The woman taken in adultery. Christ justifies his doctrine.
Againe in the Temple (absoluing an aduoutresse after his merciful maner, and yet vvithal declaring against his enemies that he is not a fauourer of sinne, no more then Moyses) 12 he teacheth openly, and is not for al that apprehended, telling them both of his Godhead, 21 and of their reprobation, 28 of his exaltation also by their Crucifying of him. 31 exhorting the beleeuers to perseuére: 33 and shevving them that seeke his death, that they are neither free, 39 nor of Abraham, 41 nor of God, 44 but of the Diuel. 45 but that him selfe is of God, 52 and greater and auncienter then Abraham. 59 For the vvhich they goe about to stone him, but in vaine.
1And Jesus went unto mount Olivet.E Gesù se ne andò al monte Uliveto.AND IESVS vvent into the Mount-oliuet:Jesus autem perrexit in montem Oliveti: 2And early in the morning he came again into the temple: and all the people came to him. And sitting down he taught them.E di gran mattino tornò nuovamente al Tempio, e tutto il popolo andò da lui, e stando a sedere insegnava.and early in the morning againe he came into the temple, and the people came to him, and sitting he taught them.et diluculo iterum venit in templum, et omnis populus venit ad eum, et sedens docebat eos. 3And the scribes and Pharisees bring unto him a woman taken in adultery: and they set her in the midst,E gli Scribi, e i Farisei condusser a lui una donna colta in adulterio: e postala in mezzo,And the Scribes and Pharisees bring a vvoman taken in aduoutrie: and they did set her in the middes,Adducunt autem scribæ et pharisæi mulierem in adulterio deprehensam: et statuerunt eam in medio, 4And said to him: Master, this woman was even now taken in adultery.Gli dissero: Maestro, questa Donna or ora è stata colta, che commetteva adulterio.and said to him, Maister, this vvoman vvas euen novv taken in aduoutrie.et dixerunt ei: Magister, hæc mulier modo deprehensa est in adulterio. 5Now Moses in the law commanded us to stone such a one. But what sayest thou?Or Mosè nella legge ha comandato a noi, che queste tali sieno lapidate. Tu però che dici?And in the lavv Moyses commaunded vs to stone such. What saiest thou therfore?In lege autem Moyses mandavit nobis hujusmodi lapidare. Tu ergo quid dicis ? 6And this they said tempting him, that they might accuse him. But Jesus bowing himself down, wrote with his finger on the ground.E ciò essi dicevano per tentarlo, e per aver, onde accusarlo. Ma Gesù abbassato in giù il volto scriveva col dito su la terra.And this they said tempting him: that they might accuse him. But IESVS bovving him self dovvne, vvith his finger vvrote in the earth.Hoc autem dicebant tentantes eum, ut possent accusare eum. Jesus autem inclinans se deorsum, digito scribebat in terra. 7When therefore they continued asking him, he lifted up himself and said to them: He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.Continuando però quelli ad interrogarlo, si alzò, e disse loro: Quegli che è tra voi senza peccato, scagli il primo la pietra contro di lei.Vvhen they therfore continued asking him: he lifted vp him self, and said to them, He that is vvithout sinne of you, let him first throvv the stone at her.Cum ergo perseverarent interrogantes eum, erexit se, et dixit eis: Qui sine peccato est vestrum, primus in illam lapidem mittat.
8And again stooping down, he wrote on the ground.E di nuovo chinatosi, scriveva sopra la terra.And againe bovving him self, he vvrote in the earth.Et iterum se inclinans, scribebat in terra. 9But they hearing this, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest. And Jesus alone remained, and the woman standing in the midst.Ma coloro, udito che ebber questo, uno dopo l'altro se v'andarono, principiando da' più vecchi: e rimase solo Gesù, e la donna, che si stava nel mezzo.And they hearing, vvent out one by one, beginning at the seniours: and IESVS alone remained, and the vvoman standing in the middes.Audientes autem unus post unum exibant, incipientes a senioribus: et remansit solus Jesus, et mulier in medio stans. 10Then Jesus lifting up himself, said to her: Woman, where are they that accused thee? Hath no man condemned thee?E Gesù alzatosi, le disse: Donna, dove sono coloro, che ti accusavano? Nissuno ti ha condannata?And IESVS lifting vp him self, said to her, Vvoman, vvhere are they that accused thee? hath no man condemned thee?Erigens autem se Jesus, dixit ei: Mulier, ubi sunt qui te accusabant ? nemo te condemnavit ? 11Who said: No man, Lord. And Jesus said: Neither will I condemn thee. Go, and now sin no more.Ed ella: Nissuno, o Signore. E Gesù le disse: Nemmen io ti condannerò: vattene, e non peccar più.Vvho said, No man, Lord. And IESVS said, Neither vvil I condemne thee. Goe, and novv sinne no more.Quæ dixit: Nemo, Domine. Dixit autem Jesus: Nec ego te condemnabo: vade, et jam amplius noli peccare. 12Again therefore, Jesus spoke to: them, saying: I am the light of the world. He that followeth me walketh not in darkness, but shall have the light of life.Altra volta poi Gesù parlò ad essi, dicendo: Io sono la luce del mondo: chi mi segue, non camminerà al bujo, ma avrà luce di vita.Againe therfore IESVS spake to them, saying, I am the light of the vvorld. he that folovveth me, vvalketh not in darkenesse: but shal haue the light of life.Iterum ergo locutus est eis Jesus, dicens: Ego sum lux mundi: qui sequitur me, non ambulat in tenebris, sed habebit lumen vitæ. 13The Pharisees therefore said to him: Thou givest testimony of thyself. Thy testimony is not true.Gli disser perciò i Farisei: Tu rendi testimonianza di te stesso: la tua testimonianza non è idonea.The Pharisees therfore said to him, Thou giuest testimonie of thy self: thy testimonie is not true.Dixerunt ergo ei pharisæi: Tu de teipso testimonium perhibes; testimonium tuum non est verum. 14Jesus answered and said to them: Although I give testimony of myself, my testimony is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go: but you know not whence I come, or whither I go.Rispose Gesù, e disse loro: Quantunque io renda testimonianza di me medesimo, è idonea la mia testimonianza: perché so, donde io son venuto, e dove vado: ma voi non sapete, donde io venga, e dove io vada.IESVS ansvvered, and said to them, Although I doe giue testimonie of my self, my testimonie is true: because I knovv vvhence I came, & vvhither I goe: but you knovv not vvhēce I come, or whither I goe.Respondit Jesus, et dixit eis: Et si ego testimonium perhibeo de meipso, verum est testimonium meum: quia scio unde veni et quo vado; vos autem nescitis unde venio aut quo vado.
15You judge according to the flesh: I judge not any man.Voi giudicate secondo la carne: io non giudico nissuno:You iudge according to the flesh: I doe not iudge any man.Vos secundum carnem judicatis: ego non judico quemquam; 16And if I do judge, my judgment is true: because I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me.E quand'anche io giudicassi, il mio giudizio è sicuro, perché io non son solo: ma io, ed il Padre, che mi ha mandato.And if I doe iudge, my iudgement is true: because I am not alone, but I and he that sent me, the Father.et si judico ego, judicium meum verum est, quia solus non sum: sed ego et qui misit me, Pater. 17And in your law it is written that the testimony of two men is true.E nella vostra legge sta scritto, che la testimonianza di due persone è idonea.And in your lavv it is vvritten, that the testimonie of tvvo men is true.Et in lege vestra scriptum est, quia duorum hominum testimonium verum est. 18I am one that give testimony of myself: and the Father that sent me giveth testimony of me.Sono io, che rendo testimonianza di me stesso: e testimonianza rende di me il Padre, che mi ha mandato.I am he that giue testimonie of my self: and he that sent me, the Father, giueth testimonie of me.Ego sum qui testimonium perhibeo de meipso, et testimonium perhibet de me qui misit me, Pater. 19They said therefore to him: Where is thy Father? Jesus answered: Neither me do you know, nor my Father. If you did know me, perhaps you would know my Father also.Gli disser però: Dov'è tuo Padre? Rispose Gesù: Non conoscete né me, né il Padre mio: se conosceste me, conoscereste anche il Padre mio.They said therfore to him, Vvhere is thy father? IESVS ansvvered, Neither me doe you knovv, nor my Father. If you did knovv me: perhaps you might knovv my Father also.Dicebant ergo ei: Ubi est Pater tuus ? Respondit Jesus: Neque me scitis, neque Patrem meum: si me sciretis, forsitan et Patrem meum sciretis. 20These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, teaching in the temple: and no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come.Tali parole disse Gesù nel gazofilacio, insegnando nel Tempio: e nissuno lo arrestò, perché non era per anco giunta la sua ora.These vvordes IESVS spake in the Treasurie, teaching in the temple: and no man apprehended him, because his houre vvas not yet come.Hæc verba locutus est Jesus in gazophylacio, docens in templo: et nemo apprehendit eum, quia necdum venerat hora ejus. 21Again therefore Jesus said to them: I go: and you shall seek me. And you shall die in your sin. Whither I go, you cannot come.Altra volta disse loro Gesù: Io me ne vo, e mi cercherete, e morrete nel vostro peccato. Dove vado io, non potete venir voi.Againe therfore IESVS said to them, I goe, and you shal seeke me, and shal die in your sinne. Vvhither I goe, you can not come.Dixit ergo iterum eis Jesus: Ego vado, et quæretis me, et in peccato vestro moriemini. Quo ego vado, vos non potestis venire.
22The Jews therefore said: Will he kill himself, because he said: Whither I go you cannot come?Dicevan perciò i Giudei: Si darà egli da se stesso la morte, dappoiché dice: Dove vado io, non potete venir voi?The Ievves therfore said, Vvhy, vvil he kil him self, because he saith, Vvhither I goe, you can not come?Dicebant ergo Judæi: Numquid interficiet semetipsum, quia dixit: Quo ego vado, vos non potestis venire ? 23And he said to them: You are from beneath: I am from above. You are of this world: I am not of this world.Ed egli diceva loro: Voi siete di quaggiù, io sono di lassù. Voi siete di questo mondo, io non sono di questo mondo.And he said to them, You are from beneath, I am from aboue, you are of this vvorld, I am not of this vvorld.Et dicebat eis: Vos de deorsum estis, ego de supernis sum. Vos de mundo hoc estis, ego non sum de hoc mundo. 24Therefore I said to you that you shall die in your sins. For if you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sin.Vi ho detto pertanto, che morrete ne' vostri peccati: perché, se non crederete, che io sono, morrete ne' vostri peccati.Therfore I said to you that you shal die in your sinnes. for if you beleeue not that I am he, you shal die in your sinne.Dixi ergo vobis quia moriemini in peccatis vestris: si enim non credideritis quia ego sum, moriemini in peccato vestro. 25They said therefore to him: Who art thou? Jesus said to them: The beginning, who also speak unto you.Gli dissero perciò: Chi se tu? Gesù disse loro: Il Principio, io, che a voi parlo.They said therfore to him, Vvho art thou? IESVS said to them, The beginning vvho also speake to you.Dicebant ergo ei: Tu quis es ? Dixit eis Jesus: Principium, qui et loquor vobis. 26Many things I have to speak and to judge of you. But he that sent me, is true: and the things I have heard of him, these same I speak in the world.Molte cose ho da dire, e da condannare riguardo a voi: ma colui, che mi ha mandato, è verace: ed io quello, che udii da lui, quello dico al mondo.Many things I haue to speake and iudge of you, but he that sent me, is true: and vvhat I haue heard of him, these things I speake in the vvorld.Multa habeo de vobis loqui, et judicare; sed qui me misit, verax est; et ego quæ audivi ab eo, hæc loquor in mundo. 27And they understood not that he called God his Father.Ed essi non intesero, che Padre suo diceva essere Iddio.And they knevv not that he said to them that his father vvas God.Et non cognoverunt quia Patrem ejus dicebat Deum. 28Jesus therefore said to them: When you shall have lifted up, the Son of man, then shall you know that I am he and that I do nothing of myself. But as the Father hath taught me, these things I speak.Disse perciò loro Gesù: Quando avrete levato da terra il Figliuolo dell'uomo, allora conoscerete, ch'io son quell'io, e che nulla fo da me, ma parlo secondo quello, che il Padre mi ha insegnato:IESVS therfore said to them, Vvhen you shal haue exalted the sonne of man, then you shal knovv that I am he, and of my self I doe nothing, but as the Father hath taught me, these things I speake:Dixit ergo eis Jesus: Cum exaltaveris Filium hominis, tunc cognoscetis quia ego sum, et a meipso facio nihil, sed sicut docuit me Pater, hæc loquor:
29And he that sent me is with me: and he hath not left me alone. For I do always the things that please him.E colui, che mi ha mandato è con me, e non mi ha lasciato solo: perché io fo sempre quello, che è di suo piacimento.and he that sent me, is vvith me: and he hath not left me alone, because the things that please him I doe alvvaies.et qui me misit, mecum est, et non reliquit me solum: quia ego quæ placita sunt ei, facio semper. 30When he spoke these things, many believed in him.A questo suo ragionamento molti credettero in lui.Vvhen he spake these things, many beleeued in him.Hæc illo loquente, multi crediderunt in eum. 31Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed him: If you continue in my word, you shall be my disciples indeed.Disse adunque Gesù a que' Giudei, che aveano creduto in lui: Sarete veramente miei discepoli, se persevererete ne' miei insegnamenti:IESVS therfore said to them that beleeued him, the Ievves: If you abide in my vvorde, you shal be my disciples in deede.Dicebat ergo Jesus ad eos, qui crediderunt ei, Judæos: Si vos manseritis in sermone meo, vere discipuli mei eritis, 32And you shall know the truth: and the truth shall make you free.E conoscerete la verità, e la verità, vi farà liberi.And you shal knovv the truth, and the truth shal make you free.et cognoscetis veritatem, et veritas liberabit vos. 33They answered him: We are the seed of Abraham: and we have never been slaves to any man. How sayest thou: You shall be free?Gli risposer essi: Siamo discendenti di Abramo, e non siamo stati mai servi di nissuno: come dunque dici tu: Sarete liberi?They ansvvered him, Vve are the seed of Abraham, and vve neuer serued any man: hovv saiest thou, You shal be free?Responderunt ei: Semen Abrahæ sumus, et nemini servivimus umquam: quomodo tu dicis: Liberi eritis ? 34Jesus answered them: Amen, amen, I say unto you that whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.Rispose loro Gesù: In verità, in verità ti dico, che chiunque fa il peccato, è servo del peccato.IESVS ansvvered them, Amen, amen I say to you; that euery one vvhich cōmitteth sinne, is the seruant of sinne.Respondit eis Jesus: Amen, amen dico vobis: quia omnis qui facit peccatum, servus est peccati. 35Now the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the son abideth for ever.Or il servo non istà per sempre, nella casa: il figliuolo sta per sempre nella casa.and the seruant abideth not in the house for euer: the sonne abideth for euer.Servus autem non manet in domo in æternum: filius autem manet in æternum. 36If therefore the son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.Per la qual cosa se il figliuolo vi libererà, sarete veramente liberi.If therfore the sonne make you free, you shal be free in deede.Si ergo vos filius liberaverit, vere liberi eritis.
37I know that you are the children of Abraham: but you seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.So, che siete figliuoli di Abramo ma cercate di uccidermi, perché non cape in voi la mia parola.I knovv that you are the children of Abraham: but you seeke to kil me, because my vvorde taketh not in you.Scio quia filii Abrahæ estis: sed quæritis me interficere, quia sermo meus non capit in vobis. 38I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and you do the things that you have seen with your father.Io dico quello, che ho veduto appresso al Padre mio: e voi parimente fate quello, che avete imparato appresso al vostro padre.I speake that vvhich I haue seen vvith my father: and you doe the things that you haue seen vvith your father.Ego quod vidi apud Patrem meum, loquor: et vos quæ vidistis apud patrem vestrum, facitis. 39They answered and said to him: Abraham is our father. Jesus saith to them: If you be the children of Abraham, do the works of Abraham.Gli risposero, e dissero: Il padre nostro è Abramo. Disse loro Gesù: Se siete figliuoli di Abramo, fate le opere, di Abramo.They ansvvered, and said to him, Our father is Abraham. IESVS saith to them, If you be the children of Abraham, doe the vvorkes of Abraham.Responderunt, et dixerunt ei: Pater noster Abraham est. Dicit eis Jesus: Si filii Abrahæ estis, opera Abrahæ facite. 40But now you seek to kill me, a man who have spoken the truth to you, which I have heard of God. This Abraham did not.Ma adesso cercate di uccider me, uomo, che vi ho detto la verità, la quale ho udita da Dio: simil cosa non fece Abramo.But novv, you seeke to kil me, a man that haue spoken the truth to you, vvhich I haue heard of God. this did not Abraham.Nunc autem quæritis me interficere, hominem, qui veritatem vobis locutus sum, quam audivi a Deo: hoc Abraham non fecit. 41You do the works of your father. They said therefore to him: We are not born of fornication: we have one Father, even God.Voi fate quello, che fece il Padre, vostro. Gli risposer essi pertanto: Noi non siamo di razza di fornicatori: abbiamo un solo Padre, Dio.You doe the vvorkes of your father. They said therfore to him, Vve vvere not borne of fornication. vve haue one father, God.Vos facitis opera patris vestri. Dixerunt itaque ei: Nos ex fornicatione non sumus nati: unum patrem habemus Deum. 42Jesus therefore said to them: If God were your Father, you would indeed love me. For from God I proceeded and came. For I came not of myself: but he sent me.Ma Gesù disse loro: Se Dio fosse il vostro Padre, certamente amereste, e me: imperocché da Dio sono uscito, e sono venuto: dappoiché non sono venuto da me stesso: ma egli mi ha mandato?IESVS therfore said to them, If God vvere your father: verely you vvould loue me. for from God I proceded, and came: for I came not of my self, but he sent me:Dixit ergo eis Jesus: Si Deus pater vester esset, diligeretis utique et me; ego enim ex Deo processi, et veni: neque enim a meipso veni, sed ille me misit.
43Why do you not know my speech? Because you cannot hear my word.Per qual cagione non intendete voi il mio linguaggio? Perché non potete soffrire le mie parole.Vvhy doe you not knovv my speach? Because you can not heare my vvord.Quare loquelam meam non cognoscitis ? Quia non potestis audire sermonem meum. 44You are of your father the devil: and the desires of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning: and he stood not in the truth, because truth is not in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof.Voi avete per padre il Diavolo, e volete soddisfare ai desiderj del padre, vostro: quegli fu omicida fin da principio, e non perseverò nella verità: conciossiachè verità non è in lui: quando parla con bugia, parla da suo pari, perocché egli è bugiardo, e padre della bugia.You are of your father the Diuel, and the desires of your father you vvil doe. he vvas a mankiller from the beginning, and he stoode not in the veritie: because veritie is not in him. vvhen he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his owne, because he is a lyer, and the father thereof.Vos ex patre diabolo estis: et desideria patris vestri vultis facere. Ille homicida erat ab initio, et in veritate non stetit: quia non est veritas in eo: cum loquitur mendacium, ex propriis loquitur, quia mendax est, et pater ejus. 45But if I say the truth, you believe me not.A me poi non credete, perché vi dico la verità.But because I say the veritie, you beleeue me not.Ego autem si veritatem dico, non creditis mihi. 46Which of you shall convince me of sin? If I say the truth to you, why do you not believe me:Chi di voi mi convincerà di peccato? Se vi dico la verità, per quel cagione non mi credete?Vvhich of you shal argue me of sinne? If I say the veritie: vvhy doe you not beleeue me?Quis ex vobis arguet me de peccato ? si veritatem dico vobis, quare non creditis mihi ? 47He that is of God heareth the words of God. Therefore you hear them not, because you are not of God.Chi è da Dio, le parole di Dio ascolta. Voi per questo non le ascoltate, perché non siete da Dio.He that is of God, heareth the vvordes of God. Therfore you heare not, because you are not of God.Qui ex Deo est, verba Dei audit. Propterea vos non auditis, quia ex Deo non estis. 48The Jews therefore answered and said to him: Do not we say well that thou art a Samaritan and hast a devil?Gli risposer però i Giudei, e dissero: Non diciamo noi con ragione, che tu sei un Samaritano, e un indemoniato?The Ievves therfore ansvvered, and said to him, Doe not we say vvel that thou art a Samaritane, and hast a diuil?Responderunt ergo Judæi, et dixerunt ei: Nonne bene dicimus nos quia Samaritanus es tu, et dæmonium habes ?
49Jesus answered: I have not a devil: but I honour my Father. And you have dishonoured me.Rispose Gesù: Io non sono indemoniato: ma onoro il Padre mio, e voi mi avete vituperato.IESVS ansvvered, I haue no deuil: but I doe honour my Father, and you haue dishonoured me.Respondit Jesus: Ego dæmonium non habeo: sed honorifico Patrem meum, et vos inhonorastis me. 50But I seek not my own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth.Ma io non mi prendo pensiero della mia gloria: v'ha chi cura ne prende, e faranne vendetta,but I seeke not mine ovvne glorie. there is that seeketh and iudgeth.Ego autem non quæro gloriam meam: est qui quærat, et judicet. 51Amen, amen, I say to you: If any man keep my word, he shall not see death for ever.In verità, in verità vi dico: chi custodirà i miei insegnamenti, non vedrà morte in eterno.Amen, amen I say to you, If any man keepe my vvord, he shal not see death for euer.Amen, amen dico vobis: si quis sermonem meum servaverit, mortem non videbit in æternum. 52The Jews therefore said: Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets: and thou sayest: If any man keep my word, he shall not taste death for ever.Gli disser pertanto i Giudei: Adesso riconosciamo, che tu se' un indemoniato. Abramo morì, e i Profeti: e tu dici: Chi custodirà i miei insegnamenti, non gusterà morte in eterno.The Ievves therfore said, Novv vve haue knovven that thou hast a deuil. Abraham is dead, and the Prophets: and thou saiest, If any man keepe my vvord, he shal not tast death for euer.Dixerunt ergo Judæi: Nunc cognovimus quia dæmonium habes. Abraham mortuus est, et prophetæ; et tu dicis: Si quis sermonem meum servaverit, non gustabit mortem in æternum. 53Art thou greater than our father Abraham who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Whom dost thou make thyself?Se' tu forse da più del padre nostro Abramo il quale morì? Ed i Profeti morirono. Chi pretendi tu di essere?Vvhy, art thou greater then our father Abraham, vvho is dead? and the Prophets are dead. Vvhom doest thou make thy self?Numquid tu major es patre nostro Abraham, qui mortuus est ? et prophetæ mortui sunt. Quem teipsum facis ? 54Jesus answered: If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father that glorifieth me, of whom you say that he is your God.Rispose Gesù: Se io glorifico me stesso, la mia gloria è un niente: o il Padre mio quello, che mi glorifica, il quale voi dite, che è vostro Dio.IESVS ansvvered, If I doe glorifie my self, my glorie is nothing. it is my father that glorifieth me, vvhom you say that he is your God.Respondit Jesus: Si ego glorifico meipsum, gloria mea nihil est: est Pater meus, qui glorificat me, quem vos dicitis quia Deus vester est, 55And you have not known him: but I know him. And if I shall say that I know him not, I shall be like to you, a liar. But I do know him and do keep his word.Ma non l'avete conosciuto: io si, che lo conosco: e se dicessi, che noi conosco, sarei bugiardo come voi. Ma lo conosco, e osservo le sue parole.And you haue not knovven him, but I knovv him. And if I shal say that I knovv him not: I shal be like to you, a lyer. But I doe knovv him, and doe keepe his vvord.et non cognovistis eum: ego autem novi eum. Et si dixero quia non scio eum, ero similis vobis, mendax. Sed scio eum, et sermonem ejus servo.
56Abraham your father rejoiced that he might see my day: he saw it and was glad.Abramo il padre vostro sospirò di vedere questo mio giorno: lo vide, e ne tripudiò.Abraham your father reioyced that he might see my day: and he savv, and vvas glad.Abraham pater vester exsultavit ut videret diem meum: vidit, et gavisus est. 57The Jews therefore said to him: Thou art not yet fifty years old. And hast thou seen Abraham?Gli disser però i Giudei: Tu non hai ancora cinquant'anni, e hai veduto Abramo?The Ievves therfore said to him, Thou hast not yet fiftie yeres, and hast thou seen Abraham?Dixerunt ergo Judæi ad eum: Quinquaginta annos nondum habes, et Abraham vidisti ? 58Jesus said to them: Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham was made, I AM.Disse loro Gesù: in verità, in verità vi dico: Prima che fosse fatto Abramo, io sono.IESVS said to them, Amen, amen I say to you, before that Abraham vvas made, I am.Dixit eis Jesus: Amen, amen dico vobis, antequam Abraham fieret, ego sum. 59They took up stones therefore to cast at him. But Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.Diedero perciò di piglio a de' sassi per trarglieli: ma Gesù si nascose, e usci dal Tempio.They tooke stones therfore to cast at him. but IESVS hid him self, and vvent out of the temple.Tulerunt ergo lapides, ut jacerent in eum: Jesus autem abscondit se, et exivit de templo.
8:1
Witham
etc.[Ver. 1. In multis Latinis et Graecis codicibus invenitur. S. Hierom.[St. Jerome] See the Greek edition of the New Testament, at Amsterdam, ex officina Westeniana, an. 1711, in notis Criticis in fin, p. 17.] The last verse of the foregoing chapter, and the eleven verses that follow in this, are not found in the greater part of our present Greek copies, yet they are in some manuscripts and so are retained in the Protestant translation. We read nothing of them in the commentaries of St. Chrysostom or St. Cyril; but St. Jerome (lib. 2:con. Pelag. tom. 4, part 2, p. 521. Ed. Ben.) says, they were found in many both Latin and Greek copies. St. Ambrose (Ep. 52.) says this passage, of the woman taken in adultery, was always famous in the Church. St. Augustine expounds them, tract. in Joan, etc. (Witham)
8:6
Witham
Wrote with his finger, as one that was musing about something else. (Witham)
8:7
We cannot with any propriety reprehend or condemn faults in others, if we ourselves be guilty of the same, or other great faults, St. Cyril, in Joan.
See annotations on Matthew vii, ver. 1.
8:9
Witham
Went out one by one,[Ver. 9. Apo tes suneideseos, elegchomenoi.] confounded, and as it is in the ordinary Greek copies, convicted by their own conscience. (Witham)
8:11
St. Augustine
Hence we may see how impious is the doctrine of those who say that God is the author of sin. Christ did not say to the woman: I do not condemn thy sin; or, go and live now as thou pleasest, I will free thee from all punishment due to any sin thou shalt commit: but he only said, Go, and from henceforth sin no more: thus preserving his amiable virtue of clemency, and still not encouraging vice. (St. Augustine)
8:14
Witham
Although I give testimony (or witness) of myself, my testimony is true. He gives them the reason, ver. 16; because he is not alone, but the Father (who also beareth witness) is also with him. (Witham)
8:15
Witham
You judge, and also bear testimony concerning other men, according to the flesh, and according to outward shew and appearances only. I judge no one in this manner. And whatever judgment I pass, or if I give testimony, my testimony is true, as coming also from the Father, with whom I am one in nature, though a distinct person: and two, according to the law, are enough to give evidence. (Witham)
St. Augustine
You judge according to the flesh, etc. Because you do not understand the ways of God, and think you only see in me the person of man; therefore I seem to you to be arrogant, bearing witness of myself. Man indeed, who wishes alone to bear testimony of himself, is arrogant, and not to be believed, because all men are frail and liable to be deceived; but light and truth itself can neither deceive nor be deceived. (St. Augustine)
8:16
St. Augustine
I am not alone. Christ does not here say that he is the Father and he is the Son, he only says that he is not alone, but that the Father is with him, plainly distinguishing the two Persons. The Father is truly the Father, and the Son truly the Son, not one elder or greater than the other, but both entirely equal in all perfections. One in substance, co-eternal, and of one perfect equality. (St. Augustine)
8:19
Where is thy Father? They knew well enough by other discourses, that he had called and declared God to be his Father; but they had a mind to make him own it again, that they might accuse him as guilty of blasphemy.
Witham
Neither me do you know, nor my Father: you will not own me to have been always his Son, nor him to have been always my Father, but did you know me to be his Son, always proceeding from him, you would know my Father also, and know him as my Father from all eternity. (Witham)
St. Augustine
As in common conversation we often say, "when you have seen one, you have seen the other;" when two persons or things seem perfectly alike as to outward appearances, so here Christ says, If you did know me, you would know my Father also: not that the Father is the Son, or the Son the Father, but because the Father is like the Son. (St. Augustine)
Theophylactus
Here might the Arians, and all who maintain that Christ is a mere creature, blush; for if he were a creature, how can any one who knows him likewise know God? Therefore is Christ consubstantial with the Father, for he who knows the Son, knows the Father also. (Theophylactus)
8:21
Witham
I go my way, and you shall seek me, etc. See the foregoing chapter, ver. 34. (Witham)
8:23
Witham
I am not of this world: he speaks of his divine person, as the words evidently shew. (Witham)
8:25
Witham
Who art thou? Jesus said to them: The beginning,[Ver. 25. Principium qui et loquor vobis. St. Augustine reads, quia loquor vobis, as we find in some Greek manuscripts and in St. Cyril, p. 511. In the common copies wer read, ten archen, oti kai lalo umin. And as ten archen is in the accusative case, so we may take principium; and to be taken adverbially, to signify the same as primùm, à principio, imprimis. Maldonatus is of the same opinion, as well as many others, and brings examples to shew that ten archen (that is, kata ten archen) is often taken for primùm: and so the sense will be, I am what I told you from the beginning, that is the Messias, and this I now tell you again. We may also take notice, that the Greek construction is hard to be accounted for, ten archen oti, not os, qui, nor e, to agree with arche.] who also speak to you. This text and the construction of it is obscure, both in the Latin and in the Greek. St. Augustine and some of the Latin Fathers, expound it in this manner: I am the beginning of all things, who now being made man, speak to you. But this does not seem the construction, if we consult the Greek text; (where the beginning is not in the nominative, but in the accusative case) and therefore St. Augustine having considered more attentively the Greek, thinks that something must be understood, as believe me to be the beginning: he looks upon this to be the sense and the construction, as being connected with what was said two verses before; to wit, if you believe not that I am he, the true Messias, you shall die in your sins. "That they might," says St. Augustine (tract. 38, num. 11, p. 560) "know what they were to believe," he made them this answer, as if he had said: believe me to be the beginning, the cause, the author of all things, who am now become man, and speak to you. Other later interpreters are of opinion that the beginning is here a Grecism, and signifies that same as at first, or from the beginning. The sense therefore and construction may be, I am, what I said and told you at first, and from the beginning; that is, I am your Messias, the true Son of God, sent into the world, etc. (Witham)
Calmet
The Pharisees, indignant at the liberty with which Jesus spoke to them, demand of him in a rage, Who art thou, to speak to us in this imperious manner, to say that we shall die in our sins? Jesus answered them, that he was the Beginning, Author, Creator, and Ruler of all things. This is the more orthodox and more becoming interpretation. Or, I am, in the first place, what I have already told you; viz. (ver. 12.) I am the light of the world; he that followeth me, walketh not in darkness, but shall have the light of life. Or, it may mean, I am what I have always from the beginning told you. I am the Son of God, the Messias, etc. (Calmet)
8:26
Witham
And the things I have heard from him, etc. For Christ, to hear from his Father, to see, etc. is the same as to proceed from him, to be of the same nature and substance. See John 5:19. (Witham)
8:27
Witham
Now they, etc. Some of the more ignorant among the Jews understood not Christ when he clearly enough signified that he was equal to God, and of one and the same nature; but at other times they that heard him, perceived it very well; and so, in this place, they were for stoning him to death. (Witham)
8:28
Witham
When you shall have lifted up, etc. That is, have put me to the death of the cross; (see John 3:14.; John 12:32.) you, that is, many of you, shall know, and believe in me, as your Messias. (Witham)
8:31
St. Augustine
If you persevere in the true faith, and in the observance of my words, you shall be my disciples indeed. It is not sufficient to believe; you must likewise do what my words command you to do: nor will it be sufficient to have the true faith for a time; you must persevere in that faith to the end. (St. Augustine, Ven. Bede, St. Chrysostom, Theophylactus, Euthymius, etc.)
Bristow
Faith alone without perseverance, or abiding in God's commandments, will not suffice. (Bristow)
8:32
Witham
And the truth shall make you free. They were affronted at these words, as if he hinted they were slaves, and not a free people. They tell him, therefore, that they were never slaves to any one. They can only pretend this of themselves: for, their forefathers were slaves to the Egyptians, to the Babylonians, etc. and besides they were now the subjects, if not slaves, to the Romans. But Christ speaks of the worst of slaveries, and tells them the such as live in sin, are slaves to sin. (Witham)
8:35
Witham
Now the servant abideth not in the house for ever, nor has a right to live in that manner as a son and a child of the family has to live in his father's house. A slave or servant, though he live ever so long in his master's house, his condition is quite different from that of a son of the family: and thus Christ puts them in mind that though they be of the race of Abraham, and in that sense can pretend to be his children, yet having made themselves slaves to sin, and remaining in that sin, by which they refuse to believe in him, their Messias, they are not the spiritual children of Abraham, nor can they inherit the promises made to Abraham, till, by the grace of Christ, they believe in him, and become his adoptive children. (Witham)
8:36
St. Augustine
Man never was without free-will; but, having the grace of Christ, his will is truly made free from the servitude of sin. (St. Augustine, tract. 41. in Joan.)
8:37
Witham
You. That is, many of you, seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you; that is, is not rightly understood, nor received by you: you reject my doctrine, and are displeased with it. (Witham)
8:38
Witham
The things that you have seen with your father. That is, you follow the suggestions of the devil, whom, (ver. 44.) in plain terms, he calls their father. (Witham)
8:39
Not only faith but good works make men children of Abraham. See James 2.
8:41
Witham
We are not born of fornication; we have one Father, God. These Jews perceived that Christ had hinted that they were not the true and faithful sons of Abraham; and therefore they replied in this manner. But Christ answered, if God was your Father, if you were his dutiful children, you would also believe in me, and love me; for I have proceeded from him, and am come from him, his true Son: and now sent into the world by him. But you cannot hear my word, because you will not, by your own wilful obstinate blindness. (Witham)
8:44
You are of your father, the devil, and have made yourselves his slaves.
He was a murderer from the beginning of the world, having brought both a corporal and a spiritual death by sin, upon all mankind.
He abode not in the truth, in the ways of truth and obedience to God.
Witham
He is a liar, and the father thereof: that is, the father of lies. I speak truth, being truth itself. (Witham)
St. Augustine compares heretics, who drive Christians out of the Church, to the devil, who was the cause of our first parents' banishment from paradise. (Cont. lit. Petil. lib. 2:chap. 13.)
8:51
Witham
He shall not see death, he shall not die, for ever. That is, he shall not incur an eternal death, as they who die in sin: but they understood his words of the death of the body. (Witham)
Calmet
You accuse me of being possessed with a devil, because I preach to you a doctrine far different from what you are accustomed to hear; but I speak nothing but the truth; I give honour to my Father, I execute his orders; and the words I now speak to you, are the words of eternal life. Whoever observes them shall not die. Moses promised a long life to those who observed what was commanded in the old law, and offered them as their reward goods and temporal prosperity. But I now offer you an eternal life. Believe my words, keep them, and observe my ordinances, and you shall not feel the death of the soul, the second, eternal, and most miserable of deaths. (Calmet)
8:56
St. Irenaeus
Abraham, your father, rejoiced that he might see my day, my entrance into this world, my incarnation, my birth, my manifestation in Israel, my death and passion. (St. Irenaeus, Origen, St. Cyril, etc.)
St. Chrysostom
He waited with impatience for the deliverance of the whole world. He saw it, and was glad. He saw it in spirit, for God revealed it to him. He saw it approaching in the birth of his son Isaac, and in the miraculous deliverance of his dear son, when he was commanded to offer him in sacrifice to the Lord. The vivacity of his faith made him, as it were, present at the time of my birth, though then so far off. (St. Chrysostom, Leont., Theophylactus, Euthymius)
St. Chrysostom
It is not unlikely that this patriarch, and the others who were with him, detained in limbo, were apprised of the incarnation and coming of the Messias, which would fill them with an effusion of inexpressible joy. (St. Chrysostom)
Calmet
Christ here teaches us two things. 1. That he was before Abraham. 2. That the Jews were not true sons of Abraham, now treating so rudely him, who, even before his coming, had given the patriarch so much joy. (Calmet)
8:58
Witham
Before Abraham was made, I am.[Ver. 58. Abraham fieret, ego sum; prin Abraam genesthai, ego eimi. St. Augustine, (tract. xliii. in Joan. num. 17. p. 588.) intellige, fieret ad creaturam, sum vero pertinere ad divinam substantiam: non dixit, antequam Abraham esset, ego eram, ... neque dixit, ego factus sum ... agnoscite creatorem, discernite creaturam.] Christ here speaks of his eternal existence as God. St. Augustine shews this by these very words, I am. He does not say, before Abraham was made, I was made: because, as the Son of God, he never was made: but I am, which shews his eternal divine nature. (Witham)
8:1
In the liturgy The Gospel vpō Saturday the 3 Weeke of Lent.
8:5
Concordance Leu. 20, 10.
8:7
We can not conueniently reprehend or cōdemne other mens faults, if our selues be guilty of the same or other greater. Cyril in Io. See Annot. Mt. 7, 1.
8:11
S. Augustine by this example of our Maister proueth that Clergie men specially should be giuen much to mercie: and that they ought oftē, as the cause and time require, to get pardō of the secular Magistrates for offenders that be penitēt. Ep. 54.
8:12
In the liturgy The Gospel vpon Saturday the 4 weeke in Lent.
8:17
Concordance Deu. 17, 6. 19, 15.
8:21
In the liturgy The Gospel vpō Munday in the 2 weeke of Lēt.
8:25
So read S. Cyril, S. Ambrose, & S. Augustine: expounding it of Christes person, that he is the beginning or cause of al creatures.
8:31
Onely faith is not sufficient without perseuêrance or abiding in the keeping of his cō maundements.
8:34
34. Amen, amen.] Why Amen, amen, is not translated. What is it (saith S. Augustine vpon this place) vvhen our Lord saith, Amen, amen? He doth much cōmend and vrge the thing that he so vttereth, doubling it. It is a certaine othe of his, if a man may so say. for Amē in Hebrue signifieth verum, a truth. Yet is it not translated, whereas it might haue been said, verum, verū di•o vobis, but neither the 〈Greek〉. Greeke interpreter durst doe it, nor the Latin, the Hebrue word hath remained stil, that so it might be the more esteemed. Tract. 41 in Ioan. By vvhich vvordes and the like See the preface, & Annot. in Apocal. •. 19, 4. recorded in other places of this nevv Testament, the Reader may see great reason, vvhy vve also say, Amen, amen. and durst not translate it and such like vvordes into our English tongue.
Concordance Ro. 6, 16
Concordance 2 Pet. 2, 19.
8:36
Man was neuer without free wil: but hauīg the grace of Christ, his wil is truely made free (as S. Augustine saith) from seruitude of sinne also. tract. 41 in Euang. Io.
8:39
Not onely faith but good workes also make men the childrē of Abraham. according as S. Iames also speaketh of Abrahams workes c. 2.
8:44
S. Augustine compareth Heretikes in their spiritual murder by driuīg Christian men out of the Church, to the Diuel that droue our parents out of Paradise. Cont. lit. Petil. li. 2. c. 11.
8:47
In the liturgy The Gospel vpō PASSION Sunday.
8:49
He denieth not that he is a Samaritane, because he is our keeper or protector, as the word signifieth, and because he is in deede that merciful Samaritanē in the parable of the vvounded man Luc. 10, 33. Aug. tract. 41 in Ioan.
8:1
St Papias † AD 150 Fragments of Papias, VI 1
… but with regard to Matthew he has made the following statements]: Matthew put together the oracles [of the Lord] in the Hebrew language, and each one interpreted them as best he could. [The same person uses proofs from the First Epistle of John, and from the Epistle of Peter in like manner. And he also gives another story of a woman
8:3
St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 2
viii. 3 . None of the accusers of the woman taken in adultery were without sin. Christ wrote their names in the earth ( Jerem. xvii. 13 ).
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 33.1
… any more than of the publicans and harlots, whose faults Jesus pardoned, declaring that they would go into the kingdom of heaven before those who behaved proudly. For, when He acquitted the woman accused by the Jews as sinful, and as having been caught in adultery, He told her to sin no more.
8:5
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 1.2
… Again, the law, which is written and imposed upon the servant, is one thing; the law, which is mentally discerned by him who needeth not its “letter,” is another thing. “He will meditate by day and by night,” is to be understood either as without ceasing; or “by day” in joy, “by night” in tribulations. For it is said, “Abraham saw my day, and was glad:”
8:6
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 22.25
… or with childishness, because He stooped down and wrote on the ground, and, after answering the people who were questioning Him, began writing again.
8:7
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 103.9
… He wrote on the earth, signifying the productiveness of Christians. Then they who were leading the adulteress came, like raging waves against a rock: but they were dashed to pieces by His answer. For He said to them, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”
8:9
Rufinus of Aquileia † AD 411 The Apology of Rufinus. Addressed to Apronianus, in Reply to Jerome's Letter to Pammachius 1.44
… He, the merciful and pitying Lord, said: “He that is without sin among you let him first cast a stone at her.” And then, it is said, they all departed. The Jews, impious and unbelieving though they were, yet blushed through their own consciousness of guilt;
8:11
Rufinus of Aquileia † AD 411 The Apology of Rufinus. Addressed to Apronianus, in Reply to Jerome's Letter to Pammachius 1.22
… For what sincerity can there be in penitence when the penitent makes a decree of indulgence for himself? He who repents of what he has spoken ill does not cure his wound by speaking ill again, but by keeping silence. For thus it is written:
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount 1.16
… For it would not be a bad thing for a husband to be reconciled to such a woman as that to whom, when nobody had dared to stone her, the Lord said, “Go, and sin no more.”
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Sermons 62
… that which was lost ,” but they conveyed not to his understanding the clemency of Christ, which not only healed bodily infirmities, but also cured the wounds of sick souls, saying to the paralytic man, “Son, be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee ;” saying also to the adulteress that was brought to Him, “neither will I condemn thee; go and sin no more
Early Popes (Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals) The Epistles of Pope Callistus 2.6
… Let him see to it that he sin no more, that the sentence of the Gospel may abide in him: “Go, and sin no more.”
8:12
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… 135] said unto them again, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then ye shall know that I am he: and I do nothing of myself, but as my Father [40] taught me, so I speak. And he that sent me is with me; and my Father hath not [41] left me alone; because I do what is pleasing to him at all times. And while he was saying that, many believed in him.
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 2.18
… We may learn, perhaps, in a more suggestive manner, how the Father and the Son are two lights, from David, who says in the thirty-fifth Psalm, “In Thy light we shall see light.” This same light of men which shines in darkness, the true light, is called, further on in the Gospel, the light of the world; Jesus says,
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 The Epistles of Cyprian 62.18
… For if we are priests of God and of Christ, I do not know any one whom we ought rather to follow than God and Christ, since He Himself emphatically says in the Gospel, “I am the light of the world; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 On Jealousy and Envy 11
… For he goeth unconsciously to Gehenna, in ignorance and blindness; he is hurrying into punishment, departing, that is, from the light of Christ, who warns and says, “I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 2.8
… “Show me Thy ways, O Lord, and teach me Thy paths, and lead me unto Thy truth, and teach me; for Thou art the God of my salvation.” Whence, in the Gospel according to John, the Lord says: “I am the light of the world. He that will follow me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
Aphrahat † AD 346 Aphrahat: Select Demonstrations 1.10
… And again He showed with regard to Himself that He is the light, for He said to His disciples:— Walk while the light is with you, ere the darkness overtake you . And again He said to them:— Believe on the light that ye may be children of light . And again He said:— I am the light of the world .
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 3.23.4
… And so, since they are one, and the Godhead itself one, the same things are said of the Son, which are said of the Father, except His being said to be Father :—for instance , that He is God, ‘And the Word was God ;’ Almighty, ‘Thus saith He which was and is and is to come, the Almighty ;’ Lord, ‘One Lord Jesus Christ ;’ that He is Light, ‘I am the Light
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 On the Symbols 'Of the Essence' And 'Coessential.' 1
… 15 ); and He says to the Father, ‘All Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine’ ( John xvii. 10 ),—as for instance , the name God; for ‘the Word was God;’—Almighty, ‘Thus saith He that is, and that was, and that is to come, the Almighty’ ( John i. 1; Apoc. i. 8 ):—the being Light, ‘I am,’ He says, ‘the Light’ (
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 39.5
II. Therefore listen to the Voice of God, which sounds so exceeding clearly to me, who am both disciple and master of these mysteries, as would to God it may sound to you; I Am The Light Of The World.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 5
… For He who had said that “He hath given Him (the Son) to have life” ( c. v. 26 ); the Same saith in another place, “I am the Life” ( c. xiv. 6 ); and in another, “I am the Light.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 28
… (“Many,” saith the Evangelist, “of the rulers believed on Him, but because of the Jews they did not confess”— c. xii. 42 ;) on this point Christ toucheth him, saying, “It cannot be that he who believeth not on Me disbelieveth for any other cause save that he liveth an unclean life.” Farther on He saith, “I am the Light” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 52
Chap. viii. ver. 12 . “I am the light of the world.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews 2
But the very thing which he said, “the brightness of the glory,” hear also Christ Himself saying, “I am the Light of the world.” (
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 130.7
… Otherwise he may some day deliver you to the judge and prove that you have taken what is his; and then the judge will deliver you to the officer—at once your foe and your avenger—and you will be cast into prison; into that outer darkness which surrounds us with the greater horror as it severs us from Christ the one true light.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount 1.6
… the world itself, on account of what He says before, “Ye are the light of the world;” or if any one chooses to understand the house as being the Church, this, too, is not out of place.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 43.4
… the reality expressed is but One. For what else is the “Light” of God, except the “Truth” of God? Or what else is the “Truth” of God, except the “Light” of God? And the one Person of Christ is both of these. “I am the Light of the world: he that believeth on Me, shall not walk in darkness.” “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 85.6
… so too gold, so garments, so houses, so money, so broad lands, so, lastly, this light itself. Be not thou willing then to rejoice in these: but rejoice in that light which hath no setting: rejoice in that dawn which no yesterday precedes, which no to-morrow follows. What light is that? “I,” saith He, “am the Light of the world.”
8:13
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
[23] And Jesus addressed them again, and said, I am the light of the world; and he that [24] followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall find the light of life.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 14.2
And moreover it was necessary that what concerned Him should be spoken by another first and not by Himself. For if even after both testimonies and demonstrations so many and so great, they said, “Thou bearest record of Thyself, Thy record is not true:”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 36
… 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.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 40
What then is the meaning? The Jews were about to object to Him, “If thou bearest witness concerning thyself, thy witness is not true” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 52
Ver. 13 . “Thou bearest record of thyself, thy record is not true.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 60
But wherefore do they not now bring against Him the charge which they did before, when they said, “Thou bearest witness of thyself, thy witness is not true?” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 12.1
… When the Jews quarrelled with this testimony, saying "Thou bearest witness of thyself, thy witness is not true," He replied: "Although I bear witness of myself, my witness is true. It is written in your law, The witness of two men is true. I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father who sent me beareth witness of me."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 16.2
… Instead of this, as having no connection with the Jews, and receiving no testimony from their fathers, He replied: "It is written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true. I am one who bear witness of myself, and the Father who sent me beareth witness of me."
8:14
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
[23] And Jesus addressed them again, and said, I am the light of the world; and he that [24] followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall find the light of life. The Pharisees [Arabic, p. 134] said unto him, Thou bearest witness to thyself; thy witness is not true.
