A clearly the prophet who was promised through the Law, by the words which he said he was ministering on behalf of God and the Father.
And let no one think that the Lord, in saying that he says nothing of himself, but speaks from the Father, is in any way harmed, either in terms of his substance or in terms of the majesty befitting God. Rather, let a person first consider this again, and let him answer us when we ask: Does anyone suppose that the name and the reality of prophecy are appropriate for the one who inherently is and is understood to be God? And yet, I think that everyone, even those of very simple mind, would deny it, saying it is absurd to call the God who speaks in the prophets a "prophet." For He himself multiplied visions, as it is written, and was likened to the hands of the prophets.
B Since, therefore, having taken on the name of servitude and the form of our likeness, he was called a prophet in accordance with our own likeness, the Law necessarily also attributed to him the things that befit a prophet: that is, to have heard something from the Father and to have received a command as to what he should say and what he should speak.
To this, I believe, one should also add that the Jews, having been vehemently preoccupied with the Law and believing that it had been delivered by God, would never have accepted the words of the Savior as he transformed the ancient commandments into spiritual worship.
But what was the reason they were unwilling to accept the transformation of the types into the truth? They did not know that he was God by nature, nor did they grasp in their minds that the Only-Begotten Word of the Father had put on our flesh for our sake. Otherwise, they would have immediately fallen down before God and followed him zealously wherever he wished, having rendered him the glory befitting him. But the wretched men thought him to be one of us, and while he was a mere and naked human being, they thought he was so presumptuous as to dare to overturn the very laws of God the Father. And so it came about that they impudently assailed him with shouts: "We do not stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy, and because you, being a man, make yourself God."
C Therefore, with great and careful economy, our Lord Jesus, drawing his hearers away from the suspicion they held, shifts the discourse—as if moving it away from a naked and solitary human person—to him who is openly and indisputably worshipped, I mean God and the Father, confounding the senselessness of the Jews in every way and dealing variously with their ignorant minds, and alluring them to learn the true and more proper things.
One might be content with these words and observations to repel the reproaches of the impious heretics, who even from this part think the Son is less than the Father, because he said he speaks nothing of himself, but that a command was given to him, and he speaks as he has heard. And I think that those points are sufficient; D nevertheless, I will add something else by which the forwardness of those babblers may be exposed. Come then, if you please, letting aside for the moment the discourse about the dispensation with the flesh, let us demonstrate that it was rightly said concerning the Only-Begotten himself: "Because I do not speak from myself, but the Father who sent me, he himself gave me a command as to what I should say..."
A For he who is the living and subsisting Word of God and the Father necessarily announces what is in him, and, bringing to light the will of the Begetter, says that he has received a command, as it were. This will be found to be true if we draw an example from ourselves. For the enunciative word, consisting of a composition of phrases and terms, and breaking forth externally by an articulate voice, as if by order of our mind, reveals its secrets, and this with great speed. For as soon as the mind has conceived something, it commits it to the voice: and the latter, breaking forth externally, announces what is hidden within and in the mind, nor does it alter anything of those things commanded to it. What is astonishing, therefore, or incredible, someone might say, if the Word of God and the Father, being the Son, does not, like our word (for the things said about God are greater than any example), announce the will of his own Begetter? For does not the prophet also say that a name most appropriate to him is to be called the Angel of the great counsel? B But I think that this also is clear. No damage, therefore, will the Only-Begotten suffer regarding the account of his substance or dignity, even if he is said to have received a command from God and the Father; for we ourselves often command others to do something, yet they do not on this account cease to be of the same nature as us, since they are no less consubstantial with us both before and after the command. But you will say, they indeed remain consubstantial, but those who serve the commands of others are lesser in dignity. I answer you the same regarding the Only-Begotten. For if it had not been written about him: "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, and being found in stature as a man, he humbled himself," your argument might perhaps have had some weight C; but since the mode of his subjection and humiliation is manifest to all, why do you rashly accuse him who, for our sake, endured to suffer even this? Turning therefore on all sides to the rectitude of the dogmas, we say that our Lord Jesus Christ spoke those things in the passage before us by way of dispensation. D
XIII, 1. Before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his hour had come that he should pass from this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
The understanding of this passage is obscure to many, and not very easy to explain, nor does it contain an obvious meaning, as one might perhaps persuade himself. For why does the divine evangelist now signify this, and as if it were some necessary matter...A that he treats, saying: "Before the feast of the Passover, knowing that his hour had come, that he should depart from this world unto the Father?" And what again is the meaning of: "Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them unto the end?"
Since, therefore, this is not a little obscure, I suppose he means something such as this: that before the saving passion, although the Savior knew, as he says, that the time for his departure to the heavens had now finally arrived, even at the doors, he showed forth the most perfect love for his own who were in this world. And if it is at all necessary to think up a broader theory for the matters set before us—which I just stated, and shall say again—it is indeed proper to our Savior Christ that all things created through him, rational and intellectual creatures, the Powers on high, and Thrones, and Dominations B, and all else of that kind, in so far as they are created, are his. Likewise, those creatures upon the earth that are endowed with reason are also his, in so far as he is the Lord of all, even if some do not worship him as Creator. He loved, therefore, his own who were in the world; for he does not take hold of angels, according to the voice of Paul, nor for the sake of the nature of the angels, being in the form of God and the Father, did he deem it robbery to be equal to God; but for the sake of us rather who are in this world, he emptied himself, and the Lord of all took on the form of a servant, called to this by the love and affection he had for us.
Having loved, therefore, those who were in this world, he loved them unto the end, even though before the feast C and before the Passover, "knowing that his hour had come, that he should depart from this world unto the Father." For it would have been the action of one not loving unto the end to have become man, yet not to have willed also to risk his life for the sake of all; but he did love them unto the end, and did not shrink from suffering this, although he knew beforehand that he would suffer it; for the passion was not unforeseen to the Savior. Since, therefore, he says, it was possible to escape the insolence of the Jews and the wickedness of those who were crucifying him, he showed forth the most perfect love for his own who were in the world; for he did not at all refuse even to be crossed [i.e., to cross over] for the life of all.
For that this is the most perfect measure of love to behold, I shall bring forward the Lord our Jesus Christ himself as witness, saying to the holy disciples: "This is my commandment, D that you love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love than this no man has, that one should lay down his life for his friends." And by another way also it is always somehow a concern for the holy evangelists to show that our Lord Jesus Christ knew beforehand the time of his passion, lest any of those accustomed to heterodox thinking should exalt themselves against his divine glory, saying that he was captured through weakness, and having fallen unwillingly into the snares of the Jews, endured such a terrible death. Therefore, the account of the saints is economical and profitable.
XIII, 2-3. And when supper was made, the devil now ha
A having put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray him, Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he came from God and goeth to God, riseth from supper, and layeth aside his garments; and having taken a towel, he girded himself. Then he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.
The Savior roots out pride from our minds, as the foulest of all diseases and worthy of the utmost detestation. He knows that nothing is accustomed to harm the soul of man as much as this most vile and loathsome passion, to which even the Lord of all, as though to an enemy, rightly stands opposed. "God resisteth the proud," according to the voice of Solomon (Prov. iii, 34; Jac. iv, 6). Therefore, it was necessary for the holy apostles to possess a modest and submissive spirit, and a judgment that did not care greatly for empty glory; for since they had no small occasions to contract such a disease, they would easily have fallen into it, had they not received much help. For the cruel beast of pride is wont, for the most part, to invade those who possess some degree of distinction. And what is more illustrious than the holy apostles, or what is more valuable than friendship with God? In truth, this vice would not enter into a man who is of no account. For it flees from one who possesses nothing enviable, and from him who has not been placed in any position of prominence; for how could a desire for arrogance ever attack such persons? But someone prone to pride, being eager for glory, sets himself above his neighbor for that reason, thinking foolishly that he differs greatly from others, as one who has achieved some exceptional and supernatural virtue, and who has completed a path of life unusual and untrodden by others. B Since, therefore, the disease of pride sometimes fastens upon those who have something brilliant, how was it not necessary for Christ to become a pattern of a modest spirit for the holy apostles, so that, having the Lord of all as a type and image, they too might transform their own minds according to what is pleasing to God? This disease, therefore, could not be rooted out otherwise than by clearly teaching them to think so lowly of themselves, as to consider it necessary to be ranked even in the order of a slave, and not to shudder at fulfilling the service befitting a servant, by washing the feet of the brethren and girding themselves with a towel for the task. C For observe how servile this task is, if you look at the customs of this world and the habits of the age. Therefore, He presented Himself as an example of a modest and submissive spirit to all men, not only to His own disciples. For this reason, the divine Paul, having taken Him as his pattern, exhorts us to this, saying: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Phil. ii, 5); and again: "In humility let each esteem others better than themselves" (ibid. 3). For the law of charity and concord consists in a humble spirit. But in order to raise the estimation of this matter, and that it might not be thought that some common thing was done by Christ, D
the divine evangelist again necessarily prefigures the glory and power that was within him, and his dominion over all, by using these words: “Knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands.” For although, he says, he was not ignorant that he possessed power over all things, and that he had come forth from God—that is, had been begotten from the substance of God and the Father—and was going to God—that is, was again ascending into the heavens, clearly to take his seat with his own Begetter—he nevertheless underwent such a humiliation as to gird himself with a linen towel and wash the feet of his disciples. B Having, therefore, from this an excellent pattern of piety and a most manifest image of mutual charity, let us think modestly of ourselves, dearly beloved, and let us consider our brothers to be endowed with greater prerogatives, even if we are of good standing. For this great pattern urges us to think and desire this.
XIII, 6-8. *Then he cometh to Simon Peter: and Peter saith to him: Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered, and said to him: What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith to him: Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him.*
One may observe everywhere, to speak briefly, that the soul of Peter was more and more inflamed towards piety. Consequently, following his own habit and custom, he rejects this lesson of supreme humility and charity, C considering in his own mind who he was by nature, and who, on the other hand, was the one bringing the basin to him, and not refusing to fulfill the office of a servant. For it perturbs him no little bit, being a matter nearly incredible, even if it were seen by many eyes. For who would not have shuddered, having learned that he who is Lord of the universe together with the Father, exhibited such a pitiful servitude toward his own disciples, that he should even most willingly desire to perform that which holds the lowest place among servants, presenting himself as an example and a type of a humble spirit? The disciple, therefore, fears the weight of such a matter, and putting aside his usual and familiar reverence, he refuses: for since he does not yet understand the cause of the act, he thinks that the Lord is doing something rashly, and has nothing else in mind D than to procure for them merely bodily rest; for the washing of the feet relaxes and resolves somewhat the tension arising from walking. Therefore he very fervently prohibited him, saying: “Lord, dost thou wash my feet?” For it would behoove, he says, it would behoove us, who are servants by nature, to do this, not thee, the Lord of all things. But Christ defers the explanation of the matter until a favorable time, and so says that the reason for this having been done by him will be acknowledged afterwards, when he will explain the matter more plainly. Furthermore, he does not [deny] that we, together with others, [derive] no mean utility from this.
A For observe how, when the time calls him to some action, he defers his discourse, and again, when the time urges him to discourse, he refrains from acting. For he was assigning all things to their fitting and appropriate times. Peter, therefore, refusing and clearly denying that his feet would ever be washed by him, the Savior makes the impending loss manifest from this, saying: "If I do not wash you, you have no part with me." [723 XIII, 8]
As far, then, as concerns the manifest and obvious scope of the passage before us, "If you do not accept," he says, "this strange and unusual lesson of humility, you will find no part or inheritance with me." But since our Lord Jesus Christ often, from even slight pretexts in words, makes a general exposition, and by extending things said regarding one matter or one part B specially, enriches them with an abundance of utility, we shall suppose that he is saying here, too, that unless someone through his grace washes away the defilement contracted from sin and transgression, he will remain a stranger to the life that flows from him, and will remain excluded from the kingdom of heaven. For it is not fitting for the unclean to enter into the mansions above, but for those who, through love for Christ, possess a pure conscience and have been sanctified in the Spirit through holy baptism.
[XIII, 9] Simon Peter says to him, "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head." C He who just now displayed such great opposition, and clearly refused the washing of his feet, does not only offer these, but hands and head as well. "For if I am," he says, "to be cast away on this account from communion with you, and to lie afar from the goods placed in our hope, unless I should yield to you, who are willing and purposing to do this, and should have my feet washed, may he offer the rest as well," avoiding so terrible a loss. The initial refusal, therefore, was a fruit of reverence, and from his fearing the gravity of the matter, not at all from resisting the Lord's commandments. For, as I said, when he D pondered both the dignity of the Savior and the insignificance of his own nature, he refused at first; but having learned the injury, he immediately changes his mind toward willing what seemed good to the One who rules. Observe again, and receive what was done as a standard of utility. For although he had said, "You shall never wash my feet," he immediately changes the mind that was looking toward this, not considering primarily that it behooves one to seem truthful among us by remaining firm in one's own words, but that he will find a greater and more grievous loss from having maintained what was said. We must therefore beware of saying anything precipitately and rashly, neither let anyone hasten with harsh words...
or, as sometimes happens, unstable changes A of mind. For it is a matter of great work to have a circumspect tongue, and not to let it slip into things that are unbecoming. But because the divine Word itself demonstrates to us that this is a truly difficult matter: "For no man among men can tame the tongue," as it is written, let us bring forth our speech without any oath. For then, if anything happens to go beyond the proper time, the censure will be less, and the mistake will have a more moderate appearance; and easily, I think, one will obtain pardon from God, on account of the lightness that almost always accompanies our thoughts. "For who will discern B his transgressions?" as it is written, or how would a man of earth not stumble, since our speech easily breaks out into anything? For the tongue within us is not easily restrained.
XIII, 10, 11. *Jesus says to him: He who is washed, has no need except to wash his feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, but not all. For he knew who it was that would betray him. Therefore he said: You are not all clean.*
He takes an example from a common and customary matter among us, and very conveniently constructs C a rebuke for the traitor, teaching the man to change his counsel and to be converted to better things. For although he does not yet openly refute the crimes of his recklessness, the discourse nonetheless possesses a sharp emphasis. For by those things through which he attributes perfect purity to the others, by these same things he renders suspicious and shows to be defiled him who is not such. For to his other disciples, both the glory of constant assiduity, and the labor of following, and firmness and constancy in faith, and perfect charity toward Christ procure purity; to the traitor, however, the crime of inexplicable D avarice, and the infirmity of love toward our Lord Jesus Christ, brands him with eternal stain, and imprints the mark of incomparable recklessness. When, therefore, Christ says: "You are clean, but not all," he contains a hidden but nevertheless useful rebuke of the traitor. For although he did not speak openly, as we recently said, yet conscience pricked every sinner, and drew the force of his words to the guilty person himself as if by a certain necessity. Observe, however, here the work of singular dispensation and patience worthy of God. For if he had openly said who it was that would betray him, he would have made the others hostile to him, and he might perhaps have suffered the utmost, and
A endured premature punishment, from some man sharpened with zeal for piety, attempting to slay the traitor before the Master. By speaking obscurely, however, and leaving the sharp sting of conviction in his conscience, he demonstrated the incomparable magnitude of the patience that was in him. For although he knew he was not a good or grateful disciple toward him, but rather one pregnant with the poison of diabolical bitterness, and turning over in his mind how he might betray him, he honored him just the same as the others, and even washed his feet, keeping to what pertains to love in all things, and not inflicting wrath before the crimes had been brought to an end. For you may see how this is idiomatic and an advantage of his own nature. For God does not, because he knows things that will be, bring about premature punishment upon some; rather, being patient for as long as was necessary, when he sees that they profit nothing, but instead persist in the chosen evils, he then at last punishes, showing that the matter is truly a work of their own ill-considered rashness, and not of his own will, that is, his desire. And so, for this reason, Ezekiel says: “As I live, says the Lord, I do not want the death of the one who dies, but that he should turn from his evil way, and live.” B With much patience and long-suffering, then, our Lord Jesus Christ still numbered the traitor among his other disciples, even though the devil had already put it into his heart to betray him. For it was necessary for the evangelist to signify this among other things at the beginning, when he says, “and he washed his feet,” rendering his impiety inexcusable, so that the apostasy might appear as a fruit of the wickedness inherent in him.
“So when he had washed their feet, and received his garments, having reclined again, he said to them: Do you know what I have done to you? You call me the Lord and the Master, and you speak well; for so I am. If therefore I, the Lord and the Master, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that just as I have done to you, you also should do.”
He now openly states the reason for the deed, and declares that the example of incomparable humility was done for our own benefit; C and while he places the crime of pride as something inexcusable, he necessarily introduces the clarity of his own person. For in such a thing one might behold the incomparable magnitude of humility. For that which is of itself base or ranked among nothing, in what way could it be humbled, or where would that which lies below go, being fashioned by nature in no other way than to tend from above downward? But whoever is seen on high, if he has been brought low, is an object of admiration: for he has descended into that which he was not. Necessarily, therefore, our Lord Jesus Christ, when delivering to his disciples, or rather through them to all mortals, the [precept] of humility
does not simply say, "As I have washed your feet, so you also ought to do," but rather he first explains his own dignity and, by setting forth the nobility naturally innate to him, puts to shame by the very deed those who are greedy for empty glory. "For you yourselves," he says, "call me Lord and Master, and you speak validly, for I am." Observe, moreover, how, while he speaks, he at the same time provides for the edification of believers and is not unaware of the petulant tongues of impious heretics. For since he said to his disciples: "You call me Lord and Master," in order that no one might think that he is not Lord and Master by nature, but rather possesses this appellation from his disciples as if by way of honor, he necessarily added, overturning their suspicions: "And you speak validly, for I am." For the name "Lord" was not B assumed by him as a bare title of honor, as is the case with us, who remain servants by nature, though we are adorned by grace with names that exceed our nature; but he is Lord by nature, ruling over all things as God, to whom it is said somewhere by the voice of the Psalmist: "For all things serve you." He is also Master by nature; for all wisdom is from the Lord, and all intelligence is through him. For he implants wisdom in spirits, and he inserts understanding appropriate to every rational creature, heavenly and earthly. Just as he himself, being Life by nature, gives life to all things capable of life, so, since he himself is the wisdom of the Father, he imparts to all the gifts of wisdom, namely, discernment and all knowledge of goods. The Son, therefore, is the Lord C and Master of all things by nature. Since, therefore, I, who am so great in glory, have not disdained to descend to such great humility as to wash even your feet, how can you yourselves, he says, refuse to do this for one another? Through these words, he teaches that one ought not to be insolently puffed up against the honor of others, but to consider one's fellow servant as superior and to be preferred in every respect. A truly illustrious lesson: for to a modest mind that despises pride, nothing is comparable, and nothing divides brothers and friends from one another as much as the miserable and uncontrollable lust for petty glory. For we always somehow choose what is greater, and the empty honors of this life persuade our slippery mind to yearn ever more for things that are more brilliant. D In order, therefore, that we may be freed from such a disease and cast off so detestable a lust—for that ambition is nothing other than a delusion—let us embrace with our whole heart Christ, the King of all, who for this reason washed the feet of his disciples, that we might do the same for one another. For in this way every manner of pride will be checked, and every kind of worldly ambition will be driven away. For if he, being Lord by nature, was made as a servant, how could we, who are servants, refuse to endure anything of this kind without the risk of the gravest punishment?
A Indeed, Christ confirms the power of the deed performed with what are, as it were, necessary oaths, and shows that the transgression of the saving commandment is entirely fraught with perilous risk. For what has been confirmed by an oath cannot be passed over without guilt. It is, therefore, He says, an inexcusable charge against servants if they are unwilling to think the same things as their own masters. For it is nothing other than arrogance for one to contend that he is greater than or beyond his worth; and one might reasonably apply the same observation to the apostles, that it is in better things that they ought to seek to be, rather than in those in which their Sender is. For it will suffice for them, for a measure of all glory, to be of the same spirit as the One who sent them. B And this was nothing other than to say: "You will rightly be laughed at before the divine tribunal if you refuse to do these things for one another out of pride, although you have obtained the common name of servitude, which I also took upon myself, although I am by nature God and Lord." For it is truly absurd, or rather, it is not without the highest madness, that those who are servants, and far inferior to the Lord and the One who sent them, should strangely blush at rendering service to one another. "If you know these things, therefore," He says—that is, if you are able to understand clearly what I am saying—"blessed are you if you do them." For it is not the knowing of virtue, but rather the practicing of it, that one would call desirable and worthy of emulation. C And I think it is perhaps even better not to have learned at all than, once having learned, to bind the mind with sloth, and—when one knows what is best and right to do—to be unwilling to perform it, according to the voice of the Savior: "He who did not know his Lord's will, and did not do it, shall be beaten with few stripes; but he who knew it, and did not do it, shall be beaten with many." For to the one who was entirely ignorant, even if he might be held accountable to some extent for his laziness, the request for a moderate pardon would not be entirely inappropriate. But to the one who knows, the matter would become painful unto condemnation, for the knowledge itself [condemns him]. For he has shown contempt, when nothing was lacking to him for the power to do what was more fitting for him. D Therefore, those who know must perform; for then, clothed in the glory of a life lived perfectly in Christ, we shall one day receive the fullest recompense. And so the Savior said that he who does and teaches shall be called great, and most rightly so, in the kingdom of heaven. For what is lacking to him for piety? And how should he who shines abundantly with the splendor of good works not glory in the most perfect gifts received from God? When, therefore, knowledge is joined to works, then indeed it produces no small amount of usefulness; but when one of the two is lacking, the other will be entirely crippled. It is written, moreover, that faith without works is dead. For although to know the one God by nature, and to confess Him sincerely and truly, is faith, nevertheless this too is dead, unless the splendor of works follows. Is it not, therefore, entirely useless to know what is good, if you are not willing to cultivate it? For this reason, therefore, He says that His disciples will be blessed, whether those believing in Him, if they not only
possess the knowledge of what was said by Him, but if they also perform them. B
XIII, 18. "I do not speak of you all; for I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with Me, hath lifted up his heel against Me."
These words contain no small amount of obscurity. For when He calls those blessed who have the knowledge of good and are zealous to perform it in action, He immediately adds, "I do not speak of you all," hinting at the betrayer, as seems to be the case for many and for me as well; for the God-hated one will never be counted among the zealous, nor would he ever be ranked among the blessed, having made such a soul liable to such impiety. And this is one interpretation of the passage that is well-worn among the majority.
There is, however, another sense besides this of this kind. For when Christ was about to say, according to the most holy Scripture: "He that was eating My bread magnified C his supplantation over Me," or "lifted up his heel against Me," He makes a sort of purgation beforehand, and soothes the genuine chorus of the other disciples, casting the stigma of the crime upon one alone. For since all were eating His bread, and were obviously feasting together and consuming what was offered through Him, for this reason He does not allow the mind of the free to be crushed by vain fear, and as soon as possible He cuts off the sharpness of suspicion, saying: "I do not speak of you all: I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled," He says, "He that eateth My bread, hath lifted up his heel against Me," or "magnified supplantation," according to the voice of the Psalmist. I think that something of this sort is being intimated. D Since, therefore, a double interpretation has been set forth to us in these matters, let the lover of learning examine which is the better and the more true; however, we offer another point in this statement for the confirming of the minds of the simpler ones.
For there is a certain way in which someone can doubt here in two ways. And first, indeed, he will object to us, saying: If we believe that Christ knows all things, why did He choose Judas, and why did He mix him with the other disciples, when He did not ignore that he would be a betrayer and would be entangled in the snares of avarice? To these things He says: If he lifted up his heel against Christ for this reason, as He Himself says, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, he will not be considered to be in guilt himself, but rather that necessity which compelled him to fulfill the Scripture. But we must respond sharply to each of the things which have been objected, and it is necessary to attach a suitable solution for each one by the reasons we are able, for the edification and consolation of those who are not capable of themselves to understand the things in the divine Scripture.
And first, indeed, we say that if we were to wish to use such arguments about each of the things that have been done by God, we should never reach an end.
A of finding fault with and criticizing the Maker, foolishly tearing down His immense kindness. For what, I ask, will prevent others—following this same line of reasoning—from accusing God and saying: "Why did You choose Saul, and anoint him as king over Israel, knowing that he would utterly despise the grace?" And why do I say this? For the reasoning behind this complaint will ascend even to the author of the race, that is, Adam. And someone who has pondered those things might perhaps say: "Why did You form the first man from the earth, You who know all things? For You were not ignorant that he would fall, having transgressed the commandment given to him." In accordance with this same argument, one might also cry out in accusation regarding those who are higher and greater: "Why did You create the nature of the angels, when, as God, You were not ignorant of the future apostasy of some?" For not all have kept their own principate B. What follows from this? This, evidently: that on account of His foreknowledge, He ought either to have created nothing at all, or at any rate, to have produced no creature gifted with reason, so that God would command only an irrational nature, deprived of sense, and would not even be known to be God by nature.
I believe, however, that those who consider these matters ought above all to see that the Maker of all entrusted the reins of their own free choice [prohairesis] to rational creatures, and left them to be self-determined in their inclinations [rhopais], so that each might test the way he himself should possibly live to the best effect. Those who have rightly inclined themselves toward the better things preserve their own glory, and remain in the participation of the good things bestowed upon them, and they enjoy a happiness from which they cannot fall. But those who are destroyed by their own mental reasonings, and are carried away by the uncheckable currents of their desires toward things that are not lawful, pay the penalty C fitting for them; and deservedly having to endure punishment for their ingratitude, they will undergo a harsh and endless retribution. Within these bounds you will find the nature of the angels to be contained. For those who kept their own principate have an unshakable firmness and constancy in all good things; but those who turned toward the worse and slipped away from that ancient nobility, having been bound with chains of darkness, as it is written, are reserved for the judgment of the great day.
So too was the first man, that is, Adam, made at the beginning. For he was in paradise, and in the highest delights—in spiritual ones, to be sure—and in glory before God. And he would have remained in those ancient good things of nature had he not turned toward apostasy and disobedience, foolishly transgressing the commandment given from above. Thus did He anoint Saul D as king. For in the beginning he was not a wicked man, but as he did not show himself to be such any longer, He removed him from his glory and kingly honor. Thus did He choose Judas, and mingled him with the holy disciples, when he showed himself in the beginning to be a suitable follower and disciple. But after he was gradually tempted by Satan and ensnared by the love of gain, he succumbed to this vice, and for this reason, He finally repelled him as a traitor. Nothing, therefore, belongs to Him who chose him. For it lay with him not to fall, if he had indeed wished to embrace the better things and had transferred his whole mind toward following Christ sincerely. To the other
A point of our inquiry, we speak as follows. For let no one think, according to the stupidity of some, that for this reason were the deeds foretold by the holy prophets brought to completion, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. For if this state of affairs were true, nothing would at all prevent those who necessarily served the written requirements from having their sin go unexcused, or rather, from having committed no sin at all. For if they had to be fulfilled, someone will say, and they were fulfilled by these men, then those through whom they were fulfilled would be free of all blame. Furthermore, the divine Scripture itself would surely appear as a minister of sin, calling men as if by force into those things which were spoken through it, so that what had been voiced long ago might reach its end. But I think the word of such blasphemy is quite B heavy. For who would be so bereft of sound reason as to think that the word of the Holy Spirit is the cause of sin for anyone? We do not believe, therefore, that deeds were done by certain people for that cause, so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled; but that the Spirit, having foreknowledge of future things, foretold them so that when they happen, by having the prediction as a pledge of faith, we might finally and indubitably recognize the one of whom these things were written. But since this has been discussed fully by us in another book, to repeat the same things again seems somewhat superfluous.
XIII, 19. *From now on I tell you before it happens, so that when it comes to pass, you may believe that I am he.*
I have set forth, he says, that which is about to take place very soon, and before the proper time: for it will be profitable to the hearers, C and it will contribute not a little to recognize the scope of the matter itself. For I am not accustomed to consume the utility of discourse in vain narrations: but those things in which there seems to be no small utility if they should come to your knowledge, these I judge should be poured into your ears. I tell you, therefore, from now on, he says, those things which are indeed already at the doors; but I do not yet bring you knowledge of their fulfillment, so that when they do happen, by fitting the outcome of events to my predictions, you may believe that I am he, concerning whom divine Scripture has spoken such things. At the same time, therefore, our Lord Jesus Christ also sets out to chasten the traitor little by little, bringing his rebuke under certain veils, and saying that D the outcome of the betrayal will be a sign and a very clear proof that it is He who is Christ. For as we have said already, he who compares those things which were foretold through the holy Scriptures with the crimes of the traitor will reach, I think, a most manifest and very easy grasp of him.
A "Amen, amen, I say to you, he who receives whomsoever I send receives me; and he who receives me receives him who sent me." B Having usefully demonstrated beforehand that He is the Christ, and also through those things by which the traitor was about to act violently against Him, He again devises something useful for the overthrow of his evil counsel, although his discourse still proceeds in a somewhat obscure manner for him. For He still tries to conceal the crime, and does not yet openly say who it is that will betray Him. He refutes him, therefore, and most usefully with a clear example, showing that there is an absolute necessity that the goal of the love and honor shown to Him be referred to the person of God and Father. And yet, this is not His main purpose in showing it, but perhaps rather the opposite. For, as it seems, having refrained from saying more plainly what He has said elsewhere, namely, "He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father," C He has resorted to what is milder, leaving it to the hearers to understand the opposite from this—since the time was for threatening rather than exhorting, the crime being already at the doors, and the cruel intention already being meditated upon against Him; for Satan had already cast the thought into the heart of the traitor. Just as therefore, He says, someone would surely receive me and no other, if he received one sent by me, so he who receives him who has been sent by God and Father would justly receive the Father himself. But in these words of His you will see nothing indicated but what is favorable. If, however, you transfer the observation of His saying to the opposite, you will see the impiety of the traitor extending not only to the Son, but also to the Father himself. The statement is therefore a kind of threat, but brought forth in milder words and obliquely twisting the meaning. D For just as someone among us receives one sent by God who agrees with his words and, by keeping what has been commanded, honors him whom God recommends, in the same way, I think, would someone receive the Lord, and through Him the Father, whoever believes in the Son. For the declaration is intertwined with the offspring of the one who begets. For he who has believed him to be the Son at all will indeed necessarily confess the Father who begat him. The judgment of the traitor is therefore dreadful, since through his impiety toward the Son he has also acted impiously toward God and Father himself. For if he had received and honored Him, subjecting his mind sincerely as to a Lord, if he had confessed the Son as God from God with unwavering faith, the wretch would have made his love for Him superior to base gains; and then, I think, he would not have been caught as a traitor, nor would he have prepared for himself the state of not having been born at all.
Having said these things, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified and said: "Amen, amen, I say to you that one of you will betray me." And to whom among existing things would it not be clear that our nature possesses neither the thoughts nor the words,
A by which it might be able to speak blamelessly and unfailingly of the properties of the divine and ineffable nature? For this reason, it makes use of words in accordance with itself, as a help for a moderate explanation of things that exceed the mind. For how could one clearly express something that surpasses even our own comprehension? It is therefore necessary for us, taking the coarseness of human words as a kind of model and type of the conceptions of the mind, to attempt to proceed—so far as is possible—toward those properties of the Godhead. God therefore reproves those who sin very gravely, and is moved by an intense hatred of evil against those whom it happens He must condemn, even though He is more merciful and tolerant of the wicked than can be expressed. When, therefore, divine Scripture wishes to signify His movement, so to speak, against the impious, it again makes use of our human vocabulary and calls it wrath and anger, although no such perturbation falls upon the divine substance, but He is moved by indignation B in the way that He alone knows and as is proper to His nature; for the things concerning God are absolutely ineffable. But divine Scripture is accustomed to explain things that exceed us by using our own customs, as we have just said. The blessed evangelist therefore declares that Christ was "troubled in spirit" here, calling that movement of the spirit by which it turned away from evil a "troubling"; for it was not possible, as it seems, to speak of it otherwise. And it is surely credible that the flesh, not fully sustaining the movement of the Godhead, shuddered a little and took on the appearance of being troubled, and displayed a sign of anger, just as it is written concerning Lazarus, that "Jesus, having groaned in himself, came to the tomb." For just as He called the harsh threatening against death in that place a "groaning," so also here He signified the movement against the impious traitor by the name of being "troubled." He was troubled, then, with good reason, indignant at the depravity of Judas. For what could be said to be greater than that man's impiety, who, having been honored with the other disciples with immense honors and placed among the chosen ones, exchanged his love for Christ C for a small sum of money, and while eating his bread, lifted up his heel against him, D considering neither honor nor glory, nor the law of love, nor the worship owed to him as God, nor anything else of this kind, but looking only to the detestable denarii of the Jews, and selling his own soul for a few coins, and handing over the innocent and righteous blood to the hands of murderers. The cause, therefore, for which He was troubled is most reasonable. A sharp reproof follows, which, while pertaining specifically to the person of one of the twelve, nevertheless casts a vehement fear upon the others, and, as it were, commands each one to look out for his own soul, lest by negligence he be entangled in such deadly nooses, and become prey to the devil's bitterness. The power of reproofs, therefore, is useful, which the mind of the traitor, caring nothing for it, persisted in its purpose.
of the betrayer, the mind held fast to its own concerns. With very great emphasis, therefore, Christ says: A "One of you shall betray me." For by this utterance He either accuses the ungrateful mind of the one who dares to do it, or He shows the magnitude of the devil's wickedness, which has been able to accomplish so much as to snatch away even one of the apostles themselves.
XIII, 22. *The disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spoke.*
Stupor and fear all at once invade Christ's disciples, and they look at one another, giving birth to a double anxiety from what has been said. For everyone, as is natural, being solicitous for his own soul, was in no small fear, but they were no less anxious also concerning others as they thought of the matter in common. For they believe that what has been said will certainly be true. They know indeed that the Savior's word cannot be ineffectual, but believing it to be a grievous and unbearable thing that anyone among the disciples should have fallen into such impiety, each one examines his own conscience and B searches out precisely upon whom the lot of destruction is to fall, and whence or how Satan would have such power that he could steal away even one of the genuine disciples.
XIII, 23-26. *There was reclining one of his disciples in the bosom of Jesus, whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore beckons to him, and says to him, Tell us who it is of whom he speaks. He, leaning back against the breast of Jesus, says to him, Lord, who is it? Jesus therefore answers, It is he for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him.*
We might well marvel once again at the promptness of the holy disciples in their love for God, and their keenness in piety. For since they could not know anyone as guilty of themselves, nor did they trust in the errors of conjecture, they inquire again and strive to learn through one who was preeminent C — this was Peter — who did not put the question through himself at all, but left it to be asked by the one who was nearest and beloved because of the splendor of his purity. Now this was John, the writer of the present book, who, since he says he was loved, concealed his own name, handing it over in silence so as not to appear to anyone to be seeking empty glory. For the mind of the saints is free from ambition. Softly, therefore, leaning toward the Master, he whispers secretly and asks to learn who the son of destruction is; but the Savior gives him no other sign of the matter than that which was long ago proclaimed through the voice of the Prophet: D "He who ate my bread, has magnified his betrayal against me." For He dips and gives the morsel, showing by this who it was that ate his bread. And while He removes the fear of the holy disciples, He leads them into a remembrance of another prophecy which says thus: "But you, O man, my equal in soul, my guide, and my acquaintance, who 85
A with consent sweetened meals for me; within the house of God we walked in harmony." For the man of equal soul, and the known one, and the table-companion—and why should one not count even him among those who attained to genuineness—was surely the traitor himself, since he was reckoned among the other holy disciples who held the same purpose as the Savior, and who ran together throughout the region of the Jews, becoming eager ministers of the miracles, and hastening to do all things for His honor and glory. But the known one, the equal in soul, exchanged the grace of the One who honored him for shameful gains. Observe, then, again, how the most wise evangelist correctly urges us to live as rationally as possible, and to sharpen the keenness of our mind toward being able to attain very easily to divine contemplations, and to strive as much as possible to clarify the words of the vision of God. He says that he was honored with the highest honors and was loved by our Savior Christ, so that he even reclined in the Lord's very bosom, a fact which he treats as a mark of the extraordinary love shown to him. Those, therefore, will sit closest to God, and in the first places, as it were, near Him, who of all men possess a pure heart, to whom the Savior Himself also awards an exceptional prize, saying that those who are pure in heart will be blessed, because they themselves shall see God. And we shall bring forward, in proof that the word was spoken truly, this very most wise evangelist himself. For he beheld the glory of Christ, according to his own voice: "For I beheld His glory," he says, "glory as of the Only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." For no one could behold with the eyes of the body a nature that is utterly invisible to the whole of creation. For no one has seen the Father, according to the voice of the Savior, except the One who is from God, that is to say, the Son; He has seen the Father. Yet to those who have a mind free from worldly stain and from the empty anxieties of this life, I say, Christ reveals His own glory through a subtle perception that surpasses all contemplation, showing in it also the glory of the Father. For this reason He said, "He who has seen me has seen the Father." B XIII, 26, 27. C When He had dipped the morsel, He gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, and after the morsel Satan entered into him. D The Savior gave to His own disciples a most manifest sign of the betrayer. For having dipped the morsel, He handed it over, by this means making known him who was eating His bread and who was about to lift up his heel against Him. The most wise evangelist says that the leader and captain of impiety against Christ and of murder, and the artificer of all evils, leaped into the heart of the traitor, and that Satan entered entirely into him after the giving of the morsel. And let no one think, on the other hand, that this morsel was the cause of the diabolical entry. For we shall never reach such a measure of madness, nor shall we be so destitute of the reason that is fitting, as to suspect that the blessing was given as the cause of the entry of the Evil One; rather, we shall truly say that, when all the marks of love and
A completeness had been fulfilled in his regard, and nothing whatsoever was lacking of those things that contribute to honor and affection, he remained in the same state of zeal and purpose, without correcting his evil intentions through repentance, nor withdrawing his mind from his wicked plot, nor shedding tears for the things he had dared even to conceive in his heart; but rather, burning with a more severe thirst for the completion of his impiety, he succumbed to his wicked undertakings. Therefore, Satan finally entered into him, finding his heart, as it were, a door standing open and bereft of all watchfulness, and seeing his mind empty as a threshold, and already burning with a desire to see and ponder whatever he might wish. And we shall find that this is a beaten path for the Evil One, if we go through the whole of the inspired Scripture. For he approaches at the beginning, testing the heart of those who worship God, and he first sows evil thoughts, and incites us to every kind of sin through base pleasures; but he rushes with the greatest hostility toward that part where he sees us already wounded and weakened. For he always takes our infirmity—the passion to which our mind has previously succumbed—as a sort of fellow worker in his own perversity. For example: one man is B burning with the detestable impulse of carnal pleasure; another prizes the desire for base gain and unholy money. When, therefore, he approaches to wage war, he takes up that turbulence which has prevailed and conquered within us, in order to overcome us, and through it he certainly contrives a way of destruction for us. Just as an excellent leader and commander of an army, when he has surrounded a city with a siege, commands that engines be brought up to the weaker parts of the wall, knowing that an entry into the city can be prepared by these means and that it can be captured easily; in the same way, I think, Satan, when he wishes to storm a person's soul, betakes himself to its weaker part, hoping that in this way he will easily overthrow it, especially when he sees that it does not admit of any benefit from those things through which it is reasonable that the passion might be curbed, such as good suggestions, incitements to bravery, reminders of piety, and the mystical blessing. For this, in truth, especially repels the murderous poison of the devil. C Therefore, the traitor was not moved to shame by the reproofs, which were still being offered obscurely and in passing, nor did he revere the invincible power of love, nor the honor, glory, and grace, nor the blessing which he received from Christ; but recklessly and obstinately clinging to that disease of avarice to which he had previously succumbed, he was finally completely captured and fell. For he no longer has Satan as a mere advisor, but he makes him the master of his whole heart and the ruler of his own mind, he who had been at the beginning only a whisperer. For he entered into him, as it is in the Gospel. We must, therefore, be on our guard and with all our might discard the desires of the soul, from which we know that losses follow: but it is also necessary to remember him who says: If the spirit of the one having power ascend over you, do not leave your place, because healing will cause great sins to cease. For it is necessary by the force of thoughts in our hearts
A that the spirit of the one having power be somehow refashioned. For if we have the ability to impede—and this is something that lies within us—then we must immediately chastise what has ascended and not allow it to take root through the concessions of sloth, but rather, as if it were some beginning of bitterness, hasten to cut it away, and desire that the mind go undisturbed. That is to say, one must know clearly that Satan will overcome by little and little through flattery, and we might suffer such a thing as the Psalmist says: "Before I was humbled, I committed sin" (Ps. CXVIII, 67). For before we suffer sin completely, we beforehand commit sin in the understanding of our thoughts, honoring it, receiving it, and giving a place of entry to Satan through this. And the passion of the traitor will be a type and image of this matter. B
XIII, 27, 28. "And Jesus said to him: What you do, do quickly. Now no one of those reclining knew for what purpose He said this to him."
The text proposed might appear perhaps discordant and not very consistent with what has been previously said. For someone will say, and not without reason, why, when the Lord was hiding His rebuke and not clearly turning the traitor away from the impious slaughter against Him, does He now appear to urge him on toward it, and exhort him to attack the detestable and impious deed vigorously? But what need was there, he says, to drive a man already sufficiently incited of his own accord, when it would have been better to call him to better things with admonitions and turn him away from his proposed counsel? C And there will be those who admit that what Christ declares here is absurd; yet, if one examines the sense of the proposed passage more keenly, he will find that nothing absurd has been said, but rather that a sharp sense lies beneath it, which I for my part will endeavor to explain briefly. Most prudently, therefore, the wise evangelist said above that Satan himself had previously burst into and entered the heart of the traitor, so that finally our Lord Jesus Christ might appear to be saying to him—rather than to him who had in reality and truly been overcome by the traitor through neglect—"What you do, do quickly." For it is the same as if He clearly said: "Your work, which you alone know and are accustomed to do, D O Satan, do quickly. You killed the prophets (for you acted as a guide to the Jews in their impiety), and then you oversaw the stoning of those who announced the saving doctrine to Israel; you spared no one of those who were sent by God; you proved to be utterly shameless and exceeded all measure of madness against them. I have therefore come after them, to grant those who are still wandering no longer to wander, to place those living in darkness in the divine light, to set free those who have fallen into your snares and become the prey of your cruelty from your bonds. I have come to destroy the tyranny of sin reigning because of you, and to reveal to every man who God is by nature. But
A I know, moreover, not moderately, your untameable mind. Therefore, do now what you are accustomed to do to those who desire to succeed in such things. For you will not hurt me at all by falling upon me sharply and pressing upon me very bitterly, to the extent that the passion will have passed through me at the beginning." And these, for my part, I suppose to be the words of the Savior, hinting somehow at the power of the proposition before us; but since He commands that the wicked deeds be hastened because of this, come, let us consider it again. Although the boldness B of the unholy is found to be very terrible, as they choose to behave wantonly toward Him with impurity. For He was expecting torments, and an unbearable crowd of blasphemies, blows and spittle, and lastly, the piteous death upon the wood, the nails, and the cross, the vinegar, and the gall, and the wounds from the spear. Why, then, does He hasten, He says, and wish for the wicked deeds of the passion to be performed by the devil without delay? For the Jews have become ministers and servants of evils. Yet we shall attribute the whole thing to him who was the commander toward the murder, and the leader of the first-fruits of evils. But even if the wicked deeds of the impious Jews against Christ were very terrible, and the insolence of those who crucified Him unbearable, yet He knew the end of the passion, and what was to result from it. For through the precious cross, the tyranny of the devil was to C be destroyed entirely, death was to be abolished, the power of corruption was to be brought to an end, and the human race was to be freed from that ancient curse; and it was expected that through the kindness and grace of our Savior Christ, that saying would cease: "You are earth, and to earth you shall return" 92; all iniquity was to stop its mouth, according to the voice of the Prophet 93, and no longer be able to accuse those subject to it, and those who throughout the world did not know the true, natural, and only God were to be utterly destroyed, while the gate of paradise was expected to be opened henceforth to those who have been justified by faith in Christ. Things below were to be joined to things above, and the heavens were to be opened, according to the voice of the Savior; and the ranks of the holy angels were to ascend and descend upon the Son of man 94. D Since, then, so many good things were expected, and so bright a hope was rekindled for us through the salutary cross, how was it not necessary that He who so greatly desired our salvation, and for this reason had become man like us, without sin, should desire to see this most awaited time? And how was it not necessary that He who knew nothing of evil should despise the machinations prepared by diabolical craftiness, and should hasten rather to come to the most desired time of such a brilliant festival? Therefore, to Satan, who did not know that a war was being prepared against himself, and who did not at all know that in constructing the gallows of the cross he was casting himself headlong, the Savior was saying: "What you do, do quickly." For it is the speech of one threatening rather than of one exhorting. For just as if some young man, endowed with remarkable strength, should see someone rushing at him with great force, and having a sharp axe fitted to his right hand, knowing that his adversary would be slain by him, he should exclaim, "What you do, do quickly," for "you shall experience the strength of my right hand," certainly no one would say that this voice is that of one wishing to die, but rather of one foreknowing the victory over the adversary.
A For he intends to show that the wicked one, having already fallen, is an object of laughter, and to see the inhabited world freed from the one who formerly held sway through covetousness and had conquered it as if by deceit, so as to alienate it from faith in God.
Indeed, the disciples were ignorant of the power of the word, as is to be expected, since Christ did not reveal it to them, for even in other places he appears to preface his teaching by saying that he would be delivered into the hands of sinners, and would be crucified, and would be put to death, and would rise again on the third day; yet he charged them to tell these things to no one at all. For his purpose was to elude the prince of this world [to hide] who he truly is by nature, so that by coming he might be crucified, and having been crucified, he might abolish death and accomplish salvation for those who believe in him. He therefore hides most of the things that are said, by a providential plan; for as God, he knows all things that are profitable.
XIII, 29. *For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus had said to him: "Buy those things we have need of for the feast," or that he should give something to the poor.*
Not understanding the power of the word of the Savior, the disciples turn B immediately to their familiar and common suspicions, and they assume that he is indicating again those things which it was the Savior's custom to command. For with the feast near, they expected that he was ordering the one who had the money box to purchase some of the things suitable for it, or rather, to command him to carry out what was of great interest to him, that is, to provide enough to satisfy the needs of the destitute, according to the measure of what was brought in. For the Lord is good and merciful, as it is written.
C A most excellent model is found here for us ourselves. For I believe that those who wish to celebrate a feast purely and in a manner pleasing to God ought not to take thought only for their own joy, nor merely provide for how they themselves alone might spend it cheerfully, but rather to weave into their own concern their compassion for the needy. For then, and only then, by fulfilling the law of love one for another, shall we celebrate a truly spiritual feast to the Savior Christ. Therefore, the law given of old to the Jews regarding the gathering of manna did not permit only those who were able to do this to gather for themselves; for he says: "Each one of you, gather even for your companions in the tent." For if anyone of their companions in the tent lacked strength, those who had not suffered such a thing, lending their own strength to him in a way, D would gather to their own measure, and that which was sufficient for others
so that, according to what is written, he who had much might have no excess, and he who had little might not be in want. For thus, as it were, a certain temperament of equality was able to preserve the principle of parity for all. Therefore, whoever does not combine the care of the needy with his own concern violates the order and formula appropriate to holy feasts. For that perfect union would indeed be the true celebration.
A Having received the morsel, he went out immediately. And it was night when he went out.
He departs with the swiftness of a runner for what seems good to the devil, and as if goaded and stung, he leaps out of his home; and he sees nothing at all that is more excellent than the greed for gain, and what is strange is that we shall find he gained no benefit from the eulogia [the bread], because of the proclivity toward making money that was obviously inherent in him, which is hard to restrain. For, having been previously captivated by this passion, and expressing in himself the father of all the labor pains of iniquity, the wretch no longer considers in the least where he is running. For, having received into his breast something like a dark swarm of unholy thoughts, as it were night, he descends to the pit of Hades, and reaches the precipice, and according to the saying in Proverbs, "as a deer is rushed, wounded in the liver by an arrow, B or as a dog to its chains," not knowing that he is running for his life [Prov. VII, 22-23]. And it does not seem to me that the divine evangelist said for nothing that, "Having received the morsel, he went out immediately." For Satan is terrible at commanding those who have been once captured and have become subject to him to perform evil deeds immediately, and to carry out what seems good to him without any delay, compelling even the unwilling. He fears perhaps—such is the sharpness of his mind for performing wickedness—that if he delays, repentance might steal in and prepare the man to change his mind regarding some of the goods, and that, putting aside the pleasure that impels to sin like a kind of drunkenness of the mind, he might be dragged out of the trap by Him who has already been seized. For this reason, I believe, the destroyer presses hard upon those who have become his subjects, and urges them most sharply to the work that has pleased him. C And indeed, as soon as Judas had taken the morsel, he compels him immediately, as if having taken him under his hand, to go to such an impious deed, fearing, as is likely, that along with repentance, the power of the eulogia might perhaps flare up in the man’s heart like light and persuade him to choose rather to do good, or might breed a genuine disposition in him who had already been persuaded to betray. And that this is the demon’s custom always to act against us, we shall know through the things that happened in type. For Pharaoh certainly made those Jews who were still in Egypt subject to him, and ordered them to be harshly worn down with mud and brickmaking and the necessities of such labors, and gave them no time for prayers to God. And indeed, to the overseers of the works: "Let the works," he says, "of these men be heavy, and let them not occupy themselves with empty words," D calling "empty words" the desire for freedom, and the vehement ardor for recovering it, the lamentation of their servitude, and the desire for better things. For he was not ignorant that if they were occupied with meditating on such things,
they would find no small benefit. Moving now from the types to the acknowledgment of truer contemplations, we shall find Satan very urgent, forcing those who have once fallen into his nets to commit wicked acts, and already holding them entirely captive for the service of those things that please him. B XIII, 31, 32. When therefore he had gone out, Jesus said: Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God also will glorify him in himself, and will straightway glorify him. The traitor goes forth to serve the strategies of the devil; but Christ begins his discourse, signifying in a figurative manner that things which belong only to the noble-born ought not to be broadcast to everyone indiscriminately, and by this means he teaches. For it is not proper to give what is holy to the dogs, according to his own voice, nor to allow pearls to be trampled by the feet of swine. Therefore, what he had said before in the form of a parable, he now attempts to teach, as the time calls for the work and for a clearer demonstration. After the defection and departure of the traitor, he at last shares the mysteries with his genuine disciples, as the time was now appropriate, and says: "Now is the Son of man glorified"; and by this he signifies his saving passion, as though it were already at the doors and about to occur in a short while. Moreover, he says that the Son of man has been glorified, not signifying anyone else other than himself, nor separated, as it seemed to some; for the Son is one, Christ, both before the flesh and with the flesh, and before he became man as we are, and after he became man. But one must ask how he affirms that he has been glorified. For perhaps someone might say: Was he not also glorified previously when he performed miracles? For when he calmed the raging sea with a single word and repressed the violent onset of the winds, he was worshipped by those who were in the boat at that time, and he heard: "Truly you are the Son of God." And indeed, when he commanded Lazarus who was in Bethany to return to life, the miracle was so famous that when he went up to Jerusalem around the time of the feast, everyone met him together with children, and accompanied him with favorable omens, saying: "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." But also, having broken five loaves and two small fish, he provided for the multitude of those who had run together to him, excluding children and women, to eat, amounting to five thousand men. And the miracle thus performed seemed so glorious to some that, astonished by the excellence of the event, they wished to proclaim him king; for this is what the evangelist himself testified to us. It is not difficult to gather other examples of this kind, which are in no way inferior to those we have just recounted. How, therefore, does he say he is now glorified, he who was also glorified formerly? For he was glorified also by other acts, and was believed to be endowed with divine power. Nevertheless, the consummation of his glory consisted in the passion which he endured for the life of the world, and in this, that through himself
he innovated the mode of the resurrection of all. For if we carefully examine the rationale of this mystery, we shall see that he did not die for himself, nor properly for his own sake, but for the sake of all humanity, both having suffered and performed the passion itself, and the resurrection after it. For he died according to the flesh, showing his own life to be a counterweight to the life of all, and, being worth all things, he fulfilled in himself the power of that ancient curse. B But he was raised again from the dead into an incorruptible and unending life, raising up the whole of nature within himself. "For once dead, as it is written, he dies no more; death shall have no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once; but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God." This will also be true for us ourselves on account of Christ. For we shall not be raised again to death, but to life without end, although there will be a great difference hereafter regarding glory, I mean, and the reward owed to the character of each. Having therefore become obedient to God and the Father unto death, even the death of the cross, according to the voice of Paul, he was superexalted again, receiving the name which is above every name. For he who was thought to be a mere man was glorified exceedingly, having been shown to be truly God and the Son of God in truth, not having been called to a new dignity—being God by nature—but having returned to that which he was even before the flesh, and even with the flesh itself; and therefore we consider him to have been glorified, although he has been Lord of glory throughout. For no new dignity of God is found in Christ, but he possesses all things naturally, as God, even before that which we call the emptying. But also, because he raised himself again to those things from which he had descended in the taking of the form of a servant, even when he had become man, he is thought to be glorified and is said to have received it. C Therefore, when Christ is glorified, God and the Father is also glorified in every way; he is glorified in the Son, not having received any addition of glory from his own offspring—for the divine and ineffable nature is in no way in need of such a thing—but because it was made known whose Father he is. For just as it is glory and a boast for the Son to have such a parent by nature, in the same way I think it also redounds to the glory of the Father that he has such a Son from himself. Therefore he says: "If God is glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself." For at once the Father was glorified through the Son, and he immediately glorified the Son in return; for the name of glory runs to both and through both. Nevertheless, in order that we may bring the force of the word down even to our own circumstances, providing an occasion of benefit to the hearers, we shall add this for them. If we glorify God in ourselves, it is to be hoped that we shall be glorified by him. "For as I live, saith the Lord," he says, "those who glorify me I will glorify, and they shall not be despised." But God is glorified by us and in us when, the filth of sin having been cast off, we are seen through every good work.
We live thus for his glory.
A XIII, 33. *Filioli, adhuc modicum vobiscum sum.*
He places his disciples in the rank and order of infants or the newly born, although they had been raised to such a measure of virtue and were endowed with such prudence as is found in but few, teaching us most clearly from this that he who is considered very perfect among men is an infant and unlearned before God. For what is the prudence of man if it be compared with the wisdom of the Creator of the universe? Therefore the Psalmist said to God: "I became as a beast of burden before thee" (Ps. LXXII, 23). But let no one of sound mind say that the Psalmist is called a beast of burden because he clung to God; for this would be a grave insult to the divine nature, and would seem to contain within itself a great absurdity. For he who clings to a wise man and is considered to be with him (for the language of the Psalm must be adapted, I think, to the use) would not be a beast of burden, B but rather sagacious, prudent, and endowed with singular shrewdness. Yet if any one should not unjustly say that this is true, how would it not be futile for anyone to think that a man who is wise would be beast-like and senseless, although he might cling to the very wisdom of God? What then is it, he says, that even the most wise among men, if compared with the wisdom of God, is to be judged as a beast of burden and reckoned among the senseless? For just as the smallest among the stars would not contend with the rays of the sun, nor a heavy stone with the highest of all mountains, so the prudence of men can never be compared with the wisdom of God; nay, it will be nothing at all when compared to it. Therefore, even the perfect man is an infant. C But Christ said that he would be with his disciples for only a little while longer, not as though he were entirely to depart, nor as though he were to be completely and utterly alienated; for he is with us all the days, even unto the consummation of the age, according to his own voice (Matth. XXVIII, 20): but because he was not to be with them in the flesh as he had been yesterday and the day before, while the time was pressing at the doors—or rather, inside the doors—of his departure from this world to the Father, and his return to heaven. But as many as think rightly and have a firm faith ought to bring into their own minds that, although he is absent from us in the flesh, having returned to God and the Father, yet he governs all things by his divine power and force, and is present with those who love him. D For this reason he said: "Amen, amen, I say to you, where there are two or three gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matth. XVIII, 20). For just as, when he was still conversing among men and existing on earth in the flesh, he was filling the heavens and was associating with the holy angels, and was not abandoning the upper regions: so also now, while existing in the heavens with his own flesh, he [fills the earth]
and associates with his own acquaintances. Observe how, although he expects to be separated only according to the flesh (for he is with us by the power of his divinity at all times), he still says that he will be with us for a little while, perfect and whole, designating himself by a part, so that no one might attempt to divide the one Christ into a duality of sons, but that one might think of and receive him as one being: both the Word begotten of God the Father, and the temple taken from the holy Virgin—not that they are of the same substance, but that after the ineffable union, the reasoning that seeks to divide is not pious; for Christ is one from both.
"You will seek me, and as I said to the Jews, where I go, you cannot come; so I also say to you now." B
He says that his departure will not be entirely without loss for his own disciples—his departure, clearly. First, because they will be wasted away by the sorrow at this, and will find the weight of the bitterness resulting from this unbearable. For it is indubitable that they will pine to be with him again, and will desire to live in his company through all things, just as, of course, the divine Paul, even preferring the being with Christ to the life here in the body, reasoned that it was better to be dissolved and to be with Christ. C When Christ foresaw these things, and did not ignore the hearts of those who loved him, he did not say that his departure would be without sorrow for the disciples; but there was also another true cause for this, which compelled the holy disciples to seek to be with Christ. For they were soon to be subjected to no small dangers, and were to be tossed about frequently by the unbridled frenzies of the Jews, but also were to fall into the frenzies of certain others, running about the whole inhabited world, and preaching the doctrine of the Savior to those still wandering, so as to experience prisons, and not to be exempt from insult and abuse, and to arrive at a trial of other tortures no less; although they had experienced nothing of the sort before while being with Christ. You will seek, he says, my presence most of all then, when the manifold waves of temptations trouble you. D This was not to lead the disciples to cowardice, or to crush them with fear, but rather to anoint them for the taking up of fortitude, and to teach them, as it were, to be prepared for the endurance of things expected to happen. For we shall not find it useless, but rather one might see that there is much benefit in what is sung in the Psalms: "I was prepared, and I was not troubled." For that which is totally unexpected of evils that are accustomed to harm brings disturbances, and has its incursion in a way unlooked-for; but that which has been anticipated by expectations, and by having been foreknown by some, has already consumed the greater part of the fear, does not have its power against those whom it might attack as sheerly overwhelming, the mind having practiced it in advance, and having received it as if it were already present many times, as far as the power of contemplation goes. For just as if some bloodthirsty and wild beast, having emerged from the midst of the trees and
A leaping upon one who does not see it, tears to pieces the one who is not expecting the assault, and kills the one who has not prepared himself for battle; but if he is seen from afar, and it is known that he will be there, the one who does battle, being armed, will either suffer little harm perhaps, or even if he is unable to do anything, he will depart; in the same manner, I think, regarding temptations: that which is not expected to happen at all will strike us much more hotly and fiercely than that which is expected.
Very usefully, therefore, our Lord Jesus Christ, by saying, "You will seek me," implies the things that are about to happen to his disciples due to his departure, and the tumults that are to be stirred up by his adversaries, rousing them through this prediction to take up courage. He adds to these very usefully also what, for the present, hinders them from following him. For what I said to the Jews, he says, this I now say to you also: "Where I am going, you cannot come." For the time was not yet at hand for the holy disciples, B their ministry not yet being finished, to pass over to the mansions above; for that migration was being reserved for the proper time.
It should be noted, however, that while signifying this same thing, he said to the Jews: "You will seek me, and you will not find me," but to his own disciples he says only, "You will seek me," and he appropriately passes over the "You will not find me." And for what reason? For it quite rightly fits those who do not find him, by reason of their immeasurable unbelief and their incredible impiety toward him; but to those who have a genuine disposition toward him, and have preserved an untainted love, it could no longer be appropriately said, "You will not find me." For he was with them, and he will be with them forever.
XIII, 34. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also should love one another.
Rightly and truly does the divine Paul write: C "Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come." For he renews us, and refashions us in a certain manner toward a new quality of life, which is untrodden and not worn by others, as many as are fond of living under the law and adhering to the commandments given through Moses. For the law accomplishes nothing, as it is written; but one might see the fullest measure of piety toward God in the commandments of our Savior. Therefore he himself also says to us somewhere thus: "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." D For we do not envy the Jews their customs and rites; rather, unless we have greatly surpassed the righteousness of the law, I do not believe we shall ever enter the kingdom of heaven. Yet we do not maintain that the Mosaic law is entirely empty and useless; for although it brought us good, though certainly not perfectly, nevertheless it stood for us as a schoolmistress for the discipline of evangelical conduct, and, by introducing the image of true piety through riddles and figures, it in a certain way imprinted the shadow of Christian doctrine upon our minds. Wherefore he himself was also saying: "For I say to you, that every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like"
A a wealthy man who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old. For true spiritual wealth, and that which is highly celebrated in the words written through Moses, is for a man to have acquired and stored up in his mind the utility derived from them, and yet also to have the beauty of evangelical instruction added to it, so that he becomes doubly radiant through the knowledge of both the ancient and the new laws.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, therefore, showing that His own commandment is better than the ancient one, and that the saving preaching was still somehow inaccessible and untrodden for those who lived under the Law, as He was about to ascend into heaven, lays down as a foundation and plinth of every good thing the law of love—not love according to the Law, but that which is above the Law. For this reason He says: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another." B How then, one might ask, could someone claim that he called this commandment "new," when he who spoke through Moses to those of old said: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself"? For behold, having set the love of God before all others and placed it first, as is fitting, he brought in the love for one another as a neighbor, and somehow yoked that which is for us ourselves to that which is for God, as if it were impossible for the love toward God to be rightly ordered unless this one, which is owed to our neighbor, followed along with it. For we are all brothers to one another. And thus the most wise John, who knew this perfectly and taught others, says: "He who loves his brother also loves God."
How then is it a new commandment through Christ, even though it was set forth by the ancient laws? But observe with me the caution; look at the consequence. For He was not content merely to say: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another," but, showing the novelty of the word, and that His own love possesses something much greater and more excellent than that ancient love—I mean the love for one another—He immediately added: "As I have loved you, that you also should love one another." C It is therefore necessary to investigate, in order to understand clearly the force of what has been said, how Christ loved us. For then, and only then, would we easily be able to enumerate what is new and distinct in the commandment now given. "Being in the form of God, He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, and the death of the cross." And being rich, He became poor, as Paul has again testified to us. Do you see the novelty of the love toward us? For the Law commanded that one should love his brother as himself; but our Lord D Jesus Christ loved us more than Himself: for had He remained in the form and equality of God the Father, He would not have descended to our humility, nor would He have endured such a bitter bodily death for us, nor the Jewish blows, nor the mockings and insults, and in a word, all the rest—so that one might not extend into infinity by numbering the individual things which he suffered.
But neither would he, being rich, have become poor, unless he had loved us far more than himself. A Strange, therefore, is the measure of love. Thus he commands us also to be disposed, setting nothing at all above love for our brothers—neither glory, nor riches, nor, if the situation should require it, fearing to undergo even the death of the body, so that we might gain the salvation of our neighbor. This, indeed, the blessed disciples of our Savior have done, as have those who have followed in their footsteps, having considered the salvation of others to be better than their own life, having endured every labor, and having found themselves in the most extreme evils, that they might rescue the souls of those who were perishing. B And thus Paul says, at one time, "I die daily," and at another time, "Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I do not burn?" The Savior, therefore, has commanded us to cultivate love towards God as the root of the most perfect piety, a love which is above the law; and he has done so, knowing that we could not otherwise be glorious before God, and that by following the beauty of the love which has been poured out upon us from him, we would obtain great and perfect blessings.
XIII, 35. *In this shall everyone know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.*
This sign, he says, you shall inscribe upon your own heads as unshakable and beyond question—that you have been taught by me, if you hasten to follow in the footsteps of my manner of life, as far as it is possible for your nature and the measures of humanity, so that you remain inseparable in the bond of mutual charity, C and be well fitted together in one another, according to the principle of philanthropy and the incomparable glory that comes from brotherly affection; for this will accurately express for us the glory of the teacher. But, I suppose, someone will say to this, and will perhaps arrive at the point of asking, "Why is love the mark of discipleship under Christ, and why does the form of every virtue in him appear to shine forth, not acquired through moral practice, and not as if gathered through toil and attention, as in a human being, but as something naturally inherent to his nature? For these are most especially the properties of the divine nature, and belong to it properly and truly, D things which are far beyond all wonder." And indeed most rightly, O good man, shall we reply, and I will add the argument concerning these things: for the things that belong to the highest substance by nature, specifically and properly, are its fruits. But if one examines the matter more closely, one can see that every kind of virtue serves to complete love, and that whatever good appears to be accomplished, it looks and is directed toward it in some way. For this reason, the commandment that excels and is first according to the law is: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your soul, and with all your heart, and with all your mind"; the second, and its sister and neighbor, is that which speaks of
A the neighbor, love containing the whole fulfillment of the law. And so, the blessed Paul, summing up every commandment in this, declares: "For the commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal,' and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" Love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the law. That it also fashioned the archetype of every virtue within its own boundaries, and keeps all good things together by embracing them as if in its arms, the most wise Paul himself will again testify, crying out: "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up, does not behave rudely, does not seek its own," and the things that follow—for it would be long to pursue the measure of love in a discourse.
Furthermore, I say that it is most fitting and inherent to those who have chosen to love that they recognize they have become disciples of Christ to all everywhere, B to be honored with the crown of love, and to carry about mutual affection as if it were a seal of the matter—the reason for which I shall briefly explain. For if any one of us were to practice the art of a coppersmith, or rather the art of a weaver, would he not be seen, and most clearly, to have become a disciple of some coppersmith or weaver? And what of one skilled in the art of carpentry? Would he not for that reason say that he is well versed in the art, because he had a carpenter as his master? In the same way, I think, those who possess the power of God-loving charity fulfilled within themselves C will recognize without effort that they have become disciples of Love—that is to say, of Christ, who possesses the ultimate love. For He so loved the world that He even laid down His own soul for it, and endured the ferocity of the Jewish outrages. And He Himself will testify, saying to His disciples: "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends."
For since God is love, according to the voice of John, being the Son of that Love—that is, of the true and only God by nature—He also has been manifested as love, having dignity that is not made conspicuous by the display of words and the vanity of expression, but showing Himself by works themselves and by deeds as the fruit of the Father's substance. For we shall in no way think the supreme substance of all things to be merely capable of good, D nor shall we say that the archetype of all good things is adventitious to Him, as it is in us, nor that it is something considered as one thing in another, as one might say of knowledge in a human being. For man is not knowledge in his own essence, but rather is capable of knowledge; but we say that the divine and ineffable nature is itself the very fullness of all good, whatever is believed to be, having in itself, like a certain fountain, every form of virtue, and gushing it forth from itself. Most logically, therefore, He Himself will be the fruit of love, also being Love Himself, even as the Son is from the Father from whom He exists, through [His]
A His love most of all marked upon our souls, and He engraves upon the good the qualities of the intimacy toward Him—that is, to strictly hold fast to the love of our neighbor.
Otherwise, if, according to the voice of Paul, Christ is our peace (for in Him the things below were joined to the things above, and through Him we were reconciled to God and the Father, even though we had originally practiced a great apostasy due to our straying toward the base, and we who were once divided into two peoples—both the Gentiles and Israel—were created into one new man in Him; for the middle wall of the enclosure has been broken down, and the power of enmity has been brought to naught by evangelical dogmas, the law having been silenced), how could they have been known as disciples of peace if they did not possess peace toward one another? For what else, I ask, is the disruption of love, if not the source of war, the subversion of peace, and the discovery of all duplicity? For just as the goods of peace are preserved for us in the indestructible bond of love, in the same way, I think, in the severing of love, the evil of war gains entry. B And what follows from this? Insults, contentions, rivalries, rages, angers, whisperings, slanders, envies, and every kind of depravity are made manifest.
Since, therefore, every virtue is summed up and fulfilled in the form and manner of love, let no one among us boast of fastings, of sleeping on the ground, or of other laborious exercises of piety, if he does not well preserve the love toward his brother. For he is borne outside the turning-post of the race-course, like the more unskilled among charioteers, and he wanders like a helmsman who indeed holds the tiller of the ship but, through ignorance, does not maintain the goal proposed for the voyage.
Therefore, even he who dared to say, "Do you seek proof of Christ who speaks in me?"—I mean the divine Paul—did not boast in simply pursuing [something], but in doing this according to the goal. For to peddle physical labors while meanwhile losing out on the principal and more necessary things—this is not to press toward the goal. He knew, however, that love was placed like a kind of crown upon all virtues, so that he could speak of it most beautifully: "If I distribute all my substance into food for the poor, and if I deliver my body, that I may be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal." The face, therefore, and the image of Christ the Savior in us is the boast of love.
C XIII, 36. Simon Peter says to Him: Lord, where are you going? D Peter inquires again out of a love of learning, and he curiously investigates the power and the meaning of the word, not yet understanding, as it seems, what that which was said meant, yet he bears before him a most fervent desire to follow Christ. In this, the demeanor and order of the disciples is worthy of admiration. For no one would say that Peter, who held the first place among the others, therefore asked because he alone perhaps was ignorant of what the others understood, but rather they yield to him, as the preeminent one, the first place in speaking and the freedom of questioning. For to speak into the ears of a teacher, neither to...
seem to be someone, it is neither safe nor secure to speak to a master. Nevertheless, Peter, who is no less admirable, fearing nothing lest he be thought dull, seeks to be instructed in things he does not know; rather, he is sharp in running toward what is necessary to be learned, and having preferred the benefit derived from the love of learning over untimely shame, so that he might even in this be a model to those after him. For I believe one should not pass over the words of teachers if they should be not at all clear, so that we might seem to be someone, and very keen and sharp in understanding; but rather, one should inquire and intelligently probe what was proposed at the beginning for one's benefit. For the knowledge of what is useful is far better than empty conceit of wisdom, and it is better to have truly learned something than to seem to know it.
B Jesus answered him: *Where I go, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow later.*
Knowing that He would inflict a heavy and burdensome grief upon His own disciples if He stated openly that He would ascend into the heavens and leave them desolate of His presence—even if He would be present again as God—He makes use of a speech that is easily adapted to the present, quietly eluding the precise meaning for the mind. And so, seeing that they were ignorant, he leaves them in that same state. For the wise are not unpracticed in shadowing with heavier words the things that are accustomed to bring grief. For even if, while offering Himself as the first-fruits of humanity to God and the Father, He was setting off on the journey upward and into the heavens, and the matter was for the benefit of all (for He renewed for us a way which human nature did not know before), nonetheless, to the holy disciples who always desired to be with Him, it seemed intolerable to be separated from Christ, even if He were always present to them by the power and cooperation of the Spirit. C Therefore, He leaves the blessed Peter, who did not understand the force of what was said, together with the other disciples in the same state, and does not immediately make clear the precision of what was said, usefully indeed, until He might finish the discourse that would be enough to restore them. We shall see Him doing this in what follows. For He says to them: *It is profitable for you that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Paraclete will not come to you.* Yet He anticipates, as God, the disciple wishing to announce that he also will follow eagerly and will be present swiftly, with nothing restraining his zeal, and He says: *Where I go, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow later.* And the discourse gives birth to a twofold meaning: of which one is most ready and very well-worn, but the other is somewhat more obscure and in an enigma. For He says that he could not now follow D Him as He walks upward and journeys back toward heaven; he will, however, follow after these things, when the honor and glory in hope is clearly restored to the saints by Christ, when they shall come into the city above and shall reign together. But it further signifies another thing, and what that is, I shall say. Not yet having been clothed with power from on high, nor yet having received the Holy Spirit who would confirm them and reform human nature toward fortitude, they were not
able to overcome death or to gird themselves against so terrible a spectacle. For since it belonged to Christ alone, and it was reserved for him alone, to break the power of death, it was not probable that others could do this before him. Indeed, what else, I ask, can not fearing death be, if not to despise death, as if it had no power to harm us? Therefore, in my judgment, the holy prophets themselves also shuddered at approaching death, as not yet having been destroyed through the resurrection of Christ. B Rightly perceiving this, Paul also said that the Word, who is from God the Father and in God, took hold of the seed of Abraham, so that through the death of his holy flesh he might destroy death and deliver those who, through fear of death, were subject to slavery all their lives. For the first dissolution of death was the saving passion, and the resurrection of Christ became the beginning of the valiant fortitude of the saints against it. Since, therefore, he who is Life by nature had not yet emptied death, nor had he broken its terror which lay heavy upon our souls, the disciples were in a way weaker against dangers. C And so the Lord wisely intimates both that Peter would one day be put upon the cross, and that he would follow Him in this; but it shows that he does not now have an unbroken mind for such a great struggle when He says, "Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you shall follow later." For if Christ were not hinting to us in these words the death of Peter, for what reason does He turn His speech to the person of Peter alone, when the promise that they would live with Him and follow Him had been made to the other holy disciples—eternal life and the goods that are hoped for being laid up for them at the time of the resurrection? Yet it is manifest that, as He foretells to Peter what would happen to him in the last times, He is enigmatically indicating it. And indeed, at another time He indicated this same thing more clearly, saying, "When you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and lead you where you do not wish." And it says that He said this, signifying by what death he would glorify God. For although it is pleasant for the saints to suffer for Christ, yet danger is not to be sought of one's own accord, but it must nevertheless be endured when it is brought upon one by others out of force and necessity. D Therefore He also commands us to pray that we might not enter into temptation.
Peter says to Him, "Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my soul for You."
What is it, he says, that prevents or hinders one from following, whose purpose is to die for the Teacher and who even considers it a matter of boasting? For every danger and the savage tyranny of persecutors [merely] touches the flesh.
A Since death strikes at [the flesh]; but he who is already ready and prepared for this, by whom would he be hindered, he says, or how would he lose [his] firm resolve to follow [Him] by all means? Fervent, indeed, is the zeal of Peter, and the measure of his promise exceeds [the ordinary]; one might notice the power within him is not small, or rather the end of the events themselves proved it.
Nevertheless, one must consider this: for while our Savior Christ signifies above that He is going up to heaven, and that while He will not be followed now by he who speaks, he would, however, follow after these things—when His mission has been fulfilled, that is, and when the appropriate time summons the heads of the saints to the city above—he himself promises to be ready and to face danger first, as if he were going by another path and not applying his mind directly to what was being said. And I think it must be said in discourse that, having not yet applied his mind accurately to the things said, he perhaps imagines that the Lord is either going to pass through some of the more savage villages in Judea, or else is departing to other peoples, who, being altogether ignorant by report of the things soon to be spoken by Him, would appear as something very small indeed compared to the outrages of the other Judeans, and would show the madness inherent in the Pharisees to be very much more tame. B For this reason, he promises to follow without hindrance, not only not refusing to die, but not hesitating to do so even if it should be necessary.
One may observe something similar to this in the preceding passages, and where I shall speak again. For sometimes, avoiding the insanities of the Judeans, and the lack of restraint of [their] anger, and the license of [their] tongue, Christ would dwell in Galilee, and there, performing many miracles, He was a source of wonder to all. But when Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, had died, He knew it again as God, and then says to the disciples: “Lazarus our friend sleeps; but I go that I may awake him.” To this, the disciples, out of exceptional devotion to Him, say: “Just now the Judeans were seeking to stone Thee, and goest Thou thither again?” But when Christ insisted, and was altogether saying and commanding that they must return into Judea, Thomas, who was called Didymus, said to [his] fellow disciples: “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”
C I suspect that the intent of Peter's words is something akin to this. For he perhaps imagines, as I have already said, that Jesus is going to depart to preach elsewhere, where danger threatens Him; and therefore he himself, being unrestrained by love, promises to bring an insurmountable and irresistible zeal for this, saying that there is absolutely nothing left that has the power to hinder him, even though he has chosen to follow, since his purpose is to die for the Teacher before Him.
Jesus answered him: “Wilt Thou lay down Thy life for Me? Amen, amen, I say to thee, the cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied Me thrice.”
Peter promises things greater than he is capable of, even if he possesses an admirable fervor for this; yet the grim and unbearable [nature] D of the coming storm, and the violence of the temptation,
A when Christ considers the magnitude of the persecution, he all but shakes his head; and, as if he had laid out the whole passion before his eyes, and had discerned the excess of the Jewish madness, and had examined in his mind the things that would come to pass at that time, he perhaps exclaims something like this: "Do you lay down your life for me, O Peter, and do you count the fear of danger as nothing? Do you suppose that you will be stronger than the things that are to come? But you do not know the weight of the temptation; for your suffering will not occur in a way that is painless, but it will happen to you—even if you are unwilling—to be greatly faint-hearted, and you will deny me three times, and that in this very night." We must suppose that this is how Jesus intends to speak. Yet it is worth marveling, in this instance as well, at the loving-kindness that is in him; for having previously said that the strength of his soul would not correspond to the intensity of his inward zeal, but that he would fail and beat a retreat, to the extent that he would deny himself at the mere fear of danger, he threatened him with nothing. For this reason, he does not say that he will incur divine wrath, nor does he threaten him with punishment—inasmuch as, from a human perspective, this would come to pass for him. For he knew that his nature was still weak, and not yet able to bear the threats of death. For not yet, not yet having been abolished through his resurrection, [death] was fiercely overbearing in the minds of all, and it was still capable of breaking even the most courageous and bold man with fear alone. For nature—suffering death contrary to its nature—yielded to it as to a conqueror, or rather, it yielded at that time. But when our Savior had broken its bonds, [death] became sweet to those who love Christ, even if it attacks cruelly; for eternal life has replaced it, dissolving the empire of corruption. B Yet let no one here think again that Peter denied [him] and was faint-hearted because of the word of Christ; for he does not impose any necessity, nor does he draw [him] into such suffering against his will; but, as God, he foretells to the disciple that which he knows beyond doubt will happen. But since the things that happened to those of old were written for the admonition of those who came after them, come, let us draw out some things of necessity for our profit from the chapter that has been set in motion. For I do not think that we ought to promise anything to God rashly, nor should we accept to do that which sometimes exceeds our powers, as if the power over these things were in our hands, when we are often frustrated in our hope. Otherwise, I do not believe it is free of pride to say, "I will accomplish this or that." For in all things which one proposes to oneself to do, that which the most wise disciple said C must especially be put first: "If the Lord wills, and if we live." For I say that while a zeal for doing good ought to dwell in the souls of those who love God, and a willingness to cultivate virtue with one's whole heart [should be present], the way to accomplish these things must be sought from divine goodness, not promised rashly—as if you possessed that [power] within yourself. For in this way we shall keep our promise to God regarding all good things as true, and we shall have our foot outside of blame, D according to the proverb common among the Greeks. Otherwise, it is better not to vow something to anyone than to vow and not pay it.
A *Let not your heart be troubled.* Having said that Peter would fall into such pusillanimity as to deny Him thrice, and that he would suffer this in a single night, by the very magnitude of the matter He indicated, as it were, a fear of the most formidable of dangers. Whence it was, and very reasonably, that the other disciples immediately began to reason among themselves: who, then, and how great is this fear, and what will be the magnitude of the things to come? And the temptation is so difficult to be overcome, as to seize even the leader, and lay him low, not once, but many times in one and the same short space of time. Who of us, then, will escape being in an even worse position, or how will any other stand if Peter is shaken, and, as if by necessity, yields to the weight of what has happened? In vain, then, have we endured the labors of following Him, and the enterprise ends in waste of sweat, even though it seemed to be a herald of the life that is with God.
It is not unreasonable that the disciples should ponder these things among themselves; but since He needed to bring back their leaning minds, it was necessary to offer a medicine against the reasonings and terrors arising from thence, and He commands them to make tranquility a weapon, saying, *Let not your heart be troubled.* Observe, moreover, how He discreetly promises them the forgiveness of the pusillanimity that was to come upon them. B For He does not say openly that He will grant forgiveness even to the infirm, or that He will be with those by whom He had been denied, or who had fled, lest, with the fear of punishment removed and the opinion of the offense altogether banished, He should make the sin very easy for them, and teach them to esteem the guilt of denial as nothing.
But when He said that they ought not to be troubled, He placed them between hope and fear, so that for them, being infirm and suffering something human, the hope of kindness might help them to recover breath, and the fear of offending might warn them to fall but rarely, since it was not yet in their power not to fall, as they were not yet clothed with power from above and from on high, that is to say, with the grace of the Spirit. He commands them, therefore, not to be troubled, at once teaching that those who are about to struggle and those who are to enter upon labors for the highest glory ought at all events to be superior to cowardice. C For a tranquil mind is a great provision for boldness; but at the same time, also, more obscurely and not very clearly, He sows the hope of forgiveness, even if it should happen to them to slide into cowardice through human pusillanimity. For a mind not yet established by grace from above is fearful and easily overturned, and swift to be shaken.
For this reason, the most wise Paul also, when praying for some, writes: *And the peace of Christ, which surpasses all understanding, shall guard your hearts.* For this is what it means: *Let not your heart be troubled.*
*Believe in God, and believe in me.* He makes a soldier of him who was but now a coward, and through deeds He commands [him/them] to make of the wounds of fear the...
weapons of their wickedness A entirely useless and unavailing. For we are saved in this way, and not otherwise, according to that which is sung in the Psalms: *The Lord is my light and my savior, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?* For if God, who is almighty, fights for us and protects us, who could possibly harm us? And who would have the strength to prevail to such an extent as to bring the elect under his hand and subject them to the evils of his own perversity? Or who would choose to make prisoners of those who are clothed on all sides with divine armor? Faith, therefore, is an unbreakable and broad armor that averts cowardice and terror, and renders the darts of wickedness altogether ineffectual and useless.
Since, then, the rule of faith is thus, we must again observe that the disciples were commanded to believe not only in God, but also in Christ Himself; not that He is something other and different from the God who exists by nature—that is, in terms of identity of substance—but because to believe only in God, and to think that the measure of faith is concluded in this phrase alone, is, in a way, peculiar to Jewish levity. B But to include in faith in God the name of the Son appears to be the commandment of the evangelical preaching. For those who think rightly must believe in God the Father, and not simply in the Son, but also in the One who became man, and in the Holy Spirit. For the holy and consubstantial Trinity is distinguished both by the differences of names and by the qualities and properties of the persons. For the Father is the Father and not the Son, and the Son, in turn, is the Son and not the Father, and the Spirit is the Holy Spirit, proper to the Godhead; yet They coalesce into one and the same notion of substance, not presenting to us three gods, but one God. C I say, therefore, that our faith must be set forth distinctly, not by saying simply, "We believe in God," but by extending the confession and attributing the same measure of glory to each Person. For there is no difference of faith in us; for the faith in us is not greater in the Father and less in the Son, or in the Holy Spirit, but one and the same rule and manner of confession extends equally through these three names, so that the holy Trinity may appear to coalesce even through these toward the unity of nature, and the glory shining around It be seen as entirely blameless in our souls—faith in the Father, and in the Son (even after He became man), and in the Holy Spirit.
And I do not think any sane person would separate, as far as concerns the status of Sonship, the temple assumed from the Virgin from the Word of God; for, *One is our Lord Jesus Christ,* according to the voice of Paul.* D Yet whoever divides the one and only [Lord] into a duality of sons, let him know that he is entirely denying the faith. And indeed, the divine Paul, weaving his discourse on these matters most excellently and very rightly, did not introduce the Only-Begotten alone into the faith, but also [the One who was] like us, that is, the man who was both dead and raised from the dead: *For what,* he says, *does the Scripture say? The word is near you in your mouth,*
and in your heart, that is, the word of faith which we preach. Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation* (Rom. x, 8-10). If we believe in the Son as one who has been raised, who is this who died, so that he might also rise again? But it is clear that he is understood to have died according to the flesh. For his own body was consigned to death, yet it revived again; for it was a body of the life that is by nature, containing the whole property of Him who dwelt in it and was ineffably united to it—that is, the life-giving energy. Whoever, therefore, divides them, and setting the flesh apart from Him who dwelt in it bodily, dares to speak of two sons, let him know that he believes only in the flesh. For the divine Scriptures teach us to believe in the One who was crucified, and died, and was raised from the dead, not as though He were someone other than the God-Word who is in it—I mean not as far as identity of substance is concerned, for a body is a body and is not the Word, even if it is the body of the Word—but as far as the property of true sonship is concerned. And if it should seem to anyone that we are not speaking well, let him come forward and demonstrate that the Word of God died as He is understood to be God, which is impossible, and indeed, even to think it is impious.
B *In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. For I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also* (John xiv, 2, 3).
Having of necessity told them that they ought not to be troubled, and having commanded them to believe both in God the Father and in Himself, He now openly comforts them in their faint-heartedness, saying that they shall by no means remain outside the holy court, but shall be brought into the mansions on high, and shall pass their long-enduring life in the Church of the firstborn, and shall abide in eternal blessings. He says, however, that there are many mansions in the Father's house, teaching that heaven is something most capacious, and that the creation brought into being by Him is nowhere in need of any addition in order to be able to receive those who love Him. But it is likely that, by saying there are many mansions, He also wishes to signify the difference in honor, so that each person who chooses to live in virtue will receive, as it were, his own place and the glory appropriate to his deeds. If, therefore, there were not many mansions with God and the Father, He would have said that He was going away for this reason, namely, to prepare the dwellings of the saints; but knowing that many were already prepared, awaiting the advent of those who love God, He says D that He is not departing for this reason, but for the sake of the ascent to the realms above, to prepare, as it were, a way and a place for you, and to level what was once inaccessible. For heaven was altogether impassable
A for men, and flesh had never before trodden that pure and most holy place of the angels; but Christ was the first to restore for us the ascent to it, and he provided to the flesh a manner of ascending into heaven, bringing himself as a kind of first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep and lie in the dust of the earth, and appearing as the first man to those who are in heaven. Therefore, the angels who are in heaven, not knowing the august and great mystery of the coming in the flesh, were amazed at him as he ascended, and, confounded by this strange and unwonted sight, all but said: "Who is this who comes from Edom?" 50—that is, from the earth. But the Spirit did not leave that heavenly multitude ignorant of the admirable wisdom of God and the Father; rather, he commanded them, as if to a King and Lord of all, to open the heavenly gates, proclaiming: "Lift up your gates, you princes, and be lifted up, you eternal gates, and the King of glory shall enter in." 51 Our Lord Jesus Christ has therefore renewed for us a new and living way, as Paul says, B entering not into holy things made with hands, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. For Christ did not ascend to manifest himself to the sight of God and the Father—for he was, and is, and always will be, in the Father and in the eyes of his own begetter; for he himself is the one in whom he always delights. But he ascended now, as man, in an unusual and strange manner, offering himself to be seen, he the Word who formerly was void of humanity. And this he did for our sake, and on our behalf, so that, being found as man, as Son in power, and having heard in the flesh the command, "Sit at my right hand," 54 he might transmit the glory of sonship to the entire human race through himself. For one of us has appeared at the right hand of God and the Father, insofar as he was made man, even though he is above every creature and consubstantial with his own begetter, insofar as he has shone forth from him, God from God, and Light from true Light. He appeared, then, as man C on our behalf to the Father, so that he might station us again, who had been cast out from before his face because of the ancient transgression, as if before the face of the Father; he has sat as Son, so that we too, as sons through him, might be named children of God. And for this reason Paul, who contends that he has Christ speaking within himself, 55 teaching that those things which were done for him specially are common to human nature, says that he "raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ." 56 For the dignity of sitting with [the Father] and the glory of being seated belongs to Christ as his own, as the Son by nature, and we shall say that it is fittingly and truly ascribed to him alone; but in that he who sits is our kinsman, insofar as he has appeared as man while being understood as God from God, he in a way transmits to us the D [grace of that] dignity. For although we shall not sit with the Father together with him (for how could a servant ever ascend to equal honor with his master?), nevertheless he promises that the holy disciples will sit upon thrones
A of dignity. For "When," he says, "the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of his glory, you also shall sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matt. xix, 28). I shall go, therefore, he says, not to prepare homes for you (for there are many already), as it would be superfluous to add anything new to created things, but to prepare a place for you so that those who are upon the earth may at last be able to mingle with the holy angels, because of the sin that had stood between them; for the holy multitude of the beings above would not have been mingled with those who were so defiled. Having accomplished this, and joined the things below to those above, and having provided for you a place of ascent to the city above, I shall return again at the time of regeneration, and shall take you to myself, "that where I am, there you may be also." B Paul, understanding this, writes as follows in his own Epistles: "For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who live, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who live, who remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord" (I Thess. iv, 15-16).
XIV 4. *And where I go, you know, and you know the way.*
I shall depart indeed, C he says, as the first to prepare for you a place of ascent into the heavens; but if it pleases you to dwell in those mansions, and you count it of great value to enter into the city above and to dwell together with the holy spirits, you know the way, that is, me. For through me, and through no other, will you obtain so admirable a grace; for no other shall open the heavens to you, nor make the place, which is entirely inaccessible and untrodden by those from the earth, easily accessible, except I alone, the true Word. For this reason, also, the prophet Jeremiah D exhorted us in the Spirit to seek this way above all others, saying: "Stand by the ways and see, and ask for the eternal paths of the Lord; and see what is the good way, and walk in it, and you will find purification for your souls" (Jerem. vi, 16). The ways and paths of the Lord, according to the prophet, are the saving writings of the holy prophets; but if anyone applies his mind to them, he will find the good way, that is, Christ, through whom also the perfect purification comes to our souls. For we are justified through faith, and are shown to be partakers of the divine nature by the participation of the Holy Spirit (II Petr. i, 4). But also the prophet Isaiah, who cries out with a great voice, proclaimed Christ to us in this way, saying: "There shall be a clean way there, and it shall be called a holy way" (Isa. xxxv, 8). By "there," he means, clearly, in the times of the incarnation of the Only-Begotten. For a way has been made for us that is pure and holy, through which those who walk may reach that splendid and free city of the saints.
in the appointed times. A And the divine Psalmist himself says to God the Father: "Set a law for me, O Lord, in your way" (Ps. XXVI, 11). For he desires to be instructed by the laws through Christ, not ignorant that he will walk to the city above, through evangelical instruction, going straight toward every good. It is not difficult to bring forward many other testimonies from the prophets, through which we may recognize that Jesus is called the holy way; but it is not necessary, I think, to labor much over matters so clear, for the benefit of those who are so plainly established in them. Know then the way, he says, through which you may go, and you yourselves to the mansions above (already indicating by this nothing else but that there are very many and splendid dwellings with God and the Father), and I will go up beforehand to prepare a place, that you may freely and fearlessly abide in those regions. B But you know, he says, that no one can ever ascend there through any other than me alone. Wherefore, if anyone, disturbed from the love of Christ, or clinging to profane novelties of words (I Tim. VI, 20), and to the impurities of foreign vocabularies of one who prepares slanders, places his ineffable and incomprehensible nature among servants, or numbers the free Word, begotten of the substance of the Father, among creatures, or violates him in any other way, let him know that he has lost the way tending toward the things above, and has wandered from the furrows of the field, as it is written by someone, and will surely pay the penalty owed to those dwelling in the underworld. For this reason also the most wise Paul says that those who, through folly, do not wish to live in Christ, but return to legal shadows, have become estranged from Christ and have fallen from grace, C because they wish to be justified by the law (Galat. V, 4). For just as he who departs from the beaten and straight path will surely suffer the damages of error: so those who, having repudiated the justice of Christ, make nothing of the doctrine of evangelical life, will not see the city above, nor will they continue to live with the saints. For the way that leads there is Christ alone.
XIV, 5, 6. Thomas says to him: Lord, we do not know where you are going, and how can we know the way? Jesus says to him: I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one comes to the Father, except through me.
