Homilies on the Gospel of John

“You have a devil; who goes about to kill you?”

3. The expression is one of wrath and anger, and of a soul made shameless by an unexpected reproof, and put to confusion before their time, as they thought. For just as a sort of robbers who sing over their plots, then when they desire to put him against whom they are plotting off his guard, effect their object by keeping silence, so also do these. But He, omitting to rebuke them for this, so as not to make them more shameless, again takes in hand His defense with respect to the Sabbath, reasoning with them from the Law. And observe how prudently. “No wonder,” He says, “if you disobey Me, when you disobey the Law which you think ye obey, and which you hold to have been given you by Moses. It is therefore no new thing, if you give not heed to My words.” For because they said, “God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow we know not whence he is”, He shows that they were insulting Moses as well as Himself, for Moses gave them the Law, and they obeyed it not.