ACC ~ John 3 v22 - 36

OVERVIEW:

Jesus, as the truth, does not seek concealment but heads straight for Jerusalem and then the Jordan, where large crowds would be gathered and helped by him. The text says that he was baptizing, but it is clear further on that it was his disciples who baptized (CHRYSOSTOM). The Evangelist mentions John was not in prison yet, an indication that he records events here and earlier that the other Evangelists had left out, since they mention events that occurred after John was thrown into prison (EUSEBIUS). Note also that when Jesus’ disciples had begun baptizing, John did not stop baptizing, but John did not want to exacerbate the rivalry that was already inherent between the two groups (CHRYSOSTOM). John’s disciples defended his baptism when it seemed that the Jews were asserting that Christ was the greater of the two (AUGUSTINE). They still considered Christ as one of their rank and only a disciple of John who was not worthy of carrying on a separate ministry of baptism. Implicit in John’s answer, however, is that Christ is God and so deserves the honor he receives (CHRYSOSTOM), while John, as a mere man, is able to give only what he has received from heaven (AUGUSTINE). We too should be content with what we have received rather than striving for more (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). John maintains his role as a servant despite what his disciples claim to the contrary (CHRYSOSTOM).

Jesus is the bridegroom; John the Baptist is the friend of the bridegroom who rejoices because the bridegroom replaces the harsh penalties and torments of the law with forgiveness and a wedding feast (AMBROSE). John refers to himself as the friend of the bridegroom rather than servant since on the occasion of a wedding the servants are never as happy as the friends (CHRYSOSTOM). The friend’s task is to prepare the bride, that is, the church, for the bridegroom’s coming by keeping the bride pure as a virgin (BEDE). While John recognizes that the church is not his spouse, he still rejoices that the bride recognizes her spouse (AUGUSTINE). The church is wedded to God by “the voice” since “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (CHRYSOSTOM). And thus John, who is the voice, serves as a model of humility in maintaining the focus on the bridegroom rather than on himself, while not seeking to usurp the bridegroom’s role (AUGUSTINE).

John’s role diminishes as Christ increases (BEDE). Christ did not increase in his divinity, but he did increase according to his humanity, and he increases in us as we grow in our understanding and apprehension of him (AUGUSTINE). John again speaks of the one who comes from above, who is superior because of his oneness with the Father (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA), but his disciple’s pride in themselves and in John would not easily be subdued (CHRYSOSTOM). John speaks of his teaching as simple, of the earth—human (AUGUSTINE)—in comparison with the wisdom of Christ, which comes from above. Christ testifies to things our senses could never comprehend (CHRYSOSTOM), but when we accept by faith what he says, our faith, in turn, testifies to his truthfulness (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA).

The Son was sent from the Father as the uttered Word (AUGUSTINE). Christ himself has and receives the Spirit without measure (AMMONIUS), while we have the Spirit measured out to us (CHRYSOSTOM, AUGUSTINE). The Father has, in fact, given everything to the Son and so, in sending the Son, ultimately sends himself (AUGUSTINE). But we should not think that the Son never had what the Father gives, since the Son has eternally what the Father has (ATHANASIUS), although as man, he will receive all things when he comes again (AMMONIUS).

Jesus concludes this section with the threat of punishment because the majority of people are motivated by threats more than by promises (CHRYSOSTOM). Faith causes the wrath of God to leave (AMBROSE), but those who do not believe will be abandoned instead of being healed (AUGUSTINE). Both believers and unbelievers will be resurrected, but the unbelievers will not be living so much as existing in a punishment more bitter than death (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA).

3:22 | Jesus Goes into Judea

JESUS NOT AFRAID TO GO TO JUDEA

CHRYSOSTOM: Nothing can be clearer or bolder than truth…. It neither seeks concealment nor avoids danger, it fears no plots or cares for popularity. It is subject to no human weakness…. Our Lord went up to Jerusalem at the feasts to teach the people and help them through his miracles. After the festival he often visited the crowds who were gathered at the Jordan, choosing the most crowded places, not ostentatiously or out of love of honor but because he wanted to help the greatest number of people. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 29.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:99-100**.

JESUS’ DISCIPLES BAPTIZED

CHRYSOSTOM: The Evangelist says further on that Jesus did not baptize, but his disciples did…. He had not yet given the Spirit, and so there was a good reason why he did not baptize. But his disciples did because they wanted to bring as many to faith as possible. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 29.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:100**.

