Jesus cried and said,
He that believes on me, believes not on me, but on him that sent me.
Read Chapter 12
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
1. Whilst our Lord Jesus Christ was speaking among the Jews, and giving so many miraculous signs, some believed who were foreordained to eternal life, and whom He also called His sheep; but some did not believe, and could not believe, because that, by the mysterious yet not unrighteous judgment of God, they had been blinded and hardened, because forsaken of Him who resists the proud, but gives grace unto the humble. James 4:6 But of those who believed, there were some whose confession went so far, that they took branches of palm trees, and met Him as He approached, turning in their joy that very confession into a service of praise: while there were others, belonging to the chief rulers, who had not the boldness to confess their faith, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; and whom the evangelist has branded with the words, that they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God John 12:43. Of those also who did not believe, there were some who would afterwards believe, an...
As their faith grew, their love of human praise grew still more, and outstripped it.
He signifies to them that He is more than He appears to be, (for to men He appeared but a man; His Godhead was hid.) Such as the Father is, such am I in nature and in dignity; He that believes in Me, believes not in Me, i.e. on that which He sees, but in Him that sent Me, i.e. on the Father. And again, if anyone thinks that God has sons by grace, but not a Son equal and coeternal with Himself, neither does he believe in the Father, who sent the Son; because what he believes in is not the Father who sent Him. And to show that He is not the Son, in the sense of one out of many, a son by grace, but the Only Son equal to the Father, He adds And He that sees Me, sees Him that sent Me; so little difference is there between Me and Him that sent Me, that He that sees Me, sees Him. Our Lord sent His Apostles, yet none of them dared to say, He that believes in Me. We believe an Apostle, but we do not believe in ...
Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on Me, believeth not on Me ("only" as adds the Arabic version) but (also) on Him that sent Me. It is uncertain whether Jesus said these words at the same time as those which precede them (ver35), as Maldonatus thinks, i.e, before he hid Himself and withdrew (as I said, ver36), being there mentioned by anticipation, when in the regular order it should be placed at the end of the chapter; or at another time, as Theophylact supposes. It is in fact a question to be solved. For Christ in these last three days of His life, came back in the morning to the Temple. But when He saw that some believed not, and that others believed but did not dare to profess their faith, for shame, and for fear of the Pharisees, He cried with a loud voice, to drive away this shame and fear: "He that believeth in Me" believeth not in a mere poor and wretched Prayer of Manasseh , but in a man who is also God, and he therefore "believes in God who sent Me," in God the Father w...
Contrary to His wont He cries aloud, and the cry convicts the ill-timed fear of men which influenced those who believed on Him and yet veiled their belief. For He wishes to be honoured of men that choose to admire Him, not stealthily, but openly. For He assumed that while faith ought to be laid up in the heart, nevertheless the most wise confession that is founded thereon ought to be made with great boldness. And forasmuch as, being by Nature God, He condescended to take a form like ours, He refuses for the time to declare in plain words into the ears of men who hate Him that they ought to believe in Him, although He often did say this; and with fullest adaptation to the needs of those who suffer the distemper of untamable envy at Him, He gradually accustoms their minds to penetrate towards the depth of the mysteries concerning Himself, [leading them] not to the Human Person, but to That Which was of the Divine Essence; inasmuch as the Godhead is apprehended completely in the Person of...
As though He had said, Why fear ye to believe in Me? Faith passes to the Father through Me, as does also unbelief. See how in every way He shows the unvaryingness of His Essence. He said not, He that believes Me, lest any should assert that He spoke concerning His words; this might have been said in the case of mere men, for he that believes the Apostles, believes not them, but God. But that you might learn that He speaks here of the belief on His Essence, He said not, He that believes My words, but, He that believes in Me. And wherefore, says some one, has He nowhere said conversely, He that believes in the Father, believes not on the Father but on Me? Because they would have replied, Lo, we believe in the Father, but we believe not on you. Their disposition was as yet too infirm. Anyhow, conversing with the disciples, He did speak thus: You believe in the Father, believe also on Me John 14:1; but seeing that these then were too weak to hear such words, He leads them in another way,...
Because the love of human praise prevented the chief rulers from believing, Jesus cried and said, He that believes in Me, believes not on Me, but on Him that sent Me: as if tosay, Why are you afraid to believe in Me? Your faith through Me passes to God.
He that believes on Me, believes not in Me, but on Him that sent Me: as if He said, He that takes water from a stream, takes the water not of the stream, but of the fountain. Then to show that it is not possible to believe on the Father, if we do not believe in Him, He says, He that sees Me, sees Him that sent Me. What then; Is God a body? By no means; seeing here is the mind’s vision. What follows still further shows His union with the Father. I am come a light into the world. This is what the Father is called in many places. He calls Himself the light, because he delivers from error, and disperses the darkness of the understanding; that whosoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.
And to show that He does not let His despise...
Since the Son is the Word of the Father, and reveals completely what is in the mind of the Father, He says He receives a commandment what He should say, and what He should speak: just as our word, if we say what we think, brings out what is in our minds.
