origin, and where I go, that is, to the Father, whom no one but the Son can know perfectly: no one knows the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son wishes to reveal him (Matthew 11:27). This does not imply that anyone who knows, by love and understanding, where he comes from and where he is going can speak only the truth, for we all come from God and are going to God. But God is truth. How much more, then, does the Son of God speak the truth, He who knows perfectly where He comes from and where He is going.

11. Then, when He says, but you do not know where I come from or where I go, He shows the reason for their error, which was their ignorance of His divinity. It was because they did not know this that they judged Him according to His human nature.

    Thus, there were two reasons for their error. One was that they did not know His divinity; the other was that they judged Him only by His human nature. Regarding the first, He says, you do not know where I come from, that is, My eternal procession from the Father, or where I go. It says below: he who sent me is truthful, and the things that I have heard from him are the same that I speak to the world (John 8:26). And also: from where, then, does wisdom come? (Job 28:20); who will state his origin? (Isaiah 53:8).

    As for the second reason for their error, He says, you judge according to the flesh. This means, "You judge me thinking that I am merely flesh and not God." Or, we could say that "according to the flesh" means wickedly and unjustly. For just as to live according to the flesh is to live wickedly, so to judge according to the flesh is to judge unjustly.

12. Then, at I do not judge any man, He shows that His testimony is true and that it is false to say He alone is bearing witness to Himself. Because judging was just mentioned, He shows first that He is not alone in judging, and second, that He is not alone in bearing witness, at and in your law it is written that the testimony of two men is true.

    He does three things concerning the first point. First, He says that His judgment is deferred. Second, that His judgment is true. Third, He gives the reason why His judgment is true.

13. He mentions that His judgment is deferred when He says, I do not judge any man. He is saying, in effect: "You judge wickedly, but I do not judge any man." As it says above: for God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him (John 3:17). Or, we could say, I do not judge any man according to the flesh, as you judge: he will not judge by the sight of his eyes, or reprove by what his ears hear (Isaiah 11:3).

14. Yet, I will judge at some time, because he has given all judgment to the Son (John 5:22). And then, my judgment is true, that is, just: he will judge the people with justice (Psalms 95:10); we know that the judgment of God is according to the truth (Romans 2:2). This shows that His judgment is true.

15. He gives the reason for its truth when He says, because I am not alone. What Christ said before, neither does the Father judge any man (John 5:22), should be understood to refer to the Father in isolation from the Son. Or, He said this because the Father will not appear visibly to all at the judgment. Thus He says, I am not alone, because He is not left alone by the Father, but is with Him: I am in the Father, and the Father is in me (John 14:10).

    This statement rejects the error of Sabellius, who said that the Father and the Son were the same person, the only difference between them being in their names. But if this were true, Christ would not have said, I am not alone, but there is me and the Father who sent me. He would rather have said, "I am the Father, and I am the Son." We should, therefore, distinguish between the persons and realize that the Son is not the Father.

16. Then, at and in your law it is written that the testimony of two men is true, He shows that He is not alone in bearing witness. He does not defer bearing witness as He does His judging. Thus, He does not say, "I do not bear witness."

    First, He mentions the law. Second, He gives His conclusion, at I am one who gives testimony about myself.

17. He says, and it is written in your law—the law that was given to you, for Moses imposed a law ()—that the testimony of two men is true. For it is written: by the mouth of two or three witnesses the issue will be settled (Deuteronomy 19:15).

    According to Augustine, the statement that the testimony of two men is true involves a great difficulty, for it could happen that both of them are lying. Indeed, the chaste Susanna was harassed by two false witnesses (Daniel 13:5 and following), and all the people lied about Christ.

    I answer that the statement, the testimony of two men is true, means that such testimony should be regarded as true when giving a verdict. The reason for this is that true certitude cannot be obtained when human acts are in question. In its place, one accepts what can be considered more certain: what is said by a number of witnesses. For it is more probable that one person might lie than that many would: a threefold cord is not easily broken (Ecclesiastes 4:12).

    When we read, by the mouth of two or three witnesses the issue will be settled (Deuteronomy 19:15), we are led, as Augustine says, to a consideration of the Trinity, in which truth is permanently established and from which all truths are derived. It says, of two or three, because in Sacred Scripture sometimes three persons are enumerated and at other times two persons, in which the Holy Spirit is implied as the bond between the other two.

18. If, therefore, the testimony of two or three is true, my testimony is true, because I am one who gives testimony about myself, and the Father who sent me who gives testimony about me; as stated before: but I have a greater testimony than that of John (John 5:36).

    But this does not seem to be to the point. First, because the Father of the Son of God is not a man, while Christ says, the testimony of two men is true. Second, because there are two witnesses to someone when they are testifying about a third person; but if one testifies about one of the two, there are not two witnesses. Thus, since Christ is testifying about Himself, and the Father is also testifying about Christ, it does not seem that there are two witnesses.

    To answer this, we must say that Christ is here arguing from the lesser to the greater. For it is clear that the truth of God is greater than the truth of a man. Therefore, if they believe in the testimony of men, then they should believe the testimony of God much more. If you receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater (1 John 5:9). In addition, as Chrysostom says, He says this to show that He is consubstantial with the Father and does not need outside testimony.

19. Next, at they said therefore to him: where is your father? we see the question arising about Christ’s Father.

    First, the Evangelist mentions the question asked by the Jews; then Christ’s answer; and third, he indicates the security of Christ.

20. The question the Jews had for Christ was about His Father—where His Father was. They said to him: where is your father? They thought that the Father of Christ was a man, just like their own fathers. Because they heard Him say, I am not alone, but there is me and the Father who sent me, and since they saw that He was now alone, they asked Him, where is your father?

    Or, we could say that they were speaking here with a certain irony and contempt, saying in effect: "Why do you speak to us so often about your Father? Is he so great that his testimony should be believed?" For they were thinking of Joseph, who was an unknown person of low status, and they were ignorant of the divine Father: so the gentiles will not say: where is their God? (Psalms 113:2).

21. Christ’s answer is mysterious: you know neither me nor my Father. Christ does not reveal the truth to them because they were questioning Him not to learn, but to belittle Him. Rather, He first shows them what they were ignorant of, and second, how they might be able to attain knowledge of the truth.

    He shows them their ignorance when He says, you know neither me. He is saying: "You should not be asking about my Father, because you do not know me. Since you regard me as a mere man, you are asking about my Father as though he were a man. But because you do not know me, neither can you know my Father."

22. This seems to conflict with what He said above: you know me, and you know from where I come (John 7:28).

    The answer to this is that they did know Him according to His humanity, but not according to His divinity.

