parent is ever the natural office of the offspring. So he c.xiii.2l. who has fully believed that Christ is the Son thereby fully confesses the God Who begat the Son. Terrible therefore is the sentence pronounced on the traitor, since his rebellious insult is even against God the Father, because so much is involved in his impious outrage against the Son. For if with unswerving faith he had acknowledged the Son to be God of God, he would then have accepted and reverenced Him, submitting heart and soul in sincerity to Him as to the Lord; and then would the wretched man have found his love to Christ stronger than base passions, nor methinks would he, by being found guilty of treachery, have made it true concerning himself that it would have been better for him if he had never at all been born.
21 Wlmi Jesus had thus said, He was troubled in the sinrit, a7id testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray Me.
Who is there among living men who would not feel plainly convinced that our human faculties are incapable of supplying either ideas or words which may at all express, in an irreproachable and infallible manner, the attributes peculiar to that nature which is both Divine and ineffable? Therefore we depend on the words of which our faculties are capable, as a feeble medium of expressing such things as pass our understanding. For how can we speak with clear fulness on a subject that really transcends the very limits of our comprehension? We are compelled therefore to take the feebleness of human phrases as a faint image of the true ideas, and then to endeavour to pass onward, as far at least as circumstances will allow, to realise the peculiarities of the Divine attributes. The Divine nature is exceedingly terrible in uttering reproofs, and is stirred to violent emotion by unmingled hatred of evil, against whomsoever the Divine decree may have determined that this feeling is justly due; and this in spite of im-
Book 9. measurable long -suffering. Whenever therefore the c.xiu 21. -Q^^^^g Scripture wishes to express God's emotion against impious designs of whatever kind, it derives its language as on other occasions from expressions in use among us, and in human phraseology speaks of anger and wrath; although the Divine Essence is subject to none of these passions in any way that bears comparison with our feelings, but is moved to indignation the extent of which is knoAvn only to Itself and is natural to Itself alone, for the ways of God are utterly unspeakable. But the Divine Scripture, as we have said, is wont to record things too great for us in accordance with human fashion. Therefore here also the inspired Evangelist says that Christ ^ua8 trouhled in the spirit, calling the evil-hating emotion of the Spirit " trouble," because, as it seems, there was no other word he could use. And it certainly seems as though the emotion of the Godhead, intolerant of the restraint of the flesh, did really bring about a slight shuddering and an apparent condition of disturbance, exhibiting the outward signs of anger; doubtless similar to what Supra is recorded also at [the raising of] Lazarus, [where we read] that Jesus went to the tomb groaning [or, moved with indignation] in Himself. For just as in that passage Christ's stern menace against death is called "groaning," even so here also His emotion against the impious traitor is indicated by the word "trouble." And good cause He had to be troubled, in indignation at the stubborn wickedness of Judas. For what could be the ultimate end of the impiety of one who, although in common with the other disciples he was the recipient of super-excellent honours and enrolled among the elect, yet was persuaded by a little silver to relinquish all his. love to Christ, and while eating His bread lifted up his heel against Him, — a man who regarded neither honour nor fame, neither the law of love nor the reverence due to Christ as God, nor any other of the just claims that were laid upon him; but who, with hi« eyes fixed only on the loathsome pieces of money that were to be the c.xiii.22. result of his bargain with the Jews, sold his own soul irrecoverably for those few coins, and betrayed the in- g j^^^^ nocent and righteous blood into the hands of polluted ^^^^- 4. murderers 1 Most reasonable was the plea Jesus had for being troubled. And the reproof comes home to them in all its sternness, affecting indeed in its special significance one person only of the twelve, but enabling them all in a remarkable manner to realise the extreme horror of the accusation laid; and all but loudly imploring each one among the listeners to strictly guard his own soul, lest by any means it should be unwarily caught in such fatal snares, and fall a foolish prey to the cruel wiles of the devil. Instructive therefore was the force of the reproofs, the disregard of which by the traitor's heart left him to the unchecked influence of his own ambitions. Most emphatically then Christ adds the words: One of you shall betray Me. Hereby He either seeks to upbraid the ingratitude of the daring traitor, or indicates the vastness of the wickedness of the devil, which could even carry off one of the Apostles themselves.
22 The disciples therefore looked one on another, doubting of whom He spake.
Terror and dread at once thrill the hearts of the disciples, and they glance one at another, being filled with a twofold alarm at the words uttered. For each one, as was natural, on reviewing the state of his own individual soul, was weighed down with grievous fear; and furthermore, they all felt the agony, no less severe, which was produced by the suspicion that rested on them all in common. For they are well assured that the words spoken will be fully verified. They know that the saying of the Saviour could not pass away unfulfilled; and yet they reckon it as a terrible and unbearable misery that any one of those numbered among the disciples should have relapsed into such a depth of
Book 9. impiety. This leads them each one to examine his own c.^xiu. 3- cQjigcience, and to look around him in bewildered inquiry as to who it is to whose.share the lot of perdition is to fall, wondering much whence or how Satan will obtain such power as to steal away the allegiance of one even of Christ's own peculiar companions.
24 His disciples, whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore beckoneth to him to ask who it might be of ivhom He spake.
26 Him, Lord, who is it? Jesus therefore answer eth. He it is to tvhom I shall give the soj:) vjhen I have dipped it.
We might naturally be filled with admiration, and especially from this further instance, at the zealous ardour displayed by the holy disciples in their love to God, and at the excessive strictness of their devotion. For being unable of themselves to know the guilty person, whoever he might be. and refusing also to place confidence in the uncertainties of deceitful conjectures, they again give vent to their curiosity by questions, and make one who was preeminent among them, I mean Peter, the representative of their eagerness to learn the truth. Peter shrinks from putting the question by his own mouth, and entrusts the interrogation to him who is reclining next to Christ and who is beloved for his more conspicuous purity, I mean John, the author of the book before us; who, in speaking of himself as beloved by Christ, has concealed his own name, burying it in silence, lest he might seem to any to be making a boastful display. For the mind of the saints is untainted by any such ambition. And so, turning himself gently towards his Master, in a secret Infra whisper he sought to learn who was to be the son of xvii. 11. jierdition. But the Saviour vouchsafes to him no further indication of the fact save what had been pro- ^s- ^'^- ^- claimed of old by the voice of the prophet in the LXX.) words: He that eateth my bread did magnify himself contemj)tuously against me. For when He has dipped c.xiii. the sop, He gives it to Judas, thereby showing who it ^3-26. was that was eating His bread. And He thus both removes the fear felt by the holy disciples, and seems to remind them of another prophecy, that runs thus: But it was even thou, 0 my companion, nfiy guide, and Ps.lv. 13, mine oivn faTniliar friend: eating at the same board, n^^ ^^ thou didst inake my food sweet to me: we tvalked in i^- the house of God as friends. For there was a time when even the traitor himself was a companion and a familiar friend to the Saviour, eating at the same board with Him, and sharing in everything that is reckoned to denote true discipleship; inasmuch as he had his allotted portion among the other holy disciples, who, with their whole lives devoted to the Saviour, traversing in His company the length and breadth of Judaea, were zealous attendants on Him in all His mighty works, and hastened on all occasions to do whatever might redound to His honour and glory. And yet this familiar friend and companion exchanged the grateful service owed to One Who had so honoured him for slavery to disgraceful passions.
Notice again how effectually the very wise Evangelist spurs us on to a desire to live, as far as possible, in the manner most accordant with reason, and to train up the keenness of our intellectual powers so as to be able, and that with perfect ease, to act in obedience to the Divine intentions, and to endeavour, as far as in us lies, to thoroughly fulfil the conditions of the vision of God. He tells us that he was himself the object of special honour and love on the part of Christ our Saviour, so as even to recline next Him, actually in the very bosom of the Lord, deeming this circumstance a token of His surpassing affection towards him. Nearest therefore to God, and as it were in the highest place in His honour, will most especially be those whose heart is pure: and to them also the Saviour Himself assigns conspicuous g ^ honour when He says that the pure in heart shall be v. 8.
c. xiii. 27. forward, as evidence of the truth of this saying, even this very wise Evangelist himself. For he has seen the glory of Christ, according to his own words, for he says:
Supra / beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only-hegotten of bodily eyes could any one gaze at the nature of Him
He hath seen the Father. To those however who keep their mind untainted by worldly stain, and freed from vain imagination whose only concern is with this life, it seems that Christ reveals His own peculiar glory by a subtle and perhaps incomprehensible process, thereby showing forth also the glory of the Father. For it must
So when He had dijyped the sop, He giveth it to Jvdas 27 Iscariot, the son of Simon. And after the sop, Satan entered into him.
Most distinct was the token to mark the traitor that the Saviour showed to His own disciples. For when He had dipped the sop He gave it to him, thereby making clearly evident who it was that did eat of His bread, and was now about to lift up his heel against Him. Nevertheless the very wise Evangelist tells us that the guide and instigator of his impiety and accursed cruelty to Christ, and the deviser of the whole scheme, had rushed into the heart of the traitor, even that Satan in all his evil power had taken up his abode within him after the giving of the sop. And let no one suppose on the contrary that the sop was to the traitor the cause of his being possessed by Satan. For we shall not have so nearly reached the verge of madness, nor shall we even prove ourselves so bereft of proper intelligence, as to ' (vXofia suppose that such a ^ gift could have afforded the evil one any pretext for an entrance; but we will rather say c xiii. 27. this, keeping our statement about the traitor well within the limits of the truth: — Seeing that, although perfect love had been shown towards him, and nothing was in any way lacking of the things that are generally reckoned to imply a disposition to confer honour, he still clung fast to the same evil endeavours, never correcting by repentance his wicked thoughts, nevei' turning his heart away from its ungodly designs, never weeping in bitter sorrow for the wickedness he had so much as dared to conceive; but still thirsting more and more to accomplish to the full his impious purpose, and so to be finally ruined by his own evil recklessness: Satan consequently entered into him, finding his heart ready and open like a gate to receive him, unprotected by sobriety; and seeing that his mind was not locked against him, but rather already inflamed with a willingness to do whatsoever he might wish and suggest.
