The great commentary of Cornelius à Lapide

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THOMAS BAKER,

Siool;scllcr,

72, NEWMAH. STREET,
LONDON, W., ENO.

A TRANSLATION

GREAT COMMENTARY

CORNELIUS A LAPIDE.

A TRANSLATION INTO ENGLISH OF

THE GREAT COMMENTARY

UPON THE

HOLY SCRIPTURES

OF

CORNELIUS A LAPIDE.

By the Rev. T. W. MOSSMAN, B.A. (OxON.), D.D.
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THE GREAT COMMENTARY

CORNELIUS A LAPIDE.

TRANSLATED

BY

THOMAS \V. MOSSMAN, B.A.,

lOU OK TOUKIXOTON, I.IXCOLXSHIRK,

Assisted by Various Scholars.

8. JOHN'S GOSPEL.— CUAPS. I. TO XI.

ScconH CEDttion.

JOHN HODGES,

AGAR STREET, CHARING CROSS, LOXDOX.
1893.

1333

\A

NOTICE TO THE READER.

AS it has been found impossible to compress the Translation

^ of the Commentary upon S. John's Gospel into one

volume, it is now given in two, of which this is the first.

The second volume comprises the remainder of the Gospel, and

the Commentary of A Lapide upon S. John's Epistles.

It is with great pleasure I present this portion of this great
Commentary to the English reader. Admirable as Cornelius
& Lapide almost invariably is in his exposition of Holy
Scripture, on the Gospel of S. John he seems to me to surpass
himself. Beginning from the Incarnation of the Divine Word,
nothing can be more masterly, nothing more magnificent,
than the way in which he shows that the whole sacramental
system of the Catholic Church of Christ is the necessary
consequence and complement, as well as the extension of
the Incarnation, Divinely planned and ordained for the
eternal salvation of the whole human race. Granted the
truth of the Incarnation as an objective fact, dealing with
realities both in the spiritual and immaterial universe, and
also in the material and physical universe, in this world of
time and sense, as we call it, I do not see how it is possible
to dispute our author's conclusions, taken as a whole.

The Translation of Vol. I. is by myself as far as the end of
the 6th chapter, or page 26$. From the 2yth verse of 6th

vi NOTICE TO THE READER.

chapter to the end, I have translated practically without any
abridgment or omission, and also with greater literalness than
I sometimes do, on account of the surpassing importance of
the doctrine treated of, and the controversies resulting from
it. Chapters vii.-x. are by the Rev. James Bliss, Rector
of Manningford Bruce. For the last chapter, the nth, I am
indebted to the Rev. S. J. Eales, M.A., D.C.L., lately
Principal of S. Boniface's College, Warminster, and now
Principal of the Grove College, Addlestone, Surrey.

In Volume II., the Translation of chap. xiii. is by a young
scholar, Mr. Macpherson. The remainder of the Gospel is by
my most kind friend, Mr. Bliss, and myself.

Of S. John's Epistles, the first three chapters of the First
Epistle are by Mr. Bliss, the remaining two chapters, and the
Second and Third Epistles, are by myself.

T. W. M.

THE PREFACE

TO

S. JOHN'S GOSPEL.

JOHN the Apostle, the son of Zebedee and Salome, wrote
this Gospel in Asia in the Greek language, towards the
end of his life, after his return from Patmos, where he wrote the
Apocalypse.

His reasons for writing were two. The first was that he might
confute the heretics Ebion and Cerinthus, who denied Christ's
Divinity, and taught that He was a mere man. The second was
to supply the omissions of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Hence
S. John records at length what Christ did during the first year
of His ministry, which the other three had for the most part
passed over.

Listen to S. Jerome in his preface to S. Matthew. " Last was
John, the Apostle and Evangelist, whom Jesus loved the best, who
lay upon the Lord's bosom, and drank of the purest streams of His
doctrines. When he was in Asia, at a time when the seeds of the
heresies of Cerinthus, Ebion and the rest, who denied that Christ
had come in the flesh, those whom in his Epistle he calls Antichrists,

and whom the Apostle Paul frequently refutes, he was constrained
VOL. iv. A

2 PREFACE.

by well nigh all the bishops who were at that time in Asia, and by
the deputies of many other Churches, to write of the deep things of
the Divinity of our Saviour, and to ' break through,' 1 as it were, to
the WORD of God by a kind of happy temerity. Whence also we are
told in ecclesiastical history that when he was urged by the brethren
to write, he agreed to do so, on condition that they should all fast,
and pray to God in common. When the fast was ended, being
filled with the power of revelation, he burst forth with the preface
coming straight from above, In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the
beginnifig with God"

Others add that S. John's beginning to write was preceded by
lightnings and thunderings, as though he had been another Moses,
who thus received the Law of God (Exod. xix.)

Baronius shows that S. John wrote his Gospel in the year of
Christ 99, or sixty-six years after the Ascension. This was the
first year of the reign of Nerva, and the twenty-seventh after the
destruction of Jerusalem by Titus.

As then Isaiah surpassed all the rest of the Prophets in sublimity,
so did John the other Evangelists. Last in time, he is first in dignity
and perfection. Thus in the first chapter of Ezekiel he is compared
to an eagle flying above all other birds. This his dignity and
special excellence, as well as his consequent obscurity, may be con-
sidered under three heads.

First, his matter and scope. S. John alone of set purpose treats
of the Divinity of Christ, of the origin, eternity, and generation of
the Word, of the spiration of the Holy Spirit, of the unity of the
Godhead, and of the Divine relations and attributes. Matthew,
Mark, and Luke are concerned with the actions of Christ's humanity.
1 Cf. Exod. xix. 21, Trans.

PREFACE. 3

This is why the Fathers derive almost all their arguments against the
Arians, Nestorians, Eutychians and such like heretics from S. John.

The second is the order of time. We know that the Church, like
the dawning of the day, advanced by the succession of time to the
perfect day of the knowledge of the mysteries of the faith. Thus
the sacred writers of the New Testament, the Apostles and Evan-
gelists, write far more clearly concerning them than do Moses and
the Prophets of the Old Testament. John was the last of all, and
his Gospel was his last work. He composed it therefore as a sort
of crown of all the sacred books.

The third is the author. S. John alone was counted worthy to
win the laurels of all saints. For he is in very deed a theologian,
or rather the prince of theologians. The same is an apostle, a
prophet and an evangelist The same is a priest, a bishop, a high
priest, a virgin, and a martyr. That S. John always remained a virgin
is asserted by' all the ancient writers, expressly by Tertullian (Lib. de
tnonogam^) and S. Jerome (Lib. i contra Jovin.) To him therefore
as a virgin Christ from His cross commended His Virgin Mother.
For " blessed are the clean in heart, for they shall see God," as the
Truth Itself declares.

The Only Begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, made
known to this His most chaste and beloved friend, who reclined upon
His breast, the hidden things and sacraments of the Divinity, which
had been kept secret from the foundation of the world. John hath
declared the same to us, as a son of thunder, thundering and lighten-
ing the whole world with the Deity of the Word. As with a flaming
thunderbolt "he hath given shine to the world;" and with the fire
of love he hath inflamed it. Let that speech of Christ, His longest
and His last, bear witness, which He made after supper (S. John xiii.
&c.), which breathes of nothing but the ardour of Divine love.

4 PREFACE.

See more to the same effect in S. Cyril, S. Augustine, and S.
Chrysostom (Pram, in Joan.} Indeed, S. Chrysostom dares to say
that S. John in his Gospel hath taught the angels the secrets of the
Incarnate Word, such as before they knew not, and that therefore he
is the Doctor of the cherubim and the seraphim. He proves this
from the passage of S. Paul in Ephesians iii., "that there might be
made known to the principalities and powers in heavenly places by
the Church the multiform wisdom of God." "If," he says, "the
principalities and powers, the cherubim and seraphim, have learned
these things through the Church, it is very evident that the angels
listen to him with the deepest attention. Not slight therefore is
the honour which we gain in that the angels are our fellow-disciples
in the things that they knew not.

CANONS THROWING LIGHT

UPON THE

INTERPRETATION OF S. JOHN'S GOSPEL.

i. JOHN has a style peculiar to himself, entirely different from
that of the other Evangelists and sacred writers. For as
an eagle at one time he raises himself above all, at another time
he stoops down to the earth, as it were for his prey, that with the
rusticity of his style he may capture the simple. At one time he
is as wise as the cherubim, at another time he burns as do the
seraphim. The reason is because John was most like Christ, and
most dear to Him ; and he in turn loved Christ supremely. There-
fore at His Last Supper he reclined upon His breast From this
source, therefore, he sucked in, as it were, the mind, the wisdom,
and the burning love of Christ. Wherefore, when thou readest and
hearest John, think that thou readest and hearest Christ. For
Christ hath transfused His own spirit and His own love into
S. John.

2. Although John by the consent of all wrote his Gospel in Greek
for Greeks, yet because he himself was a Hebrew, and from love of
this primeval language, which was his native tongue, he abounds
above the rest in Hebrew phrases and idioms. Hence to under-

6 CANONS THROWING LIGHT

stand him we require a knowledge of two, or indeed of three
languages — Hebrew, Greek and Latin. Thus he Hebraizes in his
frequent use of and for like as (sicuf), as Solomon does in Proverbs,
where he compares like with like by means of the conjunction and.
And in such instances is a mark of similitude, and has the same
meaning as like as (sicut}. On the other hand, he Grecizes in his
use of perchance (forsttari) for surely. In John viii. 19 the Greek
particle a.v expresses affirmation, not uncertainty. So also in viii. 43
to buvaaQ:, ye are not able, is put for ye are not willing. He likewise
constantly duplicates the Hebrew Amc?i, when the other Evangelists
only express it once. The reasons for this diversity are examined
in chap. iii. 2.

3. John abounds more in the discourses and disputations of Christ
with the Jews than in the things that were done by Him. Not that
he relates all the discourses and disputations of Christ, but such as
were of greater importance. Especially he gives a compendious
account of those in which Christ proved that He was God as well
as man.

4. In S. John Christ speaks sometimes as God, and sometimes as
man. There is need therefore of a careful examination of contexts
to distinguish one from the other.

5. When Christ says, as He often does in S. John, that He
" does, or says nothing of Himself," or that " not He, but the Father,
does, or says this, or that," there must be understood "originally"
and " alone." As thus, " neither alone, nor as man perform I these
things : nor yet as God am I the first originator of them ; but it is
God the Father, who together with His Divine essence communi-
cates to Me omniscience and omnipotence, even the power of doing
all things."

6. Although the Apostles and other saints wrought miracles, yet

UPON THE INTERPRETATION. 7

Christ in S. John's Gospel often proves that He is the Messiah and
God by the miracles which were done by Him. This proof is a
true and effectual one ; first, because He Himself made direct use of
it. For a miracle as the work of God, and the true Voice of the
prime Verity, is an infallible proof of that which it is brought forward
to confirm. Second, because Christ wrought them by His own power
and authority, which He could not have done unless He had been
God of God. Thus then He did them that they might appear to
proceed from Him as from God. the original source of miracles.
For the saints do not work miracles by their own authority, but by
the invocation of the name of God, or Christ. Let us add that the
miracles which were done by Christ had been foretold by Isaiah
and the other prophets, that they might be indices and marks of the
Messiah, as will appear in chap. xi. 4.

7. Matthew, Mark, and Luke record for the most part the acts of
the last year, and the last year but one of Christ's ministry, that is to
say, what He did after the imprisonment of S. John the Baptist.
But S. John's Gospel for the most part gives an account of the two
preceding years. This consideration will solve many seeming dis-
crepancies between S. John and the other Evangelists. So S.
Augustine in his preface.

8. There is frequently in S. John both great force as well as
obscurity in the adverbs and conjunction of causation, inference,
connection, and so on, in such a manner that a single particle will
often include and point out the entire meaning of a passage. Hence
these particles must be most carefully examined and weighed, as I
shall show in each place.

9. The particles t/iat, wherefore, on account of which, and the like,
do not always signify the cause, or the end intended, but often only
a consequence or result This is especially the case if an event has

8 CANONS THROWING LIGHT

been certainly foreseen, and therefore could not happen otherwise.
This is plain from chap. xii. 38, 39, where it is said, They believed not
on Him, that the saying of Isaias might be fulfilled : and shortly after-
wards, Wherefore they could not believe, because Isaias said again, He
hath blinded their eyes. For the reason why the Jews would not
believe in Christ was not the prediction of Isaiah foretelling that
they would not believe (non credituros), but the hardness of heart
and malice of the Jews, which as a sort of objective cause preceded
Isaiah's prophecy. For Isaiah foretold that the Jews were not about to
believe, because in truth they themselves through their own malice
and obstinacy were not going to do so. So S. Chrysostom and others.

10. By the Jews S. John sometimes means the rulers only, some-
times the people only. Thus he represents the Jews at one time as
opposing, at another time as favouring Christ. For the people were
His friends, the rulers were His adversaries.

11. By a Hebraism the present tense often signifies not an action
issuing in a result, but a force, or power of nature, or the act (in the
sense of will or intention, Trans.} of the agent, even in cases where
the effect is opposed by the subject, or in some other way. Thus
in i. 9 it is said that Christ by His advent gave light to the world.
That means, so far as He was concerned. For many, like the Jews,
refused to receive this light, as he immediately adds, and continued
in the darkness of their unbelief.

12. The particles as if, so as, and the like, because they corre-
spond to the Hebrew caph, do not always signify likeness, but the
truth of a fact, or assertion. Thus in i. 14, we have seen His glory,
as of the Only Begotten, means, "we have seen the glory of the Only
Begotten to be truly such, and so great as became Him who was
indeed the Only Begotten Son of God the Father." So S. Chrysostom
and others.

UPON THE INTERPRETATION. 9

13. John, following the Hebrew idiom, sometimes takes words of
inceptive action to signify the beginning of something that is done;
but sometimes to signify continuation, that a work is in progress ;
and sometimes, that a work has been perfected and accomplished.
Thus we must not be surprised, if sometimes that which increases,
or is being perfected, is spoken of as if it were just commencing,
and vice versa. An example of inceptive action is to be found in
xvi. 6, where Peter, resisting Christ desiring to wash his feet, says,
Lord, dost Thou wash my feet ? Dost Thou wash ? that is, " Dost
Thou wish, prepare, begin to wash?" There is an example of
continued action in ii. u, where, after the miracle of the conver-
sion of water into wine, it is added, And His disciples believed in
Him: that is, they went on believing, they increased, and were
confirmed in faith. For they had already before this believed in
Christ, for if they had not believed in Him, they would not have
followed Him as His disciples. There is an example of a perfected
action in xi. 15, where Christ, when about, at the close of His life,
to raise up Lazarus, said, I am glad for your sakes, that ye may believe.
That is, " that by means of this My last and greatest miracle ye may
be altogether made perfect in your belief in Me.:' Again, in xx. 17,
Jesus appearing after His resurrection to Mary Magdalene, who had
fallen at His feet, said, Touch Me not. That is, "Do not delay,
and waste time in touching My feet, but go quickly, and tell the
Apostles, who are very sorrowful because of My death, that I have
risen again."

14. John, after the Hebrew idiom, asserts and confirms over
again what he had already asserted, by a denial of the contrary.
This is especially the case when the subject matter is of importance,
and is doubted about by many, so that it requires strong confirma-
tion. Thus in i. 20, when John the Baptist is asked by the Jews

10 CANONS THROWING LIGHT

if he were the Christ, he confessed, and denied not, but confessed, I
am not the Christ. And in i. 3, AH things were made by Him, and
without Him was not anything made that was made.

15. John delights in calling Christ the Life, and the Light, for
reasons which I will give hereafter. He has several other similar
and peculiar expressions. For instance, he often uses the word
judgment for condemnation which takes place in judgment. In other
places he uses judgment for the secret judgments and decrees of
God, because they are just. Sins he calls darkness. The saints he
calls sons of light. That which is true and just he calls the truth.
In vi. 27, iQi procure food, or labour for food 'he has Igya^da fiausiv.
In the Qth chap., when Jesus is asked by the Jews, Who art Thou?
He answers, The Beginning, who also am speaking unto you.

1 6. S. John relates that Christ said previously certain things, the
when and the where of His saying which He had not previously
mentioned. For studying brevity, he considered it sufficient to
relate them once. Thus in the nth chap, he says that Martha said
to her sister Mary, The Master is come, and calleth for thee. Yet he had
not previously related that Christ bade Martha to call Magdalene ;
for his mentioning that Martha, by Christ's command, called her
sister was sufficient to show that Christ had so commanded. In
the same chapter Christ saith to Martha, Said I not unto thee, that if
thou wouldest believe, thou shouldcst see the glory of God? Yet there
is no previous account of Christ saying this. Also in vi. 36, Christ
says, But I said unto you, that ye also have seen Me and believe not.
Yet we nowhere recall that Christ previously so said.

17. The miracles of Christ which John alone records are as
follows: — The conversion of water into wine, chap. ii. The first
expulsion of the sellers from the Temple, in the same chapter. The
healing of the sick child of the nobleman, iv. 47. The healing of

UPON THE INTERPRETATION. II

the paralytic at the pool in the sheep-market, chap. v. Giving sight
to the man born blind, chap. ix. The raising Lazarus from the
dead, chap. xi. The falling of Judas and the servants to the earth,
when they came to take Jesus, xviii. 6. The flow of blood and
water from the side of Christ after He was dead, xix. 34. The
multiplication of the fishes, xxi. 6.

COMMENTATORS.

Very many persons have written commentaries upon the Gospel
of S. John, and among them the principal Greek and Latin Fathers.
Among the Greeks, after Origen, who composed thirty-two tomes, or
books, upon this Gospel, were S. Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria, who
has written a learned and very excellent commentary. He has
written a didactic work, and is especially able and skilful in expound-
ing the literal sense. S. Cyril's commentary on S. John's Gospel
consisted originally of twelve books. But of these the fifth, sixth,
seventh, and eighth have perished. Their loss has been supplied
by Clictovseus, a doctor of Paris, whose work has been mistaken
by many learned men for the original of S. Cyril.

A second commentator is S. Chrysostom, who seems to have been
imbued with the very spirit of S. John himself. He wrote eighty-
seven homilies on this Gospel.

A third is Theophylact, and a fourth Euthymius. They, as is
usual with them, follow S. Chrysostom. Theophylact is the more
diffuse of the two.

A fifth commentator is Nonnus Panopolitanus, an Egyptian, and
a very eloquent writer, who, as Suidas says, explained the virgin
theologian, that is, John the Evangelist, in heroic verses. Although

12 CANONS THROWING LIGHT

the commentary of Nonnus can properly only be called a paraphrase,
nevertheless in many places he points out and illustrates the mean-
ing of the Evangelist in pithy sentences.

Among the Latins the first and chief commentator is S. Augustine,
who has written systematically upon the whole Gospel in one
hundred and twenty-four tractates.

The second is Venerable Bede, who follows S. Augustine passim,
and often word for word.

A third commentary is what is called the Gloss. Where observe
that the Gloss is tripartite. The first is the Interlinear Gloss, so
called because written between the lines of the sacred text. For
that reason it is brief, but pithy, and treats many things in the
Gospel learnedly and usefully. The second is the Marginal Gloss,
because written on the margin of the text. To this is subjoined
the Gloss of Nicolas Lyra. This Nicolas was called Lyra from a
village in Normandy. He was a Jew by birth, and was converted to
Christianity. He entered the Franciscan Order, and taught scholastic
theology, A. D. 1320. He was a learned man, and skilled in Hebrew.
He wrote his Gloss upon S. John and the other sacred writers,
expounding them literally, and became so celebrated that it has
passed into a proverb —

" If Lyra's hand had erst not swept his lyre,
Our theologians had not danced in choir."

However, we must keep this in mind, that he is too credulous
with regard to Jewish fables and puerilities, giving too much heed
to writers of his own nation, to the Rabbin, and especially to R.
Salomon, who is a great retailer of fables.

In later ages, and especially in our own day, many commen-
taries have been written upon this Gospel. Pre-eminent among

UPON THE INTERPRETATION. 13

them are Maldonatus, of the Society of Jesus, who is copious, acute,
elegant, and learned : Cornelius Jansen, who is exact, solid, and to
be depended upon : Frank Toletus, who displays a sound judgment,
especially in the application of metaphors and similitudes. Sebas-
tian Barradi has written a good literal commentary, mingling with it
moral reflections. He is useful to preachers in affording materials
for sermons, and showing how to treat them. Frank Ribera is
brief, but as usual excellent and learned. Frank Lucas is entirely
literal, but he uses the letter to draw the reader to pious affections.

Among the heretics, Martin Bucer, Wolfgang Musculus, Bullinger,
Brentius, Calvin, and Beza have written upon S. John's Gospel.
Of all these authors Augustinus Marloratus has made a catena,
which I read through and refuted when I was in Belgium.

THE

HOLY GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST,

ACCORDING TO JOHN.

THIS is the title in the Greek and Latin codices. In the Syriac
it is as follows, The Holy Gospel, the Preaching of Jouchanon
(John), which he spake and preached in Ionic (Greek) at Ephesus.
The Arabic has, The Gospel of the holy and great disciple, the
Apostle John, the son of Zebedee, the beloved of our Lord Jesus
Christ.

CHAPTER I.

1 The Divinity, Humanity, and Office of Jesus Christ. 15 The Testimony of

John. 35 The Calling of Andrew, Peter, 6-v.

IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God.

2 The same was in the beginning with God.

3 All things were made by him ; and without him was not any thing made
that was made.

4 In him was life ; and the life was the light of men.

5 And the light shineth in darkness ; and the darkness comprehended it not.

6 1T There was a man sent from God, whose name -was John.

7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men
through him might believe.

8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the
world.

10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew
him not.

THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN. 15

. II He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name :

13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will
of man, but of God.

14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth.

15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake,
He that cometh after me is preferred before me : for he was before me.

16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

18 No man hath seen God at any time ; the only-begotten Son, which is in the
"bosom of the Father, he haih declared him.

19 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from
Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou ?

20 And he confessed, and denied not ; but confessed, I am not the Christ.

21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, lam
not. Art thou that prophet ? And lie answered, No.

22 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to
them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?

23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the
way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaia?.

24 And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.

25 And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizes! thou then, if thou be
not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet ?

26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water : but there standeth one
among you, whom ye know not :

27 He it i«, who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet
I am not worthy to unloose.

28 These things were done in Bethabara, beyond Jordan, where John was
baptizing.

29 IT The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the
Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world !

30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before
me : for he was before me.

31 And I knew him not : but that he should be made manifest to Israel, there-
fore am I come baptizing with water.

32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like
a dove, and it abode upon him.

33 And I knew him not : but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same
said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on
him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.

34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.

35 IT Again, the next day after, John stood, and two of his disciples ;

36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God !

37 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

38 Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What
seek ye ? They said unto him, Rabbi (which is to say, being interpreted, Master),
where dwellest thou ?

1 6 THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN.

39 He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt,
and abode with him that day : for it was about the tenth hour.

40 One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew,
Simon's Peter's brother.

41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found
the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.

42 And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou
art Simon the son of Jona : thou shall be called Cephas, which is, by interpretation,
A stone.

43 The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and
saith unto him, Follow me.

44 Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.

45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of
whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son
of Joseph.

46 And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of
Nazareth ? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.

47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite
indeed, in whom is no guile !

48 Nathanael said unto him, Whence knowest thou me ? Jesus answered and
said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree,
I saw thee.

49 Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God ;
thou art the King of Israel.

50 Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee
under the fig tree, believest thou ? thou shalt see greater things than these.

51 And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see
heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of
man.

In the beginning, &c. So the Persian, Syriac, Egyptian, Ethiopic,
and Arabic, except that the last version has the article in the
second and third clauses of the verse — '•'•the Word was with God,
the Word was God." The Ethiopic for Word has cal, answering
to the Latin Verbum, which is better than Sermo, as Erasmus and
the innovators translate the Greek Xdyof.

John begins from the Godhead of the Word : first, because the
right order and a full account of Christ require it; second, because in
the time of S. John the heresies of Cerinthus and Ebion had arisen,
which denied Christ's Divinity.

After a similar manner did Moses begin his account of the genesis
of the world, " In the beginning God created the heaven and the
earth." Moses begins from the creation of the world, but John far

THK KTKRNITY OF TIIK NVORD. I/

higher, even from tlie eternity of the Word. Moses marks the
beginning of time, in which God made all things. John marks a
beginning which was from eternity, when the Word was, by which
a'.l things were made by God in time. John therefore takes up the
exordium of Moses, and presupposes the beginning of the world,
when he gives, so to say, an account of the long anterior beginning of
the Word. Hence Tertullian, in his book against Hermogenes, truly
asserts that the Gospel is the supplement of the Old Testament.

S. John alludes to Ecclus. xxiv. 5, " I (the Eternal Wisdom)
came forth from the mouth of the Most High, the first begotten
before every creature." Also to Prov. viii. 22, "The Lord pos-
sessed me in the beginning of His ways, before He made anything,
from the beginning." Where the Septuagint translates, "The Lord
built, or founded (txr/<«) me the beginning of His ways, in His
work. Before the age He founded me in the beginning, before He
made the earth, and appointed the great depths."

In the beginning, i.e., first, " in the Eternal Father." as Cyril says,
and Origen. For by-and-by John says in the 141)1' verse, that the
Word was in the bosom of the Father. Second, and more simply,
Augustine, Bede, and Hilary, /// the beginning, i.e., of the world, or
of times, such as you can only imagine, which went on from all
eternity before the foundation of the world. As much as to say,
the Word was not made in the beginning of time, however ancient
and imaginary ; but He existed then, because He was not made,
but was begotten from eternity. Third, and most simply, Augustine,
Chrysostom, and Basil, In the beginning, i.e., before all things, even
from the beginning of all eternity, long before all angels, or men,
or things created, the Word was. For S. John is here speaking of
a true and real beginning (principium\ just as Moses does in the
first verse of Genesis, and Solomon in Prov. viii. 22. Wherefore
all the Fathers from the passage prove the true Divinity and eter-
nity of Christ. This beginning S. John sets in opposition to Ebion,
who affirmed that Christ began to be after His birth of the Virgin,
and that He had no previous existence. So Cyril Hence Nonnus

expounds the expression, /// the beginning, in a fivefold manner
vol. iv. B

1 8 S. JOHN, c. I.

one following after another. He was in the beginning, saitii he,
first, as not subject to conditions of time ; second, as coeternal with
the Father ; third, .as equal to the father by nature ; fourth, as in-
comprehensible ; fifth, as ineffable. The four last are consequences
of the first.

You will say, Eternity is infinite duration, having neither begin-
ning, nor end : why then is a beginning here spoken of? I answer,
the reason is, because of the weakness of the human intellect, which
is not able to comprehend eternity, nor to conceive of it defi-
nitely, except by a comparison with time. Therefore it conceives of
eternity as duration which is coexistent with all time — past, present,
and future, and that not only time actual, but which can be con-
ceived .of. Indeed, it precedes all time. The meaning therefore is
this, In the beginning, that is, before all time, even that which can
be imagined in the mind, the Word was. Think of millions of
millions of years, as much as ever thou canst conceive in thy
mind ; before all these, and whatsoever infinite number thou canst
add, ihe Woi'd was. This is why S. John repeats was four times,
saying, In the beginning was the Word, &c., that thou mayest under-
stand that whatsoever time thou thinkest of, the Word was then :
that in all ages, however far back thou goest, the Word was in those
ages. Beginning therefore is here used relatively, for it is spoken
with reference to .all time, even that which far precedes. For as
the whole substance and immensity of God is in every place what-
soever, yes, in every point of space, and yet it encompasses all
space and every place, even what we can think of above the
heavens, so likewise God's eternity, which altogether in time pre-
sent, or in one single instant of the duration of time, includes and
embraces all time, past, present, and to come, and far exceeds
and transcends it all. And this is what \ve mean when we say,
following the words of S. John, that God's eternity was in the
beginning.

Thus we are able to ascend with our minds to the idea of the
antiquity, and as it were the. origin of eternity, which is .here .called
prindpium, that is, the beginning of all duration and eternity.

IN -nil-: i?r.<;iNXi\(;. 19

Though indeed this faginninz is without beginning, a commence-
ment without commencement. Therefore -when we would say of
anything, that it did not have a beginning in time, we say that it
was in the beginning of all duration and eternity. And by this we
mean nothing else but that it always existed, that it was from all
eternity. This is the -meaning of S. John wlren he says, In the
beginning was the Word, This is also why we say in ordinary dis-
course, that God has existed from the beginning of eternity, that is,
that He is from all eternity.

Was: the expression was, says S. Basil upon these words of S.
John, leads us to eternity, not as if the word was signified that the
Word preceded the beginning, concerning which it is said, It was
in the beginning, and consequently the beginning of time and the
world were here to be understood (because the Word preceded in
computation (rations) only, as it were, for as everything -whatsoever
precedes its own duration, so also God is before His duration and
eternity : for duration is the continuance and measure of the
thing which exists and endures), 'therefore, eren before, from all
eternity, was the Word. Here observe that the word employed
is was (erai), not has been (ftftf), for has been signifies that which
has existed, and passed away : but was signifies that it is even now,
or that it is perennial and eternal. So S. Chrysostom, Cyril, and
Theophylact. The Holy Ghost therefore suggested was to the
mind and pen of S. John, as against the Arians, whom He foresaw
would arise. They were wont to say, There ions Ttfk*n tltere was no
was ; meaning there was a time when the Son was not. From these
words of S. John the Council of Nice condemns them; because,
In tht beginning was the Word, i.e., from eternity.

Moreover, S. Gregory Nazianzen observes that the substantive
verbs is and was have a special application to God from the pleni-
tude of His essence. Wherefore God in Hebrew is called Jehovah,
i.e., He who is.

Tltc Word, Gr. 6 Xo'yc;, That Word, eternal and divine, which is the
Son of God. as even the Arians formerly allowed. For John soon
after calls this Word the Only Begotten of the Father. So con-

20 S. JOHN, C. I.

stantly in Scripture, the Son is called the Word of the Father. S.
Basil thought that the Holy Spirit might also be called the Word ;
but S. Thomas rightly observes that this can only be said improperly
(improperly being used in the logical sense).1

You will ask why is the Son of God called the Word? I answer
that the Greek Xoyo; (L»gos) has many meanings, which are all
applicable in this place, i. Logos may be translated reason, because,
as reason proceeds from the mind, so does the Son from the
Father. So SS. Chrysostom and Basil.

2. Logos may be translated definition, because the Word definitely
expresses and unfolds the nature and attributes of the Father.
Wherefore Nicetas (in Oral. 42 Arazianz.) says, "The same relation
that a definition bears to the thing defined does the Son bear to the
Father. For He declares the Father as a definition declares that
which is defined by it. Wherefore Christ said, ' Philip, he that seeth
Me, seeth My Father also.' For the Son is a compendious demon-
stration of the Paternal nature ; for every offspring is a sort of tacit
account, or definition, of its parent."

3. Logos may be translated cause, because the Word is the cause
of all things which have been created and produced by the Word
of God.

4. Ao'yo; may be translated work, because the Word is the Work
of the Father, coextensive with Him, coeternal and coequal.

5. Aoyoi can be translated power, or virtue, because the Word
is the strength and right hand of the Father.

6. Aoyof may be translated beauty, because the Word is the form,
grace, and beauty of the Father.

7. And chiefly, l.Cyof may be translated, with Tertullian, Cyprian,
and Ambrose, speech (serwo), or rather Word ( Verbiwi). This Word,
or speech, is not of the mouth, but of the mind : because as we by
thinking form a conception to ourselves of the thing thought of,
or understood, which is called the word of the mind, so the eternal
Father, by comprehending and understanding His Essence, and all
that belongs to It, has produced this Eternal Word, coequal with,

1 Tr.in-i.

THE WORD OF GOD. 21

and like to, Itself, by means of which it comes to pass that this
Word is God, and the Son of God, begotten of the Father.

Hence also the Gentile philosophers, Trismegistu?, Orpheus, Plato,

V

and the rest of the Greeks, Chaldseans, and Egyptians called the
Father >7u», i.e., mind; and the Son Logos, as it were, the offspring of
the mind. See S. Augustine (lib. 7, Confess, c. 9). Whence that saying
of Plato's, UA Monad begat a Monad, and in it reflected his ardour.''
He means, The Father begat the Son, and through Him breathed
the Holy Spirit, which is the reciprocal Love of the Father and
the Son. Many, however, are of opinion that Plato and the other
Gentile philosophers mean by the Logos not the Son but the idea in
the mind of God, according to which He created all things, and
reflected His love back upon Himself, because He created the
world on account of His love.

Here observe, the Word of God is twofold. First, essential,
because it is the very Intelligence of the Father, which together
with essence, understanding, and will, He shares with the Son and
the Holy Giiost. The second is notional, which is the Word pro-
duced by the Father, and subsisting personally, that is, as the Son.
So S. Thomas (i dist. 27 q. 2. a. 2). This is the twofold meaning
of the Word, taken in its widest sense.

I have written more upon the Word in i Epis. John, chap. i.
ver. i. Let me add here what S. Augustine says (Serm. 38 de
Verb. Dom.) " The Word of God is, as it were, a Form, but not
formed. It is the Form of all forms, over all things, and exist-
ing in all things. But some ask, How could the Son be begotten
coeternal with the Father ? As if fire were eternal, would not its
brightness be coeternal with it ? Is it not the same with the
reflection in a mirror, or in water? As, for example, a shrub would
always have its reflection in the water beside which it grew."
And S. Chrysostom says, " He said not Word simply, but by the
article distinguished it from all others. For it is an Hypostasis,
proceeding forth impassibly from the Father. This is the mean-
ing of U'as in the beginning, that it always existed, and with an
inrinite existence. For it is not said of the heaven and the earth,

22 S. JOHN, C, I.

that they were in the beginning, but that they were made in the
beginning.

And the Word was with God. S. John meets an objection.
Some one may say, "Where was the Word in the beginning, i.e.,
from eternity, when as yet there was no place, and no created
nature of things ? " He answers, " The Word had no need of place,
because It is spiritual, and divine ; but It was with the Father, as
with that from which It derived Its origin." As it is said in the iSth
verse, It was /;/ the bosom of the Father. Or, as we might say, It was
in the Father's House, which is God Himself, and His immensity.

The preposition with denotes- — i. Distinction of person, because
indeed the Son is a different Person from the Father, not one and
the same, as the Sabellians say. " For how should that which is
one numerically be understood to be with itself?" says S. Cyril.
': Before all tilings," says Tertullian (lib. 5 cont. Prax.} "God alone
was Himself to Himself both universe and space and everything.
But in this respect only was He alone, that He had nothing
external to Himself, for not even then was He alone ; for He had
with Himself what he had in Himself, His Reason, or that which
the Greeks call His Logos."

2. With denotes the loving and perfect union of the Son with the
Father, by which it comes to pass that it is impossible for Him to
be separated from the Father. So Nonnus.

3. With denotes the equality of the Son with the Father. For
to be wtiJi God, or near to (jiixla) God, means to sit at the right
hand of. God, as it were God of the same substance as the Father.
Wherefore Christ is said after His Ascension to have returned to
the right hand of the Father (Mark xvi.) As- Nonnus expounds,
'•the Son is sunthronos with the Father," a term which cannot be
expressed by a single word in English, but which means an associate
in the same throne, an assessor in the same seat.

And the Word was God. The order of the words in the Greek
is, A&d God was the Mont. Lest the Arians should bring forward
llie objection, " If the Word; was with God, then the Word was not
Gaii, John confutes them. by anticipation, saying The- U'oni was God.

GOD THE WORD. 23

For the Arians placed the interior ami essential Word of God, that
is, the Intelligence of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (as the
orthodox faith is) in one Person of Godhead, coeternal with Him-
self. They said that God began to be a Father in time, when He
produced the Word (Verbum notionale) distinct from Himself, as it
were the first of creatures, and by him all other creatures. John
refutes this by saying, And God was t/ie Word, meaning that the
Word already spoken of was God. He said this lest any one should
suppose that the Word was not God, because he had said that He
was with God. He means that the Word was with God in such
sort that He Himself was God.

The Arians object that the Greek word 6sov, i.e., God, has not the
article in this clause as it had in the preceding clause, and the M'ord
7cas with God (apud rot &cv). Therefore, say they, the Word was not
true God. I reply by denying the conclusion. For the reason of
the difference is that the word God (^o>) in the preceding clause,
with God, denotes a distinct Person, namely, the Person of the Father
with whom the Word was. But in this latter clause it denotes not
a Person but the essence of the Godhead common to each Person.
For the Word is one God with the Father, so far as relates to
Essence and Godhead, but not as regards Person. And the article
in this place signifies a distinct Person, not the nature common to
both. Again, the Greeks prefix the article to the subject, not the
predicate ; and in this place God is the predicate, the Word is the
subject.

Observe that John in this sentence with three clauses, by the first
clause unfolds the when of the Word : it was eternity. Secondly,
the whtre of the Word, and His distinction from the Father. In
this tiiird clause, the essence of the Word, and His identity in
essence with the Father. S. John unfolded this threefold sentence
of His Gospel in the Creed which, at the bidding of the Blessed
Virgin, he delivered to S. Gregory Thaumaturgus, as S. Gregory of
Nyssa relates in his life. For this symbol is as follows, "There is
one Father of the living Word, the substantial Wisdom and Power,
and eternal Image, the perfect Father of the perfect and only begotten

24 S. JOHN, C. I.

Son. One Lord, alone from the Only One, Cod of God. the form
and image of the Godhead, the efficacious Word, the comprehensive
Wisdom by which all things were made, and the effectual power of
the whole creation. True Son that cannot be seen, of the true
Father that cannot be seen, incorruptible, immortal, and eternal Son
of the incorruptible, immortal, and eternal Father.

The same was in the beginning with God. He compendiously
repeats and confirms this proposition of this clau.s'e by a sentence
of a single clause. Thus, " This Word, which I have said is God, was
in the beginning, that is, from eternity, with God." For it is difficult
to understand how the Word can be with God, and yet the same
be God. Therefore John writes and inculcates both together, that
he may signify at one and the same time the unity of essence and
the diversity of persons, and that he may teach that in the Godhead
there is a Trinity of Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Ghost. For this is the deepest and most obscure mystery of our
faith, and the most difficult to be believed.

Maldonatus gives a second reason for this repetition, derived from
the third clause, the Word was God, that is to say, forasmuch as the
Word was God, therefore it follows that He was in the beginning
with God the Father, that is, coeternal and of one substance with
liie Father.

S. Hilary gives a third reason (lib. i de Trin.\ lest any one should
suppose because he said the Word was God, and the same was in
the beginning with God, there were therefore two Gods, one which
was the Word, and the other with whom the Word was, as the
Manichaeans held two Principles, or Gods, one of which was the
Creator of all things corporeal, the other the Creator of angels and
things spiritual, John declares that the Word was so with God the
Father as to be the same God with Him.

All things were made by Him, that is, by the Word. All things
which were not God were created by the Word. "All things,
from an angel to a worm," says S. Augustine ; who adds, " between
God who speaks, and the creature which was made, what is there by
which it was m.uie, but the Won!, by whom God said, Let it be made,

. THE WORD THE CREATOR. 25

and it was nude. As the Apostle says, " By Him," i.e., the Word,
"were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in
earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions,
or principalities, or powers : all things were created by Him, and
for Him "(Col. i. 16).

From these words of S. John the Macedonians falsely denied that
the Holy Ghost is God, arguing that He was made by the Word,
and therefore that He was a creature, and not the Creator. But it
is plain that the words refer to things created, not things uncreated,
such as the Spirit, who is One God with the Father and the Son,
and the Creator of all things. For if you were to take the word all
absolutely, you might infer that the Father also had been created
by the Word, which would be ridiculous, as S. Gregory Nazianzen
learnedly teaches against the Macedonians (Orat. de Sp. Sanet.)
S. John does not in this place make mention of the Holy Ghost,
because he is only treating or the generation and incarnation of the
Word. Wherefore, alter he had said that the Word was Himself
God, that is, coeternal, and of one substance with the Father, he
now in this third verse describes the relation of the same Word to
all created things, asserting that they were made by Him. Then
in the ninth and following verses he comes down to man, showing
the relation of the Word to man. He asserts that He took upon
Him the nature of man, that He might illuminate and save him.
This is the scope and object of the whole passage.

Observe that when it is said by Him, the preposition by does not
signify an instrumental cause, or a minister, as though the Word
were the instrument, or minister of God, by which He created all
things, as Origen supposed, and also the Arians, but it signifies
an original, or chief (fHttdfalem) cause, as in Prov. viii. 15, '• By
me kings reign," and i Cor. i. 9, " Faithful is God, by whom ye
have been called" (Vulg.) The preposition by in this and other
places is referred to God the Father, who is the First Cause of all
things. And by here means that the Word with the Father is the
original Cause of the creation of all things. So S. Chrysostom,
Theophylact, and Euthymius on this passage, and SS. Athanasius,

26 S. JOHN, C. I.

Basil, and others against the Arians. Wherefore also S. Paul (Heb.
i. 10) interprets Psalm cii. 26, " Thou Lord in the beginning hast laid
the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Thy
hands," of the Word, or Son. " Never, certainly, would he have said
this," says S. Chrysostom, " unless he had believed the Son to be
the Founder, not a minister, and that the Father and the Son were
equal in dignity."

You will ask, Why then does S. John use the preposition <5/a {per,
or through] instead of vvb, by, when he says that all things were
made through (5/d) Him ? i. That he might signify that the Word
proceeds from the Father, and is begotten of Him. " Lest any
one should suppose," says S. Chrysostom, "that the Word was
unbegatten."

2. That he might signify that the Word is the Idea of created
things, according to which the Father with the Son created all
things. For an artificer makes all the works of his art by an ideal,
or conception, or mental word, or plan. All these similitudes are
transferred to the Divine Word, who is the Begotten but Uncreated
Wisdom.

And without Him was made nothing (Vulg.) Nothing : i.e., evil,
as corruptible things, whose constant tendency is to nothingness,
from whence they came forth, as the Manicheeans say. For they
thought that things corporeal and corruptible were not created by
God, but by a demon, or evil god. But that this interpretation of
the words is false and foolish is shown by the Greek for nothing
(o-ifo s»), not even one thing, meaning that everything, without one
single exception, was created by the Word. So the Arabic clearly
translates, All things were made by Him, and without Him ivas
there not made anything of the things which were made.

3. By nothing, S. Augustine understands sin : that all things were
made by the Word, nothing, i.e., sin being excepted, the author
of which is the devil, and an evil will, not God. But this idea is
shown to be untenable in this place by the Greek, ouo' 'iv, not even
one tiling.

Which was made. Here there are three ways of pointing, and in

LIFE IN TI1K WORD. 2/

consequence a threefold interpretation and meaning. The first is,
withotil JJim was nothing made, w/iic/i was made in Him : then the
stop, after which begins a new sentence, There was life, &c. So
read and punctuate SS. Hilary and Kpiphanius, and some others.

15ut this reading is generally rejected as containing a manifest
tautology.

A second reading is, without Him was made nothing : then a full
stop, after which a new sentence is commenced, That which was
made in Him was life. This* is the pointing and reading of S.
Austin, Tertuliian (cont. Htrinog.}, S. Ambrose (lib. 3 de fide, c. 3),
and the Latin Fathers passim. And among the Greeks are Clement
of Alexandria (lib. i Pec. c. 6.) and S. Cyril /'// loc. S. Augus-
tine expounds as follows, "Everything made and created by the
Word was in the same Word vitally and intellectually, before it was
made and created." It was in the ideas and eternal plans which
exist in the Word. It was therefore life, i.e., it lived in the mind
and idea of the Word. S. Cyril explains differently, " Everything
was made life in the Word, that is, it received, and continues to
receive life, Le., vigour and the preservation of its being, as long as
it exists, from the Word."

The third reading is that of the Syriac, Arabic, and Greek texts
of S. Chrysostom, Nonnus, Euthymius, and Tertius (in catena) :
Without Him was nothing made that was made ; then the stop, and
then a fresh sentence, In Him was life. This is by far the best
reading, and in. conformity with it the Bible has been corrected at
Rome, and most of the other Latin copies.

S. John adds this sentence, against the Macedonians, who argued
as we have seen above. As if he said, "When I say that all things
were made by the Word, I mean, not the Holy Spirit, but only such
things as were created and made."

In Him was life, &c. Life is the thing which is most excellent,
as death is the worst. S. John here ascribes to the Word the
Fountain of life : for in Him " we live, and move, and have our
being '' (Acts xvii.) Hence the Greeks call their Gad Zeus, from £n»,
to //rr, because he breathes life into all living things. S. John's

28 S. JOHN, C. I.

meaning therefore is, " Our true life of grace and glory was in the
Word as its origin and fountain. And that He might communicate
Himself as this life and light to men, He came down to them, and
became man. That as by the Word this macrocosm or great universe
was created, so also by the same might the microcosm, or little
world of man, be re-created, and called back from the death of sin
to the life of grace and righteousness." S. John explains himself by
adding, Ami the life was the light of men. In his first Epistle he
speaks thus of the Word of Life (chap. i. ver. 2). "For the Life
was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew
unto you that eternal Life, which was with the Father, and was
manifested unto us." And in chap, v., the last verse, <; that we
may know the true God, and may be in His true Son. This is the
true God, and life eternal" (Vulg.) And this is why S. John con-
stantly calls Christ The Life.

The Fathers expound this Life of the Word in various ways.

1. Of Formal Life, hi Him was Life: that is, life is the very
substance of the Word. The Word Himself is substantial Life. So
says CEcumenius on i John i. The Word Himself is essentially
Life. For Life and to live are His very essence.

2. In the Word is Life ideal, or exemplar, because in the Word,
as in Idea, the eternal plans of all things exist, as S. Austin says.
For the Word is the Idea of all creatures, but the Idea is itself the
essence and life of God. Thus therefore the Word is the life of
all creatures, even of things inanimate, for all live in the Word,
inasmuch as He is all Life.

3. In the Word is efficient natural Life, because the Word is the
efficient Cause of all living things, and He gives them their life. To
plants He gives vegetable life, to animals animal life, to men rational
iife, to angels angelic life. Jansen expounds thus, " The natural life
of living things depends upon the Word."

4. and last. You may here take life to mean, supernatural
fflicient Life, and explain as lollows, " In the Word, as in a Fount
and prime Cause, was our supernatural life, that is to say, of grace
and glory; and therefore that He might impart this life to us, He

THE WORD TIIK LIGHT. 29

became Incarnate, as I have before said. For supernatural life is
twofold. It is begun by grace, by which a just man serves God in
faith, hope, and charity, and lives the supernatural life, believing in,
hoping in, and loving God above all things, supernaturally. The
other supernatural life is that which is consummated in glory,
wherein the blessed enjoy God, and are eternally beatified. There is
:m allusion to Psalm xlvi., "With Thee is the Well of Life, and in
Thy light shall we see life." " This is," says Theodoret, " « With
Thee is the Word Eternal, the fountain of life ; and in the light of the
Holy Spirit shall we behold the light of Thy Only Begotten Son.'"

The light of man, by which men are spiritually illuminated through
laith and grace. For he is speaking, not of natural and corporeal,
but of spiritual and supernatural light, as is plain from what follows.
The meaning is, Our life, which I have just said was in the Word,
was this illumination of the Word, by which He has illuminated men
with the knowledge of God and His salvation — externally, by words
and holy examples ; internally, by heavenly light infused into the
soul. This was why the Word was made flesh. So Clement of
Alexandria (Exhort, ad. Gent.} says, " The Word which was with
God appeared as a Teacher — the Word by which all things were
made, and which, with Him who made them, gave them at the
same time life as their Maker, and taught them to live well when
He appeared as their Teacher, that He might hereafter, for the
time to come, supply them with the means of living for ever."

And the* light shineth in darkness, &c. The meaning is, As the
natural light by its illumination dispels the darkness, so likewise has
Christ, forasmuch as He is light, done His part; but the darkness,
that is. men by reason of their ignorance and unbelief, have closed
the eyes of their soul, that they should not admit this light.

Observe, that Christ, as He is God, is the uncreated, efficient
light : as man also He is the efficient light, because He is to men
the Author of all wisdom, grace, and glory, not only giving them the
natural light of reason, as Origen and Cyril explain, but still more
as giving them the supernatural light of faith and wisdom. Where-
fore Christ is called in Mai. iv. 2, "The Sun of righteousness."

30 S. JOHN, c. I.

Observe : Christ as man is here called light, because He chiefly
gave'Yignl after His Incarnation. He was indeed light before. 'even
from the first beginning of the universe. For as the sun, before it
ascends. above the horizon, sends forth some rays of its dawning,
\vith which it gives light to the world, so '.likewise does Christ.
This is what the Father says to Christ : " I have given Thee for a
light unto the Gentiles, that Thou mayest be My salvation unto the
ends of the earth."

Admirably does S. Augustine say (Horn. 43), " Christ therefore
came to give light to the eyes, because the devil had blinded them."
And the same saint says (Epist. 120, ad. Honor], "The Son of
God is not absent even from the minds of the wicked, although
they see Him not, just as no light is seen when it is presented to
the eyes of the blind." The light of the Word shines in the dark-
ness of wicked men by the light of reason, by the voices of crea-
tures, which all cry aloud that there is a Creator, and that He ought
to be worshipped and loved. It shines 'by the law of nature written
in the -soul, by the New Law, by the Scriptures, by doctors and
preachers, by holy inspirations, and by many such things. Where-
fore, the same Augustine says (Tract. 2. in Joan].. "Fall not into
sin, and this sun shall not go down upon thee. If thou shall fall
into sin, it will set, and darkness will fall upon thee." "If thou
wilt see light, be thou also thyself -light. But if thou lovest dark-
ness, and the lusts of darkness, then will they overshadow thee, yea,
make thee blind."

Observe in holy Scripture, and especially in S. John, both in his
Gospel and his Epistles, the faith and grace of Christ are compared
to light, and sin to darkness, on account of many apposite analo-
gies between them. For light is heavenly, and is the -most noble,
the swiftest and most pure of natural things. It is impassible and
most active. It cannot be defiled by any impurities, even though
they be commingled with it. It brings warmth, glory, and joy. It
causes all things to be seen, and brings life and power to every living
tiling. Such also is God, and His grace. The contrary to all this
is found in sin, whose symbol rs darkness. Besides all this, grace

THE WITNESS OF JOHN. 31

leads to everlasting light and glory, sin to the lowest and most
extreme darkness.

Lompreiiendcditnvt: Greek, «u aariXa&v, i.e., as Vatablus translate?,
did not -receive it. The meaning is, so great was the blindness and
depravity of unbelieving and wicked men, that when the Light
offered itself to them of its own accord, they would not embrace,
nor receive it ; for they closed their eyes that they might not
admit it ; for " their works were evil," as S. John says (iii. 19).

There uws a man sent from God, &c. He was sent, as Luke says,
(iii. i), " in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Csesar : and
the Word of God came to him in the wilderness.'' " Thou, then,"
says Chrysostom, " when thou understandest that he was sent from
God, do not think that anything merely human is being announced,
but thnt all is Divine. He does not declare anything of his own,
but the secrets of Him who sends him. Therefore he, John, is
called an angel, that is, a messenger. It is the office of a mes-
senger to know nothing of himself."

The same came for a witness, &c. Namely, that he might bear
witness that Jesus is the true Light of the world, and that we must
look for, and ask of Him all the light of faith, and all the know-
ledge of salvation.

Observe that in Greek the article is prefixed to light, as it were
that light meaning the spiritual and Divine light, that which shineth
of itself, and is essentially light, and the source of all enlightenment,
which is as it were a Divine Sun, in respect of which John the
Baptist was but as the moon, or the day-star. For as the morning
star goes before the sun, so did John precede Christ the Sun of
righteousness. The meaning is as follows — Inasmuch as the light
of the Godhead was hidden in the humanity of Christ, as in a lan-
tern dark and shaded, so that men discerned it not, therefore did
God 3eml John, that he might uncover and make this light manifest,
and testify that Jesus was the very Son of God, the Teacher and
Redeemer of the world. For, as Paul saith (i Tim. vi. 16), God
" inhabiteth the unapproachable light, whom no man hath seen,
nor can see." And again, the Son "is the splendour of His glory,

32 S. JOHN, C. I.

and the form of the substance " of God the Father (Heb. i. 3,
Vulg.)

And again, the same is " the brightness of eternal light, and the
spotless mirror of the majesty of God, and the image of His good-
ness " (Wisd. vii. 26).

That all men through him might believe: that is, believe in the
Light, and so be justified and saved. Through him, namely, John,
who as it were with his finger pointed out Christ, saying : " Behold
the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world."

He was not that Light, &c. The Jews and the Scribes thought,
because of the preaching and heavenly life of John in the wilderness,
that he was himself the Light, i.e., Christ. John the Evangelist by
these words destroys such an idea. He was not tJiat Light. That
is, he was not the Saviour of the world, but only His witness, who
received all his own light of knowledge and prophecy and grace
from Christ. Wherefore in v. 35, he is called " a burning and a
shining lamp." " But," says Origen. " he did not burn by his own
fire, nor shine by his own light."

That was the true Light, &c. Not John, but Christ Himself. You
will ask, Why is Christ called the inte Light ? or, as the Greek forcibly
expresses it, ri </>£; TO u^divw, the Light the true? I answer, first,
because the Word is the original, uncreated, and essential Light :
but John the Baptist and the rest of the saints are light only by
participation and communication from the Word. Wherefore, in
comparison with Christ they do not deserve the name of light, for-
asmuch as they are infinitely surpassed by His brightness. Christ
therefore alone is Light, and alone deserves the name of light. In
the same way the name of God is Jehovah, or He who is, because
He is the true, essential, eternal, and infinite Being, but all other
things derive from Him a spark of being. Wherefore, in comparison
with God they have but an imperfect and mutilated existence, so as
rather to seem to exist, than actually to be. For they are as it were
the shadow of that infinite Being, which fills immensity, that is, God,
who truly is the only Being, or He who is.

2. Christ is the true Light of the world, because His faith and

Till; IK UK LIGHT. 33

doctrine are opposed to the errors and false doctrines of Gentile
philosophers, heretics, and atheists. For the true Light is that
which is pure, sincere, genuine, which has nothing feigned, nor
obscure, nor imperfect.

3. Because Christ illuminates us far more truly and perfectly
than any corporeal light does, therefore spiritual light alone deserves
the name of light, and corporeal light is only, as it were, a shadow
of it. In a similar way, and with a like meaning, Christ says
(xv. i), I am the true Vine : and in vi. 55, He calls Himself M<r true
Jircad. In like manner that which is perfect, and of surpassing
excellency, is often called true.

4. Christ is the true Light because He most fully and most
widely diffuses His light in every direction. Therefore everywhere
is He the true Light. For, as S. John adds by way of explana.-
tion, He lighteneth every man that comet h into this world." For all
the saints and the faithful, how great soever, and how many
soever they are, which have been, and are, and shall be, from the
beginning of the world, have derived all their light of faith and
grace from Christ. But John the Baptist was a light only to Judea,
a little corner of the world, and that only in the days of Herod. In
like manner it has been with the rest of the saints.

Lastly, John and the rest were only able to teach their hearers
exteriorly, and with the outward voice, but they could not directly,
nor of themselves, illuminate the soul. But Christ does both.
The voice only strikes upon the outward ears, but Christ, by His
.yrace, both strikes upon, and illuminates the soul.

This is why Christ is continually called by John, the Truth.
And Christ says in the i4th chapter: " / am the IVay, the Truth, and
the Life." For in Christ there is all truth, and that fourfold : there
is the truth of beinji, or existence, the truth of the soul, the truth
of word, and the truth of deed.

Truth lies hid, as the true Deity lay hid, in the humanity of
Christ. Yet cannot it lie hid for ever. As Cicero says (pro Calio),
" O mighty power of truth, which by itself easily defends itself

against the wit of men, against craft and cunning, and against
VOL. iv. c

34 s. JOHX, c. i.

every ensnaring device." Wherefore, the truth may be oppressed,
but can never be extinguished, just as the sun may be obscured by
the clouds, but by-and-by it disperses the clouds by the force
of its rays, and shines out brightly. Such is truth, and such too
is Christ.

Lighteneth every man : that is, as far as Christ is concerned.
Wherefore, let those who are not enlightened, ascribe the fault
to themselves, because they will not receive the light of faith and
grace which Christ offers them. Thus does the sun give light so
far as he is concerned to all that are in the house. But if any one
shut the window, and prevent the sun from shining through it, this
will be his own fault, not the fault of the sun. S. John here alludes
to the sun, which gives light to the whole world. So S. Chrysostom,
Cyril, Euthymius. This may be gathered from what preceded,
the light shineth in darkness, &c. This is said of the supernatural
light of grace, though S. Cyril explains it of the natural light of
reason. For God has given to every man the light of reason, that
by it he may know what is good, what is evil, what to embrace, and
what to shun.

That cometh into this world, i.e., born in this world. This is
a Hebraism. The Greek se^o^m, coining, may be taken to be in
grammatical agreement with light, so that the meaning would be,
the light coming into this world, that is, Christ born in this world,
enlightens, so far as He is concerned, every man. So S. Augustine
(lib. i. de pec. mer. c. 25). So Christ says (xii. 46), / am come a
Light into the world. But almost all the Greek and Latin inter-
preters take coming to be in the accusative, as agreeing with man.

Ver. 10. — He was in the world, &c. The Word, or Son of God,
was in the world. For He as God was in the world by His essence
and presence, and power, from the beginning, preserving and
governing it by His providence. So S. Paul says (Acts xvii. 27). So
SS. Chrysostom, Austin, and all the other Greek and Latin Fathers.
Otherwise Maldonatus, who refers the passage to the Incarnation.
But the Evangelist is about to treat of the Incarnation in the
verses following.

THE WORLD KNEW NOT THE WORD. 35

And the world was made by Him. And is here put for assuredly,
or, more emphatically, for because. The meaning is — Therefore was
the Word in the world, because the world was created, and is still
preserved, and exists by Him. For the Word is the foundation,
yea, as it were, the very soul of the world, even as Plato, though
a heathen, thought. Wisely Philo saith, " It is the property of the
Creator to bless, of the creature to give thanks."

And the world knew Him not. John marks the ingratitude of the
world, because it knew not its Maker, whom it always had present,
even the Word, or Son of God. Moreover, there is a play upon
the word world. For (i.) by world is properly understood the
universe, and all the things that are therein, all which were made by
the Word. But when it is added, and the world knew Him not, by
the world is understood inhabitants of the world, that is to say, men
given up to the world, who knew not the Author of the world. So
SS. Augustine and Chrysostom.

Observe here, that by the works of Nature, it may be naturally
known that God is One in Essence, but not Three in Person, and
consequently the Word cannot in this way be known as the Word.
John therefore here blames worldly men, not because they did not
recognise the Word qua Word, but because they did not recognise Him
as God, the Creator of the world, by means of His workmanship.
And this affords a reply to Maldonatus, who argues that John is
speaking in these words of the Incarnation of the Word. But we
answer, that they did not know the Word as the Word, or the
Person of the Son. Indeed, many have not from the works of God
in the world even recognised God as its Creator. I allow that some
men, both patriarchs and prophets, knew the Word, or Son of
God, and prophesied concerning Him. But they knew this by a
special revelation of God, not by His works in the world. John
therefore is here deploring the blindness and ignorance of human
infirmity, since the Fall, because with faith it lost the knowledge of
its Creator and Saviour, that is, the Word.

He came unto His own, &c. By His own Augustine, Cyril, Chry-
sostom, &c., understand the Jews, for they were the peculiar people

36 s. JOHN, c. i.

of God. But by His ou<n you may better understand the world, and
all the inhabiters thereof. For S. John says the same thing, and
after his manner repeats and enforces it, as I have already said :
thus, " He was in the world, and the world was made by Htm, and the
world knew Him not." Hear S. Cyril at the Council of Ephesus,
"The Only Begotten came unto His own, especially the Israelites,
when He became man incarnate."

And His own — not all, but many, for some did receive Jesus as
the Christ, such as the twelve apostles, and the seventy-two dis-
ciples. But these were few compared with the rest of the Jews who
did not receive Him.

Ver. 12. — But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to
become the sons of God, even to those who believe in His name : i.e., on
Himself, for the name signifies the Person of Christ. The pronoun
who must be referred, not to sons of God, but to as many. This is
plain from the Greek &/, which is masculine, and must refer to oeoi,
as many, or whosoever, not to rexia, (children, or sons), which is
neuter. The meaning is, "to as many as have received Christ,
that is, to all who believe in His name, He has given power to
become sons of God.n And so S. John explains himself (i Ep. v. i),
" Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God."

Power, Greek, t^outa'an, i.e., dignity,, authority, right, that indeed
by this very thing, that they receive Christ by faith and by the sac-
rament of faith, i.e., baptism, or certainly by faith formed by love,
which includes the wish for, or desire of baptism, they become at
the same time justified, and they are made and are (for the Greek
ytMiaQcti means both), the adopted sons of God by participation and
grace, even as Christ is the natural Son of God by His own Divine
Hypostasis.

Wherefore Clement of Alexandria (Ad/wrt. ad Gent.} says, that
Christ by His Incarnation changed earth into heaven, and of men
made angels, yea gods, and therefore that He is the beautiful
charioteer who drives to heaven, to a blessed immortality, the
chariot, whose two horses are the Jews and the Gentiles.

Therefore the word t~M/a, power, signifies both the dignity of the

CO-OPERATION OF MAN'S WILL. 37

Divine adoption, and the liberty of our will freely to embrace it.
For He does not say, He made them to be sons of God, but He gave
t'u'w poiver, \.^ free will to become sons of Got/, if, that is, they will
freely to believe in, and obey Him. Calvin and Beza deny this, but
Augustine asserts it (de Spirit, et Lit. c. 31). " For," he says, "we
call this pou<er, where the faculty of performing is added to the will.
Wherefore every one is said to have in his power that which if he
wills to do, he does, which if he wills not to do, he does not." S.
Chrysostom, Theophylact, Euthy mius, Bede, and others, assert the same
thing continually. Hear S. Chrysostom, " Like as if fire shall touch
metalliferous earth, it immediately turns it into gold, so much more
does baptism make those whom it washes to be gold instead of clay.
For the Holy Ghost, as it were fire, in that same hour that He
enters our hearts, takes away our likeness to earth, and makes us to
have a heavenly likeness new and bright, and shining as in a furnace.
And why did He not say, He made its to become the sons of God? It
was that he might show that we have need of great diligence, that
we may-keep pure and undefiled the mark of adoption stamped upon
us by baptism. Moreover because no one is able to take away this
power from us unless we shall first take it away from ourselves."

You will say, faith equally with adoption is the gift of God, there-
fore it cannot be at the disposal of man's will. I reply by denying
the inference. For God does not bestow faith, hope, and charity
and other virtues and gifts of His upon men against their will, or as
unreasoning beings, but as reasonable creatures, co-operating freely
with Him. For this is what S. John here says, God has given power
to become sons of God to those who freely receive Christ by faith
and obedience, excluding those who are unwilling to receive Him.
" Power is given that they who believe in Him may become sons of
(iod, since this very thing is given that they may believe in Him,"
says S. Augustine (lib. i. contr. 2. cpist. Pelag. c. 3). And this is given
by God, when He so by His grace illuminates and influences the
soul of man as freely herself to consent and believe.

7'o become the sons of God. How this is wrought, and how great
is the dignity of this adoption, I have shown on Hosea i. 10, upon

38 S. JOHN, C. I.

the words, " It shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living
God." Wherefore Cyril saith, " Let us rise to our supernatural
dignity through Christ, — not indeed that we should be sons of God
by nature as He is, but that, through likeness to Him, we may be
sons of God by grace."

Ver. 13. — Which were born, not of bloods (Greek) nor of the will
(Arabic, appetite) of the flesh, &c. S. John here gives an antithesis
between human generation and Divine, and demonstrates the supe-
riority of the latter. For (i.) he says that the former is of bloods,
which is a Hebraism for blood, meaning the blood of man, produced
by food.

2. He asserts that it is of the will, i.e., the concupiscence of
the flesh. This is what is elsewhere called flesh and blood, in which
the will, or concupiscence of man, consists. He explains the will of
Ihe flesh to be the will of man. That is, the will, or appetite, or
concupiscence of the flesh is the will, or concupiscence, for the
generative act, which the carnal appetite desires.

On the other hand, the Divine generation of the sons of God is
not of blood, nor of the will and concupiscence of the flesh, but is
of God, that is, of the will, predestination, and love of God. Again,
of God means of the Spirit and grace of God, by which the mind
of man, beforetime carnal, is regenerated and justified, and so a
man becomes spiritual, just, and holy, a friend, yea, a son of God.
3. Of God, because in this regeneration of man, God not only
gives him His grace and love and all other virtues, but also Him-
self, that a man may be truly justified, and may have the Spirit really
dwelling in his soul, yea, may have the whole Trinity, and so may
become Divine, a son and heir of God, and a joint-heir with Christ.

Ver. 14. — And the Word was made flesh, &c. Thus it is literally
translated in the Syriac, Persian, Egyptian, and Ethiopic versions.
But the Arabic has, The Word was made a body. For flesh here
means the human body, and so man. From this the heresiarch Apol-
linaris denied that the Word assumed a human soul and mind. He
asserted that in their place were the mind and Divinity of the Divine
Word. So says S. Augustine (Hares. 55). For the faith teaches

UNION OF THE TWO NATURES. 39

that the Word assumed as well true human flesh as a true reasonable
soul, and therefore had two perfect and uncommingled natures, the
Divine and the human, and consequently possessed two wills, and
a twofold mind, the Divine and the human. So that these two
natures with their attributes subsist in the one only Person of the
Word, in which Person, but not in His tiature, this union has
taken place, as the Council of Ephesus defines against Nestorius,
and the Council of Chalcedon against the Eutychians.

From this unity of Person there follows, as theologians teach,
a participation of the attributes (communicatio idiomatum] of both
natures, so that in Christ whatsoever is an attribute of man as man,
the same may be predicated of His Divinity, and conversely. For
example, we truly say, this Man, namely, Jesus, is God, is Almighty,
is the Creator, is from eternity. And conversely we say that God,
or the Son of God, truly suffered, was crucified, and died. For
indeed there is one and the same Divine Person in Christ, God and
man, who underwent all these things, although in accordance with
two different natures. For actions and passions inhere in concrete
individuals, or persons, in whatsoever nature they subsist. Hear S.
Austin (in Dial. 65. qucest. ad Oros. qu. 4). " The Word was made
flesh, not being changed by the flesh ; so that He did not cease to
be what He was, but began to be what He had not been. For He
assumed flesh, He did not convert Himself into flesh. By that
flesh, as a part for the whole, we understand the whole man, that is,
flesh and reasonable soul. And as the first man had died both in
the flesh and in the soul, so also it behoved that he should be
quickened both in flesh and in soul, through the Mediator between
God and man, the Man Christ Jesus."

It follows (2.) that the Word was made flesh, not in the way in
which water became wine when it was changed into wine, nor as
food becomes our flesh, when it is changed into it, nor yet again as
gold becomes a statue, by the addition to the material of gold of
the accidental form of a statue, but after a similar manner to that
in which soul and flesh being united become one man. So S.
Athanasius in the Creed : " One, not by confusion of substance, but

40 S. JOHN, C. I.

by unity of Person. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one
man, so God and man is one Christ."

But man is one essentialiter ; Christ is one personaliter. Or again,
it is after the manner in which a man is clothed by the putting on
of a garment. So a new substance was added to the Word, as it
were a garment, but substantially, not accidentally : for the Son of
God clothed Himself with the substance of flesh, and of our nature,
and joined, and most closely united it to Himself substantially in
the same Hypostasis of the Word.

Flesh here, as often in Scripture, signifies by synecdoche the whole
man. The Word was made flesh, i.e., the Son of God became man.
In a similar manner, S. John might have said. The Word of God
became a son!. But he preferred to sayyfo// rather than soul, that
he might show how great was the kindness of God, that for love of
us He emptied Himself. For God was made _/?<«//, that we instead
of flesh that was most corrupt through concupiscence and sin might
become as it were Divine, and sons of God, and akin to God Him-
self. "The Word," says S. Cyril (epist. 8. ad Nestor.), "uniting to
Himself, according to His substance, flesh animated by a reasonable
soul, was ineffably made man."

We will now comment upon each word of this passage singly.

And: this word conjoins the sentence with those preceding it.
It has partly an historical, partly a causative force. Historically — -
"that Eternal Word, whose generation I have declared, and of
whom I have said, that He was with God, and was God, was in the
time divinely appointed made flesh, for He assumed our flesh of the
Blessed Virgin, and when He was born of her was called Jesus.
So that and in this place may stand for therefore. As thus, Therefore
was the Word made flesh, that He might make us to be the sons of
God. Therefore S. Augustine says, " Let us not be amazed, or
astounded at such grace, and let it not seem a thing incredible to
us, that men should be born of God, when He asks }ou to consider
that God was born of men."

The Word : the Greek has the article, and is emphatic— that
Divine and Kternal Word, of whom we have been thus far speak-

ACAIXST Till-. IU'TY< I!IAV>. 4!

ing. Wherefore S. Athanasius (Kf>ist. ad Efic/etuin) cites Gal. iii.
as a parallel passage, and says, " For as Christ is called a curse,
not because He Himself was made a curse, but because for us He
bore the curse, so is He said to be made flesh, not because He
Himself was changed into flesh, but because He assumed flesh
for us."

The U'ord was made flesh is explained by the same parallel of
a curse by S. Gregory Nazianzen (Epist, ad Ciedni.), S. Flavian,
1'atriarch of Antioch, S. Ignatius, S. Irenrcus, S. Hippolytus,
S. Basil, S. Chrysostom, S. Gregory Nyssen, Amphilochius, and
others, who are cited by Theodoret in a Dialogue entitled IminuLi-
I'iiis. In this he confutes those Eutychians who said that the
Word was changed by His Incarnation, and transformed into flesh.
He confutes others who said that flesh was changed into the Word,
and that the Word absorbed the flesh in the same way that the sea
swallows up a stream which flows into it. These he confutes in his
Dialogue Inconfusus. He confutes a third section of the Eutychians,
who said that the Godhead in Christ suffered and was crucified, in a
third Dialogue called hnpassibilis.

Lastly, listen to S. Cyril in the Council of Ephesus, " By the
Wordyfo/* the whole man must be understood, as in the place where
it is said, ' All flesh shall see the salvation of God,' and ' I com-
muned not with flesh and blood' (Gal. L) Soul is understood in
similar way, as 'Seventy-five souls of our fathers went down into
Egypt' (Acts vii.) As often therefore as we hear that the Word was
made flesh, we understand that He became a man of flesh and blood.''
S. Cyril elsewhere repeats this, and adds, " Not according to trans-
ference, or conversion, or commutation, as though there were a
transformation into the nature of flesh, nor as having commingling,
nor consubstantiation, &c."

Flesh, i.e., man. To the IVord he opposes flesh, as it were the
lowest to the highest, what is wretched to what is blessed, what is
most vile, weak, and impure, to what is most glorious. For what is
more vile, weak, and filthy than human flesh? And yet the Word
of God deigned to stoop to such flesh as this, from love of us. This

42 S. JOHN, C. I.

is that p/Xa»0j«ff/'a and ecstasy of love which the Apostle celebrates
(Titus iii. 4). Hear S. Bernard (Serin. 3. de Naiiv.} : " Forasmuch
as He was in the beginning with God, He dwelt in the unapproach-
able light, and none could comprehend Him. For ' who hath found
out the mind of the Lord, or who hath been His counsellor?'
'The carnal mind perceiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,'
but now even the carnal man may receive them, because the Word
has been made flesh. O man who art in the flesh, to thee is manifested
that wisdom which afore was hid. Behold, now is it drawn forth
from its hiding-place, and introduces itself into the very senses of
thy flesh. After a fleshly manner, that I may so say, is it preached
unto thee. Flee from voluptuousness, for death has been placed
beside the gate of pleasure."

The Word then was made flesh, i.e., man, as subsisting (existen1em\
not as a person (subsistenteni). For He assumed the very nature of
man, but not the person of a man. Nor indeed was the Person of
the Word made the person of a man, for this were impossible. The
Word assumed the essence and substance of man, not human per-
sonality. A human nature was assumed by Him in that very
moment of time in which it was formed by the Holy Ghost, who
came first that it, namely, the humanity, should not subsist as a
person ; and He conjoined the same human nature to Himself in
the unity of His Divine Person, and made it to subsist in the same.
Wherefore the Humanity of Christ subsists not in itself, but in the
Person of the Word.

Was made: not that the Word was changed into flesh, or flesh
into the Word, for, as S. Chrysostom says, "far from that immortal
nature is transmutation." For how could flesh become God, that
is, how could the creature become the Creator ? Neither does it
mean that the Word was made flesh, that is, became a man, in such a
sense that He assumed not only human nature, but a human person,
;is Nestorius thought. "It is not as if," says Theophylact, " the Word
had found a man endued with virtues, and united him to Him-
self," as the Holy Ghost united Himself to the prophets, the angel
Raphael to Tobias. But it is that He united the nature of man to

THE INCARNATION. 43

His own Hypostasis, ami caused that the man Jesus should subsist in
the same Hypostasis as God the Word, God the Son. Moreover,
the Word was made flesh, not in imagination, nor appearance, nor
fancy, as the Manichasans maintained, but in the very truth and
reality of actual fact. The Word was made man, I say, not by Him-
self alone, but by the whole Trinity. For all the Holy Trinity was
the efficient cause of the Incarnation of the Word, but still in such a
manner that the Hypostatic Union was with the sole Person of the
Word, not with that of the Father, or the Holy Ghost: and the Son
alone became man. " For the Trinity itself made the Word only
to be flesh,'' says S. Fulgentius (lib. defide ad Petr.}

The Word therefore clothed with flesh was as the sun vested with
a cloud, or as fire burning iron, or as a burning coal, as S. Cyril
says. Wherefore its type and symbol is a carbuncle, as I have said
on Apoc. xxi. 29. Again, it was like unto a pearl in a shell, or as
lightning in a cloud, or as gold in a furnace, or an angel in a body.
Moreover S. Augustine says (lib. 15. de Trin. c. n), "As our speech
becomes a voice, and yet is not changed into a voice, so the
Word of God being made flesh was not changed into flesh."

I have said more on the subject of the Incarnation in the first
chapter of S. John's Epistle. Among other things I have shown that
it was with this end and object in view, that the Word which before,
as God, was our Father, might become, as it were, our Mother,
through the Humanity which He assumed. And I added from
Damascene, that God assumed human nature, that He might unite
the whole world to Himself by it, and, as it were, make it godlike.

And dwelt among us : Greek, f<sxr,tuaet, i.e., tabernacled amongst us for
a short time, like a guest and a foreigner in a strange land. For
He was a citizen and an inhabitant, and the Lord of Heaven and
Paradise. As it is said in Jeremiah (xiv. 8), " Wherefore wilt thou
be as a sojourner in the land, and as a wayfarer turning aside to
lodge ? " Christ therefore wished to teach us by His own example
that this world is, as it were, a guest-house, but that heaven is
our country, which we ought to strive to attain, despising earthly
things.

44 s. JOHN, c. I.

SS. Chrysostom and Cyril explain a little differently. Among us,
i.e., in us, in our nature, namely, in the Humanity which He assumed,
that He might redeem us. S. Chrysostom gives the reason. " The
Word constructed a holy temple for Himself, and by means of it
introduced from heaven a way in which we should spend our life."

A nd 'we have seen His glory : Greek, J0saffa>s0a, we have gazed upon,
as on a new and wonderful spectacle in a theatre, that the Word
veiled in flesh might indeed show us the glory of His Godhead
by means of miracles and Divine wisdom. Thus the Apostle says
(i Cor. iv. 9), "We were made a spectacle (Greek, a theatre) to the
world, to angels and to men." Listen to S. Austin, " By that His
nativity He made an eye-salve, whereby the eyes of our heart might
be cleansed. No man could see His glory unless he would be
healed by the humility of the flesh. Flesh had blinded thee : flesh
healeth thee. Thus cometh the physician that by the flesh He
may heal the vices of the flesh."

The glory as of the Only Begotten. The meaning is, we have seen
the glory of Christ, being such and so great as became the Only
Begotten Son : or that it was such as might manifest Him to be the
Only Begotten Son of God. For to Him, as S. Basil says, hath
God the Father given all His glory, all His substance, as parents
are wont to leave all their inheritance to an only begotten son.
This glory of Christ did S. John with his fellows behold in the
Transfiguration upon Mount Tabor, in His glorious Resurrection,
in His Ascension, and in His Divine life and miracles. There-
fore the word as here denotes not similitude, but reality. So S.
Chrysostom says, " The word as in this place is an expression not
of similarity, but of confirmation, and certain definition." And
Theophylact says, " We behold His glory, not such as that which
Mo>es had, nor glory such as that with' which the cherubim and
seraphim appeared to the prophet, but glory such as that which
became the Only Begotten of the Father, the glory which appertains
to Him by His nature."

Moreover, the glory of the Godhead of Christ shone through the
flesh which He assumed, as through a veil, as Euthymius says, who

FULNESS OF (iR.\( K. 45

further adds, " What was that grace of the Word ? Surely it was
the performance of miracles such as had never been beheld before :
it was His bright and supernatural Transfiguration, the preter-
natural darkening of the sun at the time of His Passion, the fearful
rending of the veil, the terrible earthquake, the rending of the rocks,
the opening of the graves, the raising of the dead, and that which
is the chief of all, wonderful beyond speech or thought, the Resur-
rection of the Lord."

Of the Father. This is added, saith S. Bernard, "because Christ
hath brought to us from the Father's heart everything that is
paternal, that fear itself might perceive nothing in the Son of God
but what is sweet and fatherly towards the human race." More
loftily, and more literally, says St. Cyril, " That supernatural grace is
ever firm and immutable, ever the same, ever equally full of its own
dignity. Wherefore, although the Word was made flesh, He was
not overcome by the infirmity of the flesh, nor did He fall from His
ancient majesty and omnipotence, because He became man. For
we saw, he says, the glory of Christ from God, more lofty than the
glory of creatures, that every one who is in possession of his senses
might confess that it could belong to no other than to the Only
Begotten Son of God."

Full of grace and truth. Erasmus and Cajetan join these words to
what follows, and refer them to John the Baptist. They connect
and translate as follows, John being full of -grace and truth bears
witness of Him, namely, of Jesus, that He is the Christ. They support
their view by saying that the Greek for///// is T/.JJCJJ; in the nominative
masculine. But this pointing and translation is opposed to all the
Fathers, and the perpetual consent of the Church, contrary, too, to
the pointing of the Greek, Latin, Syriac and Arabic versions, which
place a full stop after truth. It is moreover inconsistent with what
lollows, for John, explaining how Christ was full of grace and truth,
subjoins, of Jh's fulness hare till we received. The Greek for /////being
in the nominative, is inconclusive, as well because many MSS. have
cAiji»j in the accusative, and others have TA^CJJ in the margin, as also
because the preceding worcs, .///// ice hare seen fjisglor)\theglflry, \<-.,

46 s. JOHN, c. i.

should be read as in a parenthesis. For -TA^IJ;, the nominative refers
to Aoyor, meaning, the Word was made flesh, being full of grace and
truth. There is a reference to human speech, the greatest commen-
dation of which is, when it is gracious and true. So also the Divine
Word, not merely as He is in Himself, but also as He became
flesh, carried with Him most excellent grace, as it were in a
fountain-head, and was most abundantly endowed by God with
every gift of grace, both in word and deed, according as it was
said, "And all marvelled at the words of grace which proceeded
out of His mouth" (Luke iv. 22). The same Word made flesh was
full of truth also, because He has exposed all errors, and banished
the shadows of the Old Law, and brought to light the very truth
itself which was promised by the prophets. " In Him are hid all
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col. ii. 5).

Full of grace : "For we have not seen the glory of power or
splendour," says S. Bernard, "but the glory of paternal kindness,"
the glory of grace, of which the Apostle saith, " to the praise of the
glory of His grace" (Eph. i.) Wherefore the Apostle exclaims,
(i Tim. iii. 16), "Great is the mystery of piety" (namely, the Word
made flesh), " which was manifested in the flesh, justified in the
spirit, appeared unto angels, was preached unto the Gentiles,
believed on in the world, received up into glory." For how full and
altogether perfect was the grace of Christ, see the teaching of S.
Thomas (3 /. q. 7. art. 9 et seq.)

And truth. A symbol of the union of grace and truth is found in
the breastplate of the high priest Aaron, which bore the inscription
of Urim and Thummiw, that is, doctrines and truth, or, literally,
illumination and perfection, that is, truth and grace. These two
superabounded in Christ, and are especially needful for every priest
that he may be like Christ.

Therefore although the Blessed Virgin, S. Stephen, and other
saints are said to be ///// of grace above other men, yet in respect of
Christ were they not full. For Christ is, as it were, an ocean flow-
ing out in rivers of grace to all the faithful, to apostles, martyrs,
confessors, virgins. As the Apostle says (Col. ii. 9), " in Him

JOHN'S TESTIMONY. 47

tlwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." And again, "To
every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift
of Christ" (Eph. iv. 7), and "To the Son God hath not given the
Spirit by measure."

Ver. i$.—Johti bears witness, £c. He proves what he had said
concerning the Word Incarnate, and that He was full of grace and
truth, by the irrefragable testimony of John the Baptist. For him
the Jews accounted as a prophet and divine. It is as if he said,
" Not only have we seen Jesus Christ full of grace and truth, but
John, who was sent from God, openly and plainly has testified the
same concerning Him."

And cricth : the Greek is, ixcuy!, i.e., cried out. For he himself
was the voice of one crying in the wilderness (Isa. xl. 23). " Whom
not I myself alone have heard," says S. Cyril, " but far and wide
among all hath his cry come. For it was not in secret, nor with
low and stammering accents, but louder than a trumpet." As
S. Chrysostom says, " Freely and confidently, casting away fear, he
preached the advent of God."

This was He of whom / spake: see verses 27 and 30. It means,
" Before John had seen and known Christ, he said, that He was
about to come to save man. And when he had seen Him, he
repeated and confirmed it." As Theophylact says, "Lest he should
seem to please merely the person of Jesus, in speaking in too much
praise of Him, he saith, of whom 2 spake, that is, even before I had
seen Him."

He who corndh, i.e., who is about to preach, says S. Chrysostom,
after me, was before me. That is, He is preferred in honour before
me, because He was the destined Redeemer of the world. As
Bede says, " not in order of time, but of dignity." And S. Augustine,
'• He was not made before I was made " (for John was born six
months before Christ), but He was placed before me."

For He was before me : for since Jesus is true God, He was from
eternity. So SS. Augustine and Chrysostom. Again, before means,
greater by nature, more worthy in majesty. S. Chrysostom remarks,
"John does not say, Christ, by making advance in grace and

48 S. JOHN, c. I.

virtue, hath surpassed me ; but He was before me, i.e., ' He was
always my superior, always more glorious than I,' " as Cyril adds,
" because He was very God."

And of 11 is fulness, &c. He follows up and unfolds what he had
said in the fourteenth verse that the Word Incarnate aw /#// of grace
and truth: for of this plenitude of grace and truth have all we, apostles
and Christians, yea, all the faithful before Christ, received. For
Enoch, Noah, Moses, and all the rest of the prophets and patriarchs,
have been sanctified and saved by the aforeseen merits of Christ.
Origen and Theophylact think that these are a continuation of the
words of John the Baptist; but S. Chrysostom, Cyril, and others
better take them as the words of S. John the Evangelist, confirming
the preceding words of the Baptist.

Of His fulness : i.e., of Him who is most full. For Christ as the
Head of the Church sheds abroad upon all the faithful, who are
His members, not the whole fulness of His grace, but a portion
thereof according to His will. "The saints," says Bede, "receive
not the fulness of His Spirit, but of His fulness what He giveth."
'* For from the fulness of the Son," says S. Cyril, "as a perpetual
fountain, the gifts of grace flow out abroad to each soul that is
worthy of them." This is what the Apostle says, " He hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places," i.e., by " Christ,"
(Eph. i.) " For He is the fountain and the root of all good," says
S. Chrysostom ; " He is life, He is light, He is truth, not keeping in
Himself the riches of His goodness, but diffusing them to all, and
when He hath diffused them remaining full. Neither is there any
diminution in Him of that which He supplies to others, but He
ever bestows His riches yet more abundantly ; and when He has
imparted to all He still abides in the same perfectness."

And grace for grace: Greek, yjieiv avri ^ao/rof, where o.v-i,fo>; is
the same as instead of. First some expound thus, grace for grace, i.e.,
grace upongrace, or, all grace have we received from Christ. As it might
be said in Hebrew, chen al chen. But this would require SKI instead
of utr! in the Greek. Johannes Alba, however, defends this interpreta-
tion. Grace for grace, he says, means copious and superabundant

GRACE FOR GRACE. 49

grace. He quotes the Hebrew expressions in the Prophets, stroke
upon stroke, for a very great stroke, or plague : and Job's skin for
skin, i.e., skin upon skin, meaning all a man's flocks and herds, skin
after skin, will he give for his life. Suarez takes the same view :
Grace for grace, i.e., second grace instead of first grace. That is to
say, we all, not men only, but angels, have received increasing grace.

2. Maldonatus, grace for grace; i.e., one man has received one
grace or favour; another, instead of it, another grace. But this
cioes not suit the meaning of the Greek d»r/, which signifies succes-
sion, not distribution.

3. S. Austin says, we receive the grace of life eternal, that is,
beatific glory, here in hope, and after death in reality, instead of the
grace of this life. For, on the one hand, grace is the seed of glory ;
and on the other hand, glory is the consummation of grace.

4. Others say, we have received from Christ the evangelical
instead of the ancient Law. For each is grace, because given gratis
by God. So S. Cyril, Chrysostom, Jansen, &c.

5. Others expound, In the grace of Christ we have all received
grace, and by Him have been made pleasing to God. Wherefore
Paul declares constantly that we are justified and sanctified in Christ.
This is a useful, but not an exact meaning, for the Greek dm means
instead of, not in.

6. And exactly : The Greek am has two meanings ; chiefly and
precisely it denotes vicarious succession, answering to the Hebrew
tachath, in the place, or room of. " For the grace of Christ we, as
it were, His sons and successors, have received like grace with
Him. For as the grace of Christ made Him well-pleasing unto
God, so likewise does the same grace make us pleasing unto God,
and sons of God by adoption." So SS. Chrysostom, Cyril, and
others. Secondly, am is often used, though improperly, for on
account of: "on account of, or, through the grace of Christ as a
fountain, we have received grace." It is explanatory of what
precedes — and of His fulness have all we received — by means of
what follows, even grace for grace. For grr.ce flows down from
God through Christ as our Head unto us, who are, as it were, His

VOL. IV. D

50 S. JOHN, C. I.

members, as the Apostle teaches (Eph. i.) For God has willed to
appoint Christ to be, as it were, the universal fountain of grace,
from whence every grace should flow down to the faithful, that we
may owe everything to Christ, and render unto Him endless and
infinite thanks. For the sake of Christ, who is well-pleasing and
most beloved in His sight, who is also the Mediator, God has
reconciled us unto Himself, and enriched us with His grace and
friendship, according to the words in: S. Matthew iii. 7, " This is My
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased ; " and no man pleases
Me except through Him. From hence it is plain that we receive
from Christ the same grace which He has in Himself — the same, I
say, in kind, not in degree, which would be, ordinarily speaking, un-
becoming and impossible, though some have even maintained this.
Thirdly, the word "for" (an-/) might denote a certain equality.
For this is the meaning of the Greek compound aur/'&oj, that is to
say, the equal of God, or he who makes himself a god, as Lucifer
did, and Antichrist will do. So also antitype (amVusro;) is that
which is set over against and corresponds, that which is equal, and
of the same form. And tJie antipodes are properly those who walk
with their feet planted exactly opposite to our own. The meaning
then would be — Through Christ we have received grace as it were
equal to the grace of Christ, because by it we have been lifted up,
and made to belong to the Divine order of things, that is to say,
sons of God,, and " partakers of the Divine nature " (2 Pet. i. 4).
Thus the Apostles were in some sense the fellows and peers of
Christ, for He calls them His brethren. Thus the Pope calls the
cardinals brethren, and so, in some sort, equals them to himself.
Let a believer then, more especially a priest, or a religious, think
with himself how he ought to live like Christ, and lead the heavenly
life which Christ led, that whosoever shall see him, or hear him,
may say he has seen and heard Christ in his lively image.

Under the word grace here include truth also. For Christ is
spoken of as full of grace and truth. And of His fulness of both
have we all received. For through Christ have we received truth,
that is, knowledge of God, faith, wisdom, understanding of salvation

THE LAW. 51

and things Divine : also remission of sins, reconciliation with God,
the adoption of sons, charity, humility, and all other virtues and
gifts. All are here comprehended under the word grace.

Ver. 1 6. — For the law was given by Moses, &c. He gives the
reason why through Christ we have received grace for grace. It is
because Moses, who was the Jew's greatest prophet and lawgiver,
could only give a law which taught and commanded the precepts of
God, but could not bestow grace to keep those commandments.
Hence the need of Christ to give grace to fulfil the law. Where-
fore the Arabic translates, grace and truth were needful t/irottg/t.
Jesus Christ. The Evangelist therefore opposes, and prefers Christ
to Moses, grace to the law. i. Because Moses in the law only
taught directly what God willed the Jews to do, namely the pre-
cepts of the Decalogue, under the promise of temporal blessings, such
as abundance of corn, wine, and oil. But the way of salvation,
remission of sins, justification, and holiness, by which we arrive at
life eternal, he did not teach, much less bestow that life. But
Christ hath both taught it, and hath also bestowed it, through that
grace and truth which He hath brought from heaven. This is what
Zacharias sings of in the first chapter of Luke, " To give knowledge
of salvation unto His people for the remission of their sins." Thus
too S. Chrysostom, " Grace came by Christ because with authority
He forgave sins, and bestowed regeneration. . Truth came by Him
because He fulfilled the types and figures."

2. In the Law was a threefold commandment, the moral law, or
the Decalogue ; the judicial, and the ceremonial law. To the two
first the Evangelist opposes grace, without which they could not be
observed. And the effect of grace is that a believer fulfilling the
same law from love to God, deserves eternal life. To the ceremonial
law he opposes truth, because those ceremonies were types and
shadows of Christ and His sacraments, which shadows Christ ful-
filled, and so brought in truth. Wherefore S. Austin saith, " When
the Law itself was fulfilled" (through Christ), " grace and truth came
in. Grace pertains to the fulness of charity, truth to accomplish-
ment of prophecy " (font. Faust, c. 6).

52 S. JOHN, C. I.

3. Because Moses gave only an obscure and slight knowledge
of God and the Holy Trinity, but Christ a knowledge that was
clear and full. Wherefore Bede thus comprises the whole of what
we have been saying. " Christ being made man hath declared
what we ought to think concerning the truth of the Trinity, in what
manner we ought to hasten to the contemplation of It, by what
acts we ought to arrive at It."

Symbolically, S. Austin (lib. de. Trin. 13, cap. 19) by grace
understands the Word Himself, incarnate in time ; by truth the
eternal vision of God, to which He leads us. This is what he says :
" In things that have their origin in time, the highest grace is, that
man is united to God by unity of person ; but in things eternal the
highest truth is rightly attributed to the Word of God. Now in
that He is the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth,
it is brought to pass that He should be the same in the things
which are done for us in time, for whom we are cleansed by the
like faith, so that we may steadfastly contemplate Him in the
things eternal."

Ver. 1 8. — No man hath seen God, &c. He gives the reason why
neither Moses, nor any one else, but Christ alone, hath taught us the
perfect truth concerning God and Divine things — because He alone
hath seen God. It is as though he said, those things of which thus far
I have been speaking, concerning God and the Word, are so sub-
lime, that inasmuch as no mortal man (and therefore not Moses),
except the Son of God, hath seen God, therefore that Incarnate
Son alone is able perfectly to declare these things. Thus the
Fathers passim ; who teach from this passage that Moses saw not the
essence of God, but only a certain luminous substance assumed by
an angel, in some manner representing to the eyes of Moses the
glory of God. Thus S. Gregory says in the Catena : " So long as
we live here in mortal flesh, God may be seen by certain manifesta-
tions or images of Him, but as He is in His own nature He cannot
be seen."

Tropologically, S. Gregory teaches (lib. 18, Afor. cap. ult. et. penult^
that no one can behold God and Divine things, unless he first die

THE BOSOM OF THE FATHER. 53

to this world and its pleasures. For thus he expounds the words
in the i8th chapter of Job, // is hid from the eyes of the living: " Be-
cause whosoever seeth wisdom, which is God Himself, dieth wholly
to this life, lest he should be holden of its love. For no man seeth
It who still liveth to the flesh, because no man can at the same
time embrace God and the world. For he who seeth God dieth
in this respect, either in will, or in reality, for with his whole soul
he is separated from the pleasures of this life."

The Only Begotten who is in the bosom ; Syriac, /// the lap: S.
Cyril, in the womb, for this is one meaning of the Greek xoXsro;. It
is a figure of speech. For by bosom is signified the highest possible
union of the Son with the Father. It means that the Son, who is
most closely united, and consubstantial with the Father, is partaker
of the wisdom of the Father, and conscious of His most secret
counsels. And because He knoweth them most perfectly and
intimately, therefore He alone is able most fully and plainly to
declare them. And so in fact He has declared them. Thus SS.
Chrysostom, Cyril, and Augustine. S. Athanasius observes (lib. 3 de
Unica Trin. substant.} that this expression, the Only Begotten, which
is in the bosom of the Father, is made use of lest when it is said
that He was made flesh, it should be supposed He was divided from
the Father. For in truth He abideth, and is with the Father, even
as He was in the beginning, and everlastingly.

Listen to S. Chrysostom, who by this word bosom thinks it is
signified that the Son not only sees, but comprehends the Father.
" Many," saith he, " know God, yet none but the Only Begotten
Son know of what nature His substance is. He has certain know-
ledge, sight, and comprehension, such as it is befitting a son to have
of his father. For as the Father knoiveth Me, He said, so also knoiu
I the Father (John x. 15). Observe therefore with what fulness of
language the Evangelist speaks ; for when he says, no man hath seen
God at any time, he does not go on to say, the Son who hath seen,
hath declared Him, but He who is in the bosom of the Father hath
declared Him. For he who only seeth hath not certain knowledge
of the thing seen : but he who dwelleth in the bosom, to him are all

54 s. JOHN, c. i.

things plain and certain. Lest therefore when you hear, no man
knoweth the Father save the Son (Matt. xi. 27), you should say that
though He hath greater knowledge of the Father than others have,
and yet knows not what His nature is, therefore the Evangelist says,
' He is in the bosom of the Father.' "

There is an allusion to the words of David concerning Christ
in the noth Psalm, "From the womb, before the morning star,
have I begotten Thee " (Vulg.) That is, "From my fruitful under-
standing I have, as it were, as a Word spoken this, and as a Son
have I begotten thee." S. Jerome says, " from the womb, i.e., of
My substance, of My nature, of the very essence of My substance,
have I begotten Thee." So also Theodoret says, "From the womb"
that is, " of My substance. For as human beings produce from the
womb, and that which they bring forth hath the same nature as
those who bring it forth, so art Thou begotten of Me, and Thou
showest forth in Thyself the substance of Him who begat." More-
over, Jerome himself translates this verse of the noth Psalm thus,
" The dew of Thy youth shall arise to Thee as it were from the womb ; "
Aquila, " The dew of Thy childhood arising to Thee early from the
womb." It means, "Of My Deity have I begotten Thee God:"
as it is in the Creed, " God of God." So SS. Hilary, Ambrose,
Augustine, Athanasius, and others against the Arians. For dew
means in Hebrew the same as flower in English. " Dew," says R.
Solomon, " means sweetness, joyfulness, purity of heavenly genera-
tion, as it were dew born of the heavenly dayspring."

