Expositio Quatuor Evangeliorum [Incertus]

A man named Zacchaeus, that is, he was a Jew, and he signifies the Jews; it is interpreted "justified," just as the Jews justify themselves; because of his wealth, that is, of riches and vices; in the tree, that is, of the cross; half of my goods, that is, of my substance, I give to the poor, that is, break your bread to the hungry; and if I have defrauded anyone, I restore fourfold: this was said in the Law concerning souls, and in the Gospel it is said concerning every creature. A noble man, that is, Christ, went into a far country, that is, into heaven: to receive a kingdom for himself, that is, the heavenly kingdom: and to return for judgment. Ten servants, that is, the whole human race: ten minas, the ten words of the Law: his citizens, that is, the Jews.

They sent an embassy, that is, the killing of the apostles: the first servant, and the second, the order of the apostles. The mina of each servant, that is, the Scripture: and those like him, he found both. The stones will cry out, that is, the Gentiles: the Jews were silent: he wept over it, he shows that we should weep over our sins: they will surround you, that is, the Romans surrounded it: on every side, that is, within and without: to the ground, that is, into hell: the son, that is, the powers: what he did by day, by night he was rushing. Having entered into the temple, that is, because on the Lord's day he entered into the temple.

They were seeking to destroy him; he showed the nine servants, who were not denied in their ministries: a certain man, that is, God the Father: he planted a vineyard, that is, the Jews: the tenants, that is, the lawgivers: he himself went abroad, that is, he sent them all out in the freedom of their own will: the first servant, that is, Isaiah: the second, that is, Jeremiah: the third, that is, Daniel: outside the vineyard, that is, outside Jerusalem. What will the lord of the vineyard do: he comes and destroys, that is, the evil man with evil things. He will be shattered, that is, by the cross he will crush his wills: he will break him in pieces: that is, in the vengeance of the cross. Nation against nation, that is, the nation against the Romans: kingdom against kingdom, that is, others against the Romans: terrors, that is, chariots were heard in the air: there will be signs, as there was above Jerusalem a star with a fiery sword: they happen as a testimony, that is, from the Jews to the Gentiles. I will give you a mouth and wisdom, it is said in Moses, God has shown you wisdom.

A hair shall not perish from the head, that is, through mortality. Jerusalem shall be trodden down, that is, idols shall be worshiped in her: until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled, that is, the Jews converted at the end of the world. Signs in the sun, that is, the letter: the roaring of the sea, that is, the Sodomitic sea has been made, it shall cast its fishes onto the land. Him coming in the clouds of heaven, that is, in the prophets and apostles. The fig tree and the trees, that is, the synagogue and men. By day teaching in the temple, that is, he labored with the Jews: by night, on the Mount of Olives, that is, he rested with the Gentiles.

A man carrying a jar of water, that is, Moses and John the Baptist: the house of the upper room, that is, the Church: the couch, that is, faith in the Trinity; until the kingdom of God be fulfilled, that is, the great ministry: two cups, one with water, the other with wine, that is, with a mixture of water and wine in the cup: the wine with the water shows the passion through baptism. Did you lack anything, when he was made flesh with them, that is, he commanded them to have no care for the world: but when he separates himself from them, to have a single faith: let him buy a sword, that is, the Law: two swords, that is, the two Laws.

The Son of man sitting at the right hand of power: as in "The Lord said unto my Lord," and the rest. In a white garment he returned him to Pilate, that is, in the faith of the Trinity: he came to the Gentiles, to the people of Israel. They have become friends, that is, both peoples unto the faith of Christ. Herod signifies the people of the Gentiles; Pilate, the Jews. Leviathan, from the dense seat; Barabbas is called the son of the devil. Weep over yourselves, that is, over your nation: then they shall begin to say, that is, the people of Israel: say to the mountains, that is, to the patriarchs: to the hills, that is, to the prophets. Forgive them, that is, let them drink the blood which they have shed, that they may become vessels of mercy, who are vessels of wrath. They know not what they do, and if they knew, they would never have crucified the Lord of majesty: because they did it through ignorance. Today thou shalt be with me in paradise, that is, he who follows Christ has no darkness, but the light of life.

Joseph, that is, the people of Israel: spices and ointments, that is, faith, hope, charity: the first day of the week, that is, the Gospel, which dawns through the night of the Old Testament. The women first saw the resurrection: it was fitting that salvation should first run through them, through whom death had first run. And behold, two men stood by, in Matthew one angel, in Mark a young man, in John two angels, in Luke two men are said, that is, the many journeys of the women, and the visions are diverse: or into one, again both one vision and the narratives of the evangelists are dissimilar.

