Translated by Qwen.
Noel Alexandre's Commentary on John 13:21-38
Literal Commentary
Jn 13:21-22: When Jesus had said these things, He was troubled in spirit, was moved of His own accord, both by consideration of the danger and by horror at the crime of Judas; and He testified openly, declaring what He had previously said more obscurely: that He would be betrayed by one of the disciples reclining at table with Him. "Amen, amen, I say to you, that one of you will betray Me." Therefore the disciples looked at one another, hesitating about whom He spoke. Struck by the scarcely credible atrocity of the matter, they observed whether they could gather any indication from his countenance, as one conscious of guilt.
Jn 13:23-24 (Hebraic style): Now there was reclining one of His disciples on Jesus' bosom, whom Jesus loved more intimately than the others. With this modest circumlocution, John designates himself. Therefore Simon Peter motioned to him and said to him, "Who is it about whom He speaks?" He asked him by signs to question Jesus as to who the traitor might be—first, so that the innocent might be freed from suspicion; second, so that they might beware of the wicked man; third, so that they might hinder his attempt with all their strength.
For the understanding of this passage, it must be observed that the manner of reclining at table among the Jews and Romans was as follows [citing Lipsius, Lightfoot]: they lay reclined with the upper part of their body resting on the left elbow, the lower part extended at length, and the head lying slightly raised, the back moderately supported by cushions. Moreover, the first reclined at the head of the couch, whose feet extended alongside the back of the second. Therefore, when Christ and the disciples were reclining, Peter reclined behind Christ, and John at John's bosom—John on Jesus' bosom, and Jesus on Peter's bosom. Therefore Christ could not readily hold conversation with Peter by whispering in his ear. Therefore Peter, looking back over Christ's head toward John, rouses him by a nod to ask about the matter.
Jn 13:26-30: Jesus answered in a subdued voice, so that the others might not hear: "He it is to whom I, having dipped the bread, shall offer it." And when He had dipped the bread—or a piece of bread—into the broth, He gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. And after the morsel, when he had eaten that piece of dipped bread received from Jesus, Satan entered into him, so that He might more fully possess him as one already delivered over, into whom He had previously entered to deceive. For previously He had entered by implanting in his heart the thought of betraying Christ—for such a one had already come to dine. But now, after the bread, He entered into him not to tempt one still alien, but to possess one already His own.
And Jesus said to him: "What you do, do quickly." [Citing Augustine, Leo] "Do what you have decreed to do; I do not hinder you; I am prepared to suffer." Concerning these words, says St. Leo: "This is the voice not of one commanding, but of one permitting; not of one trembling, but of one prepared—who, having power over all times, shows that He neither delays the betrayer, and thus carries out the Father's will for the redemption of the world, so that the crime which was being prepared by His persecutors He neither impels nor fears."
St. Cyril's explanation agrees less with the letter, who asserts that these words, "What you do, do quickly," pertain not to Judas himself but to the devil, at whose instigation he was meditating the crime of betrayal.
Now none of those reclining at table knew why He said this to him. None of the Apostles reclining with Jesus then understood the force of those words, "What you do, do quickly." Whether John himself then understood is uncertain [citing Joan. Pall., Dom. 7]. Compare with: "For some thought, because Judas had the money bag"—as steward of the Lord's household—"that Jesus had said to him: 'Buy those things which we need for the feast day to be celebrated tomorrow'—namely, Friday, the 15th of the first month—or that He had given him instructions to give something to the poor."
Therefore, when he had received that dipped morsel from Jesus—not the Eucharist, of which before he had been a participant with the Apostles—he went out immediately, the devil impelling him [citing Augustine] to complete the crime in deed. Now it was night—that is, the beginning of night. For the discourses of John which follow were prolonged far into the night.
Jn 13:31-32: Therefore, when Judas had gone out, Jesus said: "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him. Now I am to be glorified by passion, death, and resurrection; and God will be glorified in Me, inasmuch as it will become known to the world that I am not only the Son of Man" [citing Augustine] "but also the only-begotten Son of God." "If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself" [John 7:14] "and will glorify Him immediately by His resurrection." That is, if God is glorified through Him as He humbles Himself and does the Father's will in all things, the Father will also glorify Him by granting immortality and glory to His body, and by making His name famous and venerable above every name; moreover, He will grant this immediately, His resurrection being hastened.
Jn 13:33: "Little children, yet a little while I am with you" in sensible presence in mortal flesh. "You will seek Me"; you will long for My presence; "and as I said to the Jews, 'Where I am going, you cannot come,' so now I say to you: not that you can come with Me now into heaven to be partakers of My glory; but you will come afterward, each in his own time, to which the Jews, stubborn in unbelief, will never come. Hence to the Jews He said, 'You will seek Me and you will not find Me'; but to the disciples, saying 'You will seek Me,' He did not add the terrible words 'you will not find Me.' And by this name 'little children' He signifies both His paternal and tender love toward them, and that beatitude which is enlarged for them alone, and which is utterly denied to the unbelieving Jews.