He hath declared: that is, He hath clearly explained and set
forth to His disciples, and through them to the whole world. The
Greek is i'^r^aaro, which S. Chrysostom says means dearly to
explain secret and hidden things, as Christ has explained to us the
secrets of the Father concerning the Trinity and the Word, con-
cerning the vocation of man, grace, resurrection, heavenly glory,
and such like. " This word," says S. Chrysostom, " sets forth
more express and certain doctrine : wherefore also Christ is called
the Word, and (the Angel) of great counsel."

Ver. 19. — And this is the witness of John, &c. John the Baptist

S. JOHN'S WITNESS. 55

often bare witness to Jesus, that He was the Messias, or the Christ,
both before and after His baptism. John the Evangelist therefore,
omitting in this place the testimony which the Baptist bore to Jesus
before His baptism, which had been related by the three other
Evangelists, gives his testimony concerning Him after he had
baptized Him. For this testimony was public, judicial, and most
celebrated. It had been judicially demanded by the chief priests
and magistrates, and had been received by them through the
ambassadors whom they sent to John. The reason of this embassy
was because the chief priests saw John leading in the desert an
angelic life, preaching with great power, baptizing, and moving men
to repentance, as none of the other prophets had done. The chief
priests thought therefore that it was their duty to ask him who he
was, especially because they knew that the sceptre had passed from
Judah to Herod, and the seventy weeks of Daniel being completed,
the coming of Messias must be nigh at hand. Wherefore, suspect-
ing that John was the Messias, they ask him, Who art thou ?

S. Chrysostom gives another reason — that they asked out of envy
and hatred of Jesus, in order that they might show that Jesus was
not the Messiah. They would have preferred to bestow the title
upon John. They disliked John's preferring Jesus to himself, and
calling Him the Messias or Christ. But although there might be
some envy mingled with it, the true reason was, as I have said, that
it was the counsel of God so to exalt John, that the chief priests
might be driven to ask him whether he were the Christ or not, that
being asked he might authoritativelv answer that which was the

O J

truth, namely, that not he, but Jesus, was the Messias, and that,
being convicted by this testimony of John, they might be compelled
cither to receive Jesus as the Messias or to be without excuse.

Jl'/io art thou ? The chief priests appear tacitly at least to have
inquired of John, whether he were the Christ or not; for John
replies, I am not the Christ.

Moreover, they were aware that John was the son of the priest
Zacharias, and therefore a priest himself. When therefore they say,
// 'ho art thou ? they ask virtually, What office hast thou received from

56 s. JOHN, c. i.

God ? With what object has God sent thee to preach and baptize ?
For God was wont to commit greater offices to priests.

Tropologically, let every one often ask himself, Who art thou ?
Firstly, as regards our substance. Listen to thy conscience making
answer to thyself — the name of God my Creator is, I AM THAT I AM
(Exod. iii.) My name therefore as a creature is " I am that am not,"
because I am nothing of myself, but out of my nothingness have
been brought forth by God, and made a man. Wherefore my body
and soul are not my own, but God's, who has given them, or rather
lent them, to me. As S. Francis was wont to say, "Who art Thou,
Lord ? Who am I ? Thou art an abyss of wisdom and long-suffer-
ing, and all goodness. I am an abyss of ignorance, weakness, of all
evil and wretchedness. Thou art an abyss of being, I of nothing-
ness." So when Christ appeared to S. Catherine of Sienna, He
said, " Blessed art thou if thou knowest who I am, and who thou
art. I am He who is, thou art she who is not."

Secondly, as to quality. Who ? that is, of what sort art thou ?
Answer, As regards my body, I am weak, miserable, and wretched.
As to my soul, as regards my reason, I am like unto the angels.
As regards my sensual appetite, and concupiscence, I am like the
brutes. Therefore I will follow my reason, and so become assimi-
lated to the angels.

Thirdly, as regards relation. Who ? that is, whose son art thou ?
Reply, I am the son of Adam, the first sinner, and therefore being
born in sin, I am living in sin, and must die in sin, unless the grace
of Christ rescue me from my sins, and sanctify and save me.

Fourthly, as regards employment. Who art thou ? what trade or
profession art thou ? I am a carpenter, a baker, a governor, a
shepherd, a lawyer. See then that thou exercise thyself in thy call-
ing, whatsoever it be, as the law of God requires, namely, in such
wise that thou live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present
world, looking for the blessed hope, and the coming of the glory of
the great God, that thou mayest so pass through things temporal,
that thou lose not, but gain the things eternal. Work, study, live
for eternity. As S. Bernard was wont often to say to himself,

WHO ART THOU ? 57

"Bernard, tell me, wherefore art thou here ?" And with this goad,
as it were, he stirred himself up to zeal for all virtues.

Fifthly, as regards suffering. Who art thou ? that is to say, what
dost thou suffer 1 Reply, In the body I suffer hunger, thirst, disease,
continual afflictions, so that there is scarcely the smallest space of time
in which I have not many things to bear. As regards my soul, I have
far greater and more bitter afflictions, griefs, and anguish, anxieties,
sorrows, angers, indignation, darkness, fear, &c., so that I seem to
be, as it were, a mark at which all afflictions hurl their darts, and
thrust me through with their arrows. Be thou therefore a very ada-
mant of patience, that thou mayest patiently and generously endure
all things, and win the everlasting crown of patience in heaven.

Sixthly, as regards place. Who ? that is, where art thou ? Answer, I
am on earth, placed between heaven and hell, in such wise, that if
I live holily, I may pass to heaven, if wickedly, to hell Live there-
fore carefully, warily, and holily, that not hell, but heaven may
receive thee, when this short mortal life is over.

Seventhly, as regards time. Who art thou ? When wast thou born?
How long hast thou lived ? When shall thou die ? Answer, Born
yesterday, to-day I live, to-morrow I die. "For we are of yesterday,
and know nothing ; all our days upon the earth are but a shadow "
(Job viii. 9). Therefore despise all things temporal, which fly past
as a bird doth. Love and covet heavenly things, which endure for
ever with God and the angels. So shall thou, being eternal, be
happy elernally, and abide in everlasling delighls. For as S.
Gregory says, "Thai we may be elernal, and happy elernally, let
us imitate eternity. And this is to us a greal elernily, even ihe
imitation of eternity."

Lastly, as regards posture and clothing. Who art thou 1 that is,
what poslure, or clothing hast thou? Reply, I stand, I sit, I lie.
I wear the habil of a Christian, a priesl, a bishop, a religious. Take
heed then that thou live conformably to ihy habil. For il is nol
the habil which makes the Christian, or the monk, bul purity of life,
humility, charity.

Ver. 20. — And he confessed, &c. That is, publicly, plainly, and fully

58 S. JOHN, C. I.

that he was not the Christ. For when the Hebrews wished very
strongly to assert anything, they doubled the affirmative, and trebled
the negative. Observe the great humility of S. John : how firmly he
refused the name of Christ when it was offered to him. For he
loved the truth, and Jesus, to whom this name belonged. Men of
the world love to boast, and say, I am a nobleman, a governor, a
canon, a bishop. But John teaches us to say, "I am nothing,"
because if I am anything, I have it from God.

Ver. 21. — And they asked him, &c. When John denied that he was
the Christ, the messengers asked him if he were Elias. For him God
took away, that he might be the forerunner of Christ. And of him
they were then in expectation, according to the words of Malachi
(iv. 5)," Behold, I send you Elijah the prophet before the great and
terrible day of the Lord come," meaning the day of judgment, when
Christ shall return to be the Judge of all. But the Scribes did not
understand this. They thought that there would be but one advent
of Christ, and that a glorious one, the precursor of which would
be Elias. Thus the Jews think even now that Christ has not yet
come, but is about to come with Elias. And yet they ought to have
known from the same Malachi (iii. i) that there would be another
precursor of Christ's first coming in the flesh, even John the Baptist.
" For I," saith the Lord, " do send My messenger, and he shall
prepare My way before My face."

Art thou that prophet ? Greek, 6 -^(K^JJ;, the prophet par excel-
lence. " Art thou a new and great prophet, such an one as we think
will come with Messiah, to be His herald ? " So SS. Chrysostom and
Cyril. But they (the Jews) were in error. For Christ needed not a
prophet, as Moses, who was not eloquent, needed Aaron. But Christ
was His own prophet, herald, priest, and lawgiver. Moreover John
was not a prophet in the sense that he foretold things to come. But
he pointed out with his finger, as it were, Christ present. Therefore
was he more than a prophet, as Christ says in the nth of Matthew.

Ver. 23. — lam the Voice, &c. (Isa. xl. 3), where I have expounded
the meaning. Listen to what the Fathers say about it. "I am a
servant, and prepare paths, your hearts, for the Lord," says Theo-

CHRIST AT THE DOOR. 59

phylact. "I come, he says, to say that H.e is at the doors who is
expected, that you may be prepared to go whithersoever He may bid
you," says Cyril.

Ver. 24. — And they that u'cre sent, &c. John adds this, to suggest
the occasion why they examined John the Baptist concerning bap-
tism. These messengers who were sent to John were Pharisees, and
therefore were well versed in the Scriptures. Consequently they
knew that Messiah would baptize for the remission of sins, because
Ezekiel (xxxvi. 25) and Zechariah (xiii. i) had predicted that He
would do so. But concerning other prophets and saints they had
not read in Scripture that they would baptize. They ask John there-
fore to tell them by what authority he baptized, especially since he
not only asserted that he was not Christ, but not even a prophet.

Ver. 25. — And they asked him, &c. "These Pharisees," says S. Cyril,
" in their arrogancy insult John, as though they said, Neither Elias,
nor Eliseus, nor any of the other prophets dared to take upon them-
selves the office of baptizing. With what face then, or boldness,
dost thou, who art not a prophet, arrogate this office to thyself? "

Ver. 26.— John answered them^ &c. As though he had said, " God
hath sent me to baptize with water, that I might stir you up to repent-
ance and tears, so as to fit you for Christ's baptism. For He shall
baptize you with the Holy Ghost, for the remission of sins," as the
remaining three Evangelists declare. Therefore John is silent
about this.

There standeth one, &c. That is, Christ is living in the midst of you,
and yet ye know Him not That is, you do not recognise Him as
Messiah, but look upon Him as a mere man, as vile and abject

Ver. 27. — He it is who, coming after me, &c. After me Christ shall
come to baptize you, that by His baptism He may perfect mine,
and may wash and justify them that are penitent As S. Cyril
paraphrases, "I in preparation wash with water those who are
polluted with sins as a beginning of repentance, and by this means
leading you from what is lower I prepare you for more lofty things.
For He who is the giver of greater things, and of the highest per-
fection, is about to come after me." Or, as S. Chrysostom says,

60 S. JOHN, C. I.

" My baptism is only a disposition and preparation for the baptism
of Christ. Mine is of water and corporeal, Christ's is of fire and
spiritual."

Whose shoe's latchet, &c. As though he said, " I am not worthy
to be reckoned amongst the last of the servants of Christ, on
account of the greatness of the Deity which is in Him."

Ver. 28. — These things were done in, &c. Bethany is the reading
of the Latin, Syriac, Arabic versions, of many codices, including the
Vatican, of Bede, Alcuin, the Gloss, &c. But instead of Bethany,
Origen, S. Chrysostom, Theophylact, Euthymius, S. Epiphanius, and
S. Jerome (in loc. Ileb.) read Bethabara, where Gideon slew the
Midianites. I observe with Toletus that Bethany and Bethabara
were one and the same place, or at least that one was nigh the
other, or on opposite banks of the Jordan. This was the place in
which the Hebrews, when they came out of Egypt, first crossed the
Jordan under the leadership of Joshua, to enter the promised land.
For Bethabara means in Hebrew a house of passage ; Bethany, a
house of ships. For vessels were waiting here to carry passengers
over Jordan. This Bethany is derived from Beth, a house, and any,
spelt with alpha, a ship. The Bethany of Martha and Lazarus was
a different place, and spelt differently in Hebrew. That Bethany
means the house of humility, from Beth, a house, and any, spelt with
ain, humility.

John, then, chose this place wherein to baptize for several reasons,
because of the abundance of water, also in memory of the ancient
passage of the Israelites. S. Jerome says (loc. Hebrczis), " Even at
this present time many of our brethren who believe, desiring there
to be born again, are baptized in the life-giving flood." They did
this in memory of Christ, who was there baptized by John. This
place is distant about four leagues from the Dead Sea.

Observe, Christ was baptized on the 6th of January. It was fifty
five days afterwards that John bore this witness to Christ, or about
the ist of March, when Jesus was absent. On the day following
Jesus presented Himself before John, when John renewed his testi-
mony, saying, Behold the Lamb of God. (See Epiphan. Hares. 51.)

TIIR LAMB OF GOD. 6 1

Whence there follows (ver. 29), The next day again John saw, £c.
Observe that after Jesus was baptized He went into the desert, where
He fasted for forty days, as is plain from S. Matthew iii. Then
He came down from the Mount of Temptation, and returned to
John, to visit and hear him ; but especially that John might in His
presence confirm the testimony which in His absence he had given
to the messengers of the Jews ; that he might point Him out with
his very ringer, and leave no place for hesitation to any.

Behold the Lamb of God. Nonnus paraphrases, " He lifted up
his finger, and pointed Him out as He drew near to the people who
beheld Him." "The word Behold," says S. Chrysostom, "is used
because many were inquiring for Him : therefore he pointed Him out
being present, saying, "This is He of whom I have been speaking."

Lamb, Greek, 6 a,a»&;, the Lamb divinely prefigured and predicted
by Moses and Isaiah. " He is led as a lamb to the slaughter," &c.
(Isa. liii. 7).

Christ is thus called the Lamb by S. John the Baptist, and by
His Apostle, S. John the Evangelist, in the Apocalypse, i. Because
He was prefigured by the Paschal Lamb, and by the daily morning
and evening sacrifice of a lamb to God in the Temple, and by the
other lambs which were offered for sin, according to the Law, and
yet they could not take away sins. Wherefore they represented
Christ, who was to take away sin by His Blood. So Origen, &c.

2. Because Christ was called a Lamb by Isaiah and Jeremiah
(xi. 19), who was to be offered for the redemption of the world.

3. He is called a Lamb because of his lamb-like innocence,
meekness, patience, and obedience, even unto death, which, like
a lamb, He bore in silence. As S. Peter says, "Who, when He
was reviled, reviled not again ; when He suffered, He threatened
not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously"
(i Pet ii. 23).

Christ truly is called the Lamb of God, i.e., the offspring, not of
sheep, but of God, who by the will of God was offered for man's
redemption. Thus the sacrifice which Abraham offered is called
Abraham's sacrifice, as Theophylact says. Or because He was

62 S. JOHN, C. I.

offered up to God Himself. Or the Lamb of God is the Divine
Lamb, because of the Deity which was in Him. Or as Clement of
Alexandria says, because He was made for us the child and babe
of the Father. So we cali children, lambs. These are the words
of Clement, " Since the Scripture calls boys and infants lambs, he
called God who is the Word, who for us was made man, who wished
in all things to be made like unto us, the Lamb of God, the Son
of God, the Infant of the Father" (Pcsdag. lib. i, c. 5),

Moreover, Christ for His strength and His victory is called the
" Lion of the tribe of Judah." He was a Lamb in His Passion, a
Lion in His Resurrection.

Who taketh away the sin : taketh away, both as regards the stain
which sin in act imprints upon the soul, and as regards the guilt of
sin, which makes the sinner liable to hell. This He takes away by
making expiation, and bearing the punishment in Himself, thus in
justice and equity satisfying for sin by His death upon the cross.
John said this, that no one might think Christ came'to his baptism
to wash away His own sins, as others did; for He had no sin, but
was most innocent and most holy. Therefore God made Him the
victim for the sins of the whole world, that He might sanctify all who
repent and believe in Him. As S. Augustine says, " He who had
no participation in our sinfulness is He who takes away our sin."

Sin : this is the reading of the Greek, Latin, and Syriac. The
Arabic reads sins; but the sense is the same. By sin here is to be
understood the first and universal sin of Adam, that is, original sin,
which he by generation transmitted to all his posterity, and out of
which all actual sins, whether venial or mortal, spring. Christ there-
fore, in taking away sin, takes away its source as well as its filth. So
Bede, S. Thomas, Jansen, &c. As Isaiah saith, "The Lord laid upon
Him the iniquities of us all." And, " He shall bear their iniquities ; "
and i John ii. 2, " And He is the propitiation for our sins : and not
for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."

As S. Cyril says, " One is slain for all, that the whole human race
may be won to God the Father." For there is in Christ a perpetual
power of making expiation for sin in all ages and all nations, and

CHRIST MANIFESTED. 63

in all men who are willing to receive His faith, His baptism, His
repentance.

Ver. 31. — And I knew Him not, &c. As though he said, " Think
not, O ye Jews, that I affirm Jesus to be the Messiah for the sake of
friendship, or relationship, as though I were His friend and com-
panion • for I declare unto you that / knew Him //<>/, that I never
saw Him, or spoke to Him, before His baptism. But as soon as I
saw Him I recognised Him by the inspiration of God." "What
wonder," says S. Chrysostom, " that he who from a child dwelt in the
desert away from his father's house knew not Christ?"

But that He should be iiianifest&l, <Scc. That is, to the Jews, to
whom the Messiah was promised, " that they all might be brought
to believe in Him." Wherefore Nonnus paraphrases, " But that
He whose face was unknown might be manifested to all the children
of Israel, who have no ruler, I am come a precursor of the way
not declared, baptizing an unlearned, ignorant, erring people."

Ver. 33. — And I knew Him not, fcc. With ivaier. Nonnus, "in
the laver without fire and the Holy Ghost." A second time S. John
declares that he knew not Jesus was the Christ by sight and
converse, but by revelation from God, that no one might dare to
dispute his testimony. So S. Cyril.

Note the expression abiding. From this it is clear that it is
peculiar to Christ to have all the graces of the Holy Spirit, and
prophecy, by way of habit ; but that in others only those gifts abide
which are necessary for holiness of life : according to the words in
chap, xiv., " He shall abide with you." (See Suarez, Tract, de fide,
disp. 8, sect. 6, n. 6.)

Ver. 35. — Tfie next day, &c. The Evangelist says that John bare
witness to Jesus in three consecutive days that He was the Christ.
He did this to make his witness the more sure and solid. The
first testimony that he gave was judicial, when he was asked by the
messengers of the Jews. This was in the first day. The second
he gave on the day following, which was the 2d of March. The third
time was here on the 3d of March, before his own disciples, that he
might cause them to pass from himself to Jesus.

64 S. JOHN, c. I.

Ver. 36. — Ami seeing Jesus as he wdlked, &c. As though he said,
" Behold Christ like a spotless Lamb, destined for a victim, that
He may be offered to God upon the cross, for the sins of the whole
world." When John spoke thus it was as though he said to his dis-
ciples, " Why do you follow me ? follow Him who is the Lamb of
God, the ransom of the world."

Here observe the prudence and modesty of John. He does not
compel or urge his disciples to follow Christ, but only points Him
out to them, that they might the more ardently pursue after so
great a good when it was discovered by themselves. Like a man
who, when a jewel is being sold for a small price, points out to
merchants how great is its worth, and causes them of their own
accord to long to purchase it.

Ver. 37. — And two of his disciples, &c. S. Chrysostom says, " There
were indeed others of S. John's disciples, but they not only did not
follow Christ, but were jealous of John's, their master's, honour, and
preferred him to Christ, as is plain from iii. 26.

Two : one of those was Andrew, as appears from verse 40 ; who
the other was is not known. S. Chrysostom asks, " Why is not the
name of the other given ? Either because it was the writer himself,
S. John the Apostle, or because it was a person of no note." The
first idea is the more probable. And what favours the conjecture
is that John and James were companions in fishing with Peter and
Andrew (Matt, iv.), when, shortly after Andrew and Peter, Christ
calls John and James. Lastly, the great purity, the virginity, and
holiness of S. John the Evangelist seem to have been the result of
the teaching, the purity, and holiness of S. John the Baptist.

They followed Jesus : that they might know Him more fully, says
Euthymius, and contract a friendship with Him : and if they should
experience that advantage, they would follow Him wholly, and be
altogether His disciples. For from what follows it is plain they had
not given themselves up entirely to Christ, but only desired to make
trial of Him.

Ver. ^S.—Jtsus turning, &c. What seek ye 9 It is the voice not
of one who is ignorant, but of one who invites, and deals gently with

CHRIST THE MASTER. 6$

their bashfulness. As S. Cyril says, " He asks what they sought,
not as ignorant, for He knew all things as God, but that His question
might afford the beginning of conversation."

Rabbi; Syriac, Rabboni, i.e., our master ; Arabic, Rabban, or master.
By this expression the disciples honoured Christ, and sought His
favour, and intimated that they wished to become His disciples.
As Bede saith, " The question itself is an indication of faith : for
when they say Rabbi, which means master, they follow and call Him
their Master." And S. Cyril says, " They called Him Master from
whom they desired to learn."

Where dwtllfst thou ? Greek, cou.ain/;, i.e., Where rcmainest thoul
For Christ had but a hospice on earth, and no proper habitation
or house, according to the words in Matthew : " Foxes have holes,
and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where
to lay His head." The disciples ask this question, that they may be
able to converse privately with Christ in the house, and be instructed
by Him in Divine things, and those which pertain to the more
perfect life. They show that they wish to become His friends and
servants.

Ver. 39. — He said unto them, Come and see, &c. The tenth hour, i.e.,
four o'clock in the afternoon, or about two hours before sunset. S.
John adds these words, to show both the zeal of Christ, who though
night was nigh, would not put them off to the following day, but
entered immediately upon the tilings pertaining to salvation ; as also
to show the ardent devotion of the disciples to Christ, who, careless
about their night's lodging, had rather spend the night in listening
to Christ, than at home in their beds. So Euthymius. For they
remained with Him not merely the two hours which were left of
daylight, as some suppose, but the whole night. For those two
hours were not sufficient to speak about their affairs, and to know
Christ. Neither could they have returned to John before nightfall.
For, as Cyril says, " It is not fitting that we should speedily be
satisfied with Divine things, and leave them."

Moreover, what great things they heard from Christ, what draughts
of piety they drank, what flames of love they felt kindled by Christ

VOL. IV. E

66 s. JOHN, c. i.

those only know who have had experience of them. Wherefore
S. Austin exclaims, " How blessed they accounted the day ! how
blessed the night ! Who can tell us the things which they heard
from the Lord ? " Certainly we may gather what was said from the
effect produced : for Andrew was so inflamed with love for Christ
that he forthwith strove to gain his brother Peter to Christ, and
inflame him with love for Him,

Ver. 40. — Now one of the two, &c. John inserts this to show in what
way Peter, who was to be the prince of the Apostles, and the head
of the whole Church, was led to Christ. It was because Andrew,
being glad at finding and hearing Christ, brought his own brother
Peter, for whom he had a singular love, to Him, that he might make
him partaker in so great a good. For this zeal, which burns to make
others, especially those nearest to us, partakers with us, and to draw
them to God, is a mark and an effect of the Divine Vocation. For
as fire kindles fire, so does zeal kindle zeal. Moreover, Peter, as
well as Andrew, seems to have been a disciple, or at least a diligent
hearer of John the Baptist. Which of the two was the elder is not
known. The conversion of Peter is the glory and praise of Andrew.

Ver. 41. — He first findeth, «Scc. . . . the Christ, that is, "the Anointed,
not indued with corporeal anointing, but with spiritual grace, both
that of the Hypostatic Union, as well as that grace which was
habitual and specially excellent. This last was the grace by which
as man He was created by God, and, as it were, consecrated, first a
priest, secondly, a teacher, thirdly, a prophet, fourthly, a king, fifthly,
a lawgiver, sixthly, the Redeemer of the world. The Greek is rbv
Miaaiav, i.e., that Christ, that Anointed One: the one, only, special
Prophet, predicted by the rest, whom all were eagerly expecting as
the Restorer of Israel. So Euthymius.

We have Jound the Messiah, whom I and thou are most eagerly
expecting. It would seem that both Andrew and Peter, partly from
the prophetic oracles, and partly from the testimony of John, were
inflamed with the desire of seeing Christ. For, as Bede says, " No
one finds but he who seeks : he who saith that he hath found shows
that he had been a long while seeking." Euthymius, following S.

PETER CHRIST'S VICAR. 67

Chrysostom, as he is wont, saith, " This is the speech of one who
is very glad; We have found Him whom we sought, whom we
hoped should come, whom the Scriptures announced." Andrew,
therefore, that he might communicate his great joy at finding Christ,
to his brother Peter exclaims, " JTc have found the Messiah" Where-
fore " they no more returned to S. John," as S. Chrysostom says,
"but were so closely united to Christ, that they undertook John's
office, and themselves preached Christ."

Hence we learn, morally, that God by His grace meets the long-
ing soul, and so fills it that it may the more desire and thirst for
Him. Yea, God is wont first to put this desire of Himself into the
soul, that He may thereby prepare the soul for Himself and His gifts,
and make it capable of receiving them.

Ver. 42. — And he brought him fo Jesus. " It is probable," says S.
Chrysostom, " that Andrew related many other things calculated to
persuade. The other disciple was also present to confirm what he
said. But Andrew, since it was not his office, and because he was
not sufficient to tell of so great a light, brings him to that very
fountain which he had discovered." Moreover, the mind of Peter,
like a straw in presence of the fire, was inflamed with the desire of
seeing and hearing Christ. Wherefore S. Chrysostom proceeds,
" Consider the obedient mind of Peter from the beginning, and how
full of good will. He brought him to Jesus ; but let no one find
fault with his too great readiness in believing. For it is not said
that he immediately persuaded him, but only that he brought him
to Jesus, there to learn all."

Jesus beholding him (as it were a fitting subject to preach and
make known His glory, and therefore designing him to be His suc-
cessor and vicar, that is, the Pontiff of the Church) said, &c. Simon
Peter's father was called Johanan or John, by contraction Jona, as
Jehoshua is contracted into Joshua and Jesus. Christ says this
that He may reveal secrets, and show him that He is the Searcher of
hearts and his God.

Thou shalt be called Cephas. Christ promises to Simon the name
of Cephas, or Peter, as much as to say, I will give thee, Simon,

68 S. JOHN, C. I.

another name. I will call thee Cephas, i.e., a. rock or Peter, for
I will make thee the rock of the Church, so that on thee and
thy faith, and thy government, the fabric of My Church may rest
securely as upon a most solid foundation of rock. (See what is said
on S. Matt. xvi. 18.)

Ver. 43. — On the morrow, <Scc. That out of Galilee He might call
untutored fishermen, to create them His Apostles, and the preachers
of His Gospel, lest the Christian faith should be supposed to be the
work of man, not of God. For the Apostles were Galileans. For
the Galileans were poor and ignoble in comparison with the Jews
who were sprung from Judah, which was the royal tribe.

Hefindcth Philip, not by chance, but going of set purpose to the
place where He knew Philip was. There He found him whom He
carefully sought, and whom He destined to be an Apostle.

And Jesus sciith unto him. This is the first exterior calling by
Christ. For Peter and Andrew were first called by an inward inspi-
ration, not outwardly by Christ's external voice, but by hearing the
voice of John the Baptist their master saying of Christ, Behold the
Lamb of God / They were not called by Him, but of their own
accord they came to Jesus, in order to find out His doctrine and life,
but not, as it were, about to become His sure and firm disciples.
Thus Toletus. To Philip therefore this praise and glory is due
that he was the first of all to hear Christ say, Follow Me, and to
experience an outward call at the same time that the Holy Ghost
influenced his mind inwardly; and obedient to this vocation he
straightway followed Christ, for he was himself a student of the
Mosaic law, and anxious about the coming of Christ, as Theophy-
lact says. Theophylact gives as the cause of his following the
attractive voice of Christ, "The voice of the Lord seems to have
touched his mind as it were with a goad of love." For it was not
merely the Saviour's voice which spoke, but He forthwith made
those to whom He spoke worthy to be inflamed with His love, even
as Cleophas said, " Did not our heart burn within us, whilst He
talked with us by the way?"

Ver. 44. — Now Pliilip was of />'< thsaida, &c. John adds this, says

PHILIP AND NATHANAEI.. 69

Tiieophylact, to intimate that Andrew and Peter had previously
informed Philip, who was their townsman, that they had found the
Messiah, and that He was Jesus of Nazareth. Wherefore Philip, as
soon as he heard Christ call, Follow Me, immediately followed Him,
because his mind was already prepared, and eager for Christ.

Moreover, Bethsaida was contiguous to the Sea of Galilee, and
near Capharnaum, where Peter and Andrew had a house, as we
learn from the 8th of S. Matthew. This, then, was the country of
three of the Apostles, namely, Peter, Andrew, and Philip. Bethsaida
means in Hebrew the house of hunting, or fishing, because fisher-
men, such as Peter and Andrew, dwelt there, and caught fish in the
neighbouring sea.

Ver. 45. — Philip findeth Nathanael, &c. "Not by chance," as Cyril
saith ; "but he sought him with great diligence, for he knew that
he was a very diligent searcher of the Scriptures." It would appear
that he found him at Cana of Galilee, which was the native place
of Nathanael, as is plain from chap. xxi. 2.

Nathanael, his friend and comrade. You will inquire who was
this Nathanael ?

1. Claudius Espenaeus, commenting on 2 Tim. iv., says that
Nathanael was the same as Ursicinus, the first Bishop of Bourges.

2. The Greek Menaea says that Nathanael is the same as the
Apostle Simon the Cananite. He is there commemorated on the
22(1 of April as follows : "The Holy Apostle Nathanael, which was
Simon Zelotes, of Cana in Galilee, where Christ at the marriage feast
turned the water into wine." He is also commemorated in the
Menaea on the loth of May.

3. and more probably, Rupertus and Jansen in this passage
think Nathanael is the Apostle Bartholomew. They show this,
firstly, because the other Evangelists always join together Philip and
Bartholomew, as John here joins Philip and Nathanael. Secondly,
because we nowhere read of Christ's calling Bartholomew, unless
it were this call of Nathanael. Thirdly, because the other three
Evangelists who make mention of Bartholomew make no mention of
Nathanael, and vice versa with S. John. ' Fourthly, because S. John

70 S. JOHN, C. I.

(xxi. 2) associates Nathanael with the Apostles Peter, Thomas,
James, and John in fishing, and the vision of Jesus. It would seem
therefore that he was an Apostle, and yet it is not apparent who else
he could be if he were not Bartholomew. Fifthly, because Bartho-
lomew does not seem to be a proper name, but only to signify that
he was the son of Tolmai ; and his proper name seems to have
been Nathanael. Sixthly, because Christ said of Nathanael, Behold
an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile. And then Christ promises
him a vision of angels ascending and descending upon Himself.
Christ therefore seems to have specially loved him, and to have
chosen him for a friend and Apostle.

S. Augustine, however, dissents from this view, because he thinks
Nathanael was a doctor of the Law. He discoursed with S. Philip
out of the law. But Christ did not choose for His Apostles men
learned in the Law, but rude and ignorant fishermen. To this it
may be replied that Nathanael was a student, .but not a doctor of
the Law. Just as Philip, Andrew, and Peter all discoursed out of
the Law concerning the coming of Messiah. If, however, Nathanael
was not an Apostle, he was certainly a disciple, wherefore L. Dexter
(C/iron. ad A.D. 101) says, " Nathanael, one of the seventy disciples
of the Lord, sleeps in Treuga, a city of Spain," now called Leon.
Another writer adds that he slept in the Lord on the 3oth of
November.

Nathanael means in Hebrew the gift of God, or God gave, or
gircn by God ; in Latin, Adeo-datus. The prince of the tribe of
Issachar in the time of Moses was called Nathanael (Num. i. 8).
It may be that our Apostle was descended from him, and took
his name.

Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. For Nazareth is only three
hours distant from Cana, so that Nathanael of Cana might easily
know of Jesus of Nazareth, Joseph's son, as he was commonly
reputed to be.

Ver. 46. — Nathanael said unto /«>//,£<:. For Nazareth of Galilee was
a place ignoble and obscure, and despised by the Jews. Wherefore
the Pharisees say (vii. 57), Out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. " How

ATTRACTIVENESS OF CHRIST. 7 I

then, O Philip, canst thou think that Christ is sprung from Nazareth,
especially when Micah foretold that Christ was to spring from Juda
and David, and to be born at Bethlehem ? " So S. Chrysostom, who
adds, " He shows therefore both knowledge of the Scripture, anil
simplicity of disposition, as well as a vehement desire for the
coming of Christ in that he did not despise Philip's words. For
he knew that Philip might be deceived with regard to things to
be commemorated in his country/' And Philip was partly wrong ;'
for though Christ was conceived at Nazareth, He was born at
Bethlehem, of which Philip was at this time ignorant.

Come and see. Syriac, Come and thou shall see. "I will not dis-
pute with thee about Nazareth, but come, see and hear Jesus: and
you shall experience what I have experienced, that you may be
ravished with His love, and believe that He is the very Christ."
Listen to S. Chrysostom. " Philip does not tell him how He is
the Christ, and how the prophets have foretold, but he leads him
to Jesus, knowing that he will not go away from Him if he tastes
His words and His doctrine. If you only see Him, he says, if you
only speak with Him, you will at once agree with me." " We ought
to believe," says Cyril, " that there was a certain unspeakable loveli-
ness in the words of Christ which attracted the minds of the hearers
by its great sweetness."

Ver. 47. — -Jesus saw Nathanael, &c. He is a follower of the can-
dour, simplicity, and sanctity of Israel, that is, of the patriarch Jacob,
from whom he was descended. Wherefore the Syriac translates,
Behold a son of Israel indeed. Jesus shows that He knew the pure
state of Nathanael's mind, that thereby Nathanael might know that
Jesus was not a mere man, but that He was also God, and the
Searcher of hearts. S. Chrysostom thinks that Christ alludes to
what Nathanael had said to Philip, Can any goed thing come out of
Nazareth ? As if Jesus had said, " I am not displeased with what
thou hast said about Me, because I know thou hast a candid mind,
and art anxious to know the truth."

Ver. 48. — Nathanael saith, &c. "Observe," says S. Chrysostom,
" the consistency of the man. He is not puffed up by praise, but

72 S. JOHN, C. I.

he proceeds to inquire accurately, that lie may learn something
certain about Christ."

Jesus answered, &c. " When thou wast alone under the fig tree,
and thoughtest that no one saw thee, I saw thee, and know what
thou wast doing in secret there. Hence thou mayest gather that I
am greater than man, even Messiah, the Son of God." So S. Cyril,
S. Augustine, and others.

Mystically, S. Gregory {Moral. I. 18, c. 20). Under the fig tree,
i.e., beneath the shadow of the Law, / saw thee, that I might
transfer thee to the vine of My Gospel.

Tropologically, learn from hence that God and Christ are every-
where present, and are to be feared, when thou art alone in thy
chamber; yea, when thou secretly thinkest and desirest anything
in thy heart, Christ is looking at thee, and beholding thy thoughts
and desires. Take heed therefore lest thou do anything, or desire,
or think anything, which will offend the eyes of His majesty. For
so He beheld Nathanael, and what he was doing under the fig
tree. So also God saw Adam under a fig tree eating its forbidden
fruit.

Ver. 49. — Nathanael answered, &c. Son of God: that is, His natural
and consubstantial Son, for this is the plain meaning of the words.
So SS. Cyril, Augustine, Maldonatus, &c. But S. Chrysostom,
Euthymius, Lyra, &c., think Nathanael was ignorant that Christ was
God, and only believed that He was the adopted Son of God, by
a peculiar grace by which he saw that He was superior to all other
prophets and saints.

I am disposed to think that Philip, from the testimony of John
the Baptist concerning Jesus (ver. 34), believed Him to be the Son
of God, but in a confused sort of way. without clearly discerning
between natural and adoptive sonship, and that he persuaded
Nathanael to think as he did himself. For although John the
Baptist in saying that Christ was the Son of God meant His natural
Son, by the Hypostatic Union of the Humanity with the Word,
Philip and Nathanael did not as yet understand this until they had
been more fullv taught.

UKAVI.X o IT. \ !•::>. 73

King of Israel, i.e., Messiah, son of David and Solomon, anil
therefore heir of the kingdom of the twelve tribes of Israel. This
is what David foretold in the 2d Psalm, speaking in the person of
Christ: "Yet have I set My King upon My holy hill of Zion. I
will declare His precept : the Lord said unto Me, Thou art My Son,
to-day have I begotten Thee." From hence it is clear that David
foretold that Messiah would be the Son of God by nature. But
few before John the Baptist and Christ Himself clearly and fully
understood this. The (Ecumenical Council of Constantinople, by
a constitution of Pope Vigilius, pronounces an anathema against
those who would explain the words of Nathanael, Thou art the Son
of God, to be so applied to Christ as though He were not very God,
but as it were of the household of God, and were named God on
account of the friendship which he had with God.

Ver. 50.— Jesus answered— greater things — the greater mysteries of
My doctrine, life, passion, resurrection, by which thou shalt know
not only that I am the King and Lord of Israel, but of the whole
universe of heaven, and of the angels.

Ver. 5 1. — Ye shall see heaven opened: not that the heaven was to be
in reality cleft, but because it was to afford a passage to the angels
going in and out, like as it were a door that is opened. Thus
heaven shall appear to be opened. This is the figure of speech
called catachresis. In like manner, the heaven seemed to be opened
at Christ's baptism. So too S. Stephen, when he was stoned, saw
Jesus standing at the right hand of God. By this vision it is signi-
fied that heaven, which had been shut for four thousand years because
of the sins of men, was now to be opened by Christ.

The angels of God, &c., to obey Him as their King. This is the
force of the Greek !«•/', which answers to the Hebrew al. Wherefore
Vatablus translates under the Son of Man, as though Christ said,
"under My power and sway, as I will and command." So Frank Lucas.

Observe (i.) that Christ, in calling Nathanael an Israelite in whom
was no guile, evidently alludes to the vision of angels ascending and
descending in the ladder from earth to heaven, which the Patriarch
Jacob saw at Bethel (Gen. xxviii. 12). So S. Augustine. For Israel,

74 s. JOHN, c. i.

or Jacob, was a type of Christ. For Christ is the true Israel, i.e.,
having power with God. Christ is the Patriarch of Christians, the
founder of Bethel, the House of God, i.e., the Church botli militant
and triumphant.

2. Christ, by what He says about this vision of the angels ascend-
ing to Himself, signifies that He is the Prince not only of men, but
of angels, and therefore true God, the Son of God. For the angels
ascend and descend to Him as His ministers, that they may obey
and fulfil all His commands both in heaven and earth. So S. Cyril
and Chrysostom.

You will ask, When did this descent and ascent of the angels to
Christ take place ? i. S. Chrysostom "thinks it took place when
Christ suffered His agony and bloody sweat in the garden, Avhen an
angel appeared, strengthening Him (S. Luke, xxii. 44). Also when
the angels appeared to the woman to announce His resurrection
(S. Malt, xxviii.)

2. S. Cyril thinks it took place at His baptism ; for then it was
that by the ministry of angels a dove was formed, and flew down
upon Christ, which was the sign of the Holy Ghost. But this had
already taken place when Christ spoke to Nathanael.

3. Euthymius thinks it took place at the ascension ; for then
all the angels accompanied Him as He went up, like servants their
prince, and soldiers their king.

4. Toletus thinks that it is continually taking place in the Church,
which Christ rules by means of the angels.

5. Maldonatus thinks it will take place in the Day of Judgment ;
for then all the angels, both good and bad, will stand in His
presence — the good, that they may after the Judgment lead the
righteous to heaven; the bad, that they may carry the wicked to hell.

6. Frank Lucas understands the words to refer to the miracles of
Christ, and the heavenly gifts, in which the angels were employed by
Christ in this life, and afterwards. Jesus means, he says, that at
the bidding of the Son of Man from henceforth heaven should seem
to be open, with the angels going and coming, because in a short
time the angels, being commanded by the Son of Man, would bring

VISION OF AXGELS. 75

great abundance of God's great gifts to the earth, which all would
behold, — even the healing of the sick, the cleansing of the lepers,
giving sight to the blind, the justification of the wicked, the effusion
of the Holy Ghost, And since all of these are manifest gifts of
God, heaven could not seem other than to be opened, and the holy
angels, by whom heavenly things are ministered, to serve, at the
bidding of the Son of Man, by those who beheld Him bestowing
them upon many. Christ therefore is here speaking of all kinds of
miracles and heavenly gifts, which, immediately after the calling of
Nathanael, He was about to manifest in the whole period of His
mortal life, and after His ascension, in the government of the
Church until the end of the world. All these meanings are true
and apposite.

But because Christ specially promises this vision of angels to
Philip and Nathanael to strengthen and augment their faith in Him,
this ascent and descent of the angels upon Him was not fulfilled
either at His baptism, passion, resurrection, or ascension. There-
fore we say that the words more plainly, simply, and expressly imply
that this was an open, or manifest, and peculiar vision of angels
coming to the living Christ, such as was given to Jacob, who was
a type of Christ. Wherefore that vision of Jacob presignified a
similar vision of angels to Christ, a vision like that which took
place at His birth, when the angels who descended to Him sang,
Glory to God in the highest. But where and when this angelic vision
took place the Evangelists do not tell us, just as they omit many
other acts in the life of Christ. So Jansen.

This vision took place (i.) to show that Christ had reconciled
men and angels, earth and heaven, and had restored the mutual
communion and friendship which existed in Paradise.

2. To show that Christians are strangers and foreigners on earth,
and ought to converse with angels, and imitate the angelic life, as
"fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God."

3. To assign angels to us as our guardians, to defend us against
all the attacks of men and evil spirits, to urge us to the practice of
heroic virtues, and when we die to carry us to heaven. For the

76 s. JOHN, c. I.

angels ascend to bear our sighs and prayers to Goa : they descend
to bring God's gracious gifts to us.

4. To declare the majesty of Christ and the obedience and
reverence of the angels to Him. For He, as S. Chrysostom says,
lias been set " far above all principality, and power, and might, and
dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world,
but also in that which is to come " (Eph. i. 21).

( 77 )

CHAPTER II.

I Christ turn eth water into wine : 1 2 dtparteth into Capernaum , ami to Jeru-
salem, 14 where He purgeth tlie Temple of buyers and sellers. 19 He fore-
telkth His death and resurrection. 23 Many believed because of His miracles,
but He would not trtut Himself with them.

AND the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee ; and the mother
of Jesus was there :

2 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.

3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have
no wine.

4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not
yet come.

5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.

6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the
purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.

7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they tilled them
up to the brim.

S And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the
feast. And they bare /'/.

9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and
knew not whence it was : (but the servants which drew the water knew ;) the
governor of the feast called the bridegroom,

10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine ;
and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse : but thou hast kept the
good wine until now.

11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested
forth his glory ; and his disciples believed on him.

12 11 Af:er this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his
brethren, and his disciples : and they continued there not many days.

13 IT And the Jews' pas>over was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,

14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and
the changers of money sitting :

15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out oJ
the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen ; and poured out the changers' money,
and overthrew the tables ;

16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence ; make not
my Father's house an house of merchandise.

78 .s. JOHN, c. II.

17 And his disciples remembered thai it was written, The zeal of thine house
hath eaten me up.

1 8 IT Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto
us, seeing that thou doest these things ?

19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days
I will raise it up.

20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and
wilt thou rear it up in three days?

21 But he spake of the temple of his body.

22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that
he had said this unto them ; and they believed the scripture, and the word which
Jesus had said.

23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast-day, many
believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.

24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men ;

25 And needed not that any should testify of man : for he knew what was in
man.

On the third day, &c. The third day, that is, from Christ's
departure for Galilee, and the calling of Philip. For this was the
last date mentioned by S. John.

The following is the sequence of these days in the life of Christ,
He was baptized by John in the thirty-first year of his age, on the
6th of January, as the tradition of the Church declares. On the
same day, after dinner, He retired into the desert, where He fasted
forty days. This fast thus began on the 7th of January, and ended
on the 1 5th of February. Then he returned to Nazareth, where He
abode fifteen days. Directly afterwards, that is to say, on the fifty-
sixth day after His baptism, as S. Epiphanius says (Hares. 51), or
the ist of March, the Jews sent messengers to John the Baptist, to
ask him whether lie were the Christ or not? The day following, on
March 2, Jesus came to John, when he pointed Him out with his
finger, saying, Behold the Lamb. On the 3d of March, John repeated
this testimony before two of his disciples, of whom Andrew was
one. On the morrow, or March 4, Jesus went into Galilee, where He
called Philip. Since this was the second day from the coming of
Andrew with his brother Peter to Christ, it must have been on the third
day, or March 5, when the wedding-feast took place. Wherefore S.
Epiphanius, in the place already cited, says that it took place on the
sixtieth day from Christ's baptism. However, the same Epiphanius,

THE FOUNT OF GERASA. 79

contrary to the rest of the Fathers, and the general consent of the
Church, says that Christ was baptized on the 8th of November.
This would bring the marriage at Cana to the 6th of January, or
the same festival of the Epiphany, on which thirty years previously
the Magi had been led by a star to worship Christ at Bethlehem.
He adds that in memory of so great a miracle as this conversion of
water into wine, even in his own time, on the nth of the month
Tybus, which answers to our 6th of January, certain fountains ran
with wine. He testifies this of the fountain of Gerasa in Arabia.
He says that he himself had drank of the fountain of Cibyris in
Caria thus turned into wine on the day and hour when the miracle
was wrought. He says that many in Egypt bear the same testimony
with regard to the Nile. What Epiphanius says has led some to
think that it was in the thirty-second or following year of Christ's
ministry, and on the 6th of January, that the marriage-feast and the
miracle took place. But the chronological table given above shows
this to be a mistake.

You will say then, Why did God renew the miracle of the conver-
sion of water into wine yearly on the 6th of January? I reply,
because the Church commemorates the miracle on that day, though
it did not actually take place upon it. For the Church wished to
celebrate on the same feast of the Epiphany, or manifestation of
Christ, the three miracles by which Christ first made Himself mani-
fest to the world : the first, the leading of the Magi by a star ; the
second, His baptism, when the Father's voice was heard like thunder,
This is My Beloved Son; the third, the turning water into wine.
Two of these miracles happened on the same day of the month, or
the 6th of January ; the third, two months afterwards, or the 6th of
March. When therefore the Church sings, on the Feast of the
Epiphany, " To-day water was made wine," it is as though she said,
"To-day is this event recalled to the memory of the faithful." So
S. Austin and Baronius.

As a parallel to this miracle, in many places of the West at the
season of the Passover, when solemn baptism was wont to be con-
ferred in the Church, copious streams of water have been known to

So s. JOHN, c. ii.

flow out of a dry and arid font or fountain (fonte) to be used at the
baptism. This was done, not because it was the day when Christ
was baptized, but because of the solemn baptism then conferred by
the Church.

Marriage, Syriac, Feast, sc. of a marriage. You will ask, Whose
marriage was this ; and who was the bridegroom ? Bede. Ruperti,
Lyra, S. Thomas, and others, think that the bridegroom was S.
John the Evangelist. They are influenced by the authority of S.
Augustine, who says on this passage, " The Lord called John from
the wave-tossing tempest of marriage."

But I say that this bridegroom was not S. John. For S. John
was always a virgin, and never married to a wife. For this reason
he was most dear to Christ, and was "the disciple whom Jesus
loved," a Virgin loving a virgin. He would never have broken
his purpose of virginity by marriage ; yea, he would never have
thought of breaking it : but he remained constant to his purpose
all through his life. This is the teaching of SS. Ignatius, Jerome,
Augustine, and others. Wherefore, what S. Augustine has said, as
quoted above, is to be understood not of marriage entered into, but
of marriage about to be entered into, or rather that he might have
entered into, and which, according to the custom of his nation,
he ought to have entered into. Christ called the youthful John to
Himself, that he might not think of marriage.

With more probability, Baronius, following Nicephorus (Hist. I.
8. c. 30), thinks that the bridegroom at this marriage was the
Apostle Simon, who was surnamed the Cananite from Cann. And
Baronius adds from the same Nicephorus that the place where the
marriage was celebrated was adorned by a famous church built there
by S. Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great. As soon as
Simon had seen this miracle of Christ at his wedding, lie bade
farewell to his bride and the world, and followed Him, ami was
chosen to be one of His twelve Apostles. This was the reason why
Christ came to this wedding ; and by coming, indeed, honoured
marriage ; but by calling him to Himself, He showed that celibacy
and the apostolate were better than marriage.

THE SPIRITUAL BRIDE. 8 1

Tropologically, a holy soul by faith, hope, chastity, and charity
is like a bride married to Christ. She becomes the bride of Christ,
who, leaving all the allurements of the world, transfers her whole
love to Christ, and for Him covers and veils her head, that is, her
mind, and all her senses, so as to converse with Him continually
above the clouds in heaven, and dedicates and consecrates her
whole self to Him. With this idea the etymology of nuptials, as
given by Festus, most admirably agrees. Some he says derive nup-
ti(z from the Greek, for the Greeks call a bride vvpfa. S. Isidore,
however, derives nuptia from obnubere, to cover, because women
when married were accustomed to cover their head with a veil.
An unmarried woman, on the contrary, was called innuba, or one
whose head was not covered.

Such a bride of Christ was S. Dympna, virgin and martyr, who,
on account of her beauty, being asked in marriage of her father, an
Irish king, fled into Brabant, and was beheaded by her own father
at a town called Geel, not far from Antwerp. Thus she died a
noble martyr for chastity. Therefore those who are possessed, and
visit her sacred relics, are delivered from the devil. I myself once
visited her shrine, and did her reverence.

Cana of Galilee. This is added to distinguish it from another
Cana, or Ghana, which was situated in the tribe of Aser, near Sidon.
Hence it was called Cana of the Sidonians, though it also was
in Galilee. And the woman of Canaan, from whose daughter
Christ drove out the demon, was an inhabitant of it. But this Cana
where the marriage took place was in the tribe of Zabulon, above
the valley of Cas-melon, and about three leagues from Nazareth.
(So Jerome in Loris Hebr.)

And the Mother, &c. "She was invited as a friend by those who
were celebrating the marriage," says Euthymius. For Simon the
Cananite, who was the bridegroom, was the son of Cleophas, the
brother of Joseph the husband of the Blessed Virgin. There is
no mention of Joseph in this place, nor subsequently ; for he was
now dead, as S. Epiphanius (Hares. 78), Baronius, and others

gather from the silence of this passage.

VOL. iv. F

82 S. JOHN, C. II.

Jesus also was called, as the cousin of the bridegroom. " Jesus
being called," says S. Chrysostom, "was present at the marriage, not
having regard to His dignity, but to our profit." He was present
(i.) to pay respect to His kinsfolk, and to honour their nuptials by
His presence. 2. To give an example of humility, in being present
at the marriage of poor people. As S. Chrysostom says, " He who
did not disdain to take the form of a servant, was not ashamed to
be present at the wedding of servants." Or, as S. Augustine says
(de Verb, Dom., Scrm. 41), " Let man blush to be proud, since
God became humble. Behold, He came to the marriage, who, when
He was with the Father, instituted marriage." 3. That by the
miracle He might make Himself known to His disciples, and show
them that He was the Messiah. 4. That He might give His
sanction to marriage, and sanctify it by His presence, and so con-
demn the Encratites, and the followers of Tatian, who were to arise
in after times, and revile marriage as a filthy invention of the devil.
So SS. Austin, Cyril, and Bede. Hear what this last says (Horn, in
Domin. 2, post Epiph?) : "If there were any fault to be found with
wedlock, duly and chastely celebrated, the Lord would not have
been present at a marriage. Good is holy wedlock, better is the
continence of widowhood, best of all is perfect virginity. Thus
Christ was born of a virgin ; He was blessed by the prophetic lips
of the widow Anna ; He came an invited guest to a wedding."

And His disciples. You will ask, Who were these disciples ? For
Jesus did not gather together His apostles until after the imprison-
ment of S. John the Baptist : and this had not then taken place.

I reply, it is probable they were Nathanael and Philip, and per-
haps Andrew and Peter. For they had visited Jesus three days
before, and for a time adhered to Him as their Master; though
afterwards they went back to their fishing until they were called to
the apostolate.

And when wine failed, Greek, vart^su^o;, was deficient, because the
bridegroom, being poor, had only provided a little, the Mother of
Jesus, &c. As though she said, " Our relations, the bride and bride-
groom, have no wine. Consider their modesty, O my Son, that

REQUEST OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN. 83

they be not put to shame before their guests. I know Thou art
able to do this, for Thou art the Son of God, and it is becoming
both to Thy kindness and Thy providence, so that by now perform-
ing a miracle Thou mayest make manifest both to Thy disciples and
all the guests that Thou art the Messiah." So S. Cyril.

Observe the modesty of the Virgin. She does not bid, or even
ask. She does not say, My Son, provide wine for them. She did
not doubt that Jesus in His providence and love would provide it.
Hear what S. Bernard says (Serm. -2, de B. Virg.}-. "Those words
of hers are a most sure index of innate meekness, and virgin
modesty. Accounting the reproach of others her own, she could
not bear it; she could not profess ignorance of the wine having
failed. When indeed she was reproved by her Son, forasmuch as
she was meek and lowly in heart, she neither answered again, nor
yet despaired. She only bade the servants do what He told them."

Moreover, the Mother having a certain confidence that she would
obtain, here tacitly asks her Son to procure wine. During the
thirty years that they had lived together in close companionship she
had learnt from Him that He had been sent by the Father, that, by
His heavenly doctrine and miracles, He might convert men to
Himself and God. It is impossible to doubt that when Christ bade
good-bye to His Mother, when He was going to John's baptism,
and after that to enter upon His office of preaching, He had
expressly told His Mother the same. Wherefore, she deeming that
the present was a fitting occasion for Jesus, by a miracle, to gain
authority and belief in Himself, fearlessly asked for a miracle, not
doubting that Christ would perform it, and by so doing would
gratify His Mother and His relations, and would advance His own
office and dignity.

Ver. 4. — And Jesus saith, What is it to Me and to Ihee, &c. Mean-
ing, What have I to do with thee in this matter ? (Quid inihi tecum
in hac re est negotii ?} Observe, the Blessed Virgin did not out of
ostentation, or in an untimely, unbecoming, or indiscreet fashion
ask this miracle of her Son, as S. Chrysostom, Theophylact, and
Euthymius think : but out of necessary charity and piety, as SS.

84 s. JOHN, c. n.

Cyril, Bernard, and others say. Therefore there was no blame
attaching to her. Therefore Christ did not really blame her. And
yet He seems to reprove her, that He might teach, not her, but us,
that in things pertaining to God, and miracles, parents have no
right or authority. They must not be done in accordance with
their affections and desires, but only for God and charity's sake.
The meaning, therefore, is this, " Thou, O Mother, in this matter,
art not My Mother, but as it were another woman. For, from thee
I have received human nature, not Divinity. It belongs to My
Divine nature to work this miracle, not in accordance with thy
desires, and those of relations, but in accordance with the will of
God My Father. According to that will I shall work, when the
hour and time decreed by God shall come." Hear S. Augustine on
this passage: "The word woman is used simply to express the
female sex." " He, as God," says Euthymius, " said not ' Mother,'
but 'woman.'" "He means," says S. Bede, "that He had not
received in time from His Mother the Divinity by which He was
about to perform a miracle, but that He had It eternally from the
Father." " He means to say," says the Interlinear Gloss, " What is
there in common between My Divinity and thee My Mother accord-
ing to the flesh?" "Thou didst not beget, or produce (genuisti]
My Divinity, which works the miracle," says S. Augustine. S. Chry-
sostom adds, " He speaks thus, lest the miracle should seem to be the
result of collusion. He should have been asked by those who needed
the wine, not by His Mother."

Mine hour, &c., i.e., when I may appropriately work this miracle.
I wish to wait a little while until the wine has wholly failed, that all
the guests may perceive the miracle more clearly, and that all
may know that I have wrought it, and so may believe in Me. For
he who does not experience the need, will not greatly feel the
necessity. So S. Chrysostom. The same S. Chrysostom gives
another explanation : " Mine hour is not yet come, because I pro-
posed to work My first miracle in Jerusalem, the capital of Judea :
nevertheless at thy prayers, O My Mother, I will change My purpose,
and will do it here in Cana of Galilee."

MODESTY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN. 8$

S. Augustine gives another explanation, to the following effect :
The hour of My passion is not yet come, in which I will show what
I have to do with thee My Mother, that indeed I have of thee truly
assumed man's nature, and that I am thy Son. When in the weak-
ness of My human nature, of which thou art the Mother, I shall
hang upon the cross, then I will acknowledge thee. For He com-
mended her then to His disciple.

Ver. 5. — His Mother saith, &c. His mother modestly holds her
peace, and rightly yields to her Son, as being the Son of God.
Although the Son seems to deny His Mother, the Mother knows His
filial piety. Therefore with all confidence she bids the servants what
to do. S. Gaudentius comments in these words, " The Mother would
not have said, Whatsoever He saith unto you do it, unless being full of
the Holy Ghost from her birth she had foreseen the whole process
of Christ's turning the water into wine." Wherefore S. Bernard on
these words (Horn. 2) says, " I see plainly that it was not as being
wroth, or as wishing to confound the shrinking modesty of His
Virgin Mother, that He said, What have I to do with thee, but for our
sakes, that the care of parents according to the flesh should not
trouble those who are converted to the Lord." For Christ pre-
sently obeys His Mother, and to honour her performs the miracle.
Hear S. Chrysostom : " Although He answered thus, yet He com-
plied with His Mother's prayer, that He might give honour to her,
and not seem stubborn (contumax) to her, nor put her to shame
when so many were present." And Euthymius says, " How very
greatly He honoured her is plain from many other reasons, and also
from this, that He fulfilled her exhortation."

Moreover, in these words of the Virgin her meekness, piety,
charity, prudence, faith, constancy, and greatness of soul wonderfully
shine forth.

Ver. 6. — There were set, &c. Christ then made use of these water-
pots that it might be the more clearly evident that they had no wine
in them ; and so the turning the water into wine in such vessels
might be the more conspicuous.

Purification : by which the Jews according to their traditions were

86 S. JOHN, C. II.

accustomed at their feasts ceremonially to wash their hands, if they
happened to touch anything unclean at the table. (See S. Mark
vii. 3.)

Tropologically, S. Bernard expounds thus (Serm. i, in Domin. i,
post. Oct. Epip/i.} : The six waterpots are the six purifying virtues
of the soul. " The first waterpot, and the first cleansing, is in com-
punction, of which we read, that in the very hour in which the
sinner shall groan, I will no more remember all their iniquities.
The second is confession ; for all things are washed by confession.
The third is the giving of alms ; for we read in the Gospel, ' Give
alms, and behold all things are clean unto you.' The fourth, forgive-
ness of injuries ; for we say when we pray, ' Forgive us our debts,
for we also forgive those who are indebted to us.' The fifth is
affliction of the body ; for we pray that we, being purified by
abstinence, may sing glory to God. The sixth is obedience to the
commandments : even as the disciples heard what may we too
deserve to hear, ' Ye are clean through the word which I have spoken
unto you.' " He then applies the rest as follows : " They are filled
with water, that they may be kept in the fear of God, since the fear
of the Lord is a fountain of life." Then he adds: "But by the
Divine power the water is changed into wine when perfect love
casts out fear. Now the waterpots are said to be of stone, not
because of hardness, but for steadfastness ; for they contained two
or three firkins apiece."

Two or three firkins — Greek, measures. This measure was the same
as the Hebrew ephah, or bath.

Ver. 7. — -Jesus saith, &c. S. Chrysostom asks, "But why did not He
Himself fill the waterpots with water, and then turn it into wine ? "
He gives the right answer, saying, in order that He might have them
as witnesses to the miracle who had drawn the water, lest any fraud
or trickery should be supposed.

To the brim : lest, if any vacant space were left, Christ might
have been supposed to have poured wine on the top of the water,
which might have communicated the flavour of wine to the water
underneath.

WATER CHANGED TO WINE. 87

Ver. 8. — And Jesus saith, &c. Draw out of the great waterpots, and
pour into smaller vessels, and carry it to the master of the feast,
and let him judge how good the wine is. As Christ said this, He
in one moment by His Almighty power changed the whole of the
water in the six waterpots into wine. Listen to Nonnus : " Sud-
denly was the miracle wrought ; and the water, changing its colour,
flowed with a ruddy glow instead of its own pale colour, and was
changed into purple wine." As S. Cyril says, " What is difficult to
Almighty God, or why should not He, who called all things into
being out of nothing, much more easily change one thing into
another?"

From this conversion of water into wine, the Fathers prove the
conversion of bread and wine in the Eucharist into the Body and
Blood of Christ. And they add that it seems to be a greater
miracle for Christ to turn water into wine than wine into blood.
For wine is nearer akin to blood than water is to wine. So S.
Cyril of Jerusalem {Cat. 4), S. Cyprian (Epist. cont.Aguar.}, S. Irenseus
(/. 3, c. n). S. Isidore of Pelusium asks (/. i, Epist. 393) why
Christ willed this to be His first miracle? He gives the answer
mystically, that it was because He wished to supply what was
wanting to the Law. "For the Law," he says, "only baptized
with water, but He perfected the sacred initiation with His own
Blood, joining both in Himself, and uniting the Law with grace."
For water was the symbol of the old Law, which purified all things
by water, but only with a corporeal cleansing. But wine is the
symbol of the Blood of Christ, which, being shed upon the cross,
cleanses souls. For Christ changes wine into His own Blood in
the Eucharist. Christ, therefore, by changing water into wine at
the beginning of His preaching, signified that He was about to
change the Law of Moses, which was as cold and insipid as water,
into the Gospel of His grace.

Master of the feast. S. Gaudentius says, that when marriages
were celebrated amongst the Jews, a priest was assigned to preside
over the proper ceremonies. The same person took care of con-
jugal modesty and ordered the provision for the feast, and the

88 S. JOHN. C. II.

ministers ; wherefore he was called the master, or governor of the
feast. Christ therefore orders that the water which had been made
wine should be borne to this master of the feast, because he by his
office was a most sober and responsible person, and also well skilled
in the flavour of wine. Therefore he was the best able to judge of
the excellence of this wine, and to make known Christ's miracle
unto all.

They bore it. It is probable that Christ turned the water into
red wine, both because red wine is the only kind used in Palestine,
and also that it might be the more evident that the water had been
changed into wine. They bore then with joy, gladly obeying, and
contributing their part to this miracle of Christ. For their prompt
obedience in drawing the water contributed not a little to this
miracle.

Ver. 9. — When the governor of the feast, &c. Tasted: he did not
give credit entirely to the smell and ruddy colour, but he tasted, and
found that it was the very best and most excellent wine. For
tasting was the surest way of judging.

And when men are inebriated (Vu\g.\ well drunk (Eng. Vers.), i.e.,
exhilarated. For intoxication in Scripture often means a liberal
draught which gladdens the mind, but does not deprive it of the
use of reason. For if these guests had been really drunk, surely
Jesus would never have turned water into wine for them, for then
He would have assisted and encouraged their drunkenness. Much
rather would He have put a stop to their potations, and sent them
home. And the Blessed Virgin would have done the same.

Then that which is worse: because, when the stomach is filled
with wine, it is a poor judge of the quality. This is a type of the
deceitfulness of the world, which at the beginning presents things
that are fair to the eye, and afterwards brings in what is vile and
worthless, and so deceives and deludes its lovers.

But thou hast kept^ &c. Hence it is plain that this wine was
most excellent as being the work of Christ, and therefore Divine.
For the works of God are perfect. Thus the loaves which Christ
multiplied to feed the four thousand were as sweet as manna. And

VERIFICATION OF THE MIRACLE. 89

S. Chrysostom says that the limbs of those persons which Christ
restored became stronger than they were originally.

All these things were wisely ordered by Christ, so that the
miracle might be perfectly well attested. For the master of the
feast called the bridegroom, and asked him from whence was this
wine. He replied that he knew nothing about it. Then, learning
from the servants the sequence of what had been done, they came
to the waterpots, and found them all full of the best wine. Where-
upon they burst forth in praise of Jesus as the author of the miracle,
and their benefactor, and made known what had been done to all
the guests. Jesus, avoiding vainglory, retired, first admonishing them
to use this wine with moderation, to the praise of God, with giving
of thanks to Him.

Ver. ii. — This beginning, &c. ; glory, i.e., His Omnipotence and
Divinity. And believed, i.e., their faith grew.

Beginning. From hence the Fathers gather passim that this
miracle was absolutely the first which Christ publicly wrought. This
is the refutation of the book on the " Infancy of the Saviour," con-
demned by Pope Gelasius, which was forged by the heretics ; and
in which it is related that Christ publicly wrought miracles when He
was yet a boy. Yet there is no reason, says Maldonatus, against
our thinking that Christ may have wrought miracles privately before,
and may by them have assisted the poverty of His parents. It
might seem as if His Mother, animated by the recollection of
such, had here asked for, and expected, a similar miracle. But
Christ could have relieved His Mother's wants by some special
providence short of a miracle.

You will ask why Christ willed this to be His first miracle ? I
reply, because it was especially appropriate to the time, the place,
and the persons. For wine is the most noble beverage, which
makes glad both God and man (Judges ix. 13). Wherefore Noah,
immediately after the Deluge, discovered wine, and was a type of
Christ here making wine. Again, Christ by this miracle showed
that He is the self-same Being who, year by year, does the same
thing in the vines by converting their watery sap into wine. " The

90 S. JOHN, C. II.

only difference is," as S. Chrysostom says, "that in the vine-tree He
effects by a process extending over a considerable time what He
did at the marriage in a moment." For what else is wine but water
changed by the rays of the sun ?

The symbolical reason is, because wine is the most fitting symbol
of the grace, charity, devotion, fervour, strength, with which Christ
indues His own. Whence S. Bernard says (i?i Sentent.}, "The wine
in the cup of God has a threefold colour. It is red in the long-
suffering of the saints. This made Isaac glad in his sickness. It
is white in the recompense of the just. With this was Noah inebri-
ated. It is black and sour in the damnation of the wicked. Of
this Jesus tasted, but would not drink."

Allegorically, the reason was because this marriage represented
the marriage union of Christ with human nature, which took place
in His Incarnation. Wherefore it was celebrated on the third day,
that is, in the third stage of the world. For the first state was the
law of nature, the second was the law of Moses, the third is the law
of Christ. It was done in Galilee of the Gentiles, because Christ
calls all the Gentiles to His marriage with our humanity. Also it
was done in Cana of Galilee, i.e., in the transmigration of the posses-
sion, or the Christian people, which is Christ's possession, bought
with His own Blood, and therefore it passes from earth to heaven.
In His possession Christ gives wine, i.e., the doctrine and grace of
the Gospel, which makes glad and inebriates the soul. Here also
He changes wine into His Blood in the Eucharist.

Tropologically, the reason was that by these nuptials and by wine
He signified the union, and as it were the marriage of our soul,
through grace and charity, with God. The Mother of Jesus was
there, that is, virginal chastity, and the simple faith of the disciples
of Jesus, such faith as when humbly acknowledging the wine of our
devotion and fervour is failing, we entreat Him to bestow it upon us.
Then He changes the insipidity of our soul into the good wine of
His heavenly grace, by which we refresh and inebriate, not only our-
selves, but others, and make them to glow with the love of God.

Anagogically, the marriage of the Lamb will be perfected in

CHRIST LEAVES NAZARETH. 9!

heaven. There Christ will give us new wine and Divine nectar.
He will inebriate us out of the fatness of the house of God, and
will give us to drink of the torrent of His pleasures.

Ver. 12. — After this Jesus went down, &c. After the marriage
Jesus returned with His Mother and friends to their house at Naza-
reth. Nazareth was situated upon higher ground, so that He would
descend from it to Capharnaum, which was on ground sloping down
to the Sea of Galilee. The reason why He went was because He
did not wish to make Nazareth, a poor and ignoble town, and by
whose inhabitants He was despised as a carpenter, and the son
of a carpenter, the headquarters of His preaching. For this He
destined Capharnaum, which was by the sea-side, and famous for
its commerce and concourse of people, so that He might have
more fruit of His ministry.

Now this journey of Christ took place before the imprisonment of
John the Baptist, as may be clearly gathered from chaps, iii. 24 and
iv. i. It was different therefore from that of which S. Matthew
speaks (iv. 13). For that took place after John was put in prison, when
Christ actually transferred His place of abode to Capharnaum, and
there opened a public school of His doctrine and teaching. The pre-
sent occasion was only preparatory. This visit was only by the way,
as it were in transiiu, intending to proceed from hence to Jerusalem
to keep the Passover, which was now nigh at hand. So Jansen.

And His brethren, i.e., His cousins, James the Less, Joseph, Simon,
and Judas (Matt. xiii. 55). Also John and James the Greater.

And the Passover, &c. This was the first Passover after Christ's
baptism.

Vers. 14, 15, 1 6. — And He found in the Temple, &c. I have
explained all these things in S. Matthew xxi. 12. Observe, however,
that this was a different driving out of the buyers and sellers from
that recorded in the 2ist of S. Matthew, which occurred very shortly
before Christ's passion. But this took place at the very beginning
of His ministry.

Ver. 17. — His disciples remembered, &c. This zeal of Christ was
righteous indignation, says Euthymius, or rather ardour to do away

92 S. JOHX, C. II.

with what was repugnant to God's honour, so that He boldly
exposed Himself, His life and His good name, to defend the honour
of God, whom He loved above all things. For Christ did this before
the proud and covetous Scribes and Pharisees, who opposed Him.
The meaning then is, " The zeal, that is, the burning desire, of caring
for the glory of Thy Temple, in which thou, O Lord, dwellest as
Thine abode, and the indignation which I have conceived against
the traders who profane it, have eaten, that is, have absorbed Me."
Symmachus translates consumed Me, as fire eats away iron, and so
transmutes it into itself, that it no longer seems to be iron, but fire
itself.

S. Augustine asks, " Who is eaten up with zeal for the house of
God ? " and answers, " He who strives to amend everything which he
sees amiss. He does not rest if he cannot rectify it. He groans
and says within himself, ' My zeal has caused me to consume away
because mine enemies have forgotten Thy words'" (Ps. cxix. 139).
Wherefore Bede saith, on this passage, " Let us have zeal for the
house of God, my brethren. If we see a brother who belongs to the
house of God swelling with pride, given to detraction, a slave to
drunkenness, enervated with luxury, disturbed by anger, or subject to
any other fault, let us strive, so far as in us lies, to rebuke him, to
amend what is corrupt and perverse. And if we are powerless to
amend any of these things, let us not endure them without the most
bitter grief. And especially in the house of prayer, where the Body
of God is consecrated, where without doubt the angels are always
present, let no folly take place, let us strive with all our might that
nothing may hinder our own, or our brethren's prayers."

Ver. 1 8. — The Jews therefore answered, &c. Meaning, what miracle
dost Thou show, that Thou takest upon Thyself, contrary to the
custom, to cast the sellers out of the Temple, as having received
authority from God : for from man, that is, from pontiff or governor, we
know Thou hast none ? For Christ had intimated that He was sent by
God, yea, that He was the Son of God ; for He had said (ver. 16),
Make not My Fathers house a house of merchandise. They ask Him
therefore to prove that He was the Son of God, and Messiah, even

THE LORD OF THE TEMPLE. 93

as Moses had shown signs and prodigies from heaven, by which lie
demonstrated to Pharaoh and the Egyptians that he was sent by
God. So Ruperti.

Ver. 19.— Jesus answered, £c. Appositely does He prove His
authority over the Temple by His power of rebuilding the Temple.

This Temple, viz., His body, which Christ pointed out by moving
His hand to His breast. Observe : the Body of Christ is called a
temple because in It dwelt the fulness of the Deity, not merely by
grace as it dwells in us, but corporeally and personally (Col. ii. 9).
So S. Cyril. As though He said, "You, O ye incredulous Jews,
ask of Me a sign, or a miracle ; lo, I give you one, even My resur-
rection from the dead. This thing is now indeed dark unto you,
because ye are unbelieving. But after a little while ye will under-
stand it, or at least ye might easily understand, when ye shall see
that I am risen on the third day. For then ye shall understand
who I am, and how great I was, that I was in truth the Lord of My
own Body, that of My own will I gave Myself to die, and rose to
life again. Thus, in consequence, ye may understand that much
more am I the Lord of this Temple, which is only a type and shadow
of My Body ; and therefore that I have power to cast out of it the
buyers and sellers." So Bede.

Moreover, Christ calls his Body a temple rather than anything
else because this contention took place in the Temple and about the
Temple. As though He said, That ye may know, O ye Jews, that I
am Lord of the Temple, loose ye, that is, I permit you to destroy the
temple of My Body, which ye will do when ye kill and crucify Me,
and I rise again by My own power on the third day. " Destroy ye"
not as inciting them to His destruction ; but predicting in figurative
language what He knew they were about to do. So Euthymius.

Ver. 20. — The Jews then said, &c. There were three buildings of
the Temple of Jerusalem. The first was by Solomon, and occupied
seven years. The second was the rebuilding after its destruction
by the Babylonians, by Zorobabel and his companions, under Cyrus,
King of Persia. This rebuilding occupied fifteen years only, though
many ancient and modern writers have erroneously supposed it to

94 S. JOHN, c. II.

have occupied forty-six years, and to have been here referred to by
the Jews. The third was the rebuilding of the Temple by Herod of
Ascalon, who murdered the innocents of Bethlehem. He built the
Temple afresh for the Jews, in order that he might secure the
kingdom for himself and his posterity, and that he might be
accounted by them as the true Messiah. And it is exceedingly
probable that the Jews were here referring to this rebuilding from
their use of the pronoun this. For "this" points out an existing
Temple. And inasmuch as the two former Temples were destroyed,
they could not be thus pointed out. Herod began his erection of
the third Temple in the eighteenth year of his reign. For it was at that
time he made known his intention of rebuilding the Temple, as
Josephus testifies {Ant., lib. 15, c. 14). Wherefore, since Christ was
born in the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Herod, as I have shown
on Luke ii. i, it follows that from his beginning to build until the
birth of Christ, sixteen years had elapsed. Add thirty years of the
life of Christ and you have forty-six. For it was in His thirtieth
year, in which also He was baptized, that Christ had this disputation
with the Jews.

You may say that Josephus, in the passage cited above, says that
Herod completed the building of the Temple in eight years instead
of forty-six. I answer that he finished building as far as the most
important parts of the Temple, such as the holy place and the Holy
of Holies, were concerned : but both he himself and .his successors
laboured for many years after, even to Christ's thirtieth year, in
adorning the same. For in constructing the courts, the porticoes,
and in beautifying the whole, inside as well as out, eighteen thou-
sand men laboured all that time, as the same Josephus records
(Ant. 20, 8).

Finally, some think that the Jews spoke of both Temples, viz.,
Zorobabel's and Herod's. For Herod did not so much build a
new Temple as adorn the old Temple of Zorobabel, so as to make it
loftier and grander. This Vilalpandus clearly proves from Hege-
sippusand other authors. The Temple then of Zorobabel occupied
fifteen years in building. It was afterwards for several more years

THK BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE. 95

enlarged and adorned by the Maccabees, by Simon the son of Onias
the High Priest (Ecclus. 1. i), and by Herod. If you reckon up
all these years you will easily make them come to forty-six years.
Similarly the Basilica of S. Peter at Rome, the ancient one of Con-
stantine the Great having been destroyed, has occupied a hundred
years in building, and even at the present time we see continually
in process of erection turrets, altars, pillars, chapels, &c.

Symbolically, the forty-six years of the building of the Temple
signify that the Body of Christ was built up in as many days. Hear
S. Augustine (de Trin., lib. 14, c. 5.) : "This number answers to the
perfection of the Body of Christ ; for forty-six times six make two
hundred and seventy-six, that is, nine months and six days ; for in
so long time was the Body of Christ coming to perfection." The
same (in Joan, tract. 10) says, " Christ received a body from Adam.
Now the Greek for the east is avocro/.j}, for the west dyff/c, for the
north asxrof, for the south /afff^a/Ss/a, which four letters form Adam's
name, even the elect who are to be gathered from the four winds
when the Lord shall come to judgment The letters also of Adam's
name count for forty-six, according to the Greek numeration ; for
alpha signifies one, delta four, alpha one, and mu forty, in all
forty-six. Thus Bede, S. Cyprian, Clement of Alexandria, and
others.

Ver. 2i.— But He spake, &c. S. Chrysostom asks, " Why He did
not explain to them, being in doubt, that He called His flesh the
Temple?" and answers that "since they had no belief in Him,
even if He had explained the Jews would have derided Him, and
treated Him still worse."

Ver. 22. — When therefore He was risen, &c. They believed the
Scripture, which foretold that Christ would rise from the dead. This,
which they did not previously understand, they understood when they
saw it actually fulfilled in the resurrection of Christ. Such a Scripture
is that verse of the Psalms (xvi. 10), "Thou shall not leave My soul
in hell, nor suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption."

Ver. 23. — But when He was at Jerusalem, &c. They believed in
His name, that is, that He bore truly the name of Messiah, or Christ,

96 s. JOHN, c. ii.

as He Himself named Himself, and was so publicly named and
celebrated by the faithful.

Ver. 24. — But Jesus did not, &c. He did not trust, i.e., He did not
confide. For although He knew that they believed in Him, yet
He also knew that they were fickle, and would easily fall back from
this faith, and be perverted by His numerous enemies, the Scribes
and Pharisees. For the authority and power of those men was
great. For this reason Christ neither securely, nor for long, con-
versed with them, but went away into other parts of Judea, for He
knew not only what they were then doing and thinking, but what
they were hereafter about to think and do against Him, to persecute
Him even unto the death of the cross.

Ver. 25. — For He had no need, &c. For He was searching the heart
of each, whether it were constant, or fickle and inconstant. Where-
fore, as S. Chrysostom says, " He did not regard outward words who
enters into the mind itself, who penetrates human thoughts, who
knew how soon their fervour would grow cold. Jesus had no need
of testimony to know the minds which He had formed." Augustine
adds, "That the Maker knew better what was in His work than the
work what was in itself. Man's Creator knew what was in man."

( 97 )

CHAPTER III.

I Christ Uacheth NicoJemvs the necessity of regeneration. 14 Of faith in His
death. 16 The great love of God towards the world. 18 Condemnation for
unbelief. 23. The baptism, witness, and doctrine of John concerning Christ.

THERE was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews :
2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know
that thou art a teacher come from God : for no man can do these miracles that
thou doest, except God be with him.

3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a
man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old ? can he
enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of
water and a/the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh ; and that which is born of the Spirit
is spirit.

7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but
canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth : so is every one that is
born of the Spirit.

9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be ?

10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest
not these things ?

I 1 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that
we have seen ; and ye receive not our witness.

12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if
I tell you 0/heavenly tilings ?

13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from
heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

14 IT And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
Son of man be lifted up ;

15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

16 1 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world ; but that
the world through him might be saved.

18 T He that believeth on him is not condemned : but he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten
Son of God.

VOL. IV. G

98 S. JOHN, c. III.

19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men
loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh.to the light,
lest his deeds should be reproved.

21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made
manifest, that they are wrought in God.

22 IF After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judea ; and
there he tarried with them, and baptized.

23 IT And John also was baptizing in JEnon near to Salim, because there was
much water there : and they came, and were baptized.

24 For John was not yet cast into prison .

25 IT Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews
about purifying.

26 And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee
beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all
men come to him.

27 John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him
from heaven.

28 Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I
am sent before him.

29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom : but the friend of the bridegroom,
which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's
voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled.

30 He must increase, but I must decrease.

31 He that cometh from above is above all : he that is of the earth is earthly,
and speaketh of the earth : he that cometh from heaven is above all.

32 And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth ; and no man receiveth •
his testimony.

33 He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.

34 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God : for God giveth
not the Spirit by measure unto him.

35 The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.

36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life : and he that believeth
not the Son shall not see life ; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

There was a man, &c. Nicodemus means in Greek the conqueror
of the people. Such was this man ; who, overcoming the fear of the
people, the Pharisees, and the priests, believed in Christ. Wherefore
Lucian thus writes concerning him in " The Invention of the Body of
S. Stephen," from the mouth of Gamaliel: " The Jews, knowing that
Nicodemus was a Christian, removed him from his office and cursed
him, and drove him out of the city. Then I Gamaliel, inasmuch as
he had suffered persecution for Christ's sake, took him to my estate,
and fed and clothed him to the end of his life ; and when he died
I buried him honourably beside the loved Stephen."

MEANING OF AMEN. 99

Wherefore Nicodemus is enrolled among the saints in the Roman
Martyrology on the 3d of August ; where we read as follows,
"Invention of the body of S. Stephen, Protomartyr; also of the
bodies of SS. Gamaliel, Nicodemus, Abibo, &c., in the reign of
Honorius."

The same came, &c., by night, for he was ashamed to approach the
lowly Jesus by day, in the presence of others, and to become His
disciple. For he was a master in Israel : and such a thing seemed
beneath his authority and dignity. Another reason was that he
might not incur the hatred of the Pharisees, who despised Christ
However, he found the light which he sought by night, as Ruperti
says, and drank of the great sacraments of salvation. He seems
to have come alone, without servant or companion, by night, to
Christ, to have spoken with Him face to face, and to have imbibed
His spirit and doctrine.

Thou art come a Teacher : Syriac, that Thou mayest be a Teacher,
i.e., of the Jews. He does not say, Thou hast come that Thou mayest
be the Messias, because about this he as yet felt no certainty. For
Christ did not wish to enunciate this at the beginning of His preach-
ing, but made it known by degrees.

These signs (Vulg.), these wonderful works which we have seen
and heard that Thou hast done at the recent Passover, in the
Temple ; as, for instance, that Thou alone didst drive out of it all
that bought and sold in it.

Except God be with him : except he be supported by the authority
and omnipotence of God. For miracles are the works of God.
They are not wrought by the power of men, or angels, but by God
alone working supernaturally.

Jesus answered, &c., Amen, Amen. John on many occasions
doubles the Amen (Eng. Ver. Verily), when the other Evangelists have
only one. Why was this? I answer (i.) because he had above the
rest the most lofty revelations, and knew the deepest mysteries of
the Deity. This was especially the case in his exile at Patmos,
where he wrote the Apocalypse, which has, says S. Jerome, as many
mysteries as it has words. And after this he wrote his Gospel when

100 S. JOHN, C. III.

he was very old, and the sole survivor of the Apostolic College.
Wherefore he was thenceforth the mouthpiece and oracle of the
Church, the foundation and pillar of the faith, the patriarch of
patriarchs. He saith therefore, as it were with plenary authority,
as it were the Elder of elders, Amen, Amen. It is as though he said,
" I announce to you, with the utmost weight and confidence, things
most lofty and sublime, which surpass all human understanding
and belief, but which Christ has revealed to me, which are there-
fore most certain, and most salutary for you. For Christ really
used this twofold Amen, to indicate the sublimity and certainty
of what He said. But the other Evangelists, studying conciseness,
included two under one : but I, John, because I, beyond the
others, have weighed and penetrated both the words of Christ and
their meaning, say, Amen, Amen, as Christ Himself spoke."

2. Because Amen is the same as Verily. S. John was delighted
with the name of Truth. And this he calls Christ, because He was
the Word, that is, the Truth of the Father.

3. Because Amen is either a word signifying true, or else an
adverb meaning truly. Wherefore we may explain thus — He who is
the Amen, i.e., Christ, whose name is True, and the Truth, saith
Amen, i.e., in truth, or most truly. Thus it is said in the Apocalypse
(iii. 14), " Thus saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness,"
(Greek, 6 'A^V), i.e., He who is the Amen; He who is steadfast,
true, constant, faithful ; who is steadfastness itself, Truth itself,
Faithfulness itself.

4. Amen, Amen, denotes the perfect truth and certainty of the
matter and the things which are recorded by S. John. The things
which I say are most true and certain, more true than all other
truths, more certain than all other certainty.

5. By Amen, Amen, he intimates a twofold manner of certainty,
viz., that S. John knew the things which he wrote by means of a
twofold knowledge, natural and Divine ; that is, by experience and
revelation. For with his eyes he saw these things, and with his
ears he heard them, and by Christ's revelation, when he lay upon
His breast, he understood them. Wherefore in his first Epistle he

THE SECOND BIRTH. IOI

thus writes, " What we have seen and heard, and our hands have
handled . . . we make known unto you."

Except one be born again. Observe that John leaves us to gather
from this answer that Nicodemus, either tacitly or expressly, asked
Christ to teach him the way to the kingdom of heaven which He
preached. For Christ answers by saying that baptism was the way
to heaven.

Again: Greek, awdiv, which has a twofold meaning, i. From
above, from heaven, meaning, Except any one be born again by a
heavenly and Divine regeneration, he cannot enter into the kingdom
of God. 2. atuOm signifies again, a second time. And it is plain
that it is so to be understood here from the answer of Nicodemus,
ver. 4. So S. Chrysostom and others. The Syriac translates from
the beginning. And the meaning is, man has two births, one which
is natural and carnal, in which he is brought forth under the bonl
of original sin. Wherefore this birth does not give a man a title to
heaven, but to hell. In order therefore that a man may be freed
from this sin contracted through his natural birth, a second and
spiritual birth must be experienced, by which he must in baptism
be born again of water and of the Spirit, and so be cleansed and
sanctified from sin.

Cannot see, i.e., possess, enjoy.

Ver. 4. — Nicodemus saith, &c. "He knew," says S. Augustine,
" but of one birth, that from Adam and Eve."

Ver. 5.— -Jesus answered, &c. Calvin, in order to detract from the
effect of justification by baptism, and therefore from the necessity of
baptism (for he maintains that the children of believers are justified
in the womb simply because they are the children of believers),
denies that baptism is here spoken of. He says that by water, not
water is to be understood, but the Holy Ghost, who, through faith,
cleanses like water those who believe in Christ. He explains as
follows, " unless any one be born again of water, and (that is, of) the
Holy Ghost." Thus he says it is similarly spoken (S. Matt iii. n),
He shall baptize you -with the Holy Ghost and with fire, i.e., with the
Holy Spirit, who, like fire, shall inflame you with the love of God.

IO2 S. JOHN, C. III.

But all this is'absurd and perverse, and condemned by the Church
as heretical.

For, in the first place, why does Christ here make mention of
water, if not men, but only fishes, are born again of water ? Why
did He not say briefly and simply to Nicodemus, who was ignorant
of Christian doctrines (whom He here catechises and instructs like
a child), except any one be born again of the Holy Ghost ?

2. Because in a similar way S. Paul, alluding to this conversation,
(Titus iii. 5), calls baptism the laver of regeneration. There in this
spiritual birth we are born again of water, and are made sons Of
God, who before were children of the devil and wrath (Eph. ii. 3).

3. If it be lawful with Calvin to wrest this passage, then we may
do the same with, every other passage, and so pervert the whole of
Scripture. No commandment will survive, not even the institution
of baptism itself.

4. Calvin and his followers cannot possibly prove against the
Anabaptists that infants, who are devoid of the exercise of reason
and faith, ought to be baptized, from any other passage of Holy
Scripture but this. Therefore, since they do not allow of tradition,
they must needs prove infant baptism from this passage, unless they
are willing to confess themselves vanquished by the Anabaptists.

5. All the Fathers and orthodox interpreters explain the passage
in the same way as the Council of Trent (Sess. 7, Can. 2). Nor are
the words in S. Matthew, "He shall baptize you with the Holy
Ghost and with fire," any contradiction. For there real fire is to be
understood, as here true water. For there the day of Pentecost was
referred to, when the Holy Ghost came down upon the apostles in
the likeness of tongues of fire.

Very appropriately, moreover, was water ordained by Christ in
baptism for this spiritual regeneration, i. Because water excel-
lently represents inward regeneration. For out of water at the
beginning of the world were the whole heavens and all other things
born and produced. 2. Because moisture, such as is in water, is
a chief agent in the production of offspring, as physicists teach.
Again, because justification is a cleansing of the soul from the filth

BORN OF WATER. 103

of sin it is well figured by water. As S. Chrysostom says upon this
passage, " Like as it were in a tomb our heads are submerged beneath
the water : our old man being buried is hidden beneath the water,
and then the new man ariseth in its stead." Lastly, the common-
ness and abundance of water makes it to be convenient matter
for the necessity of this sacrament For it is everywhere easily
procurable.

You may ask why Christ says, except a man be born of water and
the Holy Gfwst, and did not rather say, of water and the form of
baptism ? For water is the matter of baptism, but the form is, /
baptize thee in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Ghost. For the sacrament of baptism consists of its matter
and form, as its essential parts. I reply, because Christ wished to
describe to Nicodemus, a prejudiced old man, the new teaching of
spiritual life and generation, by means of the analogy and similitude
of natural generation, in which a father and mother concur. So
in like manner to spiritual regeneration, which takes place in bap-
tism, water as it were the mother concurs, and the Holy Ghost as
the Father. For He is the chief agent and producer of grace and
holiness, by which the children of God are born again in baptism.

From this passage S. Augustine (lib. i, de peccot. c. 10) proves,
against Pelagius, that infants are born in original sin. For that is
the reason why they must be born again in baptism, that they may
be cleansed from that sin. And he exposes the folly of the
Pelagians, who, in order to elude the force of this passage, said
that infants dying without baptism would enter into the kingdom of
heaven and eternal life, but not into the kingdom of God ; as if the
kingdom of God were something different from the kingdom of
heaven.

Lastly, born of water ought here to be understood either in
actual fact, or by desire. For he who repents of his sins, and
desires to be baptized, but either from want of water, or lack of a
minister, is not able to receive it, is born again through (ex) the
desire and wish for baptism. So the Council of Trent fully explains
this passage (Sess. 7, Can. 4).

104 s- JOHN, C. III.

Some are of opinion that the sacrament of baptism was at this
time instituted by Christ. But it is not probable that Christ
secretly, in the presence of only Nicodemus, instituted the universal
sacrament of baptism. Rather, He publicly instituted it at His
own baptism in the river Jordan. Baptism, however, although it
had been publicly instituted by Christ, was not binding upon the
Jews and other men until after Christ's death, at Pentecost. For
then the promulgation of the Evangelical Law took place, whose
beginning is baptism. Of this time Christ here speaks. As though
He said, " The time for the obligation of the Law of the Gospel is
close at hand. When that shall have come, the ancient Law, and
circumcision, will cease, and in its place the new Law will succeed,
and baptism, in which none save those who are born again of water
and of the Holy Ghost will be able to enter into the kingdom of
God." Wherefore this precept of Christ has rather reference to the
time after Pentecost, than the present.

Moreover, the expression, unless any one shall have been born again,
intimates that baptism had been already a short time previously
instituted by Christ. For Christ spake these words to Nicodemus
shortly after His own baptism. And He would not have told him
that baptism was necessary for salvation, unless He had already
instituted it.

Ver. 6. — That which is born (produced), &c. Christ says this both
to show the necessity of regeneration by water and the Holy Ghost,
and at the same time to declare the reason for it, its excellence and
its profit. His argument then is as follows : Flesh and blood cannot
possess the kingdom of God, for they are carnal, but the kingdom
of God is spiritual. Since therefore of carnal generation only flesh
is born, that is, the animal and carnal man, bound under sin, and
prone to sin, and so unfitted for the kingdom of God, it follows that
if such an one would enter into God's spiritual kingdom, he must
be spiritually born again of water and the Spirit, that he may
become a spirit, that is, spiritual, and so fitted for the kingdom of
God. Wherefore you have no cause for wonder, O Nicodemus, at
what I said, that thou must be born again of water and the Holy

SPIRITUAL REGENERATION. IO5

Ghost. For as flesh generates flesh, that is, corporeal and carnal
substance, so does the Spirit generate spirit, that is, spiritual sub-
stance : for like generates like. The Holy Spirit transmits His own
substance into that which He begets, so far as it can be trans-
mitted. For the Holy Spirit cannot transmit, or transfuse His own
substance, or His Deity, into the baptized, for that would be to
make them really and truly gods, as He Himself is really and truly
God, which would be impossible. Therefore He transfuses Himself
into them as far as is possible, by His grace and spiritual gifts, by
which He makes the baptized like unto Himself, that is, spiritual,
holy, heavenly, and divine. So SS. Cyril, Chrysostom, and others.
Let us add that the Holy Spirit gives Himself with His sevenfold
gifts to the soul which He sanctifies, and adopts for His child; and
therefore that His justification is truly spiritual regeneration, by
which we are born again as sons, and partakers of the Divine
nature, as I have shown at large in Hosea i. 10, on the words, "Ye
shall be called the sons of the living God."

Ver. 7. — Marvel not, £c. As S. Chrysostom says, " We are not dis-
puting concerning flesh, but concerning spirit. Do not think either
that the Spirit begets flesh, or flesh the Spirit." Therefore it is
necessary to be born again of the Spirit, if thou seekest to become
spirit, or spiritual, and a candidate for heaven.

The Spirit bloweth where it willeth, &c. Christ proceeds to
unfold to Nicodemus the reason and nature of spiritual regenera-
tion, and to take away his wonder how such a thing could be
possible.

You will ask what Spirit is here to be understood, i. Plainly
and simply wind is the Spirit. For He compares the Holy Spirit to
the wind, as is plain from what follows, So is every one that is born
of the Spirit. The meaning is, As the wind blows where its own
will, that is, its natural propensity to blow, leads it, and yet you
can see neither it, nor its determined place, but only its effects,
and voice, or sound ; so much more neither thou, nor any one else,
however clever and sharp-sighted, can perceive by natural under-
standing this spiritual regeneration, its end and term. They can

IO6 S. JOHN, C. III.

only be known by the revelation and inspiration of the Holy Ghost,
even though the outward symbols of water and the washing in
baptism may be seen with the body's eyes. Thus S. Chrysostom
says, If thou knowest not the way of the wind which thou feelest,
how canst thou search out the operation of the Divine Spirit?
Christ here plays upon the analogical meaning of the word spirit.
For first He takes spirit for wind ; then He takes it as the Holy
Spirit. For wind is the index and symbol of the Holy Ghost.
This is clear from the 2d chapter of the Acts, when the Holy Spirit
came down upon the Apostles as a " rushing mighty wind."

2. and more sublimely. S. Augustine, Nazianzen, S. Ambrose,
S. Gregory, whom Toletus cites and follows, understand by spirit
(the wind), the Holy Ghost. They expound thus, "The Holy
Ghost bloweth where He willeth, and breathes His own influences
of faith, repentance, and grace into whomsoever He willeth." And
thou hearest His voice (Vulg.), by the preaching of Myself and
My preachers, say S. Augustine, Origen, Bede, and Rupertus. Or
by voice, efficacy and effects are meant, says Ammon. But thou
knowest not whence it cometh, or whither it goeth. Thou knowest
not how He enters into a man, or how He returns, say Alcuin and
Bede, because His nature is invisible. Again, thou knowest not
how He leads believers to faith, nor how He draws the faithful to
hope, charity, and the other virtues. Neither dost thou know how
He regenerates men to be the sons of God, and leads them to the
kingdom of God. Lastly, thou knowest not how He changes the
soul of man, renews and sanctifies it. Thou knowest not to what a
height of perfection He can lead him who is born of Himself, says
the Gloss.

So is every one, &c. The expression so in this sense does not
denote comparison, but confirmation : meaning, " thus, entirely as
I have said, is it with every believer who is born again in baptism
of the Holy Ghost" It is a similar expression to that in Mark, So
is the kingdom of God (iv. 26). There is an allusion to the ancient
heroes who, impelled by the Spirit of God, wrought deeds of heroic
virtue and fortitude. For when Samson did any mighty deed, it is

VARIOUS MEANINGS OF "SPIRIT." IO/

said, " The Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him " (Vulg.) So also the
same Spirit is said to have clothed Gideon (Judges vi. 34, Vulg.)

