John 12:48Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Then, lest they become more negligent on learning that the believer receives salvation while the unbeliever is not punished, see how He sets the dread judgment before them.

He adds these words: "He who rejects Me and does not receive My words has one who judges him" (v. 48).

But if the Father judges no one, and You did not come to judge the world, who will judge him? "The word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day" (v. 48).

Since they said that He was not from God, He spoke in this way. He showed that then they would have no possibility of saying this.

The words that I now have spoken will stand in the place of an accuser. They will convict them and take away every excuse.

I judge no one, but the unbeliever has a judge for himself. This is also our custom. When we wish to punish an unruly child, we often say that we are not punishing him, but his carelessness and disorderliness are. We do not condemn him, but our admonitions, to which he did not submit, accuse him as disobedient. So also the Lord says: I do not judge, but the word that I have spoken will judge. For why did they not believe? Was it because I am opposed to God and seek glory for Myself?

Thus, He says, those who do not obey Him and do not receive saving faith will be self-condemned. He who came for illumination came not to judge, but to save.

Therefore let the disobedient man, who subjects himself to the greatest evils, blame himself. He is justly punished. I am not at fault in this, for I desired to save those who would come under judgment, and for this I came.

For one who establishes a law that punishes the disobedient does not establish it in order to punish transgressors. He does so that they may hear it, keep it, and be saved.

Therefore I, having come to save, set before you faith, and not contempt for My words. The present time is a time of salvation, not of judgment.

For on the day of judgment, the word that called you to salvation will bring punishment upon you for disobedience. And what was this word that I spoke?

While they waited to learn who this Judge was, He added, "The word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day." He clearly says that He Himself will judge on the last day.

He Himself speaks, He Himself proclaims, He Himself makes Himself the door through which He Himself enters as Shepherd of His sheep (Jn 10:2).

Those who did not hear will be judged in one way. Those who heard and rejected will be judged in another.

But look at what He said about that future last judgment: "He who rejects Me and does not receive My words has a judge for himself. The word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day."

He does not say, "He who rejects Me and does not receive My words, I will not judge him on the last day."

"If anyone hears My words and does not keep them, I do not judge him." Why then did He say, "The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son" (Jn 5:22)?

Since He is the Physician of men, He says, "I did not come into this world to judge the world, but to save the world."

And to show that all judgment belongs to Him, He teaches thus: "He who does not receive My words, the word that I have spoken will judge him" (Jn 12:48).

According to the sense of the following argument, instead of "I do not know him," one should read here, "I do not judge him." In Armenian, in which this commentary of Saint Ephrem has been preserved, the two words are very similar.

How are we, in accordance with piety, to understand the Gospel words, "The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son"? And why does the Lord say elsewhere, "I judge no one" (Jn 8:15), yet "the word that I have spoken will judge him" (Jn 12:48)?

As God, neither the Father nor the Son will judge anyone. Even a man becomes a judge for men, not for animals.

The Father gave judgment to the Son not because the Son is God, but because He became man. He will judge all by comparing His human life with ours.

His word also will judge, that is, the teaching He manifested through deeds, according to what is written: "all that Jesus began to do and teach" (Acts 1:1).

“He who rejects Me and does not receive My words has one who judges him.” He who does not believe in Me and does not receive My words has a judge and accuser for himself. Listen, then, to who this judge is: “The word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.” See precisely what this word of His is: see Jn 12:49.

Leaving the temple, Christ addressed the people for the last time. He explained the purpose of His coming to earth and repeated what He had said earlier about His unity with the Heavenly Father.

"I have come into the world so that everyone who believes in Me may not remain in the darkness of ignorance of God's will. For I have not spoken on My own authority. The Father who sent Me commanded Me what to say.

All that I speak, I speak just as the Father told Me. I know that His commandment, His will, is that all men be counted worthy of the blessedness of eternal life and that all be saved.

"He who rejects Me and does not receive My words has one who judges him. The word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on My own authority.

The Father who sent Me gave Me a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His commandment is eternal life" (Jn 12:48-50).

From these words of the Lord it is clear that we shall be judged according to the Gospel. Neglect in fulfilling the commandments of the Gospel is an active rejection of the Lord Himself.

Let us use every diligence, brethren, to become doers of the commandments of the Gospel. We do not know when death will come. We may be summoned to judgment suddenly, at the very time when we least expect that summons.

Unbelievers could learn from His own mouth the fate that awaits such men: "If anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.

He who rejects Me and does not receive My words has a judge for himself. The word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day" (Jn 12:47-48).

And this word, in truth, is the word of the Heavenly Father Himself. "For I have not spoken on My own authority. The Father who sent Me gave Me a commandment, what to say and what to speak.

And I know that His commandment is eternal life. Therefore what I speak, I speak as the Father has told Me" (Jn 12:49-50).

“If anyone hears,” and so forth: see Jn 3:17 and following; Jn 5:45 and following; Jn 8:15 and following; Mt 7:26; Mk 4:15 and following; Jn 18:20. The word of Christ is as divine, holy, and pure as His very person. Therefore this word of His will be man’s judge on the last day. Of course, Christ Himself will judge (Jn 5:22, 27). Yet He will judge according to whether His word and His teaching were received and preserved, whether man believed Him, and whether he acted according to His teaching. Compare Jn 7:51, where the law of Moses is presented as judging.

Verses 47-48: “If anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him...” Those who heard the Jews blaspheme Jesus could have been troubled that Jesus Christ left them unpunished. To reassure such people, it is explained that the Son of God came to save the world. There will be its own time for pronouncing condemnation on the world. This was indicated in Jn 3:17-18. The distinctive feature here is the state of unbelief. This is not mere negligence or inattention. It is the state in which men understand the dignity of the teaching and yet reject it with proud contempt. They see the truth and strive not to admit it into the soul. Heb 3:12-19.