1664 The voice is explained when he says, Jesus answered . First, he explains the voice; secondly, he mentions the answer given by the people (v 34); and thirdly, our Lord's answer (v 35). He does two things about the first: first he mentions the reason for the voice; and secondly, he adds its meaning (v 31).
1665 It should be noted in regard to the first that they had said, An angel has spoken to him . Now an angel speaks by revealing something that will profit the one to whom he speaks, as is clear in Revelation (ch 1) and in Ezekiel (ch 1). And so to show that he did not need this voice or any revelation from an angel, our Lord says, This voice has come for your sake, not for mine , that is, it has not come to instruct me. For this voice mentioned nothing he did no know before, because "in him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge" (Col 2:2), so that he knew all that the Father knew. But it has come for your sake , that is, for your instruction. From this we can understand that many things relating to Christ were, in God's plan, allowed to take place not because Christ needed them, but for our sakes: "For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction" (Rom 15:4).
1666 He says, Now is the judgment of this world , he states the meaning of this voice. First, he mentions the judgment by which he would be glorified; secondly, the effect of this judgment (v 31b); and thirdly, the way he will be glorified (v 32).
1667 He says, Now is the judgment of this world . But if this is true, why do we expect that our Lord will come again to judge? The answer is that now he comes to judge with a judgment of distinction or discernment, by which he discerns his own from those who are not his: "For judgment I came into this world" (9:39). This is what he is speaking of when he says, Now is the judgment of this world . But he will come again to judge with the judgment of condemnation, for which he did not come the first time: "For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him" (3:17).
Or, we might say that there are two kinds of judgment. One is that which condemns the world; and this is not referred to here. The other is the judgment which will be in favor of the world, insofar as the world is set free from servitude to the devil. This is the way the Psalm is understood: "O Lord! Judge those who wrong me; overthrow those who fight against me" [Ps 34:1]. But this judgment and the judgment of distinction are the same, because by the very fact that the judgment is in favor of the world by casting out the devil, the good are distinguished from the wicked.
1668 The effect of this judgment is the casting out of the devil. So he says, now shall the ruler of this world be cast out , by the power of the passion of Christ. Thus the passion of Christ is his glorification; and this explains what he had said, I will glorify it, insofar as the ruler of this world shall be cast out , since Christ has the victory over the devil by his passion. "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil" (1 Jn 3:8).
1669 A difficulty arises here on three points. First, because he says that the devil is the ruler or prince of this world. It was this that led the Manicheans to call him the creator and lord of everything that was visible. The answer is that the devil is called the ruler of this world not by a natural right, but by usurpation, insofar as worldly people, rejecting the true Lord, subject themselves to him: "The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers" (2 Cor 4:4). Thus, he is the ruler of this world insofar as he rules those who are worldly, as St. Augustine says, and these are spread throughout the entire world. [27] For the word "world" is sometimes taken in a pejorative sense to mean those who love the world: "The world knew him not" (1:10). Yet sometimes it is taken in a good sense to indicate those who are good and live in the world in such a way that they are citizens of heaven: "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself" (2 Cor 5:19).
1670 The second difficulty concerns the fact that the ruler of this world is said to be cast out. For if he had truly been cast out, he would not longer tempt us now as he did before; yet he continues to tempt us. Therefore, he was not cast out. Augustine answers this by saying that although the devil may tempt those who have ceased to be of the world, he does not tempt them in the same way as he did before. For before he tempted and ruled them from within, but now he does so only from without. For as long as men are in sin, he rules and tempts them from within: "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions" (Rom 6:12). And so he was cast out because the effect of sin in man is not [now] from within but from without. [28]
1671 Thirdly, there is a difficulty from the fact that he says, now shall the ruler of this world be cast out . For it seems to follow from this that he had not been cast out before the passion of Christ, and consequently, if he is cast out only when men are set free from sin, it seems that Abraham, Isaac and the other men of the Old Testament were not set free from sin. The answer, according to Augustine, is that before the passion of Christ he had been cast out of individual persons, but not from the world, as he was to be later. [29] For what formerly took place in only a few men, but now happens in many Jews and Gentiles who have converted to Christ, is recognized to have been accomplished by the passion of Christ.
Or, it might be said that the devil is cast out by the fact that men are set free from sin; but before the passion of Christ all the just had been set free from sin, although not entirely, because they were still kept from entering the kingdom. In this respect, therefore, the devil had some right over them which was entirely taken away by the passion of Christ, when the fiery sword was removed, when Christ said to the man: "Today you will be with me in Paradise" (23:43).
1672 The form or manner of this passion would be by being lifted up; thus he says, and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men [all things] to myself . In regard to this, Chrysostom has the following example: If a tyrant, accustomed to oppress and rage against his subjects and cast them into chains, were in his madness to treat in the same way some one who was not subject to him and cast him into the same prison, then he would deserve that even his dominion over the others be taken from him. [30] This is what Christ did against the devil. For the devil had some right over men because of the sin of the first parent; and so in some sense he could justly rage against them. But since he dared to try the same things with Christ, over whom he had no right, assailing him in whom he had no part, as the tempter, it was fitting that he be deprived of his dominion by the death of Christ. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself . First, he describes the manner of his death; secondly, the Evangelist explains it, saying, he said this to show by what death he was to die , for he would die by being lifted up on the wood of the cross.