3. Maldonatus understands the soul by spirit. " What marvel,
O Nicodemus, if thou understandest not how a man can be
regenerated by the Holy Ghost, when thou canst not understand how
he is generated of that natural spirit by which he liveth. For the
animal spirit bloweth where it listeth, i.e., it animates such bodies
as it willeth, and makes them alive from the death. It willeth not
all the things that men will, but only those which are so disposed
that they can be animated by it." And thou hearest Us voice;
"thou hearest a man speaking, or a lion roaring. Thou also in
some sense hearest the soul speak, by which means thou under-
standest that a man is alive, 'for the breath in our nostrils is
smoke, and speech is a spark for moving our heart' (Wisd. ii. 2).
But thou knowest not whence it cometh, or whither it goeth,
because thou art ignorant how the soul enters into the body, how
it goeth out of the body, how it is produced, or what is its destiny.
If therefore thou art ignorant of the spirit, i.e., the soul, which
animates what body it willeth, and by it speaks, is born, and dies,
knowing neither its generation, nor the way in which it comes and
goes, what wonder that thou canst not understand the way of spiritual
regeneration, whereby a Christian is born anew of the Spirit in
baptism?" This meaning is new, but apposite and connected. It
draws the argument from the natural generation of the soul to the
supernatural generation of grace which is brought about by the
power of the Holy Ghost And it shows from the fact of the one
being unsearchable how much more unsearchable must be the
other. So in like manner most unsearchable are the things which
God works in the soul which He illuminates by the rays of His
light, which He consoles, strengthens, inflows, and as it were
transforms unto Himself. For as S. Dionysius says, Divine love
causes ecstasy, so that a man feels not earthly good or ill, but being
lifted up above them all, he receives and tastes only the things of
God.

Ver. 9. — Nicodemus answered, &c. " For the animal man " (such

108 S. JOHN, C. III. •

as Nicodemus at that time was) "perceiveth not the things of the
Spirit" (i Cor. ii. 14). Just as rustics do not understand scholastic
questions.

Ver. io.— Jesus answered, &c. It was thy duty, O Nicodemus, being
a Rabbi, who teachest the Law and the Scriptures to the rest of the
Israelites, to know and teach those very things. For these things
which I have spoken concerning the regeneration of baptism are
clearly foretold by Ezekiel (xxxvi. 24) : " I will pour clean water
upon you, and ye shall be cleansed from all your iniquities, &c.
And I will give you a new heart and a new spirit." The same
things have been foretold by other prophets, and have been clearly
explained by Me. Wherefore then art thou ignorant of them?
In truth it is because thou art a Jew, and only comprehendest Judaic
washings, and corporeal ceremonies : but as yet thou knowest not
the mysteries of Christ, although they were foretold by the Prophets,
because they are spiritual. But by degrees, under My teaching, thou
shalt know them.

Ver. ii. — Amen, Amen, &c. "The Divine mysteries of God, of
the Holy Ghost, and His spiritual regeneration, which I declare unto
thee, I know most truly and most certainly, because I, as God, have
seen them by Divine knowledge, and as man by the Beatific Vision.
Wherefore ye ought to believe My testimony ; but the greater part
of the Jews are unbelieving, and receive not My witness. Indeed,
thou thyself dost not as yet believe, or thou wouldst not argue with
Me about them." Christ tacitly exhorts Nicodemus not to scrutinise
these mysteries by reason in order to understand them, but to view
them by faith. Christ here speaks of Himself in the plural, We speak
that we do know ; because of the weight of the testimony which is
wont to be afforded by more than one ; and because He intimates
that the Father and the Holy Ghost bore witness together with Him,
for they spake by His mouth. For "in Him dwelt all the fulness
of the Godhead bodily " (Col. ii. 9).

Ver. 12. — If I have told you earthly things, &c. "If thou under-
standest not Divine things by means of the earthly similitudes of
human generation of flesh and spirit, how wilt thou understand them,

COMMUNICATIO IDIOMATUM. ICX)

if I were to set them before thee without any figures? For this I might
do, since I have seen them as they are in themselves, and beheld
them with the eyes of the mind. But thine eyes would be blinded
by such light as that, and couldst not look upon it. Wherefore I
advise thee not to dispute with Me about them, but to believe them
by simple faith."

S. Chrysostom explains somewhat differently: thus, "earthly
things " refer to earthly baptism, or that which is done on earth, or
that which, in comparison with His own ineffable generation, He
calls such. It means, If you do not understand My earthly bap-
tism, how will you understand the Divine mysteries of the Holy
Trinity, the eternal generation of the Word, the procession of the
Holy Ghost ? Do not therefore curiously inquire into those things,
or dispute with Me about them, but simply believe Me, who am, as
it were, a Divine Witness.

Ver. 13. — And no man hath ascended, &c. And is put instead of
however. The meaning is, Ye do not believe Ale, and yet no other
person hath ascended into heaven, and there beheld the things
which I declare, except Myself, who am God and man, and as God
have come down to the earth that I might teach them to you.
Christ raises the mind of Nicodemus so that he should not regard
Him as only a man, but that in this man God lay hidden, who
rilleth heaven and earth, and therefore that he should have full faith
in Him.

Ascended: so in the Greek, in the perfect tense. Wherefore this
passage cannot be understood of Christ's future ascension into
heaven. Besides, He says expressly that no one else but He hath
ascended into heaven ; by which He tacitly declares that He has
been there, and has there beheld God and all the Divine mysteries.
So Toletus.

More subtilely Maldonatus. Christ, he says, as man, hath
ascended into heaven, from the beginning of His Incarnation, not
by the elevation of the Humanity into heaven, but by the communi-
cation of attributes, because being Incarnate, He was straightway,
as man, in heaven, by means of that communication, and so is

HO S. JOHN, C. III.

rightly said to have ascended into heaven. For as concerning God
Incarnate in Christ, it is rightly said that God was born in time,
was crucified, and died, because the Humanity which God assumed
was born and died; so in turn, concerning the Man Christ, it is
truly said this man was from eternity, this man is in heaven,
because that Divinity which was in the same Person of Christ was
from eternity, and is in heaven.

Falsely, however, do the Ubiquitarian heretics maintain that the
body of Christ is everywhere, because His Divinity is everywhere.
For it is proper to His Divinity to be everywhere, but to His
Humanity to be in a certain and determined place, circumscribed
by limits.

Save He who came down. From this Valentinus contended that
Christ brought a body from heaven, and therefore did not receive
one on earth of the Blessed Virgin. This is a heresy condemned
by the Church. God therefore, or the Word, is said to have
descended from heaven, by the figure of speech called catachresis.
For God does not properly change His place, or descend. But He
is said to have descended because He assumed human nature, and
so seemed to men to have come down upon earth. S. Cyril in the
Council of Ephesus gives the reason. "Because God the Word
emptied Himself and was called the Son of Man, remaining still
what He was, that is, God, it is as if He, reckoned with His own
flesh, were said to have come down from heaven."

The Son of Man, &c. He explains what He has said. Christ hath
ascended into heaven, who as God was from eternity in heaven,
for He is always in heaven, as its Maker and Ruler. The Son of
Man therefore, that is, the Man Christ, is said to be in heaven
by the communication of attributes, because His Divinity was in
heaven, as I have said.

Vers. 14 and 15. — And as Afoses, &c. Christ proceeds to instruct
Nicodemus; (for as in the verses preceding He has taught Him
that He is God, so now He teaches him that He has been made
man), that being crucified for man's redemption He will merit that
every one who believeth in Him, and trusts for salvation to the

THE BRAZEN SERPENT. Ill

merit of His death, shall obtain it. For thus Christ is wont, when
speaking concerning Himself, to unite things human to things Divine,
and things lowly to things glorious. As though He said, " Whosoever
is bitten by the serpents of sins, let him look to Christ, and he shall
have healing by the remission of sins," as Pope Adrian I. says in
his first epistle to Charles the Great. The same proves that the
use of images is lawful from this serpent. He adds, "The figure
afforded temporal life ; the thing itself, of which it was the figure,
life eternal."

Christ refers to the history of the brazen serpent in the wilderness,
which is given in the 2ist chapter of Numbers. Upon this history S.
Augustine comments as follows (depeccat. merit., lib. i, c. 32). " The
serpent lifted up is the death of Christ. By the serpent came death,
for he persuaded man to sin. Now the Lord took upon His flesh,
not the poison of the serpent, which is sin, but death, that there
might be in the likeness of flesh the penalty of sin without its fault,
that thus both the penalty and the fault might be done away." And
Theophylact says, "In that brazen serpent was the appearance
indeed of the noxious creature, but not its poison : so in Christ was
the likeness of sinful flesh, but no sin."

Most fully does S. Chrysostom draw out the analogies between
the brazen serpent and Christ. He says, "Lest any one should say,
' How are those who believe in the Crucified One able to be saved,
when he did not deliver Himself from death ? ' " He brings forward
the ancient history. For if the Jews by looking at the image of a
brazen serpent were freed from death, how much greater benefit
will they enjoy who look to the Crucified Redeemer? For by the
one the Jews escaped temporal death : by the other believers escape
everlasting death. There the suspended serpent healed the wounds
which the serpents had made : here Jesus, nailed to the cross, healed
the wounds inflicted by the incorporeal serpent (the devil). There
those who looked with their bodily eyes obtained the healing of the
body : here those who look with their spiritual eyes obtain the re-
mission of all their sins. There a serpent bit, and a serpent healed :
here death destroyed, and death hath saved. In the one case the

112 S. JOHN, C. III.

serpent which destroyed was full of poison, and delivered no one
from poison. And in the other case the death which destroyeth
had sin, as the serpent had poison : but the Lord's death was free
from all sin, just as the brazen serpent had no poison. You see
how the figure answers to the reality.

Lifted up : i.e., set up upon a lofty pole. The Hebrew in Numbers
xxi. 9, adds al ties, i.e., upon a standard. This may have been a
long spear with an ensign raised like a standard. For this was a
type and figure of the standard of the cross of Christ, to which He
Himself calls His faithful ones, like soldiers. This spear with the
brazen serpent suspended from it Moses reared up upon the taber-
nacle, which was in the midst of the camp in the wilderness, and
served the Hebrews in the room of a temple. So Justin, towards
the end of his " Second Apology." By this was signified that the
cross of Christ should be fixed in His temples, and adored by all
the faithful as the standard and trophy of the Christian faith and
religion.

S. Chrysostom asks, Why did He not here say suspended rather than
lifted up, or exalted '? And he replies, "That it might neither give
a sense of shame to His hearer, nor be different from the type."
From all that has been said it will appear how foolish is Calvin's
interpretation, that this lifting up of Christ is not His crucifixion,
but the preaching of His Gospel.

That every one who believeth: and obeys His laws, or who be-
lieves in Him, not with a bare and unformed faith, but a faith formed
by love. Hath eternal life, by grace, repentance, and good works,
which Christ from the cross inspires for this end, that a man may
deserve and attain to life, happiness, and eternal glory.

Ver. 1 6. — For God so loved, &c. This is said by way of anticipa-
tion, lest Nicodemus should object, " If thou art the Son of God, how
will God suffer Thee to be suspended and exalted upon the cross ? "
Christ meets this by implying that God will permit it in order to
show forth His burning love to men, which was typified by the
serpent of brass, which is called in Hebrew saraph, which means
fiery, and setting on fire. So S. Chrysostom and Theophylact.

THE INFINITE LOVE OF GOD. 1 13

Observe that every word of Christ in this sentence has a great and
special emphasis, in order to magnify to the utmost the love of God.
For (i.) He says, So, with such vehemence, such excess of love.
2. Not a king, or an angel, loved, but God. 3. Loved, i.e., first, and as
it were gratuitously ; without merit, yea, even without desire on our
part. 4. The world, His enemy, and under the sentence of damna-
tion. 5. Gave not another man, not an angel, not another world,
but His Son ; and that not an adopted Son, but His own Son : and
again not one Son of many, but His only Son, His Only Begotten Son.
6. He did not sell, or lend, but gave freely ; and not to a kingdom
and triumphs, but to death and the cross. 7. Christ did not do it
for Himself, to gain any advantage for Himself, but that He, the
Creator, might give life to us His creatures by His own death, that
by His humility He might exalt us, that by His emptying Himself
He might heap upon us eternal glory, and an infinite weight of
wealth and goodness. This is the love of God towards man, which
the Apostle celebrates (Titus iii. 5).

You may say, it would have been greater love if God the Father
had given Himself for us, and taken our flesh, than that He sent
His Son. For he gives more who gives himself than he who sends
another.

But I reply that this is true of those who are of a different essence,
but not of God : for the Father and the Son have the same Divine
Essence, and are consubstantial. Wherefore the Father, in giving us
His Son, with Him gave us His own Essence, than which nothing
greater can exist, or be given. This gift of the Father was therefore
the greatest possible, and infinite. So S. Cyril on this passage.

You may further urge, God gave not His own Person, but
His Essence only : and that He would have given more if He
had given His Person also. I answer by denying the conclusion.
i. Because Person in God is in reality the same as Essence; for it
adds nothing to His Essence except relatively, and the idea of dis-
tinction from the other Persons : also because the Person of the Son
is as worthy as the Person of the Father. For all the three Divine

Persons are co-equal in all things, as the Athanasian Creed saith
VOL. iv. H

114 S. JOHN, C. III.

Besides, the Father in giving the Person of His Son, gave us also
His own Person, as well as the Person of the Holy Ghost. Because
the Father is in the Son, and both are in the Holy Ghost. And
again the Son is in the Father, and the Holy Ghost in the Father
and the Son, of which I will speak more fully on chapter xiv. 10.

Moreover S. Thomas (3 part, qu. 3) gives several reasons why
God the Father gave not proximately His own Person, but the
Person of His Son ; or why the Son alone took upon Him our flesh.
Among which the primary is, because the Father willed to adopt
us and our nature, and to make us His sons, and so heirs. For He
made His Son to be our brother, that by Him we might become
sons of God, and so heirs, as Christ here intimates.

Ver. 17. — For God sent not, &c. He confirms and intensifies the
assertion of the infinite love of God to men, as proved by Christ's
being crucified. For God might justly have sent His Son into the
world to destroy it for its great wickedness. For this was what
His justice demanded, but the infinite love of God overcame justice
in that it bestowed the highest blessing upon the world, which
deserved the utmost extremity of punishment, in giving it salvation
through Him.

Observe : the expression judge the world, as it is in the Vulgate,
means to condemn, and destroy it in hell. It is opposed to the
word saved. Hence S. Augustine observes that this was the end of
Christ's Incarnation, that all men might be saved, and that He
earnestly desired and willed this. Wherefore it is of themselves,
through their own fault, and not Christ's, that many of them will be
damned.

He that believeth . . . is not judged, shall not be condemned, but
saved. But he that believeth not is judged, i.e., is condemned already.
For such an one manifestly condemns himself by his unbelief; for
by it he cuts himself off from the very pathway and beginning of
salvation, i.e., faith ; because he hath not believed in the name, &c.,
Greek, tie ovofia, which means the same thing as believing on the
Son of God Himself. For name is here put by metonymy for the
thing named. " He shows," says S. Cyril, " how dreadful a crime

MEANING OF JUDGMENT. 115

unbelief is, because He is the Only Begotten Son of God. For by how
much greater is the excellence of that which is despised, by so much
will he who despises be liable to severer punishment. Especially,
because such persons make God a liar, because they believe not
the witness which God hath testified of His Son" (i John v. 10).

Ver. 19. — This is the judgment, &c. (Vulg.) Judgment, i.e., cause of
judgment, or condemnation. This is the cause why those are already
condemned who believe not on Me, because they have preferred
darkness, and ignorance of God, and of what they ought to do, and
their own pleasures and lusts and sins upon the earth, rather than
light, that is, Christ, who hath brought the knowledge of God and
salvation into the world. For light and darkness are the symbols
of these things. Wherefore Bede says, He calls Himself the Light ;
sins He calls darkness. Moreover, light came into the world to
arouse men, says the Gloss : to admonish them to know their
evils, says S. Chrysostom. " For they themselves would not admit
the light of truth and holiness, which He preached by His word
and example." In like manner many at the present day become
heretics that they may follow their carnal will, which heresy per-
mits, but the faith forbids. Therefore to convert a heretic make
use of this method : first persuade him to lead an honest life,
moral, chaste, and holy. Thus will you the more easily bring him
to the true faith.

2. Judgment might be taken thus, as signifying the condemnation
and rejection of unbelievers, or the judgment wherewith they con-
demn themselves, in that they prefer darkness to light, that is,
cupidity to sanctity, ignorance to knowledge, the devil to God.
Wherefore Christ as it were says to such, tflt is not I who judge
thee, but thine own conscience which judges and condemns thee."

Ver. 20. — For every one that doeih evil, Greek, <£aDXa, depraved
and perverse things, &c. " Every one who does wickedly," says S.
Cyril, "refuses the illumination of the light, not because he is
ashamed of his wickedness, and repents, for if he did he would be
saved, but because he prefers to be in ignorance of the better way,
lest in his daily sins he should feel the stings of conscience."

Il6 S. JOHN, C. III.

"For," as S. Chrysostom observes, "it marks those who still per-
severe in their wickedness, and are zealous to do evil to their last
breath ; who persevere in evil deeds, and always wallow in the mire
of vice."

Ver. 21. — But he thai doeth . . . in God, i.e., according to God's will
and law, and by His guidance, light, and help. The truth, i.e.,
practically by doing what is right and just, and pleasing to God.
For as there is truth of the heart and mouth, so is there of deed,
by which it comes to pass that an honest and holy work corresponds
to the practical rule of reason and prudence, or virtue, and the will
of God. Thus (viiL 43), it is said of Lucifer, he abode not in the
truth, i.e., in equity, justice, and sanctity. So also the Apostle
exhorts us to do the truth, i.e., what is truly good, and holy, and
pleasing to God.

The meaning is, he who does, i.e., who by the light and grace of
God proposes and determines to do the truth, i.e., what is truly good
and holy, cometh to the light, i.e., embraces My doctrine, and the
Christian faith, that his -works may be manifest that they are done in
God, that they please God because they are done by His leading
and guidance. And if they be otherwise, He will correct them,
and amend them in accordance with the will of God. " He shows,"
says S. Chrysostom, "that none of those who are in error will
submit to the truth, unless a man will first persuade himself to lead
a correct life ; and that no one will persist in unbelief unless he be
wholly given up to wickedness."

Thus far are the words of Christ to Nicodemus.

Ver. 22. — After this, &c. This means that Jesus went from Jeru-
salem, a citizen of which Nicodemus appears to have been, to some
other part of the land of Judea, because He would avoid the sects
and enmities of the chief men of Jerusalem. So S. Chrysostom and
others. As the former saith, "He was accustomed to come into
the city at the solemn feasts, that He might publicly make known
the doctrine of God : from thence He often retired to the river
Jordan."

Baptized, not so much by Himself as by His disciples, as is said

CHRIST BAPTIZES. 1 1/

in iv. 2. Yet He first Himself baptized there. He baptized by
others for several reasons — i. To show that His baptism was
different from that of John. For the latter was conferred by John
alone; but Christ's baptism was conferred by others also, His
disciples, Christ in them and by them working mightily. 2. To
show that the authority, power, and continuance of His baptism
were to extend through all succeeding ages. So SS. Augustine
and Cyril. 3. Because He Himself was occupied in the greater
works of teaching, healing the sick, and working miracles. More-
over, when the disciples of Christ baptized, they were not yet
apostles. For they were made apostles after John's imprisonment.
But those things happened before it, as is evident from verse 24.
These disciples therefore were not yet apostles, nor even priests, for
they were afterwards created priests by Christ at His Last Supper.

Wherefore it is an error to say, as S. Chrysostom and Tertullian
do (de. Bapt., c. 2), that Christ did not baptize, because before His
death baptism had not the power of remitting sins, and confer-
ring the Holy Ghost ; therefore that the disciples of Christ thus
baptized with John's baptism, not Christ's. S. Chrysostom says,
"Both baptisms, viz., that of John and that of the disciples of
Christ, were devoid of the Spirit. They both had the same object
in view, which was to gain disciples to Christ." That there was
no excellence in either the baptism of the one or the other, he
argues from the words in the 7th chapter, The Spirit was not yet
given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. But I will show that this
is not the meaning in the proper place.

Let us add S. Leo (Epist. 4, ad Episc. Sift/., c. 2). "Properly, in
the death of the Crucified, and in His resuirection from the dead,
the virtue of baptism makes a new creature out of the old, that
both the death and the life of Christ should be wrought in them
that are born again, as the blessed Apostle Paul says, ' Know ye
not that as many of us as are baptized into Christ, have been
baptized into his death ? ' "

But S. Paul's meaning is different, as I have said on the passage,
and so, as I think, is S. Leo's. For before His death Christ

Il8 S. JOHN, C. III.

remitted sins to the paralytic, and also to Mary Magdalene, and
filled her with the spirit of charity : and that by His word only, with-
out a sacrament. For this forgiveness derived its justifying power
from the merits of Christ both present and to come : and especially
from His death, which He had already undertaken to suffer, and
had offered Himself to God the Father to be a victim for the
salvation of men. Wherefore, as the Eucharist instituted before the
death of Christ sanctified the apostles, so also did baptism. Thus
at length S. Augustine in this passage (Tract. 15).

In like manner it is not very probable what D. Soto thinks,
that the disciples here used as the form in baptism, I baptize thee
in tJie name of Jesus Christ, whereas after His resurrection they said,
/ baptize thee in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Ghost. This is improbable, because in so doing Christ would have
changed the form of baptism, and in so doing He would have insti-
tuted two baptisms. Besides, it is not probable that Christ baptized
in His own name when He Himself baptized His apostles.

Moreover, Euthymius says that the belief of the most ancient
Fathers was, that Christ Himself baptized the Blessed Virgin and S.
Peter. Evodius, S. Peter's successor in the see of Antioch, says in
his treatise called Lumen, or The Light, that Christ with His own
hands baptized Andrew, John, and James, and 'that they baptized
the rest of the apostles.

Ver. 23. — Now John, &c. sEnnon, or Ennon, was a town on the
banks of the Jordan, eight miles from Bethshan, which was afterwards,
from its occupation by the Scythians, called Scythopolis. sEnnon is
derived from the Hebrew ain, or an, a well or fountain, because,
as it is said, there was much water there.

Near to Salim. There were two Salims, or Salems ; one which
was afterwards called Jerusalem, the other near Scythopolis, which
was called, in S. Jerome's time, Salumitis, as he tells us in his Locis
Hebraids. Salem means in Hebrew, health, peace, perfection. For
these penitents received from John, being transmitted to Christ,
who baptized not far from John. There was much water there.
From this we may gather that John baptized so as not only to lave

QUESTION OF JOHN'S BAPTISM. 119

the head, for which only a moderate quantity of water was needed,
but the whole body.

Ver. 24. — For John had not yet been sent (Vulg. missus, Greek cast)
into prison. This implies, says S. Chrysostom, that John baptized up
to the time of his being cast into prison. For until his death he per-
severed in the office for which God hath sent him, namely, that
by baptizing and preaching he might prepare the way for Christ.
And when he had done this superabundantly, God allowed him to
be cast into prison, that he might give way to Christ, and send all
his disciples to Christ, as in fact he did.

The Evangelist adds this verse to show that he was supplying the
history of all the preceding events, and adding them to the narra-
tives of the other Evangelists, who began from the imprisonment
of John.

Now there arose, &c. The Greek for now is ou», therefore.
Because indeed John baptized with Jesus, since John preceded,
there arose a question, that is, a strife and controversy, from John's
disciples. This they raised out of zeal for the honour and authority
of their master John, lest he, through the baptism given by Jesus,
should be little thought of. For many were flocking to Jesus,
John himself sending them, preferring Jesus to himself.

With the Jews, i.e., those following Jesus. The Complutensian
Version has the word in the singular, /^rd lovdaiou, with a Jew.
The Syriac has, between a disciple of John and a Jew, a reading
which is followed and commented on by S. Chrysostom, Nonnus,
Theophylact, and Euthymius. But the Latins, and of the Greeks
S. Cyril, read with the Jews, in the plural. It may be that one
raised the strife, and that, as usual, many took part in it. About
purifying, i.e., about the baptism of John and Jesus, whether of
the twain were the better, and had greater purifying and sanctify-
ing efficacy. "For the Jew," says Theophylact, "preferred the
baptism of the disciples of Christ, but the disciples of John the
baptism of their master," in that he had first baptized many, and
even Jesus Himself, as it were a disciple. But the disciples of
Jesus replied that He did many miracles, but that John did none.

120 S. JOHN, C. III.

They added that John himself preferred Jesus to himself, and said
that He was the Christ. So S. Augustine and others.

Ver. 26. — And they came, &c. Who was with thee beyond Jordan :
viz., Jesus, who came to thee to be baptized. He now ungratefully
makes Himself equal to thee, and usurps thine office of baptizing.
You ought therefore to restrain Him ; otherwise all will flock from
thee to Him, to thy shame as well as ours. Thus Euthymius, " He
exercises thine own office against thee, and seizes on thy renown."
Wishing further to exasperate John, they added, All men leave thee,
and go to Him.

Ver. 27.— John answered, &c. He openly repressed the ambition
and quarrelsomeness of His disciples. Yea, he declares openly that
the right is with Christ. He prefers Him to himself, and gives fresh
and ample testimony that He is the Messias. " I cannot without
the greatest presumption, pride, and ingratitude take a higher rank,
or authority, than God has given me. And I will not do so. What
then do you wish ? That I should invade the office of Messiah,
and take it from Jesus? God forbid. For if I attempted to do so,
God would justly deprive me of my own office and dignity. You
know that common Syrian proverb of ours, The camel demanding
horns lost his ears. Far be it from me therefore that I should
prefer myself to Jesus, or arrogate the name and dignity of Messias.
For God has given this to Jesus, not to me. God has given me
enough, and more than enough, in making me His forerunner.
Contented with that I will live and die, and yield gladly all other
things to Jesus my Lord." So S. Augustine, Bede, and others.

Ver. 28. — Ye yourselves bear me witness, &c. That I said I went
before Him, that as His forerunner, minister, and herald, I should
precede His advent. " You know that I have always professed that I
am not the Christ, but His forerunner. Why then do you urge me
to revoke what I have said, and prefer myself to Jesus, and steal
away from Him the name of Christ ? Truly this would be intoler-
able pride, inconsistency, and blasphemy. Suffer me then to live
contented with my office, and with me prepare His way, and follow
and serve Him the Messias, both your and my Lord and God."

THE PARANYMPH. T2I

Ver. 29.— He that hath the bride, &c. " Jesus Christ by His Incar-
nation hath betrothed unto Himself the Church, which is the whole
company of believing people ; and God hath given her to Him as
a bride to a bridegroom. Jesus therefore is the true husband of
the Church, a husband which must be received, and loved, and
worshipped in the highest degree by all who believe. What wonder
then if all the people leave me and flock to Him ? For I am not
the bridegroom, but Christ's, the Bridegroom's, friend. Wherefore
I greatly rejoice that I should be counted worthy of so great a
ministry, that I should be the paranymph of the Bridegroom, and
that I should convey the bride, that is, the faithful, to Him, that
all may acknowledge, love, and reverence Him as the Messias, and
look for all grace and glory from Him, as the Head and Prince of
the whole Church."

This is an allusion to paranymphs, who were the most intimate
and familar friends of the bridegroom, insomuch that, all others
being excluded, they were admitted to the bridegroom's nuptial
chamber.

Observe that John in the first chapter calls himself the servant of
Jesus, and declares that he was not worthy to unloose His sandals.
But here he calls himself His friend. For this is the condescension
of Jesus, our God, that He calls, and adopts His faithful servants
to be His friends, yea, and His sons. John here calls himself a
friend rather than a servant, because the servants of heroes often
envy their felicity, but their friends never, — but rather promote it,
and rejoice and exult in it. The meaning is, "I, John, for this
reason do not grieve, nor envy Jesus, that all the people flock to
Him, because I am His intimate friend, and love Him above all
things. It has ever been my great object to draw the people from
myself to Him, as a bride to her bridegroom." So S. Chrysostom.
Let all true teachers, pastors, and preachers do the same, and not
seek to draw, or attract, the faithful to themselves, but to Christ

He who standeth, &c. " I, John, stand at Christ the Bridegroom's
side as His attendant, and in silence hear his voice, as He lovingly
converses with His bride. I do not covet the bride for myself,

122 S. JOHN, C. III.

but I rejoice unspeakably that I am counted worthy to hear His
voice." John here intimates that he was about to be put to silence ;
that having fulfilled his office, he must cease from preaching and
baptizing, and give place to Christ, that his own course being, as it
were, finished, he must hand on the lamp to Him, which happened
shortly afterwards, when Herod cast him into prison.

This my joy, &c. " I began to rejoice when I knew by the reve-
lation of God that the advent of Christ was at hand. I rejoiced
still more when I saw and heard Him present. But when I per-
ceived all the people flocking to Him, then my joy was fulfilled and
perfected. For by His grace alone I have preached and baptized,
and passed my whole life."

Ver. 30. — He must increase, viz., by the flocking of the people to
Him, by the abundance and glory of His miracles, in adoration and
worship, that the whole world may love and worship Him as Christ.
So S. Cyril, to whom listen. " So long as the profundity of the sethei
is obscured by the shades of night, every one speaks with the
greatest admiration of the morning star, as it shines with the full
glory of its golden splendour. But when the sun is seen to hasten
to his rising, and when his light somewhat illumines this our earth,
the day star yields gradually to the greater luminary, and the words
of John might not improperly be applied, He must increase, but I
must decrease." Likewise S. Chrysostom says, " Christ increases in
that He by degrees manifests Himself by signs and miracles : not
because He makes increase in virtue, — God forbid ; for this would
be the madness of Nestorius."

But I must decrease : not in virtue, wisdom, or merit. For in these
John constantly increased until he received the crown of martyrdom,
but as regarded the honour which he received in the people flock-
ing to him. "I have fulfilled my office, now I will cease," as
S. Chrysostom says of him. As a symbol of this, John was born
shortly after the summer solstice, when the days begin to decrease ;
but Christ was born shortly after the winter solstice, when the days
being at the shortest, begin to increase, as S. Chrysostom remarks,
(Horn, de Nativ.), and others.

JOHN AND CHRIST COMPARED. 123

He who is from above, &c. He gives the reason why Jesus must
increase ; because He was from above, from heaven, out of the bosom
of the Father, as the Only Begotten Son of God. Wherefore He is
above all, not only me, John, but far above all angels and creatures
whatsoever, forasmuch as He is the Creator and the Lord of all,
and so by all to be worshipped and adored.

Ver. 32. — He that is of the earth, &c. John prefers Christ to him-
self, as what is heavenly to what is earthly. As much therefore as
heaven is higher than the earth, so greatly is Christ superior to
John, according to the words, "The first man is of the earth,
earthy; the second man is of the heaven, heavenly" (i Cor. xv. 47,
Vulg.)

The meaning is, " He that is born of the earth, as I John am
formed from it, as Adam was, he is earthy, and of the earth he
speaketh, i.e., of earthly things. Now this was true of John (i.) if
you have regard to his bare nature, as apart from the grace and
calling of God. For apart from that, John was only earthy, and
savoured of the earth. "For if thou hast heard anything Divine
from John, it is of Him who gave him the light, not of him who
only received the light," as S. Augustine says.

2. It is true if John be compared with Christ, whose origin,
nature, and spirit are far loftier than those of John, for they are
plainly heavenly and Divine, and consequently altogether efficacious
for influencing the minds of men as He willed. And this Christ
did by His grace, which He breathed inwardly into the souls of those
who heard Him.

And what He (i.e., Christ) Jiath seen, &c. This is by catachresis,
for in things Divine, to see and Jiear mean the same as to knoiv.
But to see signifies the evidence of the things that are known : to
hear, their source, because indeed He had received all these things,
as knowledge, and the fulness of wisdom, together with the Divine
Essence, from the Father.

No one receiveth ; i.e., hyperbolically, for few receive. For although
many flocked to Jesus, yet in comparison with those who stayed
at home, and neglected the preaching of Jesus, they were but few.

124 S. JOHN, C. III.

And even amongst those few, some believed, and some believed
not, such as the scribes and Pharisees. John refers to his own
disciples, say S. Chrysostom and Euthymius, because few of the
Jews came to him, and fewer still believed.

Ver. 35. — He that hath received, or that receiveth His testimony
(by believing), hath signed (Vulg.), &c. For the Vulgate signavit
the Greek has safydyiezv, or hath marked, and signed with a seal,
He who receives Christ's testimony, and believes in Him, testifies by
so doing, and as it were attaches a seal to his profession of faith,
that God the Father is true, who by His Son, as by His own mouth,
speaks things most true and Divine. For the Son heard them, and
received them from the Father. Or, as S. Cyril says, such an one
testifies that God the Son is true, who declares these very things.
He who believes in God and in His Son gives great honour to God,
because by his belief he professes that God is true, yea, primal and
infallible Truth. On the contrary, he that believeth not greatly
dishonours God, because in reality he makes Him out false, which
is the highest possible contempt and blasphemy of God. S. John
says in his Epistle (i John v. 10, n), "He that believeth on the
Son of God hath the witness in himself : he that believeth not God,
hath made Him a liar ; because he believeth not the record that God
gave of His Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us
eternal life, and this life is in His Son." Alcuin explains somewhat
differently. He hath sealed, i.e., he hath put a sign, as it were some-
thing peculiar and especial, in his heart, that this is the true God,
who hath been sent for the salvation of the human race.

Moreover, God is said to sign and seal His words and His oracles
when He confirms them by miracles ; but man is said to sign and
seal these same words of God when he believes them to be true.
Faith therefore is the seal by which we attest the words of God.

Ver. 34. — For whom God hath sent, &c. He proves what he has
said, that he who believes in Jesus Christ signs and testifies by the
seal of his faith that God is true, because Jesus whom God sent
from heaven to earth, that incarnate in our flesh He might teach and
save men — Jesus, I say, speaks not His own words but the words

HOW CHRIST HATH THE SPIRIT. 12$

of God who sent Him. The words of Jesus are the words of God
the Father, for He gave them to Him. Wherefore he who believes
in Jesus, the same believes in God the Father. For God sent
Jesus, and they are the words of God which Jesus speaks. So
Euthymius.

Giveth not the Spirit, i.e., the gifts of the Spirit. He saith giveth, not
hath given, because what God once for all hath given to Christ, the
same He ever giveth by conservation and continual influx. For
conservation means nothing else but the continuation of a thing
created, and as it were continuous creation. The meaning is, Jesus
being sent by God declares and preaches the words of God, and
all the Divine mysteries, because God communicates these to Him
without measure, and as it were in an infinite degree. God is not
so poor, or parsimonious, that He has a certain measure of the
Spirit, than which He cannot give a greater. For there are in God
infinite riches of the Spirit, which He gives and communicates
to Jesus, who is His own Son. " Wherefore although you, O my
disciples, behold in me John, your master, great power and efficacy
of the Divine Spirit in preaching, know ye that in Jesus there is far
greater, yea, that in Him is the whole fulness of the Spirit; in Jesus,
I say, both as God and man." For in that He is God, "He
possesseth the Spirit substantialiter" says S. Cyril. In that He is
man, " in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily "
(Col. ii. 9). And "in Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge " (Col. ii. 3). As S. Augustine says, " To men He
giveth by measure ; to the Only Begotten Son He giveth not by
measure."

You will say, Does then Christ as man receive the Spirit and
grace in an absolutely infinite manner? I answer, No, for this
would be impossible ; nor would the created and finite soul of
Christ be capable of it. The Spirit therefore is said to be given
without measure unto Him, because God most abundantly com-
municated unto Him all His graces and all His gifts, as being
the Head of the Church. And those gifts He imparts to faithful
men, that is, His members, in a certain measure, according to

126 S. JOHN, C. III.

His good pleasure. For though it were so that the faithful were
without measure and number, but in succession innumerable, yet
would Christ as the Head over all cause His Spirit and His grace
to flow into them as His members. Hear what S. Jerome says on
the nth chapter of Isaiah: "Upon this flower which suddenly
ariseth from the stem and root of Jesse through Mary the Virgin,
the Spirit of the Lord shall rest. For God was pleased that in Him
should dwell all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, by no means
partially, as in all the rest of the saints, but according to the Gospel
of the Nazarenes, which is read by them in the Hebrew tongue,
' All the fountain of the Holy Ghost shall descend upon Him.' "

Wherefore whatsoever Jesus doeth, or saith, that is holy, that is
spiritual, that is Divine. For He is wholly possessed by the Holy
Spirit. The Holy Spirit rules, guides, moves Him. He puts into
His heart and mouth words to speak. He works and performs
the miracles by which He confirms His words. Wherefore he
who receives Him, and believes in Him, receives God the Father
and the Holy Ghost. It was different with John the Baptist and
the Prophets. For they were not so possessed by the Holy Ghost
but that they might do and say many things by their own proper
spirit, and both be deceived and deceive. So Nathan the Prophet
was in error when he told David, as from God's mouth, to build
the Temple (i Sam. vii. 3).

Ver. 35. — The Father loveth, &c. As God the Father loveth the
Son without measure, so He giveth all things into His hand, that is, at
His disposal and power without measure. All things, both corporeal
and spiritual : all things, both in heaven and earth, and consequently
all the gifts of the Holy Ghost, that He may bestow them upon
those who believe in Him, according to His own good pleasure.
Again, all things, that is, every right which the Holy Trinity has
over men and things created, this He hath given to the Son, not
only as He is God, but as He is man, that He may do with them
whatsoever He willeth. Hear Euthymius, " As God had all things
(for all things were made by Him), this possession also hath He
given to Him (Christ) as He is man. In a suitable manner it hath

TO HAVE LIFE. 1 27

been said, ' He loveth, and He hath given,' as is said among men.
For fathers are wont to love their sons, and to give them what is
theirs."

Ver. 36. — He that believeth, &c. Hath, in hope and of right, as in
the root and seed, but not yet in deed and fruit, nor even actually.
He hath faith and grace, which give him the right to glory. But it
is grace begun in the spiritual knowledge and love of God, which
will be perfected after death in heaven. As it is said (John xvii. 3),
This is life eternal (the way and commencement of life), that they
may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou
hast sent.

But he that believeth not, &c., shall not see, te., shall not enjoy.
Wrath of God abideth, the vengeance of God, and hell, shall eter-
nally punish him. Hear Cyril, " TJiey shall not see life, i.e., not even
as far as the bare sight of it pertains, shall they be able to attain
to the life of the saints. They shall not taste of those joys, they
shall not see that true life. They shall be tormented with sufferings
worse than any kind of death, and only retain their souls in their
bodies through the sense of pain."

( 128 )

CHAPTER IV.

I Christ talketh with a woman of Samaria. 2^ His disciples marvel. 31
Chris fs zeal for God's glory. 43 He departeth into Galilee^ and healeth
the rulers son.

WHEN therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus
made and baptized more disciples than John,

2 (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciplesjj

3 He left Judea, and departed again into Galilee.

4 And he must needs go through Samaria.

5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the
parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

6 Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey,
sat thus on the well ; and it was about the sixth hour.

7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus saith unto her,
Give me to drink.

8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)

9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a
Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria ? — for the Jews have no
dealings with the Samaritans.

10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who
it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink ; thou wouldest have asked of him, and
he would have given thee living water.

11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the
well is deep : from whence then hast thou that living water?

12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank
thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?

13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall
thirst again :

14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst ;
but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up
into everlasting life.

15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither
come hither to draw.

16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.

17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her,
Thou hast well said, I have no husband :

1 8 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy
husband : in that saidst thou truly.

THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN. 129

19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.

20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain ; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is
the place where men ought to worship.

21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall
neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.

22 Ye worship ye know not what : we know what we worship : for salvation
is of the Jews.

23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship
the Father in spirit and in truth : for the Father stvketh such to worship him.

24 God is a Spirit : and they that worship him mu^t worship him in spirit and
in truth.

25 The woman saith unto him, I know that M&sir.s cometh, which is called
Christ : when he is come, he will tell us all things.

26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

27 IT And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the
woman : yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?

28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith
to the men,

29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did : is not this
the Christ ?

30 Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.

31 IT In the meanwhile his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat.

32 But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of.

33 Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him
ought to eat ?

34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and
to finish his work.

35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest ? behold,
I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields ; for they are white
already to harvest.

36 And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal :
that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.

37 And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.

38 I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour : other men laboured,
and ye are entered into their labours.

39 IT And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying
of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.

40 So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he
would tarry with them : and he abode there two days.

41 And many more believed because of his own word ;

42 And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying : for
we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour
of the world.

43 IT Now after two days he departed thence, and went into Galilee.

44 For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own
country.

45 Then when he was come into Galilee, the Galileans received him, having
seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem «* the feast : for they also went unto
the feast.

VOL. IV. I

130 S. JOHN, C. IV.

46 So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine.
And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum.

47 When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judea into Galilee, he went unto
him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son : for he was
at the point of death.

48 Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not
believe.

49 The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die.

50 Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way ; thy son liveth. And the man believed
the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way.

5 1 And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying,
Thy son liveth.

52 Then inquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they
said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.

53 So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said
unto him, Thy son liveth : and himself believed, and his whole house.

54 This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of
Judea into Galilee.

When therefore Jesus knew, &c. . . . than John, that is, than John
had made and baptized, says S. Augustine (lib. 2, de cons. Evang.,
c. 1 8), for John was now in prison. For these things had happened
through the occasion of John's imprisonment. For Jesus, knowing
of John's imprisonment, and fearing the envy and calumny of the
Pharisees, who had already stirred up Herod against John, that they
might not be the means of casting Himself also into prison through
the instrumentality of Herod or Pilate, and put Him to death before
the time predetermined by the Father, prudently retired out of Judea
into Galilee. See what has been said about this on Matt. iv. 12.

Although Jesus, &c. Both because Jesus was occupied in the
greater works of preaching and healing the sick; as Paul saith,
" Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Gospel " (i
Cor. i. 17), also that He might show that the efficacy of His baptism
was greater than that of John's. See what has been said on iii. 32.

He left Judea, &c. Not as though He feared death, but that He
might mollify the envy of the Pharisees, says S. Chrysostom. For
the Pharisees were very influential. For most of the priests,
senators, and magistrates belonged to their sect. This was the
second occasion of Christ retiring into Galilee, the first being in
chap. i. 43.

HISTORY OF SICHEM. 13!

He must needs, &c. For Samaria lies betwixt Judea and Galilee.
Cyril observes that Christ does not here go counter to his own
command, by which He enjoined on His apostles not to go into the
cities of the Samaritans (S. Matt. x. 5). For He there forbids them
not to go to the Samaritans of set purpose, nor to continuously evan-
gelise them, lest they should prejudice the Jews, who were their
enemies, against themselves and the faith of Christ Jesus on this
occasion was only passing through Samaria on His way to Galilee.

Samaria was the district which was occupied by the tribe of
Ephraim, and half the tribe of Manasseh. It took its name of
Samaria from the royal city, which was built upon the hill Somer.
See i Kings xvL 24.

Ver. 5. — He came tfierefore, &c. Sichar, i.e., Sichem. When Jero-
boam revolted from Rehoboam, and usurped the kingdom of the
Ten Tribes, he made this city his capital. The capital was after-
wards transferred by Omri to Samaria. Afterwards, in the time
of Alexander the Great, Sichem was again made the capital of the
region of Samaria, as Josephus testifies {Ant., ii. 8), and was called
Neapolis. In the time of our Saviour Sichem was corrupted into
Sichar. It is now called Naplous. This city was the site of many
famous deeds mentioned in Scripture. Abraham journeying from
Mesopotamia into Canaan, came first to Sichem, and built an altar
to the Lord, and received the promise of that land. See Gen. xil
and xiii.

Jacob also returning from Mesopotamia fixed his tent here, and
bought a piece of ground from the sons of Emmor (Gen. xxxiii.)
Here Dinah, his daughter, was corrupted by the son of the King of
Sichem (Gen. xxxiv.) Sichem was appointed one of the cities of
refuge (Josh, xx.) Here the ten tribes revolted from Judea through
the folly of Rehoboam. The bones of Joseph were buried at
Sichem, as is related at the end of the Book of Joshua. S. Jerome
(trad, de loc. Hebr.) says that Salem and Sichem were the same.
Hence it follows that Melchisedec, the type of Christ, was also king
of this city.

Near the parcel of ground, &c. See what I have said on Gen.

132 S. JOHN, C. IV.

xlviii. 22. Wherefore Joseph when he was dying in Egypt com-
manded his bones to be translated to Sichem, as to his own piece
of land, which had been left him by the will of his father.

Ver. 6,— Jacob's fountain (Vulg.) This fountain was a well dug by
Jacob, as appears from ver. 12. This is the meaning of the Hebrew
beer. So S. Augustine says, giving the meaning of fans in Latin,
" Every well is a fountain, but not every fountain a well. Where
water springs out of the earth, and affords drink, it is called a
fountain. If it is on the surface it is called a fountain only : but if
it be deep, it is called a well, and loses the name of fountain."
Varro derives the word fans from fundo, to pour. A fountain, he
says, is where living water is poured out of the earth. Jacob's fount
therefore was a well which Jacob had dug in this place for the use
of himself and his family. Or he may have bought it of the
Shechemites, as Ruperti thinks.

Jesus therefore being wearied; for He went about among the towns
and villages on foot, even till His death. His apostles followed His
example. Blessed Xavier and his followers lately did the same in
India. Piously does S. Augustine say (Tract. 15), "Not in vain
is Jesus wearied ; not in vain is the power of God fatigued : for not
vainly is He wearied by whom the weary are refreshed. Not in
vain is He wearied, when if He forsake us, we are weary, but if He
be present with us, we are strong. For though Jesus was wearied
with His journey, yet it was the strength of Christ which has created
thee. The strength of Christ made thee, that that which was not
might be : the weakness of Christ caused that that which was should
not perish. He formed us by His strength : He sought us by His
weakness. Therefore He Himself cherishes the weak, as a hen her
chickens, for to her He compared Himself."

Upon the fount: Greek, liti rfj vriyfj, at the fount, or near the
well. Or strictly, above the fount, because the bubbling water was
deep down in the well.

Sat thus: where He conveniently could. He sat upon the
ground without a seat, as wayfarers are wont to sit down beside
wells and fountains, for the sake of rest and refreshment. So S.

JACOB'S WELL. 133

Chrysostom and Euthymius. Or more simply, He sat thus, means,
as being tired with His journey. He sat as men are wont to sit
when they are tired, showing by so doing that they are weary. So
Cajetan and others.

3. Sat thus may mean, in this way, i.e., under the circumstances
which I will now pass under review. He sat thus, i.e., when it was
the sixth hour, and the woman came to draw water, and the
disciples had gone away to buy food.

Sixth hour. He gives the reason why Jesus sat at the fountain ;
because He was wearied, hungry, and thirsty. It was the sixth
hour, or mid-day, when the heat is greatest. Nonnus renders, //
was the hour bringing thirst.

A woman of Samaria : of the district, not the city of Samaria.
She came from the city of Sichar, which was near the well.

Jesus saith to her. Jesus took the initiative in conversing with
her. For He knew that the woman, being a Samaritan, would not
do so, but would dislike Him as being a Jew. But " He who
desired to drink thirsted for the faith of the woman," says S.
Augustine. Observe the wonderful affability and charity of Christ,
in seeking to enter into conversation with a wretched harlot, that
He might convert her, and through her a whole city.

Ver. 8. — For His disciples, &c. The word for gives the reason
why Jesus asked drink of the woman ; because His disciples, from
whom otherwise He would have sought food and drink, had gone
into the city to buy food. For Jesus wished to drink beside the

well, and to drink from it, just as poor travellers are wont to do,

•
especially in Syria and Arabia, and other hot countries where there

is a scarcity of water. This happened by Christ's tacit providence,
that His disciples being all gone away into the city, He might by
Himself be able more easily, in talking with this immodest woman,
to spare her shame, and disclose her immodesty, and so convert
her to faith and modesty.

Ver. 9. — The woman therefore saith, &c. Therefore in Greek and
Hebrew often merely marks the beginning of a sentence. Here, how-
ever, it denotes an inference from the preceding question of Christ.

134 s. JOHN, c. iv.

Jesus^ had asked the woman for water ; the woman therefore replied
to His question, How is it, &c. The woman recognised Jesus to
be a Jew from His dress and speech, which Christ, out of good
feeling to His country, accommodated to that of his fellow-
countrymen.

For the Jews, &c., i.e., have no intercourse, do not use the same
bed, or cup, or vessel, as though they were impure and abominable
on account of their schism. These words may be either those of
the Evangelist, or of the Samaritan woman. In either case they
are very appropriate. Learn from this example how we ought to
shun the friendship, looks, and conversation of heretics ; for " their
speech doth eat as doth a cancer," saith S. Paul.

Ver. 10. — Jesus answered, &c. If thou knewest the gift of God. This
gift is (i.) common, what God has given to every man, "if thou
knowest that I am Christ, the Saviour of the world." 2. Especial
to thyself, what God now manifests to thee through Me, that
through My conversation thou mayest have an opportunity of
salvation, that thou mayest believe in Me, and so be justified and
saved. So Maldonatu's.

Thou perchance wouldst have asked, Greek, ffO av jjY?j<ras avrov, i.e.,
thou surely wouldst have asked. For an here is an expletive and
confirmatory particle. The Vulgate, however, has for sitan, perchance,
to denote the free will of the asker.

And He would have given, &c. Christ leads her from earthly
water to spiritual water. Let religious and apostolical men do
likewise. Observe, as a stagnant lake, or pool, is termed dead,
because it moves not ; so, on the contrary, flowing water is called
living water, especially that which leaps forth, as it were, from
fountains, as though animated by a living spirit.

Moreover, Christ's evangelical doctrine is here called living
water: so are the Holy Ghost and His grace. So S. Cyril, and
other authors passim. It is called water (i.) because, like water, it
cleanses the soul from sin. Indeed, it gives the soul new beauty
and adornment, which water does not do : according to the words,
"Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." Again,

SPIRITUAL MEANING OF WATER. 135

though water washes, it likewise weakens and destroys. For we
see that clothes which are washed, are cleansed indeed, but are worn
away. But it is not thus with the Holy Ghost, for He cleanses the
soul, and at the same time gives it greater strength. And the more
the soul is washed the stronger it becomes.

2. Because the Holy Ghost and His grace cool the heat of con-
cupiscence, and all the other passions of the soul.

3. Because it quenches spiritual thirst.

4. Because as water fertilises the earth, trees, and plants, so does
grace render the soul fruitful in good works and all virtues. But
grace does a greater work than water : for it elevates the soul, so
that it not only produces natural good fruit, but the supernatural
fruit of faith, hope, and charity, according to the words, " He that
abideth in Me, the same bringeth forth much fruit." Again, water
from a pear-tree produces pears, from a rose-bush roses. But grace
brings forth in one and the same soul the fruits of all virtues, and
that in a soul which before was so polluted by sin that it produced
nothing but the evil fruits of wickedness.

Moreover, the Holy Spirit and His grace are called living water.
i. Because the Holy Ghost liveth in Himself with the fulness of
His Divinity a blessed and Divine life, and imparts this His own
life to the believing soul. Indeed, the Holy Ghost, with the Father
and the Son, is uncreated and essential Life Itself, from which the
natural and supernatural life of all angels, men, animals, and plants
flows as from a fountain, yea, an ocean.

2. Because the grace of the Holy Spirit is the form by which life
is lived according to the Spirit. Therefore grace is, as it were, the
soul of the soul ; the soul, I say, of virtue and holiness.

3. Because by His grace the Holy Ghost, who is Life Itself,
dwells within us, and quickens us.

4. Because He effects that the soul shall be continually renewed
unto what is good, ever arranging new steps in the heart, by which
it mounts to better and higher things, according to the words
in the 84th Psalm, ver. 6, " He hath disposed ascensions in His
heart " (Vulg.) For as S. Ambrose says, " The grace of the Holy

136 S. JOHN, C. IV.

Spirit knows not tardy efforts, but constrains the soul to ascend with
the Blessed Virgin the hills of virtues."

5. S. Augustine says, Living water is so called, because it flows
in such a manner that it is united with its fount or source. What
is called dead water is that which is cut off from its source. Grace
therefore is called living water because it is never separated from
Us fount, which is the Holy Ghost. Just as the Holy Ghost Him-
self is inseparable from His source, which is the Father and the
Son, and ever liveth most closely united with them in the Divine
Essence. Wherefore although the Holy Ghost pours Himself
into the soul, yet He departeth not from the Father and the Son ;
yea,- He causes the Father and the Son to enter into the soul
together with Himself, that they all may dwell therein, as in their
temple, according to the words (John xiv. 23), " If any man loveth
Me he will keep My word, and My Father will love him : and we
will come unto him, and make our abode with him." So S. Cyril
(lib. 2, c. 22), " He calls the grace of the Spirit living, because it
is life-giving; and because it is united to its source, and makes us
to be united." For grace always depends upon the Holy Spirit,
and by it the Spirit dwells in us, and is united with us, and by it
we are united to Him, according to the words, Your members are
the temple of the Holy Ghost (i Cor. vi.)

6. The water of a fountain being brought down into the valleys
by means of pipes, can again from them, by the continuous rush
of the water from the fount, be drawn to as great a height as its
original source. This is proved by constant experience. In like
manner heavenly grace, like a fountain of gifts and virtues, flowing
down from the Holy Ghost out of heaven, makes us to leap back
as it were thither as high as its source, even to God and heaven.
The water which I shall give him shall be in him a fount of water
leaping up into eternal life (John v. 14, Vulg.)

Ver. ii. — The woman, &c. The Greek is, Thou hast not avrXwa,
a pitcher, or waterpot. Observe, the fountain is here called a well,
and is said to be deep. Rupertus writes that its depth was forty-
cubits.

THE SAMARITANS. 137

Ver. 12. — Art Thou greater, &c. Observe, the Samaritans were
Assyrians whom Salmanasar had brought into Samaria instead of the
original inhabitants, the ten tribes of Israel, whom he carried away
into Assyria. These Assyrians, however, wished, when the Jewish
state was in a flourishing condition, to be accounted Jews (fos., Ant.,
lib. u, cap. ult.}, both because they dwelt in the portion of the Holy
Land which had been allotted to the tribe of Ephraim, and because
they were commingled with the Israelites who had been left in the
country. Another reason was because they partly followed the
Jewish religion. For they worshipped the God of Israel, together
with the Assyrian idols (2 Kings xvii.) This then was why the
woman called Jacob our father, as though the Samaritans were
Israelites, and descended from him. The meaning then is, " Jacob
had no better water than this, for if he had had, he surely would
have drank of it, both himself, and his children. If thou, therefore,
O Jesus, art able to give, or to find better water than this, Thou
must needs be greater than the Patriarch Jacob, our father." So
S. Chrysostom. By degrees did Jesus raise the woman's mind, so
that she should at length acknowledge Him to be the Messiah.
For from what He had said, If thou knewest who it is that saith
to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of Him, and
He would have given thee living water, the woman conjectured,
or suspected, that Jesus was making Himself to be greater than
Jacob.

Ver. 1$.— Jesus ansiuered, &c. Jesus modestly points out to this
woman, who was extolling the water of her own well, that His living
water must be far better, because it would quench all, even future
thirst. From this He tacitly left it to be gathered that He was
superior to Jacob. As S. Chrysostom says, " He did not say that
He was greater, because He would have seemed to be boasting of
Himself, not yet being known ; but this meaning lay hid under His
words. For He said not simply, / will give thee water; but taking
no notice of Jacob's water, He praises His own, wishing to show
its difference from the (different) nature of the givers of the gifts,
and how greatly He excelled the Patriarch." S. Cyril adds, " He

138 S. JOHN, C. IV.

showed that sensible and earthly water was infinitely inferior to that
which He would have her understand " (that He would give her).

Whoso drinketh, &c. Tropologically, S.Augustine: "The water
in the well," he says, " is the pleasure of the world in a dark abyss,
which men draw with the pitcher of desire. For this makes men
always to thirst, because cupidity is insatiable."

But whoso shall drink, &c. Meaning, He that shall receive from
Me living water, that is, the grace of the Holy Spirit, shall no more
thirst for justice, the friendship of God, virtue, or holiness, because he
shall already have them through grace. We must understand, unless
he should wilfully squander and lose this water of grace by deadly
sin. This is Christ's antithesis : Common water, O woman, such
as thine out of this well, when drunk, only quenches thirst for a
brief space, because it does not remain in the body. But this water
of Mine, which is the grace of the Holy Spirit, is in itself of such
efficacy, that if it be even once tasted, it will suffice to banish
thirst for ever. For it will always abide in the soul, the same and
immutable. For the habitual grace of the ordinary Law of God,
brings with itself at set times prevenient helps, that is to say, the
impulses of exciting grace, which, as they are needful, so also they
suffice, for retaining the spiritual vigour of the soul, and also its
perseverance unto salvation. This is the teaching of the Council
of Trent (Sess. 6, c. 16).

You will ask, Why then is it said in the Book of Ecclesiasticus,
"They that drink me shall yet be thirsty? " For this would seem
to be contrary to what Christ here says of His grace, He shall not
thirst for ever. I answer that the meaning of "they that drink
me shall yet be thirsty," is, they shall desire to be still more filled
with that wisdom of God which they already possess. They will
wish for an increase of the wisdom and grace of God. Thus S.
Ignatius the martyr, when, being condemned to the lions, he came
into the amphitheatre of Rome, said, looking round at the spec-
tators, " I am come hither to die for my Jesus, for whom I thirst
unquenchably, that I may be united to Him in heaven."

Observe, that the Holy Spirit by His grace begins to fulfil in

ETERNAL LIFE. 139

this life all the thirst and desire of the soul, but in heaven He does
this perfectly. Also He extinguishes the thirst of pride and con-
cupiscence. Lastly, in heaven He altogether takes away all the
hunger and thirst of the soul, every defect and trouble, through
the glory and endowment of impassibility, according to the words,
"I shall be satisfied when Thy glory shall appear" (Ps. xvii. 15):
also, " They shall not hunger nor thirst any more ; neither shall
the heat, nor the sun smite them " (Isa. xlix. 10). As the Gloss
says, " He promises the fulness of the Spirit, which shall be in the
resurrection, because with Him is the fountain of life with which
they shall be inebriated. Heavenly glory therefore makes up all
defects both of soul and body, all desires, and all thirst. "For
beatitude is a perfect state through the aggregation of all goods,"
says Boethius, according as it is said, " Thou shalt give them drink
out of the torrent of Thy pleasure " (Ps. xxxvi. 9).

Ver. 14. — But the water, &c. . . . waters leaping up (Syriac). The
allusion is to those fountains which flow with such an impetus, the
water behind pressing on that which is before, that although they
be brought down into the valleys, yet by means of pipes they
ascend to the level of the original spring. Thus the grace of the
Holy Spirit draws the soul to its source, which is God and heaven.
For grace is the seed of glory. The Arabic translates, T/ie water
which I will give, shall be in him water which shall bring a flood of
eternal life. Grace then propels, as it were, a man to heaven, and
never rests until it carries him where there is no thirst, nor defect,
nor miser)r, but where all is abundance, and all is happiness. For
this is the meaning of everlasting life. For this fountain of grace
which is in the soul is derived from its original Spring, which is
the Holy Ghost in heaven, even like a fountain which, being artifici-
ally conducted, bursts forth in a square, or garden, but is derived
from its original spring in some mountain.

2. // shall be in him a fount, because, as Theophylact says, the
water of grace which Christ instils into the faithful soul is being
ever multiplied in it. For the saints receive the seeds and begin-
ning of good through grace, but they themselves " trade " with it,

I4Q S. JOHN, C. IV.

and work for its increase, that, as it were a fountain, it may
abound in them, and afford abundant drink, not only to them-
selves, but to many others. As S. Chrysostom says, "He that
hath a fountain in himself is not troubled with thirst." And
Origen, "Every one of the angels hath in him a fount of water
welling up unto life eternal from the Word Himself."

3. A. fountain, the more it flows downward, the more water there
flows into it from above. So too the more any one pours his own
grace upon others, the more God causes to flow into him.

Lastly, this is a paradox spoken by Christ, that whereas earthly
water flows downwards, this His fountain flows upwards, according
to the saying, The founts of the holy rivers are borne upwards. Here
is a great and marvellous leap, the mighty and infinite power of the
Holy Ghost, which makes the earthy and laden hearts of men to
leap from earth to highest heaven, from grace to glory, from the
flesh to the spirit, from death to life eternal, from Satan to God.
To believers therefore it is said, Sursum corda. And this is a sure
sign of the indwelling of grace and the Holy Ghost, if our minds
are occupied in heaven, if we speak and do heavenly things, if we
say, with S. Paul, "Our conversation is in heaven." For this cause
Christ came down from heaven, that He might make us to rise from
earth to heaven, according to the words, " Behold he cometh, leaping
upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills " (Cant. ii. 8).

The woman sazt/t, &c. "She was delighted," says S. . Austin,
"not to thirst, and thought that this promise was made" unto her
by the Lord in a fleshly sense. Her poverty drove her to the
labour of coming and drawing water from a well at a distance from
the town ; and her weakness shrank from this toil. The woman,
who was carnal and ignorant, did not yet understand that Christ
was speaking of the spiritual water of grace. Then He smote her
with another dart, that she might have loftier thoughts concerning
Him."

Therefore Jesus saith unto her, Go call thy husband. Observe
from S. Chrysostom and others that Christ bade the woman call her
husband with this pretext, that it would not be proper to give this so

CHRIST'S GENTLE REPROOF. 141

great a gift of living water to a married woman without the knou--
ledge of her husband. But Christ really intended to open out to
her the hidden things of her life, and her secret fornication, that
so He might draw her confession from her, and arouse her to
repentance. At the same time He would show her that He was
more than a mere man, that He was the Christ, from whom she
might ask and expect remission of her sins and everlasting salvation.

For this was the living water which Christ set forth.

Ver. 17. — The woman answered, &c. From hence it is plain that
this woman was thus a widow, and therefore not an adulteress, but a
harlot, unless indeed her lover were married, in which case both
were guilty of adultery.

Ver. 1 8. — For thou hast had, &c. Nonnus says, For thou hast
had five husbands, one after another ; and he whom thou now hast is
not thy lawful husband. So S. Austin, Bede, Euthymius, and others
passim. But S. Chrysostom and Maldonatus think they were unlaw-
ful, adulterous connections, and that they are here spoken of by
Christ in this sense, that she was now living with a sixth adulterer.
But the former sense is the more probable, because Christ makes
an antithesis between the five former, which were lawful connec-
tions, and this sixth, which was unlawful.

Observe here the gentle and courteous method of Christ's
reproof. He does not say directly to the woman, " Thou art an
adulteress, or a fornicatrix : do penance for thy fornications." But
He praises her for speaking the truth in saying, she had no husband.
Then He adds, He whom thou now hast is not thy husband, tacitly
implying that she was living in sin with him, and that He knew
of this secret sin by the revelation of God, and therefore that He
was a prophet, from whom she ought to ask pardon and grace.

S. Basil (Epist. 2, ad Amphiloch.} says that a third marriage is
an abomination to the Church, but better than fornication. And
in his first epistle to the same he says, "The thrice married are
often excommunicated for three or four years, not longer : and
such unions are called polygamy, or qualified fornication. There-
fore the Lord said to the Samaritan woman, who had had five

142 S. JOHN, C. IV.

husbands, He whom thou now hast is not thy husband, surely
because those who had gone beyond a second union were not
worthy the name of husband, or wife." But the Church is now of
a different mind. For it is certain that fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh,
or more marriages, are licit, although they are indecent, and
marks of incontinence. And this is what S. Basil appears to
have meant.

Ver. 19. — The woman, &c. Because Thou revealest the hidden
things of my life, whether good or bad, which Thou couldest not
know except by the revelation of God, especially since thou art a
Jew and a foreigner, I humbly accept Thy gentle reproof, and
confess my sin. " By one and the same confession," says Rupertus,
"she confessed, as to herself, what she was, and as to Him, what
she was able to perceive He was."

Ver. 20. — Our fathers, &c. The woman, acknowledging Jesus to
be a prophet, now proposes a question concerning religion, which
was at that time a great source of controversy between the Jews
and the Samaritans. This she did that she might know which
side she ought to take, so that she might provide for her salva-
tion. For she was more agitated by this question than by thirst for
the living water which Christ promised her, which she did not
understand.

Worshipped: observe that by worship here and elsewhere is signified
the whole public ritual of worshipping God, especially by means of
sacrifices, and the other ceremonies instituted by Moses at God's
mouth. This public worship could only be offered in the Tabernacle
erected by Moses, and afterwards in the Temple built by Solomon.
This is plain from God's law in Deut. xiv. 24. For otherwise, by
natural and Divine right, it ever has been, and is lawful to worship
and call upon God privately always and in every place. Thus
in Gen. xxii. 5, Abraham said to his servants, "After we have
worshipped, i.e., sacrificed, we will come again to you."

/;/ this mountain : Garizim, which overhangs the city of Sichem.
From this mountain Jotham, the son of Gideon, cursed the Sichemites,
(Judges ix. 7).

MOUNT GARIZIM. 143

There was a famous and unending controversy between the
Samaritans and the Jews concerning worshipping and sacrificing in
this mountain. In the time of Alexander the Great, Manasses, the
brother of Jaddi, the High Priest who met Alexander, and appeased
him, when he was incensed against the Jews, married a foreign
wife, the daughter of Sanballat, whom Darius, the last king of Persia,
had set over Samaria. Manasses, being excluded by his brother
from the performance of sacerdotal functions, fled to his father-in-
law, Sanballat. Sanballat built a noble temple on Mount Garizim,
and appointed Manasses to be its priest. Thither fled many Jewish
refugees, especially those who, like Manasses, had married strange
wives, contrary to the Law. As an excuse they made use of the
argument that Sichem was celebrated for the worship and sacrifices
of the Patriarchs, as of Jacob (Gen. xxxiii. 20; Josh. xxiv. i), of the
Tribes (Deut. xxvii. 12), where Moses by God's command bids
Joshua to build an altar on Mount Garizim, and there offer burnt-
offerings, and engrave the Decalogue on stones, and promulge the
Law of God to the Twelve Tribes, with blessings to those who kept
it, the people answering " Amen."

This temple stood upon Mount Garizim for 200 years, until it
was destroyed by Hyrcanus, son of Simon, the brother of Judas
Maccabeus (Jos., Ant., /. 3, c. 17). Josephus also relates that the
Jews and Samaritans referred their controversy for settlement to
Ptolemy Philometor, King of Egypt, who decided it in favour of the
Jews, on the ground that the latter had built their temple at the
instance of Moses. But the Samaritans were not contented with
this decision, and still persisted in their schism.

Ver. 2i.— -Jesus saith, &c. Ye, i.e., whosoever rightly, according
to God's ordinance, wish to worship God the Father. The meaning
is, the hour cometh, the time of the Evangelical Law and doctrine,
about to be instituted by Me, by which, immediately after My death,
which is shortly to come to pass, the Law of Moses shall be abolished,
and all its rites for worshipping God in the Temple at Jerusalem, as
well as in this your rival temple on Garizim. For throughout the
whole world Christian churches shall be built, in which God shall

144 s. JOHN, c. iv.

be worshipped in spirit and in truth. This is what Malachi pre-
dicted under the reign of Christ (i. 10, n).

The Hebrew for the pure or clean oblation is mincha, sc., the
Eucharist, or the oblation of the Body and Blood of Christ, which
alone has succeeded to all the ancient sacrifices of animals.

Ver. 22. — Ye worship what (Arabic, whom] ye know not, &c.
Here Christ gives a direct answer to the woman, and decides the
Jews to be in the right in the controversy concerning the worship of
God, condemning the Samaritans as schismatics. He says, You, O
ye Samaritans, worship ye know not what, because ye worship God
together with your Assyrian idols ; and associating God as it were
with idols, ye worship a false or fictitious God. Again the Samaritans
had their own heresies and errors, which S. Epiphanius recapitulates.
In the same manner the Turks and Jews worship a God whom
they know not, because they deny Him to be in a Trinity of Persons.
So also Calvin with his followers, in denying the omnipotence of
God, and making Him cruel in condemning some men to hell without
any demerit on their part, worship not a true, but a false God.
For the true God is Almighty, and most kind.

2. and better. Ye worship, i.e., ye have a method of worship and
sacrifice which ye do not know to have proceeded from God. For
ye have framed it out of your own imagination, contrary to the will
and law of God. But we Jews know what we worship, because
we follow the way of worshipping God which was prescribed by
Moses.

For salvation, &c. Both because I, Christ, who am the Author
of salvation, am not born of the Samaritans, but of the Jews, as
well as because the true knowledge and worship of God, which leads
men to salvation, formerly emanated from the Jews to the Gentiles,
and now in the New Law will emanate from Me, a Jew, to all
nations.

Ver. 23. — But the hour cometh, &c. Now is the time of the
New Law of My Gospel, in which the true worshippers, namely,
Christians, whether Jews, or Samaritans, or of other nations, being

SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 145

converted unto Me, shall worship God, not in this mountain, nor
Jerusalem only, by the carnal sacrifices of beasts, as the Jews and
Samaritans do, but in all places throughout the world in spirit and
in truth.

Jn spirit and truth. Observe, the Samaritans ignorantly and
falsely worshipped God. But the Jews worshipped the true God
indeed, but chiefly by corporeal victims, and other bodily symbols,
and in one stated place, Jerusalem : all which things were shadows
and types of the spiritual worship which was to be inaugurated by
Christ To both these Christ opposes His faithful Christians, who
instead of the body, worship God in spirit ; and in truth instead of
in falsity, shadows and ignorance. For God is an incorporeal Spirit,
most true, and most pure. Spirit therefore here signifies the spiri-
tual worship of faith, hope, and charity, devotion, contrition, and
other virtues, by which God is most rightly worshipped by Chris-
tians, and not through shadows and figures, but in truth. In truth
therefore is in the true, sincere, and worthy worship of God, in
which God is well pleased, according to the words (Ps. L 18), "In
holocausts Thou shalt not be delighted : the sacrifice for God is a
broken spirit" (Vulg.). Also (Ps. xlix. 23), "The sacrifice of praise
shall honour Me " (Vulg.). And (Ps. iv. 6), " Sacrifice the sacrifice
of justice, and trust in the Lord."

As Theophylact says, " Because many seem to worship in soul,
but have not right knowledge, such as heretics, therefore He added,
and in truth. For it behoves us both to worship God with the
mind, and also to have a sound faith with regard to Him. Such a
worshipper was Paul, as Origen says, when he declares, 'God is
my witness, whom I serve ' (Greek, w Xar?«iiw, i.e.t worship with
latria) in my spirit (Rom. i. 9)." And the Gloss says, not in
the Temple, not in the mountain, but in the innermost temple of
the heart, and with a true knowledge must God be worshipped.
The Samaritan therefore worshipped God in a mountain, or locally,
the Jew in a shadow, or figuratively, the Christian in spirit and in
truth, truly and spiritually. For, as S. Chrysostom says, "The
former things were figures, now all is truth."

VOL. IV. K

146 S. JOHN, C. IV.

Others explain thus, we must worship God in spirit, i.e., by the
Spirit, or the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

"Mystically, by the spirit is intended," says Theophylact, "action :
by truth, contemplation." For all Christians serve God either by an
active, or a contemplative life.

Heretics object, since God should be worshipped by Christians
in spirit and in truth, therefore all corporal rites and ceremonies
ought to be rejected in baptism.

I answer by denying the consequence. For these are not
shadows and figures of the Old Law, but ornaments, incentives,
and effects of the Spirit, and therefore pertain to the Spirit. For
without sacraments and sacrifices the Church cannot exist, because
without them she would cease to be visible, and could not be
united and gathered together. In form these ceremonies are
practised by Christians, and flow from the inward spirit of faith,
hope, and charity. Therefore they belong to the Spirit, as results
depend upon a cause, and external upon interior actions. It was
otherwise with the ignorant and carnal Jews, who placed all their
worship in external sacrifices and rites. So SS. Cyril and Ambrose,
(De Sp. Sc. I. 3. c. 12).

Even the heathen saw that God, to be worshipped acceptably,
must be worshipped in spirit and in truth.

" If God be Mind, as ancient verses tell,
Who worship Him in spirit, worship well."

God is a Spirit, &c. This is the reason a priori: God is a most
pure and true Spirit, therefore He is pleased only with worship in
spirit and in truth. " If God were a body," says S. Augustine, " it
would be fitting to worship Him in a mountain, because a mountain
is material. Hence it is plain against the Anthropomorphites, and
against Tertullian and Lactantius, that God has not a body, even
the least material conceivable, but that He is a most immaterial
Spirit." That axiom therefore of Tertullian is false, " that what is
incorporeal is non-existent." However, Tertullian and Lactantius
seem to use the words body and corporeal in an improper sense,
merely to denote an actual substance.

ON THE NATURE OF GOD. 147

Listen to S. Augustine expounding these words of Christ (lib. De
Spec. c. i). "God is a Spirit incomprehensible, incorporeal, immu-
table, that cannot be bounded by space, everywhere whole, no-
where divided : everywhere present, ineffably penetrating all things,
containing all things, knowing all things, beholding all things;
Almighty, governing all things : wholly in heaven, wholly in earth,
wholly everywhere. Always working, always resting, gathering, but
needing not, carrying all things without being burdened, filling all
things, but not included in them, creating and protecting, nourish-
ing and perfecting all things. Thou seekest, but Thou never
wantest anything. Loving, but not inflamed. Thou art jealous,
but untroubled. Thou repentest without grieving. Thou art angry,
and tranquil all the while. Thou changest Thy works, but Thy
counsel knows no alteration. Thou holdest all things, fillest all
things, embracest all things, art above all things, sustainest all
things. Nor dost Thou in one part sustain, and in another super-
exceed: nor in one part dost Thou fill, and in another include.
In sustaining Thou super-exceedest, and in super-exceeding Thou
sustainest. Thou teachest the hearts of the faithful without the
service of words, ' reaching from one end to another mightily, and
sweetly disposing all things. ' "

What is God? Listen to Arnobius invoking Him (lib. i, Cont.
Gent.}. " O greatest and highest Creator of things invisible : Thou
art invisible, and art never comprehended by any other natures.
Worthy, indeed worthy art Thou, if only Thou mayest be called
worthy by mortal lips, after whom all intelligent nature aspires, and
to whom it never ceases to give thanks : to whom every living thing
ought continually to bend the knee, and supplicate with unceasing
prayers. For Thou art the First Cause : the locality and space of
things : the foundation of whatsoever is infinite, unborn, immortal,
eternal, the Only One, whom no corporeal form outlines, no circum-
scription bounds, without quality or size, without situation, motion,
or hold : concerning whom nothing can be said or expressed by
mortal words : and that Thou mayest be understood, we must be

148 S. JOHN, C. IV.

silent ; and that as in a shadow a fallible look may seek after Thee,
nothing whatsoever must be muttered."

Ver. 25. — The woman saith, &c. Cometh, Greek, '<y%srai, present
tense, is come, who will presently solve all things that are doubtful to
us in religion, and will teach us where, when, and how God is to be
worshipped. The woman knew this by common speech and report.
For already the sceptre had been transferred from Judah to Herod,
and Daniel's seventy weeks were fulfilled, so that all men knew that
the time for the Advent of Messiah was close at hand. The Jews
thought that John the Baptist was Messiah : but he himself attested
that Jesus was Messiah. Wherefore through this assertion of the
Baptist the report was widely diffused that Messiah had come.

Who is called Christ. These are not the words of the woman,
who spake only in the Hebrew or Syrian language, but of the
Evangelist interpreting the Hebrew word Messiah, by Christ, the
Anointed One.

Ver. 26. — -Jesus saith, &c. " I am the Messias, or the Christ.
Have faith in Me : receive My doctrine and my law, that thou mayest
be saved and blessed." Christ both spoke this with the outward
voice, but still more with an inward voice, illuminating the woman's
mind, and kindling her will, to love and reverence Him. Whereon
the woman believed straightway, and moved her whole city to
believe in Him.

Ver. 27. — And immediately, &c. Origen, S. Cyril, and others,
think it is meant that the disciples marvelled at the humility ot
Christ that He should condescend to talk with a poor and foreign
woman. But if so, the Evangelist would have written, that He should
talk with such a woman. Wherefore S. Cyprian (Tract, de Sing.
Clericoruni) and others better explain thus ; — that Christ was not
accustomed to talk with women alone, and with this end in view,
that He might give an example of chastity and prudence to all the
faithful, but especially to clerics, priests, preachers, and religious.
For rightly says the wise man, '• A moth proceedeth from a garment,
and so doth the iniquity of man from the woman " (Ecclus. xlii. 13)

THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA PREACHES CHRIST. 149

Hence Eliseus and all the saints most carefully avoided converse
with women. It was their common opinion that women can be
approached with but little profit, and with great peril, either to the
woman or the man — peril of chastity, or at the least, of reputation.

You will say — Are then women to be neglected ? I answer, By
no means : but let them be taught in public preaching, or catechis-
ing. If they are sick, or there be any other reason why the priest
should come to them, let it be in an open place, acting as Christ
here did : and let a witness be present, as S. Charles Borromeo took
care should always be in his own case.

Ver. 28. — She left, &c. " Having heard Him say," saith S. Augus-
tine, " '/ am He that talketh with thee] and having received the Lord
Christ into her heart, what could she do but leave her pitcher, and
run to preach the Gospel ? " For she knew that Jesus must be a
Prophet because He had revealed to her the secrets of her heart.
When therefore He declared that He was Messias, she believed in
Him, knowing that He was a man worthy of credit, who could
neither deceive, nor be deceived. Wherefore she ran into the city
without delay, fearing lest Jesus might go away if she tarried. As
S. Chrysostom says, " She had come to draw water, but as soon as
she found the true Fountain she despised the other ; and by the
grace which came down upon her from above, she discharges the
office of an Apostle."

For this is the Spirit of Christ, to infuse into those whom He
converts zeal for converting others, that they may make others
partakers of that great benefit which they feel in themselves.
Elegantly and piously does S. Ambrose write of this (Serm. 30) :
" By a new kind of marvel, the woman, who came to the well of
Samaria a harlot, went away chaste from the fountain of Christ.
And she who came to fetch water carried back modesty. For as
soon as the Lord showed her her sins, she knew and confessed
them : she announced Christ to be the Saviour. And leaving her
water-pot at the well, she does not carry a pitcher back to the city,
but she brings grace. She seems to return without a load, but she
goes back full of sanctity. She returned full, I say, because she

150 S. JOHN, C. IV.

came a sinner, she returns a preacher. And she who had left her
water-pot carried back the fulness of Christ. She brought back no
harm to her city, for though, it is true, she carried no water to it,
she brought them the whole well of salvation."

Ver. 29. — Come and see, &c. Saith Cyril, "Giving an account
of the miracle, she prepared her hearers to believe : " because
although, as S. Chrysostom says, she had not heard the whole
history of her life from Christ, from what she did hear she believed
(He knew) the rest.

Is not this the Christ? "She speaks as though hesitating, that
they might give their opinion," said Euthymius. For she herself
had no doubt, but firmly believed Jesus to be the Messiah. As
S. Chrysostom says, " Observe the immense wisdom of this woman :
she neither affirms nor denies that He is the Christ. She did not
wish that she should be the author of their believing in Him. She
wished them to be persuaded by hearing Him for themselves,
which persuasion would be far more likely to happen in that way.
For without doubt she understood that if they once tasted of that
Fountain, they would have the same opinion about it that she had."
This Samaritan woman then, by the conversation and grace of
Christ, from a sinner became a penitent and a saint, yea a preacher
of Christ like Mary Magdalen.

Her proper name was Photina, who is reckoned among the
Saints in the Roman Martyrology on the soth of March, in the
words following : " On the same day Saint Photina, the Samaritan
woman, her sons, Joseph and Victor : also Sebastian, a general,
Anatolius, Photius, &c., brothers, who all confessed Christ and
obtained martyrdom." On which Baronius says, "The Greek
Menology assigns this day for her commemoration." Her head is
religiously preserved at Rome, in the basilica of S. Paul, where I
have seen it amongst other relics of the saints.

Ver. 30. — They went out, &c. And from what they saw of the
wisdom and holiness of His words and manners, they believed in
Him as the Messiah, as is plain from verse 42. "The hardness
of the Jews," says Cyril, " is reproved by the readiness to believe

HUNGER FOR SOULS. I$I

of the Samaritans." For the Samaritans were converted by one
conversation of Christ, but the Jews after three years of His preach-
ing, and after all the many miracles which He had wrought, would
not believe.

Ver. 31. — In the meanwhile, &c. "This," says S. Chrysostom,
"they did out of love and zeal for their Master, seeing Him
wearied with the heat and the journey." At the same time they
were thinking about themselves. Hungry and tired as they were,
they wished to eat, but did not venture to do so until Christ
should commence, and bless the meal, as was His wont. "Jesus
was accustomed," says Theophylact, "to accept the gift of food
when offered, though He giveth food to all flesh. This He did,
that they who presented it might gain merit, and that no one
might be ashamed to be poor, nor think it hard to be fed by
others." For it is fitting that Teachers should have other persons
to provide food for them, that they themselves having no other
cares may be careful only about the ministry of the word.

Ver. 32. — But He said, &c. " I am hungering for the conversion
of the Samaritans, which I am procuring through the woman. So
that spiritual hunger diminishes and keeps down, if it does not
take away, all hunger for bodily food : meanwhile you who are
tired and famished, eat as much as you please." "More obscurely
He intimates," says S. Cyril, "that if the disciples knew of the
conversion of the Samaritans, which was then going on, they
would be thinking of that food, rather than be taking thought for
corporal food. For since they were to be the future Teachers of
the world, He teaches them by His own example that they ought to
have far more care for the salvation of men than for their own
bodies."

Ver. 33. — Then said His disciples, &c. The Apostles did not
understand that Christ was speaking of spiritual food. Where-
fore S. Augustine says, "What wonder was it if the woman did
not understand about the water? behold, the disciples do not
understand the food."

Ver. 34.— -Jesus saith, &c. Christ here calls the work of preach-

152 S. JOHN, C. IV.

ing, and man's redemption, His, that is, His own special and
sweetest food, because by it, as by the greatest dainties, He was fed
and delighted. So Euthymius says, " The will of the Father, who
had sent Him, and His work enjoined upon Christ, is the salvation
of men, according to the words, I have finished the work which Thou
gavest me to do."

Tropologically, let Christians, and specially preachers, learn from
Christ that their spiritual food ought to be obedience and zeal for
souls, i. Because both sustain the life of the soul. 2. Because
both, like food, cause the powers of the mind to become strong.
3. Because as food causes a child to grow up to be a perfect man,
so do these two virtues make us to grow to a virile state of spiritual
strength.

Ver. 35. — Say not ye, &c. From the metaphor of food He passes
to the allegorical harvest, from which are food and bread.

Say not ye ? That is, ye are wont often to say. From this it
would appear that the Apostles, as they passed through the corn-
fields of the Sichemites, talked among themselves about the coming
harvest, as men are wont to do. From hence Christ took occasion
to speak about the spiritual harvest, i.e., the conversion of the
Samaritans. As though He had said, "The care of the natural
harvest interests you : but the care of the spiritual harvest ought to
concern you far more, that you should help Me in converting the
Samaritans."

Yet four months. Maldonatus thinks this was a proverb, meaning
that there was time enough for thinking about any matter — as the
natural harvest, for instance: but that it could not be used of
the spiritual harvest; for that indeed was already ripe for being
reaped by Christ and the Apostles. For Maldonatus thinks this
was spoken by Christ about the end of March, when the harvest is
not far off.

S. Augustine and others take the words as they stand, literally.
Wherefore these words would seem to have been spoken by Christ
in the month of January, after the eight months in which He had
preached in Judea. For in four months from January, or in May,

THE SPIRITUAL HARVEST. 153

the crops are ripe, and the harvest comes. Wherefore at Pentecost,
which fell in May, they offered to God the loaves of the first fruits
of the new harvest "Ye," says S. Augustine, "are counting four
months unto harvest. I show you another harvest, white and pre-
pared already." So He says, Lift up your eyes, and look unto the
fields that they are white already unto the harvest. The white fields
He calls the city of Sichem, and the places round about, which,
stirred up by the woman, bring hearers in troops to Christ. As though
He had said, "Ye see these fields, filled not with wheat, but with
a multitude of people flocking to Me, who are prepared to receive
My doctrine, and to be admitted into My Church. Labour then
strenuously with Me, O My Apostles, to reap the harvest. The
wheat harvest may be four months distant yet : but the harvest of
souls is nigh, yea ready, amongst these Samaritans. It is fitting
then that you and I should reap them, and gather them into the
garner of God." Theophylact says, " Lift up both your bodily and
your spiritual eyes, and see the multitude of the Samaritans. See
their minds eager to believe, which, like fields that are ripe for
salvation, have need of reapers."

Ver. 36. — And he that reapeth, &c. Christ invites the Apostles
to labour with Him in gathering in this harvest, by the hope of an
eternal reward. As though He said, " He that reaps wheat receives
wages, but only brief and temporal : but he that reaps with Me this
spiritual harvest of souls gathers it unto life eternal. For this
harvest the reaper gains both for himself and for his crop, that is,
for the souls whom he converts, for he leads them to heaven as it
were in triumph." " The fruit of this terrestrial harvest," says S.
Chrysostom, "does not arrive at eternal life, but that spiritual
harvest always accompanies us." Christ calls Moses and the
Prophets sowers, who with great labour delivered the seeds of faith
to the Jews, i.e., such first principles as that God is One, and that
the Messiah would come for the salvation of the world. The
reapers are Christ and His Apostles, who, by the teaching of the
Gospel, perfected these first principles of the Prophets, and by the
faith and grace of Christ sanctified both Jews and Samaritans, and

154 s- JOHN, c. iv.

brought them to eternal life. Wherefore this conversion of the
Samaritans brought joy, not only to Christ and the Apostles, but
to Moses and the Prophets, because their seed had not proved
unfruitful, but had been brought by Christ to an abundant harvest.
As S. Augustine says, " If the Prophets had not been sowers, whence
had it come to that woman to say, / know that Messiah cometh ?
That woman was already ripe fruit." And again, "They had
different labours in time, but they shall have an equal fruition of
joy, when they together receive the wages of everlasting life." It
is often very different in the natural harvest, where the reaper
rejoices, but the sower sorrows.

Ver. 37. — For in this, &c. A word, i.e., a proverb, which is
" current in the mouths of many," says S. Chrysostom. This pro-
verb, one soweth, &c., which is spoken of the natural harvest, is still
more true with regard to the spiritual sowers and reapers. " The
sowers were the Prophets, the reapers are you, O ye Apostles, who
by My doctrine will bring to perfection the seeds of faith which
were sown by the Prophets, and will gather them, when ripe,
into the storehouse of the Church." Wherefore He subjoins an
explanation.

Ver. 38. — I have sent, &c. I have sent, i.e., I have desired and
determined to send. An inchoate and destined, not a completed,
action is signified. The Prophets, and teachers of the Law, and
such as they, with great toil taught the uninstructed minds of the
Jews the rudiments of the knowledge of God, and prepared them
for the Christian harvest of righteousness and holiness. You, O ye
Apostles, have entered into their labours, because ye shall convert the
minds of the Jews prepared to receive Me.

Moreover Christ said this, that by the example of the Prophets,
who sowed so laboriously, He might animate the Apostles to preach
the gospel, which was more easy, and involved less toil. " Lest,"
as S. Chrysostom says, "they should be troubled as about to
undergo the greatest burden, when they were sent to preach.
They must think that the Prophets had had yet harder labour, even
as sowing the seed is harder labour, and needs greater anxiety

FAITH OF THE SAMARITANS. I $5

than reaping. As the Gloss says, "Unless the Jews had been
prepared by the Prophets, they would not have listened to the
Apostles."

Ver. 39. — Of that city many believed, &c. They were moved
because she confessed before her fellow-citizens that she had
lived in fornication with a man not her husband, as Christ had
told her, that by means of her own shame she might make known
the honour and glory of Christ, the true Prophet and Messiah.

Ver. 40. — He abode there two days: not longer, lest, if He abode
longer among Samaritans, the Jews should calumniate Him, as
not being the Messiah, who was promised to the Jews, rather
than to the Samaritans.

Ver. 42. — And said to the woman, &c. Saviour of the world,
understand Messiah, as the Syriac Version adds, who was sent by
God for the salvation not of Israel only, as the Jews pretended,
but of all the nations of the whole world. Of the world I say,
lost by sin. Deservedly does S. Chrysostom in this place admire
the. as it were, sudden faith of the Samaritans, when the Jews
were so dilatory and hard to believe in Christ

Ver. 43. — After two days, &c. That is, He went into other cities
and villages of Galilee, leaving out Nazareth, His own city, as S.
Matthew says (iv. 13).

Ver. 44. — For Jesus, &c. The word for expresses the reason
why Jesus left Nazareth, His own city, and went into the other
parts of Galilee, because the Nazarenes despised Him as their
fellow-citizen, and the son of an artizan.

Ver. 45. — When therefore He was come, &c. All the miracles,
especially that He alone had cast out all the buyers and sellers
from the Temple, as well as the many other signs that He had
shown.

Observe: The Jews, after the many miracles of Christ which
they saw, did not believe in His preaching, nor even receive Him.
The Galileans, who also saw many miracles, received Him kindly
but did not believe in Him. But the Samaritans, although they
saw no miracles, received Him, and believed Him to be the

156 S. JOHN, C. IV.

Messiah, sent by God for the salvation of the whole world. So
those who are without, often receive what those of the household
disdain and despise.

Ver. 46. — A certain nobleman. The Latin translator seems to
have had in his Greek copies /3aff/X/ffxo£, i.e., regulus, a little
king. The present reading is /3aff/X/xo?, i.e., royal, understand
counsellor, or piiblic minister, of Herod Antipas; a prefect, or intimate
friend of his. The Syriac has, a royal servant: S. Chrysostom
says, "because he was of the royal race, or discharged some
princely function." Nonnus says, "he was a courtier, who was
over the army." Origen says, " he was perhaps of the family of
Tiberius Caesar, employed by him in some office of Judea."

Capharnaum: it is probable that this nobleman's son lay ill at
Capharnaum, because it was his father's usual place of abode.
And his father, hearing that Jesus, who healed so many sick, was
come out of Judea into Cana of Galilee, went thither, to ask of
Jesus the healing of his son ; as is plain from what follows. The
nobleman seems to have been a Jew, not a Gentile, as both S.
Jerome and Origen think. We may think so, because he had
little faith, and for that reason was reproved by Christ ; whereas
the Gentiles were prompt to believe, and so were praised by Him,
as was the case with the centurion, and the woman of Canaan.

Some, as Irenaeus, think that this nobleman was the same
person as the centurion mentioned in Matthew viii. But they were
different persons. For the centurion, when Christ was willing to go
to him, asked him to remain where he was. But this nobleman
asks Christ to come to his sick son. The former came to Christ
as He was descending from the mountain to Capharnaum. The
nobleman comes to Jesus as He is going into Cana. The boy of
the former was sick with palsy; this one's child was ill with a
fever. Christ was all but present when He healed the former : this
He healed being absent. The one was a servant, the other a son.
So S. Chrysostom, Theophylact, and others.

Ver. 47. — When he had heard, &c. The nobleman having heard
the fame of Christ, that He healed all sick persons whatsoever, pro-

SIGNS AND PRODIGIES. 157

ceeded from Capharnaum to Cana, to ask Jesus, who was staying
there, to come back with him to Capharnaum, to heal his son.
This was a journey of fourteen hours, or leagues, and therefore long
and difficult. Wherefore he had little faith in Jesus, says S. Gregory,
since he did not think He could save unless He were corporeally
present.

Ver. 48.— -Jesus therefore, &c. Signs and prodigies mean nearly
the same thing. Signs , however, are properly what take place in
natural things, and by nature, slowly operating, but which Christ
wrought in a moment, and therefore miraculously. Such are the
healing of the sick. But prodigies are things which surpass the
whole power of nature, as the raising of the dead.

Christ reproved the small faith of the noblemn, in order that
He might sharpen and augment it As though He said, " Thou and
thine hast heard of certain signs and prodigies which I have
wrought ; still thou believest not that I am the Messiah, unless I
do very many more, and that thou thyself mayest behold them with
thine eyes." " He teaches," says S. Chrysostom, "that it is not His
miracles that we are to attend to, but His doctrine. He shows that
signs are especially made gracious to the soul ; and in this case He
heals the father who was labouring under a disease of the mind, no
less than the (bodily) disease of the son." Indeed, He first cures
the unbelief, or the imperfection of faith, in the father, and then the
fever of the son.

Ver. 49. — The ruler saith, &c. My child, Greek, KUI&IOV /JLO-J,
i.e., my little son, meaning, my most beloved, my only delight. " The
ruler," says S. Chrysostom, " being distressed by his son's affliction,
did not pay much attention then to the words of Jesus, but was
wholly taken up with the cure. See how he grovels on the earth —
Come down, ere my child die — as if Jesus could not raise the dead,
or knew not that he had a son."

Ver. 50.— Jesus saith, &c. "This one word," saith Rupert, "was
a true declaration concerning things present, and a command of
life." For this word of Christ was not only declaratory, but effec-
tual : for it produced that which it declared, namely, the life and

158 s. JOHN, c. iv.

healing of the sick. So in the Eucharist, the words, This is My
Body, enunciate in such manner that the Body of Christ is there,
that they cause It to be there present.

Moreover, Christ went to the servant of the centurion : He was
not willing to go to the son of the ruler, because there was in the
centurion confirmed faith, but in the ruler faith was imperfect.

He believed the word which Jesus spake, " The Saviour cured two
persons," says Cyril, "by the same words. He brought the mind
of the ruler to believe, and He delivered the youth from bodily
disease."

Ver. 51. — As he was going, &c. "His servants met him," says
Cyril, " telling of the swiftness and power of the words of Christ, the
Lord so ordering that by the sequence of events the faith of the
ruler might be confirmed."

Ver. 52. — He asked therefore, &c. "He studies to be informed
concerning the hour," says Cyril, "to see if it coincides with the
time when the Saviour's favour was bestowed upon him."

Yesterday, at the seventh hour : this was an hour after noon, when,
the child being healed, the servants had immediately set out to tell
the glad news to the father. But they could not reach him on the
same day. They travelled therefore the rest of that day, and all
through the night, and came to him the next morning, for, as
we have said, Capharnaum was fourteen leagues or hours distant
from Cana.

Ver. 53. — The father therefore knew. "From hence we may
understand," says Bede (in Catena), "that there are degrees of faith,
as well as of other virtues. There is the beginning, the increase,
and the perfection of faith. This man's faith had its beginning
when he asked for his son's safety : its increase when he believed
the word of the Lord saying, Thy son liveth : it was perfected by the
announcement of his servants."

Moreover, because this nobleman dwelt at Capharnaum, as well
as the centurion, we need not doubt that they were friends ; and
that the centurion through this miracle, which was prior in point of
time, conceived so great faith in Christ that he said, " Lord, I am

THE HOUR OF HEALING. 159

not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under my roof, but speak the
word only, and my servant shall be healed" (Matt. viii. 8).

Tropologically, listen to Theophylact, " The little king (regulus)
is every man, not only because, according to the soul, he is nigh to
the King of all, but because he has assumed dominion over all
things. The son is a mind fevered with depraved pleasures and
desires. The going down of Christ is His merciful condescension.
Christ saith, Go thy way, i.e., show continual progress in good
things : then thy son shall live. Otherwise he will die, if thou
ceasest to walk (aright)."

Finally, he was healed at the seventh hour, i. because, as Origen
says, seven is the symbol of the Sabbath, and of rest, in which is
health. 2. Because the same number is the symbol of the seven-
fold Holy Spirit, in Whom is all salvation.

Ver. 54. — This is again, &c. The word again must be joined
with when He was come. Meaning, this was the second miracle
which Christ wrought in Cana of Galilee, when again — that is, a
second time — He was come thither out of Judea. For the first
miracle was the conversion of water into wine, which Christ did,
when He came the first time out of Judea into Galilee. He came,
therefore, twice out of Judea into Galilee, and illustrated each of His
comings by a new miracle. " It is called the second" says Euthy-
mius, " not because after the first He had done no other miracle in
the whole of Palestine (for He had already done many in Judea),
but because, after the first, this was (only) the second which He had
done in Cana." John says this, indicating that an abundance of
miracles were performed subsequently by Christ in Galilee, which
Matthew relates (iv. 23, &c), and which after this are related by
S. John.

CHAPTER V.

I Jesus on the sabbath day cureth him that was diseased eight and thirty years.
10 The Jews therefore cavil, and persecute Him for it. 17 He answereth for
Himself, and reproveth them, shewing by^the testimony of His Father, 32 of
John, 36 of His works, 39 and of the Scriptures, who He is.

