John 6:70 Kommentar

In this chapter we have, I. The miracle of the loaves (Joh 6:1-14). II. Christ's walking upon the water (Joh 6:15-21). III. The people's flocking after him to Capernaum (Joh 6:22-25). IV. His conference with them, occasioned by the miracle of the loaves, in which he reproves them for seeking carnal food, and directs them to spiritual food (Joh 6:26, Joh 6:27), showing them how they must labour for spiritual food (Joh 6:28, Joh 6:29), and what that spiritual food is (v. 30-59). V. Their discontent at what he said, and the reproof he gave them for it (Joh 6:60-65). VI. The apostasy of many from him, and his discourse with his disciples that adhered to him upon that occasion (Joh 6:66-71).

After these things,.... After Christ's curing the man at Bethesda's pool, and the vindication of himself for doing it or the sabbath day, and for asserting his equality with God; near a year after these things: for these were done at the feast of the passover, and now it was near another; and what is related here, was after the death of John the Baptist, and when the disciples had returned from preaching in the several cities and towns, where Christ afterwards went, and had given an account of their success; see Mat 14:12. Quickly after the passover was ended, Christ departed from Jerusalem, and went into Galilee, and preached in the several cities and towns in those parts, and wrought many miracles: and after these things, in process of time, Jesus went over the sea of Galilee; the same with the lake of Gennesaret, Luk 5:1; which is the sea of Tiberias; and is frequently so called by the Jewish writers (x), who often make mention of , "the sea of Tiberias"; and by other writers, it is called the lake of Tiberias (y); Pliny, who calls it the lake of Genesara (z), says, "it was sixteen miles long, and six broad, and was beset with very pleasant towns; on the east were Julias and Hippo, and on the south Tarichea, by which name some call the lake, and on the west Tiberias, wholesome for the hot waters.'' And these are the waters which the Jews call , or, the hot baths of Tiberias (a); and from the city of Tiberias built by Herod, and called so in honour of Tiberius Caesar, the sea took its name. (x) T. Bab. Bava Kama, fol. 81. 2. & Bava Bathra, fol. 74. 2. Becorot, fol. 55. 1. Megilla, fol. 5. 2. & 6. 1. Moed. Katon, fol. 18. 2. & T. Hieros. Kilaim, fol. 32. 3. & Erubin, fol. 25. 2. (y) Solin, c. 48. Pausan. l. 5. p. 298. (z) Lib. 5. c. 15. (a) T. Hieros. Peah, fol 21. 2. & Sheviith, fol. 38. 4. Kiddushin, fol. 61. 1. R. Benj. Itinerar. p. 53.

Whosoever, therefore, declares that there is but one God, only so as to take away the divinity of Christ, is a devil, and an enemy of all righteousness. He also that confesseth Christ, yet not as the Son of the Maker of the world, but of some other unknown being, different from Him whom the law and the prophets have proclaimed, this man is an instrument of the devil. And he that rejects the incarnation, and is ashamed of the cross for which I am in bonds, this man is antichrist. Moreover, he who affirms Christ to be a mere man is accursed, according to the [declaration of the] prophet, since he puts not his trust in God, but in man. Wherefore also he is unfruitful, like the wild myrtle-tree.

First, He was clad in "sordid attire," that is, in the indignity of passible and mortal flesh, when the devil, withal, was opposing himself to Him-the instigator, to wit, of Judas the traitor -who even after His baptism had tempted Him.

"Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?" For since Peter said, "We believe," Jesus excepteth Judas from the band. In the other place Peter made no mention of the disciples; but when Christ said, "Whom say ye that I am?" he replied, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God"; but here, since he said, "We believe," Christ with reason admitteth not Judas into that band. And this He did afar off, and long before the time, to check the wickedness of the traitor, knowing that He should avail nothing, yet doing His own part.

