Saturday of the 6th Sunday of Pascha

"Go," He said, "and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and, which is no less important, the poor have the Gospel preached to them." Either the poor in spirit, or certainly the poor in wealth, so that there is no distinction in preaching between the noble and the common, the rich and the needy. These things display the rigor of the Master and attest to the truth of the Teacher, as all are equal in His sight who can be saved. As He said:

And what is not less than these, the poor have the Gospel preached to them, that is, the poor are enlightened by the Spirit, or hidden treasures, that there might be no difference between the rich and the poor. These things prove the faith of the Master, when all who can be saved by Him are equal.

Second, he responds to the questioner by declaring the wonders seen and heard by the disciples; on account of which he says: And answering he said to them: Go and report to John what you have heard and seen, because, as is said in Tobit twelve, "it is honorable to reveal and confess the works of God." He commands them to declare what they have seen and heard, because these two senses show us very many distinctions, so that in this the more perfect faith of John is shown, who believed by hearing alone, than that of those who saw and believed, according to that word in John twenty concerning Thomas, to whom it is said: "Because you have seen me, Thomas, you have believed. Blessed are they who have not seen and have believed."

Moreover, he commands them to narrate the wonders, which are indeed the principal miracles on account of their impossibility with respect to created power, such as the restoration of sight, the rectification of gait, the cleansing of the whole body, the repair of hearing, the restoration of life, and the relief of poverty. As regards the restoration of sight, he says: The blind see: Isaiah thirty-five: "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened," namely at the coming of Christ: John nine: "From the beginning of the world it has not been heard that anyone opened the eyes of one born blind." As regards the rectification of gait, it is said: The lame walk: Micah four: "In that day I will gather her that limps, and her whom I had cast out, I will collect"; Isaiah thirty-five: "Then shall the lame leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute shall be opened." As regards the cleansing of the whole body, it is said: Lepers are cleansed, as below in chapter seventeen ten lepers are read to have been cleansed, and as is said in Job fourteen: "Who can make clean what is conceived of unclean seed? Is it not you alone?" You therefore, who do this, are the one who is to come. As for the opening of hearing, it is added: The deaf hear. Isaiah thirty-five: "The ears of the deaf shall be opened," namely at the coming of Christ, according to that passage of Mark seven: "He has done all things well: he has made both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak." — As for the restoration of life, it is said: The dead rise again, according to that passage of Ezekiel thirty-seven: "You shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have opened your graves and brought you forth from your tombs and given my spirit in you, and you shall live," and this is at the coming of Christ; John five: "The hour comes, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God."

Lastly, as for the relief of destitution, it is added: The poor have the Gospel preached to them, that is, they are proclaimed and exalted through the Gospel; which is evident, because the discourse of the Lord began with the commendation of the poor: Matthew five: "Blessed are the poor," and above in chapter six. And this was a certain sign of the coming of Christ, according to that passage of Isaiah twenty-nine: "The poor among men shall exult in the Holy One of Israel"; because, as it is said in the last chapter of Isaiah, "To whom shall I look but to the poor little one, contrite in spirit," etc. And James two: "Has not God chosen the poor in this world," etc.; because of Christ himself it was said: "He shall spare the poor and needy and shall save the souls of the poor"; and afterward: "And their name shall be honorable before him." And it was a great wonder that the name of the poor should become honorable and lovable and worthy of proclamation — which came about only through Jesus, who made himself poor in order to enrich and honor us who are poor; Second Corinthians eight: "You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for your sake he became poor, though he was rich."

And note that he says The poor have the Gospel preached to them rather than virgins or the obedient, because poverty is the foundation of evangelical perfection. For the foundation of the city of Babylon is avarice, according to that passage of First Timothy, the last chapter: "The root of all evils is covetousness"; and "pride is the beginning of all sin," as it is said in Ecclesiasticus ten; so poverty of spirit, which includes the opposite of both, namely poverty and humility, is the foundation of evangelical perfection; it is also the consummation of the same, according to that passage of Second Corinthians eight: "Their most profound poverty abounded unto the riches of their simplicity."

And note that poverty is to be proclaimed in the Gospel and is worthy of preaching on account of ten most excellent dignities. First, on account of the understanding of one's own weakness. Lamentations three: "I am the man who sees my poverty," etc.; against which, concerning the rich man, Revelation three: "You say: I am rich and made wealthy and have need of nothing, and you know not that you are wretched," etc. Second, on account of the excellence of gratuitous virtue: Second Corinthians 8: "The most profound poverty etc."; and Genesis 41: "The Lord has made me to grow in the land of my poverty." Third, on account of the abundance of interior gladness: Isaiah 29: "The poor among men shall exult in the Holy One of Israel"; and in the Psalm: "Let the poor see and be glad; seek God, and your soul shall live." Fourth, on account of the fullness of abounding sufficiency: Tobit 5: "Our poverty was sufficient for us" etc.; and again Proverbs 12: "Better is a poor man who suffices for himself than one who boasts and lacks bread"; on the contrary, Sirach 14: "The eye of the covetous is insatiable." Fifth, on account of the safeguard of heavenly protection: Proverbs 22: "Do not do violence to the poor because he is poor, nor crush the needy at the gate, for the Lord will judge his cause and will pierce those who have pierced him"; Job 5: "He will save the needy from the sword of their mouth and the poor from the hand of the violent"; and the Psalm: "The Lord has become a refuge for the poor, a helper in due times, in tribulation."

Sixth, on account of the good pleasure of divine acceptance: Isaiah, the last chapter: "Upon whom shall I look but upon the poor little one" etc.; and in the Psalm: "His eyes look upon the poor"; and Sirach 11: "There is a man who is feeble"; "and abounding in poverty, and the eye of God has looked upon him for good and has raised him up from his lowliness." Seventh, on account of the condescension of paternal piety: the Psalm: "This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him"; again: "Because of the misery of the destitute and the groaning of the poor, now I will arise"; and again: "He will spare the poor and the needy." Eighth, on account of the eminence of judicial authority: Job 36: "He does not save the wicked, and he grants judgment to the poor"; Matthew 19: "You who have left all things shall sit upon thrones" etc. Ninth, on account of the evidence of proven perfection: Isaiah 48: "I have chosen you in the furnace of poverty"; and Revelation 2: "I know your tribulation and your poverty, but you are blasphemed by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan" etc. Tenth, on account of the excellence of royal preeminence: James 2: "Has not God chosen the poor of this world as heirs of the kingdom which God has promised to those who love him?" Matthew 5: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." — If therefore the class of the poor is the most despised and the class of the rich the most exalted, it is a most excellent miracle that the poor are evangelized as kings.

Here see I pray the beautiful art of the Saviour's management. For He does not simply say, I am; though had He so spoken, it would have been true: but He rather leads them to the proof given by the works themselves, in order that having accepted faith in Him on good grounds, and being furnished with knowledge from what had been done, they might so return to him who sent them. "For go, He says, tell John the things that ye have seen and heard." For ye have heard indeed, He says, that I have raised the dead by the all-powerful word, and by the touch of the hand: ye have seen also, while ye yourselves stood by, that those things that were spoken of old time by the holy prophets are accomplished: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the dumb hear, and the dead arise, and the poor are preached unto. All these things the blessed prophets had before announced, as about in due time to be wrought by My hands. If then I bring to pass those things that were prophecied long before, and ye are yourselves spectators of them, return and tell those things which ye have seen with your own eyes accomplished by My might and ability, and which at various times the blessed prophets foretold.

He said not positively to them I am he, but rather leads them to the certainty of the fact, in order that receiving their faith in Him, with their reason agreeing thereto, they might return to him who sent them. Hence He made not answer to the words, but to the intention of him who sent them; as it follows, And Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things you have seen and heard: as if He said, Go and tell John the things which ye have heard indeed through the Prophets, but have seen accomplished by Me. For He was then performing those things which the Prophets prophesied He would do; that is of which it is added, For the blind see, the lame walk.

Or else, He wished by this to show that whatever was passing in their hearts, could not be hid from His sight. For they were those who were offended at Him.

Christ would work miracles and teach as soon as he came to well-known sections of his own country, and this had been foretold.Isaiah went on to tell of other marvels and showed how Christ cured the lame, and how he made the blind to see and the mute to speak. "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped." After that he spoke of the other marvels: "Then shall the lame man leap like a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing for joy." This did not happen until his coming.

These are also the words of Elias, saying, The Lord himself shall come and save us. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart. (Isa. 35:4-6.)

But still these are but slight examples of the testimony to the Lord. The full assurance of faith is the cross of the Lord, His death and burial. Hence He adds, And blessed is he who shall not be offended in me. For the cross may cause offence, even to the elect. But there is no greater testimony than this of a divine person. For there is nothing which seems to be more surpassing the nature of man than that one should offer Himself for the whole world.

"And blessed is he who does not take offense at me." He reprimands John's messengers, who did not believe He was the Christ, for their scandal of unbelief, and He explains to John what he had asked, that God brings salvation, and the Lord delivers from death (Psalm 67). For, when so many signs and mighty deeds have been seen, no one could take offense but rather marvel. Yet the mind of the unfaithful bore a great scandal when they saw Him die even after so many miracles. So what does it mean to say: "Blessed is he who does not take offense at me," except to openly indicate the rejection of His death and humility? As if He were plainly stating: "Indeed, I do wondrous things, but I do not disdain to endure contempt. Therefore, since I follow in death, it is greatly necessary for people to be cautious, lest they despise in me the death they revere in signs."

Finally, however, he responds to every one who contradicts, suppressing rash judgments, which cast men headlong into various scandals. On account of which he adds: And blessed is he who shall not be scandalized in me, that is, who shall not have judged me to be a mere man and not God, in consideration of the weakness assumed: which indeed was very difficult, nay impossible, for one who did not believe: whence First Corinthians 1: "We preach Christ crucified, to the Jews indeed a scandal, but to the Gentiles foolishness." But some were scandalized on account of weakness, as were the disciples: Matthew 26: "You will all suffer scandal in me this night"; but some from malice, as the scribes and Pharisees, according to that of Matthew 15: "Do you know that the Pharisees, when they heard this word, were scandalized?" Whence this is a general instruction for all who wish to know Christ, that on account of the infirmities which he suffered, they should not fall into scandal, according to that of Isaiah 8: "Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself, and he shall be to you for sanctification; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of scandal to the two houses of Israel, and for a ruin to the inhabitants of Jerusalem." And therefore he rightly calls such a one blessed, because he avoids the danger of error and arrives at the light of truth, as Peter, to whom it is said in Matthew 16: "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood has not revealed it to you," etc.

"And blessed is he who is not offended in me!" The Jews were indeed offended, either as not knowing the depth of the mystery or because they did not seek to know the mystery. Every part of the inspired Scripture announced beforehand that the Word of God would humble himself to emptiness and be seen on earth. This plainly refers to when he was as we are and would justify by faith every thing under heaven. Although Scripture prophesied all this, they stumbled against him, struck against the rock of offense, fell, and were ground to powder. Although they plainly saw him clothed with unspeakable dignity and surpassing glory, by means of the wondrous deeds he performed, they threw stones at him and said, "Why do you, being a man, make yourself God?" In answer to these things Christ rebuked the immeasurable infirmity of their intellect and said, "If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not; but if I do, then though you believe not me, believe my works." Blessed is he who does not stumble against Christ, that is, he who believes him.

But the mind of unbelievers suffered grave scandal in him when they saw him dying even after so many miracles. Hence Paul also says: "But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews indeed a scandal, but to the Gentiles foolishness." For it seemed foolish to men that the author of life should die for mankind; and from this, man took scandal against him, from which he ought rather to have become more indebted. For God is to be honored by men all the more worthily, the more he undertook even unworthy things for mankind. What therefore does it mean to say: "Blessed is he who is not scandalized in me," except to signify openly the abjection and humility of his death? As if he were plainly saying: I indeed do wondrous things, but I do not disdain to suffer humble things. Therefore, since I follow you in dying, men must take great care not to despise in me the death, while they venerate the signs.

When he had forewarned the disciples of John that they should believe in the Lord's cross, as they were returning, he turned to the crowds and began to provoke the poor to virtue; so that they, exalted in heart, unstable in mind, weak in counsel, might prefer things that are beautiful but fleeting to things that are useful and eternal. But instead they should take up the cross with a humble spirit rather than extol the decorations of this world; and as if they were blessed in their poverty, willingly exchange the life of the body for immortal glory. Therefore, it is not in vain that the persona of Saint John is praised here, who, disregarding idleness, did not change the form of justice for the fear of death, but rather preferred the love of life.

'What,' he said, 'did you go out into the wilderness to see? The world seems to be compared to a desert, still uncultivated, still barren, still infertile, into which the Lord denies that we should go forth, so that we might consider the men inflated in mind and empty in internal virtue, and boasting with fragile worldly glory, as a certain example and image for us to imitate: those who are subject to the storms of this world, stirred by the unstable life, and rightly compared to a reed; in whom there is no fruit of solid righteousness; who, covered with lengthy robes, entangled with knots, resound with empty noise of their mouth, with no benefit to themselves, with frequent stumbling, internally empty, externally appearing beautiful.' We are reeds, rooted in no more stable nature. And if a light breeze of favorable success blows, we beat the nearby ones with a wandering motion: unable to support, eager to harm. Reeds love rivers, and we delight in the flowing and transient world.

However, if someone uproots this reed from the earth and plants it in the garden, and removes any excess, stripping off the old man with his actions, and tempers himself with the handwriting of a fast-writing scribe, it begins not to be a reed, but a pen, which imprints the precepts of celestial Scriptures in the depths of the mind, and inscribes them on the tablets of the heart. Concerning this pen, you have what is said: My tongue is the pen of a fast-writing scribe (Psalm 45:2), which some want to refer to Christ. Therefore, in one place both the word and the pen, and the scribe are read. The word, because it sprang forth from the mysterious birth of the Father: 'My heart hath uttered a good word' (Psalm xlv, 1). The pen, because the flesh of Christ expressed the line of paternal will, and fulfilled the divine commandments by the outpouring of sacred blood. The scribe, because with his pen he revealed to us the mysteries of the paternal disposition through a certain distinctness, either of the Old and New Testament, or of divinity and flesh.

Imitate this pen according to the temperament of your flesh. And dip your pen, that is, your flesh, not in ink, but in the spirit of the living God, so that what you write may be eternal. With such a pen, Paul wrote that letter, of which he said: 'You are our letter . . . written not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God' (2 Corinthians 3:2-3). Dip your flesh in the blood of Christ, as it is written: 'That your foot may be dipped in blood' (Psalm 68:24). And so, let the imprint of your soul and the step of your mind be marked with unwavering confession of the crucifixion of the Lord. Immerse your flesh in the blood of Christ, if you want to wash away vices, erase sins, and bear the death of Christ in your own flesh, as the Apostle says: Carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus Christ (II Cor. IV, 10).

Not unmeaningly then is the character of John praised there, who preferred the way of righteousness to the love of life, and swerved not through fear of death. For this world seems to be compared to a desert, into which, as yet barren and uncultivated, the Lord says we must not so enter as to regard men puffed up with a fleshly mind, and devoid of inward virtue, and vaunting themselves in the heights of frail worldly glory, as a kind of example and model for our imitation. And such being exposed to the storms of this world, and tossed to and fro by a restless life, are rightly compared to a reed.

(Simeon) Now these things were spoken by our Lord after the departure of John's disciples, for He would not utter the praises of the Baptist while they were present, lest His words should be counted as those of a flatterer.

And when John's messengers had departed, He began to speak to the crowds about John. Because the surrounding crowd did not understand the mystery of the question and thought that John doubted Christ, whom he had pointed out, to clarify that John had not questioned for his own sake but for his disciples, He added to John's praise.

Why did you go out into the desert? To see a reed shaken by the wind? He indicated this, not by asserting, but by denying. For a reed is, immediately upon being touched by the air, bent to one side. And what is designated by the reed if not a carnal mind, which, as soon as it is touched by favor or reproach, inclines to any direction? For if an aura of favor blows from a human mouth, it is glad, is exalted, and bends itself entirely to the grace. But if the wind of detraction bursts forth from where the breeze of praise was coming, immediately it inclines this as if to the other side to the force of fury. But John was not a reed shaken by the wind, for neither did favor make him gentle, nor did anyone's anger make him harsh; neither did he know how to be elevated by prosperity nor to be inclined by adversity.

But why did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft garments? Behold, those who are in precious clothing and in luxury are in the houses of kings. For John is described as having been clothed in camel's hair. Therefore, he says, not those who endure hardships for God but those who avoid hardships and give themselves only to exterior things, seeking the softness and pleasure of the present life, do not fight for the heavenly kingdom but for the earthly one. Let no one, therefore, think that there is no sin in luxury and pursuit of clothing because if this were not a fault, by no means would the Lord have praised John for the roughness of his clothing. Although this, that John was said not to be dressed in soft garments, can be understood differently through symbolic interpretation. For he was not dressed in soft garments because he did not indulge the life of sinners with gentleness but rebuked them with the vigor of harsh invective, saying: "Brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" (Luke III).

But why did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. For the role of a prophet is to tell what is to come, not also to reveal it. Therefore John is more than a prophet, because he not only foretold by running before Him but also announced by showing Him.

And when they had departed etc. Above he confirmed the testimony of John through the evidence of truth in himself; here secondly he confirms it through the evidence of virtue in John who testified. Moreover, the prerogative of virtue is shown to have been fourfold in John: first, namely, as regards the merit of life; second, as regards the office of teaching; third, as regards the gift of grace; fourth, as regards the proclamation of renown. As regards the first, it should be noted that the merit of life is commended in John in two ways: first, as regards constancy in the face of difficulties; second, as regards abstinence in respect of pleasurable things.

There is therefore first introduced a commendation of the constancy of John in the absence of the disciples: on account of which he says: And when the messengers of John had departed, having obtained the resolution of the question, returning as good messengers to him by whom they had been sent: concerning whom Job thirty-eight says: "Will you send forth lightnings, and will they go, and returning say to you: We are here?" In their absence John ought to be praised, so that the praise may be shown to be true, not adulatory: therefore it is said: He began to speak about John to the crowds: he began indeed to praise him to the crowds, lest John should seem to have sent his disciples to Christ out of doubt.

Therefore he begins to commend him for constancy: What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed shaken by the wind? As if to say: John is not like a reed, so as to tremble and be shaken by any impulse, but strong and fixed in faith and in all goodness: according to what James one says: "Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering: for he who wavers is like a wave of the sea, which is moved and carried about by the wind." "But a double-minded man is inconstant in all his ways." Such truly is a reed, but John was not such, since he was most holy, since it is said in Ecclesiasticus twenty-seven: "A holy man remains in wisdom like the sun: for a fool is changed like the moon." Such are all the Saints, according to that passage in Ephesians four: "Let us not be little children, tossed about and carried around by every wind of doctrine in the wickedness of men." Therefore Paul entreated in Second Thessalonians two: "We beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you be not quickly moved from your understanding." But whoever wishes to attain this constancy must leave the world and go out to John in the desert, according to what is said in First Maccabees two: "Mattathias cried out with a loud voice: Everyone who has zeal for the Law, let him go out after me"; and it follows that "many went out into the desert."

(ubi sup.) The Lord, knowing the secrets of men, foresaw that some would say, If until now John is ignorant of Jesus, how did lie show Him to us, saying, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world? To quench therefore this feeling which had taken possession of them, He prevented the injury which might arise from the offence, as it follows, And when the messengers of John were departed, he began to speak unto the people concerning John, what went ye out for to see? A reed shaken in the wind? As if He said, Ye marvelled at John the Baptist, and oftentimes came to see him, passing over long journeys in the desert; surely in vain, if you think him so fickle as to be like a reed bending down whichever way the wind moves it. For such he appeal's to be, who lightly avows his ignorance of the things which he knows.

But after John's disciples were dismissed, let us hear what He says to the crowds about the same John: "What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed shaken by the wind?" This He clearly brought forth not by affirming, but by denying. For a reed, as soon as a breeze touches it, bends to the other side. And what is signified by the reed but a carnal mind? Which, as soon as it is touched by favor or detraction, immediately inclines to either side. For if a breeze of favor blows from human lips, it rejoices, is lifted up, and bends itself entirely, as it were, toward grace. But if from the same place whence the breeze of praise was coming, a wind of detraction bursts forth, it immediately inclines him, as it were, to the other side, toward the violence of fury. But John was not a reed shaken by the wind, because neither did flattery make him gentle, nor did anyone's detraction make him harsh with anger. Neither did prosperity know how to lift him up, nor adversity to cast him down. Therefore John was not a reed shaken by the wind, whom no change of circumstances bent from the uprightness of his position. Let us learn therefore, dearest brothers, not to be a reed shaken by the wind; let us make firm our mind placed amid the breezes of tongues, let the posture of our mind stand unbending. Let no detraction provoke us to anger, and let no favor incline us to the relaxation of useless grace. Let not prosperity lift us up, nor adversity disturb us, so that we who are fixed in the solidity of faith may in no way be moved by the changeableness of passing things.

John was also greatest among those that are born of women because he prophesied from the very womb of his mother, and though in darkness, was not ignorant of the light which had already come.

(Hom. 37. in Matt.) By each of these sayings He shows John to be neither naturally nor easily shaken or diverted from any purpose.

(non occ.) But you went not out into the desert, (where there is no pleasantness,) leaving your cities, except as caring for this man.

And although very many become effeminate by the use of softer garments, yet here other garments seem to be meant, namely, our mortal bodies, by which our souls are clothed. Again, luxurious acts and habits are soft garments, but those whose languid limbs are wasted away in luxuries are shut out of the kingdom of heaven, whom the rulers of this world and of darkness have taken captive. For these are the kings who exercise tyranny over those who are their fellows in their own works.

(ubi sup.) We have also an infallible testimony to John's way of life in his manner of clothing, and his imprisonment, into which he never would have been cast had he known how to court princes; as it follows, But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed with soft raiment? Behold they who are gorgeously apparelled, and live delicately, are in kings' houses. By being clothed with soft raiment, he signifies men who live luxuriously.

Secondly, there is added the commendation of John's abstinence with respect to pleasurable things; on account of which he says: But what did you go out to see? that is, to consider: A man clothed in soft garments? as if to say: no. For John, most holy, was a stranger to all softness of carnality, as is said in Matthew 3: "Now John had a garment of camel's hair, and his food was locusts." He was truly of the number of evangelical men, in whose person it is said in 1 Timothy 6: "Having food and wherewith to be covered, let us be content with these"; wherewith to be covered he says, not: wherewith to be adorned. Bernard to Eugenius: "The Apostles were mighty in battle, not soft in silk; and if you are a son of the Apostles and Prophets, do you likewise." But whoever wishes to do this must forsake the world and go out into the desert with John. — On account of which he adds: Behold, those who are in costly apparel and in delicacies are in the houses of kings: as if to say: costly apparel and a luxurious life belong to worldly men, not to spiritual men and Christians. Whence in 1 Peter 3 it is said of women: "Whose adorning let it not be the outward plaiting of the hair, or the wearing of gold and silver, or the putting on of apparel." On which Gregory says: "Let no one think that there is no sin in the wearing of costly garments. Consider what fault it is that even men should desire that from which the pastor of the Church took care to prohibit even women." For costly garments of this kind are carnal and luxurious, but in delicacies the spiritual life is imperiled; whence 1 Timothy 5: "The widow who lives in delicacies is dead while living"; Jeremiah 31: "How long will you be dissolved in delicacies, O wandering daughter"? Moreover, costly and luxurious garments of this kind are customarily an occasion of vainglory; and therefore he adds: They are in the houses of kings: concerning which Sirach 11: "Never glory in clothing, nor exalt yourself in the day of your honor."

Accordingly, deriding those who are clothed in luxurious garments, He says in the Gospel: "Lo, they who live in gorgeous apparel and luxury are in earthly palaces." He says in perishable palaces, where are love of display, love of popularity, and flattery and deceit. But those that wait at the court of heaven around the King of all, are sanctified in the immortal vesture of the Spirit, that is, the flesh, and so put on incorruptibility.

(ubi sup.) How then could a religious strictness, so great that it subdued to itself all fleshly lusts, sink down to such ignorance, except from a frivolity of mind, which is not fostered by austerities, but by worldly delights. If then ye imitate John, as one who cared not for pleasure, award him also the strength of mind, which befits his continence. But if strictness no more tends to this than a life of luxury, why do you, not respecting those who live delicately, admire the inhabitant of the desert, and his wretched garment of camel's hair.

But still more is added about the description of him: "But what did you go out into the desert to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Behold, those who are clothed in soft garments are in the houses of kings." For John is described as having been clothed in woven camel's hair. And what does it mean to say, "Behold, those who are clothed in soft garments are in the houses of kings," except to demonstrate by a clear statement that those who flee from enduring hardships for God do not serve the heavenly King but an earthly one, but rather, devoted only to external things, they seek the softness and pleasure of the present life? Therefore let no one think that there is no sin in the extravagance and pursuit of clothing, because if this were not a fault, the Lord would in no way have praised John for the roughness of his garment. If this were not a fault, the apostle Peter would never have restrained women through his epistle from the desire for costly garments, saying: "Not in costly apparel." Consider, therefore, what a fault it is for men also to desire that from which the pastor of the Church took care to prohibit even women.

Although what is said about John not being clothed in soft garments can also be understood in another way through its symbolic meaning. For he was not clothed in soft garments because he did not nurture the life of sinners with flatteries, but rebuked them with the force of harsh denunciation, saying: "Brood of vipers, who has shown you how to flee from the wrath to come?" Hence it is also said through Solomon: "The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails driven deep." For the words of the wise are compared to nails and goads because they do not know how to caress the faults of sinners, but to pierce them.

(Hom. 29. in ep. ad Heb.) But a soft garment relaxes the austerity of the soul; and if worn by a hard and rigorous body, soon, by such effeminacy, makes it frail and delicate. But when the body becomes softer, the soul must also share the injury; for generally its workings correspond with the conditions of the body.

That Lord walked in humility and obscurity, with no definite home: for "the Son of man," said He, "hath not where to lay His head; " unadorned in dress, for else He had not said, "Behold, they who are clad in soft raiment are in kings' houses: " in short, inglorious in countenance and aspect, just as Isaiah withal had fore-announced.

For whether He speaks of any "least person" by reason of his humble position, or of Himself, as being thought to be less than John-since all were running into the wilderness after John rather than after Christ ("What went ye out into the wilderness to see? " )-the Creator has equal right to claim as His own both John, greater than any born of women, and Christ, or every "least person in the kingdom of heaven," who was destined to be greater than John in that kingdom, although equally pertaining to the Creator, and who would be so much greater than the prophet, because he would not have been offended at Christ, an infirmity which then lessened the greatness of John.

But "what manner of man is this? for He commandeth even the winds and water!" Of course He is the new master and proprietor of the elements, now that the Creator is deposed, and excluded from their possession! Nothing of the kind.

Indeed, greater than a prophet (or more than a prophet) was he in whom the prophets terminate; for many desired to see Him whom he saw, whom he baptized.

But what did you go out to see? After the Savior commended John with respect to the merit of his life, here he commends him with respect to the office of teaching, and in right order, because a good life ought to come before authoritative teaching. Moreover, the office of teaching is commended in John in two ways, namely with respect to clarity in knowing and with respect to authority in teaching, which two things render the office of a teacher perfect.

First, therefore, as regards limpidity in knowing the divine mystery, it is said: But what did you go out to see? A Prophet? to whom, namely, the Lord reveals future things, according to that passage in Amos 3: "For the Lord God does nothing without first revealing His secret to His servants the Prophets." But to this one He not only foretold future things, but also showed Himself in present reality; and therefore He adds: Yes, I say to you, and more than a Prophet. Concerning whom Ambrose says: "Because many desired to see Him whom this one prophesied, whom this one beheld, whom this one baptized"; therefore, by pointing out Christ with his finger and seeing Him with his eye, he was more excellent and more blessed than the other Prophets, according to that passage below in chapter 10: "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I say to you that many Prophets and kings wished to see what you see, and did not see it." And therefore, because his office was more excellent than that of the Prophets, the Baptist, in John 1, when the Pharisees asked: "Are you the Prophet?" answers: "I am not, but the voice of one crying in the wilderness." Nor is there any contradiction, but rather harmony, because a prophet foretells future and absent things, but a voice makes manifest things present.

"What then did you go out to see?" Perhaps you say, "A prophet." Yes, I agree. He is a saint and a prophet. He even surpasses the dignity of a prophet.

(ubi sup.) But perhaps it does not concern us to excuse John upon this ground, for you confess that he is worthy of imitation, hence He adds, But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Verily I say unto you, more than a prophet. For the prophets foretold that Christ would come, but John not only foretold that He would come, but also declared Him to be present, saying, Behold the Lamb of God.

But what went you out into the desert to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. For the office of a prophet is to foretell things to come, not also to show them. John therefore is more than a prophet, because the one whom he had prophesied by going before, he also pointed out by showing. But since he is denied to be a reed shaken by the wind, since he is said not to be clothed in soft garments, since the name of prophet is declared to be inadequate for him, let us now hear what may worthily be said of him.

(ubi sup.) The voice of the Lord is indeed sufficient to bear testimony to John's pre-eminence among men. But any one will find the real facts of the case confirming the same, by considering his food, his manner of life, the loftiness of his mind. For he dwelt on earth as one who had come down from heaven, casting no care upon his body, his mind raised up to heaven, and united to God alone, taking no thought for worldly things; his conversation grave and gentle, for with the Jewish people he dealt honestly and zealously, with the king boldly, with his own disciples mildly. He did nothing idle or trifling, but all things becomingly.

Far greater still is his perverseness when, not being the Christ of John, he yet bestows on John his testimony, affirming him to be a prophet, nay more, his messenger, applying to him the Scripture, "Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee." He graciously adduced the prophecy in the superior sense of the alternative mentioned by the perplexed John, in order that, by affirming that His own precursor was already come in the person of John, He might quench the doubt which lurked in his question: "Art thou He that, should come, or look we for another? "Now that the forerunner had fulfilled his mission, and the way of the Lord was prepared, He ought now to be acknowledged as that (Christ) for whom the forerunner had made ready the way.

Turning now to the law, which is properly ours-that is, to the Gospel-by what kind of examples are we met, until we come to definite dogmas? Behold, there immediately present themselves to us, on the threshold as it were, the two priestesses of Christian sanctity, Monogamy and Continence: one modest, in Zechariah the priest; one absolute, in John the forerunner: one appeasing God; one preaching Christ: one proclaiming a perfect priest; one exhibiting "more than a prophet," -him, namely, who has not only preached or personally pointed out, but even baptized Christ.

But he prepared the way of the Lord not only in the order of birth according to the flesh, and as the messenger of faith, but also as the forerunner of His glorious passion. Hence it follows, Who shall prepare thy way before thee.

(ubi sup.) But by the words which follow, Before thy face, he signifies nearness of time, for John appeared to men close to the coming of Christ. Wherefore must he indeed be considered more than a prophet, for those also who in battle fight close to the sides of kings, are their most distinguished and greatest friends.

This is he of whom it is written, "Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who shall prepare your way before you." What is called angel in Greek, is called messenger in Latin. Therefore rightly, he who is sent to announce the divine judge is called an angel, so that he maintains the dignity in name which he fulfills in deed. Indeed it is a high name, but the life does not fall short of the name. But also all who are rated by the name of priesthood are called angels, the prophet attesting, who says: "The lips of a priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law at his mouth, for he is the angel of the Lord of hosts" (Malachi II). And indeed every one of the faithful, as much as he is able, as much as he receives the infusion of supernal grace, if he calls back his neighbor from wickedness, if he takes care to exhort to good works, if he announces the eternal kingdom or punishment to the erring, when he expends the words of holy announcement, he indeed becomes an angel.

Second, as regards authority in teaching through divine mandate, it is said: This is he of whom it is written, namely in Malachi 3, where the Father speaks to the Son: "Behold, I send my angel," that is, my authoritative messenger, John, who is called an angel not by simplicity of nature but by the authority of his teaching, according to that passage in Malachi 2: "The lips of the priest shall guard knowledge, and they shall seek the law from his mouth, because he is the angel of the Lord of hosts." John is therefore called a messenger in the manner of an Angel because, just as the Angels "see the face of the Father" in the Godhead, so he himself saw the face of Christ and pointed Him out in the flesh. — On account of which He adds: Before your face, that is, your appearance in the flesh, concerning which it is said in the Psalm: "Show us your face, and we shall be saved." This face Isaiah desired in the person of the Fathers, in chapter 64: "Would that you would rend the heavens and come down; the mountains would melt before your face." — And because they were not prepared to receive that face unless they were forewarned, therefore it is said: Who has prepared your way before you, namely by being born, by living among men, by baptizing, by preaching. For in all these ways he was joined to Christ, as a voice to a word. Therefore it was rightly said of him in Isaiah 40, and taken up above in chapter 3 and in John 1: "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord"; so that that passage in Isaiah 35 may be fulfilled: "There shall be for you a straight way, so that fools may not err along it."

Not only did he announce before that I am coming but pointed me out close at hand, saying, "Behold the Lamb of God that bears the sin of the world." The prophet's voice testified of him as the one who was sent before my face to prepare the way before me.

(ubi sup.) Having then described his character by the place where he dwelt, by his clothing, and from the crowds who went to see him, He introduces the testimony of the prophet, saying, This is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my angel. (Mal. 3:1.)

There follows: This is he of whom it is written: Behold, I send my angel before your face, who will prepare your way before you. For what is called angelus in Greek is called nuntius (messenger) in Latin. Rightly therefore he who is sent to announce the heavenly judge is called an angel, that he may preserve in his name the dignity which he fulfills in his work. It is indeed a lofty name, but his life is not inferior to his name.

Beloved brothers, let us not say it to our judgment, since all who are designated by the name of priest are called angels, as the prophet attests when he says: "The lips of the priest guard knowledge, and they seek the law from his mouth, because he is the angel of the Lord of hosts." But you too, if you wish, can merit the loftiness of this name. For each one of you, insofar as he is able, insofar as he has received the grace of heavenly inspiration, if he calls back his neighbor from wickedness, if he takes care to exhort him to do good, if he proclaims the eternal kingdom or punishment to one who errs, when he bestows the words of holy proclamation, he surely becomes an angel. And let no one say: "I am not sufficient to admonish, I am not fit to exhort." Offer what you can, lest what you received and kept badly be demanded of you in torments. For he who studied to hide his talent rather than to spend it had received no more than one talent. And we know that in the tabernacle of God not only bowls but also, by the Lord's command, cups were made. By bowls, indeed, abundant teaching is designated; by cups, however, small and limited knowledge. One person, full of the teaching of truth, intoxicates the minds of his hearers. By what he says, therefore, he surely offers a bowl. Another cannot fully express what he perceives, but because he proclaims it in some way, he surely offers a taste through a cup. Therefore, placed in God's tabernacle, that is, in the holy Church, if you cannot minister bowls through the wisdom of teaching, give to your neighbors cups of a good word insofar as you are able according to divine generosity. Insofar as you perceive yourselves to have progressed, draw others along with you; desire to have companions on the way to God. If any of you, brothers, goes to the forum or perhaps to the baths, he invites someone he sees to be idle to come with him. Let that same earthly activity of yours be fitting for you, and if you are heading toward God, take care not to come to him alone. For thus it is written: "Let him who hears say: Come"; so that he who has already received in his heart the voice of heavenly love may also give forth to his neighbors the voice of exhortation. And perhaps he does not have bread to offer alms to the needy; but he who has a tongue has something greater to give. For it is more to restore with the food of the word a mind that will live forever than to satisfy with earthly bread the belly of flesh that will die. Therefore, brothers, do not withhold from your neighbors the alms of the word. I admonish you together with myself that we refrain from idle speech, that we avoid speaking uselessly. Insofar as we are able to restrain our tongue, let not words flow away into the wind, since the Judge says: "Every idle word that men have spoken, they will render an account of it on the day of judgment." An idle word is one that lacks either the usefulness of righteousness or the reason of just necessity. Therefore turn idle conversations to the pursuit of edification: consider how swiftly the times of this life flee away; attend to how strictly the Judge comes. Place him before the eyes of your heart; make him known to the minds of your neighbors; so that insofar as your strength allows, if you do not neglect to proclaim him, you may be worthy to be called angels by him along with John.

Now He called him an "angel," on account of the magnitude of the mighty deeds which he was to achieve (which mighty deeds Joshua the son of Nun did, and you yourselves read), and on account of his office of prophet announcing (to wit) the divine will; just as withal the Spirit, speaking in the person of the Father, calls the forerunner of Christ, John, a future "angel," through the prophet: "Behold, I send mine angel before Thy"-that is, Christ's-"face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee." Nor is it a novel practice to the Holy Spirit to call those "angels" whom God has appointed as ministers of His power.

He calls a man an angel, not because he was by nature an angel, for he was by nature a man, but because he exercised the office of an angel, in heralding the advent of Christ.

But is not even He greater, of whom Moses said: 'The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet' (Deut. xviii, 15)? And of whom it is said: 'And every soul which will not hear that Prophet shall be destroyed from the people' (ibid., 19)? If, then, Christ is a prophet, how is He greater than all? Do we deny that Christ is a prophet? Nay, we confess Him to be the Lord of the prophets. But I assert that John is a prophet, and I say that he is greater than all, but only among them that are born of women, not among those that are born of a virgin. For indeed he was greater than those with whom he could be equal by the lot of birth. That nature is different from this, and cannot be compared with human generations. There can be no comparison between man and God; each person is preferred to their own. In fact, to such an extent could there be no comparison between John and the Son of God; that he is even considered inferior to the angels.

But if Christ also is a prophet, how is this man greater than all. But it is said, among those born of woman, not of a virgin. For He was greater than those, whose equal he might be in way of birth, as it follows, For I say unto you, of those that are born of woman, there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist.

Lastly, so impossible is it that there should be any comparison between John and the Son of God, that he is counted even below the angels; as it follows, But he that is least in the kingdom of God, is greater than he.

For He is of another nature, which bears not comparison with human kind. For there can be no comparing of God with men.

For I say to you: Among those born of women there is no greater prophet than John the Baptist. Among those born of women, he says. Therefore he is preferred to those men who are born of women and from the intercourse of a man, and not to the one who is born of a Virgin and the Holy Spirit. Although in judgment he preferred John to all other prophets and patriarchs, and to all men, yet he equated the others to John. For it does not immediately follow that if others are not greater than him, he is greater than others, but rather that he has equality with the other saints.

Whoever is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. This sentence can be understood in two ways. Either he called the kingdom of God what we have not yet received and in which we are not yet, whence at the end he will say: 'Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom' (Matthew XXV); and where there are so many holy angels, any one of whom, being the least, is certainly greater than any holy and just man who bears the body which is corrupt and weighs down the soul (Wisdom IX). Or, if he intends the kingdom of God to mean the Church of this time, whose children are all from the foundation of the human race to the present, as many as could have been just and holy, surely the Lord signified himself, who at the time of birth was lesser than John, but greater in the eternity of divinity and the dominion of power. Therefore, according to the former explanation, it is thus distinguished: Whoever is least in the kingdom of God. And then it is added: is greater than he. According to the latter, thus: Whoever is least, and then it is added, in the kingdom of God, is greater than he.

These words may be understood in two ways. For either he called that the kingdom of God, which we have not yet received, (in which are the Angels,) and the very least among them is greater than any righteous man, who bears about a body, which weighs down the soul. Or if by the kingdom of God be meant to be understood the Church of this time, the Lord referred to Himself, who in the time of His birth came after John, but was greater in divine authority, and the power of the Lord. Moreover, according to the first explanation, the distinction is as follows, But he who is least in the kingdom of God, and then it is added, is greater than he. According to the latter, But he who is least, and then added, is greater in the kingdom of God than he.

For I say to you: Greater etc. Here thirdly Christ commends his precursor with regard to the gift of divine grace, by which he was "great before the Lord," according to what is said above in chapter one. And since the gift of grace in John had a prerogative in degree and a measure of limitation in status: therefore he intimates these two things when he commends the gift of grace in John.

First, therefore, he commends John with regard to the prerogative of the gratuitous gift in respect of a mere man, when he says: For I say to you: Among those born of women there is no greater prophet than John the Baptist. He is not, therefore, among men in the degree of grace at the lowest or middle level; it is necessary, therefore, that he be at the highest. Whence from this it is said not only that he is great, but that he is the greatest, so that what is said of Joshua in Ecclesiasticus forty-six can be said of him: "Who was great according to his name, greatest in saving the elect of God." For because he had great grace, therefore he was called John. He was also great through the merit of his life, greater through the mastery of his teaching, greatest through the privilege of grace. However, he is not said to be greater than all, so as to be preferred above all, but that no other was greater than he; nor is this said of all universally past and future, but of those then past. Nor is it said with respect to both sexes, but only the male; whence the Virgin Mary is not included, who "was exalted above the choirs of Angels," having no pure creature superior to her nor even equal, according to that passage of Song of Songs six: "One is my dove, my perfect one, she is the only one of her mother, the chosen one of her who bore her."

Secondly, he intimates the measure of that gift with respect to the man Christ, with regard to whom he says: But he who is lesser in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. The kingdom of heaven here he calls the Church, according to how Gregory expounds that passage of Matthew thirteen: "He will send his Angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all scandals." The lesser in this kingdom is called the more humble; but this is Christ, of whom it is said in the Psalm: "You diminished him a little less than the Angels, with glory and honor you crowned him." For because, as is said in Philippians two, "he humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death," "the Lord gave him the name which is above every name." And thus was verified that passage of Isaiah sixty: "The least shall become a thousand, and a little one a most strong nation." And this is the divine law which he himself gave in Matthew eighteen: "Whoever shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven." Thus indeed, nay rather in every way Christ humbled himself more: below in chapter twenty-two: "Who is greater, he who reclines at table, or he who serves? But I am in the midst of you as one who serves." Whence Gregory says: "Humble yourself as much as you can; Christ will still be more humble." It could nevertheless be explained concerning the Blessed, that the least of the good Angels would be greater than John for that state: for there is "a fire of charity in Zion, and a furnace in Jerusalem," Isaiah thirty-one.

And how shall not the discipline of this child be perfect, which extends to all, leading as a schoolmaster us as children who are His little ones? He has stretched forth to us those hands of His that are conspicuously worthy of trust. To this child additional testimony is borne by John, "the greatest prophet among those born of women:" "Behold the Lamb of God!" For since Scripture calls the infant children lambs, it has also called Him-God the Word-who became man for our sakes, and who wished in all points to be made like to us-"the Lamb of God"-Him, namely, that is the Son of God, the child of the Father.