Novatian † AD 258 A Treatise of Novatian Concerning the Trinity 15
If Christ is only man, how is it that He says, “Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true: because I know whence I came, and whither I go; ye know not whence I came, and whither I go. Ye judge after the flesh?”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 1.19
127. He who knows not whence the Son is hath not the Son. The Jews therefore had not the Son, for they knew not whence He was. Wherefore the Lord said to them: “Ye know not whence I came;”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 5.10
129. Lastly, to prove that He spoke as man, He says: “The Father that sent Me, He beareth witness of Me.” But His testimony as God is true, as He Himself says: “My record is true: for I know whence I come, and whither I go, but ye know not whence I come, and whither I go. Ye judge after the flesh.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 40
… If now all these assertions be false, what hope of salvation shall we have? And where shall we find truth when Truth Itself declareth, “My witness is not true”? Nor doth this appear to be the only contradiction; there is another not less than this. He saith farther on, “Though I bear witness of Myself, yet My witness is true” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 52
Ver. 14 . “Though I bear record of Myself, My record is true; for I know whence I come, and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I come.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 77
“He shall be worthy of belief, for He is the Spirit of Truth.” On this account He called It not “Holy Spirit,” but “Spirit of Truth.” But the, “proceedeth from the Father,” showeth that He knoweth all things exactly, as Christ also saith of Himself, that “I know whence come and whither I go” (
8:15
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… The Pharisees [Arabic, p. 134] said unto him, Thou bearest witness to thyself; thy witness is not true. Jesus [25] answered and said unto them, If I bear witness to myself, my witness is true; for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye know not whence I came, or [26, 27] whither I go.
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 On Virginity 19
… since the head of the woman is not the brother but the husband. But if, amongst a people with whom motherhood was sought after and classed as a blessing and regarded as a public duty, the grace of virginity, nevertheless, came to be regarded as a precious thing, how does it behove us to feel towards it, who do not “judge” of the Divine blessings
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 52
Ver. 15 . “Ye judge after the flesh.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John chapter21.12
… What is this? What am I to understand? What dost Thou say, O Lord? Thou art God the Word, I am a man. Dost Thou say that “the Father judgeth not any man, but hath given all judgment to the Son”? I read in another place that Thou sayest, “I judge not any man; there is one who seeketh and judgeth.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 39.6
6. Let us hear, then, the Beginning who speaks to us: “I have,” said He, “many things to say of you and to judge.” You remember that He said, “I do not judge any one.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 44.17
… But it was not that judgment He now brought into the world, whereby in the end of the world He shall judge the living and the dead. For in respect to this He had said, “I judge no man;”
8:16
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… The Pharisees [Arabic, p. 134] said unto him, Thou bearest witness to thyself; thy witness is not true. Jesus [25] answered and said unto them, If I bear witness to myself, my witness is true; for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye know not whence I came, or [26, 27] whither I go. And ye judge after the flesh; and I judge no man.
Tertullian † AD 220 Against Praxeas 22
… and, I have sent mine own self: but His words are, “He hath sent me.” When, likewise, the Pharisees sent men to apprehend Him, He says: “Yet a little while am I with you, and (then) I go unto Him that sent me.” When, however, He declares that He is not alone, and uses these words, “but I and the Father that sent me,”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 2.13
… “Thou hearest neither the Father nor the Son. Is there any doubt on this matter? The Scripture itself teaches thee that it is the Father Who giveth over the judgment, and the Son Who judges. Thou hast not given ear to My words: ‘I am not alone, but I and the Father, Who sent Me.’”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 3.3
… The Son is in the flesh—(when I say “He is in the flesh” or “He is on earth,” I speak as though we lived in the days whose story is in the Gospel, for now we no longer know Christ “after the flesh” )—He is in the flesh, and He is not alone, as it is written: “And I am not alone, because the Father is with Me,”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 5.3
… “Our testimony is true, for it is the testimony of two Gods;” but: “I am One that bear witness of Myself, and the Father that sent Me beareth witness of Me.” Earlier He also says: “If I judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent Me.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 52
Ver. 16 . “And yet if I judge, My judgment is true.”
8:17
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… Jesus [25] answered and said unto them, If I bear witness to myself, my witness is true; for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye know not whence I came, or [26, 27] whither I go. And ye judge after the flesh; and I judge no man. And even if I judge, my judgement is true; because I am not alone, but I and my Father which [28, 29] sent me.
Tertullian † AD 220 Against Praxeas 22
… Indeed, this was the sum and substance of what He was teaching them, that they were inseparably Two; since, after citing the law when it affirms the truth of two men’s testimony,
Novatian † AD 258 A Treatise of Novatian Concerning the Trinity 26
… “Because He who sent me is greater than I?” Or when he considers the passage: “I go to my Father, and your Father; to my God, and your God?” Or when he finds it placed side by side with others: “Moreover, in your law it is written that the witness of two is true. I bear witness of myself, and the Father who sent me beareth witness of me?”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 5.3
44. Wherefore the Lord also, in pointing out the diversity that exists among men, who have nothing in common that can tend towards the unity of an indivisible substance, says: “In your law it is written that the testimony of two men is true.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 52
Ver. 17 . “It is written in your Law, that the testimony of two men is true.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 22.2
… For certainly they were men to whom Jesus said, “It is written in your law,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 16.13
… The answer of Christ is this: "It is written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true; I am one who bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me."
8:18
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye know not whence I came, or [26, 27] whither I go. And ye judge after the flesh; and I judge no man. And even if I judge, my judgement is true; because I am not alone, but I and my Father which [28, 29] sent me. And in your law it is written, that the witness of two men is true.
Tertullian † AD 220 Against Praxeas 22
… Indeed, this was the sum and substance of what He was teaching them, that they were inseparably Two; since, after citing the law when it affirms the truth of two men’s testimony, He adds at once: “I am one who am bearing witness of myself; and the Father (is another,) who hath sent me, and beareth witness of me.”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 5.3
… “In your law it is written that the testimony of two men is true.” But though He had said, “The testimony of two men is true,” when He came to the testimony of Himself and His Father, He said not: “Our testimony is true, for it is the testimony of two Gods;” but: “I am One that bear witness of Myself, and the Father that sent Me beareth witness of Me.”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 5.10
129. Lastly, to prove that He spoke as man, He says: “The Father that sent Me, He beareth witness of Me.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 52
Ver. 18 . “I am One that bear witness of Myself; and the Father that sent Me beareth witness of Me.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews 16
… So also in this case. For after having made promises innumerable, He demands also something from them, saying, “a new commandment I give unto you.” ( John xiii. 34 .) Again, a testament ought to have witnesses. Hear Him again saying, “I am one that bear witness of Myself, and He that sent Me beareth witness of Me.” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 115.4
… When Christ, therefore, beareth witness unto the truth, He beareth witness, of course, unto Himself; for from His own lips are the words, “I am the truth;” as He said also in another place, “I bear witness of myself.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John 11
… He would give to them that thirst, the evangelist saith, “But this said He of the Spirit which they that believed on Him were to receive.” Moreover, that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are “Witnesses,” who that believes the Gospel can doubt, when the Son saith, “I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me, He beareth witness of me.”
8:19
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… And ye judge after the flesh; and I judge no man. And even if I judge, my judgement is true; because I am not alone, but I and my Father which [28, 29] sent me. And in your law it is written, that the witness of two men is true. I am he that beareth witness to myself, and my Father which sent me beareth witness to [30] me.
Tertullian † AD 220 Against Praxeas 22
… “I am one who am bearing witness of myself; and the Father (is another,) who hath sent me, and beareth witness of me.” Now, if He were one—being at once both the Son and the Father—He certainly would not have quoted the sanction of the law, which requires not the testimony of one, but of two. Likewise, when they asked Him where His Father was,
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Concerning Repentance 2.5
… “Ye know neither Me nor My Father; for if ye knew Me, ye would perchance know My Father also.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on First Corinthians 7
… (vid. St. John xix. 9 .) It is likely also that neither did Herod know. These, one might say, are called rulers of this world: but if a man were to say that this is spoken concerning the Jews also and the Priests, he would not err. For to these also He saith, (St.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John pref
They do not give their own date, but are referred to by the Author, while still at Antioch, as already published, in Hom. VII. on 1 Cor. ii. 8 . “However, the manner of this way of knowledge and of that hath already been declared in the Gospel; and, not to be continually handling the same topic, thither do we refer our readers.” The place is St.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 50
[2.] And again, “If ye had known Me, ye should have known My Father also.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 52
Ver. 19 . “Then said they unto Him, Who is thy father? Jesus answered, Ye neither know Me, nor My Father.”
8:20
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… And in your law it is written, that the witness of two men is true. I am he that beareth witness to myself, and my Father which sent me beareth witness to [30] me. They said unto him, Where is thy Father? Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye know not me, nor my Father: for did ye know me, ye would know my [31] Father.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 22
The words are not used in this place only, but in others also; for the same Evangelist says, “They could not lay hands on Him, because His hour was not yet come” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 38.1
1. The lesson of the holy Gospel which preceded to-day’s had concluded thus: that “the Lord spake, teaching in the treasury,” what it pleased Him, and what you have heard; “and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour was not yet come.”
8:21
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… I am he that beareth witness to myself, and my Father which sent me beareth witness to [30] me. They said unto him, Where is thy Father? Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye know not me, nor my Father: for did ye know me, ye would know my [31] Father. He said these sayings in the treasury, where he was teaching in the [32] temple:
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 53
Ver. 21 . “Then said Jesus unto them, I go My way, and ye shall seek Me.”
8:22
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… for did ye know me, ye would know my [31] Father. He said these sayings in the treasury, where he was teaching in the [32] temple: and no man seized him; because his hour had not yet come. Jesus said unto them again, I go truly, and ye shall seek me and not find me, and ye shall die [33] in your sins: and where I go, ye cannot come.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 53
Ver. 22 . “Then said the Jews, Will he kill himself?”
8:23
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… and no man seized him; because his hour had not yet come. Jesus said unto them again, I go truly, and ye shall seek me and not find me, and ye shall die [33] in your sins: and where I go, ye cannot come. The Jews said, Will he haply kill [34] himself, that he saith, Where I go, ye cannot come?
Novatian † AD 258 A Treatise of Novatian Concerning the Trinity 15
… not considering this point, that as man could not come from heaven, so as that he might return thither, He who descended thence must be God, seeing that man could not come thence. If Christ is only man, how does He say, “Ye are from below, I am from above; ye are of this world, I am not of this world?”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 8
… And of this the serpent is a type. But if God set him in that rank from the beginning, much more will He now. But if thou dost not know what fighting from beneath may be, I also will try to explain to thee the manner of this war. What then may this fighting “from beneath” (
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 97.1
… Where now is the yelping of those shameless hounds who, to win over the simple minded, falsely proclaimed our adherence to their cause? Crushed by the authority and eloquence of Theophilus they are now like demon-spirits only able to mutter and that from out of the earth. For they know nothing of Him who, as He comes from above,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 12.28
39. Again, another of these directs his attention to that which is said, “In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth,” and beholdeth Wisdom,—the Beginning, because It also speaketh unto us.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On Patience 16
… or whether under the name of the world he comprises heaven and earth, and all that is therein, that is the creature universally, it is plain that the will of the creature, not being that of the Creator, is of the world. For which cause to such the Lord saith, “Ye are from beneath, I am from above: ye are of this world, I am not of this world.”
8:24
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… Jesus said unto them again, I go truly, and ye shall seek me and not find me, and ye shall die [33] in your sins: and where I go, ye cannot come. The Jews said, Will he haply kill [34] himself, that he saith, Where I go, ye cannot come? He said unto them, Ye are from below; and I am from above: ye are of this world; and I am not of this [35] world.
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 1.6
In Isaiah: “And if ye will not believe, neither will ye understand.” Also the Lord in the Gospel: “For if ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 53
Ver. 24 . “I said therefore unto you that…if ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Rebuke and Grace 10
… And again where he says, “Epaphras saluteth you, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, always striving for you in prayer, that you may stand perfect and fulfilled in all the will of God,” —what is “that you may stand” but “that you may persevere”? Whence it was said of the devil, “He stood not in the truth;”
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Letters 15
… because God , who is the Maker of the Universe, made nothing that was not good. Whence the devil also would be good, if he had remained as he was made. But because he made a bad use of his natural excellence, and “stood not in the truth
8:25
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… and where I go, ye cannot come. The Jews said, Will he haply kill [34] himself, that he saith, Where I go, ye cannot come? He said unto them, Ye are from below; and I am from above: ye are of this world; and I am not of this [35] world. I said unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: if ye believe not that I am [36] he, ye shall die in your sins.
St Basil the Great † AD 379 The Hexæmeron 1.6
… You will thus find what was the first movement of time; then that the creation of the heavens and of the earth were like the foundation and the groundwork, and afterwards that an intelligent reason, as the word beginning indicates, presided in the order of visible things.
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 15.27
… A certain one has dared to affirm, that after the end of the world Christ shall reign no longer ; he has also dared to say, that the Word having come forth from the Father shall be again absorbed into the Father, and shall be no more ; uttering such blasphemies to his own perdition. For he has not listened to the Lord, saying, The Son abideth for ever
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 3.7
49. Nor is there any room for questioning with respect to “the beginning,” seeing that when, during His earthly life, He was asked, “Who art Thou?” He answered: “The beginning, even as I tell you.”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 4.9
108. But neither had the Son of God any beginning, seeing that He already was at the beginning, nor shall He come to an end, Who is the Beginning and the End of the Universe; for being the Beginning, how could He take and receive that which He already had,
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 5.10
… For He has stated that we are to believe not merely on a man, but that thou mayest believe that Jesus Christ Himself is both God and Man. Wherefore, for both reasons He says: “I came not from Myself;” and again: “I am the beginning, of which also I speak to you.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 53
Ver. 25 . “Then said they unto Him, Who art thou?”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 11.8
… I see it, however; but how I shall express it, I know not, unless that everything which begins to be and ceases to be, then begins and ceases when in Thy eternal Reason it is known that it ought to begin or cease where nothing beginneth or ceaseth. The same is Thy Word, which is also “the Beginning,” because also It speaketh unto us.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 10.24
… the flesh profiteth nothing.” The Principle, therefore, having assumed a human soul and flesh, cleanses the soul and flesh of believers. Therefore, when the Jews asked Him who He was, He answered that He was the Principle .
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 11.32
… God created the heaven and the earth;” if he allege that this phrase, “In the beginning,” does not mean that nothing was made before (for the angels were), but that God made all things by His Wisdom or Word, who is named in Scripture “the Beginning,” as He Himself, in the gospel, replied to the Jews when they asked Him who He was, that He was the Beginning;
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 1.12
… For, according to the form of God, He is the beginning,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 5.13
… So the Son is relatively so called; He is called also relatively the Word and the Image. And in all these appellations He is referred to the Father, but the Father is called by none of them. And the Son is also called the Beginning; for when it was said to Him, “Who art Thou?” He replied, “Even the Beginning, who also speak to you.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Faith and the Creed 9
… and as to what the Father was individually ( proprie ), and what the Son: to wit, that the former was the Begetter, the latter the Begotten; the former not of the Son, the latter of the Father: the former the Beginning of the latter, whence also He is called the Head of Christ, although Christ likewise is the Beginning,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 4.10
… Accordingly, after these incidents, He affirmed Himself to be the light of the world, and declared that he who followed Him would not walk in darkness, but would have the light of life. He said, also, that He was “the beginning which also discoursed to them.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 39.1
1. The words of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He had addressed to the Jews, so regulating His discourse that the blind saw not, and believers’ eyes were opened, are these, which have been read to-day from the holy Gospel: “Then said the Jews, Who art thou?” Because the Lord had said before, “If ye believe not that I am, ye shall die in your sins.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 39.8
… at one time wishes, at another time refuses; at one time is adulterous, at another chaste; now good, and again wicked,—is changeable. But God is that which is, and so has retained as His own peculiar name, “I am who am.” Such also is the Son, when He says, “If ye believe not that I am;” and thereto pertains also, “Who art thou? The Beginning” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 110.8
8. What meaneth, “With Thee is the beginning”? Suppose anything you please as the beginning. Of Christ Himself, it would rather have been said, Thou art the Beginning, than, With Thee is the beginning. For He answered to those who asked Him, “Who art Thou?” and said, “Even the same that I said unto you, the Beginning;”
8:26
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… He said unto them, Ye are from below; and I am from above: ye are of this world; and I am not of this [35] world. I said unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: if ye believe not that I am [36] he, ye shall die in your sins. The Jews said, And thou, who art thou? Jesus said [37] unto them, If I should begin to speak unto you,
Tertullian † AD 220 Against Praxeas 8
… he longs, indeed, to know Him, but cannot; nay, he is almost swallowed up and dissolved into the rest of matter. With us, however, the Son alone knows the Father, and has Himself unfolded “the Father’s bosom.” He has also heard and seen all things with the Father; and what He has been commanded by the Father, that also does He speak.
Tertullian † AD 220 Against Praxeas 22
… but that, by reason of the inseparability of the Two, it was impossible for one of them to be either acknowledged or unknown without the other. “He that sent me,” says He, “is true; and I am telling the world those things which I have heard of Him.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 53
Ver. 26 . “I have many things to say and to judge of you.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 62.12
… In that Word are all things, because by the Word were made all things. One Word hath He, “in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.” One Word He hath, “once hath God spoken.” “These two things,” which to you I am about to say, these I have heard: not of myself I speak, not of myself I say: to this belongeth the “I have heard.”
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Counter-statements of Theodoret 1
… Is it not absurd that Abraham many generations ago should have seen His day and have been glad,
8:27
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… I said unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: if ye believe not that I am [36] he, ye shall die in your sins. The Jews said, And thou, who art thou? Jesus said [37] unto them, If I should begin to speak unto you, I have concerning you many words and judgement: but he that sent me is true; and I, what I heard from him is what [38, 39] I say in the world.
Tertullian † AD 220 Against Praxeas 22
… “He that sent me,” says He, “is true; and I am telling the world those things which I have heard of Him.” And the Scripture narrative goes on to explain in an exoteric manner, that “they understood not that He spake to them concerning the Father,”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 53
Ver. 27 . “They understood not that He spake to them of the Father.”
8:28
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… The Jews said, And thou, who art thou? Jesus said [37] unto them, If I should begin to speak unto you, I have concerning you many words and judgement: but he that sent me is true; and I, what I heard from him is what [38, 39] I say in the world. And they knew not that he meant by that the Father.
Tertullian † AD 220 Against Praxeas 22
… “Then shall ye know that I am He and that I am saying nothing of my own self; but that, as my Father hath taught me, so I speak, because He that sent me is with me.”
St Hilary of Poitiers † AD 367 De Trinitate or On the Trinity 9.47
… And He that sent Me is with Me: He hath not left Me alone, for I do always the things that are pleasing to Him
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 84
… And again, declaring in another way the virtue of the cross, He said, “When ye have lifted up the Son of Man, then shall ye know that I am He.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 1
… for He first and He alone raised Himself: and this Himself too said to be above all a miracle sufficient to stop the mouths even of them that behaved shamelessly. For, “Destroy this Temple,” He says, “and in three days I will raise it up” ( John xix .); and, “When ye have lifted” Me “up from the earth, then shall ye know that I am He” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 23
But why doth He both there, and here, and everywhere, give this for a sign, at one time saying, “When ye have lifted up the Son of Man, then ye shall know that I Am” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 53
Ver. 28, 29 . “When ye have lifted up the Son of Man, then ye shall know that I Am, and that I speak not of Myself, and that He that sent Me is with Me. And the Father hath not left Me alone.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 55
… these were the words of men unbelieving and perverse. “Art thou greater than our father Abraham?” so that this (which He had said) maketh Him to be greater than Abraham. “When therefore ye have seen Him lifted up, ye shall confess that He is greater.” On this account He said, “When ye have lifted Me up, ye shall know that I Am.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 72
In this way rousing the dejected thoughts of the disciples, and persuading them not only not to despond, but even to rejoice. On this account He rebuked Peter at the first, because for one who has been in death to overcome death, is great glory. And this is what He said of Himself, “When I am lifted up, then ye shall know that I Am” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 41.1
… for some He saw there, as we have already said, who should yet believe after His passion. Looking to these, He had said, “When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am [He].”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 45.10
… Those who did hear, were they sheep? Lo? Judas heard, and was a wolf: he followed, but, clad in sheep-skin, he was laying snares for the Shepherd. Some, again, of those who crucified Christ did not hear, and yet were sheep; for such He saw in the crowd when He said, “When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am He.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 54.1
… and whom the evangelist has branded with the words, that “they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God “( ver. 43 ). Of those also who did not believe, there were some who would afterwards believe, and whom He foresaw, when He said, “When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye acknowledge that I am He:”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 119.13
… plainly Him who had more understanding than His teachers, since when He was a boy of twelve years of age, Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, and was found by His parents after three days’ space, “sitting in the temple among the doctors, hearing them and asking them questions.” The Son Himself hath said, “As My Father hath taught Me, I speak these things.”
8:29
St Ignatius of Antioch † AD 108 Epistle to the Ephesians: Shorter and Longer Versions 3
… But inasmuch as love suffers me not to be silent in regard to you, I have therefore taken upon me first to exhort you that ye would run together in accordance with the will of God. For even Jesus Christ does all things according to the will of the Father, as He Himself declares in a certain place, “I do always those things that please Him.”
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… but he that sent me is true; and I, what I heard from him is what [38, 39] I say in the world. And they knew not that he meant by that the Father. Jesus [Arabic, p. 135] said unto them again, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then ye shall know that I am he: and I do nothing of myself, but as my Father [40] taught me, so I speak.
St Hilary of Poitiers † AD 367 De Trinitate or On the Trinity 11.30
… But what does He Himself say? I am not come to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me : and again, Therefore hath the Father loved Me because I do all things that are pleasing unto Him
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 15.30
… But further, how shall all things be made subject unto Him? By perishing, or by abiding? Shall then the other things, when subject to the Son abide, and shall the Son, when subject to the Father, not abide? For He shall be subjected, not because He shall then begin to do the Father’s will (for from eternity He doth always those things that please Him
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 2.11
98. Fear not that the Son’s act displeased the Father, seeing that the Son Himself saith: “Whatsoever things are His good pleasure, I do always,” and “The works that I do, He Himself doeth.”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 5.13
… Has he as man seized for Himself the right to sit at His Father’s side, or has He claimed for Himself the prerogative of His Father’s throne, against His Father’s will? But He Himself says: “For I do always those things that please Him.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 69
… so neither is it possible for Me to say or do anything except as My Father willeth. For what I do He doeth, because He is with Me, and ‘the Father hath not left Me alone.’” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 88.4
… from whom no one could take it, but He laid it down of His own free will; who could revive His own flesh, as a temple destroyed by them, at His will; who, when all had forsaken Him on the eve of His Passion, remained not alone, because, as He testifies, His Father forsook Him not;
8:30
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… Jesus [Arabic, p. 135] said unto them again, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then ye shall know that I am he: and I do nothing of myself, but as my Father [40] taught me, so I speak. And he that sent me is with me; and my Father hath not [41] left me alone; because I do what is pleasing to him at all times.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 53
Ver. 30 . “As He spake these words, many believed on Him.”
8:31
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… therefore do [59] ye not hear, because ye are not of God. The Jews answered and said unto him, [60] Did we not say well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast demons? Jesus said unto them, As for me, I have not a devil; but my Father do I honour, and ye dishonour [61] me. I seek not my glory: here is one who seeketh and judgeth.
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on Matthew 12.15
… And perhaps also there is a difference in the knowledge of Jesus as the Christ, as every one who knows does not know Him alike. From the words in John, “If ye abide in My word, ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free,”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 On the Advantage of Patience 13
13. It is the wholesome precept of our Lord and Master: “He that endureth,” saith He, “unto the end, the same shall be saved;” and again, “If ye continue,” saith He, “in my word, ye shall be truly my disciples; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Exhortation to Martyrdom, Addressed to Fortunatus 8
… “The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in what day soever he may transgress.” Moreover, in the Gospel the Lord speaks, and says: “He that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved.” And again: “If ye shall abide in my word, ye shall be my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 53
Ver. 31 . “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him, If ye continue in My word.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 4.18
… “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.” And as though they would ask, With what fruit? He proceeds to say, “And ye shall know the truth.” And again, as though they would say, Of what good is truth to mortal men? “And the truth,” He says, “shall make you free.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Rebuke and Grace 22
Finally, the Saviour Himself says, “If ye continue in my word, ye are indeed my disciples.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 2.70
… Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever; but the Son abideth for ever. If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 84.0
On the words of the Gospel, John viii. 31 , “If ye abide in my word, then are ye truly my disciples,” etc.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 84.1
… He just now spake to us all in the Gospel, and said to us, what I also am saying to you; but He saith it of us, as well of us as of you. “If ye shall continue in My word,” not of course in my word who am now speaking to you; but in His who spake just now out of the Gospel. “If ye shall continue in My word,” saith He, “ye are My disciples indeed.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 8.7
… and that He spoke falsely in saying, “If ye continue in my word, ye are my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John 4.2
… For Himself saith in the Gospel to them that had believed on Him: “If ye shall abide in my word, then are ye verily my disciples.”
8:32
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
[42] And Jesus said to those Jews that believed in him, If ye abide in my words, truly [43] ye are my disciples;
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 84.1
… He doth not therefore say, “If ye shall hear My word;” or, “If ye shall come to My word;” or, “If ye shall praise My word;” but observe what He said, “If ye shall continue in My word, ye are My disciples indeed, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall free you.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 108.2
… and when they are sanctified in the truth, they are in other words sanctified in Christ, who said in truth, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” As also when He said, “The truth shall make you free,” in explanation of His words, He added soon after, “If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed;”
8:33
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
[42] And Jesus said to those Jews that believed in him, If ye abide in my words, truly [43] ye are my disciples; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. [44]
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 11
… at once bringing forward publicly what was in their minds, and foretelling things to come. Because after this they are found to say, “We have Abraham to our father, and were never in bondage to any man.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 52
Hear the proud language of the Jews. “We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man;”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 54
Ver. 33 . “We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 59
As in another place they said, “We were never servants to any man”; and, “We be not born of fornication” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 84.2
… And that ye may know that in no other sense can it be understood; when the Lord spake, the Jews answered, “We were never in bondage to any man; how sayest thou the Truth shall free you?”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 47.10
10. “The princes of the peoples are gathered together unto the God of Abraham” ( ver. 9 ). The God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. True it is, God said this, and thereupon the Jews prided themselves, and said, “We are Abraham’s children;”
8:34
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
[42] And Jesus said to those Jews that believed in him, If ye abide in my words, truly [43] ye are my disciples; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. [44] They said unto him, We are the seed of Abraham, and have never served any man [45] in the way of slavery: how then sayest thou, Ye shall be free children?
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 3.8.1
… He does not call mammon Lord when He says, “Ye cannot serve two masters;” but He teaches His disciples who serve God, not to be subject to mammon, nor to be ruled by it. For He says, “He that committeth sin is the slave of sin.”
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on Matthew 13.11
… their own sons or from strangers?” and Peter replies not from their own sons, but “from strangers,” then Jesus says about such as are strangers to the kings of the earth, and on account of being free are sons, “Therefore the sons are free;” for the sons of the kings of the earth are not free, since “every one that committeth sin is the bond-servant of sin,”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 On the Lord's Prayer 10
… Nor can a sinful people be a son; but the name of sons is attributed to those to whom remission of sins is granted, and to them immortality is promised anew, in the words of our Lord Himself: “Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever, but the son abideth ever.”
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 On Virginity 18
… that the perfection of this liberty does not consist only in that one point of abstaining from marriage. Let no one suppose that the prize of virginity is so insignificant and so easily won as that; as if one little observance of the flesh could settle so vital a matter. But we have seen that every man who doeth a sin is the servant of sin
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on 1 Timothy 17
… “but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake” ( 2 Cor. iv. 5 .); and again, “All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos.” ( 1 Cor. iii. 12 .) And in this service he serves with alacrity, for it is not slavery, but superior to freedom. For He says, “Whoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 54
Ver. 34 . “Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 19.15
… The prime cause, then, of slavery is sin, which brings man under the dominion of his fellow,—that which does not happen save by the judgment of God, with whom is no unrighteousness, and who knows how to award fit punishments to every variety of offence. But our Master in heaven says, “Every one who doeth sin is the servant of sin.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 12.9
… I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance;" and, "Every one that committeth sin is the servant of sin;" and, "If the Son make you free, ye shall be free indeed,"
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 84.3
… What did they hear? Because I said, “The truth shall free you;” ye turned your thoughts upon yourselves, that ye are not in bondage to man, and ye said, “We were never in bondage to any man. Every one,” Jew and Greek, rich and poor, the man in authority and private station, the emperor and the beggar, “Every one that committeth sin is the servant of sin.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 3
… God forbid, brethren, that we should call that an observance of the Sabbath. The Christian observes the Sabbath spiritually, abstaining from servile work. For what is it to abstain from servile work? From sin. And how do we prove it? Ask the Lord. “Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 8.11
… be it Saturn, Jupiter, Mercury, or any other named profanity. The man went in free, that having given his money he might come out a slave. Nay, rather, had he been free he would not have gone in; but he entered whither his master Error and his mistress Avarice dragged him. Whence also the truth says, “Every one that doeth sin is the slave of sin.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 44.9
… In fact, brethren, it is of this that God admonishes us, when He commends the Sabbath to our notice: “Thou shalt do no servile work.” These are God’s words when commending the Sabbath, “Thou shalt do no servile work.” Now ask the former lessons, what is meant by servile work; and listen to the Lord: “Every one that committeth sin is the servant of sin.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 7.18
18. “His toil shall be turned on his head, and his iniquity shall descend on his pate” ( ver. 16 ). For he had no mind to escape sin: but was brought under sin as a slave, so to say, as the Lord saith, “Whosoever sinneth is a slave.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 81.9
… As if thou shouldest say, From what burdens? “His hands in the basket did serve.” By the basket are signified servile works; to cleanse, to manure, to carry earth, is done with a basket, such works are servile: because “every one that doeth sin, is the slave of sin;” and “if the Son shall have made you free, then will ye be free indeed.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Twelve Books on the Institutes of the Cœnobia, and the Remedies for the Eight Principal Faults 5.13
We also ought first to give evidence of our freedom from subjection to the flesh. For “of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he the slave.” And “every one that doeth sin is the slave of sin.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Twelve Books on the Institutes of the Cœnobia, and the Remedies for the Eight Principal Faults 5.16
… But if we have been overcome in this battle, having been proved as it were slaves of carnal lusts, and thus displaying the tokens neither of freedom nor of strength, we shall be straightway repulsed from the conflicts with spiritual hosts, as unworthy and as slaves, with every mark of confusion. For “every one that doeth sin is the servant of sin.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 21.31
… For whereas he maintains that all those who believe the gospel are at liberty and free from the yoke and dominion of sin, how is it that the dominion of sin holds vigorous sway over almost all the baptized, in accordance with the Lord’s words, where He says: “Every one that doeth sin is the servant of sin”?
Pseudo-Clement The Recognitions of Clement 5.12
… according to what Himself said, that every one is made the servant of him to whom he yields subjection.
8:35
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. [44] They said unto him, We are the seed of Abraham, and have never served any man [45] in the way of slavery: how then sayest thou, Ye shall be free children? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Every one that doeth a sin is a slave of [46] sin.
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 2.21
… if then the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Ephesians 6
… “For they that say such things,” saith he, “make it manifest that they are seeking after a country of their own.” ( Heb. xi. 14 .) No longer are we strangers from the saints, nor foreigners. For they who shall not attain to heavenly blessings, are foreigners. “For the Son,” saith Christ, “abideth for ever.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 54
Ver. 35 . “The servant abideth not in the house, but the Son abideth forever.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 87
… For mighty is the sovereignty of love, it alienates the soul from all things else, and chains to the desired object. If thus we love Christ, all things here will seem to be a shadow, an image, a dream. We too shall say, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress?” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews 25
What then awaiteth him who is become a servant (tell me)? Hear Christ saying, “The servant abideth not in the house for ever.” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 85.3
… enter thou into the joy of thy lord;” but the servant who is characterized by the fear which love casteth out, of whom He elsewhere saith, “The servant abideth not in the house for ever, but the Son abideth ever.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 88.1
… For, you see, He calleth them servants. For what else can the words imply, “The servant is not greater than his lord: if they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you”? It is clear, therefore, that when it is said, “Henceforth I call you not servants,” He is to be understood as speaking of that servant who abideth not in the house for ever,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 52.8
… Therefore “God shall destroy at the end: shall pluck thee out, and shall remove thee from thy dwelling.” Now then this Doeg the Edomite is in a dwelling: “But a servant abideth not in the house for ever.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 119.9
… For when that which is good delighteth, it is a great gift of God. But when the good work which the law commandeth is done from a fear of punishment, not from a delight in righteousness, when God is dreaded, not loved; it is the act of a slave, not of a freeman.
8:36
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 3.19.1
1. But again, those who assert that He was simply a mere man, begotten by Joseph, remaining in the bondage of the old disobedience, are in a state of death having been not as yet joined to the Word of God the Father, nor receiving liberty through the Son, as He does Himself declare: “If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 2.21
… For ‘who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by transgression ?’ For whereas God has said, ‘Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return ,’ men have become mortal; how then could things originate undo sin? but the Lord is He who has undone it, as He says Himself, ‘Unless the Son shall make you free
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 54
Ver. 36 . “If the Son therefore shall make you free.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 101.2
2. For to men who, though they are unjust and impious, imagine that they are well educated in the liberal arts, what else ought we to say than what we read in those writings which truly merit the name of liberal,—“if the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 145.2
… Such victory and emancipation cannot, without God’s grace, be achieved by the human will, which is by no means to be called free so long as it is subject to prevailing and enslaving lusts; “For of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.” And the Son of God has Himself said, “If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Enchiridion 30
… And this is true liberty, for he has pleasure in the righteous deed; and it is at the same time a holy bondage, for he is obedient to the will of God. But whence comes this liberty to do right to the man who is in bondage and sold under sin, except he be redeemed by Him who has said, “If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed?”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Morals of the Manichæans 11
… nor does God give it assistance, since it does not need it; nor is Christ its physician, since it is in health; nor does it require the promise of happiness in another life. Why then is Jesus called the deliverer, according to His own words in the Gospel, "If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed?"
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants 2.7
… “Order my steps in Thy word; and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.” From the thraldom of this execrable dominion they are liberated, to whom the Lord Jesus gave power to become the sons of God. From so horrible a domination were they to be freed, to whom He says, “If the Son shall make you free, then shall ye be free indeed.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter 52
… But if they have been freed, why do they vaunt themselves as if it were by their own doing, and boast, as if they had not received? Or are they free in such sort that they do not choose to have Him for their Lord who says to them: “Without me ye can do nothing;” and “If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed?”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On Marriage and Concupiscence 2.8
Well, now, whoever you are that have said all this, what you say is by no means true; by no means, I repeat; you are much deceived, or you aim at deceiving others. We do not deny free will; but, even as the Truth declares, “if the Son shall make you free, then shall ye be free indeed.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 1.5
… Through sin freedom indeed perished, but it was that freedom which was in Paradise, to have a full righteousness with immortality; and it is on this account that human nature needs divine grace, since the Lord says, “If the Son shall make you free, then shall ye be free indeed”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 2.2
… The Manicheans deny that to a good man the beginning of evil came from free will; the Pelagians say that even a bad man has free will sufficiently to perform the good commandment. The catholic Church condemns both, saying to the former, “God made man upright,” and saying to the latter, “If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Rebuke and Grace 2
… but in doing evil every one is free from righteousness and a servant of sin, while in doing good no one can be free, unless he have been made free by Him who said, “If the Son shall make you free, then you shall be free indeed.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Rebuke and Grace 35
… To him, therefore, without any sin, was given the free will with which he was created; and he made it to serve sin. But although the will of these had been the servant of sin, it was delivered by Him who said, “If the Son shall make you free, then shall ye be free indeed.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 4.10
… as He also says of John the Baptist, that “he was a burning and shining light.” But He is Himself the beginning, of whom it is likewise declared, that “of His fulness have all we received.” On the occasion presently under review, He asserted further that He, the Son, is the Truth, which will make us free, and without which no man will be free.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 9.1
… This Psalm is then sung for the hidden things of the only-begotten Son of God. For the Lord Himself too, when, without addition, He uses the word Son, would have Himself, the Only-begotten to be understood; as where He says, “If the Son shall make you free, then shall ye be free indeed.”
8:37
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… [44] They said unto him, We are the seed of Abraham, and have never served any man [45] in the way of slavery: how then sayest thou, Ye shall be free children? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Every one that doeth a sin is a slave of [46] sin. And the slave doth not remain for ever in the house; but the son remaineth [47, 48] for ever.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 54
Ver. 37 . “I know that ye are Abraham’s seed but ye seek to kill Me.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 55
… 28 .) And observe His wisdom. Having first rent them away from Abraham’s kindred, He showeth that He is greater than Abraham, that so He may be seen to be very exceedingly greater than the Prophets also. Indeed it was because they continually called Him a prophet that He said, “My word hath no place in you.” (
8:38
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… And the slave doth not remain for ever in the house; but the son remaineth [47, 48] for ever. And if the Son set you free, truly ye shall be free children. I know that ye are the seed of Abraham; but ye seek to slay me, because ye are unable for my [49] word.
Tertullian † AD 220 Against Praxeas 22
… Likewise, when upbraiding the Jews in His discussion with them, because they wished to kill Him, He said, “I speak that which I have seen with my Father, and ye do that which ye have seen with your father;”
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 11.10
… the Word, which came down and went up; for the word of utterance when spoken comes not down, nor goes up; the Word speaking and saying, The things which I have seen with My Father, these I speak
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 5.11
… that they may not believe everything in carnal fashion, since they themselves do not see the works of their father the devil with bodily eyes. So the Lord has declared of their fellows the Jews, saying: “Ye do what ye have seen your father doing;”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 54
Ver. 38 . “I speak that which I have seen with My Father, and ye do that which ye have heard from your father.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 101.2
… For they have nothing which is consonant with liberty, except that which in them is consonant with truth; for which reason the Son Himself hath said: “The truth shall make you free.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise Concerning Man’s Perfection in Righteousness 9
… Now it is just liberty itself that is promised to believers by the Liberator. “If the Son,” says He, “shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Letters 120
… as if these things were written not to be avoided but to be perpetrated: and thus does he apply to the completion of his destruction the salutary warnings of the Son of God , and turns a deaf ear to what the same Lord has said, “I speak that which I have seen with My Father; and ye do that which ye have seen with your father
8:39
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… And the slave doth not remain for ever in the house; but the son remaineth [47, 48] for ever. And if the Son set you free, truly ye shall be free children. I know that ye are the seed of Abraham; but ye seek to slay me, because ye are unable for my [49] word. And what I saw with my Father, I say: and what ye saw with your father, [50] ye do.
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 6.2
… Now, I consider that those who are fully and really sons of Abraham are sons of his actions, spiritually understood, and of the knowledge which was made manifest to him. What he knew and what he did appears again in those who are his sons, as the Scripture teaches those who have ears to hear,
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 7.14
… For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God . For it profiteth us nothing to have gained the title of Christians, unless the works also follow; lest to us also it be said, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 44
… which Christ also declared, when He said, “If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham;”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 19
… Yet, as I said, he wishes to comfort them. And this is why it is not in his own person, but in theirs, that he brings in the words used, and even in this gives a secret stroke at them, and shows them to have fallen from being Abraham’s kinsmen. ( Matt. iii. 9 .) For what he was desirous of saying was, that they had nothing in common with them. (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 54
Ver. 39, 40 . “They said unto Him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye had Abraham to your father, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill Me.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 33.5
… That they were punished at their death, or that they were justified after the Lord’s passion, is not what we learn from His commendation of them, when He admonished the Jews that, if they were Abraham’s children, they should do the works of Abraham, and said that Abraham desired to see His day, and was glad when he saw it;
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 71.3
… For that if they were the children of Abraham, they would imitate Abraham; as He too telleth them who say to Him, “We be free, and were never in bondage to any man; we have Abraham for our father.” And He said, “If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the deeds of Abraham. Ye wish to kill Me, because I tell you the truth. This did not Abraham.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 47.10
… True it is, God said this, and thereupon the Jews prided themselves, and said, “We are Abraham’s children;” priding themselves in their father’s name, carrying his flesh, not holding his faith; by seed cleaving to Him, in manners degenerating. But the Lord, what said He to them so priding themselves? “If ye are Abraham’s children, do the works of Abraham.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 132.13
… but if thou dost not keep it, thou wilt not be David’s son. God promised to the sons of David. Say not, I am David’s son if thou degenerate. If the Jews, who were born of this very stock, say not this (nay, they say it, but they are under a delusion. For the Lord saith openly, “If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.”
8:40
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… I know that ye are the seed of Abraham; but ye seek to slay me, because ye are unable for my [49] word. And what I saw with my Father, I say: and what ye saw with your father, [50] ye do. They answered and said unto him, Our father is Abraham. Jesus said unto them, If ye were the children of Abraham, ye would do the deeds of Abraham. [51]
Tertullian † AD 220 On the Flesh of Christ 15
… “But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth;”
Tertullian † AD 220 Against Praxeas 22
… Likewise, when upbraiding the Jews in His discussion with them, because they wished to kill Him, He said, “I speak that which I have seen with my Father, and ye do that which ye have seen with your father;” “but now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth which I have heard of God;”
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus i.66
We now, believing Jesus Himself, when He says respecting His divinity, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life,” and employs other terms of similar import; and when He says respecting His being clothed with a human body, “And now ye seek to kill Me, a man that hath told you the truth,”
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 2.25
… and others, again, which belong to that in Him which is understood to be man, such as, “But now ye seek to kill Me, a man that hath told you the truth which I have heard of the Father.”
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 7.16
… He was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” Observe, then, how distinctly they say that it was a man who should endure these human sufferings. And Jesus Himself, who knew perfectly that one who was to die must be a man, said to His accusers: “But now ye seek to kill Me, a man that hath spoken unto you the truth which I heard of God.”
St Gregory Thaumaturgus † AD 270 Twelve Topics on the Faith 8
How could one say that Christ is perfect man and also God the Word in the way of separation, when the Lord Himself says, “Why seek ye to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God?”
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 De Sententia Dionysii. (Defence of Dionysius.) 3
… iii. 9 ), thus thinking to cloke their own unreasonableness. But neither did they gain anything by these words, nor will these men, by speaking of Dionysius, be able to escape the guilt of the others. For the Lord convicted the latter of their wicked deeds by the words, ‘This did not Abraham’ (
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 61
… But this is not so, far be the thought. But once for all ‘at the consummation of the ages , to put away sin’ ‘the Word was made flesh ’ and proceeded forth from Mary the Virgin, Man after our likeness, as also He said to the Jews, ‘Wherefore seek ye to kill Me, a man that hath told you the truth
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 Against Eunomius 2.13
… Wherefore also the Angel, when informing Joseph of the destruction of the enemies of the Lord, said, “They are dead which sought the young Child’s life ,” (or “soul”): and the Lord says to the Jews, “Ye seek to kill Me, a man that hath told you the truth
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 5.15
… “Truly my soul will be in subjection to God;” He said soul not Godhead, soul not glory. And that we might know that the Lord has spoken through the prophet of the adoption of our human nature, He added: “How long will ye cast yourselves upon a man?” As also He says in the Gospel: “Why do ye seek to kill Me, a man?”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 49
… Wherefore? Because He would not continually irritate them. At present their anger had become intense, and they went on to murder. And therefore He continueth to check them in these two ways, by reproving their evil daring, and saying, “Why go ye about to kill Me?” and by modestly calling Himself, “A Man that hath told you the truth” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 10.23
34. Why, then, doth truth beget hatred and that man of thine,
John Cassian † AD 435 The Seven Books of John Cassian on the Incarnation of the Lord, Against Nestorius 5.8
… For the same Person says this to Christians by His Apostle, who had Himself said something very like it to Jews in the gospel, when He said: “But now ye seek to kill me, a man, who have spoken the truth to you, which I heard of God: for I am not come of Myself, but He sent me.”
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Dialogues. The “Eranistes” or “Polymorphus” of the Blessed Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrus 2
Orth. —Do you then deem yourself wiser than Peter and Paul; aye, and than the Saviour Himself? For the Lord said to the Jews “Why do ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I heard of my Father?”
St John of Damascus † AD 749 An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 3.18
… and sometimes a man is spoken of as flesh, as, for example, All flesh shall see the salvation of God . And accordingly the Lord did not become flesh without soul or mind, but man. He says, indeed, Himself, Why seek ye to kill Me, a Man that hath told you the truth
8:41
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… and what ye saw with your father, [50] ye do. They answered and said unto him, Our father is Abraham. Jesus said unto them, If ye were the children of Abraham, ye would do the deeds of Abraham. [51] Now, behold, ye seek to kill me, a man that speak with you the truth, that I [52] heard from God: this did Abraham not do.
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 7.13
13. And not only stocks and stones, but even Satan himself, the destroyer of souls, have some ere now chosen for a father; to whom the Lord said as a rebuke, Ye do the deeds of your father
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 52
Hear the proud language of the Jews. “We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man;” and, “We be born of God.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 54
Ver. 41 . “We be not born of fornication, we have one Father, even God.”
8:42
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… Jesus said unto them, If ye were the children of Abraham, ye would do the deeds of Abraham. [51] Now, behold, ye seek to kill me, a man that speak with you the truth, that I [52] heard from God: this did Abraham not do. And ye do the deeds of your father. They said unto him, We were not born of fornication; we have one Father, who is [53] God.
Tertullian † AD 220 Against Praxeas 22
… His discussion with them, because they wished to kill Him, He said, “I speak that which I have seen with my Father, and ye do that which ye have seen with your father;” “but now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth which I have heard of God;” and again, “If God were your Father, ye would love me, for I proceeded forth and came from God,”
Novatian † AD 258 A Treatise of Novatian Concerning the Trinity 15
… If Christ is man only, how does He say, “I proceeded forth and came from God,”
St Hilary of Poitiers † AD 367 De Trinitate or On the Trinity 6.30
… ignorant, and content to be ignorant. But let them listen to the reproof which the Son inflicts upon unbelievers for their want of this knowledge, when the Jews said that God was their Father:— If God were your Father, ye would surely love Me; for I went forth from God, and am come; neither am I come of Myself, but He sent Me
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 De Decretis. (Defence of the Nicene Definition.) 5
… However, the Scriptures also teach us this, since the Father says by David, ‘My heart uttered a good Word ,’ and, ‘From the womb before the morning star I begat Thee ;’ and the Son signifies to the Jews about Himself, ‘If God were your Father, ye would love Me; for I proceeded forth from the Father
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 1.16
107. Since, then, the Father is well pleased in the Son; believe that the Son is worthy of the Father, that He came out from God, as He Himself bears witness, saying: “I went out from God, and am come;”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 54
… for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do ye not understand My speech? Even because ye cannot hear My word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do: he was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth: when he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 2.5
… that is, that by the invisible Father, with the invisible Son, the same Son Himself was sent so as to be visible. Why, therefore, does He say, “Neither came I of myself?” This, we may now say, is said according to the form of a servant, in the same way as it is said, “I judge no man.”
8:43
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… this did Abraham not do. And ye do the deeds of your father. They said unto him, We were not born of fornication; we have one Father, who is [53] God. Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: I proceeded and came from God; and it was not of my own self that I came, but he sent [54] [Arabic, p. 136] me.
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 To the Bishops of Egypt 1.9
… Others indeed they deceived by these professions, but when our Lord became man they were not able to deceive Him; ‘for the Word was made Flesh,’ who ‘knoweth the thoughts of men that they are vain.’ Thus He exposed the carping of the Jews, saying, ‘If God were your Father, ye would love Me, for I proceeded forth from the Father, and am come to you
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Concerning Repentance 2.4
26. Return, then, to the Church, those of you who have wickedly separated yourselves. For He promises forgiveness to all who are converted, since it is written: “Whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be saved.” And lastly, the Jewish people who said of the Lord Jesus, “He hath a devil,”
8:44
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… They said unto him, We were not born of fornication; we have one Father, who is [53] God. Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: I proceeded and came from God; and it was not of my own self that I came, but he sent [54] [Arabic, p. 136] me. Why then do ye not know my word? Because ye cannot hear my word. [55]
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 5.22
… Nor shall he give away the rule over men to men; but both all other things, and all human affairs, are arranged according to God the Father’s disposal. Besides, the Lord declares that “the devil is a liar from the beginning, and the truth is not in him.”
