" We cannot suppose that the evangelist meant by this account
to leave his readers to imagine, that any of the spectators doubted
about the truth of the miracle. Far from it. Unquestionably, he states
the miracle to have been fully allowed; yet the persons who allowed it
were, according to his representation, capable of retaining hostile
sentiments towards Jesus. "Believing in Jesus" was not only to believe
that he wrought miracles, but that he was the Messiah. With us there is
no difference between these two things; with them there was the
greatest; and the difference is apparent in this transaction. If Saint
John has represented the conduct of the Jews upon this occasion truly
(and why he should not I cannot tell, for it rather makes against him
than for him), it shows clearly the principles upon which their judgment
proceeded. Whether he has related the matter truly or not, the relation
itself discovers the writer's own opinion of those principles: and that
alone possesses considerable authority. In the next chapter, we have a
reflection of the evangelist entirely suited to this state of the case:
"But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet believed they
not on him.
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