    We should note, according to Origen, that some have misunderstood this and said that the Father of Christ was not the God of the Old Testament. For the Jews knew the God of the Old Testament, according to the verse, God is known in Judea (Psalms 75:1).

    There are four answers to this. First, our Lord says that the Jews did not know His Father because, by not keeping His commandments, they were acting like those who do not know Him. This answer refers to their conduct. Second, they are said not to know God because they did not cling to Him spiritually by love, for one who knows something adheres to it. Third, although they did know Him through faith, they did not have a full knowledge of Him: no one has ever seen God: the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has made him known (John 1:18). Fourth, in the Old Testament the Father was known under the aspect of God Almighty: I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but my name, Lord, I did not show them (Exodus 6:3), that is, not under the aspect of Father. Thus, although they knew Him as God Almighty, they did not know Him as the Father of a consubstantial Son.

23. Christ says that He is the way to arrive at a knowledge of the Father: if you did know me. He is saying in effect: "Because I speak of my Father, who is hidden, it is first necessary that you know me; then perhaps you would also know my Father." For the Son is the way to the knowledge of the Father: if you had known me, you would without doubt have known my Father also (John 14:7). As Augustine says, what does if you did know me mean, except, I and the Father are one (John 10:30)? It is customary when you see someone who is like someone else to say, "If you have seen one, you have seen the other"—not that the Son is the Father, but that He is like the Father.

    He says, perhaps, not to indicate doubt, but as a rebuke. It would be like being irritated with your servant and saying to him, "Have you no respect for me? Just remember that I might be your master."

24. The Evangelist shows the security with which Christ answered when he says, these words Jesus spoke in the treasury. We see this security first from the place where He taught: in the treasury, within the temple. The word ‘gazophylacium’ (treasury) is used in Sacred Scripture for the chest in which riches are kept, as gaza is the Persian word for riches and phylax for guard. It is used in this sense: and Jehoiada the priest took a chest and bored a hole in its top, and put it by the altar, to the right of those coming into the house of the Lord. And the priests who kept the doors put into it all the money that was brought to the temple of the Lord (2 Kings 12:9). Sometimes, however, it indicated the building where riches were kept, which is its meaning here.

    We also see Christ’s security in the fact that those who had been sent to arrest Him could not do so, because He was not willing. Thus the Evangelist says, and no man laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come. This refers to the time for Him to suffer—an hour not fixed by fate, but predetermined from all eternity by His own will. As Augustine says, "His hour had not yet come, not in which He would be forced to die, but in which He would deign to be killed."

25. We may note, according to Origen, that whenever the place where our Lord did something is mentioned, this is done because of some mystery. Thus Christ taught in the treasury, the place where riches were kept, to signify that the coins—that is, the words of His teaching—are impressed with the image of the great King.

    Note also that when Christ was teaching, no man laid hands on him, because His words were stronger than those who wanted to seize Him. But when He willed to be crucified, then He became silent.

1. After our Lord showed His special position with respect to light, He here reveals the effect of this light: that it frees us from darkness.

   First, He shows that the Jews are imprisoned in darkness. Second, He teaches the remedy that can free them, beginning with the verse, the Jews therefore said, “Will he kill himself?”

   Concerning the first point, He does three things:

   1. The Lord tells them He is going to leave.
   2. He reveals the perverse plans of the Jews.
   3. He mentions what they will be deprived of.

2. Our Lord says that He is going to leave them by His death: I go. We can see two things from this. First, that He is going to die voluntarily, as one who is going, not as one led by someone else. I go to him who sent me (John 16:5); No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord (John 10:18). This appropriately follows what came before, for He had said, and no one laid a hand on him (John 8:20). Why? Because He is going willingly, on His own.

   Second, we can see that the death of Christ was a journey to that place from which He had come, and which He had not left. For just as one who walks heads toward what is ahead, so Christ, by His death, reached the glory of exaltation: He became obedient to death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him (Philippians 2:8–9); knowing... that he had come from God and was going to God (John 13:3).

3. We see their sinful plans in their deceitful search for Christ; He says, you will seek me. Some look for Christ in a devout way through charity, and such a search results in life: Seek God, and your soul shall live (Psalms 69:32). But they wickedly searched for Him out of hatred, to persecute Him: Those who sought my life have used violence (Psalms 38:12). He says, you will seek me, by attacking Me after My death with your accusations: We remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, “After three days I will rise” (Matthew 27:63). And they will also seek out My members: Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? (Acts 9:4).

4. This will be followed by their death, and so He adds what they will be deprived of, foretelling to them, and you will die in your sin.

   First, He foretells the deprivation that consists in the condemnation of death. Second, He foretells the deprivation that consists in their exclusion from glory, with the words, where I am going, you cannot come.

5. He is saying: because you will wickedly search for Me, you will die in your sin. We can understand this in one way as applying to physical death; in that case, one dies in his sins who keeps on sinning up to the time of his death. In saying, you will die in your sin, He emphasizes their obstinacy: No one repents of his wickedness, saying, “What have I done?” (Jeremiah 8:6); They have gone down to the nether world with their weapons (Ezekiel 32:27).

   In another way, we can understand this as applying to the death of sin, about which the Psalm says, The death of the wicked is evil (Psalms 34:21). Just as a physical weakness precedes physical death, so a certain weakness precedes this kind of death. As long as sin can be remedied, it is a kind of weakness that precedes death: Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am weak (Psalms 6:2). But when sin can no longer be remedied—either absolutely, as after this life, or because of the very nature of the sin, as with a sin against the Holy Spirit—it then causes death: There is a sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that (1 John 5:16). According to this, our Lord is foretelling to them that the weakness of their sins will result in death.

6. He shows the deprivation that consists in their exclusion from glory when He says, where I am going, you cannot come. Our Lord goes by death, and so do they. But our Lord goes without sin, while they go with their sins, because they are dying in their sin and so do not come to the glory of the vision of the Father. So He says, where I am going—willingly, by My passion, to the Father and to His glory—you cannot come, because you do not want to. For if they had wanted to and had not been able to, it could not have been reasonably said to them, you will die in your sin.

7. Note that one can be hindered from going where Christ goes in two ways.

   One way is by some contrary factor, and this is how sinners are hindered. This is what He is speaking of here. To those who are absolutely continuing in their sin He says, where I am going, you cannot come. The proud will not dwell in my house (Psalms 101:7); It shall be called the Holy Way; the unclean shall not pass over it (Isaiah 35:8); Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly (Psalms 15:1–2).

   One is hindered in another way by some imperfection or indisposition. This is how the just are hindered as long as they live in the body: while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:6). To persons such as these our Lord does not say absolutely, where I am going, you cannot come, but He adds a qualification as to the time: Where I am going you cannot follow me now (John 13:36).

