Fragmenta in Joannem

9 For even if it was possible to see with perceptible eyes the Spirit descending as in the form of a dove, nevertheless it is not for this reason entirely necessary that the matter be evident to all. 12 By way of contemplation the Word of God has come down from the heavens, so that, having made the human nature his own like a bridegroom, he might persuade it to conceive the spiritual seeds of nature. And the marriage is consummated on the third day, that is, in the last times of the age; for the number three brings in for us a beginning, a middle, and an end. What was said by one of the prophets appears similar to this: He will strike and will bandage us; and he will heal us after two days, and on the third day we shall rise and live before him; and we shall know, we shall press on to know the Lord, and we shall find him ready as the dawn; for he struck us because of the transgression in Adam, but again he himself bandaged us on the third day, that is, in the last times, when, having become man for our sake, he showed our nature whole, having raised it entirely from the dead in himself. Therefore through this he meant the third day on which the marriage was accomplished. And he says, in Cana of Galilee, not in Jerusalem, so as to say outside Judea, in the region of the Gentiles; for Galilee is of the Gentiles—the people who sat in darkness saw a great light; for it is clear that the Jews rejected the bridegroom from the heavens, but the church from the Gentiles received him gladly. And the Savior does not come of his own accord; for he was called by many voices of the saints; but the wine had failed those who were feasting.

For the law perfected no one; it did not suffice to gladden perfectly, nor indeed was even the measure of the innate astringency extended to the point of being able to preserve. So it would be true also in our case: "They have no wine." But God does not overlook nature worn down by the lack of good things, but He brought forth a wine better than the first; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life; for the divine instructions of the gospel teaching bring in the most complete blessing. And the master of the feast marvels at this wine, that is, the new wine; for each of those who are initiated into the divine priesthood is struck by His word which is above the law. But Christ commands that it be given to him first; for the laboring farmer must first partake of the fruits, and let the hearer understand what I say. 22 For it was not fitting that He, having set aside the dignity of the judge, should as in a courtroom make accusations against them. There is one accusing you: Moses, in whom you have hoped; for in the time of judgment he will be appointed their accuser, because they did not attend to his words nor believe his foretellings, through which he indicated the Lord's coming. The departure and the change of places sufficiently tested the disposition of the multitude; for while the more sluggish remained in the country through hesitation, the more earnest followed Him even into the desert, being confirmed in their souls day by day by the signs that occurred. He shows the freedom from love of money and the voluntary poverty of those with Him, since they did not even have what was needed to buy necessary food.

He ought, having heard "From where shall we buy bread, that these may eat," to have referred the whole matter to the power of the Lord. But now, having reckoned nothing worthy of the Lord's power, he was thinking base and human thoughts, saying: "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that each may receive a little." As one rather dull in understanding, then, and somewhat slower than he ought to have been as he came to the comprehension of more divine things, he puts forward the question, training the disciple toward faith; for this is what "testing" means in these words, even if, as the blessed evangelist insisted, "he himself knew what he was about to do." He is reproved similarly to Philip, having imagined nothing great nor thought anything worthy of the teacher by what he added. But what is this in reference to these things? Because we were all dead through sin, or because after the resurrection he gives eternal and incorruptible life to those who believe, when there will be neither perceptible food nor drink, and for this reason they shall certainly not hunger. The manna fed the bodies of those who partook of it in the wilderness for a little while, but contributed nothing to the soul for virtue and good living; for all those men, apart from a few, were found to have acted impiously. But the living bread, having restored the souls of believers by words of life, procured true life for the world. The perceptible body, being perceptible and nourished by perceptible bread, is in no way satisfied by a single partaking; for having been filled, it immediately begins again to hunger after a short interval because of its nature.

But the intellectual and incorporeal soul, having partaken of the living words of the Lord and having been spiritually nourished by the heavenly bread, is by nature disposed to remain without need for all the time that follows. Whence with truth he said: I am the bread of life, and so on. What the bread from the earth is accustomed to do, giving life to the weak nature of the flesh, this he himself also does through the working of the Spirit, giving life to the spirit and sustaining the body itself unto incorruption, giving incorruption after the resurrection to those who believe in him. Or rather, he will here call his own flesh the bread of life, as being eaten in the mysteries. It seems that he is again hinting at Moses himself; for they foolishly thought that because he entered into the darkness he had beheld the ineffable nature of God with the eyes of the body, which is according to nature. But lest, having said this clearly, he should seem in some way to urge them on to the customary boldness, he has set it down indefinitely, as applying to all. But if the Son alone sees the Father, he is outside of all and above all and over all. It is possible, I think, to take what is said in another way and in a deeper contemplation; for those who have purely received his enfleshed economy and, as it were, having tasted the doctrine rationally through the assent of the soul's reasoning, eat the flesh and partake through faith of the blood, inheriting eternal life from the things previously said. Therefore he says: The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. It is possible to show the partaking of these things in a spiritual way also otherwise.

For the teaching of the gospel proclamation and the reading of its wording is easily comprehended by all who encounter it, like flesh seen and grasped by all; but the meaning of the things signified, being incomprehensible to the many, is hidden like blood in the flesh in the word of the disciples. Wishing us to partake of this spiritually, he used such words: for just as in the body the flesh is evident, seen by all, while the blood, dispersed in the suffering, remains for the time invisible unless, when the body is wounded, it be poured out, in the same way the Son of God calls the wording of his teaching, heard alike by all, "flesh," but the contemplations and the mind lying within, being hard to discern and incomprehensible to the many, he darkly called "blood." Hence he added, saying: For my flesh is true food. And the addition of "true" sets forth the distinctness and excellence of the food and of its manner, by which those who eat and drink in a rational manner are mingled

being united to the Lord into one fusion and union with him through love. Truly the saying seemed hard, which was thought to make its hearers flesh-eaters and blood-drinkers, but to those who receive spiritual things spiritually nothing appeared hard, but being words of piety it administers to them eternal life. And even if especially my descent from heaven seems to escape the notice of all men and for this reason is considered doubtful or even unbelievable by those who hear, nevertheless my ascent into the heavens after my resurrection, coming visibly before the eyes of the disciples, will clearly resolve the doubt concerning the descent; for I could not have been taken up into heaven while they were watching, unless I had first made the descent from there to you. And for the refutation of the impiety of the Marcellians he also uttered this, in order to show that the Son of Man, who was previously in heaven, is named Son of Man, so that not the body, but he who took up the body, having become Son of Man, might be believed. And this was a property of his divinity, to bring the ineffable things into my mind. If they had known that he himself is the wisdom, the Word who was God in the beginning, in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge exist, they would not have wondered how he knew letters though he had in no way learned them, but they would have known clearly that he himself also granted to others the discovery and knowledge of things. For Moses, when legislating, commands to abstain from bloodshed, but you already, through the extremity of your wickedness, are taking counsel concerning my murder. Moses permitted circumcision on the Sabbath, but he in no way allowed murder.

How then, when he shows the greater and the lesser, do you scrutinize the lesser precisely, but overlooking the greater, do you not perceive that for the sake of the sabbath you commit murder, although you do not keep it perfectly? For who does not know that those men, working with the hand and cutting with iron and mutilating flesh, were truly profaning the sabbath by their action, while he, having healed by a mere word and by authority, showed through the wonder-working that he was also Lord of the sabbath. That he knew himself and whence he had come, as they say without judgment, he allowed; but he convicts them of ignorance of the one who sent him because of their unbelief in him. Not only so, but he also showed through his works that he knows the Father and was sent by him. He was not yet about to depart from earth to heaven after the economy of the passion, and no longer to be seen here by the impious, even though they seek him. Therefore he said: You will seek me and you will not find me, and where I am you cannot come. For the ascent to heaven and the arrival at him was impossible for them because of the impiety of their works; for to the saints alone, to those who have done the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, is the kingdom of heaven promised. He refers them to the scriptures, so that from their foretelling concerning him they might be led to faith: rivers from his belly shall flow of living water. Their opinion was divided, as in a disturbed multitude; for they did not attend accurately to what was said, nor for the sake of learning. For this reason he answers them nothing.

From what has been said, he exposes not only the ignorance of the Jews but much more the impiety of the Sabellians, plainly introducing two persons, his own and the Father's. When the Father sent him to become the propitiation for our sins, those who believed and received the grace obtained release from the evils that had come before, but those who disbelieved and, through insensibility, set aside the grace remained likewise subject to their own sins. So he foretold what would happen after his ascension, which they, not understanding, foolishly said: Will he kill himself, and the rest. Being worldly and unworthy of the kingdom above because of their present lawlessness, they could by no means come where he was going. For upon those who die in their sins, Gehenna and the furnace of fire and the outer darkness have been prepared. Therefore, testifying beforehand, he said: I told you that you will die in your sins. Even if you do not take to mind the time of judgment, yet the one who sent me, he says, is true, who has appointed the time of recompense, who also sent me to proclaim this and to make it manifest to the world. I know, he says, that now you do not understand what is being said, nor who the Father is whom I speak of; for it surpasses you to understand those things. But at the cross you will know my power, and that I do nothing contrary to the Father, when you see all my creation shaken, and the Father from there clearly showing his indignation at what is done—he who is with me, and now rejoices with those things that are said and done by me. As also through Ezekiel they were reproached, when he said:

His mother was a Hittite and his father an Amorite, and through Isaiah: Hear the word of the Lord, rulers of the house, give heed to the law of our God, rulers of Gomorrah. For those whose works they imitated, they were also called their sons. That one, having deceived the first man, made the race mortal through his transgression; that one armed Cain for fratricide; that one, generation after generation, prepared for the blood of the righteous to be shed through the unrighteous, whose wickedness they too imitated when they plotted against the Christ. For having become an apostate from the truth from the beginning, he confounded all things through falsehood, at one time slandering God to men, at another men to God—as it were, God to Eve, and men to God, saying, Does Job fear God for nothing? And again: Because you are enemies of the truth, therefore you persecute me, since if it were not for this you would have stated the charge. Because, being closely disposed to falsehood, you do not accept the truth spoken by me; for the inability to believe does not lie in the nature of the matter, but in one's own free choice. He who is of God hears the words of God. He means, clearly, those who believe and obey his commandments are of God, because, having received from him the pattern of piety and having come into a state of virtue, they were called sons of God thereafter; for he does not say that they were born of God in essence—for nothing of all things subsisted as a part from the undivided and indivisible essence, but he brought them into being by his good pleasure alone and his own will. And from what is added he interprets the matter at hand.

For what does he say to the disobedient? "For this reason you do not hear, because you are not of God." Just as he called these men alien to God not because of their substance—for they were from him—but because of their choice, in the same way he says that those who obey, because of the voluntariness of their faith and the virtue of their choice, are of God. And by "those who hear" he means not those who hear with the physical ears, but those who are persuaded by what is said. The Word who is addressed "in the beginning" here keeps a word, that is, the Father's command, so that the word that keeps is understood as son, and not the word that is kept. Wishing therefore gently to set them right and to teach them in their ignorance concerning both his worth and his antiquity, he says: "Abraham your father rejoiced that he might see my day, and he saw it and was glad." He rejoiced, being deemed worthy of his divine visions through which he was given oracles; for he prayed to see clearly the day of the Lord, which he saw and was glad; for with his eyes, at the oak of Mamre, he saw him who appeared to him when he also received the [promise concerning] Isaac.

promise, when he also acknowledged him as judge of the whole world. How was he hidden? Not by wrapping himself in a corner of the temple, nor by fleeing into a little house, as one might suppose, nor indeed by turning aside behind a wall or a pillar, but by making himself invisible to those plotting against him through divine authority, being unseen by them, and so he went out and passed by. 69 1 Thinking that they fall into diseases because of their own or their ancestors' sin, they make such an inquiry. But Jesus, making distinctions among matters by divine knowledge, rejected both now; and yet there are some who are punished for their own transgressions, as the paralytic, and some because of their parents, as where he says: "I struck your children, and you did not receive discipline." Others for none of these reasons, others for testing, as Job. But this blind man was formed blind for this reason, so that in the time of his visitation Christ, by healing him, might make it known to all that he is the creator of every living thing. Some were also struck because of ancestral sin, just as it is said through the prophet: "In vain I struck your children; you did not receive discipline." He calls the light that came into the world the day of his visitation, in which he had to work the works of the Father and demonstrate his own consubstantial kinship with him. And he calls night his own departure. He calls himself light both because he enlightens the souls of those who believe in him and because he was about to open the eye of the man blind from birth. By this it is shown that he himself created all things and that he made man from clay.