There were then certain who prided themselves upon their performance of what was required by the law: the Scribes namely, and Pharisees, and others of their party; who were regarded according to their professions as exact observers of the law, and claimed on this score, that their heads should be adorned with honours. This too is the reason why they neither accepted faith in Christ, nor paid due honour to that mode of life which truly is praiseworthy and blameless: even that which is regulated by the commands of the Gospel. The purpose, therefore, of Christ the Saviour of all, was to shew them that the honours both of the religious and moral service that are by the law, were of small account, and not worthy of being attained to, or oven perhaps absolutely nothing, and unavailing for edification: while the grace that is by faith in Him is the pledge of blessings worthy of admiration, and able to adorn with incomparable honour those that possess it. Many, then, as I said, were observers of the law, and greatly puffed up on this account: they even gave out that they had attained to the perfection of all that is praiseworthy, in the exact performance of the righteousness that consisted in shadows and types. In order, then, that, as I said, He might prove that those who believe in Him are better and superior to them, and that the glories of the followers of the law are evidently but small in comparison with the evangelic mode of life, He takes him who was the best of their whole class, but nevertheless was born of woman, I mean the blessed Baptist: and having affirmed that he is a prophet, or rather above the measure of the prophets, and that among those born of women no one had arisen greater than he in righteousness, that namely, which is by the law, He declares, that he who is small, who falls short, that is, of his measure, and is inferior to him in the righteousness that is by the law, is greater than he:—not greater, in legal righteousness, but in the kingdom of God, even in faith, and the excellencies which result from faith. For faith crowns those that receive it with glories that surpass the law. And this thou learnest, and wilt thyself affirm to be the case, when thou meetest with the words of the blessed Paul: for having declared himself to be free from blame in the righteousness that is by the law, he added forthwith, "But those things that were gain unto me, those I have counted loss for Christ's sake: and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ: not having my own righteousness which is by the law, but the righteousness that is of the faith of Jesus Christ." And the Israelites he even considers deserving of great blame, thus saying: "For being ignorant of God's righteousness, that namely which is by Christ, and seeking to establish their own; even that which is by the law; they have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the completion of the law for righteousness unto every one that believeth." And again, when speaking of these things: "We, he says, who by nature are Jews, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, we also have believed in Jesus Christ, that we may be justified in Him." The being justified, therefore, by Christ, that is to say, by faith in Him, surpasses the glories of the righteousness that is by the law. For this reason the blessed Baptist is brought forward, as one who had attained the foremost place in legal righteousness, and to a praise so far incomparable. And yet even thus he is ranked as less than one who is least: "for the least, He says, is greater than he in the kingdom of God." But the kingdom of God signifies, as we affirm, the grace that is by faith, by means of which we are accounted worthy of every blessing, and of the possession of the rich gifts which come from above from God. For it frees us from all blame; and makes us to be the sons of God, partakers of the Holy Ghost, and heirs of a heavenly inheritance.

And I bear him witness that there hath not arisen among those born of women one greater than he: but he that is least—in the life I mean according to the law—in the kingdom of God is greater than he. How and in what manner? In that the blessed John, together with as many as preceded him, was born of woman: but they who have received the faith, are no more called the sons of women, but as the wise Evangelist said, "are born of God." "For to all, he says, who received Him, that is, Christ, He gave power to become the sons of God, even to them who believe on His Name: who have been born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." For we have been born again to the adoption of the sons, "not of corruptible seed," but, as Scripture saith, "by the living and abiding Word of God." Those then who are not of corruptible seed, but, on the contrary, have been born of God, are superior to any one born of woman.

But in a mystery, when showing the superiority of John among those that are born of women, he places in opposition something greater, namely, Himself who was born by the holy Spirit the Son of God. For the kingdom of the Lord is the Spirit of God. Although then as respects works and holiness, we may be inferior to those who attained unto the mystery of the law, whom John represents, yet through Christ we have greater things, being made partakers of the Divine nature.

(lib. l. Ep. 33.) John was also greatest among those that are born of women, because he prophesied from the very womb of his mother, and though in darkness, was not ignorant of the light which had already come.

(ubi sup.) For He adds this, that the abundant praise of John might not give the Jews a pretext to prefer John to Christ. But do not suppose that he spoke comparatively of His being greater than John.

And who of all the ancients, who were accounted worthy of the sublime and wonderful gift, was like unto John the Baptist? According to the testimony, which Christ spake concerning him, "He was the greatest of all the Prophets"; and again He said, "Verily I say unto you, among those born of women there is none greater than John the Baptist." Now let us understand and see how and what was the rule and conduct of life of this marvellous man who arrived at such greatness as this, and why he was accounted worthy of all this gift, and with what increase and with how great labours, and after what asceticism, and for how long a time he lived a solitary life away from human intercourse; and when we have seen and have understood these matters of his life, let us consider the greatness of the things which were unto him, and let us understand first of all the things which concern the will, and afterwards the things which concern grace, for until the will shewed its fruits the Spirit gave not its gift.

That forerunner was indeed "greater than all of women born; " but for all that, He who was least in the kingdom of God was not subject to him; as if the kingdom in which the least person was greater than John belonged to one God, while John, who was greater than all of women born, belonged himself to another God.

But the disciples, still thinking that the Father is something greater than the Son, seeing only the flesh, and not understanding His divinity, said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father and it sufficeth us." As much as to say, "We know Thee already, and bless Thee that we know Thee: for we thank Thee that Thou hast shown Thyself to us. But as yet we know not the Father: therefore our heart is inflamed, and occupied with a certain holy longing of seeing Thy Father who sent Thee. Show us Him, and we shall desire nothing more of Thee: for it sufficeth us when He has been shown, than whom none can be greater." A good longing, a good desire; but small intelligence. Now the Lord Jesus Himself, regarding them as small men seeking great things, and Himself great among the small, and yet small among the small, says to Philip, one of the disciples, who had said this: "Am I so long time with you, and ye have not known me, Philip?" Here Philip might have answered, Thee we have known, but did we say to Thee, Show us Thyself? We have known Thee, but it is the Father we seek to know. He immediately adds, "He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father also." If, then, One equal with the Father has been sent, let us not estimate Him from the weakness of the flesh, but think of the majesty clothed in flesh, but not weighed down by the flesh. For, remaining God with the Father, He was made man among men, that, through Him who was made man, thou mightest become such as to receive God. For man could not receive God. Man could see man; God he could not apprehend. Why could he not apprehend God? Because he had not the eye of the heart, by which to apprehend Him. There was something within disordered, something without sound: man had the eyes of the body sound, but the eyes of the heart sick. He was made man to the eye of the body; so that, believing on Him who could be seen in bodily form, thou mightst be healed for seeing Him whom thou wast not able to see spiritually. "Am I so long time with you, and ye know me not, Philip? He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father also." Why did they not see Him? Lo, they did see Him, and yet saw not the Father: they saw the flesh, but the majesty was concealed. What the disciples who loved Him saw, saw also the Jews who crucified Him. Inwardly, then, was He all; and in such manner inwardly in the flesh, that He remained with the Father when He came to the flesh.

The words of the holy Gospel, brethren, are rightly understood only if they are found to be in harmony with those that precede; for the premises ought to agree with the conclusion, when it is the Truth that speaks. The Lord had said before, "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also:" and then had added, "And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know;" and showed that all He said was that they knew himself. What, therefore, the meaning was of His going to Himself by Himself,-for He also lets the disciples see that it is by Him that they are to come to Him,-we have already told you, as we could, in our last discourse. When He says, therefore, "That where I am, there ye may be also," where else were they to be but in Himself? In this way is He also in Himself, and they, therefore, are just where He is, that is, in Himself. Accordingly, He Himself is that eternal life which is yet to be ours, when He has received us unto Himself; and as He is that life eternal, so is it in Him, that where He is there shall we be also, that is to say, in Himself. "For as the Father hath life in Himself," and certainly that life which He has is in no wise different from what He is Himself as its possessor, "so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself," inasmuch as He is the very life which He hath in Himself. But shall we then actually be what He is, (namely), the life, when we shall have begun our existence in that life, that is, in Himself? Certainly not, for He, by His very existence as the life, hath life, and is Himself what He hath; and as the life, is in Him, so is He in Himself: but we are not that life, but partakers of His life, and shall be there in such wise as to be wholly incapable of being in ourselves what He is, but so as, while ourselves not the life, to have Him as our life, who has Himself the life on this very account that He Himself is the life. In short, He both exists unchangeably in Himself and inseparably in the Father. But we, when wishing to exist in ourselves, were thrown into inward trouble regarding ourselves, as is expressed in the words, "My soul is cast down within me:" and changing from bad to worse, cannot even remain as we were. But when by Him we come unto the Father, according to His own words, "No man cometh unto the Father but by me," and abide in Him, no one shall be able to separate us either from the Father or from Him.

Connecting, therefore, His previous words with those that follow, He proceeded to say, "If ye had known me, ye should certainly have known my Father also." This conforms to His previous words, "No man cometh unto the Father but by me." And then He adds: "And from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him." But Philip, one of the apostles, not understanding what he had just heard, said, "Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us." And the Lord replied to him, "Have I been so long time with you, and yet have ye not known me, Philip? he that seeth me, seeth also the Father."

Here you see He complains that He had been so long time with them, and yet He was not known. But had He not Himself said, "And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know;" and on their saying that they knew it not, had convinced them that they did know, by adding the words: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life"? How, then, says He now, "Have I been so long time with you, and have ye not known me?" when, in fact, they knew both whither He went and the way, on no other grounds save that they really knew Himself? But this difficulty is easily solved by saying that some of them knew Him, and others did not, and that Philip was one of those who did not know Him; so that, when He said, "And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know," He is understood as having spoken to those that knew, and not to Philip, who has it said to him, "Have I been so long time with you, and have ye not known me, Philip?" To such, then, as already knew the Son, was it now also said of the Father, "And from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him:" for such words were used because of the all-sided likeness subsisting between the Father and the Son; so that, because they knew the Son, they might henceforth be said to know the Father.

Already, therefore, they knew the Son, if not all of them, those at least to whom it is said, "And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know;" for He is Himself the way. But they knew not the Father, and so have also to hear, "If ye have known me, ye have known my Father also;" that is, through me ye have known Him also. For I am one, and He another. But that they might not think Him unlike, He adds, "And from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him." For they saw His perfectly resembling Son, but needed to have the truth impressed on them, that exactly such as was the Son whom they saw, was the Father also whom they did not see. And to this points what is afterwards said to Philip, "He that seeth me, seeth also the Father." Not that He Himself was Father and Son, which is a notion of the Sabellians, who are also called Patripassians, condemned by the Catholic faith; but that Father and Son are so alike, that he who knoweth one knoweth both. For we are accustomed to speak in this way of two who closely resemble each other, to those who are in the habit of seeing one of them, and wish to know what like the other is, so that we say, In seeing the one, you have seen the other. In this way, then, is it said "He that seeth me, seeth also the Father." Not, certainly, that He who is the Son is also the Father, but that the Son in no respect disagrees with the likeness of the Father. For had not the Father and Son been two persons, it would not have been said, "If ye have known me, ye have known my Father also."

Why, then, Philip, dost thou say, "Show us the Father, and it sufficeth us? Have I been so long time with you, and yet have ye not known me, Philip? He that seeth me, seeth the Father also." If it interests thee much to see this, believe at least what thou seest not. For "how," He says, "sayest thou, Show us the Father?" If thou hast seen me, who am His perfect likeness, thou hast seen Him to whom I am like. And if thou canst not directly see this, "believest thou not," at least, "that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?" But Philip might say here, "I see Thee indeed, and believe Thy full likeness to the Father; but is one to be reproved and rebuked because, when he sees one who bears a likeness to another, he wishes to see that other to whom he is like? I know, indeed, the image, but as yet I know only the one without the other; it is not enough for me, unless I know that other whose likeness he bears. Show us, therefore, the Father, and it sufficeth us." But the Master really reproved the disciple because He saw into the heart of his questioner. For it was with the idea, as if the Father were somehow better than the Son, that Philip had the desire to know the Father: and so he did not even know the Son, because believing that He was inferior to another. It was to correct such a notion that it was said, "He that seeth me, seeth the Father also. How sayest thou, Show us the Father?" I see the meaning of thy words: it is not the original likeness thou seekest to see, but it is that other thou thinkest the superior. "Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?" Why desirest thou to discover some distance between those who are thus alike? why cravest thou the separate knowledge of those who cannot be separated?

The Father was not born of the Virgin, and yet this birth of the Son from the Virgin was the work of both Father and Son. The Father did not suffer on the cross, and yet the passion of the Son was the work of both Father and Son. The Father did not rise again from the dead, and yet the resurrection of the Son was the work of both Father and Son. You have the persons quite distinct, and their working inseparable. So let us never say that the Father worked anything without the Son, the Son anything without the Father. Or perhaps you are worried about the miracles Jesus did, in case perhaps he did some that the Father did not do? Then what about "But the Father abiding in me does his works"?

So then, with all these ways of speaking we still have to understand that the activities of the divine three are inseparable, so that when an activity is attributed to the Father he is not taken to engage in it without the Son and the Holy Spirit. And when it is an activity of the Son, it is not without the Son and the Holy Spirit. And when it is an activity of the Son, it is not without the Father and the Son. That being the case, those who have the right faith, or better still the right understanding as far as they can, know well enough that the reason it is said about the Father, "He does the works," is that the works have their origin in the one from whom the co-working persons have their very existence. The Son, you see, is born of him, and the Holy Spirit proceeds primarily from him of whom the Son is born, being the Spirit common to them both.

Behold how the catholic faith gets clear of this question. The Son walked upon the sea, planted the feet of flesh on the waves: the flesh walked, and the divinity directed. But when the flesh was walking and the divinity directing, was the Father absent? If absent, how doth the Son Himself say, "but the Father abiding in me, Himself doeth the works"? If the Father, abiding in the Son, Himself doeth His works, then that walking upon the sea was made by the Father, and through the Son. Accordingly, that walking is an inseparable work of Father and Son. I see both acting in it. Neither the Father forsook the Son, nor the Son left the Father. Thus, whatever the Son doeth, He doeth not without the Father; because whatever the Father doeth, He doeth not without the Son.

The Lord saith, "The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself: but the Father, that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works." Even His words, then, are works? Clearly so. For surely he that edifies a neighbor by what he says, works a good work. But what mean the words, "I speak not of myself," but, I who speak am not of myself? Hence He attributes what He does to Him, of whom He, that doeth them, is. For the Father is not God as born of any one else, while the Son is God, as equal, indeed, to the Father, but as born of God the Father. Therefore the former is God, but not of God; and the Light, but not of light: whereas the latter is God of God, Light of Light.

For in connection with these two clauses,-the one where it is said, "I speak not of myself;" and the other, which runs, "but the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works,"-we are opposed by two different classes of heretics, who, by each of them holding only to one clause, run off, not in one, but opposite directions, and wander far from the pathway of truth. For instance, the Arians say, See here, the Son is not equal to the Father, He speaketh not of Himself. The Sabellians, or Patripassians, on the other hand, say, See, He who is the Father is also the Son; for what else is this, "The Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works," but I that do them dwell in myself? You make contrary assertions, and that not only in the sense that any one thing is false, that is, contrary to truth, but in this also, when two things that are both false contradict one another. In your wanderings you have taken opposite directions; midway between the two is the path you have left. You are a far longer distance apart from each other than from the very way you have both forsaken. Come hither, you from the one side, and you from the other: pass not across, the one to the other, but come from both sides to us, and make this the place of your mutual meeting. Ye Sabellians, acknowledge the Being you overlook; Arians, set Him whom you subordinate in His place of equality, and you will both be walking with us in the pathway of truth.

For you have grounds on both sides that make mutual admonition a duty. Listen, Sabellian: so far is the Son from being the same as the Father, and so truly is He another, that the Arian maintains His inferiority to the Father. Listen, Arian: so truly is the Son equal to the Father, that the Sabellian declares Him to be identical with the Father. Do thou restore the personality thou hast abstracted, and thou, the full dignity thou hast lowered, and both of you stand together on the same ground as ourselves: because the one of you who has been an Arian, for the conviction of the Sabellian, never lets out of sight the personality of Him who is distinct from the Father, and the other who has been a Sabellian takes care, for the conviction of the Arian, of not impairing the dignity of Him who is equal with the Father. For to both of you He cries, "I and my Father are one." When He says "one," let the Arians listen; when He says, "we are," let the Sabellians give heed, and no longer continue in the folly of denying, the one, His equality with the Father, the other, His distinct personality.

If, then, in saying, "The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself," He is thereby accounted of a power so inferior, that what He doeth is not what He Himself willeth; listen to what He also said, "As the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom He will." And so likewise, if in saying, "The Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works," He is on that account not to be regarded as distinct in person from the Father, let us listen to His other words, "What things soever the Father doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise;" and He will be understood as speaking not of one person twice over, but of two who are one. But just because their mutual equality is such as not to interfere with their distinct personality, therefore He speaketh not of Himself, because He is not of Himself and the Father also, that dwelleth in Him, Himself doeth the works, because He, by whom and with whom He doeth them, is not, save of the Father Himself.

(i. de Trin. c. viii) For to that joy of beholding His face, nothing can be added. Philip understood this, and said, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. But he did not yet understand that he could in the same way have said, Lord, show us Thyself, and it sufficeth us. But our Lord's answer enlightens him, Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip?

(Tr. lxx. 1) But how is this, when our Lord said that they knew whither He was going, and the way, because they knew Him? The question is easily settled by supposing that some of them knew, and others not; among the latter, Philip.

(Tr. lxx) When two persons are very like each, we say, If you have seen the one, you have seen the other. So here, He that hath seen Me, hath seen the Father; not that He is both the Father, and the Son, but that the Son is an absolute likeness of the Father.

(Tr. lxx. 3) But is he to be reproved, who, when he has seen the likeness, wishes to see the man of whom he is the likeness? No: our Lord rebuked the question, only with reference to the mind of the asker. Philip asked, as if the Father were better than the Son; and so showed that He did not know the Son. Which opinion our Lord corrects: Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? as if He said, If it is a great wish with thee to see the Father, at any rate believe what thou dost not see.

(i. de. Trin. 8) He wished him to live by faith, before he had sight, and therefore says, Believest thou not? Spiritual vision is the reward of faith, vouchsafed to minds purified by faith.

(Tr. lxx. 3. and lxxi. 1) He then addresses all of them, not Philip only: The word that I speak unto you, I speak not of Myself. What is, I speak not of Myself, but, I that speak am not of Myself? He attributes what He does to Him, from whom He Himself, the doer, is.

(Tr. lxx. 1, 2) For he that edifieth his neighbour by speaking, doth a good work. These two sentences are brought against us by different sects of heretics; the Arians saying that the Son is unequal to the Father, because He does not speak of Himself; the Sabellians, that the same who is the Father is the Son. For what is meant, they ask, by, The Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works, but, I that dwell in Myself, do these works.

(Tr. lxxi. 2) Philip alone was reproved before.

(Tr. lxxi. 2) Believe then for My works' sake, that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me; for, were we separated, we could not be working together.

How, also, can He be changeable and mutable, who says indeed by Himself: "I am in the Father, and the Father in Me," and, "I and My Father are one;" and by the prophet, "I am the Lord, I change not?" For even though one saying may refer to the Father Himself, yet it would now be more aptly spoken of the Word, because when He became man, He changed not; but, as says the apostle, "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and for ever."

For the Son is the envoy of God the Father in accordance with nature. And so he says … "I am in the Father and the Father is in me." For the Father is understood through this to be in the Son, because their substance is one. For where there is unity, there is no differentiation. And they are interchangeable, because both their appearance and likeness are the same, with the consequence that he who sees the Son is said to have seen the Father too. As the Lord himself says, "He who has seen me has seen the Father too." Therefore it is correct to say, God was in Christ.

Let us proceed then to consider the attributes of the Father, and we shall come to know whether this Image is really his. The Father is eternal, immortal, powerful, light, King, Sovereign, God, Lord, Creator and Maker. These attributes must be in the Image to make it true that whoever "has seen" the Son "has seen the Father." If the Son is not all this, but, as the Arians consider, he is originate and not eternal, this is not a true image of the Father, unless indeed they give up shame and go on to say that the title of image, given to the Son, is not a token of a similar essence, but his name only.

Listen if you will know what the kiss of the mouth is: "The Father and I are one;" and again: "I am in the Father and the Father is in me." This is a kiss from mouth to mouth, beyond the claim of any creature. It is a kiss of love and of peace, but of the love which is beyond all knowledge and that peace which is so much greater than we can understand. The truth is that the things that no eye has seen, and no ear has heard, things beyond the mind of man, were revealed to Paul by God through his Spirit, that is, through him who is the kiss of his mouth. That the Son is in the Father and the Father in the Son signifies the kiss of the mouth.

Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? as one: as if to say: this you ought to believe. And he manifests this through his work: The words that I speak to you, I do not speak of myself: but the Father who abides in me, he does the works, and thus, if the operation is one, the substance also is one: above in the fifth chapter: "Whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner"; and in the eighth chapter: "Of myself I do nothing."

There is a question about what he says: I am in the Father, and the Father is in me. To the contrary: Then it is argued from this: therefore the Father is in the Father. It is also asked: why is this proposition not accepted: The Father is in the Father? I respond: It must be said that this preposition in, because it is a preposition, implies distinction; but because it is this preposition, it implies unity of essence; therefore it is conceded that the Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father. But it does not follow that the Father is in the Father; rather, there is here a fallacy of accident, just as in this case: I am similar to you, and you to me; therefore I am similar to myself — a fallacy of accident, because similarity implies both agreement and distinction.

The words that I speak, I speak not from Myself: but the Father abiding in Me Himself doeth the works.

"If," He would say, "My Father had spoken anything to you, He would have used words no other than these which I now speak. For so great is the equality in essence between Myself and Him, that My words are His words, and whatsoever I do may be believed to be His actions: for abiding in Me, by reason of the exact equivalence in essence, He Himself doeth the works." For since the Godhead is One, in the Father, in the Son, and in the Spirit, every word that cometh from the Father comes always through the Son by the Spirit: and every work or miracle is through the Son by the Spirit, and yet is considered as coming from the Father. For the Son is not apart from the essence of the Father, nor indeed is the Holy Ghost; but the Son, being in the Father, and having the Father again in Himself, claims that the Father is the doer of the works. For the nature of the Father is mighty in operation, and shines out clearly in the Son.

And one might add to this another meaning that is involved, suggested clearly by the principles that underlie the Incarnation. He says: I speak not of Myself, meaning "not in severance from or in lack of accordance with God the Father." For since He appeared to those who saw Him in human form, He refers His words back to the Divine nature, as speaking in the Person of the Father; and the same with His actions: and He almost seems to say: "Let not this human form deprive Me of that reverent estimation which is due and befitting to Me, and do not suppose that My words are those of a mere man or of one like unto yourselves, but believe them to be in very truth Divine, and such as befit the Father equally with Myself. And He it is Who works, abiding in Me: for I am in Him, and He is in Me. Think not therefore that a mighty and extraordinary privilege was granted to the men of former days, in that they saw God in a vision of fire, and heard His voice speaking unto them. For ye have in reality seen the Father through Me and in Me; since I have appeared among you, being in My nature God, and have come visibly, according to the words of the Psalmist. And be well assured that in hearing My words, ye heard the words of the Father; and ye have been spectators of His works, and of the might that is in Him. For by Me He speaks, as by His own Word; and in Me He carries out and achieves His wondrous works, as though by His own Power."

And so I suppose that no reasonable theory would ever separate Him Who is the Word of the Father and the mighty Power of His essence, from the essence of the Father. Eather would every one freely confess that the Word ever was from the beginning in His nature contained in the Father's essence, every one at least who is anything but distraught in mental perplexity.

Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in Me?

"I indeed, O Philip," He would say, "in depicting in Myself the nature of My Father, am the Image of His essence, moulded as that implies after His likeness, not (as might be supposed) by the bestowal of glories that once were not Mine, nor even by the reflected brilliancy of Divine endowments that once were unfamiliar but have been granted from without: but rather in My own nature are contained the qualities peculiar to My Father; and whatsoever He may be, that in very truth am I, in regard to sameness in essence. To this thou wilt surely reply: for it seems thou didst not go on to realise that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me. And yet the force of my words shall constrain thee henceforth, even in spite of thyself, to acknowledge thy assent to this. Therefore, whatsoever I say is spoken as the words of the Father; and whatsoever I do, is done by the Father also." And Christ says this, not as one making use of the words of another, nor even as speaking in the office and capacity of a prophet to interpret the commands that came from the Father above: for the prophets ever spake, not their own words, but the words which they received by inspiration from God. Again, He attributes to His Father the successful performance of His miracles, not implying that He works His wonders by a power not His own, as did for instance those Apostles who said to the people: "Give not heed to us, as though by our own power or godliness we had healed the sick man." For the saints are wont to use no power of their own in working their miracles, but rather the power of God: for they appear as ministers and servants, showing forth the words and also the works of God. But since the Son is Consubstantial with the Father, differing from Him in no respect except as to distinct personality, He says that His own words are those of the Father, since the Father could in no wise make use of words differing from those of the Son. And further, thou wilt understand the same to be signified in the majesty of His works. For since the Father could never by any possibility carry into effect any work without the Son's knowledge and co-operation, Christ attributes His works to His Father. For consider Him as saying more clearly this: "I am in all respects like to Him Who begat Me, and an Image of His essence; not merely adorned with the outward appearance of a glory that is not Mine, but, owing to the identity of essence, containing within Myself My Father in all His fulness."

The Lord speaks the truth who says, "I am in the Father and the Father in me"—plainly, the one in his entirety is in the other in his entirety. The Father does not have an overwhelming presence in the Son. The Son is not deficient in the Father. And the Lord also says that the Son should be honored. And, "The one who has seen me has seen the Father," and, "No one fully knows the Father except the Son." In all of this, there is no hint … of any variation in glory or of essence or anything else between the Father and the Son.

The words of the Lord, "I am in the Father and the Father is in me," confuse many minds, and this is only natural since the powers of human reason cannot provide them with any intelligible meaning. It seems impossible that one object should be both within and without another, or that—since it is laid down that the beings of whom we are treating, although they do not dwell apart, retain their separate existence and condition—these beings can reciprocally contain one another so that one should permanently envelope and be permanently enveloped by the other whom yet he envelopes. This is a problem that human wisdom will never solve, nor will human research ever find an analogy for this condition of divine existence. But God can be what human beings cannot understand.

In no other words than these that the Son has used can the fact be stated that Father and Son, being alike in nature, are inseparable. The Son, who is the way and the truth and the life, is not deceiving us by some theatrical transformation of names and aspects when he, while wearing manhood, styles himself the Son of God. He is not falsely concealing the fact that he is God the Father. He is not a single person who hides his features under a mask so that we might imagine that two are present. He is not a solitary being, now posing as his own Son, and then again calling himself the Father, adorning the one unchanging nature with varying names.… It is the height of impiety to believe that Father and Son are two gods. It is sacrilege to assert that Father and Son are singularly God. It is blasphemy to deny the unity, consisting in sameness of kind, of God from God.

That the Father dwells in the Son proves that the Father is not isolated and alone. That the Father works through the Son proves that the Son is not an alien or a stranger. There cannot be one person only, for he speaks not of himself. And, conversely, they cannot be separate and divided when the one speaks through the voice of the other. These words are the revelation of the mystery of their unity.

(vii. de Trin) For what excuse was there for ignorance of the Father, or what necessity to show Him, when the Father was seen in the Son by His essential nature, while by the identity of unity, the Begotten and the Begetter are one: Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in Me?

(vii. de Trin) But the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father, not by a conjunction of two harmonizing essences, nor by a nature grafted into a more capacious substance as in material bodies, in which it is impossible that what is within can be made external to that which contains it; but by the birth of a nature which is life from life; forasmuch as from God nothing but God can be born.

(v. de Trin) The unchangeable God follows, so to speak, His own nature, by begetting unchangeable God. Nor does the perfect birth of unchangeable God from unchangeable God forsake His own nature. We understand then here the nature of God subsisting in Him, since God is in God, nor besides Him who is God, can any other be God.

(vii. de Trin) Wherein He neither desires Himself to be the Son, nor hides the existence of His Father's power in Him. In that He speaks, it is Himself that speaks in His own person; in that He speaks not of Himself, He witnesseth His nativity, that He is God from God.

"Believest thou not that I am in the Father?" That is, "I am seen in that Essence."

"The words that I speak, I speak not of Myself," Seest thou the exceeding nearness, and the proof of the one Essence?

"The Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works." How, beginning with words, doth He come to works? for that which naturally followed was, that He should say, "the Father speaketh the words." But He putteth two things here, both concerning doctrine and miracles. Or it may have been because the words also were works. How then doeth He them? In another place He saith, "If I do not the works of My Father, believe Me not." How then saith He here that the Father doeth them? To show this same thing, that there is no interval between the Father and the Son. What He saith is this: "The Father would not act in one way, and I in another." Indeed in another place both He and the Father work; "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work"; showing in the first passage the unvaryingness of the works, in the second the identity. And if the obvious meaning of the words denotes humility, marvel not; for after having first said, "Believest thou not?" He then spake thus, showing that He so modeled His words to bring him to the faith; for He walked in their hearts.

Neither then may we divide into three Godheads the wonderful and divine Monad; nor disparage with the name of "work" the dignity and exceeding majesty of the Lord; but we must believe in God the Father Almighty, and in Christ Jesus His Son, and in the Holy Ghost, and hold that to the God of the universe the Word is united. For "I," says He, "and the Father are one;" and, "I in the Father and the Father in Me." For thus both the Divine Triad, and the holy preaching of the Monarchy, will be preserved.

If, indeed, He meant the Father to be understood as the same with the Son, by saying, "He who seeth me seeth the Father," how is it that He adds immediately afterwards, "Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? " He ought rather to have said: "Believest thou not that I am the Father? "With what view else did He so emphatically dwell on this point, if it Were not to clear up that which He wished men to understand-namely, that He was the Son? And then, again, by saying, "Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me," He laid the greater stress on His question on this very account, that He should not, because He had said, "He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father," be supposed to be the Father; because He had never wished Himself to be so regarded, having always professed Himself to be the Son, and to have come from the Father.

And yet He omitted not to explain how the Father was in the Son and the Son in the Father. "The words," says He, "which I speak unto you, are not mine," because indeed they were the Father's words; "but the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works.

Among all the words said so far, especially here, he clearly shows that he talks about their likeness. Indeed, in the same way, by turning the speech to the Father and him, he reveals the perfect likeness of their nature, so that, as the Father lives in him, and he in the Father, a perfect likeness can be shown in each of them. Then he proves and confirms his words by saying, "The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own." If you do not believe, he says, in these words, know that so perfect is the conformity of nature, ideas, and virtue that there is no difference in the words either. Whatever I say is in common, and do not only speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me does his works. It would have been opportune to add, "My Father speaks through the words: I do not speak." But he had said above, "The words that I say," and here, "The Father does his works," in order to show that the nature is common, the words are common and the works are common as well. From this it is evident that through the words, "I do not speak on my own," he does not signify an inferior state, but a perfect communion and an inseparable union. And this appears especially from the context.

The Son is in the Father, since He exists in His essence, and again the Father is in the essence of the Son, just as a king is present in his image, and the image in the king. For the features of the image and the king are the same. And that My essence and the Father's are one, this is clear. For "the words that I speak, I speak not from Myself," that is, I speak them no differently, but as the Father would say, so I also speak; because I have nothing of My own, nothing separate from the Father, but all things are common; for the essence is one, though the persons are different.

But to the Father belong not only the words that I speak, but also the deeds, the Divine deeds. If the deeds are God's, and the Father and I are God, then the deeds belong to one Essence, so that if I act, the Father acts, and if the Father acts, I act.

Then when he says, How can you say, Show us the Father? he shows his disapproval of the request, and of the basis of the request. He is displeased with the request because the Father is seen in the Son. Philip could have said what we read in Job: "I, who have spoken so unthoughtfully, what can I reply? I will put my hand over my mouth" (39:34). He disapproves of the root of the request when he says, Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? This is like saying: You want to possess the Father, believing that you will have sufficiency in him. But if you believe that, Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? For if you believed the latter, you would expect to find in me all the sufficiency which is in the Father.

He says, I am in the Father and the Father in me, because they are one in essence. This was spoken of before: "I and the Father are one" (10:30).

We should note that in the divinity essence is not related to person as it is in human beings. Among human beings, the essence of Socrates is not Socrates, because Socrates is a composite. But in the divinity, essence is the same with the person in reality, and so the essence of the Father is the Father, and the essence of one Son is the Son. Therefore, wherever the essence of the Father is, there the Father is; and wherever the essence of the Son is, there the Son is. Now the essence of the Father is in the Son, and the essence of the Son is in the Father. Therefore, the Son is in the Father, and the Father in the Son. This is how Hilary explains it.

Now our Lord clarifies his answer: first by the works he does himself; secondly, by the works he will do by the disciples (v 12). So he first mentions the works he does himself; secondly, he infers a tenet of the faith (v 11).

The belief that Christ was God could be known from two things: from his teaching and from his miracles. Our Lord mentions these. "If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin" (15:24). Referring to his teaching he says, "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin" (15:22). We also read: "No man ever spoke like this man!" (7:46). The blind man, referring to his works, said: "Never since the world began has it been heard that any one opened the eyes of a man born blind" (9:32). Our Lord shows his divinity by these two things. Referring to his teaching, he says, The words that I say to you, by the instrument of my human nature, I do not speak of myself, but from him who is in me, that is, the Father: "I declare to the world what I have heard from him," the Father (8:26). The Father, therefore, who speaks in me, is in me. Now whatever a human being says must come from the first Word. And this first Word, the Word of God, is from the Father. Therefore, all the words we speak must be from God. So when anyone speaks words he has from the Father, the Father is in him. Referring to his works, he says, the Father who dwells in me does the works, because no one could do the works that I do: "The Son can do nothing of himself" (5:19).

Chrysostom wonders how Christ can start by referring to his words, and then bring in his works, for Christ says, the words that I say to you... but the Father does the works. There are two answers to this. Chrysostom says that Christ was referring to his teaching the first time, and then referring to his miracles. For Augustine, our Lord is referring to his words as his works: "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent" (6:29). So when the Lord says, the Father does the works, we should understand that these works are words.

Two heresies were based on the above texts. When our Lord said, I am in the Father, Sabellius understood this to mean that the Father and the Son are the same. And from the statement, I do not speak of myself, Arius inferred that the Son is inferior to the Father. Yet these very texts refute these heresies. For if the Father and Son were the same, as Sabellius speculated, the Son would not have said, The words that I say to you I do not speak of myself. And if the Son were inferior to the Father, as Arius blasphemed, he would not have said, the Father who dwells in me does the works.

And then He goes on to say, "Believe ye not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? Or else believe me for the very works' sake." Formerly it was Philip only who was reproved, but now, it is shown that he was not the only one there that needed reproof. "For the very works' sake," He says, "believe ye that I am in the Father, and the Father in me:" for had we been separated, we should have been unable to do any kind of work inseparably.

Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? Simply, without persuasion, as right faith believes.

Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves; above in the tenth chapter: "If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me." Whence Augustine says: "If we were separated, we could in no way work inseparably." And thus it has been explained where he had said he was going to go, because he was not going to the Father as to someone outside himself, but he wished to make them believe that he was equal to the Father. And indeed the disciples already knew this, because they believed him to be true God, and thus equal to the Father in all things: otherwise he would not be true God.

Or else believe for the very works' sake.

In these words He distinctly says that He could never have worked out and achieved those miracles which were characteristic of the Divine nature alone, if He had not been Himself essentially of that nature. And see on what sure grounds and also with what truth He makes this declaration. He does not claim credence for His words alone, although He knew no deceit, so much as for His actions. And why this is so I will tell you. There would be nothing to prevent any man, however mad and however foolish, from falsely using God-befitting words and speeches, and uttering such expressions in a most reckless manner: but who could ever display a God-befitting power of action? And to whom of created beings will the Father grant that glory which is especially His own? Do we not always say that the power of doing all things and the possession of an all-supreme might is the glory of God alone, attaching to no other being, at least to no one ever numbered among the creatures of God? Therefore it is that Christ, wishing to give a proof of His Divinity resting on cogent and unquestionable arguments, urged them to believe the evidence of His actual works that He was in the Father, and that the Father again was in Him: that is, that he bears in His own substance the nature of the Father, as being His very own Offspring and most truly His Fruit, and appearing in natural relation to Him as Son to Father. But while the Church of Christ, in perfect confidence in the rightness of her teaching, holds in this form her doctrine concerning the Only-begotten, on the other hand the ungodly heretics have attempted to seduce to a different belief those who follow after and attend to their pernicious teachings. For the miserable creatures are furious in their outcries against Christ, and consider one another not to provoke unto godliness, but to the end that each one may appear more godless than another, and may utter something yet more unseemly. For since they drink the wine of Sodom and gather the bitter clusters of Gomorrah, because they receive not from the Divine Spirit their knowledge concerning Him, nor yet by revelation from the Father, but from the dragon himself; they can conceive in their minds nothing that is sound and right, but they utter sayings which bring to absolute wretchedness the souls of those who hear them, hurling them down to Hades and the abyss below. They venture moreover to publish these opinions in books, thus stereotyping their own wickedness for all time. It ought to have been sufficient for us to have said just so much on the present passage as would have been likely to benefit those who may chance to read it, by way of establishing in absolute accuracy the true conception concerning the Son, without making any allusion whatever to the heretical writings. But as it is in no way improbable that some persons of feeble intelligence may, on chancing to meet with their miserable sayings, be carried away by them; I considered it necessary to put an end to the harm that might result from their foolish talk, by exposing the utter weakness of the slanders they wish to raise in their vehement attack on the Son, or rather, for that is the truer way of putting the case, on the whole Divine nature.

I happened then to meet with a pamphlet of our opponents, and on investigating what they had to say on the text now before us, I found, in the course of reading it, these words used after certain others: "The Son therefore being essentially encompassed by the Father, has within Himself the Father, and it is the Father Who utters the words and accomplishes the miracles. This is the interpretation of His words: The things that I speak unto you, I speak not from Myself; but the Father abiding in Me, He doeth the works"

Such are the exact expressions of the author's quibbling jugglery. Now since it is my duty to mention this view, which is opposed to the language of Scripture, and which may very well perplex an inexperienced mind, I make this assertion. As to their phrase, that "the Son is essentially encompassed by the Father," I do not in the least understand what in the world it means, or what it signifies,----I speak the truth, as I feel it my duty to do,----so great is the obscurity of the expression. The real sense of the words seems ashamed of itself, and inclined to veil itself in overmuch dimness, not daring to explain itself openly and clearly. For even as he that doeth ill hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, lest he should be improved, according to the Saviour's word; even so every argument with an ill tendency is wont to move through dark ideas, and will not go towards the light of plain speaking, lest the meanness of its inherent unsoundness should be reproved. What then may we suppose to be the meaning of the Son's being "essentially encompassed by the Father?" For I will spare no pains to discover reasonings which may sift in |268 every possible way the real import of that which is here so dimly expressed, and which perhaps shrinks from being understood lest it may then reveal the folly of its author. If then the meaning be this, that the Son, appearing in the essence of the Father as Consubstantial with Him, displays also in His own Person the Father brilliantly shining in the nature of His Offspring, we also will assent to the truth of the statement: still, the use of the word "encompass" would perchance do more than a slight injustice in its application to the Son. But if this be not the meaning,----and surely it cannot be, for never would it be admitted that the Son is begotten of the essence of the Father by one who has vomited such blasphemy against Him, insisting that like some finite body the nature of the Son is enclosed within that of the Father,----certainly such an one will be convicted of evident blasphemy, and will be shown to be full of the most excessive madness. For while admitting in words that the Son is God, they endeavour most illogically to invest Him with properties peculiar to [created] bodies. For the being parted off by a boundary line and separated by a definitely conceived measure, the starting from a fixed origin and ceasing at a fixed limit, all this surely implies existence conditioned by place and size and fashion and form. And these are surely attributes of [created] bodies. Shall we not then in this way be thinking of Him Who is above us as though He were on a level with us as one of ourselves? Would He not then be a brother to the rest of creation, having henceforth nothing in Himself by way of superiority to it, inasmuch as this theory has come to speak of His existence as merely finite? And, being so, at least according to the foolish supposition of our opponents, why did He vainly reproach us in the words: Ye are from beneath; I am from above, and again: Ye are of this world; I am not of this world? For in saying that He Himself is "from above," He does not simply mean that He came from heaven: else, how would He excel the holy angels, since we shall find that they also are "from above," if we interpret the meaning in a merely local sense? But He signifies that He is the Offspring of that essence which is from above, and which is more excellent than all else in the universe. How then after this can He be speaking the truth, if He possesses the peculiar attributes of [created] bodies in common with all creation, and is "encompassed" by the Father, even as those things that are brought into existence out of nothing? For of course we are ready to agree that no created thing can be situated outside of the Father. And the inspired Psalmist also, speaking surely by the Spirit deep truths and hidden mysteries, says that the Son is all-pervading, attesting thereby His incorporeal and illimitable nature, and that as God He is confined to no one locality. For his words are: Whither can I go from Thy Spirit, and whither can I fly from Thy Presence? If I ascend into heaven, Thou art there; if I descend into Hades, Thou art present: if I take my wings in the morning, and go unto the uttermost parts of the sea, even there also Thy hand shall guide me, and Thy right hand shall hold me. But these heretics, in utter recklessness ranging their own opinions in antagonism to the words of the Spirit, subject the Only-begotten to limitations and boundaries, although they ought to have understood the matter from the cogent and instructive reasoning of this Scripture. For if He has filled the heavens and the uttermost parts of the earth, and therefore also the regions of Hades, is it not excessively unreasonable to apply to Him the word "encompassed," without reflecting that if His Presence, that is, if the Spirit----for the Psalmist calls the Spirit the Presence of the Son----fills all things, it is inconceivable that Christ Himself should be "encompassed" within any boundary, even though it be in the substance of God the Father? Nay, it will be no less outrageous to limit within a confined space that which is incorporeal than to include in a measure that which exists in no finite form. For to say that He is "essentially encompassed by God the Father" is surely nought else than to imply that His essence is finite, exactly like any individual thing of the works that were made by Him: and these we shall safely and truly allow to be capable of being "encompassed ": for they are [created] bodies, even though perchance not all such as ours.

But besides, there is this also to be thought of. If we maintain that it is necessary that whatever is enfolded by anything lies entirely within the limits of that which is said to "encompass" it, will it not certainly follow that we should think of that which is "encompassed" as something less than that which "encompasses" it, and should speak of it as limited thereby, and as it were enclosed within the compass of that which is greater than itself? What sayest thou now, my friend? Here we have Christ presenting Himself before us as a Likeness of God the Father, and plainly saying: He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father, and again straightway adding: I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me. Let us assume then that He means, as you would understand Him to say, that "although I am the Very Image and Likeness of My Father, yet I am essentially encompassed by Him." Surely it is acknowledged by all men that He would have us hold just such ideas concerning the Father as we would conceive concerning Himself also. Therefore it would follow that the Father also is subject to limitation, for He is in the Son: and let the heretic search if he will and find out who or what is greater than the Father; I should deem it impious to express or even to conceive such an idea. The Son can never be a Likeness of the Father in one way and not so in another. For if He has in Himself anything at all that would alter or interfere with His resemblance in all points, He would be, as a consequence of that, a partial and not a perfect Likeness. But where could you show us the Holy Scripture teaching such a doctrine as this? For most certainly we are not going to be led astray by your words so as to reject the plain truth of the Sacred statements. And I wonder how it is they did not shrink in dismay from adding to their former arguments the following: "Just as Paul had Christ speaking in him and effecting the mighty deeds, exactly in the same way also the Son had the Father speaking in Him and working the miracles; wherefore He says: Believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me: or else believe Me for the very works' sake." After this, who will any longer allow the name of Christian to one who holds such views and thinks such thoughts concerning Christ? For behold how very evidently he maintains that Christ is no longer truly God: recklessly He invests Him with the limitations properly characteristic of creatures, proclaiming Him to be a sort of God-bearer, or one who participates in God, rather than One begotten God of God. To put it briefly, his aim is throughout the utter severance of Christ, in every way and in every respect, from the essence of God the Father; and to cut Him off altogether from that intimate relationship in nature and essence which He has with God His own Father.