The linen cloths alone left lying there show that bodies have no need of clothing after the resurrection; he marveled within himself, that is, that the garments were left behind. Two of them were walking, which signifies the Gentiles, because he showed himself to those who were outside just as to those who were inside; the village, that is, the world. Jerusalem, that is, the heavenly one; a stadium, that is, the eighth part of a mile: sixty stadia signify the number of days in which the world was made. The name of the village is Emmaus. And he himself pretended to be going further, that is, to the Gentiles; and they recognized him in the breaking of bread, and they did not recognize him when they heard the preaching. He vanished from their eyes; this shows that we cannot linger in contemplation: and he was further from them when they did not recognize him, that is, because we can remain longer in the active life: when he opened the Scriptures to us. Peace be to you: now he gathers them into one peace. Why did he not rise and ascend in one place? Because honor descended from Jerusalem to the Gentiles. Here the Lord fulfilled what he himself said, Pray for those who persecute you: he forgave them.

IN THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN.

In the beginning was the Word, that is, because all things begin and end in him. The Word of the Father is the Son with God, because the Son is always with the Father. The Word was God, that is, the Son was God: this was in the beginning with God: all things were made through him, and without him was made nothing: these are idols: that which is, in him was life, that is, because all things live in him before they come to be: the life was the light of men, Christ is both light and life: he shone in the darkness, that is, among the people of the Jews through the Law and the prophets: the Jews did not know him: he was the true light, which enlightens every man, and the rest: the true light enlightens by being born, by being nourished, by living, and through the grace of the baptism of the Holy Spirit it enlightens knowledge: he came into the world, the world did not know him, that is, the people of the Jews: one part, estranged, another part knew him: he came to his own, to his own people according to the flesh: and they did not receive him: but those who did receive him, he gave power to become sons of God: through faith they were born of him through the renewal of baptism and the grace of the Holy Spirit. The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, that is, through the assumption of flesh: we saw his glory, that is, through his transfiguration and resurrection.

After me he comes, he showed, the birth according to the flesh: he was made before me: that is, all things were made through him; and because he was before me, and of his fullness we all received: by being born, by being nourished, by living, grace for grace, the grace of the Old Testament for the grace of the New Testament. Likewise through faith and love: through the letter of the Law, or prophecy: three ways through the grace of baptism to eternal grace. The Son who is in the bosom of the Father, that is, in the heart, or in secret: John confessed that he was not the Christ: he did not deny that he was the forerunner of Christ. Otherwise he showed the New Testament: and I did not know him, John showed that he did not know that the world had been redeemed through the baptism of Christ, for he knew that he was the Son of God, and born in the flesh.

Rabbi, where do you dwell? that is, in what teaching are you moved, or what do you teach? come, learn my teaching, because he wishes all to come to himself; they remained with him that day, they show the New Testament, or the present life: the tenth hour signifies the evening of the world: on the next day he wished to go out into Galilee, that is, after his resurrection to the Gentiles: under the fig tree, that is, under the letter of the Law, or the synagogue: the heavens opened, that is, for the human race: angels ascending and descending, that is, in the ministry of Christ.

On the third day the wedding was made, that is, the third law: the wedding is understood as the joining of the Church with Christ: Mary, Jesus' mother, at the wedding shows the synagogue: Jesus and his disciples, a figure of the Church; when the wine failed, that is, the failure of the letter of the Law. My hour has not yet come, that is, the time of Christ's passion has not yet come: the six water jars, the six ages, into wine, Christ: the chief steward shows John, because John drank the passion before Christ: the water made wine shows rebirth and the old Testament into the new. Otherwise, by the water is the baptism of John, by the wine the passion of Christ, likewise by the wine the blood of Christ, as he himself says, his blood is true drink. To keep the good wine shows the mystery: the mysteries of the old Testament. By the sheep being sold he shows the teachers, who sell the sacred gifts; by the sheep he shows men simply. The whip of cords, that is, vengeance for various sins, by which they are cast out of the Church. Jesus did not entrust himself to them, that is, in part of the flesh. Nicodemus came to him by night, by night he shows the letter of the Law, or the ignorance of the heart, so that it might be illuminated by the light of the knowledge of God. We know that you have come from God, he shows those who received Christ through faith: flesh is born of flesh and blood, so that it may live corporally in the world, again the soul is reborn ineffably from the Holy Spirit, so that it may live forever.

