This phenomenon will be associated with the "ascension of Jesus from the earth," by which He will draw everyone to Himself. We also encounter the concept of "ascension". We have seen that it embraces the Ascension in Glory as well, but it is closely related to the Ascension to the Cross. The Evangelist correctly interprets this word about death (v. 33). And the people are perplexed: according to the law, Christ abides forever. Who is this Son of man who is to be lifted up, v. 34? Jesus answers this question by exhorting those who hear Him to walk in the Light for the little time that the Light is still with them (v. 35). "As long as you have Light, believe in the Light, that you may become sons of Light" (36a). And the evangelist adds: "Jesus said this, and went away and hid himself from them" (v. 36b). Jesus' ministry in the light of day came to an end, the night of the Passion, or, in Johannine terminology, the night of the Son's ascent to the Father.

But even earlier, when Jesus spoke of His Ascension from the earth, He said that He would draw everyone to Himself with it. In the context of Jn. drawing to Christ must be understood in the sense of saving faith. But in this case, what does "all" mean? Retreating before the idea of the salvation of each individual person, which frightened them, interpreters in antiquity[67] proposed to understand "all" not in the sense of individuals, but in the sense of collectives. Thus, "all Israel" does not mean all Israelis, but Israel as a collective. That which belongs to a collective may not apply to each individual that is part of this collective. The text, however, says πάντας ("all") without any restriction. According to the letter of the Greek original, it is about the salvation of everyone. This idea can be deflected by interpretation. But with an unbiased reading, it arises in the reader's mind before any other. We have already met in connection with the interpretation of the Lord's conversation with Nicodemus.

XII. 37-43.

Having conveyed the last words of Jesus to the people and told about His departure, the evangelist stops and tries to comprehend what is happening. What is the reason for the unbelief of the people, after all the signs which the Lord had done before their eyes, v. 37? The Evangelist answers from the Scriptures, at first in a general form: "... who believed... To whom has it been revealed?" (v. 38, reference to Isa. LIII. 1 in the translation of the Seventy). The unbelief of the people was foretold by the prophet. The answer to the prophet's question is implied: no one believed, no one was revealed. But the evangelist does not limit himself to this general answer. He quotes another text of Isaiah (VI. 9-10), from which it follows that the people could not believe (v. 40), because "He blinded their eyes, and made their hearts hard, so that they would not see with their eyes, and understand with their hearts, and be converted. And I will heal them." At this point in the book of Isaiah, the Hebrew text does not coincide with the translation of the Seventy. John's reference is closer to the Hebrew text. This closeness is preserved in the Slavonic translation as well. In the previous Russian translations, the redaction of the Seventy is reproduced. This reproduction was dictated by apologetic considerations: "This people have blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts..." No, not "this people", but "He". This "He" is God. In the prophetic quotation, as it is given in John, the subject of blindness is God. If God blinded, surely the people could not believe. This terrible thought of God as the subject of blindness seemed intolerable and was the cause of corrections, which, however, must be rejected as distortions. In the new Russian translation, as follows from the comparison of quotations, the apostolic original has been restored. What caused God to blind the eyes of the people, the evangelist does not say. He confronts us with the inscrutable mystery of God's providence. And yet the quotation ends: κα'ι ίάσομαι αυτούς. In the best lists there is the future tense[68]. Blindness is thought of as temporary. Christ healed the blinded. And one more thing. It has been said above that the immediate understanding of "I will draw all men unto me" (v. 32) is the universal fullness of salvation. There is no instruction in the Gospel that requires an understanding of "all" in a restrictive sense. If we were to understand πάντας ("all") literally, we would have the right to assert that in the ways of Divine providence, the falling away of Israel was necessary, but that this falling away is temporary, and that Christ will draw to Himself those who have fallen away. This will also be the healing by Christ with which the prophetic quotation ends.

It is possible that the evangelist was thinking about something else. The quotation from the sixth chapter of the book of the prophet Isaiah, which he quotes, belongs to those Old Testament texts that are most often cited by the sacred writers of the New Testament. In Acts. XXVIII the Apostle Paul explains by it the falling away of the Jews and the salvation of the Gentiles (cf. vv. 25-29). Did not the Evangelist John also think about this? And do not the Greeks who have flashed on the pages of the Gospel in some way show the conversion of the pagans? Of course, we cannot say anything more, but the question arises.

The comprehension of what is happening ends with a correction introduced by the evangelist. Having explained the unbelief of the people, the evangelist must admit that many of the rulers also believed in Jesus, but did not profess their faith, fearing excommunication from the synagogue, "for they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God" (cf. vv. 42-43).

Here is quite unexpectedly quoted another speech of Jesus (vv. 44-50). The Evangelist does not explain where, when, or to whom it was told. It contains almost no new thoughts in comparison with the earlier speeches. Parallels from Jesus' earlier speeches can be drawn to almost every verse. The theocentric nature of the teaching is very strongly emphasized. The work of Jesus is the revelation of Him who sent Him (cf. vv. 44, 45, 49). And the last word of this speech: "... what I say, as the Father has told me, so I say" (v. 50).

Interpreters usually understand this speech as a summary of Jesus' earlier speeches. Jesus' ministry in the light of day is over. The Evangelist proceeds to narrate the Passion in the proper sense of the word, and the transition fixes in the reader's mind the essential content of His teaching when He was in the world and the light of the world.

Chapters XIII-XVII

Hl. XIII—XVII.

The night of the Son's ascent to the Father begins with a long passage of chapters XIII-XVII, which is both externally and internally one whole. It opens with the narration of the washing of the feet, the interpretation with which the Lord accompanies it, and the indication of the betrayer (XIII. 1-30). In the construction of chapters XIII-XVII, this narrative part has the meaning of a symbolic act, from which the subsequent teaching departs, beginning with XIII. 31 and embracing chapters XIV-XVII, of which the passage XIII. 31-XVI. 33 contains the Lord's Farewell Discourse with the disciples, and Chapter XVII contains the High Priestly Prayer inwardly and externally connected with it. This construction is quite similar to that which we observed in Chapters V and VI, where in both cases the passage begins with a narrative episode that has the meaning of a symbolic starting point for the subsequent teaching. However, the teaching is not limited to the simple disclosure of the symbol, it deepens it and raises the reader to such dogmatic heights that the symbol allowed to foresee only partially.

XIII. 1-3.

The account of the washing of the feet was introduced by vv. 1-3, which, being closely related to the washing, can also be understood as a general title to the entire passage of Jn. XIII-XVII. First of all, the reference to the Feast of Pascha deserves our attention. In XI. 55 the nearness of Pascha is noted. In XII. 1. The Bethany anointing is introduced by a chronological indication: "... six days before Easter." In XIII. 1 it is simply: "... before the Feast of Easter." Easter was coming. The "hour" of Jesus has also come. But here the "hour" of Jesus is defined as the hour of His transition from this world to the Father. In the world there is the devil, who buried in the heart of Judas the intention to betray Jesus. There are also students in the world. And "Jesus, having loved His own who are in the world, loved them to the end." The closest expression of this love is the washing of the feet. But the symbolic act of washing the feet introduces the subsequent teaching, and with it the whole narrative of the Passion. It is all placed under the sign of the Lord's love for the disciples. But Jesus knew not only that the hour of His transition from this world to the Father had come. He also knew that "the Father had given Him all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God." He thinks of Jesus' transition to the Father as His return. But if the Father has given everything into His hands, then this "all" applies first of all to the disciples (cf. XVIII. 6, 9), and His ascent is also the raising up of the disciples.

XIII. 4-11.