Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aguinas
16. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord: neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.
17. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.
18. I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.
19. Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he.
20. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxi. 2) He continues to urge them to wash one another’s feet; Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord, neither He that is sent greater than He that sent Him; as if to say, If I do it, much more ought you.
THEOPHYLACT. This was a necessary admonition to the Apostles, some of whom were about to rise higher, others to lower degrees of eminence. That none might exult over another, He changes the hearts of all.
BEDE. To know what is good, and not to do it, tendeth not to happiness, but to condemnation; as James saith, To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin (James 4:17). Wherefore He adds, If ye know these things, happy are ye if yo do them.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. Lxxi. 2) For all know, but all do not do. He then rebukes the traitor, not openly, but covertly: I speak not of you all.
AUGUSTINE. (Tr. lix. 1) As if to say, There is one among you who will not be blessed, nor doeth these things. I know whom I have chosen. Whom, but those who shall be happy by doing His commandments? Judas therefore was not chosen. But if so, why does He say in another place, Have not I chosen you twelve? Because Judas was chosen for that for which he was necessary, but not for that happiness of which He says, Happy are ye, if ye do them.
ORIGEN. (t. xxxii. 8.) Or thus: I speak not of you all, does not refer to, Happy are ye if ye do them. For of Judas, or any other person, it may be said, Happy is he if he do them. The words refer to the sentence above, The servant is not greater than his lord, neither He that is sent greater than He that sent Him. For Judas, being a servant of sin, was not a servant of the Divine Word; nor an Apostle, when the devil had entered into him. Our Lord knew those who were His, and did not know who were not His, and therefore says, not, I know all present, but, I know whom I have chosen, i. e. I know My Elect.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxi. 1) Then, that He might not sadden them all, He adds, But that the Scripture must be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with Me, hath lifted up his heel against Me: shewing that He knew who the traitor was, an intimation that would surely have checked him, if any thing would. He does not say, shall betray Me, but, shall lift up his heel against Me, alluding to his deceit and secret plotting.
AUGUSTINE. (Tr. lix. 1) Shall lift up his heel against Me, i. e. shall tread upon Me. The traitor Judas is meant.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxxi. 2) He that eateth bread with Me; i. e. who was fed by Me, who partook of My table. So that if injured ever by our servants or inferiors, we need not be offended. Judas had received infinite benefits, and yet thus requited his Benefactor.
AUGUSTINE. (Tr. lix. 1) They then who were chosen ate the Lord; he ate the bread of the Lord, to injure the Lord; they ate life, he damnation; for he that eateth unworthily, eateth damnation to himself. (1 Cor. 11:27)
Now I tell you before it come, that when it is come, ye may believe that I am He, i. e. of whom that Scripture foretold.
ORIGEN. (t. xxxii. 9.) That ye may believe, is not said, as if the Apostles did not believe already, but is equivalent to saying, Do as ye believe, and persevere in your belief, seeking for no occasion of falling away. For besides the evidences the disciples had already seen, they had now that of the fulfilment of prophecy.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. Lxxii. 3) As the disciples were about to go forth and to suffer many things, He consoles them by promising His own assistance and that of others; His own, when He says, Happy are ye if ye do them; that of others, in what follows, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send, receiveth Me; and he that receiveth Me receiveth Him that sent Me.
ORIGEN. (t. xxxii. 10.) For he that receiveth him whom Jesus sends, receiveth Jesus who is represented by him; and he that receiveth Jesus, receiveth the Father. Therefore he that receiveth whom Jesus sends, receiveth the Father that sent. The words may have this meaning too: He that receiveth whom I send, had attained unto receiving Me: he who receiveth Me not by means of any Apostle, but by My own entrance into his soul, receiveth the Father; so that not only I abide in him, but the Father also.
AUGUSTINE. (Tr. xlix. 2) The Arians, when they hear this passage, appeal immediately to the gradations in their system, that as far as the Apostle is from the Lord, so far is the Son from the Father. But our Lord hath left us no room for doubt on this head; for He saith, I and My Father are one. (supr. 10:30) But how shall we understand those words of our Lord, He that receiveth Me, receiveth Him that sent Me? If we take them to mean that the Father and the Son are of one nature, it will seem to follow, when He says, He that receiveth whomsoever I send, receiveth Me, that the Son and an Apostle are of one nature. May not the meaning be, He that receiveth whosoever I send, receiveth Me, i. e. Me as man: But He that receiveth Me, i. e. as God, receiveth Him that sent Me. But it is not this unity of nature, which is here put forth, but the authority of the Sender, as represented by Him who is sent. In Peter hear Christ, the Master of the disciple, in the Son the Father, the Begotten of the Only Begotten.
Catena Aurea John 13