8 Herein is My Father glorified, that ye hear much fruit, and so shall ye be My discijyles.
He says that God His Father has been glorified, being justly admired for His incomparable goodness and crowning as it were His exceeding kindness with actual proof. For He so loved the ivorld according to the Supra Scripture, that He gave His Only-begotten Son, that '"' * whosoever helieveth on Him should not perish, but have eternal life. The life of all, that of course which is fulfilled by Christ, is then the fruit of the kindness of God the Father. For this reason I suppose He Himself, conversing with God the Father, said: I glorified Thee on infra the earth, having accomplished the ivork tuhich Thou hast ^^"' given Me to fidfil it. For the Only-begotten, being entrusted as it were with the salvation of us all, has well accomplished it by the Father, and He a Being not comprehended under the condition of necessary obedience, but Himself the absolute wisdom and power of His Father, apart from Whom nothing whatever can c. XV. 8. jjoly Evangelist, and we in a special manner. And for this reason the blessed David declares that the ordering of all that concerns us, and the directing aright of the life of all is entrusted by the Father to the Son,
Ps. ixviii. as His power and wisdom, when he says: 0 God, order the ivorhing of Thy j)oiver: 0 God, confirm that ivhich
Who alone reigns with God the Father to restore the earth that was entirely corrupted, and to be able to mould it anew into its former state. Therefore My
Father was glorified by giving His Own Son as a ransom for the life of the world, being content to see among us Him "Who is above every creature, not that He might bring any addition of perfection to His Own
Nature. For He is all perfect and self-sufficing, having power over all things, but in order that you may bring forth more fruit and become My disciples. For if He had not become man, we should not, being deemed worthy of sharing His nature, and being united to Him like branches, and gaining for Him the power of bearing fruit by sharing in His Spirit, have produced the fruit of a state of life pleasing to God, which He even calls much, putting in the background that which sprang from service of the Law, and showing that it is of less
Heb. vii. importance. For the Law hath 'made nothing perfect,
^^' according to the saying of Paul. For this reason He said to His holy disciples, nay to all of us who have been
^' ■ I say unto you, Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no ivise enter into the kingdom of heaven. And
Ibid. xiii. again: Every scribe tuho hath been made a disciple to the kingdom of heaven, is like unto a rich man ivhich bringeth forth out of his treasure things neiu and old; casting, as it were, from the treasury of their hearts the Mosaic injunctions, and the memory of the ancient writings. He therefore, who is a willing hearer, and Chap. 2. ready to learn, and is full of the torchlight of the ' ^^' * Gospel, has his wealth increased and multiplied; I mean, of course, spiritual wealth. For he brings forth things new and old, transforming the shadow of the Law and the ]30wer of servitude to the Law into the pattern of citizenship according to the Gospel. For what the Law figured by types, this Chiist did openly in truth. Wherefore also He said: / cmne not to destroy the Laiu, s. Matt. but to fulfil; and again: Verily, verily, 1 say unto you, ^-p- 0 ne jot or one tittle shall in no ujise pass away from the Laiu, till all things he accomplished. The power then of the service of the Gospel is the much fruit, spiritual, and in truth; seeing that the Only-begotten became Man for the glory of God the Father. And on this account it has followed that those who are on the earth are His disciples. For He spoke to those of old time and Heb. i. 1. formerly through the prophets as God; but has told us and said concerning us: And they shall cdl he taught 0/ Supra God. For to us who believe in Him, not merely has no '^^' other person intervened and conveyed the message from Him, or become a mediator of His Will towards us, as Moses doubtless was to the Israelites in Mount Sinai: or again, the prophets after Moses to those among them; but Christ Himself has taught us. And for this reason we are all taught of God. We should not then have at all become His disciples, we should not have brought forth the fruits of love towards God, and this in abundance, unless the Father had been glorified by His goodness, taking such pleasure in us, that the Word proceeding from His Essence should become Man. For we shall think thus when we hear the Holy Scripture declaring that He gave His own Son. For He also approved of His choosing to suffer this for us; and, on this account, is said to have given Him: and with justice.
C-. XV. 9, 9 Even as the Father hath loved Me, I also have loved you: 10 abide ye in My love. If ye keep My commandments, ye abide in My love; even as I have kept My Father s commandments and abide in His love.
We must consider the mysteries set forth in the text with the clearer eye of the understanding; for the saying has a deep meaning, and puts before us in its completeness, so to speak, the significance of the Incarnation. For He assures us that He Himself was loved by God the Father, and that He so loved us in turn, after the same manner, that is, according to which He Himself considered that He was loved by His own Father, What charge then did He lay upon them? That it is our duty to abide in His love. But He gives, as it were, an explanation and most convincing reason of His being with justice loved by the Father, namely, the keeping of His commandments; and exhorts us, too, to hasten to fulfil this, and thus. He says, to remain in His love. We have clearly shown what His meaning is then, summing up and condensing into small compass the sense of the passage, so far as possible. But since I think it right to rob of its terrors that which is likely sometimes to disturb in no small degree the mind of the pure, come, let us say how and in what way we apprehend the meaning of the passage. Our Lord Jesus Christ then appears, setting Himself forth as a type and pattern of the holy state of life, and as being on this account under the Law, and not disdaining to take the measure of our poverty, in order that designedly moulding Himself, according to His plan, into conformity with our dispositions, He might be found as in figures to those that are His, a guide of the way to our recovery of a state and of a life strange to us and wholly untrodden. We must now inquire then what commandment of the Father He has kept, and in what way, or in what manner He is said to have been loved by Him. Let then the most wise Paul come to our aid, and initiate us into the mystery by his words concerning Him; how heing Chap. 2. in the form of God, He e7)iptied Hiviself taking the ^q^^" ^' form of a servant, heing made in the likeness of men; Phil. ii. and being found in fashion as a man, He hath humbled '^''^' Himself, becoming obedient even unto death; yea, the death of the cross. Wherefore also God highly excdted Him, and gave unto Him the Name ivhich is above every name. You have heard how, though He was the true God, seeing that He was of the same fashion with His Father, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death. For when God determined to save the corrupted race upon the earth, and it did not satisfy justice that any created being should accomplish this, the Only-begotten God, Who knows the Will of God the Father, Himself undertook the task, as the enterprise exceeded all the power that there was in the world. And thus He came down to a voluntary subjection, so as even to descend to death, and that a most shameful one. For how could the being nailed to a cross be honourable, and how would it not rather pass every disgrace? Since therefore He endured these things, God hath highly exalted Him. You have therefore in His willing obedience the fulfilment of the purposes of the Father; which purposes, the Son says, were ranked by Him as commands. For understanding as Word the counsels in the Father, and searching out the secret thoughts of Him that begat Him, nay rather being Himself the Wisdom and the Power of the Father, He realises His plan, accounting it as a command, and thus naming it after a human analogy. And see herein the measure of His love. For God hath highly exalted Him, He says. He exalts and glorifies Him that was abeady exalted and glorified; although He is by nature very God; inasmuch as He does not exist as one of the creatures, according to the identity of His Substance, on this account being deemed, and being in reality, beyond all height that is conceived, and even the Lord of Glory l Cor, ii. according to the holy writings. But of a truth, He says, ^'
Book 10. He is exalted and glorified; how, or when, and in what c XV. 9, ^g^y. 2 When of course, He was in the form of a servant and in the likeness of our humiliation; that is, man like ourselves. For He returns clothed with our flesh to be again highly exalted and glorified with the Father. And He was loved by Him, and not then for the first time, when He fulfilled His voluntary subjection; and you will better understand this by the following considerations. For according to the manner in which He was always exalted and glorified, with reference to His Own Nature, He that was bereft of the glory suited to God, so far as the definition of His Humanity. was concerned, is said to have been glorified and exalted when He became Man. For being thus from the beginning loved always and through all time. He is said to have been loved even when clothed in flesh. For on this account He appeared amongst us; that is. He took our form upon Him and became Man, in order that He might make pleasing to God that which was hated on account of the transgression at the beginning, and the sin which had crept in in the interval. For, for this reason, Christ is said to have appeared as the Door, and the Beginning, and the Way of all things good to us. Does He then tell you that He has been loved without reproach, because His Fathers co7}imands have been kept by Him'? Did not the declaration of the mystery seem difficult to you, and was not the deep meaning of the Incarnation accomplished in our behalf hardly attainable by your reason"? Prov.viii. But they are all 'plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knoiuledge.