3:23-24 | John Was Not Yet Imprisoned

RECORDING EVENTS BEFORE THE IMPRISONMENT OF JOHN

EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA: For it is evident that the three Evangelists recorded only the deeds done by the Savior for one year after the imprisonment of John the Baptist and indicated this in the beginning of their account…. They say, therefore, that the apostle John, being asked to do it for this reason, gave in his Gospel an account of the period that had been omitted by the earlier Evangelists and of the deeds done by the Savior during that period; that is, of those that were done before the imprisonment of the Baptist. And this is indicated by him, they say, in the following words: “This was the beginning of the miracles that Jesus did”; [1] and again when he refers to the Baptist, in the midst of the deeds of Jesus, as still baptizing in Aenon near Salim…. “For John was not yet cast into prison.” John accordingly, in his Gospel, records the deeds of Christ that were performed before the Baptist was cast into prison, but the other three Evangelists mention the events that happened after that time. ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 3.24.8-12. [2]

[1] Jn 2:11.

[2] NPNF 2 1:153*.

3:25 | A Dispute Among John’s Disciples

WHY DID JOHN CONTINUE TO BAPTIZE?

CHRYSOSTOM: Why, when the disciples of Jesus were baptizing, didn’t John stop baptizing? Why did he continue even until he was led to prison?… He would have made the disciples of Jesus seem the more revered if he had stopped when they began…. But he did so because he did not want to excite his own disciples to an even stronger rivalry and contention than there already was between the two. For even if he had proclaimed Christ ten thousand times and given him the chief place, making himself much more the inferior, he still would not have been able to persuade his disciples to run to Christ. In fact, they would have most likely become more hostile. This is why Christ began to preach more constantly once John was removed. Indeed, the reason, I think, why John’s death was permitted and Christ was made the great preacher in his place was so that the people might transfer their affections entirely to Christ and no longer be divided between the two….

Instead, by continuing to preach, John received no glory for himself but sent hearers to Christ. And he was better able to do this service than Christ’s own disciples were. This is because his testimony was so free from suspicion and his reputation with the people so much higher than theirs….

But if anyone asks how the disciples’ baptism was better than John’s, we reply that it was not. Both alike were without the gift of the Spirit, both parties alike had one reason for baptizing, that is, to lead the baptized to Christ…. That the baptisms had no superiority over one another is shown by what follows [in the dispute]….

For the disciples of John did become so envious of Christ’s disciples, and even of Christ himself, that when they saw the latter baptizing, they threw contempt on their baptism as being inferior to that of John’s. And they tried to persuade one of those who were baptized of this but were not successful. That it was they who began the dispute, and not the Jews, the Evangelist implies by saying that “there arose a question from John’s disciples with a certain Jew,” instead of saying, “A certain Jew posed a question.” HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 29.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:100*.

JOHN’S DISCIPLES DEFEND JOHN’S BAPTISM

AUGUSTINE: John baptized, Christ baptized. John’s disciples were moved; there was a running after Christ, people were coming to John. Those who came to John, he sent to Jesus to be baptized. But those who were baptized by Christ were not sent to John. John’s disciples were alarmed and began to dispute with the Jews, as usually happens. The Jews then asserted Christ to be the greater person and his baptism necessary to be received. But John’s disciples did not yet understand as much and defended John’s baptism. At last they come to John to solve the question….

“And they came to John and said to him, ‘Rabbi, he that was with you beyond the Jordan, behold, the same baptizes.’”… In other words, “What do you say? Shouldn’t they be stopped so that the people come to you instead?” TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.8-9. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:89-90**.

3:26 | All Are Going to Him

THE ONE JOHN BAPTIZED, NOW BAPTIZES

CHRYSOSTOM: “He whom you baptized, baptizes,” John’s disciples in effect say, although not in so many words. They add, “To whom you bore witness,” as if to say that the one you showed to the world, the one you made famous now dares to do as you do. They did not say “whom you baptized,” because they did not want to be reminded of the voice from heaven and of the descent of the Spirit. And so, instead they said, “He who was with you… ”— that is, the one who held the rank of a disciple and who was nothing more than any of us—he now separates himself from you and baptizes. They thought they would make John jealous, not only by this but by asserting that their own reputation was now diminishing. “All,” they say, “come to him.” HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 29.2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:100-101**.

