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JOHN 12:49 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
John 12:48John 12:50
For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken — Jesus grounds His teaching authority in the Father's command: He speaks not from His own initiative but in obedience to the Father's instruction. This establishes the source and authority of His words, preventing any diminishment of His teaching as merely human opinion.

Church Fathers on John 12:49

Because the love of human praise prevented the chief rulers from believing, Jesus cried and said, He that believes in Me, believes not on Me, but on Him that sent Me: as if to say, Why are you afraid to believe in Me? Your faith through Me passes to God.

Chrysostom · 4th century

He signifies to them that He is more than He appears to be, (for to men He appeared but a man; His Godhead was hid.) Such as the Father is, such am I in nature and in dignity; He that believes in Me, believes not in Me, i.e. on that which He sees, but in Him that sent Me, i.e. on the Father. [He that believes in the Father must believe in Him as the Father, i.e. must believe that He has a Son; and reversibly, he who believes in the Son thereby believes in the Father.] And…

Augustine · 4th century

Since the Son is the Word of the Father, and reveals completely what is in the mind of the Father, He says He receives a commandment what He should say, and what He should speak: just as our word, if we say what we think, brings out what is in our minds.

Theophylact · 11th century
Read all 14 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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John 12:49 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy