John 7:43 — Community Reflections

JOHN 7:43 — KING JAMES VERSION 0

“So there was a division among the people because of him.”

So there was a division among the people because of him — the krisis (judgment/division) that Jesus's presence creates is explicit. People are split into factions by their response to him. This fulfills Jesus's function as judge: he does not condemn anyone actively, yet his presence divides those who believe from those who reject him. The division is the natural result of encountering Truth that demands a choice.

Church Fathers on John 7:43

Our Lord having invited those, who believed in Him, to drink of the Holy Spirit, a dissension arose among the multitude: Many of the people therefore, when they heart these saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet.
Augustine · 4th century

The one, that is, who was expected. Others, i.e. the people said, This is the Christ.
Theophylact · 11th century

These had now begun to drink in that spiritual thirst, and had laid aside the unbelieving thirst. But others still remained dried up in their unbelief: But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? Has not the Scripture said, That Christ comes of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was? They knew what were the predictions of the Prophets respecting Christ, but knew not that they all were fulfilled in Him. They knew that He had been brought up…
Alcuin · 8th century

Read all 28 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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