For by those things through which he fills what is missing with clay, he shows that he also made the whole man from the earth and that those who come to be afterward from seeds and blood he himself again molds. For behold, in the case of the blind man he demonstrates both: that the rest of his body was formed from blood and seeds, but leaving his eyes unformed, he now fills them—the most beautiful part of the body—through the clay, displaying in one living being the two works of creation. And when he went away and washed, his eyes were opened, not because the clay ceased from the washing of water, but paradoxically by his application it was removed, and ineffably the clay filled the eyes. Of those who said he was the same man from the appearance of his face but did not believe because of his eyes, and others who were in doubt about this, the one who had received his sight, resolving their ambiguity, said, "I am he." Though they ought to have known from the work who it was who performed the wonder, they seek to recognize from his appearance who he was. Setting aside their doubt, they then inquired how his eyes had been opened. He answered and spoke the truth, but for the time being he names Jesus a man because of his human body. When the Pharisees asked, he used the same account for them as well. But they reached such an extreme of impiety as to prefer the Sabbath irrationally to his divine power, though they ought to have reasoned from what had happened paradoxically that the one who had grasped such great power was master of the Sabbath and of all legislation alike.

Out of extreme impiety they preferred the Sabbath to his own divine power, although even in the time of Moses the commandment of the Sabbath was not otherwise believed in except through the sign that occurred with the manna. It was necessary, then, that they, having seen the wonder that occurred for the benefit of men, should yield to the rest of the Sabbath, just as then in the beginning, and now to learn that the purpose of the commandment is changed for the benefit of men. But those men, blinded by unbelief, do not see that God even until now does his own works on the Sabbath, nor that the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath. Therefore also, as blaspheming against him, they said, "This man is not from God." But others, having come to perception at least in part, contended against them, saying that these things happen by divine power, yet not through the working of sinners; and they had their own opinion divided. Being divided from one another, they question the blind man again. But he no longer calls him simply a man, but a prophet, speaking boldly. The Pharisees came to such shamelessness as not even to believe the man who had received his sight, that he was blind before, although his neighbors and those who knew him said this. Until they summoned his parents and asked them whether this is their son, whom they say was born blind. For wickedness had so prevailed over the rulers as not only to harm themselves through unbelief, but already also to shut off the way of salvation from the rest through threats. Because of their excess of wickedness the Jews called the righteous man a sinner.

But he, having received his sight, not only clearly acknowledges the grace of the benefit to be the Lord's, but also, for the refutation of their impiety, said, "One thing I know, that being blind, he made me to see." They kept questioning him continually, not so that, having marveled, they might desist from their impiety, but so that they might contend the more against what was said. Knowing that they wished to fight, he answered them thus. As if reviling him, they called him a disciple of the Lord, but they did not honor themselves as belonging to Moses as that one did, but as opposing the teaching of the Lord. Speaking without judgment and not knowing that it was he who spoke to Moses, they speak things contrary to themselves, now saying, "We do not know where this one is from," and at another time having said, "We know where this one is from. But when the Christ comes," he says, "no one knows where he is from." As refuting them as ignorant, he says that no one ought, on account of your ignorance, to reject that one's power, but one must bring forward that one's friendship for the refutation of your unbelief. So that he might not seem, by the things he is silent about, to agree with those saying he is a sinner, he shows that by the things with which he benefited him, he is God-fearing; for the good pleasure of God that came about concerning my healing is a token of the piety of the one who was heard. For though these holy men and prophets excelled, and Moses himself, no one opened the eyes of a blind man. And he says "from birth," so that no one might allege either skill or nature, which it was plausible to say concerning one of those who saw from time and were later blinded and again received their sight.

Through this the man exposes the audacity of those who had said, "This man is not from God, because he does not keep the Sabbath." Unable to look directly at what was being said, they turned to insults, saying things that are not permissible, not even being taught by the blind man, that it is impossible for one who has not yet come into existence to sin, but only after each one's entry into life, since he uses the free will of his soul as he wishes; nor indeed does a child suffer on behalf of a father. Those men, then, speaking and acting in all things without judgment, cast him out and excluded him from their own council. In addition to healing him, he wished also to grant him the illumination of true knowledge. Therefore he asked him whether he believed, so that when he had assented, he might also deliver to him the exactness of the doctrine; for he was grateful toward his benefactor. Therefore, when he heard, "Do you believe in the Son of God?" he immediately assented and hastened to learn accurately who he was, before believing in him, saying, "And who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him?" He assented not only in words, but also through his worship he showed the consecration of his soul, no longer calling him a man or a prophet, but confessing him as Lord and God through his worship. Not only were those blind in their eyes healed, but also those who previously were blind in unbelief were enlightened through the Lord's teaching, while those

Those who think they see have become blind through unbelief. He said this with a view to the outcome of each one's conduct—both of the Jews who disbelieved and of the Gentiles who believed. For the purpose of his coming was for the salvation of all, but the choice of men made some to see and others blind. Since blindness is of different kinds—one according to the body, the other according to choice—the Lord brings no blame upon the one who endures blindness unwillingly, but the one who undergoes this from a choice of soul due to wickedness he calls guilty and lawless, as having been darkened willingly. Therefore, as being such, he says to the Pharisees that their sin will be indelible. If you were blind by necessity, having lost your sight, you would not have sin; for no one willingly endures suffering. But since, thinking that you see bodily, you have made yourselves blind through unbelief, for this reason your sin remains indelible. Since all the prophets proclaimed his coming to men, that he entered through the door through them to the lost sheep, he alone did all the things foretold, while no other was able to enter through the door, nor to be born of a virgin, nor to open the eyes of the blind, and whatever else has been said about him. And refuting, as it were, the error of the deceivers, he calls them thieves, as those who wish by falsehood to steal the title of Christ. Therefore the one who alone entered through the aforementioned door is named shepherd by all the saints.

He calls the doorkeeper the Holy Spirit, who opens to him, having proclaimed through the prophets the knowledge of him, and who has shut the door to all others because of the signs foretold, a door which he opens to the Lord alone, who by his miracles confirmed the things concerning himself. His rational sheep hear his voice—he means the faithful—and they follow him, whom he also calls his own, since the unbelievers are strangers. These he also separates from the ungodly, leading them out as his own, guiding and leading them on to the life according to virtue. They also recognize his voice of the divine commandments, but they will not obey a stranger who proclaims lawless things, whom they must also flee. He calls the doorkeeper the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the knowledge of him, and who shut the door to all the rest because of the signs foretold, and opened this door to the Lord alone, who also by wonders confirmed the things concerning himself. Since the prophets foretold beforehand his coming to men and through prophetic vision prepared beforehand his entrance into life, he alone traveled through all the things written about him, and as if entering through a door into human life, he came to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. To him, he says, the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, calling rational sheep those who recognized his voice and followed the words of piety.

For since some of the sheep have become obedient and docile to the shepherd, while others, having strayed far off through disobedience, have gone into self-chosen destruction, he necessarily separated his own from what belongs to others, the saved from the perishing, the obedient from the disobedient. It is necessary for those who are devoted to the Lord to flee all the lawlessness of the stranger, and to turn away completely from his impiety, and neither to hear his voice nor to be persuaded by his word, because of the harmful nature of the deceit. Since he mentioned sheep in the manner of a proverb and did not understand the meaning of what was said concerning the difference of shepherds. He adapts both the use of names to the circumstances of the matters at hand. Here, then, he calls himself a door, as one who shuts out the sheep and keeps back and convicts the thieves. For this reason he also used the expression precisely, saying "I came," and not "I was sent." For the prophets of God came having been sent, but the false prophets came with no one having sent them, for the perversion of those who are deceived. He calls thieves and robbers not the holy men and prophets, but also those before his coming who came for the ruin of human souls, such as Theudas and Judas the Galilean, who came, not were sent; for the term "to have been sent" is more fitting in the case of prophets. For those who believe in him and become part of his rational flock enter and go out with confidence, grazing under the shepherd's care now, and in the age to come being escorted through him as through a door into eternal life.

He calls "thief" the one opposed to whom the common Savior needed to come—the one who leads the sheep astray and casts them into destruction—who not only secured the flock from the plots of robbers, but also, giving eternal life, prepares it to be in glory and honor. He calls each of the rulers of the people a "hireling" who neglects the sheep, having indeed the name of shepherd but doing nothing for the safety of the peoples; but they treated them as belonging to others, for they were not their own. Therefore, seeing the wolf, they fled, abandoning the flock as a prey to the beasts, feeling no distress at those whom they saw being corrupted by the devil, the noetic wolf. He calls "his own sheep" those who for a time believed from among the Jews and recognized their own shepherd through the benefits done to them. Just as, he says, it is evident that the sheep know and are known, so too the knowledge of the Father toward the Son and of the Son toward the Father is established through direct sight. And the two establish the persons, in order to show that he was not himself the Father. And what he said, he did not long after, offering himself as a ransom for all. As God and foreknower, he says this concerning the people from the Gentiles, as about to be joined to Israel; and then he spoke it in word, but later it came to be in deed, and he made his holy Church one out of both.

He himself was the one who formerly shepherded Israel invisibly, but since Israel in time fell into destruction through impiety, it was necessary that he himself come visibly to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, so that, in addition to his other benefactions, by giving his own life for the salvation of the sheep he might display the disposition of a good shepherd. Concerning the passion he speaks thus, teaching that this happens for the salvation of the world and that he does not come to it unwillingly. Next he states the marks of the shepherd and of the hired hand, and shows that he holds sway just as the Father does, since he is a shepherd and the sheep are his own. Speaking loftily, then, in the parables, he shadows over the word, so as not to give clear handle to his hearers. Not now, he says, does the Father love me, but before eternal ages, always; except that, since by the Father's good pleasure I give myself over to death, this is pleasing to the Father. For not by necessity, but willingly he came to the passion, and he had authority to raise himself from the dead. Foolish is the one who says that the body of Christ is soulless and that divinity is in place of a soul; for it is foolish to conceive of a divinity capable of suffering, but the soul is capable of suffering. And it is for this reason they say that the divinity of the Son is capable of suffering, in order to show him less than the Father. Yet also in the case of the Father we find, he says, the words "my soul," through which we understand, he says, the divinity of the Father. Those who had slipped into the depth of evils said that the one who freed us from the tyranny of the demons had a demon. But those who were a little sober refuted them, saying that these were not the words of one possessed by a demon. And for the proof of the

they were presenting both the truth and the recovery of sight of the blind man. They were celebrating the Feast of Dedication, not because the temple had been built now, but because on that day Zerubbabel had completed the temple. Since it was winter, the crowds were gathered in the portico, and Christ was with them. The unbelievers, being convicted by the facts and holding their opinion in doubt, questioned as if in doubt. 121 10, Knowing that because he had spoken many times he was not believed, he brings forward his works as being stronger for proof than words. For they ought to have believed his words because of their God-befitting character and the disciplined virtue of his life. But since they were led astray from these by an excess of senselessness, it was necessary at least to accept the testimony that comes from works. These men were alienated from the flock through their own wickedness, not willing to receive his divinely inspired teaching. He says that the belonging of his own sheep came about through obedience, just as, by contrast, alienation came about through disobedience. To those who follow through obedience he gives eternal life and promises security for the future. Since the Father has given all things into the hands of the Only-begotten, the Father also adds his own protection for the safety of the sheep; for the end of the care of both is one. He says that he is one with the Father in essence, not in person, and that he is equal to the Father in all things; for he counted two according to person, himself and the Father, especially through the words "we are.