8. Then, with the words, the Jews therefore said, “Will he kill himself?” He discusses the remedy that can set them free from the darkness.

   First, He gives the remedy for escaping the darkness. Second, He shows the efficacy of the remedy, starting with, They said to him, “Who are you?”

   Concerning the first point, He does three things:

   1. He indicates the unique remedy for escaping the darkness.
   2. He states the reasons why they should ask for this remedy.
   3. Christ foretells the means of obtaining it, with the words, So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know.”

   As for the first of these, He does two things:

   1. He gives the circumstances for Christ’s words.
   2. He gives the reason why Christ can propose the remedy, with the words, You are from below.

9. The circumstance surrounding Christ’s words was the perverse understanding of the Jews. Since they were carnal, they understood what Christ said, where I am going, you cannot come, in a carnal way: The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 2:14). Thus the Jews said, Will he kill himself? As Augustine says, this is indeed a foolish notion. For if Christ was going to kill Himself, could they not go where He was going? They could kill themselves also. Thus, death was not the destination of Christ’s journey; it was the way He was going to the Father. Accordingly, He did not say that they could not go to death, but that they could not go through death to the place where Christ, through His death, would be exalted: at the right hand of God.

   According to Origen, however, perhaps the Jews did have a reason for saying this. They had learned from their traditions that Christ would die willingly, as He Himself said: No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord (John 10:18). They seem especially to have gathered this from the saying: Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death (Isaiah 53:12). Because they suspected that Jesus was the Christ, when He said, where I am going, you cannot come, they understood it according to this opinion that He would willingly deliver Himself to death. But they interpreted this in an insulting way, saying, Will he kill himself? Otherwise they would have said: “Is His soul going to depart, leaving His body when He wishes? We are unable to do this, and this is the reason for His saying, where I am going, you cannot come.”

10. Then, with the words, You are from below, He proposes the remedy for escaping from the darkness.

    First, He mentions His own origin, and then theirs. Second, He concludes His point, with the words, I told you that you would die in your sins.

11. With respect to the first point, He distinguishes His own origin from theirs in two ways. First, because He is from above, and they are from below. Second, because they are of this world, and Christ is not. As Origen says, to be from below is not the same as to be of this world, for “above” and “below” refer to differences in place. Thus, so that they would not understand the statement that He is from above as meaning that He is from a part of the world that is above, He excludes this by saying that He is not of this world. He is saying, in effect: I am from above, but in such a way that I am entirely above the entire world.

12. It is clear that they are of this world and from below. But we have to understand correctly how Christ is from above and not of this world.

    Some who thought that all visible created realities were from the devil, as the Manicheans taught, said that Christ was not of this world even with respect to His body, but from some other created, invisible world. Valentinus also incorrectly interpreted this statement and said that Christ assumed a heavenly body. But it is obvious that this is not the true interpretation, since our Lord said to His apostles: you are not of the world (John 15:19).

    We must say, therefore, that this passage can be understood of Christ as the Son of God, and of Christ as human. Christ, as Son of God, is from above: I came from the Father and have come into the world (John 16:28). Likewise, He is not of this sensible world—that is, this world which is made up of sense-perceptible things—but He is of the intelligible world, because He is the very Word of God, being the supreme wisdom. For all things were made in wisdom. Thus we read of Him: the world was made through him (John 1:10).

    Christ, as human, is from above because He did not have any affection for worldly and weak things, but rather for higher realities, in which the soul of Christ was at home, as in our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20); where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:21). On the other hand, those who are from below have their origin from below and are of this world because their affections are turned to earthly things: The first man was from the earth, a man of dust (1 Corinthians 15:47).

13. Then, with the words, I told you that you would die in your sins, He concludes His point.

    First, He explains what He said about their deprivation. Second, He points out its remedy, with the words, for unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.

14. We should note with respect to the first point that everything in its development follows the condition of its origin. Thus, a thing whose origin is from below naturally tends downward if left to itself. Nothing tends upward unless its origin is from above: No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven (John 3:13).

    Thus our Lord is saying: This is the reason why you cannot come where I am going. Since you are from below, then as far as you yourself are concerned, you can only go down. And so what I said is true, that you will die in your sin, unless you adhere to Me.

15. Then, in order not to entirely exclude all hope for their salvation, He proposes the remedy, saying, for unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins. He is saying in effect: You were born in original sin, from which you cannot be absolved except by faith in Me, because, if you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sin.

    He says, I am he, and not what He is, to recall to them what was said to Moses: I am who I am (Exodus 3:14), for existence itself is proper to God. In any nature other than the divine, existence and what exists are not the same. This is because any created nature participates in its existence from the One who is being by His essence—that is, from God, who is His own existence, so that His existence is His essence. Thus, this name designates only God. And so He says, for unless you believe that I am he—that is, that I am truly God, who has existence by His essence—you will die in your sin.

    He says, that I am he, to show His eternity. For in all things that begin, there is a certain mutability and a potential for nonexistence; thus we can discern in them a past and a future, and so they do not have true existence of themselves. But in God there is no potential for non-existence, nor has He begun to be. Thus He is existence itself, which is appropriately indicated by the present tense.

16. Next, with the words, They said to him, “Who are you?” we are given the reasons that can lead them to believe.

    First, we see the question asked by the Jews. Second, the answer of Christ, with the words, Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning.” Third, the blindness of their understanding, with the words, They did not understand that he was speaking to them of the Father.

17. Since our Lord had said, unless you believe that I am he, it was left to them to ask who He was. And so they said to Him, Who are you? As if to say: Where are you from, so that we may believe?

18. When He says, Just what I have been telling you from the beginning, He gives an answer that can lead them to believe for three reasons:

    1. Because of the sublimity of His nature.
    2. Because of the power He has to judge, with the words, I have much to say about you and to judge.
    3. Because of the truthfulness of His Father, with the words, but he who sent me is true.

19. Indeed, the sublimity of Christ’s nature can lead them to believe in Him, because He is the source. Therefore Jesus said to them, the source, who also speaks to you. In Latin the word for ‘source’ (principium) is neuter in gender, and so there is a question whether it is used here in the nominative or accusative case. In Greek, it is feminine in gender and is used here in the accusative case. Thus, according to Augustine, we should not read this as “I am the source,” but rather as “Believe that I am the source, lest you die in your sins.”

