Commentary on the Gospel of John

^ S. John ix. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying. Rabbi, ivho did sin, this man, or his parents, that he should be bam

3 blind? Jesus answered, Neither did this man sin tier his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

Being desirous (and not without good reason) that tlie mystery should be explained, or rather being Divinely guided, the most wise disciples were urged to ask instruction on the subject. And they are inquisitive with profit, by this means furnishing an advantage not so much for themselves as for us. For we are benefited greatly both by hearing the true explanation of these things from the Omniscient, and in addition also by being warned off from the abomination of effete doctrines. These errors not only used to exist among the Jews, but are also advoa The Introduction to this Sixth Book is commented on at the end of the In- ■will be found in the First Volume of the troduction to S. Cyril's Sixth Book, in translation. the first volimie of the Translation.

Christians. Such pei'sons of a truth delight too much in their own sophistries, indulging their private fancies, and not fearing to mingle Greek error with the doctrines of the Church. For the Jews, when they were in misery, greatly murmured, as if merely suffering the penalty of their forefathers' impiety, or as if God were most unreasonably laying upon them the sins of their fathers, and scoffed at it as a most unjust punishment; they even said Ezek. in a proverb: The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge. And these again, being aflQicted with a like and kindred ignorance to those just mentioned by us, earnestly maintain "^ that the souls of men existed and had their being before the creation of their bodies, and that these souls having turned willingly to sin even before the existence of their bodies, then souls and bodies became united, when in the order of chastisement the souls received birth in the flesh. But in one brief statement the follies of both these parties are exposed by Christ, Who conhdently affirms that neither had the blind man sinned nor his parents. He refutes the doctrine of the Jews by saying that the man had not been born blind on account of any sin either of himself or of his ancestors, no, not even of his father or mother; and ho also overthrows the silly nonsense of the others, who say that souls sin before their existence in the body.

For some one will say to them and very reasonably: How, tell me, does Christ say that neither had the blind man sinned nor his parents? And yet we could not grant that they were altogether free from sin. For, inasmuch as they were human, it is I suppose in every way likely or rather it of necessity follows that they fell into errors. Pray then, what time does Christ mean to define as that concerning which His word shall appears to us true, that neither did the man himself sin, nor indeed Jiis ]jarenis?

Surely He speaks of that y^^liich is previous to birth, when Chap. 1. having no existence whatever, they did not sin. • -.. •

Again, concerning such matters, how truly frivolous and beside the mark it is to think that souls sinned before the existence of their bodies, and on that account were embodied and sent into this world, we have argued at length at the beginning of the present gospel,*^ in interpreting and commenting on the words; That was the Supra i. True Light, which licjhteth every man that cometh into the world; and it would be superfluous for us to discuss the subject again. But it is necessary to say.whence it occurred to the Jew's to fall into this opinion and supposition j also to shew clearly that from inability to understand the Divine Word, they mistook its proper meaning. Israel once dwelt in tents in the wilderness, and Grod called His hierophant Moses on Mount Sinai; but when he extended his stay there with God to the number of forty days, he seemed to be a loiterer to those who had influence with the people, who both rose up against Aaron then being alone, and falling back in contempt upon the idolatries of Egypt, cried saying: MaJce us gods, ivhicJi shall go before us; for Exod. as for this Moses, the man that brought us tip out of the land ' of Egypt, ive toot not what is become of him. Then what followed thereupon I think it necessary to speak of briefly. They made a calf, as it is written, and at this God was Acts vii. justly provoked to anger: then indeed He threatened to destroy the whole congregation at once. Moses fell down before Him and sought for pardon with much entreaty. Exod. The Creator of the universe granted forgiveness, and promised to punish the people no further than that He would not continue to go up with them to the land of promise, but would send with them instead His ^ special Angel as it - '^'"v were in the position of leader. At this Moses was sorely grieved, and as God was not willing to go up with the people, he inferred with some likelihood indeed that the Divine anger was not yet thoroughly appeased. So he prayed again earnestly that God would accompany them, d Pages 90—99 of Translation, Vol. I.

' ' ' * suffice some of tlie Israelites, and perhaps also fearing the weakness of the people and therefore deprecating the holy angels' hatred of evil; and he entreated the Good One, the Lover of men, the Supreme King and Lord over all, to be willing rather to be present with those so prone to transgress. For he knew that Grod would pardon them not once only but many times, and that He would grant mercy to those who should offend. And God also consented to this. Then Moses sought a sign from Him, even that he might see Him, as a full assurance and testimony that He had forgiven them completely: For, said Exod. Jie^ if I have found grace in Thy sight, manifest Thyself to me; that I may evidently see Thee, that I may find grace in Thy sight, and that I may know that this great nation is Thy ijeople. This also God granted, as far as it was possible, assuring in every way His own servant both that He liad forgiven the people their sin and that He would go up with them to the land of promise. Then, giving as it were a sort of finishing touch to the promises, which seemed wanting, He commands Moses to hew out two other tables for Him, the former ones as we know having been broken in pieces, so that He might write down the Law yet again for the people; even in this affording no small evidence of His kindness towards them. And when Exod. Moses was ready also for this, the Lord descended in a 5_7." cloud, as it is written, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the Name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before liis face and proclaimed: The Lord God is pitiful and merciful, long-suffering and abundant in mercy, and true, and keeping justice, and shewing mercy unto thousands, taking away iniquities and unrighteousnesses and sins; and He will not clear the guilty; visiting the sins of fathers upon children and upon children's cldldren unto the third and fourth generation.

But now attend carefully, for I am about to take up again the question proposed at first. God declares Himself to shew His kindness and His incomparable love of not (as some think) the words of the all-wise Moses, offering up laudatory prayers on behalf of the people. For that it is the Lord of all Himself speaking these things of Himself, no other than the blessed Moses himself will bear witness to us, teaching in the Book of Numbers, when the Israelites had again taken offence from unseasonable cowardice, because some, who by Moses at God's command had been sent to spy it out, spake evil of the Land of Promise. For when they returned from the land of the ^ strangers and were come again to their own people, they * a-^>^^- spat out bitter words concerning it. Ainrming the land to be so wild and rugged that it was capable of eating up its inhabitants, they excited so much hatred of it in the minds of their hearers, that bursting into tears they now desired again to be in Egypt with all its ''hardships. For, Let lis malce, said they, cajptains, and let us journey into Num. Egypt. And when God threatened to destroy them, Moses again prayed, and all but reminding Him also of the promise He had given, went on to cry: And now let Thy I^- 17— strength he exalted, 0 Lord, according as Thou hast spolcen, saying, The Lord is longsujfering and of great mercy and true, forgiving transgressions and iniquities and sins; and He ivill by no means clear the guilty, visiting the sins of fathers upon children unto the third and fotirth generation. Forgive this people their sin according to Thy great mercy, as Thou liast been favourable to them from Egypt even until now. It appears therefore that He Who is God over all attributes to Himself love of men and the greatest forbearance towards evil. It will be fitting in the next place to set forth the cause on account of which the Jews, being deceived, could suppose our good God to be mindful of injury and exceeding wrathful.

For my part, I do not think them able to lay hold of the Divine Oracles in any way, or to cavil at them as if they have not expressed what is most excellent or have

■■"' ■ I think that they only indulge then' own ignorance in this matter, to suppose the sins of fathers to be really brought upon children, and the Divine anger to be stretched so far that it may even reach to the third and fourth generation, exacting unjustly from innocent persons the penalties of others' crimes. Would it not at all events be more becoming to them, if they were wise, to hold the opinion that the Source of righteousness and of our moral laws would do nothing so shameful? For even men inflict punishments according to the laws upon habitual transgressors, but by no means visit them on their children, unless perchance they are detected as partners and associates in the misdeeds: and as to Him Who prescribed to us the laws of all justice, how can He be detected in inflicting penalties such as among ourselves are greatly condemned? Then this also in addition is to be considered. By the mouth of Moses He published laws innumerable, and in many cases those living in bad habits were ordered to be punished, but nowhere is a command from Him to be found, that children should share the penalties incurred by their sinning fathers. For penalty is for those who are detected in crime, and it was ordained that it was fitting to punish those only who were obnoxious to the law. To think as the Jews do is therefore surely impious, but it is certainly the part of a wise man to investigate the Divine mind and by every means to observe what things are agreeable to Nature, the queen of all things. Rightly therefore let us hold that the God of the universe, setting as it were before Him His inherent clemency, willing to be admired for His pure love of men Num. ^ii<i to this end proclaiming: The Lord is longsuffering and XIV. 18. ^y gyQ(-^i mercy and true, forgiving transgressions and sins, would not wish to be known as so mindful of evil that He TTopa- extends His anger even to the fourth generation '*' inclusive. For how can He still be longsuflering and of great mercy, or how does He forgive transgressions and sins. Who cannot endure to limit the infliction of penalty to the person of the sinner, but extends it beyond tbe third generation, Chap.i. and like a sort of thunderbolt assaults even the innocent? • • ' * Surely then it is quite incredible and of almost utter folly, to suppose that God atti'ibutes to Himself, together with love of men and gentleness, anger so lasting and so unreasonable.

To these things another may be added by those who support the Jewish opinion, and do not allow that God knows a suitable time for every kind of action. For if He promises longsnflPering and is found to yield very easily in laying aside His anger, why is He seen to have added: Visiting the sins of fathers upon children unto the tJtird and Num. fourth generation? Of course this was done for no other reason than a wish to frighten those who expect remission of sins from Him, as shewing that the object of their hopes should never be realized, since He Who with reason is grieved with them is so mindful of evil and tenacious in anger.