Abide therefore. He says, in My love; that is, coming with all zeal and ardour, make it the object of your anxiety and concern to be worthy of such a love from Me as I have from God the Father. For I was an obedient worker of the wishes of the Father, and on this account I abide closely in His love. But when ye also yourselves become keepers of My commandments, ye in a like manner will wholly abide in My things without profit. For I shall manifestly give you as much love as I have from the Father; and crown the keeper of My words with honours almost equal. For the Father has highly exalted Me, and has given Phil. ii. 9. Me the Name luhich is above every name. For I have been declared God of the universe, yet I shall not be found envious or to grudge you such good things. For I have shown you, who are men, and who have for this reason received the nature of slaves, to be gods, and sons of God; making you illustrious through My grace with dignities surpassing your nature to receive; have admitted you into the fellowship of My kingdom; have shown you conformed to the Body of My c/^or^/; ibid. iii. have honoured you with incorruption and life. But * this standeth as yet but in hope, and is preserved for the age that is to come. And what have ye now for the time present? Have I not made you illustrious, and glorified you, and made you holy beyond the devotees of all nations? Nay, ye have rebuked the unclean spirits; I have given you power to heal all manner o/S. Matt. disease, and all manner of sickness. I have given the promise unto you: Verily, verily I say unto you. He Supra that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do ^^^' also; and greater luorks than these shall he do. If we allow our minds to be impressed with the sense of the passage before us, we shall think that this is what He says to His holy disciples. And if we at all times keep our mind yoked fast to the doctrines of the truth, and if we turn the investigation into which we enter so far as we can to the profit of our hearers and to foster the practice of a righteous life, we shall avoid foolishly falling over any stumblingblock in the way. For it is written in the Book of Psalms: Great is the peace Ps. cxix. tltat they have who love Thy laiv; and they have no sttimblinghlock in their path.
c. XV. 11. 11 These tilings have I spoken unto you that My joy may abide in you, and that your joy may he fulfilled.
When, after introducing to us the parable of the vine, He went on to teach us that the branch which is separated and sundered, as it were, from the mother who nourishes it will be wholly useless, and doomed to be consumed by fire, He thereby terrified His disciples not a little. For awful tidings, even though they have no reference to the present, are likely to cause no little alarm to their hearers, especially when the obscurity of the future engenders the suspicion that what they hear may come to pass. Just as the voyager who is about to cross the sea before him, when it seems probable that a storm will actually arise, and the billows rage, and the wild waves lash themselves in fury, even though he do not see these things before his eyes, and they stand yet merely in expectation, and that perhaps baseless, fears them as though they were in his sight. He then fitly raises up anew His disciples, trembling and struck with terror at these dreadful tidings, and stupefied by the thought of future trials, to a sustained courage; and leaving His sad discourse, speaks to them of their joy of heart in God. For it is not. He says, O My disciples, for this cause that I have now spoken these words unto you, to rob your minds of courage, or to inspire in you a vague terror, nor that you should be found altogether broken down by the thought of evil to come, and unable to endure to secure your own blessedness, but that you might be quite otherwise affected, and have pleasure of heart in Me, a7id that My joy should abide in you.
And I think we ought to consider more attentively what the sense of this passage is, and what Christ wishes us to take as His meaning. We must take it then as having a twofold meaning: for either one may say the words that you may have joy concerning Me or in Me, as used in an argument which bears no mean- ing but the obvious one: for so ye yourselves may make Chap. 2. your own power complete, reflecting on the reward of ^" ^^' ' blessings which exceed all things earthly, and the return that your exertions will win, and the greatness of your glory with God; or considering it in another sense, we will not shrink from entering upon a more profound inquiry. For we ought most eagerly and keenly to hunt in all reverence for the aim of all these investigations. What do then the words that My joy may be in you signify? Do they mean that the Only -begotten is as we are, that is, a Man, only without sin, resolved to undergo all the sufferings which the accursed madness of the Jews compelled Him to experience? For w^e shall find Him insulted and persecuted, and buffeted with bitter reproaches, and spat upon, and beaten with rods, and not exempt from the insult of the scourge, and, last of all, to crown all this, nailed to the cross through our means and for our sakes. And in the presence of all this awful suffering, He was not bowed down m agony, and did not even shrink from the ignominy of suffering as His plan required, but was full of the pleasure of heart and joy which became Him, since He saw the multitude of those who were saved, and the Will of God the Father fulfilled. For this cause He accounted dishonour joy, and thought suffering pleasure. For when they dared against Him many things repugnant to His nature, we shall find it written that Jesus then rejoiced in the Spirit, and said, I thank s. Luke Tliee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou ^' didst hide these things from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them unto babes: yea, Father, for so it tuas tvell-pleasiiig in Thy sight. Note that when He saw wisdom given to babes and simple folk, He rejoiced and exulted by the Spirit, and offered up thanks, as in our behalf, to the Father Who saves us; but when He passed through the land of the Samaritans, and was tuearied with His journey, as it is Supra iv. written. He sat by the well of Jacob. But when the
Book 10. woman represented to Him the need of drawing water, ^' ^^' ' He told her what was likely to come to pass; and foretold that a multitude of Samaritans would come, and seemed to make of small account the necessaries of life. For what did He say to His disciples, when they coun- Supra iv. selled Him to partake of what they had to eat? My oneat is to do the will of My Father, and to accomj^lish His %uork. Is it not thereby clear that He accounted the fulfilling of His Father's Will, that is, providing a refuge in salvation for the backsliders, as pleasure and joyl It is beyond doubt.
All this then, He says, I have spoken unto you, that My joy may be in you; that those things may give you encouragement that give encouragement to Me; that you may face perils bravely, girding yourselves with the hope of those who will be saved; and, if suffering come upon you in this work, that ye may not be brought low into the feebleness of apathy, but may joy more abun- 1 Tim. ii. dantly, when the pleasure of Him That willeth that all men shotdd be saved and come to the knoivledgt of the truth is fulfilled by you. For I, too, rejoiced at this, and thought My sufferings very sweet. When then, He says, you elect to have this joy, which I thought became Myself, then you will have it perfect and complete.