    The Father is also called the source or beginning. In one sense the word ‘source’ is common to the Father and the Son, insofar as they are the one source of the Holy Spirit through a common spiration. Again, the three persons together are the source of creatures through creation. In another way, the word ‘source’ is proper to the Father, insofar as the Father is the source of the Son through an eternal generation. Yet, we do not speak of many sources, just as we do not speak of many gods: Yours is the dominion in the day of your power (Psalms 110:3). Here, however, our Lord is saying that He is the source or beginning with regard to all creatures, for whatever is such by essence is the source and the cause of those things which are by participation. But, as was said, His existence is an existence by His very essence. Yet because Christ possesses not only the divine nature but a human nature as well, He adds, who also speaks to you. Man cannot hear the voice of God directly, because as Augustine says, “Weak hearts cannot hear the intelligible word without a sensible voice.” What man is there that can hear the voice of the living God? . So, in order for us to hear the divine Word directly, the Word assumed flesh and spoke to us with a mouth of flesh. Thus He says, who also speaks to you, that is, I, who was humbled for your sakes, have come down to speak these words: Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son (Hebrews 1:1–2); the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known (John 1:18).

20. Chrysostom explains this a little differently, so that in saying, the source, who is also speaking to you, our Lord is reproving the Jews for their slowness to understand. For in spite of the many signs which they had seen our Lord perform, they were still impenetrable and asked our Lord, Who are you? Our Lord then answers: I am the beginning, that is, the one who has spoken to you from the beginning. It is the same as saying: You should not have to ask who I am, because it should be clear to you by now. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God (Hebrews 5:12).

21. Second, they can be led to believe in Christ by His judicial authority; and so He says, I have much to say about you and to judge, which means in effect: I have authority to judge you.

    Let us note that it is one thing to speak to us, and another to speak about us. Christ speaks to us for our benefit, that is, to draw us to Himself; and He speaks to us this way while we are living, by means of preaching, by inspiring us, and by things like that. But Christ speaks about us, not for our benefit, but for showing His justice, and He will speak about us this way at the future judgment.

22. This seems to conflict with what was said above: For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him (John 3:17).

    I answer by saying that it is one thing to judge, and another to have judgment. To judge implies the act of judging, and this does not belong to the first coming of our Lord, as He said above: I judge no one (John 8:15), that is, at present. But to have judgment implies the power to judge, and Christ does have this: The Father... has given all judgment to the Son (John 5:22); it is he who is appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead (Acts 10:42). And so He says, explicitly, I have much to say about you and to judge, but at a future judgment.

23. The truthfulness of the Father can also lead them to believe in Christ, and as to this He says, but he who sent me is true. He is saying in effect: The Father is truthful; but what I say is in agreement with Him; therefore, you should believe Me.

    Thus He says, he who sent me, that is, the Father, is true, not by participation, but He is the very essence of truth; otherwise, since the Son is truth itself, He would be greater than the Father. Let God be true (Romans 3:4). The things that I have heard from him—what I have received, not by my human sense of hearing, but by my eternal generation—are the same that I speak. What I have heard from the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, I have announced to you (Isaiah 21:10); the Son can do nothing of his own accord (John 5:19).

24. The statement, he who sent me is true, can be connected in two ways with what went before. One way is this: I say that I have much to judge about you; but my judgment will be true, because he who sent me is true. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls (Romans 2:2).

    The other way of relating this to what went before is from Chrysostom, and is this: I say that I have much to judge about you; but I am not doing so now, not because I lack the power, but out of obedience to the will of the Father. For he who sent me is true: thus, since He promised a savior and a defender, He sent Me this time as savior. And since I only say what I have heard from Him, I speak to you about life-giving things.

25. When He says, They did not understand that he was speaking to them of the Father, He reproves their slowness to understand, for they had not yet opened the eyes of their hearts by which they could understand the equality of the Father and the Son. The reason for this was because they were carnal: The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 2:14).

26. Here, for the first time, Christ foretells how they are to come to the faith, which is the remedy for death. He does two things:

    1. He shows what will lead them to the faith.
    2. He teaches what must be believed about Himself, with the words, that I am he.

27. He says, first, that they ought to come to the faith by means of His passion: So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know.” He is saying in effect: You do not know now that God is My Father, but when you have lifted up the Son of Man—that is, when you have nailed Me to the wood of the cross—then you will know, that is, some of you will understand by faith. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself (John 12:32).

    And so, as Augustine says, He recalls the sufferings of His cross to give hope to sinners, so that no one will despair, no matter what his crime, or think that he is too evil, since the very people who crucified Christ are freed from their sins by Christ’s blood. For there is no sinner so great that he cannot be freed by the blood of Christ.

    Chrysostom’s explanation is this: When you have lifted up the Son of Man, on the cross, then you will understand, that is, you will be able to understand what I am, not only by the glory of My resurrection, but also by the punishment of your captivity and destruction.

28. With respect to the second point, He teaches three things that must be believed about Himself: first, the greatness of His divinity; second, His origin from the Father; third, His inseparability from the Father.

    He mentions the greatness of His divinity when He says, that I am he, that is, that I have in Me the nature of God, and that it is I who spoke to Moses, saying: I am who I am (Exodus 3:14).

    But because the entire Trinity pertains to existence itself, and so that we do not overlook the distinction between the Persons, He teaches that His origin from the Father must be believed, saying, I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. Because Jesus began both to do and to teach, He indicates His origin from the Father in these two respects. As regards those things He does, He says, I do nothing on my own authority, as above: the Son can do nothing of his own accord (John 5:19). As regards what He teaches, He says, as the Father taught me, which is to say, He gave Me knowledge by generating Me as one who knows. Since He is the simple nature of truth, for the Son to exist is for Him to know. And so, just as the Father, by generating, gave existence to the Son, so He also, by generating, gave Him knowledge: My teaching is not mine (John 7:16).

    So that we do not think that the Son was sent by the Father in such a way as to be separated from the Father, He teaches, third, that they must believe that He is inseparable from the Father when He says, he who sent me, the Father, is with me, by a unity of essence: I am in the Father and the Father is in me (John 14:10). The Father is also with Me by a union of love: the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing (John 5:20). The Father sent the Son in such a way that the Father did not separate Himself from the Son; and so the text continues, he has not left me alone, because I am the object of His love. For although both are together, one sends and the other is sent: for the sending is the incarnation, and this pertains only to the Son, and not to the Father.

    That He has not deserted Me is clear from this sign: for I always do the things that are pleasing to him. We should not understand this to indicate a meritorious cause, but a sign. It is the same as saying: The fact that I always do, without beginning and without end, the things that are pleasing to him, is a sign that He is always with Me and has not deserted Me. I was with him, forming all things (Proverbs 8:30). Another interpretation would be this: and he has not left me alone, that is, as man, protecting Me, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him. In this interpretation it does indicate a meritorious cause.

29. Then when He says, As he was saying these things, many believed in him, He shows the effect of His teaching, which is the conversion of many of them to the faith because they had heard Christ’s teaching: So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17).

