They said therefore to him: Who art thou? Jesus said to them: The beginning, who also speak unto you.

“(Hom. liii. 1) See here the madness of the Jews; asking after so long time, and after all His miracles and teaching, Who art Thou? What is Christ’s answer? From the beginning I speak with you; as if to say, Ye do not deserve to hear any thing from Me, much less this thing, Who I am. For ye speak always, to tempt Me. But I could, if I would, confound and punish you: I have many things to say, and to judge of you.”

“(Tract. xxxviii. s. 11) Our Lord having said, If ye believe not that I am, ye shall die in your sins; they enquire of Him, as if wishing to know in whom they are to believe, that they might not die in their sin: Then said they unto Him, Who art Thou? For when Thou saidst, If ye believe not that I am, Thou didst not add, who Thou art. But our Lord knew that these were some who would believe, and therefore after being asked, Who art Thou? that such might know what they should believe Him to be, Jesus saith unto them, The beginning, who also speak to you; not as if to say, I am the beginning, but, Believe Me to be the beginning; as is evident from the Greek, where beginning is feminine. Believe Me then to be the beginning, but ye die in your sins: for the beginning cannot be changed; it remains fixed in itself, and is the source of change to all things. (Tract. xxxix. 1, 2). But it is absurd to call the Son the beginning, and not the Father also. And yet there are not two beginnings, even as these are not two Gods. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father and the Son; not being either the Father, or the Son. Yet Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one God, one Light, one beginning. (Tract. xxxviii. 11). He adds, Who also speak to you, i. e. Who humbled Myself for your sakes, and condescended to those words. Therefore believe Me to be the beginning; because that ye may believe this, not only am I the beginning, but I also speak with you, that ye may believe that I am. For if the Beginning had remained with the Father in its original nature, and not taken upon it the form of a servant, how could men have believed in it? Would their weakly minds have taken in the spiritual Word, without the medium of sensible sound?”

“After the Lord had manifested concerning himself the privilege of light, here he consequently manifests the effect of light, namely that it frees from darkness; and first he shows that they themselves are held fast in darkness; second he teaches the remedy by which they may be freed from it, at the place, "The Jews therefore said, Will he kill himself?" and so on. Concerning the first he does three things. First the Lord announces his own departure; second he shows the perverse zeal of the Jews; third, their failure. Now the Lord says that his departure is through death; and therefore he says "I go," in which he gives two things to understand. First, that he dies voluntarily, namely as one going, and not led by another. Below, John 16:5: "I go to him who sent me"; below, John 10:18: "No one takes my soul from me, but I lay it down of myself." And according to this it is rightly continued from what precedes. For he had said: "No one laid hold of him," and so on. And why? Because of himself he goes spontaneously. Second, he shows that the death of Christ was a certain advancing to that place whence he had come and whence he had not departed; for just as one who goes forward makes progress, so Christ through death arrived at the glory of exaltation. Philippians 2:8: "He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross; for which cause God also exalted him"; below, John 13:3: "Knowing that he came forth from God, and goes to God." He shows their perverse zeal in the deceitful seeking of Christ; and as to this he says, "You will seek me." Now some seek Christ devoutly out of charity; and this seeking is followed by life; Psalm 68:33: "Seek the Lord, and your soul shall live." But these seek impiously, and out of hatred, in order to persecute; Psalm 37:13: "They that sought my soul used violence." And thus he says "you will seek me," namely persecuting, after his death indeed with infamy; Matthew 27:63: "We have remembered that that deceiver said, while yet alive, After three days I will rise again." Likewise in my members; Acts 9:4: "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" And death follows upon this pursuit; and therefore he adds their failure, which he foretells to them, saying, "And you shall die in your sin"; and first he foretells the failure which consists in the condemnation of death; second, the failure which consists in their exclusion from glory, at the place, "Where I go, you cannot come." He says therefore: because you seek me unjustly, therefore "in your sin," that is, remaining in it, "you shall die." This can be understood in one way of bodily death; and thus he dies in his sins who perseveres in them right up until death. And thus by saying "you shall die in your sin" he aggravates their obstinate persistence. Jeremiah 8:6: "There is none that does penance for his sin, saying, What have I done?"; Ezekiel 32:27: "They are gone down to hell with their