ACC ~ John 8 v12 - 20

OVERVIEW:

Jesus is the light not only of Galilee, Palestine or Judea but of the whole world (CHRYSOSTOM). He is God of God and Light of Light, but he tempered his light under the cloud of flesh so that it could be seen by the world (AUGUSTINE). His illumination leads us to immortality (IRENAEUS) through the waters of baptism (GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS). He is the light that reveals (MAXIMUS THE CONFESSOR) the splendor of the eternal Light, which Isaiah prophesied would appear in Galilee (THEODORE). As such, he is not only in the light (AMMONIUS) but is light by nature (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). Unlike the light of the sun, this light will never desert us. When we follow it with the eyes of faith, we will ultimately behold that future vision when there will be no more night (AUGUSTINE), just as Israel did not stray when it followed the light of the pillar of fire in the wilderness (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). Our Lord gives tacit praise to Nicodemus as one who does follow the light, in contrast to the darkness of his pharisaic colleagues (CHRYSOSTOM).

The Pharisees falsely accuse Jesus who, as the light that illumines all, by definition cannot lie (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). As God Jesus is a competent witness to himself (CHRYSOSTOM), and as light he makes himself known. He tells them that he knows where he comes from, that is, from the Father, but they do not because, even though the light shines on them, they do not have eyes to see. They see the man but do not see he is God (AUGUSTINE), and therefore they judge badly, according to the flesh (CHRYSOSTOM). In spite of their challenge, Jesus defers his judgment, however (AUGUSTINE). When Jesus does come to judge the world, he will judge in the company of his Father, and therefore his judgment will be beyond dispute (AUGUSTINE, TERTULLIAN) because he proceeds from his Father, which in no way implies a lesser role for the Son (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA).

Jesus references the law in connection with his judgment, demonstrating his respect for the law’s requirement regarding two or three witnesses (THEODORE). These witnesses are indeed present in the Trinity, which validates his testimony (AUGUSTINE). Jesus’ work also testifies to his equality with the Father (CHRYSOSTOM). The Son is the doorway to the Father, which is why Jesus says if you know the Son, you know the Father (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). In essence, he is saying in this statement that he and the Father are one (AUGUSTINE). The heterodox use this text to try and prove that the God whom the Jews worship was not the Father of Christ, implying that neither the ancient Jews nor the Pharisees knew the Father because the Father was different from the Creator they worshiped. But the real reason the Pharisees did not know the Father (who is also Creator) is because they did not live according to the Creator’s will. They may have known God in a cursory way but had no knowledge of the Father or of his Son. John notes that Jesus chose to speak these words in the temple treasury, perhaps indicating it was Jesus’ gift to the treasury as he opened up its spiritual treasures (ORIGEN). Jesus obviously was not under any necessity of fate when he spoke of freely giving his life (AUGUSTINE).

8:12a | I Am the Light of the World

THE LIGHT OF THE WHOLE WORLD

CHRYSOSTOM: Since they were continually bringing up Galilee and “the prophet” (as if that was all he claimed to be), he wanted to show that he was not one of the prophets but the Master of the world. “I am the Light of the world,” not only of Galilee, or of Palestine, or of Judea. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 52.2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:187**.

THE LIGHT THAT MADE THE SUN

AUGUSTINE: The Manichaeans suppose the sun visible to our natural eyes to be our Lord Christ,… but the right faith of the universal church condemns such fiction…. He is God of God, Light of Light. The sun’s light was made by this Light. [1] And the Light that made the sun, under which he also made us, was himself made under the sun for our sake. That Light that made the sun was made, I say, [to come humbly] under the sun for our sake…. He hid himself under the cloud of the flesh, not to obscure but to temper his light. Speaking then through the cloud of the flesh, the Light unfailing, the Light of wisdom says to humanity, “I am the Light of the world.” TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 34.2, 4-5. [2]

[1] Gen 1:3. See also Tertullian Against Praxeas 12 (TTAP 145).

[2] NPNF 1 7:200-201**.

THE FATHERLY LIGHT OF CHRIST LEADS US TO IMMORTALITY

IRENAEUS: No one was able, either in heaven or in earth or under the earth, to open the book of the Father… so that all things … might behold their King and that the Fatherly light might meet with and rest upon the flesh of our Lord and come to us from his radiant flesh. In this way, human beings might attain to immortality, having been invested with the Fatherly light. AGAINST HERESIES 4.20.2. [1]

[1] ANF 1:488**.

