John § 37

Hear also what follows. "Therefore doth my Father love me," He saith, "because I lay down my life. that I might take it again." What is this that He says? "Therefore doth my Father love me": because I die, that I may rise again. For the "I" is uttered with special emphasis: "Because I lay down," He saith, "I lay down my life," "I lay down." What is that "I lay down"? I Lay it down. Let the Jews no longer boast: they might rage, but they could have no power: let them rage as they can; if I were unwilling to lay down my life, what would all their raging effect? By one answer of His they were prostrated in the dust: when they were asked, "Whom seek ye?" they said, "Jesus;" and on His saying to them, "I am He, they went backward, and fell to the ground." Those who thus fell to the ground at one word of Christ when about to die, what will they do at the sound of His voice when coming to judgment?

"This commandment," He says, "have I received of my Father." The Word received not the commandment in word, but in the only-begotten Word of the Father every commandment resides. But when the Son is said to receive of the Father what He possesses essentially in Himself, as it is said, "As the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself," while the Son is Himself the life, there is no lessening of His authority, but the setting forth of His generation. For the Father added not after-gifts as to a son whose state was imperfect at birth, but on Him whom He begat in absolute perfection He bestowed all gifts in begetting. In this manner He gave Him equality with Himself, and yet begat Him not in a state of inequality.

"Therefore the Father loves me." Here Christ's munificence toward the sheep is noted, in this, that he himself, since he was not a debtor to death, not compelled by necessity, but by sheer liberality laid down his life for the sheep; and this at the Father's command, by reason of which he merited the Father's love. Therefore he says: "Therefore the Father loves me, because I lay down my life," namely in death and passion: "that I may take it again," that is, in the resurrection, and thus from power, because it is mine to lay down and mine to take up again.

It is asked about what he says: "Therefore the Father loves me, because I lay down my life."

Therefore it seems that Christ merited the divine love through his passion.

Against this: From the instant of his conception he was worthy to be loved above all.

It must be said that he speaks according to the human nature, and "therefore" he states there the meritorious cause, just as in that text: "For which cause God also exalted him." And merit is understood not as making what is unowed into something owed, nor as making what is owed into something more owed; but because what is owed in one way and by one mode, namely by the best interior will, becomes owed in another way, namely by exterior work.

He replies oftentimes not only to the words uttered at the time with the tongue, but to the reasonings in the depth [of the heart]; for being Very God, He has a clear knowledge of all things. Accordingly, when the unholy Jews mocked at His words, especially because He promised that He would struggle on behalf of His own sheep to such a degree and so very earnestly that He was actually ready even to die for them, thinking that He now talked foolishly and deeming Him mad; forcibly now at length He shows those who were mockers, because of the ignorance and at the same time the unbounded impiety that was in them, that they are guilty both in words and in deeds of dishonouring that which God the Father recognises as worthy of great honour. For the Father loveth Me, He says, for this very thing that you through your great lack of understanding so utterly despise. Are ye not therefore arrogant and chargeable with gross impiety, when ye say that is a fit object for mockery which to God is most acceptable and well-pleasing? And somehow also He gives them to understand from these words, that they were greatly hated by God. For if God loves the One Who lays down His life for the sheep of the fold entrusted to His care, it is of course necessary to suppose that He holds in detestation the one who beholdeth the wolf coming and leaveth the herd [a prey] to the prowling and ravenous beast, and turneth to flight; just what Christ had convicted those, whose lot it was then to rule the people or flock of the Jews, of doing. At the same time therefore He reproves them both as hated by God and as being ungodly, because they did not shrink from laughing at what God honoured most highly. Moreover, Christ declares that He was loved by God the Father, not merely because He lays down His life, but because He lays it down that He may also take it again: for of course it is in this point especially that the greatness of the benefits He wrought for us appears conspicuous. For if He had only died, and had not risen again, what would have been the advantage? And how would He appear to have benefitted our nature, if He had remained amongst us, dead, under the bonds of death, and subjected to consequent corruption in the same way as others? But since He laid it down that He might also take it again, He in this way saved our nature perfectly, bringing to naught the power of death; and He will display us as a new creation.

Accordingly, the Son is beloved by God the Father; not as though He would have remained without that love, had not His work for us been done; for He was always and at all times beloved. And we will proceed towards the comprehension of what is here said. The qualities which naturally are inherent in any thing, or which happen to be possessed by it, are most strikingly manifested at any particular time when they are exhibited with special intensity. For example, fire naturally has in itself its own heat, but when it displays it upon pieces of wood, then especially we recognise what force and what power there is in it. Similarly, the man who has acquired a knowledge perhaps of grammar or of some other such science, would not be admired for it, I suppose, if he remained silent, but rather when he has exhibited to the appreciation of others the excellence of the knowledge he possesses. In like manner therefore the Divine and ineffable Nature, when it strongly exhibits any of Its own inherent qualities, or any of the attributes naturally belonging to It; at such a time It also is by Itself most strikingly manifested, and so is seen by us. For instance, Wisdom saith in the Book of Proverbs: I it was in Whom He rejoiced, and daily I was delighted, [being] always in His presence; when He was delighted at having finished the world, and was taking delight in the sons of men: although joy always belongs to God, and His gladness is without end. Surely nothing whatever grieves Him Who possesses authority over all; yet He rejoices in His own Wisdom at having finished the world. For when He beholds the energy of His own Wisdom exhibited in His work, then most especially He thought that He must more abundantly rejoice. In this way therefore we will understand what is said in this place. For God the Father being love, according to the language of John, and not simply good but rather goodness itself, when He saw His own Son laying down His life for us through His love towards us, and His surpassing goodness keeping unaltered the exact characteristics of His own Nature, reasonably loved Him; not bestowing His love upon Him as a sort of reward for the things that had been done for us, but, as we have said, beholding in His Son that which was true to His own Essence, and being drawn to love Him as if by certain necessary and irresistible impulses of nature. Therefore, just as even among ourselves, if any one beholds perchance in his own child the image of his own form exactly represented, he is drawn to an intensity of love whensoever he looks at him: after this manner I think God the Father is said to love His own Son, Who for us lays down His own life, and takes it again. For it is a work of love to have chosen even to suffer, and to suffer ignominiously, for the salvation of some; and not to die only, but also to take again the life that was laid down, in order to destroy death and to take away sorrow from [the thought of] corruption. Therefore, being always beloved by reason of His Nature, He will be understood to have been beloved also on account of His love towards us, causing thereby gladness of heart to His Father: since He in that very thing was enabled to see the Image of His own Nature shining forth quite unclouded and unadulterated.

If we see ourselves in our own child, we are drawn to an intensity of love whenever we see that child. In the same way, I think God the Father is said to love his own Son, who lays down his own life for us and takes it again. For it is a work of love to have chosen to suffer—and to suffer shamefully—for the salvation of some. It is a work of love not only to die but also to take again the life that was laid down in order to destroy death and to take away sorrow from corruption. Although the Son is always beloved by reason of his nature, it is evident that Christ is also beloved by God the Father because of his love toward us. Naturally, this gladdens the heart of God the Father since he can see the image of his own nature clearly and perfectly shining forth through Christ's love for us.