1. After showing the remedy for escaping from the darkness, Christ now demonstrates its effectiveness. He first explains the remedy's power and then addresses the people's need for it, beginning with their response: they answered him, we are the seed of Abraham.

   Regarding the remedy's effectiveness, He does two things. First, He shows what is required of those who receive this remedy, which relates to merit. Second, He shows what is given in return, which relates to their reward, as seen in the words, you will truly be my disciples.

2. First, it was said that many believed in Him. To these believers, He explained what they must do: remain in His word. He says, if you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples. In effect, He is saying that you will not be His disciples if you only believe superficially, but only if you remain in my word.

   With respect to the word of God, we need three things. First, a concern to hear it: let every man be quick to hear (James 1:19). Second, we need faith to believe it: faith comes by hearing (Romans 10:17). Third, we need perseverance to continue in it: how exceedingly bitter is wisdom to the unlearned. The foolish will not continue with her . Therefore, He says, if you remain—that is, by a firm faith, through continual meditation (he will meditate on his law day and night, Psalms 1:2), and by your ardent love (his will is the law of the Lord, Psalms 1:2). As Augustine says, those who remain in the Lord's word are those who do not give in to temptations.

3. He mentions what will be given to those who remain when He says, you will truly be my disciples. This reward has three characteristics: first, they will have the excellence of being Christ's disciples; second, they will have a knowledge of the truth; and third, they will be free.

4. Indeed, it is a great privilege to be a disciple of Christ: children of Zion, rejoice and delight in the Lord your God, because he has given you a teacher of justice (Joel 2:23). Concerning this, He says, you will truly be my disciples. The greater the master, the more honorable it is to be his disciple. Since Christ is the greatest and most excellent of teachers, His disciples will be of the highest dignity.

   Three things are required to be a disciple. The first is understanding, to grasp the teacher's words: are you also still without understanding? (Matthew 15:16). But it is Christ alone who can open the ears of the understanding: then he opened their minds so that they could understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:45); the Lord opened my ears (Isaiah 50:5). Second, a disciple needs to assent, so as to believe his teacher's doctrine, for the disciple is not above his teacher (Luke 6:40), and thus should not contradict him: do not speak against the truth in any way . As Isaiah continues in the same verse, I do not resist. Third, a disciple needs to be stable in order to persevere. As we read earlier: after this many of his disciples departed and did not walk anymore with him (John 6:67); and Isaiah adds, I did not turn back (Isaiah 50:5).

5. But it is a greater thing to know the truth, since this is the goal of a disciple. Our Lord also gives this to those who believe; thus He says, and you will know the truth. This is the truth of the doctrine I am teaching: for this I was born, and for this I came into the world, that I should give testimony to the truth (John 18:37). They will know the truth of the grace that I produce: grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17)—in contrast to the figures of the old law. And they will know the truth of the eternity in which I remain: O Lord, your word remains forever, your truth endures from generation to generation (Psalms 119:89–90).

6. Yet the greatest thing is the acquisition of freedom, which the knowledge of the truth produces in those who believe. Thus He says, and the truth will set you free.

   In this context, to be set free does not mean a release from confinement, as the Latin language might suggest, but rather to be made free. This freedom is from three things. The truth of this doctrine will free us from the error of falsehood: my mouth will speak the truth; my lips will hate wickedness (Proverbs 8:7). The truth of grace will free us from slavery to sin: the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed me from the law of sin and of death (Romans 8:2). And the truth of eternity, in Christ Jesus, will free us from corruption: the creature will be freed from its slavery to corruption (Romans 8:21).

7. Next, with the words they answered him: we are the seed of Abraham, He shows that the Jews need this remedy. First, He elaborates on their presumption in denying their need for any such remedy. Second, He shows in what respect they need this remedy, beginning with, Jesus answered them: amen, amen I say to you.

8. The presumption of the Jews is shown in their disdainful question: they answered him: we are the seed of Abraham, and we have never been slaves to anyone: how can you say, you will be free? In this response, they first affirm one thing, then deny another, and finally, pose their question.

   They assert their descent from Abraham: we are of the seed of Abraham. This reveals their vanity, as they glory only in their physical lineage: do not think of saying: we have Abraham as our Father (Matthew 3:9). Those who seek praise for their noble birth act in the same way: their glory is from their birth, from the womb and from their conception (Hosea 9:11).

   Next, they deny their slavery: and we have never been slaves to anyone. This reveals them to be both spiritually dull and liars. They are dull because while our Lord is speaking of spiritual freedom, they are thinking of physical freedom: the sensual person does not perceive what pertains to the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 2:14). They are liars because if their statement, we have never been the slaves of anyone, refers to physical slavery, it is false whether they speak of the Jewish people generally or of themselves in particular.

   If they are speaking generally, they are obviously lying, for Joseph was sold into slavery and their ancestors were slaves in Egypt (Genesis 40; Exodus 3). As Augustine says, "Ungrateful! Why does the Lord so often remind you that He freed you from the house of bondage, if you have never been slaves to anyone?" For we read: I have called you out of Egypt, from the house of your slavery (Deuteronomy 13:10). But even if they are speaking only of themselves, they are still guilty of lying, because they were at that time paying taxes to the Romans. Thus they asked, is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? (Matthew 22:17).

   Finally, they question the kind of freedom He is discussing: how can you say, you will be free? Our Lord had promised them two things: freedom and knowledge of the truth. The Jews interpreted this to mean that He regarded them as ignorant slaves. Although it is more harmful to lack knowledge than freedom, because they were worldly they passed over the part about truth and asked about freedom: they have set their eyes, lowering themselves to the earth (Psalms 17:11).

9. Our Lord ignores their presumption and shows them that they do need the remedy He mentioned. First, He addresses their slavery; second, He treats their freedom, beginning with now the servant does not abide in the house forever; and third, He discusses their origin, starting with I know that you are the sons of Abraham.

10. He shows that they are slaves, not in the physical sense they imagined, but spiritually—that is, slaves of sin. To make this clear, He begins with two things. The first is a solemn, repeated affirmation: amen, amen, I say to you. Amen is a Hebrew word meaning "truly" or "may it be so." According to Augustine, neither the Greeks nor the Latins translated it, so that it might be honored and veiled as something sacred. This was not done to hide it, but to prevent it from becoming commonplace if its meaning were stated. It was done especially out of reverence for our Lord, who frequently used it. Here, our Lord uses it as a kind of oath, repeating it to reinforce His statement: he interposed an oath, so that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have the strongest comfort (Hebrews 6:17–18).