THE CHILDREN OF PERFECT LIGHT

GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS: Listen to the voice of God, which sounds so exceedingly clear to me—I who am both disciple and master of these mysteries. This is how I hope to God it may sound to you: “I am the Light of the world.” Therefore approach him and be enlightened, [1] and do not let your faces be ashamed, [2] being signed with the true Light. It is a season of new birth; let us be born again. It is a time of reformation; let us receive again the first Adam. [3] Let us not remain what we are, but let us become what we once were. The Light shines in darkness [4] in this life and in the flesh. It is chased by the darkness but is not overtaken by it. I am referring to the power of the enemy that leaps up in its shamelessness against the visible Adam. But it encounters God and is defeated. Let us put away the darkness so that we may draw near to the Light and may then become perfect Light, the children of perfect Light. ON THE HOLY LIGHTS, ORATION 39.2. [5]

[1] Gregory’s term for baptism.

[2] Ps 34:5 (33:6 LXX).

[3] The condition of humanity before the fall.

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

[5] NPNF 2 7:352.

THE BRIGHTNESS OF SOULS

MAXIMUS THE CONFESSOR: [Christ] is the brightness of souls, the one who drives away the darkness of ignorance, and the one who reveals mysteries that can be perceived only by the pure. CHAPTERS ON KNOWLEDGE 2.70. [1]

SPLENDOR OF THE ETERNAL LIGHT

ANONYMOUS:

O Dayspring,

Splendor of the Eternal Light, and Sun of Justice.

Come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

O ORIENS ANTIPHON OF ADVENT. [2]

[1] MCSW 162.

[2] HBM 98*.

THE PROPHECY OF ISAIAH

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: Do you not recognize the words of the prophet, [1] in the fact that the Galileans enjoy a great light? Therefore, [Jesus says], “I am that light.” And I not only provide [this light] for them but for all people. Whoever keeps close to me will not suffer; I have sufficient [light] for all people. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 3.8.12. [2]

[1] Is 9:1-2.

[2] CSCO 4 3:164-65.

JESUS, THE LIGHT, IS ONE

AMMONIUS: He called himself “the light,” not because “the light is in me”—lest someone split the one Christ into a duality of Sons. Christ, the Son, is one, both before the flesh and after the flesh. He is in truth the one and only Son of God the Father even when he became man since he did not partially embrace the human nature. For his body is his own, and it is blasphemy to divide Christ after his incarnation into two sons or into two beings. [1] FRAGMENTS ON JOHN 266. [2]

[1] Literally, two natures, not two beings. However, this does not necessarily imply Monophysitic tendencies. Ammonius, in typical Alexandrian fashion, stresses the oneness of the hypostatic union against a Nestorian understanding, which divided Christ. See also Cyril on this point (LF 43 1:563-64).

[2] JKGK 263.

THE ONLY BEGOTTEN IS LIGHT BY NATURE

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Jesus reveals the ignorance of the scribes and Pharisees when he cries out, “I am the light of the world.” He is saying, “You who go through the whole of holy Scripture and think that you will assess what is spoken about me through the prophets have strayed far from the way of life. And it is no wonder, for he who reveals mysteries and illumines the whole world, he who shines like a sun into the hearts of those who would receive him— he is not in you. He who does not have the divine and spiritual light within himself must surely walk in darkness and stumble in great foolishness.” The Only Begotten is light by nature, beaming forth from God the Father who is light by nature…. But we must note again that he says that he is the light not especially or solely for the people of Israel but for “all the world.” COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 5.2. [1]

[1] LF 43:562-63**.

8:12b | Walking in the Light of Life

THE SUN LEAVES, BUT CHRIST REMAINS THE LIGHT OF LIFE

AUGUSTINE: [That unfailing Light] has taken you from the eyes of the flesh and brought you back again to the eyes of the heart! He does not think it enough to say… “shall have light” but adds “of life,” even as in the psalm it was said, “[In your light shall we see light]; for with you is the fountain of life.” [1] See how the words of our Lord agree with the truth of that psalm where light is placed with the fountain of life and now here he speaks of the “light of life.” For bodily uses, light is one thing and a well another. Our mouths seek a fountain; our eyes seek the light. When we thirst, we seek a fountain; when we are in darkness we seek light. And if we happen to get thirsty in the night, we kindle a light to come to a fountain. With God the light and the well are the same. The one who shines on you so that you may see him is the same one who flows to you so that you may drink him.