weapons." In another way, of the death of sin, of which it is said in Psalm 33:21: "The death of the wicked is very evil." And just as bodily death is preceded by infirmity of the body, so also this death is preceded by a certain infirmity. For as long as sin is remediable, then it is as it were a certain infirmity that precedes; Psalm 6:3: "Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak." But when it is irremediable, either absolutely, as after this life, or with respect to itself, as is the sin against the Holy Spirit, then it causes death; 1 John 5:16: "There is a sin unto death; I do not say that anyone should pray for that." And accordingly the Lord foretells to them that the infirmity of sinners is unto death. He shows the failure which consists in their exclusion from glory when he says, "Where I go, you cannot come." Where the Lord goes, these also go through death; but the Lord without sin, while these indeed with sins, since they die in their sin, and therefore they do not arrive at the glory of the vision of the Father. And therefore he says, "Where I go" — namely, spontaneously through my passion, namely to the Father and to his glory — "you cannot come," because you do not will to. For if they had willed it and had not been able, it would not reasonably be said to them, "You shall die in your sin." But it must be noted that some are hindered from being able to go where Christ goes, in two ways. In one way by reason of contrariety, and thus sinners are hindered; and of this he speaks here; and therefore to those simply persevering in sin he says, "Where I go, you cannot come." Psalm 100:7: "He that works pride shall not dwell in the midst of my house"; Isaiah 35:8: "It shall be called the holy way, and the polluted shall not pass through it"; Psalm 14:1: "Who shall dwell in your tabernacle? He that is innocent in hands and clean of heart." In another way by reason of imperfection, or lack of disposition; and in this way the just are hindered as long as they are in the body; 2 Corinthians 5:6: "As long as we are in the body, we are pilgrims away from the Lord." And to such the Lord does not say simply, "Where I go, you cannot come," but adds a qualification of time; below, John 13:37: "Where I go, you cannot follow me now." Next, when he says "The Jews therefore said," and so on, he deals with the remedy by which they may be freed from darkness, and first he proposes the remedy for escaping the darkness; second he adduces reasons for obtaining this remedy, at the place, "They said therefore to him, Who are you?" Third, he foretells the manner of arriving at this, at the place, "Jesus therefore said to them: When you shall have lifted up the Son of man, then you shall know." Concerning the first he does two things. First is set forth the occasion of Christ's words; second are set forth those things by which the intimation of the remedy is caused, at the place, "You are from beneath." Now the occasion of Christ's words is taken from the person, or the understanding, of the Jews. For since they were carnal, they understood in a carnal way the Lord's words which he had spoken, "Where I go, you cannot come"; 1 Corinthians 2:14: "The natural man does not perceive the things that are of the Spirit of God." Hence the Jews say, "Will he kill himself?" Which indeed, according to Augustine, is a foolish opinion. For could they not have come where Christ went, if he were to kill himself? They too could indeed kill themselves. Thus therefore death was not the terminus to which Christ was about to go, but the way by which he was going to the Father. Hence he did not say that they could not go to death, but that through death they could not go to the place to which Christ was exalted through it, namely to the right hand of God. According to Origen, however, perhaps not without cause do the Jews say this. For they had from the traditions that the Christ would die voluntarily, just as he himself said, below, John 10:18: "No one takes my soul, but I lay it down of myself." Which they seem to have had especially from Isaiah 53:12: "Because he has delivered his soul unto death, therefore I will divide him a portion with many, and he shall divide the spoils of the strong." Because therefore they had some suspicion concerning Jesus that he was the Christ, therefore, when he said "I go," and so on, they introduced this opinion, that he would voluntarily hand himself over to death. But they utter this insultingly, saying, "Will he kill himself?" Otherwise they would have said: "Will his soul, when it shall please him, go forth, the body being left behind?" — which we cannot do. And on account of this he says, "Where I go, you cannot come." Next, when he says, "You are from beneath," and so on, he proposes the remedy for escaping the darkness, and first he sets forth beforehand his own origin and theirs; second from this he concludes his proposition, at the place, "I said therefore to you," and so on. Now concerning the first he differentiates his own origin from their origin in two ways. First, because he is from above, and they from beneath. Second, because they are of this world, of which Christ is not. But, as Origen says, it is one thing to be "from