Preface
In
providing both undergraduate and postgraduate education, and in the research
it carries out, a university is ultimately an institution at
the service of society. It was
with this service in mind that the theology faculty of
the University of Navarre embarked on the project of
preparing a translation and commentary
of the Bible accessible to a wide readership-a
project entrusted to it by the apostolic zeal
of the University'S founder and first chancellor, Monsignor
Josemarfa Escriva de Balaguer.
Monsignor
Escriva did not live to see the publication of
the first volume, the Gospel according to St Matthew; but he must, from heaven, continue to bless and promote
our work, for the volumes, the
first of which appeared in 1976, have been
well received and widely read.
This
edition of the Bible avoids many
scholarly questions, discussion of which would over-extend
the text and would be of no assistance to
the immense majority of readers; these
questions are avoided, but they have been taken into
account.
The
Spanish edition contains a new Spanish
translation made from the original texts, always taking note of the Church's official Latin
text, which is now that of the New Vulgate,
a revision of the venerable
Latin Vulgate of St Jerome: on 25 April 1979 Pope
John Paul 11, by the
Apostolic Constitution Scripturarum
thesaurus, promulgated the editio
typica prior of the
New Vulgate as the new official text; the editio typica
altera, issued in 1986, is the Latin version used
in this edition. For the English edition of this book
we consider ourselves
fortunate in having the Revised Standard
Version as the • translation of Scripture and wish to
record our appreciation for permission to use that
text, an integral part of which are the RSV notes, which are
indicated by superior letters.
The
introductions and notes have been prepared on
the basis of the same criteria. In the notes (which are the most
characteristic feature of this Bible, at least in
its English version), along with scriptural and
ascetical explanations we have sought to offer a
general exposition of Christian doctrine-not of
course a systematic exposition, for
we follow the thread of the scriptural text. We have also tried
to explain and connect certain biblical passages by reference to
others, conscious that
Sacred Scripture is ultimately one single
entity; but, to avoid tiring the
reader, most of the cross-references etc. are
given in the form of marginal notes (the
marginal notes in this edition are, then, those of the Navarre Bible, not the
RSV). The commentaries contained in the notes
are the result of
- - -
John
14:8-15
Jn 12:45 Mt 17:17 Heb 1:3
Jn 12:49
Jn 10:25. 38; 14:20
Mk 16:19f
8 Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father,
and we shall be satisfied." 9Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you
so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the
Father; how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? lODo you not believe that I am
in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak
on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me
that I am in the Father and the Father in me; or else believe me for the sake
of the works themselves.
12"Truly,
truly; I
say to you, he who believes in me will
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amodo cognoscitis eum et vidistis eum." 8Dicit ei
Philippus: "Domine, ostende nobis Patrem, et sufficit
nobis." 9Dicit ei Iesus: "Tanto tempore vobiscum sum, et non
cognovisti me, Philippe? Qui vidit me, vidit Patrem. Quomodo tu
dicis: 'Ostende nobis Patrem'? IONon credis quia ego in Patre, et Pater
in me est? Verba, quae ego loquor vobis, a meipso non loquor; Pater autem in me
manens facit opera sua. llCredite mihi quia ego in Patre, et Pater in me est; alioquin
propter opera ipsa credite. 12Amen,
amen dico vobis: Qui credit in me, opera, ____________________________________________________________________
8-11. The
Apostles still find our Lord's words very mysterious, because they cannot
understand the oneness of Father and Son. Hence Philip's persistence. Then Jesus
"upbraids the Apostle for not yet knowing him, even though his works are
proper to God-walking on the water, controlling the wind, forgiving
sins, raising
the dead. This is why he reproves him: for not recognizing his divine condition
through his human nature" (St Augustine, De
Trinitate, Book 7).
Obviously the sight of the Father which Jesus refers
to in this passage is a vision through faith, for no one has ever seen God as
he is (cf. Jn
1:18; 6:46). All manifestations of God, or "theophanies", have been
through some medium; they are only a reflexion of God's
greatness. The
highest expression which we have of God our Father is in Christ Jesus, the Son
of God sent among men. "He did this by the total fact of his presence and
self-manifestation-by words and works, signs and miracles, but above
all by his death and glorious resurrection from the dead, and finally by
sending the Spirit of truth. He revealed that God was with us, to deliver
us from the darkness of sin and death, and to raise us up to eternal life" (Vatican Il, Dei
Verbum, 4).
12-14. Before
leaving this world, the Lord promises his Apostles to make them sharers in his
power so that God's salvation may be manifested through them. These "works" are the
miracles they will work in the name of Jesus Christ (cf. Acts
3:1-10; 5:15-16; etc),
and especially the conversion of people to the Christian faith and their
sanctification by preaching and the ministry of the sacraments. They can
be considered greater works than Jesus' own insofar as, by the Apostles'
ministry, the
Gospel was not only preached in Palestine but
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also do the works that I do; and greater works than
these will he do, because I go to the
Father. 13Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be
glorified in the Son; 14j.f you asks anything in my name, I will do it.
The
promise of the Holy Spirit
15"!f you love me, you will keep my
commandments. 16And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another
In 15:7·16
MIc 11:24 11n5:14
In 15:10;
16:23f
1 In 5:3 Deut6:4-9
In 14:26; 15:26; 16:7
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quae
ego facio, et ipse faciet et maiora horum faciet, quia ego ad Patrem vado. l3Et
quodcumque petieritis in nomine meo, hoc faciam, ut glorificetur Pater in
Filio; 14Si quid petieritis me in nomine meo, ego faciam. 15Si
diligitis me, mandata mea servabitis; 16et ego rogabo Patrem, et
alium Paraclitum dabit ______________________________________________________________________________
was spread to the ends of the earth; but this extraordinary
power of apostolic preaching proceeds from Christ, who has ascended to the
Father: after undergoing the humiliation of the cross Jesus has been
glorified and from heaven he manifests his power by acting through his Apostles.
The Apostles' power, therefore, derives from Christ
glorified. Christ our Lord says as much: "Whatever you ask in my name, I
will do it". "It is not that he who believes in me will be greater
than me, but only that I shall then do greater works than now; greater, by him
who believes in me, than I now do by myself without him" (St Augustine, In loann. Evang., 72, 1).
Jesus Christ is our intercessor in heaven; therefore,
he promises us that everything we ask for in his name, he will do. Asking in
his name (cf. 15:7, 16; 16:23-24) means appealing to the power of the risen Christ, believing
that he is all-powerful and merciful because he is true God; and it also means
asking for what is conducive to our salvation, for Jesus is our Saviour. Thus,
by "whatever you ask" we must understand what is for the good of the
asker. When our Lord does not give what we ask for, the reason is that it would
not make for our salvation. In this way we can see that he is our Saviour both
when he refuses us what we ask and when he grants it.
15. Genuine love must express itself in
deeds. "This indeed is love: obeying and believing in the loved one"
(St John Chrysostom, Horn. on St John, 74). Therefore, Jesus
wants us to understand that love of God, ifit is to be authentic, must be reflected
in a life of generous and faithful self-giving obedient to the Will of God: he who accepts
God's commandments and obeys them, he it is who loves him (cf. Jn 14:21). St John himself exhorts us in
another passage not to "love in word or speech but in deed and in
truth" (1 Jn 3: 18), and he teaches us that "this is the
love of God, that we keep his commandments" (1 Jn 5:3).
16-17. On a number of occasions the Lord promises the
Apostles that he will send them the Holy Spirit (cf. 14:26; 15:36; 16:7-14; Mt 10:20). Here he tells them that one result of his
mediation with the Father will be the coming 'Other ancient authorities add me