The Spirit breathes where it wills, that is, it illumines whom it wills, as the Apostle says: for he who cleaves to Christ is one Spirit. You hear its voice—they show the illumination of the ear of the heart; hence the prophet says, I will hear what the Lord God speaks in me. What we know, we speak; what we have seen, we testify; what we say, We know—he sets this forth through the modes of speech, whether the whole Trinity, or Christ together with the apostles and prophets: we testify, that is, we give testimony: you do not receive our testimony, that is, you do not believe our preaching: Christ descended from heaven by taking on flesh.

No one ascends to heaven except Christ; with the north, that is, the Church; as the serpent was lifted up in the desert, so Christ was lifted up on the wood of the cross: as those struck by serpents were freed by the sight of the bronze serpent, so also man, struck by the devil, who believes in the passion of Christ, will be freed. He came into the land of Judea, into the land of confession: into Aenon, that is, the name of the place where they sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons, whence it received the name Gehenna: near Salim, which is interpreted as of peace, which they called Mas, whence they received the name Jebusites; for John was not yet in prison—he shows that the consummation of the letter of the Law had not yet come. He must increase, but I must decrease: he who was thought to be a prophet has been found to be a prophet.

What I have seen and heard, according to divinity, this he testifies; according to divinity no one has received his testimony. Here the whole is put for the part; likewise believe, because God is truthful.

That he had to pass through Samaria shows that, just as he preached to the Jews, he would preach also to the Gentiles: the estate, that is, the field; the spring for flowing, the well for drinking. Jesus, wearied from the journey, shows that he was to come through the incarnation according to the letter of the history. By the sixth hour the faith of the Samaritans is understood, who were also fervent. The woman, that is, the synagogue; to draw water, to learn the history of the letter of the Law. Jesus asks to drink, that is, to ask for the faith of the woman. The well is deep, that is, the depth of the mystery of the Law. The spring of water leaping up to eternal life, that is, the preaching of the Gospel bubbling forth from the mouth of the apostles, or of believers. The five husbands he shows to be the five books of Moses; and the one whom you now have, not your husband, he shows to be the book of Joshua. She left her water jar, that is, her former manner of life; she went into the city, which shows the primitive Church, as it were, to the Gentiles, or to the people. Lift up your eyes, that is, the eyes of faith; the white harvests, that is, the hearts of the faithful; those who have sown, that is, the prophets; those who reap are the apostles. He stayed with them two days, that is, after the two Testaments had been handed down to the Jews; he went into Galilee, that is, to the Gentiles. Here otherwise, those who have died bodily will in the future hear his voice and be raised.

Just as he has life in himself, so also does the Son; what is said, "he gave to the Son," is this: on the part of the flesh. Those who have done good unto the resurrection of life—that is, he who judges himself rises again; and otherwise, those who are dead in sins live unto life through the conversion of faith; those who have acted wickedly here rise again unto judgment. What he says, "I do nothing of myself," he shows on the part of the body; "as I hear, so I judge: my judgment is just"; "I do not seek my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me"—here he has set down his own will on the part of the members.

If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true; as Solomon says, "Let a stranger praise you, and not your own mouth." "Nor do they ever hear his voice"—he shows the unbelievers, who did not receive his preaching. He went up into the mountain with his disciples—that is, attempting to ascend to a higher life; Philip—that is, to test, not to destroy. The five loaves are the five books of Moses; by the barley bread is understood the harshness of the letter of the Law; the much grass shows the perfection of the people; "lest anything of the remnants perish"—that is, do not cast doctrine where it does not edify. He went up alone into the mountain—that is, to the Father; the disciples went down to the sea—that is, to the Gentiles; they went up into the ship—that is, into the Church. Darkness fell—that is, as the world grew toward evening, or the onset of persecution after Christ's ascension; they rowed—that is, fleeing to Christ.