You see then what kind of light this is if you see inwardly the light of which he says, “He that follows me shall not walk in darkness.” Follow the sun, and let us see if you will not walk in darkness. When the sun rises, it comes toward you and heads on to the west. But perhaps your journey is toward the east. So if you follow the sun, then you will certainly err and instead of going east you will go west, whether by land… or by sea. Finally, you decide that you should follow the sun, and you travel to the west, where it also travels. Let us see if, after it sets, you will not still walk in darkness. See how, though you are unwilling to desert it, yet it will desert you in order to finish out its service for the day. But our Lord Jesus Christ, even when he was not made known to all through the cloud of his flesh, still held all things by the power of his wisdom. Your God is everywhere entirely. If you do not fall away from him, he will never fall away from you. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 34.5-6. [2]

[1] Ps 36:9 (35:10 LXX, Vg).

[2] NPNF 1 7:201-2**.

FUTURE PROMISE, PRESENT DUTY

AUGUSTINE: What he has promised he has put in the future tense. Notice, he doesn’t say “has” but “shall have the light of life.” And yet, he does not say “he that shall follow me” but “he who follows me.” He puts in the present tense what our duty is, but in the future tense what he has promised to do…. What we follow now by faith we shall have hereafter by sight…. When shall we walk by sight? When, in the future, we have the light of life and come to that vision whereby this night will have passed away. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 34.7. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:202**.

ISRAEL FOLLOWED THE LIGHT IN THE DESERT AS WE DO NOW

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Since he knew they would challenge him, he fashions his speech after a more ancient image of things that also draws on the experience of their ancestors…. For when Israel was crossing the wide desert, hurrying to the promised land, a cloud was suspended over them like a canopy during the day, driving off the sun’s flame. By night a pillar of fire contended with the darkness and marked out for the travelers their unerring road. For just as they escaped from straying who at that time followed the fire that guided and led them—being led straight to their right and holy ground without having to deal with the night or darkness—so “the one who follows me,” that is, “who follows in the tracks of my teachings,” will not be left in the dark but will gain “the light of life,” that is, “the revelation of my mysteries that are able to lead him by the hand to everlasting life.” COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 5.2. [1]

[1] LF 43:564**.

TACIT PRAISE OF NICODEMUS

CHRYSOSTOM: He uses “light” and “darkness” in a spiritual sense, meaning “do not remain in error.” Here he tacitly praises Nicodemus… and the officers… and censures those who were secretly plotting against him as being in darkness and error but who will be unable to overcome the light. [1] HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 52.2. [2]

[1] See Jn 1:5. Alternate translation: “unable to come to the light.” Chrysostom’s comment makes more sense when one realizes that his text did not include Jn 8:1-11.

[2] NPNF 1 14:187-88**.

8:13 | Your Record Is Not True

THE PHARISEES FALSELY ACCUSE JESUS

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Who can rightly say, “I am the light of the world,” except one who is truly God by nature? Let the Pharisees go through the entire divinely inspired Scripture and search into the sacred and divine Word and show us who of the holy prophets ever dared to say such a thing or when an angel ever made such a claim…. The crowd of Pharisees thought that he spoke falsely. In their exceeding foolishness, they had no idea that there are those who set forth their own nature and tell what is essentially inherent in them, not out of boasting or because they are bent on making a name for themselves. Rather, they are simply declaring what they really are…. And so, even when our Savior Christ says that he is the light, he is speaking the truth and will not be found boasting…. But they attack him as though he is one of us. Without hesitation they say “Your record is not true” of the one who cannot lie. And yet, he decided to lead by the hand those who had gone astray… telling them what they had missed about him when they committed sacrilege by ascribing love of lying to him who is from above and begotten of God the Father. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 5.2. [1]

[1] LF 43:565, 567-68**.

