The Great Commentary of Cornelius a Lapide: S. John
2. It is true if John be compared with Christ, whose origin, nature, and spirit are far loftier than those of John, for they are plainly heavenly and Divine, and consequently altogether efficacious for influencing the minds of men as He willed. And this Christ did by His grace, which He breathed inwardly into the souls of those who heard Him.
And what He (i.e., Christ) hath seen , &c. This is by catachresis, for in things Divine, to see and hear mean the same as to know . But to see signifies the evidence of the things that are known : to hear , their source, because indeed He had received all these things, as knowledge, and the fulness of wisdom, together with the Divine Essence, from the Father.
No one receiveth : i.e., hyperbolically, for few receive . For although many flocked to Jesus, yet in comparison with those who stayed at home, and neglected the preaching of Jesus, they were but few.
And even amongst those few, some believed, and some believed not, such as the scribes and Pharisees. John refers to his own disciples, say S. Chrysostom and Euthymius because few of the Jews came to him, and fewer still believed.
Ver. 33. — He that hath received , or that receiveth His testimony (by believing), hath signed (Vulg.), &c. For the Vulgate signavit the Greek has ἐσφράγισεν, or hath marked , and signed with a seal. He who receives Christ’s testimony, and believes in Him, testifies by so doing, and as it were attaches a seal to his profession of faith, that God the Father is true, who by His Son, as by His own mouth, speaks things most true and Divine. For the Son heard them, and received them from the Father. Or, as S. Cyril says, such an one testifies that God the Son is true, who declares these very things. He who believes in God and in His Son gives great honour to God, because by his belief he professes that God is true, yea, primal and infallible Truth. On the contrary, he that believeth not greatly dishonours God, because in reality he makes Him out false, which is the highest possible contempt and blasphemy of God. S. John says in his Epistle (1 John v. 10, 11), “ He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself : he that believeth not God, hath made Him a liar ; because he believeth not the record that God gave of His Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.” Alcuin explains somewhat differently. He hath sealed , he hath put a sign, as it were something peculiar and especial, in his heart, that this is the true God, who hath been sent for the salvation of the human race.
Moreover, God is said to sign and seal His words and His oracles when He confirms them by miracles ; but man is said to sign and seal these same words of God when he believes them to be true. Faith therefore is the seal by which we attest the words of God.
Ver. 34. — For whom God hath sent , &c. He proves what he has said, that he who believes in Jesus Christ signs and testifies by the seal of his faith that God is true, because Jesus whom God sent from heaven to earth, that incarnate in our flesh He might teach and save men — Jesus, I say, speaks not His own words but the words of God who sent Him. The words of Jesus are the words of God the Father, for He gave them to Him. Wherefore he who believes in Jesus, the same believes in God the Father. For God sent Jesus, and they are the words of God which Jesus speaks. So Euthymius.
Giveth not the Spirit , the gifts of the Spirit. He saith giveth, not hath given , because what God once for all hath given to Christ, the same He ever giveth by conservation and continual influx. For conservation means nothing else but the continuation of a thing created, and as it were continuous creation. The meaning is, Jesus being sent by God declares and preaches the words of God, and all the Divine mysteries, because God communicates these to Him without measure, and as it were in an infinite degree. God is not so poor, or parsimonious, that He has a certain measure of the Spirit, than which He cannot give a greater. For there are in God infinite riches of the Spirit, which He gives and communicates to Jesus, who is His own Son. “ Wherefore although you, O my disciples, behold in me John, your master, great power and efficacy of the Divine Spirit in preaching, know ye that in Jesus there is far greater, yea, that in Him is the whole fulness of the Spirit; in Jesus, I say, both as God and man.” For in that He is God, “He possesseth the Spirit substantialiter ,” says S. Cyril. In that He is man, “ in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily ” (Col. ii. 9). And “in Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge ” (Col. ii. 3). As S. Augustine says, “ To men He giveth by measure ; to the Only Begotten Son He giveth not by measure.”
You will say, Does then Christ as man receive the Spirit and grace in an absolutely infinite manner? I answer, No, for this would be impossible; nor would the created and finite soul of Christ be capable of it. The Spirit therefore is said to be given without measure unto Him, because God most abundantly communicated unto Him all His graces and all His gifts, as being the Head of the Church. And those gifts He imparts to faithful men, that is, His members, in a certain measure, according to His good pleasure. For though it were so that the faithful were without measure and number, but in succession innumerable, yet would Christ as the Head over all cause His Spirit and His grace to flow into them as His members. Hear what S. Jerome says on the 11th chapter of Isaiah: “Upon this flower which suddenly ariseth from the stem and root of Jesse through Mary the Virgin, the Spirit of the Lord shall rest For God was pleased that in Him should dwell all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, by no means partially, as in all the rest of the saints, but according to the Gospel of the Nazarenes, which is read by them in the Hebrew tongue, ‘All the fountain of the Holy Ghost shall descend upon Him.’”
Wherefore whatsoever Jesus doeth, or saith, that is holy, that is spiritual, that is Divine. For He is wholly possessed by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit rules, guides, moves Him. He puts into His heart and mouth words to speak. He works and performs the miracles by which He confirms His words. Wherefore he who receives Him, and believes in Him, receives God the Father and the Holy Ghost. It was different with John the Baptist and the Prophets. For they were not so possessed by the Holy Ghost but that they might do and say many things by their own proper spirit, and both be deceived and deceive. So Nathan the Prophet was in error when he told David, as from God’s mouth, to build the Temple (2 Sam. vii. 3).
Ver. 35 . — The Father loveth , &c. As God the Father loveth the Son without measure, so He giveth all things into His hand, that is, at His disposal and power without measure. All things, both corporeal and spiritual : all things, both in heaven and earth, and consequently all the gifts of the Holy Ghost, that He may bestow them upon those who believe in Him, according to His own good pleasure. Again, all things, that is, every right which the Holy Trinity has over men and things created, this He hath given to the Son, not only as He is God, but as He is man, that He may do with them whatsoever He willeth. Hear Euthymius, “ As God had all things (for all things were made by Him), this possession also hath He given to Him (Christ) as He is man. In a suitable manner it hath been said, ‘He loveth, and He hath given,’ as is said among men.
For fathers are wont to love their sons, and to give them what is theirs.”
Ver. 36. — He that believeth , &c. Hath, in hope and of right, as in the root and seed, but not yet in deed and fruit, nor even actually. He hath faith and grace, which give him the right to glory. But it is grace begun in the spiritual knowledge and love of God, which will be perfected after death in heaven. As it is said (John xvii. 3), This is life eternal (the way and commencement of life), that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.
But he that believeth not, &c., shall not see, i.e., shall not enjoy . Wrath of God abideth, the vengeance of God, and hell, shall eternally punish him. Hear Cyril, “ They shall not see life, i.e., not even as far as the bare sight of it pertains, shall they be able to attain to the life of the saints. They shall not taste of those joys, they shall not see that true life. They shall be tormented with sufferings worse than any kind of death, and only retain their souls in their bodies through the sense of pain.”