For we think that joy most full and complete, which is in God, and through God, and results from good works, through the fixity and stability of the hope; and because it arose from a proper source, not only we, but also Jesus Himself took pleasure in it. And we say that the joy which is of the world is incomplete: because it is clearly transient and excited by unworthy causes; earthly things which flit away like phantoms and shadows. Just as we say that hatred is perfect which has a just and righteous origin amongst us; just as, of course, the blessed David says about the opponents of the Ps. glory of God, / hated them with a 2:)erfect hatred; and csxxix. perfect love that which prepares those who have chosen it, in God and through God, to offer themselves wholly unto God; not that which is fixed on any earthly objects, Chap. 2. and things worthy of no account. ^\^^' ^"'
13 / have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
He now makes clearer by the illustration here given the meaning of the preceding passage; that is, the necessity of His disciples having His joy in them; and clearly says, " I give you this injunction, and teach those who think they ought to follow Me to do this, and be thus minded to practise such manner of love towards one another as I have heretofore shown and fulfilled." How great a measure can a man then find to the love of Christ, He Himself shows when He says that nothing can be greater than such love, which excites to forsake life itself for those one loves. And by all this He not only exhorts His own disciples that it becomes them so little to shrink from fearing to encounter dangers for those they love, but that also He Himself without shrinking held Himself in utmost readiness to undergo the death of the flesh. For the power of our Saviour's love attained so great a measure. And these words were borne out by His action, and by His encouragement to His disciples to attain an exceeding great and extraordinary courage, and by His exhorting them to the perfection of brotherly love, and fencing their hearts with the armour of enthusiasm and love of God, and raising them up into a zeal invincible and undaunted, so as impetuously to hasten to establish everything according to His good pleasure. Such a man Paul showed himself to us, when he said, For to Phil.i.21. rue, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. And again: For the love of Christ constraineth us: because tee thus 2 Cor. v. judge that one died for all, therefore all died. And ' '^' besides: Who shall separate us frorti the love of Chi'ist? Rom.viii. Shall trilndation, or anguish, or famine, or nakedness, or iieril, or sword? Note how he promises that nothing
Book 10. shall be able to overcome it or prevail to cut us off c.^xv. 12, £^.Qj^ ^]^g \oYQ of Christ. But if tending the flocks and Cf. infra feeding the lambs of Christ be to love Him, is it not j^^" ■^^' quite clear that he who preaches the word of salvation to those who know not God will prevail over death, persecution, and the sword, and will think distress of no account at all? And, if it be fitting to condense the meaning and to compress the words of our Saviour, and to express in a few words what He wishes His disciples to do. He bids them to keep their hearts undaunted and free from every fear, and minister the word of faith in Him, and to preach the Gospel to all who are in the world. And the selfsame command He gives by the Is. xl. 9. word of the prophet Esaias: 0 Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain. 0 Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; he strong, fear not. And we shall find that the holy disciples themselves have power to do this aright, when they ask of God by earnest prayer: for on one occasion, accusing the madness of the Jews, they exclaimed: Acts iv. And noiu, Lord, look upon their threatening s: and grant ^^' unto Thy servants to speak Thy ivord with boldness.
For those who resist and impiously rail against such as openly minister the Gospel are very many. But even if the terror be keen and the waves of evil counsel rise up most dreadfully, there will be no mention of suffering among His true disciples until the righteous acts that proceed from love attain their end — such love, I mean, as
Heb. xii. our Saviour set forth to us as a pattern. Who for the joy that tvas set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, in order that He might accomplish salvation for those who have sinned. And if He had not been willing to suffer for us, we should be still dead, servants of the s. Matt, devil, fools and blind, and remaining in need of every-
The meaning then of the text as thus conceived will fit in with the inspired chapters of the disciples. And if the saying shall go forth to all the world, that is, This is My covionandme^it, that ye love one another, even as I have loved you, much profit will result to all from the investigation. For if love towards brethren keeps and works the fulfilment of the whole command of our Saviour, how will not he who tries as far as possible to accomplish this without laying himself open to censure and blame be very worthy of admiration, since the sum of all the virtues, so to speak, is stored up in it? For love towards one another is next to love to God, and all the power of righteousness towards God is concluded as in this one word, namely, Thou shall love thy neighbour as Galv. 14. thyself.
14 Ye are My friends, if ye do the things which I command
15 you. No longer do I call you servaiits; for the servant hnoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known unto you.
In contrast to the terrors which will sometimes assail those inclined towards obedience and love of virtue He has set the gain of their love towards Him, in order that by the consolations ensuing from this, and by their aiming at what is greater, that which is burdensome may disappear and that which sometimes seems to cause pain sink into insignificance. Sweet is their labour to those who love God, since indeed theirs is a near and rich reward. Who then could conceive any thing greater, and what will he say is more glorious, than to be and be called the friend of Christ? For see how the reward surpasses the very limits of the nature of man. For all things are subject unto HIhi that made them, according to the saying of the Psalmist; and there is, I suppose, nothing in Creation which has not been subjected to the yoke of slavery, in accordance with the
Book 10. decree becoming the Creator and His work. For the 15.^^ ' work produced is not on an equality with its producer; and how coukl it be? But God, Who is over all, will hold sway over and direct His own works. The universe then being under the yoke of subjection, and putting itself under servitude to God, the Lord leads up His holy ones to a supernatural glory, if they appear willing to work His Will and bring to Him, as an offering that is due, a blameless subjection. Their reward then is glorious and worthy of envy.
But we must consider this point especially at this juncture, for it will be of no small profit. For if friendship towards Christ will be sufiicient in the case of any for the dignity of freedom and the being no longer called slaves, how could He be a slave except as made and created, according to the thoughtlessness of some? For He is not able to allot the honour of freedom to all others, while His own Nature is bereft of this attribute. For I suppose He must appear in possession of it more than all the rest, for then will He most suitably give to those who have it not the blessing that is His own. But the dignity must be conferred on and given to the holy Apostles, or perhaps also to all others who mount up through faith to the friendship that is towards our Lord Jesus Christ, as by way of honour, but not existing in like manner with that enjoyed by Him. For they, mounting up by their likeness to Him to the glory of liberty, would display by this that which naturally belongs to Him alone. For that which is by position is compared with that which is by nature.
This however we must demonstrate; for I think it is necessary to go through every inquiry which is useful and particularly necessitates explanation. For the justice which is derived from faith in Christ has a more ancient manifestation than that justice which is according to the law; and further, because the knowledge of the Divine mysteries is revealed to those that believe and obey Christ, and the counsel of God the Father is through obedience and sacrifice. 405
Scripture, dwelling somewhat at length upon it to advantage. It has then been written in a book of
Moses that Abraham believed in God, but his faith was Gen. xv.
accounted unto him for righteousness; and he ivas called, J t the friend of God. And what was the manner of his ii. 23. faith, or how then was he called the friend of God? He heard the words, Get thee out of thy country, and Gen. xii. from thy kindred, unto a land that I tvill show thee. Moreover, when he was enjoined to sacrifice his only son as a type of Christ he learnt the purpose hidden in God. And for this reason the Saviour spoke concerning him to the impious Jews, saying: Your father Abraham rejoiced Supra to see My day; and he saw it and was glad. Therefore ^"^" ^^' the inspired Abraham, owing to obedience and sacrifice, was called the friend of God and put on himself the boast of righteousness.
And not only this, but he was deemed worthy of Divine converse, and knew the counsel of God, which came to pass in the last times. For in the fulness of time Christ died for us — the true, sacred, and holy sacrifice which taketh away the sin of the world.
But see again a like fulfilment in the case of those who mount up by faith to the friendship of our Saviour Christ. They also heard the words Get thee out of thy country. And that they did it eagerly we may learn from what they say: For ive have not here an abiding Heb. xiii. city, but we seek after the city which is to come, tvhose; builder ctncl maker is God. For they are strangers and 10. sojourners upon earth, being citizens of heaven and leaving the land of their birth to speak allegorically of their heavenward aspirations, desiring eagerly the resting-place above. For this the Saviour set before them when He said, / go and ivill lorepare a iilace for Supra you; and when I come, I tvill receive you with Myself; ^^^* that ivhere I am, there ye may be also. They were told
Book 10. to go forth from tbeir kindred; and how shall we show jg'"^^' ' this? We will refer to Chi'ist's own words: He that s. Matt, loveth fatlier or mother more than Me is not ivortliy of ^' Me. And that the things of God were preferred to their earthly and fleshly relationship, and their love towards Christ set forth as far stronger, is certainly unquestioned amono- those who reverence Him. And the blessed Abraham was ordered to bring to God his own son for an odour of a sweet-smelling savour, while others, girding themselves with the righteousness that is by faith, were commanded to offer not others but them- Eom. xii. selves. For he says: Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptcd)le to God, ivhich is your reasonable service. Since it has been wi'itten concerning them: Gal.v.24. They thcd are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh ivith the passions and the lusts thereof, they knew thS Heb.vi.5. mystery that is in Christ. For they know the poivers of the age to come, and what will be in the last days; for they will receive the rewards of their labours, and take as requital the recompence of their piety towards Christ. Therefore we shall become just and the friends of God, as did Abraham. And the Gospel dispensation is far more ancient than that of the Law. I mean by the Gospel dispensation that which is by faith and friendship towards God, then moulded first in Abraham, as in the beginning of his race according to the flesh, that is of Israel, but now coming as from a type to truth, and being well fulfilled in the holy disciples themselves, as in the beginning of a spiritual race preserved as a people for God's own possession, which also is called a holy nation and a royal priesthood. Therefore it has been said to the mother of the Jews, I mean the synagogue, by the voice of the Psalmist: Ps. xliv. Instead of fcdhers thy sons have been born.
