ACC ~ John 13 v20

PARTICULARITY OF APOSTLES OF JESUS CHRIST

ORIGEN: Whomever the Savior sends to minister to the salvation of anyone, that person who is sent is an apostle of Jesus Christ. But just as the apostle is an apostle of the one who sent him, so is he an apostle only to those to whom he is sent. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 32.204-5. [1]

[1] FC 89:380-81; SC 385:274.

RECEIVES THE FATHER

ORIGEN: He who receives whom[ever] Jesus may send, receives Jesus in the one sent, and he who receives Jesus receives the Father. Therefore, he who receives whomever Jesus may send receives the Father who sent Jesus. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 32.212. [1]

[1] FC 89:382*; SC 385:276.

RECEIVING THE SENDER THROUGH THE SENT ONE

AUGUSTINE: Did he mean us to understand that there is as little distance between one sent by him and himself as there is between himself and God the Father? If we take it this way, we would have to adopt the Arian system of gradations because, when they hear or read these words of the Gospel, they have immediate recourse to their dogmatic measurements and say, The Son’s messenger then stands at the same relative distance from the Son … as that in which the Son himself stands from the Father. … Listen rather to the Son himself when he says, “I and the Father are one.” [1] There is no shadow of distance there between the Begetter and the Only Begotten. There Christ himself has erased your measurements. …

But in what sense then are we to take these words of the Lord? “He who receives me receives him who sent me” expresses the oneness in nature of the Father and the Son. The other phrase, then, “He who receives whomever I send, receives me,” refers to the unity in nature of the Son and his messenger. And there is no impropriety in understanding it this way, … seeing that the Word became flesh, that is, God became man. And so he would have been speaking here with regard to the union with his human nature when he said, “He who receives whomever I send receives me,” but speaking of his [divine nature] when he says, “He who receives me [as God] receives him who sent me.” But in this passage he was not so much commending the unity of nature as the authority of the Sender in him who is sent. Let everyone, therefore, receive him who is sent [i.e., Christ], that in the person [of Christ] he may listen to the One who sent him [i.e., the Father]. If then, you look for Christ in Peter, you will find Peter’s instructor. And if you look for the Father in the Son, you will find the Begetter of the Only Begotten. Therefore, when you receive him who is sent, you are not mistaken when you believe that you are also receiving the Sender. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 59.2-3. [2]

[1] Jn 10:30.

[2] NPNF 1 7:308**.