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 5.23
… For they died who tasted of the tree; and the serpent is proved a liar and a murderer, as the Lord said of him: “For he is a murderer from the beginning, and the truth is not in him.”
Tertullian † AD 220 Against Praxeas 1
… it was the Almighty Himself that I tempted face to face; and it was for no other purpose than to tempt Him that I approached Him. If, on the contrary, it had been only the Son of God, most likely I should never have condescended to deal with Him.” However, he is himself a liar from the beginning,
St Hippolytus † AD 235 The Refutation of All Heresies 5.12
… When, therefore, he says, the Saviour observes, “your Father which is in heaven,” he alludes to that one from whom the Son deriving his characteristics has transferred them hither. When, however, (Jesus) remarks, “Your father is a murderer from the beginning,”
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on Matthew 12.40
… But if it were a lie, you will seek to know who caused the lie to be spoken; and especially since according to John, “When he speaketh a lie he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar and the father thereof;”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 On the Lord's Prayer 10
… and these cannot now call God their Father, since the Lord confounds and confutes them, saying, “Ye are born of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. For he was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.”
Archelaus † fl. AD 278 The Acts of the Disputation with the Heresiarch Manes 13
… or our Saviour Jesus Christ, who says, as it is written in the book of the Gospels, “A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit,” and who in another place assures us that the “father of the devil is a liar and a murderer from the beginning,”
Archelaus † fl. AD 278 The Acts of the Disputation with the Heresiarch Manes 29
29. Manes said : Is not that word also to the same effect which Jesus spake to the disciples, when He was demonstrating those men to be unbelieving: “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do?”
Archelaus † fl. AD 278 The Acts of the Disputation with the Heresiarch Manes 32
32. Moreover, as to this word which is written in the Gospel, “Ye are of your father the devil,”
Archelaus † fl. AD 278 The Acts of the Disputation with the Heresiarch Manes 33
… Manes said : If (only) the good is from (your) God, as you allege, then you make Jesus Himself a liar. Archelaus said : In the first place, admit that the account of what we have adduced is true, and then I will give you proof about the “father of him.”
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Life of Antony. (Vita Antoni.) 16
… But if they are not of such a nature as this, but are able to enter in, though the doors be shut, and haunt all the air, both they and their leader the devil, and are wishful for evil and ready to injure; and, as the Saviour said, “From the beginning the devil is a manslayer and a father of vice
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 To the Bishops of Egypt 1.4
… And their advocates are aware of this, that the Scriptures are very much, or rather altogether, opposed to the doctrines of every one of them; but for the sake of deceiving the more simple sort (such as are those of whom it is written in the Proverbs, ‘The simple believeth every word ),’ they pretend like their ‘father the devil
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Defence of His Flight. (Apologia de Fuga.) 1
… I could write, which even they are unable to deny, and which all who have heard of their proceedings know to be true, yet I shall not be prevailed upon to make any reply to them, except only to remind them of the words of our Lord, and of the declaration of the Apostle, that ‘a lie is of the Devil,’ and that, ‘revilers shall not inherit the kingdom of God
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Defence of His Flight. (Apologia de Fuga.) 10
… That such is their character is shewn by their actions, which have convicted them of possessing dispositions more savage than wild beasts, and more cruel than Babylonians. But although the proof against them is sufficiently clear from all this, yet since they still dissemble with soft words after the manner of their ‘father the devil
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 3.25
… Thus hearing that men are called sons, they thought themselves equal to the True Son by nature such . And now again hearing from the Saviour, ‘that they may be one as We are
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 Against Eunomius 2.1
… In the Faith then which was delivered by God to the Apostles we admit neither subtraction, nor alteration, nor addition, knowing assuredly that he who presumes to pervert the Divine utterance by dishonest quibbling, the same “is of his father the devil,” who leaves the words of truth and “speaks of his own,” becoming the father of a lie
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 17
… For that killing is a work of him whom I just now mentioned, hear what Christ saith; “Ye will do the works of your Father; he was a manslayer from the beginning.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 39
… ib. xviii. 22 ), Christ was told: He received a blow on the face from the servant of the high-priest. They who wrongfully insult, are in the same class with these. For if Peter was even called “Satan” ( Matt. xvi. 23 ) for one word; much more shall these men, when they do the works of the Jews, be called, as those were called, “children of the devil” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Commentary on Galatians 5
… viii. 8, 9 .) and again, “They that are in the flesh cannot please God.” What then? Is the flesh to be destroyed? was not he who thus spoke clothed with flesh? such doctrines are not of the flesh, but from the Devil, for “he was a murderer from the beginning.” (
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 22.1
… Truly a marvellous thing, a father charges his daughter not to remember her father. “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father it is your will to do.”
St Jerome † AD 420 Against Jovinianus 2.10
… “Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels.” That a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, nor an evil tree good fruit. Hence it is that the Saviour says to the Jews:
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 12.25
… For whosoever claims to himself as his own that which Thou appointed to all to enjoy, and desires that to be his own which belongs to all, is forced away from what is common to all to that which is his own—that is, from truth to falsehood. For he that “speaketh a lie, speaketh of his own.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 13.25
… yea, I will say it without fear. For I will speak the truth, Thou inspiring me as to what Thou willest that I should say out of these words. For by none other than Thy inspiration do I believe that I can speak the truth, since Thou art the Truth, but every man a liar. And therefore he that “speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 92.4
… and now they have granted that the same thing is possible to the wicked also. Well, let them grant what gifts they please, and to whom they please: for who may say anything against men giving away that which is their own? for he that speaketh a lie, speaketh of his own.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 11.13
… unless, possibly, some one may say that the words of the Lord about the devil “He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 19.13
And therefore there is a nature in which evil does not or even cannot exist; but there cannot be a nature in which there is no good. Hence not even the nature of the devil himself is evil, in so far as it is nature, but it was made evil by being perverted. Thus he did not abide in the truth,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On Continence 11
… Accuse not thou the nature of the flesh, when you hear it said, “If ye shall live after the flesh, ye shall die.” For thus could it be said, and most truly could it, If ye shall live after yourselves ye shall die. For the devil hath not flesh, and yet, because he would live after himself, “he abode not in the truth.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 2.13
30. Augustin answered: We are not wont to say, "He was a slanderer," but "He was a murderer."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 51.4
… Ye are now indeed of one family, we of the same family are dispensers, it is true, but we all belong to one Lord. Nor what I give, do I give of mine own; but of His from whom I also receive. For if I should give of mine own, I shall give a lie. “For he that speaketh a lie, speaketh of his own.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 3
… A certain one was named Lucifer, who fell; for he was an angel and became a devil; and concerning him the Scripture said, “Lucifer, who did arise in the morning, fell.” And why was he Lucifer ? Because, being enlightened, he gave forth light. But for what reason did he become dark! Because he abode not in the truth.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 5
… He will grant this also, that we may arrive at the fulfillment of the promise. For then those things which we say, if they are useful to us and to you, are from Him; but those things which proceed from man are false, as our Lord Jesus Christ Himself has said, “He that speaketh a lie speaketh of his own.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 8.5
… How doth the serpent possess? When a lie possesses. When falsehood possesses, then the serpent possesses; when truth possesses, then Christ possesses. For Himself has said, “I am the truth;” but of that other He said, “He stood not in the truth, because the truth is not him.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 14.2
… Cleave to Him who is everlasting. Such an one John declared himself to be. “Because of the Bridegroom’s voice, the friend of the Bridegroom rejoiceth,” not because of his own voice, and “standeth and heareth.” Therefore, if he falls, he heareth Him not: for of a certain one who fell it is said, “And he stood not in the truth;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John 6.7
… The devil himself: he asked for Job, and received. Have ye not here also heard concerning the devil, that “he that committeth sin is of the devil”? Not that the devil created, but that the sinner imitates. Is it not said of him, “He stood not in the truth”?
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 17.11
11. “As a lion ready for prey, have they taken Me” ( ver. 12 ). They have taken Me, like that adversary who “walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” “And as a lion’s whelp dwelling in secret places.” And as his whelp, the people to whom it was said, “Ye are of your father the devil:”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 18.46
46. “The strange children have lied unto Me.” Children, not to be called Mine, but rather strange children, to whom it is rightly said, “Ye are of your father the devil,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 39.4
… “It is Thou that shalt make me to hear of joy and gladness.” And the “friend of the bridegroom standeth and heareth Him, and rejoiceth on account of the bridegroom’s voice,” not his own. That he may speak true things, he hears what he is to say. For it is he that “speaketh a lie,” that “speaketh of his own.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 62.12
… not of myself I speak, not of myself I say: to this belongeth the “I have heard.” But the friend of the Bridegroom standeth and heareth Him, that he may speak the truth. For he heareth Him, lest by speaking a lie, of his own he should speak:
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 103.3
… Just as, if thou shouldest bring to a husbandman, from the land which he hath sown, an ear of wheat, thou hast rewarded him from the husbandman’s own produce; if thorns, that hast offered him of thine own. Reward truth, in truth praise the Lord: if thou shalt choose to reward Him from thine own, thou wilt lie. He who speaketh a lie, speaketh of his own.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 132.7
7. But if ye incline to understand it of the house itself, where the feet of that house have stood; let thy feet stand in Christ. They will then stand, if thou shalt persevere in Christ. For what is said of the devil? “He was a murderer from the beginning, and stood not in the truth.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 3.7
… And of this father Scripture says to Jerusalem which had despised God the true Father, “Thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite;” and in the gospel we read “Ye are of your father the devil and the lusts of your father ye love to do.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 8.16
… viz., that “he abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar, and its father,”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 8.20
… And also with regard to this passage of the gospel which you quoted of the devil a little while back, “for he is a liar and his father,”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 8.25
But as for this which disturbed you about the devil, that “he is a liar and his father,”
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Letters of the Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyprus 143
… Even after the incarnation the Trinity is still a Trinity. This is the teaching I have received from the beginning; this has been my faith; in this was I baptized; this have I preached; in this have I baptized, this I continue to hold. Of them that utter a lie about the Father the Lord has said “When he speaketh a lie he speaketh of his own,”
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Letters 120
… “You,” He says, “are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father it is your will to fulfil. He was a murderer from the beginning and stood not in the truth, because the truth is not in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar and the father thereof
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Sermons 9
… for now all would know what rewards the good might hope for and what punishments the evil must fear. For the instigator and author of sin in order first to fall through pride and then to injure us through envy, because “he stood not in the Truth
Early Popes (Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals) The Epistle of Pope Anterus 1
I should wish, my dearest brethren, always to receive the glad account of your sincere love and peace, so that the signs of your welfare might be promoted in turn by the dissemination of our letters among you, if our ancient enemy should give us quiet and deliverance from his attacks; who was a liar from the beginning,
8:45
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… Because ye cannot hear my word. [55] Ye are from the father, the devil, and the lust of your father do ye desire to do, who from the beginning is a slayer of men, and in the truth standeth not, because the truth is not in him. And when he speaketh untruth, he speaketh from [56] himself: for he is a liar, and the father of untruth.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 54
Ver. 45 . “And because I tell you the truth, ye believe Me not.”
8:46
St Ignatius of Antioch † AD 108 Epistle to the Trallians: Shorter and Longer Versions 9
… who was truly begotten of God and of the Virgin, but not after the same manner. For indeed God and man are not the same. He truly assumed a body; for “the Word was made flesh,” and lived upon earth without sin. For says He, “Which of you convicteth me of sin?”
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… [55] Ye are from the father, the devil, and the lust of your father do ye desire to do, who from the beginning is a slayer of men, and in the truth standeth not, because the truth is not in him. And when he speaketh untruth, he speaketh from [56] himself: for he is a liar, and the father of untruth. And I who speak the truth, ye [57] believe me not.
Origen † AD 254 Origen De Principiis 2.6.4
… said, “Thou hast loved righteousness;” but he adds, “and Thou hast hated wickedness.” For to have hated wickedness is what the Scripture says of Him, that “He did no sin, neither was any guile found in His mouth,” and that “He was tempted in all things like as we are, without sin.” Nay, the Lord Himself also said, “Which of you will convince Me of sin?”
Arnobius † AD 327 The Seven Books of Arnobius Against the Heathen. (Adversus Gentes.) 1.64
64. What, then, constrains you, what excites you to revile, to rail at, to hate implacably Him whom no man can accuse of any crime?
Arnobius † AD 327 The Seven Books of Arnobius Against the Heathen. (Adversus Gentes.) 2.4
4. But all these things will be more clearly and distinctly noticed when we have proceeded further. For we shall show that Christ did not teach the nations impiety, but delivered ignorant and wretched men from those who most wickedly wronged them.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 16
But the law He fulfilled, not in one way only, but in a second and third also. In one way, by transgressing none of the precepts of the law. For that He did fulfill it all, hear what He saith to John, “For thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.” And to the Jews also He said, “Which of you convinceth me of sin.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on First Corinthians 38
… For I indeed say that He took unto Himself a body and His death, I say, was that of the flesh; but thou denying this, wilt be compelled to affirm the other. But if He was in sin, how saith He, “Which of you convinceth Me of sin?” and “The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me?” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Second Corinthians 11
… but in Christ, “after the flesh” is His being subject to the affections of nature, such as to thirst, to hunger, to weariness, to sleep. For “He did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth.” ( 1 Pet. ii. 22 .) Wherefore He also said, “Which of you convicteth Me of sin?” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 54
Ver. 46 . “Which of you convinceth Me of sin?”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 58
… xii. 24 .) And here again, when they have nothing to say, they betake themselves to the time (of cure), saying, “He breaketh the Sabbath”; and again, “He is a sinner.” Yet He asked you, who would slay Him, and who were ready to lay hold of His actions, most plainly, saying, “Which of you convinceth Me of sin?” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 51.9
… To God surely he speaketh, and it is evident that God the Father is not judged. What is, “And conquer when Thou art judged”? He seeth the future Judge to be judged, one just by sinners to be judged, and therein conquering, because in Him was nothing to be judged. For alone among men could truly say the God-Man, “If ye have found in Me sin, say.”
8:47
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… And when he speaketh untruth, he speaketh from [56] himself: for he is a liar, and the father of untruth. And I who speak the truth, ye [57] believe me not. Who of you rebuketh me for a sin? And if I speak the truth, ye [58] do not believe me.
8:48
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… And when he speaketh untruth, he speaketh from [56] himself: for he is a liar, and the father of untruth. And I who speak the truth, ye [57] believe me not. Who of you rebuketh me for a sin? And if I speak the truth, ye [58] do not believe me. Whosoever is of God heareth the words of God: therefore do [59] ye not hear, because ye are not of God.
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 29
… He was wearied, but He is the Rest of them that are weary and heavy laden. He was heavy with sleep, but He walked lightly over the sea. He rebuked the winds, He made Peter light as he began to sink. He pays tribute, but it is out of a fish; yea, He is the King of those who demanded it. He is called a Samaritan and a demoniac;
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 45
… With whom shall He be most angry—or rather which shall He forgive—those who falsely contract Him, or those who divide Him? For the former ought to have made a distinction, and the latter to have made a Union, the one in number, the other in Godhead. Do you stumble at His Flesh? So did the Jews. Do you call Him a Samaritan,
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 To My Lady 3
… “For there arose” it is said, “a questioning on the part of John’s disciples with a certain Jew about purifying.” And when He began to work miracles how many calumniators He had! Some called Him a Samaritan and demoniac saying “Thou art a Samaritan and hast a Devil”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 17
… this would have made all regard Him as a madman. For if, even after His teaching, and His so great miracles, while not even yet was He saying this openly, they called Him possessed with a devil;
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 65
… as Ezekiel also saith, “They that build the wall, and daub it with untempered mortar.” But how did they reject Him? By saying, “This man is not of God; This man deceiveth the people;” and again, “Thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 4
… Well then might they be in doubt: for never had the like occurred. Observe the ingenuousness of these men. They were amazed and were in doubt, saying, “What meaneth this?” But “others mocking said, ‘These men are full of new wine’” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 15
… As then things seemingly harmful do good to these, so do even things profitable harm those who love Him not. For instance, the exhibition of miracles and wisdom in His teaching only injured the Jews, as did the rightness of doctrine; and for the former they called Him a possessed person (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 31
… and Jacob also they called their father, as being his descendant. But the Jews abominated them as well as all (other nations). Wherefore they reproached Christ with this, saying, “Thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 35
… i. 46 ), and another, “Search and look, for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.” ( c. vii. 52 .) These things they said insulting Him, because He was supposed by the many to be of Nazareth, and they also reproached Him with being a Samaritan; “Thou art a Samaritan,” said one, “and hast a devil.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 59
… “Whose voice the sheep hear, and he calleth his own by name.” Because they everywhere said that He was a deceiver, and confirmed this by their own unbelief, saying, “Which of the rulers hath believed on him?” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 60
For because His words were greater than belonged to man, and not of common use, they said that He had a devil, calling Him so now for the fourth time. For they before had said, “Thou hast a devil, who seeketh to kill thee?” ( c. vii. 20 ); and again, “Said we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 84
… These things, if continually meditated on, are sufficient to take down all anger; and if we be mocked at, if we suffer injustice, let us still say, “The servant is not greater than his Lord” ( c. xiii. 16 ); and let us bring forward the words of the Jews, which they uttered in their madness, saying, “Thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews 28
… 12 .) And again, “That deceiver said while He was yet alive, after three days I will rise again.” ( Matt. xxvii. 63 .) As to sorcery too they calumniated Him, saying, “He casteth out the devils by Beelzebub.” ( Matt. xii. 24 .) And that “He is mad and hath a devil.” ( John x. 20 .) “Said we not well” (it says) “that He hath a devil and is mad?” (
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 14.11
… This is He whose parents were a workingman and a working-woman. This is He, who, carried into Egypt in His mother’s bosom, though He was God, fled before the face of man. This is He who was clothed in a scarlet robe and crowned with thorns. This is He who was called a sorcerer and a man with a devil and a Samaritan.
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 45.6
… I forgot that the Gospel warns us that he who goes down from Jerusalem immediately falls among robbers, is spoiled, is wounded, is left for dead. But, although priest and Levite may disregard me, there is still the good Samaritan who, when men said to him, “Thou art a Samaritan and hast a devil,”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 108.19
… nevertheless I am continually with thee.” In the gospel we read that even His kinsfolk desired to bind Him as one of weak mind. His opponents also reviled him saying “thou art a Samaritan and hast a devil,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount 1.5
… But it is one thing when the reviling word is hurled with contumely in presence of him who is reviled, as it was said to our Lord, “Say we not the truth that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 36.15
… And because pride had wounded us, humility maketh us whole. God came humbly, that from such great wound of pride He might heal man. He came, for “The Word was made Flesh, and dwelt among us.” He was taken by the Jews; He was reviled of them. Ye heard when the Gospel was read, what they said, and to Whom they said, “Thou hast a devil:”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 91.4
… But what is it, when he hears such words, not to swerve from the way? On hearing them, what comfort has he, which prevents his heeding them, and enables him to enter by the door? Let him say; What words am I called, who am a servant and a sinner? To my Lord Jesus they said, “Thou hast a devil.”
8:49
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… And I who speak the truth, ye [57] believe me not. Who of you rebuketh me for a sin? And if I speak the truth, ye [58] do not believe me. Whosoever is of God heareth the words of God: therefore do [59] ye not hear, because ye are not of God. The Jews answered and said unto him, [60] Did we not say well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast demons?
Tertullian † AD 220 Against Praxeas 22
… Some persons indeed seize the opportunity afforded them in these words to propound their heresy of His separation ; but His coming out from God is like the ray’s procession from the sun, and the river’s from the fountain, and the tree’s from the seed); “I have not a devil, but I honour my Father;”
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 7.5
… Perfect Father, He begat a perfect Son, and delivered all things to Him who is begotten: (for all things , He saith, are delivered unto Me of My Father :) and is honoured by the Only-begotten: for, I honour My Father
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 75
… But what are the things which He wills us to speak? Words full of gentleness and meekness, even as also He Himself used to speak, saying to them that were insulting Him, “I have not a devil;”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 50
… do you observe how he keeps his tongue from evil-speaking, how he seeks only one thing, to free himself from the charges against himself, not that he may criminate them, except so far as he might be obliged to do so while defending himself? Just as Christ also said: “I have not a devil, but I honor My Father: but ye do dishonor Me.” (
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 45.6
… But, although priest and Levite may disregard me, there is still the good Samaritan who, when men said to him, “Thou art a Samaritan and hast a devil,” disclaimed having a devil, but did not disclaim being a Samaritan,
8:50
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 35
… Whosoever is of God heareth the words of God: therefore do [59] ye not hear, because ye are not of God. The Jews answered and said unto him, [60] Did we not say well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast demons? Jesus said unto them, As for me, I have not a devil; but my Father do I honour, and ye dishonour [61] me.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 55
Ver. 50 . “I seek not Mine own glory.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 1.13
… since the Son of man will judge, that the text may be true which says, “When the Son of man shall come, then before Him shall be gathered all nations;” and the Son of man will not judge, that the text may be true which says, “I will not judge him;” and, “I seek not mine own glory: there is One that seeketh and judgeth.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 22.26
26. “With Thee is My praise” ( ver. 25 ). For I seek not Mine own praise,
8:51
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 36
… and he saw, and rejoiced. The Jews said unto him, [8] Thou art now not fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto [9] them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. And they take stones to stone him: but Jesus concealed himself, and went out of the temple. And he passed through them, and went his way .
Novatian † AD 258 A Treatise of Novatian Concerning the Trinity 15
… “And God,” says he, “was the Word.” Therefore God proceeded from God, in that the Word which proceeded is God, who proceeded forth from God. If Christ is only man, how does He say, “If any man shall keep my word, he shall not see death for ever?”
St Gregory Thaumaturgus † AD 270 Twelve Topics on the Faith 7
How could one say that Christ is saved, when the Lord Himself says, “I am the life;” and, “I am come that they might have life;” and, “He that believeth on me shall not see death, but he shall behold the life eternal?”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 46
… for both nerve the soul. Yet in another place He said, “If a man hear My saying, he shall never taste of death.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 55
Ver. 51 . “Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep My saying, he shall never see death.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 64
… And when He maketh Himself equal with God, they say, “This man blasphemeth” ( Matt. ix. 3 ); and when He saith, “Thy sins be forgiven thee” ( c. x. 20 ), they moreover call Him a demoniac. So when He saith that the man who heareth His words is stronger than death, or, “I am in the Father and the Father in Me” (
8:52
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 36
[1] Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever keepeth my word shall not see death [2] for ever.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 39
… because, if after a very long time, and ten thousand miracles, they suspected this when He spake after this manner, much more would they have done so then. It was on this account that at that later period they said to Him, “Abraham is dead, and the prophets are dead, how sayest Thou, If a man keep My saying, he shall never taste of death?” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 47
“And I will raise him up at the last day.” For since He had said, “He that eateth of this bread shall not die for ever” ( ver. 50 , not verbally quoted), and it was likely that this would stand in their way, (just as they before said, “Abraham is dead, and the prophets are dead; and how sayest Thou, that he shall not taste of death?”—
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 55
Ver. 52 . “Now we know that thou hast a devil; Abraham is dead, and the Prophets are dead.”
8:53
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 36
[1] Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever keepeth my word shall not see death [2] for ever. The Jews said unto him, Now we know that thou hast demons. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, Whosoever keepeth my word shall not [3] taste death for ever.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 55
Ver. 53 . “Art thou greater than our father Abraham?”
8:54
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 36
… The Jews said unto him, Now we know that thou hast demons. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, Whosoever keepeth my word shall not [3] taste death for ever. Art thou haply greater than our father Abraham, who is [4] dead, and than the prophets, which are dead? whom makest thou thyself?
Tertullian † AD 220 Against Praxeas 22
… “I have not a devil, but I honour my Father;” again, “If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me, of whom ye say, that He is your God: yet ye have not known Him, but I know Him; and if I should say, I know Him not, I shall be a liar like unto you; but I know Him, and keep His saying.”
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 30
IX. Fifthly, let it be alleged that it is said of Him that He receives life,
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 5.8
113. Next, to make clear the faith of the Unity, and the Union of the Trinity, He also said that He would be glorified by the Spirit, as it stands: “He shall receive of Mine, and shall glorify Me.” Therefore the Holy Spirit also glorifies the Son of God. How, then, did He say: “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 55
Ver. 54 . “If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 59
As He saith in that other place, “Of whom ye said that He was your God” (
8:55
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 36
… and thou sayest, Whosoever keepeth my word shall not [3] taste death for ever. Art thou haply greater than our father Abraham, who is [4] dead, and than the prophets, which are dead? whom makest thou thyself? Jesus said unto them, If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing: my Father is he that [5] glorifieth me; of whom ye say, that he is our God;
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 55
Ver. 55 . “Yet ye have not known Him.” Because He desired to show that they not only knew not His Father, but that they knew not God.
John Cassian † AD 435 The Twelve Books on the Institutes of the Cœnobia, and the Remedies for the Eight Principal Faults 12.8
… but I know Him, and keep His commandments.”
8:56
St Ignatius of Antioch † AD 108 Epistle to the Magnesians: Shorter and Longer Versions 9
If, then, those who were conversant with the ancient Scriptures came to newness of hope, expecting the coming of Christ, as the Lord teaches us when He says, “If ye had believed Moses, ye would have believed Me, for he wrote of Me;” and again, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it, and was glad; for before Abraham was, I am;”
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 36
… whom makest thou thyself? Jesus said unto them, If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing: my Father is he that [5] glorifieth me; of whom ye say, that he is our God; and yet ye have not known him: but I know him; and if I should say that I know him not, I should become [6] [Arabic, p. 137] a liar like you: but I know him, and keep his word.
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 2.22.4
… Then, at last, He came on to death itself, that He might be “the first-born from the dead, that in all things He might have the pre-eminence,” the Prince of life, existing before all, and going before all.
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 2.22.6
6. But, besides this, those very Jews who then disputed with the Lord Jesus Christ have most clearly indicated the same thing. For when the Lord said to them, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day; and he saw it, and was glad,” they answered Him, “Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast Thou seen Abraham?”
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.5.3
3. And teaching this very thing, He said to the Jews: “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he should see my day; and he saw it, and was glad.”
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.5.5
5. Since, therefore, Abraham was a prophet and saw in the Spirit the day of the Lord’s coming, and the dispensation of His suffering, through whom both he himself and all who, following the example of his faith, trust in God, should be saved, he rejoiced exceedingly. The Lord, therefore, was not unknown to Abraham, whose day he desired to see;
Tertullian † AD 220 Against Praxeas 22
… it is my Father that honoureth me, of whom ye say, that He is your God: yet ye have not known Him, but I know Him; and if I should say, I know Him not, I shall be a liar like unto you; but I know Him, and keep His saying.” But when He goes on to say, “ Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad,”
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 2.28
… As he who in these times does not know the Son has not the Father either, so also we are to understand it was in these earlier times. Hence “Abraham rejoiced to see the day of Christ, and he saw it and was glad.”
Eusebius of Caesarea † AD 339 The Church History of Eusebius 3.23.3
3. The former in the second book of his work Against Heresies, writes as follows: “And all the elders that associated with John the disciple of the Lord in Asia bear witness that John delivered it to them. For he remained among them until the time of Trajan.”
St Hilary of Poitiers † AD 367 De Trinitate or On the Trinity 4.27
… The change is one of name only; Abraham’s acknowledgment in each case is the same. It was a Man whom he saw, yet Abraham worshipped Him as Lord; he beheld, no doubt, in a mystery the coming Incarnation. Faith so strong has not missed its recognition; the Lord says in the Gospel, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day; and he saw it, and was glad
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Life of Antony. (Vita Antoni.) 16
… For joy and a settled state of soul show the holiness of him who is present. Thus Abraham beholding the Lord rejoiced
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 6
8. For thus the patriarch Abraham rejoiced not to see his own day, but that of the Lord; and thus looking forward ‘he saw it, and was glad
St Ephrem the Syrian † AD 373 Ephraim Syrus: Nineteen Hymns on the Nativity of Christ in the Flesh 1
… Noah longed for Him, by trial knowing Him, for through Him had the ark been established. For if the type of Him thus saved life, assuredly much more would He in person. Abraham perceived in Spirit that the Son’s Birth was far off; instead of Him in person he rejoiced to see even His day.
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 11.20
… The fountain of the river of righteousness, even of the Only-begotten, is the Father, who begat Him as Himself only knoweth. And wouldest thou know that our Lord Jesus Christ is King Eternal? Hear Him again saying, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it, and was glad
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Holy Spirit 1.pref.4
… For that bullock was, in a type, Christ, in Whom, as Esaias said, dwelt the fulness of the seven gifts of the Spirit. This bullock Abraham also offered when he saw the day of the Lord and was glad.
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 2.8
… For the Father did not appear to Abraham, nor did Abraham wash the feet of God the Father, but the feet of Him in Whom is the image of the man that shall be. Moreover, the Son of God saith, “Abraham saw My day, and rejoiced.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Against Marcionists and Manichæans 3
… Therefore also were prophets sent beforehand, and patriarchs foretold the events, and by means of words and deeds the cross was prefigured. For the sacrifice of Isaac also signified the cross to us: wherefore also Christ said “Abraham your father rejoiced to see my glory and he saw it and was glad.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 1
… And if He gave it not from the beginning because of those that were unwilling to receive it, still, they that were willing did hear it. “Your father Abraham,” He says, “rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it, and was glad.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on First Corinthians 8
… (St. Luke xviii. 13, 14 .) Yea, God saith by the prophet, “Because of sin for some little season I grieved him, ( Is. lvii. 17, 18 . Sept.) and I saw that ( εἶδον δτι not in Sept.) he was grieved and went sorrowful, and I healed his ways” ( ἰασάμην αὐτὸν , Sept.) What is there equal to this loving-kindness? On condition ( ἳνα στυγνάση . See St.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Ephesians 10
Now what is this one body? The faithful throughout the whole world, both which are, and which have been, and which shall be. And again, they that before Christ’s coming pleased God, are “one body.” How so? Because they also knew Christ. Whence does this appear? “Your father Abraham,” saith He, “rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it, and was glad.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 8
… For the friends and favorites of God all knew Him, even before His coming in the flesh. Concerning the Patriarch Christ Himself speaks by name, “that your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it, and was glad.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 21
… For hear what the Prophet says to the Jews, “Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept (sheep)” ( Hos. xii. 12 ); and again Christ, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it, and was glad.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 55
Ver. 56 . “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it, and was glad.”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 53.4
… He also who was hidden in a mystery is the same that was foreordained before the world. Now it was in the Law and in the Prophets that he was foreordained and prefigured. For this reason too the prophets were called seers, because they saw Him whom others did not see. Abraham saw His day and was glad.
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 108.11
… “I have trodden the wine press alone; and of the people there was none with me.” Shortly afterwards she entered the home of Sarah and beheld the birthplace of Isaac and the traces of Abraham’s oak under which he saw Christ’s day and was glad.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Grace of Christ, and on Original Sin 2.32
For it must not be supposed that those saints of old only profited by Christ’s divinity, which was ever existent, and not also by the revelation of His humanity, which had not yet come to pass. What the Lord Jesus says, “Abraham desired to see my day, and he saw it, and was glad,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 4.10
… and the day of man I have not desired, Thou knowest:” that is to say, to soar to the light of the Word, and to desire that day which Abraham desired to see, and which he did see, and was glad.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 105.9
… for He thus answered the Jews, “Before Abraham was, I am.” But how could they not know Him, or not believe in Him; since they are called prophets for this very reason, because, though somewhat darkly, they announced the Lord beforehand? Whence He saith Himself openly, “Your father Abraham desired to see My day, and he saw it, and was glad.”
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Dialogues. The “Eranistes” or “Polymorphus” of the Blessed Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrus 3
Orth. —You ought by all means to follow teachers of the Church, but, since you improperly oppose yourself to these, hear the Saviour Himself when addressing the Jews; “Your Father Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was glad.”
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Sermons 23
… For the Incarnation of the Word did but contribute to the doing of that which was done
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Sermons 33
… and peoples which were ignorant of thee, shall run together unto thee .” This day “Abraham saw and was glad
8:57
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 36
… my Father is he that [5] glorifieth me; of whom ye say, that he is our God; and yet ye have not known him: but I know him; and if I should say that I know him not, I should become [6] [Arabic, p. 137] a liar like you: but I know him, and keep his word. Abraham your father [7] longed to see my day; and he saw, and rejoiced.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 55
Ver. 57 . “Thou art not yet forty years old, and hast Thou seen Abraham?”
8:58
St Ignatius of Antioch † AD 108 Epistle to the Tarsians 6
… for “all things were made by Him.” “When He made the heaven, I was present with Him; and I was there with Him, forming [the world along with Him], and He rejoiced in me daily.” And how could a mere man be addressed in such words as these: “Sit Thou at My right hand?” And how, again, could such an one declare: “Before Abraham was, I am?”
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 36
… and yet ye have not known him: but I know him; and if I should say that I know him not, I should become [6] [Arabic, p. 137] a liar like you: but I know him, and keep his word. Abraham your father [7] longed to see my day; and he saw, and rejoiced. The Jews said unto him, [8] Thou art now not fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.13.4
… to be the Word of God, whom Abraham also followed voluntarily and under no compulsion ( sine vinculis ), because of the noble nature of his faith, and so became “the friend of God.” But the Word of God did not accept of the friendship of Abraham, as though He stood in need of it, for He was perfect from the beginning (“Before Abraham was,” He says, “I am”
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenaeus, LII 1
… and as He thirsted, so did He of old cause the Jews to drink, for the “Rock was Christ” Himself: thus does Jesus now give to His believing people power to drink spiritual waters, which spring up to life eternal. And as He was the son of David, so was He also the Lord of David. And as He was from Abraham, so did He also exist before Abraham.
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 8.12
… and our argument against the worship of other gods still continues valid. And we do not “reverence beyond measure one who has but lately appeared,” as though He did not exist before; for we believe Himself when He says, “Before Abraham was, I am.”
Novatian † AD 258 A Treatise of Novatian Concerning the Trinity 15
… certainly He is not man only who gives immortality, which if He were only man He could not give; but by giving divinity by immortality, He proves Himself to be God by offering divinity, which if He were not God He could not give. If Christ was only man, how did He say, “Before Abraham was, I Am?”
St Gregory Thaumaturgus † AD 270 Twelve Topics on the Faith 5
How could it be said that the Son of God who is before the ages, and He who has appeared in these last times, are different, when the Lord Himself says, “Before Abraham was, I am;”
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Defence of His Flight. (Apologia de Fuga.) 12
… Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; but went thence into the country near to the wilderness .’ Again, when our Saviour said, ‘Before Abraham was, I am,’ ‘the Jews took up stones to cast at Him; but Jesus hid Himself, and went out of the temple
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 1.4
… when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, was I brought forth .’ And, ‘Before Abraham was, I am
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 2.20
53. ‘He created’ then and ‘He formed’ and ‘He set,’ having the same meaning, do not denote the beginning of His being, or of His essence as created, but His beneficent renovation which came to pass for us. Accordingly, though He thus speaks, yet He taught also that He Himself existed before this, when He said, ‘Before Abraham came to be, I am
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 4.15
… And they will be compelled to say that through the Man Himself the world came into being, and that the Man was He who came not to judge the world but to save it; and that He it was who was in being before Abraham came to be. For, says Scripture, Jesus said to them, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Synodal Letter to the People of Antioch. (Tomus ad Antiochenos.) 1
… nor was the salvation effected in the Word Himself a salvation of body only, but of soul also. And being Son of God in truth, He became also Son of Man, and being God’s Only-begotten Son, He became also at the same time ‘firstborn among many brethren .’ Wherefore neither was there one Son of God before Abraham, another after Abraham
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 11.20
… And wouldest thou know that our Lord Jesus Christ is King Eternal? Hear Him again saying, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it, and was glad . And then, when the Jews received this hardly, He says what to them was still harder, Before Abraham was, I am
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 3.9
… Again, immediately before the declaration, “The Lord created Me,” He says, “I will tell of the things which are from eternity,” and before saying, “He begat,” He premised, “In the beginning, before He made the earth, before all hills.” In its extent, the preposition “before” reaches back into the past without end or limit, and so “Before Abraham was, I am,”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 16
… His being encompassed with flesh; the Jews’ inability to hear all at once; His teaching us to utter no high word of ourselves. For this cause many times, having in His own person said much that is lowly of Himself, the great things He leaves to be said by others. Thus He Himself indeed, reasoning with the Jews, said, “Before Abraham was, I Am :”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 49
… while for speaking lofty words one could only find one reason, the greatness of His Nature. And if when He said, “Before Abraham was, I am” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 55
Ver. 58, 59 . “Jesus saith unto them, Before Abraham was, I Am. Then took they up stones to cast at Him.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 71.2
… For He said truth, “Before Abraham was, I am.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 3
… Not was made before I was made, but was preferred before me, this is “He was made before me.” Wherefore was He made before thee, when He came after thee? “Because He was before me.” Before thee, O John! what great thing to be before thee! It is well that thou dost bear witness to Him; let us, however, hear Himself saying, “Even before Abraham, I am.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 42.4
… But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.” See, he was praised, they were condemned. Abraham was no manslayer. I say not, He implies, I am Abraham’s Lord; though did I say it, I would say the truth. For He said in another place, “Before Abraham was, I am” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John 2.5
… Assuredly of greater age than His mother, for “all things were made by Him.” If all things, then did the Ancient make the very mother of whom the New should be born. Was He, think we, before His mother only? Yea, and before His mother’s ancestors is His antiquity. The ancestor of His mother was Abraham; and the Lord saith, “Before Abraham I am.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 76.1
… For He is, as the Scripture saith, and as ye have but now heard, out of the seed of David born of Mary. But as regardeth the Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, wherein He is equal with the Father, He is not only before the Jews, but also before Abraham himself;
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 93.5
… What is His temple? Is it surrounded with walls? Far from it. Perhaps this world is His temple, because it is very great, and a thing worthy to contain God. It contains not Him by whom it was made. And wherein is He contained? In the quiet soul, in the righteous soul: that is it that containeth Him.…He who said, “Before Abraham was, I am:”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 105.9
… and certainly, what is manifestly said of him, should be understood of them also. Are they styled “christs,” because, even though secretly, yet they were already Christians? For although the flesh of Christ came from them, nevertheless Christ came before them; for He thus answered the Jews, “Before Abraham was, I am.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Seven Books of John Cassian on the Incarnation of the Lord, Against Nestorius 5.8
… and He came from Him, from whom He said that He was sent. Whence it comes that when the Jews said to Him, “Thou art not yet fifty years old and hast Thou seen Abraham?” He replied in words that exactly suit His eternity and glory, saying, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham came into being, I am.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Seven Books of John Cassian on the Incarnation of the Lord, Against Nestorius 6.8
… But when the Apostle says, “made of a woman,” he rightly enough uses “made” for “born,” after the manner of Holy Scripture in which “made” stands for “born:” as in this passage: “Instead of thy fathers there are made to thee sons:” or this: “Before Abraham was made, I am;”
Socrates Scholasticus † AD 440 The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus 3.8
… destroy him, Jesus knowing their wickedness withdrew himself thence.’ Moreover, when he had raised Lazarus from the dead, and they had become still more intent on destroying him, [we are told that] ‘Jesus walked no more openly among the Jews, but retired into a region on the borders of the desert.’ Again when the Saviour said, ‘Before Abraham was, I am;’
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Dialogues. The “Eranistes” or “Polymorphus” of the Blessed Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrus 2
… at another He rebukes her as her Lord. At one time He finds no fault with them that style Him Son of David; at another He teaches the ignorant that He is not only David’s Son but also David’s Lord. He calls Nazareth and Capernaum His country, and again He exclaims “Before Abraham was I am.”
8:59
Tatian † AD 180 The Diatessaron 36
… 137] a liar like you: but I know him, and keep his word. Abraham your father [7] longed to see my day; and he saw, and rejoiced. The Jews said unto him, [8] Thou art now not fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto [9] them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenaeus, LII 1
… And as He was spit upon ignominiously, so also did He breathe the Holy Spirit into His disciples. And as He was saddened, so also did He give joy to His people. And as He was capable of being handled and touched, so again did He, in a non-apprehensible form, pass through the midst of those who sought to injure Him,
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 38
… Be purified; be circumcised; strip off the veil which has covered thee from thy birth. After this teach in the Temple, and drive out the sacrilegious traders. Submit to be stoned if need be, for well I wot thou shalt be hidden from those who cast the stones; thou shalt escape even through the midst of them, like God.
Socrates Scholasticus † AD 440 The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus 3.8
… for what the Lord then commanded, he had before his coming in the flesh already spoken of by his servants. And this is a universal rule for man, leading to perfection, ‘to practice whatever God has enjoined.’ On this account the Word himself, becoming incarnate for our sake, deigned to conceal himself when he was sought for;
8:1
Alcuin † AD 804
Our Lord at the time of His passion used to spend the day in Jerusalem, preaching in the temple, and performing miracles, and return in the evening to Bethany, where He lodged with the sisters of Lazarus. Thus on the last day of the feast, having, according to His wont, preached the whole day in the temple, in the evening He went to the mount of Olives.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tract. xxxiii. 3
And where ought Christ to teach, except on the mount of Olives; on the mount of ointment, on the mount of chrism. For the name Christ is from chrism, chrism being the Greek word for unction. He has anointed us, for wrestling with the devil.
Alcuin † AD 804
The anointing with oil is a relief to the limbs, when wearied and in pain. The mount of Olives also denotes the height of our Lord’s pity, olive in the Greek signifying pity. The qualities of oil are such as to fit in to this mystical meaning. For it floats above all other liquids: and the Psalmist says, Thy mercy is over all Thy works. And early in the morning, He came again into the temple: (Ps. 144) i. e. to denote the giving and unfolding of His mercy, i. e. the now dawning light of the New Testament in the faithful, that is, in His temple. His returning early in the morning, signifies the new rise of grace.
St Bede † AD 735
And next it is signified, that after He began to dwell by grace in His temple, i. e. in the Church, men from all nations would believe in Him: And all the people came to Him, and He sat down and taught them.
Alcuin † AD 804
The sitting down, represents the humility of His incarnation. And the people came to Him, when He sat down, i. e. after taking up human nature, and thereby becoming visible, many began to hear and believe on Him, only knowing Him as their friend and neighbour. But while these kind and simple persons are full of admiration at our Lord’s discourse, the Scribes and Pharisees put questions to Him, not for the sake of instruction, but only to entangle the truth in their nets: And the Scribes and Pharisees brought unto Him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, they say unto Him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tract. xxxiii. s. 4
They had remarked upon Him already, as being over lenient. Of Him indeed it had been prophesied, Ride on because of the word of truth, of meekness, and of righteousness. (Ps. 44) So as a teacher He exhibited truth, as a deliverer meekness, as a judge righteousness. When He spoke, His truth was acknowledged; when against His enemies He used no violence, His meekness was praised. So they raised the scandal on the score of justice. For they said among themselves, If He decide to let her go, He will not do justice; for the law cannot command what is unjust: Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but to maintain His meekness, which has made Him already so acceptable to the people, He must decide to let her go. Wherefore they demand His opinion: And what sayest Thou? hoping to find an occasion to accuse Him, as a transgressor of the law: And this they said tempting Him, that they might have to accuse Him. But our Lord in His answer both maintained His justice, and departed not from meekness. Jesus stooped down, and with His finger wrote on the ground.
St Augustine † AD 430 de Con. Evang. lib. ii. c. 10
As if to signify that such persons were to be written in earth, not in heaven, where He told His disciples they should rejoice they were written. Or His bowing His head (to write on the ground), is an expression of humility; the writing on the ground signifying that His law was written on the earth which bore fruit, not on the barren stone, as before.
Alcuin † AD 804
The ground denotes the human heart, which yieldeth the fruit either of good or of bad actions: the finger jointed and flexible, discretion. He instructs us then, when we see any faults in our neighbours, not immediately and rashly to condemn them, but after searching our own hearts to begin with, to examine them attentively with the finger of discretion.
St Bede † AD 735
His writing with His finger on the ground perhaps shewed, that it was He who had written the law on stone. So when they continued asking Him, He lifted Himself up.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tract. xxxiii. 5
He did not say, Stone her not, lest He should seem to speak contrary to the law. But God forbid that He should say, Stone her; for He came not to destroy that which He found, but to seek that which was lost. What then did He answer? He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. This is the voice of justice. Let the sinner be punished, but not by sinners; the law carried into effect, but not by transgressors of the law.
St Gregory the Great † AD 604
For he who judges not himself first, cannot know how to judge correctly in the case of another. For though He know what the offence is, from being told, yet He cannot judge of another’s deserts, who supposing himself innocent, will not apply the rule of justice to himself.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tract. xxxiii. 5
Having with the weapon of justice smitten them, He deigned not even to look on the fallen, but averted His eyes: And again He stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
Alcuin † AD 804
This is like our Lord; while His eyes are fixed, and He seems attending to something else, He gives the bystanders an opportunity of retiring: a tacit admonition to us to consider always both before we condemn a brother for a sin, and after we have punished him, whether we are not guilty ourselves of the same fault, or others as bad.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tract. xxxiii. s. 5
Thus smitten then with the voice of justice, as with a weapon, they examine themselves, find themselves guilty, and one by one retire: And they which heard it, went out one by one, beginning at the eldesta.
