I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me bears witness of me.
Read Chapter 8
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
I am one that bear witness of Myself, &c. But thou wilt say, no one"s testimony is accepted in his own case, and therefore Christ"s testimony to Himself ought not to be accepted. But the answer Isaiah , that Christ as God witnesses to Himself as man. But God and man are two beings, and in Christ God was different from man: in nature, I mean, not in person. And from this very passage the Fathers gather against both Nestorians and Eutycheans, that in Christ there was one Person, the Divine, but two natures, the Divine and the human. So Cyril, Chrysostom, and S. Ambrose (de Fide v2). Besides this, God the Father and God the Son bore witness that Jesus was the Christ by the miracles which they wrought both through Him and for Him ( John 5:31-32). And especially when the Father spake in thunder out of heaven, This is My beloved Son. So Bede.
Had He been of inferior substance, He would not have put this. But now that you may not deem that the Father is included, to make up the number (of two), observe that His power has nothing different (from the Father's). A man bears witness when he is trustworthy of himself, not when he himself needs testimony, and that too in a matter pertaining to another; but in a matter of his own, where he needs the witness of another, he is not trustworthy. But in this case it is all contrary. For He though bearing witness in a matter of His own, and saying that witness is borne to Him by another, asserts that He is trustworthy, in every way manifesting His independence. For why, when He had said, I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent Me, and, The testimony of two men is true, did He not hold His peace, instead of adding, I am One that bear witness of Myself? It was evidently to show His independence. And He places Himself first; I am One that bear witness of Myself. Here He shows His equ...