Jesus walking upon the sea, that is, treading upon the vices of the world; the crowds going up into the boat seeking Jesus, he shows that all should seek Christ with their own labor. "Manu" is said among the Hebrews, whence it took the name manna; among the Latins this is the living bread, or the body of Christ transfigured by mystery. Man is raised up in three ways, that is, from unbelief to faith, from sin to repentance, and on the last day bodily, unto resurrection. "I live because of the Father," they show according to divinity; scenopegia, that is, the fashioning of tabernacles. "You have gone up to the feast day, I am not going up": you, in whom the world delights; I shall not go up, because I am not of the world. In the midst of the feast day, he went up to Jerusalem, the zeal of the Jews burning especially: "My doctrine is not mine"; and if it is mine, how is it not mine? It is mine, which proceeds from my mouth to them; it is not mine, because what I have heard from the Father, these things I speak to you. Otherwise, according to the flesh it is mine, but according to divinity it is not mine. I did one work, and you all marvel: I made the whole man sound on the sabbath, that is, the whole human race in the New Testament. "Do not judge according to appearance," that is, do not accept the person of a man. "You do not know whence I am," that is, according to the flesh.

Yet a little while I am with you" shows that he was with them up to his passion: "you will seek me and you will not find me," that is, bodily; "and where I am, you cannot come," that is, through unbelief, unless through faith. "On the most notable day of the festival," that is, when the festival of the Jews had been completed; "let him who thirsts come and drink," that is, let him who thirsts for the word of God come and drink the teaching of the Gospel; "rivers from his belly," that is, teaching from the heart, "shall flow living waters," that is, the preaching of the Gospel, which grants eternal life; because "Jesus was not yet glorified" shows the glorification of his passion and resurrection. "Each one returned to his own house," that is, to his own wickedness.

The woman caught in adultery shows the synagogue, which adulterated the law of Moses, having followed the traditions of the fathers, or the Church from the Gentiles, which, forsaking God, fornicated with demons. Those who bring her into the midst show the Jews, who are accusers of the Church of Christ. "Moses commanded that she be stoned; what do you say?" testing him for two reasons: if he had said to stone her, they would have said to him, "He does not do what he teaches; dismiss her to us"; if he had said she should not be stoned, they would have said, "He is a contradictor of the Law.

Jesus, stooping down, that is, from the Father's seats into the world to redeem the sins of the human race: he was writing with his finger on the ground, he showed their sins: he raised himself up, to raise up those who were walking in sins: again stooping down, he was writing on the ground, he showed the woman's sins forgiven: Jesus remained alone with the woman in the house, that is, with the Church, in the world. "Whoever follows me does not walk in darkness," he shows that it is not so much the steps of the feet as the affection of the heart; not in darkness, that is, of ignorance, nor in the darkness of sins; but he will have the light of life, that is, the light of knowledge, and perpetual light. "I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you," he shows that if you believe, I will teach you many things, and if you do not believe, I will speak many things for your excuse.

He was a murderer from the beginning: because he killed himself by being proud; otherwise, the first man, whom God created immortal, he also made mortal, and by his suggestion Abel was killed. "Which of you will convict me of sin?" "Whoever is of God hears the words of God," that is, whoever understands and does them. "You are a Samaritan, and you have a demon," things that he was not, nor had; and what he was, he consented to by keeping silent. "I do not seek my own glory, there is one who seeks it and judges": God the Father: nor do I seek it as pretenders do, and they judge unjustly.

Abraham your father exulted that he might see my day: he saw, and rejoiced, that is, he saw the faith in the spirit, and he saw him in the person of the angels: he saw three, and greeted them as one, saying to him, Turn aside, lords, to the house of your servant, if I have found favor in your eyes. Amen, amen I say to you: the doubled amen is the understanding, truly, or, faithfully: announcing the New and the Old Testament: before Abraham I am: this is a passage concerning the divinity. They took up stones, to cast at him, that is, having hearts of stone: Jesus hid himself, he showed himself hidden from their hearts. And he went out of the temple, that is, from the people of the Jews. Jesus passed through the midst of them, that is, he went to the Gentiles.

He saw a man blind from birth; the blind man signifies the human race. Neither this man sinned nor his parents, so that you may understand what he said, that he did not sin: Adam, the first created, had his eyes closed for seeing evil, when he transgressed the command of God: he kept his eyes open to evil, and closed them to good. What then do the parents signify but the human race, and the instigators of vices, or the vices themselves? I must work, that is, preach: while it is day, that is, while I am in the world: night will come, that is, the persecution of the apostles, or the persecution of Antichrist: night, when no one can work, that is, after each one's departure. He spat on the ground, that is, the incarnation of Christ.

