It is written in the prophets; either in the division of Scripture called "the prophets," or because the substance of the statement is found to pervade the prophets, and to receive express, if not literal, utterance in Isaiah 54:13.
The prophet, on describing the glorious triumphs of the Servant of the Lord in his new kingdom, added (LXX.), καὶ πάντας τοὺς υἰοὺς σου διδακτοὺς θεοῦ καὶ ἐν πολλῇ εἰρήνη τὰ τέκνα σου, "And all thy sons [I will make] to be taught of God, and in much [great] peace thy children" (cf.
also Jeremiah 31:1-40. [LXX., 38.] 34, for the same thought in other words). Godet suggests that the former passage was in the haphtora, from the prophets—the lesson for the day. If the discourse was uttered in the synagogue of Capernaum, this is not impossible.
At all events, the "and" ( καὶ) which here follows suggests that the quotation is taken from Isaiah. And they shall all be taught of God; i.e. direct teaching by God is the prime requisite of any spiritual apprehension, even of the mysteries of Christ the Revealer.
This solemn truth is affirmed by the entire history of Christ. The vision of his majesty, even contact with his ineffable love, the sight of his humiliation and of the shedding of his precious blood, did not, by any necessarily acting law of mind, induce faith.
Divine teaching by the Spirit of the Father and Son is the preliminary (see notes on John 16:5-8, on the mission of the Comforter) to believing on Christ. "Taught of God" ( διδακτοὶ θεοῦ), translated in vulgate, docibiles Dei (cf.
1 Thessalonians 4:9), means more than the reception of one lesson in the school of God, and suggests a prolonged experience and a rich communion between the Teacher and the taught. Every one (therefore) £ [ πᾶς, referring to the πάντες of verse 45a, and to the quotation, is not so much every human being, as the "all" of the Messianic kingdom—the "all" of God's "sons" and "children "] that hath heard £ from the Father, and hath learned (of him), cometh unto me.
Hearing may end in heedlessness, even when the Lord God Almighty speaks with us. His revelations at great epochs, his inner voice at special moments in our religious history, may be disregarded. The voice of God may be heard, yet not obeyed; the voice of conscience and revelation and inspiration, the sacred monitions and warnings of the heart, may all be slighted.
But every one that hath heard the Father, and has also accepted the lesson—has felt the Divine drawing; being willing to do the will of the Father, he knows of the doctrine, whether it be of God, and he comes to Christ.
Later on, Christ said, "Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice." It is one thing to "hear," another to "learn," another to "come." These three stages still further illumine the "drawing" of the Father, and the method which the Father has adopted of so giving men to Christ that he may ultimately fold them in his arms and press them to his heart.