The Great Commentary of Cornelius a Lapide: S. John
Ver. 17. — Therefore doth My Father love me, &c. Lest the Jews should despise Him as a mere man who would die on the Cross, He meets the objection by saying that His death would be glorious, and an object of desire, because He could of His own accord submit to it from love of, and obedience to the Father, and therefore to be loved, honoured, and exalted, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, &c. (Phil. ii. 10).
I lay down My life , i.e. My soul. So S. Augustine and others, who from this passage prove that Christ had a human soul, in opposition to Apollinarius, who maintained that His Divinity was in the place of a soul. But others understand by it “ life ,” which is caused by the union of soul and body. It comes to the same thing. That I may take it again, I do not destroy it but only lay it aside for a short time, that I may rise and take it again. S. Cyril refers back to the words “ My Father loveth Me.” He loves Me not merely because I set My sheep free by My death, but also because I quicken them by My rising again. As S. Paul says, Rom. iv. 25.
Ver. 18. — No one taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. For though the Jews are about to slay Me by force, yet this force of theirs would not avail against Me, unless I allow it of My own accord. And again, “ Though I allow it, yet it is still in My power to die, or not to die. For by My Godhead I can impart such strength to My manhood, that it cannot be destroyed by any nails, blows, scourgings , or wounds which I suffer by My own will ; just as I support the bodies of the beatified, and render them impassible.” So Toletus. And hence Christ on the Cross cried aloud and gave up the ghost to show that He died without compulsion, and of His own accord, when He might, had He so willed, have lived on. For He who had strength to cry aloud, had strength also to live, so that the centurion beholding this said, “Truly this was the Son of God.”
I have power, &c. By My mighty and glorious Resurrection, which My soul will effect through the Power of My Divinity, hypostatically united to it. He here signifies that He is God as well as man ; as man He lays down His life, as God He resumes it. So S. Cyril.
This commandment have I received from My Father. This was the reason for laying down His life. He was so ordered by the Father, lest the Jews should object, “ You have taken this duty on yourself, that Thou mightest be worshipped, as the Mediator, Messiah, and Saviour of the world.” It is hence clear that it was a weighty commandment He received, that of suffering and dying on the Cross. “He became obedient” (to the commandment of the Father, for obedience properly so called presupposes a command, and is in fact its correlative ; for obedience is that which is ordered, and a command implies obedience, for it is the formal object of obedience) “ even to the death of the cross.” So S. Cyril, S. Ambrose (de Fide , v. 5), S. Thomas, Suarez and others. But this command did not physically compel the will of Christ to obey it. It left it free. But it pertained to the Person of the Word to “ prevent ” the will of Jesus by supplies of grace, to which It foresaw it would willingly consent, and obey the command. And it was in this respect, that is in consequence of the continual keeping (custodiam) of the Word, that the manhood of Christ was said to be extrinsically impeccable, not because the Word predetermined It, but because It supplied It with fitting aids, with which It foresaw it would freely obey the command. For by this foreknowledge of future conditional events the freedom of Christ’s will is fully preserved (see Suarez, part iii. Quest. xviii.) And by this generous obedience in so difficult a matter, Christ obtained salvation for us, and glory for Himself. Set then, O Religious, this command of the Father, and this obedience of Christ before thine eyes, when any difficult task is imposed on thee by thy Superior. R. Juda says admirably (Pirke Avoth, cap. v.), “ Be daring as a leopard, swift as an eagle, nimble as a deer, courageous as a lion, to do the will of thy Father which is in heaven.”
Ver. 20. — And many of them said , &c.
Ver. 21. — Others said, &c. For he is proud as Lucifer, and instigated by him, He calls God His Father and makes Himself the Son of God.
He is thoroughly mad in saying that he lays down His life of Himself, though we see that He is alive, and no one does so except . Moreover, Christ did not reply to these calumnies, as not being worthy of an answer, and also because He allowed those who supported Him to answer, for we give greater credit to others than to one who testifies of himself.
Ver. 22. — And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication . When the first temple was dedicated, as S. Cyril holds, or rebuilt by Zerubbabel, as S. Chrysostom and others suppose, or what is more probable its rededication, after its profanation by Antiochus Epiphanes. The feast was held on the 25th of the month Casleu. It was celebrated with great rejoicing, and was called the feast of Lights (see Josephus, Ant. xii. 2, and 2 Macc. i. 18). All which S. John records from chap. vii. 2 to this point took place in the two months between the Feast of Tabernacles and the Feast of the Dedication : and in the three following months up to the Feast of the Passover there occurred the events which are recorded here to the end of the Gospel, and also in S. Luke from chap. xv. onwards.
Tropologically : — These Encænia set forth the renewal of a mind polluted by sin, and sanctified and consecrated anew to God by repentance.
And it was winter. This was stated, says Theophylact, to signify the approaching time of the Passion which took place the following spring. S. Cyril adds that it was said in order to give the reason why Jesus walked in the Porch, so as to be under cover from the cold. Mystically there is here signified (says the Gloss) the coldness of the Jews, who draw not near to the fire, i.e. who believe not in Christ. S. Augustine says, “ The Jews were cold in charity and love, and were burning with eagerness to do hurt; they approached Him not as followers, but pressed on Him as persecutors .” “ Do thou also,” says Theophylact, “ while it is winter, that is while this present life is shaken with the whirlwinds of iniquity, keep the spiritual dedication feast, by daily renewing thyself, and the ascensions of thy heart.” Christ will be present to thee in Solomon’s Porch, making for thee a peaceable resting-place.
Ver. 23. — And Jesus walked in the temple. In the Porch (or Portico), the outer part of the temple. In Solomon's porch . The temple of the Jews had two parts. The first, the Sanctuary, frequented only by the Priests, who discharged three functions, burning morning and evening incense on the altar of incense, lighting the lamps and replacing the shew-bread every Sabbath. The inner part, the Holy of Holies, which the High Priest alone entered once every year on the day of expiation. But since Christ was not descended from the tribe of Levi, He could not enter either of these parts of the temple.
But in front of the temple there was a Court or Vestibule ; the upper part was the court of the Priests, the outer part, adjoining the inner court, was the court of the people, where they prayed and witnessed the sacrifices which were offered in the Court of the Priests. It was in this Court that Christ went to and fro and taught, and it had porticoes all round it, in which the people took shelter from the weather. Ribera (de Templo , 1. 6) and others think that this was called Solomon’s Porch. Others with Villalpandus, Maldonatus , &c., think more probably that this particular portico was called Solomon’s as having been built by him long after the building of the temple, when the slope of the hill was levelled, and the portico was built at the eastern side of the temple. (See Josephus, B. Jud. vi. 6.) It was called Solomon’s to distinguish it from the other porticoes which others added to the temple. Or else, as Baronius thinks, when the temple was burnt by the Chaldeans this portico alone remained, or else was rebuilt in the same form as that in which it had been erected by Solomon. (See on Acts iii. 11.)