Callistus corroborated the heresy of these Noetians, but we have already carefully explained the details of his life. And Callistus himself produced likewise a heresy, and derived its starting-points from these Noetians,-namely, so far as he acknowledges that there is one Father and God, viz., the Creator of the universe, and that this (God) is spoken of, and called by the name of Son, yet that in substance He is one Spirit. For Spirit, as the Deity, is, he says, not any being different from the Logos, or the Logos from the Deity; therefore this one person, (according to Callistus,) is divided nominally, but substantially not so. He supposes this one Logos to be God, and affirms that there was in the case of the Word an incarnation. And he is disposed (to maintain), that He who was seen in the flesh and was crucified is Son, but that the Father it is who dwells in Him. Callistus thus at one time branches off into the opinion of Noetus, but at another into that of Theodotus, and holds no sure doctrine. These, then, are the opinions of Callistus.

"Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I lay down My life, that I might take it again." What could be more full of humanity than this saying, if so be that on our account our Lord shall be beloved, because He dieth for us? What then? tell me, was He not beloved during the time before this; did the Father now begin to love Him, and were we the causes of His love? Seest thou how He used condescension? But what doth He here desire to prove? Because they said that He was alien from the Father, and a deceiver, and had come to ruin and destroy He telleth them, "This if nothing else would persuade Me to love you, namely, your being so beloved by the Father, that I also am beloved by Him, because I die for you." Besides this He desireth also to prove that other point, that He came not to the action unwillingly, (for it unwillingly, how could what was done cause love?) and that this was especially known to the Father. And if He speaketh as a man, marvel not, for we have often mentioned the cause of this, and to say again the same things is superfluous and unpleasant.

Since He was called alien to the Father, a deceiver and a destroyer, and not a Savior of souls, with these present words He declares: "I am not your destroyer, but am ready to endure everything for you, if for no other reason, then because God has loved you so much that He loves Me too for the fact that I am dying for you. How then would I deceive you, when I know that God loves you? On the contrary, would it not be better for Me to resolve to die for you, if for no other reason, then so that My Father would love Me even more for this?" He says this so humbly out of condescension, because the listeners did not accept it when He spoke of Himself in lofty terms. To assign another meaning to this saying would be absurd. For surely the Father did not fail to love Him before and only began to love Him now, with the cause of this being His death for us? No; rather, as I have already said, He expressed Himself in this manner out of condescension. Another may say the following as well. The love of God the Father toward us was known. And God the Father saw that His Son also showed the same goodness toward us, for He willed even to die for us and preserves exactly the qualities of the Father's goodness. Therefore the Father justly loved the Son — He loved Him not as a gift to the Son or as a kind of reward for His death for us, but because He saw in the Son a kinship of Essence with Himself, and so was moved to love the Son as if by an irresistible law of nature. For did not the Son show a deed of great love toward us when He accepted a shameful death for us, and not only death, but also received life again, so as to put death to death and through His Resurrection make us immortal? So when He says that the Father loves Me because I die for you, He expresses by this that the Father, as it were, delights and rejoices that the Son is like Him and has toward mankind the same love as He does.

The Father does not bestow His love on the Son as a reward for the death He suffered in our behalf; but He loves Him, as beholding in the Begotten His own essence, whence proceeded such love for mankind.

Now our Lord explains his proof: first, he amplifies on the reason for the sign of his death for his sheep; secondly, he explains the sign, or the effect (v 18); thirdly, he shows that the reason is appropriate (v 18b).

Our Lord says that the reason for his death is the knowledge he has of the Father, saying, "as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep." In explaining this he says, for this reason the Father loves me. From this it is clear that the Father knows him with a knowledge joined with approval, for this reason, I say, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again.

But is it true that his death is the cause of the Father's love? It seems not, because something temporal is not the cause of something eternal. But Christ's death is in the temporal order, while the love of God for Christ is eternal. I answer that Christ is speaking here of the Father's love for him as having a human nature. Accordingly, this passage can be understood in three ways. In one way, so that because indicates a cause, while in the other way it indicates the term or sign of love.

If it is taken causally, then the meaning is: because I lay down my life, i.e., endure death, for this reason the Father loves me, that is, he grants me the effect of his love, which is the glory and exaltation of my body: "He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him a name which is above every name" (Phil 2:8).

But one might object to this that good works cannot merit the divine love. For since our works are meritorious to the extent that they are given life by charity - "If I give away all I have…but have not love, I gain nothing" (1 Cor 13:3) - and since God is the first to love - "In this is love, not that we love God but that he first loved us" (1 Jn 4:10) - it is clear that his love precedes all our merit. This can be answered by saying that no one can merit God's love; nevertheless, we can merit by our good works the effect of God's love, that is, an increase of grace and the reception of the good of glory, both of which God bestows on us because of his love. Thus we can say that for this reason God loves this or that person, that is, bestows on him the effect of his love, because he obeys his commandments. And so we can say about Christ as man, that for this reason the Father loves him, that is, has exalted him and given him the brightness of glory, because he laid down his life in death.

But if because indicates a sign of love, then the meaning is this: for this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, as if to say: This is a sign that the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again, that is, I fulfill his commands and will and endure death. For an obvious sign of love is that a person, out of charity, fulfills the commands of God.

For the Word doth not receive a command by word, but containeth in Himself all the Father's commandments. When the Son is said to receive what He possesseth of Himself, His power is not lessened, but only His generation declared. The Father gave the Son every thing in begetting Him. He begat Him perfect.

To be troubled was proper to the flesh, and to have power to lay down his life and take it again when he wanted was no property of people but of the Word's power. For human beings die not by their own power but by necessity of nature and against their will. But the Lord, being himself immortal but having mortal flesh, had power as God to become separate from the body and to take it again when he wanted to. Concerning this David speaks in the psalm: "You shall not leave my soul in hades, neither shall you suffer your holy One to see corruption." For it was appropriate to the flesh, corruptible as it was, that it should no longer after its own nature remain mortal, but because of the Word who had put it on, it should remain incorruptible. For since he was conformed to our condition, having come in our body, so we when we receive him partake of the immortality that is from him.

Here he shows that his natural death was not the consequence of sin in him but of his own simple will, which was the why, the when and the how [of his death]. For because the Word of God is so commingled [with the flesh] as to be one with it, he says, "I have power to lay it down."

So take a look at Christ: "I have authority to lay down my life, and I have authority to take it up again; nobody takes it away from me." "I myself went to sleep"; that, you see, is what he says in the psalm: "I myself went to sleep." As though to say, "Why are they so excited, why so exultant? Why are the Jews waving their arms with joy, as though they themselves had done anything?" "I myself went to sleep. I," he says, "who have authority to lay down my life, by laying it down 'I myself went to sleep, and took my rest.' " And since he had the authority to take it up again, he added, "I rose again," but to give the glory to the Father, "since the Lord took me up." Do not let these words, where he says, "Since the Lord took me up …" strike your minds as meaning that Christ himself did not raise up his own body. The Father raised him up, and he also raised himself up. How shall we prove to you that he raised himself up? Call to mind what he said to the Jews: "Pull down this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."

(Tr. xlvii. 7) i. e. Because I die, to rise again. There is great force in, I lay down. Let not the Jews, He says, boast; rage they may, but if I should not choose to lay down My life, what will they do by raging?

(iv. de Trin. c. xiii.) Wherein He showed that His natural death was not the consequence of sin in Him, but of His own simple will, which was the why, the when, and the how: I have power to lay it down.

