ACC ~ John 11 v47

THEY GATHER OUT OF ENVY, NOT OUT OF FAITH

AUGUSTINE None of them said, “Let us believe.” For these abandoned men were more preoccupied in considering what evil they could do to bring down Jesus than in consulting about how they might be preserved from death. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 49.26. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:278**.

AUDACIOUS AND BLIND

ORIGEN I think the phrase “this man” was used to diminish [Jesus’] glory because they did not believe what was said above about him being God. … Notice both the audacity and the blindness of their evil. It was audacious because they had already witnessed the fact that he had performed many signs, and yet they thought they could plot against him—as if he could do nothing when they plotted against him. On the other hand, they were no less blind either because it makes more sense to be on the side of someone who performs such miracles than [to be a part of] the plot of those who do not want to allow him to live. Or perhaps they thought that he performed signs that were not the result of divine power and that this was why he could not do all things or deliver himself from their plot. They resolved, therefore, not to let him live, thinking that they would place an impediment in the way of those who believed in him and also prevent the Romans from taking away their place and nation. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 28.88-90. [1]

[1] FC 89:312**; SC 385:106-8.

Jn