8:14 | Jesus’ Witness of Himself Is True

GOD IS A COMPETENT WITNESS TO HIMSELF

CHRYSOSTOM: In order to refute their arguments and to show that he adapted his expressions to address the suspicions of those who thought he was no more than a mere man, our Lord says, “Though I bear record of myself, my record is still true.” And he adds the reason, “For I know where I come from,” in other words, I am from God, I am God and the Son of God. Now, God is surely a competent witness to himself. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 52.2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:188**.

A LIGHT ENLIGHTENS OTHERS AND MAKES ITSELF KNOWN

AUGUSTINE: The light shows both other things and also itself. You light a lamp, for instance, to look for your coat, and the burning lamp affords you light to find your coat. Do you light the lamp to see the lamp itself when it burns? A burning lamp is indeed capable at the same time of exposing to view other things that the darkness covered and of showing itself to your eyes…. The witness of the light then is true, whether it shows itself or other things. For without light you cannot see light, and without light you cannot see any thing else that is not light. If light is capable of showing other things that are not lights, is it not capable of showing itself?… Therefore our Lord Jesus Christ is a competent witness to himself. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 35.4, 6. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:205-6*.

JESUS REFERS TO THE FATHER

AUGUSTINE: “For, I know where I come from and where I am going.” This has reference to the Father; for the Son, who is himself equal [to the Father], gave glory to him by whom he was sent. How greatly then should one glorify the Creator who made him!… He did not separate from his Father, however, when he came, or desert us when he returned— unlike that sun which in going to the west leaves the east. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 35.4-5. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:205-6*.

NOT EVERYONE SEES THE LIGHT

AUGUSTINE: A burning lamp is indeed capable at the same time of exposing to view other things that the darkness covered and of showing itself to your eyes. So also the Lord Christ distinguished between his faithful ones and his enemies, as between light and darkness: as between those whom he illuminated with the ray of faith and those on whose closed eyes he shed his light. So, too, the sun shines on the face of the sighted and of the blind. Both alike, while standing and facing the sun, have the sun shine on them, but both are not enlightened in the eyesight. The one sees; the other does not. The sun is present to both, but one of them is absent from the present sun. So likewise the Wisdom of God, the Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, is everywhere present because truth is everywhere, wisdom is everywhere… Therefore the light bears witness to itself. It opens the healthy eyes and is its own witness so that it may be known as the light…. It is also present [to unbelievers], but they do not have the eyes of the heart with which to see it. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 35.4. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:205*.

8:15 | Judging After the Flesh

THEY SEE THE MAN, NOT GOD

AUGUSTINE: These Jews then saw the man; they neither perceived nor believed him to be God. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 36.3. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:208.

THEY JUDGE BADLY WHILE CHRIST DEFERS HIS JUDGMENT

CHRYSOSTOM: Just as living after the flesh means to live badly, so judging after the flesh is to judge badly…. And so he is saying that they judge unjustly. “But if we judge unjustly,” someone might say, then why do you not rebuke us? Why do you not punish us? Why do you not condemn us?” “Because,” Jesus says, “This is not what I came for.” This is the meaning of “I judge no one.” HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 52.2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:188**.

JUDGMENT DEFERRED

AUGUSTINE: This question may be solved in two ways: I judge no man, that is, I do not judge him now. He says this elsewhere: “God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved.” [1] It is not that he abandons his justice but rather only defers it. Or, having said, “You judge according to the flesh,” he says immediately, “I judge no man.” He adds this to let you know that Christ does not judge according to the flesh, as people judged him. Therefore let no scruple of doubt remain in our heart against the faith that we hold and declare concerning Christ as judge. Christ is come first to save but then to judge. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 36.4. [2]

[1] Jn 3:17.

[2] NPNF 1 7:209*.

8:16 | My Judgment Is True

JESUS JUDGES WITH THE FATHER

AUGUSTINE: Let it not by any means surprise anyone that he says, “My judgment is true”; because I am not alone, but it is I and the Father that sent me that judge. [1] TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 36.12. [2]

[1] Augustine refers us to his comments on Jn 5:27 that the Son will be visible in the judgment while the Father will not.

[2] NPNF 1 7:213*.

THE FATHER AND THE SON ARE TWO, AND YET INSEPARABLE

TERTULLIAN: When… [Jesus] declares that he is not alone and uses these words, “but I and the Father who sent me,” does he not show that there are two— two and yet inseparable? Indeed, this was the sum and substance of what he was teaching them, that they [i.e., Father and Son] were inseparably two. [This must be the case] since, after citing the law when it affirms the truth of two men’s testimony, he adds at once: “I testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me testifies on my behalf.” Now, if he were one—being at once both the Son and the Father—he certainly would not have quoted the sanction of the law, which requires not the testimony of one but of two. AGAINST PRAXEAS 22. [1]

[1] ANF 3:617*.