A7TER this there was a feast of the Jews ; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called
in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.

3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered,
waiting for the moving of the water.

4 For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the
water : whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made
whole of whatsoever disease he had.

5 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.

6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in thai
case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole ?

7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is
troubled, to put me into the pool : but while I am coming, another steppeth
down before me.

8 Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.

9 And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and
walked : and on the same day was the sabbath.

10 IT The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day :
it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.

1 1 He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take
up thy bed, and walk.

12 Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy
bed, and walk ?

13 And he that was healed wist not who it was : for Jesus had conveyed him-
self away, a multitude being in that place.

14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou
art made whole : sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

15 The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus which had made
him whole.

1 6 And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, be-
cause he had done these things on the sabbath day.

17 H But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.

18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had
broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal
with God.

THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN. l6l

19 IT Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto .you,
The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do : for what
things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

20 For the Father loveth the Son, and shewetli him all things that himself
doeth : and he will shew him greater works than the=e, that ye may marvel.

21 For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the
Son quickeneth whom he will.

22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the
Son;

23 That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He
that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, lie that heareth my word, and believeth on
him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation ;
but is passed from death unto life.

25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the
dead shall, hear the voice of the Son of God : and they that hear shall live.

26 For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have
life in himself ;

27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the
Son of man.

28 Marvel not at this : for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the
graves shall hear his voice,

29 And shall come forth ; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of
life ; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

30 I can of mine own self do nothing : as I hear, I judge : and my judgment is
just ; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath
sent me.

31 If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.

32 There is another that beareth witness of me ; and I know that the witness
which he witnesseth of me is true.

33 Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth.

34 But I receive not testimony from man : but these things I say, that ye might
be saved.

35 He was a burning and a shining light : and ye were willing for a season to
rejoice in his light.

36 But I have greater witness than that of John : for the works which the
Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that
the Father hath sent me.

37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye
have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.

38 And ye have not his word abiding in you : for whom he hath sent, him ye
believe not.

39 Search the scriptures ; for in them ye think ye have eternal life : and they
are they which testify of me.

40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

41 I receive not honour from men.

42 But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.

43 I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not : if another shall
come in his own name, him ye will receive.

VOL. IV. L

162 S. JOHN, C. V.

44 How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the
honour that cometh from God only ?

45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father : there is one that accuseth
you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.

46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me : for he wrote of me.

47 But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words ?

After these things, &c. Observe, John here omits many things
which Christ did in Galilee, but which Matthew records from the
4th to the 1 2th chapter of his Gospel. For what Matthew relates
in his i zth chapter concerning the disciples plucking the ears of
corn took place after the following feast, as will appear presently.

A feast. SS. Chrysostom, Cyril, and others think that this was
the Feast of Pentecost. With more probability, S. Irenseus (lib. 2,
c. 39), Ruperti, and others, think it was the Passover. They
show this (i.) Because in chap, iv., ver. 35, Jesus said there were still
four months unto harvest. That therefore must have been before
the Passover: thus the Passover must have been the first great
subsequent feast.

2. Because the Passover was the feast of feasts. When therefore
it is said absolutely, there was a feast, the Passover, which was the
feast par excellence, is to be understood.

3. Because Christ after His baptism preached for three years and
a half, according to the common consent of divines. It follows
from this that there ought to be notices in the Gospels of four
Passovers, which is the case. Thejirst is mentioned by John in ii. 13 ;
the second in this place ; the third in vi. 4 ; the fourth, just before
His death, xix. 14. But if the feast mentioned in this 5th chapter
were not the Passover, we could only gather the mention of three
by S. John.

Here then comes to a close the account of the first year and
three months of Christ's ministry, that is to say, from January 6,
when He was baptized, until this second Passover, which was kept
in Nisan, or March.

Ver. 2. — Now there is . . . sheep-market: Vulgate, Probatica. The
pool took its name both because it was nigh the gate adjacent to
the Temple, through which the flocks of sheep for the sacrifices

THE POOL OF BETHSAIDA. 163

were driven, and also because the sheep, which were offered to God
every morning and evening in the Temple, were there gathered
together and washed.

A pool: i.e., a place which contained fishes, or at least might
have held them. The Greek is xoXu,u/3^a, a place to swim in,
because fishes, or even men, might swim in it The Vulgate has
piscina. This pool was constructed by Solomon for the service of
the Temple ; hence it is called by Josephus (Bell. Jud., vi. 6)
Solomon's Pool. In it the Nethinims washed the victims which
they handed over to the priests to be offered in the Temple.

Some Greek codices instead of pool read vfari, a porch, or gate,
but S. Chrysostom, Theophylact, Cyril, Euthymius, S. Jerome, and
others passim, read xoAu,ajS^5a, i.e., a pool. The Syriac has a bap-
tistery, or font.

Bethsaida: so read the Vulgate, and among the Greeks SS.
Chrysostom and Cyril. And appositely, for Bethsaida means in
Hebrew a house, i.e., a place of hunting, or fishing. And this is the
signification of the Greek xolvpfiridaa, a place for fish to swim in.
The Greek MSS., however, read Br,6ia$a : so also S. Jerome (loc.
Jfebrceis). Bethesda means in Hebrew a place of pouring forth,
because the rain from the roofs of the houses, and streams of water
from aqueducts, flowed into it. The Syriac has Bethchesda, or house
of mercy, from the Hebrew ipn, chesed, mercy, because there God
showed His mercy to the miserable sick whom He healed ; or else
because righteous men relieved with their alms the sick poor who
lay there.

Having five porches, or porticoes : these porches or porticoes were
places covered above, but open below, either for walking, or taking
rest in, that sick persons might rest in them secure from rain, or the
heat of the sun, and immediately step out of them into the pool
when its angel moved the water.

Ver. 3. — In them . . . languishing people (Vulg.) ; Greek, aadmotTuv •
Eng. Ver. sick folk ; withered (Vulg.) aridorum, dry, i.e., whose arm,
or hand, or foot, or some other limb, was lifeless.

An angel of the Lord: either Raphael, or some other. Raphael, who

164 S. JOHN, C. V.

presides over bodily healing, is so called from the Hebrew, which
signifies the medicine, or physician of God. Whence he cured Tobit
of his blindness.

According to a time (Vulg.), i.e., at a certain time determined by
God, or the angel, but unknown to men. Wherefore what Tertullian
and Cyril say does not seem to be correct, that it was only once in
the year, namely, at Pentecost, that the angel went down into the
pool. For if so, the sick folk would not have lain beside it (for so
long a time), but would have waited at home until Pentecost was
close at hand. As Euthymius says, " By speaking of a stated time,
he showed that the miracle was not continually taking place, but at
certain times, unknown indeed to men, though often, as I think,
in the course of the year."

The water was moved (Vulg.) ; Greek, tratuaasro bdug, i.e., he dis-
turbed or troubled the water. "The sound of moving signified that
angels were present to sanctify the water," says S. Cyril. "The
water was moved in order to show that the angel had descended,"
says S. Ambrose.

And he that first went down, &c. In order to show the value of
labour and diligence, and that we ought to be swift and active to
take God's benefits. Thus it was necessary for him who would
gather the manna to rise at dawn, for when the sun was risen it
melted, " that it might be made known unto all that it was needful
to prevent the rising of the sun for Thy blessing, and to worship
Thee at the dawning of the day " (Wisd. vi. 28). For God gives
His gifts to the watchful and earnest, not to the slow and sleepy.
Thus in the race only he who excels the rest receives the prize
(i Cor. ix. 24).

You will ask why, after the troubling of the water, as it is in the
Greek, only he who first stepped in after the troubling was healed ?
I answer, that the literal reason was to show that this power of
healing did not proceed from any natural virtue of the water, but
from the moving of the angel, and the command of God. This
moving of the angel did not impress any physical power or quality
upon the water to heal any disease, but it was a sign of the Divine

SPIRITUAL MEANING OF "TROUBLING." 165

power and working, which were about to heal that sick person who
had previously, by his own diligence, stirred up himself, and had
gone down into the water that he might there receive the miraculous
blessing of God. This moving, therefore, was an invitation to the
sick to receive healing in the troubled water.

Appositely indeed did the angel make use of this sign of motion,
because, whilst it was being moved, the virtue of the water became
lively and efficacious. For life consists in motion, death in quietude
and torpor.

Tropologically, the reason was to signify that the sinner, when he
is converted and healed by God, is wont to be troubled and agitated
in his conscience by various emotions of fear, shame, and hope.
For by these God moves a man to repentance and contrition, that
he may thereby be healed, as the Council of Trent teaches.

Of whatsoever disease. From hence it is plain that the healing
virtue of this pool did not proceed from the victims which were
washed in it, nor from wood lying at the bottom, of which the cross
of Christ was afterwards made, as some have supposed, but was
supernatural and miraculous. For God wished to bestow this
benefit upon believing people about the time of Christ's coming (for
there is no mention of it in the Old Testament), in order that
Christ thus healing a sick man might show that He was God, who
had given this property to the pool, and therefore that He without
it could heal the sick. Wherefore it would seem that this gift was
taken away from the ungrateful Jews when they killed Christ, for
we find no subsequent mention of it. As Tertullian says (cont.
Jud., c. 13), "The pool of Bethsaida, which, to the coming of Christ,
healed the sicknesses of Israel, afterwards ceased from bestowing its
benefits through their persevering fur}-."

Allegorically, God willed that this pool should be a token of His
Passion and His Baptism. For as the angel descended into the
water, so Christ went down to His Passion and torments ; and in
them, as in water, He was immersed and buried. And as the pool
was red with the blood of the victims which were washed in it, so
was Christ ruddy, and stained with His own blood (Isa. Ixiii. 2), that

1 66 S. JOHN, C. V.

by the merit of His blood He might cause baptism (wherefore the
Syriac here translates baptistery), in whose water believers are washed,
to heal all spiritual infirmities. So Tertullian (de Eapthmo, c. 5),
S. Ambrose (de Spir. Sc., lib. i, c. 7), and S. Chrysostom. The latter
says, " For when God wished to instruct us in the belief of baptism
now nigh at hand, He drove away not only pollutions, but diseases
by means of water : for the nearer the images and figures were to
the truth, they were more illustrious than the ancient figures."
And S. Austin says, "To descend into the troubled water is humbly
to believe in the Lord's Passion. There one was healed to signify
unity. Whosoever came afterwards was not healed, because whoso
is outside of unity cannot be healed."

Ver. 5. — A man having an infirmity : Greek and Vulgate. S.
Chrysostom and others say that this sick man was a paralytic.

Tropologically, this infirm man represents one who has grown old
in a course of sin : who lies without strength in habits of vice, and
is without any power to do good. For as palsy dissolves the bonds
which knit the limbs together, so does a habit of sin enervate and
dissolve the strength of the soul, so that men cannot arise out of it,
and resist it, unless they are raised and strengthened by the mighty
grace of God. Hence it is plain that such a palsy as this was
naturally incurable ; and we see that for thirty-eight years it could
not be healed by any skill. Christ therefore took upon Himself
to heal this palsy rather than the diseases of the other sick who
were there, in order to show forth both His Almighty power and His
infinite mercy. This was why Christ determined to heal Paul, who
was labouring even beyond the rest of the incredulous and impious
Jews under the worst spiritual disease of unbelief, as he himself
shows us in the beginning of his ist Epistle to Timothy. As S.
Austin says, " The great Physician descended from heaven because
one who was sick unto death lay on the earth." On the symbolical
meaning of the thirty-eight years see S. Augustine in loc., where he
says, amongst other things, that it was the symbol of weakness, as
forty is the symbol of healing and perfection. " If therefore," he
says, " the number forty has the perfection of the Law, and the Law

CHRIST GIVES TO THE POOL ITS EFFICACY. l6/

is not fulfilled except by the twofold precept of charity, what
wonder that he was sick, who lacked two of the forty?" The two-
fold love, viz., of God and his neighbour, was lacking.

Ver. 6. — When Jesus saw, &c. Christ knew well that he had a
desire to be healed, but He asked the question — i. To afford the
sick man an opportunity for conversation, and from thence of being
healed. As S. Cyril says, " Herein was a great proof of the com-
passion of Christ, that He did not (always) wait for the entreaties
of those who were sick, but prevented them by His mercy."

2. That He might sharpen the man's attention to the instan-
taneous character of the miracle, and so to the words and deeds of
Christ. From all these He might know with certainty that he was
healed, not by the pool, nor by medicine, but by Christ alone, who
was superior to all the virtue of the pool, or of medicine, and so
might believe in Him as a prophet, and the Messiah, and might in
penitence ask and obtain of Him remission of his sins. Wherefore
He healed him beside the healing pool, but without touching it,
that He might show that it was He who had given its virtue to the
pool, and that He therefore, without the aid of the pool, could heal
him by His word alone.

Ver. 7. — The sick man answered, &c. The sick man does not
answer Christ's question directly. He takes for granted that every
one knew that he desired to be healed. Therefore he makes mention
of the way of obtaining healing by means of the pool. As though
he had said, " I am prevented by palsy from going into the pool,
for I have none to carry me. I am a poor man. If therefore
Thou canst help me in this matter, do so." For he thought that
when Christ asked the question, Dost t/wu wish to be healed? He
meant, " Dost thou wish that I should carry thee into the pool, when
the angel moves the water, that thou mayest in it be healed ? " As
yet he did not know the power of Jesus, for he had never seen Him.

The Syriac translates a little differently : Even so, Lord (I do
wish to be healed), but I have not a man. Beautifully does S.
Augustine say, " In very deed was that man (Jesus) necessary for his
salvation, but it was that man who is also God."

1 68 S. JOHN, C. V.

Ver. 8. — -Jesus saith unto him, &c. These words of Christ were
practical and efficacious. In saying Arise, He caused him to arise,
and healed him. As S. Augustine says, " It was not a command of
work, but an operation of healing." And S. Cyril, " Such power and
virtue were not of man; it is a property of God alone to command
like this." Christ bade him take up his bed, that it might be
evident to all that He had healed him, yea, that he had been made
instantly stout and strong, so as to be able to carry his bed.
Wherefore Euthymius in this passage observes that Christ was
accustomed, after the miracles which He wrought, to add something
by which their truth and greatness might be perceived. Thus
in this instance He bade the paralytic take up his bed, which he
could not have done unless he was healed ; yea, stout and strong.
So after the multiplication of the loaves, He ordered more fragments
to be taken up than were originally in the bread. So He said to
the leper whom He healed, " Go show thyself to the priest." So
He ordered something to be given to eat to the girl whom He
raised from the dead (Mark v. 43).

Tropologically, S. Gregory (Horn. 12 in Ezech.) applies these
words to sinners who have been justified by penance, who, by the
just judgment of God, suffer temptations from their former sins.
He says, " The sick man restored to health is bidden to carry the
bed in which he had been carried. For it is necessary that every
one who is healed should bear the contumely of the flesh, in which
he had before lain in his sickness. What then is it to say, Take
up thy bed, and go unto thine house, but, " Bear the temptations of
the flesh, in which thou hast hitherto lain ? "

Thus S. Mary of Egypt for seventeen years after her conver-
sion suffered dreadful temptations of the flesh, because she had
previously lived for that number of years immodestly. Sins there-
fore are their own executioners, and their own righteous avengers.
What before pleased afterwards torments : what willingly thou hast
done, the same thou shall hereafter unwillingly suffer.

Symbolically, S. Augustine says (Tract. 17), "Arise ; that is, love
God, who is above. Take up thy bed ; i.e., love thy neighbour, bear

CHRIST THE LORD OF THE SABBATH. 169

his infirmities, according to the words, ' Bear one another's burdens,
and so fulfil the law of Christ.' When thou wast weak thy neigh-
bour carried thee : thou art made whole, carry now thy neighbour.
Carry him with whom thou walkest, that thou mayest come to Him
with whom thou desirest to abide."

Ver. 9. — And immediately (Syriac) in that moment . . . for on that
day was the Sabbath. Christ designedly healed upon the Sabbath,
both because the Sabbath was the highest festival of the Jews, which
therefore it was right to sanctify above other days by good works,
such as healing a sick man like this paralytic : and also because
He hereby wished to show the Jews that He was the Lord of the
Sabbath. For in bidding him take up his bed, which was a thing
forbidden by the old Law, He showed that He was Messiah and
pod. Moreover, because the Sabbath was a day dedicated to rest
and the praise of God, Christ gave rest from his pains to this sick
man, and so afforded a notable occasion for praising God on this
day.

Ver. 10. — The Jews therefore, &c. As Nonnus paraphrases,
"Clamorously they uttered an accusing charge, ' It is the Sabbath,
which every one ought to keep wholly in rest : it is not lawful for
thee to carry thy bed.' " Speaking generally, they say the truth ;
for among the Jews it was a matter of the highest obligation to keep
the Sabbath. All work was then forbidden, as appears from Exodus
xx. 8. And especially the carrying of burdens on that day is for-
bidden by Jeremiah (xvii. 21, &c.). Christ, however, here says the
contrary to the sick man whom He cured, because He, being Lord of
the Sabbath, could dispense with its obligation. Moreover, what
was forbidden by the Law upon the Sabbath was servile work, not
a pious and Divine work like this. Christ bade the man who was
healed take up his bed that the crowds of people who were flocking
into the Temple on the Sabbath might become acquainted with
the miracle, and acknowledge Jesus, its author, to be the Messiah,
giving Him thanks.

Ver. ii. — He answered them, &c. Understand, This was indeed a
Divine man. and by Divine power has healed me. Therefore He is a

I/O S. JOHN, C. V.

friend of God, and would not bid me do anything except what is
pleasing to God. As S. Augustine says, "Should I not receive a
command from Him from whom I have received healing ? " Just
indeed was this defence of the sick man, which the Jews ought
to have understood and accepted, but being blinded by pride they
could not receive it, and so sinned by persecuting Christ and fell
into hell.

Ver. 12. — Therefore they asked him, &c. Being indignant, they say
with threats, " Who is that bold and insolent man, who dare bid thee,
contrary to the Law, carry thy bed upon the Sabbath day ? Verily,
that man is not of God who does not keep the Sabbath which God
has ordained." Thus they spoke through a blind prejudice derived
from this Law, which they did not understand. Whereas, on the
contrary, they ought to have understood that He who had miracu-
lously healed the sick man, could not have done it except by the
singular authority and help of God, and therefore that He had
equally received from God the right to say on the Sabbath, Take
up thy bed and walk.

Ver. 13. — But he who was healed, &c. The man knew not the
name of Jesus, nor whither He had gone, nor indeed who He was,
for he had never seen Him before.

Departed. Euthymius gives the reason. " As soon as He had
healed the man, He withdrew because of the crowd, partly to avoid
the praise of the just, and partly to take away occasion for the
envy of the unjust." S. Chrysostom gives another reason: That the
man's testimony in the absence of Jesus might be less liable to
suspicion. For if he who was healed had praised Christ to the
Jews before His face, he might have seemed to have done it out of
favour. But now that he praised Him in His absence, it is evident
that he did so from the love of the truth.

Ver. 14. — Afterwards Jesus, &c. The Arabic is, Now thou art
healed, return not to sin, lest a worse evil be done thee.

In the Temple. From this it appears that this man who was
healed by Christ, as soon as he had carried his bed to his house,
went to the Temple to give God thanks for His great benefit of

DISEASE BECAUSE OF SIN. 171

healing. As Chrysostom says, "Assuredly a great mark of piety
and reverence. He did not go to the market-place, or the porch ;
he did not indulge in pleasure, or ease; he was occupied in the
Temple."

Sin no more. From hence it is plain that God often sends
diseases upon sick persons on account of their sins ; and that this
man had been afflicted because of his sins. Thus this paralytic,
who had been sick for thirty-eight years, from a time before Christ
was born, had committed some crime, which God wished him to
suffer for, and expiate, by this protracted disease. Christ therefore
tacitly admonishes the man's conscience that he should be mindful
of his sin, and be contrite, and avoid it for the time to come. At
the same time He intimates that He, being a Prophet, knew this
by Divine revelation. Wherefore when sickness is sent by God
upon any one, let him examine his conscience, and blot out by
repentance and confession the sin for which God has sent the
sickness, and let him pray to God to pardon his sin, and take
away the disease.

I said, often sends, for God sometimes sends diseases upon holy
men that he may prove, increase, and crown their patience, as He
did in the case of Job, whose whole dispute with his friends turned
upon this point ; his friends urging that his sins had given occasion to
his being so grievously afflicted, whilst he, on the contrary, contended
that he was free from sins, and had not deserved those afflictions.
And God in the last chapter adjudges the dispute in his favour, and
condemns his friends. The same thing will appear in the case of the
man who was born blind (chap, ix.), of whom Christ spake thus,
"Neither did this man sin, nor his parents, that he was born blind."

Moreover, as Christ healed this sick man's body at the pool, so
did He both by His inward inspiration, and by his external admoni-
tion, heal his soul in the Temple. He brought back to his memory
the sins of his youth, by reason of which he had deserved so long
a sickness, and he moved his heart to contrition for them, and to
ask pardon from God, that so he might be justified. Indeed, Christ
healed his body for this very reason that He might heal his soul.

172 S. JOHN, C. V.

Lest a worse thing, &c. "For," as Theophylact says, "he who is
not made better by a former punishment is kept for greater torments,
as being insensate, and a despiser." "And this happens," says
Euthymius, " either in this life, or in the life to come, or in both."
" A relapse is worse than the original disease." So a relapse into
a fault is worse than the fault on account of the greater ingratitude,
boldness, impudence.

Ver. 15. — The man went away, and told, &c. Not out of male-
volence, but from gratitude, that he might not hide the author of
so great a kindness. So Augustine, Chrysostom, and others. " He
went away and told," says Euthymius, "not as being wicked, that
he might betray, but as being grateful, to disclose who was his
benefactor. Because he thought he should be guilty of a crime if
he kept silence, therefore he proclaimed the benefit."

Ver. 1 6. — Wherefore the Jews persecuted Jesus, &c. Some Greek
MS., also the Syriac and Arabic Versions, add, And sought to kill
Him. Wherefore, i.e., on this pretext, for the true cause was envy.
For the Jews, especially the scribes and Pharisees, were envious at
this glory of Jesus, and grieved that the people should prefer Him
to themselves. They were indignant that their wickedness was
reproved by Him, and condemned by His holiness. For they
wished to be paid court to as Rabbis, and doctors of the Law, and
oracles of wisdom and sanctity.

Ver. 17. — But Jesus answered, &c. " The Father worketh,n says
S. Augustine (lib. 4, de Gen., cap. 12), "both affording suitable
government to things created, and having in Himself eternal tran-
quillity : " for, as he says elsewhere, " being still He worketh, and
working He is at rest." And after an interval, "The power and
virtue of the Creator is the cause of existence of every creature.
And if this virtue were ever to cease from governing created things,
their forms (species] would cease at the same time, and all nature
would come to an end." Like as the light in the air vanishes if
the sun withdraw his rays, by which light is produced. The mean-
ing is, "You, O ye scribes, object against Me the law of Sabbatical
rest, which God commanded you because He Himself rested on

MY FATHER WORKETII. 173

the Sabbath from all His work. But I answer that God on the
Sabbath only rested from producing new species of things. But
He did not rest in such a manne/ that He is not every Sabbath
continually working, that is to say, governing and preserving the
world, and all the things that are in it, moving the heavens, bringing
forth one thing out of another, feeding and healing all living things,
&c. This, which is work of the highest beneficence, is not servile
work, but pious and Divine. Such work is indeed lawful ; yea, it
adorns and hallows the Sabbath. So too I, who am the co-equal
Son of the Father, always work, and always have wrought the same
things with Him. For neither do I work without the Father, nor
the Father without Me." So S. Augustine and others.

Observe the Hebraism : and I work, that is, so, or in like manner,
J work. For the word and, when it is the mark of conjunction,
since it joins like things, is a sign of comparison and similitude, and
means the same thing as thus, as is constantly the case in the Book
of Proverbs.

Ver. 1 8. — Wherefore, &c. His Father, Greek, var'sea, tdiov, i.e.,
His own Father, because Christ alone is the peculiar, and by nature,
Son of God.

Making Himself equal with God, because He had said that not
merely like things, but that the self-same things which the Father
works, were wrought by Him, and therefore that He in all things
co-operated, not as a servant, but as a Son, of the same substance
with the Father. As Cyril says, "Seeing that He was a man, and
not knowing that God dwelt in Him, they could not bear that He
should call G9d His Father in a special manner." The chief priests
and scribes therefore wished to kill Jesus, because they feared lest,
as His glory increased, their authority should decrease ; indeed lest
Jesus, persuading the people that He was God, should be pre-
ferred by the people to the priests, and should deprive them of their
authority, and should bring in His own new priests and pontiffs,
which we see He actually did do.

Ver. 19. — Verily, Verily, &c. . . . cannot: "not from defect of
power," says Euthymius, " but on account of inseparability. For

174 s- JOHN, c. v.

it is impossible that the Son should do anything which the Father
does not." So S. Chrysostom and S. Augustine. Except, or unless.
This word is not here exceptive, signifying the same as but only.
It has the same meaning in Matt. xii. 4.

What He seeth: Greek, /3xi-r?j, i.e., may see. For it is not before
He worketh, but as soon as He seeth the Father working, that He,
Christ, worketh with Him. For Christ as God does not produce
what is similar, but what is identical with the work of the Father.
For the action of the Father, which both see and work together, is
the same. I say action, but not the Hypostatic Union, nor the
things which depend upon it, for this union has not to do with
action, but with the terminus in quo. Wherefore, although the
whole Blessed Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, by their
Divine action, have brought about this Hypostatic Union, yet the
union itself is terminated in the Son, and does not extend to the
Father and the Holy Ghost. Wherefore the Son only, not the
Father and the Holy Ghost, became incarnate, and died, &c.

Observe, Christ in this place only means to say that He has
received from God the Father His Divine Essence, power, and
working, as from His Author. He makes use of the word see, as
if the Son did nothing except what He seeth the Father do, or what
He sees to be the work of His Father. For children and pupils are
wont to imitate the ways and deeds of their fathers and teachers.
Christ is speaking after the manner of men, or as amongst men it
becomes a son to speak of his father.

It may be added that Christ in a proper and theological sense
uses the word see, because He proceeds from the Father as the
Word, which is the term of the vision and the notional cognition of
God the Father. For the Father, as seeing and understanding
Himself and all things, produces and begets the Word, and by this
communicates to Him His own vision and action. Therefore the
Son neither seeth, nor doeth anything except what He seeth the
Father see, or do. For He Himself is the Word and the Idea, in
whom, as a Term, the Father expresses and imprints all His own
vision and cognition, both speculative and practical. The meaning

THE FATHER SHEWETH THE SON.

then is this, " Whatever I work, the Father worketh the same, and
by altogether the same vision, cognition, will, power, and action.
Wherefore if ye accuse Me because I have healed one paralysed on
the Sabbath day, ye accuse God the Father also. For He hath
wrought this with Me, because He in Me and by Me worketh all
things. Indeed, I have received all My work from the Father.
Wherefore, if ye believe that God the Father works all things rightly,
wisely, and holily, ye ought to believe the same of Me, and there-
fore that this healing on the Sabbath was a work prudent, holy,
and Divine."

Doth likewise: altogether in the same manner, with the same
liberty, the same power, the same authority. So S. Gregory
Nazianzen (Orat. 2, de Filio). S. Cyril says, "They do likewise, or
work in like manner, who are altogether of the same nature : but
as to things which have a diverse essence there cannot be in them
the same mode of working. As therefore He (the Son) is God of
true God, He is able to do likewise the same things as the Father."

Ver. 20. — For the Father, &c. Showeth, not as a master to a
disciple, says Euthymius, but as a father to a son, as God to God.
Showeth therefore means gives, communicates, especially because, as
I have said, the Son by demonstration, i.e., by understanding and
vision, proceedeth as the Word from the Father. To show in the
sense of give, exhibit, attribute, is used in i Sam. xiv. 12; Exod.
xxxiii. 19; Ps. iv. 6, &c. That this is the meaning here is plain
from what follows. Moreover, the Father showeth, i.e., communicates
all things to the Son in that He is God, not by free love, but by
nature, out of the fecundity of the Divine Essence, of which the
greatest sign among men is love. For he who among men com-
municates all things to his son, by so doing gives an eminent token
that he loves him in the highest degree. Moreover, the Father
communicates all things to the Son in that He is Man, of which
communication love is not the sign, but the cause. "For the
Father to show to the Son," says Bede, " is by the Son to do what
He doeth."

Admirably does S. Athanasius say (Disp. cont. Arium, lib. i),

S. JOHN, C. V.

" The Almighty Father hath given to the Son omnipotence, majesty
to majesty, to virtue He has given virtue, to the prudent one He
has given prudence, foreknowledge to the foreknowing, eternity to
eternity, Divinity to Divinity, equality to equality, immortality to
immortality, invisibility to invisibility, to a king a kingdom, life to
life ; and He hath given not something other than that which He
hath ; and as much as He hath, so much hath He given."

You will ask why to manifest and to show here and elsewhere are
put for to give and to communicate. I reply (i.) because God by
showing Himself and His works to the Son, communicates to Him
His own knowledge, and consequently His essence. For God's
knowledge is the same thing as His essence. (2.) By showing,
He illuminates the Son, i.e., He communicates His own light of
wisdom, and of all good, and Himself, wholly to Him. For God
is the uncreate and infinite Light, as S. John shows (i Epist. i. 5).
Lastly, by showing, i.e., by understanding, He produces the Word, i.e.,
the Son. For in God the most noble thing is understanding, and
the most noble action is to understand, to illuminate, to show. For
the noblest and chief power of the soul is intellect and reason.
These command the will, and guide it as it were blindfold ; and by
it they rule and move all the other senses and powers of the soul.
Hence comes the axiom of the wise, " Mind effects all things : " it
is the part of reason to govern. Just as strong as any one is in
intellect, so far is he able to command. For the intellect in con-
ceiving and understanding, by means of conception and intelligence,
in a lively manner incorporates all those things into itself, and as
it were possesses them. For it conceives all things in itself in a
certain lively manner, and forms an appearance of them in itself,
which presents to it all the goodness and beauty of things. Where-
fore the understanding is the eye of the mind. As in the body
the eye is the noblest and most efficacious sense, which incorporates
into itself the forms of all things, far more does the understanding
do this in the mind. Wherefore the blessed in heaven, by means
of the understanding, in understanding and seeing God, incorporate
Him into themselves, possess Him, and are blessed by Him.

BLINDNESS OF THE JEWS. 1 77

This then is the reason of this mode of speech by which to show
is taken for to give, to communicate, to bring one into possession of
the thing shown. This is what Aristotle says, "The intellect by
understanding becomes all things," because by a lively conception
of things it assimilates itself to them, and them to itself. Thus it
seizes and holds them, and makes them to exist in a nobler and
better manner in itself than they are in themselves. For in them-
selves they are often dead and inanimate, but in the intellect they
are living and animated. They live in the highest and most
excellent vital act.

And will show greater things: by showing will give and com-
municate. These greater things are more illustrious mysteries and
miracles, especially the raising of the dead, and the authority to
judge all men ; of both which Christ proceeds to speak.

That ye may marvel. He does not say that ye may believe. For
the scribes and the Jews, when they saw so many miracles of
Christ, wondered at His power, but yet were blinded by envy and
hatred, and would not. believe in Him as the Messiah. Still Christ
did those things with the intention that they should believe in
Him. The heretics act in just the same way even now. They
admire the wisdom, holiness, and miracles of the orthodox saints,
but will not follow their faith, nor imitate their manner of living.
Such is heresy, and the blindness, obstinacy, and malignity of
error.

Ver. 21. — For as the Father, &c. Behold here is the first
greater work which Christ said the Father would show, that is,
communicate, to the Son. As S. Cyril says, " Marvel not that one
who was utterly weakened by long disease was strengthened by
a word, and took up his bed, and went away, for I am about
altogether to destroy death, and to judge the whole world."

So also the Son, &c. He tacitly signifies thac He is God, equal
to the Father in power and liberty to raise and quicken whom
He will

Whom He will. It is not that the Father wills to quicken some,
and the Son wills to quicken others, but the same, because His will

VOL. IV. M

1/8 S. JOHN, C. V.

is conformable, yea, the same as the will of the Father. So
Augustine.

Quickeneth, /.<?., raiseth from the dead, both in this life, as He
raised Lazarus, and in the day of judgment, when He will raise
all mankind.

Ver. 22. — For neither doth tlte Father judge, &c. The Arabic
omits for, but the Greek has it, and appositely. For this is the
second reason by which Christ proves that He is God, and the
second greater work which He said the Father would show Him.
As Cyril says, "He brings forward another Divine and excellent
argument, by which He shows that He is by nature truly God. For
to whom else does it belong to judge the world but to God only ? "

To His Son. One God with Himself, but by His Incarnation
made man. As S. Austin says (lib. i, de Trin., c. 13), " No one shall
see the Father at the judgment of the quick and the dead, but all
shall see the Son, because He is the Son of Man, that He may be
seen by the wicked also, when ' they shall look on Him whom they
pierced.' "

You will say, Christ has been created Judge as man, according
to the words (Acts x. 42), " Who has been constituted by God the
Judge of quick and dead," therefore Christ cannot prove from His
being Judge that He is God. I answer, that this correctly proves
it, because the power of judgment is a thing peculiar to God : it is
a matter of the highest and most ample right. Wherefore neither
would God communicate it, nor could it be fittingly communicated
to a mere man, but to Christ alone, who is both God and man.
For He as God has the supreme authority to judge, but as man, He
is able to exercise this judgment visibly before men, to acquit, or to
condemn. For a judge ought to be seen and heard by those who
are accused.

Ver. 23. — That all, &c. For the Jews who would not then
honour the Son of God, or acknowledge Him to be such, when
they shall see His Divine power and majesty in the day of
judgment, will be compelled to acknowledge, honour, and adore
Him as God.

THE CHIEF ARTICLES OF FAITH. 179

Like as they honour the Father : the words like as signify equality,
not similitude.

He who honmireth not the Son, &c. Because by denying the
Son he denies also the Father ; for father and son are correlative
terms : and he who has not a son cannot be a father. With
regard to God, he who denies that the Son is the Son of God,
denies that God the Father is truly and properly the Father, and
has begotten. Tacitly he asserts that He could not beget a con-
substantial and co-equal Son. Moreover he denies the Father, because
the Father sent the Son into the world, that by Him He might be
honoured, in such a manner that He should be acknowledged to be
the Father properly so called, and to have begotten a Son of the
same substance with Himself, and to be adored with the same latria
as Himself. He therefore who denies that the Son is God, denies
that the Father begat God, which is the highest blasphemy of the
Father. For he deprives the Father of that offspring which is His
equal, and worthy of Himself, and instead of a Divine and un-
created offspring assigns to Him one that is created and mean.
Wherefore he denies Him to be a proper and Divine Father.

Ver. 24. — Verily, verily, &c. See what has been said on iii. 3.
Heareth, so as to believe and obey My word. Thus He subjoins,
and bdieveth in Him that sent Me, and by consequence believeth in
Me as His Son, sent by the Father into the world to save it. He
saith not, and believeth in Me, but speaks with greater amplitude.
For in saying, and believeth in Him that sent Me, He implies the
mystery of the Trinity, and the Incarnation, which two things are
the chief articles of the Faith, and chiefly necessary to salvation.
For He who sent the Son is God the Father ; the Father and the
Son together necessarily breathe the Holy Ghost Lo, you have
the whole Trinity.

Hath, i.e., by right, deservedly, and in hope. See on iii. 16.

Hath passed, i.e., certainly will pass (the perfect is used instead of
the future because of the certainty of the thing, meaning, he will as
certainly and infallibly pass as if he had already passed) from death,
the temporal death of the body, unto life, eternal and blessed, in

180 S. JOHN, C. V.

heaven. For although the reprobate who will be damned will also
be raised again to life, that they may burn in hell, yet that life in
hell is rather a continual death, than life. For, as St. Austin saith,
(de Civ., lib. 6, c. 12), "There is no more complete and worse death,
tnan where death dieth not." For in hell there will be living death,
and deathly life, that is, always dying, but never dead. Again He
speaks yet more plainly. He who believeth and obeyeth God the
Father, and the Son who is sent by Him, hath passed from the
death of the soul, dead through sin, to the spiritual life of grace,
that he may after the death of the body pass to the life of glory.

Ver. 25. — Verily, verily, &c. "Lest thou shouldst think that
this is to come to pass after a very long time, He subjoins, and now
is. For if He were only announcing things future, there might not
unreasonably be doubt, but He saith that these things shall come to
pass whilst He is still conversant upon earth." So Chrysostom. For,
as Theophylact says, " He is speaking here of those three whom He
was about to raise, the widow's son, the daughter of the ruler of the
synagogue, and especially of Lazarus. For this last He was about
to raise in Judea. And Christ is here speaking in Judea to Jews.
This then is the signification of now is. Christ then rises from the
spiritual resurrection of souls from sin to the life of grace, to
the resurrection of those bodies which He was about to raise whilst
He lived on earth. From this He rises to the full resurrection
glory of the bodies which He will raise in the day of judgment.
For from His power to raise souls from the death of sin to the life
of grace, as from a thing greater and more difficult, Christ proves
that He has power to raise the body, a thing less difficult. So
Toletus, Jansen, and others. But S. Cyril and others think that
the reference in this place is to the general resurrection, and they
take the expression, and now is, to refer to the last judgment. For
S. John (rst Epist ii. 18) calls the whole time of the New Law the
last hour, i.e., the last time, because this is the last stage of the
world, and therefore all things which are done in it seem to be, as
it were, present, and to be done in this present hour.

Some add that Christ is here speaking of the saints whom He

LIFE, THE ESSENCE OF GOD. I Si

raised when He Himself arose from the dead (S. Matt, xxvii. 52).
The fullest meaning of the passage is to understand it of all whom
Christ has raised, and will raise from the dead.

And they ffiat hear, i.e., who shall feel the force of the voice of
Christ, or who shall obey Him, as hearing the voice of the Son of
God, who calls the things which are not as though they were.

Ver. 26. — For as the Father, &c. To have life in Himself signifies
three things, i. To have life from Himself and from His own
Essence, and from no other source. For the Essence of God is life,
and His life is His Essence. God therefore essentially, and by His
Essence, is essential, uncreated, and infinite life. 2. That God has
life in Himself, is that He is the fountain of all life^ of angels, men,
and animals. As Euthymius says, To have life in Himself means
that after the manner of a living fountain He is the Author of life,
according to the words, " With Thee is the well of life " (Ps. xxxvi.
10). 3. Which follows from the two previous meanings, to have life
in Himself means to have life in His own power, to be the Lord of
life to all things living, so that He according to His own good
pleasure gives them life, preserves it, and takes it away. This makes
plain the unity of Essence, i.e., of Deity, in the Father and the Son.
For if the Son had a different Essence from the Father, then He
would have life in another, that is to say, in the Father, who gave
Him life. But now He hath life in Himself, i.e,, in His own Divine
Essence, which He hath altogether in common with the Father.
So S. Chrysostom. " Behold," he says, " how they differ not in any
respect whatsoever, save that the one is the Father, and the other
the Son."

So hath He given also, &c. In that He is the Son of God, and
that according to the three ways just spoken of. As S. Augustine
says, that His life might not have need of life, that He should not
be understood to have life by way of participation : for if He had
life by way of participation, He might, by losing the participation,
become without life. Such doctrine concerning the Son accept not,
think not, believe not. The Father therefore continues as life,
the Son also continues as life. The Father is life in Himself,

1 82 S. JOHN, C. V.

.not .from the Son: the Son is life in Himself, but from the
Father."

Ver. 27. — And hath given, &c. Because Christ as God hath life
in Himself, from hence, in that He is man, He hath power to judge
all men. The word because must here be taken specifically, and
means inasmuch as. But it may be taken even more expressively
in a reduplicative and causative sense, as giving the express reason
why God gave Christ judicial authority. That reason is because
Christ is the Son of Man, i.e., because He deigned to become Incar-
nate. As though it were said, "God hath willed to judge men
by Christ a man, that judgment might take place in a congruous
manner, that is, after a sensible and human manner, that as He Him-
self saved the world by the man Christ, so He would also judge it
by the same, by that man, I say, who is God, who took human life,
and laid it down for man's salvation."

Wherefore it is that He by this great emptying of Himself, by
which. He willed to become man, merited this exaltation of judicial
power, that He who was the Saviour of all should be the Judge or
all. So Maldonatus and others. S. Augustine gives also a twofold
reason. The first is, " that those who are to be judged might see
their Judge. For those who shall be judged will be both good and
bad. It was right that in the judgment the form of a servant should
be shown both to the good and the bad, but the form of God should
be reserved for the good only." The second reason is, "because
the Judge shall have that form in which He stood before His judge.
That form which was judged shall judge : unrighteously was it
judged, but righteously shall it judge."

Ver. 28. — Marvel not, &c. . . . the hoiir, i.e., the time of the
Evangelical Law, which is the last, and in the end of which shall
be the resurrection of the dead, and the final judgment.

In their graves : those who are dead and buried, including also
the unburied dead. For as S. Augustine says, " By those who are
buried in ordinary course, He signified also those who do not
receive ordinary burial."

'J'/ie voice of the Son of God: this shall be the sound of the arch-

THE LAST JUDGMENT. 183

angel's, probably Michael's trumpet, Arise, ye dead, come to judgment.
This shall be accompanied by the sound of the trumpets and voices
of other angels. The sound is spoken of as the voice of God,
because by His command, through the ministry of angels, an effect
shall be produced on the air which shall resound throughout the
whole world, and be effectual as at least a moral instrument to raise
the dead. For it is not necessary to attribute to this trumpet any
physical power of raising the dead.

Ver. 29. — They that have done good, &c. . . . shall proceed, Greek
fxrof'.-jaotrai, i.e., shall go forth, out of their tombs and their graves,
towards the Valley of Jehoshaphat, where the universal judgment
shall take place.

Christ here sets before the unbelieving Jews His authority to
judge, that through fear of it He may make them fear, may make
them contrite, and convert them. He did the same at the end of
His life, when, being adjured by Caiaphas, the High Priest, to say
if He was the Son of God, He answered that He was, and added
(Matt xxvi. 64), " Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on
the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven."

There is nothing more terrible, and at the same time more effectual
for rousing the minds of men to repentance and leading a holy life
than a lively representation of the last judgment. So Christ, when
He ascended into heaven, commanded His apostles by the angels
to preach his return to judgment (Acts i. n). S. Paul pressed
the same thing upon the Areopagites (Acts xvii. 31). For in that
judgment shall the destiny of each be finally decided for everlast-
ing happiness or everlasting woe. " In all thy works," therefore,
"remember thy last end, and thou wilt never sin" (Ecclus. vii. 40).
In very deed that fateful day will be the last of this world, and the
horizon of eternity, which shall separate the just from the unjust,
and set them far apart, heaping upon the just utmost felicity, and
weighing down the unjust with calamity, and that for ever and ever.
Think constantly of this wonderful difference, be zealous for holiness,
live for eternity.

Ver. 30. — I cannot, &c. Christ shows that His judgment, by which,

1 84 S. JOHN, C. V.

as man, He will judge all men, will be a just judgment, for this reason,
that He cannot either judge or will any other thing than that
which the Father judges and wills. For He, in that He is God,
has the very same judgment, the very self-same Divine mind and
will that the Father has. But in that He is man, He is wholly
governed by the Divinity and the indwelling Word, so that He
can neither judge nor will anything but that which the Godhead
judges and wills. So S. Augustine.

As I hear, so I judge : always, and especially in the judgment
day. / hear, i.e., / know, I understand. As S. Chrysostom says,
" By hearing nothing else is meant than that nothing else is possible
but the Father's judgment. I so judge as if the Father Himself
were Judge."

Because I seek not Mine own will, i.e., Mine own alone, or diverse
from the Father's will, for I have no such will, but the will of Him
that sent Me: for My Divine will is identical with the Father's,
and My human will is wholly conformable to the Divine will. As
S. Augustine says, "not that He has no will of His own in judging,
but because His will is not so His own as to be diverse from the
Father's will." He gives the reason a priori why His future judg-
ment should be just, because, indeed, His will is altogether subject
and conformed to the Divine will, because it subsists in the
Divine Person of the Word, and is ruled by it. For the will bends
and rules the intellect and its judgment in whatever direction it
pleases.

Ver. 31. — If I bear witness of Myself, that I am the Son of God,
and therefore as man altogether conformed to the judgment and will
of God, My witness is not true, that is, legitimate, judicial, worthy of
credit. The word true here is not opposed \.o false, but to untrust-
worthy, uncertain. It answers to the Hebrew word neeman, faith-
ful, worthy of credit. For it may be that a man may utter most
true testimony concerning himself, and yet may fail to gain credit
because of a suspicion that he has too great love of himself, as
Euthymius says.

There is a prolepsis by which Christ meets a tacit objection of

WITNESSES TO CHRIST. 185

the scribes, to the following effect : " Thou, O Jesus, proclaimest
Thyself to be the Son of God, and so in all things to follow the
judgment of God. But we will not believe Thee unless Thou
shalt prove what Thou sayest by the testimony of God, or of men
worthy of credit This testimony of Thine in a matter which
peculiarly concerns Thyself appears to us open to suspicion/'
Jesus replies, " I grant you that My testimony concerning Myself
is not legitimate, nor worthy of credit, if I alone bear witness of
Myself. I grant therefore that you need not believe Me alone;
but I am not alone, but others worthy of credit bear witness of Me,
as will appear by what follows." Christ is here speaking of the
common opinion of the Jews, not uttering His own sentiments, as
appears from chap. viii. 13, where the Jews openly object to Christ,
Thou bearest testimony of Thyself, Thy testimony is not true. Then
Christ answers, My testimony is true, &c., because I am not alone, buf
I, and the Father who sent Me. So S. Cyril.

Ver. 32. — There is another who beareth, &c. Another, viz., God
the Father, who at My baptism spoke in thunder from heaven,
This is My beloved Son. So S. Cyril, Bede. Again, another, i.e.,
John the Baptist, testifies to Me. So S. Chrysostom and others.
Another then here means, there are others who testify that I am the
Son of God, namely, God the Father, John the Baptist, Moses and
the Prophets, also My Divine works and miracles. For all of
these Christ proceeds to adduce as witnesses to prove that He is
Messiah, and the Son of God.

And I know that it is trite. So far as I Myself am concerned, I
do not need these witnesses, for by Divine knowledge I know that
what they testify is true, that I am the Son of God. But I bring
forward their testimony for your sakes, that ye may believe what
is attested by so many witnesses.

Ver. 33. — Ye sent unto John, &c. Ye sent messengers to him as
a man in your estimation holy, and worthy of all credit, to ask him
if he were the Messias. John answered that not he, but I, am the
Messias. This testimony he gave not out of friendship, or favour
to Me, but to the truth. For that he would testify to nothing but

1 86 S. JOHN, C. V.

the truth, ye yourselves thought, when ye were willing to receive
him as the Messiah. Therefore ye cannot reject his testimony, says
Euthymius.

Ver. 34. — But I receive not, &c. I do not require the witness
of John, for I am God, and the Son of God, to whom John, Moses,
and the Prophets ought to yield, and be taught by, and receive
authority from. ,

JBut this I say that ye may be saved: meaning, as S. Chrysostom
says, "I do not need the testimony of man, for I am God. But
since John, whom ye admire as a prophet, is of so great authority
with you, when ye do not believe Me working miracles, I bring
back to your remembrance his testimony, that I may draw you and
save you."

Ver. 35. — He was a burning and shining lamp : Greek, 6 ^-/vog,
the illustrious and famous lamp. John was not the light itself,
shining of itself (for this was what Christ Himself was), but he was
the lamp or lantern which, receiving light from Christ, burnt in
himself with the knowledge and love of God, and afforded light to
others by the example of his sanctity, and the fervour of his preach-
ing. For God sent John after a long silence for ages of all the
prophets, as it were a heavenly prophet, to be a lamp to illuminate
the dark ignorance of the Jews, and to show them the true Light,
Christ the Lord, and to bear a torch before Him. So S. Cyril and
others. For the Only Begotten One is Light by nature, who, out
of Light, that is, the Substance of the Father, hath shone forth.
John indeed was a lamp, because he shone with light derived from
Him. He shone through oil, i.e., with the grace of the Holy Spirit,
which coming into our souls as it were lamps, nourishes and keeps
them. Wherefore the type of John was the lamp of oil burning
before God in the Temple in the Holy of Holies. For so did John
shine before Christ. Therefore was John the Baptist always a
burning and shining lamp in the tabernacle of witness, as Cyril says.

Moraliter, S. Bernard (Serm. de S. Joan Bapt.) teaches that holy
men and preachers ought first to burn with charity and zeal in
themselves before they shine in preaching to others. "John was a

S. ATHANASIUS. l8/

burning and shining lamp. It does not say, shining and burning,
because the brightness of John sprang from his fervour, not his
fervour from his splendour. For there are some who do not shine
because they burn, but rather burn in order that they may shine.
But these plainly do not burn with the spirit of charity, but with
the love of vanity. Listen to Alcuin on this passage : "John was a
lamp, enlightened by light from Christ, burning with faith and love,
shining in word and action, who was sent before to confound the
enemies of Christ, according to the words, ' I have prepared a lamp
for My Christ, I will clothe His enemies with confusion '" (Vulg.)

Such a one was S. Athanasius. Hence S. Gregory Nazianzen
(Orat. 21), speaking in his praise, calls him "the eye of the world,
the prelate of priests, the leader and master of confessors, a
sublime voice, a firm pillar of the faith, next to John the Baptist, a
second burning and shining lamp." He adds, " Athanasius was as an
adamant to the persecutors " (by his invincible patience), " a magnet
to disputers, to attract them to himself, and to make them be at
harmony one with another." And again, " Let virgins praise him
as their betrothed, wives as their director, anchorites as him who
wakes them up, monks as their lawgiver, the simple as their guide,
those given to speculation as their theologian, the joyous as their
moderator, the unfortunate as their consoler, the aged as their
staff, youths as their instructor, the poor as a dispenser, the rich as
their almoner, the sick as their physician, the whole as the guardian
of their health, and, in short, all as he who is made all things to all
that he may gain all, or as many as possible." Such a one was
S. Basil, of whom the same Nazianzen says, "The voice of Basil
was as thunder, because his life was as lightning." Because he
lightened in his life, therefore did he thunder with his voice.

But ye wished to rejoice for an hour (Vulg.), i.e., for a short time, in
his light. When John began to preach with so much sanctity of
life and zeal, ye rejoiced because so great a prophet had been sent
by God, who, ye trusted, would be your Messiah. But when John
began to rebuke your wickedness, and to indicate that I, the poor
and lowly One, was the Messiah, ye despised John. Ye would not

1 88 S. JOHN, C. V.

believe his testimony, because if ye had believed it, ye would have
received Me as the Messiah.

Ver. 36. — But 1 have greater witness, &c. : i.e., than John's witness ;
greater in the sense of surer, more efficacious, that I am Messiah, the
Son of God. This greater testimony is My works, My miracles
which the Father hath given Me, that by them I may show that
He hath sent Me. " For one might find fault with John's testimony,
as if it were given out of favour," says Euthymius ; " but the works
being free from all suspicion stop the mouths of the contentious,"
says S. Chrysostom. " For the works might convince even the
insane."

The works (the miracles) which I do, &c., such as the recent
healing of the paralytic. I speak of My supernatural works, which
could not be effected by any natural cause, but are peculiar to God
alone. Wherefore they are as it were the seal of God, by which He
bears testimony to Me, and seals and confirms My doctrine. So
S. Chrysostom and others.

From this it follows that the Jews both could and ought to have
known of a certainty that Jesus was the Messiah, or the Christ,
and the Son of God, by the miracles which He wrought, i. Because
He did them with this end and object, that by them He might
prove that He was Christ and God. 2. Because Jesus did all the
miracles which the prophets had foretold would be done by Christ.
3. Because although certain of the prophets and holy men had done
some miracles, they had done neither so many nor so great as
Jesus had done. Again, the prophets had wrought miracles, not
by their own power, but through invoking God ; but Christ did
them by His own power, and His own authority, as being the Lord.
Whence it was easy to discern that He was the Messiah and God.

In two special ways therefore the miracles of Jesus prove that He
is God. First, by the way in which He wrought them, as I have
said; because He employed that most mighty power, peculiar to
Himself, in working miracles. Then He reserved some miracles to
Himself, which by their very nature prove beyond possibility of
doubt that He was God. Of this sort was His birth of a Virgin, His

CHRIST'S MIRACLES UNIQUE. 189

knowing the secrets of the heart, and what was in man, and all
things. This last was the reason which the apostles gave for
believing that He came forth from God. Of like nature was His
foretelling all things which were about to happen in His Passion,
death, and resurrection, according to the Scriptures. Also that
when He willed He laid down His life upon the cross, and resumed
it on the third day ; that He ascended into heaven ; that He sent
the Holy Ghost ; lastly, that He transmitted that marvellous power
of working miracles to His apostles and seventy-two disciples.
This also was peculiar to Christ of which I am about to speak, — the
force and the power at all times and in all places, ready and at
hand, wholly unrestricted, of working such great, such incredible
miracles, and so wholly beyond the power of nature; so full and
perfect, so salutary, so true, so sure and glorious, so Divine, and so
in accordance with the character of the Son of God ; among which
stands pre-eminent that salutary and instantaneous power of healing
every kind of disease in all who in all places and at all times
approached Him for the sake of recovering their health. This
absolute power, and ever-abiding virtue, belongs to Christ alone
Neither Elijah, nor Eliseus, nor even Moses, nor any angel, had it
in the time of the Old Testament; for all these only wrought
miracles at intervals, as appears from perusing their histories.
Moreover, their miracles are summed up in a definite number ; the
miracles of Christ were continuous and incessant, and could not be
numbered. So S. Augustine and others. Add to all this the results
of the death of Christ, the conversion of the whole world by twelve
fishermen, the fervour of the faithful in the primitive Church, the
unconquerable strength of innumerable martyrs, yea, the exultation
in their torments of even boys, virgins, and women. All these things
proclaim aloud that Christ is to be worshipped, loved, and adored
as the Son of God, for He alone could work such Divine works
peculiarly belonging to God.

Ver. 37. — The Father, &c. . . . hath borne witness, as at My
baptism. Again, He hath borne witness concerning Me, through the
Scriptures by Moses and the prophets.

s. JOHN, c. v.

Observe, Christ in this place, besides the testimony of John,
adduces three other and greater witnesses to show that He is the
Messiah : i. By His miracles (ver. 36) ; 2. By the Father's voice
at His baptism ; 3. By the Scriptures (ver. 39).

Ver. 38. — Ye have not His word abiding (Arabic, made strong] in
you, &c. The connection and subsequent argument of these words
is obscure, which different writers explain in different ways.

1. You may explain them as a sort of concession, thus : " You,
O ye scribes, when I allege the testimony of God My Father concern-
ing Me, make objection that ye have not heard it, that ye have neither
seen His face, nor His appearance, as Moses saw, whom ye profess
to believe. I grant what you say, but I add that no one, not even
Moses, heard God's own voice, nor saw His appearance, nor His
face. They only beheld that immense fire by which God was con-
cealed, and heard a sound formed in the air by an angel, instead of

> God's voice. For I alone, who am the Son of God by nature, have
heard His real voice, and seen His appearance, or His Divine face,
which I see continually. Nevertheless I urge upon you that ye have
heard the voice of God giving attestation to Me, when at My baptism
the Father publicly declared, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am
well pleased. Again, ye have heard the word of God concerning Me
in the Holy Scriptures, Moses and the prophets, who bear witness
that I am the Messiah. But ye, although ye have heard this word and
testimony of God concerning Me, yet have it not abiding in you,
because ye receive not in your minds, nor understand, nor believe
it, inasmuch as ye do not believe in Me, as sent by God. In this
ye gravely err and sin. For if ye have heard the word of an angel
in God's stead speaking with Moses as His servant, and believe him,
much more ought ye to believe the Word of God bearing witness to
Me that I am His Son, especially since Moses bears witness to Me,
and bids you to hearken unto Me, as follows. So Euthymius.
This meaning seems clear, plain, and true.

2. However, S. Hilary (lib. 9, de Trin.} thus connects and expounds
this whole passage. " This is why ye have not heard His voice, nor
feen His appearance, neither doth His word abide in you, because

THE FATHER'S VOICE. 191

ye do not believe in Me." As though it were said, " If ye would
believe in Me, ye would hear the Father's voice, and see His
appearance. For he that seeth Me seeth the Father also. In like
manner, he that heareth Me heareth the Father also, and the word
of the Father abideth in him."

3. SS. Cyril and Chrysostom think that these words were spoken
to confound the Jews, who boasted that they had heard and seen
God promulging the Decalogue on Sinai. " Ye boast falsely, O ye
Jews, that ye have seen and heard God on Sinai, for God is a pure
Spirit. Wherefore that voice which ye heard, and that appearance of
fire which ye saw on Sinai, was neither the voice nor the true appear-
ance of God, but only a corporeal symbol and figure, shadowing
forth to you who are fleshly and ignorant the invisible Godhead."

4. S. Athanasius (lib. 4, cont. Arian.) by the Word, Greek, /.o'yoc,
understands Christ the Son of God, who is the Word of the Father.
This he asserts is aptly joined with the appearance and form of
God, because He is the character, and the lively image of the Father.
And the meaning is, "Ye have not heard the voice of God, nor
seen His form ; and when there remained for you one only way to
do this, by believing in Me, who am the Word of the Father, and
the image of His Substance (or Person), whom whosoever seeth
sees also the Father, ye despise this way, and will not believe Me.
Wherefore ye know not the Father, and are deprived of Divine
knowledge."

5. Toletus : " Ye, O ye Jews, being terrified by the voice of the
angel's trumpet, and by the fire that lightened on Sinai, asked that
ye might not hear any more that terrible voice, nor see the dreadful
fire, but that God might speak to you by Moses as a mediator.
But you keep not the promise by which you bound yourselves.
You accepted the stipulation that ye would hear the Prophet of your
own nation whom He should send. But His word and compact
abide not in you, because what ye promised ye are not willing to
fulfil. For, behold, I am He whom He has sent, and ye neither
believe Me, nor hear Me, as ye promised."

The first meaning seems the best and most apposite.

192 S. JOHN, C. V.

Ver. 39. — Search (scrutamini) the Scriptures, &c. The word for
Search in Greek, as well as Latin, may be taken either in the indi-
cative, or the imperative mood. Cyril takes it in the indicative :
"Ye, O ye scribes, assiduously turn and search the Scriptures which
bear testimony concerning Me, but ye do not care to understand
them, because ye will not come unto Me." But SS. Augustine and
Chrysostom, Theophylact, Euthymius, and others, take it in the
imperative : "Search ye the Scriptures, and in them ye will find God
the Father bearing witness to Me."

Moreover, by the word Search, Christ, says S. Chrysostom, pressed
upon the Jews not merely the bare reading of the Scriptures, but
a thorough and diligent examination of them. He did not say,
Read the Scriptures, but Search them. Dig out the hidden treasures
which they contain concerning Me and Divine things, just as those
who search for veins of gold and silver dig in the earth to find
them. Thus the Beraeans to whom Paul preached (Acts xvii.)
searched the Scriptures, with a sincere desire to know nothing but
the truth. Therefore in the Scriptures they found Christ whom
Paul preached to them.

Because in them, i.e., in understanding and believing them, ye
think, &c. Because if any one believes and does what the Scrip-
tures bid him, he will attain eternal life. From this it is plain that
most of the Jews, and especially the Pharisees, believed in the
immortality of the soul, and in an existence after death, in which
God would give eternal life to the just, and death eternal to the
unjust.

And (Vulg.), i.e., because, for the Hebrew vau, or and, often has
a causative force, meaning because, for Christ now gives the reason
why He said, Search the Scriptures: because they are they which
testify of Me. Many parts do this literally, many more in an
allegorical and mystical sense. For "Christ is the end of the
Law " (Rom. x. 4). And as S. Peter says, " To Him give all the
prophets witness, that all who believe in Him should receive remis-
sion of sins through His name." Let therefore the reader of Holy
Scripture, but especially interpreters, doctors, and preachers search

TRUE CAUSE OF THE JEWS UNBELIEF. 193

the Scriptures, and they will find Christ in them all, either openly
revealed, or else veiled in shadows and figures.

Ver. 40. — And (yet), ye will not, &c. " Ye do not wish to cleave
to Me, to believe in Me, to receive My doctrine and My law."

Ver. 41. — I receive not brightness (Vulg. daritateni), Greek, 36gan,
i.e., glory, from men. There is an anticipation, "Ye, O ye Scribes,
suspect, and object that I preach such great things of Myself, and
so carefully endeavour to prove My dignity and authority out of the
desire of vain glory, that I may catch the breeze of popularity, being
desirous of being taken to be the Son of God. I answer that I do
not preach these things about Myself in order that I may get glory
from men, but for your own sakes, that I may save you. For I am
even athirst for your salvation. For I know that no one can be
saved, and possess eternal life, but by Me, whom God has appointed
the Saviour of the world." So S. Cyril.

Ver. 42. — But I knnu you, &c. " I know and penetrate the
inmost recesses of your hearts (for I, being God, am the Searcher
of hearts), and I see in them nothing of Divine love, but that they
are full of ambition, avarice, and pride. And this is the reason why
ye will not receive those clear testimonies which I bring forward
in My favour. The root from whence your unbelief and obstinacy
spring is not ambition of glory in Me, but your own lack of charity.
For if ye truly loved God, ye would indeed acknowledge that I
have been sent by Him, and am clearly described in the Scriptures."
Thus even now the cause of heresy in many is a vitiated love, be-
cause indeed many love the liberty of the flesh which heresy
teaches, and do not love God, who forbids it.

Cyril connects this verse with what precedes, thus, — " I have not
proclaimed these great things about Myself for the sake of glory,
that I may gain human praise, but that ye may learn (as I know)
that the love of God is not in you, deprived of which, how can ye
come to Me who am the Son of God ? "

Differently also Maldonatus and Toletus : " I preach that I am
Messiah, and the Son of God, not because I seek the vain glory of

men, but because I know that ye have not that love of God which
VOL. iv. N

194 s. JOHN, c. v.

leads to eternal life, so that I may lead you to this love by faith, by
which ye may believe in Me."

Ver. 43. — / am come, &c., in My Father's name, as the Son sent
by God the Father, that by His authority I may fulfil those things
which He has promised to you concerning Messiah, to His alone
praise and glory, so that through Him there may be showered upon
you the knowledge of God, grace, salvation, and eternal life. This I
have clearly proved to you by the many testimonies which the Father
hath given Me. Yet ye do not receive Me, but treat Me as a false
prophet. Wherefore by the just judgment of God it shall come to
pass, that if another, who is really a false prophet, shall come to you,
one who is not sent by God, but who shall come in his own name,
i.e., in his own authority, falsely boasting himself to be the Messiah,
such an one ye will receive. Another therefore will be that Anti-
christ whom the Jews will receive, though they rejected Christ. To
this apply the words of Paul (2 Thes. ii. 10), "Therefore God
shall send upon them the working of error, that they may believe a
lie, that all may be judged, who have not believed the truth, but
have consented to iniquity." So SS. Chrysostom, Cyril, Augustine,
and the ancient writers, passim. Again, another may mean any false
prophet, pretending to be Christ, and therefore a forerunner of Anti-
christ, like that Egyptian, shortly after the time of Christ, who led
thousands of men to destruction (see Jos. Bell.Jud. lib. 2, c. 12).

Ver. 44. — How can ye believe, &c. " Ye love human glory, brief
and poor : wherefore ye contemn Me, who despise human glory,
and teach that it ought to be contemned ; and that the Divine and
eternal glory ought to be aimed at, which God will begin in the
saints on earth, and bring to perfection in Heaven."

Ver. 45. — Think not, &c. Listen to Cyril, "He declares that
there was no need of any other accuser, for that although all others
were silent, the law of Moses by itself was sufficient for the condem-
nation of the Jews who did not believe in Him." He names Moses
because the Jews placed all their faith and trust in him. As they
said, " We know that God spake unto Moses : as for this fellow, we
know not from whence He is " (John ix. 28).

MOSES WROTE OF CHRIST. 195

Ver. 46. — For if ye had believed Moses, perchance (Vulg.) ye would
also have believed Me. Perchance ; so the Vulgate often translates the
Greek, at : but it is here used in the sense of assuredly. It is an
expression of confirmation, not of doubt. " Assuredly ye would have
believed Me." Hence some copies omit the word perchance.

For he wrote of Me: both in Leviticus, and the whole Pentateuch;
for all his ceremonies and narrations prefigured Me. Also he clearly
and expressly wrote of Me (Deut. xviil 15, 18), saying, "The LORD
thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of
thy brethren, like unto me ; unto him ye shall hearken ; I will raise
them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and
will put my words in his mouth ; and he shall speak unto them all
that I shall command him."

Again Moses wrote of Christ (Gen. xlix. 10), when he speaks of
the time at which Messiah was to come. " The sceptre shall not be
taken away from Judah, nor a leader from his thigh, until He that
is to be sent shall come : and the same shall be the expectation of
the nations" (Vulg.)

For already the sceptre had failed from Jacob, and had been
transferred to Herod. Therefore it was the time of Messiah's
Advent.

Ver. 47. — But if, &c. This is an argument ad hominem. For
the Jews preferred Moses to Christ. Wherefore He rightly reasons
against them thus: "If ye do not believe the writings of Moses (of
whom ye make the highest account) which he wrote concerning Me,
far less will ye believe My own words. In vain therefore do I bring
so many testimonies, since I see you confirmed and obstinate in
your hatred and rebellion against Me. Therefore I conclude My
discourse. I will keep silence and depart.''

( 196 )

CHAPTER VI.

I. Christ feedelh five thousand men with five loaves and two fishes. 15 Theretipoii
the people would have made him king. 16 But withdrawing himself, he
walked an the sea to his disciples : 26 reproveth the people flocking after him,
and all the fleshly hearers of his word : 32 declareth himself to be the bread of
life to believers. 66 Many disciples depart from him. 68 Peter confesseth
him. 70 Judas is a devil.

FTER these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of
Tiberias.

2 And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he
did on them that were diseased.

3 And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.

4 And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.

5 IT When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto
him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?

6 And this he said to prove him : for he himself knew what he would do.

7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for
them, that every one of them may take a little.

8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him,

9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes : but
what are they among so many ?

10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in
the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.

11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed
to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down ; and likewise of
the fishes as much as they would.

12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments
that remain, that nothing be lost.

13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the
fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them
that had eaten.

14 Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This
is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.

15 IT When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by
force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.

16 And when even was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea,

17 And entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And
it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them.

18 And the sea arose bv reason of a qrcat wind that blew.

THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN. 197

19 So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see
Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship : and they were afraid.

20 But he saith unto them, It is I ; be not afraid.

21 Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship
was at the land whither they weir.

22 IT The day following, when the people which stood on the other side of the
sea saw that there was none other boat there, save that one whereinto his disciples
were entered, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat, but that his
disciples were gone away alone ;

23 (Howbeit there came other boats from Tiberias nigh unto the place where
they did eat bread, after that the Lord had given thanks :)

24 When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples,
they also took shipping, and came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus.

25 And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto
him, Rabbi, when earnest thou hither?

26 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me,
not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were
filled.

27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth
unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you : for him hath God
the Father sealed.

28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works
of God ?

29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe
on him whom he hath sent.

30 They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may
see, and believe thee ? what dost thou work ?

31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them
bread from heaven to eat.

32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you
not that bread from heaven ; but my Father giveth you the true bread from
heaven.

33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth
life unto the world.

34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.

35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life : he that cometh to me
shall never hunger ; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

36 But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.

37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me ; and him that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out.

38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of
him that sent me.

39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath
given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.

40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son,
and believeth on him, may have everlasting life : and I will raise him up at the
last day.

41 The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which
came down from heaven.

S. JOHN, C. VI.

42 And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother
we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?

43 Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among your-
selves.

44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him :
and I will raise him up at the last day.

45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every
man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto
me.

' 46 Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath
seen the Father.

47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.

48 I am that bread of life.

49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.

50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat
thereof, and not die.

51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of
this bread, he shall live for ever : and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which
I will give for the life of the world.

52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man
give us his flesh to eat ?

53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the
flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life ; and I will
raise him up at the last day.

55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I
in him.

57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father : so he that
eateth me, even he shall live by me.

58 This is that bread which came clown from heaven : not as your fathers did
eat manna, and are dead : he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

59 These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.

60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an
hard saying ; who can hear it ?

6 1 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto
them, Doth this offend you ?

62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before ?

63 It is the spirit that quickeneth ; the flesh profiteth nothing : the words that
I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

64 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the be-
ginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.

65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me,
except it were given unto him of my Father.

66 IT From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more
with him.

67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?

68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast
the words of eternal life.

THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN. 199

69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the
living God.

70 Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a
devil ?

7 1 He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon : for he it was that should betray
him, being one of the twelve.

Ver. i. — After this, &c. Tiberias is here named, because the
desert in which Christ fed the five thousand was near to Tiberias.

After f/iis, not immediately, but almost a year afterwards. For
the healing of the paralytic, and the dispute of Jesus with the Jews
consequent upon it, which John had related in the foregoing chapter,
took place in the beginning of the second year of Christ's ministry.
But the things which he relates in this sixth chapter took place at
the close of the same year. This is plain because Christ healed
the paralytic at the Passover (v. i). But He did the things now to
be related shortly before the Passover of the year following, as
appears from the 4th verse. John therefore omits all that Christ
did in the second year of His ministry, viz., His creation of Twelve
Apostles, His Sermon on the mount, His sending His Apostles
forth, as well as many other things. John omits them because they
had been fully narrated by the other Evangelists. But he here
inserts the narrative of the multiplication of the loaves, because,
though related by the other Evangelists, it was the occasion of
Christ's discourse concerning spiritual food, and the food of the
Eucharist, which John here gives at length, and which was wholly
passed over by them.

Ver. 3. — He saith unto Philip, &c. Observe, this was the order
of what was done. Christ beholding from the mountain the crowd
which followed Him, came down to them and received them kindly,
taught them, and healed their sick until the eventide. The evening
being at hand, His disciples asked Christ to dismiss the multitude,
and refresh Himself with food. But Christ bade them first feed
the hungry throngs. This, they said, was impossible, because
200 denarii worth of bread would not suffice for so many. By
and by Christ proposed the same thing to Philip, probably because
he had been most anxious in asking Christ to dismiss the multitude.

200 S. JOHN, C. VI.

Philip gave the same answer as the others with regard to the
quantity of bread that would be required.

Ver. 1 1. — When He had given thanks to God the Father, looking
up to heaven, He implored the help of God to multiply the loaves.
Then He blessed them (as the other Evangelists relate), and the
Syriac has here, He distributed to those who had sat down, miracu-
lously multiplying the loaves during their distribution. S. Dominic
and S. Francis imitated Christ in this matter. When in the General
Chapter of the Friars Minor there was nothing to eat, they being
full of faith, said, "Let us go and pray to Almighty God, who
satisfied five thousand men besides women and children in the
desert. His power and His mercy are no less now than they were
then, that we should despair of His goodness." They continued in
prayer until they were assured concerning the Divine will. Then
at the hour of dinner S. Francis bade the brethren sit down in the
refectory. This done, they see enter twenty young men of noble
appearance, girded, and prepared for service. These supplied
bread, wine, and every kind of needful refreshment to the company,
in number five hundred. When dinner was ended they bowed and
saluted the brethren, and went out of the refectory two by two, to
the admiration of the brethren, who praised God for His marvellous
care and providence. (See Luke Wadding's Annals cf the Friars
Minor, A.c. 1219, num. n.) S. Dominic did the same thing at
Rome at S. Sixtus'. When there was no food in the house he com-
manded the brethren to sit down to the table, and blessed it.
Then lo, there came in two angels, having the appearance of
beautiful youths, who placed before each one of the hundred
brethren a very white loaf. Then they bowed their heads, and
departed. (See the Life of Dominic, lib. 3, c. 4.) I have visited and
venerated the place at Rome where this was done, and seen a
painting of it.

Ver. 15. — That they might take Him, &c., /.<?., the king Messiah,
who, the Jews thought, would give them abundance of corn, wine
and oil, gold and silver. This was why they wished to make Him
fi kiner, not for His advantage, but their own. Such is the Messiah,

DO ALL THINGS WITH CHRIST. 2OI

whom the foolish Jews expect even now, one like Solomon, to give
them riches and plenty.

Ver. 21. — They wished therefore, &c. They wished Him, now
that they recognised Him, whom they had before taken for a
spectre, and been affrighted at. And immediately, i.e., by the power
ind virtue of Christ's presence, the ship -was at the land. As
Nonnus says, " By the Divine impulse the ship of her own accord
touched at the distant port, as it were a soul with wings." This
land was Genesar, as S. Matthew calls it (xiv. 34), or Genesareth, as
S. Mark (vi. 53). The ancient name was Cenereth, from the city so
called, which was near Capharnaum. From this place the whole
sea of Galilee was called the Lake of Cenereth, or Genesareth.
Moreover the city of Capharnaum was situated in this land of
Genesareth, to which, John says expressly, Jesus sailed with His
disciples (vi. 17, 24, 25). Here was uttered His prolonged dis-
course concerning heavenly bread and the Eucharist. For the
6oth verse says expressly, These things He spake, teaching in the.
synagogue in Capharnaum.

Observe the expression, and immediately. From this it follows
that Christ caused this ship to fly in a moment to the harbour of
the city of Capharnaum. Thus it sped eight or nine miles in one
moment. For this was the distance between Bethsaida and Caphar-
naum. For the disciples in sailing from the place where Christ fed
the five thousand which was midway between Bethsaida and Tiberias,
had gone twenty-five or thirty furlongs, or four or five miles (see ver. 1 9),
and were about, or a little past Bethsaida, when Jesus, walking upon
the sea came to them, and entering into the ship, caused it to fly
from that spot, as it were, in a moment, and land at Capharnaum.
Thus He caused the ship to traverse eight or nine miles, as it
were, in a moment Learn from this to accomplish all thine
actions with Christ, having Christ for thy leader and guide. With
Him thou wilt do great things, without Him nothing. Thus
S. Peter, though he toiled all night, without Christ, caught no
fish : but as soon as He came and bade him let down the nets,
he caught an immense multitude of fishes. Therefore as Nazi-

202 S. JOHN, C. VI.

anzen says in his Poems, " Happy is the man who buys Christ
with all that he has."

Ver. 22. — The next day, &c., . . . across the sea, understand, in
respect of the disciples, who had sailed to the other side of the lake.
The meaning is, — The day after that on which Christ had fed the five
thousand, the multitude who had been thus fed continuing in that
place across the sea, when they knew that there was only one boat
there, in which the disciples had embarked alone, Jesus being left on
the land — they sought Jesus, must be understood. For they did not
know that He had walked on the sea by night, and joined the ship.

Ver. 23. — But there came, &c. We can see from this verse that
the place where Christ multiplied the loaves was near Tiberias, and
therefore that those who sailed from thence to Bethsaida and
Capharnaum must have sailed past Tiberias. The meaning is, the
report of the miracle being spread abroad, many both from other
places as well as Tiberias, came to the place where the miracle was
wrought, that they might see and hear Jesus who had done such
great things.

Ver. 25. — And when they had found Him . . . across the sea, that
is to say in the synagogue of Capharnaum, as is plain from verse 59.
When, and how earnest Thou hither1} " For we know that yesterday
Thy disciples went into the ship by themselves at the desert of
Bethsaida, and that Thou remainedst there on the land." They
did not know that Jesus had walked upon the sea in the middle of
the night

Ver. 26. — Jesus answered, &c. Through modesty He did not
answer their question directly, lest He should be forced to say that
He had come walking upon the sea. He gave a reply therefore,
which had more direct concern for His questioners, namely, that
they were seeking food for their bodies rather than for their souls.
"Ye ask Me, not because ye saw the miracles by means of which
I labour to teach you faith and repentance, and the other evangelical
virtues, by which ye may arrive at everlasting life. Ye seek Me,
not that ye may receive of Me the food of the soul, but because ye
did eat of the loaves, which I miraculously multiplied, and which I

WHAT TO LABOUR FOR. 2O$

made pleasant to your taste, in order that ye may again have a like
experience." For many are the lovers of the loaves and fishes
rather than of Christ and eternal salvation. For the carnal have a
taste only for carnal things, because they do not receive spiritual
things.

Ver. 27. — Labour not, &c. Labour: Greek, hyufyadi, i.e., strive
with zeal and labour and sedulous care to get food, not that of the
body which perisheth, but of the soul which perisheth not Where-
fore the Arabic translates, labour not on account of tJie food which
perisheth^ but on account of the food which endureth unto eternal life.
As Euthymius says, "Labour with the whole mind, with all your
care continually. He does not command to labour for the food of
the soul only, but He admonished them to care for the food of the
body by the way, but for that of the soul with their whole heart."

Christ rises and draws the multitude from that corporeal bread
with which a little while before He had fed them in the desert, to
the far better, and far more needful spiritual bread. As though He
had said, "I have given you barley bread without any labour of
yours, but work ye, and labour with all your might, that ye may
obtain spiritual bread, to nourish you, and bring you to everlasting
life." In like manner, from the water of the well He led the
Samaritan woman to spiritual water, that He might teach His faithful
followers, and especially Priests and Religious, to do the same, so
that in their colloquies they may lead the people from corporeal to
spiritual things. Wherefore from this saying of Christ Cyril rightly
says, " We must have no care for the flesh, but we must watch for
things that are needful for eternity. For he who follows after
bodily pleasures differs in no respect from the beasts, but he who
cleaves to nature, and leads his life according to the spiritual law,
and is wholly given up to those things which are given us by God,
and prepare our way for the things above, such a one seems to me
to know himself, nor to be ignorant that he is a reasonable being,
made in the image of his Creator."

You will ask, what is that food enduring unto eternal life, which
Christ bids us work for that we mav cram it? The heretics called

204 S. JOHN, C. VI.

Massalians, or Euchites, i.e., Prayers, thought that it was prayer.
As though Christ said, " Do not work with your hands, because the
work of the hands perisheth, but alway pray to God in your hearts,
because prayer is the food of the spirit, and remaineth for ever.
These heretics said that we should not labour with our hands, but
should pray always. See S. Chrysostom on this passage. But this
is a heresy which S. Paul condemns (2 Thess. iii. 10), saying, " If
any one will not work, neither let him eat."

I say then that this food which abideth is faith, charity, grace,
good works, even all things which lead us to life everlasting, and
especially the Eucharist, as we shall see in verse 54. So Mal-
donatus, Bellarmine, and others. For gradually does Christ ascend
from minor and common things to those which are greater and of
the highest importance, such as the Eucharist. As S. Augustine
saith, "To believe in Him is to eat the food which endureth unto
life eternal. Why do you make ready your teeth and organs of
digestion? Believe, and thou hast eaten."

Secondly, more appositely, properly and precisely, this spiritual
food is the Eucharist, as Christ fully explains (verse 54). For He
first generally (in genere}, in the way of a proposition, speaks of this
food as heavenly, and enduring unto eternal life. By and by in verse
35, He particularizes, determining what this food is, and asserts
that It is He Himself. I am the Bread of Life. At length, in the
54th and following verses, He clearly unfolds the whole matter,
and says that His Flesh and Blood in the Eucharist is this Bread
and this Food. Except ye eat the Flesh of the Son of man, and drink
His Blood, ye have no life in you. And, My Flesh is meat indeed,
and My Blood is drink indeed. For in the space of a year and a
half, just before His death, He was about to institute the Sacrament
of the Eucharist, and in It to give us His own Flesh and Blood, as
the spiritual meat and drink of the soul But here in those inter-
mediate verses He frequently exhorts to faith, because faith is a
prime requisite in the Eucharist.

The meaning then is, Do the works of faith, believe in Me, give
credit to My words, so shall ye seek, and shall indeed obtain the

SEALING OF CHRIST. 20$

food of the Eucharist, which shall not only nourish your souls, but
bring them to eternal life. For Christ distinguishes the work of faith
from the food of the Eucharist, which was to be obtained by the
work of faith ; as the means is distinguished from the end to which
it leads. Wherefore by and by, when the Jews ask about the work,
that is, the way and the means by which they might gain this Bread,
Christ answers (verse 29), This is the work of God, that ye should believe
in Him w/iom He hath sent. So Theophylact says, " He calls the
food which abideth the mystical reception of the Flesh of the Lord."
And Rupertus, " He that endureth unto life eternal, that is, He who
is eaten in this mortal life, is profitable to this end, that He should
give everlasting life to the world "

For jfJim hath God the Father sealed. God, Greek, 6 0-oj, the
Heavenly Father, who is the Most High God. Signed, (Vulg.),
Greek, h^sd'yiffs, sealed. This signing, or sealing of Christ, is three-
fold, the first of which is the cause of the second, the second of
the third. The first is of Christ's Divinity, the second and third
of His Humanity. In the first place then, Cyril thus expounds (lib.
3, c. 29), "To be signed is put for to be anointed (for He who was
anointed was signed), and denoted by the word signing, that He
was formed as to His nature after the form of the Father, so to
speak, that He might appear to say, ' It is not difficult for Me to
bestow upon you the enduring Food, by which ye may be brought
to the unspeakable delights of eternal life.' For the Son is the
character of the Hypostasis of God the Father : and the character by
which He has been signed by the Father is nothing else but the very
form and substance of the Godhead?' Thus Cyril : so too, S. Paul
(Heb. i. 3), "Who being the splendour of His glory, and the char-
acter of His substance." Whence S. Gregory Nazianzen speaks thus
of the glory of the Son (Orat. 42), "He is the Fountain of life and
immortality ; He is the expression," that is, the similitude, the seal,
" of the Archetype : He is the immovable Seal," that which is not
altered, or changed to any other form : " He is the Image in all
respects like : He is the Term and Reason (Greek, Soo; *.ai Xo'yo;)
of the Father." These two last expressions Nicetas' takes as similar

2O6 S. JOHN, C. VI.

in meaning, that the Son is the Word of God the Father, i.e., the
definition, the demonstration. For as a definition demonstrates that
which it defines, so does the Son demonstrate, and as it were define
the Father. Thus Nicetas.

2. S. Hilary (lib. 8, de Trin.) more correctly and appositely ; The
Father, he saith. hath sealed the Son, not in the Divinity, by com-
municating to Him His own Godhead, but in the Humanity, since
He hath united it to the Word, and hath communicated to it the
Divinity of the Word. For a seal, he says, is wont to be impressed
upon a different substance, which is called the impression. So the
Humanity is sealed by the Divinity of the Son. So also Augustine :
and from him Toletus saith, " Because the Son, who is the image
and character of the Father is united to the Humanity, therefore the
Humanity is said to have the seal and character of the Father."

3. S. Chrysostom and many others say, The Father hath sealed
the Son, i.e., by the voice from heaven at His baptism, This is My
Beloved Son. He showed and demonstrated by His miracles, as
seals, that He was His very Son. And He confirmed Him as the
promised Messiah, who was able to impart convenient Food to all
who desired eternal life. It comes to the same meaning if you
interpret sealed to mean gave authority, because we are wont by im-
pressing a seal to give credit and authenticity to letters.

This sense is easy and plain, but the second meaning is more
solid and sublime. This third meaning flows from the second, and
completes and perfects it. For the Father by His own voice and
miracles, which are as it were His seals, has testified to man that
He has sealed the Humanity of Jesus with the Divinity of the Word,
and has impressed upon it the form of His own Divinity, that is,
has testified that this Man Jesus is true God, and the Son of God,
so that He may give and gain for Him among men, authority to
teach, to enact laws, and to found a new Church. Wherefore the
Gloss says, He hath sealed, i.e., He hath sat Him apart from others
by His own sign."

Ver. 28. — They said, £c. Cyril thinks that the Jews asked this
from arrogance, as being angry with Christ because He would

THE WORKS OF GOD. 2O/

have reproved them as being careless about their souls. As though
they said, " Thou reprovest us for seeking after earthly bread and
despising the Food of the soul. Tell us then what new work of
God Thou affordest, by which we may please God and feed our
souls, in addition to those works which Moses gave us to do, and
wrote in the Pentateuch."

But S. Chrysostom thinks they said these words out of gluttony,
because they were again hungering after the loaves of Christ, with
which they had been fed. That they asked what were the works of
God, with which Christ wished them to feed their souls, not because
they intended to do them, but because they would gain His good-will,
and so invite Him to renew the multiplication of the loaves.

More correctly, S. Augustine and others think that the Jews spoke
with a serious desire of doing these works. For many among them
being stirred up by the doctrine of Christ, and stimulated by this
miracle of the loaves, were desirous of salvation. Therefore they
ask Christ what works they ought to work, by which they may
obtain of God that enduring Food, which would nourish their
souls, and bring them to eternal life. And Jesus answers sin-
cerely their sincere question, and teaches them what were the
works of God. This He would not have done, if they had not
been in earnest.

They called then the works of God, not only those which were
pleasing to God, nor those which are the food of the soul, nourishing
it to eternal life, as Leontius thinks. For they knew by the Law
of Moses what works were pleasing to God. But by the works of God
they mean those which He especially appointed and sanctioned by
Jesus, whom He sealed, that by them they might obtain that spiritual
Food of which Jesus preached, which nourishes us, and brings us
to eternal life. For when they had heard that this was the Food of
life eternal, and that God had sealed Christ that He might give
this Food, they rightly call the works of God those which it was
necessary to work in order to obtain this Food. And what they
were they ask of Jesus, not doubting that He who had been so power-
ful and liberal in nourishing their bodies, could be equally, or rather,

208 S. JOHN, C. VI.

more powerful and liberal, in teaching them what it was, and
supplying the Food of the soul.

Ver. 29. — -Jesus answered, &c. Believe, i.e., in Myself, who by
so many arguments and miracles have proved that I am the Messiah
sent by God. For the sake of modesty He speaks in the third
person. As though He said, " That work by which ye will obtain
Food from God to nourish the soul unto everlasting life, is to believe
in Me. For I bestow this Food upon those who believe in Me : for
I Myself am this Food." This He says (verse 35).

That ye may believe, and believing, may obey Me, and observe
My law and doctrine, and fulfil it indeed. Under the term faith,
as a root, Christ and Paul understand all the works of charity,
penance, temperance, and all other virtues which faith stirs up and
generates. Wherefore Theophylact says, " Faith assuredly is a holy
and perfect work, and satisfies those who possess it For dilligent
faith leads to every good work, and good works preserve faith. For
works are dead without faith, and faith is dead without works."

Ver. 30. — They said, &c., i.e., those of the crowd who were bolder
than the rest, who knew and thought less of Jesus. For they had
seen the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves the day before,
whereby Christ had fed five thousand men, but upon this they set small
value, and ask for one still greater and more wonderful. As though
they had said, " Thou, O Jesus, askest of us a great, nay a stupendous
thing, namely that we should believe in Thee as the Messiah and
the Son of God. But for this the miracle of the loaves which Thou
wroughtest yesterday, does not suffice. For Moses did a similar,
yea, a greater work. Show us therefore a heavenly and Divine and
worthy sign, by which God may attest that Thou art His Son, and
our Messiah." Therefore they add by way of explanation,

Ver. 31. — Our fathers . . . as it is written (Ps. Ixxviii. 24). As
though they said, " Moses fed our fathers in the desert, even more than
six hundred thousand men, with heavenly and most sweet food, even
the manna, and that daily for forty years, which was a greater thing
than Thy multiplication of the loaves yesterday : and yet Moses did not
wish to be accounted, or believed to be Messiah, and the Son of God.

BREAD OF HEAVEN. 209

Since then you, Jesus, desire to be so accounted of, it is necessary
that you should work greater miracles than Moses." So SS. Augustine
and Cyril. The latter adds, " Such was the sign they asked of Christ,
and thinking it a small matter that they had been miraculously fed
for one day, they ask for food for a long period without labour.
On such terms they seem to promise that they will assent to His
doctrine." As though they said, " Feed us all our lives, as Thou
didst feed us yesterday, and as Moses fed our fathers for forty years.
Then we will believe Thee when Thou declarest that Thou art
Messiah, the Son of God." So reasoned the Jews, as being animal
and carnal, when they ought rather to have reasoned according to
the spirit, thus, " This Jesus has multiplied bread, He heals what-
soever sick persons He pleases, He casts out devils, He raises the
dead, and does many other miracles which Moses did not do. And
He does them with this very end and object, that He may by them
prove that He is the Messiah sent by God : therefore He must be
truly the Messiah." When Moses gave the manna, and showed other
signs, he did not do them in order that he might prove that he was
the Messiah, but only a leader of the people, and a lawgiver sent by
God. Wherefore the people believed in him, and so accounted of
him. " Do you therefore in like manner," saith Jesus ; " believe in
Me, and account Me to be such a one as I prove by My miracles
that I am, even the Messiah."

Bread from heaven, i.e., heavenly, in heaven, or in the air, formed
by angels, and raining down, or rather snowing and hailing from
thence into the camp of the Hebrews. For the manna came down
like small hailstones from the sky. The Hebrew of Ps. Ixxviii. 24
is Q^DE' P"T} degan scamaim, corn, or wheat of heaven.

Ver. 32.—Jesits said therefore, &c. Christ here refutes the
cavilling of the Jews, and shows that He is greater than Moses, and
gives better bread than Moses gave in giving manna. He opposes
therefore, and prefers His own bread, i.e., Himself in His Body in
the Eucharist, as He Himself unfolds (Vers. 35, 51, 54, &c.), to
the Mosaic manna, and this in three ways, (i.) The first is, because

Moses, who was a mere man, gave the manna, and that only to
VOL. iv. o

2TO S. JOHN, C. VI.

Israel, i.e., to the Jews in the desert : but it is God the Father who
gives this bread, and that to the whole world.

(2.) Because the manna was not really bread from heaven, but
only from the atmosphere, coming down like dew, or hail. For it
is only the bread of heaven by a figure of speech, as we say the birds
of heaven, because they fly in the heaven, that is, in the air. But
His bread, He said, really came down from the highest heaven,
even from the Bosom of God the Father. Therefore It alone was
truly heavenly and Divine, of which, in truth, the manna was only
a type and shadow. So S. Chrysostom, &c.

(3.) The third way is consequent upon this — that the manna only
fed the body for a time : but the Bread of Christ feeds and quickens
both body and soul for ever. So SS. Chrysostom and Cyril. For
though it be that Christ and the Eucharist do not remove temporal
death from Christians who communicate devoutly, yet it is the
cause that they will rise again from death, and after that die no
more for ever. For the Resurrection is an effect of the Eucharist,
as will appear from verse 50.

(4.) Cyril (lib. 3, c. 33) adds a fourth way : that Moses neither
formed, nor gave the manna, but God gave it by angels at Moses'
prayer : but Christ Himself forms, and verily gives this bread of the
Eucharist. For He Himself by His own omnipotence, which,
together with the Divine Essence, He has received from the Father,
transubstantiates, transelements, and transforms bread and wine into
His Body and Blood.

The true Bread from heaven : that is, truly heavenly and Divine,
not only as regards locality, in that It descends from heaven, but
also as regards Its nature and substance. For this Bread is Christ
Himself, Who, because He is God, has a heavenly and Divine
essence, yea, the same Deity as the Father. 2. The word '•'•true"
is said because of the manna, say Cyril, Chrysostom, and Augustine ;
for the manna was only a type of the Eucharist. In the Eucharist
is reality (veritas), in the manna, the shadow of the reality. 3. True,
in the sense of life-giving, because It gives life to the soul as
well as the body, as Christ saith in the following verse. 4. True,

TRUE BREAD. 211

i.e., perfect, excellent, in which there is all fulness, both of existence
and nourishment. For all created existences, such as the manna, if
they be compared with the uncreated Essence, or the Deity, such
as Christ in the Eucharist, cannot be accounted of as realities, but
only shadows. In God and Christ alone is there reality (oeritas),
i.e. solidity and plenitude of Being, and of feeding perfectly, like
(true) Bread. This is what God spake to Moses, " I Am I who Am :
thus shalt thou say to the sons of Israel, He who is hath sent me "
(Ex. iii. 14).

Ver. 33. — For the Bread of God, &c. Christ proves that not the
manna, but His own Bread, i.e., He Himself, is true Bread, i.e., truly
heavenly and Divine, by two arguments, i. Because He alone
really came down from heaven. 2. Because He alone gives true
life to the world, i.e., the blessed and eternal life, which only is true
life. Observe : this Bread is called the Bread of God, because
formed by God alone, and the property of God alone. Because
God lives by Himself and His own Divinity : and because this
Bread is truly the Son of God, and God Himself.

Cometh down : not in the past, but the present tense. The Greek
is xara/SaAwn, the present participle. The expression therefore signi-
fies the perpetual descent of Christ upon the Eucharistic altar even
to the end of the world. For whensoever the priest consecrates the
Eucharist, Christ, who after His death ascended into heaven, comes
down from thence to the consecrated species of bread, and in them
declares His presence (Se presentem sistit el exhibef).

Gives: verily Christ is the infinite gift, who is Life Itself, who
quickens all the faithful who communicate rightly throughout the
whole world, and who gives them the heavenly and Divine life of
grace here, and hereafter the life of glory to all eternity.

Ver. 34. — They said therefore, &c. " Without labour, in pleasant
ease let us eat joyfully this Bread, that It may prolong our life, like
the tree of life in Paradise, that we may reach the years of Methu-
selah." For the carnal Jews did not yet understand that the Bread
of Christ was spiritual, and thought only of earthly things. "As
yet," says S. Chrysostom, " they were looking for something material,

212 S. JOHN, C. VI.

as yet they were expecting the satisfying of their appetite." As S.
Augustine says, " Give us bread which may refresh, and never fail."
For as Cyril says, " Although by many words the Saviour drew them
away from the carnal sense, they profited nothing, nor at all drew
back from carnality, for when they heard of the Bread which is given
for the life of the world, they understood it of earthly bread. They
were like that Samaritan woman, who, when she had heard a long
discourse of Christ concerning the spiritual water, sank down to the
remembrance of earthly streams, saying, Lord, give me this water,
that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw."

Ver. 35. — -Jesus saith . . . not thirst for ever. Syrian and Arabic,
for eternity. Here Christ to the Jews who asked for bread to feed
them unto life eternal, opens It out, and offers It, and declares that
It is Himself. For He by His grace and Spirit, which He breathes
into the faithful, so nourishes them that they may live always. But
peculiarly He feeds them with the Eucharistic Bread, with which
this whole discourse of Christ has to do. Hear Cyril : " In these
words He sets forth the life and grace of His most Holy Body,
whereby the essence (proprietas), i.e., the life of the Only- Begotten,
enters and abides in us." For Christ in the Eucharist is rightly
called Bread: (i.) Because by consecrating bread, He transforms it
into His Body, which under the species of bread, the substance
being annihilated, alone remains. (2.) Because like bread, It takes
away hunger, it feeds and sustains life, satisfies and cheers. Hear
-Cyril : " For that was not the true manna, nor that the true heavenly
bread : but He Himself, the Only- Begotten Son, is the true Bread:
for since He is of the Substance of the Father, He is by nature
all-quickening Life. For as this earthly bread has the quality of
sustaining and preserving our weak flesh, so does He by the Holy
Spirit quicken our spirits, and deliver our bodies themselves from
corruption."

77/(? Bread of life, i.e., living, vital, quickening, yea, life itself.
There is allusion to the tree of life (Gen. ii. 9). For that wood, or
tree of life, by its own fruit, would have given life to Adam in Para-
dise. And this life would have been (i.) a prolonged life, extend-

THE EUCHARIST GIVES LIFE. 213

ing over some thousands of years, until God translated him without
dying from Paradise to heaven. (2.) A healthy and strong life.
(3.) One without disease, or old age. (4.) Joyful and glad, for it
would have driven away all sadness and melancholy. So in all
these respects does the Eucharist far excel. For It bestows upon
communicants not only a prolonged, but an eternal life. Wherefore
the tree of life was a type of the Eucharist, as S. Iremeus teaches
(HI). 3, c. 2\ Moreover the Eucharist not only feeds and sustains
the soul, but the body also, as theologians teach. Indeed, S. John
the abbot. S. Catharine of Sienna, S. Maria Digniacensis, S. Elrulp-
hus, Abbot, and many others, lived for a long time upon the Euchar-
ist alone, without any other food. Moreover the emperor, Louis
the Pious, during his last sickness fasted forty whole days, in which
he partook of no food but the daily Eucharist, as is testified by a
writer who was present.