And by searching thoroughly the inspired Scripture we shall find this to be an accustomed habit, as we may say, of the evil one. He at the beginning opens his attack by trying the hearts of those who worship God, first of all sowing the seed of evil questionings, and inciting us with the bait of paltry pleasures to false steps of various kinds. And he above all most violently assaults us at any point where he sees we have already suffered and been vanquished before. For he always uses somehow our own weakness as an auxiliary to his wicked devices, and employs again the passion which. previously injured our soul. Thus, for example, he harasses one man perhaps with violent assaults through the senses which become the most depraved incentives to fleshly pleasures; whereas in the case of another who is overcome by base gains, to make a proflt of unholy wealth seems somehow held up to honour as the best thing possible. Whenever therefore he makes war against us, he uses as an auxiliary force the passion that has before held sway in warring against us, and by its
Book 9. agency he ever devises the scheme of our perdition. For c.xiii.27. j^g^ as a commander, skilled in generalship, when laying siege to a city, hastens with all speed and by every device to attack the weakened parts of the wall, thither ordering his battering-engines to be brought into action, well knowing that in those quarters the capture will be easy; even so methinks Satan, when intending to lay siege to a human soul, sets to work at its weakest part, thinking that he will by this means bring it into easy subjection, especially when he sees it receiving no assistance from those helps by which it is likely the passion would be defeated, such as noble emotions, provocations to manly courage, suggestions to devotion, " fvKoyia and the mystic '^ Eucharist. For this most of all is elFective as an antidote to the murderous poison of the devil.
Therefore it happened that the traitor was not dismayed at rebukes uttered as yet quietly and secretly, nor did he even regard the invincible might of love, nor " evKoYia lionour and glory and grace, nor the ^gift that he received from Christ. But hurrying on, without pausing to reflect or checking himself for a moment, his eyes fixed on that, and that alone, which had proved too strong for him once before, I mean the curse of avarice, he was now finally ensnared, and fell to utter ruin. For no longer has he Satan merely as a counsellor, but he takes him now to be master of his whole heart and absolute dominator of his thoughts, who was at first, merely an adviser who whispered suggestions. For Sedan entered into him, according to the language of the gospel.
We must therefore be on our guard against, and very carefully avoid, the harm that may result from the first approaches of evil; and we ought as a duty to remember Eccies. him who said: // the spirit of the poiuerfid one rise up ^' *■ against thee, leave not thy place, for a remedy rvill keep in check great sins. For necessity would compel us again to grant authority over our thoughts to the spirit of the jyovjerful one. If there is ^ not in us the power to c. xiii. 28. resist altogether, still we are at any rate able to check a growing impulse at the outset, and not to allow it to take deep root by lazily yielding and giving way to it: rather we should hasten to extirpate it, as the germ of bitterness, desiring that our minds should be free from its vexations. Else we must surely know that Satan will prevail little by little through continual flattery, and we shall probably experience something like what the Psalmist did, who says: Before I was humbled, I Ps- cxix. ivent wrong. For before we suffer the full effect of the sin, we go astray in yielding assent to evil thoughts, cherishing them with approval, and so by this means giving Satan a place of access. And the case of the traitor will be to us a type and example of the whole matter.
28 Jesus saith unto Mm, That thou doest, do quickly. Now no man at the table knew for what intent He S2)aJce this unto him.
It may seem perhaps to some that this present verse is somewhat out of harmony, and not in a very close connexion with what has been just previously said. " For what can be the reason," some one may ask, and not inappropriately, "that, while reproving the would-be traitor, and in a secret and somewhat obscure fashion seeking to divert him from his murderous design against Himself, the Lord now seems to be spurring him on to carry it into action, and urges him to proceed without delay to such an accursed and impious deed 1 And verily," he would say, " what need was there to urge on, more than he himself was inclined, one who was possessed by a disease that sprang out of his own heart, to commit a crime that had been started by his own device; instead of rather curbing his passion by admonitions to amendment, and hindering him from carrying out his intended plans 1 "
Book 9. One might readily say that the objectionhere alleged was c. xiii. 28. wanting in proper cogency: still, by fastening our attention more keenly on the sense involved in the passage, we shall find that nothing is spoken unfittingly, but that on the contrary there is latent in the words a very pertinent signification, which I will endeavour briefly to set forth as far as I am able.
It was therefore not without careful foresight that the wise Evangelist told us in the preceding verses that Satan himself had forced his way and entered into the heart of the traitor, to the end that our Lord Jesus the Christ may now appear to be really and truly addressing- Satan himself rather than the disciple who by heedless infatuation had fallen into his power, when He said: That thou doest, do quickly. It is as though He were saying plainly: " That work of thine, O Satan, whereof thou alone knowest, and which is ever dear to thee, see that thou do quickly. Thou killedst the prophets: thou wast ever leading on the Jews to impiety: in former days thou didst procure the death by stoning of those who were sent as ambassadors bearing the word of salvation to Israel: thou sparedst not one of those who were sent forth from God: towards them thou didst show forth thy incredible brutality and the excesses of thy madness. And now I am come following in their steps. To those who are still wandering in error I bring the power to avoid wandering so again for ever: to those that are in darkness I ensure a life within the light of God: and to those who have fallen into thy net, and become a prey to thy cruelty, I bring the power of escape from all thy snares. I am come to break up the sovereignty of the sin that thou hast caused to reign, and to make manifest to every man Who is in His nature the true God. But full well I know thy implacable temper. Whatsoever harm therefore thou art wont to attempt against all who wish to accomplish such works as I have come to do, that do thou even now practise against Me. For thou wilt cause Me no more grief by being swift to attack and very urgent in thy assault, however great will be the c,xiii.28. pang piercing through Me at first."
Verily I for my part imagine that these words of the Saviour imply by somewhat obscure intimations the substance of what I have just said: but pray let us now proceed further to investigate the reason for His urging that the daring deed should be hastened. Terrible indeed beyond all description is the rash cruelty of the godless sinners who had deliberately planned in their ungovernable madness the outrageous crime. Before Him there lay, as He knew, insults and blasphemies intolerable, stripes and spitting, and the final misery of the death on the tree; nails and cross, vinegar and gall, and the spearwounds. Why then, one may ask, does He hasten it on, and desire that the devil's designs concerning His passion should be brought to a speedy accomplishment? For the Jews were indeed instruments and accomplices in the crime, but it is to the devil that we will attribute the original authorship of the wicked deeds, as well as the supreme direction of the whole matter on to its most accursed conclusion. Still, however terrible may have been the daring insults offered to Christ by the unholy Jews, and however intolerable the overweening impiety of those who crucified Him, He knew most fully the ultimate purpose of all He had to suffer, and foresaw everything that would follow therefrom. For by the effect of His precious cross the sovereignty of the devil was doomed to fall to eternal ruin; death was to be deprived of its sting, and the sway of corruption to be destroyed; the human race was to be freed from that ancient curse, and to be enabled through the gracious love of our Saviour Christ to hope for the annulling of the sentence: Earth ^^^- i"- thou art, and to earth shalt thou return; all iniquity, Ps. evil. in the words of the prophet, was to stop her mouth, and ^"^" those in all the world that know not Him Who alone is in His nature God were to be utterly brought to nought, and no longer to condemn those that had been in her power but were justified by faith in Christ; and for the
Book 9. time to come the gate of paradise was to be expected to o.xni. 28. -^Q opened. The world below was to be united with the Supra world above, and the heavens to be opened, according to the saying of Christ; and the bands of the holy angels were to ascend and descend upon the Son of Man. Tell me therefore, seeing that such wondrous blessings were now in store for men, and that so brilliant an expectation was raised into existence for us by the agency of the salutary cross, was it not a matter of course that He Who thirsted for our salvation, and for this cause was made like unto us except in sin, should be eager to see actually present the time for which He longed thus earnestly? And was it not natural for One Who knew no evil to despise the handiwork of devilish ingenuity, and to hasten rather to pass onward to the ardently-desired period of such a joyous consummation?
To Satan then, who knew not that he was fighting against his own existence, and was utterly unconscious of going headlong to ruin in bringing to its accomplishment Christ's death upon the Cross, the Saviour addressed the words: That thou doest, do quickly. For this is the language of one threatening rather than of one exhorting. It is as though some handsome youth in early manhood, his heart swelling with fresh vigour at the sight of an opponent running at full speed to attack him, were to equip his right arm with a keen battle-axe; and, in full knowledge that his enemy will no sooner reach him than die, were then perchance to exclaim: " That thou doest, do quickly; for thou wilt feel the force of my right arm." And surely this would not be the speech of one who is desirous to die, but rather of one who knows certainly that he will be victorious, and will prevail over him who wishes to harm him. In this spirit our Lord Jesus the Christ urges Satan to speed more quickly on his course of daring assault upon Him. For the time has come when He will exhibit the offender fallen into feebleness and universal contempt, and will present to our view the world liberated from the tyrant who in arrogance held it which the disciples misunderstood. 205 of old, and prevailed against it by cunning deceit so far c. xiii. 29. as even to turn it away from faith in God. The disciples however understand not the force of the saying, and this (it seems) in accordance with the Divine dispensation, as Christ did not unfold its meaning to them: since in other places indeed we find Him teaching them that He would Cf.s.Mat.
be delivered into the hands of sinners, and that He would 23; be crucified, and put to death, and would rise again on ^^-18-19; the third day; but ever charging them by no means to ix. 21. tell this to any man. For His aim was to prevent the prince of this world from knowing who in very nature He was, to the end that He might actually be crucified, and by His crucifixion might destroy death, and effectually accomplish salvation for them that believe on Him. Therefore in accordance with His Divine purpose He conceals the deepest meaning of His words: for as God He ever knows what is best for man.
29 But some thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus said unto him, Buy what things we have need of for the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor.