Now what could be conceived to surpass such views as these in the immense amazement they are calculated to excite? How could one refrain from shedding in torrents uncontrollable tears of love over men so utterly abandoned to ungodliness, as though they were already dead and perished? One might say, and that very appropriately: Who will give to my head water, and to mine eyes a fountain of tears, and I will weep for this people day and night? For over those who have chosen to think such thoughts as these, one might fitly shed innumerable tears. But since it is by means of the doctrines of the truth that I conceive we ought to refute their slanders, for the sake of that which is profitable to simple folk, come now, and let us answer them by saying that we have been very jealous for the Lord. For assuredly, my friends, the inspired Paul or any other among the saints, while they had in themselves Christ tabernacled in their hearts by the Spirit, very easily did such things as seemed good unto God, and appeared as workers of miraculous deeds. It is an established fact therefore, and one that thou wouldst thyself admit to be true, that being really human in nature, and different in essence from the Holy Spirit of Christ that dwelt within them, they were fearers of God, and were glorious by reason of the grace bestowed on them by Christ. And thou wilt altogether agree with us in saying that they were at one time destitute of this gift, and were called thereunto when it seemed good to God, Who directs all things well, that thus it should be. It was then not impossible that, by some untoward action, or deed not well done, the blessed Paul, or any other of those similarly favoured, should after being joined unto God be capable of losing again the grace given to him, and being thrust back again to return to the humiliation whence he had arisen. For that which is wholly adventitious and from without may easily be spurned away, and is capable of being taken back even as it was given. Now then, my good sir: for my question is coming back to thee: if it is true, according to thy ignorant notions and most impious imagination, that even as Christ was speaking and working wonders in Paul, so one must admit that the Father is in the Son; what manner of doubt can there be that He must be in no sense whatever in His nature God, but rather something different from the Father indwelling in Him, the Father being God in very truth? For thus it was that Christ was in Paul. So then, [according to you,] the Only-begotten is a sort of instrument or implement [in the hand of the Father], cunningly devised to set forth His glory, in no wise differing from a flute or a lyre, giving utterance to whatsoever the mouth of the player might breathe into it or the touch of his finger call forth in rhythmic melody. And He will be acceptable to the Father as an assistance in the performance of His wonders, as one might conceive of a saw or an axe in the hands of a skilful carpenter. And then what can be more paradoxical than this? For if He is by nature as those heretics say, He must be altogether alien from God the Father; whereas in our opinion He is by nature God, and none other than God. But if the Son is severed from the essence of the Father, as far at least as pertains to His being in nature God, surely we are correct in inferring that the Son Who sits at the Father's right hand is placed in the same rank with the created world, and reckoned among the results of God's workmanship, and regarded in the light of a mechanical instrument, and looked upon henceforth as a servant to ourselves rather than as a master; or indeed that He is in strict truth not actually a Son at all. For never could one regard or accept in the light of a Son a being who was placed in the rank of a mere instrument. The Father, it would appear, has begotten an instrument to show forth His wisdom and skill, and is deemed to have generated something quite different from that which He is Himself. How could this possibly happen? Surely it is the height of folly to conceive such a notion. If therefore thou refusest to surrender that opinion concerning the Son which regards Him as an instrument or a servant, and if thou art unwilling to acknowledge Him as at all in truth a Son, and deniest His ineffable generation from the essence of God the Father; thou wilt be doing injustice to the glory even of the Father Himself: for then the Father will cease to be Father in veritable reality; for how could one who had not begotten a son of his own essence be at all in his nature a father? It would follow that the Holy Trinity is altogether falsely named, if neither the Father is truly Father, nor the Son in His nature Son. And the logical sequence to this view will be blasphemy against the Holy Ghost as well.

It would therefore follow in this case that we have been grossly deceived: our faith is a falsehood: the Holy Scripture is coining a lie when it calls God by the name of the Father. And if the Son is not in His nature God, as having been begotten of God the Father, we have been led astray, and together with us the citizens of the world above have erred also, even the undefiled multitude of the holy angels, when they joined us in glorifying and adoring the Son as One Who is in His nature God; being led on in some mysterious manner to sing the praise of one who (if we speak after the manner of the heretics' accursed folly) is a God-bearing vessel, the work of God's hands. And if the Father ever willed to withdraw from His relationship to the Son and His indwelling in Him, the Son would then be in no respect different from others who have fallen away from their original sovereignty, with nothing to distinguish Him, no trace within His nature of the Father Who begat Him; but rather one like ourselves in all things, who had only been strengthened by the Divine grace, and indeed honoured with the title of sonship, in the same degree as ourselves. Tell me then, why does He not Himself acknowledge His natural relationship to us? Why is it written: We perish for ever, whereas Thou abidest for ever? And why are we "servants" and He "Lord "? For even if we are called the sons of God, yet by acknowledging none the less our own proper nature we do not disgrace the honour done to us: but tell me the reason why----if He is like unto us and not at all superior to His creatures, inasmuch as He is not in nature God (for this is their ignorant opinion)----He does not confess His community with us in being a servant? Eather we find Him investing Himself with the honour and glory that peculiarly befit and are specially ascribed to the Divine nature, and saying to the holy disciples: Ye call Me Lord and Master, and ye say well; for so I am. This is the Saviour's saying: but our illustrious expositors, who introduce these doctrines attacking His Divinity, accept his words and affirmation asserting that He was truly called Lord, and yet thrust Him away from His natural lordship, because they are unwilling to confess Him as in His nature God of God; though they are not bold enough to bring against Him the worst of all the charges that their accursed blasphemy implies.

For that He wills not to be reckoned among those who hold the rank of servants, or even in the category of created objects, but rather that He ever looks to the freedom inherent in Himself by nature, even at the time when He was made in the form of a servant----all this thou wilt learn in the following manner. He had arrived at Capernaum, as we read in the Gospels: the collectors of the legal tribute-money came to Peter, and said: Doth not your Master pay the half-shekel? And when Christ heard of this, it is right that we should notice the question He addressed to Peter: The kings of the earth, from whom do they receive toll or tribute? from their sons or from strangers? And after Peter had wisely and sensibly acknowledged that it was a stranger to the kingdom, as regards birth and kinship as it is reckoned among us, who would be compelled to submit to ordinances and taxation; Christ forthwith brought forward His claim that a God-befitting nature was truly existent in Himself, by adding the words: Therefore the sons are free. Whereas if He had been a fellow-servant, and not a Son truly begotten of the essence of the Father, with no intimate natural relationship to the Father; why is it that, after implying that all besides are subject to the tribute, inasmuch as their nature is foreign to that of Him Who of right receives the tribute, and they are only in the rank of servants, He has claimed freedom for Himself alone? For it is by an inaccurate use of terms that attributes, which mainly and truly are befitting to the Godhead alone, are ascribed to us; whereas in Him they are in very truth inherent. And so if any one were to investigate accurately the nature of things created, he would perceive that to that nature the title as well as the fact of slavery most appropriately belongs; whereas if any like ourselves have been decorated with the glorious name of freedom, an honour that is due to God alone is attributed to them only by an inexact use of language.

Now here again is another question I should be very glad to ask them. Will they allow to Paul the epithet; of God-bearer, seeing that Christ dwells in him through the Holy Spirit, or will they be silly enough to deny this? For if they shall say that he is not in truth a God-bearer, this will be sufficient I think to persuade all men for the future to reject the nonsense they talk, and to hate them utterly, as men who shrink from saying no absurd thing. And if, avoiding this, they shall turn to the duty of saying the truth, and confess him to be truly a God-bearer, because that Christ dwells in him, will they not be convicted of very impiously saying that the Son is alien from the essence of God the Father? For Paul is no longer a God-bearer, if the Son is not in His nature God. But sometimes they blush, and say----for they are also characterised by recklessness and perverseness in argument----that the Son is truly God, yet not in His nature begotten of God. And there is no manner of doubt that any man whatever will exclaim against them on this point too; for how could one who is not in his nature begotten of God be God? Further, we add this. You say that the Son is in His nature God: how then could He Who is in His nature God be a God-bearer or a partaker of God? For no one could ever be a partaker of himself. For to what end will God dwell in God, as though in something different? For if the recipient is in nature just the same as the indweller may be conceived to be, what henceforth becomes of the need of the participation? And if in the same way that Christ dwelt in Paul, the Father also dwelt in Him, will not Christ be a God-bearer in the same way as Paul? And He will not in any other sense possess the quality of being in His nature God, through His having the need of a greater one, namely, the indwelling God. Then again this noble friend of ours goes further in his clever inventions, and by many proofs (as he seems to think them) he attempts to talk people round to his peculiar doctrine. For I think it is worth while to go through all his words in detail, and to make a direct investigation of the impious plot that he has laid, in order that he may be clearly convicted of numbering the Only-begotten among things created. And the wretched man, having buried his impiety towards Christ beneath a heap of cleverly devised conceits, confesses Him to be God, and yet, excluding Him from the Divinity that is truly and naturally His, imagines that he will elude the observation of those who are looking for the real truth.

Accordingly he writes thus: "But even as we, while we are said to be in Him, have our substance in no way mingled with His; in the same way also the Son, while He is in the Father, has His essence entirely different from the Uncreated One."

What lamentable audacity! What extravagant language, and how full of folly, or rather of all perversity and madness! Professing themselves to be wise they in reality became fools; and holding these views concerning the Only-begotten, they denied the Master that bought them, as it is written. For if they say that the Word of God is a man and one like ourselves, there remains nothing that prevents them from saying that He is in God in the same way that we are: but if they believe Him to be God, and have learnt to worship Him as being so by nature, why do they not rather ascribe to Him existence in a God-befitting way in His own Father, and also the possession of the Father in Himself? For this I think would be more fitting for those who are really lovers of God to think and say. And if we find them still cherishing their shamelessness undaunted, and persisting in the words they have uttered,----saying that the Father is in the Son in the same manner as may be the case with any one of us, who have been created out of nothing and formed out of the earth by Him,----why is it not permissible for those who wish to do so, to say henceforth with impunity: He that hath seen me hath seen the Father, and: I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? But I think that in this way any one would be condemned, and very properly, on a charge of the most utter folly possible. For not only is it absurd, but such a thing was never said by any of the saints in the inspired Scripture. On the other hand, they all concede to Him Who is in His nature Lord and God, the Only-begotten, an incomparable excellence above all good men; yea, verily, they proclaim aloud and say: Who among the sons of God shall be likened unto the Lord? How then is the Only-begotten any longer like us, if (according to the language of the saints) no one is His equal or His peer? Whereas if He is in God in just the same way that we are, we shall in consequence be compelled to say that the 3ompany of the saints are untruthful, and to ascribe to Him Who is in His nature Son nothing extraordinary which might distinguish Him as of a different rank from those who are sons only by adoption. Away with the loathsome idea, man! For we will not be so persuaded; God forbid! On the contrary, following the opinions of the holy fathers, we believe that we shall be well-pleasing unto God.

But seeing that they brought forward, as a proof of what they think and say, that well-known saying of Paul, that in God we live, and move, and have our being, arguing that when the Son is said to be in the Father the expression lacks precision, being adopted from our everyday life; come and let us subject their statement to the requisite investigation, and so convict them of deliberately misrepresenting the mind of the holy Apostle and most foolishly perverting to their own views what was said in absolute truth. For when the blessed Paul was at Athens and saw the inhabitants abjectly devoted to polytheistic error, although the people in that city were reputed wise, he attempted to lead them back from their ancient delusion, seeking (by argumentative exhortations to true piety) skilfully to convince them of the necessity for the future of knowing one God and one only, Who bestows on those that have been made by Him the power of moving and living and having their being. For the Creator of all, being in His nature Life, implants life in all, infusing into them by an ineffable process the power of His own Individuality. For in no other way was it possible that things which had received their allotted birth out of nothing should preserve their capability of existence: for surely each would have returned to its own nature, I mean back again to non-existence, unless, by the help of its relationship to the Self-Existent One, it had overcome the weakness of its own condition at birth. Therefore the inspired Paul very rightly and properly said, by way of showing that God is the life of the universe, that in Him we live, and move, and have our being: not at all meaning what the heretics invented for themselves, in corrupting (to suit their own peculiar theories) the true signification of the Holy Scriptures; but rather saying exactly what was true, and also highly profitable for those who were just being trained up to a knowledge of God. And, if it is needful to put it even more plainly, he has never wished to imply that we, who are in our nature men, are yet contained in the essence of the Father, and appear as existing in Him; but rather that we live and move and have our being in God, that is, our life consists in Him.

For notice that Paul did not say simply and unreservedly, "We are in God," and nothing more. This was on account of thy ignorance, my good friend, and most naturally so. But he employed different expressions, by way of interpreting the exact meaning of his words. After beginning with the statement: "We live," he added thereto the further idea: "We move" and thirdly he brought in the phrase: "We have our being;" presenting this also, so as to supplement the meaning of the previous words. And I think that the correct argument we shall use concerning this matter will very probably put to shame the ungodly heretic: but if he insists in his opposition, and drags round the words "in God" to the meaning which pleases himself and no one else, we will set |280 forth the common use of the inspired Scripture. Scripture is wont occasionally to use the words "in God" in the sense of "by God." For let that man tell us what is the meaning of a certain Psalmist's declaration, when he says: "In God" let us do valiantly; and again, addressing God: "In Thee" will we push down our enemies. For surely no one will suppose that the Psalmist means this, that he promises to accomplish something valiantly "in the essence of God," nor even that "in that essence" we shall discover our own enemies and push them down: but he uses the words "in God" in the sense of"by [the help of] God," and again, "in Thee" in the sense of "by Thee." And why also did the blessed Paul say in his letter to the Corinthians: I thank my God concerning you all for the grace which was given you "in Christ Jesus," and again: But of Him are ye "in Christ Jesus," Who was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption? For will any one reasonably maintain that the Spirit-bearer says that the grace which was bestowed on the Corinthians from above was given "in the actual essence of Christ," or to quote the authority of Paul in support of heterodoxy? Surely such a one would be evidently talking nonsense. Why therefore, setting aside the ordinary usage of terms in the Sacred Scriptures, and misrepresenting the intention of the blessed Paul, dost thou say that we are "in God," that is, "in the essence of the Father," because thou hearest him say to those in Athens, that in Him we live, and move, and have our being?

"Yes," says the defender of the pernicious opinions, "but if it seems to thee right and proper that the words 'in God' should bear and be acknowledged to bear the sense of ' by God,' why dost thou make so much needless ado? And why dost thou bring against us charges of blasphemy when we maintain that the Son was made ' by the Father'? For behold, He Himself says: I am 'in the Father,' in the sense of 'by the Father,' at least according to thy explanation, Sir, and |281 according to the common usage, which thou hast just laid before us in thy quotations from the Sacred Scriptures."

But I say that it is necessary to defend myself again in reply to this, and lay bare their mischievous intentions and pernicious notions. For I am astonished that, after hearing gladly that it is a usage of the Sacred Scripture to use the words "in God" as equivalent to "by God," and after approving and accepting the phrase merely for the sake of being able to say something against the glory of the Only-begotten, they have by no means become conscious of the fact that they will again be convicted of talking as foolishly as before, although they claim to be wise and acute. For if our opponents were the only ones entrusted with the duty of defending from time to time the usage of the inspired Scripture in reference to the essence of the Only-begotten, and of saying that He was made by the Father, because of this, that He says He is "in God," and we have allowed that "in God" is to be understood in the sense of "by God;" then it might have seemed at least probable that their mischievous intention rested on grounds not altogether unreasonable. But if in truth there is nothing which can prevent us also, in our eagerness to refute by a reductio ad absurdum the unsoundness of the sentiments they hold, from carrying on the force of the meaning implied so as to make it refer to the Father Himself, and from saying plainly that since Christ also adds this: The Father is "in Me," we must understand it in the sense of "by Me," so that as a consequence the Father Himself also will be a creature; surely then they, having relied on arguments so very foolish, will be universally condemned as guilty of unmitigated folly. For just as the Son says that He Himself is "in" the Father, so also He said that the Father, is "in" Him: and if they wish the words "in the Father" to be understood in the sense of "by the Father," what is there that prevents us from saying that the words "in the Son" shall be understood in the sense of "by the Son "? But we will not suffer ourselves again to be drawn down with them into such an abyss of folly. For neither will we say that the Son is made by the Father, nor indeed that He from Whom are all things, namely God the Father, was brought into existence by the Son; but rather, referring the usage of the inspired Scripture in due proportion to each occasion or person or circumstance, we shall thus weave together our theory so as to make it on all essential points faultless and indisputable. For with regard to those who out of nothing have been created into being, and have been brought into existence by God, surely it would be most fitting that we should regard them and speak of them as being "in God" in the sense of "by God:" but with regard to Him Who is in His nature Son and Lord, and God and Creator of the universe, this signification could not be specially or truly suitable. The real truth is that He is naturally in the Father, and in Him from the beginning, and has Him in Himself, by reason of His showing Himself to possess identity of essence, and because He is subject to no power that can sever between Them, and divide Them into a diversity of nature.

And perhaps it might seem to minds more open to conviction that this matter has been sufficiently discussed, as indeed I think myself: yet our opponent will by no means assent to this; but he will meet us again with the objection, dishing up again the argument introduced by him at the first, that the Father is in the Son in the same manner, as we are in Him.

"What then," we might say, judiciously rebuking the unsoundness and childishness of his thoughts and words, "dost thou say that the Son is in the Father even as we are in Him? Be it so. What limit to our natural capacity then," we shall reply, "is there, that prevents us from using expressions with respect to ourselves as exalted as any of those which Christ is seen to have used? For He Himself, seeing that He is in the Father and has the Father in Himself, inasmuch as He is thereby both an Exact Likeness and Very Image of Him, uses the expressions: He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father: I and the Father are One. But with regard to ourselves, tell me, if we are in Him and if we have Him in ourselves exactly in the same way that Christ Himself is in the Father and the Father in Him, why do we not extend our necks as much as we can, and, holding our heads high above those around us, say with boldness: "I am in Christ and Christ in me: He that hath seen me hath seen Christ: I and Christ are one "? Then what would come next? No one, I think, would any longer have any just cause for alarm, or any sufficient ground for hesitation, to prevent his speaking as follows, daring henceforth to say concerning the Father Himself: "I and the Father are one." For if the Father is one with the Son, surely such a man, having become an exact image of the Exact Image, namely of the Son, will share henceforth in all the Son's relations to the Father Himself. Who therefore will ever descend to such a depth of madness as to dare to say: "He who hath seen me hath seen Christ: I and Christ are one"? For if thou attributest to the Son the being in the Father and the having the Father in Himself in some non-essential manner and not in His nature, and supposest that we in like manner are in Christ and Christ in us; in the first place the Son will be on the same footing as ourselves, and in the next place there is nothing that prevents us at our pleasure from passing by the Son Himself as though He were an obstacle in our way, and rushing straight on to the Father Himself, and claiming that we are so exactly assimilated to Him that nothing can be found which distinguishes us from Him. For the being said to be one with anything would naturally bear this meaning. Do ye not then see into what a depth of folly and at the same time of impiety their minds have sunk, and of what absurd arguments the wild attack upon us has consisted? What their excuse is therefore for saying and upholding such things, and for buoying themselves up on such rotten arguments, I will now again tell. Their one endeavour is to show that the Son is altogether alien and altogether foreign to the essence of the Father. For we shall know that we are speaking the truth in saying this, by reference to the words that follow after and are closely connected with the heretic's previous blasphemies. For he proceeds thus: "But even as we, while we are in Him, have our substance in no way mingled with His; in the same way also the Son, while He is in the Father, has His essence entirely different from the Unbegotten God." What sayest thou, O infatuated one? Hast thou made thy blasphemy against the Son in such plain language? Will any one therefore venture to say that we are trying to heap upon the heads of the God-opposers groundless and false accusations'? For see clearly, they attribute to Him no superiority whatever over those who have been made of earth and have been by Him brought into existence. And although I can scarcely endure the things which the wretched men have dared to say, I will endeavour to prove this, as being in accordance with the scope of Divine Scripture, namely, that since they deny the Son they deny at the same time the Father also, and thenceforth are without God and without hope in this world, as it is written. And to prove that we are right in saying this, the God-beloved John will come forward as a trustworthy witness on our side, for he wrote thus: He that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father; he that confesseth the Son hath the Father also. And surely the Spirit-bearer speaketh very rightly, not failing to make his statement conform fittingly to his argument. For because he knows that [God the Father] is essentially in His nature what He is said to be, namely a Father, and that not merely in name but rather in reality, he consequently says that the One is necessarily denied when the Other is denied. For concurrently in some way or other with One Who is really in His nature a Father and is so conceived of, there must always be the knowledge and manifestation of the Offspring that proceedeth from Him; and One Who has been in very truth begotten involves the Personal existence of Another capable by nature of begetting. For no sooner do we recognise a man as a father than we understand him to have begotten offspring, and we can by no means consider the idea of an offspring without implying that some father has begotten it. Thus by either term the other conception is produced in the minds of those who hear it, and so any one who denies that God is truly a Father makes out the generation of the Son to be altogether impossible, and similarly any one who does not confess the Son to be an Offspring must by implication lose all knowledge of the Father. When therefore, as from a sling, he hurls at us his unholy arguments, and maintains that the Son has His essence quite distinct from that of the Unbegotten God, why does He not openly deny that the Son is really a Son? And if there is not a Son, the Father Himself can no longer be conceived of as truly a Father. For whose Father will He be, if He has not begotten any Offspring? What we say is, that the Son is quite distinct from the Person, but not from the essence, of the Father; not being alien from Him in His nature, as forsooth these God-opposers think, but being possessed of His own Person and His own distinct subsistence, inasmuch as He is Son and not Father. But, if we understand our own mind rightly, we would not ourselves say, nor would we assent to any of the brethren who say, that He is distinct from the Father in regard to essence. For how can distinction exist in that one thing, with reference to which each individual has some special characteristic? For Peter is Peter, and not Paul, and Paul is not Peter; yet they remain without distinction in their nature. For both possess one kind of nature, and the individuals who are associated in a uniformity of nature have that same kind without any difference at all. |286

For what reason are we saying such things as this? We confess that our object is to show that those who hold such blasphemous opinions rob the Son of the Godhead which is His by nature, when they (as we have already explained) ascribe to Him nothing more than a non-essential relationship to God the Father. Else why do they put forward ourselves in illustration of their argument, and say: "Even as we have our substance in no way mingled with His, while we are in Him; so also He Himself has His essence entirely different from God, although He is said to be in Him "? Is not their craftiness patent to all men? Will not any one be right in saying that the man who vomited forth such an abominable statement as this must surely be one of the "mockers" announced beforehand by the Spirit? For what does Jude, the disciple of the Saviour, write to us in his epistle? But ye, beloved, remember ye the words which have been spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; how that they said to you, that in the last time there shall come mockers, walking after their own ungodly lusts. These are they who make separations, sensual, having not the Spirit. For no man whatsoever, who speaks in the Holy Spirit, will say anything against the glory of the Only-begotten. For I maintain that this is just the same as saying: Jesus is anathema. On the other hand, sensual and worthless men, and those whose hearts are devoid of the Holy Spirit, make separations between the Father and the Son; asserting that the latter is as essentially and completely severed from the former as are created things and each of the works made by Him, and believing Him to be in the Father only in the same way that we are in Him.

And that they who have dared to write such things have thereby reached the furthest verge of folly, let us if you please proceed to show in another way, as is quite possible, from the Divine Scripture; and let us hasten to prove to our hearers that we are in the Son in one way, whereas the Son is in His own Father in another way. For one person is not a likeness of another's substance when he conforms himself to that other by the exercise of a virtuous will, nor is he on that account said to be in the other; but when he is in natural identity with the other, and possesses one essence with him. And let the most wise John be called in as a witness for us on this point, since he says: Yea, and our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. How then, pray, do they say, and in what manner do they think fit to assert, that we have fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ? For if we are considered to be in Them, as having our own essence commingled with the Divine nature, that is, with the Father and the Son, and if the expression "fellowship" does not rather refer to the similarity of our wills; how can we have it with the Father and with the Son, when (according to these heretics) the Father and the Son are not Consubstantial? For in that case we must hold opinions worthy of ridicule, and say that we have cleft our own nature asunder into two parts, and given one half to the Father and the other to ourselves and to the Son, and thus we consider ourselves to be in Them. Or else we must reject such absurdity of statement, and say that by doing our best to make our own disposition brightly radiant through the exercise of a virtuous will and through conformity to the Divine and ineffable beauty, we obtain for ourselves the grace of fellowship with Them. But shall we therefore say that the Son is in the Father after a similar manner to this, and that He only possesses a non-essential and artificially-added fellowship with the One Who begat Him? And yet, if so, why in the world does He wish, through the similarity and indeed identity of their works, to lead our mind to feel the necessity of believing without any hesitation that He is Himself in the Father, and that He again has also the Father in Himself? For is it not seen by every one to be perfectly evident and true that, wishing the brilliancy of His deeds to be investigated by us, He shows Himself equal in strength to |288 His own Father, as if the severance as regards essence and the difference as to nature no longer maintained their position; since both Himself and the Father glorify themselves by similar achievements"?

For observe how we who constantly strive after conformity with God do (so to say) render ourselves worthy of fellowship with Him, not in such ways as these, but in certain other ways. For when we show pity to one another, are ardently devoted to works of love, and practise all that is truly respectable in our ordinary life, even then we can hardly venture to pronounce ourselves "in God." And John is our witness, saying: Hereby know we that we are in Him: he that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also to walk even as He walked; and again: As for you, he says, let that abide in you which ye heard from the beginning. For if that which ye heard from the beginning abide in you, ye also shall abide in the Son, and in the Father. And what he means by "that which ye heard from the beginning," which he bids to remain in us in order that we may be in God, he himself will make no less clear to us when he says: For this is the command which ye heard from the beginning, that ye should love one another. Thou hearest how we are in God, namely, by practising love one towards another, and striving to the utmost of our power to walk in the footsteps of our Saviour, imitating His virtue. When I say virtue, I do not mean such as was shown by Him in being able to create heaven, and make angels, and set fast the earth, and spread out the sea; nor that which He exhibited when, in His ineffable and simple majesty, by a word He lulled the violence of the winds, and raised up the dead, and graciously bestowed sight on the blind, and with great authority bade the leper be cleansed: but rather that virtue which may be suitable to the capacities of our humanity. We shall find Him, as indeed Paul says, reviled by the unholy Jews, yet not reviling again; instead of that, we see Him suffering, yet not threatening, but rather committing Himself to Him that judgeth righteously. Again, we shall find Him saying: Learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

So then, when we strive by such conduct as this to imitate Christ Who is our guide unto all virtue, we are said to abide both in the Father and in Him, obtaining this distinction as a reward and compensation for the worthiness of our life. But the Son does not wish us to estimate in this way the brilliance that is inherent in Him: He bids us direct our natural shrewdness of attention to the magnificence of His miracles, and infer from thence the exact resemblance which He has to His own Father; so that henceforth we may believe that, as they are Consubstantial, it is thus that He has in Himself the One Who begat Him, and that He Himself is also in the Father. Or let our opponents come forward and teach, that when the Son is conceived of as being in the Father, He too in common with ourselves has this distinction as a reward, and as a fair payment for conducting His life according to the law of the Gospel. But I suppose that even this appears to them nothing dreadful: for to men by whom no form of talking is unpractised, what expression, however extravagant and monstrous, seems unfit for use? It is possible therefore that they will say even this, that the Son is in the Father and again has also the Father in Himself on this account, namely, because He fashions Himself like to the Father by practising the virtues that are also attainable by us. And we would reply, "Why then, honoured Sirs, when Philip said: Lord, show us the Father, did not the Christ put forward all the holy Apostles as a likeness and accurate representation of Him Whom they meant, and say, 'Have we [all] been so long time with one another, and dost thou not know the Father?" Whereas He does not associate with Himself a single one of the others, but comparing Himself alone to the Father alone, He passes over our attributes as small matters altogether; and not willing that the Divine essence should be thought accurately imaged in human attributes, He has reserved to Himself alone the perfection of resemblance. For He says: He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father. Then to these words He straightway added: Believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me. For seeing that He possesses resemblance in the most absolute exactness, He must as a necessary consequence possess in Himself the Father, and be possessed (so to speak) by the Father. For think of something of the same kind, and accept it as an illustration of the words we are considering. If, for instance, any one were by chance to bring into our presence the son of Abraham or of any other man, and then were to question him as to the nature of his parent, desiring to learn precisely who and what kind of person the parent was; would not the youth employ reasonable language if he were to point to his own nature and say, "He that hath seen me hath seen my father: I am in my father, and my father is in me?" Then as a proof of his speaking the truth, would it not be fitting that he should draw attention to the identity with his father exhibited in his human doings and his physical peculiarities, and say: "Believe me for the very works' sake, seeing that I have all the qualities and can perform all the actions which pertain to human nature?" Indeed I think every one will say and will justly allow, both that he speaks the truth and that (in alleging the identity) he puts forward an accurate indication of the relationship involved in their particular actions. Why then do not they, who pervert such things as are right, persuade their own disciples to travel on the straight path of reasoning, instead of thrusting them off from the well-trodden king's highway, and taking an untrodden and rugged route, both deceiving themselves and destroying those who feel it their duty to follow them? We, however, not taking their road, will keep along the direct path; and, giving credit to the Sacred Scriptures, we believe that the Son, Who is in His nature begotten of God the Father, is of equal strength and Consubstantial with the Father, and essentially His Image; and therefore that He is in the Father, and the Father in Him.

Believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me

CHAPTER I. That by reason of the identity of Their nature, the Son is in the Father, and the Father again is in the Son.

He now admits plainly, or rather enjoins on the disciples henceforth, that it is fitting that we should be no otherwise minded than as the Word of Truth Himself may desire. For He is Consubstantial with His Father, nothing whatever intervening or in any way separating One from the Other into a diversity of nature. He is One with Him, so that the Son's nature appears in the essence of the Father, and in the essence of the Offspring appears conspicuously that of God the Father; just as one might see happen in the case of human relations. For we are in no way different in our nature from our offspring, nor are we sundered from them in an alienation of nature, although we are distinguished by a difference of outward personality; in illustration of which, let any man who has looked upon the son begotten by himself consider the history of the blessed Abraham. But in the case of men the difference is often very considerable, each one tending definitely, in a way, towards a retirement and withdrawal of himself into a peculiar line of life and manners, without feeling personally bound up in the other; although their unity of essence may be certain and evident to all. But in the case of God, Who is ever in perfect accordance with His nature, thou wilt believe it to be otherwise. The Father indeed is in individual personality Father and not Son; and again similarly He Who cometh forth from the Father is Son and not Father; and the Spirit is peculiarly Spirit. But since the Holy Trinity is united and joined together into a oneness of Godhead, there is among us One God alone: and it would be impossible to attribute to each one of the Persons here indicated the habit of secession from the others, and neither will ever withdraw into absolute separation; but we believe that each Person is in very substance exactly what we have here entitled Him. We consider that the Son, being of the Father, that is, of His essence, proceeded forth from Him in a manner ineffable, and yet abides in Him. Likewise also concerning the Holy Spirit: He proceeds in very truth from God as He is by nature, and yet is in no wise severed from His essence; but rather proceeds forth from Him, still abiding ever in Him, and is supplied to the saints through Christ; for all things come through the Son by the Holy Spirit. Such is the true and upright teaching that the wisdom of the holy fathers has taught us: thus we have been trained also by the Holy Scriptures themselves to speak and to think. And the Lord would cheer us onward to accept this unreviled faith, when he says: Believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me.

In these words Christ distinctly says that he could never have worked and accomplished those miracles that are unique to the divine nature if he, himself, had not been essentially of the same divine nature.… [Only heretics] whose hearts are devoid of the Holy Spirit make separations between the Father and the Son and assert that the Son is essentially and completely severed from the Father in the way that created things and divine works are separate from God the Father.

His power belonged to his nature, and his working was the exercise of that power. In the exercise of that power, then, they might recognize in him the unity with the Father's nature. To the extent that anyone recognized him to be God in the power of his nature, that person would come to know God the Father who was present in that mighty nature. The Son, who is equal with the Father, showed by his works that the Father could be seen in him so that when we perceived in the Son a nature like the Father's in its power, we might know that in Father and Son there is no distinction of nature.

(vii. de Trin) That the Father dwells in the Son, shows that He is not single, or solitary; that the Father works by the Son, shows that He is not different or alien. As He is not solitary who doth not speak from Himself, so neither is He alien and separable who speaketh by Him. Having shown then that the Father spoke and worked in Him, He formally states this union: Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me: that they might not think that the Father worketh and speaketh in the Son as by a mere agent or instrument, not by the unity of nature implied in His Divine birth.

And such or so important a dispensation He did not bring about by means of the creations of others, but by His own; neither by those things which were created out of ignorance and defect, but by those which had their substance from the wisdom and power of His Father. For He was neither unrighteous, so that He should covet the property of another; nor needy, that He could not by His own means impart life to His own, and make use of His own creation for the salvation of man. For indeed the creation could not have sustained Him [on the cross], if He had sent forth [simply by commission] what was the fruit of ignorance and defect. Now we have repeatedly shown that the incarnate Word of God was suspended upon a tree, and even the very heretics do acknowledge that He was crucified. How, then, could the fruit of ignorance and defect sustain Him who contains the knowledge of all things, and is true and perfect? Or how could that creation which was concealed from the Father, and far removed from Him, have sustained His Word? And if this world were made by the angels (it matters not whether we suppose their ignorance or their cognizance of the Supreme God), when the Lord declared, "For I am in the Father, and the Father in Me," how could this workmanship of the angels have borne to be burdened at once with the Father and the Son? How, again, could that creation which is beyond the Pleroma have contained Him who contains the entire Pleroma? Inasmuch, then, as all these things are impossible and incapable of proof, that preaching of the Church is alone true [which proclaims] that His own creation bare Him, which subsists by the power, the skill, and the wisdom of God; which is sustained, indeed, after an invisible manner by the Father, but, on the contrary, after a visible manner it bore His Word: and this is the true [Word].

"Believe that I am in the Father and the Father in Me." "Ye ought not, when ye hear of 'Father' and 'Son,' to seek anything else to the establishing of the relationship as to Essence, but if this is not sufficient to prove to you the Condignity and Consubstantiality, ye may learn it even from the works." Had the, "he that hath seen Me, hath seen My Father," been used with respect to works, He would not afterwards have said, "Or else believe Me for the very works' sake." And then to show that He is not only able to do these things, but also other much greater than these, He putteth them with excess. For He saith not, "I can do greater things than these," but, what was much more wonderful, "I can give to others also to do greater things than these."

"For what man knoweth the things which be in God, but the Spirit which is in Him? " But the Word was formed by the Spirit, and (if I may so express myself) the Spirit is the body of the Word. The Word, therefore, is both always in the Father, as He says, "I am in the Father; " and is always with God, according to what is written, "And the Word was with God; " and never separate from the Father, or other than the Father, since "I and the Father are one.

If, indeed, He meant the Father to be understood as the same with the Son, by saying, "He who seeth me seeth the Father," how is it that He adds immediately afterwards, "Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? " He ought rather to have said: "Believest thou not that I am the Father? "With what view else did He so emphatically dwell on this point, if it Were not to clear up that which He wished men to understand-namely, that He was the Son? And then, again, by saying, "Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me," He laid the greater stress on His question on this very account, that He should not, because He had said, "He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father," be supposed to be the Father; because He had never wished Himself to be so regarded, having always professed Himself to be the Son, and to have come from the Father.

"Believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me," that is, you who hear of the Father and the Son should not seek any other proof of Their kinship in essence. But if this is not sufficient for you as proof of consubstantiality and co-equal honor, and that the Father is present in My essence and I in the essence of the Father, then at least believe Me on account of the works, for the works are God's.

Since our belief in the Trinity is shown by the above two statements, our Lord concludes to this belief, saying, Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? It was explained above how this is to be understood. In Greek, the text reads: Believe, that is, believe me, that I am in the Father and the Father in me. Or, it is surprising that you do not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me. Note that before our Lord was speaking only to Philip (v 8-10a), but from the point where he says, the words that I say to you (v 10b), he is speaking to all the apostles together. But if what I say to you is not enough to show my consubstantiality, then at least believe me for the sake of the works themselves: "The works which the Father has granted me to accomplish, these very works which I am doing, bear me witness" (5:36); "Even though you do not believe me, believe the works" (10:38).

Skillfully inserting here the word also, he has allowed us similarity and yet has not ascribed natural unity. The work of the Father and the work of the Son, therefore, are one.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it." And so He promised that He Himself would also do those greater works. Let not the servant exalt himself above his Lord, or the disciple above his Master. He says that they will do greater works than He doeth Himself; but it is all by His doing such in or by them, and not as if they did them of themselves. Hence the song that is addressed to Him, "I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength." But what, then, are those greater works? Was it that their very shadow, as they themselves passed by, healed the sick? For it is a mightier thing for a shadow, than for the hem of a garment, to possess the power of healing. The one work was done by Christ Himself, the other by them; and yet it was He that did both. Nevertheless, when He so spake, He was commending the efficacious power of His own words: for it was in this sense He had said, "The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself; but the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works." What works was He then referring to, but the words He was speaking? They were hearing and believing, and their faith was the fruit of those very words: howbeit, when the disciples preached the gospel, it was not small numbers like themselves, but nations also that believed; and such, doubtless, are greater works. And yet He said not, Greater works than these shall ye do, to lead us to suppose that it was only the apostles who would do so; for He added, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do." Is the case then so, that he that believeth on Christ doeth the same works as Christ, or even greater than He did?

It is no easy matter to comprehend what is meant by, or in what sense we are to receive, these words of the Lord, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also:" and then, to this great difficulty in the way of our understanding, He has added another still more difficult, "And greater things than these shall he do." What are we to make of it? We have not found one who did such works as Christ did; and are we likely to find one who will do even greater? But we remarked in our last discourse, that it was a greater deed to heal the sick by the passing of their shadow, as was done by the disciples, than as the Lord Himself did by the touch of the hem of His garment; and that more believed on the apostles than on the Lord Himself, when preaching with His own lips; so that we might suppose works like these to be understood as greater: not that the disciple was to be greater than his Master, or the servant than his Lord, or the adopted son than the Only-begotten, or man than God, but that by them He Himself would condescend to do these greater works, while telling them in another passage, "Without me ye can do nothing." While He Himself, on the other hand, to say nothing of His other works, which are numberless, made them without any aid from themselves, and without them made this world; and because He Himself thought meet to become man, without them He made also Himself. But what have they made or done without Him, save sin? And last of all, He straightway also withdrew from the subject all that could cause us agitation; for after saying, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do;" He immediately went on to add, "Because I go unto the Father; and whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do." He who had said, "He will do," afterwards said, "I will do;" as if He had said, Let not this appear to you impossible; for he that believeth on me can never become greater than I am, but it is I who shall then be doing greater things than now; greater things by him that believeth on me, than by myself apart from him; yet it is I myself apart from him, and I myself by him that will do the works: and as it is apart from him, it is not he that will do them; and as, on the other hand, it is by him, although not by his own self, it is he also that will do them. And besides, to do greater things by one than apart from one, is not a sign of deficiency, but of condescension. For what can servants render unto the Lord for all His benefits towards them? And sometimes He hath condescended to number this also amongst His other benefits towards them, namely, to do greater works by them than apart from them. Did not that rich man go away sad from His presence, when seeking counsel about eternal life? He heard, and cast it away: and yet in after days the counsel that fell on his ears was followed, not by one, but by many, when the good Master was speaking by the disciples; He was an object of contempt to the rich man, when warned by Himself directly, and of love to those whom by means of poor men He transformed from rich into poor. Here, then, you see, He did greater works when preached by believers, than when speaking Himself to hearers.

But there is still something to excite thought in His doing such greater works by the apostles; for He said not, as if merely with reference to them, The works that I do shall ye do also; and greater works than these shall ye do: but wishing to be understood as speaking of all that belonged to His family, said, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do." If, then, he that believeth shall do such works, he that shall do them not is certainly no believer: just as "He that loveth me, keepeth my commandments," implies, of course, that he who keepeth them not, loveth not. In another place, also, He says, "He that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, who buildeth his house upon a rock;" and he, therefore, who is unlike this wise man, without doubt either heareth these sayings and doeth them not, or faileth even to hear them. "He that believeth in me," He says, "though he die, yet shall he live;" and he, therefore, that shall not live, is certainly no believer now. In a similar way, also, it is said here, "He that believeth in me shall do such works:" he is, therefore, no believer who shall not do so. What have we here, then, brethren? Is it that one is not to be reckoned among believers in Christ, who shall not do greater works than Christ? It were hard, unreasonable, intolerable, to suppose so; that is, unless it be rightly understood. Let us listen, then, to the apostle, when he says, "To him that believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." This is the work in which we may be doing the works of Christ, for even our very believing in Christ is the work of Christ. It is this He worketh in us, not certainly without us. Hear now, then, and understand, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also:" I do them first, and he shall do them afterwards; for I do such works that he may do them also. And what are the works, but the making of a righteous man out of an ungodly one?

"And greater works than these shall he do." Than what, pray? Shall we say that one is doing greater works than all that Christ did who is working out his own salvation with fear and trembling? A work which Christ is certainly working in him, but not without him; and one which I might, without hesitation, call greater than the heavens and the earth, and all in both within the compass of our vision. For both heaven and earth shall pass away, but the salvation and justification of those predestinated thereto, that is, of those whom He foreknoweth, shall continue forever. In the former there is only the working of God, but in the latter there is also His image. But there are also in the heavens, thrones, governments, principalities, powers, archangels, and angels, which are all of them the work of Christ; and is it, then, greater works also than these that he doeth, who, with Christ working in him, is a co-worker in his own eternal salvation and justification? I dare not call for any hurried decision on such a point: let him who can, understand, and let him who can, judge whether it is a greater work to create righteous beings than to make righteous the ungodly. For at least, if there is equal power employed in both, there is greater mercy in the latter. For "this is the great mystery of godliness which was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." But when He said, "Greater works than these shall he do," there is no necessity requiring us to suppose that all of Christ's works are to be understood. For He spake, perhaps, only of these He was now doing; and the work He was doing at that time was uttering the words of faith, and of such works specially had He spoken just before when He said, "The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself: but the Father, that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works." His words, accordingly, were His works. And it is assuredly something less to preach the words of righteousness, which He did apart from us, than to justify the ungodly, which He does in such a way in us that we also are doing it ourselves. It remains for us to inquire how the words are to be understood, "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, I will do it." Because of the many things His believing ones ask, and receive not, there is no small question claiming our attention.

(Tr. lxxi. 3) But what are these greater works? Is it that the shadow of the Apostles, as they passed, by, healed the sick? It is indeed a greater thing that a shadow should heal, than that the border of a garment should. Nevertheless, by works here our Lord refers to His words. For when He says, My Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works, what are these works but the words which He spoke? And the fruit of those words was their faith. But these were but few converts in comparison with what those disciples made afterwards by their preaching: they converted the Gentiles to the faith. Did not the rich man go away sorrowful from His words? And yet that which one did not do at His own exhortation, many did afterwards when He preached through the disciples. He did greater works when preached by the believing, than when speaking to men's ears. (lxxii. 2). Still these greater works He did by His Apostles, whereas He includes others besides them, when He says, He that believeth on Me. Are we not to compute any one among the believers in Christ, who does not do greater works than Christ? This sounds harsh if not explained. The Apostle says, To him that believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. (Rom. 4:5) By this work then we shall do the works of Christ, the very believing in Christ being the work of Christ, for He worketh this in us, though not without us. Attend then'; He that believeth on Me, the works that I do, shall he do also. First I do them, then he will do them: I do them, that he may do them. Do what works but this, viz. that a man, from being a sinner, become just? which thing Christ worketh in us, though not without us. This in truth I call a greater work to do, than to create the heaven and the earth; for heaven and earth shall pass away, but the salvation and justification of the predestinated shall remain. (c. 3.). However, the Angels in heaven are the work of Christ; shall he who worketh with Christ for his own justification, do greater even than these? Judge any one which be the greater work, to create the just, or to justify the ungodly? At least, if both be of equal power, the latter hath more of mercy. But it is not necessary to understand all the works of Christ, when He says, greater works than these shall he do. These perhaps refers to the works He had done that hour. He had then been instructing them in the faith. And surely it is a less work to preach righteousness, which He did without us, than to justify the ungodly, which He so does in us, as that we do it ourselves. Great things truly did our Lord promise His people, when He went to His Father: Because I go unto My Father.