But further, tell me what the hierophant Moses himself indicates to us. Would he not seem to do a thing most opposite to all reason, if, when Israel had given offence and was about to suffer punishment, he proceeded to pray for them, and, while asking for oblivion of the offence and an exhibition of God's love for men, he should unseasonably say to God: Thou art of such a nature that Thou requitest the sins of fathers upon children's children? For this would be rather the way of one instigating to anger than of one calling for mercy, and of one asking mindfulness of injury rather than longsufferiug. But in my opinion by these words he seemed to importune God and to recall to His memory almost the very words which He Himself uttered, when He publicly proclaimed His inherent goodness. For in what way He is longsufferiug and of great mercy, and how He is by nature One Who takes away sins and transgressions, will be most excellently discerned, in the very dealings wherein He seems to be somewhat bitter.

Book 6. in wbat Way we may rlglitly understaud the words whicli Exod. ' * were spoken by God. The Lord, He says, is longsiiffering and of great mercy, talcing away iransgressions and sins. Then we will read that which immediately follows as if lb. 7. with a note of interrogation: And will He not surely clear the guilty? So that thou mayest understand something of this sort: Will not, says He, the longsuffering and greatly merciful God, Who takes away transgressions and sins, will He not surely clear the guilty? Of course it is not to be doubted: certainly He will thoroughly purge him. For how is He longsuffering and of great mercy and how does He at all take away sins, unless He purges the guilty? At these words He goes off to a demonstration of His inherent longsuffering and forbearance, even that He will visit the sins of the fathers upon children unto the third and fourth generation: not chastising the son for the father; do not think this: nay, not even does He lay upon a descendant the faults of his ancestors like a burden: but meaning something of this sort. There was (we will suppose) a certain man, a transgressor of laws, having his mind full of all wickedness, and who, being taken in this manner of lining, deserved to be punished without any respite; but yet God in forbearance dealt with him patiently, not bringing upon him the wrath he had merited. Then to him was born a son, a rival of his father in impious deeds and outdoing his parent in villainy: God also shewed longsuffering towards this man. But from him is born a third, and from the third a fourth, in no way inferior to their progenitors in wickedness, but practising equal impiety with them. Then God pours out wrath upon them, already even from the beginning deserved by the whole race, after He has tolerated as much as and even more than it behoved Him. A postponement of vengeance even unto the fourth generation, how is it not truly a commendation of Divine gentleness? For that He is wont to chastise neither son for father nor father for son, it is not hard to learn from those words which by the voice of the prophet Ezekiel He clearly spake to the Jews themselves, when over tliis same thing they murmured Chap. i. and said: The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the '^^' ' children's teeth are set on edge. And, says he, the ivord Ezek. of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, what mean 4, ' ye by this proverb in Israel, saying. The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge? As I live, saith the Lord, this proverb shall be said no more in Israel. For all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son; they are mine. The soul that sin- I^- 20- neth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of his son: each in his own iniquity in which he hath sinned, in that cf. ib. 24. shall he die. But I suppose no one is so foolish as to think that God did not at the beginning legislate in the most excellent way, but somehow changed His plans and altered His ideas for the better, and like one of ourselves was with difficulty and after subsequent deliberation able to improve His legislation to what was most fitting. In such a case, if we praise the earlier laws we shall clearly be blaming the later, and if we express an opinion that the later laws are superior we shall condemn the earlier by our lower estimation of them. God too will legislate in opposition to Himself, and will have fallen short, as we may have done, of a perfect standard, by ordaining one thing at one time and a different thing at another time. But I suppose every one will say that the Divine Nature cannot be in any way subject to such inconsistencies as this, and could not even have ever fallen short of absolute perfection.

It is then as a demonstration of His incomparable munificence that He alleges the words quoted above, viz: — Requiting the sins of fathers upon children unto the third and fourth generation. For that the merciful God is wont to punish sinners not immediately, but rather to do it reluctantly and to put off punishments for long seasons, thou wilt understand from His own words: And I was full of jer.vl. Mine anger and restrained it, and: did not mahe a fidl end ' of them. And again in another place: For the iniquity of Gen. xv. the Amorites is not yet full. Thou seest that He was in-

Book G. deed full of anger, for some were perpetrating deeds de- * ' ■ ' ' serving fulness of anger, but as God He forbore patiently and delayed to make a full end of those who offended Him. But in order that we may exhibit to thee as in a picture the pi'oof of what we have said and from actual events demonstrate the praise of God's love for men to be contained in this text, I will bring forward something recorded in the Sacred Books, and will endeavour from the Divine Scriptui^e itself to show the sins of fathers visited on children even to the third and fourth generation; not unjustly, but justly, and in a manner merited by the sufferers themselves. The story shall be summarized, because of the length of the narrative.

Well then, in the First Book of Kings we read that after other kings Ahab reigned over Israel, and burning with a most unrighteous desire for another man's vineyard, he slew the lord of it, even Naboth. For although he did not himself command that deed, yet he expressed no anger at the wickedness of his wife. At this God was of course

LXX.) talien i^ossession, therefore thus saith the Lord, Li the place where the swine and the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, there shall the dogs liclc thy blood; and the harlots shall ivash themselves in thy blood. And again immediately:

Idndle afire behind thee, and ivill utterly destroy from Ahab every male and him that is shut up and left in Israel. And

I will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son of

Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahab, for the provocations wherewith thou hast provoked Me to anger and made Israel to sin. And of Jezebel he spake, saying,

And him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat, and him that dieth in the field shall the birds of the air eat.

When the Lord of all unmistakably threatened to do all these things and to inflict them, Ahab rent his garment lb. 27. and entered into his house; as it is written. He ivas pricked the true meaning of Exod. xxxiv. 7. 11 to the heart, and hurst bitterly info tears, and girded his loins Chap.i. with sacJidoth. In wliich state God pities liinij and begins *'^' ' * to allay His angei% and putting as it were a bridle to His sudden fury says to the Prophet: Hast thou seen how Ahah i W'^^f^ ivas jpricJied to the heart hefore Me? I will not bring these things in his days, but in his son's days I ivill bring the evil. Will it not therefore be right to inquire upon whom these things were fulfilled? Well; the son of Ahab was Ahaziah, Who, Scripture says, did evil in the sight of the IJi- xxH. Lord and ivalked in the ivay of his father Ahab, and in the LXX.) way of Jezebel his mother. Then the son of Ahaziah was, Scripture says, Joram, of whom again it is written that he walked in the sins of the house of Jeroboam. Next to 4 Reg. i. Joram reigned a third Ahaziah, of whom again the Ian- i^^x« guage of the narrative says that he did evil in the sight of 2 Kings the Lord, as did the house of Ahab. But when the time ^"^' had now come for punishing the house of Ahab, which had not ceased from impiety towards God even to the fourth generation, there was anointed to be the next king over Israel Jehoshaphat son of Nimshi, who slew Ahaziah, and beside him Jezebel; he slew also seventy other sons of Ahab, carrying out as it were the Divine wrath to the uttermost, so that he obtained both honour and favour on account of it. For what saith God to him? Because thou 2 Kings hast done well in executiny that ujhich is right in Mine eyes, ^' ' and hast done unto the house of Ahah according to all that tvas in Mine heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit upon thy throne. Thou seest therefore that He reluctantly punished in the fourth generation the wicked descendants of wicked men, whereas to him from whom He received honour He extends His mercy even to the fourth generation. Cease therefore, 0 Jew, to accuse the righteousness of God. As a form of encomium certainly we will accept that saying: Requiting the sins of fathers upon children unto the third and fourth generation.

3 But that the ivorks of God should be made manifest in him. That which lies before us is hard to explain and capable

Book fi. of causing mucli perplexity^ so tliat it would be perhaps not unlearned to pass it over in silence, and because of its excessive difficulty to leave it. But when the Jewish doctrines have been refuted, lest another thing akin to them, Heb. xii. like ally root of bitterness springing up, trouble you, as Paul says; (for perhaps some will hence suspect that the bodies of men are affected with sufferings, in order that the works of God may be made manifest in them;) I, for my part, think it seasonable to subjoin a few words with reference to this, that thereby we may both keep off any injuries arising from this source, and leave no loophole for decep- Siipra tive arguments. That God does not bring the sins of ''■ ' parents upon children unless they are partakers of their Vol. I. wickedness, and further, that embodiment is not on ac- ' count of sins previously committed by the soul, we have shown. For by speaking in opposition to these two errors, Christ in a wonderful manner overturned them, since He unquestionably knows all things, as God; or rather, since He Himself is the over-ruler of our affairs, and the ordainer of those things which befit and are deserved by every man. For in that He says the blind man had not sinned, nor was suffering blindness on that account. He shows that it is foolish to suppose the soul of man to be guilty of sins previous to its birth in the body: moreover, when He Supra openly says that neither had His parents sinned that their son should be born blind, He refutes the silly suspicion of the Jews. Therefore, after He had taught His disciples as much as was necessary for them to know in order to refute the doctrines which we have above stated, and imparted to them as much as it was fitting to exhibit to the understanding of man. He is silent as to the rest, and sets forth no further with clearness the reason why he was born blind who was guilty of no sin previous to birth, attributing to the Divine Nature alone the knowledge of all such things and a management of aflPairs which is past finding out. But again He very skilfully transfers the language of His answer to something else and says; But that the worl's of God should be made manifest in him.