He made clay, he smeared my eyes: he showed that just as he first formed the first man from the clay of the earth, so in the same way he reformed the human race from the same kind of clay. Go and wash in the pool of Siloam, showing baptism: by the parents the devil or vices are understood: who said, He has age, let him speak for himself, who was unwilling to confess the man to be Christ: we do not know where he is from, he showed that they did not know his divinity. I came into this world for judgment, he showed. He who hears the word and receives judgment, receives it for condemnation: that those who do not see may see, he showed the nations, which did not receive the law: and that those who see may become blind, that is, the Jews: who, seeing through the law, became blind, because they did not believe in Christ.

He who does not enter through the door, he showed the bishops who enter through rewards, not through the calling of God, or of the people: they are shepherds of the sheep, who are for the profit of souls, not for the ambition of the world: to him the doorkeeper opens: the first doorkeeper is John, the forerunner of Christ: from the divine Scripture: he calls by name, that is, the Lord knows who are his: he brings them out, in teaching, or into the kingdom; he goes before them, that is, the example which he taught he first did: he precedes them into the kingdom of heaven; or also all good teachers precede by examples. They hear my voice, that is, my teaching: they do not follow a stranger, that is, the faith and teaching of heretics.

As many as came were thieves and robbers, that is, false prophets, who have been and will be in the time of the Antichrist. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved, that is, he who will be saved through the teaching of Christ will enter into the Church through repentance; and he goes out from the present world into the kingdom of God. Otherwise, "go out" is said against the heretics to be overcome. The thief does not come except to kill and destroy; these are the orders of priests who enter for the sake of shameful gain, not for the gain of souls. I came that you may have life, that is, my teaching; and that you may have it more abundantly, that is, eternal life. The hireling is one who teaches for earthly gain; he sees the wolf and flees, that is, the devil, or the heretic. I have other sheep that are not of this fold: he points to the Gentiles. That there may be one shepherd, that is, the Church, and Christ: this is the cornerstone between the middle wall, who makes both one.

I have power to lay down my life, and again to take it up: he shows this with respect to the flesh. The Father, that which he gave me is greater than all: he shows that Christ, or the Spirit of God, is greater than all the works of the world. I said, You are gods, is spoken in three ways, that is, essentially, he who always is, that is, God; by appellation, you are gods; falsely he calls the demons or idols gods. He departed beyond the Jordan, that is, to the Gentiles, where John first baptized, and he remained there: he shows the Church. Lazarus prefigures the Jews, because the Jews were weak in the faith of Christ: Martha and Mary show the teaching of the good Jews. This infirmity is not unto death, he shows, because those who are dead to men will live to God: he remained there two days, that is, the two Testaments. Let us go again into Judea: the faith that will return to the Jews through Elijah and Enoch at the end of the world: there are twelve hours of the day, the day is Christ: the twelve hours, the twelve apostles: if anyone walks in the day he does not stumble: in the day, that is, in the teaching of Christ, or of the apostles, he does not stumble into sin: because he sees the light of this world, that is, he sees Christ through knowledge. If anyone walks in the night, he stumbles: by night are understood the darknesses of sins, or the ignorance of the heart.

I was not there" shows the presence of the flesh; he knew that he was dead, that is, because he knows all things: first, in the house of the ruler of the synagogue; second, the son of the widow at the gate of the city; fifth, Lazarus from the tomb: in the house, that is, in the heart; at the gate, that is, in the mouth; in the tomb, that is, in deed: by these same things a man dies, and by these same things he is raised again. Martha, when she heard that Jesus had come, met him: here Martha signifies the Church, which meets Christ through faith; Mary sat at home, which shows the life of contemplation. "He who believes in me, even if he dies, will live": whether bodily, or in sins through repentance: everyone who lives and believes in me, who here lives in good works in Christ: "he shall not die forever." Jesus wept: he showed, as true God and true man, an example of compassion; "bound hand and foot" shows the chains of sins; "his face bound with a cloth" means the veil over the hearts of the Jews; "loose him," that is, through the preaching of faith. The Jews, the greater the signs they saw, the more they were blinded. "They will take away the place and the nation": the Romans and the Gentiles, who are dispersed through the regions, possess the place, Jerusalem. The high priest stated the reasons: "it is expedient that one man should die rather than that the whole nation perish," because he had the ministry of God in his hands and the Spirit of God, he spoke this: that he might gather into one the children of God who were scattered, in the whole world.