beneath," and another to be "of this world"; for "above" and "beneath" are differences of place. Lest, therefore, from his saying that he is "from above" they should understand him to be from the upper part of this world, therefore, excluding this, he says that he is not "of this world." As if he were to say: I am so much "from above," that nevertheless I am wholly above this whole world. And indeed that they are of this world and from beneath is manifest; but that Christ is from above, and not of this world, truly requires understanding. For certain ones, holding that all visible created things were made by the Devil, as the Manichaeans, said that Christ, even as to his body, was not of this visible world, but of a world of another creation, namely the invisible one. Valentinus also, wrongly taking this up, said that Christ had brought a heavenly body. That this, however, is not the true understanding here appears, because the Lord says to the apostles themselves, below, John 15:19: "You are not of this world." It must be said, therefore, that it can be understood of Christ the Son of God, and of Christ the man. For Christ, insofar as he is the Son of God, is from above; below, John 16:28: "I came forth from the Father, and came into the world." And likewise he is not of this sensible world, that is, the one which consists in sensible things, but of the intelligible world, which is in the mind of God, since he is the very Word of God, insofar as he is the highest wisdom. For all things were made in wisdom. Hence it is said of him above, John 1:10: "The world was made through him." But insofar as he is man, Christ is from above, because he did not have his affection set on worldly and lowly things, but on higher things, among which the soul of Christ had its dwelling, according to that saying of Philippians 3:20: "Our conversation is in heaven"; Matthew 6:21: "Where your treasure is, there is your heart also." And conversely, these who are from beneath have a lowly origin, and are of this world, because they have their affection set on earthly things; 1 Corinthians 15:47: "The first man was of the earth, earthly." Next, when he says, "I said therefore to you, that you shall die in your sins," he concludes his proposition, and first he makes clear what he had said about their failure; second he shows them the remedy, at the place, "For if you believe not," and so on. Now it must be known concerning the first that each thing, in its progress, follows the condition of its origin; hence those things which have a lowly origin, if left to themselves, naturally tend downward. And nothing naturally tends upward except what has a higher origin; above, John 3:13: "No one ascends into heaven, but he that descended from heaven." The Lord therefore says: this is the reason why you cannot come where I go, because since you are from beneath, as far as it is in you, you cannot but fall; and therefore what I said, that you shall die in your sins, is true, unless you cling to me. And therefore, so as not totally to exclude the hope of salvation, he sets forth a remedy, saying, "For if you believe not that I am, you shall die in your sin"; as if he were to say: you were born in original sin, from which you cannot be absolved except through faith in me, because if you do not believe that I am, you shall die in your sin. And he says "I am," but not what he is, so as to call to mind what was said to Moses, Exodus 3:14: "I am who am"; for being itself is proper to God. For in every other nature besides the divine, being and that-which-is differ, since every created nature participates its being from that which is being through essence, namely God himself, who is his own very being, such that his being is his essence. Hence he alone is named from it. And therefore he says, "Unless you believe that I am" — that is, that I am truly God, who has being through essence — "you shall die in your sin." For he says "that I am," to show his eternity. For in all things that begin there is a certain mutability, and some potency toward non-being, whence there is found in them a certain past and future; and therefore there is not there true being through itself. But in God there is no potency toward non-being, nor did his being begin; and therefore he is being itself, which is properly designated by the present tense. Next, when he says, "They said therefore to him, Who are you?" he sets forth reasons leading to faith, and first is set forth the interrogation of the Jews; second, the response of Christ, at the place, "Jesus said to them: The beginning, who also speak to you"; third, the blinding of their understanding, at the place, "And they understood not," and so on. For because the Lord had said, "Unless you believe that I am," it still remained to ask who he was; and therefore they said to him, "Who are you?" As if they were to say: whence are you, that we should have to believe you? And therefore next, when he says, "The beginning, who also speak to you," he answers, leading them to belief, first from the sublimity of his nature; second from his judiciary power, at the place, "I have many things to speak and to judge of you"; third from the truthfulness of the Father, at the