And remark His wisdom. He made not the traitor manifest, yet allowed him not to be hidden; that on the one hand he might not lose all shame, and become more contentious; and on the other, that he might not, thinking to be unperceived, work his wicked deed without fear. Therefore by degrees He bringeth plainer reproofs against him. First, He numbered him too among the others, when He said, "There are some of you that believe not," (for that He counted the traitor the Evangelist hath declared, saying, "For He knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray Him;") but when he yet remained such, He brought against him a more severe rebuke, "One of you is a devil," yet made the fear common to them all, wishing to conceal him. And here it is worth while to enquire, why the disciples at this time said nothing, but afterwards were afraid and doubted, looking one upon another, and asking, "Lord, is it I?", when Peter beckoned to John to find out the traitor, by enquiring of their Teacher which was he. What is the reason? Peter had not yet heard, "Get thee behind me, Satan," wherefore he had no fear at all; but when he had been rebuked, and though he spoke through strong affection, instead of being approved of, had even been called "Satan," he afterwards with reason feared when he heard, "One of you shall betray Me." Besides, He saith not even now, "One of you shall betray Me," but, "One of you is a devil"; wherefore they understood not what was spoken, but thought that He was only reflecting upon their wickedness.

But wherefore said He, "I have chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil"? It was to show that His teaching was entirely free from flattery. For that they might not think that He would flatter them, because when all had left Him they alone remained, and confessed by Peter that He was the Christ, He leadeth them away from such a suspicion. And what He saith is of this kind. "Nothing abasheth Me from rebuking the bad; think not that because ye have remained I shall choose to flatter you, or that because ye have followed Me I shall not rebuke the wicked. For neither doth another circumstance abash Me, which is much more powerful than this to abash a teacher. For he that remaineth affordeth a proof of his affection, while one that hath been chosen by a teacher, being rejected, attacheth to him a character for folly among senseless persons. Still neither doth this cause Me to refrain from My reproofs." This at least even now the heathen frigidly and senselessly urge against Christ. For God is not wont to make men good by compulsion and force, neither is His election and choice compulsory on those who are called, but persuasive. And that thou mayest learn that the calling compelleth not, consider how many of these who have been called have come to perdition, so that it is clear that it lieth in our own will also to be saved, or to perish.

Then said the Lord Jesus: "Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?" Therefore, should He have said, "I have chosen eleven:" or is a devil also chosen, and among the elect? Persons are wont to be called "elect" by way of praise: or was man elected because some great good was done by him, without his will and knowledge? This belongs peculiarly to God; the contrary is characteristic of the wicked. For as wicked men make a bad use of the good works of God; so, on the contrary, God makes a good use of the evil works of wicked men. How good it is that the members of the body are, as they can be disposed only by God, their author and framer! Nevertheless what evil use doth wantonness make of the eyes? What ill use doth falsehood make of the tongue? Does not the false witness first both slay his own soul with his tongue, and then, after he has destroyed himself, endeavor to injure another? He makes an ill use of the tongue, but the tongue is not therefore an evil thing; the tongue is God's work, but iniquity makes an ill use of that good work of God. How do they use their feet who run into crimes? How do murderers employ their hands? And what ill use do wicked men make of those good creatures of God that lie outside of them? With gold they corrupt judgment and oppress the innocent. Bad men make a bad use of the very light; for by evil living they employ even the very light with which they see into the service of their villanies. A bad man, when going to do a bad deed, wishes the light to shine for him, lest he stumble; he who has already stumbled and fallen within; that which he is afraid of in his body has already befallen him in his heart. Hence, to avoid the tediousness of running through them separately, a bad man makes a bad use of all the good creatures of God: a good man, on the contrary, makes a good use of the evil deeds of wicked men. And what is so good as the one God? Since, indeed, the Lord Himself said, "There is none good, but the one God." By how much He is better, then, by so much the better use He makes of our evil deeds. What worse than Judas? Among all that adhered to the Master, among the twelve, to him was committed the common purse; to him was allotted the dispensing for the poor. Unthankful for so great a favor, so great an honor, he took the money, and lost righteousness: being dead, he betrayed life: Him whom he followed as a disciple, he persecuted as an enemy. All this evil was Judas's; but the Lord employed his evil for good. He endured to be betrayed, to redeem us. Behold, Judas's evil was turned to good. How many martyrs has Satan persecuted! If Satan left off persecuting, we should not to-day be celebrating the very glorious crown of Saint Laurence. If then God employs the evil works of the devil himself for good, what the bad man effects, by making a bad use, is to hurt himself, not to contradict the goodness of God. The Master makes use of that man. And if He knew not how to make use of him, the Master contriver would not have permitted him to be. Therefore, He saith, "One of you is a devil," whilst I have chosen you twelve. This saying, "I have chosen you twelve," may be understood in this way, that twelve is a sacred number. For the honor of that number was not taken away because one was lost, for another was chosen into the place of the one that perished. The number remained a sacred number, a number containing twelve: because they were to make known the Trinity throughout the whole world, that is, throughout the four quarters of the world. That is the reason of the three times four. Judas, then only cut himself off, not profaned the number twelve: he abandoned his Teacher, for God appointed a successor to take his place.