D Since Christ did not yet wish to say openly to his own disciples that he was about to ascend to the heavens, and to migrate to the Father, but still signified the matter enigmatically and with much emphasis, the disciple Thomas brought forward his question; and he draws out a certain reasoning, as if compelling him, even against his will, to say whither he is about to go, and whither the path of his departure tends. For we do not know, he said, where you are going; and how could we have known the way? And indeed, the excessive curiosity of the disciple
A Christ deflects; for he does not answer to what he himself was wanting, but keeping that for his own knowledge, and delegating it rather to a more opportune time, he reveals with profit what was necessary for them to learn. I am, therefore, he says, the way, the truth, and the life. And that the Lord is truthful in saying these things about himself, no man of sound mind, I think, would ever call into doubt. Nevertheless, I consider it necessary to inquire with a love of learning: for what reason, although he is named in the divine Scriptures as light, and wisdom, and power, and by as many other names as are chosen out as it were, and possess a very great and true reason, does he for the present use these, calling himself the way, and the truth, and the life? For the power of the word is deep, as I suppose, and not very easy to discern B; yet one must not be slothful in the attempt. For I will say what comes into my mind, leaving obviously what is better to those who are accustomed to contemplate with a keener vision. Through three things, therefore, will we reach the heavenly and divine courts, and we will ascend to the Church of the firstborn: namely, by the action of virtue, by faith which is in rectitude, and by hope which is in life. Is there then another who will be for us a provider, or a harbinger, or a cause, or a pretext for being able to see such things, besides our Lord Jesus Christ? Certainly not. Do not think so. For he himself has legislated for us things that are above the law, he himself has pointed out the way, which, I suppose, one might rightly understand as virtue in action, and the fervent and ready zeal in the deeds which are according to Christ. Therefore, he himself is the truth, he himself is the way—that is to say, the true standard of faith, and the rule and plumb line of unswerving judgment concerning God. For by believing truly in the Son—that is, C in him who was begotten of the very substance of God and the Father, not a bastard, not spuriously named, but neither a creature or a work—we shall wear the boast of true faith. For he who has accepted the Son as Son, has confessed by all means also the One from whom he is, and knows and will accept God as Father. He himself, therefore, is the truth; he himself is the life; for no other shall restore to us the life that is in hope—in incorruption, that is, and in blessedness and sanctification—for he himself raises us up, and will bring us back, who have become dead on account of the ancient curse, again to that which we were in the beginning. Everything, therefore, for us, is in him and through him, and the most beautiful and excellent things have already appeared and will come to be. And see again how, for the contemplation of the things set before us, the discourse concerning these matters is very fitting. For while the disciple was still doubting and saying, "How do we know the way?" he showed in few words that, since they knew him to be the author and provider and steward of the good things that transport to the heights, nothing more would be lacking to them for the knowledge of the way. But since he subjoined to this, "No one comes to the Father except through me," come let us also bring something to that which must be said, first inquiring how one goes to the Father. We arrive at him, therefore, in two ways: for either through becoming holy as far as the mediocrity of human nature allows, we are joined to the holy God, as it says: "For you shall be holy, because I am holy" D;
A or we proceed toward the knowledge of the Father, as it were by faith and contemplation, in a mirror and in an enigma, as it is written. But no one would ever be holy, nor would he attain to the life of virtue, unless Christ were leading him in all things, nor would he be joined to God and the Father, unless Christ were acting as mediator; for He is the mediator between God and men, joining human nature to God through Himself and in Himself. For inasmuch as He is sprung from the substance of God and the Father, being the Word, and radiance, and character, B He is one with the Father, existing entirely in Himself and having Him in Himself; but inasmuch as He became man like us, without our sin, He is joined to those on earth, and has become a kind of boundary, containing in Himself those things that aim at unity and friendship. Therefore, no one shall come to the Father—that is, no one shall be revealed as a partaker of the divine nature—except through Christ alone. For if He had not, by becoming man, offered Himself as a mediator, we would never have attained to this state of blessedness; but even if anyone comes to the Father, namely by the contemplation of faith and pious knowledge, he will come through Him, our Savior Christ, as well. For what I was just saying, I shall say again, since there is no other way to philosophize. For if anyone receives C the Son as truly Son, he ascends to the knowledge of God and the Father. For the Son is not understood to exist, unless together with Him there is also understood the One who begat Him. For the knowledge of the Son runs together with the knowledge of the Father, and the knowledge of the Father with the knowledge of the Son. Therefore, the Lord speaks truly when He says: "No one comes to the Father except through me," because the Son is the natural and substantial image of God and the Father, and not, as has seemed to some, fashioned toward Him by adventitious dignities, while being something else in substance and being understood as such.
14.7. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.
Perhaps someone might think that the Son is speaking against Himself. But the matter is not so. For He would not have brought D forward anything vain or superfluous, even though, because some cannot quite follow what is said, He sometimes makes a most useful repetition. And indeed, it helps us not a little here, while He adds these things to what was said before. For because Thomas was inquiring where He was going, or how they could know the way, not knowing where He was about to go, He of necessity answered: "I am the way, and the life, and the truth," and, "No one comes to the Father except through me," showing from this that if anyone wishes to know the way by which one may go to eternal life, the knowledge of Christ must be above all things in his heart. But because some, following a Judaic rather than an evangelical institution, were likely to persuade themselves that for a right faith it was enough [to believe in one...
A to confess God and to acknowledge Him, and that one need not subsequently care for doctrine concerning the holy and consubstantial Trinity, Christ in a certain way intercludes the knowledge of God even to those who think this way, unless they are willing to receive Him as well. For it is through the Son that one must approach God and the Father. For we shall reach the Begetter in a manner analogous to the contemplation of the Begotten. For there is no room, there is no room for doubting that whoever believes the Son to subsist as truly Son—that is, as coming from the substance of the One who begat—will also surely know the Father. And you may consider this as having been said for a simpler and less inquisitive understanding; but if anyone should desire to probe the subtle meaning and scrutinize the realities themselves more deeply, he will find again that the Son speaks truly. For the divine nature is completely incomprehensible to every mind, and to dare to investigate at all what, according to substance, the Creator of all things is, is proof of complete madness. B Yet it is possible for us to glean some knowledge, as it were in shadows and riddles, by placing before the mind, like a mirror, the list of the prerogatives that reside in the Son’s nature. For from what He Himself is, and from what He has wrought—having become man, and before the incarnation—one may, in turn, ascend in an analogical manner to the contemplation of the One who begat Him. For behold with me the glory and power that reside in Him; look at the authority He possesses over all things, which is unimpeded. For tell me, what is seen to be accomplished by the exercise of His free will, even in matters beyond speech, both before the flesh and while in the flesh? But He who has manifested Himself to us through such works says: "I and the Father are one; he who has seen me has seen the Father" (John x, 30; xiv, 9). We must, therefore, if we look at the force of this passage, go from the image to the archetype, and from the character to Him whose character He is; nor do we say, according to the opinion of certain heretics, that the Son is conformed to the Father by certain adventitious dignities assumed from without, C nor, as the heretics think, is He said to be the image of God and the Father as one who possesses His glory, power, and wisdom while yet being of another nature. For these are their trifles, or rather their polished nonsense, and more truly impiety, devised for the overturning and destruction of the consubstantiality of the Son, which is the one aim that is impious and hostile to God in their purpose. But as truly Son, begotten ineffably and incomprehensibly from the substance of God and the Father, He is His character, and image, and radiance, bearing in His own nature the property of the substance of the One who begat Him, and the beauty of natural prerogatives. For we shall not be so distraught as they are, nor shall we cast our own mind into such folly that we should say that He who is not by nature similar to God, nor indeed begotten from the substance of God and the Father, was gifted with the glory of God, or that He could ever claim to be able to say that which...
A altogether being brought into existence from nothingness, yet wearing the divine power and wisdom unchanged, and existing in such a way as the divine and ineffable nature of God the Father might be conceived to be. For what would there still be that distinguishes the maker from the thing made? Or what could be the middle-ground agent to sever the identity—that of substance, I say—of the thing which has come to exist from the One who created it? For if He possesses the glory and power and wisdom of Him in exactly the same way as God and the Father, what is the greater thing in Him, or what more will He have over us, or indeed over the creation? I for one would not have anything at all to say, and I suspect that even those [men] would be at a loss. Therefore, it is not by B external dignities that the Son is fashioned for us into the equality of the Father, and not as if in a painting on a tablet, which is embellished for us only by the ideas of colors, while the form of the king is being feigned and counterfeited; but He is the character and image truly of Him who begat Him, manifesting in His own natural goods the nature of the Father. For this reason He says it is impossible for some to know the Father, if they have not known Him [the Son] beforehand.
XIV, 1. And from now on you know him, and have seen him.
It is worth the effort, I think, to admire both the order C and the ineffable arrangement of this discourse. For after He said: "If you had known me, you would have known my Father also," and was thought to be rebuking the disciples for their ignorance of such necessary things, He immediately brought the remedy, saying: "And from now on you know him, and have seen him." For because they were to be the leaders of the Churches situated throughout the whole world, having heard from the Savior Himself the command: "Go, teach all nations," for this reason, I think, and most especially, having usefully shown beforehand—and having made, so to speak, a general discourse for all—namely, that if anyone knows the Son, he will certainly also know the Father and God from whom He is, He usefully grants the knowledge to His own disciples, not merely as a favor (for He would never utter anything that was not true), but as to those who know and have truly recognized [Him]. For that they had believed that the Lord was truly the Son of God, is not doubted by those who rightly understand. D For in what way, when Nathanael the Israelite had heard: "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you," did he immediately introduce the confession of faith, saying: "Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the king of Israel"? And furthermore, when the sea was miraculously and unusually calmed, how did those who were in the boat worship Him, saying: "Truly you are the Son of God"? Will anyone therefore say that this utterance was from those who were ignorant that He is God and has been begotten of God the Father? And would such a person not be found insane? Who, about the parts of Caesarea Philippi, were questioned by Christ Himself: "Who do men say that the Son of man is?" Did they not first state the conjectures of others? For some, they say, think He is Elijah, others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. Whom next saying...
they themselves say He is, not hesitating to speak openly, collectively through the one who excelled, Peter himself, they said: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." A Therefore, when Christ says: "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also," do not suppose that this saying was directed only to those disciples, but consider it to have been said generally to all in the persons of the holy apostles. For observe how we shall find that they were not ignorant that He is God and the Son of God. But since God had said that He Himself is the Way, they did not fully understand what seemed to be said enigmatically, and their ignorance turns only upon this. Therefore, after He had shown in a few words that they would by no means grasp what had been said to them indirectly, He then signified that it was said generally to all, and taught clearly that whoever is ignorant of the Son will be deprived of the knowledge of the Father. And as if to disciples who had already professed the faith, He fittingly confirms their knowledge, saying: "From now on you know Him, and have seen Him." B By "from now on" He does not, of course, mean from that very hour or day on which He spoke these words to them; rather, by "from now on" He is contrasting the ancient and first time with the newly appeared and recent time of His coming, in which the knowledge of the Father through the Son has become more brilliant to those throughout the whole inhabited world. For this reason, in the book of Psalms, He says as though to God and the Father: "Your knowledge is wonderful to me." For having beheld the Son shining with miracles that surpass all speech, and doing with power fitting to God whatever He might wish with ease, we have marveled thence at the knowledge of the Father, C thinking it to be no otherwise than as the knowledge of the Son who proceeds from Him is. "From now on, therefore, you know Him, and have seen Him." For we have known in the Son, as I was just saying, who the Father is, and we have not only known, but we have also contemplated, that is, we have seen. For "knowledge" signifies the contemplation through concepts that one might grasp concerning the divine and ineffable nature, which is over all, and through all, and in all. Yet "to see" signifies the certainty gained through miraculous works. For not only have we known that the Father is life by nature, nor have we had the notion of this reality within ourselves in mere and naked thoughts; but in the Son who makes alive the dead and brings back to being those who have perished, D we have not only known that God and Father has all creation under His feet and rules royally over the things made by Him, so that all works fear Him and tremble, as it is written; but we see the same also existing in the Son, when, rebuking the sea and the winds, He said with great power: "Hush, be silenced." Since, therefore, He was about to say, "not only have you known the Father, but you have also seen [Him]," He thought it necessary to premise that word, "from now on." But for what reason? For the Mosaic Law cried out to the children of Israel: "The Lord your God, the Lord is one," and did not among the ancients make mention of the Son.
A And the Lord our God, the Lord is one—the law did not then introduce the doctrine concerning the Son to those of old, but, withdrawing them only from polytheism, called them to the worship of the One. B But our Lord Jesus Christ, when He became man, through many signs and acts of power, made known to us through Himself the Father, and showed that there is truly one nature of Godhead, understood and existing in the Holy Trinity. Rightly, therefore, does He say "henceforth," because of the imperfection in knowledge of those who observed the discipline of the Law, and of those who follow their custom. It is to be noted, however, that while He says that He Himself is seen in place of the Father, He does not deny that He from whom He is exists truly and in His own hypostasis as God and Father. But neither does He say that He is the Father, as far as the signification of person is concerned; but because He is consubstantial with the Father, He says the Father is seen in Himself: just as if the son of some man, wishing to signify the nature of his own father, showing himself says to one wanting to learn this, "You have seen my father in me." But God, to speak once for all, exceeds the force and measure of all examples.
XIV. 8. *Philip says to him: Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.* C Philip was indeed desirous of learning, but not sufficiently acute in comprehending divine speculations. For he would not have persuaded himself that the divine nature could be comprehended by the eyes of the body, even when God clearly says: "No man shall see my face, and live." For although it is true that He appeared to the saints at times, as the divinely inspired Scripture declares, yet no one, I think, would ever have supposed that the divine nature itself was manifested in the way it exists in itself; rather, it was fashioned into a form more appropriate to the occasion. D And indeed the prophets beheld Him in diverse ways, and the discourse concerning God among them is manifold. For Isaiah saw Him in one way, and Ezekiel again not in the same manner as the other. Philip, therefore, ought to have understood that it was altogether impossible to be able to see the divine substance through the flesh, or with the flesh; and furthermore, it was not the mark of a prudent and sagacious man, when the image and most perfect character of God and the Father was present to him, to seek the archetype as if it were not yet present and had not been demonstrated in the manner that was fitting. For the contemplation of Christ is more than sufficient for showing and representing the substance of God and the Father, as He rightly and accurately sets forth the most desirable beauty of the royal substance from which He was begotten. For the tree is known by its fruit, according to the very voice of the Savior. Since, therefore, the contemplation of the Son is sufficient for a person of good sense to show and to teach exactly what He who begat Him is according to nature, the discourse of the disciple may perhaps seem superfluous; yet it will not lack the highest praise. For I do not think it is to be only moderately admired when he says—
"Show us the Father, and it suffices us." A It is the same as if he had said: We shall confess that we are filled with every kind of joy, and we shall desire nothing more for our happiness, if we are found worthy to enjoy the most desirable vision of God and the Father. B And indeed, who would not declare him worthy of all admiration who prefers the vision of the Father to all good things and to all things that are seen to contribute to happiness? This, then, is the plain and simple meaning of the passage before us. But if something more abstruse and curious is to be brought forward, we shall think that Philip spoke and thought something such as this. The leaders of the Jews, and the Scribes and Pharisees, were stung by the miracles of the Savior, and being attacked by countless signs as if by stones, they were bursting with envy, and they knew they could in no way act against him, or prevent him from performing miracles; but by disparaging those stupendous and unusual works, and by cunning arguments obscuring his glory, they traversed the whole region of the Jews and Jerusalem itself; sometimes they said he performed signs by Beelzebul (Luc. XI, 15); at other times, spurred by the gadfly of unrestrained fury, they said he had a demon and did not know what he was saying (Joan. X, 20). For they rebuked the crowds, saying: "He has a demon, and is insane: why do you listen to him?" But... C ...incessantly rising up against his glory—and who this was, I shall necessarily say—they were persuading the crowds, as we have just shown, not to accept the teaching of our Savior, but to withdraw from it as contrary to the Law, and to flee it as far as possible, and rather to adhere to the precepts given through Moses. And for what reason? For they said that the great Moses had led the people out to meet God, as it is written (Exod. XIX, 17), and had stood them at Mount Sinai, and had shown them God on the mountain, and had brought it about that they heard His words, and had clearly demonstrated that the Law was given by the mouth of God; but that this man had done nothing of all these things at all. That this argument was much used by them, you shall learn from this. For you will see them addressing the man born blind, whom the Savior healed with ineffable power, with these words: "You are his disciple; but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he is from" (Joan. IX, 28, 29). Those, therefore, who agreed with the Jewish dogmas thought that this argument was invincible and inexpugnable, and, as is probable, they were causing turmoil and casting down many by this means. Philip, meditating on this by himself, as if all that Jewish objection would be utterly destroyed if Christ himself would show the Father to those who believe in him, addresses him with these words: "Lord, show us the Father, and it suffices us." For imagine him saying these things: Everything, he says, O Lord, is performed by your power which leads us to faith; it is possible to curb the intemperance of Jewish impudence with countless miracles. But nothing will be lacking to us if you yourself show us the Father and God: for that will suffice for your disciples, so that the speech of those who bring forward these...
objections may be repelled. By bringing forward such a sense of this passage, we shall by no means stray from right reason. For even Philip himself urges us to understand it in this way, saying: “It suffices for us to see the Father and God,” as if this alone were lacking to those who have believed. And Christ himself in a certain way persuades us of this, when he says in the following: “The words that I speak to you I do not speak from myself: but the Father remaining in me, he does the works.” How this is to be understood will be said, not at present, but in a more suitable and proximate place.
XIV, 9. *Jesus says to him: Have I been so long a time with you, and you have not known me, Philip? He that sees me, sees the Father also.*
He shows that the ignorance of the disciple is inexcusable. For those contemplations which are more difficult, and which require a most subtle sharpness of mind in order to be grasped, although perhaps they cannot be understood in a short time, yet they can be grasped in a long space of time, if only study is present. But as for those things in which there is nothing ambiguous, but which are established by right knowledge, they are grasped without any labor. What, therefore, he says, O Philip, was the obstacle that prevented you from perfectly recognizing me, explain, I pray. For although so long a time has flowed by during which I have been with you, and it has sufficed for the certain faith of those things which it was right for you to learn, you still doubt, or rather, you are convicted of being ignorant of who I am according to nature, and whence I am, although you discover that I have performed so many miracles. How, he says, have you not recognized that he who has seen me, has seen the Father? For do you think that those ancient Jews perceived the divine nature on Mount Sinai, and heard his voice when he was placing the laws for the conduct of affairs? Yet you have not yet persuaded yourself that you have seen the Father through me and in me. “For he that has seen me, has seen the Father.”
Now, in order to show that no bodily vision is signified to us by Christ, there is no need for a long discourse. For no sane person would say that the nature of God is perceived by bodily sight, nor that it is grasped by the eyes of the flesh, which is not even perceived as if in a mirror: for “we see as in a mirror and in an enigma”; and I think that he who boasts of having great knowledge of him is thinking very poorly about God. Yet I shall say this again to the enemies of the truth, who sharpen their tongue against us, or rather, against the very substance of the Only-Begotten. If the Son is not from the very substance of God and the Father, existing by generation as that which he is—that is to say, God, and according to nature, and truly—but shines only with an external appearance and adventitious glory,
A nor is he distinguished by any natural dignities, but expresses the Father in himself and is the most perfect image of God, then he would not be the Son by nature, nor truly begotten, but rather a creature, just as we are, or something else of that kind. Once this is admitted and believed, we will truly assert that the Father is not Father by act and nature, but rather by will and opinion, just as he is called our Father. What, then, follows from this? A triad of gods will necessarily have to be admitted; for we would no longer believe in the Trinity, since the one does not substantially exist in the other, but each is entirely separated from the other by the distinct condition of his own nature, just as they are separated in name; for the force and reason of our contemplation compels us to speak of these things somewhat crudely. B But if we concede that this is true and that things are so, and we confess that the Son is entirely alien to the substance of God the Father, how will he not be lying when he says: "He who has seen me, has seen the Father?" For since the Father is God by nature, how will the Son, even though he is not God by nature, as those men teach, show the Father in himself? For how shall we behold in that which is created what is not created, or how shall he who always exists be seen in him who at one time did not exist, in so far as he is created? Nor let any of those who blather these things, adulterating the force of the truth, say to me that he is his image because he has the glory of God the Father, and his power, and his wisdom, and his goodness, and his omnipotence, and the power of bringing into existence things that were nowhere; C but let him first demonstrate whether he is seen according to nature, and with such great resemblance in all things that nothing can weaken that most perfect likeness of the image to the archetype. And when he is unable to show this, even if he wishes to do so most of all, we will ask him again to say by what reason, since he is not God by nature, as their detestable opinion maintains, he can nevertheless perform the works of divinity. For this is what it means to bear the image of the Father. For if the Son, not having from himself the power sufficient for this, borrows it from the Father, and receives both wisdom and strength from him, so that he may be able to accomplish what we say should belong only to the nature of the Father, he will in this way falsify both the image and the likeness. But if we do not concede that he is lying, as we have said, but instead agree with him as one who speaks the truth, we shall be caught violating the very glory of God the Father; and I will say how. D For it is necessary either to say that he falsely claims to be the image of God the Father, since he does not have from himself the power sufficient for the works, but receives it from another—for this cannot be said of the archetype—or, if he speaks truly when he says that the Father is seen in him, and there is absolutely nothing that separates him, or is interposed, or adulterates the complete likeness, it is necessary that he say, even if he is unwilling, that the Father himself also has an adventitious power received from another. For thus
A he wished to show himself to us in the image of his own nature, that is, of his glory. Does anyone not see, one might then say to those men, whither the discourse deflects from the straight path, and into what a chasm it precipitates those who think such things? But they say, the Son, even though he is created, is able to perform the works of the nature, and thus to bring glory to God and the Father. Then what could appear more impious than this? For there will be nothing greater or more in God henceforth than a creature, even if we attribute to it the glory and power of divinity. For let no one, out of great mental blindness, persuade himself that he is thinking and saying something marvelous and great about the Son, by saying that he is a creature, but not as one of the creatures; but let him know that he is violating his glory no small amount. For it is not to be debated whether he has a nature excellent above other creatures, but whether he is created at all. For how would he not be a creature, if he is the most excellent of creatures? But since the majesty of the Son is violated by the fact that they say he was made, why do they vainly apply to him, as a kind of remedy, the idea that he holds the place of the most excellent of all the rest? Therefore, we shall be doing an injury to the substance of God and the Father, or we shall attribute the power to perform these things to the Son, who is himself also created, as they foolishly philosophize. But we shall not endure them when they say that the Son, while being a creature by nature, yet performs the works of divinity, as it has seemed good to God and the Father. For if they can demonstrate this from divine Scripture, let them produce what they can, and preserve for us the incorrupt voices of the saints. But if they contrive their arguments from their own sense, we shall aptly say: "Woe to those who prophesy from their own heart." For we shall grant that the Father always wills those things which are able to preserve his divine glory sincere and inviolate, and which maintain the right reason of the doctrines concerning him. Therefore, commanding their madness to stand aside, let us turn to the correct doctrine concerning him, believing that the Son was truly begotten from the substance of God and the Father, and is God from God by nature. For since he is the character and likeness of God and the Father, he speaks truly when he says: "He who has seen me, has seen the Father; how then can you say, Show us the Father?" For, says he, O Philip, it is permitted to you to contemplate the nature of the Father in me, and from that which I am myself, to perceive D the begetter. For I have appeared and am in truth the character of his substance, and an image most perfect, expressing in myself the whole nature of God and the Father. What other manner of divine vision would you seek, if you have a sound mind, or what kind of vision, I ask, do you request? Do you think a more excellent and more exquisite one was given to the ancients when he descended upon Mount Sinai in the form of fire? For on account of this the Jews are accustomed to glory especially. We shall think these things to have been said perhaps by Christ: but regarding the God and Father...
the demonstration of the wonders of our Saviour Christ, which happened on mount Sinai, I judge that we must now also speak without hesitation. For you will see thus that Philip, 780 when the true image was present with him, did not necessarily ask for a different vision of God and Father, such as was also given to those of old at mount Sinai. For the Lord descended there in the form of fire, as it is written, plainly while the Israelites were looking on. B But not, I think, would anyone through this ever arrive at true thoughts concerning God, or leap up to the conception befitting the Godhead; for how at all, through fire, as if from some image, would we go on to the archetype, that is, the Father and God? For God is by nature good, and in addition to this, a creator, bringing into existence things that once were not, and containing all things in being and making them live, himself being wisdom and power, kind, merciful, and compassionate. But there is nothing whatever of these in fire. For no one, if he has his senses, would persuade himself that fire is kind and humane, nor would any person of sound mind say that it is creative, wise, and life-giving. Then how, tell me, could anyone gather thoughts about the true Godhead through fire? Or how could he perceive in a mirror and in a riddle anything of those things that are inherent in it? What then, he says, is the reason, or what has been the excuse that induced God to appear in the form of fire C on mount Sinai? We shall say that when those from Israel were beginning, at that very time in particular, their instruction unto piety, and were about to take upon themselves as a kind of rule the law by which their own life was to be directed, it was at that time especially fitting for God to appear to them as a stern avenger and terrible, so that the transgressors might know that their concern was with fire. For it is for this reason also that the great Moses addressed those from Israel, saying: "Our God is a consuming fire." And we would not, surely, say that he, being so very wise, in explaining the nature of God, likened Him to fire, but he named God in such a way, as one from exceeding hatred of evil, not refusing like an all-devouring fire to consume and destroy those who despise Him. Not from that which He is by nature is God known through fire; but that He was so named and seen was assumed for the usefulness of the hearers. Let us go, therefore, to the true and most accurate contemplation D of the Father, that is, the Son. For we shall see Him to be the image of the One who begat Him, if we fix the eye of our mind upon the prerogatives that are in Him. God and Father, therefore, is good by nature; and we shall find the Son also to be such. For how could He not be good, who endured such humiliation for our sake, and came into the world to save sinners, and laid down His soul for them? 781 The Father is powerful: similarly also the Son. For what can be more powerful than He who commands the elements themselves, who rebukes the sea and the winds, who transforms the natures of things into whatever He wills, who orders the leper to be cleansed, and by power befitting God restores the office of sight to the blind? Life by nature...
A is the Father; life likewise is the Son, who vivifies those who are corrupted, and destroys the empire of death, and raises the dead. How fittingly, therefore, does He say to Philip: "He who has seen Me, has seen the Father." For since it is permitted to you, He says, to contemplate in Me and from Me Him who begot Me, what other manner of divine vision do you seek, when you have obtained a form superior to that which was given to the ancients, and have encountered the truest image, which is I?
XIV, 10. Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me?
I, He says, O Philip, as one who expresses in Myself the nature of My Begetter, am the image of His substance, fashioned clearly according to Him—not, as some might imagine, conspicuous by external glory or by foreign and adventitious endowments, but by bearing in My own nature the things that are the Father’s, and existing truly as that which He also is—by the principle, I say, of identity of substance. But you, in turn, will say to these things: "It is not yet persuaded to me, then, that I am in the Father, and the Father is again in Me." And yet, He says, the force and reason of the things said will eventually compel you, even against your will, to consent to this matter. Wherefore, whatever things I might say, these are entirely of the Father, and whatever I might do, the Father does. Christ says these things, not B as if He were using perhaps the words of another, nor truly as a prophet in the order and measure of those delivering messages from above received from the Father: for they certainly did not speak their own words, but the words of God who gave them and inspired them. But He again assigns the outcome of the miracles to His own Father, not as if He performed them by an adventitious power, like those people who said: "Do not look upon us, as if by our own power or piety we had healed the sick person." For the saints, in performing miracles, are not accustomed to use their own power, but God’s; for they are found to be ministers and servants of both the divine words and the deeds. But since the Son is consubstantial with the Father, in no C way distinct or different from Him, He says that His own words are the words of the Father, not because the Father uses other words than those which the Son uses, but you will understand the same thing also in the majesty of His works. For as if the Father could do nothing else by His nature than what the Son could also do and does, He says that these are His own works. For imagine Him speaking to you more clearly in this manner: "I am in all things similar to my Begetter, and I am the image of His substance, not only distinguished by external form and majesty, but holding the Begetter wholly within Myself through the identity of the D substance."
XIV, 10. The words that I speak, I do not speak from Myself: but the Father remaining in Me, He does the works.
For if the Father, He says, had spoken anything to you, He would not have used words other than these very same ones that I use now. For I have such a substantial likeness to Him that my voices are His, and whatever I do, let these be believed to be His own accomplishments; for remaining in Me, because of the identity in substance, He Himself does the works. For since the Godhead is one and is understood to be in the Father and the Son and the Spirit, every word from the Father is entirely through the Son in the Spirit; and every work, or miracle, is indeed performed through the Son in the Spirit, as if from the Father. For the Son is not outside the substance of Him who begat Him, nor is the Holy Spirit, but the Only-Begotten, being in Him and having again in Himself the One who begat Him, says that He Himself works; for the nature of the Father is efficacious, shining forth brilliantly in the Son. Furthermore, another meaning B may be brought forward, which the rationale of the incarnation conveniently provides. "From Myself," He says, "I do not speak," intending, "not separately, nor contrary to the pleasure of God and the Father." For because He appeared to those who saw Him in human form, He therefore attributes His words to the nature of the Godhead, as if in the person of the Father, and likewise the works, and almost says: Let not this human form take away from Me the estimation that is fitting and due, nor think that My words are those of a mere man, one of those who are like you, but truly divine, and fitting to the Father Himself, just as they are to Me. "But He remains in Me and works; for I am in Him and He is in Me." Do not, therefore, believe that something great and supernatural was given to the ancients in that they saw God in the form of fire and heard a voice speaking to them. For you have truly seen the Father through Me and in Me, even though I have appeared similar to you; being God by nature, I have come manifest, according to the voice of the Psalmist. C It must be known, however, that when you heard My words, you also heard the words of the Father. But you have also been spectators of His works and of the power inherent in Him. For through Me He speaks, as through His own Word; yet He performs and brings forth miracles, as through His own power again. That no reason can ever cut off the Word, and His power, from the substance of the Father, but that they exist in it and have naturally grown into it, everyone will surely confess, unless perhaps someone be deranged in his mind.
CHAPTER UNICUM. That because of the identity of nature the Son is in the Father and the Father is again in the Son.
XIV, 11. Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me?
He now speaks openly, or rather He even commands from now on that it is right for us to think not otherwise than as the Word of Truth Himself would wish. For He is consubstantial with His own Begetter, with nothing intervening at all, nor anything that separates one from the other by natural diversity. For He is one with Him, so that in
the substance of the Begetter the nature of the Son is manifested, and in the substance of the Offspring, the nature of God the Father is seen and shines forth, just as one might A observe in things among us. For we are not different by nature from those who are born from us, nor are we divided into a natural alienation, even if we are distinguished by the difference of our bodies; wherefore one might see the blessed Abraham in one who has seen the son born of him. But among men, there is perhaps a great gap, such that each one is drawn in a certain way and retreats into his own individuality, so as to appear and be clearly distinct, and not be naturally inherent in another, even if the common sense of substance is seen to belong to all. But regarding God by nature, one should not think this way. For the Father is the Father B uniquely and distinctly, and not the Son; and in the same way, the Son is the Son who is from Him, and is not the Father; and the Spirit is uniquely the Spirit. But with the holy Trinity gathered and collected into one nature of Godhead, there is one God among us; nor would anyone say that one retreats entirely from another, so that they are separated from one another; but we believe that each one is that which he is and is designated, subsisting hypostatically. We believe the Son to be from the Father, that is, from His substance, and to proceed from Him ineffably, and to remain in Him. And we think the same way regarding the Holy Spirit. For He is truly from God by nature, but is in no way separated from His substance; rather, He proceeds from Him, and remains in Him always, and is ministered to the saints through Christ; for all things are through the Son in the Holy Spirit. C This correctness and truth of dogmas the wisdom of the holy Fathers has taught us, and through the holy Scriptures we have been instructed to think and to speak in this way. Moreover, that we are proceeding most correctly toward this blameless faith, the Lord encourages us, saying: "Believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me. D Or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves." For He says clearly in these words that He would never be able to do, nor ever accomplish, the things that befit the divine nature alone unless He were God by nature and from it. And see with what certainty and truth He says such things. For He does not want as much faith to be placed in what He says—although He does not know how to lie—as in what He does. And the reason for this I will state. For to use appropriate words and speeches concerning God, and to utter some things rashly, is not difficult for a man who is for example, furious and demented; but who would ever use works and power appropriate to God? Or to which creature would the Father bestow His own glory? For do we not say that the glory of God is the power and virtue of being able to do all things, which is in no creature at all? Wherefore, wishing to be proven by necessary and invincible arguments and demonstrations, Christ commands that one believe from the very works that He Himself is in the Father, and again has the Father in Himself, that is, to bear the nature of the Father in His own existence.
as a genuine offspring, as fruit truly, as Son having appeared naturally from the Father. But the Church of Christ, although it mightily boasts in the correctness of its dogmas, has such an opinion regarding the Only-Begotten; whereas the God-fighting heretics have come to think otherwise, to persuade those who approach and attend to their destructive words. For raging with abuse against Christ, the wretches strive and watch A one another, not to incite to piety, but so that one might be seen to be more impious than another, and might utter some of the more jarring things. For since they drink the wine from Sodom and harvest the bitter grape of Gomorrah (for they do not receive the insights regarding Him from the divine Spirit, nor from the revelation of the Father, but from the head of the dragon), they think nothing that is sound, but speak those things which render the wretched souls of their listeners [miserable], casting them down to Hades and the lowest chasm. These things they have dared to commit to books, and have engraved their wickedness as if on an inscription for immortality. It would have been fitting for us, having set forth whatever seemed useful to readers for thinking rightly about the Son, to make no mention of the dogmas of the heretics. But since some of the simpler people are swept away by their miserable words, I deemed it necessary to repel the harmful trifles of their dogma and to show the calumnies which they wish to attach to the Son—or, to speak more truly, to the whole divine nature—to be empty and futile. B Therefore, there came into my hands a book of the adversaries; and as I was examining the sense of the proposed passage, I found after some other things it written word for word: "The Son therefore, being substantially contained by the Father, has the Father in Himself, speaking the words and performing the signs": which he interprets, saying: "What I speak to you, I speak not from Myself, but the Father remaining in Me, He does the works." These things they trifle; but since it is necessary for us to resist them and to show that this sense is not true and genuine, I first say, to speak truthfully, that I do not sufficiently grasp what they mean when they say the Son is "contained" by the Father; so much obscurity does it have in itself. For the proposition C blushes and is in some way shrouded in darkness, being devoid of freedom. For just as he who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest he be exposed, according to the voice of the Savior, so every discourse that signifies evil is accustomed to go through dark conceptions of the mind, and will not come to the light of explanation, lest the rot and weakness inherent in it be exposed. What then is it to be "substantially contained" by the Son by the Father? For I search through every concept, as best I can— D
A if this implies that the Son, appearing in the Father’s substance as consubstantial with Him, also holds the Father within Himself, shining forth well in the nature of the begotten, we ourselves will give our assent to the power of that interpretation; B and the term "contained" applied to the Son would perhaps not offend us excessively. But if he does not say this—for he who has vomited forth such blasphemy against Him will never admit that the Son is begotten from the substance of the Father, but asserts instead that the nature of the Son is encompassed by the nature of the Father as if it were some finite body—then how will he not be convicted of employing an open blasphemy and of being full of the utmost madness? For even though these same people say the Son is God, they nevertheless irrationally attempt to attach to Him the properties of bodies. For whatever is circumscribed by measure or space or interval, such that it has a beginning at some point and ends somewhere else, this will certainly also have existence in a place, in quantity, in form, and in configuration. But how are these things not the properties of bodies? How will He not be considered as one of us, seeing that He is like us, even though He is above us? Or how will He not be akin to another creature, if He has nothing more than it, insofar as it is finite? But since matters stand thus, as our foolish adversaries persuade themselves, why did He vainly terrify us by saying: "You are from below, I am from above"; and again: "You are of this world; I am not of this world"? For when He said He was from above, He did not simply signify "from the heavens." For what greater prerogative would He have than the holy angels, if we find that they too are from above, if this is taken in terms of place? But He signifies that He was begotten from the substance that is from above and that is exalted above all things. How then does He seem to speak truly at last, if He possesses the properties of bodies in common with other creatures, and is contained by the Father just like those things brought into existence out of nothing? For we shall confess there is nothing outside Him. And the divine Psalmist, indeed, speaking in the Spirit of truths that are entirely mysterious and hidden, says that the Son is absent from no place, by this testifying that He is incorporeal and uncircumscribed, and is not comprehended by place, as God. "Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." But these men, with unbridled audacity, and setting their own opinion against the voices of the Spirit, D wish the Only-Begotten to be circumscribed and bounded by place, although they ought necessarily to weigh with themselves concerning this, that if He fills the heavens and the ends of the earth, that is, the underworld, how is it not most absurd to attach to Him a name of comprehension, while they do not even consider among themselves that if His face, that is, the Spirit (for he calls the Spirit the face of the Son), fills all things, how will He Himself be contained, even if it is said that He is contained by God and the Father? For not even...
then will it be less inconvenient if one says that the incorporeal is circumscribed, and subjects to measure that which lacks an end. For what else does it mean to say that He is A substantially contained by God and the Father, than that He has a limited substance, not otherwise than every one of those things which were made by Him, which we shall safely and truly admit to be contained? For they are bodies, even if they are not perhaps such as ours. But another thought occurs to me besides this. For if we say it is necessary that what is contained by something should altogether be within that by which it is said to be contained, how will it not manifestly follow that we should think the container is less than the contained, and say that it [the container] is limited by being encompassed, as it were, by the greater? What then, good sir, will you say in return? For behold, when He presents Himself as the image of God and the Father, and expressly says: "He who sees Me, sees the Father," and immediately adds thereafter: "I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me." For if this means, according to you, that although I am the character and image of Him who begat Me, I am still substantially contained by Him, is it not manifest and indubitable to all that He wishes us to think such things about the Father as we think about Him? Therefore, the Father must also be finite: for He is in the Son. Thus let the heretic finally inquire who is greater than Him; for it is not right for me to say or think so. For the Son will not be the image of the B Father in part, and in part not. For if He has anything at all that breaks the most perfect likeness, He will not be a perfect and solid image. But where would you find this said in the Holy Scriptures? For we shall not, persuaded by your arguments, cast aside the correctness of sacred dogmas. But I am amazed how they dared to suggest in these matters: "Just as Paul had Christ speaking in himself and working miracles, in the same way the Son also had the Father speaking and performing signs in Himself." Whence He says: "Believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me; or else believe because of the works themselves." Who then will still call him a Christian who thinks and speaks such things about Christ? For behold, behold, he no longer calls Him truly God, but with headlong audacity attributing to Him what is fitting for creatures, he proclaims Him as a certain God-bearer and participant of God, or a God begotten from God. For his entire purpose is, so to speak, in every way and manner to exclude Him entirely from the substance of God and the Father, and to cut Him off completely from the natural and substantial property which He has with His own Father and God. But what, I pray, can be more stupid than this? Or how would you not weep as if for those already dead and lost, who with such unbridled course plunge into impiety, and you will say quite appropriately: "Who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes, and I will weep day and night?" C For on account of their contumacy, one might deservedly pour out a great flood of tears. But since the slanders against the dogma of the truth, for the sake of the simpler, must be beaten back... [Jerem. IX, 1] D
come, let us say to them again that, being zealous, we have been zealous for the Lord A.
For godlike Paul, O you fellows, or any other of the saints, having Christ dwelling in their own minds through the Spirit, did those things that were very pleasing to God, and they appeared as workers of miracles. It is therefore established—even by your own confession—that although they were human by nature, and of a substance other than the holy Spirit of Christ which dwelt in them, they were nonetheless religious and conspicuous in piety through the grace given to them by Christ. You will certainly agree with us that they were at one time destitute of this grace, yet were called to it when it seemed good to God, who directs all things well. It was possible, therefore, that by some vice or sin, the blessed Paul, or another like him, offending God, could be deprived of the grace given to him, and be thrust down again and return to that state of humiliation from which he had risen. For whatever is gained from without and happens to one can easily be lost and taken away, inasmuch as it is a given thing.
Therefore, O good sir (for it is helpful to address you again), if, as was the case with Christ speaking and working miracles in Paul, one were to concede according to your foolish and impious opinion that the Father is in the Son, is it not clear and indubitable that He would not be God by nature at all, but something else B besides the indwelling Father, who is truly God? For thus was Christ in Paul. The Only-Begotten, then, is as it were an instrument and a vessel prepared for glory, and would differ in no way from a flute or a lyre, resounding that which it is bidden to by inspiration or by the plectrum; and the Father would use Him to perform miracles in the same way that a carpenter uses a saw or an axe. But what is more absurd than this? For since it is of His nature, as they say, to be entirely alien to God and the Father, to that degree in which He is God by nature within us—and there is no one else beside Him—if the Son is thus excluded from the substance of the Father so that He is not God by nature, how do we not truly say that He is ranked and numbered among the creatures, and that He has been taken up in the place of an instrument, and that the Son who sits beside God and the Father has at length come to be seen as a minister instead of Lord, or rather, that He is not even the Son in truth? For no one would conceive of or accept that which is placed in the order of an instrument as a Son. The Father, therefore, supposedly begat an instrument of His own art or wisdom, and appears to have begotten something other than what He Himself is. But how can that come about, or how is it not most foolish to bring such a thing into one’s mind? Unless, therefore, you cease to consider the Son an instrument or a minister, and, not admitting that He is truly begotten, deny His ineffable generation—that is, from the substance of God and the Father—you D will be casting insult upon the glory of the Begetter Himself.
A For the Father will no longer be Father in truth. For if He has not begotten altogether from Himself, whose Father could He be by nature? The Holy Trinity, therefore, is entirely falsely named, if the Father is not Father in truth, nor the Son, Son by nature; and accordingly the blasphemy against the Spirit will follow in the same line of thought. Therefore we are deceived, and the faith is proven false; and the Holy Scripture speaks falsehood by calling God Father. And if the Son is not God by nature, as generated from God and the Father, we are deceived, and together with the inhabitants of the earth, that upper city also is deceived—the most pure host of the holy angels—which glorifies and worships with us the God who is God by nature, and knows not how it has been persuaded to offer doxology to a "God-bearing vessel" and one of the creatures, to use the term according to their foolishness. If the Father were ever to withdraw from the union and indwelling with the Son, He would perhaps differ in nothing from those who have fallen from their own beginning; having nothing of His own, nor bearing the Begetter in His own nature, but being in all things like unto us, strengthened only by divine grace, and adorned, moreover, with the name of sonship along with us. Why then, tell me, does He not also confess His nature with us? And why do we perish in the age, while He sits over the age? And for what reason are we servants, but He is Lord? For even if we are called sons of God, nonetheless, recognizing our own nature, we do not blush at the glory. B But as for Him, if He is similar to us, and in no way superior to the creatures, in that He is not God by nature (for this is what the ignorant think), why does He not profess servitude along with us? Yet, laying claim for Himself to the honor and glory properly and uniquely belonging to the divine nature, He is found saying to His holy disciples: "You call me, Master and Lord; and you speak well: for so I am" (John XIII, 13). And these, indeed, are the words of the Savior; but those good and noble exponents of heretical doctrines praise Him indeed for asserting and saying that He is truly called Lord, but they exclude Him from natural lordship because they refuse to confess Him to be God from God by nature, nor do they persuade themselves to reveal the foulness of their own sin. That He does not wish to be ranked in the order of servants, nor to be numbered among the things that have been made, but rather looks to the freedom innate to His nature, even when He was made in the form of a servant (Phil. II, 6-8), you will understand from this. He arrived in Capharnaum, as we read in the Gospels; and the exactors of the didrachma approached Peter and addressed him thus: "Does your Master not pay the didrachma?" (Matt. XVII, 23). When Christ learned of this, it is worth the effort to see what He answered to Peter: "The kings of the earth, from whom do they receive custom or tribute? Of their own children, or of strangers?" (ibid. 24). And since Peter wisely and prudently confessed that he who is not bound to D the laws and tributes by lineage, or by any other way of the kingdom, is exempt, Christ
A immediately added a testimony befitting God, attributing it to Himself: "Therefore the children are free." But if He were a fellow-servant, and not the Son truly begotten of the Father’s substance, nor having a natural union with the Father, why did He make all others liable to tributes, as those who are not strangers by nature to the tax collector and are placed in the rank of slaves, while claiming freedom for Himself alone? For those things which properly and truly befit the Divinity and are truly present in It are said of us only in an improper sense, so that if anyone were to consider the nature of created things accurately, he would find that the name and reality of slavery pertain to it above all else. But if some of us are adorned with the glory of freedom, they possess it in an improper sense, as it is a quality due to God alone. Furthermore, I would gladly ask them this: will they call Paul a "God-bearer" (theophoros) because Christ dwells in him through His own Spirit? Or will they, in their trifles, deny even this? For if they say he is not truly a God-bearer, this alone will be enough to persuade everyone that their trifles should be rejected and held in the utmost hatred, as they are people who refuse to admit no absurdity in their utterances. But if, avoiding this, they are converted to telling the truth and confess him to be truly a God-bearer, because God dwells in him, how will they not be convicted of the greatest impiety if they say that the Son is alien to the substance of God and Father? For Paul is no longer a God-bearer if the Son is not God by nature. But, blushing at times (for there is B great craftiness and malice in their arguments), they will indeed say that the Son is truly God, yet not that He was begotten of God by nature. And that anyone at all would shout them down on this point is not a matter for debate. For how could He be God, who was not begotten of God by nature? But we say this: do you say that the Son is God by nature? How then could He be a "God-bearer," or in other words, a partaker of God, if He is God by nature? For He would never be a partaker of Himself; for to what end would God dwell in God, as one in another? For if that which receives is the same by nature as that which dwells within, what need is there then for participation? But if, just as He Himself dwelt in Paul, in the same way the Father is also in Him, how will He not be a "God-bearer" in the same way as Paul, if He no longer has what it takes to be God by nature in any respect, since He would have need of the superior God who dwells within? C Furthermore, this doughty enemy of God invents something more, and through many demonstrations, as he imagines them to be, he attempts to spread his own doctrine among the people. For I think it worthwhile through all his words
A to run and examine his impious mind, which is at enmity with God, so that it may be clearly argued that he puts the Only-Begotten into the number of the creatures, and the wretched man, having hidden his impiety toward Him with elegant deceits, confesses indeed that He is God, but by excluding Him from the true and natural divinity, he thinks he can somehow escape the notice of those who look toward the truth itself.
He writes, therefore, as follows: "But just as we, he says, are said to be in Him, and have a subsistence not commingled with Him; so also the Son, being in the Father, has a grace distinct from the Unbegotten." O the audacity of the deed! O words full of wickedness and impiety, of foolishness and madness! "They became fools, claiming to be wise" B, and thinking this way about the Only-Begotten; they "denied the Master who redeemed them," as it is written. For if they say that the Word of God is a man and one of us, nothing further prevents us from saying that He exists in God just as we do; but if they believe He is God, and have learned to worship Him as existing by nature in this way, why do they not rather grant that it is fitting for Him to exist in His own Begetter, and to have Him in Himself? For I think it more fitting for those who are truly God-loving to think and speak this way.
But if, practicing an unyielding shamelessness, they remain in what they have said, and thus say that the Son is in the Father just as any one of us, who have been made by Him out of nothing and from the earth, why will it not be allowed C to each one of us to say confidently: "He who sees me sees the Father," and: "I am in the Father, and the Father is in me"? But I think that anyone would rightly call this the ultimate madness. For it is absurd, and no such voice is found in the Holy Scriptures regarding any of the saints; but they entirely attribute an incomparable pre-eminence above all the good to the natural Lord and God, the Only-Begotten, and thus cry out, saying: "Who will be compared to the Lord among the sons of God?" How, then, is the Only-Begotten similar to us, if no one is equal or similar to Him, according to the voice of the saints?
But if He is in God in the same way as we are, how is it not necessary thereafter to say that the choir of the saints lies, and attributes no prerogative to the natural Son, by which He might appear to excel the adopted ones? Away with such detestable wickedness, O good man; we do not think in this way at all, God forbid! But following the D opinions of the holy Fathers, we believe that we shall obtain glory before God. Since, however, for the demonstration of what they think and say, they have brought forward that which was said through Paul, that "in God we live, and move, and have our being," showing the statement that the Son is in the Father to be an empty thing derived from our own case, come, let us examine the aforementioned statement with the appropriate inquiries, and refute them, showing that they also slander the mind of the holy apostles, and most foolishly distort into their own opinion things that were said very rightly. For when the blessed Paul was in Athens and saw the people, although famous for the name of wisdom, yet held by the false religion of the gods, with pious arguments [he sought to turn them] from the old
deception, cleverly transferring them to the need henceforth to know one and only God, who grants to those begotten by Him both to move, and to live, and to be. For the Creator of all things gives life to all things, being Life by nature, ineffably infusing them with the power of His own property. For it was not possible for things that had received their origin from nothing to be otherwise preserved in their being; for they would have immediately retreated to their own nature—I mean, to non-being—had they not, by conjunction and relation to Him who is the source of their origin, overcome their weakness. A Well, therefore, did the divine Paul speak, and most rightly, showing God to be the Life of the universe, in that *in Him we live, and move, and exist*; not at all signifying that which they, corrupting the right reason of the Holy Scriptures, have fabricated for their own purpose, but that which was true and most useful to those recently initiated into the knowledge of God. And, to speak more clearly, he did not intend to signify that, being humans by nature, we are placed within the substance of the Father and exist as if in Him, but that we live, and exist in God, that is, subsist. For observe that he does not say simply and absolutely that we are only in God, on account of your ignorance, good man, but by explaining in various ways what he wished to say, having put first, *we live*, then having added, *we move*, finally he introduced, *we exist*, to express the sense of what preceded. I truly think that the enemy of God might perhaps be confounded by these arguments; but if he should insult again, and distort that *in God* to his own whim, we shall demonstrate the custom of the divinely inspired doctrine. B It is accustomed, in fact, sometimes to say *in God* for that which is *through God*. Otherwise, let him answer how David cried out in the Psalms: *In God we shall do strength*; and again, with the discourse turned to God Himself: *In Thee we shall gore our enemies*. For no one would think that it is said by him as if he promises to produce some strength in the substance of God, nor that the Psalmist says that those who offend their own enemies will gore them in Him, but he says *in God* for that which is *through God*, and that *in Thee* again for that which is *through Thee*. But now, why did the blessed Paul, writing to the Corinthians, say: *I give thanks to my God for you all, for the grace of God that was given to you in Christ Jesus*? And again: *But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who was made for us wisdom from God, and justice, and sanctification, and redemption*. C Might one perhaps ask prudently, will someone say, that the Apostle says the grace given from heaven to the Corinthians was given in the very substance of Christ, or understand anything else similar to this? But how would this not be nonsense? Why, therefore, overturning the custom of the Holy Scriptures and caviling at the mind of the blessed Paul, do you say that *to be in God* is to be in the substance of the Father, when you hear him preaching at Athens: *For in Him we live, and move, and exist*? But, says the teacher of pernicious dogmas, since it seems to you that *to be in God* is rightly understood for that which is
[GREEK COL. 233] A For by God, why do you trifle in vain, or why do you accuse us of blasphemy, when we contend that the Son was made through the Father? Behold, for he himself says: "Because I am in the Father," that is, according to your opinion and the custom of the holy Scriptures just brought to us, "through the Father." And how would he not be seen to be babbling? Why then, while you yourself are destroying the custom of the holy Scriptures, and slandering the counsel of the blessed Paul, do you say that we exist in God, that is, in the essence of the Father, when you hear Paul saying to those in Athens: "That in him we live, and move, and are"? But yes, says the one who stands at the head of deadly doctrines, since it seems to you to be correct that to be in God means to be understood as being through God, why do you babble in vain? And why do you cast charges of blasphemy when we insist that the Son was made through the Father? For behold, he himself says: "That I am in the Father," instead of "through the Father," at least according to your argument, O fellow, and the custom just brought to us from the holy Scriptures. But I say to this that we must plead our case again, and strip bare their wickedness and harmfulness. For I wonder how, having heard gladly that in the holy Scripture it is the custom to say "in God" for "through God," and having consented to this and accepted the expression only so as to be able to gainsay something of the glory of the Only-begotten, and having resolved that they will in no way be caught losing, they are not aware that they are vain and empty, however much they boast themselves to be wise and keen. For if it is permitted only to the adversaries to fence in the custom of the inspired Scripture with the essence of the Only-begotten, and for this reason to say he was made by the Father because he says he is in God, and since we have granted that "in God" is to be understood as "through God," it would seem, as is likely, that their wickedness had not an entirely ignorant rationale. B But if nothing prevents us—who propose by deduction to refute the rottenness of their doctrines with a greater absurdity—from turning the force and logic of what is signified to the Father himself, and saying clearly that, just as when he says, "The Father is in me," it should be understood as if he said "through me," so that the Father himself would eventually be created—how will they, trusting in such foolish arguments, not be condemned for supreme insanity? For just as the Son says he himself is in the Father, so he also said the Father is in him; but if "in the Father" is intended to be understood as "through the Father," what prevents saying that "in the Son" is to be understood as if it meant "through the Son"? But far be it that we should fall together with them into such insanity! For we shall neither say that the Son was made through the Father, nor C that he from whom are all things, the Father and God, was made through the Son: but adapting the custom of divinely inspired Scripture to each time, person, and thing, we weave a pure and blameless argument about all necessary matters. For to those brought into being from nothing and who have come into existence through God, how would it not be most appropriate that they be perceived and spoken of by us as being in God, that is, through God? But for the Son, who by nature is Lord and God and Creator of all, this, I think, would not properly and truly apply; rather he is naturally in the Father, and exists in him, and has him in himself, on account of the identity of essence, and has absolutely nothing intervening that separates him into physical D otherness. And that this is perhaps to those who are more learned, as it seems to me...
might be well spoken, but the adversary will by no means assent to it; rather he will say again, ruminating on the argument introduced at the beginning, that the Father is in the Son just as we are in Him. What then? (we might ask, refuting his unsound and puerile thoughts and sayings) if you say that the Son is in the Father A in the same way as we are in Him, very well. But then, what shall we say in response to this, does the measure of our own nature allow us to be glorified by the same words as Christ Himself is seen to be? For He, because He is in the Father and has the Father in Himself—since He is His image and an unvarying character, and for that reason is similar—says: “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; I and the Father are one.” But tell me, if we are in Him in such a way, and have Him in ourselves, just as He is in the Father and the Father is in Him, why, with neck lifted high and countenance boldly showing itself to those we meet, do we not say with confidence: “I am in Christ, and Christ is in me; he that hath seen me hath seen Christ; I and Christ are one”? What then follows from this? No one, I suppose, would be afraid to say the same thing of the Father: “I and the Father are one.” For if the Father is one with the Son, how will He not be equal to the Father Himself, since the image is similar in all things—that is, the Son—with no part of this image deviating? Who, therefore, would ever fall into such madness as to dare to say: “He that hath seen me hath seen Christ; I and Christ are one”? For if you grant that the Son is in the Father and has the Father in Himself, not by nature but by a relationship, and that in a similar way Christ is in us B and we in Christ: first, the Son will be ranked in the same order as us; then nothing will prevent us, if we wish, from passing by the Son, as one who is placed in the middle, and tending straight toward the Father Himself, and saying that we are so perfectly and exactly assimilated to Him that no difference at all appears between us and Him. For to be one thing with another has this force and meaning. Do you not see, then, into what folly and impiety their minds have fallen, and what a crowd of absurd arguments has rushed in upon us? What, then, is the reason why they say and contend for these things, and keep adrift on such frivolous arguments? I will explain again. There is one goal proposed by them: to exclude the Son completely from the substance of the Father. For that we speak truly in saying this, we shall know from what follows and from what is joined to his former blasphemies. For he adds: “But C just as we,” he says, “who are in Him, have a distinct hypostasis from Him, even so the Son, being in the Father, has a substance distinct from the unbegotten God.” What are you saying, madman? In this way you have made your blasphemy against the Son manifest. Will anyone, therefore, say that we are not rightly hurling back a vain and futile cavil upon the head of the heretics? For behold, it is clear that they attribute nothing more to the Son than D to men born of the earth, and to creatures brought forth from the earth.
A I, however, although I bear very heavily and with an indignant spirit the things which these wretches have dared to utter, will nevertheless endeavor to show this, following again the scope of divine Scripture: that those who deny the Son deny also the Father, and are finally without God and have no hope in this world, as it is written. And that we speak rightly, that pious John will be a rich witness for us, writing thus: "He who denies the Father, denies also the Son; everyone who denies the Son, does not have the Father; he who confesses the Son, has the Father also." B Rightly, indeed, does the God-inspired man speak, and he does not place this contemplation outside the series and order of his argument. For since he knows that He who is called Father exists by nature not only in name, but rather in deed and in act, he necessarily implies that the one must be denied together with the other. For the knowledge and declaration of the Son who has proceeded from Him always runs as it were with the Father who is and is understood by nature; and with Him who is truly begotten, the person of the One naturally inclined to beget is simultaneously conceived. For as soon as one knows a father, he understands that he has begotten; and if he should learn of the offspring, he will by all means dispose himself to the fact that it has sprung from some father. Hence, by means of both, the knowledge of each is generated in the minds of the listeners; and if anyone denies that God is truly Father, he will altogether overturn the generation of the Son. Again, whoever does not confess the offspring to be the Son will altogether strip away for himself the knowledge concerning the Father. Since, therefore, he [the opponent], having assailed us with impious arguments, maintains that the Son has a substance distinct from the unbegotten God, does he not openly proclaim that He is not even the Son? But if He is not the Son, then the Father Himself will no longer be truly considered Father. For of whom shall He be father, if He has not begotten? C For we also say that the Son is distinguished from the Father not by substance, but by person—not as though He were alien to Him according to nature, as indeed it seems to the enemies of God, but as one who exists and is understood in His own person and in the distinctness of private existence. For He is the Son, and not the Father; yet we would not say that they are distinguished by substance, if we are of a sound mind, nor would we advise this to any of the brethren. For how, indeed, is each thing distinguished only by the singularity of person? For Peter is Peter and not Paul, and Paul is Paul and not Peter, D yet they remain undistinguished according to nature. For there is one account of substance in both, and they share in the same things that bind them to natural unity without any variation. But for what reason do we say such things? Because our aim is to show that since they think impiously, they exclude the Son from the natural deity, attributing to Him nothing more, as we have already said, than a relative connection with the Father and God. For what is the reason for the examples they set before us in support of their argument? "Just as we," they say, "have a hypostasis unmixed with Him, while we are in Him, so also He has a distinct
essence of God, even if He is said to be in Him." A Is not this craftiness visible to all? Would not anyone rightly say that he who has vomited forth such foul words is one of those mockers who were predicted by the Spirit? For what does Judas, the disciple of the Savior, write to us? "But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you: that in the last time there will come mockers, walking according to their own desires in impieties. These are those who separate themselves, natural men, not having the Spirit." For no one speaking by the Holy Spirit will ever say anything against the glory of the Only-Begotten. For this, I say, is to say "Anathema to Jesus." But natural, timid men, having hearts void of the Holy Spirit, separate the Son from the Father, asserting that He possesses a substantial difference, just as, indeed, do the things that are created, and they think He is in the Father just as we are in Him.
B But because those who write these things have betrayed the utmost ignorance, let us again consider divine Scripture, as far as we are able, and let us strive to show those who hear us that we are in the Son in one way, but the Son is in His own Father in another way. For He is not fashioned toward Him by voluntary virtues, nor is He an image of His hypostasis, and for that reason in Him; but as in a natural identity, and as having one essence with Him. And let the most wise John be called upon as a witness for us in these matters, saying: "And our communion may be with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ." How, then, they say, or in what way do they insist that we ought to have communion with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ? For if we think that by mingling our essence in some way with the divine nature, that is, with the Father and the Son, we are in them—and C if the word "communion" does not rather look toward the likeness of wills—how could we have it with the Father and with the Son, seeing that, according to them, they are not consubstantial? For either it is necessary to speak ridiculously, saying that we, splitting our own nature, have given one half to the Father and the other to ourselves and to the Son, and thus we are understood to be in them; or, rejecting that most stupid reasoning, we say that by striving to adorn our own mind with voluntary virtues and with a conformity to the divine and unspeakable beauty, we acquire for ourselves the grace of communion. Shall we therefore say that the Son thus exists in the Father, or that He has a relative communion sought by effort with the One who begat Him? But why, then, does He wish to lead our mind, through the equality of works and likeness, to believe without doubt that He is in the Father, D and on the other hand that He has the Father in Himself? For is it not most manifest and true to all, that
since He intends the radiance of His works to be examined by us, He shows Himself to be of equal power to His own Father, inasmuch as the division of substance and natural difference A no longer has any place, if both He and the Father are attaining to equal achievements? For consider how it is not in these, but in other things, that we, by striving for conformity to God, are deemed worthy of communion with Him. For it is by pitying one another, and by clinging fast to the works of love, and by striving for all the gravity in our life here, that we are, with difficulty, said to be in God. And John is a witness, saying, "In this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk, even as He walked." And again, "You, he says, that which you heard from the beginning, let it abide in you; if that which you heard from the beginning abides in you, you yourselves also will abide in the Son and in the Father." And what is that "from the beginning" which He charges us to keep, so that we may be in God? He will make it no less clear to us by saying, "This is the commandment which you heard from the beginning, that you love one another." You hear how we are in God, namely by cultivating love for one another, and by striving, as far as possible, to follow in the footsteps of the Savior's virtue; and I say virtue, not that B which is the creator of the heavens or the angels, or by which He founded the earth or spread out the sea; nor yet that which, by an ineffable and inscrutable power, by a word alone, calmed the force of the winds, or raised the dead, or granted sight to the blind, or commanded the leper to be cleansed; but rather that which befits the conditions of humanity. We shall find Him, just as Paul says, being insulted by the impious Jews but not returning insult, and while suffering, not threatening, but rather committing Himself to Him who judges justly. We shall find Him saying again, "Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Therefore, through such achievements, by striving to imitate Christ, the leader for us of all virtue, we are said to abide both in the Father and in Him, gaining this matter as a prize and, as it were, a reward for the gravity of our life. C But the Son does not wish us to test the radiance that is in Him from these things; rather, He commands us, having applied our minds with the keenness that is within us to the greatness of His miracles, to consider the immutable likeness that He has toward His own Father, and thus to believe at last that since He is consubstantial, He has in Himself the Begetter, and He Himself is in Him. Otherwise, let the adversaries casually teach that this is, for the Son, also in the place of a prize as it is for us, and the reward of the evangelical life, which is understood as being in the Father. But that will by no means be difficult for them, I suppose. For to those who have left no kind of petulance untried, what absurdity would they leave untouched? Therefore, they will answer, as it is credible, that the Son is in the Father, and has the Father in Himself again, because He is conformed to Him by the virtues D which we ourselves also attain. But why then, I ask, O good sirs, when Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father,"...
did Christ not present all the holy apostles as an exact image and likeness of the One being considered, but said: "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not known the Father?" B For He does not admit any of the others with Himself, but comparing Himself to the Father alone, He passes over our affairs as being altogether too narrow, and as one not wishing to depict the divine substance accurately in these, He has kept the most perfect likeness for Himself alone. "For he who has seen me," He says, "has seen the Father." Then He immediately added to these: "Do you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me?" For where He has an immutable likeness in every respect, how would He not, then, have the Father in Himself, and be held, as it were, by the Father?
Consider something of this sort, and take it as a demonstration of what has been said. For if anyone were to bring into the midst the son of Abraham, or of some other man, and then were to inquire about the nature of the begetter, and wish to learn who and of what sort the begetter was, would he not rightly and reasonably have pronounced, or rather would he have demonstrated his own nature while saying: "He who has seen me has seen the father? I am in the father, and the father is in me"? Then, in order to prove that He speaks the truth, would He not—if He were speaking fittingly—bring forward the identity found in human works, or rather in natural gifts, saying: "Believe me for the works themselves"? For I have all things, and I have the power to perform all things that belong to human nature. Yet everyone, I think, will justly admit that we speak the truth, and that identity is acutely demonstrated by our works.
Why, then, do those who pervert what is right not persuade their own disciples to walk in the straight path of doctrine, but, having abandoned the royal and beaten way, go along the untrodden and rough one—unaware that they are destroying themselves as well as those who think they ought to follow them? But we, having left such a path, shall walk by the straight one, and, fortified by the authority of the holy Scriptures, we believe that the Son, who was begotten of Him according to nature, is equal in power and consubstantial with God and the Father, and that He is His image, and that for this reason He is in the Father, and the Father in Him. C XIV, 12, 13. "Amen, amen, I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he also will do, and greater than these he will do, because I go to the Father. And whatever you ask the Father in my name, I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son."
If anyone wishes to extend the exposition of this passage to show how far it reaches, the discourse would indeed be long and lofty; but keeping in mind what is profitable for the understanding of the hearers, and having set aside the prolixity of speech, we shall endeavor to grasp the meaning of what is signified.
A For thus the concept will be most easily acceptable to the majority. Wishing, therefore, to show that He is consubstantial with His own Begetter and that He is His character, being borne as in an archetype in the Father, yet having the archetype within Himself, as a character naturally and substantially, and not according to some schematic form conceived in the molding (for the Divine is beyond shapes, since it is also incorporeal), He says, "I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me." But in order that we might not seek the equality and conformity of the likeness, in an undistorted manner, through any other way than from the prerogatives alone that belong to the nature (for from here it was possible to see the substantial and natural likeness), He says, "If not, believe because of the works." For He rightly judged B that if anyone were to see Him shining forth with works equal to those of God and the Father, he would accept Him as a truly natural character and image of His essence; for one who is not from God according to nature would never be able to perform works equal to God, nor could any creature ever have the power to work miracles in an equal measure to the divine nature. For the goods of that nature, which is always utterly inaccessible, are unreachable by those who have been called into being out of nothing. And that the Savior’s word would be entirely blameless before those who think rightly, it was to be expected that no one would doubt; however, as God, He did not ignore that heretics would seize the opportunity and pretext of a new doctrine even from what was well spoken. Therefore, C so that there would be no room left for the impudence of those who pervert what is right, and so that they would not say that the Son became a creator of miracles not from the power inherent in Him nor from His own might, but because He had the Father within Him doing the works, just as He Himself said and maintained, the Lord has necessarily provided a remedy by adding the inducements of His thoughts; for in these, He promises to be Himself the provider to those who believe in Him of whatever they might wish to ask, and He does not merely promise to grant them such strength and authority, but far more; for "Greater things," He says, "than those which I have done, will they do." You see, therefore, how He usefully checks the boldness of the adversaries, and in a way drives back those who rush blindly against rocks. For someone will say to them: D "O foolish and blind ones, who imagine that the Son is able to accomplish nothing of Himself, but that the power and authority for all the miracles performed were rather granted by the Father, how does He promise to give to those who believe in Him the power to accomplish even greater things? How will another accomplish what He Himself has not done, having borrowed the power from Him?" For observe how He did not say in this that the Father will grant power to the faithful, but, "Whatever you ask in My name, I will do." He who, as God, grants to others the ability to accomplish even greater things, how could He Himself have been supplied by others?
Therefore, the claims of such people are nonsense, and are products of a demonic perversity. B No one should think that the power of the Son is in any way finite, or that it reaches only to some things that exist and is insufficient for even greater ones; rather, it could easily accomplish whatever it wished, and grant to those worthy of it the ability to pride themselves on thrones equal to or perhaps even superior to its own. And let no one think we are saying that it will ever be possible for any of those who have honored faith in Him to create a heaven, or a sun and moon, or to display the conspicuous choir of the stars, or perhaps to create angels, or the earth, or the things in it. The aim of the discourse is not turned toward these things, but rather reaches toward those things in which it is natural, and it does not overstep the measure of the human-befitting splendor, I mean, in glory and sanctification. For this reason, by curbing, so to speak, the freer range of the discourse, and by comparing C the magnitude of the things performed by Him when He became man with even greater things, He adds: "What I have done," He says, "he will do, and greater things than these." He did not define His own power by the things He had performed, as if He were not able to do greater things, but by having accomplished what was necessary and whatever the timing brought forward, He usefully teaches through these words that the incomprehensible magnitude of His power is not limited by those boundaries. But that, by maintaining the order of the matters proposed, we may direct the mind of the hearers toward the contemplation D of the statement: "Amen," He says, "I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he also will do, and greater things than these he will do, because I am going to the Father." Then what is this, someone among the more reasonable hearers might ask, that the Son says He is going to the Father, so that those who believe in Him might be able to accomplish things even greater than those shown by Him? The statement evidently contains within itself a certain hidden contemplation. What, then, is it that He says? Accept it as if He were saying, perhaps: "O ministers of My words and genuine disciples, as long as I was living with you on earth, I lived as a man, I did not openly show you the power of My divinity at all; but I both spoke and acted in a manner befitting the condition of humility and the form of a servant. Since, however, those things have at last been performed as was fitting, and the mystery of the dispensation with the flesh has been fulfilled for Me—for I am about to suffer death immediately, and I shall rise—I promise that I will grant to you the power to perform miracles even greater than those done through Me, now that the time and the will for bestowing these are at hand. For I will go to the Father, to sit with Him, clearly, and to reign with Him, as God from God, bestowing good things upon My friends with incomprehensible virtue and power. 'Whatever you ask,' He says, 'in My name, I will do,' when the time has passed during which it was necessary to be seen in the form of humility. I observed what was fitting on account of the dispensation: but now I promise openly and plainly that I will do the things that are of God, not excluding the Father from this so illustrious glory, but so that He may be glorified in the Son. For if the Son is glorified, the Father will certainly also be glorified in Him. For that the Son is God by His own nature has already been demonstrated by many things before: but nevertheless this is also evident from the fact that He receives the prayers of the saints and grants to them what they ask and desire. How, therefore, would the Father not be glorified in Him? For just as it would rightly bring some dishonor to Him if He who proceeds from Him were not God by nature, so He will receive much glory if He has a true God, and a fruit proceeding from His own substance, who also does all things.
B If the fact that the Son is seen in divine dignity tends to the glory of the Father, what reason will excuse the heretic who, without shame, has not feared to diminish Him in many ways with impudent blasphemies? I will add yet another point, which, in my opinion, refutes their ignorance and lack of learning not insignificantly. For if we pray to the Son, and ask Him for our petitions, and He Himself promises that He will grant them, how will He not be God by nature and begotten of God by nature? For if they do not think it is so, but call Him a creature, in what way will we differ from those who invoke the sun, or the heaven, or some other thing among created beings? For although, ashamed by the ugliness of their own folly, they hesitantly call Him a creature—equal to other creatures, yet endowed with a certain preeminence above all—let them know that they nonetheless injure the Father’s glory, which is the Son, when they place Him among creatures. For the question is not whether the creature is great or small, but whether it is a creature at all, or rather God by nature, which is indeed the truth.
«If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.» (John XIV, 14).
He says now more openly that, being true God, He will accept the prayers of His own with great ease, and will grant with great readiness whatever they wish to receive—spiritual gifts, evidently, and things worthy of divine bounty from above. And He does not say these things as a minister of another’s philanthropy, nor as an attendant of another’s kindness, but as one who has all things in His own power, existing Himself with the Father, He through whom are all things, both from us to God, and to us from Himself (cf. 1 Cor. VIII, 6). For this reason Paul also always prays for the bestowment of good things to be joined together for the worthy, saying: «Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ» (Phil. I, 2). And no one of sound mind will think that the Father bestows some grace separately, and the Son separately, as if in turn; rather, it is one and the same, even if it is said to be through both. D For all good things are indeed delivered to the worthy from the Father through the Son, and the distribution of divine graces takes place, yet not as through a minister, but through Him who is understood—and truly is—a fellow-giver and co-bestower. For the nature of the Godhead is one, and is so believed. For although it extends to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, nonetheless, no one is completely divided or separated from the other. For holding the correct view, we shall say that the Son is from the Father and in the Father by nature, and from Him and in Him, and who is His own and
the Son’s Spirit, that is the Holy Spirit. Since, therefore, the divinity according to nature is one and understood as such, through the Son from the Father in the Spirit, the gifts A shall be bestowed upon those who are worthy by them, and those from us shall be carried up to God, the Son obviously acting as mediator. For no one comes to the Father except through Him, just as He Himself has clearly professed. The Son has therefore become and is the door and the way of friendship with God the Father, and of access, and together acts as joint-giver and distributor of the gift from Him, as from one and a common munificence. For the nature of the divinity is one in the person and hypostasis of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. But since it was somehow unusual and still unpracticed for the ancients to approach the Father through the Son, He teaches this also advantageously, and laying as it were a foundation for this matter in His own disciples, and for the faith and instruction concerning it, He also transmits it to us, and manifests both the manner of prayer and the hope. For He makes a promise to us that those things in our prayers will advance, adding this also to the others to demonstrate the divinity and royal authority inherent in Him by nature. B
XIV, 15. If you love me, keep my commandments.
Seeing that He ordered those about to petition to ask in His name, and promised that He would grant to the petitioners whatever they might wish to receive, He takes great care not to seem to be lying, because of the impious voices of those accustomed to finding fault. For it is possible to see, and especially from the Holy Scriptures themselves, that some do approach and ask in His name, and yet by no means receive what is becoming to each individual and profitable to the petitioners, although God is not ignorant of this. In order, therefore, that our Lord Jesus Christ might show clearly to whom He was speaking, and to whom the grace of the promise is due, and in whom it would truly come to pass, He immediately presents those who love Him, and joins to them the exact keeper of the law, showing that it is not to others than these that the promise of kindness and the bestowal of spiritual goods will hold firm and come to pass through Him. For you will easily recognize that the hand of God is often drawn back, C and the outcome of the things hoped for is blocked, from those who do not know how to ask correctly, from what the disciple of Christ writes in this manner: “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, so that you may spend it in your passions.” Therefore, he says again also concerning those accustomed to being double-minded: “Let not that man think that he will receive anything from the Lord; for a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.” For from those who seek the grace from above not for the perfection of virtue, but for the enjoyment of carnal pleasure and worldly desires, God does not just close His ear, and grant nothing at all—for how would He grant to some what He refuses and rejects as detestable? Or how would the source of all sweetness send forth anything bitter? But as for spiritual
gifts, you will easily perceive that He distributes good things with a rich and most ready hand to those who love them, when you hear Him saying through Isaiah the prophet to them, "While you are yet speaking, I will say, 'What is this?'" And through the voice of the Psalmist that "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayer."
Having therefore defined and explicitly stated that it is owed to and will certainly fall to the lot of those who love Him to enjoy the good things from above, which are clearly granted through Him by the Father, He immediately describes the power of love, and teaches excellently and blamelessly how we should practice it, for the sake of utility. For if someone says that he loves God, he will not by any means necessarily carry off the glory of truly loving, since the power of virtue does not consist in bare words, nor is the beauty of piety toward God formed in empty expressions, but it is known most excellently by good results and a hearing mind; and the keeping of the divine commandments best portrays love toward God, and exhibits a virtue that is entirely alive and true, not merely sketched out in sounds from the tongue, as we have said, but shining forth in full, as if with bright colors, in the form of deeds. B And indeed, our Lord Jesus Christ clearly shows us this, saying, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." For faith is not tested in the idle flatteries of words, but in the qualities of the deeds performed; and therefore, the divine Scripture teaches that this is dead unless works accompany it. For to know, it says, that there is one God, we shall find to be not only of the human mind, but even of the impure demons, who even against their will shudder at the power of the Creator. But to join with faith the brightness resulting from deeds would be seen as appropriate only for those who truly love God. C Therefore, the demonstration of love and the most perfect standard of faith is the observance of the evangelical doctrines and the keeping of the divine commandments. It would not be difficult to bring forward other things related to these, but I do not think they are for the present time. Therefore, one must go back again to those things which are more appropriate to our proposed subject: "If you love me," He says, "keep my commandments."
For understand again and recall well that when He was often speaking to His own disciples, or even to the Jews themselves, He used to say, "The words which I speak, are not mine, but His who sent me." And again, "I do not speak from myself, but the Father who sent me, He has given me a commandment what I should say and what I should speak." D But now, although He has said that the words which He addressed to us are entirely those of God and the Father, He nevertheless calls them His own commandments, all that He has spoken to us: and no one of sound mind will think that He speaks falsely. For such a thought will never occur to a Christian; but He speaks truly, especially since He is Himself the Truth. For He did not bring the discourse to us from the Father in the place of a minister or servant, as one of the prophets, but as One who has such great likeness to Him, that at least in the word He does not differ at all from Him.
For the immutability of the essence A persuades us that He says the same things as the One who begat the Son. But being Himself the Word and Wisdom and will of the God and Father, He says that He has received a commandment as to what He should say and what He should speak. For we ourselves also, each of us, almost command our own mind, by means of a word-bearing utterance bursting forth, to explain the things that are within it. Although the power and reason of this example is indeed meager when referred to God: nevertheless, taking an image from ourselves for the demonstration of things that are above us, as in a mirror and in an enigma, we comprehend divine mysteries in our mind.
XIV, 16, 17. *I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Paraclete, that He may abide with you for ever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him, nor know Him: but you know Him, because He will abide with you, and will be in you.*
He blends again the human with the divine, and neither reverts to the pure glory of the Godhead, nor does He dwell entirely within the measures of humanity, but He comes through both, miraculously and at the same time in a blended manner, since He is at once God and man. For He was God by nature, inasmuch as He is the fruit and radiance of the substance of the Father: but man again, inasmuch as He became flesh. He speaks, therefore, as God and man at once: for thus it is permitted to keep well the reasons befitting the dispensation with flesh. Nevertheless, C inquiring into the sense of the proposed passage, we say that our Lord necessarily brought in the mention of the God and Father, for the edification of faith and for the greatest utility of the hearers, as the discourse will demonstrate as it proceeds. For because He ordered us to ask in His name, and prescribed among other things an unusual manner of prayer, promising that He would give with a ready mind whatever we might wish to receive: lest He should seem through these things to exclude the person of the God and Father, or to take away from Him the power of bestowing gifts upon the saints, He said that He D would be a bestower and would grant us the Paraclete at the same time, adding again that word *I will ask*, as man, and specifically assigning to the whole divine and ineffable nature that which is most befitting to it, as in the person of the God and Father. For this is His custom, as we have already said often before. Moreover, He calls the Spirit another Paraclete of the substance of the God and Father, or of His own. For there is one account of substance in both, which does not exclude Him, but causes Him to be understood more distinctly in that which exists in His own hypostasis. For the Son is not the Spirit, but is in truth and properly to be and to exist that which He is, by faith
A we acknowledge. For He is the Spirit of the Father and of the Son; and because He knew that He Himself is also the Paraclete in truth, and is so named in the holy Scriptures, He calls the Spirit "another Paraclete," not as if He knew that He could work anything else in the saints than what He Himself, Whose Spirit He is and is called, also works. That the Son Himself is also named and is the Paraclete, John will testify, writing: "These things I write to you, he says, that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and He is the propitiation for our sins." He calls the Spirit "another Paraclete," wishing Him to be understood as in His own hypostasis, yet having such great likeness to Him, and being able to work in all things by a similar method B whatsoever He Himself would also work, so that He even seems to be the Son, and nothing else. For He is His Spirit. And indeed, He named Him the Spirit of truth, saying through the things set forth that He Himself is the truth. But one will rightly say to those who think the Son is alien to the substance of God and the Father: Tell me, how does the Father give the Spirit of truth, that is, of the Son, not as a stranger or alien, but as His own Spirit, although, according to you, He has the Word or Son distinct from His own substance, and no one doubts that the Spirit is the Son's? And again, how, if the Son is of a different substance, does He deliver the Father's Spirit as His own? For it is written that He breathed on His disciples, saying: "Receive the Holy Spirit." Will not one then rightly think, or rather firmly believe, since the Son is substantially a partaker C of the natural goods of God and the Father, that He is also considered to have [the] Spirit in the same way [as the Father], not as something adventitious or from without—for it is madness, nay, rather insanity, to think so—but just as each of us contains his own spirit within himself and pours it out from his inmost bowels to the outside? For this very reason Christ breathed corporally, showing that just as the spirit proceeds corporally from the human mouth, thus the Spirit who is from Him is poured out from the divine substance in a manner befitting the Godhead. Since, therefore, the Spirit is of God and the Father and of the Son, how will They not have one power altogether, both separately and at the same time conjunctly? For the Father is the Father and not the Son, and the Son is the Son and not the Father. Nevertheless, the Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father. Yet He gives the Paraclete, that is, the Holy Spirit, not the Father separately and the Son D separately, but rather He is administered to the saints by the Father through the Son. For this reason, when the Father is said to give, the Son, through whom all things are given, also gives; and when the Son is said to give, the Father, from whom all things [are], gives. But that the Spirit is divine and not of a substance different from the Father and the Son Himself, I think is doubtful to no one of sound mind, and necessary reason compels us to believe it. For if anyone denies that He is from the substance of God, how will the creature finally be a partaker of God, having received the Spirit?
A Or in what way shall we be called, and indeed become, temples of God, if we receive a created or alien spirit, and not rather that which is from God? And how are we partakers of the divine nature, according to the words of the saints, if the Spirit is to be numbered among created things, and does not rather proceed to us from the divine nature itself—not ministered to us through it as something alien, but becoming, so to speak, a quality of the Godhead within us, dwelling in the saints, and abiding forever, if they purify the eye of their own mind through every kind of righteousness, and preserve the grace for themselves through unceasing and untiring zeal for virtue? For Christ says that He is uncontainable and invisible to those who are in the world—that is, to those who think on worldly things and choose to love earthly things—yet He is surely containable and visible to the saints. For what reason? For they, being stained with an impurity that can hardly be washed away, and having their mind clouded as if by a sort of blear-eyedness, do not behold the beauty of their own nature, nor do they accept the law of the Spirit, being utterly enslaved to the passions of the flesh; but these others, upright and sober, having a heart empty of the world's evils, willingly bring the Paraclete into themselves, and once received, they keep Him and, as far as is possible for human beings, contemplate Him with their intellect, bringing back from this a great reward. For He will sanctify them and show Himself to be the author of all good things at once, and He will take away the shame of human slavery and clothe them in the dignity of adoption. And Paul will be a witness of this, saying: "And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying: Abba, Father." B XIV, 18. I will not leave you orphans; I am coming to you.
Necessarily also now our Lord Jesus Christ weaves the discourse concerning the holy and consubstantial Trinity. For He had already shown previously to those who love Him, by bringing forward words and deeds for a surer faith, that He is God by nature, and has been begotten of God the Father, and is possessed of equal power and like will with Him. For this reason He was saying at one time: "Because I do not speak from myself what I speak," C and at another time, again: "If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me; but if I do them, even if you do not believe me, believe my works." But it was necessary, moreover, to think rightly and blamelessly concerning the Holy Spirit Himself. For thus could the minds of the hearers be directed straight to the true standard of faith. What, therefore, Christ teaches us through the things set before us, I will set forth in a few words. By saying that another will be sent to us from God the Father, He secures again D economically the faith which concerns the...
A Son, lest some who understand what is said incorrectly might happen to think that He is saying that the Holy Spirit is not from the substance of God, as has indeed seemed to be the case to some ignorant people, but that He exists as something different according to nature; for to say "another," among the more unlearned, might introduce an impression of some such cause as this. In order, therefore, to show clearly that He does not desire the notion of "otherness" to be understood in any way other than according to His particular mode of existence (for the Spirit is the Spirit and not the Son; just as the Son is the Son and not the Father), by saying that the Paraclete will be sent, He promises that He Himself will come, showing that the Spirit is not something different than what He Himself is, since He is the proper Spirit from the Father and is understood to be His, and for this reason has been called His Mind. And indeed Paul says, signifying this very thing: "But we have the mind of Christ." B Understanding, therefore, rightly and without error, and putting away as unseemly the turning aside anywhere from what is reasonable, and following the words of the divinely inspired Scripture, we say that He is not something other than Him, as far as natural identity goes, although He is distinct and exists in His own right. For, I think, the inspired Paul, having understood this, frequently mingles them, and introduces both, I mean the Paraclete and the Son, as one and the same. For you will find him saying: "But if anyone has not the Spirit of Christ, he is not His." And again immediately: "But if Christ is in you, the body indeed is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness." You hear how He openly confesses that those who have received His Spirit have Christ? And he says also in other places: "For I think that I also have the Spirit of God." And he who said this to us: "Do you seek a proof of Christ speaking in me?" C often prays that Christ also may dwell in us who have believed through faith, although one receives the Holy Spirit. And let no one think that we are saying that he abolishes the state of the names or of the persons in either case, or that he says the Son is not the Son but the Spirit, or that he does not recognize the Spirit as the Spirit but says that He is the Son; for that was not his intention, nor do we believe in such a way. For he knew the enumeration of the holy and consubstantial Trinity, and he teaches that each of the things signified exists in its own hypostasis, yet he openly proclaims the holy Trinity to be situated in an identity that in no way varies. D Otherwise, how is the Spirit God, and called God? "For do you not know," he says, "that you are God's temple, and the Spirit of God dwells in you?" But if, because the Spirit dwells in us, we have become temples of God, how is the Spirit not from God—that is, from His substance—making God to dwell in us through Himself? Therefore, the Only-Begotten, not showing the Spirit to be alien to His own nature, after He said that the holy Paraclete would be sent by the Father, promises that He Himself will come and will fulfill the place of the Father for them, so that, lest they be as it were orphans, destitute of the protection of their guardian, and for that reason lay open to the snares of the devil and the scandals of the world, and by those many things and as if by some necessity
A they are found to be very easily captured, even though driven by the unbridled fury of those who incite them. The Father, therefore, gave to our souls the Spirit of Christ as an invincible weapon and safeguard, to fulfill within us His grace, presence, and power. For it is impossible for the soul of man to accomplish any good thing, or to overcome its own passions, or to escape the magnitude of the devil's sharp snare, unless it be fortified by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and thus possess Christ Himself within it. And so the divine Psalmist, composing songs of thanksgiving for this through the wisdom that was in him, cried out to God: "O Lord, as with a shield of good will Thou hast crowned us." By "shield of good will" he says nothing else than the Holy Spirit who protects us and, by His incredible power, confirms our will to do what is pleasing to God. Therefore, He promises that He will nonetheless be present and bring aid to those who believe in Him through the B Spirit, even though He may ascend into the very heavens after His resurrection from the dead, so that He may now appear before the face of God on our behalf, according to the voice of Paul.
XIV, 19. *Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me, because I live, and ye shall live.*
With the passion now at the very doors, and bringing with it the time of His assumption, He says that He will be invisible to the world—that is, to those who prefer temporary goods to divine ones, and earthly things to heavenly things. For our part, weaving a sense akin to the things above, C we shall not rashly say that God and Father gave the Paraclete, that is, the Holy Spirit, through the Son, of course. For all things are through Him from the Father. Yet He came not upon all, good and bad indifferently, but upon those whom it was fitting that He should come. For as far as the most rich and abundant grace of the Giver is concerned, no mortal has remained destitute of it: "For I will pour out," He says in the prophets, "of my Spirit upon all flesh." Nevertheless, each one is himself the author of enjoying that divinely given good, or of being entirely deprived of it. For those who do not wish to cleanse their mind through every kind of integrity, but wallow in the evils of the world, will remain devoid of divine grace; they will not see Christ in themselves, having a heart destitute of the Spirit. For this reason, D becoming like orphans, as I may say, they are carried away by every kind of savagery of the prevailing [force], whether passion, or demon, or some other worldly desire, and every thing dragging and as if forcing them to sin. But to the holy and those prepared to receive Him, He rightfully said, since they were to suffer none of these things: "I will not leave you orphans; I come to you." Therefore, He says that He will be invisible and unseen to those who mind the things of the world after He has departed from here, that is, after He has returned to the heavens. But He says that He will be found visible to the saints, a certain divine and intellectual
to those who think on worldly things, he says, after the departure from here, I mean the ascension into the heavens. He says A that he will be visible to the saints, the Holy Spirit infusing a certain divine and intelligible radiance into the eyes of their hearts and sowing every good knowledge. For if we suppose him to be saying thus, "Yet a little while, and the world sees me no more, but you see me," or certainly if we turn to some other observation, especially because this is joined to the preceding words, "Because I live, and you shall live," we consider something of this sort. For after the resurrection from the dead, having restored to our nature the return to what it was from the beginning, and having shown man to be incorruptible, as in the first-fruits, and in his own first temple, he ascended to the Father God who is in the heavens; but having spent a little while in the interval, he will descend again, as we believe, and will return to us in the glory of his Father, with the holy angels, and he will set before all, the wicked and the good, a most fearful judgment seat. For the whole of creation will come to judgment; and rendering what is fitting according to the merits of each one's life, he will say to those on the left, that is, to those who once minded worldly things: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels"; but to those on the right, that is, to the holy and good: "Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." For they will be with and reign B together with Christ, and will enjoy heavenly goods with the greatest pleasure, having become conformed to his resurrection, and having escaped the snares of ancient corruption, clothed in long and ineffable life, and are to live forever with the ever-living Lord. For that these who have practiced a pious and excellent life will live unceasingly with Christ, beholding, that is, his divine and ineffable beauty, Paul will make clear, saying: "For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord." And again to those who have chosen to mortify the passions that are in the world: "For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God; when Christ appears, your life, C then you also will appear with him in glory." Therefore (for I shall summarize the force of the discourse), those who are lovers of worldly evils will depart to Hades, and will be far from the face of Christ; but those who are lovers of virtue, and have kept the earnest of the Spirit unharmed, will certainly be with him and will dwell together for all time, and also his God-befitting [beauty]. "For the Lord," he says, "shall be to thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory." This indeed the Lord seems to wish to signify when we hear him saying: "Yet a little while, and the world sees me no more; but you see me, because I live, and you shall live." And he is by no means lying, when for a little [while]
he says the intervening time of his revelation is [short]. For with God, who is always, even a long time according to us is reckoned as nothing at all. And the Psalmist will bear testimony, saying: "For a thousand years in thy sight, O Lord, are as yesterday which is past, and as a watch in the night."
XIV, 20. In that day you shall know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
B The understanding of this passage is difficult, and requires keen investigation, and one in the clearing up of which the mind may labor not a little: yet we believe that Christ will again direct us to the truth. Some, therefore, although holding the first rank among the impious heretics of old, because they are unwilling to confess that the Son is of the substance of God and the Father, and therefore exists in Him, imagine a certain relative and not a natural union. And indeed they have written [things], belching out what was of their own opinion, not what was of the Holy Spirit, [claiming] that because the Son is loved by the Father, and He Himself in turn loves the Father, for this reason He exists in Him. And to demonstrate this, the foolish [men] propound as a certain invincible argument that which is subjoined to this saying of ours and His, placing C as it were a reed rod beneath their own blasphemies, namely that just as we are said to be in Him, and have Him in us, and yet are not united by reason of substance, but the mode of union consists in this, that we love and are loved in turn: so, they say, the Son too is not in the substance of God and the Father, but is distinguished altogether by the rule of nature, and since He is otherwise quite differently disposed, He is conceived to be in the Father solely by the law of love. For their purpose, as we have just said, is to cause the Only-Begotten to be believed a thing made and a creature, and that while He excels other creatures in eminence of dignity, He exists nevertheless outside the substance of God and the Father. But since we have previously disputed at length about this, and had shown as much as was in us that the Son is in the Father according to nature, and has a substantial union with Him, we shall for the present omit contending about this. Nevertheless, we shall not allow our adversaries to attack us, as it were, with empty bail, but we shall go forth into the battle line, in a few words, as far as is in us, exposing the detestable artifice of their wickedness and the full measure of their ignorance. And we shall do this in this manner:
D If the Son is in the Father solely from the fact that He is loved and loves, by the same reasoning [we are] in Him and He in us, and no other bond is found that joins either the Son to the Father, or us to Him, and Him to us: how, I ask, or by what reason,
A I say, does He say that on that day we shall know the mystery concerning this? For as yet, as is reasonable, we have not known that the Father loves the Son, and that He Himself also loves the Father; but we do not even know our own affairs, and a vain calculation mocks us, assuming that the Son has loved us, and for this reason acquired us for the Father, and that we have loved Him. For by saying, "On that day you shall know," He shows that the time of knowledge is not yet present. Then why does the Lord strike our ears in vain, saying, "The Father loves the Son"? For who would not say that He Himself also loves the Father? But how, I ask, did He also offer a clear proof of [His] love toward us by choosing to suffer for our sake? "For greater love than this," He says, "no one has, than that one should lay down his life for his friends." And why did He clearly seek love toward Himself from us, and in this way hasten to have what is pleasing to Him fulfilled? "For he who loves me," He says, "will keep my commandments." For when shall we keep the divine commandment, if we neglect it in the present? B Since, therefore, it is necessary to believe that the Son loves the Father, and that we are loved by Him and He by us, does it not follow that we must think the Son intended to signify something else, and not define the mode of union by the law of love, but clearly set it forth by some other mode, when He says to us, "On that day you shall know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you"?
