Wednesday of the 8th week after Pentecost

When he was speaking about his approaching death, Peter who loved him so dearly, tried to stand in the way. When, as you remember, he rebuked him, what was it but his imprudence that he was correcting? Finally what did he mean in saying: "You do not mind the things of God," except: you do not love wisely, you are following your human feeling in opposition to the divine plan. He even called him Satan because although it was in ignorance, he was impeding salvation in trying to prevent the Savior's death.

He however, to signify that He is far from coming to the passion against His will, both rebuked Peter, and called him Satan.

Let them hear, as many as are ashamed of the suffering of the cross of Christ. For if the chief apostle, even before he had learnt all distinctly, was called Satan for feeling this, what excuse can they have, who after so abundant proof deny His economy? I say, when he who had been so blessed, who made such a confession, has such words addressed to him; consider what they will suffer, who after all this deny the mystery of the cross.

And He said not, "Satan spake by thee," but, "Get thee behind me, Satan." For indeed it was a desire of the adversary that Christ should not suffer. Therefore with such great severity did He rebuke him, as knowing that both he and the rest are especially afraid of this, and will not easily receive it.

Therefore He also reveals the thoughts of his mind, saying, "Thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men."

But what means, "Thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men"? Peter examining the matter by human and earthly reasoning, accounted it disgraceful to Him and an unmeet thing. Touching him therefore sharply, He saith, "My passion is not an unmeet thing, but thou givest this sentence with a carnal mind; whereas if thou hadst hearkened to my sayings in a godly manner, disengaging thyself from thy carnal understanding, thou wouldest know that this of all things most becometh me. For thou indeed supposest that to suffer is unworthy of me; but I say unto thee, that for me not to suffer is of the devil's mind;" by the contrary statements repressing his alarm.

Thus as John, accounting it unworthy of Christ to be baptized by him, was persuaded of Christ to baptize Him, He saying, "Thus it becometh us," and this same Peter too, forbidding Him to wash his feet, by the words, "Thou hast no part with me, unless I wash thy feet;" even so here too He restrained him by the mention of the opposite, and by the severity of the reproof repressed his fear of suffering.

What he intended when he forbade them to publicly declare him Christ is clarified in part by "From that time Jesus began to show his disciples how he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders" and the following thoughts. At the right time and in the right way, he proclaimed to those who knew that Jesus was Christ, Son of the living God (the Father had revealed this to them), that rather than believing in Jesus Christ already crucified, they should believe in Jesus Christ soon to be crucified. So also, instead of believing in Jesus Christ already risen from the dead, they should believe in "Jesus Christ soon to be raised from the dead.""Having put off from himself the principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in the cross." If anyone is ashamed of the cross of Christ, he is ashamed of the agency by which these powers were defeated. The one who both believes and is assured of these things should, more appropriately, glory in the cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Through that cross, when Christ was crucified, the principalities (among them, I think, was also the prince of this world) were publicly humiliated and paraded before the eyes of the believing world.

Responding to Peter's ignorance as one opposing God, Jesus said, "Satan," which is Hebrew for opponent. If he had not spoken to him from ignorance nor of the living God when he said, "Never, Lord! This must never happen to you!" then he would not have said to him "Get behind me," as if speaking to someone who had given up being behind him and following him. Neither would he have called him "Satan." Satan had overpowered the one following Jesus in order to turn him aside from following him and from being behind the Son of God, to make him, because of ignorant words, worthy of being called "Satan" and a scandal to the Son of God, "not thinking in the ways of God but of humans."

And if even then a Prodicus or Valentinus stood by, suggesting that one must not confess on the earth before men, and must do so the less in truth, that God may not (seem to) thirst for blood, and Christ for a repayment of suffering, as though He besought it with the view of obtaining salvation by it for Himself also, he would have immediately heard from the servant of God what the devil had from the Lord: "Get thee behind me, Satan; thou art an offence unto me. It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." But even now it will be right that he hear it, seeing that, long after, he has poured forth these poisons, which not even thus are to injure readily any of the weak ones, if any one in faith will drink, before being hurt, or even immediately after, this draught of ours.

When, contrary to what he had hoped, Peter heard this, he was troubled. For the revelation had exhibited Christ as Son of God and the living God, on the one hand. Yet on the other hand, he was found to be preparing for the dreadful events of the Passion. In rebuking Peter, Christ brings to light his own righteous judgment. When Peter confessed Christ, Christ praised him. But when he was irrationally terrified, Christ rebuked him, acting without respect of persons.

But He turned and said unto Peter, Get thee behind Me, Satan: thou art an offense unto Me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of man. When Peter spoke rightly, Christ called him blessed, but when he was irrationally dismayed, and did not want Him to suffer, then Christ rebuked him and said, "Get thee behind Me, Satan." "Satan" means "the adversary." "Get thee behind Me," that is, do not oppose Me, but follow My will. He calls Peter this because Satan, too, did not wish Christ to suffer. What He is saying, then, is this: with human reasoning you think that suffering does not befit Me, but you fail to understand that by this means God is accomplishing salvation and that this, on the contrary, greatly befits Me.

Now, the self can be regarded in two ways. On the one hand, it is God's creature, an occasion of love and rejoicing; now, indeed, hateful in condition, but to be pitied and healed. On the other hand, it is that one self of all others which is called I and me, and which on that ground puts forward an irrational claim to preference. This claim is to be not only hated, but simply killed; "never," as George MacDonald says, "to be allowed a moment's respite from eternal death." The Christian must wage endless war against the clamor of the ego as ego: but he loves and approves selves as such, though not their sins. The very self-love which he has to reject is to him a specimen of how he ought to feel to all selves... The other kind of self-hatred, on the contrary, hates selves as such. It begins by accepting the special value of the particular self called me; then, wounded in its pride to find that such a darling object should be so disappointing, it seeks revenge, first upon that self, then on all. Deeply egoistic, but now with an inverted egoism... The wrong asceticism torments the self: the right kind kills the selfness. We must die daily: but it is better to love the self than to love nothing, and to pity the self than to pity no one.

As the real meaning of the Christian claim becomes apparent, its demand for total surrender, the sheer chasm between Nature and Supernature, men are increasingly "offended." Dislike, terror, and finally hatred succeed: none who will not give it what it asks (and it asks all) can endure it. That is why we must cherish no picture of the present intellectual movement simply growing and spreading and finally reclaiming millions by sweet reasonableness. Long before it became as important as that the real opposition would have begun, and to be on the Christian side would be costing a man (at the least) his career.

The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself. We are told to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ; and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find if we do so contains an appeal to desire. If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

Both harder and easier than what we are all trying to do. You have noticed, I expect, that Christ Himself sometimes describes the Christian way as very hard, sometimes as very easy. He says, 'Take up your Cross'—in other words, it is like going to be beaten to death in a concentration camp. Next minute he says, 'My yoke is easy and my burden light.' He means both. And one can just see why both are true.

Teachers will tell you that the laziest boy in the class is the one who works hardest in the end. They mean this. If you give two boys, say, a proposition in geometry to do, the one who is prepared to take trouble will try to understand it. The lazy boy will try to learn it by heart because, for the moment, that needs less effort. But six months later, when they are preparing for an exam, that lazy boy is doing hours and hours of miserable drudgery over things the other boy understands, and positively enjoys, in a few minutes. Laziness means more work in the long run. Or look at it this way. In a battle, or in mountain climbing, there is often one thing which it takes a lot of pluck to do; but it is also, in the long run, the safest thing to do. If you funk it, you will find yourself, hours later, in far worse danger. The cowardly thing is also the most dangerous thing.

It is like that here. The terrible thing, the almost impossible thing, is to hand over your whole self—all your wishes and precautions—to Christ. But it is far easier than what we are all trying to do instead.

It is very different for the nasty people—the little, low, timid, warped, thin-blooded, lonely people, or the passionate, sensual, unbalanced people. If they make any attempt at goodness at all, they learn, in double quick time, that they need help. It is Christ or nothing for them. It is taking up the cross and following—or else despair.

Because our Lord and Redeemer came into the world as a new man, he gave new precepts to the world. For he set the newness of himself in opposition to our old life nourished in vices. For what did the old, what did the carnal man know except to hold onto his own things, to seize what belongs to others if he could, or to covet them if he could not? But the heavenly physician applies remedies that counteract each and every vice. For just as in the art of medicine hot things are cured by cold and cold things by hot, so our Lord set forth teachings contrary to sins, so that he might command continence to the unchaste, generosity to the greedy, gentleness to the wrathful, and humility to the proud. Certainly when he set forth new commandments to those following him, he said: "Unless someone renounces all that he possesses, he cannot be my disciple." As if he were saying openly: You who through your old life covet what belongs to others, through the pursuit of a new way of life give away even your own things. But let us hear what he says in this reading: "Whoever wishes to come after me, let him deny himself." There it is said that we should deny our possessions; here it is said that we should deny ourselves. And perhaps it is not difficult for a person to leave behind his possessions, but it is very difficult to leave behind himself. For it is a lesser thing to deny what one has, but it is a very great thing to deny what one is.