The disciples failing to understand the force of Christ's words, readily resort to their ideas of what was usual, and suppose that Christ is once more indicating such commands as it was His wont to give. For as the feast was near at hand, they expected He was ordering the one who had the bag to buy something of what was necessary for it, or at least was very probably bidding him discharge that duty of which Christ was ever careful, namely, to give to the needy what He could, according to the resources at His disposal. For the Lord is Ps. cHi. gracious and merciful, as it is written. And for us also, the example of this occurrence will be found to be most excellent. For I think that those who wish to celebrate a feast in purity of heart and in a manner well-pleasing to God must not regard their own enjoyment alone, nor must they even take thought as to how c.xiii.30. gjg^^j^ggg. j^y^ rather they must interweave with their thoughtfulness about themselves the spirit of mercy towards others who are in need. For then, and then only, fulfilling the Divine law of mutual love, shall we in perfection celebrate a truly spiritual feast to the honour of the Saviour Christ. Therefore also the law ordained of old for the Jews concerning the ingathering of the manna, charges those who are able to gather it
Ex. xvi. not to do so for themselves alone: for it says: Gather ye every man for your companions that are in the tents. For if any one of their tent-mates was troubled with sickness, those who were free from that affliction, lending him as it were their own vigour, gathered in with their own measure what was enough for the weak as well; lb. 18. so that, in the words of Scripture: He that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little hadj no lack. For so it happened, by a sort of mingling of their stores, that the principle of equality was preserved for all. He therefore does dishonour to the example suitable for holy feasts, who does not combine care for the needy with anxiety on his own account. For the union of these would in very truth make a festival perfect.
30 A'}%d he having received tJie sop, straightway went out: and it was night.
In haste he hurries away in obedience to the will of Satan, and like one stung and goaded on to madness he rushes from the house. He sees nothing that can overcome his love of gain, and, marvellous though it is, *. fvXoy'ia we shall find him in no way benefited by the ^ gift from Christ, of course because of his irrepressible inclination for getting money. For, completely overpowered by his passion, and possessed heart and soul by the father of all iniquity, the wretched man henceforward cannot even discern whither he is rushing on. So with his soul sunk in a night of its own, and darkened by a gloom-bringing swarm of unholy thoughts, he falls headlong into the c xiii. 30. abyss of Hades as into a trap; and, according to the saying in Proverbs, he flees away as a stag smitten to Prov. vii. the liver with a dart, or like a dog into chains, and knoiueth not that he runneth with peril of his life. And it seems to me that the inspired Evangelist did not without a purpose say that, having received the sop, he straightivay went out. For Satan is terribly wont to urge on those whom he has once captured, and who have once for all fallen into his power, to straightway accomplish their evil works; and, throwing aside all delay, to compel them even against their will to carry out his pleasure. He fears, perhaps, with his usual bitterness of spirit and continual maliciousness, lest perchance in the interval of postponement some change of mind should overtake the man, inducing him to repent and to form a good resolution, and causing him to lay aside his pleasure in sin as a drunkard might leave off drunkenness; and so drag out of his net a victim whom he had deemed already caught in its toils. For this reason I suppose the offender harasses ever those who have fallen into his power, urging them to make great haste and speed in doing whatever is pleasing to him. For instance, he compels Judas, straightway after receiving the sop, as holding him now in his power, at once to proceed to that unholy deed; being very probably afraid as well of his repentance as of the effective power of Christ's ^ gift, lest this, shining as a light in the ' fvXoyia heart of the man, should persuade him rather to make a deliberate choice of well-doing, or at any rate should give birth to the genuine honest temper of one who had been at length persuaded against his better feelings even to attempt the betrayal.
For that this is ever the wont of the demon in working against us we shall also see to be the case from what happened by way of type. The Jews were in subjection to Pharaoh while still in Egypt, and being by his orders sore vexed with laborious tasks in working with clay
Book 9. and making bricks, were allowed no time for the services c.xih. 31, ^^^gy owed to God. For instance, Pharaoh says to the Ex. V. 9. overseers of their tasks: Let the tasks of these men be made heavier, and let them not regard vain tuords; meaning by " vain words " their eagerness to escape to a state of freedom, their ardent passionate longing for this object, their lamentations over their slavery, and prayer for the greatest blessings. For he was not ignorant that in the leisure time which would be spent on these they would find great comfort. Passing then from the types to the perfect knowledge of the truer meanings, we shall find Satan ever hurrying onward to perform their wickedness those who have once fallen within his snares, and urging on those over whom he has already won a complete victory to be the ministers of such evil deeds as please him.
32 Son of Man glorified, and God is glotified in Him; and God shall glorify Him in Himself, and straightway shall He glorify Him.
The traitor departs to minister to the stratagems of the devil. And now Christ begins His discourse; teaching us thereby, as in a figure, that the things which are fitted only for true disciples are not to be uttered in S. Matt, the hearing of all men. For it is not meet to give that which is holy unto the dogs, as Christ Himself says, nor even to allow pearls to be insulted by the feet of swine. The very same lesson that He had thus given them before in the form of a parable He now endeavours to teach them at a time requiring its practice, and calling for a more distinct explanation of it. So then, after the departure of the traitor and his hasty withdrawal from the house, Christ now, as at the fitting moment, unfolds the mysteries to His true disciples, saying.- Noiv is the Son of Man glorified; and by this He is pointing to His sufferings as Saviour, as being already at the doors, and after but a brief while to come
Christ ivas often (jlorified before, 20D upon Him. He says, however, that ^^ the Son of Man" c.xiu.'si, is glorified, meaning none other than Himself; not ^^" implying a separation in Himself, as some have thought, for the Christ is one only Son both before and after His incarnation, as well after He became man like unto us as before He had become man. But we must now inquire what manner of glorification that is to which He now specially alludes; for some perhaps may say: Was He not surely glorified before this, by the mighty wonders which He wrought? Surely, when with a single word He rebuked the angry rage of the sea and checked the violence of the fierce winds, then He was luorshipped by those that tuere in the boat, and heard S- Matt. them say: Of a truth Thou art the Son of God. Again, when He had bidden Lazarus at Bethany return once more to life, the marvellous deed was noised abroad, even so much that as He went up to Jerusalem at the time of the feast all the people together with their babes came forth to meet Him, and joined in the strain of wondrous praise addressed to Him, saying: Blessed is lb. xxi. 9. He that Cometh in the name of the Lord. Nay, more, there was a time when He brake five loaves and two small fishes, and satisfied therewith the hunger of the multitude who had come together unto Him, amounting to five thousand men, besides babes and women. And to some the wonder then wrought seemed so magnificent that, astonished at the greatness of the achievement, they sought even to proclaim Him king; for this the Supra vi. Evangelist himself has testified to us. And there would be no difiiculty in extending our argument at length by enumerating many other deeds wherein Christ's glory was manifested no less highly than in those we have just mentioned. How then, after all, does it happen that He Who had been glorified long before speaks of Himself as glorified at this particular time 1 Truly He had been glorified in other ways, and had won for Himself most distinctly a reputation for possessing Divine authority: still the perfect consummation of His vol.. II. p
Book 9. glory and the fulness of His fame were summed up in c.xiii.31, ^j^g f^^^g Q^ jj-g suffering for the life of the world and opening by His own resurrection the gate through which all may rise. For if we examine as well as we may the real character of the mystery of His work, we shall see that He died, not merely for Himself, nor even especially for His own sake; but that it was on behalf of humanity that He suffered and carried out both the sufferinsf in itself and the resurrection that followed. For in that He died according to the flesh, He offered up His own life as an equivalent for the life of all; and by rendering perfect satisfaction for all, He fulfilled in Himself to the uttermost the force of that ancient curse. And in that He has risen again from the dead to a life imperishable and unceasing, in Himself He raises the whole of nature. For having died once for all, thence- Eom. vi. forward, as it is written. He dieth no more; death no
' ■ more hath dom,inion over Him. For the death that He died, He died unto sin once: hut the life that He liveth, He liveth unto God. This also will for Christ's sake be true even in our own case. For we shall rise, no more subject to death, but endowed with endless life; even though there will be hereafter a great diversity of lot among those that rise — I mean as regards their glory and the recompence which each shall receive as
Phil. ii. due to his works. Christ therefore, after becoming
' obedient to God the Father even unto death, yea, the death of the cross, according to the saying of Paul, was once again highly exalted, receiving the name ivhich is above every name. For He Who was believed to be a mere man was glorified very much beyond that, by being acknowledged as in very truth really God and the Son of God; not being promoted to a new dignity in possessing the Divine nature, but rather returning with His flesh to the full enjoyment of that very glory which was equally His before He took flesh. For this reason then we shall reckon that He was now glorified, although iCor.ii.8. there never was a time when He was not Lord of glory.
For in Christ we do not find one of His God-befitting c.xiii.:«. attributes appearing as a new thing, but all appear as having naturally belonged to Him as God, even before the time when He is said to have emptied Himself. But still, when the form of a servant had been assumed, forasmuch as He raised Himself to those conditions again, even after He became man, He is conceived of as being "glorified," and is said to have "received" [the exalted name]. With Christ therefore in His glorification, God the Father also is greatly glorified. And He is glorified in the Son; not as receiving from His Offspring any addition of glory, for of no such addition does the Divine and ineffable nature stand ever in need; but because it is made known of what a Son He is the Father. For even as it is a pride and a glory to the Son to have such a Being for His Father, likewise also methinks it is a pride and a glory even to the Father to have born from Himself so glorious a Son. Therefore Christ says this: And God is glorified in Him; and God shall glorify Him in Himself, and straightivay shall He glorify Him: for at the same time the Father is glorified on account of the Son, and straightway glorifies the Son in return. For to Both, for the sake of Both, the ascription of glory extends.
But in order that we may bring down the application of the passage to our own level, and so make it a source of edification to our hearers, we will add this to what has been said. If in ourselves we glorify God, we may expect that we shall be glorified by Him. For, As I live, saith the Lord, them that honour Me I luill honour, ^ Sam. ii.