Martha was serving, which shows the active life. Lazarus reclining with Jesus signifies the Church; Mary took a pound of ointment: so too the whole world, which is understood as the hearts of the faithful. Through the ointment is shown the odor of confession; Mary signifies the Church: she anointed the feet of Jesus, that is, through the confession of penitence; the house was filled with the odor of the ointment: so too the whole world was filled with the passion and resurrection of Christ. When the crowd heard that Jesus had come, they took branches of palms and went out to meet Jesus, which shows that three, according to the second coming after the resurrection, are caught up in the air with the Lord. He found an ass, and through the ass he shows the people of the Gentiles; he sat upon it, that is, through the confession of faith. Fear not your destruction, because your Savior has come, daughter of Zion, which shows the congregation of the faithful from the Jews and the Gentiles. The whole world went after him, because through his passion and resurrection he redeemed the whole world from sin: and it followed him. They came to Philip and asked that they might see Jesus, which shows the Gentiles converted to the faith through the preaching of the apostles: the grain of wheat holds the figure of Christ: if it has died, it brings forth many grains: so too Christ multiplied his Church.

I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again—that is, you glorified him in the resurrection of Lazarus; glorify him again in his own resurrection. The prince of this world is cast out—that is, the devil is expelled from the power of the world through the passion of the cross. Walk while you have the light—that is, while you have Christ with you bodily and spiritually—lest the darkness overtake us, that is, the darkness of ignorance and the persecutions of sins. He hid himself from them—that is, bodily, or spiritually. Lord, who has believed our report? Who is placed for rarity, or for difficulty. The report is the faith, which we have heard through the Holy Spirit. The arm of the Lord is the Son of God. To whom it has been revealed—that is, in some part: revealed from the Jews, revealed from the Gentiles—that is, he who believes in me, not only according to his humanity, but according to his divinity; otherwise not only in me, but also in the Father, because I am in the Father, and the Father in me. He who sees me sees him who sent me; as if he had said openly: he who has seen that I am true man, and believes that I am true God, sees also the Father according to divinity.

I did not come to judge, but to save the world—he shows that he would redeem the world through the shedding of his blood. I have loved you, because I was in the world; he loved them to the end; he gave an example, that all may remain in God's truth to the end. When the supper was made, he shows the passion of Christ: just as after supper a morning meal is not made, so Christ, after he has once suffered, does not show that he will suffer again. Rising from the supper, he shows our passion, resurrection, or ascension. He puts aside his garments—he shows that his garments were to be laid aside at the cross.

(Here begins the chapter-summary.) Taking a linen cloth, he girded himself with the linen cloth—that is, his mortification. He puts water into the basin—he shows the grace of baptism. He began to wash the feet of his disciples and to wipe them with the linen cloth; through the washing of feet the baptism of the apostles is understood; through the wiping with the linen cloth he shows, through the passion of Christ, the wiping away of sins. You shall never wash my feet—he was saying this, terrified with fear. If I do not wash you, you will have no part with me—he shows that whoever is not washed through baptism and through the confession of repentance will have no part with the Lord. He took his garments—again it is shown that he will return to the Jews at the end of the world. A servant is not greater than his master, nor is the apostle greater than he who sent him—that is, I suffer, and you suffer.

Otherwise, if I humble myself even to your feet, so also humble yourselves before all. He will lift up his heel against me—that is, the heel is the outermost part of a limb.

And through the morsel Satan entered into him—that is, as the Apostle says, he who receives the Body of the Lord and his blood unworthily eats and drinks judgment to himself. A new commandment I give you, that you also love one another. In the Old Testament it is said, Love your friend, and hate your enemy. The Lord says, Love your enemies: this is the new commandment. Let not your heart be troubled—here he foretells to the apostles his passion: believe in God, and believe in me, because I am the Son of God.

Believe, in the house of my Father—that is, in the Church—there are many mansions, that is, just as in one man the understanding is divided, so in the Church, which is the body of Christ, there are many graces. I go to prepare a place for you—that is, I will prepare life for you, as the Apostle says: we have an advocate with the Father, who intercedes for us. I am the way and the truth and the life: Christ is the way without error, the truth without falsehood, the life without death—he himself is.

Henceforth you know him and have seen him—that is, whom they knew with the eyes of the body, and knew with the eyes of the heart, according to his divinity through the illumination of the Holy Spirit. He does greater things than these—that is, because Christ healed a woman by the hem of his garment, but the apostles will heal the sick by their shadow. (The Passion ends here.

I will ask my Father, and he will give you another Paraclete: through the Spirit received twice, the love of God and of neighbor is understood. Therefore, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive—that is, he who loves the world does not receive him. I will not leave you orphans—that is, I will not leave you according to my divinity. In that day you will know—that is, in the future, or in the resurrection of Christ.