Seeing them greatly enraged, he reminded them of what he had done and sought through kindness to bring them to a perception of his beneficence and to cease from their anger against him. By what they say, they accept the works as having been done well, but because of his words they were indignant, considering him to blaspheme, because he said that he himself was the Son of God—he who raises the dead and heals the blind. If the Israelites were called gods, although they were not reverent men, merely because they were Israelites, you revile him who demonstrates by his works that I am God, and who does not boast with a mere word in words alone. For it was necessary, even if I had not demonstrated this by works but had only said it, that you should not be indignant, since indeed the law calls men gods; yet I also have the testimony that comes from works. Therefore those who say that I blaspheme in calling myself the Son of God are plainly impious. The Lord answers gently, saying: If, when I called God my Father, I did not do works like the Father's, by which I demonstrated that I am the Son of God, you would have, he says, grounds for your position against us; but now, even if you do not believe me when I speak, at least be put to shame by the works, that the Father is in me and I in the Father. He shows that it was in his own power to be seized; for behold, being in their midst, he did not permit them to seize him, although they wished to do this. For this reason he came to this place, so that through the place he might remind people of the words of John which he spoke concerning him, which he also did and benefited many.

Being reminded of John's words, which he spoke concerning him—that he was the bridegroom and the lamb who takes away the sin of the world, and whatever else—they necessarily believed in him. 134 By the practice of a genuine divine sign, being true sisters, when their brother Lazarus had fallen into sickness, they sent to the Lord, saying: "Lord, behold, the one you love is sick." For the Lord loved him also as a God-fearing man. For he foresaw that the resurrection of Lazarus was going to be spoken of throughout the whole inhabited world, through which the Son was glorified together with the Father. And he loved them because of their chaste and God-fearing manner of life. And deliberately he remained the two days, so that, once Lazarus had died, he might display greater power over him and the majesty befitting God. The disciples, having had experience of the Jews' savagery, were afraid to go away into Judea, lest they suffer the same things again. 138 9–10 He teaches that it is necessary always, every day and hour, to do good to people. Then he also encourages them, that they will suffer nothing terrible, having with them the light of the world, in which those who walk do not stumble; for those who walk in the darkness of ignorance stumble, not having the light of truth. He, as God, was speaking about the sleep of death, but the disciples, as men, supposed that he was speaking to them about bodily sleep. Therefore they also said this as something beneficial. They said this, thinking that he was speaking about bodily sleep. Having clearly said "death," he rejoiced, knowing that the condition of the dead man was greatly going to benefit the disciples for faith.

For if he had been there while he was still ill, being entreated he would have healed him, and he would not have performed the great miracle of the resurrection. Thomas said these things expecting that, as soon as they went, they would stone them and kill them. 143 11:17–19 The more the time after the burial passed by, the more wonderful was the act of the one who raised him. He mentioned the nearness of the place, in order to show that many of the Jews were going out to console the sisters of Lazarus. So Martha goes out, having heard of the Lord's presence, not having shared it with her sister, because she wished the presence to be hidden from the Jews who were present, as being enemies of Christ and persecutors of him; but she utters words of little faith. Forgetting her mourning, Martha ran to the Lord, but Mary, not knowing this, remained in the house. Being persuaded that if the Lord had been present, Lazarus would not have died, she did not doubt even concerning the coming benefit. Since he had promised indefinitely, without adding that Lazarus would now rise, Martha reasonably answered thus, saying the last day, on which the general resurrection of men takes place. To all who believe he promised life, but especially he was making his discourse about the matter at hand. He says this, that those who have undergone the common death of the body will again be raised. But everyone who believes will not undergo the destructive death of eternal torment. 150 1 By his answer Christ wishes to demonstrate the woman's proven disposition.

But she not only confessed him as Christ and Son of God, but also as coming into the world, in order to show that Christ came as a good not for Israel alone but for the whole world. And she not only confessed him as Christ and Son of God, but she now also says that he is coming into the world, so that from this she might show that he belongs not to Israel alone, as formerly, but that now a common good for the whole world has been sent forth by the Father. Mary, having received a joy equal to her brother's grief by hearing that Jesus had come, set everything aside and ran to him, which was a sign of her faith in him. When Mary ran, she gave the Jews the impression that she was running to the tomb to weep there. Therefore they also followed her. But there she encountered the Lord, where Martha also met him. Having a sisterly disposition as well, she used the same words, running alongside her sister in faith concerning the teacher, although they met the Lord at different hours. Having troubled himself and, with the eagerness of the spirit made ready, having directed his power toward what lay before him, he spoke with indignation. The evangelist signifies the word "he was indignant in spirit," indicating the voluntariness of his resolve. For he shed a tear and endured bodily weariness, submitting to the passions not unwillingly, but commanding the body with authority; for in our case

Human tears are shed not when we wish it, but being natural affections of the body, we undergo them involuntarily; but God is not so, but doing all things with authority, he will also use the same power against his enemies. He did not say this out of ignorance, but so that from the inquiry he might stir up the crowds present to behold the miracle, under the pretext of showing the place, and that many might believe. He wept in compassion for those who were weeping, certainly not for the dead man whom he was about to raise. The Jews regarded the tears as a sign of love toward the one who had departed. Therefore they said these things, and remembering the miracle upon the blind man, they reasoned among themselves how he had allowed Lazarus to die. They, then, were seeking lesser things, but Jesus did greater; for it was not the same thing to make Lazarus not die as to raise him from the dead, since if he had raised him while still conscious, the ignorant could have attributed the recovery to the nature of the illness, which cannot be said of one who has risen from the dead. Having exerted himself for the miracle at hand, with a stern command he came to the place. And though he was able without human activity even to open the cave, he permits those present to do this, so that by perceiving the stench they might be fully assured that he had not only died, but had already been filled with odor. Inferring from the interval of the days that it was sufficient to dissolve the dead man's body, she said this. But the glory of God is shown not from the sequence of things that occur according to nature, but from the wonderworking of things accomplished beyond nature, contrary to expectation.

The glory of God is shown by the working of miracles performed beyond nature and contrary to hope. When the stone had therefore been moved away and the cave opened, Jesus lifted up his eyes and said: I thank you, Father, that you heard me. But I think that he said this as something great because it is divine and was spoken with the authority befitting God, and not because of the loudness and resonance of his voice. Because of the unbelief of the Jews he not only brought the dead man to life, but also caused him to come out with his feet and hands bound, which was itself also a very great miracle. And so that no one might say that as a friend he pretended death, and when he called him he came out—for the sign of walking while bound was nearly akin to the resurrection—because the ungrateful had nothing to say, he ordered them to loose Lazarus's bonds with their own hands, so that even unwillingly they might bear witness to him. Conquered by the miracle, the Jews believed and went and told the chief priests what they had seen. So great was their hardness that they acknowledged his signs, yet none the less deliberated about putting him to death, raging against him for this reason alone out of boundless wickedness. They said this because it happened that those who believed immediately confessed him as king also, and the Romans attacked them as rebels. And for this reason they endured destruction, suffering irremediable things at the hands of the Romans. And he foretold what was going to happen, not partaking of prophetic virtue, but because he had obtained the priestly rank. And he spoke not knowing what he was saying, nor understanding the dispensation of the matter.

For he was urging his hearers on to the plot against the Lord, but the matter was being accomplished according to another understanding—the Father having given himself as a ransom for all, and having died not for the people alone, but also for all the nations that have believed. And this the evangelist explains through what follows. And he calls those who believe from the nations children of God. Just as he himself said through the prophet: They laid an unlawful word against me. And he was spending time outside the country, not fearing their plots, but awaiting the suitable time of his passion, and so that he might not provoke them; for he was unbearable to them even when only appearing. Now the Passover of the Jews was near—not the Lord's; for always observe what is said—nor did Jesus celebrate where these men stood, but he opened the great Passover, the incarnate and adorned one. And many from the country were going up to purify themselves. And the chief priests and the Pharisees gave orders that they might seize him.

When he arrived there, Lazarus and his sisters received him, not merely as one who had raised him from the dead and called him back again to life, but preeminently as a teacher of piety and a savior of human souls. Lazarus received him not as one who had raised him, but as a teacher of piety and a savior of souls. And when a dinner was given, Martha served, working with her own hands, knowing that he was the one who had also been shown hospitality by Abraham. The evangelist necessarily mentions Lazarus, in order to show that after being raised from the dead he lived a long time thereafter, and did not, like a phantom, appear to men and then immediately die again, but remained eating and drinking and doing the things customary among men. And when the house was filled with the fragrance of the myrrh, that was symbolically indicated which was soon to be accomplished spiritually; for immediately after the passion of Christ, the whole inhabited world, like a great house, was filled with the fragrance of myrrh. By the perceptible thing, then, that intelligible thing was foretold; for when his body was pierced like an alabaster jar, the fragrance of knowledge filled the whole world. She, always becoming more earnest about her studies, having continually heard the words of the Savior, knew clearly that the time of the passion was now at hand; wherefore she anointed him with myrrh and wiped his feet with her hair, so that by this she might show the symbol of his burial that was to be for our sake. And not only this, but also so that she might be able to receive the blessing that comes from touching his feet; for she was not giving this in order that she herself might be benefited by partaking of it.

Since she was earnest about learning and continually heard the Lord's words, she recognized that the time of his passion had now arrived. Therefore, as a symbol of his coming burial, she anoints him with myrrh and wipes it with her hair, so that she might receive a blessing from him. And the filling of the house with the fragrance was a symbol of the sweet savor that, after Christ's passion, would spread through the whole inhabited world; for when the body of Christ was pierced like an alabaster jar, the fragrance of knowledge filled the world. He did not say this out of concern for the poor, but out of a desire for love of money. And the Lord put up with him as he stole what belonged to the poor, until he should endure from him even the exposure of his betrayal. The Lord does not rebuke the disciple because he was rebuking the woman on account of his own theft, wishing by great forbearance to shame him; for he knew, and had rebuked him from the beginning. But if another evangelist says that all the disciples said this, we say that both all of them and this one did, but the rest not with the same intent. And the Lord, as is likely, entrusted the stewardship to him for this reason, so that, having from the money-box sufficient consolation for his desire, he might not say, "I committed the betrayal for the love of money," and he put up with him and did not reproach him, thereby removing every excuse from him. Through the woman's purpose the Savior clearly teaches that the administration of the myrrh became a symbol of his burial, which seems to be the last favor of one who is about to depart; for when one is able, he does good to the poor, if he wishes.

The crowds gathered together not only to see the one who had raised Lazarus, but also to see the one who had been raised—whom some had likely come even to question: how does the separation of the soul take place, and where does it go, and who are those who conduct it? So then the chief priests, like madmen, were deliberating to kill Lazarus too, thinking that by his death the faith of those who met with him would be destroyed along with him. The crowds, paying no regard to their leaders even though they saw them committing murder, ran to meet Christ, glorifying him not as a man but as a heavenly king, and by what they said they fulfilled the prophecy of David. And if the evangelist says nothing else of what the earlier evangelists stated was said or done at this entry, one should not be surprised; for as a general rule, setting out to speak of what the others have passed over, he abbreviates, and relates what necessarily follows in the sequence of the account concerning Lazarus. The sitting upon the colt lay within his own choice; but that the crowds should shout and cry out such a voice was no longer in his power, but in the authority of those who were praising him. For if they shouted, moved of themselves, they demonstrated in deed the fulfillment of the prophecy and became witnesses of the truth; but if, urged on by his invisible power, they offered the doxology, even so they provided a token of his divine authority.