(Tr. xlvii) How doth our Lord lay down His own life? Christ is the Word, and man, i. e. in soul and body. Doth the Word lay down His life, and take it again; or doth the human soul, or doth the flesh? If it was the Word of God that laid down His soul and took it again, that soul was at one time separated from the Word. But, though death separated the soul and body, death could not separate the Word and the soul. It is still more absurd to say that the soul laid down itself; if it could not be separated from the Word, how could it be from itself? The flesh therefore layeth down its life and taketh it again, not by its own power, but by the power of the Word which dwelleth in it. This refutes the Apollinarians, who say that Christ had not a human, rational soul.

"No man takes it from me: but I lay it down of myself," and thus I lay it down freely; whence he says: "And I have power to lay it down," that is, to set it aside, "and I have power to take it again"; whence Isaiah chapter fifty-three: "He was offered because he himself willed it." And why? He gives the reason: because "this commandment I have received from my Father": whence Philippians chapter two: "He became obedient" to the Father "unto death," etc.; whence below in chapter eighteen he said to Peter: "The chalice which the Father has given me, will you not have me drink it?" As if to say: I will to obey.

It is asked concerning what he says: "I lay down my life of myself"; because thus everyone seems to do; whence Augustine: "Anyone who dies lays down his life." If you say that he does so by necessity: an objection is raised concerning the Martyr, who dies voluntarily.

It must be said that every person lays down his life in one way, the Martyr in another way, and Christ in yet another way: every person by necessity, the Martyr by will, but Christ by will together with power. For the will of the Martyr, even if it is free from dying at that time, is nevertheless not free from dying absolutely: but Christ was entirely free.

Likewise there is a question about what he says: "I have power to lay down my life and to take it up again."

Either he says this according to the divine nature, or according to the body, which lays down the soul. If according to the divine: then the Divinity dismissed the soul, which is impious to say, and whoever says this is anathema.

Or he says it according to the body, and that does not have the power to take it up again.

Likewise it is objected: if the body laid down the soul, and as Damascene says, the soul was the medium of uniting the divine nature to the body, then the divine nature laid down the body, which is impious.

It must be said that "soul" here means "life": whence the sense is: I have power to lay down my soul, that is, my life, namely to lay it down through death, and I have power to take it up again through resurrection.

But if "soul" is taken properly: then Christ is said to lay down his soul, that is, to put it away from the flesh, not because the body does this, but the Son of God himself, who has power over both, namely the soul and the body.

As for what is objected concerning the medium, it must be said that there is a medium of distance, of binding, and of fittingness. The soul is not a medium of distance in that union, because the Divinity is immediately united to the body; nor of binding, because it does not bind one with the other; but of fittingness, because the body, by the fact that it is capable of being animated, is able to be united to the Divinity fittingly; and therefore it does not follow that it must be dissolved.

That they would do this He Himself also had foretold; and the testimony of all the prophets had in like manner preceded Him, that it behoved Him to suffer, not that He might feel death, but that He might conquer death, and that, when He should have suffered, He should return again into heaven, to show the power of the divine majesty. Therefore the course of events fulfilled the promise. For when crucified, the office of the executioner being forestalled, He Himself of His own will yielded up His spirit, and on the third day freely rose again from the dead. He appeared to His disciples like as He had been. He gave Himself to the recognition of those that saw Him, associated together with Him; and being evident by the substance of His bodily existence, He delayed for forty days, that they might be instructed by Him in the precepts of life, and might learn what they were to teach. Then in a cloud spread around Him He was lifted up into heaven, that as a conqueror He might bring to the Father, Man whom He loved, whom He put on, whom He shielded from death; soon to come from heaven for the punishment of the devil and to the judgment of the human race, with the force of an avenger and with the power of a judge; whilst the disciples, scattered over the world, at the bidding of their Master and God gave forth His precepts for salvation, guided men from their wandering in darkness to the way of light, and gave eyes to the blind and ignorant for the acknowledgment of the truth.

That He was not to be overcome of death, nor should remain in Hades. In the twenty-ninth Psalm: "O Lord, Thou hast brought back my soul from hell." Also in the fifteenth Psalm: "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption." Also in the third Psalm: "I laid me down and slept, and rose up again, because the Lord helped me." Also according to John: "No man taketh away my life from me; but I lay it down of myself. I have the power of laying it down, and I have the power of taking it again. For this commandment I have received from my Father."

This commandment received I from My Father.

For lest any one should say that against the will of the Son the Father is not able to take away His life, and hence introduce discord and variance into the One Godhead of the Father and the Son; by these words which He says: I received commandment, He shows that the Father also agrees and consents to this, and professes that They come forward to it as with one accord, although He is the Will of the Father. And this will be found consistent also with His Incarnation. By saying that He received in the way of a commandment that which seemed right in the eyes of His Father, He being by Nature God does not make Himself inferior to the Father, but observes what befits His participation of man's nature. Again, He puts us in mind that He is Himself the Prophet concerning Whom the Father said: He shall speak according as I shall command Him; speaking of the common Will of both Father and Son as received like a commandment. This He spake to the Jews lest they should think that He said things contrary to the ordinances of the Father. And if the Father named His own Consubstantial Son a Prophet, be not troubled; for when He became Man, then also the name of Prophet was suitable to Him, then also we may say that commandments were given to Him by the Father agreeably to His human nature. But one who receives commandments is not for that reason inferior or unlike in essence or nature to one who gives commandments, inasmuch as men give commandments to men, and angels to angels, and we do not for that reason say that those who are commanded are of different nature or inferior. Therefore the Son is not inferior to the Father, although He became Man, in order that He might become a Pattern of all virtue for us. By this means He also teaches us that we ought to obey our parents in all things, although we are equal to them as regards our nature. And in some places when it is said by the Father: "I will command," the meaning is: "I will deal fitly with," as when He said: And I will command the whole world for their evil deeds, and the ungodly for their sins. Moreover there are times when the Son speaks with helpful condescension, so that we may as far as is possible get an understanding of the ineffable oracles: yet His having said: I received a commandment, does not make One Who is in His Nature God cease to be God. Either therefore say He is God and ascribe to Him all that properly befits the Godhead, or say plainly He is a creature. For the fact of having received a commandment does not strip any one of the qualities which naturally belong to him. But since the Son speaks whatever the Father commands Him, and He says: I and the Father are One, thou art obliged to say, either that the Father commanded the Son to tell the truth, or to tell a lie. For what the Son hath received commandment to speak, He speaketh; for He saith: The Father which sent Me, He hath given Me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And although He also said: My Father is greater than I, that is nothing to the contrary. For in so far as He is in His Nature God, He is equal to the Father; but in so far as He became Man and humbled Himself, He in accordance with this speaks words which befit His Humanity. Nevertheless, as the name of commandment is something external to the essence of a person, it could not be made an objection to His Essence. For it is not in the Father's giving Him commandment that the Son has His Being, nor could this ever be made the limit of His Essence. The Son, therefore, as being the Counsel and Wisdom of the Father, knows what is fittingly determined by Him; and if He receives it as a commandment, do not marvel. For by human modes of expression He signifies things beyond expression, and things unspeakable by our voices are brought down to the mode of expression usual amongst us, so that we may be enabled to understand them. Accordingly let us blame, not the inconsistency of the matter, but the weakness of the words, which cannot reach to the full expression and accurate interpretation of the matters, as they ought.