(Tract. lxxiii. 2) And that no one might attribute the merit to himself, He shows, that even those greater works were His own doing: And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do. Before it was, He shall do, now, I will do: as if He said, Let not this appear impossible to you. He that believeth in Me, will not be greater than I; but I shall do greater works then than now; greater by him that believeth on Me, than now by Myself; which will not be a failing, but a condescension.

Amen, amen, I say to you. Here the fourth point is touched upon, namely the fruit or utility of Christ's departure in believers: on account of which he says: He who believes in me, the works that I do, he also shall do, and greater things than these shall he do: Matthew 17: "If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain: Move from here to there, and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you." And the reason for this is Christ's departure from us: therefore he adds: Because I go to the Father, namely, that I may appear before the face of God "to intercede for you"; therefore 1 John 2: "We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ."

There is an inquiry about what he says: He who believes in me, the works that I do, he also shall do. This is false, because those works were of infinite power; therefore no one does them except God. Likewise, what does he mean when he says: He shall do greater things? Because the greatest thing is to raise the dead, and a putrid dead person; how can there be a greater miracle? Likewise, if the servant is not greater than his master, it is not fitting that God should work greater works through the servants of Christ than through the Son himself. I respond: It must be said that the Lord, at the invocation of the Apostles, worked more miracles than he had worked through himself. As to what is said, that the believer shall do them: this is said because it happens at his invocation, or because he is thought by men to do them himself. As to what is again said, that greater things: it must be said that greater not with respect to the deed, but with respect to the manner; because it is read in Acts chapter five that the sick were healed by the shadow of Peter. Likewise, it is said of the Apostles that by the presence of their garments the sick were healed and the dead were raised. Nevertheless, the servant is not on this account greater than the master, because the Apostles were not doing them; not for their own glory, but for the glory of Christ.

There is an inquiry whether he means unformed or formed faith. That he means unformed faith seems likely: Because it is said in First Corinthians chapter thirteen: If I should have faith so as to move mountains, but have not charity, etc.; therefore they are done through unformed faith without charity. Likewise, this seems to be the case, because many wicked men had worked miracles, as is said in Matthew chapter seven. But against this: because the sinner is unworthy of the bread he eats; therefore if one having unformed faith is in sin, he in no way deserves to be heard. I respond: It must be said that there is being heard by fittingness and by strict merit: one having unformed faith is frequently heard and deserves to be heard only by fittingness with respect to those things concerning which he has faith that the Lord will hear him.

If those having faith work miracles, and today few or none work miracles, therefore few or none have faith. In attestation of this, what is said in Matthew twenty-one is adduced: If you have faith and say to this mountain: Cast yourself into the sea: it shall be done. But who is there that could do this? I respond: It must be said according to Gregory and Augustine that there are two kinds of miraculous works: some sensible, some spiritual: sensible, such as raising the dead, and such things are necessary for establishing the faith of the simple; but spiritual are the raising from spiritual death through the Sacraments. The first have ceased, because the faith has been multiplied; the second always remain for our salvation. Whence it must be understood that the Lord was speaking to them either about spiritual marvels, or was speaking for the time of the primitive Church, in which the gentiles and the unlearned had to be instructed in the faith. Nevertheless they still occur even now, but the Lord has restrained His hand, because there is not such need.

If anyone should think to discourse hereon commensurately with the extent of the meaning of what is here submitted to us. the task would be broad and deep. But if we consider what is rather profitable for the hearers, we shall think it beseems us to grasp in general wise the things signified, and to curtail the length of our discourse. For so would the meaning be most easy to be received by most men. So then, wishing to show forth that He was Consubstantial with His own Father, and that He is a Very Image of Him; carried in the Father as in an Archetype, albeit having the Archetype in Himself, as being a Very Image both naturally and essentially, and not in virtue of any shaping which implies a process of moulding and fashioning; for the Divinity transcends shape, inasmuch as. it is incorporeal withal: I, He says, am in the Father and the Father is in Me. But to the end that we may not look for the identity of the resemblance and the exact conformity thereof in any other sort than as a conclusion from those prerogatives alone that attach to His nature; for it was possible therefrom to see that the similarity is essential and natural; He says: Or else, believe by reason of the works. For indeed He very rightly thought that of a surety if any man beheld Him radiant with the like mighty works to those of God the Father, He would accept Him for a really natural Image and Likeness of His essence; for nought save what is naturally of God would ever do equivalent deeds to those of God; nay, neither could the power to work wonders on any wise in equal measure with the Divine nature come to belong to any created thing. For utterly unapproachable and beyond reach to them that have been called into being out of nothing are the proper excellences of the Eternal. And in no wise was it likely that any would doubt that the Saviour's saying would be utterly irreproachable, at least in the eyes of the right-minded; yet, as God, He was not ignorant that even what was well said would be, to them that held opposite opinions, an occasion and a pretext for strange teaching. With intent then that no place for loquacity might be left herein for them that pervert such things as are right, and lest they should say it was not of His immanent might nor of His own power that the Son became a worker of wonders, but only inasmuch as He had within Him the Father doing the works: on this account, as He Himself said and insisted, the Lord (when need arose) courted them with words that might allure their minds: for He promises herein that He will be to them that believe on Him a Supplier of what things soever they will ask, and promises that He will supply to them not merely an equal power and authority but the same with increase: for greater things, He says, than I have done, shall he do. Seest thou then how He cuts short, and profitably so, the boldness of our opponents, and by His refutations of error reins in men (as it were) when they are rushing over precipices? For anyone will say to them: "O fools and blind, whereas ye suppose the Son to have been able to effect nothing of Himself, but rather to have been supplied by the Father with the power and authority for all those things that have been wondrously accomplished; how does He promise that He will grant to them that believe on Him to effect even greater things? How shall another, by borrowing the power from Him, effect what He has not done Himself? For notice that He has not said herein that the Father will supply power to them that believe; but, Whatsoever ye shall ask in My Name, I will do it. But He Who as God imparts to others the power to effect even those greater things, how could He have been Himself supplied with the power by another?" So that what they say is utter nonsense, and thoughtless trash, and inventions of a devilish perversity. But no man would contemplate the power of the Son as in any wise limited, nor as extending to one thing but insufficient to reach things still greater; nay, but as doing easily whatsoever it will, and bestowing on the worthy the power to glory in thrones, it may be of equal honour, or it may be even more highly exalted. And let none suppose us to say that any of those who have set store by their faith in Him will ever have such excess of power as to be able to fashion a heaven, or to make a sun and a moon, or the brilliant choir of the stars, or peradventure to create angels, or an earth, or such things as are therein. For the aim of His words is not directed towards these things, but is bent upon the things whereon it was reasonable that so it should be; and He overpasses not the measure of the splendour that beseems mankind, in glory to wit, and holiness. For surely it is for this cause, by way of restraining His words from ranging as it were whithersoever a man might desire, and of confining Himself to those wondrous works which He did while on earth after He became man, when He draws the contrast with the greatness of the still greater deeds, that He says: "He shall do the things which I have done, and greater things than these." For it was not because He was too weak to accomplish the greater things, that He held back His own power within the bounds of the things which He accomplished; but when He has done what was needful, and all perchance for which opportunity offered, He kindly gives us to understand by these words, that the reach of the incomprehensible greatness of His immanent power is not limited to those things. But to the end that, preserving the order of the thoughts presented to us, we may set the minds of our hearers on the contemplation of His utterance, [we will repeat that] He says: Verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father.

Then, "What is this?" one of the hearers might say with some reason, "I mean the Son's going to the Father in order that they who believe on Him may be able to effect things even still greater than the deeds exhibited by Himself? Surely the saying introduces some hidden subject for contemplation." To learn what it is that He says, consider Him as perhaps meaning: ----"O ministers and genuine pupils of My words, so long as I abode with you on the earth, and had My conversation as a man, I did not exhibit the power of the Godhead undimmed before you: I both spake and acted as befitted the measure of My humiliation and the condition of a slave. But thereafter, when those things shall have been be-seemingly accomplished, then also will the mystery of the dispensation in the flesh be completed for Me. For almost immediately I shall suffer death and shall rise to life again. And I promise to then bestow on you the power to accomplish works still greater than My own miracles. And the time for this is even now at hand, and so is the glory of their accomplishment. For I am going to the Father, that is, to sit down with Him and to reign with Him as God of God in unveiled power and authority, [and in the fulness] of My own nature to give good things unto My friends. Whatsoever ye shall ask," He says, "in My Name, I will do it, when the time has been completed wherein it was necessary," He says, "that I should show Myself in the garb of humiliation. I have observed all that was requisite to the proper carrying out of the scheme of the Incarnation; and now henceforth I promise that unveiledly as God I will work the works of God, not thrusting out the Father from the glory so God-befitting, but with intent that He may be glorified in the Son." For if the Offspring is glorified, the Parent also shall assuredly be glorified in Him. For the Son, being ever in His nature God, would have been declared by many other signs; yet no less also is He disclosed by receiving the prayers of the saints, and granting them whatsoever they might ask and wish. How then should not the Father be glorified in Him? For like as He would have been grievously blamed, and naturally so, if the Offspring that came forth from Him had not been in His nature God; in like manner He will be exceeding glorious in that He has for the Fruit that came forth from His essence One Who is God and can skill so well to do all things and to enable others to do them.

But if it tends to the glory of the Father that the Son should be seen possessed of God-befitting prerogatives, what manner of punishment shall fasten upon the heretic, forasmuch as he dreads not to disparage Him with shameless blasphemies in divers manners? And I will further say another thing, in no small measure (as I deem) at issue with their crude ignorances. For if we pray to the Son and seek our petitions from Him, and He pledges His promise to grant them; how could it be that He is not by nature God, and begotten of One Who is in His nature God? For if they conceive Him not so to be, and say that He was created, how shall we any longer be distinguished from those who invoke the sun, or the heaven, or any other of the creatures? For if, exceeding mischievously, ashamed of the ungainliness of their own folly, they say that albeit a creature equally with the rest of the creatures yet He hath a certain incomparable supereminence over all; notwithstanding let them be assured that none the less will they outrage the glory of the Father, that is, the Son, so long as ever they say that He is one in the number of the things that have been made. For the issue is, not whether He is haply a great or a small creature, but whether He is a creature at all, and is not rather in His nature God; which indeed is the truth.

"That at the least the shadow of Peter passing by," etc. This had not occurred in the history of Christ; but see here what He had told them actually coming to pass, that "they which believe on Me, the works that I do shall they do also; and greater works than these shall they do."

Great faith, surpassing what had been shown in the case of Christ. How comes this? Because Christ declared: "And greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto My Father." And these things the people do, while the Apostles remain there, and are not moving about from place to place: also from other places they were all bringing their sick on beds and couches: and from all quarters accrued to them fresh tribute of wonder; from them that believed, from them that were healed, from him that was punished; from their boldness of speech towards those their adversaries, from the virtuous behavior of the believers: for certainly the effect produced was not owing to the miracles only.

(Hom. lxxiv. 2) Having said, Believe for the works' sake, our Lord goes on to declare that He can do much greater than these, and what is more wonderful, give others the power of working them. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do, shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do.

(Hom. lxxiv. 2) i. e. I shall not perish, but shall remain in My proper dignity, in heaven. Or He means: It is your part henceforth to work miracles, since I am going.

This refers to the other miracles that the apostles did, such as healing a man through their shadow falling on him. But this incident did not reveal the fullness of this saying, but rather it was fulfilled in the fact that, when he used the power of the Godhead for an act of kindness, the disciples on the one hand worked through the power given to them for the service of those who believe and the punishment of the extremely wicked, and on the other hand they exceeded the power of their teacher, even though he was mightier in his ability to punish the godless, since he chose to restrain and control his power to punish in the meantime until the right moment of judgment.

We said above that the words "I am going to the Father" refer to [his union with the Father after his passion]. After … this union, he will have the power to give everything to those who ask him, because by asking they ask for the greatness dwelling in him. He can give because of his [union with the Father], and the Father then is completely recognized in the Son to be excellent and admirable.

Christ, showing that He can perform not only these works, but also others far greater than these, speaks of this with extraordinary power. For He does not say "I can perform works even greater than these," but — what is far more astonishing — "I can also give others the authority to perform works greater than these."

Do you see how great is the power of the Only-Begotten? He gives others also the power to do works greater than those which He Himself did. "Because I go to My Father," that is, now you yourselves will work miracles, for I am already departing.

After clarifying what he had said by appealing to the works he did by himself, our Lord now clarifies these things by the works he would do through the disciples. First, he mentions the works of the disciples; secondly, he mentions how they would do them, Whatever you ask the Father in my name, I will do it. As to the first, he first mentions the works of the disciples; secondly, he states the reason for what he said, because I go to the Father.

He says, Truly, truly, I say to you, and so forth. He is saying in effect: The works that I do are so great that they are a sufficient sign of my divinity; but if these are not enough for you, then look at the works I will do through others. For the strongest sign of great power is when a person does extraordinary things not only by himself but also through others. So he says, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do. These words not only show the power of the divinity in Christ, but also the power of faith, and the union of Christ with those who believe. For just as the Son acts because the Father dwells in him by a unity of nature, so also those who believe act because Christ dwells in them by faith: "that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith" (Eph 3:17). Now the works which Christ accomplished and the disciples do by the power of Christ are the miracles: "And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents" (Mk 16:17).

What is remarkable is that he adds, and greater works than these will he do. We could say that in a certain sense our Lord does more things and greater things through his apostles than by himself. Among the miracles of Christ the greatest was when a sick person was healed by touching the fringe of his garment (Mt 9:20). But the sick were healed by the shadow of Peter, as we read in Acts (5:15). And it is greater to heal by one's shadow than by the fringe of one's garment. In another way, we could say that Christ did more by the words of his disciples than by his own. As Augustine says, our Lord is speaking here of works accomplished by words, when the fruit of these words was faith. We see in Matthew that a young man was not persuaded by Christ to sell his possessions and follow him, for when Christ said to the youth, "Go, sell what you possess and give to the poor," we read that "he went away sorrowful" (Mt 19:21). Yet we read that at the preaching of Peter and the other apostles, people sold their possessions and all that they owned and brought the money and laid it at the feet of the apostles (Acts 4:34).

Someone might find fault with this because our Lord did not say that the apostles would do greater things, but he who believes in me. Should we say, then, that those who do not do greater things than Christ are not to be counted among those who believe in Christ? Of course not! That would be too harsh.

We should say, rather, that Christ works in two ways. In one way, he works without us, as in creating the heavens and the earth, raising the dead to life, and things like that. In the other way, he works in us but not without us: the result of this is faith, by which the impious are brought to life. Our Lord is speaking here of what is found in all believers: this is the result which Christ produces in us, but not without us. The reason for this is that whoever believes is producing the same result since what is produced in me by God is also produced in me by myself, that is, by my free choice. Thus the Apostle says: "it was not I," that is, I alone, "but the grace of God which is with me" (1 Cor 15:10). Christ is speaking of this result or work when he says that believers will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, for it is a greater thing to justify the impious than to create the heavens and the earth. For the justification of the impious, considered in itself, continues forever: "Righteousness is immortal" (Wis 1:15). But the heavens and the earth will pass away, as Luke (21:33) says. Further, effects which are physical are directed to what is spiritual. Now the heavens and the earth are physical effects, but the justification of the impious is a spiritual effect.

This gives rise to a question. The creation of the holy angels is included in the creation of the heavens and the earth. Is it then a greater work to cooperate with Christ in one's own justification than to create an angel? Augustine does not settle this, but he does say: "Let him who can judge whether it is greater to create the just angels than to justify impious men. Certainly, if each shows an equal power, the second shows greater mercy." But if we carefully consider what works our Lord is talking about here, we are not setting the creation of the angels above the justification of the impious. When our Lord said, and greater works than these will he do, we need not understand this to mean all the works of Christ, but perhaps only those which he was then doing. But then he was working by the word of faith, and it is not as great to preach words of righteousness which he did without us, as to justify sinners, which he does in us in such a way that we also do it.

Now he gives the reason why he said they will do greater things, which is because I go to the Father. This can be understood in three ways. First, according to Chrysostom: I will work as long as I am in the world, but when I leave, you will take my place. And so, the things that I am doing you will do, and even greater things, because I go to the Father, and after that I will do nothing by myself, that is, by preaching. The second interpretation is this: The Jews think that if I am killed faith in me will be eradicated. This is not true. Indeed, it will be approved even more, and you will do greater things because I go to the Father, that is, I will not perish, but continue in my own dignity in heaven: "Now is the Son of man glorified, and in him God is glorified" (13:31). A third interpretation: You will do greater things because I go to the Father. He is saying in effect: Since I will be glorified more, it is appropriate that I do greater things, and also give you the power to do greater things. Thus, before Jesus was glorified, the Spirit was not given to the disciples in that fullness with which it was given after: "As yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified" (7:39).

But if we think it impious to believe that the Father has handed over all judgment to the Son in such a way that he does not have it himself—for he has it and cannot lose what the divine majesty has by its very nature—we ought to consider it equally impious to suppose that the Son cannot give what either men and women can merit or any creature can receive, especially as he himself has said, "I go to my Father, and whatever you shall ask of him in my name, that will I do." For if the Son cannot give what the Father can give, the Truth has lied and cannot do what the Father has been asked for in his name. He therefore did not say, "For whom it has been prepared by my Father," in order that requests should be made only of the Father. For all things that are asked of the Father, [the Son] has declared that he [himself] will give. And finally, he did not say, "Whatever you shall ask of me, that will I do" but "Whatever you shall ask of him in my name, that will I do."

The Lord, by His promise, gave those whose hopes were resting on Himself a special ground of confidence, when He said, "For I go to the Father; and whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, I will do it." His proceeding, therefore, to the Father, was not with any view of abandoning the needy, but of hearing and answering their petitions. But what is to be made of the words, "Whatsoever ye shall ask," when we behold His faithful ones so often asking and not receiving? Is it, shall we say, for no other reason but that they ask amiss? For the Apostle James made this a ground of reproach when he said, "Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." What one, therefore, wishes to receive, in order to turn to an improper use, God in His mercy rather refuses to bestow. Nay, more, if a man asks what would, if answered, only tend to his injury, there is surely greater cause to fear, lest what God could not withhold with kindness, He should give in His anger. Do we not see how the Israelites got to their own hurt what their guilty lusting craved? For while it was raining manna on them from heaven, they desired to have flesh to eat. They disdained what they had, and shamelessly sought what they had not: as if it were not better for them to have asked not to have their unbecoming desires gratified with the food that was wanting, but to have their own dislike removed, and be made themselves to receive aright the food that was provided. For when evil becomes our delight, and what is good the reverse, we ought to be entreating God rather to win us back to the love of the good, than to grant us the evil. Not that it is wrong to eat flesh, for the apostle, speaking of this very thing, says, "Every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused which is received with thanksgiving;" but because, as he also says, "It is evil for that man who eateth with offense;" and if so, with offense to man, how much more so if to God, to whom it was no light offense, on the part of the Israelites, to reject what wisdom was supplying, and ask for that which lust was craving: although they would not actually make the request, but murmured because it was wanting. But to let us know that the wrong lies not with any creature of God, but with obstinate disobedience and inordinate desire, it was not in swine's flesh that the first man found death, but in an apple; and it was not for a fowl, but for a dish of pottage, that Esau lost his birthright.

How, then, are we to understand "Whatsoever ye shall ask, I will do it," if there are some things which the faithful ask, and which God, even purposely on their behalf, leaves undone? Or ought we to suppose that the words were addressed only to the apostles? Surely not. For what He has got the length of now saying is in the very line of what He had said before: "He that believeth in me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do;" which was the subject of our previous discourse. And that no one might attribute such power to himself, but rather to make it manifest that even these greater works were done by Himself, He proceeded to say, "For I go to the Father; and whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, I will do it." Was it the apostles only that believed on Him? When, therefore, He said, "He that believeth on me," He spake to those, among whom we also by His grace are included, who by no means receive everything that we ask. And if we turn our thoughts even to the most blessed apostles, we find that he who labored more than they all, yet not he, but the grace of God that was with him, besought the Lord thrice that the messenger of Satan might depart from him, and received not what he had asked. What shall we say, beloved? Are we to suppose that the promise here made, "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, I will do it," was not fulfilled by Him even to the apostles? And to whom, then, will ever His promise be fulfilled, if therein He has deceived His own apostles?

Wake up, then, believer, and give careful heed to what is stated here, "in my name:" for in these words He does not say, "whatsoever ye shall ask" in any way; but, "in my name." How, then, is He called, who promised so great a blessing? Christ Jesus, of course: Christ means King, and Jesus means Saviour! for certainly it is not any one who is a king that will save us, but only the Saviour-King; and therefore, whatsoever we ask for that is adverse to the interests of salvation, we do not ask in the name of the Saviour. And yet He is the Saviour, not only when He does what we ask, but also when He refuses to do so; since by not doing what He sees to be contrary to our salvation, He manifests Himself the more fully as our Saviour. For the physician knows which of his patient's requests will be favorable, and which will be adverse, to his safety; and therefore yields not to his wishes when asking what is prejudicial, that he may effect his recovery. Accordingly, when we wish Him to do whatsoever we ask, let it not be in any way, but in His name, that is, in the name of the Saviour, that we present our petition. Let us not, then, ask aught that is contrary to our own salvation; for if He do that, He does it not as the Saviour, which is the name He bears to His faithful disciples. For He who condescends to be the Saviour of the faithful, is also a Judge to condemn the ungodly. Whatsoever, therefore, any one that believeth on Him shall ask in that name which He bears to those who believe on Him, He will do it; for He will do it as the Saviour. But if one that believeth on Him asketh something through ignorance that is injurious to his salvation, he asketh it not in the name of the Saviour; for His Saviour He will no longer be if He do aught to impede his salvation. And hence, in such a case, in not doing what He is entreated to do, His way is kept the clearer for doing what His name imports. And on that account, not only as the Saviour, but also as the good Master, He taught us, in the very prayer He gave us, what we should ask, in order that, whatsoever we shall ask, He may do it; and that we, too, might thereby understand that we cannot be asking in the Master's name anything that is inconsistent with the rule of His own instructions.

(Tract. lxxii. 2) Whatsoever ye shall ask. Then why do we often see believers asking, and not receiving? Perhaps it is that they ask amiss. When a man would make a bad use of what he asks for, God in His mercy does not grant him it. Still if God even in kindness often refuses the requests of believers, how are we to understand, Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, I will do? Was this said to the Apostles only? No. He says above, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also. And if we go to the lives of the Apostles themselves, we shall find that he who laboured more than they all, prayed that the messenger of Satan might depart from him, but was not granted his request. But attend: does not our Lord lay down a certain condition? In My name, which is Christ Jesus. Christ signifies King, Jesus, Saviour. Therefore whatever we ask for that would hinder our salvation, we do not ask in our Saviour's name: and yet He is our Saviour, not only when He does what we ask, but also when He does not. When He sees us ask any thing to the disadvantage of our salvation, He shows Himself our Saviour by not doing it. The physician knows whether what the sick man asks for is to the advantage or disadvantage of his health; and does not allow what would be to his hurt, though the sick man himself desires it; but looks to his final cure. And some things we may even ask in His name, and He will not grant them us at the time, though He will some time. What we ask for is deferred, not denied.

Whatever you shall ask the Father in my name, this I will do. Therefore he says that we ought to ask the Father in the name of the Son, so that namely the Father may be glorified in the Son, because the Son does not seek his own glory, but the Father's: therefore it was said above in the seventh chapter: "He who seeks the glory of him who sent him, he is truthful." And for greater certainty, because a promise is made firmer by a double affirmation, therefore he adds:

(Hom. lxxiv. 2) In My name, He says. Thus the Apostles; In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, arise and walk. (Acts 3:6) All the miracles that they did, He did: the hand of the Lord was with them.

(Hom. lxxiv. 2) For when the great power of the Son is manifested, He that begat Him is glorified. He introduces this last, to confirm the truth of what He has said.

Explaining to us how one who believes in Him can perform great and wondrous deeds, He says: "If you ask anything in My name." Here He shows us the manner of working miracles: anyone can work miracles through petition and prayer and the invocation of His name. So too the apostles said to the lame man: "In the name of Jesus Christ, rise up and walk" (Acts 3:6). Therefore He did not say "whatever you ask, I will entreat the Father, and He will do it," but rather "I will do it," showing His own authority.

For when a son is shown to possess great power, then glory also comes to the one who begot such a son. See, then, how glory flows to the Father. Miracles were performed in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; because of the miracles, people believed the preaching of the apostles; and finally, advancing to the knowledge of God, they came to know the Father, and thus He was glorified in the Son.

This is an explanation of the doctrine of miracles. It is by prayer, and invocation of His name, that a man is able to work miracles.

Observe the order (akolouthian) in which the glorifying of the Father comes. In the name of Jesus miracles were done, by which men were made to believe the Apostles' preaching. This brought them to the knowledge of the Father, and thus the Father was glorified in the Son.

Now he mentions how these things will be done: first, the way, whatever you ask; secondly, why they will be done, that the Father may be glorified.

As to the first, since our Lord said, "and greater works than these will he do," in order that the greatness of the worker might be known from the greatness of the works, some might suppose that one who believes in the Son of God would be greater than the Son. Our Lord excludes this by the way the works are done. For the Son does these works by his own authority, while one who believes in him does it by asking. So he says, Whatever you ask the Father in my name, I will do it.

This eliminates the equality between believers and Christ in three ways. First, because as was said, believers do these works by asking: so he says, Whatever you ask. "Every one who asks receives" (Mt 7:8). Secondly, because believers work by reason of the Son; so he says, in my name, that is, by reason of my name: "There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). For this name is above every name: "Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to thy name give glory" (Ps 115:1). Thirdly, because the Son himself does all these works in them and through them: thus he says, I will do it. Note that the Father is asked and the Son does the work, the reason being that the works of the Father and the Son are inseparable: "Whatever he does, that the Son does likewise" (5:19). For the Father does all things through the Son: "All things were made through him" (1:3).

How could he say, Whatever you ask I will do it, since we see that his faithful ask and do not receive? According to Augustine, we should consider here that he first says, in my name, and then adds, I will do it. The name of Christ is the name of salvation: "You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins" (Mt 1:21). Therefore, one who asks for something pertaining to salvation asks in the name of Christ. It does happen that someone asks for something which does not pertain to salvation. This happens for two reasons. First, because one has a corrupt affection: as when one asks for something to which he is attracted, but which if he did have, would be an obstacle to his salvation. One who asks this way is not heard because he asks wrongly: "You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly" (Jas 4:3). For when someone, because of his corrupt affection, would badly use what he wants to receive, he does not receive it because of our Lord's compassion. The reason being that our Lord does not just look at one's desire, but rather the helpfulness of what is desired. For the good Lord often denies what we ask in order to give us what we should prefer.

The second reason we may ask for something which does not pertain to our salvation is our ignorance. We sometimes ask for what we think is helpful, but really is not. But God takes care of us, and does not do what we ask. Thus Paul, who labored more than all others, asked our Lord three times to take away a thorn in his flesh, but he did not receive what he asked because it was not useful for him (2 Cor 12:8). "We do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words" (Rom 8:26). "You do not know what you are asking" (Mt 20:22). Thus it is clear that when we truly ask in his name, in the name of Jesus Christ, he will do it.

He says, I will do it, using the future tense, not the present tense, because he sometimes postpones doing what we ask so that our desire for it will increase and so that he can grant it at the right time: "Rain will fall on you when it should fall" (Lev 26:4); "In a day of salvation I have helped you" (Is 49:8). Again, it sometimes happens that we pray for people and are perhaps not heard, and this is because they put obstacles in the way. "Do not pray for this people... for I do not hear you" (Jer 7:16); "Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people" (Jer 15:1).

There are some things, indeed, which, although really asked in His name, that is, in harmony with His character as both Saviour and Master, He doeth not at the time we ask them, and yet He faileth not to do them. For when we pray that the kingdom of God may come, it does not imply that He is not doing what we ask, because we do not begin at once to reign with Him in the everlasting kingdom: for what we ask is delayed, but not denied. Nevertheless, let us not fail in praying, for in so doing we are as those that sow the seed; and in due season we shall reap. And even when we are asking aright, let us ask Him at the same time not to do what we ask amiss; for there is reference to this also in the Lord's Prayer, when we say, "Lead us not into temptation." For surely the temptation is no slight one if thine own request be hostile to thy cause. But we must not listen with indifference to the statement that the Lord (to prevent any from thinking that what He promised to do to those that asked, He would do without the Father, after saying, "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, I will do it") immediately added, "That the Father may be glorified in the Son: if ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it." In no respect, therefore, does the Son act without the Father, since He so acts for the very purpose that in Him the Father may be glorified. The Father, therefore, acts in the Son, that the Son may be glorified in the Father: and the Son acts in the Father, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; for the Father and the Son are one.

He adds, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. The Son does not do any thing without the Father, inasmuch as He does it in order that the Father may be glorified in Him.

If you ask anything in my name, this I will do: and he does not repeat the name of the Father, to show that even if they ask from him himself, they obtain it, since he is equal to the Father; 1 John 3: "If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask, we shall receive from him."

Undisguisedly now He says that, being Very God, He will accept exceeding readily the prayers of His own people, and will supply right gladly what things soever they desire to receive, meaning of course spiritual gifts and such as are worthy of the heavenly munificence. And not as the minister of another's benevolence, nor yet as subserving another's kindness, does He say such things; but as, with the Father, having all things in His power; and as Himself being the One through Whom are all things, both from us to God-ward, and to us-ward from Him. For this cause Paul also prays on behalf of the worthy for such supplies of benefits as are by him ever mentioned in conjunction, in the following words: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ; and surely no man in his senses will ever in the face of this suppose that the Father by Himself separately grants a grace, and again the Son by Himself separately and as it were in turn does so; but the grace is one and the same, albeit it is spoken of as coming through Both. Notwithstanding, it is by the Father through the Son that all good things are wrought for the worthy, and the distribution of the Divine gifts is made; through the Son, I say, not as accepted in the rank of a servant, as we have already explained, but as conceived to be Co-Giver and Co-Supplier, and moreover as being so of a truth. For the nature of the Godhead is one, and also is believed so to be. For although it is extended to Father and Son and to the Holy Spirit, yet it has no absolute and entire severance; I mean, into each of the Persons indicated. For we shall be orthodox in believing that the Son is naturally both of the Father and in the Father, and that the own Spirit of the Father and of the Son, that is, the Holy Spirit, is both of and in the Father. So then, forasmuch as the Godhead of Their nature both is and is conceived of as One, Their gifts will be supplied to the worthy through the Son from the Father in the Spirit, and our offerings will be carried to God manifestly through the mediation of the Son: for no one cometh unto the Father but through Him, as to be sure He also Himself fully confesses. So then the Son both has become and is the Door and the Way as well of our friendship as of our progress towards God the Father, and the Co-Giver as well as Distributer of His bounty, forasmuch as it proceeds from a single and common munificence. For one is the nature of the Godhead in the person and substance both of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. And forasmuch as it was unwonted in a way with them of old time, and as yet foreign to their practice, to approach the Father through the Son, He teaches this also for our profit, and laying first in His own disciples a foundation as it were of the structure, He implants in them both faith in this and knowledge, and despatches to ourselves instruction both how we are to pray and wherein lies our hope. For He promises that He will Himself give us what we ask in prayer; a proof of the Godhead in His nature, and of the royal authority inherent in Him; adding this to the other proofs thereof.

Let those who suffer from Arianism say: "How is it that He performed miracles through the apostles, yet did not do His own works Himself, but with the cooperation of the Father? How is it that He gave power to others, yet did not have it Himself? Why did He say one and the same thing twice? For having said 'if you ask anything in My name, I will do it,' then adding 'that the Father may be glorified in the Son,' He again says a second time 'if you ask anything in My name, I will do it.'"

He says this twice in order to confirm His word and to show that He acts by Himself and has no need of any outside power. Yet He says this to the disciples for their consolation and as confirmation that after death He will not perish, will not be destroyed, but will again remain in His dignity and will be in heaven. "For I," He says, "am going to the Father; I will not be destroyed, but am departing to where life is most blessed. Although I will die, I will in no way appear powerless; on the contrary, I will also clothe others with the power to do greater works. And whatever you desire, I will give you. Therefore, do not lose heart because My death is such as I have indicated to you."

Then when he says, that the Father may be glorified in the Son, he gives the reason. Augustine punctuates this passage in the following way. "Whatever you ask the Father in my name, I will do it." Then a new sentence begins: "That the Father may be glorified in the Son, if you ask me anything in my name, I will do it." This is like saying: I will do what you ask in my name so that the Father may be glorified in the Son, and everything that the Son does is directed to the glory of the Father: "I do not seek my own glory" (8:50). We also should direct all our works to the glory of God: "Do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor 10:31).

We have heard, brethren, while the Gospel was read, the Lord saying: "If ye love me, keep my commandments: and I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter [Paraclete], that He may abide with you for ever; [even] the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye shall know Him; for He shall dwell with you, and shall be in you." There are many points which might form the subject of inquiry in these few words of the Lord; but it were too much for us either to search into all that is here for the searching, or to find out all that we here search for. Nevertheless, as far as the Lord is pleased to grant us the power, and in proportion to our capacity and yours, attend to what we ought to say and you to hear, and receive, beloved, what we on our part are able to give, and apply to Him for that wherein we fail. It is the Spirit, the Comforter, that Christ has promised to His apostles; but let us notice the way in which He gave the promise. "If ye love me," He says, "keep my commandments: and I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever: [even] the Spirit of truth." We have here, at all events, the Holy Spirit in the Trinity, whom the catholic faith acknowledges to be consubstantial and co-eternal with Father and Son: He it is of whom the apostle says, "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who is given unto us." How, then, doth the Lord say, "If ye love me, keep my commandments: and I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter;" when He saith so of the Holy Spirit, without [having] whom we can neither love God nor keep His commandments? How can we love so as to receive Him, without whom we cannot love at all? or how shall we keep the commandments so as to receive Him, without whom we have no power to keep them? Or can it be that the love wherewith we love Christ has a prior place within us, so that, by thus loving Christ and keeping His commandments, we become worthy of receiving the Holy Spirit, in order that the love, not of Christ, which had already preceded, but of God the Father, may be shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who is given unto us? Such a thought is altogether wrong. For he who believes that he loveth the Son, and loveth not the Father, certainly loveth not the Son, but some figment of his own imagination. And besides, this is the apostolic declaration, "No one saith, Lord Jesus, but in the Holy Spirit: and who is it that calleth Him Lord Jesus but he that loveth Him, if he so call Him in the way the apostle intended to be understood? For many call Him so with their lips, but deny Him in their hearts and works; just as He saith of such, "For they profess that they know God, but in works they deny Him." If it is by works He is denied, it is doubtless also by works that His name is truly invoked. "No one," therefore, "saith, Lord Jesus," in mind, in word, in deed, with the heart, the lips, the labor of the hands,-no one saith, Lord Jesus, but in the Holy Spirit; and no one calls Him so but he that loveth. And accordingly the apostles were already calling Him Lord Jesus: and if they called Him so, in no way that implied a feigned utterance, with the mouth confessing, in heart and works denying Him; if they called Him so in all truthfulness of soul, there can be no doubt they loved. And how, then, did they love, but in the Holy Spirit? And yet they are commanded to love Him and keep His commandments, previous and in order to their receiving the Holy Spirit: and yet, without having that Spirit, they certainly could not love Him and keep His commandments.

We are therefore to understand that he who loves has already the Holy Spirit, and by what he has becomes worthy of a fuller possession, that by having the more he may love the more. Already, therefore, had the disciples that Holy Spirit whom the Lord promised, for without Him they could not call Him Lord; but they had Him not as yet in the way promised by the Lord. Accordingly they both had, and had Him not, inasmuch as they had Him not as yet to the same extent as He was afterwards to be possessed. They had Him, therefore, in a more limited sense: He was yet to be given them in an ampler measure. They had Him in a hidden way, they were yet to receive Him in a way that was manifest; for this present possession had also a bearing on that fuller gift of the Holy Spirit, that they might come to a conscious knowledge of what they had. It is in speaking of this gift that the apostle says: "Now we have received, not the spirit of this world, but the spirit which is of God, that we may know the things that are freely given to us of God." For that same manifest bestowal of the Holy Spirit the Lord made, not once, but on two separate occasions. For close on the back of His resurrection from the dead He breathed on them and said, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit." And because He then gave [the Spirit], did He on that account fail in afterwards sending Him according to His promise? Or was it not the very same Spirit who was both then breathed upon them by Himself, and afterwards sent by Him from heaven? And so, why that same giving on His part which took place publicly, also took place twice, is another question: for it may be that this twofold bestowal of His in a public way took place because of the two Commandments of love, that is, to our neighbor and to God, in order that love might be impressively intimated as pertaining to the Holy Spirit. And if any other reason is to be sought for, we cannot at present allow our discourse to be improperly prolonged by such an inquiry: provided, however, it be admitted that, without the Holy Spirit, we can neither love Christ nor keep His commandments; while the less experience we have of His presence, the less also can we do so; and the fuller our experience, so much the greater our ability. Accordingly, the promise is no vain one, either to him who has not [the Holy Spirit], or to him who has. For it is made to him who has not, in order that he may have; and to him who has, that he may have more abundantly. For were it not that He was possessed by some in smaller measure than by others, St. Elisha would not have said to St. Elijah, "Let the spirit that is in thee be in a twofold measure in me."

But when John the Baptist said, "For God giveth not the Spirit by measure," he was speaking exclusively of the Son of God, who received not the Spirit by measure; for in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead. And no more is it independently of the grace of the Holy Spirit that the Mediator between God and men is the man Christ Jesus: for with His own lips He tells us that the prophetical utterance had been fulfilled in Himself: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; because He hath anointed me, and hath sent me to preach the gospel to the poor." For His being the Only-begotten, the equal of the Father, is not of grace, but of nature; but the assumption of human nature into the personal unity of the Only-begotten is not of nature, but of grace, as the Gospel acknowledges itself when it says, "And the child grew, and waxed strong, being filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was in Him." But to others He is given by measure,-a measure ever enlarging until each has received his full complement up to the limits of his own perfection. As we are also reminded by the apostle, "Not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think, but to think soberly; according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." Nor is it the Spirit Himself that is divided, but the gifts bestowed by the Spirit: for there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

(Tract. lxxiv. 4) Wherein He shows too that He Himself is the Comforter. Paraclete means advocate, and is applied to Christ: We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. (1 John 2:1)

(contra Serm. Arrian. c. xix.) Yet to show that His works are inseparable from His Father's, He says below, When I shall go, I will send Him unto you.

(Tract. lxxiv. 1) This is the Holy Ghost in the Trinity, Whom the Catholic faith professes to be consubstantial and coeternal with the Father and the Son.

(Tract. lxxiv. 4) Thus the world, i. e. the lovers of the world, cannot, He says, receive the Holy Spirit: that is to say, unrighteousness cannot be righteous. The world, i. e. the lovers of the world, cannot receive Him, because it seeth Him not. The love of the world hath not invisible eyes wherewith to see that, which can only be seen invisibly. It follows: But ye know Him, for He dwelleth (manebit) with you. And that they might not think this meant a visible dwelling, in the sense in which we use the phrase with respect to a guest, He adds, And shall be in you.

(Tract. lxxiv. 5) To be in a place is prior to dwelling. Be in you, is the explanation of dwell with you: i. e. shows that the latter means not that He is seen, but that He is known, He must be in us, that the knowledge of Him may be in us. We see the Holy Ghost then in us, in our consciences.

(contr. Serm. Arrian. c. xix.) Comforter, the title of the Holy Spirit, the third Person in the Trinity, the Apostle applies to God: God that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us. (2 Cor. 7:6) The Holy Spirit therefore Who comforts those that are cast down, is God. Or if they will have this said by the Apostle of the Father or the Son, let them not any longer separate the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son, in His peculiar office of comforting.

(Tract. lxxiv. c. 1) But when the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us, (Rom. 5:6) how shall we love and keep the commandments of Christ, so as to receive the Spirit, when we are not able to love or to keep them, unless we have received the Spirit? Does love in us go first, i. e. do we so love Christ and keep His commandments as to deserve to receive the Holy Spirit, and to have the love of God the Father shed abroad in our hearts? This is a perverse opinion. For he who does not love the Father, does not love the Son, however he may think he does. (c. 2). It remains for us to understand, that he who loves has the Holy Spirit, and by having Him, attains to having more of Him, and by having more of Him, to loving more. The disciples had already the Spirit which our Lord promised; but they were to be given more of Him: they had Him secretly, they were to receive Him openly. The promise is made both to him who has the Spirit, and to him who has Him not; to the former, that he shall have Him; to the latter, that He shall have more of Him.

But that this rather pertains to actual charity seems to appear most especially from this: that when the Lord had said, "Love your enemies," he at once adds concerning works: "Do good to those who hate you" (Lk 6:27). Likewise Scripture: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he thirsts, give him drink" (Rom 12:20). And here you have what concerns act, not affection. But hear likewise the Lord commanding also concerning love of himself: "If you love me," he says, "keep my words" (Jn 14:15). And here too we are sent to works by the enjoined observance of commandments. But he would have warned about works superfluously, if love had already been in the affection.

The usefulness of observance ought to move us to observe the commandments of God. For in keeping the commandments of God there is manifold usefulness, which is reduced to three benefits. The first benefit is the obtaining of divine gifts; the second is the revelation of the Sacred Scriptures; the third is the attainment of heavenly rewards. The first benefit in keeping the commandments of God is the obtaining of divine gifts: whence in John: "If you love me, keep my commandments, and I will ask my Father, and He will give you another Paraclete."

If you love me, etc. Above the Lord exhorted to faith; in this second part, because "faith without works is dead," He exhorts to the observance of the commandments; and He does this indeed in this order. First He exhorts by promising aid; second, by promising consolation; third, reward; fourth, He expresses what the merit of these things is. First, therefore, He exhorts to the observance of the commandments: and because it happens that the commandments are kept out of fear, as in the Law, and this He does not seek; it also happens that they are kept out of love, and this He seeks: therefore He says: If you love me, keep my commandments, namely out of love for me; 2 John: "This is charity, that we walk according to His commandments." To such He promises aid.

From which an example is given us to avoid the way of the old man, to stand in the footsteps of a conquering Christ, that we may not again be incautiously turned back into the nets of death, but, foreseeing our danger, may possess the immortality that we have received. But how can we possess immortality, unless we keep those commands of Christ whereby death is driven out and overcome, when He Himself warns us, and says, "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments? " And again: "If ye do the things that I command you, henceforth I call you not servants, but friends." Finally, these persons He calls strong and stedfast; these He declares to be founded in robust security upon the rock, established with immoveable and unshaken firmness, in opposition to all the tempests and hurricanes of the world. "Whosoever," says He, "heareth my words, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, that built his house upon a rock: the rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock." We ought therefore to stand fast on His words, to learn and do whatever He both taught and did. But how can a man say that he believes in Christ, who does not do what Christ commanded him to do? Or whence shall he attain to the reward of faith, who will not keep the faith of the commandment? He must of necessity waver and wander, and, caught away by a spirit of error, like dust which is shaken by the wind, be blown about; and he will make no advance in his walk towards salvation, because he does not keep the truth of the way of salvation.