To those coming to him, the Lord commanded that we renounce our possessions, because all of us who come to the contest of faith take up a struggle against evil spirits. But evil spirits possess nothing of their own in this world. Therefore we must wrestle naked against those who are naked. For if someone clothed wrestles with someone naked, he is thrown to the ground more quickly because he has something by which he can be seized. For what are all earthly things except certain garments of the body? Therefore, whoever hastens to the contest against the devil should cast off his garments lest he be overcome. Let him possess nothing in this world by loving it; let him seek no pleasures of passing things, lest where he is covered according to his wish, he be seized for his fall from that very thing. Yet it is not enough to leave behind our possessions unless we also leave behind ourselves. What is it that we are saying: "Let us also leave behind ourselves"? For if we leave ourselves behind, where shall we go outside of ourselves? Or who is it that goes if he has abandoned himself? But we are one thing having fallen through sin, another thing as created by nature; one thing is what we have made ourselves, another is what we were made. Let us leave behind ourselves as we made ourselves by sinning, and let us remain ourselves as we were made through grace. For behold, if someone who was proud, having been converted to Christ, has become humble, he has left himself behind. If any lustful person has changed his life to continence, he has certainly denied what he was. If any greedy person has now ceased to grasp at things and has learned to give away his own possessions who previously seized what belonged to others, without doubt he has left himself behind. He himself indeed remains by nature, but he is not himself by malice. For thus it is written: "Turn the wicked, and they shall not be." For the wicked when converted shall not be—not because they shall not exist at all in essence, but surely they shall not be in the guilt of wickedness. Therefore we leave ourselves behind, we deny ourselves, when we avoid what we were through oldness and strive toward that to which we are called through newness. Let us consider how Paul had denied himself, who said: "Yet I live, now not I." For that savage persecutor had been extinguished, and the devout preacher had begun to live. For if he himself were still that same person, he would certainly not be devout. But let him who denies that he lives say from where it is that he proclaims holy words through the teaching of truth. He immediately adds: "But Christ lives in me." As if he were saying openly: I indeed have been extinguished from myself because I do not live carnally; yet I have not died essentially because I live spiritually in Christ. Therefore let the Truth speak, let him say: "If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself." Because unless someone falls away from himself, he does not draw near to him who is above himself; nor is he able to grasp what is beyond himself if he does not know how to sacrifice what he is. So seedlings of vegetables are transplanted so that they may flourish, and, if I may say so, they are uprooted so that they may grow. So seeds of things perish when mixed with the earth, so that in the renewal of their kind they may rise up more abundantly. For from where they seem to have lost what they were, from there they receive the ability to appear as what they were not.

But he who now denies himself from vices must seek out the virtues in which he may grow. For when it was said: "Whoever wishes to come after me, let him deny himself," it is immediately added: "And let him take up his cross, and follow me." For the cross is taken up in two ways: either when the body is afflicted through abstinence, or when the mind is troubled through compassion for one's neighbor. Let us consider how Paul had borne his cross in both ways, who said: "I chastise my body and bring it into subjection, lest perhaps while preaching to others I myself should become a castaway." Behold, in the affliction of the body we have heard of the cross of the flesh; let us now hear of the cross of the mind in compassion for one's neighbor. For he says: "Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I am not on fire?" Indeed the perfect preacher, in order to give an example of abstinence, carried the cross in his body. And because he drew upon himself the losses of another's weakness, he carried the cross in his heart.

But because certain vices lie close to these very virtues, we must explain which vice besieges abstinence of the flesh and which besieges compassion of the mind. For vainglory often besieges abstinence of the flesh from nearby, because when thinness in the body and pallor in the face are observed, the revealed virtue is praised; and it pours itself outward all the more quickly, the more it appears to human eyes through the display of pallor. And it often happens that what is believed to be done for God's sake is done solely for human approval. This is well signified by that Simon who, found on the road, carries the Lord's cross under compulsion. For burdens belonging to another are carried under compulsion when something is done through the pursuit of vanity. Who then are designated by Simon, if not the abstinent and arrogant? They indeed afflict the flesh through abstinence, but they do not seek the fruit of abstinence within. Therefore Simon carries the Lord's cross under compulsion, because when he is not led to a good work by good will, a sinner performs the deed of a just man without fruit. Hence the same Simon carries the cross but does not die, because the abstinent and arrogant indeed afflict the body through abstinence, but through the desire for glory they live to the world. False piety, however, often secretly besieges compassion of the soul, so that it sometimes drags it down even to condoning vices, whereas one ought not to exercise compassion toward faults, but zeal. For compassion is owed to the person, and rectitude to the vices, so that in one and the same person we both love the good that he was made and pursue the evils that he has done, lest while we carelessly remit faults, we seem not to have shown compassion through charity, but to have fallen through negligence.

(Hom. in Ev. xxxii. 2.) For unless a man departs from himself, he does not draw near to Him who is above him. But if we leave ourselves, whither shall we go out of ourselves? Or if we have forsaken ourselves, who is it then that goes? Indeed, we are one thing when fallen by sin, another thing as we were made by nature. It is therefore then that we leave and deny ourselves, when we avoid that which we were of old, and strive towards that to which we are called in newness.

(in Ezech. Hom. i. 10.) He denies himself whosoever is changed for the better, and begins to be what he was not, and ceases to be what he was.

(Mor. xxxiii. 6.) He also denies himself, who having trode under foot the risings of pride, shows himself in the eyes of God to be estranged from himself.

(Hom. in Ev. xxxii. 3.) There are two ways of taking our cross; when the body is afflicted by abstinence, or when the heart is pained by compassion for another. Forasmuch as our very virtues are beset with faults, we must declare that vainglory sometimes attends abstinence of flesh, for the emaciated body and pale countenance betray this high virtue to the praise of the world. Compassion again is sometimes attended by a false affection, which is hereby led to be consenting unto sin; to shut out these, He adds, and follow me.

We are to follow our Lord by taking up the cross of His passion; and if not in deed, yet in will, hear Him company.

Whose sense what is written in the Gospel of Matthew: If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself (Matth. 16. 24). What is self-denial? or how does one who follows the Savior deny himself? On this matter I have spoken briefly in the third book of his commentary on Matthew: He who lays down the old man with his works denies himself, saying: And yet I live, but not me, but Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20) and takes up his cross and is crucified to the world. But who has crucified the world, follows the crucified Lord. "To whom we can now add: after he showed the disciples that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the priests and scribes, and the chief priests, and to be killed; Peter, taking him aside, began to rebuke him, saying: Lord, may this never happen to you. But he turned and said to Peter: Get behind me, Satan, you are a stumbling block to me; for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men." (Matthew 16:21-23) For, indeed, being terrified by human fear, he was afraid of the passion of the Lord. And just as, hearing he must suffer and be killed, he was afraid, so hearing, also, that he must rise again on the third day, he ought to have rejoiced, and the sadness of the passion mitigated by the glory of the resurrection. So, when this thought had seized him through fear, he spoke to all the disciples, or, according to Mark, he called the crowd with his disciples, or according to Luke, he spoke to all: "If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself; and let him take up his cross, and follow me." The meaning of this exhortation is: Confession is not delicate and secure in God. Whoever believes in me should shed his own blood. Whoever shall have lost his life in this world, shall save it in the next. Believing in Christ every day, one takes up their cross and denies themselves. Whoever was impure, turns towards chastity, temperance denying luxury. Whoever was fearful and timid, assumes the strength of courage, not knowing who they were. If the unjust follow justice, they deny injustice. If foolish, confessing Christ as God's power and wisdom, they deny foolishness (1 Corinthians 1). Knowing this, we deny ourselves what we were before not only in times of persecution and the necessity of martyrdom, but in every conversation, action, thought, and speech; and we confess that we are reborn in Christ. For this reason, the Lord was crucified so that we, who believe in him and have died to sin, are crucified with him, and we say what the Apostle Paul taught: I am crucified with Christ. (Galatians 2:19). And: But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world (Galatians 6:14). And he that is crucified with Christ, shall spoil principalities and powers; and he shall triumph over them in himself. Wherefore, in the Gospel according to Matthew, Simon of Cyrene bore the cross after him, as a type of those who were to believe in him, and to be crucified with him; which cross, according to the others, he bore himself at first.

(Vers. 24 seqq.) Then Jesus said to his disciples: If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul? Whoever puts off the old man with his works (Colossians 3), denies himself, saying: Now I live, but Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20): and he takes up his cross and is crucified to the world. But the one to whom the world was crucified follows the crucified Lord.

Otherwise; He takes up his cross who is crucified to the world; and he to whom the world is crucified, follows his crucified Lord.

And though he seem to have spoken but one single thing, yet His sayings are three, "Let him renounce himself," and "Let him bear his cross," and "Let him follow me;" and two of them are joined together, but the one is put by itself.