3:27 | John’s Answer

CHRIST’S WORKS TESTIFY THEY ARE FROM HEAVEN

CHRYSOSTOM: When this question is raised, John does not rebuke his disciples for fear they might leave and turn to some other school. Rather, he replies gently, “A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.” Do not be surprised that he seems to speak somewhat humbly of Christ, especially when you consider that it was not appropriate to tell the whole truth to minds prepossessed with such a passion as envy. He only tries at present to alarm them by showing them that they are making war against none other than God himself when they attack Christ…. It is as if he said it is no wonder that Christ does such excellent works and that everyone comes to him when you consider that the one who does it all is God. Human efforts are easily seen through, are feeble and short-lived. These actions of Jesus are not like that. They are not therefore of human but of divine origin. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 29.2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:101**.

JOHN SPEAKS OF HIMSELF

AUGUSTINE: John is speaking here about himself. “As a man, I have only received” he said, “what I have from heaven.”… You also realize the kind of testimony I provided for him. And now I am supposed to say that he was not the one who I said he was? Because I received something from heaven in order to be something, do you want me now to throw out everything I have received by speaking against the truth? TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.9. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:90**.

WHAT DO YOU HAVE THAT YOU DID NOT RECEIVE?

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: He says that there is nothing good in humankind, but everything is a gift of God. It is therefore fitting for the creation to hear, “What do you have that you did not receive?” [1] I think then that we ought to be content with the measures allotted to us and to rejoice in the honors assigned to us from heaven. But, by no means, should we stretch out beyond what has been given us, nor in our desire of things greater, appear to be unthankful or to despise the decree from above and fight against the judgment of the Lord…. Whatever God shall deign to honor us with, [let us] value that highly. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.1. [2]

[1] 1 Cor 4:7.

[2] HE WORD IN THE BEGINNING | JOHN 1:1

3:28 | You Witness That I Am Not the Christ

JOHN TESTIFIES TO HIS OWN SERVANT ROLE

CHRYSOSTOM: If then you hold to my testimony—and you even now produce it when you say “to whom you bore witness”—not only is he undiminished by receiving my witness, but he is increased by it. Besides, the testimony was not mine. It was God’s. And so, if you think I am trustworthy, I said this among the other things, that “I am sent before him.” See how he shows little by little that the voice was divine? For he is saying, in effect, “I am a servant speaking the words of the one who sent me. I did not give the testimony as a gift; I spoke what I was sent to speak. Do not think I am someone great just because of this. In actuality he is the great one. He is the Lord of all.” HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 29.2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:101**.

3:29 | The Bridegroom Has the Bride

CHRIST IS THE HUSBAND OF THE CHURCH

AMBROSE: This means he alone is the husband of the church, he is the expectation of the nations, and the prophets removed their sandals while offering to him a union of nuptial grace. He is the bridegroom; I am the friend of the bridegroom. I rejoice because he is coming, because I hear the nuptial chant, because now we do not hear the harsh penalties for sinners, the harsh torments of the law, but the forgiveness of offenses, the cry of joy, the sound of cheerfulness, the rejoicing of the nuptial feast. ON THE PATRIARCHS 4.22. [1]

[1] FC 65:254.

THE FRIEND OF THE BRIDEGROOM

CHRYSOSTOM: But how does he who said, “whose sandals I am not worthy to unloose,” now call himself his “friend”? It is not to exalt himself or to boast that he says this. Rather, it is from [his] desire to show that he too very much looks forward to this (i.e., the exaltation of Christ) and that these things happen not against his will or to his disadvantage. Rather, he desires and is eager for them. It was with a special view to these very things that all his actions had been performed. He has very wisely shown this by the term “friend.” For on occasions like marriages, the servants of the bridegroom are not as glad and joyful as his “friends” are. It was not from any desire to prove equality of honor (away with the thought) that he calls himself friend, but only due to his great pleasure and from condescension to their weakness. For he previously declared his service by saying, “I am sent before him.” On this account and because they thought that he was troubled at what had taken place, he called himself the “friend of the Bridegroom” to show not only that he was not troubled, but that he was actually quite happy over the whole turn of events. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 29.2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:101*.

FRIENDS OF THE BRIDEGROOM ARE THE PREACHERS

BEDE: The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. By the bride he means the church gathered from among all nations…. It is a virgin pure of heart, perfect in love, bound to him in the bond of peace, in chastity of body and soul and in the unity of the Catholic faith. For it is useless for her to be a virgin in body without retaining the purity of the Catholic faith. Our Lord therefore committed his bride to his friends who are the preachers of the true gospel. Therefore, John says, “The friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice.” The friend is able to stand and hear him because he remains in the true faith and preaches what he believes. EXPOSITION ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 3. [1]

[1] PL 92:675.