1673 Here we should note that there are two reasons why the Lord willed to die the death of the cross. First, because it is a shameful death: "Let us condemn him to a shameful death" (Wis 2:20). So Augustine says: "The Lord willed to die in this way so that not even a shameful death would keep a person from the perfection of righteousness." [31]
Secondly, because such a death involves a lifting up; so our Lord says, when I am lifted up . Such a manner of death was in harmony with the fruit, the reason and the symbol of the passion. It was in harmony with its fruit, because it was by the passion that Christ was to be lifted up, exalted: "He became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him" (Phil 2:8). Thus the Psalmist said: "Be exalted, O Lord, in thy strength!" (Ps 2:8).
It harmonized with the reason for the passion, and in two ways: both with respect to men and with respect to the devil. With respect to me, because he died for their salvation. For they had perished, because they were cast down and sunk in earthly things: "they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth" [Ps 16:11]. Thus he willed to die raised up in order to lift our hearts up to heavenly things. For in this way he is our way into heaven. With respect to the devils, it was fitting in the sense that those who exercised their principality and power in the air were trod under foot by him while he was raised in the air.
Finally, it harmonized with the symbol, because the Lord commanded that a bronze serpent be fashioned in the desert, as recorded in Numbers (21:9), and above: "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up" (3:14). And so thus lifted up I will draw all things to myself , through love "I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore have I drawn you, taking pity on you" [Jer 31:3].
Furthermore, the love of God for men appears most clearly in the fact that he condescended to die for them: "God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us," as we read in Romans (5:8). By doing this he fulfilled the request of the bride: "Draw me after you, and we will run to the aroma of your perfume" [Song 1:3].
1674 Here we may note that the Father draws and the Son also draws: "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him" (6:44). He says here, I will draw all things , in order to show that the same action belongs to both of them. And he says, all things , and not "all men," because not all men are drawn to the Son. I will draw all things , that is, the body and the soul; or all types of men, such as Gentiles and Jews, servants and freemen, male and female; or, all who are predestined to salvation.
Finally, we should note that to draw all things to himself is for Christ to cast out the prince of this world, for Christ has no fellowship with Belial, nor light with darkness (2 Cor 6:15).
LECTURE 6
34 The crowd answered him, "We have heard from the law that the Christ remains for ever. How can you say that the Son of man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of man? 35 Jesus said to them, "The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, lest the darkness overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light. "When Jesus had said this, he departed and hid himself from them. [32]
1675 Having mentioned the promised glorification of the Lord and explaining the voice, the Evangelist now describes the doubt which prevailed among the crowd. First, they introduce the authority of the Law; and secondly, they raise a problem based on it (v 34).
1676 In regard to the first the Evangelist says, The crowd answered him , that is, the Lord, who was speaking of his death, We have heard from the law , and law is taken here for the entire Old Testament that the Christ remains for ever . This can be gathered from many passages of the Old Testament, especially from Isaiah (9:7): "Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end"; and in Daniel (7:14): "His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed."
1677 Basing themselves on this authority, they formulate two doubts: one concerns a fact, and the other the person. As concerns the fact, they say, How can you say that the Son of man must be lifted up? But since Christ did not say that "the Son of man must be lifted up," but "and I, when I am lifted up," why do the Jews say that "the Son of man" must be lifted up? The answer to this is that the Jews were now accustomed to our Lord's words; thus they remembered that he called himself the Son of man. And so when he said, "And I, when I am lifted up," they took it to mean, "If the Son of man is lifted up," as Augustine says. [33] Or, one might answer that although Christ did not here mention the Son of man, yet earlier he had said: "The Son of man must be lifted up" (3:14).
1678 Yet it seems that their statement, The Son of man must be lifted up , is in no way opposed to the statement that the Christ remains for ever . The answer is that since our Lord was accustomed to speak to them in figurative language, they understood much of what was said in that way. And so they also suspected that when our Lord spoke of being lifted up, he was referring to death on the cross: "When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know," as we read above (8:28). Or, it could be said that they understood it in this sense because they had already thought of doing that very thing. Thus it was not the sharpness of their understanding that gave them this interpretation of these words, but an awareness of their own wickedness.
1679 Note their wickedness, for they do not say: "We have heard from the law that the Christ does not suffer," because in many places of the law reference is made to his passion and resurrection: as "Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter" (Is 53:7); "I have slept and taken my rest: and I have risen up" [Ps 3:7]. Rather, they say, the Christ remains for ever . The reason for this is that the former would not have involved any opposition, since no obstacle to Christ's immortality arises from the mere fact of his suffering. In other words, as Chrysostom says, they wished to show that he was not the Christ for the reason that the Christ remains for ever . [34]