In the previous section, St. John the Baptist had urged his disciples to follow Christ, because Christ’s doctrine is more splendid and more certain than the Baptist’s. In this section, the Evangelist demonstrates how Christ’s teaching makes a difference in the disciples who choose to receive it. First, he notes the relative scarcity of believers; then he discusses their obligation to believe; and finally, he reveals the reward for believers and the punishment for unbelievers.

1. The relative scarcity of believers. When the Evangelist wrote, “yet no one receives his testimony” (Jn 3:32b), he alluded to the scarcity of believers in those early days of Christ’s public life. It was not the fault of the Teacher that, at first, so few accepted His teaching, nor was it any reflection upon the substance of what He taught, for the Word of God spoke the truth, for He is Truth. If there were few believers, it was the fault of those who refused to listen to the Word. The Pharisees heard His words, but slandered his teaching. Even some of John’s disciples refused to believe that Jesus was the Messiah. The ones who should have recognized the truth, either because they were learned in the scriptures or because were well instructed by Christ’s precursor, were the very ones who were blind to the truth and failed to recognize the Truth when at last He came.

Why did he say, “no one,” when it is clear from the foregoing that some people did indeed accept Christ’s teaching early on? We can explain this in three ways. First, we may understand “no one” as an hyperbole, a figure of speech, the precise meaning of which in the present context is “very few.” It seems that the Evangelist used it in this way, because he immediately added, “he who receives his testimony” (v. 33), to show that some did indeed accept Christ’s teaching. St. John used the same rhetorical device earlier, when he wrote, “He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God.” (Jn 1:11-12) Second, to receive the testimony of the Word of God is tantamount to believing in God. While human wisdom alone can lead us to accept certain truths about God, one cannot truly believe in God without the assistance of supernatural grace, as the Apostle said to the Ephesians, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8). Thus, “no one receives his testimony” unless he be given the grace to accept it. Third, in Sacred Scripture, “people” sometimes refers to the wicked, and sometimes to the just. For example, we encounter both wicked and just people in the twenty-sixth chapter of Jeremiah. First, the wicked: “When Jeremiah had finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, then the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him, saying, ‘You shall die!’” (Jer 26:8) And then we read of the good people (vv. 16-17): certain princes and elders who defended Jeremiah and persuaded the wicked people that he did not deserve death, for he was speaking in the name of the Lord. When St. John mentioned those who did not receive Christ’s teaching (v. 32a), he was referring to the wicked; and when he mentioned those who received His testimony (v. 33), he was referring to the good people.

2. The disciple’s obligation to believe. The Evangelist then made four points concerning the disciple’s obligation to accept the divine truth: first, he presented the divine truth (v. 33); then, he mentioned how this truth was proclaimed (v. 34a); then, he affirmed Christ’s ability to proclaim the truth (v. 34b); and finally, he gave the reason for His ability (v. 35).

2.1. Concerning the divine truth. “He who receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true” (Jn 3:33). That is, whoever receives the truth, ought to display the fact that he has received the truth from the One Who is true. Christ is true because He is Truth, He is God. Men may fall into error, but God cannot err, as St. Paul confessed, “Let God be true though every man be false” (Rom 3:4). The wise man said, “Set me as a seal upon your heart,” for I truly believe this, and “as a seal upon your arm,” for I am not ashamed to proclaim it (Cant 8:6). The Apostle wrote to Timothy, “God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are his’” (2 Tm 2: 19). According to St. John Chrysostom, the “seal” may also be understood as a sign that the Father is true, because He sent His Son as He promised through the prophets. It follows, then, that those who do not believe in Christ, deny the truthfulness of God the Father.

2.2. Concerning how the divine truth is proclaimed. “For he whom God has sent utters the words of God” (Jn 3:34a). Christ, Who is the Word of God, expressed in words what was in the Father’s intellect. Father and Son are true God from true God, distinct in person, but of the same divine nature. The one sends, the other is sent. Both possess the same truth. One is the origin of the truth; the other expresses it, reveals it. He who listens to the Son, hears the Father, as Christ said, “he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him” (Jn 8:26).