JOHN REJOICES

AUGUSTINE: She is not my spouse, John says. But do you still rejoice in the marriage, John? “Yes, I rejoice,” he says, “because I am the friend of the bridegroom.” TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13.12. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:91**.

THE FULLNESS OF JOY

CHRYSOSTOM: But what does it mean: “He who stands and hears him rejoices greatly, because of the bridegroom’s voice”? He transfers the expression from the parable to the subject at hand. For after mentioning the bridegroom and the bride, he shows how the bride is brought home, that is, by a “voice” and by teaching. For this is how the church is wedded to God. Therefore Paul also says, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” [1] At this “voice,” he says, “I rejoice.” And he adds “who stand,” in order to show that his office had ceased, that he had given over to him “the bride” and must for the future himself stand and hear him. He was a servant and minister, and his hope and joy are now realized. Therefore he says, “This, my joy, therefore, is fulfilled.” HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 29.3. [2]

[1] Rom 10:17.

[2] NPNF 1 14:102.

JOHN, THE BRIDEGROOM’S FRIEND, A MODEL OF HUMILITY

AUGUSTINE: There were prophets before John, and many of them, and great ones, worthy of God, full of God, who foretold the Savior and bore witness to the truth. Yet for all that, of none of them could it be said, as was said of John, “Among those born of women, none has arisen greater than John the Baptist.” [1] So what is the meaning of such greatness, sent before the great One? It is a testimonial to extraordinary humility. After all, he was so great that people could think he was the Christ. John could have taken advantage of the people’s mistake, and he would not have had to work hard to persuade them he was the Christ, because those who heard and saw him had already thought this without his saying it. There was no need for him to sow the seeds of the error; all he would have to do would be to confirm it.

He, however, as the bridegroom’s friend, is jealous for the bridegroom. And he does not put himself forward as an adulterer in the bridegroom’s place but bears witness to his friend and commends the one who really was the bridegroom to the bride. He wants to be loved in him and hates the idea of being loved instead of him. “The one who has the bride,” he says, “is the bridegroom.” And if you were to say, “What about you?” he would respond, “But the friend of the bridegroom stands and hears and joyfully rejoices because of the bridegroom’s voice.” “Stands and hears.” The disciple hears the master; because he hears, he stands, because if he does not hear, he falls. It is here that John’s greatness is supremely brought to our notice; that when he could be thought to be the Christ, he preferred to bear witness to the Christ, to bring him to our notice. He preferred to humble himself rather than to be taken for the Christ and taken in by himself. SERMON 288.2. [2]

[1] Mt 11:11. 2

[2] WSA 3 8:110-11.

3:30 | He Must Increase, but I Must Decrease

JOHN DIMINISHES AS KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST INCREASES

BEDE: The crowd believed that [John] was the Christ because of the greatness of his power, while some people supposed that our Lord was not the Christ but a prophet because of the weakness of his flesh. John himself revealed the secret meaning of this difference…. Our Lord increased because it became known to believers throughout the entire world that he who was believed to be a prophet was the Christ. John diminished and decreased because it became apparent that he who was judged to be the Christ was not himself the Christ but the herald of the Christ. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPELS 2.20. [1]

[1] CS 111:204-5.

GOD INCREASES AS HE LIVES IN US

AUGUSTINE: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” What is this? He must be exalted, but I must be humbled. How is Jesus to increase? How is God to increase? The perfect does not increase. God neither increases nor decreases. For if he increases, he is not perfect; if he decreases, he is not God. And how can Jesus increase, being God? [1] … This is a great mystery! Before the Lord Jesus came, people were glorifying themselves; he came as a man to lessen human glory and to increase the glory of God…. For this is what the apostle says, this is what holy Scripture says: “He that glories, let him glory in the Lord.” [2]