But perhaps the adversary will say to this, that Christ spoke these things to us before the Passion, namely, that He Himself loves the Father and is loved in turn by the Father, and that He loves us and we [love] Him; but that after the Passion and the resurrection from the dead, since we saw that He had broken the bonds of death, we knew that He is in the Father, C as one who is loved and therefore raised from the dead; and for this reason He Himself is in us and we are in Him, according to the same reasoning of love. But we reply to this that the objection is frivolous and utterly rotting, and is based on flimsy arguments. Nevertheless, O good people, consider again that we did not need to learn after the resurrection what we truly knew before the resurrection. For if we believed imperfectly that the Son is loved by His own Father, and that He in turn loves the Father, then surely we would have had to await the resurrection, in order that we might obtain from there the perfection of knowledge. But if the Father is trustworthy, even when before the resurrection He said, "This is my beloved Son," and the Savior Himself also speaks truly when He says, "The Father loves the Son," and if the reasoning of love D is fittingly understood in its every perfection, why do you weary us with frivolous words? Or why, rejecting the beauty of truth, do you fabricate an infamous lie for us, dragging the Son, who is from Him and through Him, from the substance of the Father, while devising extremely flimsy arguments and inventing the turns of absurd syllogisms? For that the Only-Begotten has loved us, and that we have loved Him, it is permitted to any person to see by considering the very nature of truth.
A For existing in the form of God and the Father, He did not esteem it a robbery to be equal to God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant. Then who, tell me, is the cause of such things? Is it not the reason of His love toward us? And how is it possible to doubt this? But that we also, for Christ’s sake, of our own accord offer our very soul to those who persecute us, lest we deny our own Lord, does this not provide a manifest proof and evidence of our love for Him? You will either have to confess that this is true, or you will condemn the holy martyrs, as if they had suffered in vain for Christ’s sake, bearing such great danger for nothing and without reward. Since, therefore, it has been demonstrated B quite clearly that the Father has perfect love for the Son, and that the Son in the same way loves the Father, and that we love Him and He loves us, what reason is there to think that the knowledge of this fact should be put off to other times, when the Lord says: "On that day you shall know that I am in the Father, and you in Me, and I in you"? Let the trifles and the inventions of the impious reasonings of those men fade away; we, however, trusting in the illumination of the Spirit, will not fear to say what seems to hold true for the explanation of this question.
Since, therefore, He had premises, "I, and you shall live," He is found immediately C to add to these: "On that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you." Then who among those that are and are accustomed to think correctly would not find it entirely clear that He defines the time of the knowledge of this [mystery] as the day in which we ourselves, being transformed into Him, shall ascend to eternal life, having escaped the curse of death? And it seems to me that Christ intends such a thing, or rather I mean Paul, when, revealing the divine mystery to us, he writes to some: "For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, your life, shall appear, then you also shall appear with Him in glory." D For He shall refashion the body of our lowliness—this is surely it and nothing else—"conformed to the glory of His own," and He shall restore human nature to its pristine state by ineffable power, easily transforming all things into whatever He might wish, with no one to hinder; "for He is the true God, who does all things and transforms them," as it is written. About that day, therefore, or time, in which you also shall live (for I live, although having become man like you, and clothed in a body by its nature subject to corruption), you shall clearly "know," He says, "that I am in the Father, and you in Me, and I in you." We shall therefore maintain that the Lord said these things to us, not that we might think Him to be in the Father by reason of love, as it pleases our adversaries, but by reason of a higher mystery, which it is not easy either to conceive in the mind or to explain in speech; nevertheless, as far as I am able, I will endeavor to set it forth. Although, therefore, of any man
I assume that every mind on earth is far too weak for an accurate exposition, yet out of the warmth of love, even if I set myself to see and describe it in some moderate way, let us now look to the goal of the Incarnation of the Only-Begotten. Come, let us examine the reason why, while being in the form of God the Father as God, He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, and endured the cross, despising its shame. For thus the depth of what is set before us will be, although with difficulty, as far as is permitted, made visible. We shall discern how the Son is in the Father, A naturally, of course, and not according to the relation invented by the opponents, based on the fact that he loves and is loved. Likewise, we are in Him in the same manner, and He in us.
Therefore, the divine Paul, explaining to us one true and most general cause of the Incarnation of the Only-Begotten, said: "For God the Father was pleased to sum up all things in Christ." And the fact that the name and the reality of B "summing up" (recapitulation) signifies the bringing back and taking up again to that which it was in the beginning, what had fallen away into a contrary end. Furthermore, wishing to clarify for us separately the modes of this recapitulation, he sometimes said: "For God, having sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh—a thing impossible for the law, in which it was weak through the flesh—so that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." And at other times he said: "Since, therefore, the children have shared in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same, so that through death He might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and might deliver those who, through fear of death, were subject to lifelong slavery." C And Paul has set forth these two modes for us as necessarily containing the reason for the Incarnation of the Only-Begotten; but the wise evangelist John presents a mode that encompasses the others besides. For he writes thus concerning Christ: "He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become children of God, to those who believe in His name, who were born not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." It is therefore evident to all, I think, and manifest that it was for these very reasons above all that the Only-Begotten, being God and existing by nature from God, became man, that D He might plainly condemn sin in the flesh, and by His own death destroy death, and might demonstrate us to be sons of God, having regenerated those who are on earth into the dignity that is above nature by the Spirit. For it was, and indeed very well so, in this way that it was possible to recapitulate and bring back to the beginning that which had fallen away, that is to say, the human race. Again, setting forth each of these causes, let us say some things that are consistent.
A For it must be sought and understood how it is that God and Father condemned sin in the flesh, having sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. For although He is God by nature and born of His substance, and naturally possesses an immutability of His own property—and for this reason is entirely unable to slip into sin or to turn aside into vice—He nonetheless voluntarily caused Himself to descend into the flesh subject to sin, so that, having made it His own flesh, He might transfer it to His own property, that is, that He might make it free from sin. For we certainly shall not imagine, if we are of a sound mind, that the Only-Begotten became man solely to grant this to His own temple; for how would the magnificence and utility of His advent among us be manifest, if He had saved only His own body? Rather, we shall believe that the Only-Begotten became man so that, as one who would vindicate the goods of the entire nature by Himself and in Himself first, as in the first-fruits of humanity, He might become as we are. B For just as we have followed not only death, but also all the passions of the flesh, this having happened to us in the first man, both because of the transgression and the divine curse: in the same way, I suppose, we shall all follow Christ, who preserves and sanctifies in many ways the nature of the flesh in Himself. Therefore, Paul also said: "And as we have borne the image of the earthy, let us bear the image of the heavenly." For the image of the earthy, that is, of Adam, is to exist in passions and corruption; but the image of the heavenly, that is, of Christ, is to be void of affections and corruption. C God the Word, then, existing by nature, condemned sin in His own flesh, commanding it to cease and conforming it to the will of God rather than to its own; and thus, while the body was animal, He made it spiritual. D This, then, is one way of the restoration; but another, most appropriate and due to the contemplation of the proposed matters, will enter after that. For it is proposed to speak of eternal life, and of the destruction of death, and of how the Only-Begotten warded off corruption from human nature. "Since therefore the children shared in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise participated in the same, that He might destroy death," and that He who "created all things that they might be, and made the generations of the world salutary," as it is written, might again transform the shape of things to their ancient state. And again, my speech will advance—perhaps more curiously than is necessary, yet of necessity—demonstrating the antiquity of our condition. For I believe that to wish to grasp the considerations correctly will certainly avoid the reproach of laziness. That rational animal, I mean man, was therefore made from the beginning according to the image of the Creator, according to the Scriptures. And there is a different reason...
A for the image; for an image is not in one way, but in many. Yet the most transparent part of this likeness to God who made him is this: to be free from corruption and destruction. But I do not think that the animal could ever of its own nature have reached the state of being able to possess this. For how could he who was from the earth be shown to possess the boast of incorruptibility in his own nature, unless he had gathered this also—along with the likeness of other goods—from the God who is by nature incorruptible and immortal, and who is ever the same? "For what do you have that you did not receive?" A, as the divine Paul justly and truly says to us in one place. Lest, therefore, that which was brought into being from nothing should return to its own origin and pass away again into nothing, but rather be perpetually preserved (for this was the goal of the Creator), God makes it a partaker of His own nature. For He "breathed into his face the breath of life" B, that is, the Spirit of the Son. For He Himself is life with the Father, holding everything together so that it may exist. For in Him those things that are capable of life are moved and live, according to the words of Paul. And let no one among us utter a false argument about this, having thought to say that the divine infusion became a soul for the animal; for we do not say this, being guided by this much reasoning toward the truth of the matter. For if some think that the divine infusion became a soul, let them tell us whether at any time it deviated from its own nature and changed into a soul, or whether it remained in its own identity. For if they say that it changed and transgressed the law of its own nature, they will be caught speaking blasphemy; for they will be saying that the nature which is immutable and ever the same is mutable. But if it did not deviate at all, but remained that which it always was—that divine infusion coming forth from God—how did it degenerate into sin and become capable of such a variety of passions? For they would not, I suppose, say that the divine nature can sin. But so that we do not, by using long demonstrations, pass over the argument required for this place, I say that we must take this up again, as I do not think any sane person would imagine that the infusion coming forth from the divine essence became a soul for the animal; rather, it was to the animal—already brought to the perfection of its nature by both, I mean soul and body—that the Creator affixed the Holy Spirit, as a kind of seal of His own nature, that is, the breath of life, through which it was fashioned toward the beauty of the archetype C and was perfected according to the image of the Creator, being strengthened by the power of the Spirit inhabiting within him for every aspect of virtue. But since he was self-determining and entrusted with the reins of his own wills (for this also is a part of the image: for God is master of His own wills), he changed and fell (but let the divine Scripture teach as to how, for the discourse concerning this in it is clear). D He decided to restore the nature of man to its original state again and God has set about
and in His will, He has fulfilled it. How then did it come to pass? It is fitting to observe. There was no other way for man to escape death, being of a corruptible nature, unless he received that ancient grace, and became a participant of God who holds all things together in existence and gives them life through the Son in the Spirit. He therefore communicated in flesh and blood; that is, He became man, being Life by nature, and begotten from Life by nature—that is, the only-begotten Word of God the Father—so that to the corruptible flesh, according to the principle of His own nature, ineffably and inexpressibly, and as He alone knows, He united Himself, and called it back to His own life, and made it a participant of God and the Father through Himself. For He is the Mediator B between God and man, as it is written; naturally united to God and the Father as God, and as one who is from Him, but again to men as man, having the Father in Himself and Himself existing in the Father. For He is the Character and Radiance of His substance, not alienated from the substance of which He is the Character and from which He proceeds as Radiance, but being Himself in it, and having it in Himself, and having us again in Himself, in so far as He has borne our nature, and the body of the Word has been called our body. For the Word became flesh, according to the voice of John. And He has borne our nature, refashioning it into His own life. And He is also in us; for we have become complete participants of Him, and we have Him in ourselves through the Spirit. For this reason, we have also become partakers of the divine nature, C and we are called sons; thus we also have the Father Himself in us through the Son, and Paul will bear witness, saying: "And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying: Abba, Father." For His Spirit is not anything different from the Son, according to the identity of nature, of course. Having thus set these things forth, come, let us set forth the meaning of the proposed passage and apply it to the words of the Savior. "On that day," He says, "you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you." For I, He says, live; for I am Life by nature, and I have shown My own temple as living. But when you yourselves also, who are of a corruptible nature, see yourselves living according to the likeness to Me, then D indeed you will know, and most clearly, that being Life by nature, I have united to the God and Father, who is Himself also Life by nature, [those who are] joined by Me, making them in some way consorts and participants of His immortality. For I indeed am naturally in the Father; for I am the fruit of His substance, and a true begotten offspring existing in Him and having appeared from Him, Life from Life; but you are in Me, and I in you, in so far as I have appeared as man, and have shown you to be participants of the divine nature, the Spirit
residing within you. A For Christ is in us through the Spirit, transforming into incorruption that which by its own nature is corruptible, and changing it from death to immortality. Whence also Paul says: "He that raised up Jesus Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by the Spirit that dwelleth in you." For although the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, yet He comes through the Son, and is His own. For all things are from the Father through the Son. That we were recreated through the Spirit unto eternal life, the divine Psalmist will bear witness for us, crying out to the God of all: "When Thou openest Thy hand, all things shall be filled with goodness; but when Thou turnest away Thy face, they shall be troubled. Thou shalt take away their spirit, and they shall fail, and they shall return to their dust. Thou shalt send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall be created, and Thou shalt renew the face of the earth." You hear how the transgression in Adam and the turning away, as it were, from the divine commandments, brought confusion upon the human nature, and caused it to return to its own earth. B But when God sent forth His Spirit and proved us participants of His own nature, and by Him the face of the earth was renewed, we were transformed into newness of life, having laid aside the corruption of sin, and having once again laid hold of eternal life through the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom to God and the Father be glory with the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.
CAPITULA CONTAINED IN THE TENTH BOOK
A I. That the Son of God is in no way less than the Father, but is rather equal and similar to Him in nature, with the proposed saying: "If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I go unto the Father; for My Father is greater than I."
B II. That the Son is consubstantial with God and the Father, and not of another nature, nor of a different kind, as some have perversely thought, with the proposed saying: "I am the vine, ye are the branches; and My Father is the husbandman."
ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN BOOK TEN
A 825-26 XIV, 21. *He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.*
By saying this, he declares that the revelation of the mystery will then be most especially manifest among us, when we look upon ourselves living according to His own likeness: "For I live," He says, "and you shall live." For the faith of this matter will come to each person, not from what he has heard, but from the possession of the things themselves as he attains the outcome of the promise. For experience is more powerful than words for persuading and for making faith certain. But lest we think that everyone without distinction can enjoy such a noble gift, even if they are not upright and illuminated by divine fear, by immediately placing before us the person of those by whom He is loved, He clearly shows that no others can receive such an incomparable grace except those who have set themselves on the path of living rightly: for these are they who love Him. B For although Christ is going to raise the bodies of all—for both good and evil shall rise—yet it will not be given to all indifferently to rise again unto glory or delight. For it is manifest that while those who are raised only for punishment will have a life more cruel than any death, those who dwell for a long age in felicity will truly live the desirable and holy life in Christ. For that those who at the time of judgment are to be sentenced to punishments by Christ will be bereft of the blessed life, although they obtain a resurrection common to the saints, He shows by saying: "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who is disobedient to the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him." C Observe, then, how, although all, both good and evil, are expected to rise, He says that those guilty of the charges of disbelief will not even so much as behold life—calling "life" not just the rising again, but that [life] which, as I believe, quite logically exists in rest, in glory, and in delights, spiritual ones, of course, and no others. And the mode of spiritual delight is the perfect knowledge of God, and the perfect revelation of the mysteries in Christ, not again in a mirror and in a riddle, as [the present life] now sets forth the obscure characters of the things sought, but shining and beaming in us entirely in purity, and implanting the most perfect knowledge. Since what comes from
part shall be done away, according to the voice of Paul. A Teaching us, therefore, our Lord Jesus Christ that the promise of revelation is more fitting and indeed more proper to those who have chosen to love him, and to those who are workers of his divine proclamations, and not to those who think and do the opposite, he has most usefully added to what was said, saying: "He who has my commandments, and keeps them, he it is who loves me." For a person has the commandments who has received the faith, and through a good memory has settled within his own mind the unclouded and transparent instruction of the evangelical dogmas, and fulfils them by acting practically, and striving to be seen as distinguished by the brightness of his deeds. Perfect, therefore, and completely equipped for piety is he who, by both faith and action, is attested to as being in the holiness which is according to Christ. "For at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established," as it is written. B And such a one, reasonably, the God and Father will love, and the Son will love no less. For just as he is consubstantial, so is he of the same will with his own Begetter. For of one substance, surely, there is one will, and one goal in all things, and nothing that disagrees, or that divides into one will and another. To those, however, who have been deemed worthy of divine love, he promises that he will bestow a brilliant reward, and that he will crown them with gifts beyond speech. "For I will manifest myself to him," he says. For words concerning the vision of God will be pure among the pure; and Christ shines in them, leading them to each of their duties through his own Spirit, and revealing and manifesting himself to their minds by some ineffable illuminations. C And those who have once received him will be blessed and enviable. And such a one seems to me to be the prophet David saying: "I will hear what the Lord God will speak in me." Indeed, even the divine Apostle himself, writing: "Do you seek a proof of Christ speaking in me?" For he speaks in the saints through the Spirit, revealing both his own mysteries and others besides. For this very reason, understanding them accurately, they say at one time: "To us God has revealed them through the Spirit," and at another time again: "But we have the mind of Christ," calling his Spirit the mind of Christ.
XIV, 22. He says to him Judas, not the Iscariot: Lord, what has happened that you are about to manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?
He approaches, through the force and impulse of love, to inquire, but the disciple does not seem to accurately grasp the Savior’s word. D For our Lord Jesus Christ was promising a certain distinguished knowledge to the saints, and not one similar to the knowledge of others. For the characters of the divine mysteries are more subtle and much clearer, shining forth in godlike men...but in those who have not yet arrived at such purity of mind as to be able to perceive clearly, by the gift of the Spirit, the knowledge of those things which surpass speech, a simple knowledge is seen, which perhaps consists only in knowing that Christ is God, and the Son, truly, of the God who is such by nature. Since, therefore, such a difference exists, and since the knowledge seen in the saints differs greatly from that of the common people, the disciple, nevertheless, disregarding this difference, approaches and asks why He promises to reveal Himself not to all men, but only to the saints. And the words, “What has happened,” as he cries out, seem to want to hint at something like this: The goal of Thy coming to us, O Lord, is not that Thou shouldst be known to some separately, and not to others; for we have heard in the prophets: B “For all flesh shall see the salvation of God” (Isa. XL, 5); but Thou Thyself also criedst out saying, “Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Sion, for lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord, and many nations shall flee to the Lord in that day, and they shall be unto Him for a people” (Zachar. II, 10, 11). We also, having been gathered together, have heard with our ears when Thou saidest to us, “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to Myself” (Joan. XII, 32). Nay, Thou didst even say to the Jews: “For I have other sheep which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd” (Ib. XVI). Since, therefore, grace is expected to flow through Thee to all, and Thou hast clearly promised us that all shall be gathered unto the knowledge of God, and this is confirmed by the voice of the holy prophets, what has happened, he says, or whither has the goal of the promise C departed and been transferred? And why dost Thou not manifest Thyself to all men in the world, but only to us? This, therefore, and no other, I think, is the sense of the disciple's words. But what led him away from the true understanding, it is worth showing. For our Lord Jesus Christ had said: “A little while, and the world no longer sees Me, but you see Me” (Joan. XIV, 19). Yet it is manifest that by “world” He did not mean all men who dwell upon the earth—for all, both good and bad, are in this world—but He named “world” rather those who mind earthly things (Philipp. III, 19), and those who have subjected their own mind to the vanity of the world. Because the disciple did not sufficiently grasp this, he thought that He meant that He would be hidden from the eyes—the interior ones, of course—of all other men, and would be D utterly invisible, known to no one among those who exist, except to His own disciples alone; this was the cause of his ignorance. For if he had understood from the beginning, he would not have approached at all, asking, “What has happened, that Thou art about to manifest Thyself to us, and not to the world?” He was led, then, into this opinion by understanding the meaning of this word according to common and vulgar usage. For we are accustomed in common parlance to call “the world” all who are in the entire universe, just as if
A one were to name a city, meaning all who inhabit the entire city. Nevertheless, the disciple is also worthy of praise when he says these things. For see how he desires that the glory of the Savior should shine like the sun over the whole earth, even though it was permitted to him, if he were concerned only for his own interests, to be delighted by his own goods alone, having the promise of knowledge. But he did not consider that a good uniquely bestowed upon himself as it were, and belonging to him alone, was sufficient for his own blessedness. But being a lover of God and a lover of his brothers at the same time, he desires the glory of the Savior to be spread abroad, and that grace should be shared in common with the brothers. For what could be compared to being called to an exact knowledge of God?
Jesus answered and said to him: If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. B
Seeing that the disciple had not fully understood, he returns to what was said at the beginning, and teaches clearly that he will manifest himself to his own true disciples not according to that knowledge which is perceived only by information, but that the mode of his illumination will be something special to them, and not practiced by others. For those who are, as it were, of the common herd, and who have only recently departed from the deception of idols, and have been called to the knowledge of the one who is God by nature, possess their faith in bare and unexamined reasonings, having been taught to think just that: that there is no idol in the world, but only one God by nature. But those who have illuminated their own mind through every kind of virtue, and who are already disposed to learn divine and hidden mysteries, will receive the torch-bearing of the Spirit, and will behold the Lord himself dwelling within them with the eyes of their mind. Therefore, the knowledge of the saints is not common to others, but is something special and distinct, and possesses a great difference. C Christ, therefore, helps us in every way and by every means. For first, he defines very well who it is who loves him, showing—as it seems to me, and as it occurs to me to understand correctly—that it is not granted to all to receive the power of the gift, but only those in whom the boast of sincerity towards him would be seen through the keeping of the commandments. Then he says in what way he will shine upon them, or how he will dwell in them: “My Father,” he says, “will love him.” For having honored the One from whom he is, the Begetter, through obedience towards the Son, he will have as the fruit of the matter his love. Then, making clear what will arise from this, and what profit will accrue to him, he says: “We will come,” he says, “to him, I and the Father, and we will make our abode with him.” For when our Savior Christ has taken up his abode in us through the Holy Spirit, the One who begat him D will surely also be with us; for the Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of the Father as well. And indeed the divine Paul, at one time calls the Spirit the Father’s own,
A nor is he setting it against the words of the Son, but rather he speaks the truth in both respects; for it is so by nature. He says, therefore, to some: "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." Then again: "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." Do you see how it is the same Spirit that is of the Father and of the Son? Since, therefore, the Only-begotten dwells in our hearts, the Father is not absent; for the Son has in himself the Begetter, existing of one substance with him, and he himself is also naturally in the Father. This, then, would be the definition of the faith and the blameless account. I would fain ask, in relation to this, those who, out of great ignorance, have chosen to hold heterodox opinions and who arm their own tongues against the glory of the Spirit. For what, pray, will they answer when we say to them: If the Spirit is created and, as you wish, alienated from the substance of God, how does God dwell in us through him? Or how is he who receives the Spirit a partaker of God? For if it is possible for us to be made partakers of the divine and ineffable nature through some created substance, what would hinder God, having rejected the Spirit, from being in us through some other creature he might choose, and from sanctifying us? But this is impossible; for no one would ever be a partaker of God according to nature except through the Spirit. B The Spirit, therefore, is God and from God, and not numbered among things created, as has seemed right to some. Furthermore, this also must be considered in this matter. It is necessary that whatever partakes of something else, as being superior in substance and of a different kind from itself, must be other by nature than that which is partaken of. If, therefore, the Spirit is created or made, of what, then, will the creature be a partaker? Will it not surely be of itself? For that which is created is seen to be common to both. But since we are by nature created and made, we have become partakers of the Spirit, who is by nature diverse from us; the Spirit, therefore, is not created. But if this is true—as it indeed is—the Spirit is God and from God, as we have said. For nothing will ever be thought to be uncreated except God alone by nature, from whom the Holy Spirit proceeds ineffably, and just as he from whom he is, he dwells in us. For he is proper to his substance, and as it were a quality of his holiness. And these things, indeed, have been spoken against those men; but against the Anomoeans, who have declared war on the Son, and who rave with the same madness we spoke of before, I shall say something worth the effort. D "If a man love me, he will keep my word: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." What, then, do you answer, O bold men, if someone should inquire of you, whether we are to have two gods dwelling within us, the Father to be sure, and the Son, or if God is to be understood and truly to be one in us? For if the Son is altogether diverse in nature and is understood in a certain nature of his own, how is it not necessary to believe there are two gods in us, when we keep the commandments? But if we are called temples not of two gods, but of one, with the Father and the Son dwelling in us, what
reason remains in us to bring the two into unity, since for you there is no place for identity of substance, according to your mental deficiency? A For it is necessary to say either that Christ has spoken falsely to us and only the Father dwells in us through the Spirit, or that He Himself dwells, but the Father is absent. But this is absurd; for God is one in us, when we have received both. Therefore, the Only-Begotten will not appear as having a substance different from His own Father, but from Himself and in Him, just as the radiance from the light is in the light; for in this way, and not otherwise, the power and reason of the mystery will be true. And indeed, the divine, inspired Paul called us not temples of two gods, but of one, saying: "Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you?" Observe that, having combined the Father and the Son into identity of substance, he says that we have been made temples, not of gods, but of God. Why, then, do you shake the power of the truth with empty, petty arguments, and pour the poison of your own impiety into those who are accustomed to touch the sacred and divine Scriptures rather thoughtlessly?
*"He who does not love Me does not keep My words."* B Having clearly demonstrated and rightly determined who those are who love Him, and of what goods they shall be participants, He passes immediately to others who have not yet chosen to love Him. For they will not be guardians, He says, of My sayings; this is what "He will not keep My word" means, as if spoken of one or about one, even if it has a somewhat broad and general meaning. Very consistently, too, He says this. For if keeping the commandments—that is, the word from Him—is a clear proof of love for Him, then the opposite must also certainly be true. For it will be proof of a failure to choose to love, that one regards the commandment as of no account and pushes aside what is commanded, just as one of those accustomed to doing wrong. But just as He promised to inhabit Himself, together with God and the Father, in those who keep the law, for the same reason, I think, He will completely depart and withdraw from those who are not such. For Solomon will be speaking the truth when he says that wisdom will not enter into a malevolent soul, C nor will it dwell in a body enslaved to sin. For indeed, you will find the nature of the matter to be thus even in our own case. For is it not the case that each man is honored more by those who are like-minded and have chosen to act in the same way, rather than by others? "Every animal loves that which is like itself, according to what is written, and every man [is joined] to his neighbor." D If, among us ourselves, it seems to be a matter of the utmost zeal to be with those who are like-minded, how shall we not conclude that it is more so in the case of God? For since He is by nature good, and the source and origin of all virtue, He dwells not in the lovers of wickedness, but in the workers of virtue, and rejects the unclean, and it is very
follows is A unclean, and very rightly so. For just as we ourselves are eager to be rid of mire and stench, and if anything of the sort is in our houses, we refuse to let it dwell within them; shall not our pure and most holy God much more reject and abhor a soul defiled and a heart made foul by the mire of sin? But this is not in doubt. That he who has not kept the commandment will be in these and not in others (for he is unclean and a lover of mire), the very power of this insight will teach you. For in the failure to keep the divine commandments the genesis of sin is found. For just as the deprivation of light brings in its opposite—I mean darkness—so the failure to act in virtue brings in the genesis of depravity. For as there is one underlying subject being B considered, I do not think the things defined by opposite qualities could ever happen at the same time, according to the rule of being in opposition. Vice and virtue are defined and separated widely toward their opposite, by their mutual quality, or whatever one might say without erring; yet both would not appear as present in any existing person among us at the same time, nor being fulfilled through activity. For a person is either wicked or good, even if they have not perhaps reached the extreme of wickedness or virtue. Therefore, when one prevails in us, the other will certainly fail—that is, the one that is opposite. But if the form of virtue consists in the observation of the commandments, is it not most manifest that in their neglect is the beginning of wickedness? As it is reserved for him who has kept the commandments to have within himself the Father and the Son, which is the beginning and foundation of all happiness and glory, C so too for him who has not kept them, it is to lack participation in the divine and ineffable nature, which is to be deprived of the enjoyment of every good thing entirely. Wherefore, if to anyone it seems noble and desirable to become a participant of the divine nature, and to have the God and Father of all, through the Son in the Spirit, dwelling and residing in the storehouses of the heart, let him wash his own soul, and let him wipe away the stain resulting from depravity by whatever means he may be able—or rather, by every virtuous action. For then he will truly be called a temple of God, and He will rest in him and dwell there, according to what is written. For he will not be like that D doctor of the law mentioned in the Gospels, who, not awaiting the grace of the Savior, said he was moved by his own impulse to follow Him, and snatching that honor, so greatly to be admired, said: "Master, I will follow you wherever you go." But what does the Lord say to him? As in a parable and riddle: "Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head." By foxes and birds of the air, He meant the crafty and unclean demons, and these worldly and aerial spirits, which dwell and inhabit the hearts of the voluptuous, having achieved the outcome of their own will, and compressing the miserable souls of those by whom they are received so tightly that no place is left in them for God to rest; for this is what "to lay His head" signifies. Let us therefore cleanse our hearts from every stain; thus
A in this way, God will also dwell in us, and will show us to be better than every diabolical attack, and will render us blessed and worthy of emulation, and will demonstrate us to be partakers of His divine and ineffable nature.
XIV, 24. *And the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me.*
He is once again providing for necessary matters, and for those things which call one toward the correctness of reason, and through which the mind was about to have a more ready understanding for discerning well the depth of the mystery, he brings them forward B once again into the midst. He strengthens the mind of the hearers, so that they, not being drawn away by the ignorance of the Jews and, having been pleased to think the same things as their suspicions, might not perhaps despise the holy and evangelical teaching. But what I wish to say is clearly as follows. For the Law, having a shadow and figure until the time of correction, according to the voice of Paul, has been a tutor for us unto Christ, and introduced, as it were, a certain preliminary exercise of virtue according to piety. Therefore, if someone were to say that the law of Moses was a preliminary exercise for true and spiritual worship, he would not miss what is fitting. For because of this, the Law brought nothing to perfection. But our Lord Jesus Christ no longer showed us the images of things, but the truth itself openly, not still writing the form of virtue in types and shadows, as Moses did, but setting it forth naked, so to speak, and manifest, C and making the man full and perfect toward piety. The discipline of the words of Christ was therefore a transformation and conversion of the figures into the truth. But since the truth was already shining forth, it was superfluous to hold onto the shadow any longer; Christ no longer commanded those who had come to Him through faith to live according to the legal types. This stung the Jews intensely, and they persuaded themselves that Christ had come to destroy the ancient Law, although they heard Him crying out clearly: "I have not come to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it. For I say to you that not one iota or one serif shall pass from the Law until all things come to pass." For virtual righteousness according to the truth has the fullness of the Law’s shadow, having been introduced through the laws of Christ, as we have just said. For since they had slipped into disbelief through rash anger and had gone into a zeal for the Law—not according to knowledge—and seemed to be defending the Law when they were pushing aside the things of Christ, for this reason, D profitably—so that it might not seem to some that He was ordaining certain new or private laws beyond the will inherent in God and the Father—He necessarily added: "The word which you hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me." For let no one of those who come to me through faith, He says, think that I have made a discourse at variance with God and the Father. For the evangelical preaching is His again, and not another’s, who is not ashamed—if I may say so—because of the ancient laws, nor as if a more excellent commandment had been found, but as if, at the opportune time, the figure had been transferred to the truth. For he who...
spoke those things through me to the ancients then, speaks these things now to you. For I am the living Word, the interpreter of the ineffable will of God and the Father; wherefore I am also called the Angel of great counsel. A For we shall interpret what has been said in this way—I mean the phrase, "The word which you hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me"—or we shall surely understand it in another way. For he calls his own word the word of God and the Father, that those who keep it may know that they honor God, by being persuaded by the words that come from him. But those who have fallen into the opposite, and who do not hesitate to insult the given commandment by their disbelief, sin against that nature which is the queen of all. B Now it is possible to confirm the mind of the hearers again in two ways: for either the desire to honor God will certainly compel them to belief, or at least the fear of offending him will bring about the same thing. For in both, a certain reason for utility is contemplated. And when he says, "The word is not mine," he does not at all call us away from his own person, as he is Word and God; but because he has within himself the form of a servant and exists as a man just like us, he says these things, not wishing his word to be considered human, but truly divine and royal, necessarily referring it to the person of the Father, lest, if he were to divide himself, he might provide a handle for imagining two sons, whereas there is only one Son, both before and after the incarnation. For Christ is one, and not two, as some imagine. C For the Word, being God from the Father, became flesh, according to the voice of John, not changed into flesh, but having taken for himself as a temple the flesh from the holy Virgin. We must not, therefore, think his word to be human, nor must we strip the evangelical teaching of its divine nature, but we must believe it to be of God who is above all, economically and very rightly, for, as he appears in human form, he again attributes the word to the divine nature, as if in the person of God and the Father, from whom and in whom he is by nature, as the radiance and Word of him and the character of his substance.
XIV, 25, 26. These things I have spoken to you, while abiding with you. But the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and will remind you of all things that I have said to you. D
This word again has an expression of humanity, and does not much depart from our condition, if we look for the fitting meaning of this passage. For when, one might rightly ask, is Christ not among us, given the power and virtue of his divinity? For he indeed fills all things, and is absent from nothing at all, but rather with ineffable virtue permeates all things, earth and heaven, nor is he absent from the depths of the abyss. For where is God not? When, therefore, he says, "These things I have said to you, while abiding with you," we shall understand it according to his humanity,
A seeing that he was about to depart from our sight, as far as it concerns the flesh, having set out on that journey to the heavens. He says, then, that the most perfect and accurate revelation of the mystery has been granted to us through the Paraclete; that is, through the Holy Spirit who is sent by the Father in his name—I mean, in the name of the Son. For as is Christ, so is his Spirit within us. For this reason he says, "He will teach you all things that I have said to you." For since it is the Spirit of Christ and his mind, as it is written, being not some other thing beside him—by the rule of natural identity, even if it is understood and exists in its own hypostasis—it knows all things that are in him. And Paul will be our witness to this, saying: "For who knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God, except the Spirit of God." B Therefore, as one that knows the things in the will of the Only-Begotten, he manifests all things to us, not possessing this knowledge from instruction—lest he appear to be filling the role of a minister and conveying the words of another—but as the spirit of a man, just as we have said, and one that knows without being taught all things from whom and in whom it is, he reveals the divine mysteries to the saints. Just as, indeed, the human mind, knowing all things that are within itself, ministers to the outside, perhaps by the spoken word, the intentions of the soul—whose mind it also is, and which is something other than it in thought and name, but is not another according to its nature, but subsists in it as a part completing the whole, and is believed to spring from it—yet the divine and ineffable nature is placed far above this. For the power of examples is entirely feeble for explaining it, however much they are expressed in subtle words. Therefore, perfect knowledge is produced in the saints through the Spirit. And so, the divine Paul writes to some: "For this reason, I too, hearing of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your heart enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the superabundant greatness C of his power toward us who believe, according to the working which he worked in Christ, raising him from the dead, and setting him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above every Principality, and Power, and Virtue, and Dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the coming one." For in the revelation of such things, worked within us ineffably through the Spirit, D we behold the depth of the economy with the flesh and the power of the hidden mystery. And that the presence and power of Christ himself...
A His Spirit inhabiting the saints will fulfill, and will teach all things whatever he himself has spoken to us, the Apostle Paul will no less clarify for us, saying: "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled unto all the fullness of God." B It should be noted again, however, that while he says all things will be revealed to the saints through the Spirit, he by no means hands them over to another teacher—do not think such a thing—but rather brings them to himself through the Spirit, no longer to be seen by the eyes of the body, but to be beheld in a manner worthy of God by the intellectual eyes of the heart.
§39 XIV, 27. *Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you: let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.*
The memory of the ascension into the heavens having been renewed for the holy apostles, and the suspicion having been cast upon them that they would be left alone, from the fact that he had said: "These things have I spoken unto you, while abiding with you," he straightway perceived, as one who was God by nature, that that saying had been no small cause of terror to them, and that they were vehemently troubled, and that the mind of each was pressed and dejected by the weight of sorrow. For what can be more grievous than that sorrow, or what can bring so much inward sadness as being deprived of most pleasant things, C and suffering the unexpected loss of things that are most dear to your heart? He therefore composed them while they were troubled by sorrow and fear. For the cause and root of their sorrow—that he was about to depart from them and return to the Father—was in a way most justified, nor was it without reason that they suspected that everything was at an end for them if he who was able to save was no longer present in the body. But how does he settle their fear, or in what manner does he lead their minds back to divine tranquility? "Peace," he says, "I give unto you, and my peace I leave with you." I have said many times, he says, that I will not leave you orphans, nor will you remain on earth destitute of a helper. For I will be with you again; D and though absent in the body, I will protect your minds with tranquility as God, nor will I permit you to be troubled, or the strength and vigor of your mind to be overcome by anyone. For all fear and timidity will be banished far away, and a certain divine power will arise within you, by which, with a calmed mind and tranquil heart, you will be led to the revelation of those things which surpass the mind of man. But now, "peace I give unto you, not simply, but my peace." Which truly was—
A nothing other than to say that I shall grant the Spirit, and I shall be present through myself to those who receive Him. For that the peace of Christ is His Spirit, I think does not require a long argument for assurance and proof. Nevertheless, I suppose it is necessary to say this: if He Himself is the peace in heaven and on earth, how would it not henceforth be clear to everyone that, just as we have said, the peace is altogether His Spirit? Indeed, the inspired Paul said to some: "And the peace of God, which surpasses all mind, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts." And yet, how is it not reasonable to think that he does not mean such things about this peace that is understood in the common sense of the term and in practice? For the disposition that is non-contentious and non-belligerent has peace in its own inclinations and will, and produces it. And we would never imagine such a conceived peace to be some hypostatic and independently existing thing, but rather we would suspect it to occur in the habit of those who love it. How then, one might ask, could one comprehend such a peace to surpass all mind? For that which in no way, in no respect, exists in its own individual subsistence, how could it be conceived as something superior and better than men or angels or those who are considered even higher still? For we say that these also are minds. Therefore, the peace that is above Principalities, above Powers, above Thrones B or Dominions, and above every mind, is the Spirit of Christ, through whom the Son reconciled all things to God and the Father, by willing and desiring His own things, and [by] thinking and doing [them], and not moving elsewhere toward apostasy through a turning toward base things. It does not at all harm one to entertain an intelligent thought on this. For in the way that, since the Son is life by nature, and is called wisdom and power—and His Spirit, which is both the Spirit of life, and of wisdom, and of power, is [also]—so, since He Himself is, and is not another, the truly and properly existing peace, His Spirit might reasonably be said and thought of again as peace in accordance with Him. And for this reason, having specifically attributed His own proper peace—that is, the Spirit—to His own nature, He says concerning Him: "My peace I leave with you." C And that the Spirit of Christ is thus named among the holy prophets, you will understand well by learning from the voice of Isaiah: "For, O Lord our God, grant us peace; for You have rendered all things to us." For as the law brought nothing to perfection, nor indeed was its righteousness sufficient to bring man to the fullest and most perfect piety, he asks for the divine Spirit to be given, through whom we have been reconciled to God and the Father and called back to friendship, having formerly been fugitives because of the sin that reigned over us. "Grant us therefore the peace," he says, "O Master, for You have rendered all things to us." And what he signifies he wants to be, I say, is this: "Grant," he says, "O Master, the peace." For [we will confess that we then possess all things D, and nothing of good will seem lacking to him who has received the fullness of Christ. For indeed all the fullness of Christ is that God should dwell in us through the Spirit. Since, therefore, the Spirit is the one who can most of all calm every agitation of the soul and quiet every fear within us, that, in a certain sense, is the support for the soul's strength and for freedom from disturbance.
A promising as much when He says: “My peace I leave with you; let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
XIV, 28. *You heard that I said to you: I go away, and I come to you.*
You have not heard of my departure B from another, He says, for you have been the direct hearers of my own words. And what have I promised you, I who do not know how to lie? "I go away, and I come to you." If my departure threatened the lack of a comforter for you, and a perpetual abandonment, it would indeed be very reasonable for you to be greatly distressed by this, to be unable to bear it, and to slip into unmitigated sorrow; but since I have said to you that I shall not only go away, but shall also return in due time, why, He says, do you lodge only that which causes grief in your own minds, and insult the capacity for being gladdened by forgetting C what is past? Let the remedy fight against the wound, and let the power of joy withstand the pain. I am indeed prepared to ascend to the Father and God, but I have promised that I will return again.
He therefore calms the most intense grief He finds in the disciples. And just as some father, most loving of his children, compelled by necessary affairs to undertake a long journey, seeing them bursting into tears, consoles them by whatever means he can, and by repeatedly recounting the good that will come from his departure, sets hope for the most delightful things against their sorrow in a certain way; so too does our Lord Jesus Christ uproot D the sorrow from the hearts of the saints. For He knew, He knew, as being true God, that His departure would be most burdensome to them, even though He would be with them forever through the Spirit.
This is a proof of the utmost charity and holiness. For to wish to be with Christ, is that not most appropriate for the saints? Seeing that even Paul had this goal within himself: "For it is better," he says, "to depart and be with Christ."
CHAPTER I.
*That the Son is in no way less than God and the Father, but rather equal and like to Him according to nature.*XIV, 28. *If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.*
He turns the occasion of his sorrow into an argument for joy, and clearly rebukes them for not rejoicing instead over that for which they were grieving. At the same time, He attempts to teach that those who practice unfeigned and true charity toward others must seek not only what is dear and pleasurable to themselves, but also what is useful...
and beneficial to those who are loved, when the occasion demands it. A For this reason, Paul also, writing, says: “Charity does not act perversely, is not puffed up, is not ambitious, seeks not its own.” He says to others: “Not seeking their own interests, but those of others.” For the work of true charity is not, surely, to provide only for our own goods, but also to look out for what is useful to our neighbor; for the Savior instructs his own disciples to think this way through the things set before them. And come, let us again, as if on a tablet, with more precise brushes, delineate the power of this principle within ourselves, and from this, let us ascend to the mystery of Christ. For often, the pattern in lesser things provides the means to be able to attain even to those things which are believed to surpass comparison. B Therefore, it was sweet, let us say, for the disciples of Paul to be with him always; but it was better and more profitable for Paul to be dissolved and to be with Christ, just as he himself asserted in his writing. It was, therefore, the duty of those who chose to love Him to hasten to fulfill their love toward Him, and not to make what is sweet only to themselves unendurable, but rather, considering also what was beneficial to the teacher who was departing, to hasten to be with Christ. You have the shadow of the principle in our own affairs. Come, therefore, as if applying a multi-colored paint to the shadows, let us now clearly demonstrate the truth of the mysteries concerning Christ.
For though the Only-Begotten existed in the form of God and the Father, and in equality according to the Spirit, C He did not think equality with God a thing to be seized, but because of His love for us, He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, and He endured this, having suffered it, so that He might direct us all to every understanding of virtue, and so that, through the incomparable brightness of His miracles, He might make us beholders of the power, glory, and supernatural authority residing in the divine nature. For thus was it possible to persuade those who had slipped into extreme ignorance to rise back up to wisdom, and to worship no longer the creature instead of the Creator, but to confess Him who is truly and by nature God. D Moreover, the Only-Begotten helped us in other ways by becoming man: for He brought down the power of death, He dissolved the power of sin, He gave us the authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy. It was therefore altogether most sweet and desirable, both for ourselves and for the holy disciples, to be always together with Christ, the giver of such great goods, and to have Him always present and dwelling with us. But it did not seem very useful to Him to dwell for so long a time in the form of humility which He had assumed for our sake out of love, just as we have already said. For it was necessary that, our dispensation being now brought to an end, He should return to His own glory, and with the flesh assumed for our sake, return
A to equality with God and the Father, which He did not deem a prize to be snatched (for it was His by right as His own good), but descended into human dishonor. For as long as He was still upon the earth, although He was true God and Lord of all, He was not considered better than any of us by those who did not know His glory. And so He was struck with palms, and spat upon, and crucified, and endured the mockery of the Jews, who dared to say, "If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross, and we will believe you." But when He had fulfilled the mystery concerning us, He was taken up to the Father and God in the heavens, since the time of humiliation had already passed and the periods of the voluntary emptying were finished; God was now being made manifest to the powers above. For heaven did not fail to recognize the Lord of all as He ascended, but those who are set over the gates above were instructed to admit the Lord of powers, even though He was ascending with flesh; the Spirit prefigured that He should raise the gates for Him, saying, "Lift up your gates, O princes, and be lifted up, eternal gates, and the King of glory shall enter in. The Lord is strong and mighty, the Lord is mighty in battle. The Lord of powers, He is this King of glory." For the manifold wisdom of God was made known to the Principalities and Powers, which He wrought in Christ, just as Paul says. For having returned to the Father, although He is considered greater than He—insofar as the one remained that which He always was, while the other endured the voluntary emptying and descended into the form of a servant—He was raised again to His own glory, having heard, "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." But so that it might not appear that the Son had snatched the honor, or that the heavenly Father had placed the Son at His right hand perhaps against His will, the Father Himself is introduced saying this: "Sit at my right hand." And no one with any sense would say that the Father has honored the Son with second-rate status because He has Him at His right hand, but rather one would reflect and consider this: it was necessary that the position of being at the right hand, which is unsuspected of any diminution, should be attributed not to the Father, but to the Son, inasmuch as, on account of the voluntary emptying and subjection, He was argued by those unable to grasp the mystery of the incarnation to be lesser. Therefore, B He is at the right hand of the Father, who cannot be accused from any quarter, so that equality of honor might be preserved for the Son.
And these accounts have been brought forward by us usefully for the present, holding as they do not a little relevance to the subject at hand. Taking up again, and, so to speak, rolling over the whole scope of the exposition from the beginning, I will say finally that it is pleasing to us, and a matter of prayer, and desirable to be always in the company of the Savior Christ, even though for our sake He emptied Himself, as it is written, and was in the form of a servant, and in the dishonor of human nature. For what is the nature of man compared to God?
A But this is not advantageous for the Son Himself; rather, it is profitable that He should ascend to the Father and recover His own glory, power, and divine dignity openly, and no longer in a hidden manner. For He has sat down at the right hand, with the Father Himself also willing it; for He loves Him as His own offspring and as the fruit of His essence. Therefore, He says on this account: "If you loved me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I." Truly, a proof of love toward Him would have been not to feel so much grief because of His supposed departure and the journey necessarily undertaken, but rather to consider that He has gone forth to the glory that is becoming to Him and owed to Him, and to His ancient dignity—that is, the divine dignity—plainly. And so indeed the Psalmist, although speaking mysteries through the Spirit, says: "All nations, clap B your hands"; then, explaining the cause of the feast, he brought forward the Savior’s ascension into heaven, saying: "God has ascended in jubilation, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet," calling the high and far-sounding voice of the Spirit jubilation and a trumpet, while He commanded the powers above to lift up the gates, and named Him Lord of hosts, just as we were saying a moment ago. And we will find that the choir of the saints themselves also rejoiced with great gladness at this very thing. For that is why he used to say, sometimes: "The Lord has reigned, let the earth exult"; and at other times again: "The Lord has reigned; He has clothed Himself with beauty; the Lord has clothed Himself with power, and has girded Himself." For the man who was with us, before the resurrection from the dead, when He ascended to the Father in heaven, then He clothed Himself in His own beauty, and girded Himself with the power that belonged to Him from the beginning. For He has sat down, reigning with the Father. It is therefore right and fitting for those who love Him to rejoice because He has gone to the Father in heaven, about to recover His own glory and to reign with Him again, just as He was in the beginning. He says the Father is greater, not because He has sat at the right hand C as God, but as He was still with us—that is, in human conditions. For He says such things because He still possessed the form of a servant, and the time for Him to recover His divine dignity had not yet arrived. And so, when He endured the precious cross for us, the Jews offered Him vinegar and gall when He was thirsty, and having drunk, He said: "It is finished." For the time of humiliation was already fulfilled, and He was crucified as man; for He conquered the power of death, not as man, but rather as God—I mean in respect to the efficacy and the glory and power of conquering, not according to the flesh. The Father, therefore, is greater as the Son was still a servant and existing in human conditions; since He even calls Him His God, and attributes this to the human form. For if we believe that He emptied and humbled Himself, D will it not be clear to everyone that He descended from a certain eminence to a lowering, or rather from equality with the Father to inequality? But the Father endured none of these things, but remained and persists in that which He was from the beginning.
o a lowering, or rather from equality with the Father to inequality? But the Father endured none of these things, but remained and persists in that which He was from the beginning. A Greater, therefore, is He than He who chose the lowering in the order of the economy, and who was for a time in it, until that which was His own—I mean His natural good, in which He was in the beginning—should be restored to Him. Indeed, that equality with the Father, which He was permitted to possess without hindrance, yet did not deem a prize to be snatched for our sake, would rightly be judged a place for Him that is in some sense proper and natural. And since much has been said by us in the previous books concerning the equality of the Son with God and the Father, it might perhaps have been appropriate for us to proceed to the explanation of what follows, leaving aside any further lengthy discussion of these matters for the present. But since one of the senseless heretics, who has obtained no common knowledge of the sacred Scriptures among the Jews, in attempting to interpret the passage before us, has committed to writing intolerable blasphemies against the Only-Begotten, B I deemed it a task too sluggish and altogether alien to me to pass over in silence such great madness on the part of this man. Therefore, I believe it is necessary to confront him in due order, and to demonstrate that his fables are putrid and old-wive’s tales, completely devoid of all judgment, and full only of the sophistries of empty arguments. I will, however, recite word for word what he has dared to write when he seemed to himself to be explaining the meaning of this passage: “By openly preaching the Father as greater than Himself, He not only showed Himself worthy of gratitude, but also refuted the lie of those who think both are equal.” By these words, having exploded the opinion of Sabellius, he rushes, fierce and sharp, as he thinks, against those who maintain that the Son is equal to the Father, writing again in this manner: C “Some have advanced to such a point of madness that they cannot bear it to be said that the Father is greater than the divinity of the Only-Begotten, but believe that He only excels by comparison with the flesh, not even being able to perceive, even in this respect, that heterogeneous things can by no means be compared. For no one would ever say that a man is wiser than a beast, nor that a horse runs faster than a tortoise, but rather that a man excels a man in learning, and a horse runs faster than a horse. Since, therefore, only homogeneous things admit of comparison with one another, it is necessary for them to confess that the Father is greater than the divinity of the Only-Begotten itself. For those who think otherwise, in that they compare Him with the flesh, diminish D the dignity of the Father as much as lies within them.” These are his doting trifles. But it must be seen how he fights against his own words without even knowing it. For he praises the Son, as one who has preserved the gratitude and justice befitting Him, when He said: “The Father is greater than I.” But I wonder why he did not bring this into his own mind. For what, I ask, was compelling him to speak now concerning His divinity, since no sane person would neglect to know the appropriate time for speaking and acting? What, I ask, is the need
for such an untimely declaration of divinity to his grieving disciples, seeing that he was about to depart from this world to the Father and God? What manner of consolation could that fact possibly have brought them? And for what reason does he almost reproach them, saying: "If you loved me, you would rejoice because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I"? A Could the mention of this, pray tell, serve to gladden the disciples, or did it relieve their truly pious grief to know that he was going to a "greater" Father? What manner of consolation could anyone find in this? Yet when Philip implored him, saying: "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us," then, and indeed at that very moment, it was exceedingly opportune, for as the time for declaring his divinity had arrived, he showed the Father in himself, and himself again in the Father, and, showing that he was in no respect inferior to Him but manifested by every mode of equality, he said: "Have I been with you for so long, and yet you have not known me, Philip? He who sees me, sees the Father. Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? I and the Father are one." But while his words on that occasion were woven together with timely wisdom and were rightly admired, what occasion does the matter have now, or what logic can it support at all, to wish to crush the grief of the disciples and, as it were, to devise for them a soothing medicine of consolation, by commanding them to rejoice because he goes to the Father? B Might it not, therefore, become clear even to the most senseless that, by that very fact, since he was hastening to return to his own glory with the Father, he commanded those who loved him to rejoice in this, having himself devised this method of consolation alongside others—a method worthy of all wonder?
But we shall pass over this for now, and I shall not dwell long upon that man's ravings. I think we must rather turn to that point where he thought the comparison by which the nature of the divinity is compared to flesh, when we say the Son was emptied, was altogether vain. But the matter is not so: far from it! Rather, when we say that his divine glory is [covered] by servile condition and dignity, we assert that the Son is less than the Father in so far as he became man, yet that he was restored to equality with the Father, after he ascended from here to heaven, not clothed in a new, adventitious, or unaccustomed glory, but again enjoying that in which he was from the beginning with the Father. C Hence, the divine instructor Paul, no longer attributing to him the humility appropriate to men after his resurrection from the dead and his ascension into heaven, writes in these words: "Even if we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him no longer." And again, concerning himself: "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, not from men, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ." But why, when he said that he would come to us to "fashion the body of our humility" to be "conformed to the body of his glory," does he deny in another place, saying he is not of men, nor through man, but through Jesus
Christ? Why, pray tell, does he say that he does not know him at all according to the flesh? A Has he denied the Lord who redeemed it? God forbid! For he thinks rightly. For when the time of the emptying or humiliation of the Only-Begotten, as it is understood, had already been completed and brought to an end, he is zealous to preach and acknowledge him, not from the things in which he is seen to be emptied, but rather from those in which he is God by nature. For once it has been known and accepted that he became man, it was necessary thereafter that those who have believed should be taught that he is also God by nature; and for this reason, he is more pleased with the God-befitting words concerning him than with others.
But I marvel how he does not blush, saying that since only homogeneous things admit of mutual comparison, it is necessary to confess that the Father is greater in deity than the Only-Begotten. For he does not perceive, it seems, that he is arming his own words against himself. Let him answer us as we conveniently ask this: by what things are those comparisons of homogeneous things among themselves more appropriately performed? Is it from those things which are according to the common account of nature? Or from those which each possesses of the things that are present or absent, that exist and do not exist, for reasonable causes? For instance—for I will bring forward the same example that he himself has brought to us by way of an illustration—if someone wishes to compare man with man, looking to the one and common account of substance, he will find no difference in both. B For man does not differ from man in so far as he is a rational, mortal animal, capable of intellect and knowledge: for this is the one definition of his substance in all; nor does horse differ from horse in so far as it is a horse. But we say that man differs from man because one is skilled in, for example, grammar, and the other is not, or in some other such ways. But these do not touch the substance, but seem to have obtained some other cause. But a horse also is swifter than a horse, or smaller or larger in body; however, we shall not find these things to be situated in the account of substance. For otherwise, those things which are compared with each other would in no way differ from one another. For how, for example, would one man be judged smaller or larger than another man, in so far as they are men? Therefore, in all homogeneous things, the natural properties are equal; but those things are found to be diverse which inhere and arrive extrinsically according to the account of an accident. C Therefore, since according to his proposition or opinion—for I shall insist upon this—only homogeneous things fittingly admit of mutual comparison, let him first confess that the Son is of the same genus as the Father, that is, consubstantial (for thus must "homogeneous" be understood: for he has confessed that man must be compared to man, and horse to horse); and finally, let him teach the reason on account of which the Son, who is compared with God the Father as being of the same genus as he, is in any respect less. And where shall we find him to be less, when in homogeneous things there is one definition of substance? For the account of every substance is in some respects perfect, in others... D
being judged by him who is his own consubstantial offspring, to have at least some diminution? But where shall we find any deficiency A when there would effectively be but one definition of the essence for those who are consubstantial? For the definition of every essence is not seen as perfect in some and imperfect in another, but it appears as one and equal in all. We do say, however, that there are other causes for each of the accidents, that is, for the things that have befallen them in any way whatsoever. But to make clear what has been said, I will again set forth the example from the beginning. Man differs from man in no way at all, insofar as they are men; but one man is pious, another wicked; one is infirm and mutilated in body, while another is sound and robust; one is envious, and another good. But when anyone examines the causes of these things precisely, he will not blame the definition of the substance, but will rather attribute the causes to the affections of the body or the soul. B Since, therefore, the definition of the Godhead is considered and is one in the Father and the Son, or by whatever name you might call it—for they are compared as being of the same genus, and I will use their own words because of the necessity of explaining the matter—let these wretches explain what they think could have caused the Son to be inferior to God the Father? Is it illness? Is it sloth? Or whatever else is wont to happen to those who have a created nature? But who would be so delirious and so devoid of all reason as to be willing to admit such a blasphemy even to his ears? Since, therefore, as one who is of the same genus as the God who is such by nature, he is himself also God by nature (for he is compared to the Father, and nothing prevents him from being similar to the Father), how is he inferior?
C Since, however, the enemy of the truth has most foolishly and irrationally walked through the matters at hand, having dared to say that the Father is greater than the Godhead of the Son, come, let us draw back the account of the Incarnation a little, and setting aside the sense of the matters proposed for the sake of refutation, let us compare the Godhead of the Son with the Godhead of the Father, according to their own line of reasoning. We shall demand, first of all, that the one who has dared to say this answer whether he thinks the Son is God by nature, or something else besides this, but adorned nonetheless with the title of Godhead, just as many gods and lords are indeed said to be in heaven and many upon the earth. D For if it were proven that the Son is adorned only with the bare appellation of Godhead, but is not in truth what he is said to be, then we shall rightly and publicly cry out: "Man, if he is not God by nature, we are still worshipping a creature instead of the Creator, and not only we who inhabit this earthly region, but the very multitude of the holy angels themselves." Furthermore, we shall accuse every saint who has declared him to be God by nature and true; but most of all we shall call into question the blessed John, who wrote concerning him: "We know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding that we may know the true God, and we are in his true Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life" 70. But if, showing reverence for Scripture, he confesses that he is truly God,
Christ, His true Son. "This is the true God and eternal life." But if one, out of a hollow reverence for the whole of inspired Scripture, calls Him God in truth, and maintains that $\text{A}$ He is such, yet simultaneously suspects that he is in some way inferior to the Father, has he not introduced to us another god, completely cut off from the natural relationship with the Father, and who is conceived as having some existence in his own hypostasis, but not as existing in the substance of God and the Father? But, I think, the matter is plain to all. For if nothing is greater or less than itself, but something is considered greater than a lesser thing, and less than a greater thing, is it not then absolutely necessary to confess that there are two Gods by nature and in truth, so that one is understood as greater and the other as lesser? Thus, the faith of the Church has already perished and been overturned by such people; there is no longer one God over us, but two. Whose temples, then, have we been called, according to the Scriptures, if not His who placed His own Spirit in our souls? When, therefore, we find in the Holy Scriptures that the Spirit is called not only the Father's but also the Son's, what shall we philosophize? What ought we to think? Which of the two shall we cast aside, so as to say the other is God? If, therefore, we accept two Gods, one lesser and one greater, and say that both dwell in our souls through their own respective Spirits, we shall be caught having become temples of gods; and two Spirits dwell in us, a greater and a lesser, according to the nature of those who gave them. Who, then, could endure such people vomiting forth such things? And who among those on their side will not see that their speech is unlearned and utterly ridiculous, if he but attends to the meaning of what we have just said?
But perhaps, being forced to confess two Gods by nature, if indeed one is greater and the other lesser, they will turn to that common and familiar refuge of theirs, by saying that the Son has a certain nature of His own, one that is neither completely liberated from the created order, nor yet entirely fallen away from the nature of God and the Father. For those who do not fear to call Him openly a creature and a work, flee to such elegant phrasing, contriving a somewhat more sophisticated blasphemy. When, therefore, they say that the Son is so, that He is neither God by nature in the full sense, nor yet reckoned entirely among creatures, but is some intermediate being, so that He is inferior to the dignity of God and the Father, yet surpasses the glory of creatures: we shall first say that there is no reason that allows them to legislate and speak as they wish. Let them provide us proof from the holy and divine Scriptures, or, if they cannot in any way prove what they say, let them be ashamed of defining matters of faith out of their own opinions. Nevertheless, since out of a lack of understanding they have rashly poured this out, I shall turn to their proposition and challenge them again.
If only things of the same kind properly admit of comparison with one another, and the Son judged that He Himself should be properly compared to God and the Father, saying most clearly: "The Father is greater than I," $\text{B}$ $\text{C}$ $\text{D}$ how is it not necessary that the Father be thought of in such a way, as would be said of the Son by you?
A Christ, and that the Father cannot be conceived to be such as you say the Son is? And what follows from this? Your entire proposition vanishes into nothingness. For in as much as the Father is called greater than the Son by you, and the creature lesser, the nature of the Only-Begotten was, according to your view, a sort of middle point. But if the nature of the Father is brought down to the level of the Son's nature, whose middle point will he be, if there is no one left who is placed above and excels? But if, as they say, he is compared to the Father as being of like nature (homogeneus), how is there not one principle of substance in both? Since, however, you transfer the glory of the Father to the glory of him who, in your opinion, is lesser, being unwilling to confess that the Son is consubstantial with the Father, but rather establishing him as lesser, do you not perceive blasphemy growing up like a thorn? Does not a root of bitterness springing up B disturb the hearts of those who think such things? Why, therefore, having abandoned the straight path of truth, do you turn aside into such an absurdity of reasoning? Grant, I beseech you, grant to the Son, who is of like nature as you wish, equality with God and the Father. For thus there will be one God, who is worshipped and glorified in the holy and consubstantial Trinity, both by us and by the holy angels. C
XIV, 29. *And now I have told you before it comes to pass, that when it is come to pass, you might believe.*
The prediction of things we hope will come to pass is a sure pledge of them. Christ therefore strengthens the heart of the disciples and bids them believe firmly that he is truly returning to the heavenly Father, to reign with him and sit at his side, as he who is God and was begotten of him by nature as God. For do not, he says, judge my departure according to the flesh (for I will always be with you as God) in the same way as you judge the departure of the holy prophets. For they, being fashioned from the earth and paying the debt of their own nature, were withdrawn and underwent the law befitting men; but since I am God by nature, I shall not, like the men created through me, wait for the time of resurrection: for I live always, since I am life by nature; and I will send the Paraclete, and I will give you my peace, and I will not lie, but in order that, having become partakers of the promise and enlightened by the grace of the Holy Spirit, you may acknowledge my words to be true—being brought in as a reminder, as I said, by the test of the event, and that you may firmly believe that I exist and reign together with the Father—I have foretold these things and spoken to you. The outcome of the promise will therefore prove the truth of my words. For if I am not life, he says, if I do not sit with God and the Father, how could I myself bestow divine and spiritual gifts? I shall indeed distribute, as I have promised, and I shall bestow the Spirit and peace. And how, then, is it not certain and indubitable that I am life, and that I reign together with the Father? For to illuminate D those who love him with divine gifts is not the work of one who does not exist, or who has no power, but of one who is and has power, and who reigns forever. By these words, therefore, Christ taught that he did not make the prediction of future events in vain.
For that they might have a more assured faith in Him, after the experience of those gifts, by coming into the thought and memory of those things which had been promised, He says that the discourse was made.
XIV, 30, 31. *Yet I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and in me he hath nothing; but that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandment, so do I. B*
As if the Jews were now about to arrive with the cohort that was to attend them and its leader and standard-bearer, who had promised that he would betray Him, and were about to seize Him and before long lead Him to the sufferings upon the cross and those that preceded the cross, He said that He would now cease from His discourse with them. For the time, He says, had been contracted and scarcely anything of it remained. For the cruelty of the Jews raging against Me, and now being within the very gates, it is no longer a time for speaking to you, but for suffering that impends. For, "the prince of this world cometh," He says, "and in me he hath nothing." But I shall die, and that most willingly, and I shall endure death for the life of all, by reason of the reverence and love toward the Begetter, offering Myself even to those things from which the mind recoils, that I may fulfill His will.
The scope C of the passage proposed might be well-nigh manifest in these words. But explaining it more subtly, we say: Adam indeed, the author of our race, because he had violated the given commandment, underwent death through divine execration, and he is seen to have suffered this for just causes, being accused both by himself and by the devil; for they are not unjustly punished who sin out of listlessness of mind. But the second Adam, that is, our Lord Jesus Christ, is able to be accused of nothing at all; for "He did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth" (1 Pet. 2:22). He endured the passion for us, conscious of no crime at all, but offering Himself to the Father as the price of redemption for the life of all, because He loves the Father, who is thirsting for the salvation of the world. And it is a sign of one who loves the Father to do His will entirely, and not to consider as nothing that which appeared necessary, but to strive to lead it to its conclusion. D And what is this? He willed that His own Son, although having Him conformed to Himself and conspicuous in every equality, should come to such a humiliation as even to become man for our sake, and not to blush at death for the life of all. This the Son has done, loving the Begetter, who is said to have commanded that by His own power He should destroy death through the passion of the flesh, and overturn the empire of corruption, and vivify the corrupted, and restore to them their ancient glory. Therefore He says, the time is narrow in which I shall speak with you; for the passion is impending, and the crime which the Jews have plotted against Me is at its height. I shall suffer willingly, since...
I have come for this cause. A Yet the prince of this world is coming, and has nothing in Me; that is, I shall not be caught having sinned, nor shall there be any reasonable pretext for the Jews' insolence against Me; the devil has nothing of his own in Me. For things that are base are his own, and the origin of sin recognizes him as its prince and author. That this statement of the Savior is true may be observed, in particular, from the very order and sequence of the words. For how could He have sinned who does not know sin, He who is God by nature and in truth, and who is entirely incapable of receiving anything that is not right? B Indeed, we shall see this no less clearly through the very things recorded by the holy evangelists. For the most wise John has introduced Pilate saying: "I find no cause in Him"; and again, after the crown of thorns was placed upon His head, crying out and saying: "Behold, I bring Him out to you, that you may know that I find no cause in Him." Matthew, for his part, writes that He so abhorred the wickedness of the Jews that He even washed His hands before them and said: "I am innocent of the blood of this just man." Furthermore, in showing Him brought before the chief priests themselves, he says: "Now the chief priests and all the council were seeking false testimony against Christ, that they might put Him to death, and they found none, though many false witnesses had come forward." For even if the reasons for destroying Him were sought through men, the devil was using them as instruments and ministers of the malice that was in him, and he himself was the one seeking a transgression in Him, rather than anyone else. It is true, therefore, that the devil had nothing of his own in Him, whom He also named the prince of this world for the moment, not as if he were truly its lord, but just as some savage barbarian, by the law of rapine, has seized what in no way belongs to him. For he had made man subject to himself through sin, and having driven him away like a flock bereft of its shepherd, far from God, he took possession of what was another's. And so, he has justly been cast out from the dominion thus secured. For Christ has reigned over us. Therefore He says: "Now the prince of this world shall be cast out; and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself." C Arise, let us go from here.
The interpretation of the passage before us which is common to the many and well-worn is as follows: since the season of Jewish frenzy had already advanced, and was all but showing the precious cross of the Savior now fixed, for that reason He hastened to go with His holy disciples to the very places in which the band of attendants had found and seized Him. And this perception is certainly plausible; yet it is fitting to indicate another, a spiritual and more recondite one. Wishing to signify that through Him and with Him there would be for all of us a change from one state to another, and a conversion from worse things to better, D XIV, 31. Arise, let us go hence.
A He cries out: "Arise, let us go hence," so that we might understand something true from the reality of the matter: a passing, as I said just now, as if from one place to another, from death to life, and from corruption to incorruption, through Him and with Him. Rightly, then, He says, "Arise, let us go hence."
But you may also take what was said in another way regarding ourselves. We were to be transferred from love of the world to the will to do what pleases God, and furthermore from slavery to the dignity of adoption, from earth to the city above, from sin to the righteousness which is through faith in Christ, from human impurity to the sanctification that comes through the Spirit, from disgrace to glory, from ignorance to knowledge, and from sloth and infirmity to virtue in doing good. Setting this earth, then, as a kind of place for our earthly sins, He says, "Arise, let us go hence."
For although, as far as the form of speech goes, He seems to join Himself to us, this will not in the least harm us, since He is accustomed to doing this. Whence you will find Him saying elsewhere to His disciples: "I must work the works of Him who sent me, while it is day. The night is coming when no one can work." B Do you hear how He joins Himself to us in the work, although He is not subject to the work as we are? But we shall find that this form of speech is customary for us no less. Indeed, the divine Paul, rebuking the Corinthians, writes thus: "These things, brethren, I have applied to myself and Apollos, that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written."
That we have not had an ambassador, nor an angel, but the Lord of all Himself, as the guide of the journey to all good things and of the conversion from ancient passions to the better state—even if He is in no way subject to our infirmities—is in no way in doubt. For we have been redeemed not by ourselves, nor by any other created thing, but rather by Him, our Savior Christ. Therefore, when He says, "Arise, let us go hence," as if He were fleeing worldly wickedness together with us, He says this not as one subject to human evils, but as a leader, and standard-bearer, and guide into incorruption and into that life which consists in holiness and the love of God. C
CHAPTER II. That the Son is consubstantial with God and the Father, and not of a different nature or genus, as certain perverted heretics think.
XV, 1. I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. D That He wishes to show that it is fitting to cling to love for Him, and how much benefit comes to us from being joined to Him, He calls Himself the vine, as if by way of example, with those who are united to Him... [index: entries preserved]
A and fastened, and have in a certain way been made partakers of His own nature by partaking of the Holy Spirit—for the Holy Spirit of Christ is that which unites us to the Savior. For the attachment of those approaching the vine is by way of choice, but from the vine toward us it is a matter of relationship. For we have approached through faith by a good choice, but we have become His kin, having received from Him the dignity of adoption. For indeed, according to the holy Paul, “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” B As therefore in other places He has been named by the voice of the prophet both foundation and base (for we are built upon Him, having ourselves become living and spiritual stones, into a holy priesthood, into a habitation of God in the Spirit; and we are unable to be built into this in any other way unless Christ has become our foundation), so here too, according to the same analogy of thought, He says He is the vine of the branches that are from it, as a mother and nourisher. For we have been regenerated from Him and in Him in the Spirit, for the bearing of fruit of life—not the ancient and old life, but that which consists in the newness of faith and of love toward Him. We are preserved in order to have this being, as it were grafted onto Him and clinging tightly to the holy commandment given to us, and striving to preserve the good of our nobility, that is, by not suffering the Holy Spirit who dwells within us to be vexed, even in the slightest, by whom God is understood to dwell within us. For in what way we are in Christ and He in us, the wise John himself shall demonstrate to us, saying: “By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.” And again: “By this we know that we are in Him.” “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk, just as He walked.” C Which, making it clearer to his hearers, he says again: “He who keeps His commandments abides in Him and He in Him.” For if the keeping of the commandments produces love toward Him, and we are joined to Him through love, how does that which is said not appear to be true in these things? For just as the stock of the vine ministers and distributes to the branches the enjoyment of its own inherent and natural quality, so the only-begotten Word of God implants in the saints a certain kinship, as it were, of God and the Father and of His own nature, giving the Spirit—inasmuch as they have been joined to Him through faith and complete holiness; and He feeds them toward piety and works in them the knowledge of every virtue and good work. But He calls the Father the husbandman; for what reason, then, is this? For the Father is not idle or inactive toward us, while the Son nourishes and warms us in the Holy Spirit; but our restoration is, in a way, the work of the whole and consubstantial Trinity, and the will and power of all things that are done by It pertains to the entire divine nature. And therefore, in total, it is glorified by us in one Person. For D He bestows the Spirit, especially upon those who are united to Him through faith and all-around holiness, and nourishes them toward piety, and works in them the knowledge of every virtue and goodness. He calls the Father the husbandman; for what reason, I pray, is this? For the Father is neither idle nor sluggish toward us, while the Son nourishes and warms us in the Holy Spirit; but our restoration is, in a fashion, the work of the entire and consubstantial Trinity, and to the whole divine nature there pertains the will and power of all things that are done by It. And thus, in sum, it is also glorified by us in one Person. For the Savior...
A is worshipped by us, not in such a way that we render thanks for our salvation, which we have received by mercy, partly to the Father, partly to the Son, or to the Holy Spirit, but rather by declaring our salvation to be the true working of the one Godhead. Therefore, even if it might seem that a specific part of what is done for us, or toward creation, is distributed to each Person, yet we believe nonetheless that all things are from the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit.
You will therefore understand, and very correctly, that the Father nourishes us unto piety through the Son in the Spirit; and again, that He acts as the farmer—that is to say, He watches over and inspects us, and deems us worthy of restorative care—through the Son in the Spirit. For we judge this to be far more correct than any other mode of reasoning, according to our own mind. For if we grant that each performs some part of the things that concern us, such that we claim it does not belong to the other, how is it not undeniable, since the Son is now called the vine and the Father the farmer, that we are indeed nourished and sustained unto well-being solely by the Son, while we have from the Father a mere inspection? For it is natural for a vine to nourish its own branches, and for B the laborer to inspect them. But if we think rightly, we shall surely judge that neither the one work is perfected without the Father, nor the other without the Son, or rather, the Holy Spirit. For all things are from the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit, as we have said.
Now, it is with a singular counsel that the Savior even now calls the Father the farmer, and it will not be difficult to explain the reason for this. For lest anyone should think that the Only-Begotten alone cares for us, He has introduced the Father and God as a kind of co-operator, calling Himself the vine, which grants life and fruitfulness to its own branches, and the One who begat Him the farmer; and by this, He again teaches us that another kind of operation of the divine substance is being performed toward us—namely, providence and care. For it was fitting that we should learn that God has not only made us partakers of His own nature, conceived in the holy and consubstantial Trinity, but also that He exercises the utmost care and providence over us, which we here understand rightly and consistently under the example of agriculture. Since mention was first made of the vine and its branches, how is it not most fitting that the farmer be signified C here, by whom is signified the inspector and governor of all things, namely, God?
But if we believe that the Son is naturally and truly in His own Father, and has the One who begat Him in His own nature, all things will be performed by both in the Spirit as from one Godhead; and thus the Father will not be excluded from our nourishment, nor will the Son be considered alien to our cultivation, and that deservedly so. For where the identity of nature is seen to be similar in all respects, there, although some things may appear to be done in many and various ways, the operation is nonetheless not different. But since there is one substance—that is, the true and natural Godhead is understood to be in three hypostases, namely, in the Father, D and in the Son, and in the Holy Spirit—how is it not most manifest and indubitable that whatever is [index: entries preserved]
A said to be an act of any one of them, this is the result of the entire and one Godhead, according to the principle of natural power? And thus our Lord Jesus Christ, acknowledging the Father as a co-worker in all things, once addressed the impious Jews, saying: "Many good works have I shown you from my Father; for which of those works do you stone me?" And again, concerning the work on the Sabbath: "My Father," He says, "is working until now, and I am working." And I do not think that anyone would suppose Him to be saying that the Father works some part of the things concerning creation separately, and in turn the Son another part; but since the Father does all things through the Son, and would never have worked anything of the things that have ever been brought about in any other way (for He is His wisdom and His power), for this reason He again named the Father as the worker of His own deeds, saying: "I do nothing of myself, but the Father remaining in me, He does the works." I suppose, therefore, that it is fitting for us to understand it in no other way than this: that Christ is placed in the order of the vine, and we hang like branches from Him, as though fattened by grace and drinking in that power which is through the Spirit unto spiritual fruitfulness. But since the bitter discourse of those who are opposed to us again attempts to obstruct us when we choose to walk uprightly, and tries to persuade us to think what is not lawful to conceive, we shall set forth clearly for the hearers, summarizing in our own words, what one of them has composed in long verses: "For rightly, indeed," he says, "the Only-Begotten refuted and showed to be ridiculous those who think Him to be consubstantial with God and the Father. For behold, He calls Himself the vine openly, and the Father the husbandman. Just as, therefore," he says, "a vine and a husbandman are not the same in substance (for the one is wood, and the other is a human being), but they are of another kind and wholly different in nature; so the Son is not consubstantial with the Father, but they are far apart, and a substantial principle separates them from one another, insofar as the one is the husbandman and the other is the vine." That some will attempt to wrongly transfer such things to the principle of the economy with flesh is not in doubt. "For," he says, "He does not say that His own flesh is the vine, but rather the Godhead. For to whom," he says, "is it not manifest that our body does not hang from the Savior's flesh, just as branches do from a vine, nor indeed is the fruit of the saints carnal, but spiritual? Wherefore, with the flesh set aside for the present, we shall attribute to the very Godhead of the Son the power and meaning of that statement, and we shall say that He is the vine from which we hang through faith." These things he prattles, perverting the true principle of divine dogmas according to his own whim, and twisting them toward his own proposed end with singular malice. We, however, clinging to the truth everywhere, shall not think accordingly—far be it!—but we shall stand upon the opinion of the holy Fathers.
A We have already investigated, in no unrefined way—as far as it was possible for us—how one ought to understand the force of what is proposed. But we must again consider how we ought to both arm ourselves and in what way we must contend against the arguments of those men. For if, by passing over these matters in silence, no harm were seen to enter into the minds of the simpler ones, we would reasonably have thought nothing of wasting time on vain discourses, and we would have occupied ourselves with the contemplations that follow. But since it would bring no small damage if such things were accepted by anyone, how is it not consistent that, moved by a God-loving zeal, we should lower ourselves into the battle of reason and speech? For in this way the craftiness of our adversaries would be very easily seen.
Come then, let us first say this: that it is utterly foolish to untimely transfer that which was taken by way of example B and introduced for the likeness of the matter into a discussion of nature, or rather, to interpret it as a declaration of substance. For I believe that those who wish to understand each of the things spoken correctly, ought to look to the scope of the theory and, with much prudence, examine what the author of the discourse has before him when he performs his explanation. Consider again from the very things proposed whether we do not seem to you to speak best. Was it not within the reach of the Savior Christ to teach the disciples that He Himself was, by nature, one thing, and the Father another, and that it was for this reason that He thought it necessary to call the begetter the husbandman and Himself the vine? For if this were the scope within Him, why did He not stop the discourse there, without bringing in anything else at all? For He would have made known His own scope without any confusion, according to your opinion, had He simply named Himself and the Father. C But now, having first set forth Himself as the vine, and saying that we hang like branches, and then attributing the task of husbandry to the Father, He is clearly manifest to all, I think, as declaring nothing of the sort that you have supposed. Rather, by examples that fall under the eyes, as it were, and as things known to the senses, He wishes to persuade the hearers that the power of all spiritual fruitfulness in us is from Him, just as the quality in the branches proceeds from the root. For whatever good is in us is a gift, but this is not so in God; for He is in Himself the originating source of His own prerogatives, of glory and of the power uniquely befitting Him. Therefore, Christ is in a way the root and the vine, and we are the branches. But as for His naming the Father the husbandman, do not say that He is thus called as if of a different D substance; for as we have said, He does not wish to signify this, but desired to show that the divine nature has become the root and source of the spiritual fruitfulness and life within us, as it bestows—in the manner of a husbandman—upon those called through faith into communion with Him, the care and providence of love, in addition to the goods already mentioned. There is, therefore, absolutely nothing in the dissimilarity of the examples that pertains to the theory of essence; for the Savior Christ does not now purpose to say anything about this, but the rationale of the doctrine has a different scope. But since that madman, with his accustomed temerity, embraces things that are perverse, and says that there is no argument which can turn the scope of this passage from its right sense toward the incarnation,
for we are not joined to Him in body, nor did the apostles remain A as branches in the body of Christ, nor were they joined to Him in this sense, but by disposition and sincere faith. Come, let us reply to these points in a few words, showing everywhere that he is raving, and not walking a straight path according to the Holy Scriptures.
For that we are joined spiritually to Christ by a disposition understood as perfect love, by a right and undistorted faith, and by a mind that is virtuous and sincere, the reasoning of our doctrines will in no wise deny, for we shall agree that they say this very rightly. But that they should have the boldness to say that there is no manner of carnal union between us and Him, we shall show to be wholly discordant with the divinely inspired Scriptures. For who that is of sound mind would ever doubt that Christ is the vine, and that we, bearing the form of branches, draw life from Him and by Him into ourselves, when Paul says: “For we all, being many, are one bread and one body in Christ; for we all partake of the one bread”? Let someone tell us the cause, and let him explain in passing the power of the mystic blessing. Why does it happen in us? Is it not that it also makes Christ dwell in us bodily, by participation and communion of His holy flesh? B Rightly, indeed; for Paul writes that the Gentiles have become “concorporal, and comparticipant, and coheirs of Christ.” But in what manner were they made concorporal? Surely, honored by participation in the mystic blessing, they were made one body with Him, just as each of the holy apostles also was. Otherwise, for what reason did he name his own members, or rather the members of all, as members of Christ? For he writes thus: “Know you not that your members are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of a harlot? God forbid.” But even the Savior Himself says: “He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me, and I in him.” For it is well worth noting in this, that Christ does not say that He will be in us only according to some relationship apprehended by disposition, but also by natural participation. C For as if one were to melt wax into other wax with fire, and make one thing out of both, so by the participation of the body of Christ and of His precious blood, He Himself is in us, and we again are united in Him. For that which is by nature corruptible could not be vivified otherwise than by being united bodily to the body of Him who is by nature life, that is to say, the Only-Begotten. And if thou wilt not be persuaded by my words, give thy faith to Christ Himself crying out: “Amen, amen I say unto you, unless ye eat the flesh of the Son D
A of man, and drink His blood, ye shall not have life in you. He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood hath everlasting life, and I will raise him up in the last day.” Dost thou hear Him now clearly declaring that unless we eat His flesh and drink His blood, we have not in ourselves—that is, in our own flesh—everlasting life? B But the Life may be understood, and with very good reason, as the flesh of Life, that is to say, of the Only-Begotten. How or in what manner this raises us up at the last day, thou shalt surely hear, for I will not shrink from stating it. Since it became the flesh of Life—that is, of the Word shining forth from God and the Father—it has passed over into the power of Life, and it is impossible that Life should be conquered by death. Since, therefore, Life has been brought about within us, it will C in no wise suffer the bonds of death, but will certainly overcome corruption, since it does not know how to endure what comes from corruption. “For corruption shall not possess incorruption,” according to the voice of Paul. For when Christ says most definitively, “I will raise him up,” He does not refer the power of raising the dead to His flesh alone, but since He who is the Word of God is one with His flesh, He says “I,” and that most rightly. For Christ is not split into two sons, nor would anyone think His body to be foreign D to the Only-Begotten, just as, I suppose, no one would say that the body of our own soul is foreign to it. Since, therefore, by these contemplations it has been shown to us that Christ is indeed the Vine and we are the branches, insofar as we cling to the communion with Him, not only spiritually but also bodily, why does he babble in vain against us, saying that because we cling to Him not bodily, but rather by faith and the affection of lawful charity, He therefore did not call His flesh the vine, but rather His divinity?
Against those who deny that the body of the Lord confers life, and who distort the mystery of the vine and the branches to mean only the divinity.
But why, one might say, do you abandon a sense that is more fitting and proper to the contemplations, and hasten toward something far removed and alien? For would it not be more fitting to say that Jesus is the vine and we are the branches, according to the communion of the flesh, because of our consanguinity? For those things that come from a vine are of the same nature as the vine. And we say this, not attempting to deny that we can be united to Christ through right faith and sincere charity, but rather showing that Christ is the vine both spiritually and bodily, and we are the branches. But the word of truth is simple and clear, yet the adversary, with craft and guile, refuses to confess that Christ was a vine in a bodily manner, insofar as He bestows His own life upon the branches, that is, upon us—just as the sensible and earthly vine does to its own branches—but he twists the meaning of these words to His divinity alone. For he thought that he could again slander it, foolishly objecting: “If the Son is the vine, he says, and the Father is the husbandman, and again…
the Son is of another nature as compared to the vine, then the Son will not be consubstantial with the Father.” A Although he thinks he has fortified against the dogmas of the Church a deep and biting argument, and one that is irrefutable, he will be found nonetheless to be babbling nonsense even here. For first of all, when he asserts that the Son is of another nature and places Him outside the substance of the Begetter, how can he still call God Father, or the Son absolutely Son? For if he says that He was not begotten—that is, that He does not proceed from the substance of the Father, just as the offspring of men proceed from them—how could He truly be the Son? Then how will he discard the blessed John, who says: “Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father; he who confesses the Son has the Father also”? And the statement is true. For with the one removed or posited, the other is likewise removed or posited. For there would not be a Father if there were no Son, nor would a Son ever be conceived without the Begetter also being conceived along with Him. B If, therefore, he denies the Son (for he says that He is of a different nature), he has also denied the Father himself. What then, my good man, will you say to this? In whom, then, is our faith? Where is the glory of the holy Trinity? For that nature which is mistress of the universe, signaled to us by the holy Scriptures in bare words, is destroyed and rendered pointless; for the madness and falsehood of those people drive us to advance to such absurdities. But perhaps, fearing the magnitude of such blasphemy, he says that He is indeed of another nature, but that He was nevertheless begotten by God and the Father. We, however, shall again demand that he tell us how he admits and confesses Him to have been begotten. For if it is as one of the creatures, by way of relation, specifically by an attitude of love and will (for all things are said to be from God), he will fall into the same blasphemies regardless. But if, while claiming that He is the true Son, he asserts that He is of another nature, he will exert his impiety against the Begetter Himself. For he will attribute to the Father that which never happens in the nature of created things. C For is it not manifest to everyone that what is truly begotten according to nature from something is consubstantial with the one who begat it? Therefore, the creature proceeds according to a nature befitting it; for it brings forth what is of the same, not of a different nature; but we shall find God alone to be affected in the opposite way if, indeed, He has begotten the Son of another nature, and not from His own essence.
It would have been proper for the adversary to say nothing more than this, but since he does not cease his raving, and thinks that the Son of God and the Father is of another nature, we shall not hesitate to defend the dogma of the truth. For we will show that he says that God and the Father is of the same nature as the creature; how, in truth, or whence, let him hear once again. He contends openly that the vine is not His flesh, but that it is the very divinity of the Only-Begotten that is so named. D Be it so; let him therefore answer again, I pray, whether he thinks the Son exists as true God, or not.
and he who would call him spurious and possessed of only the dignity of the name. For if he does not consider him to be God by nature, let him hear the Only-Begotten himself saying: "I am the truth." For truth has nothing in it that is adulterated or shrouded by a false name. Furthermore, let him hear the most wise John crying out: "And we are in the true Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life." But if, overcome by shame and abandoning his contention, he shall confess that the Son is true God, we shall by no means betake ourselves to other things, but we shall use his own words to refute his own assertions. Is it not the case that, just as a husbandman is of a different kind than the vine—for he is human, while it is wood—so the vine, rightly and truly, would be considered of the same kind as its branches? I suppose there is no one who has ever fallen into such folly as to dare to deny a fact so manifest. Since, therefore, he exists as true God, consubstantial with the true God by nature, that is, with the Father, and he is the vine, while we are the branches, being evidently of the same kind on that account with the vine, how shall we not also be gods by nature, as if stripped of our own nature? But to think this is a sign of B extreme impiety. For we are creatures, whereas the Son is God by nature. How, then, shall this be? Or how is what is said about him true, if the branches are of the same kind as the vine? For it is necessary either that1 we ourselves be elevated to the nature of true divinity, or that the latter be brought down to us; for branches are of the same kind as the vine. And since the Son appears saying: "I and the Father are one," then either we ourselves will be raised up to a similarity to the Father in every respect, or the Father himself will be dragged down to our likeness together with the Son, who is of the same kind as us. See, therefore, what a throng of blasphemies manifests itself from this. For this reason, we shall rather follow the arguments of truth, believing the Son to have said by way of simile and example: "I am the vine, you are the branches, my Father is the husbandman." C
XV, 2. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he will take away, and every one that bears fruit, he will cleanse it, that it may bear more fruit.
Our adherence to Christ consists in affection and disposition, which has the power of clarity from purpose and will, but brings it to perfection through charity and faith. And indeed, faith resides in our souls, providing a pure manifestation of divine knowledge: but the character of charity requires the observation of the commandment prescribed to us by him. For so also, at one point, he himself, showing the one who loves him, was saying: "He who loves me will keep my commandments." It must be known, therefore, that although we are united to him through faith, and we establish the mode of union in a bare and sole confession, yet we do not D further tighten the bond of that union through the good actions of charity, the branch—
A will prove to be ours, yet dead and without fruit. For "faith without works is dead," according to the voice of the saint. If therefore someone is seen to be a branch in this manner, he hangs in vain, so to speak, from the vine stocks; let him know that he will surely encounter the vinedresser’s pruning-hook. For He will surely cut it off, and will cause it, like worthless brushwood, to be consumed by fire. This, I think, is the judgment of the fruitless, just as in the case of the fig tree taken by way of parable, the master of the field says to the husbandman: "Cut it down; why does it even cumber the ground?" So here, too, I think that God and Father of all prunes the dry and barren multitude of those branches that hang in vain from the spiritual vine, and are attached to nothing useful. And I believe that the shepherd of our souls, that is God, desires to show through these parables what sort of loss, and how great, the soul will suffer when it is cut off from communion with Him. For it will decline into nothing, and will be useless for any good work, and will undoubtedly be handed over to punishment, to be consume by unquenchable fire. B And indeed, the prophet Ezekiel, explaining this very thing again quite clearly, said: "Son of man, what shall the wood of the vine become out of all the wood of the branches which are among the trees of the forest? Shall people take wood from it to do any work? Or shall they take a peg from it to hang any vessel upon it? Behold, it is given to the fire, as its annual cleansing the fire consumes it, and it fails in the end; will it be useful for any work?" Understand, therefore, that he who has been altogether cut off and thoroughly torn away is utterly useless and can be put to no necessary purpose, but is perhaps useful only for the fire. Is it not then evident that if we should indeed become branches, having been torn away from the error of polytheism and having confessed our faith in Christ, but should become barren through C the lack of being joined to Him by works, we shall surely undergo the fate of the worthless branches? And what is the conclusion? For we shall be cut off completely, and we shall be delivered to the fire, and we shall lose even the life-giving moisture that we once had from the vine, that is to say, the Spirit. For what Christ said regarding the one who hid the talent, one might see as being fulfilled also in those who have undergone complete excision. For even as the talent is taken away from that man, so too, I think, is the Spirit taken away from the branch, as if it were a moisture or a certain quality. But for what reason is it taken away? So that the Lordly Spirit, when those who are about to be cast into the fire are condemned by the Judge, may not appear to be condemned D along with them. For if those who are masters of earthly affairs do not act rashly against those whom they have once honored and adorned with royal signs, but if one of them should perhaps commit a wrong for which he might justly pay a penalty, they do not impose it upon him before the loss of his honors; how then is it not necessary that the soul, which has been condemned by the sentence of the supernal Judge to punishment, should in some way shed and put off the grace of the Spirit before it undergoes its penalty? He says, therefore, that the fruitless branch will suffer such things, quite rightly strengthening our minds so that we may remain in His love.
through the activity of virtue and, clearly, through an unhurt faith. A He says, however, that the fruitful branch will not be entirely devoid of the vinedresser's care; for it will be cleansed so that it may be able to produce even more abundant fruit. For God works with those who choose to live rightly and to act well, and who strive to win Him for themselves through every sort of piety, employing the efficacy of the Spirit like a certain pruning hook, and circumcising in them, at one time the pleasures that always call them to love of the flesh and to bodily passions, and at another time, in turn, whatever He knows occurs to the souls of men to stain the mind through the varied form of evils. We say that this is the circumcision not made by hand and understood in the Spirit, concerning which B Paul says at one time: "For he is not a Jew who is one in the manifest, nor is the circumcision in the manifest in the flesh; but he who is a Jew in the hidden, and circumcision of the heart in the Spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not from men but from God," and at another time: "In whom you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made by hand." To these points some respond that, if the branches of the spiritual vine are to be cleansed, it will not happen without labor; for they suffer just as wood does. We will confess that this must be understood in a similar way concerning the saints. For God, who loves virtue, disciplines us through labor and tribulation. Hence the prophet Isaiah says to us: "For the Lord will wash away the filth of the sons and daughters of Sion, and will cleanse the blood from their midst in a spirit of judgment and a spirit of burning." C Furthermore, the divine Paul says: "If you persevere in discipline, God offers Himself to you as to sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?" And indeed, the chorus of the saints, surpassing all wonder, does not refuse this chastisement but rather welcomes it most willingly, saying: "Chastise us, O Lord, yet in judgment, and not in anger, that you may not make us few." For in anger the entire uprooting of the fruitless branches takes place; He sends these to punishment. But in judgment—that is, considerately and with measure—the cleansing of the fruitful branches takes place, procuring abundance and fertility with little labor. Finding this, some exclaim: "O Lord, thy disciplinary chastisement is a small tribulation for us." For the tribulation by which we are cleansed is clearly small, but while it provides us with that heavenly discipline, it makes us blessed. D The witness of this thing for us shall be the blessed David, thus crying out: "Blessed is the man whom thou shalt discipline, O Lord, and shalt teach him out of thy law, that thou mayest give him rest from the evil days." For surely those days are unsought and evil for those who are completely cut away and cast into the punishment of fire—the days, I say, of that severe and incorruptible judgment. But at that time God shows Himself gentle to those who are disciplined and corrected. For one who is such will in no way undergo the condemnation of punishment, since he has not turned out to be a fruitless branch. Let, therefore, the splendor of works be joined to the confession of faith, and let deeds [follow] upon words about God.