2.3. Christ’s ability to proclaim the truth. The Evangelist affirmed Christ’s ability to proclaim the truth when he wrote, “for it is not by measure that he gives the Spirit” (Jn 3:34b). The Holy Spirit is said to be given “by measure,” that is, in fractions, not with respect to His essence or power, which are infinite and undivided, but with respect to the gifts He bestows upon each person. St. Paul taught that “grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift” (Eph 4:7). Moreover, the Holy Spirit does not give all His gifts to everyone, but certain gifts to some, and certain gifts to others, and in different measure to each. The Apostle explained: “there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” (1 Cor 12:4-7) But Christ possesses the greatest ability to teach the truth, because He did not receive the Holy Spirit in a partial way as we do. Rather, when He became man, He received the fullness of the Holy Spirit and all the Spirit’s gifts.

Notice that the prophets sometimes spoke from the Spirit of God, and sometimes from their own spirit. For example, when King David considered the possibility of building a temple, he asked the prophet Nathan’s advice. Nathan said to him, “Go, do all that is in your heart; for the Lord is with you” (2 Sm 7:3). Here Nathan was speaking from his own spirit, that is, giving his own opinion to King David. But “that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan” (2 Sm 7:4) and instructed him to inform the king that it was the Lord’s desire that he build a temple. This time it was the Spirit of God speaking through Nathan. Though prophets sometimes spoke for God and sometimes spoke for themselves, the Word of God always spoke for God, for the Holy Spirit is fully with Him and always with Him.

Christ possesses the Holy Spirit in two different ways: in one way according to His human nature, and in another way according to His divine nature. Christ as man has the Holy Spirit as Sanctifier: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted” (Is 61:1). Christ as God has the Holy Spirit, inasmuch as the Spirit proceeds from Him. Thus, Christ promised His disciples that when the Spirit of truth comes “He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (Jn 16:14). That is, the Spirit will make known to the Church the truth He has received from the Word of God. In both ways, as man and as God, Christ possesses the fullness of the Holy Spirit. As man, He received the Holy Spirit without measure, for since Christ is the perfect man, it was fitting that He should receive the fullness of the Spirit’s gifts. As God, He received from the Father the power to breathe forth (spirandi) the Spirit, since whatever the Son has, He received from the Father. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son by an eternal act of spiration (spirare), and the Son proceeds from the Father by an eternal act of generation (generare).

There are in Christ three types of grace: (1) the grace of union (of the hypostatic union), (2) sanctifying grace, which is habitual grace, and (3) capital grace which animates the members of His Body, the Church, inasmuch as He is head of the Church. First, concerning the grace of union. This is not an habitual grace, but an actual grace, a particular gift by which Christ, in His human nature, is made to be the true Son of God, not by participation as an adopted son, but according to His human nature, for in the hypostatic union, the human nature of Christ was united to the Divine Person of the Son of God. This is not a union of natures, for that would be to confuse His two distinct natures. The hypostatic union did not take place in his natures, but in His divine person. This union is a grace, that is, it was freely given, because nothing was done to merit it. Since the divine nature is infinite, the union is an infinite gift. And if it is an infinite gift, it was fitting that, when Christ received the Holy Spirit by the grace of union, He received the Spirit in fullness, and not by degree or measure. Second, concerning sanctifying grace. This grace is habitual, for it abides in the soul unless it is lost through sin. Christ’s soul will never lose its sanctifying grace, for Christ is impeccable, incapable of sin. Since grace is a created thing, it has a finite essence. Even though grace is finite in itself, Christ possesses the fullness of sanctifying grace: His human soul is “full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:14). He possesses it in fullness for three reasons. First, because of the one receiving the grace. Each creature, according to its nature, has a certain finite capacity. Grace is finite according to its essence, but not according to the manner in which it was given to Christ, for as much of it was given to Christ as His created human soul was able to contain. It is like the woman who approached a river to draw water. She perceived water without measure and drew all that her pail could hold. The immensity of flowing water is like grace, and the pail is like Christ’s finite human soul. Second, Christ possesses the fullness of sanctifying grace on account of the gift received. A spiritual form is not infinite in its essence, for God alone is infinite. The form of whiteness is not infinitely white, yet a subject can possess whiteness in its fullness, even though the whiteness he possesses is not infinitely white. He possesses all the white there is to possess. We say that this subject is as white as any corporeal thing could possibly be. Likewise, Christ’s human soul possesses the fullness of sanctifying grace, because He received everything that could possibly pertain to the nature of grace. Third, Christ possesses the fullness of sanctifying grace on account of the cause of grace, which is God. An effect is somehow present in its cause, and a cause can be seen in its effect. If a cause has infinite power to produce an effect, he is said to have that effect without measure. For example, if a man owns a fountain capable of producing an unending flow of water, one could say that he possesses an infinite measure of water. The human soul of Christ is said to have grace without measure because it has been united to the Word of God, Who is the source of all created things, for “all things were made through him” (Jn 1:3). Third, concerning capital grace. This is the grace of Christ, insofar as He is the head (caput, the head, leader, or source) of the Church. Since Christ received gifts from the Holy Spirit that can flow without measure, Christ is able to pour out these gifts without measure. His grace, therefore, is sufficient for the salvation of the entire world: “he is the expiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 Jn 2:2).