. 30. and they shall not be lightly esteemed. And God is glorified by us and in us, when, casting away the defilement of sin, we adorn our lives in all the beauty of good works. For thus it is that we live to His glory.
33 Little children, yet a little ivhile I am ivith you.
He places the disciples in the position of little children and accounts them as new-born babes, although they had p.odK 9. advanced to so high a stage in virtue, and were possessed 'of wisdom such as is fully vouchsafed to few; showing us hereby, and that very plainly, that even he who is accounted very perfect in the eyes of man is an infant in the sight of God, and feeble in mental faculties. For what is the understanding of man in comparison with the wisdom that fashioned the universe *? Therefore it is
Ps. ixxiii. that a Psalmist said to God: / was as a Least before Thee. And no one whatever will say, if he has any perception at all, that the Psalmist compares himself to a beast because of his having cleaved closely unto God; for such an idea would be a bitter disparagement of the Divine nature, and would be seen to involve a great impropriety. For he that cleaves to a wise man and " is " ever " before " him, (for I suppose I must adapt the words of the Psalm so far as is necessary,) would never become " as a beast;" but rather would become ready of mind, and quick of understanding, and skilful in judgment. If therefore any one acknowledged this to be very just and true, would not a person be thought foolish in the extreme who should suppose that one who cleaves fast to the wisdom that comes from God Himself will ever become as a beast in senseless folly? "Why then does the Psalmist say that even he who is counted very wise among men will in comparison with the wisdom of God appear to be as a beast, and be reckoned among those who have no sense to guide them? It is ]3ecause the understanding of man can no more be compared with the wisdom of God than the smallest star can vie with the rays of the sun, or even the heaviest of stones with the highest of all mountains; but rather is as nothing at all in comparison with it. And so it appears that even the perfect man is but as a little child.
Yet a little while, however, Christ said He would be with the disciples; not meaning that He was soon to depart so as to return no more, or to be separated from vjoiid; but implying that He would not be with them c. xiii.33. in the flesh, as He had been yesterday and the day before, and that now there was even at the door, or rather within the door, the time of His departure thence unto the Father, and of His ascension into heaven. And I say that it is necessary for us all, at least those who are right minded and have their faith well established, to realise the fact that even though He is absent from us in the flesh, now that He has returned from earth to God the Father, yet He pervades all things in His Divine power, and is ever present with those who love Him. For surely this is why He also declared: Verily, verily, I say unto you, wherever two or three are gather- s. Matt. ed together in My JS^ame, there am I in the viidst of ^^"^" ^^' thenn. For just as, while still sojourning among men, yea, while verily on earth with flesh. He filled the heavens, and even then was still present with the holy angels, and never left the realms above; so now also, while vei-ily in heaven with His own flesh. He fills the earth, and is ever present with those who know Him. And notice how, although expecting to be removed from earth as regards His flesh alone, since in the power of His Divinity He is ever with us, He nevertheless speaks of being with us yet a little while, including in this statement His whole and perfect Self without any division: lest any should endeavour to sever the One Christ into two Sons, but that all should think and believe that the Word begotten of God the Father is one with the Temple assumed from the holy virgin; not that they are of the same essence, but that after their ineflable union, none can speak of severing them without impiety: for the Christ is, of them both. One.
Ye shall seek Me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither 1 go, ye cannot come; so now I say unto you.
Not altogether without pain to His own disciples win the departure be. He says; it will be the departure of Himself. In the first place they will languish in
Book 9. gi'iei on account of it, and will find the weight of bitterc. xiii. 33. jjggg produced by it to be intolerable. For beyond all question they will thirst once more to be with Him, and long to live with Him for ever; just as also the inspired Paul, preferring the being with Christ to Pliii.i.23. life itself here, said it was better to depart and he ivith Christ. Perceiving this, and well knowing the hearts ^dvoSos of those who love Him, Christ said that His ^Ascension would not be without grief to His disciples. But there was also, besides this feeling, another just cause that forced the holy disciples to seek to be with Christ. They were destined within a brief while to be compassed about with grievous dangers, and to be exposed on all sides to the ungovernable frenzies of the Jews, and even to fall victims to madness on the part of strangers, while on their mission through the whole world, preaching the word of the Saviour to those that were still wandering afar; so as to become acquainted with prisons, and to have their part in all kinds of insult and outrage, and to gain no less experience of other tortures: and all this in spite of their never having experienced any such suffering while they were with Christ. " Then most especially," He says, " ye shall seek My company, when the manifold waves of trial break over you." And hereby He sought not to bring the disciples to cowardly timidity, or to shatter their courage with fear; but rather to brace them up to fresh vigour, and in a manner to teach them to be ready prepared for the patient endurance of all which they expected would come upon them. For we shall find the Psalmist's song to be anything but meaningless, nay, rather to convey very profitable in- Ps.cxviii. struction in the words: / was 2^'>"e2Jared and was not ^LXK) confounded. For the wholly unexpected arrival of misfortune is wont to throw us into confusion, taking us as it were off" our guard: but when a trial has been known beforehand and long expected, the greater part of the terror it occasions has passed away before it comes, and its power over its victims is not at all that the dincvples mltjht he 'prepared for it. 215 absolute, as the mind has already rehearsed it and often c.xiii.33. in imagination received its attack. In the same way, if some wild and savage animal, starting up from the midst of a luxuriant and dense jungle, rushes on one who does not see it coming, it tears him limb from limb befoi'e he is conscious of the attack, having seized him while he was unprepared for warfare: whereas if the beast is seen from afar and its coming expected, it meets an armed foe, and either does him less harm, or perchance has even to depart in helpless impotence. Just so in the case of temptations: that which is wholly unexpected will attack us more fiercely and more severely than one which has been anticipated for some time. With kind intent therefore does our Lord Jesus the Christ in saying " Ye shall seek Me" hint at the evils that will come on the disciples when His presence is removed, and the troubles that will arise from their enemies; preparing them by this warning for a renewal of their courage: with kind intent also He adds to these hints the statement that there will for the present be an obstacle in the way of their following Him. For as I said to the Jews, He says, even so I say now unto you: Whither I go ye cannot come. For not yet was the time come when the disciples should have accomplished their service on earth, and be admitted to the mansions above. For their entrance to those realms was reserved most strictly to its appointed season.
This point however we must notice again, that in speaking to the Jews, while giving to them this same warning. He said: Ye shall seek Me, and shall not find Me; but to His disciples He only says: Ye shall seek Me, fitly breaking off without the words " and shall not find Me." And why so 1 The Jews will rightly deserve to be told that they should never find Him, on account of their monstrous infidelity and the surpassing baseness of their impiety towards Him: but to those who have a true affection for Him, and have preserved their love in all sincerity, it could not be fitly said: " Ye shall
34 J?^f?w commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; even as I have loved you, tlmt ye also love one another.
2 Cor. V. Well and truly writes the inspired Paul: Wherefore if ^'' any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things are jiassed away; behold all things are become new. For Christ does renew us, and fashions us again to a newness of life which is unknown to and untravelled by the rest of mankind, who love to regulate their lives by the Law, and remain constant to the precepts given Heb. vii. by Moses. For the Laiu makes nothing perfect, as it is written; but it is very evident that the standard of reverence towards God involved in the commands of our Saviour is the highest possible. For this is why He s. Matt. Himself somewhere says to us: Verily, verily, I say ^' " ■ unto you. Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. We do not wish to struggle against the manner of life of the Jews, and yet except we outstrip very decisively the righteousness contained in the Law, I doubt if we should ever enter into the kingdom of heaven. And we do not mean to assert that the Law as given by Moses was useless and unprofitable: for it has brought to us, albeit imperfectly, a knowledge of good, or at any rate has been found to be a tutor for our instruction as to the nature of the Gospel dispensation. And in bringing before us by hints and types a pattern of the true worship, it imprinted on our minds the dim outline of the teaching we learn from Christ. Hence, surely Christ S. Matt. Himself also said: For I say unto you, that every scribe xiii. jw. ^^1^^ hath been made a discijjle to the kingdom of heaven is like unto a rich man, which brivgeth forth out of his treasure things neiv and old. For in very truth it is the highest form of spiritual wealth, that a man should be well versed in the words spoken by Moses, and have all c.xiii.34. the good that can be derived from them treasured up in his mind, and besides should have added to this store the beauty of the evangelic teaching, and so have twofold ground for boasting, in his knowledge as well of the ancient as of the new laws. Therefore our Lord Jesus the Christ, by way of shewing that His commandment was better than the ancient one, and that His preaching of salvation was as yet foreign to those who regulated their lives by the Law, now that He is about to ascend into heaven, lays down the law of love as a foundation and corner-stone of all that is good, meaning by love not that which was in accordance with, but that which transcended, the Mosaic Law. Therefore He says: A neiu commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another. "But tell me now,' some one may say, "why He has called this commandment new, when He had said to former generations by the voice of Moses: Thou shalt g. Luke love the Lord thy Godj %vith all thy heart and, with all ^- "^''• thy mind, and thy neighbour as thyself. For see, while vi. 5. setting love to God in its fitting place, in the forefront of and in preeminence to all other affections, He has there introduced in the very next place our mutual love, and has joined with our love to God love to each other, implying that in no other way would love to God rightly exist, except it were accompanied by the love which is due to our neighbour. For we all are brethren one of another. For instance, the very wise John, most excellent alike in knowledge and in teaching, says: He cf. that loveth his brother loveth God. How then cometh a -"^ ^- ^^^^^ new commandment by Christ, although the very same had been declared by the ancient laws?" But notice, I pray you, the justifying clause; look at the illustration used. He does more than say: A neiu commandment give I unto you, that ye love one another; He plainly signifies the novelty involved in His command, and the extent by which the love that He enjoins surpasses that old idea of mutual love, by. straightway adding the
Book 9. words: Even as I have loved you, that ye also love C.X111.34. ^^g another.