The Gloss
The more guilty of them, perhaps, or those who were more conscious of their faults.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tract. xxxiii. 5, 6
There were left however two, the pitiable1 and the pitiful, And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst: the woman, you may suppose, in great alarm, expecting punishment from one in whom no sin could be found. But He who had repelled her adversaries with the word of justice, lifted on her the eyes of mercy, and asked; When Jesus had lifted Himself up, and saw none but the woman, He said unto her, Woman, where are these thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. We heard above the voice of justice; let us hear now that of mercy: Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee; I, who thou fearedst would condemn thee, because thou foundest no fault in me. What then, Lord? Dost Thou favour sin? No, surely. Listen to what follows, Go, and sin no more. So then our Lord condemned sin, but not the sinner. For did He favour sin, He would have said, Go, and live as thou wilt: depend on my deliverance: howsoever great thy sins be, it matters not: I will deliver thee from hell, and its tormentors. But He did not say this. Let those attend, who love the Lord’s mercy, and fear His truth. Truly, Gracious and righteous is the Lord. (Ps. 35:7)
The Latin text
Alcuinus
Dominus maxime circa suam passionem, hanc sibi effecerat consuetudinem, ut in die quidem in templo, quod erat Hierosolymis, verbum Dei praedicaret, signa et miracula ostenderet; sero autem revertebatur in Bethaniam, ubi apud sorores Lazari hospitabatur; et mane iterum ad simile opus revertebatur. Igitur secundum hunc morem, cum in ultimo die Scenopegiae tota die in templo praedicasset, vespere perrexit in montem oliveti; et hoc est quod dicitur Iesus autem perrexit in montem oliveti
Augustinus in Ioannem
Ubi enim decebat docere Christum nisi in monte oliveti, in monte unguenti, in monte chrismatis? Christi enim nomen a chrismate dictum est. Chrisma autem Graece, Latine unctio nominatur. Ideo autem nos unxit, quia luctatores contra Diabolum fecit
Alcuinus
Unctio enim olei fessis et dolentibus membris solet afferre levamen. Mons etiam olivarum sublimitatem dominicae pietatis designat: quia oleos Graece, Latine misericordia. Natura quoque olei mysterio aptissime congruit: superfertur enim omnibus liquoribus; et sicut ait Psalmista: miserationes eius super omnia opera eius. Sequitur et diluculo iterum venit in templum, ut scilicet misericordiam cum incipiente novi testamenti lumine fidelibus, in templo videlicet suo, pandendam praebendamque signaret. Quod enim diluculo redibat, exortum novae gratiae designat
Beda
Significatur autem quod postquam per gratiam coepit inhabitare in templo suo, idest in Ecclesia, ex omnibus gentibus crediderunt in eum; unde sequitur et omnis populus veniebat ad eum: et sedens docebat eos
Alcuinus
Sessio humilitatem incarnationis insinuat. Sedente ergo domino, ad eum venit populus: quia postquam per susceptam humanitatem visibilis apparuit, coeperunt eum multi audire, et in eum credere, quem per humanitatem sibi proximum meminerant. Mansuetis autem et simplicibus sermonem domini admirantibus, Scribae et Pharisaei interrogant, non ut discant, sed ut veritati laqueos nectant; unde sequitur adducunt autem Scribae et Pharisaei mulierem in adulterio deprehensam; et statuerunt eam in medio, et dixerunt ei: magister, haec mulier deprehensa est modo in adulterio
Augustinus
Animadverterant enim eum nimium esse mitem: de illo quippe fuerat ante praedictum: procede et regna, propter veritatem et mansuetudinem et iustitiam. Ergo attulit veritatem ut doctor, mansuetudinem ut liberator, iustitiam ut cognitor. Cum loqueretur, veritas agnoscebatur; cum adversus inimicos non moveretur, mansuetudo laudabatur; in tertio ergo, iustitia scilicet, scandalum posuerunt: dixerunt enim apud seipsos: si eam dimitti censuerit, iustitiam non tenebit: lex enim quod iniustum erat, iubere non poterat; et ideo legem inducunt, dicentes in lege autem Moyses mandavit nobis huiusmodi lapidare. Ut autem mansuetudinem non perdat, in qua iam populis amabilis factus est, eam dimitti debere dicturus est. Unde eius sententiam requirunt dicentes tu ergo quid dicis? Hinc nos inveniemus ad accusandum occasionem, et reum faciemus tamquam legis praevaricatorem; unde Evangelista subdit haec autem dicebant tentantes eum, ut possent accusare. Sed dominus in respondendo et iustitiam servaturus est, et a mansuetudine non recessurus; sequitur enim Iesus autem inclinans se deorsum, digito scribebat in terra
Augustinus de Cons. Evang
Tamquam illos tales in terra scribendos significaret, non in caelo, ubi monuit discipulos ut se scriptos esse gauderent; aut quod se humiliando, quod capitis inclinatione monstrabat, signa in terra faceret; aut quod iam tempus esset ut in terra quae fructum daret, non in lapide sterili, sicut antea, lex eius conscriberetur
Alcuinus
Per terram enim cor humanum ostenditur, quod bonarum vel malarum actionum solet reddere fructus; per digitum autem, qui articulorum compositione flexibilis est, sublimitas discretionis exprimitur. Nos ergo instruit, ut cum qualibet mala proximorum conspicimus, non statim ea temere damnemus; sed prius ad conscientiam cordis humiliter reversi, digito discretionis ea sollicite disquiramus
Beda
Quantum etiam ad historiam pertinet, per hoc quod digito scripsit in terra, illum se fore monstravit qui quondam legem in lapide scripsit. Sequitur cum autem perseverarent interrogantes eum, erexit se
Augustinus in Ioannem
Non dixit: non lapidetur, ne contra legem dicere videretur. Absit autem ut diceret: lapidetur; venit enim non perdere quod invenerat, sed quaerere quod perierat. Quid ergo respondit? Qui sine peccato est vestrum, primus in illam lapidem mittat. Haec vox iustitiae est. Puniatur peccatrix, sed non a peccatoribus; impleatur lex, sed non a praevaricatoribus legis
Gregorius Moralium
Qui enim prius semetipsum non iudicat, quid in alio rectum iudicet ignorat. Et si novit etiam per auditum recte tamen aliena merita iudicare non valet, cui conscientia innocentiae propriae nullam iudicii regulam praebet
Augustinus
Cum ergo eos telo iustitiae percussisset, nec dignatus est cadentes attendere; sed avertit ab eis obtutum; unde sequitur et iterum se inclinans scribebat in terra
Alcuinus
Potest etiam intelligi fecisse hoc dominus iuxta consuetudinem, ut quasi aliquid agens, vultu intendens in aliud, liberam eis exeundi facultatem daret. In hoc etiam figurate admonet, ut et priusquam peccantem fratrem corripiamus, et post adhibitam correctionem, diligenter perpendamus utrum ipsis peccatis, de quibus alium castigamus, aut aliis obnoxii simus
Augustinus
Sic igitur illi voce iustitiae tamquam telo percussi sese inspicientes, et reos invenientes, unus post unum omnes recesserunt; et hoc est quod subditur audientes autem haec, unus post alium exibant, incipientes a senioribus
Glossa
Qui forte magis rei erant, vel magis culpas suas cognoscebant
Augustinus
Relicti sunt autem duo: miseria, et misericordia; nam sequitur et remansit solus Iesus, et mulier in medio stans. Credo, territa illa mulier, ab illo se puniendam sperabat in quo peccatum inveniri non poterat. Ille autem, qui adversarios eius repulerat lingua iustitiae, levans in illam oculos mansuetudinis, interrogavit eam; unde sequitur erigens se autem Iesus, dixit ei: mulier, ubi sunt qui te accusabant? Nemo te condemnavit? Quae dixit: nemo, domine. Audivimus supra vocem iustitiae: audiamus nunc mansuetudinis; nam sequitur dixit ei Iesus: nec ego te condemno, a quo te forte condemnari timuisti, quia in me peccatum non invenisti. Quid est, domine? Faves ergo peccatis? Non plane; attende quod sequitur: vade, et amplius noli peccare. Ergo et dominus damnavit, sed peccatum, non hominem: nam si peccatorum auctor esset, diceret: vade, et vive ut vis; de mea liberatione esto secura: ego te quantumcumque peccaveris, etiam a Gehenna et Inferni tortoribus liberabo. Non hoc dixit. Intendant ergo qui amant in domino mansuetudinem, et timeant veritatem: etenim dulcis et rectus dominus
8:12
Alcuin † AD 804
Having absolved the woman from her sin, lest some should doubt, seeing that He was really man, His power to forgive sins, He deigns to give further disclosure of His divine nature; Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the Light of the world.
St Bede † AD 735
Where it is to be observed, He does not say, I am the light of Angels, or of heaven, but the Light of the world, i. e. of mankind who live in darkness, as we read, To give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death. (Luke 1:79)
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. lii. 2
As they had brought Galilee as an objection against Him, and doubted His being one of the Prophets, as if that was all He claimed to be, He wished to shew that He was not one of the Prophets, but the Lord of the whole earth: Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the Light of the world: not of Galilee, or of Palestine, or of Judæa.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tract. xxxiv. 2
The Manichæans suppose the sun of the natural world to be our Lord Christ; but the Catholic Church reprobates such a notion; for our Lord Christ was not made the sun, but the sun was made by Him: inasmuch as all things were made by Him. (c. 1:3) And for our sake did He come to be under the sun, being the light which made the sun: He hid Himself under the cloud of the flesh, not to obscure, but to temper His light. Speaking then through the cloud of the flesh, the Light unfailing, the Light of wisdom says to men, I am the Light of the world.
Theophylact † 1107
You may bring these words against Nestorius: for our Lord does not say, In Me is the light of the world, but, I am the Light of the world: He who appeared man, was both the Son of God, and the Light of the world; not, as Nestorius fondly holds, the Son of God dwelling in a mere man.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tract. xxxiv. s. 5
He withdraws you however from the eyes of the flesh, to those of the heart, in that He adds, He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. He thinks it not enough to say, shall have light, but adds, of life. These words of our Lord agree with those of the Psalm, In Thy light shall we see light; for with Thee is the well of life. (Ps. 35) For bodily uses, light is one thing, and a well another; and a well ministers to the mouth, light to the eyes. With God the light and the well are the same. He who shines upon thee, that thou mayest see Him, the Same flows unto thee, that thou mayest drink Him. What He promises is put in the future tense; what we ought to do in the present. He that followeth Me, He says, shall have; i. e. by faith now, in sight hereafter. The visible sun accompanieth thee, only if thou goest westward, whither it goeth also; and even if thou follow it, it will forsake thee, at its setting. Thy God is every where wholly; He will not fall from thee, if thou fall not from Him. Darkness is to be feared, not that of the eyes, but that of the mind; and if of the eyes, of the inner not the outer eyes; not those by which white and black, but those by which just and unjust, are discerned.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. lii. 2
Walketh not in darkness, i. e. spiritually abideth not in error. Here He tacitly praises Nicodemus and the officers, and censures those who had plotted against Him; as being in darkness and error, and unable to come to the light.
The Latin text
Alcuinus
Quia mulierem absolvit a crimine, ne aliqui dubitarent an ille quem videbant verum hominem, posset peccata dimittere, dignatur ipse apertius suae divinitatis potentiam demonstrare; unde dicitur iterum ergo locutus est eis dicens: ego sum lux mundi
Beda
Ubi advertendum est, quia non ait ego sum lux Angelorum vel caeli, sed lux mundi, idest hominum in tenebris commorantium: secundum illud: illuminare his qui in tenebris et in umbra mortis sedent
Chrysostomus in Ioannem
Vel aliter. Quia superius Galilaeam ei afferebant, et quasi de quodam prophetarum, de eo dubitabant, voluit ostendere quoniam non unus prophetarum est, sed dominator orbis terrarum; unde dicitur iterum locutus est eis Iesus, dicens: ego sum lux mundi, non Galilaeae, neque Palaestinae, neque Iudaeae
Augustinus in Ioannem
Manichaei solem istum oculis carnis visibilem Christum dominum esse putaverunt; sed Ecclesia Catholica improbat tale commentum: non est enim dominus Christus sol factus, sed per quem sol factus est: omnia enim per ipsum facta sunt, et propter nos sub sole factum est lumen quod fecit solem: carnis nube tegitur, non ut obscuretur, sed ut temperetur. Loquens ergo per nubem carnis lumen indeficiens, lumen sapientiae ait hominibus ego sum lux mundi
Theophylactus
Uteris autem adversus Nestorium hoc praesenti sermone: non enim ait quoniam in me est lux mundi, sed ego sum lux mundi; ipse namque qui homo videbatur, idem et filius Dei et lux mundi erat; non, sicut nugabatur Nestorius, in simplici homine Dei filius habitabat
Augustinus
Abstulit autem te ab oculis carnis, et revocavit ad oculos cordis in hoc quod subdit qui sequitur me, non ambulat in tenebris, sed habebit lumen vitae. Non enim sufficit dicere habebit lumen, sed addidit vitae. Haec verba domini cum verbis Psalmi concordant: in lumine tuo videbimus lumen, quoniam apud te est fons vitae. In istis usibus corporalibus aliud est lumen, et aliud fons: fontem fauces quaerunt, lumen oculi. Apud Deum, quod lumen est, hoc est fons. Qui tibi lucet ut videas, ipse tibi manat ut bibas. Quod promisit, futuri temporis verbo posuit; in eo quod facere debemus, praesens tempus posuit. Qui sequitur, inquit, habebit modo per fidem, post habebit per speciem. Sequere istum solem visibilem si ipse tendis ad occidentem, quo et ille tendit; et si nolueris tu illum deserere, ipse te deseret in occasu. Deus tuus ubique est totus: si non ab illo facies casum, numquam a te ille faciet occasum. Tenebrae satis metuendae sunt morum, non oculorum: et si oculorum, non exteriorum, sed interiorum, unde discernitur non album et nigrum, sed iustum et iniustum
Chrysostomus
Intellectualiter enim dixit non ambulat in tenebris; idest, non manet in errore. Hinc et Nicodemum laudat et ministros; et ipsos occulte insinuat dolos complicantes, qui in tenebris et errore sunt, sed lucem non superabunt
8:13
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. lii. 2
Our Lord having said, I am the Light of the world; and, he that followeth Me, walketh not in darkness, the Jews wish to overthrow what He has said: The Pharisees therefore said unto Him, Thou bearest record of Thyself, Thy record is not true.
Alcuin † AD 804
As if our Lord Himself were the only (one that bore) witness to Himself; whereas the truth was that He had, before His incarnation, sent many witnesses to prophesy of His Sacraments.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. lii. 2
Our Lord however overthrew their argument: Jesus answered and said, Though I bear record of Myself, yet My record is true. This is an accommodation to those who thought Him no more than a mere man. He adds the reason, For I know whence I come, and whither I go; i. e. I am God, from God, and the Son of God: though this He does not say expressly, from His habit of mingling lofty and lowly words together. Now God is surely a competent witness to Himself.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tract. xxxv. 6
The witness of light is true, whether the light shew itself, or other things. The Prophet spake the truth, but whence had he it, but by drawing from the fount of truth? Jesus then is a competent witness to Himself. (s. 5). For I know whence I come, and whither I go: this has reference to the Father; for the Son gave glory to the Father who sent Him. How greatly then should man glorify the Creator, who made Him. He did not separate from His Father, however, when He came, or desert us when He returned: unlike that sun which in going to the west, leaves the east. And as that sun throws its light on the faces both of him who sees, and him who sees not; only the one sees with the light, the other sees not: so the Wisdom of God, the Word, is every where present, even to the minds of unbelievers; but they have not the eyes of the understanding, wherewith to see. To distinguish then between believers and enemies among the Jews, as between light and darkness, He adds, But ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go. (Tract. xxxvi. 3). These Jews saw the man, and did not believe in the God, and therefore our Lord says, Ye judge after the flesh, i. e. in saying, Thou bearest record of Thyself, Thy record is not true.
Theophylact † 1107
As if to say: Ye judge untruly, according to the flesh, thinking, because I am in the flesh, that I am flesh only, and not God.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tract. xxxvi. 3. in Joan.
Understanding Me not as God, and seeing Me as man, ye think Me arrogant in bearing witness of Myself. For any man who bears high testimony to himself, is thought proud and arrogant. But men are frail, and may either speak the truth, or lie: the Light cannot lie.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. l. 2
As to live according to the flesh is to live amiss; so to judge according to the flesh, is to judge unjustly. They might say, however, If we judge wrongly, why dost Thou not convict us, why dost Thou not condemn us? So He adds, I judge no man.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tract. xxxvi. s. 4
Which may be understood in two ways; I judge no man, i. e. not now: as He says elsewhere, God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved: not that He abandons, but only defers, His justice. Or having said, Ye judge according to the flesh, He says immediately, I judge no man, to let you know that Christ does not judge according to the flesh, as men judged Him. For that Christ is a judge appears from the next words, And yet if I judge, My judgment is true.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. lii. 2
As if to say: In saying, I judge no man, I meant that I did not anticipate judgment. If I judged justly, I should condemn you, but now is not the time for judging. He alludes however to the future judgment, in what follows; For I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent Me; which means that He will not condemn them alone, but He and the Father together. This is intended too to quiet suspicion, as men did not think the Son worthy to be believed, unless He had the testimony of the Father also.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tract. xxxvi. 7
But if the Father is with Thee, how did He send Thee? O Lord, Thy mission is Thy incarnation. Christ was here according to the flesh without withdrawing from the Father, because the Father and the Son are every where. Blush, thou Sabellian; our Lord doth not say, I am the Father, and I the self-same person am the Son; but, I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. Make a distinction then of persons, and distinction of intelligences: acknowledge that the Father is the Father, the Son the Son: but beware of saying, that the Father is greater, the Son less. Theirs is one substance, one coeternity, perfect equality. Therefore, He says, My judgment is true, because I am the Son of God. But that thou mayest understand how that the Father is with Me, it is not for the Son ever to leave the Father. I have taken up the form of a servant; but I have not lost the form of God. He had spoken of judgment: now He speaks of witness: It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true.
St Augustine † AD 430
Is this made a bad use of by the Manichæans, that our Lord does not say, in the law of God, but, in your law? Who does not recognise here a manner of speaking customary in Scripture? In your law, i. e. the law given to you. The Apostle speaks of his Gospel in the same way, though he testifies to having received it not from men, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tract. xxxvi. 10
There is much difficulty, and a great mystery seems to be contained, in God’s words, In the mouth of two or three witnesses, let every word be established. (Deut. 10) It is possible that two may speak false. The chaste Susannah was arraigned by two false witnesses: the whole people spake against Christ falsely. How then must we understand the word, By the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established: except as an intimation of the mystery of the Trinity, in which is perpetual stability of truth? Receive then our testimony, lest ye feel our judgment. I delay My judgment: I delay not My testimony: I am one that beareth witnes of Myself, and the Father that sent Me beareth witness of Me.
St Bede † AD 735
In many places the Father bears witness of the Son; as, This day have I begotten Thee; (Ps. 2) also, This is My beloved Son. (Matt. 3:17)
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. lii. 3
It is written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true. If this is to be taken literally, in what respect does our Lord differ from men? The rule has been laid down for men, on the ground that one man alone is not to be relied on: but how can this be applicable to God? These words are quoted then with another meaning. When two men bear witness, both to an indifferent matter, their witness is true: this constitutes the testimony of two men. But if one of them bear witness to himself, then they are no longer two witnesses. Thus our Lord means to shew that He is consubstantial with the Father, and does not need another witness, i. e. besides the Father’s. I and the Father that sent Me. Again, on human principles, when a man bears witness, his honesty is supposed; he is not borne witness to; and a man is admitted as a fair and competent witness in an indifferent matter, but not in one relating to himself, unless he is supported by other testimony. But here it is quite otherwise. Our Lord, though giving testimony in His own case, and though saying that He is borne witness to by another, pronounces Himself worthy of belief; thus shewing His all-sufficiency. He says He deserves to be believed.
Alcuin † AD 804
Or it is as if He said, If your law admits the testimony of two men who may be deceived, and testify to more than is true; on what grounds can you reject Mine and My Father’s testimony, the highest and most sure of all?
The Latin text
Chrysostomus in Ioannem
Quia dominus dixerat: ego sum lux mundi, et qui sequitur me, non ambulat in tenebris, Iudaei hoc evertere voluerunt; unde dicitur dixerunt ergo ei Pharisaei: tu de te ipso testimonium perhibes, et testimonium tuum non est verum
Alcuinus
Sic responderunt tamquam ipse dominus solus sibi testimonium perhiberet, cum constet quod antequam in carne appareret, multos testes praemisit, qui eius sacramenta praedixerunt
Chrysostomus
Dominus autem evertit quod dixerant; unde sequitur respondit Iesus, et dixit eis: et si ego testimonium perhibeo de meipso, verum est testimonium meum. Hoc iuxta eorum suspicionem locutus est, hominem eum nudum aestimantium; et causam subiungit: quia scio unde venio et quo vado; idest: ex Deo sum, et Deus, et Dei filius. Non autem hoc dicit manifeste, quia semper humilia miscet altis. Deus autem ipse sibi fide dignus est
Augustinus in Ioannem
Verum est enim testimonium luminis, sive se ostendat, sive alia. Locutus est propheta verum; sed unde haberet, nisi de fonte veritatis hauriret? Ergo idoneus est Iesus qui sibi testimonium perhibeat. Dicens autem quia scio unde venio et quo vado, patrem volebat intelligi: patri enim gloriam dabat filius, a quo est missus. Quantum ergo debet homo glorificare eum a quo est creatus? Non autem veniendo inde discessit, aut redeundo nos dereliquit. Non potest hoc fieri ab isto sole, qui quando pergit ad occidentem, deserit orientem. Sicut autem sol iste et videntis faciem illustrat, et caeci; sed videt ille, ille non videt: sic et sapientia Dei, verbum Dei, ubique praesens est etiam infidelibus; sed quibus eam videant oculos non habent cordis. Ut ergo dominus inter fideles suos, et inimicos suos Iudaeos, tamquam inter tenebras et lucem distingueret, subiungit vos autem nescitis unde venio aut quo vado. Isti ergo Iudaei videbant hominem, nec credebant Deum; et ideo dominus subdit vos secundum carnem iudicatis, dum scilicet dicitis tu de teipso testimonium perhibes, et testimonium tuum non est verum
Theophylactus
Ac si dicat: vos quoniam in carne sum, carnem me solum esse putantes, non autem Deum, secundum carnem fallibiliter iudicatis
Augustinus in Ioannem
Quia enim Deum non intelligitis, et hominem videtis; ideo vobis arrogans videor, quia ego de me testimonium perhibeo. Omnis enim homo quando de se perhibere vult laudabile testimonium, superbus et arrogans videtur: homines enim infirmi sumus, verum dicere et mentiri possumus; lux mentiri non potest
Chrysostomus
Vel aliter. Sicut secundum carnem vivere, male vivere est, ita secundum carnem iudicare, iudicare iniustum est. Et quia possent dicere: si iniuste iudicamus, propter quid non convincis, propter quid non condemnas? Subiungit ego non iudico quemquam
Augustinus
Quod duobus modis intelligi potest: ut aut hoc intelligamus non iudico quemquam, idest modo, sicut dicit alio loco: ego non veni ut iudicem mundum, sed ut salvum faciam mundum, non iudicium suum negando, sed differendo; aut certe quia dixerat vos secundum carnem iudicatis, ita coniunxit ego non iudico quemquam, ut subaudias: secundum carnem Christum non iudicare, sicut ab hominibus iudicatus est; nam ut agnoscas iam iudicem Christum, subditur et si iudico ego, iudicium meum verum est
Chrysostomus
Quasi dicat: propter hoc dixi non iudico, quasi non praesumens iudicare: quia si iudicarem iuste, vos condemnarem; sed nunc tempus iudicii non est; sed de futuro iudicio insinuat, cum subdit quia solus non sum, sed ego, et qui misit me pater: ostendens quia non ipse solus eos condemnabit, sed et pater. Hoc autem ad suspicionem illorum loquitur: non enim aestimabant dignum fide esse filium, nisi patris testimonium assumpsisset
Augustinus
Si autem tecum est pater, quomodo te misit? Ergo, domine, missio tua, incarnatio tua est. Hic ergo Christus erat secundum carnem, et a patre non recesserat: quia pater et filius ubique erant. Erubesce, Sabelliane: non enim dixit: ego sum pater, et ego ipse sum filius; sed solus non sum, inquit, quia mecum est pater. Distingue ergo personas, distingue intelligentiam; agnosce quia pater pater est, et filius filius est; sed noli dicere: pater maior est, filius minor. Una substantia est, una coaeternitas, perfecta aequalitas. Ergo verum est, inquit, iudicium meum, quia filius Dei sum. Ut tamen intelligas quia mecum est pater, non sic sum filius ut ipsum deseruerim: formam servi accepi; sed formam Dei non amisi. De iudicio dixerat; de testimonio vult dicere; nam sequitur et in lege vestra scriptum est, quia duorum hominum testimonium verum est
Augustinus contra Faustum
An forte Manichaei calumniantur, quia non ait: in lege Dei, sed in lege vestra scriptum est? Ubi usitatam locutionem Scripturarum quis non cognoscat? Lege enim vestra dixit vobis data, sicut apostolus dicit Evangelium suum, quod se tamen accepisse testatur, non ab homine, sed per revelationem Iesu Christi
Augustinus in Ioannem
Magnam autem habet quaestionem, et valde videtur in mysterio res esse constituta, ubi Deus dixit: in ore duorum vel trium testium stat omne verbum: fieri enim potest ut duo mentiantur. Susanna casta duobus falsis testibus urgebatur; universus populus mentitus est contra Christum: quomodo ergo accipiendum est in ore duorum vel trium stabit omne verbum, nisi quia hoc modo per mysterium Trinitas commendata est, in qua est perpetua stabilitas veritatis? Accipite ergo nostrum testimonium, ne sentiatis iudicium: differo iudicium, non differo testimonium; unde sequitur ego sum qui testimonium perhibeo de meipso, et testimonium perhibet de me qui misit me, pater
Beda
In multis enim locis pater filio suo perhibet testimonium, ut est illud: ego hodie genui te; item: hic est filius meus dilectus
Chrysostomus
Vel aliter. Si quod dictum est, simpliciter accipiatur, quaestionem habet; nam in hominibus quidem propter hoc determinatum est quod in ore duorum vel trium testium stat omne verbum, quia unus solus non est fide dignus; in Deo autem qualiter utique hoc habebit rationem? Sed et aliter non staret quod dictum est; nam in hominibus cum duo de aliena re testantur, tunc testimonium est verum; hoc enim est duo testari: si vero unus eorum sibi ipsi testetur, non adhuc sunt duo testes. Ad nihil ergo aliud hoc dixit quam ut ostendat se nihil minus patre habentem; alioquin non dixisset ego, et qui misit me, pater. Considera etiam potestatem nihil habentem diminutum a patre: homo enim cum a seipso dignus fuerit fide, testimonio non indiget; sed hoc in aliena re: in propria vero cum testimonio alieno indigeat, non adhuc dignus est fide. Hic vero totum contrarium: etenim in propria re testans, et ab alio testimonium habens, dixit se fide dignum esse
Alcuinus
Vel potest sic intelligi quod dicitur, quasi dicat: si vestra lex approbat testimonium duorum hominum qui possent decipi et plura testari; qua ratione meum et patris mei testimonium, quod summa stabilitate firmum est, verum esse non dicitis?
8:19
St Augustine † AD 430 Tract. xxxvii. 1
Those who had heard our Lord say, Ye judge after the flesh, shewed that they did so; for they understood what He said of His Father in a carnal sense: Then said they unto Him, Where is Thy Father? meaning, We have heard Thee say, I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent Me. We see Thee alone; prove to us then that Thy Father is with Thee.
Theophylact † 1107
Some remark that this is said in contumely and contempt; to insinuate either that He is born of fornication, and knows not who His Father is; or as a slur on the low situation of His father, i. e. Joseph; as if to say, Thy father is an obscure, ignoble person; why dost Thou so often mention him? So because they asked the question, to tempt Him, not to get at the truth, Jesus answered, Ye neither know Me, nor My Father.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tract. xxxvii. 2.
As if He said, Ye ask where is Thy Father? As if ye knew Me already, and I were nothing else but what ye see. But ye know Me not, and therefore I tell you nothing of My Father. Ye think Me indeed a mere man, and therefore among men look for My Father. But, forasmuch as I am different altogether, according to My seen and unseen natures, and speak of My Father in the hidden sense according to My hidden nature; it is plain that ye must first know Me, and then ye will know My Father; If ye had known Me, ye would have known My Father also.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. lii. 3
He tells them, it is of no avail for them to say they know the Father, if they do not know the Son.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xix. l. in Joan. in princ.
Ye neither know Me, nor My Father: this seems inconsistent with what was said above, Ye both know Me, and know whence I am. But the latter is spoken in reply to some from Jerusalem, who asked, Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ? Ye neither know Me is addressed to the Pharisees. To the former persons from Jerusalem however He said, He that sent Me, is true, Whom ye know not. You will ask then, How is that true, If ye know Me, ye would know My Father also? when they of Jerusalem, to whom He said, Ye know Me, did not know the Father. To this we must reply, that our Saviour sometimes speaks of Himself as man, and some-times as God. Ye both know Me, He says as man: ye neither know Me, as God.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tract. xxxvii. 7
What does this mean: If ye knew Me, ye would know My Father also, but, I and My Father are one? It is a common expression, when you see one man very like another, If you have seen him, you have seen the other. You say this, because they are so like. And thus our Lord says, If ye had known Me, ye had known My Father also; not that the Father is the Son, but that the Son is like the Father.
Theophylact † 1107
Let the Arian blush: for if, as he says, the Son be a creature, how does it follow that he who knows the creature, knows God? For not even by knowing the substance of Angels, does one know the Divine Substance? Forasmuch therefore as he who knows the Son, knows the Father, it is certain that the Son is consubstantial with the Father.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tract. xxxviii. s. 3
This word perhapsc is used only by way of rebuke, though it seems to express doubt. As used by men indeed it is the expression of doubt, but He who knew all things could only mean by that doubt to rebuke unbelief. Nay, even we sometimes say perhaps, when they are certain of a thing, e. g. when you are angry with your slave, and say, Do not you heed me? Consider, perhaps I am your master. So our Lord’s doubt is a reproof to the unbelievers, when He says, Ye should have known perhaps My Father also.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xix. l. in Joan. in princ.
It is proper to observe, that the followers of other sects think this text proves clearly, that the God, whom the Jews worshipped, was not the Father of Christ. For if, say they, our Saviour said this to the Pharisees, who worshipped God as the Governor of the world, it is evident that the Father of Jesus, whom the Pharisees knew not, was a different person from the Creator. But they do not observe that this is a usual manner of speaking in Scripture. Though a man may know the existence of God, and have learned from the Father that He only must be worshipped, yet if his life is not good, he is said not to have the knowledge of God. Thus the sons of Eli, on account of their wickedness, are said not to have known God. And thus again the Pharisees did not know the Father; because they did not live according to their Creator’s command. And there is another thing meant too by knowing God, different from merely believing in Him. It is said, Be still then, and know that I am God. (Ps. 45:10) And this, it is certain, was written for a people that believed in the Creator. But to know by believing, and believe simply, are different things. To the Pharisees, to whom He says, Ye neither know Me, nor My Father, He could with right have said, Ye do not even believe in My Father; for he who denies the Son, has not the Father, either by faith or knowledge. But Scripture gives us another sense of knowing a thing, viz. being joined to that thing. Adam knew his wife, when he was joined to her. And if he who is joined to a woman knows that woman, he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit, and knows the Lord. And in this sense the Pharisees neither knew the Father, nor the Son. But may not a man know God, and yet not know the Father? Yes; these are two different conceptions. And therefore among an infinite number of prayers offered up in the Law, we do not find any one addressed to God the Father. They only pray to Him as God and Lord; in order not to anticipate the grace shed by Jesus over the whole world, calling all men to the Sonship, according to the Psalm, I will declare Thy name unto my brethren. These words spake Jesus in the treasury, as He taught in the temple.
Alcuin † AD 804
Treasury (Gazophylacium): Gaza is the Persian for wealth: phylattein is to keep. It was a place in the temple, where the money was kept.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. iii. 1
He spake in the temple magisterially, and now He was speaking to those who railed at and accused Him, for making Himself equal to the Father.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tract. xxxvii. 8
Great however is His confidence and fearlessness: it not being possible that He should undergo any suffering, but that which He voluntarily undertook. Wherefore it follows, And no man laid hands on Him, for His hour was not yet come. Some, when they hear this, think Christ to have been under the control of fate. But if fate comes from the verb fari, to speak, as some derive it, how can the Word of God be under the control of fate? Where are the fates? In the heavens, you say, in the courses and revolutions of the stars. How then can fate have power over Him, by Whom the heavens and stars were made; when even thy will, if thou exert it aright, transcends the stars? Dost thou think that because the flesh of Christ was placed beneath the heavens, that therefore His power was subjected to the heavens? His hour then had not yet come; i. e. the hour, not on which he should be obliged to die, but on which He should deign to be put to death.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xix. in Joan.
Whenever it is added, Jesus spoke these words in such a place, you will, if you attend, discover a meaning in the addition. The treasury (γαζοφυλακίῳ) was a place for keeping the money, which was given for the honour of God, and the support of the poor. The coins are the divine words, stamped with the likeness of the great King. In this sense then let every one contribute to the edification of the Church, carrying into that spiritual treasury all that he can collect, to the honour of God, and the common good. But while all were thus contributing to the treasury of the temple, it was especially the office of Jews to contribute his gifts, which were the words of eternal life. While Jesus therefore was speaking in the treasury, no one laid hands on Him; His discourse being stronger than those who wished to take Him; for there is no weakness in that which the Word of God utters.
St Bede † AD 735
Or thus; Christ speaks in the treasury; i. e. He had spoken in parables to the Jews; but now that He unfolded heavenly things to His disciples, His treasury began to be opened, which was the meaning of the treasury being joined to the temple; all that the Law and the Prophets had foretold in figure, appertained to our Lord.
The Latin text
Augustinus in Ioannem
Illi qui audierant a domino: vos secundum carnem iudicatis, manifestaverunt quod audierunt: patrem enim Christi carnaliter acceperunt; unde dicitur dicebant ergo ei: ubi est pater tuus? Quasi dicant: audivimus te dicere: solus non sum; sed ego, et qui misit me, pater: nos solum te videmus: ostende ergo nobis tecum esse patrem tuum
Theophylactus
Quidam vero notant hoc prolatum esse a Iudaeis quasi ad contumeliam et contemptum. Improperabant enim ei tamquam ex fornicatione genito et proprium genitorem ignoranti, vel tamquam vili existente eo qui pater eius putabatur, scilicet Ioseph; quasi dicant: ignotus et ignobilis est pater tuus: quid frequenter patrem nobis inducis? Quia ergo non ut scire volentes, sed ut tentantes quaerebant, ad praemissam quaestionem non respondet; unde sequitur respondet Iesus: neque me scitis, neque patrem meum
Augustinus
Quasi dicat: quaeritis: ubi est pater tuus? Quasi me iam sciatis, quasi totum hoc sit quod videtis: ergo quia me non nostis, ideo patrem meum vobis non ostendo. Me quippe hominem putatis; ideo patrem meum hominem quaeritis. Quia vero secundum quod videtis, aliud sum, et aliud secundum quod non videtis; patrem autem meum loquor occultus occultum: prius est ut me noveritis, et tunc patrem scietis; et hoc est quod subdit si me sciretis, forsitan et patrem meum sciretis
Chrysostomus in Ioannem
Dicit autem hoc, ut ostendat quod nihil eis prodest dicere quod sciant patrem, filium nescientes
Origenes in Ioannem
Contrariari autem videtur ad invicem quod hic dicitur: neque me scitis, neque patrem meum, et quod supra dictum est: et me scitis, et unde sim scitis. Sed tamen quod dicitur: et me scitis, ad quosdam dicit Hierosolymitarum dicentium numquid vere intellexerunt principes quia hic est Christus? Hoc vero quod dicit: neque me scitis, ad Pharisaeos dicitur. Hierosolymitis tamen in prioribus ait: verax est qui me misit, quem vos nescitis. Quaeret itaque aliquis: quomodo verum est quod dicitur si me sciretis, et patrem meum sciretis: cum Hierosolymitae, quibus dicitur: et me scitis, patrem nesciverunt? Dicendum autem est ad hoc, quod salvator quandoque quidem de seipso ut de homine loquitur, quandoque autem secundum divinam naturam: hoc ergo quod dicit: et me scitis, de ipso homine dicit; hoc vero neque me scitis, de divinitate
Augustinus in Ioannem
Quid est enim si me sciretis, et patrem meum sciretis, nisi ego et pater unum sumus? Quando vides aliquem alicui similem, quotidiana locutio est: si hunc vidisti, illum vidisti. Propter similitudinem tale dedisti responsum. Hinc et dominus si me, inquit, sciretis, et patrem meum sciretis: non quia pater est filius, sed quia patri similis est filius
Theophylactus
Erubescat Arianus: nam si iuxta eum creatura filius sit, qualiter qui novit creaturam, et Deum novit? Neque enim qui substantiam novit Angeli, novit et divinam. Cum itaque qui filium novit, et patrem novit; igitur consubstantialis patri est filius
Augustinus
Hoc autem verbum forsitan increpative dicitur, quod videtur esse verbum dubitationis: homines enim de rebus quas certas habent, aliquando verbum dubitationis ponunt; velut si indignaris servo tuo, et dicas: contemnis me? Considera, forsan dominus tuus sum: sic et dominus dubitando increpat infideles, cum dicit et patrem meum forsitan sciretis
Origenes
Oportet autem videre quoniam qui alterius sectae sunt, opinantur ex hoc probari manifeste, Deum quem Iudaei colebant, patrem non esse Christi. Si enim, inquiunt, hoc Pharisaeis Deum provisorem mundi colentibus dicebat salvator, manifestum est, quod patrem Iesu, alterum a conditore mundi existentem, nequaquam Pharisaei noverunt. Hoc vero dicunt, non observantes consuetudinem locutionis in Scripturis. Si enim aliquis vellet inducere ea quae de Deo sunt, a parentibus eruditus, non autem bene vivat; hunc dicimus de Deo notitiam non habere: unde et filii Heli propter eorum malitiam Deum ignorasse dicuntur. Sic igitur et Pharisaei patrem ignoraverunt: non enim vivebant secundum conditoris edictum. Est autem et aliud significatum cognoscendi Deum, altero existente cognoscere dominum quam simpliciter credere. Dicitur enim in Psalmo: studete et videte, quoniam ego sum Deus quis non confitetur hoc scribi populo in conditorem credenti? Multum enim differt credendo cognoscere, et credere tantum. Sed Pharisaeis, quibus ait neque me scitis, neque patrem meum, rationabiliter diceret: neque creditis patri meo: qui enim negat filium, minime patrem habet, scilicet neque secundum fidem, neque secundum cognitionem. Sed et aliter dicit Scriptura, illos qui adiuncti sunt alicui, cognoscere illud. Tunc enim Adam cognovit uxorem suam cum ei coniunctus est. Si ergo qui adhaeret mulieri, mulierem cognoscit; et qui adhaeret domino, unus spiritus est et Deum cognoscit. Si vero sic se habet, Pharisaei nec patrem noverunt nec filium. Post hoc est quidem aliquem cognoscere Deum, non autem cognoscere patrem. Infinitis ergo orationibus editis in lege non invenimus aliquem orando dicentem Deum patrem: tamen orant eum tamquam Deum et dominum: ne praevenirent gratiam per Iesum toti mundo effusam, vocantem cunctos ad filiationem, iuxta illud: narrabo nomen tuum fratribus meis. Sequitur haec verba locutus est Iesus in gazophylacio, docens in templo
Alcuinus
Gaza Persica lingua divitiae, philatin servare. Erat autem locus in templo ubi servabantur divitiae
Chrysostomus
In templo loquebatur more magistri; et hic loquebatur super quibus mordebant et accusabant, quoniam seipsum facit parem patri
Augustinus
Magna igitur fiducia sine timore: non enim pateretur quod nollet; unde sequitur et nemo apprehendit eum, quia nondum venerat hora eius. Nonnulli cum hoc audiunt, sub fato fuisse Christum credunt; sed si fatum, sicut nonnulli intellexerunt, a fando dictum est, idest a loquendo, verbum Dei quomodo habet fatum? Ubi sunt fata? In caelo, inquis, in ordine et conversionibus siderum. Quomodo ergo fatum habet per quem factum est caelum et sidera, cum tua voluntas, si recte sapias, transcendat et sidera? An quia nosti Christi carnem fuisse sub caelo, ideo putas et potestatem Christi subditam caelo? Igitur nondum venerat hora eius, non qua cogeretur mori, sed qua dignaretur occidi
Origenes
Ubicumque autem additur: haec verba locutus est Iesus in tali loco, si bene attendas, invenies additionis opportunitatem. Est autem gazophylacium locus numismatum in honorem Dei et dispensationem pauperum oblatorum. Numismata autem sunt divina verba, imaginem regis magni impressam habentia. Unusquisque autem conferat in aedificationem Ecclesiae, portans ad intellectuale gazophylacium quidquid potest ad honorem Dei et utilitatem communem. Omnibus autem offerentibus in gazophylacio templi, magis oportebat Iesum munera portare, quae erant verba vitae aeternae. Loquente ergo Iesu in gazophylacio, a nemine detentus est: quia sermones eius fortiores erant his qui eum capere volebant, cum non sit infirmitas in quibus verbum Dei loquitur
Beda
Vel aliter. In gazophylacio Christus loquitur, quoniam in parabolis ad Iudaeos sermones proferebat; tunc autem quasi gazophylacium aperiri coepit, quando discipulis suis caelestia reseravit: unde etiam gazophylacium templo inhaerebat: quia quae lex et prophetae figuraliter praedixerant, ad dominum pertinebant
8:21
St Augustine † AD 430 Tract. xxxviii. 2
In accordance with what was just, He said that no man laid hands on Him, because His hour was not yet come; He now speaks to the Jews of His passion, as a free, and not a compulsory sacrifice on His part: Then said Jesus again unto them, I go My way. Death to our Lord was a return to the place whence He had come.
St Bede † AD 735
The connexion of these words is such, that they might have been spoken at one place and one time, or at another place and another time: as either nothing at all, or some things, or many may have intervened.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xix. in Joan. s. 3.
But some one will object: If this was spoken to men who persisted in unbelief, how is it He says, Ye shall seek Me? For to seek Jesus is to seek truth and wisdom. You will answer that it was said of His persecutors, that they sought to take Him. There are different ways of seeking Jesus. All do not seek Him for their health and profit: and only they who seek Him aright, find peace. And they are said to seek Him aright, who seek the Word which was in the beginning with God, in order that He may lead them to the Father.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tract. xxxviii. 2
Ye shall seek Me, then, He says, not from compassionate regret, but from hatred: for after He had departed from the eyes of men, He was sought for both by those who hated, and those who loved Him: the one wanting to persecute, the other to have His presence. And that ye may not think that ye shall seek Me in a good sense, I tell you, Ye shall die in your sin. (ἁμαρτίᾳ plural in our Transl.) This is to seek Christ amiss, to die in one’s sin: this is to hate Him, from Whom alone cometh salvation. He pronounces sentence on them prophetically, that they shall die in their sins.
St Bede † AD 735
Note: sin is in the singular number, your in the plural; to express one and the same wickedness in all.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xix. in Joan. s. 3.
But I ask, as it is said below that many believed on Him, whether He speaks to all present, when He says, Ye shall die in your sins? No: He speaks to those only, whom He knew would not believe, and would therefore die in their sins, not being able to follow Him. Whither I go, He says, ye cannot come; i. e. there where truth and wisdom are, for with them Jesus dwells. They cannot, He says, because they will not: for had they wished, He could not reasonably have said, Ye shall die in your sin.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tract. xxviii. s. 2
This He tells His disciples in another place; without saying to them, however, Ye shall die in your sin, He only says, Whither I go, ye cannot follow Me now; not preventing, but only delaying their coming.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xix. 3.
The Word, while still present, yet threatens to depart. So long as we preserve the seeds of truth implanted in our minds, the Word of God does not depart from us. But if we fall into wickedness, then He says to us, I go away; and when we seek Him, we shall not find Him, but shall die in our sin, die caught in our sin. But we should not pass over without notice the expression itself: Ye shall die in your sins. If ye shall die be understood in the ordinary sense, it is manifest that sinners die in their sins, the righteous in their righteousness. But if we understand it of death in the sense of sin; then the meaning is, that not their bodies, but their souls were sick unto death. The Physician seeing them thus grievously sick, says, Ye shall die in your sins. And this is evidently the meaning of the words, Whither I go ye cannot come. For when a man dies in his sin, he cannot go where Jesus goes: no dead man can follow Jesus: The dead praise not Thee, O Lord. (Ps. 113)
St Augustine † AD 430 Tract. xxviii
They take these words, as they generally do, in a carnal sense, and ask, Will He kill Himself, because He saith, Whither I go, ye cannot come? A foolish question. For why? Could they not go where He went, if He killed Himself? Were they never to die themselves? Whither I go, then, He says; meaning not His departure at death, but where He went after death.
Theophylact † 1107
He shews here that He will rise again in glory, and sit at the right hand of God.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xix. in Joan. s. 4.
May they not however have a higher meaning in saying this? For they had opportunities of knowing many things from their apocryphal books or from tradition. As then there was a prophetical tradition, that Christ was to be born at Bethlehem, so there may have been a tradition also respecting His death, viz. that He would depart from this life in the way which He declares, No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. (c. 10:18) So then the question, Will He kill Himself, is not to be taken in its obvious sense, but as referring to some Jewish tradition about Christ. For His saying, I go My way, shews that He had power over His own death, and departure from the body; so that these were voluntary on His part. But I think that they bring forward this tradition which had come down to them, on the death of Christ, contemptuously, and not with any view to give Him glory. Will He kill Himself? say they: whereas, they ought to have used a loftier way of speaking, and have said, Will His soul wait His pleasure, to depart from His body? Our Lord answers, Ye are from beneath, i. e. ye love earth; your hearts are not raised upwards. He speaks to them as earthly men, for their thoughts were earthly.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. liii. 1
As if to say, No wonder that ye think as ye do, seeing ye are carnal, and understand nothing spiritually. I am from above.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tract. xxxviii. 4
From whom above? From the Father Himself, Who is above all. Ye are of this world, I am not of this world. How could He be of the world, by Whom the world was made?
St Bede † AD 735
And Who was before the world, whereas they were of the world, having been created after the world had begun to exist.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. liii. 1
Or He says, I am not of this world, with reference to worldly and vain thoughts.
Theophylact † 1107
I affect nothing worldly, nothing earthly: I could never come to such madness as to kill Myself. Apollinarius, however, falsely infers from these words, that our Lord’s body was not of this world, but came down from heaven. did the Apostles then, to whom our Lord says below, Ye are not of this world, (c. 15:19) derive all of them their bodies from heaven? In saying then, I am not of this world, He must be understood to mean, I am not of the number of you, who mind earthly things.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xix. in Joan. s. 5.
Beneath, and, of this world, are different things. Beneath, refers to a particular place; this material world embraces different tractsd, which all are beneath, as compared with things immaterial and invisible, but, as compared with one another, some beneath, some above. Where the treasure of each is, there is his heart also. If a man then lay up treasure upon earth, he is beneath: if any man lay up treasure in heaven, he is above; yea, ascends above all hearers, attains to a most blissful end. And again, the love of this world makes a man of this world: whereas he who loveth not the world, neither the things that are in the world, is not of the world. Yet is there beyond this world of sense, another world, in which are things invisible, the beauty of which shall the pure in heart behold, yea, the First-born of every creature may be called the world, insomuch as He is absolute wisdom, and in wisdom all things were made. In Him therefore was the whole world, differing from the material world, in so far as the1 scheme divested of the matter, differs from the subject matter itself. The soul of Christ then says, I am not of this world; i. e. because it has not its conversation in this world.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tract. xxxviii. 6
Our Lord expresses His meaning in the words, Ye are of this world, i. e. ye are sinners. All of us are born in sin; all have added by our actions to the sin in which we were born. The misery of the Jews then was, not that they had sin, but that they would die in their sin: I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sin. Amongst the multitude, however, who heard our Lord, there were some who were about to believe; whereas this most severe sentence had gone forth against all: Ye shall die in your sin; to the destruction of all hope even in those who should hereafter believe. So His next words recall the latter to hope: For if ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sin: therefore if ye believe that I am He, ye shall not die in your sin.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. liii. 1
For if He came in order to take away sin, and a man cannot put that off, except by washing, and cannot be baptized except he believe; it follows, that he who believes not must pass out of this life, with the old man, i. e. sin, within him: not only because he believes not, but because he departs hence, with his former sins upon him.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tract. xxxviii. 8
His saying, If ye believe not that I am, without adding any thing, proves a great deal. For thus it was that God spoke to Moses, I am that I am. But how do I understand, I am that I am, (Exod. 3) and, If ye believe not that I am? In this way. All excellence, of whatever kind, if it be mutable, cannot be said really to be, for there is no real to be, where there is a not to be. Analyze the idea of mutability, and you will find, was, and will be; contemplate God, and you will find, is, without possibility of a past. In order to be, thou must leave him behind thee. So then, If ye believe not that I am, means in fact, If ye believe not that I am God; this being the condition, on which we shall not die in our sins. God be thanked that He says, If ye believe not, not, If ye understand not; for who could understand this?
Origen † AD 253 tom. xix. in Joan.
It is manifest, that he, who dies in his sins, though he say that he believes in Christ, does not really believe. For he who believes in His justice does not do injustice; he who believes in His wisdom, does not act or speak foolishly; in like manner with respect to the other attributes of Christ, you will find that he who does not believe in Christ, dies in his sins: inasmuch as he comes to be the very contrary of what is seen in Christ.