For the inspired disciples are truly sons of the synagogue of the Jews, for they were nourished up in the Mosaic usages. They became fathers, holding the position of Abraham, and were the beginning of the spiritual race, and for this reason were ordained as rulers, offering Chap. 2. up as a sacrifice the Gospel of Christ in all the world, ^' ^^' " as did Abraham Isaac as a type of Christ. We thus speak, not depriving the blessed Abraham of the glory which is his due and befits him, but showing in him, as in a figure, what has been appointed in the last days by Christ. The reward of friendship with God which was then seen in Abraham first is intimately conjoined with the freedom which comes by faith, and now also it is seen in the holy disciples as the firstfruits of a new generation. Let then the inspired Paul point out to us the necessity of thus speaking, vehemently contending with the Jews, that the righteousness that is of faith is far older than that of the Law. For when he made mention of the circumcision according to the flesh, he afiirmed that this was given to the firstfruits of the race, that is Abraham, 'for no other reason save his, becoming the sign and seal of the faith tuhich he had Rom. iv. ivhile he ivas in uncircunicision. But if uncircum- • cision with which also is faith was before the Law, but circumcision which has not the glory of faith after the Law, and Abraham believed in uncircunicision, how will not the justice through faith of those who are justified and freed through love towards God, as was Abraham, be more ancient than the dispensation by the Law? For thus also he will be father of many nations by ibid. I8. promise, not according to the flesh. And these things have we now pertinently said on account of our Lord's word: JS^o longer do I call you servants: ye are My friends; for all things that I heard from My Father, I have made knoivn unto you.
16 Ye did not choose Me, but I cJiose you, ayid have appointed you, that ye should (jo and hear fruit, and that your fruit should abide: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in My name. He shall give you.
His aim is neither to depress His holy disciples by words too grievous, being aware, as God, of the great
Book 10. tendency of human reason to weakness, nor again does c. XV. 16. jj^ permit them by immoderate assurances to fall into a state of backsliding, for this is indeed a disease and a serious one. But forming a mean between these two from a mixture of both, He fitly leads them into a safe path, and works in them a knowledge of the more stable state and of the complete uncertainty of that which is removed from it.
When therefore, then, he has abundantly comforted them with the words of consolation, and with respect to those things at which they would be likely to be cast down, persuading them in turn to rejoice. He again incites them by His injunctions to diligence to a confident courage; persuading them to change their minds and rather to rejoice at those things at which they had not without reason been dismayed, and charges them to display the utmost zeal, and put into practice an overflowing measure of brotherly love, and to benefit those as yet without faith, and to hasten by the words and deeds that make for righteousness to draw those who are astray to a willingness to be united to God by faith.
Offering Himself then as an Image and Pattern of that which must be done, and bringing before them that which has been already accomplished by Him in their behalf, He persuades them to imitate their Teacher and themselves to be conspicuous in like righteousness when He says: Ye did not choose Me, hut I chose you, and what follows.
Conceive Him then as saying: " Gird yourselves with love towards one another, O My disciples; for ye ought indeed yourselves also to devise and do towards one another, and perform with an eager zeal, those things which I have fii'st accomplished towards you. For / chose you, and it is not you that have chosen Me. I drew you to Myself and made Myself known to those who knew Me not through My exceeding kindness, and I brought you into a steadfast opinion so as to lead j^ou up, that hy reference to His oivn ivork. 409 is, to confer on you the ability to reach forward to what Chap. 2. is greater, and to bear fruit unto God. Attain therefore to the complete confidence that whatsoever ye shall ask in My nar^ie ye shall receive. Since, therefore, ye follow in the track of My words and ministry, and have the mind which My true disciples ought to be endued with, it follows that ye ought not by your own tarrying to throw obstacles in the way of him who of his will seeks the faith and is self-called to a life of piety; but that you should rather attach yourselves as guides to those who are still ignorant and astray, and bring to those who do not yet prefer to learn it the Gospel of salvation, and eagerly exhort them to attain unto the true knowledge of God, even though the mind of your hearers be hardened into disobedience. For thus they would be in your condition, that is, they will advance and' will return by gradual growth in what is better to fruit-bearing in God, so as to have the fruit that ever remains and is preserved and that most acceptable object of prayer, the bestowal of whatsoever they wish, if only they ask in My name."
So much then on this head: for it is necessary again, compressing in a few words the drift of the text, to make it clear to our hearers. He persuades His disciples to have so much love towards others, and wishes them to exhibit as much zeal in their persistent endeavour in all directions to pursue and bring to holiness the souls of those who have not yet believed, as He Himself first showed towards us and them. For that He Himself chose His disciples is unquestioned, and I think it unnecessary to state how and in what way the call of each was made. Still, that the discourse of the Saviour is pregnant with the meaning I have j ust given to it what follows will equally persuade us. For he says:
Book 10. still faithless and astray to obedience to God is the work c. XV. 17. Qf ^]^g highest love of all? But this is undeniable. And 2 Cor. V. Paul hastened to do this when he said: We are cnn- bassadors therefore on behalf of Christ, as though God ivere entreating by us: we beseech you on behalf of Christ, he ye reconciled to God. So also does Peter, saying
Acts iii. boldly to the Jews: And now, brethren, I tvot that in igiwrance ye did it, as did cdso your rulers. Rejient ye
Ibid. ii. therefore and be baptized every one of you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. You see then how and with what zeal they meet those who have not believed, and bring to them the word which they have not sought, not making it necessary for these in their ignorance to choose themselves as their teachers, but anticipating in this even him who has as yet been unwilling to learn any elementary truth.
But since our Saviour's words have this addition, that ye should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, it is our duty to inquire what this means. For what is the meaning of the expression that the fruit of His disciples remains? I think then that by fruit which remains our Saviour means that produced by the training of the Gospel and not by the righteousness of the Law. For the latter has become obsolete by reason of its inability to accomplish anything. For the Law accomplished nothing, as Paul says; but the new righteousness burst as it were into blossom in its stead and lifted up its head, making obsolete and putting away the former, and bringing in the fruit that truly remains and is preserved. Thus speaks the inspired Paul addressing us, and saying that the righteousness by the Law was gladly and readily accounted by him as loss in order that he might gain Christ, that is, the righteousness and fruit-bearing of the Gospel by the faith that is in Him. For such fruit as this will continue and be perennial, being capable of fulfilling the soul of man with righteousness. For no other new instruction will steal in beside the messages of the Gospel making the former obsolete, as was undoubtedly the case with Chap. 2. the Mosaic command. But the Word of the Saviour will ^ ^^^^ * stand for ever, as indeed He Himself says: Heaven and xxiv. 35. earth shall pass away: hut My words shall not pass away.