We must investigate therefore the question how the Christ loved us, in order to understand clearly the full force of the words used. For then we shall indeed perceive, and that very easily, the novel character and the changed nature of the commandment now given. We
Phil. ii. know that, being in the form of God, He counted it not a prize to be on an equality with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being 'made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man. He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross. And again:
2 Cor.viii. fhough He was rich, yet He became poor, as Paul elsewhere testifies to us. Dost thou see the novelty of His love towards us? For whereas the Law enjoined the necessity of loving our brethren as ourselves, our Lord Jesus the Christ on the other hand loved us far more than He loved Himself. Else He would never have descended to our humiliation from His original exaltation in the form of God and on an equality with God the Father, nor would He have undergone for our sakes the exceeding bitterness of His death in the flesh, nor have submitted to bufl:etings from the Jews, to shame, to derision, and all His other sufferings: speaking briefly, so as not to protract our argument to endless length by enumerating everything in detail. Nay, He would never have become poor 'from being rich, if He had not loved us very exceedingly more than Himself, Marvellous then indeed was the extent of His love. So also He would have us be minded, keeping ever our love to our brethren as superior to all other motives, such as reputation or riches; not hesitating to descend if need be even to death in the flesh, so that we may secure the salvation of our neighbour. And this is exactly what the blessed disciples of our Saviour have done, as also have those that followed in their train; reckoning the salvation of others superior to their own life, enduring toil of all kinds, and suffering the extremest of evils, c.xiii.35. that so they might save the souls of those that were perishing. For instance, Paul in one place saith: / die i Cor. xv, daily; and in another again: Who is weak, and I am ^ cor xi not tveak? Who is made to stutnhle, and I hum not? 29. Thus the Saviour urges us to practise ever the love that transcends the Law as the root of all true and perfect devotion to God; well knowing that so, assuredly, and not otherwise, we shall be most highly approved in the sight of God, and by tracing out the Divine beauty of the love by Him implanted in us we shall attain to the enjoyment of great and perfect blessings.
35 By this shall all men kiwio that ye are My disciples, if ye love one another.
You will set upon yourselves, He says, an irresistible and unquestionable mark of your having been My disciples, if you hasten to follow in the track marked out by My own conduct, at least as far as your nature and the limit of human powers will permit; so as to have ever the bond of mutual love firmly drawn, and to be united one to the other in full sympathy, at least to the extent of mutual love and the incomparable glory of affectionateness: for this it is that will stamp on us most exactly the true character of our Master. " Nay, but," some one will object, meeting us perchance with this question: " How comes it that love alone is the characteristic token of discipleship to Christ, whereas in Him there appeared the perfect display of all possible virtues: not exhibited merely in kindness to others, nor again as the outcome of much labour and struggling, as would be the case in a man; but as the natural and essential attributes of His real self? For to the Divine Nature there belong as its special and peculiar attributes things which transcend all wonder."
In very truth, my good sir, we will admit that you acted most rightly in adding this last remark. For the peculiar and especial attributes of the Supreme
' possible to perceive, by looking into the matter, that every species of virtue is necessarily comprehended in perfect love, and that everything which can rightly be looked upon as really and truly good seems to have its principle and aim comprised in love. For this reason, surely, the Law lays it down as a commandment pre- Cf. eminent above all, to love the Lord God with all the xii. 30. soul, and with all the heart, and with all the mind; and, second only to this, there is joined to it in close proximity the sister commandment, to love one's neighbour, which completes the whole Law. So again, the inspired Paul, summarizing all the commandments in Eom.xiii. this One, wiitcs in an epistle: For this, Thou shalt not ^' ■ conirtiit adultery, Thou shalt not hill, Thou shalt not sivear falsely, and if there be any other commandment, it is 8U7)imed up in this tuord, namely, Thou shcdt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love, therefore, is the fulfilment of the Laiu. And that love has created for itself a fashion of every kind of virtue within its own proper limits, and as it were embraces within its arms all that is really good, the very wise Paul himself again shall iCor.xiii. testify, exclaiming: Love vaunteth not itself, is not ^' ^' V^^ff^d up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, and similar expressions — for it would be a long task to tell the full extent of love. Most especially then do I say that it is most befitting and right for those who have given themselves up to a life of love that they should make themselves known to all men as having become Christ's disciples, by making the crown of love their chief glory, and by bearing about with them theii' mutual affection as a sign and seal of their discipleship. And the reason for this I will specify in a few words. Supposing that any ordinary man were practising the art of working in brass or of weaving, would he not appear very evidently to have been a pupil of a brassworker or of a weaver? And what of the man who shows some experience in carpentry? Would he not tell you that the reason c. xiii. 35. why he can succeed in the works of his art is that, while gaining his experience, he had a carpenter as his guide? On just the same grounds I believe that they who display in themselves fully developed the power of Divine love, will speedily make known to the world that they have been disciples of Love, or of Christ Who is filled to the uttermost with love. For He so loved the world as to lay down even His life Cf. for it, and to endure the fierceness of Jewish outrages: jij. ig. and He shall Himself testify to this in His words to the disciples: Greater love hath no nnan than this, that Infra xv. a man lay down his life for his friends. For seeing that God is love, according to the saying of John, He, } S. John being the Son of Love, i.e. of Him Who is by nature the only and true God, has Himself also been shown forth to us as love; not resting His claim to the title on elaboration of arguments and grandiloquence of boastful words, but by deeds and positive facts proving Himself to be the Fruit of His Father's Essence. For by no means will we suppose that the Essence which is exalted far above all others is capable of receiving additional good; nor yet will we admit that the possession of any good quality is for It an acquired attribute, as with us; nor again that it is what we term a merely accidental quality, such as may pertain to an ordinary person, similar for example to the knowledge of any science which a man may possess: for man is not in himself knowledge, but is rather a recipient of knowledge; whereas we affirm that the Divine Ineffable Nature is by special right in Itself the sum of all that is good, whatsoever we may believe this to be; and is, as it were, a fountain-head containing within itself every kind of virtue, and pouring it forth in an inexhaustible stream. Most reasonably, therefore, will He, Who is the Fruit of Love, Himself also be Love; and being Himself like to the Father Whose Son He is, He will be shown forth in our lives most chiefly by
Book 9. the token of love, ever engraving on the hearts of good ' men, as an evident characteristic of their close relationship to Himself, an ardent clinging to the grace of mutual affection. Besides, according to the saying of
Eph. ii. Paul, Christ is our peace: for in Him all things were united, the world below to the world above; and by His means we were reconciled to God the Father, though we had in old times deliberately wandered far away from Him in our evil courses; and we who had formerly been divided into two peoples, Gentiles and Israelites,
Eph. ii. were created in Him into one new man, for the middle
' ' ivall of 'partition has been broken down, and the power of the enmity abolished, the Law being put to silence by the ordinances of the Gospel. If this be so, how could those who had no peace in their mutual relations be known as disciples of [Him Who is] peace? For what else would be involved in the severance of love than a stirring up of war, and an utter overthrow of peace, and an introduction of every kind of discord? For just as by an unbroken bond of love all the blessings of peace are safely secured to us, so in the same way by the interruption of our love the evil that arises from war finds a way to insidiously enter. And what follows thereupon? Insults arise, and strifes, and jealousies,
2Cor.xii. and angers, and wraths, and tuhispermgs, and backbitings, and envyings, and every form of baseness.
Seeing therefore that every virtue is summed up and fulfilled in the form and habit of love, let no one among us think highly of himself for fastings, or prostrations on the ground, or any other ascetic practices, unless he be faithful to preserve in all fulness his love for his brethren. For else he is carried away very wide of the turning-post in the race, like the more unskilled of the charioteers; and wanders out of his course like a pilot who, with the ship's rudder in his hand, ignorantly misses the goal that lies directly in front of his course. Wherefore also, he who said in simply in the fact of his hastening onwards, but in the fact of his moving in the right direction, onward towards the goal: for to glory boastfully in bodily labours, while falling short all the while of the more important and essential qualities, this surely is to fail in hastening onwards towards our goal. And he knew so well that love is as it were a corner-stone at the foundation of every virtue, that he most justly says, in eager contention on its behalf: And if I bestow all iCor.xiii.
my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be ' '
burned, but have not love, it proflt&th me nothing: if I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And so it appears that it is the special glory of love to be in us a figure and characteristic token of belonging to the Saviour Christ.
36 Simon Peter saith unto Him, Lord, whither goest Thou?
Peter again with his usual curiosity is anxious to learn more, and busies himself about the significance of Christ's words, not yet (as seems probable) comprehending the real meaning of what had been said, yet feeling with all the force of his fiery zeal that it was his duty to follow Christ. And in this matter most admirable is the behaviour of the disciples. For certainly no one would allow that it was only the chief disciple who was in ignorance while the others fully understood the matter, and that this was why he asked the question. I should rather say that they yielded to him, as chief among them, the privilege of speaking fii-st, and of taking the initiative in courageous inquiry. For the speaking into the ears of their Master was no light and easy matter, even for those ^vho ivere reputed to be some- Cf.Gal.ii. ivhcct. And the conduct of Peter is no less admirable, ^' ^* who is harassed by no fear of being thought sluggish in the comprehension of those matters of which he was ignorant, but zealously seeks for enlightenment, con-
Book 9. sidering that the profit he will derive from gratifying c.xiii.36. j^jg j^yg q£ knowledge will be of more value than an unseasonable sense of shame: and so in this also he is a pattern to those that live after him. For we ought never, I think, to pass over the words of our teachers, even though they may not be so very distinct, merely for the sake of seeming to be shrewd people and very quick in intelligence; but rather to investigate the meaning and search it out wisely, in the teaching at first delivered to us for our profit. For the knowledge of what is useful is far nobler than a vain semblance of wisdom, and far better is it to learn a thing in reality than merely to seem to know all about it.
Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow Me now, hut thou shalt follow afterwards.