He that cometh unto Me, &.C. Because I will give him such bread
as will take away all hunger, and such drink as will quench all
thirst. Christ having said that He was the Bread of Life, here tells
us the way to obtain this Bread. This way is that a man should
come to Him, which means to believe in Him, as He by and by
explains. For we come to Christ not by bodily footsteps (for so
the unbelieving Jews, and His crucifiers came to Him), but by the
steps of the soul, such as faith, obedience, and charity. Shall not
hunger, " for ever ; " for this " for ever " must be understood from
the "for ever" after thirst. The meaning is, when the manna was
eaten it appeased hunger, but only for a time, but I, who am the
Bread of life, bestow upon him who eateth only once in the Euchar-
ist such satisfying fulness that he will require no other food, yea,
that he will never feel hunger more, because I bestow upon him the
blessed and immortal life of grace and glory, which fulfils and satis-
fies every desire of man.

He that believeth . . . never thirst, because I will give him in the
Eucharist the drink of My Blood, by which refreshed and satisfied,
he shall never thirst. Hear Cyril : '; What then does Christ promise?
Surely nothing corruptible, but a blessing which we obtain by the

214 S. JOHN, C. VI.

communication of the Body and Blood of Christ. By this we shall
be brought back to such a perfect state of incorruption as not to
need corporeal food and drink. For the Body of Christ quickens
us and by Its participation brings us to incorruption." For though
it be that the faithful laity do not take or drink the Eucharist under
the species of wine, as priests do, but eat of It under the species
of bread only, still under that species of bread they not only eat
the Body of Christ, but also drink His Blood, because the Blood
cannot be separated from the Body of Christ, forasmuch as It is
immortal and glorious. For in things spiritual to hunger and to thirst,
have the same meaning. And food and drink mean the same thing.
"He that cometh to Me" saith Augustine, "is the same thing as, he
that bdieveth in Me. He shall not hunger means also he shall never
thirst. By both expressions is signified that eternal satisfying where
there is no want." In fine, he shall never thirst is that which is said
in Ps. xxxv. 9, ''They shall be intoxicated from the fulness of Thy
house, and from the torrent of Thy pleasure Thou shalt give them
drink " (Vulg.).

Ver. 36. — But I said, &c. Said, elsewhere, even if it had been
nowhere recorded by S. John. So S. Chrysostom and others.
Again said, i.e., sufficiently, and more than sufficiently, I have
shown and proved to you, because ye have seen, i.e., have known, i.e.,
by the many signs and miracles which I have wrought, ye could
and ought to have known Me. And yet through the obstinacy of
your minds ye do not believe in Me. For (c. v. v. 3, &c.) He at
length confutes the Jews, because though they had seen so many
signs they did not believe in Him. As Euthymius says, " Ye have
seen Me, or ye have known who I am, both from the witness 01
John, and the miracles which I have wrought, and the witness of
the Scriptures which I have unfolded to you ; but voluntarily doing
evil ye believe not."

Ver. 37. — Every thing, &c. There is an anticipation, thus, "Ye
will object against Me, ' If Thou knewest that wo would not believe
Thy preaching, why dost thou preach to us ? ' I reply, ' Because
there are some of you who will believe in Me, namely those whom

CALL OF THE GENTILES. 21$

the Father hath chosen, and hath given Me to be My disciples and
children.' " By this He tacitly intimates that most of the Jews on
account of their incredulity had not been given to Him, nor elected
to the Faith by God, but that in their stead God had elected many
others, especially of the Gentiles. Wherefore He saith, every thing,
in the neuter gender, which the Father giveth Me, not the masculine,
the rather to express the universality of all nations. Every thing
(omne), i.e., all of every nation, every race, every age and sex, on
whom the Father breathes the spirit of faith, that they may of
their own free will believe in Me, these by faith shall come to Me,
and become Christians and my disciples. Wherefore I will not
repel them from Me, nor banish them from My house, i.e., my
Church : but you, O ye unbelieving and rebellious Jews, I do repel
from Me and My Church, and will banish you to hell : but those I
will lovingly embrace, and take with Me to the Church triumphant
in heaven.

Observe : when Christ here smites backward and terrifies the
unbelieving and captious Jews, He rises to the secret will and pre-
destination of God. For He means to teach that the faith which
they lacked was God's gift. The Father therefore gives unto Christ
the faithful from eternity by predestinating, and in time by calling
them to the faith, after this manner and plan, that being called
freely by God, they obey the call, and believe, and so come unto
Christ. For this is the actual cause of faith, or why any one here
and now in act believes in Christ. This cause, I say, is the grace of
God stirring a man up to believe, when man of his o\vn free will
consents to the grace of God, and believes. Therefore the Father
giveth us to Christ when by His prevenient and co-operating grace
He causes us to be converted in act, and freely to believe in Christ.
For as He here says Himself, every one who by the Father is given
to Christ does in reality come to Christ. So SS. Augustine, Cyril
and others.

Observe : Christ here speaks properly concerning predestination
to faith and grace, not to glory, just as Paul does. There is an
allusion to Ps. ii. 8. " Ask of Me, and I will give thee the nations

2i6 S. JOHN, C. VI.

for thine inheritance, and the ends of the earth for thy possession."
Wherefore Christ speaks in the future tense shall come to Me, to
intimate that the Gentiles by the preaching of the apostles would
come to Him. Hear Cyril ; " He signifies that the Gentiles were
already about to come ; and He threatens the loss of grace which
the Jews were about to experience."

Moreover God the Father gives believers to Christ, because He
merited this by His obedience and Passion. For the merits of
Christ are the cause not only of the calling in time, but even of the
eternal predestination of the faithful. For God on account of the
foreseen merits of Christ predestined and chose the faithful, as Paul
. teaches (Eph. i. 4), saying, " He hath chosen us in Him (Christ),
before the constitution of the world, that we should be holy." And
presently, " He hath predestinated us to the adoption of sons,
through Jesus Christ, unto Himself."

I will not cast out of My house: I will not drive him from Me,
from My Church, My heaven, but with great care I will cherish him.
There is an allusion to a host, who receives to His hospitality well-
disposed travellers and friends. As Euthymius says, " Here I will
not cast him away from My friendship, nor there from the heavenly
kingdom." And Cyril says, " He shall not be disappointed, nor with
shame cast out, neither shall he be deprived of my kindness, but
he shall be stored in My garner, and shall rest in the heavenly
mansions, and shall come whither the mind of man hath not even
conceived."

Observe : SS. Chrysostom and Cyril (lib. 3, c, 39) say that they
who are given by the Father to the Son are those who by a good
use of their free-will have rendered themselves worthy the vocation
and grace of God. Pelagius afterwards crudely taking up this
teaching, denied the necessity of grace, saying that iree-will was
sufficient for him to do good works. But this is an error which S.
Augustine confutes. " To believe? he says, " is of the grace of God ;
to be able to believe, of nature." Wherefore Christ Himself here and
elsewhere teaches that all indeed are able to believe, do good works,
and be saved, because free-will in all is capable of receiving the

THE FATHER'S WILL. 217

grace of God, and often does receive from God grace sufficient for
salvation : and yet that only those in act believe and are saved, to
whom God gives efficacious or congruous grace, such indeed as He
foresees will persuade free-will so that it will co-operate with Himself.
On this more is said (ver. 44).

Ver. 38. — For I came down, &c. Christ gives the reason why He
will not cast out him whom the Father hath given Him, viz., because
He Himself came in flesh, and into the world, for this end alone,
that He might do the Father's will, which is, that those whom the
Father wills to give to Him, and to save, Christ should accept
and save. This is why He adds in explanation, This is His will, &c.
Listen to S. Cyril in the Council of Ephesus, profoundly handling
these things. "When He adds that He was accomplishing not
His own, but His Father's will, He quells indirectly the madness o^
the Jews, who were always labouring to bring about their own will,
and holding cheap the Divine laws, and making of no value what was
pleasing to their Lord — whilst, I say, He here openly commends
their prompt profession of obedience, He nevertheless darkly
rebukes their rebellion."

Ver. 39. — But this is His will, &c. Everything, i.e., all altogether,
of every nation, rank, age, or sex, as I have said, verse 37. I will not
lose (perdani), i.e., / will not suffer to perish. He explains what
He had said, I will not cast out. This He expounds and completes
by adding, but will raise it up at the last day, i.e., at the day of
judgment, that I may admit (my servant) into heaven, and there
bless him with immortality and glory both of body and soul for
ever. Then indeed shall come to an end the motion of the heavens,
and by consequence time, which is the measuring of their motion,
shall cease. Wherefore then shall be the stay and the end of all days
and months and years.

Ver. 40. — And this is the will, &c. He that seeth, Greek, Qsufu*,
i.e., who considers and contemplates the Son, seeing Him with the
eyes not of the body, but of the mind, i.e., believing in Him, and
obeying Him. Lactantius (lib. 7, c. 9) observes out of Trismegistus
that the word ^-:M>M especially applied to Divine things.

2l8 S. JOHN, C. VI,

And 2 will raise him up : the Greek ccva,STr,su may be translated
either by the future indicative, / will raise ; or by the aorist con-
junctive, that I may raise (as the Vulgate has it in ver. 39).
Christ teaches the Resurrection because " the hope of Christians is
the resurrection of the dead," as Tertullian says. Hear S. Chry-
sostom (Horn. 46) : " Everywhere He makes mention of life : for
we are drawn by the desire of it, and there is nothing sweeter than
not to die. In the Old Testament, indeed, long1 life and many days
were promised : but now is promised not merely a long life, but
endless life. At the same time also He wishes to show that He
now revokes the punishment produced by sin, by remitting the
sentence of death, and bringing in eternal life, contrary to the decree
of the former times."

Ver. 41, 42. — The Jews therefore murmured, &c. Murmuring at
benefits, says Cyril, is a sort of ancestral inheritance with the Jews,
coming down from their fathers under Moses to Christ. Theophy-
lact gives the cause of the murmuring, " Up to this point they thought
He was speaking of material bread, and listened to Him cheerfully,
but now when He revealed to them that He was speaking to them
of spiritual bread, they despised Him, and murmured." They did
not understand how Christ was Living Bread, and how He had
descended from heaven, and how they might eat Him, for they craved
for something for their throats.

Ver. 43. — -Jesus therefore answered, &c. . . among tliemselves (Vulg.
in inviceni). It is intimated that some were for Him, and others
against Him : and through some attacking Him, and others defending
Him, they murmured among themselves.

Murmur not : for I give you no occasion of murmuring ; I tell
you the simple truth, and if on account of its sublimity you do not
receive it, it is ye who are in fault, both because ye carp at and rebel
against Me, and do not ask Me for an explanation of My words ;
and also because ye do not ask God for light to understand My
words : wherefore He subjoins,

Ver. 44, — No one can come to Me, &c. Observe, (i.) Christ might,
as S. Chrysostom observes, have answered and said, " It is not

MAN'S FREE WILL. 219

wonderful that you, O ye Jews, neither understand nor believe the
things which I say, namely, that / am the Bread of Life who came
down from heaven: it is because ye are hard and carnal. But He
prefers to answer more sweetly and divinely, thus, that no one could
believe in Him unless it were given them of His Father ; that so, those
who believed might not contend against the others who did not
believe ; and that the unbelievers might acknowledge that they were
in want of Divine light, as needful plainly to believe ; and that they
should ask for this by humble prayer to God in Christ and not mur-
mur, or certainly they would be without the light of God which was
offered to them.

The meaning therefore is, " Do not, O ye who believe in Me,
murmur against the unbelieving, because they do not believe My
doctrine, which is confirmed by so many miracles ; for faith is the
supernatural gift of God ; neither can any one believe in Me except
the Father draw him to believe. But those are not yet drawn of
the Father. Do not therefore be indignant with them, but ask the
Father to draw them as He has drawn you. For so will they
equally with you believe in Me. You too, O ye unbelieving, do
not murmur against Me, and My words, and those who do believe
in Me. For the Father has drawn them to believe in Me. Rather,
therefore, ask the Father that He may draw you also. For so
will ye, equally with them, believe in Me, and will be of one
mind with them in My faith, and doctrine, and Church. Say ye
therefore with the Spouse, " Draw me after Thee," for those who
are so drawn "will run in the odour of Thine ointment" (Cant.

i- 3)-

Observe, (2.) The word draw does not signify coercion, or
necessity ; nor is it opposed to free-will, as if it took it away from
man, as the Lutherans and Calvinists suppose. Stones and wood
are drawn in this way. But with men, it is a man's own pleasure,
i.e., his liberty, not necessity, by which he is drawn. You show
sugar to a child, you draw him towards you: you show a green
branch to a sheep, you draw her towards you. Both are drawn
by the enticement of food. In like manner the will of man is

220 S. JOHN, C. VI.

drawn, as iron by a magnet. Thus was S. Agnes drawn to Christ
by the secret power of His love. "We are drawn," says Cyril, "by
monition, doctrine, revelation, ineffably produced." Listen to S.
Augustine in this passage (Tract. 26). "Do not think that thou
art drawn unwillingly : the mind is drawn also by love." And by
and by, " How do I believe of my own will, if I am drawn ? I
say, it is too small a thing to be drawn by the will, thou art drawn
by pleasure also. What is it to be drawn by pleasure ? ' Delight
thyself in the Lord, and He will give thee thy heart's desire!'
There is a certain delight of the heart, to which that Bread of
heaven is sweet. Now if the poet might say, 'his own pleasure
draws everyone,' it is not necessity, but pleasure which draws. It
is not obligation, but delight. With how much greater force ought
we to say that man is drawn to Christ who delights in the truth,
who delights in blessedness, in justice, who delights in life everlast-
ing, which is altogether Christ." And shortly afterwards, " Show
me a lover ; he feels what I say. Show me one who desires, who is
hungry, one who wanders in the wilderness, and is thirsty, who
sighs for the fountains of the eternal country ; show me such a one,
he knows what I say. But if I speak to one whose heart is cold, he
knows not what I say." The same writes (Serm. de Verb. Apost.},
"He said not, He will lead, but He will draw. That violence is
done not to the flesh, but to the heart, Wherefore then dost thou
marvel ? Believe, and thou comest ; love, and thou art drawn. Do
not suppose that violence is rough and troublesome : it is sweet
and pleasant, the very sweetness draws thee. Is not a hungry
sheep drawn to the green grass ? And I think it is not impelled by
the body, but drawn by desire. So also do thou come to Christ ;
do not contemplate a long journey. Where thou believest, thither
thou comest. For to Him who is everywhere, we come by loving,
not by journeying."

The drawing then of God signifies the force and efficacy of grace.
This drawing is sweet and mild, not compelling the free-will, but
alluring, soothing, leading it to believe. It also signifies man's
weakness, and vicious desires, which are repugnant to Christian faith

PELAGIANISM. 221

and holiness, so that a man needs not so much to be led as dragged
by the vehement impulse of God's grace to Christian faith and virtue.
This is what Christ saith (Matt. xi. 12). " The kingdom of heaven suf-
fereth violence, and the violent seize it." For the drunkard ought
to do violence to his gullet, the unclean to his lust, the avaricious
to his avarice, the ambitious man to his ambition. Therefore the
drawing of grace lifts to celestial things the will that is drawn down
to the flesh. It allures the resisting, and strengthens the weak will.
It makes cheerful the sorrowful, and animates the shrinking will to
good. Wherefore the Latin Fathers with S. Augustine constantly
use these words of Christ against the Pelagians to prove the neces-
sity of grace. I do not say the same of the Greeks, as SS.
Chrysostom and Cyril, and those who followed them, who wrote
before Pelagius, and therefore speak sparingly concerning grace,
that they may make much of man's free-will against the Manichees.
Whence Theophylact from S. Chrysostom says upon this passage,
"As the magnet attracts only iron, so God draws only those who
are fit, those who by using their free-will aright render themselves
worthy the grace of God." This is why S. Chrysostom upon this
passage must be read with caution, when he says, that those who
are drawn by God merit this by some foreseen good wish of free-
will. For if you were to understand this of the first drawing of
grace, and of simple free-will, it is Pelagianism. But if you under-
stand it of a further drawing to greater faith and virtue, and con-
cerning free-will already influenced and stirred up by previous grace,
it is Catholic doctrine.

Observe, (3.) Some are drawn by God inchoately, or so far as God
is concerned, and as far as is sufficient, that they may be converted.
And yet these do not come to Christ, nor are they converted, be-
cause they are unwilling to follow God when He draws them. And
without this drawing it is simply impossible to come to Christ, just
as impossible as it is for a man to fly without wings. Concerning this
drawing, says Maldonatus, if you ask why one man is drawn to Christ,
another not, I answer, because the one was willing to follow Christ
when He drew, the other was unwilling. Indeed some who were

222 S. JOHN, C. VI.

already believers in Christ taking offence at this eating of His Flesh
drew back from Him, as John testifies, verse 67. And express
mention is made of Judas the traitor, verse 7 1. Have I not chosen
you twelve, and one of you is a devil? But others are fully drawn by
God, i.e., they are drawn wholly to Christ. These follow 'God when
He draws them : and of such Christ here also speaks, as appears in
the 37th verse. Every thing which the Father giveth Me shall come to
Me. Every one that hath heard and learned of tJie Father cometh unto
Me. For to be drawn of the Father means here the same thing as
to hear, be taught, to learn of the Father. "What is to be drawn of
the Father but to learn of Him ?" says S. Augustine. So those are
wholly drawn to whom God gives grace, not only prevenient,
effectual, and congruous (for those of whom we have before spoken,
who are drawn inchoately, have sufficient grace only), but also
co-operating grace. Congruous grace is so called, because it is
conformable to the disposition, affections, and character of those who
are drawn. Wherefore God foresees that such persons will in fact
freely consent and co-operate, and so be converted, believe, and
do good works. Concerning those S. Augustine says, "If thou
art not drawn, pray that thou mayest be drawn." And "why one
man is drawn, another not, do not scrutinize, if thou wouldst
not err."

Moreover, this effectual and congruous grace is necessary to con-
version, faith, and salvation, not simpliriter, but upon the hypothesis
of the foreknowledge of God, by which He foresees that this grace
will persuade free-will, so that it shall turn itself to God : but that
that other grace which is merely sufficient will not persuade it.
Wherefore God equally foresees that we will freely consent to effec-
tual and congruous grace, but that to sufficient and incongruous we
shall not consent, and this of simple liberty of will. This is what
Christ saith, No one can come to Me, except the Father draw him.
Wherefore the great gift of perseverance even unto the end of life
is congruous grace, and this is the cause of our eternal salvation,
and therefore has not to do with merit, but is the peculiar and chief
blessing of God, which He confers upon His predestinated and

GRACE OF CONGRUITY. 223

elect, and divides and distinguishes them from the non-elect and
reprobate, as S. Augustine teaches at large (de Predest. Sand. c. 16),
and S. Thomas and the Scholastics from him, and the Council of
Trent (Stss. 6, c. 13). Wherefore this grace of congruity ought to
be constantly and most humbly asked of God, for on it our eternal
salvation hinges, and God has promised that He will give us what-
soever we ask in Christ's name (John xv. 16).

And I will raise, &c. Christ shows in this the fruit of this draw-
ing of God the Father: "I will indeed give him who, drawn of the
Father, shall come to Me, and believe in and obey Me, this reward,
that I will raise him up to eternal life and glory, that is to say, if he
persevere in faith and obedience until death."

Ver. 45. — It is written, &c. He quotes Isa. liv. 13, "All thy
children shall be taught of the Lord." Jeremiah (xxxi. 33) has a
similar prophecy, and Joel (ii. 28). Because what Christ said
seemed strange to the Jews, No one can come to Me, except My Father
draw him, Christ confirms it out of Isaiah and the Prophets, who
assert that all the children or disciples of Christ would be taught of
God. But to be taught by God is to be drawn by God, for this is
the force of the Hebrew limmude.

Now, they will be taught by God in that He will at the external
voice of Christ and His disciples teach their minds inwardly, illu-
minate and inspire them, to believe in and obey Him. Whereas
previously in the ancient Law, God taught the people exteriorly
rather than interiorly, by prophets, priests, and by the Holy Scrip-
tures. Wherefore "where God is the Teacher," says S. Leo,
"there are the lessons quickly learned." Hear S. Augustine (in
Epist. i S.Jo. Tract. 3), "The sound of our words strikes the ear,
the Master is within. I have spoken to all, but to whomsoever that
unction speaketh not inwardly, whom the Holy Ghost teacheth
not within, such depart untaught. The outward instructions and
admonitions are some sort of aid; but it is He who sitteth in
heaven who teaches the heart. Wherefore He saith Himself in the
Gospel, 'Call no one your master upon earth, for one is your
Master, Christ' He indeed speaks to you inwardly when no mortal

224 s- JOHN, C. VI.

man is by. Where His inspiration, His unction is not, outward
words are an empty breath."

Every one who hath heard . . . and learned, the Arabic adds,
and knoweth. See how He explains the drawing of the Father. He
is drawn by the Father who is inwardly taught by Him, i.e., whose
understanding is illuminated by the Father, and his will inflamed,
that he may believe in and follow Me. And he hath learned, or he
does learn, that is, he receives My illumination in his intellect, and
My impulse in his will : and he acquiesces, and freely consents.
This man comes to Me, i.e., he believes in Me as the Messiah, and
obeys Me. For the two feet, not of the body, but of the soul, by
which she comes to Christ, are the understanding enlightened by
God, and the will impelled and inflamed by Him. Hence S. Augus-
tine (de Predest. Sane. c. 8) says, " If every one who hath heard and
learned of the Father cometh, assuredly every one who cometh not,
hath not heard, nor learned of the Father. For if he had heard
and learned, he would come." He subjoins, "This school is far
remote from fleshly sense, in which the Father is heard, and teaches
us to come to the Son. There, too, is the Son Himself, because He
is His Word, by whom He thus teaches us : and this He does not
through the ears of the flesh, but of the heart. There also at the
same time, is the Spirit of the Father and the Son. And He
neither refrains from teaching, nor does He teach differently. For
we have learned that the works of the Trinity are inseparable."
And after an interval, "Why therefore does He not teach all to
come to Christ, unless because all whom He teaches, He teaches in
mercy? But whom He teacheth not, in judgment He teacheth
them not. For He hath mercy upon whom He will, and whom He
wills He hardeneth. But He is merciful, and doeth good, and when
He hardeneth He requiteth justly. This grace therefore which is
secretly given to human hearts by the Divine bounty, is rejected by
no hard heart. For for this reason is it given that the hardness of
the heart may be first taken away. When therefore the Father is
heard and teaches inwardly that we should come to the Son, He
takes away the heart of stone, and gives a heart of flesh, as He pro-

GOD THE TEACHER. 22$

mised by His prophet. For so He makes the sons of promise
vessels of mercy which He has prepared for glory."

Ver. 46. — Not that any one, &c. " Lest the dense and ignorant
Jews should imagine," says Euthymius, " t: at any one could hear or
see the Father in a sensible manner, He saith not that any oney
&c." We must understand, "But let a man hear God unseen,
speaking in the soul, illuminating it, and persuading to the truth in
Christ." God is the invisible Master. God is the Teacher, not of
eyes and ears, but of hearts and minds.

Save Him who is of God, viz. Myself, who am the Son of God,
born of Him, and most intimate with Him, who continually see and
behold Him as He is in His essence. And as man I was indeed
formed by Him without man's agency, and always enjoy the
beatific vision of Himself. As Cyril says, " Being consubstantial
with the Father, He will assuredly see Him from whom He is."
And as Euthymius says, " Being of the same nature, substance and
knowledge, He is in the bosom of the Father."

Ver. 47. Verily, verily, &c. Hath, by right and merit, or in certain
hope, but not yet in fact. Christ goes back to verse 29, and again
and again inculcates faith in Himself, because that is the beginning
of all good : the root of salvation, and the necessary means for
obtaining from Christ the Bread of Life, i.e., the Eucharist.

Eternal life : thus He impels those unwilling to faith by a firm
hope of the reward. For what is better or sweeter than eternal
life to those who fear death and corruption ?

Ver. 48. — / am the Bread of life, nourishing those who eat Me
unto life eternal. As though He said, " I give eternal life to those
by whom I am eaten with true and living faith." He often repeats
and confirms the same, that He might not seem to have spoken
rashly, because to the Jews this thing seemed plainly impossible.

Ver. 49, 50. — Your fathers, &c., in the desert, "signifying," says
S. Chrysostom, " that the manna did not long continue, nor
come to the land of promise ; for as soon as they reached it the
manna ceased." But this Bread of Christ endureth for ever.

Listen to the words of Josue (v. 12): "And the manna ceased
VOL. iv. p •

226 S. JOHN, c. VI.

on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land ;
neither had the children of Israel manna any more ; but they did
eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year." For as God fails
us not in things needful, so He gives not an abounding of super-
fluities.

And died : i.e., manna fed your fathers after the way of other
food, and neither did, nor was able to protect them from death ;
but My Bread will save from death.

That whosoever shall eat of it, by true faith and living charity,
shall never die. That is, the manna had not the virtue of pre-
serving life from corporeal death, much less the souls of your
fathers from death, but this My Bread has the power of freeing
from death not only the body, but the soul, and that for ever.
For although it will not prevent the temporal death of the body,
it will cause nevertheless the faithful man to rise up from that death,
and to die no more for ever.

/ am the living Bread (bread is used by a hebraism for food},
quickening those who eat Me in Myself who am Life, and com-
municating My life to them. Whilst the manna was in itself in-
animate and dead, and therefore could not bestow life upon those
who ate it. Who came down from heaven (by reason of a Divine
supposition, says Suarez) ; " Since they sought food from heaven,"
says Chrysostom, " therefore He frequently testifies that He came
down from heaven."

Ver. 52. — If any one shall eat, &c. For this Bread gives to the
soul the life of grace, which endures even to the life of glory for
all eternity. And It shall make the body to rise from death to
live together with the soul gloriously for ever.

Calvin and the heretics contend that this Bread is not the
Body of Christ in the Eucharist, but mystical .food ; for that we
mystically eat the Body of Christ by faith when we believe in Him.
Of Catholics the same opinion was held by Jansen on this passage,
Cajetan, Gabriel, Ruardus Tapper, Nicolas Casanus and Hesselius,
who are cited by Baronius (lib. i, de Eucharist, c, 5). Against
these authors Didacus Castillus has written a whole book, Nicholas

CHRIST SPEAKS EXPRESSLY OF THE EUCHARIST. 22/

Sanders another, and Toletus, Maldonatus and Bellarmine refute
them at length.

I say then that Christ from this place onward speaks expressly
of the Eucharist. This is so certain that Maldonatus says, to
deny it is rash, and almost heretical (erroneum).

It is proved (i.) because Christ here most clearly asserts it,
constantly bidding us eat His Flesh and drink His Blood, in such
sort that the doctrine of the Eucharist could not be more clearly
expressed. For this is what He reiterates over and over again,
you hear nothing else but My Flesh is' meat indeed, and My Blood is
drink indeed. He that eateth My Flesh, and drinketh My Blood.
Unless ye eat the Flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His Blood.
Surely it is incredible that Christ should wish to obscure a thing in
itself so clear, and by Him so often repeated ; I mean that we
must believe in Him, by so many words and metaphors about
eating His Flesh and Blood, especially when He foresaw that many,
even of His disciples, would for this cause depart from Him.

(2.) Because He distinguishes both kinds in the Eucharist. For
His Flesh He calls the food which we may eat : but His Blood
that which we may drink. Unless ye eat the Flesh of the Son of Man
and drink His Blood, ye shall not have life in you (ver. 54).
Therefore He speaks concerning the Eucharist, in which we truly
and properly eat the Flesh of Christ and drink His Blood. Now
in that spiritual eating of Christ which takes place by faith, drink
cannot be distinguished from food, nor blood from flesh. Nor
indeed ought we especially and severally to believe in the Flesh,
and then again in the Blood of Christ, but it suffices to believe
generally and fully in the whole Humanity of Christ.

(3.) Because nowhere in Scripture are the efficacy and fruit of
the Eucharist, as well as the universal obligatioj^of receiving It,
clearly expressed and inculcated except here. And this precept,
since it is so important, and so binding upon all the faithful,
ought clearly to be expressed.

(4.) If S. John does not here treat of the Eucharist, then he
nowhere does so. But who could believe such a thin? of Christ's

22-3 S. JOHN, C. VI.

Benjamin, who at the Last Supper, when Christ instituted the
Eucharist, lay upon His breast, who, I say, could believe that he
should have passed over, and involved in silence this most august
monument and mystery of the love of Christ ?

(5.) Because in a similar way (cap. 3), he narrates the institution
of Baptism, and Christ's conversation about it with Nicodemus.
So here he relates the mystery of the Eucharist, and Christ's
disputation with the Jews concerning It. And these two Sacraments
are necessary to the faithful, and are, as it were, the two bases and
pillars of the Christian Church.

Lastly, this is the common opinion of the Fathers, both Greek and
Latin, also of the commentators and Scholastic Doctors, viz. S.
Cyril, Chrysostom, Theophylact, Euthymius, S. Thomas, Rupert,
Lyra, Maldonatus, Toletus, on this passage, and others in various
places, who are quoted at large by Toletus, Ribera, Maldonatus,
Sanders and Castillus, commenting upon this chapter, and by
Bellarmine (lib. i, de Euch. c. 5).

In like manner the Council of Ephesus understand this passage
(Epist. ad Nestor.}, so do the Second Council of Nice (Act 6), the
Council of Cabillon (//. c. 46), and the Council of Sens (cap. 10),
and the Council of Trent (Sess. 13, c. 2). Nor does S. Augustine
dissent, as is plain to those who read him carefully, although many
think the contrary. For from this very passage he, in common with
several others of the ancients, maintained that the Eucharist ought
to be given even to infants. And this was actually the practice in
various places for 600 years, until the Church laid down the contrary,
namely that the Eucharist is not necessary for infants, and that it is
not expedient to give it to them through fear of irreverence.

Here observe, that S. Augustine, besides the literal and genuine
explanation of this passage, which is concerning the Eucharist, adds
another which is symbolical and mystical. And he understands by
this bread and food the society of the members and the body of
Christ which is the Church : that to eat the flesh of Christ is the
same thing as to be incorporated into the Church, to be aggregated
and associated to it, and so to be brought in to Christ, and

S. AUSTIN AND THE MYSTICAL SENSE. 22p

to drink and participate in His Spirit. S. Austin does this on
account of the Donatists of his time in Africa, with whom he had a
perpetual controversy. For they by schism rent the society and
unity of the Church. It may be added the Eucharist is not only a
symbol, but a cause of this union (societas} of the faithful in the Church.
For as out of many grains of wheat ground together one loaf is made,
and out of many clusters of grapes pressed together wine floweth, so of
many faithful communicants is one society and Church. (2.) Because
this union and society of the faithful is the end and fruit of the
Eucharist, which without it profits not unto salvation. (3.) Because
S. Augustine often just glances at and passes over the literal sense,
as a thing easy and plain, and dwells upon the spiritual and mystical
sense, as more obscure, subtle and sublime. Origen, SS. Gregory
and Jerome, and other Fathers do the same. So S. Augustine is
explained after his manner by his disciple S. Bernard (Serm. 3 in
Ps. xc.) " What is it to eat His Flesh and drink His Blood but to
participate in His sufferings, and to imitate His conversation in the
flesh ? Wherefore also that spotless Sacrament of the Altar sets
this forth, when we receive the Lord's Body. As that form of
bread appears to enter into us, so we know by that conversation
which He had upon earth He enters into us to dwell in our hearts
by faith."

You will say that S. Augustine asserts (lib. 3, de Doct. Christ, c. 16),
that there is in these words of Christ a trope or figure, by which we
are commanded to have communion in His sufferings. I answer, S.
Augustine calls this a figure because the flesh of Christ is not here
commanded to be cut, cooked and eaten (as is done with the flesh
of bulls and sheep), as the Capharnaites imagined, and therefore were
offended; but figuratively, i.e., sacramentally. For he thinks that it
is here commanded that in the Eucharist, by means of the species
of bread and wine, separated one from another, and as it were dead,
we should represent the Passion and Death of Christ, which took
place through the separation of the soul and blood of Christ from
His body, and that we should both imitate this by mortification
and shew it forth by holy living.

230 S. JOHN, C. VI.

You will say secondly: Christ (ver. 27, 29, 63) treats concern-
ing the spiritual eating of Him by faith, therefore also He here pro-
ceeds to speak of the same, and not of sacramental and corporal
eating, otherwise He would not speak consistently and logically
.(coluzrenter). I answer (i.) by denying the consequence. For
Christ wished by degrees to raise the ignorant Jews, and first to set
before them easy things, and afterwards things more difficult and
mysterious. Wherefore from the multiplication of the loaves with
which He had fed the multitude He rises to the manna, and from
that to the spiritual food of faith : (ver. 27, 29, 35, 36, 40, 47).
Then in this verse and afterwards (He proceeds) to the real eating
of Himself in the Eucharist, which is the end, the goal and aim
of that miracle of the multiplication of the loaves. In a similar
manner He led on the Samaritan woman from the drinking of material
water to spiritual water. And Christ Himself sufficiently hints at,
and indeed explains this leading onward, when (ver. 29, 35) He
said that bread was already possessed by those who believed, but
here He says that His Eucharistic bread was not yet possessed, and
that He was not then giving it, but that He would give it in the
future. The bread. He says, which I will give is My flesh for the life
of the world. But the reason of this change is that Christ (ver. 27,
&c.) wished to forewarn and prepare His hearers for the most august
mystery of the Eucharist. For in It faith and spiritual manduca-
tion are required in the highest degree, for without them the real
and corporeal profits nothing, as S. Augustine says.

I reply (2.) by denying the antecedent. For Christ did not say
that we were to eat Him by (per) faith, but He required faith as a
means for obtaining from Him the heavenly bread and food, which
is nothing else than His flesh and blood in the Eucharist, as I have
observed in verse 27, &c.

They object (3.) that Christ says (ver. 64), // is the Spirit which
quickcneth, the flesh profileth nothing. This I will explain in the
proper place.

From what has been said it is clear that in the Eucharist the very
flesh of Christ is truly and properly eaten, and His blood drank,

THEOPHYLACT. 23 1

and not bread, as the Calvinists suppose, which is only a type and
figure of the flesh of Christ. For the figure of the Eucharist was
rather the manna of the Jews, as being something celestial and
sweet to the taste, than the common arid bread of Christians.
And if the Eucharist is mere bread, and not the body of Christ,
then Christ would have no ground for preferring the Eucharist to
the manna, since the manna was sweeter and better than bread.
And so the Capharnaites and His disciples understood Christ,
namely, that He wished His Flesh to be truly and properly eaten,
although they were ignorant of the manner of eating It sacramen-
tally, under the species of bread and wine. And this they could
not at this time have received, even though Christ had expounded
it. And although they were so grievously offended, yet did not
Christ correct them, when this their offence and apostasy He
could and should (dcbuissef) have done by a single word, saying
that He was speaking figuratively (mystice), namely, that to eat His
Flesh was nothing else but to believe in Him as incarnate1 and
suffering for the salvation of men. Since, therefore, it is certain
that He did not do this, it is certain that He was speaking concern-
ing the real and sacramental eating of His Flesh in the Eucharist.
" Consider," says Theophylact, " that the bread which is eaten by
us in the Mysteries is not merely a certain figure of the Lord's
body, but is the very Flesh of the Lord. He said not, TJie Bread
which I will give is a figure of My Flesh. For by the words secretly
spoken (arcanis verbis) that bread is transformed through the
mystic benediction and the accession of the Holy Spirit, into the
Flesh of the Lord. And how is it that flesh does not appear to us,
but bread ? It is that we may not shrink from eating it. For if
indeed It had appeared to be flesh, we should have been disaffected
towards communion. But now through the Lord's condescension
to an infirmity, the mystic Food appears to us such as that to which
we are accustomed at other times."

Ver. 52. — And the bread which I will give is My Flesh for the life
of the world (Vulg.) The Greek has, But the bread which I will give
is My Flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. And so read

232 S. JOHN, C. VI.

the Syriac, S. Cyril, Theophylact and Theodoret. The Arabic
reads Body instead of Flesh. The meaning is, "The bread, i.e., the
food of the Eucharist, which I will give at the Last Supper, is My
Flesh which I will give, i.e., will offer to God upon the cross, a price
and a ransom, to redeem the world from death, so that I may
indeed raise the world dead in sin to the life of grace and glory."
Or better, " The bread of the Eucharist, which I will give in the
way of food for the life of the world, will be My Flesh which I will
deliver to the death of the cross for the life of the world, but in
such manner that upon the cross I will give It to restore to the
world its lost life, but in the Eucharist I will give It for food, that
the world being raised by My death to the life of grace, may be
nourished, may grow, and be perfected by It." He means, :' I will
give My true Flesh upon the cross, as it were corn in a mill, to be
broken and ground, that from It might be produced the bread of
the Eucharist, fruit-bearing and life-giving, feeding the faithful for
the life of grace, and leading them to the life of glory." S. Ignatius,
when he was condemned to the lions, had regard to this when he
heard them roaring, and said, " I am the corn of Christ ; by the
teeth of the beasts I shall be ground, that I may be found the pure
bread of Christ."

From the expression, / will give, in the future tense, all the
ancients, and the moderns generally, understand this passage of the
Eucharist, and some add that Christ not only on the cross, but in
the Eucharist also gives, i.e., offers His flesh to God for the life of
the world. For Christ not only offers Himself to God upon the
cross, as it were a bloody victim for the life of the world, but also
daily offers Himself for the same in the Eucharist, as it were an
unbloody victim. For the Eucharist, or the Mass, is the perpetual,
but unbloody sacrifice. As Euthymius says, " He said not, the
bread which I give, but, which I will give ; for He was about to give
It in the Last Supper, when He gave thanks, and brake the bread
which He had taken, and gave it to His disciples, and said, Take ye,
and eat, This is My body." After an interval, " I will give unto
death. For He presignifies His crucifixion and voluntary passion."

"HOW," A JUDAIC WORD. 233

Hear also Theophylact, " Although also He is said to be delivered
up by the Father, yet He is also said to have given up Himself.
And the one indeed was said that we might learn His accordance
with the Father, the other that we might not be ignorant of the free
volition of the Son."

Ver. 53. — The Jews therefore . . . strove, Greek, \ii.ayj,w, i.e.,
fought, contended in words, quarrelled among themselves, some
accusing Christ, others defending Him.

How: when the question enters in, how a thing is done, unbelief
enters in at the same time, says S. Chrysostom. "For when it
behoved them," says Cyril, "who by a miracle had perceived the
Divine virtue of the Saviour, and the power of His miracles, readily
to receive His words, and if any seemed too hard to seek for their
solution, they did altogether the opposite. How can this man, &c.
S. Chrysostom says, " if thou inquires! this, why didst thou not say
the same in the miracle of the loaves, as to how He so greatly
increased them ? For from that it ought to have caused this more
easily to be believed. The expression hou>, therefore, is a Judaic
word, and the question of unbelievers." Let the heretics hear this,
who say, " How can so great a Christ be whole in so small a host ?"
Rather let them say, " How can an angel be wholly in a point ? "
" How is God everywhere ? " " How is the soul whole in the whole
body, and whole in all its parts ? " And if they can neither under-
stand, nor express these things, how can they understand the
mystery of the Eucharist ? Let them believe Almighty God giving
assurance of the fact, although they do not understand the mode.
"God can do more than man can understand," says S. Augustine.
" It behoves us therefore," says Theophylact, " when we hear,
Unless ye eat the Flesh of the Son, ye shall not have life, to maintain
undoubting faith in the reception of the Divine Mysteries, and
not to ask, By what means ? " In like manner Cyril, " But let us
depart far away from the sins of others, having firm faith in the
Mysteries. In such sublime things let us never either think, or
say, 'howV For this is a Judaic word, and a cause of extreme
punishment." Therefore he wisely concludes, "When God works,

234 S. JOHN, C. VI.

let us not ask ' how ? ' but let us ascribe to Him alone both the
way and the knowledge of His own work."

Ver. 54.— -Jesus therefore said, &c. Hear S. Chrysostom, " They
indeed judged this to be impossible, but He showed it to be
altogether possible ; and not only so, but necessary." " The manner
indeed in which it was possible," says Cyril, " He did not unfold,
but exhorted them to ask in faith : but they before they believed
asked querulously." Similarly Augustine, " How indeed It is given,
and the manner of eating that Bread ye know not, but unless ye
shall eat, &c."

Unless ye shall eat: this is Christ's precept concerning taking
the Eucharist. Therefore from the very form of the words it is
clear that it pertains only to adults : although indeed some of the
ancients have extended it to little ones and infants, to whom they
actually gave the Eucharist. This appears from S. Augustine (Epist.
23 ad Bonifac.} and S. Cyprian (Tract, de Laps). Indeed at Constan-
tinople and elsewhere it was the custom to give the remains of the
Eucharist to pure and innocent boys whom they called out of
school into the church for the purpose. This appears from the
case of the Jewish boy which I will speak of presently. But the
Church subsequently denned that young children not yet come to
the use of reason, are not the subject of the precept, and but little
capable of fulfilling it reverently. Wherefore the Council of Trent
says (Sess. 21, Can. 4), " If any one shall say that the communion
of the Eucharist is necessary for young children before they come
to years of discretion, anathema sit" It is otherwise concerning
the precept of baptism : Unless any one be born again of water and
the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. For there
it is plain from the form of words that Baptism is not only com-
manded, but also that it is ordained as a necessity for salvation,
and therefore that infants cannot be saved without baptism as a
means, although they are not bound by the precept of it, indeed
cannot be bound. Others have extended this command of eating
the Eucharist to little children in a non-literal but figurative sense,
namely, that the little ones ought to eat the flesh of Christ, i.e., ought

COMMUNION OF INFANTS. 235

to be partakers of the mystical body of Christ which is the Church,
that is, they ought to be baptized, that by the faith, hope and
charity infused into them at their baptism, they may be incorporated
with Christ and the Church. So think and explain S. Cyprian (lib.
3, ad Quirin. c. 53.), Pope Innocent I. (Epist. 93, ad Patres Concil.
Milti'.}, tec. But this meaning is far fetched and symbolical,
not literal and natural.

You will say, infants ought to be united to Christ and the Church :
and this union is the effect and fruit of the Eucharist, as the
Council of Florence teaches : therefore they ought to receive It,
that they may obtain this union. I reply, that infants are united
and incorporated into Christ and the Church by baptism, but that
the perfecting of the union takes place in the Eucharist, and is Its
proper and peculiar effect. But this perfection is not required of
infants, nor is it necessary for their salvation. So Suarez.

And drink His Blood. From hence the Hussites, Luther, Calvin
and others contend that the Eucharistic chalice ought to be given
to the laity also, that they may communicate in both kinds. But
the practice and definition of the Church is otherwise, and this is
the best interpreter of Holy Scripture.

I reply therefore (i.) that as regards the thing (rent) contained in
the Sacrament, the laity do also drink the Blood of Christ when they
receive His Body under the species of bread. Because under that
species (sub ea) by virtue of consecration, there is there (ponitur) the
Body of Christ, but by concomitance there is under the same the
Blood of Christ, for the Body of Christ is not bloodless, nor can the
Blood of Christ be separated from His glorified Body. As therefore
he who takes the Eucharist under the species of wine by virtue of
the words of consecration, takes directly and primarily the Blood of
Christ, and yet by concomitance takes the Body of Christ, because
the Blood of Christ cannot be without His Flesh ; so in turn, he who
takes the Flesh of Christ, under the species of bread, takes directly
the Flesh of Christ, but by concomitance takes also his Blood. For
in spiritual and sacramental and divine things food and drink are
the same : consequently to eat ar.d to drink means the same thing.

236 S. JOHN, C. VI

Wherefore he who receives in one kind only receives as much profit
and grace as he who takes in both kinds. Indeed as in material
things, the same milk is both food and drink, the same bread dipped
in wine both feeds and affords drink. It is at once eaten and drunk.
It satisfies at once hunger and thirst. Still, as regards the sacra-
mental species, he is properly said to eat the Flesh of Christ who
eats It under the species of bread, and he is said to drink His Blood
who drinks It under the species of wine.

You will say, then the laity ought to do both, for Christ Jesus
commands it. I reply that the expression, and drink, both here and
elsewhere is frequently put by a hebraism for or drink. For it suffices
to receive one species, because under either is contained whole and
perfect Christ. Thus it is said (Ex. xxi. 13), "Whoso striketh father
and (i.e., or) mother, let him die the death." For he who strikes
either one or the other is guilty of death. The conjunction and here,
although it disjoins the members of the subject, viz. father and mother,
nevertheless conjoins them in the predicate, that is to say, the
penalty of death. Thus also, "silver and (i.e., or) gold have I none "
(Acts iii. 6). Similar constructions are found in Ex. xxii. 10;
Ezek. xliv. 22, and elsewhere. So here too it may be taken thus,
from what Christ says (Ver. 51, 58), concerning bread alone. And
thus Paul explains Christ's saying, " Whosoever shall eat this bread
or drink the cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the Body
and Blood of the Lord" (i Cor. xi. 27). See the Council of Trent
(Sess 21, Can. i), Bellarmine, Suarez, Maldonatus and others.

We may add that also by a hebraism, the word unless ought to be
repeated, thus, Unless ye eat, &c. , and unless ye drink, &c. That means,
If ye neither eat nor drink, &c. This clearly appears from the Greek,
which for unless has euv w, i.e., if ye do not eat, and if ye do not drink,
that is, if ye do neither the one nor the other. The reason a priori
is because Christ is here answering the Jews striving among them-
selves, and saying concerning the Flesh alone of Christ, How can
this man give us His Flesh to eat? To whom He replies, Amen,
Amen, i.e., most truly and certainly, except ye shall eat the Flesh of
the Son of man, &c. But He adds, and drink His Blood, that He

COMMUNION IN BOTH KINDS. 237

may strengthen the expression, unless ye shall eat His Flesh. For
that is not true and living flesh which has no blood. He would
also show His liberality, charity, and the greatness of the benefit, by
which He affords to the faithful in the Eucharist, the complete sus-
tenance which consists of food and drink. These words have respect
therefore rather to the blessing than to the precept.

Lastly, there is a canon for the interpretation of Holy Scripture
delivered by S. Augustine (de Doct. Christ, lib. 3, c. i 7). There are
many precepts in Scripture which are given to the whole Church,
which yet are to be fulfilled by some, not by all. Such is, "Increase
and multiply" (Gen. i.) This bids some to take wives, and pro-
pagate the human race, but not that all and each should do so. So
here, Unless ye shall eat, &c., i.e., unless there are some, viz. priests,
who take the Sacrament of the Eucharist under both species, ye
shall not have life in you. For if there be none such, then there will
be none to consecrate the Eucharist, none to administer it, and so
the whole fruit of the most Blessed Sacrament would be lost, as
Bellarmine observes. For it is the office of priests to consecrate and
receive in both kinds, that there may be not only a perfect Sacrament,
but also that they may offer the sacrifice. This requires both kinds,
both to signify perfect nourishment (for the sacrifice is, as it were,
the food of God) : and this nourishment consists of food and drink :
as also that there may be a perfect representation of the passion and
death of Christ. In them the Blood was separated from the Body of
Christ, as by the force of the words of consecration, the Body is con-
secrated separately under the species of bread, and the Blood under
the species of wine. Formerly indeed the laity at times, not always,
communicated in both kinds in the primitive Church. This is plain
from S. Paul (i Cor. xi. 28), and S. Dionysius (Celest. Hierarch. cap. 3,
part 3), and S. Cyprian (Serm. de Laps). But as the number of be-
lievers increased, the Church rightly abrogated this custom, because
of the peril of irreverence, and various abuses which had been often
experienced.

Ye shall not have, &c. That it is possible to have spiritual life, by
which the believing soul lives in the faith and love of God without

238 S. JOHN, C. VI.

the Eucharist is plain from the case of the newly baptised. Here
however it is said that there cannot be life without It, because life
cannot be long retained, nourished and fed without this food,
especially since the precept of communicating, both by the natural
and Divine law, as well as human law (for the Church has ordained
that every one shall communicate once a year, at Easter), urges and
obliges us to take It. Whence Ruperti says, A man is not con-
sidered to have not eaten, unless he be unwilling to eat, or has been
careless and neglectful. And we commonly say that a man cannot
live without food, meaning for long. Hence S. Basil says (lib. i, de.
Bapt?), " He who has been regenerated by Baptism, ought afterwards
to be nourished by the participation of the Divine Mysteries."
Similarly Dionysius Carthusianus, " As the body cannot be sustained
without corporeal food, nor continue in natural life, so without this
life-giving food the soul cannot persist in the spiritual life of grace."
So too Lyra, "As in bodily life food is necessary to preserve life, so is
this Sacrament necessary to the spiritual life, because it is preserva-
tive of the spiritual life : for as Baptism is a certain spiritual genera-
tion, so is the Eucharist spiritual nutriment."

From what has been said it is clear that the fruit and effect of
the Eucharist may be gathered from the analogy of the benefits of
bread and food. What bread and food do for the body the
Eucharist does for the soul, and occasionally even for the body, in
that it nourishes and quickens the body, yea, sometimes heals diseases,
and drives away peril of death. Wherefore formerly some persons
when going on board ship were wont to carry the Eucharist with
them, that they might take It in case of danger ; yea, to ward off peril.
Thus Gregory, the father of S. Gregory Nazianzen, being worn out
by a protracted burning fever, and nigh unto death, was delivered
from it, and restored to life and health by means of the Eucharist,
received on Easter Day. Nazianzen relates this in his discourse on
the death of his father. The same saint relates that his mother was
restored to health from a severe and dangerous sickness through
receiving spiritual nourishment from bread which he himself had
consecrated for the holy Sacrifice. He also testifies in a sermon on

MIRACLES WROUGHT BY THE EUCHARIST. 239

the death of his sister Gorgonia that she was healed of paralysis of
all her limbs, and excruciating pains, by partaking of the Eucharist
S. Ambrose in a discourse on the death of his brother Satyrus,
relates that he being shipwrecked escaped certain peril of death
and swam to shore, in consequence of the Eucharist being appended
to his neck. S. Gregory relates a similar escape by means of the
Eucharist of Maximianus, Bishop of Syracuse (lib. 3, Dial. c. 36).
In the time of the Emperor Justinian at Constantinople, the son of
a certain Jew received after the custom of that age, together with
several Christian children, the remains of the Eucharist. For this
he was thrown by his father, a glass-blower, into a burning furnace
of glass. There by the virtue of the Eucharist he was preserved
alive and unhurt. This happened A.D. 552. (See Evagrias, lib. 4,
c. 24, Gregory of Tours, lib. i, Mirac. c. 10.) Finally listen to Cyril
summing up the fruits and effects of the Eucharist : " It drives away
not only death, but all diseases. For it calms down, while Christ
abides in us, the raging law of our members : It strengthens godliness :
It extinguishes the perturbations of the mind : nor does It make
question of our sins : but It heals the sick, It restores the bruised,
and like the good Shepherd, who laid down His life for the sheep,
It raises us from every fall."

Ver. 55. — He that cometh, &c. Eateth, i.e., says Ruperti, worthily,
with due preparation and purification, with a previous act of con-
trition and sacramental confession, if a man have any mortal sin
upon his conscience. For if, after examination, a man be not con-
scious of any mortal sin, even though he may really be in some
mortal sin unknown to himself, the communion of the Eucharist
will blot out that sin, and restore the communicant to the grace and
love of God. This is the teaching of Suarez, and Theologians,
passim. Moreover, the sixth General Council {Act 8) understands
this verse of the Eucharist, and asserts that in it the Flesh of Christ
is called life-giving, because It is the pfoper Flesh of the Word, and
hypostatically united to the Word.

Hath life eternal: because by the Eucharist he receives grace to
preserve him, and bring him unto life eternal. As Dion Carthu

240 S. JOHN, C. VI.

sianus says, "He hath eternal life, because he hath Me: and he
hath the life of grace which is continued by this Sacrament, until he
arrive at the life of everlasting glory." S. Cyril gives the reason —
"Because the Flesh of Christ is the Flesh of God, which is united
to the Word of God, who is, by His nature, Life, and thus is made
life-giving. The Eucharist therefore quickens the soul, because It
preserves, feeds, augments grace. Also It blots out venial sins, and
even mortal sins, if a man has forgotten them. And It will raise up
the body from death. Wherefore it follows, And I will raise him
up. Moreover, S. Bernard thus explains these words of Christ
tropologically (Tract, de Diligend. Deo}. He that eateth, &c., "That
is, he who recalls to mind My death, and after My example mortifies
his members which are upon the earth, hath eternal life."

And I will raise him up at the last day, in which the passion of
Christ and the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist, will gain their
ultimate and perfect fruit and reward in the saints. /, who am
really contained and eaten in the Eucharist, will raise up him that
eateth Me, that as I give its own glory to the soul, so I may bestow
upon the body its glory. For the glorified soul requires a glorious
body that the whole man may be beatified. Hearken to S. Cyril,
" /, He said, that is, My Body which shall be eaten, will raise him
up. For Christ is no other than His Flesh. I do not say so
because It is not different by nature, but because since the Incarna-
tion He can by no means be divided into two Sons. I, therefore,
He says, who am made man, will raise up those who eat Me by
means of My Flesh at the last day. Assuredly it is altogether
impossible that death and destruction should not be overcome by
Him who by nature is Life."

I will raise up, to immortal glory. "Lest they should suppose,"
says S. Augustine, "that by that food and drink life eternal was
promised in such a manner, that those who received it should not
die in the body, He condescended to meet such a thought by
immediately adding, and I will raise him up at the last day, that
meanwhile he should live according to the spirit, in the rest which
the spirits of the saints enjoy : and as concerns the body, not even

THE MEDICINE OF IMMORTALITY. 241

his flesh should be defrauded of life eternal, but should possess
it at the resurrection of the dead at the last day."

Wherefore the Council of Nice calls the Eucharist f: the symbol
of the resurrection." And S. Ignatius (Epist. ad Ephes.} calls It
the " medicine of immortality." S. Cyril in this verse calls It " food
nourishing for immortality and eternal life." Hence S. Chrysostom
(lib. 6, de Sacerdof.} asserts that the souls of those who receive this
Sacrament at the end of life are by reason of having received It
carried direct by the angels into heaven ; and that their bodies, the
angels like attendants surrounding them, are guarded for eternal
life. Nyssen indeed adds (Orat. Catechet. c. 37), "that our bodies
cannot win immortality, unless they have been united to this im-
mortal Body of Christ." S. Cyprian has a similar remark (Serni. de
Cana Dom.), also Tertullian (de Resurrec. Cam.) Yea, S. Irenaeus
(lib. 4, c. 34), from the truth that we communicate of the Flesh and
Blood of an immortal Christ proves the resurrection, that is to say,
that we shall rise to life immortal. Understand all these sayings,
not that by the Eucharist there is confined in the body any physical
quality, as a cause of its resurrection, nor any supernatural gift,
which in the way of grace and glory is not due to the holy soul, but
because the resurrection due to grace is given also to the saints
by another title, which peculiarly and specially belongs to the
Eucharist, that is to say, on account of that special union with the
glorified Body which takes place in the Eucharist because of the
institution and promise of Christ. So Suarez. Let me add that
the Eucharist preserves, nourishes, and augments grace, which is the
seed of glory. The Eucharist therefore is the instrumental cause
of the resurrection (a moral, that is, not a physical cause), because
of which Christ will cause us to rise again. Wherefore He saith
not, " the Eucharist shall raise him again," but, " I will raise him
again."

Ver. 56. — For My Flesh, &c., truly, i.e., not parabolically nor
figuratively, as Euthymius says from S. Chrysostom, but really and
properly, according to the plain meaning of the words. Hence
S. Chrysostom (Horn. 61. ad Pop ^ teaches that we in the Eucharist

VOL. IV. Q

242 S. JOHN, C. VI.

are united and commingled with the Flesh of Christ, not only by
love and consent of will, but also really and substantially. " Where-
fore," saith he, "He hath commingled Himself with us, and united
His Body to ours, that we should be made one whole, even as
a body is connected with its head. This is the desire of ardent
lovers. It is this which Job hinted at, saying to his servants, to
whom he was beyond measure desirable, because they showed their
desire, saying, 'Who will give us to be filled with his flesh?'"
(Job xxxi.) "Not only does Christ afford Himself to be seen by
those who desire Him, but even to be handled and eaten, to have
our teeth fastened in His Flesh, and to fulfil every desire. As lions
therefore breathe out fire, so let us depart from that Table, made
terrible to the devil, and contemplating our Head in our minds, and
the charity which He has manifested towards us."

Ver. 57. — He that eateth, &c. Observe (i.) S. John delights in
the word abide. By it he sometimes signifies delay, and duration of
time (as i. 33), upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and
abiding. Sometimes, however, by the expression abides he ex-
presses, moreover, indwelling and intimate union, as here and in his
ist Epistle (iii. 9), "His seed," i.e. of the grace of God, "abides in
him." And iv. 16, "He that abideth in love abideth in God, and
God in him."

Observe (2.) the abiding and union of the soul with Christ in
the Eucharist not only takes place by the Eucharist Itself, but by
the Eucharist in such manner that Christ being therein hidden,
really and corporally enters into our body, and so Christ with us,
and we with the flesh of Christ, and by consequence with His
Person Divinity and omnipotence are really united and com-
mingled, even as food is really united and commingled with our
flesh. So S. Chrysostom observes, " He saith, abideth in Me, that
He may show we are commingled with Himself." And Euthymius,
"He abideth in Me; he is united to Me by the reception and
communication of My Flesh and My Blood, and is made one body
with Me." Theophylact, " In this place we are taught the Sacra-
ment of communion. For he who eats and drinks the Flesh and

THE SEED OF GLORY. 243

Blood of the Lord, abides in the Lord Himself, and the Lord in
Him. For there is a new sort of commingling, and one beyond
understanding, that God is in us, and we in God." S. Cyril in this
verse brings forward the apt similitude of wax. " It is as if when
any one should pour wax into liquefied wax ; it must be that the
one should commingle with the other throughout. So if any one
receive the Flesh and Blood of the Lord, he is so conjoined with
Him, that Christ is found in him, and he in Christ." And shortly
afterwards, " As a little leaven, as Paul says, leaven th the whole
lump, so a little benediction draws the whole man into Himself
(Christ), and fills him with His grace : and thus Christ abides in
us, and we in Him. For truly the whole leaven passes into the
whole lump. And this is the meaning of the passage." The same
Cyril also declares (lib. 10, c. 13) that Christ is in us, "not only
through the indwelling, which is meant by love, but also by a
participation of nature."

S. Hilary teaches the same (lib. 8, de Trin.), and S. Irenaeus (lib.
4, c. 34). Hence S. Cyril of Jerusalem ( Cat. 4. My stag. ) declares,
that in Holy Communion we become Christ-bearers, yea concor-
porate and united by consanguinity with Christ Moreover Christ
really abides with us so long as the sacramental species of bread and
wine remain in us. But when they are digested and consumed by
the stomach, Christ ceases indeed to live ,in us as Man substantially ;
but still through that previous union which He has contracted with
us, the spiritual life of our souls is by His grace fed, strengthened and
preserved for eternity. For (His Flesh) is grafted into our body as
it were a seed of immortality. Which seed, as I have said, is not
physical, but moral, like the merit of good works. For -as a good
work leaves after it merit, as it were a seed of glory, as it were a sort
of title to eternal life, so does the communion of the Holy Eucharist
leave a similar new title (jus), one peculiar to Itself, after It, unto the
same life, as it were a seed of glory in us. For Christ grants this title
to communicants through contact with, and partaking of His life-giving
Body. For it is fitting and becoming that Christ should impart His
own glorious life to those to whom He imparts Himself. " For it

244 S. JOHN, C. VI.

surely behoved," says Cryil, " that not only the soul should rise to
the blessed life by the Holy Ghost, but also that this worthless and
earthly body should, by the taste of that which is akin to it, by contact
and by food, be brought back to immortality." The Flesh of Christ,
therefore, in the Eucharist is the moral instrument of the Resurrection.
Would you learn the physical cause of the same ? It is this. The
Deity of Christ in the Eucharist is the physical cause of the resur-
rection. To understand this from the foundation, observe that
Christ as God, by the grace given and infused into a man by the
reception of the Eucharist, even after the Eucharistic species have
been consumed in the stomach, really dwells in the man, not only
as in His temple by charity, but also as food in his stomach by way
of nutriment. For as digested food nourishes and feeds the stomach,
and through it all the limbs and members to which the stomach
transmits the food, so in like manner the Divinity of Christ with His
Flesh taken in the Eucharist, as it were the Food of soul and body,
because it cannot be digested and consumed by man, abides continually
in, as it were, the stomach of the soul, and nourishes and feeds it, and
by it all the faculties and powers of the soul. And this is what
Christ here saith, He that cateth My Flesh abideth in Me, and I in
him. For the Deity of Christ as it were food abides always in the soul,
feeding it ; and the soul in her turn abides in the Deity of Christ,
as an immortal and life-giving Food. For she abides as it were in
Life itself, which feeds us continually with the influx of habitual
grace, and at stated periods by the infusion of fresh actual grace, as
by fresh holy illuminations, fresh inspirations, new pious affections
and impulses sent into the soul, that we may become the same that
Christ is, says S. Gregory Nyssen. And thus we are made spiritual,
holy and divine, and that daily more and more, and have always in the
stomach both of our body and our soul the very Divinity of Christ,
as it were the tree of life, so that It in Its own time, in the day of
judgment and the general resurrection, will communicate to us Its
own immortal, blessed and Divine life. Thus sometimes medicine,
a long time after it has been taken and digested, through the virtue
which it leaves after it, works and heals, even though it at first makes

MORAL CAUSE OF THE RESURRECTION. 245

those who take it more sick, because it attacks the depraved humours
(of the body), and fights with them until it purges and expels them ;
and when they are expelled, it restores the body to its pristine purity
and health.

The following is the order of things in the communion of the
Eucharist (i.) Through the receiving of the Eucharist, the Flesh and
Blood of Christ, yea whole Christ, />., His Humanity and Divinity,
as it were food, enters into us, and abides in us. (2.) The species of
the Eucharist being digested by the stomach, and converted into our
flesh (for the matter of the bread and wine which had been anni-
hilated in consecration, comes back by the power of God), the Flesh
and Humanity of Christ cease to be in us : but the Divinity of Christ,
as it were immortal Food, remains in us. And This (3.) communi-
cates Its own eternal life to the soul, nourishes and augments it by
continually feeding in the way of which I have spoken. (4.) The Same
will raise our bodies from death at the resurrection, and unite them
to our souls, and so bestow the life of eternal glory upon the whole
man, inasmuch as we have the Eucharist, at least as regards the
Divinity of Christ which it contains, as it were the food and medicine
of immortality always in our body and our soul. And by means of
It Christ abides in us, as He Himself here asserts, inasmuch as He
is very God. But God will be the physical cause of our resurrection
as the Flesh of Christ will be the moral cause of the same. And
although our flesh must first die, even as the Flesh of Christ died,
yet this food of the Eucharist, that is, Christ as God always abiding
in a man, will raise him up from death unto life eternal. This is
what Christ saith, And I will raise him up at the last day. 1 am
the living Bread who came down from Jieavcn. If any man shall eat
of this Bread he shall live for ever. For Christ as God, not as man,
came down from heaven. He that eateth, &c. — because as food It
always sustains and nourishes him into eternal life. Nor indeed
can these words be otherwise explained. As therefore food, after
it has been digested, leaves its power to nourish in the chile
which remains, so the species of the Eucharist after they have been
digested, leave in a manner their power of nourishing unto eternal

246 S. JOHN, C. VI.

life in the Divinity of Christ which with grace remains. For His
Humanity by His own ordinances has been tied to the species of
bread and wine, that so long as they remain, It also should remain,
and when they are consumed that It should cease to be present, as
S. Thomas and the rest of the Theologians teach. In like manner
after a good work there remains in us not only habitual grace,
but also the Divinity Itself, and the Whole Most Holy Trinity,
which makes us to be partakers of the Divine nature, and sons
of God.

Here observe by the way a threefold distinction between the
Eucharist and common food, (i.) The first is that common food does
not remain in us, but is converted into chile, and then into blood,
and then into the flesh and substance of our several members. But
in the Eucharist the Flesh of Christ is not converted into the sub-
stance of him who eateth, but remains uncorrupt and unchanged in
Itself, forasmuch as It is immortal and glorious. This is what
Christ said to a certain Saint, " Thou shalt not change Me into thy-
self, but thou shalt be changed into Me."

(2.) The second is, that common food is of itself without life, but is
animated, and receives life from him that eateth it. But the Flesh
of Christ in the Eucharist is both living and life-giving, giving life
to him that eateth It.

(3.) Bread and food leave behind no part of themselves, because
they are wholly converted into chile, and transfuse into it their
power of nourishing. But the Flesh of Christ in the Eucharist, after
the species being consumed, the bread has vanished, leaves after It,
Its own hypostasis, that is to say, the Person of the Word, and His
Divinity, on account of which Christ is here said to remain in him
that eateth, and to raise him up, and he that eateth to remain in
Christ. So Cyril and the Fathers cited above. Also S. Ambrose
(lib. 6, de Sacrament, c. i), whom hear. " How then did the Bread,
even the Living Bread come down from heaven ? Because the same
our Lord Jesus Christ is a partaker both of Deity and of a body;
and thou who receivest His Flesh, art partaker through that Food
of His Divine Substance." So too, S. Hilary (Kb. 8, de Trin.)

THE LIVING FATHER. 247

" He Himself is in us through His Flesh, whilst we are with Him
in This which is in God."

Ver. 58. — As the living Father, &c. . . . hath sent Me, in the
Flesh into the world, through the Incarnation, for the salvation of
men. The living Father, who is Himself Divine Life, uncreated
Substance, and therefore in begetting Me hath communicated to
Me the same Substance, that I might communicate the same to the
Humanity, which He sent Me to assume, that I might communicate
similar spiritual, holy, blessed and eternal life to the faithful who
eat of Me.

And I live because of (propter) the Father, i.e., through the Father,
of the Father. For the Father in begetting Me communicates to
Me His own Divinity, which is the essence of life. For God hath
begotten God, the Living One hath begotten the Living One.
" The Son therefore," saith Cyril, " is as Light of Light, and as Life
of Life. And as the Father gives light through the Son to the
things which need light, and through Him does wisely, so through
the Son as through His life which proceeds from Him, He quickens
those things which have need of life." And again, "I live by
(propter) the Father : for since My Father is Life by nature, and
because I am by nature His Son, I naturally possess this property
of His nature, that is life."

Here Christ gives the reason by which He is living and quicken-
ing Bread in the Eucharist, who will raise us from death at the
judgment-day. And He opens out the very origin and fountain of
life and resurrection. For God the Father is that Fount of life,
according to the words, "With Thee is the Fountain of life"
(Ps. xxxv. xo). And He communicates together with His Essence
this life to His Son, whereby it comes to pass that the Son Himself
is a Fountain of Life. Wherefore as the Father always abides in
the Son, always imparts this source of life to the Son, so also the
Son, being sent by the Father in the flesh, and abiding in it, con-
tinually infuses this Divine life into the flesh and the Humanity
which He has assumed, and continually abiding in us, inspires the
like life into us who receive His Flesh in the Eucharist. He there-

S. JOHN, C. VI.

fore shall live by Me, that as the Father communicates His own life
to the Son, so Christ communicates His life to the Christian who
rightly receives Him. Wherefore S. Dionysius the Areopagite (de
Ecdes. Hierarch. c. i) teaches that the Priest passes into fellowship
with the Godhead, and (c. 2} that communion deifies, and (c. 3)
that those who worthily communicate are by the similitude of a pure
and divine life grafted into Christ. Moreover, the Eucharist does
the same thing for the pure and the penitent. Whence S. Augustine
(Serm. i, de Temp.} says, "Let him change his life, who wishes to
receive Life. For if he change not his life, he will receive Life unto
condemnation, and will rather be destroyed than healed by It :
rather slain than quickened." For the impure and the impenitent
receive not life, but death of body and soul, both now and eternally,
from the Eucharist. Thus S. Cyprian (Serm. 5, de Laps.}, speaking
of a woman who communicated unworthily, says, " She received not
bread, but a sword, and as it were taking some deadly poison she
was shaken, trembled, and fell. She who had deceived man, felt the
vengeance of God." He relates several cases of a similar kind.
Durandus also (Ration. Divin. Off. lib. 6, c. 10) relates that the
pestilence which ravaged Rome, from the time of Pope Pelagius
until Gregory the Great, and caused many thousand deaths, was
sent by God in punishment of those, who, after the Lenten fast and
the Easter communion, returned to their former wickedness. For
they were to be visited with death who profaned the Eucharist,
which is true life.

The meaning then is, " As the Father, who liveth by Himself,
and is the Essence itself of life, hath sent Me into this world, and I
have life from Him who begat Me, life, I say, both human, from a
human soul, and of greater importance, Divine life, through par-
taking of the Godhead, with which My humanity is hypostatically
united, and will be united for ever, so in like manner he who eatetii
the living Me, also from Me, ever abiding in Him as regards My
Godhead, shall receive a perpetual life of grace and glory ; and as
regards his body, I will in due time raise it up into a blessed and
eternal life." Christ here signifies that the life which is originally in

SIMILE OF RED-HOT IRON. 249

the Father is communicated to us through the Son and the
Eucharist, as by an organic means. So Leontius, Jansen, and
others. But above the rest, S. Cyril, whom hear, " As I am made
man by the will of the Father, who came forth from essential life,
and as being man I live, and have filled My body with Life, no
otherwise shall he who eateth My flesh live by Me. For I assumed
mortal flesh ; but because I exist as life essentially, dwelling in the
flesh, I have made it wholly like unto My own life. For I indeed
am not conquered by the death of the flesh, but as God I have over-
come all death and destruction." And shortly afterwards, " As the
Father hath sent Me, so that I am become man, yet I live by the
Father, that is, I perfectly preserve the Father's nature : so he who
shall receive Me by eating My flesh shall surely live, being made
wholly like unto Me, who am able to give him life, because I am of
the living Father." He adds a simile taken from red-hot iron. For
as the fire communicates its heat to the red-hot iron, so does the
living Christ impart His life unto us in the Eucharist. In admira-
tion of this S. Augustine exclaims (lib. 7, Confess, c. 10), " O eternal
Truth, and true Charity, and sweet Eternity, I tremble with love
and dread, as though I heard Thy voice from on high saying, ' I am
the Bread of the strong : grow as thou shalt eat Me.' "

Observe here the gradation, by which life gradually descends to
us from God as it were by stairs. The first step is, the Father com-
municating His own Divine Essence to the Son. The second, when
the Son communicates the same life to the Humanity which He
assumed by the participation of attributes. Third, when He inspires
the life of grace and glory which He shares with It, The fourth,
when He infuses not equal but like life into us in the Eucharist.

Lastly, Christ here signifies what I have spoken of in the pre-
ceding verse, that His Godhead which always abides in us, after the
reception of the Eucharist, even after the species have been con
sumed, continually causes the life of grace to flow into us, and will
after death raise us up again unto immortal life. This is what He
means when He saith, I live by the Father, &c. He means, Because
I receive Godhead, which is pure life from the Father, therefore he

250 S. JOHN, C. Vl.

tJiat eateth Me, ei>en he shall live by Me. For My Godhead abiding
in him, will continually breathe into his soul the breath of life.
And his body shall after death be raised up by It to the beatific
life. It is as the seminal virtue which lies hid in the heart of a
grain of wheat, that seems dead through the winter, but in spring
by the heat of the sun opening out its force, it, as it were, raises the
grain of wheat itself from death, and causes it to germinate, and
produce thirty and sixty fold.

Ver. 59. — This is the bread, &c. He intimates the same thing
which I have said at the end of the foregoing verse. For Christ
came down from heaven not as man, but as God. Wherefore he
who eateth Him in the Eucharist shall live for ever, because in truth
he eateth God and the Godhead, which being ever present with
him who eateth, continually breathes into him His own life. Hear
S. Ambrose (Serm. 18 in Ps. cxviii.), "How shall he die whose food
is Life ? " And presently, describing its wonderful effects, " Draw
nigh unto Him, and be filled, for He is Bread. Draw nigh unto
Him, and drink, for He is a Fountain. Draw nigh unto Him, and
be enlightened, for He is Light. Draw nigh unto Him, and be
free, for where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Draw
nigh unto Him, and be absolved; for He is remission of sins."
And S. Bernard (Serm. de Ccena. Dom.} says, "Two things that
Sacrament worketh in you : it diminishes the sense (of sin) in the
least matters, and in graver sins it wholly takes away consent."
And again he says, " If any of you feel neither so frequently nor so
severely the motions of anger, envy, lust, and such like passions,
give thanks to the Body and Blood of the Lord, forasmuch as the
virtue of the Sacrament worketh in you." And S. Chrysostom on
Ps. xxii. 5 (Vulg.), saith upon the words, "Thou hast prepared a
table before me, against them that trouble me," "Let those who
have trouble of the flesh come to the table of the Mighty One,
and tribulation shall be turned into consolation." Lastly, S. Cyril
says, " The body of Christ quickens, and by our participation of it
restores us to incorruption. For it is the body of none other than
of the Life itself. It retains the virtue of the Word Incarnate, and

ERROR OF THE JK\VS. 251

is full of the power of Him by whom all things live and have
their being."

Ver. 60. — This spake He, &c. Christ taught these things, not in
secret, not in a corner, but publicly in the synagogue in the presence
of the Scribes, the Priests, and the whole people who had flocked
together. For the synagogue was a sort of church.

In Capharnanm, " where," says S. Chrysostom, " He had done
so many miracles, and where He had the best right to be heard.
Because the things which Christ spake concerning eating His flesh,
and His being about to raise us up from death unto life eternal,
seemed paradoxical and incredible to the Jews, He wished to pro-
claim them from that place, where by His many miracles He had
gained faith and authority for Himself and His doctrine."

Ver. 6 1 . — Many therefore went back. Hard, i.e., austere, rigid, oppres-
sive, unmerciful. The Arabic has difficult: Euthymius, can scarcely be
admitted. And who can hear it ? " Who can," we do not say, ' do
such a thing, but even bear to hear it ? " What Jesus said concern-
ing His Flesh, and especially the command to eat It (ver. 54),
except ye eat, &c., seems too difficult to be believed, and too horrible
to be done. For what butcher will slay Christ ? Who can bear to
eat human flesh, or drink human blood ? These are the feasts of
cannibals, such as the heathen who did not understand the mystery
of the Flesh of Christ in the Eucharist in after times reproached
Christians with, and so were imitators of those Capharnaites, as
Tertullian and other Fathers testify.

This saying was not hard in itself, but hard to the stupid Jews,
who imagined that the Flesh of Christ was to be cut by a butcher,
and mangled by the teeth like the flesh of an ox. But they greatly
erred, for Christ neither said this, nor meant it. But He wished us
to eat His Flesh sacramentally, i.e., hidden in the Sacrament under
the species of bread and wine, a thing which is not dreadful, but
which we who daily offer and communicate find by experience to
be most easy and sweet. The Jews ought therefore humbly to have
asked Christ to unfold to them the manner of doing this. If they
would have done this, they would have heard it, and might have

252 S. JOHN, C. VI.

received it, and not thought the saying hard. As Cyril says, " They
thought that they were called to the savage manners of wild beasts,
and were urged to eat raw human flesh, and drink blood, things too
horrible to hear of. Such were their thoughts as to how the flesh of
this man would bestow eternal life, and bring them to immortality."

Ver. 62. — -Jesus knowing in Himself, Greek, In iaorw, Syriac, in
His soul, i.e., through His omniscience, without any one to tell, or
reveal it. " For this was a proof of His Divinity, that He revealed
secrets," says Chrysostom. That His disciples murmured at this, He
saith unto them, Doth this scandalize you ? As though he said, " I do
so many and wonderful things because I am sent by the Father for
this purpose, as I have proved to you by My miracles ; ye ought
not therefore to be scandalized and offended at My words and deeds,
but ye ought rather to ask God who sent Me for light and grace,
that ye may be able to receive them."

Ver. 63. — If therefore ye shall see, &c. " He is speaking," says
Euthymius, " concerning His future assumption into heaven." For
some of them, such as the Apostles, beheld this. And others, who
did not believe, although they saw it not, might have heard, and
certainly learnt from those who did see.

Where He was before, as regards His Divinity, says Euthymius.
For He ascended into heaven, as regards His humanity. What
will ye say, must be understood, as Euthymius observes. " Will ye
be still scandalized? I trust not. Certainly I know ye will not
rightly be so. For by My ascension into heaven by My own power
ye will be able to know that I came down from heaven, and that
I return whither I was before, and therefore that I am not only true
and a prophet, but that I am also God, and the Son of God, to
whom all things are possible, yea easy, and therefore that I am able
to give My Flesh for food, and by It to raise the dead. From the
miracle of His ascension into heaven Christ rightly proves His
Divinity and omnipotence, and from them the mystery of the
Eucharist. For to the Deity nothing is impossible, nothing strange,
nothing paradoxical. Yea, it is becoming to Deity to do things
strange (nova) and paradoxical, which are above nature and human

ERROR OF CALVIN. 253

reason. As S. Cyril says, " By another wonderful thing He urges
them to faith," and that appositely. For the ascension of Christ
into heaven signified that He came down from heaven (for He went
back from whence He came), and therefore that He was the Living
Bread which came down from heaven, which was what He here
wished to persuade the Capharnaites.

Maldonatus explains otherwise, thus, " When ye shall hear that I
have ascended into heaven, what will ye say? Surely ye will be
still more scandalized ; ye will still less believe Me ; ye will say that
I am a sorcerer, who by the aid of the devils have pretended to fly
into heaven."

Ver. 64. — It is the spirit which quickeneth : the flesh, Arabic, the body,
&c. The Calvinists bring forward against us these words of Christ
to show that in the Eucharist there is not the Flesh of Christ really
and corporeally, but only spiritually and figuratively by representa-
tion and faith, because, say they, the flesh profiteth nothing. But
if this be true, then in vain was the Word made Flesh, then in
vain did the Flesh of Christ suffer and was crucified, and died.
God forbid. And who does not see that the Flesh of Christ is more
profitable than the mere bread of Calvin, even though it were
seasoned with sugar and honey out of Calvin's throat ? For in his
bread there is no spirit, except the spirit of error and satanic
madness.

First then SS. Cyril and Austin learnedly expound these words,
thus : they are as if Christ said, " My Flesh alone profits not to
preserve him who eats It unto life eternal, because it is not My
mere Flesh which confers life and resurrection, but it is the Spirit,
i.e., My Divinity united to the Flesh which quickens first the soul,
and then the body at the Resurrection. And thus My Flesh
profiteth very exceedingly, forasmuch as being united to the
Spirit of the Word, it derives from It its quickening power." By
a similar form of speech we are wont to say, The eye doth not
see, the ear doth not hear, nor the body feel, but it is the spirit, *>.,
the soul, which sees through the eye, and hears through the ear.
Consequently, the words, i.e., the reality and the mystery of My

254 S. JOHN, C. VI.

Flesh to be eaten in the Eucharist, which I speak unto you are
spirit and life. That is, My Deity, which is a pure Spirit, is a
living and quickening Spirit. For It will give you life in the
Eucharist, not My bare Flesh. So S. Augustine says, " This Flesh
alone profiteth not, but let the Spirit be joined to the Flesh, and
It profiteth greatly. For if the Flesh profiteth nothing, the Word
would not have become Flesh." The same (lib. 10, de. Civit. Dei}
says, "The Flesh of itself cleanseth not, but through the Word by which
it hath been assumed." And S. Cyril, " If the Flesh be understood
alone, it is by no means able to quicken, forasmuch as it needs a
Quickener, but because it is conjoined with the life-giving Word,
the whole is made life-giving. For the Word of God being joined
to the corruptible nature does not lose Its virtue, but the Flesh
itself is lifted up to the power of the higher nature. Therefore,
although the nature of flesh as flesh cannot quicken ; still it doth
this because it hath received the whole operation of the Word."

For Christ is here making answer to the Capharnaites murmuring
as to how Christ's Flesh being eaten could give eternal life. But
He gave this answer because they had murmured still more con-
cerning the eating the flesh of Christ, and the method of
doing so, which they thought of as something carnal and barbarous,
as is seen by verses 52 and 60, and 61. For it seems something
savage and inhuman to tear like wolves, and devour the human
flesh of Christ. Hence secondly,

More aptly and naturally, the flesh, i.e., the carnal understanding,
by which in sooth ye suppose that My Flesh is to be visibly cut
and eaten like the flesh of sheep, profits nothing for the bestowal
of everlasting life : but the spirit and the spiritual intelligence,
by which we believe that the Flesh of Christ united to His
spiritual Divinity, i.e., in a sacramental manner, veiled and
hidden in the Eucharist under the species of bread and wine, is to
be eaten — this gives life to soul and body. So S. Chrysostom, &c.
No otherwise is S. Augustine's meaning on the gSth Ps. ( Vulg.\ if
he be carefully read : He says, " It is not this body which ye see
nor the blood which those who crucify Me will shed, that ye are

COMMENT OF S. AUSTIN. 255

about to eat and drink. I commend unto you a sacrament which
spiritually understood will quicken you. And although it be
necessary that it be visibly celebrated, yet it ought to be understood
in an invisible sense." These words the Calvinists understood
thus, that in the Eucharist we eat the Flesh of Christ not really,
but figuratively and mystically by faith. But they are in error.
For the meaning of S. Augustine is, In the Eucharist we do not eat
the Flesh of Christ by visibly cutting and masticating it, as
the Capharnaites supposed, but under a sacrament, i.e., sacra-
mentally and invisibly, lying hid under the species of bread
and wine. For if understood otherwise, S. Augustine would
conflict with himself (Senn. i. in Ps. xxxiii. and Lib. 22, Civ it. c. 8,
and elsewhere), where he manifestly upholds the truth of Christ's
Body in the Eucharist.

Wherefore Christ subjoins, the words which I speak, &c. : Spirit,
i.e., are spiritual, and must be understood spiritually, i.e., Sacra-
mentally, in the manner in which I have now explained, and not
carnally, as ye Capharnaites, like butchers, understand them. So
they are life, i.e., vital, and bestow life on him who heareth and eateth
Me. There is a Hebraism, by which the abstract is put for the
concrete. Thus frequently elsewhere the flesh and spirit are put
for the carnal and spiritual understanding and sense. Thus 2 Cor.
iii. 6, "The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." Matt. xvL 17,
" Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee." Moreover it
is common in Scripture to play upon the meanings of words.
Wherefore it is not surprising that flesh is to be understood
differently from what it is in verse 56, &c. My Flesh is truly Food.
For there real, but here figurative flesh is meant So Christ plays
upon the meaning of water (c. iv.), rising from the corporeal to the
spiritual sense. So the Apostle plays upon the word sin (2. Cor.
v. 21), "He who knew no sin, was made sin," ;'.<?., a Victim for
sin, " for us."

Thirdly, the fullest sense will be if we join both meanings
previously given, and with Bede unite them into one, thus — The
virtue of giving life which My Flesh eaten in the Eucharist pos-

256 S. JOHN, C. VI.

sesses, is not derived so much from the flesh as from the Spirit of
the Word which is living and life-giving. And consequently this
eating of My Flesh is not to be taken in the carnal manner of
butchers, but in a spiritual manner, and accommodated to the
spirit, that is to say in a hidden and sacramental manner. For
from the words of Christ ignorantly understood the Capharnaites
alleged the contrary of both, and turned away, as is plain from the
words. And so this spiritual, i.e., sacramental, manner of eating the
Flesh of Christ by taking the species of bread and wine, under
which in reality lie hid the Body and Blood of Christ and His
Divinity Itself, occasions no horror to the eater, and causes no
wounding or harm to the Flesh of Christ which is eaten. For
here Christ lies hid, and is invisible and indivisible like an angel.
So Euthymius says, " They are things spiritual and life-giving.
For we ought not simply to look at them (for that is carnally to
understand them), but we ought to suppose something else, and to
look upon them as mysteries with our inward eyes."

Ver. 65. — But there are some, &c. The reason why some of you
do not receive, but oppose, My words concerning the Eucharist, is
not because My saying is hard, as ye say, but because ye are faith-
less, and will not believe My many miracles and signs. For here
there is need of humble faith, which ought by lowly prayer to be
asked and waited for from God the Father. But ye lack humility
both of prayer and faith, and therefore ye neither pray to God, nor
believe in Me. So S. Augustine, Bede and Rupert.

For Jesus knew, &c. It means that Christ as God knew from
eternity what would happen, and this foreknowledge He communi-
cated to His Humanity from the beginning of His conception. And
who should betray Him. By this John intimates that Judas the
traitor was one of those who did not believe ; indeed, that he was
offended at Christ's sayings concerning the eating His flesh : that
he conceived and cherished a dislike to Christ, which at last broke
out into treachery against Him. The connection makes this con-
clusion necessary. Otherwise this mention of the traitor would be
inopportune, unless from this discourse of Christ Judas had taken

SUFFICIENT GRACE. 257

the first initiative of his unbelief and subsequent treachery. So S.
Augustine, Bede, &c.

Christ added this that the Jews might not think that He had,
unaware of his future treachery, admitted Judas to the Apostolate.
He had clone it consciously and advisedly, that so His Passion and
man's redemption might be fulfilled as God had decreed.

Ver. 66. — And said, &c., except it be given him, &c., i.e., except My
Father draw him, as He said in verse 44. Graciously does Christ
not attribute the unbelief of the Jews to their fault, but excuses
them on the ground that it was not given them of the Father : at the
same time He consoles Himself, as it were, thus — " I do not dis-
tress Myself because many do not believe in Me, but I console
Myself because the Father will cause to believe in Me those whom
He hath chosen, and will cause them to come to Me. With these
I am content I am not ambitious of others. For whom the
Father willeth (to come), those I also will ; and those whom He
willeth not (to come), those likewise I do not will." Yet those who
would not come, i.e., would not believe in Christ, sinned, both
because they had sufficient grace, by which they might have be-
lieved if they had wished (although they had not efficacious grace,
by which they would really and actually believe), as also because
they did not humbly ask of God efficacious grace, also because by
their pride, and other sins, they had rendered themselves unworthy
of that grace. Yea, by their obstinacy they repelled the grace and
faith of God, as S. Cyprian learnedly explains (lib. i, epist. 3, ad.
Cornel.}

Ver. 67. — From this time, say Euthymius and others : otherwise the
Syriac, on account of this discourse : Arabic, because of this, left Jesus,
&c. These disciples were not the Apostles, for Christ excepts them
in the following verse. Neither were they the seventy-two disciples.
For those had not yet been designated and chosen by Christ.
But they were His more constant hearers and followers, "who,"
as Theophylact says, " followed Him in the rank of His disciples,
and remained with Him longer than the multitudes, and so, com-
pared with the rest of the crowd, were called His disciples. These

VOL. IV. R

258 S. JOHN, C. VI.

persons therefore up to this time being allured by the sweet doctrine
of Christ, fed by the loaves miraculously multiplied, and hoping to
be fed in future by similar food, when they heard Christ substituting
His own Flesh in the place of bread, and willing that they should
eat It, thought either that He was mad, or else was contriving some
horrible and savage scheme, or perchance a conspiracy against the
Romans, and would inaugurate it by their tasting His flesh and
blood, as Cataline had done before at Rome. Thus, to provide for
their own safety, they fell away from Christ.

S. Epiphanius declares expressly that one of these was S. Mark,
who was afterwards brought back by S. Peter, and became an
Evangelist (Hares. 51): but others deny this, and assert that
S. Mark neither saw nor heard Christ (in the flesh), but was con-
verted by S. Peter after His death. So S. Jerome on Ecclesiastical
Writers, and others.

Ver. 68. — Jesus said therefore, &c. For when the others were scan-
dalized and went away from Christ "the Twelve remained," says
S. Augustine, " for not even did Judas go away : " partly for shame's
sake, not to be the only Apostle to go away, and be called an
apostate ; partly that he might be fed by Christ without labour on
his part, as he had been hitherto ; and that as he bore the bag and
was a sort of purveyor for Christ's family, he might steal and
enrich himself. For he was a thief.

Christ asks the question of the Apostles for five reasons. The
first was that He might leave them their liberty. As though He
said, " I give you your choice : if ye wish to go away, depart : if
ye wish to remain with Me, remain. I will not retain you either
by force, or shame." Listen to S. Chrysostom. "Jesus neither
flattered, nor drove away : but He asked the question, not because
He despised them, but that they might not seem to be retained
by compulsion." For if they had remained unwillingly, He
would have been in exactly the same condition as if they had
gone away.

(2.) To show His greatness of soul; and that He did not need
the work of Apostles, forasmuch as He by Himself could do all

PETER'S ANSWER. 259

things : and when they were sent away, He could substitute others
who were better in their place.

(3.) That the Apostles might understand that by remaining, they
did not commend, or show favour to Jesus, but to themselves.
" That they received rather than conferred a benefit," says Theo-
phylact.

(4.) That by this freedom of choice He might the more bind
them to Himself, and invite them to remain. For it often occurs,
as a natural consequence, that when we are asked, we decline ;
when we are not asked, we desire ; when we are invited, we flee ;
when we are not invited, we draw near.

(5.) That by this interrogation He might prove their affection,
and try their constancy, and draw a confession of their true faith
concerning Himself. So S. Cyril. And that such a confession
was drawn forth is plain from the next verse.

Ver. 69. — Simon Peter therefore answered, &c. Peter, as greater
in rank (prdine major), says S. Cyril, firmer in faith, more loving
to Jesus, more fervent in spirit, answered in the name of the rest
of the Apostles, thinking that this was the mind and feeling of all.
For that which he himself thought of Jesus he believed his col-
leagues thought likewise.

To whom shall we go ? Meaning, says S. Augustine, " Do you
send us from Thee ? Give us another such as Thou art To whom
shall we go, if we leave Thee ? " Wherefore S. Chrysostom says,
" This is an answer of great affection. For Christ was preferable
to both father and mother."

Thou hast the words of eternal life. First, as it were said, " Thy
words, O Jesus, are sweet and life-giving, because they promise the
very eternal life. Who therefore, save a fool, would leave them,
and go elsewhere ? " S. Cyril saith, " Not hard are the words, as
those Capharnaites say, but Thou hast the words of eternal life,
which are able to lead those who believe to the incorruptible life."
Wherefore what Thou hast said concerning Thy flesh to be eaten,
that by It we may obtain eternal life, although I do not as yet
well understand it, yet am I not scandalized, nor offended by Thy

260 S. JOHN, C. VI.

words, but I firmly believe them to be true, not doubting that in
due time I shall understand them better, and silently asking and
beseeching Thee to cause me to do this.

(2.) By Thy words, O Jesus, Thou dost promise us eternal life, if
we eat Thy Flesh. These words draw us and unite us to Thee,
rather than drive us away. For who would not wish for eternal life,
and such a means of obtaining it ? Wherefore the Arabic renders,
To whom shall we go, since the words of eternal life are with Thee ?
"Hence we learn," says Cyril, "that one only Christ who is able
to bring us to everlasting life, must be followed as our Master."

(3.) Thou hast the words, &c. Because Thou art Life eternal.
Therefore in Thy Flesh and Blood Thou only givest what Thou
art, says S. Augustine. Thou art the Word of the Father: and
therefore Thou hast in Thee eternal life, because Thou art Life
eternal Itself. What wonder then if Thou bestowest on those who
eat Thee, life eternal ? For Thou dost bestow that very self-same
thing which Thou art.

Ver. 70. — And we believe, &c. The Greek has the article to both
Christ and Son : 6 XO/<JTO;, the Christ promised by God, and expected
for so many ages : 6 uibs, i.e., the Son of God by nature and sub-
stance, not adopted by grace. " Diligently consider this," says
Cyril, "that everywhere, especially with the prefix of tlje article,
they say, Thou art the very Christ, the very Son of the Living God,
truly and naturally separating (this) Son from other sons of God,
who being called, are adopted by grace. And we being conjoined
by likeness to Him, are called sons."

We know, from the testimony of John the Baptist, our prophet
and master, from the many and great miracles which Thou hast
wrought, from Thy heavenly doctrine, and the holiness of Thy life,
which we who are in constant intercourse with Thee, know to be
heavenly and Divine.

Son of God: the Greek adds ro\j %u\>rot, the living, so also the
Syriac and Arabic read. The meaning is, We believe that Thou
art the Son of God. Wherefore, we also believe that all Thy sayings
are Divine and most true, even when we do not understand them,

JUDAS USED FOR GOOD. 26l

and therefore that they are life-giving, and confer salvation and
eternal life. For Thou art the Son of the Living God, who in
His Essence is Life, which He communicates to Thee : therefore
nothing can proceed from Thee but what is vital and life-giving :
neither do we expect anything else from Thee.

Ver. 71.— -Jesus answered, Thou, O Peter, answerest in the name
of all the Apostles, as if all believed in Me, and were My faithful
friends. But know that thou art deceived, for one of them is a devil,
unbelieving, and faithless to Me, who also will betray Me.

Have chosen Twelve, as to the Apostleship according to their
present state apt and meet. Whence it seems that Judas the traitor,
even when he was first chosen by Christ, was good and honest.
For prudence and charity forbid the choice of one who is dishonest.
So S. Cyril, Maldonatus and others. Also S. Jerome (lib. 3, cont.
Pelag.), Tertullian (lib. de prczscrip. hcsret. c. 3). Some, however,
think that Judas, when he was bad, as Christ knew, was yet chosen
by Him to be an Apostle, with this object, that it might be one of
His own who should betray Him, and so afford the occasion and the
way for His passion and death, and from them the redemption of
men. This opinion is attributed to SS. Bede and Augustine, yet
neither says so expressly. Indeed, both rather intimate that Judas
was chosen by Christ when he was good, even though he was known
to be about to become bad by his own fault. Hear S. Augustine :
"Their number of Twelve was consecrated, who through the four
quarters of the world were to proclaim the Trinity. And because
one of them perished, not on that account was the honour of that
number taken away from them. For in the room of him who
perished another was chosen." And after a while he says, " He was
chosen, from whom, albeit unwilling, and knowing it not, a great
good was to proceed. For as wicked men wickedly use the good
works of God, so, on the contrary, God for good uses the wicked
works of men. The Lord used for good the wicked Judas, and
delivered Himself to be betrayed that He might redeem us." Hear
also Bede : " To one end He chose eleven, to another end one.
These He chose that they should persevere in the dignity of the

262 R. JOHN, C. VI.

apostolate, him, that by the office of his treachery He might work
out the salvation of the human race."

A devil : Syriac, Satan : Nonnus, he who is called by posterity
another new devil. Christ would not name Judas that He might
spare his reputation. " He neither openly pointed him out," says
S. Chrysostom, " nor wished him to lie concealed. The former was
that he might not contend too impudently ; the latter, lest supposing
he was concealed, he should act too unguardedly." He did it also
that he might impress the Apostles with fear, that they like Judas
might not apostatize, nor presume proudly upon their own con-
stancy. Listen to Cyril : " He confirms them by sharper words,
and makes them diligent by the peril before their eyes. For it is
thus He seems to speak, Ye have need, O ye disciples, of great
watchfulness, and great care for your safety : for the way of perdition
is very slippery." After a while, " He makes all more watchful,
because He does not say openly who would betray Him, but affirm-
ing that the charge of such heinous impiety hung over one, He
makes them all anxious, and by the dread of such a thing He
arouses them to greater vigilance."

You will ask why Judas is called a devil. I answer (i.) because
he was &«/3oAo£ (diabolus), i.e., a false accuser. For he spoke evil
of the works and miracles of Christ to the Scribes and chief priests.

(2.) He was a diabohts, Hebrew and Syriac, a Satan, i.e., an
adversary, because he opposed himself to Christ.