Does then, some one will say, the Lord declare to us Chap. i. these words here as a certain doctrine, as if for this single reason ailments attack the bodies of men, tJiat the ivories of God sJiould be made manifest in them? It does not seem so at all to me, but rather it is evidently absurd so to imagine or suppose; He certainly is not dogmatizing at all (as some might think) when He says this. For that it happens to some to be smitten on account of their sins, we have often learnt from the Holy Scriptures. Paul indeed plainly writes to those who with feet as it were unwashed dared to approach the holy altar, and with profane and unholy hand to touch the mystical Eucharist: For this i Cor. xi.

cause many among you are weali and sicldy, and not a few sleep. For if we judged ourselves, we shoidd not he judged. But when we are judged, ive are chastened of the Lord, that ive may not he condemned vjith the luorld. Accordingly, upon the sickly and dead, it is sometimes by Divine wi'ath that the suffering has been brought. But also our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, after He had loosed the paralytic from a long disease, and had miraculously made him whole, says: Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more. Supra lost a worse thing befal thee. Surely He says this as though it might happen that unless the man took heed he would suffer something worse for his sin, although he had once escaped and by the Lord's favour been restored to health. But perhaps some may say: we will grant that these things are rightly said; but as to those who suffer something terrible from the cradle and their earliest years, or even from the very womb are afflicted with diseases, it is not easy to understand what kind of explanation any one can satisfactorily give. For we do not believe that the soul previously existed; nor indeed can we think that it sinned before the body, for how can that sin, which has not yet been called to birth? But if there has been no sin nor fault preceding the suffering, what then shall we allege as the cause of the suffering? Truly, by our minds we cannot comprehend those things which are far above us, and I should advise the prudent, and myself above all, to abstain from wishing

BooKf). to thoroughly scrutinize them. For we should recall to Ecclus. ' mind what we have been commanded^ and not curiously 111. 21, 22. examine things which are too deep, nor pry into those which are too hard, nor rashly attempt to discover those which are hidden in the Divine and ineffable counsel alone; but rather concerning such matters we should piously acknowledge that God alone knows some things, peculiar to Himself and excellent. At the same time we should maintain and believe that since He is the fountain of all righteousness. He will neither do nor determine anything whatever in human affairs, or in those of the rest of creation, which is unbecoming to Himself, or differs at all from the true rectitude of justice.

Since therefore it becomes us to be affected in this way, I say, that the Lord does not speak dogmatically when He says, that tJie ivorJis of God should he made manifest in him; but rather He says it to draw off the answer of the questioner in another direction, and to lead us from things too deep for us to more suitable ones; for that is a thing He was in some sort wont to do. And that this assertion is true, hear again how when the holy disciples were earnestly inquiring about the end of the world, and very curiously putting questions concerning His second coming, and going far beyond the limits proper for man. He very Acts i. 7, evidently draws them away from such interrogations. It is not for you, says He, to hioiv times or seasons which the Father hath set within His own aiiiJiority. But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall he My loitnesses hoth in Jerusalem and in all Judea. Thou hearest that He does not permit us at all to seek into those things which no way are fit for us, but rather directs us to come back to what is necessary. So also in this place, having spoken plainly what was meet for us to learn. He reserves the rest in silence, knowing that it behoved Himself alone to understand this. But lest by being altogether silent He should as it were invite them again to ask Him about the same things, in the manner of alleging a reason, and as though courteously fashioning him. Which is just as if He had said, in different and simpler language: The man was not born blind on account of his own sins or the sins of his parents; but since it has happened that he was so affected, it is possible that in him God may be glorified. For when, by power from above, he shall be found free from the affliction which lies upon him and troubles him, who will not admire the Physician? Who will not recognise the power of the Healer shown forth in Him?

I think this sense is latent in the words before us, but let those who are clever think out the more perfect meaning. And if any think fit "to be contentious and say that the man was born blind for the very end that Christ might be glorified in him, we will say to them in reply: Do you suppose, 0 good people, that this was the only man in Judea who was blind from birth in the time of the coming of our Saviour, and that there was no other whatever? Surely, even though unwilling, they will confess, I think, that in all likelihood very many such were found in all the land. How was it then that Christ only exhibited His kindness and power to one of them, or at all events to but a small number? Concerning these things, however, I deem it superfluous to hold an argument. Wherefore, the other opinion being rejected as foolish, we will hold it true, that after Christ had revealed to us as much about the questions asked as was meet for us to learn, He passed on to another subject, skilfully turning aside His own disciple from searching into such things.

4 We must loork the works of Him that sent us, ivhile it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.

Lo here again in these words, plainly and reasonably^ He rebukes in a similar manner the disciples, as if they had done something they ought not, and having left the high road, well-trodden and firm, had ventured on another

Book 6. wliicli Seemed not at all fit for tliem. For, wTiy do ye ask, says He, things toucliing wliicli it is good to be silent? Or why, leaving that which suits the time, do ye hasten to learn things beyond the capacity of man? It is not a time for such curiosity, says He, but for work and intense zeal; for I deem it more becoming, passing by such questions, to execute zealously God's commands, and since He has appointed us Apostles, to fulfil the works of the Apostleship. When the Lord numbers Himself with those who are sent, and enrols Himself among those who ought to work, in no way does He make Himself really one of us, or say that He Himself is subject as we are by a certain servile necessity to the will of a commander: but He uses a common habit of speech, even to ourselves trite and familiar. For, especially when the bare substance of an argument is not calculated to impress our hearers, we are wont to join ourselves to them, and to reckon ourselves with them. For which reason doubtless the most wise Paul addressed the Corinthians as if concerning himself

1 Cor, iv, and Apollos, and at last added: Now these things, hrctliren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos; that in us ye might leant not to he ivise beyond the things which are written. While therefore it is day, says He, let us ivorh the ivories of Him that sent us; for the night will come, when no man can worh. In these words He calls the time of bodily life, day; and the time we are in death. He calls night. For since the day was given for works, but the night for rest and sleep, therefore the time of life in which we ought to work what is good, people call day; and the time of sleeping, in which nothing whatever can be done,

'■ according to the saying of Paul, being found unable to do anything, and therefore unable to sin.

Thus Holy Scripture really does recognise a theory of a metaphorical day, and in no less degree a corresponding theory of night. And if taken into consideration at the right moment each of these metaphorical interpretations exhibits the aspect of the questions under investigation in a manner free from error. Bafc concerninsf unsuitable Chap. i. subjects, and when it ouglit not to bo done, to attempt violently to drag round to a spiritual interpretation that which ought to be taken historically, is nothing else than unlearnedly to confuse what is profitable if understood simply, and to spoil its usefulness through excess of ignorance.

5 When I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.

Shall we then think that Christ is now not at all in the world, or do we believe that He, having ascended to heaven after His restoration to life from the dead, no longer dwells among those in this present life? And yet being very God, He fills and ^ tends not only the heavens and ' TrepUtrei what is beyond the firmament, but also the world which we inhabit. And just as while He associated in the flesh with men, He was not absent from heaven, so if we think rightly we shall hold the opinion that even though He is out of the world as regards the flesh, His Divine and ineffable Nature is yet no less present among those who dwell in the world. Yea, it overrules the universe, being absent from nothing that exists, neither having abandoned anything, but present everywhere in all things; and, filling all the visible universe and whatever may be conceived of as beyond it, is fully contained by Itself alone.

The next thing therefore is to understand what it is that the Lord says in these words. Having cast aside as a stale thing the suspicion of the Jews, and shewn that they were foolishly entangled in unsound doctrines; having given counsel to His own disciples that it was more becoming for them to strive to love the things that please God, and to leave off pursuing a search into what was altogether beyond them; and having in a manner warned them that the time for work will slip away from those who do nothing, unless they devote all their zeal to the wish to do well, while they are in the flesh in the world; — He holds up Himself as an Example in the matter. For behold. He says, I also work at My own proper work, and

Book 6. since I have come to give light to those things that were ' ' in want of light, it behoves Me to cause light to dwell even in the eyes of the body, if thoy are diseased with the terrible lack of light, whensoever any of the sufferers come before Me.

We will accordingly understand what was said as spoken with reference to the occasion, and in a simple sense. For that the Only-Begotten is indeed a real Light, with the knowledge and power to illumine not only the things that are in this world, but also every other supramundane creature, is not to be doubted. And if we accommodate the sense of the words to the matter in hand, I do not think we shall be found guilty of setting forth anything unworthy of credit.

G When He had thus spoken. He spat on the groimd, and made clay of the spittle, and ivith the clay thereof anointed

7 his eyes, and said tinto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloani (which is by interpretation, Seiit.) He went away therefore, and washed, and came seeing.

Accepting' the cure wrought upon this blind man as a type of the calling of the Gentiles, we will again tell the meaning of the mystery, summing it up in few words. First then because it was merely in passing, and after leaving the Jewish templcj that He saw the blind man: and again from this circumstance also, that without intreaty and no man soliciting Him, but rather of His own accord and from a spontaneous inclination, the Saviour came to a determination to heal the man; hence we shall profitably look upon the miracle as symbolical. It shows that as no intreaty has been made by the multitude of the Gentiles, for they were all in error, God, being indeed in His nature good, of His own will has come forward to shew mercy unto them. For how at all or in what way could the vast number of Greeks and of Gentiles beseech God for mercy, having their mind darkened by gross ignorance, so as to be in no wise able to see the Illuminator? As therefore certainly the man who has and his illumination of theirs. 19 been liealed^ being blind, does not know Jesus, and by Chap. i. an act of mercy and philanthropy receives an unhoped-for ^*'^* ' benefit; so also has it happened to the Gentiles through Christ. On the sabbath too was the work of healinsr accomplished, the sabbath being capable thereby completely to exhibit to us a type of the last age of the present world, in which the Saviour has made light to shine on the Gentiles. For the sabbath is the end of the week, and the Only-Begotten took up His abode and was manifested to us all in the last time, and in the concluding ages of the ■world. But at the manner of the healing it is really fit that we should be astonished and say: 0 Lord, how great P^. civ. are Thy ivories; in loisdom hast Thou performed them all.