A For then, and only then, shall we be united with Christ, and find the power of our communion with him secure and unshakable, escaping the danger of being cut off.
These things have been said by us now, because it seemed appropriate to understand this passage spiritually; yet it is probable that the Lord wishes to signify something else by what he says clearly: "Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he will take away: and every one that bears fruit, he will purge it, that it may bring forth more fruit." For the branch, I suppose, signifies the people of the Jews, cut off by the Father from communion with Christ—those who are unfruitful, to whom the thrice-blessed John signifies that the axe will be applied, saying that the tree which is cut down will be delivered to the fire. B But as for those things which are not worthy to be cut away entirely, but remain on the vine and are to be purged by divine care—both those who have believed from among the Jews themselves, and those who have turned to him from the Gentiles after them—for them there is one purgation: it is perfected in the Holy Spirit, according to the Scriptures, yet the manner of purging is different. For from the Israelites is amputated the will to live and conduct oneself according to the Mosaic law; but from the heart of the idolaters, the design of ancient error is torn away, along with the chaff of the impurity of senseless men, so that they may be able to bear the fruit that is edible and truly pleasing to God, as from divine and evangelical instruction. C
That this is true, it will not be difficult to demonstrate from the divine Letters. For the divine Paul writes to the faithful Jews who, having spurned the evangelical dogmas, had gone back again to venerate the shadows of the law: "You are made void from Christ, whoever of you are justified by the law; you are fallen from grace." And again: "For I say unto you that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing." If the desire to be justified according to the law renders them strangers to Christ, how is it not entirely indubitable that the rejection of the legal way of life procures the power of union with Christ? D Israel, therefore, is circumcised in this way, or rather is purged, having laid aside the ancient disease, for they once worshipped the creature instead of the Creator. For what does Paul write to them? "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by his life." But he reproves them, and says elsewhere: "But now, after that you have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn you again to the weak and needy elements, to which you desire to serve again?" Since, therefore, those who serve the weak elements are strangers to Christ, but those who are unwilling to serve the creature rather than the Creator are united with him, how
is it not one of the acknowledged truths that the method of the purgation of ancient deceit is, through the Spirit, most beneficial, bringing in by many ways every kind of good in exchange? For when evil things are discarded and rejected—which is to say, A in the substitution and casting away of base things—the beauty of virtue is introduced in their place. For where baseness is driven out, there dignity rises and appears. It should be noted, however, that while the circumcision is through the Spirit, fulfilling in us the need for purgation, the Son is the provider of the Spirit. "For from his fullness we have all received," according to the voice of John, and He himself is the one who said to us: "Receive the Holy Spirit." The Father, therefore, effects the cleansing within us—as it were, in the manner of the circumcision B understood through the Spirit—by the Son. The bitter and impious audacity of the adversaries is thus brought to naught, who were not afraid to say that since the Son called himself the vine, and the Father and God the vinedresser, he cannot be of the same nature as him. For no reason, they say, will persuade (anyone) that a vine and a vinedresser are ever one and the same by nature. Since, therefore, we find that the Son is a vinedresser through the spiritual circumcision, let them realize that, just as vinedressers are of the same species among themselves insofar as they are human by nature, C it is manifest that the Son is not strange to the consubstantiality with God the Father.
XV, 3. "Already you are clean because of the word which I have spoken to you."
He makes the disciples the clearest proof and argument for the skill of him by whom they are cleansed. For he asserts that they have been cleansed, having enjoyed nothing else, but only because of the word spoken to them, that is, the divine and evangelical instruction. And this word is from Christ. Then who, indeed, of those who are sound of mind will doubt from this point on that the Son—the one through D whom all things are—is as it were a sickle and the hand of the Father, who fulfills the power of our cultivation, which he attributes to the person of the Father, while teaching that all things are from the Father, yet as through the power of the Son? For the Savior's word cleanses us, even though the office of our cultivation is attributed to God and the Father. "For his word," as it is written, "is living and effective, and sharper than any two-edged sword, reaching even to the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the heart." Penetrating, indeed, even to the depth of each soul, and having as God the hidden goal and purpose of each one explored and open, he brings an acute edge to our vain pursuits through the effectiveness of the Spirit. For this, I believe, we shall consider to be signified by the process of cleansing. Whatever things, moreover, are by nature helpful to us toward the desire for virtue, these he causes to be multiplied toward the fruitfulness of piety. Since, therefore, the method of our cultivation is carried out by the Father through the Son, does it not finally return to nothing…
for why should it not, that extraneous and most malicious attempt of the adversaries, who say that the Son is of a different nature for this reason, as compared to God and the Father, because He Himself is named the vine, and the Father the husbandman? Let it be considered again, and clearly scrutinized, that He ordains His disciples to be clean, not privately and separately—that is, without the Only-Begotten, A while God and Father performed something regarding them—but because they obeyed the word that came from Him. As, therefore, He is vivifying through the Son and in the Son, in the same way, I think, He might also be rightly understood as the husbandman, or rather, the caretaker of our souls, not otherwise than through the Son. But if those who cherish the argument contrary to us think that they must persist in things once wrongly said, and because Christ said He was the vine, they are compelled for this reason, as if by necessity, to force Him into an alien difference, what prevents us also from proceeding to go forward with similar impudence, and to compel them, even unwillingly, through the same trifles of this juvenile and utterly insane folly? For if, because He is called the vine, they think for this reason that He falls away from His natural kinship with God and the Father and is of a completely different substance, since the vine and B the husbandman are not the same in identity of nature, why should not we also, bringing against them the same ignorant and most tasteless reasoning, say this: "Would the care of those accustomed to till the ground be profitable only to the branches, and will the art be useful only toward those things which hang from the trunks, or will the vine itself—the nurse of the branches, to which the shoots are attached and naturally adhere—also require some care?" But nothing, I think, will be needed for a proof of labor; for the adversary himself will immediately agree with us that, unless some care is taken of the trunks, it will not go well even for the branches. Since, therefore, Christ has named Himself the vine, and yet the trunk of the vine itself requires the kindness of the husbandman, otherwise it will be damaged in every respect and in all ways; let us conceive, then, that the Son is in the order that belongs to us, and that He, along with us, has need of the care from the Father, so that He C might not also be turned into something other than what He is, and fall away from His own order, or the holiness inherent in Him. For the juvenile objection of those accustomed to fight against God gathers toward this. But let these things be gone, suffering from extreme thoughtlessness; let our discourse enter, rather, upon the holy apostles. "For now," He says, "you are clean, because of the word which I have spoken to you"; D as if He were saying, "The method of that intellectual purgation, which is understood through the Spirit and in the Spirit, has been performed by the Father, because of My word, upon you first." Behold, having cast off the burden of vain customs and worldly deadness, you are ready for fruitfulness that is pleasing to God. Behold, you have been released from the legal and most trifling observance of the Jews. My word has cleansed you. For you no longer live according to Moses, or according to the manner of the legal letter; for neither in food and
drinks, nor in the teaching of baptisms, nor even in the presentation of bloody offerings, shall you seek sanctification; but you believe that you are being perfected by a firm faith, and through every good work you strive to please God. For in these things the power and nature of the spiritual cult is observed. Those, therefore, who are coming to be purified shall be, He says, like you. For they will be taught—those who have but lately escaped the snares of the devil and fled from the entrapments of idolatry—to no longer live by his laws; but having shaken off, like worthless chaff, the impurities of ancient customs, and having thus been rendered fit by divine grace to produce the fruits of piety, they shall cling to me like branches; and, suspended from me through charity, they shall be nourished in their hearts by the influx of the Spirit, and, drinking the grace of my goodness, they shall live and be nurtured unto holiness. B But the Israelites, when they shall have clung to me in faith like branches—and they themselves shall be attached like branches—then indeed, then having received into their minds the purification that comes through my word, they shall no longer occupy themselves with the attention to the letter, nor, having their hearts fixed upon shadowy types as they do now, but shall offer to God the true worship in spirit. "For God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." Simultaneously, therefore, He clearly sets forth for his disciples the future beauty of those who are to be purified, by way of example, and confirms them more and more in assuming yet richer virtue, showing that they did not cling to him in vain, nor had the evangelical doctrine and institution been useless to them, through which they were to bring aid to the men of the whole world, offering themselves as an example to those who believe in Christ. For it is written concerning the saints, that the outcome of their conduct is to be observed, and their faith is to be imitated. And Paul also frequently invites the faithful to the imitation of himself (and of God). C
XV, 4. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me.
We shall understand again, through the careful contemplation of the words before us, that the first work of salutary and pious care is to be accepted by Christ through a sincere and true faith. For this is what it means to be finally counted among the branches that cling to the true vine, that is to say, to Christ. And the fruit of a second care, I think, in no way inferior to the first, and indeed containing within itself a greater solicitude, is to cleave and be firmly united to God through an active charity, which contains the perfection of the holy and divine commandment. For this makes us exist and adhere indivisibly in Him, according to that word of the Psalmist: D "My soul has clung after you." It will not suffice, therefore, for our solid tranquility of mind and delight, or for our sanctification
to be received as it were in the order of branches—as is appropriate for the manifestation of Christ who sanctifies us—but I say that it also behooves us to follow Him sincerely through a perfect and unfailing love. A For in this, most of all, the power of that spiritual adherence—or union, as it is understood in the Spirit—would be well preserved. Since, therefore, Christ said to His own disciples, "Already you are clean because of the word which I have spoken to you," B lest anyone who had once been cleansed should think that he could be free from falling, even if he applied no care to that state, He usefully enjoins that one should remain in Him. And what will this be? Nothing other, as it appears to me, than what is well said by Paul: "Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." For infinite slips may occur even to those who already seem to stand firmly, if they do not strive with the greatest intensity to remain firm in the state in which they are. It is necessary, I think, that we apply all care and vigilance, even if we imagine ourselves to be primarily strengthened and established by progress in doing good. C For how great a loss one suffers who, through negligence, slips into vices and is in a certain sense cut off from kinship with God, He usefully shows with these words: "As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me." For if the branch does not draw the vivifying sap from the vine as from a mother, how could it bring forth a cluster of grapes, or from where and what kind of fruit would it produce? By a similar reasoning, then, you will understand what is said regarding us ourselves. For no fruit of virtue will ever sprout in us if we have fallen away from that union with Christ. D Yet, for those who are prepared, the power that fattens and nourishes toward piety—like life-giving water, through the supply and grace of the Spirit—will easily be present so that they may be able to bear fruit. Being aware of this, the Only-Begotten said in the Gospels: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink." And by interpreting this for us very well, the Spirit-bearing evangelist testified, saying, "But this He said, he states, about the Spirit whom those believing in Him were to receive." And furthermore, the blessed David himself prayed to God and the Father, saying: "For with you is the fountain of life, and with the torrent of your delight you will make them drink." For who else could be understood as the fountain of divine life and the torrent of spiritual delights other than the Son, who fattens and irrigates our souls with the life-giving and joyful grace of the Spirit, just as branches adhere to Him through love and faith?
XV, 5, 6. Ego sum vitis, vos palmites. Qui manet in me, et ego in eo, hic fert fructum multum: quia sine me nihil potestis facere. Si quis in me non manserit, mittetur foras sicut palmes, et arescet: et colligent eum, et in ignem mittent, et ardet.
A Our Lord Jesus Christ openly states that he has called himself the vine for this sole reason: that we might clearly discern, and see as if with the eyes of the body in a rough, sensible, and very clear example, that those who have resolved to cling to him tenaciously, and have chosen to be firmly rooted to him, will be well able and suitably disposed for the production of virtue and spiritual fruits—receiving, clearly, as if from a mother-vine, the power from him to be able to act. But for those who are in some way torn away, or cut off, from their connection to him through their turn towards vices and a life in no way pleasing to God, no power for aptness to virtue will be found, nor will they be able to attain the brilliance of good works, but they will be handed over to an all-consuming fire to be consumed by an unavoidable necessity. For that which is useless for piety is, in a way, fit for the paying of penalties, just as that which is withered in the branches is useful only for the fire. You may take as a true and undoubted proof and evidence of these things, not by looking at the leaders of the ancient saints, but by turning your mind to the holy apostles themselves. For they, having in no way spurned the love of Christ, but remaining in him and judging that nothing at all should be preferred to piety toward him, became most celebrated; they brought forth the fruit of their own virtue—the conversion of the whole world—and, by setting themselves forth on earth as a certain brilliant image of a pious manner of life, they won for themselves the unfading crown of glory which is with God. But that base and venal man, Judas, B caught by a paltry sum of money and cut off from the intellectual vine, that is, Christ, in a certain manner withered, having lost, along with the dignity of a disciple, the life-giving quality of the Spirit. For he was cast out, according to the voice of the Savior; for he was alienated, and like chaff was handed over to the avenging flames. Our Lord Jesus Christ therefore usefully shows his hearers both what joy awaits those who strive to cling to him, and how great is the loss if any are cut off from him, devising a double method of salvation: for either by the desire for glory and life, or by the fear and avoidance of the fire of punishment, we shall, with the whole fervor of our mind, be more strongly joined to him. He calls the Father the husbandman, attributing the inspection and care of our nature to the divine nature, just as we have demonstrated at greater length above. For we shall discover that he himself is the hand of the husbandman, in no way alien or separate from him in essence, but existing from him and in him, just as we can see in ourselves. For regarding the fact that all things are through the Son, as if by the hand of the Father, hear him yourself speaking of creatures: «My hand C hath made all these things»: even though all things were made through the Son, according to the holy Scriptures. But it must be noted that the divine Paul perhaps hints at the resection which we understand here with these words: «Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them indeed that are fallen, severity; but towards thee,
A if thou continue in [His] goodness: else thou also shalt be cut off.»
XV, 7. *If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you.*
He says that the root of supreme benevolence for them will be that they should love to cleave inseparably to Him, and keep in the mind, like some divine and spiritual deposit, the most pure instruction regarding the evangelical teachings, and the true doctrine of the faith, fortified by sincere thoughts. For in these the entire discourse of the Savior is encompassed, if we wish to discern the goal of the Gospels. For since Christ promises, without hesitation, to bestow good things on those who ask, shall we not say that this is promised to us quite clearly? But what He means besides this, and what the true sense of this passage is, I consider it necessary to examine. «If you abide,» He says, «in me, and my words abide in you, ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you.» For one might concede that it is entirely possible for a person to abide in Christ, and yet not have His words B abiding in himself. Yes, indeed, those more prudent in understanding would say this. For the attentive listener should remember how, when we were investigating the manner of love toward Christ—what it is, and how it might be well attained—we said that it has a twofold path: I mean that which is through faith, blameless in every respect, and that which is practical through [good] works, which is also brought in through sincere love. Since we believe this to be the case, whoever cultivates a mode of conjunction or relationship that is not very firm, but light and fragile, professing faith with mere words, and to that extent not receiving love unto perfection through good actions, they do indeed abide in Christ, at least in the manner afforded by the act of believing, and by not turning aside to C another worship. Yet they will not be found to have the words of Christ in themselves. And we do not say this meaning that they have buried the preaching of the Gospels in oblivion and are altogether forgetful of the Savior’s words, but rather that they deem the life in Christ worthy of no consideration, surrendering entirely to their own pleasures and having an unbridled inclination only toward thinking of the things that are on the earth; and for this reason, they are pulled away from the intelligible and holy vine, and themselves kick away the grace of the relationship through their own self-indulgences. Concerning every such person, Christ Himself said: «Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.» D That faith alone, unless it is endowed with the splendor of works, does not suffice to reconcile us to conjunction with God, the disciple of Christ also signifies by these words: «Thou
believest that God is one; the demons also believe, and tremble.» A What then will anyone say to those who think that a bare and solitary faith suffices for them to be able to procure intimacy from above? Will the band of the demons themselves also return to intimacy with God, since they know that he is one, and have believed it? And how could this be? For it is useless merely to know that God is one, the maker and parent of all; but I maintain that the glory of piety must be the companion of faith. For such a person also remains in Christ, and will be found to have his words, according to what is said in the book of Psalms as to God: «In my heart I have hidden thy sayings, that I might not sin against thee.» B For just as fire, hidden in a vessel of bronze, surely communicates its heat to it, so too the mind, which within its soul and heart holds the celestial and divine word, always grows warm toward it through this, out of a desire for every virtue. For it is written: «Thy word is very fiery, and thy servant has loved it.» Whoever, therefore, he says, has settled his affairs in these things, and has been raised to such glory that he both remains in me and keeps my words with him, let him approach without hesitation, and let him ask whatever he pleases with the greatest freedom, and without any delay it shall be given to him; for I will not refuse. C But if he asks for something evil, will he immediately receive it, and will God, the lover of virtue, grant it? Far be it, I pray, from such madness! For God will bestow nothing base or polluted; but it is rather to be thought just and equitable that he who remains in Christ, and has his words in himself, especially since he is good and pious, will desire only those things that are most pleasing to God. For he permits those who have the divine word in their hearts to ask for what they will with reason, not being ignorant that they covet the participation of spiritual and divine goods, naturally. But since our Savior Christ has first determined of what sort, and endowed with what habits, he who prays must be, and [what sort of person] is worthy to receive from God whatever he wishes, let us conform our own conduct to this, if we wish to become partakers of the supernal kindness. D But if not, know that you will be such as Christ has just indicated to us. Do not bear the refusal with resentment. But if this seems burdensome to you, joining the glory of good works to faith (for this is what it is to remain in Christ, and to have his words in oneself), approach with confidence, and you yourself will receive without any delay whatever you ask from God.
XV, 8. In this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and shall become my disciples.
He says that his Father and God is glorified,
A properly regarded with admiration for his incomparable goodness, and as having crowned himself with the proof of that supreme kindness which reaches to the highest degree: "For God so loved the world, as it is written, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." The fruit, therefore, of the kindness of God and the Father is the life of all, which is clearly fulfilled through Christ. For this reason he himself said, speaking as to God and Father: "I have glorified you upon the earth, I have finished the work which you have given me, that I might fulfill it." For the Only-begotten, having accepted from the Father the salvation of us all, as it were, has accomplished it very well—not having been taken on in the rank of a minister, but existing as the very wisdom and power of his Begetter, without whom nothing at all can come to pass. For all things are through him, according to the holy evangelist, and especially our own affairs. And thus the blessed David, B understanding that the dispensation of our affairs, and the completion of the life of all, was entrusted to the Son by the Father, inasmuch as he is his power and wisdom, exhorts, saying at one time: "Command, O God, your power; strengthen, O God, that which you have wrought in us." And at another time again: "O God, give your judgment to the king." For it was the work of him alone who reigns together with God and the Father to restore the whole corrupted earth, and to be able to reform it to what it was in the beginning. The Father, therefore, was glorified by giving his own Son as a ransom for the life of this world, having been pleased to see in our affairs Him who is above every creature, not so that he might procure any good for his own nature (for he is most perfect and in need of nothing, having power over all things), but so that you C might bear more fruit and become my disciples. For if he had not become man, we would not have been counted worthy of the union with him, nor, having been grafted on like branches and supplied with power for fruit-bearing from him through the participation of the Spirit, would we have brought forth the fruit of a God-loving life, which he calls "much," setting it behind the legal worship, and showing it to be lesser. "For the law made nothing perfect," according to the word of Paul. For this reason he said to his holy disciples, or rather to all of us who have been called to him through faith and total love: "Amen, amen I say to you, unless your righteousness shall abound more than that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." And again: "Every Scribe instructed to the kingdom of heaven is like a man who is a householder, who brings forth from his treasure things new and old"— D that is to say, from the treasure of his heart, the Mosaic narratives and the memory of the ancient writings. But he who is docile and full of evangelical illumination is abundant and twice as rich, in spiritual wealth, of course. For he brings forth new and old, transferring the shadow of the law and the force of the legal worship into the form of evangelical life. For what the law signified through figures, this Christ [fulfilled] in truth, nakedly and openly.
Hence He said: "I have not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it." And again: "Amen, amen, I say to you, one jot or one point shall not pass from the law until all things happen." Therefore the fruit which consists in Spirit and truth is abundant; it is the power of the evangelical worship, since for the glory of God and the Father, the Only-Begotten became man. A And it has come to pass for this reason that those who are on earth have become His disciples. For He draws near to the ancients—and long ago He spoke as God through the prophets—but as for us, and concerning us, it was said: "And they shall all be taught by God." For to us who have believed in Him, no one else intervened to bring us His word, nor was there any intermediary of His will toward us, just as, for instance, Moses was to the Israelites on Mount Sinai, or the prophets after Moses were to the people of their own time; but Christ Himself taught us. Therefore, we are all "taught of God." We would not have become His disciples at all, nor would we have produced that fruit of love for God, and in such abundance, B if the Father had not been glorified through the kindness of the One who, being the Word who came forth from His essence, was well-pleased in us to the extent of becoming man. And it is said that [the Father] gave His own Son, as we learn from the divine Scripture. This also pleased the One who chose to suffer for our sake, and thus it is said that He gave [Him], and most fittingly. For we shall understand it thus, when we hear it said, on account of His having chosen to suffer for our sake, and through His doing so.
XV, 9, 10. *As the Father has loved me, I also have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.*
C With a more subtle eye of the mind, the mysteries in the words before us must be contemplated again. For profound is the discourse, and it sets forth for us, so to speak, the entire account of the incarnation. For He asserts that He is loved by God and the Father, and that He loves us in turn, in the same way, naturally, as He Himself is understood to be loved by His own Begetter. He then added that it is our duty to abide in His love. Moreover, He brings forward a certain necessary cause for why He is loved by the Father, namely, that He observes His commandments; which He also bids us to do, and thus to abide in His love. And this is a concise exposition of those words. But since I suspect that the minds of the simpler ones D may not be a little disturbed by this, let us speak again of how we may attain the sense of these words. Our Lord Jesus Christ appears to set Himself before us as a sort of pattern and example of a holy life, especially since He was under the law, and did not disdain to assume the condition of our poverty, so that, being conformed to our customs by a singular design, He might be, by His own example, the leader and author of a conversation which is otherwise unaccustomed and altogether inaccessible to us. Where, then, or what kind [is the Father's...]
has He kept, or in what manner is He said to be loved by Him? This must be investigated. Let, therefore, Paul the most wise be present, and let him guide us into the mysteries, saying concerning Him: "Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in shape found as a man. He hath humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross. For which cause God also hath exalted Him, and hath given Him a name which is above all names." B Have you heard how, although He was true God, inasmuch as He is also consubstantial with the Father who begat Him, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death? For since God and Father had purposed to save the race of men that had perished, and it was not fitting for this to be accomplished by any of those things that come into being—since the power for such an achievement altogether exceeded every power inherent in creation—the only-begotten God, who knows the will of God and Father, Himself undertook this dispensation. He descended C into voluntary subjection in such a way as to reach even unto death, and that, too, a most shameful one. For to hang upon a cross, how could it be honorable, or rather, how is it not beyond all ignominy? Since He endured these things, he says, God hath superexalted Him. You have then, in this voluntary subjection, the fulfillment of the Father’s counsels, which the Son says are set before Him in the place of commandments. For since, as the Word, He understands the counsels in the Father, and searches the depths of Him who begat Him—or rather, since He Himself is the wisdom and power of the Father—He brings His will to the work, holding it in the place of a command, and thus naming it in a more human fashion. D See, moreover, in this also the measure of His love. For "God hath superexalted Him," he says. He superexalts and glorifies Him who is already high and invested with glory, although He is God by nature, and true God, inasmuch as He is not one of the creatures, according to the identity of His essence, and is thereby understood—and is truly—beyond every intelligible height, and is moreover Lord of glory, according to the holy Scriptures. But yes, he says, He is exalted and glorified. But how, or when, and in what manner? When, clearly, He became in the form of a servant, and in the shape of humility, that is, a man like us. For He runs back, even with the flesh, to be exalted and glorified again with the Father; and He was loved by Him, and not then for the first time, when He had fulfilled the voluntary subjection, but you should understand it rather in this way. For in the same manner as He, being always high and glorified as far as His own nature is concerned, is said to be glorified and exalted when He became man, the
A Son, being devoid of divine glory—insofar as concerns the account of humanity—in this way also, from the beginning, being always and at all times loved, is said to have been loved even after the flesh. For He appeared for this reason among us, that is, He took a name and became man, so that He might make the one who had long been hated, because of the transgression in the beginning and the sin that crept in between, beloved by God. For Christ is said to have appeared as the door, and the beginning, and the way of all good things for us. Does it then seem to you henceforth that He says He is blameless in being loved, because the commandments of the Father were kept by Him? Did the account of the mystery seem harsh to you, and has the depth of the dispensation completed for our sake become in some way inaccessible to your mind? But it is plain to those who understand, and all things are straightforward to those who have knowledge, according to what is written. Remain, therefore, He says, in My love, that is, by coming forward with all diligence and zeal, labor and strive to be counted worthy of receiving from Me such love as I also have with God and the Father. For I indeed became obedient and a fulfiller of the Father's will, and therefore I abide, being steadfastly loved. But when you yourselves also become keepers of My commandments, you shall in like manner remain B altogether in My love. And you shall have no excuse for sloth in this, He says; for you shall not endure the sweat for these things without a reward. For I shall bestow upon you as much of love as I Myself have from the Father, and I will, so to speak, crown the guardian of My words with equal honors. For the Father has highly exalted Me, and has given Me the name which is above every name. For I have been declared God of all; but I shall not be accused of having envied you such great good things. For although you are human, and consequently endowed with a servile nature, I have rendered you gods and sons of God, illumined by supernatural doctrines through grace; I have received you into a share of My kingdom, I have rendered you conformed to the body of My glory, I have adorned you with incorruption and life. But these things indeed are in hope, and are reserved for the life to come. What then of things in the present? Have I not rendered you illustrious and conspicuous in glory and venerated among all the pious? For you have rebuked C impure demons: I have given you the power to heal every disease and every infirmity. I have promised, saying: "Amen, amen I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he also will do, and greater than these he will do." We shall think that He is saying these things in some way to the holy disciples, if we weigh the sense of the proposed words among ourselves. But by subjecting our understanding everywhere to the dogmas of the truth, and by turning whatever theoretical matters present themselves, as far as possible, well toward the profit of the hearers through the arts of piety, we shall then foolishly avoid falling into any scandal. For it is written in the book of Psalms: "Great peace have they who love Thy law, and there is no scandal for them."
XV, 11. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and your joy may be full.
Having made mention of the vine, and of the branch D torn from it, and as it were cut off from the nourishing mother, and therefore useless for any future plant, and thus to be consumed by fire, He does not…
A fail to cause no little trembling in the disciples on this account. For hearing of things to be avoided, even if they do not yet appear to be present, is sufficient to disturb the mind not a little, especially when the uncertainty of the future suggests to some that these things might come to pass. Just as, indeed, one who is about to sail across this sea, because it is possible that he might experience a storm, and even the onslaught of wild and untamed waves, even if they do not appear to be present, he fears them in his anxieties alone as if they were already there, in an uncertain way. B Having therefore caused the apostles to shudder, and having perhaps rendered them fearful at the hearing of these grievous things, and having made them numb to the experience of the things coming upon them, He usefully renews them toward a vigorous resolve, and leaving behind the gloomy words, He discoursed to them about the joy according to God. For, He says, “O my disciples, I have not now spoken this word to you for this reason, so that I might create a cowardly resolve in you, or that you might be burdened with fear of an uncertain and not entirely inevitable evil, and be seen as most timid toward the accomplishment of good things, but that the opposite of these things might befall you, and that you might have my joy, that is, that my joy might remain in you.” And what this is, and what Christ wishes us to understand through this, I think we must examine more keenly. Therefore, it must be understood in two ways. For someone might interpret it simply in this way: that you might have joy toward me, or in me. For in this way you also yourselves shall fulfill your own, weighing within yourselves the retribution of heavenly goods, and the future compensation for your labors, and the greatness of the glory that is with God. Or, C devising something else, we shall not be reluctant to go toward a deeper contemplation. For I think that we must investigate most piously the aim of this entire contemplation. What, therefore, does that which says, “That my joy may be in you,” signify, if not that the Only-Begotten was made like us, that is, man, without sin alone, with the will and purpose of suffering those things which the execrable intemperance of the Jews forced Him to experience? For we shall find Him attacked by injuries and persecutions, assailed by bitter reproaches, defiled by spittle, struck with punches, beaten with scourges, and finally affixed to the cross for us and on our behalf. Yet, by these such great and grievous evils, He was not at all led into sorrow, nor did He shrink from the ignominy of the passion inasmuch as He was suffering it for the sake of the dispensation, but He was full of the joy and gladness D befitting Him, since He beheld the multitude of those being saved, and the will of God and the Father being fulfilled. For this reason, He considered ignominy to be joy, and He accounted labors to be delights. For although many and most cruel things were perpetrated against Him, we shall nevertheless find it written that Jesus at that time exulted in the Spirit, and said: “I confess to thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones. Yea, Father, for so it hath seemed good in thy sight.” Do you hear how, when He saw that those who were once little ones and foolish were being schooled in wisdom, He indeed rejoices, and exults
through the Spirit, and in a certain manner offers thanks on our behalf to the Father who preserves us? Why, even when he was traversing the region of the Samaritans, and was weary from the journey, as A it is written, he sat by the well of Jacob; and when the woman offered him what he needed to draw water, he spoke to her words of salvation, and when the multitude of the Samaritans was expected, he appears to have neglected even necessary food. For what did he say to his disciples, who were urging him to refresh his body with food? "My food is that I should do the will of my Father, and complete his work." Would it not, then, be evident from this that his delight and joy consisted in fulfilling the Father's will, that is, in recalling to salvation those who had perished? This is certainly not in doubt. "All these things," he says, "I have spoken to you, that my joy might be in you," that is, that you might wish to rejoice only in those things in which I rejoice, so that you may be made strong for struggles, and, girt with the hope of those who are to be saved, even if it happens that you suffer something for this reason, you may not cast down your soul, but rather rejoice all the more then, because through you is fulfilled the will of him who wills all men to be saved, and to reach the knowledge of the truth. For I have rejoiced on account of these things, and I have deemed the labors most sweet. When, therefore, you have wished to have the joy which I thought belonged to me, then you shall have that perfect and solid joy. For we think that joy is perfect and most abundant which is in God, and for the sake of God, and from good works, on account of a firm and unshaken hope, and because it happens that not only we, but Jesus himself, rejoices in the things that are meet: but we assert that worldly joy is imperfect, both on account of its levity and inconstancy, and because it is pursued for the sake of things that are less becoming, that is, for worldly concerns, which fly away like phantasms and shadows: just as we say that there is a perfect hatred, which is justly and rightly taken up by us for certain reasons. Just as, indeed, that blessed David says concerning those who fight against the glory of God: "With perfect hatred I hated them"; but we call perfect love that which joins to God alone those who have received it in God and for the sake of God, and not that which is concerned with earthly things and nothingness.
XV, 12, 13. This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love than this no one has, that one should lay down his life for his friends.
He discloses more clearly the sense of those things which were said before by these words; that is, that the disciples ought to have his joy in themselves. I, he says, command this, D that is, that the disciples ought to have his...
and I teach both to do and to think this, to those who believe they ought to follow me: namely, to exercise among themselves the same kind of love that I have already demonstrated and fulfilled. What, then, is the measure of the love of Christ that one might consider? He himself has revealed it again, saying that there is nothing greater than this kind of love, for he bids us to lay down even our own soul for those whom we love. From all these things, he practically commands his own disciples B that it behooves them to be so far from fearing the struggles for the sake of those who are being saved, that they ought most nimbly and with great readiness to be prepared even to undergo the death of the flesh. For the power of the love of our Savior reached even unto this measure. To say these things was nothing else but to stimulate the disciples toward a supernatural and exceptional courage, to rouse them vigorously toward the most flourishing brotherly love, to forge in them a courageous and God-loving character, and to stir up an insuperable and invincible zeal for accomplishing all things that are pleasing to him with all speed. C Such a man Paul showed himself to be to us, when he said: "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." And again: "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead." And further: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" You hear how in no way anything at all that stands against them is able to cut off their power for the love of Christ. But if to feed the flocks and the lambs of Christ is to love him, how will it not be most evident that he who preaches the saving doctrine to those who know not God will be superior to death D and persecutions, and will deem all straits as nothing? In sum, the Savior with these words bids his disciples to sanctify without hesitation and fearlessly the doctrine of the faith, and to manifest the Gospel to all men throughout the whole world. The same thing he says also through the voice of Isaiah: "Get thee up into the high mountain, thou that bringest good tidings to Sion; lift up thy voice with strength, thou that bringest good tidings to Jerusalem; lift it up, be not afraid." And that the holy disciples might be able to do this, we shall find them seeking this from God with most vehement prayer, when, accusing the fury and intemperance of the Jews, they said: "And now, Lord, behold their threatenings, and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word." For many indeed altogether oppose those who sanctify the Gospel of Christ, and many clamor against them; but though heavy fear may impend, and the most vehement floods of snares surge up, the true disciples will nevertheless not shrink from punishments, until they have brought their works to the goal of their love—the love, I say, which the Savior exhibited to us, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, that he might bring salvation to sinners. And if he had not been willing to suffer for us, we should still be dead, servants of the devil, foolish and blind, and destitute of every good, slaves of pleasure and of sin, having no hope, and without God in this world. Now, however,
the Savior has laid down even his own life for our sake out of the love he has for us, and by displaying an incomparable benevolence, has rendered us enviable and thrice-blessed, standing in need of no good thing at all. A The force of the text before us will indeed, I think, be appropriate to the divinely inspired heads of the disciples. But if the saying should also extend to all—that is to say, "This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you"—a great amount of benefit will result for all through the inquiry. For if brotherly love contains and accomplishes the fulfillment of all the commandments of our Savior, how is he who cultivates it sincerely and blamelessly not highly to be wondered at, since, to speak once, the head of all virtues is contained within it? For after the love of God comes charity toward the brethren, and the whole force of all piety toward God is, in a certain way, comprehended in this one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
XV, 14, 15. "You are my friends, if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you."
He has again set against the dangers and terrors that sometimes arise from obedience and the pursuit of virtue the gain B that they will reap from love toward him, so that from the joy conceived therefrom and the desire for progressing to what is greater, their distress might be wiped away, and that which sometimes appears burdensome might vanish into nothingness. For then labor is sweet to those who love God, when the reward is near at hand and abundant. But what greater or more illustrious thing can be said than to be and to be called a friend of Christ? Observe, in fact, how this dignity exceeds the bounds of human nature. For all things serve the Creator, according to the voice of the Psalmist; nor is there any created thing that is not subject to the yoke of servitude, if the ratio between Creator and creature be regarded. For in no way is the creature C equal to its maker; but he who is God above all things commands rather, and is preferred. Therefore, to those who are subject to all things and who have placed themselves under God, the Lord raises the saints—who keep his commandments—to a supernatural glory, and leads them, as if to a place of reward, to a blameless subjection. The reward, therefore, is bright and very glorious; yet this must be considered here above all (for it will be of no small advantage), that if the love of the Son is sufficient for some for the dignity of freedom, and so that they are no longer called servants, whereby
A should he be a servant, or as a creature and made, according to the thoughtlessness of some? For he is not able to distribute the honor of freedom to others, while being himself destitute of it; for I think that he ought to appear such before others. For then he will grant it more fittingly to those who do not possess the good as their own. But to the holy apostles, or even to all others perhaps who through faith ascend to friendship with our Lord Jesus Christ, it would be adventitious and bestowed, as a dignity in rank, yet no longer in the same way. For those who by likeness to Him ascend to the glory of freedom, demonstrate by this very fact that it belongs to Him alone by nature. For that which is by nature is always compared to that which is by institution. It must be noted, however (for I think it necessary to go through everything of useful and highly necessary exposition), that the declaration of righteousness which is through faith in Christ has an older demonstration than the righteousness according to the law; and furthermore that to those who believe and obey Christ, the will of God and the Father is interpreted by the Son, who knows it, but not so to the unbelieving. But let us again demonstrate this from the divinely inspired Scripture, having spent a few words on it profitably.
B It is written, then, in the book of Moses, that Abraham believed God, and his faith was reckoned to him for righteousness, and he was called a friend of God. And what is the manner of his faith, or how indeed was he called a friend of God? He heard: “Go forth from your land, and from your kindred, and come into the land which I shall show you.” But also when he was commanded to sacrifice his only-begotten as a type of Christ, he was taught the purpose hidden in God. And indeed the Savior, speaking about him to the impious Jews, said: “Abraham your father rejoiced that he might see my day; and he saw, and was glad.” Therefore, through obedience and sacrifice, the divine Abraham was called a friend of God, and was crowned with the boast of righteousness; and not this alone, but he was also deemed worthy of divine words, and learned the counsel of God, which was to be brought to an end in the final times. For at the completion of the ages, Christ died for us, the truly sacred and holy victim who takes away the sin of the world.
C But see for me again the same things fulfilled also in those who through faith ascend to the friendship of our Savior Christ. They too heard: “Go forth from your land,” and that they have done so eagerly, hear what they say: “For we have no abiding city here, but we seek the one to come,” whose artificer and creator is God. For they are sojourners and strangers on the earth, living according to the life above, and having abandoned the one that brought them forth, as far as it was in their power to speak for the love of God, they yearn for the mansion above. For this D the Savior pointed out to them, saying: “I go to prepare a place for you; but when I come, I will receive you unto myself, that where I am, you also may be. You heard to go forth from [your] kin…”
…” And how shall we demonstrate this? We shall bring forward Christ Himself to you as an interpreter: “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.” But that friendship with God is superior to earthly and carnal kinship, and that love for Christ is A by far more preferable among those who worship Him, is truly not a matter of dispute. For the blessed Abraham was commanded to offer his own son to God as a sweet-smelling savor; but these men, having girded themselves with the righteousness of faith, were commanded not to offer others, but themselves. “Present,” he says, “your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, well-pleasing to God, your rational service,” when it is also written concerning them, “For those who are Christ Jesus’ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” They also understood the mystery in Christ. For they know the powers of the age to come, and the things that will come to pass in the final times, that they will receive the rewards for their own labors, and will receive the recompense for their piety in Christ. B Thus, we are called righteous and friends of God, just as Abraham. For the evangelical way of life—that is, the one through faith and friendship with God—is far more ancient than the legal way of life, having been prefigured first at that time in Abraham, as in the beginning of the race according to the flesh, that is, Israel; but coming now, as from a type to the truth, and being rightly fulfilled in the holy disciples themselves, as in the first-fruits of the race according to the spirit, which He has acquired for the acquisition of a people, who is also called a holy nation and a royal priesthood. Wherefore, it is also said to the mother of the Jews, I mean the Synagogue, by the voice of the Psalmist: “Instead of your fathers, your sons have been born to you.” For although the divine disciples were sons of the Jewish Synagogue (for they had been nurtured in Jewish customs), yet they became fathers, occupying the place of Abraham, and they became the beginning of the spiritual race, and on this account they were ordained as leaders throughout the whole world, performing the priestly service of the Gospel of Christ, just as he did in the type of Christ, Isaac. We say these things, not C depriving the blessed Abraham of the glory that is owed to him and which is fitting, but as showing that in him, as in a type, those things were dispensed through Christ which have come to pass in the final times. Therefore, the dignity of love toward God accompanies and is in a certain sense bound up with the freedom of faith: a thing that appeared indeed back then in that first man, Abraham, but now again rests as in the first-fruits in the holy disciples. And that divine Paul compels us to say these things, he who struggled earnestly with the Jews that the righteousness that is by faith is far more ancient than the law. For when he was speaking about the circumcision of the flesh, he affirmed that it was given to the first-fruits of the race, that is, to Abraham, for no other reason than that it might be a proof and a seal of the faith which is in uncircumcision. But if
uncircumcision existed before the Law, along with which faith also existed, and if after the Law there is circumcision, which has no boasting from faith, and yet Abraham believed in uncircumcision, how shall the righteousness that is through faith not be older than the life according to the Law, seeing that men are justified and set free through friendship with God, just as Abraham was? For thus he shall also be the father of many nations, by promise, not according to the flesh. And we have now spoken these things profitably, because the Lord says: “No longer do I call you servants; you are my friends, because all things that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” “You did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give to you.”
He does not allow his holy disciples to be burdened with overly grievous words, not being ignorant, as God, of the weakness of human reasoning, nor, however, does he allow them to be disposed toward excessive joy, which leads to slipping (for this too is a bitter illness). But as one who has blended a middle path from both, he leads them in a fatherly way along a safe path, and instills in them knowledge of a more stable life, and one free from all error. Having therefore sufficiently soothed them with the consolation of his words, and having persuaded them to rejoice in contrast to the things by which it was likely they would be saddened, he rouses them again to a generous mind by urging them to the labor of discipline, and in every way commands those who are turned toward mutual love C to help those who are still unbelieving, and to hasten to draw into the net those who are wandering, both by words and by deeds of piety, to the point of willing to be joined to God through faith. Therefore, having set himself forth as an image and pattern of this matter, and having brought into the midst that which had already been accomplished by him for them, he persuades them to imitate their Master, and to shine forth with similar achievements, saying: “You did not choose me, but I chose you,” and the things that follow. D For consider him saying, perhaps: “Gird yourselves with love for one another, O disciples; for indeed you yourselves ought both to think and to do these things toward others, and through intense zeal to labor to perform the same things which I have already accomplished in you. For I chose you; you did not choose me. I brought myself to you when you were ignorant of me, through exceptional gentleness, and I brought you to such a firm state of mind that I might lead you upward—that is, always to extend yourselves toward the greater—and that you might be able to bear fruit to God. And through this, you may attain such boldness that whatever you ask henceforth in my name, this you may also receive. Therefore, since you follow in the footsteps of my words and my dispensations, and [since it is fitting] that you gird yourselves [as becomes] genuine disciples—”
A nor hindering those who are simply waiting for one who comes of his own accord, and chooses for himself piety. Rather, [we ought] to extend a helping hand to those who are still ignorant and wandering, and to bring them near; and to those who have not yet chosen to learn the saving proclamation, to exhort them readily to advance toward the apprehension of true knowledge of God, even if the mind of the hearers should in some way be hardened into disobedience. For thus they also might be like you, that is, they will progress and depart with growth toward the better, into fruit-bearing that is in God, so as to have fruit that always remains and is saved, and a prayer so acceptable that whatever they wish to receive, if they only ask it in my name.
Therefore, for it is necessary again, having summarized in a few words the scope of what is proposed, to make it plain to the hearers, he persuades the disciples to have such love toward others, and wishes them to practice such zeal so as not to hesitate in any way to hunt for the souls of those who have not yet believed, bringing them into piety, the same as he himself, having gone before, has shown toward us or toward them. For that he himself chose the disciples is not in doubt, nor, I suppose, is it necessary to speak of how or in what manner the calling of each occurred; but the fact that the word labors with such a scope as I just said, will persuade us no less hereafter.
XV, 17. These things I command you, that you love one another.
B For shall we not admit it to be a work of the highest love of all, to choose and to call to obedience to God those who are still unbelieving and wandering? But it is not in doubt. Which Paul also hastened to perform, saying: “We are ambassadors therefore for Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” And indeed Peter, speaking with boldness to the peoples of the Jews: “And now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers.” “Repent you therefore, and be baptized every one of you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
You see how they meet even those who have not yet received the faith most readily, and bring forward the word not yet inquired after, not permitting those who are ignorant themselves to be the first to be called teachers, but in this they even anticipate him who does not yet wish to learn anything of the things that would be of use to him. Since, however, there is attached to the words of our Savior the [saying]: “That you should go, and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain,” it is necessary to ask what on earth this means. For what could be understood, and how is it to be said, that the fruit of the disciples C remains? I think, therefore, that the Savior calls the fruit of the evangelical discipline “remaining fruit,” and not that of the righteousness in the law. For that one has grown old, because it could accomplish nothing. “For the law brought nothing to perfection,” according to the voice of Paul; but in its place the new [covenant] has sprouted forth, and as it were sprung up, making the first old, and abolishing it, and bringing in the fruit that truly remains and is saved. Therefore, also that divine Paul, speaking to us, says most gladly that he made loss of the legal righteousness, so that he might gain Christ, that is, through faith.
in Him, the evangelical righteousness and fruitfulness. For such a fruit will remain and be perpetual, being able to perfect the soul of man unto the highest godliness. For no other discipline will run in to make the evangelical preachings old, just as indeed it happened in the case of the commandment through Moses; but the word of the Savior shall stand for an age, just as he himself says somewhere: B “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before you.” (John XV, 18)
B We shall find the method of the Savior, which he employs in every matter, in no way differing from the experience and supreme art of physicians, always contriving from all sides what is profitable for his hearers. For while they, by the applications of their art, sometimes ward off the perversity of diseases that might arise in the bodies, He, on the other hand, blocks the passage to evils, fortifying the soul of each person beforehand with prophylactic commandments, as it were. Since, therefore, the disciples were not going to attend to one nation, or even one country, but rather were to become guides of the deception under the sun, and to proclaim the evangelical and divine word to those throughout all the inhabited world, and to turn the hearers to what is pleasing to God alone, and to change them from sin to the desiring of doing what is fitting for them, and to make the law—I mean the evangelical—the rule of their own life, He necessarily commands them to make nothing of being hated by the world, that is, by those who think the things of the world and have chosen to live hedonistically and impiously. C And what again could be the reason for this? For would some one, pray tell me, say that Christ decided it was necessary to command such things to his own disciples, showing that being hated is a useful matter, indiscriminately and for nothing at all of the things necessary for benefit? Away with such ignorance! For his discourse would not have slipped into this. He does not advise that being hated—not simply, nor by everyone—is to be guarded against; he says it specifically, and most excellently and distinctly: “If the world hates you,” that is, if those who prize the things that are in the world and think only on the things upon the earth are going to hold you in their midst—for I know, he says, that the Teacher has suffered this before you. D That the commandment of the Savior will provide not a little benefit to those who introduce things of the highest quality, one might perceive very easily, if one considers the nature of things. For it is somehow always—or rather, for the most part—strenuously desired by the lovers of the most shameful things, and by those who have reached the peak of worldly filth, that the word which brings temperance be ignored as burdensome and strange, and that they spit upon those who strive to introduce the best of teachings, and those through which they will be better than they were before, as they remain completely stuck in their own pleasures. But something useful almost escaped me, which is especially fitting and due for the explanation of the words set forth. For the Jews, clinging only to the Mosaic letter and figures, and being hard-hearted until the time of correction, made the evangelical discipline entirely of no account, and they considered its interpreters to be more serious than the most hostile enemies.
But as for those who pursue a different error and attribute the ineffable glory of God to the creature—I speak of those from among the Gentiles—they do not willingly accept the word that knows how to enlighten them. For, being as it were imbued with ancient evils, they held ignorance most dear and were most reluctant to depart from a congenital malady. B Since, therefore, the nature of things is such, who would doubt that the disciples of the Savior were destined to be hated by the Jews and detested by those who are sick with the error of the Greeks; and least of all pleasing, or rather most grievous, to those who have chosen to live in pleasure and have valued a life wasted in luxuries? But if the disciples of the Savior were going to bear it with difficulty that they were hated by any of those we have just enumerated, and if they were not to seek out their friendship with all zeal instead, how is it not entirely obvious to everyone that they would have gained no renown, presenting a doctrine useful to absolutely no one, but rather yielding their sentiments to flattery, restraining the reproof that comes from evangelical boldness, and speaking and teaching only what was pleasing to each person?
Therefore, the admonition is necessary not to seek to be loved, but to count it as nothing even to fall under the hatred of some, so long as there might be some benefit to them from the admonition. We shall see that Paul did this as well, and stated clearly: "For am I now persuading men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? If I still pleased men, I would not be a servant of Christ." C And having rebuked a certain one among the Corinthians, and having learned that he had borne it most grievously, he says: "For if I make you sorry, who is there to make me glad but he who is made sorry by me?" For godly grief works repentance unto salvation that is not to be regretted. It will therefore be beyond doubt that speech composed for the pleasure of the hearers, and which does not set before them what is useful, flatters the world rather than benefits it; but he who trusts in the words of the Savior will preach nothing of this sort. For he will think it better to please Him, and will consider it spiritual wealth to be hated by those who have declared the most bitter war against virtue. D When, therefore, he says, it is seen that your renown is sometimes opposed by the world, cast away that obstacle, having despised those honors unless they are joined with a consideration of utility; nor indeed should it be grievous to you to be hated, since I myself first experienced this. I am, however, the Lord and Master. And that those who mind earthly things and despise heavenly goods hate even Christ Himself to the destruction of their own heads, I think is not difficult to prove. For He Himself says to some in the Gospels: "The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify of it that its works are evil." Offering Himself, therefore, as an exemplar even here to the holy apostles, He commands them to persist in this path, when elsewhere He says again openly: "Blessed are you when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake: rejoice and be exceeding glad, for..."
A Let being hated by the world be overcome, and let this stumbling-block be cast away, by not taking too much pleasure in the honors of those who love it, unless they tolerate the discourse that is suited to benefit them; but let being hated by no means be seen as burdensome, for I myself have endured this beforehand. For I am, clearly, the Lord and Master. And that it is for the destruction of their own heads that they have hated Christ Himself, those who have chosen to mind the things of the world and have despised heavenly goods, I do not believe it is a labor to demonstrate. For He Himself says in the Gospels to some: "The world cannot hate you; but Me it hates, because I testify of it, that its works are evil." B Having therefore set forth in this also a pattern for His holy apostles, as regarded Himself, He bids them to follow in His footsteps, and [take] the road in these matters, when He expressly said elsewhere again: "Blessed are you, when they shall persecute you and revile you and speak all manner of evil against you falsely for My sake; rejoice and be exceeding glad, for your reward is great in the heavens. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
"If you were of the world, the world would love its own: yet because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." C He artfully renders an easy matter out of what is by far the most grievous of all, and by this means makes one take pleasure beyond expectation in that which by right seemed to bring no small trouble. For it is indeed a serious thing to be hated by some, because of the losses that sometimes emerge from this and unexpected traps: but it is sweet when it is for God's sake, and if it happens on account of piety, it brings the most manifest proof and indication that he against whom some plot this is not worldly. For just as with bodies, so also with characters, I think, we shall find a certain kinship; and the identity of customs, and likeness in every way, is able to convey the closeness of blood. For every animal loves its like, as it is written, D and every man will associate with his like. And with the conformity of character renewing the law of mutual love, the holy will live with the holy, and will dwell together and abide most sweetly and lovingly with him, and the profane likewise with the profane. For this reason also the Mosaic law used to make a distinction between the holy and the profane, I say, establishing that such things can in no way join together by the law of friendship. "For evil communications corrupt good manners," and those things which differ in diverse ways and in minds tending in opposite directions, wage a kind of war among themselves, and they accuse one another, each admiring its own practice. Therefore, it is necessary for the lover of virtue to be hated by those for which he ought to be admired, because he reproves wickedness, and reveals the obscenity in evil things by the opposition of his own ways; for when the good has been displayed, there is necessarily a great shame upon the bad. For this reason, I think, they are enraged at the lovers of virtue, those who have not emulated the same way of life as them. He does not allow His disciples, then, to be grieved, even if they see themselves hated by the world on account of their love of virtue and their piety toward Him, but rather He suggests they ought to rejoice for the opposite reason, receiving as proof that they will be brilliant before God and worthy of every word, the fact that they are hated by the world. For see how He has shown it to be dangerous to be unwilling to endure what one ought to will. For to be hated by some, indeed, does not at all lack danger, yet it does not fail to bring a free excuse before God.
A and there is a great gain in choosing to suffer this all the more. For if the one who is hated by those who mind the things of the world is accounted as being outside the world, then one must necessarily think that the one who is not hated is bound to the evils of the world. What, then, did Christ arrange by these things? That they should speak the word with confidence, and not, out of respect for certain of those who have sinned—or rather, those who have chosen to be disobedient to the divine proclamation, preventing the word that exhorts to self-control—leave the hearers without profit, nor, because they pass over the injuries that often arise from being hated, fail to use their counsel with speed and indomitable courage, suspecting nothing at all, or rather, not counting anything more urgent than the need to please God. This is what Paul also, excelling, writes: "For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? If I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ." B For it is not, it is not possible to please the wicked and God. For how could both come together, when the will in each is far from similar? For the one looks toward virtue, the other toward vice. Therefore, it is necessary for one who wishes to serve God with a single mind, and who sets nothing higher than piety toward Him, to run into the offense of worldly men when he calls them away from the impurity of the world. For exhortations that recall them to a better way of life are most burdensome to lovers of pleasure, just as, naturally, bitter remedies are to those whose bodies are corrupted by these diseases—and yet they are salutary.
XV, 20. "Remember the word that I said to you: A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will also keep yours."
Having shown above very well that being hated is a good thing, if there be a time for it (for it is very endurable, or rather, highly desirable, whenever it happens on account of God, as it has the power to make us better able to overcome obstacles), He adds for their benefit, as only God would know, what might delay them, lest they be sluggish in wanting to push forward with fervent zeal to preach the heavenly word. C For it is common for those chosen for teaching to fall into dangers and ignominies, when the things said by them do not please those who are being admonished; and since it also happens that they suffer persecution when their doctrine is rejected, He commands them to be ready and energetically prepared even against these things. He predicts these things as future in a certain sense, because of the wickedness of those who were to be instructed. This He also indicated elsewhere, saying: "Woe to the world because of scandals; for it must needs be that scandals come." Everywhere, moreover, He sets Himself forward as an example with singular wisdom, that they might not, by desiring greater things, be caught acting unbecomingly in some other way, but that, as if by necessity following after the glory of the Lord, they might not strive to be exalted above Him. Therefore, He hints that they will undergo ignominy, saying: "The servant is not greater than his master."
A For He says, they beat me with an unbridled tongue, and, in their wretchedness, not abandoning the manner of unseemly insults, they called me possessed by a demon, and a drunkard, and a fruit of fornication. But I did not immediately seek retribution, nor did I, because of their insults, withhold from those who were listening the doctrine that brings salvation. Therefore, do not seek what is greater than is appropriate, nor behave arrogantly toward the Lord’s measures, who for our sake lowered Himself to such great humility for the benefit of all. He makes them, therefore, superior both to hardness in speech and to the impiety of those accustomed to finding fault, just as the blessed prophet Jeremiah, being exercised in this very thing, was saying: "My strength has failed among those who curse me." B Yet, the divine Paul, having shone forth more greatly in this same thing, and having struggled much against the impiety of those who insult, says: "Being reviled, we bless; being defamed, we entreat." For to be high-spirited in such matters would be the deed of a mind impoverished in the spirit, according to what is written, and not adorned with a truly moderate temper. For it grows, in a way, and, as if from a good root, springs up—and from this most of all—a spirit that is long-suffering and not given to malice. But to be unable to bear, even in words, those who provoke one, or any form of dishonor from certain people, would be a clear indication of a mind that loves honor and is not yet very far removed from a temper that desires worldly glory. For what, I ask, would someone do, or in what way would an insult harm a lover of humility? And to one who does not yearn for worldly glory, how would it be grievous to be insulted by someone? He therefore reasonably commands that the mind be raised above this most vain glory, I mean, that which is held in honor in the world, and that one should have a mind that soars above such things. He pre-conceives, as it were, a necessary safeguard, so that they might be willing to be seen in these things, and he places a logic that urges one to this—which we spoke of from the beginning—as a kind of goad: to follow the honor of the Lord, and most gladly to accept everything that might happen in due time, C as long as it exists for them to be well-regarded for God's sake, towards whom they should turn, regarding insults as a useless burden—and not, because they happen to have been bitterly insulted by someone, to slacken the boldness in teaching or to disregard the divine commandments, but rather to embrace love for the brethren and to hasten in every way to assist those who are wandering. Having, therefore, persuaded them to trample underfoot the pursuit of worldly glory, he adds something else that is useful and necessary: "If they have persecuted me," He says, "they will also persecute you." And this, too, has a kinship with the first points in its contemplation. He persuades them to be long-suffering, and forestalls the weakness of the thoughts we might expect to have. For it was not doubtful that the disciples of the Savior, encountering those who persecute the truth, were about to endure everything terrible: but it is probable that they had brought into their minds, when they spoke words about the glory of Christ, that they would be partakers of His overflowing mercy to such an extent that nothing would entirely retard so noble a pursuit, and that they would be completely free from every tumult and danger, and would suffer nothing sad, but would be praised by all, in that they were declaring to them the doctrine of salvation.
And it was indeed not wide of the mark A to expect such things, and to seek to be in such a state, as they were in haste to call others to eternal life and appeared to their hearers as the purveyors of the gifts from God. But since each person directs his own inclination toward whatever he chooses, and turns it toward what is desirable to him and in some way agreeable, it was necessary to show that those who think the opposite concerning the truth and are overcome by base pleasures would show themselves rather as adversaries who would war against those who call them away from their most pleasant delights. For things that look to this end are not agreeable to lovers of pleasure. It was necessary, therefore, to expect that those who had assumed the rank of enemies would be revealed, as it were, of necessity, and would persecute and afflict them, and would devise every kind of temptation. Christ, therefore, commands them to be brave in the face of this, not denying that it will happen, but by commanding them to be manly, he declares that B they will indeed come. "For if they persecuted me," he says, "they will also persecute you." It is as if he were saying: I, the creator of all things, who have everything under my hand, both those in heaven and those on earth, have not placed a muzzle upon the passions, nor have I confined the movement of each of my hearers as if with lashes; rather, I have permitted each person's own will to choose what seems good, and to do whatever he might wish. And so, when I was persecuted, I endured it, although I had the power to prevent it. When, therefore, you yourselves are persecuted, you must endure the aversion of those who hate you, and not be excessively vexed at the ingratitude of those you have benefited; following the plan of my dispensation, walk through the same will, so that you may also be partakers of the like glory. "For those who suffer with me will also reign with me." C And adding a third point, "If they have kept my word, they will also keep yours," he does not allow them to be faint-hearted if, at times, their teaching is not received. He does this very rightly. For he who is chosen for this task thinks that he has suffered a loss if some are unwilling to obey his words; but it is not so, and let no one think it. For once the advisor has spoken and set forth the knowledge of what is profitable, he has done what was in him to do; from then on, it rests in the dispositions of the hearers. Turn themselves toward what each wishes, or toward [ready] compliance, or the opposite. Thus, the teachers of the best things should not be faint-hearted, and those who trust that they can accomplish with faith the things that we otherwise cannot attain, should also sow the teaching by which they might be helped by divine virtue. We shall find this fact, or rather rightly shadowed forth, in that distribution of the talents. For here one is found to have received ten, another five, another two, and another one, who, refusing to trade, hid his talent in the earth. And for this reason he hears: "Wicked and slothful servant, you ought to have committed my money to the bankers, and at my coming I would have received what is mine with interest." For just as D
A For it is not to be shunned by the best of ministers that, even if they have despaired of the word that is able to profit, they nevertheless disperse it through the divine power, and distribute to us that which we are not able of ourselves to accomplish through faith—which is what has happened, and is found well-ordered and shaped in the distribution of the talents. For one is found having taken ten, another five, another two, and besides these, there is the one who, refusing to trade, buried the talent in the earth. And for this reason he heard: "You wicked and slothful servant, you ought to have put my money with the bankers, and I, having come, would have received my own with interest." For just as those who are trained in the works of agriculture, and who have this goal in view, when they have cut the earth with plows and then buried the seed in the clod, no longer attribute the rest to their own experience, but rather entrust it to the divine power and grace—I mean, the causing of the sown seed to take root and to mature into perfect fruit—so I think that the minister of the best things ought to dispense the word alone, while leaving the rest to God. B The Savior, therefore, brings a remedy for faint-heartedness and despondency to his own disciples, along with the exhortation regarding this. For he says: "Do not at all cease to teach, even if some of those once admonished should make nothing of the doctrine given to them; and even if you find my own words sometimes unacceptable to many, do not be lifted up above my glory, and by remaining behind in this, do not succumb to despondency." Now the learning of these things was most necessary for the holy apostles, since they were about to proclaim the divine and saving word to all everywhere. And indeed the divine Paul, as one chosen for the apostleship through Christ, appeared to us as such, and he is often seen endowed with an equal virtue of soul. For that he thought empty glory was to be despised, and persecutions were to be made of no account, and that it was not to be borne too bitterly if some perhaps did not accept the word scattered for them, is easy to show. For he writes to some: "You are wise in Christ, but we are fools for Christ's sake; we are weak, but you are strong; we are despised, but you are honored. To this very hour we both hunger and thirst." And further still, in addition to these: "As the offscourings of the world we have become, the refuse of all things until now." Do you see how he, through the command of the Savior, was better than worldly glory? And showing his noble spirit in persecutions, he said: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" And he writes also to others: "To say the same things, to me indeed is not irksome, but for you it is safe." But also to the Galatians: "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ is formed in you." C Do you hear how he most unweariedly repeats the same word, since the first had not been accepted, and having once been done, he says again that he is in birth-pangs for them, until the formation of Christ may shine forth in them? The word, however, absolutely accomplishes this, reforming the hearers to the love of God and to the image of Christ through faith. D "But all these things they will do to you for my name's sake, because they do not know him who sent me." It is certain that there will be no other end for those who have chosen to act impiously against the holy apostles.
A He asserts that a pretext for the holy apostles—or rather their name alone—was the impious intent of those who were about to attack them. For this is a crime attributed to those who worship God, and a pretext for being warred upon by those who do not know Him. And since it is truly manifest to all that no one would suffer anything for God without a reward—for a bright crown will be set before them for these things—He again encourages them to bravery and effects a steadfast mind, warding off the hardship that might be expected from future events through the hope of recompense. He therefore showed that there is profit, and even that the very misfortune itself is to be desired, and that it is the goal of prayer; and that which was perhaps terrifying to some, and which it was expected would merely come to pass, He frees from all fear, and very eagerly persuades His disciples to accept it. B And so, having once been summoned to the impious council of the Jews and having had their bodies afflicted with stripes for Christ, they went out from the presence of the council rejoicing, as it is written, that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of the Lord. And indeed, they vehemently command us also to endure patiently for this cause, and by no means to be saddened, even if something painful at all should befall us for Christ’s sake. "For let none of you suffer," He says, "as a murderer, or a thief, or an evildoer; but if as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this name." How very sweet, therefore, it is to suffer for Christ, and how delightful the danger, when the pretext for its being inflicted is love toward God. C But observe also how, by this very means, He again shows Himself to be one with His own Father, saying that the Jews, or whoever are going to persecute the heralds of Christ’s name, know neither the Father nor the Son. For he is confessedly a hater of the Father who thinks the Son ought to be dishonored, not, clearly, as one sinning against a different nature, but as one rising up offensively against the very dignity of the natural Godhead. For no one would be convicted of insulting the Son if he revered the nature of the Father; for he who knows what the Father is in essence, how could he be ignorant that He has begotten from Himself? And who would not insult the plant, if he were ravaging the fruit produced from it? The sin against the Son, therefore, is an undeniable proof of ignorance of the Father and God. Since, however, He did not now say, "Because they do not know my Father," but, "him who sent me," I think that He wishes to hint at something of this sort: D His goal, as it seems, was to clearly show that those who resolve to persecute His disciples are, as it were, bringing a double guilt upon their own heads. For they will be clearly convicted of virtually not knowing "my Father," and they will not only be rightfully convicted of impiety, but will also ultimately be found censuring the very wisdom of God and the Father. For if He sent His own Son to raise up that which had slipped, to renew that which was broken, and to set right the life of those in the world, and they oppose themselves, impiously resisting those who wish to preach the author of so many good things, how will they not be clearly convicted of also opposing Him who sent me? For by the word "sending," He signifies to us the whole mystery of the incarnation. But as for him who…
has ignored the One who sent Him, he has at the same time ignored God, and dishonors the mystery of the mission.
XV. 22. *If I had not come, and spoken unto them, they would not have had sin: but now they have no excuse for their sin.*
A This passage must be understood in two ways. For if anyone should perhaps think that these words pertain to Greeks and Jews, we say that if the divine and heavenly preaching—the evangelical, that is—had not been made to all men universally, showing everyone the way of salvation and explaining the works of righteousness, there might perhaps have been an excuse, not without weight, for those who despise virtue, in that they were utterly ignorant of what is pleasing to God, and therefore could have begged for pardon. But since the word of doctrine pertains to all, what finally will be the excuse B or what words will we use before the Judge when called to account for the most shameful crimes after having received knowledge? But if the Lord is speaking this only of the Jews, inasmuch as they had often heard Him teaching and were ignorant of nothing that He had commanded them to think or to do, you shall understand it in this way: "They will not," He says, "endure your teaching, but will stir up temptations and persecutions; they will move every stone against you, and will burn with unjust hatred toward you, bringing no other charge against you but that you love me. But, cloaking their own most furious cruelty under a pretense of words and washing away the disgrace of their own lust, they will certainly put forward Moses and the Mosaic commandments, and will pretend to defend themselves in a certain way by their ancestral laws. But if, having come to them, I had not taught them better things through the Mosaic commandment, if I had not demonstrated by many reasons that the time had finally arrived for the figures to pass away and that there had been enough of them and of the shadow—that the time had come for the truth itself to shine forth—if I had not even demonstrated this from the law itself, most clearly saying, *If you believed Moses, you would believe me: for he wrote of me*; if I had not shown my own doctrine to be in harmony with the testimonies of the prophets, and that the power of my advent had been already predicted and proclaimed, they would have had reasonable grounds for rising up against me and against you. But since nothing has been left out, and whatever was necessary has been set forth, hollow is whatever excuse they are finally going to bring forward for so manifest a crime." C This, therefore, is the meaning I think should be applied to the Savior’s words. In truth, by showing that there will be no pardon for the crimes committed against Him, and that those who have dared such things will be punished one day, He removes the greater part of their pain and wisely subdues that which seemed likely to cause them no small anguish. For men bear injury more equitably when they are persuaded that its authors will pay the penalty for it. And since this too was known to the Lord of all, He says: *Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.* D
y when they are persuaded that its authors will pay the penalty for it. And since this too was known to the Lord of all, He says: A *Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.* Blessed Paul himself also, when struck by one of the high priests, found no other consolation for the bitterness of suffering than this. For what did he say? *God shall smite thee, thou whited wall.* B This, then, is a remedy for human weakness—to expect that those who choose to do injustice will be punished. But the Lord is far superior to human pusillanimity, and in greater measure. *When he was reviled, he reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not,* as it is written. But when struck, he said nothing harsh, nor did he threaten the one who had dared to strike him; rather, most meekly and with the utmost patience, he said: *If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why smitest thou me?* Truly, then, the word of the prophets is fulfilled, that *Who in the clouds shall be compared unto the Lord? and who among the sons of God shall be likened unto the Lord?*
XV, 23. *He that hateth me, hateth my Father also.* B He clearly attributes the crime of impiety towards God to those who, with a perverse and wicked mind, choose to hate Him. And this is indeed true. For they cannot but sin against the Father who are insulting to the Son, or who hate Him. For just as those who scorn the rays of the sun as useless feel the same regarding the sun itself, and those who despise the scent of a flower contemn the flower itself; so, too, must it be thought to be with the Only-Begotten and His Father. For it is not possible that those who vituperate what is from someone should praise that from which it is. C For this reason Christ said to the Jews: *A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit,* when he also commanded them to make an accurate and exact judgment of both: *Either make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt.* For whatever is truly said of one of these, compelling reason necessitates that we believe it to pertain to the other. For how would the things that pertain to his praise or infamy not be common to those of one nature? And what one does to a stream, does he not also do to the very fount? Therefore Christ says: *He that hateth me, hateth my Father also.* D Moreover, he usefully refers to the person of the Father that which was attempted against him by some. For by these words he gives us most certain faith that he is not another, but the same as He, by the rule of complete identity. Furthermore, he strikes terror into his hearers, showing that it is dangerous to be held in hatred, and he affirms that he who refuses to worship him will be destitute of aid and will easily fall as prey, since he is also insulting to the very person of the Father. For the Father will surely be angry, as one who suffers injury along with his own Son. And who does not see that the holy apostles are not unworthily strengthened by the faith of this matter? Furthermore, I believe Christ was doing something else, worth the effort and full of wisdom,
A which I shall here explain again. With incredible fury and insanity, some thought that by sinning against the Son and resisting the words of the Savior, they were doing something pleasing to God, the author of the law, and that by attributing the priority to the Mosaic mandates, they were showing themselves to be true and sincere observers of love toward God. It was necessary, therefore, to expose their vain pride and to make it manifest to the whole world that those who resist the laws of the Savior do a kind of injury to the entire divine nature in the Person of the Son, through a long and inexcusable disobedience, which [the Savior] asserts is not only committed singularly against His own Person, but also against those who, for Him and through Him, announce the word. Therefore, whoever presumes to resist even the holy apostles themselves is an enemy of God and insolent toward the whole ineffable and inexplicable nature. For they do not preach themselves, but the God and Lord of all, that is, Christ. B
XV, 24. *If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin: but now both have seen and have hated both me and my Father.*
Christ also shows by these words that no way of avoiding the most severe punishment is left to the Jews. For He omitted nothing whereby they might be helped, having delivered many sermons by which they could easily have been led to salvation, and having performed miracles such as no mortal ever saw. For what saint has rivaled Christ in miracles? But since the Jews are so far from loving Him that they pursue Him with the most intense hatred, how can it be that the most bitter punishments do not hang over them? For, of course, it would have been far better for them never to have heard His divine sermons, nor to have witnessed His ineffable signs. For perhaps they might have been able to put forward a not-stupid excuse of this kind: "We have heard nothing salutary, nor have we seen any thing that might move us to faith." C But since they have heard not one of the prophets, but Christ Himself, who came to us from heaven and was sent, and have been witnesses of His wondrous works (for Christ opened the eyes of a blind man, D even though no one else had ever been able to do such a thing), what will deliver the dementia of the Jews from punishment? For although they have heard and witnessed, they have nonetheless hated both the Son and the Father. D But how have they hated [them]? They have not accepted the doctrine delivered by the Father through the Son, and, having despised the wonder of the works of the divine nature, they will be held clearly guilty of impiety against the whole nature of God, from which these things proceed. For the Father was present in every way to Him who performed the miracles, not as one performing miracles through another, but as existing
aturam, a qua ista fiunt, impietatis rei manifeste tenebuntur. Miracula quippe patranti omnino et ipse Pater aderat, non tanquam alius per alium miracula operans, sed ut exsistens. A For if they have despised the miracle, they will clearly be condemned for impiety against the very nature of God, which is the worker of these things. For when the Son was working miracles, the Father Himself was surely present with Him, not as one working through another as if by chance doing things worthy of a miracle, but as One who is in the Son by reason of the identity of nature and the unalterability of substance. Therefore, the wretched Jews are ungrateful and are rightfully accused of having great insensibility, having no reason for rejecting the incomparable teaching of the Savior, and furthermore, through the Son and in the Son, despising the nature of the Father, even though it was revealed as the creator of those miracles which were beyond reason, by which it was likely that even the very hardened and stubborn would be led to think rightly and to honor God. But that the word written in their law might be fulfilled, "For they hated me without a cause," B this also shows clearly that it was not unknown to the Law which predicted all things; yet we do not say that the Law predicted them so that unjust hatred of the Son and the Father might be kindled in the Jews, but because it was to be committed by them, the divine and holy Law predicted it, showing that nothing is unknown to the Spirit. For it is written in the Book of Psalms, in the person of Christ rebuking the fury of the Jews and saying: "For they hated me with an unjust hatred." For how did they not hate with an unjust hatred? How were they not provoked without a cause, for they were so far from needing to hate [Him] that if we consider the things that were done for them, they ought to have been inflamed with the highest desire to follow Him? Let him, I pray, who favors Jewish incredulity, come forward and state what cause for hatred they could have. What is there among those things which were done through Christ that is worthy of hatred and enmity,—that He delivered them from death and destruction, that He snatched them from the domination of the devil, that He overthrew the tyranny of sin and recalled servants to the adoption of God? That by His mercy and kindness He made just those who were dead in sins, that He made them partakers C of the Holy Spirit and of the divine nature, and introduced us into this very dwelling-place of the holy angels, and showed that heaven is passable to men? How therefore is it right to hate the donor and provider of these good things to us, and not rather to reward Him with clear praises and perpetual acts of thanksgiving? But nothing, I think, will draw the hard and rigid Jew to a sounder mind. For he hates without a cause Him whom he ought rather to love with his whole mind and crown with the honors of obedience. Although here too the Lord usefully shows that He was not ignorant of the malice of the Jews, but rather had predicted and foreknown that it would be, yet He used kindness and mercy befitting God. For He even applied to those affected by such a perverse mind the doctrine encouraging salvation, so that He might confirm the confession of faith D with miracles, if there were any who were good and just. But it also helps the disciples not a little, that they might offer the teaching of salvation even to those by whom they were treated most harshly, without any memory of injuries, and that they might follow the footsteps of that virtue which first shone forth in Him. For if there is any good, that is first in Christ, and flows from Him into us, and from Him all the best things are derived.
ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN, BOOK X
A "But when the Paraclete cometh, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceedeth from the Father, he shall give testimony of me. And you shall give testimony, because you are with me from the beginning."
Saying that He Himself and the Father are hated by the senseless Jews, and this for no reason and without any just cause, He also usefully introduces the Spirit, at once providing the complement of the Holy Trinity in His discourse, and showing that He is Himself insulted along with the Father, so that when they, who were beholders of His miracles, raved against the Son, they might also be convicted of having done injury to the power of the supreme essence of all things; not only because they thought that Christ ought not to be received, although He performed stupendous miracles for the very purpose of making them believe, but because of what they actually committed; for they perpetrated such things against Him that the mere thought of them strikes horror. And yet, one might say, O senseless Jew, Christ has produced for you miracles which surpass the glory of Moses and the splendor of every saint. For what the Lord says, "If I had not done among them the works that no other man hath done," brings such a meaning to our minds. Then you extol B Moses, that minister of inferior things, with such bright praises; but him who incomparably excels, and is a worker of far more excellent things, you do not blush to reject so foolishly, although He brings to an end the things long ago announced by the Mosaic oracles and finally encloses the shadow within the truth.
Therefore our Lord Jesus Christ has necessarily brought in the mention of the Spirit along with Himself and the Father; and at the same time He proves that what was said is true, namely, that if anyone should choose to hate the Son, he will certainly also hate the Father from whom He exists; and see again in what way. For behold, behold, as He called the Spirit of truth His own Paraclete, He says that He proceeds from the Father. For just as He is by nature the Spirit of the Son, existing in Him and proceeding through Him, so is He also of the Father. And they to whom the Spirit is common, these certainly do not differ in substance. C For let not certain impious men, with their foolish speeches, lead us away to things that are forbidden, so that we might think the Son, while fulfilling the offices of a minister, administers the Spirit who is from the Father to the creature; for some have dared to say even this. But it is rather agreeable to believe that, since the Spirit is His own, just as He is surely of God and Father, He sends Him to His holy disciples for sanctification. But if they think that they are feeling and saying something sharp, while they introduce the Son to us here also as a minister and executor, it is fitting to say to them: "O foolish and blind ones, do you not perceive into what precipices you are again rushing, and rising up against the glory of the Only-Begotten, wretched from ignorance—"
A and in this again, bringing in the Son, how is it not consistent to say: "O foolish and blind ones, do you not perceive into what precipices you are again rushing, and rising up against the glory of the Only-Begotten, wretched from ignorance, by stringing together such miserable lines of reasoning? For if the Son entirely bestows the Spirit from the Father, as if considered in the rank of some minister, how is it not necessary to confess that He is altogether alien to His substance, and perhaps even better than Him, and by far superior, if the state of things is such as your ignorance would have it? For if the Son does not proceed from the Father—that is, according to you, from His substance—how would the Spirit not be thought of as superior to the Son? Then what are we to say when we hear Him saying about Him, "He shall glorify me, for He shall take of mine, and shall declare it unto you?" In addition to what has been said, this also will necessarily follow. For if you think the Son performs a ministerial service, bestowing upon us that which is alien to Him—that is, the Spirit which is holy by nature, given forth by God and the Father—the Son will not be holy by nature, but merely by participation, just as we are. B For it is said, according to the ignorance of the impious, that He is alien to the substance of the Father, from which also the Spirit proceeds, who is bestowed through Him. It will therefore be among the possibilities, if the Spirit is not the Son’s own, but he himself also possesses holiness as an acquired quality, just as a creature does, that he could at some time fall away from the holiness that is in him. For that which is received as an addition, how could it not be capable of failing, according to the logic of the one who admits it? And then, will one not flee from such doctrines? But we, to whom the truth and the dogmas of the truth are dear, shall by no means follow them; but, treading in the footsteps of the faith of the holy Fathers, we say that the Paraclete—that is, the Holy Spirit—is the Son’s own, and not introduced from without, nor acquired in Him, as is the case in those capable of holiness, whose creation is even from nothing, but is consubstantial with Him, just as is indeed also the case with the Father. For thus the order of ecclesiastical dogmas will not pass over into vain fables of the gods, but the Holy Trinity is bound together into one notion of Divinity. C While at the same time demonstrating the unity of substance—his own, I say, and that of God and the Father—and by calling the Paraclete the Spirit of truth, he says He proceeds from the Father, and clearly and indubitably convicts the one who is an enemy of the Son of being entirely a hater of God. For he who has wished to behave insolently toward the Son will reasonably be considered to have offended also against Him from whom He is. "When, therefore," He says, "the Paraclete is come, the Spirit of truth, who is mine, who proceeds from the Father, He shall bear witness of me." But how, I ask, will He bear witness? For by working wonders in you and through you, He will be a just and true witness of My God-befitting D power and majesty. "For it is My Spirit who works in you." And as it is Mine, so also is it God and the Father’s. At the same time, therefore, it is to be understood that those who perform miracles through that one good Spirit for the certain demonstration of the faith are insulted, as being in the person of Christ, in whom dwelt, according to Paul, not some part of the ineffable divinity, but all His fullness bodily. And while the Spirit bears witness, at the same time you yourselves will also bear witness,
A for you have become eyewitnesses and spectators of the things accomplished among His own people, having been always with Him as disciples.
XVI, 1. These things I have spoken to you, that you may not be scandalized.
When the Savior was making the madness of the Jews most manifest to His own disciples, He was perhaps also about to bring forward words concerning these people, because those wretches would come to such stubbornness, and would so shut their hearing, and the wretched men would proceed to such a point of enmity against God, and would so insult the arguments on behalf of the truth, that even if there were perchance two witnesses of His glory, they would not even then be willing to receive it, although the Law expressly shouts that one must believe, and that everything which might be testified through the voice of two or three B is to be accepted without hesitation. But He does not say this, for it is useful for the present. For He would have caused them no small despondency, and, breaking the disciples as if into despair, He would have placed in them a course of action impeded by fear and cowardice. For it is likely, surely, that they would think to themselves that if the crowds of the Jews will be persuaded by absolutely no one, but will even hold the Paraclete Himself for nothing, even if He strikes them with miracles surpassing account, and yet they will nevertheless be caught even after this hating Christ, and with Him the Father, what need is there to endure vain labor? Why is it not better to be rid of the matters, preferring silence toward those who will not hear, C rather than teaching? The Savior, therefore, as is likely, not unaware that the disciples would reason in this way, artfully restrains as much as was more troublesome to explain and productive of cowardice and fear regarding the duty to teach; but He usefully redirects the power of His speech toward the need to be prepared and readied courageously against what would result from those events, or rather, what was expected. For that which comes upon some suddenly and unexpectedly is enough to disturb even a soul that possesses stability; but that which arrives as having been foreseen, has a smoother passage and the burden is more bearable, as being already foreknown and worn away by the hopes of enduring it without hesitation. And I think that Christ wishes to signify something of this sort. For if I, He says, have already performed so many miracles, D and this with you as witnesses—and the Paraclete will perform such miracles also through you—and the boldness of the Jewish madness will not cease, but they will be again in these things, and in those even worse, do not be scandalized, He says, when you yourselves are found having suffered this, but remember
A all my words. “For the disciple is not above his teacher, nor the servant above his master.” “They will make you outcasts from the synagogue; but the hour is coming that everyone who kills you will think that he offers service to God.” B He brings before them, so to speak, the absolute peak of the terrible dangers in this prediction, not that He might instill a cowardly fear into His own disciples—for it would not have been fitting for One who sought to urge them on to the most courageous preaching of the Gospel to do so—but that by having the greatest fear known in advance, it might, for that very reason, become easier and be pushed aside, so that they might act with youthful spirit in the face of every evil, and make no account of anything at all, not even if something of those things considered the most unbearable evils were to approach. For those who do not fear the greater, what loss would the lesser inflict upon them? And those who have resolved to master even the most extreme of terrors, by what other things could they still be shaken? In order, then, that they might have their mind prepared to bear all things most gladly, and to rise up so strenuously against the harm intended for them by the Jews that they would not fear even the most cruel death, if the matter should so turn out, He says that it is not just common things that will happen to them, nor that the fury of the Jews will rest if they only move them from the synagogues; rather, He predicts that their impiety will go so far that they will think it a work of piety toward God to treat them with the utmost inhumanity. That those who were set on fire by love for Christ were cast out of the synagogues by the Jews, and that they endured this punishment as a matter of course at the beginning of the affair, would be clear from the evangelist saying: “Nevertheless, many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue.” And again: C “For the scribes and the Pharisees had already agreed that if anyone confessed Him to be Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.” But even if some find this conspiracy of the Jews unbearable, one must know from this that your situation will not end there. For, He says, do not be distressed at all, even if it happens that you suffer this. For the audacity of those men will break forth into such baseness that they will consider inflicting death upon you as a form of divine worship. Which, indeed, we will find to have happened both in the case of the holy Stephen, the prince of martyrs, and in the case of the divine Paul. For in the case of Stephen, they wrapped him in the charge of blasphemy, and from this, pretending a zeal for God, they brought upon him death by stones; yet in the case of the holy and most wise Paul, some of the Jews were so enraged that they bound themselves with an oath neither to eat nor to drink until they had killed him. For so we will find it written in the Acts of the Holy Apostles. Excellent, therefore, and most useful is that prediction which softens the fear of grave evils, and, as if to those who have already experienced them, recalls them to strength of spirit. For the heat of danger, when foreseen, cools down in a certain way, and attacks more gently. D
A
*And these things they will do, because they have not known the Father, nor me.* He shows the zeal of the Jews to be not according to knowledge, as indeed Paul also says, but exceedingly erroneous and straying somewhere off the straight path, even though they believed it to be accomplished for God’s sake, at least according to the aim that was in them. For they supposed that, by defending the commandment given through Moses, they were bringing pleasure to God, the giver of the law, and that by fighting against the dogmas of Christ, they were gaining no small amount of renown for themselves. Because of this, they attacked the heralds of the evangelical word with great ferocity, yet they were ignorant, having fallen into the depth of vanity, and through the dishonor shown to the Son, they were committing offenses against God and the Father himself. More than that, they were clearly shown to be utterly ignorant of what the Father is, and again, who the Son is, who has shone forth from Him. And this is the paradoxical thing: they were eager to crown with the highest honors Moses the most wise, who was a minister of the law given through angels; yet they did not hesitate to cover with the most shameful abuse our Lord Jesus Christ, who interprets the ineffable will of the Father, and who says clearly: "I do nothing of myself, but the Father who sent me, He has given me a commandment what I should say and what I should speak," even though God and the Father was performing wonders with Him, and bearing witness from above by a perceptible voice, and crying out explicitly and saying: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
It is, therefore, not open to doubt that if anyone should choose to attack bitterly those who act as messengers of the divine word, he will be found to be in ignorance of the whole of the holy and consubstantial Trinity. For he does not truly know the Father, who, according to his own intent, strives to deprive the Word, who has shone forth from Him, of his fitting glory. B For how is it not something to be accepted without question—at least among those who are able to apply themselves more sensibly to the nature of things—that since He is consubstantial with the Father, He will by all means speak according to the will of the Father, and since He has Him as a sharer in his glory, it is necessary that He also be touched by those things in which some may offend against Him? Our Lord Jesus Christ, therefore, in these words, all but accuses the wicked attempts of the Jews, delivering a bitter and deadly sentence from this against those who, through their cruelty toward the holy apostles, violate Him. For the account of the sin will not turn primarily upon them, but will ascend to Him who imposed the duty of the divine apostolate upon them, just as He once said through holy Samuel concerning the children of Israel: "They have not despised you, but they have despised me." C
It is therefore a thing fraught with most perilous risk not to desire to bestow upon the saints the honor that is most fitting for them. For the account of the sin against them will recoil upon Him by whom they were sent. D
*But these things I have spoken to you, that when the hour comes, you may remember them, because I told you.* Not for any other reason did he make this discourse concerning these things,
A nor that they might know that those who have indeed B held communion with the trials of sin through them, will gain the glory resulting from this. For I have not predicted these things, He says, so as to weaken the vigor of your mind, nor have I invented the fear to cause you premature expectation of what you will suffer; rather, I give you the foreknowledge so that you may derive a twofold benefit from it. For first, by remembering that I foretold them, you will marvel at Him who knew them beforehand, and the time of the trial itself will serve as confirmation for you of a sure faith. For He who knows things to come, how would He not be God by nature? And in addition to this, there is another thing: for he who is prepared and has known beforehand that he will suffer, will be met with a milder fear, and will easily overcome everything that seems daunting, and will keep his mind unshaken in the midst of labors. For, I think, to suffer something unexpectedly bites more sharply. Wherefore the Psalmist says: "I was prepared, and was not troubled."* He commands the disciples, therefore, to remember that He who foretold to them the things that were to be did so usefully and necessarily. For it was not doubtful that they would believe that He is the true God (for it is the property of the true God to know all things), and that they would easily believe that He would deliver them from their tribulations.
XVI, 5, 6. *But these things I have not told you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I go to Him who sent me, and no one of you asks me: Where are you going? But because I have spoken these things to you, sadness has filled your heart.*
Christ provided for another thing useful and very necessary. For it was not doubtful that, having been called to discipleship from the beginning by Him, and having always been with Him, and living with Him, and having experienced many miracles, and having perceived His incomparable power and authority, they supposed that they would overcome every temptation and would simply prevail over all dangers. For what place would there be for doubting thereafter for those who had experienced the goodness of One so powerful, and for those who showed an anxious mind in this matter? But because Christ foretold that many evils would happen to them contrary to their expectation, lest they be greatly troubled by this, thinking to themselves and saying: "Therefore those hopes which we conceived at the beginning are in vain, and we have missed our mark, thinking we were called to all good things, yet ending up in such unexpected calamities," the Lord necessarily reveals the reason why He did not foretell these things at the beginning, and says: "These things I have not told you from the beginning, because I was with you." For as long as He was with them, He sufficed to rescue them easily from every temptation, and to instruct and lift them up against all contingencies. But when He departs to the Father, He usefully and opportunely explains to them those things which were certainly to happen. For if we are especially eager to do things at the right time, how
A much more would it not please God? A Therefore, at the beginning there was a time for silence, when it was not yet time to learn, as if by necessity; but since He was departing to the Father, the time for speech slipped in. Did the Savior, then, withdraw from the disciples by ascending to the Father, while remaining with them by the energy, power, and grace of the Spirit? How, or in what manner? For He does not lie when He says: "Behold, I am with you all the days, even unto the consummation of the age"; yet no one doubts that this must be understood with regard to His flesh and bodily presence. Moreover, the Savior indeed knew that the ascension of His own flesh into heaven would be most necessary for human nature, but He was not ignorant, as God, that the heart of the disciples had been filled with the bitterness of grief. For Christ departing caused them great pain, since they wanted to be with Him always. And as He had already decided to do this, they did not even ask what it was, or for what reason He would depart, or what was the urgency, or rather, what was persuading Him to ascend to the heights. He therefore sympathizes with them that were suffering from this out of love, and He did not let them learn the reason for the departure, choosing to love them even in their untimely silence, although there was much benefit in knowing.
"But I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Paraclete will not come to you." A burning grief, He says, has consumed you, and sharp pain has troubled you; for you have assumed, and you think quite rightly, that my departure will not be without pain for you. For you will certainly fall into the temptations I have already foretold, and you will endure the cruelty of the unholy persecutors. Therefore, considering that what is profitable must always be preferred to what is pleasant, I will tell you the truth: "It is to your advantage that I go away." And we will indeed yield all our thoughts to the Savior Christ, who is above us, but I think that what has been said might not insignificantly trouble someone simpler. For he will certainly meditate upon it by himself and wonder: if it were better for Christ to depart, then His presence must have been something of a hindrance. And if His departure is useful to us, he will ask, how will the opposite not occur, if He does not depart? This question might perhaps trouble the simpler folk; but anyone who is guided to an exact knowledge of these things by divine wisdom will certainly not be scandalized at all, but will rather perceive the meaning appropriate to the words. Therefore I think, before all other things, it must be thought and clearly learned that, as it is written, there is a time for every matter, and all things are good in their time. D The Lord was therefore present usefully in this world with His flesh in its own time; and in an opportune time, and one D congruent with the order of individual things, He returned usefully to the Father. Nor indeed can He be argued with in any way, nor could it be said that it was not very useful that He was with the disciples
because of the departure which was to happen later by necessity, nor, on the other hand, will the usefulness of that departure be in any degree blamed because of the benefit of His presence. For each was fittingly done at the appropriate time. But so that, having briefly set forth the meaning of this concept, we may place it before the brethren more clearly, come now, let us speak, while ruminating in our discourse, of the cause of the Incarnation of the Only-Begotten according to the economy of the flesh, and in addition to this, the usefulness of His departure. B Therefore, in order that He might deliver from corruption and death the one who had been condemned by that ancient curse, He became man, as if inserting Himself into our nature, He who exists as Life by nature. For thus the empire of death was defeated, and the power of the corruption introduced into us was dissolved; and since the divine nature is entirely free from any inclination toward sin, He bore us through His own flesh. For we were all in Him, inasmuch as He appeared as man: to mortify the earthly members—that is, the passions of the flesh—and to abrogate the law of sin which tyrannically ruled in our members; and in addition to this, to sanctify our nature, and to manifest Himself as a pattern and guide for us on the path to piety, and as the pure knowledge of that truth which is according to science, and as a model of irreproachable conduct. Christ, having become man, fulfilled all these things. It was therefore fitting to raise human nature to the summit of every good, and not only to liberate it from sin and death, but to uplift it into the very heavens, and to render man a companion to the angels and a participant in the same choir. C And just as, through His resurrection, He granted us the ability to flee from corruption, so too did He open for us the ascent to the realms above, and place into the sight of the Father him who had been thrust far away through the transgression in Adam. Perceiving such things as these, the divine Paul also said: "For Christ did not enter into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true ones, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us." Do you hear how, although He is always in the sight and in the nature of His own Begetter because of the identity of substance, He now appears not for His own sake, but for our sake? For, that I may repeat what I said before, He places us in the sight of the Father, as He himself is the first-fruits of humanity, having returned into heaven. For just as, though He is Life by nature, He is nonetheless said to have died and risen again for our sake: so also, though He always sees His Father and is seen in turn by His own Father, He is now said to appear—that is, when He became man—not for His own sake, but for our sake, as man, and insofar as it seemed to be lacking to our dispensation that we should also ascend into the very heavens, as in the first-fruits and the first one, Christ. For as a forerunner He also returned there for our sake, as the divine Paul himself says in another place. And insofar as He is man, He is considered the High Priest of our souls even now, and the advocate, and the propitiation for our sins.