    Second, He makes a general statement when He says, whoever—whether Jew or Greek, rich or poor, emperor or beggar: there is no difference between Jews and Greeks: all have sinned (Romans 3:22–23). He then defines this slavery when He says, whoever commits sin is the slave of sin.

11. One might argue against this in the following way: a slave does not act by his own judgment but by his master’s. However, one who sins acts by his own judgment; therefore, he is not a slave.

    I answer that when a thing acts according to its own nature, it acts of itself. But when it is moved by something external, it does not act of itself but by the influence of that other, and this is a kind of slavery. According to his nature, man is rational. Therefore, when he acts according to reason, he acts by his own proper motion and of himself; this is a characteristic of freedom. But when he sins, he acts outside of reason. He is then moved by another, held back by the limitations that other imposes. Therefore, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin, for whatever overcomes a person, is that to which he is a slave (2 Peter 2:19).

    To the extent that someone is moved by something external, he is brought into slavery. The more one is overcome by sin, the less he acts by his own proper motion—that is, by reason—and the more he is made a slave. Thus, as Gregory says, the more freely one does the perverse things he wills, and the less difficulty he has in doing them, the more he is subjected to the slavery of sin. This kind of slavery is the worst because it cannot be escaped. Wherever a person goes, he carries his sin with him, even though the act and its pleasure may pass: God will give you rest from your harsh slavery (that is, to sin) to which you were subjected before (Isaiah 14:3).

    Physical slavery, on the other hand, can be escaped, at least by running away. As Augustine says: "What a wretched slavery! A slave of a man, when worn out by the harsh commands of his master, can find relief in flight. But a slave of sin drags his sin with him wherever he flees, for the sin he committed is within him. The pleasure passes, the act of sin passes; what gave pleasure is gone, but the wounds have remained."

12. Then, with the words now the servant does not abide in the house forever, He considers their liberation from slavery. Since all have sinned, all were slaves to sin. The hope of liberation is held out by the one who is free of sin, and this is the Son.

    In this regard, He does three things. First, He describes the status of a slave as distinct from one who is free. Second, He shows that the Son's status is different from that of a slave. Third, He concludes that the Son has the power to set us free.

13. The status of a slave is transient and unstable, so He says, the servant does not abide in the house forever. This house is the Church: so you may know how to act in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God (1 Timothy 3:15). In this house, some who are spiritually slaves remain only for a time, just as in a household those who are physically slaves remain only for a while. But the former will not remain forever. Although the evil are not now separated from the faithful into a different group, but only by merit, in the future they will be separated in both ways: cast out the slave and her son: for the son of the slave woman will not inherit with the son of the free woman (Galatians 4:30).

14. On the other hand, the status of the Son is everlasting and stable, so He says, but the Son, that is, Christ, abides forever, namely, in the Church, as in His own house. Christ is described as a son in His own house (Hebrews 3:6). Indeed, Christ remains in His house forever of His own accord, because He is immune from sin. As for us, just as we are freed from sin through Him, so it is through Him that we remain in His house.

15. The Son has the power to free us, so He adds, if therefore the Son makes you free, you will truly be free. As the Apostle says, we are not the children of the slave woman, but of the free, by whose freedom Christ has freed us (Galatians 4:31). He paid a price not in silver, but with His own blood, for He came in the likeness of sinful flesh although He had no sin. And so He became a true sacrifice for sin. Thus, through Him, we are freed not from barbarians, but from the devil.

16. Note that there are several kinds of freedom. There is a corrupt freedom, when one abuses his freedom in order to sin; this is a freedom from justice that no one is compelled to keep: be free, and do not make your freedom a cloak for evil (1 Peter 2:16). Then there is a vain freedom, which is temporal or bodily: a slave, free from his master (Job 3:19). Then we have true and spiritual freedom, which is the freedom of grace, consisting in the absence of sin. This freedom is imperfect because the flesh lusts against the spirit, and we do what we do not want to do (Galatians 5:17). Finally, there is the freedom of glory. This is a perfect and full freedom, which we will have in our heavenly home: the creature will be delivered from its slavery (Romans 8:21). This will be so because there will be nothing there to incline us to evil and nothing to oppress us, for then there will be freedom from both sin and punishment.

17. Chrysostom explains this in another way. Since Christ had said, whoever commits sin is a slave to sin, the Jews might have anticipated Him and said that even though they were slaves to sin, they could be freed by the sacrifices and ceremonies of the law. Our Lord shows that they cannot be freed by these things, but only by the Son. Hence He says, a slave—that is, Moses and the priests of the Old Testament—does not remain in the household forever. For Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant (Hebrews 3:5). Furthermore, the ceremonies are not eternal; therefore, they cannot confer a freedom that will continue forever.

18. Then He considers their origin, at I know that you are the sons of Abraham. First, He acknowledges their origin according to the flesh; second, He inquires into their origin according to the spirit, beginning with but you seek to kill me.

19. He traces their origin in the flesh to Abraham: I know that you are sons of Abraham, but by carnal origin only, and not by resembling him in faith: look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you (Isaiah 51:2).

20. He inquires into their spiritual origin when He says, but you seek to kill me. First, He shows that they have an evil spiritual origin. Second, He rejects what they presume to be their origin, at they answered him and said to him: Abraham is our father (John 8:39). Third, He reveals their true origin, at you are of your father the devil (John 8:44).

    In showing their evil spiritual origin, He first points out their guilt and then infers its source, saying, and you do the things that you have seen with your father. In pointing out their guilt, He first charges them with murder, second with the sin of unbelief, and third, He anticipates a potential excuse.

21. Our Lord shows that their spiritual origins come from an evil root. He expressly accuses them of sin, and passing over all the other crimes in which the Jews were implicated, He mentions only the one they continued to nurture in their minds: the sin of murder. This is why He says, you seek to kill me, which is against their law: you shall not kill (Exodus 20:13). For from that day forward they devised to put him to death (John 11:53).

22. Because they might say that killing someone for a crime is not a sin, our Lord clarifies that the cause of this murderous intent is not any crime committed by Christ or any righteousness on their part, but rather their unbelief. It is as if to say: you seek to kill me not because of your own righteousness but because of your unbelief, because my word has no place in you. For not all men can receive this message, but only those to whom it is given (Matthew 19:11).

    Our Lord uses this way of speaking, first of all, to show the excellence of His message. It is as if to say: My message transcends your ability, for it is concerned with spiritual things, whereas you have a worldly understanding; that is why you do not grasp it: the sensual man does not perceive the things that are of the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 2:14). He also speaks this way to draw a certain similarity. As Augustine says, the Lord’s message to unbelievers is what a hook is to a fish: it does not grasp unless it is grasped. And so He says my word has no place in you because His message does not take hold of their hearts, because it is not grasped by them as Peter grasped it: Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life (John 6:68). Yet it does not harm those who are grasped, for they are grasped for salvation and left uninjured. We read that a prophet who speaks things from himself, not from the mouth of the Lord, should be killed (Deuteronomy 18:20).