Having ordained that when men pray they must ask in His Name and promising that He will Himself supply to them that ask whatsoever they desire to receive, He takes great thought not to seem to speak falsehood, having in view the unholy slanders of such as are wont to be captious. For a man can see, and best out of the Sacred Writings themselves, that some approach and ask earnestly in His Name, and notwithstanding in no wise receive; because God is not ignorant of what is fitting for each and profitable for the askers. Therefore to the end that our Lord Jesus the Christ might clearly exhibit who they are in reference to whom the word has been spoken and stands good, and to whom is due the grace of the promise; He straightway introduced the mention of the persons who love Him, in whose case the promise will assuredly be fulfilled, and conjoins with His saying the exactly-defined keeper of the law, showing that unto such and not unto others shall the promise of kindness and the bestowal of the spiritual blessings hold good and come to pass. For that oftentimes the bounteous hand of God is shortened in hesitation, cutting off from them that will not ask aright the consummation of their hopes, thou wilt easily understand, from what the disciple of Christ is at pains to write on this wise: Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, when ye will spend it in your pleasures. Wherefore also again he says, about them that are wont to be double-minded: For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord; for [he is] a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. For to them that ask for the grace that is from above, not for establishing of virtue, but for enjoyment of carnal pleasure and worldly lusts, God well-nigh shuts fast His ear, and in no wise grants them anything; for what things soever He forbids and wholly casts out by reason of the abomination that is in them, how could He grant them to any? And the spring of all sweetness, how could it give forth a bitter stream? But that unto the lovers of spiritual gifts with rich and readiest hand He distributes blessings, thou shalt easily perceive, when thou hearest Him saying unto them by the mouth of Isaiah the prophet: While thou art yet speaking, 1 will say, What is it? and by the voice of the Psalmist: The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayer.

So having determined and expressly declared that the enjoyment of the heavenly blessings, supplied, that is, through Him by the Father, is both due to them that love Him, and in very truth shall be theirs; He straightway goes on to describe the power of love, and instructs us excellently and irreproachably, for our profit, with intent that we should devote ourselves to the pursuit thereof. For albeit a man say that he loves God, he will not therefore straightway win the credit of truly loving, forasmuch as the power of virtue stands not in bare speech, nor is the beauty of piety towards God fashioned in naked words; but rather it is really distinguished by means of good deeds effected and an obedient temper; and the keeping of the Divine precepts best gives living expression to love towards the Divinity, and presents the picture of a virtue wholly living and true; not sketched out in mere sounds that flow from the tongue, as we have said, but gleaming as it were and altogether radiant with brilliant colours, to wit, the portraits of good works. And indeed our Lord Jesus the Christ shows us this plainly, when He says: Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father, Which is in heaven. For the proof of faith lies not in barren words or professions, but in the qualities of acts, and indeed the Holy Scripture says that it is dead when the works do not follow therewith. For the knowledge that God is One, it says, we shall find, not only in human minds, but in the unclean devils themselves; who also shudder, even involuntarily, at the power of Him that made them. Howbeit to keep the radiance of their acts concurrent with their faith is manifestly the beauty and ornament of those only who truly love God. So then the proof of love and the most perfect definition of faith is the observance of the Evangelic decrees and the keeping of the Divine precepts. And perhaps it would be in no wise difficult to add other things hereunto, akin in their drift; only that I suppose they do not suit the present occasion. Wherefore we must once more betake ourselves to such points as are more suitable to what lies before us. If ye love Me, He says, ye will keep My commandments. For indeed thou must understand once again and call well to mind that oftentimes, when conversing with His own disciples or even with the Jews themselves, He would say: The words that I speak are not Mine, but His Who sent Me; and again: I speak not from Myself, but the Father Which sent Me, He hath given Me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak; and again: The things therefore which I speak, are not Mine, but His Who sent Me. And yet now again, notwithstanding He has confessed at large, up and down His discourses, that the words He addressed to us are God the Father's, He here says they are His own commandments, which He has spoken to us. And no one that has sense will suppose that He speaks falsely, for let not this thought come into the mind of a Christian; and moreover He will of course speak truly, forasmuch as He is Himself the Truth. For it was not in the manner of one of the prophets, as if with the rank of a minister and a servant, that He conveyed the message from the Father to us; but as bearing such likeness to Him that not even in word was He haply observed to differ, but rather naturally to speak on such wise as the Father Himself might peradventure talk with us. For the exact similarity of essence leads us to believe that the Son also corresponds in His utterances to Him that begat Him; and inasmuch as He is Himself the Word and Wisdom and Purpose of God the Father, He says that He has received commandment what to say and what He shall speak. For we also ourselves individually see that our own minds well-nigh even lay a commandment on our speech uttered through words, as it proceeds to the world without, that it shall interpret what is in the mind itself. Small indeed is the force of the illustration as applied to God; but notwithstanding this, by taking the analogy of human things to assure us of the things that transcend them, we apprehend the Divine Mysteries as it were in a mirror and darkly.

Having determined and expressly declared that the enjoyment of the heavenly blessings (supplied, that is, through him by the Father) is both due to those who love him and in very truth shall be theirs, he immediately goes on to describe the power of love. He provides excellent and irreproachable instruction to us for our profit with the intent that we should devote ourselves to its pursuit. For even if a person says that he loves God, he will not immediately merit credit for having true love of God, since the power of virtue does not stand on bare speech alone, nor piety on naked words. Rather, it is distinguished by performance of good deeds and an obedient disposition. Keeping the divine commandments is the best way to give living expression to our love toward God. It presents the picture of a life lived in all its fullness and truth. It is not a life sketched out in mere sounds that flow from the tongue. It gleams instead with the altogether radiant and brilliant colors that paint a portrait of good works.

We need everywhere works and actions, not a mere show of words. For to say and to promise is easy for any one, but to act is not equally easy. Why have I made these remarks? Because there are many at this time who say that they fear and love God, but in their works show the contrary; but God requireth that love which is shown by works. Wherefore He said to the disciples, "If ye love Me, keep My commandments." For after He had told them, "Whatsoever ye shall ask, I will do it," that they might not deem the mere "asking" to be availing, He added, "If ye love Me," "then," He saith, "I will do it." And since it was likely that they would be troubled when they heard that, "I go to the Father," He telleth them "to be troubled now is not to love, to love is to obey My words. I have given you a commandment that ye love one another, that ye do so to each other as I have done to you; this is love, to obey these My words, and to yield to Him who is the object of your love."

Above He said "I will do everything you ask"; now He shows that one must ask not simply, but with love for Him and the keeping of the commandments. For then I will do it, when you ask in this manner.

And in another way. Hearing that they would be left by Him, they could naturally become saddened and troubled in their souls. He says: "Love for Me consists not in being saddened and troubled, but in obeying My words. I gave you the commandment not to fear 'those who kill the body' (Matt. 10:28). If you love Me, then keep it and no longer grieve over My death. For it is not fitting for one who keeps the aforementioned commandment to grieve. How then, not keeping My commandment, but fearing death, do you say that you love Me?"

Above, our Lord consoled his disciples over his leaving by promising that they would be able to approach the Father. But because it might seem that this was in the distant future, and in the meantime they would still be in sorrow without their Teacher, he here soothes their sorrow by promising them the Holy Spirit. First, we see the preparation needed to receive the Holy Spirit; secondly, the Holy Spirit is promised, he will give you another Paraclete. Thirdly, this promise is clarified, to be with you forever. Preparation for receiving the Holy Spirit was necessary both for the disciples and for Christ.

The disciples needed a twofold preparation: love in their hearts and obedience in their work. Our Lord assumes they have one of these, for he says, If you love me. And it is clear that you do because you are sad over my leaving: "You also are witnesses, because you have been with me from the beginning" (15:27). The other he commands for the future, keep my commandments. This is like saying: You don't express your love for me by tears but by obedience to my commands, for this is a clear sign of love: "If a man love me, he will keep my word" (14:23). Thus, two things prepare one to receive the Holy Spirit. Since the Holy Spirit is love, he is given only to those who love: "I love those who love me" (Prv 8:17). Likewise, he is given to the obedient: "To this we are witnesses" (Acts 3:15); "I have put my Spirit upon him" (Is 42:1).

Yet is it true that it is the obedience of the disciples and their love for Christ that prepare them for the Holy Spirit? It seems not, because the love by which we love God is from the Holy Spirit: "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us" (Rom 5:5). Further, our obedience is from the Holy Spirit: "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God" (Rom 8:14); "I have run in the way of your commandments when you enlarged my heart" (Ps 119:32). One might answer that it is by loving the Son that we deserve to receive the Holy Spirit, and having him, we love the Father. But this is false because our love for the Father and the Son is the same love.

Accordingly, we should say that it is characteristic of the gifts of God that if one makes good use of a gift granted to him, he deserves to receive a greater gift and grace. And one who badly uses a gift, has it taken from him. For we read in Matthew (25:24) that the talent which the lazy servant received from his master was taken from him because he did not use it well, and it was given to the one who had received five talents. It is like this with the gift of the Holy Spirit. No one can love God unless he has the Holy Spirit: because we do not act before we receive God's grace, rather, the grace comes first: "He loved us first" (1 Jn 4:10). We should say, therefore, that the apostles first received the Holy Spirit so that they could love God and obey his commands. But it was necessary that they make good use, by their love and obedience, of this first gift of the Holy Spirit in order to receive the Spirit more fully. And so the meaning is, If you love me, by means of the Holy Spirit, whom you have, and obey my commandments, you will receive the Holy Spirit with greater fullness.

Paraclete, i. e. Comforter. They had then one Comforter, who comforted and elevated them by the sweetness of His miracles, and His preaching.

I will ask--He says, as being the inferior in respect of His humanity--My Father, with Whom I am equal and consubstantial in respect of My Divine nature.

It was good that he said "another" so that you might not think that the Son is the Spirit, for there is a unity of the name and no Sabellian confusion of the Son and of the Spirit.

The apostle says that the Comforter—the title given to the third person of the Trinity—is God. In his epistle to the Corinthians he says, "God, who comforts those who are cast down, comforts us." The Holy Spirit who comforts those who are cast down is therefore God.… Or if they rather take these words of the apostle as applying to the Father or the Son, let them no longer, then, separate the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son or make the Holy Spirit appear less than the Son, when it is his peculiar [office] to offer comfort.

But when He says, "I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Paraclete," He intimates that He Himself is also a paraclete. For paraclete is in Latin called advocatus (advocate); and it is said of Christ, "We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." But He said that the world could not receive the Holy Spirit, in much the same sense as it is also said, "The minding of the flesh is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God; neither indeed can be;" just as if we were to say, Unrighteousness cannot be righteous. For in speaking in this passage of the world, He refers to those who love the world; and such a love is not of the Father. And thus the love of this world, which gives us enough to do to weaken and destroy its power within us, is in direct opposition to the love of God, which is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given unto us. "The world," therefore, "cannot receive Him, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him." For worldly love possesseth not those invisible eyes, whereby, save in an invisible way, the Holy Spirit cannot be seen.

If we too, dearly beloved, love Christ perfectly in such a way that we prove the genuineness of this love by our observance of his commandments, he will ask the Father on our behalf, and the Father will give us another Paraclete. He will ask the Father through his humanity and will give [us another Paraclete] with the Father through his divinity. We must not suppose that it was only before his passion that he was asking on behalf of the church and that now, after his ascension, he is not also asking, since the apostle speaks of him, "who is at the right hand of God who also intercedes for us."

The usefulness of observance ought to move us to observe the commandments of God. For in keeping the commandments of God there is manifold usefulness, which is reduced to three benefits. The first benefit is the obtaining of divine gifts; the second is the revelation of the Sacred Scriptures; the third is the attainment of heavenly rewards. The first benefit in keeping the commandments of God is the obtaining of divine gifts: whence in John: "If you love me, keep my commandments, and I will ask my Father, and He will give you another Paraclete."

I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Paraclete. Paraclete means consoler or advocate: He says another, in which He implies that He Himself is a consoler and advocate; 1 John 2: "We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the just." He promises them another advocate who is eternal, because He Himself as consoler in bodily presence had been only for a time. That He may abide with you forever: not as with Saul, of whom 1 Kings 16 says "The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul" etc.

The question is asked concerning what he says: If you love me, keep my commandments: and afterwards: I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete. Therefore it seems that they could love and keep the commandments before the Holy Spirit was given to them. Or if they have him, why will he give and how? I respond: It must be said that they had the Holy Spirit for loving and keeping the commandments; but he was promised to them by the Lord for fuller effects and a greater gift. Hence Augustine: "It remains that we understand that he who loves has the Holy Spirit, and by having him merits to have more, and by having more loves more."

The question is asked concerning what he says: I will ask the Father. Augustine says, in On Nature and Grace, that "no one prays for that which he can do by himself": therefore if the Son prays for the giving of the Holy Spirit, the Son cannot give the Holy Spirit. To this it must be responded that he asks in the same way as he merits; and this according to his human nature, according to which he suffered and was exalted, and by his passion and prayer merited for us the gift of the Holy Spirit, and according to that nature he could not give, but obtain.

The question is asked concerning what he says: He will give you another Paraclete. For if the Paraclete is called an advocate, and an advocate is a mediator; but the Holy Spirit cannot be a mediator: therefore neither a Paraclete, therefore neither an advocate. I respond: It must be said that the Holy Spirit is called the Paraclete in a twofold signification: both because He is a consoler by the hope of pardon, whence He was given to us as a pledge of the eternal inheritance; and also because He is an advocate. But advocate is said in two ways: either with respect to the person, or with respect to the office. The Son is an advocate with respect to the person of the advocate, because He is the mediator; but the Holy Spirit with respect to the office. Now the office of the advocate is threefold, namely to intercede, and this the Holy Spirit has: Romans 8: The Spirit Himself intercedes for us with unutterable groanings. To respond, and this the Holy Spirit does; Matthew 10: Do not think about how or what you shall speak: for it shall be given to you in that hour what you shall speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. The third is to convict the opposing party, and this belongs to the Holy Spirit: below in chapter 16: When He shall come, He will convict the world of sin, etc.

He mingles once more the human with the Divine, and neither reverts to the pure glory of the Godhead, nor yet altogether confines His range within the limits of humanity, but traverses both, wondrously and at the same time indistinguishably too, forasmuch as He is at once both God and man. For He was God by His nature, inasmuch as He was the Fruit of the Father and the Effulgence of His essence; and again, He was man, inasmuch as He has become Flesh. Accordingly He speaks as God and at the same time as man: for after this manner it was possible to preserve duly such forms of language as befitted the dispensation in flesh. Notwithstanding, while we are searching for the meaning of the passage before us, we say this: that at this point also, of necessity, our Lord has introduced the mention of God the Father, for the building up of their faith, and for the exceeding profit of the hearers; as indeed the argument will demonstrate as it proceeds. For when He bade us ask in His Name, and revealed, along with the other truths, a manner of praying unused among the ancients, promising withal even very earnestly that He will give whatsoever things we wish to receive: with intent that He might not seem thereby to thrust aside the Person of God the Father, nor yet to curtail the power of Him Who begat Him, the power (I mean) of satisfying the aspirations of the saints, He said that the Father would be a Co-Supplier for our profit, and would join in bestowing on us the Paraclete: adding also the words "I will ask," as man; and referring peculiarly to the whole Divine and unspeakable nature what befits it especially, as in the Person of God the Father. For this was His custom, as we have oftentimes said already in the foregoing parts of this work.

Another Paraclete, however, is the name He gives to the Spirit that proceeds from the essence of God the Father and from that of Himself. For the kind of the essence is the same in the case of Both, not excluding the Spirit, but allowing the manner of His distinctness to be understood as lying solely in His being and subsisting in a separate personality. For the Spirit is not a Son, but we will accept in faith verily and properly to be and to subsist as That Which He is; for He is the Spirit of the Father and of the Son. But [the Son] knowing that He Himself also both is in truth a Paraclete and is so named in the Sacred Writings, He calls the Spirit another Paraclete; not on the ground that the Spirit can skill to effect in the Saints something else perchance more than what He also can, Whose Spirit He both is and is called. And that the Son also Himself both was named and is a Paraclete, John will bear record, in his own compositions, when he says: These things say I unto you, that ye may not sin. And if any man sin, we have a Paraclete with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and He is the propitiation for our sins. So Jesus calls the Spirit another Paraclete, willing Him to be conceived of as possessing the attributes of a proper personality; albeit having so close a likeness to Himself, and able so to work in exact correspondence what things soever He Himself might haply work, as that He might seem to be the Son Himself and no whit different: for He is His Spirit. And indeed Jesus called Him the Spirit of Truth, saying also in the discourse before us that He is Himself the Truth.

But any one will naturally say to those who suppose the Son alien to the essence of God the Father: "How is it, pray, that the Father gives the Spirit of Truth, that is, of the Son, not as foreign or alien, but as His own Spirit; notwithstanding that according to you He has the kind of His essence distinct from that of the Son, and, for of this there is no question, the Spirit is the Son's? And once more, how is it, if it be so that the Son is of another essence, that He gives the Spirit of the Father as His own?" For it is written that He breathed on His disciples, saying, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. So then will not a man suppose, and very rightly, or rather will he not be even firmly convinced, that the Son, being essentially partaker of the natural excellences of God the Father, has the Spirit after the same manner as the Father also would be understood to have Him: that is, not as something added or from without, for it were simple or rather mad to hold such an opinion; but as each of us has within himself his own breath, and pours it forth without from the inmost parts of his body? For indeed it was for this cause that Christ breathed on them even bodily, showing that as the breath proceeds bodily from the human mouth, so also from the Divine essence the [Spirit] from Him is in God-befitting manner poured forth. Forasmuch then as He is the Spirit both of God the Father and of the Son, how can it be but that the power They thus possess at once in division and in conjunction will be altogether one? For the Father is a Father and not a Son, and the Son is a Son and not a Father; notwithstanding, the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father; moreover, it is not the Father separately by Himself, or the Son separately by Himself, Who gives the Paraclete or the Holy Spirit, but rather He is supplied to the saints from the Father through the Son. For indeed on this account [we must understand that] when the Father is said to give, the Son also gives, through Whom are all things; and that when the Son is said to give, the Father also gives, of Whom are all things.

But that the Spirit is both Divine and not of another essence, in reference I mean to the Father and the Son, is I imagine doubtful to no one who is right-minded; and furthermore a necessary argument will convince us thereof. For if a man say that the Spirit is not of the essence of God, how then henceforward would the creature in receiving the Spirit be a partaker of God? And after what manner shall we be entitled temples of God, and be so, if we receive a created or an alien spirit, and not rather That Which is of God? And how are those who have a share of the Spirit partakers of the Divine nature, according to the words of the sacred writers, if He is in the number of the things that are made, and does not rather proceed for us from the Divine nature itself; not passing through it unto us, as something foreign to it, but so to speak becoming in us a certain quality of the Godhead, and dwelling in the saints, and remaining for ever----[as He does] if by cleansing the eye of their understanding by all goodness, and by unyielding earnestness in the pursuit of every virtue, they preserve the grace in their hearts. For Christ says that the Spirit is uncontainable and invisible for them that are in the world, that is, for those that savour of the things in the world, and choose to love the things that are on earth; yet that He is containable and easily beheld by the saints. For what reason? They who have an uncleanness hard to be washed out of them, and who have filled their own mind as it were with some unhealthy humour, do not narrowly consider the beauty of the Divine nature, nor yet accept the law of the Spirit, forasmuch as they are wholly tyrannised over by the passions of the flesh; whereas the good and sober, keeping their heart free from the evils that are in the world, voluntarily induce the Paraclete to dwell within themselves, and after receiving Him keep Him and (so far as it is attainable by men) behold Him spiritually, winning therefrom something large and great and enviable for their prize. For He will sanctify them, and will make them at once fulfillers of all good things, and will release them from the shame of man-befitting slavery, and will endue them with the prerogative of the adoption of sons. And Paul will bear witness to this, saying: And because ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

But the Holy Spirit was another Comforter differing not in nature but in operation. For whereas our Savior, in his office of mediator, and of messenger and as high priest, made supplication for our sins, the Holy Spirit is a Comforter in another sense, that is, as consoling our griefs. But do not infer from the different operations of the Son and the Spirit a difference of nature. For in other places we find the Holy Spirit performing the office of intercessor with the Father, as when "the Spirit himself intercedes for us." … And the Savior … pours consolation into those hearts that need it, as in Maccabees, he strengthened those of the people who were brought low.

(Didym. De Spiritu Sancto.) But the Holy Ghost was another Comforter: differing not in nature, but in operation. For whereas our Saviour in His office of Mediator, and of Messenger, and as High Priest, made supplication for our sins; the Holy Ghost is a Comforter in another sense, i. e. as consoling our griefs. But do not infer from the different operations of the Son and the Spirit, a difference of nature. For in other places we find the Holy Spirit performing the office of intercessor with the Father, as, The Spirit Himself intercedeth for us. (Rom. 8:26) And the Saviour, on the other hand, pours consolation into those hearts that need it: as in Maccabees, He strengthened those of the people that were brought low. (1 Macc. 14:15)

The Spirit came after Christ so that we would not lack a Comforter. But he is called "another" Comforter so that you might acknowledge his co-equality. For this word another defines an alter ego, a name of equal lordship, not of inequality. We do not use the word another for different kinds of things but for those that are consubstantial.

(v. Mor.) The Holy Spirit kindles in every one, in whom He dwells, the desire of things invisible. And since worldly minds love only things visible, this world receiveth Him not, because it rises not to the love of things invisible. In proportion as secular minds enlarge themselves by the spread of their desires, in that proportion they narrow themselves, with respect to admitting Christ.

(ii. Mor.) But if the Holy Spirit abides in the disciples, how is it a special mark of the Mediator that He abides in Him. (supr. 1:32. ἐπʼ αὐτὸν) We shall better understand, if we distinguish between the different gifts of the Spirit. In respect of those gifts without which we cannot attain to salvation, the Holy Spirit ever abides in all the Elect: but in respect of those which do not relate to our own salvation, but to the procuring that of others, He does not always abide in them. For He sometimes withdraws His miraculous gifts, that His grace may be possessed with humility. Christ has Him without measure and always.

There is then one God and Father, and not two or three; One who is; and there is no other besides Him, the only true [God]. For "the Lord thy God," saith [the Scripture], "is one Lord." And again, "Hath not one God created us? Have we not all one Father? And there is also one Son, God the Word. For "the only-begotten Son," saith [the Scripture], "who is in the bosom of the Father." And again, "One Lord Jesus Christ." And in another place, "What is His name, or what His Son's name, that we may know? " And there is also one Paraclete. For "there is also," saith [the Scripture], "one Spirit," since "we have been called in one hope of our calling." And again, "We have drunk of one Spirit," with what follows. And it is manifest that all these gifts [possessed by believers] "worketh one and the self-same Spirit." There are not then either three Fathers, or three Sons, or three Paracletes, but one Father, and one Son, and one Paraclete. Wherefore also the Lord, when He sent forth the apostles to make disciples of all nations, commanded them to "baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," not unto one [person] having three names, nor into three [persons] who became incarnate, but into three possessed of equal honour.

"And I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter." Again His speech is one of condescension. For since it was probable, that they not yet knowing Him would eagerly seek His society, His discourse, His presence in the flesh, and would admit of no consolation when He was absent, what saith He? "I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter," that is, "Another like unto Me." Let those be ashamed who have the disease of Sabellius, who hold not the fitting opinion concerning the Spirit. For the marvel of this discourse is this, that it hath stricken down contradictory heresies with the same blow. For by saying "another," He showeth the difference of Person, and by "Paraclete," the connection of Substance. But why said He, "I will ask the Father"? Because had He said, "I will send Him," they would not have so much believed and now the object is that He should be believed. For afterwards He declares that He Himself sendeth Him, saying, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost"; but in this place He telleth them that He asketh the Father, so as to render His discourse credible to them.

"He remaineth with you." This showeth that even after death It departeth not.

(Hom. lxxiv) But what had He more than the Apostles, if He could only ask the Father to give others the Spirit? The Apostles did this often even without praying.

(Hom. lxxv. 1) When He had cleansed His disciples by the sacrifice of His passion, and their sins were remitted, and they were sent forth to dangers and trials, it was necessary that they should receive the Holy Spirit abundantly. But they were made to wait some time for this gift, in order that they might feel the want of it, and so be the more grateful for it when it came.

For the Only Begotten of God himself desired no difference to be felt between himself and the Holy Spirit in the faith of believers and in the efficacy of his works because there is no diversity in their nature.

For the men of olden time and the law foretold to us the characteristics of the Church, and the Church represents those of the new dispensation which is to come. Whence we, having received Christ, saying, "I am the truth"

Happily the Lord Himself employs this expression of the person of the Paraclete, so as to signify not a division or severance, but a disposition (of mutual relations in the Godhead); for He says, "I will pray the Father, and He shall send you another Comforter ... even the Spirit of truth," thus making the Paraclete distinct from Himself, even as we say that the Son is also distinct from the Father; so that He showed a third degree in the Paraclete, as we believe the second degree is in the Son, by reason of the order observed in the Economy.

He is called "another Comforter," indeed; but in what way He is another we have already shown, "He shall receive of mine," says Christ, just as Christ Himself received of the Father's.

I will confer the grace of the Holy Spirit, he says, so that you may always have it with you to teach you the truth. He speaks of another Advocate, as of another instructor, a comforter. This is a doctrine for those in dire straits because the Spirit, through its grace, will make the afflictions inflicted on them by people lighter. And, as a consolation, through its gifts, it will enable them to easily endure their afflictions. This is what actually happened. Indeed, the more his disciples feared death before, the more they rejoiced in tribulations after the descent of the Spirit. He calls it "Spirit of truth" since it teaches nothing but the truth, nor can it ever change to the contrary in order to teach anything different from the truth. He says "another" in relation to himself, for while he was among them, he certainly filled the same role for them. In addition they received from the Holy Spirit the confirmation of all those things that he had taught them when he was present. Thus our Lord said, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you. And you will be my witness in Jerusalem, in all Judea and among the Samaritans, and all nations."

To this they could say: "How can we not grieve, when we are about to be deprived of Your comfort and guidance?" Therefore He says: "This will not be; you will not be left without comfort. For I will ask, that is, I will entreat the Father, and He will send you another Comforter, another, but one such as Me."

Let Sabellius be put to shame by these words, he who says that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one person. For listen: He will send "another" Comforter; therefore, the Person of the Spirit is distinct. Let Macedonius also be put to shame, he who says that the Spirit is of a different essence and inferior to the Son. For listen: the Spirit too is a Comforter, just as the Son is. Thus, the Spirit is a Comforter, just as the Son is. Therefore, the Spirit, being consubstantial with the Son, is without doubt consubstantial with the Father as well. For the Father and the Son are of one and the same essence.

Do not be surprised if He says "I will ask the Father." For He does not ask as a servant; but in order to assure the disciples that the Comforter Spirit will certainly come to them, He condescends to them and says "I will ask the Father." For if He had said "I will send," they would not have believed as much; but now, to make His word more credible, He says "I will ask the Father," that is, if it is necessary even to ask and to entreat, then I will do everything possible so that the Spirit comes to you. This is similar to how we ourselves often say "I will lay down my life so that such and such happens." Although often the matter does not require great effort, we nevertheless speak in this way, wishing to show that we will not refuse to make the effort.

Otherwise. Since the Lord offered Himself as a sacrifice to the Father on our behalf, propitiating Him by His death as High Priest, and then, after the destruction of sin and the cessation of enmity, the Spirit came to us, for this reason He says "I will pray the Father and He will give you the Comforter," that is, I will propitiate the Father on your behalf and reconcile Him with you, who were hostile to Him because of sin, and He, propitiated by My death for you and reconciled with you, will send you the Spirit.

"That He may abide with you forever." He said this also to comfort them. His coming is not like Mine — it is not for a time only, but will continue forever; He will not leave you even after your death, but will abide with you and glorify you; He abides always with all the saints, even after their death, all the more so since they are then even more elevated above fleshly passions.

Another preparation was needed for Christ, and as to this he says, And I will pray the Father, and so forth. Note that our Lord Jesus Christ, as a human being, is the mediator between God and humankind, as we see from 1 Timothy (2:5). And so as a human being he approaches God and asks heavenly gifts for us, and coming to us he lifts us up and leads us to God. And so, because he had already come to us, and by giving us the commandments of God had led believers to God, he still had to return to the Father and ask for spiritual gifts: "Approaching God by himself he is able to save forever" (Heb 7:25). He does this by asking the Father; and he says this, I will pray the Father: "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives and he gave gifts to men" (Eph 4:8).

Note that it is the same person who asks that the Paraclete be given and who gives the Paraclete. He asks as a human being, he gives as God. And he says I will pray in order to banish their sorrow over his leaving them, because his very leaving is the reason they can now receive the Holy Spirit.

Now we see the promise of the Holy Spirit. The word Paraclete is Greek, and means "Consoler." He says, he will give you another Paraclete, that is, the Father, although not without the Son, will give the Holy Spirit, who is the Consoler, since he is the spirit of love. It is love that causes spiritual consolation and joy: "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy" (Gal 5:22). The Holy Spirit is our advocate: "We do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words" (Rom 8:26).

The fact that he says, another, indicates a distinction of persons in God, in opposition to Sabellius.

An objection. The word "Paraclete" suggests an action of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, by saying another Paraclete, a difference in nature seems to be indicated, because different actions indicate different natures. Thus the Holy Spirit does not have the same nature as the Son.

I reply that the Holy Spirit is a consoler and advocate, and so is the Son. John says that the Son is an advocate: "We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteousness" (1 Jn 2:1). In Isaiah we are told he is a consoler: "The Spirit of the Lord has sent me to comfort those who mourn" (Is 61:1). Yet the Son and the Holy Spirit are not consolers and advocates in the same way, if we consider the appropriation of persons. Christ is called an advocate because as a human being he intercedes for us to the Father; the Holy Spirit is an advocate because he makes us ask. Again, the Holy Spirit is called a consoler because he is formally love. But the Son is a consoler because he is the Word. The Son is a consoler in two ways: because of his teaching and because the Son gives the Holy Spirit and incites love in our hearts. Thus the word, another, does not indicate a different nature in the Son and in the Holy Spirit. Rather, it indicates the different way each is an advocate and a consoler.

Now the promise of the Holy Spirit is given: first, we see how it is given; secondly, what the gift itself is; thirdly, those who receive it (v 17).

The Spirit is truly given because it is given forever. Thus he says, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth. When something is given to a person only for a time, this is not a true giving; but there is a true giving when something is given to be kept forever. And so the Holy Spirit is truly given because he is to remain with them forever. He is with us for ever: in this life he enlightens and teaches us, bringing things to our mind; and in the next life he brings us to see the very reality: "And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward" (1 Sam 16:13). Although Judas had received him, the Spirit did not remain with him forever, because he did not receive him to remain with him forever, but only for a temporary righteousness.

According to Chrysostom, one could say that our Lord said these things to dispel a certain physical interpretation they might have. They could have imagined that this Paraclete, which was to be given to them, would also leave them after a while by some kind of suffering, like Christ. He rejects this when he says, to be with you for ever. This is like saying: The Spirit will not suffer death as I do, nor will he leave you.

We saw above that it was said to John the Baptist: "He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit" (1:33). It seems from this that it is peculiar to Christ that the Holy Spirit remain with him forever. Yet this is not true if he also remains with the disciples forever.

According to Chrysostom, the solution is that the Holy Spirit is said to remain in us by his gifts. Certain gifts of the Holy Spirit are necessary for salvation; these are found in all the saints and always remain in us, as charity, which never leaves (1 Cor 13:8), since it will continue into the future. Other gifts are not necessary for salvation, but are given to the faithful so they can manifest the Spirit: "To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good" (1 Cor 12:7). With this in mind, the Holy Spirit is with the disciples and the saints forever by the first type of gift. But it is peculiar to Christ that the Spirit is always with him by the second type of gift, for Christ always has a plenitude of power to work miracles and to prophesy, and so on. This is not true of others, because, as Gregory says, the spirits of the prophets are not under the control of the prophets.

Thus, his coming would not be perceived by those who think only about visible matters … since whatever they do not see with their eyes they cannot know or even imagine to exist, whereas those who can partake of the Spirit are able to perceive him when he comes. They have a better perception of spiritual things because they are partakers of the Spirit and thus distinguish themselves from the world since they are filled with the Spirit. Through their participation with the divine [Spirit], they have a unique understanding of his art and the divine power behind it, just as someone who has wisdom or a certain art understands in himself what he has, even if it remains unknown to his neighbors.

The Lord called the Spirit "Spirit of truth" and "Paraclete," showing that the Triad is complete in him. In him the Word makes glorious the creation and, by bestowing on it divine life and sonship, draws it to the Father. But that which joins creation to the Word cannot belong to the creatures. And that which bestows sonship upon the creation could not be alien from the Son. For we should have otherwise to seek another spirit, so that by him this Spirit might be joined to the Word. But that would be absurd. The Spirit, therefore, does not belong to things originated. He pertains to the Godhead of the Father, and in him the Word makes things originated divine. But he in whom creation is made divine cannot be outside the Godhead of the Father.

"But ye," He adds, "shall know Him; for He shall dwell with you, and be in you." He will be in them, that He may dwell with them; He will not dwell with them to the end that He may be in them: for the being anywhere is prior to the dwelling there. But to prevent us from imagining that His words, "He shall dwell with you," were spoken in the same sense as that in which a guest usually dwells with a man in a visible way, He explained what "He shall dwell with you" meant, when He added the words, "He shall be in you." He is seen, therefore, in an invisible way: nor can we have any knowledge of Him unless He be in us. For it is in a similar way that we come to see our conscience within us: for we see the face of another, but we cannot see our own; but it is our own conscience we see, not another's. And yet conscience is never anywhere but within us: but the Holy Spirit can be also apart from us, since He is given that He may also be in us. But we cannot see and know Him in the only way in which He may be seen and known, unless He be in us.

But further, lest any should imagine that the Father and Son only, without the Holy Spirit, make their abode with those that love Them, let him recall what was said above of the Holy Spirit, "Whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye shall know Him; for He shall dwell with you, and shall be in you." Here you see that, along with the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit also taketh up His abode in the saints; that is to say, within them, as God in His temple. The triune God, Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, come to us while we are coming to Them: They come with help, we come with obedience; They come to enlighten, we to behold; They come to fill, we to contain: that our vision of Them may not be external, but inward; and Their abiding in us may not be transitory, but eternal. The Son doth not manifest Himself in such a way as this to the world: for the world is spoken of in the passage before us as those, of whom He immediately adds, "He that loveth me not, keepeth not my sayings." These are such as never see the Father and the Holy Spirit: and see the Son for a little while, not to their attainment of bliss, but to their condemnation; and even Him, not in the form of God, wherein He is equally invisible with the Father and the Holy Spirit, but in human form, in which it was His will to be an object of contempt in suffering, but of terror in judging the world.

Only the Spirit can adequately glorify the Lord. "He will glorify me," not as a creature, but as the Spirit of truth, since he himself is truth shining brightly. He is the Spirit of wisdom, revealing Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God, in his own greatness. As the Paraclete he reflects the goodness of the Paraclete (the Father)29 who sent him, and his own dignity reveals the majesty of him from whom he proceeded.… If we are illumined by divine power and fix our eyes on the beauty of the image of the invisible God, and [if we] through the image are led up to the indescribable beauty of its source, it is because we have been inseparably joined to the Spirit of knowledge. He gives those who love the vision of truth the power that enables them to see the image. And this power is himself. He does not reveal it to them from outside sources but leads them to knowledge personally: "No one knows the Father except the Son," and "No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except in the Holy Spirit." Notice that it does not say through the Spirit but in the Spirit. It also says, "God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth," and "in your light do we see light," through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, "the true light that enlightens every one who comes into the world." He reveals the glory of the Only Begotten in himself, and he gives true worshipers the knowledge of God in himself. The way to divine knowledge ascends from one Spirit through the one Son to the one Father.

He calls "the world" the inhabitants of this world who are given over to love of it. In contrast, the saints are on fire with a desire for heavenly things.… And so, anyone who is searching for consolation outwardly in the things of the world is not capable of being reformed inwardly by the favor of divine consolation. Whoever yearns after lowly delight cannot receive the Spirit of truth. The Spirit of truth flees from a heart it discerns is subject to vanity and restores by the light of his coming only those it beholds carrying out the commandments of truth out of love.

Note too, that when He calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit of truth, He shows that the Holy Spirit is His Spirit: then when He says He is given by the Father, He declares Him to be the Spirit of the Father also. Thus the Holy Ghost proceeds both from the Father, and from the Son.

The Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will give, namely another Paraclete, the Spirit of truth, etc. He describes this Spirit with respect to his effect, whence he calls him the Spirit of truth, because he teaches true things, just as the spirit of error teaches false things: below in the sixteenth chapter: "When he comes, he will teach you all truth." He also describes him with respect to his dwelling, because not in unbelievers but in believers, not in carnal men but in spiritual ones; on account of which he adds: Whom the world cannot receive. And the reason is that it is blind through unbelief; because it does not see him, by open knowledge, nor does it know him, by any understanding whatsoever; Wisdom 1: "The Holy Spirit of discipline will flee from the deceitful and will withdraw himself from thoughts that are without understanding"; and 1 Corinthians 2: "The natural man does not perceive the things that are of God." But you shall know him, because he shall abide with you and shall be in you: Revelation 2: "To him who overcomes I will give the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a name written, which no one knows except he who receives it." Concerning this knowledge, Wisdom 15: "To know you is perfect justice, and to know your justice and your power is the root of immortality." And it should be noted that he says: He shall abide with you and shall be in you, signifying the twofold grace of the Holy Spirit: prevenient and subsequent; the Psalm: "His mercy shall go before me"; and in another Psalm: "And your mercy shall follow me all the days of my life."

It is asked concerning what He says, that the world does not know the Holy Spirit, but you shall know Him, because He shall be in you. But it is objected: because the Holy Spirit is in all things, in the good as well as in the evil, since He is God: therefore all know Him. If you say that He does not speak of being present by presence, but by grace; this is false, because no one knows whether he is worthy of love or of hatred: therefore no one knows whether he has the Holy Spirit with respect to the effect of grace. I respond: It must be said that here He speaks of knowledge of the Holy Spirit in His manifest effect; whence He speaks of His being in us, not by essence, but by effect, and therefore the response to the first objection is clear. But it should be noted that the effect of the Holy Spirit is twofold: one kind, which is in us and regards us, such as to love, to believe, and to fear, and we are certain that we have these when we have them; another kind, which regards something above us, namely to make pleasing, which is to make acceptable to God, and with respect to this effect it is not known to us except through special revelation; it can nevertheless be known probably, though not with certainty.

No one can be saved in whom the Trinity does not dwell: for the entire Trinity dwells simultaneously in a person through grace: but the Trinity does not dwell except in one who believes: therefore no one can be saved unless he believes the most blessed Trinity. The minor is proved through that which is said in John fourteen, that the Spirit of truth the world cannot receive, because it does not see him nor know him: but you shall know him, because he shall abide with you and shall be in you.

But if the Holy Spirit abides in the disciples, how is it a special mark of the Mediator that [the Spirit] abides in him.… We shall better understand if we distinguish between the different gifts of the Spirit.… In respect of those gifts without which we cannot attain to salvation, the Holy Spirit ever abides in all the elect. But in respect of those that do not relate to our own salvation but to procuring that of others, [the Spirit] does not always abide in them.… For he sometimes withdraws his miraculous gifts so that his grace may be possessed with humility.… Christ … has him without measure and always.

"He remaineth with you." This showeth that even after death It departeth not. But lest when they heard of the "Paraclete," they should imagine a second Incarnation, and expect to see It with their eyes, He setteth them right by saying, "Whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not." "He will not be with you as I have been, but will dwell in your very souls"; for this is the, "shall be in you." He calleth it the "Spirit of truth"; thus explaining the types in the Old Testament. "That He may be with you." What is, "may be with you"? That which He saith Himself, that "I am with you." Besides, He also implieth something else, that "the case of the Spirit shall not be the same as Mine, He shall never leave you." "Whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not." "Why, what is there belonging to the other Persons that is visible?" Nothing; but He speaketh here of knowledge; at least He addeth, "neither knoweth Him." For He is wont, in the case of exact knowledge, to call it "sight"; because sight is clearer than the other senses, by this He always representeth exact knowledge. By "world," He here speaketh of "the wicked," thus too comforting the disciples by giving to them a special gift. See in how many particulars He raised His discourse concerning It. He said, "He is Another like unto Me"; He said, "He will not leave you"; He said, "Unto you alone He cometh, as also did I"; He said, that "He remaineth in you"; but not even so did He drive out their despondency. For they still sought Him and His society. To cure then this feeling, He saith, "I will not leave you orphans, I will come unto you."

Again he said to me, "Love the truth, and let nothing but truth proceed from your mouth, that the spirit which God has placed in your flesh may be found truthful before all men; and the Lord, who dwelleth in you, will be glorified, because the Lord is truthful in every word, and in Him is no falsehood. They therefore who lie deny the Lord, and rob Him, not giving back to Him the deposit which they have received. For they received from Him a spirit free from falsehood. If they give him back this spirit untruthful, they pollute the commandment of the Lord, and become robbers."

"The Spirit of truth," He says. That is, the Spirit not of the Old Testament, for it is a figure and shadow, but of the New, which is truth. Those who lived under the Law also had the Spirit, but they had it in figures and shadows, whereas now, one might say, the Truth itself essentially descended to the disciples.

And lest they think that the Spirit, like Him, would also become incarnate, He says that the world cannot receive Him. "He," He says, "will teach you not as I do, for the world cannot receive Him bodily. He will dwell in your very souls."

Otherwise. "The world" cannot receive Him, that is, people who are depraved and minded toward worldly things, because they "do not see Him," that is, because His essence is incomprehensible. For by "seeing" He means here contemplation by the mind, which is why He also added "and does not know Him." Clearly, by the word "does not see," He expressed that which "does not know" means.

So, He comforts the apostles when He says that the world cannot receive Him, but to you this excellent gift will be given and will abide "with you" and, what is even more, will abide "in you." For by the word "with you" He indicates the outward help from nearness, while "in you" indicates the inward indwelling and strengthening. This also shows that He is God. For God says: "I will dwell in you and will walk among you" (Lev. 26:12). So, the world cannot receive the Spirit because it does not know Him, but you know Him. Why? Because you are not of the world. That is why you are able to receive Him, and He now abides "with you" and will always be "in you."

The Spirit is a most excellent gift because he is the Spirit of truth. He is called the Spirit to show the subtlety or fineness of his nature, for the word "spirit" is used to indicate something which is undiscoverable and invisible. And so what is invisible is usually referred to as a spirit. The Holy Spirit also is undiscoverable and invisible: "The Spirit blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes" (3:8). He is also called the Spirit to indicate his power, because he moves us to act and work well. For the word "spirit" indicates a certain impulse, and that is why the word spiritus can also mean the wind: "For all who are impelled by the Spirit of God are sons of God" (Rom 8:14); "Let thy good spirit lead me on a level path" (Ps 143:10).

He adds, of truth, because this Spirit proceeds from the Truth and speaks the truth, for the Holy Spirit is nothing else than Love. (When a person is impelled to love earthly things and the world, he is impelled by the spirit of the world: "Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God" (1 Cor 2:12); and when one is impelled to works of the flesh, he is not impelled by the Holy Spirit, as Ezekiel (13:3) says: "Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit.")