(Tr. xxvii. s. 10) He was elected to be an involuntary and unconscious instrument of producing the greatest good. For as the wicked turn the good works of God to an evil use, so reversely God turns the evil works of man to good. What can be worse than what Judas did? Yet our Lord made a good use of his wickedness; allowing Himself to be betrayed, that He might redeem us. In, Have I not chosen you twelve, twelve seems to be a sacred number used in the case of those, who were to spread the doctrine of the Trinity through the four quarters of the world. Nor was the virtue of that number impaired, by one perishing; inasmuch as another was substituted in his room.

He continues His reproach, and clenches them with severer words, cutting off that which is slack and fallen into negligence in their desire to be wise. For He almost seems to say somewhat of this sort, "O My disciples, this is the time for heed and wit and a mind braced unto the desire of salvation. For most slippery is the way of perdition, which drags downwards not only the feeble mind, but also that which already thinketh it standeth fast. Very perilous and of many forms is sin, which bewitches the mind of man by its manifold pleasures and most smooth lusts, dragging it to what it ought not. Your own case (He saith) shall be an example of what I say. For I will tell you; none of those who from lightness have now fallen back, did I choose as I have done you who were good (for as God, I knew what was in you) yet did Satan get hold of one of you through greed of gain, and My Judgment was surely not deceived. For in man is free-will and choice to go to both, either to the right hand, or to the left, i. e., to virtue or vice." Therefore at once by His severer chiding, does He both rouse unto becoming watchfulness, and render each one more steadfast regarding himself, for He does not yet say clearly who shall betray Him, but laying the burden of iniquity upon one alone and indefinitely, He was bringing them all to the contest, and inviting them to more careful circumspection, each one dreading the loss of his own soul, and at the same time was He working another thing for the benefit of His disciples' faith. For when they confessed that they knew, and firmly believed, that He is the Son of God, He shows that He fore-knows things to come, by this too showing as it were that their confession regarding Him was sure. For the knowledge of things to come befitteth none save One Alone, Him That is by Nature God, of Whom it is also written, Who knoweth all things before they be. But He called the worker of the Devil's will a devil, and not untruly. For as he that is joined unto the Lord is one Spirit, so is the reverse also true.

(Moral. 1. xiii. c. xxxiv.) One of you is a devil: the bodyb is here named after its head.

Or we must say, that He elected the eleven for one purpose, the twelfth for another: the eleven to fill the place of Apostles, and persevere in it unto the end; the twelfth to the service of betraying Him, which was the means of saving the human race.