Well knowing that the grief caused to His disciples would be heavy and intolerable if He said plainly that He -was about to enter into heaven and to leave them on earth bereaved of His presence, though He would ever be with them as God, He employs a style of speech wisely adapted to their present feelings, and gently refrains from giving full information of what was in His mind. And thus, seeing them in ignorance. He suffers them so to continue. For the wise are accustomed occasionally to overshadow with weightier words things that seem likely to cause pain. For although, in returning on His way to the heavens above. He was most especially presenting Himself to God the Father as the fii'stfruits of humanity, and although what was being done was to secure the advantage of all mankind: for He consecrated for us a new way of which the human race knew nothing before: nevertheless, to the holy disciples, in their earnest longing ever to be with Him, it seemed unendurable that they should be separated from Christ, although He was ever with them in the power and co-operation of the Spirit. Finding therefore the blessed Peter iornorant of the force of the words used,
Christ leaves him, as well as the other disciples, in that c.xiii. 36. condition, not at once explaining fully the exact import of what He had said, but waiting in His kindness until He should have finished the teaching that would be able to strengthen them to bear it. This indeed we shall perceive Him doing in the words that soon follow; for He says to them: It is expedient for you that I go away: infra for if I go not away, the Comforter vnll not come unto ^^'" '* you. He hastens however, as God, to promise the disciple who desires so to do, that he shall follow Him earnestly, and be with Him in all reality, with none to check his zeal; saying: Whither I go thou canst not follow Me noiv, but thou shalt follow afterwards. And the saying is pregnant with a twofold signification, one part of which is very evident and obvious, while the other is rather more indistinct and wrapped in mystery. For He means to say that Peter could not possibly follow Him now in His passage to the world above and in His return to heaven, yet that he would follow Him hereafter; namely, when the honour and glory for which the saints are ever hoping is conferred upon them by Christ, when they come to the city in the heavens to reign with Him for ever. But the words also contain another meaning, the nature of which I will explain. The disciples had not yet been clothed ivith the power S. Luke fror)i on high, neither had they received the strength that was to invigorate them and mould to courage their human dispositions, I mean the gift of the Holy Ghost; and so they were not able to wrestle with death and engage in a conflict with terrors so hard to face. And surely on another ground, since it was fitting for Christ alone, and reserved specially for Him to be able to shatter the power of death, it was unlikely that others should appear engaged in this work before Him. For to be freed from the fear of death could surely mean nothingelse than to despise death as being powerless at all to harm us. Wherefore, in our view at least, even the blessed prophets used to dread the approach of death, VOL. n. Q c. xni.Sb. i^esurrection of Christ. And it was from a right understanding of this that Paul said that the Word, Who was
Heb. ii. from God the Father and in God, laid hold of the seed ' ' ' of Ahraha7)i, that through the death of His holy Flesh, He might bring death to nought, and might deliver all them who through fear of death ivere all their lifetime subject to bondage. For the saving Passion of Christ is the first means that ever brought release from death, and the Resurrection of Christ has become to the saints the beginning of their good courage in meeting it. As therefore our natural life had failed as yet to crush the power of death, and had not even destroyed the terror that it casts over our souls, the disciples were still somewhat feeble in the presence of dangers. Therefore the Lord graciously intimates that Peter should be crucified when the time had come, and thereby should follow the footsteps of His Master: and in the words: Whither I go, thou canst not follow Me noiu, but thou shcdt follow aftertuards, He obscurely implies that now his mind is not firmly enough prepared for so severe a trial. For if it is not the death of Peter to which Christ darkly alludes in these words, why is it that, although admittedly all the other holy apostles have before them the promise that they shall continually be with Christ and follow Him, at the time of the resurrection, when a spotless life is secured to them amid all the blessings for which they hope, nevertheless He here applies the force of His words individually to Peter alone? Nay, it is abundantly evident that in special reference to Peter He dimly shadows forth what will happen to him in after time. In illustration of this He has explained the matter more distinctly in another place, where He says:
' ' edst whither thou wouldest: but luhen thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and others shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou toouldest not. Now this He spake, adds the Evangelist, signifying by what manner of death he should glorify God. For even c. xiii. 37. though suffering for Christ's sake is a thing delightful for the saints, yet the danger is not wished for by them: but still it must be endured when of necessity it is brought upon them. Therefore also He bids us pray s, Luke that we fall not into temptation. ^^"' ^^'
37 Peter saith unto Him, Lord, why cannot I follow Thee even now? I tvill lay down my life for Thee.
What is there, he means, that prevents or that can keep him back from following His Master, now that his deliberate aim is to die for Christ's sake, reckoning- this as his proudest boast 1 For the utmost of all danger, and the extremest violence of the implacable enmity of persecutors, have no effect beyond the range of the flesh; for with the flesh alone has death to deal: and he that is ready and fully prepared even for this extreme, would not easily be hindered from his purpose, or give up his intense conviction as to the duty of following to the end. The zeal of Peter was most ardent, and the extent of his promise excessive; yet one might see that the power latent in him was not inconsiderable, or rather the issue of the events themselves would convince one of this. One point however must be considered. Our Saviour Christ, speaking now in one way and now in another of His ascension into heaven, says that Peter will not follow Him now, but will follow Him hereafter; as soon, namely, as his apostolate is fulfilled, and when the fit season has come to summon the bodies of the saints to the city above: whereas Peter himself protests that he is now ready even to risk his life, going as it were by a different way, and not coming by a direct course to the meaning of the words. And I think his lanffuage must imply this: failing as yet to attach to what has been spoken by Christ its exact signification, he believes that the Lord intends possibly to pass over to some of the wilder villages in Judaea, or even to visit foreign peoples, who will, after carefully listening, so violently
Book 9, dissent from the words which He will be likely to speak, ^■^"'•^'- that the daring plots of the Pharisees will seem feeble compared with the base designs of the other Jews, and the madness inherent in them will be shown to be of the very mildest type. For this reason he declares that he will suffer nothing to interfere with his following Christ: he does not absolutely promise to die, but says that if the need should arise he will not shrink from death. Now there is a passage exactly similar to this in the previous part of this book, and I will proceed to tell you where it occurs.
At one time Christ was sojourning among the Gali- Iseans to avoid the fury of the Jews, their ungovernable temper, and their unbridled insolence in speech; and great was the wonder excited in those quarters by His marvellous deeds. But when the brother of Mary and Martha had died, I mean of course Lazarus, He as God Supra knew of it, and forthwith said to His disciples: Our ^*' friend Lazarus is fallen asleep, hut I go that I may awake him out of sleep. Hereupon the disciples affec- Ibid. 8. tionately reply: The Jeius tuere hut noiu seeking to stone Thee; and goest Thou thither again? And when Christ is on the point of starting, and urgently tells them that He must certainly return to the country of the Jews, Ibid. 16. Thovias, toho is called Didymus, said unto his felloiudisciples, Let us also go, that we may die with Him. I believe that Peter's object in speaking is pregnant with some similar idea. For he thinks, perhaps, as I said just now, that Jesus is on the eve of departing to preach somewhere else among people at whose hands He will be exposed to danger. Therefore he himself also, in his uncontrollable affection for Christ, declares that his zeal now to defend his Master will be invincible and irresistible, meaning that there is nothing left in the world that is strong enough to check his devotion, now that he has convinced himself that he must follow Christ, seeing that he is ready and willing even to die in his Master's cause.
38 Jesus answereth, Wilt thou lay cloion thy life for Me? o.xiii.38. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied Me thrice.
Wonderful as the zeal of Peter in this matter may be, his promises are beyond his power to fulfil: Christ, however, with the gloom of the threatening tempest in His mind, knowing well how severe will be the temptation and how bitter the persecution, seems as it were to shake His head in sorrow; and then, unfolding to Himself the whole extent of His sufferings, as though it were present to His bodily eyes, beholding th,e surpassing fury of the Jews in their madness, and seeing clearly all that will come to pass in that hour. He exclaims as though to say: " Dost thou, O Peter, lay down thy life for Me, and sayest thou that thy fear in this matter is as nothing? and supposest thou that thou wilt be strong enough to overcome the trials that will encompass thee? Nay, thou knowest not the grievous weight of the coming temptation, for the suffering that lies before thee is beyond thy strength to endure: thy heart shall fail thee utterly, even though thou wouldst not have it so: thrice shalt thou deny Me, and that too in one single night." We must surmise that Jesus means to speak somewhat to this effect: yet herein again it is fitting that we should admire the kindness to mankind that appeared in Him: for having predicted that the strength of Peter's courage will not be commensurate with the tone of his zealous assertions, but will fail and flag so utterly as to yield at the mere alarm of a coming danger, He added not one single word of threatening; ^ perhaps for this reason, that Peter had not spoken under any Divine impulse: at all events, for some reason or other He does not hold out any threat of chastisement against one who suffered from human infirmities. For He knew that the nature of man was as yet enfeebled,
Book 9. and unable to endure the threat of death. Death had c. X111.38. j^Q^ yet been deprived of its power through His resurrection, and was still boastfully vaunting against the mind of all men, still strong enough to crush, even by fear and that alone, the hardiest and bravest of heroes. For human nature, being unnaturally subjected to death, yields to death as to a conquering power, or rather used to yield at that time: but now that our Saviour has burst its bonds, the approach of death is delightful to those who love Christ, even though it come in bitterness and pain. For the everlasting life has arisen in its stead, destroying the power of corruption.
