I respond: It is to be understood of those who came with a perfect heart, not a feigned one; and these are they who come with persevering charity; otherwise they are regarded as if they had not come, because all their righteous deeds are given over to oblivion.
63. Question II. There is a question about what he says: You have seen me and you do not believe.
It seems that he says nothing meaningful, because faith is the substance of things that are not seen; therefore he cannot reproach them for not believing, since they see.
If you say that seeing is according to his humanity, but believing is according to his Divinity: this is of no avail, because the vision of his humanity rather impedes faith in his Divinity than assists it; therefore he ought not to reproach them on this account.
I respond: It must be said that he understands this of a vision not of pure or weak humanity, but of a vision of power and might in their effect. And since they saw divine power in its effect, therefore they ought to have believed.
As to the objection that vision is incompatible with faith: it must be said that this is true of the vision of the essence, but it is not true of a vision that is in an effect as in a mirror, because it belongs to faith to see through a mirror and in an enigma.
64. Question III. Likewise, there is a question about what he says: Everything that the Father has given me, I shall not lose any of it.
Against this: Below in the seventeenth chapter: None of those whom you gave me has perished except the son of perdition: therefore someone did perish from among those given to him.
I respond: It must be said that the force of the argument can bear upon what he says gave, because to give is twofold: either according to present justice, and in this way Judas was given, and in this way he perished; or to give is according to eternal election, and in this way the predestined were given, of whom none perishes.
It is answered in another way, that the force may bear upon what he says I shall lose, because Christ himself guards most diligently; hence no one perishes on account of a failing of the shepherd; but because he saves no one against his will, some perish on account of their own malice. Hence Christ does not lose them, but they lose themselves.
65. The Jews therefore murmured, etc. He set forth above the instruction in response to the Jews' petition; here secondly he sets forth the confirmation to restrain their murmuring; and he proceeds in this part in this order: first is set forth the murmuring of the Jews; second, the restraining of the murmuring; third, the removal of the error; fourth, the confirmation of the true doctrine.
(Verse 41.). Therefore, first is intimated the murmuring of the Jews about the fact that the Lord had said he descended from heaven; on account of which he says: The Jews therefore murmured about him. Murmuring is hidden detraction; hence Chrysostom says: "They did not contradict openly, but secretly, because the sign of the multiplication of the loaves was still recent." They were keeping the custom of their fathers, about whom Numbers fourteen says: "How long does this wicked multitude murmur against me?" And he adds what they were murmuring about: Because he had said: I am the living bread, who descended from heaven. For they were seeking temporal bread to eat; hence, because they had been frustrated in their hope by this response, they murmured.
66. (Verse 42.). And they said: Is this not the son of Joseph? Luke three: "He was beginning to be about thirty years old, as was supposed, the son of Joseph"; whose father and mother we know, from the earth, not from heaven; Matthew thirteen: "Is this not the carpenter's son, and is not his mother called Mary, and are not his brothers and sisters among us?" How then does this man say that he descended from heaven? since we know that he was born on earth. And so was verified what was said above in the fourth chapter: "A prophet has no honor in his own country." For because they knew his temporal generation, they denied his eternal generation; and because they despised the humble Christ, they were unable to see him as the sublime one.
67. (Vers. 43.). Jesus therefore answered and said to them. Here the second point is touched upon, namely the restraining of murmuring. For He restrains them from murmuring: whence He says: Do not murmur among yourselves: and rightly so, because it profits nothing; Wisdom 1: "Guard yourselves from murmuring, which profits nothing," but rather harms: 1 Corinthians 10: "Neither let us murmur, as some of them murmured." And the reason why they ought not to murmur is that they do not understand Christ: and because they do not understand Him, they foolishly criticize Him: and truly they do not understand, because they do not believe: and they do not believe, because it has not been given to them by the Father. Therefore He says:
68. (Vers. 44.). No one can come to me, through faith and love and knowledge; unless the Father, who sent me, draws him, through revelation, as Peter, to whom it is said in Matthew 16: "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father, who is in heaven." Thus the Father draws to me through revelation. And I will raise him up on the last day, through redemption and liberation from death: 1 Corinthians 15: "For since indeed by a man came death, by a man also the resurrection of the dead; and as in Adam all die, so in Christ all shall be made alive." And in order to impose silence upon them more fully, He confirms by Scripture.
69. (Vers. 45.). It is written in the Prophets: They shall all be teachable by God, that is, all shall be taught by God; in the Prophets is said, because it is found in several places; Jeremiah 31: "I will place my law in their inward parts and I will write it upon their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people: and no longer shall a man teach his neighbor, nor a man his brother, saying: Know the Lord; for all shall know me, from the least even to the greatest"; likewise, Isaiah 54: "I will make all your children taught by the Lord"; and Joel 2: "I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams."
Everyone who has heard from the Father etc. Here the third point is touched upon, namely the removal of error. For since He had said that all are taught by God: lest anyone should believe that they see God, by whom they are taught, He says that they do not see, but hear. Whence He says: Everyone who has heard from my Father and has learned, through inspiration, according to that verse of the Psalm: "I will hear what the Lord God speaks within me": he, I say, comes to me, through faith and love, according to that verse of Revelation, last chapter: "And let him who hears say: Come."
70. (Vers. 46.). Not that anyone has seen the Father, namely anyone mortal and subject to suffering, because in Exodus 33 it is said: "Man shall not see me and live"; except He who is from God, He sees the Father. This is the only-begotten Son, concerning whom it is said above in chapter 1: "No one has ever seen God, but the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father," etc.
71. (Vers. 47.). Amen, amen I say to you etc. Here is placed the confirmation of the preceding instruction: whence he repeats what he had said and doubles the adverb of affirmation: on account of which he says: Amen, amen I say to you, that is, truly, truly I say: He who believes in me has eternal life: and he proves this, because he himself is the bread that gives life to believers: whence he says:
72. (Vers. 48.). I am the bread of life; and this for believers, because, as is said in Proverbs three, "she is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her," namely through faith: "and he who holds her fast is blessed," who holds fast through comprehension. And that he is the bread of life, he shows through the effect, because namely he gives the life of grace and the life of glory: the life of grace, which that typical bread did not give; whence he says:
73. (Vers. 49.). Your fathers ate manna in the desert, for forty years, namely, as is said in Deuteronomy eight: "He gave you manna for food, which you did not know": and they died, by the death, namely, of fault and infidelity: Hebrews four: "The word heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith."
74. (Vers. 50.). This is the bread descending from heaven, through the incarnation, so that, if anyone shall eat of it, through faith and love: he may not die, through transgression: because, as is said in Habakkuk two, "the just man lives by his faith." Just as faith liberates from death, so also does love: First John three: "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren; he who does not love remains in death." Nor does he give only the life of grace, but indeed also the life of glory; on account of which he adds:
75. (Vers. 51.). I am the living bread, through essence, because having life in himself: above in chapter five: "Just as the Father has life in himself, so he has given to the Son also to have life in himself." Who descended from heaven, through the abundance of mercy: Exodus three: "I have seen the affliction of my people in Egypt and their sorrow, and I descended to deliver them."
76. (Vers. 52.). If anyone shall eat of this bread, he shall live forever, through glory. Concerning this eating, Song of Songs five: "Eat, friends, and drink, and be inebriated, dearest ones"; this will be in glory. From this kind of eating the sinner was prohibited in the figure of Adam: Genesis three: "Now therefore, lest perhaps he take from the tree of life and eat and live forever."
Questions.