place, "But he that sent me is true." What leads them to believe Christ indeed is the sublimity of his nature, because he himself is the beginning. Hence Jesus said to them: "The beginning, who also speak to you." "Principium" ["beginning"] in Latin is of neuter gender; hence it is doubtful whether it is here of the nominative or the accusative case. But in Greek it is of feminine gender, and in this place it is of the accusative case. Hence, according to Augustine, it should not be read: "I am the beginning," but rather: "Believe me to be the beginning, lest you die in your sins." The Father, too, is called "beginning." And in one way indeed the name "beginning" is common to the Father and the Son, inasmuch as they are one beginning of the Holy Spirit through common spiration; and the three persons together are the beginning of the creature through creation. In another way it is proper to the Father, inasmuch as the Father is the beginning of the Son through eternal generation. We do not, however, speak of several beginnings, just as we do not speak of several gods; Psalm 109:3: "With you is the principality in the day of your strength," and so on. Here, however, the Lord says he is the beginning with respect to the whole creature; for that which is such through essence is the beginning and cause of those things which are such through participation. Now to be through essence, as has been said, is to be his own being. But because Christ has in himself not only the divine nature, but also the human, therefore he adds "who also speak to you"; for man cannot immediately bear the voice of God, because, according to Augustine, weak hearts cannot hear the intelligible word without a sensible voice. Exodus 20: "What is man, that he should hear the voice of the Lord his God?" Therefore, so that we might hear the divine Word itself immediately, he took on flesh, by whose instrument he spoke to us; hence he says "who also speak to you"; that is, having been made lowly for your sake, I have come down to these words. Hebrews 1:1: "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all has spoken to us by his Son"; above, John 1:18: "The only-begotten, who is in the bosom of the Father, he himself will make [it] known to you." Or otherwise, according to Chrysostom, so that by saying "the beginning, who also speak to you" he might reprove the slowness of understanding of the Jews. For after the many signs which they had seen done by him, still hardened, they ask the Lord, "Who are you?" and so on. And therefore Jesus answered, "I am the beginning," that is, who have spoken to you from the beginning; as if he were to say: you have no need still to ask who I am, since it ought already to be manifest. Hebrews 5:12: "Whereas for the time you ought to be masters, you have need to be taught again what are the first elements of the words of God." Second, his judiciary authority leads them to believe Christ; and therefore he adds, "I have many things to speak and to judge of you"; as if he were to say: I have the authority to judge you. But it must be known that it is one thing to speak to us, and another to speak of us. For Christ speaks to us for our benefit, namely so as to draw us to himself; and thus he speaks to us, while we live, by preaching, inspiring, and doing such things. But he speaks of us not for our benefit, but to show his own justice; and in this way he will speak of us in the future judgment. But on the contrary. Above, John 3:17: "For God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world may be saved through him." Response. It must be said that it is one thing to judge, and another to have the power to judge. "To judge" denotes the act of judgment; and this does not pertain to the first coming of the Lord, as he said above: "I judge no one" — namely, for the present. But "to have the power to judge" denotes the power of judgment; and this Christ has; above, John 5:22: "The Father has given all judgment to the Son"; Acts 10:42: "It is he who was appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead." And therefore he says pointedly, "I have many things to speak and to judge of you" — but in the future judgment. The truthfulness of the Father also leads to belief in Christ; and as to this he says, "But he who sent me is true"; as if he were to say: the Father is true; but I speak things consonant with him; therefore I speak true things; therefore you ought to believe me. He says therefore, "he who sent me" — namely the Father — "is true," not by participation, but by the very essence of truth; otherwise, since the Son is truth itself, he would be greater than the Father; Romans 3:4: "But God is true." "And I speak the things which I have heard from him": not by human hearing, but through eternal generation I received them, these I speak. Isaiah 21:10: "The things which I have heard from the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I have declared to you"; above, John 5:19: "The Son cannot do anything of himself." Now this saying, "He that sent me is true," is connected to what precedes in two ways. In one way thus: I say that I have to judge concerning you. But my judgment will be true, because he who sent me is true. Romans 