John 12:30Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

He said this so that, even in this way, He might lead them to ask what had been said. But they were struck silent and did not ask, even when they heard that it referred to them.

For one who did not know to whom the saying referred, the voice could naturally seem unintelligible.

“This voice was for the people.” Do you see that everything lowly occurs for their sake, and not because the Son needed help?

Therefore, “for your sake,” He says, “the voice came,” so that you might receive Me as the Son of God, whom the Father acknowledges as His Son by nature.

The Lord says specifically that “a voice came,” but He does not add that it was the Father’s voice, or how it came, for this is superfluous.

Nevertheless, He turns it into a testimony that even after hearing a voice as if from heaven, they still remained in their impiety.

He will conquer the evil that reigns in the world. Together with the author of evil, the devil, He will cast it out of the world.

After the victory over the ruler of evil is accomplished, the drawing of all his former subjects, Jews and Gentiles, to Christ, the Author of good, will begin.

This will take place precisely after the Son of Man is lifted up from the earth, first of all on the Cross, and through this also into heaven.

They thought of the Messiah as a conquering king. Therefore they could in no way recognize the promised Deliverer in the meek and poor Jesus, who in addition spoke of His own death.

In order to believe in Jesus as the Messiah, the people needed a sign from heaven, the very thing the Pharisees had earlier sought so persistently.

And behold, the sign was given.

This does not mean, however, that in His disturbance of soul the Lord Himself had no need of strengthening from above in these important moments.

It means only that He Himself could receive help and support in another manner. The voice was properly for the people, to overcome their unbelief and strengthen faith. Cf. Jn 11:42.

He did not need such an extraordinary proof that His prayer had been heard. Cf. Chrysostom and Theophylact.

But this heavenly testimony was needed for the people, so that they might understand, if they could, the greatest significance of the present hour.

It was decisive in its importance for the world in general, verse 31 and following, and especially for Israel, verse 35 and following.

For the world this hour is the time of the deepest spiritual upheaval. It is the hour of judgment upon it, 31-1.

It is the hour of the overthrow of its former ruler, 31-2. Finally, it is the hour of the enthronement over it of a new King in place of the one overthrown, 32.

Such is the significance of this hour and this voice for the people.

“Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to Myself” (vv. 31-32).

By “being lifted up from the earth” the Lord here means His sufferings on the Cross and His death, by which He will conquer the devil, the ruler of this world, and begin His glorification.

For after death will follow the glorious Resurrection. Then those persisting in their unbelief in Christ will be openly condemned.

Those who believe will be strengthened still more in their faith, because they will be freed from the power of the devil and his temptations.

For the third time a voice from heaven, from the Heavenly Father, resounds over the Son of Man. The first time it was heard at the baptism in the Jordan, Mt 3:17; Mk 1:11; Lk 3:22.

The second time was on Tabor, Mt 17:5; 2 Pet 1:17-18; Lk 9:35. The third time is now.

At the beginning, middle, and end of Christ’s ministry, the Heavenly Father bears witness to the significance of the Son.

Frivolity may say that “unclear thought mistook the thunder that struck the senses for the voice of God” (De Bette, Stud. und Krit. 1834, 4, 939).

On the contrary, the historian and eyewitness firmly says that this was a voice from heaven, articulate and clear.

He also states what the opinions of spiritually undeveloped people about this matter were: “The people standing by, who heard it, said that it had thundered. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to Him.’”

The latter opinion deserves special notice, though De Bette entirely overlooks it. Even among the people there were some who distinguished articulate signs, words, in the heavenly voice.

They therefore did not regard it as mute thunder or a dull rumble.

If the other apostles, besides John, had not understood the voice along with the people, the exact historian would have said so. He is not ashamed to display the apostles’ lack of understanding where it occurred.

Therefore it must be accepted as certain that not John alone, but all the apostles, heard and understood the heavenly voice as John transmits it.

Finally, one must not forget that the Apostles Peter and Paul heard a voice from heaven, articulate signs (Acts 9:7; Acts 22:7, 10; Acts 13:15). Later many saints also heard such voices, for example St. Polycarp (Ep. de mart. Polycarpi § 9).

“I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The Heavenly Father embraces His whole relation to the Son, in its past and future.

He does not point to some particular manifestation of His will to the Son. Rather, embracing the whole course of events concerning sinful humanity, taken under the protection of the Son of God, He speaks.

He says that the Father’s good pleasure always rests upon the work of the Son, the Redeemer.

“This voice was not for My sake, but for the sake of the people.” At the Jordan the voice from heaven was heard by the Baptist. On Tabor it was heard by the three apostles.

Now it resounds in the hearing of the people, to warn the simple-hearted against participation in the fearful crime being prepared. It also instructs those among the people who, if not now, then later, would attend to the significance of Christ Jesus.

At that moment the Lord stood surrounded by a crowd, among whom were also Gentiles who had come to Jerusalem to worship. It pleased the Lord that a sign from heaven should confirm in hearts capable of faith the conviction of His divinity as the God-man.

"The Word was always glorified before all ages, but He became flesh in order to sanctify and deify men, and in Himself to glorify the flesh," says Saint Athanasius the Great.

Therefore the voice from heaven bore witness that faith in the Lord Jesus, who stood before the people in the form of a man, is truly faith in God, revealed to men in the second Hypostasis.

This voice was heard by all, but not understood by all. The understanding of it, like every utterance of God, depends on how ready the human heart is to receive the word of God.

The people in general are said to have heard. The sounds reached them, but not all understood the sign. Some said that it was thunder. Others, better prepared, said that it was the voice of an angel.

Probably only the Lord's disciples clearly understood the words of God. Yet even they fully understood their meaning only after the Lord's Resurrection and glorification.

All the people had to understand one thing: a solemn manifestation of God's will had taken place. It had taken place in answer to the prayer of Him who had called the dead Lazarus from the tomb.

This was the One whom the people had recently greeted as their king on the descent from the Mount of Olives. Above, in verse 24, the Lord had pointed to His suffering death.

The voice from heaven points to the glorification of God in His Son, who assumed flesh. Yet in the Lord's voluntary death itself, and in the Resurrection that followed it, the highest glorification of the God-man is revealed.

He is God Almighty, suffering together with all mankind in the most terrible sufferings that can befall man on earth. The disciples had to learn this.

On the one hand, the voice from heaven had to save them from despair when they would see the Lord dying on the cross. In the future, it had to illumine for them the whole plan of divine wisdom.

It had to show how the salvation of men was prepared and fulfilled. After the Lord's Resurrection, they were entrusted with preaching this salvation to the whole world.

For the people of Jerusalem, the voice from heaven had another meaning also. It was a witness against the people. All heard the sign, and all knew that this sign came in answer to the prayer of the Lord Jesus.

Yet a few days later, at the instigation of the Pharisees, this people cried: "Crucify Him, crucify Him!" "This voice came for the sake of the people."

After this, the Lord continues to reveal the mysteries accomplished by His coming and says: Jn 12:31. "Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out."