"Isaiah," He says, "saw His glory": the smoke that appeared to him, the seraphim, the coals, the altar, the throne (Isa. 6:1–7). So Isaiah saw this glory and spoke of Him, that is, of the Son. What did he say of Him? That which was said above, that He blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts.
Jn. 12:42. Nevertheless, even among the rulers many believed in Him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, lest they should be put out of the synagogue,
The Evangelist notes that many even of the rulers believed in Him, showing that the Pharisees lied in this also, when they said: "Have any of the rulers believed in Him?" (John 7:48). For behold, many even of the rulers believed, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess it.
Jn. 12:43. For they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God.
"For they loved the praise of men." Christ had said this to them before as well: "How can you believe, when you receive glory from men, and do not seek the glory that is from the only God?" (Jn. 5:44) So the Evangelist shows that what Christ had foretold them came to pass. Truly, they were not rulers but slaves, and the most base slaves at that. From this we learn that whoever loves glory is a slave and is dishonorable.
Jn. 12:44. Jesus cried out and said: he who believes in Me believes not in Me, but in Him who sent Me.
Jesus, yielding to the fury of the Jews, hid Himself for a time, and then appears again and cries out openly. Showing that He Himself is equal to the Father and not an adversary of God, He says: "He who believes in Me believes not in Me, but in Him who sent Me," speaking as if to say: "Why are you afraid to believe in Me? Faith in Me ascends to My Father."
Note also the precision in the words. The Lord did not say "he who believes Me," but "he who believes in Me," which signifies faith in God. For it is one thing to believe someone, and another to believe in someone. If someone believes someone, this can be understood as believing in the truthfulness of his words, but whoever believes in Him believes in Him as God. Therefore one can say "believes the apostles"; but one cannot say "believes in the apostles." Therefore the Lord did not say "he who believes Me." For both Paul and Peter could say "he who believes me." And the Jews were reproached for not believing Moses (John 5:46). But He said something greater — "he who believes in Me," by which He shows that He Himself is God, as He also says to the disciples: "Believe in God, and believe also in Me" (John 14:1). Therefore, whoever believes in Him directs his faith to the Father, and whoever does not believe Him does not believe the Father.
Jn. 12:45. And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.
Does he who sees the physical features? No. For the Father is not a body, so that one could say that he who sees Christ bodily also sees the Father, but by seeing, I ask you, understand mental contemplation. The Lord speaks as if to say: "He who by contemplation of the mind has embraced My essence, insofar as is possible for man, has also embraced the essence of the Father. He who has recognized Me as God has, without doubt, also recognized the Father. For I am the Image of the Father."
All of this demonstrates the consubstantiality of the Father and the Son. Let those suffering from Arianism hear that he who believes in the Son believes not in Him, but in the Father, so that either the Father too is a creature, or the Son too is not a creature. Just as if someone were to say that he who draws water from a river takes it not from the river but from the source, so too he who believes in the Son believes not in the Son — the river (for the Son is not of a different essence from the Father and has nothing distinct from the Father) — but believes in the source of goodness, that is, the Father.
Jn. 12:46. I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not remain in darkness.
Again, with these words as well He shows His consubstantiality with the Father. For just as the Father is everywhere called Light in Scripture, so He too says of Himself: "I have come as a light into the world." Therefore the Apostle Paul also calls Him the Radiance (Heb. 1:3), showing thereby that there is nothing mediating between the Father and the Son, but the Father and the Son are together, just as light and radiance are together. And so the Son too is Light, inasmuch as He delivers from error and dispels the darkness of the mind, and because just as light, upon its appearance, becomes visible itself and reveals all other visible things, so also the Son, having come and appeared to us, gave knowledge of Himself and of the Father, and enlightened the hearts of those who received Him with all knowledge.
Jn. 12:47. And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.
"If," He says, "anyone hears Me and does not believe, I do not judge him, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world." The meaning of these words is as follows: "I am not the cause of the condemnation of the unbelieving man, for I did not come primarily for this purpose, but it happened as a consequence. I came to save, and for this I taught. But if anyone does not believe, I am not the cause of his condemnation, but he himself brought it upon himself."
This will become even clearer from what follows. Listen, then, to what comes next.
Jn. 12:48. He who rejects Me and does not receive My words has that which judges him: the word that I have spoken, it will judge him on the last day.
I do not judge anyone, but the unbeliever has a judge for himself. It is customary among us, and we often say, when we wish to punish a disorderly child, that it is not we who punish him, but his carelessness and disorderliness, and it is not we who condemn him, but our convictions, to which he did not submit—they accuse him as one who is disobedient. So also the Lord says: "It is not I who judge, but the word which I spoke, it will judge."
Jn. 12:49. For I have not spoken of Myself; but the Father who sent Me, He gave Me a commandment, what to say and what to speak.
For why did they not believe? Was it not because I am an adversary to God and seek glory for Myself? But "I have not spoken of Myself," rather I declared all things from My Father and nowhere presented Myself as one devising anything different. For "the Father who sent Me gave Me a commandment, what to say and what to speak." What profound humility is in these words!
Jn. 12:50. And I know that His commandment is life everlasting. Therefore, what I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.
Surely, Lord, before the Father sent You and gave You a commandment, did You not know what to say, did You not know that commandment which is eternal life? Did You not know this eternal life? How then did You say: "I am the life" (John 11:25)?
Do you see what kind of inconsistency arises if we do not prudently understand what is being said? So know that the Lord expresses Himself so humbly because His listeners are weak. And what does He wish to express by this? That He says nothing, thinks nothing different from the Father. "For as those who are sent," He says, "say nothing except what has been commanded, so I Myself think and have taught nothing other than what serves the glory of the Father." So, wishing to prove this, that is, His unity of mind with the Father, He recalled this example, that is, the commandment. Therefore He also adds: "So what I say, I say just as the Father has told Me. And since I have said nothing of Myself, what justification will the unbelievers present? Without any contradiction they will be condemned for not having believed the Father."
So, orthodox one, do not assume anything lowly in the humble words (such as "I received a commandment" and the like), but understand them prudently, as also this: "I received a commandment, what to say and what to speak." For the Son, being the Word and expressing what is in the Mind, that is, the Father, says that He received a commandment from Him, what to say and what to speak. Just as our word too, if we wish to be truthful, says what the mind proposes to it, and the word never differs in essence from the mind, but is perfectly consubstantial.