And let no one here again imagine that Peter's denial and failure were caused by the words of Christ. He is not speaking by way of imposing any obligation on the disciple, or drawing him on by constraint to the sufferings of which He speaks; but rather He means to predict to His disciple exactly what as God He knows will most surely and certainly come to pass. 1 Cor. X. But seeing that all that happened to the men of former ^^' times has been written for the admonition of those who live after them, let us now say somewhat necessary to our edification, drawing our conclusions from this passage. I do not think that we ought to make any rash vows before God, or to promise to perform what may sometimes be beyond our power, as though we could control human events. And I say this in regard to the charges to which we render ourselves liable in case of failure: especially I consider that hasty statements, such as "I will do this," or, "I will do that," as the case may be, are not far removed from arrogance. For in all cases where one may have deliberately determined to undertake any matter, wishing to carry it out successfully, one's duty is always s. James to use those words of the very wise disciple: If the Lord ^^' ivill, and tue live. For while I maintain that a zeal for good works must be inherent in the souls of the godly, as well as eager willingness to carry these virtuous resolves with all our might into effect, yet our duty is to pray for the successful means of gaining this end through c. xiv. i, the gracious blessing that is from above, and not to make rash promises as though success lay already in our own grasp. Thus we shall be able to keep unbroken our promises to God of all that is good, and we shall have " our feet clear " of blame, according to the saying of the ^sch. Greek poet. And on other authority: Better is it not to P-"^-263. ^ ^j *.1 * Eccl.v.4.
By saying that Peter's courage will fail him so utterly that he will deny his Master thrice, and will suffer so sad a downfall in one single night. He almost seems by the overwhelming weight of His words to arouse in the disciples the extremity of terror at the dangers before them. Whence it may very well have happened that the other disciples began at once to reason with one another, saying: " What can be the nature, the extent, or the exceeding heaviness of that dread of coming troubles, and of that temptation so irresistible as to attack the chief among us and overcome him, not once only, but many times by the same assault, and that within so brief a space of time? Surely, who among us will escape a yet worse plight, or how can any other among us withstand such an attack, when Peter wavers and yields as of necessity to the grievous weight of the trials that beset him? Vainly it seems have we endured toils for the sake of our duty in following Him: our efforts are ending only in the exhaustion of our vital powers, though they seemed to hold out to us a prospect of life with God." There is surely nothing improbable in supposing that the disciples were thus reasoning in their inmost thoughts: and since it was needful to restore again their drooping spirits, He introduces as it were the necessary antidote to the reasonings and fears that His words had aroused, and bids them arm themselves with a calm and untroubled spirit, saying to them: Let not your heart he troubled. Notice, however, in how guarded a manner He promises them the forgiveness of
Book 9. their coming feebleness of spirit. He does not say plainly: c. XIV. 1. uj ^-^Yl forgive you even in spite of your weakness," or, "I will be present with you none the less, although you deny Me and forsake Me;" His object therein being, not to completely remove their fears of shame, or completely take away theii* suspicions of failure, lest He should seem to make out their error to be a light matter and teach them to regard as of no account the blame they would incur in their denial of Him. But in bidding them not be troubled, He placed them as it were on the borderland betwixt hope and fear: so that, if they fell into weakness and suffering in their human frailty, the hope of His clemency might help them to recovery; Avhile the fear of stumbling might urge them to fall but seldom, since they had not yet been endowed with the power never to fail at all, not having as yet been clothed with s. Luke the power from above, from on high, I mean the grace ^^^' ■ that comes through the Spirit. He bids them therefore not to be troubled, teaching them at once that it was fitting that those who were prepared for the conflict, and ready to enter on the struggles for the sake of the glory that is on high, should be altogether superior to feelings of cowardice: for an untroubled mind is a great help towards a courageous temper: at the same time, with somewhat obscure and not very distinct intimations, yet certainly, sowing the seed of a germinant hope of forgiveness, if ever it should really happen to them in their human weakness to fall away into cowardice. For a mind that is not yet stablished by the grace that comes from above is timid and easily upset, and very apt to be disturbed. For this reason also surely the very wise Paul prays for certain to whom he is writing, in the Phil.iv.7. words: And the peace of Christ, tvhich passeth cdl understanding, shall guard your hearts. For this is in reality to be untroubled in heart.
Ye believe in God, believe also in 3Ie. He is making an able soldier out of one who but now was a coward, and while the disciples were smarting with c. xiv. i. the anxieties of fear He bids them take to themselves the terrible power of faith. For thus are we safe, and not otherwise, according surely to the song of the Psalmist: The Lord is my illumination and my saviour; tvhom Ps. xxvii, shall I fear? The Lord is the shield of my life; of tuhom /^.^ ^ shall I he afraid? For if the all-powerful God fights for LXX.) us and shields us, who could ever have power to harm us ■? And who will by any chance advance to such a height of power as to keep the elect in subjection to him, and to force them to submit to the evil designs of his perverse imagination? Or who could take by his spear and lead captive those that wear the panoply of God? Faith therefore is a weapon whose blade is stout and broad, that drives away all cowardice that may spring from expectation of coming suffering, and that renders the darts of evil-doers utterly void of effect and utterly profitless of success in their temptations. And this being the nature of faith, we must further notice another point: Christ bade them believe not in God alone, but also on Himself, not implying thereby that He is at all difierent from the One Who is in His nature God, I mean as regards identity of essence; but that to believe in God and to suppose that the province of faith must be wholly bound up in this one phrase, is rather a peculiar characteristic of the Jewish imagination, whereas the inclusion of the name of the Son within the compass of faith in God indicates the acceptance of an injunction of evangelic preaching. For those at least who are rightly minded must believe in God the Father, and not merely in the Son, but also in the fact of His Incarnation, and in the Holy Ghost. For the Persons of the Holy and Consubstantial Trinity are distinguished both by difference of names and by the peculiar qualities and special offices of each: for the Father is Father and not Son, the Son again is Son and not Father, and the Holy Ghost is the Spirit peculiar to the Godhead. And yet the Trinity is summed up into a common Unity of Essence, so that our
Book 9. Creed gives us not three Gods, but one God. Still, I c. XIV. 1. ij^aintain that we must preserve accurately the definitions of our faith, not content with saying " We believe in God," but fully explaining our confession, and attaching to each Person the same measure of glory. For in our minds there should be no difference as to the intensity of our faith: our faith in the Father is not to be greater than our faith in the Son, or even than our faith in the Holy Ghost. But one and the same is the extent and the manner of our confession, uttered in regard to each of the three Persons with the same measure of faith; in such a way that herein again the Holy Trinity may appear in Unity of nature, so that the glory that encircles It may be seen in unchallenged perfection, and our souls may display our faith in the Father and in the Son, even in His Incarnation, and in the Holy Ghost. And I believe no man, if he were wise, would make any distinction between the Word of God and the Temple formed from the virgin, at least as regards the question iCor.viii. of sonship; for there is One Lord, Jesus Christ, accord- ^' ing to the saying of Paul. But let him who would sever into two sons Him Who is One and One alone, know surely that he is denying the faith. The inspired Paul, for instance, in working out very excellently and accurately the doctrine on this point, would have us confess our belief not simply in Christ as the Onlybegotten, but also in Him as made like unto us, that is, made man, and as having both died and risen again from Rom. X. the dead. For what does he say ■? The luord is nigh thee, in thy tnouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we pi^each: that if thou shalt say tvith thy mouth, Jesus is Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised Him from the dead, thou shalt he saved: for with the heart man helieveth unto righteousness; and tvith the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Now if we believe on the Son as having risen again, who was He that died so that He might rise again? But it is evident that He is reckoned to have died according to the flesh.
For His own body was imprisoned in the bonds of death, c.xiv.2,3. and restored to life again: for it was a body that shared in our natural life, though containing in itself in full perfection that peculiar indwelling power so mysteriously united to it, namely an energy capable of bestowing life. Whensoever therefore any one shall sever these two natures, and in separating the flesh from Him Who corporeally dwelt therein shall dare to speak of two sons, let him know that he is believing on the flesh alone. For the Divine Scriptures teach us to believe on Him Who was crucified and died and rose again from the dead, as being no other than the Word of God Himself; not so much in regard to identity of essence, for the body of Christ is body and not Word, though it be the body of the Word; but rather in respect of veritable sonship. And if any one were to think that herein we are not speaking with all possible accuracy, he would have to come forward and show us the Word Who is from God dead as regards His Divine nature, a thing which it is impossible or rather impious even to conceive.
2 In My Father's Jiouse are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to 2)'repare a 2)lace for you.
3 And if I go and pre2)are a jylace for you, I come again, and will receive you with Myself; tJtat wliere I am, tlvere ye may he also.