What then does Christ say? Does He approve Peter, as He did on another occasion (Matt. 16:17)? Not at all, so as not to appear to be flattering him for having remained with Him. What then does He say to Peter? "I chose you twelve, yet not all of you are worthy of this choosing, but one of you is a devil." This can be understood in two ways: either he is a devil because even now he perverts everything of Mine and accepts nothing of it, or because he will slander Me. For such indeed Judas proved to be, slandering the Lord before the Jews and betraying His secrets to them, as David also says of him: "he went abroad and spoke together" — he went out and spoke in concert (Ps. 41:6). The Lord says this to Peter in order to correct him. Peter said: "we have come to know and have believed." But He says: "do not think so; you are not all faithful, nor have you all come to know Me." Look, perhaps, how the Lord from afar forestalls the malice of the betrayer and, as if forcibly restraining it, says this, although He knows it will bring no benefit, yet He fulfills His own task. And He neither exposed him nor left it completely unknown; the first He did so that the betrayer, having lost all shame, would not become more obstinate; the other, so that he would not commit the bold deed without fear, and would not think that he would remain hidden. From this we also learn that God does not make people good by compulsion and force, and that God's election does not constrain our free will; and when someone is evil, He does not compel him to become good. God's election consists in this: that God predisposes us toward the good and grants us His grace. But to be saved and to act worthily of that election, or the opposite — this depends on our own mind and will.

He professed his faith when he said, We have come to believe and to know that you are the Christ, the Son of God. For in our faith there are two things above all that must be believed: the mystery of the Trinity, and the Incarnation. And these two Peter professed here. He professed the mystery of the Trinity when he said, you are the Son of God: for in calling Christ the Son of God he mentioned the person of the Father and that of the Son, along with the person of the Holy Spirit, who is the love of the Father and of the Son, and the bond or nexus of both. He professed the mystery of the Incarnation when he said, you are the Christ: for in Greek, the word "Christ" means "anointed"; anointed, that is, with the invisible oil of the Holy Spirit. He was not anointed according to his divine nature, because one who is anointed by the Holy Spirit is made better by that anointing. But Christ, so far as he is God, is not made better. Thus, Christ was anointed as man. He said, We have come to believe and to know, because believing comes before knowing. And therefore, if we wanted to know before believing, we would neither know nor be able to believe, as Augustine says, and as in that other version of Isaiah: "If you do not believe, you will not understand" (Is 7:9).

Jesus passes the sea of Tiberias, and a great multitude follow him, Joh 6:1-4. He feeds five thousand with five loaves, and two fishes, Joh 6:5-13. They acknowledge him to be the prophet that should come into the world, Joh 6:14. They purpose to force him to become their king; and he withdraws from the multitude, Joh 6:15. The disciples take ship, and go towards Capernaum, and are overtaken with a storm, Joh 6:16-18. Christ comes to them, walking upon the water, Joh 6:19-21. The people take boats and follow him, Joh 6:22-24. He reproves their fleshly motives, Joh 6:25-27. They profess a desire to be instructed, Joh 6:28. Christ preaches to them, and shows them that he is the bread of life, and that they who reject him are without excuse, Joh 6:29-40. They are offended, and cavil, Joh 6:41, Joh 6:42. He asserts and illustrates his foregoing discourse, Joh 6:43-51. They again cavil, and Christ gives farther explanations, Joh 6:52-59. Several of the disciples are stumbled at his assertion, that unless they ate his flesh and drank his blood they could not have life, Joh 6:60. He shows them that his words are to be spiritually understood, Joh 6:61-65. Several of them withdraw from him, Joh 6:66. He questions the twelve, whether they also were disposed to forsake him, and Peter answers for the whole, Joh 6:67-69. Christ exposes the perfidy of Judas, Joh 6:70, Joh 6:71.

Have not I chosen you twelve - Have I not, in an especial manner, called you to believe in my name, and chosen you to be my disciples and the propagators of my doctrine! Nevertheless, one of you is a devil, or accuser, enlisted on the side of Satan, who was a murderer from the beginning.

FIVE THOUSAND MIRACULOUSLY FED. (Joh 6:1-13) a mountain--somewhere in that hilly range which skirts the east side of the lake.

Have not I chosen . . . and one of you is a devil:--"Well said, Simon-Barjonas, but that 'we' embraces not so wide a circle as in the simplicity of thine heart thou thinkest; for though I have chosen you but twelve, one even of these is a 'devil'" (the temple, the tool of that wicked one). Next: John Chapter 7