I in the Father, that is, according to his divinity; you in me, because you are my members; and I in you, that is, in the love of your heart. I will manifest myself to him, that is, to those who believe in his divinity. We will make our dwelling with him, as he himself says: where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I also; and the rest. My peace I give you, that is, just as I patiently endure all things, so also you are to have patience. My peace I leave you, that is, just as I have suffered, so also you will suffer. Not as the world gives peace do I give you; the world gives a peace that is broken, God gives an eternal one. The prince of this world comes to me and finds nothing in me, that is, the devil comes to the cross and finds no sin in the Lord. He sought to capture, and was captured by him. As the Father commanded me, so I do: the Father sent him to shed his blood for the human race, and so he did. I am the true vine, from which blood and water flow; and my Father is the farmer, that is, the cultivator of the Church. You are the branches, that is, the apostles or the faithful of the Church. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it remains on the vine, so also no one bears fruit unless he remains in Christ.

In this my Father is glorified, that you bear firstfruit, that is, just as I have borne fruit in preaching and in suffering, so also do you: just as the Father loved me, and I loved you, that is, just as the Father sent me to preach and to suffer, so I send you: no one has greater love, and the rest: love is stronger than death; I suffer for you through love, and you suffer for the Church: all things that I heard from my Father I have made known to you, that is, the precepts of the Gospel: I chose you out of the world, that is, out of worldly deeds: you are not of the world, that is, because you do not love the world: as Solomon says, such is the adulterous woman, who when she has eaten, wipes her mouth, and says, I have done no evil: this figures the Church from the nations, which through confession has cleansed herself from the uncleanness of sins: you have been with me from the beginning, that is, from the beginning of the preaching.

If I do not go away, the Paraclete will not come to you: when the Paraclete has come, he will convict the world concerning sin, that is, let him who does not believe in me believe through the preaching of the Gospel: concerning judgment, because the prince of this world has been judged: he will convict concerning sin, that is, that through your preaching they may be converted to repentance: concerning righteousness, that just as he loves his neighbor, so he may also love God with his whole heart: concerning judgment, that whatever you wish men to do to you, do also to them: for this is the Law and the Prophets.

A little while and you will not see me, that is, while I lay in the tomb; a little while again, and you will see me, that is, through the resurrection; the hour comes when I will not speak to you in parables, but will plainly make known to you concerning the Father, that is, through the resurrection; in that day you will ask in my name, that is, because I ascend to the Father, by rising again through power. The Father loves you, because you love me: I leave the world and go to the Father, that is, by the presence of the body, for according to his divinity he does not leave the world: you have tribulation, that is, affliction from worldly men: I have overcome the world, that is, I have bound the strong man in the world, who is the devil.

The hour has come, Father, to glorify your Son, that is, through the resurrection: that the Son may glorify you, that is, that through the Son they may be converted and believe: I have glorified you on earth, that is, I have made you known to all who are with you: I have manifested your name to men, he shows that according to his divinity he was with the Father, and bodily on earth; those whom you gave me from the world were yours, they were mine in foreknowledge from the beginning, you gave them to me, that is, to teach: and they have kept your word, that is, they have remained in faith.

I pray for them, not for the world, because God knows who are his: all things that are yours are mine, and mine are yours; and I have been glorified in them, that is, I have been made manifest among the same nations, that is, because they have believed in me: I am in the world bodily, and I am not in the world bodily; and for them I sanctify myself, that is, through martyrdom and resurrection: I have given them the glory which you gave me, that is, the divine precepts. He went out with his disciples across the brook Cedron, showing the onset of persecution. Again Jesus passing over with his disciples, that is, from the world to the Father, and from the Jews to the Gentiles. They came with lanterns and torches, that is, they kindled for themselves a penal light: they led him to Annas; Annas is interpreted as the grace of God, who by the grace of God had received the high priesthood; but that woman appeared as the doorkeeper, who brought Peter into the courtyard, signifying the primitive Church: she reproached him, because he had said that he was the Son of God; certainly, he did not consider it robbery to be equal to God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant.