(3.) He was a diabolus because he did not believe in Christ:
because he was a thief and a liar. For the devil is " a liar and the
father of a lie " (cap. viii.) Wherefore Christ saith, he is a devil, in
the present tense, not will be in the future.

(4.) He was a devil, that is a minister of the devil, an instrument and
organ of the devil. For at the instigation of the devil he betrayed
Christ his Lord and his God, as though he had been possessed of a
devil. Whence John says (xiii. 2), that " Satan entered into him."
So S. Chrysostom and others. So in common speech a very wicked
man is called a devil.

(5.) He was a diabolus, i.e., betrayer of Christ. For in this sense

WHY JUDAS CALLED A DEVIL. 263

diabolus is used for a traitor in Ecclus. xxvi. 6, in the Greek, though
the Vulgate has betrayal. So the devil is the traitor angel, because
by his malice he betrayed and ruined the angelic state. For from the
angelic choirs and from heaven Lucifer, the traitor, by his perfidy
dragged down with himself to hell the third part of the stars (Apoc.
xii. 4). He betrayed therefore heaven and its inhabitants to hell
and destruction.

Christ is alluding to the fall of Lucifer, who being chosen by God
prince of the angels, by his pride made himself a devil and the prince
of the demons. In like manner Judas chosen by Christ to the angelic
office of the Apostolate, by his own fault fell from it, and made him-
self a companion of the devil, and a diabolus, that we may learn to
work out our salvation with fear and trembling, and to fear a fall,
although we stand in the most holy places. For the higher the place
the greater is the fall, and the ruin the more profound.

Ver. 72. — But he spake, &c. Christ forewarns the Apostles, so
that when they should afterwards behold the treachery of Judas,
they might know that He had foreseen and foretold it, and therefore
that it was not against His will, but by the permission of His certain
counsel that this was done to bring about His death, by which He
might redeem the human race.

Here John finishes the acts of the second year of Christ's preaching,
up to the third year, or from the second Passover to the third. He
proceeds with the acts of the third year in the following chapter.
He passes over therefore many acts of Christ's second year, because
they had been given at length by the other three Evangelists. He
concludes Christ's second year with the multiplication of the loaves,
which He wrought about the time of the Passover, and which
furnished the occasion of Christ's long argument with the Jews
concerning the spiritual bread and His Flesh to be partaken in the
Eucharist

< 264

CHAPTER VII.

I Christ goes up to Jerusalem from Galilee. 12 Answered the Jews ly saying that
He was taught and sent by the Father to heal the sick even on the Sabbath.
32 The soldiers who were sent by the Pharisees to seize Him, refused to act.
50 Nicodemus reproved by the Pharisees for taking His part.

A FTER these things Jesus walked in Galilee : for he would not walk in Jewry,
/V because the Jews sought to kill him.

2 Now the Jews' feast of tabernacles was at hand.

3 His brethren therefore said, unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that
thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest.

4 For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to
be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world.

5 For neither did his brethren believe in him.

6 Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come : but your time is alway
ready.

7 The world cannot hate you ; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the
works thereof are evil.

8 Go ye up unto this feast : I go not up yet unto this feast : for my time is not
yet full come.

9 When he had said these words unto them, he abode still in Galilee.

10 IT But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast
not openly, but as it were in secret.

11 .Then the Jews sought him at the feast, and said, Where is he ?

12 And there was much murmuring among the people concerning him : for
some said, He is a good man : others said, Nay ; but he deceiveth the people.

13 Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jew?.

14 If Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and
taught.

15 And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having
never learned 1

16 Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent
me.

17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of
God, or -whether I speak of myself.

18 He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory : but he that seeketh his
glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.

19 Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the' law?
Why go ye about to kill me ?

THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN. 265

20 The people answered and said, Thou hast a devil : who goeth about to kill
thee?

21 Jesus answered and said unto them, I have done one work, and ye all
marvel.

22 Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses,
but of the fathers ;) and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man.

23 If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses
should not be broken ; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit
whole on the sabbath day ?

24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

25 Then said some of them of Jerusalem, Is not this he, whom they seek to
kill?

26 But, lo, he speaketh boldly, and they say nothing unto him. Do the rulers
know indeed that this is the very Christ ?

27 Howbeit we know this man whence he is : but when Christ cometh, no man
knoweth whence he is.

28 Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, saying, Ye both know me, and
ye know whence I am : and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true,
whom ye know not.

29 But I know him : for I am from him, and he hath sent me.

30 Then they sought to take him : but no man laid hands on him, because his
hour was not yet come.

31 And many of the people believed on him, and said, When Christ cometh,
will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done?

32 IT The Pharisees heard that the people murmured such things concerning
him ; and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him.

33 Then said Jesus unto them, Yet a little while am I with you, and then I go
unto him that sent me.

34 Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me : and where I am, thither ye cannot
come.

35 Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will he go, that we shall not
find him ? will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the
Gentiles ?

36 What mamureftajrag is this that he said. Ye shall seek me, and shall not
find m;: and where I am, thither ye cannot come?

37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If
any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall
flow rivers of living water.

39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should
receive : for the Holy Ghost was not yet given ; because that Jesus was not yet
glorified.)

40 IT Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a
truth this is the Prophet.

41 Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of
Galilee?

42 Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and
out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was ?

266 S. JOHN, C. VII.

43 So there was a division among the people because of him.

/I/I And some of them would have taken him ; but no man laid hands on him.

45 1F Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees ; and they said
unto them, Why have ye not brought him ?

46 The officers answered, Never spake man like this man.

47 Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived ?

48 Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him 7

49 But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed.

50 Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of
them,)

51 Doth our law judge any man before it hear him, and know what he doeth ?

52 They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and
look : for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.

53 And every man went unto his own house.

But after this Jesus walked in Galilee, &c. Not immediately, but
about six months after. The incidents of the former chapter took
place in March, the feast of tabernacles was in September. But
Christ lived six months after this, to the following March. All which
follows Christ said and did in the last months of His life. S. John
then omits here the events of these six months, amongst which are
the defence of the disciples for eating with unwashed hands ; the
healing of the daughter of the Canaanitish woman ; St. Peter's
testimony, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God, for
which He was constituted the head of the Church ; the paying the
tribute-money ; His reproof of the Apostles for disputing who was
the greatest, &c. For all this which S. John omits had been
recorded by the other Evangelists.

Jesus walked in Galilee. He was already in Galilee, but it means
He went to and fro in Galilee, preaching the kingdom of God.

For He would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews (i.e., the
chief of the Jews) sought to kill him, because He kept not the
Sabbath, as the Jews did, but healed the sick on that day, and
called God His father, and consequently asserted that He Himself
was God (see chap. v. 18). It appears that Jesus did not go up
to Jerusalem at either the Passover or Pentecost of this year. And
this because He knew the death that was devised against Hirn^
before His appointed time; not because He feared the Jews, or
dreaded death, but to set us an example of flying from our persecutors,

FEAST OF TABERNACLES. 267

till God otherwise reveals, and delivers us into their hands, as S.
Athanasius did. (So say S. Augustine and others.)

Ver. 2. — But tJie Jews1 feast of tabernacles was at hand. They kept
it for seven days, living in booths, hastily constructed of branches
of trees, in memory of the forty years' wandering in the wilderness.
The Syriac version for Scenopegia reads Conopea quite wrongly. For
these were mosquito curtains, not booths. Abulensis (in Lev. xxiii.
34) gives a most erroneous derivation of ffxjjvo-s-jjy/a, and Plutarch
from not knowing Hebrew was equally wrong in regarding this
feast as merely a Bacchanalian orgy, mistaking also the meaning of
Sabbath.

Ver. 3. — But His brethren said to Him. Not the sons of Joseph,
as Leontius, Cyril, and Euthymius supposed, for both Joseph and
Mary remained virgins; nor yet James and John, as Chrysostom thinks,
for they were Apostles already, but kinsmen of the Blessed Virgin,
or even of Joseph (see S. Luke, chap. iii. ad fin.} Some, that is, of
His kinsfolk, not all ; for some believed in Him, some not.

Depart hence and go into Judea. From Galilee and the ignoble
Capharnaum to the coming feast of tabernacles, to make Thyself
known to them by Thy doctrine and miracles. They wish to draw
Him away from Galilee, to be known and renowned at Jerusalem.

That Thy disciples also may see the works that Thou doest. Thou,
O Jesus, our kinsman, art performing wondrous works in a corner
of Galilee, before Thy few and poor disciples in Galilee, come with
us to Jerusalem, and work similar works there ; that Thy disciples,
whom Thou hast there obtained by Thy preaching, and wilt here-
after gain by Thy miracles, not from the people only, but also from
the Priests, Scribes, and chiefs of the people, may be instructed or
confirmed in Thy faith, and receive thee as a Prophet and the
Messiah. For they wished that Christ should come especially to
their notice, that the chief rulers should proclaim Jesus to be the
Messiah, and propose Him as such for the reception of the people.
For it was theirs to decide about the faith, the prophets, and the
Messiah, and what they decided that the people followed and did.

Ver. 4. — For no man doeth anything in secret and he himself seeketh

268 S. JOHN, C. VII.

to be known openly. Ev ^aasrtcta. properly means to be at liberty ; but
here, as opposed to "secretly," it means "openly " (see John v. 13 ;
xvi. 25, 29 ; xviii. 20 ; and S. Mark viii. 32). So Maldonatus and
others.

Jf Thou doest this, manifest Thyself to the world. " If" does not
imply doubt, but means assertion, and is the same as '• since."
Since Thou doest such great and wondrous works in Galilee, do
the same in Jerusalem, that there all Israel, and from them the whole
world, may know who Thou art, and what dignity, power, and virtue
Thou hast received from the Father. For as Raphael saith, "It is
good to keep close the secret of a king, but it is honourable to
reveal and make known the works of God " (Tob. xii. 7). They make
the praise of Christ and the glory of God a cloke for their own
covetousness and ambition : for they wished that as Christ became
renowned by the fame of His miracles, they as His kinsman might
become renowned, and honoured by the people, and be loaded with
gifts : and might, moreover, secure the favour of the rulers and
priests, and then, as they hoped, rise to high offices in the state.
Just as when one is made Pope, or Cardinal, or Bishop, his kinsfolk
at once flock about him, to gain through him honours and wealth.
For " all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ."

Ver. 5. — For neither did His brethren believe in Him. They so
freely and boldly urged Jesus to come with them to Jerusalem,
because they did not fully believe that He was the Christ. For had
they believed it, they would not have dared to speak to Him so
freely. So says Euthymius. For though they saw Him work so
many miracles, and did not doubt their truth, yet they doubt
whether He were the Messiah and the Son of God. For though
they wished it to be true, and partly believed it on account of His
many miracles, yet on the other hand they doubted when they saw
Him so poor and despised. To make certain they urge Christ to
go with them to Jerusalem, where the Scribes and Priests could, on
examination had, declare Him to be the Christ, and thus He, and
they through Him, might gain honour and celebrity.

Ver. 6. — -Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come, but your

CHRIST'S TIME. 269

time is always ready. My time is appointed of the Father, but it
must be put off for a few days, through the hatred with which the
Jews pursue me. For this reason I will go up in a few days, but
with secrecy. But do ye go first, for any time is fitting and appro-
priate for you. I will follow you secretly. (See Jansenius, F. Lucas,
and others.)

On the other hand, S. Chrysostom and others (see Maldonatus)
consider that the time spoken of is the time of His death, which had
not yet come. The first meaning is the best.

Ver. 7. — The world cannot hate you, &c. You (my kinsmen) can go
at any time to Jerusalem without risk, because ye do not oppose the
Scribes, but rather favour, and pay them court. But I, if I go up
openly with you, put Myself in manifest peril of My life. So S.
Cyril, who also adds the reason, "For a mind given to pleasures,
greatly resents being called away from them ; " for the Scribes
were unwilling to abandon their pleasures, their luxuries, their
injustice, and therefore hated Christ, who wished to draw them away
from them, as the wise man says (Wisdom ii. 12).

Ver. 8. — Go ye up unto this feast. For ye have no danger to fear
(says Euthymius).

But I go not up yet to this feast. I am waiting for the anger of
the Scribes to subside. For they are looking out for Me to kill Me
at the beginning of the feast, but after three days I shall come up
secretly and with less danger by myself. For it is clear from verse
10 that He came up a little while after. It is probable that Christ said,
as the Vulgate reads, " I go not up," for had he said, " I go not up
yet," his kinsmen would have proposed to wait for Him. But Christ's
meaning was, I go not up yet, though He did not say so to His
kinsmen, to relieve their vexation. Secondly, S. Augustine and Cyril
explain " I go not up on this first day of the Feast, but afterwards
on the fourth day.'*' But the truer view is that He determined to go
up on the first day (see on ver. 14). Maldonatus explains, " I go not
up as ye wish and suppose, as a mere man to be honoured and
followed by the people. But I shall soon go up thither as the
Messiah and Son of God to teach them the way of salvation, and

2/0 S. JOHN, C. VII.

thus seek to extend His glory and not My own. But this seems
somewhat forced.

Ver. 9, 10. — When he had said these words, &c. Christ appears
not to have taken the straight road through Samaria, but to have
crossed the Jordan, and after dismissing the multitudes, to have gone
up to Jerusalem, with a few of His favoured disciples, in secret
(see Matt xix. i, 2 ; Luke ix. 51, 53 ; Mark ix. 29, x. i).

Ver. ii. — The Jews therefore sought Him at the feast, and said,
Where is He ? S. Chrysostom says that on a feast day they were
always disposed to murder, and they endeavoured to catch Him on
feast days. And Euthymius, "Admirable work for feast days, in
making them occasions for murder ; and that on the very day they
ought to have been searching for Christ in order to believe on Him?
they were aiming only at His death." And thus in our days many
on the feast days on which they ought to be making their peace with
God, only offend Him by their gross sins and blaspheming, making
their feasts to the devil and not to God ; this is the fraud and sug-
gestion of the devil, who takes away the service due to God, and
appropriates it to himself.

Where is He, that impostor, and deceiver of the people ? In their
extreme wrath, says S. Chrysostom, they could not bear to mention
Him by name.

Ver. 12. — And there was much murmuring, &c. He would make
Himself the founder of a new faction, and stir up sedition and
rebellion.

A good man, nay, a teacher and a prophet ; this was the opinion of
those who had heard Him teaching, and seen His miracles in
Galilee. The contrary was the opinion of the Scribes and Rulers,
and the multitude who followed them.

Ver. 13. — Howbeit no man spake, &c., i.e., from fear of the Scribes,
Pharisees, and Chief Priests. S. John speaks of them merely as
Jews, so as not to derogate from the authority of the Scribes and
Priests, and also, as Cyril says, he counted it wrong to term persons
so estrayed from holiness, priests or elders. "No one," i.e., of
those who said that Jesus was a good man, says Euthymius; or as

CHRIST TEACHES PUBLICLY. 2/1

S. Augustine says, "They loudly proclaimed, 'He seduces the
people ; ' ' He is a good man,' they spoke in suppressed whispers."

But about the midst of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple. On
the fourth or fifth day, for it lasted for eight days.

S. Augustine, Theophylact, and others think that Christ entered
Jerusalem and the temple on the same day : for when He came to
the city He used first of all to visit the temple, as an act of piety,
and many Christians follow his example. On the other hand,
Toletus, Maldonatus, and others think that He went up shortly after
His kinsfolk, so as to be present at the beginning of the feast, but
that He did not enter the temple till the fourth day. This the lan-
guage of S. John both here and in verse 10 seems to require. And
besides Jesus, as a teacher and pattern of religion, wished for the
edification of others to keep the whole of this festival. (See Lev.
xxiii. 43.) Moreover, they were required to erect their booths on
the first day of the feast, which Jesus probably did, unless you
suppose that He was taken into the booth of a disciple or friend.
Coming up secretly in this way on the first day of the feast He ran
no risk, unless He entered the temple, which He did not do till
the fourth day, remaining hid in a booth for the first three days.
His first entry then was in secret, His second was public, the one
to keep the feast in the booths outside, and then afterwards to teach
in the temple.

But why did He not at once enter the temple? First, as S.
Augustine and others reply, in order that the anger of the Scribes
and Chief Priests who lived in the temple might cool down. (2.)
His remaining concealed was for example's sake and from His weak-
ness as man, as His coming forth afterwards was a proof of Divine
power, says S. Augustine, and Bede after him. (3.) To create in
His expectant hearers a greater desire of hearing Him after such
delay. (4.) That they might be more free to hear Him, when unem-
ployed in the necessary arrangements for the feast.

And taught, after His own manner, the things which concerned
salvation, and led to the kingdom of heaven; and publicly too
before the Scribes and Rulers who hated Him. Behold here the

27 2 S. JOHN, C. VII.

nobleness of His mind in intrepidly discharging His office in the
midst of danger. For although the anger of the Scribes had some-
what cooled down by the delay of three days, yet it could be easily
rekindled by His teaching thus in public. But Jesus nobly despised
it, both because He was ready to be killed by them, and also
because He knew that God would thwart their designs against Him,
because the appointed time of His death had not come. By His
three days' concealment He teaches us prudence, and by His
coming forth and preaching openly on the fourth day He gave us
a pattern of boldness, to discharge resolutely the duty imposed on
us by God, even at the peril of our life, in sure trust that He will
either deliver us from danger or give us strength and fortitude to
bear and overcome it.

Ver. 15. — And the Jews wondered, saying, &c. " They marvelled,"
says Cyril, "when they saw in Him such unheard-of wisdom and
power of speech ; " for, as Theophylact says, " He spake wondrous
words, restraining and changing their minds in a wondrous manner,"
so that their fury was changed into love and admiration of Christ.
" For they heard Him," says S. Augustine, " disputing about the
law, and adducing its testimony," and explaining it with such grace
and manner as was not human but divine. For, as he adds, " Many
knew where He was born, and how brought up, but had never seen
Him learning anything." And hence the Scribes ought to have
inferred that His great learning and wisdom had not been acquired
by study, but infused by God. But blinded and stupefied by hatred
they stand still in wonder, and proceed not to investigate the origin
of that which surprises them. So S. Chrysostom. And for this
very cause God willed that Jesus should leap up into the chair ot
learning, not from the schools, but from the carpenter's trade, to the
?nd that all might acknowledge that His learning was not taught
by man but inspired by God.

Ver. 1 6. — Jesus answered, &c. My doctrines are not My inven-
tions nor the result of My study. They did not primarily and origi-
nally proceed from Me, but from God the Father. He, as I am God,
communicated to Me His own omniscience. But, as I am man,

CHRIST SEEKS GOD'S GLORY. 273

He gave and infused into Me His own Blessed knowledge of all
things, according to that of Isaiah xi. 2. " The Spirit of the Lord
shall rest upon Him," &c. So S. Chrysostom and others, who observe
that in this very way Christ implies that He is God : as if He said,
" I together with the Divine Essence have derived all My omnisci-
ence and doctrine from the Father." As S. Augustine says (Tract
29), "What is the doctrine of the Father, but the Word of the
Father? Christ Himself, therefore, is the doctrine of the Father, if
He is the Word of the Father. But because a Word cannot be of
r,o one, but of some one, He called Himself His own doctrine, and
yet not His own, because He is the Word of the Father. For
what is so much thine as thyself? and what is so little thine as
thyself if thou art from some one else?"

Ver 17. — If any one is willing, &c. That is, something invented
by Me, and therefore disagreeing, or contrary to the will of God.
As S. Chrysostom says, " If anybody has love of virtue, he will
understand the force of My words that they come from God. For
of Him cometh every virtue, of which I am the earnest teacher.
For he who loves to observe the commands of God in this matter,
will love and observe My Word, because I do not say or do any-
thing contrary to what is pleasing and commanded by God ; "
tacitly hinting that they loved vice, and therefore were opposed to
the teaching both of God and Himself. " Put away," says Chry-
sostom, " this doubt, your anger and malice and intense hatred of Me,
and nothing will then keep you from acknowledging that My words
are those of God. But now these tempers obscure your judgment,
and if you put them aside you would think otherwise."

Ver. 1 8. — He that speaketh of Himself, &c. But on the other
hand Cyril concludes with, " He who seeks not God's glory but
his own, is a liar, and full of deceit " — a liar, because under pretence
of observing the law he puts forth his own will ; and full of deceit,
because he dares to prefer his own commands to those of God.
This then is the second proof that Christ gives, that He speaks not
of Himself. Put logicially it is thus, He that speaks for Himself

seeks his own glory. But I seek not my own glory; therefore I
VOL. iv. s

274 s. JOHN, C..VIL

speak not of Myself. Heretics and philosophers teach their own
opinions, and call their followers after their own names. For in
either case, it is desire for fame which causes heresies and sects.

Unrighteousness, that is fraud, craft, deception, for Christ teaches
sincerely and truly what he believes will please God and promote
His glory, while others seek their own glory, and use flattery and
other arts to extort it from men for themselves.

Ver. 19-20. — Did not Moses give you the law 1 And yet, &c. The
primary sense is, no wonder ye do not accept Mine and My Father's
law, since ye keep not the law of Moses, which ye value so much
and urge against Me. For it strictly forbids murder (Ex. xxiii. 7).
So S. Augustine and others. But secondly, F. Lucas thus explains
it more profoundly and more closely to the context : " Ye accuse
Me of disregarding the law, and breaking the Sabbath by healing
the paralytic. But ye equally break it by circumcising a man, which
is a longer and more cruel act than healing with a word. Ye are
therefore more deserving of death than I am."

Ver. 20. — The people answered and said, Thou hast a devil, who
seeketh to kill Thee ? That is, Thou art mad as Saul was when pos-
sessed with a devil. Or more strictly, it is the devil who instigates
Thee to make this false charge of murder against us. We never
thought of it. These are the words of the people, some of whom
thought well, and others ill of Christ, but yet did not wish to kill
Him. But that was the wish of the Scribes and rulers, who
mingled with the crowd. Christ therefore glances at them, and
openly proclaims their secret plans for killing Him, which were
fully known to Him, thus shewing Him to be God.

Ver. 21. — -Jesus answered and said unto them, I have done one work,
and ye all marvel. The work of healing the paralytic. Jesus did not
return taunt for taunt, but forbearingly suppressed his feelings, and
with gentleness and prudence pulled up their charge by the roots.
" He was not troubled, but calm in the possession of His truth ; He
returned not evil for evil, or railing for railing, though, if He had
said to them, Ye have a devil, He would certainly have spoken
truth ; for they would never have said such things to Him who is

CIRCUMCISION OF THE FATHERS. 275

Truth itself, if the false teaching of the devil had not ensnared
them.

Ye wonder, and are indignant, as though I had done contrary
to the law. " Ye are disturbed and agitated," says S. Chrysostom.
" Ye condemn Me," says Cyril. " Ye seek to kill Me," Euthymius.
The order of events is inverted. For astonishment caused indigna-
tion, indignation disturbance, disturbance the contriving His death.

Ver. 22. — For this cause Moses, &c. (i.) Some, as Theophylact and
Maldonatus, connect this with the preceding verse, " Ye all marvel
at this My healing on the Sabbath." (2.) Euthymius and Jansen
explain thus, "To keep you from wondering, just consider what
I am going to say about circumcision."

(3.) S. Cyril, Toletus and F. Lucas explain it thus: "Though
Moses gave you circumcision, it was because he wished studiously
to observe the tradition of the fathers, and yet on the Sabbath day,
which Moses also authorised, ye circumcise a man. (4.) It is on
account of the surprise you feel that I add an argument from the
rite of circumcision, which ye perform by Moses' own order on the
Sabbath.

Not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers. The patriarch
Abraham, and not Moses, instituted circumcision. And he adds
this to teach them not to rely to such an extent on the law of Moses
alone, respecting the Sabbath, or to neglect the laws of those who
preceded him. But on the other hand, if those earlier laws are at
variance with the law of Moses, the elder laws should prevail and
the law of Moses give way to them. And, thus, the law of circum-
cision given to Abraham cancelled the law of the Sabbath given to
Moses, that if a child were born on the Sabbath, he was obliged
to be circumcised precisely on the eighth day, and that his circum-
cision could not possibly be deferred to the day following. If then
the law of Moses was obliged to give way to the law of Abraham,
much more should it give way to the Law of Christ and God, which
orders us to do good, if we can, to the sore afflicted, even on the
Sabbath, more especially if we do so quickly, and in a word, as
Christ did.

276 S. JOHN, C. VII.

And ye on the Sabbath day circumcise a man. And, i.e., there-
fore, because the law of circumcision was anterior, and given to
Abraham by God, it overrules the Sabbath, which was instituted
afterwards by Moses at the command of God. And therefore, if
the eighth day from the child's birth is the Sabbath, ye circumcise
him with great preparation and trouble, that the law of God given
to Abraham may be kept.

Ver. 23. — If a man on the Sabbath day receive circumcision, &c.
If circumcision, which in its own nature is a servile, troublesome,
and tedious work, as well as one causing pain, is not only lawful, but
even commanded to be done on the Sabbath ; why am not I equally
allowed to heal on the Sabbath a man who has been paralysed for
so many years, and with a word to restore him to health, and that
too to the alone praise and glory of God ? For the law of piety and
kindness is a law of nature, to which every law, human and divine,
such as that of the Sabbath, should give way. Observe here, " the
whole man." For as Euthymius remarks, since his whole body was
shattered by palsy, He rendered it entirely whole. Christ appositely
compares the healing to circumcision, because as a superfluous part
of the body is cut off by the one, so the palsy, which was attacking
his whole body, was cut off by the other. But circumcision took
place with pain and wounds, the healing by Christ with pleasure
and complete health, for He healed the whole man, that is, body
and soul together. Christ appears to have cut off from the soul of
this sick man his vices and sins, and to have justified and sanctified
him, as well as others who were healed by Him, just as circumcision
by circumcising the flesh circumcised the soul also ; cut away from it
original sin, and clothed it with the grace and righteousness of God.

Ver. 24. — -Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous
judgment. He charges the Jews with acceptance of persons, in
acquitting Moses, or rather themselves, in a like matter, but accus-
ing and condemning Jesus. Ye accuse Me as a Sabbath-breaker
only for healing a sick man by my divine power, whereas ye think
it lawful by the law of Moses to circumcise and wound a child, to
heal his wound by applying plasters, and to staunch the blood, which

UNFAIRNESS OF THE JEWS. 277

is much more tedious, painful and horrible. And this is because
ye judge not acccording to the truth of things, but according to the
dignity of the persons. For Me ye contemn as vile, poor and hated ;
but ye set up yourselves with Moses as the chiefs and teachers ot
the people. For were ye to judge according to our doings, ye
ought to acquit Me as well as Moses and yourselves ; or if ye con-
demn Me, ye should condemn both Moses and yourselves. For I
healed the man on the Sabbath, but ye with Moses on the very
same day first wound and afterwards heal the child. And my
object was even more holy, because I did it only for the glory of
God, to show that I was the Messiah. So say S. Augustine, S.
Chrysostom, and others. Many think that Christ here put Him-
self above Moses. But it would be more fitly said that Christ here
compared Himself with the Jews, who, according to the law of
Moses, circumcised on the Sabbath. But Moses never expressly
commanded this. It was merely inferred from his words.

Ver. 25. — Therefore said some of them of Jerusalem. Those, that
is, that were convinced by Christ's argument. Many of the people
at Jerusalem had a leaning towards Him, but could not openly
show it for fear of the rulers.

Is not this He whom they seek to kill? They knew, says S.
Augustine, how savagely He was sought for. The others then said
falsely and craftily, "Who seeketh to kill Thee?"

Ver. 26. — And lo He speaketh openly, and they say nothing against
Him. What means this great silence ? says Nonnus. Do the rulers
know indeed that this is the very Christ1} They know it, or easily
could have known it, but they, blinded by their pride and hatred,
persecuted Him to the death; but they were restrained by His
divine power from laying hands on Him.

Ver. 27. — But we know this man, &c. We know that His parents
are Joseph and Mary, and they themselves confessed elsewhere in
general that they knew He was to be born in Bethlehem of the seed
of David. But these were the words of the ignorant people, who
thought that Christ would suddenly appear to the world from
unknown ancestors, that He would remain hid in Bethlehem for a

2/8 S. JOHN, C. VII.

long time, or else be carried away to a distance, be there brought up
to man's estate, and then appear unexpectedly in Judea. Other
strange myths were invented concerning Him, derived mainly from
wrong interpretations of Is. liii. 8, Heb. vii. 3, Micah v. 2, and
Ps. cix. 3 (see Vulg.}, "Before the morning star I begat Thee from
the womb : " all which passages should be understood of His divine
and not of His human nature. But the Jews considered Him a
mere man, and thought that He had been begotten from eternity
in Bethlehem. On which account Christ teaches them that they
knew His human, but not His divine origin. So Toletus and
others.

Ver. 28. — -Jesus therefore cried in the temple, &c. I grant what you
say, that ye know My ancestry and My parents ; though ye are much
mistaken. Ye do not know them ; for the Jews knew not the God-
head of Christ, regarding Him only as the son of Joseph. But S.
Chrysostom and Maldonatus explain thus : " Ye know Me, i.e., ye
ought, and are able to know that I am the Messiah. For I have
proved this from prophecy, and confirmed it by miracles."

He cried, as showing that He knew their secret murmurings. And
the things which they spake secretly (says S. Chrysostom), He openly
proclaimed, and confounded them. In order also by His loud speak-
ing to gain attention and add weight to His preaching.

/ am not come of Myself, but sent of the Father. But He is true
in faithfully and truthfully fulfilling in My person the promises made
to Abraham and David. But ye know him not, i.e., to be My Father,
and that He sent Me to redeem the world. Or otherwise, " ye know
Him not, ye do not obey, love, or worship Him, as though ye
knew Him." So Theophylact.

Ver. 29. — But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He hath sent
Me, "Born," saith S. Augustine, "by divine and eternal genera-
tion, inasmuch as I am His own proper and natural Son : " and He
sent Me "into the world by My Incarnation." "See," saith Theo-
phylact, " the two natures in Christ set forth in this passage, for by
His saying, ' I am of Him,' His Divine Substance is set forth; but
His human when He says, 'and He sent Me.'" Christ here refutes

CHRIST'S DEATH VOLUNTARY. 279

them of Jerusalem, who excused themselves for not believing in Him,
because they knew His parents, whereas no one was to know the
parents of Christ. For He shows that they knew not either His
Divine generation from the Father, nor His human generation, by
having been Incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary ; and
that this was no hindrance to their duty of believing in Him as
the Messiah, even though His parentage were not known.

Ver. 30. — They therejore sought to take him, but no man laid hands
on him. Who were they ? asks S. Chrysostom. Not the multitude,
but the priests, who hated Jesus because the people preferred Him
to them, and He was held to be the Messiah. Because his hour was
not yet come, the hour at which He had resolved to die (says Theo-
phylact), for when He thought it the time for Him to suffer He gave
Himself to His crucifiers. This manifestly shows the wisdom of
the Saviour " in not wishing to die except at the fitting and suitable
time which was destined for Him. For the passion of Christ was
free and voluntary, not of force or compulsion. His hour means the
hour chosen by Himself, and determined on for His death." S. Cyril
here argues at length against the brethren who thought that some
hours were favourable, and others unfavourable to man. For he
teaches that times as well as men are subjected to and regulated
by God's providence.

Ver. 31. — But many of the people, &c. For the people were more
simple-minded, candid, and eager for their own salvation, than the
priests, who hated Jesus, whom the people regarded as the Messiah,
while they themselves were but little regarded; which greatly excited
their hatred against Christ. When Christ corneth, <Scc. Why then
should we not accept this man who is here as the Christ ? For it
is prudence to prefer a certainty to an uncertainty, and the present
to the future. For they had seen many miracles wrought, of which
S. John says nothing, as having been related at length by the other
Evangelists. So says S. Chrysostom, " The people conjectured rightly,
being led, as it were, on their own feet to proper belief, through the
greatness of what they had seen, but waiting for the teaching of the
rulers respecting Christ;" and further on, "the head (as is said)

280 S. JOHN, C. VII.

became the tail. For the rulers simply follow, and consenting to the
wickedness of the Pharisees make a headlong attack on Christ."

Ver. 32. — The Pharisees heard, &c. As though He were exciting
the people to sedition (Euthymius) ; but more truly from envy. The
Greek adds " the chief priests" The Pharisees belonged to the
Council, and accused Jesus before the chief priests, and drew them
over to their resolve to kill Jesus.

Ver. 33. — -Jesus therefore said unto them, &c., that is, to the officers
of the chief priests, to win them over (says Chrysostom) by showing
that He knew the cause of their coming, " and that they might tell
it to their masters." " Yet a little while" I will not for long trouble
your masters, for I am weary of dwelling with murderers. " I will fly
from the ungodly," says Cyril. "I will preach for six months more
among you, till the Passover. For then will be My time, appointed
by the Father, to die for the salvation of the world. It is in vain
that ye now seek to kill Me. Ye can do nothing against God's will.
Ye are labouring in vain, and kicking against the pricks." Christ
here displays His greatness of mind, and His divine foreknowledge
and power, wherewith He laughs their efforts to scorn, and disperses
them as spiders' webs. I go ; that is, I shall soon go, signifying that
His death was voluntary, says Theophylact, quoting S. Chrysostom.
It was in vain that they attempted violence against Him. " I go"
means " I will go of My own accord and give up myself to you for
bonds, scourging and death." To him that sent me. This signifies
(i.) that He would go willingly, (2.) that the persecution of the rulers
would do Him no hurt (so Chrysostom and Euthymius). (3.) He
would alarm them, for, going to the Father, He would declare to Him
their hatred towards Him, and demand punishment. So S. Chry-
sostom and S. Cyril. " In vain ye sharpen against Me the sword of
wickedness. Ye will not make life subject to death ; I shall ascend
into heaven, bearing before angels and men the accusation of your
wickedness. For the first will wonder at His return, and the others,
going forth to meet Him, will ask ' What are these wounds in Thy
hands?' And I will answer, 'With these was I wounded in the
house of My beloved ' " (Zech. xiii. 6).

THE GENTILES DISPERSED. 28 1

Ver. 34. — Ye shall seek Me, &c. Ye will seek for another Messiah,
but ye will not find Him, for there is no other Christ but Myself.
So Toletus. But this is far from clear, and not to the point. It means
more plainly and simply : When ye hear that I have risen, and by
My disciples am working miracles, ye will seek to kill Me again,
and thus utterly extirpate My name and My religion. But ye will
not find Me, for I shall ascend with glory into heaven, and though
ye slay My Apostles, I will put others in their place to propagate
My doctrine and Church through all the world. So Rupertus.

But (4.) Jansen and others explain thus. After My death and
ascension many of you who despised Me, will by the preaching of the
Apostles desire to see and hear Me, but will not find Me because I
go up to heaven. So Cyril, who teaches that a blessing should be em-
braced when present, lest afterward we should seek for it in vain. For
opportunity has locks (of hair) in front (as is said), but is bald behind.

Morally. Learn to admire and imitate Christ's calmness and
patience in answering. " For," says S. Cyril, " a mind devoted to God
ought to avoid all assaults of anger, and to take pleasure in gentle
thoughts. Labour greatly to be versed in endurance, that thou
mayest appear to all to bear adversities patiently, to have a gentle
mind, and not to speak unseemly words even against thine enemies."

Ver. 35. — The Jews therefore said, &c.

Ver. 36. — What is this saying that He said, .... and where -1
am, thither ye cannot come ? That is to the Gentiles scattered through-
out the world. Hence the Epistles written to them are called
Catholic or universal. The Jews scornfully termed the Gentiles
" dispersed," whereas they themselves were gathered together in one
spot, and again because they were " dispersed " among many errors
and superstitions, while the Jews were united in one orthodox faith
and served the one true and only God with one mind.

The Jews did not understand Christ's meaning, because they did
not believe that He would go up again to heaven. And yet they
spake the truth, for when the Jews rejected the faith, the Apostles
transferred it to the Gentiles (set: Acts xiii. 46).

Ver. 37. — But in the last day, the gnat day oj the feast, £c. This

282 S. JOHN, C. VII.

was called the day of the assembly or gathering, when the people in
a body went to the temple. Christ therefore wished to implant in
the people, as they were departing, not merely a longing for Him-
self, and doubts respecting His religion, but to bring it keenly home
to them, just as a preacher should do at the end of his discourse.
"Since they were going home," says S. Chrysostom, " He gives them
saving food for their journey."

Symbolically. The feast of tabernacles was joyful, and thus a
type of the resurrection and joy of the blessed, to which Christ just
before said He was going. So S. Cyril.

If any one thirst for his own salvation, and a happy and blessed
eternity (for these we should especially thirst for and desire, as the
highest good), " let him come to Me" i.e., believe in Me, and draw
from Me Gospel truth, yea the Holy Spirit Himself, with all His
gifts and virtues, for He will lead him to heavenly glory, where all
his desires will be fully satisfied (comp. Is. Iv. i).

Ver. 38. — He that believeth in Me, as the Serif hire saith, i.e., as he
ought, by faith, moulded by love : he that so believeth as also to
.obey Me and My commands.

Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. Where is this
said? (i.) Rupertus, S. Thomas, and S. Jerome say in Prov. v. 16,
"Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad." (2.) F. Lucas in Is.
Iviii. 8, "Thou shalt be like a watered garden." (3.) Others say
that it is stated not in one place, but in many, for the prophets
everywhere foretell that the abundance of spiritual gifts which Christ
would give, would be like showers of water. See Joel ii. 28 ; Is.
xll 1 8, xliv. 3. See also Ezek. xxxvi. 25, and Ecclus. xxiv. 40,
Vulg., " I wisdom poured forth rivers," &c. (In AngL verses 30,
31), and Cant. iv. 15, "A fountain of gardens, a well of living
waters, and streams from Lebanon."

Out of his belly shall flow rivers oj living -water. Rivers
(say S. Ambrose and Theophylact), not a river, to denote the
greatest abundance, force and efficacy of spiritual graces, as e.g.,
rivers of charity, of virginity, of martyrdoms and martyrs, of wisdom
and of Christian eloquence. So S. Chrysostom, Rupertus, and

RIVKKS OF GRACE. 283

others. S. Gregory (Horn. x. on Ezek.) saith : "Because holy teach-
ings flow from the minds of the faithful, as streams of living waters
from the belly of believers. For what is the belly, but the inner
feelings of the mind, that is, right intention, holy desire, and a will
which is humble towards God, and loving to its neighbour?"

"Consider," says S. Chrysostom, "the eloquence of Peter, the
vehemence of Paul, and the wisdom of Stephen, for nothing escapes
them as they speak, but they all go on as hurried forward by
impetuously rushing streams." As was the case at Pentecost, when
Peter poured forth the streams of his spirit, and by one discourse
converted three, and by another five, thousand Jews to Christ. And
hence S. Jerome (Ep. Ixi. to Pammachais) saith, "Paul was a chosen
vessel, a trumpet of the Gospel, a roaring of a lion, a torrent of
Christian eloquence : for as oft as I read him methinks I hear not
words but thunders." And S. Chrysostom saith, " Paul is the heaven
which hath the sun of righteousness, being himself a most pure and
most profound sea of wisdom " (Horn iv. de laudibus S. Pauli).
But observe that Christ is the fount of living water, that is of
living and quickening grace, "For with Thee is the fountain of life" *
(Ps. xxxvi. 9), and if we drink of this fountain (i.e., if we believe in
Christ and obey Him), He will be in us a fountain of water springing
up into eternal life (see John iv. 14). This fountain is the Holy
Spirit, or His abundant and plenteous grace. And from this foun-
tain dwelling in the soul, the countless and most perfect spiritual
gifts and virtues flow, like rivers and streams, into the soul and body,
into all their powers and acts, and reach even to those about them.
For " the grace of the Spirit," saith Chrysostom, " when it enters and
waters the mind, fertilises it more than any stream ; it never fails,
never falls short, never stops." He therefore speaks of its indefectible
abundance, and its wondrous operation, as a fountain and stream.

" Faith, hope, and charity are streams of the Holy Spirit," says S.
Gregory, as S. John explains it below.

Out of his belly. That is, the heart and mind. " The belly " (says
S. Augustine) "is the conscience of the heart, for purified by this
water, it will be itself a fountain. But the fountain is benevolence,

284 S. JOHN., C. VII.

which seeks the good of its neighbour, and therefore is not dried up,
but ever flows.

Shall flow. Abundantly, in virtuous acts, by the operations and
impulses of the Holy Spirit, to lead not only themselves but others
also to heaven. For the spring of this spiritual stream is in heaven,
and it flows back to its original source, and carries back thither
spiritual men with it (see chap. iv. 14).

Living waters. Not stagnant waters, but flowing and springing up.
Abundance of living waters, (i.) Charity (S. Augustine). (2.)
Spiritual joy (see Ps. xlvi.) (S. Basil). (3.) Evangelical doctrine (S.
Ambrose). (4.) Heavenly happiness and glory, which S. John com-
pares to the river of the water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding
out of the throne of God, and of the Lamb (Rev. xxii. i). (5.) A
fount of all grace and glory, all gifts of the Holy Spirit (so S.
Chrysostom, Cyril, Origen, &c.)

Ver. 39. — But this spake He of the Spirit which they that believe on
Him should receive. After His death, and by His merits at Pente-
cost, for before that the Apostles had not received it so copiously
and abundantly as at that time; and they at once watered the
parched earth by the streams of their preaching and virtue, fertilised
it by their good works, inebriated it by the love of God, and inun-
dated it with all virtues, by means of the living water of Christian
grace, life, and doctrine.

For the Spirit was not yet given, i.e., the Holy Spirit was not yet
given so copiously, because Jesus was not yet glorified. But why was
not the Holy Spirit given visibly and abundantly before His Ascen-
sion? (i.) S. Leo says, "In order that this gift and pouring forth
of the Holy Spirit might be acknowledged as the fruit of His Passion,
Ascension and Triumph. Just as kings give largesses to their
people on occasions of great joy, as triumphs and so forth. (See
Acts ii. 33.; "His Ascension" (says S. Leo) "was the cause of His
giving His Holy Spirit." (2.) The sending of the Spirit was the
glorification of Christ. For the Spirit by the greatness of His gifts
wondrously set forth the glory of Christ. For He wrought so many
miracles by the Apostles, as to convert the whole world to Christ.

MANIFOLD FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT. 285

(3.) Because the disciples before the Ascension were not able to
receive so great a gift, having such carnal notions of Christ. (4.)
S. Augustine (in foe), " He willed not to give the Spirit till after His
Resurrection, in order that our charity might glow for the Resurrec-
tion, and being separated from the world may run wholly towards
Him." And S. Cyril, "Christ then became the Principle of our
renewed nature, when, counting as nothing the bands of death, He
rose again." And again, "There was in the Prophets a certain
rich brightness of the Holy Spirit, and a light shining before them,
to guide them to the knowledge of things to come. But to those
who believed in Christ, there was not only the Holy Spirit, as a
light to lead them on the way, but He dwelt within them, as if in
His temple."

For then streams of grace not only flowed, but poured down
from heaven, not merely on a few, but on very many of the faithful.
From thence there flowed forth such thousands of martyrs, who
nobly endured the rack, the flames and the lions ; so many bands of
virgins victoriously contending even to death for their Christian
virginity ; so many swarms of monks and anchorets who in monas- ,
teries and deserts lived separate from the world and for God, as
men of heaven, and angels upon earth ; so many orders of Pontiffs
and Prelates, who governed most holily the churches committed to
them, and moulded them to perfect sanctity ; such bands of Doctors,
Preachers and Confessors, who scattered on every side their streams *
of doctrine and holy living, by their teaching, preaching and
writings, enlightening the whole world with the knowledge of God,
and enkindling it by His love ; of whom it is said, " He shall pour
forth as showers his wise sentences " (Ecclus. xxxix. 6). And lastly,
so many myriads of the faithful, both men and women, who living
soberly, justly and godly in this world, eagerly looked, and still look
for the glorious coming of our Great God and Saviour Jesus Christ
Is not this great and unending glory to Jesus Christ ?

Ver. 42. — Doth not the Scripture say, £c. As Micah foretold.
But Jesus is not the Christ as having been conceived and brought
up at Nazareth. But He was born at Bethlehem, and since they

286 S. JOHN, C. VII.

had seen so many evident signs of His Messiahship, they were
bound to inquire more carefully into this point which seemed to be
wanting. And had they done so, they would have understood the
truth, and would have known that His being a Galilean was no
objection to His being the Christ ; but the people from indolence,
and the Scribes from envy of Him, would not investigate the matter,
and were both accordingly inexcusable.

Ver. 43. — So there was a division among the people because of Him.
Some accusing Him of being an innovator, others excusing Him,
and lauding Him as a Prophet.

Ver. 44. — And some of them would have taken Him, i.e., some of
the multitude, not of the rulers, who were all of one mind not to
acknowledge Him. But the officers who were sent for the purpose
wished to apprehend Him.

But no man laid hands on Him. For Christ withheld them by
His power of spirit, and the majesty of His countenance, much
more by His Divine Power. And, moreover, the hour for His suffer-
ing had not yet come. So Cyril.

Ver. 45. — The officers therefore came, &c. As to the masters who
had sent them.

And they said imto them, Why have ye not brought Him ? Their
coming was a greater thing than to have remained with Christ, for
they would thus have been spared annoyance from them, but now
they became heralds of Christ, and became more bold in their
bearing, says S. Chrysostom.

Him, that innovator, deceiver, and false prophet. They deigned
not to call Jesus by His own name.

Ver. 46. — The officers answered, &c. Because He was God-man,
and therefore He teaches not with human but Divine grace, power
efficacy and majesty. Notice here the force of Christ's words, His
authority and dignity, which astounded these officers, who, though
willing, were not able to take Him, nay were obliged to love, rever-
ence and honour Him ; and to profess as much to their masters
though most hostile to Christ. " Proving," says Cyril, " how rash
and weak it is to fight against Christ." "They might certainly have

FAITH OF THE OFFICERS. 287

excused themselves (says S. Chrysostom) " by saying we dared not
take Him, lest we should rouse to sedition against ourselves the
multitude who favoured Him." For they seemed not so much to
admire Him, as to blame those who had sent them to seize Him,
whom they ought rather to have listened to. Why sent ye us to
seize so great a teacher ? We have been captivated by the power
of His words, and ye, if ye had heard Him yourselves, would have
been captivated also. They spake not to please their masters, but
to witness to the truth. Such is the power of truth. It is therefore
probable that many of them were afterwards fully converted to
Christ at Pentecost. For God seems to have rewarded in this way
their sincere and noble testimony to Christ. " They were laudably
led astray," says the Gloss, " in passing over to the faith from the
evil of unbelief." S. Cyril supposes that they suspected Him to be
God. " How then could we take Him, who is as far above us as
God is above man ? "

Ver. 47. — The Pharisees therefore answered, Are ye also deceived?
"They were Christ's implacable enemies," says Nonnus. "When
they ought to have felt compunction, and to change their opinion,"
says Chrysostom, " they accuse the officers. But in mild terms,
for fear they also should at the last fail them." But they ought to
have asked what there was so wonderful in Jesus' words. But they
took care not to do that, by their blind and obstinate hatred against
Him. S. Cyril enforces it thus, " We may pardon the multitude for
being deceived, but how could ye, who are our officers, and infected
with the same incredulity with ourselves, how could you be so
quickly led astray as to believe in Him?"

Ver. 48. — Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in Him ?
And consequently He is not the Christ. An argument from
authority, but yet a fallacy. For these rulers and Pharisees were
the sworn enemies of Christ, because He reproved their sins. But
yet some of the rulers secretly believed in Him, as Nicodemus.
As S. Augustine wisely says, " They who knew not the law, believed
on Him who had sent the law, and they who taught the law
despised Him who had sent it, that the saying might be fulfilled,

288 S. JOHN, C. VII.

' I am come that they which see not may see, and that they which
see might be made blind.' "

Ver. 49. — But this people who knoweih not the Law are cursed. In
passing, i.e., from Moses and the law to Jesus and the gospel.
By this term the Pharisees endeavour to terrify the officers and
others, and to turn them away from the faith and love of Jesus.
"They are deserving" (says Theophylact) "of many curses for
being unbelieving themselves, and the authors of unbelief in others."
As says S. Cyril, " Wise men by boasting become fools. For while
they profess that they know the law, they accuse themselves of
unbelief," and of ignorance also, in not acknowledging Christ, who
was promised by the law, and who then stood before them. (See
Deut. xviii. 19.)

Vers. 50, 51. — Nicodemus saith unto them, &c. The law of Moses,
(Deut. xiv. 14) and the law of nature, — Nicodemus accuses his col-
leagues of being the violators of both laws. But he does so in a
quiet way, for fear of their anger. For, as S. Augustine saith, " For
he hoped if they would only hear Him patiently, they would become
like those officers who were sent to take Christ, but preferred to
believe on Him." And further Cyril asserts that Nicodemus said this
as pricked by his conscience. Still labouring under a fatal bashful-
ness, and not combining boldness of speech with his zeal, he exposes
not to view the faith which was inherent in him. But vesting himself
in a cloke of simulation, he was a kind of secret defender of Christ.
Though it is the duty of believers without fear or shame to profess
the true faith, as S. Paul said, " I am not ashamed of the Gospel of
Christ," &c. (Rom. i. 16).

Ver. 52. — They answered, &c. And thou, as being of the same
country, dost thou favour and defend Him ?

Search (the Scriptures, Vulg.) and see that out of Galilee ariseth no
prophet. They reply insolently, as though he knew not the Scrip-
tures. Attend to us and learn. " They insult him," says Theophy-
lact; "go and learn, for up to this time thou hast not learned that
out of Galilee ariseth no prophet." This was not true. For Deborah
was of Galilee (Judges iv. 4-6), and Anna of the tribe of Aser

GALIL/EAN PROPHETS. 289

(Luke ii. 36), and Nahum the Elkoshite from Elkosh, a city in
Galilee. And in Samaria which adjoined Galilee there were many
Prophets, as Elijah, Elisha, and the hundred which Obadiah hid
in a cave.

2. It is rash to assert that because, up to that time, no Prophet
had arisen from Galilee, none would afterwards arise.

3. It was foolish, because Nicodemus had never said that Jesus
was a Prophet, but merely that He should not be condemned with-
out being heard; but they were so blinded by hatred, as to do
many rash and foolish things contrary to reasonable judgment.

Ver. 53. — And every one went to his own house. " Fearing lest
any one else should support Nicodemus," says Euthymius. They
therefore deferred their intention of killing Jesus, but did not revoke
it. God brought about this delay, by means of Nicodemus, because
the ordained hour had not come.

VOL. IV.

( 290 )

CHAPTER VIII.

I .Jesus absolved the woman taken in adultery. 12 Proclaims Himself to be the
light of the world. 25 Asserts Himself to le ' the beginning ' and that He
frees those that believe in Him, but that the Jews were the servants of sin (ver. 34)
and children of the devil (ver. 44). 49 When the Jews accused Him of having
a devil, He answered that He had not a devil, but that He honoured His
heavenly Father, 55 He declares that He was before Abraham, and hid Him-
self from the Jews, who consequently sought to stone Him.

JESUS went unto the mount of Olives.
2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the
people came unto him ; and he sat down, and taught them.

3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery :
and when they had set her in the midst,

4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very
act.

5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned : but what
sayest thou ?

6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus
stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them
not.

7 So, when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself and said unto them,
He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.

9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out
one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last : and Jesus was left alone,
and the woman standing in the midst.

10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said
unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers ? hath no man condemned thee ?

11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn
thee : go, and sin no more.

12 IT Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world :
he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

13 The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself; thy
record is not true.

14 Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself,^ my
record is true : for I know whence I came, and whither I go ; but ye cannot tell
whence I come, and whither I go.

15 Ye judge after the flesh ; I judge no man.

16 And yet if I judge, my judgment is true ; for I am not alone, but I and the
Father that sent me.

THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN. 2QI

17 It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true.

18 I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth
witness of me.

19 Then said they unto him, Where is thy Father? Jesus answered, Ye neither
know me, nor my Father : if ye had know me, ye should have known my Father
also.

20 These words spake Jesus in the treasury, as he taught in the temple : and
no man laid hands on him ; for his hour was not yet come.

21 Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and
shall die in your sins : whither I go, ye cannot come.

22 Then said the Jews, Will he kill himself ? because he saith, Whither I go
ye cannot come.

23 And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath ; I am from above : ye are of
this world : I am not of this world.

24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins : for if ye believe not
that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.

25 Then said they unto him, Who art thou ? And Jesus saith unto them, Even
the same that I said unto you from the beginning.

26 I have many things to say and to judge of you : but he that sent me is true ;
and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him.

27 They understood not that he spake to them of the Father.

28 Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then
shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself ; but as my Father
hath taught me, I speak these things.

29 And he that sent me is with me : the Father hath not left me alone ; for I
do always those things that please him.

30 As he spake these words, many believed on him.

31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my
word, then are ye my disciples indeed ;

32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

33 IT They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage
to any man : how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?

34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth
sin is the servant of sin.

35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever : but the Son abideth
ever.

36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

37 I know that ye are Abraham's seed ; but ye seek to kill me, because my
word hath no place in you.

38 I speak that which I have seen with my Father : and ye do that which ye
have seen with your father.

39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto
them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I
have heard of God : this did not Abraham.

41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of
fornication ; we have one Father, ruen God.

42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me : for I
proceeded forth and came from God ; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.

292 S. JOHN, C. VIII.

43 Why do ye not understand my speech ? even because ye cannot hear my
word.

44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He
was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is
no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own : for he is a
liar, and the father of it.

45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

46 Which of you convinceth me of sin ? And if I say the truth, why do ye not
believe me ?

47 He that is of God heareth God's words : ye therefore hear them not, because
ye are not of God.

48 Then answered the Jew?, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art
a Samaritan, and hast a devil ?

49 Jesus answered, I have not a devil ; but I honour my Father, and ye do
dishonour me.

50 And I seek not mine own glory : there is one that seeketh and judgeth.

51 Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see
death.

52 Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abra-
ham is dead, and the prophets ; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he
shall never taste of death.

53 Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead ? and the prophets
are dead : whom makest thou thyself?

54 Jesus answered, I f I honour myself, my honour is nothing : it is my Father
that honoureth me ; of whom ye say, that he is your God :

55 Yet ye have not known him ; but I know him : and if I should say, I know
him not, I shall be a liar like unto you : but I know him, and keep his saying.

56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day : and he saw it, and was glad.

57 Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou
seen Abraham ?

58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was,
I am.

59 Then took they up stones to cast at him : but Jesus hid himself, and went
out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

Ver. i. But Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives. On the last day
of the Feast Jesus had taught in the temple, and confuted the
Pharisees, while they, after their wont, returned home to a sumptu-
ous banquet. But no one showed hospitality to Jesus for fear of
the rulers and Pharisees. He went therefore probably to Geth-
semane, to continue there all night in prayer (see xviii. i, 2, and
Matt. xxvi. 36). Food was either secretly sent Him by Martha
from Bethany, or bought by the disciples at Jerusalem. He selected
this spot as His nightly refuge, or rather His place of prayer, six
months before His death, and used to retire there to pray by night

PUNISHMENT OF ADULTERY. 293

(see Matt. xxvi. 36). The Mount of Olives was a type of Christ's
sorrow, when He there prayed for the pardon of sinners : as the
feast of tabernacles signified that He and His people are but
strangers and pilgrims here, on their way to their heavenly country,
travelling from the wealthy and splendid city Jerusalem, to the
mountain of heavenly refreshment.

Ver. 2. — And early in the morning, £c. He gave the night to
prayer, the day to teaching, setting an example to apostolic men, as
S. Paul, S. Francis Xavier, and others.

Vers. 3, 4, 5. — But the Scribes and Pharisees brought unto Him a
woman taken in adultery, &c. Now Moses in the Law commanded
us that such should be stoned. This story is not found in the
Greek Fathers, but as it is found in the Vulgate and thus
approved by the Council of Trent, Cornelius k Lapide regards
it as canonical.

Here note that the Mosaic law ordered adulteresses to be killed.
But the rulers ordered them to be stoned, according to the Rab-
binical tradition. For the Law ordered a betrothed woman should
be stoned, if she had committed adultery, and thence the Scribes
extended this punishment to an adulterous wife. But the punish-
ment of stoning (Lev. xx. 10) is to be extended to all the cases
mentioned in that chapter. (See also Ezek. xvi. 38, 40.) And
this is clear from the History of Susanna, where, by the law of
requital, her false accusers were stoned. This was also the punish-
ment of adulteresses in many heathen nations. (See notes on Gen.
xxxviii. 24, and Num. v. ad fin.}

Ver. 6. — This they said, tempting Him, that they might have to
accuse Him, as being opposed to the law, if He said that she was
not to be stoned, but as cruel and harsh if He said otherwise.
But they rather supposed He would not order her to be stoned,
"in order to keep up His appearance of gentleness, and not to
lose the favour of the people." So Rupertus, Bede, and S.
Augustine, who says, " They saw that He was very gentle ; they said
therefore among themselves, If He rules that she be let go, He will
not observe that righteousness which the Law enjoins. But not

294 s- JOHN, C. VIII.

to lose His (character for) gentleness, by which He has already won
the love of the people, He will say that she ought to be released.
And we shall hence find occasion to accuse Him. But the Lord
in His answer both observed justice, and did not forego His gentle-
ness." They thought to accuse Him of violating the law by her
acquittal, and would say to Him, says S. Augustine, " Thou art an
enemy of the law, thou judgest contrary to Moses, or rather against
Him who gave the law. Thou art guilty of death, and must be
stoned together with her.'

But Jesus stooped down, and with His finger wrote on the ground.
To turn away His face, not so much from the adulteress as from her
accusers, as if to say, "Why do ye bring her before Me, who am not
a civil judge, but the physician and Saviour of sinners?" So S.
Augustine. Some Greek MSS. add /j-n *foe*m&fttto% not attending to
them and their accusations. Though Toletus and others translate,
"not pretending, but really writing on the ground." Either mean-
ing is suitable.

(2.) Christ refers to Jer. xvii. i. "The sin of Judah is written
with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond," and as S.
Augustine, S. Jerome and others say more fittingly on verse 13,
"They that depart from thee, shall be written in the earth."
Jeremiah has here painted you, O Scribes, to the life. Ye accuse this
adulteress, but ye have committed greater sins than hers ; ye deserve
punishment rather than she doth ; ye deserve to be stoned more
than she does, even to be cast into hell. For your sins of rebellion,
unbelief, obstinacy, and persecution against Me are indelible, written
as it were with a pen of iron, and the point of a diamond, because
ye have forsaken the Lord and turned your back upon Him, there-
fore has He in His turn turned His back upon you." (See Jer. xviii.
17.) Ye have neglected heavenly, and followed after worldly goods,
and therefore ye will speedily pass away with them, just as that
winch is written in the earth soon comes to nothing by a breath of
wind, and by the foot passing over it. Ye have departed from God,
and therefore ye will not be written in Heaven, but on the earth,
yea in its very centre, in hell itself. (See S. Augustine Lib. iv. de.

WHAT CHRIST WROTE ON THE GROUND. 295

Consen. Evang., cap. 10.) And S. Ambrose (Ep. Ixxvi. ad Studitem.}
says, " He wrote on the ground, for sinners are written on the earth,
the just in heaven." Symbolically, S. Augustine (as above) gives
two other reasons, (i.) To show that He worked miracles on earth,
for, though God, He humbled Himself to become man, for miracles
are signs which are wrought on earth. (2.) To point out that the
time had now come for His law to be written on the fruitful earth,
not on barren stones. (3.) He adds here (Tract, xxxiii.) a third
reason, that it was to signify that it was He who had written the
old law on tables of stone, but that the new law was to be written
on the productive earth. But what did Christ write ? He could not
in the paved court of the temple cut out the shape of the letters,
but merely delineate them with His finger. But He seems to have
marked out something to put them to shame, or to expose their sin.
For He added, in explanation of what He had done, " He that is
without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." S. Jerome
even says that He wrote the mortal sins of the Scribes and of all
men (Lib. ii. Contra Pelag.), S. Ambrose (Ep. Ivi.) that He wrote
Jer. xxii. 29 ; and (Epist. Ixxix.) that He wrote among other words,
Thou seest the mote in thy brother's eye, but seest not the beam in thine
own. Others think that He wrote " Menc, Mene" (Dan. v. 25).
But nothing certain can be stated.

Ver. 7. — When therefore they continued asking Him. Because they
did not see clearly what He had written, or pretended they did not.
They therefore urge Him to reply explicitly to their captious
question, believing that He could not escape from the horns of a
dilemma by going against the law if He acquitted the woman or
against His own compassion, were He to condemn her.

He lifted up Himself and said, He that is without sin among you,
let him first cast a stone at her. Ye Scribes and Pharisees have com-
mitted greater sins than this woman, as your conscience testifies ;
do not therefore so rigidly and importunately urge her condemna-
tion, but rather have pity for her, as sinners for a sinner, as guilty
for a guilty one, as criminals for a criminal. For otherwise, if ye
condemn her, ye ought to condemn yourselves ; if ye wish to stone

S. JOHN, C. VIII.

her, ye yourselves ought to be stoned, nay more, to be burned.
Observe Christ's prudence. He maintains the law in conceding
that an adulteress was guilty of death, but adds that the Scribes
should not so pertinaciously urge her death, but rather have com-
passion on her, since outwardly professing sanctity, but inwardly
conscious of greater sins, they should wish indulgence to be shown
to themselves both by God and man. So S. Augustine. "Ye
have heard, Let the law be fulfilled, let the adulteress be stoned.
But in punishing her must the law be fulfilled by those who deserve
punishment?" And again, "Jesus said not, Let her not be stoned ;
lest He should seem to speak against the law. But be it far from
Him to say, Let her be stoned ; for He came not to destroy that
which He had formed, but to save that which had perished. What
then answered He ? ' He who is without sin of you,' &c. O answer
of wisdom ! How did He make them look unto themselves ! They
brought charges against others, they did not carefully search out
themselves within." " What more divine," says S. Ambrose, " than
that saying, that He should punish sin who is Himself devoid of it ?
For how couldest thou endure one who punishes another's sin, and
defends his own? For does he not condemn himself the more,
who condemns in another what he himself commits ? "

But thou wilt say Christ here seems to do away with the use of
tribunals of justice, and their strictness. But I answer, Christ
launched not this sentence against judges, but only against the
Scribes, who as private persons contended that Christ should take
on Himself to judge the adulteress, and condemn her according to
law. This He refused to do, and having been sent to save, and
not to condemn sinners, He retorted it upon themselves, as follows ;
"If ye are not judges, and yet are so desirous of punishing this
adultery, take it upon yourselves, stone the adulteress, if ye are so
pure and holy as not to have committed adultery, or any other sin ; "
for if the Scribes had condemned her to be stoned, Jesus would not
have freed her from the punishment she justly deserved. More-
over, it is the judge's duty to condemn a criminal, when convicted,
though conscious that he is himself guilty of the same or a similar

THE VOICE OF CONSCIENCE. 297

offence. And yet, if guilty himself it is unseemly in him to con-
demn another for a like offence.

Christ then in these words quietly advises judges to lead innocent
lives themselves. As a moral rule, Christ teaches us that we ought
to judge ourselves before we judge others. S. Gregory (Moral.
Lib. 13. cap. iv.) gives the reason. " For he who judges not him-
self in the first place, knows not how to pass right judgment on
another. For his own conscience supplies no rule to go by. These
Scribes then are summoned first to look within, and find out their
own faults, before reproving others." On which head there are well-
known proverbs. " First prune thy own vineyards," &c.

Ver 8. And again stooping down He wrote on the ground. Both to
inspire them with shame, and also to give the Scribes time to with-
draw creditably. So S. Jerome (Lib. ii. contra Pelag.), and Bede, who
adds, " He saw that they were staggered, and would be more likely to
retire at once than to put any more questions."

Ver. 9. — But on hearing this they went out one by one. Some
Greek copies add, " Convicted by their own conscience" as being
adulterers, or even worse. For what Jesus said was true, and ought
to strike home to them. And hence S. Augustine says (Epist. liv.),
" Methinks that even the husband himself who had been wronged,
would on hearing these words have shrunk back from his desire for
punishment."

" Went out. " By their very withdrawal," says S. Augustine,
" confessing that they were guilty of like offences. For they were
smitten with a keen sense of justice on looking within, and finding
themselves guilty." They feared also lest Christ should proceed still
further to expose their crimes.

Beginning at the eldest. As being more inveterate sinners, like
the false accusers of Susanna, or because they first felt the force of
His words. As says S. Ambrose, " They first felt the strength of His
answer, which they could not reply to, and being quicker of appre-
hension, they were the first to go away."

And He was left alone, &c. " Two were left," says S. Augustine,
" misery and commiseration ; " deep calling upon deep, the depth of

298 S. JOHN, C. VIII.

her misery on the depth of His compassion. But she fled not, as
having experienced His grace, and hoping for more.

Ver. 10. — When Jesus had lifted up Himself, &c. Lifting up on
her His eyes of gentleness, as He had repulsed His adversaries with
the words of righteousness, as saith S. Augustine. He spoke to her,
(i.) to show that He had driven away her accusers, and that she
could acknowledge what Jesus had, in His mercy, done for her,
ind ask pardon from Him of her sin. (2.) That He might the more
readily absolve her, because her accusers had withdrawn their charge,
and had fled away, as doubting the justice of their cause.

Ver. ii. — She said, No man, Lord, &c. I who am alone free from
all sin, and appointed by God to judge the world, might most justly
condemn thee. But I do not, because I came not to judge, but to
save the world. Thus S. Ambrose; " See how He moderated His
answer, so that the Jews could not accuse him for acquitting her ;
but rather throw it back on themselves, if they chose to complain.
For she is dismissed, not absolved ; inasmuch as no one accused her,
she was not acquitted as innocent. Why then should they com-
plain who had already withdrawn from prosecuting the charge and
from enforcing the punishment ? Moreover Christ by these words
absolved the woman not only in open court before the people,
but in the court of heaven, before God, as is plain from what He
subjoins. Go, as being certain that I have forgiven thy adultery.
As He said to the Magdalene, " Go in peace " (Luke vii. 50). But
Christ says not that openly, but secretly ; lest the Pharisees should
have something to carp at. Christ therefore inspired in her secret
sorrow for her sins and an act of contrition, and then pardoned her
sins, condoning her sin and its punishment together. " He condemns
not," says S. Ambrose, " as being our Redemption, but reproves her
as our life, and cleanses her as our fountain." And Euthymius,
" Such an exposure and shame before so many adversaries was a
sufficient punishment, more especially when He knew that she was
heartily penitent." So Jansen and others.

And sin no more. Returning as a dog to its vomit. For thou wilt
thus in thy ingratitude sin more grievously, and wilt defile thy soul ;

THE UNCREATED LIGHT. 299

and though I do not condemn thee, yet will I certainly condemn
thee in the day of judgment Hear S. Augustine. " What means,
I will not condemn thce 1 Dost Thou, O L^rd, favour sin ? Assuredly
not ; for listen to what follows, Go and sin no more. The Lord there-
fore condemned the sin, but not the person. For else He would have
said, Go and live as thou wilt, being sure of my forgiveness." To
which Bede adds, " Since He is pitiful and tender He forgives the
past; but as just, and loving justice, He forbids her sin any more."

Ver. 12. — Then said Jesus again unto them, I am the Light of the
world. The Gloss connects these words with what had immediately
preceded, in this way : — " He adds what His Divinity could effect, in
order that no one should doubt His power of forgiving sin." Marvel
not that I set free the adulteress from the darkness of sin, for I am
the uncreated Light of the world, i.e., God. And He adds below
(ver. 15), " 1 judge no one ;" I neither sentence nor acquit the woman
in a human court, but in the court of heaven. But others refer
back His words to verse 2, where His discourse had been broken off
by the Scribes. Having put them to shame, He resumes His teach-
ing. So S. Chrysostom and others. S. Chrysostom adds, " The Jews
objected to Christ that He was a Galilean ; He shows that He was
not merely one of the Prophets, but the Lord of heaven and earth."

I am the Light of the world; and hence the Manicheans thought
that He was the sun. And S. Augustine, being a Platonist, at one
time had his doubts about it (see Euchir. Iviii.) But commenting
on this passage He mentions and confutes their folly. " Christ the
Lord was not the sun which was made, He was its Maker, ' For all
things were made by Him,' &c. He therefore is the Light, which
made this light of ours. Let us love It, let us long to understand It,
let us thirst for It, that so at length we may attain to the Light
Itself, and so live therein that we may never die. For He is the
Light, of whom the Psalmist foretold, ' Thou shalt save both man
and beast, so multifold is Thy mercy.' " And further on, " By
this Light was the light of the sun made, and the Light which made
the sun (beneath which He made us also) was made beneath
the sun for our sakes. He, I say who made the sun. Despise not

300 S. JOHN, C. VIII.

the veil (iiubeni) of His flesh. The sun is covered by a cloud, not
to obscure, but to temper its rays. Speaking then through the
veil of His flesh, the Light which never fails, the Light of knowledge,
the Light of wisdom says to men, / am the Light of the world." But
how Christ as God is the boundless and uncreated Light, and
as man the created "light which lighteth every man that cometh
into the world," I have shown at length on chap. i. 4, and also
on Is. xlv. i, that Christ is the Sun of His Kingdom.

Of this world. And not, like the Prophets, merely the light of
Israel and Judah. He tacitly here foretells the conversion of the
Gentiles. So S. Cyril, who adds that He here alludes to the pillar
of the cloud in the wilderness. For Christ as a brilliant light shines
before us in the darkness and sin of the world, and guides us to
heaven. He that followeth Me, by believing in Me as the Christ,
and obeying My commands, walketh not in darkness, in which the
wise men of this world walked, but liveth without error and sin, in
the light of true faith and virtue.

But shall have the light of life, " Now by faith, hereafter by
sight," says S. Augustine, who adds : " These words agree with those
of the Psalmist, ' In Thy Light shall we see light, for with Thee is
the fount of life.'" In things of the body the light is one thing, the
fountain another. But with God the Light and the Fount are one
and the same. It shines for thee, that thou mayest see ; It flows for
thee, that thou mayest drink. If thou followest this sun which thou
seest, it leaves thee when it sets ; but if thou fallest not away from
God, He will never set to thee.

The light of life, therefore, according to Augustine and Bede, the
light of glory, giving blessing to the faithful and saints which they
themselves will obtain from Him in heaven. Others understand by
it the light of faith, leading us to glory and very blessedness. For
faith is a torch, guiding the faithful through the darkness of the
world, showing them the true way of life, by which they can without
stumbling attain to eternal blessedness. So S. Cyril, " He will
attain to that revelation of the mysteries in Me, which will bring
him to eternal life." But (3) the light of life can be explained as

THE IMITATION OF CHRIST. 301

the quickening life, for faith, conjoined with the grace of God and
charily, is the Divine and supernatural light, which quickens the
soul, breathing into it the life of grace here, and the life of glory
hereafter.

Hence learn that the doctrine and life of Christ must be imitated
by every man who wishes to be truly enlightened, and to be purged
from all blindness of mind. S. Thomas a Kempis lays this down as
an axiom in his golden book (De imitatione Chrisii), which contains
as many axioms as sentences, which I study daily with much delight
and profit. I know many who are striving after perfection, and who
strive to conform their several actions to some one action, doctrine, or
saying of Christ, ever looking at it as their ideal, and endeavouring
to set it forth in all their actions. This is a pious and profitable
means of attaining perfect holiness. For Christ was specially given
as a mirror of sanctity. For what is more holy than the Saint ot
saints ? What brighter than the Sun, and Light Itself? what wiser
than Wisdom Itself?

Ver. 13. — The Pharisees therefore, &c. That is, is not worthy of
credit. For no one is accepted as a witness in his own case, but
must produce other witnesses (see above, v. 31).

These were not the same Pharisees as those who had accused the
adulteress, but others, who wished to avenge the disgrace of their
fellows, and in their malevolence against Christ, brought this charge
against Him, to put Him to shame. " Being nurtured in ignorance,"
says S. Cyril, "and not knowing Him to be Emmanuel, they sus-
pected Him of aiming at His own glory, and attack Him, as though
one of ourselves."

Ver. 14.— Jesus answered, &c. Not only trne in itself, but such
as ought to be accepted and believed. This testimony of the Light
is true, whether it show or hide Itself, says S. Augustine. The
light itself needs no other witness. It shows itself clearly by its
own light to be bright and shining. And thus is Christ the Light of
the world, showing Itself to the world by Its miraculous works.
Christ needed not any other witness, and yet He brings forward the
highest and most indisputable witness, even God the Father.

3O2 S. JOHN, C. VIII,

For I know whence I came, and whither 1 go. And therefore My
testimony is true, as being confirmed by the testimony of God the
Father, says the Gloss. This I know, but ye do not, because ye
will not know, though ye ought to know it both from My miracles
and My words. But I know that I was sent from heaven, as the
Messenger of the Father, being the Son of God, and Very God,
from Very God. And when My ministry is over I shall return to
Him again. So S. Augustine and Leontius. But He speaks
obscurely, lest He should seem to boast, and 'for fear of kindling
the more the anger of the Jews against Him. He might else have
spoken more plainly. I am the Son of God, and therefore My
testimony is true and legitimate, for the testimony of God, Who is
the chief and irrefragable truth, is indisputable. " He wished the
Father to be understood," says S. Augustine, "from Whom He
departed not, when coming to us, as 1-e left not us when He
returned to heaven. But as the Sun shines on those that see and
those that are blind, though the one sees and the other does not,
so the wisdom of God is everywhere present, even to unbelievers,
though they have not the eyes to behold Him," distinguishing thus
His friends and enemies.

Ver. 15. — Ye judge after the flesh, (i.) Ye judge of Me, not
according to truth and equity, but from the carnal hatred ye have
against Me; as living according to the flesh is to live ill, so judging
according to the flesh is to judge unjustly. (2.) From My Body,
which ye see, ye count Me a mere man ; because I am in the flesh
ye count Me mere flesh, judging wrongly. And thus ye rule that
Truth can lie. For I am the Truth (S. Cyril).

(3.) Ye judge by your senses alone, by that which ye see of Me ;
that I am a mean, poor, abject man, not the Messiah, not God who
hides Himself in My flesh ; and therefore ye condemn Me as a
proud blasphemer for asserting Myself to be the Son of God. And
this ye would not do, if ye judged of Me by reason and the spirit of
truth. For this would declare to you that I am what I assert,
Messiah, the Son of God. " They saw the man," says S. Augustine,
"but did not believe Him to be God." And the Gloss, "they

CHRIST'S JUDGMENT JUST. 303

thought Him to be a man, who was not to be believed when
praising Himself." " Moreover," says S. Cyril, " He acts like a phy-
sician who heeds not the insults of his patients who are mad, but
applies to them the fitting remedies ; fighting against disease, but
not against the patient, whom he wishes to restore to health of body
and mind."

I judge no man, not as ye do, by outward appearance, but accord-
ing to reason and the spirit. (4.) S. Chrysostom says, "Because
the Jews might make this objection to Christ, ' If we judge wrongly
of Thee, why dost not thou convince us ? ' Christ replies, I judge no
one. It is not My business. Were I now to judge you, I should
assuredly condemn you. But this is not the time for doing so."
(5.) To judge in this place, means to perform a kind of judicial act,
and hence it means to testify, or bear witness, for witnesses force as
it were the judge to give sentence in accordance with their testi-
mony. And hence a witness is a kind of judge (see Is. Iv. 4). For
the whole question between Christ and the Jews was with reference
to His testimony, whether it could be lawfully accepted. And He
maintains that it can be, as He was not alone, but the Father was
with him (see S. Ambrose, Lib. v. Epist. 20). And this is plain
from what Christ says, verses 17 and 18, "I am He that bear wit-
ness of Myself, and the Father that sent Me beareth witness of Me."
But He uses the word "judge" because He seemed just before to
have judged the adulteress, which the Pharisees resented. But He
meant thereby that He had not judicially acquitted her, though He
might have done so, as the Son of God. For I am not a mere
man, as ye suppose, nor am I alone, for God the Father is with Me.
And in this sense " I judge " is understood in its own proper sense,
" I pass not a judicial sentence."

Ver. 1 6. — And yet if I judge (i.e., bear witness cf Myself) My
judgment (i.e., witness) is true, i.e., fit to be taken in court, for I am
not alone, &c. S. Chrysostom explains, " If I judge, I should justly
condemn you, because I should not judge by Myself, but I and the
Father together." But the true meaning is that given in verse 15.

/ and the Father that sent Me. " For I took the form of a servant,

304 S. JOHN, C. VIII.

but lost not the form of God," says S. Augustine ; " Thy Incarnation
was Thy mission." And the Interlinear Gloss, "Though I am a
man, yet I left not the Father ; though sent in the flesh, yet I and
the Father are ever One by Our Godhead ; the judgment of both
and the will of both are alike One." As He says elsewhere, " I do
nothing of Myself," for I have never proceeded to any punishment,
which was not in the mind of the Father. " For whatever thoughts
the nature of the Father entertains, the same are completed in Me
also, for I shine forth from His bosom, and am the true offspring of
His substance," says S. Cyril.

Ver. 17. — It is also written in your Law (Deut. xvii. 6, xix. 5),
that the testimony of two men is true: that is to be admitted by the
judge, who can base on it a legal sentence, though the testimony
may as a matter of fact be false. But a judge must go by the evi-
dence; and so his sentences may be legally right, but in reality
wrong. If then the testimony of two men be true, how much more
must the sentence of two Divine Persons, the Father and the Son,
be accepted as most true, most equitable, and most just ? Christ
applies this to His own case. For that the Father is with Him, and
witnesses to Him, and that He is the Son of the Father, He had
more than sufficiently proved, and therefore assumes it. " It is," says
:•>. Augustine, "a grand and most mysterious question when God says
' in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be
established ; ' for Susanna was accused by two false witnesses, and
all the people witnessed falsely against Christ. But in this way is
the Trinity represented as in mystery ; for therein is the ever-
enduring firmness of truth. If thou wishest to have a good cause,
have three witnesses, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost."

Ver. 1 8. — / am one that bear witness of Myself, &c. But thou
wilt say, no one's testimony is accepted in his own case, and there-
fore Christ's testimony to Himself ought not to be accepted. But
the answer is, that Christ as God witnesses to Himself as man.
But God and man are two beings, and in Christ God was different
from man : in nature, I mean, not in person. And from this very
passage the Fathers gather against both Nestorians and Eutycheans,

THE FATHER'S WITNESS. 305

that in Christ there was one Person, the Divine, but two natures,
the Divine and the human. So Cyril, Chrysostom, and S. Ambrose
(de Fide v. 2). Besides this, God the Father and God the Son
bore witness that Jesus was the Christ by the miracles which they
wrought both through Him and for Him (see chap. v. 31, 32).
And especially when the Father spake in thunder out of heaven,
This is My beloved Son. So Bede.

Ver 19. — Then said they unto Him, Where is Thy Father? They
said this, in order to elicit from Him a clear statement that God
was His Father, in order to accuse Him of blasphemy, as they did,
chap. v. 1 8, xix. 7. So Chrysostom and others.

But Cyril and Leontius less probably think that the Pharisees
spoke contemptuously and sarcastically, as if He were the Son of
some unknown father. S. Augustine and Bede think that they
referred to Joseph, as being His father in the flesh. But the first
is the best meaning.

Jesus answered, &c. Christ did not wish to answer clearly and
directly, " My Father is in heaven," because He knew that the
question was put in order to ensnare Him. He therefore, though
answering their question directly, yet spoke so guardedly that the
Pharisees could not bring any charge against Him. As if He said,
Ye think that I am a man, and that I have only an earthly
father. But ye are wrong, for ye know not that I am God as
well as man. And therefore ye understand not that I have no
other Father than God in heaven, though I hare proved this by so
many miracles.

But how does this agree with what Christ said (vii. 28), Ye both
know Me, and know whence I am ? I answer, Christ then spoke of
Himself as man, but here He speaks of Himself as God. Origen
adds that then Christ spoke to the people of Jerusalem who knew
Him, but here to the Pharisees who knew Him not, and were more-
over His enemies. The word "if" is here equivalent to assuredly.
See Leontius. As Christ says to Philip (xiv. 9), He that seeih
Me seeth My Father also.

S. Augustine explains it somewhat differently ; " Ye ask, who is
VOL. iv u

306 s. JOHN, c. viii.

My Father, because ye know Me not, for ye think not that I am
God eternal in heaven."

(2.) Cyril speaks more profoundly and to the point. " The names
of Father and Son imply each other," Christ therefore is the gate
(as it were) leading to the Father. " Let us learn then," he adds,
"what He is by nature, and then we shall rightly understand as in
an express image the Antitype Itself." For the Father is mani-
fested in the Son, as in a mirror, in the proper nature of His
offspring. (See Wisdom vii. 26 and Heb. i. 3.)

Origen considers that "know" means to "love." If ye loved
Me ye would surely love My Father. For evil livers practically
know not God, as is said of Eli's sons.

Ver. 20. — These words, &c. . . . in the temple (i. e., the Court of
the Temple). Rupertus thinks that the reason why no man laid hands
on Him was because the treasury was a remote spot, frequented only
by the Priests who wished to take money out, and the lay people
who wished to pay it in. But it was in fact a public and much-
frequented place, being a large portico close to the court of the
temple, and in it were preserved all the treasures of the temple. Christ
then spake all these things openly and boldly in a place where He
could easily have been taken. But He by His Divine power
restrained their hands and their resolve, because the destined
hour had not yet come. Adrichoniuus (Descript. Hieros. 103)
describes the treasury as a chest wherein all requisites were kept for
the sacrifices, the support of the poor, repair of the temple, £c. When
Heliodorus attempted to plunder it, he was said to have been
scourged by angels, and Pilate was prevented by a popular tumult
from applying its contents to bringing water into the city. It was
afterwards plundered by the Romans. Here also the poor woman
cast in her two mites. It was from this chest that the whole porch
where it stood was called the treasury.

The other reason why Christ spoke thus in the treasury was of
a more hidden kind. Because it was the dark hiding-place of the
Pharisees, where they wrought all those evil devices which Christ
recounts, Matt. v. and xxiii. In this very spot He condemns their

MYSTICAL MEANING OF TREASURY. 307

dark deeds by saying, " I am the Light of the world," the true Light
of wisdom and holiness, who teach men to despise earthly riches,
as mean and perishing, and to aim at heavenly riches, as being great
and eternal. Follow not the Pharisees who are blindly intent on these
earthly riches, for Vespasian will speedily carry them all away ;
but rather follow Me, the Light of the world, for I preach to you
poverty of spirit as the way to gain boundless riches in heaven.
And on the other hand, " Woe to you rich," &c. (Luke vi. 24). This
then was the cause of the intense hatred they felt against Christ,
which led them to persecute Him even to death on the cross. It
was out of this treasury that they sacrilegiously took the thirty pieces
of silver which they gave to Judas to betray Jesus. And therefore
in the very same spot He willed that He would by that means be
lifted up on the cross, and draw all men unto Him.

Origen gives a mystical reason. '•' Christ," he says, " spake these
things in the treasury, because the treasury, or rather the treasures,
are His divine discourses, impressed with the image of the great
King. Coins (he says) are divine words. Let every one then con-
tribute to the treasury, i.e., for the edification of the Church, what-
ever he is able for the honour of God, and the common benefit."
And Bede, " Christ speaks in the treasury, because He spake to the
Jews in parables which were covered and kept close. But the
treasury then began (as it were) to be opened, when He explained
them to His disciples, and unlocked the heavenly mysteries therein
conceived."

For His hour was not yet come. " Not the fated, but the opportune
and self-chosen hour," says the Interlinear Gloss. " Some," says S.
Augustine, " on hearing this, believe that Christ was subject to fate.
But how can He be under fate, by whom the heaven and the stars
were made, when Thy will, if Thou thinkest aught, transcends even
the stars ? The hour therefore had not come, not ' the hour in which
He should be forced to die, but in which He deigned to be slain.' "

Ver. 21.— Jesus therefore said to them again, (i.) Some think that
"therefore" only indicates the beginning of a new discourse. (2.)
Origen thinks it indicates that what follows was spoken by Christ at

308 S. JOHN, C. VIII.

the same time and place. (3.) Maldonatus refers it to verse 19,
Ye neither know Me nor My Father. The time therefore will come
for you to know Me as God, but ye will not find Me, for ye will die
in your sins. (4.) Rupertus and Toletus refer it more appositely
to the words immediately preceding. Because He saw that the
Pharisees understood, and were angered at His words, He adds, 7
go My way, &c.

He had said the same before (see vii. 33), first to the officers, and
then to the Pharisees. I go My way, that is out of this life to My
Father by My cross and death. "Death was to Christ," says S.
Augustine, " a going forth, for He abode not in the world, but passed
through it to heaven and immortal life."

And ye shall seek Me, i.e., ye shall seek another Messiah, and
will not find him, says Toletus, for there is none other but Me.
More simply : Ye shall seek Me, to crucify Me again (see vii. 34).
So Origen and S. Augustine, who says, " Ye shall seek Me, not from
desire but from hatred." For after He had withdrawn from sight,
they who hated and they who loved Him alike sought Him, the one
to persecute, and the other from desire to hear Him. For He
adds, And ye shall die in your sins. Your obstinate sins of
unbelief and hatred. Ye will therefore seek Me in vain, for I shall
ascend to heaven, ye will be thrust down to hell. Euthymius explains
" in your sin," in consequence of your sin, for which ye will be slain
by the Romans. But the first explanation is the plainest and most
forcible. For Christ frequently alarms the Pharisees with the terrors
of the last judgment.

Whither I go ye cannot come. Ye cannot, because ye will not,
says Origen, for every sin is a voluntary and free act.

S. Augustine thinks that these words were spoken to the disciples,
" Whither I go ye cannot go now," not depriving them of hope, but
predicting its postponement. But the words which follow were
evidently addressed to the Pharisees.

Ver. 22. — Then said the Jews, &c. The officers made a wiser
inquiry (vii. 35), Will He go to the dispersion of the Gentiles? But
the Pharisees, blinded by their hatred, thought He had no way of

THE PHARISEES FROM BENEATH. 309

escape but by killing Himself. Wherever He may go, we will
follow Him up. If He goes to the Gentiles, we will drag Him back.
He must therefore mean that He will kill Himself, so as to escape
our hands. A presumptuous and foolish thought, suggested, how-
ever, by their malice. He might have withdrawn Himself from them
in various ways, as He had already done. But He meant that He
would go up to heaven, whither the Pharisees could not come. But
His words, says S. Augustine, referred not to His going to death, but
to where He was going afterwards.

Ver. 23. — And (therefore) He said unto them, &c. Ye cleave to
your sins and will go to the lowest depth, while I shall return to
heaven, and therefore ye will seek Me and will not find Me. For I
am like the soaring eagle, dwelling in the loftiest mountains of
eternity, while ye are as worms and insects creeping on the earth.
So Rupertus and S. Augustine, who says, " Ye are from beneath • ye
savour of the earth ; serpent-like, ye eat the earth. But what is
meant by eating the earth ? Ye feed on things of earth, ye delight
in things of earth, are greedy for things of earth, ye lift not up your
hearts above."

S. Chrysostom and others, and S. Augustine and Bede among
the Latins, think that the Pharisees misunderstood the words
of Christ by reason of their earthly minds. Morally: — Ye are
from beneath, as descended from Adam, and deriving from him your
earthly desires, and inflamed by evil passions, thus hankering only
after worldly things. But I am from above, because as God I am
begotten of the Father, and as man am incarnate of the Holy Spirit
And therefore My feelings, My love, My desires are all heavenly.
And to these ye cannot attain, unless ye are born again; and
thus from earthly become heavenly and spiritual, as I said to
Nicodemus.

Physically : — Christ here teaches us that our birth-place, training,
&c., impart to each one their qualities. And just as fishes could not
live out of water, nor birds excepting in the air, so the Pharisees,
born in Canaan or Judaea, could not but be earthly both in body
and mind, as Ezekiel said (xvi. 3), " Thy birth was of the land of

310 S. JOHN, C. VIII.

Canaan, and thy mother a Hittite." But Christ, as born and dwelling
in heaven, was heavenly.

Metaphysically: — Ye are of your father the devil, because as he
killed Adam by the forbidden fruit, so do ye wish to kill Me. But
I am from above, as being the Son of the Most High God. Hear
S. Augustine (Tract, xxxvii.) : "He was from above. But how was
He from above ? From the air ? By no means. For there the
birds do fly. From the heaven we see ? By no means. For there
the sun, the moon, and stars go their rounds. From the angels ?
Do not imagine it, for they too were made by Him, by Whom all
things were made. How then was He from above ? From the
Father Himself. For there is nothing above Him, who begat the
Word equal to Himself, co-eternal with Himself, His only Begotten
before time, by Whom He would create the times. Understand,
therefore, this word 'from above,' as transcending in Thy concep-
tion everything that was made, the whole creation, every body,
every created spirit, everything that is in any way subject to change."
Ye are of this world, I am not of this world: ye are of this earth,
or more closely to the point, ye are worldly. Ye aim at worldly
favours, wealth, and honours. Ye live as do worldlings. Ye possess
the very qualities of the world, says Toletus. Listen to S. Augustine
(Tract, xxxviii.) : "Let no one say, I am not of the world ; whoso-
ever thou be, O man, thou art of the world. But He who made
the world hath come to thee, and hath freed thee from the world.
But if the world delight thee, thou wishest for ever to be unclean ;
but if this world no longer delight thee, thou art clean. But if
through some infirmity the world still delights thee, let Him who
cleanseth dwell in thee, and thou shalt be clean ; but if thou art
clean thou wilt not abide in the world, nor hear that which the
Jews heard said, 'Ye shall die in your sins.'"

Ver. 24. — I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins.
The sin of unbelief, and all your other sins, for there is no forgive-
ness of sin, save through faith in Christ, whom ye reject.

For if ye believe not that 1 am the Saviour of the world, as I
constantly affirm and prove also by so many miracles. So Lyra.

CHRIST FROM ETERNITY. 311

But S. Augustine, Bede, and Toletus more ingeniously : " Because
I am that I am ; i.e., God. But Rupertus thus subtilly : "Because
I am from above." Ye shall die in your sins, because there is no
one but Myself, whom ye despise, who can pardon and take away sin.

Ver. 25. — They said therefore to Him, Who art Thou? Because
they did not understand, or pretended they did not, they appositely
ask, Who art Thou ?

Jesus said to them, the Beginning ( Vulg. ), / who am speaking to
you. S. Augustine, Bede, Rupertus, and S. Ambrose (De Fide, iii. 4),
consider the word, the Beginning, to be in the nominative case,
explaining it, I am the Beginning, the First and the Last, or the
Beginning of all things, for all things were made by the Word of
God. In the Greek the word is not "fx;'?, but ct°x$v, in the
beginning.

S. Augustine and S. Ambrose explain it (2.) by supplying the
word " credite," which is n£>t in the text. We must therefore con-
sider it to be a Greek form of expression, «f%»)v for x«r' aa^jji/, in the
beginning. I am from the beginning, i.e., from eternity (before
Abraham, as He said Himself, verse 58), Very God of Very God. And
therefore I am the beginning of time, and age, and of all things.
And yet I am speaking to you ; that is, it is I who announce this to
you, for I assumed flesh, and was made man in order to announce
it, and save those who believe in it. I am from the beginning,
which very thing I solemnly declare to you. Or rather, since I am
the Word, which the Father spake from all eternity, I having been
made man to announce to you the same truth. For the Son is the
Word by whom the Father speaks, and the Son is also the Word
which speaks to us. The word "beginning," therefore, is more
appropriate to the Son than to the Holy Spirit, for the Son is
together with the Father the source (principhtm} of the Holy Spirit,
but the Holy Spirit is not the source of any other Divine Person,
but only of creatures ; and further, because He is the beginning
(principiuni) proceeding from the beginning, that is to say, from the
Father. And accordingly this word signifies His origin, as being
begotten of the Father. This is clear from what is said below,

312 S. JOHN, C. VIII.

verse 27. The Vulgate does not translate it literally from the
beginning, but the beginning, signifying thereby the Eternal Word,
which was from the beginning, and begotten of the Father, to
be with the Father, the beginning both of the Holy Spirit and of
all creatures.

From the beginning signifies two things ; first from all eternity, and
next as begotten of God the Father. It is the same thing to say I
am from the beginning, or I am the beginning. (See John i. i ; Rev.
i. 8, Hi. 14; and also Col. i. 18.) And this is what SS. Augustine,
Ambrose, and others above mentioned consider it to mean. So says
the Gloss, "The Father is the Beginning, but not from the begin-
ning : the Son is the Beginning, from the Beginning, that is, from
the Father, who worketh all things by the Son, for He is the Right
Hand, Strength, Wisdom, and Word of the Father." But the Greek
u-l'/y means also the Chief Rule {principatus), meaning that to
Christ belongs the dominion and rule over all things. (See Ps. ex.
3, Vulg., and Prov. viii. 22, sec. Ixx. See also S. Augustine,
contra Max. cap. xviii., and S. Thomas, part i, Quest, xxxvi., art. 4,
who show that the Father and Son are not two, but the one principle
of the Holy Spirit.)

Morally : learn that Christ, as God and man, must be regarded as
the beginning and the end of all our doings ; after the example of
S. Paul and the other Apostles both in the beginning and end of
their Epistles. S. Gregory Nazianzen begins his acrostics in this way,
and Paulinus, " In Thee my only hopes of life depend, Thou my
beginning, Thou my goal and end." As all numbers start from
unity, and all lines run from the centre to the circumference, so
should all the actions of a Christian begin and end in Christ (see
Col. iii. 17).

Nonnus and others explain, I am the same as I said to you at
first ; that is, that I am the Messiah, the Light and the Salvation
of the world, but ye believe Me not But this is a strange
interpretation.

Some others refer to what comes afterwards, Because ye do not
believe Me, I have more to say to you, and to judge of you. But

CHRIST THE SON OF TRUTH. 313

this is a mere evading of the question. As if Christ said, Ye are
unworthy of an answer, but yet deserve My condemnation.

Ver. 26. — / have many things, &c. I have many things to say
against you, and to accuse you of. And in the day of judgment I
will do so. As S. Cyril says, "I will accuse you not of one thing
but of many, and of nothing falsely. For I can condemn you as
unbelieving, as arrogant, as insulting, as opposers of God, as
impudent, as ungrateful, as malignant, as lovers of pleasure rather
than lovers of God, as courting the praise of men, and not seeking
the glory of God."

But He that sent Me, &c. I will omit many points and will
merely say this, in refutation of your unbelief, that the Father who
hath sent Me is true, and whatever therefore I say is true, and
worthy of belief by all. "I am true" (says S. Augustine) "in judg-
ment, because I am the Son of Truth, and the Truth Itself." But
others explain differently, (i.) Toletus : "I have many things to say
against you. But I will not do so now, for the Father sent Me into
the world, not to judge but to save it, and therefore, in obedience
to Him, I say only those things which concern its salvation." (2.)
Maldonatus, as though it were, " Because " He that hath sent Me is
true, not "but" He that sent Me, &c. (3.) Rupertus refers it to
what He had said before, that He was the Beginning, " These are not
My own words, but what the Father bade Me say of Myself." (4.)
Ye do not believe in Me as the Messiah, but this is what the Father
wishes Me to proclaim. (5.) Ye do not believe Me now, but My
Father is true. He will fulfil His own word that I shall be your
judge, and reward you according to your deeds. But the first
meaning is the best. Which I have heard of Him, both as God and
as man. The Interlinear Gloss says, "To hear from Him, is the
same as though being from Him." " The co-equal Son gives glory
to the Father, why then dost thou set thyself against Him, being only
His servant?" So S. Augustine.

Ver. 27. — They knew not, £c. For Jesus spake covertly and
obscurely, for fear of exciting the hatred of the Pharisees. But
some of the more acute of them began to suspect the true meaning

s. JOHN, c. vni.

of His words, though they did not clearly understand them, and
could not refute Him. None of them fully knew it. And God so
ordered it, that the Passion of Christ, and the consequent redemp-
tion of the world, might not be hindered. (See i Cor. ii. 8.) " I
withhold the knowledge of Myself," says S. Augustine, "that My
Passion may be effected " by your hands.

