Verses 25-26. For some of the people of Jerusalem said, "Is not this one, whom they seek to kill?" And behold, he speaks without hesitation, and they speak nothing to him,3 because he has silenced them.

Verse 26... How did the princes make up their minds, for this is the Christ?4 There were also rulers among the people at that time.

Verse 27. But when Christ comes, no one knows whence it will come.5 But your rulers, in answer to Herod's question, "Where will Christ be born?" said, "In Bethlehem of Judea" (Matt. 2:5), and even cited a prophecy pointing to this; how then do you talk, saying that when Christ comes, no one knows where he will come from? Moreover, if you know this, whence He comes, how then do some say that they do not know from whence He is (John 9:29)? This is not understood by malice, which contradicts itself and is obviously false, since it is a kind of intoxication of the soul. If someone had understood the word not about place and fatherland, but about family and father, he could say that they said: we know his family and father, i.e. Joseph, as we thought; but the lineage of Jesus Christ and His Father no one knows, because it is not subject to knowledge.

Verse 28. For Jesus cried out in the church, and said, "And I am tidings, and tidings, whence I am... 6 He cried out to shame them, as having acted with evil intention, and to reveal all that they had spoken among themselves in secret. He says, "And I know that I am God, and I know from whence I am, namely, from God the Father," although you pretend to say that you know that I am from Joseph. And they knew Jesus Christ, as He Himself said, from the testimony of John, "And this is to bear witness of Me" (John 5:32), from His works, of which He said, "That works which I do bear witness of Me" (v. 36), and from the Scriptures, of which He likewise said, "And this is she that beareth witness of Me" (v. 39). But why did Jesus Christ say in the eleventh chapter (v. 27) of the Gospel of Matthew: "No man knoweth the Son but the Father?" Because it was He who spoke about the nature of His Godhead, or simply about knowing that He is God and the Son of God.

Verse 28... And I did not come about Myself... 7 And this, he says, you know; this is what the above testimonies teach you, and especially that I seek not My own glory, but the glory of Him who sent Me (John 7:18).

Verse 28... But true is He who sent Me... 1 The Father and God, who sent me, as he promised through the prophets; and if the Sender is true, then surely the Sent One is also true, being of one and the same nature.

Verse 28... Him ye do not know.2 because ye have denied him by your works; and the Apostle says: "Those who know God will confess God, but His works will be rejected (Titus 1:16).3

Verse 29. I know Him, for I am of Him...,4 for I am born of Him; and above He said: "For there is no one who has seen the Father, but He who is of God" (John 6:46).

Verse 29... And to Him I was the ambassador.5 Jesus Christ constantly speaks of His mission, wishing to convince them that He was sent by God, that He does not resist God, as we said above; and also having in mind His God-worthy words that seduce them, which He often mixed with those in which He spoke of Himself as a man.

Verse 30. For they may have Him...,6 for they were smitten when they heard, "Whom ye do not know."

Verse 30... And no one laid hands on Nan...,7 since they were invisibly held by His inherent Divine power.

Verse 30... For His hour has not come... 8 To be taken and suffered.

Verse 31. And many of the people believed in Him... 9 because of the signs that have gone before, and because of the speeches that have just been spoken.

Verse 31... And say, "When Christ comes, when He comes, He will make food of greater importance, as He does?"10 Though they believed, their faith was not sound. By saying, "When Christ comes," they showed that they did not firmly believe that He was the Christ, but with doubt, as a simple and frivolous people. Or they said supposedly: let us suppose that another Christ will come later, as the leaders of the people say; but when the Christ of whom they speak comes, will He be stronger? No.