For some one perhaps will say: Why, although able to set all things right easily by a word, does He mix up da}/ from the spittle, and anoint the eyes of the sufferer, and seem to pi-escribe a sort of operation; for He says. Go, ivash in the pool of Siloam? Surely I deem that some deep meaning is buried beneath these words, for the Saviour accomplishes nothing without a purpose. For by anointing with the clay He makes good that which is (so to speak) lacking or vitiated in the nature of the eye, and thus shews that He is the One Who formed us in the beginning, the Creator and Fashioner of the universe. And the power of the action possesses a sort of mystical significance; for that which we said just now with reference to this, and what we consider may be understood by it, we will mention again. It was not otherwise possible for the Gentiles to thrust off the blindness which affected them, and to behold the Divine and holy light, that is, to receive the knowledge of the Holy and Consubstantial Trinity, except by being made partakers of His Holy Body, and washing away their gloom-producing sin, and renouncing the authority of the devil, namely in Holy Baptism. And when the Saviour stamped on the blind man the typical mark which was anticipative of the mystery. He meanwhile fully exhibited the power of such participation by the anointing with His spittle. And as an image of Holy

Book 6. Baptism He commands the man to run and wasTi in Siloam, '^^" ' 'a name whose interpretation, the Evangelist, beiag very wise and Divinely-inspired, felt it necessary to give. For we conclude that the One Sent is no other than God the Only-Begotten, visiting us and sent from above, even from the Father, to destroy sin and the rapacity of the devil: and recognising Him as floating invisibly on the waters 1 S. Pet. of the sacred pool, we by faith are washed, not for the putting atvay of the filth of the flesh, as it is written, but as it were washing away a sort of defilement and uncleanness of the eyes of the understanding, in order that for the future, being purified, we may be able in pureness to behold the Divine beauty. As therefore we believe the Body of Christ to be life-giving, since it is the temple and abode of the Word of the Living God, possessing all His energy, G 7rpJ|f- so we declare it to be also a ^ Patron of light; for it is the Body of Him Who is by nature the True Light. And as, when He raised from death the only son of the widow. He was not satisfied with merely commanding and saying: S.Luke Youvg mem, I say unto thee, Arise; although accustomed ^'"' ■ to accomplish all things, whatsoever He wished, by a word; but also touched the bier with His hand, showing that even His Body possesses a life-giving power: so in this case He anoints with His spittle, teaching that His Body is also a Patron of light, even by so slight a touch. For it is the Body of the True Light, as we said above. The blind man accordingly departs with what haste he can, and washes, and without delay performs all that was bidden him, shewing as it were in his own person the ready obedience of the Gentiles, concerning whom it is Ps. X. 17. written: He inclined His ear to the in-epo/ration of their LXX) hearts. The wretched Jews then were hard of heart, but they of the Gentiles were altogether docile in obedience and bear witness of it in experience. The man having forthwith, removed his blindness, washing it away together with the clay, now returns, seeing. For it was Christ^s pleasure that thus it should come to pass. Excellent therefore is faith, which makes God-given grace to be minded man is unslahle in all his ways, as it is written^ and s. Jas. i. shall receive nothing whatovev from the Lord. > ''

8 The 7icighhours therefore, and they which saw him aforetime that he ivas a beggar, said. Is not this he that sat and begged?

Hard indeed to be believed are such surpassing wonders^ and that [which exceeds nian^s experience], from whatever source it comes, finds the intellect to be intolerant of it, and is scarcely treated with honour when convincingly forced upon people's minds. For the attempt to investigate what is beyond the grasp of reason indicates a state of mind akin to insanity. Hence, I think, the unbelief of some who had previously known the blind man haunting the cross-roads, and who were astonished afterwards when they beheld him unexpectedly able to discern objects with clear vision. And they are divided, from uncertainty regarding the event, and some who consider more carefully the greatness of the deed say that it is not the same man, bat one remarkably like him whom they had known. For indeed it really is not strange that this opinion should be expressed by some, who by rejecting the truth were compelled through the greatness of the miracle to adopt an involuntary falsehood. Others again keep their minds free from obvious objections, and in reverence and fear they recognise the wonder, and say that it is the same man. But he who was healed quickly settled the question, by making his own statement, most worthy of credit as concerning himself. For no man can be ignorant of his own identity, even though very ill in delirium. Thus in every way the marvellous deed, discredited on account of the unusual degree of power it displayed, testifies that the Wonder-worker is to be reckoned among the great.

] 0 Thei/ said therefore unto him., How were thine eyes opened? "With difficulty they consent to believe that he was the

Book 6. same mau whom tliey had known aforetime^ and abandoning their hesitation on this pointy they ask how he had got rid of his blindness, and v/hat was the manner of such an unhoped-for event. For it seems usual for those who are astonished to make careful inquiries and to investigate the manner of what has been done; aud these pei'sons resolved to do the same, not without the guidance of God, in our opinion, but in order that even unwillingly they might learn the power of Our Saviour from the narration and clear announcement which the blind man made to them. This thou mayest accept as a beautiful type of the converts from among the Gentiles becoming teachers to the people of Israel, after escaping from their former blindness and receiving the illumination which comes from Our Saviour Christ through the Spirit. And that what we have said is true, the events themselves will loudly proclaim.

11 He answered, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me. Go to Siloam and wash. So I tvent away and washed, and I received sight.

He appears still to be ignorant that the Saviour is by nature God, for otherwise he would not have spoken of him so unworthil}^ He probably thought of Him and esteemed Him as a holy Man, forming this opinion perhaps from the somewhat indistinct rumour concerning Him that went about all Jerusalem, and was repeated everywhere in the common talk. Moreover we may observe tliat those aflfiicted of body and struggling with abject poverty never feel overmuch zeal in occupying themselves about making acquaintance, their unmitigated poverty exhausting as it were their mental faculties. Therefore he speaks of Him merely as a Man, and describes the manner of the healing. He must surely have been compelled by the magnitude of the miracle to attribute a glory beyond the nature of man to the Wonder-worker, but from giving credit to the belief that holy men were enabled by

God to work miracles, he was probably drawn to look Chap, i, upon Jesus as one of them. c.ix. ij.

1 2 And they said unto him, Where is He? He saith, I know not.

Not from dev^out feelings do they inquire for Jesus, nor are they moved to inquire where and with whom He was uttering discourses, so that they might go and seek some profit from His doings; but being blinded in the eyes of their understanding, even much worse than he had formerly been in those of his body, they are inflamed with most unjust anger, and rage like untamable beasts, thinking that Our Saviour had broken a commandment of the law, that one namely which forbids any work whatever to be done on the sabbath. And they raved immoderately, because He had dared actually to touch clay, rubbing the dirt round with His finger, and in addition to this had also directed the man to wash it ofi" on the sabbath. Wherefore in anger and desperation they spit out the words. Where is He? without making any excuse for speaking so rudely. For in their pettiness they bestow abuse upon Him Who rightly deserved the highest honour, though they must have admired Him if they had been sincere and had known how to honour God^s power with befitting praises. But thrusting aside in their extravagant maliciousness that which I think they ought in fairness to have thought and done, they devote themselves to untimely zeal. And falsely supposing that they were performing a duty in supporting the law which had somehow been wronged, they inquire for Jesus as one who had worked on the sabbath and thus wronged the excellent commandment by healing the man. Certainly they may have supposed that God was (so to speak) cruel and not compassionate on the sabbath, and was very angry when he saw a man healed, who was made in His own image and likeness, and on whose account the sabbath was instituted. For the S. Matt. Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath, according to the saying ^"' ' of the Saviour.

They bring tlie man to the rulers, not that they might learn what had been done to him, and admire it; for it was not likely that men travailing with extreme envy against our Saviour Christ could ever be pleased by any such thing; but that they might publicly convict Jesus, as they thought, of a transgression of the law, and accuse Him of being a wrong-doer in having made clay on the sabbath. For rejecting the idea of the miracle because of its incredibility, they lay hold of the deed as a transgression, and for a proof of what had been done they exhibit the man upon Avhom He had dared to perform the miracle. At the same time they think to succeed in gaining a reputation for piety according to Jewish customs, and proceed to strain the legal commandment to the utmost. For in Deuteronomy He Who by Nature is Very God, enjoining the minds of the pious not to be drawn aside to another, nor to think there were any gods besides Him, but bidding them to serve Him only in truth, and to hate bitterly those who should dare to counsel them differently, thus speaks: I)eut. If thy brother by thy father or mother, or thy son, or thy 9. ' ' daughter, or thy wife in thy bosom, or friend who is equal to thine own soul entreat thee secretly, saying. Let lis go and serve other gods, tliou shalt not consent to him, neither shalt thou hearken to him, and thine eye shall not spare him, and thou shalt feel no regret for him, neither shalt thou at all protect him; tliou shalt surely report concerning him. And so the Jews, looking only at the errors of others, and foolishly treating everything by the regulation laid down concerning one thing, brought before the magistrates those who were detected in any action contrary to the aw, thinking that thereby they were honouring the Lawgiver. For this ri^son I think they enquired for Jesus, Supra saying. Where is He? but being unable to find Him any- ''^^' "" where, they take as it were in the second place him upon whom the wonder had been wrought, that he might seal with liis own voice the testimony to'tlie breach of the law ^">^'^- which had been committed by the actions of the One Who healed him on the sabbath.

When the blessed Evangelist is making it manifest to ns that they were immoderately vexed at the making of clay on the sabbath, he fitly hints at the absurdity of the thing, by adding: Now it ivas the sabbath on the day when Jesus made the clay.

15 Again therefore the Pharisees also asked him. How didst thou receive thy sight 9

They busy themselves about the manner of the healing, stirring up as it were the fire of malice which was in them to a greater heat, and ask unnecessary questions, not failing, as it seems to me, to recognize the miracle. For is it not altogether absurd to suppose that they, who had come bringing to them the man who aforetime was blind, had not expressed at all ther reason for which they had brought him? But as if they were not sufficient to accuse Christ, the magistrates compel him to confess with his own mouth what had been done, believing that by this means the malicious accusation would have greater force. For observe that they do not ask simply and barely if he had been healed, but they seek rather to hear how he received his sight; this was what they were particularly anxious to hear: — " He made clay, and anointed mine eyes.^^ For it was in this that they foolishly conceived all the transgression of the law to lie, and imagining that laws from above were violated, they thought they were righteously vexed, and that punishment ought to be inflicted on Him Who vexed them.

And he said unto them. He put clay npoti mine eyes and I washed, and do see.