Will you glory in yourself? You will grow; but you will grow worse in your evil. For whoever grows worse is justly decreased. Let God, then, who is ever perfect, grow and grow in you. For the more you understand God and apprehend him, he seems to be growing in you; but in himself he does not grow, being always perfect…. Do but examine the nature of humanity: a person is born and grows, he learns the customs of people. What does he know but earth and things of the earth? He speaks the things of people, knows the things of people and minds the things of people. Carnal, he judges carnally, conjectures carnally. Everything is about humanity! Let the grace of God come and enlighten his darkness, as it said, “You will lighten my candle, O Lord; my God, enlighten my darkness”; [3] let it take the mind of humanity and turn it toward its own light. Immediately [John] begins to say, as the apostle says, “Yet not I, but the grace of God that is with me,” [4] and “Now I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me.” [5] That is to say, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 14.4-6. [6]

[1] In the intervening text, Augustine reasons that the increase cannot refer to the human, creaturely growth of the boy Jesus into an adult, since John the Baptist and Jesus were both“already thirty years old” at this meeting, according to Lk 3:23.

[2] See 1 Cor 1:31; Jer 9:24.

[3] See Ps 18:28 (17:29 LXX, Vg).

[4] 1 Cor 15:10.

[5] See Gal 2:20.

[6] NPNF 1 7:95-96**.

3:31 | The One from Above Is Above All

ONE FROM ABOVE IS NATURALLY ABOVE EVERYTHING ELSE

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: It is no big thing, and not all that wonderful either, if Christ surpasses the glory of human nature. For the boundaries of his glory don’t only extend so far—in fact, they extend over all creation just as God is above everything that has been made and in no way numbered among them. He, as the exception to everything, is divinely placed over everything. And then John explains why, which silences anyone who might disagree. “He who comes from above,” he says, “is born of the root that is from above, preserving in himself by nature the Father’s natural goodness. Such a person will most assuredly possess an existence that surpasses everything. For, it would be impossible for the Son not to appear altogether to be the same kind of being as the one who begot him is conceived of. And this is only right. For how can the Son, who excels because he is of the same nature and is the Brightness and express Image of the Father—how can he be inferior to his [Father] in glory? Or will not the property of the Father be dishonored in the Son, and do we not insult the Image of the Begotten, if we consider him to be inferior? But this I suppose will be clear to everyone. This is why it is also written that everyone should honor the Son even as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father. [1] Whoever is glorified with equal honor with God the Father, because he exists from him by nature, has to be conceived of as surpassing the essence of things originate. For this is what “above all” means. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.12. [2]

[1] Jn 5:23.

[2] LF 43:184**.

JOHN REPEATS HIMSELF TO SUBDUE HIS DISCIPLES’ PRIDE

CHRYSOSTOM: As the worm gnaws through the wood from which it is born, and rust destroys the iron from which it came, and moths consume fleece, so pride destroys the soul that nourishes it. Therefore we need perseverance to get rid of it. John himself can hardly subdue it in his disciples even with all of his cogent arguments. He has to say again what he has said above, “He that comes from above is above all.”… He means: you make much of my testimony and say that the witness is more worthy to be believed than Jesus to whom I bear witness. Know this, that it is impossible for the one who comes from heaven to be accredited by an earthly witness…. He is above all, being perfect in himself and above comparison. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 30.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:103**.

JOHN’S TEACHING IS SIMPLE COMPARED WITH THAT OF JESUS

CHRYSOSTOM: “Speaks of the earth” does not mean that John spoke from his own understanding but that, in comparison with Christ’s doctrine, he spoke of the earth. It is as if he said, my doctrine is simple and humble when compared with Christ’s. While it is appropriate for an earthbound teacher, there is no comparison with the one in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge…. And yet John was not altogether earthly, for he had a soul and a spirit, and these were not of the earth. What does he mean then by saying that he is “earthly”? He says this only to express his own worthlessness and that he is one born on the earth, creeping on the ground. There is no comparison with Christ, who comes from above. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 30.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:103**.

JOHN SPEAKS OF GOD WHEN HE IS ENLIGHTENED

AUGUSTINE: Then how does he speak of the earth? He said this about human beings. So far as relates to their being human, they are of earth and speak of the earth. And when human beings speak divine things it is because they are enlightened by God. For if they were not enlightened, they would be earth speaking of earth. God’s grace is one thing, the nature of human beings is another… as the apostle says, “Yet not I, but the grace of God that is with me.” [1] … Thus John, as regards John, is of the earth and speaks of the earth. Whatever you have heard from John that is divine comes from him who enlightens, not him who receives. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 14.6. [2]

[1] 1 Cor 15:10.

[2] NPNF 1 7:96*.