But insofar as He is God and Lord by nature, He sits together with His own Begetter; and yet, the glory that comes from this will nonetheless extend even to us ourselves. Hence Paul also said concerning the Father: "For He has also raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ." A Since, therefore, all things upon the earth had been brought to their conclusion, it was necessary to fulfill what was lacking—that is, to ascend to the Father. For this reason He says: "It is expedient for you that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Paraclete will not come to you."
Come, then, let us devise another observation useful and true alongside these thoughts. For all things on earth had been perfected, as we were just asserting; yet it was altogether necessary that we become associates and partakers of the divine nature of the Word, leaving behind our own life to be transformed into another, and to be refashioned toward the newness of a God-beloved way of life. But it was impossible to attain this in any other way than through the communion and participation of the Holy Spirit. B The most fitting and appropriate time, then, for the mission of the Spirit and His descent upon us, was that time which was entering opportunely, following our Savior Christ’s departure from this place. For while He was still present in the flesh with those who believe in Him, He was revealed as the dispenser, as I think, of every good thing; but once time and necessity demanded that He be taken up to the Father in heaven, how could it not be necessary that He be present through the Spirit unto those who worship Him, and dwell within our hearts through faith, so that, having Him within ourselves, we might confidently cry out: "Abba, Father," and might easily advance toward every virtue, and furthermore be found powerful and unconquerable against the wiles of the devil and the uprisings of men, inasmuch as we possess the all-powerful Spirit?
For that the Spirit, wherever He might come and dwell, transfers them into another state and refashions them into the newness of life, how could one not easily demonstrate this from the testimonies of both the Old and New Scripture? For the divine Samuel, when he was speaking words to Saul, says: "And the Spirit of the Lord will leap upon you, and you shall be turned into another man." C But the blessed Paul says: "But we all, with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, D are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord the Spirit." And "The Lord is the Spirit." Do you see that the Spirit transforms those in whom He might be found to have taken up residence into a different image, as it were? For He easily shifts them from thinking of earthly things to looking only at those things which are in heaven; and from weak timidity to a strenuous and most generous strength of soul. And it is not to be doubted that we find the disciples so affected and thus confirmed through the Spirit, that they were in no way overcome by the incursions of their persecutors, but rather adhered unshakably to the love of Christ. True, therefore, is what the Savior says: "It is expedient for you that I return to the heavens." For that was the time for the Spirit to descend.
A
XVI, 8-11. *And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of justice, and of judgment. Of sin indeed, because they believed not in me. But of justice, because I go to the Father; and you shall see me no longer. And of judgment, because the prince of this world is already judged.*
After He indicated that the appropriate time for the descent and mission of the Spirit is when He has returned to the Father, and after He had abundantly mitigated the most bitter grief of the holy disciples through this, He showed further what the Paraclete would accomplish. For when he is come, He says, *he will reprove the world of sin, and of justice, and of judgment.* And He taught accurately in what way the reproof for each of the things mentioned will take place. But since it is not to be expected that some would grasp these things altogether easily, I think it necessary to explain them in detail, and to set forth more clearly what the meaning of each is. B Therefore, in the first place, the reproof concerning sin is set forth. Who, then, will reprove the world? Surely, when He has entered into those who love Christ, as being worthy and faithful, then indeed, then, by the very fact of the matter, He will reprove the world—that is to say, those who are uninstructed and still faithless, and those held fast by the pleasures of the world—and will condemn them as being subject to their own sins and as those who will die in their own transgressions. For God will by no means show partiality, nor will He bestow the Spirit upon some of those on earth without a just cause, while not on others; but He will make the Paraclete dwell only in the worthy, who through sincere faith have honored Him as God in truth, and have confessed Him the Creator and Lord of all. Therefore, what the Savior Himself had previously said to the Jews, C *If you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sins,* the Paraclete, when He has come, will prove to be true by the things themselves. But again He says: *He will reprove the world of justice, because I go to the Father, and you shall see me no longer.* For He will justly bear witness for those who have believed in Christ after His ascension into the heavens, as having been justly justified. For they received as the true God Him whom they did not see, and yet believed Him to be seated with His own Father. For that Christ called those happy who believe in such a way, anyone might learn very easily by remembering what Thomas said and did. For, while he was still doubting concerning the resurrection of the Son: *Unless I put,* he said, *my hand into his side, and see the fixing of the nails, I will not believe.* D But after he believed, when Christ permitted him to do what he had wanted,
A what words did he hear? *Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.* Justly, therefore, have they who have believed even without seeing been justified; but the world has fallen away from enjoying the same, not embracing the righteousness which is by faith, but voluntarily wallowing in its own evils.
It is necessary to know, however, that this pair of reproofs of which we have just spoken will be brought about through the Paraclete not against the Jews alone, but rather against every hard and disobedient man. For the term "world" signifies both him who is perpetually wallowing in pleasures and does not depart from diabolical filth, and no less does it signify those who are scattered throughout the whole world and inhabit it. This double reproof is therefore general and pertains to all. For Christ called to salvation not only the Jews, as at the beginning, or only the seed of Israel, but the entire race of Adam that had fallen. For grace did not happen to be for a part only, but the good which is of faith has been diffused throughout the entire world.
A third reproof will be brought about through the Paraclete, as the Savior says: the most just condemnation of the ruler of this world. But how and in what manner, I shall explain. B For he will bear witness to the glory of Christ, and by demonstrating him to be truly the Lord of all, he will reprove the world as having been led astray, and as having abandoned the true and natural God, and having worshipped and served one who is not God by nature, that is to say, Satan. For the judgment that has come upon him is, I think, sufficient to demonstrate the nature of the matter to be as it is. For he would not have been condemned and weakened, nor would he have paid the penalties for his war against God, being fettered in chains of darkness, if he were by nature God, possessing stability in power and glory. But now we see him so far failing in the ability to preserve his own status, that he is even placed under the feet of the spirit-bearing men, or rather, the faithful, even if they have confessed Christ to be God. For they trample him underfoot, even when he tempts and fights against them.
And when someone sees the swarm of unclean demons also trembling and being expelled through their prayer and the action and power of the Holy Spirit, how will he not reasonably say that Satan has been condemned? For he has been condemned in that he is no longer able to lord it over those who have been sealed by the Holy Spirit unto righteousness and sanctification through faith in Christ. For how, I ask you, would we have trampled all his power underfoot, according to that which is said in the Psalms to every man who dwells in the help of the Most High: C *You shall tread upon the asp and the basilisk, and you shall trample on the lion and the dragon?*
When, therefore, the Paraclete from heaven comes into holy souls, and justly appears to them, having been sent on account of their sincere and incorruptible faith, D then he will reprove the world as guilty of sin, and as bereft of heavenly grace, because they turn away from the Redeemer. Again, however, he will reprove him [the ruler of this world], as one who has wickedly accused of sin those who have already believed. For they have been justly justified, even if they [did not see] Christ
returning to God and working miracles, but honored Him by faith. I think, indeed, that it was with some such thought that the Apostle also said: "Who shall lay any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies; who is he that condemns?" A For "all iniquity has stopped its mouth," according to the voice of the Psalmist, having nothing in which to rebuke those who have been chosen through faith, and who are clothed in the glory of the righteousness that is from faith. He will also convict the world as having been led astray, and as putting its hopes in one who is thus condemned, so that it may fall from all its former glory, and be regarded as naught by the worshippers of God.
God has indeed called him the prince of this world, not as if this were true in reality, nor as if he possessed that dignity of commanding as an essential property, but because he acquired B this glory for himself through fraud and rapine, and because he still reigns among those who go astray and exercises his kingdom on account of their wicked purpose, by which, with their minds fixed on error, they are bound in the inescapable chain of captivity—even though it is in their power to flee, by being transferred through faith in Christ to the knowledge of the one who is God in truth. Adulterous, therefore, is this title of rule in Satan, which does not naturally belong to him, but is preserved in the abominable depravity of the deceived.
12, 13
"I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will tell you things to come."Having perceived that they were already pressed by a vehement desire C to know future things, and that they were suffering this very anxiously (for He says, "sorrow has filled your hearts"), He did not think it right to burden them further with the addition of another load, but by a timely silence He suppressed those things which could have shaken them not a little, and reserved for revelation and illumination by the Spirit at a fitting time what was lacking to their knowledge. But since He perhaps saw them still too weak to comprehend the mystery, because they had not yet been enlightened by the Spirit, nor had they yet become partakers of the divine nature (for the Holy Spirit was not yet [given], as the holy evangelist says, because Christ was not yet glorified), He says such things, desiring, of course, to signify that there were still very deep mysteries D surpassing the human mind for Him to reveal, but that He was unwilling to provide this now—and deservedly so, seeing that they were not yet fit to grasp them. For when, He says, My Spirit shall have made you other than you are, and shall have reformed your mind, that [it may...]
then desire and be able to despise the types of the law, and instead, to choose the beauty of worship in the spirit, and to prefer the truth to the shadows, then indeed, then, He says, you shall be able to understand quite easily the things concerning Me. For the word, being already acceptable and broad, shall find entrance into you. One might suppose that the Lord meant to say these things to His own disciples. Yet it will arrive at the same point, and the thought will converge to the same meaning as what has just been said, which He stated again, as if in a form of examples: “No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment; neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out: but they put new wine into new bottles.” [B ] For to those who are not yet reformed unto newness of life and knowledge at once by the Spirit, the new doctrines of the evangelical preaching are not accessible, and the mysteries concerning the Holy Trinity are in a way beyond their capacity. Therefore, in that renewal which is to take place spiritually through the Spirit, the explanation of even deeper things is usefully stored up, which no longer allows the mind to cleave to the oldness of the legal letter, but rather reforms it into a newness of thoughts, and implants therein those insights whereby it is allowed to behold the beauty of the truth. That, however, before the resurrection of our Saviour from the dead, and before they were partakers of the Spirit, the disciples lived in a somewhat Jewish manner, and clung to the way of life according to the law—although the mystery in Christ is altogether greater—any person may perceive, and that too very easily. For, indeed, the blessed Peter, although he was set over the holy disciples, when the Saviour was once describing the passion He was to undergo on the cross, and was usefully explaining how He must needs be subjected to the outrages of the Jews, [C ] protested, saying: “Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee,” although the holy prophets had openly and clearly proclaimed not only that He would suffer, but also what and how great things He would suffer. Furthermore, it must be observed that we read in the Acts of the Apostles that Peter was once hungry and wished to taste food, and then beheld a sheet let down from heaven, bound at the four corners, in which appeared living creatures of every kind, land, and swimming, and airborne; and a voice came from heaven: “Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.” Peter answered: “Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.” Therefore he was justly reproved, hearing again: [D ] “What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.” And yet he ought to have remembered that our Saviour had often said to the Jews: “That which entereth into the mouth defileth not the man.” You see, then, how they had need of the illumination through the Spirit. You see how it was necessary that they should be recast into another disposition, different from that which existed in the Jews.
the better and wiser? And surely when they had become enriched with grace from above, did they not change, according to the Scripture, into strength, and having become better than they were before in knowledge, did we not then hear them speaking with boldness: “But we have the mind of Christ”? A Nor do they signify by the mind of the Savior anything other than the Holy Spirit coming upon them, revealing to them in a fitting manner all things, as many as they needed to know and learn. “When therefore He, that is to say the Paraclete, the Spirit of truth, is come, He shall guide you into all the truth.” Observe how vigilant the utterance is; look at the sobriety of the Word. For having previously said that the Paraclete would come to them, He named Him the Spirit of truth, that is to say, His own; for He Himself is the truth. For so that the disciples might know that it was not an alien and foreign power that was descending upon them, but that He was promising to transmit Himself in another way, He calls the Paraclete the Spirit of truth, that is to say, His own. For the Holy Spirit is in no way understood to be alien to the substance of the Only-Begotten, but proceeds from it naturally, being nothing else than He B in respect to identity of nature, even if He be thought of as existing in His own person. The Spirit of truth, He says, shall guide us into the whole knowledge of truth. For as one who knows the truth accurately, of which He also is the Spirit, He will not reveal it to those who worship Him in part, but will rather instill the mystery concerning it in its entirety. For if even now we know in part, as Paul says, yet the beauty of the truth has shone upon us in this small knowledge, sound and unharmed. Therefore, as no one knows the things of a man, according to what is written, except the spirit of the man which is in him; even so, I believe, or rather according to the voice of Paul, no one knows the things of God, except the Spirit of God which is in Him. “When therefore He is come,” He says, “He shall not speak from Himself,” instead of: He shall indeed instruct you and reveal the mystery concerning the truth; but He shall surely speak nothing that is discordant with Me, nor will He introduce a lesson foreign to you. For He will not introduce laws of His own, but since the Spirit is, as it were, My mind, He shall utterly speak the things that are in Me. And this the Savior says, C not that we should think the Holy Spirit to be a servile instrument—according to the ignorance of some—but because He wished rather to make the disciples more certain that, since His Spirit is not other than Himself, by reason of consubstantiality, He will surely speak, and act, and will these things. For this reason He added: “And He shall announce to you the things that are to come,” saying, as it were: This shall be a sign to you, that the Spirit is entirely of My substance, and is as My mind, in that He will declare the things that are to come, just as I do. For I have foretold them, even if you are not able to learn all things. For would I have foretold the things that are to come, if He were not in Me, and proceeding through Me, and of the same substance as I? D
CHAPTERS CONTAINED IN THE ELEVENTH BOOK
A 1. That the Holy Spirit is naturally from God, and in the Son, and through Him, and in His substance. 2. That the Spirit of the Son, that is, the Holy Spirit, is naturally in the Son and in His substance, just as He is in the substance of the Father. 3. That no one would say that the Son is destitute of the glory fitting for God, even if He is found saying: "Father, glorify Your Son." 4. That it in no way injures the glory of the Son that He is said to have received something from God and the Father, since there is a pious explanation for this matter. 5. That the Son does not cease to be true God, even if He calls the Father the only and true God. 6. That the Son was not lacking in glory worthy of God, even if He is found saying to the Father: "And now, glorify Me with the glory which I had before the world was," and what follows. 7. That the fact that something is said to have been given to the Son by the Father does not alienate Him from the dignity fitting for God; rather, it is shown that He is of the same substance as the Father and from Him, even if He is said to have received something. B 8. That it does not fall outside the kingdom of Christ, even if anything is said to be the Father's; for their authority over all things is one. 9. That the dignity of the Godhead is natural in the Son, even if He is said to have received it from the Father, because of the humanity and the form of the humiliation. 10. That Christ is not holy by participation with another, and the sanctification through the Spirit is not foreign to His essence. C 11. That the Son is naturally one with His own Father God, and He Himself is in the Father, and the Father in Him, according to the essential bond and mode of unity; and in like manner we ourselves, having embraced the faith in Him, are shown to be one among ourselves and with God, both corporally and spiritually. 12. That the Son is one with His own Father God according to nature, even if He says that He has received being one with the Father as if by way of grace.
ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN BOOK ELEVEN
BOOK ELEVENTH ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN
A CAP. I. *That the Holy Spirit is naturally both from God and in the Son, and through Him, and in His substance.*
XVI, 14. *He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine, and shall declare it unto you.*
As though the Holy Spirit were about to reveal the mystery of Christ to those worthy of it, and to declare accurately who He is by nature, and how great is His virtue and power, and that He reigns over all things together with the Father, He necessarily adds: "He shall glorify me." For He raises our mind above the thoughts of the Jews, and does not allow us to think so abjectly of Him as to suppose that He is a bare and simple man, or a little greater than the prophets, or even less in glory than they. For we shall find that the teachers and leaders of the Jews thought such things of Him; B they, being ignorant of the mystery of piety, pursued Christ with frequent insults. Setting their own folly against His words, they would sometimes say: "Who art thou? Abraham is dead, and the prophets are dead; and thou sayest, If any man keep my word, he shall never taste of death. Whom makest thou thyself?" At other times, reproaching Him with the ignobility and vileness of His birth according to the flesh, they said: "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, of whom we know the father and the mother? How then does he say that I have come down from heaven?" You see here the miserable and rotted reasonings of the Jews. C Since, therefore, many were of this mind, and thought that the Lord was not truly God, because of this corruptible form of a body, and having dared to conceive a most abject opinion of Him, the Spirit descended from heaven intending to manifest His glory to the saints; and He was to produce the most certain faith in everyone, not only by wise words but by the demonstration of facts, that He is truly God, and the fruit of the substance of God and the Father. What then is that demonstration, or how was He about to glorify Christ? For He was to procure for Him glory from the fact that He possesses, in all things, a wondrous power of action worthy of God, and implants in the saints the most perfect knowledge of all things. For it belongs only to the Queen of the universe’s nature to know all things, without the operation of anyone else, and to have them naked and open before its eyes, and to perform easily whatever it wills. Thus the Paraclete glorifies the Son,
that is, His own Spirit, who is all-capable and all-knowing. And how does He glorify Him? Since His Spirit knows and can do what He knows and can do, how could He not know or be able to do it Himself? If, as He says, the Spirit receives from Him, although He is all-capable and accomplishes all things, how could He not possess the power over all things? B It should in no way be suspected that the Paraclete, that is, the Spirit, is destitute of His natural and innate power, such that if He were not to receive, He would not even be sufficient to perform divine works. For anyone who thinks that any of these things is true must necessarily be held in the charge of the most extreme impiety, and rightly so. But since He is consubstantial with the Son, and proceeds from Him in a manner befitting God, having all of His most perfect power and efficacy for acting in all things, for this reason He says: "Because He will receive of mine." For we believe that the Spirit subsists in Himself, and is truly what He exists as and is called, yet He exists within the substance of God and proceeds from it, having all things that are His within Himself naturally. For this is not by participation, nor by way of relationship, nor as though He were some other thing distinct from it, since He is its own. C For just as the fragrance that arises from the most sweet-smelling flowers, receiving in a certain way the substantial and natural energy or quality of the things from which it proceeds, brings that knowledge to those outside, falling upon the smelling organs of the body; and while it seems in some way, as far as conceptual thought is concerned, to be something other than the nature of the thing from which it is sent forth, yet if it is considered in itself, it has nothing other than the things from which and in which it exists: so you must understand it to be with God and the Holy Spirit, if you take the significance of the example in a more sublime way. Therefore, without any fault or blame, it can be said that His Spirit receives something from the Only-Begotten. For since He proceeds from Him naturally, being his own, He is said to receive things that are His, together with all that He possesses perfectly. If this has been explained in coarser words, one ought not to be scandalized; rather, we should blame the poverty of our own tongue, which cannot express these divine things as it ought. For what discourse is not less than that ineffable nature and glory? D "The Paraclete," He says, "will announce to you, receiving from mine"; that is, He will speak nothing other than the purpose that is in Me, and since He is My Spirit, He will speak altogether the same things as I do, and will announce the things of My will.
CHAPTER II
That the Spirit of the Son, that is, the Holy Spirit, is naturally in the Son and in His substance, just as He is in the substance of the Father. XVI, 15. "All things that the Father has are mine; for this reason I said that He will receive of mine, and will announce it to you." Again, He [sets forth] the most precise and accurate character.For the Son shows himself to us also in these words, and gives us to understand that, since He is the fruit of His substance, He brings with Him all things that are its own by nature, and that they are his own, and very rightly so. For since the Son is in no way whatsoever separated or distinguished into any foreignness from the Father, in so far as He is in every respect both similar and equal—save only in being the Father—and since the substance shines forth in both not in a different manner, how would they not already be held in common, or rather, be the same in both, so that the things of the Father are in the Son, and the things of the Begotten in the Begetter? For this reason, I suppose, He shaped His words concerning these things with a certain sharpness of observation. For He did not say, "Everything that the Father has, I have," lest He be understood as a mere image formed B only by equality of type and adorned with external ornaments toward the archetype, just as we ourselves are; for we were made in the image of God. But, He says, "Mine they are," thereby demonstrating the supreme union which He has with the Begetter, and the power of consubstantiality existing in identical properties in both. This you may perceive most clearly when He also says elsewhere to the Father: "For all things that are mine are Thine, and Thine are mine." For in those in whom there is no difference at all, but a substantial equality and likeness in all things, how could they not be the same in nature?
God and Father has, therefore, from Himself and in Himself, His own Spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit, through whom He dwells in the saints and reveals mysteries to them; He is not C assumed for this purpose in the place of a minister (do not let such a thing enter your mind), but exists in Him substantially and proceeds from Him inseparably and indivisibly, as one who interprets as his own the things of Him in whom and from whom He is. For God does not converse with creation in any other way than through the Son in the Spirit. But this Spirit is also the own Spirit of the Only-Begotten, for He is consubstantial with the Father. Since, therefore, He says, it appears that for God and Father [it is] natural to be revealed to those who are worthy in His own Spirit, and to work through Him whatever He wills, and this also belongs to me naturally, for this reason I said that He will receive of mine and will announce it to you. D Let no one be troubled when he hears in these matters the term "receiving," but let him rather apply this to his mind: that divine things are spoken of according to our manner, but are not understood in this way, but rather in a manner that exceeds our understanding. And so we say that the Spirit receives from the Father and the Son the things that are theirs, not as if He did not at some time have the knowledge and power that is in them, and barely had it when He is thought to be "receiving." For the Spirit is always wise and powerful, or rather, He is very Wisdom and Power, not by participation, but by His nature. Just as we might say that the fragrance that strikes our nostrils from aromatics is in a certain way different from them, but can be considered as such only by conception and thought, do not imagine that it proceeds in any other way than from those from which it has taken the power by which it expresses itself, since it is not other, for the reason that it exists from them and in them. Such
A a thing, or rather one even higher than this, you will think of regarding God and the Holy Spirit; for it is as it were a fragrance of His essence, living and effective, which transmits to the creation the things that are from God, and implants in it, through itself, the participation of the Supreme Essence of all. For if the fragrance of aromatics imprints its own power upon garments, and in a certain way transforms into itself those things in which it happens to be, how would the Holy Spirit, since He is naturally from God, not have the power to render those in whom He happens to be partakers of the divine nature? The Son, therefore, being the fruit and character of the substance of the Begetter, claims for Himself all things that are His by nature. For this reason He says: "All things whatsoever the Father has, are mine. For this reason I said to you that He shall take of mine, and shall announce it to you," the Spirit, that is to say, who is through Him and in Him: through whom He dwells in the saints, just as He Himself dwells. For the Spirit is not other than Him, even if He is understood to exist distinctly in His own person. For the Spirit is Spirit, and not the Son.
"A little while, and you shall no longer see me; and again a little while, and you shall see me, because I go to the Father." B
Having previously promised to reveal to them through His own Spirit all things whatsoever were necessary and more useful, He also explains the passion, which was immediately to be followed by His assumption into heaven, which in turn the outpouring through the Spirit would necessarily follow. For having gone up to the Father, He could no longer dwell in the flesh with the holy apostles. He uses a concise turn of phrase, thereby removing the bitterness of grief. For He knew, He knew that the disciples were again affected by no small fear, and that they would be struck with most bitter grief, fearing that heavy and intolerable evils were hanging over them, because they understood that they would be left alone when the Savior ascended to the Father. For this reason, I suppose, He does not openly say that He will die, although the fury of the Jews was pushing through to that very point; but most dexterously and cleverly C He shows that the pains of the passion were to be followed by the joy of the resurrection, saying: "A little while, and you shall no longer see me; and again a little while, and you shall see me." For the time of death was now already at the doors, placing the Lord out of the sight of the disciples—for a very short time, until, having despoiled Hades and flung open the gates of darkness to those dwelling there, He should raise up His own temple again. Which having come to pass, He shone forth again to His own disciples, and promised to be with them all the days of the age, according to what is written. For even if He is absent in the flesh, after having presented Himself to the Father for us and sat at the right hand of the Begetter, yet He dwells with the worthy D through the Spirit, and is always together with the saints; for He promised that He would by no means leave us orphans. Therefore, with a little time now intervening before the passion: "A little while," He says, "and you shall not see me," for by death, in a certain way, as
A it were, He was to be hidden for a short space. "And again, He says, "A little while, and you shall see me." For on the third day He rose again, preaching also to the spirits in prison. For this was the most perfect proof of His philanthropy, in that He did not only deliver those who were still living on the earth, but also proclaimed the remission of sins, as it is written, to those who were already captured by death and sitting in darkness in the recesses of the abyss. But observe how, in speaking of the passion and the resurrection, He said: "A little while, and you shall not see me; and again a little while, and you shall see me," and added B besides: "Because I go to the Father," while passing over what follows in silence. For He did not indicate how long He would remain there, nor when He might perhaps return, nor for what reason. For it is not for us to know the times or the moments which the Father has set in His own authority, according to the words of the Savior Himself.
XVI, 17, 18. *Then some of His disciples said among themselves: "What is this that He says to us, ‘A little while, and you shall not see me, and again a little while, and you shall see me,’ and, ‘Because I go to the Father’?" They said therefore, "What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is saying."*
When the divine disciples did not yet understand what had been said, they converse among themselves, and they are in doubt as to what that "A little while, and again a little while" might signify to them, and also the words: "You shall not see me." However, Christ anticipates those who are eager to inquire, C demonstrating once again, very opportunely, that as God He knows hearts, and that even what is still revolving in the mind, and buried in the depth of the heart, He perceives just as if it had already been expressed by the tongue. For what, I ask, could possibly lie hidden from Him to whom all things are naked? Therefore He also says to one of the holy ones: "Who is this that hides counsel from me, and holds words in his heart, and thinks to hide them from me?" Therefore, He helps them in every way, and makes use of the opportunity which presented itself to nourish a certain and indubitable faith.
XVI, 19, 20. *Now Jesus knew that they wanted to ask Him, and said to them, "Are you inquiring among yourselves about this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you shall not see me, and again a little while, and you shall see me’? Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy."*
To those who are questioning Him very persistently and inquiring somewhat curiously into the meaning of what was said, He explains the passion more clearly, and foretells what they themselves were to suffer, and this most appositely. For He did not predict these things to strike them with premature terror, but that, being forewarned by this knowledge, they might emerge the stronger against the impending onset of terror. For what is expected as future has a milder impact than what is not hoped for in any way. When, therefore, you, O sincere and dearest disciples, [see] your leader and
teacher enduring from the Jewish malice, both insults and scourgings, and the violent deeds of absurd madness, then indeed you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; that is to say, those who do not know how to think on what is pleasing to God, but are fastened as it were to worldly pleasures. He signifies again that base and rabble-like multitude of the Jews, and that God-hated and impious troop of those who have taken it upon themselves to be leaders, the Scribes and Pharisees, who, mocking the temptations of the Savior, uttered many things against their own heads, sometimes saying: "If you are the Son of God, come down now from the cross, and we will believe in you"; B and at other times: "You who destroy the temple of God and in three days rebuild it, save yourself." For these were the foam of the all-polluted Jewish tongue. But, he says, although those who are in the world think, act, and speak so, you will indeed be saddened, yet you will not remain suffering this for a long time. For sorrow will be turned into joy. For I shall rise again, and I shall completely wipe away the cause of the sorrow; I shall check the tears, and I shall bring you back to an unending and everlasting gladness. For the joy of the saints is unending. For Christ lives forever, and the death of all has been undone through him. But it is somehow consistent to think that it will surely happen by reversal that those in the world will suffer eternal sorrow. For if, since Christ died according to the flesh, his sincere disciples were indeed saddened, but the world rejoiced at his struggles, once death and corruption have been altogether destroyed, and our Savior has been raised from the dead, mourning has been turned into joy for the saints; C but evidently, joy will be turned into mourning for those in the world.
"A woman when she is in labor has sorrow, because her hour has come; but when she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the tribulation, because of the joy that a man was born into the world. So also you now have sorrow, but I shall see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one takes your joy from you."
He again intensifies the discovery of consolation, and through various discourses he brings them a means from all sides to repel the sharpness of the sorrow. For see how he hastens to persuade them through a clear example that they ought to be steadfast, and not to be overly sluggish in either toils or sorrows, if they are destined in every way and inevitably to end in joy. For, he says, the fruit of bitter labor is the child, and through pains comes the joy to mothers for their children. D But if they had at the start been seen to have surrendered to the pains of labor, they would not even have wished to be pregnant at all, avoiding the marriage that is the cause of this, and they would never have become mothers, being deprived by sloth of a vastly desirable and most prayed-for object. In this way, therefore, to you also your own pain will not be without reward. For you will rejoice, when you see a strange child born into the world, incorruptible and immune to destruction. He surely indicates himself. For perpe-
- A tuous and irremovable, he says, shall the joy concerning him be. For according to the voice of Paul, and indeed rather according to the power of Truth itself: “Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more” (Rom. vi, 9). Stably, therefore, and perpetually is the joy regarding him, and justly so. For if the death of Christ brought sadness to us, who shall take away the joy from us, who know that he lives and abides forever, the giver and bestower of spiritual goods to us? From the saints, therefore, no one takes away joy, according to the words of the Savior; but it was taken away immediately from those who crucified him. For once the passion was resolved—the very thing at which they thought they ought to rejoice—sorrow will come upon them from thence by an inevitable necessity, from the very place where they thought they would mostly rejoice. B
XVI, 23, 24. *In that day you shall ask me nothing. Amen, amen I say to you, if you ask the Father anything in my name, he will give it to you. Hitherto you have not asked anything in my name: ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may be full.*
He says that the holy disciples will be wiser and more intelligent when they have been clothed with power from on high, as it is written, and, being illuminated in their minds by the torch-bearing of the Spirit, will be able in the end to understand all things, even if they do not perhaps-interrogate him while he is present. For the Savior does not say this because they will no longer have need of illumination from him, but because, having received his Spirit and having him dwelling in their hearts, they will have a mind full of every good and of most perfect knowledge. We define perfect knowledge as that which is right and unshaken and which does not tolerate either sensing or saying anything absurd, but which holds a right opinion concerning the holy and consubstantial Trinity. For even if we see now "through a glass in a dark manner" and "know in part," C according to the voice of Paul, yet, by adhering to the truth of the dogmas and following the goal of the holy and divinely inspired Scripture, we have knowledge that is not imperfect—which no one can obtain otherwise than by the illumination of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, when he exhorted his disciples to ask for spiritual gifts, and at the same time imparted to them confidence that they would enjoy them if they asked, he confirms that they shall receive from the Father by the addition of "Amen" to faith, if they seek anything from him as suppliants, he himself, of course, mediating and co-bestowing with the Father. For this is what "in my name" signifies; for we do not approach God and the Father in any other way than through the Son. For through him we have access in one Spirit to the Father, as it is written. Therefore he says: “I am the door; I am the way. No man cometh to the Father but D by me.” For in so far as he is the Son and God, along with the Father he grants goods to the saints, and is found to be a co-bestower of the blessing toward us. And indeed, the divinely inspired Paul set before us a most manifest proof of this matter, thus writing: “Grace to you, and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus
A Christ.” But since he is called mediator and high priest and advocate, he offers to the Father the prayers made on our behalf. For he himself is the confidence of us all before the Father. Therefore, in the name of our Savior Christ, prayers must be made. For in this way the Father would most readily incline himself, and will bestow good things upon those who ask of him, so that having received them we may rejoice.
For being filled with spiritual gifts, and having obtained the rich supply of understanding from him through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, we shall wage war against—and very easily overcome—every base and filthy pleasure. And as we perform good works in this way, and proceed to the desire of every virtue with exceptional eagerness, and are stirred up toward everything that appears to conduce to holiness by the hope of the reward, we rejoice exceedingly. Having sent away the sadness arising from an evil conscience, we nourish our own mind with the joys that are in Christ. B And this was a practice unknown to the ancients. For no such mode of prayer had been studied, on account of ignorance; but now it is established through Christ, and quite rightly, since the time of correction has dawned and the perfection of every good has been introduced through him. For just as the law brought nothing to perfection, but the righteousness that was practiced according to it was imperfect, so too was the mode of prayer.
“These things I have spoken to you in proverbs, but the hour is coming, when I shall no longer speak to you in proverbs, but will openly announce to you about the Father.” C He calls a proverb an obscure word, not very manifest, but somewhat overshadowed by subtleties so fine that the hearers are not able to grasp it very readily. For such is the form of those things which are said by way of proverbs. Therefore, he says, the things that I have spoken, I have spoken to you as in proverbs and riddles at the proper time, and at a time when the indisputable revelation was not yet at hand. For the hour, he says—that is, the time—will come, it will come, in which I shall explain to you explicitly the things concerning the glory of the Father, and I will implant in you an understanding that surpasses the human mind.
And what is the time for this? He did not say very clearly. We shall suppose, however, that he means either that time when, through the gift of Christ after his resurrection from the dead, we have received knowledge through the Spirit, which Christ himself supplied to us; D or perhaps the time that is to come and follows after the contraction of the world, in which we shall see the glory of God uncovered and clearly, when he will cast into us the most radiant knowledge concerning himself. Therefore also Paul says that prophecy will be brought to nothing, and that knowledge will cease, intending no other knowledge than this which we possess for the present. “For we see through a mirror, and know in part,” as we were just saying. “But when the perfect comes, that which is in part will be brought to nothing.” If you wish to know how, or in what manner, I shall say again.
A Just as in the dark of night the bright beauty of the stars shines forth, as each one emits its own light, but as soon as the sun’s radiance has shone out, that splendor of the individual stars vanishes and yields to the sun’s rays, so, I think, will that knowledge with which we are now endowed cease at that time, and what is in part will come to an end, when the perfect light has entered in and pours upon us the most complete brilliance of the knowledge of God. Then, with freedom, being now able to grasp it, Christ will announce the things concerning his own Father. For now, through shadow and examples and, at times, a variety of images taken from the things themselves, and from types that affect us, we are barely led to a dim knowledge because of the weakness inherent in our mind. But then, needing no type at all, nor riddles or parables, we shall contemplate—with, so to speak, a naked face and an unimpeded mind—the beauty of the divine nature of God the Father, beholding the glory of Him who has shone forth from Him: “For we shall see Him as He is,” according to the voice of John. For now we do not see Him in the glory that is fully befitting to God, because of his humanity; but when the time of the dispensation in the flesh has passed away, and the mystery that was performed for us and on our behalf is completed, He will be seen in his own glory and in that of the Father. For since He is God by nature, and therefore consubstantial with the Begetter, He will be endowed with honors entirely equal, and will eventually shine forth in glory that is his own and befitting to God. C XVI, 26, 27. *In that day you will ask in my name: and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father for you. For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me, and have believed that I came forth from God.*
He permits nothing at all to be requested through prayer and supplication unless it be in his own name. Yet He promises that the Father will most readily give them what they have requested, not solely through the impulse of the Son, who is Advocate and mediator, but in a way that, as it were, spontaneously moves the Father to such munificence, and so to speak satisfies a debt of the highest kindness toward those who love Christ. Nor should anyone think or foolishly assert that the disciples, or any saints whatsoever, could in their own affairs have absolutely no need of the mediation of the Son. For all things are indeed from the Father through Him in the Spirit, since He is the advocate, as John testifies, not only for our sins, but also for the whole world. By saying this, however, He usefully shows once again that it is by far the most pleasing thing to the Father for his Son to be honored and loved. Because the miserable swarms of the Jews did not understand this, they did not fear to provoke Him with intolerable insults, and sought to kill Him, as it is written, because He was reforming the souls of believers from a legal and crude commandment to the subtlety of evangelical conversation. For those miserable and ignorant men said...
or rather, having whetted their unholy tongues against Him—A "If this man were from God, He would not break the Sabbath." He says, therefore, that the kindness of God the Father will most readily be given to those who have believed without doubt and are very well disposed, because He came forth from God and the Father. For He says that He even anticipates and will perhaps forestall the request of the Mediator, and will flood with spiritual blessings the minds of those who have a correct understanding concerning Me, and not as it seemed to the lovers of the letter, who judged in a worldly way. B And the words, "I came forth from God," we shall here again take to mean either that I have been begotten and have shone forth from His substance—in such a way, however, that I am and am understood to be in My own person, though not entirely divided from the Father; for the Father is in the Son, and again the Son is in the Father according to nature—or else that "I came forth" is used for, "I have become man among you," having put on your form and nature. For the proper nature of each of existing things is, as it were, the place from which it might go forth when it passes into something else, and becomes what it was not. And we certainly do not say that since the Only-Begotten appeared and truly became man like us, He ceased to be God; "For He is the same yesterday, today, and forever," but having rather assumed what He was not, while preserving His own [nature], He is understood to have "come forth" in a certain way, according to our rightful mode of comprehension. C But you may also take "I came forth from the Father" in another way if you wish. For the Pharisees, being very prone to ignorance—as I have already said—thought that the Lord had come into their midst like one of the false prophets, not sent by God but of his own volition, as was the custom for those who, when they approached Him, would speak against the Law. For this reason they feigned disobedience, saying that the observation of the commandments was most pleasing to God and the Father, but that it was being dissolved by His teachings. They therefore cast Christ aside as an enemy of God and as one fighting against the divine laws promulgated through Moses, and for this reason they judged Him to be alien to God. But the blessed disciples were not so; for they loved Him, being endowed with a saner mind than the Jews, and believed truly that He came forth from God, in the ways just mentioned to us. D For this reason, they are also loved by the Father, receiving the equal grace as if in exchange. And if those who believe that the Son came forth from God are most dear and very pleasing to God and the Father, then those are clearly and truly hated by God who have nursed an opinion contrary to this. And if God is most ready to listen to those who love the Son, He will clearly not accept the prayers of those who are not such. And this, then, was what was said to them through the voice of Isaiah: "When you stretch out your hands to Me, I will turn My eyes away from you, and if you multiply prayer, I will not hear you. For your hands are full of blood."
A XVI, 28. "I came forth from the Father, and have come into the world. Again I leave the world, and go to the Father."
This is a clear and irrefutable proof that the Lord is not one of the false prophets, nor did He come to us to speak of His own will, departing from what seemed good to the Father, according to the ignorant and detestable suspicion of the Jews. For He returns to the Father, and returns with power, from where He knows He originated. Indeed, someone might rightly say, unable to endure the madness of the Jews: "If, according to your opinion, O Jews, Christ were not true, would He have introduced the teaching of the evangelical life without the Father’s approval, while showing that the legal commandment was ultimately ineffectual and useless for the perfection of piety?" For you accuse Him of violating the Sabbath, and if He performs any miracle among you, you say with the utmost impiety that He is accustomed to doing so by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of demons. How then did He ascend into heaven? Or how did the Father receive Him onto the same throne, with the B angels opening the gates on high for Him, if, as you wish, He opposed the Father’s decrees and introduced a doctrine which the supreme King of the universe did not approve? Was He taken up secretly? Was there not a great crowd to whom the divine and heavenly angel said: "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven, will so come in the same way as you saw Him going into heaven." What, then, do you say, O Jew, in reply? Will you not at least believe the voice of the angel? Will you not accept witnesses, and those who are many, spectators of the event itself, when the law clearly says, "By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established"? Therefore, how can you deservedly affix the mark of a false prophet onto Him who returns with power to the Father who is in the heavens? Would it not follow more logically, from a clear demonstration of the fact, that He should be believed by you without doubt, and [recognized] as being indeed from God, clearly from the Father, and not at all other than Him whom the law itself and the prophets proclaimed? He says that He came into this world, and again returns from this world to the Father, not being removed from the Father when He became man, nor [removed] from humanity when He returned to the Father in the flesh. For He is the true God, who fills all things with ineffable power, and is absent from none of the things that exist.
D XVI, 29, 30. "His disciples say to Him: Behold, now You speak plainly, and speak no proverb. Now we know that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You: by this we believe that You came forth from God."
They perceive and marvel at this most evident proof of the matter. For He speaks to them without any circumlocution of words. They rejoice, therefore, having received a most manifest demonstration of the truth, and [seeing] that there is nothing difficult in Him.
A They further add: "Since You know secret thoughts, and have anticipated the question which we ourselves were about to ask, we have believed that You have come forth from God." For to know the inner chambers of the mind and the secrets of the heart belongs to God alone. Since, therefore, You Yourself know all things, who would doubt that You have shone forth from that God who knows all things? That divine and B admirable sign, therefore, became a kindling for the disciples’ most certain faith among other things, so that it may truly be said of them: "Give an opportunity to a wise man, and he will be wiser; make known [the truth] to a just man, and he will increase in receiving" (Prov. ix, 9). But they say, "Now we believe," not because they mean that they then first began to believe that the Lord knows all things when they heard these words or saw the miracle; but because the roots of the faith already initiated began to strike deeper into their souls, and [they began] to believe more firmly that He is God, and [that He is] from God by nature and in truth. We shall understand, therefore, that "now we believe" C not as referring to the beginning of belief, but to a firm perseverance in the faith and conviction already embraced.
XVI, 31, 32. *Jesus answered them: "Do you now believe? Behold, the hour comes, and is now come, that you shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and I am not alone, because the Father is with me."*
The Savior again clearly shows that the time for being established in all good things had not yet arrived, the time at which the Spirit was to descend upon them from heaven and grant them power from on high, as it is written (Luc. xxiv, 49). For then, truly, having cast off their narrow-mindedness, they shone forth with unconquerable boldness, fearing neither the incursions of the Jews, D nor the intemperance of the Pharisees, nor any other danger whatsoever, but standing freely and intrepidly for the divine preaching, and saying openly and plainly: "We ought to obey God rather than men (Act. v, 29). For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard" (Act. iv, 20). At the same time, therefore, He shows that they were not yet established in perfect faith, because they had not yet tasted of the participation of the Spirit, and, offering as a proof and indication of this the fear that was soon to come upon them, what He predicted—that this would happen—seems to contribute not a little to them: for they will believe more firmly and certainly that He is God by nature, when they perceive that He is ignorant of nothing that is to come. "Behold, therefore," He says, "the time is not far off; nay, it is already at the gates, when, having left Me alone, you shall each return to your own; that is, to sum it up in a few words, when, conquered by unmanly fear, you will consult only for your own life, and, having put aside the love which you owe to your Master for the sake of your own safety, you will scatter wherever you are permitted." How, therefore, do you now believe, when the disgrace of timidity has not yet been cast off, because, not...
yet having partaken of the boldness that comes through the Spirit? That the blessed disciples turned to flight, unable to endure the incursion of the Jews when the traitor arrived, leading the unholy band of soldiers and the attendants of the leaders, is nowhere in dispute. But we say that Christ was left alone only in the sense that no one of those who were accustomed to follow and wait upon Him was present. For as God from God, and naturally and inseparably in God, He was not alone. Christ said this in a somewhat more human way for our sake, teaching that when a B trial or persecution, or some other such thing, at times comes upon us and calls us to a glorious danger—I mean that for the sake of piety—we should not lose the hope that we might be able to escape, and that it is not necessary to abandon [our goal], even if perhaps none of our like-minded brothers run alongside us, helping us as far as they are able and, through their accord, as it were sharing the danger that hangs over us. For even if they should turn to flight, and having acted in a way that manifests an intolerable excess of cowardice, it is proper to be disposed as though God will not lose heart for this reason. For He alone will suffice to be able to save the one who draws near to Him. We are not alone, even if no one is seen to be present, as I just said, since we have the all-powerful God as a helper, aid, and protector, who hedges us around with most kindly assistance, according to the words of the Psalm: "Lord, as with a shield of your good will you have crowned us." And we say these things now concerning this matter, not because we admire the cowardice as a noble thing, C when it is fine for us to lay down this life in the body, waging war and struggling together with those who are in danger for the sake of God; but rather that we might believe that, even if there are none who are willing and eager to do this with us, we must not despair. For we shall not be alone, since God is with us.
XVI, 33. *These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good courage, I have overcome the world.*
In these words, to put it briefly, Christ usefully recapitulates the discourse He had just made to them, and having gathered the power of what was said into a few words, He has provided them with the briefest knowledge of His own will. "I have spoken such words to you," He says, "exhorting you to have peace with me, and so that, besides this, it might be clear to you that many hardships await you in this D world, and many tribulations for my sake. Yet you shall by no means be overcome by these evils: 'I have overcome the world.'" But so that the meaning of this passage may be the clearer to you, come, let us first say what it is "to have peace in Christ." For the world, or rather the lovers of worldly things, sometimes cultivate peace among themselves, but by no means in Christ. For example, those who give themselves entirely to the pleasures of the body are very close friends to those who...
share their habits; and he who desires money that in no way belongs to him, and who for this reason is a greedy person or a thief, will surely be pleasing to one who practices the same evil as he. A “For every animal loves its kind,” as it is written, “and a man will consort with his equals” (Eccl. XIII, 19). But in all these things, the revered name of peace is truly prostituted, and the word is falsified. With the saints, however, it is not so. For sin is not the bond of peace, but rather faith, hope, charity, and the power of piety toward God. And this exists in Christ. Therefore, the peace in Christ has appeared to us as the head and summary of all blessings, introducing along with it, so to speak, mutual charity among us like a sister. Paul says that charity contains the fullness of the entire divine law (Rom. XIII, 10). That it will certainly follow for those who love one another that they will also, above all else, love God, is not a matter for dispute, since John says that if anyone loves his brother, he will certainly also love God (I Joan. IV, 20, 21). B He also declares something else: namely, “You will have tribulation in the world; but take heart, I have overcome the world.” If anyone chooses to understand this more simply, he will certainly say: Christ has proved himself higher and more powerful than all sin and worldly affliction. And because he has won, he will grant victory also to those who are tempted for his sake. But if anyone wishes to reason more subtly about these things, he might offer something like this: just as we overcame corruption and death by the fact that, in so far as he was man, Christ rose again for us and on our behalf, overthrowing the dominion of death through his own resurrection (Hebr. II, 14), C so also the power of this matter will surely reach us, since he who won was from us, in so far as he appeared as man. And just as we overcome sin because it was conquered in the first Christ, and this benefit is transferred from him to us as to his own kin, so we ought to be confident that the world will also be conquered by us, since Christ conquered as man for our sake, having in this become the beginning, the door, and the way for human nature. For we who once fell and were conquered have now become superior and have conquered, because of him who won from us and for us. For if he conquered as God, it is nothing to us, but if as man, we have conquered in him. For a second Adam has appeared to us from heaven, as the Scripture testifies (I Cor. XV, 45). D As therefore we have borne the image of the man of dust, according to the likeness of him, by having fallen under the yoke of sin, so we shall certainly also bear the likeness of the heavenly one, that is, of Christ, by conquering the tyranny of sin and overcoming every worldly tribulation: for Christ has overcome.
CHAPTER III.
That no one would say that the Son is in need of glory suitable to God, although he is found saying: “Father, glorify your Son.”
These things Jesus spoke, and lifting up his eyes...
to heaven, he said: “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son, that your Son also may glorify you.” B
Having sufficiently provided the disciples with provisions for salvation, and having sharpened them with appropriate insights and words for a more accurate perception of dogmas, and having established them as most battle-hardened against temptations, and having deeply rooted a youthful spirit in each, he usefully changes the form of his discourse directly into a mode of prayer, allowing no time to intervene between his conversation with them and his conversation with God and the Father, again manifesting himself to us as a model of excellent conduct in this as well. For I think that one who has his purpose set toward piety ought not to be ignorant that it is proper either to speak of things that are useful and necessary to one’s brothers, or, if one might not be doing this, to hasten to spend the use of one's speech in supplications to God, so that no room for vain talk might be seen to creep in from this; for thus the orderly arrangement of the tongue would proceed according to the proper standard. For to whom is it not very evident that an overflow of speech—especially into foolish talk—is not free from blame? Indeed, as some wise man has said: “From much speaking you will not escape sin; but by sparing your lips, you will be sensible.” But you will also admire another thing in this, which allows us to derive no small amount of utility. For he makes the beginning of his prayer on behalf of his own glory and that of the Father; after which he immediately adds a prayer for us. Why so? He strongly urges those who are upright and lovers of God, and teaches them the method of prayer above all. For just as it is necessary for us to do all things well, not turning this to our own glory, but to the glory of God and the Father—for it is written, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven”—so also when the time urges us to prayer, it is most proper to ask first for the things that pertain to God’s glory before the things that pertain to us, just as Christ himself certainly did. “Thus,” he says, “you shall pray: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. Give us this day our supersubstantial bread.” What is being done here, therefore, is a form and model of prayer for us. For it was fitting that the leader and teacher of every good thing and every instruction that leads us back to God should not be an envoy, nor an angel, but Christ himself. For we are called and are in truth, according to the voice of the prophet, “taught of God.” And it is worth the effort to examine more subtly what he says to his own Father. For I think that we must investigate the truth of the dogmas first with a certain sharp attention of the soul. “Father, therefore,” he says, “the hour has come; glorify your Son, that your Son also may glorify you.” If anyone were to look at the context of these words at first glance, D
he might perhaps deem him to be lacking in glory. A Yet if he were to weigh within himself the dignity of the Only-Begotten, he would, I think, easily banish those wretched reasonings. For it is utterly stupid to think that the Son—even though He is the Lord of glory—is lacking any glory or that He should be deprived of the honor due to Him. For this is how the God-breathed Scriptures call Him. Moreover, one may see elsewhere that He says to the Father: “Father, glorify me with the glory which I had with you before the world was.” Who then is so bereft of mind and so hostile to all truth as not to understand and acknowledge that, as far as His own nature is concerned, the Only-Begotten is not deprived of the glory befitting God? But because, existing in the form and in every equality of God the Father, He did not think it robbery to be equal to God, He descended to our humility B and emptied Himself, having put on this most vile body and having embraced the likeness of human smallness out of love; as if the appointed time had already arrived and was present, in which He had to fulfill once more the need for the mystery itself, and to put on again the ancient and essential glory, having saved the whole world and having saved for life and the knowledge of God those who are in it, He shows the Father as being again well-pleased and willing in this, and makes his discourse to Him, saying that he must by all means be restored to the dignity of his own nature. Yet He returns in a way as the accomplisher of the works of the Godhead, even after being manifested with flesh, not as a servant of someone else's activity, perhaps, but as the wisdom and power of God the Father. For we shall conceive Him in this way, and not otherwise, as fulfilling the works of the Godhead with authority. For all things are from the Father, but not C without the Son. For how could God the Father do any of the things befitting Him without the motion of action, if the Wisdom and the Power—I mean, the Son Himself—were not present with Him and co-accomplishing the things that are intended? Therefore, the wise Evangelist, who began the writing of this book, says at the beginning of the discourse that “all things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made.” Since, therefore, the argument of consubstantiality persuades us to understand that all things are indeed from the Father, but all things through the Son in the Spirit; and having deadened death and corruption and having destroyed the tyranny of the devil, He was about to cause the whole region under the sun to shine with the illuminations through the Spirit, and thereby to be manifested as God truly and genuinely by nature, He says of necessity: “Father, glorify your Son, that your Son may also glorify you.” And no one possessing a mind would say that the Son is asking for glory from the Father, as perhaps a man would ask it from another man, and promising to return the favor D (for it is too base, or rather totally unintelligent, to have such a conception of God), but the Savior said these things, signifying that His own glory is necessary to the Father, so that He might be acknowledged as consubstantial. For just as God and Father would incur the mark of ignobility if He did not have such a Son begotten from Himself, as a God born of God ought to be according to nature: so, I think, glory and brightness
as it happens because He has such a Son, as He is understood and declared to be. The Father is therefore glorified in the glory of the Son, as I was just saying, A by giving Him glory while it is understood from His works what sort of Only-Begotten He is and from what Father He is born, and by receiving it in turn, in that it is recognized whose Father, and what kind of Father, the Father of the Son truly is. Therefore, the renown of glory will pass substantially and naturally from the Father to the Son, and from the Son to the Father. But if anyone should perhaps think that this was said more humbly than befits His majesty because of the assumption of humanity, he does not do so without reason, but he will not reach the exact sense of these words. For if He were petitioning only for the Father’s glory, we might not unreasonably ascribe that petition to the mediocrity of His humanity; but since He promises that He will in turn also glorify the Father, is it necessary to interpret the passage as has been said? B And here, too, the Lord speaks; for this also has become habitual to Him, and He is in no way lacking in appropriate reasoning; yet He will not quite reach the most precise [theological] contemplations. For if he were asking only for the glory of the Father, there would be nothing absurd in blaming the request by the standards of humanity. But since He professes to glorify the Father in return, how does it not already appear necessary to apply ourselves more eagerly to the contemplations just previously submitted to us?
CAP. IV. That it is in no way injurious to the glory of the Son that He is said to have received something from God and the Father, since there is a pious explanation for the matter.
XVII, 2. *As you have given Him power over all flesh, that all that You have given Him, He may give them eternal life.*
Christ explains again, by these words also, for us the manner of glory through which God and the Father will make His own Son illustrious and most glorious; and He Himself, in turn, will be glorified by His own offspring. He expands the argument and makes the point clear for our edification and benefit. For what need was there for God and the Father, who knows all things, to be taught the manner of asking? He calls upon, therefore, the benevolence of the Father toward us. For since He is the High Priest of our souls, C in that He appeared as man, although existing as God by nature with the Father, He makes these discourses on our behalf most fittingly, persuading us to believe that even now He is the propitiation for our sins, and a just advocate, according to the words of John. On account of this, Paul also, wishing us to be so disposed, writes: *For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things, according to the likeness, without sin.* Therefore, since He is High Priest in that He appeared as man, and at the same time has offered Himself, an unblemished sacrifice, as a redemption of the life of all to God and the Father, like a certain first-fruit of humanity, in order that He might have preeminence in all things, as Paul says. And he offers again the rebellious race of man, purified by His own blood, and to the newness of
A life reformed, through the Holy Spirit. Since, however, as we have often said, all things are accomplished by the Father through the Son in the Spirit, He nevertheless requests benefits on our behalf as mediator and high priest, although He is, together with the Begetter, the joint-giver and co-dispenser of divine and spiritual gifts. For Christ divides the Spirit according to His own will and authority to whomsoever He wishes. And these matters are thus. But let our discourse examine again what the form of this petition means. “Father,” He says, “glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee.” How, then, or in what manner will that which I spoke of be accomplished? “I wish,” He says, “that just as You have given me authority over all flesh, so also that everything which You have given me may have eternal life.” For the Father glorified His own Son, having placed the whole world under His scepter, and He Himself was in turn glorified through Him. For the Son was glorified by the Father, being believed by all as the offspring and fruit of the Almighty, and as one who effortlessly subjects all things to the yokes of His kingdom; and the Father was in turn glorified as if by His own offspring. For since the offspring was known to be able to accomplish all things easily with might, the grace of glory passed over to the One who begat Him. As, therefore, He says, You have glorified and have been glorified, by giving Him authority and lordship over all, in the manner clearly described, so I wish that nothing of that which has been given should perish; for this glory also will run back again from the Father to the Son, and from the Son to the Father. For it was fitting, it was entirely fitting, that those who have been subjected and placed under the hand of the all-powerful Word of God, having been set free once and for all unto salvation, should remain firm in everlasting blessings, no longer being tyrannized by death, nor held by corruption and sins, or rather, as it were, still being subject to ancient evils. But since the statement, “You have given Him authority over all flesh,” will likely trouble some of the simpler sort, come, let us say again a few things usefully regarding this, not hesitating because of the need, even if every discourse is meager for the explanation of such matters. For the Lord says this most appropriately to the form He has assumed, I mean to the humility and the mediocrity of humanity B. And receive the reasoning. For if we blush to hear that He has been called a servant on our account, even though He is the Lord of all together with the Father, and that He has been appointed King over His holy mountain Zion, even though He is able as God to rule over all by His own nature, and does not possess it as something acquired, it is consistent to blush should He say He receives anything, as a human being. But if there we marvel at His voluntary subjection, not being ignorant of the dignity substantially inherent in Him, why should we not also marvel at this? For possessing all things as God, He says He receives them as a human being, for whom to reign is not substantial but adventitious. “For what do you have that you did not receive?” C It will befit the condition of creatures, and Christ is also a creature in so far as He has been made man, although in nature He is uncreated, in so far as He has shone forth from God. For all goods are understood to be naturally and properly in God, and truly in D
A Him, while in us they are adventitious and bestowed through divine grace. When, therefore, as man, He says that power over all flesh has been given to Him by the Father, being established as our leader, do not be scandalized; for it is fitting to call to mind the rationale of the incarnation. But if it pleases you to interpret these things more divinely, let there come to your mind again that which the Lord said somewhere to the Jews: “Amen, amen I say to you, no one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draw him.” For whom the Father wishes to vivify, these He offers to His own life-giving virtue to be vivified—that is, to His own Son—and thereby strengthens them through Him and instills wisdom in them; nay, if He even wishes to bring any under the yoke of His own dominion, He does not perform this otherwise than through the living and omnipotent virtue, through which He governs all things, that is, through His own offspring. For since men can do nothing of the things that are above them of their own selves, they have from God the power of ruling: “For by Him kings reign,” as it is written, “and by Him tyrants rule the earth.” But God, being the God of all, subjects to Himself the human race—which has broken away from the love of Him and thrown off the yoke of His dominion—not having received the power from another than Himself, but rather as it were bestowing the authority over them upon His own power, and through it subduing whatever He wishes to take. For God the Father subjects to the Son as to His own power; and it is entirely through Him, and not otherwise, that everything that wishes to fall under Him through obedience is subjected. For just as He makes all things wise and gives them life through Him, so also He rules over all things through Him. It is to be noted, however, that the grace of the benevolence from above was not restricted solely to Israel, but has extended to all flesh. For whatever submits itself to the power of the Savior will entirely partake of the life and grace that come from Him. B C
CHAPTER V.
*That the Son will not cease to be true God, even if He names only the Father as the true God.*XVII, 3. *And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.*
He established faith as the mother of eternal life, and says that the power of true knowledge of God is to be the cause of eternal survival—in immortality, clearly, and in blessedness and holiness. We say, however, that that is true knowledge of God which is innocent of the crime of false and alien worship. For some have worshipped the creature in place of the Creator, and have dared to say to the wood: “Thou art my father,” and to the stone: “Thou hast begotten me.” For into such a depth of madness have the wretched fallen, that they have attributed the title of the Deity to matter devoid of sense, and have ascribed to it the ineffable glory of the substance that surpasses all things. Therefore, only and true D
A God does He call the Father, opposing him to those falsely named gods, and setting him over against those erroneously termed gods as the True One. For this is the aim of the discourse. But He most usefully, while naming the Father one and only, makes mention also of His own glory, saying: “And whom You sent, Jesus Christ.” For one could not otherwise grasp the perfect knowledge of the Father unless the knowledge regarding the Offspring, that is, the Son, also runs along with it, closely and conjunctly. For as soon as one has known who the Father is, he has surely known the Son also. Therefore, having named one and true B the Father and God, He has not set Himself outside. For since He is in Him, and is of Him by nature, He will be the true God, and equally so, and the Only in the Only. For besides Him, there shall be no other true God, and Only. “For the gods of the gentiles are demons;” but the creature also is servile, which I know not how some worship, having been dragged down into a reprobate and exceedingly impassioned frame of mind. Therefore, to many who in this world are thought by deception to be gods and have obtained the title illegitimately, the one and only true God is opposed, and the Son who is in Him and of Him by nature, both distinct and at the same time conjoined in natural unity. Distinct, indeed, because He is understood to subsist in His own person; for the Son is the Son and not the Father; but conjoined, again, because He altogether accompanies the Father’s existence, and he who is of Him is so by nature. For Father and Son exist at once; since indeed He is and is called Father for this reason, because He is understood to have begotten. “This, therefore,” He says, “is the eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and whom You sent, Jesus Christ.” C Will someone, then, of the studious listeners, to whom it is a concern not to approach divine doctrines superficially, say: “Do we declare that knowledge is eternal life? Or how will it suffice to know the true and naturally real God, so as to have all certainty of hope, and have need of nothing else? And yet, how is faith without works dead?” But when we speak of faith, we signify nothing else than true knowledge concerning God; for through believing comes knowledge. And the prophet Isaiah will testify to this, saying to some: “For unless you believe, you shall not understand.” But that knowledge which consists in bare theoretical speculation is a thing altogether useless, the writings of the saints make plain to us, which I think you will perceive even from this. For one of the holy disciples said D somewhere: “You believe that there is one God; you do well; the demons also believe, and tremble.” What then shall we answer to these things? How will Christ be found to speak truly, saying that eternal life is to know the one and true Father and God, and with Him the Son? But I believe it must be said in response to this, that the Savior’s word is surely true in every way. For knowledge is life; inasmuch as it brings forth the whole power of the mystery, and provides the participation in the mystical blessing, by which we are conjoined to the living and life-giving Word. For because of this, I think, Paul says that the Gentiles also were made fellow-bodied and fellow-partakers of Christ,
A seeing that they have partaken of His holy flesh and blood. Thus, they might be understood as members. Knowledge, then, is life, introducing along with itself the blessing through the Spirit. For He dwells in our hearts, refashioning into adoption those who receive Him, and molding them toward incorruption and piety through an evangelical manner of life. Therefore, our Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that knowledge of the one true God is a provider, and, so to speak, a matchmaker of the aforementioned goods, calls it eternal life, as it is the mother and nurse of eternal life, laboring in its own power and nature to beget the causes of life and referring them to Himself. But I think one must observe carefully how Christ has said that B the most perfect knowledge of the one true God is fulfilled in us. For notice how it does not happen without knowledge of the Son, and, consequently, of the Holy Spirit. For in this way the Monad is understood and believed in the Trinity, according to the Scriptures. For the Jews, having been guided by the commandments of Moses toward a withdrawal from the many falsely named [gods], were taught to approach and worship the one and true God. "For you shall worship the Lord your God," the Law says, "and Him only shall you serve." But those who had hitherto worshipped and clung to the one and true God, as if they did not yet possess a perfect knowledge of Him whom they worshipped, are now called to it by the words of our Savior, learning not only that He is the sole, one, and true Creator of the universe, but also that He is the Father, and whose Father He is C—nay, rather, looking at Him precisely in the most perfect and all-encompassing image, that is, in the Son. For through the character it is easy for one to arrive even very readily at the pure knowledge of the archetypes. Most necessarily, therefore, our Lord Jesus Christ said that those who are called through faith into adoption as sons and into eternal life must learn not only that He is the one true God, but also that He is the Father, and whose Father He is—namely, of Him who for our sake became flesh and was sent for the restoration of the corrupted rational nature, that is, of humanity.
CHAPTER VII That the Son was not devoid of the glory worthy of God, even though He is found saying to the Father: "And now glorify Me with the glory which I had before the world was."
XVII, 4, 5. "I have glorified You on the earth: I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was."
Again, He joins the human to the divine, and the prayer is in a certain way mixed, looking to both sides, which neither D [leaves] the person of the speaker without the glory worthy of God, nor [takes away] the [measures] of humanity...
A but tempers into one thing that which comes from both, omitting nothing of what has been said. For our Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that it was necessary not only to teach those who believe that He is the Only-begotten God, but also that for our sake He became man, in order that He might acquire all men for God the Father, and reform them into newness of life, redeeming humanity with His own blood, and, being one, the most worthy of all, risking His life for the life of all. He says, therefore, that He has glorified the Father upon the earth, having finished the work which He gave to Him. But come, let us again devise, as it were, a twofold path for the understanding of these things, and let us say that this also has been spoken both in a human manner and in a manner worthy of God. If, then, as man He speaks such things, you shall receive it thus: Christ has been constituted as our pattern, and principle, and image of divine conversation, and He has clearly shown us how and in what manner it is fitting for us to live. For it is for this reason that the interpreters of the divine Scriptures make the most subtle explanation regarding Him. He teaches us, therefore, even by what He says here, that when each one of us fulfills the ministry assigned to him and carries to an end the things commanded by God, then indeed he glorifies Him entirely through his own achievements—not as if adding anything to One who has none (for the divine and ineffable nature is full of glory), but because he causes Him to be glorified by those who see and are benefited. And indeed B the Savior says: "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven" (Matt. v, 16). For when we act bravely and work good for the sake of God, we do not claim the glory that arises from this for our own heads, but we procure the fame for the honor and glory of Him who holds sovereignty over all. For just as when we practice a life discordant with God and most abominate, as though violating His ineffable glory, we are justly punished and render our own soul liable to penalties, hearing the voice of the prophet: "Because of you My name is always blasphemed among the Gentiles" (Isa. lii, 5), so, I think, when we accomplish a work of exceptional virtue, then indeed we also ensure that He is glorified. Having, therefore, fulfilled the work given to us by God, then also quite justly, ascending to the confidence most proper to those who are genuine sons, we shall demand back, as it were, an equal glory from the God who has been glorified through us. "For as I live," says the Lord, "I will glorify those who glorify Me, and the one who despises Me shall be despised" (1 Reg. ii, 30). In order, therefore, that Christ may demonstrate that we shall then fittingly demand back the glory from the One [God], I mean the glory for the age to come, when we shall have shown toward Him an irreproachable submission in all things, and are found to be most vigorous guardians of the things commanded by Him, He says that He Himself has glorified the Father, having finished the work upon the earth C, but demands that glory and brightness be repaid to Him in return—not a glory alien or borrowed, as is the case for us, but His own. For it were fitting for us to seek that, but for Him, not so. See, furthermore, in what manner
He renews in Himself and through Himself A the boldness of both for our nature. For in Him first, and through Him, we have become rich, and [we possess] the ability to fulfill the things entrusted to us by God for our perfection, and [the certainty] that it is henceforth our duty to seek with boldness the honor owed to those who are well-pleasing [to Him].
For long ago, on account of the sin that reigned over us and the apostasy that occurred in Adam, we possessed neither the power to achieve anything that leads to virtue, nor were we anything but entirely far removed from boldness towards God. And so, the Lord, in His exceeding great kindness, bringing us back to this [state], comforted us through the voice of the prophet, saying: "Fear not, because you were confounded, nor be ashamed, because you were reproached." B Just as, then, in all other good things the Lord our Jesus Christ has become for us a first-fruit, a door, and a way, so it is in this instance as well.
But if the Savior seeks His own glory, which existed before the world's foundation, and if—with the example transferred to us—we also assert that we must strenuously perform what is well-pleasing to God, and thus seek the heavenly glory with boldness, let no one think we mean that it is fitting for a man, in imitation of Christ, to seek some glory that is ancient and pre-cosmic, as if it were owed to him; rather, let him consider that it is most appropriate for each to speak what befits him. For if in Christ, just as in us, one conceives only of humanity, it C must speak only those things that befit earthly men, and not be carried beyond the condition of man. But if, being God, the Word was made flesh, then when He says something in a way that befits God, it will befit Him alone, but not others who are in no way like Him. Therefore, we shall understand that statement in the sense we have just mentioned, that is, in a human manner; yet, when we again reflect upon the divine dignity of Christ, we rightly and justly think of something greater than that of human nature.
We say, therefore, that He glorified His own Father and God, having completed the work which He received from Him, not as a servant, or ranked among the order of ministers, and this of necessity—lest the Lord of all be counted among D the number of servants and of servile nature; for it is the lot of men or angels to be subject as supplicants and to minister to divine nods in the manner of servants—but because, being the Power and Wisdom of the Begetter, He most perfectly fulfilled the restoration of us all that was as it were entrusted to Him, just as the divine Psalmist to us, explaining the power of the mystery in the Spirit, said: "Manda, O God, to your power; confirm, O God, this which you have wrought in us." By saying "Manda to your power," in order that He might clearly demonstrate that the Son is indeed the Power of the Father—they are not, however, other than Him in respect to the sameness of essence and nature—He introduced the duality of persons, [that is] of the One commanding and the One to whom the command is given.
He immediately joins them in natural unity, attributing the outcome of the matter entirely to the divine and ineffable nature, by saying most wisely: A "Establish, O God, what Thou hast wrought in us." The Son, therefore, is entrusted with, or rather receives from His own Father, the work concerning us. But it is necessary to examine and to state, as far as it is possible for human thought to interpret things beyond the mind, in what manner or how God commands by His own power. Let us suppose, then, a man of our own kind, and let us believe him to be a person skilled in the craft of the smith; then let him turn to the fashioning of a statue, or to the repairing of one that has already suffered damage and been mutilated. How, I ask, will he work, or by what means will he accomplish what he has in his mind? By entrusting—evidently—to the power of his own hands and to his craft-wisdom the completion of the work he chooses to see done. B Yet, even if his wisdom and power seem in some way to appear in calculations as something different from him, they would not, however, be other than him; for he possesses these in the order of substance. You will understand something of this sort in regard to God, yet you must not think the force and logic of the example to be similar in all respects. For God, who surpasses all things, must be understood as being above every example. The same can also be said regarding the sun and fire. For the sun in a sense commands the light proceeding from it to illuminate all things, and in a way entrusts to the power of its rays the duty of imparting its heat to those capable of receiving it. Similarly, fire also commands and in a way permits the property of its own nature to fulfill what is of its office; yet we do not for that reason say that the ray or the light holds the place of a servile ministry C in relation to the sun, but that the power of burning resides in the fire; for each works through those things which are naturally its own. But even if they seem, in a way, not to act of themselves, they are nevertheless not other in nature than what they are from them. You will understand something of this sort in regard to God the Father and the Word who was begotten of Him according to nature, when something human is said to be entrusted to Him. Wisdom and His power, therefore, that is to say Christ, glorified the Father and God on earth, having finished the work which He gave Him. And since the work befitting Him now tends toward a successful conclusion, He seeks the glory that was always His own, and calls for the restoration of the most ancient renown now that the time demands it. What, then, is the work He has fulfilled, by which He says He glorifies the Father? For being true God, by the pleasure and will of the Father, He became man, desiring to save the whole world, to renew things for D everlasting life and true knowledge of God, [and] for the race that had fallen upon the earth. This, indeed, has been accomplished by the God-befitting power and authority of Christ, having destroyed death, and overthrowing the tyranny of the devil, and having blotted out sin, He showed an incomparable love toward us, remitting sins for all, and illuminating those placed in error with the knowledge of the one true God. Since, therefore, Christ has performed such things by His own power, the Father has been glorified by all, acknowledging as they do the wisdom and power, and His goodness and mercy toward men.
For He shone forth and is made manifest henceforth as in an image and A character of His own nature in the Son, and "the tree is known by its fruit," according to what is written. Now that the works have been accomplished, and what was appropriately dispensed for our sake has reached its end, He returns to His own glory and takes hold of His ancient renown; save that, as He is still clothed in the form of man, He assumes the posture of a supplicant, and asks as though He did not possess it. For all things are from God to man. Even though, in so far as He is God begotten of God the Father, He was not destitute of divine glory, yet because He had in some way contracted it in the time of the economy for our sake, by taking on this most ignoble body, He rightly seeks it as though it were really absent, and does this as a man.
Understanding something of this kind, the wise Paul himself writes to us concerning Him: "For let this mind be in you," he says, "which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also highly exalted Him, and gave Him the name which is above every name, that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." B For although the Son is exalted, as He has shone forth from Him, being evidently God and Lord, yet it is written that He is exalted as man, to whom the lowliness of His own nature ensures that He must be exalted. He craves, then, the recovery of His own glory even with the flesh; not indeed that He is destitute of His own glory—even if He should not perhaps receive it (for the Word was never destitute of His own dignities, since He is true God), but because He brings his own temple to the glory inseparably inherent in Him; or rather, He brings Himself in with His own flesh, on account of which He meanwhile underwent that ignobility. For lest He should seem to some to be seeking for Himself a new and strange glory, He shows it to be older than the world itself, and that it exists with His own Father. For the Son has C never been excluded from the Father's brightness, who reigns together with Him, and is glorified, and is worshipped together with Him by us and by the holy angels, as God of God, and in God, and with God. D As that divine evangelist John teaches when he says: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God." Now, he says such things (for the Word was never an alien to His own dignities, though He was at all times the true God), not as though He did not possess the glory that ever belonged to Him, but as one bringing back to it His own temple, or rather, bringing back Himself together with His own flesh, because of which the intermediate lack of glory occurred. For that he might not seem to some to be asking for a glory that was precise and strange and not long since habituated to Him, he demonstrates it to be pre-cosmic, and [existing] with the Father Himself. For the Son has never been outside the Father's renown, ever reigning together with Him, and being hymned together with Him, and worshipped together with Him by us and by the holy angels, as God of God, and in God, and with God. This, I think, is what the inspired evangelist John also teaches when he adds: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God."
CHAPTER VII
A That it being said that something has been given to the Son by the Father does not alienate Him from the dignity befitting God, but rather shows that He is of the same substance and from Him, even if it is said that He received something.XVII, 6-8. "I have manifested thy name to the men whom thou hast given me out of the world (thine they were, and to me thou hast given them), and they have
A kept thy word." Now, the ancients had a discourse of this kind concerning Him; but now He is manifested even to our own eyes, and what is seen is more powerful for producing faith than what is heard. I think, indeed, that these things have not been said pointlessly; yet one must proceed by another way, that is to say, by the way of considerations.
For the Son has manifested the name of the Father, clearly by establishing us in understanding and into a pure contemplation, not that only God was—for this was proclaimed even before the coming through divinely inspired Scripture—but that, besides being God in truth, He is also Father, not in name only, having in Himself and from Himself His own offspring, co-running and co-eternal with His own nature. For He did not beget the Creator of the ages in time, and the name "Father" is in a way more proper to God than the name "God": for the latter is indicative of dignity, but the former possesses the manifestation of substantial B property. For when one says "God," he points out the Lord of all; but when one names "Father," he touches upon the discourse of property: for he signifies that He has begotten. And that name "Father" is in a way more proper and truer for God, the Son Himself also attributing it; at one time He was saying, not "I and God," but "I and the Father are one"; at other times, concerning Himself: "For Him the Father, God, hath sealed." But also, when He commanded His own disciples to baptize all nations, He did not order that this be done in the name of God, but in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, expressly legislating it. For Moses, the divine man, relating the making of this world, did not attribute the creation to one person, writing: "And God said: Let us make man in our image, and after our likeness." For by saying "Let us make" and "in our image," the Holy Trinity is signified. For the Father created and called all things into being through the Son in the Spirit. But these things were not easily grasped by the ancients, but were rather obscure to them; for "Father" was not peculiarly invoked, nor was the person of the Son C clearly brought in. But our Lord Jesus Christ, without circumlocution of words, and with great boldness, was indeed calling God His Father, but by naming Himself Son, and by showing Himself the truly true fruit of the nature that rules over all, He manifested the name of the Father, and led us back into perfect knowledge. For the most complete knowledge concerning God and the Principle of all is not in knowing only that He is God, but that He is also Father, and of whom He is Father—with the knowledge of the Holy Spirit obviously also entering in. For to know only that God exists befits us no more than those who are under the law; for it does not exceed the measure of Jewish understanding. And just as the Law perfected nothing, which was for us as a pedagogue, D nor sufficed for the perfect principle of piety, so it also instilled an imperfect knowledge of God, since it
merely turned one away from the worship of false gods and persuaded one to worship the one true God: "For there shall be," he says, "no other gods before me. You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve." A But our Lord Jesus Christ, adding better things to those ordained through Moses, and presenting a teaching brighter than the legal commandment, granted to us a better and brighter knowledge than that ancient one. For he made it manifest to us, not only that God is the Creator and Lord of all, but also that he is Father; and the proof is in the deeds. For he set himself forth as an image, saying: "He who has seen me has seen the Father. I and the Father are one." And he says these things reasonably, inasmuch as he exists as God from God by nature, in an elevated and God-befitting manner toward his own Father. He adds immediately, speaking in a more human way: "Those whom you have given me out of the world, they were yours, and you have given them to me." We shall think, however, that the Lord said these things, not B as though something had been assigned to his dominion separate and apart, or something that is not also the Son’s own; for he is "King before the ages," according to the voice of the Psalmist, and from eternity a participant in the dominion of the Father. And, at any rate, the most wise evangelist John, when writing that all things are referred to him and are subject to him—the Father, of course, reigning together with him—wrote: "He came to his own, and his own did not receive him," calling "his own" those who did not yet know him, but who had in a way shaken off the yoke of his dominion. He says such things now, making it plain to the hearers that there were indeed some in this world who had not even taken into their minds the one and true God, but were worshipping C the creature, demons, and diabolical inventions. But even if they did not know the Creator of all, being off the path of the truth, they were nevertheless God’s, inasmuch as he is Master of all as Creator. For all things are God’s own, and there is nothing at all among created things that does not have him as its one Master, even if the creature itself should perchance not know it. For no one would say that the dominion over all is taken away from the Creator because some are led into error, but rather that all things are subject and submitted to him because they were made by him and brought into existence. Since, therefore, the truth of the matter is so, even those who were entangled in the errors of the devil and caught in worldly vices were God’s by nature. But they are given to the Son; how, or in what manner? For God and Father was pleased that Emmanuel D should reign over them, not as though he began to reign over them at that time (for he was always Lord and King, inasmuch as he is God by nature), but because, having become man, and exposing himself to dangers for the life of all, he redeemed all for himself, and through himself offered them to God and Father. He who therefore reigned of old and from the beginning as God, is chosen as King together with his Begetter, as man, to whom it has been given to reign along with others, according to the measure of human nature. For it is not as man is a rational animal, capable of mind and knowledge, having these things as natural gifts, that he is also king
B. For those things are taken into the definition of substance, but this is foreign and added, and it does not seem to be of the number of those things which inhere inseparably. For they are present and absent without the substance being in any way violated. Adventitious, therefore, is the royal dignity, and brought to man from without by God. "For by me," he says, "kings reign, and tyrants by me rule the earth." He, therefore, who reigns over all together with the Father, insofar as he was and is and will be God by nature, receives the power over those in the world, according to the form and measure befitting man. And for this reason he says, "Because all things whatsoever you have given me are from you." For strictly and specifically all things are God's; but to us who have been created through him, they are given. And indeed to possess all things, and to rule over all, is most fitting to the divine nature; but to us, again, it is most fitting to receive. Moreover, he has attested C that those who believe in him with constancy are true servants and most prompt for obedience. For he says, "The words which you gave me, I have given to them; and they have received them, and have known truly that I went out from you, and they have believed that you sent me." He openly calls his own voices the words of God and the Father, because of the identity of substance, and because God the Word is the announcer of the Father’s wills, just as naturally is the speech which breaks forth from our mouths, and strikes the ears of our neighbors, and reveals the secret of the heart. For this reason also the prophetic word said concerning him, that he is called by name "the Angel of great counsel." For the Word who is in him and from him transmits the truly extraordinary and supernatural and great counsel of the Progenitor; on the one hand by the utterance of words, as man, because he has become like us, but on the other hand by knowledge and spiritual illumination, after the ascension into heaven. For he reveals his own mysteries to those who are worthy, and Paul will testify, saying, D "Do you seek a proof of Christ, who speaks in me?" He has therefore testified that he has been received by those by whom he is loved, and that the words given to him by the Father have been kept by them; furthermore, that they have been persuaded that he went out from him and was sent, while his adversaries do not think so. For these, neither receiving his word nor keeping a free faith, did not believe that he went out from God and was sent. Whence the Jews at one time were saying, "If this man were from God, he would not keep breaking the Sabbath"; but at another time, "We are disciples of Moses. We know that God spoke to Moses; but as for this man, we do not know where he is from." You see how they denied his mission, so much so that they shamelessly shouted that they did not even know where he was from. But you will easily perceive that they did not admit his ineffable generation, which is older than the ages, from God the Father, leaning on wretched little arguments, and as if stumbling against a stone, solely on account of the incarnation, when you hear the evangelist saying, "Therefore the Jews sought to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was his own Father, making himself equal
B to God." A Indeed, the voices of the wicked Jews regarding him are reported in this manner: "For a good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy, and because you, being a man, make yourself God." You understand clearly, therefore, that whoever observes his words with a sincere mind, and professes and believes that he indeed shone forth from the Father (for this, I think, is what the word "I came forth" signifies), and was sent to us to preach the commandment of the Lord, as it is written in the Psalms—these people, however, mocking such a divine word proceeding from the Father, cast away faith at the same time, and openly deny that he is God, and that he came to us for the sake of our salvation, and was made like us, yet without sin. Justly, therefore, does he ascribe the good and sincere, and those who are prompt and ready in their obedience of soul, to God the Father, making no mention of those who are not such, so that what he said might be found to be true as it began in our times. And what is that? Namely, "Everyone who confesses me before men, I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven." This indeed God the Father himself promised long ago that he would do, crying out through the voice of Isaiah: "Be my witnesses," he says, "and I am a witness, says the Lord God, and the servant whom I have chosen." The Savior, therefore, discourses in a manner suitable both to divinity and humanity. For he is at once God and man, speaking blamelessly concerning both, and accommodating what is fitting for each to the opportuneness of the times by the way of dispensation.
CHAPTER VIII.
That the kingdom of Christ is not excluded, even if something is said to be the Father's: for there is one dominion of both over all things. XVII, 9-14. I pray for them: I do not pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, because they are yours. And all mine are yours, and yours mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, and these are in the world, and I come to you. He intercedes again as man, the reconciliator and mediator between God and men, D and our truly great and most holy high priest, who, offering himself for us, appeases the Genitor with his own intercessions.A For he himself is the sacrifice and he himself is the priest; he himself is the mediator; he himself is the spotless victim, the true Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. Therefore, the ancient mediation of Moses was a kind of type and transparent shadow of that mediation of Christ which was revealed in the last times, and the high priest according to the Law prefigured him who is high priest above the Law. For legal things are shadows of the truth. For the divine Moses, and together with him the illustrious Aaron, were always mediators between God and the congregation, now appeasing the anger of God kindled by the sins of the Israelites and calling upon the divine goodness for those who were broken in spirit; but again at other times praying for and blessing them, and offering the sacrifices according to the Law, and in addition to these, bringing gifts according to the order of those prescribed, sometimes for sins, and sometimes also as thank-offerings for the benefits they had received from God. But the high priest and mediator who, above types and legal shadows, shone forth in the last times, Christ, prays for us as man, but as God B works together with God and the Father in bestowing goodness upon us, distributing gifts to those who are worthy. Paul showed this most clearly to us, saying: "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Therefore, he who prays as man, at the same time distributes as God. For being a holy high priest, both spotless and innocent, not offering himself because of his own infirmity, as was the custom for those who had been allotted the priesthood according to the Law, but rather for the salvation of our own souls, and this once for all because of our sin, he has become an advocate for us, and he himself is the propitiation for our sins, according to the word of John, "and not for ours only, but also for the whole world." C But perhaps someone will object to the words of our own side: the saying of the disciple ought not to be contrary to the words of the Savior; for our Lord Jesus Christ here appears to openly deny that he prays for the whole world. But the wise John, he says, declares the contrary to this: for he does not assert that the Savior will be an advocate and propitiation only for our sins, but also for the whole world. What, then, will be the solution to this objection, or how might the blessed John be seen to be in agreement with the Savior? It is not difficult to explain. For since the blessed John was a Jew and from the Jews, lest some should perhaps think that the Lord was an advocate with the Father only for the Israelites, but not likewise for the other nations which are scattered throughout the whole world, even though they were to be manifest in the future through faith in him, and would shortly be called to the knowledge of salvation through Christ, he says most necessarily that the Lord would be a propitiation not for the Israelites alone, but for the whole world, that is, D for those from every nation and race who were to be called through faith to righteousness and sanctification. Now our Lord Jesus Christ, separating the legitimate from the bastard, those who hear his divine discourses and submit the neck of their heart, and in a way surrender themselves to the service of God, from those who with a contumacious and stubborn nature
offend him, it was more fitting that he should say he was praying for them alone. For he thought it right that the benefits derived from his mediation should be bestowed on those alone of whom he is the mediator and high priest—those who, as he says, were indeed given to him, but are nevertheless the Father’s, there being no other way of drawing near to God except through the Son. A And he will teach you this himself, saying: “No one comes to the Father except through me.” For observe how the Father, having given to his own offspring those of whom the discourse treats, made them his own. And the most learned in the Holy Scriptures, understanding this well, says: “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself.” For while Christ was mediating, and receiving those who approached through faith, and bringing them through himself to the Father, the world was being reconciled to God. For this reason also the prophet Isaiah taught us beforehand that we should choose peace with God in Christ, saying: “Let us make peace with him, let us make peace, O ye who come.” For if we cast out from our own soul those things which estrange us from the love of Christ—I mean shameful deeds and the love of pleasure that leads to sin, and furthermore, that mother and strange nurse of all wickedness, error—we shall become kin and friends of Christ, and we shall conclude peace with God, being glued to the Father himself through the Son, inasmuch as we have received into ourselves the Word begotten of him, and cry out in the Spirit: “Abba, Father.” B Those, therefore, who were given to Christ became the Father’s, yet they are not for this reason outside of Christ. For God and Father reigns with him, and through him exercises authority over his own. For the kingdom and the power over all is one, belonging to the holy and consubstantial Trinity; whatever belongs to the Son will lie subject to the glory of the Son and of the Father; and again, whatever is said to be subject to the Father, the Son also will by all means rule over. For it is for this reason that he says: “And all mine are thine, and thine are mine.” For where the identity of nature shines forth and appears in everything, there the glory of the dignity is indistinguishable, not perhaps assigned separately to one of the beings to the exclusion of the other, but being one and the same, extending to everything at all times. For the one who is essentially the heir of the divine dignities of his own Father will show himself to have all things that are the Father’s, and the Father will show that he has all things that are his own. For the one shines forth naturally in the other, and the Son shines in the Father, C just as the Father in turn shines in the Son. For it is in this way that the divinely inspired D Scriptures have taught us. Since, therefore, the authority to rule over all things is one, by virtue of the Father’s dignities, this will pertain also to the Son. For he is the character of his substance, admitting no difference or change whatever. But he asserted that he was glorified in those who had once been given to him, saying that it was a most just recompense that he should pray for them. What, then, is that request, and for what reason does he ask the Father to bestow his kindness upon his own friends? “I am not in the world,” he says, “and these are in the world, and I am coming to you.” For as long as he was still living on earth in the flesh with his holy disciples, he was manifest and visibl
have been instructed by the Scriptures. Since, therefore, one is the dignity of the Father—that of possessing authority over all—this will also belong to the Son; for he is the stamp of His essence, refusing to have unlikeness or variation in anything at all. He A strongly maintained that He has been glorified in those once given to Him, declaring the request for them to be a most just recompense. What, then, is the petition, and for what reason does He seek that the kindness from the Father be present for His own acquaintances? "I am not in the world," He says, "and these are in the world, and I am coming to you." For while He was living with and being present to the holy apostles in the flesh upon the earth, there was a manifest and visible comfort, and one that was, as it were, spending time with and standing by those in danger, so that they might receive help readily; and they were more courageous on this account. For the human mind somehow prefers to trust and take pleasure in things that are manifest rather than in things that are unseen. And we say this not because we claim that the Lord is weak in His power to save some if He were not seen to be present—for anyone thinking so would be talking nonsense, and very reasonably so. "For Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, and unto the ages." But He knew that the disciples were not a little discouraged at being left alone on the earth, with the world roaring like wild waves, and accustomed to besieging with unbearable terrors and extreme dangers those who were still proclaiming the word of God to the uninitiated. Since, therefore, I am coming, He says, "to you (for I shall ascend, and soon I shall be seated with You and reign with You, as God with God and Father, while these meanwhile will remain in the world), I am asking on their behalf." For they have become Yours, having been given to Me, and I care for them reasonably as being already both Yours and Mine; and I have been glorified in them, because all that You have given Me are Yours, and Yours are Mine. And true indeed is the saying. For not because some of those who are in this world have been given to Christ, and for this reason were also the Father’s, have they refused to glorify Him through whom they have been joined to God and the Father; but, having been brought through Him, they will none the less remain His. For all things are common to Him with the Father, along with the natural Deity and power. For there is one God among us, worshipped in the holy and consubstantial Trinity. And we are all God’s—of the one, only, and true God—subject in the manner of servitude to the holy and consubstantial Trinity. C
CHAPTER IX. That the dignity of the Deity in the Son is natural, although He is said to have received it from the Father by reason of His humanity and on account of His humble state.
XVII, 11. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.
Observe everywhere the conjunction of two things into one: D that of humanity, which contains in itself our lowliness, and of divinity, which bears before it the supreme glory of all things. For the discourse is tempered from both, and as we were saying above, it neither leaps up entirely to the height befitting God, nor does it sink down completely into our own condition. For He is God, having become man, occupying a sort of middle place by an arcane and inexplicable union, so that neither the truths of the—
A deity exceed their bounds, nor, indeed, does He wholly abandon the truths of humanity. For the ineffable generation from God and the Father, insofar as He is the Word and the Only-Begotten, naturally exalts Him into the divine substance and into the glory that rightly follows Him; but the emptying B leads Him down, in a manner of speaking, into our own condition — not as though He who rules all things with the Father were able to be forced by any violence or necessity (for the Only-Begotten would never be forced to do anything against His own will), but rather He did so willingly, out of the love for us which He embraced and kept. For He humbled Himself, which is to say, He did so voluntarily, and not by the necessity imposed by anyone. For He would not be considered to have done so willingly if He had endured the passion of humiliation while someone else had the power to prevail over Him and command Him to go to this against His will. He has, therefore, humbled Himself voluntarily for our sake; for we would never have been named sons by grace, and gods, had the Only-Begotten not humbled Himself for us and on our behalf—He, toward whom we are fashioned through the participation of the Spirit, and are called children of God and gods.
When, therefore, He says something that joins the divine to the human in a certain way, do not be offended by this, carelessly neglecting to admire as is fitting the incomparable skill devised in these words, which throughout constantly preserves the duality in a charming manner, so that you may see in the same One who speaks both God by nature and man in truth, who couples most excellently the lowliness of humanity to the glory of an ineffable nature, and who has preserved the balanced movement toward both entirely blameless and free from all reproach. And we say these things not asserting that the nature of the Word had been dragged down to anything less than what it was in the beginning—far from it! For it would be of the highest madness to think thus, since the divine can suffer no change, but preserves its own most steadfast state; but because the form of voluntary emptying assumed for the sake of humanity makes the Son appear in a certain way less than the Father, He who is equal to Him, and conformed, and in Him, and from Him has shone forth as God the Only-Begotten.