They receive eagerly, as if it were a sort of food for their envy, his confession of the marvel, and gladly seize upon the excuse for their rage against Jesus. For the man who had been blind relates everything on this occasion

Book 6. very simply, and speaks very abruptly, in brief expressions praising as it were his Physician: for he is somewhat astounded at the nature of the deed. Probably he may have thought in his mind that Jesus had miraculously enabled him to see by anointing him with clay, an unusual medicament; and it seems to me that it was very significantly and with sharp meaning that he said He made clay, and anointed mine eyes. For it was as though one might suppose him to say: I know that I am speaking to a malicious audience, but nevertheless I will not on that account conceal the truth. I will requite my Benefactor with my thanks; I will be above unseasonable silence. I will honour by my confession the Physician, Who did not trouble me by an elaborate process of healing, or perform the operation by the knife and surgery, or effect what was necessary by compound mixtures of drugs, or adopt any ordinary method, but rather exhibited His power by strange devices. He made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and I washed, and do see. It is perhaps worthy of notice that the man very rightly added, as the climax to his description of these events, the words: And do see. For it is almost as though he said: I will prove to you that the power of the Healer was not exerted in vain; I will not deny the favour I received, for I now possess what I formerly longed for; I, he says, who was blind from birth and afflicted from the womb, having been anointed with clay, am healed, and do see. That is, I do not merely shew you my eye opened, concealing the darkness in its depth, but I really see. I am henceforth able to look upon the things which formerly I could only hear about. Lo! the bright light of the sun is shining around me: lo! the beauty of strange sights surrounds my eye. A short time ago I scarcely knew what Jerusalem was like; now I see glittering in her the temple of God, and I behold in its midst the truly venerable altar. And if I stood outside the gate, I could look around on the country of Judea, and should recognise one thing as a hill and another as a tree. And when the time changes to evening, my eye will no longer fail to notice tlie beauty of tlie wondrous objects on bigli, the brilliant Chap. i. company of tlie stars, and the golden light of the moon. Thereupon I shall be amazed at the skill of Him Who made them; from the heauti/ of the creatures I as well as cf. Wisd. others shall acknowledge the Grreat Creator. So that however little breadth of imagination or elegance of argument he uttered, his language is pregnant with all this power when he adds: and do see, after saying: He made clay and anointed 'mine eyes. For the preacher^s style of argument, which we employ, does not exclude all that is graceful in imagination, or reject it as useless. He therefore who had received mercy from Christ, when questioned before the priests, speaks as we have said, declaring in a truly innocent manner, and to the best of his ability, the power of the One Who had healed him.

16 Some therefore of the Pharisees said. This man is not from God, because he keepeth not the sabbath.

In their folly they say He is not from God, Who has the power to work the works of God; and although they see the Son crowned with an equal measure of glory with the Almighty Father, they are not ashamed unreasonably to cast upon him the blame of impiety; and disregarding the report of the miracle, they attack the Wonder-worker with their peculiar envy, and carelessly accuse as an evildoer Him Who knew no sin. They foolishly believe the whole law to have been broken by His daring to move one finger on the sabbath, although they would themselves loose their ox from the stall and lead it aivay to ivater; more- s. Lul^e over, if a sheep fell into a j'^it, as it is written, with much s"Matt. eagerness they would lift it out. So they strain out the ]["• ^^:.. gnat, according to the Saviour's word; for this was their 24. ordinary custom. With much folly and very desperately they do not give credit to Christ for the marvellous deed, nor from the work of healing do they henceforth acknowledge Him to be Avhat He is; but they cavil pettily about the sabbath, and, as if in their opinion all virtue was observed by merely remaining unemployed on the sabbath.

Book 6. tlioy totally deny His relationship to God, saying tliat He was not from God; although they ought rather to have understood that the One before them had authority over His own laws, and that it was pleasing and acceptable to God to do good even on the sabbath, and not to leave without hope one who needed mercy. For whenever will any of you refuse to praise the doer of good deeds, or what set time can exercise a tyranny against virtue? Yet while they admire the ancient hero Joshua, who captured

Jos.vi. 15. Jericho on the sabbath, and commanded their forefathers to do such things as are customary for conquerors, and himself by no means observed the proper sabbath rest; they persistently attack Christ, and as their personal illfeeling prompted them, not only strive to take away from Him the glory due to God, but also to rob Him of the honour due to holy men. And being stirred up by their mere malice to speak very inconsiderately, they pour forth a charge of impiety against Him Who justifies the world, and for that very purpose came from the Father to us.

But others said, Hoiv can a man that is a sinner do such signs? And there was a division among them.

Even these still think too meanly, speaking and reckoning as of a mere man; only, being convinced by the marvellous deed, they give the palm to Christ rather than to the law; and, putting the proof afforded by the Divine sign in opposition to the sabbath rest on this occasion, they appear in a better light as just judges. Yet, was it not acting greatly in opposition to the precepts laid down respecting the sabbath, to withdraw altogether the charge of transgression, and to acquit Him of sin. Who had not hesitated, when He thought fit, to do something even on the sabbath? But, coming to this conclusion by reasoning which seems unanswerable and has much common sense in it, they argue thus. For it is manifest and acknowledged beyond question, that to those who neglect the Divine law, and set at nought precepts ratified from on high, God would never give the power to achieve any- thing wonderful. To Christ, however, in the opinion of Chap. i. tlie Jews, He gave such power, although He slighted the law respecting the sabbath. Certainly the doing something on the sabbath does not necessarily involve sin, but neither can any one doubt that the doing of good works is far better than remaining unemployed on that day. At all events, as the Saviour Himself somewhere else says, it S. Matt. is permitted to the Levites to minister on the sabbath, and ' ' "'• they exercise their functions on that day without blame, or rather their remaining unemployed would be blamable. For would any one find fault if they were detected sacrificing oxen on the sabbath, or even attending to other kinds of offerings? He would on the other hand more probably accuse them if they were not doing their duty and fulfilling the regulations of Divine service. When therefore things dedicated according to the law for the '' good of certain persons are brought to the Divine altar ^ ffur-npia even on the sabbath without prohibition, is it not more fitting still that a kind action should be performed unto a man, for whose sake the marvellous deed might be acceptable even on the sabbath? By just reasoning therefore, some of the Jews are inclined to an excellent judgment, and putting off by an efibrt from the eyes of their understanding the mist of ignorance that characterises their nation, they admire the glory of the Saviour, (although as yet not very ardently, for they speak of Him less worthily than they ought;) and they separate themselves from those who are actually condemning Him. For the one part unholily allowed themselves to be swayed by envy more than by just reasoning, and treat as a transgression that which in its nature could not in any wise be blamed; whereas the others, rightly considering the nature of the action, condemn such a foolish accusation.

It is of course possible that it was with reference to some other matter that they chose to say: How can a man that is a sinner do such signs? Perhaps, to put it briefly, they are eager to defend the general ^ practice of holy '^ ef(rfi6s men. For, say they, if we allow that it is quite possible

Book c^. for habitual transgressors to make themselves glorious by extraordinary actions and to be seen working marvellous deeds, what is there any longer to hinder those fond of making accusations from bringing charges against most of the prophets, or indeed by and bye attacking the blessed Moses himself, and lightly esteeming one so venerable, even though he was borne witness to by the most mighty actions of all? These men therefore may be contending for the reputation of the fathers as at stake in Christ, treating the circumstances respecting Him as a sort of pretext for shewing their love towards them.

17 Thei/ say therefore unto the blind man again, IVJiat sayest thou of Him, in that He opened thine eyes?

They imagine those who are disposed to judge faii'ly to be wandering in their wits, and they seem to me to have cfDeut. forgotten altogether Him Who says: Judge righteous judgment; and having been taken captive as it were in the bonds of envy, they cannot endure to listen at all to any word that honours Christ. Turning away from any one wishing to speak of His miracles as from some one most hostile to themselves, and mistrusting their own powers of explanation, they haughtily address their words to the man that had been healed. Again they ask what had been many times told them, having already proclaimed their belief that He Who had performed an action contrary to the sabbath was both worthless and wicked. They think that in this way the blind man will join them in condemning Him, and take his cue from their words; that he will suppress all outward signs of gratitude, out of fear and trembling before their anger, and readily charge Jesus with contempt of the law, because of its being the sabbath. Evil therefore was the design of the Pharisees, and it cannot be doubted that it was foolish also. For how could the voice of one thankless man weaken the force of the miracle? And would not Christ's Divine glory appear, if it so happened that the blind man, overcome by fear, should deny the kindness he had received, in order to avoid suffering anj^tliing from tliose wont to inflict pain? Chap. i. But envy is powerful to persuade those wlio are bursting with, it to eagerly do any thing in their passion, even though it involves conduct very fairly open to ridicule. The mind which is free from such thoughts, however, is not entangled by foolish arguments; but, ever preserving its natural excellence untarnished, is borne directly towards a right conclusion, and does not go beyond the limits of truth. Mean therefore and insolent are the Pharisees, thinking that those who choose to think and speak rightly are wandering in their wits, and endeavouring to compel the man to speak evil words concerning Him Who had miraculously bestowed on him an unhoped-for blessing. But he was disposed to express gratitude and had been brought nigh to a clear knowledge by means of the miracle.

They receive a sharp arrow into their hearts, who do not admit fair and just reasoning, and are eager to seek that only which gratifies their malice. For, as it is written, Prov. xii. the crafty man sliall not meet with prey. For their zealous lxx, design is upset, contrary to their expectation; and they are greatly disappointed of their hope when to their surprise they receive the reply: He is a propJiet. For the man who had been healed, judging very rightly, agrees with the opinion of the other party. For they, not unwisely considering the nature of the action, maintain that a man who was a sinner could not perform such a deed: and he upon whom the marvel has been wrought, all but pursuing the same track of argument, declares Jesus to be a prophet, not yet having accurately learned Who He is in truth, but adopting a notion current among the Jews. For it was customary with them to call wonder-workers prophets, deeming that their holiness was thereby borne witness to by God. Accordingly, just as they wisely determine not to dishonour the majesty of the Divine sign out of reverence for the sabbath, but argue from it that

Book 6. He AVlio wroug'lit it was altogether guiltless of sin; so " ' ' also I suppose this man, thrusting aside the petty cavil respecting the sabbath, with worthier thoughts gives glory to Him Who had freely given him sight, and, having allotted him a place amongst holy men, calls him aproplief. He seems to me, moreover, not to have thought too highly of the regulations of the law; for [otherwise] he would not have admired Jesus so much, or raised his Physician to the rank of a prophet in spite of his apparent transgression of the sabbatical law. Having certainly derived benefit from the marvellous deed, and having arrived at a better state of mind than that of the Jews, he is therefore obliged to admit a superiority to legal observances in the Wonder-worker, Who, in doing good works, deemed au infringement of the law altogether blameless.

