29. But by these very words He proclaims Himself
plainly to be true God in the nature of the only true God. To
understand this, let our answer proceed from statements which He made
previously, though the connection is unbroken right down to these
words. We can then establish the faith step by step, and let the
confidence of our freedom rest at last on the summit of our argument,
the true Godhead of Christ. There comes first the mystery
of His words, He that hath
seen Me, hath seen the Father; and, Do ye not believe Me that I
am in the Father and the Father in Me? The words that I say unto
you, I speak not from Myself; but the Father abiding in Me, Himself
doeth His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the
Father in Me: or else believe Me for the very works’
sake St. John xiv. 9–11.. At the close
of this discourse, teeming with deep mysteries, follows the reply of
the disciples, Now know we that Thou knowest all things, and needest
not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that Thou
camest forth from God Ib. xvi.
30.. They
perceived in Him the nature of God by the divine powers which He
exercised; for to know all things, and to read the thoughts of the
heart belongs to the Son, not to the mere messenger of God. They
confessed, therefore, that He was come from God, because the power of
the divine nature was in Him.