3:32 | Testifying of What He Has Seen and Heard

CHRIST TESTIFIES TO THINGS OUR SENSES CANNOT COMPREHEND

CHRYSOSTOM: After this high and solemn mention of Christ, John’s tone again lowers. For the expression “what he has heard and seen” is suited more for a mere man. What he knew, he knew not because he learned by sight or hearing but because everything is already in his nature, having come forth perfect from the bosom of his Father and needing no one to teach him…. As our senses are our surest channels of knowledge and teachers are most dependent on those who have apprehended by sight or hearing what they teach, John adds this argument in favor of Christ, that which he has seen and heard—meaning that everything that Jesus said is true, none of it is false. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 30.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:103-4**.

3:33 | God Is True

THE BELIEVERS’ ASSENT WITNESSES THAT GOD IS TRUE

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: There was no other possible way of showing the impiety of those who do not believe except by making known the glorious achievement of the believers. Evil is a lot easier to see when it is contrasted with good. When you know there is something better out there, it only puts what is worse in starker contrast. If anyone then, John says, has assented to the words of the one who comes from above, he has sealed and confirmed by his understanding that truth is ever near and dear to the divine nature. The opposite is just as obvious because anyone who throws away the faith will most certainly testify, against himself, that God is not true. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.3. [1]

[1] LF 43:191.

3:34 | Uttering the Words of God

GOD SPOKE THE WORD

AUGUSTINE: What has the Son heard from the Father? Could it be that the Son has heard the Word of the Father? No, the Son is the Word of the Father…. When you conceive a word to speak it, you intend to speak something, and the very conception of that something is already a word in your heart waiting to be expressed. [As, in fact, you have in your heart the word that you speak], so God gave out his Word, that is, he begat the Son. You beget the Word in your heart according to time. God begat outside of time the Son by whom he created all times. While, therefore, the Son is the Word of God and the Son did not speak his own word to us but the word of the Father, he still also wanted to speak himself to us as well when he was speaking the word of the Father. This is what John said, as was appropriate and necessary. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 14.7. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:96*.

CHRIST HAS THE SPIRIT WITHOUT MEASURE

AMMONIUS: As the fount of the Spirit, [Christ] imparts him. He is speaking of the working of the Spirit, which people receive in some measure. For the Son himself has the full working of the Spirit in its entirety. Truly, the Son has the entire Spirit in essence and not in some measure, as a created being might have. Therefore, he himself imparts the Spirit, and by their petitions the saints make Christ supply the Spirit. FRAGMENTS ON JOHN 105. [1]

[1] JKGK 224.

THE SPIRIT IS OF INFINITE MEASURE IN CHRIST

CHRYSOSTOM: But why does he say, “God gives not the Spirit by measure”? He wants to demonstrate that we all have received the operation of the Spirit by measure (for in this place, by “Spirit” he means the operation of the Spirit, for this is what is divided). And yet, Christ has all its operation without measure and complete. Now if his operations are without measure, his essence is even more so. Do you not see that the Spirit is infinite? How then can he who has received all the operation of the Spirit, who knows the things of God, who says, “We speak what we have heard, and testify what we have seen” [1] —how can anyone suspect anything he says? He says nothing that is not “of God” or that is not of “the Spirit.” And, for a while, he utters nothing concerning God the Word but makes all his doctrine credible by reference to the Father and the Spirit. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 30.2. [2]

[1] Jn 3:11.

[2] NPNF 1 14:104-5**.

THE SPIRIT MEASURED OUT IN US

AUGUSTINE: What does this mean when he says, “For not by measure does God give the Spirit”? We find that God does give the Spirit by measure. Listen to the apostle when he says, “According to the measure of the gift of Christ.” [1] To people he gives by measure; to the only Son he does not give by measure. How does he give to people by measure? “To one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit.” [2] … This person has one gift, that person another; and what that person has, this one does not: there is a measure, a certain division of gifts…. But Christ, who gives, receives not by measure. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 14.10. [3]

[1] Eph 4:7.

[2] 1 Cor 12:8.

[3] NPNF 1 7:98**.