18 The Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and had received his sight, until thei/ called the pa-

19 rents of him that had received his sight, and asked them, saying. Is this your son, who ye say ivas born blind? how then doth he note see?

The envy against the Healer which is hot within them does not allow them to believe what is acknowledged by all j and, swayed by the frenzy of madness, they of course care little for the discovery of truth, and speak falsely against Christ. First they applied pressure to the man himself, and now they are seen to be no less rashly distressing his parents, but with the very opposite result to that which they intended. They propose a most superfluous question to the man's parents, and they seem to me, in their unbounded folly, to dishonour the very law which they so venerated and so extravagantly upheld. For the Supra. neighbours, as it is written, brought Kxm that aforetime ^"* * was blind, and setting him face to face with those who were asking these questions, they reported most clearly that he had been born blind, and bore witness that now he had received sight. Thus, whereas the law distinctly

Deut.xix. savs that every matter is estahlishod hii the mouth of two or 15. " -^./ / ix 20 21 two or three but probably of many more, and go for further evidence to the parents of him who was healed, thus acting contrary to the law as well as to good manners. But the law is nothing to them when they are eager to accomplish somethiug agreeable to their private pleasures. For when the testimony borne to the miracle, by the voices both of the neighbours and of the man who was healed, put them out of countenance sorely against their will; they expected to be able to persuade those now being questioned, to make light of truth, and rather to speak as they wished them to speak. For see in how overbearing a manner they put their question, saying: Is this your son, who ye say was horn blind? For they all but avow their certain intention to treat them very dreadfully, and they frighten them with unbounded fear, calling as it were by compulsion and violence for that which they wished to hear, namely the answer: " He was not born blind." For they had but one object and that an impious one, namely, to loosen the hold which Christ had on the multitudes, and to turn away the simple faith of such as were now overcome with admiration. And just as men who strive to take some well-fortified city environ it on every side and besiege it in all manner of ways; at one time they are eager to undermine the foundations, at another they strike blows with battering-rams against the towers: so the shameless Pharisees lay siege to the miracle with all their evil devices and leave no method of impiety untried. But it was not possible to disparage as unworthy of credit what was well known to all, or to distort that at which many had marvelled into a less certain conviction.

20 His parents answered and said, We know that this is our

21 son, and that he ivus horn blind: but hoiv he now seeth, zve know not; or who opened his eyes, ive know not: ask him; he Is of age to speak for liimself.

They acknowledge as true that which was in no wise doubtful and for which it was hardly likely they would

' ' " ' ' cognise their own offspring, and do not deny what really was the case at his birth, but distinctly affirm that he was born with the affliction. Nevertheless they shrink from relating the miracle, leaving the nature of the deed to speak for itself, and maintaining that it would be -much more suitable to put the question as to how he had been healed to their son himself. Fear of danger is certainly a powerful motive to turn men aside from what it befits them to do. Being greatly alarmed by the harshness of the Pharisees, they do not observe that which is some- likely that they did suffer something of another sort; for the poor man is always timid, and, losing through his poverty the power to offer bold resistance, often takes refuge in an unwilling silence, and a forced acquiescence: as if already completely crushed in spirit by the vexation of poverty, he seems insensible to being burdened with other misfortunes. We suspect that the parents of the blind man suffered something of this sort, even though their answer on the whole is composed with great plausibility. For every one would agree that the recognition of the man as their son was a matter as to which it was far more reasonable to interrogate them than the man himself, whereas the question as to the Physician was one not so much for the parents to answer as for him who had experienced the benefit of the wonderful operation. Thus they distinctly acknowledge what they know, inasmuch as they are fairly called upon for this; but what he could tell more truly, since he had the more accurate knowledge, about that they call upon him to give information. And it is not without Divine guidance, I think, that they added to their speech the words: He is of age. For this too seems to indicate the impiety of the Pharisees. Because, if he that received sight was qualified by his time of life to form a sound opinion; when he relates the miracle and how he was treated, he will not speak with the mind of a boy, but with an understanding now well matured, and probably able to support by argument tbose speakers witli whom Chap.1. lie agrees. This then will of necessity tend to shew the utterly shameless incredulity of the Pharisees. For behold! they will believe neither the neighbours nor the blind man himself, although it is not with an immature intellect that he gives evidence, nor on account of a boyish understanding does he easily glide into falsehood; but ha is of age, a fact which prevents his being ignorant of the nature of affairs.

22 Thnse things said his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man should confess Him to be Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. Well and fitly does our Lord Jesus the Christ utter this woe at the heads of the Pharisees: Woe unto you S. Luke laioyers! for ye tooJc away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that luere entering in ye hindered. For again let the devout person consider if the beauty of truth will not correspond to these words; for Christ could never be deceived. For behold! besides the unwillingness of any one of them to teach the doctrine of the presence of the Christ among them, they both terrify with cruel fear those who could perceive Him by the brilliance of His actions, and, by imposing a severe compulsion in their savageness, hinder any member of their company who seemed disposed to do so from acknowledging His miracles. For by putting out of the synagogue him who was right-minded and therefore disposed to believe, the wretches do not blush of their own authority to alienate in a manner from God him who cleaves to God; and to persuade him that the Lord of all is a partaker of the madness against all which they themselves possess. The admirable Evangelist however defends such, and says that the persons questioned were overcome by fear and therefore unwilling to say that the Christ had healed their son: so that by exposing the magnitude of the fury of the Jews, he might make it evident to those that come after. For what could be more inhuman than the conduct of these men, who deem right-minded persons worthy of punish-

Book. t. ment, and bring under the necessity of being punislied, such as at all understand Him Who was proclaimed by the Law and the Prophets? And we shall find from the sacred Scriptures that the unholy design of the Jews was not unknown to the holy Prophets. For He Who search-

Heb. iv. eth the hearts and reins^ piercing even to the dividing of soid and sjijirit, of hath joints and marrow, and, quich to discern lb. 13. t]iQ thoughts and intents of the heart, to Whom all things

Isa. XXX. are naked and laid open, saith by Isaiah: Woe to the rebellious children: thus saith the Lord, Ye tooJc counsel, hut not of Me; ye made covenants, hut not hy My Spirit; to add

1 Cor. xii. sin to sin. For he who saith that Jesus is Lord most cer- 3.

tainly will speak in the Holy Spirit, according to the words of Paul; but any one who professes the contrary will not speak in the Holy Spirit, (how could it be possible?) but rather in Beelzebub. Sarely then the covenants of the Jews were not made hy the Holy Spirit, for they added sins to sins. They first of all draw down the doom of disobedience upon their own heads, and then they communicate it to others by forbidding them to confess the Christ. Surely the design is full of the grossest impiety, albeit the Psalmist laughs at those who to their disap-

Ps. XX. pointment engage in a fruitless undertaking, saying: Tlioii

(10— i2. 0 Lord shall confound them in Thy lurath, and the fire shall ' devour them; their fruit shalt Thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men: for they intended evil against Thee; they imagined a device ivhich they are not ahle to perform. For they were quite unable to cai'ry out a design which fought against God, although often and in ten thousand ways they attempted to obscure lb. 12, the glory of Christ. Therefore they were turned hack, that '' is, were driven from the face and presence of the Lord of

Isa. 1.11. all, justly being addressed with the words: Walk in the light of your fire, and in the flame ivhich ye kindled.

24 So they called a second tmie the tnan that ivas blind, and said unto him. Give glory to God: we knoio that this Man is a sinner. Being unable to stop the man from speaking well of

Christ, they attempt to attain a similar end by another Chap.1. method, and proceed to entice him in a sort of coaxing way to fulfil their private aim. Trying by many arguments to make him forget Christ altogether, and not even mention Him as a Physician, they say most craftily that he ought to ascribe glory to God on account of the marvellous deed, thus pretending piety. Nevertheless they bid him agree with and believe themselves, even when they maintain the highest impiety possible by saying that He is a sinner, Who came to destroy sin. They bring forward no proof whatever of this slanderous assertion, but being boasters and thinking something great and extraordinary of themselves, merely because they were leaders of the people, they command implicit confidence to be put in their discernment of character, and lay it down as a matter of duty. For the words, We know, will be found pregnant with surpassing arrogance by those who closely examine what they imply. But thou mayest in no small degree wonder at the foolish mind of the Jews from this also, that whereas they decree that gtory should be ascribed to God on account of the miracle, since He alone is the doer of such deeds, they condemn One Who works the works of God by His own might; and not only do the miserable people act thus themselves, but they compel others to agree with them. Yet when they aver that by their own unaided knowledge they are sure that Christ is a sinner, they are ignorant that they assert something most harmful to themselves. For^ being wont to boast greatly of their learning in the Law, and exhibiting intolerable conceit about the Sacred Scriptures, they will suffer a greater penalty; because, it being in their power to know the mystery of Christ, which by the Law and the Prophets in many ways is typified and proclaimed, they with much heedlessness cling to their self-imposed ignorance; or, if they possess accurate knowledge, are always most pertinaciously unwilling to do what they ought. For they ought rather to instruct the mind of the common people to comprehend the mysteries of Christ, and to try to lead

But thej, profuse in arguments and mighty in boasts, and crying out with far too high an opinion of themselves:

We hiow, set aside the words of the Law, account the voice of Moses as nothing, and think the declarations of prophets to be as vain as those of the thoughtless mob; for they quite fail to take notice of what the voice of the prophet foretels will happen at the time of Our Saviour

(LXX) shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear; then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the

Snp^ V. 2. dumb shall be distinct. For the paralytic was healed at the pool of Bethesda, and after passing through thirty and eight years in his infirmity, as it is written, by one word of the Saviour he took up his bed and leaped away like a hart: yet when they ought to have admired Jesus for that, they lamented the breach of the sabbath, and, holding that the law had been transgressed, disparaged the excellence of the miracle. At another time, when an evil spirit had

_S. Matt, been cast out of him, the dumb man spake; but they fell into such terrible folly as not to gain even a little profit from it. The blind man received sight, the prophetic announcement was fulfilled, the word of the Spirit waa brought to pass to the uttermost, and what? Again at this they go mad, they condemn the Wonder-worker, they attribute sin to Him Who is able to shine forth with Divine brightness, and Who displays as actually now present that which had been expected long ages before.