18 If the luorld hateth yoii, ye knoiv that it liath hated Me before it hated you^ We shall find the course pursued in each case by our Saviour in no way whatever inferior, as I suppose, to the skill and fine art of physicians, as He everywhere follows a plan profitable to His hearers. For physicians check the stubborn maladies which sometimes arise in bodies by means of the resources of their art. But Christ fences off the entrance to evil, fortifying as it were each individual SQul with commands ensuring prevention. Since therefore the disciples were destined to be rulers, not indeed over one nation or one district only, but rather to be the instructors of the universe, and to preach to all throughout the world the message of the Gospel and of God, and to turn their hearers to a belief in the true God alone, and to change them from sin to a willingness to do what became them, and to make the law, I mean that of the Gospel, the rule of their life; He bids them account as nothing the hatred of the world, that is of those who set their hearts on worldly things and choose to live wantonly and impiously. For could any one venture to say that, in seeing fit to give such injunctions to His disciples, showing that it was profitable to be hated. He did so without a reason, and not to profit them in any thing that is necessary? Put aside this folly; for His Word would not fall away into such a meaning as this. He counsels them not to guard against being noway hated by every one, and says excellently, in the clearest and most precise language, // the world hateth you, that is, if those who honour what is of the world and set their affections on earthly things alone should view you with hatred, know then indeed. He declares, that your Master endured this before you.
Book 10. But any one might very readily perceive that the ' command of the Saviour will bring full profit to the expounders of the sweetest mysteries, if he would look at the nature of the circumstances. For it is always dear — nay, rather, it is the object of their earnest endeavour — to thrust away as grievous and as monstrous the word that maketh wise, and to set upon those who are zealous to introduce the noblest of studies, and those by which they will become better than they were before; yielding up the victory to their private pleasures only. But a necessary consideration had well-nigh escaped my notice, although especially appropriate to, and connected with, the investigation of the words before us.
For the Jews, serving only the letter of the Mosaic Law, and putting their own construction on those things
Heb. ix. that were performed as types itntd a time of reformation, made no account whatsoever of the training of the Gospel, but thought they ought to consider its ministers as even more unendurable than their bitterest foes. And others, pursuing a different error, and attaching the unspeakable glory of God to the creature, I mean tbe heathen, did not very gladly receive the word that was capable of illumining them. For being as it were absorbed in their former vices, they accounted their ignorance as most precious, and were as little as possible inclined to depart from the disease akin to it. And since the nature of the case was so, who could doubt that the disciples of the Saviour would not only be hated by the Jews but also utterly despised by those diseased with the error of the Greeks? But they were very unwelcome, nay, they were intolerable, to those preferring to devote themselves to pleasure and honouring a life that spent itself in luxury. But if the disciples of the Saviour were to consider the consequence of being hated by those already mentioned as grievous, while they rather hastened to strive after and extravagantly to pursue the affection of those in this diseased condition, is it not quite clear to all that they would be manifestly not putting forth the word that is able to save to any one whatsoever, but would be rather bestowing Chap. 2. their thoughts on vain trivialities, and restraining the ^" ■^^' rebuke that proceeds from boldness of sj^eech according to the Will of God, speaking and expounding forsooth according to each individual taste 1
The injunction therefore not too eagerly to seek to be loved and to disregard incurring the hatred of some is necessary if they gain profit from their counsels. This also we shall see St. Paul doing when he says plainly: — Fo7' am I noiu persuading men, or God? or am I seeking Gal.i. lO. to please men? If I were still wishing to please men, I should not be a servant of Christ. And again, when he had rebuked someone in Corinth, and heard that he was excessively pained, he says: For if I make you sorry, 2 Cor. ii. who then is he that maketh me glad, but he that is made "" so7vy by me? For godly sorroiv tuorketh repentance unto ibid. vii. salvation, a repentance ivhich bringeth no regret. It will ^^' therefore be quite indisputable that the word which consults the pleasure of the listeners will flatter rather than benefit the world; but he who obeys the words of the Saviour will not conduct his ministry in this way. For he will prefer rather to please Him, and will regard even the being hated by those, and will consider even the hatred of those who have chosen to treat virtue with the utniost hostility, as spiritual wealth.
When then. He says, the hatred that you have stirred up against you in the world is found at times to militate against your good repute, overcome and cast aside this stumbling-block in your path, seeing that honours paid you by those who love the world cannot give you much pleasure, if they cannot endure to hear the word that profits them. For I am of a truth your Lord and Master. But that those who preferred to mind earthly things and despised the heavenly blessings hated Christ Himself also to their own destruction, I think it not difficult to show. For He said in the Gospels to some: The world cannot Supra hate you; but Me it hateth, because I testify of it that its ^"" ivorks are evil. Making Himself then again a pattern to
^' ' ' shall reproach you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be eaxeeding glad; for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the ijrophets which ivere before you.
19 If y^ were of the world, the world would love its own: hut because ye are not of the ivorld, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
He lightens by His art even that which was most grievous, and gives them unexpected pleasure at that which it was reasonable to suppose would greatly trouble them. For to be hated by any is truly burdensome, because sly injuries and unexpected devices are the result; yet this too is sweet when it happens for the sake of God and righteousness, and it supplies a convincing proof that the man against whom some thus act is not of the world. For as we find physical so also shall we find moral affinities, and a sameness and complete likeness of disposition is sufiicient to undermine mere bloodrelationship. Ecclns. For every crecdure loveth its like, according to the ^g"' ^^' Scripture, and a man tvill be attached to his like. Now whereas similarity of character renews the law of love towards one another, the holy will live with the holy and very readily conform to him, and be joined to him in friendly union. And so also will be the attitude of one of like disposition towards a blasphemer. For this reason the Mosaic Law made a complete distinction between what was holy and profane, keeping such things apart and separate from one another according to the law of love. 1 Cor. XV. Evil company doth corrupt good manners, and ^^" differences of disposition are at war with one another, and wills that are divided look in opposite directions and almost accuse one another: each being enamoured of its own pursuit. The lover of virtue then must incur hatred Chap. 2. for the very things which excite our admiration — his ^' ^^' rebuking vice and unveiling the vileness of the wicked by the contrast that his own manner of life presents. For when goodness is seen by its side, what is evil must appear unseemly. For this cause then I think those who are not enamoured of the same manner of life rage against the virtuous.
He bids then His disciples not be pained, even though they see themselves hateful to the world on account of their love of virtue and righteousness towards Him, but explains that they ought on the contrary to rejoice, receiving the hatred of the world as a proof of their dignity and praise with God. For see how dangerous He has shown their not enduring to suffer (which it was likely they would prefer) to be. For to be hated by any was not absolutely without loss. But it has not the free pardon from God, and the great gain which results from preferring to suffer it. For if the man who is hated by those who mind worldly things is considered as outside the world, it is necessary then to suppose that the man who is not hated is united to the vices of the world.
What then has Christ established by these words? That they should preach His word with boldness, and should not permit their hearers to be unprofited, from their regard towards sinners or those who prefer to disobey the Divine command; but that, leaving unnoticed the affronts that will often result from being hated, they should give bold and fearless counsel, passing by nothing whatsoever or esteeming anything of more consequence than the necessity of serving God. This object St. Paul well accomplishes when he writes thus: For am I »ou' Gal.i. 10. 'jjersuading men, or God? or arti I seeJdng to please 'men? If I were still pleasing vien, I should not he a servant of Christ. For it is not possible to please evil men and God. For how could the two coincide, the will of each presenting the widest divergence? For one looks towards virtue, and the other looks towards vice. The
Book 10. man therefore who wishes only to be the servant of God, '^' ^' ' and who regards nothing as superior to piety towards Him, must necessarily be in conflict with those who love the world, whenever he persuades them to a state of mind out of harmony with the vain folly of the world. For advice which calls to something else is most intolerable to lovers of pleasure, as assuredly are profitable and severe remedies to those whose bodies are diseased by these passions.