2:2: "The judgment of God is according to truth." In another way, according to Chrysostom: I say that I have to judge concerning you; but I defer this, not out of powerlessness, but so as to obey the will of the Father; for he who sent me is true. Hence, since he had promised a savior and a defender, he sent me now to save; and I, because I speak only the things which I have heard from him, therefore speak to you things salutary. Next, when he says, "And they understood not that he called God his Father," he reproves the slowness of their understanding; for they did not yet have the eyes of the heart open, by which they might understand the equality of Father and Son, and this because they were carnal; 1 Corinthians 2:14: "The natural man does not perceive the things that are of the Spirit of God." Here first Christ foretells by what means they ought to arrive at faith, which is the remedy against death; and concerning this he does two things. First he shows by what they are to come to faith; second he teaches what is to be believed concerning himself, at the place, "That I am." He says therefore first that they ought to arrive at faith through his passion. Hence Jesus said to them: "When you shall have lifted up the Son of man, then you shall know"; as if he were to say: now you do not know that my Father is God; but "when you shall have lifted up the Son of man," that is, when you shall have fastened me to the wood of the cross, "then you shall know" — namely, some of you, through faith; below, John 12:32: "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself." Now the reason, according to Augustine, that he calls to mind the passion of the cross is so as to give hope to sinners, namely so that no one, however conscious of guilt from whatever crime, might despair, since those who crucified Christ are themselves freed from sins through the blood of Christ. For there is no one so great a sinner that he cannot be freed through the blood of Christ. Or, according to Chrysostom, "when you shall have lifted up the Son of man" — namely on the cross — "then you shall know," that is, you will be able to know what sort I am, not only through the glory of my resurrection, but also through the punishment of your captivity and destruction. Now as to the second, he teaches three things to be believed concerning himself. First, the majesty of his divinity; second, his origin from the Father; third, his inseparability from the Father. The majesty of his divinity indeed, when he says "that I am"; that is, I have in me the nature of God, and I am he who spoke to Moses, saying: "I am who am." But because the whole Trinity pertains to being itself, therefore, lest the distinction of persons be excluded, he next teaches that his origin from the Father is to be believed, when he says, "And of myself I do nothing; but as the Father has taught me, these things I speak." But because Jesus began to do and to teach, therefore he designates his origin from the Father in two respects: namely in the things which he does, whence he says, "And of myself I do nothing" (above, John 5:19: "The Son cannot do anything of himself"), and in the things which he teaches, whence he says, "But as the Father has taught me"; that is, he handed on knowledge by begetting me knowing. For since the nature of truth is simple, for the Son to be is the same as to know; and thus just as the Father, by begetting, gave the Son that he might be, so by begetting he gave him that he might know; above, John 7:16: "My doctrine is not mine." And lest it be understood that he was sent by the Father as though distinct from him, therefore third he teaches that his inseparability from the Father is to be believed, when he says, "And he who sent me" — namely the Father — "is with me," through unity of essence; below, John 14:10: "I am in the Father, and the Father is in me." Likewise through the conjunction of love; above, John 5:20: "The Father loves the Son, and shows him all things that he himself does." And thus the Father sent the Son in such a way that he did not depart from him. Hence it follows, "and he has not left me alone," because his affection is fixed upon me. But although both are together, nevertheless one was sent, and the other sent: because the mission is the incarnation, which indeed belongs to the Son alone, and not to the Father. Now that he has not left me is evident from a sign, "because I do always the things that are pleasing to him"; which indeed is set down not as a meritorious cause, but as a sign; as if he were to say: this very fact, that I always do, without beginning, without end, the things that are pleasing to him, is a sign that he is always with me, and has not left me; Proverbs 8:30: "I was with him forming all things." Or otherwise: "he has not left me," that is, as man, by protecting me, because I always do the things that are pleasing to him. And according to this he states a meritorious cause. Next, when he says, "As he spoke these things, many believed in him," the effect of his teaching is set forth, which is the conversion of many to faith from hearing the teaching of Christ; Romans 10:17: "Faith then comes by hearing; and hearing by the word of Christ."”