No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.

In this place He teaches that He is not only a Good Shepherd enduring peril for the sake of His flock, but also in His Nature God. Therefore He would not have suffered death, had He not been willing, through His possessing the very God-befitting power of undertaking this work, so very advantageous to us. And the structure of the discourse taught the Jews this also, that they were never going to prevail against Him unless He was willing. And not only as regards laying down life did He say: I have power; but this expression: I have power, He used with regard to both His Death and His Resurrection, in order that the action of might and energy might not appear to be that of another, as though it were a concession granted to Him as to a minister and servant in office; but in order that He might display as a fruit of His own Nature the power to exercise authority over the very bonds of death, and easily to modify the natures of things in whatever way He wished, which is really a characteristic of Him Who is by Nature God. This then He wishes to show by saying: I have power to lay down My life, and I have power to take it again: because, neither commanded as a servant or a minister, nor even as it were from necessity, nor being violently compelled by any, but willingly, He came to do this.

And accordingly, as by the intensity of the supplication and the severe agony, so also by the dense and excessive sweat, he made the facts patent, that the Saviour was man by nature and in reality, and not in mere semblance and appearance, and that He was subject to all the innocent sensibilities natural to men. Nevertheless the words, "I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it again," show that His passion was a voluntary thing; and besides that, they indicate that the life which is laid down and taken again is one thing, and the divinity which lays that down and takes it again is another.

He says, "one thing and another," not as making a partition into two persons, but as showing the distinction between the two natures.

And as, by voluntarily enduring the death in the flesh, He implanted incorruptibility in it; so also, by taking to Himself of His own free-will the passion of our servitude, He set in it the seeds of constancy and courage, whereby He has nerved those who believe on Him for the mighty conflicts belonging to their witness-bearing.

He foretells that at the time of his passion he would voluntarily detach his soul from his body, saying, "No one takes my soul from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." … For his Godhead, alike before taking flesh and in the flesh and after his passion, is immutably the same, being at all times what it was by nature and so continuing forever. But in the suffering of his human nature the Godhead fulfilled the dispensation for our benefit by severing the soul for a season from the body, yet without being itself separated from either of those elements to which it was once for all united. And it did so by joining again the elements that had been parted in this way so as to give to all human nature a beginning and an example that it should follow of the resurrection from the dead, that is, that all the corruptible may put on incorruption and all the mortal may put on immortality, our firstfruits having been transformed to the divine nature by its union with God.

Thus then, too, though demonstrated as God, He does not refuse the conditions proper to Him as man, since He hungers and toils and thirsts in weariness, and flees in fear, and prays in trouble. And He who as God has a sleepless nature, slumbers on a pillow. And He who for this end came into the world, begs off from the cup of suffering. And in an agony He sweats blood, and is strengthened by an angel, who Himself strengthens those who believe on Him, and taught men to despise death by His work. And He who knew what manner of man Judas was, is betrayed by Judas. And He, who formerly was honoured by him as God, is contemned by Caiaphas. And He is set at nought by Herod, who is Himself to judge the whole earth. And He is scourged by Pilate, who took upon Himself our infirmities. And by the soldiers He is mocked, at whose behest stand thousands of thousands and myriads of myriads of angels and archangels. And He who fixed the heavens like a vault is fastened to the cross by the Jews. And He who is inseparable from the Father cries to the Father, and commends to Him His spirit; and bowing His head, He gives up the ghost, who said, "I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it again; " and because He was not overmastered by death, as being Himself Life, He said this: "I lay it down of myself." And He who gives life bountifully to all, has His side pierced with a spear. And He who raises the dead is wrapped in linen and laid in a sepulchre, and on the third day He is raised again by the Father, though Himself the Resurrection and the Life. For all these things has He finished for us, who for our sakes was made as we are. For "Himself hath borne our infirmities, and carried our diseases; and for our sakes He was afflicted," as Isaiah the prophet has said. This is He who was hymned by the angels, and seen by the shepherds, and waited for by Simeon, and witnessed to by Anna. This is He who was inquired after by the wise men, and indicated by the star; He who was engaged in His Father's house, and pointed to by John, and witnessed to by the Father from above in the voice, "This is my beloved Son; hear ye Him." He is crowned victor against the devil. This is Jesus of Nazareth, who was invited to the marriage-feast in Cana, and turned the water into wine, and rebuked the sea when agitated by the violence of the winds, and walked on the deep as on dry land, and caused the blind man from birth to see, and raised Lazarus to life after he had been dead four days, and did many mighty works, and forgave sins, and conferred power on the disciples, and had blood and water flowing from His sacred side when pierced with the spear. For His sake the sun is darkened, the day has no light, the rocks are shattered, the veil is rent, the foundations of the earth are shaken, the graves are opened, and the dead are raised, and the rulers are ashamed when they see the Director of the universe upon the cross closing His eye and giving up the ghost. Creation saw, and was troubled; and, unable to bear the sight of His exceeding glory, shrouded itself in darkness. This (is He who) breathes upon the disciples, and gives them the Spirit, and comes in among them when the doors are shut, and is taken up by a cloud into the heavens while the disciples gaze at Him, and is set down on the right hand of the Father, and comes again as the Judge of the living and the dead. This is the God who for our sakes became man, to whom also the Father hath put all things in subjection. To Him be the glory and the power, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, in the holy Church both now and ever, and even for evermore. Amen.

"No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." Because they often took counsel to kill Him, He telleth them, "Except I will, your labor is unavailing." And by the first He proveth the second, by the Death, the Resurrection. For this is the strange and wonderful thing. Since both took place in a new way, and beyond ordinary custom. But let us give heed exactly to what He saith, "I have power to lay down My life." And who hath not "power to lay down his life"? Since it is in the power of any that will, to kill himself. But He saith it not so, but how? "I have in such a way the power to lay it down, that no one can effect this against My will." And this is a power not belonging to men; for we have no power to lay it down in any other way than by killing ourselves. And if we fall into the hands of men who plot against us, and have the power to kill us, we no longer are free to lay it down or not, but even against our will they take it from us. Now this was not the case with Christ, but even when others plotted against Him, He had power not to lay it down.

Having therefore said that, "No man taketh it from Me," He addeth, "I have power to lay down My life," that is, "I alone can decide as to laying it down," a thing which doth not rest with us, for many others also are able to take it from us. Now this He said not at first, (since the assertion would not have seemed credible,) but when He had received the testimony of facts, and when, having often plotted against Him, they had been unable to lay hold on Him, (for He escaped from their hands ten thousand times,) He then saith, "No man taketh it from me." But if this be true, that other point follows, that He came to death voluntarily. And if this be true, the next point is also certain, that He can "take it again" when He will. For if the dying was a greater thing than man could do, doubt no more about the other. Since the fact that He alone was able to let go His life, showeth that He was able by the same power to take it again. Seest thou how from the first He proved the second, and from His death showed that His Resurrection was indisputable?