20 Remember the ivord that I said unto you, A servant is not greater than his lord. If they 2)ersecuted Me, they will also 2)ersecu('e you; if they kept My word, they will kee}) yours also.
After having first then shown that the hatred His followers would incur was honourable to them if justified by the occasion — for it can well be borne, nay, it is even thrice-longed for, when it happens on account of God, Who is able to set men above hindrances — He removes that which, as God, He was aware would induce them to be slow to be willing to devote all their energies to the duty of preaching the heavenly doctrine. Far whereas disgrace and danger follow for the most part those that are bent on teaching, whenever their words are not found agreeable to those whom they admonish, and besides persecution is incurred, their message sometimes not being received, He vigorously and earnestly exhorts them to be prepared for these things and very ready to meet them. This too He has set forth in other S. Matt, words, saying: Woe unto the ivorld because of occasions xvni. 7. ^y stumbling! for it must needs be that the occasions come. But He exercises an entire control over them, representing His own condition in this respect in order that they may not aim at what is greater nor be found behaving unseemly after a different manner, but necessarily as it were folio wing in the wake of the glory of the Lord may be anxious not to be above Him. He signifies to them that they will meet every kind of oppro- brium, saying, " the slave is not above his lord." For Chap. 2. Me, He says, wicked men assailed with unbridled ^' ^^' tongue; and, leaving no kind of insult untried, they called Me a man possessed of a devil, and a drunkard, and the fruit of fornication. Yet I did not immediately seek their punishment, but not being cut to the heart by theu' insults, I vouchsafed unto My hearers the word of salvation. Do not, then, seek out of reason your own aggrandisement, nor scorn the limits within which your Lord was bound, Who lowered Himself to such humiliation for us to benefit all. Therefore it makes men superior to the bitterness of speech and the impiety of those who are accustomed to find fault, as indeed also the blessed prophet Jeremiah when harassed said with respect to this very thing: My strength hath failed me Jer. xv, by reason of those who curse me; while the inspired Paul, showing still more nobility of character under the like treatment, and gaining a great victory over the impiety of those who insulted him, says: Being reviled, i Cor. iv, we bless; being defamed, we entreat. For to love to con- ' tend against such things as these is the work of a mind humble of spirit according to the Scripture, and adorned with a truly modest temper. For long- suffering and forbearance spring up and arise as though from a good root, especially at such a time. But the inability to endure words of provocation or any kind of ill repute whatever among men, would give a clear proof of an understanding that loves boasting, and of a disposition but little estranged from the love of worldly glory. For what injury can insolence inflict on him who is free from pride? And how shall the reviling of any one be grievous to him who aims not at worldly reputation?
He well exhorts us to have a mind that goes beyond this most worthless reputation — I mean that which is the object of worldly honour — and that mounts far beyond such things as these. But He forearms them as it were with a necessary safeguard, so that they may be willing to manifest such a spirit, and sets before them an argu-
Book 10. mcnt which thrusts aside the contumely that results c. XV. _. £^,Qj^ weakness, namely that which we mentioned at fii'st, the following in the wake of the glory of the Lord, and with joy confronting everything that comes in its season, until they attain to glory through God; not being bowed down by dishonour like a feeble laggard, nor checking the boldness of their teaching and neglecting the Divine commands when they are bitterly reviled, but rather to lay hold of love towards their brethren, and to hasten in every way to help those that are astray.
Persuading them therefore to shun the temporary honour of the world that lies immediately before them, He makes another earnest contention, useful and necessary. For if, He says, they persecuted Me, they will cdso persecute you. And the drift of this is allied to His previous words. He still therefore persuades them to endure suffering, and removes by anticipation the weakness caused by the reflections that naturally arise in us. For there was no doubt that the disciples of the Saviour, incurring the anger of the persecutors of the truth, would fall into the terrors of persecution. But it was very right for them to reflect that when they preached the message of the glory of Christ, they would at all events partake of the riches of His mercy, so that they should think nothing at all a hindrance in the way of so desii'- able a zeal, but should appear superior to all panic and danger, having nothing painful to undergo, but rather exultins: in the honours that all men would bestow on them as ministering unto them the word of salvation. And it was a perfectly right object that those who were anxious to call men into eternal life and were found to be messengers to their hearers of blessings from God should expect this, and seek to be included among men so blessed. But as every man inclines his own purpose in the direction of his wishes, and directs it to suit his will and pleasure, it was the more necessary that it should be pointed out that those who are hostile to the truth and are subjugated by the pleasures of vice must fight through conviction with those who call them away from the ob- Chap. 2. jects of their pursuit. For lessons which have this object ^' ^^" " " are not pleasant to those who love pleasure. It remained then of necessity to show what they would have to expect from those who, being ranked among their foes, would persecute them, and insult them, and try every kindof assault.
Christ therefore exhorts them to confront this boldly, not denying that it will happen. And because His followers ought to show a manful spirit, He instructs them and foretells the dangers they will encounter. For if, He says, they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. This is just as if He had said: " I, the Creator of the Universe, Who have all things under My hand, both in heaven and on earth, did not put a bridle on their rage, nor restrained as it were by bonds the inclination of each of my hearers. But I rather left to the choice of each his own course, and permitted all to do as they liked. And therefore I, when persecuted, endured it, though I had the power of preventing it. When therefore ye also are persecuted, enduring for a time the aversion of those who hate you, and not being too much troubled by the ingratitude of those whom you benefit, following in the wake of My dispensation pursue the same course as I did, that you may attain the like glory. For those who suffer with Me shall also reign with Me."
And by the third addition, // they kept My tcord, they ivill keep yours also, He bids them not to be disheartened when their teaching is sometimes not received; and He does this also excellently and well. For he who has been appointed to this work thinks that he has lost his labour if any refuse to obey his words. But the case is not so. Let no one think that it is: for how is that possible? For the adviser who has once spoken and set forth the knowledge of what is good, has done that which was in his power. The rest will depend upon the disposition of his hearers. For it is easy for them to turn, each to what he wishes, either to obedience or the opposite. Those then who
Book 10. are our guides to the best life must not shrink back, c. XV. -. gQ ^T^^^ they may sow in the reprobates the Word that is able to profit by Divine power, and may be able to order aright what we cannot attain unto by their faithful ministration, a thing which we find well practised and brought to perfection in the distribution of the talents. For one is found taking ten, and another five, and another two, and besides these yet another taking one, who, disdaining to use it for commercial purposes, buried the talent in the earth. And for this reason it S. Matt, was said to him: Thou luicked and slothful servard, XXV. 26, ij^Q^ oughtest to have put viy money to the bankers, and at my coming I shoidd have received back mine own loith interest. For just as those who have been trained to agricultural industry, and who have this object in view, cutting up the land vdth the plough and then burying the seed in the furrow, leave the rest no longer to their own skill but rather entrust it to the power and favour of God, I mean the taking root of that which is cast into the earth and nourishing it up to perfect fruit, so I think the expounder of the noblest truths ought only to distribute the Word and leave the rest to God.
The Saviour therefore gives His advice in this matter to His disciples as a medicine for want of spirit and a cure of listlessness. For do not ever choose to shrink. He says, from continuing to teach, even if some of those who have once been admonished should make of no account the teaching that has been given them. But finding that even My words are often not received by many, do not strive to surpass My reputation, and, following in My steps in this also, lay aside despondency. And this instruction was very necessary to the holy Apostles, since they were about to preach to all men the message of God and salvation. And therefore the inspired Paul, as having been nominated to his Apostleship by Christ, has shown himself to us a man of this kind, and is often seen to attain manliness herein.
utterly of no account, while he considered it of great importance not to be too fainthearted, even if some entirely refused to receive the Word that was once scattered among them. For he writes to some: Ye are 1 Cor. iv.
wise in Christ, hut we are fools for Christ's sake; we are iveak, hut ye are strong; %ve have dishonour, hut ye have glory. Even unto this present hour we hoth hunger
(ire made as the filth of the tvorld, the offscouring of all things even until notu. So you see then that he was above worldly repute, on account of the commandment of the
Saviour. But, showing his nobleness in persecutions, he said: Who shall separate us from, the love of Christ? Rom.viii.