But the Holy Spirit leads to the knowledge of the truth, because he proceeds from the Truth, who says, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" (14:6). In us, love of the truth arises when we have conceived and considered truth. So also in God, Love proceeds from conceived Truth, which is the Son. And just as Love proceeds from the Truth, so Love leads to knowledge of the truth: "He will glorify me because he will receive from me and declare it to you" (16:14). And therefore Ambrose says that any truth, no matter who speaks it, is from the Holy Spirit. "No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor 12:3); "When the Paraclete comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth..." (15:26). It is a characteristic of the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth because it is love which impels one to reveal his secrets: "I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you" (15:15); "He showed it," the truth, "to his friend" (Job 36:33).

The ones who receive the Holy Spirit are those who believe; he says, whom the world cannot receive. First, he shows to whom the Spirit is not given; secondly, to whom he is given, you will know him. First, he shows that he is not given to the world; secondly, he mentions why (v 17).

As to the first he says, whom the world cannot receive. Our Lord is here calling those who love the world, the "world." As long as they love the world they cannot receive the Holy Spirit, for he is the love of God. And no one can love, as his destination, both God and the world: "If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him" (1 Jn 2:15). As Gregory says: "The Holy Spirit inflames everything he fills with a desire for invisible things. And because worldly hearts love only visible things, the world does not receive him, because it does not rise to the love of what is invisible. For worldly minds, the more they widen themselves with their desires, the more they narrow the core of their hearts to the Spirit" (Morals V). "The Holy Spirit of discipline will flee from the deceitful" (Wis 1:5).

In regard to the second, why he is not given to the world, he says, because it neither sees him nor knows him. For spiritual gifts are not received unless they are desired: "She," divine Wisdom, "hastens to make herself known to those who desire her." And they are not desired unless they are somehow known. Now there are two reasons why they are not known. First, because one does not want to know them; and secondly, because one is not capable of such knowledge. These two reasons apply to the worldly. In the first place, they do not desire this, and as to this he says, the world neither sees him, that is, does not want to know him: "They have fixed their eyes on the ground" (Ps 16:11). Further, they are not capable of knowing him, and as to this he says, nor knows him. As Augustine says: "Worldly love does not have invisible eyes which alone can see the invisible Holy Spirit." "The sensual person does not perceive those things pertaining to the Spirit of God" (1 Cor 2:14). Just as a tainted tongue does not taste sweet flavors, so a soul tainted by the corruption of the world does not taste the sweetness of heavenly things.

Here is the interpretation of Chrysostom. I say that he will give you another Paraclete, the Spirit of truth, but he will not assume flesh, because the world neither sees him nor knows him, that is, it will not receive him, but only you will.

Now he mentions, first of all, to whom the Spirit is given; secondly, he gives the reason. The Holy Spirit is given to believers: he says, you, who are moved by the Holy Spirit, will know him: "Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God" (1 Cor 2:12). This is because you scorn the world: "We look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen" (2 Cor 4:18).

The reason for this is, for he will dwell with you. Note, first, the familiarity of the Holy Spirit with the apostles, for he will dwell with you, that is, for your benefit: "Let your good spirit lead me on a level path!" (Ps 143:10); "O, how good is your spirit, O Lord, in all things" (Wis 12:1). Secondly, note how intimate his indwelling is, for he will be in you, that is, in the depths of your heart: "I will put a new Spirit within them" (Ez 11:19).

After the promise of the Holy Spirit, lest any should suppose that the Lord was to give Him, as it were, in place of Himself, in any such way as that He Himself would not likewise be with them, He added the words: "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you." Orphani [Greek] are pupilli [parentless children] in Latin. The one is the Greek, the other the Latin name of the same thing: for in the psalm where we read, "Thou art the helper of the fatherless" [in the Latin version, pupillo], the Greek has orphano. Accordingly, although it was not the Son of God that adopted sons to His Father, or willed that we should have by grace that same Father, who is His Father by nature, yet in a sense it is paternal feelings toward us that He Himself displays, when He declares, "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you." In the same way He calls us also the children of the bridegroom, when He says, "The time will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall the children of the bridegroom fast." And who is the bridegroom, but Christ the Lord?

(Tr. lxxv. 1) That no one might think, because our Lord was about to give the Holy Spirit, that He would therefore not be present Himself in Him, He adds, I will not leave you comfortless. The Greek word ὀρφανοὶ signifies "wards." Although then the Son of God has made us the adopted sons of the Father, yet here He Himself shows the affection of a Father towards us.

I will not leave you orphans. Here secondly, to the disciples who keep the commandments, he promises consolation concerning his visitation; on account of which he says: I will not leave you orphans, that is, desolate: I will come to you, namely by visiting: in the last chapter of Mark the Angel said: "He will go before you into Galilee; there you shall see him, as he told you." And just as the Holy Spirit is not sent except to the good, so also the visitation of Christ is only to the good.

Of necessity our Lord Jesus the Christ at this point finishes the discourse touching the Holy and Consubstantial Trinity. For He has already shown before, setting forth both words and facts for assurance unto them that love Him, both that He is in His nature God and is begotten of God the Father, and is of equal might and like mind with Him. For to this end He also at one time said: What I speak, I speak not from Myself; and at another time again: If I do not the works of My Father, believe Me not. But if I do them, though ye believe not Me, believe My works. But besides these things it was in no small measure needful also that men should receive the right and irreproachable doctrine with reference to the Holy Spirit Himself; for so might the minds of His hearers be directed wholly unto Tightness of faith. Therefore I will set forth in few words what Christ teaches us by the passage before us. By saying that "Another" shall be sent unto us from God the Father, He once more, in accordance with His careful and wise plan, renders the expression of the faith secure. For it was only likely that some, not rightly understanding what was said, would think that He meant that the Holy Spirit was not of the essence of God (as in fact some of the witless did suppose), but that He was in His nature something different; for to say "Another," among the more ignorant sort at least, might carry the appearance of some such ground for its use. So with intent to exhibit clearly that He does not wish the kind of distinctness which the Spirit possesses to be understood in any other way, save solely in virtue of His being in a peculiar and proper sense that which His Name implies, for the Spirit is a Spirit and not a Son, even as the Son is a Son and not a Father; after saying that the Paraclete shall be sent forth, He promises that He will come Himself; showing that the Spirit is not something other than what He is Himself, forasmuch as He is a proper Spirit proceeding from the Father, and is conceived of as the Son's, and for this cause is also called His Mind. For example, Paul says, signifying withal this very thing: But we have the Mind of Christ. So then, understanding the matter rightly and without all error, and rejecting as ungainly all perversion in any direction contrary to what is reasonable, and following the words of the inspired Scripture, we say that He is not something different from the Son so far as regards natural identity, but the same; yet with characteristics both distinct and personal. For, so understanding it, I imagine, the inspired Paul also oftentimes mingles Them and introduces Either as identical with the Other; the Paraclete, I mean, and the Son. For thou wilt find him saying: But if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His, and again directly after: And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of the sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. Hearest thou how he expressly confesses that they have Christ who have received His Spirit? And he says also in another place: For I think that I also have the Spirit of God. And he who spake this unto us, also says: If ye seek a proof of Christ That speaketh in Me; and oftentimes prays that in us also, who have believed, Christ may dwell by faith, howbeit himself receiving the Holy Spirit. And let no one suppose that we say that he annuls the fixity of name or person in respect of each, or that he says that the Son is not a Son but a Spirit, or at least that he does not know the Spirit as Spirit, but says He is a Son; this was not the aim in his mind, and indeed neither do we so believe. For he knows how to count the Persons of the Holy and Coessential Trinity, and teaches that each of the Persons signified subsists in His proper distinctness: notwithstanding he proclaims clearly that the Holy Trinity is fixed in absolute identity. Else how ean it be that the Spirit is and is called God? For do ye not know, he says, that ye are a temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? But if, forasmuch as the Spirit dwelleth in us, we are made temples of God, how can the Spirit not be of God, i.e. of His Essence, whereas He makes God to dwell in us through Himself? So then by way of showing that the Spirit is not alien from His own Nature, the Only-begotten, having said that the Paraclete is being sent forth from the Father for the Saints, promises that He will come Himself and fill the place of a father, to the end that they be not found like some orphans destitute of the assistance of one to stand forth for them, and for this cause be found henceforth easy to be taken in the snares of the devil, and exceedingly easily assailed by the offences in the world, for all they be many and come as of necessity, by reason of the ungovernable madness of them that bring them to pass. So then for a shield and an irrefragable security unto our souls, the Father has given the Spirit of Christ, to fulfil in us His grace and presence and power. For it were impossible for a man's soul to effect ought that is good, or to have power over its own passions, or to escape the great subtilty of the snare of the devil, if it were not fortified by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and had not Christ Himself by reason thereof within itself. And indeed the inspired Psalmist? composing for us through the wisdom that was in him his thanksgivings on this behalf, cried aloud unto God: Lord, Thou didst crown us as with a shield of favour----meaning by a shield of favour nothing else than the Holy Spirit Who shields us, and constrains us, by gifts of unexpected strength, to [the fulfilling of] the good pleasure of God. And so He promises that none the less He will be present and will help through the Spirit them that believe on Him, albeit He ascend into the very heavens, after His Revival from the dead, now to appear in the presence of God for us, according to the words of Paul.

It is impossible for one's soul to accomplish anything good, or to have power over its own passions or to escape the great subtlety of the devil's snare if the soul is not fortified by the grace of the Holy Spirit and has Christ himself within it.… Christ promises nothing less than that he will be present and will help those who believe on him through the Spirit, even though he ascends into the heavens after his resurrection from the dead.

Now how it is that we are in Him through the sacrament of the flesh and blood bestowed upon us, He Himself testifies, saying, "And the world will no longer see Me, but ye shall see Me; because I live ye shall live also; because I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you." If He wished to indicate a mere unity of will, why did He set forth a kind of gradation and sequence in the completion of the unity, unless it were that, since He was in the Father through the nature of Deity, and we on the contrary in Him through His birth in the body, He would have us believe that He is in us through the mystery of the sacraments? and thus there might be taught a perfect unity through a Mediator, whilst, we abiding in Him, He abode in the Father, and as abiding in the Father abode also in us; and so we might arrive at unity with the Father, since in Him Who dwells naturally in the Father by birth, we also dwell naturally, while He Himself abides naturally in us also.

(Hom. lxxv. 1) At the first He said, Whither I go ye shall come; but as this was a long time off, He promises them the Spirit in the interval. And as they knew not what that was, He promises them that they most desired, His own presence, I will come to you: but intimates at the same time that they are not to look for the same kind of presence over again: Yet a little while, and the world seeth Me no more: as if He said, I will come to you, but not to live with you every day as I did before. And, I will come to you alone, He says, thus preventing any inconsistency with what He had said to the Jews: Henceforth ye shall not see Me.

"Do not be afraid," He says, "that I said to you 'I will send another Comforter.' Do not think that you will no longer see Me. For I will not depart from you forever. I will come and will not leave you orphans." Since at the beginning of the discourse He called them children, He now fittingly says "I will not leave you orphans."

Above, our Lord promised that the Holy Spirit would be our Consoler. But because the apostles had not risen very high in their knowledge of the Holy Spirit, and their attention was absorbed by the presence of Christ, this consolation seemed small to them. Thus, in this part, our Lord promises, first, that he will return; secondly, his own gifts (v 25). Concerning the first, he promises then that he will return; and then he gives the reason (v 21); thirdly, he answers a question for one of the disciples (v 22). Concerning the first, he first shows that he will return; secondly, the way he will return (v 19); and thirdly, he foretells the fruit of his return (v 20). Concerning the first, he shows why he needs to return; secondly, he promises to return, I will come to you (v 18).

The reason our Lord has to return is so that the disciples would not remain orphans; he says, I will not leave you orphans. The word "orphans" comes from the Greek, and indicates little children who do not have a father: "We have become orphans, fatherless; our mothers are like widows" (Lam 5:3).

Consider that we can have three fathers. One father gives us existence: "We have had earthly fathers," literally, fathers of our flesh (Heb 12:9). Another father would be one whose evil example we follow: "You are of your father the devil" (8:44). A third father would be one who gratuitously adopts us: "You have received the spirit of adoption of sons" (Rom 8:15). Now God does not adopt as his children those who imitate their father, the devil, for "What fellowship has light with darkness?" (2 Cor 6:14). And he does not adopt those who are too attached, in a worldly way, to their parents: "He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me" (Mt 10:37). But God does adopt as his children those who have become orphans by being stripped of their affection for sin and by abandoning a worldly love for their parents. "For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me up" (Ps 27:10); but much more one who has left them: "Forget your people and your father's house; and the king will desire your beauty" (Ps 45:10).

Note that Christ presents himself to his disciples as a father. Now although the word "father," if taken to indicate a person, is special to the Father, yet if it is taken to indicate an essence, it is appropriate for the entire Trinity. So our Lord said above (13:33): "Little children, yet a little while I am with you."

Christ promises to come when he says, I will come to you. But he had already come to them by taking on flesh: "Christ Jesus came into the world" (1 Tim 1:15). Still, he will come in three more ways. Two of these ways are bodily or physical. One is after the resurrection and before his ascension, when he leaves them by death and comes to them after the resurrection and stands among his disciples, as is stated below (c 20). The other bodily coming will be at the end of the world: "This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11); "And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory" (Lk 21:27). His third coming is spiritual and invisible, that is, when he comes to his faithful by grace, either in life or in death: "If he comes to me I will not see him" (Job 9:11).

He says, therefore, I will come to you, after the resurrection (and this is the first way of coming mentioned above) and "I will see you again" (16:22). Again, I will come to you at the end of the world: "The Lord will come to judge" (Is 3:14). And again I will come at your death to take you to myself: "I will come again and will take you to myself" (above v 3). And again, I will come to you, visiting you in a spiritual way: "We will come to him and make our home with him" (14:23).

He then goes on to say, "Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more." How so the world saw Him then; for under the name of the world are to be understood those of whom He spake above, when saying of the Holy Spirit, "Whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him." He was plainly visible to the carnal eyes of the world, while manifest in the flesh; but it saw not the Word that lay hid in the flesh: it saw the man, but it saw not God: it saw the covering, but not the Being within. But as, after the resurrection, even His very flesh, which He exhibited both to the sight and to the handling of His own, He refused to exhibit to others, we may in this way perhaps understand the meaning of the words, "Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye shall see me: because I live, ye shall live also."

What is meant by the words, "Because I live, ye shall live also"? Why did He speak in the present tense of His own living, and in the future of theirs, but just by way of promise that the life also of the resurrection-body, as it preceded in His own case, would certainly follow in theirs? And as His own resurrection was in the immediate future, He put the word in the present tense to signify its speedy approach: but of theirs, as delayed till the end of the world, He said not, ye live; but, "ye shall live." With elegance and brevity, therefore, by means of two words, one of them in the present tense and the other in the future, He gave the promise of two resurrections, to wit, His own in the immediate future, and ours as yet to come in the end of the world. "Because I live," He says, "ye shall live also:" because He liveth, therefore shall we live also. For as by man is death, by man also is the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. As it is only through the former that every one is liable to death, it is only through Christ that any one can attain unto life. Because we did not live, we are dead; because He lived, we shall live also. We were dead to Him, when we lived to ourselves; but, because He died in our behalf, He liveth both for Himself and for us. For, because He liveth, we shall live also. For while we were able of ourselves to attain unto death, it is not of ourselves also that life can come into our possession.

We have now, therefore, to understand, so far as He is pleased to unfold it, the meaning of the words, "Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye shall see me." It is true, indeed, that after a little while He was to withdraw even His body, in which the ungodly also were able to see Him, from their sight; for none of them saw Him after His resurrection. But since it was declared on the testimony of angels, "He shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven;" and our faith stands to this, that He will come in the same body to judge the living and the dead; there can be no doubt that He will then be seen by the world, meaning by the name, those who are aliens from His kingdom. And, on this account, it is far better to understand Him as having intended to refer at once to that epoch, when He said, "Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more," when in the end of the world He shall be taken away from the sight of the damned, that for the future He may be seen only of those with whom, as those that love Him, the Father and Himself are making their abode. But He said, "a little while," because that which appears tedious to men is very brief in the sight of God: for of this same "little while" our evangelist, John, himself says, "Little children, it is the last time."

(Tr. lxxv. 2) For the world saw Him then with the carnal eye, manifest in the flesh, though it did not see the Word hidden under the flesh. But after the resurrection He was unwilling to show even His flesh, except to His own followers, whom He allowed to see and to handle it: Yet a little while, and the world seeth Me no more; but ye shall see Me. But, inasmuch as the world, by which are meant all who are aliens from His kingdom, will see Him at the last judgment, it is better perhaps to understand Him here as pointing to that time, when He will be taken for ever from the eyes of the wicked, to be seen thenceforth by those who love Him. A little while, He says, for that which seems a long time to men, is but a moment in the eyes of God. Because I live, ye shall live also.

(Tr. lxxv. 3) But why does He speak of life as present to Him, future to them? Because His resurrection preceded, theirs was to follow. His resurrection was about so soon to take place, that He speaks of it as present; theirs being deferred till the end of the world, He does not say ye live, but ye shall live. Because He lives, therefore we shall live: As by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. (1 Cor. 15:21)

[Jesus] applied the word world to those who, being bound by this material and carnal life and beholding the truth by material sight alone, were ordained through their unbelief in the resurrection to see our Lord no more with the eyes of the heart.… For the carnal person who has never trained his mind for contemplation but rather keeps it buried deep in the lust of the flesh, as in mud, is powerless to look up to the spiritual light of the truth.

Yet a little while, and the world sees me no more, because after the Passion he did not appear to the worldly, but to the Apostles; Acts 10: "He gave him to be made manifest not to all the people, but to witnesses preordained by God." But you shall see me: because I live, through the life of glory, and you shall live, through the life of grace, which begins in faith: concerning which, Habakkuk 2: "But my just one shall live by faith."

Now that the Passion is close at hand, and brings along with it the moment of His Assumption, He says that He will be invisible to the world, that is, to them that value the enjoyment of things temporal before the Divine blessings, and set more store by earthly things than by heavenly. And by way of making our belief to the end thereof kindred and consistent with what has been already said above, we shall be right in saying, that God the Father has given the Paraclete, i.e. the Holy Spirit, of course through the Son; for all things are through Him from the Father. Notwithstanding He has come, not on all indiscriminately, both evil and good, but on them on whom it was fitting He should go forth. For so far forth as touches the most rich and unstinted grace of the Giver, no man of all in the earth remained a non-partaker: For I will pour out, He says in the prophets, of my Spirit on all flesh. Yet each man is unto himself an accessory cause of his possessing or else wholly failing to get the God-given blessing. For some men, because that in no wise do they strive to cleanse their own mind by all goodness, but love exceedingly to dwell in the evils in the world, shall abide non-partakers of the Divine grace, and shall not see Christ in themselves, forasmuch as they have a heart void of the Spirit. For this cause albeit they are ranged on the side of the Protector of the orphans they are torn in pieces by simply everything that is strong enough to overreach, be it a passion or a devil, or yet any other worldly lust, and by everything that can drag them down as it were and overpower them unto sin. Howbeit, unto the holy and them that were purposed to receive Him, He said, as was likely He would, forasmuch as they were going to endure none of those ills, I will not leave you orphans, I am coming unto you. And so He says He shall be invisible and wholly unbeheld by them that mind the hings in the world, after His Departure hence, I mean His Ascension into heaven. But He says He will be found visible unto the holy, forasmuch as the Holy Spirit is putting a certain Divine and spiritual flash in the eyes of their heart, and sowing therein all good knowledge.

For we shall either suppose that this is what He means by Yet a little while and the world beholdeth Me no more; but ye behold Me; or else turning aside to a different point of view----especially when there is intertwined with His words the saying Because I live, ye shall live also----we reason somewhat on this wise. For after His Revival from the dead, when He had effected for our nature the return unto that whereunto it existed from the beginning, and had made man incorruptible, He ascended, as it were by way of first-fruits and in the Temple of His own Body first, unto God the Father in heaven. But after in the meanwhile accomplishing a short time, He will descend again, as we believe, and will return again unto us, in the glory of His Father with the Holy Angels, and will set up the appalling tribunal before all men, both evil and good. For all created things shall come to judgment. And rendering becoming awards, corresponding to the life each one has led, He will say to them on the left, i.e. to those that have minded the things in the world: Depart from Me ye cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; howbeit to them on the right, i.e. to the holy and good: Come ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For they shall be with Christ and shall reign with Him, and shall revel in the heavenly blessings, having been made conformable to His Resurrection, and escaped the meshes of the ancient corruption, being endued with the long and ineffable life, and living endlessly with the ever-living Lord. For that they who have practised a life dear to God and exalted, shall be with Christ without ceasing, to wit contemplating His divine and unspeakable beauty, Paul will make clear where he says: For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord; and again, to them that have chosen to mortify worldly passions: For ye died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, Who is our life, shall be manifested, then shall ye also with Him be manifested in glory. So----for I will sum up the meaning of the Lord's saying----the lovers of the evil things in the world shall go down to Hades and be banished from the presence of Christ; howbeit there shall be with Him and dwell with Him for ever the lovers of virtue, they who have kept inviolate the earnest of the Spirit, and being with Him of a surety they shall also behold His Divine Beauty without all hindrance. For, he says, the Lord shall be thine eternal Light, and God thy glory. And it is also likely that this is what the Lord means to make manifest, when we hear Him saying: Yet a little while and the world beholdeth Me no more; but ye behold Me; because I live ye shall live also. Howbeit in no wise will He speak falsely in saying that the time intervening, before His Revelation as it were, is a little while. For to God Who always is, even what is a long time with us counts utterly for nothing; and the Psalmist will testify this when he says: For a thousand years in Thy sight, O Lord, are but as yesterday that is past, and a watch in the night.

Those who love evil in the world will go down to Hades and be banished from the presence of Christ. However, the lovers of virtue who have kept inviolate the earnest of the Spirit will be with him and dwell with him. And being with him surely they shall also behold his divine beauty without any hindrance. For he says, "the Lord shall be your eternal light and God shall be your glory."

For as that 'Comforter,' after the Ascension of the Mediator, being another Consoler of mankind, is in Himself invisible, so He inflames each one that He has filled to long after the invisible things. And because worldly hearts are set upon the things that are seen alone, the world receiveth Him not, because it doth not rise up to the love of the things that are unseen. For worldly minds, in proportion as they spread themselves out in interests without, contract the bosom of the heart against the admission of Him. And because out of mankind there are few indeed, who, being purified from the pollution of earthly desires, are opened by that purification to the receiving of the Holy Spirit, this word is called 'a hidden word,' since, surely, there are particular persons that receive that in the heart, which the generality of men know nothing of.

(Hom. lxxv. 2) To me however he seems to refer not only to the present life, but to the future; as if He said, The death of the cross shall not separate you from Me for ever, but only hide Me from you for a moment.

The world, that is, all the other people, sees me for a short time only, but you will see me again after my resurrection so that this vision of yours may testify that I am living again. And you will not only see me living, but the same thing will happen to you. When you also resurrect at the right time after your death, you will live and will participate in a second life. He does not say, "because I live" casually, that is, you will see me because I live. But he means You will witness the fact that I am alive, and by seeing it you will know that I resurrected from the dead and live and that I did not remain subject to death, as many believe.

And lest they think that He would appear in the body to them and to everyone as before, He says: "The world will no longer see Me. You alone will see Me after the resurrection. For I live; though I will accept death, yet I will rise again."

"And you shall live," that is, having seen Me, you will rejoice and, as if after death, will come alive from My appearing. Or also thus: "Just as My death served unto life, so you also, though you die, shall live." Therefore, do not grieve either over Me dying, or over yourselves. For even if you die, you shall live in the life to come.

As if He said, Though I shall die, I shall rise again. And ye shall live also, i. e. when ye see Me risen again, ye will rejoice, and be as dead men brought to life again.

Here he explains how he will return and shows that his return to the apostles will be in a special way. Since they might think that he would return to them as still subject to death, he excludes this, saying: Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more. If we explain this as referring to his return after the resurrection, the meaning is this: Yet a little while, that is, I will be with you only for a short time in this mortal flesh, and then I will be crucified; but after that, the world will see me no more. This is because after the resurrection he did not show himself to all, but only to witnesses pre-ordained by God, that is, to his disciples (Acts 1:3). Thus he says, but you will see me, that is, in my glorified and immortal body.

He gives the reason for this when he says, because I live and you will live. This clears up a difficulty. The disciples could have wondered how they would see him, since he would be dead, and they with him. So he says that this will not be the case, because I live, that is, I will live after the resurrection: "I died, and behold I am alive for evermore" (Rev 1:18), and you will live, because you will not be killed with me: "If you seek me, let these men go" (18:8). Here is another interpretation: I live, by my resurrection, and you will live, that is, you will rejoice over this, since "The disciples were glad when they saw the Lord" (20:20). Here, to live means to rejoice, and it is used in this sense in Genesis (45:26): "When Jacob heard that Joseph was ruling in Egypt his spirit began to live again," with joy.

Augustine finds fault with this interpretation because our Lord said, Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more. This means that the worldly will never see him again. Yet they will see him at the judgment, according to: "Every eye will see him" (Rev 1:7). For this reason Augustine explains this little while as including the second coming, when Christ comes to judge. This time is described as little in comparison to eternity: "For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past" (Ps 90:4). The Apostle, in Hebrews (12:26), also refers to this time as a little while when he is explaining the statement in Haggai: "In a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land" (2:7). And the world will see me no more, because after the judgment those who love the world and the wicked will not see him, since they are going into eternal fire. As we read in another version of Isaiah (26:10): "Remove the wicked so they do not see the glory of God." But you, who have followed me and stayed with me in my trials, will see me, in an everlasting eternity: "Your eyes will see the king in his beauty" (Is 33:17); "We shall always be with the Lord" (1 Thess 4:17). You will see me because I live and you will live also. This is like saying: Just as I have a glorified life in my soul and in my body, so will you: "Christ will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body" (Phil 3:21). He says this because our glorified life is produced by the glorified life of Christ: "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Cor 15:22). Christ speaks of himself in the present tense, I live, because his resurrection would be immediately after his death, and there would be no delay; according to: "I will rise at dawn" (Ps 108:2), because "You will not let your holy one undergo corruption" (Ps 16:10). When referring to the disciples he uses the future, you will live, because the resurrection of their bodies was to be postponed till the end of the world: "Your dead shall live, their bodies shall rise" (Is 26:19).

By love, and the observance of His commandments, that will be perfected in us which He has begun, viz. that we should be in Him, and He in us. And that this blessedness may be understood to be promised to all, not to the Apostles only, He adds, He that hath My commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me.

When someone sweeps clean their soul in the name of Christ, Christ dwells in them and God dwells in Christ. From that time onward, that person becomes one of three persons—himself; Christ, who dwells in him; and God, who dwells in Christ.

"In that day," He says, "ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you." In what day, but in that whereof He said, "Ye shall live also"? For then will it be that we can see what we believe. For even now is He in us, and we in Him: this we believe now, but then shall we also know it; although what we know even now by faith, we shall know then by actual vision. For as long as we are in the body, as it now is, to wit, corruptible, and encumbering to the soul, we live at a distance from the Lord; for we walk by faith, not by sight. Then accordingly it will be by sight, for we shall see Him as He is. For if Christ were not even now in us, the apostle would not say, "And if Christ be in you, the body is dead indeed because of sin; but the spirit is life because of righteousness." But that we are also in Him even then, He makes sufficiently clear, when He says, "I am the vine, ye are the branches." Accordingly in that day, when we shall be living the life, whereby death shall be swallowed up, we shall know that He is in the Father, and we in Him, and He in us; for then shall be completed that very state which is already in the present begun by Him, that He should be in us, and we in Him.

It follows: In that day (the day of which He saith, ye shall live also) ye shall know, i. e. whereas now ye believe, then ye shall see, that I am in the Father, and ye in Me, and I in you. For when we shall have attained to that life in which death is swallowed up, then shall be finished that which is now begun by Him, that He should be in us, and we in Him.

On that day you will know that I am in my Father: in which is noted the distinction of persons and the unity of essence; which pertains to the faith of the Trinity; and you in me, and I in you, through grace, and this pertains to the faith of redemption. You in me, as branches in the vine: below in the fifteenth chapter: "I am the vine, you are the branches: abide in me." And I in you, as an indweller in a dwelling: "The temple of God is holy, which you are," First Corinthians, chapter three.

The meaning of the passage before us is somewhat hard to reach, and as it were demands that the inquiry applied to it be keen, and imposes very considerable delay on our discourse: howbeit we believe that Christ will once more direct us into truth. Now some, albeit among the number of those once supposed among the impious heretics to be of eminence, refusing malignantly to confess that the Son is of the essence of God the Father, and is therefore in Him, conceive that the union is an accidental one and not one of nature; and in fact they have written----belching forth thereby what proceeds from their own minds, not from the Holy Spirit----that, forasmuch as the Son is loved by the Father, and Himself loves the Father in return, it is after this sort that He is in Him. And these demented men bring as a proof hard to overthrow, the words attached to the clause before us, to wit concerning us and Him; and indeed they say, resting withal their blasphemies on the staff of a reed, that as we are said to be in Him, and have Him in ourselves, and are not united to Him in the matter of our essence, but the manner of the union is determined by our capacity to love and be loved in return; so the Son also, one of them would say, is not at all within the essence of God the Father, but being wholly distinct in the matter of His nature, and being quite differently characterised, is understood to be in the Father solely by virtue of the law of love. For it is their aim, as we said just now, to show that the Only-begotten is an effect and a creature, and produced and honoured merely with His preeminence over the rest of the creatures, notwithstanding He is external to the essence of God the Father.

But forasmuch as concerning this we have already spoken at length, assaying thereby to show to the best of our power, that the Son is by nature in the Father and that the union which He has with Him is substantial, we will forbear further for the present to extend our remarks touching this subject. Howbeit we will not wholly leave as it were the ground of the argument clear for our opponents to overrun, but will set the battle in array against them in a few words, exhibiting so far as possible at once the mischief and the ignorance of their wicked and loathsome artifice; and particularly we will say: If it is solely by reason that He is loved and loves that the Son is in the Father, and if by the same law we are in Him and He in us, and no different bond of union is discernible, whether we consider that which binds the Son to the Father, or us to Him and Him to us: in what sense or on what principle, I pray you, does He say that it is in that day we shall know the mystery of this? For seemingly we do not yet know that the Father loves the Son, and the Son also loves the Father; nor, I suppose, do we yet know our own condition, but a vain calculation mocks us, when we think that the Son loved us, and for this cause won us unto the Father, and that we also loved Him! For when He says In that day ye shall know, He shows that the time of the knowledge is not yet present; then, why did the Lord all in vain make our ears ring with His words: The Father loveth the Son? For that He Himself loves the Father, who will deny? And how, I pray you, said He also that His choosing to suffer in our behalf was a clear proof of His love to us-ward? For greater love hath no man than this, He says, that a man lay down His life for His friends. And why did He manifestly seek for love from us towards Himself, and that for this cause we should be eager to fulfil His good pleasure? For he that loveth Me, He says, will keep My commandments. For when shall we keep the Divine commandment, if at the present we make no account thereof? Forasmuch then as it is fit we believe that the Son loves the Father, and loves us and is beloved by us, how is it not consistent to conceive that the Son has purposed to signify something diverse from this, and not to define the manner of the union by the law of love; or rather that He has manifestly introduced it to us as after some different sort, when He says: In that day ye shall know that I am in My Father and ye in Me and I in you. But peradventure the opponent will answer, that before the Passion Christ said such things as these to us, to wit that He loves the Father and is loved again by the Father, and He loves us also and we Him; but that after the Passion and the Revival from the dead, when we saw that He burst the bonds of death, we learnt that He is in the Father, forasmuch as also He is loved, and for this cause rose from the dead. For this cause also He is in us and we in Him, according to the same law of love.

But we reply: Your opposition is exceeding idle, and wholly without understanding, and a tissue of rotten words. But, excellent Sirs, consider once more that what we knew of a truth before the Resurrection from the dead, there was no need to learn after the Resurrection. For if it was only imperfectly that we believed that the Son is loved of His own Father, and Himself loves the Father, it was indeed necessary to await the Resurrection, with intent we might therefrom have the perfection of knowledge. But if the Father be worthy of belief when He says even before the Resurrection: He is My beloved Son; and if the Saviour Himself also speaks true when He says: The Father loveth the Son; and if the law of love is fittingly to be conceived in its entire perfection; why do ye foolishly strike at us with hard words? And why, thrusting aside the beauty of the Truth, do ye fashion you an unsightly lie, dragging outside of the Father's essence the Son that is of Him and through Him, and withal inventing right rotten words, and contriving tricks of absurd argumentation? For that the Only-begotten loved us, and that we also loved Him, will be open to any one to see with utmost readiness, so he be willing to regard intently the nature of the truth: For being in the form of God the Father, He counted it not a prize to be on an equality with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant. Then what, I pray you, was the ground of such actions? Was it not the law of love towards us? And how is it possible to doubt? And our willingness too on behalf of Christ and readiness to abandon our very life to the persecutors, that we may not deny our own Lord, will it not supply proof to demonstration of our love to Him? But a man will also say that this either is entirely true, or will condemn the Holy Martyrs as having wrought a desperate struggle for Christ for no useful end, and endured so grievous a danger all unrecompensed. So then, whereas it is proved with all clearness that the Father has towards the Son love in perfection, and that in like sort also He loves the Father, and we Him and He us, what reason could there be in supposing that the discernment thereof is referred perchance to other times, when the Lord says: In that day ye shall know that I am in the Father, and ye in Me, and I in you.

For away with their idle talkings and the pretentiousness of their God-hating speculations! But we waxing bold in the consciousness of bearing the torch of the Spirit, will not hesitate to say what seems to be right, with intent to clear up the questions at issue. So then, having said above: Because I live ye shall live also, straightway He is found to have added: In that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you. Then to what man, upright and wont to think rightly, would it not be abundantly clear, that He limits a day, the time to wit of the knowledge hereof, upon which we ourselves also, renovated after His likeness, shall ascend unto eternal life, escaping from the curse of death? And something after this sort the Christ-bearer seems to me to indicate----I mean, Paul----when, revealing to us the Divine Mystery, he writes to some: For ye died and your life is hid with Christ in God; when then Christ, which is your life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory. For He shall transform the body of our humiliation----this body assuredly, and not a diverse----to be conformable unto His glory, and shall transmute the nature of man unto the ancient type with power unspeakable, changing all things easily unto whatsoever He will, none forbidding; for He is very God That maketh all things and changeth the fashion of them, as it is written. So then at that day, or time, when ye also yourselves shall live----for I do live, albeit made man like unto you, and clad with the body which as touching its proper nature is subject to corruption----ye shall recognise clearly, He says, that I am in the Father, and ye in Me, and I in you. And we shall be disposed to think that the Lord said this unto us, not with intent we might suppose that He is in the Father according to the law of love, as indeed our opponents thought fit to believe, but according to the power of a deep mystery, which is also both difficult to conceive, and hard to utter; howbeit I will essay how I may be able to expound it.

Now I hold that the mind of any man on earth is very far from equal to the accurate exposition hereof; notwithstanding, in the fervour of love, albeit with powers of sight and utterance but little whetted, let us now consider the aim of the Incarnation of the Only-begotten. Let us, I pray you, examine the cause, wherefore, being as God in the form of God the Father, He counted it not a prize to be on an equality with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, and endured the cross despising the shame. For in this way the depth of the mysteries before us will be manifest, so far as is possible, howbeit hardly so. But we shall learn how the Son is in the Father, naturally, that is, and not by virtue of the relation of being loved and loving as invented by our opponents; and we again in Him after the same sort, and He in us. Well then, one cause the wise Paul expounded was a true and most general cause of the Incarnation of the Only-begotten, when he said: For God the Father was pleased to gather together in one all things in Christ; and "gathering in one," both the name and the thing, plainly involves the bringing back again and resumption of the things that have digressed to an unconformable end unto what they were in the beginning. Then desiring to put before us in a clear light the methods of the gathering in detail, at one time he said: For what the Law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the ordinance of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit; and at another again: Since then the children are sharers in flesh and blood, He also Himself in like manner partook of the same; that through death He might bring to nought him that had the power of death, that is the devil; and might deliver all them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. And herein we have two methods of the gathering together which Paul expounded the doctrine of the Incarnation of the Only-begotten as of necessity involving; but a further method, inclusive of the others, was set forth by the wise Evangelist John. For he writes thus touching Christ: He came unto His own, and they that were His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on His Name: which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. So then it is abundantly evident and manifest I conceive unto all, that it was for these causes especially that, being by nature God and of God, the Only-begotten has become man; namely with intent to condemn sin in the flesh, and by His own Death to slay Death, and to make us Sons of God, regenerating in the Spirit them that are on earth unto supernatural dignity. For it was, I trow, exceeding good, after this sort to gather together again into one and to recover unto the ancient estate the sore-stumbled race, to wit, the human. Again, let us set each of the causes just given side by side with the Lord's saying, and thereupon make such remarks that seem fit. For we must inquire in what sense it may be seemly to conceive that God the Father condemned sin in the flesh by sending His own Son in likeness of sinful flesh. For albeit the Son were by nature God and had shone forth from His essence and possessed naturally the immutability of His proper being, and for this cause in no wise could stumble into sin, or turn aside anywhither into what is not right, the Father caused him voluntarily to descend into the flesh that is subject to sin, with intent that making very flesh His own, He might bring it over unto His own natural property, to wit, sinlessness. For, I conceive, we shall not be right in believing that it was with intent to effect this for the Temple of His own Body alone that the Only-begotten has been made man; for where were the glory and profit of His Advent unto us to be seen, if He accomplished the salvation of His own Body alone? But we believe rather that it was to secure the benefits for all nature through Himself and in Himself first as in the firstfruits of humanity, that the Only-begotten has become like us. For like as we have followed after not only death but all the sufferings of the flesh, undergoing this suffering in the first man by reason as well of the transgression as of the divine curse; after the same sort, I conceive, shall we all of us follow Christ, as He saves in many ways and sanctifies the nature of the flesh in Himself. Wherefore also Paul said: And as we love the image of the earthy, we shall bear also the image of the heavenly. For the image of the earthy, to wit of Adam, is to be in sufferings and corruption; and the image of the heavenly, to wit of Christ, is to be in impassibility and incorruption. So then the Word being God by nature condemned sin in His own flesh, by charging it to cease its activity, or rather so amending it as that it should move after the good pleasure of God, and no longer at its own will; and so whereas the body was natural, He made it spiritual. This then is one method of the gathering together; but the method that is most befitting and appropriate to the drift of the passage before us shall follow it. And it will be our task to speak touching eternal life and the slaying of Death, and how the Only-begotten removed from human nature the corruption that came of the transgression. Therefore forasmuch as the children are partakers of blood and flesh, He also in like manner took part in the same with intent to slay Death, and that He that created all things unto immortality and made the generations of the world healthful, according as it is written, might remould once more the fashion of things unto their ancient estate.

And once again, albeit my argument be more minute than behoves, yet, as it needs must, it shall proceed, setting forth the ancient condition of our estate. For I conceive the sincere purpose to grasp the meaning of the words before us, will wholly escape the dangers that come of mere loitering. So then this rational creature upon earth, I mean man, was made from the beginning after the image of Him that created him, according to the Scriptures; and the meaning of image is various. For an image may be, not after one sort, but after many; howbeit the element of the likeness to God that made him, which is far the most manifest of all, was his incorruptibility and indestructibility. But never, I conceive, would the creature have been sufficient unto himself to be so, merely by virtue of the law of his own nature; for how could he that is of the earth in his own nature have been shown to possess the glory of incorruption, unless it were from the God that is by nature both incorruptible and indestructible and ever the same, that he was enriched with this boon in like manner as with all others? For what hast thou that thou didst not receive? saith somewhere unto us the inspired Paul, with exceeding reason and truth. With intent then that what was once brought into being out of that which is not, might not, by sinking back to its own original, once more vanish into nothing, but rather be preserved evermore----for this was the aim of Him that created it----God makes it partaker of His own nature. For He breathed into his face the breath of life, i.e. the Spirit of the Son, for He is Himself the Life with the Father, holding all things together in being. For the things that are receptive of life both move in Him and live, according to the words of Paul.

And let none of us found hereupon any words of false teaching, by supposing that we said that the Divine inbreathing has become a soul unto the living creature; for this we deny, guided unto the truth of the matter by such reasoning as this. If any suppose that the Divine inbreathing became a soul, let him tell us whether it was turned aside from its own nature and has been made into a soul, or has it remained in its own identity? For if they say it has been on anywise changed and that it traversed the law of its own nature, they will be convicted of blasphemy; for they will say that the immutable and ever-unchanging Nature is altogether mutable; whereas if it was in no wise turned aside, but has ever remained what it always was, after coming forth from God, to wit His inbreathing, how did it deflect unto sin, and become susceptible of so great diversity of passions? For, I trow, they would not say that there is, in anywise, in the Divine Nature the possibility of transgression. But to get over the words due to the subject before us without using lengthy proofs, I say we must repeat this once again and say,----that no one, I imagine, rightly minded would suppose that the Breath which proceeded from the Divine Essence became the creature's soul, but that after the creature was ensouled, or rather had attained unto the propriety of its perfect nature by means of both, soul and body to wit, then like a stamp of His own Nature the Creator impressed on it the Holy Spirit, i. e. the Breath of Life, whereby it became moulded unto the archetypal Beauty, and completed after the image of Him that created it, enabled unto every form of excellence, by virtue of the Spirit given to dwell in it. But whereas, being free of will, and entrusted with the reins of its own purposes----for this also is an element in the image, forasmuch as God has power over His own purposes----it turned and has fallen----but how this came to pass the Holy Scripture must teach you, for the account of it therein is plain----God the Father both determined and took in hand to gather together once more in Christ the nature of man unto its ancient estate, and willing it accomplished it withal. So then it naturally follows that we should observe how it has come to pass. It was not otherwise possible for man, forasmuch as he was of a nature that was perishing, to escape death, save by recovering that ancient grace, and partaking once more in God Who holdeth all things together in being and preserveth them in life through the Son in the Spirit. Therefore He hath become partaker of blood and flesh, i.e. He hath become man, being by nature Life, and begotten of the Life that is by nature, i.e. of God the Father----to wit, His Only-begotten Word, with intent that ineffably and inexpressibly and as He alone could skill to do, uniting Himself with the flesh that by the law of its own nature was perishing, He might bring it back unto His own Life and make it through Himself partaker of God the Father. For He is Mediator between God and men, according as it is written, knit unto God the Father naturally as God and of Him, and again unto men as man; and withal having in Himself the Father and being Himself in the Father; for He is the impress and effulgence of His Person, and not distinct from the Essence, whereof He is impress and wherefrom He proceeds as effulgence; but both being Himself in It, and having It in Himself; and again having us in Himself according as He wears our nature and our body has become entitled the Body of the Word. For the Word was made flesh, according to the utterance of John. And He wears our nature, remoulding it unto His own Life. And He is also Himself in us; for we have all been made partakers of Him, and have Him in ourselves through the Spirit; for, for this cause we have Both, being made partakers of the Divine Nature, and are entitled sons, after this sort having in us also the Father Himself through the Son. And Paul will testify hereof where he says: Because ye are sons God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. For His Spirit is not something diverse from the Son, I mean as touching the law of identity, to wit, identity of nature.