Ver. 28. — Then said Jesus, &c. When ye have lifted Me up on
the Cross. He calls it His exaltation, for though it seemed to be
His greatest degradation and disgrace, yet it was made to be, by
God's Providence, His greatest exaltation and glory, that all nations
should adore Christ crucified, and hope for pardon from Him.
For this Christ won for Himself by His great humility (see Phil. ii.
8 seq.) And thus does God deal with every follower of Christ
who humbles himself for Christ's sake, as He says, "Every one that
exalteth himself shall be humbled," &c.

Then shall you know that I am Messiah, the Son of God, whom
I declare Myself to be, and not a mere man, as ye now think Me.
For many of the Jews, when they saw in the Cross, Death, and
Resurrection of Jesus Christ, such patience, charity, zeal, and such
great prodigies and miracles, were moved with compunction to
believe in Him. Christ had obtained all this by His Cross, and
obtained it from His Father (see Acts ii. 41). As S. Augustine says,
" He saw that many would believe after His Passion. And this He
says that no one who is conscious of guilt should despair, when
even His own murder was condoned." See S. Cyril, and others.

I do nothing of Myself, &c. Christ frequently inculcates the same
truth, both in order to speak humbly of Himself, and to gain
authority for His doctrine from God the Father. " But the Father,"
says S. Augustine, " did not so teach the Son, as though He were
ignorant when He begat Him ; but His teaching Him, was His
begetting Him full of knowledge." For with the Son His being is
His knowledge. And therefore the Father by begetting gave Him
both existence and knowledge.

Ver. 29. — And He that sent Me is with Me. He adds this (says
S. Chrysostom) lest He should be accounted inferior to the Father

MANY BELIEVE. 315

who taught Him. The one relates to the Incarnation (dispensationeni),
the other to the Godhead. " The Father," says S. Augustine, "sent
the Son, but did not leave Him." Moreover, the Father is ever
with the Son, not only by the inseparable essence of Deity, which
continues ever in number the same, but also by the special provi-
dence and guidance vouchsafed to the manhood which He assumed,
the Godhead guiding and directing it in every work, to make all His
work perfect and divine.

Ver. 30. — As He spake these words many, &c. ; i.e., many of the
simple-minded, candid and teachable people, but few or none of
the proud Pharisees. And they believed, not only as convinced by
the force of His arguments, but charmed by the grace and power of
His words. "Never man spake like this man."

Ver. 31. — Then said Jesus, &c. He wished to confirm them in
the faith they had accepted. If ye are so faithful and constant as
to follow Me through persecutions and crosses, even to heaven itself,
ye will be worthy not only of the name and title of My disciples,
but also of their deserts and reward.

Ver. 32. — And ye shall know the tnith, &c. The Greek Fathers
understand by the Truth, Christ Himself; meaning ye shall know
Me to be the Truth, shadowed forth by the figures of the old Law,
from which I will set you free, that ye may serve God not with
bodily ceremonies, but in the Spirit and truth of faith, hope, and
charity (see above, iv. 23).

(2.) Hence, in accordance with the mind of Christ, If ye abide in
My doctrine, ye shall taste by experience how sweet it is, and it will
free you from the yoke of sin (see below, verse 34). For faith in
Me will lead you to penitence, contrition, and charity, which does
away with all sin. " If the Truth pleaseth thee not, let liberty please
thee." He clearly restored liberty, and took away iniquity.

Analogically: My doctrine will deliver you from the corruption
of this place of mortality, change, and exile, because it will bring you
to the liberty of a blessed immortality, and the glory of the children
of God. Thus S. Augustine on this passage : " What doth He
promise to those who believe ? Ye shall know the truth. But did

316 s. JOHN, c. viii.

they not know it, when the Lord spake? for if they knew it not,
how did they believe ? They believed, not because they knew, but
that they might know ; for what is faith but believing that we see
not? But the truth is, to see that which thou hast believed." There
is a fourfold bondage which Christ did away with, and a fourfold
liberty which He bestowed, (i.) The bondage of the Law which
Christ did away with by the liberty of the Gospel. (2.) Bondage
under sin, which He took away by the liberty of righteousness.
(3.) Bondage under the dominion of concupiscence, which He took
away by the liberty of the Spirit, and the dominion of charity and
grace. (4.) Bondage under death and mortality, which He will take
away by the liberty and glory of the resurrection. It does not refer
to the liberty of the will, as though sinners were so entirely the
slaves of sin as not to have any free-will, and that Christ gives it
them back when He justifies them. For a sinner sins by free-will,
and a penitent repents and is justified only by his free-will, aided
by the grace of God.

Calvin foolishly denies free-will both to sinners and to the
righteous. " Let us who are conscious of our own bondage glory
only in Christ our deliverer." For he thinks that we are not
intrinsically free, just as we are not intrinsically just by inherent
righteousness, but only by the imputation of Christ's righteousness.
Each of which opinions is not only an impious, but also a foolish
heresy.

Ver. 33. — They answered Him, &c. Christ in what He had said
indirectly charged the Jews with ignorance and bondage. But as
glorying in their descent from Abraham, they felt wounded ; and
putting aside the charge of ignorance, they proudly deny the charge of
bondage, and say that they had no need of the liberty of Christ. We
are slaves neither by birth, nor by condition. " And in like manner,"
says S. Chrysostom, "men when charged with impurity and wicked-
ness put it aside, but when their family and work are impugned,
they start up, as if they were mad." But the Jews did not understand
Christ, for He spake not of civil, but of spiritual bondage, and that
He would set them free from the bondage of sin by the liberty

THE BONDAGE OF SIN. 317

of grace. But did the Jews say truly that they were never in
bondage to any man ? S. Chrysostom and others say that they spoke
too boastfully, but that they veiled their falsehood, because though
often conquered they had never been sold as slaves.

(2.) Cajetan, Toletus, Jansen, and others reply to the charge by
saying that though the Jews had formerly been in bondage, yet that
the present generation of Jews had never been so, for they were
merely the subjects, not the slaves, of the Romans. And this seems
to be the most satisfactory meaning ; for to say that their fathers
had never been in bondage would have been a falsehood at which
the sun itself would have blushed, and Christ would have at once
confuted it. All they meant to say was that their race was a free
and noble one, and that their subjection to the Romans was not
slavery.

Ver. 34. — Verily, verily, &c. Most assured, i.e., the saying is, and
specially commended to their notice. But our Lord speaks to them
modestly and becomingly, using only general terms and the third
person. He might have said, Ye commit many sins, and are there-
fore the servants of sin, and from this bondage no one but Myself
can deliver you. " A miserable bondage," exclaims S. Augustine in
loc., and adds the reason. "A man slave, when worn out by his
master's cruel treatment, can at length escape and be at rest. But
whither can the servant of sin flee ? He carries with him himself,
whithersoever he flies. A wicked conscience cannot fly from itself;
it has no place to go to, it follows itself. It cannot withdraw from
itself; for the sin which causes it is within." (2.) S. Peter (u. ii.
19) gives a further reason. "Of whom a man is overcome, of the
same is he brought in bondage." (3.) He who committeth sin is
the servant of the devil, who instigates to sin, and he is a cruel
tyrant, who drives on sinners, as though they were his slaves, ever
drawing them on from one sin to another, and in the end to hell.
(4.) Every sin leaves behind it a desire and inclination to repeat the
sin, and this concupiscence remains, even after the sin has been
given up, for our punishment and temptation. Whence the Apostle
says that he was sold under sin, that he did what he would not (as

3l8 S. JOHN, C. VIII.

feeling against his will the motives of concupiscence), and that he
cannot do the things he would. (5.) Because the sinner is bound
by the chains of the sin he has committed, so that he cannot free
himself, unless Christ sets him free by His grace, according to the
saying (Prov. v. 22), " His own iniquities take the wicked himself,
and he is bound with the cords of his sins." In these passages, to
sin, which is inanimate, is ascribed the character of a master, or
tyrant, to signify (i.) the tyrannical power of sin and concupiscence,
and (2.) because by sin is understood the devil, who holds sway in
the realm of sin, and' holds stern dominion over sinners.

St. Ambrose, on the words of Psalm cxix. 94, "I am thine, O
save me," says strikingly, " the worldling cannot say to Him, I am
Thine, for he has many masters. Lust comes, and says, Thou art
mine, for thou desirest the things of the body. Avarice comes, and
says, Thou art mine, for the silver and gold thou hast is the price of
thy bondage. Luxury comes and says, Thou art mine, for one day's
feasting is the price of thy life. Ambition comes, and says, Thou art
clearly mine, for knowest thou not that I have set thee over others
that thou mightest serve me ? knowest thou not that I have con-
ferred power on thee, in order to subject thee to mine own power?
All the vices come, and say severally, Thou art mine. What a vile
bond-slave is he whom so many compete for? And moreover the
sinner who cannot say to God, / am Thine, hears from the devil,
Thou art mine." For as S. Ambrose adds, " Satan came and entered
jito him, and began to say, he (Judas) is not thine, O Jesus, but
mine. He thinks those things that are mine, he ponders my
thoughts in his heart ; he feasts with Thee, and feeds with me ; he
receives bread from Thee, and money from me ; he drinks with me,
and sells me Thy Blood; he is Thy Apostle, but my hireling."

Ver. 35. — The servant abideth not, &c. He who is the servant of
sin, like you Jews, has not the right of remaining in his Master's
house (that is the Church of God) for ever : for after death he will be
cast into the outer darkness of hell, as ye too will be cast out.
But the Son abideth for ever in His Father's house, that is, I ever
abide with My Father in heaven. But if through Me and My grace

THE TRUE SONS OF ABRAHAM. 319

ye have been delivered from the bondage of sin, ye will abide for
ever with Me, as adopted children, in the house of God, that is in
the Church militant by grace, and in the Church triumphant, for
ever happy and glorious in heaven. So S. Augustine, Bede, and
others.

Ver. 36. — If therefore the Son, &c. I alone can make you free,
not Abraham or Moses, though most beloved servants of God. So
S. Chrysostom and others.

Ver. 37. — I know, &c. By nature ye are Abraham's children, but
in your deeds ye are degenerate. Your descent from Abraham
will not therefore profit you. It will increase your damnation, for
he will say at the last day, I acknowledge you not as my children,
for ye have crucified Christ, my son and your brother.

Because My word, &c. Because ye will not take it in. Origen
and S. Chrysostom think that these words were said to those who had
before feebly believed in Christ, but who, on hearing themselves
called "servants," were incensed against Him and wished to kill
Him. But it is more probable that they were addressed to
unbelievers who had before that plotted His death.

Ver. 38. — I speak, &c. Ye not only speak, but do that which ye
have learnt from your father, the devil, especially in seeking to kill
Me, implying that Abraham was not their father. See this more
clearly declared verse 44.

Ver. 39. — They answered, &c. Because Christ seemed to imply
that they had another father, they wished to learn from Him who
he was. We own Abraham, and none other as our father.

Jesus saith unto them, If ye are the children of Abraham, do the
works of Abraham. It is so in the Vulgate. But some Greek
MSS. read as in the English version. He does not deny their
extraction, but condemns their doings. Says S. Augustine, "Your
flesh may be from Abraham, but not so your life."

Ver. 40. — But now ye seek, &c. Abraham did not injure any one,
but saved Lot, and as many as he could. But the Jews were eager
to kill Christ The Jews (Perke. Avoth. cap. v.) draw the same
contrast between a disciple of Abraham and of Balaam.

32O S. JOHN, C. VIII.

Ver. 41. — Ye do the works of your father. He persists in saying
that they were not Abraham's children, but does not say whose
children they were.

Then said they unto Him, We be not born of fornication, &c.
Origen, Cyril, and Leontius think that in these words they implicitly
reproached Him with His own birth. An atrocious statement,
which the Pharisees studiously propagated, to detract from our
Lord's credit and authority. But it would have been atrocious
blasphemy. (2.) Euthymius and Rupertus suppose it to be only an
assertion of their descent from Sarah, and not from Hagar, and thus
not spurious, or in a secondary rank. (3.) We are not born of
spiritual fornication, i.e., idolatry. We are not Hagarenes, who
were idolaters. Rupertus objects that to make out this meaning
the word " but " should have been inserted. But Maldonatus main-
tains that such particles are often omitted, adding that fornication
in the prophets means idolatry, as being spiritual fornication, draw-
ing away the soul from its true Spouse (see Hos. i. 2). Theophylact
explains it to mean, " We are not born of mixed marriages of Jews
and Gentiles, which were forbidden, and counted illegitimate by the
Jews." (4.) The Jews reply in a straightforward manner, Abraham
is our true earthly father; and one is our Father, even God in
heaven. Your charge is therefore false. You unjustly claim the
God of Abraham for thyself alone, and exclude us from sonship with
Him, and hand us over to another father, the devil, making us
spurious, and consequently infamous.

Ver. 42. — -Jesus said, &c. Put syllogistically, our Lord's argument
runs this, " He who loves God, loves also the Son of God. But
ye do not love Me, who am the Son of God. Therefore ye love
not God. Just as the Arians, who by denying Christ to be the Son
of God, deny the Father also ; for if He has not a Son, He cannot
be called God the Father.

For I proceeded forth (t%r)\6o>) and came (#««), T am here. S.
Augustine, S. Hilary (tie Trin. vi.), consider that the twofold generation
of our Lord is here set forth. I came forth by eternal generation,
I am come into the world by My Incarnation. " That the Word

A WARNING TO HERETICS. 321

proceeded forth from God, is His eternal procession" (says S.
Augustine), but He came to us, because He was made flesh ; His
advent was His being made man.

But Jansen, Maldonatus, and others refer both the expressions
to the Incarnation, but yet as implying and presupposing His
eternal generation. "I came forth from God, and came into the
world, though I had before come forth from God, and was in heaven
as God" (see chap. xvi. 27).

For I came not of Myself, but He sent Me. He teaches that He
was not self-originate, says S. Hilary (de Trin. vi.) Origen adds, He
says this on account of some who came of themselves, and were not
sent of the Father (see Jer. xxxiii. 21). A warning to such as
Lutherans, Calvinists, and others, who have no true mission.

Ver. 43. — Why do ye not understand, &c. Because cleaving to your
pride, avarice, hatred, and enmity against Me, ye will not hear
Me and understand. " They could not hear," says S. Augustine,
" because they refused to be corrected by what they heard ; " but
(as says the Gloss) ye are of the devil, and have elected to go on
with him. S. Gregory Nazianzen (Or at. iv., de TheoZ.} tells us that in
Scripture " I cannot " sometimes means " I will not." (See Matt,
xix. 12.) But secondly, and more properly and forcibly, " Ye do not
understand My words because ye cannot endure My teaching, and
will not let My words enter your ears, so hateful am I to you, and
so obstinately have you from hatred hardened your hearts against
Me." Thus Emmanuel Sa.

Ver. 44. — Ye are of your father the devil. "Not by descent but
by imitation," says S. Augustine, quoting Ezek. xvi. 4 ; and adding,
" The Jews, by imitating their impieties, found for themselves
parents, not of whom to be born, but with whom they would be lost,
by following their evil ways."

S. Epiphanius (Her. 38, 40) by the devil in this place understands
Judas Iscariot, whom our Lord also calls a devil. But the author
of " Questions on the Old and New Testament " (apud^>. Augustine)
understands Cain. But it is certain that it must be taken literally

to mean Lucifer. For the Jews in persecuting Jesus followed him
VOL. iv. x

322 S. JOHN, C. VIII.

as their father ; " not by succession in the flesh, but in sin," says S.
Ambrose (Lib. iv. in loc^]

Ye are of, &c. " In order to kill Me." He explains that they are
of the devil, by following his suggestion. S. Chrysostom says he
speaks not of " works," but of desires (or lusts), showing that both
he and they greatly delighted in murders. For the devil has an
ardent desire to destroy all men, both because he grudges them the
glory from which he himself fell, but also to injure God, whom he
hates as his torturer, and wishes to tear away men from Him whom
He created in His own image, and called and predestinated to His
own eternal grace and glory.

He was a murderer, &c. For as soon as Adam was created,
Lucifer, the very same day through envy destroyed both him and
all his posterity, by persuading him to eat of the forbidden fruit.
And in like manner does he endeavour through you, O Jews, to
kill Me, by Whom all men are to be redeemed from death.
For he ever persists in his eager desire to destroy men, as the
leopard and wolf, which feed on human flesh. He urged on
Cain to kill Abel, and Joseph's brethren to destine him to death.
And even now instigates all murderers to commit their murders.
And much more does he thirst for the death and destruction of
souls, though bodily death is here more properly meant, for this it
was they plotted against Christ. Euthymius and S. Augustine (Contra
Petib. ii. 13).

And abode not in the truth, i.e., in the integrity and perfection, the
grace, righteousness, and sanctity in which he was created. True
means pure and unadulterated. As Nathaniel is called "a true
Israelite, in whom is no guile." Again " in truth " means in that
which was his duty. In S. John, David, and Solomon " the truth "
commonly means this (see John iii. 21). There is a threefold truth,
in heart, word, and deed. The truth of the heart is opposed to error ;
the truth of word is opposed to a lie, the truth of deed is when a
man acts in accordance with what is practically right, and this is
opposed to iniquity and sin. Now the devil did not stand in the
truth because he did not persevere in what he ought to have done.

THE FATHER OF LIES. 323

He refused to be under God. He claimed to be His equal, a kind
of second god, and rose up against Him through pride. Hence
he fell from his state of grace, and was cast down to hell (see Is. xiv.
12). And so S. Chrysostom {Horn. liv. ; S. Leo, Ser. de Quadr.,
and others). Hence (i.) S. Augustine (contr. Adimantum iv. 4),
understands by the " truth," the law, meaning that the devil did
not abide in the Law of God. Others by "truth " understand fidelity,
or the obedience due to God as the Creator.

(2.) S. Irenseus (v. 22, 23) understands it to mean "veracity," as
our Lord says below he is " a liar, and the father of it." Christ seems
to charge the Jews with two faults, which they had learned from the
devil, murder, and mendacity, and calumny.

(3.) Origen (Tom. xxiv.) understands it to mean " truth in practical
matters," which Lucifer abandoned when he sinned by pride, which
practically was a false step. This resulted from his not abiding in
truth of act, and thus he departed from truth in heart and word,
and thus by his lies deceived mankind.

Hence S. Augustine (de Civ. xi. 13) rightly infers that he was
created in grace and righteousness, and that the Manichees were wrong
in asserting that he was naturally wicked or created by an evil god.
They inferred this wrongly from i John iii., "The devil sinneth from
the beginning." The true meaning of this passage is explained
in loco.

Because there is no truth in him. Neither in thought, word, or
deed, for those three kinds of truth have a sisterly relation to each
other. But here " truth " rather signifies veracity.

When he speaketh a lie, &c. When he fell from his original beauty
as an angel and became a hideous demon, it was innate in him to
deceive ; his special and proper business was to lie, and to this he
entirely devotes himself.

(2.) " Of his own," means of his own special invention. But men
lie from imitating him, and by his suggestion.

(3.) " Of his own," from his own inward delight in it. He delights
in it, as a thief in his thefts.

For he is a liar. From his constant habit of lying, he is altogether

324 s. JOHN, c. vi r r.

made up of lies. And if he ever speaks truth, it is by compulsion,
or else by means of truth to persuade men to what is false.

And the father of it. " His father," says Nonnus. The Cainian
heretics understood the devil to mean Cain. But the Manicheans
on S. Augustine's authority (in loco) said that the devil had a father,
even the evil god, and that both he and his son were liars. But
I maintain that " of it " refers to the word " lie," which is understood
in the term liar which occurs just before. And he is the father of
a lie. (i.) Because he first invented the act of lying. (2.) Because
he fashions and forms lies, as the potter moulds the clay. So
S. Augustine and others. It is a Hebraism. Origen says, " The
devil begot a lie. He was seduced by himself, and in this respect
was worse, because others are deceived by him, whereas he is the
author of his own deception." And S. Augustine, " Not every one
that lies is a father of a lie, but he only who, like the devil, received
it not from any other quarter."

And hence the devil is the father and author of heresies, and
therefore heresiarchs have had a devil at their side who suggested
their heresies, as well as arguments to uphold them. So Luther con-
fessed of himself. Such a suggester had Arius, Eunomius, Calvin,
&c. The Apostle (i Tim. iv. i) speaks of heresies as "doctrines
of devils " (see notes in loco).

45. But if I speak the truth, ye believe Me not. His argument
stands thus, " Whosoever believeth a lie is a son of the devil. And ye
believe a lie, and are therefore sons of the devil." But "if "may
mean "because," as some Greek and Latin copies read. And so it
would mean, " Because I speak the truth in truly reproving your
sins, and truly asserting myself to be the Messiah, and prove this
by miracles, yet ye will not believe Me because ye will not give up
your sins, and will not believe what I say and teach, but rather
believe the devil who persuades you that I am a false prophet, and
my miracles are mere sleight of hand.

Ver. 46. — Which of you, &c. This is to anticipate an objection
of the Jews. For they might say, " We do not believe thee, because
thou art a violater of our law, in healing the sick on the Sabbath-day."

SINLESSNESS OF CHRIST. 325

Produce any other charge against Me, and I will submit to your dis-
believing Me. My healing on the Sabbath was not a violation, but a
sanctification of the Sabbath. I leave any further charge to be decided
by you who are my sworn enemies. So confident was Christ in His
innocence that no one could lay anything to His charge which bore
the slightest resemblance to sin. For He was Himself sinless, both
on account of the Beatific Vision which He enjoyed, as the Blessed
in heaven are incapable of sin for the same reason (for seeing God
to be the Supreme Good, they necessarily love Him with all their
strength, and hate whatever displeases Him) and likewise from the
hypostatical union with the Word. For because His humanity
existed in the Person of the Word, the Word kept His humanity free
from all sin, and in perfect holiness. For if the humanity of Christ
had sinned, the Person of the Word would have sinned ; which is
impossible. For virtuous or vicious actions relate to persons, and
are attributed to them. Hence S. Ambrose (on Ps. xl. 13) brings
in God the Father thus addressing Christ, "Thou wert conversant
with sinners, Thou didst take on Thee the sins of all, Thou wast made
sin for all, but yet no practice of sin could reach Thee. Thou
didst dwell among men, as if among angels, Thou madest earth to
be like heaven, that even there also Thou mightest take away
sin."

Jf I say the truth, &c. He here shuts out another objection of
the Jews. For they could have said, We believe Thee not, not for
any sin which Thou hast committed, but because the things Thou
sayest and teachest are not true." Christ meets the objection by
saying, " I have proved to you My doctrine by so many arguments
and miracles, that no prudent person who is not Blinded by hatred
could question its perfect truth. If then My life is most innocent,
and My doctrine most true, why do ye not believe Me ? " Receive
then the truth not as a bare assertion, but as demonstrated by
reason.

Ver. 47. — He that is of God, &c. He here assigns the true reason
for the unbelief of the Jews, because they were born not of God,
but of the devil ; that is, ye do not listen to the spirit and instinct of

326 S. JOHN, C. VIII.

God, but of the devil. For the devil has blinded your hearts with
covetousness, hatred, and envy of Me. And ye therefore listen not
to the words of God which I, who am sent from Him, announce to
you, because ye utill not hear and understand them. Because then
ye are not the children of God who is true, but of the devil who is a
liar, ye listen to his lying suggestions, but will not give a hearing to
the true words of God which are uttered by Me.

Moreover S. Augustine and S. Gregory (Horn, xviii.) understand
these words of the elect and reprobate. He who is predestinated
and elected hears the words of God, ye hear them not because ye
are reprobate. But this is not the literal and genuine sense of the
word, but merely an adapted one. For as Toletus and Maldonatus
observe, many of those who at that time did not believe in Christ
afterwards believed at the preaching of S. Peter and the Apostles ;
and on the other hand, some who then believed in Christ afterwards
fell away from the faith, and became reprobates (see John vi. 67).

Lastly, the Manichees inferred wrongly from the passage (as S.
Augustine asserts) that some men are good by their own nature, as
created by the good God, but others are naturally evil, as created by
the evil principle.

Morally : — S. Gregory infers thus from this saying of Christ : " Let
each one ask himself if he takes in the word of God with the ear of
his heart, and he will understand whence it is. The truth bids us
long for the heavenly country, to crush the desires of the flesh, to
shun the glory of the world, not to covet others' goods, to be liberal
with one's own. Let each one of you consider with himself if this
voice of God has prevailed in the ear of his heart, and he will
acknowledge that it is from God." And just below, "There are
some who willingly listen to the words of God so as to be moved by
compunction even to tears, but who after their tears go back again
to their sin. And these assuredly hear not the words of God,
because they scorn to carry them out in deed." Hence S. Gregory
infers that it is a mark of divine predestination if a man obeys the
holy inspirations of God, and of reprobation if he rejects them (see
Prov. i. 24). And John x. 27, " My sheep hear My voice." They

CHRIST REPROACHED. 327

who hear the voice of Christ their Shepherd are saved, they who
hear not are devoured by the devil. So too Christ says plainly,
" Blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it " (Luke
xi. 25). And S. Bernard (Serm. i, in Septuag.} tells his monks
that the greatest proof of predestination is the profitable hearing
of the word of God. For it was their constant food, by reading
and meditation and prayer, to examine whatever proceeds from
the mouth of God, and to fulfil it in their lives.

Ver. 48. — The Jews answered and said, &c. They used to say it,
though it is written nowhere else. But why did they call Him a
Samaritan? (i.) Because He associated with the Samaritans. (2.)
Because He came from Galilee, which was near Samaria. (3.)
Because the Samaritans were partly Jews and partly Gentiles, and
Christ seemed to them to be the same, as bringing in a new faith
and religion ; and He thus seemed to be mixing up the traditions of
the elders with the Gospel. (4.) And lastly, because He seemed to
be making a schism, like the Samaritans. A Samaritan was, more-
over, a term of reproach.

And hast a devil, (i.) Because they said He cast out devils through
Beelzebub, the chief of the devils. (2.) Because He made Himself
God, transferring to Himself the glory due to God, as Lucifer strove to
do. So Leontius. Our Lord so understood it, and answered, " I
seek not My own glory." (3.) Thou art mad, like lunatics, and
those possessed with devils (see x. 20, and vii. 20). This was an
atrocious blasphemy. How wondrous, then, the patience of Christ !
For He answered,

Ver. 49. — I have not a devil, &c. As loving truth He denies the
false charge, but though all-powerful He returns not their reproach.
" God, though receiving an injury, replies not with words of con-
tumely ; and thou, when insulted by thy neighbours, shouldest abstain
from their evil words, lest the exercise of just reproof should be
turned into weapons of anger." And Chrysostom, "When it was
necessary to teach, and to inveigh against their pride, He was
severe. But in bearing with those who reproached Him, He
exercised great gentleness, to teach us to resent any wrongs done to

328 S. JOHN, C. VIII.

God, to overlook the wrongs done to ourselves." And S. Augustine,
" Let us imitate His patience, that we may attain to His powers."

Christ took no notice of the term Samaritan, because it was a
reproach directed only against Himself, and not against God. He
refused therefore to avenge His own wrongs, but would defend the
honour of God. All knew He was a Galilean, and not a Samaritan,
and by saying that He had not a devil, He refuted at the same time
the charge of being a Samaritan. For the Samaritans, as schismatics,
were the bond slaves of the devil. S. Gregory (Horn, xviii.) gives
a mystical reason for His silence. " A Samaritan," he says, "means a
guardian, and He is truly our guardian, of whom the Psalmist
speaks, ' Except the Lord keep the city, they watch in vain who
guard it ' (Ps. cxxvii. 2) ; to whom moreover it is said by Isaiah,
' Watchman, what of the night ? ' He would not therefore say, ' I am
not a Samaritan,' lest he should deny also that He was our guardian."

/ have not a devil. But ye have one. So far from detracting from
the glory of God, or claiming it for Myself, as Lucifer did, I con-
tinually honour the Father and say that I derive everything from
Him, that I am sent from Him, that I obey Him in all things, that
I refer everything I have to Him, and direct everything to His
honour and glory. But ye rather dishonour God the Father,
because ye dishonour Me, and assail Me with most bitter reproaches,
though I am His Son, and His ambassador in the world. So
Leontius. Others explain it more generally of sin — I honour My
Father by good works, ye dishonour Him by your sins. So S.
Augustine.

Ver. 50. — I seek not, &c. It is God the Father who will most
sharply punish those who seek not My glory, but in every way
dishonour and discredit Me. S. Chrysostom.

It may be said, " This is contrary to what Christ says (v. 22),
The Father judgeth no man." But there Christ speaks of the public
and general judgment, here He speaks of the private and daily
judgment with which He avenges the wrongs done to His Son and
His saints, as by the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus for the death
of Christ ; as He here seems to hint. So Maldonatus and others.

CHRIST KIND TO THE EVIL. 329

But the Gloss says, " There is one that judgeth who distinguishes
My glory from yours ; as David says, ' Judge Me, O God, and distin-
guish My cause from that of the ungodly people ' " (Ps. xliii. i,

*"*&)

Ver. 51. — Verily, verily,! say. He says this not from indignation

but from pity of the Jews, showing that He is seeking not His own
glory, but their salvation. " I say in very truth," and as S. Augustine
thinks, he means I swear, " that if ye keep My commandments ye
shall never die the death of the soul ; ye shall never sin, for sin is the
death of the soul. But ye shall ever live, here in the grace of God,
and in heaven in His glory. Ye shall die indeed in the body, but
I will raise you up in the day of judgment, and ye shall live in
happiness of body and spirit for all eternity." So S. Augustine.

Ver. 52. — Now we know, &c. "The devil suggests to Thee such
proud and absurd boasting, that Thy word will drive away death
from those who believe in Thee, when we see that Prophets and
holymen, as Abraham, all died. But as says S. Gregory (Zftw/. xviii.),
looking only to the death of the body, they were dark to the word
of truth. For as Bede saith, " Abraham, though dead in the body, was
alive in his soul." Learn from this, thou Religious, thou Preacher,
thou Christian, from thy Master to receive calumnies for thy good
deeds, curses and ill-will for thy kindnesses. Learn also to be good
to the ungrateful. For Christ, though unweariedly teaching the Jews,
healing them, delivering them from evil spirits, yet patiently endured
these contumelies and reproaches, ingratitude in return for kind-
nesses, blasphemies for miracles, and for His teaching derision and
reprehension, and yet did not cease to benefit those who were
ungrateful, the very highest point of patience and charity.

Abraham is dead, &c. Thou blasphemest then, in making thy-
self greater than Abraham and the Prophets, yea, even greater than
God Himself, since the word of God could not deliver Abraham
and the Prophets from death. But yet the word of God, promulged
by the lips of Christ, was more powerful than the word of God
which was uttered to Abraham and the Prophets. And, moreover,
Abraham and the Prophets were not dead in their souls, and

330 s. JOHN, c. VIIL

though dead in the body were to be raised up by Christ to eternal
life.

Ver. 53. — Art tJiou greater ? &c. They considered it most absurd,
and even blasphemous, for Christ to prefer Himself to Abraham, as
He really did ; for He was both God and man, though the Jews
knew it not, or rather refused to believe it.

Ver. 54. — -Jesus answered, &c. This was in answer to their ques-
tion, Whom makest thou Thyself? He refers all His glory to His
Father from whom He is, and who is God. What I say of Myself
is of no value or weight, and that not only with you, as S.
Chrysostom says, but with others. For in every court no one is
believed on his own word but on the testimony of others, who
witness for him (see chap. v. 31). Solomon also says, "Let
another praise thee, and not thine own lips" (Prov. xxvii. 2). The
Arians objected that the Father glorifies the Son. He is therefore
greater than the Son. S. Augustine replies, "Thou heretic, readest
thou not that the Son Himself said that He glorifies His Father ?
But He also glorifies the Son, and the Son glorifies the Father. Put
aside thy pernicious teaching, acknowledge their equality, correct
thy perversity."

Ver. 55. — Yet ye have not known Him, &c. (i.) Ye know not the
true God whom ye worship ; ye know Him not to be one in essence
and threefold in person, for ye think Him to be one in Person, as
He is one in essence. Ye know not that God is a Father, and that
He begat Me His Son, and that we two by our Breath produced
the Holy Ghost. For had ye known it, ye would certainly have
known and believed Me to be the Messiah, the Son of God ; and
conversely, " if ye had known Me, ye would assuredly have known
My Father," says S. Chrysostom.

(2.) S. Augustine says, Ye believe that there is one God, though
ye neither see nor hear Him (see chap. v. 37). Ye ought there-
fore equally to believe in Me His Son, on account of the many
signs and wonders which I work, though ye see not the Godhead
which is hid within. (3.) Ye have not known Him, ye have not
believed His testimony, This is My beloved Son ; for ye knew not,

WHY THE JEWS LIARS. 331

or rather would not know, that this was the true voice of God.
(4.) Euthymius explains, "Ye have not shown that ye know Him,
because ye live wickedly, not as worshippers of God, but like
idolatrous Gentiles, professing, as S. Paul says, to know Him (Tit
L 1 6), but in works denying Him."

And if I say, &c. Maldonatus thinks that Christ called the
Jews " liars," because they said to Him, " Thou art a Samaritan,
and hast a devil." For these were two most gross falsehoods, nay
even blasphemies. But S. Chrysostom, Ammonius, and Theo-
phylact.are more to the point in asserting that they were called
"liars," because they lied in saying that they knew God. For
they believed not that He had a Son, and was threefold in His
personality.

But I know Him, &c. Theophylact explains it thus, " I show
by my life and conduct that I know, reverence, and worship God,
because I reverently observe and constantly fulfil His word. Or it
may be explained, even better, in this way. Because I acknowledge
God the Father, and clearly perceive His Majesty, Power, and
Holiness ; I therefore, as man, greatly reverence Him, and clearly
and fully observe His precept, which ye Jews do not observe,
because ye know not nor comprehend His Majesty, and therefore
do not reverence it." So Theophylact. Moreover, S. Augustine says,
" He spake as the Son, the Word of the Father, and was the very
Word of the Father Who spake to men." And He fitly said the
" word" not the "precept" because He Himself was the Word of
the Father, and the Father had ordered Him to announce to men
that very truth, that they should acknowledge, believe, and worship
God the Father and God the Son.

Ver. 56. — Your father Abraham^ &c. He longed for it with
exulting mind ; " He feared not, but exulted," says S. Augustine.
" Believing he exulted with hope, that he might see by understand-
ing." It is a catachresis. But what day ? S. Augustine understands
by it, that day of ail eternity, wherein from all eternity the Son was
begotten of the Father. " He wished to know My eternal genera-
tion and My Godhead, that he might believe in it, and be thereby

332 S. JOHN, C. VIII.

saved." " He saw," says S. Augustine, " My day, because he acknow-
ledged the mystery of the Trinity." (Bede follows him, as usual.) S.
Jerome (on Dan. viii.) and S. Gregory (in loc.) say that it was the
day when, by the three angels that appeared to him, only one of
whom spoke to him, the mystery of the Trinity was by symbols
revealed to him ; he saw three but adored one (Gen. xviii. 2).

(i.) But others generally refer it to the day of His Humanity,
and thus understand it of the day of His Passion, Crucifixion, and
death. See S. Chrysostom, &c. (2.) It is more simple to under-
stand it of the day of His Incarnation. For all the Prophets and
Patriarchs earnestly longed for the coming of Christ, to free them
from their sins and from their imperfect state (limbo}. "To see"
(says John Alba) " is to enjoy the happiness and blessings brought by
Christ." The word has often that meaning, as in the Psalm "to see
the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living," i.e., to enjoy it.

He saw it. By faith, and again in a figure when he was com-
manded by God to offer up his son Isaac, which was a type of
Christ's offering on the Cross. So S. Chrysostom and S. Augustine,
and S. Bernard (Serm. vi. de. Vigil Natalis) adds that by smiting on
his thigh he signified that Christ was to come from his race.

(2.) He knew by prophetical revelation. But this would not be
"seeing."

(3.) The genuine meaning is, he saw from his own place (in limbo).
He knew the day when Christ was incarnate and was born, not
only from what Simeon told him, when he met him in the place
below (in limbo), but also from what Anna the Prophetess, Zacharias,
Anna the Virgin's Mother, and S. John the Baptist told him, but he
saw it by intuitive perception. He saw all, just as the Blessed in
heaven behold all things on earth arid under the earth, and as S.
Anselm saw with his eyes lifted up by God what was doing behind
a wall. Abraham longingly desired to see this, as if present. For
the promise that Christ should be born of him had been frequently
made him by God. And it was due to him, in consequence of his
faith, obedience, and many merits, that as the father of the faithful,
who for so long a time, without any fault of his own, was so long

ABRAHAM KNEW WHEN CHRIST WAS BORN. 333

detained in prison (limbo), most eagerly looking for Christ to deliver
him, might for his own consolation, and that of his fellow-patriarchs,
and in solace of their long and anxious expectation, know the very
day when Christ was Incarnate and born. For two thousand years
had he eagerly waited for Christ and sighed for His birth. And
therefore God revealed it to him by His Spirit, and then Abraham
and all the Saints in prison rejoiced and were glad. So Jansen,
Maldonatus, and others. Lastly, the angels who comfort souls in
Purgatory, much more consoled the souls of Abraham and the
Patriarchs (in limbo), even as the same angels announced that much
longed-for birth to the shepherds. Christ said this, (i.) To show
that He was greater than Abraham, and that He was God, (2.) to
show how highly He was valued, though absent, by Abraham, though
the Jews despised Him when present among them. (3.) And also
to prick their consciences indirectly in this way : " Abraham had so
great a longing for Me, but ye have rejected Me. Ye are therefore
not true children of Abraham, but spurious and degenerate." He
says " Abraham your father," whose children ye glory in being,
though 'I do not glory in him, but he rather glories and exults in
Me.

Ver. 57. — Thou art not yet, &c. So that Abraham on his part
could have seen Thee, and rejoiced at the sight. Irenaeus hence
infers that Christ lived fifty years on earth (adv. H<zr. ii. 39, 40).
But it is the common opinion that He was on earth for only thirty-
four (and those not complete) years. S. Chrysostom and Euthymius
read forty years, but the common reading is fifty. The Jews seem
to have been thinking of the Jubilee. " Thou hast not reached one
Jubilee, how then canst Thou say that Thou hast seen Abraham,
who lived forty Jubilees before ? " (So Severus of Antioch in Catena.)
But Euthymius thinks that Christ seemed to the Jews, by reason of
the maturity* of His judgment and the gravity of His bearing,
and also from the labours He had undergone in journeying and
preaching, to be fifty years old. But you may easily say that the
Jews, in order to avoid exception or mistake, put His age much
higher than they knew He had attained to.

334 s. JOHN, c. VIIL

Ver. 58.— -Jesus said, &c. That is, / am God. The word am
denotes eternity, which is ever present, and has no past or future.
I am eternal, immutable, and ever the same. So S. Augustine,
Bede, S. Gregory. I as God exceed the age of Abraham not by
fifty years, but by infinite durations of years. For as Tertullian
(de Trinit^) says, unless He had been God, He could not, as being
descended from Abraham, have been before him. Hear S. Augus-
tine on this passage, '•'•Before Abraham was made, that refers to
human nature, but / am pertains to the Divine Substance ; was
made (Vulg.), because Abraham was a creature. He said not,
'Before Abraham was, I am,' but Before Abraham was made, I am.
Nor did He say, 'Before Abraham was made, I was made.' For in
the beginning God made heaven and earth ; for in the beginning
was the Word. Before Abraham was made, I am. Acknowledge
the Creator, distinguish the creature. He who spake was made of
the seed of Abraham ; and in order that Abraham might be made,
He was (existed) before Abraham."

Ver. 59. — Then they took up, &c., as a blasphemer, who placed
Himself above Abraham, and made Himself equal to God. Blas-
phemers were ordered to be stoned (Lev. xxiv. 16). It is clear that
these Jews were not those who were said to have believed in Him
(as Theophylact supposes), but the others who were opposed to
Christ. "And to what should such hardness betake itself but to
stones?" says S. Augustine (in loc.) "They sought to crush Him,
whom they could not understand," says S. Gregory (Horn, xviii.)

But Jesus hid Himself, &c. He made Himself invisible, and thus
passed unharmed through the midst of them. So Leontius and
others. S. Gregory says, " Had He willed to exercise His power,
He would have bound them in their sins, or would have plunged
them into the pains of eternal death. But He who came to suffer,
would not exercise judgment." And S. Augustine, " He would
rather commend to us His patience, than exercise His power. He
forsakes them, since they would not accept His correction. He
hides not Himself in a corner of the temple, as if afraid, or running
into a cottage, or turning aside behind a wall or column : but by

CHRIST FLIES AS MAN. 335

His Divine Power making Himself invisible, He passed through
their midst. As man He fled from the stones, but woe to them
from whose stony hearts God flies away.

Morally, we are taught by this example (says S. Gregory) humbly
to avoid the anger of the proud, even when we have the power to
resist them.

( 336 )

CHAPTER IX.

I Christ on the Sabbath day heals the man -who was born blind. 14 The Pharisees
accuse Him of breaking the sabbath ; but the man who was healed defends
Him ; 34, is therefore cast out of the Synagogue : but Christ receives and
teaches him.

AND as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man or
his parents, that he was born blind?

3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents : but that the
works of God should be made manifest in him.

4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day : the night cometh,
when no man can work.

5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

6 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the
spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,

7 And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpreta-
tion, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.

8 IT The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he
was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged ?

9 Some said, This is he : others said, He is like him : but he said, I am he.

10 Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened?

1 1 He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed
mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash : and I went
and washed, and I received sight.

12 Then said they unto him, Where is he ? He said, I know not.

13 IT They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind.

14 And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes.

1 5 Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight.
He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see.

1 6 Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he
keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do
such miracles ? And there was a division among them.

17 They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath
opened thine eyes ? He said, He is a prophet.

18 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and
received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight.

19 And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind ?
how then doth he now see ?

THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN. 337

20 His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and
that he was born blind :

21 But by what means he now seeth, we know not ; or who hath opened his
eyes, we know not : he is of age ; ask him : he shall speak for himself.

22 These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews : for the Jews
had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be
jmt out of the synagogue.

23 Therefore said his parents, He is of age ; ask him.

24 Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give
God the praise : we know that this man is a sinner.

25 He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not : one
thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.

26 Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? how opened he thine
eyes?

27 He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear : wherefore
would ye hear it again ? will ye also be his disciples ?

28 Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple ; but we are Moses'
disciples.

29 We know that God spake unto Moses : as for this fellow, we know not from
whence he is.

30 The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvellous thing,
that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes.

31 Now we know that God heareth not sinners : but if any man be a worshipper
of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.

32 Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of
one that was born blind.

33 If this man were not of God, he could do nothing.

34 They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and
dost thou feach us ? And they cast him out.

35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out ; and when he had found him, he
said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God ?

36 He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him ?

37 And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh
•with thee.

38 And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.

36 IT And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which
see not might see ; and that they which see might be made blind.

40 And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and
said unto him, Are we blind also?

41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin : but now ye
say, We see ; therefore your sin remaineth.

Ver. i. — And as Jesus passed by, &c. Passing through the
midst of His enemies and the crowd of the people. This signifies
(though some deny it) that this cure took place immediately
after Christ had withdrawn from the temple. As soon as He had
escaped His enemies, He became visible again, and His disciples

VOL. IV. Y

338 s. JOHN, c. ix.

followed Him. " He mitigated their anger by His withdrawal, and
softened their hardness by working a miracle " says S. Chrysostom.

He looked upon him tenderly and fixedly, as pitying him, and
intending to restore his sight. And this intent look caused the
disciples to inquire the cause of his blindness. "He Himself"
(says S. Chrysostom) " saw that he was blind. The blind man did
not come to Him, but He looked on him so stedfastly, that the
disciples asked the question which follows." Mystically, sinners and
unbelievers are blind, and are thus unable to see and seek for
Christ. So that Christ must needs look on them first and enlighten
them with the eyes of His grace.

His blindness was congenital and incurable. If it had been
accidental, surgeons could have cured it. But when a man is
cured who is blind from his birth, "it is not a matter of skill," says
S. Ambrose, " but of power. The Lord gave him soundness, but
not by the exercise of the medicinal art. The Lord healed those
whom none could cure." His name is said to have been Cedonius
or Celedonius (see ver. 38).

Mystically, this man is a type of mankind, blinded by original sin,
which Jesus, "passing along the road of our mortality" (says the
Gloss), "looked upon, pitied and enlightened." "For blindness
befel the first man through sin, and as we spring from him, the
human race is blind from its birth." And Bede, "The way of
Christ is His descent from heaven to earth. But He beheld the
blind man, when He beheld mankind with pity." Again : " This
blind man denotes the Gentiles born and brought up in the dark-
ness of unbelief and idolatry, to whom Christ passed over, when
expelled from the hearts of the Jews, and enlightened them with the
light of faith and His Gospel," says Bede. And Christ wished to
designate this in type by the enlightenment of this blind man. So
S. Cyril, Rupert, and Bede.

Ver. 2. — And His disciples^ &c. This question sprang out of the
opinion of the ignorant multitude, who think that diseases are the
punishments of sin, and, as S. Ambrose says, " They ascribe weak-
nesses of body to the deserts of their sins." But they are wrong in this ;

SOULS NOT PRE-EXISTENT. 339

for though it is often the case, yet not always. For Job, though
innocent, was afflicted in order to try his patience, as Tobias also,
and many others. S. Chrysostom and Theophylact say that this
question was out of place and absurd.

Others think that the disciples were led to ask this question by
what Christ said (v. 14), " Sin no more, lest a worse thing happen
to thee."

A man's own fault, and not that of another, seems to be the cause
of his own blindness, by way of punishment. Original sin is in
truth the cause of all the evils and punishments which befal us in
this life, and of the diseases of infants especially as S. Augustine
teaches us (Contr. Julian iii. 4). But this was not the special
reason why this man, above all other infants, was born blind.
Whence S. Augustine says, "This man could not have been born
without original sin ; nor yet have added nothing to it by his life.
He therefore and his parents had sin, but the sin was not the cause
of his being born blind."

S. Cyril supposes that the disciples were imbued with the error of
Pythagoras and Plato, who thought that souls existed before their
bodies, and that for their sins they were thrust down into bodies, as
Origen afterwards held. But Leontius considers that the disciples
did not speak of the sin of the blind man which took place before
his birth, but after it. As if God, foreseeing what would happen
punished him beforehand with blindness. But whatever might be
the opinion of the disciples (and it is hard to conjecture), it is certain
they were wrong. For souls did not exist before their bodies, and
God only punishes past and not future sins. God, it is true,
punishes the sins of parents in the persons of their children. And
children are frequently born weak, blind, and deformed, &c, or soon
die, in consequence of the vices of their parent (see 2 Sam. xii. 14,
and Exod. xx. 5).

Ver. 3.— -Jesus answered, &c. Christ denies not that he and his
parents had sinned both by original and actual sin. But He denies
that he was condemned to blindness for these sins, beyond other
people, who had committed the same and even greater sins. So S.

340 S. JOHN, C. IX.

Augustine. In vain therefore do the Pelagians misuse this passage
to do away with original sin.

The reason why God inflicted blindness on this man was that
the miraculous power of Christ should be made manifest in his case,
and thus Christ be acknowledged as the true Messiah. So the
Fathers quoted above. The Gloss gives the mystical meaning,
that it was to signify what Christ would do in enlightening mankind
in like manner by His grace, and the doctrine of the Gospel. And
accordingly the man himself was enlightened not only in his body,
but in his mind, as will be seen below. And therefore he suffered
no wrong, but gained a benefit by his blindness (says S. Chrysostom),
for in consequence of it he beheld with the eyes of his mind, Him
who from nothing brought him into being, and received from Him
enlightenment both in body and in mind.

Ver. 4. — I must work, &c. S. Chrysostom, Theophylact, and
others understand by the word " day " the present life, and by
" night " the future life. But this is what is common to all men.
But Christ speaks of this day as specially relating to Himself and
His own work. And therefore S. Augustine, Cyril, and Bede put a
better and closer meaning on the word day, as speaking of the
life of Christ on earth, and night as referring to His absence, mean-
ing by this, that just as men cannot work at night on account of the
darkness, so after death shall I no longer work as I do now for the
salvation and redemption of men. "My day" (viii. 56) means in
like manner My birth and My life amongst men. He says this, as
preparing the way for the healing of the blind man. " I am sent
into the world to do good to men : this blind man presents himself
and I will restore his sight." Symbolically : Night, says the Interlinear
Gloss, is the persecution of the Apostles, especially by antichrist.
Tropologically : The time of life given to every one to gain eternal
glory is his "day." Night is his death (see Eccles. ix. 10). And S.
Augustine (in loc.) says, "Night is that of which it is said, 'Cast him
into outer darkness.' Then will be the night, when no man can
work, but only receive for what he hath wrought. Work while
thou art alive, lest thou be prevented by that night." It was com-

THE TRUE EYE- SALVE. 341

mon among poets and philosophers to call life day, and death night,
and many instances and authorities are given from Pagan writers to
this purpose. But to take some Christian ones, Messodamus, a
very holy man, was once asked by a friend to dine with him on the
morrow. " I have had no morrow," he replied, " for many years :
every day have I looked for the coming of death." And this is what
S. Anthony (apud S. Athanasius) and Barlaam advised every devout
and " religious " man to do. S. Jerome wisely says, " One who is
ever thinking that he will die, easily makes light of everything," for
he regards each day as his last.

" Fixed is the day of death alike to all,
Brief life's short hours soon pass beyond recal."

— Virg. s-En. x.

Ver. 5. — As long as I am in the world, &c. And therefore I will
give light to this blind man, to show that I am the Light of this
world.

Ver. 6. — And -when He had thus said, &c. He used clay, which
naturally closes up the eyes, to show that He healed the man super-
naturally. The symbolical reason was (S. Chrysostom says) to
signify that He was the self-same (God) who formed man out of
clay, and that it was His work to form and fashion again (by
restoring his sight) a man who was formed by Him, but deformed
by blindness. He showed thus that He was the Lord of all things,
and of the Sabbath also, so as to work His cure on that day
whatever outcry the Pharisees might make. So Cyril, Leontius,
Theophylact. Accordingly the Interlinear Gloss says, " See, here is
the eye-salve with which mankind is anointed, the thought, namely,
of its own vileness, as being made of clay, so as to be cured of the
pride which had blinded it. According to the saying, ' Remember,
O man, that thou art dust, and into dust thou wilt return.' " Christ
used His spittle, says Cyril, to show that even His Flesh had a
supernatural power of healing. (2.) Because spittle is a symbol of
recuperative power (several derivations of "saliva" are here sug-
gested which are of no value, and several instances of cures by its
use). (3.) He used it that no virtue should be ascribed to the pool

542 s. JOHN, c. ix.

of Siloam, but to the power of His own mouth from whence it came ;
for by the bidding of His own mouth He drove away the blindness.
(4.) That thus this miracle might be the more fully attested. (5.)
To test the faith and obedience of the blind man (see S. Chry-
sostom). Why did He send him to Siloam, that all men might
see him going with the clay on his eyes ? But there was no reason
to fear that the cure would be attributed to Siloam, because many
had washed there without being cured. But the faith of the blind
man was shown by his not saying a word or having a thought
against it, but he simply obeyed.

Allegorically. S. Augustine says, " Christ made clay of the
spittle because the Word was made flesh." He anointed the eyes
of the blind man, but yet he did not see, for when He anointed him
He most likely made him a catechumen. He sends him to the
pool of Siloam. For being baptized in Christ he is illuminated.
The Gloss says, " The spittle is the wisdom which came forth from
the mouth of the Most High ; the earth is the flesh of Christ, to
anoint the eyes .is to make a catechumen. He that believeth in
the Word made flesh is sent to wash, that is to be baptized in
Siloam, that is in Him that was sent, i.e., in Christ But he who is
baptized receives the light of the mind through faith, hope, and
charity, which are infused into him by God in baptism."

Ver. 7. — And said unto Him, &c. Siloam is a stream at the foot
of Mount Sion, which does not flow continuously, but at uncertain
times of the day ; it bursts forth (says S. Jerome) with a loud noise,
and is then silent. It hides itself under the earth, and by channels
runs into the pool of Siloam, and hence is conveyed silently and
gently into the royal gardens, which it waters. (See S. Jerome on
Is. viii.) Epiphanius thus gives its history. " God made the
fount of Siloam at the request of the Prophet (Isaiah), who shortly
before his death prayed that He would grant the waters to flow from
that place, and He immediately poured down from heaven living
waters ; whence the place obtained the name Siloam, which means sent
down. And under king Hezekiah, before he built the pool, a small
stream sprang up at the prayers of Isaiah (for they were hard pressed

SILOAM A TYPE OF CHRIST. 343

by the enemy), that the people might not perish for lack of water.
The soldiers searched everywhere for water and could not tell where
to find it. But when the poor Jews went to seek water it burst out
for them in a stream. But strangers could not find it, for the
water withdrew itself. And even up to the present time it bursts
forth secretly, thus signifying a mystery." Epiphanius records this
in his life of the Prophet. Baronius compares it to a stream in
Palestine called Sabbaticus, because it flowed only on the Sabbath.
(See Baronius A.D. 33, cap. xxvl, and Josephus, de Bello Jud. cap.
xiv.) S. Irenaeus (iv. 19) says that Siloam effected its cures very
frequently on the Sabbath.

(2.) From Siloam, flowing as it did at intervals, and in a country
where there was a want of water, the water was drawn gently and
noiselessly into the pool, or bath, and thence passed into the
gardens. From this letting in and letting out of the waters it was
called Siloam from the root schalach.

But why did Christ send the blind man to this particular pool ?
(i.) Because it was a type of Himself, who was sent into the world,
to enlighten it. (See S. Chrysostom and S. Irenseus, iv. 19.) (2.)
Because Christ was meek and gentle like its waters, and because
He was secretly and silently sent forth by the Father, as God in
heaven, and on earth by His birth from the Virgin. He is also,
like Siloam, a fountain of water, "springing up into eternal life."
(3.) He is the Fount of graces, who distributes His gifts to the faith-
ful by channels. (See Is. xil 3, and Zech. xiii. i, and notes thereon?)
And Isaiah, who was an express type of Christ both in his life and
martyrdom, caused this pool to be built. (4.) Solomon was anointed
to be king near the spot. Hence the waters of Siloam signify the
royal race of David. And Christ sent the blind man there to show
that He was the Son of David. (5.) He sent the blind man to
Siloam to recall the prophecy of Jacob (Gen. xlix. 10), as indicating
that he was the messenger and ambassador sent from the Father.
(6.) Siloam was the type of Christian Baptism, whereby we are
spiritually enlightened. Baptism is called in Greek ^una/^oi. (See
S. Ambrose, Efist. Ixxv., and S. Augustine in loc.} And hence S.

344 S. JOHN, c. IX.

Irenseus (v. 15) thinks that this man was enlightened both in
body and mind by the waters of Siloam. (7.) There is great affinity
between water and light, ablution and illumination. The Hebrew
word ain signifies both a fountain and light. Cicero and Quinctilian
speak of the lights of wisdom, and floods of oratory, &c. And
even the Psalmist uses both terms, " For with Thee is the well of
life, and in Thy Light shall we see light." And here too Christ
connects light with a fountain. For after having said, " I am the
Light of the world," He sent the blind man to Siloam to recover his
sight. Water washes away the noxious humours of the eyes, and
thus gives them light.

Adrichomius describes Siloam and the virtue of its waters,
speaking of the value Saracens and Turks put upon them, especially
for restoring the sight. And no wonder. For as Christ, by being
baptized in Jordan, sanctified the waters, and gave them the power
of washing away sins in baptism; in like manner by giving sight to
the blind man by the waters of Siloam, He seemed to have conferred
on them a somewhat similar power of giving sight to others, and
accordingly S. Helena (says Nicephorus, viii. 30) erected some
magnificent works about the pool. S. Chrysostom (in loc.} says
that in Siloam was the virtue of Christ which cured the blind man.
For as the apostles called Christ " a spiritual door," so was He a
spiritual Siloam. (So too S. Cyril, and S. Basil on Isaiah viii. 6,
and Eusebius, Demonst. Evang. vii. 2.)

Which is by interpretation. " Sent," because it was a type of the
Messiah, whose name was Siloach (i.e., sent, or to be sent, by God).
For unless He had been sent, none of us (says S. Augustine) would
have been delivered from his guilt.

He went therefore, &c. Not by the virtue of the waters of
Siloam, but by that of Christ, who used these waters for the
enlightenment of the blind man, as He uses the waters of Baptism
for the purification and enlightenment of the soul. " In Siloam,"
says S. Chrysostom, "was the virtue of Christ, which cured the
blind man." But the faith and obedience of the blind man merited
this, not of condignity, but of congruity. For he believed that he

THE POOR THE SPECIAL CARE OF B.V.M. 345

\vould recover his sight by washing away in the waters of Siloam
the clay which Christ had put on his eyes. For had he not
believed this, he would not have kept the clay on his eyes, to the
ridicule of those who saw him ; nor would he have gone to Siloam,
nor have there washed away the clay from his eyes. The Gloss
says with less truth, " How was this man healed without faith, when
nobody is said to have been healed outwardly by Christ without
being healed within ? " This is said of those who were sick on
account of their sins, but he was suffering for the glory of God ; for
as I have shown, his faith and obedience were great, and by them
was he alike justified, as we shall hear at the end of the chapter.
So Elisha cleansed from his leprosy Naaman the Syrian by means
of the waters of Jordan. And he also made sweet the bitter waters
by the salt which was thrown into them. S. Augustine remarks that
Christ was " the day who divided the light from the darkness, when
He took away his blindness and restored him his sight."

Ver. 8, 9. — The neighbours therefore, &c., and they that saw him,
that he was a beggar, &c. (Vulg.} "The greatness of the deed
brought about incredulity," says S. Chrysostom. "And the opening
of the eyes had changed the appearance of the blind man," says S.
Augustine, " so that looking on him they doubted whether he who
saw was the one who aforetime was blind ; but carefully watching
him as he walked along the long way, they acknowledged him to be
the same, and that it could not be denied." So S. Chrysostom.

The wondrous mercy of God healed most carefully those who
were beggars, counting those who were mean of birth to be worthy
of His providential care; for He came for the healing of all. Thus
many poor people and of slender means obtain of the Blessed
Virgin miracles of healing, at her shrines at Loretto and Sichem,
both because they are in greater need than the rich, and are more
innocent in their lives, also exhibit greater faith and devotion, and
because she specially cares for them, as being destitute ; just as it
is said, " The poor committeth himself to Thee [is left to Thy care] ;
Thou art the helper of the orphan" (Ps. x. 14).

Ver. 10. — Therefore said they unto him, &c. "The man," says

346 s. JOHN, c. ix.

Euthymius and Theophylact, " knew not as yet that Jesus was God."
The blind man had learned the name of Jesus from common report,
or from asking the bystanders. That he called Him not Rabbi,
must be ascribed partly to his simplicity and candour, and partly to
his truthfulness. For in order that he might not give any weight
to his own opinion respecting Christ, he spake only the bare truth,
and merely called Him Jesus. Perhaps he did it, likewise, in order
not to excite the Jews, who were opposed to Christ, the more
against Him.

Ver. 12. — And they said to him, Where is He? He said, I know
not. For Jesus had withdrawn Himself, as shrinking from praise ;
for He did not, says S. Chrysostom, "seek for glory, or self-
display."

Ver. 13. — They brought to the Pharisees, &c. They brought him
to the Pharisees, that they might examine the matter. This was
done by the purpose of God, that the miracle might be fully attested
and made widely known, so that the Pharisees could not deny it.
Whence S. Augustine says, " The blind man confessed, the heart of
the wicked was broken." "They bring him to the Pharisees, as
being judges, and therefore assembled in their house of judgment."
This house seems to have been a synagogue, close to the temple ;
for a question of religion and belief was at stake, which the Pharisees
had to decide by examining the miracle, and to. judge accordingly
whether He who wrought it was the Messiah or not.

It was the Sabbath day. This is added to show their evil dis-
position ; for they sought occasion against Jesus, and wished to
detract from the miracle in consequence of its seeming violation of
the law. For in truth to make clay in order to give sight to the
blind, is not a breaking but a sanctification of the Sabbath.

Ver. 17. — They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of
Him who hath opened thine eyes ? He said, He is a Prophet. That is
a specially holy man, a wonder-worker. So Abraham (Gen xx. 7)
is called a Prophet (see what is said on i Cor. xiv. adrem, and Ecclus.
xlviii. 12, on the various meanings of the word Prophet). " Being at
present not anointed in heart, he did not confess Christ to be the

BITTERNESS OF THE JEWS. 347

Son of God. But yet he did not speak falsely of Him. For the
Lord said of Himself, " A prophet is not without honour, save in His
own country."

They asked the blind man the same question again and again,
out of bitter hatred of Christ, and also to involve him in the same
guilt with Christ They wished also to elicit something out of his
mouth to make him contradict himself, that so they might convict
him of a lie. But God caught them in their own craftiness. For
by this frequent examination, the consistent confession of the blind
man, and consequently the glory of Christ, shone forth. S.
Chrysostom wisely says, "It is the nature of truth to become
stronger by the snares laid against it." And that was now the case,
for the parents are brought forward, who fully acknowledged their
son, and confirmed his words.

Ver 18. — But the Jews did not believe, &c. They hoped to elicit
something from them to refute either the blind man or Christ, " by
finding that he was not born blind," says S. Chrysostom, or was not
quite blind but dim-sighted, or that he regained his sight by magic,
and not by the miracle wrought by Christ. " They sought," says S.
Augustine, " how they might accuse him, that they might cast him
out of the synagogue," as they shortly afterwards did. Theophylact
states that this was their dilemma. It is either false that your son
now sees, or that he was blind at first. But it is admitted that he
sees, it was therefore false that he was, as he says, previously blind.
His parents reply cautiously. They knew him to be their son, and
that he was born blind. But how he gained his sight they knew
not. They speak with prudence so as not to deny the truth, nor
yet incur the peril of excommunication. And hence they say,
" He is of age," meaning, says S. Augustine, " we should justly be
compelled to speak for an infant, for it could not speak for itself.
But he is a man who can speak for himself, therefore (say they)
ask htm."

Ver. 22. — For the Jews, &c. " But it was no evil to be put out of
the synagogue," says S. Augustine, "for they expelled, but Christ
received him." " But the parents said this, because they were less

s. JOHN, c. ix.

firm than their son, who stood forth as an intrepid witness of the
truth," says Theophylact.

Ver. 24. — Then again called they the man, &c. To give God the
glory, is a form of obtestation or oath among the Jews (see Josh. vii.
19). Confess that this man is a sinner, and so wilt thou by this
confession of the truth give glory to God, who is the chief and eternal
truth. " To give glory to God " (says the Gloss) " is to speak the
truth as in the presence of God." They wished to persuade him
under the pretext of religion (says S. Chrysostom), to deny that he
was cured by Christ, or if he were, it was by magic and sleight of
hand. " Deny," says the Interlinear Gloss, " the benefit thou hast
received by Christ. But this were to blaspheme, and not to give
glory to God."

Whether He be a sinner. " He answers prudently and cautiously,
neither laying himself open to the charge, nor yet concealingthetruth,"
says the Interlinear Gloss. But S. Chrysostom objects, "How was it
that just before he called Him a Prophet, and now he says, ' Whether
he be a sinner I know not ? ' " He does not say this by way of asser-
tion, or through fear, but because he wished Jesus to be acquitted
of the charges by the evidence of the fact. " I do not wish to
argue the point with you. But I know for certain, that though once
blind, now I see."

How opened He thine eyes ? Just like hounds, says S. Chrysostom,
who track their prey now here, now there.

Wherefore would ye hear it again ? " Ye do not wish to learn,
but merely to cavil," says S. Chrysostom.

Will ye also be His disciples ? " As I now see and envy not," says
the Gloss, " nay, I profess myself to be Jesus' disciple, even so I
wish you to become His disciples also." " He speaks thus," says
S. Augustine, " as indignant at the hardness of the Jews, and as
having been restored to sight, not enduring those who were blind
(in heart)." Note here the heroic constancy and nobleness of the
blind man in defending Jesus before the Pharisees, His sworn
enemies. And hence he deserved to be taken up and exalted by
Christ.

HOW FAR GOD HEARS SINNERS. 349

Ver. 28. — They then reviled him, &c. They cursed him, saying,
Be thou accursed, or at all events heaped maledictions and
reproaches upon him. But their curse was without effect, and was
turned by Christ into a blessing. For it is an honour to the godly,
to be cursed by the wicked. Whence S. Augustine says, " It is a
curse if thou look into the heart of the speakers, but not if thou
weighest the words themselves. May such a curse be on us, and
on our children."

But we know not this man -whence he is, whether sent by God, as
was Moses, or by the devil. So Euthytnius.

Ver 30. — The man answered, &c. It was your business, as doctors
and learned in the Law, to know that Jesus, who works so many
miracles, must have been sent by God only. For it is God who
works miracles by Him. " He brings in everywhere the miracle of
his recovery of sight," says S. Chrysostom, " because they could not
gainsay that, but were convinced thereby."

Ver. 31. — Now we know, &c. How can this be? For if sinners
penitently ask pardon God vouchsafes it, and frequently bestows on
sinners temporal blessings, and spiritual blessings also, if they ask
for them. But I reply (i.) God ordinarily does not hear sinners ;
sinners, I mean, persisting in their sin. Yet sometimes, though
rarely, He hears even them. So Jansen. This is plain from Scripture
(see Ps. lix. i, 2; Prov. xxviii. 9; Ps. 1. 16; Mai. ii. 2). But of the
just it is said, " The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His
ears are open to their prayers " (Ps. xxxii. 16). And, t; The eyes of
the Lord are on them that fear Him " (Ecclus. xv. 20).

(2.) Secondly, and more befittingly to the case in point, He hears
not sinners, so as to work miracles to establish their sanctity as He
did by Jesus, to testify that He was the Messiah. So Maldonatus
on this passage. (See also Suarez, torn. ii. de Relig., lib. de Orat. cap.
xxv.) " God heareth not sinners if they pray with an evil intention,"
as e.g., to confirm their hypocrisy or lies.

(3.) S. Augustine (De Bapt. contr. Don. iii. 20) replies that this
blind man spoke only generally, being still a catechumen, and not
yet sufficiently instructed in the Faith. For generally it is not true,

35° s. JOHN, c. ix.

nor the view of Scripture, which in this place only states what was
said by the blind man.

Hear S. Augustine, " He speaks as one not yet anointed (i.e., a
catechumen). For God does hear sinners also. For else the
publican would say in vain, ' God be merciful to me, a sinner/ from
which confession he obtained justification, as this blind man obtained
enlightenment."

From this passage S. Cyprian (Ep. Ixiv. and Ixxx.) and the
Donatists who followed his teaching inferred that Baptism by an
heretical minister was invalid, and ought to be repeated ; because a
heretic is a great sinner whom God hears not. But quite wrongly.
For in like manner, Baptism administered by a Catholic Priest
living in sin would be void, and would require to be repeated. I
say therefore that the efficacy of the Sacrament is one thing, the
efficacy of prayer is another. For a sacrament derives its efficacy
ex opere operate, but prayer ex opere operantis, from the sanctity and
character of him who prays. And therefore if a sinner (a heretic,
e.g.) baptizes, this sacrament is valid, and derives its efficacy from
the institution of Christ, who confers grace by the Sacrament. For
Christ is the original author of Baptism, who baptizes by His
ministers as by instruments. Besides, though God hears not the
prayers of a sinner, as a private person, yet He hears the prayers
of the same person, in his public capacity, because he is a minister
of the Church. For the Church is holy, as having Christ as its
holy Head, and as having many faithful and holy members, to whose
prayers God hearkens.

Ver. 32. — Since the world began, &c. Granted that Moses and
the Prophets wrought many miracles, yet they never restored sight
to one who was born blind. Jesus who has restored my sight
must needs be a greater Prophet than they. He retorted the
words of the Pharisees on themselves, " Ye prefer Moses to Christ,
but I prefer Christ. Ye choose to be Moses' disciples, I am
Christ's."

Ver. 33. — If this man were not of God, He could do nothing, i.e.,
for curing my blindness. " He says this freely, stedfastly, and truly"

PRIDE OF THE PHARISEES. 351

(S. Augustine), " for to enlighten the blind is supernatural work,
and specially belongs to God."

Ver. 34. — They answered, &c., in sins, both in mind and body, for
thou wast born blind by reason of thy sin. For they held the tenet
of Pythagoras that the soul existed before the body, and that it was
in consequence of its sins thrust down into a deformed (i.e., a blind)
body. So Cyril, Leontius, and others. Maldonatus explains, "Thou
hast done nothing but sin from thy birth." So S. Chrysostom and
Theophylact. And dost thou teach us ? Thou blind sinner, wilt
thou teach us who have our sight, and are wise and righteous?

And they cast him out of the private house in which they were, as
not deserving to be disputed with by such just teachers, says
Maldonatus. Or out of the temple, as says S. Chrysostom, and
consequently out of the synagogue, adds Leontius. That is, they
excommunicated him. " But the Lord of the temple found him,"
says Chrysostom, " and took him up." Both statements are credible :
that they drove him out of the house, and also excommunicated him,
for this latter they had decided to do. As if they said. " Begone,
thou apostate, and go to thine own Jesus." But this leads us to
suppose that all this took place in the House of Judgment, a public
place (see on verse 31). And that he was expelled from the syna-
gogue appears more plainly from our Lord's own words in the next
chapter, I am the door.

Ver. 35. — -Jesus heard that they had cast him out, &c. Christ
received him kindly, and rewards his constancy. Having given
sight to his body, He now enlightens his mind. In giving him
bodily sight, He had cast in some scattered seeds of faith, which He
now particularly forms into perfect shape : so as to make him
believe, that He whom he looked upon as a mere prophet, for
having given him sight, was God also, and the Son of God. The
Gloss says, " The blind man had already a heart prepared to believe,
but knew not in whom he had to believe." This, in answer to his
question, he learns from Christ

Christ took trouble to find him in the place, where He knew he
was. It is the part of a good shepherd to seek for a wandering

352 s. JOHN, c. ix.

sheep, who cannot by itself come back into the right way. " They
expel," says S. Augustine (in loc.}, " the Lord receives, and he becomes
a Christian, even the more because he was expelled."

Believest thou ? Christ did not demand faith from the blind man
for the healing of his body, but He does for the healing of his soul :
for, as S. Augustine says (Serm. xv. de Verb. Apost.}, " He who
made thee without thyself, doth not justify thee without thyself:
He made thee without thy knowledge, He justifies thee through
thy will."

Ver. 37. — And Jesus said, &c. Thou seest him now for the first
time, for he had been healed in the pool of Siloam, when Christ
was not there. Christ therefore points out to him that it was He
who restored his sight. He recalls his healing to his remembrance,
says Theophylact, and that he had received the gift of sight from
Him, so as to make him believe that He was not only the Son of
man, but the Son of God.

Ver. 38. — And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped Him,
as the Son of God, and very God, to be worshipped as God with the
worship due to Him (latrid). Moreover, the blind man, inwardly
enlightened (and moved to it by Christ), by saying, " I believe,"
brought out acts of hope, contrition, charity, devotion, and adoration
towards Christ, and was by them cleansed from his sins and justified.
He consequently became a holy and apostolic man. He was said
to have been one of the seventy disciples, and to have become
Bishop of Aix, in Provence, where he died and was buried by the
side of Maximinus, to whom he had been coadjutor (see Peter de
Natalis in Cat. Sanctorum, lib. v. cap. 102).

Ver. 39. — And Jesus said (not to him but to the Pharisees), for
judgment, &c. " That is for condemnation," says S. Cyril, " to convict
and condemn the proud and worldly Pharisees of blindness who
seem in their own sight to be wise."

But others explain it better, not of condemnation, but of inquiry
and discrimination. I have come into the world to discriminate
and separate believers from unbelievers, good from evil, godly from
ungodly ; in order that the people, who before had lived in ignor-

SECRET COUNSEL OF GOD. 353

ance of God and of salvation, and in darkness of mind, like this
blind man, might by believing in Me be enlightened with the know-
ledge of God, and of things which concern their salvation; and that
I might suffer the proud who refuse to believe in Me (like the
Pharisees who are puffed up by their knowledge of the law) to be
blinded, and might convict them of their blindness.

(2.) "ButjuJg merit might possibly here mean the secret counsel and
mysterious decree of God, determined and fixed by His righteous
decree, whereby God ordained that the Gentiles who knew not God,
and consequently were blind, might behold the Light of Faith in
Christ, and humbly and eagerly accept it ; while the Scribes and
Pharisees and wise men of the world, puffed up by their own know-
ledge, might become darkened in unbelief, and reject the faith and
enlightenment of 'Christ. Humility, therefore, enlightened by faith
the unlearned Gentiles, who submitted themselves to Christ, while
pride darkened with unbelief the learned Scribes who rejected Him.
So S. Cyril, or rather Clictoveus, who filled up what was wanting in
his commentary. (See Rom. xi. 33.) "His judgments are a great
deep." Theodoret applies this to Paul and Judas. For S. Paul
having been blind received his sight, and Judas, after seeing, became
blind. The words "that," "therefore," &c., frequently signify not
the cause, but the result or consequence. For Christ came not in
order that the Scribes should be made blind ; but their blindness
was a result of Christ's preaching, not from anything on His part,
but from their own pride and fault. So Cyril and others.

Ver. 40. — And some of the Pharisees, &c. The Pharisees felt
themselves sharply touched by our Lord's words, which they under-
stood to speak not of the blindness of the body, but of the mind.
They knew that they were not bodily blind, and therefore if He had
said this, they would have hooted Him down as a fool. They said,
Are we blind also ? Hast thou come to give sight to those who are
blind in body, and to make out that we who spiritually see, and are
doctors of the law, are blind and foolish? Show us our blindness
and foolishness.

Ver. 41.— Jesus said to them, &c. (i.) S. Chrysostom, Theophy-
VOL. iv. z

354 s. JOHN, c. ix.

lact, and Euthymius explain this of bodily blindness; meaning, If ye
were blind in your bodies, ye would be less proud and sinful. For
bodily blindness would humble your mind. "(2.) S. Augustine (///
fof.) is more to the point. If ye were blind in your own opinion,
if ye would acknowledge yourselves to be blind (i.e., ignorant and
foolish) in things which concern your salvation, ye would not have
sin, for ye would seek a remedy for it, and would obtain it
from Me.

(3.) Accurately and scholastically, If ye were blind through ignor-
ance of Scripture and the law of nature, ye would not have sin, by
acting according to this ignorance and not acknowledging Me as your
Messiah. That is to say, If your ignorance \vere clearly without
blame and invincible, ye would have some sin, but one which was
less serious, and more excusable, and therefore ye might easily be
enlightened and cured by Me, since My doctrine would dispel your
ignorance. But now ye say to yourselves, "We see," that is, ye
think ye see, and are so wise as to be excellent judges of Christ's
advent and person. And therefore ye from your arrogant and evil
thoughts continue in the sin of unbelief against Me ; ye obstinately
set your mind against Me, and thus refuse to believe in Me as the
Messiah, though I have demonstrated that I am by very many signs
and miracles. And therefore, ye cannot by any possibility be
enlightened and healed by Me, because ye obstinately refuse to hear
Me. So Jansen and others.

( 355 )

CHAPTER X.

(l ) Christ utters two parables concerning Himself, one of the door, the other of the
Shepherd of the Sheep, and refers both of them to Himself. He says (ver. 7),
/ am the door, and (ver. 1 1 ) / am the Good Shepherd. (2.) The Jews -who were
disputing among themselves about Jesus (ver. 9) ask Him to say plainly whether
He were the Messiah. He replied that He was, but that the Jews would not
of knowledge it, as not being His sheep. (3.) The Jews (ver. 31) take up stones to
cast at Him. He defends Himself by quoting Ps. Ixxxii., ' / said ye are gods.'
And when the Jews wished to take Him, He escaped out of their sight.

VERILY, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the
sheep fold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a
robber.

2 But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

3 To him the porter openeth ; and the sheep hear his voice : and he calleth his
own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.

4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the
sheep follow him : for they know his voice.

5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him : for they know
not the voice of strangers.

6 This parable spake Jesus unto them : but they understood not what things
they were which he spake unto them.

7 Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the
door of the sheep.

8 All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers : but the sheep did not
hear them.

9 I am the door : by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in
and out, and find pasture.

10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy : I am come
that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Ill am the good shepherd : the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are
not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth : and the wolf
catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.

13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the
sheep.

14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father : and I lay down my
life for the sheep.

356 s. JOHN, c. x.

1 6 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold : them also I must bring,
and they shall hear my voice ; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I
might take it again.

1 8 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to
lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I re-
ceived of my Father.

19 IT There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings.

20 And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad ; why hear ye him ?

21 Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil
open the eyes of the blind ?

22 IT And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.

23 And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch.

24 Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost
thou make us to doubt ? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.

25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not : the works that I do
in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.

26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me :

28 And I give unto them eternal life ; and they shall never perish, neither shall
any man pluck them out of my hand.

29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all ; and no mart is able to
pluck them out of my Father's hand.

30 I and my Father are one.

31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.

32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father ;
for which of those works do you stone i"e?

33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not, but
for blasphemy ; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.

34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?

35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture
cannot be broken ;

36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world,
Thou blasphemest ; because I said, I am the Son of God ?

37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.

38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works : that ye may know
and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.

39 Therefore they sought again to take him : but he escaped out of their hand,

40 And went away again beyond Jordan into' the place where John at first
baptized ; and there he abode.

41 And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle : but all things
that John spake of this man were true.

42 And many believed on him there.

Ver. i. — Verily, verily (that is in truth, most truly and most
assuredly), / say unto you, He thatentereth not, &c. He puts forth this
parable to show who He is, and who. are His rivals and adversaries.

The occasion for it was because the Pharisees had cast out of the

THE SHEEPFOLD THE CHURCH. 357

synagogue for his confession of Christ the blind man whom He had
healed. By doing this they signified that Jesus was not the Messiah,
but a false prophet ; and consequently that they who believed in
Him, as the blind man who had been cured did, erred in their
belief, and wandered away from the synagogue, and were apostates
from their own Church. Christ therefore puts forth the parable of
the door of the sheepfold ; to show by it, that so far from His being
a false prophet, all others who enter not by Him as the door of the
sheepfold into the Church of God, are deceivers and counterfeits.
And that consequently the synagogue of the Pharisees was not the
synagogue of God, but of Satan. Whereas the true Church of God
is the Christian Church which Christ founded and substituted for the
Jewish Church, and consequently the blind man when excommuni-
cated from the synagogue, entered by faith in Christ into the true,
i.e., the Christian Church.

In order that the reader may easily comprehend the whole
parable, I will here give a summary of it. (i.) The sheepfold is the
Church of God. (2.) The owner is God the Father. (3.) The door
is Christ, or faith in Him, who is inclosed by the Scriptures of the
Law and the Prophets as by a door firm-fastened with its bolts.
(4.) The porter is the Holy Spirit. (5.) The sheep are not merely
the predestinated, as S. Augustine held, but all the faithful that are
within the Church. (6.) The true Pastors and Prelates are those who
enter through Christ. (7.) To these the porter, i.e., the Holy
Spirit, openeth, because faith in Christ, by the which they enter, is
the gift of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit gives them true
and lawful power, so that what they do is ratified by God. (8.) They
lead out the sheep, i.e., the faithful, into the pastures of sound
doctrine, grace, and virtues, go before them by their own example of
a good life, and call them by their names, because they have a care
for them severally, and exhort, stimulate, and compel them one by
one to better things. (9.) He who enters not into the sheepfold
through Christ, but by leaping over the wall, or breaking through a
window or wall, is a thief and robber of the sheep, that is, of the
faithful : for he is busv in killing and destroying them. The other

358 s. JOHN, c. x.

matters are mere ornamental additions, and are not to be applied
in illustration of the subject.

Let us consider these points one by one, and review them again.

He that entereth not by the door, &c. Such were Judas of Galilee
and Theudas (Acts v. 36, 37), and others who pretended that
they were the Messiah, or endeavoured to arrogate to themselves
that which specially belonged to the Messiah. And such, too, the
Scribes and Pharisees were beginning to be, who before this had
received legitimate authority from God through the merits of Christ,
to teach and govern His people; and were therefore His true
Pastors and Teachers. But by opposing themselves to Christ, now
present among them, and by turning away the people from Him,
they became wolves, nay thieves and robbers of the faithful So S.
Augustine, and from him the Gloss. Against the arrogance of the
Pharisees, who boasted they could see, He brings forward this
similitude, which shows that neither wisdom nor a good life can
avail aught except through Him. And S. Chrysostom says : " By the
phrase, another way, He signifies the Scribes who taught the
doctrines and commandments of men, and transgressed the law."
Such were the false prophets of old, and heretics now, of whom
Jeremiah writes (xxiii. 21). Hear S. Augustine, " Let pagans, or
heretics, or Jews say, ' We live well ; ' if they enter not by the door,
what does it profit them ? And they are to be said not to live well
who either know not the end of good living through blindness, or
else contemn it through pride of heart."

Tropologically; — S. Augustine, " Lowly is the door, even Christ.
He who enters by this door must needs be humble, in order that
he may be able to enter without hurting his head by striking it
against the lintel. But he who humbleth not himself, but wishes
to climb up by the wall, is exalted only that he may fall." And
the same S. Augustine (Serm. xlix., de Verb. Dom.) says, "He
enters by the door who imitates Christ and His humility. He is a
'thief who strives to steal away the sheep from Christ, and claim
them for himself. He is also a ' robber,' because he kills the souls
of the faithful, and hands them over to hell." And so S. Augustine

WAYS OF GAINING BENEFICES. 359

(in loc.\ " He is a thief who calls 'his own' that which is another's."
" By making the sheep of God his own," says the Gloss. " He is
a 'robber' because he kills what he has stolen," says S. Augustine.

Tropologically ; — Salmeron says humorously (Tract, p. 88), " Men
enter ecclesiastical benefices by various means, (i.) By the royal
gate, courtiers as recommended by great men. (2.) By the golden
gate. (3.) By the gate of consanguinity. (4.) By the gate of gifts
(simony). (5.) By the gate of doing service, those who by their
obsequiousness are promoted by bishops to benefices. They lie
in sickness and wait for the moving of the waters, that is for the
vacant post. For he who is first gains favour with the successor,
and obtains the benefice."

Ver. 2. — But he that entereth, &c. By the door S. Chrysostom
understands the Holy Scriptures. "For these," he says, "lay open
the knowledge of God, protect the sheep, drive away wolves, by pre-
cluding access to heretics." So also Theophylact, Leontius, and
Euthymius. And also Theodorus of Heraclea (in Cat.}, who gives
also a further reason. "Scripture is the door, because he is a
true pastor to whom the door gives ingress, that is on whom Scrip-
ture confers authority, and thus secures his acceptance." Other
fathers, regard Christ as the door, as He Himself says expressly.
But you will say, Christ is the shepherd of the sheep, therefore He
cannot be a door. For the shepherd enters by the door, therefore
He cannot Himself be the door. S. Augustine replies; "The Lord
Himself is the pastor and the door. He opens Himself who
expounds Himself, and the porter is the Holy Spirit, of whom the
Lord 'says, 'He will teach you all truth.' Christ therefore, who is
the truth, is the door, and He who teacheth the truth openeth the
door." And the Gloss says, " All who hold and teach the truth are
one shepherd in Christ the Shepherd." Christ retained for Himself
alone the name of door, for the sheep to enter in to God. But the
shepherd entereth the door. For Christ Himself and other preachers
preach Christ. But you may say more simply with Maldonatus,
that Christ the shepherd enters by the door, i.e., by Himself, into
the Church, because He enters by His own authority, but others

360 S. JOHN, C. X.

by authority derived from Him. But it is not possible in a parable
lo make all expressions fit in exactly. Moreover, Syrians and
Hebrews delight in parables, heaping them up one on another, and
running them into each other. As Christ in this place mixes up
the similies of the door and the shepherd.

Ver. 3. — To him the porter openeth, (i.) That is Moses, as bearing
testimony to Christ, says S. Chrysostom and others. (See chap. v. 46.)
(2.) S. Cyril thinks that it means the angel who presides over the
whole Church (S. Michael, as is supposed). (3.) The genuine
meaning (according to S. Augustine, Chrysostom, and many others)
is, that it means the Holy Ghost, "for the Scriptures opened
by Him point out Christ as the Shepherd," says Theophylact.
Or rather the Holy Ghost opened a door for Christ into the Church,
when He constituted Him the Pastor of the Church, confirmed His
authority by His testimony, His grace, and miracles, as when He
descended on Him in the form of a dove at His baptism, and after-
wards through Him gave sight to the blind, healed the sick, and
raised the dead. And He also places over the Church all other
Pastors whatsoever, the lawful successors of Christ, and causes them
to be acknowledged and accepted, and by them brings in all the
other faithful into the Church. He also exposes the frauds of
heretics, and causes them to be expelled from the Church.

And the sheep hear his voice. Just as sheep when they hear the
call of the shepherd, so do Christian people acknowledge the true
pastor (and those whom He substitutes as His deputies), listen to
His voice, and follow Him in all things. S. Augustine, and Bede
after him, understand by the sheep only the predestinated, for they
are called sheep, and are distinguished from the goats (Matt, xxiii. 33).
But this relates to the judgment when the elect and saved are
separated from the reprobate. But the present passage relates to
the Church militant, where the elect are mingled with the reprobate,
and cannot be separated. Both then are called sheep. The sheep
then are all the faithful. For they are all of them in the Church,
and acknowledge, love, and worship Christ as their Shepherd.

And calleth His own sheep by name, i.e., one by one. For the

MARKS OF A TRUE PASTOR. 361

shepherd looks after them singly, and calls them, both in a body
and separately, to follow Him to the pasture. And if any of them
be sick He takes it out by itself, gives remedies, and if necessary
carries it on His shoulders. Moreover, skilful shepherds commonly
give names to their sheep and other animals, and call to them by
their names. And in like manner Christ and every pastor give
names to Christians at their baptism, and call them by them. He
also takes care of them one by one, so as to feed them by His ex-
ample and the Holy Sacraments, and thus leads them to salvation
and heavenly glory.

Leontius observes that Christ here sets forth eight signs and
duties of a true pastor ; that he enters by the door, that the Porter
opens to him, that he can address his sheep by their several
names, that he leads forth his sheep, that he goes before them,
that his sheep follow him, and that he lays down his life for the
sheep. Such was S. Chrysostom, who, speaking on his banishment,
thus addresses his people (Horn, xi.), " Ye are my father, ye are my
mother, ye are my life, ye are my grace. If ye make progress, I am
delighted. Ye are my crown, my riches, my treasure. I am pre-
pared to be offered a thousand times for you ; nor need you thank me
for this. I am only discharging a debt. For a good pastor ought
to lay down his life for his sheep. For to such an one death brings
immortal life."

And leads them forth to the pastures, which are not without, but
within the fold, that is in the Church itself. For in the Church the
pastor teaches the people, celebrates Mass, baptizes, administers
the Sacraments, &c. Besides, the Church is the assembly of the
faithful, and therefore where the faithful are there also is the Church,
or a part thereof.

Ver. 4. — And when he leadeth forth his sheep (to the pastures) he
goeth before them, to lead the way, to defend them from the wolf and
the spoiler, and to lead those that follow him by a direct and con-
venient road to better pastures. And so in like manner Christ and
every true pastor (i) go before the faithful in their way to heaven
by the example of a holy life. Let a pastor therefore consider

362 S. JOHN, C. X.

that he ought to be the leader and guide of the faithful in sanctity,
to surpass them all, to give to all a bright pattern of virtues, so that
looking on him, they may follow him to greater heights, as S. Peter
says (i Epist. chap. v. 3). (2.) A pastor by his vigilance and
energy protects the faithful from heretics, scandals, and other evils.
(3.) He points out the straight way to heaven, and feeds and nurtures
them with the best advice he can.

Anagogically. St. Augustine says, He who went before the
sheep is He who being raised from the dead, dieth no more, and
who said to the Father, " I will that they also whom Thou hast
given Me, be with Me where I am " (John xvii. 24).

And the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. They distinguish
his voice from that of others, and therefore follow it.

Ver. 5. — But a stranger will they not follow, for they know not the
voice of strangers, i.e., of heretics, Jews, heathen, and all wicked and
deceitful men, for the genuine sheep of Christ fly from them as
from wolves.

Ver. 6. — This parable spake Jesus unto them, but they knew not what
things they were which he spake imto them. In the Greek *-ago/,u/ai<,
a similitude, proverb. (See note on Prov. i. 5.) The Pharisees and
Jews, against whom He launched it (and the apostles also), did not
understand it, as being involved and obscure.

Ver. 7. — Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say itnto
you, I am the door of the sheep. Maldonatus thinks that Christ here
speaks of two doors, the door of the house, i.e., Holy Scriptures,
and the door of the sheepfold, which is Christ. He believes that
the word door is used in two senses, one by which the shepherds
themselves, and the other by which the sheep enter. But this dis-
tinction is more subtil than solid. For Christ speaks in both cases
of one and the same door, that is of the sheepfold. What He said
obscurely and parabolically (ver. i) He explained in the parable.
" He opened," says S. Augustine, " that which was closed. He
is the door. Let us enter that we may rejoice in having so done."
This distinction evades indeed one difficulty, i.e., how Christ enters
as a shepherd through the door; that is, how He enters the door of

THE PROPHETS PRECURSORS OF CHRIST. 363

the Church by Scripture witnessing to Him. But it does not escape
the other difficulty — how the same person is both the shepherd and
the door. We must say, therefore, that He united together two
parables (as was said above, ver. 2). For Christ intended to
teach two things. First, that no one could enter into the Church,
and afterwards into heaven, that is be justified and sanctified, except
through Him. This He shows by the parable of the door. For as
there is no ingress into the fold except through the door, so there
is no entrance into the Church, militant and triumphant, except
through Christ ; and secondly, that He is the true Shepherd, as
laying down His life for the sheep; but that the others were hirelings,
whom the sheep ought not to follow. This He sets forth by the
parable of the shepherd. But because this latter subject is con-
nected with the former, He mixes up the two parables together.

Ver. 8. — All that ever came before me were thieves and robbers. What
then ! were all the prophets thieves and robbers? S. Augustine (con-
tra Faustum, xvi. 12, and S. Jerome, lib. ii. contra Pelag.} replies that
the prophets came not of their own accord, but were sent by God.
And again they were not sent in addition to Christ, but with Christ,
as His precursors, and announcing His advent. They were there-
fore not contrary to Christ, but counted as one with Him, as having
come for His sake, and by His order and guidance. " They came
with the Word of God. He sent them as the heralds of Him who
was to come, and He possessed the hearts of those whom He had
sent" Euthymius adds, " They came indeed before Christ, but they
entered through the door." He speaks specially of those impostors
who claimed to be the long-expected Messiah. They were thieves
and robbers, such as Judas of Galilee, Theudas, and afterwards
Simon Magus, Barchochebas, and many others, who claimed for
themselves the name and title of the Christ. So S. Cyril, Chrysos-
tom, Theophylact, Euthymius, and others.

But the sheep did not hear them. Because they discovered that
they did not bring the token of the Messiah, as predicted by the
prophets, but wished to steal away the faithful from Christ, to
claim them for themselves, and to cast them into hell.

364 S. JOHN, C. X.

Ver. 9.— Sam the door, &c. Rupertus thinks that this relates to
a different door and a different sheepfold from the other, according
to what is said (ver. 16), "Other sheep I have," &c. But there is
only one fold of Christ; one Church, that is. As He subjoins,
"There shall be one fold and one shepherd." The meaning of the
door already spoken of, Christ partly confirms, partly explains
when He adds, " By Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved."
That is, if any man believe in Me, and therefore through faith in
Me and by My grace enters the Church, " he shall be saved," i.e.,
shall be justified and blessed, if he continues, that is, in My faith,
grace and charity even unto death. So S. Gregory (Epist. lib. vii.
49). " He enters through the door into the sheepfold who enters
through Christ. But he enters through Christ who believes and
teaches the truth concerning Him — the Creator and Redeemer of
mankind, and abides by what he preached."

And will go in and out. Will go out to the pastures, and after
having fed will return to the resting-place, as sheep do. For the
faithful will, when well fed, enter the fold of the Church, and again
when hungry will go forth to the pastures of the soul, without any
peril, for I will guide them to and fro. So Maldonatus.

But to go in and out signifies among the Hebrews to act with
freedom, do one's own work, &c., and is connected with what
follows. It means, the faithful man will move about everywhere
without fear ; will do his duty, and whatever he does, whether at
home or abroad, will everywhere find food for his soul. The phrase
denotes security, confidence, and freedom of converse ; and of
doing everything, everywhere, for and through Christ. So Cyril,
Chrysostom.

Symbolically and tropologically, S. Gregory (Horn, xiv.) " The
faithful withdraws within himself by contemplation, and comes forth
in action to do good works." " He will enter in," says S. Augustine,
"for inward meditation, he will go forth for outward action." The
author of De spiritu et anima, says, " He will enter within to con-
template My Godhead, he will go forth to contemplate My Man-
hood, and in either case will find wondrous pastures." And in

WHO IS A THIEF. 365

another place S. Gregory writes, " Within, they have the pastures of
contemplation ; without, the pastures of good works ; inwardly they
enrich their mind with devotions, outwardly they satiate themselves
with good works." And lastly, Theophylact says, l<He will enter
in who has a care for the inward man ; he will go out who mortifies
his members upon earth."

Anagogically, Rupertus says, " He enters the Church by faith,
to find therein pastures ; he will go out when at death he migrates
therefrom into heaven." "He enters," says S. Augustine, "into
the Church through the door of faith, and goes forth through the
same door of living faith into eternal life, where he will find
pasture." And S. Gregory, "He will enter into faith, he will go
forth to hope, and will find pasture in eternal satiety."

Ver. 10. — The thief cometh not, &c. He shows what is the end
and aim of him whom before He called a thief, and what on the
contrary was His own. The thief and robber of the sheep, — as for
instance a heretic or schismatic, a Scribe or Pharisee, or especially
a false-Christ, — comes to carry off the sheep (i.e., the faithful) from
God and the Church, whose property they are, to hand them over
to the synagogue of Satan, and there kill them by heresy and sin,
and cast them into hell. But I who am the true Shepherd of the
sheep (i.e., of the faithful) came down from heaven, not for My
own sake, but for that of the faithful, that being freed by Me, they
may have the life of grace, even yet more abundantly. The word
vfsiaaw may be taken either as an adverb (abundantly), or as an adjec-
tive (abundant), that is, surpassing, exceeding all measure, that is,
that they may abound in My doctrine and grace, and may live
thereby, quick in spirit, enriched with spiritual gifts both in this
world by grace, and in the world to come by glory. So S. Cyril
and others. Rupertus adds, " that Christians may have more abun-
dant grace than the Jews under the old law." This abounding life
of the spirit, inspired by Christ, you may see in S. Peter and the
other Apostles, in Martyrs, Confessors, Virgins, &c. Hence the
glowing language of S. Paul, " Who shall separate us from the love
of Christ," &c. (Rom. viii.)

366 s. JOHN, c. x.

Ver. ii. — I am the good Shepherd, £c. I, the one only Prince of
Shepherds, who will lay down My life for My sheep, to redeem them
by My death from death, and confer on them both present and
eternal life. Neither prophets, nor apostles, nor any one else could
do this. For though they were slain for the sake of the faithful, yet
they did not redeem them, sanctify, or beatify them. So Rupertus,
Chrysostom, &c. S. Augustine adds that the prophets and
apostles are counted as one and the same shepherd with Christ, as
being under Him, sent also and guided and protected by Him.
Christ therefore is that special and singular Pastor foretold by Ezekiel
xxxiv. 23. (See notes in loc.}

Christ passes from the parable of the door to the more striking
parable of the Shepherd. He is the door by which the sheep enter,
and also the Shepherd of the sheep : that is not any ordinary one,
but the chief, special, and Divine Shepherd. And He enters through
the door, that is, by Himself and His own authority.