So that he might fulfill the prophecy, he sat upon the donkey. But since it was possible for anyone who wished, having sat upon a donkey, to falsely ascribe such a prophecy to himself, from the very things that the crowds did—whether willingly or by the invisible power of Christ coming to praise him—they demonstrated that the prophecy was spoken concerning him. From the wonders he performed they knew that he was the Christ, but after his resurrection they acquired certain knowledge of him from the testimony of the Scriptures. From this, then, one can know that the crowd did not believe without judgment, but some saw and others heard from those who had seen that he raised Lazarus. The Pharisees said these things, considering the gain of the believers to be a loss. As the report spread everywhere, Greeks also came forward. From among them they approached Philip, who was from Bethsaida, saying: Lord, we wish to see Jesus. And Philip told Andrew, and both reported to the teacher. And Jesus answers them, saying: The hour has come. It was necessary that the redemption through the passion should first take place, which he endured for our sake and rose again; but when after the resurrection he was glorified by all as the Son of God, then also those from the nations were to be seized by the proclamation. He used the example set before him, wishing to signify the multitudes that were to be benefited through the passion. If, therefore, even the Son of God had not been willing, stepping down from his own dignity, to endure death, he would have remained alone in his own glory; but now, because of his friendship toward us, having endured to suffer in the flesh and having risen, he raised up all men together with himself.

Having thus made clear the gain that comes from his own suffering, he exhorts those who believe in him also to despise death. Having made clear through what has been said the gain that comes from suffering, he exhorts those who have believed in him likewise to despise death as he did. For the one who wishes here to spare his soul for a little while procures destruction for it in the time to come, but the one who does not spare it in the present and despises the life in this world secures for himself the incorruptible and eternal life in the time to come. The one who has despised the life in this world will inherit incorruptible life in the time to come. And he exhorts them to follow him, imitating his manner of life and emulating the virtue of his conduct. And he would say to me that everyone who does anything whatsoever according to the word of God serves the Word and ministers to the Son of God and follows him, doing nothing irrationally. For he does not simply command those who walk about to follow him—for many of the impious were walking about with him and following him, so that they might ensnare him by his word or be able to catch hold of something he said. But to the disciples who follow in his footsteps of virtue and of his God-inspired conduct, he promises from that very fact a dwelling in heaven. For where I am, he says—that is, in heaven—there my servant also will be. And he does not only promise the gift that comes from himself, but also promises the honor that comes from the Father. He exhorts the disciples to virtue like his own and promises them the dwelling in the heavens, promising not only his own honor but also that which comes from the Father.

Here he used human and rather lowly expressions, showing from these that he truly shared in human nature; or perhaps, foreseeing the fall of the unbelievers and the coming alienation of those who until then were considered members of his household, he was troubled, sparing them—the ungrateful generation. For it was not because he feared death, as some suppose, that he endured the so-called troubled state; for he was not ignorant of the purpose for which he had made his coming to us, as he showed plainly when he said, "For this cause I came to this hour." For if he was troubled because of fear of death, how would he have taught others to despise it, saying, "Do not fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul"? About to undertake the experience of the things foretold, he therefore called upon the one who had sent him for this very purpose. But when they heard a voice unfamiliar and strange to us, they necessarily had their understanding left in doubt. He speaks lowly things as a man, showing that he has truly become an unchangeable man like us, even if, seeing the fall of the unbelievers, he was troubled and the alienation of those who seemed to be his own; for it was not because he feared death that he said this—he who for this very purpose became man. Therefore he also says, "For this cause I came to this hour, that I may endure the economy of the passion"; for he who exhorted his disciples to despise death did not shrink from the passion. For he glorified him by showing him to be his own Son and Lord of all creation; and now again through his resurrection from the dead. Or, the name "which glorified me" means "through the resurrection from the dead make me glorious to men.

For the Father also promised this through the voice. Having heard a strange and unfamiliar voice, they objected concerning this; and wishing to remove their ignorance, he reveals the mystery of the things administered by God. For a judgment of the world was taking place, since all men stood as it were on a razor's edge, and by faith and unbelief were being tested—some being made God's own, others being established as enemies. And indeed the ruler of this age was being justly cast out, through the Lord's manner of life and beneficence and long-suffering, the devil's rule being overthrown, which he had acquired through deception and disobedience and the sin of men. For since, when judged, he puts forward his own deception and the transgression of men—from which also came death—as his own defense, claiming that such men ought to be under him, so too the Lord, delivered up by him to death without sin, showed that he had unjustly subjected man under himself. For corruption was not brought upon men because men were sinners, but because of the devil's envy man sinned in the beginning. Since, then, Christ became man and did not sin, but again the devil brought death upon him as though on a sinner, he was reasonably condemned as unjust and for a time fell from his rule, and the man who was under him was redeemed. Because through death he was about to accomplish the redemption and through the cross to draw all things to himself, he said this. Understanding that he was saying this about his own death, they opposed him, raising the question how it is possible to say that

You die and you save all, while the law says that the Christ remains forever, not knowing that as a sheep he will indeed be led to slaughter. But when he has been slaughtered and rises, then he no longer dies, but remains forever. Accordingly he testified; for there was still a little time between the passion and this discourse. And he calls himself light, as one who enlightens souls through the gospel teaching. Darkness can be spoken of also as the condemnation of the impious in the age to come, as he said more clearly elsewhere concerning the one who has no wedding garment: Cast him out, he says, into the outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Those who believed were not only illuminated by the knowledge of the light, but also became and were named light. 6:1 He hid not out of cowardice, nor did he make himself entirely invisible, but he withdrew usefully, so that he might seem to give them leisure for the examination of what had been said; for in this way, having become thoughtful and accurately reckoning up his words together with his deeds, they could come to a perception of his dignity, if indeed they wished to consider matters with good sense; for even if he foreknew their unbelief most of all, nevertheless he did what was in his power out of love for humanity. He does not withdraw out of cowardice, but giving them leisure for the examination of what had been said. For even if he knew their disobedience, nevertheless he does what is in his power out of love for humanity. 7:1 Not as though necessity were leading them to this, but to the things each of them had chosen beforehand.

Perhaps because their prior lawlessness had made them worthy of hardening, they submitted to this by a just judgment, paying the penalty for their former and still present impiety. For Isaiah, foreseeing their unbelief, spoke prophetically of what was to come: "You will hear with hearing and never understand, and seeing you will see and never perceive," reasonably ascribing to them the cause of their folly and blindness. And the evangelist, knowing precisely that their unbelief, foreknown by God, would in every case come to pass, added the cause, that they could not believe, because Isaiah said, "He has blinded their eyes." For the foreknowledge of God is truthful, not compelling the impious to unbelief, but only foreseeing and knowing their future disobedience that comes from free choice. God himself did not blind or harden them, but permitted them to go further in what they wished to do, since their prior lawlessness and their present unbelief made them worthy of hardening. So then Isaiah, prophetically seeing what was to come, foretold it to them, ascribing the cause of their hardening; and the evangelist says that what was foreknown by God could not fail to come to pass. For the foreknowledge of God is truthful, not however compelling the impious to disbelieve, but only foreseeing the unbelief that was to come; the prophecy came about. For having been hardened by unbelief, they no longer paid attention even to the greatness of the signs. Concerning this, then, the prophet foretold. From what the evangelist says, Isaiah saw the Son.

Just as, to be sure, Nicodemus also, though he supposed he was genuinely disposed toward the Lord's interests, at the beginning sought to escape the notice of the rulers and came to him by night, hiding himself for fear, and as if stealing in the night to him—he both confessed that he saw him and believed, yet for the time being did not dare to speak openly, lest he become excluded from the synagogue—so also these men: for in their mind they seemed to receive him and believe, yet they in no way endured to speak openly. Therefore, since they did not dare, they could gain no benefit from this; for the assent of faith, unless it also takes to itself the open confession of the word, cannot by itself perfect anyone. One must therefore neither hold faith without open confession nor offer the confession through the mouth apart from the living assent. And Nicodemus, from the fact that he came to him by night, indicated that he did this for fear, believing indeed, but not daring to come to him with open boldness, lest he become excluded from the synagogue and lose the glory that comes from men, on account of which they also fell away from the hope laid up with God. For one must not only believe in the mind, but also confess this with open boldness. The disposition of those who believe he refers through faith in him to the Father; for through those things by which one honors me, he says, he honors the one who sent me. And being the image of God, he spoke truthfully: the one who beholds me beholds the Father. For coming into the world as light, he granted us the illumination of knowledge and did not allow us to be in the darkness of unbelief. For the purpose of the present coming was not to judge but to save the faithful.

But if some did not believe and were not saved, let them be charged against themselves, as those who did not wish to be saved, being unconvinced by the one who came to save. But so that he might not give them an occasion for unbelief, he refers the cause of their unbelief in him to the Father, so that without any defense they may be condemned in the time of his second coming; for the word of his humility will judge them. He calls him Father and says that he was sent from him and speaks his words, in order that he might shame them and, even so, persuade them to believe his words. Since the commandment from the Father makes those who keep it enjoy eternal life, he called it life. And having said, "What I have said, the Father has spoken," he puts to shame not only the Jews but also the Sabellians; for he indicates to us two persons, that of the one who commands and that of the one who received the commandment. In many places he calls the feast of Passover "hour," in which it was necessary for him, having fulfilled the economy of the passion and offered himself as a ransom for us, to depart from this world to the Father—not in a local sense, as if making the departure as God; for neither the Father nor the Son is in a place, for these things are proper to bodies, but according to the economy which he accomplished for our sake. In many places he calls the feast of Passover "hour," in which, having suffered, he rose and ascended to the Father. Having loved his own, so as to show every kind of love toward them—through the things by which he became man, through the things by which he gave them the dignity of adoption, through the things by which he did and said all that was beneficial, through the things by which he was slain for them, and then through the things by which he did not disdain to serve the disciples.

Therefore each person must be on guard; for behold, consider into what evil the devil brought Judas, that he handed over his own teacher and God to death. And when the evangelist said that the Son had all things under his hand and with his own hands was washing the feet of the disciples, he shows that by washing the feet of the disciples he took up the excess of humility. And knowing that not long after he was about to ascend to the Father into the heavens, he was not ashamed to do this in the rank of a servant. So it was out of reverence that Peter tried to prevent him. And it is likely that for this reason Jesus was washing their feet, by his touch setting their feet aright for the preparation of the gospel, imparting to them an ineffable power. But Peter, not knowing this, tried to prevent him, seeing his own master thus putting upon himself a servile and lowly form. By a threat Jesus silences him. Just as at the beginning he seemed to object out of humility, so now, having heard this, he begs out of excess of reverence that both his hands and his head be washed. To Peter and the others he testified purity, to those sanctified through the regeneration of the word. And he necessarily added the words "not all," because of the wickedness of the betrayer.

...which he had. He said this wanting to teach them the economy of what had happened and to lead them to imitate his own humility. Therefore he says: I have given you an example—not only in word but also in deed, providing an example of perfect humility. For it is evident that you, being both servants and my apostles, cannot be greater than the master who sent me, since the servant, as long as he is a servant, is established as far inferior to his lord, and the one sent, as long as he holds the rank of one sent, can in no way be equal in honor to the one who sent him. So that they might not be ashamed to do what the Lord has done, he calls this a blessing and urges them to the deed, which is the goal of all teaching. For he himself knew who were worthy or not of his promise, and nevertheless he endured the traitor, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled; for the betrayal came about by the traitor's own choice, while the Scripture, having proclaimed this long ago, was now fulfilled through the act of betrayal. But if someone should say, Why did he allow him to become a traitor?, it must be said that it is God's custom to allow man to act as he wishes, since he has given him free will; for thus he did also in the case of Adam, and likewise in the case of Saul, and he did not force him toward what was better, but allowed him to do what he wished in himself. So he allowed this man too, so that the one might be punished, while the other disciples might be crowned, as having achieved virtue by their own choice.