And do not wonder if you hear of the Son appearing less than the majesty of the Father on account of humanity, when for this very reason Paul also asserted that He had been made C inferior even to the angels, writing thus: "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor," even though the holy angels themselves have been commanded to worship Him. "For when He brings the Firstborn into the world, He says: And let all the angels of God worship Him." But also, when the holy Seraphim stood round about and fulfilled the servile order D as they were seen by the holy prophets sitting upon a throne high and lifted up. Therefore, as far as the true generation from God the Father is concerned, the humanity is not proper to the Son; but it is proper to Him again, inasmuch as He appeared as a man, remaining indeed what He ever was, and is, and shall be always, but emptying Himself into that which He was not, for our sake. "Holy Father," He says, "keep them in Your name, which You have given Me, that they may be one, even as We are." The ineffable nature
A of the Son is the human; but it is again His own, insofar as He has appeared as man, having remained what He always was and is and will be throughout, yet having lowered Himself into that which He was not, for our sake. "Holy Father, then," He says, "holy one, keep them in Your name, which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are." He wills that the disciples be kept by the power and authority B of the ineffable nature, rightly and becomingly attributing the ability to rescue whomsoever He wills—and that very easily—to Him who is truly and by nature God. Through these words, He glorifies not some other nature again, but His own, as if in the person of the Father from whom He has been begotten as God. Therefore, "O Father," He says, "keep them in Your name which You have given Me," that is, in the divine [name]. He says that the name of the Godhead has been given to Him again, not as if, from being by nature not God, He had been called to an acquired dignity of Godhead—for He would then be adoptive, just as we are, possessing a spurious and acquired glory C and a bastardized nature, things which it is not right for us even to conceive, for He would be harmed by this regarding His being Son by nature. But since, as the divine Scriptures sing, "the Word became flesh," that is, became man, He says He has received what He already possessed as God; for it would not appear to belong naturally to man to possess the name and reality of the divine glory. But notice again, and understand accurately, how He has shown Himself to be the living and subsisting power of God and Father, through which He works all things. For addressing [the Father] and saying, "Keep them," He was not content with these words alone, D but has skillfully introduced Himself as well, as being active for their keeping, and a power that is also operative for this purpose in the One who begat Him. "For keep them," He says, "in Your name, which You have given Me." You see the security of the statement. For while bestowing, as if attributing [it solely], to the nature of the Godhead alone the oversight and administration of our affairs, He immediately asserts that the glory of the Godhead has been given to Him—because of the form of humanity calling "given" that which is naturally within Him, namely the name which is above every name. Whence we also say that this is in the Son, naturally as from the Father, but humanly as a gift—whatever He receives as man, insofar as it is from us. He wills that the disciples be kept, however, in the unity of concord and same-mindedness, commingled with one another as it were by soul and spirit and by the law of peace and love for one another, and be bound fast by an unbreakable bond of charity, so as to advance such unity that the voluntary conjunction may become an image of the natural unity conceived as existing in the Father and the Son, a unity which, clearly, is not to be shaken by any force of the things of this world or of pleasures, nor allowed to be led astray into a dissimilarity of wills, but rather preserves the force of charity unhurt in a unity of piety and holiness, which is exactly what happened. For as we read in the Acts of the Apostles: "The heart and soul of the multitude of believers was one," in the unity, of course, of the Spirit. For this is the very thing that was said by Paul: "One body and one Spirit; for we, being many, are one body in Christ." For we all partake of one bread, and have all been anointed in one Spirit, namely, that of Christ. So that, as those who are to become fellow-members of the body and partakers of one and the same Spirit into an unblemished unity of the Spirit and
an unbroken agreement of minds, He wishes His disciples to be preserved. A If, however, anyone should grant that the disciples are to be united also in the manner in which the Father and the Son are one—not only according to substance, but also according to will (for there is one will in the holy nature, and the intention toward everything whatsoever is the same)—let him understand it this way too. For he will not be stepping outside the reasoning of what is fitting, since even among those who are truly Christians, one might observe the same will, even if the mode of consubstantiality is not the same in us as it is in the Father and the God-Word who is from Him and in Him.
B XVII, 12, 13. *“When I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name, which You have given Me; and I guarded them, and not one of them perished, except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to You.”*
The discourse of the Savior proceeds bit by bit toward a clearer explanation, which, obscure indeed as it was at the beginning, eventually comes out into the open and unfolds itself, just as if changing from a cloud-filled sky into fair weather. For the blessed disciples imagined that the departure of our Savior would be of great harm to them, namely, that departure which is understood in the flesh (for nothing prevents Him from being present as God to whomsoever He wishes); but they were expecting that no one would save them once Christ was taken up into heaven, but that they would be exposed to those who wished to harm them, with no one at all to restrain the hand of those taking advantage of them, and with it lying rather in the power of those who wished to do so to act against them without hindrance and to call them into every sort of danger. But even if they were wise and were fathers and luminaries of the world, it is not burdensome to say that they ought to have looked not only to the incarnate presence of our Savior Christ, but to have understood further that even if He were to be separated from them in the flesh, and even if He were not perhaps seen by the eyes of the body, yet He was to be thought of as present and abiding with them throughout by the power of His divinity. For when will God cease from the properties belonging to Himself, or what is there that resists the nature that rules over all things, and would be able, as if by some necessity, to hinder it from acting as suits it? C And the energy and power worthy of God is to be everywhere, and ineffably to fill heaven, and in turn to fill the earth, and to be in all things, but to be contained by nothing. For God is not confined by place, nor circumscribed by distances, but not even anything within the bounds of a description; for the nature that is destitute of size and quantity and body does not endure to suffer any such thing. Therefore, since Christ was at once God and man, it was surely not fitting for the disciples to be ignorant that, even if it were to come about that He was absent bodily, He would not be absent entirely, but would be present in every way according to the ineffable reasoning of divine power. D For this reason the Savior himself also said earlier: *“Holy Father, keep them in Your name, which You have given Me”*; but now in turn: *“When I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name, which You have given Me,”* [with their]
A signifying, as it were, to his disciples that it is by the power and efficacy of the Godhead, and not by the presence of the flesh, that He is able to preserve some; for the flesh itself was not sanctified of itself, but, by the fellowship of the Word united to it, being in a manner translated to His natural virtue, it becomes a provider of salvation and sanctification to those who partake of it. We shall not, therefore, ascribe the entire divine efficacy to the flesh by itself, but more fittingly we shall attribute it to the divine power of the Word. For what else is it that the disciples are kept in the name of the Father? For in the glory of God they have been kept. Having therefore rooted out from the minds of the disciples the fear that they might be abandoned, and by repeating these things often, He declares that all their security would be, not from living bodily with their Master, but rather because He is by nature God. B And since He has eternal power and virtue over all things (for He cannot ever be changed, nor be transferred to that which does not exist in the same way), He will nevertheless easily preserve them and deliver them from every encroaching evil. Observe, moreover, again how much care and providence lies hidden in these words for our benefit and edification. For when He asks for His holy disciples to be kept by God the Father, He says that He Himself has already done it, showing Himself to be of equal power and equal operation with the Father; nay, rather, that He Himself is the essential power of the Begetter. For he who can do by His own nature the things which the true and natural God can do, how shall He not be judged to be of the same power and of the same nature? And he who keeps as God in the name of God, and is endowed with the glory befitting this name through divine works, how shall He be alien or of a different nature, and not rather be shown to be the very thing that God is by nature? For no one would have performed the works that are proper and peculiar to God, unless he is by nature what we think God to be. C Furthermore, in our observation of this passage, a dual meaning is hidden, on account of the dispensation of the incarnation. For he withdraws from created nature the power of preserving those to whom this is due on account of piety, and attributes it to the name of the Father, ascribing to the divine nature alone those things which befit God. For this reason, then, again, when He says that He has kept the disciples, He does not attribute the deed to the condition of humanity, but says that it was fulfilled rather in the name of God, in a manner excluding Himself from that act insofar as He is made and understood to be flesh; but in claiming for Himself entirely the power of preserving and of performing those things which are worthy of God, insofar as He is God from God, that omnipotent power of the Father—a power not made, but manifesting from what it itself is, the nature from which it has ineffably proceeded. For even if He says that the name was given to Him here [in the text], D He preserves in his own contemplation a duality in the understanding because of the economy with the flesh. For he carries away in a manner from created nature the ability to preserve and keep those to whom this is perhaps due out of piety, but he assigns it to the name of the Father, bestowing that which is god-befitting solely upon the divine nature. For on this account again, although He says that He has kept the disciples, He did not grant the estimation of the accomplishment to the measures of humanity, but says rather that it was fulfilled in the name of God, in one way setting Himself outside the matter, insofar as He has become and is considered flesh, but in another way placing Himself inside the keeping, and being able to perform the god-befitting things, insofar as He is God from God, the all-working power of the Father, a strength not one that is acted upon, but from which it itself is, that from whence it has ineffably proceeded.
A If, however, it is said that the name of the Godhead is applied even to Him in this regard, although He is God by nature, as He appeared as the only-begotten from God, this does nothing to injure the truth of the matter, nor would it deprive Him of the honor and glory fitting for Him; far from it. For to receive is proper to humanity, and it is fittingly attributed to it; for it has nothing of itself. He says that He kept His own disciples in such a way, and exercised such providence over them, that no one perished except one, whom He also called the son of perdition, as one who was consigned to perdition by his own will, or rather by his own wickedness and impiety. For we shall never imagine that by a divine and invincible judgment the traitor was entangled among the disciples in the snares of the tempter, and became caught within the devil's noose; B for in that case he would be blameless, having given way to the victory by the decree from above; for who shall withstand the judgment that is from God? But as it is, he is condemned, hateful, and better off that he had not been born. For what reason? Because he is proven to have suffered this from his own choices, and not by the necessity imposed by anyone. He who loved such a terrible destruction may rightly be called the son of perdition, as one owed to destruction and ruin, and awaiting the day of perdition like the pangs of childbirth and mourning. But since He added to the words concerning this, "that the Scripture might be fulfilled," we say again to those who will read this, in a helpful way: For it is not because the Scripture said C the traitor has perished, and has descended into such baseness as to sell the precious blood of Christ for a few silver pieces; but because he was destined to perish utterly and entirely on account of the perversity that was in him, having betrayed the Lord, the Scripture, which cannot lie, forewarned that this would by all means happen. For it is the Word of God who knows all things, and who in His own understanding holds the manners and life of each person, and their passage from beginning to end. And indeed the Psalmist, assigning to Him the knowledge of all things, both those that have already passed and those that are expected to be, says somewhere to Him: "Thou understoodst all my thoughts from afar; my path and my line Thou hast searched out, and Thou hast foreseen all my ways." D Having therefore foreseen all things, and having contemplated future things as if they were already present, among all the other things which the divine Word has forewarned us concerning Christ, He has also forewarned us that he who was numbered among the disciples would perish, having betrayed Him. Yet the foreknowing and the speaking of things to come was not at all the will and command of God, nor was the prediction a compulsion toward the performance of the signified evil and the plotting against the Savior, but rather a warning against it. For to him who had learned this, it would have been possible, had he wished, to flee and to beware, having in his own power the inclination toward whatever he might wish. But perhaps
some one will say: How then did Christ keep him, if, by the swaying of his own will and the movements of his choice, some are found to have been outside the devil's nets, while Judas alone, poor wretch, was taken above all others? A What profit, then, has resulted from what is here called the preservation? But, noble sir, we shall say again: watchfulness is good, and the security of our own mind is extremely beneficial, as is also the intense will toward doing good and achieving virtue; for we shall accomplish our salvation in this way. Yet this alone will not suffice for the human soul; for it necessarily requires help and grace from above, which makes difficult things easy for it, and renders the steep and rugged path of justice highly level for it. For since our own efforts are nothing at all unless the help of divine grace is added, hear the Psalmist shouting: "Unless the Lord build the house, those who build it have labored in vain. Unless the Lord keep the city, the guard watches in vain" (Ps. CXXVII, 1). B I therefore affirm that we must necessarily bring temperance of our own, and, by practicing a God-loving disposition, prove ourselves valiant toward accomplishing the saving of our own souls, and so ask for the things that come from God, and, having taken the help from above as a kind of invincible and unbreakable panoply, gird ourselves with strength. Now since God has once given and granted us this, it is possible for us even now to overcome the power of those who war against us, and to get the better of the hand of the devil, if we do not wish to obey him when he calls us to pleasures, or to another mode of sin. But if we surrender our own will to him, and, abandoning ourselves to the inclinations toward baseness, allow ourselves to be caught in his snare, how shall we impute the blame to anyone rather than to our own folly? For is this not what Solomon said earlier: "The foolishness of a man ruins his ways, but he accuses God in his heart" (Prov. XIX, 3)? C But this is not a matter of dispute. If, therefore, it were not the case that the traitor enjoyed the help from the Savior equally with the other disciples, let someone prove it, and we are defeated. But if, having possessed the covering of divine grace equally with the others, he slipped into the abyss of destruction because of his own volitions, how has Christ not kept him, having bestowed the things that come from His own kindness, and, as far as the provision of help is concerned, having saved the man, had he not willed to suffer it by his own volitions? Grace, therefore, shone brightly in the others, having saved to the end those who, as it were, made their own choice a fellow worker with it. For the method of everyone's salvation is ordered in this way.
"And these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy filled in themselves" (John XVII, 13). D Call to mind again what we were saying just now, and you will understand very well the meaning of the passage before us. For in every respect He has preserved for us the representation of His own person in two ways, both by showing the divine dignity shining forth in Himself, and by not rejecting the measure appropriate to humanity because of the dispensation of the incarnation. For it would be in some way absurd to wish Him to deny that which was voluntarily assumed on our account. For although He is in want of nothing, being perfect in all things from the perfect Father, He emptied Himself, not procuring anything useful for Himself
but rather procuring for us the benefit that comes from His emptying. Therefore, while presenting Himself as both God and man at the same time, He, as it were, persuades the disciples to understand that, whether absent or present, He will nonetheless work whatever contributes to their salvation according to God; and just as He kept them while still abiding on earth by reason of His humanity, so too will He keep them when absent, in a divine manner by reason of the excellence of His own substance. For the Divine is not in a place, yet it is absent from nothing that exists: for it fills all things and pervades all things, being both outside of all things and within all things. A And conversing with His own Father, and saying: "Holy Father, keep them," He forthwith introduced the power of the Father, effective in all things, as being indeed present. At the same time, He demonstrates that He is not outside of His own nature, but existing in it and from it, He holds an inseparable union, even if He be conceived as existing in His own hypostasis. "For keep them," He says, "in Thy name, which Thou hast given Me." And again: "When I was with them, I kept them in Thy name which Thou hast given Me." It is necessary, therefore, to understand that if He has already kept them in the name given by the Father—that is to say, in the glory of the Godhead (for He bestowed upon Him the name which is above every name)—and if He wishes the Father Himself in turn to keep them in the name which was given to Him, He will not be excluded from the guarding of them. For the Father will keep those joined to Him in faith, through the Only-Begotten, as though through His own power. For He does nothing except through Him. B Therefore, if He kept them even while in the flesh, by the power and glory of the Godhead, in what way will the disciples be seen to have been deprived of the care they deserve? And how will it come to pass that they fall away from the security provided by Him, when the God-befitting power of the Only-Begotten ever endures, and the power belonging to Him by nature remains fixed in identity? For turnings and changes to something else of the kind usually associated with wrongdoing are foreign to the Divine, which always shines forth in the inalienable excellences inherent in it. "I have spoken these things, therefore, in the world," He says, "that My disciples might have My joy fulfilled in themselves." But in what way, or in what manner, we shall say again, not hesitating to contend with the obscurities of the words. For the blessed disciples thought that while Christ was with them and dwelling among them—and we clearly mean in the flesh—they would easily be delivered from every calamity, and would easily escape the dangers threatening them from the Jews, and remain invulnerable to those who wished to do them evil; but that if He were separated and had departed to the heights above, they would readily fall into every danger and endure the ultimate peril, as if there were no longer anyone who would perpetually defend them and drive away the onset of temptations. For this cause, therefore, our Lord Jesus Christ, C neither denying the humanity He had once assumed, nor demonstrating that He is lacking the power befitting God, says that the name of the Godhead had indeed been given to Him as man, although it belongs to Him also as God, so that in Himself and through Himself, those who are pious worshippers might be kept and cared for by the Father. But what was He building up with these words in His wisdom? Namely, that the blessed disciples might more keenly [be established in]...
understanding and discern clearly, by applying their minds closely to what was being said, that even while He was present in the flesh, He did not work out their salvation through it, but rather in the glory of His divinity and in His all-working power. B Nothing, therefore, He says, will harm the disciples from His not being present in the flesh, since the divine power of the Only-Begotten is able to preserve them easily, even if the flesh is not seen to be present. And we say this, not by setting the holy body of Christ at nothing—far be it!—but because it would be more fitting to attribute the efficacy of the things accomplished to the glory of His divinity. For the very body of the Lord itself was sanctified by the power of the Word united to it, and it is rendered so effective for our mystical eulogy that it is able to implant its own sanctification in us. Accordingly, the Savior Himself, when He was once speaking to the Jews and saying many things about His own flesh, and calling it bread, living and true—"For the bread," He says, "which I shall give you is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world" (John vi, 52)—as they were greatly astonished, and were doubting not a little how the nature of earthly flesh could be the provider and worker of eternal life, He replied and said: "The flesh profits nothing; it is the Spirit that vivifies. The words which I have spoken to you are Spirit and life" (Ibid. 64). C For here too He says again that the flesh can contribute nothing of itself to the sanctification and vivification of those who receive it, as far as the nature of human flesh is concerned; but when it is understood and believed to be the temple of the Word, it will be in every way a provider of sanctification and life, not, however, because of itself, but because of the God united to it, who is holy and is Life (John xiv, 6). Therefore, by attributing the whole to the power and efficacy of the divinity, He says that nothing injurious will result for His holy disciples from the absence of the flesh. For although it may perhaps be withdrawn from men, the Savior will not for that reason be absent from those who love Him, but will be present again, namely by the power of the divinity: "That they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves, these things I have spoken in the world," He says. What, then, is that complete and perfect joy? To know and to believe, not only that Christ was man according to us, but that along with being according to us, apart from sin alone, He is also true God. It is manifest, therefore, and in no way doubtful, that the power to preserve those who worship Him will always be with Him, at whatever time He might will, even if He is not seen present in the flesh. D For in this consists the fact that we too can have perfect joy, especially since we always have near and present Him who is able to rescue us from every evil.
XVII, 14, 15. "I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world,"
as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.
He shows that the bestowment of grace from above and from the Father is most necessary for us, which He even says is owed—in a manner of speaking—by Him as a just and most fitting reward to those who face danger for His sake. A For the world hates those who wait upon God for the sake of God, and who have the laws prescribed by Him, and who take no account of the pleasure found in the world. Such people would appropriately obtain the cooperation of His grace and the endurance necessary for well-being. For, being in a sense reclined upon Him, and having taken heart, and having undertaken the war for His sake, and not fearing to grapple with dangers beyond their strength, how would they not then finally obtain their reward, in accordance with the goal set before them? B For this reason the Savior says: "I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, as I am not of the world." For they received, He says, and very gladly, O Father, the word that You sent to them through Me—that is, the evangelical preaching—which easily removes those who accept it far from the worldly life and from earthly-minded thoughts. For this reason, it has also been hated by the world, that is, by those who have chosen what is in this world and who love this pleasure-loving and most loathsome life. For the words of the saints are not pleasing to those in the world, as they are always dragging the evils of this life into view and revealing the life in the world to be abominable, accusing the sin that is in it, and wounding with bitter reproofs as if with javelins those to whom it seems sweet to sin and to wallow in earthly evils; and as they war against every greed, and disdain love of glory, and teach that love of money—the mother of all evils—should be renounced and kept as far away as possible, but also command them to be lifted out of the ancient deception and to come to the God of all those who have been caught within the devil's snares. C For these reasons, He says, O Father, they have been hated. For they have not become hateful to those in the world because they have been convicted of any shameful or unholy acts, but because I gave them the word from You, so that for this reason they have henceforth become outside the world, just as I am. For the conduct and life in Christ has been separated entirely from the earthy mindset and worldly state; by following in the footsteps of this life as far as is possible, we too might count ourselves among those who are no longer in the world. For this reason, the divine Paul has ordered us to follow in His footsteps. And we shall do this especially well when we love to think only of the things that are super-mundane, and, having set our own minds above the carnal mindset, we look only to the things that are in the heavens. D He again aligns Himself with the disciples on account of His humanity, through whose imitation—insofar as He is understood as man—we are elevated to every kind of virtue, as we were just saying, having passed by all the sins of the world and having been rendered strangers to its evils, just as the divine Paul himself also writes to us about himself and Christ: "Through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" (Gal. vi, 14). He also commands them elsewhere furthermore to these—
A all kinds of virtues, as we were just saying, by running through all the sin in the world, and having been shown to be strangers and aliens to the evils therein, just as, indeed, the divine Paul also writes to us about himself and Christ: "Through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." He furthermore commands them elsewhere, saying: "Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ." Now Paul imitated our Lord Jesus Christ, not in the way that He is the Creator and Lord of all things—for he never established other heavens for us, nor did he ever show forth seas or an earth alongside those already in existence—but he imitated Him in a way that makes it clear that he was fashioning within his own character and conduct the admirable model of the life shown to us by Him, as far as it was right to attain; for who could be equal to Christ? Therefore, having joined Himself to us because of His humanity, or rather, to speak the truth, having inaugurated for us this good, namely, how to depart from the world through a supermundane life (for the evangelical conduct and discipline are above the world), He says that He is not of the world, and that we too should attain this, since His divine Word has dwelt in our souls. "But just as the world hates me," He says, "so also does it hate them." The world truly hates Christ, B in that it struggles against His words and does not admit His admonitions, giving itself over entirely to its own inclination toward wickedness. But just as it hates our Savior Christ, so too it hates the disciples themselves, who proclaim His word on His account, which Paul also used to do, saying: "We are ambassadors, therefore, for Christ, as though God were appealing through us. We beg you on behalf of Christ: be reconciled to God" (II Cor. v, 20). What then is the request, after the demonstration that the disciples are hated by those who are attached to the evils of the world? "I do not ask," He says, "that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one." For Christ does not wish the saints to depart from human affairs, nor to be released from the life in the body, when the course of their mission has not yet been finished, C nor when they are not yet conspicuous for the virtues of piety; but after they have lived their life together with people of the world, and have led those in it to a way of life pleasing to God, then—with their tasks gloriously completed—they are to be carried up to the city above and to dwell together with the choirs of the holy angels. We shall find, therefore, one of the saints approaching the virtue-loving God and singing: "Do not take me away in the midst of my days" (Ps. ci, 25). For it is not without danger for pious souls to depart from the life of the body before they are perfected by an excellent manner of living. And for this reason, the Mosaic Law, teaching that premature death is inflicted upon sinners as if by a decree of wrath and punishment, frequently proclaimed: "Abstain from evils, lest you die in a time that is not your own" (Eccl. vii, 18). D Otherwise, to wish for the saints to depart from human affairs would bring not mediocre damage to those weaker in the faith; indeed, they would not even be instructed in piety, since they would not have those who could do it. Knowing this, Paul said: "It is better to be dissolved and to be with Christ; but to remain in the flesh is necessary for your sake" (Phil. i, 23-24). Therefore, the Lord, providing for the salvation of those who were not yet initiated, says that men are not to be left without the lights of the world, but He asks that the saints be preserved, always immune from the perversity of the evil one and from the incursions of temptations, by the power of the Almighty.
A It must be noted again that when He says His own word—that is, the evangelical word—is that of God and the Father, He shows that He is not something other than the Father, because of the identity of substance. For we shall find in the evangelical writings the crowds of the Jews astonished at Him, because He taught them as one having authority, and not as their Scribes were wont to do. For they appeared putting forward the things that seemed good to the law, in one way or another, in their discussions with them; but our Lord Jesus Christ, B not following the shadows and types in the Scriptures, but illuminating His own word with divine authority, says: "It was said to those of old: You shall not commit adultery; but I say to you: You shall not covet"; although the law had decreed concerning its divine oracles that it was not right for anything to be added to them nor taken away; yet Christ both added and took away, changing what was in types into truth. Therefore, He shall not be reckoned among those subject to the law, that is, among creatures; for he who is by nature a servant, it is fitting for him to be subject to the law. Christ, therefore, made the word of the Father His own. For He Himself is the Word in the Father and from the Father, announcing the will of the divinity; of the divinity, I say, the true and only one, which is understood in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
"They are not of the world, as I am not of the world. Holy Father, keep them in truth: Your word is truth." C
He showed again in these words and made it clear for whom He asks before God and Father, and for whom it is more becoming that it be done, when He is still understood, as it is with us, as Mediator and High Priest and Advocate, according to the Holy Scripture, in order that if it should happen that we stumble, and sin in thought or deed from what is proper, or if we should truly be struck by unexpected temptations, or be tossed about by the machinations of diabolical wickedness, He might approach D on our behalf, in accordance with the form fitting to His mediation, and might grant, together with His own Begetter, good things to those who are worthy; for this would be fitting for Him, being God by nature. They have, therefore, He says, those who have received Your word, O Father, through Me, the image shining in themselves, and they have become conformed to Your legitimate Son, according to the imitation of Him, sailing past the waves of worldly worthlessness, and having been shown to be strangers and aliens to the lust for pleasure and all filthiness in this life. "For this reason, keep them in Your truth." For purity is natural in Christ and beyond utterance. For God is true, and is unable to be subject to sin, since He is the source of all virtue, and of that holiness which consists in sanctification. For He does nothing else...
A that which is truly fitting for His divine nature, which rules over all, and which is conceived as belonging to Him. In the holy disciples, however, that is, in all who believe in Him, purity subsists in no other way, nor do they become immune to the evils of this world, except through the mercy and grace from above, which expels the filth of prior sins and the crimes of a past life, and introduces the brightness of a holy life, although it does not easily persevere in that same state. Most wisely, indeed, Paul seems to me to have said: "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." For our affairs are perpetually tossed by waves and are shaken in various ways, with the Evil One incessantly tempting us, assiduously weaving his snares, and wishing to defile even those who have been cleansed through the obscure arts of wickedness. "For his food is choice," according to the voice of the prophet. B Since, therefore, He has testified that His disciples lead a life alien to the world, and have expressed in themselves the conformity of His essential purity through imitation, He finally asks that they be preserved by the Father, saying, as it were: O most holy Father, if they were in the world—that is, if they led the life which this world holds in esteem, if they were plunging their minds into earthly and temporary pleasures and, in a sense, were portraying the most impure form of the Evil One within themselves—perhaps he would not be pressing so hard with his temptations, nor would he be armed against his own children, since he would have the form of his wickedness expressed in them. But since, by my example, they have become alien to the world, laughing at the impostures of this world, and are expressing the most radiant image of my incomparable splendor in their own character, C and have come to regard as their most intense enemy and plotter him who perpetually gnashes his teeth at the saints—namely, Satan—I wish them finally to be preserved. But they cannot be preserved without your truth, that is, without me. For I am, by nature, your truth, O Father, the substantial and living and hypostatic Word. And it is to be suspected that these things are said by Him to this end. Observe, however, that in all His discourses, where He attributes any operation to the Father, He makes mention of His own person at the same time, truly showing forth that which is written: "All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made." Therefore, a little while ago, He was asking that His disciples be preserved in the name which was given; here, indeed, He wishes the petition for them to be fulfilled in the truth of the Father. What, therefore, does that diversity of words signify, if not to show that there is one operation from the Father D through Him in the preservation of the saints? For there, by affirming that His disciples ought to be preserved in the name of the Father, He declares that those who undergo dangers for the sake of God are delivered from the hand of the devil by the glory and power of the Godhead. Such is the sort of thing that happened to them, even if it is passed over in silence, which Christ, revealing it to His disciples long ago, said: "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has asked to have you, that he might sift you like wheat: but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail." For most of those things which toward
A us are secretly dispensed, with Christ providing and protecting the life of each one. But when he says here, "Keep them in the truth," he clearly signifies that it is by the illumination of the truth that they are led to the comprehension of the truth. For it is not possible to come to the knowledge of the truth without spiritual illumination, nor is it within the power of human capacity to attain an exact comprehension of divine dogmas. For the mysteries contained in the divinely inspired Scripture exceed our mind, yet it is no small gift to attain even a moderate knowledge concerning Christ. For blessed Peter, having truly confessed the Lord as the Son of the living God, rightly heard: "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but my Father who is in heaven B." For he reveals his own Son to the saints, who is the truth, not allowing Satan to turn aside the mind of those who believe toward a counterfeit knowledge, to which Hymenaeus and Alexander having at times inclined, they suffered shipwreck regarding the faith, having pushed aside the straight word of the truth. It is therefore a great thing, in order to remain well and in the correctness of thoughts and deeds, to be kept in the name of God and in the truth by the Father, so that we may neither stumble in the brightness of the practical life, nor indeed by being turned aside into ignorance be sent far away from the dogmas of the piety that is in the truth. And this would easily exist for us ourselves, when we appear to have become outside of the world, not denying our birth in the world (for all of us were fashioned out of clay and from the earth, as it is written), but by the quality of our deeds differing from the life of those who are of the world. For while walking on earth, those who are lovers of the conformity in Christ live in heaven. It must be noted again that it is very useful that he calls the Father "holy" in these things, as if reminding him that, being holy, he takes delight in the holy. And everything is "holy" C which would appear to be free from the stains of the world, which is indeed naturally in Christ, as in the Father, but is added and adventitious in the holy disciples, through sanctification by grace, and through the brightness and probity of life. For thus it is possible for one to be fashioned into the divine and supramundane image.
CHAP. X.
That Christ is not holy by participation with another, and that the sanctification through the Spirit is not foreign to his essence. "As you sent me into the world, I also sent them into the world, and for their sake I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified in the truth." Having most especially called the Father "holy" just now, he marks—A that this is, in his own Spirit (for the Spirit is the truth, according to the voice of John, since he is also the Spirit of truth, plainly that of the Only-Begotten himself), saying that he sent them into the world in imitation of his own mission. For Jesus became apostle and high priest of our confession, as Paul says, according to the form befitting humanity and the manner of the emptying. Having once appointed the disciples to this task, he says that they entirely needed to be sanctified by the holy Father, who plainly causes the Holy Spirit to dwell in them through the Son. And indeed, in truth, the disciples of the Savior would never have reached such a pinnacle of brilliance, so as to become lights of the whole world, nor would they have had the strength to resist the unbearable harm from those who tempt them, that is, from the devil, had they not B had their minds fortified by participation in the Spirit, and been strengthened by him for an unusual and superhuman commandment, and been guided effortlessly into pure knowledge of the divinely inspired Scripture and the holy dogmas of the Church by the illumination of the Spirit. For even the Savior, while associating with them after his resurrection from the dead, as it is written, and commanding them to preach the grace through faith to all men throughout the world, ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to await the promise of the Father, which they had heard both from his own lips and through the voice of the holy prophets: "For it shall be in those days, says the Lord, that I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh." And the Savior himself also clearly promised that the shedding of the Spirit would come C upon them, saying: "I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth." And again: "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete." For the Spirit is indeed the Spirit of God and the Father, but he is none the less the Spirit of the Son himself also—not as if he were one and another, or understood and existing separately in each—but since the Son is by nature from the Father and in the Father, being the true fruit of his substance, he lays claim to the Spirit of the Father as his own by nature, who proceeds indeed from the Father, but is bestowed upon the creation through the Son himself, not in any ministerial way, that is, as one conceived in a role of service, but, as I just said, proceeding from the very substance of God and the Father, and poured out upon those worthy to receive him through the consubstantial Word, and shining forth from him, by reason of that expression whereby he subsists by himself, and remains in him and is truly D always, and is at once both closely and, so to speak, distinctly [existent]. For we say that the Son has his own distinct subsistence, yet also that he exists in his own Begetter, and has the Begetter in himself. But that the Spirit of the Father is also the Spirit of the Son, and that he who sends him, or who promises that he will give him to the holy ones, again bestows him as his own, is because of the identity of substance which he has with
A the Father, and because in all things whatsoever the Father acts through him, he has himself most clearly signified again, saying: "It is expedient for you that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Paraclete will not come to you; but when I go, I will send him unto you." And in another place saying: "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete," he openly promises in these verses that he himself will send down the Paraclete to us. Since therefore, he says, those who attend to my words are sent as it were on a mission into the world, "Keep them, holy Father, in thy truth," that is to say, in thy Word, in whom and through whom the sanctifying Spirit exists and proceeds. And what was the purpose of the Savior in saying these things? He was calling upon the Father for the sanctification in the Spirit and through the Spirit to be wrought in us ourselves, and he desires that what was in us from the first times of our creation and at the beginnings of our having been made by God, should again be rekindled in us. And we say these things, inasmuch as the Only-begotten mediates and fulfills the role of intercessor for us before the Father who is in heaven. But in order to resolve the obscurity, and to set forth the argument concerning this matter clearly and intelligibly for the hearers, come, let us say a little about the first-created man. The divine Moses, therefore, says concerning him that God, having taken dust from the earth, fashioned man. Then, teaching how the living creature was brought to perfect completion, and by what manner it was animated, he says: "He breathed into his face the breath of life," signifying that the soul was not given to man without the sanctification of the Spirit, nor indeed was he established B as entirely devoid or destitute of the divine nature. For a living creature endowed with so base an origin would never have been expressed in the image of the Highest, had it not obtained that formation through the Spirit as a certain most beautiful aspect, by the will, of course, of God. For since the Spirit is the unsullied image of the essence of the Only-begotten, as Paul writes: "For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son," so he renders those in whom it exists conformed to the image of the Father, that is to say, to the Son, and thus all things are brought back through the Son to the Father, from whom he is, through the Spirit. Therefore, he prays that human nature be renewed and C refashioned, as it were, into that first image through participation in the Spirit, so that, having put on that first grace, and having recovered the likeness with him, we may be found more powerful and stronger than the sin that reigns in this world, and may cling only to the love toward God, and, being utterly fixed in the desire for every goodthing, and having overcome the lust of the flesh, we may guard the inviolable beauty of the image implanted in us. For this is the spiritual life; this is the power and the rationale of worship in the Spirit. But if, by drawing the prolixity of our discourse into a few words, it is worth the effort to add something: Christ was calling back into us the ancient gift of humanity, that is, sanctification through the Spirit and participation in the divine nature, in his D disciples as in the first fruits of those who receive it, since it is true what is written, that one who labors as a farmer...
Spirit and participation in the divine nature, in his disciples as in the first fruits of those who receive it, since it is true what is written, that one who labors as a farmer must be the first to partake of the fruits. A But in order that he himself might also be seen to hold the primacy in this (for being the firstborn among many brothers, as is also imagined in our case, it was necessary for him, because of the likeness to us, to be seen both as having become and as existing as the origin for us of every good thing, and the door, and the way), he necessarily added what follows, that is: "For their sake I sanctify myself." And although it is somewhat difficult to explain, and hard to understand, what has been said, yet the Word who illuminates all things, and reveals deep things out of darkness, will clarify this mystery for us as well. To be sanctified, then, is said according to legal custom, to be that which is offered to God in the order of some votive offering or gift, just as, indeed, is every firstborn that opens the womb among the children of Israel. For "Sanctify to me every firstborn that opens the womb," God said to the best of men, Moses, which is to say: consecrate, and set apart, and designate as holy. For we certainly do not say, nor have we ever heard from another, that God commanded Moses to impart spiritual sanctification to some; for that cannot fall to a creature, but belongs to God alone. B When the law wished to add the elders to him, it did not command Moses himself to impose sanctification upon the chosen, but said openly that He Himself would take from the Spirit that was upon him, and give it to each of those who were chosen. For to be able to sanctify through the participation of the Spirit is the work of the nature alone that rules over all things. And that this is the meaning of this word, as it is used throughout the Law, Solomon will make most clear to us, saying: "It is a snare for a man in haste to sanctify something of his own; for after he has vowed, repentance ensues." C Since, therefore, "to sanctify" is taken to mean to consecrate and to offer, we say that the Son sanctified himself for us. For he offered himself as a sacrifice and a holy victim to God and Father, reconciling the world to him, and bringing back into friendship that which had fallen away from it, namely, the human race. "For he himself is our peace," according to what is written. Our return to God, indeed, is understood to be accomplished through the Savior Christ in no other way than through the participation of the Spirit and sanctification. For it is the Spirit who conjoins us, and, so to speak, unites us with God, by whom being received, we are made partakers and sharers of the divine nature, and we receive him through the Son, and in the Son the Father. Therefore the wise John writes to us concerning him: "By this we know that we abide in him, and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit." What, moreover, of Paul? "Because you are sons," he says, "God has sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying: Abba, Father," so that if we were perchance devoid of the Spirit, God would not be fully recognized as existing within us; and unless we were endowed with the Spirit who places us among the sons of God, we would not be sons of God at all. D How then have we been adopted, or how [are we partakers of the divine] nature...
A if neither God is in us, nor we attached to Him through having been called to the participation of the Spirit? But now we are both partakers and companions of that essence which transcends all things, and we are called temples of God. For the Only-begotten sanctified himself for our sins—that is, He consecrated himself—and offered himself up, as a holy sacrifice, in the odor of sweetness to God and the Father, that when that which separates and walls off, as it were, human nature from God—that is, sin—is removed, nothing might further hinder us from being close to God and from clinging to His participation, namely through the participation of the Holy Spirit, who reforms us unto righteousness and holiness and to the first image. For if sin divides and separates man from God, righteousness will surely unite him, and with nothing intervening, it will in a certain way B place him before God. We have been justified through faith in Christ, who was indeed delivered for our offenses, according as it is written, but was raised for our justification. For, in Him, as in the first-fruits of the race, the whole nature of man was reconstituted unto newness of life, and having returned, as it were, to its own principle, it was reformed unto sanctification. "Sanctify them, therefore, O Father," He says, "in Your truth," that is, in Me. For Your Word is truth, that is, I. "For I have sanctified myself for them," that is, I have consecrated and offered myself, one having died for all, that I might reform them unto newness of life and that they might be sanctified in the truth, that is, in Me. Now, this passage having been so expounded, and having been proposed for understanding, we shall not begrudge taking up another way of explaining it. For it will be most pleasing both to those who have undertaken this study and to C curious listeners to diligently examine difficult passages. Our Lord Jesus Christ said that He sanctifies Himself for us, that we also might be sanctified in the truth. How, therefore, is He sanctified, though He is holy by nature, so that we might also be sanctified? Come, then, again insisting upon the dogmas of the Church and not swerving from the straight rule of faith, let us observe this as far as it is permitted. We say, therefore, that the Only-begotten, while being God by nature, and in the form and equality of God D and the Father, has emptied Himself, according to the Scriptures, and has become man from a woman, having accepted all things that befit a man, save only sin, and having ineffably united Himself to our nature, according to
A His own voluntary will, so as to form it anew in Himself, first of all, and through Himself to restore that beauty once more to what it was in the beginning. And having been found to be for us the second Adam, that is, the heavenly man, and being found to be the first of all and the first-fruits of those who are restored to the newness of life, in incorruption, that is to say, and in justice and in the holiness which is understood through the Spirit, He might henceforth transmit through Himself the good things to the entire human race.
For this reason, although He is life by nature, He became among the dead, that having abolished in us the death that was in us, He might refashion us into His own life. And He, being himself the justice of God the Father, became sin for our sake. For according to the voice of the prophet, He Himself takes away our sins, and was reckoned with us among the lawless, that He might justify us through Himself, having torn up the bond that was against us, and having nailed it to His own cross, as it is written.
And although He is holy again by nature, as God, and grants to the whole creation the sharing in the Holy Spirit for preservation, support, and holiness, He is sanctified for our sake in the Holy Spirit—not because another sanctifies Him, but because He Himself works out the sanctification of His own flesh. For He receives the Spirit which is His own, and indeed B He accepts it as far as He is a man, but He bestows it upon Himself as God. And He did this for our sake, not for His own, so that the grace of sanctification might flow from Him, and from Himself, having received its beginning there first, to the entire human race in this way.
For just as through the transgression and disobedience in Adam, as in the first-fruits of the human race, nature was condemned to death—hearing from the one first ancestor, "You are earth, and to the earth you shall return"—in the same way, I think, through the obedience and justice of Christ, in so far as He was made under the law, although He is a lawgiver as God, the blessing and the vivification through the Spirit might flow into the entire nature. For the Spirit reforms that which was corrupted by sin unto incorruption, and transforms into the newness of life that which had grown old through negligence and had reached to destruction.
C But perhaps you will say: How, I ask, was the one who is holy by nature sanctified, and that by participation? Or how does He who gives His own Spirit to all who are worthy—to those above, I mean, and to those on earth—bestow this upon Himself? These things are indeed difficult to understand, and do not have an obvious explanation if you conceive of the Word of God as still bare and standing, as it were, apart from humanity. But if you consider the incomprehensible union and the conjunction with the flesh, and if it occurs to you that that Word, who is God by nature, became a man like us, you will cease to wonder, and with every scruple removed from your mind, observing that the Son is God and man at the same time, you will not judge as things to be rejected those which befit humanity, even if they are spoken of concerning the one person of the Son who is by nature, D that is to say, Christ. For shall we deem it entirely alien for the Word, who gives life to all things, to die?
A But you will say that He suffered this according to the flesh; for the body is indeed capable of death, and it is said to have died for this reason: because His own body died. Your line of reasoning is excellent, for you speak correctly. Truly, for our sake, He economically permitted His own body to die, and again He implanted His own life into it—not, of course, that He released Himself from the bonds of death, in so far as He is understood to be God. For He appeared and became man, not for His own sake, but rather to prepare through Himself, and in Himself, a way for human nature by which it might flee from death and return to the immortality it possessed from the beginning. B Come now, therefore, apply the same line of reasoning to the manner of sanctification. For shall we say that the body derived from the earth is holy in accordance with the law of its own nature, even if it does not receive sanctification from God, who is holy by nature? How could such a thing be? For what difference would there then be conceived between earthy flesh and that substance which is holy and sanctifying by nature? But if it is true to say that every rational creature—and, in a word, everything that has been brought into existence and exists among created things—does not have sanctification as a fruit of its own nature, but borrows the grace, as it were, from Him who is holy by nature, how would it not be highly absurd to think that the flesh had no need of God, who sanctifies all things by His very nature? Since, therefore, the flesh is not holy of itself, for this reason it was sanctified in Christ, by the Word dwelling in it through the Holy Spirit, who sanctifies His own temple and transforms it into the activity of His own nature. C For this reason, the body of Christ is understood to be holy and sanctifying, since, as I just said, it has become the temple of the Word hypostatically united to it, as Paul says. For this reason, the Holy Spirit descends upon Him from heaven in the form of a dove. And the wise John has testified to this, saying, so that we may know again that just as in the first fruits of renewed nature, the Spirit descended upon Christ first, in so far as He appeared as a man capable of being sanctified. And we certainly do not say that Christ was made holy according to the flesh at that time, when the Baptist saw the Spirit descending; for He was holy even in the womb. Indeed, it was said to the blessed Virgin: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you." But this vision was given as a sign to the Baptist. D We consider, however, that the Lord's flesh was sanctified by the Spirit, through the Word of God, who is holy by nature, anointing His own temple after the likeness of other creatures. When this was known to the Psalmist, considering the person of the Only-Begotten in His humanity, he cried out: "Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions." For when the Son anoints His own temple, the Father is said to do this. For He acts in no other way than through the Son; and whatever the Son does, is referred back to the Father, from whom He is. For the Father is, as it were, the root and fountain of His own Offspring. And there is no reason to be surprised if He says that He is sanctified, even though
He is holy by nature, when even the Scriptures call the Father His God, although He is God by nature. But I think that one may rightly and justly attribute this to the needs of humanity and to the manner befitting our condition, nor would one err from what is appropriate. As, therefore, He died in the flesh for us, as a man, although He exists as God by nature; and as, although He is Lord of all, He says that the Father is His God, being reckoned among those who are made and under the yoke because of His humanity; so, too, He asserts that He sanctifies Himself for our sake, in order that, the matter running its course unto us, as in the first-fruits of a renewed nature, we also might be sanctified in Him in truth, that is, in the Holy Spirit. For the Spirit is Truth, according to the voice of John. For the Spirit of the Son is not something other than Him, as far as concerns the definition of substance, since it both exists in Him B and proceeds through Him. And He says that He was sent into the world, although He was in it before the incarnation. For He was in the world, even if the world did not know Him, as it is written, signifying that the manner of the mission was no other than that He was anointed by the Holy Spirit, in so far as He became man, and appeared as the Angel of the great counsel, according to the likeness of prophetic ministry. And saying that His disciples were ordained in imitation of Himself, and were sent by Him to announce the evangelical and heavenly preaching to the world, He says that it is necessary for them to be sanctified in truth, so that they might also be able to complete the course of their own mission brilliantly and vigorously.
CAP. XI.
That the Son is naturally one with His Father God, and He Himself is in the Father, and the Father in Him, according to the essential bond and mode of unity; and in like manner we ourselves, having embraced faith in Him, are made one among ourselves and with God, corporally and spiritually.XVII, 20, 21. *I do not pray for these only, but also for those who are to believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.*
Christ has appeared as the first-fruits, so to speak, of those being restored unto the newness of life, and He Himself is the first heavenly man. For, as Paul says, *The second Adam is the Lord from heaven.* Therefore He also said: *And no one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man.* But those who were first chosen as disciples were closer to the first-fruits, and D far nearer than others, and having obtained the dignity of following Christ, they became spectators and eyewitnesses of His glory, inasmuch as they were constant to Him, and lived together with Him, and the first-fruits of utility
and of salvation gathered into their own souls. They were therefore, and are, after that Head which is over all and superior to all, the precious and most worthy members of the body of the Church. And indeed, for them He asks that the blessing and sanctification through the Spirit be sent down by the Father—yet through Himself, of necessity. For it could not have been otherwise, since He is Himself the living and true, and all-working and active wisdom, and the power of Him who begat Him. A But lest some of those who are not accustomed to understand the divinely inspired Scripture in a sufficiently balanced manner might think, out of levity, that the visitation of the divine Spirit was called for only for the disciples, and nothing at all for us—who are, as is obvious, in the times that followed them and occurred subsequently—the Mediator of God and men, the Paraclete and High Priest of our souls, necessarily B anticipating the unintelligent suspicions of such men, added to what had been said the passage before us, that is: "But I do not ask for these only, but also for those who through their word are to believe in me." For it would have been somewhat absurd if, by means of one, the first—I mean Adam—the condemnation extended to all, and those who had not sinned, at the very time that the first parent fell away from the commandment given to him, were to bear the very dishonorable image of the earthly man; yet, upon the arrival of Christ, who has been manifested as the heavenly man, not all those who are called through Him to righteousness—and obviously that is through faith—were in turn to have His image impressed upon them. Just as we say that the most unlovely image of the earthly man is seen through characters and forms—which possess in themselves the filth of sin, the weakness of death and corruption, and the impurity of carnal pleasure and earthly-mindedness—so too, conversely, we consider that the image of the heavenly, that is, Christ, shines forth in purity and sincerity, in complete incorruption, life, and sanctification. C But it was impossible for us, who had once fallen due to the transgression in Adam, to be restored to that beauty from the beginning otherwise than by becoming partakers of that ineffable communion and union with God: for thus, in the beginning, was the nature of man adorned. But union with God cannot exist in anyone otherwise than through the participation of the Holy Spirit, who implants in us our own sanctification and reforms to His own life a nature that had become subject to corruption, and thus restores to God, and to His likeness, those who had been deprived of the glory belonging to this. For the Son is the pure image of the Father, and the Spirit is the natural likeness of the Son. Therefore, D by transforming in a certain way the souls of men into Himself, He imprints upon them the divine likeness and engraves the image of the substance that is supreme over all. Our Lord Jesus Christ therefore asks, not for the twelve disciples only, but rather for all who in various times were to believe in their words, by whom the hearers are incited to receive that sanctification through faith, and to the purification which is effected through the participation of the Spirit. He judged it fitting, however, to leave His petition somewhat obscure 996 to us, that from this we might indeed learn
what kind of persons we ought to be seen to be, and what path of righteousness we should follow for the fulfillment of the things well-pleasing to Him. What, then, or of what kind is the manner of this petition? "That they may be," He says, "even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us." He requires, therefore, a bond of love and concord and peace, gathering together the believers into spiritual unity, so that they might imitate the characters of that natural and substantial unity—that is to say, the unity understood to exist in the Father and the Son—namely, the concurrence of wills in all things and the union of souls. And we do not by any means say that such power and such a bond of love and concord can exist in us so that, being united equally in all respects by identity of substance, we express the mode of the union of the Father and the Son. For that is natural, and true, and considered hypostatically; but this one imitates the form of true unity. For how can it be that the copies are B altogether equal to the archetypes? For the imitation of truth is not considered the same as the truth itself, and although they may appear the same in appearance, they differ not a little from one another. Since, therefore, some heretic persuades himself that he can overturn the natural identity of the Son with God and the Father, and the unity existing from this, he brings us forward for the sake of asserting and confirming his own rashness, saying: "Just as we are not all one by identity of bodies, nor by the commingling of one soul into another, but by the affection of love and by concord and by consensus in the will of God; so also the Son is one with the Father." We shall reject him as ignorant and utterly foolish. And for what reason? Because it is impossible for things which are above us to follow our condition, and C that which is incorporeal to be subject to the necessity of bodies; nor are human things equal to divine. For if there is no difference between us and God, let us measure divine things by our own; but if the interval is incomprehensible, why do they define the defects of our nature as a canon and rule and norm for God, out of those things which are not of our capacity, subjecting to necessity the nature that is superior to every necessity, and are found to be doing the most absurd thing? For they form the archetypes from the copies, and the truth from the similitude of imitation, assigning to the second things the place of the first, and to those that follow the understanding of the first. But that we may not, by insisting too studiously on these matters, seem to wander outside the proposed subject, we will again necessarily say that D Christ, by the substantial unity which the Father has with Him, and He with the Father, which had been assumed as a type and image of indivisible friendship and agreement of souls, wishes us also to be in some way joined together with one another, in the virtue, indeed, of the holy and consubstantial Trinity, so that the whole body of the Church may be understood as one, raised up in Christ by the gathering and concurrence of the two peoples into the constitution of one perfect man. For, as Paul says, "He is our peace, who has made both one, and having broken down the middle wall of partition, the enmities in His flesh: making void the law of commandments in his decrees, that He might create in Himself two into
one new man, making peace, and reconcile both in one body to God through the cross, slaying the enmities in Himself A: which has indeed been fulfilled, as those who have believed in Christ have come to be of one mind with one another, and have taken up, as it were, a single heart, through their complete similarity in godliness, and through their obedience in believing and their virtuous disposition. And these things, for my part, I judge to have been spoken not outside the mark, but rather fittingly. But since the nature of the matters before us urges us to some extent to examine them more deeply, and since the Saviour Himself urges us to this most of all, saying: "As You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us," it must be very carefully considered what it is worth our while to say regarding these things. For in what has already gone by, we have not unreasonably said that the mode of the divine unity and the substantial identity of the holy Trinity, and its all-inclusive interweaving, ought to be imitated by the union of believers in concord and oneness of mind. But here we are intent on showing that there is also a natural unity, through which we are joined both to one another and all to God, perhaps not even lacking a mutual union of bodies, although we differ in the diversity of our bodies, since each of us is circumscribed and exists in his own hypostasis. For Paul cannot, for example, be or be called Peter, nor conversely can Peter be or be called Paul, even though by virtue of the union in Christ both may be conceived as one. Wherefore, since it is confessed by all that there is one natural unity of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit (for there is one Godhead in the holy Trinity that is believed in and glorified), come then, let us again consider in what way we ourselves are found to be one, both corporally and spiritually with one another, and with God.
IN JOHN, BOOK XI
C Igitur, because the Only-Begotten shone forth from the very substance of God and the Father, and has the Begetter entirely within His own nature, He became flesh, according to the Scriptures, in a certain way commingling Himself with our nature through an ineffable union and conjunction with this earthly body; and thus He who is by nature God was called, and truly became, the heavenly man—not "God-bearer" D as some who do not accurately grasp the depth of the mystery persuade themselves—but being in the same at once God and man, that He might unite in Himself things that are very widely separated by nature and that have gone outside their mutual homogeneity, and might show man to be a partaker and participant of the divine nature. For the communication of the Spirit has also flowed down even unto us, and has remained in us, having been made through Christ.
A Communion and abiding, having received its beginning through Christ, and in Christ first, when he is considered according to us—that is, having become man, being anointed and sanctified, although he is God by nature, as he has shone forth from the Father—he himself, by his own Spirit, sanctifies his own temple, and all of creation that came into being through him, in whom it is fitting for sanctification to fall. Therefore, just as he was a sort of beginning and path B for our participation in the Holy Spirit, and the mystery concerning Christ was established as the path to union with God—for we are all sanctified in him, according to the mode already spoken of—so that we might come together into unity with God and one another, and be knit together, even though we are separated from one another by the difference of our individual natures and by our souls and bodies, the Only-Begotten devised a certain way, through the wisdom and counsel of the Father that is befitting to him. For by one body, certainly his own, he blesses those who believe in him through the mystical communion, and makes them concorporal both with himself and with one another. For who could divide those who, through that one holy body, have been joined unto unity with Christ, and remove them from natural union with one another? C For if we all partake of the one bread, we are all made one body. For Christ cannot be divided. Therefore the Church has also been called the body of Christ, and we are members in particular, according to the understanding of Paul. For since all are united to the one Christ through his holy body, having as they do the one and indivisible [body] within their own bodies, we owe our members to him rather than to ourselves. That, moreover, when the Savior is established as the head, the rest of the body is called the Church, as being composed of individual members, Paul will demonstrate by saying: “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.” D That we who have become partakers of his holy flesh also obtain that union which is understood according to the body—I mean that with Christ—Paul will again testify, saying concerning the mystery of piety: “Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel.” If we are all concorporal with one another in Christ, and not only with one another, but also with him who is in us through his own flesh, how are we not already clearly one, all of us, both with one another and in Christ? For Christ is the bond of unity, being God and man in the same [person], and
A in Christ, although we are many separately and the Spirit of the Father and his own Spirit makes his home in each one of us, he is nonetheless one and indivisible; he is the one who gathers into unity by himself those spirits who are distinct inasmuch as they subsist individually, and he makes all to be seen, as it were, as a single thing in himself. For just as the power of the holy flesh renders those in whom it is "concorporal" [body-sharers], so too, I think, does the one, indivisible Spirit of God, dwelling in all, compel all toward spiritual unity. Therefore, the divine Paul again calls out to us: "Forbearing one another in love, being eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace; there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in the one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all, and in all." For when the one Spirit resides in us, the one God and Father of all will be in us through the Son, leading those who participate in the Spirit into mutual unity and unity with himself. And that we are united to the holy Spirit by participation is to some extent manifest from this as well. For if, having abandoned a life according to the soul, we have once obeyed the laws of the Spirit, is it not evident to all that, having as it were abandoned our own life and having been joined to the holy Spirit, we have obtained a heavenly conformation and have been transformed into a different nature, so that we are no longer called merely humans, but also sons of God and heavenly humans, from the fact that we have been rendered partakers of the divine nature? We are, therefore, all one in the Father and the Son and the holy Spirit: one, I say, in the identity of habit (for we must call to mind what we said in the beginning), one in conformation according to piety, and in communion with the holy flesh of Christ, and in participation in the one and holy Spirit, just as has been said before. B C
CHAPTER XII. That the Son is one with God his Father by nature, even if he says that he has received it, as it were, in the manner of grace, to be one with the Father.
"And the glory which thou hast given me I have given to them; that they may be one even as we are one. I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me."
We rightly assert that the Only-Begotten has a substantial and natural union with his own Father, inasmuch as he is also begotten in the true manner of generation, and is understood to exist from him and in him, and therefore is reckoned one with the Father by the truest identity of substance, even though he appears distinct by reason of his hypostasis. But because for the sake of the dispensation, our salvation, and our life, he has in a certain way departed from his former place, D
A I mean the equality with God and the Father, it seems also to have been shaken, as it were, into a transgression B towards the glory that is lower. For this is what is meant by, "he emptied himself." He who of old and from the beginning existed with the Father, receives this with the flesh, that is, with the earthly and fragile covering and the human form, which—as I have said, in the sense of one understood by nature—necessarily requires, as though by way of grace, that which belongs to him by nature. For he was and is in the form and equality of the Father. Therefore, since the flesh from a woman—or rather, the temple in its completeness from the Virgin—is not consubstantial with God and the Father, nor is it the same in nature, yet once it has been assumed into the body of the Word, it is henceforth regarded as one with him. For Christ is one, and the Son is one, once he has become man. For this reason, the union is understood to be received in this way; for it was received into this, even with the flesh, which does not possess from itself the state of being one with God. And if one must speak more briefly and clearly, the Only-Begotten says that what was given to his own flesh has been given to himself; and it was given, indeed, by the Father through him in the Spirit. For the mode of union with God has no other path, although regarding Christ it may perhaps be understood, insofar as he appeared and was named man, by union with the Spirit, the flesh being sanctified by an ineffable manner of conjunction, C and thus ascending to union without confusion with God the Word, and through him with the Father, by relation, that is, and not by nature. "This grace and glory, therefore, which has been given to me by you, O Father—namely, that I may be one with you—I have given to them, that they may be one, even as we are one." For we are united to one another according to the modes already set forth; and we are united also to God. And the Lord has made the explanation most clear to us as to how this is so, and has made the meaning of his teaching transparent: "I," he says, "in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one." For the Son comes to be in us, bodily indeed as man, being mingled and united with us through the mystic blessing; but again, spiritually as God, through the operation and grace of his own Spirit, restoring the spirit that is in us to the newness of life, and making us partakers D of his divine nature. Christ, therefore, is clearly the bond of our unity with God and the Father, having bound us to himself as man, yet, as God, existing naturally in his own Begetter. For the nature subject to corruption could not be raised to incorruption unless the nature that is above all corruption and change had descended upon it, lifting up, in a certain way, that which is always falling downward to its own good, and by communion and commingling with itself, almost drawing out that which is held by the condition of created things, and transforming into itself that which is not so of itself. We are, therefore, brought to completion in unity with God and the Father, through the mediation of Christ. For by receiving in us both corporally and spiritually, as I was just saying, him who is naturally and truly the Son, who has a substantial union with him, we have become partakers and fellow-heirs of the supreme nature and are glorified. But Christ desires us to be received into unity with God and the Father, if...
A simultaneously procuring for our nature, through himself, the benefit from the Father and the power of grace, while declaring that this will serve as a manifest refutation of those who think he is not from God. For what place or room will there be any longer for the calumny of those who slander him in this regard, if through himself he brings into union with the Father those who have evidently been joined to him through faith and sincere love? “When, therefore, O Father,” he says, “they have gained this union with you through me, then the world will know that you sent me,” that is, that I have come to the earth to bring help by your good pleasure, and to procure salvation for those wandering in it. “And beyond this,” he says, “they shall know, those who have partaken of such deeply-desired grace, that you have loved them, just as you have loved me.” For he who received into unity that which is of us and from us—that is, Christ—and deemed it worthy of such great love (and we are speaking of the Word again as man), and who granted us the possibility of attaining this, how would he not have loved [us] in equal measure? Let this matter trouble no thoughtful person. For it is patent and indisputable that the servant will in no way ever contend with his own master; but neither should God and the Father be thought to have loved his own Son and his creatures in equal measure. Nevertheless, one must consider this: that we see him who is loved from eternity as having a *beginning* of being loved when he became man. Therefore, that which he had when he received it—he surely did not receive it for himself, but for us. Just as he came back to life having destroyed the power of death, not accomplishing the resurrection for himself, B in so far as he is the Word and God, but granting this to us through himself and in himself (for the whole nature of man was conquered by the bonds of death in Christ), so too he is not to be thought of as having received the love from the Father for himself. For he was always and from eternity beloved; but in order that he might procure the Father's love for us, he receives it from him even when he has become man. Just as, therefore, we shall be and already have been made conformed to his resurrection and glory, as in the first-fruits of the race and in Christ the first, so too we have had a conformity of this love, granting primacy in all things to the Only-Begotten, while rightly marveling at the incomparable goodness of the divine nature in those who are akin to us, in that it bestows its own things upon the creatures and communicates what belongs to it C alone.
“Father, those whom you have given me, I desire that where I am, they also may be with me; that they may behold my glory, which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world.”
Having prayed for his own disciples, or rather for all who come to him through faith, and having asked of the Father that union, love, and sanctification might be theirs, he immediately adds D XVII, 24. “Father, those whom you have given me, I desire that where I am, they also may be with me: that they may behold my glory which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world.”
When he had prayed for his disciples, or rather for all who approach him through faith, and had asked the Father for union, love, and sanctification for them, he immediately subjoins these things also, showing
A that it is not for others to be with him and to be deemed worthy to behold his glory, but for those who have already been united to the Father through him. For we have been loved as sons, according to the likeness of the Son who is such by nature and in truth. For even if not perhaps in equal measure, yet the most exact imitation of the reality, running as it were alongside the truth, fashions his glory. "I desire, therefore, O Father," he says, "that those who through faith and through the illumination from thee have been made mine, may be with me and behold my glory." But what good shall we say it is, to be with Christ himself? What discourse could unfold this to us? For we shall enjoy ineffable delights; and eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love him. For what could they still lack, I ask, B who have attained to supreme joys, those who have been granted the lot of being with Christ, the Lord of all? And yet, the wise and most holy Paul appears to us to have pursued this matter with all wonder. "For it is better," he says, "to depart and be with God." He who preferred the dignity of this to the life in the present world, that great and admirable thing—how shall he not be a true witness that he awards to his own genuine disciples a great gift of communion with him, he who gives all things to all men abundantly? But let this be confirmed no less by what was said again to us through him. For having Christ speaking in himself and revealing the powers of the world to come, he said again in this way: "For the dead shall rise," he says, "but we who are alive, who remain, shall be caught up together C with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord." And our Lord Jesus Christ himself evidently promised to grant us this very thing, saying: "I go and prepare a place for you. I will come again, and I will take you to myself, that where I am, you may be with me also." For either, understanding this in a somewhat crasser way, we shall say that the heavenly mansions are signified by these words, or, turning to other conceptions of the mind, we shall confess that the same place will be in a way handed over to us and to Christ, as it were, honors equal in likeness and comparison. For we shall be conformed to the glory of him, and we shall reign with him, according to the holy Scriptures. But he promises, in the way which he himself knows, that he will also sit with us in the kingdom of heaven. D That we shall, therefore, be with Christ, and shall share in his glory and be partakers of his kingdom, leaving aside for the present to show it by further proofs, as it is in no way a matter of dispute, let us move on to the other thing, I mean the words: "That they may behold my glory." It will not, therefore, belong to the profane and the sinners, nor even to those who despise the divine law, to see the glory of God, but rather to the holy and the good alone. Which indeed we shall recognize again, as the prophet says: "Let the impious be taken away, lest he behold the glory of the Lord." And in the evangelical proclamations of the Savior Christ: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." But who are those that are pure in heart, if not those who by union
A with God through the Son in the Spirit, having retreated from all flesh-mindedness, and having made worldly pleasure as distant as possible, and having as it were denied their own life, have dedicated themselves solely to the will of the Spirit, and lived purely and in every way for Christ? Such a person was Paul, who, because of the immense purity residing in him, did not hesitate to say: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” And I hear also another of the saints chanting and saying: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with your guiding Spirit.” For He calls the Spirit the joy of salvation, insofar as He is the cause of unending and perpetual joy, and supplies B sovereignty over the passions in the world. For it is the Spirit of the true salvation, that is, of Christ. And while naming Him in many ways, he has called it both a pure heart and a right spirit, inasmuch as those who are not yet united to God and have not become partakers of the blessing of Christ through the Spirit, do not have a right heart, but rather a crooked and perverted one, as the Psalmist says. To speak in summary, therefore, the Savior willed that the grace of being with Him and beholding His glory be bestowed specially upon His own acquaintances. And He says that He was loved even “before the foundation of the world,” showing well the very ancient power of the mystery concerning Himself, and that the way of our salvation, which was accomplished through the mediation of Christ, was foreknown to God the Father. The knowledge, then, was not given to those on earth in the beginning, but the law, the pedagogue of the divine life, crept in, fashioning in types an obscure understanding, with God the Father reserving the grace through the Savior for the fitting time. And the knowledge concerning these things appears to us most useful for the destruction of Jewish haughtiness and the impious arrogance of those from Israel, who chose to argue for the law forever, even when the truth was present, for which C henceforth the types were to be accounted as nothing. It is also highly useful for the refutation of others, who think that the goal and rationale of that mystery was devised by a recent and new plan of the Father. For this reason, Paul also, uprooting the opinion of those who are so disposed, spoke somewhere concerning Christ, that He was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was manifested in the last times of the age. But it must be observed that Christ says the glory was given to Him by the Father; and the disciples themselves, even the majesty befitting God, and the sovereignty over all, not insofar as He is understood to be God by nature, the Lord of glory, and possessing the substantial dignity of ruling, but insofar as He appeared as a man, to whom all things were delivered by God, not by His own nature. For all things of the creature have been given by God, and He possesses nothing from Himself, although He may appear to have some good. D
A
XVII, 25. *Pater juste, mundus te non cognovit, ego autem te cognovi, et hi cognoverunt quia tu me misisti.* In these words, He calls the Father just, although He could have named Him by other titles. For He is pure, holy, immaculate, creator, and artificer, and whatever else befits the nature that is queen of all things. It is indeed worth our while to consider what the cause is for Him being called just, although it was permitted for Him to be named by Christ in another way. For not to pass over the insights in the divinely inspired Scripture brings us no small benefit. Therefore, examining the sense of this passage more keenly, we say: when Christ wished for us to be sanctified by the will of His own Father, fulfilling the role of advocate and the place of mediator, He offered prayers on behalf of us all, saying, "Holy Father, keep them in thy truth," B not saying that the truth is something other than His own Spirit, through whom He secures our souls, sealing them into His own likeness, and fortifying them, as it were, with an ineffable power unto invincible courage, and inciting them, clearly, unto an unbridled zeal for the highest good works, so that nothing at all being placed in the way, and nothing having the power to call them back, they might be borne with the swiftest course toward what is pleasing to God, and make no account of the manifold machinations of the devil or of the desire for pleasure in the world. For those who have once been sealed by the Holy Spirit and have received the earnest of grace into their soul possess a fortified heart, inasmuch as they have been clothed with power from on high. That we, therefore, might enjoy such desirable goods, Christ asked that sanctification be sent down upon us from the Father. But now, as I think, He appears to have understood something of this sort again. For in addition to those things which He said about us needing to be sanctified by the Father, He added these things concerning us: C "And the glory which thou hast given me, I have given to them, that they may be one, even as we are one; for thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me." And again: "Father, those whom thou hast given me, I will that where I am, they also may be with me." Having said these things, therefore, He immediately calls the Father just, and quite deservedly so, by whose will and pleasure the Son became man, so that He might be the provider for human nature—created for good works—of sanctification through the Spirit, of union with God, and of dwelling in the mansions above, to be with Him and to reign together with Him. For God did not create man for evil in the beginning, but his nature was turned toward wickedness through the impious arts of the devil, D and cast out from that ancient and godly life as if from its own seat. For it was most fitting for the just Father both to raise up what had been broken by force and to restore to its original seat that which had been distracted into vices, and to reform into its first likeness what had been loosened by deformed sin: he who [was the one to] crush it, and
impiously dared to corrupt it—that is, Satan—to subject him to the punishments that befit him; A even if it be a small thing, I think, to inflict every kind of torment upon him who has conceived so much rage against God. "Therefore, righteous Father," he says, "for thou art righteous, and good, and thy judgment is upright, who hast sent me, thy true and legitimate Son, to the world for its help and restoration." But, O the madness! he says. "For although thou art such, the world hath not known thee." For if they had immediately understood a decree so full of love for man, and a nod so serene, they would have run to their Savior, and would have willingly offered thee worship. These things, then, Christ said to the Father, rendering grace, as it were, on our behalf and for our sake, inasmuch as, being righteous, he granted salvation to those who were suffering from [the enemy's] rapacity, but condemned the destruction of the devil. And by "the world," he means those who resist the divine and evangelical preaching because they savor the things that are of the world, saying that B it does not know thee, the righteous Father. "For the God of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers," as Paul says, "lest the illumination of the Gospel of the glory of Christ should shine upon them." But to his own disciples he bore witness as to those who knew and had recognized him, again investing them with an illustrious and enviable dignity in this matter as well. For he declares them to be above all worldly lowliness and pettiness, because they know the Father, and it is also clearly acknowledged that they know the Son himself. Since, therefore, the world is accused of not knowing the Father—that is, the true and natural God—while the disciples are praised as having known him, who could doubt that they are no longer of the world, having already become Christ's, who is above the world, according to that saying of Paul: "By whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world"? C And again concerning us: "They that are Christ Jesus' have crucified the flesh with the vices and concupiscences." We assert that the disciples were outside the world, not by reason of place and body—for they shine as luminaries in the world, holding the word of life—but because, while walking on earth, they conduct themselves in heaven, and having bidden farewell to the lusts of the flesh, or rather, having set their own mind above all worldly desire, they have leapt up to a certain sublime and most high virtue, according to what is said in the Psalms: "For the strong ones of the earth are greatly lifted up." For those who are strong through God, having removed the lowliness of the earthly mind, savor the things that are above. For I think that "they are lifted up" signifies this. "Wherefore the world," he says, "indeed did not know thee, O Father. But I, possessing knowledge (for I am thy counsel and wisdom), and being not much concerned about my innate glory and the majesty befitting God, emptied myself D and descended into human poverty, that I might save, according to thy pleasure, the human race that had fallen away from our fellowship." And while the world is ignorant of this too, the disciples have nevertheless attained that knowledge, understanding in truth that I was sent by thee, that is
to have arrived, to impose a good outcome upon Your commands, by saving the world that was in peril.
XVII, 26. *And I have made known unto them thy name, and will make it known, that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.*
He says that God and Father is known both by Himself and by the disciples who B attend upon Him. But lest anyone, led astray by error into absurd suspicions, might perhaps think that the knowledge was of the same mode both in Christ Himself and in the disciples, He immediately distinguishes and establishes a most manifest difference, showing that He indeed reveals, while they receive the knowledge through Him. For our Lord Jesus Christ, since He is the Word, and the counsel, and the wisdom of the Father, knows without the work of a teacher the things that are in Himself, and peers into the arcana of His Begetter, just as, indeed, the human mind and our own intellect appear to be ignorant of nothing at all of the things that are within us. But the divine disciples do not have it of themselves to be able to understand anything concerning God, but being illuminated by the Spirit, they gaze upon the truth of the mysteries of the Son, and thus are able to understand the Father. Most appropriately, therefore, did Christ add: “And I have made known unto them thy name, and will make it known.” C Observe furthermore how it is by one and the same operation of the Father and the Son that God is comprehended. For the Father illuminates by revealing His own Son; nevertheless, the Son also illuminates by revealing the Father. Whence, regarding the parts of Caesarea, which was called Philippi, He addresses blessed Peter with these words: “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father, who is in heaven.” For the disciple had confessed and asserted that he believed Him to be the Christ, the Son of the living God. Yet He Himself now says of Himself: “I have made known unto them thy name, and will make it known.” For the Only-Begotten did not cease to reveal to us the power of His mystery, which He had revealed to the fathers in the beginning; but He works even until now, implanting in everyone illumination D through the Spirit, and as it were leading by the hand to the knowledge of those things which are greater than all mind and speech those who love Him. What He indeed accomplished, and in what manner He aided us by revealing it to His disciples—yet in such a way that He also asserts He will make the Father known to their posterity—He Himself shows again, saying: “That the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.” For those who through sincere contemplation have been able to acknowledge God and Father, and have accurately learned the reason of the Christian mystery, it will befall that they are perfectly loved by the Father after the likeness of the Son. For the Father most perfectly loves His own Son, but also Christ Himself dwells through
the Holy Spirit within him who has known Him, joining him in spiritual unity to God and the Father, and within himself he brings forth the Word, incorruptible, of the knowledge of God. He has made known to us the name of the Father, showing Himself to us as the Son. For the knowledge of Him who begat Him will follow and run concurrently B everywhere and in every way with the knowledge of the Begotten, just as what is true works also in reverse. If this account is true, and it is undeniably acceptable that the Son is understood and introduced together with the Father, and the Father in turn with the Son, and the knowledge of each runs together through both, how is the Son still a creature, as some of the impious claim? For if one names the Son, he has planted the knowledge of the Father in the hearers; but he who names a creature immediately recalls the mind to the Creator. But when the Son names God as Father, not as maker or creator, He surely knows that He is truly His offspring. Therefore, the Son is understood to be and is a Son, and not a creature as they claim. For one who creates is a creator, and no longer a father. And it will in no way harm the power of the Word that the name of generation, or rather of sonship, is perhaps attributed also to us. For those things which belong properly and specifically to the Son by nature have been carried over to us, the Holy Scripture sometimes Catachrestically using them, and occasionally attributing to those who are sons by adoption the things which belong to the Son by nature. Nor is it anything to be wondered at if we have also obtained the title of sons, God desiring to honor us out of His singular goodness, as He has even named them gods, who are known to be procreated from the earth.
"When Jesus had spoken these things, He went out with His disciples across the Kidron ravine, where there was a garden, into which He Himself and His disciples entered. But Judas also, who was betraying Him, knew the place, because Jesus had often gathered there with His disciples." C
Having enlightened the disciples and instructed them in every type of virtue with fitting words, and having commanded them to choose a most excellent and god-pleasing way of life, and having promised in addition that He would fill them with spiritual gifts, and having told them that/blessings from above and from the Father would be sent down to them, He at last goes out willingly, neither shunning the time of the passion nor fearing the death which He was about to undergo for everyone. For how was it likely that He would do this, He to whom it had been ordained to suffer, so that by His own passion He might redeem the passionlessness of all? Or He who had come for this sole purpose, that by His own blood He might acquire the whole earth for God and the Father? While the Jews therefore frequently rushed upon Him and attempted in their fury to overwhelm Him with stones, He would depart in a manner worthy of God, rendering Himself invisible and withdrawing Himself with the greatest of ease from the hands of those seeking Him; for He did not yet wish to suffer, the fitting time D not yet calling Him to it. When that hour arrived, having left the house in which He had instructed His disciples,
A He arrives at a place where it was His custom to reside frequently, along with the all-saving Christ and the holy disciples. This He did again to make the finding of Him effortless for the traitor. The place was a garden, bearing the form of the ancient paradise. It was, so to speak, a kind of collection of figures, and, in a word, a reversion of all things to their pristine state. For in paradise was the beginning of all our sadness, whereas in the garden the passion of Christ also begins, which brings us the correction of all those ancient things; in the garden occurred the beginning, and in the garden was brought in the correction of all things that had happened to Christ.
XVIII, 3. *Judas therefore, having received a cohort and ministers from the chief priests and Pharisees, comes there with lanterns and torches and arms.* B
Most necessarily again, the divine evangelist says Jesus was in the garden, not crowded with a multitude of other men, or a mob rushing together, seeking to defend Him, but only with His own disciples, so that he might make manifest the weakness of the traitor's heart to understanding. For the conscience in every person is very severe, and accustomed to produce disturbances and stir up bitter fears when at any time we attempt something impious. Since something of this sort had happened to the traitor, he brings the cohort itself, equipped with arms, and the ministers of the Jews, as if he were about to capture some great villain. C For he knew—as is credible—that he would not capture Him unless He were willing to suffer, and that He went there of His own voluntary impulse. But being corrupted in mind by the wickedness of his deeds, and as it were intoxicated by his daring above reason, he does not see where he is rushing, nor does he perceive that his efforts are in vain. For he thought that by the multitude of those following and by human hand he would ever overcome His divine power. And do not wonder if the wretch suffers from such a malady and is found entertaining thoughts worthy of laughter. For having already entrusted the rudders of his own soul to another, and having sold the power of his own will to the devil, he was entirely subject to the madness of him who had leaped into him once and was lurking within him like a bitter serpent. D But you might justly wonder at this fall of the traitor, and confess it worthy of perpetual tears. For he who just now was dining with Christ and was a fellow-guest, and a participant of the holy table and of discourses on piety, and who had heard Him saying plainly, *"One of you will betray me,"* leaps, so to speak, from those very seats of the banquet, and having just stood up from where he reclined, he goes off running to trade with the Jews, not wishing to remember the discourses on piety, not inflamed with hope for the future, but having almost no regard for the dignity given to him, and, to speak simply, having preferred to all those eternal goods such a small and vile amount of silver, he is found to be the devil's net and snare, and indeed both the author and assistant of Jewish impiety. Moreover, it provokes no small laughter in me that the crowds who had flowed together with the traitor, having seized lanterns and torches, made an onslaught on Christ
A for it was their custom to fear that they might stumble into stones or fall into pits in the darkness, as indeed usually happens in the dark. But, O what madness! The wretched men do not see, through their great lack of understanding, that they are stumbling upon the Stone of which God the Father says: "Behold, I lay in Sion a stumbling stone and a rock of scandal." And though they at times shudder slightly at a pit, they do not perceive that they are falling into the springs of the abyss and the lowest parts of the earth; and they who shun the dusk of the evening make no account of the everlasting and impenetrable night. For, having wickedly plotted against the divine light—that is, against Christ—they were destined to walk in darkness and at midnight, according to the voice of the Prophet. Nor was it only this, but they were also to be thrust down into the outer darkness itself, there to render an account of their impiety against Christ and to be delivered over to a bitter and unending judgment.
Jesus, therefore, knowing all things that were coming upon him, went forth and said to them: "Whom do you seek?" They answered him: "Jesus the Nazarene." Jesus says to them: "I am he." And Judas, who was betraying him, was also standing with them. When, therefore, he said to them, "I am he," they went backward and fell to the ground.
By night the traitor arrived, bringing together the servants of the Jews along with the cohort. For indeed, as we were saying just now, he supposed that he would capture him even against his will, relying on the sheer number of those following him. He would find him, however, dwelling in his accustomed places, the day not yet permitting him to move elsewhere, but the night keeping the Lord still in his own—if I may so call them—habitats. To show, therefore, that Christ thought these things vain, he does not wait until they make their rush, but boldly goes out to meet them, showing that the deed was not unknown to him, and that since he was the foreknower of future events, it would not have been difficult for him to escape. He offers himself to the passion, not against his will nor moved to undergo that peril by force, D so that the "wise men" among the Greeks might not find an occasion to mock, making of the cross a scandal and an offense of their own fickleness, nor, indeed, that the God-killing Jew might lift his brow high against Christ, thinking that he had prevailed over him even against his will. He inquires of those who had come to arrest him whom it is they are searching for, not through ignorance of whom they sought, but so that he might confirm us in the right belief that he would never have been captured had he not of his own accord offered himself to those seeking him, showing that they could not even recognize him whom they were seeking, even while he was present and they were looking at him. For observe how, when he cried out openly and clearly, "Whom do you seek?" they did not immediately add: "We are present to arrest you, you who speak to us," but as if of someone absent or whom they did not see, they say: "Jesus the Nazarene." But perhaps someone will say: perhaps the soldier and the Jews
were likewise ignorant of Jesus. To this we say, that truly no one will reasonably say such a thing to us. For how could the ministers of those who had been allotted the priesthood have been ignorant of him who was teaching in the temple every day, according to the voice of the Savior himself? Yet, lest any by trusting in such arguments wander away from the right judgment, the divine evangelist, having foreseen this, necessarily added that Judas, who was betraying him, was also standing with the soldiers and the ministers. B But how could the traitor have been ignorant of the Lord? But you will urge again that it was night and darkness, and it was not easy to see the one being sought. But then is the writer of this book not to be admired, who did not leave even so small a detail unprovided for? For he has said that they broke into the garden having lit lanterns and torches. Therefore, all verbose prattle being dissolved, the divine dignity of Christ shines forth, who offers himself indeed to those seeking him, yet is not yet recognized. For in order to show that he could not be known by them, he says openly, "I am." Then, to demonstrate that the company of soldiers and the strength of all men are nothing before his ineffable and divine power, by speaking to them in a gentle and mild word, he casts the crowd of seekers to the ground, that we might learn from this that the nature of created things cannot endure even one word of God, and that human, C and how then could it sustain [his] threats, as it is said in the Psalms: "You are terrible, and who shall stand against you from the anger of your wrath?" The sign of the universal fall of the Jewish nation is built upon this particular event which befell those who had come to seize him. Whence the prophet Jeremiah bewails the Jews, saying: "The house of Israel has fallen; there is no one who will raise it up." And this event is an image of a necessary matter. For it teaches that all who have plotted to do wickedness against Christ will fall entirely and in every way.
XVIII, 7-9. *Again therefore he asked them: Whom seek you? But they said: Jesus the Nazarene. Jesus answered: I told you that I am. If therefore you seek me, let these go their way. That the word might be fulfilled which he spoke: That of those whom you gave me, I have lost not one of them.*
He asks them a second time with a special plan, in order to show what great hardness of heart was in them. D For, being moved in their minds and struck with astonishment on account of their impiety, they did not know that they were addressing the very one whom they were seeking. But Christ demonstrates to us by the events themselves that what he said is true: "For I am," he says, "the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep." Therefore, the Lord contends for the salvation of the apostles, and in risking danger for them, he offers himself voluntarily to those who had been sent by the chief priests and Pharisees to hand him over to death.
When, therefore, they answered his question as to whom they were seeking—intending both to seize him and to bind him in the snares of death—by saying, "Jesus the Nazarene," showing himself and almost rebuking their sloth, he ordered them to let the others go and lead him away. For it was necessary that the one who was the equivalent of everyone’s life should die for all, so that he might rule both the dead and the living. A For it would have been quite implausible in other respects to suppose that the death of one of the holy apostles had been brought about for the destruction of death and corruption, when they themselves are also numbered, and quite rightly so, among those who have been liberated from death and corruption, since they shared with us the one nature over which the power of death had tyrannized. Therefore, it was necessary for the one who originates from the living Father to be the first and only one to deliver his own body to death as a ransom for the life of all, so that, by following the life of the Word united with him, the nature of our bodies might be made capable of being freed B henceforth from the snares of death. For the Lord is the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep and the firstborn from the dead, by his own resurrection providing a pathway, as it were, smooth and easy for those after him to return to immortality. He therefore removes his disciples from the immediate danger, knowing that this struggle belonged most properly to him, and manifesting that it was not the work of another, but of that very essence alone which rules over all things. C The wise evangelist, however, prunes [the narrative] to show clearly the general and most universal mercy that is to be for those who approach him through faith, treating what was done at that moment for his companions as a particular and specific instance. For he commanded, he says, to release the disciples, "that the word might be fulfilled which he spoke: Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one." For how could it be in doubt that he will also spare those who come later? For if that which was done for a few was not neglected, how could it be disregarded in the case of the many? And he who had such great care for the few, how will he disdain the countless? For there are indeed very many believers. Receive, therefore, that particular D act as an image of the general one; for from the fact that he does not wish his own disciples to be in danger, it is easy to perceive what and how great his wrath will be toward those who put him to death. For how is that which is alien to his will not something he utterly hates? And as for those who are the workers of what he hates, how could it continue to be in doubt, or from where could it be doubted, that a bitter and unending judgment awaits them?
Simon Peter therefore, having a sword, drew it, and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear. And the servant’s name was Malchus.
Then what, one might ask, was the necessity compelling the divine evangelist to mention these things, as if to show that the disciple had used a sword—contrary to his custom—against those who had come to seize 1016
A them, attacking them more vehemently and fiercely than was proper, and on this account was rebuked by Christ? This exposition may perhaps appear superfluous to some, but it is not so. For he did not provide an example of common utility. We are taught by this action how the zeal of piety toward Christ should proceed without reproach, and what we should do in such crises so as not to sin at all against God. For the pattern of this affair does not allow us to contend for piety toward Christ by drawing iron, or casting stones at some, or beating adversaries with a stick. For our weapons are not fleshly, as Paul says, but we are to behave with gentleness, even toward those who plot murder against us, B when the occasion for fleeing them has been closed off to us. For it is much better that others be punished by the just Judge for the crimes committed against us, than that we ourselves, under the pretext of piety, demand an accounting of blood. Furthermore, it can be said that it is most absurd to honor with the death of his persecutors him who willingly underwent death itself so that he might destroy it. Indeed, Christ is to be closely followed in this: for if he were being led to death by force and necessity, as if he could not of his own power repel the attack of the attendants because of their irresistible strength, there might perhaps be nothing absurd in his disciples exerting all their zeal and all their strength to defend and save him, since he had been brought into this danger against his will by the impiety C of some. But since, as true God, he could destroy them utterly—seeing as he even routed them at the very start of the danger, so to speak, with such force that he threw them all down with a single, gentle word (for they all fell backward)—how is it appropriate for us to be carried away by an unbridled impulse of the soul and inconsiderate fury toward those things which he himself did not do, although he could easily have done so? We have also written elsewhere in the holy evangelists something of this kind. For the Lord once came to a village neighboring Judea which was Samaritan. They fiercely repelled him as he approached. Moved by this, the disciples came to the Lord and said: "Lord, do you want us to say that fire should descend from heaven and consume them?" To whom the Savior replied: "Let them be; do you not know that I can call upon my Father, D and he will immediately provide me with twelve legions of angels?" For he did not come that, as God, he might use his own native power against those who treated him with insolence, but rather that he might become our teacher of supreme patience, and be established as the highest model of all freedom from anger. Therefore he also said: "Learn from me, for I am meek and humble in heart." The intent of Peter, however, when he drew his sword against the adversaries, was not foreign to the command of the Law. For it bade those who suffered injury to return foot for foot, and hand for hand, and wound for wound, and stripe for stripe, without blame. What else were they going to do, who had come frequently armed with swords, and provided with clubs and weapons, except, as truly seems the case, to...
A prepare for the disciples the perils that were being threatened? For that they were carrying both clubs and swords, the Savior made clear to us, having said elsewhere to them: “You have come out with swords and clubs to seize me like a robber. Daily I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not arrest me.” 35 Peter’s action, then, was according to the Law and not inconsistent with the ancient ordinances. But our Lord Jesus Christ, since He had come to introduce things that are above the Law, and to reform us into His own gentleness, reproves such movements according to the Law, as not possessing the full perfection of the true Good. For the perfection of virtue does not consist in the retaliation of equal for equal, but rather shines forth in the highest patience. But perhaps someone will pause and say to himself: “Yet from where did Peter get a sword?” We shall answer, that since according to the Law it was permitted to repel force with force, it was permitted to use iron B also according to the Law. For what if someone attacks the innocent with iron; how would they be able to avenge the injury if they were destitute of iron? Although it is probable that the holy apostles, when they had gone out of the house in the dead of night, and thought they were about to enter into woods and gardens, had also taken precautions against an incursion of wild beasts, of which Judea bred a great number. Yet if you press the point: “What need did the disciples have for swords?” Was not Christ capable of driving off the wild beasts? Yes, absolutely. For Christ was capable of all things. We will find, however, that the disciples, even though Christ could do all things, were accustomed to live according to our human manner. Or shall we not admit that Christ was able to make bread out of stones, and from nothing to create silver that would suffice for their expenses? C Yet they carried bread with them and bore money-bags, collecting what had been offered. And when Christ once wished to be ferried across with them, they boarded a ship together with Him, although they could have walked upon the waters themselves, if Christ had also so desired. Therefore, you will have blamed human reasoning in vain if you see the disciples making use of it. Peter, however, cuts off the right ear of the servant, by which, as a certain type, is signified that the peoples of the Jews would be deprived of right and ready hearing. For they did not want to understand the things that are of Christ, but embraced a sinister obedience, yielding to their own madness, erring themselves and leading others into error, as it is written 36. For, having trampled upon the old law, they turned to D doctrines, commandments of men.
XVIII, 11. *Then Jesus said to Peter: Put your sword into its sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which the Father has given me?*
The admonition of the gospel discipline gives birth to its law and carries with it the power of a command, not that which is according to the Law.
given A to the ancients through Moses, but that which has been established through Christ, which not only prevents the use of swords, but further mandates that even if someone were to smite us upon one of our cheeks, we must, if he happens to ask for the second, offer that one as well, as if we were eradicating the human faintheartedness from our own souls by the root. Yet if, even though a law regarding the necessity of showing forbearance had not yet been formally prescribed by me, your mind, O Peter, has strayed from the rectitude of sound judgment, you have performed an act most alien to the nature of reality. For since it has been resolved and is pleasing to God and the Father that I should drink this cup—that is, that I should voluntarily endure that death which holds sway as if in a sleep, to the end of destroying death and corruption—how is it consistent to shrink from it, seeing that so great a form of blessings is believed to result for the human race through the drinking of it? This, then, is the meaning of the passage proposed, to which what we shall say next is similar. When our Lord Jesus B Christ wished to confirm his disciples in faith and to remove the scandal of the precious cross, he would sometimes speak to them privately, saying: "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of sinners, and they will crucify him, and they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise again."* But Peter, the divine, not considering the good that comes from the passion, but looking only to the ignominy of the suffering, said: "Far be it from you, Lord; this shall not happen to you." And what does Christ say to this? "Get behind me, Satan; you are a scandal to me, because you do not think the things that are of God, but the things that are of men."* For it must be the purpose and resolve of one who desires to think the things pleasing to God to hold worldly honors as naught, and to count the loss of human prestige as nothing, if only some benefit accrues to others from C it; for "Charity," he says, "does not seek its own things."* But it is the mark of one looking only to human affairs to be unable to bear the loss of earthly fame, to care only for one’s own, and not to sorrow for the evils of one’s neighbor. Just as, therefore, Peter was called a scandal to Christ—in whom a scandal cannot possibly fall—since he had spoken not with blameless zeal, because he looked only to the passion of the cross and by no means to the benefits of the passion (for he was attempting, so far as in him lay, to overthrow that which had been decreed and determined for the life of all), so also here he is seen to do this very thing through zeal and the sword and the intensity of his rash act. Yet he is rebuked again, not only by hearing: "Put your sword into its sheath,"* but, as is reported by another evangelist, with Christ adding: "For all who take the sword shall perish by the sword."* D And, to repeat what we said before: since he suffers not unwillingly, nor by the prevailing force of the Jews, but voluntarily, why ought there be fighting, and why must the audacity of those rushing in at his command and the snares of the impious Jews be repelled by the sword? Moreover, he says that the cup—that is, death—was given to him by the Father and God, although prepared through the impiety of the Jews, because nothing at all would have been done had the Father not permitted it to occur for our sake.
A Therefore, Christ said to Pilate, who was vaunting himself magnificently: "You would have no power against me unless it had been given to you from above." For he says that what Pilate had by way of power was the eagerness of the Son to undergo what was necessary, and the consent to this given from above by the Father.
The cohort, therefore, and the tribune, and the servants of the Jews seized Jesus, and bound him, and led him away to Annas first; for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, B who was high priest that year. Now it was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it is expedient that one man should die for the people.
As the obstacles had already been removed, and Peter had shaken the sword from his own hand, and Christ had, as it were, offered himself to the hands of the Jews, although it was possible for him to suffer nothing and to escape, they then behaved with savageness in their outbursts of anger, and were kindled, as it were, into an unconquerable boldness—both the soldiers with the one who led them, and the servants with them. C Since they had seized the Lord, who was yielding in all things, they dragged him with bonds—he who had come to us for this reason, that he might deliver us from diabolical bonds and release us from the snares of sin. But they lead him to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, from which it somehow occurs to us to think that he was actually the architect and planner of the impious deed against Christ, and that the traitor, as is credible, had been hired by him for a price, and had requested the cohort that was to seize Christ. To him, therefore, he is brought first. For it seemed to the Jews, and to us as well, that the event truly demonstrated exactly what they appeared to say through the voice of the prophet: "Let us bind the just man, because he is useless to us." For Christ was indeed truly useless to the Jews—not that he himself was of such a nature, but because, as they had a disposition prone to sin and pleasure, he seemed to contribute nothing worthwhile, by introducing a righteousness above the law, and by clearly expounding what is truly pleasing to God, who loves virtue, whereas the law does not possess this kind of way, but rather signifies it obliquely and with difficulty through shadows and enigmas, in a way that can hardly help the hearers. D Just as, therefore, to those whose sight is impaired, the light of the sun is in a way useless—as they are not helped by it because their disease prevents it—and as healthy food seems to those who are ill somehow more useless than other things, even though it is known to procure the much-desired health; so also the Lord seemed somehow useless to the Jews, even though he was the sovereign of their salvation. For to be saved was not dear to them.
They sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest. Now it was Caiaphas who had advised
the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die for the people.
A The sacrosanct Victim, that is to say Christ, is indeed hunted down by the wretched craft of Annas and the ministry of those who were hired for this purpose, and being caught within the nets, he is led to Caiaphas, the author of the unjust slaughter, although he was crowned with the grace of the priesthood. In word he appears himself to have instigated the murderous deed, and he is the beginning and the end of the rash act. For he receives Jesus bound, and the wretch made the most impious drama of all evils, as it were, a fruit of his own counsel and unholy designs. For what could be more grievous than that impiety against Christ?
