824 The fruit which you think you have in the Scriptures, that is, eternal life, you will not be able to obtain, because in not believing the testimonies of the Scriptures about me, you are unwilling to come to me, i.e., you do not wish to believe in me, in whom the fruit of these Scriptures exists, in order to possess that life in me, the life which I give to those who believe in me: “I give them eternal life” (below 10:28); “Wisdom infuses life into her children” (Sir 4:12); “He who finds me will find life, and will have salvation from the Lord” (Prv 8:35).
LECTURE 7
41 “Praise from men I do not need,
42 but I know you,
and you do not have the love of God in your hearts.
43 I have come in my Father’s name,
and yet you do not accept me.
If someone else came in his own name,
you would be accepting him.
44 How can people like you believe,
when you crave praise from each other,
and yet not even ask for that one praise
which is from God alone?
45 Do not think that I will accuse you
before my Father.
The one who accuses you is Moses,
in whom you place your trust.
46 If you believed Moses,
you would perhaps believe me as well,
for it was about me that he wrote.
47 But if you do not believe in his written statements,
how will you believe in my spoken words?”
825 After God confirmed the greatness of his power by the testimonies of men, of God, and of the Scriptures, he here rebukes the Jews for being slow to believe. Now the Jews persecuted Christ on two grounds: for breaking the Sabbath, by which he seemed to go against the law, and for saying that he is the Son of God, by which he seemed to go against God. Thus they persecuted him on account of their reverence for God and their zeal for the law. And so our Lord wishes to show that their persecution of him was really inspired not by these motives, but by contrary reasons.
He first shows that the cause of their unbelief was their lack of reverence for God. Secondly, that another cause of their unbelief was their lack of reverence for Moses (v 45). As to the first he does two things. First, he shows their irreverence for God. Secondly, he shows that this is the cause of their unbelief (v 44). Concerning the first he does two things. First, he mentions their lack of reverence for God. Secondly, he makes this obvious by a sign (v 43). With respect to the first he does two things. First, he rejects what they might have assumed to be his intention, from what he had said before. Secondly, he presents his real intention (v 42).
826 The Jews might have assumed that Christ was seeking some kind of praise from men, since he had reminded them of so many witnesses to himself, as John, God, his own works, and the testimony of the Scriptures. Against this thought he says, Praise from men I do not need, i.e., I do not seek praise from men; for I have not come to be an example of one seeking human glory: “We did not seek glory from men” (1 Thes 2:6). Or, Praise from men I do not need , i.e., I do not need human praise, because from eternity I have glory with the Father: “Glorify me, Father, with the glory I had before the world was made” (below 17:5). For I have not come to be glorified by men, but rather to glorify them, since all glory proceeds from me (Wis 7:25) [“Wisdom is a pure emanation of the glory of the almighty God.”] It is through this wisdom that I have glory. God is said to be praised and glorified by men—“Glorify the Lord as much as you are able; he will still surpass even that” (Sir 43:30)—not that he might become by this more glorious, but so that he might appear glorious among us.