He that believeth on me, believeth not on me. — These words do not occur literally in any discourse of our Lord which we now have, but the thought has met us again and again. (Comp. John 5:36; John 7:16; John 7:29; John 8:19; John 10:38.) We are not to weaken the words “not on Me but,” into “not (only) on Me but,” as is often done. Jesus came not in His own name (John 5:43), but in that of the Father. The Son claimed no position independent of the Father. He was the representative of the Father, and those who believed in Him believed not in the representative as apart from, but in that He represented, the Sender. The same thought occurs in Mark 9:37. (Comp. Note there.)
(45) And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me. — The word means to see, in the sense of “behold, contemplate, gaze upon.” Better, therefore, And he that beholdeth Me beholdeth Him that sent Me. The form of the expression is different from that of the previous verse, passing from the negative to the positive, in accord with the difference of thought. He that beholdeth Christ doth behold Him, and in Him beholds the impression of the substance of God. The same thought has occurred in the words of the Evangelist in John 1:14, and occurs in the words of our Lord in John 14:9.