XVIII, 15. *And Simon Peter was following Jesus, and another disciple.*
B Since the other disciples were terrified, as it appears, and were fleeing the immediate wrath of those who were demanding Christ for slaughter, Peter clings to him, hastening with more fervor, and follows with no fear of danger, observing the outcome of the matter, accompanied by another disciple, namely John, the most pious author of this divine book. For he says that he himself is the other disciple, though he does not explicitly name himself, fleeing the suspicion of vainglory and removing every pride from his mind far away. For indeed, noble virtues are praised, even if they are kept silent by the wise persons in whom they are perceived. For it is most shameful to wish to be praised not by the voice of others, but by one’s own mouth. Whence the writer of the Proverbs says: *Let thy neighbor praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.* (Prov. XXVII, 2).
XVIII, 15. *And that disciple was known to the high priest, and went in with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest.*
C With singular intent he again commemorates these things for us, nor does he disdain to set forth even small details for the benefit of all. For since he was about to commit to writing whatever had been done and said in the courtyard of the high priest, he offers a necessary reason for why he had been able to enter, namely that he was known, he says, to the high priest. Therefore he enters alone with no one to stop him, for the acquaintance of the high priest (for he did not wish to call it friendship) provided him free access. Therefore, so that he might ensure credibility that he was writing those things which had been done in the courtyard, not as having received them from the report of others, but because he had been a spectator and ear-witness of them, he suitably taught us also that he was known to the high priest. D
XVIII, 16. *But Peter stood at the door outside. The other disciple therefore who was known to the high priest went out, and spoke to the porteress, and brought in Peter.*
He would have burst in, given the fervor of his spirit, together with
A his own soul, had not the vigilance of the girl at the door made entry unsafe for those not previously known. And while it was not difficult for a man to push past the woman, it was not free from the charge of disorderliness. The disciple is therefore checked, of necessity, although he is very troubled, until the other, perceiving that he was not a little grieved for this very reason, brought him in with himself, having spoken to her who was stationed at the gates, and having requested the favor of allowing him to enter with him.
The damsel who was the porteress therefore says to Peter: "Are you also one of the disciples of this man?" He says: "I am not." B
Our Savior Christ having already foretold to Peter that his denial of Him would happen for the third time, and that before the cock crowed he would in some way falter in faith, the divine evangelist explains in the end, point by point, where and how the event came to pass. The woman stationed at the gates inquiries, therefore, whether he might happen to be one of those who were numbered among the disciples of Him who was enduring an unjust judgment. Peter denies it, and as if shaking off some charge, he says, "I am not." And not by any means because he feared that he might perchance be captured, nor yet declining the confession of the truth, but because he deemed it worth any price to undergo even the most unwanted things, if it should result in his being permitted to be with Christ. The transgression is therefore born of love, and the denial has its root, in a way, in the love of God—not pursued with a very sound judgment, to be sure, but nonetheless set in motion by the eagerness of one desiring to be with Christ.
The slaves and the ministers were standing there, having made a charcoal fire, C because it was cold, and they were warming themselves. And Peter was also with them, standing and warming himself.
Having forced his way inside the doors, and having mingled with the servants, Peter feigns doing what they do, although he is afflicted with grief and carries sadness in his heart, so that by not being found out with a downcast and contracted face—as if he were grieving with the one being judged—he might not be cast out of the house and miss his desired goal. For it is altogether implausible to think that the disciple was so self-indulgent as to seek a remedy for the cold when he was in such great straits of soul; nor even if he could have enjoyed greater goods, would he have wanted to use them while Christ was being so ill-treated. But with extraordinary strategy he acts as though he were one of the servants, remaining unconcerned, and as if nothing at all had cast him into sorrow, he wards off the harm of the cold, so that, being considered as one of the number of the household, he might avoid providing an opportunity to deny Christ again. But it could not be that what the Savior had said should prove false. For what He knew would certainly come to pass, as God, this He had foretold to the disciple. D
The high priest therefore asked Jesus about His disciples and about His doctrine.
A master of the law and teacher, to whom even the divine proclamation mandates, "Judge a just judgment," just as...
he was, having seized some one of the notorious robbers A from the cohort of armed soldiers and the impious retinue, he inquires about doctrines and disciples, indicating by this means that he was at a loss for crimes. For he who was being summoned to judgment did not know how to sin. He inquires, then, about His doctrine, whether it is discordant with the laws given through Moses, or perhaps commensurate and consistent with the things ordained of old, and what end there might be for those who were being discipled under Him, whether they are accustomed to be instructed by the ancient customs, or are practicing some strange and innovative way of worship; but he was doing this perversely. For he supposed that Christ would openly contradict the Law, and that by speaking against the things of Moses, He would kindle against Himself the petulance of the Jews, so that it might finally appear that He had paid just penalties for a war somehow waged against God. For to wage war against God was believed, without doubt, to be an opposition to divine laws, if indeed any of those of our time were caught either saying or doing such a thing. But they observe Christ as still being a mere man, and they imagine that the Lord of the Law is justly challenged upon the transgression of the Law, not remembering the one who says: "Impious is he who says to a king: You act against the law."
XVIII, 20. *Jesus answered him: I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in the synagogue and in the temple, where all the Jews gather, and I have spoken nothing in secret.* B
That which is known to all, He says, for one to investigate as if it were hidden is a labor in vain; and that which cannot be ignored, how should we suspect that it is hidden? And these things to us, indeed, Christ seems to have said, so that He might remove all the charges composed and wickedly devised by the impropriety of the princes. But I think that He also implies something else through these words. "For I," He says, "have spoken openly to the world," that is: such things as were delivered to you through the mediation of Moses, are handed down through types and shadows, and they do not openly teach the will of God, but rather present the appearance of the truth, and being clothed in the thickness of the letter, they do not bring in a naked and open knowledge of necessary things. "But I have spoken openly to the world"; for without riddles and shadows I have represented the perfect form of goods, and with all obliquity removed, I have demonstrated the straight path of piety toward God. "I have spoken to the world," not to one nation only, that of the Israelites. For although ours are not yet spread throughout the whole world, they will be, however, in time. "I have always taught in the synagogue." And what is this? Is it not worth our while to observe? He calls to memory, as it seems, even against their will, C the leaders of the Jews to a prophecy which the divine Isaiah delivered as if under the person of Christ: "I have spoken not in secret, nor in a dark place of the earth." And again: "All the day I have stretched out my hands to a people not believing and contradicting." For to speak neither in secret D nor in a dark place, what else, finally, could it ever mean
than to deliver discourses openly, and to speak in places possessing no small congregation of listeners? A Well and most necessarily does He recall the memory of the prophetic oracle to them, so that they might learn that they are impiously judging Him who was owed to them in their hope. For the promise belongs to the Jews, according to the voice of Paul.
XVIII, 21. "Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard what I said to them; behold, these know what I have said."
He rebukes those learned in the law, as having wronged Him whom they boast of as their law. For having imposed punishment in a manner premature upon one not yet condemned, they seek out crimes in vain. Why, then, He says, do you ask and call to a defense him who has already suffered the assault, having received the punishment before being convicted? B But it is permitted to understand this passage differently. Those who pursue me with hatred, he says, and by whom I have been covered with such grievous ignominies, if I should say anything about myself, they would perhaps not hesitate even to cry out that I am lying. Therefore, learn from the voice of others. The search for witnesses is entirely effortless; for these know how they have been listeners to my words. And one might perhaps think that, since He knows hearts and reins, He pointed out some of those standing by as having listened to Him by chance. But it is not so. For He pointed out certain of the ministers who had long ago admired the teaching from Him, C and it is necessary to say how, or when—again for the sake of the clarification of the things said. Therefore, that very divine evangelist himself has told us again something of this sort: namely, that the leaders of the Jews, when Christ our Savior was discoursing to the crowds flocking to Him about the kingdom of heaven, had gnashed their teeth, and having been kindled by the flame of envy, had pressed to take Him from the midst. The evangelist says it thus: "And the chief priests and the Pharisees sent ministers that they might arrest Him." But as the discourse of our Savior spread wide and long, D those sent by the Jews were persuaded along with all the others, and admired Him more than any other among the crowds. The evangelist writes again thus: "The ministers therefore came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, 'Why did you not bring Him?' The ministers answered, 'Never has a man spoken as this man.' The Pharisees answered them, 'Are you also deceived?'" Do you hear how the Pharisees are troubled when they see the ministers already persuaded and astonished by the admiration of Christ? When the Savior knew this, therefore: "Ask," He says, "those who have heard. Behold, these know what I have said." For seeing those very ones who were then present standing by, He points them out by saying "these"—signifying that even they themselves have admired the beauty of my teaching, who were the ministers of your impiety.
A XVIII, 22. But when He had said these things, one of the ministers standing by gave Jesus a slap, saying to Him: "Dost Thou answer the high priest so?" This indeed was predicted by the voice of the prophet as about to happen to Christ: "I have given My back," He says, "to the scourges, and My cheeks to slaps." And it is brought to its end, to that which was formerly foretold, for the condemnation of Jewish pride, and for the abolition and destruction of the disgrace that was owed to us, since we sinned in Adam the first, having trampled upon the divine commandment. For He sustains the disgrace on our behalf, since He Himself bears our sins, according to the voice of the prophet, and suffers for us. B For just as He wrought the destruction of death by delivering His own body to death, so, I think, in the same way, the slap has the effect of a dissolution of the disgrace hanging over us because of the transgression and the primal sin, by fulfilling the disgrace upon Christ. For He, who is worth as much as all, was disgraced for the sake of all. Yet I believe the whole creation would have shuddered, if it had had any sense of the crime committed; for the Lord of glory was struck by the impious hand of a smiter.
Nor will it be useless to inquire, I think, for what reason this most bold and impious minister strikes Jesus, who had uttered nothing at all harsh or severe, but had made a most gentle answer to all that was brought against Him. C And indeed you would not see the prince of the Jews himself having commanded him to strike Him, or rushing into a deed of such impiety. Some will perhaps allege the trite and customary habit of ministers, who, when they bring those accused of some crime to the presidents of courts, force them to speak more modestly, even if they are unwilling; and if anything harder slips out from them, they themselves sometimes treat them indignantly. But I do not think this was the cause of that impertinence toward Christ; but if we fix our mind upon what was said before, we shall discover another cause for what was done. For we were saying a little before that some of the ministers had incurred the displeasure of the rulers because, when they had been ordered to arrest Jesus, they returned so instructed and struck with such admiration for Him that they openly said that "never did a man speak thus." D Because of which the Pharisees, being pushed to rabidness, said: "Are you also seduced? Has any one of the Pharisees or of the rulers believed in Him? But this crowd, which does not know the law, they are accursed." Since, therefore, the word of the Savior was recalling to the rulers the memory of their indignation against the ministers at that time—for He was citing them as witnesses to His own teaching, saying: "Behold, these know what I have said"—that minister, who had been rebuked because he had looked favorably upon Christ, so that he might not be thought to be well-disposed toward Him, and in order to divert the mind of the rulers to other thoughts, as it were, stops His mouth with a slap, not allowing Him to say more, by which some harm could be brought upon the crowd of the ministers.
A Jesus answered him: "If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why do you strike me?" A He shows that the minister has committed a very great injury, even if a certain vile and ignoble defendant had been brought into judgment. For he rashly strikes one whom he should least have struck, and by whom he had not been provoked by any more uneven word or any other cause, but was brought to this by headlong fury and lack of mental control and a savage rage. "Argue," He says, "if it pleases you, and refute me if I have not spoken rightly. But if you cannot do this, why finally do you strike him who has spoken innocently?" This is, therefore, a well-worn and familiar explanation of this passage. But I, for my part, consider that the force of these words extends elsewhere. Perhaps He rebukes the minister for having inflicted a most grave injury, not indeed because he had struck Him with a slap, but because he was maltreating the Master, formerly held in admiration, but now condemned for no crime at all. "If, therefore," He says, "you had not previously been captivated by my words, if I had not seemed to you to teach best things, and if I had not been believed to be some wonderful interpreter of the sacred Scriptures; if you yourself had not then been crying out: 'Never has a man spoken like this,' perhaps some pardon might be granted to your ignorance. But since you have acknowledged and praised me, and would have no testimony to bring against my words—if it would please you to remember that voice of yours—could your sin be devoid of any excuse?" And you will understand the sense of this passage in this way; yet it must be noted that the Savior depicts for us with these words a certain incomparable and wonderful form of supreme patience, and offers Himself as a certain illustrious image and reflection of supreme goodness. For He who by one and a lone nod could utterly destroy all the Jews, is servilely struck with slaps, yet does not immediately take revenge, because He is not of narrow mind like us, nor does He yield to anger or pain, nor is He weighed down by the burden of ambition, but He strives to appease the leader with mild speech, saying that he who has spoken nothing evil ought not to be struck, and even amidst the punishments themselves He does not shrink from His own practice. For by a suitable argument He persuades the minister of the Jews' pride to depart from that rashness, inasmuch as He Himself accepts evil for good, as it is written, and returns good for evil to His enemies. D Our Lord Jesus Christ—even when slaps are inflicted upon Him—patiently endures, although He is true God and Lord of heaven and earth. But we wretches, who are earth and dust, who are thin and narrow, who are like grass—"For man, his days are as grass, and like the flower of the field so he shall bloom," as it is written—if at any time someone of our brothers has slipped in word and has brought forth something harsher against us, we, exasperated like serpents, rise up against him, and we are not satisfied to seek him out with a thousand insults for one, nor do we set a limit to the narrowness of our hearts, nor [do we] the common infirmity of nature
A reputing [these things], we quench anger entirely with mutual charity; nor do we look to Jesus himself, the author and finisher of our faith, but we desire above all to avenge ourselves, and that bitterly, although Holy Scripture says, at one time, that the ways of those who are mindful of injuries lead to death; and at another time, "Let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your hearts." But let the Lord of all, Christ himself, be set before us as the form and example of mutual gentleness and ineffable patience, who also for this very reason says to us in one place: "The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord."
CHAPTER OF THE TWELFTH BOOK.
That the Son is God by nature, even if for our sake he is found calling the Father his God.
ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN.
BOOK TWELVE.
B XVIII, 24-27. "Annas therefore sent him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest. And Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They said therefore unto him, Art thou also one of his disciples? He denied it, and said, I am not. One of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman whose ear Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with him? Peter then denied again: and immediately the cock crew."
The divine evangelist checks the manner of his narration like a swift horse, and turns it back again. For what reason? For it was surely necessary to demonstrate beforehand, of the things that follow,
A how the third denial of Peter took place, and this in a manner most suitable and fitting to him, according to which it also came to pass. With wise economy, therefore, he resumes what was at the beginning, and says that Jesus was sent from Annas to Caiaphas; and he shows Peter being questioned both by the servants who were warming themselves, and by one of the kinsfolk of the man whom he had struck, and that he fulfilled the denial in the midst of these. Then he makes mention of the cock’s crowing, declaring the word of our Savior to be in no respect at fault, for He had foreknown and heralded the weakness of His own disciple in the midst of tribulations—a weakness which the one who committed this composition to writing, being God-taught, would perhaps never have mentioned at all, had he not considered the literary vanities and loose tongues of those who hate God. For some of those who are most determined to war against the glories of the Savior might have said straightway: B "Show us the denial of Peter, and how and where what was foretold by Christ came to pass, although, as you say, He does not know how to invent false myths. For you claim that He is Truth, and that He shone forth from the true Father." Therefore, the divine evangelist necessarily provided us with the explanation of these things as well, demonstrating the Lord to be truthful in every respect. But perhaps some opponent will abstain from such words, yet will rise up more severely against Peter, and will attach the mark of incomparable cowardice to the sincere disciple, and will say that he was so fickle and inconstant as to deny Christ for the third time, not yet having experienced any danger, and not even having touched the very doors of danger. But such things might perhaps be fitting for those who are not yet initiated. C I, however, pushing such things as far away as possible and bidding farewell to their trifles, will turn to the defense of the event, and will show the mystical disposition and order to those who are already practiced in the contemplation of the mysteries. For it was necessary, it was necessary indeed, for the most wise evangelist to make mention of these very matters, so that the hearers might understand who the teachers of the world themselves were before the resurrection of Christ, and before the descent of the Holy Spirit upon them, and who they were afterwards, having received the grace through the Spirit, which Christ also named power from on high. For one might see them most ready for the acquisition of virtue, and most nimble in the desire to follow Christ and to struggle through every danger, and having attempted this very many times. But since the Savior Christ had not yet abolished the power of death, the fear from it was still somehow harsh and D totally unapproachable; and they, not having yet received the Spirit, nor even having been tempered by the grace from above, not yet possessing a mind entirely free from human faint-heartedness for the courage which is above nature, did not appear entirely unbreakable to the fears arising from suffering. For just as iron, although it is hard by its own nature, is nevertheless blunted by harder rocks unless it has been hardened by tempering: so, the human mind, even if it is carried along by a constant zeal for virtue, will nevertheless never overcome the hardness of struggles, unless it has first been anointed by the grace of the divine Spirit. Wherefore the disciples themselves were in some way weaker at the beginning, but having received the Spirit of God who is above all, they put aside their infirmity and were transformed into His firmness, returning through participation in Him to supernatural strength. The infirmity of the saints is therefore recorded in writing for the praise and glory of God, who restores strength to the weak and raises up those who, by their own power alone, as if they were some impregnable tower.
are easily brought down, and are sometimes shattered by the mere suspicion of evil. That this happened to one or a few of the saints will be an example and consolation for us. For from this we learn that we should not, at any time, hesitate to serve God out of regard for our own infirmity, but rather trust in Him who can strengthen all, and who bestows upon us even those things beyond our hope, so that we may glory in supernatural deeds. B
XVIII, 28. *Adducunt ergo Jesum a Caipha in prætorium. Erat autem mane, et ipsi non introierunt in prætorium, ut non contaminarentur, sed ut manducarent Pascha.*
To judge a righteous judgment, and not to kill the innocent and righteous, since both the law and divine commandment have explicitly ordained it—the wretches are indeed ashamed in some way by the lack of charges, and though unwilling, they are constrained. And finding no excuse for their madness against Christ, and being restrained from committing suicide because of the impending purification (for they were soon to sacrifice the Pascha, according to the law which had no force among them), they lead Him to Pilate. With incredible folly, they persuade themselves that they would in no way be bound by the charge of unjust murder if, while refraining from the slaughter themselves, they were to deliver Him into the hands of another to suffer it—even though what they were contemplating was contrary to the Mosaic laws. C But that which is most ridiculous of all will be grasped: for although they were leading the most innocent man into judgment as if he were guilty of the highest crimes, and were pouring out such horrendous impiety upon their own heads, they flee from the threshold of the praetorium as if they were going to be defiled by it, and they take the utmost care not to be mixed with impure men. For they persuade themselves that stones and the bodies of men of the same kind can defile a man’s soul, but they think that the foulest of all evils, namely, the most unjust murder, attaches no stain to them at all. And what is more miraculous, or rather, more insane than all else, they are not defiled by the slaughter of the lamb—which manifests to us nothing other than the shadow of the mystery of Christ—and while they honor the type of the reality, they insult the truth itself. For while feigning purity by means of it, they are stained by the murder of Christ. Rightly, therefore, did He at one time call them whitewashed sepulchers, adorned on the outside with artificial pretense, but full of foul and noisome filth within; and at another, He said they strained out a gnat but swallowed a camel. For while they often observe the most minute and trivial things, or matters of no consequence at all—for what is a gnat?—they count grave crimes as nothing, and...
they wash the A outside of the cup and the platter, but they have no concern at all for the uncleanness within. For behold, behold, even when the prophet Jeremiah says clearly: "Wash your heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem, that you may be saved," they believe that inward impiety, that which resides in the mind, is nothing at all. Bringing Christ to Pilate, they avoid the places as unclean, and the bodies of uncircumcised men, and even if they do not commit the lawless act with their own hands, they make Pilate a minister of their own cruelty, imagining in their thoughtlessness that they will remain free from all blame. B And one might marvel that the holy prophets had not already discerned this impiety of theirs. For the blessed Isaiah says somewhere concerning them: "Woe to the wicked! Evil shall happen to him according to the works of his hands." And Ezechiel again: "As you have done, so shall it be to you; your retribution shall be returned upon your own head." Indeed, the divine Psalmist himself also cries out: "Render retribution to them; according to the works of their hands give to them." For just as they brought the Savior of all, and Christ, to the Roman commanders, so in return, having suffered the same thing, they were delivered over to the authority of the Romans, and were brought under subjection by the hand of the emperors. For so terrible a war was ignited against them, and they were afflicted with such unheard-of calamities, that, if it had been possible, many would have preferred to die hidden in mountains and caves than to behold that war. The Lord, predicting that they would choose this, said: "When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then you will say to the mountains: Cover us, and to the hills: Fall upon us." C
Pilate therefore went out to them and said: "What accusation do you bring against this man?" D They avoid, as they thought, the pollution from stone and walls, but Pilate goes out, and inquires the cause of their coming to him, and demands to be told the charges against the one they had brought; in doing so, he condemns the teachers of the Jews by contrast. For a man of alien race respects the law of the Jews, and out of reverence honors the custom that prevailed among them. For he went out of the praetorium in an unusual manner, as if by this act signifying to the Jews that the law ought to be kept. But they, being minded to do the opposite to the divine precepts, and regarding the Mosaic laws as nothing, commit an unjust murder; and he indeed, though alien to their law, nevertheless inquires into and diligently examines the charges, showing it to be unjust that those who have done nothing wrong should be punished or suffer any torment; but they, having nothing they can object against him, yet bring him along like some monstrous robber. Not without reason, therefore, was it said to the synagogue of the Jews: "Justice is justified"
A Sodom through thee." And Christ himself somewhere, also censuring the intemperance of the Israelites, says: "But thou hast not done according to the ordinances of the nations" — a statement which is clearly true. For the Greeks, even if they render to stones and wood, which they deem gods, their accustomed sacrifices, would not do so with polluted and unwashed hands, nor would they put anyone to death unless they were convicted of the gravest crime. But these men, though intending to sacrifice the Passover to the God of nature, yet bind their own soul with innocent blood, and set themselves to kill unjustly him who is a stranger to every sin.
XVIII, 30. *They answered and said unto him: If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee.*
They lack any righteous cause, but they veil the baseness of their impiety, and in order that they may not appear to be seeking his death unjustly, they deceitfully claim that they would by no means have brought Jesus to be punished had he not been at fault in some matter. For they pretend to observe the Law, which commands that a holy judgment be made in all things, and—what is astonishing—they make a pretext of obedience to the Law and wish to be considered its observers, while not shrinking from imputing a crime to the very Author of the Law. B For they call him a "malefactor"—him who came into the world to destroy malefactions—so that it may appear that Christ again spoke of them through the voice of the prophet Isaiah: "Woe unto them, for they have revolted from me; they are fearful because they have acted impiously against me. I, indeed, redeemed them, but they have spoken lies against me."
XVIII, 31. *Pilate therefore said unto them: Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your law.*
Convicted of no crime, he says, and with the case unheard, it is not lawful for me to subject him to the penalties of the law; but do you judge him according to your law, if it decrees that a man who is utterly innocent must be punished. It is truly a matter for laughter, or rather for eternal lamentation, if the laws of the Gentiles justify the Lord—so that Pilate fears to subject him to punishment for such obscure charges—while C these men clamor that he must be put to death, even though they boast above all else in the divine law.
XVIII, 31, 32. *The Jews therefore said unto him: It is not lawful for us to put any man to death: that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying by what manner of death he should die.*
They claim they are forbidden from the impious slaughter because they had been purified for the eating of the lamb—if anything at all can be pure in the midst of such great impiety! For they themselves were most ready of their own accord to undertake that wicked deed, and they needed no assistance from anyone for it. For the mind of the Jews is most precipitous to any wickedness, D and no thing is so nefarious and so hateful to God as...
being ready to blush at nothing that is opposed to God. They ask, therefore, that Pilate lend them his own cruelty, and that he become an imitator of the Jewish madness, and serve them in the matter at hand—for they themselves, perhaps, do not feel entirely free in their own path toward madness. But they say that in this also Christ again spoke the truth, and had foreknown in what manner he would die, and had forewarned his holy disciples. For what did he say to them? "Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the hands of sinners, and they shall crucify him, and shall kill him, and the third day he shall rise again" (Matt. XX, 18, 19). The mention of these things is also necessary, for he had to know beforehand that he would suffer, so that no one might think he fell into things that were involuntary, but rather that it be believed that he, to whom all things are naked and opened (Heb. IV, 13), underwent the cross voluntarily for us and on account of us.
B XVIII, 33. *Pilate therefore went into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?*
Having absolutely nothing at all to bring as a charge, that is, to produce anything of those things that usually draw down punishment upon those who have done wrong, and with Pilate insisting and demanding the causes for which they had brought him, they say that Jesus had sinned against Caesar, inasmuch as he was transferring the kingdom of the Jews to himself and assuming royal majesty; a plan designed most wickedly and craftily. For they knew that Pilate would provide for his own safety even against his will, and that he would immediately exact penalties from any who were accused of such things. For since the Jews were prone to seditions and tumults, and easily conspired, for this reason the judges sent by Caesar showed themselves to be somewhat more severe, and in order to keep them in order more safely, they sometimes raged more inconsiderately against those guilty of such a crime. They charge Christ, therefore, with the crime of arrogating to himself the kingdom of Israel. On account of this they were cast out, while the nations were received and subjected to the kingdom of Christ: "Ask of me," he says, "and I shall give thee the nations for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession" (Ps. II, 8). For when one nation, that from Israel, raged, all nations are given to Christ, and instead of one land, I mean that of the Jews, the ends of the earth. For as Paul says: "Their fall is the riches of the world, and their loss the riches of the nations" (Rom. XI, 12). Therefore, what Pilate had heard the Jews murmuring, he now brings into the open, and orders Christ to answer whether he is in truth the King of the Jews. He is anxious, as is credible, and thinks the empire of Caesar is in danger, and for this reason he investigates with excessive curiosity so that he may consult his own interests and preserve intact and whole the authority entrusted to him by the Romans.
XVIII, 34. *Jesus answered, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me?*
A Since no one, He says, has plainly said anything to you about these things, whence does the speech regarding them proceed from you? But it is B nowhere doubtful that the wicked deed is of the Jews' contrivance, and that this bitter craft has been prepared [by them]; for you will not, surely, be both judge yourself and accuser. Christ spoke these things, hinting to Pilate that no word or deed, however occult or abstruse, escaped Him, in order that, having finally understood His supernatural nature, he might serve the cruelty of the Jews more tardily, and at the same time teaching him that he sins most gravely who, obeying the clamors of the Jews, imposes punishment upon a man entirely devoid of such guilt.
XVIII, 35. *Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thy nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me. What hast thou done?*
He now makes manifest the conspiracy of the Jews, and brings, as it were, into the midst the multitude of the accusers. For it is the same as if he were to say: "It does not befit me to know thy affairs; for I am not a Jew; but it would befit those who are of thy nation and have been brought up with thee, who, having perceived what your affairs are, have brought thee to be delivered to death." Therefore he accuses himself; for what he says, "What hast thou done?" signifies nothing else than this. Moreover, it was a major concern for the holy evangelist to narrate minutely what occurred in the judgment, and that Pilate asked Jesus what he had done. For from this it is most of all possible to learn that crimes were wanting, and that, since no kind of guilt had been brought home to our Savior Christ, an impious and most unjust sentence of death finally went forth against Him.
XVIII, 36. *Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.*
He freed Pilate from fear, to whom the custody of the Jewish kingdom had been entrusted by Caesar. For he thought that according to our custom Christ was plotting a conspiracy, since the Jews were babbling this as well. For they hinted at this when they said: "If this man were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up to thee," labeling conspiracy as "evil." For they pretended to be so benevolent toward the Romans that they would not even allow the name of defection to be uttered by their tongue. For this cause, therefore, they say they have brought Him to pay the penalty. Christ, however, answering to these things, did not deny that He was a King (for it was proper to speak the truth), but clearly showed that He was no enemy of Caesar's empire, since He signifies that His kingdom is not earthly, but that He rules over heaven and earth, and over C things even greater, as befits God. And what argument does He bring forth for this matter, or how does He extinguish the suspicion of a feigned kingdom? Namely, by the fact that He had never used attendants D nor defenders,
that is, that He had never at all chosen to have those who would fight for Him, and not only so that He might not fall from His kingdom, but not even so that He might escape the danger hanging over Him—a danger cast upon Him by the hand of the Jews, and not least by the very one who ruled the Jews, that is, Caesar. The accusation made to this effect being thus dissolved by so clear a demonstration, Pilate’s audacity against Christ appears from that moment forward to be without excuse. For with no one compelling him, or by any logical sequence drawing him—so to speak—to this point, he gratifies his own soul with the destruction of the Jews and shares with them the crimes of Christ-murder. Yet, by declaring that His kingdom was in some sense supramundane, Christ not only releases Pilate from the fear regarding the rebellion, and persuades him to think something great about Himself, but also begins in some way, through His defense, his instruction.
B 1039 XVIII, 37. *Dixit itaque ei Pilatus: Ergo rex es tu?* Pilate converts the truth into a crime against Christ. When he heard, however, "My kingdom is not of this world," he is indeed released from the fear regarding the rebellion; yet he holds the fact as confessed, and charges Him with the crime that He said He possessed a kingdom, even if he [Pilate] maintains it is not a worldly one. As though he had forced Jesus to this, he says, "You have just confessed that You are a king."
XVIII, 37, 38. *Respondit ei Jesus: Tu dicis quia rex sum ego. Ego in hoc natus sum, et ad hoc veni in mundum, ut testimonium perhibeam veritati. Omnis qui est ex veritate, audit vocem meam. Dicit ei Pilatus: Quid est veritas?*
He does not deny the glory of His own kingdom, nor does He grant the confirmation of this matter to the words of Pilate alone: for He is King, as God, even if someone perhaps is unwilling. But He again manifested the power of the truth, which forces Pilate to express the glory of the One being judged, even against his will. "For you have said," He says, "that I am a king." And for this reason He declares that He was born and has come into this world—namely, when He became man—that He might bear witness to the truth; that is, that having removed the lie from the world and having overthrown the demon who reigned through deceit, He might demonstrate the truth as reigning over all—that is, the nature which is truly and by nature queen, which possesses dominion over heaven and earth, and, to speak in a word, over all creatures, not obtained through extortion or brought in from elsewhere, but appearing as existing essentially and by nature. C But in order that Christ might again declare that He was not unaware of the hardness and the difficulty of persuasion in Pilate’s mind regarding the desire to think rightly, He adds usefully: "Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." For the word of truth is readily acceptable to those who have already learned of it and love it; but to those who are not such, it is not so. And indeed the prophet Isaiah was saying to some D: *Unless you believe, you shall not understand.* That this is true, Pilate showed by saying: "What is truth?" For just as to those who lack the sense of sight it is all the same if you offer them gold or a bright and precious
stone, and even the light of the sun itself, which is marvelous, will be hidden from them because the object conveys no impression to them—or rather, they are unable to enjoy any such thing—even so, to those whose minds are blinded, truth seems entirely unattractive and ugly, even though it injects a divine and intelligible radiance into the souls of those who behold it.
XVIII, 38, 39. And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and says to them: "I find no cause in him. But it is your custom that I should release one man to you at the Passover: do you wish, therefore, that I release to you the King of the Jews?" B
In condemnation of the impiety and cruelty of the Jews, Pilate shows a perception of what is right and just, though he did not at all pride himself on divine teachings, but rather followed human institutions and respected the will of those from whom he had received his authority. If the leaders of the Jews had acted and thought in this way, it is probable that they would have avoided the snare of the devil and also would have refrained from the crime most detestable of all—namely, the death of Christ. Pilate, therefore, does not wish to condemn a man who has been neither convicted nor proven guilty of any crime, and he argues that a person who is far removed from all fault should not be subjected to punishment, maintaining that this is entirely contrary to the laws of the Romans, and by this means restraining the horrible madness of the Jews against the divine law. C For he supposed that men who proclaimed themselves heralds of what is right and just would immediately believe him when he set forth what was right and just. But when he reflected with himself, as it seems, that the Jewish fickleness would not be lightly rebuked for the fact that a man brought to judgment was immune to every fault—lest they should press forward more insolently and fiercely—he devised, as it were, a way and a most beautiful pretext for the matter, saying: "It is your custom that I should release one man to you at the Passover: do you wish, therefore, that I release to you the King of the Jews?" By naming Jesus the King of the Jews, he wittily and cleverly mitigates the rage of the furious mob, and at the same time clearly shows that He is accused of this crime rashly. For Pilate, the governor of Judea, would never have released a man convicted of revolution and attempted tyranny against the Romans. By urging them to release Him, therefore, D he testifies that He is plainly free from all crime. This, therefore, I believe to be the meaning of the passage before us; but as I consider and weigh with myself whence it was the custom among the Jews to seek for the release of one man—a robber, perhaps, or a murderer—it occurs to me that they did not indeed perform everything according to the prescription of divine law, but followed certain foreign customs of their own, not entirely consistent with the Mosaic institutions. But as I search the Scripture and investigate the cause of this matter on all sides, a passage comes to mind whence we might suspect...
that the Jews, though they were very intractable, were nevertheless seeking the release of a criminal while at the same time fulfilling certain requirements of the Law.
For it is written at the end of the Book of Numbers regarding the law of the unintentional murderer, or rather, since the punishment for an intentional murderer is clearly defined, the discourse proceeds immediately to the law concerning the unintentional murderer, and it says, among other things: "But if he pushes him suddenly without enmity, or throws any object at him not by ambush, or any stone by which a man may die, not seeing it, and it falls upon him and he dies, but he was not his enemy, nor seeking to do him harm, then the Assembly shall judge between the striker and the avenger of blood according to these judgments, B and the Assembly shall deliver the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the Assembly shall restore him to the city of refuge to which he had fled." Since such a commandment was written, and since it is likely that some people would fall into such transgressions, the Jews, gathering in a multitude, sought one such person, so that they might appear not to entirely neglect the divine commandments. For the Law prescribed that this act belonged to the whole Assembly. It was therefore lawful for them to release someone according to the intent of the Law; but they were requesting that this be done by Pilate. For once they had submitted to the Roman yoke, they ceded most of their own affairs to the laws of the Romans. C And so, while it was lawful for them to kill someone accused of very serious crimes, they brought Jesus to Pilate as if he were one such person, saying: "It is not lawful for us to kill any man." For even if they made a pretext of being cleansed for the Passover, in this they were playing the hypocrite, as if they were submitting to Roman laws and to what God had commanded them from above.
"They cried out therefore again, saying: Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber." D Here again the iniquity of the Jews exposes itself, for they follow their own lusts rather than observing the commandments of God. For when the Mosaic Law commands that the one who has committed involuntary homicide be released, they do not ask for someone of that sort, but for a notorious robber. That the aforementioned was indeed savage and cruel, and that he was not lacking in the crimes of murder, the divine Peter makes clear, saying to the crowds of the Jews: "But you denied the Holy and Just One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you." For they set the love of a single robber above Him who for this cause had disregarded the equality He had with God the Father and had clothed Himself in our poverty, so that He might deliver us from that true murderer, that is, the Devil—they who, according to the...
A Law, were enlightened by the priesthood and held their heads high on account of it, but who transgressed and utterly cast aside the commandment: “Judge a just judgment,” they judge the slayer, condemning Christ, and with one vote they say: “Not this man, but Barabbas.” The Jews, therefore, shall pay the penalties for this impiety. Yet it is necessary to marvel at the divinely inspired Scripture, which takes up this cry, as it were, from the person of Christ, recognizing it as one so utterly desperate. For the prophet Jeremiah speaks thus: “I have forsaken my house, I have left my inheritance, I have given my beloved soul into the hands of her enemies. My inheritance has become to me as a lion in the forest; it has uttered its voice against me.” For it is worth our while, it seems, to explain what a lion does in the forests. They say, then, that whenever this great and most fearsome beast wishes to hunt some of the cattle in the woods, it climbs up to some height in the mountains, and roars in a great and extraordinary manner, and causes such terror in those who hear it that, unable to endure the heavy, striking blow of its threat, they fall down immediately, whether it be a man or some other animal, and the thing that has fallen becomes the prey of the beast. God confirms the word concerning this in a way through the prophet, saying: “The lion will roar, and who will not fear?” The Synagogue of the Jews, therefore, has become like a lion in the forest to the Savior Christ, regarding B at least their attempt at reviling Him. For the divine nature does not yield at all to terror or fear. By crying out against Him, they killed Him, although Pilate proposed that they choose to set Him free, so that those who had been instructed by the Law might be found even better than those who had not yet learned the divine Law, by their own actions.
XIX, 1-3. Then therefore Pilate took Jesus, and scourged Him. And the soldiers, plaiting a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and wrapped Him in a purple garment; and they came to Him and said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they gave Him blows.
He scourges Him unjustly, and allows the swarm of soldiers to mock Him, to encircle Him with a crown of thorns, to clothe Him in a purple garment, to strike Him with blows, and to subject Him to other indignities. For he thought that the people of the Jews would be gradually placated, even if they saw Him, who was free from all guilt, being punished with this one, albeit great, penalty alone. But He was scourged unjustly, that He might deliver us from the just plague; C He was mocked and struck with blows, that we might mock the mocking Satan, and flee from the sin that was inflicted upon us through the transgression. For we shall judge, if we are wise, that all the sufferings of Christ came to pass because of us and for our sake, and that they possess the power to loosen and avert the evils that justly befall us on account of our departure from God. For just as, to destroy the death of all, it sufficed for Him who knew not death to have surrendered His own flesh to death for our life (for “one died for all”), so it must be understood to be sufficient to deliver all from stripes and ignominies, that He suffered them...
A for our sake, the Lord. For in a certain way, by His stripe we were healed, according to what is written: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way,” as the blessed prophet Isaiah says, “And the Lord hath delivered Him for our sins,” and “He is in pain for us.” For He was “bruised for our iniquities,” and He “gave His back to the scourges, and His cheeks to buffetings,” as He Himself also says somewhere. The soldiers, therefore, having seized Jesus, mock Him in a military fashion, as if He were some sort of false king. For this reason the crown of thorns is placed upon the top of His forehead, representing the emblem B of an earthly kingdom. And the purple garment is an image and figure of the imperial purple, but it was also provided as a cause for mockery. For, he says, “They came to Him saying, Hail, King of the Jews.” And I have inquired of some, or rather, it pleases some very much, that the crown of thorns signifies the multitude of those who were idolaters, who were to be taken up as a diadem for Christ through faith in Him, who also liken the nations to barren and useless thorns because they have no fruit of piety, but are rather suited for the food of all-consuming fire, just as, indeed, the refuse in the fields, or the wild thorn growing without any cultivation. And they say that the purple robe, that is, the garment of purple color, signifies the kingdom over all the world that awaited Him. But one must accept everything that is not foreign to right reason, nor believed to be useless. That manner of contemplation is therefore not to be rejected, having as it does a most elegant observation.
And Pilate went out again and said to them: “Behold, I bring Him forth to you, that you may know that I find no cause in Him.” C He confesses indeed the fault, and is not ashamed. For he said he had scourged Him in vain, and he promises to show Him to them, suspecting that their savage rage would be satisfied by such a pitiful spectacle. Moreover, he almost accuses them as being enflamed with an unjust desire to kill Christ, and as those by whom, openly and plainly, the laws are forced to be violated, to their own great harm and peril. And so, it is fulfilled in Christ, and is proven to be true, that which was said: “The prince of this world comes, and in Me he shall find nothing.” For observe how, after Satan had turned everything upside down D and examined it, he finds absolutely nothing of those things which were cast out by God and set under the power of sin, which perhaps, if it had been brought against Christ the Savior, would have made Him justly liable to be condemned and accused by him. Therefore, just as in Adam he conquered the whole nature of man in one, having shown it to be prone to sins, so here he has been defeated by it. For He was man, even though by nature God, who had no sin; and just as the condemnation from the transgression extends through one to all, and of this affair Paul is the witness, saying: “For as by one offense upon all men unto condemnation, so also by one unto justification
of life.” A Therefore, we have fallen ill through the first Adam by the malady of disobedience and his curse, but have been enriched through the second by his obedience and the blessing from it. For the Lord of the law, as God, became with us an observer of the law, as man. And so we shall find him saying to us, “He who loves me will keep my commandments, even as I have kept the commandments of my Father, and I abide in his love.” B Observe, then, how he has commanded us—as lawgiver and God—to keep his own commandments, and as a keeper of the law with us, he asserts that he himself keeps those of his own Father.
XIX, 5, 6. *Then Jesus went out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment. And he says to them, “Behold the man!” When therefore the chief priests and the ministers saw him, they cried out, saying: “Crucify, crucify him!”*
Pilate showed the Lord of all, impiously scourged and unworthily violated by the mockery of the soldiers, hoping that by this most unworthy spectacle alone the unbridled rage of the Jews would be sated. But they are so far removed from any humanity toward him that, even surpassing beastly cruelty, they are carried away to something worse and clamor more vehemently that he must be adjudged to a most cruel death, and they force him to suffer the most foul punishment of all. For what kind of punishment is so bitter that it can be compared with the punishment of the cross? C But the wisest evangelist, as it seems, attributes the origin of such great impiety to the leaders of the Jews alone. For see with what sharp criticism he speaks: “When therefore the chief priests and the ministers saw him, they cried out, saying: ‘Crucify, crucify.’” For when the lowest populace was moderately moved by the sufferings of Christ (for they remembered the miracles performed by him), they themselves are the first to raise the cry, and they inflame the mind of the subject multitude with savage rage. True, therefore, is what is written about them by the prophets: “The shepherds acted foolishly and did not seek the Lord. Therefore, the whole flock did not understand, and they were scattered.” D Which is indeed true. For because the sheep—that is, the multitude of the people—lacked leaders by whom they might recognize Christ, they perished on that account and fell into a ruinous fury against Christ. Weigh for yourself the origin of the impiety, and you will surely attribute it to the leaders of the Jews. These authors of a wicked plan hired the traitor with sacred money; they, joining the cohort with the ministers, ordered Christ to be bound no differently than a most vile robber; they brought him to Pilate, and now, seeing him affected by stripes and almost buried under every form of abuse, they burn with anger more and more, and out of immense envy they clamor. For their plan was to kill the heir of the vineyard.
For they thought that they would possess his inheritance without risk, and if by chance Christ were removed from their midst, they themselves would rule again and revel in the honors paid by all. But, as the Psalmist says: "He who dwells in heaven shall laugh at them, and the Lord shall have them in derision." A For nothing of what they had in mind has come to pass; on the contrary, the nature of things has turned completely upside down.
Pilatus says to them: "Take you him, and crucify him: for I find no cause in him." XIX, 6. Pilatus is shocked to see if indeed the crowd of the Jews, and especially the inhuman multitude of the high priests, might reach such a pitch of audacity that they would not shrink from inflicting so horrific a death upon Christ, even though no cause calling for this had been found anywhere. Therefore, he says this with a certain indignation, as if also insulted: "Have you made me the judge of this unjust slaughter? Shall I, contrary to all the laws of the Romans, become the executioner of those who are innocent, and, swayed by your clamors, lay aside what is my custom, and by rashly and thoughtlessly serving your petitions, fear no grave or harsh consequences? For if you do not think you are doing anything B impious, if you do not think this deed is grave, do you yourselves fix the cross, you who pride yourselves on divine doctrines, you who lift your brows high on account of your knowledge of the law; go to this slaughter, commit this impious deed by your own hands, and turn the crimes of this impiety upon your own heads. Usurp the Judaic ferocity, and turn the evil of this homicide back upon yourselves. If there is a law among you that punishes the innocent with such terrible penalties, let that be done by you. I shall in no way agree to this." One might perhaps persuade himself that these things were said by Pilatus, for his words carry such force. But here one will again wonder at the shamelessness of the Jews, who are not even ashamed at being surpassed in justice by a man of foreign race, C although the divine law says of them: "The lips of the priest shall keep judgment, and they shall seek the law at his mouth."
"The Jews answered him: We have a law, and according to the law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God." XIX, 7.
The calumny they had constructed in the beginning, and the vanity of the charge of sedition, that is, of an insurrection against the authority of Caesar, having been exposed—for the Lord had refuted these accusations, saying: "My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews" D — and while Pilatus was judging these matters rightly and uncorruptly and not yet out of favor, openly and plainly saying that he had found no cause in him at all,
those men, daring everything, transfer A themselves to something else. For they assert that they have a law that makes the Savior worthy of death. And what is this law, they say, which imposes a penalty on blasphemers? For it is written in the book called Leviticus, that certain persons who were serving among the Jews had started a quarrel in the camp, of whom one, having made mention of the divine name, blessed—that is, cursed and blasphemed—and was then ordered to die and to pay the bitter penalties of his unholy tongue, God saying clearly: "Whoever curses God will bear the burden of his sin; but he who names the name of the Lord shall be put to death. Let all the congregation of Israel stone him with stones; whether he is a proselyte or an indigene, if he names the name of the Lord, let him die." Yet perhaps someone, hesitating at this, might say: "What then does the law mean, and what does it wish to signify to me by this?" For, he says, that someone who is guilty of blasphemies against God should die, would not be beyond what is reasonable, and he might suffer it quite justly. But why, pray, if one insults even one of the false gods, is he not free from sin? For, it says, if anyone curses God, he will bear the burden of his sin. And what do we say to this? The Lawgiver is cautious. For, I think, to be accustomed to rail even against those who are not gods by nature is a practice and a kind of path that incites us to B railing against the natural God. And for this reason, he prohibits the same thing with other words, saying: "You shall not blaspheme gods." For he considered that the name of deity, even if it resides in some falsely, should be pursued with the glory proper to it; and the law did not order us to attribute any honor at all to false gods, but it teaches us to consider the name of deity—even if it were stolen by some—as revered and august. Since, therefore, the law orders the one guilty of blasphemy to be punished with death, they say that the Lord is subject to the penalty. "For he made himself," they say, "the Son of God." Yet it behooves us again to remember where and how this was said by Christ. In the pool that was called Probatica, he freed the paralytic from a heavy and long-standing infirmity on the Sabbath day. But they, while they ought to have admired C the author of such a great miracle, were scandalized again, shouting that the law had been violated because of the Sabbath. But Christ then defended himself, saying: "My Father is working until now, and I am working." To which the evangelist adds: "For this reason, therefore, the Jews sought the more to kill Jesus, because he not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also said that God was his own Father, making himself equal to God." The Jews, therefore, were scandalized by Christ calling the Lord of all his own Father, when Christ addressed them with the gentlest words, saying: "Is it not written in your law: I said, you are gods, and all of you are sons of the Highest? If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken—do you say, 'You blaspheme,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?" But the people of the Jews, remembering none D of these things, turn the truth into a crime against the Truth, and because Christ said he was what he is by nature, they affirm that for this reason he must die.
A But I shall use the prophet's voice for this purpose: "How will you say that we are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us?" [Jerem. viii, 8] For was it not necessary to inquire accurately first who and whence the Christ is; and if he were caught lying, then to punish him quite justly, or if he were found telling the truth, to worship him? Why therefore, abandoning all investigation and spurning the testimonies of the sacred Scriptures, do you solely contradict and turn the truth into a crime? It would have been fitting, when you were objecting to him before Pilate that he made himself the Son of God, to also reproach him with the works of his divinity and the magnitude of his miracles. B It was fitting to tell of the one dead for four days, who was raised to life by the sole voice of the Savior. [Joan. xi, seqq.] It was fitting to bring forward the only son of the widow, and the daughter of the archisynagogue. [Luc. vii, 14. Luc. viii, 54.] It was fitting to make mention of that divine voice by which he addressed the widow's son: "Young man, I say to you, arise," and by which he addressed the girl: "Maid, arise." Furthermore, it was fitting to teach that he had restored sight to the blind, and health to the lepers; and besides these, that by his rebuke alone he had calmed the raging swells of the sea, the violent onrush of the waves, and whatever else Christ did. But they bury those things in ungrateful silence, and perversely omitting those things by which his divinity could be manifested, they turn to sophistic arguments. Yet to a foreigner, and one wholly ignorant of the divine Scripture, seeing the man Jesus, the wretched ones cry out: "He made himself the Son of God," although the divinely-inspired Scripture proclaims that the Word of God would one day come into the world in human form. C "For behold," it says, "the virgin shall have in her womb, and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." [Isa. vii, 14.] But what else could he be who was born of a virgin, if you consider the shape and nature of the body, than a man like us? For he was truly man and God at the same time.
When, therefore, Pilate heard this saying, he was the more afraid, and entered into the Praetorium again, and said to Jesus: "Whence are you?" But Jesus gave him no answer. XIX, 8, 9. D The crime turns out for the Jews contrary to their expectations. For they raise the pretext for the accusation on high, saying that the enterprise against Christ involves an offense against the Divinity itself. But he, the more they magnify the matter, the greater caution he shows, and is struck by a more serious fear, and inquires more diligently than before, and investigates more subtly who it is and whence he is, having nowise doubted, as it seems to me, that while being a man, he is also able to be the Son of God. He receives an opinion and faith in this matter, not from the sacred Scriptures, but from the error of the nations.
...as for the judgment and faith concerning this, it is not from the Holy Scriptures, but from the error of the Greeks. For the myths current among the Greeks speak of many demigods and sons of A gods. The Romans, however, acting more superstitiously, were wont to bestow the divine title upon the most illustrious of their own emperors; and by erecting altars and building shrines, they deified many. Pilate, therefore, makes more curious, sharper, and more accurate inquiry than before, as to who and whence Christ is. But He, the narrative says, gave him no answer, mindful, as is credible, of His own words. For what did He say to him? "Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice." But seeing that Pilate was an idolater, how could he have understood the voice of the Saviour, who declared Himself to be the Truth B and the Son of the Truth? Or how, I ask, could he receive and honor the name of the Truth, he who rejected it at the beginning, saying: "What is truth?" for the reason that he worshipped false gods and was buried in the darkness of error.
XIX, 10. Pilate says to him: "Do you not speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to crucify you, and have power to release you?"
Pilate thought that this silence was the work of madness. Therefore, he brandishes the power of his authority like a rod, and thinks that, through fear, he might force him—even against his will—to a useless defense. For he claims that it is in his power to punish him if he wishes, or to use mercy; and that he can be hindered by no one from inclining toward the accused and liberating him by C his judgment. He rebukes him, therefore, as if injured by his ill-timed silence, and is inflamed with rage against him. For he did not grasp the mystery of his silence. But here you will see duly fulfilled that which was predicted by the voice of the prophet: "For as a sheep," he says, "he was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opened not his mouth. In his humiliation his judgment was taken away." And these things, indeed, the blessed Isaiah told us. But the Psalmist, again, adopting the person of Christ in the Spirit, says somewhere: "I set a watch upon my mouth, when the sinner stood before me. I was deaf and was humbled, and I was silent from good things." And as for what he says, "from good things," you will understand it as "from evil things." For it is the custom of Scripture to use such words, D which are honorable in speech, when they are said concerning the divine person itself.
XIX, 11. Jesus answered him: "You would have no power against me, unless it had been given you from above: therefore he who delivered me to you has the greater sin."
Who, or whence, or from what father He was born, He does not openly say. For He does not permit us ourselves to pour forth so mystical a word into the ears of an alien, saying: "Do not give what is holy to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine." But to Pilate, who was boasting of the power of his authority and foolishly promising that the judgment would be according to his own whim...
A he very fittingly opposes his own power and authority, and checks it as if it were some idle and senseless puff of wind, and one that was puffed up against the very glory of God. For in truth, it would have brought no small harm to some to think that Christ was dragged to punishment against his will, and that he yielded to the violence of the Jews, although he is God by nature, and has been proclaimed King of all things by the holy and divinely inspired Scripture. He therefore removed from us the occasion of scandal, and, as it were, uprooted the error concerning this, saying: "Unless it had been given to you from above." B By "given from above," he says that the authority was given to Pilate, not as if God and the Father imposed the passion of the cross upon his own offspring against his will, but because the Only-begotten himself offered himself to the sufferings for our sake, and the Father permitted that mystery to be fulfilled. To have been "given by the Father" in this passage, therefore, is the same as if it were said that the Son consented, and conceded, and so willed it. For that the crowd would not have been able to overcome the power of the Savior is by no means doubtful; but it is easy to know this from the fact that, although they often plotted against him, they accomplished nothing, but were merely rebuked and condemned as insolent. And indeed, they wanted to seize him, as the evangelist says, but he, passing through the midst of them, went his way, and thus passed by. C And he says "thus," meaning not in a skulking manner, nor fearfully, nor in the fashion of those fleeing, but rather relaxed and with a gait that was habitual and free from all tumult. For by some divine and ineffable power having hidden himself, he escaped the eyes of those who were then seeking to kill him. For he did not yet wish to suffer, nor would he have permitted those who were pursuing him to be able to seize him, if he had not willed it. Therefore, by his own nod and the good pleasure of God and the Father, he says that authority was given to Pilate to do any of the things which he has already dared. For the divine and supreme nature is not subject to the power of anyone, as power over all things is in it by nature. But he ascribes a greater sin towards himself, D indeed, to him by whom he was led to Pilate, and most justly. For he became, as it were, a beginning and a gateway of the impiety against him. But the judge, the minister of the crimes of others and a participant in Jewish impiety, showed himself to be such out of untimely fear. Who then is the one who handed him over, and at whom does the primacy of the crimes look? I think that the venal disciple, or rather the traitor, and the destroyer of his own soul, and then of those who were leading the crowd, and the Jewish people themselves, to whom he attributes the greater sin while not altogether making Pilate immune from it.
From this time Pilate sought to release him. But the Jews cried out, saying: "If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king speaks against Caesar." The fear is indeed increased for Pilate, and it makes his caution more prompt, and creates a hesitation in him towards murdering, which is being clamored for by the Jews.
A For they were crying out that he had made himself the Son of God, whom he certainly most desired to keep free from every danger and every calumny, having in his mind a dread of him that was terrible on this account. The Israelites, perceiving this, betake themselves to that first lie, saying that Jesus had solicited the people to defection, and that, as far as lay in his power, he had sinned against the very authority of Caesar. For, they say, he made himself a king. Observe, indeed, the indomitable fury of the calumniators. For, in the first place, the wretches clamored that a crime had been attempted against the authority of Caesar. But when they did not profit much against Christ, who said that his kingdom was not earthly, they introduced before Pilate, although he was the vindicator of the Roman laws, the sin committed against the Godhead itself, saying: "He made himself the Son of God." For the wretches thought that by these words they would goad Pilate, even against his will, into an indiscriminate rage, and that they would embolden him to pass a sentence of death upon him, under the pretext of piety toward God, having taken this as the incitement for it. But when that which was maliciously contrived was shown to be of no avail to them, they ran back again to their initial boldness, saying that the attempts had been made against the authority of Caesar, and they cried out brazenly that the judge was hostile to his majesty if he did not wish to avenge it, and to subject to the fitting punishment him who contradicts Caesar, as they would have it, from the fact that he allows the name of king to be given to him—although Caesar by no means arrogates to himself the heavenly kingdom, of which Christ was chiefly the Lord, but this lower and earthly one, which also depended upon the power of Christ. "For by him kings reign," as it is written, "and tyrants dominate the earth by him." Foolishly, therefore, do the most impious of men prattle, and out of hatred toward God they disparage the glory of the Savior, whom the blessed prophet Isaiah justly rebukes, saying: "But you, come hither, you lawless sons, the seed of adulterers and of a harlot: in whom have you taken delight? And against whom have you let loose your tongue, and opened your mouth? Are you not the children of perdition, a lawless seed?" For they were not directing their outcry against some one of the common people, having let their unbridled tongue loose and practiced every kind of calumny, but against the Lord himself, the Master of all things together with the Father. And therefore, they are justly named, and truly are, the children of perdition and a lawless seed. D XIX, 13, 14. Pilate, however, when he had heard these words, brought Jesus out, and sat upon a tribunal, in a place that is called the Lithostrotos, but in Hebrew Gabbatha. And it was the preparation of the Passover, about the sixth hour. And he says to the Jews: Behold your king. The evangelist in a certain manner ascribes the whole guilt of the slaughter of Christ to the heads of the Jews by these words. For he says that Pilate, even when unwilling, was overcome by their clamors.
A He declares that he has now been overcome, and that, having rejected the rule of justice, he cared very little for the logical order of events; and that for this reason he was dragged toward what seemed good to the murderers, although he had frequently addressed them and had explicitly declared that he had found Jesus guilty of nothing at all—a declaration which he himself would bring forward at the final judgment. For by having sent honor to one whom some thought an offender, and by delivering up to Jewish frenzies one who had been convicted of none of the things alleged, he will be found, by the very fact of having done so, to be a self-witness to his own impiety. He goes up, therefore, to the customary judgment seat, as one about to pass the death sentence against Christ. And the divine Evangelist usefully and necessarily notes the hour and the day, both for the sake of the resurrection itself and the three-day sojourn among those in the lower world, so that the Lord may again be seen to be truthful with the Jews, having said: "For as Jonas was in the whale's belly three days and three nights, so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights." B And having shown Jesus from the very judgment seat, the Roman governor said, "Behold, your King." But what, pray, is the meaning of this? Is he mocking the crowds, and is he playfully bestowing that innocent blood upon those who thirst for it unjustly? Or is he perhaps reproaching the Jew for his cruelty, in that they could look with steady eyes upon one burdened with so many evils, whom they themselves claim and call the King of Israel?
"They cried out therefore, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King?" They shout no less than before, remitting nothing of their blood-thirstiness, nor having become any milder toward him on account of the mockeries or the scourges that had been inflicted upon him; but having become rather more savage in their intent, they demand that he be sent to the cross—he who raised their dead, and who had shown himself a worker of so many and so great miracles among them. Wherefore Pilate is not a little troubled, that they should so vehemently demand that a man of such great esteem among them—as to be thought the Son of God and King—not only die, but that he die a most cruel death (for what is more wretched than the cross?). The judge, therefore, reproves them for wishing to crucify a man distinguished by so many miracles, which far surpass all earthly things. For what can be equal to, and what is less than, the Son of God and King? C XIX, 15. The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.
This beloved Israel kicked back, and openly leaps away from the friendship of God, and, according to the voice of Moses, "has forsaken God who begat him, and has not remembered the Lord his helper." For observe how his face became as that of a harlot, according to that which is written. He acted senselessly toward all, threw away his own glory, and denied his own Lord. Moreover, D
A by the voice of Jeremiah, God rebuked them, saying: "Pass over to the isles of Chittim, and send to Kedar, and see if nations have changed their gods, and these are not gods; but my people has changed its glory." And again: "The heaven is amazed at this, and has shuddered more exceedingly, saith the Lord, for my people have done two evil things: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and have hewn out for themselves broken cisterns that cannot hold water." For while other nations scattered throughout the whole world cling tenaciously to their own error, and steadfastly worship those whom they have persuaded themselves are gods, and do not easily fall away from them, nor transfer themselves to other modes of worship, Israel rebelled, handing himself over to the authority of Caesar and stripping off the kingdom of God. Therefore B he was very justly delivered into the hands of Caesar, under whose authority he had placed himself at the start; he himself perished miserably, and suffered the evacuation of his land, and the pains of war, and those irreparable calamities. Observe, however, in this case again, the precision of the writer. For he did not say that the common people were the ones who uttered so impious a voice, but rather the leaders of the people themselves. "The chief priests cried out," he says, showing everywhere that the subject people, following those leaders, had dashed against the rocks and had slipped into the pit of destruction. The high priests are therefore indicted, as having been themselves the leaders, commanders, and authors of the ruinous slaughter, not only destroying their own souls, but also the souls of the peoples under their charge, just as the prophet similarly rebuked them, crying out: C "You have become a snare to the watchtower, and as a net spread over Tabor, which they who hunt the prey have fastened." For he calls the multitude under their charge "the watchtower" in these passages, as it is appointed to observe the conduct of the leaders, and to fashion its own after it. For those set over the people are for this reason called "watchmen" in the Holy Scriptures. The high priests themselves, therefore, became a snare and a net of observation, inasmuch as they were the first to begin to deny Christ, and were the authors for all the others to say: "We have no king but Caesar." Yet the miserable men dare to say this, even though God and Father, through the voice of the prophet, proclaimed to them the arrival of the Savior, and thus cried out: D "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; preach, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, thy king comes to thee, just and saving; he is meek, and riding upon a beast of burden and a young foal." And though they had brought Jesus into Jerusalem, sitting upon the foal of an ass, and joined with the children in crowning him with honors beyond what is human (for they said: "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord"), they now cry out in opposition, claiming for themselves only the Roman rule, and casting off, as it were, the yoke of the kingdom under God from their own necks. For this was what it meant clearly to say: "We have no king but Caesar." But we shall find again that the crowds even then had followed Christ the Savior with auspicious greetings; but it was by the counsel of the high priests that this audacity of clamoring grew.
A Then therefore he delivered him unto them, that he might be crucified. Pilate, even though unwilling, grants to the unbridled rage of the Jews the reins to dare anything; and having cast off the authority proper to a judge, he permits their impotent anger to be carried where it will with impunity, while he orders him to be led to the cross who was convicted of no fault at all, but was condemned contrary to reason only because he said that he was the Son of God. One might therefore justly attribute the whole of this outrage to the Jews, and quite rightly assign to them the role of primary agents, I think. For they were the beginning of the impiety against Christ; yet we do not say that the head of Pilate was free from their unholiness, but that he was a co-conspirator with those who did the deed, since, although it was in his power to rescue and save him from the madness of those who were set on murder, he not only did not rescue him, but he also delivered him up—and not simply, but so that they might crucify him. B They took therefore Jesus; and bearing for himself the cross, he went forth unto the place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha, where they crucified him, and with him two others, on this side and on that, and Jesus in the midst.
They lead away the Author of life now as if he were to die, but this also was being accomplished for our sake, in divine power and by a craft beyond understanding, bringing the passion to an unexpected and contrary state. For the passion of Christ was prepared as a snare unto the power of death, and the death of the Lord was the beginning of renewal unto incorruption and the newness of life. And bearing the wood upon his shoulders upon which he was about to be crucified, he goes forth, already condemned, and having undergone the sentence of death for no evil whatsoever, and this for our sake. For he took upon himself the punishments justly imposed by the law upon those who sinned. “For he has become a curse for us, according to that which is written. For cursed,” he says, “is every one that hangeth upon a tree.” But we are all accursed, as we do not endure to fulfill the divine law. For we all stumble in many things; the nature of man is most prone to slip toward this. C And since the divine law says again somewhere, “Cursed is he who does not remain in all the things written in the book of this law, to do them,” the curse is therefore ours, and not others’. For those to whom transgression is a charge, and slipping from that which was decreed is most easy, for them it would be fitting to be called to account. Therefore, he who knew no sin is accursed for our sake, that he might release us from the ancient curse. For it sufficed that one, who is God above all, suffering for all, should redeem the salvation of all by the death of his own flesh. Christ therefore bears the cross, by no means that which is worthy of himself, but that which, if we consider the condemnation of the law, was due to us. D For just as in the dead
A he became not for his own sake, but for ours, that he might be found for us the author of eternal life, having by himself destroyed the power of death, so also he takes upon himself the cross that was fitting for us, condemning within himself the condemnation from the law, so that every iniquity may henceforth stop its mouth, according to what is sung in the Psalms, by the one who has no sin being condemned for the sin of all. And the thing accomplished in Christ will greatly profit our souls as a pattern of courage—I mean of that courage which is according to piety. For it will be impossible, I think, in any other way for us to attain to the perfection of good things and to the complete union with God, unless we prefer the love of him to this earthly life, and be most willing to struggle strenuously for the truth when the time calls us to this. And indeed our Lord Jesus Christ says: "Whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me." And to take the cross, I think, signifies nothing other than to renounce the world for his sake, and, if the situation requires it, to subordinate the life of the body to the goods for which we hope. But our Lord Jesus Christ does not blush to bear the cross that was due to us, and to suffer this because of his love for us. But we, miserable ones, although fashioned from this earth which is devoid of sense, and brought into being from nothing, do indeed sometimes dare to approach the labors of piety; yet if by chance anything happens to be suffered for the sake of piety in Christ, B immediately we are overcome by heavy shame. We shun the laughter of adversaries or detractors as something pestilential, and subordinating the will of God to this fleeting and vain ambition, we labor under pride, which—to speak in one word—is the mother of evils, and we fall into that crime. For we, as servants, think and act as if we were above our master, and as disciples above our teacher. But oh, the grave infirmity that frustrates our mind, which is the prey of whatever is contrary to what is right and honorable! We must diligently observe that the divine Peter could not bear what was being predicted by Christ our Savior concerning his passion. For Christ had said: "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man will be delivered into the hands of sinners, and they will crucify him, and they will kill him." But Peter, not yet understanding the mystery of the Economy, being a lover of God and a lover of his teacher, and moved by piety—especially since he was most loving of God and his teacher—said: "Far be it from you, Lord; this shall never happen to you." To which Christ replied: D "Get behind me, Satan; you are a stumbling block to me, because you do not set your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men." But from this we may gather no small amount of profit. For we shall learn, if ever the time calls us to struggle strenuously for God, that it is necessary to enter into struggles for virtue; but even if those who are most dear to us should try to deter us from acting courageously, whether through fear of infamy among men or by proposing some worldly matter, we must take care not to agree with them. For those who create scandals and who, by cunning and sometimes flattering words, turn one away from the useful quest, do not differ in any way from Satan.
A For it is the habit of Satan to plant scandals, and it is a trite and common thing for him, through certain deceits and sometimes by soft words, to draw away one who has been incited by a God-loving purpose from the quest for what is beneficial. And it seems to me that Christ wishes to signify something like this, when He says: "If therefore your right eye scandalizes you, pluck it out and cast it from you." For that which causes offense ought no longer to be ours, even if it is bound to us by the law of love into unity, and even if nature grants it the right of kinship with us.
But a pair of thieves was crucified with Christ, the malice of the Jews contriving even this. For by making the very death of the Savior most ignominious, they condemn the Just One along with the unjust. Yet those thieves hung with Christ the Savior signify the two peoples, the Israelites of course and the Gentiles, who were soon to come to be joined to Him. But why did those condemned ones serve as a figure of these peoples? B The law condemned the Jews, for they were guilty of violations of the law; and the Gentiles were under error, for they worshipped the creature rather than the Creator. But in another way, those who cling to Christ are also crucified together with Him; for they endure the death of their old manner of life, and are reformed unto a new and evangelical life. Whence Paul was saying: "Those who are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." And again, as if in his own person for all: "For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. Yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me." And he also writes to some: "If therefore you are dead to the world, why do you still exist as if living in the world?" For the death of a worldly manner of life leads us to the beginning of the life and conduct that is in Christ. C Therefore, the joint-crucifixion of the two thieves signifies to us, in a way, through the event, the representation of the two peoples who are to die, as it were, with the Savior Christ, according to the renunciation of worldly pleasures and the choice to no longer live carnally, but rather to live with their own Master, associating with Him and referring their own life to Him. And it does not injure the power of the image that those who were hung with Him are evildoers; for we were by nature children of wrath before faith in Christ, and all were liable to death, as I said in the beginning.
D Pilate also wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And it was written: JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS. This is surely that very handwriting against us, which the divine Paul says the Lord affixed to His own cross, and triumphed in it over the principalities and powers, as having clearly been defeated and fallen from their own authority. For even if He Himself
A was the minister and helper of the Jewish madness, yet this deed is referred to him, because he permitted it to be done. He triumphed over the principalities in it. For it was set forth for those wishing to read it, signifying Him who was suffering for our sakes, and giving up His own soul as a ransom for the life of all. For all of us who inhabit the earth, since we have fallen into the nets of sin: "For all," he says, "have turned aside, together they have become unprofitable," as it is written 36; we became guilty through the accusations of the devil, and were living a grim and joyless life. He held against us a handwriting, that is, the curse due to those who transgress, and the sentence passed against him who had fallen from that ancient commandment, which remained in force against the whole race, in likeness to him, especially since the command of God had been violated by all. For God was not offended only by the sin of Adam, and not also by those who came after him who neglected the commandments, but the law was promulgated far and wide against all in one man. We were therefore accursed, and condemned by divine decree, both because of the transgression in Adam, and because of the law established after him. But this handwriting that was against us the Savior blotted out, having B affixed the title to His own cross, which clearly signified the death He suffered on the wood for the life of those who were condemned. For He paid on our behalf the penalties owed for our transgressions. For even though the one who was suffering was one, He was nevertheless above every creature, as God, and more precious than the life of all. Therefore, as the Psalmist says, "All iniquity has stopped its mouth" 37, and the tongue of sin is in a way obstructed, no longer able to accuse sinners. For we have been justified, since Christ paid the debts for us. "For by His stripes we have been healed," as it is written 38. And just as our fall happened through the wood, so again through the wood we were recalled to our original state, and we received again the celestial goods, as Christ gathered into Himself the very beginning of the disease for our sake.
D XIX, 20. Many of the Jews therefore read this title, because the place was near the city where Jesus was crucified: and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek.
I think it was done by a divine and ineffable counsel that the title was set in a triple language, in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. For clearly by those three languages, the most celebrated of all, it confessed the kingdom of our Savior, and offered a kind of first-fruits to the Crucified of the prophecy spoken concerning Him. For Daniel the most wise says somewhere that to Him was given honor and the kingdom, and that all tribes and languages shall serve Him 39. Yea, and the most holy Paul also writes to us, crying out, that to Him every knee must bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and every tongue [...]
A shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. The title, therefore, was, as it were, a true first-fruits of the confession of tongues, proclaiming Jesus as King. And it was also, in another way, an accuser of the impiety of the Jews, crying out almost explicitly to those who flocked to read it, that through their utter stupidity they had crucified their own King and Lord, having utterly cast aside the love for Him, and, poor wretches, having fallen into the most extreme insensibility of all.
The chief priests of the Jews therefore said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but that he said, 'I am King of the Jews.'" Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."
The teachers of the Jews find the writing on the title unbearable, and a bitter envy seized them. They deny again the kingdom of Christ, and indeed they truly say that He never reigned anywhere, nor was He ever accepted as king; but they say that He used such words out of their own excessive naivety, being ignorant also of this, that the nature of truth could never invent a lie, and Christ is Truth. Since, therefore, He is convicted of having called Himself so, as they themselves confirm by their own voice, He is indeed the King of the Jews. But Pilate refuses those who desire that the writing be changed, not permitting the glory of our Savior to be injured by them to the end, clearly by a divine and ineffable nod. For the kingdom of Christ is established and beyond all calumny, even if the Jews do not wish it, as they attempt to adulterate the confession of the glory that belongs to Him. B
The soldiers, therefore, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments (and made four parts, to each soldier a part) and the tunic. Now the tunic was seamless, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore to one another, "Let us not tear it, but let us cast lots for it, whose it shall be." That the Scripture might be fulfilled which says, "They divided My garments among themselves, and for My clothing they cast lots." And indeed the soldiers did these things. C
The soldiers did indeed divide the garments of the Savior, giving this as a further sign of their beast-like ferocity and the inhumanity that was in them. For it is somehow the custom for tormentors not to be grieved at all by the sufferings of those condemned, but sometimes to insult the calamities of the miserable more ferociously than is fitting for ministers, and to claim their clothes for themselves as if by hereditary right. Having therefore divided the plundered items into four parts, they keep the one tunic whole and uncut. For it does not seem right to tear what is not entirely worthless; therefore, it pleased them that it should be D allotted; for Christ could not lie, who said through the voice of the Psalmist, "They divided among themselves"
my garments, and upon my vesture they cast lots." A All these things, therefore, were profitably foretold, so that, by comparing our words with the outcome of events, we might recognize that He is the very One who was predicted to come for our sake in our own form, and who was expected to die for the life of all. For no one of sound mind would think that the Savior Himself, according to the senselessness of the Jews, would have seen fit to "strain at a gnat"—that is, to foretell the minute and trivial details of His own passion, such as the mention of the distribution of His garments—while "swallowing the camel"—that is, to deem the great and monstrous assaults of impiety unworthy of any consideration. Rather, He foretold these things along with the others: first, that we might know that, being God by nature, He was ignorant of nothing that was to come; and second, in order that we might believe Him to be truly the One who was announced, being led B by numberless miracles to the recognition of the truth.
Now, if it helps to hear something else regarding the partition of the garments—which brings no harm indeed to the hearers, but perhaps some advantage—I will further say this. While they divided the Savior’s garments into four parts, they nevertheless left that one tunic undivided, the ineffable wisdom of the Only-begotten so arranging it that it might be a certain mystical sign of the dispensation through which the four parts of the world were to be brought to salvation. For the four parts of the world have, in a manner of speaking, partaken of and hold indivisibly the divine vesture of the Word—that is, His body. For, distributed in minute parts to each one, the Only-begotten, sanctifying the soul of every individual C together with the body through His own flesh, exists whole and undivided in all, being one everywhere. For He is by no means divided, as Paul teaches.
Such is the power and reason of this mystery that the shadow of the law also depicts for us. For it commanded that the lamb be taken at the appropriate time, not one lamb for each person individually, but by families and households. "For let each man," it says, "take with him a neighbor and his kinsman"; and thus He ordered the lamb to be divided among many. But lest it be thought that because the flesh was carried from house to house it was therefore divided, He further commands, saying: "In one house shall it be eaten, and you shall not take any of its flesh outside." D Observe, then, how, as I said just now, the Scripture has noted in figures and shadow that He is divided among many—whoever might happen to be in each house—but yet, most prudently, that He again is not thought to be divided, but is found perfect and whole, as one in all, dividedly yet indivisibly. You shall understand something of the like also regarding His garments. For while these were divided into four parts, the tunic nevertheless remained undivided. And it is not without reason that one might add that if anyone wishes to interpret that seamless tunic, woven from the top throughout, as signifying the holy body of Christ—because it was made without any union or commingling of man and woman, but by the Spirit's effi-
Acacy and power from on high into a shape befitting Him, let this also be accepted. For considerations which bring no injury to necessary truths, but rather produce things from which one may derive some utility, are not only not to be rejected, but are rather to be praised, as being the discoveries of a clear mind.
XIX, 25. *Stabat autem juxta crucem Jesu mater ejus, et soror matris ejus, Maria Cleophae, et Maria Magdalene.*
The divine evangelist also helpfully makes mention of this, showing thereby that not even one of the sacred words falls to the ground. What then do we say again about this? I shall explain. He brings forward those standing by the cross, his mother and with her the others, and it is clear that they were weeping. For the female sex is always somewhat prone to tears, and very ready for lamentations, especially when there is abundant cause for weeping. What, then, moved the blessed evangelist to narrate such small details, and to report that the women had stood by the cross? For his purpose was to teach that even the mother of God herself was, as is probable, scandalized by that unexpected passion, and that the extreme bitterness of that death—and in addition to this, the mockeries of the Jews, and perhaps the soldiers themselves standing by the cross, mocking the one hanging there, and having dared the division of his garments in the very sight of his mother—had nearly driven her mind from right reason. B For do not doubt that she might have entertained such thoughts as these: "I gave birth to him who is being mocked on the wood; but since he said that he was himself the true Son of the almighty God, perhaps he was deceived. When he said, 'I am the life,' C how was he crucified? How was he entangled in the snares of his killers? How did he not overcome the plots of his persecutors? Or how does he not descend from the cross, he who commanded Lazarus to return to life, and struck all of Judea with amazement by his miracles?" And it is indeed very probable that the woman, being ignorant of the mystery, fell into such thoughts. For we may rightly suppose that the passion was by its nature so grievous that it could disturb even a sober and constant mind from its seat. Nor is it any wonder if a woman should have fallen into this. For if even Peter himself, the chief of the holy apostles, was scandalized at one time when Christ was speaking and teaching clearly that he was about to be delivered into the hands of sinners, and to endure the cross and death, so that he even exclaimed beforehand: "God forbid it, Lord; this shall not be unto thee!"—what wonder is it, I ask, if the tender mind of a woman was carried away toward weaker thoughts? And indeed we say this, not led by an empty conjecture, as some might persuade themselves, but suspecting these things concerning the Lord's mother from what is written.
For we remember that Simeon the Just, when he received the Lord as an infant into his arms according to the writing, gave thanks and said: "Now dismiss thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word, in peace, because my eyes have seen thy salvation" (Luc. II, 29, 30); and he said to the holy Virgin herself: "Lo, this one is set for the fall and resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted; and a sword shall pierce thy own soul, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed" (Ibid. 34, 35). For he called the sharp onset of passion a sword, which cut into the Virgin’s mind to the point of strange thoughts. For temptations test the hearts of those who suffer, and lay bare the thoughts that are within them.
XIX, 26, 27. When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he says to his mother: Woman, behold thy son. Then he says to the disciple: Behold thy mother. And from that hour the disciple took her into his own. B
He provided for his mother in the very heat of the passion, holding it in a certain sense in contempt: for although he was suffering, he was yet impassible. He entrusts her, however, to his dear disciple, namely John, the writer of this book, and commands him to lead her home and to hold her in the place of a mother; and he commands the mother in turn to regard the beloved disciple in the place of a son, fulfilling the office of a natural son, through affection and love, of course. But did Christ, I ask, say this out of concern for the flesh, as some fools have thought? Far be such madness! For such foolishness befits only men who have a deranged mind. What useful thing, then, did Christ accomplish here? First, we say that he wished to confirm the lesson which had also been established in the Law. For what did the Mosaic Law say? "Honor thy father and thy mother, that it may be well with thee" (Exod. XX, 12). And he did not only command that this be done, but he also threatened the ultimate punishment upon us if we failed to do so, and placed sinning against God and sinning against one's parents in almost the same place. For the Law ordered that a blasphemer be punished with the death penalty. "For whoever," it says, "shall name the name of the Lord, let him die the death" (Lev. XXIV, 16). But whoever should arm a foul and unrestrained tongue against his parents, it willed to be held to the same penalties. "For he who shall curse father or mother," it says, "shall die the death" (Exod. XXI, 17). D Since, then, the Legislator ordered that so much honor be attributed to our parents, was it not worth the effort that so famous a command also be confirmed by the Savior’s judgment? And since every species of good and every virtue has flowed first through him, why should this not also run along with the others? For the most precious kind of virtue is honor toward parents. But whence, I ask, is one to learn not to neglect zeal toward them, even if heavy sorrows flow around us, if not first in Christ and through Christ? For he is the best who...
remembers the holy commandments, and who is not thrust away from the pursuit of what is proper, not by being one who has not suffered this in tranquil times, but in time of winter and tempest. A Furthermore, I say this in addition to what has been mentioned: since his own mother had fallen into stumbling blocks and was entangled in the disorder of her thoughts, how was it not fitting that the Lord should provide for her? For being true God, and looking into the movements of the heart, and knowing the things in the depths, how would he have been ignorant of the thoughts which, especially at that time, were troubling her regarding the precious cross? Knowing, therefore, the reasonings within her, he handed her over to the best instructor, the disciple, who was able to expound the depth of the mystery rightly and capably. For he was indeed wise and a theologian, who both receives her and leads her away joyfully, about to fulfill everything of the Savior’s will concerning her.
After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now finished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, says: "I thirst." There was a vessel therefore set full of vinegar. They therefore, having put a sponge full of vinegar about hyssop, offered it to his mouth. B
When all impiety against Christ had been filled up by the wickedness of the Jews, and nothing was left that could be wanting to show their cruelty, which is beyond reasoning, his flesh again suffers something proper and natural; for it admits thirst, being dried up by manifold torments. For the pains are terrible regarding the forcing of thirst, consuming the moisture that is in the depths with a certain innate and ineffable heat, and burning up the vitals of the one who is suffering with certain fiery assaults. For it was indeed not difficult for the omnipotent Word of God to remove even this from his own flesh; but just as he permitted the other things to be suffered, so he suffers this also by voluntary will. C Therefore he sought to drink; but they were so far from all humanity and love of God, that instead of a drink suited to be beneficial, they gave him that which harms, and made the very thing of love an addition of impiety. For by offering it at all to one who asks, how did it not assume the appearance of love? But it was not possible for the divinely inspired Scripture to ever be falsified, saying as if from the person of our Savior Christ concerning them: "And they gave me gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink."
But the blessed evangelist John says that they offered the sponge of vinegar having wrapped it about hyssop. Luke, however, having made no mention of such a thing at all, asserted only that they brought vinegar. D Matthew and Mark say that the sponge was put about a reed; and perhaps some will think that the holy evangelists have disagreed: but no one of sound mind, I think, would imagine such a thing in such matters. For the kind of impiety, not the manner in which it was committed, ought to be considered. Therefore that divine Luke, having concerned himself with nothing of the manner of the bringing, said only that vinegar was offered to him. But there is no doubt that the evangelists do not disagree in matters so minute and of no great moment, although in
A necessary matters they are in complete accord. Why, then, do others report it otherwise? Surely because it is evident that there were many ministers of impiety, certainly the soldiers who had led him to the cross; but besides them, many of the Jews who shared among themselves the manner of their cruelty. For some were offering the drink to Jesus with a sponge placed upon a reed, while others were offering it with a stalk of what is called hyssop (hyssop is a kind of herb). And the wretches were doing this also upon their own heads. For they were bringing upon themselves the need to be nowhere shown mercy, stripping off every form of kindness and humanity, and competing only with their own impieties in such unreasonable outrages. Therefore, God said through the voice of the prophet Ezekiel to the mother of the Jews, I mean Jerusalem: "As thou hast done, so shall it be unto thee; thy reward shall be returned upon thine own head." And through the voice of Isaiah concerning the most iniquitous Israel: "Woe to the wicked; evil shall happen to him according to the works of his hands." Thus, in addition to all the impious and most outlandish outrages already committed, this too was done against Christ. Yet this B will be a useful example for us. For from this we shall learn again that those who cultivate a love for God, and who are firmly established in their love for Christ, will face an incessant war from those who think the opposite, who will not lay aside their madness against them even until their last breath, sharpening temptations from every side, and exerting themselves to devise every kind of method for naturally wicked men to harm others. But just as the toil has not ceased, so also the length of their joy shall be unceasing; and just as the troubles and the tribulation of temptations have not ceased, so the goods of the saints shall not cease, but shall remain in every way, and the grace of their splendor and glory shall be eternal and perpetual.
XIX, 30. "When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said: It is finished; and bowing his head, he gave up the spirit."
With this added to the rest, the Savior says that it is finished—the measure, clearly, of the Jews' impiety, and the excess of their wantonness against him. For what was left for the Jews that was not attempted, or what kind of extreme cruelty had they not practiced? What kind of punishment or contumely did they pass over? Wherefore he rightly says "It is finished," but also at an hour that now called him to preach also to the spirits who were in Hades. For he arrived to rule over C both the dead and the living, and he underwent death itself for us, and he sustains this common passion of our nature—in the flesh, that is to say, although as God he is life by nature—so that, having despoiled Hades, he might establish for human nature the return to life, being the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep and having been declared the firstborn from the dead, according to the Scriptures. Therefore he bowed his head: as is wont to happen to those who are dying, because the nerves of the flesh are relaxed as the spirit or soul departs.
A And the Evangelist used these words by extension, as is customary. Furthermore, the statement that he "delivered up his spirit" is not foreign to our way of speaking; for the common people speak thus when they mean that someone is dead and departed. Yet it seems that for a necessary and singular purpose the most holy Evangelist does not say simply that he died, but that he delivered up his spirit, namely into the hands of God and the Father, according to that which is said as if by him: "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." For the power of the Word established this as a beginning and foundation of good hope for us ourselves. For we must believe—and with good reason—that the souls of the saints, after they have departed from earthly bodies, are, as it were, committed to the hands of a most affectionate Father, in His goodness and philanthropy. They do not, as some of the unbelievers have supposed, linger about the monuments awaiting funeral offerings; nor, like the souls of sinners, are they thrust into a place of infinite punishment—that is, into Hades. Rather, they hasten into the hands of the Father of all, a way which our Saviour Christ has initiated for us. For He delivered up His soul into the hands of His own Progenitor, B so that we too, having taken this as a beginning, might, in Him and through Him, have bright hopes, being firmly disposed and believing that, once we have undergone the death of the flesh, we shall be in the hands of God, and in a state far better than that in which we were while in the flesh. For this reason also the wise Paul writes to us that it is better to depart and be with Christ.
[And when he breathed his last, the veil of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.]
The veil in the temple was a certain linen cloth that hung down in the very middle of the house, in some measure overshadowing the inner parts and making the innermost tabernacle accessible to the high priest alone. For it was not permitted for the unwashed, as they wished, to trample through and heedlessly look upon the Holy of Holies. C And Paul, showing us that the partition of the veils was most necessary, said in the Epistle to the Hebrews: "For a first tabernacle was prepared, which is called the Holy. And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies, having a golden censer and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was the golden jar holding the manna, and the tablets of the covenant, and the rod of Aaron which sprouted. And into the first tabernacle indeed the priests enter, fulfilling the services of the sacrifices. But into the second, the high priest alone once a year, not without blood, which he offers for himself and for the ignorances of the people; the Holy Spirit signifying this, that the way of the holy places had not yet been made manifest, while the first tabernacle was still standing." D For it is not in doubt that a veil was stretched across the first doors of the temple, and therefore it was considered the first tabernacle and was called
acle was still standing." For it is not in doubt that a veil was stretched across the first doors of the temple, and therefore it was considered the first tabernacle and was called Holies. For no one would say at all that any place of the temple was unholy; for he would be proven false, since the whole was holy. But after the first tabernacle, the veil between served as a second—I mean the one within—the Holy of Holies. But as the blessed Paul said, by the typical figures the Spirit indicated to us that the way had not yet been revealed to the saints, while the people were still forbidden, and the former tabernacle was still standing. For the way of the life delivered through Christ to those called to sanctification by the Spirit was not yet revealed in truth, nor was its mystery yet made public, while the commandment was still urgent in the letter. Wherefore also the Law commanded the Jews to stand in the first tabernacle. For the legal discipline is, as it were, a certain entrance, and, if I may so speak, a vestibule of the evangelical discipline and way of life. For the latter consists in figures, while the former looks toward the truth. And the first tabernacle indeed is A holy, for the law is holy, and the commandment just and good; but the Holy of Holies is that inner one. For those who were participants of the legal justice, being holy, became holier, having accepted the faith, obviously that in Christ, and having been anointed by the divine and holy Spirit. The justice which is by faith, therefore, is greater than the legal justice, and the sanctification is far more abundant. Therefore, the wisest Paul says that he willingly suffered the loss of the legal justice, that he might gain Christ, and be found in him, not having his own justice which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Jesus B Christ. And indeed, some were falling backward, and while they were running well, they were bewitched—namely, the Galatians—who, after the justice of faith, turned back to the commandment of the law, and reverted to a manner of life that consisted in types and letters. Whom Christ quite rightly rebuked, saying: "Because if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. You are made void from Christ, you who are justified in the law; you have fallen from grace." But that we may usefully and necessarily unfold the reason of the proposed passage: the veil of the temple is rent from top to bottom, God now in a certain way uncovering the Holy of Holies, and the inner C tabernacle, which was henceforth in vain for those who believe in Christ. For the knowledge of divine mysteries is now set before us, no longer covered by the thickness of the legal letter as by a certain veil, nor containing a historical covering, or presenting the obscurity of types to the eyes of our mind, but in the simplicity of faith, and in quite a few words: "For the word," he says, "is near thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: this is the word of faith, which we preach; because if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him up from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart we believe unto justice; but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." For indeed in these things the mystery of godliness is seen. But as long as Christ had not yet undergone death for our life
having struggled on our behalf, the veil was still extended in a way; for the power of the commandment according to the Law still held sway. But since all the impious deeds which the Jews dared to commit against Christ had been accomplished, and Emmanuel had finally expired for our sake—having suffered this for us—it was high time that that ancient and broad veil should at last be rent, that is to say, the obscurity of the legal letter, and that the beauty of the truth should be laid bare to those who have been sanctified in Christ through faith. Now the veil was rent entirely; for what else can the phrase "from the top to the bottom" signify to us? And for what reason? For the saving proclamation does not hold the revelation in part, but imparts to us the most perfect illumination of the divine mysteries. Hence the Psalmist also said somewhere to God, as if in the person of the new people: "The uncertain and hidden things of thy wisdom thou hast manifested to me." B And indeed, the divine Paul also writes to those who have believed in Christ: "I thank my God always for you because of the grace of God which is given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything ye were enriched in him, in all speech and in all knowledge." Since, therefore, the worshipers of the Savior were destined to be enriched in all wisdom, and in all knowledge, and in all speech—having received, that is, a knowledge of the mystery concerning Him that is free from haze and exempt from every shadow—the veil was shown to be rent not in part, but wholly. For this is what "from the top to the bottom" means. We say, furthermore, that this time—where the Savior laid down His soul for us—was most appropriate and much more fitting for the revelation of the divine mysteries, seeing that Israel had already rejected grace and had utterly cast aside the love of God, due to their outrage against Him and their most disgusting impious deeds. For one can learn that they left no species of impiety untouched from the very fact that they pushed the Giver of Life even to death. I think, then, that these things have been sufficiently said for us, and that our reasoning regarding the divine contemplations does not stray from the proper scope. But since the divine evangelist is found to say with a certain sharp precision, "And when He had expired, the veil of the temple was rent," C as if by these words he were necessarily indicating to us the very timing of the event, come let us consider something beyond what we have just said, which in my opinion has no small elegance combined with utility and grace. For a custom had prevailed among the crowds and princes of the Jews: whenever they saw anything being done that seemed most likely to grieve the Lawgiver, or if they heard any of the most offensive words—I mean, clearly, words amounting to blasphemy—they would rend their garments, D and by assuming a mournful habit before God, they would in a way excuse themselves, and by showing that they were troubled by these things, they would cast the penalty of the madness onto the offenders and, after a fashion, absolve themselves from all blame. Indeed, when certain unbelievers thought that the disciples of the Savior, namely Barnabas and Paul, were gods (for they called Barnabas Jupiter, but Paul Mercury), and together with the priests were bringing victims and garlands to them and had already begun to worship them with sacrifices, they entered the houses. But those men, not bearing that the divine majesty should be violated if victims were offered to men
and A properly assuming the appearance of those mourning, offering an apology in a certain way through this to God, and by these means which they seemed to have, they were not bearing it; defining the punishment for the madness of those who had offended, and as though making their own head external to all the cause of these things. And so it was that the disciples of the Saviour, these being Barnabas and Paul, when some of those who had not yet believed thought them to be gods (for they called Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes), and brought sacrifices and garlands together to the priests, and were already attempting to honor them with sacrifices, leaping down from the room, as indeed the divine glory was being wronged if sacrifices were offered at all to men, they rent their own garments, as it is written, and beat back the ignorant undertaking of the idolaters with fitting words.
But when our Saviour Christ was being judged before the teachers of the Jews, and was being asked who he was and whence he was, he said clearly: “Amen I say to you, hereafter you shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of the power of God, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” Caiaphas, leaping from his holy seat, rent his garments, saying: “He has blasphemed.” B It was the custom, therefore, that prevailed among them, and the divine temple itself in a way made use of it, its own veil being rent like a garment, immediately as our Saviour expired. For it condemned the impiety of the Jews. And this was surely done by divine power, that it might show the mourning Israel, and the holy temple itself to us.
XIX, 31. The Jews therefore, because it was the Preparation, that the bodies might not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath (for that was a great day of the Sabbath), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
The blessed evangelist does not say these things as though attributing any piety to the savage and cruel Jews who were accustomed to murder, but to show that they foolishly and ignorantly strain out the gnat and swallow the camel, C just as it was said by Christ. For they are found to count the most grave and monstrous crimes as nothing, but they observe the smallest and most minute things with great caution and solicitude, revealing their ignorance in both respects. It is easy to show this. For behold, having killed Christ, they make much of the honor of the Sabbath, and with incredible audacity, having violated the Author of the law, they feign piety toward the law. They pretend to honor that day of the great Sabbath especially, those who killed the Lord of the great day, and they petition for a favor worthy only of them, that their legs should be broken, preparing for those who were already dead an injury more bitter than death through an unbearable torture.