23. So, lest the Jews say that He should be killed for speaking from Himself and not from the mouth of the Lord, He adds, I speak that which I have seen with my Father. It is as if to say: I cannot be accused of speaking things that I have not heard, for I speak not only what I have heard but, what is more, I speak of what I have seen. Other prophets spoke the things they heard, whereas I speak the things I have seen: no man has ever seen God: the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has made him known (John 1:18); that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you (1 John 1:3).

    This must be understood as a vision that gives the most certain knowledge, because the Son knows the Father as He knows Himself: no one knows the Father except the Son (Matthew 11:27).

24. He then infers their spiritual origin when He says, and you do the things that you have seen with your father. It is as if to say: I speak things that are in accord with My origin, but you do the things that are done by your father—namely, the devil. According to Augustine, they were the devil's children not insofar as they were men, but insofar as they were evil. You do those things, I say, which you see at the devil’s suggestion: through the devil’s envy death entered the world .

    Chrysostom uses another text: do what you have seen with your father. As if to say: Just as I reveal My Father in truth by My words, so you should reveal the father of your origin, namely, Abraham, by your deeds. Thus He says: Do what you see your father doing, you who are taught by the law and the prophets.

1. After showing that the Jews had a certain spiritual origin, our Lord here rejects certain origins which they had presumptuously attributed to themselves.

   1. He rejects the origin they claimed to have from Abraham.

   2. He rejects the origin they thought they had from God, as when they said therefore to him: we were not born of fornication.

   Regarding the first point, He does two things:

   1. He gives the opinion of the Jews about their origin.

   2. He rejects it, with the words, if you are the sons of Abraham, do the works of Abraham.

2. It should be noted that our Lord had said to them, you do the things that you have seen with your father (John 8:38). Glorying in their carnal descent, they therefore aligned themselves with Abraham, saying, Abraham is our father. This is like saying: if we have a spiritual origin, we are good, because our father Abraham is good: O offspring of Abraham his servant (Psalms 105:6). As Augustine says, they tried to provoke Him to say something against Abraham and so give them an excuse for doing what they had planned, namely, to kill Christ.

3. Our Lord rejects their opinion as false with the words, if you are the sons of Abraham, do the works of Abraham.

   1. He gives the true sign of being a child of Abraham.

   2. He shows that this sign is not found in the Jews, with the words, but now you seek to kill me.

   3. He draws his conclusion: you do the works of your father.

4. The sign that someone is a child is that he resembles the one whose child he is. Just as children in the flesh resemble their parents in the flesh, so spiritual children (if they are truly children) should imitate their spiritual parents: be imitators of God, as beloved children (Ephesians 5:1). Regarding this, He says, if you are the sons of Abraham, do the works of Abraham. This is like saying: if you imitated Abraham, that would be a sign that you are his children: look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you (Isaiah 51:2).

5. Here a question arises. When He says, if you are the sons of Abraham, He seems to be denying that they are the children of Abraham, whereas just previously He had said, I know that you are the sons of Abraham (John 8:37).

   There are two ways of answering this. The first, according to Augustine, is that He previously said they were children of Abraham according to the flesh, but here He is denying that they are children in the sense of imitating his works, especially his faith. Therefore, they took their flesh from him, but not their life: it is men of faith who are the sons of Abraham (Galatians 3:7).

   According to Origen, who offers another explanation, both statements refer to their spiritual origin. Where our text reads, I know that you are the sons of Abraham, the Greek has, I know that you are the seed of Abraham (John 8:37). But Christ says here, if you are the sons of Abraham, do the works of Abraham, because the Jews, spiritually speaking, were the seed of Abraham but not his children.

   There is a difference between a seed and a child. A seed is unformed, though it contains the characteristics of its source. A child, however, has a likeness to the parent after the seed has been developed by the formative power acting upon the material provided by the female. In the same way, the Jews were indeed the seed of Abraham, insofar as they had some of the characteristics God had infused into him. But because they had not reached the perfection of Abraham, they were not his children. This is why He said to them, if you are the sons of Abraham, do the works of Abraham, meaning they should strive for a perfect imitation of his works.

6. Again, because He said, do the works of Abraham, it would seem that whatever he did, we should do. Consequently, we should have a number of wives and approach a maidservant, as Abraham did.

   I answer that the chief work of Abraham was faith, by which he was justified before God: he believed the Lord; and he reckoned it to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6). Thus, the meaning is, do the works of Abraham, that is, believe according to the example of Abraham.

7. One might argue against this interpretation that faith should not be called a work, since it is distinguished from works: faith apart from works is dead (James 2:26).

   I answer that faith can be called a work according to what was said above: this is the work of God: that you believe in him whom he has sent (John 6:29). An internal work is not apparent to man, but only to God, according to the verse, the Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). This is the reason we are more accustomed to call external actions works. Thus, faith is not distinguished from all works, but only from external works.

8. But should we do all the works of Abraham?

   I answer that works can be considered in two ways. They can be considered according to the kind of works they are, in which sense we should not imitate all his works. Or, they can be considered according to their root, and in this sense we should imitate the works of Abraham, because whatever he did, he did out of charity. Thus, Augustine says that the celibacy of John was not esteemed above the marriage of Abraham, since the root of each was the same. Or, it might be said that all of Abraham’s works should be imitated in their symbolism, because all these things happen to them in figure (1 Corinthians 10:11).

9. Then, with the words but now you seek to kill me, He shows that they do not have the previously mentioned sign of being children.

   1. The conduct of the Jews is given.

   2. He shows that it does not resemble the conduct of Abraham, with the words, Abraham did not do this.

10. The conduct of the Jews is shown to be wicked and perverse because they were murderers; so He says, now you seek to kill me. This fulfills the prophecy: how the faithful city has become a harlot, she that was full of justice! Righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers (Isaiah 1:21).

    This murder was an unfathomable sin against the person of the Son of God. Yet, because it is said, if they had understood, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory (1 Corinthians 2:8), our Lord does not say that they sought to kill the Son of God, but a man. For although the Son of God is said to have suffered and died because of the unity of His person, this suffering and death was not in His capacity as the Son of God, but because of His human weakness, as it says: for he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God (2 Corinthians 13:4).

11. To further clarify this murder, He shows that they have no reason to put Him to death; thus He adds, a man who has spoken the truth to you, which I have heard from God. This truth is that He said He is equal to God: therefore, the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was his Father, making himself equal to God (John 5:18). He heard this truth from God in that He received from the Father from eternity, through an eternal generation, the same nature that the Father has: for as the Father has life in himself, so he has also given to the Son to have life in himself (John 5:26).