Having forcibly enjoined upon them that they ought not to be troubled, and having bidden them rather believe both in God the Father and in Himself, He now tells them plainly as an encouragement to them to shake off their feebleness of mind, that they shall not be excluded from the holy courts, but shall be made to dwell in the mansions above, living their eternal life in the Church of the Firstborn, in the enjoyment of bliss unending. He says moreover that in His Father s house are many mansions, teaching them thereby that heaven is wide enough for all, and that the world He has created needs no enlargement at all to make it capable of containing those who
Book 0. lovo Him. And it seems likely that in speaking of the ^•^^^-' • ommy mansions He wishes also to indicate the different grades of honour, implying that each one who desires to live a life of virtue will receive as it were his own peculiar place, and the glory that is suitable to his own individual acts. Therefore if the mansions in God the Father' s home had not been many in number. He would have said that He was going on before them, namely to prepare beforehand the habitations of the saints: but knowing that there are many such, already fully prepared and awaiting the arrival of those who love God, He says that He will depart not for this purpose, but for the sake of securing the way to the mansions above, to prepare a passage of safety for you, and to smooth the path that was impassable in old time. For heaven was then utterly inaccessible to mortal man, and no flesh as yet had ever trodden that pure and all-holy realm of the angels; but Christ was the first Who consecrated for us the means of access to Himself, and granted to flesh a way of entrance into heaven; presenting Himself as an offering to God 1 Cor. XV. the Father, as it were the firstfruits of them that are asleep and are lying in the tomb, and the first of mankind that ever appeared in heaven. Therefore also it was that the angels in heaven, knowing nothing of the august and stupendous mystery of the Incarnation, were astonished in wonder at His coming, and exclaim almost in Is.lxiii.i. perplexity at the strange and unusual event: Who is this that Cometh from Edam? that is, from the earth. But the Spirit did not leave the host above uninstructed in the marvellous wisdom of God the Father, but bade them rather open the heavenly gates in honour to the King and Ps. xxiv. Master of all, proclaiming: Lift uj) the gates, 0 ye princes, txxiii. 7. ttnc? he ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of LXX.) Glory shall come in. Therefore our Lord Jesus the Christ Heb. X. consecrated for us a neiv and living luay, as Paul says; ■. not having entered into a holy place made tuith hands, 24. hut into heaven itself, noiv to appear hefore the face of
God for us. For it is not that He may present Himself before the presence of God the Father that Christ has c.xiv.2,3. ascended up on high: for He ever was and is and will be continually in the Father, in the sight of Him Who begat Him, for He it is in Whom the Father ever takes Cf. Prov. delight: but now He Who of old was the Word with no """'• ^^• part or lot in human nature, has ascended in human form that He may appear in heaven in a strange and unwonted manner. And this He has done on our account and for our sakes, in order that He, though found as a Phil.ii.8. man, may still in His absolute power as Son, while yet in human form, obey the command: Sit Thou on My Ps. ex. 1. right hand, and so may transfer the glory of adoption through Himself to all the race. For in that He has appeared in human form He is still one of us as He sits at the right hand of God the Father, even though He is far above all creation; and He is also Consubstantial with His Father, in that He has come forth from Him as truly God of God and Light of Light. He has presented Himself therefore as Man to the Father on our behalf, that so He may restore us, who had been removed from the Father's presence by the ancient transgression, again as it were to behold the Father's face. He sits there in His position as Son, that so also we through Him may be called sons and children of God. For this reason also Paul, who insists that he has Christ speaking 2 Cor. by his voice, teaches us to regard the events that hap- ^"^' " pened in the life of Christ alone as common to the whole race; saying that God raised us up tuith Him, and made Eph.ii. 6. us to sit with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ. For to Christ, as by nature Son, it belongs as a special prerogative to sit at the Father's side, and the glory of this dignity we can ascribe rightly and truly to Him, and Him alone. But the fact that Christ Who sits there is in all points like unto us, in that He has appeared as Man, while we believe Him to be God of God, seems to confer on us also the privilege of this dignity. For even if we shall not sit at the side of the Father Himself, — for how could the servant ever ascend to equal honour
Book 9. with the master? — yet nevertheless Christ promised the c. XIV. 4. j^^jy disciples that they should sit on thrones. For He s. Matt, says: When the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of XIX, 28. jj^^ gloiy, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
" I shall not then," He says, " depart to prepare mansions for you, for many there are already, and to make new habitations for creation is needless; but I go to make ready a place for you on account of the sin that has mastery over you, that so those who are on the earth may be able to be mingled with the holy angels; for else the saintly multitude of those above would never have mingled with those who had been so defiled. But now, when I shall have accomplished this work, and united the world below to the world above, and given you a path of access to the city on high, I will return again at the time of the regeneration, and receive you^iuith Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." And this is also in the mind of Paul, when he thus writes in his own 1 Thess. letter: For this we say unto you by the ward of the Lord, ~ that lue that are alive, that are left unto the coining of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall tue ever be ivith the Lord.
4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
" I Myself," He seems to say, " am going on before to make ready for you the path of entrance into the heavens: but if you wish, and if it is the delight of your heart, to rest within those mansions, and if you have devoted all your endeavours to reach the city above and to dwell in the company of the holy spirits, then ye hnoiu the ivay, which c. xiv. 4, is Myself; for assuredly through Me,, and none other, will you gain that blessing so marvellous. No other will ever open the heavens to you, or ever smooth for you the ground that none on earth could hitherto ever tread or ever know, except Myself alone." And the sayingis true. Therefore surely it was that the prophet Jeremiah, speaking by the Spirit, bade us ever seek this way most diligently, saying: Stand ye in the ways, and Jer. vi. ask for the everlasting paths of the Lord, and see what (lxx.) is the good way, and walk therein; and ye shall find sanctijication to your souls. For the ^vays and 2^<''iths of the Lord are, according to the prophet, the saving precepts of the holy prophets; but if any one devote his mind to them, he will find the Good Way, that is, Christ, through Whom cometh the perfect sanctijication to our souls: for we are justified by faith, and are made pa7'takers of the Divine natv.re by sharing in the gift of 2 s. Pet. the Holy Spirit. Nay, more, Isaiah himself, that prophet of mighty-sounding voice, thus heralded forth to us the coming of Christ, saying: There shall be in that time an is. xxxv. undejiled way, and it shall he called a holy way; where '^ '' by the phrase " in that time " he clearly means to speak of the time of the Incarnation of the Only-begotten: for He has made Himself for us an Undejiled and Holy Way, along which whosoever shall travel will at the appointed season behold the fair brightness of the city of the saints, and the Jerusalem which is free. And Gal. iv. again, the inspired Psalmist himself says to us, addressing ' himself as to God the Father: Teach me, 0 Lord, in Thy Ps. xxvii. way: for he is desirous to be instructed in the laws that (^^^ ^ are given by Christ, as one who is not unaware that he LXX.) will travel onward even to the city above, if led by the Evangehc teaching, journeying straight towards every blessing. And it would not be difficult to bring forward also many other testimonies out of the prophets, from which we might know assuredly that Jesus was called by them the holy " Way "; but I consider that there is
Book 0. DO necessity for laying excessive stress on arguments c- XIV. 4. -^ijQge effective use is so self-evident. " Ye know therefore," He says, " the way by which you yourselves also may pass to the mansions above; " signifying thereby just this, and nothing else: "There are indeed restingplaces in God the Father's home, many and glorious; and I am going on before you to prepare for you a means of access whereby you may in all boldness enter the regions yonder. But be well assured that no man would ever be able to reach those courts save through Me, and Me alone." If therefore any one fall away from the love of Christ, or (giving way to profane babblings and to impure and unnatural suggestions on the part of men whose hearts are set on false slanders) venture to degrade to the condition of slavery His nature so ineffable and incomprehensible, numbeiing among those born in the world Him Who is the Word begotten of the Father's essence in perfect freedom, or having any like base thoughts; let that man be well assured that he has lost the track of the journey to heaven above, and that he has been " deceived as to the waggon-wheels of his own farm," according to the saying of some one, and will most certainly undergo the penalties that are merited by those who cling to the world below. Therefore also the most wise Paul says of those who in madness have refused to order their lives in the manner of Christ, rushing back to the shadows of the law, that they have Gal. V. 4. been alienated from Christ, and have fallen from grace in their desire to be justified by the latu. For even as he who strays from the direct and beaten path will certainly be exposed to the disastrous consequences of his wandering, just so methinks and in the same degree will they who have rejected the righteousness that is in Christ, and have set at nought the teaching of the Evangelic dispensation, never see the city above, and never dwell with the saints. For Christ alone is the Way that can bring them thither.
6 and how know we tlie way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life: no one cometh unto tJie Father, but by Me.
Christ willed not as yet to tell His disciples in so many words that He was going away to the world above and returning to His Father, although in dark hints and through many impressive sayings He had been referring to the event. But one of His disciples, that one being Thomas, now questions Him directly, and by introducing at the same time a sort of argument, all but forces Him in spite of Himself to tell them plainly both whither it is that He is going, and where the path of His journey lies. For we know not, said he, tvhither Thou goest: so then, how could tve know the tuay? Christ in His reply evades the excessive curiosity of His disciple, for He does not give the desired answer at all, but treasuring up the question in His all-knowing mind, and rather reserving it for a more convenient moment, He in His kindness unfolds a truth which it was essential for them to learn. He says, therefore: / am the Way, I the Truth, I the Life. Now as to the truth of the Lord's saying in these words concerning Himself, no reasonable person can ever have felt the slightest shadow of doubt; yet I conceive it is needful to examine the question attentively. For how comes it that, whereas in the inspired Scriptures He is spoken of as Light, and Wisdom, and Power, and by ftiany other names. He selects a few only as being of very especial significance for the present occasion, calling Himself the Way, and the Truth, and the Life? For the real force of the words is deep and not easily discernible, as it seems to me; yet still we must not shrink from attempting to discover it. I shall say exactly what occurs to my own mind, commending to those who are wont to speculate more keenly the task of thinking out a higher meaning.
Book 9, There are then three means whereby we shall reach 5g*^' the Divine courts that are above and enter the Church Heb. xii. of the firstbom; namely, by practice in virtue of every kind, by faith in rightness of doctrine, and by hope of life to come. Is there any one else than our Lord Jesus the Christ, who could ever be a leader, a helper, or a means for granting us success in such matters as these? Surely not: do not think it. For He Himself has taught us things that are beyond the Law; He has pointed out to us the way that any one might safely take as leading to a virtue mighty in operation, and to a zealous and unhindered performance of those acts that are after the pattern of Christ. And so He Himself is the Truth, He is the Way; that is, the true boundary of faith, and the exact rule and standard of an unerring conception concerning God. For by a true belief in the Son, namely as begotten of the very essence of God the Father, and as bearing the title of Son in its fullest and truest meaning, and not even in any sense a made or created being, we shall then clothe ourselves in the confidence of a true faith. For he who has received the Son as a Son, has fully confessed a belief also in Him of Whose essence the Son is, and knows and will straightway accept God as the Father. Therefore He is the Truth, He is the Life; for none other will restore to us the life which is within our hopes, namely, that life which is in incorruption, and blessedness, and sanctification: for He it is that raises us up, and will bring us back again from the death we died under the ancient curse, to the state in which we were at the beginning. In Him therefore and through Him, all that is best and all thaz is precious has already appeared, and will appear for us. And notice again that the meaning connected with these words is very suitable to the idea involved in the previous verses. For while the disciple was still in doubt, and saying: Row knoiv ive the way? He shewed him briefly that since they knew Himself to be the motive cause, the leader, and the prince of the blessings that would bring the Way, the Truth, and the Life. 243