The Latin text
Augustinus in Ioannem
Quia supra dictum est quod nemo apprehendit eum, quia nondum venerat hora eius, modo de ipsa sua passione, quae posita erat, non in eius necessitate, sed potestate, locutus est Iudaeis; unde dicitur dixit ergo iterum eis Iesus: ego vado. Christo enim domino mors profectio fuit illuc unde venerat et unde discesserat
Beda
Haec autem verborum connexio talis esse videtur, ut haec uno tempore, uno quoque in loco, vel certe alio tempore alioque in loco geri potuissent: quoniam nihil interponi et quaedam vel multa potuerunt
Origenes in Ioannem
Sed obiciet aliquis sic: si his qui manebant in incredulitate, ista dicebat: quomodo eis dicit et quaeretis me? Quaerere enim Iesum, est quaerere veritatem et sapientiam. Sed dices, quia et de persequentibus aliquando dicitur, quod quaerebant eum capere. Differentiae enim sunt eorum qui quaerunt Iesum: non omnes enim pro eorum salute et utilitate quaerunt eum. Propter hoc solum hi qui recte quaerunt eum, inveniunt pacem. Recte autem quaerere dicuntur qui verbum quod est in principio apud Deum quaerunt, ut illos patri adducat
Augustinus
Quaeretis ergo, inquit, me, non pio desiderio, sed odio: nam illum, posteaquam abscessit ab oculis hominum, inquisierunt, et qui oderunt et qui amabant: illi persequendo, isti habere cupiendo. Et ne putetis quia me bene quaeretis, in peccato vestro moriemini. Hoc est Christum male quaerere, in peccato suo mori; hoc est illum odisse, per quem solum posset salus esse. Dixit sententiam praescius quod in peccatis suis morientur
Beda
Sed nota, quod peccato in singulari numero utitur, sed vestro in plurali, ut idem omnium scelus ostenderet
Origenes
Quaero autem propter hoc quod infra dicitur, quod hoc ipso loquente multi crediderunt in eum; numquid ad omnes praesentes dicit in peccato vestro moriemini? Sed ad illos dicebat quos sciebat non esse credituros, et propter hoc in eorum peccatis esse morituros, et non valentes post ipsum sequi; nam sequitur quo ego vado, vos non potestis venire, ubi scilicet veritas et sapientia est: hoc est enim ubi est Iesus. Non possunt, ait, quia non volunt; si enim voluissent et non potuissent, non rationabiliter eis diceretur in peccato vestro moriemini
Augustinus in Ioannem
Hoc autem et discipulis alio loco dicit; nec tamen dixit eis in peccato vestro moriemini, sed quo ego vado, vos non potestis venire modo. Non abstulit spem, sed praedixit dilationem
Origenes in Ioannem
Praesens autem verbum minatur Christi recessum; sed quamdiu salvamus ea quae animae nostrae sunt insita veritatis semina, nequaquam recedit a nobis verbum Dei: si vero a lapsu in malitiam corrumpamur, tunc dicitur nobis ego vado: et cum quaeremus eum, nequaquam inveniemus, sed in peccatis nostris moriemur, ab ipsa morte occupati. Non oportet autem pertransire inexquisite quod dicitur in peccatis vestris moriemini. Si enim communiter accipiatur, manifestum est quod peccatores in peccatis eorum moriuntur, iusti vero in iustitia; si vero dicitur moriemini, sicut qui ad mortem peccat moritur, manifestum est quod hi quibus talia dicebantur, nequaquam mortui erant, sed vivebant in infirmitate animae; sed infirmitas illa ad mortem erat: propter hoc medicus videns eos graviter infirmantes, dicebat et in peccatis vestris moriemini: et sic manifestum erat illud quo ego vado, vos non potestis venire. Cum enim aliquis in suo peccato moritur, quo vadit Iesus, non potest ire: nullus enim mortuus potest sequi Iesum: non enim mortui laudabunt te, domine
Augustinus
His autem verbis auditis, quomodo solent, carnalia cogitantes interrogaverunt; nam sequitur dicebant ergo Iudaei: numquid interficiet semetipsum, quia dicit: quo ego vado, vos non potestis venire? Stulta verba. Quid enim? Non poterant illi venire quo ille perrexisset, si interficeret semetipsum? Numquid ipsi non erant morituri? Ergo quo ego vado, dixit; non quo itur ad mortem, sed quo ipse ibat post mortem
Theophylactus
Per hoc enim manifestavit quod resurget in gloria, et sedebit ad dexteram Dei
Origenes
Quaeramus tamen si hoc ab eis de salvatore dicitur altius aliquid cernentibus. Multa enim aut ex traditione, aut ex apocryphis ipsos contingebat videre prae multis. Forte igitur in his quae tradita sunt de Christo, erat iuxta sanas traditiones propheticorum sermonum, sicut generari eum in Bethlehem, sic et de morte eius, ut hoc modo transire deberet ab hac vita quomodo ipse dicit: nemo tollit animam meam a me; sed ego pono eam. Quare quod hic dicitur numquid interficiet se? Non secundum simplicem sensum dicitur, sed secundum aliquam Iudaeorum de Christo traditionem. Multum enim ex hoc quod dixerat ego vado, apparet potestas voluntarie morientis, corpore derelicto. Aestimo autem quod ignominiose proferentes hoc, quod secundum traditiones suas de morte Christi ad ipsos devenerat, et non gloriam dantes, dixerunt numquid interficiet semetipsum? Oportebat enim eos cum demonstratione gloriae sic dicere: numquid anima eius, cum ipsi placuerit, egredietur relicto corpore? Dominus autem ad eos qui terrena sapiebant, tamquam ad terrenos loquitur; unde subditur et dicebat eis: vos de deorsum estis; idest, terram sapitis, sursum cor non habetis
Chrysostomus in Ioannem
Quasi dicat: non est mirum vos talia cogitare homines carnales, et nihil intelligentes spirituale. Ego de supernis sum
Augustinus
De quibus supernis? Ab ipso patre, quo nihil superius. Vos de hoc mundo estis, ego non sum de hoc mundo: quomodo enim erat de mundo, per quem factus est mundus?
Beda
Et qui ante mundum fuit; illi autem de mundo erant, quia postquam mundus esse coepit, fuerant creati
Chrysostomus
Vel propter mundanas et vanas cogitationes hoc dicit ego non sum de hoc mundo
Theophylactus
Nihil mundanum, sive terrenum affectans: unde nullatenus ad tantam insaniam devenirem ut meipsum occiderem. Sed Apollinarius male suscipiens hunc sermonem, ait, quod corpus domini non fuit de hoc mundo, sed de sursum caelitus descendit. Numquid igitur et apostoli, quibus a domino dictum est: vos non estis de hoc mundo, omnia corpora sunt caelitus obtinentes? Sic igitur intelligendum est cum dicitur ego non sum de hoc mundo, hoc est, non sum de numero vestrum, qui mundana curatis
Origenes
Alius autem sensus est eorum qui sunt de sursum, et eorum qui sunt de hoc mundo. Deorsum enim sicut de loco aliquo intelligitur; sed mundus materialis locis quidem diversis continetur, quae omnia quantum ad immaterialia et invisibilia deorsum sunt; quo ad mundum vero comparando mundi loca, erunt utique quaedam deorsum et quaedam sursum. Ubi autem est thesaurus uniuscuiusque, ibi est et cor eius. Si itaque aliquis thesaurizet in terra, deorsum efficitur; si vero aliquis thesaurizet in caelis, fit desuper; sed et transcendens omnes caelos, in fine beatissimo invenietur. Et iterum qui circa hunc mundum est amor, facit eum qui de hoc mundo est; qui autem non diligit mundum, nec ea quae sunt in hoc mundo, non est de mundo hoc. Tamen est et aliquis alius mundus praeter hunc sensibilem mundum, in quo sunt invisibilia, cuius visum et decorem videbunt hi qui mundo sunt corde. Sed et ipse primogenitus omnis creaturae potest dici mundus, prout est summa sapientia: omnia enim in sapientia sunt facta. In ipso itaque erat totus mundus, intantum differens a mundo materiali, inquantum differt ratio totius mundi ab omni materia denudata a materiali mundo. Anima ergo Christi dicit ego non sum de hoc mundo: quia non conversatur in isto mundo
Augustinus in Ioannem
Exposuit autem dominus quid intelligi voluerit, cum dixit vos de hoc mundo estis; quia scilicet peccatores erant. Omnes autem cum peccato nati sumus, omnes vivendo ad id quod nati eramus addidimus. Tota ergo infelicitas Iudaeorum ipsa erat, non peccatum habere, sed in peccatis mori; unde subdit dixi ergo vobis, quia moriemini in peccatis vestris. Credo autem in illa multitudine quae dominum audiebat, et eos fuisse qui credituri erant; quasi in omnes autem processerat illa severissima sententia in peccato vestro moriemini; ac per hoc et illis qui credituri erant, spes erat ablata. Revocavit ergo eos ad spem, adiungens si enim non credideritis quia ego sum, moriemini in peccato vestro. Ergo si credideritis quia ego sum, non moriemini in peccato vestro
Chrysostomus
Si enim propter hoc venit ut peccatum tollat, et aliter non contingit illud exuere nisi per lavacrum; nec continget eum qui non credit, baptizari, necesse est eum qui non credit, ex hac vita abire, veterem hominem, idest peccatum, habentem: non solum quia non credit, sed etiam quia priora peccata habens, hinc recedit
Augustinus
Cum autem dixit si non credideritis quia ego sum, quia nihil addidit, multum est quod commendavit: quia sic etiam et Deus Moysi dixerat: ego sum qui sum. Sed quomodo audio: ego sum qui sum, et nisi credideritis quia ego sum, quasi alia non sint? Sed prorsus qualiscumque excellentia, si mutabilis est, vera non est: non enim est ibi verum esse ubi est et non esse. Discute rerum mutationem: invenies fuit et erit; cogita Deum, invenies est, ubi tempus praeteritum esse non possit. Ut ergo tu sis, transcende tempus. Haec itaque promittens, ne moriamur in peccatis nostris, nihil aliud mihi videtur his verbis dixisse nisi credideritis quia ego sum, quam: nisi credideritis quia Deus sum. Deo gratias, quia dicit nisi credideritis; non dixit: nisi ceperitis: quis enim hoc capiat?
Origenes in Ioannem
Manifestum est autem quod qui moritur in peccatis suis, quamvis dicat se Christo credere, tamen in veritate non credit: qui enim credit iustitiae, non iniustum facit; et credens in sapientiam, nil stultum dicit aut facit: et sic si scrutatus fueris ceteros intellectus Christi, invenies quomodo qui non credit Christo, moritur in peccatis suis. Accedens autem ad contraria eorum quae considerantur in Christo, in peccatis suis moritur
8:25
St Augustine † AD 430 Tract. xxxviii. s. 11
Our Lord having said, If ye believe not that I am, ye shall die in your sins; they enquire of Him, as if wishing to know in whom they are to believe, that they might not die in their sin: Then said they unto Him, Who art Thou? For when Thou saidst, If ye believe not that I am, Thou didst not add, who Thou art. But our Lord knew that these were some who would believe, and therefore after being asked, Who art Thou? that such might know what they should believe Him to be, Jesus saith unto them, The beginning, who also speak to you; not as if to say, I am the beginning, but, Believe Me to be the beginning; as is evident from the Greek, where beginning is feminine. Believe Me then to be the beginning, but ye die in your sins: for the beginning cannot be changed; it remains fixed in itself, and is the source of change to all things. (Tract. xxxix. 1, 2). But it is absurd to call the Son the beginning, and not the Father also. And yet there are not two beginnings, even as these are not two Gods. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father and the Son; not being either the Father, or the Son. Yet Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one God, one Light, one beginning. (Tract. xxxviii. 11). He adds, Who also speak to you, i. e. Who humbled Myself for your sakes, and condescended to those words. Therefore believe Me to be the beginning; because that ye may believe this, not only am I the beginning, but I also speak with you, that ye may believe that I am. For if the Beginning had remained with the Father in its original nature, and not taken upon it the form of a servant, how could men have believed in it? Would their weakly minds have taken in the spiritual Word, without the medium of sensible sound?
St Bede † AD 735
In some copies we find, Who also speak to you; but it is more consistent to read for (quia), not, who (qui): in which case the meaning is: Believe Me to be the beginning, for for your sakes have I condescended to these words.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. liii. 1
See here the madness of the Jews; asking after so long time, and after all His miracles and teaching, Who art Thou? What is Christ’s answer? From the beginning I speak with you; as if to say, Ye do not deserve to hear any thing from Me, much less this thing, Who I am. For ye speak always, to tempt Me. But I could, if I would, confound and punish you: I have many things to say, and to judge of you.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tract. xxxix
Above He said, I judge no man; but, I judge not, is one thing, I have to judge, another. I judge not, He says, with reference to the present time. But the other, I have many things to say, and to judge of you, refers to a future judgment. And I shall be true in My judgment, because I am truth, the Son of the true One. He that sent Me is true. My Father is true, not by partaking of, but begetting truth. Shall we say that truth is greater than one who is true? If we say this, we shall begin to call the Son greater than the Father.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. liii. 1
He says this, that they may not think that He allows them to talk against Him with impunity, from inability to punish them; or that He is not alive to their contemptuous designs.
Theophylact † 1107
Or having said, I have many things to say, and to judge of you, thus reserving His judgment for a future time, He adds, But He that sent Me is true: as if to say, Though ye are unbelievers, My Father is true, Who hath appointed a day of retribution for you.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. liii. 1
Or thus: As My Father hath sent Me not to judge the world, but to save the world, and My Father is true, I accordingly judge no man now; but speak thus for your salvation, not your condemnation: And I speak to the world those things that I have heard of Him.
Alcuin † AD 804
And to hear from the Father is the same as to be from the Father; He has the hearing from the same sense that He has the being.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tract. xxxix. s. 6
The coequal Son gives glory to the Father: as if to say, I give glory to Him whose Son I am: how proudly thou detractest from Him, whose servant Thou art.
Alcuin † AD 804
They did not understand however what He meant by saying, He is true that sent Me: they understand not that He spake to them of the Father. For they had not the eyes of their mind yet opened, to understand the equality of the Father with the Son.
The Latin text
Augustinus in Ioannem
Quia dixerat supra dominus: nisi credideritis quia ego sum, moriemini in peccatis vestris, interrogant illi velut quaerentes nosse in quem deberent credere, ne in suo peccato morerentur; unde dicitur dicebant ergo ei: tu quis es? Non enim cum dixisti nisi credideritis quia ego sum, addidisti quis esses. Sciebat autem ibi quosdam esse credituros; et ideo cum dixissent tu quis es? Ut scirent quid illum credere deberent, dixit eis Iesus principium, qui et loquor vobis; non tamquam diceret: principium sum; sed tamquam diceret: principium me credite: quod in sermone Graeco evidenter apparet, ubi principium feminini generis est. Principium ergo me credite, ne moriamini in peccatis vestris: principium enim mutari non potest, in se manet, et innovat omnia. Absurdum est autem ut filium dicamus principium, et patrem principium non dicamus; non tamen duo principia, sicut nec duos deos: spiritus autem sanctus patris et filii est spiritus, nec pater est, nec filius. Pater tamen et filius et spiritus sanctus sunt unus Deus, unum lumen, unum principium. Addidit autem qui et loquor vobis: quia humilis propter vos factus ad ista verba descendi. Ergo credite me esse principium: quia ut hoc credatis non solum sum principium, sed et loquor vobis. Nam si principium sicuti est, ita maneret apud patrem, ut non acciperet formam servi, quomodo ei crederent, cum infirma corda intelligibile verbum sine voce sensibili audire non possent?
Beda
Sane in quibusdam exemplaribus invenitur qui et loquor vobis; sed congruentius esse probatur, si quia legatur, ut iste sit sensus: principium me esse credite, quia propter vos ad haec verba descendi
Chrysostomus in Ioannem
Vel aliter. Consideranda est amentia Iudaeorum, qui post tempus tantum et signa et doctrinam interrogant tu quis es? Quid igitur Christus? A principio loquor vobis, quasi dicat: sermones meos indigni estis audire, non solum ut dicam vobis quis ego sum: vos enim omnia tentantes loquimini; et haec omnia possem arguere, et vos punire; unde sequitur multa habeo de vobis loqui et iudicare
Augustinus in Ioannem
Supra dixit: ego non iudico quemquam; sed aliud est non iudico, et aliud habeo iudicare. Non iudico, dixit, ad praesens. Quod autem dicit multa habeo de vobis loqui et iudicare, iudicium futurum dicit. Ideo autem verus in iudicio ero, quia filius veracis veritas sum; unde sequitur sed qui misit me verax est. Verax est pater, non participando, sed generando veritatem. Numquid enim dicturi sumus: plus veritas quam verax? Si hoc dixerimus, filium incipiemus dicere patre maiorem
Chrysostomus
Dicit autem hoc, ut non aestiment quoniam tot audiens ex imbecillitate, non punit; aut quia eorum cogitationes et contumelias non novit
Theophylactus
Vel quia dixerat multa habeo de vobis loqui et iudicare, iudicium futuro saeculo reservans subiungit sed qui me misit, verax est; quasi dicat: etsi vos infideles estis, pater meus verax est, qui diem stabilivit in quo vobis retributio fiet
Chrysostomus
Vel aliter. Si in hoc me misit pater, non ut iudicem mundum, sed ut salvem mundum, verax autem est pater; convenienter nullum ego nunc iudico; sed haec loquor quae sunt ad salutem, non quae ad iudicium; unde sequitur et ego quae audivi ab eo, haec loquor in mundo
Alcuinus
Audisse autem a patre idem est et esse a patre: quia ab illo habet audientiam a quo habet essentiam
Augustinus
Dat gloriam patri aequalis filius; tamquam dicat: do gloriam ei cuius sum filius; quomodo tu superbus es adversus eum cuius es servus?
Alcuinus
Cum autem audissent verax est qui misit me, non intellexerunt de quo diceret; unde subditur et non cognoverunt quia patrem eius dicebat Deum. Nondum enim oculos cordis apertos habebant, quibus patris et filii aequalitatem intelligerent
8:28
St Augustine † AD 430 Tract. xl. 2
When our Lord said, He is true that sent Me, the Jews did not understand that He spake to them of the Father. But He saw some there, who, He knew, would believe on Him after His passion. Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then ye shall know that I am. (Exod. 3:14) Recollect the words, I am that I am, and ye will know why I say, I am. I pass over your knowledge, in order that I may fulfil My passion. In your appointed time ye will know who I am; when ye have lifted up the Son of man. He means the lifting up of the cross; for He was lifted up on the cross, when He hung thereon. This was to be accomplished by the hands of those who should afterwards believe, whom He is now speaking to; with what intent, but that no one, however great his wickedness and consciousness of guilt might despair, seeing even the murderers of our Lord forgiven.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. liii. 1, 2
Or the connection is this: When His miracles and teaching had failed to convert men, He spoke of the cross; When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then ye shall know that I am He: as if to say, Ye think that ye have killed Me; but I say that ye shall then, by the evidence of miracles, of My resurrection, and your captivity, know most especially, that I am Christ the Son of God, and that I do not act in opposition to God; But that as My Father hath taught Me, I speak these things. Here He shews the likeness of His substance to the Father’s; and that He says nothing beyond the Paternal intelligence. If I were contrary to God, I should not have moved His anger so much against those who did not hear Me.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xl. s. 3. et seq.
Or thus: Having said, Then shall ye know that I am, and in this, I am, implied the whole Trinity: lest the Sabellian error should creep in, He immediately adds, And I do nothing of Myself; as if to say, I am not of Myself; the Son is God from the Father. Let not what follows, as the Father hath taught Me, I speak these things, suggest a carnal thought to any of you. Do not place as it were two men before your eyes, a Father speaking to his son, as you do when you speak to your sons. For what words could be spoken to the only Word? If the Father speaks in your hearts without sound, how does He speak to the Son? The Father speaks to the Son incorporeally, because He begat the Son incorporeally: nor did He teach Him, as having begotten Him untaught; rather the teaching Him, was the begetting Him knowing. For if the nature of truth be simple, to be, in the Son, is the same as to know. As then the Father gave the Son existence by begetting, so He gave Him knowledge also.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. liii. 2
He gives now a humbler turn to the discourse: And He that sent Me. That this might not be thought however to imply inferiority, He says, Is with Me. The former is His dispensation, the latter His divinity.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr xl. 6
And though both are together, yet one is sent, the other sends. For the mission is the incarnation; and the incarnation is of the Son only, not of the Father. He says then, He that sent Me, meaning, By whose Fatherly authority I am made incarnate. The Father however, though He sent the Son, did not withdraw from Him, as He proceeds to say: The Father hath not left Me alone. For it could not be that where He sent the Son, there the Father was not; He who says, I fill heaven and earth. (Jer. 33) And He adds the reason why He did not leave Him: For I do always those things that please Him; always, i. e. not from any particular beginning, but without beginning and without end. For the generation from the Father hath no beginning in time.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. liii. 2
Or, He means it as an answer to those who were constantly saying that He was not from God, and that because He did not keep the sabbath; I do always, He says, do those things that please Him; shewing that the breaking the sabbath even was pleasing to Him. He takes care in every way to shew that He does nothing contrary to the Father. And as this was speaking more after a human fashion, the Evangelist adds, As He spake these words, many believed on Him; as if to say, Do not be disturbed at hearing so humble a speech from Christ; for those who had heard the greatest doctrines from Him, and were not persuaded, were persuaded by these words of humility. These then believed on Him, yet not as they ought; but only out of joy, and approbation of His humble way of speaking. And this the Evangelist shews in his subsequent narration, which relates their unjust proceedings towards Him.
The Latin text
Augustinus in Ioannem
Cum dixisset dominus: verax est qui misit me, non intellexerunt Iudaei quod de patre illis diceret. Videbat autem ibi aliquos quos ipse noverat post passionem suam esse credituros; et ideo sequitur dixit ergo eis Iesus: cum exaltaveritis filium hominis, tunc cognoscetis quia ego sum. Recolite illud: ego sum qui sum, et cognoscetis quid sit dictum ego sum. Differo cognitionem vestram, ut impleam passionem meam. Ordine vestro cognoscetis qui sum, cum scilicet exaltaveritis filium hominis. Exaltationem autem crucis dicit, quia et ibi exaltatus est quando pependit in ligno. Hoc oportebat impleri per manus eorum qui postea fuerant credituri, quibus dicit hoc. Quare nisi ut nemo in quocumque scelere et male sibi conscius desperaret, quando videat eis donari homicidium qui occiderant Christum?
Chrysostomus in Ioannem
Vel aliter continua: quia multa signa faciens et docens eos non converterat, de cruce de reliquo loquitur, dicens cum exaltaveritis filium hominis, tunc cognoscetis quia ego sum; quasi dicat: vos aestimatis quod tunc maxime a me separati eritis quando me occideritis; ego autem dico quoniam tunc maxime scietis et gratia signorum et resurrectionis et captivitatis vestrae, quoniam ego sum Christus filius Dei, et quod non contrarior illi; propter quod subdit et a meipso nihil facio; sed sicut docuit me pater, sic loquor: per hoc enim indifferentiam substantiae manifestat, et quod nihil extra paternales intelligentias loquitur; si enim Deo contrarius essem, non tantam iram movissem contra eos qui me non audierunt
Augustinus
Vel aliter. Quia dixerat tunc cognoscetis quia ego sum, et ad ipsum esse pertinet tota Trinitas; ne forte subintraret error Sabellianorum, continuo subiunxit et a meipso facio nihil; quasi dicat: a meipso non sum: filius enim de patre est Deus. Quod ergo addidit sicut docuit me pater, haec loquor, nemini vestrum obrepat cogitatio carnalis. Nolite vobis quasi duos homines ante oculos ponere, et loquentem patrem ad filium, sicut facis tu quando aliqua verba dicis filio tuo. Quae enim verba fierent unico verbo? Si autem loquitur in cordibus vestris sine sono, quomodo loquitur filio suo? Incorporaliter pater locutus est filio, quia incorporaliter pater genuit filium; nec eum sic docuit quasi indoctum genuerit; sed hoc est eum docuisse, quod est scientem genuisse. Si enim simplex est natura veritatis, hoc est filio esse quod nosse. Quemadmodum ergo pater illi gignendo dedit ut esset, sic gignendo dedit ut nosset
Chrysostomus
Rursus ad humilius sermonem reduxit. Sequitur et qui me misit. Ne autem aestiment hoc quod dicit misit me, minorationis esse, dicit mecum est; nam hoc quidem dispensationis, hoc autem deitatis est
Augustinus
Et cum ambo simul sint, unus tamen est missus, alter misit: quoniam missio incarnatio est, et ipsa incarnatio filii tantum est, non et patris. Ergo inquit qui me misit; idest cuius auctoritate tamquam paterna incarnatus sum. Misit itaque pater filium, sed non recessit a filio; unde sequitur et non reliquit me solum: non enim quo misit filium, non ibi erat pater, qui dixit: caelum et terram ego impleo. Sed quare eum non dereliquit, subdit quia quae placita sunt ei facio semper; non ex quodam initio, sed sine initio, sine fine: Dei enim generatio non habet initium temporis
Chrysostomus
Vel aliter. Quia continuo dicebant, quoniam non ex Deo est, et quia sabbatum non custodit; contra est, quod ait quoniam quae placita sunt ei facio semper: ostendens quoniam et solvere sabbatum, placitum est ei. Multipliciter enim studet ut ostendat quod nihil facit patri contrarium. Et quia hoc humanius locutus est, subditur haec illo loquente multi crediderunt in eum: ac si diceret Evangelista: ne turberis si quid humile a Christo audieris; qui enim post tantam doctrinam nondum suasi erant, humiliora audiunt, et suadentur. Igitur crediderunt quidem, sed non ut oportebat; sed simpliciter quasi laetantes et requiescentes in verborum humilitate: et hoc ostendit Evangelista in subsequentibus sermonibus, in quibus narratur quod rursus ei iniuriabantur
8:31
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Aug. [Chrys. Nic.] Hom. liv. 1
Our Lord wished to try the faith of those who believed, that it might not be only a superficial belief: Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him, If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed. His saying, if ye continue, made it manifest what was in their hearts. He knew that some believed, and would not continue. And He makes them a magnificent promise, viz. that they shall become His disciples indeed; which words are a tacit rebuke to some who had believed and afterwards withdrawn.
St Augustine † AD 430 de Verb. Dom. s. xlvii
We have all one Master, and are fellow disciples under Him. Nor because we speak with authority, are we therefore masters; but He is the Master of all, Who dwells in the hearts of all. It is a small thing for the disciple to come to Him in the first instance: he must continue in Him: if we continue not in Him, we shall fall. A little sentence this, but a great work; if ye continue. For what is it to continue in God’s word, but to yield to no temptations? Without labour, the reward would be gratis; if with, then a great reward indeed. And ye shall know the truth.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xli. 1
As if to say: Whereas ye have now belief, by continuing, ye shall have sight. (xl. 9.). For it was not their knowledge which made them believe, but rather their belief which gave them knowledge. Faith is to believe that which you see not: truth to see that which you believe? By continuing then to believe a thing, you come at last to see the thing; i. e. to the contemplation of the very truth as it is; not conveyed in words, but revealed by light. The truth is unchangeable; it is the bread of the soul, refreshing others, without diminution to itself; changing him who eats into itself, itself not changed. This truth is the Word of God, which put on flesh for our sakes, and lay hid; not meaning to bury itself, but only to defer its manifestation, till its suffering in the body, for the ransoming of the body of sin, had taken place.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. liv. 1
Or, ye shall know the truth, i. e. Me: for I am the truth. The Jewish was a typical dispensation; the reality ye can only know from Me.
St Augustine † AD 430 de Verb. Dom. Serm. xlviii. ἐλευθερώσες
Some one might say perhaps, And what does it profit me to know the truth? So our Lord adds, And the truth shall free you; as if to say, If the truth doth not delight you, liberty will. To be freed is to be made free, as to be healed is to be made whole. This is plainer in the Greek; in the Latin we use the word free chiefly in the sense of escape of danger, relief from care, and the like.
Theophylact † 1107
As He said to the unbelievers alone, Ye shall die in your sin, so now to them who continue in the faith He proclaims absolution.
St Augustine † AD 430 iv. de Trin. c. 18
From what shall the truth free us, but from death, corruption, mutability, itself being immortal, uncorrupt, immutable? Absolute immutability is in itself eternity.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. liv. 1
Men who really believed could have borne to be rebuked. But these men began immediately to shew anger. Indeed if they had been disturbed at His former saying, they had much more reason to be so now. For they might argue; If He says we shall know the truth, He must mean that we do not know it now: so then the law is a lie, our knowledge a delusion. But their thoughts took no such direction: their grief is wholly worldly; they know of no other servitude, but that of this world: They answered Him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man. How sayest Thou then, we shall be made free? As if to say, They of Abraham’s stock are free, and ought not to be called slaves: we have never been in bondage to any one.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xli. 2
Or it was not those who believed, but the unbelieving multitude that made this answer. But how could they say with truth, taking only secular bondage into account, that we have never been in bondage to any man? Was not Joseph sold? were not the holy prophets carried into captivity? Ungrateful people! Why does God remind you so continually of His having taken you out of the house of bondage if you never were in bondage? Why do you who are now talking, pay tribute to the Romans, if you never were in bondage?
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. liv. 1
Christ then, who speaks for their good, not to gratify their vainglory, explains His meaning to have been that they were the servants not of men, but of sin, the hardest kind of servitude, from which God only can rescue: Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xli. 3
This asseveration is important: it is, if one may say so, His oath. Amen means true, but is not translated. Neither the Greek nor the Latin Translator have dared to translate it. It is a Hebrew word; and men have abstained from translating it, in order to throw a reverential veil over so mysterious a word: not that they wished to lock it up, but only to prevent it from becoming despised by being exposed. How important the word is, you may see from its being repeated. Verily I say unto you, says Verity itself; which could not be, even though it said not verily. Our Lord however has recourse to this mode of enforcing His words, in order to rouse men from their state of sleep and indifference. Whosoever, He saith, committeth sin, whether Jew or Greek, rich or poor, king or beggar, is the servant of sin.
St Gregory the Great † AD 604 iv. Mor. c. 42. in Nov. Ex. 21
Because whoever yields to wrong desires, puts his hitherto free soul under the yoke of the evil one, and takes him for his master. But we oppose this master, when we straggle against the wickedness which has laid hold upon us, when we strongly resist habit, when we pierce sin with repentance, and wash away the spots of filth with tears.
St Gregory the Great † AD 604 xxv. Moral. c. 20. not in Nov. Ex. 14
And the more freely men follow their perverse desires, the more closely are they in bondage to them.
St Augustine † AD 430
O miserable bondage! The slave of a human master when wearied with the hardness of his tasks, sometimes takes refuge in flight. But whither does the slave of sin flee? He takes it along with him, wherever he goes; for his sin is within him. The pleasure passes away, but the sin does not pass away: its delight goes, its sting remains behind. He alone can free from sin, who came without sin, and was made a sacrifice for sin. And thus it follows: The servant abideth not in the house for ever. The Church is the house: the servant is the sinner; and many sinners enter into the Church. So He does not say, The servant is, not in the house; but, The servant abideth not in the house for ever. If a time then is to come, when there shall be no servant in the house; who will there be there? Who will boast that he is pure from sin? Christ’s are fearful words. But He adds, The Son abideth for ever. So then Christ will live alone in His house. Or does not the word Son, imply both the body and the head? Christ purposely alarms us first, and then gives us hope. He alarms us, that we may not love sin; He gives us hope, that we may not despair of the absolution of our sin. Our hope then is this, that we shall be freed by Him who is free. He hath paid the price for us, not in money, but in His own blood: If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
St Augustine † AD 430 de Verb. Dom. Ser. xlvii
Not from the barbarians, but from the devil; not from the captivity of the body, but from the wickedness of the soul.
St Augustine † AD 430 super Joan. Tr. xl. 10. et seq.
The first stage of freedom is, the abstaining from sin. But that is only incipient, it is not perfect freedom: for the flesh still lusteth against the spirit, so that ye do not do the things that ye would. Full and perfect freedom will only be, when the contest is over, and the last enemy, death, is destroyed.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. liv. 1, 2
Or thus: Having said that whosoever committeth sin, is the servant of sin, He anticipates the answer that their sacrifices saved them, by saying, The servant abideth not in the house for ever, but the Son abideth ever. The house, He says, meaning the Father’s house on high; in which, to draw a comparison from the world, He Himself had all the power, just as a man has all the power in his own house. Abideth not, means, has not the power of giving; which the Son, who is the master of the house, has. The priests of the old law had not the power of remitting sins by the sacraments of the law; for all were sinners. Even the priests, who, as the Apostle says, were obliged to offer up sacrifices for themselves. But the Son has this power; and therefore our Lord concludes: If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed; implying that that earthly freedom, of which men boasted so much, was not true freedom.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xli. 8
Do not then abuse your freedom, for the purpose of sinning freely; but use it in order not to sin at all. Your will will be free, if it be merciful: you will be free, if you become the servant of righteousness.
The Latin text
Augustinus in Ioannem
Voluit dominus in profundum fundare fidem eorum qui crediderant, ut non superficie tenus crederent; et ideo dicitur dicebat ergo Iesus ad eos qui crediderunt ei Iudaeos: si vos manseritis in sermone meo, vere discipuli mei eritis. Per hoc quod dicit si manseritis, ostendit ea quae in eorum corde erant: sciebat enim quoniam crediderunt quidam, sed non manserunt: et magnum quid eis promittit, scilicet vere discipulos eius fieri: in quo occulte tangit quosdam qui prius ab ipso recesserant: et illi eum audierunt et crediderunt, et recesserunt, quia non permanserunt
Augustinus de Verb. Dom
Omnes autem nos unum magistrum habemus, et sub illo condiscipuli sumus. Nec ideo magistri sumus, quia de loco superiore loquimur: sed magister est omnium qui habitat in omnibus nobis. Ad discipulum autem parum est accedere; sed oportet manere nos in illo: et si in illo non manserimus, cademus. Breve opus, breve verbo, magnum opere, si manseritis. Quid enim est in verbis Dei manere, nisi nullis tentationibus cedere? Si labor non est, gratis accipis praemium; si labor est, attende magnum praemium. Et cognoscetis veritatem
Augustinus in Ioannem
Quasi dicat: quia nunc credentes estis, manendo, videntes eritis. Non enim quia cognoverunt crediderunt; sed ut cognoscerent crediderunt. Quid enim est fides, nisi credere quod non vides; veritas quod credidisti, videre? Si ergo permaneatur in eo quod creditur, pervenitur ad id quod videtur, ut scilicet contemplemur ipsam veritatem sicuti est, non per verba sonantia, sed per lucem splendentem. Veritas incommutabilis est, panis est mentis; reficit, nec deficit; mutat vescentem, non ipsa in vescentem mutatur. Ipsa autem veritas verbum Dei est: haec veritas carne induta est propter nos: latebat in carne, non ut negaretur, sed ut differretur; ut in carne pateretur, ut caro peccati redimeretur
Chrysostomus in Ioannem
Vel cognoscetis veritatem, hoc est me: ego enim sum veritas. Iudaica quidem omnia typus erant, veritatem autem a me scitis
Augustinus de Verb. Dom
Forte aliquis dicet: et quid mihi prodest cognoscere veritatem? Et ideo subiungit et veritas liberabit vos; quasi dicat: si non delectat veritas, delectet libertas. Liberari enim proprie dicitur liberum fieri, quomodo sanari sanum fieri. Hoc in verbo Graeco planius est: nam in consuetudine Latina maxime in eo consuevimus audire hoc verbum, ut quicumque liberatur intelligatur pericula evadere, molestiis carere
Theophylactus
Sicut autem supra infidelibus ait: in peccatis vestris moriemini, sic manentibus in fide, absolutionem annuntiat peccatorum
Augustinus de Trin
Unde etiam veritas liberabit, nisi a morte, a corruptione, a mutabilitate? Veritas quippe immortalis, incorrupta, incommutabilis permanet. Vera autem incommutabilitas est ipsa aeternitas
Chrysostomus
Eorum autem qui crediderant, erat etiam increpationes sufferre; sed hi statim saeviunt. Si autem oportebat eos turbari in priori, convenientius erat ut turbarentur in hoc, scilicet quod dixit cognoscetis veritatem, ut dicerent: nunc ergo veritatem nescimus; lex igitur mendacium est, et cognitio nostra? Sed nullius horum eis cura erat; sed de mundanis rebus dolent: non enim aliam servitutem noverant nisi mundanam; unde sequitur responderunt ei Iudaei: semen Abrahae sumus, et nemini servivimus unquam; quomodo tu dicis: liberi eritis? Quasi dicant: eos qui de genere sunt Abrahae, qui sunt ingenui, non oportebat servos vocare: nunquam enim servivimus
Augustinus in Ioannem
Vel hoc responderunt, non illi qui iam crediderant, sed qui in turba erant nondum credentes. Hoc autem ipsum nemini servivimus unquam, secundum huius temporis libertatem, quomodo verum dixisti? Ioseph non est venumdatus? Prophetae sancti in captivitatem non sunt ducti? O ingrati, quid est quod vobis assidue imputat Deus, quod vos de domo servitutis liberavit, si nemini servistis? Vos autem qui loquimini, quomodo solvebatis tributa Romanis, si nemini unquam servistis?
Chrysostomus
Quia vero non ad vanam gloriam erant quae dicebantur a Christo, sed ad salutem, non voluit ostendere eos servos esse hominum, sed peccati: quae difficillima servitus est, a qua solus Deus eripere potest; unde sequitur respondit eis Iesus: amen, amen, dico vobis, quia omnis qui facit peccatum, servus est peccati
Augustinus
Multum commendat quod sic pronuntiat: quodammodo, si dici fas est, iuratio eius est: amen quippe interpretatur verum, et tamen non est interpretatum, nec Graecus hoc interpres ausus est facere, vel Latinus. Nam hoc verbum amen Hebraeum est: non est autem interpretatum, ut honorem haberet velamento secreti: non ut esset ligatum, sed ne vilesceret nudatum. Iam quantum hoc commendatum sit, ex ipsa geminatione cognoscite. Verum dico vobis. Veritas dicit; quae utique etsi non diceret: verum dico, mentiri omnino non posset; tamen inculcat, dormientes quodammodo excitat: contemni non vult quod dicit. Omnis, inquit, Iudaeus, Graecus, dives, pauper, imperator et mendicus, si facit peccatum, servus est peccati
Gregorius Moralium
Quia quisquis se pravo desiderio subicit, iniquitatis domino dudum libera mentis colla supponit. Sed huic domino contradicimus, cum iniquitati, quae nos ceperat, reluctamur: cum consuetudini violenter resistimus; cum culpam poenitendo percutimus et maculas sordium lacrymis lavamus
Gregorius Moralium
Quanto autem aliqui liberius peragunt perversa quae volunt, tanto eius servitio obnoxius obligantur
Augustinus
O miserabilis servitus. Servus hominis aliquando sui domini duris imperiis fatigatus, fugiendo requiescit: servus peccati quo fugit? Secum trahit quocumque fugerit: peccatum enim quod facit intus est; voluptas transit, peccatum non transit: praeteriit quod delectabat, remansit quod pungat. Solus de peccato liberare potest qui venit sine peccato, et factus est sacrificium pro peccato; nam sequitur servus autem non manet in domo in aeternum. Ecclesia est domus, servus peccator est: multi intrant in Ecclesiam peccatores. Non ergo dixit servus non est in domo, sed non manet in domo in aeternum. Si ergo nullus ibi servus erit, quis ibi erit? Quis gloriabitur mundum se esse a peccato? Multum nos terruit; sed adiungit filius autem manet in aeternum. Ergo solus in domo sua erit Christus. An forte in hoc quod dicit filius, caput et corpus est? Non enim sine causa terruit et spem dedit; terruit, ne peccatum amaremus; spem dedit, ne de peccati absolutione diffideremus. Haec est ergo spes nostra ut a libero liberemur: ipse enim pretium dedit, non argentum, sed sanguinem suum; et propter hoc subditur si ergo filius vos liberaverit, vere liberi eritis
Augustinus de Verb. Dom
Non a barbaris, sed a Diabolo; non a corporis captivitate, sed ab animae iniquitate
Augustinus in Ioannem
Prima libertas est carere criminibus; sed ista inchoata est, non perfecta libertas: quia caro concupiscit adversus spiritum, ut non ea quae vultis faciatis. Libertas autem plena atque perfecta est quando nullae erunt inimicitiae, quando novissima inimica mors destruetur
Chrysostomus in Ioannem
Vel aliter. Quia dixerat qui facit peccatum, servus est peccati, ne praecurrant et dicant: immolationes habemus, illae nos eripere possunt; propterea induxit servus non manet in domo in aeternum. Filius manet in aeternum. Domus mentionem facit, patris principatum domum nominans, ostendens ex translatione humanorum, quoniam sicut dominus in domo, ita ipse omnium potestatem habet: hoc enim quod dicit non manet, significat: non habet potestatem donandi; sed filius, qui est dominus domus, habet. Et ideo sacerdotes veteris legis non habebant potestatem per sacramenta legalia peccata dimittere: omnes enim peccaverunt, etiam sacerdotes, qui pro seipsis, ut dicit apostolus, necesse habebant sacrificia offerre; sed filius hanc habet potestatem; unde concludit si ergo filius vos liberaverit, vere liberi eritis: ostendens quod mundana libertas, de qua gloriabantur, non est vera libertas
Augustinus
Noli ergo libertate abuti ad libere peccandum; sed utere ad non peccandum: erit enim voluntas tua libera, si fuerit pia; eris liber, si fueris servus iustitiae
8:37
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xlii. 1
The Jews had asserted they were free, because they were Abraham’s seed. Our Lord replies, I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; as if to say, I know that ye are the sons of Abraham, but according to the flesh, not spiritually and by faith. So He adds, But ye seek to kill Me.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. liv. 2
He says this, that they might not attempt to answer, that they had no sin. He reminds them of a present sin; a sin which they had been meditating for some time past, and which was actually at this moment in their thoughts: putting out of the question their general course of life. He thus removes them by degrees out of their relationship to Abraham, teaching them not to pride themselves so much upon it: for that, as bondage and freedom were the consequences of works, so was relationship. And that they might not say, We do so justly, He adds the reason why they did so; Because My word hath no place in you.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xlii. 1
That is, hath not place in your heartc, because your heart does not take it in. The word of God to the believing, is like the hook to the fish; it takes when it is taken: and that not to the injury of those who are caught by it. They are caught for their salvation, not for their destruction.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. liv. 2
He does not say, Ye do not take in My word, but My word has not room in you; shewing the depth of His doctrines. But they might say; What if thou speakest of thyself? So He adds, I speak that which I have seen of My Father; for I have not only the Father’s substance, but His truth.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xlii. 11
Our Lord by His Father wishes us to understand God: as if to say, I have seen the truth, I speak the truth, because I am the truth. If our Lord then speaks the truth which He saw with the Father, it is Himself that He saw, Himself that He speaks; He being Himself the truth of the Father.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xx. in Joan. s. 7.
This is proof that our Saviour was witness to what was done with the Father: whereas men, to whom the revelation is made, were not witnesses.
Theophylact † 1107
But when you hear, I speak that which I have seen, do not think it means bodily vision, but innate knowledge, sure, and approved. For as the eyes when they see an object, see it wholly and correctly; so I speak with certainty what I know from My Father. And ye do that which ye have seen with your father.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xx. 13.
As yet He has not named their father; He mentioned Abraham indeed a little above, but now He is going to mention another father, viz. the devil: whose sons they were, in so far as they were wicked, not as being men. Our Lord is reproaching them for their evil deeds.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407
Another reading has, And1 do ye do that which ye have seen with your father; as if to say, As I both in word and deed declare unto you the Father, so do ye by your works shew forth Abraham.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xx. 7.
Also another reading has; And do ye do what ye have heard from the Father. All that was written in the Law and the Prophets they had heard from the Father. He who takes this reading, may use it to prove against them who hold otherwise, that the God who gave the Law and the Prophets, was none other than Christ’s Father.d And we use it too as an answer to those who maintain two original natures in men, and explain the words, My word hath no place in you, (c. 8) to mean that these were by nature incapable of receiving the word. How could those be of an incapable nature, who had heard from the Fathere? And how again could they be of a blessed nature, who sought to kill our Saviour, and would not receive His words. They answered and said unto Him, Abraham is our father. This answer of the Jews is a great falling off from our Lord’s meaning. He had referred to God, but they take Father in the sense of the father of their nature, Abraham.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xlii. s. 3
As if to say, What art thou going to say against Abraham? They seem to be inviting Him to say something in disparagement of Abraham; and so to give them an opportunity of executing their purpose.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xx. 9.
Our Saviour denies that Abraham is their father: Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xlii. 4
And yet He says above, I know that ye are Abraham’s seed. So He does not deny their origin, but condemns their deeds. Their flesh was from him; their life was not.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xx. 2. et sq.
Or we may explain the difficulty thus. Above it is in the Greek, I know that ye are Abraham’s seed. So let us examine whether there is not a difference between a bodily seed and a child. It is evident that a seed contains in itself all the proportions of him whose seed it is, as yet however dormant, and waiting to be developed; when the seed first has changed and moulded the material it meets with in the woman, derived nourishment from thence and gone through a process in the womb, it becomes a child, the likeness of its begetter. So then a child is formed from the seed: but the seed is not necessarily a child. Now with reference to those who are from their works judged to be the seed of Abraham, may we not conceive that they are so from certain seminal proportions implanted in their souls? All men are not the seed of Abraham, for all have not these proportions implanted in their souls. But he who is the seed of Abraham, has yet to become his child by likeness. And it is possible for him by negligence and indolence even to cease to be the seed. But those to whom these words were addressed, were not yet cut off from hope: and therefore Jesus acknowledged that they were as yet the seed of Abraham, and had still the power of becoming children of Abraham. So He says, If ye are the children of Abraham, do the works of Abraham. If as the seed of Abraham, they had attained to their proper sign and growth, they would have taken in our Lord’s words. But not having grown to be children, they cared not; but wish to kill the Word, and as it were break it in pieces, since it was too great for them to take in. If any of you then be the seed of Abraham, and as yet do not take in the word of God, let him not seek to kill the word; but rather change himself into being a son of Abraham, and then he will be able to take in the Son of God. Some select one of the works of Abraham, viz. that in Genesis, And Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. (Gen. 15:6) But even granting to them that faith is a work, if this were so, why was it not, Do the work of Abraham: using the singular number, instead of the plural? The expression as it stands is, I think, equivalent to saying, Do all the works of Abraham: i. e. in the spiritual sense, interpreting Abraham’s history allegorically. For it is not incumbent on one, who would be a son of Abraham, to many his maidservants, or after his wife’s death, to marry another in his old age. But now ye seek to kill Me, a man that hath told you the truth.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. liv. 2
This truth, that is, that He was equal to the Father: for it was this that moved the Jews to kill Him. To shew, however, that this doctrine is not opposed to the Father, He adds, Which I have heard from God.
Alcuin † AD 804
Because He Himself, Who is the truth, was begotten of God the Father, to hear, being in fact the same with to be from the Father.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xx. 11.
To kill Me, He says, a man. I say nothing now of the Son of God, nothing of the Word, because the Word cannot die; I speak only of that which ye see. It is in your power to kill that which you see, and offend Him Whom ye see not. This did not Abraham.
Alcuin † AD 804
As if to say, By this you prove that you are not the sons of Abraham; that you do works contrary to those of Abraham.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xx. 12.
It might seem to some, that it were superfluous to say that Abraham did not this; for it were impossible that it should be; Christ was not born at that time. But we may remind them, that in Abraham’s time there was a man born who spoke the truth, which he heard from God, and that this man’s life was not sought for by Abraham. Know too that the Saints were never without the spiritual advent of Christ. I understand then from this passage, that every one who, after regeneration, and other divine graces bestowed upon him, commits sin, does by this return to evil incur the guilt of crucifying the Son of God, which Abraham did not do. Ye do the works of your father.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xlii. 6
He does not say as yet who is their father.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. liv. 2
Our Lord says this with a view to put down their vain boasting of their descent; and persuade them to vest their hopes of salvation no longer on the natural relationship, but on the adoption. For this it was which prevented them from coming to Christ; viz. their thinking that their relationship to Abraham was sufficient for their salvation.