Shall tribulation, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? He writes also to others, that to speak the same things, to me indeed is not P^iii- "iirksome, hut for you it is safe. And yet again to the
Galatians: My little children, of whom I wm again in Gal. iv.
travail until Christ he formed in you. You hear with how little hesitation he repeats the same message, though the first that he had originally given had not gained acceptance, and well says that he travailed in birth for some until the forming of Christ in them should appear. And his preaching eflfected this, moulding his hearers into the love of God and into the likeness of
21 But all these things will they do unto you for My Name's sake, because they know not Him that sent Me.
He declares that those who choose to act impiously against His holy disciples will do it on no other plea than " My Name " only. For this is a reproach against those who honour God, and an excuse for setting themselves against them on the part of those who do not know Him. But since it is clear to all that no one would suffer
Book 10. anything for the sake of God without reward, for a ^' ^^' " ' glorious crown will await them, He incites them again to courage, and makes their spirit steadfast, thrusting aside the misery of that which they expect by the hope of the return. He points out then that the very perils they endure are gain and an object of prayer, and rids of all its terrors that, the very prospect of the occuri'ence of which might stupefy some, and exhorts His disciples to welcome it with the greatest eagerness. And indeed when they were once summoned before the impious Council of the Jews, and had been severely buffeted with stripes Acts V. for the sake of Christ, they went forth from the presence of the council, rejoicing, according to the Scripture, that they were counted luorthy to suffer dishonour for the Name of the Lord. And of a truth they earnestly exhort us to endure suffering in this cause, and in no way to be dismayed by it, even if we have to encounter any pain 1 S. Pet. for Christ's sake. For let none of you suffer as a mur~ ^^' ' derer, or a thief, or an evil-doer: hut if a nucn suffer as a Christian let him not be ashar)ied; but let him glorify God in this Name. Most pleasant then is suffering for Christ's sake, and sweet is peril when its presence is occasioned by love towards God.
But consider how here again, showing Himself as One with His Father, He says that neither the Jews nor those who were about to persecute the preachers of the Name of Christ, knew either the Father or the Son. For he who deems it his duty to dishonour the Son is avowedly a hater of the Father; not indeed as transgressing against another nature, but as insulting the true dignity of His natural Divinity. For none could be convicted of insolence against the Son, if he respected the nature of the Father. And if he were at all acquainted with the actual nature of the Father, how came he to be ignorant that He was begotten by Him? And will not he who spoils the fruit produced from it injure the parent tree? Sin against the Son therefore is a convincing proof of ignorance of God the Father.
But whereas He did not say, Because they hiww not Chap. 2. My Father, but Him that sent Me, I think He wished to °- ''''• ^^■ hint at something of this kind. His aim, as it seems, was to show that those who practised persecution against His devoted servants, plainly tied their heads as it were in a noose of a double transgression. For not merely, He says, will they be convicted of ignorance of My origin, or be justly condemned on he charge of atheism, but will actually be found rebuking the true wisdom of God the Father. For if He sent His own Son to raise that which had fallen away, to renew that which was worn out, to set forth life to all in the world, while those in the world set themselves against and impiously oppose such as choose to preach Him the Saviour of the world, they will be very clearly convicted of ignorance and of fighting against Him that sent Me. For by the expression " being sent," He introduces a clear proof of His Incarnation. But he that is ignorant of Him that sent Me, shows by this very fact his ignorance of God, and dishonours the mystery of My mission.
22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: hut now tliey have no excuse for their sin.
We may take in two ways the meaning of the words before us. For if any one should suppose that this passage was directed against Greeks and Jews alike, we say that unless the Divine and heavenly message, I mean the Gospel, had come to all that are on the earth, pointing out to each individual the way of salvation and making plain the works of righteousness, their complete ignorance of what is pleasing to God would perhaps have been a strong reason in each case for the pardon of those who are not eager in pursuing virtue. This ignorance of theirs makes them seem worthy of pardon. But whereas the word of the Gospel has been directed to all men, what reason for pardon is there, or with what words should any one address Him that judgeth, when accused after know-
Book 10. ledge of the worst crimes? But if the Lord is saying c. XV. 22. ^j^^g concerning the Jews only, as having very often listened to His teaching, and as being in no way ignorant of what He commanded them to think and do, let Him illustrate it thus: They will not endure your teaching, He says, but will bring upon you trials and persecutions, and will devise against you every kind of terror, and from their bitterness will be consumed with an unjust hatred against you, not able indeed to charge you with any wickedness, but blaming only your love towards Me. But searching: as it were for an excuse for the cruelty of their madness, and diminishing the baseness of their love of self-gratification, they will actually cite Moses and the books of Moses, and will pretend that I was an opponent of their ancestral laws. But if I had not come and set forth commands superior to the Law given by Moses; if I had not fulfilled it by many words, showing that it was now high time to pass beyond mere types, and that there had been enough of patterns and shadows, but that the hour had come in which the truth itself should shine forth; if I had not shown this from Supra the Law itself, saying in the clearest language. If ye believed Moses, ye ivould believe Me; for he ivrote of Me; if I had not made it clear that My word harmonized with the testimonies of the prophets, and that the power of My Presence had already been predicted and proclaimed, they would have had reasonable grounds for their madness against Me and you. Since nothing has been left out, but everything that was essential has been said, the reason which they have devised to cover the nakedness of their sin is vain.
This consideration then I think should harmonize with the words of the Saviour; but in showing the terrible charges that will be brought against those who injure them, and in saying that those who dare to do such things will one day be chastised. He removes the greater part of their grief and wisely withdraws that which was likely to cause them no small pain. For that God ivill judge those who reject Him. 425 the conviction that the workers of wickedness will pay Chap. 2. the penalty of their crimes sometimes makes it pos- ^* ^^' "^' sible to those who are injured to endure their wickedness. And, knowing this, the Master of all things says: Vengeance belongeth unto Me; I tvill recompense, saith Rom. xii. the Lord. Nay, even the blessed Paul himself, when ' struck by one of the high priests, had no other consolation for the bitterness of suffering than this that we have mentioned. For what did he say? — God shall smite thee, Acts thou whited ivall. This then is a medicine for human ^'"' ' weakness — I mean the expectation of the punishment of those who have chosen to act unjustly. Our Lord, however, is superior to and above human littleness. When i s. Pet. He was reviled. He reviled not again; when He suffered, "* " ' He threatened not, according to the Scripture. But when struck on the face, He made no angry remark, nor threatened the man who dared to strike Him, but answered indeed with the greatest mildness and forbearance, If I have spoken evil, hear witness of the evili^rdra. hut if tvell, tvhy smitest thou Me? The word then of the ^^"^' " prophet is true: Who shall he made equal to the Lord Ps. ixviii. in the clouds, or tvho shall he likened to the Lord among ^' the sons of God?