The benefit which the man formerly blind had received from Christ appears to have been twofold: his understanding was in some way enlightened at the same time as his bodily eyes, and as he possesses the light of the physical sun in his fleshly eyes, so the intellectual beam, I mean the illumination by the Spirit, takes up its abode within liim, and he receives it into his heart. For hear Chap. i. how he resists the abominable conduct of the magistrates out of his great love towards Christ, and how cleverly he repi'oaches them as being well-nigh intoxicated and beside themselves. But he frames his speech with proper respectfulness, and giving them their due honour as the ruling order, courteously says: Whether He he a sinner, I hiow not. We do not argue from this that the man was unaware that Jesus was not a sinner, but shall rather suppose that he so addressed those men with the following design. For he may be imagined to speak thus. Though compelled against my will to acquiesce in what is wrong, I will not endui-e to slander my Benefactor: I will not join myself to those who wish to dishonour Him Who deserves all honour: I will not say that such a Wonderworker is a sinner: I will not give an unjust vote against One Who is mighty to work the works of God. The miracle wrought in me does not permit me to consent to your words: I was blind and I see. It is not another man's account of His doings that I have believed: I am not carried away by the reports of mere strangers: it is not cures effected upon others that I am led to admire. I myself, he says, am a proof of His power: I stand here seeing, having been formerly blind, as a sort of monument, exhibiting the excellence of His love for men, and flashing forth the greatness of His Divine power. Something like this I conceive to be the real significance of the words used by him who had received his sight. For to say: WJiether he he a sinner I hiow not; and immediately to add: One thing I know, that, whereas I tvas hlind, now I see, is not in the style of a simple statement, but shews a deeper meaning of very wise reasoning.

21) Thei/ said therefore unto him again, What did He to thee? how opened He thine eyes 9

They again resort to questioning, and inquire about the manner of the Divine sign; not doing this out of good feeling or a laudable curiosity, but placing and reckoning

Book 6. tlie Speaking well of Christ by any living being as baser than any villainy and worse than any wickedness^ they stir up all these matters afresh; thinking pei'haps that the man would no more repeat the same words, but would vary his account of the event, and say something inconsistent with his former answers, so that they might lay hold of the contradiction and denounce him as an impostor and a liar. For, supercilious in their excessive cleverness, they imagined the force of the miracle to depend on the mere words of the man, as though it wei^e not evident from the fact of what had been done. And moreover, I think that they may have experienced something of this sort: such as are not backward in hating others unjustly, when they are making inquiries about anything done by them which does not seem to have been rightly done, wish to hear it from the witnesses not once only but over and over again, whetting as it were into keener action the anger which seems too feeble. For, conscience, ever testing our motives, makes us uncomfortable, and ceases not to. accuse us of injustice, even though from passionate prejudice we may feel a certain pleasure in the unjust action. The man who had been healed is accordingly provoked and urged against his will to go over the story again and to answer the same questions, while they almost make signs to one another to observe closely whether something illegal might not have been done in the working of this Divine sign on the sabbath. For conscience checks the savage design that rages within them, and (so to speak) puts a bridle on them, though they are unwilling to admit its interference.

27 He answered them, I told you even now, and ye did not hear: wherefore ivould ye hear it again?

It seems superfluous now, he says, to tell the story over again to an incredulous audience, and it is useless for you to inquire so often concerning these things, when you do not gain anything whatever, although you learn and have conclusive evidence. But you bid me now again reiterate tlie same words for no good purpose, as experience pro- Chap.i. claims. For hereby the man who had been healed thoroughly convicts the Pharisees of unreasonableness, of turning away their ears from the truth, as it is written, not 2 Tim. being laudably angry at the law being broken, but by these questions bidding him who wished to speak well of the Wonder-worker to appear in the character of an accuser, rather than accepting him as an admirer. For this was in truth their aim, since the transgression of the law was altogether a matter of indifference to them, and passed over as quite unimportant. On this account they set aside just judgment and were only bent on gratifying their prejudice; forgetting God, Who says: The p-iest's lips Mai. ii. shall guard judgment and they shall seek the law at his mouth.

He has now confessed distinctly, and without any evasion, that he has been made a disciple, if not by argument yet in consequence of the marvellous deed; and has become a believer, accepting his miraculous sight in the place of instruction. For when he said to them: Would ye also become His disciples? he as it were revealed his own condition of mind, that he was not only willing to become, but actually had already become, a disciple. And in some degree even before he had fulness of faith, acting upon the precept: Freely ye received, freely give, he was prepared s. Matt, at once and very unselfishly to communicate his advan- ^' tages to them. He affirms unhesitatingly and often his account of the marvellous deed, if they had only considered his narrative really as instruction. He certainly therefore observed in an excellent way that in the Book of Proverbs: He speaketh in the ears of them that hear. Esclus.

It seems probable that some deep and hidden meaning ^^^' ""^' is obscurely intimated in these words of his, and I will briefly state what it is. There were some of the magistrates who recognised that the Wonder-worker was in truth Christ, but keeping their knowledge of Him buried (so to speak) within their hearts, they as yet were unsus- of the Pharisees theij did not confess it. The proofs of this will be strengthened also to some extent by Nicodemus, boldly exclaiming and saying to Our Lord Jesus Christ:

Rahhi, we know that Thou art a Teacher come from God, and that no man can do these signs that Thou doest, except God he with Him. Certainly therefore some of the rulers knew, and the report of this was spread abroad throughout all

Jerusalem. The majority of the Jews suspected that the rulers knew, but were determined not to confess it through malice and envy; and that this also is true, we will shew from the evangelical writings themselves. For the blessed

Sup. vii. John himself somewhere says that Jesus stood teaching in the very temple and explaining things which, at least to the understanding of His hearers, seemed to be breaking the law. And when the magistrates of the Jews did not proceed at all against Him, nay, did not venture so much as to say: " O fellow, cease teaching what does not harmonize with our ancient laws,^^ they brought suspicion on themselves among the multitudes as we have just observed.

Sup. vii. Thus for instance it is written: So7ne of them of Jerusalem ' ' said, Is not this Re Whom they seek to kill? And lo, He speaketh openly and they say nothing unto Him. Can it he that the riders know that this is the Christ? Surely he all but says, " Those whose lot it is to be leaders know that He is indeed the Christ; see, although they are generally considered to be desirous of killing Him, He is speaking with very great boldness and they do not rebuke Him even so much as by words." Accordingly, this suspicion being spread abroad through all Jerusalem, the blind man had at some time heard it, and had this report about these men ringing in his ears. Gracefully therefore reproving them, as we may suppose, he says: " Surely it is to no purpose that ye bid me again utter the same words and again speak the praise of the mai'vellous deed: or do ye indeed consider the narrative a pleasm-e, thirsting even now for instruction from Him, altliougli, overcome by fear Chap, l, of others, ye allow ungrateful cov way of such excellent knowledge?

28 And they reviled him, and said, Thou art His disciple; but we are disciples of Moses.

We almost see the Evangelist smile as he says this. For he beholds those whose lot it was to hold sacred offices degraded in mental stupor so far as to make an object of reviling that which was so excellent, namely discipleship under Christ; smitten with a worthy love of which, some of the saints say: Hoiv siveet are Thy ivords Ps. cxix. tinto my throat, sweeter than honey and honeycomb u7ito my mouth. And again another, as if speaking to Our Lord Jesus the Christ coucerning those that disobey Him, says: Consume them, and Thy word shall be to me a pleasure and Jer. xv. delight, yea the joy of my heart. But they attach no value (l'xX) to His sacred words, and think that one who is being instructed by Him is worthy of blame even on that account alone; and holding so far true opinions even against themselves, they speak of the Christ as the blind man^s teacher, and Moses as their own. For in very truth the Gentiles were illuminated by Christ through the Evangelical teaching, and Israel died in the types given by Moses and was buried in the shadow of the letter. Wherefore also Paul somewhere says of them: Unto this day, whensoever Moses 2 Cor. iii. is read, a veil lieth upon their heart. And there is no doubt ^* that it was as a type of the Gentiles that we were as in a picture delineating the history of the blind man, fashioning, as in a type, the incidents connected with him to express the truth concerning them.

Yet this also is signified, that to suffer reproach for Christ's sake is a thing delightful and most honourable; for the very means by which those who do not shrink from becoming persecutors think to vex those who love Him, become (though the persecutors know it not) sources of joy to them. Yea, those who persecute Christians cause their excellence to shine more conspicuously, and do not

Book 6. SO easily succeed in causing them injuiy. The abandoned c. IX. 29. pi^j^j,jgegs then, disparaging as seems probable themselves more than Christ, say of the blind man: Thou art His disciple; and being elated and puffed up with pride, foolishly say of themselves: But we are disciples of Moses.