But let us see first what it can be to deny one's self. Let us learn first what it is to deny another, and then we shall know what it may be to deny one's self. What then is it to deny another? He that is denying another,-for example, either brother, or servant, or whom you will,-should he see him either beaten, or bound, or led to execution, or whatever he may suffer, stands not by him, doth not help him, is not moved, feels nothing for him, as being once for all alienated from him. Thus then He will have us disregard our own body, so that whether men scourge, or banish, or burn, or whatever they do, we may not spare it. For this is to spare it. Since fathers too then spare their offspring, when committing them to teachers, they command not to spare them.

So also Christ; He said not, "Let him not spare himself," but very strictly, "Let him renounce himself;" that is, let him have nothing to do with himself, but give himself up to all dangers and conflicts; and let him so feel, as though another were suffering it all.

And He said not, "Let him deny," but "Let him renounce;" even by this small addition intimating again, how very far it goes. For this latter is more than the former.

"And let him take up his cross." This arises out of the other. For to hinder thy supposing that words, and insults, and reproaches are to be the limits of our self-renunciation, He saith also how far one ought to renounce one's self; that is, unto death, and that a reproachful death. Therefore He said not, "Let him renounce himself unto death," but, "Let him take up his cross;" setting forth the reproachful death; and that not once, nor twice, but throughout all life one ought so to do. "Yea," saith He, "bear about this death continually, and day by day be ready for slaughter. For since many have indeed contemned riches, and pleasure, and glory, but death they despised not, but feared dangers; I," saith He, "will that my champion should wrestle even unto blood, and that the limits of his course should reach unto slaughter; so that although one must undergo death, death with reproach, the accursed death, and that upon evil surmise, we are to bear all things nobly, and rather to rejoice in being suspected."

"And let him follow me." That is, it being possible for one to suffer, yet not to follow Him, when one doth not suffer for Him (for so robbers often suffer grievously, and violators of tombs, and sorcerers); to hinder thy supposing that the mere nature of thy calamities is sufficient, He adds the occasion of these calamities.

And what is it? In order that, so doing and suffering, thou mayest follow Him; that for Him thou mayest undergo all things; that thou mayest possess the other virtues also. For this too is expressed by "Let him follow me;" so as to show forth not fortitude only, such as is exercised in our calamities, but temperance also, and moderation, and all self-restraint. This being properly "to follow," the giving heed also to the other virtues, and for His sake suffering all.

For there are who follow the devil even to the endurance of all this, and for his sake give up their own lives; but we for Christ, or rather for our own sakes: they indeed to harm themselves both here and there; but we, that we may gain both lives.

How then is it not extreme dullness, not to show forth even the same fortitude with them that perish; and this, when we are to reap from it so many crowns? Yet with us surely Christ Himself is present to be our help, but with them no one.

Then; when? When Peter said, "Be it far from Thee, this shall not be unto Thee;" and was told, "Get thee behind me, Satan." For He was by no means satisfied with the mere rebuke, but, willing also more abundantly to show both the extravagance of what Peter had said, and the benefit of His passion, He saith, "Thy word to me is, 'Be it far from Thee, this shall not be unto Thee:' but my word to thee is, 'Not only is it hurtful to thee, and destructive, to hinder me and to be displeased at my Passion, but it will be impossible for thee even to be saved, unless thou thyself too be continually prepared for death.'"

Thus, lest they should think His suffering unworthy of Him, not by the former things only, but also by the events that were coming on, He teaches them the gain thereof. Thus in John first, He saith, "Except the corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit;" but here more abundantly working it out, not concerning Himself only doth He bring forward the statement that it is meet to die, but concerning them also. "For so great is the profit thereof, that in your case also unwillingness to die is grievous, but to be ready for it, good."

This however He makes clear by what follows, but for the present He works it out on one side only. And see how He also makes His discourse unexceptionable: not saying at all, "whether you will, or no, you must suffer this," but how? "If any man will come after me." "I force not, I compel not, but each one I make lord of his own choice; wherefore also I say, 'If any man will.' For to good things do I call you, not to things evil, or burdensome; not to punishment and vengeance, that I should have to compel. Nay, the nature of the thing is alone sufficient to attract you."

Now, thus saying, He drew them unto Him the more. For he indeed that uses compulsion often turns men away, but he that leaves the hearer to choose attracts him more. For soothing is a mightier thing than force. Wherefore even He Himself said, "If any man will." "For great," saith He, "are the good things which I give you, and such as for men even to run to them of their own accord. For neither if one were giving gold, and offering a treasure, would he invite with force. And if that invitation be without compulsion, much more this, to the good things in the Heavens. Since if the nature of the thing persuade thee not to run, thou art not worthy to receive it at all, nor if thou shouldest receive it, wilt thou well know what thou hast received."

Wherefore Christ compels not, but urges, sparing us. For since they seemed to be murmuring much, being secretly disturbed at the saying, He saith, "No need of disturbance or of trouble. If ye do not account what I have mentioned to be a cause of innumerable blessings, even when befalling yourselves, I use no force, nor do I compel, but if any be willing to follow, him I call."

"For do not by any means imagine that this is your following of me; I mean, what ye now do attending upon me. Ye have need of many toils, many dangers, if ye are to come after me. For thou oughtest not, O Peter, because thou hast confessed me Son of God, therefore only to expect crowns, and to suppose this enough for thy salvation, and for the future to enjoy security, as having done all. For although it be in my power, as Son of God, to hinder thee from having any trial at all of those hardships; yet such is not my will, for thy sake, that thou mayest thyself too contribute something, and be more approved."

For so, if one were a judge at the games, and had a friend in the lists, he would not wish to crown him by favor only, but also for his own toils; and for this reason especially, because he loves him. Even so Christ also; whom He most loves, those He most of all will have to approve themselves by their own means also, and not from His help alone.

But see how at the same time He makes His saying not a grievous one. For He doth by no means compass them only with His terror, but He also puts forth the doctrine generally to the world, saying, "If any one will," be it woman or man, ruler or subject, let him come this way.

And though he seem to have spoken but one single thing, yet His sayings are three, "Let him renounce himself," and "Let him bear his cross," and "Let him follow me;" and two of them are joined together, but the one is put by itself.

But let us see first what it can be to deny one's self. Let us learn first what it is to deny another, and then we shall know what it may be to deny one's self. What then is it to deny another? He that is denying another,-for example, either brother, or servant, or whom you will,-should he see him either beaten, or bound, or led to execution, or whatever he may suffer, stands not by him, doth not help him, is not moved, feels nothing for him, as being once for all alienated from him. Thus then He will have us disregard our own body, so that whether men scourge, or banish, or burn, or whatever they do, we may not spare it. For this is to spare it. Since fathers too then spare their offspring, when committing them to teachers, they command not to spare them.

So also Christ; He said not, "Let him not spare himself," but very strictly, "Let him renounce himself;" that is, let him have nothing to do with himself, but give himself up to all dangers and conflicts; and let him so feel, as though another were suffering it all.

And He said not, "Let him deny," but "Let him renounce;" even by this small addition intimating again, how very far it goes. For this latter is more than the former.

"And let him take up his cross." This arises out of the other. For to hinder thy supposing that words, and insults, and reproaches are to be the limits of our self-renunciation, He saith also how far one ought to renounce one's self; that is, unto death, and that a reproachful death. Therefore He said not, "Let him renounce himself unto death," but, "Let him take up his cross;" setting forth the reproachful death; and that not once, nor twice, but throughout all life one ought so to do. "Yea," saith He, "bear about this death continually, and day by day be ready for slaughter. For since many have indeed contemned riches, and pleasure, and glory, but death they despised not, but feared dangers; I," saith He, "will that my champion should wrestle even unto blood, and that the limits of his course should reach unto slaughter; so that although one must undergo death, death with reproach, the accursed death, and that upon evil surmise, we are to bear all things nobly, and rather to rejoice in being suspected."

"And let him follow me." That is, it being possible for one to suffer, yet not to follow Him, when one doth not suffer for Him (for so robbers often suffer grievously, and violaters of tombs, and sorcerers); to hinder thy supposing that the mere nature of thy calamities is sufficient, He adds the occasion of these calamities.

And what is it? In order that, so doing and suffering, thou mayest follow Him; that for Him thou mayest undergo all things; that thou mayest possess the other virtues also. For this too is expressed by "Let him follow me;" so as to show forth not fortitude only, such as is exercised in our calamities, but temperance also, and moderation, and all self-restraint. This being properly "to follow," the giving heed also to the other virtues, and for His sake suffering all.

For there are who follow the devil even to the endurance of all this, and for his sake give up their own lives; but we for Christ, or rather for our own sakes: they indeed to harm themselves both here and there; but we, that we may gain both lives.

How then is it not extreme dullness, not to show forth even the same fortitude with them that perish; and this, when we are to reap from it so many crowns? Yet with us surely Christ Himself is present to be our help, but with them no one.