3:35 | The Loving Father Gives His Son Everything

THE FATHER’S LOVE FOR HIS SON IS UNIQUE

AUGUSTINE: He added “has given all things into his hands” so that you might know also here with what distinction it is said, “The Father loves the Son.” And why? Doesn’t the Father love John? And yet he has not given all things into his hand. Doesn’t the Father love Paul? And yet he has not given all things into his hand. “The Father loves the Son,” but as a father loves, not as master loves a servant. He loves him as the only Son, not as an adopted son, and so he “has given all things into his hand.” What does “all things” mean? That the Son should be such as the Father is. He begot him to equality with himself—he in whom it was no robbery to be in the form of God and equal to God. [1] “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.” Therefore, having deigned to send us the Son, let us not imagine that it is something less than the Father that is sent to us. The Father, in sending the Son, sent his other self. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 14.11. [2]

[1] See Phil 2:6.

[2] NPNF 1 7:98*.

THE SON HAS ETERNALLY WHAT THE FATHER HAS ETERNALLY

ATHANASIUS: This passage does not demonstrate that the Son, at one time, did not have these prerogatives [that were given him by the Father]. For he who is the only Word and Wisdom of the Father in essence has eternally what the Father has. For doesn’t Christ elsewhere say, “All that the Father has are mine,” [1] and whatever things are mine are the Father’s? For if the things of the Father are the Son’s and the Father always has them, it is plain that what the Son has, being the Father’s, were always in the Son. This is not because there was a time when he did not have them, but because, even though the Son has eternally what he has, he still has them from the Father. DISCOURSES AGAINST THE ARIANS 3.27.35. [2]

[1] Jn 16:15; 17:10.

[2] NPNF 2 4:413**.

THE SON, AS MAN, RECEIVES ALL THINGS AT SECOND COMING

AMMONIUS: The Father loves the world too, but not in the same way as he loves the Son, whom he loves exceedingly because of his incarnation as his own Word and Wisdom and Holiness. [His giving all things over to his Son] will be fulfilled at the time of his second coming when “every knee will bow to him,” as everyone rejects the evil to which they are now clinging. Here he calls his power his “hand.” The Son has this power by nature and not just to a certain degree. That is because every good thing really belongs to the Father and the Son is perceived to have this full power. And he will also receive as a man the authority which he had also had before his incarnation. FRAGMENTS ON JOHN 105. [1]

[1] JKGK 224.

3:36 | Eternal Life or No Life at All

FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD

CHRYSOSTOM: See how he refers to the Father again when he speaks of punishment. He did not say, “the wrath of the Son,” although the Son is the judge. Rather, he makes the Father the judge in order to alarm them more. He does not mean here that to believe on the Son says everything that needs to be said concerning gaining everlasting life, for elsewhere he says, “Not every one that says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.” [1] And the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is of itself sufficient to send someone into hell…. But we must not think that even a right belief in Father, Son and Holy Spirit is all there is to salvation… for our [faith] also has need of a good life and conversation. Knowing then that the greater part are not moved so much by the promise of good, as by the threat of punishment, he concludes, “But he that believes not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him.”… And he does not say “in him” but “on him,” meaning that the wrath will never depart from him. And for the same reason he says, “shall not see life,” that is, to show that he did not mean only a temporal death! HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 31.1. [2]

[1] Mt 7:21.

[2] NPNF 1 14:106**.

BELIEF MAKES GOD’S WRATH CEASE

AMBROSE: The wrath that remains on him certainly had its beginning from some offence, in other words, first of all, that he did not believe. When, then, anyone believes, the wrath of God departs and life arrives. To believe, then, in Christ is to gain life, for “He who believes in him is not judged.” [1] CONCERNING REPENTANCE 1.12.53. [2]

[1] Jn 3:18.

[2] SC 179:98; NPNF 2 10:338*.

THE WRATH OF GOD REMAINS ON HIM

AUGUSTINE: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.” Why? Because he has done the work of God, seeing that this is the work of God that you should believe in the one whom he has sent. “But whoever does not believe in the Son will not have life, but the wrath of God remains on him”; [1] not “will come upon him” but “remains on him.” He is abandoned, not healed. SERMON 130A.7. [2]

[1] Jn 3:36.

[2] WSA 3 11:123.

UNBELIEVERS RESURRECTED BUT NOT LIVING

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: He says that the believer shall have everlasting life, but the word has a different significance for the unbeliever. For he does not say that [the unbeliever] shall not have life since he too shall be raised by the common law of the resurrection. But he says that he shall not see life, that is, he shall not even so much as glimpse the life of the saints, he shall not touch their blessedness, and he shall not taste of their life spent in bliss. For that is indeed life. But to exist in punishment is far more bitter than any death, holding the soul in the body only for the sensation of suffering. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 2.4. [1]

[1] LF 43:199*.