The betrayal and the plot against the Lord came about by the choice of the Iscariot, but the Scripture, having prophesied the work of betrayal long beforehand, was fulfilled through its outcome. The voluntary transgression of the one disciple establishes the freedom of soul of the other apostles, who were not led to piety by necessity but set their conduct aright by choice. He foretold these things so that no one might say that he was betrayed in ignorance of Judas's intention, but that all might believe that he clearly knew what was to happen. For those who genuinely receive the one who was sent display their obedience toward the one who sent him, and the honor of the one sent reaches the one who sent him. Such a foretelling, spoken for the assurance of those who hear, was necessary; for if it had happened that he was handed over by Judas without having foretold anything, someone might have suspected that he endured the plot through ignorance of that man's wickedness. But by foretelling what was to happen and clearly instructing them about this beforehand, he averted the suspicion of ignorance and exposed the wickedness of the traitor. Grieving over the traitor's transgression, he was troubled. They were at a loss, reasoning who it was who was about to dare this against the Lord. Out of the boldness of love John asked Jesus who it was; for each was greatly anxious both for himself and for his neighbor, and Jesus pointed him out by a sign. The giving of the bread became a reproof of his impiety, but certainly not the cause of his apostasy. When, therefore, having been publicly exposed, he did not change but persisted in his own wickedness, then Satan entered into him, having made him a servant of his own wickedness.

Since the Savior now presses the enemy who was plainly manifest to do what seemed good to the betrayer himself. Having become visible to all, he went out at once on that very night, wishing to do his own will. The Son, by putting death to death through his passion, was being glorified, and the Father was being glorified in him through the things by which he raised him from the dead. So then, through the Son the Father was glorified, since the Son made known among men the name of the Father, and he himself was in turn glorified, hearing in a providential manner: Sit at my right hand. For not long afterward he was about to be handed over to suffering. For after he was taken up into the heavens, they longed to be with him and for a time could not be there. And new is the form of this commandment, since it requires each person to love his neighbor beyond himself. Having an unbearable desire to be separated from him even for a short time, he said this. Then Christ says that neither could he follow him to Hades for the present because of cowardice, nor after the resurrection, when he ascends to heaven, could he go up with him at once; for the world had need of them for the sake of the gospel teaching. Nevertheless he promises in a certain way that, as he says, they will later be carried up into the heavens. Since it was exceedingly painful to Peter to be separated from the teacher even for a short time (for he was fervent), he promised not only to die with him but even to die on his behalf. Knowing as God the weakness of Peter, he says things contrary to him, and experience showed him to be speaking the truth. He shows that no one is a perfect believer unless he believes in the Father and the Son.

Since the gloomy things that had been said were enough to trouble them, for this reason he said this, almost saying that the denial for a short time will be immediately wiped out by the repentance and confession that at once took place in Peter. Since the way of life of human beings seems to be diverse and varied—for the life of human beings is not one, nor is the conduct of all one and the same, but one is better or less than another, excelling and being inferior according to the practice of righteousness—reasonably not one but many dwelling places were prepared for the saints, so that, as each receives the dwelling in the kingdom of Christ according to the worth of what he has lived, the righteousness of the Lord may be shown. Since righteousness according to virtue is diverse, reasonably he also speaks of the honors given to them as diverse, so that the righteousness of God may be shown. And he says these things promising them the ascent from earth to heavens. And he confirms it through what follows; for after the resurrection, having ascended into heaven, he came again to them, appearing to them in various ways, so that, according to the promise, he might lead them up to himself into the kingdom of the heavens. To the one who does not know and seeks to learn the way, he shows that he himself is the one who leads up from earth to heaven and will bring the worthy to the Father. And he calls himself truth because of the unlyingness of the promises, and life because of giving eternal life to all as a fountain. And he says that the saints will come to the Father through himself, since through faith in the Son one comes to know the Father. For through the Son the saints will also receive the knowledge of the Father.

But then he says they knew him, when through his teaching they learned the truth concerning him. As if he had supposed the Father to be something other than the Son, he said this. For the eye that sees does not need much time for the sight of what is present with it, but the one who wishes to know intelligibly needs no little time and much circumspection for the comprehension of the incorporeal. It was fitting, then, surely, that Philip too, having contemplated the powers of the Lord over the long time that had passed, should already be in a state of comprehension and should clearly have known the divinity of the Lord. Having first taught, therefore, that he seeks the knowledge of the soul, he consequently added the matter of sight, so that it could no longer be suspected that he was seeking bodily sight when he said, "He who has seen me has seen the Father." From this it is established that he was speaking of sight according to the mind. He does not say this, that he himself was the Father, but that through the image the archetype can be contemplated by the mind; for the Son had in himself the whole essence of the Father, which cannot be seen visibly, but by the knowledge of contemplation, so far as is attainable. Therefore also concerning his own essence, which is unknown and invisible, he does not say, "You have not seen me," but "You have not known me," which it was possible for you to know over a long time, having seen such things

For the sight through the eyes occurs in a short time, but the knowledge of invisible things requires a long interval. Since, then, there is need of knowledge according to the mind, so that one may know my essence, the one who knows me also knows the Father. For not even the Jews, having beheld me with the eye as a man, had already seen the Father through me. It is clear, therefore, that he speaks of sight according to the mind. This is fitting against Sabellius. For how is it possible to suppose that the one who is in another and has another in himself is only one? The Son, then, being substantially encompassed by the Father, no less also himself has the Father in himself. The Son did not have the Father dwelling in him as one of the saints did, but as life by nature he had in himself the life by nature, and again he had him wholly around himself. Therefore also the things he spoke and did, inasmuch as the Father was wholly in him, he himself spoke and worked the things the Son did. As consubstantial with the Father, he has the Father in himself and is encompassed by him. These words are not found at all in the subsequent passages. But Theodore of Thrace interprets them thus, saying: The Son is not related to the Father as we are in Christ. For we are in Christ in these things, not insofar as we make heavens or earth or the other things which he himself makes and made upon the earth, but insofar as we imitate his forbearance, his gentleness, his loving disposition, and all such things, not being consubstantial with him—for how could those who have come to be from him be so? But the Son is in the Father as doing all things that the Father does.

Since he is of one essence and nature with him, and is wholly in the Father by nature, and has him wholly in himself, in no way lessening him, except only that he subsists in his own proper person; for he is Son and not Father. The apostles also performed greater signs than those Jesus performed while he was on earth, in which their shadow even worked healings, and because Christ worked wonders for the benefit of men alone, but they also for punishment, as when Ananias perished, and because Paul handed the Corinthian over for punishment. By these things the power of Christ was shown, that he had not only the beneficent power but also the punitive, but he deferred the punitive for the fitting time. Nevertheless, also from the fact that Jesus worked most of his wonders in Judea alone, but they in the whole inhabited world, while Christ was invisibly with them and working, again they seemed to have done greater things. He says that he is going to the Father as about to be taken up, when he also promises to give them their requests immediately, so that the Father may be glorified through the Son, who gives such power to the disciples. For in addition to the other powers which the apostles performed, they also healed through his shadow.

But not only in this was the superiority shown, but especially in that, when he had used the power of the Godhead for beneficence only, the disciples worked toward both ends through the authority given to them—both for the beneficence of those who believe and for the punishment of those who do very great wickedness—and toward both they set forth the exceeding greatness of the power of the teacher, who was able to punish the impious more greatly, but had for a time held back and reserved his punitive power for the fitting time of judgment. I think it is right to ask also those from Phrygia, whether the apostles loved the Lord and kept his commandments, just as he said to them: If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And if they dare to say foolishly that they did not love him nor keep his commandments, their impiety will be refuted on the spot, since all men know accurately that the disciples of the Lord showed genuine love toward their teacher not only through their works and the rest of their conduct, but indeed also through their own blood in martyrdom. For what love could be greater than this, through which, counting death as nothing, they readily gave up their own lives for their master. But if they are compelled by the force of the matter to say

...because they loved him and kept his commandments, how is it not consistent that they should confess that he himself also immediately fulfilled the promise which he had made to them, having asked the Father and sent them another Paraclete? For if, when they not only loved him but even chose to die for him, he had not sent them the Paraclete as he promised—according to the Phrygian impiety—he will be found false in his promises. But if, being truth, he sent them the Holy Spirit, then those who imagine that the Paraclete was sent through Montanus and Priscilla some two hundred and thirty years after the apostolic grace came to be are wandering in vain. From the fact that the apostles did all the will of God and even died for him, it is clear that they kept his commandments. Therefore they were also deemed worthy of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit immediately, and the heresy of the Phrygians is refuted, which says that after 230 years the Paraclete was sent through Montanus and Priscilla and Maximilla. From the fact that he says he asks the Father, in order that he might send another Paraclete, he clearly sets forth the three persons of the one Trinity; for no one says that someone asks himself and sends himself, which is what those who confuse the hypostases say. Here he calls "world" the worldly men, who believe that nothing exists beyond what is seen. Therefore they could not receive the Spirit of truth, which is by nature incorporeal and cannot be contemplated by them.

But since they had already been baptized in the Holy Spirit and had the sanctification in themselves, he said, "He remains with you and will be in you"; for having received the gift through baptism, they were soon also to receive the gift through the Paraclete. For he never allowed them to be destitute of his own providence, seeing that even after the resurrection he was found together with them very many times. For he was going to appear after the resurrection to the disciples alone, to give to the faithful a pledge of the eternal life to come. Then, he says, when you have beheld my glory, you will be fully assured, when we shall all be united by the bond of love, each hypostasis remaining within its own bounds. The mark of love toward Christ is the keeping of his commandments. Judas wanted him, as a friend, to deem the whole world worthy of such a good—of his own vision of God. That one wished, because of his surpassing love for humanity, that the benefit from the manifestation should belong not only to the disciples but, if it were possible, to the whole world at once. But the Lord, wishing to show that not all are worthy of such things, sets forth through his answer that only those who keep his commandments will appear worthy of both his manifestation and the Father's love. But the one who does not believe nor keep his words has been established entirely alien to his love. And having said that the word of his teaching is not his own but the Father's who sent him, he clearly showed from this also the distinction of the persons.

By what he says, he signifies that not all are deemed worthy of the things spoken, but those who keep his commandments, which he handed down, teaching them through himself. And he promises, speaking in the plural, "We will come," the indwelling in the faithful, in order to abolish the heresy of Sabellius, which says that the Father and the Son are one. The one who disbelieves his words is a stranger to his love. And by ascribing the whole of the teaching to the Father, he sets forth the distinct subsistence of the persons, through what he says about the one who sent and the one who was sent. It was possible for those who at any time came to be after these things to be taught by the Paraclete, but for those who had not previously learned from the Lord to be reminded by him is entirely impossible. Therefore, primarily for the apostles, who heard beforehand from him, and afterward were also reminded by the Paraclete, when he said those things a second time, such a promise is fitting; for the one who is reminded is not the one learning for the first time, but the one hearing a second time those things which he had already learned before. It is impossible, then, that these things were said concerning Montanus and Priscilla and Maximilla, who had neither seen the Lord nor heard anything from him, so that having heard they might seem to be reminded. No one can come to remembrance unless of things which he has already heard, which the Spirit promises to do. How then can it be said that Montanus and Priscilla, having neither seen Christ nor heard anything from him, were the first to obtain the Spirit? For what did the Spirit have to remind them of, of which they had altogether heard nothing? My peace I give to you.

This peace joins those who come to be in its state to the Father, and it brings about among the saints one mind. And it joins not only all people in common to one another, but it also makes each one individually in harmony with himself. For since, I think, human nature had formerly been divided against itself through the plotting of the enemy, and had received, as it were, a civil war within itself when the wicked one rose up—setting the worse against the better and fortifying the flesh against the spirit—it needed the peace from the Lord, so that the soul, receiving the flesh again as docile and the body as obedient, might be able to be released from the civil strife. Having made them peace with the Father, he teaches them to keep this securely. And by what he adds, he shows that there is another, exceptional peace, the one from him, which is secure and true beyond the peace of the world, and which leads the faithful to one harmony and one mind. And not only does the peace from divine grace persuade us to be at peace with those outside, but also with ourselves. For nature, having been thrown into confusion against itself by the devil, was at war from the beginning, but the peace of the Lord makes the flesh obedient to the soul, through which civil wars are put to rest. It was necessary, then, if they had perfect love, not to overlook what is exceedingly advantageous, but to rejoice, if indeed he was separated from them. But since, he says, you deeply long for my bodily presence, nevertheless you ought to rejoice at least because you have heard that I am going to the Father. And he calls the Father greater by way of economy, since not even the disciples yet had the proper opinion concerning him, having been previously instructed from the law to worship one God and Father only.