THE SON PROCEEDS BUT IS NO LESS IN DIGNITY

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: But we must know that by his saying again that he was sent, he does not show that he is second in dignity to the Father. For we must not imagine a mission befitting a servant, even though, because he was clothed in a servant’s form, he might rightly say even this of himself. But he was sent as Word from Mind, as the Sun’s radiance from itself. For these I suppose are processions [1] from those things in which they are, from their appearing to issue forth, [2] yet they exist naturally and immovably in those things from which they come. For we should not suppose that the things that mind and sun have produced, that is, Word or radiance, are devoid of Word or radiance once they have gone forth from them…. For mind will never be wordless, nor will words ever exist without the mind that fashioned them. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 4.5. [3]

[1] Gk ekphantika.

[2] Gk prokuptein.

[3] LF 43:478*.

8:17 | The Validity in the Law of Two Witnesses

THE RULE OF LAW RESPECTED IN JESUS’ TESTIMONY

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: Your law, [he says], states that any case about which there is doubt is settled if two testimonies are given about it. Therefore according to the will of the law, there must be two witnesses besides the one about whom the testimony is given. If the Father and the Son, as divinity, testify in favor of the human nature of our Lord, the rule of law is respected. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 3.8.17-18. [1]

[1] CSCO 4 3:169.

TWO OR THREE WITNESSES INTIMATES THE TRINITY

AUGUSTINE: It is a huge question, my brothers, and to me it certainly appears to be a mystery when God says, “In the mouth of two or three witnesses, let every word be established.” … It is possible, however, that two witnesses may lie. The chaste Susannah was arraigned by two false witnesses…. The whole people spoke against Christ falsely…. How then must we understand the word “By the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established,” except as an intimation of the mystery of the Trinity in which there is a perpetual stability of truth? Do you wish to have a good cause? Have two or three witness: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit…. Receive our testimony then [the Trinity says], otherwise you will feel our judgment…. I delay my judgment, [Jesus says]. I do not delay my testimony. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 36.10. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:212**.

8:18 | The Father Bears Witness

THE EQUALITY OF HONOR OF THE FATHER AND OF THE SON

CHRYSOSTOM: It is written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. If this is to be taken literally, in what respect does our Lord differ from human beings? The rule has been laid down for humanity on the ground that one man alone is not to be relied on. But how can this be applicable to God?… These words are quoted then with another meaning. When two men bear witness, both to an impersonal matter, their witness is true. This constitutes the testimony of two men. But if one of them bears witness to himself, then they are no longer two witnesses. Thus our Lord means to show that he is consubstantial with the Father, and does not need another witness, that is, besides the Father’s, “I and the Father that sent me.”… Again, on human principles, when a person bears witness, his honesty is assumed. And a person is admitted as a fair and competent witness in an impersonal matter but not in one relating to himself unless he is supported by other testimony. But here it is quite the opposite. Our Lord, though giving testimony in his own case, and though saying that he is borne witness to by another, pronounces himself worthy of belief, thus, showing his all-sufficiency. He says that he deserves to be believed. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 52.3. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:188-89**.

8:19 | Ignorance of Christ Is Ignorance of the Father

THE SON IS THE DOORWAY TO THE FATHER

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Those who suppose that Christ is the son of Joseph or was born as a result of fornication and who do not know that the Word shone forth from God the Father—how can such people not understand Jesus’ words, “You know neither me nor my Father”? If they had known that the Word has shone forth from the Father and was for our sakes made in the flesh according to the divine Scripture, then they would have known the one who begat Jesus. For those who zealously seek after knowledge are given accurate knowledge of the Father through the Son…. The Father and the Son are mutually revealing. When the Father is mentioned, one recalls his offspring, and similarly when the Son is mentioned we remember the one who begat him. And so, the Son is like the doorway leading to knowledge of the Father, and it is in this sense that Jesus says, “No one comes to the Father but by me.” [1] COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 5.2. [2]

[1] Jn 14:6.

[2] LF 43:575**.