Jn 13:36-38: Simon Peter said to Him: "Lord, where are You going?"—that is, "What journey are You undertaking, on which You say we cannot follow You?" Jesus answered: "Where I am going—to the cross, to death, and thus to glory—you cannot follow Me now; you do not yet have sufficient strength to undergo death for Me; but you will follow afterward. When you have been clothed with virtue from on high, strengthened by the Holy Spirit, you will be able to suffer all adversities for My name, and finally death on the cross, when you have fulfilled the ministry committed to you by Me in the founding and governance of the Church."
Peter said to Him: "Lord, why cannot I follow You now? What hinders me? Do you think I am frightened by the hardship of the journey or by any dangers? I will lay down my life"—even, if need be, "I will expose myself to the risk of death for Your sake."
Jesus answered him: "Will you lay down your life for Me? Is that so? Do you profess yourself ready to undergo death for Me? Amen, amen, I say to you: the rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times. I, who know you better than you know yourself, most certainly foretell to you what will come to pass: that you will deny three times that you are My disciple before the rooster completes his crowing—that is, before the sound of the cockcrow has passed."
Moral Commentary
Jn 13:21: When Jesus had said these things, He was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said: "Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray Me." How immense is Judas's crime, how horrendous the betrayal, nothing shows more clearly than the disturbance of Christ Jesus. So heinous is the crime of those who communicate unworthily, so execrable [is the conduct] of those priests and pastors who sacrifice the truth and the good of souls' salvation to their own advantage, that at the consideration of such betrayal, the soul of Christ Jesus—if He were still in mortal flesh and subject to those affections which He willed to assume and endure for us—would be disturbed.
Perhaps also the Lord deigned to signify by His disturbance [citing Augustine, Tract. 60 on John] that false brethren and the tares of the Lord's field must necessarily be tolerated among the wheat until the time of harvest, so that when some of them must be separated even before, for urgent cause, it cannot be done without disturbance to the Church. Foretelling in a certain way this disturbance of His saints that would come through schismatics and heretics, the Lord prefigured it in Himself when, with Judas—a wicked man—about to depart, and with the separation of the wheat in which he had long been tolerated now made utterly manifest, He was troubled not in flesh but in spirit. For His spiritual ones are troubled in scandals of this kind not by perversity but by charity, lest perhaps in the separation of certain tares the wheat be rooted up together with them [citing Augustine, Tract. 61 on John].
"One of you will betray Me." One of you in number, not in merit; in outward appearance, not in virtue; by bodily association, not by spiritual bond; by attachment of flesh, not by union of heart; consequently, not one who is from you, but one who is about to go out from you. Hence St. John writes in his epistle [1 John 2:19]: "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would certainly have remained with us." Therefore Judas was not of them; for he would have remained with them if he had been of them. Yet both are true: both "of us" and "not of us"—according to one respect, "of us"; according to another, "not of us": according to communion in the sacraments, "of us"; according to the character of his own crimes, "not of us."
Jn 13:23-25: "Now there was reclining one of His disciples on Jesus' bosom, whom Jesus loved," etc. Virgin chastity opened for St. John entry into Jesus' bosom, from which he drew both the secrets of his Gospel and the most ardent love toward Jesus Christ. Moreover, chastity and modesty are joined by a close bond. No wonder, then, that St. John, restrained by holy shame from all hope of boasting, keeps silent his own name when he commemorates his Master's favors. He wishes to be known from no other source than the singular goodness of Christ Jesus toward him; nor does he enumerate His other gifts, but love alone, which is the fountain and origin of all other gifts. "The disciple whom Jesus loved"—therefore he reclines in Jesus' bosom, on the throne of His love. Let us imitate John's chastity, modesty, and charity, and each one of us will be a beloved disciple of Jesus. May worthy Communion bring it about that Jesus reclines in our bosom and we in Jesus' bosom, that He may remain in us and we in Him.
"Therefore Simon Peter motioned to him and said to him, 'Who is it about whom He speaks?'" Charity and the authority of the Church concur together that the crimes of wicked ministers be exposed, and by united efforts they prevent harm to the salvation of souls. Therefore, when he had reclined upon Jesus' breast [citing Augustine], he said to Him: "Lord, who is it?" This is the bosom of the breast, the secret of wisdom. In this bosom, those who recline through chastity and charity are illumined by heavenly light, and the Spirit teaches them concerning all things necessary for salvation; indeed, even concerning the governance of the Church and the direction of souls, if they are superiors or established in sacred ministry.
