Origen of Alexandria — Commentary on Scripture

Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he.

And understand the words “that you may believe” as capable of being equivalent to the words “that you may be increased in faith,” while you continue to believe.

John 13:20 · 2 passages

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

Whomever the Savior sends to minister to the salvation of anyone, that person who is sent is an apostle of Jesus Christ. But just as the apostle is an apostle of the one who sent him, so is he an apostle only to those to whom he is sent.

He who receives whom[ever] Jesus may send, receives Jesus in the one sent, and he who receives Jesus receives the Father. Therefore, he who receives whomever Jesus may send receives the Father who sent Jesus.

John 13:21

When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.

(t. xxxii. 11.) His being troubled in spirit, was the human part, suffering under the 1excess of the spiritual. For if every Saint lives, acts, and suffers in the spirit, how much more is this true of Jesus, the Rewarder of Saints.

John 13:22 · 2 passages

Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake.

(t. xxxii. 12.) They remembered too, that, as men, before they were matured, their minds were liable to change, so as to form wishes the very opposite to what they might have had before.

The phrase about the disciples, "doubting of whom he spoke," is vivid. For they were unable to conceive of whom this had been said and were in doubt about it, and they found nothing clear either to think or say.

John 13:23

Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.

(t. xxxii. 13.) I think this has a peculiar meaning, viz. that John was admitted to a knowledge of the more secret mysteries of the Word.

John 13:24 · 2 passages

Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake.

(t. xxxii. 13.) Or, at first he beckoned, and then not content with beckoning, spake: Who is it of whom he speaks?

Now, beckoning is taken as slander in proverbs, for the wicked person “beckons with his eyes” … Peter’s act, however, was to beckon out of his eagerness for knowledge, and subsequent to such beckoning, to say to his fellow disciple, since he was more intimate with the teacher, “Tell us who it is of whom he speaks.”

John 13:25 · 2 passages

He then lying on Jesus' breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it?

(t. xxxii. 13.) He then lying on Jesus' breast, saith unto Him, Lord, who is it?

John, by reclining on the Word and resting on more mystical things, was reclining in the bosom of the Word, analogous also to the Word being in the bosom of the Father, according to the statement, “The only-begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.”

John 13:27

And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.

(t. xxxii. 14.) Observe, that at first Satan did not enter into Judas, but only put it into his heart to betray his Master. But after the bread, he entered into him. Wherefore let us beware, that Satan thrust not any of his flaming darts into our heart; for if he do, he then watches till he gets an entrance there himself.

(t. xxxii. 14.) It was proper that by the ceremony of the bread, that good should be taken from him, which he thought he had: whereof being deprived, he was laid open to admit Satan's entrance.

(t. xxxii. 15.) This may have been said either to Judas, or to Satan, either to provoke the enemy to the combat, or the traitor to do his part in bringing on that dispensation, which was to save the world; which He wished not to be delayed any longer, but to be as soon as possible matured.

John 13:30 · 3 passages

He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night.

(t. xxxii. 16.) Our Lord then said to Judas, That thou doest, do quickly, and the traitor this once obeyed his Master. For having received the sop, he started immediately on his work: He then having received the sop, went, immediately out. And indeed he did go out, not only from the house in which he was, but from Jesus altogether. It would seem that Satan, after he had entered into Judas, could not bear to be in the same place with Jesus: for there is no agreement between Jesus and Satan. Nor is it idle enquiring why after he had received the sop, it is not added, that he ate it. Why did not Judas cat the bread, after he received it? Perhaps because, as soon as he had received it, the devil, who had put it into his heart to betray Christ, fearful that the bread, if eaten, might drive out what he had put in, entered into him, so that he went out immediately, before he ate it. And it may be serviceable to remark, that as he who eateth our Lord's bread and drinketh His cup unworthily, eateth and drinketh to his own damnation; so the bread which Jesus gave him was eaten by the rest to t…

(t. xxxii. 16.) Our Lord then said to Judas, That thou doest, do quickly, and the traitor this once obeyed his Master. For having received the sop, he started immediately on his work: He then having received the sop, went, immediately out. And indeed he did go out, not only from the house in which he was, but from Jesus altogether. It would seem that Satan, after he had entered into Judas, could not bear to be in the same place with Jesus: for there is no agreement between Jesus and Satan. Nor is it idle enquiring why after he had received the sop, it is not added, that he ate it. Why did not Judas cat the bread, after he received it? Perhaps because, as soon as he had received it, the devil, who had put it into his heart to betray Christ, fearful that the bread, if eaten, might drive out what he had put in, entered into him, so that he went out immediately, before he ate it. And it may be serviceable to remark, that as he who eateth our Lord's bread and drinketh His cup unworthily, eateth and drinketh to his own damnation; so the bread which Jesus gave him was eaten by the rest to their salvation, but by Judas to his damnation, inasmuch as after it the devil entered into him.

(t. xxxii. 16.) The time of night corresponded with the night which overspread the soul of Judas.

“And it was night,” has not been interjected in vain by the Evangelist. The perceptible night at that time was symbolic, being an image of the night that was in Judas’s soul when Satan, the darkness that lies over the abyss, entered him.

The Savior said to Judas, “What you are going to do, do quickly,” and for once the betrayer obeys the teacher. For when he had received the morsel, he neither hesitated nor procrastinated, but as it is written, “he went out immediately” to do quickly the work of betrayal in accordance with Jesus’ command. And “he went out” truly, for he not only went out of the house in which the supper was held, according to the simpler meaning, but he also went out from Jesus in a final sense, analogous to the statement “they went out from us.”