"This commandment have I received of My Father." What commandment was this? To die for the world. Did He then wait first to hear, and then choose, and had He need of learning it? Who that had sense would assert this? But before when He said, "Therefore doth My Father love Me," He showed that the first motion was voluntary, and removed all suspicion of opposition to the Father; so here when He saith that He received a commandment from the Father, He declared nothing save that, "this which I do seemeth good to Him," in order that when they should slay Him, they might not think that they had slain Him as one deserted and given up by the Father, nor reproach Him with such reproaches as they did, "He saved others, himself he cannot save"; and, "If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross"; yet the very reason of His not coming down was, that He was the Son of God.

Then lest on hearing that, "I have received a command from the Father," thou shouldest deem that the achievement doth not belong to Him, He hath said preventing thee, "The good Shepherd layeth down His life for the sheep"; showing by this that the sheep were His, and that all which took place was His achievement, and that He needed no command. For had He needed a commandment, how could He have said, "I lay it down of Myself"? for He that layeth it down of Himself needeth no commandment. He also assigneth the cause for which He doeth this. And what is that? That He is the Shepherd, and the good Shepherd. Now the good Shepherd needeth no one to arouse him to his duty; and if this be the case with man, much more is it so with God. Wherefore Paul said, that "He emptied Himself." So the "commandment" put here means nothing else, but to show His unanimity with the Father; and if He speaketh in so humble and human a way, the cause is the infirmity of His hearers.

"And Jesus, when He had cried with a loud voice, yielded up the Ghost." This is what He said, "I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it again," and, "I lay it down of myself." So for this cause He cried with the voice, that it might be shown that the act is done by power. Mark at any rate saith, that "Pilate marvelled if He were already dead:" and that the centurion for this cause above all believed, because He died with power.

To say that the body of the divine Logos also had a soul does not suggest the divinity of the soul.… In this context, when something like this is stated, we understand the statement to refer to the flesh, which had a soul and was united with the divine Logos.… After all, even when Peter says, "Now I will lay down my soul for you," just like the Lord did, there is no difference. You see, just as Peter, who was a man, composed of body and soul, said this, so too Christ, being one and not two, composed of divinity and humanity, says that he lays down his soul, which belongs to him and is part of him (although he was God in nature, assuming flesh—which had soul—and uniting it to himself).

"No one takes My life from Me." He says this for those who intended to kill Him. "You," He says, "thirst for My blood; but know firmly that without My will no one can shed it." Lest anyone think that He dies as a slave and servant, by the command of another and due to subjection to him, He says: "I Myself have authority over My death, as the Master of death. I have power to lay down My life." Although each of you has the power to lay down your life, for anyone who wishes can put himself to death, the Lord is not speaking of this manner of death, but rather that without His will no one could have done this. With people it is not so. For even without our will others can put us to death. But Christ without His own will would never have suffered. Therefore, submitting to death only by His own free choice, He has the even greater right — "to take it up again." "This commandment 'to die for the world' I received from the Father." "I," He says, "am not an adversary of God, and moreover to such a degree that this very death was commanded Me by the Father." Earlier He said something lofty about Himself: "I have power to take up My life," which shows Him to be the Master of death and the Author of life. Now He adds something humble: "This commandment I received from My Father." So wonderfully does He unite both, so that He would not be considered less than the Father and His slave, and so that He would be considered not an adversary of God, but equal to Him in power and one with Him in will.

After declaring Himself the Master of His own life and death, which was a lofty assumption, He makes a more humble confession; thus wonderfully uniting both characters; showing that He was neither inferior to or a slave of the Father on the one hand, nor an antagonist on the other; but of the same power and will.

Now he explains the effect of the sign. And since the sign was "I lay down my life for the sheep," he explains how he lays it down. First, he excludes violence; secondly, he speaks of his power.

The violence he excludes is that which could be employed in taking a life: such violence was not accomplished in Christ. Concerning this he says, no one takes it from me, that is, my life, by violence, but I lay it down, by my own power, that is, of my own accord: "Can the prey be taken from the mighty?" (Is 49:24).

But did not the Jews use violence against Christ? They did insofar as it was in them; but this violence was not in Christ because he laid down his life voluntarily, when he willed. Thus we read above (7:30) that the Jews wanted to arrest him but were unable "because his hour had not yet come." It was voluntary "not as though he was forced to die, but he condescended to be killed," as Augustine says.

He adds something about his power when he says, I have power to lay it down. Apropos of this it should be noted that since the union of the soul and body is natural, their separation is natural. And although the cause of this separation and death can be voluntary, yet among human beings death is always natural. Now nature is not subject to the will of any mere human, since nature, as well as the will, are from God. Therefore, the death of any mere human person must be natural. But in Christ, his own nature and every other nature are subject to his will, just like artifacts are subject to the will of the artisan. Thus, according to the pleasure of his will, he could lay down his life when he willed, and he could take it up again; no mere human being can do this, although he could voluntarily use some instrument to kill himself. This explains why the centurion, seeing that Christ did not die by a natural necessity, but by his own will - since "Jesus cried again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit" (Matt 27:50) - recognized a divine power in him, and said: "Truly, this was the Son of God" (Matt 27:54). Again, the Apostle says in 1 Corinthians (1:18): "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God," that is, his great power was revealed in the very death of Christ.

Here he shows that the above-mentioned reason is appropriate, for to fulfill a command shows love for the one commanding. Thus he says, this charge I have received from my Father, that is, to lay down my life and take it up again: "If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him" (14:23).

And thus they intended to give Him into the hands of the Proconsul for punishment, as an usurper against the emperor. Our Lord so managed His reply as to stop the mouths of His calumniators, open those of the believers; and to those who enquired of Him as a man, reveal the mysteries of His divinity: Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not; the works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me.

"Jesus answered them, I tell you, and ye believe not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me: but ye believe not; because ye are not of my sheep." Ye have already learned above who the sheep are: be ye sheep. They are sheep through believing, sheep in following the Shepherd, sheep in not despising their Redeemer, sheep in entering by the door, sheep in going out and finding pasture, sheep in the enjoyment of eternal life. What did He mean, then, in saying to them, "Ye are not of my sheep"? That He saw them predestined to everlasting destruction, not won to eternal life by the price of His own blood.

"Jesus answered them." After the inquiry has been set forth, here is set forth the presentation of a certain sign, and this indeed in the following manner. First, therefore, in the Lord's response is set forth the reproof of the Jews; second, the expression of a certain sign; third, the reason for that sign.

The reproof of the unbelief of the Jews is set forth, on account of which he says: "I speak to you, and you do not believe," and therefore you seek foolishly and maliciously; and I speak openly, because not only by word, but by deed: "The works that I do in the name of my Father, they bear witness of me"; above in chapter seven: "When Christ comes, will he do more signs," which you ought to believe?

Even Christ therefore considered it superfluous to say the same things over again to those who had often heard them and had not been persuaded by them. For every one's nature ought to be estimated from the quality of his works, and we ought by no means to look [solely] at his words. And He says of Himself that He accomplishes His works in His Father's Name, not enjoying the use of power from above in the manner of an ordinary saint, nor accusing Himself of want of power, being God of God, Consubstantial with the Father, the Power of the Father; but as ascribing to the Divine Glory the Power of His performances, He says that He does His works in His Father's Name. Yet He also gives the honour to the Father, lest He might give the Jews a pretext for attacking Him. Moreover He also thought it fitting not to overpass the limit of the form of a servant, although He was God and Lord. And by saying that in His Father's Name He did His works, He teaches that the Jews blasphemed when they said that He cast out devils by Beelzebub. And since the Father does the marvellous deeds, not because He is a Father, but because He is in His Nature God; so the Son also, not because He is a Son, but as God of God, is able Himself to do the works of the Father: wherefore suitably to His Nature He said He did His works in His Father's Name.

