64. (Vers. 45.). And he who sees me sees him who sent me: therefore the one sending and the one sent are one in essence, because he who sees the one sees also the other. Hence below in chapter fourteen: "Philip, he who sees me sees also my Father." And the reason is the unity of essence, "because I am in the Father, and the Father is in me"; and the Son himself is the means of seeing the Father, as the word is of seeing the speaker, as splendor is of seeing light. On account of which he says:
65. (Vers. 46.). I have come as a light into the world, that everyone who believes in me may not remain in darkness, but may see and himself also become light; Ephesians 5: "You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord"; and this by believing in him, of whom it is said in Hebrews 1: "Since he is the splendor of glory and the figure of his substance," etc.
66. (Vers. 47.). And if anyone hears my words. Here the fourth point is touched upon, namely the threat made against non-believers: and at the same time in the threat he shows his benignity and the severity of judgment. Therefore he says: If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him, that is, I do not condemn him, and this on account of my benignity: For I did not come into the world to judge the world, but to save the world: above in chapter three: "God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him"; Luke 9: "The Son of man did not come to destroy souls, but to save them." Nor however shall they escape the severity of judgment: on account of which he says:
67. (Vers. 48.). He who rejects me and does not receive my words has one who judges him. And who that one is who judges, he shows: The word that I have spoken, that will judge him on the last day; Matthew twenty-four: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away"; indeed "They will stand, as Chrysostom says, in the order of accusation, reproving them and cutting off every excuse"; Matthew five: "Be agreed with your adversary quickly, while you are with him on the way," etc., is understood of the word of Christ. And that his word has the power of judging them, he makes manifest: because it is not a human word, but divine and true; therefore he says:
68. (Vers. 49.). Because I have not spoken of myself, as one vainly glorious, of whom above: "He who speaks of himself seeks his own glory"; but the Father who sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak. And therefore I speak according to his commandment.
69. (Vers. 50.). And I know that his commandment is eternal life; whence Matthew nineteen: "If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments"; Deuteronomy thirty: "Choose therefore life, that both you and your seed may live, and that you may love the Lord your God and obey his voice"; and therefore I do not turn aside from his commandment. On account of which he says: Therefore the things that I speak, as the Father has told me, so I speak: because he himself, speaking as man, conformed himself in all things to the divine commandment and will; above in chapter eight: "The things that I have heard from the Father, I speak in the world." And therefore from this he wishes to establish that his word is not to be rejected but to be received as a divine word: as is said of the good in First Thessalonians two: "When you had received the word of the hearing of God, you received it not as the word of men, but, as it truly is, the word of God, who works in you who have believed."
QUESTIONS.
70. Question I. But it is asked here first concerning what he says, that they could not believe, because Isaiah said: He has blinded, etc.
It seems first that he speaks incorrectly, because if they could not believe, then it was not to be imputed to them as sin.
To this Chrysostom responds: "They could not, that is, they would not."
But that does not resolve the matter: 1. because then it would be easy to resolve everything: why did the Evangelist not say "they would not," since he had it so readily at hand?
2. Likewise, granted that this were the meaning — they would not believe — because Isaiah says: He has blinded their eyes, then it seems that God is the cause of their evil will.
I respond: It must be said that something's not being able is said in two ways: either because it in no way can, or because it can only with great difficulty: thus it is said that a man accustomed to evil cannot do good; Jeremiah thirteen: "If the Ethiopian can change his skin, and the leopard his spots, so you can do good, when you have learned evil."
According to this way, it is said that a blinded man cannot believe; and the Evangelist means to say that they could not believe because they were blinded, as Isaiah had foretold — not that Isaiah's prediction was the cause, but rather their own malice and the divine judgment, namely the judgment of abandonment. Augustine: "God blinds and hardens by abandoning, not by assisting; which can happen by a hidden judgment, yet not an unjust one."
71. Question II. Likewise, there is a question about what he says: He who believes in me does not believe in me, etc.
There appears to be a contradiction here.
If you say that it should be understood as only, so that the meaning is: he who believes in me does not believe in me only, but also in him who sent me — according to this way, he should similarly say: he who sees me does not see me only, but him who sent me.
I respond: It must be said that faith distinguishes articles, and when someone thinks about one article, he does not think about another; indeed, some believe one article who do not believe another. But in vision, because the essence is one, he who sees one person sees all. Therefore in vision he unites: he who sees me sees the Father also, because it is impossible to see one without the other. But in belief he distinguishes and excludes isolation: he who believes in me does not believe in me alone, but in me and in him who sent me.
Alternatively, it can be said that believing pertains to authority, but seeing or understanding pertains to reason. Because, therefore, authority and power are in the Father by appropriation, by reason of which there is believing, the Son appropriates believing to the Father; and thus it was said that the Father draws to the Son. But in seeing and revealing, the Son leads to the Father as word and light; and therefore he does not appropriate seeing to the Father in the same way as believing, when he says: He who believes in me, etc.