“They said therefore to Him, Who art Thou t Because they did not understand, or pretended they did not, they appositely ask, Who art Thou f Jesus said to them, the Beginning (Vulg.), I who am speaking to you . S. Augustine, Bede, Rupertus, and S. Ambrose (De Fide, iil 4), consider the word, the Beginning, to be in the nominative case, explaining it, I am the Beginning, the First and the Last, or the Beginning of all things, for all things were made by the Word of God. In the Greek the word is not o^xh, but in the beginning. S. Augustine and S. Ambrose explain it (2.) by supplying the word “ credits,” which is not in the text We must therefore consider it to be a Greek form of expression, a^ii* for x&r hgxpi, in the beginning. I am from the beginning, *>., from eternity {before Abraham, as He said Himself, verse 58), Very God of Very God. And therefore I am the beginning of time, and age, and of all things. And yet I am speaking to you ; that is, it is I who announce this to you, for I assumed flesh, and was made man in order to announce it, and save those who believe in it. I am from the beginning, which very thing I solemnly declare to you. Or rather, since I am the Word, which the Father spake from all eternity, I having been made man to announce to you the same truth. For the Son is the Word by whom the Father speaks, and the Son is also the Word which speaks to us. The word “ beginning,” therefore, is more appropriate to the Son than to the Holy Spirit, for the Son is together with the Father the source {principium ) of the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit is not the source of any other Divine Person, but only of creatures; and further, because He is the beginning ( principium ) proceeding from the beginning, that is to say, from the Father. And accordingly this word signifies His origin, as being begotten of the Father. This is clear from what is said below. Digitized by V^rOOQie 312 S. JOHN, C VIII. verse 27. The Vulgate does not translate it literally from the beginnings but the beginning, , signifying thereby the Eternal Word, which was from the beginning, and begotten of the Father, to be with the Father, the beginning both of the Holy Spirit and of all creatures. From the beginning signifies two things ; first from all eternity, and next as begotten of God the Father. It is the same thing to say I am from the beginning, or I am the beginning. (See John L 1 ; Rev. L 8, iil 14; and also Col i. 18.) And this is what SS. Augustine, Ambrose, and others above mentioned consider it to meaa So says the Gloss, “The Father is the Beginning, but not from the beginning : the Son is the Beginning, from the Beginning, that is, from the Father, who worketh all things by the Son, for He is the Right Hand, Strength, Wisdom, and Word of the Father.” But the Greek hggfi means also the Chief Rule {principatus meaning that to Christ belongs the dominion and rule over all things. (See Ps. cx. 3, Vulg., and Prov. viii. 22, sec lxx. See also S. Augustine, contra Max . cap. xviii., and S. Thomas, part 1, Quest xxxvi., art 4, who show that the Father and Son are not two , but the one principle of the Holy Spirit .) Morally : learn that Christ, as God and man, must be regarded as the beginning and the end of all our doings ; after the example of S. Paul and the other Apostles both in the beginning and end of their Epistles. S. Gregory Nazianzen begins his acrostics in this way, and Paulinus, “ In Thee my only hopes of life depend, Thou my beginning, Thou my goal and end.” As all numbers start from unity, and all lines run from the centre to the circumference, so should all the actions of a Christian begin and end in Christ (see CoL iii. 17). Nonnus and others explain, I am the same as I said to you at first ; that is, that I am the Messiah, the Light and the Salvation of the world, but ye believe Me not But this is a strange interpretation. Some others refer to what comes afterwards, Because ye do not believe Me, I have more to say to you, and to judge of you. But Digitized by V^rOOQie CHRIST THE SON OF TRUTH. 313 this is a mere evading of the question. As if Christ said, Ye are unworthy of an answer, but yet deserve My condemnation”

“They understood not that he spake to them of the Father. That sent him, and who was true and faithful to all he had said, whether in a way of promise, or threatening; such was their stupidity, that they did not know that he meant God the Father by him that sent him, so deriving his mission and doctrine from him; their hearts were made fat, and hardened, and their eyes were blinded. The Vulgate Latin version reads, "they did not know that he said, God was his Father"; and so Beza's most ancient copy, and another exemplar of his. They understood not that he spake to them of the Father. That sent him, and who was true and faithful to all he had said, whether in a way of promise, or threatening; such was their stupidity, that they did not know that he meant God the Father by him that sent him, so deriving his mission and doctrine from him; their hearts were made fat, and hardened, and their eyes were blinded. The Vulgate Latin version reads, "they did not know that he said, God was his Father"; and so Beza's most ancient copy, and another exemplar of his. John 8:28 joh 8:28 joh 8:28 joh 8:28Then said Jesus unto them,.... Upbraiding them with their ignorance, and giving them a sign, as well as pointing out the time when they either, by good or sad experience, should have knowledge of him: when ye have lift up the son of man; meaning himself, who was to be lifted up upon the cross, as the serpent was upon the pole, in the wilderness; and which signified the manner of death he should die, the death of the cross; and suggested, that what the Jews designed for his reproach, shame, and abasement, would be the way and means of his rise and exaltation; and this lifting him up, or crucifying him, he ascribes to them, because they would deliver him to Pontius Pilate to be condemned, and stir up the people to ask, and be importunate themselves for his crucifixion: then shall ye know that I am he; the Son of God, and true Messiah, as the centurion, and those that were with him, did, when they observed the earthquake; and the things that were done at his death; and after the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, and the pouring forth of his Spirit, many of the Jews had not only a notional, but a true and spiritual knowledge of Jesus, as the Messiah; and upon the destruction of their temple, city, and nation, and their disappointment by false Christs, they doubtless many of them must, and did know, that the true Messiah was come, and that Jesus of Nazareth was he: and that I do nothing of myself; See Gill on Joh 5:19; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things; this he says not as lessening himself, or making himself inferior to the Father, but to show the excellency of his doctrine, and to assert the original, authority, and divinity of it; suggesting that it was not an human doctrine, or a device of man's, or his own, as man, but was divine, and from God; see Joh 7:16.”