"I told you often," He saith, "and ye believe not: the works that I do in My Father's Name, they are they that bear witness of Me."

A remark which the more tolerable among them continually made to one another; "A man that is a sinner cannot do such miracles." And again, "A devil cannot open the eyes of the blind": and, "No man can do such miracles except God be with him." (c. iii. 2.) And beholding the miracles that He did, they said, "Is not this the Christ?" Others said, "When Christ cometh, will He do greater miracles than those which this Man hath done?" (c. vii. 31.) And these very persons as many as then desired to believe on Him, saying, "What sign showest thou us, that we may see, and believe thee?" (c. vi. 30.) When then they who had not been persuaded by such great works, pretended that they should be persuaded by a bare word, He rebuketh their wickedness, saying, "If ye believe not My works, how will ye believe My words? so that your questioning is superfluous."

"But," He saith, "I told you, and ye believe not, because ye are not of My sheep."

"For I on My part have fulfilled all that it behooved a Shepherd to do, and if ye follow Me not, it is not because I am not a Shepherd, but because ye are not My sheep."

But I shall not linger long over this point for Christ's own definition comes to our aid at once.

Therefore, exposing them for asking with evil intent, the Lord answers them: "I have told you many times, and you do not believe." And in another sense: "Why do you pretend that you would obey a simple word? You do not accept the works which I do not as an opponent of God, but in the name of My Father. How then will you believe a simple word?" For it is undeniable that works are far more convincing than words. Even the most moderate among them expressed this: "A sinful man cannot do such miracles" (John 9:16).

Now we have the answer of Christ, where he shows their unbelief, proving they were deceitful in saying they wished to know the truth when they said, "How long will you keep us in suspense?" He shows this in two ways. First, because they did not believe his words; and about this he says, I told you, and you do not believe. As if to say: You say to me, "If you are the Christ," the king, "tell us." But I told you, that is, I told you the truth, and you do not believe. "If I tell you, you will not believe" (Lk 22:67).

He shows this in a second way because they do not believe his works. And about this he says: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness to me. He first shows their unbelief in his works; secondly, the reason for their unbelief (v 26).

As to the first he says, the works that I do. This was like saying: You cannot be persuaded and satisfied by my words, nor even by those great works which I do in my Father's name, i.e., for his glory. They bear witness to me, because they can be performed by God alone. Thus they clearly show that I have come from God: "The tree is known by its fruit" (Matt 12:33); "These very works which I am doing, bear witness" (5:36). But you do not believe: "Though he had done so many signs before them, yet they did not believe in him" (12:37). For this reason they are inexcusable: "If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father" (15:24).

(Tract. xlviii. c. 4) He saw that they were persons predestinated to eternal death, and not those for whom He had bought eternal life, at the price of His blood. The sheep believe, and follow the Shepherd.

"But you do not believe, because you are not of my sheep"; whence if they were sheep, they would have the sign of their shepherd in word and in deed. Augustine: "He says they are not of his sheep, because he saw them ordained to everlasting destruction, not to be purchased for eternal life by the price of his blood."

"You," He says, "do not believe in Me because you are not of My sheep." I, as the good shepherd, for My part have fulfilled everything that I was supposed to do; but if you do not follow Me, it is not I who am unworthy of the title of shepherd, but you who are unworthy of the title of sheep.

After He had said, Ye are not of My sheep, He exhorts them to become such: My sheep hear My voice.

The reason for their unbelief is that they are separated from Christ's sheep. So he says, but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. He does three things concerning this. First, he says that they are excluded from membership in the sheep of Christ; secondly, he shows the dignity of his sheep (v 27); thirdly, he proves that no one will snatch his sheep out of his hands (v 29).

He mentions that they are not among his sheep when he says, you do not belong to my sheep, i.e., you are not predestined to believe, but foreknown to eternal destruction. For the very fact that we believe is due to God: "For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake" (Phil 1:29); "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God" (Eph 2:8). And this is given only to those for whom it was prepared from eternity; thus, only those believe in him who have been ordained to this by God through an eternal predestination: "As many as were ordained to eternal life believed" (Acts 13:48); "We believe that we shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus" (Acts 15:11).

But should anyone be told that he is not predestined? It seems that he should not be told: for since no one can be saved unless he is predestined, if one is told that he is not predestined, he would be driven to despair. And so our Lord was driving the Jews to despair when he said to them, you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My answer to this is that in this group there was something common to all, that is, they were not preordained by God to believe at that time; and there was also something special, that is, some of them were preordained to believe later. Thus, some of them did believe later, for we read in Acts (c 2) that three thousand of them believed in one day. But some were not preordained to do this. Therefore, it did not militate against hope to say to a group, some of whom were preordained to believe later, that they did not belong to his sheep, because no one of them could apply this definitely to himself. But it would militate against hope if Christ had said this to some definite person.

i. e. Obey My precepts from the heart. And I know them, and they follow Me, here by walking in gentleness and innocence, hereafter by entering the joys of eternal life: And I give unto them eternal life.

What is the voice of the shepherd? "And that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name throughout all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem." There is the voice of the shepherd. Recognize it and follow if you are a sheep.

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life." This is the pasture. "I will give," He says, "unto them," unto my sheep, "eternal life." Ye are on the search for calumnies, just because your only thoughts are of the life that is present.

(Tract. xlviii. 5, 6) This is the pasture of which He spoke before: And shall find pasture. Eternal life is called a goodly pasture: the grass thereof withereth not, all is spread with verdure. But these cavillers thought only of this present life. And they shall not perish eternally; as if to say, Ye shall perish eternally, because ye are not of My sheep.

"My sheep hear my voice." Here the presentation of a certain sign is noted, which indeed consists in this: that he is heard by the sheep, and the sheep follow him, and he himself preserves them; this is certainly the mark of a shepherd. Therefore he says: "My sheep hear my voice," namely by believing, because "faith comes from hearing," Romans chapter ten. "And I know them," by discerning them from the wicked, not by face, but by heart: Hebrews chapter four: "He is the discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the heart, and no creature is invisible in his sight; but all things are naked and open to his eyes"; Matthew chapter twenty-five: "I know you not," is said of the wicked; on the contrary, of the good, Second Timothy chapter two: "The Lord knows those who are his." "And they follow me," through imitation: Matthew chapter sixteen: "Whoever wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."

"And other sheep there are also," saith the Lord, "which are not of this fold" - deemed worthy of another fold and mansion, in proportion to their faith. "But My sheep hear My voice," understanding gnostically the commandments. And this is to be taken in a magnanimous and worthy acceptation, along with also the recompense and accompaniment of works. So that when we hear, "Thy faith hath saved thee," we do not understand Him to say absolutely that those who have believed in any way whatever shall be saved, unless also works follow.