XIX, 32-37. The soldiers therefore came, and indeed broke the legs of the first, and of the other who was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus, as they saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one of the soldiers opened his side with a D spear, and immediately there came out blood and water. And he who saw it has borne witness, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he speaks what is true, that you also might believe. For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled: A bone shall not be broken of it. And again...
A another Scripture says: They shall look on him whom they pierced.
The soldiers, obeying the petition of the Jews and laboring under the same frenzy of cruelty, break the legs of the two robbers, since they were found still alive, thus pushing them into death with a more grievous fall and necessity, and as it were, forced by necessity, driving them more hastily into a painful death. But finding Jesus having bowed his head, and having already grasped that he had breathed his last, thinking it vain to break his legs, and yet hesitating a little as to whether he were already dead, they pierced his side with a lance; and there flowed out blood mixed with water, which was to us an image and first-fruits of the mystical blessing and of holy baptism, God having, as it were, set before us what had taken place. For it is truly of Christ, and from Christ is holy baptism, and the power of the mystical blessing has sprung forth for us from his holy flesh. B The most wise evangelist confirms indeed to his hearers from the things that happened that he is the very Christ, who was long ago announced beforehand through the holy Scriptures. For the events came to pass in agreement with what was written about him. For neither was his bone broken, and he was pierced by the lance of the soldiers, according to the Scriptures. He says that the disciple himself who bears witness of these things was an observer and bystander of the event, and that he knows in truth that he has borne witness to true things, pointing to himself in these words, and not to another. For he refused to name himself more openly, casting away from himself the suspicion of vainglory as an unholy thing and the most extreme malady.
Concerning the petition for the Lord's body
XIX, 38. After these things, Joseph of Arimathea (being a disciple of Jesus, but secret for fear of the Jews) asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. C
The discourse accuses, and not lightly complains of, the impiety of the Jews, through whom it was not allowed for anyone to follow the discipline of Christ without danger. For it introduces this excellent young man, Joseph, as hidden first of all, although persuaded by the teachings of Christ to choose the worship that is truly real, and superior to the legal commandment, and more pleasing to the God who loves virtue, and at the same time it confirms what is necessary for us unto faith. For it was necessary, indeed necessary, to believe that Christ laid down his soul for us. For where there is burial, how does it not necessarily follow that one must believe that death also occurred? D And one might condemn—and not without reason—the extreme cruelty of the Jewish arrogance, and their uncompassionate mind and unloving disposition, who do not even bestow upon Christ the honor owed to the dead, nor perform the funeral rites, though they see him lying lifeless and dead, even though they know that he was the...
A Christ, yet they are quite struck by the miracles he performed, even if, out of a fierce envy, he never allowed them to genuinely enjoy the benefits of those miracles. Thus, for the condemnation of the cruelty of the Jews and for the rebuke of the people of Jerusalem, that disciple from Arimathea comes and honors him with the appropriate services, having honored him with a faith which, though not yet open, was nevertheless secret, on account of their fear of the Jews, as the blessed evangelist relates.
XIX, 39. And Nicodemus also came (who had come to Jesus at night at the first), bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pounds.
He does not say that only one disciple had come with great zeal and prudent counsel to bury the holy body, but he adds a second, namely, Nicodemus, in a way bringing in a testimony approved by the law for this matter. “For in the mouth,” he says, “of two or three witnesses shall every word stand.” [B ] Therefore, two are occupied with burying the body, Joseph and Nicodemus, who, although they cherished faith in their hearts, were yet still pressed by an insane fear, and did not yet prefer divine worship to earthly honor and glory. For certainly, if they had neglected the fear of the Jews and held their threats as nothing, and had borne a secure and intrepid faith, they would have shown themselves as holy and upright observers of the Savior's commandments.
1076 XIX, 40, 41. They took therefore the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the custom with the Jews to bury. Now there was in the place where he was crucified a garden; and in the garden a new monument, in which no man yet had been laid.
He C who for our sake was among the dead according to the flesh, but is understood to be, and in reality is, life by himself and [by] the One who begat him, was indeed reckoned among the dead. But that he might fulfill all righteousness, which is evidently appropriate to the human form, he submitted his temple not only to voluntary death, but also to the other things that happened after death, namely to burial and to deposition in a monument. The evangelist says that this is in a garden, and that it is new, by which as a type it is signified that by Christ’s death a return to Paradise is prepared and reconciled for us. For he himself has entered as a forerunner for us. For what else, I ask, does it signify when it says that Jesus was buried in a garden? And because the monument is called new, it designates a new and unheard-of return from death to life, and a restoration devised against corruption through Christ. For our death has been transformed in Christ’s death into a kind of sleep and mode. For we live to God, as we are to live, D according to the Scriptures. Wherefore it happens that the blessed Paul everywhere calls those who have died in Christ "those who sleep." For of old, the power of death prevailed against our nature. For it reigned from
Adam and even unto those who had not sinned, in the likeness of the transgression of Adam, and we have borne the image of the earthly, according to the likeness of him, enduring the death that came from the divine curse. But since the second A Adam has shone forth upon us, the divine one and from heaven, and having struggled for the life of all, by the death of his own flesh he bought back the life of all, and having destroyed the power of corruption, he lived again. We have been re-fashioned into the image that is towards him, enduring a new kind of death, not one that dissolves us into unending corruption, but one that casts upon us a sleep filled with good hope, according to the likeness, clearly, of him who also renewed this way for us, that is to say, Christ. And if anyone should wish to provide a further reason for why it was a new monument, and that no one at all had been placed in it before, this, too, would be well said. For, he says, so that one might not be believed to have been raised from the dead other than Jesus, he says that the monument is new, with no one having ever been placed in it before.
XIX, 42. "There, therefore, on account of the Preparation of the Jews, because B the monument was near, they laid Jesus." He does not say this merely because he was buried [there], or because there was a garden near the cross, and a new monument in it, but he reveals that he was indeed buried, leaving nothing, even of the smallest things that happened, unexplained. For indeed, the confession and knowledge regarding Christ having died are truly most necessary for the acceptance and establishment of the mystery. For this reason, the most wise Paul also, defining the rule of faith for us, says thus: "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart; that is, the word of faith which we preach. Because if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." But also C elsewhere again: "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures." The author of the book, therefore, necessarily relates these things to us. For it was necessary, it was necessary to believe that he also died and was buried. For after this, one will truly arrive at believing that he also, having broken the bonds of death, returned to his own life as God. For it was not possible for him to be held by death. For being Life by nature, how could he have endured corruption? And he in whom we live, and move, and have our being, how could he have been subjected to the laws of our nature, and not rather, as God, easily have brought to life that which lacks life?
XX, 1-9. "And on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene D comes early, while it was still dark, to the monument, and sees the stone taken away from the monument. Cu-
- A rrs then, and comes to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and says to them: They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him. Peter therefore went out, and that other disciple, and they came to the tomb. And they ran both together, and that other disciple outran Peter, and came first to the tomb. And when he had stooped down, he saw the linen cloths lying, yet he did not enter. Then comes Simon Peter following him, and entered into the tomb, and sees the linen cloths lying, and the napkin, that had been upon his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but apart wrapped up in one place. Then therefore entered in also that other disciple who came first to the tomb, and he saw, and believed. For as yet they knew not the Scripture, that he must rise again from the dead."
This most earnest and sagacious woman would certainly not have remained at home, nor would she have left the tomb, had she not been restrained by fear of the law concerning the Sabbath, and the punishment threatened against its violators, thus curbing the ardor of her desire; for while still observing the ancient laws, she thought it necessary to restrain her mind, even against its will, from the desire of things most longed for. But when the Sabbath was over, and the next day was dawning, she ran to the place; and then, having seen the stone rolled away from the mouth of the tomb, and thinking of the B perpetual envy of the Jews, she suspected that Jesus had not been removed without cause, attributing this impiety, along with others, to their fury. While the woman was held by this suspicion, she returned to those who loved the Lord, desiring to make those two disciples in a way the assistants of her search. And since she had a firm and constant faith, she did not in the least despise Christ because of the ignominy of the cross, but according to custom she calls him Lord, even though dead: so great was her love toward God. But when they heard the woman announcing these things (they were Peter and John, the writer of this Gospel; for he says that he himself was that other disciple), they hasten with the fastest run they can, and immediately arrive at the tomb, and became spectators of the miracle C and suitable witnesses of the event, since there were two, according to the law. And indeed they do not yet encounter Christ risen from the dead, but from the orderly arrangement of the linen cloths they gather the resurrection, and believe that the bonds of death had been broken by him, a thing which the holy Scripture had formerly proclaimed. Wherefore, perceiving the events of things to correspond with true predictions, they finally receive the firmest faith. It must be noted, however, that the blessed evangelist John points out to us the time of the resurrection with these words: "And on the first day of the week, early, when it was still dark, Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb." But Matthew, as if to signify the same thing to us, says that the resurrection took place late in the evening. But no one, I think, will say that the evangelists inspired by the Spirit D disagree among themselves, nor that they indicate different times for the resurrection.
A For if anyone wishes to grasp the power of what is meant, he will find that the voices of the holy men converge to the same point. For "early" and "late" in the evening, as I think, carry the meaning toward one thing, and come, if I may so say, into the very middle place of the night's duration. There is, therefore, no disagreement. For one, having taken it from the end of the night, and another from the beginning, creeps toward the depth of the hours, and descends into that same middle point, as I just said.
XX, 10, 11. *Then the disciples went away again unto their own home. But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping.*
B The most wise disciples, having now gathered sufficient evidence for the resurrection of our Savior, and bringing to birth a faith that was henceforth established and unshaken, both from the outcome of events and from the prophecy of the holy Scriptures, were returning home, and were hurrying to their own fellow-ministers, as is credible, to announce the miracle and to deliberate after this about the course of action to be taken. C And it would not be beside the point to suppose that something else was done by them. For since the fury of the Jews was still at its peak, and those who had been chosen to lead were eagerly seeking to slaughter anyone at all who admired the word of our Savior and accepted his ineffable and most divine power and glory, and especially against the holy disciples themselves, they were naturally avoiding falling into their hands; they depart from the tomb before the day had fully dawned, as it was not possible to do this without danger if they were seen during the day, when the lamp of the sun reveals them to the eyes of all. And we shall not, I suppose, call cowardly fear the reason for their having made such a very orderly flight, but we shall think rather that the knowledge of what was useful had been placed in the souls of the holy men by Christ, who does not permit the luminaries and teachers of the whole world to be endangered out of season. For it was fitting that what he said about them to the Father in heaven should be seen to be true: "Holy Father," he says, "keep them in thy name which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are. While I was with them, I kept them in thy name which thou hast given me, and I guarded them, and no one of them perished, but the son of perdition." D The disciples flee, therefore, thinking that the time for open speech must be awaited. And they were doing this, persuaded by the words of the Savior. For he had commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, as it is written, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which they had heard from him, "that John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit, not many days after these." This we shall find brought to an exit around the days of holy Pentecost, when there appeared to them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. For then, with the soul
A strongly and most boldly fortified, and standing as far as possible from human weakness, they armed themselves against the rage of the Jews, and considered that they ought to make no account of the plots laid by them. The most wise disciples, therefore, hid themselves profitably, as I was saying just now. Yet Mary, who loved Christ, being free from all fear, and not having the anger of the Jews very much in her suspicions, sits there more securely, but she undergoes that passion which is somehow always engrafted in women; for she laments rather greedily, and unceasingly wrings the tear from her own eyes, not only because she is mourning that He has died, but because she supposed the Lord had been removed from the monument.
XX, 11-13. *But as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the monument, and saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been placed. And they say to her: Woman, why weepest thou?*
See again how not without reward are tears poured out for Christ, nor is the fruit of love towards Him far off; but grace—as if it were a neighbor—follows closely upon labors, and there is a rich recompense. B For lo, to Mary as she sat there, and whose heart was pining with a God-loving desire, and who kept her intent sincere toward the Master, the Savior granted the knowledge of His mystery through the voice of the holy angels. For she saw angels in shining garments, by the whiteness of which the most clear beauty of angelic purity is signified; they, checking her weeping, say: “Woman, why weepest thou?” For they do not inquire as to the cause of the shedding of tears, since they knew it even if the woman were silent, and the fact itself showed it clearly enough; but they exhort her rather to cease from weeping, as she is shedding tears in a time not congruous, and for things it is least fitting to lament. For when death has been undone, and destruction has already reached its end, and the Savior Christ has on this account been raised C to restore the return to incorruption, “Why do you weep intemperately,” they say, “when the outcome of events calls you rather to the contrary?” For in truth you ought rather to rejoice. Why then do you weep, in a way doing injustice to the demeanor required by the festival? And they appear sitting both at the head and at the feet where the body of Jesus lay, as if by this very thing signifying to the woman—who thought the Lord had been moved—that no one could have violated the holy body, with holy angels sitting by, and holy powers surrounding the divine temple; for they knew their own Master. But one might, perhaps, and not without cause, ask for what reason the blessed angels did not speak to the holy disciples, nor appear to them at all, but appear to the woman and speak with her. We shall say, therefore, that it was the intention of Christ the Savior to insert the certain faith of His mystery into the minds of His D own dear ones, but that He made use of various modes of persuasion, accommodated to the minds of those to whom the faith was to be made. Accordingly, for the holy disciples, the very outcome of events and the divine Scripture-
already in accord with the hope regarding Christ our Savior’s mystery—sufficed to produce conviction, and instilled a faith that was in no way doubtful. For they were already persuaded by the holy Scriptures, and it would have been, in a way, superfluous for those who possessed a faith so firm to be taught, in addition, by the voice of holy angels. But this matter was most necessary for the woman, who was unlearned in the holy and divine Scripture, and indeed knew nothing else of the deep mystery of the resurrection. A
He says to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him." Having said this, she turned back and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. B
The woman was, in a way, slow to understand—or rather, the whole female race is. For she does not yet perceive what is signified by that vision, yet she explains the cause of her mourning. But because she did not cease calling Christ "Lord," and thereby showed her love for him, she is finally and rightly granted the enjoyment of the vision she so much desired. For she perceives Jesus, even if she does not yet understand he is present. And for what reason? It is either because Christ our Savior, with power becoming to God, was hiding himself and not offering himself to be clearly seen by the eyes of the beholders, that she remains in ignorance; or because it was still the depth of dawn, she was not easily able to discern the appearance of him who had approached, for the night did not allow her to see this, but barely revealed the form of one coming near. And so our Lord Jesus Christ himself, in the Song of Songs, makes mention of his walks in this night, and of the liquids collected from the morning dew, saying thus: "For my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night." C
Jesus says to her, "Woman, why do you weep? Whom do you seek?" She, supposing him to be the gardener, says to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away."
While it was still dark, and the night had not yet been completely dissolved, she sees Jesus standing almost right beside her, and ignores who it is, not being able to discern the image of his body and the character of his face. She hears him saying, "Woman, why do you weep?" And the word of the Savior is indeed meek, yet it is enough to bring one to the suspicion that it would most likely be one of those who were in charge of the garden. But it is logical to believe, again, that he was by no means asking for the causes of her weeping, which he himself would not know, nor was he wishing to learn who it was she sought, but rather he was turning her away from her mourning, just as indeed the pair of blessed angels had done—for it was he himself who was speaking in them. "Why then do you weep, O woman," he says, "whom do you seek?" This is: D
A "Suppress your tear, you who hold the one whom you seek; I am, he says, the cause of your lamentation, clearly as one who is dead, and as one who has suffered irreparable things, and in addition to these, as one who has been carried out of the monument. But since I am alive and present, cease your tears and turn to joy." Therefore, the interrogation is one that puts an end to mourning. For it was necessary, indeed necessary, that in this part also the Lord should become the Restorer. For through the transgression in Adam it had been spoken to the whole nature of man, as in the first fruits of the race in the first man: "Earth you are, and to earth you shall return." And to the woman, B and specifically, that: "In pains you shall bring forth children." And so, to abound in pains was established for the woman by way of a penalty. It was therefore necessary, through the voice of Him who had condemned, for the weight of that ancient curse to be resolved, since our Savior Christ was already wiping away the tears from the woman—or rather, from the whole female sex, in Mary, as in their first fruits. For she was the first of women, having sorrowed at the passion of the Savior and having received grief for his sake, who was deemed worthy of the voice that puts an end to weeping—a voice that clearly reaches the power of the Word and the whole female race, if indeed they are pained by the impious deeds against Christ, honoring the faith in him, and almost as though singing that passage in the Psalms: "Do I not hate them, O Lord, that hate Thee? And am I not consumed by C the sight of Thine enemies? I hated them with a perfect hatred; they were become enemies to me." But our Lord Jesus Christ, putting an end to her mourning, says such things. She, however, thinking that the one who was speaking was a gardener, promised very readily that she would take away the body of the Savior to other places, if only it were pointed out to her where he had moved him. For thus, having understood the great mystery of the resurrection, she was cast into the suspicions that invite one to this. For the minds of women are somehow rather untaught, and they are untrained toward the ability of easily grasping even things that are not very difficult, and much more so with miracles that exceed the mind.
XX, 16. *Jesus says to her: Mary. She turning says to him: Rabboni; which is called, Master. And she ran to touch him.*
He calls the mind of the woman to a clearer recognition D now, and offering himself openly for viewing, as to one who loves more vehemently, he all but reproaches her slowness in understanding at such great length. For he hints at something of this sort while calling her by name. And she understands immediately, and upon seeing him, casting off her former suspicion, she offers him the customary honor, and addresses him as Rabboni, which is, "Master." And filled with the highest joy, she runs quickly, about to touch the holy body, and looking to gain the blessing from him.
XX, 17. *Jesus says to her: Do not touch me; for I have not yet ascended to my Father.*
The force and reason of these words is not easily perceived by the many; for a mystery is hidden therein, which because of
A its utility must be investigated, for the Lord will grant us the knowledge of his words. He indeed restrains the woman running to him, and does not allow her to be eager to clasp his feet. But in revealing to us the cause of the matter, he says, "For I have not yet ascended to my Father." But we must inquire, what are we to think this means? For what if he has not yet ascended to the Father who is in heaven? How could this be a sufficient excuse for refusing those who love him to touch his holy flesh? For B would someone unsuspiciously think that the Lord, by avoiding the contagion from the touch, or being desirous to return pure to the Father in heaven, said these things to her? And would he not then be caught in extreme ignorance and insanity? For the divine nature could never be defiled. For just as the light of the sun, when it falls upon mud and other filth upon the earth, suffers no damage—for it remains what it is, clearly unstained and completely devoid of the stench of the things it touches—so too the divine and all-holy nature would never receive any filth from defilement. What, therefore, is the reason for forbidding Mary as she approached him and longing to touch his holy flesh? And what would the Lord mean by saying, "For I have not yet ascended to the Father," must henceforth be considered as far as is attainable by us. We say, therefore, that the purpose of the coming of our Savior is indeed varied and manifold, but this one is the most necessary, which we have received from his own mouth: C "For I came not to call the just, but sinners to repentance." Before the saving cross, therefore, and the resurrection from the dead, since the economy for our sake had not yet attained its proper end, he mingled with both the just and the unjust, and ate with publicans and sinners, and gave free access to those who wished to touch his holy flesh, that he might sanctify all, and call them to the knowledge of the truth, and restore to a healthy state those who were corrupted and broken by the diseases of sin. Wherefore he also said to them again: "They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." D Therefore, before the resurrection from the dead, he mingled without distinction with both the just and sinners, and drove away none of those who came to him. And indeed, when he was reclining in the house of the Pharisee, a woman stood by weeping, who was a sinner in the city, as it is written, and having loosened her hair—that lover of adornment—and having with difficulty let go of her ancient evils, she was wiping his feet, and he does not appear to have stopped her. But also when he was going to raise the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue, a woman suffering from a flow of blood came up again and touched the fringe of his garment, and we shall not find that he was angry, but rather that he deemed her worthy of a kind word: "For daughter," he said, "thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace." But at that time indeed, by a unique dispensation, it was permitted to those who were impure and defiled in both soul and body to touch the holy flesh of our Savior Christ, and to enjoy every blessing that is from him. But after that economy for our sake was fulfilled, he endured the cross itself and death upon the cross, and from
B the dead he rose again; and because he manifests his own nature as superior to death, he henceforth restrains, nor does he easily permit anyone who approaches him to touch that holy flesh itself; setting this matter as a pattern for the holy Churches and for his own mystery, which the Mosaic law also indicated when it commanded the lamb to be sacrificed as a figure of Christ. "For everyone," it says, "who is uncircumcised shall not eat of it," calling the impure uncircumcised. But by its own nature, humanity is justly judged impure. For what is the nature of man when compared with the purity inherent in God? It is not right, therefore, that those who are uncircumcised—that is, impure—should touch the holy body of the Lord, but rather those who have been rendered pure by spiritual circumcision. For the circumcision of the heart is in the Spirit, according to the voice of Paul C (Rom. ii, 29). But that spiritual circumcision would by no means take place in us if the Holy Spirit did not dwell in us through faith and holy baptism. Was it necessary, then, that Mary should be restrained from touching the holy body, since she had not yet received the Spirit? For although Christ had been raised from the dead, the Spirit had not yet been given to humanity by the Father through him. For having returned to God and the Father, he sent him down to us. And therefore he said to us: "It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Paraclete will not come to you; but if I go away, I will send him to you" (John xvi, 7). Since, therefore, the Holy Spirit had not yet been sent to us (for he had not yet ascended to the Father), for that reason he drives away Mary as one who had not yet received the Spirit, saying: "Touch me not: for I have not yet ascended to my Father," that is, I have not yet sent the Holy Spirit down to you. From this, the holy Churches have taken their example. Indeed, we exclude from the holy table even those who acknowledge his divinity and have already professed the faith—that is, the catechumens—but who have not yet been enriched with the Holy Spirit; for he does not dwell in those who are not yet baptized. But after they have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, then D nothing prevents them from touching our Savior Christ. Wherefore, to those who wish to become partakers of the mystical blessing, the ministers of the divine mysteries cry out: "Holy things to the holy," teaching that the participation in the holy things is suitable for those who have been sanctified in the Spirit.
CAP. I. That the Son is God by nature, even though for our sake he calls the Father his God.
"Go, however, to my brethren, and say to them: I ascend to my Father and your Father, and my God and your God" (John xx, 17).
For the reasons which we have already brought forward, he does not allow
A Mary to touch his flesh, although she exceedingly longed to attain this out of her love for God. But he renders her the reward for her constancy, and pays back to her the double reward for such firm faith and love, showing that piety toward him is not unfruitful for those who practice it. And what is still more illustrious than these things is that in her, and as the first of them—I speak, of course, of Mary—the whole race of women, so to speak, is crowned with a double honor and is released from its ancient maladies. For she who was the first to dissolve in grief for Christ’s sake, and who took Christ as the cause of her tears, turns her mourning into joy, having heard from him who once condemned the woman and pronounced her subject to the insults of sorrow that she must cease from weeping. For it was said by God to the woman: "In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children" (Gen. iii, 16). B But just as he previously subjected her to sorrows in paradise because she had complied with the words of the serpent and served the malice of the devil, so now, again, in the garden, he commands her no longer to weep. And in freeing her from the very curse by which the woman was ordered to sorrow, he wills her to be the herald of great good things, and commands her to announce to the disciples the ascent to those things above, so that just as the first and most ancient of all women was condemned for having ministered to the words of the devil, and the entire race of women through her, so also must this one, by having ministered to the words of our Savior and by announcing those things that lead to eternal life, release the whole race of women from that cause. Therefore, the Lord grants to Mary not to weep any longer, nor to have a heart easily given to sorrows, and to possess C beautiful feet. For according to the voice of the prophet: "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good tidings of good things!" (Isa. lii, 7). Although that first woman did not have beautiful feet, for she did not herald anything good, but rather advised our forefather to violate the divine commandment. That Mary is worthy of admiration, you will understand from this: she was deemed worthy of prophetic mention. For what did he say about her and the women with her who announced the resurrection of the Savior to the holy disciples? "Come, women, you who come from the spectacle. For it is not a people having understanding" (Isa. xxvii, 11). For as for these women who truly are lovers of Christ, the divine oracle almost commands them to be carried with a swifter course, so that what they became D spectators of, these things they might also announce. He condemns the lack of understanding of the Jews, in that they even laugh at the very discourse concerning the resurrection of our Savior Christ. But if the wise John, although other women were also present (for this also appears to the other evangelists), made mention only of Mary, we shall not find the writings of the holy ones to be in conflict with one another. For it is likely that John mentioned only Mary Magdalene, as she had a warmer impulse toward love for Christ, and had arrived at the tomb earlier than the others, and had patrolled all the places in order to search for the body. For she truly believed that the Lord had been taken away. But the outcomes of things and of plans are usually attributed to the leaders, even if they have assistants and companions.
A Therefore, for the honor and eternal glory of Mary, the Savior granted that she should announce these things to the brethren: "I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." But you, in turn, take hold of this deep and great mystery for me, and do not allow your mind to fall away from the straight rule of divine dogmas. You hear how the Only-begotten Word of God became as we are, so that we might also be like unto him, as far as nature can attain and as far as pertains to the restoration of grace, if I may so speak. For he humbled himself, in order to recall what is humble by nature to his own height, B and he bore the form of a servant—although by his own nature he is Lord and Son—so that he might transfer those who are servants by nature into the glory of adoption according to his own likeness, and as compared to him. To be made, therefore, like us—that is, man—so that we might also be like him (that is, gods and sons), he in a particular way takes our things into himself, and gives us back his own. You will rightly ask, in what way? I will tell you as best I can. In the first place, although we are servants by nature and by order (for creatures serve the Creator), he nonetheless calls us his brethren, and designates God as our common Father, both his and ours. C And, assuming for himself our condition on account of the likeness he has with us, he called our God his own God, although by nature he is the Son, so that just as we are raised to a supernatural dignity through our likeness to him (for we are not sons by nature, even though we have been called sons of God, for the Spirit cries out in us: "Abba, Father"), so also he, because he assumed our form (for he was made man, according to the Scriptures), has God as his God, even though he is God from God by nature and is truly God. Do not, therefore, be scandalized, even if you hear him calling God his God, but rather, as one who loves learning, consider studiously and observe prudently the rationale of this saying. D For he says that God is his Father and also our God, stating in both instances a matter that is true. For by nature and in truth, the God of the universe is the Father of Christ; but for us he is not Father according to nature, but rather God, as Creator and Lord. Yet the Son, in a sense bestowing upon us the dignity that is truly and peculiarly his own, grants it to our nature, naming his own begetter as our common Father. And what is inherent in our nature, he in turn takes upon himself on account of the likeness he has with us. For he calls his own Father his God, not wishing to dishonor the likeness he has with us, on account of his clemency and goodness toward mankind. If, therefore, through ignorance you wish to carp at this expression, and it seems to you intolerable that the Lord should say that his Father and God is his God, you will foolishly criticize the dispensation made for your sake, and whereas you ought to give thanks, you will insult your benefactor and the love with which...
he has treated us, because of the benevolence and gentleness in him. A If, therefore, through ignorance you wish to blame such a statement, and it seems to you somehow unbearable that the Lord should call the Father both his Father and his God, you will foolishly criticize the dispensation brought about for your sake. And whereas you ought to give thanks, you will insult your benefactor and, in your lack of understanding, you will slander the manner in which the love toward us was accomplished. For if he has humbled himself, having despised shame, and for your sake has become man, this is, O man, the condemnation of your own humility; but for him who chose to suffer even this for your sake, a great and truly extraordinary wonder is due. Yet I am struck with amazement that when you hear of an "emptying" (for he emptied himself for our sake), you do not ponder the "fullness," and when you see the "humiliation," you do not conceive of the "height." For how could he have emptied himself, unless you conceive of him as existing in perfection, as God? And in what way has he been humbled, unless you reflect upon the heights of his ineffable nature? Therefore, existing as full and most perfect as God, he has been emptied for your sake, bringing himself down to your likeness; and existing as high, as Son and of the very substance of the Father, he has humbled himself, since he has become man—he who is lessened from the heights of divine glory only as much as his nature allows. B When, therefore, he is at once God and man, high because of his Begetter (for he is God from God, and truly Son from the Father), and humble for our sake (for he became man like us for our sake), your mind should remain untroubled when you hear him saying: "I ascend to my Father and your Father, and my God and your God." For it would be most befitting, as God and Son by nature, to call his Begetter Father, but as man like us, to call his God his own God.
XX, 18. "Mary Magdalene comes, announcing to the disciples that she has seen the Lord, and that he said these things to her."
The sex that was mostly ailing, I mean the female sex, is healed by the benevolence of our Savior, who in a way recapitulates the beginning of our maladies and transfers it for the better. For Mary reports that she has seen the Lord—he who has escaped the bonds of death—and she brought to the disciples the words of life and the first-fruits of the divine Gospels, telling them what she heard him say.
XX, 19, 20. "When therefore it was evening on that day, one of the Sabbaths, and the doors were shut where his disciples were gathered together for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and says to them: Peace be with you. And having said this, he showed them his hands and his side."
On that very day on which he was seen and had spoken with Mary, he C appeared also to the holy disciples themselves, who were trembling at the unbearable onslaughts of the impious Jews and had gathered together in a house for this reason. For it is not D likely that they lacked proper judgment, especially having been so instructed, and having been often told to flee the fury of those by whom they were sought for slaughter.
it is not likely that they lacked proper judgment, especially having been so instructed, and having been often told to flee the fury of those by whom they were sought for slaughter. B But He appears to them wondrously. For while the doors were shut, as he says, Christ stood unexpectedly in the midst, by an ineffable power, and one becoming to God, transcending the whole order of things and every human reason. Let no one therefore say: How, I ask, being in a heavy body, did the Lord enter without hindrance, even though the doors were shut? Rather, let him consider that the inspired Evangelist does not say such things about any of us, but rather about Him who sits with God the Father and does all things whatsoever He wishes. For it was fitting, it was necessary, that He who is God by nature, and true, should not be subject to the order of things, as are the things created by Him, but should rather rule over necessity itself and the reason of all things that are done. Otherwise, how would He have subjected the sea to His own feet and walked over the waves on dry land? For to our bodies the waters are not spread out as a foundation. Or how did He perform other miracles by a power becoming to God? You will say, surely, that those things exceed reason. Therefore, count this also among them; and do not, as has pleased some through the levity of their minds, think that the Lord was not raised with this body, but stripped of flesh, and entirely bereft of the temple which He had assumed. For if you cannot grasp in your mind the power of an ineffable nature, why do you not rather cry out against human infirmity? For I judge this to be wiser. But you cover with silence the condition appointed for you by the Creator; and having in a manner rejected all wisdom, you violate the great mystery of the incarnation, in which we have all our hope. C For let those words of Paul be recalled to memory: "If the dead do not rise, neither did Christ rise. And if Christ did not rise, your faith is vain, and you are yet in your sins." Furthermore: "And we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified against God, that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise, if the dead do not rise." For what, I ask, is said to be raised, unless it is what fell? Or what has risen, unless that which had fallen into death? But how shall we expect the resurrection, if Christ did not raise up His own temple, setting Himself for us as the first-fruits of the dead and the first-born of them that sleep? D Or how shall this corruptible put on incorruption, if, as some think, it will pass away into complete destruction? For how will that not happen to it, when it has no hope of rising? Beware, therefore, lest you fall away from the right faith because the matter is greater than your opinion, but wisely add this also to the others. For see how, by entering miraculously while the doors were closed, He again showed Himself to be God by nature, and not another than He who had formerly dwelt together with them: but by revealing the side of His body itself, and by showing the marks of the nails, He manifestly demonstrated that the temple which had hung upon the cross itself, and which was the body He had worn, was raised by Him, having destroyed
A clearly the death appropriate to the flesh, since He is by nature Life and God. For what need was there to show the hands and the side, if, as some foolishly believe, He had not risen with His own flesh? For if He had wished the disciples to think something else regarding Him, why did He not rather appear to them in another form and, having held the appearance of flesh in contempt, invite them to other thoughts? But now, He is seen to be so B greatly concerned that they should believe in the future resurrection of the flesh that, even when the time had come to transform His own body into a certain ineffable and supernatural glory, He still willed, by divine dispensation, to appear as He was before, lest it be thought that the body He possessed was different from that in which He also suffered death upon the cross. For that our eyes could not have borne the glory of the holy body, if Christ had wished to manifest it even before He ascended to the Father, you will easily understand C if you call to mind the transfiguration which was once shown to the holy disciples on the mountain. For the blessed evangelist Matthew writes that Christ, having taken with Him Peter, James, and John, ascended the mountain, and was transfigured before them, and His face shone like lightning, and His garments became white as snow; but they, unable to bear the sight, fell upon their faces. With singular counsel, therefore, our Lord Jesus Christ, not yet having transformed His temple into the glory due and D befitting Him, appeared still in His former shape, not wishing the faith of the resurrection to be transferred to any other shape or body than that which He took from the holy Virgin, in which He also died crucified, according to the Scriptures, since death had power only over the flesh, from which it has also been expelled. For if His dead body did not rise, what death has been conquered? And where has the empire of corruption ceased, if not through some one of the rational creatures who had died? For it was not through the soul, nor through an angel, much less through the Word of God Himself. Since, therefore, death holds sway only over that which by its own nature can be corrupted, the power of the resurrection will also, rightly and deservedly, be considered to be exerted upon that very thing, so that its tyrannical power might be overthrown. Moreover, that the Lord entered with the doors shut, any sound person will reckon among His other miracles. He greets the disciples with these words: “Peace be unto you,” saying that He Himself is peace. For those to whom Christ is present, it entirely follows that they should be in a tranquil and sedate spirit. This, indeed, is what Paul wished for the faithful when he said: “The peace of Christ, which surpasses all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your minds,” asserting that the peace of Christ, which surpasses all understanding, is nothing other than His Spirit, of which if anyone is a partaker, he will be filled with every good.
custodiat corda vestra, et intelligentias vestras »: pacem Christi omnem sensum exsuperantem aliam non esse dicens ab ejus Spiritu, cujus si quis sit particeps omni bono replebitur.
A XX, 19. *Gavisi sunt ergo discipuli, viso Domino.* The blessed Evangelist confirms the truth of the Savior's words again here by saying that the disciples were filled with gladness and joy because they had seen Jesus. For we remember that when he spoke to them enigmatically concerning the holy cross and his resurrection, he said: « A little while, and you shall not see me; and again a little while, and you shall see me. And your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man shall take from you. » For the Jews, full of utter madness, rejoiced when they saw Jesus nailed to the cross, while the heart of the holy disciples was crushed with great and intolerable sorrow. But since he is Life by nature, having destroyed the empire of death, he rose again; and the joy of the Jews was extinguished, while for the holy apostles, grief was turned into joy, and a B perpetual and eternal joy of the soul blossomed forth. For Christ will die no more, having died once for the destruction of sin, as it is written. For since he lives forever and exists, he will preserve an everlasting joy for those who believe in him. Further, he saluted the disciples, using words familiar to them, « Peace be to you, » effectively establishing a law thereby for the children of the Church. Whence it comes about that, especially in the holy synaxes, at the very beginning of the mystery, we say this to one another. For to cultivate peace between ourselves and God ought to be considered a certain fountain and beginning of every good thing. Therefore Paul, praying for every best C blessing for those called to the faith, says: « Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. » And again, exhorting those who had not yet believed to enter into peace with God: « For Christ, therefore, we are ambassadors, God as it were exhorting by us. We beseech you for Christ, be reconciled to God. » Nor does the prophet Isaiah any less excite us, crying: « Let us make peace with him, let us make peace, coming. » The meaning and reason of this salutation, therefore, befits the Giver of peace, or rather the peace of all, which is Christ: « For he is our peace, » according to the Scriptures.
XX, 21. *Jesus therefore said to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.*
In these words, our Lord Jesus Christ ordained his leaders and teachers of the world D and stewards of his divine mysteries, whom he commands to shine also like luminaries, and to illumine not only the region of the Jews, according to the measure of the legal command which reaches from Dan even to Beersheba, as it is written.
or rather the whole world under the sun, and those who are scattered and inhabit every place. A True, therefore, is Paul, when he says that no one takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God. For our Lord Jesus Christ called His own disciples to the most glorious apostolate before all others, and He made firm the whole earth, which was shaking and all but falling, by establishing its supports and those capable of sustaining it. Therefore, it was also said through the voice of the Psalmist concerning the earth and the apostles: “I have made firm its pillars.” For the blessed disciples have become pillars and the foundation of the truth, whom He says He has sent just as the Father sent Him, at once showing the dignity of the apostolate and the incomparable glory of the power granted to them, and at the same time, as is fitting, also pointing out the way of apostolic conduct. For if He thought it necessary to send His own disciples in the same way as the Father sent Him, how is it not necessary to see—those who were to be their imitators—what the Father intended the Son to do when He sent Him? B And so, while explaining to us in various ways the manner of His own mission, He would sometimes say: “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” And again: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” In addition to these, sometimes He said: “I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me;” and at other times again: “For God did not send His Son into the world, to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” Therefore, having gathered in a few words the aims of the apostolate, He says He sends them just as the Father sent Him, so that they might know from this that they are obligated to call sinners to repentance, to heal those who are sick—both bodily and spiritually—and in the dispensations of affairs, not to seek their own will at all, but that of Him who sent them, and to save the world, as far as possible, through their teachings. And we shall find that the holy disciples themselves were C indeed eager to excel in all these things; and the labor of confirmation is not great for anyone who has once looked into the book of the Acts and the writings of Saint Paul.
After saying this, He breathed into them and says to them: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain those of any, they are retained.” D Having made them illustrious with the great dignity of the apostolate, and having appointed them, as I just said, as stewards and ministers of the divine altars, He immediately sanctifies them by giving them His own Spirit through an manifest breathing, so that we too may firmly believe that the Holy Spirit is not foreign to the Son, but consubstantial with Him, and proceeding through Him from the Father. He showed, indeed, that it necessarily follows that the Spirit is given to those who are called to the divine
A For the gift of the Spirit necessarily follows those who are appointed to the apostolate through Him. And for what reason? For they would not be able to do anything pleasing to God, nor would they be able to free themselves from the snares of sin, unless they had first been clothed with power from on high and been transformed into something other than what they were. Hence it was also said to one of the ancients: "The Spirit of the Lord will leap upon you, and you will be changed into another man." Indeed, the prophet Isaiah also promised us that God-inspired men would change their strength. But Paul, most wise, asserting that he labored more than certain others in the apostolic duties, immediately added: "Yet not I, but the grace of God with me."
To this we say that they would not have understood the mystery of Christ at all, nor would they have been his perfect teachers, had they not come through the illumination of the Spirit to the revelation of those things which exceed mind and speech, by which they might be raised to teach what is right. For, according to the opinion of Paul, he says: "No one can say 'Lord Jesus' except in the Holy Spirit." Since, therefore, they were about to say "Lord Jesus"—that is, to proclaim him as God and Lord—they necessarily receive at once the grace of the Spirit, which is attached to the dignity of the apostolate, with Christ giving it, B certainly not through the ministry of another, but out of his own self. For it does not pass to us from the Father in any other way than through the Son.
Therefore, the old law, set in letters, having shadows and copies of the true things, commanded that sacred matters be explained more corporally, if I may so say, and more rudely. The blessed Moses, then, at God’s renewed command, ordered that both Aaron himself and the Levites be washed with waters. Then, having slaughtered the ram of perfection, he anointed with its blood the lower part of the right ear, as it is written, and he also placed it upon the extremity of the right hand and upon the extremity of the right foot, depicting the type of the mystery of Christ as in an image. For since water and blood are those things through which sanctification was made, how or whence can it be doubted that the beauty of the truth was still being formed in more obscure types? But our Lord Jesus Christ, having translated the form of the law into the power of the truth, perfects the priests of the divine altars through himself. For he himself is the ram of perfection. He perfects indeed by making them participants of his own nature through true sanctification by the communion of the Spirit, and, as it were, refashioning the nature of man into supernatural power and glory. C
And that these things are true, no one will doubt, I suppose. But perhaps someone, out of a desire to learn, will hesitate and ask: Where, I ask, and when did the disciples of our Savior receive the grace of the Spirit? Was it when the Savior appeared to them in the house immediately after the resurrection and breathed on them, saying, "Receive the Holy Spirit," or in the days of holy Pentecost, when, having gathered together again in one place, D "there occurred suddenly from heaven a sound as of a coming"
violent blast, and there appeared to them cloven tongues as of fire, and it sat upon each one of them. And they began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them utterance." A For, he says, we might think that a twofold grace was given to them, or certainly the time in which they truly became partakers of the Holy Spirit would escape us, if the word of our Savior is found to be true, and also that which is written in the Acts concerning the holy disciples. But the matter is worthy of doubt, especially since Christ himself also said somewhere: "It is expedient for you that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Paraclete will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you." For perhaps someone might press the point and say: "The Truth—that is, Christ—does not know how to lie. When, therefore, He said clearly that the Paraclete would not come to us unless He Himself were taken up to the Father, but that He would then certainly send Him when He had returned on high to Him, how do we find that the Spirit is being given by Him, when He has not yet returned?" B Indeed, although the question is very obscure and the discourse difficult, causing one to be rightly troubled, it nevertheless has a very logical solution, provided we do not believe Christ to be just someone like us, but rather God from God, and one who speaks with authority, for the sake of the dispensation and the order most appropriate to the circumstances. For He promised that He would send the Paraclete to us from heaven after He had been on high with God and the Father, which He certainly did upon returning to the Father, when He poured out the Spirit most lavishly upon those willing to receive Him. This, however, is received through faith—that is, in Him and through holy baptism. C Then was fulfilled that which was said through the voice of the prophet: "I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh." But it was necessary for the Son to appear as the dispenser and co-giver of the Spirit with the Father; it was necessary for those who were to believe in Him to understand that He Himself is the power of the Father, He who fashioned this whole universe and brought man forth from nothingness into being. For God the Father, through His own Word, took dust from the earth in the beginning, as it is written, and fashioned the living creature—I mean man—and gave him a soul in the way He knows, and illuminated him by the participation of His own Spirit. "For He breathed into his face the breath of life," as it is written. But after it came to pass that man fell into death through disobedience and slipped away from his ancient honor, God the Father recreated him again and brought him back into newness of life through the Son, just as in the beginning. D And the Son brought him back in a certain way, having slain death by the death of His holy flesh and having brought the human race back to the recovery of incorruption. For Christ has risen for our sake. In order, therefore, that we might learn that He is the very same One who was the creator of our nature from the beginning, and who sealed us with the holy Spirit, the Savior, as if in the firstfruits of a renewed nature, again bestows the Spirit upon the holy disciples by breathing openly upon them. For Moses writes concerning the ancient making of man, that God breathed into his face the breath
A of life. As, therefore, he was fashioned and came into being from the beginning, so also is he renewed; and just as he was then formed in the image of his Creator, so also is he now, by the participation of the Spirit, transformed into the likeness of his own Maker. For that the Spirit impresses the form of the Saviour upon the souls of those who receive Him, is beyond dispute for those who have slipped through sloth into legal observance, since Paul clearly writes to them: "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again, until Christ be formed in you." For he says that Christ will be formed in them in no other way than through the participation of the Holy Spirit and a life according to the gospel. Therefore, as in the first fruits of the new creation, so too does Christ again cause His own Spirit to dwell in His disciples for their immortality, for glory, and for the restoration of the God-like image. It was necessary, moreover, to consider this besides, that He is the dispenser and giver of the Spirit. Hence He also said: "All things that the Father hath are mine." But the Father has His own Spirit from Himself and in Himself; the Son also has this in Himself, since He is consubstantial with Him, and is substantially begotten of Him, having all that is proper to the Begetter naturally in Himself. B That He does, however, even though He promised to do many things often and at a fitting time, also perform them even before the appointed time—for the sake of our persuasion, so that we might truly believe that what was said by Him would surely come to pass—we shall show from hence. He promised to raise the dead and to call those who were buried, and hidden in the earth, back to life. "For the hour is coming," He says, "in which the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who have done good shall come forth unto the resurrection of life, but those who have done evil unto the resurrection of judgment." But wishing to show that this too He would easily accomplish, He taught them by these words: "I am the resurrection and the life." And because the greatness of the matter exceeded their faith—that the dead would one day live again—He usesfully anticipates the time of the resurrection and performs a miracle, raising Lazarus, and the widow's son, and the daughter of Jairus. What further then? When He said that the resurrection of the saints C would be most glorious, "Then," He says, "the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father"—and that He might be believed to speak the truth, He granted to His disciples a spectacle of this very thing before the time. For taking Peter, and James, and John, He went up into the mountain and was transfigured before them; and His face shone as lightning, and His garments became white as snow. Just as, therefore, though He promised that He would perform these things in their own times, He performed particular miracles even before the time, as a sort of pledge of the thing that was generally to come and was expected, so that they might be believed without any hesitation: so when He said that He would send the Paraclete to us after He had returned to the Father, and had assigned that time for the general grace, He exhibited to the disciples the first fruits, as it were, of the promise, for many just and necessary causes, D
A as we previously stated. Therefore, the holy ones indeed receive the participation of the Spirit, since He breathed upon them, saying: "Receive the Holy Spirit." For Christ cannot lie, nor would He have said "Receive" if He were not bestowing. Yet in the days of the holy Pentecost, when God willed that there should be a more express manifestation of grace and a declaration of the Holy Spirit dwelling within them, tongues as of fire appeared, which by no means signified the beginning of the gift in them, but rather led them to the beginning of speaking. It is written, therefore, that they began to speak in various tongues, according as the Spirit gave them to speak. Do you hear how they began to speak, but not to be sanctified, and how the distribution of tongues descended upon them, with the Spirit who was in them working this also? For just as the Father uttered a voice from heaven, bearing witness to His own Offspring and saying: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," and did this for the assurance of those who heard, having broken through, as it were, with an organic voice cast into our ears, or having caused it to come to pass, so also upon the holy apostles He placed a more evident manifestation of grace, sending down tongues upon them in the form of fire, and having caused the sound of the rushing violent wind to imitate the descent of the Spirit. B That this was also given to the Jews in the order of a sign, you will easily understand when you hear the Lord of all, God, saying through the voice of the prophet: "In strange tongues and in the lips of others I will speak to this people, and they will not believe." Therefore, in order that we might believe that the blessed disciples are truly partakers of the Holy Spirit, and are already crowned from above with the grace from Christ, and are capable of explaining the truth, and possess the praiseworthy glory of their own apostleship, having been testified to by the gift from on high, the fire descended in the form of tongues. I consider these things to have been said by us abundantly enough for an accurate demonstration of the question proposed. But since we must take care in every way that no scandal arises among the brethren from the malice of some, come, let us add this besides to what has been said, and let us blunt the unbridled loquacity of certain people. C
Itaque paulo post scriptum inveniemus, Thomam, qui dicebatur Didymus, non fuisse cum discipulis cum venit Jesus. Quomodo ergo, nec immerito quæret aliquis, quandoquidem vere aberat, sancti Spiritus factus est particeps, cum discipulis Servator apparuit, et insufflavit, dicens: "Accipite Spiritum sanctum"? Respondemus Spiritus virtutem in omnes permanasse, et scopum largientis implesse. Dedit autem Christus non aliquibus seorsim, sed universis D
disciples. Wherefore A they receive it, even though some were not present, the liberality of the giver not being contracted only to those present, but permeating the whole choir of the holy apostles. But that we may feel that nothing here is distorted by force, nor that we say it too boldly, I will provide faith from the sacred Scriptures themselves, with testimonies taken from the Mosaic books to demonstrate this. Therefore, the Lord God once commanded the most wise Moses to choose seventy elder men from the congregation of the Jews, and openly professed that he would take of the Spirit that was in him and place it upon them. Moses chose them and fulfilled the divine command. Yet two were missing from the number of the seventy elders, and remained in the congregation, Eldad and Modad. But when God had infused the divine Spirit into all, B according to the promise already brought forward, those who had been chosen by Moses were indeed prophesying immediately, having received the grace: nor did those two who had remained in the congregation prophesy any less, the grace from above flowing down upon them also. And indeed Joshua, son of Nun, who was always clinging to Moses and was ignorant of the power of the mystery, thinking they were opposing the prophets chosen by Moses after the example of Dathan and Abiron, said to him: "Eldad and Modad are prophesying in the camp: my lord Moses, forbid them." But what does that truly wise and great man say to this, who, as a wise man, understood the efficacy of the grace given to them and the virtue of the Spirit? "Do not emulate me. For who would give that the Lord's people were prophets, when the Lord has given his Spirit upon them?" Do you see how he reproves the words of Joshua, who had not known the mystery? Would that C would that, he says, the Spirit had been given to the whole people: but there will be a time when the Lord of all, that is Christ, will be with them; he will bestow his Spirit upon them, as if they were the first-fruits of those who were to receive it, breathing upon the holy apostles and saying: "Receive the holy Spirit." Therefore, although Thomas was absent, he was not deprived of the Spirit, which was permeating all who were to receive it. Furthermore, Christ giving the Spirit: "Whose sins you shall forgive," he says, "they are forgiven them; and whose you shall retain, they are retained," although he alone is God by nature, and has the power of absolving those guilty of sins. For to whom is it fitting to absolve the transgressors of the law from sins, if not to the author of the law himself? But if it pleases, let us observe D the force of what we say from ourselves. Who of earthly kings would dare to violate decrees, and attempt to dissolve their sentences and edicts, unless perhaps someone endowed with royal honor and majesty? For in these, the crimes of violated law have no place. And therefore that saying is wise: "Impious is he who says to the king: You act unjustly." By what way, therefore, or by what reason does the Savior attribute to his disciples the dignity which is owed to the divine nature alone? Certainly, it cannot be said that the Father did this wrongly, but rather through
A fixed by a decree and counsel, unless perhaps one might happen to be among those who have been invested with the honor and glory of the queen? For in those cases, charges of lawlessness have no place. Therefore, the wise saying also declares: "Impious is he who says to a king, 'You act lawlessly.'"
In what manner, then, and for what reason, did the Savior confer upon His disciples an authority that is proper to the divine nature alone? But the Word, who is in the Father, would not be mistaken concerning what is appropriate, for this is established and most correct. He judged it necessary that those who already possessed the divine and masterly Spirit within themselves should be masters in remitting the sins of some, and in retaining those of whom they wished, the Holy Spirit who dwells within them remitting or retaining according to His own will, even if the matter happens to be performed through men.
The Spirit-bearers indeed remit or retain sins in two ways, in my opinion: either they call to baptism those who deserved to attain it by reason of the gravity of their life and their proven faith, or they prevent some, barring them for the time being from divine grace because they are not yet worthy. Or they remit and retain sins in another way, by rebuking those of the Church’s children who sin, and granting pardon to those who repent—just as Paul, for instance, delivered the one at Corinth who had committed fornication to the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit might be saved, but later accepted him again, so that he might not be swallowed up by excessive sorrow, as he himself says in his letter. Since, then, the Spirit of Christ, having become in us, fulfills things proper to God alone, how would He not be God by nature, He who is naturally endowed with the illustrious dignity of the divine nature and possesses authority and power over the sacred laws?
C Thomas, one of the twelve, who is called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. Therefore the other disciples said to him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe."
Sublime miracles almost always have incredulity as their companion, and what transcends the standard of human reason is not easily accepted by those who hear it; yet, even if they see it, they scarcely assent. Something of this sort happened to the most wise Thomas regarding the resurrection of our Savior, nor does he easily admit the testimony of the other disciples, although according to the law of Moses, every word shall be established by the mouth of two or three witnesses. And yet, it seems to me that the disciple did not so much withhold faith from what was said as he was struck with the greatest grief that he himself had not also been granted a sight of our Savior. He perhaps thought that he would be entirely deprived of the sight of Him. For he knew that the Lord was Life by nature, and that He was equal to escaping death and destroying the kingdom of corruption. For if He drove it away from others, how would He not have more effectively repelled it from His own flesh? But out of a desire that was too great, he becomes near to infidelity, and, yearning with great zeal to behold Him present, he desires to be made more certain that He had come to life, just as He had promised. For, "Little children," the Savior was saying, "a little while, and now"
A of great joy becomes almost disbelief, and as if leaping suddenly and greatly, he longs to see Him already present, and to be fully persuaded that He has risen again, according to the promise He made to him. For, "Little children," said the Savior, "a little while, and you will no longer see me; and again a little while, and you will see me, and your heart shall rejoice." I think, truly, that the disciple’s temporary lack of faith was ordained with great economy, so that through his conviction, we who come after him might also believe without doubt that the Father, through the Son, has brought to life the flesh that hung upon the tree and suffered death. Therefore Paul also says: "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." For since this nature of the flesh did not of itself become the source of life, but the deed was accomplished rather by the operation of the divine and ineffable nature—in which the power to give life to all things naturally resides—the Father also raised up that divine temple through the Son, not because His own Word could not raise up His body, but because whatever the Father does, He does through the Son (for He is His power B), and whatever the Son does, this is entirely from the Father. We are therefore taught, by that slight lack of faith of the blessed Thomas, that the mystery of the resurrection is accomplished in this earthly body of ours, and as in the first-fruits of the race in Christ; and that it was not a phantom or a shadow, as some think, which simulated the shape of a man and feigned the features of our form, nor yet, as others foolishly said, a "spiritual body"—that is, something subtle and airy, and different from flesh. For so it pleases some to conceive and understand the "spiritual." But since the whole rationale of our hope and the power of an irreproachable faith, after the confession of the Holy and Consubstantial Trinity, looks and gazes toward the mystery of the flesh, the blessed evangelist most opportunely placed this also in the following chapters. Observe how Thomas does not desire to see the Lord simply, but seeks the traces of the nails, that is, the wounds made in the flesh. For thus he affirms he will believe and agree with the others that the Lord has truly risen—that is, risen in the flesh. For that which is dead is rightly considered to return to life, and in that in which death occurred, in that same thing must the resurrection take place. C And after eight days, his disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus comes, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said: Peace be to you. Then He says to Thomas: Reach your finger here, and see my hands, and reach your hand, and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but faithful. He appeared again to his own disciples in a miraculous manner, as God. For He did not command the doors to be opened for Him as they do for us when we enter, but ignoring them, He penetrated the door and suddenly appears in the middle of the house, D as if [original-script column: see facsimile] almost…
A granting the same, as is likely, in the manner of a miracle to the blessed Thomas himself. For there was need to heal the one who was suffering most, and who was of narrow faith. He addresses him with familiar words, such as He frequently had on His lips, and brings forward the good of peace for our example, as we have already said before.
You would justly marvel at the precision in these matters, I mean in those things before us. For so exact was the care of the one who composed this book, and so diligent did he make this observation, that he did not simply say that Christ manifested Himself to the holy disciples, but "after eight days," and when they were assembled. For what else could the bringing of them all into one house signify? Therefore, we say, because of this exact and admirable observation, that Christ fixed the time of the meetings, or assemblies, that take place for His sake, and for this reason He shows it to us. For He altogether draws near, and in a certain manner dwells with those gathered for His sake, especially on the eighth day, that is, the Lord's Day.
Let us consider, if you please: at one time He appeared to the other disciples, and at another time again appears to the very same ones while Thomas was present. It is written, therefore, a little earlier: "When therefore it was evening on that day, the first of the Sabbaths, and the doors were shut, He stood in the midst." Take note, then, how B on the first of the Sabbaths—that is, the Lord's Day of the Sabbaths—He appeared to the disciples while they were assembled, and nevertheless, He is seen shining forth again on the following eighth day. For just because He said "after eight days," we should not suppose that He signifies the ninth day; but rather, that by including the eighth day itself in the number—the day on which He appeared—He says such things. Most reasonably, therefore, we conduct the holy convocations in the Churches on the eighth day; and if one must say something even more mystical, because of the necessary need for understanding, we close the doors, but Christ draws near and appears to us all, invisibly and visibly: C invisibly as God, but visibly, on the other hand, in the body. Furthermore, He permits and gives His holy flesh to be touched. For we draw near according to the grace of God to the participation of the mystical eulogia, receiving Christ into our hands, that we too may firmly believe that He truly raised His own temple.
For that the communion of the mystical eulogia is a confession of the resurrection of Christ would be clear, and very easily so, through those things which He Himself said when He performed the type of the mystery through Himself. For having broken the bread, as it is written, He distributed it, saying: "This is my body which is given for you for the remission of sins. Do this in my remembrance." The participation, therefore, in the holy mysteries is a true confession and remembrance that the Lord died and came to life again for our sake and D on our behalf; and because of this, moreover, we are filled with divine blessing. Let us, therefore, flee from unbelief as from something destructive, and this after we have touched Christ, so that we may be found firm and stable in faith altogether. But let the diligent student again call to memory...
A that He forbade Mary Magdalene to touch Him, saying most clearly: "Do not touch me; for I have not yet ascended to my Father," yet He allows Thomas both to handle His side and to explore with his finger the marks of the nails. And for what reason, has already been clearly stated, but I shall recall it nonetheless, while shortening the length of the discourse. For to her the time for touching was not yet given, because she had not yet been sanctified by the grace of the Spirit. For while Christ was still with us, and had not yet ascended to the Father who is in the heavens, the descent of the Paraclete was not to be seen perfected in men. To him, however, this was already appropriate, as one who was enriched with the Spirit together with the others. For as we have already stated before, it was not because he was left behind that he was therefore without share in the Spirit. For the liberality of the Giver extended even to him, the gift having been distributed to the whole fullness of the holy disciples. Furthermore, I think it worth investigating this too: Thomas handled the side of the Savior, and examined the wounds made by the soldier's lance, and saw the marks of the nails. But how, perhaps someone might ask, were the signs of corruption seen B in an incorruptible body? For the bodily indications of corruption are the holes left in the hands and in the side, and the scars of the wounds, although with the body reformed unto incorruption, it ought entirely to follow that it should cast off, together with corruption, all things that arise from it. For if someone should happen to be lame, will he rise again lame in foot or leg? And if someone should have been deprived of an eye in this life, will he rise again blind? How then, someone might say, shall we have cast off corruption, if the inconveniences that follow from it still remain and characterize our bodies? I consider these things not to be asked without reason, yet we say, endeavoring as much as is in us to defend the proposed doubt, that at the time of the resurrection there will be nothing left in us of adventitious corruption, but as the wise Paul said concerning this body: "It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; and it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory." C But what else is it to expect the future resurrection of this body in power and glory, except that, with all weakness and the dishonor of corruption and diseases driven away, it will return to its original state? For it was made not for death and corruption. Since, therefore, Thomas requested this also for more certain faith, for this reason our Lord Jesus Christ, that He might leave no pretext for our incredulity, just as Thomas asked, so He presents Himself to be seen. Indeed, when He was ascending into heaven itself, and declaring the power of His mystery to the supernal Virtues, Principalities, and Powers, and to those set over the orders of angels, He appeared again in this very form, so that they might believe that the Word, who is from the Father and in the Father, had truly become man for our sake, and might know D
that He exercises such providence over His own A creatures, that He even predeceased our life. But so that the power of the Word might become clearer to the hearers, I will set forth the very things spoken through the voice of Isaiah concerning these same matters. He says, therefore: "Who is this that comes from Edom, the redness of his garments from Bosor?" But those who cry out these things, and say—I mean the phrase, "Who is this that comes from Edom?"—that is, from the earth, are the angels and the intellectual powers. For they marvel at the Lord ascending into heaven, and seeing Him, as it were, stained with His own blood, they ask Him, not yet understanding the mystery: "Why are your garments red, and your clothes as though from a trodden winepress?" For they compare the color of blood most especially to new, freshly trodden wine. And what does Christ say to them? First, so that He might be understood to be God by nature: "I," He says, "speak righteousness," that is, setting down "I speak" for "I teach." But how would he who teaches righteousness not be acknowledged as a lawgiver? And if He is a lawgiver, how is He not altogether God? Then the angels say to Him, Christ showing them in a way the marks of the nails: "What are these wounds in the midst of your hands?" To whom the Lord: B "With which I was struck in my beloved house." For since Israel was indeed the beloved house, it struck the Lord with nails and a spear. For the rash deeds of the soldiers might deservedly be inscribed upon the heads of the Jews. For they themselves brought the Lord to the passion. Since, therefore, Christ wished to persuade the holy angels themselves, that He had truly become man, and that He had endured the cross for our sake, and had risen and lived again from the dead, He was not content with words alone, but showed the signs of the passion. What is strange or unusual if, wishing also to rid the blessed Thomas himself of unbelief, He showed the marks of the nails, and appeared beyond what might be expected, on account of what is profitable for all, and so that we might believe without doubt that the mystery of the resurrection had been accomplished, not of some other body raised up, but of that which had suffered death?
Thomas answered Him, and said to Him: "My Lord, and my God." C He was swift to confession, who a moment before was slow to believe, and in a very short space of time he was entirely healed. For only eight days had passed, and the obstacles to unbelief were removed by Christ, when He showed both the marks of the nails and the side itself. But perhaps someone will say to this: "Why, pray tell, does the mind of the holy disciples use such subtle and accurate investigation? For would not the form of the body, the marks of the countenance, and the manner of Him, have sufficed to demonstrate that the Lord had truly been raised and recognized
What, then, do we say to this? The divine disciples did not possess a mind free from doubt, even though they had looked upon the Lord. For they supposed that it was not He Himself in truth who had formerly been with them and lived among them, and had hung upon the tree, but rather a spirit cleverly fashioned into the image of the Savior, and counterfeiting the features which they knew; yet they fell into this way of thinking B not without some cause which reasonably invited them to do so. For since He entered miraculously while the doors were shut—a thing which requires the passage of an earthly and grosser body, and compels the access of bodies to be opened just as much as the size of each one requires—therefore our Lord Jesus Christ very usefully laid bare His side to Thomas, and made the wounds in His flesh transparent, thereby confirming them all through him. C For the saying of the holy Thomas is reported: "Except I shall put my hands, and see the marks of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe." But the charge of unbelief was in some way common to all; and we shall find that the minds of the other disciples were not free from distress, even though they themselves said to holy Thomas, "We have seen the Lord." That the argument is not far from the truth for us is not hard to learn from what the divine Luke has written to us concerning these things: "As they were saying these things," he says, "He stood in the midst of them—He Himself, clearly, who is Christ—and said to them, 'Peace be unto you.' But being troubled and terrified, they thought they were seeing a spirit. And He said to them, 'Why are you troubled, and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Look at My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Feel Me and see, for a spirit has not flesh and bones, as you see Me have.' And having said this, He showed them His hands and feet. But while they still did not believe for joy and wondered, He said to them, 'Have you anything here to eat?' And they offered Him, he says, a part of a broiled fish and a honeycomb. D And having taken it, He ate in their presence." Do you see how the thought of unbelief dwells deep not in blessed Thomas alone, but how the mind of the other disciples also suffers from this disease? For behold, behold, even after the sight of the wounds upon the cross, seeing them still doubting, He thought it necessary to persuade them by another action, one which in no way befits a spirit, but belongs rather specifically to earthly bodies and to the nature of flesh. For He ate the small fish that was brought to Him, or a part of it. We shall admit that both were, in a way, works of necessity. For since after the resurrection no place is left for the corruption of the holy flesh, inasmuch as it rose again to incorruption, and it is not believed that He needed customary food as before, He showed the marks of the nails, and yet He did not refuse to take food, in order that He might establish the great mystery of the resurrection and implant the faith of this in the souls of all of us; and He performs acts that are entirely alien to the nature of a spirit. For the marks of the nails, and
the traces of the wounds, and the consumption of bodily food, whence or how could they exist in a spirit that is entirely naked and devoid of bodily connection—that which would be appropriate according to the rationale of its own nature, and which is wont to occur in these things? A Therefore, so that some might not think that it was a subtle spirit that raised the Lord, nor a body untouched, shadowy, and airy, which it is the custom of some to call "spiritual," but that it be believed that this very thing which was sown in corruption, according to the words of Paul, has indeed risen, He displayed and showed those things that are appropriate to a dense body. Indeed, it will not be far from a sound line of reasoning to say that, in the beginning, the blessed disciple did not doubt so much because of a weakness of mind, as that it happened to him from exceeding great joy. For we have heard the blessed Luke saying regarding the others also, that while they were disbelieving, they were rejoicing from joy. B Accordingly, that astonishment produced a slowness of faith in the disciples. But since there was no longer any excuse for unbelief in those who were seeing and beholding, therefore the blessed Thomas rightly made his confession to Him, saying: "My Lord and my God." For to the Lord by nature, and to Him who truly and admittedly possesses power over all things, there would accompany the title of "God," just as, indeed, there is also seen to belong to the God by nature, absolutely, the ability to rule over all things, and to possess the glory of lordship. It is to be noted, however, that Thomas spoke individually and with the article: "The Lord of me," he says, "and the God of me"; for he did not say simply "My Lord and my God," C so that no one might think that He was called Lord and God by a resemblance to our status, or that of the holy angels. For there are many lords and gods in heaven and on earth, just as the wise Paul taught us; but knowing Him uniquely as the one Lord and God—as the One begotten of the Lord and God by nature, the Father—he says, "My Lord and my God." And what is even greater for the demonstration of the truth, the Savior heard this said by His own disciple, who was thus disposed and who so believed, that He is in truth both Lord and God, and He did not think it necessary to rebuke him. Therefore, He praised him who had believed, and very rightly so. D You may see that this is true and most easily understood; for to him who had so believed and was thus disposed, He says at the end of the Gospel: "Go, teach all nations." If He commands him who is of such a mind to teach all nations, and appointed him as a teacher of the world, He does not wish us to have any other faith. For He is truly Lord and God by nature, even after He has become man. For consider that the disciple, after his hands and feet had been touched and his side had been groped, offered his confession to Him, not indeed by cutting Emmanuel into a duality of sons, but by recognizing One and the same with His flesh. For there is one Lord Jesus Christ, according to the Scriptures.
to Him, not indeed by cutting Emmanuel into a duality of sons, but by recognizing One and the same with His flesh. For there is one Lord Jesus Christ, according to the Scriptures.
XX, 29. *Jesus saith to him: Because thou hast seen me, Thomas, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed.*
The Savior’s discourse is full of singular providence and is capable of bringing us the greatest utility. For He took thought not sparingly for our souls even in this, because He is good and desires all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth, according to what is written. A And truly that which is the cause of the miracle is noteworthy. For it was necessary for Him not only to bear patiently with Thomas, who said this, and with the other disciples who were with him—who had thought that He was a spirit and a phantom—but also to show, and that most readily, for universal assurance, both the marks of the nails and the opening of His side; and no less than this, also to take food against His custom and necessity, so that no cause for unbelief might be left at all to those who sought these things for their own benefit.
But it was also necessary that He should take no small thought for us, and so exercise foresight that no handle for doubting should be given to those who would come after. For He was not unaware that there would be some who, abandoning the straight path and foolishly embracing a bastard piety, would repudiate the faith and not admit the resurrection of the dead; and, following the example of that unbelieving disciple, would bring it forward and say: “Unless I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” B For what way would there be of demonstrating this, when Christ was no longer existing corporally on the earth, but had returned to the heavens? Or how would it not have been suspected at some time by those who might claim they were speaking rightly, when they saw themselves emulating the disciple of the Savior—and as though they were attributing to themselves some excellent thing by not believing rashly/lightly, but rather insisting on seeking for a surer faith those things which were offered to the holy disciples—that they were not being rash or inconsiderate?
Therefore, He inhibits this ruin and fall of some. For He knew, since He is the true God, the malignant mind of the devil and his skill in deceit. And therefore He declares those blessed who have not seen and have believed; for they are truly worthy of admiration. Why so? For to those things which we see with our eyes, undoubted faith is owed, since no place for doubting is left. C But he who receives what he has not seen, and believes that to be true which the teacher has poured into his ears, honors the One who is preached with an exceptional faith.
Therefore, every one is called blessed who has believed through the voice of the holy apostles, who were both eye-witnesses and ministers of the Word, as Luke says; to whom we must also yield obedience if we are held by the desire for eternal life, and if we count it a great matter to dwell in the heavenly mansions.
XX, 30, 31. *Many other signs also did Jesus in the sight of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written...* D
ansionibus habitare magni ducimus. XX, 30, 31. Multa quidem et alia signa fecit Jesus in conspectu discipulorum suorum, quae non sunt scripta in libro hoc. Haec autem scripta sunt, A ut credatis quia Jesus est Christus Filius Dei, et ut credentes vitam habeatis in nomine ejus.
He concludes in a way what he has said so far, and makes clear to his hearers the scope of the evangelical preaching. For, he says, so that you may believe, and believing may have eternal life, these things were written by me. He says that there were many signs and works, and that his mention of our Savior's accomplishments and wondrous actions is not limited to those perceived and spoken of by him alone, but he assigns them, as do the other evangelists, to whatever they might wish to bring to mind with accuracy. For he says, not everything is written in this book, but these things alone were set down through my voice, which it was likely would suffice, not moderately, to be able to persuade the hearers that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. B Such are the words of the divine Evangelist. But I, in turn, think it useful to say this: if the power of what is written generates such faith in us, and persuades us very well that the one born of the holy Virgin, who was also named Jesus by the angel's voice, is the very same as the one proclaimed as Christ through the divinely inspired Scripture; and that he is this one and no other, not simply a son, but the Son of God uniquely and particularly—what then would they do, or what would they say, or what judgment will they undergo at the time of the great day, who dispute about the faith out of ignorance, and in addition to this attempt to teach others to think there are two Christs? For they divide [him] into man separately and into God the Word separately, even after the union and the ineffable and completely incomprehensible conjunction with the body. For this reason they have been led astray, and coming far from the truth, they have denied the Lord who redeemed them. For if we examine the definition of nature when we conceive something about Christ, we find the flesh to be different from the God the Word who is from the Father and in the Father: but when we consider the power of the union with him, and examine this great and, as regards us, mystery placed above every mind, we understand the Word as one thing with his own flesh, not indeed changed into flesh (for we do not say this; for the nature of the Word is immutable and unchangeable, and completely incapable of any change), but [we understand] that according to our holy and divinely inspired Scripture, from the divine temple which contains the whole definition of humanity, and from the living Word, Jesus is finally one and [the same] Christ and Son. You would understand that this same thing is also true in our own case, and that it exists thus by nature. For we are composed into one human being, consisting of soul and body, the body being one thing and the soul in the body being another, if the definition of each is viewed, yet they concur for the making of one living creature, and do not suffer themselves to be divided at all after they have been intertwined with one another.
D XXI, 1-6. After these things Jesus manifested himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias. And he manifested himself thus: There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas who is called Didymus, and Nathanael who was from Cana of Galilee,
and those of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter says to them: I go fishing. They say to him: We also are coming with you. They went out, and immediately climbed into the boat, and in that night they caught nothing. But when morning had already come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not recognize that it was Jesus. Jesus says to them: Children, have you any food? They answered him: No. But he said to them: Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find. [But they said: Having labored through the whole night, we took nothing; but at thy word we will cast.] They cast, therefore, and now they were not able to drag it from the multitude of the fish. B Our Lord Jesus Christ again grants to his own disciples to enjoy his highly-desired presence, and for the third time manifests himself to them upon two other occasions already, in order that he might indeed work in them a firm mind, founded unshakably in faith toward him. For how could those who had beheld him not once, but already for the third time, not having shaken off all unbelief from their own minds, have become accurate initiators of the dogmas of piety to all others? Peter, therefore, goes out fishing together with the others; for they accompany him also as he walks toward this, perhaps because our Savior Christ is ordering and arranging something useful through these things. For he said to them somewhere, when he was calling them to the dignity of the apostolate: "Come after me, and I will make you become fishers of men." C But in order that he might again give them firm assurance, as in a vivid image, that what had been stated would certainly come to pass, and that the promise would result in the power of truth, he persuades them clearly from this very undertaking that was in their hands. For the blessed disciples, having employed the things that belonged to their own art (for they were fishermen), took nothing, although they had labored through the whole night. But when morning had already come, and the light and the rays of the sun had already begun to disperse, Jesus stood on the shore. Yet they did not know that it was he. But to him inquiring, and saying whether they had come to have any need of things pertaining to the table, they say that they had taken absolutely nothing. Then he commands them to let down the net into the right parts of the boat. Although they had spent empty and profitless labors throughout the whole night, they say, "At thy word we will cast." D When this was done, the weight of the catch surpassed the strength of those pulling. Now this is what the divine evangelist has narrated for us. But since we were just saying that the Savior clearly and truly asserted to the apostles that they would be fishers of men, come, having transferred the figures to the signification of the truth, as far as it is possible, let us bear witness to the words of the Savior, and explaining in detail to the auditors what things were done, let us provide, in my judgment, no small handle for spiritual contemplation. "For give an opportunity to a wise man, and he will be wiser; notify a just man, and he will add to receiving." Therefore, that the disciples fished the whole night, and yet took nothing, but labored in vain, I judge to signify that by the preaching of the ancient teachers no one was clearly persuaded, or caught to perform the will of God, or at least they brought few...
A And a very small number, when taken from among many, is held as equal to none. And it is rightly understood that the human race throughout the whole world was in this state. What then was it that hindered them, and stood in their way, and rendered the labor of the ancients futile? And what also rendered the preaching to them, as it were, fruitless? It was night, and still darkness, and a certain intellectual mist, and a demonic deceit settling upon the eyes of the mind, and not allowing them to see the truly divine and true light. "For there was no one doing goodness, according to the voice of the Psalmist; there was none even unto one; all have turned aside, together they have become useless." But even if Israel had been in some way caught through Moses, yet they were on a level with those not caught at all, practicing a worship in shadows and types, and not being instructed by the law toward the perfect. B For that we shall find the worship in types to be most useless, and indeed discordant with God, is easy to see from the fact that He rejects blood-offerings, and every kind of earthly and bodily oblation. "For why to me," He says, "do you bring frankincense from Saba, and cinnamon from a far-off land? Your whole burnt offerings are not acceptable, and your sacrifices were not pleasing to me." And we say these things not scorning the first commandment given long ago, nor intending to accuse the law, but rather wishing to indicate to the hearers that since the Lord God of all looks only toward the beauty of the evangelical life, those who were caught through the law to a worship in shadows and types were in some way placed on a level with those not yet caught, until the time of correction should shine forth, C Christ saying clearly when He became man: "I am the truth." If one must also add another thing to these, I will not hesitate for the sake of utility. Those called to instruction from the law through Moses, and having even reviled the law itself that was given, and as it were laughing broadly at the holy commandment, turned themselves toward the teachings and commandments of men; and they slipped toward this state through a hard and unyielding will, so that even the word of the holy prophets became of no account to them. Therefore they even cried out: "Lord, who has believed our report?" And Jeremiah again: "Woe is me, mother, whom did you bear me to be, a man judged and condemned in all the earth? I have neither benefited anyone, nor has anyone benefited me. My strength has failed among those who curse me." How then is it not on a level D with those not even caught at all that you must acknowledge that perverse and hard Israel, when it has trampled underfoot the very law delivered by Moses? That the multitude of the Gentiles also had not yet been converted to the faith, nor did they yet stand within the nets of divine doctrine, can be demonstrated with no trouble. Therefore, there was darkness in their hearts, and a diabolical night, which repelled the light of the true knowledge of God. Wherefore, to speak in one word, though they had toiled all night, they possessed an intellectual net still destitute of fish, those who preceded the advent; but when morning had come, that is, when the diabolical darkness had already been dissipated,
A and the true light had risen, and He who seeks from those weary whether they have any provisions within their net—provisions which might, as it were, become food for God, who famishes for the salvation of us all (for the Scripture called the conversion of the Samaritans His food)—and when they frankly confessed to Him that they had absolutely nothing, He bids them cast their nets again on the right side of the boat. For blessed Moses let down the net of command, through the legal letter, but the fishing was carried out, as it were, on the left side, whereas the command of our Savior is understood to occupy the right side. For the Christian institution is judged to be incomparably greater and more excellent in honor and glory than the legal precepts, since the truth must altogether be preferred to the types, and the Lord to the servant, and the grace of the Spirit to the condemning letter. B In the right side, therefore, shall the doctrine of Christ be established, by which side is signified its superiority over the Law and the Prophets. Without delay, therefore, having been persuaded by the commandments of our Savior, the divine disciples let down the net. This signifies to us that they did not at all snatch the grace of the apostolate for themselves, but went out for the spiritual fishing by His command: "For going," He says, "teach all nations." And they themselves say that they let down the net at His word. For they fish in no other way than by the words and evangelical precepts of our Savior. Upon the net being cast into the sea, an immense multitude of fish was caught, so that the disciples could not easily draw it in. For countless are those who have been converted to the faith, and the miracle of this matter is indeed greater and more excellent than the strength of the holy apostles. C For it is the power and operation of Christ, who, by His own power, gathers the multitude of those being saved into the apostolic Church on earth, as into a net.
XXI. 7-14. *Then that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter: It is the Lord. Simon Peter therefore, when he heard that it is the Lord, girt his coat about him (for he was naked), and cast himself into the sea. But the other disciples came in the boat (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits), dragging the net of fishes. As soon then as they came to land, they saw hot coals lying, and a fish laid thereupon, and bread. Jesus saith to them: Bring hither of the fishes which you have now caught. Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land, full of great fishes, one hundred and fifty-three; D and although they were so many, the net was not broken. Jesus saith to them: Come, and dine. And no man durst ask*
him: Who art thou? knowing that it is the Lord. Jesus cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish in like manner. This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to his disciples, after he was risen from the dead.
A The writer of this book says here again that he is that beloved disciple. He was indeed greatly loved, as it seems, on account of his very great keenness of mind, and the purity of his intellect, and the sharpness of the eyes of his heart, and the edge of his genius most apt for understanding. And indeed, having been the first of all to apprehend the sense of the sign, he recognized that Christ was present and indicated it to the others, doubting nothing at all, but rather crying out with great confidence: "It is the Lord." And that divine Peter leaps forth, thinking that he would perhaps be slower in approaching him with the boat. For Peter was always fervent in zeal, and moved toward daring and love for Christ. The others follow the leader, drawing the net along with the ship. Then they behold coals unexpectedly placed there, and Christ piling up wood, and placing upon it the fish caught by divine power, and this, too, by a singular plan. For it was not the hand or the preaching of the holy apostles that initiated our spiritual fishing, but the power and strength of the Savior. B For he was the first to catch one, as the first-fruits of those who were to come; nor indeed do we say that there was only one, but by the one, many are signified. Then, after this, the disciples catch a great multitude, strengthened again for the catching by his divine beckonings. Yet Peter draws the seine, by whom it is again permitted to understand that the labor of the holy apostles will not be without mystery. For they brought to the Lord the fish that had been caught, in the number of one hundred and fifty-three, with the centenary number, if I am not mistaken, designating the fullness of the Gentiles. For the hundred-fold number is most full, being composed of ten decades; and therefore our Lord Jesus Christ himself sometimes says that the sheep belonging to him are a hundred, C thereby signifying the entire number of rational creatures, and sometimes declares that the best field will bring forth a hundred-fold, indicating the perfect fruitfulness of the holy soul. But the fifty, proposed for understanding, demonstrates in a way the remnant of the grace of election among the Israelites. For fifty is the half of a hundred, and it lacks the perfection of the number. But the three can signify the holy and consubstantial Trinity as in a single number, to whose glory and everlasting praise the life of those who have been converted through faith is referred and understood in conjunction; for God is in all who believe, holding them closely, according to the mode of sanctification assigned to those who have obeyed the evangelical D preachings. But after the net was drawn, our Lord said again to his holy disciples: "Come"
A breakfast, and by this as well, it is clear that He is teaching that after the labors and sweats expended upon those who have been called and saved, they will recline again with Him, according to the voice of the Savior Himself, and will be with Him forever, with ineffable delights placed before them, spiritual, of course, and divine, and exceeding our mind. Christ, moreover, as it were wishes to signify what is written in the Psalms: "You shall eat the fruits of your labors." But they do not take for themselves what they eat, but Christ rather distributes to them, that again, as in a certain type, we might learn that Christ will be even at that time the bestower and distributor of divine gifts to us, insofar as He is Lord. B
XXI, 15-17. When therefore they had breakfasted, Jesus says to Simon Peter: "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He says to Him: "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He says to him: "Feed my lambs." He says to him again a second time: "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He says to Him: "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He says to him: "Tend my sheep." He says to him the third time: "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time: "Do you love me?" and he said to Him: "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus says to him: "Feed my sheep."
Peter preceded the others, and came to Him with the boat, nothing delaying C because of his incomparable and preeminent fervor of love toward Christ; for this reason he springs forth first, and drags the net. For the man was eager and agile, and most ready to act and to speak. Therefore he was the first to profess the faith, when, indeed, the Savior asked them about the regions of Caesarea Philippi with these words: "Who do men say that I, the Son of man, am?" For when the others were answering, some indeed that he was Elijah, others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets, and when Christ added further: "But who do you say that I am?" that head and prince of the others again springs forth before the rest, and says: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And furthermore, when D the cohort of soldiers with the ministers of the Jews had arrived to lead the arrested Jesus to the princes, all the others, indeed, having left Him, fled, as it is written. But Peter, with his sword, cut off the ear of Malchus. For he thought that he must by all means defend his master, even though he was attempting a deed in no way suitable to him. Therefore, upon his arrival, Christ urges him more sharply as to whether he loved Him more than these, and this happens for a third time. Peter, however, assents and confesses that he loves Him, citing Him as the witness of his own love. But in each of the confessions, in various ways he hears that he ought to have the care of the rational sheep. I, however, think (for I say that the hidden sense of these words must also be investigated) that these things were not written in vain, but
the discourse is again in labor, and the mind of the things set forth possesses something that lies hidden within. A For will not one reasonably ask, "Why does He ask Simon alone, although the other disciples were standing by?" And what would He wish to signify by the words, "Feed my lambs," and the things akin to these? We say, then, that the blessed Peter had already been ordained to the divine apostolate together with the other disciples. For our Lord Jesus Christ Himself named them apostles, as it is written. But since it happened that the malice of the Jews was carried out, and some stumbling occurred in the meantime, and it came to pass (for, seized by overwhelming fear, the blessed Peter denied the Lord three times), He heals the one who had suffered, and demands back in various ways the confession for the third time, setting this as an equivalent for that former one, and preparing the correction to be a counterweight to the faults. For one might say that what was stumbled into by word, and has the force of an offense in mere words, should be released in the same manner. He asks him to say whether he loves Him more than the others. And indeed, in truth, since he had enjoyed greater forbearance and had received the remission of his transgression with a more bountiful hand, how would it not be reasonable for him, gathering within himself a greater love than the others, to compensate the benefactor with love that reached the highest point? For although it is common to all the holy disciples to have turned to flight—the inhumanity of the Jews planting an unbearable terror in them, and the savagery of the soldiers threatening cruel death at the time they were present to seize Jesus—the transgression of Peter, which took place through the threefold denial, was peculiar to him. Therefore, as one who had received a greater remission than the others, he is asked to say whether he loves even more. For [it is written], according to the voice of the Savior, "To whom more is forgiven, he will also love more." B Again, this serves as a type for the Churches, that it is necessary to ask for the confession in Christ three times from those who have chosen to love Him, when they come to holy baptism. And teachers recognize from the theory of the things set forth that they would not otherwise be well-pleasing to the Chief Shepherd of all, that is, Christ, if they did not take care for the vigor of the rational sheep and their continuance in well-being. Such was the blessed Paul, who was weak with those who were weak, and called those whom he had brought to the faith and who had chosen to excel through the brightness of their works, the boast, joy, and crown of his own ministry. For he knew, he knew that this is the manifest fruit of perfect love for Christ; and he who thinks on this with a good and noble mind would see it. For if He died for us, how would He not have esteemed the salvation and life of us all worthy of every care? C And if those who sin against their brethren and strike their weak conscience truly sin against Christ, is it not true to say that those who, as it were, lead by the hand the souls of the faithful, or of those who are waiting to be called to the faith, and strive to reconcile to them a constant and firm faith, are pious toward the Lord Himself? Wherefore, through the threefold confession of blessed Peter, the sin contracted by the threefold denial is abrogated. D And from that which the Lord says, "Feed my lambs," the renewal of the apostolate already committed to him is...
understood, dissolving the reproach of the faults that intervened, and wiping away the pusillanimity born of human weakness.
XXI, 18, 19. *Amen, amen I say to thee, when thou wast younger, thou didst gird thyself, and walked where thou wouldst. But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and lead thee whither thou wouldst not. And this he said, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had said this, he saith to him: Follow me.* B
With great grace and very wittily, our Lord Jesus Christ has borne witness to his own disciple regarding the sincerity of his love for Him, and the glory of his piety and perseverance, which have reached the highest peak. For He clearly declares what the end of his apostolate will one day be, and what sort of conclusion of life will overtake him. For He previously announced that someone would take him and carry him away to a certain place, even against his will—that is, to the place where the persecutors fixed the cross, or those who inflicted upon him a capital punishment. But He says that the location of the cross would be contrary to Peter's desire. For no one among the saints suffers intentionally; but although a bitter death may come upon them even when they are most unwilling, yet, being desirous of the divine glory, they despise even this earthly life. Our Lord Jesus Christ therefore predicted that blessed Peter would be carried away to a place of death that was loathsome and hostile. C Yet he would not have arrived at that glory, nor would he have been crucified for Christ, had he not been sought out by judgment because of the care he expended upon the rational sheep, and had he not, possessing a power rooted in love for Christ, called to obedience those who had been ensnared by diabolical fraud into error. For those who killed blessed Peter, and who dared to do this, had no other cause to ascribe to him; they accused him of nothing but his piety toward Christ.
It is therefore possible to see even from these things that our Lord Jesus Christ usefully and necessarily predicted Peter's death, so that through the things he was destined to suffer, He might, in a certain manner, seal and demonstrate as true that which was said to him: "Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee." For is not death for the sake of preaching entirely a certain and indubitable proof of love, and of that perfect love for Christ? D But Christ adds to Peter, "Follow me," which words, if we follow common opinion, can be understood concerning the following of disciples; but enigmatically, as it seems, they intimate nothing else than: "Follow in the footsteps of my perils, and treading in a certain manner the same path, helping by word and deed the souls of those called to the faith, do not even hesitate to go toward the very death of the cross," which He also says will come to pass when he has reached old age, not wishing to strike premature fear into him, but extending the force and onset of that fear into the long term.
A And Peter, turning, sees the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also leaned back at supper upon His breast and said to Him: “Lord, who is it that is betraying You?” Peter, therefore, seeing him, says to Jesus: “Lord, but what of this man?” Jesus says to him: “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.” The saying therefore went out among the brothers that that disciple does not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he does not die, but: “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?”
The divine evangelist designates himself again, though more obscurely. For he is the one beloved, who reclined upon the breast of Christ at the time of the supper, and asked who it was that would betray Him. Peter, therefore, having seen him, attempted to be inquisitive, and wished to learn what dangers might perhaps await him too, and in what the end of his life might terminate. But the inquiry seemed outside of appropriate speech, and was a work of curiosity rather than of virtuous learning—to seek the things that would befall others having already received the knowledge of one’s own [fate]. For this reason, I think, the Lord answered something, but not directly to the questions, or rather to the things sought, but, as it were, turning the scope of the interrogator to other things, He does not say that John would be immortal, but: “But if I wish him to live until I come, what is that to you?” This is: “You have heard, O Peter, the things that pertain to you; why do you inquire into the things of others, and dig up the knowledge of divine judgments as if at an inopportune time?” For if he were not to die at all, He says, what would that do to console your care? Therefore, the wise and sensible man will remain indifferent, even if he too were destined to suffer something, whether someone else is being saved or not. For it will remain for him to suffer his own [trials], receiving nothing at all from the calamity or happiness of another for his own consolation. B Such, in a way, is the power of the things set before us; and the discourse concerning these things intimates to us that, in every way and altogether, whether in the same manner or perhaps in some other way, as John was also destined to undergo danger at some time, the blessed Peter was anxiously inquiring into what was destined to befall him as if for his own consolation. And do not wonder at this, but rather consider that. For this is also something common among us, even if it is completely useless: that we love at times not just to be seen suffering, or to be about to endure some of the things we shrink from, but rather to hear of others, either of those who have already suffered, or of those expected to fall into the same. C
“This is the disciple who also testifies concerning these things, and who wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true.”
I think that no one of the more discerning would doubt that the Lord would not have loved John, had he not been most exceptional and illustrious in virtue, and fitted and perfectly prepared for every good thing. For you will not find God affected by vain emotions, such as happen in men, to love those who are unworthy; but
He who is entirely untried by the onset and assault of the passions, and who stands most firmly in every kind of virtue—or rather, is himself every kind of virtue—how would He not do this with judgment and discernment, and bestow his love in an irreproachable manner upon the one who deserves to receive it? A Having therefore explained it very well, and having previously said that he is the one who is loved, he says that he has borne witness of these things without any arrogance or vainglory at all, in a wonderful and excellent way, requiring those who hear to assent as if by necessity to what he has written and testified. For the herald of truth would not have lied. Therefore he says: "We know that his testimony is true." For a false word is a slippery and truly terrible thing, since a man cannot but emit a voice. For truth would not have loved him, if he had weakened the truth. B
XXI, 25. "And there are also many other things which Jesus did; which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that not even the world itself could contain the books that should be written. Amen."
Great indeed, he says, is the multitude of the signs, and the list of the wonderful deeds appears completely innumerable; and, having been taken from ten thousand such things, these are sufficient to provide the most complete benefit to the hearers. And let no fair and studious hearer, he says, reproach the writer of this book if he has not also mentioned the others. For if what was done had been written down one by one, with nothing omitted, an innumerable multitude of books would have filled the world itself. C And we consider that this is said hyperbolically. For one must think that ten thousand of the miracles were performed by the power of our Savior; yet, as it seems, only the more illustrious ones were written by the heralds of the Gospels, through which the hearers could most especially be established in the incorruptible faith and be instructed in both morals and dogma; so that, being conspicuous by right faith and variously adorned by works that look toward piety, and having arrived at that city above and being joined to the Church of the firstborn, they might enter into the very kingdom of heaven in Christ, through whom and with whom to God and the Father is glory with the holy Spirit, unto the ages. Amen.
FRAGMENTS ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. SUPPLEMENT TO VOLUME IV OF THE EDITION OF JOANNES AUBERTUS. FRAGMENTS OF ST. CYRIL ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES (From the Catena of Cramer, Oxford 1838.)
A 1, 7. He said to them: It is not for you to know the times or seasons which the Father has set in his own authority.
Cyril: He shows by this that one ought not to be overly curious about matters which are very secret and hidden in God; rather, he exhorts them to eagerly embrace what is useful and to strenuously discharge the office of the apostolate, attributing the knowledge of all things to God.
II, 3. And there appeared to them cloven tongues as of fire.
Cyril: Some were speaking in tongues previously unknown to them, while others were busy with their interpretation before men who were not particularly curious about such matters. Paul indeed attests that the gift of tongues was bestowed upon them then, not as a charism [for its own sake], but as a sign for those who had faith, and to this end he cites these words: “In other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people, and not even so will they listen to me.” Therefore, he makes the Holy Spirit the dispenser of charisms. For, he says, just as this thick and earthly body consists of parts, so also Christ, that is, his body, which is the Church, consisting of many saints, has its constitution into a spiritual and most perfect unity. And a little later: When, therefore, the mystagogues under the sun were about to proclaim the saving, namely, the evangelical, preaching in every tongue and to every nation, he gave the gift of tongues to them as a B sign. C Being men of Galilee and reared in Judea, Hebrews born of Hebrews, they would speak with Medes and Parthians, and indeed also with Elamites and those who dwelt in the middle of Mesopotamia, and with Cappadocians and Egyptians, in their own languages; for the grace of the Holy Spirit was working in them. For it is written: “And there appeared to them cloven tongues as of fire,” etc. And at first, indeed, not all grasped the meaning of these things.