1-50 CHAPTER 12 Ver. 1. _Then Jesus six days before the Passover_, &c. He came from Ephraim, as the Passover was drawing on when He was to die. And He came to Bethany to prepare Himself for it; nay more, to offer Himself for death, and furnish an opportunity for it through the covetousness of Juda... [ Continue Reading ]
There they made Him a _supper,_ &c. To show that He had really risen; as S. Augustine says (_in loc_.). "He lived, He talked, He partook of the meal: the truth was set forth, the unbelief of the Jews was confounded.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Mary_ (Magdalene) _therefore_ (that she might not be wanting on her part, and in order specially to honour Christ, and to surpass all others in her services, as she surpassed them in love) _look a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly._ Ointment of nard was composed of several sweet scents (s... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then said one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot_, (5.) _why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?_ SS. Matt. and Mark add, "Why was this waste of the ointment made?" Bede replies, "It was no waste, but for the rite of burial; nor is it wonderful that she offered... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then said Jesus, Suffer her to keep this for the day of my burial._ In the Greek it is "for the day of my burial hath she kept this," and also in the Syriac (_see notes on Matthew 26:12_, &c.) Hear S. Augustine, "He saith not to him, It is on account of thy thefts that thou speakest thus. He knew h... [ Continue Reading ]
_But the chief priests thought_ (_ε̉βουλεύσαντο_ consulted) _that they might put Lazarus also to death._ See here their virulent envy and malice: envying Jesus His glory. They grudge also Lazarus his life, lest it should add to the glory of Jesus. For the feast of the Passover was at hand, at which... [ Continue Reading ]
_The people therefore_... _bare witness_, &c., to the raising of Lazarus.... [ Continue Reading ]
_For_ _this cause the people also met Him, for that they had heard that He had done this miracle._ The people who were present at the raising of Lazarus spread abroad the miracle, affirming that they had seen it. And the strangeness of it so excited the people that they ran in crowds to meet Jesus,... [ Continue Reading ]
The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how that ye prevail nothing? Behold, the world is gone after Him. This is an hyperbole. But a large body, of every age, sex, and rank had gone after Him, old and young, Jews and Gentiles. S. Cyril observes that the Pharisees tacitly prophesi... [ Continue Reading ]
_And there were certain Greeks_, &c. Some strangely suppose these to have been Jews who lived among the Gentiles, when S. John expressly says that they were Gentiles. These were partly proselytes, who had already embraced Judaism, or at least were thinking about it (so Chrysostom, Theophylact, and E... [ Continue Reading ]
_The same came therefore to Philip_ (the Apostle), _who_ _was of Bethsaida_, &c. They went to Philip, in preference to the other Apostles, either because he was known to them, or was the first they met, or because in his voice and bearing he exhibited greater affability and candour, which attracted... [ Continue Reading ]
_Philip cometh and telleth Andrew (as the greater and elder Apostle), and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus._ Andrew had the greater authority with Jesus, as having been the first called, and as having brought to Him his brother Peter. Having consulted together, they mention the whole matter to Jes... [ Continue Reading ]
_But Jesus answered them_, &c. Do not drive away the Gentiles from me, but bring them to me. What I said before was at the beginning of my preaching, which was intended for the Jews only; but now, when my preaching as well as my life is coming to an end, and the Jews reject my preaching, I will pass... [ Continue Reading ]
_Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat_, &c. Christ teaches us that His glorification would come to Him through the death of the Cross, lest the Apostles and the faithful should be offended at it. Hear S. Augustine (_in loc._), "Jesus by this meant Himself. For He was the grain of w... [ Continue Reading ]
_He that loveth his life_, &c. He that so preferreth his life to my Faith and its profession, as rather to deny the Faith than lose his life, shall incur eternal death. But he who hateth his life, so as to prefer losing it to losing the Faith, will live in eternal happiness in heaven. Again, the sam... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now_ _is My soul troubled._ Because He had mentioned His approaching death, He allowed the natural dread of it to be aroused in His mind (as is the case with ourselves), and so was troubled. "Father," He said, "save Me from this hour." Just as in the garden he prayed, "Let this cup pass from Me.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Father, glorify thy Name._ That in My death, which I willingly undertake, I may glorify thy Name, by the entire obedience and devotion with which I will offer myself as a Victim for the sins of the whole world, thus restoring to the life of grace men who were lost in sin, reconciling them to Thee,... [ Continue Reading ]
_The people therefore that stood by, and heard it_ (this trumpet voice of God the Father) _said that it thundered._ Because it was very loud and resonant. Or perhaps because it was not articulate, but like the confused sound of thunder. S. Chrysostom says, "The voice was clear and significant enough... [ Continue Reading ]
_Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of Me, but for your sakes._ In order that ye may believe in Me, and be saved. I need not this voice for my own sake, for I am the Word of the Father, whom the Father and the Holy Spirit glorify with increate and boundless glory. But ye need it, b... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now is the judgment of this world_, &c. Judgment here signifies condemnation, the condemnation of the Jews for condemning Me to death. So SS. Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Euthymius. But others understand it to mean judgment in favour of the innocent. It means, in this sense, the time is at hand for... [ Continue Reading ]
_And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all Things unto Me._ "Exalted by my resurrection and ascension," says S. Chrysostom. But other commentators refer it to the Cross, as S. John himself explains it. "Christ," says Maldonatus, "speaks of Himself as a soldier contending with the devil.... [ Continue Reading ]
_But this He said_, &c. The death of the Cross. These are the words of S. John inserted parenthetically.... [ Continue Reading ]
_The people answered Him, We have heard out of the Law, that Christ abideth ever, and how sayest Thou, the Son of Man must be lifted up?_ The Jews understood that Christ spake of His death on the Cross. How then does He say that He would die, when the Law says that He would not die? S. Augustine say... [ Continue Reading ]
_Jesus therefore said unto them, Yet a little while is the Light with you_, &c. "Christ would not answer their objections directly, as knowing that they deserved not a reply" says S. Cyril. He therefore answers indirectly, that they should use Him as a light; for that that light would be soon exting... [ Continue Reading ]
_While ye have the light, walk as children of the light._ Believe in Me, who am the light of the world; believe that I am the Messiah, the Son of God, the Saviour of the world; believe in Me and my Gospel (so S. Cyril and Theophylact), that ye may be my children, and consequently the children of gra... [ Continue Reading ]
_But though He had done so many_ (_τοσαυ̃τα_, _so great_) _miracles before them, yet they believed not on Him._ S. Chrysostom and Euthymius think that He wrought many miracles at this special time to lead the Jews to believe in Him, which S. John omitted for the sake of brevity. But others consider,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again_, &c. The words "therefore" and "because" signify not the cause of their unbelief, as Calvin supposes, but marking the necessary consequence. It could not but be so, because it had been foretold, and Scripture cannot lie. But God fore... [ Continue Reading ]
_These things said Esaias, when he saw His glory, and spake of Him._ The glory of Christ the Incarnate Son of God, who is spoken of in what preceded, and what follows. So SS. Augustine, Cyril, and all the Fathers, as against the Arians. It is therefore quite clear that Christ the Son of God is "of o... [ Continue Reading ]