“Who art thou? - This marks the indignation of the Pharisees - as if they had said: Who art thou that takest upon thee to deal out threatenings in this manner against us? Jesus saith unto them, Even the same that I said unto you from the beginning - Rather, Just what I have already told you, i.e. that I am the light of the world - the Christ - the Savior of mankind. There are a variety of renderings for this verse among the critics. Some consider την αρχην (which makes the principal difficulty in the text) as the answer of our Lord. Who art thou? I am την αρχην, the chief, the supreme; and have therefore a right to judge, and to execute judgment. But if our Lord had intended to convey this meaning, he would doubtless have said ἡ Αρχη, or ὁ Αρχων, and not την αρχην, in the accusative case. This mode of reading appears to have been followed by the Vulgate, some copies of the Itala, and some of the fathers; but this construction can never be reconciled to the Greek text. Others take την αρχην as an adverb, in which sense it is repeatedly used by the best Greek writers; and, connecting the 25th with the 26th verse, they translate thus: I have indeed, as I Assure ye, many things to say of you, and to condemn in you. See Wakefield. Raphelius takes up the words nearly in the same way, and defends his mode of exposition with much critical learning; and to him I refer the reader. I have given it that meaning which I thought the most simple and plain, should any departure from our own version be thought necessary: both convey a good and consistent sense.”

“Who art thou? Jesus said to them: The beginning, [3] who also speak to you. This text and the construction of it is obscure, both in the Latin and in the Greek. St. Augustine and some of the Latin Fathers, expound it in this manner: I am the beginning of all things, who now being made man, speak to you. But this does not seem the construction, if we consult the Greek text; (where the beginning is not in the nominative, but in the accusative case) and therefore St. Augustine having considered more attentively the Greek, thinks that something must be understood, as believe me to be the beginning: he looks upon this to be the sense and the construction, as being connected with what was said two verses before; to wit, if you believe not that I am he, the true Messias, you shall die in your sins. “That they might,” says St. Augustine (tract. 38, num. 11, p. 560) “know what they were to believe,” he made them this answer, as if he had said: believe me to be the beginning, the cause, the author of all things, who am now become man, and speak to you. Other later interpreters are of opinion that the beginning is here a Grecism, and signifies that same as at first, or from the beginning. The sense therefore and construction may be, I am, what I said and told you at first, and from the beginning; that is, I am your Messias, the true Son of God, sent into the world, &c. (Witham) — The Pharisees, indignant at the liberty with which Jesus spoke to them, demand of him in a rage, Who art thou, to speak to us in this imperious manner, to say that we shall die in our sins? Jesus answered them, that he was the Beginning, Author, Creator, and Ruler of all things. This is the more orthodox and more becoming interpretation. Or, I am, in the first place, what I have already told you; viz. (ver. 12.) I am the light of the world; he that followeth me, walketh not in darkness, but shall have the light of life. Or, it may mean, I am what I have always from the beginning told you. I am the Son of God, the Messias, &c. (Calmet)”