Jesus bearing his cross: he gave an example, as he himself said: whoever wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and the rest. Two robbers were crucified with Jesus; the one who remained in his faithlessness showed the Jews; the one who confessed signifies the Gentiles. It was written on the title, king of the Jews, that is, king of the confessors. They made four parts of Jesus' garments: the four soldiers, that is, the four evangelists, divided the garments, that is, the preaching, the incarnation, the passion, and the resurrection, which they preached in the four parts of the world. But the tunic, without seam, woven from above, shows that the divinity in the Father and the Son is inseparable: let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be, shows that catholic men do not tear asunder the unity of the divinity.

Woman, behold your son: to the disciple, behold your mother: here he commended the virgin, that he might keep her incorrupt. They did not break Jesus' legs, that is, what had been prefigured beforehand by the lamb in Egypt: not raw, nor boiled in water, but roasted only with fire, shows the passion of Christ: the staff in the hand shows the cross of Christ, from the world to the Father: you shall not break any of it, shows that the cross of Christ should not be broken. They pierced his side with a spear, that the Scripture might be fulfilled: they looked on him whom they pierced.

Blood and water came out: just as Eve was taken from Adam's side, so from Christ's side came the redemption of the Church: through the blood, remission; through the water, baptism. The two disciples running, Peter and John, show the two peoples running: the Jews through the letter of the Law, the Gentiles through the law of nature.

John ran ahead more quickly, saw the linen cloths lying there, and did not enter in: the Jews, through the Law and the Prophets, saw that Christ was to come, and did not receive his coming. Peter came following him: he saw the linen cloths and entered in, showing the Gentiles, who at the coming of Christ, or at his teaching: by the linen cloths the incarnation of Christ is understood; by the napkin the mystery of the divinity is understood; the napkin was not with the linen cloths, but wrapped separately in one place, showing that the divinity is far removed from human senses, in one place, which are universal; then the other disciple also entered in, who had first come to the tomb, showing the Jews returned to the same at the end of the world; the angels sitting at the head and at the feet show the beginning and the end.

Mary said, I do not know where they have laid him: she showed this according to the flesh; she loved the world, and by faith she believed what Mary said; she showed the thought of her voice, because through love of neighbor a person knows God. Jesus said, Do not touch me, that is, in your heart: I have not ascended to you according to divinity. The disciples fishing caught nothing the whole night: the fishermen are the old teachers; in the night he shows that before the coming of Christ no one came to perfection through the preaching of the old Law. But when morning had come, he shows the coming of Christ as accomplished: Cast into the right part, that is, cast preaching among the Gentiles. For Peter was naked, that is, they were naked of faith in Christ: he girded himself with his tunic, the faith of the Church: he threw himself into the sea, that is, into the waves and bitterness of the world through love of Christ: the other disciples came by boat, that is, in the Church, treading underfoot the surging of the world: they saw coals, and fish, and bread set out; through the fish he shows the same, through the coals the heat of charity, through the bread the divine word: dragging the net to land, through the shore he shows the end of the world: full of large fish, that is, the fullness and greatness of the Church, through the remission of sins: through the three, he shows the Trinity: the net undivided and not torn, that is, the Church incorrupt in the future: Jesus ate after the resurrection, he showed the true incarnation of the body, so that believers might believe.

Jesus said, Simon of John, do you love me: he showed that, just as he had denied three times, so three times he should confess the faith of the Trinity: feed my sheep, that is, in the Church. Jesus, having entered with the doors closed, showed that he entered with the doors closed into the womb of the virgin (so too all the saints after the resurrection put on a spiritual body, so that they can enter anywhere without a member), whence he was whole and uncorrupted by marriage: three things testify to this sentence.

The disciple whom Jesus loved: the second miracle is what Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, he pressed wine from water: the work prepared shows the virginity of John, because the bride was joined to him: a testimony, by which Jesus commended his mother to John. Mary figures the Church, John the primacy; just as John was a virgin in marriage, so was he uncorrupted also in death. John narrates the genealogy from the divinity, for others narrate from the man; John speaks of the divinity: In the beginning was the Word. He lay upon the breast of Jesus, and the knowledge of the divinity which was in the breast of Jesus ascended to John from the joining of the two breasts. A tree planted in another brings forth the fruit of the other tree in which it is planted.

If this book were to be placed before Matthew according to the order of the canon, it is also because it is placed in the last part: for the earth was sanctified first, then water, and afterwards, last of all, fire, because it is clearer and more subtle; likewise in the likeness of the two laws, that is, the old and the new: the old was handed down first, yet the new is clearer and greater, because it discerns heavenly things, and more abundant than it, which pertains to the Gospel of John from the things said above.