Having been separated from them for a short time during the passion and being about to appear to them after the resurrection, he fulfilled the promise concerning this. By experience the Lord confirmed his own truthfulness. Since the plotter was near, the time no longer permitted him to speak further. He calls the devil the ruler of the world, as having ruled the world for a short time through deceit by the Father's permission. But he found nothing in him, since Christ sinned neither in word nor in deed. Nevertheless he says, because of obedience to the Father, I endure those things which those who have sinned endure, so that I may become a ransom for the world according to the Father's commandments. Hastening to the passion, he urged them to go there, where Judas, having come, was about to betray him. He called himself a vine, as having in himself and from himself the branches, that is, the faithful, whom he says at the proper time to render fruits through the care of the Spirit. Here he calls the cleansing of the rational branches the continual care of divine providence, through which they are cleansed both in struggles and in the rest of their conduct in godliness. Since, he says, a right life and faith cleanse, and you have followed my commandments, therefore you are clean, having been tested in afflictions as gold in a furnace. He shows from what has been said that each of those who wish to live uprightly remains by his own choice in the vine, being united to it and joined to it through love, or on the contrary departs

Being estranged from it by his own choice. From these things it is clear that each person remains in the vine or departs by his own choice. Therefore he does not draw by compulsion, but exhorts by free choice. So the one who is not in him, but has cut himself off through his own wickedness, remains fruitless from then on, like the branch that was cut off. The Lord calls himself a vine and teaches that the disciples are branches, showing that they cannot do anything approved without partaking of the moisture from the root. And just as the approved branch bears fruit through its own virtue, being fattened from the root, so the idle one is cut off and, as no longer able to bear fruit, is handed over to fire. 287 15, By what he promises to give he shows that the way of piety will not be without profit for the saints. For he says that the Father is glorified in the disciples bearing much fruit; for the fruit of the disciples is understood in different ways, sometimes taken as the works of righteousness in their conduct, sometimes as the nations coming to the knowledge of God through their apostolic grace and teaching, both of which were accomplished by the disciples to the glory of God. 289 15, Having added "just as I have loved you," he indicated the excellence of the gospel love and the increase of the commandment and its newness—to love one's friends beyond oneself. Since through progress in virtue they surpassed the measure of slaves, he calls them friends. Therefore he says, "As one who loves you sincerely, I have hidden nothing from you of what is owed.

By grace you were called to the dignity of the apostolate and were appointed teachers of the whole inhabited world, so as to bring much fruit to the Master in a harvest, through the multitude of those who believe. And in many places the evangelists likened those who obey the angelic word to the fruitfulness of grain, just as even now he says this to the disciples; for they could not otherwise prevail over the goal and bring this fruit of the fertility that comes through faith, unless the Father himself gave them heavenly gifts when they asked and supplied the wondrous powers in the name of the Only-Begotten. For by grace they were called to the dignity of the apostolate, so that, having been appointed teachers of the inhabited world, they might bring much fruit to the Lord through the multitude of the faithful, which they were able to do by asking the Father in the name of the Son to strengthen them. Knowing that they were going to be hated by all, he enjoins them to have love for one another, so that through this they might withstand Jews and Greeks, against whom also the gospel preaching was directed for their overthrow. Wishing to bring them to unanimity, he imposed on them the unbreakable bond of the security that comes from love, so that, fenced in by such harmony through their disposition toward one another, they might be able to withstand the hatred of the world; for since their preaching and teaching was directed toward the overthrow of all error, it followed that they should receive terrible hatred from the unbelievers.

Therefore, arming them with unanimity, he sets their love against the world's hatred—that is, against the hatred of wicked men—but so that they might not, as mere men, think the hatred arising from the wicked to be unbearable, he reminds them of his own case, saying: If the world hates you, know that it hated me before you, so that, having learned that they did not spare even the Master himself, they too might more eagerly endure hatred in imitation of their teacher. Next, consoling them as far as possible, he sets before them the reasonable considerations, saying: If you were of the world, the world would love its own; for having chosen you out of wicked men through faith and the virtue of your life, I have made you entirely estranged from them; for your citizenship is no longer on earth, but in the heavens. He calls the wicked "the world," from whom the Lord separated them by their believing in him and performing the works of godly virtue. Such people, then, the worthless hated. So that they might not hear unbearably the hatred that would come upon them from men, he shapes them by his own case to bear this lightly, seeing that even the Master was treated in this way. If you consider that they hated and persecuted me, the Lord, without cause—me, who endured these things on behalf of servants—then you, the servants, when you suffer the same things on behalf of the Master, have no reason to bear it heavily if you suffer the same things as I. For they persecuted the disciples for no other reason except only that they proclaimed the name of Christ, as not even knowing the Father. But they disobeyed him not because of the one who spoke, but because of their own disposition.

Therefore they are without excuse. For the one who hates the Son hates his Father no less. For his divine signs, surpassing all the signs that came to be through the prophets, rendered them without excuse on the day of judgment, since they did not believe him, but even by the very things through which they hated him they also hate his Father. By the things these men did wickedly, the prophetic oracle was fulfilled. That you might be able, he says, to endure the struggle of patience, the Paraclete comes to assist you, and so that, working together with you for the gospel word, he may become a witness of my divinity—and not only he, but you also who behold me risen from the dead, truly believing those things of which you have had experience. And by what he says, he teaches that the Spirit proceeds from the substance of the Father, sent down to men through the Son. He forewarns them of hardships, so that by prayer they may arm themselves to escape the hardships, and so that he may show that all the words he foretold are true. He foretells the steadfastness of their faith, that they would struggle for piety even to blood, and that their persecutors would fall into such irrational zeal as to think that the killing of the disciples was pleasing to God, as though for this reason the murderers were serving God. But these things happen because of the ignorance of the unbelievers, which they eagerly brought upon themselves by not receiving the knowledge of the truth.

By the prediction he makes them more confident, yet at the very height of the events he commands them to come to a remembrance of his words, so that they might receive some consolation from the good promises by coming to remembrance. In addition to these things, it also seemed untimely, long before the economy of the passion, while he was still with them and dwelling with them, to foretell from the beginning concerning such things and the teaching according to piety, by which they were going to have their soul confirmed, and to obscure it by the teaching of the things foretold. It was not timely, long beforehand, to reconcile to you the virtue according to piety, lest you be destroyed by time, and because, being with you, I was handing it over by deeds; but now, since I am departing, it is necessary to speak. And when I said before this that I am departing, you were asking me where I am going; but now, having heard the things that are going to overtake you, from fear and grief you ask me nothing about this. Since men did not yet know the essence of the Son, but the Holy Spirit, having come, taught that the essence of the Trinity is one, he said that the presence of the Spirit is advantageous; for the Son, since the disciples were still imperfect, did not proclaim to them all things that they needed to learn. For when he came for the overthrow of the sin that held the world and provided the propitiation for all who gladly received his presence, those who remained in unbelief had their sin as something irremovable and, as it were, sealed. For when the Holy Spirit came to wipe out the sins of the faithful, those who did not receive him remained having their sin unforgiven and, as it were, sealed.

and irrevocable. And he says this about righteousness, that it was necessary for me to depart to the Father, having fulfilled all the things of the dispensation, so that I might also open the way to men for all the righteous, giving them this as a recompense for their labors. Or he says this, that if after I depart and am no longer seen by you, you remain in the faith concerning me, you are justified. And the ruler of this world he calls the devil, who was condemned for bringing death upon men in vain and alleging as a pretext that Adam did not die because of him, but because he sinned. For behold, Christ, having sinned in nothing, was killed by the Jews, the devil having urged them on to the death of Christ. Perhaps he speaks concerning the righteousness of the apostles; for as long as they had him present with them on earth, they seemed in his eyes to be doing what was pleasing to him face to face, but when he was taken up to the Father and was no longer beheld, remaining in the same purpose they displayed their righteousness as more brilliant. He calls the adversary the ruler of the world, who by deceit turned the first man away from God and made him subject to his own authority. This one, through the Lord's becoming man, was stripped of his authority and has been cast out of the rule he had chosen by deceit. Therefore, when the second man had exactly completed his conduct in godliness, the adversary—that is, the ruler of the world—was justly condemned, unjustly bringing death upon him through the rulers. For this reason he says: because the ruler of this world has been judged.

Since they were imperfect and unable to abstain from the carnal things of the law—for instance, to partake of indifferent foods or to refrain from handmade circumcision—he does not hand over to them the more perfect things, awaiting their progress in faith. For even if Christ was able to transform their souls into whatever he wished, he does not do so, since what is done by necessity is without reward. When, then, they had progressed in faith, then the Spirit, visiting them, taught them all things, the perfect and secret things, as many as the Son did not teach because of the dispensation, and demonstrated through the gospel teaching things greater than Judaism, and guided them into every doctrinal truth, and the oracles of the Father that speak of things to come declared them to the disciples. For the Holy Spirit has become a witness of the divinity of the Only-begotten, being from his essence and declaring his essence. Just as in the Father are all the hidden treasures of wisdom, so also in me. Therefore, as having all the things of the Father as his own, he said, "He takes from what is mine." Having been left behind during the time of the three-day passion and having appeared to them again, he was taken up into the heavens. For being darkened in mind by grief, they did not understand the things spoken to them as in riddles. As God, knowing their thoughts and forestalling the doubt of their heart, he anticipates their question and says, that what was said by me is this: that you indeed have reason to weep at the time of the passion, while the impious have mocked me. But your grief will be turned into joy not long after, when you see me risen from the dead.

The disciples were going to be distressed, like a woman giving birth, at the time of the passion, unable to bear seeing the insults against their teacher. But immediately after the resurrection, seeing him, they not only cast off the grief that had come upon them, but they also had such great joy as to possess it as something that cannot be taken away; for the joy of the resurrection is not quenched, remaining always. For the disciples were convinced that he was an immortal God, and therefore had ascended into the heavens, and they saw him with his own flesh. Into such great, he says, reverence toward God are you going to ascend through faith as to ask the Father with boldness in my name and to receive through him what you ask; for I was doing this until now, but if you ask and receive, joy is confirmed for you through the partaking of good things. The Lord spoke in a veiled way because of the childishness of his hearers; but he promises them, as they advance, to reveal clearly the glory of the Father. As has been said, great progress gives them the boldness to ask. And this has come about by the grace of the Only-begotten through faith in him. He made the saints friends of the Father. For it was necessary that he, having arranged all things for our salvation, run back again to the Father and to his own glory. The disciples said these things, marveling at him as God, especially from the things he was saying clearly, which they were reasoning about within themselves. Therefore from what they heard—not without reason—they believed that, being the Son of God, he had become man and had come into the world.

Because they did not yet have perfect faith in him, he foretells what was going to happen—that when he was seized, they would all flee and leave only what depended on them. But he was never alone, since he had the Father in himself and with himself. They needed much encouragement, so that they might escape the difficulty of the things that were coming and remain in his peace, which he granted to all who believe in him, having conquered and cast down the ruler of this age through forbearance. He calls "hour" the suitable time of the passion, as also elsewhere; for we do not mean the hour that comes from fate, which does not exist, but the one according to which he himself judged it right to suffer, permitting the wickedness of those who plotted against him. For thus also in the case of the sign of the wine he called the "hour" the opportune moment. He uses "to glorify" and "to be glorified" with the same meaning, in order to teach the equality of himself and the Father. For he is glorified by the Father insofar as he rises as a man through the Father, and he glorifies himself insofar as, being God, he raises himself by his own power and grants us to behold the Father in him, as it were, as a father has begotten a son, and from whom it is shown what he is. He is master of all bodies and souls, but to those who believe in him alone he gives the blessed life. He calls the Father true God as unbegotten, yet he does not exclude himself from being God; for the only-begotten is also God, but begotten of God. And by saying this he taught us the doctrine of the truth. Through those things, he says, which I endured as a man for the salvation of human beings, in order that I might make your name known to them, I have glorified you—to make your power known through my power, which is equal to yours.