The Latin text
Augustinus in Ioannem
Iudaei se liberos dixerant, quia semen erant Abrahae. Quid ergo dominus ad hoc responderit subditur scio quia filii Abrahae estis; quasi dicat: agnosco vos quia filii estis Abrahae carnis origine, non cordis fide; et ideo subdit sed quaeritis me interficere
Chrysostomus in Ioannem
Hoc enim addidit ut non dicant: peccatum non habemus. Dimittens enim omnem eorum vitam redarguere, hoc quod prae manibus erat, quod adhuc agere volebant, ducit in medium. Paulatim enim eos a cognatione illa removit, erudiens in hoc non magna sapere. Sicut enim libertas et servitus est ab operibus, ita et cognatio. Sed ne dicerent: hoc iuste agimus, subiungit causam, dicens quia sermo meus non capit in vobis
Augustinus
Idest, non capit cor vestrum, quia non recipitur a corde vestro. Sic est enim sermo Dei fidelibus tamquam pisci hamus: tunc capit quando capitur; nec fit iniuria illis qui capiuntur: ad salutem quippe, non ad perniciem capiuntur
Chrysostomus
Et non dixit: non capitis meum sermonem; sed non capit meus sermo in vobis, altitudinem suorum dogmatum ostendens. Sed possent dicere: quid si a teipso loqueris? Propter hoc inducit subdens ego quod vidi apud patrem meum, loquor: non enim solum eamdem substantiam, sed eamdem veritatem habeo patris
Augustinus
Dominus autem patrem suum Deum vult intelligi; quasi dicat: veritatem vidi, veritatem loquor, quia veritas sum. Si ergo dominus veritatem loquitur quam vidit apud patrem, se vidit, se loquitur, quia ipse est veritas patris
Origenes in Ioannem
Manifestat autem haec auctoritas salvatorem fuisse visorem eorum quae sunt apud patrem; cum tamen homines, quibus revelatio fit, visores non sint
Theophylactus
Cum vero audis quod vidi loquor, nequaquam corporalem visionem intelligas, sed naturalem notitiam veram et approbatam. Sicut enim oculi videntes, integre aliquid et vere prospiciunt, nec falluntur; sic ego veraciter ea loquor quae cognovi a patre meo. Sequitur et vos quod vidistis apud patrem vestrum facitis
Origenes
Adhuc non nominat patrem ipsorum. Paulo superius Abraham commemoravit; sed dicturus est alterum patrem eorum, scilicet Diabolum, cuius filii erant, inquantum mali erant, non inquantum homines erant. Malum ergo quod faciunt, dominus eis obiurgat et corripit
Chrysostomus
Alia littera habet: et vos quae vidistis apud patrem vestrum, facite; quasi dicat: sicut ego verbis et veritate ostendo patrem, ita et vos a rebus ostendite Abraham
Origenes
Item alia littera habet: et vos quae audistis a patre, facite. Audierant enim a patre ea quae in lege et prophetis scripta sunt. Qui autem hoc verbo contra eos qui alterius opinionis sunt, fuerit usus, ostendit quod non alius Deus est qui legem dedit et prophetas, et Christi pater. Quaeramus etiam ab inferentibus duas naturas, dicentes: a patre quidem audivisse alienos, inconveniens est. Si autem proprii salvatoris erant, et beatae naturae, qualiter quaerebant illum occidere, et salvatoris sermonem non capiebant? Illi autem longe molestius acceperunt quam protulerit dominus, quis eorum esset pater: nam eum qui multarum gentium pater est, fatentur sui fore patrem; unde sequitur responderunt et dixerunt: pater noster Abraham est
Augustinus
Quasi dicant: quid tu dicturus es contra Abraham? Videbantur enim eum provocare ut aliquid mali diceret de Abraham, et esset eis occasio faciendi quod cogitabant
Origenes
Sed et hoc ipsum salvator interimit tamquam falso dictum; unde subditur dicit eis Iesus: si filii Abrahae estis, opera Abrahae facite
Augustinus
Et tamen superius ait: scio quia filii Abrahae estis; unde non negavit eorum originem, sed facta condemnat. Caro eorum ex illo erat, sed vita non erat
Origenes
Vel dicendum, quod supra in Graeco habetur: scio quod semen Abrahae estis. Ut ergo haec pateant, videamus primo corporalis seminis et filii differentiam. Manifestum enim est quod semen in seipso habet rationes eius cuius est semen, adhuc manentes et pausantes; filius vero, transmutato semine, et agente in appositam sibi materiam a muliere, per superinducta nutrimenta similitudinem accipit generantis: et quantum ad corporalia si aliquis est filius alicuius, subsistit ex semine; si vero aliquod est semen, non omnino filius efficitur. Quoniam autem ex operibus iudicantur aliqui semen Abrahae, videndum est ne forte ex aliquibus seminalibus rationibus, infusis quibusdam animabus, oporteat imaginari eos qui semen sunt Abrahae. Non omnes igitur homines semen sunt Abrahae: neque enim omnes habent huiusmodi rationes consitas in eorum animabus. Oportet igitur eum qui Abrahae semen est, eius fieri per similitudinem et filium. Possibile vero est ex negligentia et otio destruere hoc quod est eius semen. Hi autem ad quos sermo erat, adhuc in spe erant: unde sciebat Iesus quod adhuc semen erant Abrahae, et nondum peremerant possibilitatem fiendi filii Abrahae: propter quod eis dicit si filii Abrahae estis, opera Abrahae facite. Si autem super hoc quod erant semen Abrahae, ad augmentum magnitudinis adolevissent, verbum Iesu caperent. Sed quia non accesserant ad hoc quod essent filii, verbum non capiunt, sed interficere volunt verbum, et quasi confringere, non capientes magnitudinem eius. Si igitur aliquis vestrum semen est Abrahae, et adhuc verbum Dei non capit, non quaerat interficere verbum; sed transmutet se ad hoc quod sit filius Abrahae, et tunc poterit capere filium Dei. Quidam autem unum ex operibus eligunt Abrahae, illud scilicet: credidit Abraham Deo, et reputatum est illi ad iustitiam. Ut autem concedatur eis quod fides sit opus, cur non dictum est singulariter: opus Abrahae facite, sed pluraliter? Puto enim quod hoc dictum aequipollet ei quod est: cuncta opera Abrahae facite; ut tamen ex historia Abrahae allegorice sumpta opera eius spiritualiter prosequamur. Neque enim oportet eum qui vult esse filius Abrahae, adire ancillarum coniugia, nec post obitum coniugis in senectute aliam ducere coniugem. Sequitur nunc autem quaeritis me interficere, hominem qui veritatem locutus sum vobis
Chrysostomus
Hanc scilicet veritatem, quod est patri aequalis; propter hoc enim Iudaei quaerebant eum interficere. Et ut ostendat quod hoc non est contrarium patri, subdit quam audivi a Deo
Alcuinus
Quia ipse qui est veritas, a Deo patre genitus erat: audire enim nihil aliud est quam esse a patre
Origenes
Occidere me, inquit, hominem. Interim non dico filium Dei; non dico verbum, quia non moritur verbum; hoc dico, quod videtis, quia quod videtis potestis occidere, et quem non videtis, offendere. Sequitur hoc Abraham non fecit
Alcuinus
Quasi dicat: in hoc probatis vos non esse filios Abrahae, quia facitis opera contraria operibus Abrahae
Origenes
Sed diceret ad hoc quidam, quoniam superflue dictum est hoc, quod non fecerit Abraham quod suis temporibus non contingebat fieri: non enim in suis diebus natus erat Christus. Sed dicendum, quod in temporibus Abrahae natus fuerat homo, qui quam audierat a domino veritatem, dicebat; non tamen quaesitus est ab Abraham, ut eum occideret. Et scias quod spiritualis adventus Iesu nullo tempore defuit sanctis. Ex hoc igitur comprehendo, omnem hominem, qui post regenerationem et ceteras apud se factas divinitus gratias, peccat, denuo crucifigere Dei filium propriis reatibus, in quos rediit; sed hoc Abraham non fecit. Sequitur vos facitis opera patris vestri
Augustinus
Adhuc non dicit quis est iste pater eorum
Chrysostomus
Dicit autem hoc dominus, volens eis auferre superfluam gloriam de cognatione, et suadere eis ut non ultra spem salutis habeant in cognatione naturali, sed in ea quae est secundum adoptionem: hoc enim eos prohibebat venire ad Christum, quia aestimabant cognationem Abrahae sibi sufficere ad salutem
8:41
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xlii. 7.
The Jews had begun to understand that our Lord was not speaking of sonship according to the flesh, but of manner of life. Scripture often speaks of spiritual fornication, with many gods, and of the soul being prostituted, as it were, by paying worship to false gods. This explains what follows: Then said they to Him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
Theophylact † 1107
As if their motive against Him was a desire to avenge God’s honour.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xx. 14.
Or their sonship to Abraham having been disproved, they reply by bitterly insinuating, that our Saviour was the offspring of adultery. But perhaps the tone of the answer is disputatious, more than any thing else. For whereas they have said shortly before, We have Abraham for our father, and had been told in reply, If ye are Abraham’s children, do the works of Abraham; they declare in return that they have a greater Father than Abraham, i. e. God; and that they were not derived from fornication. For the devil, who has no power of creating any thing from himself, (qui nihil facit ex se) begets not from a spouse, but a harlot, i. e. matter, those who give themselves up to carnal things, that is, cleave to matter.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. liv. 3
But what say ye? Have ye God for your Father, and do ye blame Christ for speaking thus? Yet true it was, that many of them were born of fornication, for people then used to form unlawful connexions. But this is not the thing our Lord has in view. He is bent on proving that they are not from God. Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love Me: for I proceeded forth and came from God.
St Hilary † AD 367 vi. de Trin. c. 30
It was not that the Son of God condemned the assumption of so religious a name; that is, condemned them for professing to be the sons of God, and calling God their Father; but that He blamed the rash presumption of the Jews in claiming God for their Father, when they did not love the Son. For I proceeded forth, and came from God. To proceed forth, is not the same with to come. When our Lord says that those who called God their Father, ought to love Him, because He came forth from God, He means that His being born of God was the reason why He should be loved: the proceeding forth, having reference to His incorporeal birth. Their claim to be the sons of God, was to be made good by their loving Christ, Who was begotten from God. For a true worshipper of God the Father must love the Son, as being from Godf. And he only can love the Father, who believes that the Son is from Him.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xlii. 8
This then is the eternal procession, the proceeding forth of the Word from God: from Him It proceeded as the Word of the Father, and came to us: The Word was made flesh. (c. 1:14) His advent is His humanity: His staying, His divinity. Ye call God your Father; acknowledge Me at least to be a brother.
St Hilary † AD 367 lib. v. ibid.
In what follows, He teaches that His origin is not in Himself; Neither came I of Myself, but He sent Me.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xx. 15.
This was said, I think, in allusion to some who came without being sent by the Father, of whom it is said in Jeremiah, I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. (Jer. 23:21) Some, however, use this passage1 to prove the existence of two naturesg. To these we may reply, Paul hated Jesus when he persecuted the Church of God, at the time, viz. that our Lord said, Why persecutest thou Me? Now if it is true, as is here said, If God were your Father, ye would love Me; (Acts 9:4) the converse is true, If ye do not love Me, God is not your Father. And Paul for some time did not love Jesus. There was a time when God was not Paul’s father. Paul therefore was not by nature the son of God, but afterwards was made so. And when does God become any one’s Father, except when he keeps His commandments?
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. liv. 3
And because they were ever enquiring, What is this which He saith, Whither I go ye cannot come? He adds here, Why do ye not understand My speech? even because ye cannot hear My word.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xlii. 9
And they could not hear, because they would not believe, and amend their lives.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xx. 18. [Nic.]
First then, that virtue must be sought after, which hears the divine word; that by degrees we may be strong enough to embrace the whole teaching of Jesus. For so long as a man has not had his hearing restored by the Word, which says to the deaf ear, Be opened: (Mark 7:34) so long he cannot hear.
The Latin text
Augustinus in Ioannem
Coeperant Iudaei utrumque cognoscere: quia non de carnis generatione loqueretur dominus, sed de vitae institutione. Consuetudo autem Scripturarum est fornicationem spiritualiter appellare, cum diis multis et falsis anima tamquam prostituta subicitur; unde dicitur dixerunt itaque ei: nos ex fornicatione non sumus nati, unum patrem habemus Deum
Theophylactus
Quasi responderent, quod Dei quaererent ultionem; et ideo adversus eum consiliarentur
Origenes in Ioannem
Vel aliter. Quia redarguti sunt non esse filii Abrahae, atrocius respondent, latenter designantes, ex adulterio productum fore salvatorem. Sed magis mihi videtur quod conrixando responderunt. Cum enim prius dixissent: pater noster Abraham est, et audissent: si filii Abrahae estis, opera Abrahae facite, fatentur se habere maiorem patrem quam Abraham, scilicet Deum, et non ex fornicatione sumpsisse exordium. Non enim ex sponsa, sed ex meretrice, seu materia, Daemon, qui nihil facit ex se, producit eos qui carnalibus usi inhaerent materiae
Chrysostomus in Ioannem
Sed quid dicitis vos? Patrem habetis Deum, et Christum incusatis haec dicentem? Et nimirum ex fornicatione multi eorum nati erant; etenim illicitas commixtiones faciebant; non tamen hoc redarguit; sed instat, ut ostendat quod non sunt ex Deo; unde sequitur dixit ergo eis Iesus: si Deus pater vester esset, diligeretis utique me: ego enim ex Deo processi et veni
Hilarius de Trin
Religiosi nominis assumptionem Dei filius in his qui se Dei filios confitentes, patrem sibi Deum dicerent, non improbavit; sed temerariam Iudaeorum usurpationem patrem sibi Deum praesumentium, per id quod se non diligerent, obiurgat. Non utique dici potest idipsum esse ex Deo exire, quod venisse. Sed cum ab his qui sibi Deum patrem dicerent, idcirco se diligendum ait, quia ex Deo exiisset; causam dilectionis ex causa docuit esse nascendi. Exiisse enim ad incorporalis nativitatis retulit nomen: quia religio profitendi sibi patrem Deum, ex dilectione Christi, qui ex eo genitus est, merenda sit. Nec enim in Deum patrem fit religiosus qui non diligit filium, cum diligendi filii non alia causa sit quam quod ex Deo sit. Ex Deo igitur filius est, non adventu, sed nativitate. Dilectio autem in patrem hinc erit omnis, si filius ex eo esse credatur
Augustinus
Sic ergo, quod de Deo processit verbum, aeterna processio est: ab illo enim processit ut verbum patris, et venit ad nos, quia verbum caro factum est. Adventus eius, humanitas eius; mansio eius, divinitas eius. Dicitis Deum patrem, cognoscite me vel fratrem
Hilarius
Non esse autem a se sibi originem docuit, cum subdit neque enim a meipso veni, sed ille me misit
Origenes
Haec arbitror dici propter quosdam per se venientes, et non missos a patre, de quibus in Ieremia dicitur: non mittebam eos, et ipsi currebant. Quoniam autem qui duas naturas ingerunt, utuntur hoc verbo, obiciendum est contra illos. Paulus enim odiebat Iesum cum persequeretur Ecclesiam Dei; unde dominus ad eum: quare me persequeris? Si ergo verum est quod hic dicitur si Deus pater vester esset, diligeretis me, palam est quoniam et recte convertitur: si non diligeretis, nequaquam Deus pater vester esset. Paulus autem aliquo tempore non diligebat Iesum: fuit ergo tempus quo Deus pater Pauli non extitit. Non igitur natura Paulus Dei filius fuit, sed postmodum Dei filius factus est. Quando vero Deus alicuius fit pater, nisi quando mandata eius custodit?
Chrysostomus
Quia vero semper quaerebant dicentes: quid est hoc quod dicit: quo ego vado, vos non potestis venire? Propterea subdit quare loquelam meam non cognoscitis? Quia non potestis audire sermonem meum
Augustinus in Ioannem
Ideo autem audire non poterant, quia corrigi credendo nolebant
Chrysostomus
Primo igitur captanda est virtus quae verbum divinum exaudiat, ut deinceps validi sistamus ad percipiendam totam locutionem Iesu: quoniam quamdiu quis curatus non est in auditu proprio, a verbo quod dicit surdo: aperiaris, auditu percipere nequit
8:44
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. liv. 3
Our Lord, having already cut off the Jews from relationship to Abraham, overthrows now this far greater claim, to call God their Father, Ye are of your father the devil.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xlii. 10
Here we must guard against the heresy of the Manichæans, who hold a certain original nature of evil, and a nation of darkness with princes at their head, whence the devil derives his existence. And thence they say our flesh is produced; and in this way interpret our Lord’s speech, Ye are of your father the devil: viz. to mean that they were by nature evil, drawing their origin from the opposite seed of darkness.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xx.
And this seems to be the same mistake, as if one said, that an eye which saw right was different in kind from an eye which saw wrong. For just as in these there is no difference of kind, only one of them for some reason sees wrong; so, in the other case, whether a man receives a doctrine, or whether he does not, he is of the same nature.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xlii. 11
The Jews then were children of the devil by imitation, not by birth: And the lusts of your father ye will do, our Lord says. Ye are his children then, because ye have such lusts, not because ye are born of him: for ye seek to kill Me, a man that hath told you the truth: and he envied man, and killed him: he was a murderer from the beginning; i. e. of the first man on whom a murder could be committed: man could not be slain, before man was created. The devil did not go, girt with a sword, against man: he sowed an evil word, and slew him. Do not suppose therefore that you are not guilty of murder, when you suggest evil thoughts to your brother. The very reason why ye rage against the flesh, is that ye cannot assault the soul.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xx. 21.
Consider too; it was not one man only that he killed, but the whole human race, inasmuch as in Adam all die; so that he is truly called a murderer from the beginning.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. liv. 3
He does not say, his works, but his lusts ye will do, meaning that both the devil and the Jews were bent on murder, to satisfy their envy. And stood not in the truth. He shews whence sprang their continual objection to Him, that He was not from God.
St Augustine † AD 430 xi. de Civ. Dei, c. 13
But it will be objected perhaps, that if from the beginning of his existence, the devil stood not in the truth, he was never in a state of blessedness with the holy angels, refusing, as he did, to be subject to his Creator, and therefore false and deceitful; unwilling at the cost of pious subjection to hold that which by nature he was; and attempting in his pride and loftiness to simulate that which he was not. This opinion is not the same with that of the Manichæans, that the devil has his own peculiar nature, derived as it were from the opposite principle of evil. This foolish sect does not see that our Lord says not, Was alien from the truth, but Stood not in the truth, meaning, fell from the truth. And thus they interpret John, The devil sinneth from the beginning, (1 John 3:8) not seeing that if sin is natural, it is no sin. But what do the testimonies of the prophets reply? Isaiah, setting forth the devil under the figure of the prince of Babylon, says, How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! (Ezek. 28:13) Ezekiel says, Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God. Which passages, as they cannot be interpreted in any other way, shew that we must take the word, He stood not in the truth, to mean, that he was in truth, but did not remain in it; and the other, that the devil sinneth from the beginning, to mean, that he was a sinner not from the beginning of his creation, but from the beginning of sin. For sin began in him, and he was the beginning of sin.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xx. 22.
There is only one way of standing in the truth; many and various of not standing in it. Some try to stand in the truth, but their feet tremble and shake so, they cannot. Others are not come to that pass, but are in danger of it, as we read in the Psalms, My feet were almost gone: (Ps. 72) others fall from it. Because the truth is not in him, is the reason why the devil did not stand in the truth. He imagined vain things, and deceived himself; wherein He was so far worse than others, in that, while others are deceived by him, he was the author of his own deception. But farther; does the truth is not in him, mean that he holds no true doctrine, and that every thing he thinks is false; or that he is not a member of Christ, who says, I am the truth? (c. 14:6) Now it is impossible that any rational being should think falsely on every subject and never be even ever so slightly right in opinion. The devil therefore may hold a true doctrine, by the mere law of his rational nature: and therefore his nature is not contrary to truth, i. e. does not consist of simple error and ignorance; otherwise he could never have known the truth.
St Augustine † AD 430 xi. de Civ. Dei, c. xiv
Or when our Lord says, The truth is not in him, He intends it as an index: as if we had asked Him, how it appeared that the devil stood not in the truth; and He said, Because the truth is not in him. For it would be in him, if he stood in it. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xlii. s. 12, 13
Some have thought from these words that the devil had a father, and asked who was the father of the devil. This is the error of the Manichæans. But our Lord calls the devil the father of a lie for this reason: Every one who lies is not the father of his own lie; for you may tell a lie, which you have received from another; in which case you have lied, but are not the father of the lie. But the lie wherewith, as with a serpent’s bite, the devil slew man. had no source but himself: and therefore he is the father a lie, as God is the Father of the truth.
Theophylact † 1107
For he accused God to man, saying to Eve, But of envy He hath forbidden you the tree: and to God he accused man, as in Job, Doth Job serve God for nought? (Job 1:9)
Origen † AD 253 tom. xx. 23.
Note however; this word, liar, is applied to man, as well as to the devil, who begat a lie, as we read in the Psalm, All men are liars. (Ps. 111) If a man is not a liar, he is not an ordinary man, but one of those, to whom it is said, I have said, Ye are Gods. (Ps. 81) When a man speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; but the Holy Spirit speaketh the word of truth and wisdom; as he said below, He shall receive of Mine, and shall shew it unto you. (c. 16:15)
St Augustine † AD 430 de Quæst. Nov. et Vet. Test. 2, 90
Or thus: The devil is not a singular, but a common name. In whomsoever the works of the devil are found, he is to be called the devil. It is the name of a work, not of a nature. Here then our Lord means by the father of the Jews, Cain; whom they wished to imitate, by killing the Saviour: for he it was who set the first example of murdering a brother. That he spoke a lie of his own, means that no one sins but by his own will. And inasmuch as Cain imitated the devil, and followed his works, the devil is said to be his father.
Alcuin † AD 804
Our Lord being the truth, and the Son of the true God, spoke the truth; but the Jews, being the sons of the devil, were averse to the truth; and this is why our Lord says, Because I tell you the truth, ye believe not.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xx. 24.
But how is this said to the Jews who believed on Him? Consider: a man may believe in one sense, not believe in another; e. g. that our Lord was crucified by Pontius Pilate, but not that He was born of the Virgin Mary. In this same way, those whom He is speaking to, believed in Him as a worker of miracles, which they saw Him to be; but did not believe in His doctrines, which were too deep for them.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. liv. s. 3
Ye wish to kill Me then, because ye are enemies of the truth, not that ye have any fault to find in Me: for, which of you convinceth Me of sin?
Theophylact † 1107
As if to say: If ye are the sons of God, ye ought to hold sinners in hatred. If ye hate Me, when ye cannot convince Me of sin, it is evident that ye hate Me because of the truth: i. e. because I said I was the Son of God.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xx. in Joan. s. 25.
A bold speech this; which none could have had the confidence to utter, but he Who did no sin; even our Lord.
St Gregory the Great † AD 604 Hom. xviii. in Evang.
Observe here the condescension of God. He who by virtue of His Divinity could justify sinners, deigns to shew from reason, that He is not a sinner. It follows: He that is of God heareth God’s words; ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xlii. 16
Apply this not to their nature, but to their faults. They both are from God, and are not from God at the same time; their nature is from God, their fault is not from God. This was spoken too to those, who were not only faulty, by reason of sin, in the way in which all are: but who it was foreknown would never possess such faith as would free them from the bonds of sin.
St Gregory the Great † AD 604 ut sup.
Let him then, who would understand God’s words, ask himself whether he hears them with the ears of his heart. For there are some who do not deign to hear God’s commands even with their bodily ears; and there are others who do this, but do not embrace them with their heart’s desire; and there are others again who receive God’s words readily, yea and are touched, even to tears: but who afterwards go back to their sins again; and therefore cannot be said to hear the word of God, because they neglect to practise it.
The Latin text
Chrysostomus in Ioannem
Exclusit Iudaeos dominus a cognatione Abraham; et quia maiora ausi sunt, ut scilicet patrem suum Deum dicerent, de reliquo percutit eos, dicens vos ex patre Diabolo estis
Augustinus in Ioannem
Hic iam cavenda est haeresis Manichaeorum, quae dicit esse quamdam naturam mali, et gentem quamdam tenebrarum cum principibus suis, unde Diabolus originem ducit; et hinc dicunt ducere originem carnem nostram; et secundum hoc putant dictum a domino vos ex patre Diabolo estis: quod essent illi velut natura mali, ducentes originem de gente contraria tenebrarum
Origenes in Ioannem
In hoc autem simile videntur incurrisse ei qui diceret alteram esse oculi videntis substantiam et alteram caligantis vel se avertentis: quemadmodum enim in his non differt substantia, sed quaedam contingit causa quae facit caligare; sic substantia eadem est, sive recipiat rationem, sive non
Augustinus
Iudaei ergo filii erant Diaboli imitando, non nascendo; unde sequitur et desideria patris vestri vultis facere. Ecce unde filii estis, quia talia desideratis, non quia de illo nati estis: quaeritis enim me occidere, hominem qui veritatem vobis dico: et ille invidit homini et occidit; unde sequitur ille homicida erat ab initio: utique in primo homine, in quo potuit fieri homicidium: non enim posset occidi homo, nisi prius fieret homo. Non ferro accinctus Diabolus ad hominem venit; verbum malum seminavit et occidit. Noli ergo putare non esse homicidium quando fratri tuo mala persuades. Vos autem ideo saevitis in carnem, quia non potestis in mentem
Origenes in Ioannem
Perpende autem, quod non propter aliquem singulariter tantum, sed pro toto genere quod peremit, inquantum in Adam cuncti moriuntur, et vere, dictus est ab initio homicida
Chrysostomus
Et non dixit: opera, sed desideria eius facitis, ostendens quoniam vehementer et ille et ipsi ab occisionibus possidentur: et quia continue eum accusabant quod non est a Deo, insinuat occulte quod hoc etiam eis ex Diabolo est; unde sequitur et in veritate non stetit
Augustinus de Civ. Dei
Forte autem aliquis dicet, quod ab initio suae conditionis in veritate non steterit; et ideo numquam beatus cum sanctis Angelis fuerit, suo recusans esse subditus creatori, ac per hoc falsus et fallax, quia pia subiectione noluit tenere quod naturae est, affectans per superbam elationem simulare quod non est. Huic sententiae quisquis acquiescit, non cum Manichaeis sapit, ut suam quamdam propriam, tamquam ex adverso quodam principio, Diabolus habeat naturam mali; qui tanta vanitate desipiunt, ut non attendant non dixisse dominum: a veritate alienus fuit; sed in veritate non stetit; ubi a veritate lapsum intelligi voluit. Illud etiam quod ait Ioannes: ab initio Diabolus peccat, hoc intelligunt, si naturale est, nullo modo esse peccatum. Sed quid respondetur propheticis testimoniis? Sive quod ait Isaias sub figurata persona principis Babyloniae Diabolum notans: quomodo cecidit Lucifer, qui mane oriebatur? Sive quod Ezechiel: in deliciis Paradisi Dei fuisti: quae si aliter convenientius intelligi nequeunt, oportet ut quod dictum est, in veritate non stetit, sic accipiamus, quod in veritate fuerit, sed non permanserit; et illud quod ab initio Diabolus peccat, non ab initio ex quo creatus est, peccare putandus est, sed ab initio peccati: coepit enim in ipso peccatum, et ipse initium peccati fuit
Origenes
Est autem uniforme quidem in veritate morari: varium autem ac multiforme, non morari in ea: quibusdam, ut ita dicam, trementibus gressibus et nitentibus sistere in eo, non tamen obtinere valentibus; quibusdam vero non passis illud, sed in periculo consistentibus, secundum illud: mihi autem paulisper commoti sunt pedes, et ceteris ab ea cadentibus. Causa igitur cur Diabolus veritatem non colat, subditur quia veritas non est in eo: scilicet quod vana suspicatur et seductus est ipse a seipso: in hoc deterior, quod illi quidem ab eo falluntur, is autem sibi ipsi deceptionis auctor existit. Sed oportet investigare quomodo dicitur, quod veritas in ipso non est: utrum quia nullam unquam veram habet doctrinam, sed cuncta quae opinatur, falsa sunt; vel quia Christi particeps non est, qui dixit: ego sum veritas. Impossibile autem est aliquam rationalem substantiam de cunctis opinari falso, et de nullo vel exiliter rectitudinem conspicere. Diabolus igitur saltem id vere capit dogma, considerando de se quod rationalis est. Non igitur eius natura consistit ex contrario veritatis, idest ex errore et ignavia: nunquam enim veritatem cognoscere posset
Augustinus de Civ. Dei
Vel cum dicit quia veritas in eo non est, subiecit indicium, quasi quaesissemus unde ostendatur quod in veritate non steterit, atque quia veritas non est in eo. Esset autem in eo, si in ipsa stetisset. Sequitur cum loquitur mendacium, ex propriis loquitur, quia mendax est et pater eius
Augustinus in Ioannem
In his verbis quidam Diabolum putaverunt patrem habere, et quaesierunt quis esset Diaboli pater. Hic est error Manichaeorum. Diabolum autem dominus dixit patrem mendacii: non enim omnis qui mentitur, pater mendacii sui est: si enim ab alio mendacium accepisti et dixisti, tu quidem mentitus es, sed pater mendacii non es. Ille vero, quia non aliunde accepit mendacium, quo mendacio tamquam veneno serpens hominem occideret, pater est mendacii, sicut Deus pater est veritatis
Theophylactus
Is enim et Deum apud homines criminatus est, ad Evam dicens: quoniam invidens vobis, lignum inhibuit: et apud Deum quondam criminatus est homines, ut cum dixit: an gratis colit Iob dominum?
Origenes
Attende tamen, quod hoc nomen mendax dicitur tam de Diabolo, qui mendacium genuit, sicut hic dicitur quia mendax est, quam de homine, secundum illud: omnis homo mendax. Nam si quis mendax non est, huiusmodi non est homo tantum; ita quod ei et similibus dici potest: ego dixi: dii estis. Unde, cum aliquis loquitur mendacium, de propriis loquitur. Spiritus autem sanctus loquitur a verbo veritatis et sapientiae, secundum illud: de meo accipiet, et annuntiabit vobis
Augustinus de quaest. Nov. et Vet. Testam
Vel aliter. Diabolus non speciale nomen est, sed commune. In quocumque enim opera Diaboli fuerint inventa, Diabolus est appellandus: operis enim nomen est, non naturae. Itaque hoc in loco patrem Iudaeorum Cain significat, cuius imitatores volentes esse Iudaei, salvatorem peremerunt; ab ipso enim forma data est fratricidii, quem dixit mendacium de propriis loqui, ut ostenderet unumquemque non nisi propria voluntate peccare. Sed quia Cain imitator Diaboli est, patrem eius Diabolum dixit, cuius opera secutus est
Alcuinus
Sed quia dominus veritas est et filius veracis Dei, veritatem dicit; sed Iudaei, qui filii erant Diaboli, aversi erant a veritate; et hoc est quod sequitur ego autem quia veritatem dico vobis, non creditis mihi
Origenes in Ioannem
Sed quomodo hoc dicitur Iudaeis, qui in eum crediderant? Sed considera, quod potest aliquis secundum aliquam intentionem credere, secundum aliam vero non credere: sicut qui credunt in unum qui sub Pontio Pilato crucifixus est, non autem credunt in natum de Maria virgine, in eumdem credunt et non credunt. Sic igitur hi ad quos loquebatur credebant in eum, secundum quod videbatur signorum factor, non credebant autem his quae profunde ab eo dicebantur
Chrysostomus in Ioannem
Quia igitur inimici estis veritatis, in nullo me incusantes vultis me interficere; et ideo subditur quis ex vobis arguet me de peccato?
Theophylactus
Quasi dicat: si Dei filii estis, utique peccantes debetis habere odio. Si ergo me quoque, quem exosum habetis, non potestis arguere de peccato; manifestum est quod propter veritatem me odio habetis; quoniam scilicet dicebat se filium Dei
Origenes in Ioannem
Habet autem hoc verbum Christi magnam fiduciam; cum nullus hominum fiducialiter hoc dicere potuerit nisi solus dominus noster, qui peccatum non fecit
Gregorius in Evang
Pensate autem mansuetudinem Dei. Non dedignatur ex ratione ostendere se peccatorem non esse, qui ex virtute divinitatis poterat peccatores iustificare; unde subdit qui est ex Deo, verba Dei audit: propterea vos non audistis, quia ex Deo non estis
Augustinus in Ioannem
Noli attendere naturam, sed vitium. Sunt isti ex Deo, et non sunt ex Deo: natura ex Deo, vitium non ex Deo. Eis autem hoc dictum est qui non solum peccato vitiosi erant, nam hoc commune erat omnibus, sed etiam praecogniti quod non erant credituri ea fide qua possent a peccatorum obligatione liberari
Gregorius
Interroget se ergo unusquisque, si verba Dei aure cordis percipit, et intelliget unde sit. Nam sunt nonnulli qui praecepta Dei nec aure corporis percipere dignantur; et sunt nonnulli qui haec quidem corporis aure percipiunt, sed nullo ea mentis desiderio complectuntur; et sunt nonnulli qui libenter verba Dei suscipiunt, ita ut etiam in fletibus compungantur; sed post lacrymarum tempus ad iniquitatem redeunt; hi profecto verba Dei non audiunt, quia haec exercere in opere contemnunt
8:48
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. lv. 1
Whenever our Lord said any thing of lofty meaning, the Jews in their insensibility set it down madness: Then answered the Jews and said unto Him, Say we not well that Thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?
Origen † AD 253 tom. xx. 28.
But how, we may ask, when the Samaritans denied a future life, and the immortality of the soul, could they dare to call our Saviour, Who had preached so much on the resurrection and the judgment, a Samaritan? Perhaps they only mean a general rebuke to Him for teaching, what they did not approve of.
Alcuin † AD 804
The Samaritans were hated by the Jews; they lived in the land that formerly belonged to the ten tribes, who had been carried away.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xx. 28.
It is not unlikely too, some may have thought that He held the Samaritan opinion of there being no future state really, and only put forth the doctrine of a resurrection and eternal life, in order gain to the favour of the Jews. They said that He had a devil, because His discourses were above human capacity, those, viz. in which He asserted that God was His Father, and that He had come down from heaven, and others of a like kind: or perhaps from a suspicion, which many had, that He cast out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils.
Theophylact † 1107
Or they called Him a Samaritan, because He transgressed the Hebrew ordinances, as that of the sabbath: the Samaritans not being correct observers of the law. And they suspected Him of having a devil, because He could disclose what was in their thoughts. When it was that they called Him a Samaritan, the Evangelist no where says: a proof that the Evangelists left out many things.
St Gregory the Great † AD 604 Hom. xviii. in Evang.
See; when God suffers a wrong, He does not reply reproachfully: Jesus answered, I have not a devil. An intimation this to us, that when reproached by our neighbours falsely, we should not retort upon them by bringing forward their evil deeds, however true such charges might be; lest the vehicle of a just rebuke turn into a weapon of rage.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. lv. 1
And observe, when He had to teach them, and pull down their pride, He used roughness; but now that He has to suffer rebuke, He treats them with the utmost mildness: a lesson to us to be severe in what concerns God, but careless of ourselves.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xliv. 1. 2
And to imitate His patience first, if we would attain to His power. But though being reviled, He reviled not again, it was incumbent on Him to deny the charge. Two charges had been made against Him: Thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil. In reply He does not say, I am not a Samaritan: for Samaritan means keeper; and He knew He was a keeper: He could not redeem us, without at the same time preserving us. Lastly, He is the Samaritan, who went up to the wounded, and had compassion on him.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xx. s. 28.
Our Lord, even more than Paul, wished to become all things to all men, that He might gain some: and therefore He did not deny being a Samaritan. (s. 29.). I have not a devil, is what Jesus alone can say; as He alone can say, The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me. (c. 14:30). None of us are quite free from having a devil. For even lesser faults come from him.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xliii. 3
Then after being so reviled, all that He says to vindicate His glory, is, But I honour My Father: as if to say, That you may not think Me arrogant, I tell you, I have One, Whom I honour.
Theophylact † 1107
He honoured the Father, by revenging Him, and not suffering murderers or liars to call themselves the true sons of God.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xx. 29.
Christ alone honoured the Father perfectly. No one, who honours any thing which is not honoured by God, honours God.
St Gregory the Great † AD 604 Hom. xliii. 3
As all who have zeal toward God are liable to meet with dishonour from wicked men, our Lord has Himself set us an example of patience under this trial; And ye do dishonour Me.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xliii. 3
As if to say, I do my duty: ye do not do yours.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xx. 29.
And this was not addressed to them only, but to all who by unrighteous deeds inflict injury upon Christ, who is righteousness; or by scoffing at wisdom wrong Him who is wisdom: and the like.
St Gregory the Great † AD 604 ut sup.
How we are to take injuries, He shews us by His own example, when He adds, I seek not Mine own glory, there is one that seeketh and judgeth.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. lv. 1
As if to say, I have told you thish on account of the honour which I have for My Father; and for this ye dishonour Me. But I concern not myself for your reviling: ye are accountable to Him, for whose sake I undergo it.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xx. s. 30.
God seeks Christ’s glory, in every one of those who receive Him: which glory He finds in those who cultivate the seeds of virtue implanted in them. And those in whom He finds not His Son’s glory, He punishes: There is one that seeketh and judgeth.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xliii. 4
Meaning of course the Father. But how is it then that He says in another place, The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. (c. 5:22) Judgment is sometimes put for condemnation, whereas here it only stands for trial: as if to say, There is one, even My Father, who distinguishes My glory from yours; ye glory after this world, I not after this world. The Father distinguishes the glory of the Son, from that of all men: for that He has been made man, does not bring us to a comparison with Him. We men have sin: He was without sin, even when He was in the form of a servant; for, as the Word which was in the beginning, who can speak worthily of Him?
Origen † AD 253 tom. xx. 31.[Nic.]
Or thus; If that is true which our Saviour says below, All men are thine, (c. 17:10) it is manifest that the judgment itself of the Son, is the Father’s.
St Gregory the Great † AD 604 Hom. xviii. in Evang.
As the perversity of the wicked increases, preaching so far from giving way, ought even to become more active. Thus our Lord, after He had been accused of having a devil, imparts the treasures of preaching in a still larger degree: Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep My saying, he shall never see death.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xliii. 10, 11
See is put for experience. But since, about to die Himself, He spoke with those about to die, what means this, If a man keep My saying, he shall never see death? What, but that He saw another death from which He came to free us, death eternal, the death of the damned, which is shared with the devil and his angels! That is the true death: the other is a passage only.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xx. s. 31.
We must understand Him, as it were, to say, If a man keep My light, he shall not see darkness for ever; for ever being taken as common to both clauses, as if the sentence were, If a man keep My saying for ever, He shall not see death for ever: meaning that a man does not see death, so long as he keeps Christ’s word. But when a man, by becoming sluggish in the observance of His words, and negligent in the keeping of his own heart, ceases to keep them, he then sees death; he brings it upon himself. Thus taught then by our Saviour, to the prophet who asks, What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? (Ps. 88) we are able to answer, He who keepeth Christ’s word.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. lv. 1
He says, keep, i. e. not by faith, but by purity of life. And at the same time too He means it as a tacit intimation that they can do nothing to Him. For if whoever keepeth His word, shall never die, much less is it possible that He Himself should die.
The Latin text
Chrysostomus in Ioannem
Cum aliquid altum dominus diceret, hoc apud Iudaeos, qui valde insensibiles erant, insania videbatur, ut ex eorum responsione colligitur; dicitur enim responderunt ergo Iudaei, et dixerunt ei: nonne bene dicimus nos, quia Samaritanus es tu, et Daemonium habes?
Origenes in Ioannem
Sed dignum est quaerere quomodo, cum Samaritani saecula futura denegent, nec animae durabilitatem acceptent, ausi sunt Samaritanum dicere salvatorem, qui de resurrectione et iudicio tot et tanta edocuit. Sed forsan velut improperantes illi hoc dicunt, dum quae sentiunt ipsi non docet
Alcuinus
Samaritani enim gens odiosa Israelitico populo, decem tribubus in captivitatem ductis, terram eorum possidebant
Origenes
Convenit quoque quod aliqui de eo arbitrentur quod secundum Samaritanos sentiret, ut nihil post obitum reservetur hominibus, sed ficte ad placendum Iudaeis, de resurrectione et aeterna vita tractaret. Daemonium vero illum habere dicebant propter eius sermones transcendentes capacitatem humanam, quibus Deum patrem suum asserebat, et se de caelo descendisse, et cetera huiusmodi; vel propter suspicionem eorum, quia plures in Beelzebub principe Daemoniorum opinabantur ipsum eicere Daemones
Theophylactus
Vel Samaritanum illum dicebant, tamquam ritus Hebraicos dissolventem, utpote sabbati; Samaritani enim non perfecte iudaizabant. Ex hoc vero quod eorum cogitationes revelabat, Daemonium ipsum habere suspicabantur. Quando vero eum Samaritanum dixerunt, nusquam Evangelista dicit: ex quo palam est quod multa praetermiserunt Evangelistae
Gregorius in Evang
Ecce iniuriam suspiciens Deus, non contumeliosa verba respondet; sequitur enim respondit Iesus, et dixit: ego Daemonium non habeo. Ex qua re quid nobis innuitur, nisi ut eo tempore cum a proximis ex falsitate contumelias accipimus, eorum etiam vera taceamus mala, ne ministerium iustae correptionis in arma vertatur furoris?
Chrysostomus
Et attendendum, quod ubi eos docere oportebat et eorum superbiam subtrahere, asper erat: ubi vero exprobratum eum oportebat sufferre, multa mansuetudine utebatur; erudiens nos, quae quidem ad Deum vindicare, quae vero ad nos despicere
Augustinus in Ioannem
Et ut homo prius eius imitetur patientiam, ut perveniat ad potentiam. Sed quamvis maledictus maledicta non redderet, pertinuit tamen ad eum negare. Duo autem sibi fuerant obiecta: Samaritanus es, et Daemonium habes. Non dixit: non sum Samaritanus; Samaritanus enim interpretatur custos; noverat autem ille se nostrum esse custodem; non enim pertinuit ad eum ut redimeremur, et non pertinet ut servemur. Denique ipse est Samaritanus, qui accessit ad saucium, et misericordiam impendit
Origenes
Aliter quoque dominus magis quam Paulus omnibus omnia fieri voluit, ut omnes nanciscatur; et ideo se non negavit esse Samaritanum. Aestimo autem solius Iesu fore vocem ego Daemonium non habeo etc., sicut et illud: venit princeps mundi huius, et in me non habet quidquam; quia etiam quae delictorum reputata sunt minima, Daemonibus adaptantur
Augustinus
Deinde post tale convicium hoc solum dixit de gloria sua: sed honorifico patrem meum; quasi dicat: ne vobis arrogans videar, habeo quem honorificem
Theophylactus
Honorificavit autem patrem, ulciscens eum, et non tolerans homicidas et mendaces se Dei veraces filios appellare
Origenes
Solus autem Christus verissime veneratus est patrem: nullus enim honorans quidquam ex his quae non honorantur a Deo, honorat Deum
Gregorius
Sed quia quisquis Dei zelo utitur, a pravis hominibus dehonestatur, in semetipso nobis dominus patientiae praebuit exemplum, qui ait et vos inhonorastis me
Augustinus
Quasi dicat: ego facio quod debeo, vos non facitis quod debetis
Origenes
Non autem illis solum hoc dictum est, sed et omnibus iniuste agentibus qui iniuriam inferunt Christo, qui est iustitia; et inferentibus contumeliam sapientiae, eo quod Christus est sapientia, et similiter de aliis huiusmodi
Gregorius
Sed quid nobis contra iniurias faciendum sit, suo exemplo nos admonet, cum subiungit ego autem gloriam meam non quaero: est qui quaerat et iudicet
Chrysostomus in Ioannem
Quasi dicat: ex honore quem ad patrem habeo, haec locutus sum vobis, et propter hoc dehonoratis me; sed nulla est mihi cura huius contumeliae: illi enim noxas debetis propter quem haec audio
Origenes in Ioannem
Quaerit autem Deus gloriam Christi in quolibet suscipientium illum, quam quidem reperiret in operantibus secundum insitas virtutis causas. Cum autem non repererit, punit illos in quibus non reperit gloriam filii sui; unde dicit est qui quaerat, et iudicet
Augustinus in Ioannem
Quem autem vult intelligi nisi patrem? Quomodo ergo alio loco dicit: pater non iudicat quemquam; sed omne iudicium dedit filio? Sed videte, quod iudicium quandoque pro damnatione accipitur: hic autem secundum discretionem positum est; quasi dicat: est pater qui gloriam meam a vestra discernat: vos enim secundum hoc saeculum gloriamini, ego non secundum hoc saeculum. Discernit etiam gloriam filii sui a gloria omnium hominum: non enim quia homo factus est, iam comparandus est nobis. Nos homines cum peccato, ille sine peccato, et hoc secundum ipsam formam servi; nam illud quis digne loquatur: in principio erat verbum?
Augustinus
Vel aliter. Si vere dictum est a salvatore: omnia mea tua sunt, palam est quoniam et ipsum iudicium filii, patris est
Gregorius in Evang
Cum vero malorum perversitas crescit, non solum frangi praedicatio non debet, sed etiam augeri; unde dominus postquam Daemonium habere dictus est, praedicationis suae beneficia largius impendit, dicens: amen, amen, dico vobis: si quis sermonem meum servaverit, mortem non videbit in aeternum
Augustinus
Videbit dictum est pro eo quod est experietur. Cum ergo morituris moriturus loqueretur, quid sibi vult quod ait qui sermonem meum servaverit, mortem non videbit in aeternum, nisi quia videbit aliam mortem, de qua nos liberare venerat, mortem aeternam, mortem damnationis cum Diabolo et Angelis eius? Ipsa est vera mors, nam ista migratio est
Origenes
Sic igitur intelligendum est si quis sermonem meum servaverit, mortem non videbit in aeternum, ac si diceret: si quis lucem meam custodierit, tenebras non videbit. Quod autem dicit in aeternum, communiter est sumendum, ut sit talis intellectus: si quis sermonem meum servaverit in aeternum, mortem non videbit in aeternum: quia eousque non videt aliquis mortem, quousque Iesu verbum custodit. Cum vero quis torpens in observantia sermonis, et circa sui custodiam negligens factus, eum cessat custodire, subinde mortem videt, non apud alium quam apud seipsum. Sic igitur a salvatore instructi, prophetae quaerenti: quis est homo qui vivet, et non videbit mortem? Respondere possumus: qui custodit verbum Christi
Chrysostomus
Servaverit autem dicit non solum fide, sed etiam per vitam puram. Simul autem et occulte insinuat quoniam nihil possunt ei facere. Si enim qui sermonem eius servabit, non morietur in aeternum, multo magis et ipse non potest mori
8:52
St Gregory the Great † AD 604 ut sup.
As it is necessary that the good should grow better by contumely, so are the reprobate made worse by kindness. On hearing our Lord’s words, the Jews again blaspheme: Then said the Jews unto Him, Now we know Thou hast a devil.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xx. 32, 33.
Those who believe the Holy Scriptures, understand that what men do contrary to right reason, is not done without the operation of devils. Thus the Jews thought that Jesus had spoken by the influence of the devil, when He said, If a man keep My saying, he shall never see death. And this idea they laboured under, because they did not know the power of God. For here He was speaking of that death of enmity to reason (ἐχθρὸν τῷ λόγῳ), by which sinners perish:whereas they understand Him of that death which is common to all; and therefore blame Him for so speaking, when it was certain that Abraham and the Prophets were dead: Abraham is dead, and the Prophets; and Thou sayest, If a man keep My saying, he shall never taste of death. Shall never taste of death, they say, instead of, shall not see death; though between tasting and seeing death there is a difference. Like careless hearers, they mistake what our Lord said. For as our Lord, in that He is the true bread, is good to taste; in that He is wisdom, is beautiful to behold; in like manner His adversary death is both to be tasted and seen. When then a man stands by Christ’s help in the spiritual place pointed out to him, (ἐν τῷ δεικνυ μένω νοητῷ τόπῳ) he shall not taste of death if he preserves that state: according to Matthew, There he those standing HERE. which shall not taste of death. (Matt. 16:28) But when a man hears Christ’s words and keeps them, he shall not see death.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. lv. 1
Again, they have recourse to the vainglorious argument of their descent: Art Thou greater than our father Abraham, winch is dead? They might have said, Art Thou greater than God, whose words they are dead who heard? But they do not say this, because they thought Him inferior even to Abraham.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xx. 33.
