And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me.
Read Chapter 8
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
And yet if I judge (i.e, bear witness of Myself) My judgment (i.e, witness) is true, i.e, fit to be taken in court, for I am not alone, &c. S. Chrysostom explains, "If I Judges , I should justly condemn you, because I should not judge by Myself, but I and the Father together." But the true meaning is that given in John 8:15.
I and the Father that sent Me. "For I took the form of a servant, but lost not the form of God," says S. Augustine; "Thy Incarnation was Thy mission." And the Interlinear Gloss, "Though I am a Prayer of Manasseh , yet I left not the Father; though sent in the flesh, yet I and the Father are ever One by Our Godhead; the judgment of both and the will of both are alike One." As He says elsewhere, "I do nothing of Myself," for I have never proceeded to any punishment, which was not in the mind of the Father. "For whatever thoughts the nature of the Father entertains, the same are completed in Me also, for I shine forth from His bosom, and am the true offspring of His...
I am not alone. Christ does not here say that he is the Father and he is the Son, he only says that he is not alone, but that the Father is with him, plainly distinguishing the two Persons. The Father is truly the Father, and the Son truly the Son, not one elder or greater than the other, but both entirely equal in all perfections. One in substance, co-eternal, and of one perfect equality. (St. Augustine)
What He says, is of this kind; You judge unjustly. And if, says some one, we judge unjustly, why dost Thou not rebuke us? Why dost Thou not punish us? Why dost Thou not condemn us? Because, He says, I came not for this. This is the meaning of, I judge no man; yet if I judge, My judgment is true. For had I been willing to judge, you would have been among the condemned. And this I say, not judging you. Yet neither do I tell you that I say it, not judging you, as though I were not confident that had I judged you, I should have convicted you; since if I had judged you, I must justly have condemned you. But now the time of judgment is not yet. He alluded also to the judgment to come, saying,
I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent Me.
Here He hinted, that not He alone condemns them, but the Father also. Then He concealed this, by leading them to His own testimony.