29 Wc know that God hath spoken mito Moses: but as for this Man, we know not whence He is.

Boldly do they speak again, armed with that folly which is so familiar and dear to them; and in undiminished shamelessness they once more boastfully exclaim: We know. And when they add: that Qod hath spoken unto Moses, thereby recognising that he deserved great honour, they in another way again insult him, seeing that they take no account of his precepts. For they ignorantly condemn One Whom as yet they know not, or rather they dishonour Him in spite of what they have learnt concerning Him, although the Law forbids them to act unjustly and quarrelsomely towards any or to judge at all in this way. Something of this sort they say again now: " confessedly God hath spoken unto Moses; there is no sufficient reason for any to be in doubt on this point; He enacted laws by him, and laid down regulations how every thing is to be done. Certainly therefore, he says, he is a transgressor of the sacred Scriptures, who has contrary opinions to those expressed by Moses: and manifestly the law concerning the sabbath has been bi'oken, for thou wast healed on the sabbath: it is righteous not to acknowledge one who is detected in this matter and therefore condemned. Now we have good reason to say that He has not observed the Divine law.'^ Then, when they say of Christ: We know not whence He is, they surely do not say so as being ignorant Who or whence He was, for they are elsewhere found publicly confessing that they know all about Him. S. Matt. Is not this the carpenter's Son, Whose father and mother we Si'pra'vi. know? How then doth He say, I am come down out of hea- ^' ven? Certainly therefore we can not accept this statement: We know not whence He is, as indicative of ignorance, but we shall look upon it as tlie ^ expression of tlie arro- Chap. i. gance wliicli was in them. For, throwing contempt oug"^ "^v" their own previous judgment, and setting it altogether at naught, they make this statement concerning Him. Perhaps indeed their words indicate that they argued as follows; for it is only fair to their arguments that we should scrutinise them more carefully. " We know," say they, " that God has spohen unto Moses: certainly therefore we must believe without hesitation what was spoken by him, and observe the commandments given him from Grod. But tJiis Man ive Jaiow not, for God hath not spoken unto Him, nor have we recognised any such thing with regard to Him." But the Pharisees, wont to be wise in their own conceit, and boasting much of their knowledge of i>he Divine word, ought to have considered that God the Father thus speaks, when by the all-wise Moses He proclaims the future advent of Jesus: I ivill raise them up a Prophet Deut. from among their brethren lihe unto thee, and will put Mij ly. ' ' words in His mouth, and He shall speaJc unto them as I shall command Him. And whatever man shall not hearken to whatsoever that Prophet shall speak in My Name, I will take vengeance on him. Surely any one might have rebuked the Jews with good reason, and said: 0 ye who only know how to disbelieve, if ye are so readily persuaded by the words of Moses, because God hath spoken unto him, ought ye not to believe Christ in the same way, when ye hear Him publicly declaring*: The words that I say unto Infra xiv.

you are not Mine, hut the Father's Who sent Me; and again: ' I speak not from Myself; hut the Father ivhich sent Me, He lb. xii. hath given Me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. Certainly therefore the words of the Pharisees are a mere excuse, a fiction of vain reasoning. For if they say they ought rather to follow Moses, on this account, that God spake to him; why do they not think similarly with regard to Christ, when He distinctly says what we have just mentioned? But while in part they honour the law, and pretend to hold God's will in high esteem, in another way they violate it and dishonour it

Book 0. greatly by refusing to accept its proclamation concerning their time, that namely which was announced by it concerning Christ, that by His Incarnation He should appear in the character of a Prophet.

30 The man ansu-ered and said unto them. Why, herein is the marvel, that ye know not whence He is, and yet He opened mine eyes.

I am astonished, he says, and very justly, that you say you do not know One Who is borne witness to by such holiness and by the Divine power shewn in His actions; yet you are thought to incessantly give attention to God's teaching, you administer the law, you make the verbal study of the sacred Words your great delight, you possess the chief power among the people and especially may be 1 <ppov- expected to know who are good ' teachers. For who ought to rightly know those who by God's power work wonders, if they do not who are appointed to minister in holy things and who have been put in charge of the venerable mysteries? And by saying that he is astonished that they are altogether ignorant respecting the Divine sign, so wonderful and strange, which had been wrought upon him, the man covertly and by implication rebukes them, hinting that they were so far removed from sanctification and fitness for piety, that they shamelessly confessed themselves utterly ignorant of Him Who is truly holy, that is, Christ. For let us lay bare what we believe to have been the concealed thought. If that is true which is somewhere Ecclus. well said: Every beast loveth his Wee, and a man will le"' ' cleave to his like, how then if they were holy and good did they turn away and refuse to cleave to Him Who was holy and good? Certainly therefore that which was spoken was pregnant with a rebuke of the accursed policy and behaviour of the Pharisees. And I think another thing also will help to make this manifest. For I think that the diligent student who devotes his attention to such expressions will perceive more distinctly that which seems to be hidden in each. What then is this? Many rumours went about tlirougb all Judaea concerning our Saviour Chap. i. Christ, but tbey spoke of Him only as a Propbet. For ^' '^* ^^' thus tbe Law propbesied tbat He would come, saying: The Lord our God will raise up a Prophet from among your Deut. brethren; yet tbey boped tbat wben He was revealed in '^^"'" ' His proper time He would instruct tbem in tilings above tbe Law, and by unfolding tbe truer intent of tbe Lawgiver would educate tbem in worthier wise. And tbou needest not wonder tbat there was among tbe Jews such a hope and opinion, wben even among tbe other nations tbe same opinion was spread abroad. For instance even tbat Samaritan woman said: We hiow that Messiah cometh Supra iv. f which is called Christ): ivhen He is come, He ivill declare " unto tts all things. Most clearly therefore tbe Jews knew tbat Christ would come, (for this is what Messiah meaneth), and would interpret to tbem tbe higher counsel of God; and moreover that He would also open the eyes of tbe blind was declared by Isaiah, who says distinctly: Then Isa. xxxv. sliall the eyes of the blind be opened. But there was also another opinion prevalent in Jerusalem, forasmuch as the prophet Isaiah speaks of the Ineffable Son of God the Father as quite -unrecognised, saying: Who shall declare - dyvaxr- His generation? The Jews, here also distorting the force ib!iiii. of tbe words in accordance with their own notions, ima- ^' gined that tbe Christ would be altogether unrecognised, no one whatever knowing whence He was: although tbe Divine Scriptures establishes for us very evidently His birth in the flesh, and therefore exclaims: Behold, the lb. vii, virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a Son. ' And tbat the mind of the Jews in this again was uneducated as regards the comprehension of essential truths, when tbey supposed tbat the Christ would be unrecognised, it is easy to see, from what the blessed Evangelist John declared to be evident concerning Him, wben speaking to tbem of Jerusalem. For some of them of Jerusalem Supra vii, said, Is not this He Whom they seek to hill? And lo. He" ~"'' spealceth openly, and they say nothing unto Him. Can it be that the riders indeed laiow that this is the Christ? How-

BookC). heit we hiow this Man whence He is: hut when the Christ Cometh, no one hwiveth ivhence He is.

Wliile the Jews therefore are thus absurdly laying down these opinions concerning Christ, the man who had been blind already forms [right] ideas about Him, quickly drawing inferences from the marvellous deed, and all but seizes on the words of the Pharisees in confirmation of his own reasoning. For he says: Why, herein is the miracle, that ye know not ivhence He is, and yet He opened mine eyes. Two signs, he says, I have, and very clear ones, of His being the Christ. For ye hiow not ivhence He is, but yet He opened mine eyes. Certainly therefore this is evidently He Who was foretold by the Law, and borne witness to by the voice of Prophets.

31 fVe know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and do His will, him He heareth.

Having already in some measure shewn his delight in the proclamations made by the Prophets and the Law as now fulfilled, both in its being unknown whence Chi'ist was, and in the eyes of the blind being opened, he collects for himself aids to faith from every quarter, and thus discovers something else also. Starting from necessary and acknowledged principles, he makes a show of going on to the inquiry as to what is profitable and fitting, and constructs what may be termed a piece of reasoning wellpleasing to God. For he maintains, and surely there are good grounds for so thinking, that the God Who loves justice and virtue never hears those who love sin; and laying this down as indisputable and universally acknowledged, he introduces as a contrast the opposite statement as true, and as gainsaid in no quarter, I mean of course that everywhere and always the Lord of all listens to such as are habitually pious. And although the conclusion to be drawn was designed to refer to the Christ alone, it was so constructed as if it had reference to a general and universal principle. For as I have already pointed out by anticipation, the man who had been blind has an unworthy conception of Christ and has not yet learnt accurately that Chap. l. He is by nature God; so that he thinks and speaks of * Him as a Prophet, to Whom he might without blame ascribe piety: but this does not rightly apply to Christ at all, because He is by nature God, receiving the worship of the pious as it were a spiritual sacrifice.

32 Since the ivorld began it vms never heard that any one opened the eyes of a man born blind.

Pained as it seems very keenly, and grieving as we may say over their revilings against Christ, so as to be vexed beyond endurance because they contemptuously said: Thou art His disciple, hut ive are disciples of Moses, he is Sup. ver. eager to speak on behalf of his Master; hence he draws a sort of comparison between the achievements of Moses and the brilliant deeds of Our Saviour, showing that as the latter is greater in wonder-working, so far He is the better. For indeed, is it not a matter of course that he who accomplishes the greater work should be in every way superior in glory? Surely it is not to be doubted. And at the same time he probably signifies something of this sort. Whereas a very ancient prophecy foretells and declares thus concerning the coming of Christ: The7i shall Isa.xxxv. the eyes of the hlind he opened, and no one ever before * caused astonishment by having done any such deed; now it has been fulfilled by Him and Him only. Whom you (I know not why, he says) do not scruple to call a sinner. Moreover, a great company of holy prophets are spoken of, and a number not easily computed of just men are mentioned throughout the Sacred Scriptures, but since the world began it was never heard that any one opened the eyes of a man horn hlind. Is it not therefore certain that this is the Christ, Who accomplishes the declarations of the Prophets, Who thoroughly and completely fulfils the things proclaimed of old? For if no other besides Him opens the eyes of the blind, what henceforth shall stand in the way of faith? What shall turn us aside from accepting Him? Or how can we fail, every doubt being