The mark of Christ's sheep is their willingness to hear and obey, just as disobedience is the mark of those who are not his. We take the word hear to imply obedience to what has been said. People who hear God are known by him. No one is entirely unknown by God, but to be known in this way is to become part of his family. Therefore, when Christ says, "I know mine," he means I will receive them and give them a permanent mystical relationship with myself.It might be said that inasmuch as he has become man, he has made all human beings his relatives, since all are members of the same race. We are all united to Christ in a mystical relationship because of his incarnation. Yet those who do not preserve the likeness of his holiness are alienated from him.… "My sheep follow me," says Christ. By a certain God-given grace, believers follow in the footsteps of Christ. No longer subject to the shadows of the law, they obey the commands of Christ and guided by his words rise through grace to his own dignity, for they are called "children of God." When Christ ascends into heaven, they also follow him.

A willing readiness to obey characterises the sheep of Christ, as disobedience marks those that are not His. For thus we understand the word "hear," as equivalent to "obey," namely, the words that are spoken: and they who thus hear God are known by Him, and "known" signifies "brought into friendly relationship:" for no one is altogether unknown by God. When therefore He saith: I know Mine, He saith this: "I will receive them and bring them into friendly relationship both mystically and firmly. And any one might say that, inasmuch as He has become Man, He brought all men into friendly relationship by being of the same race; so that we are all united to Christ in a mystical relationship, inasmuch as He has become Man: but they are alienated from Him, who do not preserve the correspondent image of His holiness. For in this way also the Jews, who are united in a family relationship with Abraham the faithful, because they were unbelieving, were deprived of that kinship with him on account of the dissimilarity of character. And He saith: And My sheep follow Me; for they who are obedient and follow, by a certain God-given grace, in the footsteps of Christ, no longer serving the shadows of the Law, but the commandments of Christ, and giving heed to His words, through grace shall rise to His honourable Name, and be called sons of God. For when Christ ascends into the heavens, they also shall follow Him. And He says that He gives to those that follow Him as a recompense and reward, eternal life and exemption from death, or corruption, and from the torments that will be brought upon the transgressors by the Judge. And by the fact of His giving life, He shows that He is in His Nature Life, and that He furnishes this from Himself and not as receiving it from another. And we understand by eternal life, not [only] the length of days which all, both good and bad, are going to enjoy after the resurrection, but also the spending it in bliss.

It is possible also to understand by "life" the mystical blessing by which Christ implants in us His own life through the participation of His own Flesh by the faithful, according to that which is written: He that eateth My Flesh and drinketh My Blood hath eternal life.

Of which sheep indeed he says again: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give them eternal life." Of which he also says a little earlier: "If anyone enters through me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out, and will find pastures." For he will go in to faith, but will go out from faith to sight, from belief to contemplation, and will find pastures in eternal refreshment. His sheep therefore find pastures, because whoever follows him with a simple heart is nourished by the food of eternal greenness. But what are the pastures of these sheep, if not the inner joys of ever-verdant paradise? For the pastures of the elect are the present countenance of God, which when it is beheld without failing, the mind is satisfied without end by the food of life. In these pastures those have rejoiced in the fullness of eternity who have already escaped the snares of pleasurable temporality. There are the hymn-singing choirs of angels, there is the fellowship of the heavenly citizens. There is the sweet solemnity of those returning from the sad labor of this pilgrimage. There are the foreseeing choirs of prophets, there is the judging number of apostles, there is the victorious army of innumerable martyrs, the more joyful there as they were more harshly afflicted here; there is the constancy of confessors, consoled by the reception of their reward; there are faithful men whom the pleasure of the world could not soften from the strength of their manliness; there are holy women who conquered both the world and their sex; there are children who here transcended their years by their conduct; there are the elderly whom age rendered weak here, yet the power of good works did not abandon.

Observe how in renouncing He exciteth them to follow Him. "Ye hear Me not," He saith, "for neither are ye sheep, but they who follow, these are of the flock." This He said, that they might strive to become sheep. Then by mentioning what they should obtain, He maketh these men jealous, so as to rouse them, and cause them to desire such things.

The custom of faith which is mingled with simplicity is that it receiveth not doctrine by much persuasion, but as the sound and healthy eye receiveth not the ray which is sent therein by contrivances and cunning inventions—but immediately that it is opened it looketh with strength upon the light, because its natural sight is sound—so also the eye of faith, which is set in the pupil of simplicity, immediately it heareth the voice of God recogniseth it, and there riseth in it the light of His Word. And joyfully it draweth towards Him and receiveth Him, even as our Lord said in His Gospel, "My sheep hear My voice and come after Me." Wherever natural faith is preserved in its original state, that man, with whom this faith is preserved, is a sheep of the Shepherd.

Having told them that they are not of His sheep, He now inclines them to become His sheep. For this reason He also adds: "My sheep hear My voice, and they follow Me."

Now he reveals the dignity of his sheep when he says, my sheep hear my voice. He here mentions four things: two of them are what we do in reference to Christ; the other two, which correspond to the first two are what Christ does in us.

The first thing we do is to obey Christ. Concerning this he says, my sheep, through predestination, hear my voice, by believing and obeying my precepts: "O that today you would harken to his voice! Harden not your hearts" (Ps 95:7).

The second thing, corresponding to this, is what Christ does, which is to give his love and approval. Concerning this he says, and I know them, that is, I love and approve of them: "The Lord knows those who are his" (2 Tim 2:19). This is like saying: The very fact that they hear me is due to the fact that I know them by an eternal election.

But if a person cannot believe unless God gives this to him, it seems that unbelief should not be imputed to anyone. I answer that it is imputed to them because they are the cause why it is not given to them. Thus, I cannot see the light unless I am enlightened by the sun. Yet if I were to close my eyes, I would not see the light; but this is not due to the sun but to me, because by closing my eyes I am the cause of my not being enlightened. Now sin, for example, original sin, and in some persons actual sin, is the cause why we are not enlightened by God through faith. This cause is in everyone. Thus, all who are left by God are left by reason of the just judgment of God, and those who are chosen are lifted up by God's mercy.

The third thing, which is what we do, concerns our imitation of Christ. So he says, and they follow me: "My foot has held fast his steps" (Job 23:11); "Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps" (1 Pet 2:21).

"And they shall never perish." Hear the undertone, as if He had said to them, Ye shall perish for ever, because ye are not of my sheep. "No one shall pluck them out of my hand." Give still greater heed to this.

(Tract. xlviii. 6) And He adds why they do not perish: Neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. (2 Tim. 2:19) Of those sheep of which it is said, The Lord knoweth then that are His, the wolf robbeth none, the thief taketh none, the robber killeth none. Christ is confident of their safety; and He knows what He gave up for them.

"And I give them eternal life," as a good shepherd, by rewarding; above in chapter six: "That everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life"; Ecclesiasticus chapter four: "Wisdom breathed life into her children." "And they shall never perish, neither shall anyone snatch them from my hand," on account of my power. This shepherd was rightly signified by David, who is interpreted as "strong of hand," who snatched the prey from the mouth of the lion and the bear, as is said in First Kings chapter seventeen.

It is asked here concerning what he says: "No one shall snatch them from my hand."

Are not those who have present justice in the hand of the Son? Yet they are scattered, according to what was said above: "The wolf comes and scatters the sheep."

The response to this is that they are snatched away not from the weakness of the guardian, but from the infirmity of the one guarded.