Yet the words in which Peter and those in which Satan are rebuked, are not, as is commonly thought, the same; to Peter it is said, Get thee behind me, Satan; that is, follow me, thou that art contrary to my will; to the Devil it is said, Go thy way, Satan, understanding not 'behind me,' but 'into everlasting fire.' He said therefore to Peter, Get thee behind me, as to one who through ignorance was ceasing to walk after Christ. And He called him Satan, as one, who through ignorance had somewhat contrary to God. But he is blessed to whom Christ turns, even though He turn in order to rebuke him. But why said He to Peter, Thou art an offence unto me, (Ps. 119:165.) when in the Psalm it is said, Great peace have they that love thy law, and there is no offence to them? It must be answered, that not only is Jesus not offended, but neither is any man who is perfect in the love of God; and yet he who does or speaks any thing of the nature of an offence, may be an offence even to one who is incapable of being offended. Or he may hold every disciple that sinneth as an offence, as Paul speaks, Who is offended, and I burn not?. (2 Cor. 11:29.)

But though a man may seem to keep from sin, yet if he does not believe in the cross of Christ, he cannot be said to be crucified with Christ; whence it follows, And take up his cross.

For as in that case it called to Abraham only, so in this He calleth every one He pleaseth by His Gospel, and inviteth them to go forth after Him. For in that He said, "Whosoever wisheth to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me," He shewed a universal calling to all the children of men. And instead of choosing one person, Abraham, as He did at that time, He now inviteth every man to be like unto Abraham.

Christ hath said that the man who desireth to be a perfect disciple of Him must also deny himself. If a man denieth his life according to the word of our Redeemer, then will he be a disciple, but without this there is no means of a man arriving at perfection. And how can a man who denieth not himself the possessions of the world, and who despiseth not all the riches which are seen, and bodily pleasures, arrive at that perfection which Jesus delivered? And I do not speak these things of myself, but I follow after the desire of the Holy Books, and I take my stand upon the law which hath been ordained by the King.

Not only to natural parents should they not be obedient and keep in subjection unto them, but also they should not be persuaded by their own will, neither by their own wants and pleasures in any thing, but they should deny themselves, even as it was said by the Redeemer, "Whosoever denieth not himself cannot be My disciple."

When he wisheth to eat everything, and not to restrain himself by forbearance from any meat, he beginneth to repeat that which was written by our Lord, "It is not that which goeth into a man which defileth him;" for his ear is only pierced to hear such things as can be thought to support his lust, and in the face of the hearing of other things he shutteth the door of his attention. For he is not willing to hearken unto the other verse which saith, "Whosoever wisheth to be My disciple, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me;" nor unto the other which saith, "Whosoever wisheth to make his life to live shall destroy it," nor that which He spake unto His disciples, saying, "In the world ye shall have tribulations;" nor the words, "When the Bridegroom shall be taken from the children of the bridechamber, then shall ye fast."

Now therefore for this reason those who desire perfection strip themselves of their riches, in order that they may be able to do their own labours, and that, being free from everything in the world, they may wage war with the lusts of the body. Therefore whosoever wisheth to draw nigh unto this rule of life must be destitute of riches, and having been born again, he may enter therein, according to the testimony of Christ: "If thou wishest to be perfect, go and sell thy possessions, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and take up thy cross, and follow Me." Observe, then, how perfect is the doctrine of Christ, for not even when a man hath stripped himself of everything that he hath, hath he yet begun to walk in the way of His doctrine, for poverty is the end of the path of the righteousness which can be wrought in this world; but the words, "Take thy cross, and follow Me," are the beginning of the path of the spiritual life.

If you wish to be the Lord's disciple, it is necessary you "take your cross, and follow the Lord: " your cross; that is, your own straits and tortures, or your body only, which is after the manner of a cross.

Observe, then, the difference between a heathen and a Christian in their death: if you have to lay down your life for God, as the Comforter counsels, it is not in gentle fevers and on soft beds, but in the sharp pains of martyrdom: you must take up the cross and bear it after your Master, as He has Himself instructed you. The sole key to unlock Paradise is your own life's blood.

Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man desireth to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. "Then" - when? When He had rebuked Peter. Wishing to show that Peter erred in hindering Him from suffering, He said, "You are hindering Me, but I say to you that not only is My not suffering harmful to you [since without it you cannot be saved], but neither can you be saved unless you yourself also die, nor can anyone else, whether man or woman, rich or poor. He says "desireth" to show that virtue hinges on free will and not coercion. He who follows behind Jesus is not he who only confesses Him to be the Son of God, but rather it is he who also undergoes all tribulations and endures them. Christ's words, "Let him deny himself," indicate utter denial. That is to say, let him not be kindly disposed towards his own body, let him look down on it, just as we have the expression "So and so denied so and so." Therefore no one should have any friendship towards the body, so that he can take up his cross, that is, choose death and even eagerly desire the most ignominious death, for this is what the cross meant to the ancients. But He also said, "Let him follow Me, for many robbers and thieves are crucified but they are not My disciples." So "let him follow," that is, let him also show forth every other virtue. The one who yesterday was dissolute denies himself and today he is temperate. Such was Paul who had denied himself when he said, "I live yet it is no longer I, but Christ that liveth in me" (Gal. 2:20). He that has mortified and crucified himself to the world is he that takes up his cross.

But the Lord is not moved against them, that He might show that perfect virtue has no feeling of revenge, nor is there any anger where there is fulness of love. For weakness must not be thrust out, but assisted. Let indignation be far from the religious, let the high-souled have no desire of vengeance. Hence it follows, But he turned and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.

But when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" And he turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what kind of spirit you are of. Great and holy men, who already knew very well that this death, which separates the soul from the body, is not to be feared, according to their spirit who feared it, punished some sins with death, so that fear might be instilled in the living, and to those who were punished with death, death itself would not harm them, but the sin, which could increase if they lived, was not recklessly judged by those to whom God had given such judgment. From this it is that Elijah put many to death, both by his own hand and by fire called down from heaven. In his example, when the apostles wanted to call fire from heaven to consume those who would not give them lodging, the Lord rebuked in them not the example of the holy prophet, but the ignorance of vindicating, which was still in the novices, observing that they desired vengeance not out of love but out of hate. Therefore, after he had taught them to love their neighbor as themselves, and after the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them, such acts of vengeance were still found, although much more rarely than in the Old Testament. For there, serving more under fear, they were pressed; but here, being nurtured more in love, they were made free. For even at the words of the apostle Peter, Ananias and his wife fell down dead, nor were they raised up, but buried, and Paul says of a certain sinner: "Whom I have delivered to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved" (1 Corinthians 5).

The Lord blames them, not for following the example of the holy Prophet, but for their ignorance in taking vengeance while they were yet inexperienced, perceiving that they did not desire correction from love, but vengeance from hatred.

Secondly, as regards the reasonable reprehension in the word of the Lord, it is added: And turning, he rebuked them, saying: You do not know of what spirit you are. He says this because they believed themselves to be moved by a spirit of righteousness, yet they were moved by a zeal of bitterness, which they ought not to have been, as James 3 says: "But if you have bitter zeal, and there are contentions in your hearts, do not glory and be liars against the truth." And therefore it is said in 1 John 4: "Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are from God." For the spirit of Christ is a spirit of meekness, according to that word of Isaiah 61: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me; he has sent me to proclaim to the meek"; and Isaiah 42: "Behold my servant, I will uphold him. I have placed my spirit upon him. A bruised reed he shall not break, and smoking flax he shall not extinguish." And these disciples ought to have had this spirit as good disciples and imitators of the Master.

Therefore God does not here take the semblance of man, but of a dove, because He wished to show the simplicity and gentleness of the new manifestation of the Spirit by the likeness of the dove. For the law was stern, and punished with the sword; but grace is joyous, and trains by the word of meekness. Hence the Lord also says to the apostles, who said that He should punish with fire those who would not receive Him, after the manner of Elias: "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of."

For their benefit, he rebuked the disciples and gently restrained the sharpness of their wrath, not permitting them to grumble violently against those who sinned. He rather persuaded them to be patient and to cherish a mind that is unmovable by anything like this.

Christ rebuked them for their own good when they were enraged beyond measure at the hatred of the Samaritans. He did this so they might learn that as ministers of the divine tidings, they must rather be full of longsuffering and gentleness, not revengeful. They must not be given to wrath or savagely attack those who offend them.

For we must not always punish the offender, since mercy sometimes does more good, leading thee to patience, the sinner to repentance. Lastly, those Samaritans believed the sooner, who were in this place saved from fire.

The Son of Man did not come to destroy souls, but to save them. And you, therefore, he says, by whose Spirit you are signed, follow His deeds, now advising piously, but justly judging in fury.

After that He had taught them what it was to love their neighbour as themselves, and the Holy Ghost also had been infused into them, there were not lacking these punishments, though far less frequent than in the Old Testament, because the Son of man came not to destroy men's lives, but to save them. As if He said, And do you therefore who are sealed with His Spirit, imitate also His actions, now determining charitably, hereafter judging justly.

