Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand,
Read Chapter 10
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
The Son does not say, The Father is in Me, and I in Him, in the sense in which men who think and act aright may say the like; meaning that they partake of God’s grace, and are enlightened by His Spirit. The Only-begotten Son of God is in the Father, and the Father in Him, as an equal in an equal.
To lay hold of Him, not by faith and the understanding, but with blood thirsty violence. Do you so lay hold of Him, that you may have sure hold; they would fain have laid hold on Him, but they could not: for it follows, But He escaped out of their hand. They did lay hold of Him with the hand of faith. It was no great matter for the Word to rescue His flesh from the hands of flesh.
Did not cast out devils, did not give sight to the blind, did not raise the dead.
These laid hold of Him while abiding, not, like the Jews, when departing. Let us approach by the candle to the day. John is the candle, and gave testimony to the day.
The Jews still persist in their madness; Therefore they sought again to take Him.
He was followed there by many: And many resorted to Him, and said, John did no miracle.
The Jews therefore sought again to take Him, but He escaped out of their hands. "That their anger might be appeased by His withdrawal," says S. Chrysostom. S. Augustine, acutely but symbolically, "They took Him not, because they had not the hand of faith." He escaped by His Divine Power, making Himself invisible. As He did, John 8:59.
When He has uttered anything great and sublime, He quickly retires, giving way to their anger, so that the passion may abate and cease through His absence. And thus He acted at that time. But wherefore does the Evangelist mention the place? That you may learn that He went there to remind them of the things there done and said by John, and of his testimony; at least when they came there, they straightway remembered John. Wherefore also they said, John indeed did no miracle, since how did it follow that they should add this, unless the place had brought the Baptist to their memory, and they had come to remember his testimony. And observe how they form incontrovertible syllogisms. John indeed did no miracle, but this man does, says some one; hence therefore his superiority is shown. If therefore men believed him who did no miracles, much more must they believe this man. Then, since it was John who bore the witness, lest his having done no miracle might seem to prove him unworthy of bein...
Christ, after discoursing on some high truth, commonly retires immediately, to give time to the fury of people to abate, during His absence. Thus He did now: He went away again beyond Jordan, into the place where John at first baptized. He went there that He might recall to people’s minds, what had gone on there; John’s preaching and testimony to Himself.
Mark their reasoning, John did no miracle, but this Man did; wherefore He is the superior. But lest the absence of miracles should lessen the weight of John's testimony, they add, But all things that John spoke of this Man were true. Though hedid no miracle, yet every thing he said of Christ was true, whence they conclude, if John wasto be believed, much more this Man, who has the evidence of miracles. Thus it follows, And many believed in Him.