For they do not see that not Abraham only, but every one born of woman, is less than He who was born of a Virgin. Now were the Jews right in saying that Abraham was dead? for he heard the word of Christ, and kept it, as did also the Prophets, who, they say, were dead. For they kept the word of the Son of God, when the word of the Lord came to Hosea, Isaiah, or Jeremiah; if any one else kept the word, surely those Prophets did. They utter a lie then when they say, We know that Thou hast a devil; and when they say, Abraham is dead, and the Prophets.
St Gregory the Great † AD 604 ut sup.
For being given over to eternal death, which death they saw not, and thinking only, as they did, of the death of the body, their minds were darkened, even while the Truth Himself was speaking. They add: Whom makest Thou Thyself?
Theophylact † 1107
As if to say, Thou a person of no account, a carpenter’s son of Galilee, to take glory to Thyself!
St Bede † AD 735
Whom makest Thou Thyself? i. e. Of what merit, of what dignity wouldest Thou be accounted? Nevertheless, Abraham only died in the body; his soul lived. And the death of the soul which is to live for ever, is greater than the death of the body that must die some time.
Origen † AD 253 tom. xx. 33.
This was the speech of persons spiritually blind. For Jesus did not make Himself what He was, but received it from the Father: Jesus answered and said, If I honour Myself, My honour is nothing.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. liv. 1, 2. c. 5
This is to answer their suspicions; as above, If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true.
St Bede † AD 735
He shews in these words that the glory of this present life is nothing.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xliii. 14
This is to answer those who said, Whom makest Thou Thyself? He refers His glory to the Father, from Whom is: It is My Father that honoureth Me. The Arians take occasion from those words to calumniate our faith, and say, Lo, the Father is greater, for He glorifieth the Son. Heretics, have ye not read that the Son also glorifieth the Father?
Alcuin † AD 804
The Father glorified the Son, at His baptism, on the mount, at the time of His passion, when a voice came to Him, in the midst of the crowd, when He raised Him up again after His passion, and placed Him at the right hand of His Majesty.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. lv. 2
He adds, Of whom ye say that He is your God; meaning to tell them that they were not only ignorant of the Father, but even of God.
Theophylact † 1107
For had they known the Father really, they would have reverenced the Son. But they even despise God, who in the Law forbad murder, by their clamours against Christ. Wherefore He says, Ye have not known Him.
Alcuin † AD 804
As if to say, Ye call Him your God, after a carnal manner, serving Him for temporal rewards. Ye have not known Him, as He should be known; ye are not able to serve Him spiritually.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xliii. 15
Some heretics say that the God proclaimed in the Old Testament is not the Father of Christ, but a kind of prince of bad angels. These He contradicts when He calls Him His Father, whom the Jews called their God, and knew not. For had they known Him, they would have received His Son. Of Himself however He adds, But I know Him. And here too, to men judging after the flesh, He might appear arrogant. But let not arrogance be so guarded against, as that truth be deserted. Therefore our Lord says, And if I should say I know Him not, I should be a liar like unto you.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. lv. 2
As if to say, As ye, saying that ye know Him, lie; so were I a liar, did I say I knew Him not. It follows, however, (which is the greatest proof of all that He was sent from God,) But I know Him.
Theophylact † 1107
Having that knowledge by nature; for as I am, so is the Father also; I know Myself, and therefore I know Him. And He gives the proof that He knows Him: And I keep His saying, i. e. His commandments. Some understand, I keep His saying, to mean, I keep the nature of His substance unchanged; for the substance of the Father and the Son is the same, as their nature is the same; and therefore I know the Father. And here has the force of because: I know Him because I keep His saying.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xliii. 15
He spoke the saying of the Father too, as being the Son; and He was Himself that Word of the Father, which He spoke to men.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. lv. 2
In answer then to their question, Art Thou greater than our father Abraham, He shews them that He is greater than Abraham; Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day: he saw it, and was glad; he must have rejoiced, because My day would benefit him, which is to acknowledge Me greater than himself.
Theophylact † 1107
As if to say, He regarded My day, as a day to be desired, and full of joy; not as if I was an unimportant or common person.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xliii. 16
He did not fear, but rejoiced to see: he rejoiced in hope, believing, and so by faith saw. It admits of doubt whether He is speaking here of the temporal day of the Lord, that, viz. of His coming in the flesh, or of that day which knows neither rising or setting. I doubt not however that our father Abraham knew the whole: as he says to his servant whom he sent, Put thy hand under my thigh, and swear to me by the God of heaven. (Gen. 24:2) What did that oath signify, but that the God of heaven was to come in the flesh, out of the stock of Abraham.
St Gregory the Great † AD 604 Hom. xv. in Evang.
Abraham saw the day of the Lord even then, when he entertained the three Angels, a figure of the Trinity.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Hom. liv. 2
They are aliens from Abraham if they grieve over what he rejoiced in. By this day perhaps He means the day of the cross, which Abraham prefigured by the offering up of Isaac and the ram: intimating hereby that He did not come to His passion unwillingly.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xliii. 16
If they rejoiced to whom the Word appeared in the flesh, what was his joy, who beheld in spiritual vision the light ineffable, the abiding Word, the bright illumination of pious souls, the indefectible wisdom, still abiding with God the Father, and sometime to come in the flesh, but not to leave the Father’s bosom.
The Latin text
Gregorius in Evang
Sicut bonis necesse est ut meliores etiam per contumelias existant, ita semper reprobi de beneficio peiores fiunt: nam accepta praedicatione, iterum Iudaei blasphemant; dicitur enim dixerunt ergo Iudaei: nunc cognovimus quia Daemonium habes
Origenes in Ioannem
Hi qui sacris Scripturis credunt, comprehendunt quod quae praeter rectam rationem ab hominibus exercentur, non praeter Daemones fiunt. Sic igitur Iudaei virtute Daemonis putabant Iesum dixisse: si quis sermonem meum servaverit, mortem non videbit in aeternum. Hoc autem passi sunt quia Dei virtutem non perspexerunt: nam hic de morte quadam inimica rationi, qua pereunt delinquentes, hoc fassus est; hi vero de communi morte coniectantes esse quod dicitur, increpant dicentem, quasi defuncto Abraham et prophetis; unde subditur Abraham mortuus est et prophetae, et tu dicis: si quis sermonem meum servaverit, mortem non gustabit in aeternum. Cum aliqua differentia sit inter mortem gustare et videre, pro eo quod mortem non videbit, mortem non gustabit protulerunt, velut incauti auditores confundentes dominicum sermonem. Sicut enim dominus inquantum panis vivus est, gustabilis est; in eo vero quod est sapientia, est visibilis pulchritudinis: sic etiam adversaria eius mors et gustabilis est et visibilis. Cum ergo quis steterit per Iesum in intellectuali loco, mortem non gustabit, si statum servat, secundum illud Matth. 16, 28: sunt de hic stantibus qui non gustabunt mortem. Cum autem aliquis sermonem Christi acceperit et custodierit, mortem non videbit
Chrysostomus in Ioannem
Rursus autem ex inani gloria ad cognationem confugiunt; unde sequitur numquid tu maior es patre nostro Abraham, qui mortuus est? Poterant etiam dicere: numquid tu maior es Deo, cuius sermonem qui audierunt mortui sunt? Sed non dicunt hoc, quia etiam quam Abraham minorem eum aestimabant
Origenes
Non enim discernunt, quia non solum Abraham, sed etiam quolibet nato ex muliere, qui natus est ex virgine maior est. Nec verum dicebant Iudaei Abraham mortuus est: audivit enim verbum Christi, atque servavit. Et huiusmodi simile dices de prophetis, de quibus subdunt et prophetae mortui sunt: nam et verbum filii Dei custodierunt, cum verbum domini factum fuerit ad Osee, vel Isaiam, vel Ieremiam; quod si quis alius custodivit, ipsi prophetae custodierunt. Mendacium ergo dicunt et in hoc: scimus quia Daemonium habes, et in hoc: Abraham mortuus est et prophetae
Gregorius
Quia enim aeternae morti inhaeserant, et eamdem mortem cui inhaeserant, non videbant, cum solam mortem carnis aspicerent, in veritatis sermone caligabant. Subdunt autem quem teipsum facis?
Theophylactus
Quasi dicant: tu, qui nulla cura dignus es, carpentarii filius de Galilaea, tibi subripis gloriam
Beda
Quem teipsum facis? Hoc est, cuius meriti cuiusve dignitatis vis credi? Abraham tamen mortuus erat corpore, anima autem vivebat. Maior autem est mors animae in aeternum victurae, quam corporis quandoque morituri
Origenes
Caecutientium autem fuit haec prolatio: quoniam non se fecit Iesus id quod est, sed ex patre recepit; unde sequitur respondit Iesus: si ego glorifico meipsum, gloria mea nihil est
Chrysostomus in Ioannem
Hoc quantum ad eorum suspicionem dixit, sicut et supra: testimonium meum non est verum, si testimonium perhibeo de meipso
Beda
His autem verbis nihil esse ostendit gloriam vitae praesentis
Augustinus in Ioannem
Dixit autem hoc propter illud quod dixerant quem teipsum facis? Refert enim gloriam suam ad patrem, de quo est; unde subdit est pater meus qui glorificat me. De isto verbo calumniantur Ariani fidei nostrae, et dicunt: ecce maior est pater, quia glorificat filium. Haeretici, non legistis et ipsum filium dicentem, quod glorificet patrem suum?
Alcuinus
Glorificavit autem pater filium, cum tempore Baptismi et in monte, et tempore passionis coram turbis vox facta est ad eum, et post passionem eum resuscitavit, et collocavit eum ad dexteram suae maiestatis
Chrysostomus
Addidit autem quem vos dicitis quia Deus vester est: volebat enim ostendere quoniam non solum patrem eum nesciebant, sed neque Deum
Theophylactus
Nam si vere patrem cognoscerent, filium eius venerarentur. Deum etiam contemnunt, qui homicidium in lege prohibuit, adversus Christum clamantes; unde subdit et non cognovistis eum
Alcuinus
Quasi dicat: vos carnaliter illum Deum vestrum vocatis; pro temporalibus ei servitis: et non cognovistis eum, sicut intelligendus est; spiritualiter ei servire nescitis
Augustinus
Quidam haeretici dicunt Deum annuntiatum in veteri testamento non esse patrem Christi, sed nescio quem principem malorum Angelorum. Contra ipsos ergo dicit patrem suum quem illi dicebant Deum suum, et non cognoverunt: si enim ipsum cognovissent, eius filium recepissent. De se autem subdit ego autem novi eum. Secundum carnem iudicantibus potuit et hic arrogans videri; sed arrogantia non ita caveatur ut veritas relinquatur; propter quod subdit et si dixero quia non scio eum, ero similis vobis mendax
Chrysostomus
Quasi dicat: sicut vos dicentes scire eum, mentimini, ita ego si dixero me nescire. Sed maxima demonstratio est, quod ab illo sit missus, hoc quod sequitur sed scio eum
Theophylactus
Naturaliter ipsius cognitionem obtinens; qualis enim ego sum, talis et pater, quoniam ego meipsum cognosco, et illum cognosco. Praebet autem indicium quod ipsum cognoscat cum subdit et sermonem eius servo, sermonem mandata nuncupans. Quidam autem sic intelligunt hoc quod dicitur sermonem eius servo: idest rationem substantiae eius: eadem enim est ratio substantiae patris et filii: ideoque patrem cognosco: nam et pro quoniam sumitur, ut sit sensus: quoniam eius sermonem servo
Augustinus
Sermonem etiam patris tamquam filius loquebatur; et ipse erat verbum patris, quod hominibus loquebatur
Chrysostomus
Et quia dixerant: numquid tu maior es patre nostro Abraham? Nihil de morte exponens, se maiorem quam Abraham esse ostendit consequenter, cum subdit Abraham pater vester exultavit ut videret diem meum: vidit et gavisus est, scilicet propter beneficium quod a me habet, ut a maiore
Theophylactus
Quasi dicat: diem meum desiderabilem habuit et laetitiae plenum, non quasi alicuius minimi aut fortuiti
Augustinus
Non timuit, sed exultavit ut videret: credens utique exultavit sperando, ut videret intelligendo diem meum. Incertum autem potest esse utrum dixerit temporalem diem domini, quo erat venturus in carne, an diem domini qui nescit ortum, nescit occasum. Sed ego non dubito patrem Abraham totum scisse: ait enim servo suo quem mittebat: pone manum sub femore meo, et iura mihi per Deum caeli. Ergo quae fuit illa iuratio, nisi quia significabatur de genere Abrahae venturum in carne Deum caeli?
Gregorius in Evang
Tunc etiam diem domini Abraham vidit, cum in figura summae Trinitatis tres Angelos hospitio suscepit
Chrysostomus in Ioannem
Vel diem suum dicit diem crucis, quem Abraham in oblatione arietis et Isaac praefiguravit; per hoc ostendens quod non invitus ad passionem venit, et ostendens eos esse alienos ab Abraham, si in quibus ille exultavit, hi dolent
Augustinus
Quale autem gaudium fuit cordis videntis verbum manens, splendorem piis mentibus refulgentem, apud patrem manentem Deum, et aliquando in carne venturum, non de patris gremio recessurum
8:57
St Gregory the Great † AD 604 Hom. xviii. in Evang.
The carnal minds of the Jews are intent on the flesh only; they think only of His age in the flesh: Then said the Jews unto Him, Thou art not fifty years old, and hast Thou seen Abraham? that is to say, Many ages have passed since Abraham died; and how then could he see thy day? For they took His words in a carnal sense.
Theophylact † 1107
Christ was then thirty-three years old. Why then do they not say, Thou art not yet forty years old, instead of fifty? A needless question this: they simply spoke as chance led them at the time. Some however say that they mentioned the fiftieth year on account of its sacred character, as being the year of jubilee, in which they redeemed their captives, and gave up the possessions they had bought.
St Gregory the Great † AD 604 ut sup.
Our Saviour mildly draws them away from their carnal view, to the contemplation of His Divinity; Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Before is a particle of past time, am, of present. Divinity has no past or future, but always the present; and therefore He does not say, Before Abraham was, I was: but, Before Abraham was, I am: (Exod. 3:14) as it is in Exodus, I am that I am. Before and after might be said of Abraham with reference to different periods of his life; to be, in the present, is said of the truth only.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xliii. 18
Abraham being a creature, He did not say before Abraham was, but, before Abraham was made. Nor does He say, I am made; because that, in the beginning WAS. the Word.
St Gregory the Great † AD 604 ut sup.
Their unbelieving minds, however, were unable to support these indications of eternity; and not understanding Him, sought to destroy Him: Then they took up stones to cast at Him.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xliii. 18
Such hardness of heart, whither was it to run, but to its truest likeness, even the stones? But now that He had done all that He could do as a teacher, and they in return wished to stone Him, since they could not bear correction, He leaves them: Jesus hid Himself, and went out of the temple. He did not hide Himself in a corner of the temple, as if He was afraid, or take refuge in a house, or run behind a wall, or a pillar; but by His heavenly power, making Himself invisible to His enemies, went through the midst of them: Jesus hid Himself, and went out of the temple.
St Gregory the Great † AD 604
Who, had He chosen to exert the power of His Divinity, could, without a word, by His mere nod, have seized them, with the very stones in their hands, and delivered them to immediate death. But He who came to suffer, was slow to execute judgment.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xliii. 18
For His part was more to exhibit patience than exercise power.
Alcuin † AD 804
He fled, because His hour was not yet come; and because He had not chosen this kind of death.
St Augustine † AD 430 Tr. xliii. 18
So then, as a man, He flies from the stones; but woe to them, from whose stony hearts God flies.
St Bede † AD 735
Mystically, a man throws a stone at Jesus, as often as he harbours an evil thought; and if he follows it up, so far as lies in him, he kills Jesus.
St Gregory the Great † AD 604 ut sup.
What does our Lord mean by hiding Himself, but that the truth is hidden to them, who despise His words. The truth flies the company of an unhumbled soul. His example shews us, that we should in all humility rather retreat from the wrath of the proud, when it rises, than resist it, even though we might be able,
The Latin text
Gregorius in Evang
Carnales mentes Iudaeorum audientium verba Christi, oculos a carne non sublevant, dum in eo solam carnis aetatem pensant; unde dicitur dixerunt ergo Iudaei ad eum: quinquaginta annos nondum habes, et Abraham vidisti? Quasi dicerent: multa sunt annorum curricula, ex quo Abraham mortuus est, et quomodo vidit diem tuum? Carnaliter enim hoc intellexerunt
Theophylactus
Tunc autem triginta trium annorum Christus erat: quare ergo non dixerunt: quadraginta annos nondum habes, sed quinquaginta? Supervacua est huiusmodi quaestio: simpliciter enim prout eis occurrit dixerunt. Respondent tamen quidam quod per quinquagesimum annum ex reverentia iubilaeum nominant, in quo et captivos manumittebant et emptitiis possessionibus cedebant
Gregorius
Quos benigne redemptor noster a carnis suae intuitu submovet, et ad divinitatis contemplationem trahit; unde sequitur dixit ergo eis Iesus: amen, amen, dico vobis: antequam Abraham fieret, ego sum. Ante enim praeteriti temporis est, sum vero praesentis; et quia praeteritum et futurum tempus divinitas non habet, sed semper esse habet, non ait: ante Abraham ego fui, sed ante Abraham ego sum: secundum illud: ego sum qui sum. Ante ergo vel post Abraham habuit esse, qui et accedere potuit per exhibitionem praesentiae, et recedere per cursum vitae
Augustinus in Ioannem
Quia vero creatura est Abraham, non dixit: antequam Abraham esset, sed antequam fieret; neque dixit: ego factus sum: nam in principio erat verbum
Gregorius
Sed sustinere ista aeternitatis verba mentes infidelium non valentes, quem intelligere non poterant, obruere quaerebant; unde sequitur tulerunt ergo lapides Iudaei, ut iacerent in eum
Augustinus
Tanta duritia quo curreret, nisi ad similes, scilicet lapides? Quia vero postquam cuncta quae ad eum spectabant, docendo perfecerat, hi lapides iniciunt, deserit eos quasi correctionem non suscipientes; unde subditur Iesus autem abscondit se, et exivit de templo. Non autem abscondit se in angulo templi quasi timens, aut in domunculam fugiens, vel post murum aut columnam divertens; sed caelica potestate invisibilem insidiantibus se constituens, per medium illorum exivit. Iesus autem abscondit se, et exivit de templo
Gregorius
Qui si divinitatis suae potentiam exercere voluisset, tacito nutu mentis suae in suis eos actibus ligaret, aut in poenas subitae mortis obrueret. Sed qui pati venerat, exercere iudicium nolebat
Augustinus
Magis enim erat commendanda sapientia, quam exercenda potentia
Alcuinus
Ideo etiam fugit quia nondum venerat hora passionis, et quia ipse non elegerat hoc genus mortis
Augustinus
Ergo tamquam homo a lapidibus fugit; sed vae illis a quorum lapideis cordibus fugit Deus
Beda
Mystice autem quot malas cogitationes quis assumit, quasi tot lapides in Iesum mittit; ac deinde quantum ad se pertinet, si ad deliberationem transit, Iesum extinguit
Gregorius
Quid autem abscondendo se dominus significat, nisi quod eis ipsa veritas absconditur qui eius verba sequi contemnunt? Eam quippe quam non invenit humilem, veritas fugit mentem. Quid autem nobis hoc exemplo loquitur, nisi ut etiam cum resistere possumus, iram superbientium humiliter declinemus?
8:1
1-59
Ver. 1. But Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives. On the last day of the Feast Jesus had taught in the temple, and confuted the Pharisees, while they, after their wont, returned home to a sumptuous banquet. But no one showed hospitality to Jesus for fear of the rulers and Pharisees. He went therefore probably to Gethsemane, to continue there all night in prayer (see Joh 18:1-2, and Mat 26:36). Food was either secretly sent Him by Martha from Bethany, or bought by the disciples at Jerusalem. He selected this spot as His nightly refuge, or rather His place of prayer, six months before His death, and used to retire there to pray by night (see Mat 26:36). The Mount of Olives was a type of Christ's sorrow, when He there prayed for the pardon of sinners: as the feast of tabernacles signified that He and His people are but strangers and pilgrims here, on their way to their heavenly country, travelling from the wealthy and splendid city Jerusalem, to the mountain of heavenly refreshment.
8:2
Ver. 2. And early in the morning, &c. He gave the night to prayer, the day to teaching, setting an example to apostolic men, as S. Paul, S. Francis Xavier, and others. Vers. 3, 4, 5. But the Scribes and Pharisees brought unto Him a woman taken in adultery, &c. Now Moses in the Law commanded us that such should be stoned. This story is not found in the Greek Fathers, but as it is found in the Vulgate and thus approved by the Council of Trent, Cornelius à Lapide regards it as canonical. Here note that the Mosaic law ordered adulteresses to be killed. But the rulers ordered them to be stoned, according to the Rabbinical tradition. For the Law ordered a betrothed woman should be stoned, if she had committed adultery, and thence the Scribes extended this punishment to an adulterous wife. But the punishment of stoning (Lev 20:10) is to be extended to all the cases mentioned in that chapter. (See also Eze 16:38-40.) And this is clear from the History of Susanna, where, by the law of requital, her false accusers were stoned. This was also the punishment of adulteresses in many heathen nations. (See notes on Gen 38:24, and Num. v. ad fin.)
8:6
Ver. 6. This they said, tempting Him, that they might have to accuse Him, as being opposed to the law, if He said that she was not to be stoned, but as cruel and harsh if He said otherwise. But they rather supposed He would not order her to be stoned, "in order to keep up His appearance of gentleness, and not to lose the favour of the people." So Rupertus, Bede, and S. Augustine, who says, "They saw that He was very gentle; they said therefore among themselves, If He rules that she be let go, He will not observe that righteousness which the Law enjoins. But not to lose His (character for) gentleness, by which He has already won the love of the people, He will say that she ought to be released. And we shall hence find occasion to accuse Him. But the Lord in His answer both observed justice, and did not forego His gentleness." They thought to accuse Him of violating the law by her acquittal, and would say to Him, says S. Augustine, "Thou art an enemy of the law, thou judgest contrary to Moses, or rather against Him who gave the law. Thou art guilty of death, and must be stoned together with her."
But Jesus stooped down, and with His finger wrote on the ground. To turn away His face, not so much from the adulteress as from her accusers, as if to say, "Why do ye bring her before Me, who am not a civil judge, but the physician and Saviour of sinners?" So S. Augustine. Some Greek MSS. add μὴ πζοσποιούμενος, not attending to them and their accusations. Though Toletus and others translate, "not pretending, but really writing on the ground." Either meaning is suitable. (2.) Christ refers to Jer 17:1. "The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond," and as S. Augustine, S. Jerome and others say more fittingly on verse 13, "They that depart from thee, shall be written in the earth." Jeremiah has here painted you, O Scribes, to the life. Ye accuse this adulteress, but ye have committed greater sins than hers; ye deserve punishment rather than she doth; ye deserve to be stoned more than she does, even to be cast into hell. For your sins of rebellion, unbelief, obstinacy, and persecution against Me are indelible, written as it were with a pen of iron, and the point of a diamond, because ye have forsaken the Lord and turned your back upon Him, therefore has He in His turn turned His back upon you." (See Jer 18:17.) Ye have neglected heavenly, and followed after worldly goods, and therefore ye will speedily pass away with them, just as that which is written in the earth soon comes to nothing by a breath of wind, and by the foot passing over it. Ye have departed from God, and therefore ye will not be written in Heaven, but on the earth, yea in its very centre, in hell itself. (See S Augustine Lib. iv. de. Consen. Evang., cap. 10.) And S. Ambrose (Ep. lxxvi. ad Studitem) says, "He wrote on the ground, for sinners are written on the earth, the just in heaven." Symbolically, S. Augustine (as above) gives two other reasons. (1.) To show that He worked miracles on earth, for, though God, He humbled Himself to become man, for miracles are signs which are wrought on earth. (2.) To point out that the time had now come for His law to be written on the fruitful earth, not on barren stones. (3.) He adds here (Tract. xxxiii.) a third reason, that it was to signify that it was He who had written the old law on tables of stone, but that the new law was to be written on the productive earth. But what did Christ write? He could not in the paved court of the temple cut out the shape of the letters, but merely delineate them with His finger. But He seems to have marked out something to put them to shame, or to expose their sin. For He added, in explanation of what He had done, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." S. Jerome even says that He wrote the mortal sins of the Scribes and of all men (Lib. ii. Contra Pelag.), S. Ambrose (Ep. lvi.) that He wrote Jer. xxii. 29; and (Epist. lxxix.) that He wrote among other words, Thou seest the mote in thy brother's eye, but seest not the beam in thine own. Others think that He wrote " Mene, Mene " (Dan 5:25). But nothing certain can be stated.
8:7
Ver. 7. When therefore they continued asking Him. Because they did not see clearly what He had written, or pretended they did not. They therefore urge Him to reply explicitly to their captious question, believing that He could not escape from the horns of a dilemma by going against the law if He acquitted the woman or against His own compassion, were He to condemn her.
He lifted up Himself and said, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. Ye Scribes and Pharisees have committed greater sins than this woman, as your conscience testifies; do not therefore so rigidly and importunately urge her condemnation, but rather have pity for her, as sinners for a sinner, as guilty for a guilty one, as criminals for a criminal. For otherwise, if ye condemn her, ye ought to condemn yourselves; if ye wish to stone her, ye yourselves ought to be stoned, nay more, to be burned. Observe Christ's prudence. He maintains the law in conceding that an adulteress was guilty of death, but adds that the Scribes should not so pertinaciously urge her death, but rather have compassion on her, since outwardly professing sanctity, but inwardly conscious of greater sins, they should wish indulgence to be shown to themselves both by God and man. So S. Augustine. "Ye have heard, Let the law be fulfilled, let the adulteress be stoned. But in punishing her must the law be fulfilled by those who deserve punishment?" And again, "Jesus said not, Let her not be stoned; lest He should seem to speak against the law. But be it far from Him to say, Let her be stoned; for He came not to destroy that which He had formed, but to save that which had perished. What then answered He? 'He who is without sin of you,' &c.0 answer of wisdom! How did He make them look unto themselves! They brought charges against others, they did not carefully search out themselves within." "What more divine," says S. Ambrose, "than that saying, that He should punish sin who is Himself devoid of it? For how couldest thou endure one who punishes another's sin, and defends his own? For does he not condemn himself the more, who condemns in another what he himself commits?" But thou wilt say Christ here seems to do away with the use of tribunals of justice, and their strictness. But I answer, Christ launched not this sentence against judges, but only against the Scribes, who as private persons contended that Christ should take on Himself to judge the adulteress, and condemn her according to law. This He refused to do, and having been sent to save, and not to condemn sinners, He retorted it upon themselves, as follows; "If ye are not judges, and yet are so desirous of punishing this adultery, take it upon yourselves, stone the adulteress, if ye are so pure and holy as not to have committed adultery, or any other sin;" for if the Scribes had condemned her to be stoned, Jesus would not have freed her from the punishment she justly deserved. Moreover, it is the judge's duty to condemn a criminal, when convicted, though conscious that he is himself guilty of the same or a similar offence. And yet, if guilty himself it is unseemly in him to condemn another for a like offence. Christ then in these words quietly advises judges to lead innocent lives themselves. As a moral rule, Christ teaches us that we ought to judge ourselves before we judge others. S. Gregory (Moral. Lib. 13. cap. iv.) gives the reason. "For he who judges not himself in the first place, knows not how to pass right judgment on another. For his own conscience supplies no rule to go by. These Scribes then are summoned first to look within, and find out their own faults, before reproving others." On which head there are well known proverbs. "First prune thy own vineyards," &c. Ver 8. And again stooping down He wrote on the ground. Both to inspire them with shame, and also to give the Scribes time to withdraw creditably. So S. Jerome (Lib. ii contra Pelag.), and Bede, who adds, "He saw that they were staggered, and would be more likely to retire at once than to put any more questions."
8:9
Ver. 9. But on hearing this they went out one by one. Some Greek copies add, "Convicted by their own conscience," as being adulterers, or even worse. For what Jesus said was true, and ought to strike home to them. And hence S. Augustine says (Epist. liv.), "Methinks that even the husband himself who had been wronged, would on hearing these words have shrunk back from his desire for punishment."
Went out. "By their very withdrawal," says S. Augustine, "confessing that they were guilty of like offences. For they were smitten with a keen sense of justice on looking within, and finding themselves guilty." They feared also lest Christ should proceed still further to expose their crimes.
Beginning at the eldest. As being more inveterate sinners, like the false accusers of Susanna, or because they first felt the force of His words. As says S. Ambrose, "They first felt the strength of His answer, which they could not reply to, and being quicker of apprehension, they were the first to go away."
8:29
And He was left alone, &c. "Two were left," says S. Augustine, "misery and commiseration;" deep calling upon deep, the depth of her misery on the depth of His compassion. But she fled not, as having experienced His grace, and hoping for more. Ver. 10. When Jesus had lifted up Himself, &c. Lifting up on her His eyes of gentleness, as He had repulsed His adversaries with the words of righteousness, as saith S. Augustine. He spoke to her, (1.) to show that He had driven away her accusers, and that she could acknowledge what Jesus had, in His mercy, done for her, and ask pardon from Him of her sin. (2.) That He might the more readily absolve her, because her accusers had withdrawn their charge, and had fled away, as doubting the justice of their cause. Ver. 11. She said, No man, Lord, &c. I who am alone free from all sin, and appointed by God to judge the world, might most justly condemn thee. But I do not, because I came not to judge, but to save the world. Thus S. Ambrose; "See how He moderated His answer, so that the Jews could not accuse him for acquitting her; but rather throw it back on themselves, if they chose to complain. For she is dismissed, not absolved; inasmuch as no one accused her, she was not acquitted as innocent. Why then should they complain who had already withdrawn from prosecuting the charge and from enforcing the punishment? Moreover Christ by these words absolved the woman not only in open court before the people, but in the court of heaven, before God, as is plain from what He subjoins. Go, as being certain that I have forgiven thy adultery. As He said to the Magdalene, "Go in peace" (Luk 7:50). But Christ says not that openly, but secretly; lest the Pharisees should have something to carp at. Christ therefore inspired in her secret sorrow for her sins and an act of contrition, and then pardoned her sins, condoning her sin and its punishment together. "He condemns not," says S. Ambrose, "as being our Redemption, but reproves her as our life, and cleanses her as our fountain." And Euthymius, "Such an exposure and shame before so many adversaries was a sufficient punishment, more especially when He knew that she was heartily penitent." So Jansen and others. And sin no more. Returning as a dog to its vomit. For thou wilt thus in thy ingratitude sin more grievously, and wilt defile thy soul; and though I do not condemn thee, yet will I certainly condemn thee in the day of judgment. Hear S. Augustine. "What means, I will not condemn thee? Dost Thou, O Lord, favour sin? Assuredly not; for listen to what follows, Go and sin no more. The Lord therefore condemned the sin, but not the person. For else He would have said, Go and live as thou wilt, being sure of my forgiveness." To which Bede adds, "Since He is pitiful and tender He forgives the past; but as just, and loving justice, He forbids her sin any more." Ver. 12. Then said Jesus again unto them, I am the Light of the world. The Gloss connects these words with what had immediately preceded, in this way: "He adds what His Divinity could effect, in order that no one should doubt His power of forgiving sin." Marvel not that I set free the adulteress from the darkness of sin, for I am the uncreated Light of the world, i.e., God. And He adds below (ver. 15), " Judge no one;" I neither sentence nor acquit the woman in a human court, but in the court of heaven. But others refer back His words to verse 2, where His discourse had been broken off by the Scribes. Having put them to shame, He resumes His teaching. So S. Chrysostom and others. S. Chrysostom adds, "The Jews objected to Christ that He was a Galilean; He shows that He was not merely one of the Prophets, but the Lord of heaven and earth." I am the Light of the world; and hence the Manicheans thought that He was the sun. And S. August ne, being a Platonist, at one time had his doubts about it (see Euchir. lviii.) But commenting on this passage he mentions and confutes their folly. "Christ the Lord was not the sun which was made, He was its Maker, ' For all things were made by Him,' &c. He therefore is the Light, which made this light of ours. Let us love It, let us long to understand It, let us thirst for It, that so at length we may attain to the Light Itself, and so live therein that we may never die. For He is the Light, of whom the Psalmist foretold, 'Thou shalt save both man and beast, so multifold is Thy mercy.'" And further on, "By this Light was the light of the sun made, and the Light which made the sun (beneath which He made us also) was made beneath the sun for our sakes. He, I say who made the sun. Despise not the veil (nubem) of His flesh. The sun is covered by a cloud, not to obscure, but to temper its rays. Speaking then through the veil of His flesh, the Light which never fails, the Light of knowledge, the Light of wisdom says to men, I am the Light of the world. " But how Christ as God is the boundless and uncreated Light and as man the created "light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world," I have shown at length on chap. i. 4, and also on Is. xlv. 1, that Christ is the Sun of His Kingdom. Of this world. And not, like the Prophets, merely the light of Israel and Judah. He tacitly here foretells the conversion of the Gentiles. So S. Cyril, who adds that He here alludes to the pillar of the cloud in the wilderness. For Christ as a brilliant light shines before us in the darkness and sin of the world, and guides us to heaven. He that followeth Me, by believing in Me as the Christ, and obeying My commands, walketh not in darkness, in which the wise men of this world walked, but liveth without error and sin, in the light of true faith and virtue. But shall have the light of life. "Now by faith, hereafter by sight," says S. Augustine, who adds "These words agree with those of the Psalmist, 'In Thy Light shall we see light, for with Thee is the fount of life.'" In things of the body the light is one thing, the fountain another. But with God the Light and the Fount are one and the same. It shines for thee, that thou mayest see; It flows for thee, that thou mayest drink. If thou followest this sun which thou seest, it leaves thee when it sets; but if thou fallest not away from God, He will never set to thee. The light of life, therefore, according to Augustine and Bede, the light of glory, giving blessing to the faithful and saints which they themselves will obtain from Him in heaven. Others understand by it the light of faith, leading us to glory and very blessedness. For faith is a torch, guiding the faithful through the darkness of the world, showing them the true way of life, by which they can without stumbling attain to eternal blessedness. So S. Cyril, "He will attain to that revelation of the mysteries in Me, which will bring him to eternal life." But (3) the light of life can be explained as the quickening life, for faith, conjoined with the grace of God and charity, is the Divine and supernatural light, which quickens the soul, breathing into it the life of grace here, and the life of glory hereafter. Hence learn that the doctrine and life of Christ must be imitated by every man who wishes to be truly enlightened, and to be purged from all blindness of mind. S. Thomas à Kempis lays this down as an axiom in his golden book (De imitatione Christi), which contains as many axioms as sentences, which I study daily with much delight and profit. I know many who are striving after perfection, and who strive to conform their several actions to some one action, doctrine, or saying of Christ, ever looking at it as their ideal, and endeavouring to set it forth in all their actions. This is a pious and profitable means of attaining perfect holiness. For Christ was specially given as a mirror of sanctity. For what is more holy than the Saint of saints? What brighter than the Sun, and Light Itself? what wiser than Wisdom Itself? Ver. 13. The Pharisees therefore, &c. That is, is not worthy of credit. For no one is accepted as a witness in his own case, but must produce other witnesses (see above, v. 31). These were not the same Pharisees as those who had accused the adulteress, but others, who wished to avenge the disgrace of their fellows, and in their malevolence against Christ, brought this charge against Him, to put Him to shame. "Being nurtured in ignorance," says S. Cyril, "and not knowing Him to be Emmanuel, they suspected Him of aiming at His own glory, and attack Him, as though one of ourselves." Ver. 14. Jesus answered, &c. Not only true in itself, but such as ought to be accepted and believed. This testimony of the Light is true, whether it show or hide Itself, says S. Augustine. The light itself needs no other witness. It shows itself clearly by its own light to be bright and shining. And thus is Christ the Light of the world, showing Itself to the world by Its miraculous works. Christ needed not any other witness, and yet He brings forward the highest and most indisputable witness, even God the Father. For I know whence I came, and whither I go. And therefore My testimony is true, as being confirmed by the testimony of God the Father, says the Gloss. This I know, but ye do not because ye will not know, though ye ought to know it both from My miracles and My words. But I know that I was sent from heaven, as the Messenger of the Father, being the Son of God, and Very God, from Very God. And when My ministry is over I shall return to Him again. So S. Augustine and Leontius. But He speaks obscurely, lest He should seem to boast, and for fear of kindling the more the anger of the Jews against Him. He might else have spoken more plainly. I am the Son of God, and therefore My testimony is true and legitimate, for the testimony of God, Who is the chief and irrefragable truth, is indisputable. "He wished the Father to be understood," says S. Augustine, "from Whom He departed not, when coming to us, as He left not us when He returned to heaven. But as the Sun shines on those that see and those that are blind, though the one sees and the other does not, so the wisdom of God is everywhere present, even to unbelievers, though they have not the eyes to behold Him," distinguishing thus His friends and enemies. Ver. 15. Ye judge after the flesh. (1.) Ye judge of Me, not according to truth and equity, but from the carnal hatred ye have against Me; as living according to the flesh is to live ill, so judging according to the flesh is to judge unjustly. (2.) From My Body, which ye see, ye count Me a mere man; because I am in the flesh ye count Me mere flesh, judging wrongly. And thus ye rule that Truth can lie. For I am the Truth (S. Cyril). (3.) Ye judge by your senses alone, by that which ye see of Me; that I am a mean, poor, abject man, not the Messiah, not God who hides Himself in My flesh; and therefore ye condemn Me as a proud blasphemer for asserting Myself to be the Son of God. And this ye would not do, if ye judged of Me by reason and the spirit of truth. For this would declare to you that I am what I assert, Messiah, the Son of God. "They saw the man," says S. Augustine, "but did not believe Him to be God." And the Gloss, "they thought Him to be a man, who was not to be believed when praising Himself." "Moreover," says S. Cyril, "He acts like a physician who heeds not the insults of his patients who are mad, but applies to them the fitting remedies; fighting against disease, but not against the patient, whom he wishes to restore to health of body and mind." I judge no man, not as ye do, by outward appearance, but according to reason and the spirit. (4.) S. Chrysostom says, "Because the Jews might make this objection to Christ, 'If we judge wrongly of Thee, why dost not thou convince us?' Christ replies, I judge no one. It is not My business. Were I now to judge you, I should assuredly condemn you. But this is not the time for doing so." (5.) To judge in this place, means to perform a kind of judicial act, and hence it means to testify, or bear witness, for witnesses force as it were the judge to give sentence in accordance with their testimony. And hence a witness is a kind of judge (see Is. Lev 4). For the whole question between Christ and the Jews was with reference to His testimony, whether it could be lawfully accepted. And He maintains that it can be, as He was not alone, but the Father was with him (see S. Ambrose, Lib. v. Epist. 20). And this is plain from what Christ says, Joh 8:17-18, "I am He that bear witness of Myself, and the Father that sent Me beareth witness of Me." But He uses the word "judge" because He seemed just before to have judged the adulteress, which the Pharisees resented. But He meant thereby that He had not judicially acquitted her, though He might have done so, as the Son of God. For I am not a mere man, as ye suppose, nor am I alone, for God the Father is with Me. And in this sense "I judge" is understood in its own proper sense, "I pass not a judicial sentence." Ver. 16. And yet if I judge (i.e., bear witness of Myself) My judgment (i.e., witness) is true, i.e., fit to be taken in court, for I am not alone, &c. S. Chrysostom explains, "If I judge, I should justly condemn you, because I should not judge by Myself, but I and the Father together." But the true meaning is that given in Joh 8:15.
I and the Father that sent Me. "For I took the form of a servant, but lost not the form of God," says S. Augustine; "Thy Incarnation was Thy mission." And the Interlinear Gloss, "Though I am a man, yet I left not the Father; though sent in the flesh, yet I and the Father are ever One by Our Godhead; the judgment of both and the will of both are alike One." As He says elsewhere, "I do nothing of Myself," for I have never proceeded to any punishment, which was not in the mind of the Father. "For whatever thoughts the nature of the Father entertains, the same are completed in Me also, for I shine forth from His bosom, and am the true offspring of His substance," says S. Cyril. Ver. 17. It is also written in your Law (Deu 27:6, Deu 19:5), that the testimony of two men is true: that is to be admitted by the judge, who can base on it a legal sentence, though the testimony may as a matter of fact be false. But a judge must go by the evidence; and so his sentences may be legally right, but in reality wrong. If then the testimony of two men be true, how much more must the sentence of two Divine Persons, the Father and the Son, be accepted as most true, most equitable, and most just? Christ applies this to His own case. For that the Father is with Him, and witnesses to Him, and that He is the Son of the Father, He had more than sufficiently proved, and therefore assumes it. "It is," says Augustine, "a grand and most mysterious question when God says in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established;' for Susanna was accused by two false witnesses, and all the people witnessed falsely against Christ. But in this way is the Trinity represented as in mystery; for therein is the ever-enduring firmness of truth. If thou wishest to have a good cause, have three witnesses, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost." Ver. 18. I am one that bear witness of Myself, &c. But thou wilt say, no one's testimony is accepted in his own case, and therefore Christ's testimony to Himself ought not to be accepted. But the answer is, that Christ as God witnesses to Himself as man. But God and man are two beings, and in Christ God was different from man: in nature, I mean, not in person. And from this very passage the Fathers gather against both Nestorians and Eutycheans, that in Christ there was one Person, the Divine, but two natures, the Divine and the human. So Cyril, Chrysostom, and S. Ambrose (de Fide v. 2). Besides this, God the Father and God the Son bore witness that Jesus was the Christ by the miracles which they wrought both through Him and for Him (Joh 5:31-32). And especially when the Father spake in thunder out of heaven, This is My beloved Son. So Bede. Ver. 19. Then said they unto Him, Where is Thy Father? They said this, in order to elicit from Him a clear statement that God was His Father, in order to accuse Him of blasphemy, as they did, Joh 5:18, Joh 19:7. So Chrysostom and others. But Cyril and Leontius less probably think that the Pharisees spoke contemptuously and sarcastically, as if He were the Son of some unknown father. S. Augustine and Bede think that they referred to Joseph, as being His father in the flesh. But the first is the best meaning.
8:34
Jesus answered, &c. Christ did not wish to answer clearly and directly, "My Father is in heaven," because He knew that the question was put in order to ensnare Him. He therefore, though answering their question directly, yet spoke so guardedly that the Pharisees could not bring any charge against Him. As if He said, Ye think that I am a man, and that I have only an earthly father. But ye are wrong, for ye know not that I am God as well as man. And therefore ye understand not that I have no other Father than God in heaven, though I have proved this by so many miracles. But how does this agree with what Christ said (Joh 7:28), Ye both know Me, and know whence I am ? I answer, Christ then spoke of Himself as man, but here He speaks of Himself as God. Origen adds that then Christ spoke to the people of Jerusalem who knew Him, but here to the Pharisees who knew Him not, and were moreover His enemies. The word "if" is here equivalent to assuredly. See Leontius. As Christ says to Philip (xiv. 9), He that seeth Me seeth My Father also. S. Augustine explains it somewhat differently; "Ye ask, who is My Father, because ye know Me not, for ye think not that I am God eternal in heaven." (2.) Cyril speaks more profoundly and to the point. "The names of Father and Son imply each other," Christ therefore is the gate (as it were) leading to the Father. "Let us learn then," he adds, "what He is by nature, and then we shall rightly understand as in an express image the Antitype Itself." For the Father is manifested in the Son, as in a mirror, in the proper nature of His offspring. (See Wisdom vii. 26 and Heb. i 3.) Origen considers that "know" means to "love." If ye loved Me ye would surely love My Father. For evil livers practically know not God, as is said of Eli's sons. Ver. 20. These words, &c.... in the temple (i.e., the Court of the Temple). Rupertus thinks that the reason why no man laid hands on Him was because the treasury was a remote spot, frequented only by the Priests who wished to take money out, and the lay people who wished to pay it in. But it was in fact a public and much-frequented place, being a large portico close to the court of the temple, and in it were preserved all the treasures of the temple. Christ then spake all these things openly and boldly in a place where He could easily have been taken. But He by His Divine power restrained their hands and their resolve, because the destined hour had not yet come. Adrichoniuus (Descript. Hieros. 103) describes the treasury as a chest wherein all requisites were kept for the sacrifices, the support of the p or, repair of the temple, &c. When Heliodorus attempted to plunder it, he was said to have been scourged by angels, and Pilate was prevented by a popular tumult from applying its contents to bringing water into the city. It was afterwards plundered by the Romans. Here also the poor woman cast in her two mites. It was from this chest that the whole porch where it stood was called the treasury. The other reason why Christ spoke thus in the treasury was of a more hidden kind. Because it was the dark hiding-place of the Pharisees, where they wrought all those evil devices which Christ recounts, Mat 5. and 23. In this very spot He condemns their dark deeds by saying, "I am the Light of the world," the true Light of wisdom and holiness, who teach men to despise earthly riches, as mean and perishing, and to aim at heavenly riches, as being great and eternal. Follow not the Pharisees who are blindly intent on these earthly riches, for Vespasian will speedily carry them all away; but rather follow Me, the Light of the world, for I preach to you poverty of spirit as the way to gain boundless riches in heaven. And on the other hand, "Woe to you rich," &c. (Luk 6:24). This then was the cause of the intense hatred they felt against Christ, which led them to persecute Him even to death on the cross. It was out of this treasury that they sacrilegiously took the thirty pieces of silver which they gave to Judas to betray Jesus. And therefore in the very same spot He willed that He would by that means be lifted up on the cross, and draw all men unto Him. Origen gives a mystical reason. "Christ," he says, "spake these things in the treasury, because the treasury, or rather the treasures, are His divine discourses, impressed with the image of the great King. Coins (he says) are divine words. Let every one then contribute to the treasury, i.e., for the edification of the Church, whatever he is able for the honour of God, and the common benefit." And Bede, "Christ speaks in the treasury, because He spake to the Jews in parables which were covered and kept close. But the treasury then began (as it were) to be opened, when He explained them to His disciples, and unlocked the heavenly mysteries therein conceived." For His hour was not yet come. "Not the fated, but the opportune and self-chosen hour," says the Interlinear Gloss. "Some," says S. Augustine, "on hearing this, believe that Christ was subject to fate. But how can He be under fate, by whom the heaven and the stars were made, when Thy will, if Thou thinkest aught, transcends even the stars? The hour therefore had not come, not 'the hour in which He should he forced to die, but in which He deigned to be slain.'" Ver. 21. Jesus therefore said to them again. (1.) Some think that "therefore" only indicates the beginning of a new discourse. (2.) Origen thinks it indicates that what follows was spoken by Christ at the same time and place. (3.) Maldonatus refers it to verse 19, Ye neither know Me nor My Father. The time therefore will come for you to know Me as God, but ye will not find Me, for ye will die in your sins. (4.) Rupertus and Toletus refer it more appositely, to the words immediately preceding. Because He saw that the Pharisees understood, and were angered at His words, He adds, I go My way, &c. He had said the same before (Joh 7:33), first to the officers, and then to the Pharisees. I go My way, that is out of this life to My Father by My cross and death. "Death was to Christ," says S. Augustine, "a going forth, for He abode not in the world, but passed through it to heaven and immortal life." And ye shall seek Me, i.e., ye shall seek another Messiah, and will not find him, says Toletus, for there is none other but Me. More simply. Ye shall seek Me, to crucify Me again (see vii 34). So Origen and S. Augustine, who says, "Ye shall seek Me, not from desire but from hatred." For after He had withdrawn from sight, they who hated and they who loved Him alike sought Him, the one to persecute, and the other from desire to hear Him. For He adds, And ye shall die in your sins. Your obstinate sins of unbelief and hatred. Ye will therefore seek Me in vain, for I shall ascend to heaven, ye will be thrust down to hell. Euthymius explains "in your sin," in consequence of your sin, for which ye will be slain by the Romans. But the first explanation is the plainest and most forcible. For Christ frequently alarms the Pharisees with the terrors of the last judgment. Whither I go ye cannot come. Ye cannot, because ye will not, says Origen, for every sin is a voluntary and free act. S. Augustine thinks that these words were spoken to the disciples, "Whither I go ye cannot go now," not depriving them of hope, but predicting its postponement. But the words which follow were evidently addressed to the Pharisees. Ver. 22. Then said the Jews, &c. The officers made a wiser inquiry (Joh 7:35), Will He go to the dispersion of the Gentiles? But the Pharisees, blinded by their hatred, thought He had no way of escape but by killing Himself. Wherever He may go, we will follow Him up. If He goes to the Gentiles, we will drag Him back. He must therefore mean that He will kill Himself, so as to escape our hands. A presumptuous and foolish thought, suggested, however, by their malice. He might have withdrawn Himself from them in various ways, as He had already done. But He meant that He would go up to heaven, whither the Pharisees could not come. But His words, says S. Augustine, referred not to His going to death, but to where He was going afterwards. Ver. 23. And (therefore) He said unto them, &c. Ye cleave to your sins and will go to the lowest depth, while I shall return to heaven, and therefore ye will seek Me and will not find Me. For I am like the soaring eagle, dwelling in the loftiest mountains of eternity, while ye are as worms and insects creeping on the earth. So Rupertus and S. Augustine, who says, "Ye are from beneath; ye savour of the earth; serpent-like, ye eat the earth. But what is meant by eating the earth? Ye feed on things of earth, ye delight in things of earth, are greedy for things of earth, ye lift not up your hearts above." S. Chrysostom and others, and S. Augustine and Bede among the Latins, think that the Pharisees misunderstood the words of Christ by reason of their earthly minds. Morally: Ye are from beneath, as descended from Adam, and deriving from him your earthly desires, and inflamed by evil passions, thus hankering only after worldly things. But I am from above, because as God I am begotten of the Father, and as man am incarnate of the Holy Spirit. And therefore My feelings, My love, My desires are all heavenly. And to these ye cannot attain, unless ye are born again; and thus from earthly become heavenly and spiritual, as I said to Nicodemus. Physically: Christ here teaches us that our birth-place, training, &c., impart to each one their qualities. And just as fishes could not live out of water, nor birds excepting in the air, so the Pharisees, born in Canaan or Judæa, could not but be earthly both in body and mind, as Ezekiel said (Eze 16:3), "Thy birth was of the land of Canaan, and thy mother a Hittite." But Christ, as born and dwelling in heaven, was heavenly Metaphysically: Ye are of your father the devil, because as he killed Adam by the forbidden fruit, so do ye wish to kill Me. But I am from above, as being the Son of the Most High God. Hear S. Augustine (Tract xxxvii.): " He was from above. But how was He from above? From the air? By no means. For there the birds do fly. From the heaven we see? By no means. For there the sun, the moon, and stars go their rounds. From the angels? Do not imagine it, for they too were made by Him, by Whom all things were made. How then was He from above? From the Father Himself. For there is nothing above Him, who begat the Word equal to Himself, co-eternal with Himself, His only Begotten before time, by Whom He would create the times. Understand, therefore, this word 'from above,' as transcending in Thy conception everything that was made, the whole creation, every body, every created spirit, everything that is in any way subject to change." Ye are of this world, I am not of this world: ye are of this earth, or more closely to the point, ye are worldly. Ye aim at worldly favours, wealth, and honours. Ye live as do worldlings. Ye possess the very qualities of the world, says Toletus. Listen to S. Augustine (Tract. xxxviii.): "Let no one say, I am not of the world; whosoever thou be, O man, thou art of the world. But He who made the world hath come to thee, and hath freed thee from the world. But if the world delight thee, thou wishest for ever to be unclean; but if this world no longer delight thee, thou art clean. But if through some infirmity the world still delights thee, let Him who cleanseth dwell in thee, and thou shalt be clean; but if thou art clean thou wilt not abide in the world, nor hear that which the Jews heard said, 'Ye shall die in your sins.'" Ver. 24. I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins. The sin of unbelief, and all your other sins, for there is no forgiveness of sin, save through faith in Christ, whom ye reject. For if ye believe not that I am the Saviour of the world, as I constantly affirm and prove also by so many miracles. So Lyra. But S. Augustine, Bede, and Toletus more ingeniously: "Because I am that I am; i.e., God." But Rupertus thus subtilly: "Because I am from above." Ye shall die in your sins, because there is no one but Myself, whom ye despise, who can pardon and take away sin. Ver. 25. They said therefore to Him, Who art Thou? Because they did not understand, or pretended they did not, they appositely ask, Who art Thou?