By saying "before the world was," he shows himself to be the pre-eternal God of all things. So then, in accordance with the economy, he asks to receive back that glory—not the glory he did not have, but the glory which, having become man for the economy, he had let go into humiliation of himself by the good pleasure of the Father, and which he had emptied himself of while possessing it; which he did not need to receive, but to receive back. Or, having spoken only through the figure, by saying "before the world was" he showed that he was not a mere man who began to exist from the time of his birth from the virgin, but was pre-eternal, and in the last days became incarnate. And by saying "with the glory which he had," he shows that the Son had glory from himself without beginning, not from another. It is fitting to know that he prayed not to receive, but to receive back. Not only this, but he also silences the heretics who suppose him to be only a man, by saying that his own glory is older than the world; and no less does he expose the deception of Marcellus, who said that the Word did not receive glory from the Father, but possessed it from himself without beginning. When the many had wandered into unbelief, the Son of God came, leading men to the knowledge of God by giving them the illumination of knowledge. The things that exist are indeed the Father's, yet none the less they are the Son's, because of the consubstantiality. But he is also said to have given all things to the Son, through which, having obeyed the Son, they are brought to

...to his Father through the knowledge of God and through keeping his commandments. But if he says "now they have known," he means they learned it by experience, and he says these things as befitting humanity. Nevertheless, the Father also appears in the Old Testament saying to Abraham: "Now I know that you fear God." Nevertheless, the Son, giving the Father's words to men, fully assured the faithful that he had come forth from the Father's essence. 335 11 He does not pray for the worldly, but for the saints, whom he says he has received from the Father—whom the Father, bringing them to the Son in an ineffable manner, remains again their master. And the saints, who also cultivate a life of virtue, are called God's—not a creature, but men insofar as they do what is pleasing to him. Nevertheless, the Son speaks of his own things as the Father's, and none the less the Father's things as his own. He said these things hastening to ascend to heaven. Therefore he speaks these things as though the disciples were still remaining on earth because of his preaching. He speaks economically, as a man. Just as, he says, you have highly exalted me and I have the name of deity, so also keep these in this name, that being perfected in faith they may be united just as I and you are one in essence, even if distinct in hypostases. For being with them, he kept them both through his teaching and through the supply of his own power, which is called the Father's. And he shows that he did not draw them by compulsion, but guarded those who were with him by their own choice. Therefore Judas also perished through his voluntary perversity, that the scripture might be fulfilled which says:

The one who eats my bread has lifted up his heel against me—a prediction that did not become a necessity for Judas, but a conviction of his own wickedness. Since he had imparted divine power to them, when he made them cast out the demons, he filled them with joy; this joy he asks to be preserved for them. Since they received the evangelical teaching, the world hated them, that is, wicked men, those who pursue worldly pleasures. Being outside of these, the saints are no longer of the world. For the present, then, he wills that they be in the world for the sake of the evangelical ministry, but that they be preserved from the devil's plots. And because of the virtue of their soul and their conduct, he calls them strangers to the world, as he also calls himself so because of his sinlessness. 340 17 It was necessary for the disciples, for the work of the evangelical conduct, that the sanctification which comes from the Father should confirm them by the word of truth. Just as he himself, in the manner of economy, as a man, was sent to proclaim the saving word, so too he himself after the resurrection sent the disciples to teach the inhabited world, having first sanctified them in himself; for through those things by which he gave himself over to slaughter, he sanctifies himself (for to sanctify is said to mean to give oneself for sacrifice), offering himself as a sacrifice for the world, so that those who obtain redemption in him may be sanctified in truth. 342 –21 For having imparted to them his holy glory, he has in this made them sharers of his own dignities. And he continually mentions the manner of the union, leading them to the precise comprehension of the most perfect understanding, through which they are brought to perfect faith.

Seeing these things, the faithful learned through the very facts themselves who it was who had given these things to his own disciples, through which was also shown the good pleasure of the Father, who loved them and perfected them through the grace in Christ. 343 –21 Not only of the disciples, but he also remembers all those who would later believe through the disciples, who themselves also have become one, having been joined both to themselves and to God through being joined to Christ. But this union does not come about according to essence or according to hypostasis, but according to the agreement of faith. And from this agreement the world also believed that Christ was made flesh by the good pleasure of the Father and proclaimed the saving word; for this is what "to be sent" means. He asks that they be in heaven, so that beholding his glory they may enjoy that blessedness. He says that he has received as a man. And by what he says of the one who gave and the one who received, he makes clear his own and the Father's hypostases. And by saying that he was loved by the Father before the world, he refutes the error of those who say that he received a beginning from the virgin Mary. Of the unbelievers in life who by their own choice did not wish to come to know God through the evangelical teaching, in a certain manner, as he himself knows the Father—but indeed he also testifies to the disciples' knowledge of knowing that he had come forth from the Father. As he himself revealed to them the knowledge of the Father, he says this as also those who through progress know more, so that they may be loved proportionally by him, which is what humans ought to be loved by God.

Foreseeing that Judas was coming to seize him, after saying these things he went out into the garden, where, having often gathered with the disciples as in a private place, he taught them the more mystical of his teachings. Therefore Judas also knew the place. Judas came to seize the teacher, having become a traitor instead of a disciple. The Lord went out to meet them, in order to bring to completion the things foreordained for him and to show the voluntariness of his endurance of the passion and the authority of his divinity; for having made himself unknown at the beginning, although Judas was present and there were sufficient lights, he again revealed himself, saying, "I am he," and showing that he who by a word alone cast them backward was able, if he wished, to ascend, and he bore with the plotting men without resentment, those who came against him. As a good father standing before his children, he keeps those men outside of the temptations because of their weakness and because they were still childlike, and in order that he might fulfill the word which he spoke, he hands himself over. Through what Peter did, he was shown to be willing to die for his master, since he had used a sword and, having cut off the servant's ear, not even so did he stop, unless he was prevented by Christ. He shows that, having judged it good to endure the foreordained death by the good pleasure of the Father, he handed himself over. Having bound him, they fulfilled the saying in Isaiah which says, "Let us bind the righteous one." But the wicked chief priests sent Jesus from house to house, seeking through this to make a public spectacle of him. Caiaphas, then, as one plotting against Christ, said that it was necessary for him to be put to death; but God arranged that his unjust counsel should come to pass for the salvation of the whole.

Peter alone followed because of his disposition toward the teacher, and the other also, since he was known to the high priest. Therefore he also went in with Jesus. Because of his acquaintance with the high priest, Peter took courage to enter with John. He who shortly before had arrayed himself against this multitude was changed and turned to denial. He says that, as it were, instead of a sign, at such a time this cold came in Palestine so that they were warming themselves at a charcoal fire. Of nearly all in Judea and Jerusalem who had heard his teaching, this man alone pretends to be ignorant, although he had heard what signs he did. He convicts him of pretending ignorance, since he said he did not know the things spoken in the temple; for it was possible for him, even if he had not heard, at least to ask those who had heard and learn. From what he said, therefore—that he spoke all things openly—he shows that his sayings are not to be accepted as secret by some. That he bears nobly and patiently the insults brought by worthless men shows his unsurpassable long-suffering. The saying is not that of one angry, but of one making a defense. But these things were perhaps being done by some perverse demon, provoking him through the servant to indignation beyond measure. They were sending him bound from place to place, thinking to insult him the more.

Peter, having denied here a second time, was defeated because the weak flesh was not sufficient for the zeal of the soul, when the evil one attacked him and shook him. On that very day, on which they were eating the typical lamb, it was necessary that the lamb of God also be slain. Those who had their hands defiled in their purpose, regarding it as pollution to approach a lifeless place on account of the most unjust murder, did not at all prevail to harm the purity of the heart. Even if he was a Gentile, nevertheless, moved by natural reasoning, he sought the reason for which they handed him over to death. Having nothing to say as a sin against him, they spoke against him indefinitely, calling him an evildoer. 366 18, He convicts their lawlessness by the things which he declines. In deed they themselves were working the murder, yet they said, "It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death." But they said this as having also fallen from the ancient authority and rule—or rather, they said this because they did not have the custom of crucifying those being put to death. Therefore they also handed him over to the Romans, among whom the manner of execution by the cross was practiced. For among the faithful such a report was being spread. And the chief priests, finding no pretext, slandered him as one who speaks against Caesar. For the chief priests, finding no pretext, slandered him as a king and one who sets himself against Caesar. Christ, wishing to persuade Pilate, showed that he is indeed a king, but that he was not exercising a human rule; and thereafter he persuades him from what is fitting, that he does not have an acquired strength or glory as the kings on earth do, but naturally possesses the things of power.

But if I were, he says, an earthly king, my guards would have been compelled to defend me as one wronged and as one being led to death, so it seemed, against my will; for the angels did not do this, but kept silent, struck with amazement, as understanding the economy of Christ's coming. 371 37 He, answering, neither denied his own kingship nor agreed with what Pilate had in mind; for having been born to reign, he had his kingship not as something acquired but as natural. And he has become for us both a witness and a teacher of the true faith. 372 37–38 He who was devoted to God and valued the truth highly knew that everything he spoke was true. But Pilate, being a stranger to this—for the knowledge of God had almost vanished from among men—said: What is truth? Thus he destroyed him with those brief words, so to speak: What is truth? For it had almost vanished from among men, and was formerly unknown by all, since they were still being examined in unbelief. For a time he shows himself to be honorable by what he says, and, moved by the natural law, he thought it just that he should be released. From this he also reminded them that it was their custom in those days to practice not being harsh. But they, being of a brigand's disposition, sought the release of the one like themselves in character, and the death of the righteous one as one who thought things contrary to them.

Pilate, wishing to soften their anger, had him flogged, and the soldiers, mocking him, put on him a semblance of royal attire, and he endured it. Through the examination of the facts Pilate wished publicly to declare him innocent, but they cried out savagely, "Crucify him." When they shouted this unreasonably, and he had often declared him innocent and had not persuaded them, Pilate, discharging his responsibility in the matter, says these things. They say these things in contradiction of the law; for if ordinary Israelites were called sons of God, they could never have brought a charge against the one who was truly Son of God by nature, because he said that he was naming himself the Son of the one who is. When he heard him called Son of God, he became more reverent. But Jesus, knowing that he was defending himself in vain before men who were not being persuaded, kept silent. He thought to compel him by the ruler's threat to reveal the secret things. By saying that authority had been given to him from above, he establishes the doctrine of providence and shows that not only the Jews but also Pilate, in obeying them, was guilty of his murder. They bring a charge against Pilate as one wishing to release an innocent man and intending to do what was not advantageous to Caesar. The evangelist recorded not only the passion but also the day and the hour in which he underwent the sentence of death, when the Jews killed him on the very feast day. This is a manifest denial of the will to be ruled by God, and of being under the foreigner. Rebuking them, he continually called him their king. He gave him up, seeing that they spoke so accusatorily.