And therefore he adds: For the Son of man came not to destroy the souls of men, but to save them: because this coming was not of justice, but of mercy, according to that passage in John 3: "God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him"; whence from this end He received His name, so that He would be called Jesus, according to that passage in Matthew 1: "You shall call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins"; and Matthew 20: "The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give His life as a redemption for many." And therefore he who has the spirit of Christ ought not to seek vengeance, but to show patience, according to that saying of Ambrose in the Gloss: "Perfect virtue," he says, "has no zeal for revenge: nor is there any wrath where there is the fullness of charity." Therefore it is said in Romans 12: "Not defending yourselves, beloved, but give place to wrath."

Third, as regards the memorable instruction in the Lord's deed, it is added: And they went to another village: in which He gave a model to the disciples that they should flee from men rather than contend with them; according to the model He gave His disciples in Matthew 10: "When they persecute you in one city, flee to another." Moreover, we have the example of this from Abraham and Lot, Genesis 13, where "Abraham said: 'Let there be no quarrel, I pray, between me and you: for we are brothers. If you go to the left, I will take the right.'" In this He taught perfect meekness, which befits the servants of Christ, according to that passage in 2 Timothy 2: "The servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle"; whence according to that passage in James 1: "Let every man be slow to wrath. For the wrath of man does not work the justice of God." For if the Lord of majesty was unwilling to be angry at such great inhumanity, how much less ought we to be indignant at anyone? And this meekness ought especially to be found in the prelates of the Church: whence the Apostle in 2 Timothy 4: "Reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience and doctrine"; since in the Psalm it is said: "Meekness has come upon us, and we shall be corrected." And Seneca says: "The spirit of man is noble, and is more easily led than dragged"; whence he himself says that the king of bees has no sting.

"The life," says He, "was manifested," not the soul. And again, "I am come to save the soul." He did not say, "to explain" it.

1. This text refers not to the eternal Word but to the Incarnate. And from not perceiving this they of the sect of Arius, Eusebius and his fellows, indulge impiety against the Lord. For they say, if all things were delivered (meaning by 'all' the Lordship of Creation), there was once a time when He had them not. But if He had them not, He is not of the Father, for if He were, He would on that account have had them always, and would not have required to receive them. But this point will furnish all the clearer an exposure of their folly. For the expression in question does not refer to the Lordship over Creation, nor to presiding over the works of God, but is meant to reveal in part the intention of the Incarnation (τῆς οἰκονομίας). For if when He was speaking they 'were delivered' to Him, clearly before He received them, creation was void of the Word. What then becomes of the text in Him all things consist Colossians 1:17? But if simultaneously with the origin of the Creation it was all 'delivered' to Him, such delivery were superfluous, for 'all things were made by Him' John 1:3, and it would be unnecessary for those things of which the Lord Himself was the artificer to be delivered over to Him. For in making them He was Lord of the things which were being originated. But even supposing they were 'delivered' to Him after they were originated, see the monstrosity. For if they 'were delivered,' and upon His receiving them the Father retired, then we are in peril of falling into the fabulous tales which some tell, that He gave over [His works] to the Son, and Himself departed. Or if, while the Son has them, the Father has them also, we ought to say, not 'were delivered,' but that He took Him as partner, as Paul did Silvanus. But this is even more monstrous; for God is not imperfect , nor did He summon the Son to help Him in His need; but, being Father of the Word, He makes all things by His means, and without delivering creation over to Him, by His means and in Him exercises Providence over it, so that not even a sparrow falls to the ground without the Father Matthew 10:29, nor is the grass clothed without God Matthew 6:30, but at once the Father works, and the Son works hitherto cf.John 5:17. Vain, therefore, is the opinion of the impious. For the expression is not what they think, but designates the Incarnation.

2. Sense in which, and end for which all things were delivered to the Incarnate Son. For whereas man sinned, and is fallen, and by his fall all things are in confusion: death prevailed from Adam to Moses cf.Romans 5:14, the earth was cursed, Hades was opened, Paradise shut, Heaven offended, man, lastly, corrupted and brutalised cf.Psalm 49:12, while the devil was exulting against us—then God, in His loving-kindness, not willing man made in His own image to perish, said, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go?' Isaiah 6:8. But while all held their peace, the Son said, 'Here am I, send Me.' And then it was that, saying 'Go,' He 'delivered' to Him man, that the Word Himself might be made Flesh, and by taking the Flesh, restore it wholly. For to Him, as to a physician, man 'was delivered' to heal the bite of the serpent; as to life, to raise what was dead; as to light, to illumine the darkness; and, because He was Word, to renew the rational nature (τὸ λογικόν). Since then all things 'were delivered' to Him, and He is made Man, straightway all things were set right and perfected. Earth receives blessing instead of a curse, Paradise was opened to the robber, Hades cowered, the tombs were opened and the dead raised, the gates of Heaven were lifted up to await Him that 'comes from Edom?' Psalm 24:7, Isaiah 63:1. Why, the Saviour Himself expressly signifies in what sense 'all things were delivered' to Him, when He continues, as Matthew tells us: 'Come unto Me all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest' Matthew 11:28. Yes, you 'were delivered' to Me to give rest to those who had laboured, and life to the dead. And what is written in John's Gospel harmonises with this: 'The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand' John 3:35. Given, in order that, just as all things were made by Him, so in Him all things might be renewed. For they were not 'delivered' unto Him, that being poor, He might be made rich, nor did He receive all things that He might receive power which before He lacked: far be the thought: but in order that as Saviour He might rather set all things right. For it was fitting that while 'through Him' all things came into being at the beginning, 'in Him' (note the change of phrase) all things should be set right cf. John 1:3, Ephesians 1:10. For at the beginning they came into being 'through' Him; but afterwards, all having fallen, the Word has been made Flesh, and put it on, in order that 'in Him' all should be set right. Suffering Himself, He gave us rest, hungering Himself, He nourished us, and going down into Hades He brought us back thence. For example, at the time of the creation of all things, their creation consisted in a fiat, such as 'let [the earth] bring forth,' 'let there be' Genesis 1:3, 11, but at the restoration it was fitting that all things should be 'delivered' to Him, in order that He might be made man, and all things be renewed in Him. For man, being in Him, was quickened: for this was why the Word was united to man, namely, that against man the curse might no longer prevail. This is the reason why they record the request made on behalf of mankind in the seventy-first Psalm: 'Give the King Your judgment, O God?' Psalm 72:1: asking that both the judgment of death which hung over us may be delivered to the Son, and that He may then, by dying for us, abolish it for us in Himself. This was what He signified, saying Himself, in the eighty-seventh Psalm: 'Your indignation lies hard upon me' Psalm 88:7. For He bore the indignation which lay upon us, as also He says in the hundred and thirty-seventh: 'Lord, You shall do vengeance for me' Psalm 137:8.

3. By 'all things' is meant the redemptive attributes and power of Christ. Thus, then, we may understand all things to have been delivered to the Saviour, and, if it be necessary to follow up understanding by explanation, that has been delivered unto Him which He did not previously possess. For He was not man previously, but became man for the sake of saving man. And the Word was not in the beginning flesh, but has been made flesh subsequently cf.John 1:1 sqq, in which Flesh, as the Apostle says, He reconciled the enmity which was against us Colossians 1:20, 2:14, Ephesians 2:15-16 and destroyed the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might make the two into one new man, making peace, and reconcile both in one body to the Father. That, however, which the Father has, belongs also to the Son, as also He says in John, 'All things whatsoever the Father has are Mine' John 16:15, expressions which could not be improved. For when He became that which He was not, 'all things were delivered' to Him. But when He desires to declare His unity with the Father, He teaches it without any reserve, saying: 'All things whatsoever the Father has are Mine.' And one cannot but admire the exactness of the language. For He has not said 'all things whatsoever the Father has, He has given to Me,' lest He should appear at one time not to have possessed these things; but 'are Mine.' For these things, being in the Father's power, are equally in that of the Son. But we must in turn examine what things 'the Father has.' For if Creation is meant, the Father had nothing before creation, and proves to have received something additional from Creation; but far be it to think this. For just as He exists before creation, so before creation also He has what He has, which we also believe to belong to the Son John 16:15. For if the Son is in the Father, then all things that the Father has belong to the Son. So this expression is subversive of the perversity of the heterodox in saying that 'if all things have been delivered to the Son, then the Father has ceased to have power over what is delivered, having appointed the Son in His place. For, in fact, the Father judges none, but has given all judgment to the Son?' John 5:22. But 'let the mouth of them that speak wickedness be stopped' Psalm 63:11, (for although He has given all judgment to the Son, He is not, therefore, stripped of lordship: nor, because it is said that all things are delivered by the Father to the Son, is He any the less over all), separating as they clearly do the Only-begotten from God, Who is by nature inseparable from Him, even though in their madness they separate Him by their words, not perceiving, the impious men, that the Light can never be separated from the sun, in which it resides by nature. For one must use a poor simile drawn from tangible and familiar objects to put our idea into words, since it is over bold to intrude upon the incomprehensible nature [of God].