He makes a definite charge of atheism against those who choose, in the impiety of their minds and the estrangement of their hearts, to hate Him. And the charge is a true one. For those who dishonour the Son will not be guiltless of transgression against the Father, convinced of the justice of their hatred. For just as those who depreciate the shining of the sun, because it appears and exists for no necessary purpose, bring charges of uselessness, and direct their censure also against its Author; and just as whoever sees fit to despise the scent of flowers will cast reproach on this account against that from whence it was derived — the case will be the same, I suppose, with respect to the Only-begotten and s. Matt, author. For this reason Christ said to the Jews: A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit: neither can a corrwpt tree bring forth good fruit; when He further told them to make this accurate and unexceptionable distinction in corrupt. For whatever one could truly predicate of one of such things as these, that I suppose he must necessarily make applicable to both. For when there is one nature, surely the attributes are entirely common even though they are capable of separate manifestation; and whatever a man might do against what proceeds from any fountain, that he would plainly do against the fountain itself. Wherefore Christ says that he thcdhateth Me, hcdeth My Fcdher cdso. And He appropriately attributes a reference to the Person of the Father to any charges that men may make against Himself. And He will none the less satisfy us by this discourse that He is not distinct from Him by reason of the complete identity of Their Natures. And besides He terrifies His hearers by showing how very perilous it is to choose to transgress by hating Him, and He assures them that the man who rejects His worship will be defenceless and an easy prey to his enemies, inasmuch as he insults the Person of the Father Himself. For since insolence against His Son affects Him too, He will also be offended.
Is it not quite clear that the reception of this belief raised the confidence of His holy disciples? At the same time, Christ illustrated another essential and profound truth — I mean this of which I will speak. Some thought in their unparalleled madness and excessive folly, that when they were transgressing against the Son, and opposing the words of the Saviour, they were giving pleasure to God, Who was the Giver of the Law; and while they continued to confer the meed of victory on the prophetic dispensation of Moses, they showed themselves true guardians of the love of God. It was neces- sary therefore to show the falsity of their boast, and to Chap. 2. teach the world that those who act counter to the laws ^' ^^" ^^' of the Saviour set themselves as it were against the entire Divine Nature, insulted in the Person of the Son ]iy their contumacy, and by their persistent and inexcusable disobedience, which He clearly declares is not merely aimed against His own Person, but also affects all who preach the Word for Him and through Him. He then that enters upon opposition against the holy Apostles themselves is an enemy of God, and shows insolence towards Him, and is altogether hostile to the ineffable and unspeakable Nature of the Divine Being, for the Apostles do not preach themselves, but the God cf. 2 Cor, and Lord of all, that is, Christ. ^^" ^"
24 If I had not done among tJieni the works which none other did, they had not had sin; hut now have they both seen and luited both Me and My Father.
Christ none the less shows by these words that no excuse was left to the Jews why they should not encounter the doom of punishment and meet irretrievable damnation For clearly nothing that could profit them is left undone, as both a long discourse is vouchsafed them which might easily have put them on the way of salvation, and miracles were shown to them which no one in the world had ever seen before. For what saint ever vied with the Saviour in working miracles? As then the desire of honouring Him was so far repugnant to the Jews that they even preferred to hate Him in the impiety of their minds, will not the burden of the charge weigh most gi'ievously upon them? For it would be better for them that they should never have heard His wise words or witnessed His unspeakable wonder-working power; for perhaps then they might have devised some such specious plea as this for pardon: " We never heard any of the truths essential to salvation, nor did we see anything to induce faith in us." But since it was not from one of the holy prophets, but from Christ Himself Who
Book 10. came from above and was sent to us, that they got their c. XV. 25. information; and since they also saw strange miracles with their own eyes, for Christ opened the eyes of the blind although no other man had ever before been able to do this; what can excuse the madness of the Jews, or what plea can extricate them from punishment? For though they had heard and seen, they hated both the Son and the Father; they both dishonoured the Word sent from the Father through the Son, and also, rejecting the honour due to the works of the Divine Nature, stood convicted of glaring impiety against the entire Nature of God, which was the agent. For the Father Himself certainly co-operated with the Son when He worked His wonders, not as doing marvellous works by an external instrument, but as being in the Son through the identity of Their Nature and the immutability of Their Substance. The wretched Jews then showed ingratitude, and lie under the grievous charge of gross contumacy, since they held as of no account the incomparable teaching of the Saviour, and besides dishonoured through the Son and in the Son the Nature of the Father, although that Nature was shown to be the worker of exceeding great miracles to them, which ought to have drawn and attracted the most stubborn and unteachable into ability to think what was right and what conduced to the glory of God.
25 But this Cometh to pass, that the word may he fulfilled that is written in their Law, They hated Me without a cause.
And He shows clearly that this was not unforeseen by the Law, which predicted all that was to come to pass; but we say that it was not for this reason that the Law predicted these latter days that the Jews when they visited with hatred both the Father and the Son might be convicted of injustice, but, inasmuch as They were destined to be so hated by them, the Divine and Sacred Law presaged it, showing that the Spirit was in no way ignorant of the future. For it was written in the Book of Psalms, as spoken by the Pei-son of Christ, as rebuking the madness of the Jews and saying, They hated[Me luith Chap. 2. an unjust hatred. For surely the hatred was unjust. Cer- ^' ^^", tainly they were exasperated against Him without a cause, 19," who so far from having their hatred justified, in regard at any rate to the character of the works that were done among them, ought rather to have loved Him with surpassing devotion and have delighted in a willingness to follow Him. For let any one who wishes to excuse the disobedience of the Jews come forward and tell us what ground for hatred any one could have against Him. Was any one of the works of Christ deserving of hatred or enmity? His deliverance of them from death and corruption 1 His emancipation of them from the tyranny of the devil, and destruction of the dominion of sin, and restoration of that which was enslaved to sonship with God? His lifting up into righteousness (by His love of mankind and forgiveness of injuries) those who were dead in sin? His allowing them to participate in the Holy Spirit and the Divine Nature, and throwing open unto us even the dwelling-place of the holy angels, and granting "men an access unto heaven? How was it just, that He Who provided and ordained all this for us should incur hatred, and not rather be requited by the silence of unspoken thanksgivings and with the boon of ceaseless gratitude at our hands? Nothing, however, could I think convert the stubborn Jew to willingness to think aright. For he hated without a cause Him Whom he ought rather to have loved with his whole heart and adorned with the honour of obedience. But herein our Lord well shows that He was not unaware of the stubborn temper of the Jews, but had foretold and foreknew that it would be so with them, but still treated them with mildness and forgiveness, as became His Divine Nature. For He set before them, ill-suited as they were to receive it, the Word which called them to salvation; even to confirming the confession of their faith by miracles, if there were any men among them of a good and suitable disposition. Herein too He gives His disciples no small
Book 10. benefit, to the intent that in a forgiving spirit they might 27^^' ' extend the preaching of salvation even to those who oflTered them insult, and might even in this be seen to walk in the track of that excellence which first was conspicuous in Him. For if there be any good thing, it is seen in Clirist first, and shown to us-ward; and from Him all blessings flow.
26 But toJien the Comforter is come, Whom I icill send unto yoti from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from
27 the Father, He shall hear tvitness of Me. And ye also hear wit' ness, hecause ye liave heen with Me from, the heginning.
When He says that both He Himself and His Father were hated by the perverse Jews, this hatred of theirs being gratuitous and without justification, He with good reason makes mention of the Spirit. He thus at once adds to the Word the completion of the Holy Trinity, and also shows that it was dishonoured, to the intent that the spectators of His miracles, who were guilty of insult against the Son, might also be convicted of treating with contumely the power which so far excels every substance, not only by refusing to accept Christ, even though He had worked great marvels to convince them, but also by their actions against Him. For they treated Him with an impiety which is shocking even to think of; and yet one might say, O senseless Jew, Christ was a worker of wonders before you far exceeding the glory of Moses and the glory of every Saint. For the Supra saying of the Lord, // / had not done among them the u-orks which none other did, brings back a thought before our minds. While then you crown with honours so illustrious Moses, the servant and minister of lesser things than these, you do not blush when you so perversely reject Him Who is immeasurably superior and a worker of far nobler deeds; even though He brought to their long foretold fulfilment the oracles given by Moses, and terminated the shadow by the truth. Our lord Jesus Christ therefore of necessity joined the mention