This being the result of the progress of our discourse of these things, let us now take the meaning of what has been set forth, and adapt it to the interpretation of our Saviour's words: For in that day ye shall know, He says, that I am in the Father, and ye in Me, and I in you. For I live Myself, He says, for I am Life by nature, and have shown the Temple of My own Body alive; but when ye also yourselves, albeit ye are of a corruptible nature, shall behold yourselves living in like manner as I do, then indeed ye shall know exceeding clearly, that I, being Life by nature, did knit you through Myself unto God the Father, Who is also Himself by nature Life, making you partakers as it were and sharers in His Incorruption. For naturally am I in the Father----for I am the Fruit of His Essence and Its real Offspring, subsisting in It, having shone forth from It, Life of Life----and ye are in Me and I in you, forasmuch as I appeared as a man Myself, and made you partakers of the Divine Nature by putting My Spirit to dwell in you. For Christ is in us through the Spirit, converting that which has a natural tendency to corruption into incorruption, and transferring it from the condition of dying unto that which is otherwise. Wherefore also Paul says that He that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, shall quicken also your mortal bodies, through His Spirit that dwelleth in you. For albeit the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, yet He comes through the Son, and is His Own; for all things are through the Son from the Father. For that it was through the Spirit we were wrought anew unto eternal life, the Divine Psalmist will bear us record, when he cries as unto the God of all: When Thou openest Thine Hand, all things shall be filled with goodness; when Thou turnest away Thy Face they shall be troubled; Thou shalt take away their breath and they shall fail and shall turn again to their dust. Thou shalt send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be made, and Thou shalt renew the face of the earth. Hearest thou how the transgression that was in Adam, and the "turning away" as it were from the Divine precepts, sore troubled the nature of man, and made it return to its own earth? But when God sent forth His Spirit, and made us partakers of His own Nature, and through Him renewed the face of the earth, we were transfigured unto newness of life, casting off the corruption that comes of sin, and once more grasping eternal life, through the grace and love towards mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom and with Whom unto God the Father, be glory with the Holy Spirit unto the ages. Amen.

If it is merely because he loves and is loved that the Son is in God the Father, and if by the same law we are in the Son and he in us, and no different bond of union is discernible—whether we consider that which binds the Son to the Father or us to him and him to us—then in what sense, or on what principle, I ask you, does Jesus say that "in that day" we shall know the mystery of this?…"For in that day you shall know," he says, "that I am in the Father, and you are in me, and I am in you." For I myself live, he says, for I am life by nature and have shown the temple of my own body alive. But when you yourselves (albeit you are of a corruptible nature) also behold yourselves living in a similar way as I do, then indeed you shall know very clearly that I, being life by nature, knitted you through myself into God the Father, who is also himself life by nature, making you partakers as it were and sharers in his incorruption. For I am in the Father naturally, being the fruit of his essence and its real offspring, subsisting in it, having shone forth from it. I am life of life, and you are in me and I in you, forasmuch as I appeared as a man myself and made you partakers of the divine nature by having my Spirit dwell in you. For Christ is in us through the Spirit, converting that which has a natural tendency to corruption into incorruption and transferring it from the condition of dying to that which is otherwise. And so Paul also says that "he who raised Jesus Christ from the dead shall enliven also your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwells in you." For albeit the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, yet he comes through the Son and is his own. For all things are through the Son from the Father. The divine psalmist will testify that it was through the Spirit that we were recreated for eternal life when he cries as one speaking to the God of all …, "You shall take away their breath and they shall fail and shall turn again to their dust. You shall send forth your Spirit, and they shall be made, and you shall renew the face of the earth. Do you hear how the transgression that was in Adam and the "turning away" from the divine commandments, troubled the nature of humanity and made it return to its own earth? But when God sent forth his Spirit and made us partakers of his own nature and through him renewed the face of the earth, we were transfigured to "newness of life," casting off the corruption that comes with sin and once more grasping eternal life through the grace and love toward the human race that our Lord Jesus Christ has.

If he wished to indicate a mere unity of will, why did he set forth a kind of gradation and sequence in the completion of the unity, unless it were that, since he was in the Father through the nature of deity and we on the contrary are in him through his birth in the body, he would have us believe that he is in us through the mystery of the sacraments? And thus there might be taught a perfect unity through a mediator while, we abiding in him, he abode in the Father and as abiding in the Father abode also in us. In this way we might arrive at unity with the Father, since in him who dwells naturally in the Father by birth, we also dwell naturally while he himself abides naturally in us also.

(viii. de Trin) Or He means by this, that whereas He was in the Father by the nature of His divinity, and we in Him by means of His birth in the flesh; He on the other hand should be believed to be in us by the mystery of the Sacrament: as He Himself testified above: Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in Him. (supr. 6:54)

(Hom. lxxv. 2) Or, in that day, on which I shall rise again, ye shall know. For His resurrection it was that established their faith. Then the powerful teaching of the Holy Spirit began. His saying, I am in the Father, expresses His humility; the next, And ye in Me, and I in you, His humanity and God's assistance to Him. Scripture often uses the same words in different senses, as applied to God and to men.

Then, he says, from these facts only you will learn that what I said to you was true about which you now have your doubts. I said, "I am in my Father" concerning the equality of nature and the inseparable connection when I will appear so. And I said "you are in me" concerning your faith and love for me when you will be made a participant with me in charity and also in the gift of the Spirit. "And I in you" is said with reference to what the close connection will cause when, after being regenerated by the power of the Spirit, you are with me in the body and I am with you in the head.

"In that day you shall know that I am in My Father," that is, when I rise again, then you shall know that I am not separated from the Father, but have one and the same power.

"And you in Me," that is, kept by Me, "and I in you," that is, I am with you, I deliver you from sorrows, I work miracles through you, and in general I glorify you through all things.

And in another sense: "I am in you," as the Head in the members, for the apostles are members of Christ (1 Cor. 6:15), "and you in Me," as members in the Head. When He rose, then He made clear to them the knowledge of all this. For after the resurrection, the grace of the Spirit taught them all things.

When you hear the words "I am in the Father, and you in Me, and I in you," do not understand them in one and the same sense. For the Son is in the Father as Consubstantial, while He is in the apostles as a Helper and Co-worker, and the apostles are in Him as those who receive from Him help, cooperation, and fervor.

Many other names are also used of God and of men, but not in the same sense. Thus, we too are called gods (Ps. 82:6), but not in the same sense as God. The Son is called the Image and Glory of the Father (Heb. 1:3), and man is called the same; but not in the same meaning. So also must one understand the present words. Likewise the following words, "As the Father has sent Me, so I also send you" (John 20:21), must we really understand them in a simple manner? The Father sent the Son in the sense that He, being bodiless, became incarnate, being born of the Virgin. Does it then follow that the apostles also came from heaven and were bodiless, then became incarnate, and each of them was born of a virgin?! But to understand the words of Scripture in this way is manifest madness.

Now we see the fruit of his return, which is the knowledge of those things which the apostles did not know. For, as we saw, Peter did not know where Christ was going, and so he asked: "Lord, where are you going?" (13:36); and Thomas did not know this, nor the way he would go: "Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?" (14:5). Philip did not know the Father, and so he asked: "Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied" (14:8). All these arose from ignorance of one thing: they did not know how the Father is in the Son and the Son is in the Father. Thus Christ said to Philip: "Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me?" (14:10). And so our Lord promises them that they will know this, saying, In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and so forth. This will dispel all confusion from the hearts of the disciples.

This sentence can be explained as referring to his coming at the time of the resurrection, and his coming at the judgment. We have two kinds of knowledge of the mysteries of the divinity. One is imperfect, and we have this by faith; the other is perfect, and comes by vision. These two kinds of knowledge are mentioned in, "For now we see in a mirror dimly," by the first kind of knowledge, "but then face to face," referring to the second kind of knowledge (1 Cor 13:12).

He says, In that day, after my resurrection, you will know that I am in my Father: and they will know this by the knowledge of faith, because then having seen that he has arisen and is among them, they will have a most certain faith about him, especially those who would receive the Holy Spirit, who would teach them all things. Or, on the other hand, In that day, of the final resurrection at the judgment, you will know, that is, clearly and by vision: "Then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood" (1 Cor 13:12).

But what will they know? The two things he mentioned above. First, "the Father who dwells in me does the works" (14:10). Referring to this he says, that I am in my Father, that is, by a consubstantiality of nature. The other thing they will know is what he said about doing works through the disciples, when he said, "he who believes in me will also do the works that I do" (14:12). And referring to this he says, and you in me, and I in you.

Here our Lord seems to say that the relation between himself and the Father is like the relation of the disciples to himself. For this reason the Arians maintained that just as the disciples are inferior to Christ and not consubstantial with him, so the Son is inferior to the Father and distinct from him in substance. One should answer this by saying that when Christ says, I am in my Father, he means by a consubstantiality of nature: "I and the Father are one" (10:30); "And the Word was with God" (1:1).

The statement, and you in me, means that the disciples are in Christ. For what is protected or shielded by something is said to be in that thing, like something contained in its container. In this way the affairs of a kingdom are said to be in the hands of the king. And with this meaning it is said that "in him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). And I in you, remaining within you, and acting and indwelling within you by grace: "that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith" (Eph 3:17); "You desire proof that Christ is speaking in me" (2 Cor 13:3).

Hilary gives another exposition. And you in me, that is, you will be in me through your nature, which I have taken on: for in taking on our nature he took us all on: "He did not take hold of the angels, but he did take hold of the seed of Abraham" (Heb 2:16). And I in you, that is, I will be in you when you receive my sacrament, for when one receives the body of Christ, Christ is in him: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him" (6:56).

Another interpretation: and you in me, and I in you, that is, by our mutual love, for we read: "God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him" (1 Jn 4:16). And you did not know these things, but you will know them in that day.

And the form of a servant will pass away. For to this end He had manifested Himself, that He might execute judgment. After the judgment, He shall go hence, will lead with Him the body of which He is the head, and deliver up the kingdom of God. Then will openly be seen that form of God which could not be seen by the wicked, to whose vision the form of a servant must be shown. He says also in another place on this wise: "These shall go away into everlasting burning" (speaking of certain on the left), "but the just into life eternal;" of which life He says in another place: "And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent." Then will He be there manifested, "who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God." Then He will manifest Himself, as He has promised to manifest Himself to them that love Him. For "he that loveth me," saith He, "keepeth my commandments; and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father; and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." He was present in person with those to whom He was speaking: but they saw the form of a servant, they did not see the form of God. They were being led on His own beast to His dwelling to be healed; but now being healed, they will see, because, saith He, "I will manifest myself to him." How is He shown equal to the Father? When He says to Philip, "He that seeth me seeth my Father also."

"He that hath my commandments," He adds, "and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me." He that hath [them] in his memory, and keepeth them in his life; who hath them orally, and keepeth them morally; who hath them in the ear, and keepeth them in deed; or who hath them in deed, and keepeth them by perseverance;-"he it is," He says, "that loveth me." By works is love made manifest as no fruitless application of a name. "And he that loveth me," He says, "shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." But what is this, "I will love"? Is it as if He were then only to love, and loveth not at present? Surely not. For how could the Father love us apart from the Son, or the Son apart from the Father? Working as They do inseparably, how can They love apart? But He said, "I will love him," in reference to that which follows, "and I will manifest myself to him." "I will love, and will manifest;" that is, I will love to the very extent of manifesting. For this has been the present aim of His love, that we may believe, and keep hold of the commandment of faith; but then His love will have this for its object, that we may see, and get that very sight as the reward of our faith: for we also love now, by believing in that which we shall see hereafter; but then shall we love in the sight of that which now we believe.

(Tract. lxxv. 5) He that hath them in mind, and keepeth them in life; he that hath them in words, and keepeth them in works; he that hath them by hearing, and keepeth them by doing; he that hath them by doing, and keepeth them by persevering, he it is that loveth Me. Love must be shown by works, or it is a mere barren name.

(Tract. lxxv. 5) I will love him, as if now He did not love him. What meaneth this? He explains it in what follows: And will manifest Myself unto him, i. e. I love him so far as to manifest Myself to him; so that, as the reward of his faith, he will have sight. Now He only loves us so that we believe; then He will love us so that we see. And whereas we love now by believing that which we shall see, then we shall love by seeing that which we have believed.

(ad Paul. de videndo Dei, Ep. 112:100, 10) He promises to show Himself to them that love Him as God with the Father, not in that body which He bore upon earth, and which the wicked saw.

Even now the Son loves those who love him and the Father. But he loves them now so that they may live properly as a result of their faith, which works through love. Then (in the future), he will love them as well, but in such a way that they may come to the vision of the truth of which they only had a taste through faith. When he adds, "I will show myself to him," he will indeed show himself to all human beings but will show his very own being only to the elect. At the judgment even the damned will see Christ, but only the just will see the king in all his beauty.

He who has the commandments. Here the third point is touched upon, namely that to those who observe the commandments a reward is promised. And the reason for this is that such a one who keeps the commandments is loved by the Lord, and therefore is beatified and glorified: on account of which he says: He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me: because, as Gregory says, "the proof of love is the display of works"; whence in the Psalm: "His justice unto the children of children, to those who keep his covenant and are mindful of his commandments to do them." He who keeps them thus truly loves indeed, not in word only, as those of whom it is said in First John, chapter three: "Let us not love in word nor in tongue, but in deed and in truth." But he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and also by me, and I will love him: Proverbs, chapter eight: "I love those who love me"; and I will show my love in the reward: whence: And I will manifest myself to him, and this is the reward; whence in the Psalm: "I will show him my salvation"; the Gloss: "The vision is the whole reward"; below in the seventeenth chapter: "This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."

Our Saviour here says that the revelation of the mystery in us will then be clearest when we see ourselves living in conformity with His likeness. For as I live, He says, ye shall live also; the mind of each being fulfilled as it were not with what he has heard and believed merely, but rather with what he actually enjoys, when he has reached the completion of the promise. For experience is more powerful than language in ability to convince and satisfy. That we may not think that all without distinction are endowed with the power to partake of so holy a blessing, even though they be not good men and illuminated by the fear of God, He has added at once to His speech the qualification, "they that love Me;" clearly showing thereby that no others will be allowed to choose so incomparable a grace, but those who have chosen to live most righteously: for they would be "those that love Him." For even if it be the fact that Christ raises the bodies of all men, for there will be a resurrection of the evil and the good alike, yet not to all without distinction will a new life of glory and felicity be given. For it is clear that some only rise again to punishment, and will have a life more grievous than any death, while others spending ages of blessedness, will actually live the desirable and holy life in Christ. For that they who are doomed to receive the sentence of punishment from Christ on the occasion of the judgment, will abide without a taste of the blessed life, although they shared with the Saints the lot of resurrection, He makes plain by these words: He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life, but he that obeyeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God shall abide on Him. For know that although while all the evil and the good alike await the resurrection, He says that those who are fast bound by the charge of disobedience cannot even attain to a glimpse of the life, as He declares that it is not the mere act of resurrection that is life, but that that life rather consists in rest and glory and felicity, spiritual of course and of no other kind. A spiritual kind of felicity is meant, the perfect knowledge of God and the complete revelation of the mysteries of Christ, not as in a glass and in riddles, even as now showing the characters of the object of our quest dimly, but shining out to us and glistening in perfect purity and making our knowledge quite complete. For that which is in part shall be done away, as Paul says.

Our Lord Jesus Christ then, when He teaches us that to those who choose to love Him and to those who do His commandments is the promise of His revelation given, and to them it is more appropriate and pertinent, and not to those who are otherwise minded and who do the contrary, has conveyed this useful lesson in the words: He that hath My commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me. And a man has His commands when he has received the faith, and, laying it to heart, has let into his inmost soul the unpolluted and unmistakeable teaching of the Gospel commandments. And he fulfils them by carrying them out into actuality, and by making haste to distinguish himself by the light of his actions. Such a man then is perfect and wholly wedded to righteousness, a shining light by his faith and conduct, who has witness borne him of his holiness after the pattern of Christ. For At the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established, according to the Scripture. A man of this sort again, God the Father will surely love, and no less also the Son will love him. For as He is of the same Substance, so also has He the same Will as His Father. For as the Substance is one the Will also is one, and there is one purpose over all, and there is no discord severing Their Wills in twain. For to those who are thought worthy of the Divine love He promises that He will give a glorious reward and that He will crown them with exceeding great blessings. For I will manifest Myself unto him, He says. For to the pure in heart the mystery of the Godhead will be clearly revealed, and Christ gives them light, illuminating the path of every duty by His Spirit, and unveiling Himself and making Himself visible as it were by the ineffable torchlight of the soul. And those who have made their choice once for all are blessed and worthy of all admiration. And methinks the prophet David was a man after this sort when he says, I will hear what the Lord God will say in me. And so is also the Divine Apostle when he exhorts us, saying, If ye seek a proof of Christ that speaketh in me; for He speaks of things concerning Himself in His Saints by His Spirit; yea, reveals other mysteries besides. Therefore it is true that knowing these things well, the Saints sometimes say, Unto us God revealed them through the Spirit; sometimes, But we have the mind of Christ, meaning by His mind His Spirit.

Jesus has added the qualification "he who loves me," clearly showing that none other than those who have chosen to live most righteously will be allowed to choose such an incomparable grace, for they are the ones who love him. While it is true that Christ raises the bodies of all—for there will be a resurrection of the evil and the good alike—a new life of glory and happiness will not be given to all without distinction. For it is clear that some only rise again to punishment and will have a life worse than any death, while others … will live a desirable and holy life in Christ.

Do you see how [Jesus] has hidden his manifestation in the commandments? Of all the commandments, therefore, the most comprehensive is to love God and our neighbor. This love is made firm through abstaining from material things and through stillness of thoughts.Knowing this, the Lord enjoins us "not to be anxious about tomorrow," and rightly so. For if someone has not freed himself from material things and from concern about them, how can he be freed from evil thoughts? And if he is beset by evil thoughts, how can he see the reality of the sin concealed behind them? This sin wraps the soul in darkness and obscurity and increases its hold on us through our evil thoughts and actions. The devil initiates the whole process by testing a person with a provocation that the person is not compelled to accept. But the one urged on by self-indulgence and self-esteem begins to entertain this provocation with enjoyment. Even if their discrimination tells them to reject it, yet in practice they take pleasure in it and accept it. If someone has not perceived this general process of sinning, when will he pray about it and be cleansed from it? And if he has not been cleansed, how will he find purity of nature? And if he has not found this, how will he behold the inner dwelling place of Christ? For we are a dwelling place of God, according to the words of prophet, evangelist and apostle.

Whoever loves me and keeps my commandments will enjoy my love and that of the Father and will obtain in addition a vision of who I really am. They will not be disadvantaged by the fact that they did not see me in body. Indeed, they will also enjoy that vision at the appropriate time as well when they see me coming down from heaven.

With such words, as we said above, He calms their sorrow, teaching them that the one who loves Him is not the one who grieves over His death — which grief they themselves were experiencing — but the one who keeps His commandments and precepts about not being attached to the present life, but laying down one's life for God and for the good. He speaks to them as if to say: "You think that you grieve over My death out of love, but I, on the contrary, place the sign of love in your not grieving." That such is the thought in His words is evident from what He says a little further on: "If you loved Me, you would rejoice that I am going to My Father" (John 14:28). So then, whoever loves Me has My commandments, and not only has them but also keeps them, lest the thief — the devil — should come and steal this treasure, for careful vigilance is needed so as not to lose them.

He who loves Me, what reward shall he receive? "He shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him."

Why did He say this: "I will manifest Myself to him"? Since after the resurrection He was to appear to them in a body of divine form, so that they would not take Him for a spirit and a phantom, He foretells this to them, so that when they saw Him then, they would not remain in unbelief, but would remember that He had foretold this to them, and that He appears to them for keeping His commandments, so that they would always strive to keep them, and He would always appear to them. The mystery of the resurrection is great, and they would have accepted it with difficulty; therefore He prepares them, saying that He will appear to them Himself. For after the resurrection He also ate for the very reason that they would not consider Him a phantom — which was precisely the thought Judas had now.

As if He said, Ye think that by sorrowing, as ye do, for my death ye prove your affection; but I esteem the keeping of My commandments the evidence of love. And then He shows the privileged state of one who loves: And he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him.

Or, as after the resurrection He was to appear to them in a body more assimilated to His divinity, that they might not take Him then for a spirit, or a phantom, He tells them now beforehand not to have misgivings upon seeing Him, but to remember that He shows Himself to them as a reward for their keeping His commandments; and that therefore they are bound ever to keep them, that they may ever enjoy the sight of Him.

Now the reason for his return is given, and our Lord mentions two reasons why he is seen by the faithful and not by the world. The first is their true love for God; the second is God's love for them (v 21b).

As to the first he says, he who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. Note that true love is love which appears and proves itself by actions: for love is revealed by its actions. Since to love someone is to will that person something good and to desire what this person wants, one does not seem to truly love a person if he does not accomplish the will of the beloved or do what he knows this person wants. And so one who does not do the will of God does not seem to truly love him. Thus he says, he who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me, that is, with a true love for me.

Some have these commandments of God in their heart, by remembering them and continually meditating on them: "I have laid up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you" (Ps 119:11). But this is not enough unless they are kept in one's actions: "A good understanding have all those who practice it" (Ps 111:10). Others have these commandments on their lips, by preaching and exhorting: "How sweet are your words to my taste" (Ps 119:103). They also should follow them in their actions, because "He who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 5:19). Thus in Matthew (c 23), God reprimands those who speak but do not act. Others have them by hearing them, gladly and earnestly listening to them: "He who is of God hears the words of God" (8:47). Yet this is not enough unless they keep them in their actions, "for it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified" (Rom 2:13); "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life" (6:27). Therefore, those who have the commandments in the above ways do keep them to a certain extent; but they still have to persist in keeping them. For this reason Augustine says: "The person who keeps the commandments in his memory and keeps them in his life, who has them in his speech and keeps them in his conduct, who has them by hearing them and keeps them by doing them, who has them by doing and persisting in doing them, this is one who loves me."

As for the second reason why he will be seen by the faithful, he says, he who loves me will be loved by my Father. At first glance this does not seem to make sense. Does God love us because we love him? Assuredly not; for we read: "not that we loved God, but because he has first loved us" (1 Jn 4:10).

Therefore, we should understand this statement in the light of what was said before, "He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me." This does not mean that one keeps the commandments and as a result of this loves. But rather, one loves, and as a result of this, keeps the commandments. In the same way, we should say here that one is loved by the Father, and as a result he loves Christ, and not that one is loved because he loves. Therefore, we love the Son because the Father loves us. For it is a characteristic of true love that it draws the one loved to love the one who loves him: "I have loved you with an everlasting love, and therefore I have drawn you having compassion on you" (Jer 31:3).

Because the Father's love is not without the Son's love, since it is the same love in each, "Whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise" (5:19), he adds, and I will love him. Why does he say, I will love, using the future, since the Father and the Son love all things from eternity? We should answer that love, considered as being in the divine will, is eternal; but considered as manifested in the accomplishment of some work and effect, is temporal. So the meaning is: and I will love him, that is, I will show the effect of my love, because I will manifest myself to him: for I love in order to manifest myself.

Note that one's love for another is sometimes qualified and sometimes absolute. It is qualified when one wills the other some particular good; but it is absolute when one wills the other all good. Now God loves every created thing in a qualified sense, because he wills some good to every creature, even to the demons, for example, that they live and understand and exist. There are particular goods. But God loves absolutely those to whom he wills all good, that is, that they have God himself. And to have God is to have truth, for God is Truth. But truth is had or possessed when it is known. So God, who is Truth, truly and absolutely loves those to whom he manifests himself. This is what he says, and I will manifest myself to him, that is, in the future, by glory, which is the ultimate effect of future beatitude: "He showed it to his friend" (Job 36:33); "She hastens to make herself known to those who desire her" (Wis 6:13).

Someone might ask: The Father will manifest himself, will he not? Yes, both the Father and the Son. For the Son manifests himself and the Father at the same time, because the Son is the Word of the Father: "No one knows the Father except the Son" (Mt 11:27). If in the meantime the Son manifests himself to anyone in some way, this is a sign of God's love. And this can be a reason why the world will not see him, because he will not manifest himself to it because it does not love him.

Hence also, when the Lord was asked, after enumerating the miracles of his power, he immediately responded about the humility of his death, saying: "The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise, the poor have the gospel preached to them, and blessed is he who is not scandalized in me." Seeing so many signs and such great powers, no one could be scandalized, but only marvel.

(Ver. 4, 5.) And Jesus answered and said to them, 'Go and tell John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up.' John had asked through his disciples: 'Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?' Jesus shows the signs, not responding to what had been asked, but to the stumbling block of the messengers: 'Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up.' And what is no less important about these things,

The poor are evangelized. Either the poor in spirit, or certainly the poor in wealth (or works), so that there is no distinction in preaching between the noble and the lowly, the rich and the needy. These things confirm the strictness of the teacher, the truth of the instructor, that all are equal before him who can be saved. And what he says:

This last is no less than the first. And understand it as if it had been said, Even the poor; that so between noble and mean, rich and poor, there may be no difference in preaching. This approves the strictness of the master, this the truth of the teacher, that in His sight every one who can be saved is equal.

But Christ knowing the purpose of John, did not say, I am He; for this would again have offended the hearers, although this was what it naturally followed for Him to say, but He leaves them to learn it from His acts. For it saith, "when these were come to Him, then He cured many." And yet what congruity was there, that being asked, "Art thou He," He should say nothing to that, but should presently cure them that were sick; unless it had been His mind to establish this which I have mentioned? Because they of course would account the testimony of His deeds surer, and more above suspicion than that of His words.

Knowing therefore, as being God, the mind with which John had sent them, He straightway cured blind, lame, and many others; not to teach him (for how should He him that was convinced), but these that were doubting: and having healed them, He saith, "Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see; the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, and the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached unto them." And he added, "And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me;" implying that He knows even their unuttered thoughts. For if He had said, "I am He," both this would have offended them, as I have already said; and they would have thought, even if they had not spoken, much as the Jews said to Him, "Thou bearest record of Thyself." Wherefore He saith not this Himself, but leaves them to learn all from the miracles, freeing what He taught from suspicion, and making it plainer. Wherefore also He covertly added His reproof of them. That is, because they were "offended in Him," He by setting forth their case and leaving it to their own conscience alone, and by calling no witness of this His accusation, but only themselves that knew it all, did thus also draw them the more unto Himself, in saying, "Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me." For indeed His secret meaning was of them when He said this.

He did not say, "Declare unto John that I am He that cometh." But knowing that John had sent his disciples to see the miracles, He said, "Tell John what you see, and certainly he will use that opportunity to bear witness more fully to you concerning Me." By the words "the poor have the good tidings" understand either those preaching the Gospel, that is, the apostles, who were poor fishermen and despised as common lowly people, or those listening to the Gospel and hearing of the eternal good things.

And Jesus answered them. Here Christ's answer is given. John and many disciples, as John says (c. 4). Therefore, there was a dispute among them, because they saw Christ's works and preferred him to John. But seeing John's abstinence, they prefer him to Christ. Hence, first he proposes the question; secondly, he commends John (v. 10).

In regard to the first he answers in terms of his coming and Passion. The time will come, when God will suffer and many will be scandalized, because "to the Jews a scandal" (1 Cor 1:23). Hence he answers when this will be. According to Chrysostom he wants to show that he whom the prophets had foretold has come. Hence three things were promised by the prophets: sometimes the coming of God, by some the coming of a new teacher, by some the coming of sanctification and redemption. How shall we say then that he will come? And he answers in the same way Isaiah (35:4) answers: "Behold God will come and save us." Hence you will see those miracles. Go and tell John what you hear in the teachings and see in the miracles. Again, a teacher was promised: "Be glad, O sons of Zion..., because he has given you a teacher of justice" (Jl 2:22).

The blind see..., and this literally. Then if you ask when he will come: "The spirit of the Lord is upon me; he has sent me to preach to the meek" (Is 61:1), and this is signified when he says the poor have the Gospel preached to them, i.e., poverty will be blessed. Hence above (5:3); "Blessed are the poor in spirit..." and Luke (4:18): "The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor." Again, someone holy will come to sanctify sinners; hence Isaiah (8:13): "The Lord of hosts, him you shall regard as holy."

But if we speak in the moral sense, the entire process of man's sanctification is signified. For the sinner first suffers blindness, when the reason is darkened: "Like the untimely birth that never sees the sun" (Ps 58:8); "Bring forth the people who are blind but have eyes" (Is 43:8). He is said to be lame, when the mind is drawn to various things, as it says in 1 Kings (18:21): "How long will you go limping with two different opinions?" Likewise, he becomes ulcerous in treachery and leprous, because then he cannot be recalled and infects others. After that he becomes deaf, because chastening is not heard. Then he dies: "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead" (Eph 5:14). All these the Lord heals. The last are the poor in spirit, so that no health remains in them: "My loins are filled with burning, and there is not health in my flesh" (Ps 38:7). These, too, the Lord heals and they rise to a certain mental soundness, in which is true peace: "Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble" (Ps 119:165).

But the mind of unbelievers suffered grave scandal in him when they saw him dying even after so many miracles. Hence Paul also says: "But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews indeed a scandal, but to the Gentiles foolishness." For it seemed foolish to men that the author of life should die for mankind; and from this, man took scandal against him, from which he ought rather to have become more indebted. For God is to be honored by men all the more worthily, the more he undertook even unworthy things for mankind. What therefore does it mean to say: "Blessed is he who is not scandalized in me," except to signify openly the abjection and humility of his death? As if he were plainly saying: I indeed do wondrous things, but I do not disdain to suffer humble things. Therefore, since I follow you in dying, men must take great care not to despise in me the death, while they venerate the signs.

(Hom. in Ev. vi. 1.) Otherwise; The mind of unbelievers was greatly offended concerning Christ, because after many miracles done, they saw Him at length put to death; whence Paul speaks, We preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling-block. (1 Cor. 1:23.) What then does that mean, Blessed is he who shall not be offended in me, but a direct allusion to the humiliation of His death; as much as to say, I do indeed wonderful works, but do not disdain to suffer humble things. Because then I follow you in death, men must be careful not to despise in Me My death, while they reverence My wonderful works.

And when the Lord had shown forth all of himself in miraculous works, in giving sight to the blind, the power of walking to the lame, cleansing to the lepers, hearing to the deaf, voices to the mute, life to the dead and preaching to the poor, he said, "Blessed is the one who takes no offense at me." Now, had anything really been done through Christ that would cause John to take offense? Not in the least. For John himself also spent his time in his own teaching and work. However, one ought to look to a higher meaning that is both powerful and fitting. What does it mean that the poor have good news preached to them? Poor people are those who have abandoned their lives, who have taken up his cross and followed, who have been made humble in spirit. For such the kingdom of heaven is prepared. Because all experiences of this kind come together in the Lord and because his cross was to be a source of offense to many, he declared that people are blessed if their faith is not threatened by a cross or death or burial.

This saying, that they were blessed from whom there should be no offence in Him, showed them what it was that John had provided against in sending them. For John, through fear of this very thing, had sent his disciples that they might hear Christ.

(Ver. 6.) And blessed is he who is not scandalized in me. He strikes down the messengers, as will be shown in the following.

And blessed is he who shall not be offended in me, is directed against the messengers; they were offended in Him. But He not publishing their doubts, and leaving it to their conscience alone, thus privately introduced a refutation of them.

And to show John's disciples that the thoughts they were thinking did not escape His notice, He said, "Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in Me," for they had many doubts about Him.

Hence to some was promised sanctification, and after they were sanctified, others would be scandalized; therefore, he says, Blessed is he who is not scandalized in me. Hence it says, "So Jesus also suffered outside the gate, in order to sanctify the people through his own blood" (Heb 13:12). Therefore, he shows the signs of his coming. But if we speak in the moral sense, the entire process of man's sanctification is signified. For the sinner first suffers blindness, when the reason is darkened: "Like the untimely birth that never sees the sun" (Ps 58:8); "Bring forth the people who are blind but have eyes" (Is 43:8). He is said to be lame, when the mind is drawn to various things, as it says in 1 Kings (18:21): "How long will you go limping with two different opinions?" Likewise, he becomes ulcerous in treachery and leprous, because then he cannot be recalled and infects others. After that he becomes deaf, because chastening is not heard. Then he dies: "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead" (Eph 5:14). All these the Lord heals. The last are the poor in spirit, so that no health remains in them: "My loins are filled with burning, and there is not health in my flesh" (Ps 38:7). These, too, the Lord heals and they rise to a certain mental soundness, in which is true peace: "Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble" (Ps 119:165).

And perhaps the two disciples sent are the two people; those of the Jews, and those of the Gentiles who believed.

But after John's disciples were dismissed, let us hear what He says to the crowds about the same John: "What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed shaken by the wind?" This He clearly brought forth not by affirming, but by denying. For a reed, as soon as a breeze touches it, bends to the other side. And what is signified by the reed but a carnal mind? Which, as soon as it is touched by favor or detraction, immediately inclines to either side. For if a breeze of favor blows from human lips, it rejoices, is lifted up, and bends itself entirely, as it were, toward grace. But if from the same place whence the breeze of praise was coming, a wind of detraction bursts forth, it immediately inclines him, as it were, to the other side, toward the violence of fury. But John was not a reed shaken by the wind, because neither did flattery make him gentle, nor did anyone's detraction make him harsh with anger. Neither did prosperity know how to lift him up, nor adversity to cast him down. Therefore John was not a reed shaken by the wind, whom no change of circumstances bent from the uprightness of his position. Let us learn therefore, dearest brothers, not to be a reed shaken by the wind; let us make firm our mind placed amid the breezes of tongues, let the posture of our mind stand unbending. Let no detraction provoke us to anger, and let no favor incline us to the relaxation of useless grace. Let not prosperity lift us up, nor adversity disturb us, so that we who are fixed in the solidity of faith may in no way be moved by the changeableness of passing things.

(Hom. in Ev. vi. 2.) This He proposes, not to assert, but to deny. For if but a breath of air touch a reed, it bends it one way or other; a type of the carnal mind, which leans to either side, according as the breath of praise or detraction reaches it. A reed shaken by the wind John was not, for no variety of circumstance bent him from his uprightness...

Therefore that this might not lead them to think of John as though he were offended concerning Christ, it continues, When they had gone away, Jesus began to speak to the multitudes concerning John.

(Verse 7.) But as they were departing, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Look, those who wear soft clothing are in the palaces of kings. If a harsh judgment had been pronounced against John, as many believe, then why is he now being praised so highly? But because the surrounding crowd did not know the mystery of the question, and thought that John doubted about Christ, whom he had pointed out with his finger, so that they would understand that John was not asking for himself, but for his disciples: Why, he said, do you go out into the desert? Is it perhaps to see a man resembling a reed that is carried by every wind, and to have doubts about the one he had previously proclaimed? Or is it possible that he is compelled by the stings of envy against me, and his preaching seeks empty glory, so that he may seek profits from it? Why does he desire riches, so that he may abound in feasts? He feeds on locusts and wild honey. Does he dress in soft clothing? The covering of his body is made of camel hair. Such food and clothing are received in the prison's lodging, and the preaching of truth has such a dwelling. But those who are flatterers and pursue gains, seeking wealth, and abound in pleasures, and dress in soft clothing, they are in the houses of kings. From which it is shown that a strict and austere life and preaching should avoid the courts of kings, and decline the palaces of soft people.

Was it for this ye went out into the desert to see a man like unto a reed, and carried about by every wind, so that in lightness of mind he doubts concerning Him whom once he preached? Or it may be he is roused against Me by the sting of envy, and he seeks empty honour by his preaching, that he may thereof make gain. Why should he covet wealth? that he may have dainty fare? But his food is locusts and wild honey. That he may wear soft raiment? But his clothing is camel's hair. This is that He adds, But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment?

Mystically; The desert is that which is deserted of the Holy Spirit, where there is no habitation of God; in the reed is signified a man who in outward show lives a pious life, but lacks all real fruit within himself, fair outside, within hollow, moved with every breath of wind, that is, with every impulse of unclean spirits, having no firmness to remain still, devoid of the marrow of the soul.

For the matter indeed of John's disciples had been ordered well, and they were gone away assured by the miracles which had just been performed; but there was need after that of remedy as regarded the people. For although they could not suspect anything of the kind of their own master, the common people might from the inquiry of John's disciples form many strange suspicions, not knowing the mind with which he sent his disciples. And it was natural for them to reason with themselves, and say, "He that bore such abundant witness, hath he now changed his persuasion, and doth he doubt whether this or another be He that should come? Can it be, that in dissension with Jesus he saith this? that the prison hath made him more timid? that his former words were spoken vainly, and at random?" It being then natural for them to suspect many such things, see how He corrects their weakness, and removes these their suspicions. For "as they departed, He began to say to the multitudes." Why, "as they departed?" That He might not seem to be flattering the man.

And in correcting the people, He doth not publish their suspicion, but adds only the solution of the thoughts that were mentally disturbing them: signifying that He knew the secrets of all men. For He saith not, as unto the Jews, "Wherefore think ye evil?" Because if they had it in their minds, not of wickedness did they so reason, but of ignorance on the points that had been spoken of. Wherefore neither doth He discourse unto them in the way of rebuke, but merely sets right their understanding, and defends John, and signifies that he is not fallen away from his former opinion, neither is he changed, not being at all a man easily swayed and fickle, but steadfast and sure, and far from being such as to betray the things committed unto him.

And in establishing this, He employs not at first his own sentence, but their former testimony, pointing out how they bare record of his firmness, not by their words only, but also by their deeds.

Wherefore He saith, "What went ye out into the wilderness to see?" as though He had said, Wherefore did ye leave your cities, and your houses, and come together all of you into the wilderness? To see a pitiful and flexible kind of person? Nay, this were out of all reason, this is not what is indicated by that earnestness, and the concourse of all men unto the wilderness. So much people and so many cities would not have poured themselves out with so great zeal towards the wilderness and the river Jordan at that time, had ye not expected to see some great and marvellous one, one firmer than any rock. Yea, it was not "a reed" surely, that "ye went out to see shaken by the wind:" for the flexible and such as are lightly brought round, and now say one thing, now another, and stand firm in nothing, are most like that.

Now His meaning is like this: He was not of himself a waverer; and this ye yourselves showed by your earnestness. Much less could any one say this, that he was indeed firm, but having made himself a slave to luxury, he afterwards became languid. For among men, some are such as they are of themselves, others become so; for instance, one man is passionate by nature, and another from having fallen into a long illness gets this infirmity. Again, some men are flexible and fickle by nature, while others become so by being slaves to luxury, and by living effeminately. "But John," saith He, "neither was such a character by nature, for neither was it a reed that ye went out to see; nor by giving himself to luxury did he lose the advantage he possessed." For that he did not make himself a slave to luxury, his garb shows, and the wilderness, and the prison. Since, had he been minded to wear soft raiment, he would not have lived in the wilderness, nor in the prison, but in the king's courts: it being in his power, merely by keeping silence, to have enjoyed honor without limit. For since Herod so reverenced him, even when he had rebuked him, and was in chains, much more would he have courted him, had he held his peace. You see, he had indeed given proof of his firmness and fortitude; and how could he justly incur suspicions of that kind?

Then lest they should say, "But what if at that time indeed he were such an one, but now is changed?" He added also what follows; his garments, his prison, and together with these the prophecy.

(in loc.) They had not gone out at this time into the desert to see John, for he was not now in the desert, but in prison; but He speaks of the past time while John was yet in the desert, and the people flocked to him.

Perhaps the multitudes heard John's question and were scandalized that even John himself might be unsure of Christ and had so quickly changed his opinion, although he had previously borne witness to Him. Christ allays this suspicion, then, by saying, John is not a reed, that is, one who changes easily. For if he were, why would you have gone out to him in the wilderness? You indeed would not have gone out to see a reed, a changeable man, but you went out to see a great and steadfast man. To be sure, he is still now what you thought him to be then.

As they went away. Here he satisfies the crowd's doubts. Although the crowds had heard John's witness to Christ, they now seemed to hesitate. For they could have three things in their heart, because a person changes his mind for three reasons: either on account of fickleness of mind, or for the sake of some profit, or on account of the human spirit's passing from ignorance of the truth to knowing it: "For God knows that the thoughts of men are vain" (Ps 94:11). Therefore, he first excludes fickleness from them; secondly, the desire for profit (v. 8); thirdly, he shows that he has prophetic truth (v. 9).

He says, therefore, As they went away. The Lord teaches us with remarkable tact, as he never wished to praise John in the presence of his disciples or anyone in his own presence: "Let another praise you and not your own mouth; a stranger and not your own lips" (Pr 27:2). Because if the one praised is good, he is embarrassed; if he is evil, he is flattered. Jesus began to preach to the crowds: "What did you go out into the desert to see? Did you go to see a reed?" No, but you went out to see a resolute man. For a reed is easily moved; hence a mind that changes quickly is regarded as a wind: "So that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro with every wind" (Eph 4:14).

(Doctr. Christ. iii. 12.) In all such things we blame not the use of the things, but the lust of those that use them. For whoever uses the good things in his reach more sparingly than are the habits of those with whom he lives, is either temperate or superstitious. Whoever again uses them in a measure exceeding the practice of the good among whom he lives, either has some meaning therein, or else is dissolute.

But still more is added about the description of him: "But what did you go out into the desert to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Behold, those who are clothed in soft garments are in the houses of kings." For John is described as having been clothed in woven camel's hair. And what does it mean to say, "Behold, those who are clothed in soft garments are in the houses of kings," except to demonstrate by a clear statement that those who flee from enduring hardships for God do not serve the heavenly King but an earthly one, but rather, devoted only to external things, they seek the softness and pleasure of the present life? Therefore let no one think that there is no sin in the extravagance and pursuit of clothing, because if this were not a fault, the Lord would in no way have praised John for the roughness of his garment. If this were not a fault, the apostle Peter would never have restrained women through his epistle from the desire for costly garments, saying: "Not in costly apparel." Consider, therefore, what a fault it is for men also to desire that from which the pastor of the Church took care to prohibit even women.

Although what is said about John not being clothed in soft garments can also be understood in another way through its symbolic meaning. For he was not clothed in soft garments because he did not nurture the life of sinners with flatteries, but rebuked them with the force of harsh denunciation, saying: "Brood of vipers, who has shown you how to flee from the wrath to come?" Hence it is also said through Solomon: "The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails driven deep." For the words of the wise are compared to nails and goads because they do not know how to caress the faults of sinners, but to pierce them.

(Hom. in Ev. vi. 3.) Let no one suppose that there is nothing sinful in luxury and rich dress; if pursuit of such things had been blameless, the Lord would not have thus commended John for the coarseness of his raiment, nor would Peter have checked the desire of fine clothes in women as he does, Not in costly raiment. (1 Pet. 3:3)

(ubi. sup.) Also John was not clothed in soft raiment, that is, he did not encourage sinners in their sinful life by speaking smooth things, but rebuked them with sharpness and rigour, saying, Generation of vipers, &c. (Mat. 3:7)

If the Lord had intended a higher meaning unfavorable to John, as many imagine that he did, in saying "Blessed is the one who takes no offense at me," why does he now speak about John with highest praise? Because the crowd that was present did not know the inner purpose of John's question. They thought John doubted Christ, although he himself had prophesied about him. Now the crowd learns that John asked not on his own behalf but on that of his disciples. "Why did you go out into the wilderness?" To see a man like a reed who is blown about by every wind, a man so irresolute that he cannot make up his mind about what he himself previously predicted? Or else, perhaps he is pricked by the goad of his envy for me, and his preaching runs after an empty fame, and he covets the money he may get by it? But why should this man desire wealth for abundance of feasting? He feeds on locusts and wild honey. Or wealth to wear soft clothes? His clothes are made of camel's hair. But people who are flatterers, and run after money, and covet wealth, and overflow with luxury and wear soft clothes—such people live in the palaces of kings. Thus it is shown that the austere way of life and the strict preaching must avoid the halls of kings and turn away from the palaces of the luxurious.