4. The text John 16:15 , shows clearly the essential relation of the Son to the Father. As then the light from the Sun which illumines the world could never be supposed, by men of sound mind, to do so without the Sun, since the Sun's light is united to the Sun by nature; and as, if the Light were to say: I have received from the Sun the power of illumining all things, and of giving growth and strength to them by the heat that is in me, no one will be mad enough to think that the mention of the Sun is meant to separate him from what is his nature, namely the light; so piety would have us perceive that the Divine Essence of the Word is united by nature to His own Father. For the text before us will put our problem in the clearest possible light, seeing that the Saviour said, 'All things whatsoever the Father has are Mine;' which shows that He is ever with the Father. For 'whatsoever He has' shows that the Father wields the Lordship, while 'are Mine' shows the inseparable union. It is necessary, then, that we should perceive that in the Father reside Everlastingness, Eternity, Immortality. Now these reside in Him not as adventitious attributes, but, as it were, in a well-spring they reside in Him, and in the Son. When then you wish to perceive what relates to the Son, learn what is in the Father, for this is what you must believe to be in the Son. If then the Father is a thing created or made, these qualities belong also to the Son. And if it is permissible to say of the Father 'there was once a time when He was not,' or 'made of nothing,' let these words be applied also to the Son. But if it is impious to ascribe these attributes to the Father, grant that it is impious also to ascribe them to the Son. For what belongs to the Father, belongs to the Son. For he that honours the Son, honours the Father that sent Him, and he that receives the Son, receives the Father with Him, because he that has seen the Son has seen the Father Matthew 10:40; John 14:9. As then the Father is not a creature, so neither is the Son; and as it is not possible to say of Him 'there was a time when He was not,' nor 'made of nothing,' so it is not proper to say the like of the Son either. But rather, as the Father's attributes are Everlastingness, Immortality, Eternity, and the being no creature, it follows that thus also we must think of the Son. For as it is written John 5:26, 'As the Father has life in Himself, so gave He to the Son also to have life in Himself.' But He uses the word 'gave' in order to point to the Father who gives. As, again, life is in the Father, so also is it in the Son, so as to show Him to be inseparable and everlasting. For this is why He speaks with exactness, 'whatsoever the Father has,' in order namely that by thus mentioning the Father He may avoid being thought to be the Father Himself. For He does not say 'I am the Father,' but 'whatsoever the Father has.'

5. The same text further explained. For His Only-begotten Son might, you Arians, be called 'Father' by His Father, yet not in the sense in which you in your error might perhaps understand it, but (while Son of the Father that begot Him) 'Father of the coming age' Isaiah 9:6, Septuagint. For it is necessary not to leave any of your surmises open to you. Well then, He says by the prophet, 'A Son is born and given to us, whose government is upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Angel of Great Counsel, mighty God, Ruler, Father of the coming age' Isaiah 9:6. The Only-begotten Son of God, then, is at once Father of the coming age, and mighty God, and Ruler. And it is shown clearly that all things whatsoever the Father has are His, and that as the Father gives life, the Son likewise is able to quicken whom He will. For 'the dead,' He says, 'shall hear the voice of the Son, and shall live' cf.John 5:25, and the will and desire of Father and Son is one, since their nature also is one and indivisible. And the Arians torture themselves to no purpose, from not understanding the saying of our Saviour, 'All things whatsoever the Father has are Mine.' For from this passage at once the delusion of Sabellius can be upset, and it will expose the folly of our modern Jews. For this is why the Only begotten, having life in Himself as the Father has, also knows alone Who the Father is, namely, because He is in the Father and the Father in Him. For He is His Image, and consequently, because He is His Image, all that belongs to the Father is in Him. He is an exact seal, showing in Himself the Father; living Word and true, Power, Wisdom, our Sanctification and Redemption 1 Corinthians 1:30. For 'in Him we both live and move and have our being' Acts 17:28, and 'no man knows Who is the Father, save the Son, and Who is the Son, save the Father?' Luke 10:22.

6. The Trisagion wrongly explained by Arians. Its true significance. And how do the impious men venture to speak folly, as they ought not, being men and unable to find out how to describe even what is on the earth? But why do I say 'what is on the earth?' Let them tell us their own nature, if they can discover how to investigate their own nature? Rash they are indeed, and self-willed, not trembling to form opinions of things which angels desire to look into 1 Peter 1:12, who are so far above them, both in nature and in rank. For what is nearer [God] than the Cherubim or the Seraphim? And yet they, not even seeing Him, nor standing on their feet, nor even with bare, but as it were with veiled faces, offer their praises, with untiring lips doing nought else but glorify the divine and ineffable nature with the Trisagion. And nowhere has any one of the divinely speaking prophets, men specially selected for such vision, reported to us that in the first utterance of the word Holy the voice is raised aloud, while in the second it is lower, but in the third, quite low—and that consequently the first utterance denotes lordship, the second subordination, and the third marks a yet lower degree. But away with the folly of these haters of God and senseless men. For the Triad, praised, reverenced, and adored, is one and indivisible and without degrees (ἀ σχηματιστός). It is united without confusion, just as the Monad also is distinguished without separation. For the fact of those venerable living creatures Isaiah 6; Revelation 4:8 offering their praises three times, saying 'Holy, Holy, Holy,' proves that the Three Subsistences are perfect, just as in saying 'Lord,' they declare the One Essence. They then that depreciate the Only-begotten Son of God blaspheme God, defaming His perfection and accusing Him of imperfection, and render themselves liable to the severest chastisement. For he that blasphemes any one of the Subsistences shall have remission neither in this world nor in that which is to come. But God is able to open the eyes of their heart to contemplate the Sun of Righteousness, in order that coming to know Him whom they formerly set at nought, they may with unswerving piety of mind together with us glorify Him, because to Him belongs the kingdom, even to the Father Son and Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.

All things have been handed over to me by my Father. When you read all things, you recognize the almighty, not discolored, not degenerate from the Father. When you read handed over, you confess the Son, to whom by nature all things of one substance are rightfully proper, not granted as a gift by grace. However, all things which he says were handed over to him are not to be understood as the elements of the world, which he himself created, but as those to whom the Father revealed the sacraments of the Son, being humble in spirit, and concerning whose salvation the same Son, when he spoke these things, rejoiced in the Holy Spirit. Of all these, he says elsewhere: All that the Father gives me will come to me (John VI).

And no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. This is not to be understood as though the Son could be known by no one except the Father alone, and the Father not only by the Son but also by those to whom the Son reveals him, but it refers to both when he says: And anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him, so that we may understand both the Father and the Son being revealed by the Son.

Third, he shows that one must rejoice in incomprehensible power, when he says: All things have been delivered to me by my Father. For in that he says: All things, without limit, delivered, he shows that his power is universal, according to that passage in John one: "All things were made through him," that is, through the Word; and again in chapter seventeen: "All things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine." In that he adds: By my Father, he indicates that this power is natural, according to that passage in John five: "Whatever the Father does, all these things the Son likewise does." In both together he shows equality and immensity: hence the Gloss: "When you hear all things, you recognize the Omnipotent; when you hear delivered, you confess the Son, to whom all things are properly his own by right through the nature of one substance, not conferred as a gift through grace." And from this it is apparent that the power of the Son is immense and incomprehensible. And then he adds: And no one knows who the Son is except the Father, that is, no intellect perfectly comprehends this except the paternal intellect; and therefore the Holy Spirit is not excluded by this, but only created intellect, which cannot comprehend him, since he is immense. Hence Job eleven: "Can you perhaps comprehend the traces of God and discover the Almighty unto perfection? He is higher than heaven, and what will you do?" etc.

And because the Son is incomprehensible, therefore He can comprehend the Father. On account of which He adds: And who the Father is, except the Son: supply: no one knows: because, John 1, "No one has ever seen God except the Only-begotten, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him." Since He alone comprehends, therefore He alone can reveal; and therefore He adds: And to whomever the Son wills to reveal. For the Son is the Wisdom and Word of the Father, and the Speaker manifests Himself through His Word; whence Wisdom 9: "Who will know Your mind, unless You give wisdom from on high?" Whence Chrysostom: "The philosophers, striving to inquire about God, confessed that they had found nothing else except that God is unknowable, just as one who undertakes to navigate an unnavigable ocean, when he cannot cross over, must necessarily return by the same way: so they began from ignorance and ended in ignorance. And the reason for this is that they were not disciples of Jesus Christ, who is the truth, nor did they have the Spirit, of whom John 16 says: 'When that Spirit of truth comes, He will teach you all truth.'"