Besides this Christ rejoices in the title of Shepherd, as being most
appropriate and most sweet. He used to be thus represented in
very ancient pictures, at Rome, as carrying a sheep on His
shoulders. Many of the patriarchs, who were types and ancestors
of Christ, were shepherds, learning thereby (says' Philo) to be shep-
herds of men, &c. " If therefore thou wishest to know and to dis-
charge the office of a true Pastor, see how a shepherd treats his
sheep. Be so eminent in doctrine and sanctity among thy faithful
ones, as to appear like a rational pastor among the irrational sheep,
and as an angel among men " (S. Chrysostom). He attends to his
sheep one by one; let him lead them into richer pastures. He
goes before them by his virtuous example, as S. Paul exhorts Titus
(Tit. ii. 7). As a parish priest he drives away all heretics and hurtful
persons. And let him feed his flock with sound doctrines and
sacraments, and not fatten himself on the milk of his flock (Ezek.
xxxiv. 2). Let him not be mercenary, seeking his own profit, paying
court to the well-to-do and noble, and despising the rustics and
mean of his flock. For Christ went about villages and towns,
preaching the Gospel to the poor (Matt, xi.) Fisher, Bishop of

EXAMPLE OF BISHOP FISHER. 367

Rochester, was a noble example of this ; he refused to exchange his
poor bishoprick for a wealthier one, saying that he could render a
better account at the day of judgment for his few sheep and small
gains than he could for greater ones. For he said, " If men did but
know how exact an account would be required, they would not seek
to obtain great and wealthy bishoprics" (Sanders in Schism, AngL)
A good shepherd tenderly feeds and fosters the ( lambs and
delicate ones of his flock (see Ezek. xxxiv. 4). And so does a
parish priest and a bishop. (See the life of S. Abraham written by
S. Ephrem.) He came from being an anchoret to be the pastor of a
wild and barbarous people, and though cruelly entreated by them,
brought them by his indomitable patience, gentleness, and charity,
to submit to the laws of Christ.

Jacob, like a true shepherd, watched over his flock by day and
night (Gen. xxxi. 40) ; and shepherds were watching over their
flocks by night when Christ was born. So too should a parish
priest or a bishop vigilantly watch over his flock, as his first duty.
A shepherd risks his own life in guarding his sheep. So should a
parish priest, when persecution or pestilence threatens ; as did SS.
Athanasius, Chrysostom, Basil, Ambrose. Lastly, S. Peter, the
chief pastor of the Church, lays down notes for the pastors under
him (i Pet. v. 2). See also S. Gregory (in Pastor all), S. Bernard
(de Consider, ad Eugenium), and S. Augustine (Tract de Pastoribus
et Ovibus).

All these duties are summed up in charity, for charity supremely
loves God, and for His sake the faithful committed to its care by
God. (See also chap. xxi. 15.)

The good Shepherd layeth down his life for the sheep. This does not
relate so much to the parable itself, as to that which is signified by it.
For the natural Shepherd ought to count his own life of greater
value than the lives of his sheep. And yet he ought to protect his
sheep even at the risk of his life. But the shepherd of souls
is bound, by his duty, to expose his bodily life to danger, for the
spiritual life of the faithful committed to his charge. And hence
he is bound to stand by them in the time of the plague, or provide

368 s. JOHN, c. x.

some other qualified person to administer the sacraments to the
sick, as did S. Charles Borromeo : and for this reason was canonised.
And so also all the apostles, excepting S. John, suffered martyrdom
for the sake of the faithful committed to their care. And so also
nearly all the Roman Pontiffs down to S. Sylvester. But the leader
of them all was Christ, who alone, as the best of Shepherds, laid
down His life as a ransom, while all the others did so merely to
manifest their faith, and as a pattern of virtue.

Ver. 12. — But he that is an hireling, &c. An hireling seeks not
the good of the sheep but merely his own profit. " Hirelings are
they," says S. Augustine, " who seek their own things, and not the
things of Christ and of the sheep." So too S. Basil. But the
apostles, though they fed not their own sheep, but the sheep of
Christ, were not hirelings, because they sought not their own
temporal gain, but the spiritual and eternal gain of the faithful.
" He is called a hireling, and not a shepherd," says S. Gregory
(Horn, xiv.), "who feeds the Lord's sheep, not from deepest love, but
for worldly gain. The hireling is he who holds the post of a shep-
herd, but seeks not to gain souls ; is eager for earthly advantages,
rejoices in the honour of the prelacy, feeds on temporal gains,
delights in the reverence paid to him by men."

Seeth the wolf coming. "For in a time of tranquillity," says S.
Gregory, " very often the hireling, as well as the true shepherd,
stands on guard over the flock. But the approach of the wolf shows
the temper of mind with which they did so. The wolf attacks the
sheep when the violent and the spoiler oppress those who are
faithful and humble. But he who seemed to be a shepherd and
was not, leaves the sheep and runs away, because through fear for
himself he does not venture to withstand his injustice."

Fleet/i : " Not by change of place," says S. Gregory, " but by with-
drawing support He flies, because he saw injustice and held his
peace : he flies, because he conceals himself by silence. To whom
the prophet well says, "Ye have not gone up against him, nor
raised up a wall for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the
day of the Lord " (Ezek. xiii. 5).

WHO IS THE HIRELING. 369

And the wolf catcheth them, i.e. A heretic, or any wicked man,
who strives to pervert the faithful by word or example, or (as S.
Gregory says) "the devil, who seizes them when he draws away
this man to luxury, inflames another with avarice, puffs up another
witli pride, parts asunder others through anger, stimulates another
with envy, supplants another by deceit. The devil therefore scatters
the flock when he kills the faithful by temptations. But the hire-
ling is not inflamed by zeal against such attacks, is not enkindled
by any warmth of love. Because by looking after mere outward
advantages, he carelessly takes no account of the inward injury
which is done to the flock."

And hence, Christ leaves it to be gathered by contrast that the
good shepherd when he sees the wolf coming neither flies nor for-
sakes his sheep, but stands firm and fights for them even to death,
and in this way lays down his life for them. But when it is allow-
able for a pastor to fly when persecuted, and when not, see notes
on S. Matt. x. 23. Also S. Augustine (Epis. clxxx. ad Honoratuni).
I use on this matter the words of S. Gregory the more freely,
because he had full experience of those things in his own person.

Ver. 13. — The hireling fleeth because he is an hireling, and caret 7i
not for the sheep. As though it were said directly, he who loves not
the sheep, but worldly gain, cannot stand firm when the sheep are in
danger. For while he is aiming at honour, and rejoicing in worldly
gain, he is afraid of exposing himself to danger, lest he should lose
that which he loves. For no one takes such diligent care for that
which is another's as he does for his own. And therefore the hire-
ling cares more for his own life than for the sheep which are not
his ; and flies when the wolf comes, as caring more for his own life
than for the sheep.

Ver. 14. — / am the good shepherd, and know My sheep. Christ
knows His sheep not merely with the watchful and tender eyes of
His Godhead (as S. Cyril says), but also with the eyes of His man-
hood (for it is as man that He is the Pastor of His Church). He
knows who are His faithful ones, what are their gifts, and also what
are their weaknesses, that He may increase the one, and heal the

VOL. IV. 2 \

370 s. JOHN, c. x.

other. He knows them therefore not merely speculatively, but
practically, and heaps on them all His gifts, benefits, and graces.

And am known of Mine, with the eyes of faith, hope, and charity,
because they believe in Me, hope in Me, and love Me above all
things. " Because I love them, they love Me in return, for love is
the loadstone of love : if thou wishest to be loved, thou thyself must
love. Love is the powerful allurement of love." So Theophylact
And besides this His love of us, He inspires in us love for Him in
return. And this love is our highest good, leading us to heaven and
making us blessed.

Ver. 15. — As the Father knoweth Me, &c. By this comparison
Christ points out both the origin and also the greatness of the love
which He bestows on His sheep. The boundless knowledge and
love which exists between the Father and Myself, is the source of
the love which exists between Myself and My faithful ones. Both
because divine and uncreated love is the source of all human and
created love ; and also because it is the Father's will that I should
love My faithful ones with great and special love, as He loves Me,
and I love Him with boundless affection ; for He wishes to adopt
My faithful ones through Me who am His Son by nature, and He
therefore loves them supremely as His children. And I do the
same, because I submit in all things to the love and will of the
Father ; nay more, My love is the same as the Father's, as our will,
our nature, and our Godhead is the same.

But here note the word "as" signifies similarity, not equality.
For the Father loves the Son, and the Son loves the Father with
uncreated, and therefore infinite love. But the Son, as man, loves
His own with a created and finite love, and is loved with a like love
by them in return. But there will be here also a kind of equality,
if with Maldonatus you explain it thus : "When Christ says, I know
My sheep, He speaks as God; but when He says, The Father
knoweth Me, and I know My Father, He speaks of Himself as man.
For just as Christ (as God) knows His sheep, and His sheep as men
know Him in return ; so the Father, as God, knows the Son as man,
and the Son, as man, acknowledges His Father, and calls Him

CHRIST'S OTHER SHEEP. 371

Father, as we do ourselves. 'I ascend to My Father, and your
Father'" (John xx. 17).

And I lay down My life for My sheep. This refers back to verse
14. " I know My sheep," I love them, i.e., most ardently, and
therefore I lay down, i.e., I will shortly lay down, My life for them.
He put in the words, " as the Father knoweth Me," to represent
the source and the intensity of His love for His people, by His love
for the Father, for it was this love which urged Him to lay down
His life for His sheep. But the words " I lay down " signify that
the death of Christ was not compulsory, but voluntary, self-chosen,
and even loved for their salvation. So Leontius. And Christ thus
expresses Himself below (ver. 18). "No man taketh it from Me,
but I lay it down of Myself." And the words also signify, "I lay
it down for a time, in order to take it again." The death of Christ
therefore was not so much a death as the placing His soul for three
days in Limbus.

Ver. 1 6. — And other sheep I have, &c. Other sheep, i.e., those
who will be My sheep. This is spoken by anticipation. He
means the Gentiles, and thus predicts their call and conversion,
to show that He was to be the King and Shepherd of all nations,
just as up to this time He had been of the Jews : and that, con-
sequently, He did not care (comparatively) whether the Jews (few
as they were in number) would be unbelieving and rebellious, since
He was about to put countless Gentiles in their place. So
Rupertus, who adds, "and they will hear My voice," striking quietly
at the Jews.

And there will be one fold, and one shepherd. Some suppose that
in the end of the world, God will convert all the Jews by Elias, and
all the Gentiles by Enoch, and thus there will become one Church,
made up of them both, and one Pastor, Christ, and His Vicar the
Supreme Pontiff, who will be called the Angelic Pastor. (See the
list of Popes, described symbolically, in the life of S. Malachi.) But
they are in error. For neither will Elias convert all the Jews, nor
Enoch all the Gentiles. For there will be then many unbelievers
and followers of antichrist. But this is far from being the meaning:

372 S. JOHN, C. X.

of Christ. It was, that after His death and resurrection His apostles
would be dispersed among all nations, and convert them, so that
both Jews and Gentiles would be gathered into one Church of
believers, under one Shepherd, Christ, and His Vicar, the Roman
Pontiff. This is not to be looked forward to as something future,
for it took place in the time of Constantine the first Christian
emperor, who christianised nearly all the nations which were subject
to him. The Apostle graphically sets this before us (Eph. ii.)

Ver. 17. — Therefore doth My Father love me, &c. Lest the Jews
should despise Him as a mere man who would die on the Cross,
He meets the objection by saying that His death would be glorious,
and an object of desire, because He could of His own accord sub-
mit to it from love of, and obedience to the Father, and therefore to
be loved, honoured, and exalted, that at the Name of Jesus every
knee should bow, &c. (Phil ii. 10).

I lay down My life, i.e. My soul. So S. Augustine and others,
who from this passage prove that Christ had a human soul, in
opposition to Apollinarius, who maintained that His Divinity was in
the place of a soul. But others understand by it " life" which is
caused by the union of soul and body. It comes to the same thing.
That 2 may take it again. I do not destroy it but only lay it aside
for a short time, that I may rise and take it again. S. Cyril refers
back to the words " My Father loveth Me." He loves Me not
merely because I set My sheep free by My death, but also because
I quicken them by My rising again. As S. Paul says, Rom. iv. 25.

Ver. 1 8. — No one taketh it from Me, but 1 lay it down of Myself.
For though the Jews are about to slay Me by force, yet this force of
theirs would not avail against Me, unless I allow it of My own accord.
And again, " Though I allow it, yet it is still in My power to die, or
not to die. For by My Godhead I can impart such strength to My
manhood, that it cannot be destroyed by any nails, blows, scourg-
ings, or wounds which I suffer by My own will; just as I support
the bodies of the beatified, and render them impassible." So Toletus.
And hence Christ on the Cross cried aloud and gave up the ghost
to show that He died without compulsion, and of His own accord,

CHRIST'S WILLING OBEDIENCE. 373

when He might, had He so willed, have lived on. For He who
had strength to cry aloud, had strength also to live, so that the
centurion beholding this said, "Truly this was the Son of God"
(Matt xxvii. 54).

I have power, &c. By My mighty and glorious Resurrection, which
My soul will effect through the Power of My Divinity, hypostati-
cally united to it. He here signifies that He is God as well as man ;
as man He lays down His life, as God He resumes it. So S. Cyril.

This commandment have I received from My Father. This was the
reason for laying down His life. He was so ordered by the Father,
lest the Jews should object, " You have taken this duty on yourself,
that Thou mightest be worshipped, as the Mediator, Messiah, and
Saviour of the world." It is hence clear that it was a weighty com-
mandment He received, that of suffering and dying on the Cross.
"He became obedient" (to the commandment of the Father, for
obedience properly so called presupposes a command, and is in fact
its correlative ; for obedience is that which is ordered, and a com-
mand implies obedience, for it is the formal object of obedience)
" even to the death of the cross." So S. Cyril, S. Ambrose (de fide,
v. 5), S. Thomas, Suarez and others. But this command did not
physically compel the will of Christ to obey it. It left it free.
But it pertained to the Person of the Word to " prevent " the will of
Jesus by supplies of grace, to which It foresaw it would willingly
consent, and obey the command. And it was in this respect, that is
in consequence of the continual keeping (custodiani) of the Word,
that the manhood of Christ was said to be extrinsically impeccable,
not because the Word predetermined It, but because It supplied It
with fitting aids, with which It foresaw it would freely obey the
command. For by this foreknowledge of future conditional events
the freedom of Christ's will is fully preserved (see Suarez, part iii.
Quest, xviii.) And by this generous obedience in so difficult a
matter, Christ obtained salvation for us, and glory for Himself.
Set then, O Religious, this command of the Father, and this
obedience of Christ before thine eyes, when any difficult task is
imposed on thee by thy Superior. R. Juda says admirably (Pirke

374 s- J°HN> c- x-

Avoth. cap. v.), "Be daring as a leopard, swift as an eagle, nimble
as a deer, courageous as a lion, to do the will of thy Father which
is in heaven."

Ver. 20. — And many of them said, &c.

Ver. 21. — Others said, &c. For he is proud as Lucifer, and insti-
gated by him, He calls God His Father and makes Himself the
Son of God.

He is thoroughly mad in saying that he lays down His life of
Himself, though we see that He is alive, and no one does so except
by compulsion. Moreover, Christ did not reply to these calumnies,
as not being worthy of an answer, and also because He allowed
those who supported Him to answer, for we give greater credit to
others than to one who testifies of himself.

Ver. 21. — And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication.
When the first temple was dedicated, as S. Cyril holds, or rebuilt by
Zerubbabel, as S. Chrysostom and others suppose, or what is more
probable its rededication, after its profanation by Antiochus
Epiphanes. The feast was held on the 25th of the month Casleu.
It was celebrated with great rejoicing, and was called the feast of
Lights (see Josephus, Ant. xii. 2, and 2 Mace. \. 18). All which S.
John records from chap vii. 2 to this point took place in the two
months between the Feast of Tabernacles and the Feast of the
Dedication : and in the three following months up to the Feast of
the Passover there occurred the events which are recorded here to the
end of the Gospel, and also in S. Luke from chap. xv. onwards.

Tropologically : — These Encaenia set forth the renewal of a mind
polluted by sin, and sanctified and consecrated anew to God by
repentance.

And it was winter. This was stated, says Theophylact, to signify
the approaching time of the Passion which took place the following
spring. S. Cyril adds that it was said in order to give the reason
why Jesus walked in the Porch, so as to be under cover from the
cold. Mystically there is here signified (says the Gloss) the cold-
ness of the Jews, who draw not near to the fire, i.e. who believe
not in Christ. S. Augustine says, " The Jews were cold in charity

SOLOMON'S PORCH. 375

and love, and were burning with eagerness to do hurt; they
approached Him not as followers, but pressed on Him as perse-
cutors." " Do thou also," says Theophylact, " while it is winter, that
is while this present life is shaken with the whirlwinds of iniquity,
keep the spiritual dedication feast, by daily renewing thyself, and
by ordering the ascensions of thy heart." Christ will be present to
thee in Solomon's Porch, making for thee a peaceable resting-place.

Ver. 23. — And Jesits walked in the temple. In the Porch (or
Portico), the outer part of the temple. In Solomon's porch. The
temple of the Jews had two parts. The first, the Sanctuary, fre-
quented only by the Priests, who discharged three functions, burning
morning and evening incense on the altar of incense, lighting the
lamps and replacing the shew-bread every Sabbath. The inner part,
the Holy of Holies, which the High Priest alone entered once
every year on the day of expiation. But since Christ was not
descended from the tribe of Levi, He could not enter either of these
parts of the temple.

But in front of the temple there was a Court or Vestibule ; the
upper part was the court of the Priests, the outer part, adjoining
the inner court, was the court of the people, where they prayed and
witnessed the sacrifices which were offered in the Court of the
Priests. It was in this Court that Christ went to and fro and taught,
and it had porticoes all round it, in which the people took shelter
from the weather. Ribera (de Templo, i. 6) and others think that this
was called Solomon's Porch. Others with Villalpandus, Maldona-
tus, &c., think more probably that this particular portico was called
Solomon's as having been built by him long after the building of
the temple, when the slope of the hill was levelled, and the portico
was built at the eastern side of the temple. (See Josephus, B.Jud. vi.
6.) It was called Solomon's to distinguish it from the other
porticoes which others added to the temple. Or else, as Baronius
thinks, when the temple was burnt by the Chaldeans this portico
alone remained, or else was rebuilt in the same form as that in
which it had been erected by Solomon. (See on Acts iii. xi.)

Ver. 24. — Then came the Jews, &c. How long dost thou keep us

3/6 S. JOHN, c. x.

in suspense? We nish to see the Messiah, and hope that Thou wilt
declare Thyself to be He. They pretend this, in order to draw a
confession from Christ, on which to accuse Him. For as says S.
Augustine, "They do not desire the truth, but are getting up a
charge, to accuse Him of making Himself the Messiah." So also S.
Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Euthymius. But Christ so guarded
His reply as not to give room for a false charge, and yet made it
clear to the faithful that He was Christ the Son of God.

If thou art Christ, tell us plainly. That we may all be able to

• \k

worship Th^e openly as^ the Messiah. So did, these hypocrites
fulfil the predictions of David (Ps. xxii. 16 and Ps. cxviii. 12). For,
as S. Chrysostom says, " Christ spake everything openly, and said
nothing secretly." And S. Augustine, " They sought to hear from
Him that He was Christ, that so they might accuse Him of claiming
kingly power."

Ver 25. Jesus answered t//em, I told you, &c. I have told you
plainly that I am the Messiah. But ye said, Thou bearest witness
of Thyself. Thy witness is not true (John viii. 15). But what I
have said I constantly confirm by miracles. For I do them in the
name, that is by the authority, will, and supernatural Power of God
the Father. But ye continue obstinately in your unbelief, and
falsely state that they are the works of the devil. How then will ye
believe My words ? So S. Chrysostom.

Ver. 26. — But ye believe nof, &c. Ye will not submit to Me as
your Shepherd, and accept Me as your Messiah. But ye rather
wish Me to submit Myself to you, and to be My superiors, censors,
and calumniators. It is ambition which makes you grudge Me the
headship of the Church ; and that ye refuse to believe Me. S.
Augustine by "sheep" understands the elect. But this is not the
proper nor the adequate cause of their rejecting Christ. For repro-
bation is not the cause, but rather the result of unbelief and sin.
It was not that God had cast off the Jews that they sinned by
unbelief. But it was because they chose to disbelieve and sin, that
God cast them off. And it was not an adequate cause, because
many of them who disbelieved in Him, believed in Him afterwards

MAN'S COOPERATION. 377

through the preaching of the apostles. And again some then believed
in Christ who were not predestinated, but afterwards fell away into
sin, as Judas and others.

Ver. 27. — My sheep hear my voice. He leaves the inference to
them : but ye hear not my voice, and are therefore not My sheep.
(See above, ver. 4.)

Ver. 28. — And I give unto them eternal life. The sheep of Christ
are of two kinds: first, all Christians ; and secondly, those alone who
are predestinated to glory. The words of Christ relate to the
second class. And S. Augustine shows why they do not perish.
For they are of those sheep of whom it is said, " The Lord knoweth
who are His." They are specially the sheep of Christ, none of
whom perish. And yet of the former class Christ also says, " I give
unto them eternal life," that is, as far as I may. I make them the
promise. I give them all necessary helps. I wish for their salva-
tion. If then any of them perish it is not My fault but theirs, for
they will not co-operate with My grace. For neither the devil nor
any one else is able to pluck them out of My hand, if they resolve
to abide in it, and will not be torn away. For My grace, if they
cooperate with it, has power to keep them from being taken from
Me. But if they leave Me of their own will, it is not a tearing away,
but their own voluntary act. So S. Cryil, Leontius, Theophylacr,
and Maldonatus. Christ means to say that no power can take them
away, but they have full liberty to go away from Christ

I give unto them eternal life, that is if they abide in faith and
obedience to Me. I give it in this world through grace by hope,
and I will hereafter give it in glory. He invites the Jews by this
promise to become His sheep, and reproves them for refusing to do
so. The faithful are in the "hand," that is under the protection
and guardianship of Christ. This is signified by the hand, which
ministers to the whole body (see S. Isidore, Etym. xi. i).

Ver. 29. — My Father which gave them Me is greater than ail
(the Vulgate and Latin fathers read "majus" the Greek fathers
/»£/'!«>), and no one is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand.
Because the Divine Nature which the Father gave Me, and its

378 s. JOHN, c. X.

almighty power, is greater than all created beings, even angels and
devils, and as no one can pluck them out of My Father's hand, so
can they not pluck them out of My own, for the hand and the power
of the Father and Myself are one and the same. (So S. Augustine,
Bede, Maldonatus; and see S. Ambrose, de Spir. Sancto, iii. 18. S.
Hilary, de Trin. lib. vii., and Tertullian, contra Praxeani). He says
this against the Jews who regarded Him as a mere man, " Know
then that the Eternal Father gave Me a Divine Nature and Per-
sonality far higher than any created nature, whether angels or men."
Others explain it, that the sheep committed to Me by the Father
must be more highly valued by Me than anything else ; and no one
can pluck them either out of My Father's hand, or out of My own
hand. But the first explanation is both the most sublime, and most
full of meaning.

S. Cyril explains it thus, " My Father has committed to Me, His
Incarnate Son, the care of His sheep. As God I have equal power
with Him, and as man My hand is strengthened by the Almighty
Hand of the Father." Whence the Interlinear Gloss explains the
word " hand " by " Me, who am the Hand of the Father." For as
S. Augustine says, " men call their ' hands ' those persons through
whom they do what they wish." The two explanations come to the
same thing.

Ver. 30. — / and My Father are one, not only by agreement and
consent of will, as the Arians hold, but also one in Essence and
Godhead, the same in number,* not in species, for otherwise there
would be more Gods than one. Christ speaks here as God and the
Word of the Father. And from this the fathers prove His Godhead
against the Arians. And the Jews understood the words in the
same sense, and consequently sought to stone Him as a blasphemer.
And Christ Himself explained them in the same sense, for He said,
I am the Son of God. It is clear also from His line of argument,
" being one with the Father I have the same Almighty power." For
where the essence is the same, the power is also the same. So says
S. Hilary (de Trinit. lib. viii.), "The Father and the Son are One,
* Used in a logical sense.

now CHRIST ONE WITH THE FATHER. 379

not as He speaks of the faithful (in chap, xvii.), 'That they may be
one,' but one in nature, honour, and power." " He steers between
Scyila and Charybdis," says S. Augustine (in lot.}, "between Arius
and Sabellius ; for by speaking of ' One ' He signifies Oneness
of nature. But by saying ' we are ' He indicates a plurality of
persons, which Sabellius denied, affirming that God was One in
Person, as well as in Essence." S. Augustine says the same (de
Trinit. vi. 2). See Bellarmine (de Christo, i. 6).

Ver. 31. — The Jews therefore took up stones to stone Him, as a
blasphemer. The Jews show in this their hypocrisy, malignity, and
hatred of Christ, and that they did not honestly, but craftily and
insidiously, ask Him whether He were the Christ. But Christ as
being God kept them from casting on Him the stones which they
held in their hands. "Hard as stones," says S. Augustine, "they
rushed to the stones." Mystically, says S. Hilary (de Trinit. lib. viL),
" And now also heretics hurl the stones of their words, to cast down,
if they can, Christ from His throne ; inspired, no doubt, by Lucifer,
who aimed at obtaining this throne of Godhead, and therefore
grudged it to Christ, and is active in taking it away by means of
heretics."

Ver. 32. — -Jesus answered, &c. He replied not to the words, for
none had been spoken, but to the crafty intention of the Jews. He
answered, i.e., He asked them for what cause do ye wish to stone
Me ? By works He means the miracles which He had wrought by
the authority and supernatural aid of God the Father. And He
thus quietly reproves their ingratitude and malignity. I have healed,
He would say, your blind, and lame, and sick, by My Divine power,
when destitute of all human aid ; why do ye ungratefully repay My
many kindnesses by evil treatment, and wish to stone Me?

Ver. 33. — The Jews answered, For a good work, &c. " The Jews"
(says S. Augustine) " understood that which the Arians understand
not. For they felt that it could not be said, ' I and the Father are
one,' unless the Father and the Son were equal."

Ver. 34. — -Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law
(Fs. Ixxxii. 6), / said, Ye are gods ? The word in Hebrew is plural

S. JOHN, C. X.

God is called Elohim, as ruling and governing the world, and as the
judge and punisher of evil-doing. Whence angels and judges who
share this power are called gods, not by nature or by hypostatical
union (as Christ), but by participating in the Divine judgments (see
Ex. vii. i, xxii. 28 ; Ps. viii. 6, in the Hebrew Elohim). But there,
as S. Hilary observes (Lib. vii. de Trinit.}, the word Elohim is limited
by the context, so as to make it clear that the word does not signify
God, but angels or judges. And so in Ps. Ixxxii., "God standeth
in the congregation of princes. He is the judge among gods." The
gods who are judged are men or angels, He who judges them is the
One True God. "Just as Christ here," says S. Augustine, "judges
as God the Pharisees and rulers of the Jews, who were gods, so to
speak, upon earth." On this account He quotes this psalm which is
in Hebrew Elohim, judges. Elohim, the highest of all, judges the
earthly rulers who are under Him. This is supported by the Chaldee
Targum, which explains, " Ye are gods, and are all the children of the
Highest;" "ye are the angels of the high God." And that which
is properly said of angels is extended to all Israelites and the faithful,
for they are the sons of God. But when the word " Elohim " is
used " absolutely " (without limitation) it signifies the One and
True God.

Christ therefore, instead of overthrowing the opinion of the Jews,
rather confirms it.

Ver. 35. — If He called them gods unto whom the word of God came,
whom the Word of God appointed judges and gave them authority
by Moses and his successors, and commanded them to judge rightly
as partaking His authority, making them (says Euthymius) gods, as it
were, upon earth. And the Scripture cannot be broken : no one, i.e.,
can take from them the name of judges, which the irrevocable word
of Scripture has given them.

Ver. 36. — Say ye of Him, &c. This is an argument from the less
to the greater. " If judges, who only participate in the power of
God, are rightly called gods, much more can I be called God, who
am the Very Word of God."

S. Augustine and Bede more acutely, but less to the point, main-

HOW CHRIST WAS SANCTIFIED. 381

tain that the force of the argument is this, if they who are merely
partakers of the word of God are called gods, much more am I, who
am not merely a partaker of the word of God, but the Word of God
Itself.

Note here that the words, " He whom the Father hath sanctified,"
have several meanings, (i.) He to whom the Father hath communi-
cated the sanctity wherewith He is holy, whom the Father, when He
begat Him, made to be holy, says S. Augustine. For God the
Father who is holy begat the Son who is holy. So Bede, Toletus,
and others. The Son is therefore holy in His generation and
essence. (2.) The Father sanctified Christ as man, by means of
the Hypostatical Union; for by this (speaking accurately) is the
manhood of Christ sanctified in the highest degree. For by the
very act wherewith the Person of the Word (Itself uncreated and
infinite Sanctity) assumed the humanity, and united it hypostatically
to Itself, It clearly sanctified it, and thus infused into its soul the
pre-eminent sanctity of charity, grace, and all other virtues. And so
S. Hilary says, "Jesus was sanctified to be His Son, since S. Paul
says, ' He was predestinated to be the Son of God with power, by
the Spirit of sanctification.'" And so too S. Chrysostom, and S.
Athanasius (de Incarn, Verb. sub. init.) " Sanctified " is therefore
the same as "sealed," as I said chap. vi. 27. (3.) Theophylact says,
" He sanctified, that is He sanctioned His sacrifice for the world,
showing that He was not such a god as the others were ; for to save
the world is the work of God, not of a man deified by grace. As
Christ says (xvii. 19), I sanctify Myself, i.e., I sacrifice Myself, I offer
Myself as a holy Victim." (4.) Maldonatus says : " He sanctified
Me, i.e., He designated and destined Me to the office of Saviour,"
referring to Jer. i. 5, though the truer meaning of the passage is dif-
ferent, as I have there stated.

Ver. 37. — If I do not the works of My Father, believe Me not.
He appeals to the miracles which He wrought by the command
and supernatural power of God the Father. For these, as being
divine, proved Him to be the very Son of God.

Ver. 38. — But if 2 do, &c., and I in the Father, working by the

382 S. JOHN, C. X.

same Godhead and omnipotence which I have received from Him.
Accordingly S. Augustine, Cyril, Leontius, &c., consider that the
words, " I in the Father and the Father in Me," mean the same as
"I and the Father are one." S. Augustine says (in loc.\ "We are
in God, and God in us. But can we say, 'I and God are one?'
Thou art in God, because God containeth thee; God is in thee,
because thou art made the temple of God. But because thou art
in God, and God in thee, canst thou therefore say, 'He who seeth
God seeth Me,' as the only Begotten said, ' He that seeth Me,
seeth the Father also, and I and the Father are one?' Recognise
what is proper to the Lord, and also the duty of the servant.
What \<~> proper to the Lord is equality with the Father; the duty of
the servant is to be partaker of the Saviour."

Ver. 39. — The Jews therefore sought again to take Him, but He
escaped out of their hands. " That their anger might be appeased
by His withdrawal," says S. Chrysostom. S. Augustine, acutely
but symbolically, " They took Him not, because they had not the
hand of faith." He escaped by His Divine Power, making Himself
invisible. As He did, viii. 59.

Ver. 40. — And went away again beyond Jordan, into the place where
John at first baptized. In Bethabara, or Bethania, where Christ was
baptized by him. He afterwards baptized in ^Enon (see chap. iii. 23),
frequently shifting His abode. He went through other districts of
Jordan, He withdrew to Bethabara, that the people who followed
Him thither might call to mind the testimony which John had
borne to Him on the very spot, and also the testimony of God the
Father at His baptism, and might on this account believe in Him.
So S. Chrysostom.

And there abode: till the Passover and his own Passion drew
nigh, when He returned to Jerusalem, and raised up Lazarus, which
provoked the scribes and rulers against Him.

Ver. 41. — And many resorted, &c. And yet we believed him.
Therefore we ought the more firmly to believe in Jesus, who proves
that He is the Messiah by so many signs and miracles. So S.
Chrysostom.

MANY BELIEVED. 383

There was also another reason for their believing in Christ;
namely, that they found Him to be mightier than John in His
miracles, in the power of His discourses, in His holiness of life, as
John had foretold. And hence they inferred, If we see that the
other things which John spake of Him are true, it is therefore
equally true (as he said) that Jesus was the Messiah.

Ver. 41. — And many believed on Him, for doubtless, as S. Augustine
says, " they apprehended Him when He was tarrying with them, and
not as the Jews wished to apprehend Him, as He was going away.
Let us therefore by the lamp attain to the day; for John was a
lamp, and bore witness to the day."

CHAPTER XI.

I Christ raisetk Lazarus, foiir days buried. 45 Many Jews believe. 47 The
high priests and Pharisees gather a council against Christ. 49 Caiaphas
prophesieth. 54 Jesus hid Himself. 55 At the passover they inquire after
Him, and lay wait J or Him.

NOW a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary
and her sister Martha.

2 (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his
feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)

3 Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou
lovest is sick.

4 When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the
glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.

5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.

6 When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in
the same place where he was.

7 Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judaea again.

8 His disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee ;
and goest thou thither again ?

9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day ? If any man walk in
the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.

10 But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in
him.

11 These things said he : and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus
sleepeth ; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.

1 2 Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.

13 Howbeit Jesus spake of his death ; but they thought that he had spoken of
taking of rest in sleep.

14 Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

15 And 1 am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may
believe ; nevertheless let us go unto him.

1 6 Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, Let
us also go, that we may die with him.

17 Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days
already.

18 Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off:

19 And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them con-
cerninjr their brother.

THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN. 385

20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met
him : but Mary sat still in the house.

21 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother
had not died.

22 But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will
give it thee.

23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.

24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection
at the last day.

25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life : he that believeth in
me, though he were dead, yet shall he live :

26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou
this ?

27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord : I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son
of God, which should come into the world.

28 And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister
secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee.

29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him.

30 Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where
Martha met him.

31 The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when
they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She
goeth unto the grave to weep there.

32 Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down
at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not
died.

33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which
came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,

34 And said, Where have ye laid him ? They said unto him, Lord, come and
see.

35 Jesus wept.

36 Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him !

37 And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the
blind, have caused that even this man should not have died ?

38 Jesus therefore, again groaning in himself, cometh to the grave. It was a
cave, and a stone lay upon it.

39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister^>f him that was dead,
saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh : for he hath been dead four
days.

40 Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe,
thou shouldest see the glory of God ?

41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid.
And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard
me.

42 And I knew that thou hearest me always : but because of the people which
stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.

43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come
forth.

44 And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes ;
VOL. IV. 21)

386 S. JOHN, c. XL

and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him,
and let him go.

45 Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which
Jesus did, believed on him.

46 But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what
things Jesus had done.

47 IT Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said,
What do we ? for this man doeth many miracles.

48 If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him : and the Romans
shall come and take away both our place and nation.

49 And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year,
said unto them, Ye know nothing at all,

50 Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the
people, and that the whole nation perish not.

51 And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he pro-
phesied that Jesus should die for that nation ;

52 And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one
the children of God that were scattered abroad.

53 Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to
death.

54 Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews ; but went thence
unto a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there
continued with his disciples.

55 IT And the Jews' passover was nigh at hand : and many went out of the
country up to Jerusalem before the passover, to purify themselves.

56 Then sought they for Jesus, and spake among themselves, as they stood in
the temple, What think ye, that he will not come to the feast ?

57 Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a commandment,
that, if any man knew where he were he should shew it, that they might take
him.

Ver. i. — Lazarus, a man honourable and rich, and therefore
another person than the Lazarus who lay full of sores at the doors
of the rich glutton (Luke xvi.)

Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha, in which, i.e.,
they dwelt as honoured residents, and as disciples and hostesses of
Christ.

Mystically, Bethany is in the Hebrew the house of affliction, accord-
ing to the Syriac version, and this agrees to the circumstances ; for
the sickness and death of Lazarus afflicted both him and his sisters.

Secondly, Bethany is house of obedience.

Thirdly, Bethany, says Pagninus, is the same as the house of reply,
or of the Lord's hearing because there Christ heard the prayer of
Martha and Mary, interceding for the life of Lazarus.

THE SISTERS' PRAYER. 387

John passes from what Christ did in the Feast of the Dedication,
as appears from x. 22, to the doings of Christ a little before the
last Passover, as appears in v. 55 ; that is, he leaps from December
to March : he omits therefore the doings of Christ in January and
February, because Luke relates those at length from chapters xv.
to xix.

Ver. 2. — // was Mary who anointed tJie Lord with ointment, and
wiped His feet with her hair (Luke vii. 37). I have shown that the
Mary who twice, or as some say, three times, anointed Christ, was with-
out doubt the same as Mary Magdalene ; although some think that
there were two, and others three.

Whose brother Lazarus was sick. John adds this, to suggest a
cause for the raising of Lazarus, namely, that he was the brother of
the Magdalene, who was wholly devoted to Jesus, and besought of
Him the raising up of her brother Lazarus.

Therefore his sisters sent, &c. Cyril, Theophylact, and Leontius
think that these are words of astonishment and as of a person
wondering, How is it possible that one should be stricken down by
disease whom Thou lovest, Lord, who hast the power of life and death ?
how can sickness have dared to attack one who is filled with love of
Thee ? and how can weakness hold him in whom Thy love dwells ?

Others, more simply, think the sisters to have spoken that out of
faith and confidence. As S. Augustine, and from him Bede : They
did not say, Come, for to one who loved it was enough only to
announce the fact. They did not dare to say, Come and heal ; they
did not dare to say, Give the command there, and here it shall come
to pass, for why shall it not be so with them, if the faith of that cen-
turion is praised by speaking thus ? For he said, Lord, I am not
worthy that Thou shouldest enter under my roof, but speak the word
only, and my servant shall be healed. None of these things said
they ; but only, Lord, he whom Thou lovest is sick ; it is enough that
Thou knowest it ; for Thou wilt not love and leave uncared for !
This then is the prayer implied, but hidden and implicit, because it
signifies the necessity and the desire for help ; which is often more
efficacious than an open solicitation, because it is more humble,

388 S. JOHN, c. XL

modest, relying, and trustful. So out of S. Thomas Suarez' Treatise
on Prayer.

Therefore this petition of the sisters shows, First, great faith ; for
they do not say, Come, hasten, lest death be beforehand with Thee.
For they believe that Christ is able to cure even when absent ; yea,
even to raise again the dead. So Cyril, Theophylact, Rupertus.
Secondly, great trustfulness, in that they confided that Christ, at
the mere hearing of the sickness, would bring a remedy to it,
whence they do not multiply words and petitions. Thirdly, great
love : Behold, he whom Thou lovest ; as if they would say, Thoulovest
us, and we Thee : it is sufficient for one who loves to announce the
danger of the loved one. For love outweighs all prayers. Fourthly,
resignation ; for they resign themselves wholly to the providence of
Christ, that concerning the disease and the sufferer, He should
order and dispose as should befit His providence and love. There-
fore this their prayer was efficacious, and is to be frequently used
and imitated by us.

Figuratively, Rabanus and from him the Gloss : Lazarus, he says,
is a sinner and is loved by the Lord ; for He has not come to call
the righteous, but sinners ; the sisters are holy men, or good
thoughts, who pray for the loosing of sins.

Lastly, the sisters did not themselves come to Jesus, but only
sent messengers, both because they were women, to whom the care
of the house pertained, and to whom a long journey would have been
unfitting ; and because their brother Lazarus, who was nigh unto
death, needed their assistance ; and because, trusting in the good-
ness and love of Christ, they thought a messenger sufficient. So
S. Chrysostom, Cyril, and Euthymius.

Ver. 4. — When Jesus heard that He said, This sickness is not, &c.
First, because this death of Lazarus shall not be so much death, as
sleep; for he shall wake again and rise from it. Whence (ver. n)
He saith : Our friend Lazarus sleepeth, but I go that I may awake
him out of sleep. Secondly, as if He said : The end and object of
the sickness of Lazarus is not death, but the glory of God ; for God
did not send it on him in order that it should deprive him of life

THE GLORY OF GOD. 389

by death, but rather that it should restore life to him in greater
measure, and thus be to the greater glory of God. So S. Augustine :
"It is not to death," he says, "because death itself is not to death,
but rather to the giving occasion for a miracle, by the performing
of which men may believe in Christ, and avoid the true death."
Thirdly, // is not to death, that is, to such a death as is usually
common to men, namely, that man should remain in it nor return
any more to this life and this world : for although death might separate
the soul of Lazarus from his body, yet it did not end this world [for
him] so that he should not return to it ; which is the thing death
does. For he was speedily raised up again by Christ, and returned
to life more living and vigorous than before. So S. Chrysostom,
Cyril, Theophylact, Euthymius, and others. Whence Nonnus renders,
// is not to everlasting death.

But for the glory of God. By glory, first, Andreas Cretensis under-
stands the Cross and death of Christ; for this the envious Jews
determined upon because of His raising up Lazarus, and this greatly
glorified Christ. Secondly, Theodorus takes it of the glory which
was to come to Christ because of the publicity and fame throughout
all Judea, and indeed through the whole world, of this raising of
Lazarus performed by Him. Thirdly, and rightly, take the glory of
God, because men seeing Lazarus raised up by Christ, believed on
Him as the Messiah and Son of God, and therefore glorified both
Christ and God the Father. For so John explains this glory in
ver. 45 : Many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the
things which Jesus did, believed on Him. Whence S. Augustine,
" Such a glorifying did not exalt Him, but profited us."

Ver. 5. — Now Jesus loved Martha, &c. Because of the singular
love, devotion, and liberality with which they used to provide for
Jesus and His disciples, for Martha had hospitable care for Jesus.
Mary having been healed and converted by Christ, devoted herself
wholly to Him, and indeed used to accompany Him when He
went from town to town preaching, and ministered to Him of her
substance (S. Luke viii. 2, 3). Lazarus imitated his sisters. John
here inserts the mention of the love of Jesus, not so much that he

390 s. JOHN, c. xi.

may assign that cause for the sickness of Lazarus, as Cyril thinks,
as if Jesus sent the sickness to Lazarus, because He loved him and
his sisters, according to Rev. iii. 19, "As many as I love I
rebuke and chasten ; " but to signify that Jesus, after He had received
the news of the sickness of Lazarus, plainly had a fixed purpose to
heal him, but in suitable time and way. For His love made Him
anxious respecting the welfare of Lazarus, and therefore He did all
things which John narrates in order. Finally, Jesus so loved Lazarus
and his sisters, that on their account He raised Lazarus from death,
even although He knew that the raising of Lazarus would be to
Himself the cause of the Cross and death. The life therefore of
Lazarus was the death of Christ.

Ver. 6. — When he had heard, &c. He remained therefore in the
same place for two days, during which Lazarus died, because He
willed not to cure a sick man, but to raise one dead, and even
four days buried and decaying ; which was a far greater benefit and
miracle, and was not open to the calumnies of the Jews, who might
say that Lazarus was not truly dead, and therefore not raised, but
only in a swoon or faint, from which he recovered, not by the help
of Christ, but by the force of nature and youth.

Ver. 7. — Then after that saith He to His disciples, Let us go into
Judea again. By thus forewarning, Christ calms the fears of His timid
disciples ; for they feared to return with Him into Judea, because
the Jews had a little before sought to stone Him (x. 31). So S.
Chrysostom : " Never at any other time did the Lord announce to
His disciples whither He was about to go ; but here they were
greatly afraid of being harassed should He set out without warning.
They feared both for Him and for themselves, for they were not
strong in the faith." S. Augustine says : " Christ departed, as a
man, from Judea, that He might not be stoned : but in returning,
forgetful of His weakness, He showed His power."

Ver. 8. — His disciples say, &c. The disciples say this, because
they feared the Jews on account of Christ, and still more for them-
selves.

Ver. 9. — -Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day ?

MEANING OF THE "TWELVE HOURS." 39!

Lyra and those who follow him expound thus, as if it were "As the
twelve hours change through the day, and the breezes change
with them, so the minds of the Jews may easily be changed, that
those who before hated Me may now love and receive Me ! "

Secondly, S. Augustine, Bede, and Rupertus : "As the twelve hours
follow the day, that is, the course of the sun, so that they succeed
each other in turn, so it is your duty to follow Me ; for I am as it
were your sun and day, but ye accompany Me as the twelve hours."
And the Gloss : " Christ calls Himself the day, in which they
ought to walk, that they may not stumble, and without whom if
they walk they stumble ; as the disciples just now did in being
unwilling that He should die, who came to die for men; but
them He calls hours, because these follow the day."

Thirdly, S. Cyril, as if: " Some hours of My day, that is, of My
life, shall remain, in which it behoves Me to preach and to benefit
the Jews : the night will come, that is, My Passion and Death ;
because of which I shall encompass them in the shades of
slaughter and calamity : for night is the symbol of wrath and
calamities."

Fourthly and rightly : Certain and fixed is the period of day,
that is, of twelve hours, within which any one may walk without
stumbling, because he has the light by which he sees and avoids
obstacles : so and with equal certainty the time of My life is fixed
by God the Father, in which I have to live and do the works which
I have been sent to perform. This therefore I call the day ; and
in this I have no danger to fear from the Jews for Myself or for
you, nor can I be slain before the time foreordained for Me by My
Father ; that is, before the setting and night of My life shall come.

If any man walk, &c.

Ver. 10. — But if a man walk in the night, &c. While it is day,
that is, while the time of life remains to Me, ye will not stumble,
O disciples, while following Me into Judea ; but when the night
shall have come, that is, death and the close of My life, then the
Jews will persecute and kill you as My disciples, as they have
persecuted and killed Me. So Rupertus. Mystically, he who

392 S. JOHN, C. XI.

follows the day, that is, the sun and light of faith and grace, does
not stumble, does not fall into offences ; but he who walks in the
night, that is, in the darkness of ignorance and concupiscence, he
falls into various faults and penalties. Eph. v. 8.

Ver. i !.• — These things said He, &c. He calls death sleep, because
Lazarus was soon to be aroused and awakened from it. Hear S.
Augustine : To the Lord, who called him from the sepulchre with as
much ease as thou callest one sleeping from his bed, he was merely
asleep ; to men, who were not able to raise him up, he was dead. So
Paul calls the dead who are to rise again, sleepers (i Thess. iv. 14).

Ver. 12. — Then said His disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.
For in the sick sleep is usually the sign and forerunner, and often the
cause, of health. The sense is as if it were said, Let us suffer him
to sleep, that he may the more quickly recover : wherefore there is
no reason that we should go to him. So S. Augustine and Cyril.

Ver. 13. — Howbeit Jesus spake of his death, &c. Because they took
the "sleepeth" simply, not symbolically, of death, as Christ meant it.

Ver. 14. — Then said Jesus unto them plainly ', Lazarus is dead. He
showed Himself to be a prophet, yea, the Son of God, inasmuch as
He reveals things secret and distant : for such was this death of
Lazarus, which He here clearly declares, to take away the disciples'
error as to his sleep. For the messenger had announced to Christ
only his sickness, not his death.

Ver. 15. — And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there.
Christ therefore declaring his death, showed that He knew it not in
a human manner, but in a Divine. For how, says Augustine, should
the thing be hidden from Him who had created the man who was
dying ? and into whose hands his soul had gone forth ? Nevertheless
let us go unto him. Christ speaks of the dead as though he were
living, because He was about to make him so, by raising him from
the dead. So Cyril.

Ver. 1 6. — Then said Thomas, &c. Thomas was not doubly
named, as if his first name had been Thomas, his second Didymus ;
but they were one and the same : for the Hebrew word Thomas is
the same as the Greek Didymus, that is, a twin.

CHRIST'S SOLDURII, OR SOLDIERS. 593

Let us also go, that we may die with Him. Not with Lazarus, as
some will have it, for this seems foolish ; but with Christ, who a
little before had said, Let us go to him. Thomas, says Bede,
exhorts his companions beyond all, that they should go and die with
Christ, in which his great constancy appears. (And the Interim.)
Behold the true disposition of loving souls, either to live with Him
or to die with Him ; such as were the Soldurii among the Gauls,
whose law and covenant in war was, either to conquer together or
to die together, as Julius Caesar bears witness in his Commentaries
(De Bell. Gall. III. 22), whom S. Paul seems to have alluded to
when he says, in 2 Cor. vii. 3, Ye are in our hearts to live and to
die with you. Furthermore, that which S. Thomas says, Let us also
go, that we may die with Him, is as if he had said, " If we go with
Jesus, we must die with Him, because of the violent hatred of the
Jews towards Him. If then He goes, let us also go, as brave dis-
ciples and soldiers, and die with Him courageously as our Leader ;
if He disregards death, and even advances to meet it, let us also dis-
regard it and meet it." For he had not sufficiently understood what
Christ (ver. 9) intimates, that no danger threatened Him yet from
the Jews. So Cyril. Therefore he offers himself for Christ to cer-
tain death, for he considered it was impending ; which was a remark-
able proof of his great bravery, and singular love for Christ.

Ver. 17. — Then when Jesus came [to Bethany, as some Greek
Codices add] He found that he had lain in the grave four days already.
That is, he had been buried four days ago. For the messenger
respecting the illness of Lazarus came from the sisters to Jesus (says
Chrysostom) on the day on which Lazarus died ; the two following
days Jesus remained in Bethabara ; on the fourth day He went at
length to Bethany. Therefore Lazarus seems to have died and been
buried on the same day on which the sisters sent a messenger to
Jesus ; for otherwise Lazarus would not have been four days dead
and buried when Christ came, as is here said.

More probably, Euthymius and Maldonatus think that Lazarus
died indeed on the day on which the messenger came to Christ, but
was buried on the following day, lest perhaps there might remain in

394 s. JOHN, c. XL

him some signs of hidden life ; that Christ remained two days in
Bethabara, and on the fourth day departed thence towards Bethany;
but because this journey was one of about ten hours, it could scarcely
have been traversed by Christ and the apostles in one day on foot ;
hence Christ reached Bethany on the following morning, which was
the fifth from the burial of Lazarus and then raised him from the
dead ; for neither was it becoming that he should be raised in the
evening (lest it might seem a fancied and illusive raising), but in the
morning, or in full day. Wherefore Lazarus had already been four
complete days in the tomb or sepulchre, and the fifth from his burial
was begun ; so that it might well appear to all that he was not only
dead, but decaying and devoured by worms. Hence the raising of
Lazarus performed by Christ was a most certain and wonderful
miracle, which could in no way be hidden, or carped at by the
scribes.

Typically, one buried four days is a sinner having the habit of sin-
ning, who is dead in sin and as it were buried in it, and lies past
cure, without hope of forgiveness and spiritual life. For the first
day is that in which any one sins by the consent of the will. The
second, on which any one completes the sin in act. The third, on
which he repeats it again and again, and brings upon himself a
custom and habit of it. The fourth, on which this habit becomes
obstinate, and is, as it were, turned into nature ; according to S.
Augustine (Confess. , Lib. viii.\ " Out of the perverted will a lust is
formed ; and when the lust is served, it becomes a custom ; and
when the custom is not resisted, it becomes a necessity, and thus
being connected together by certain (as it were) cramps, they formed
what I have called a chain, and a hard slavery held me bound.
Such a sinner, then, is by the great and rare grace of Christ to be
raised from this sepulchre again ; which, that Christ might signify,
He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth'1

So also S. Augustine (On the Sermon of the Lord on the Mounf) :
" As we come to sin by three degrees, by suggestion, by delectation,
by consent ; so also of the sin itself there are three differences ;
in heart, in action, in custom — three deaths, as it were. One, so to

DIFFERENT KINDS OF DEAD. 395

speak, in the house, when in the heart consent is given to the desire ;
a second, now carried forth, as it were, beyond the door, when consent
goes on into action ; a third, when the mind, being weighed down
by the force of evil custom, as it were by a mass of earth, is, so to
speak, already decaying in the grave. And whosoever has read the
Gospels recognises that the Lord has raised up these three kinds of
dead. And he perhaps considers what differences there were in
the word itself of Him who raised them : in one place, " Maiden,
arise," and in another, " Young man, I say unto thee, Arise ; " and
in another, He groaned in spirit, and wept, and again He groaned,
and then afterwards He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth!

Thirdly, the Gloss, out of S. Augustine and Bede. The first day
of death is that in which we are born with original sin. The
second, that in which, coming to years of discretion, we transgress
the natural law. The third, in which we despise the written law.
The fourth, in which we disdain also the Gospel of Christ and
His grace. Contrariwise, S. Bernard takes the four days for the
four motives and actions of a penitent ; the first of fear ; the
second of conflict against sins; the third of. grief; and the fourth
of shame for the same.

Ver. 1 8. — Now Bethany was nigh, &c. A stadium is the eighth
part of an Italian mile, and contains therefore 125 paces. John adds
this to signify that many had come to Bethany from Jerusalem,
inasmuch as it was so near, that they might comfort Martha and
Manf, who were sorrowing for the death of Lazarus.

And many of the Jews came, &c. Many, especially relations,
connections, friends ; for these sisters were rich, noble, honoured,
such as are accustomed to have many, either friends or dependent
followers. Besides, the grief for a brother's death is very keen, and
many, even strangers, and not known, are accustomed to assemble
for the purpose of comforting persons under such a loss. For the
grief for death is common to all; and in it the consolation of all is
common also.

Ver. 20. — Then Mart ha, as soon as she heard, &c. At leisure for
silence, grief, and prayer, according to her custom; wherefore the

396 s. JOHN, c. XL

news of the coming of Christ reached not Mary but Martha, for
Martha was the senior, and was over the house, and was active and
busy, wherefore all letters and messengers were first brought to her,
not to Mary. But why did not she herself signify the coming of
Christ to Mary? I reply, first, because the near approach of Christ
did not allow of any delay. For Christ seems to have been near the
house when Martha met Him. Secondly, because Martha wished
to confer secretly with Christ, that she might find out from Him
whether there were any hope of raising up or helping her brother.
Thirdly, because Mary, as I have said, was given to quiet and
prayer. Fourthly, because, if she had called out Mary, all the Jews
would have followed her, and a tumult would have arisen; they would
have contended and disputed with Christ. So Leontius. Finally,
her joy at the approach of Christ drew her at once to meet Him,
so that she did not think of calling her sister. I prefer to say this,
rather than what some suppose, that she desired to deprive her sister
of this commendation, viz. [of going to meet] the coming of Christ,
for this appears to me too foolish and womanish, and unworthy of
so holy a heroine.

Ver. 21. — Then said Martha unto Jesits, &c. Because I know
Thee to be so powerful, that Thou art able to drive away death, and
to love both him and us so well, that Thou wouldest not have per-
mitted him to die. In her grief, says Chrysostom, she silently, but
reverently, seems to blame Christ for coming too late. But rather
in fact she accuses herself, that she had not sent the messenger
sooner to Christ ; or generally, she bewails and laments His absence,
as we lament a casual absence of the physician, if, while he is absent,
death takes place.

Ver. 22. — But 1 kntnv that even noiv, whatsoever Thou wilt ask of
God, God will give it Thee. And consequently, if Thou shouldest
beg of God the raising again of Lazarus, although he has been four
days in the tomb, God will give it Thee. " She thought," says Cyril,
" that Christ came, not that He might raise up Lazarus, but that He
might comfort her and Mary ; and therefore she begs of Him that
He will raise Lazarus, but indirectly, and with a modest and humble

GOD HELPS THE HELPLESS. 397

resignation of her will to His." Whence, as S. Augustine notes, she
did not say : But now I pray Thee to raise my brother ; for whence
should she know whether it were good for her brother to rise again ?
This only she said, I know that Thou art able ; do this, if Thou
wilt; but whether Thou wilt do it or not is a matter for Thy judg-
ment, not for my presumption to determine.

Hence learn by way of moral, that God often suffers us to fall into
tribulations, and allows them to increase unto the utmost, and then
powerfully helps us, that He may show His Omnipotence and pro-
vidential mercy. Wherefore the faithful Christian must not then
despair, but increase in hope, and pray the more earnestly. For
when every human help fails, then the Divine help approaches and
is very near. For so God helped Abraham when placed in diffi-
culties (Gen. xx.), and Joseph, forgotten in prison (Gen. xli. 14).
Also when the Hebrews were oppressed by Pharaoh (Exod. i.), and
especially when the same people were everywhere surrounded ; on
one side by the sea, on the other by the mountains, and elsewhere
by the army of Pharaoh. Then He divided the Red Sea and led
them safely through, while Pharaoh, pursuing them through the bed
of the sea, was overwhelmed with his whole army (Exod. xiv.) So
in the time of the Judges, He permitted the same people to be
oppressed, now by the Midianites, now by the Moabites, now by the
Ammonites, now by the Philistines, that He might bring them to
fervent prayer, and to appeal to Him ; and when they did this, He
sent them Gideon, Ehud, Samson, and other Judges to free them.
So He freed, by means of Judith, the Jews destined to death by
Holofernes, and those by Haman He freed through Mordecai, and
those by Antiochus through the Maccabees. So He freed David
besieged in the cave by Saul, a messenger being sent to Saul that
the Philistines were laying waste Judea (i Sam. xxiii. 24). It is
therefore the proper attribute of God to supply the defect of nature,
and so also to help the lost and hopeless, according to the saying :
"The poor committeth Himself unto Thee ; Thou art the helper of
the fatherless" (Ps. x. 14).

Ver. 23.— -Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Jesus

398 s. JOHN, c. XL

solaces Martha sorrowing for the death of her brother, by a hope of
his resurrection, but an ambiguous one, that He might raise her by
degrees to faith and hope of so great a miracle as that by which He
was soon to raise him, so that she might dispose herself to it, and, as
it were, merit it. So Leontius.

Ver. 24. — Martha saith unto Him, I know, &c. Christ had said
that Lazarus should rise again, not explaining whether now, or in
the day of judgment. Martha, then, to elicit an explanation of this
ambiguity from the mouth of Christ, adds, I know that he shall rise
again in the day of judgment ; but this will not be any benefit peculiar
to him, but the common lot of all men. But if he shall rise before
that time, and be raised by Thee now, this will be a singular privilege
to him and to us all ; and I would that Thou wouldest say the word
openly. Learn hence, that the Jews, and especially the Pharisees,
believed in the immortality of the soul, and from thence the resur-
rection of the body ; and this appears from 2 Mace. xii. 44, Job
xix. 26.

Ver. 25. — -Jesus said unto her, I am the Resurrection and the Life. I
am He who recalls to life, I am He who gives life ; by Me both the
dead rise and the living live ; therefore I am able now, immediately,
before the general resurrection, to raise up thy brother from death.
Whence S. Augustine : She says, My brother shall rise again in the last
day. Thou sayest truly ; but He by whom he shall then rise is able
[to raise him] also now, because He is the Resurrection and the Life :
that is, Christ saith, " / am the cause of the Resurrection and Life,
so that all rise again by Me, and no one except by Me can rise."
Others explain thus, " I am the resurrection to life," which is an
hendiadys. He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall
he live.

To Martha asking that the life of the body should be restored to
Lazarus, Christ replies more fully, and assigns assuredly life also to
the soul ; so that his soul should live here a new life by greater
grace, and in the future by glory. "The soul shall live," says
Augustine, " until the body shall rise again, never afterwards to die ! "
The sense then is, " Not only thy brother shall rise again by My

FAITH REQUIRED. 399

power, but whosoever is faithful, who believes in Me with a living
faith, working by love, shall live even though he were dead: as
well because his soul shall live always by Me a life of love and
grace, and of glory in heaven ; as because his body shall be raised
by Me from death to a life blessed and eternal in the day of judg-
ment :" to which Christ here chiefly alludes. Wherefore, although
it (the body) may die, yet this will be for a short time only, so that
death will seem not so much death as sleep and repose ; from which
it shall awake and arise on the day of judgment.

S. Cyprian (De Mortality cites this place and explains : "If we
believe in Christ, let us have faith in His words and promises ; and
since we shall not die for ever, let us come in glad security to Christ,
with whom we shall live and reign for ever."

Ver. 26. — And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die.
I, as I will raise up the faithful, though dead, to a new and blessed
life, so those also who are still alive, who believe in Me, I will keep
in life eternal, and I will provide that they shall not die for ever : for
although from the debt of nature they shall die for a brief time, yet
I will soon raise them up from death to life eternal, so that they
shall seem not so much to die as to sleep. Wherefore I am the
Resurrection and the Life of all the faithful whether dead or living,
because I will bestow upon them eternal life through the resur-
rection.

Believest thou this ? Christ requires faith in the Resurrection,
not from Lazarus, inasmuch as he was dead, but from his sister
Martha, so that she may be at once excited to greater trust in it and
hope for it, and therefore may prepare herself for it with greater
desire and reverence. So Christ required from the father who
begged that his son should be freed from the evil spirit, that he
should believe Him to be able to do this (S. Mark ix. 23) ; and
from those who carried the paralytic He required a similar faith
(S. Matt. ix. 2).

Ver. 27. — The Christ, the Son of God, that is, that Son, viz.,
the true and only Son by nature. Christ perfected the imperfect
faith of Martha, saying, / am the Resurrection and the. Life. Where-

4OO S. JOHN, C. XI.

fore she, being thus enlightened by Christ, burst forth into a perfect
act of faith, and said : I believe that Thou art Messiah, the true Son
of God, and therefore God, the first cause of all life and resurrection.
I believe that Thou, as God, art therefore able to raise up and give
life to Lazarus and to whomsoever of the dead Thou wiliest

Ver. 28. — And -when she had so said, &c. Secretly, because Mary
was surrounded with the Jews who were condoling with her.
Martha therefore calls her in private, lest she might excite a tumult
of the Jews, if she should call Mary openly and say that Jesus was
there. Theophylact says somewhat differently : " The presence of
Christ constitutes a calling. For His presence in itself summoned
Mary, as love calls the lover to the loved."

Vers. 29, 30. — As soon as she heard that, &c. Because Jesus
wished to go to the sepulchre of Lazarus, which, according to the
manner of the Jews, was outside the village or town : hence He did
not wish to enter Bethany, because He would have to quit it again
to go to the sepulchre. Therefore He remained outside, and there
awaited Mary.

Ver. 31. — Followed her. The Providence of God ordained that
very many Jews following Mary should see Jesus raising Lazarus,
and should therefore be irrefragable witnesses of his being raised
from the dead ; and should thus believe in Jesus, and bring others
to believe likewise.

Then ivhen Mary was come, &c. She fell at His feet from reve-
rence and gratitude, inasmuch as once bedewing them with her
tears and drying them with her hair, she had heard Him say, Thy
sins are forgiven thee; go in peace (S. Luke vii. 38). But she says
the same thing as her sister Martha, because they had the same
sense of grief, the same faith, and therefore the same words ; yet she
says less than Martha, who was not hindered by tears, had said.
(Bede.)

Ver. 33. — When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, &c. You will
ask, of what nature was the groaning and trouble of Christ ?

First, Eusebius Emissenus, or rather Gallus : He groaned that He
might teach us to groan over sinners. (Infremuit) that is, He groaned:

SORROW OF JESUS. 401

But the groan is of one who pities, the murmur of one who is indig-
nant. Nonnus translates agitated or disturbed by His fatherly mind.
But this is too general, nor does it explain what or of what nature
this trouble was.

Secondly, Theophylact by spirit understands Divinity; as if it
were said, Jesus by His Spirit, i.e., by His Divinity, powerfully and
as if by groaning, repressed His tears and the feeling of commise-
ration which was aroused in Him because of the lamentation of
Mary and of the Jews, lest bursting forth into tears, and sobbing
like others, He might speak in a voice weak and tearful, such as
would be unfitting one so grave and holy.

To this agree S. Chrysostom and others, who by "nntrmur"
understand the feeling of anger, indignation, and wrath which Christ,
putting as it were a force upon Himself, mastered and repressed
with a serene and firm countenance His feeling of commiseration
and the tears ready to flow : as if it were said, Christ threatened
and restrained His spirit and His human nature, that it should not
yield to weeping. But against this is, first, that this feeling of
compassion had plainly not yet been aroused when Christ groaned,
but a little after, when He was troubled. Secondly, because in
Christ these passions and affections were not involuntary and violent,
but freely and voluntarily assumed, as I shall soon state.

I say then, that Christ here displayed the feeling and act of
murmuring (A. V. groaning), that is, of indignation in spirit or
mind and the innermost perceptions of the soul, when by sign and
murmur, or indignant voice, He signified outwardly the grief which
He felt arising from the death of Lazarus, and from the sobbing
of Mary and the Jews : and that by this murmur He, as it were,
prepared and animated Himself to the arduous combat with death,
that He might signify how difficult would be the raising of Lazarus
from the grave after four days' dwelling there. Whence S. Augustine
says : In the voice of indignation appears the hope of resurrection ;
in truth Jesus foresaw that He because of the raising up of Lazarus
would be crucified by the envious Pharisees ; yet not allowing this
to stand in the way, He determined to raise him up ; which act of

VOL. IV. 2 C

402 S. JOHN, C. XL

heroic fortitude He allowed to be manifested in this groan. So
soldiers groan when battle is near, and excite and sharpen their
anger for the difficult and perilous combat that is imminent ; for
their anger is the whetstone of valour and bravery. Hence also
we, when temptation, whether of the devil, the flesh, and the world,
threatens, should sharpen our anger against them, that we may
overcome the temptation; for by anger is concupiscence overcome,
though the difficulty of the task be great. Further, this murmur,
that is, indignation, was against death, and the devil, by whose envy
death had entered into the world ; which had been the cause of
such bitter sorrow and lamentation.

And was troubled (Gr. and Vulg. He troubled Himself). That
is, He permitted freely and willingly to Himself the strong feeling
both of indignation, as already mentioned, and of commiseration
and tears, because of the common lamentation of Martha, Mary,
and the rest ; for it would have been inhuman not to grieve and
sympathise with them. For them therefore Jesus was troubled.

Note these passions of indignation, sorrow, commiseration, and
weeping, were in such a manner in Christ as not to overbear His
reason and will, or to arise unbidden as they are aroused with us ;
but rather to follow His reason, and to be ruled and excited by it.
On which account right reason always used to direct and regulate
them. Therefore [S. John] says, He troubled Himself (turbavit
Seipsuni) • not, He was troubled. Wherefore these passions were in
Christ not so much passions as feelings in place of passions, freely
taken, as divines teach, out of Damascene. For Christ was able as
He chose to excite them, to soften, to moderate, to rule, to direct,
much more completely than a charioteer does his horses and his
chariot.

He troubled therefore himself: putting on the feeling of grief, anger,
and compassion, and showing it by a change of voice and coun-
tenance because of grief. Therefore the proper cause of this
murmur and trouble of Christ was the death of Lazarus, and the
weeping of Mary and the Jews, as appears from the verses them-
selves. The misery therefore of Lazarus and of all men excited the

CHRIST BECAME ALL THINGS TO ALL. 403

pity of Christ, the pity excited indignation against such troubles,
the indignation increased the pity, and at the same time with it
aroused zeal, and a purpose of taking away those troubles, even
with the casting away of His own life by the death upon the Cross,
by which so great a benefit was alone to be purchased, according
to what Isaiah says (Ixiii. 4), "The day of vengeance is in my
heart . . . and my fury it upheld me."

Ver. 34. — And said, Where have ye laid him, &c. Christ knew
the place where Lazarus was buried : for, as S. Augustine argues,
Didst thou know that he was dead, and art ignorant where he is
buried? Yet He asked the question ; because He acted with men
after a human manner, and by the inquiry prepared Himself, and
cleared the way for the raising up of Lazarus ; and excited the atten-
tion at once of Mary, Martha, and the Jews, so that they should
watchfully consider the words and actions of Christ, who was about
to raise him.

Symbolically, S. Gregory says : Christ recalling to the women
the sin of Eve, says, " I have placed the man in Paradise whom ye
have placed in the tomb."

Come and see. Eagerly they invite Jesus to come and see, hoping
that He who had raised up strangers' dead, would raise up also
Lazarus His intimate associate, who was so beloved by Him.
Whence, mystically, the Gloss : " See, that is pity ; " for, as S. Augus-
tine says, the Lord sees when He pities, according to this, " Look
upon my adversity, and forgive me all my sins." S. Chrysostom, and
after him Theophylact : He seemed to them about to go thither that
He might weep, not that He might raise up [the dead].

Ver. 35. — Jesus wept. At seeing the sepulchre of Lazarus
(althoiigh Chrysostom supposes that He wept when He groaned
and was troubled, which is equally probable), to signify His love for
him, and the grief He felt at his death.

Secondly, that He might weep with the sisters and the Jews who
were weeping, and teach us to do the same. So S. Augustine.
Hear S. Ambrose : " Christ became all things to all men ; poor to
the poor, rich to the rich, weeping with the weeping, hungering

S. JOHN, C. XI.

with the hungry, thirsting wi.th the thirsty, full with the abounding ;
He is in prison with the poor man, with Mary He weeps, with the
Apostles He eats, with the Samaritan woman he thirsts.

Thirdly, that adding tears. to His speech, He might make it
stronger and more efficacious ; for tears are a sign of vehement grief
and affliction, and also of desire and longing : wherefore God is accus-
tomed to hear and answer prayers seasoned, and as it were armed,
with tears. So Christ on the [eve of the] Cross offering up prayers
and supplications with strong crying and tears, was heard in that
He feared. [E. & Heb. V. 7, pro sua reverentid, Vulg.] So Tobit
(xii. 12) heard from S. Raphael, "When thou didst pray with tears
[the words "with tears," cum lacrymis, are not in the LXX Greek],
and didst bring the dead, .... I brought thy prayer before the
Lord." So Jacob, wrestling with the angel, obtained a blessing
(Gen. xxxii. 29). Wherefore ? because he wept and besought him
(Hosea xii. 4). " The tears of penitents," says S. Bernard, " are the
wine of angels." For it is the anguish of the mind in prayer which
influences, and as it were compels God to pity, according as it is
said, " a contrite and humble heart God shall not despise " (Ps. li.
17); just as the tears of an infant influence the mother, and obtain
from her what it asks ; for God shows toward us the heart of a
mother.

Other writers give different causes for the tears of Christ. First,
Cyril says that Christ wept for the miseries of the human race
brought in by sin. Secondly, Andrew Cretensis says that He wept
for the unbelief of the Jews, and because they would not believe in
Christ, even after they had seen the miracle of the raising of
Lazarus. Thirdly, Isidore of Pelusium and Rupertus think that
Christ wept for the very reason that he was about to recall Lazarus
out of Limbo, that is, from the haven and state of peace, to the
storms, dangers, and sufferings of this life.

Further, we read that Christ wept thrice : here at the death of
Lazarus; at the Cross (Heb. v. 7); at the sight of Jerusalem, and
its impending ruin (Luke xix. 41). S. Bernard (Sermon 3, in Die.
Nativ.) says, " The tears 01 Christ cause me shame and grief. . . .

WHY JESUS WEPT. 405

Can I still trifle, and deride His tears?" And soon after: "The
Son of God sympathises (cowpatitur\ and He weeps ; man suffers
(patifur), and shall we laugh ? " And S. Augustine says : " Christ
wept — let man weep for himself: wherefore did Christ weep, unless
to teach man to weep ? Wherefore did He groan and trouble Him-
self, except that the faith of man, rightly displeased with himself,
should in a manner groan in accusation of his evil works, so that
the habit of sinning should yield to the violence of repenting."

Ver. 37. — And some of them said, Could not this man, &c. Cer-
tainly He was able to do that, but would not, because He had
determined to do something far greater, namely, to raise him up
when dead and four days buried, which the Jews thought impossible,
and therefore wondered that Christ had not hindered the death of
Lazarus.

Ver. 38. — -Jesus therefore, again groaning in Himself, &c. Note
that Christ was here thrice greatly distressed, and wept. First, when
He sees Mary and the Jews weeping (ver. 33). Secondly, when
He saw the sepulchre of Lazarus (ver. 34). Thirdly, here, when He
came to it, to show how pitiable was the lot of Lazarus when dead,
and typically of sinners spiritually dead by their sins, and here-
after to die perpetually in the torments of hell. For it was they
who drew forth from Him in the agony of His Passion tears ot
blood (Luke xxii. 44).

// was a cane, and a stone lay upon it. For the more noble of the
Jews were buried in caves or underground chambers, as appears in
the case of the sepulchre of Abraham (Gen. xxiii. 9), Isaac and Jacob
(Gen. xlix. 31), Joseph of Arimathea (Matt, xxvii. 60).

Mystically, S. Augustine says : " This stone denotes the Mosaic
Law, which was written on tables of stone, and included all under
sin."

Typically, the same says (Serm. 44, on S. John) : " That mass
placed on the sepulchre is the force of evil custom with which the
soul is weighed down, nor permitted to rise up nor breathe."

Ver- 39-— -Jesus said: Take ye away the stone. Jesus commanded
this, first, that when the stone was taken away the Jews might both

S. JOHN, C. XT.

see the body of Lazarus, and smell that it was corrupted, and so
think his raising a work of more power. Secondly, that He might
speak in the presence of the body of Lazarus, and bringing it dead
before God should obtain of Him that it be raised up.

Typically, S. Bernard (Serm. 4, De Assump.} : " Let the stone be
taken- away, but let penitence remain, no longer weighing down and
burdening the mind, but confirming and rendering it living and
strong ; yes, let its food be to do the will of the Lord, which before
it knew not." So also training does not now constrain him who is
free, as it is said, " The law is not made for the righteous ; but
rules and directs one who pays it a voluntary obedience into the
way of peace."

Martha, the sister of him that was dead, &c. Mystically, S.
Augustine says : " Lazarus four days dead signifies a sinner buried in
the habit of sin, and as it were despaired of. The Lord then came,
to whom in truth all things were easy, and yet made manifest a
difficulty."

He groaned in spirit. He showed there was need of blame and
loud reproof to those who have become hardened by custom. Yet
at the loud voice of the Lord the bonds of necessity have been,
broken ; the tyranny of hell trembled ; Lazarus is restored living.
Truly the Lord frees also those who are four days dead by evil
habit ; for Lazarus was sleeping to Christ when He willed to raise
him.

Ver. 40. — Jesus said unto her, &c. This is the same as " Thou
shalt see My glory, I who am God and the Son of God." So
Leontius and Euthymius.

But where did Christ say this to Martha ? We answer, Christ
said that not in precise words, but virtually and in effect He said it
when the messengers were sent by Martha (ver. 4), when He said,
" This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the
Son of God might be glorified thereby." So S. Chrysostom. Again,
and more clearly, to Martha herself, in verses 23 and 25.

If thou wouldest believe, Christ arouses the wavering faith and
hope of Martha ; for although she when she met Christ before had

MARTHA'S FAITH TOTTERS. 407

said, "I believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God" (vers. 22
and 27), yet when it came to the point, when I say, Christ, just
about to raise up Lazarus, ordered the sepulchre to be opened,
Martha began to totter ; wherefore she said, " Lord, by this time
he stinketh, for he hath been dead four days." She had therefore
alternate impulses of grace and nature, of faith and distrust, of
hope and despair, concerning the resurrection of Lazarus, such as
we experience in ourselves : when looking to God we hope that we
shall overcome all things, however difficult ; but when looking to
our own infirmity, when we ought to advance against some diffi-
culty, we hesitate, we tremble, and almost disbelieve that it can be
accomplished by us. So recruits before a battle show great bold-
ness, but when the battle commences, at the first onset of the
enemy they fear and fly. Whence it is said : " In peace lions, in
battle stags." But veteran soldiers before the battle tremble as
stags, but in the battle they stand and fight as lions. By this
difference you may distinguish the veteran from the tyro.

Ver. 41. — Then they took away the stone. Which being taken
away, the corpse of Lazarus, fetid and decaying, appeared ; so that
it was evident to all that he was really dead, and that Christ
brought his very body, just as it was, before God by prayers, and
presented it to be raised up.

And Jesus lifted up His eyes. To God the Father, that He might
teach us to raise our eyes and still more hearts to God in heaven
when we pray. S. John Damascene (in Catena) adds, that Christ
looked up to heaven, as to His own land, to signify that He had
come thence upon earth.

And said, Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me. Hence
some think that Christ when He groaned in spirit (ver. 33) besought
the Father, mentally, to raise up Lazarus, and received an answer
from Him that Lazarus was to be raised up by Him ; and that
therefore Christ says here, 1 thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me.
This is probable.

But evidently it is as if He had said : I thank Thee, O Father,
because Thou hast always and constantly hitherto heard Me when

408 s. JOHN, c. XL

I prayed, and especially now, when, though silently and in the mind,
I invoke and beseech Thee for the raising up of Lazarus ; for
Thou didst grant to Me, that soon I shall raise him up. Hence
Christ teaches us how to pray, that in the beginning of prayer we
should surely thank God for benefits received. This giving of
thanks conciliates God's favour to us, and inclines Him to bestow
the new blessings which we beg for. For he who is grateful for the
lesser gifts, merits to receive the greater. This is the faithful prayer
of sons, whence Christ adds :

Ver. 42. — And I knew that Thou hearest Me always: but because,
&c., i.e., what I said aloud (ver. 41).

Ver. 43. — And when He had thus spoken, &c. First, to show this
voice to have great and prevailing authority, by which He was
raising up Lazarus from death, as God ruling nature and death.
Whence Cyril says, His command is kingly, and worthy of God :
Lazarus, come forth. For He said this not as praying, but as bidding
and commanding. A loud voice, then, signifies the great force and
power which recalled Lazarus from death to life. For this was
a most difficult work, and therefore required supreme and Divine
power, as also a fitting voice. Symbolically and mystically, the
cause was, to represent with this loud voice the trumpet-voice of the
Archangel in the day of judgment, by which all the dead shall be
raised. Whence SS. Chrysostom, Cyril, Theophilus, Euthymius,
assert that Christ here willed to show in action what He had said in
v. 25, "The hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear
the voice of the Son of God, and they who hear shall live." Hear
S. Ambrose (De Fide Resur.} : The Lord shows thee in what
manner thou shalt rise. For He did not raise up one Lazarus
only, but the faith of all ; and if, when thou readest, thou believest
this, thy mind also, which was dead, receives life with that Lazarus.
For what means it that the Lord drew near to the tomb, and cried
with a loud voice : Lazarus, come forth, — unless that He might afford
us a specimen, might give us an example, of the future resurrec-
tion ? Why did He cry aloud with His voice, as if He were not
accustomed by His Spirit alone to perform [mighty works], as if He

THE LOUD VOICE OF CHRIST. 409

were not accustomed to command without speech? but that He
might show what is written, " In the twinkling of an eye, at the last
trump, the dead shall be raised incorruptible" (i Cor. xv. 52).

Typically, the loud voice of Christ signifies the great impulse of
arousing grace, by which the sinner needs to be called forth from
the custom of evil in which he lies buried, to grace and a new life.
So S. Augustine. Hence Eph. v. 14, "Awake thou that sleepest,
and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee life."

Lazarus. He calls him by his proper name : lest, as says S.
Ambrose, he might seem as one raised up for another, or his
resurrection more by chance than by command. Again, He
addresses the dead man as living, because all the dead live unto
God, says S. Chrysostom.

Come forth. Not as if thou wert already risen, and only now wast
to show thyself beyond the sepulchre, as Origen wrongly infers from
hence : but, Rise, return from the dark and hidden caves of death
and Hades ; return, O soul of Lazarus, from the farthest limits of
the Limbus Patrum into this body, and thence into the life, air, and
light common to all living beings.

Ver. 44. — And he that was dead came forth, &c. The power of the
voice of Christ is made manifest, which instantly raised up the dead
man, so that the things spoken might be done.

Grave-clothes, bindings for the sepulchre, with which the hands
and feet of the dead man are bound, so that they may be inserted
and decently composed in a narrow receptacle. The Arabic trans-
lates linen cloths ; Nonnus, "he had his whole body from foot to
head bound with manifold wrappings for the grave."

And his face was bound about with a napkin : in the manner of
the Jews, that the fact of death might be signified, and the pale and
fearful visage of the dead might strike no one with horror.

You will ask, Why did Christ, in raising the dead man, not at the
same time unloose his bonds ?

SS. Augustine, Chrysostom, Cyril, Leontius, and others reply
that the Jews might see that the same Lazarus was raised up, who
a little before had been swathed as dead, by themselves, with those

410 S. JOHN, C. XI.

bands and napkin, and was not a phantom, or some other man
hidden in the. sepulchre, to make a feigned appearance.

Secondly, that the miracle was twofold : that the first was the
raising up the dead man ; the second that he when raised up should
immediately walk with his feet bound and his face covered, and come
forth from his sepulchre straight to Jesus.

Typically, S. Gregory : Our Redeemer raised up a maiden in the
house, a young man outside the gate [of the city], but Lazarus in the
sepulchre. So he lies as it were still dead in the house, who is
secretly sunk in sin. He is, as it were, brought outside the gate,
whose iniquity reveals itself even to the shamelessness of public
commission. But he is weighed down with the mound of the grave,
who in the committing of wickedness is loaded with the weight of
habit. But these He pities and recalls to life, in that very often
by Divine grace He enlightens with the brightness of His counte-
nance those dead not only in secret but even in open sins, and
oppressed by the weight of evil custom.

S. Augustine says : Lazarus going forth from the sepulchre is the
soul drawing back from carnal vices, but bound, that is, not yet
freed from pains and troubles of the flesh, while it dwells in the body ;
the face is covered with a napkin, for we cannot have full under-
standing of things in this life ; but it is said, " Loose him," for after
this life the veilings are taken away, that we may see face to
face.

Jesus saith unto them, Loose him and let him go. To his home.
Jesus addressed this command to the Jews, that they, handling
Lazarus, might as it were touch and handle with their hands the
miracle that was wrought by Him, and [see] that he was raised up.

Symbolically, Christ sends sinners bound with the bands of their
sins to bishops and priests, that they may be released and absolved,
saying, WJiatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven
(Matt xviii. 18). So also S. Augustine. " What is it," he says, " to
loose and let him go ? What ye shall loose on earth, shall be loosed
also in heaven."

Finally, there is no doubt (though John is silent upon it) that

MALICE OF THE JEWS. 4! I

Lazarus rendered great thanks to Christ ; and that he dedicated his
life to Him from whom he had received it. He became a disciple,
a preacher, and the Bishop of Marseilles.

Ver. 45. — Then many of the Jews . . . believed on Him. For they
were convinced by the evidence of the miraculous raising of Lazarus,
so great and wonderful, that Jesus was a prophet, yea, more, the
Messiah, as He professed.

Ver. 46. — But some of them went their ways, &c. S. Augustine
doubts whether they did this with good or evil intention ; whether
to announce to them that they 'might believe, or to betray Him that
they might use severity, as says the Gloss. For they might do this
with a good intention, namely, in order that the Pharisees, if they
could not bring themselves to believe in Christ, should at least have
a milder, disposition towards Him, as Origen is of opinion. But
all others think that they did it with an evil intention. Theophilus
and Leontius add that they intended to accuse Christ as being sac-
rilegious, and even so far as that He had dug up the body of a dead
person. Great then was their malice and malignity, with which they
repaid Christ for so great a benefit, [inflicting on Him] so great
an outrage — for a miracle blasphemy, for life death; since they
denounced Him to the Pharisees to be condemned to the cross.

Ver. 47. — Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a
council, &c.

What do we ? (What does it behove us to do ? Syriac, What
shall we do ?)

For this man doeth many miracles. It behoved them to be con-
vinced by so many signs and miracles of Jesus, and to believe Him
to be Messiah, the Son of God ; but blinded by hate and envy, they
say and do the contrary, and studiously avoid condescending even
to name Him, but say, This man, as if He were a common and
worthless person (" They still call Him man," says Chrysostom, "who
had received so great a proof of His Godhead "), and consult con-
cerning His murder, and propose to bereave of life Him who had
restored life to Lazarus, and from whom they ought to seek and hope
for life eternal. They did not say, " Let us believe," says S. Augustine,

412 S. JOHN, C. XI.

"but, lost men as they were, thought more of how they might injure
Him, and destroy Him, than of how they might consult for their own
safety, that they perish not. Their foolish heart was darkened, so
that they forced on the destruction, present and lasting, of them-
selves and their whole nation." "What foolishness and blindness,"
says Origen, " that they should think themselves able to effect any-
thing against Him whom they testify to have done many miracles,
as if He were not able to deliver Himself out of their snares ! "

Ver. 48. — If we let Him thus alone, &c. I.e., the Romans will
destroy Judea and the whole Jewish race. S. Chrysostom and
Theophylact by place understand ferusa/em, the metropolis of Judea,
and thence the whole realm. But Maldonatus understands the
Temple ; for the chief priests feared that this with its victims and
temporal gains should be taken from them by the Romans.

All will belime on Him. See here the genius of envy, and an effect
worthy of it : the chief priests wishing to obscure the glory of Christ,
display it the more, in saying that all men will believe on Him.

And the Romans shall come and take away our place and nation.
Some are of opinion that they thought this, viz., If all believe on
Jesus, all will depart from us, our Judaism, synagogue, and state,
to Him ; and so there will be none to contend for us against the
Roman attempts to subjugate us.

But others more probably, If all believe Jesus to be the King
and Messiah of the Jews, they will irritate against us the Romans,
the lords of Judea, because we have made for ourselves a new King
and Messiah, and fallen away from Tiberius Caesar to Him ; where-
fore armed men will come and take away, that is, capture, ravage,
and destroy Jerusalem and Judea and the entire Jewish race and
nation. So Chrysostom. " They wished," he says, " to excite the
people, so as to bring Him under the risk of being suspected to be
a pretender to royalty ; i.e., if the Romans shall see Jesus heading
throngs of people, they will suspect a pretender, and destroy the
state. But what armed men and horsemen did Christ ever take
about with Him ? Only envy and hate blinded them, so that they
plainly erred, and reasoned wrongly. "

THE OFFICE OF HIGH PRIEST. 413

Ver. 49. — And one of them named Caiaphas, being the high priest
that same year, said unto them. While the rest were consulting
and not grasping the case nor finding what it was needful to
do, Caiaphas as high priest proffers advice, and clearly defines the
matter. It is said, high priest that year, because, although according
to the law in Exodus (xxix. 29) the high priesthood ought to last for
life, and after that to devolve upon the eldest son, according to the
law of birth, the Roman rulers used to change the high priests fre-
quently, either according to their own will, or for a price received
from those who sought the office (Josephus, Antiq., lib. xviii. cap.
2). When Tiberius succeeded Augustus Csesar in the empire, " by
him," he says, " Valerius Gratus was sent to succeed Annius Rufus
as procurator of Judea. ; This man deprived Ananus of the high
priesthood, and appointed Ismael the son of Tabus to be high priest
He also deposed him in a little time, and transferred the honour to
Eleazar the son of Ananus, the former high priest, and when he had
held it for a year, Gratus deprived him of it, and assigned it to
Simon the son of Camithus ; and he also having completed a year
in the dignity, was made to yield it to Joseph, who was surnamed
Caiaphas."

The high priesthood was not therefore an annual office among
the Jews, as S. Augustine infers from this place ; but was changed
sometimes in fewer years, sometimes in more, and sometimes in
the course of the same year.

Ye know nothing at all, &c. Ye, as if you were common and
humble people, are foolish, ye do not understand the matter at all,
ye do not grasp what it is needful to do, ye forward nothing, ye
explain nothing, ye suggest no pertinent counsel; but I as high
priest am enlightened by God, I set right the matter with a word,
I give the best advice, and clear up the whole by saying : " It is
expedient that one man, that is, Jesus, although He is accused of
no crime, although He is innocent and a Prophet, and the doer of
so great a miracle, should die (that is, be put to death by you) for
the people, that is, so that the people because of Him should not be
brought into suspicion with the Romans, nor that the Romans,

414 S. JOHN, C. XL

because of Jesus regarded as Messiah and King of the Jews, should
take away their place and nation; and thus the entire race will not
perish, but when He is taken away, will remain safe and entire."
This was therefore the impious, false, and unjust judgment of
Caiaphas, that it was expedient for the safety of the people, that,
though innocent, Christ should be put to death, so that the Romans
might not use severity to Judea and the Jews on His account.
His reasoning was, that it was better for one Jesus to die than
many; it is better that one should perish, than the whole com-
munity; i.e., why then do ye delay? why deliberate? It is not
doubtful to me that it is expedient for one to die, Jesus, in place of
all the Jews.

Origen says, " They had learned nothing who had not learned
Jesus ; as it is said, If thou knowest Jesus, it suffices, though thou
knowest not other things. If thou knowest not Jesus, it is nought,
though thou knowest all things besides."

Ver. 51. — And this spake he . . . that Jesus should die for that
nation: i.e., of the Jews.

Note, that Caiaphas, with the other chief priests being most
hostile to Christ, wished out of private hate towards Him to speak
out distinctly the same thing which the others secretly hinted at,
but did not expressly state ; namely, that Christ must be taken out
of the way for the safety of the people, that they might not be
attacked by the Romans, as I have said. But the Spirit turned the
force of his words, when he wished to speak in this sense, as high
priest and head of the Church, to others in which he should
express the contrary meaning, and should describe and strengthen
a very true faith in Christ ; namely, that it was expedient that
Christ should die for the people, i.e., for the salvation of the people ;
and by His death, as if by the payment of a price, should redeem
them from sin, from the devil, from death, and from hell, those, I
say, who would otherwise perish eternally. For the words of
Caiaphas properly and precisely signify this. For otherwise, accord-
ing to the wicked intention towards Christ in the mind of Caiaphas,
he ought rather to have said thus : " It is expedient that one man,

FALL OF THE JEWISH CHURCH. 415

Jesus, should die, rather than the whole people : " but now he does
not say rattier than but for (in behalf of) the people; which pro-
perly signifies for the salvation of the people, that He may save the
people : and although Caiaphas did not understand this, much less
intend it, yet it being wonderfully suggested by the Holy Spirit, S.
John here takes notice of it ; and as he takes notice of it, so other
sincere and honest men who were listening to Caiaphas might have
noticed the same thing ; and just so may we.

Learn from this the great care which God has of His Church, and
how He assists the Pontiff who is her head, especially under the
new Law, which Christ her Head and Spouse instituted, sanctioned,
and rules, lest at any time the Church which is His bride should- go
astray from the true faith.

Further, because Caiaphas did not understand this mystery he
was not properly a prophet; and Origen observes that the Holy
Ghost spoke through his mouth as the angel spoke to the dis-
obedient Balaam by the mouth of the ass (Numb, xxii.) Caiaphas,
then, most wickedly twisted the words of the Holy Spirit to the
death of Christ. Wherefore S. Chrysostom says that the Holy
Spirit moved the tongue of Caiaphas, not his heart.

You will say, Then Caiaphas here erred in the faith. I reply by
denying the consequence. Yea he formally declared the true faith,
namely, that it was expedient that Christ should die for the salvation
of the world, as I have said. And though it be that he himself did
not understand this, nor mean to say it — for he intended that Christ
should be cut off lest, because of Him, the people (of the Jews)
.should be destroyed by the Romans — yet herein was his error con-
trary to justice and piety, and not in a matter pertaining to the faith.
His error had to do with a political question, whether, namely, Christ
should be put to death for the State, or not. Besides, the Jewish
High Priest had not that infallible assistance of the Holy Ghost
which the Christian High Priests have from Christ and after Christ
It is, moreover, especially to be borne in mind that at that time,
Christ being come, the Jewish Synagogue was beginning to fall, and
Christ's Church to rise up in its place. For shortly after this

4i-6 S. JOHN, C. XL

Caiaphas with the whole council of the Sanhedrim proclaimed Jesus
to be guilty of death as a false Messiah. This was an error in the
Faith. Wherefore their Synagogue then ceased to be the Church of
God, and began to be the synagogue of Satan which denied and
slew the Christ which was sent by God.

Ver. 52. — And not for that nation only, &c. It is expedient that
Christ should die ; not only for His and our nation, that is, for the
Jews, but also for all the nations dispersed throughout the whole
world, and who should believe in Him. For these are called
children of God, not in actual fact, but in the foreknowledge and
predestination of God ; because, that is to say, they were hereafter
to be, by the grace of God, faithful men and saints, and therefore
sons of God. So SS. Augustine and Chrysostom. This is what
Christ predicted in chap. x. ver. 16 : Other sheep I have, which are not
of this fold (not of the Jewish synagogue) ; them also 1 must bring,
and there shall be onefold, and one Shepherd.

Ver. 53. — Then from that day forth, &c. See here plainly appears
the unrighteous disposition and meaning of Caiaphas and his asso-
ciates.

Ver. 54. — -Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the J&us,
i.e., freely, openly, publicly. S. Cyril says : " As God He knew
what the Jews had determined on, though none of them declared it ;
as man He withdrew Himself, because the hour of His death,
decreed by His Father, had not yet come." He did this to give
an example to us, of avoiding peril to life by flight

But went thence, &c. Leontius thinks Ephraim was Bethlehem,
in which Christ had been born ; but this seems unlikely, because
Bethlehem was near to Jerusalem, and Jesus knew that He would
be specially sought there by the chief priests. S. Jerome, and after
him Jansenius, think it was Ephron (2 Chron. xiii. 19). Others
think that Ephraim was situated above Jericho, and beside the
desert there; but Adrichomius places it about five miles towards
the east from Bethel, about seven hours' [journey] distant from
Jerusalem, beside the desert of Hai, not far from the brook Cherith,
to which Elijah, flying from Jezebel, withdrew, and was fed there by

THE JEWS SEEK CHRIST. 417

ravens (i Kings xvii. 5). Jesus withdrew thither, as well that He
might avoid the rage of the chief priests for the time, as that He
might have leisure in that retirement for prayer and contemplation,
and thus strengthen and arm Himself for His approaching death,
for the arduous contest with the chief priests — yea, more, with
Lucifer — when He was upon the Cross.

Ephraim is symbolically the type of the Gentile Church. So
Origen says : " Jesus was lately dwelling among the Jews, the
Divine Word, that is to say, through the prophets ; but He departed,
He is not among them, for He has entered a hamlet which is almost
deserted, of which it is said, ' Many are the sons of the deserted
one more than of the married : ' for Ephraim is interpreted fertility.
But Ephraim was the brother of Manasseh, of an elder people given
over to forgetfulness ; for after a people devoted to forgetfulness
had been passed over, abundance has come forth from the Gentiles.
The Lord then, departing from the Jews, came to a land nigh to
the desert, a city called fruitful^ the Church of the whole earth, and
there He tarries with His disciples even until now."

Typically, Ephraim, as situated beside the desert, is the symbol
of a holy soul which has leisure for solitude and prayer ; for this
becomes Ephraim — that is, fruitful in good works : wherefore Jesus
tarries in it by His abundant grace.

Ver. 55. — And the Jews' Passover was nigh at hand : viz., the last
Passover to Christ, at which He Himself, as the Paschal Lamb, was
sacrificed for the salvation of the world ; and therefore He eagerly
waited for it. The Syrians for Pascha say Pezcho, which is interpreted
gladness ; because this feast was more joyful than the others, even
as to Christians it is so in the highest degree, because of our
redemption made upon the Cross, and because of the resurrection.

And many went out of the country up to Jerusalem before the Pass-
over, to purify themselves ; i.e., to cleanse themselves by sacrifices
and ceremonies from all actual uncleanness, and to prepare them-
selves by prayers and sacrifices to celebrate and eat the Passover
rightly, as says S. Thomas and Jansen.

Ver. 56. — Then sought they for Jesus, and spake among themselves
VOL. iv. 2 D

418 S. JOHN, C. XL

as they stood in the Temple, What think ye, that He will not come to
the feast? Wherefore did Jesus not come, according to His custom,
to this common feast of the Passover? Certainly because as God
He knew beforehand the snares prepared for Him there by the
scribes. S. Augustine, Chrysostom, &c., think that this was the
question of the chief priests, Pharisees, and of their adherents and
assistants, who had determined to apprehend Jesus, and therefore
began indignantly to demand : Why has Jesus not come to the
feast of the Passover? Is this the way ye neglect the Passover?
Will He be thus a contemner and violator of the law, the very charge
which we bring against Him ? Then why does He not present
Himself on these days before the Passover, and purify Himself as
all others do, and so prepare Himself for so great a feast ?

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