I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE

AUGUSTINE: “If you knew me you would know my Father also.” What does this mean, except “I and the Father are one”? [1] It is a common expression used when you see one person very much like another…. If you have seen him or her, you have seen the other. You say this because they are so alike…. And so our Lord says, “If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.” It is not that the Father is the Son, but that the Son is like the Father. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 37.7. [2]

[1] Jn 10:30.

[2] NPNF 1 7:215**.

WHO IS THE CREATOR?

ORIGEN: It is necessary to observe that the heterodox think that this text proves clearly that the God whom the Jews worshiped was not the Father of Christ. For if, they say, the Savior said “you know neither me nor my Father” to the Pharisees who worshiped the Creator, [1] then it is evident that the Pharisees did not know the Father of Jesus because he was different from the Creator…. But they who say these things have not understood the divine Scriptures or observed the usage of language in them….

If anyone knew about the Creator and his priestly service, the sons of Eli did, having been raised at the place of worship. Yet, because they sinned, it is written of them in the First Book of Kings that they… “did not know the Lord.” [2] …

So, again, the Pharisees did not know the Father since they did not live according to the Creator’s will. For knowing God can also refer to knowing God, which is something different from merely believing in him…. But who could not agree that the words written in the Psalms, “Be still and know that I am God,” [3] were written for a people who believe in the Creator? COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 19.12-13, 15-17. [4]

[1] Gk demiourgos.

[2] 1 Sam 2:12; First Samuel was called First Kings in the Septuagint.

[3] Ps 46:10 (45:11 LXX).

[4] FC 89:169-70**; SC 290:52-54.

KNOWING GOD AND KNOWING THE FATHER

ORIGEN: There is a difference between knowing God and believing in him. To the Pharisees, to whom he says, “You neither know me nor my Father,” he had the right to say, “You do not even believe in my Father,” for he who denies the Son does not have the Father, either by faith or knowledge. But Scripture gives us another sense of knowing a thing, that is, being joined to that thing. Adam knew his wife when he was joined to her…. If one who has joined to a prostitute has known the prostitute and one who has joined to his wife has known his wife, then one who has joined to the Lord has known the Lord in a holy manner. And in this sense the Pharisees neither knew the Father nor the Son….

Maybe it is possible for someone to know God and yet not know the Father. For if there is one aspect of him in accordance with which he is Father and another in which he is God, perhaps it is possible for someone to know God but not to know the Father…. Therefore among an infinite number of prayers offered up in the law, we do not find any one addressed to God as “Father.” Perhaps it is because they did not know the Father. They only pray to him as God and Lord, … not anticipating the grace shed by Jesus over the whole world, calling all to sonship and to praise the Father in the midst of the assembly, as it is written, “I will declare your name to my brothers.” COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 19.21-24, 26-28. [1]

[1] FC 89:171-74**; SC 290:58-64.

8:20a | Jesus Spoke in the Treasury

JESUS’ GIFT TO THE TREASURY IS HIS WORDS

ORIGEN: The Evangelist would not have added these words were it not to convey something useful…. Whenever it says “these are the words that he spoke in such and such a place,” you will discover a reason for the addition….

The treasury was a place where coins were contributed for the honor of God and the support of the poor. What else would these coins be than the divine words that have the image of the great King stamped on them and that are examined by trustworthy money changers who know how to separate counterfeit coins from the genuine ones?…

But if everyone contributed to the temple treasury in support of the needy for the common good, Jesus, more than anyone else was surely a worthy contributor. He gave the words of eternal life and his teaching about God and himself. His statement, “I am the light of the world,” which was spoken in the treasury, was more valuable than any coin… as were all his other teachings in that place. And all the gold of the others who brought what they had into the treasury was like a bit of sand in comparison to the words of Jesus, for every word of his was wisdom. [1] COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 19.40, 43-44, 53-55. [2]

[1] See Wis 7:9.

[2] FC 89:177-78, 180-81**; SC 290:70-74, 80.

8:20b | Jesus’ Hour Had Not Yet Come

THE HOUR OF HIS CHOOSING

AUGUSTINE: This is an instance of power, not of necessity. He waited for this hour. It was not the fated but the fitting and voluntary hour. This was that all might first be fulfilled that was supposed to be fulfilled before his death. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 37.9. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:216*.