For the new minds, which have newly become wise, which have sprung into being according to the new covenant, are infantile in the old folly. Of late, then, God was known by the coming of Christ: "For no man knoweth God but the Son, and he to whom the Son shall reveal Him."

But "no one is good," except His Father. It is this same Father of His, then who being one is manifested by many powers And this was the import of the utterance, "No man knew the Father," who was Himself everything before the coming of the Son. So that it is veritably clear that the God of all is only one good, just Creator, and the Son in the Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever, Amen.

So God is good on His own account, and just also on ours, and He is just because He is good. And His justice is shown to us by His own Word from there from above, whence the Father was. For before He became Creator He was God; He was good. And therefore He wished to be Creator and Father. And the nature of all that love was the source of righteousness-the cause, too, of His lighting up His sun, and sending down His own Son. And He first announced the good righteousness that is from heaven, when He said, "No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; nor the Father, but the Son." This mutual and reciprocal knowledge is the symbol of primeval justice.

Yet let him know that it was God Himself that promulgated the Scriptures by His Son. And he, who announces what is his own, is to be believed. "No one," says the Lord, "hath known the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son shall reveal Him." This, then, is to be believed, according to Plato, though it is announced and spoken "without probable and necessary proofs," but in the Old and New Testament.

Now those that ruminate, but do not part the hoof, indicate the majority of the Jews, who have indeed the oracles of God, but have not faith, and the step which, resting on the truth, conveys to the Father by the Son. Whence also this kind of cattle are apt to slip, not having a division in the foot, and not resting on the twofold support of faith. For "no man," it is said, "knoweth the Father, but he to whom the Son shall reveal Him."

Now having said that all things were given Him by His Father, He rises to His own glory and excellence, showing that in nothing He is surpassed by His Father. Hence He adds, And no one knoweth who the Son is but the Father, &c. For the mind of the creatures is not able to comprehend the manner of the Divine substance, which passes all understanding, and His glory transcends our highest contemplations. By Itself only is known what the Divine nature is. Therefore the Father, by that which He is, knoweth the Son; the Son, by that which He is, knoweth the Father, no difference intervening as regards the Divine nature. And in another place. For that God is, we believe, but what He is by nature, is incomprehensible. But if the Son was created, how could He alone know the Father, or how could He be known only by the Father. For to know the Divine nature is impossible to any creature, but to know each created thing what it is, does not surpass every understanding, though it is far beyond our senses.

For the Lord, revealing Himself to His disciples, that He Himself is the Word, who imparts knowledge of the Father, and reproving the Jews, who imagined that they had [the knowledge of] God, while they nevertheless rejected His Word, through whom God is made known, declared, "No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whom the Son has willed to reveal [Him]."

But the Son, administering all things for the Father, works from the beginning even to the end, and without Him no man can attain the knowledge of God. For the Son is the knowledge of the Father; but the knowledge of the Son is in the Father, and has been revealed through the Son; and this was the reason why the Lord declared: "No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; nor the Father, save the Son, and those to whomsoever the Son shall reveal [Him]." For "shall reveal" was said not with reference to the future alone, as if then [only] the Word had begun to manifest the Father when He was born of Mary, but it applies indifferently throughout all time. For the Son, being present with His own handiwork from the beginning, reveals the Father to all; to whom He wills, and when He wills, and as the Father wills. Wherefore, then, in all things, and through all things, there is one God, the Father, and one Word, and one Son, and one Spirit, and one salvation to all who believe in Him.

Therefore have the Jews departed from God, in not receiving His Word, but imagining that they could know the Father [apart] by Himself, without the Word, that is, without the Son; they being ignorant of that God who spake in human shape to Abraham, and again to Moses, saying, "I have surely seen the affliction of My people in Egypt, and I have come down to deliver them." For the Son, who is the Word of God, arranged these things beforehand from the beginning, the Father being in no want of angels, in order that He might call the creation into being, and form man, for whom also the creation was made; nor, again, standing in need of any instrumentality for the framing of created things, or for the ordering of those things which had reference to man; while, [at the same time,] He has a vast and unspeakable number of servants. For His offspring and His similitude do minister to Him in every respect; that is, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Word and Wisdom; whom all the angels serve, and to whom they are subject. Vain, therefore, are those who, because of that declaration, "No man knoweth the Father, but the Son," do introduce another unknown Father.

(non occ.) He wishes to reveal as the Word, not without the exercise of reason; and as Justice, who knoweth rightly both the times for revealing, and the measures of revelation; but He reveals by removing the opposing veil from the heart, (2 Cor. 3:15) and the darkness which He has made His secret place. (Ps. 18:11.) But since upon this men who are of another opinion think to build up their impious doctrine, that in truth the Father of Jesus was sent down to the ancient saints, we must tell them that the words, To whomsoever the Son will reveal him, not only refer to the future time, after our Saviour uttered this, but also to the past time. But if they will not take this word reveal for what is past, they must be told, that it is not the same thing to know and to believe. To one is given by the Spirit the word of knowledge; to another faith by the same Spirit. (1 Cor. 12:8, 9.) There were then those who believed, but did not know.

To this Simon replied: "From the words of your master I shall refute you, because even he introduces to all men a certain God who was known. For although both Adam knew the God who was his creator, and the maker of the world; and Enoch knew him, inasmuch as he was translated by him; and Noah, since he was ordered by him to construct the ark; and although Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Moses, and all, even every people and all nations, know the maker of the world, and confess him to be a God, yet your Jesus, who appeared long after the patriarchs, says: 'No one knows the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any one the Father, but the Son, and he to whom the Son has been pleased to reveal Him.' Thus, therefore, even your Jesus confesses that there is another God, incomprehensible and unknown to all."

"'And that he does not really believe even the doctrines proclaimed by his teacher is evident, for he proclaims doctrines opposite to his. For he said to some one, as I learn, Call me not good, for the good is one. Now in speaking of the good one, he no longer speaks of that just one, whom the Scriptures proclaim, who kills and makes alive,—kills those who sin, and makes alive those who live according to His will. But that he did not really call Him who is the framer of the world good, is plain to any one who can reflect. For the framer of the world was known to Adam whom He had made, and to Enoch who pleased Him, and to Noah who was seen to be just by Him; likewise to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob; also to Moses, and the people, and the whole world. But Jesus, the teacher of Peter himself, came and said, No one knew the Father except the Son, as no one knoweth even the Son except the Father, and those to whom the Son may wish to reveal Him. If, then, it was the Son himself who was present, it was from the time of his appearance that he began to reveal to those to whom he wished, Him who was unknown to all. And thus the Father was unknown to all who lived before him, and could not thus be He who was known to all."

But after all, it is, I presume, the edification rather than the demolition of the law and the prophets which we have thus far found effected in Christ. "All things," He says, "are delivered unto me of my Father." You may believe Him, if He is the Christ of the Creator to whom all things belong; because the Creator has not delivered to a Son who is less than Himself all things, which He created by Him, that is to say, by His Word.

But "no man knoweth who the Father is, but the Son; and who the Son is, but the Father, and he to whom the Son will reveal Him." And so it was an unknown god that Christ preached! And other heretics, too, prop themselves up by this passage; alleging in opposition to it that the Creator was known to all, both to lsrµl by familiar intercourse, and to the Gentiles by nature.

He exults in spirit when He says to the Father, "I thank Thee, O Father, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent." He, moreover, affirms also that to no man is the Father known, but to His Son; and promises that, as the Son of the Father, He will confess those who confess Him, and deny those who deny Him, before His Father.

The Father delivers all things to the Son, because all things must be subject to the Son. God reigns over all in a twofold manner: first, over those who do not desire His Kingdom, and second, over those who do desire it. To give an example: God is my Master even if I do not wish it, because He is my Creator; and again, God is my Master when I, as a prudent servant, fulfill His will through the keeping of the commandments. Human nature was formerly in bondage and in the hands of God, even though it did not wish it, even though it served Satan. But when Christ endured the struggle on our behalf and, having freed us from the power of the devil, made us His servants and keepers of the commandments, from that time we became prudent servants both by nature and by choice; for the first servitude was only by nature, while the second was also by our choice. So the Lord now says: "All things have been delivered to Me by My Father," that is, all things must be subject to Me and fall under My dominion. This is similar to the other saying: "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth" (Matt. 28:18). And He says this because He reconciled all things (Col. 1:20), both in heaven and on earth. And in another sense: the Father delivers all things to the Son—all the works of the economy of our salvation. Therefore, for our sake neither the Father nor the Spirit became incarnate, or suffered, or rose again, but the Son accomplished all of this, and He became the captain of our salvation; therefore He says that all things have been delivered to Him. He spoke as if to say: My Father has entrusted all things to Me—to become incarnate, to suffer, to rise again, to save the nature that had fallen away. Since He said that all things have been delivered to Me, He now resolves, as it were, a certain perplexity. Lest anyone should think: why then did He deliver all things to You, and not to another, even to an Angel or an Archangel. He says: He delivered all things to Me because I am of one Nature and Essence with Him. And as no one knows Him, so no one knows Me either, except the Father alone. Therefore He rightly delivered all things to Me, as One consubstantial with Him and surpassing all knowledge, just as He too is above all knowledge. For the Father, He says, is known by the Son alone and by the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Notice: the Son knows the Father not through revelation, but creatures know Him through revelation, for they receive knowledge by grace; consequently, the Son is not created.