Jesus answered: "He it is to whom I, having dipped the bread, shall offer it," etc. The gifts of God, when received by hypocrites, are followed by the devil's entrance into their hearts. If it is so deadly to receive a morsel of bread from Christ with a feigned soul, how much more deadly to receive His Body and Blood in sacrilegious Communion! Sacrilegious Communion—of which the dipped bread offered by Christ to Judas was a figure—sometimes consummates the sinner's obduracy. "And after the morsel, Satan entered into him." The Apostle wrote [1 Cor. 11:27]: "Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord." And the discourse concerned those who received the Lord's Body like any other food, indiscriminately and negligently. Therefore, if he who does not discern—that is, does not distinguish the Lord's Body from ordinary foods—is rebuked, how is he condemned who approaches His Table pretending to be a friend while being an enemy? If negligence in one who dines is touched by rebuke, with what punishment is the betrayer of the Inviter struck? Moreover, what was the bread given to the traitor except a demonstration of grace toward which he had been ungrateful? [citing Augustine, Tract. 62]
And Jesus said to him: "What you do, do quickly." He did not command the crime but foretold it; to Judas, evil; to us, good. For what is worse for Judas, and what better for us, than that Christ was betrayed by him, against him, for us, apart from him? "What you do, do quickly." O word of One more willing and prepared than angry! O word signifying not so much the punishment of the traitor as the reward of the Redeemer! He said this not so much by raging for the destruction of the faithless one as by hastening for the salvation of the faithful, because He was delivered up for our offenses, and He loved the Church and delivered Himself up for her [citing Eph. 5:25]. And the Apostle says concerning Himself [Gal. 2:20]: "Who loved me and delivered Himself up for me." Unless Christ delivered Himself up, no one would deliver up Christ. What does Judas have except sin? For in betraying Christ he did not consider our salvation, for which Christ was delivered up, but he considered monetary gain and found the loss of his soul—the reward which he wished, but which was given to one unwilling; which he merited. Judas delivered up Christ; Christ delivered up Himself. The one was conducting the business of his own selling; the other, of our redemption. "What you do, do quickly"—not because you can, but because He wills it who can do all things [citing Augustine, ibid., n. 4].
Jn 13:31-32: Therefore, when he had gone out, Jesus said: "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him." Our Lord Jesus Christ established His glory in humiliations, reproaches, passion, in obedience unto death, because all these things are referred to the Father. Let the Christian learn from this to place all his honor in the worship of God and in the faithful observance of His commandments; let him learn to glory in nothing except in the Cross of the Lord Jesus, through which the world is crucified to him and he to the world. Let no one fail to approach generously and bravely, according to the duty of his state, to procure God's glory; for thus he himself will attain eternal glory. For divine goodness willed that our happiness be joined with His glory. "If He is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself."
Jn 13:36-38: Simon Peter said to Him: "Lord, where are You going?" Jesus answered him: "Where I am going, you cannot follow Me now, but you will follow afterward." Why do you hurry, Peter? The Rock has not yet strengthened you with His Spirit. Do not exalt yourself by presuming: "You cannot now." Do not cast yourself down by despairing: "You will follow afterward." When each one of us perceives that he cannot work supernatural good, let him flee to God and pray with the groaning of his will that he may obtain the gift of ability [citing Augustine]. Although we are conscious of our weakness, trusting in the Lord let us say: "I can do all things in Him who strengthens me" [Phil. 4:13]; but let us not trust in ourselves, lest we presume concerning our own strength.
Peter said to Him: "Lord, why cannot I follow You now? I will lay down my life for You." The sick man was boasting of his will, but the Physician was observing his condition. The one was promising; the other, foreseeing. The one who did not know was daring; the one who foreknew was teaching. How much Peter assumed for himself by looking at what he willed, while ignoring what he could!
Jesus answered him: "Will you lay down your life for Me? Amen, amen, I say to you: the rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times." Will you indeed do for Me what I have not yet done for you? Can you go before One whom you cannot follow? Why do you presume so greatly? What do you think of yourself? What do you believe yourself to be? "Amen, amen, I say to you: the rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times." Behold how quickly you will appear to yourself as you are—you who speak great things and do not know yourself as little! You who promise Me your death will three times deny your life! You who already think yourself able to die for Me—first live for yourself! For by fearing the death of your flesh, you will give death to your soul. For as great a life as it is to confess Christ, so great a death is it to deny Christ. "The rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times."
Therefore in Peter's soul there preceded in spirit what he would offer in body. Yet he did not precede for the Lord as he rashly presumed, but otherwise than he thought. For before the Lord's death and resurrection, he both died by denying and came back to life by weeping; but he died because he proudly presumed, and he came back to life because He [Christ] looked upon him with kindness.
Worthy of observation is St. John Chrysostom's Commentary, attributing Peter's fall equally to divine grace abandoned and to his presumption: "What do you say, Peter? To Him who says 'You cannot,' you say 'I can'? By experience you will learn that your love is nothing without divine grace." Whence it is evident that Jesus permitted this fall for Peter's own benefit. For when Peter, with a certain fervor, did not stand by his assertion, Jesus did not indeed impel him to deny, but left him deserted so that he might understand his own weakness.
CONTINUE
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