    Furthermore, He excludes the two reasons for which the law commanded that prophets were to be killed. First, for lying, for Deuteronomy commands that a prophet should be killed for speaking a lie or feigning dreams (Deuteronomy 13:5). Our Lord excludes this from Himself, saying, a man who has spoken the truth to you, for my mouth will utter truth (Proverbs 8:7). Second, a prophet was to be killed if he spoke in the name of false gods, or said in the name of God things that God did not command (Deuteronomy 13:5). Our Lord excludes this from Himself when He says, which I have heard from God.

12. Then when He says, Abraham did not do this, He shows that their works are not like those of Abraham. He is saying, in effect: because you act contrary to Abraham, you show that you are not his children, for it is written about him: he kept the law of the Most High, and was taken into covenant with him .

    Some frivolously object that Christ did not exist before Abraham and therefore Abraham did not do this, since one who did not exist could not be killed.

    I answer that Abraham is not commended for something he did not do to Christ, but for what he did not do to anyone in similar circumstances, that is, to those who spoke the truth in his day.

    Or, it might be answered that although Christ had not come in the flesh during the time of Abraham, He nevertheless had come into his mind, according to the verse: in every generation she passes into souls . And Abraham did not kill wisdom by sinning mortally. Concerning this we read: they crucify the Son of God (Hebrews 6:6).

13. Then when He says, you do the works of your father, He draws His conclusion. It was like saying: from the fact that you do not do the works of Abraham, it follows that you have some other father whose works you are doing. A similar statement is made: fill up, then, the measure of your fathers (Matthew 23:32).

14. Then, when they said to him: we were not born of fornication, He addresses their claim to have their origin from God. Since they knew from our Lord’s words that He was not speaking of carnal descent, they turn to spiritual descent, claiming, we were not born of fornication.

    1. They give their own opinion.

    2. Our Lord rejects it, with the words, Jesus therefore said to them: if God were your Father.

15. According to some, the Jews are denying one thing and affirming another. They are denying that they were born of fornication. According to Origen, they said this tauntingly to Christ, with the unspoken suggestion that He was the product of adultery. It was like saying: we were not born of fornication as you were.

    But it is better to say that the spiritual spouse of the soul is God: I will betroth you to me forever (Hosea 2:19). Just as a bride is guilty of fornication when she admits a man other than her husband, so in Scripture Judea was said to be fornicating when she abandoned the true God and turned to idols: for the land commits great harlotry by forsaking the Lord (Hosea 1:2). And so the Jews said: we were not born of fornication. It was like saying: although our mother, the synagogue, may now and then have departed from God and fornicated with idols, we have not departed or fornicated with idols: we have not forgotten you, or been false to your covenant. Our heart has not turned back (Psalms 44:17); but you, draw near here, sons of the sorceress, offspring of the adulterer and the harlot (Isaiah 57:3).

    Further, they affirm that they are children of God, and this seems to follow from the fact that they did not believe they were born of fornication. Thus they say, we have one God, the Father, as it is written: have we not all one father? (Malachi 2:10); and and I thought you would call me, my Father (Jeremiah 3:19).

16. Next, with the words Jesus therefore said to them: if God were your Father, our Lord refutes their opinion.

    1. We see the sign of being a child of God.

    2. The reason for this sign is given, with the words, for I proceeded and came forth from God.

    3. We see that the Jews lack this sign, with the words, why do you not understand my speech?

17. Regarding the first point, it should be noted that our Lord had previously identified the sign of physical childhood in the external actions a person performs. Here, however, He places the sign of being a child of God in one’s internal affections.

    We become children of God by sharing in the Holy Spirit: you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship (Romans 8:15). The Holy Spirit is the cause of our love for God, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us (Romans 5:5).

    Therefore, the special sign of being a child of God is love: be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love (Ephesians 5:1). This is why He says, if God were your Father, you would indeed love me, for the innocent and the upright in heart, who are the children of God, have clung to me (Psalms 21:4).

18. Then, with the words for I proceeded and came forth from God, He gives the reason for this sign.

    1. He states the truth.

    2. He rejects an error, with the words, for I came not of myself.

19. The truth He asserts is that He proceeded and came forth from God. It should be noted that all friendship is based on union; brothers love one another because they share the same parents. Thus, our Lord is saying: you claim to be children of God, but if this were true, you would indeed love me, for I proceeded and came forth from God. Therefore, anyone who does not love me is not a child of God.

    I say I proceeded from God from eternity as the Only Begotten, of the substance of the Father: from the womb before the daystar I begot you (Psalms 109:4); in the beginning was the Word (John 1:1). And I came forth as the Word who was made flesh, sent by God through the incarnation. As He says elsewhere, I came forth from the Father, from eternity as the Word, and have come into the world, when I was made flesh in time (John 16:28).

20. He rejects an error when He says, I came not of myself. First, He rejects the error of Sabellius, who said that Christ did not have His origin from another, for he said that the Father and the Son were the same in person. In regard to this He says, I came not of myself, that is, according to Hilary, I came, not existing of myself, but as one sent by another, that is, the Father. Thus He adds, but he sent me: God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law (Galatians 4:4).

    Second, He rejects an error of the Jews who said that Christ was not sent by God, but was a false prophet, of whom we read: I did not send the prophets, yet they ran (Jeremiah 23:21). In regard to this He says, according to Origen, I came not of myself, but he sent me. Indeed, this is what Moses prayed for: I beseech you, Lord, send whom you will send (Exodus 4:13).

21. He shows that they lack this sign when He says, why do you not understand my speech? As was stated above, to love Christ is the sign of being a child of God; but they did not love Christ, so it is obvious that they did not have this sign. That they do not love Christ is shown by the effect of love, for the effect of loving someone is that the lover joyfully hears the words of the beloved. Thus we read: let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet (Song of Solomon 2:14). And again, my companions are listening for your voice; let me hear it (Song of Solomon 8:13). Therefore, because they did not love Christ, it seemed tedious to them even to hear His voice: this saying is hard, and who is able to accept it? (John 6:61); the very sight of him is a burden to us .

    It sometimes happens that a person is not glad to hear the words of another because he cannot weigh them and for that reason does not understand them, and so he contradicts them: answer, I beseech you, without contention . . . and you shall not find iniquity on my tongue (Job 6:29). Therefore He says, why do you not understand my speech? For you asked earlier, what is this that He said, where I go, you cannot come? (John 8:21). I say that you do not understand because you cannot bear to hear my word; that is, your heart is so hardened against me that you do not even want to hear me.