But that you may know that as the Son revealed the Father to whom He will, the Father also reveals the Son to whom He will, hear our Lord's words, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood have not revealed it to thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

And turning to his disciples, he said: Blessed are the eyes that see the things you see, etc. Not the eyes of the scribes and Pharisees, who see only the body of the Lord, but those blessed eyes that can recognize his mysteries, about which it is said: And you have revealed them to little children. Blessed are the eyes of the little ones, to whom the Son is worthy to reveal both himself and the Father.

Matthew more clearly calls them prophets, and righteous men. For those are great kings, who have known how, not by yielding to escape from the assaults of temptations, but by mastering to gain the rule over them.

For those looking afar off saw Him in a glass and darkly, but the Apostles having our Lord present with them, whatever things they wished to learn had no need to he taught by angels or any other kind of vision.

The third firmness of faith is that which proceeds from the witness of truth as expressed through the inspired word: and this occurred with all the prophets. And we have heard this Word, for it is the Spirit that bears witness that Christ is the truth. Some have actually seen Him in the flesh. Hence in Luke: "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I say to you, many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and they have not seen it."

Fourth, He shows that one should rejoice over the desirable presence, with regard to which He adds: And turning to His disciples, He said: Blessed are the eyes that see what you see: therefore you can rightly rejoice, because you see Me both in mind and in body, since Abraham rejoiced, who saw only by faith, according to that passage of John 8: "Abraham, your father, rejoiced to see My day: and he saw it and was glad." And therefore as a figure of this it is said in 3 Kings 10 to Solomon: "Blessed are your men and blessed are your servants, those who stand before you always and hear your wisdom." This is said of Solomon as a figure of Christ, because, as He says of Himself in Matthew 12, "behold, something greater than Solomon is here." Whence this was a special gift.

He also gave the holy apostles power and might even to raise the dead, cleanse lepers, heal the sick, and by the laying on of hands to call down from heaven the Holy Spirit on anyone they wanted. He gave them power to bind and to loose people's sins. His words are "I say to you, whatever you will bind on earth, will be bound in heaven. Whatever you will loose on earth, will be loosed in heaven." These are the things we see ourselves possessing. Blessed are our eyes and the eyes of those of all who love him. We have heard his wonderful teaching. He has given us the knowledge of God the Father, and he has shown him to us in his own nature. The things that were by Moses were only types and symbols. Christ has revealed the truth to us. He has taught us that not by blood and smoke, but rather by spiritual sacrifices, we must honor him who is spiritual, immaterial and above all understanding.

He turns to them indeed, since He rejected the Jews, who were deaf, with their understandings blinded, and not wishing to see, and gives Himself wholly to those who love Him; and He pronounces those eyes blessed which see the things no others had seen before. We must however know this, that seeing does not signify the action of the eyes, but the pleasure which the mind receives from benefits conferred. For instance, if any one should say, He hath seen good times, that is, he has rejoiced in good times, according to the Psalm, Thou shall see the good of Jerusalem. (Ps. 128:5.) For many Jews have seen Christ performing divine works, that is to say, with their bodily sight, yet all were not fitted to receive the blessing, for they believed not; but these saw not His glory with their mental sight. Blessed then are our eyes, since we see by faith the Word who is made man for us, shedding upon us the glory of His Godhead, that He may make us like unto Him by sanctification and righteousness.

(in Joan. Hom. 8.) Now from this saying many imagine that the prophets were without the knowledge of Christ. But if they desired to see what the Apostles saw, they knew that He would come to men, and dispense those things which He did. For no one desires what he has no conception of; they therefore knew the Son of God. Hence He does not merely say, They desired to see me, but those things which ye see, nor to hear me, but those things which ye hear. For they saw Him, but not yet Incarnate, nor thus conversing with men, nor speaking with such authority to them.

If you look also into the next words, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things which ye see, for I tell you that prophets have not seen the things which ye see," you will find that they follow from the sense above, that no man indeed had come to the knowledge of God as he ought to have done, since even the prophets had not seen the things which were being seen under Christ.

Turning to the disciples, the Lord blesses them and indeed all who look upon Him with faith as He walks in the flesh and works miracles.

Having said above, No one knoweth who the Father is but the Son, and to whomsoever the Son will reveal him; He pronounces a blessing upon His disciples, to whom the Father was revealed through Him. Hence it is said, And he turned him unto his disciples, and said, Blessed are the eyes, &c.

Now He blesses them, and all truly who look with faith, because the ancient prophets and kings desired to see and hear God in the flesh, as it follows; For I say unto you, that many prophets and kings have desired, &c. (Matt. 13:17.)

For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. Abraham rejoiced that he might see the day of Christ, and saw it, and was glad. Isaiah also, and Micah, many other prophets saw the glory of the Lord, who for that reason are called seers. But all these seeing from afar and greeting (Him) saw through a glass and in a riddle (1 Cor. 13), but the apostles having the Lord in the present time, eating with Him, and learning by asking whatever they wished, by no means needed to be taught through angels or various visions. While Luke calls many prophets and kings, Matthew more explicitly calls them prophets and the righteous. For they are truly great kings, because they know how to not succumb by giving in to the impulses of their temptations, but to command by ruling over them.

The third firmness of faith is that which proceeds from the witness of truth as expressed through the inspired word: and this occurred with all the prophets. And we have heard this Word, for it is the Spirit that bears witness that Christ is the truth. Some have actually seen Him in the flesh. Hence in Luke: "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I say to you, many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and they have not seen it."

And on this account He adds: But I say to you, that many prophets and kings wished to see what you see, and did not see it. Those sublime in knowledge and power desired the presence of Christ, according to that passage of Haggai 2: "The desired of all nations will come." Whence on account of their vehement desire it is said in Isaiah 64: "O that You would rend the heavens and come down!" and Numbers 24: "A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a scepter shall spring up from Israel"; and after: "Alas! who shall live when the Lord does these things?" Nor is it a wonder, because in the penultimate chapter of Esther it is said to Ahasuerus in the person of Christ: "You are exceedingly wondrous, lord, and your face is full of graces." And therefore they desired to see the presence of Christ.

They also desired to hear the teaching, and therefore he adds: And to hear what you hear, and they did not hear, that is, my words: because, as it is said in Hosea 10, "it is time to seek the Lord, when he shall come who will teach you justice." For this was the very greatest benefit, to hear God speaking, not through a subject creature, but in his own person and in a united creature. Commemorating which benefit, the Apostle says in Hebrews 1: "In many ways and by many modes God, speaking of old to the Fathers through the Prophets, in these last days" etc. Blessed is he who hears this speech humbly and obediently, according to that passage below in chapter eleven: "Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it." Hence blessed are those who through faith saw and heard Christ on the way, according to that passage in Proverbs 8: "Blessed is the man who hears me and who watches at my gates daily and waits at the posts of my door." But most blessed are those who will see in the homeland, according to that passage in Revelation 19: "Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb."

Tell us, then, O children, whence is this, your beautiful and graceful contest of song? Who taught it you? Who instructed you? Who brought you together? What were your tablets? Who were your teachers? Do but you, they say, join us as our companions in this song and festivity, and you will learn the things which were by Moses and the prophet earnestly longed for.

(in Cant. 1:2.) But why does he say that many prophets desired, and not all? Because it is said of Abraham, That he saw the day of Christ and was glad, (John 8:56.) which sight not many, but few attained to; but there were other prophets and just men not so great as to reach to Abraham's vision, and the experience of the Apostles, who, He says, saw not, but desired to see.

"But also a witnessing voice was heard from heaven, saying, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear Him.' And in addition to this, willing to convict more fully of error the prophets from whom they asserted that they had learned, He proclaimed that they died desiring the truth, but not having learned it, saying, 'Many prophets and kings desired to see what ye see, and to hear what you hear; and verily I say to you, they neither saw nor heard.' Still further He said, 'I am he concerning whom Moses prophesied, saying, A Prophet shall the Lord our God raise unto you of your brethren, like unto me: Him hear in all things; and whosoever will not hear that Prophet shall die.' "

For the ancient prophets and kings, though they greatly desired to see the Lord in the flesh and to hear Him, were nevertheless not deemed worthy of this. And in another sense: since He said above that he knows the Father to whom the Son reveals Him, He now blesses the disciples as those who have already received this revelation. For through Himself He revealed the Father to them, since he who saw Him saw the Father (John 14:9). And no one among those saints who lived before the appearing and working of the Son of God in the flesh attained this blessing. Since they did not see the Lord in the flesh, through Whom the Father was known, it follows that they did not see the Father in the way the apostles saw Him.