2.4. The reason why Christ has the ability to proclaim the truth. Christ has this ability because “the Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand” (Jn 3:35). This statement can refer to Christ as God and to Christ as man. First, as it pertains to Christ’s divine nature, “loves” does not indicate a principle, but a merely a sign, for the Father gave all things to the Son, not because He loves His Son, but because He is the principle (origin) of the Son, so that whatever the Son has, He has it from the Father. Love is not the reason why the Father gave all things to the Son; and this is demonstrated in two ways. First, to love is an act of the will. If the Father generated the Son by an act of His will, then He did not generate the Son by nature. But, this is the heresy of Arius, who denied the consubstantiality of Father and Son, and asserted instead that they are united only according to their wills, that is, by a moral union, a union of purpose. Second, we profess that the love of the Father for the Son is, in fact, the Holy Spirit. If the Father’s love for His Son was the reason why He gave all things to His Son, that is to say that the Holy Spirit is the reason He gave all things to Him. Then it would follow that the Holy Spirit is the principle of the Son. But, this is clearly false, for the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son; the Son does not proceed from the Spirit. Second, if the statement pertains to Christ’s human nature, then it is true to say that the Father gave all things to His Son because He loved His Son, both in a general sense and in a particular sense. In a general way, the Father loves Christ’s created human nature, for He loves all things that He has made: “thou lovest all things that exist, and hast loathing for none of the things which thou hast made, for thou wouldst not have made anything if thou hadst hated it” (Wis 11:24). In a particular way, the Father had a special love for Christ, as we had seen at Christ’s baptism, when the skies opened up and the Father said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Mt 3:17). With confidence, the Son of Man could say, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Mt 28:18). The Letter to the Hebrews begins by confessing that “in these last days [God] has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world” (Heb 1:2).

3. The reward for believers and the punishment for unbelievers. Concerning the reward, he said, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life” (Jn 3:36a). If the Father is eternal, and the Father has given everything He has to His natural Son, then the Son is eternal as well: “For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself” (Jn 5:26). Furthermore, the Son gives eternal life to His followers, as He said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life” (Jn 10:27-28). Concerning the punishment, he said, “he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God rests upon him” (Jn 3:36b). This is a double punishment. There is the punishment of loss, inasmuch as the unbeliever will be deprived of eternal life. By “eternal life” we mean knowledge of God in the beatific vision. Christ Himself explained what eternal life consists in: “And this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent” (Jn 17:3). Zophar said of the unbeliever, who will never have this vision: “He will not look upon the rivers, the streams flowing with honey and curds” (Jb 20:17). To have this glorious vision for eternity is the proper reward for a faith that is united with love. Then there is the punishment of sense, inasmuch as the unbeliever will suffer some kind of pain for eternity. When God’s wrath rests upon a person, he feels pain, for in the scriptures, God’s wrath signifies the pain with which He punishes evildoers.

Christ said, “The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father” (Jn 5:22-23). But, in Jn 3:36 we read that the “wrath of God,” not the wrath of Christ, rests upon the unbeliever. This is no contradiction, for the judgment in Jn 3:26 is attributed, not to the Father in particular, but to God in general, whereas in Jn 5:22-23 it is attributed to God the Son in particular. Whatever one divine person does, it is really three acting as one. The reason it was attributed in Jn 3:26 to God in general was so that the Jews, who feared God, but not His Son, might have a greater motivation to freely accept the faith. The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews warned them: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb 10:31). St. Paul reminds us that we are “by nature children of wrath” (Eph 2:3), that is, destined for eternal punishment on account of our sins. But, the good news is that we are freed from that heavy, but just, sentence by faith in Christ.