Increasing their outrage against him, they also themselves prepared him to carry the cross and fixed him between the two robbers. According to custom, the charge for which he had been put to death had to be recorded, and Pilate, finding nothing to write, said he was the King of the Jews. It was written in different languages, so that none of those present and reading might fail to know that he underwent an unjust judgment. But when the chief priests wished to prevent and overturn this, Pilate, somewhat more contentiously against them, said what he said. Since the natives make the tunic from two cloths and sew it above around the shoulders and join it with sleeves to the cloths, the Savior's tunic was woven from above throughout, joined together, which they did not tear but entrusted its possession to a lot, thereby signifying the truthfulness of the Scripture. These women remained faithfully with the Lord not because of kinship but also because of their own piety. Not only while he lived did he care for his mother, but he also made provision beforehand by entrusting her to the disciple most loved by him. Therefore the disciple, receiving her as a necessary trust, immediately led her away to his own home. Of all the things written concerning him, now being accomplished in deed, only one thing remained for the refutation of their exceeding wickedness: to bring to him a sponge full of vinegar with hyssop. Only one thing remained, that he be given vinegar to drink. Therefore he said, I thirst, so that even by doing this they might appear to have done everything out of exceeding wickedness. It is shown also from these things that the one suffering was not a mere man, but God made flesh.

And by his own authority he gave up the spirit, since he would not have died otherwise unless he had also fulfilled the prophecy concerning the vinegar. But it is the property of God alone to do all things whatsoever he wills. Therefore the death makes clear the separation of the soul from the body. 398 19. And this request was most cruel; for because that day was great, they were urgent that they might die before the Sabbath. Since they found Jesus already expired, one of them pierced his side, and there came out blood, through which the redemption of all things has come to be, and water, through which sanctification has come to be. And trusting in his own conscience, the evangelist bears witness to the truthfulness of his own words. And showing that the words of the prophets were in agreement with the actual events, he also makes mention of these. 400 1. One might wonder at the matter concerning Joseph and Nicodemus, that while Christ was still living in the flesh they did not dare to speak openly, but after the cross they used such boldness as to ask for the body in the sight of the lawless men and to honor it with the customary burial; for having seen, I think, the signs that came after the passion, they had, as is likely, a more assured conviction concerning him. This is the wonderful thing, that those who formerly shrank from approaching Jesus openly while he was alive now ask for the body in the sight of the Jews and hand it over for the customary burial, having become more confirmed in faith from the signs that occurred during the passion, the darkness and

of the rest. And he was placed in a new tomb by a dispensation of providence, for a clearer proof of the resurrection, so that it might be shown that he rose again; for if he had been with others, some would have been ready to say that it was not the body of Jesus that rose, but another's. Mary, being devout, kept quiet on the Sabbath, but coming at dawn she showed her devotion toward the teacher; nevertheless, finding the stone rolled away, she ran to the disciples, not having understood from this that he had risen—which she had often heard—but, I know not whence, having surmised that what was not had come to be. And the disciples ran to know what had happened, not enduring to remain any longer after hearing this. But John, having outrun Peter, did not enter the tomb first, waiting out of honor for the first one; he only saw the linen cloths lying there, which was a sign of the resurrection. For if the body had been stolen by enemies or friends, they would not have left the linen cloths—the one side for profit, the other so as not to insult the body naked, but to move it wrapped. And if the disciples were stealing, they would have snatched it and fled, both because of the guarding soldiers and because of the Jews, and they would not have stood there stripping the body and laying the linen cloths by themselves, and the head-cloth elsewhere. From what the disciples therefore saw, they received from grace both understanding of the Scriptures and faith in the word of his resurrection, being ignorant of this the day before. Because of her great devotion she remained alone in the tomb, lamenting. Since out of affection she waited by the grave, she was deemed worthy also of a vision of angels, who from the very form of the vision were showing the resurrection of the Lord.

But if another evangelist says that there was one angel, this is no contradiction; for Mary came to the tomb not once but many times, sometimes with others, when she saw the one angel, and sometimes again alone, when she saw the two; and some of the evangelists reported the first things, others the second, except that all agree that the angels appeared in white garments announcing the resurrection. 404, 11–13 Through the white, observe the purity of the angels. And they ask, not in order to learn why she is weeping, but so that she may stop; for it was not fitting for her to weep at such a time and to insult the festal celebration. And by the fact that the angels appeared in that place, they signify that, with angels attending the place, no one was able to move the divine body, and they initiate her into the mystery of the resurrection, as one who did not know the Scripture, like the disciples. 405, For swallowed up by grief she still doubted concerning the resurrection even after the vision. 406, Having great affection for him, she also had great unbelief from her ignorance. Therefore he also calls her by name, so that even thus, recognizing him, she might be convinced without doubt that he had risen. 407, 16–17 Having believed without doubt through his voice, she confesses him as Teacher, and he prevents her as she comes to worship him. 408, For she was hastening, as was likely, to ascend to the Father untouched by human touch after the resurrection, before she should be subjected to it. 409, Out of great friendship, even after rising from the dead, he again calls the apostles brothers.

Nevertheless, God is not Father of the saints who advance in virtue in the same way that he is Father of the Son, since the one is by nature the only-begotten Son begotten of God, while the others receive the dignity of adoption by grace through their manner of life. For if this distinction had not been made, nothing would have prevented him from saying, "I go to our Father." So by saying "my Father and your Father," he showed the precision of the doctrine. 410. For she who remained in the tomb with devotion for a long time was first deemed worthy to see him after the resurrection and to hear these things. 411, 19–20. By the doors through which he entered while they were closed, he showed the power of his divinity. And by showing the marks of his passion, he fully assured them that he was the one who had risen from the dead, even if now the body had become spiritual, having passed over into incorruption. 412. Having shown them his body and bestowed peace upon them, he filled them with great joy inspired by God. 413. He calls the spiritual grace of the apostles "Spirit" when he says, "Receive the Holy Spirit," because it renders those who hear spiritual, as he himself said beforehand: "The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life." If, then, he calls the words that he himself spoke "spirit," that is, spiritual, how much more did he not name so great a gift "spirit" by homonymy? 414, 22–23. As teachers of the world, they receive this great provision of his divine authority—the power to forgive sins and to condemn certain persons, such as Sapphira and Ananias—which authority he calls the Holy Spirit, the spiritual gift. For he did not promise to give the Spirit, but to send him.

Because of the extraordinary nature of the matter, Thomas disbelieves and says these things. Therefore the Lord persuades him by another revelation. Because of Thomas's disbelief, the Lord needed to persuade him by another revelation, and he came in the same manner as at the beginning, and he urges Thomas to touch him, yet he reproaches him because he believed neither the disciples nor Christ's own prediction, which he had spoken concerning his own resurrection. Having been persuaded both by touch and by sight, he confesses Jesus to be God and Lord. Since he was, as it were, compelled by experience to believe, the Savior blesses those who have believed from hearing. Although the Lord performed many signs, the disciples mentioned only a few—as many as their memory sufficed for the benefit of those who would later believe that he had risen, proclaimed from the prophets as Son of God. This is the one who became man and was named Jesus, in whose name all things are given life. Not yet sent out to preach, they did not think it good to be idle. Therefore Peter and his companions turned to the work of fishing, and while they were laboring in vain and catching nothing, the Lord appeared to them at the right moment and spoke to them, though they did not know who it was who had given the command and how great his power was. For this wondrous catch of fish, which astonished them, signified the Lord's appearing. And Peter, out of reverence, put on his garment, and out of fervor, having swum, he came alone to the land; for the others were hauling in the net in the boat.

Christ made this a symbol of the future catching of men that was to be through his invisible working, through those to whom he said, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men." Then they find on the coals a fish, through which his ineffable power was again shown—whether, then, he took a fish from the sea without a hook, or made it out of nothing. And he commands that some of those caught be roasted and that they eat them, so that from the likeness of both they might know that he was the creator of both. But when the Lord said, "Come and eat," no one dared to say anything to him; for they knew that it was he, even if they did not yet see him clearly—either because it was still dark, or because he was making himself unknown to them. But when he had given them the bread and the fish, he immediately made himself known. This third appearance of Christ the evangelist calls. It is also a mark of the blessed Peter's surpassing reverence that, when the Lord suddenly appeared, he quickly girded on his outer garment because of his nakedness, and casting himself into the sea he hastened the more quickly to come to him as he stood on the shore. The Savior did this not to procure for the disciples a supply from the sea—for he wills them to be possessionless and poor—but he gave them a symbol of the future catching of men. For having said at the beginning of the gospel, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men," through the present

By making them fishers of irrational fish, he gave them good hope that in the rational hunting of men as well they would have him working with them invisibly and, beyond all expectation, drawing men up from the depth of error and drawing them to the knowledge of the truth that is according to godliness. And when he had given them a share of the blessing of the bread and the fish, he immediately caused himself to be known. Wherefore the evangelist added, saying, that this was the third time he was manifested to his disciples after being raised from the dead. I think that, wishing to rouse his mind from the slackness that came from his denial and to rekindle his love, he asked whether he loved him more than the others. And he says to the question: Yes, Lord, you know that I love you; for it was the part of one who was confident and firmly persuaded not to take any other witness of his own conscience than that very one who searches hearts and knows the hidden things of men. Wherefore, having accepted him as speaking the truth, he entrusts to him the care of the rational lambs, saying, Feed my sheep. He asks these things wishing through love to rekindle his mind from the slackness that came from his denial. And Peter, as one who was confident that he knew what was in his heart, makes Christ the witness of the things he was saying. Therefore the Savior, having accepted him, entrusts to him the care of the rational lambs as to a genuine shepherd. But when he was asked the third time, he was grieved, not knowing the Savior's purpose and thinking that he was being regarded with suspicion and held in ignorance; and he says that if indeed I were speaking to a man, it would be reasonable for me to be suspected as a liar.

Since you know all things and nothing escapes your notice, you know that I love you. And he addressed him a third time, saying, Feed my sheep. It was not because he was ignorant of his disposition that he asked him a third time, but so that he might wipe out the three utterances of denial through the three assents and confessions of love. For when he was younger, by his own free movement he did what he wished; for this is what is meant by "you girded yourself and walked where you wished." But when he had become an advanced apostle, he came to the contest of martyrdom and was crucified; for this is what "you will stretch out your hands" signifies. He endured death, then, unwillingly, yet because of the hopes to come he submitted willingly. And when he said, Follow me, he urges him to imitate the teacher's manner of life and to walk in the footsteps of his virtue as far as possible. It is worthy of wonder in this too that the Lord's foreknowledge, years before, foretold to him not only that he would become a martyr, but also that he would undergo his removal by means of a cross; for the stretching out of the hands and the binding of the belt signified nothing other than the form of the cross. And he wishes him to follow him, imitating him in all things in the manner of life that accords with piety; for those who walk in the footsteps of his virtue and imitate, as far as they are able, the exactness of his righteousness—these will follow him at that time as he leads them into his kingdom in heaven. Peter, having heard the things concerning himself, since he loved John, seeks also to learn the things concerning him, so that he too might be deemed worthy of similar things. But the Lord did not wish to perfect all through martyrdom.

Therefore he also said this: what is that to you? But since the Lord spoke indefinitely and did not declare that he remains until his second coming, many supposed that he would not die. Therefore John recorded in writing their mistaken conjecture, saying that the Lord said one thing and they understood another. In many places, having spoken indefinitely of the one loved by the Lord, he now made clear that he is speaking about himself; for he is the one who wrote the Gospel set before us. And knowing that he wrote all things truthfully, he testifies to the truth for himself. 430 1 Many, then, are the signs done by the Savior, but the evangelists recorded only a few, so that the multitude of the account might not seem to exceed the memory of the hearers. Wishing to indicate the number and greatness of these wonders, he said that if they were written one by one, I do not suppose that even the world itself could contain the books written. But the statement can signify each of two things: first, that if it were written without omission, so many books would be composed as to be infinite and unlimited in number, and to exceed by their multitude the capacity of the world; and second, that perhaps, wishing to set forth the greatness of the things that happened, he showed that they are so many as to exceed human hearing and to be incapable of being contained by the world. Though the signs done by the Savior were many, the evangelists recorded few, so that the multitude of what is said might not seem to exceed the memory of those who heard.

Either, then, he says this: that if all things had been written without omission, there would have been so many books as to be countless and to exceed the need of the world and of what can be known; or that, if anyone wished to set forth the magnitude of the things that happened, they are such as to exceed human hearing, so as not to be able to be contained by the world.