The last few verses (John 12:37-43) have given us the thoughts of St. John as he looked back on the unbelief of Judaism. He had given our Lord’s closing word in John 12:36, and there stated that He hid Himself from them. He now gives other words of our Lord condemning the unbelief of which he had been speaking, and of which the probable explanation is that they are a summary of words previously uttered by our Lord, but grouped together here as specially bearing upon the subject of which he is writing. For the remaining verses of this chapter, the Notes will therefore consist chiefly of reference to earlier passages where the same words have already occurred.
(44) Jesus cried and said. — Comp. Notes on John 7:28; John 7:37. This forbids our understanding these words of any private discourse addressed to the disciples. The phrase implies public teaching addressed to the multitude, and it may be inferred that there was some such teaching after John 12:36.