Or according to Augustine, "sheep" are here understood according to eternal election, who cannot be snatched away finally. Whence Augustine: "Neither does the wolf snatch, nor does the thief steal, nor does the robber kill: he who has numbered them is secure concerning their number."

Christ promises his followers eternal life as a compensation and reward. They receive exemption from death and corruption and from the torments the judge inflicts upon transgressors. By giving life, Christ shows that by nature he is life. He does not receive it from another but supplies it from his own resources. And by eternal life we understand not only length of days which all, both good and bad, shall possess after the resurrection but also the passing of those days in bliss.It is also possible to understand by "life" a reference to the mystical blessing [of the Eucharist] by which Christ implants in us his own life through the participation of his own flesh by the faithful, according to the text, "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life."

The faithful also have the help of Christ, and the devil is not able to snatch them. Those who have an endless enjoyment of good things remain in Christ's hand, no one thereafter snatching them away from the bliss that is given to them. [No one can throw them] into punishment or torments. For it is not possible that those who are in Christ's hand should be snatched away to be punished because of the great might Christ has. For "the hand" in the divine Scripture signifies "the power." It cannot be doubted therefore that the hand of Christ is unconquerable and mighty to all things.

[Daniel 5:19] "'He slew whomever he would and smote to death whomever he wished to; those whom he wished he set on high, and brought low whomever he would.'" Thus he sets forth the example of the king's great-grandfather, in order to teach him the justice of God and make it clear that his great-grandson too was to suffer similar treatment because of his pride. Now if Nebuchadnezzar slew whomever he would and smote to death whomever he wished to; if he set on high those whom he would and brought low whomever he wished to, there is certainly no Divine providence or Scriptural injunction behind these honors and slayings, these acts of promotion and humiliation. But rather, such things ensue from the will of the men themselves who do the slaying and promoting to honor, and all the rest. If this be the case, the question arises as to how we are to understand the Scripture: "The heart of a king reposes in the hand of God; He will incline it in whatever direction He wishes" (Proverbs 21:1). Perhaps we might say that every saint is a king, for sin does not reign in his mortal body, and his heart therefore is kept safe, for he is in God's hand (Romans 6:1-23). And whatever has once come into the hand of God the Father, according to the Gospel, no man is able to take it away (John 10:28). And whoever is taken away, it is understood that he never was in God's hand at all.

"What then? Is it through the power of the Father that no man plucketh them away, and hast thou no strength, but art too weak to guard them?" By no means. And in order that thou mayest learn that the expression, "The Father which gave them to Me," is used on their account, that they might not again call Him an enemy of God, therefore, after asserting that, "No man plucketh them out of My hand," He proceedeth to show, that His hand and the Father's is One. Since had not this been so, it would have been natural for Him to say, "The Father which gave them to Me is greater than all, and no man can pluck them out of My hand." But He said not so, but, "out of My Father's hand." Then that thou mayest not suppose that He indeed is weak, but that the sheep are in safety through the power of the Father, He addeth, "I and the Father are One." As though He had said "I did not assert that on account of the Father no man plucketh them away, as though I were too weak to keep the sheep. For I and the Father are One." Speaking here with reference to Power, for concerning this was all His discourse; and if the power be the same, it is clear that the Essence is also. And when the Jews used ten thousand means, plotting and casting men out of their synagogues, He telleth them that all their contrivances are useless and vain; "For the sheep are in My Father's hand"; as the Prophet saith, "Upon My hand I have pictured thy walls." (Isa. xlix. 16.) Then to show that the hand is One, He sometimes saith that it is His own, sometimes the Father's. But when thou hearest the word "hand," do not understand anything material, but the power, the authority. Again, if it was on this account that no one could pluck away the sheep, because the Father gave Him power, it would have been superfluous to say what follows, "I and the Father are One." Since were He inferior to Him, this would have been a very daring saying, for it declares nothing else than an equality of power; of which the Jews were conscious, and took up stones to cast at Him. Yet not even so did He remove this opinion and suspicion; though if their suspicion were erroneous, He ought to have set them right, and to have said, "Wherefore do ye these things? I spake not thus to testify that my power and the Father's are equal"; but now He doth quite the contrary, and confirmeth their suspicion, and clencheth it, and that too when they were exasperated. For He maketh no excuse for what had been said, as though it had been said ill, but rebuketh them for not entertaining a right opinion concerning Him.

For "no one snatches us away from his hands," according to what was said in the Gospel according to John. Yet it is not written that just as no one snatches us away, no one also falls from his hands. For one who is self-determined is free. And, I say, no one will snatch us away from the hand of God, no one can take us. But we are able to fall from his hands if we are negligent.

Even though there are many deceivers, [Jesus says], "No one will snatch them out of my hand." It is impossible—even in the face of ten thousand enemies—that someone stronger than me may snatch them from my hands. And this is the difference between you and my [followers]: you do not believe after you heard my words and saw my miracles, while they, even though they may suffer ten thousand afflictions, will never recede from my presence. For this reason they will receive the reward due to their good will, namely, eternal life, because, he said, "No one will snatch them out of my hand," that is, they cannot separate them from me.

Then, urging them on, He also tells what those who follow Him will receive. "I," He says, "give them eternal life, and they shall never perish" and so forth. Of course, with such words He rouses them and instills in them zeal and desire to follow Him, since He bestows such gifts. How then does He say "My sheep will follow Me, and they will not perish"? Yet we see that Judas perished. But he perished because he did not follow Jesus and did not remain a sheep to the end. The Lord speaks of His true followers and sheep, that they will not perish. But if anyone strays from the flock of sheep and ceases to follow the Shepherd, that one will soon perish. What happened with Judas can also be used against the Manichaeans. Judas was holy and a sheep of God, but fell away: he fell away precisely by his own choice and free will. Therefore, evil or good exists not by nature, but appears and ceases by free volition.

But how then did Judas perish? Because he did not continue to the end. Christ speaks of them who persevere. If any sheep is separated from the flock, and wanders from the Shepherd, it incurs danger immediately.

The corresponding fourth part, which is what Christ does, is the bestowing of a reward. Concerning this he says, and I give them eternal life. This is like saying: They follow me by walking the path of gentleness and innocence in this life, and I will see that afterwards they will follow me by entering into the joys of eternal life.

Our Lord shows in three ways that this reward will never end. Something can end in three ways. First of all, by its very nature, for example, if it is corruptible. But this reward is incorruptible of its very nature. Thus He says, I give them eternal life, which is incorruptible and ever-living enjoyment of God: "This is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent" (17:3). As Augustine says, this is the pasture which he spoke before (v 9). Indeed, eternal life is called a good pasture because it is entirely verdant and nothing withers away. Secondly, a thing can end because the one receiving it ends, or does not guard it well. But this will not happen to that reward; so he says, and they shall never perish, that is, the sheep will never perish. This conflicts with Origen, for he said that the saints in glory are able to sin. Yet our Lord says, they shall never perish, because they will be preserved forever: "He who conquers I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God; never shall he go out of it" (Rev 3:12). Thirdly, a thing can end by being snatched by force: for perhaps Adam would not have been cast out if the Deceiver had not been there. But this will not happen in eternal life, and so he says, and no one shall snatch them, that is, the sheep, out of my hand, that is, from my protection and loyalty: "The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God" (Wis 3:1). As Augustine says: "There the wolf does not snatch, nor the thief steal, nor the robber kill."