(Verse 8.) But what did you go out to see, a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. In him, John is greater than the other prophets, because while they had predicted someone who was to come, he pointed to the one who has already come, saying: Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. And because to the privilege of being a prophet, John added the reward of baptizing his Lord, it follows that he increased in merits, fulfilling the testimony of Malachi, in which even an angel is prophesied (Mal. II). However, here the term 'angel' cannot be understood as referring to John by nature, but rather by the dignity of his office, that is, as a messenger who announced the coming of the Lord.

This teaches that an austere life and strict preaching ought to shun kings' courts and the palaces of the rich and luxurious.

Mystically; By the garment wherewith his body is clothed is his mind shown, that it is lost in luxury and self-indulgence. The kings are the fallen angels; they are they who are powerful in this life, and the lords of this world. Thus, They that are clothed in soft raiment are in kings' houses; that is, those whose bodies are enervated and destroyed by luxury, it is clear are possessed by dæmons.

That Lord walked in humility and obscurity, with no definite home: for "the Son of man," said He, "hath not where to lay His head; " unadorned in dress, for else He had not said, "Behold, they who are clad in soft raiment are in kings' houses: " in short, inglorious in countenance and aspect, just as Isaiah withal had fore-announced. If, also, He exercised no right of power even over His own followers, to whom He discharged menial ministry; if, in short, though conscious of His own kingdom, He shrank back from being made a king, He in the fullest manner gave His own an example for turning coldly from all the pride and garb, as well of dignity as of power.

Denying them any basis for saying that John later became soft by giving himself over to luxury, He says, This cannot be; that his clothing is made of hair shows that he is an enemy of luxury. For if he were wearing soft clothing and living in kings' houses, if he so desired luxury he would not be in prison. So then, learn that it does not befit a true Christian to wear luxurious clothing.

Likewise, he is not inconstant as seeking profit. Why then did you go out? For all riches pertain to some bodily use, such as food or clothing. And it is evident that neither of these had any influence. Therefore, there is no reason to believe that he says this for any advantage: Why then did you go out? To see a man clothed in soft raiment? But why does he make no mention of food? Because there was no question on that point. But he was clothed in camel's hair. Hence those who wear soft raiment are not in the desert but in kings' houses. Chrysostom explains it another way: Some are lightheaded by nature, others from pleasure, as Hosea (4:11) says: "Fornication and wine and intoxication take away understanding." He removes the first by what he said above; the second, when he says, wear soft garments; therefore, he is not inconstant from the pleasures of life.

But here a question can be raised about being clothed in pleasures: Is it a sin? If not, it should not have been charged against that rich man, who dressed in purple and fine linen every day (Lk 16:19). Augustine says that such things are not to be considered, but the intention of the user; for one should be dressed after the custom of those among whom he lives. Therefore, the custom needs further clarification. Hence some dress more sparingly, some more ornately; and both ways require a distinction. If more sparingly, then it is either for a good intention, and this is good, or is for vainglory, and this is evil. If more ornately, it is on account of pride, and this is evil; or for a symbol, as a bishop or priest, and this is good. Mystically, by men who wear soft garments are signified flatterers; for he is dressed in soft garments who is mollified by complimentary words, as proud men seek glory from words: "If a ruler listens to the words of a lie, all his officials will be wicked" (Pr 29:12).

But what went you out into the desert to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. For the office of a prophet is to foretell things to come, not also to show them. John therefore is more than a prophet, because the one whom he had prophesied by going before, he also pointed out by showing. But since he is denied to be a reed shaken by the wind, since he is said not to be clothed in soft garments, since the name of prophet is declared to be inadequate for him, let us now hear what may worthily be said of him.

(Hom. in Ev. vi. 5.) The office of a prophet is to foretel things to come, not to show them present. John therefore is more than a prophet, because Him whom he had foretold by going before Him, the same he showed as present by pointing Him out.

In this he is also greater than the other prophets, that to his prophetic privilege is added the reward of the Baptist that he should baptize his Lord.

When therefore as well by the place, as by his garments, and by their concourse unto Him, He had delineated his character, He proceeds to bring in the prophet. For having said, "Why went ye out? To see a prophet? Yea I say unto you, and more than a prophet;" He goes on, "For this is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before Thy face, which shall prepare Thy way before Thee." Having before set down the testimony of the Jews, He then applies that of the prophets; or rather, He puts in the first place the sentence of the Jews, which must have been a very strong demonstration, the witness being borne by his enemies; secondly, the man's life; thirdly, His own judgment; fourthly, the prophet; by all means stopping their mouths.

Then having said, that he is greater than a prophet, He signifies also in what he is greater. And in what is he greater? In being near Him that was come. For, "I send," saith He, "my messenger before Thy face;" that is, nigh Thee. For as with kings, they who ride near the chariot, these are more illustrious than the rest, just so John also appears in his course near the advent itself. See how He signified John's excellency by this also; and not even here doth He stop, but adds afterwards His own suffrage as well.

Having described his habits of life from his dwelling-place, his dress, and the concourse of men to hear him, He now brings in that he is also a prophet, But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.

Turning now to the law, which is properly ours-that is, to the Gospel-by what kind of examples are we met, until we come to definite dogmas? Behold, there immediately present themselves to us, on the threshold as it were, the two priestesses of Christian sanctity, Monogamy and Continence: one modest, in Zechariah the priest; one absolute, in John the forerunner: one appeasing God; one preaching Christ: one proclaiming a perfect priest; one exhibiting "more than a prophet," -him, namely, who has not only preached or personally pointed out, but even baptized Christ.

John was more than a prophet because the other prophets only foretold Christ, while he was an eyewitness, indeed a great thing. And the others prophesied after their birth, while he, still in his mother's womb, recognized Christ and leapt.

But they might say: He is inconstant and speaks from a human spirit; therefore, he removes this: But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Hence he bears witness that he did not speak from a spirit that was human but prophetic. So he shows that he is a prophet and more than a prophet. For he was a prophet, as it says in Luke (1:76): "And you, child, shall be called a prophet of the Most High." Likewise, he raised him above the prophets, saying, I tell you, and more than a prophet. He said this for three reasons:

First, because the office of a prophet is to foretell the future; but he manifested not only the future but also things present, saying: "Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sin of the world" (Jn 1:29). Secondly, he is not only called a prophet but the Baptizer, as above (c. 3); and the precursor, as in Luke (1:76): "You will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways." Thirdly, as to his manner: for he acted more miraculously than a prophet, because he prophesied from his mother's womb; the others did not, as it says in Luke (1:44): "For behold, when the voice of your greeting sounded on my ears, the infant in my womb leapt for joy."

(interlin.) That is, shall open the hearts of Thy hearers by preaching repentance and baptizing.

There follows: This is he of whom it is written: Behold, I send my angel before your face, who will prepare your way before you. For what is called angelus in Greek is called nuntius (messenger) in Latin. Rightly therefore he who is sent to announce the heavenly judge is called an angel, that he may preserve in his name the dignity which he fulfills in his work. It is indeed a lofty name, but his life is not inferior to his name.

Beloved brothers, let us not say it to our judgment, since all who are designated by the name of priest are called angels, as the prophet attests when he says: "The lips of the priest guard knowledge, and they seek the law from his mouth, because he is the angel of the Lord of hosts." But you too, if you wish, can merit the loftiness of this name. For each one of you, insofar as he is able, insofar as he has received the grace of heavenly inspiration, if he calls back his neighbor from wickedness, if he takes care to exhort him to do good, if he proclaims the eternal kingdom or punishment to one who errs, when he bestows the words of holy proclamation, he surely becomes an angel. And let no one say: "I am not sufficient to admonish, I am not fit to exhort." Offer what you can, lest what you received and kept badly be demanded of you in torments. For he who studied to hide his talent rather than to spend it had received no more than one talent. And we know that in the tabernacle of God not only bowls but also, by the Lord's command, cups were made. By bowls, indeed, abundant teaching is designated; by cups, however, small and limited knowledge. One person, full of the teaching of truth, intoxicates the minds of his hearers. By what he says, therefore, he surely offers a bowl. Another cannot fully express what he perceives, but because he proclaims it in some way, he surely offers a taste through a cup. Therefore, placed in God's tabernacle, that is, in the holy Church, if you cannot minister bowls through the wisdom of teaching, give to your neighbors cups of a good word insofar as you are able according to divine generosity. Insofar as you perceive yourselves to have progressed, draw others along with you; desire to have companions on the way to God. If any of you, brothers, goes to the forum or perhaps to the baths, he invites someone he sees to be idle to come with him. Let that same earthly activity of yours be fitting for you, and if you are heading toward God, take care not to come to him alone. For thus it is written: "Let him who hears say: Come"; so that he who has already received in his heart the voice of heavenly love may also give forth to his neighbors the voice of exhortation. And perhaps he does not have bread to offer alms to the needy; but he who has a tongue has something greater to give. For it is more to restore with the food of the word a mind that will live forever than to satisfy with earthly bread the belly of flesh that will die. Therefore, brothers, do not withhold from your neighbors the alms of the word. I admonish you together with myself that we refrain from idle speech, that we avoid speaking uselessly. Insofar as we are able to restrain our tongue, let not words flow away into the wind, since the Judge says: "Every idle word that men have spoken, they will render an account of it on the day of judgment." An idle word is one that lacks either the usefulness of righteousness or the reason of just necessity. Therefore turn idle conversations to the pursuit of edification: consider how swiftly the times of this life flee away; attend to how strictly the Judge comes. Place him before the eyes of your heart; make him known to the minds of your neighbors; so that insofar as your strength allows, if you do not neglect to proclaim him, you may be worthy to be called angels by him along with John.

(ubi sup.) For the Greek word Angel, is in Latin Nuntius, 'a messenger.' He therefore who came to bear a heavenly message is rightly called an Angel, that he may preserve in his title the dignity which he performs in his office.

John is greater than the other prophets for this reason: the other prophets predicted to John that someone was to come, but John pointed out with his finger that he had indeed come, saying, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world." And he reached not only the rank of a prophet but even to that of Baptist, by baptizing his Lord. This heightened his significance. He thereby fulfilled the prophecy of Malachi in which an angel is foretold. John belonged to the order of the angels not by nature but by the importance of his task. It means he was the messenger who would announce the coming of the Lord.

To add to this great worthiness of John, He brings a passage from Malachias, in which he is spoken of as an Angel. (Mal. 3:1)) We must suppose that John is here called an Angel, not as partaking the Angelic nature, but from the dignity of his office as a forerunner of the Lord.

Then he shows in what respect He is greater, saying, This is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my angel before thy face.

He shows wherein it is that John is greater than the Prophets, namely, in that he is nigh unto Christ, as he says, I send before thy face, that is, near Thee, as those that walk next to the king's chariot are more illustrious than others, so likewise is John because of his nearness to Christ.

Also the other Prophets were sent to announce Christ's coming, but John to prepare His way, as it follows, who shall make ready thy way before thee;

For Joshua was to introduce the people into the land of promise, not Moses. Now He called him an "angel," on account of the magnitude of the mighty deeds which he was to achieve (which mighty deeds Joshua the son of Nun did, and you yourselves read), and on account of his office of prophet announcing (to wit) the divine will; just as withal the Spirit, speaking in the person of the Father, calls the forerunner of Christ, John, a future "angel," through the prophet: "Behold, I send mine angel before Thy"-that is, Christ's-"face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee." Nor is it a novel practice to the Holy Spirit to call those "angels" whom God has appointed as ministers of His power.

John was called an angel, both because of his angelic and almost immaterial way of life, and because he announced and proclaimed Christ. He prepared Christ's way by witnessing concerning Him and by baptizing unto repentance, for after repentance comes the forgiveness of sins, which Christ gives. Christ said these things after John's disciples had left so that He would not appear to be flattering him. The prophecy mentioned is of the prophet Malachi (Malachi 3:1).

This is he of whom it is written. Here he proves John's excellence: first, by a text; secondly, from his special privileges (v. 11). He says, therefore: I have said that he is more than a prophet, concerning whom Malachi (3:1) speaks: Behold, I sent my messenger [angel], who shall prepare your way before you... In this text John's outstanding qualities are mentioned: first, because he calls him an angel. For an angel is higher than a prophet, because as a priest is midway between a prophet and the people, so a prophet between angels and priests. But the angel is between God and prophets; hence Zechariah (1:9) says: "The angel who spoke in me." Angel is the name of an office, not of a nature; hence John is called an angel from his office. For there is a difference between an angel and a prophet, because the angels see openly; hence it says below (18:10): "I say to you, that their angels always behold the face of my Father in heaven." Angels always see God's face, but the prophets do not. Hence, as angels always see the face of the Father, so John saw Christ in a special way; and because it was a special way, he says my. He also says, before my face. When a king goes somewhere, many people precede him; but the more familiar ones go before his face. So John is considered more honorable, because he was sent before his face; for the nearer one is, the more honorable he is. Finally, he prepared the way, because he baptized; hence, he says, who shall prepare your way before you.

(Cont. Adv. Leg. et Proph. ii. 5.) The heretic argues from this verse to prove, that since John did not belong to the kingdom of heaven, therefore much less did the other Prophets of that people, than whom John is greater. But these words of the Lord may be understood in two ways. Either the kingdom of heaven is something which we have not yet received, that, namely, of, which He speaks, Come, ye blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom, (Mat. 25:34) because they in it are Angels, therefore the least among them is greater than a righteous man who has a corruptible body. Or if we must understand the kingdom of heaven of the Church, whose children are all the righteous men from the beginning of the world until now, then the Lord speaks this of Himself, who was after John in the time of His birth, but greater in respect of His divine nature and supreme power. According then to the first interpretation it will be pointed, He who is least in the kingdom of heaven, is greater than he; according to the second, He who is less than he, is in the kingdom of heaven greater than he.

"Yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." Now, many would like to interpret this with reference to the Savior, as meaning that the one lesser in age is the greater in worth. However, let us interpret it simply to mean that every saint who is already with God is greater than anyone who remains expectant, as yet in the battle. For it is one thing to possess the crown of victory, another to be still fighting in the ranks. Some conclude that the very newest angel who serves God in heaven is greater than any one, even the best, who dwells on the earth still in expectation.

(Verse 11) Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it. For it does not immediately follow that if others are not greater than him, he is greater than others; but that he has equality with the other saints.

But whoever is lesser in the kingdom of heaven is greater than him. Many want to understand this about the Savior, that whoever is lesser in time is greater in dignity. But let us understand simply: that every saint, who is already with God, is greater than him who still stands in battle. For it is one thing to possess the crown of victory, another to still fight in the battle. Some want to receive the last angel in heaven ministering to the Lord as better than any first man who dwells on earth.

He is then set before all those that are born in wedlock, and not before Him who was born of the Virgin and the Holy Spirit; yet these words, there has not arisen a greater than John the Baptist, do not imply that John is to be set above the Prophets and Patriarchs and all others, but only makes him equal to the rest; for it does not follow that because others are not greater than him, that therefore he is greater than others.

We understand it simply, that every saint who is already with the Lord is greater than he who yet stands in the battle; for it is one thing to have gained the crown of victory, another to be yet fighting in the field.

"Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of women, there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist."

Now what He said is like this: "woman hath not borne a greater than this man." And His very sentence is indeed sufficient; but if thou art minded to learn from facts also, consider his table, his manner of life, the height of his soul. For he so lived as though he were in heaven: and having got above the necessities of nature, he travelled as it were a new way, spending all his time in hymns and prayers, and holding intercourse with none among men, but with God alone continually. For he did not so much as see any of his fellow-servants, neither was he seen by any one of them; he fed not on milk, he enjoyed not the comfort of bed, or roof, or market, or any other of the things of men; and yet he was at once mild and earnest. Hear, for example, how considerately he reasons with his own disciples, courageously with the people of the Jews, how openly with the king. For this cause He said also, "There hath not risen among them that are born of women a greater than John the Baptist."

But lest the exceeding greatness of His praises should produce a sort of extravagant feeling, the Jews honoring John above Christ; mark how He corrects this also. For as the things which edified His own disciples did harm to the multitudes, they supposing Him an easy kind of person; so again the remedies employed for the multitudes might have proved more mischievous, they deriving from Christ's words a more reverential opinion of John than of Himself.

Wherefore this also, in an unsuspected way, He corrects by saying, "He that is less, in the kingdom of Heaven is greater than he." Less in age, and according to the opinion of the multitude, since they even called Him "a gluttonous man and a winebibber;" and, "Is not this the carpenter's son?" and on every occasion they used to make light of Him.

"What then?" it may be said, "is it by comparison that He is greater than John?" Far from it. For neither when John saith, "He is mightier than I," doth he say it as comparing them; nor Paul, when remembering Moses he writes, "For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses," doth he so write by way of comparison; and He Himself too, in saying, "Behold, a greater than Solomon is here," speaks not as making a comparison.

Or if we should even grant that this was said by Him in the way of comparison, this was done in condescension, because of the weakness of the hearers. For the men really had their gaze very much fixed upon John; and then he was rendered the more illustrious both by his imprisonment, and by his plainness of speech to the king; and it was a great point for the present, that even so much should be received among the multitude. And so too, the Old Testament uses in the same way to correct the souls of the erring, by putting together in a way of comparison things that cannot be compared; as when it saith, "Among the gods there is none like unto Thee, O Lord:" and again, "There is no god like our God."

And moreover His saying, "There hath not risen among them that are born of women a greater than John," suited one contrasting John with Himself, and thus tacitly excepting Himself. For though He too were born of a woman, yet not as John, for He was not a mere man, neither was He born in like manner as a man, but by a strange and wondrous kind of birth.

The kingdom of heaven is Jesus the Christ himself, who exhorts all people to repentance and draws them to himself by love.

And who of all the ancients, who were accounted worthy of the sublime and wonderful gift, was like unto John the Baptist? According to the testimony, which Christ spake concerning him, "He was the greatest of all the Prophets"; and again He said, "Verily I say unto you, among those born of women there is none greater than John the Baptist." Now let us understand and see how and what was the rule and conduct of life of this marvellous man who arrived at such greatness as this, and why he was accounted worthy of all this gift, and with what increase and with how great labours, and after what asceticism, and for how long a time he lived a solitary life away from human intercourse; and when we have seen and have understood these matters of his life, let us consider the greatness of the things which were unto him, and let us understand first of all the things which concern the will, and afterwards the things which concern grace, for until the will shewed its fruits the Spirit gave not its gift. Observe then the life of this marvellous man, who from the time of his childhood was set apart from dwelling in the world, and from intercourse with the children of men; and he was not first of all denied and polluted, and afterwards cleansed and purified, but his youth passed in purity before it arrived at the motions of nature which distinguish between good and evil things. And he was brought up in the wilderness, and he had not in him any worldly care whatsoever; and he did not taste by experience the wickedness of the children of men, and then cast it away, neither was he first moved by lusts and by passions, and afterwards came to peace of the thoughts by the labours of his freewill.

But seeing that righteousness has so great deepness that none can be perfect therein but God only, I suppose that all the saints tried by the keenness of the divine judgment, rank in a fixed order, some lower, some before other. Whence we understand that He that hath none greater than Himself, is greater than all.

As much as to say; What need to recount one by one the praises of John the Baptist; I say verily unto you, Among them that are born of women, &c. He says women, not virgins. If the same word mulier, which denotes a married person, is any where in the Gospels applied to Mary, it should be known that the translator has there used 'mulier' for 'femina;' as in that, Woman, behold thy son! (John 19:26)

As for the fact, then, that "others were not baptized"-they, however, were not companions of Christ, but enemies of the faith, doctors of the law and Pharisees. From which fact is gathered an additional suggestion, that, since the opposers of the Lord refused to be baptized, they who followed the Lord were baptized, and were not like-minded with their own rivals: especially when, if there were any one to whom they clave, the Lord had exalted John above him (by the testimony) saying," Among them who are born of women there is none greater than John the Baptist."

If John is being judged against other people according to being born from a woman, he will be found to be the greatest of them all. He alone was filled with the Holy Spirit inside his mother's womb, so that he "leaped," and his mother prophesied because she partook in this as well. But if John is judged in relation to those who are to partake of the Spirit in the kingdom of heaven, Jesus says, he will be found to be least. Thus Jesus says that John by no means partakes of such great grace as those who will be reborn into immortality after Jesus' resurrection from the dead and that John will experience physical death. At that time, however, the Spirit's abundance toward people will be so great that no one who has partaken of even the least part of it can afterward fall into death.

He declares this with certainty, that there is no one greater than John. But by saying "born of women" He excludes Himself, for Christ was born of a virgin, not of a woman, that is, one who is married. "Notwithstanding, He that is younger is greater than he in the kingdom of heaven." Since He has extolled the praises of John, lest they think that John is greater than He says here more clearly, I am the younger in age and the lesser in your opinion, yet I am greater than he in the kingdom of heaven, that is, in regards to spiritual and heavenly good things. For here I appear less than he, both because his birth preceded Mine and because he appears great to you, but there in the kingdom of heaven I am greater.

Amen, I say to you. Above the Lord commended John on the authority of a prophet [Malachi]; now he intends to commend him in his own words and explains the prophet's text. He does three things: first, he commends him as to the difference of every order and state; secondly, as to the difference between the Law and the Gospel (v. 12); thirdly, as to the difference between the present age and the future (v. 14).

First, he shows that he is outstanding among those on earth; secondly, he shows him lesser among the angels (v. 11b).

He says, therefore: it has been stated that John is an angel, and to put it briefly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. He was speaking in a proper sense, when he said, has arisen, because all are born children of wrath (Eph 2:3). Therefore, whoever can attain to the state of grace arises. Hence among those born of women. And he speaks precisely, in order that Christ be excluded from this generality, because "woman" suggests defilement, but "female", sex. Hence if son of woman is found anywhere, as in John (19:26): "Woman, behold your son," in that case it denotes sex, not defilement. But how can he say, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater? Is he for this reason greater than all? Jerome says that it does not follow: If a greater has not arisen, therefore he is greater. But Chrysostom says that he is greater than all. Therefore, according to the first explanation, I say that the argument would be valid among angels, where there is order, i.e., that the one than whom none is greater is the greatest; but among men it is not true, because among men there is no order according to nature but only according to grace. Again, if he is said to be greater than all the patriarchs of the Old Testament, it is not incongruous, because he is greater and more outstanding who has been called to a greater office. For Abraham is great among the patriarchs by reason of his faith; but Moses as to the office of prophet, as it says in Deuteronomy (34:10): "There has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses." They had all been the Lord's precursors, but none was as great or more favored. Therefore he was raised to a greater office: "He will be great before the Lord" (Lk 1:15).

Yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. Taking their stand from these words, some have found occasion for calumny; for they want to damn all the fathers of the Old Testament. For if he is greater than the others, it follows that the others are not among those to be saved, because by the kingdom of heaven the present Church is designated. Therefore, if John was not a member of the present Church, he was not among the number of the elect; nor, consequently, were the others.

But this opinion is erroneous, because it is evident that what the Lord says is in praise of John. However, this expression can be explained in three ways: first, so that by kingdom of heaven the order of the blessed is understood and whoever is least among them is greater than one on the way. Therefore the Lord calls the present state a childhood: "When I became a man, I put away the things of a child" (1 Cor 13:11); hence those on the way are called children. And this is true, if one is speaking of the actually greater; for one who has attained is actually greater. But it is otherwise with the virtually greater: for one small herb may be greater in efficacy but smaller in size than others.

It is explained in another way so that the present Church is designated by the kingdom of heaven. Then the lesser is not taken universally but in relation to time: "He that comes after me was made before me" (Jn 1:15). Hence, he that is lesser is greater than he.

It can also be explained a third way. For someone is called greater in two ways: either as to merit, and thus many patriarchs are greater than certain persons in the New Testament, as Augustine says that John's celibacy is not preferred to Abraham's marriage; or by comparing one state to another, as virgins outrank the married, although not every virgin is better than each married person. Hence John's greatness lies on a boundary, because he is greater than wayfarers but less than those who have attained, so that he holds a middle place.

From the days of John the Baptist the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force; meaning that as many as do violence to themselves, and live righteously, and are not guided by their own notions, but have faith in God, all obtain that kingdom.

A hermit was living in a cave in the Thebaid with one well-tested disciple. It was usual for him to teach the disciple during the evening and show him how the soul should progress, and after the address he used to pray and send him away to sleep. Some devout laymen who knew of the hermit's ascetic life happened to visit him. He gave them counsel and they went away. Then he sat down after the evening prayers as usual to instruct the brother. But while he was talking, sleep overcame him. The brother waited for the hermit to wake and end with the usual prayer. But he went on sleeping and the brother went on sitting for a long time and in the end the disciple felt he must go and sleep though he was uneasy about it. So he pulled himself together, and resisted the temptation, and went back to sit by the hermit. A second time he was forced away by the longing for sleep, but he sat down again. This happened seven times, and still he went on resisting it. In the middle of the night the hermit woke up, and found him sitting nearby and said, 'Haven't you gone away yet?' He said, 'No, you did not send me away, abba.' The hermit said, 'Why did you not wake me up?' He answered, 'I did not dare to nudge you for fear of upsetting you.' They both got up and began to say the morning prayers. After that the hermit sent his disciple away. When the hermit was sitting alone, he was shown a vision of a glorious place, with a throne in it, and on the throne seven crowns. He asked the angel who showed him the vision, 'Whose crowns are those?' and he replied, 'They are the crowns of your disciple. God had given him this place and throne because of his goodness and tonight he has been granted these seven crowns.' The hermit was amazed and called his disciple to him with wonder and said, 'Tell me what you did all night.' He answered, 'Alas, abba, I did nothing.' The hermit could see that he was being humble and concealing something, and said, 'Look here, I can't rest until you tell me what you did and thought last night.' But the brother was not aware that he had done anything and could not say a word. Then at last he said to the hermit, 'Indeed, abba, I did nothing, except that seven times I was driven by wandering thoughts to go away and sleep; but you had not sent me away as you usually do, so I did not go.' Then the hermit at once understood that every time he resisted the temptation, God bestowed a crown on him. To the disciple he said nothing, thinking it best for his soul, but he told other directors of souls, to teach us how God can bestow crowns upon us even for resisting little temptations. It is good that a man discipline his whole self for God's sake. As it is written, 'The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by storm' (Matt. 11:12).

(non occ.) That what He had last said should not lead any to suppose that John was an alien from the kingdom of heaven, He corrects this by adding, From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

But because John admonishes us to great works, saying: "Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance." And again: "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise"; now it is clearly given to understand what Truth means when it says: "From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent seize it." These words of the heavenly pronouncement must be thoroughly examined by us. For it must be asked how the kingdom of heaven can suffer violence. For who inflicts violence upon heaven? And again it must be asked, if the kingdom of heaven can suffer violence, why it endured that same violence from the days of John the Baptist, and not also before. But since the law says: "If anyone does this or that, let him die the death," it is clear to all who read that it struck all sinners with the punishment of its severity, but did not lead them back to life through repentance. But when John the Baptist, preceding the grace of the Redeemer, preaches repentance, so that the sinner who is dead from guilt may live through conversion, surely from the days of John the Baptist the kingdom of heaven suffers violence. But what is the kingdom of heaven, if not the place of the just? For the rewards of the heavenly homeland are owed only to the just, so that the humble, the chaste, the meek, and the merciful may arrive at the joys above. But when someone swollen with pride, or defiled by a sin of the flesh, or inflamed by anger, or impious through cruelty, returns to repentance after his faults and receives eternal life, the sinner enters, as it were, into a place not his own. Therefore from the days of John the Baptist the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent seize it, because he who proclaimed repentance to sinners—what else did he teach but that violence should be done to the kingdom of heaven?

(Hom. in Ev. xx. 14.) By the kingdom of heaven is meant the heavenly throne, whither when sinners defiled with any evil deed return in penitence, and amend themselves, they enter as sinners into the place of another, and take by violence the kingdom of heaven.

As the nature of things demands, the more powerful exert violence, and the weaker are those on whom violence is exerted. We need to consider what is being attacked and what is suffering violence.

The Lord had remarked upon the unbelief of the disciples of John. [Matt. 11:3] He had understood also the opinion of the crowd concerning John's pronouncement. [Matt. 16:14] For he realized the immense danger produced by the scandal of the cross to one's faith. [Matt. 16:22-23] He commanded the apostles to go preferably to the lost sheep of Israel; [Matt. 10:6] it was necessary that they be established in the Kingdom and be preserved in the family, the line of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. Yet all this preaching [to Israel] brought about effect to publicans and sinners. [Matt. 9:11-13] It is from these that believers now come; from these now come apostles; from these now the Kingdom of heaven comes.

John, however, was not believed by the people; the works of Christ did not win authority; the cross was going to become a scandal. Now prophecy is ceased; now the Law is fulfilled; now all preaching is concluded; now the spirit of Elijah is sent ahead in the voice of John. [Matt. 11:14] Christ is preached to some and acknowledged by others; he is born in some and loved by others. His own people spew him out, while strangers receive him; his closest [friends] attack him, while his enemies embrace him. Those who are adopted seek his heritage, while his family rejects him. The children repudiate the Covenant, while the servants acknowledge it. [Rom. 11:7-12] And so it is that the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence. Those who seek to attack it do so because the glory pledged to Israel by the patriarchs, announced by the prophets, and offered by Christ, is now appropriated and seized by the faith of the pagans.

Otherwise; The Lord bade His Apostles go to the lost sheep of Israel, but all their preaching conveyed profit to the publicans and sinners. Therefore the kingdom suffers violence, and the violent take it by force, for the glory of Israel, due to the Fathers, foretold by the Prophets, offered by Christ, is entered and held by force by the might of the Gentiles.

(V.12) But from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

Because John the Baptist was the first who preached repentance to the people, saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand: rightly therefore from that day forth it may be said, that the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. For great indeed is the violence, when we who are born of earth, seek an abode in heaven, and obtain by excellence what we have not by nature.

"And from the days of John the Baptist," saith He, "until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force."

And what sort of connexion may this have with what was said before? Much, assuredly, and in full accordance therewith. Yea, by this topic also He proceeds to urge and press them into the faith of Himself; and at the same time likewise, He is speaking in agreement with what had been before said by John. "For if all things are fulfilled even down to John, I am He that should come."

"For all the prophets," saith He, "and the law prophesied until John."

For the prophets would not have ceased, unless I were come. Expect therefore nothing further, neither wait for any one else. For that I am He is manifest both from the prophets ceasing, and from those that every day "take by force" the faith that is in me. For so manifest is it and certain, that many even take it by force. Why, who hath so taken it? tell me. All who approach it with earnestness of mind.

Is it wonder if it knows how to extort the rains of heaven -(prayer) which was once able to procure its fires? Prayer is alone that which vanquishes God.

It would seem that this does not follow the train of thought, but it does. Consider this: Christ, by saying of Himself that He is greater than John, strongly urges them to believe in Him, showing that many are by force acquiring the kingdom of heaven, that is, faith in Him. And there is need of great force, for in order to leave father and mother and to despise one's own life, how much force is needed?

From the days of John the Baptist until now... Here he is commended on the basis of the distinction between the Old Testament and the New Testament, so that John's excellence is marked by the fact that he is the beginning of the New Testament and the end of the Old Testament. Thus he said: "He that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he," which refers to the fact that he is the beginning of the New Testament; but from the days of John the Baptist, i.e., of his preaching, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence.

This is explained in three ways.

First, it is known that in cases of ravishment there is violence and a struggle. Hence it is required that a sinner, if he is able to reach the kingdom of heaven, must climb to spiritual things and struggle a great deal. It is explained in another way. It is known that rapine, properly speaking, means that something is taken by force contrary to the will of the owner. The preaching of salvation was made to the Jews and then to everyone through Christ: "I have not been sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Mt 15:24). And although he was sent to them, they did not receive him; yet those to whom he was not sent seized it. Hence he says above: "Many shall come from the east and from the west, and shall recline with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom will be cast into the outer darkness" (Mt 8:12). And below (21:43): "The kingdom of heaven will be taken from you and given to a people producing the fruits of it." Therefore, they have taken it by violence. And this is Hilary's explanation. The third explanation is this: What is taken by violence is snatched quickly; hence Job: "As a torrent which rushes quickly into the valleys": and this is on account of the speed of its movement. And because preaching had so moved men's hearts, the motion seemed swift; therefore, he says, it suffers violence, because they tend toward the kingdom after the manner of someone in a hurry. Hence the Gospel began with him and he is its end.

This should not exclude the prophets who came after John the Baptist, for we read in the Acts of the Apostles that Agabus and Philip's four young unmarried daughters uttered prophecies. But insofar as the law and prophets of the Scriptures looked toward the future, they prophesied about our Lord. So when it is written, "All the prophets and the law up to the time of John have prophesied," the time of Christ is made known as those previous voices had said it would come. Then John showed he had come.

(Verse 13) For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. Not that they exclude the prophets after John. For we read in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 11:21) that Agabus and the four virgin daughters of Philip prophesied. But what the Law and the prophets, whose writings we read, prophesied, they prophesied about the Lord. Therefore, when it is said, 'All the prophets and the Law prophesied until John,' it indicates the time of Christ, so that John, who they said would come, would show that he has come.

Not that He cuts off all Prophets after John; for we read in the Acts of the Apostles that Agabus prophesied, and also four virgins daughters of Philip; but He means that the Law and the Prophets whom we have written, whatever they have prophesied, they have prophesied of the Lord. That He says, Prophesied until John, shows that this was now the time of Christ's coming; and that whom they had foretold should come, Him John showed to be already come.

"The days of John" and of Jesus are understood not in reference to time but in reference to the state of the soul of the hearer of the divine Scripture. And the word now marks out clearly the days of Jesus, which the psalm points to in this way: "In his days righteousness shall arise, and there will be an abundance of peace till the time when he is taken away." One who has been previously taught comes to the beginning of Jesus' discourses and still makes progress in introductory things by way of that road that appears to be rugged and steep. One thereby "takes by force" the kingdom of heaven, which "suffers violence." The expression "suffers violence" is not to be taken in an active sense but a passive, as if to say "it has been taken." But if the perfect Word, when he receives someone who was awaiting freedom under the law and prophetic schoolmasters and housekeepers, bestows on such a one his father's inheritance freely, then fittingly it is said that "all the prophets and the law prophesied until John."

In short, if this is not so, let the Jews exhibit, subsequently to Christ, any volumes of prophets, visible miracles wrought by any angels, (such as those) which in bygone days the patriarchs saw until the advent of Christ, who is now come; since which event "sealed is vision and prophecy," that is, confirmed. And justly does the evangelist write, "The law and the prophets (were) until John" the Baptist.

And thus, the former gifts of grace being withdrawn, "the law and the prophets were until John," and the fishpool of Bethsaida until the advent of Christ: thereafter it ceased curatively to remove from Israel infirmities of health; since, as the result of their perseverance in their frenzy, the name of the Lord was through them blasphemed, as it is written: "On your account the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles: " for it is from them that the infamy (attached to that name) began, and (was propagated during) the interval from Tiberius to Vespasian.

Yet I must necessarily prescribe you a law, not to stretch out your hand after the old things, not to look backwards: for "the old things are passed away," according to Isaiah; and "a renewing hath been renewed," according to Jeremiah; and "forgetful of former things, we are reaching forward," according to the apostle; and "the law and the prophets (were) until John," according to the Lord.

At all events, in the Gospel they think that those days were definitely appointed for fasts in which "the Bridegroom was taken away; " and that these are now the only legitimate days for Christian fasts, the legal and prophetical antiquities having been abolished: for wherever it suits their wishes, they recognise what is the meaning of" the Law and the prophets until John." Accordingly, (they think) that, with regard to the future, fasting was to be indifferently observed, by the New Discipline, of choice, not of command, according to the times and needs of each individual: that this, withal, had been the observance of the apostles, imposing (as they did) no other yoke of definite fasts to be observed by all generally, nor similarly of Stations either, which (they think) have withal days of their own (the fourth and sixth days of the week), but yet take a wide range according to individual judgment, neither subject to the law of a given precept, nor (to be protracted) beyond the last hour of the day, since even prayers the ninth hour generally concludes, after Peter's example, which is recorded in the Acts.

This, too, follows the same train of thought. For He is saying, I am He that cometh, for all the prophets have been fulfilled. They would not have been fulfilled if I had not come. Therefore, await nothing further.

Hence Christ says: For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John, because all the prophets were for the sake of Christ and began to be fulfilled from the time of John's preaching. Hence Luke (24:44): "Everything written about me must be fulfilled." And this until John. Does this mean that there were no prophets after John? Do we not read below (23:34): "Behold, I sent you prophets, wise men and scribes"? The answer is that a prophet is sent for two purposes: to strengthen faith and to correct morals: "Where there is no prophecy the people cast off restraint" (Pr 29:18). To strengthen faith, as it says in 1 Peter (1:10): "The prophets who prophesied of the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired about this salvation; they inquired what person or time was indicated by the Spirit of Christ within them." Hence prophecy served those two things: faith has now been established, because Christ's promises have been accomplished. But for the correction of morals, prophecy has never ceased nor will ever cease. Therefore John is outstanding, because he is between the Old and the New Law; hence he was sent before his face, as though at the same time as Christ.

He called John Elijah because of Elijah's power and spirit. And since this statement of Jesus was obscure, he left the understanding of it for those capable of perceiving its meaning. But the angel Gabriel also said this about John: "And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah," showing that he was the same as Elijah, even if, as a visible human being, he was other than Elijah.

As the Lord said to the Jews, and if ye are willing, receive it of John the Baptist: This is Elijah who was to come.

So John the Baptist is called Elijah, not in accordance with foolish philosophers and certain heretics who introduce the topic of metempsychosis (transmigration of souls) but because, according to other evidence of the gospel, he came in the spirit and goodness of Elijah and had either the same grace or power of the Holy Spirit. The austerity of their life and firm resolve were equally strong in Elijah and in John. Both lived in the desert. The former girded himself with a belt of skins, and the latter had a similar belt. The former was forced to flee because he accused Ahab and Jezebel of the sin of impiety in their lives. John was beheaded because he accused Herod and Herodias of unlawful marriage. There are those who think therefore that John is called Elijah because, just as Elijah would lead the way in the second coming of our Savior (according to Malachi) and would announce that the Judge was coming, so John acted at the first coming and because each was a messenger either of the first or second coming of our Lord.

(Verse 14, 15.) And if you want to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. This which was said, if you want to receive it, he is Elijah, signifies a mystical understanding and requires intelligence, as the following words of the Lord demonstrate, saying: He who has ears to hear, let him hear. For if the meaning were clear and the sentiment evident, why would it be necessary for us to be prepared for its understanding? Therefore, John is called Elijah, not according to foolish philosophers and certain heretics, who introduce reincarnation, but because, as another testimony of the Gospel states, he came in the spirit and power of Elijah, he had the same grace or measure of the Holy Spirit. But the austerity of life and the firmness of mind of Elijah and John are equal. For Elijah lived in the desert, and so did John: Elijah wore a leather belt, and so did John. Elijah, because he accused King Ahab and Jezebel of impiety, was forced to flee (3 Kings 19); John, because he accused Herod and Herodias of unlawful marriage, was beheaded. There are those who think that John is called Elijah because just as Elijah is said to precede the second coming of the Savior according to Malachi, and announce the coming Judge, so did John in the first coming; and both are messengers of either the first coming of the Lord, or the second.

John then is said to be Elias, not according to the foolish philosophers, and certain heretics who bring forward their metempsychosis, or passing of the soul from one body to another; but because (as it is in another passage of the Gospel) he came in the spirit and power of Elias, and had the same grace and measure of the Holy Spirit. But in austerity of life, and fortitude of spirit, Elias and John were alike; they both dwelt in the desert, both were girded with a girdle of skins; because he reproved Ahab and Jezebel for their wickedness, Elias was compelled to fly; because he condemned the unlawful union of Herod and Herodias, John is beheaded.

That He says, This is Elias, is figurative, and needs to be explained, as what follows, shews; He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Then He states also another infallible sign, saying, "If ye will receive it, he is Elias, which was for to come." For "I will send you," it is said, "Elias the Tishbite, who shall turn the heart of the father to the children." This man then is Elias, if ye attend exactly, saith He. For "I will send," saith He, "my messenger before Thy face."

And well hath He said, "If ye will receive it," to show the absence of force. For I do not constrain, saith He. And this He said, as requiring a candid mind, and showing that John is Elias, and Elias John. For both of them received one ministry, and both of them became forerunners. Wherefore neither did He simply say, "This is Elias," but, "If ye are willing to receive it, this is he," that is, if with a candid mind ye give heed to what is going on. And He did not stop even at this, but to the words, "This is Elias, which was for to come," He added, to show that understanding is needed, "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."

Now He used so many dark sayings, to stir them up to inquiry. And if not even so were they awakened, much more, had all been plain and clear. For this surely no man could say, that they dared not ask Him, and that He was difficult of approach. For they that were asking him questions, and tempting Him about common matters, and whose mouths were stopped a thousand times, yet they did not withdraw from Him; how should they but have inquired of Him, and besought Him touching the indispensable things, had they indeed been desirous to learn? For if concerning the matters of the law they asked, "Which is the first commandment," and all such questions, although there was of course no need of His telling them that; how should they but ask the meaning of what He Himself said, for which also He was bound to give account in His answers? And especially when it was He Himself that was encouraging and drawing them on to do this. For by saying, "The violent take it by force," He stirs them up to earnestness of mind; and by saying, "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear," He doth just the same thing.

As much as to say, Whoso has ears of the heart to hear, that is, to understand, let him understand; for He did not say that John was Elias in person, but in the Spirit.

I apprehend that heretics of this school seize with especial avidity the example of Elias, whom they assume to have been so reproduced in John (the Baptist) as to make our Lord's statement sponsor for their theory of transmigration, when He said, "Elias is come already, and they knew him not; " and again, in another passage, "And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come." Well, then, was it really in a Pythagorean sense that the Jews approached John with the inquiry, "Art thou Elias? " and not rather in the sense of the divine prediction, "Behold, I will send you Elijah" the Tisbite? The fact, however, is, that their metempsychosis, or transmigration theory, signifies the recall of the soul which had died long before, and its return to some other body.

Jesus is in effect saying: Just as Elijah will come toward the end of this present age preaching about my imminent appearance from heaven, in the same way this one has spread the good news of my coming, bringing an end to the old things. My coming is something new, a type of the state of things that is about to occur.

If you are willing, He says, to accept it, that is, if you judge the matter with a good disposition of mind, and not spitefully, he is the one whom the prophet Malachi called Elijah who was to come (Malachi 4:5. "And, behold, I will send to you Elijah the Tishbite before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes"). For both the Forerunner and Elijah have the same ministry. The one was the Forerunner of the first coming, while Elijah will be the forerunner of the second coming. Then, showing that it is an enigma that John is Elijah, and requires wisdom to understand it, He says:

And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. Here he shows John's greatness as far as the distinction between present and future is concerned. For Elijah was the Lord's precursor; hence Malachi (4:5): "Behold, I will send you Elijah, the prophet...," and John is Elijah. But what is the Lord saying? For when John was asked if he was Elijah, he said that he was not. But this refutes a heresy which posited transmigration of souls, namely, that the soul went from one body and entered another body; therefore Elijah's soul had entered John, so they said. But this opinion is false, because he denied that he was Elijah. But Christ said that John was Elijah on account of three similarities: first, because, as one angel is said to be similar to another angel, because they are equal in office, so Elijah and John were equal in office, because both were precursors: "He will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways" (Lk 1:76). Also as to manner of life, because he led an austere life (1 Kg 19:6). Again, as to persecution, because as he was persecuted by Jezebel, so John by Herod. Hence if you are willing to accept it in the sense in which it should be taken, he is Elijah.

Thus urging them to ask and to learn.

And so that they might understand that he was speaking in a mystical way, he adds, he who has ears to hear, let him hear, i.e., he that has ears spiritually, let him hear and understand.