John 13:31 · 4 passages

Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.

But the matters in this passage might be understood even more clearly as follows. Just as the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of some, so, because of the saints whose good works are seen very distinctly before people, the name of the Father who is in heaven is glorified. In whom, then, was it glorified more than in Jesus, since he committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth, nor did he know sin? And since he is such as this, therefore, the Son is glorified, and God is glorified in him. But if God is glorified in him, the Father presents something to him in return that is greater than what the Son of man has done. For the glory of the Son of man, when the Father glorifies him, far exceeds the Father’s glory when he [the Father] is glorified in the Son, since it is only fitting that the greater should return the greater glory.

After the glory of his miracles and his transfiguration, the next glorifying of the Son of man began when Judas went out with Satan, who had entered into him.… Because it is not possible that the Christ is glorified if the Father is not glorified in him, the statement “and God is glorified in him” is added to the words “now is the Son of man glorified.” But the glory that resulted from Jesus’ death for the human race did not belong to the only-begotten Word, which by nature does not die, nor to wisdom and truth, nor to any of the other titles that are said to belong to the divine aspects in Jesus. They belonged to the man who was also the Son of man born of the seed of David according to the flesh. … Now I think God highly exalted this [Son of] man when he became obedient “unto death, even the death of a cross.” For the Word in the beginning with God, God the Word, was not capable of being highly exalted. But the high exaltation of the Son of man that occurred when he glorified God in his own death consisted in the fact that he was no longer different from the Word but was the same w…

After the glory of his miracles and his transfiguration, the next glorifying of the Son of man began when Judas went out with Satan, who had entered into him.… Because it is not possible that the Christ is glorified if the Father is not glorified in him, the statement “and God is glorified in him” is added to the words “now is the Son of man glorified.” But the glory that resulted from Jesus’ death for the human race did not belong to the only-begotten Word, which by nature does not die, nor to wisdom and truth, nor to any of the other titles that are said to belong to the divine aspects in Jesus. They belonged to the man who was also the Son of man born of the seed of David according to the flesh. … Now I think God highly exalted this [Son of] man when he became obedient “unto death, even the death of a cross.” For the Word in the beginning with God, God the Word, was not capable of being highly exalted. But the high exaltation of the Son of man that occurred when he glorified God in his own death consisted in the fact that he was no longer different from the Word but was the same with him … so that the humanity of Jesus became one with the Word when he who “did not consider equality with God as something to be grasped” was highly exalted. The Word, however, remained in his own grandeur or was even restored to it when he was again with God, God the Word being man. But Jesus glorified God in death, and “when he had despoiled the principalities and powers, he exposed them confidently, having triumphed in the cross.” “He also “made peace through the blood of his cross, whether they are things in earth or things in heaven.” … For in all these the Son of man was glorified, and God was glorified in him. Now since he who is glorified is glorified by someone, you will ask who this is.

But there is no comparison between the excellent glory of Christ and the knowledge of Moses whereby the face of his soul was glorified.… For the whole of the Father’s glory shines on the Son, who is the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person. Yes, and from the light of this whole glory there go forth particular glories throughout the whole rational creation, though none can take in the whole of the divine glory except the Son.…But only insofar as the Son was known to the world, so far was he glorified. And as yet he was not fully known. But afterward the Father spread the knowledge of him over the whole world, and then the Son of man was glorified in those who knew him. And of this glory he has made all who know him partakers, as the apostle said, “We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory,” that is, from his glory we receive glory. When he was approaching then that dispensation by which he was to become known to the world and to be glorified in the glory of those who glorified him…

But there is no comparison between the excellent glory of Christ and the knowledge of Moses whereby the face of his soul was glorified.… For the whole of the Father’s glory shines on the Son, who is the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person. Yes, and from the light of this whole glory there go forth particular glories throughout the whole rational creation, though none can take in the whole of the divine glory except the Son.…But only insofar as the Son was known to the world, so far was he glorified. And as yet he was not fully known. But afterward the Father spread the knowledge of him over the whole world, and then the Son of man was glorified in those who knew him. And of this glory he has made all who know him partakers, as the apostle said, “We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory,” that is, from his glory we receive glory. When he was approaching then that dispensation by which he was to become known to the world and to be glorified in the glory of those who glorified him, he says, “Now is the Son of man glorified.” And because “no one knows the Father but the Son, and he to whomever the Son will reveal him,” and the Son by the dispensation was about to reveal the Father, this is why he said, “And God is glorified in him.”

The noun glory is not used with reference to an indifferent entity in the way some of the Greeks take it, where they define glory to be approval by the multitude. It is clear that the noun is used of something over and above this from the following words in Exodus. “And the tabernacle was filled with the glory of the Lord.” … “And when [Moses] descended from the mountain [he] also did not know that the appearance of his facial skin had been glorified while he spoke with him.” …So far as the literal sense is concerned, there was a divine epiphany in the tabernacle and in the temple, which were destroyed, and in the face of Moses when he had conversed with the divine nature. But in a higher and more spiritual sense we are glorified, when with the eye of the understanding we penetrate into the things of God. For the mind, when it ascends above material things and spiritually sees God, is deified. The visible glory on the face of Moses is a figure of this spiritual glory. For it was his mind that was deified by its contemplation of God.

John 13:33

Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.

The statement “Yet a little while I am with you” is clear in the simple sense, so far as the literal sense is concerned, since he would soon no longer be with the disciples. First, he was arrested by the cohort and the tribune and the servants of the Jews who bound him and led him off to Annas first, and after this he was delivered to Pilate. Next, he was condemned to the cross, and then he spent three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.