Jesus said to them, the Beginning (Vulg.), I who am speaking to you. S. Augustine, Bede, Rupertus, and S. Ambrose (De Fide, iii. 4), consider the word, the Beginning, to be in the nominative case, explaining it, I am the Beginning, the First and the Last, or the Beginning of all things, for all things were made by the Word of God. In the Greek the word is not α̉ζχὴ, but, α̉ζχὴν, in the beginning. S. Augustine and S. Ambrose explain it (2.) by supplying the word "credite" which is not in the text. We must therefore consider it to be a Greek form of expression, α̉ζχὴν for κα̉τ α̉ζχὴν, in the beginning. I am from the beginning, i.e. from eternity (before Abraham, as He said Himself, verse 58), Very God of Very God. And therefore I am the beginning of time, and age, and of all things. And yet I am speaking to you; that is, it is I who announce this to you, for I assumed flesh, and was made man in order to announce it, and save those who believe in it. I am from the beginning, which very thing I solemnly declare to you. Or rather, since I am the Word, which the Father spake from all eternity, I having been made man to announce to you the same truth. For the Son is the Word by whom the Father speaks, and the Son is also the Word which speaks to us. The word "beginning," therefore, is more appropriate to the Son than to the Holy Spirit, for the Son is together with the Father the source (principium) of the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit is not the source of any other Divine Person, but only of creatures; and further, because He is the beginning (principium) proceeding from the beginning, that is to say, from the Father. And accordingly this word signifies His origin, as being begotten of the Father. This is clear from what is said below, verse 27. The Vulgate does not translate it literally from the beginning, but the beginning, signifying thereby the Eternal Word, which was from the beginning, and begotten of the Father, to be with the Father, the beginning both of the Holy Spirit and of all creatures. From the beginning signifies two things; first from all eternity, and next as begotten of God the Father. It is the same thing to say I am from the beginning, or I am the beginning. (See John i. 1; Rev. i. 8, iii. 14; and also Col. i. 18.) And this is what SS. Augustine, Ambrose, and others above mentioned consider it to mean. So says the Gloss, "The Father is the Beginning, but not from the beginning: the Son is the Beginning, from the Beginning, that is, from the Father, who worketh all things by the Son, for He is the Right Hand, Strength, Wisdom, and Word of the Father." But the Greek α̉ζχὴ means also the Chief Rule (principatus), meaning that to Christ belongs the dominion and rule over all things. (See Psa 110:3, Vulg., and Pro 8:22, sec. lxx. See also S. Augustine, contra Max. cap. xviii., and S. Thomas, part 1, Quest. xxxvi., art. 4, who show that the Father and Son are not two, but the one principle of the Holy Spirit.) Morally: learn that Christ, as God and man, must be regarded as the beginning and the end of all our doings; after the example of S. Paul and the other Apostles both in the beginning and end of their Epistles. S. Gregory Nazianzen begins his acrostics in this way, and Paulinus, "In Thee my only hopes of life depend, Thou my beginning, Thou my goal and end." As all numbers start from unity, and all lines run from the centre to the circumference, so should all the actions of a Christian begin and end in Christ (see Col 3:1-17). Nonnus and others explain, I am the same as I said to you at first; that is, that I am the Messiah, the Light and the Salvation of the world, but ye believe Me not. But this is a strange interpretation. Some others refer to what comes afterwards, Because ye do not believe Me, I have more to say to you,, And to judge of you. But this is a mere evading of the question. As if Christ said, Ye are unworthy of an answer, but yet deserve My condemnation. Ver. 26. I have many things, &c. I have many things to say against you, and to accuse you of. And in the day of judgment I will do so. As S. Cyril says, "I will accuse you not of one thing but of many, and of nothing falsely. For I can condemn you as unbelieving, as arrogant, as insulting, as opposers of God, as impudent, as ungrateful, as malignant, as lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, as courting the praise of men, and not seeking the glory of God." But He that sent Me, &c. I will omit many points and will merely say this, in refutation of your unbelief, that the Father who hath sent Me is true, and whatever therefore I say is true, and worthy of belief by all. "I am true" (says S. Augustine) "in judgment, because I am the Son of Truth, and the Truth Itself." But others explain differently, (1.) Toletus: "I have many things to say against you. But I will not do so now, for the Father sent Me into the world, not to judge but to save it, and therefore, in obedience to Him, I say only those things which concern its salvation." (2.) Maldonatus, as though it were, " Because " He that hath sent Me is true, not " but " He that sent Me, &c. (3.) Rupertus refers it to what He had said before, that He was the Beginning, "These are not My own words, but what the Father bade Me say of Myself." (4.) Ye do not believe in Me as the Messiah, but this is what the Father wishes Me to proclaim. (5.) Ye do not believe Me now, but My Father is true. He will fulfil His own word that I shall be your judge, and reward you according to your deeds. But the first meaning is the best. Which I have heard of Him, both as God and as man. The Interlinear Gloss says, "To hear from Him, is the same as though being from Him." "The co-equal Son gives glory to the Father, why then dost thou set thyself against Him, being only His servant?" So S. Augustine. Ver. 27. They knew not, &c. For Jesus spake covertly and obscurely, for fear of exciting the hatred of the Pharisees. But some of the more acute of them began to suspect the true meaning of His words, though they did not clearly understand them, and could not refute Him. None of them fully knew it. And God so ordered it, that the Passion of Christ, and the consequent redemption of the world, might not be hindered. (See 1 Cor. ii. 8.) "I withhold the knowledge of Myself," says S. Augustine, "that My Passion may be effected" by your hands. Ver. 28. Then said Jesus, &c. When ye have lifted Me up on the Cross. He calls it His exaltation, for though it seemed to be His greatest degradation and disgrace, yet it was made to be, by God's Providence, His greatest exaltation and glory, that all nations should adore Christ crucified, and hope for pardon from Him. For this Christ won for Himself by His great humility (see Phi 2:8 seq.). And thus does God deal with every follower of Christ who humbles himself for Christ's sake, as He says, "Every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled," &c. Then shall you know that I am Messiah, the Son of God, whom I declare Myself to be, and not a mere man, as ye now think Me. For many of the Jews, when they saw in the Cross, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, such patience, charity, zeal, and such great prodigies and miracles, were moved with compunction to believe in Him. Christ had obtained all this by His Cross, and obtained it from His Father (see Act 2:41). As S. Augustine says, "He saw that many would believe after His Passion. And this He says that no one who is conscious of guilt should despair, when even His own murder was condoned." See S. Cyril, and others. I do nothing of Myself, &c. Christ frequently inculcates the same truth, both in order to speak humbly of Himself, and to gain authority for His doctrine from God the Father. "But the Father," says S. Augustine, "did not so teach the Son, as though He were ignorant when He begat Him; but His teaching Him, was His begetting Him full of knowledge." For with the Son His being is His knowledge. And therefore the Father by begetting gave Him both existence and knowledge. Ver. 29. And He that sent Me is with Me. He adds this (says S. Chrysostom) lest He should be accounted inferior to the Father who taught Him. The one relates to the Incarnation (dispensationem), the other to the Godhead. "The Father," says S. Augustine, "sent the Son, but did not leave Him." Moreover, the Father is ever with the Son, not only by the inseparable essence of Deity, which continues ever in number the same, but also by the special providence and guidance vouchsafed to the manhood which He assumed, the Godhead guiding and directing it in every work, to make all His work perfect and divine. Ver. 30. As He spake these wards many, &c.; i.e., many of the simple-minded, candid and teachable people, but few or none of the proud Pharisees. And they believed, not only as convinced by the force of His arguments, but charmed by the grace and power of His words. "Never man spake like this man." Ver. 31. Then said Jesus, &c. He wished to confirm them in the faith they had accepted. If ye are so faithful and constant as to follow Me through persecutions and crosses, even to heaven itself, ye will be worthy not only of the name and title of My disciples, but also of their deserts and reward. Ver. 32. And ye shall know the truth, &c. The Greek Fathers understand by the Truth, Christ Himself; meaning ye shall know Me to be the Truth, shadowed forth by the figures of the old Law, from which I will set you free, that ye may serve God not with bodily ceremonies, but in the Spirit and truth of faith, hope, and charity (Joh 4:23). (2.) Hence, in accordance with the mind of Christ, If ye abide in My doctrine, ye shall taste by experience how sweet it is, and it will free you from the yoke of sin (see below, verse 34). For faith in Me will lead you to penitence, contrition, and charity, which does away with all sin. "If the Truth pleaseth thee not, let liberty please thee." He clearly restored liberty, and took away iniquity. Analogically: My doctrine will deliver you from the corruption of this place of mortality, change, and exile, because it will bring you to the liberty of a blessed immortality, and the glory of the children of God. Thus S. Augustine on this passage: "What doth He promise to those who believe? Ye shall know the truth. But did they not know it, when the Lord spake? for if they knew it not, how did they believe? They believed, not because they knew, but that they might know; for what is faith but believing that we see not? But the truth is, to see that which thou hast believed." There is a fourfold bondage which Christ did away with, and a fourfold liberty which He bestowed. (1.) The bondage of the Law which Christ did away with by the liberty of the Gospel, (2.) Bondage under sin, which He took away by the liberty of righteousness. (3.) Bondage under the dominion of concupiscence, which He took away by the liberty of the Spirit, and the dominion of charity and grace. (4.) Bondage under death and mortality, which He will take away by the liberty and glory of the resurrection. It does not refer to the liberty of the will, as though sinners were so entirely the slaves of sin as not to have any free-will, and that Christ gives it them back when He justifies them. For a sinner sins by free will, and a penitent repents and is justified only by his free-will, aided by the grace of God. Calvin foolishly denies free-will both to sinners and to the righteous. "Let us who are conscious of our own bondage glory only in Christ our deliverer." For he thinks that we are not intrinsically free, just as we are not intrinsically just by inherent righteousness, but only by the imputation of Christ's righteousness. Each of which opinions is not only an impious, but also a foolish heresy. Ver. 33. They answered Him, &c. Christ in what He had said indirectly charged the Jews with ignorance and bondage. But as glorying in their descent from Abraham, they felt wounded; and putting aside the charge of ignorance, they proudly deny the charge of bondage, and say that they had no need of the liberty of Christ. We are slaves neither by birth, nor by condition. "And in like manner," says S. Chrysostom, "men when charged with impurity and wickedness put it aside, but when their family and work are impugned, they start up, as if they were mad." But the Jews did not understand Christ, for He spake not of civil, but of spiritual bondage, and that He would set them free from the bondage of sin by the liberty of grace. But did the Jews say truly that they were never in bondage to any man? S. Chrysostom and others say that they spoke too boastfully, but that they veiled their falsehood, because though often conquered they had never been sold as slaver. (2.) Cajetan, Toletus, Jansen, and others reply to the charge by saying that though the Jews had formerly been in bondage, yet that the present generation of Jews had never been so, for they were merely the subjects, not the slaves, of the Romans. And this seems to be the most satisfactory meaning; for to say that their fathers had never been in bondage would have been a falsehood at which the sun itself would have blushed, and Christ would have at once confuted it. All they meant to say was that their race was a free and noble one, and that their subjection to the Romans was not slavery.
Ver. 34. Veri1y, verily, &c. Most assured, i.e., the saying is, and specially commended to their notice. But our Lord speaks to them modestly and becomingly, using only general terms and the third person. He might have said, Ye commit many sins, and are therefore the servants of sin, and from this bondage no one but Myself can deliver you. "A miserable bondage," exclaims S. Augustine in loc., and adds the reason. "A man slave, when worn out by his master's cruel treatment, can at length escape and be at rest. But whither can the servant of sin flee? He carries with him himself, whithersoever he flies. A wicked conscience cannot fly from itself; it has no place to go to, it follows itself. It cannot withdraw from itself; for the sin which causes it is within." (2.) S. Peter (2Pe 2:19) gives a further reason. "Of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage." (3.) He who committeth sin is the servant of the devil, who instigates to sin, and he is a cruel tyrant, who drives on sinners, as though they were his slaves, ever drawing them on from one sin to another, and in the end to hell. (4.) Every sin leaves behind it a desire and inclination to repeat the sin, and this concupiscence remains, even after the sin has been given up, for our punishment and temptation. Whence the Apostle says that he was sold under sin, that he did what he would not (as feeling against his will the motives of concupiscence), and that he cannot do the things he would. (5.) Because the sinner is bound by the chains of the sin he has committed, so that he cannot free himself, unless Christ sets him free by His grace, according to the saying (Prov. v. 22), "His own iniquities take the wicked himself, and he is bound with the cords of his sins." In these passages, to sin, which is inanimate, is ascribed the character of a master, or tyrant, to signify (1.) the tyrannical power of sin and concupiscence, and (2.) because by sin is understood the devil, who holds sway in the realm of sin, and holds stern dominion over sinners. St. Ambrose, on the words of Psalm cxix. 94, "I am thine, O save me," says strikingly, "the worldling, cannot say to Him, I am Thine, for he has many masters. Lust comes, and says, Thou art mine, for thou desirest the things of the body. Avarice comes, and says, Thou art mine, for the silver and gold thou hast is the price of thy bondage. Luxury comes and says, Thou art mine, for one day's feasting is the price of thy life. Ambition comes, and says, Thou art clearly mine, for knowest thou not that I have set thee over others that thou mightest serve me? knowest thou not that I have conferred power on thee, in order to subject thee to mine own power? All the vices come, and say severally, Thou art mine. What a vile bond-slave is he whom so many compete for? And moreover the sinner who cannot say to God, I am Thine, hears from the devil, Thou art mine." For as S. Ambrose adds, "Satan came and entered into him, and began to say, he (Judas) is not thine, O Jesus, but mine. He thinks those things that are mine, he ponders my thoughts in his heart; he feasts with Thee, and feeds with me; he receives bread from Thee, and money from me; he drinks with me, and sells me Thy Blood; he is Thy Apostle, but my hireling."
8:35
Ver. 35. The servant abideth not, &c. He who is the servant of sin, like you Jews, has not the right of remaining in his Master's house (that is the Church of God) for ever: for after death he will be cast into the outer darkness of hell, as ye too will be cast out. But the Son abideth for ever in His Father's house, that is, I ever abide with My Father in heaven. But if through Me and My grace ye have been delivered from the bondage of sin, ye will abide for ever with Me, as adopted children, in the house of God, that is in the Church militant by grace, and in the Church triumphant, for ever happy and glorious in heaven. So S. Augustine, Bede, and others.
8:36
Ver. 36. If therefore the Son, &c. I alone can make you free, not Abraham or Moses, though most beloved servants of God. So S. Chrysostom and others.
8:37
Ver. 37. I know, &c. By nature ye are Abraham's children, but in your deeds ye are degenerate. Your descent from Abraham will not therefore profit you. It will increase your damnation, for he will say at the last day, I acknowledge you not as my children, for ye have crucified Christ, my son and your brother.
Because My word, &c. Because ye will not take it in. Origen and S. Chrysostom think that these words were said to those who had before feebly believed in Christ, but who, on hearing themselves called "servants," were incensed against Him and wished to kill Him. But it is more probable that they were addressed to unbelievers who had before that plotted His death.
8:38
Ver. 38. I speak, &c. Ye not only speak, but do that which ye have learnt from your father, the devil, especially in seeking to kill Me, implying that Abraham was not their father. See this more clearly declared verse 44.
8:39
Ver. 39. They answered, &c. Because Christ seemed to imply that they had another father, they wished to learn from Him who he was. We own Abraham, and none other as our father.
Jesus saith unto them, If ye are the children of Abraham, do the works of Abraham. It is so in the Vulgate. But some Greek MSS. read as in the English version. He does not deny their extraction, but condemns their doings. Says S. Augustine, "Your flesh may be from Abraham, but not so your life."
8:40
Ver. 40. But now ye seek, &c. Abraham did not injure any one, but saved Lot, and as many as he could. But the Jews were eager to kill Christ. The Jews (Perke. Avoth. cap. v.) draw the same contrast between a disciple of Abraham and of Balaam.
8:41
Ver. 41. Ye do the works of your father. He persists in saying that they were not Abraham's children, but does not say whose children they were.
Then said they unto Him, We be not born of fornication, &c. Origen, Cyril, and Leontius think that in these words they implicitly reproached Him with His own birth. An atrocious statement, which the Pharisees studiously propagated, to detract from our Lord's credit and authority. But it would have been atrocious blasphemy. (2.) Euthymius and Rupertus suppose it to be only an assertion of their descent from Sarah, and not from Hagar, and thus not spurious, or in a secondary rank. (3.) We are not born of spiritual fornication, i.e., idolatry. We are not Hagarenes, who were idolaters. Rupertus objects that to make out this meaning the word "but" should have been inserted. But Maldonatus maintains that such particles are often omitted, adding that fornication in the prophets means idolatry, as being spiritual fornication, drawing away the soul from its true Spouse (see Hos 1:2). Theophylact explains it to mean, "We are not born of mixed marriages of Jews and Gentiles, which were forbidden, and counted illegitimate by the Jews." (4.) The Jews reply in a straightforward manner, Abraham is our true earthly father; and one is our Father, even God in heaven. Your charge is therefore false. You unjustly claim the God of Abraham for thyself alone, and exclude us from sonship with Him, and hand us over to another father, the devil, making us spurious, and consequently infamous.
8:42
Ver. 42. Jesus said, &c.. Put syllogistically, our Lord's argument runs this, "He who loves God, loves also the Son of God. But ye do not love Me, who am the Son of God. Therefore ye love not God. Just as the Arians, who by denying Christ to be the Son of God, deny the Father also; for if He has not a Son, He cannot be called God the Father.
For I proceeded forth (ε̉ξη̃λθον) and came (ήκω), I am here. S. Augustine, S. Hilary (de Trin. vi.), consider that the twofold generation of our Lord is here set forth. I came forth by eternal generation. I am come into the world by My Incarnation. "That the Word proceeded forth from God, is His eternal procession" (says S. Augustine), but He came to us, because He was made flesh; His advent was His being made man. But Jansen, Maldonatus, and others refer both the expressions to the Incarnation, but yet as implying, and presupposing His eternal generation. "I came forth from God, and came into the world, though I had before come forth from God, and was in heaven as God" (Joh 16:27).
For I came not of Myself, but He sent Me. He teaches that He was not self-originate, says S. Hilary (de Trin. vi.). Origen adds, He says this on account of some who came of themselves, and were not sent of the Father (see Jer 33:21). A warning to such as Lutherans, Calvinists, and others, who have no true mission.
8:43
Ver. 43. Why do ye not understand, &c. Because cleaving to your pride, avarice, hatred, and enmity against Me, ye will not hear Me and understand. "They could not hear," says S. Augustine, "because they refused to be corrected by what they heard;" but (as says the Gloss) ye are of the devil, and have elected to go on with him. S. Gregory Nazianzen (Orat. iv., de Theol.) tells us that in Scripture "I cannot" sometimes means "I will not." (See Matt. xix. 12.) But secondly, and more properly and forcibly, "Ye do not understand My words because ye cannot endure My teaching, and will not let My words enter your ears, so hateful am I to you, and so obstinately have you from hatred hardened your hearts against Me." Thus Emmanuel Sa.
8:44
Ver. 44. Ye are of your father the devil. "Not by descent but by imitation," says S. Augustine, quoting Ezek. xvi. 4; and adding, "The Jews, by imitating their impieties, found for themselves parents, not of whom to be born, but with whom they would be lost, by following their evil ways." S. Epiphanius (Her. 38, 40) by the devil in this place understands Judas Iscariot, whom our Lord also calls a devil. But the author of "Questions on the Old and New Testament" (apud S. Augustine) understands Cain. But it is certain that it must be taken literally to mean Lucifer. For the Jews in persecuting Jesus followed him as their father; "not by succession in the flesh, but in sin," says Ambrose (Lib. iv. in 1oc.) Ye are of, &c. "In order to kill Me." He explains that they are of the devil, by following his suggestion. S. Chrysostom says he speaks not of "works," but of desires (or lusts), showing that both lie and they greatly delighted in murders. For the devil has an ardent desire to destroy all men, both because he grudges them the glory from which he himself fell, but also to injure God, whom he hates as his torturer, and wishes to tear away men from Him whom He created in His own image, and called and predestinated to His own eternal grace and glory.
He was a murderer, &c. For as soon as Adam was created, Lucifer, the very same day through envy destroyed both him and all his posterity, by persuading him to eat of the forbidden fruit. And in like manner does he endeavour through you, O Jews, to kill Me, by Whom all men are to be redeemed from death. For he ever persists in his eager desire to destroy men, as the leopard and wolf, which feed on human flesh. He urged on Cain to kill Abel, and Joseph's brethren to destine him to death. And even now instigates all murderers to commit their murders. And much more does he thirst for the death and destruction of souls, though bodily death is here more properly meant, for this it was they plotted against Christ. Euthymius and S. Augustine (Contra Petib. ii. 13). And abode not in the truth, i.e., in the integrity and perfection, the grace, righteousness, and sanctity in which he was created. True means pure and unadulterated. As Nathaniel is called "a true Israelite, in whom is no guile." Again "in truth" means in that which was his duty. In S. John, David, and Solomon "the truth" commonly means this (see Joh 3:21). There is a threefold truth, in heart, word, and deed. The truth of the heart is opposed to error; the truth of word is opposed to a lie, the truth of deed is when a man acts in accordance with what is practically right, and this is opposed to iniquity and sin. Now the devil did not stand in the truth because he did not persevere in what he ought to have done. He refused to be under God. He claimed to be His equal, a kind of second god, and rose up against Him through pride. Hence he fell from his state of grace, and was cast down to hell (see Isa 14:12). And so S. Chrysostom (Hom. liv.; S. Leo, Ser. de Quadr., and others). Hence (1.) S. Augustine (contr. Adimantum iv. 4), understands by the "truth," the law, meaning that the devil did not abide in the Law of God. Others by "truth" understand fidelity, or the obedience due to God as the Creator. (2.) S. Irenæus (v. 22, 23) understands it to mean "veracity," as our Lord says below he is "a liar, and the father of it." Christ seems to charge the Jews with two faults, which they had learned from the devil, murder, and mendacity, and calumny. (3.) Origen (Tom. xxiv.) understands it to mean "truth in practical matters," which Lucifer abandoned when he sinned by pride, which practically was a false step. This resulted from his not abiding in truth of act, and thus he departed from truth in heart and word, and thus by his lies deceived mankind. Hence S. Augustine (de Civ. xi. 13) rightly infers that he was created in grace and righteousness, and that the Manichees were wrong in asserting that he was naturally wicked or created by an evil god. They inferred this wrongly from 1 John iii., "The devil sinneth from the beginning." The true meaning of this passage is explained in loco.
Because there is no truth in him. Neither in thought, word, or deed, for those three kinds of truth have a sisterly relation to each other. But here "truth" rather signifies veracity.
When he speaketh a lie, &c. When he fell from his original beauty as an angel and became a hideous demon, it was innate in him to deceive; his special and proper business was to lie, and to this he entirely devotes himself. (2.) "Of his own," means of his own special invention. But men lie from imitating him, and by his suggestion. (3.) "Of his own," from his own inward delight in it He delights in it, as a thief in his thefts. For he is a liar. From his constant habit of lying, he is altogether made up of lies. And if he ever speaks truth, it is by compulsion, or else by means of truth to persuade men to what is false.
And the father of it. "His father," says Nonnus. The Cainian heretics understood the devil to mean Cain. But the Manicheans on S. Augustine's authority (in loco) said that the devil had a father, even the evil god, and that both he and his son were liars. But I maintain that "of it" refers to the word "lie," which is understood in the term liar which occurs just before. And he is the father of a lie. (1.) Because he first invented the act of lying. (2.) Because he fashions and forms lies, as the potter moulds the clay. So S. Augustine and others. It is a Hebraism. Origen says, "The devil begot a lie. He was seduced by himself, and in this respect was worse, because others are deceived by him, whereas he is the author of his own deception." And S. Augustine, "Not every one that lies is a father of a lie, but he only who, like the devil, received it not from any other quarter." And hence the devil is the father and author of heresies, and therefore heresiarchs have had a devil at their side who suggested their heresies, as well as arguments to uphold them. So Luther confessed of himself. Such a suggester had Arius, Eunomius, Calvin, &c. The Apostle (1 Tim. iv. 1) speaks of heresies as "doctrines of devils" (see notes in loco). Ver. 45 But if I speak the truth, ye believe Me not. His argument stands thus, "Whosoever believeth a lie is a son of the devil. And ye believe a lie, and are therefore sons of the devil." But "if" may mean "because," as some Greek and Latin copies read. And so it would mean, "Because I speak the truth in truly reproving your sins, and truly asserting myself to be the Messiah, and prove this by miracles, yet ye will not believe Me because ye will not give up your sins, and will not believe what I say and teach, but rather believe the devil who persuades you that I am a false prophet, and my miracles are mere sleight of hand.
8:46
Ver. 46. Which of you, &c. This is to anticipate an objection of the Jews. For they might say, "We do not believe thee, because thou art a violater of our law, in healing the sick on the Sabbath-day." Produce any other charge against Me, and I will submit to your disbelieving Me. My healing on the Sabbath was not a violation, but a sanctification of the Sabbath. I leave any further charge to be decided by you who are my sworn enemies. So confident was Christ in His innocence that no one could lay anything to His charge which bore the slightest resemblance to sin. For He was Himself sinless, both on account of the Beatific Vision which He enjoyed, as the Blessed in heaven are incapable of sin for the same reason (for seeing God to be the Supreme Good, they necessarily love Him with all their strength, and hate whatever displeases Him) and likewise from the hypostatical union with the Word. For because His humanity existed in the Person of the Word, the Word kept His humanity free from all sin, and in perfect holiness. For if the humanity of Christ had sinned, the Person of the Word would have sinned; which is impossible. For virtuous or vicious actions relate to persons, and are attributed to them. Hence S. Ambrose (on Ps. xl. 13) brings in God the Father thus addressing Christ, "Thou wert conversant with sinners, Thou didst take on Thee the sins of all, Thou wast made sin for all, but yet no practice of sin could reach Thee. Thou didst dwell among men, as if among angels, Thou madest earth to be like heaven, that even there also Thou mightest take away sin."
If I say the truth, &c. He here shuts out another objection of the Jews. For they could have said, We believe Thee not, not for any sin which Thou hast committed, but because the things Thou sayest and teachest are not true." Christ meets the. objection by saying, "I have proved to you My doctrine by so many arguments and miracles, that no prudent person who is not blinded by hatred could question its perfect truth. If then My life is most innocent, and My doctrine most true, why do ye not believe Me?" Receive then the truth not as a bare assertion, but as demonstrated by reason.
8:47
Ver. 47. He that is of God, &c. He here assigns the true reason for the unbelief of the Jews, because they were born not of God, but of the devil; that is, ye do not listen to the spirit and instinct of God, but of the devil. For the devil has blinded your hearts with covetousness, hatred, and envy of Me. And ye therefore listen not to the words of God which I, who am sent from Him, announce to you, because ye will not hear and understand them. Because then ye are not the children of God who is true, but of the devil who is a liar, ye listen to his lying suggestions, but will not give a hearing to the true words of God which are uttered by Me. Moreover S. Augustine and S. Gregory (Hom. xviii.) understand these words of the elect and reprobate. He who is predestinated and elected hears the words of God, ye hear them not because ye are reprobate. But this is not the literal and genuine sense of the word, but merely an adapted one. For as Toletus and Maldonatus observe, many of those who at that time did not believe in Christ afterwards believed at the preaching of S. Peter and the Apostles; and on the other hand, some who then believed in Christ afterwards fell away from the faith, and became reprobates (see Joh 6:67). Lastly, the Manichees inferred wrongly from the passage (as S. Augustine asserts) that some men are good by their own nature, as created by the good God, but others are naturally evil, as created by the evil principle. Morally: S. Gregory infers thus from this saying of Christ: "Let each one ask himself if he takes in the word of God with the ear of his heart, and he will understand whence it is. The truth bids us long for the heavenly country, to crush the desires of the flesh, to shun the glory of the world, not to covet others' goods, to be liberal with one's own. Let each one of you consider with himself if this voice of God has prevailed in the ear of his heart, and he will acknowledge that it is from God." And just below, "There are some who willingly listen to the words of God so as to be moved by compunction even to tears, but who after their tears go back again to their sin. And these assuredly hear not the words of God, because they scorn to carry them out in deed." Hence S. Gregory infers that it is a mark of divine predestination if a man obeys the holy inspirations of God, and of reprobation if he rejects them (see Pro 1:24). And Joh 10:27, "My sheep hear My voice." They who hear the voice of Christ their Shepherd are saved, they who hear not are devoured by the devil. So too Christ says plainly, "Blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it" (Luk 11:25). And S. Bernard (Serm. 1, in Septuag.) tells his monks that the greatest proof of predestination is the profitable hearing of the word of God. For it was their constant food, by reading and meditation and prayer, to examine whatever proceeds from the mouth of God, and to fulfil it in their lives.
8:48
Ver. 48. The Jews answered and said, &c. They used to say it, though it is written nowhere else. But why did they call Him a Samaritan? (1.) Because He associated with the Samaritans. (2.) Because He came from Galilee, which was near Samaria. (3.) Because the Samaritans were partly Jews and partly Gentiles, and Christ seemed to them to be the same as bringing in a new faith and religion; and He thus seemed to be mixing up the traditions of the elders with the Gospel. (4.) And lastly, because He seemed to be making a schism, like the Samaritans. A Samaritan was, moreover, a term of reproach.
And has a devil. (1.) Because they said He cast out devils through Beelzebub, the chief of the devils. (2.) Because He made Himself God, transferring to Himself the glory due to God, as Lucifer strove to do. So Leontius. Our Lord so understood it, and answered, "I seek not My own glory." (3.) Thou art mad, like lunatics, and those possessed with devils (see x. 20, and vii. 20). This was an atrocious blasphemy. How wondrous, then, the patience of Christ! For He answered,
8:49
Ver. 49. I have not a devil, &c. As loving truth He denies the false charge, but though all-powerful He returns not their reproach. "God, though receiving an injury, replies not with words of contumely; and thou, when insulted by thy neighbours, shouldest abstain from their evil words, lest the exercise of just reproof should be turned into weapons of anger." And Chrysostom, "When it was necessary to teach, and to inveigh against their pride, He was severe. But in bearing with those who reproached Him, He exercised great gentleness, to teach us to resent any wrongs done to God, to overlook the wrongs done to ourselves." And S. Augustine, "Let us imitate His patience, that we may attain to His powers." Christ took no notice of the term Samaritan, because it was a reproach directed only against Himself, and not against God. He refused therefore to avenge His own wrongs, but would defend the honour of God. All knew He was a Galilean, and not a Samaritan, and by saying that He had not a devil, He refuted at the same time the charge of being a Samaritan. For the Samaritans, as schismatics, were the bond slaves of the devil. S. Gregory (Hom. xviii.) gives a mystical reason for His silence. "A Samaritan," he says, "means a guardian, and He is truly our guardian, of whom the Psalmist speaks, 'Except the Lord keep the city, they watch in vain who guard it' (Psa 127:2); to whom moreover it is said by Isaiah, 'Watchman, what of the night?' He would not therefore say, 'I am not a Samaritan,' lest he should deny also that He was our guardian."
I have not a devil. But ye have one. So far from detracting from the glory of God, or claiming it for Myself, as Lucifer did, I continually honour the Father and say that I derive everything from Him, that I am sent from Him, that I obey Him in all things, that I refer everything I have to Him, and direct everything to His honour and glory. But ye rather dishonour God the Father, because ye dishonour Me, and assail Me with most bitter reproaches, though I am His Son, and His ambassador in the world. So Leontius. Others explain it more generally of sin I honour My Father by good works, ye dishonour Him by your sins. So S. Augustine.
8:50
Ver. 50. I seek not, &c. It is God the Father who will most sharply punish those who seek not My glory, but in every way dishonour and discredit Me. S. Chrysostom. It may be said, "This is contrary to what Christ says (v. 22), The Father judgeth man." But there Christ speaks of the public and general judgment, here He speaks of the private and daily judgment with which He avenges the wrongs done to His Son and His saints, as by the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus for the death of Christ; as He here seems to hint. So Maldonatus and others. But the Gloss says, "There is one that judgeth who distinguishes My glory from yours; as David says, 'Judge Me, O God, and distinguish My cause from that of the ungodly people'" (Psa 43:1, Vulg.)
8:51
Ver. 51. Verily, verily, I say. He says this not from indignation but from pity of the Jews, showing that He is seeking not His own glory, but their salvation. "I say in very truth," and as S. Augustine thinks, he means I swear, "that if ye keep My commandments ye shall never die the death of the soul; ye shall never sin, for sin is the death of the soul. But ye shall ever live, here in the grace of God, and in heaven in His glory. Ye shall die indeed in the body, but I will raise you up in the day of judgment, and ye shall live in happiness of body and spirit for all eternity." So S. Augustine.
8:52
Ver. 52. Now we know, &c. "The devil suggests to Thee such proud and absurd boasting, that Thy word will drive away death from those who believe in Thee, when we see that Prophets and holy men, as Abraham, all died. But as says S. Gregory (Hom. xviii.), looking only to the death of the body, they were dark to the word of truth. For as Bede saith, "Abraham, though dead in the body, was alive in his soul." Learn from this, thou Religious, thou Preacher, thou Christian, from thy Master to receive calumnies for thy good deeds, curses and ill-will for thy kindnesses. Learn also to be good to the ungrateful. For Christ, though unweariedly teaching the Jews, healing them, delivering them from evil spirits, yet patiently endured these contumelies and reproaches, ingratitude in return for kindnesses, blasphemies for miracles, and for His teaching derision and reprehension, and yet did not cease to benefit those who were ungrateful, the very highest point of patience and charity.
Abraham is dead, &c. Thou blasphemest then, in making thyself gr ater than Abraham and the Prophets, yea, even greater than God Himself, since the word of God could not deliver Abraham and the Prophets from death. But yet the word of God, promulged by the lips of Christ, was more powerful than the word of God which was uttered to Abraham and the Prophets. And, moreover, Abraham and the Prophets were not dead in their souls, and though dead in the body were to be raised up by Christ to eternal life.
8:53
Ver. 53. Art thou greater? &c. They considered it most absurd, and even blasphemous, for Christ to prefer Himself to Abraham, as He really did; for He was both God and man, though the Jews knew it not, or rather refused to believe it.
8:54
Ver. 54. Jesus answered, &c. This was in answer to their question, Whom makest thou Thyself? He refers all His glory to His Father from whom He is, and who is God. What I say of Myself is of no value or weight, and that not only with you, as S. Chrysostom says, but with others. For in every court no one is believed on his own word but on the testimony of others, who witness for him (see chap. v. 31). Solomon also says, "Let another praise thee, and not thine own lips" (Pro 27:2). The Arians objected that the Father glorifies the Son. He is therefore greater than the Son. S. Augustine replies, "Thou heretic, readest thou not that the Son Himself said that He glorifies His Father? But He also glorifies the Son, and the Son glorifies the Father. Put aside thy pernicious teaching, acknowledge their equality, correct thy perversity."
8:55
Ver. 55. Yet ye have not known Him, &c. (1.) Ye know not the true God whom ye worship; ye know Him not to be one in essence and threefold in person, for ye think Him to be one in Person, as He is one in essence. Ye know not that God is a Father, and that He begat Me His Son, and that we two by our Breath produced the Holy Ghost. For had ye known it, ye would certainly have known and believed Me to be the Messiah, the Son of God; and conversely, "if ye had known Me, ye would assuredly have known My Father," says S. Chrysostom. (2.) S. Augustine says, Ye believe that there is one God, though ye neither see nor hear Him (see chap. v. 37). Ye ought therefore equally to believe in Me His Son, on account of the many signs and wonders which I work, though ye see not the Godhead which is hid within. (3.) Ye have not known Him, ye have not believed His testimony, This is My beloved Son; for ye knew not, or rather would not know, that this was the true voice of God. (4.) Euthymius explains, "Ye have not shown that ye know Him, because ye live wickedly, not as worshippers of God, but like idolatrous Gentiles, professing, as S. Paul says, to know Him (Tit, i. 16), but in works denying Him."
And if I say, &c. Maldonatus thinks that Christ called the Jews "liars," because they said to Him, "Thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil." For these were two most gross falsehoods, nay even blasphemies. But S. Chrysostom, Ammonius, and Theophylact are more to the point in asserting that they were called "liars," because they lied in saying that they knew God. For they believed not that He had a Son, and was threefold in His personality.
But I know Him, &c. Theophylact explains it thus, "I show by my life and conduct that I know, reverence, and worship God, because I reverently observe and constantly fulfil His word. Or it may be explained, even better, in this way. Because I acknowledge God the Father, and clearly perceive His Majesty, Power, and Holiness; I therefore, as man, greatly reverence Him, and clearly and fully observe His precept, which ye Jews do not observe, because ye know not nor comprehend His Majesty, and therefore do not reverence it." So Theophylact. Moreover, S. Augustine says, "He spake as the Son, the Word of the Father, and was the very Word of the Father Who spake to men." And He fitly said the " word, " not the " precept, " because He Himself was the Word of the Father, and the Father had ordered Him to announce to men that very truth, that they should acknowledge, believe, and worship God the Father and God the Son.
8:56
Ver. 56. Your father Abraham, &c. He longed for it with exulting mind; "He feared not, but exulted," says S. Augustine. "Believing he exulted with hope, that he might see by understanding." It is a catachresis. But what day? S. Augustine understands by it, that day of all eternity, wherein from all eternity the Son was begotten of the Father. "He wished to know My eternal generation and My Godhead, that he might believe in it, and be thereby saved." "He saw," says S. Augustine, " My day because he acknowledged the mystery of the trinity." (Bede follows him, as usual.) S. Jerome (on Dan. viii.) and S. Gregory (in loc.) say that it was the day when, by the three angels that appeared to him, only one of whom spoke to him, the mystery of the Trinity was by symbols revealed to him; he saw three but adored one (Gen. xviii. 2). (1.) But others generally refer it to the day of His Humanity, and thus understand it of the day of His Passion, Crucifixion, and death. See S. Chrysostom, &c. (2.) It is more simple to understand it of the day of His Incarnation. For all the Prophets and Patriarchs earnestly longed for the coming of Christ, to free them from their sins and from their imperfect state (limbo). "To see" (says John Alba) "is to enjoy the happiness and blessings brought by Christ." The word has often that meaning, as in the Psalm "to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living," i.e., to enjoy it.
He saw it. By faith, and again in a figure when he was commanded by God to offer up his son Isaac, which was a type of Christ's offering on the Cross. So S. Chrysostom and S. Augustine, and S. Bernard (Serm. vi. de. Vigil Natalis) adds that by smiting on his thigh he signified that Christ was to come from his race. (2.) He knew by prophetical revelation. But this would not be "seeing." (3.) The genuine meaning is, he saw from his own place (in limbo). He knew the day when Christ was incarnate and was born, not only from what Simeon told him, when he met him in the place below (in limbo), but also from what Anna the Prophetess, Zacharias, Anna the Virgin's Mother, and S. John the Baptist told him, but he saw it by intuitive perception. He saw all, just as the Blessed in heaven behold all things on earth and under the earth, and as S. Anselm saw with his eyes lifted up by God what was doing behind a wall. Abraham longingly desired to see this, as if present. For the promise that Christ should be born of him had been frequently made him by God. And it was due to him, in consequence of his faith, obedience, and many merits, that as the father of the faithful, who for so long a time, without any fault of his own, was so long detained in prison (limbo), most eagerly looking for Christ to deliver him, might for his own consolation, and that of his fellow-patriarchs, and in solace of their long and anxious expectation, know the very day when Christ was Incarnate and born. For two thousand years had he eagerly waited for Christ and sighed for His birth. And therefore God revealed it to him by His Spirit, and then Abraham and all the Saints in prison rejoiced and were glad. So Jansen, Maldonatus, and others. Lastly, the angels who comfort souls in Purgatory, much more consoled the souls of Abraham and the Patriarchs (in limbo), even as the same angels announced that much longed-for birth to the shepherds. Christ said this, (1.) To show that He was greater than Abraham, and that He was God, (2.) to show how highly He was valued, though absent, by Abraham, though the Jews despised Him when present among, them. (3.) And also to prick their consciences indirectly in this way: "Abraham had so great a longing for Me, but ye have rejected Me. Ye are therefore not true children of Abraham, but spurious and degenerate." He says "Abraham your father," whose children ye glory in being, though I do not glory in him, but he rather glories and exults in Me.
8:57
Ver. 57. Thou art not yet, &c. So that Abraham on his part could have seen Thee, and rejoiced at the sight. Irenæus hence infers that Christ lived fifty years on earth (adv. Hær. ii. 39, 40). But it is the common opinion that He was on earth for only thirty four (and those not complete) years. S. Chrysostom and Euthymius read forty years, but the common reading is fifty. The Jews seem to have been thinking of the jubilee. "Thou hast not reached one jubilee, how then canst Thou say that Thou hast seen Abraham, who lived forty jubilees before?" (So Severus of Antioch in Catena.) But Euthymius thinks that Christ seemed to the Jews, by reason of the maturity of His judgment and the gravity of His bearing, and also from the labours He had undergone in journeying and preaching, to be fifty years old. But you may easily say that the Jews, in order to avoid exception or mistake, put His age much higher than they knew He had attained to.
8:58
Ver. 58. Jesus said, &c. That is, I am God. The word am denotes eternity, which is ever present, and has no past or future. I am eternal, immutable, and ever the same. So S. Augustine, Bede, S. Gregory. I as God exceed the age of Abraham not by fifty years, but by infinite durations of years. For as Tertullian (de Trinit.) says, unless He had been God, He could not, as being descended from Abraham, have been before him. Hear S. Augustine on this passage, " Before Abraham was made, that refers to human nature, but I am pertains to the Divine Substance; was made (Vulg.), because Abraham was a creature. He said not, 'Before Abraham was, I am,' but Before Abraham was made, I am. Nor did He say, 'Before Abraham was made, I was made.' For in the beginning God made heaven and earth; for in the beginning was the Word. Before Abraham was made, I am. Acknowledge the Creator, distinguish the creature. He who spake was made of the seed of Abraham; and in order that Abraham might he made, He was (existed) before Abraham."
8:59
Ver. 59. Then they look up, &c., as a blasphemer, who placed Himself above Abraham, and made Himself equal to God. Blasphemers were ordered to be stoned (Lev 24:16). It is clear that these Jews were not those who were said to have believed in Him (as Theophylact supposes), but the others who were opposed to Christ. "And to what should such hardness betake itself but to stones?" says S. Augustine (in loc.) "They sought to crush Him, whom they could not understand," says S. Gregory (Hom. xviii.)
But Jesus hid Himself, &c. He made Himself invisible, and thus passed unharmed through the midst of them. So Leontius and others. S. Gregory says, "Had He willed to exercise His power, He would have bound them in their sins, or would have plunged them into the pains of eternal death. But He who came to suffer, would not exercise judgment." And S. Augustine, "He would rather commend to us His patience, than exercise His power. He forsakes them, since they would not accept His correction. He hides not Himself in a corner of the temple, as if afraid, or running into a cottage, or turning aside behind a wall or column: but by.His Divine Power making Himself invisible, He passed through their midst. As man He fled from the stones, but woe to them from whose stony hearts God flies away. Morally, we are taught by this example (says S. Gregory) humbly to avoid the anger of the proud, even when we have the power to resist them.
8:1
Postquam egit Evangelista de origine doctrinae Christi, hic consequenter agit de eius virtute. Habet autem doctrina Christi virtutem illuminativam et vivificativam, quia verba eius spiritus et vita sunt. Primo ergo agit de virtute doctrinae Christi illuminativa; secundo de virtute vivificativa, infra X, amen, amen dico vobis, qui non intrat per ostium in ovile ovium, sed ascendit aliunde, ille fur est et latro. Ostendit autem illuminativam virtutem doctrinae Christi, primo verbo; secundo miraculo, ibi et praeteriens Iesus, vidit hominem caecum a nativitate. Circa primum duo facit. Primo introducit Christum docentem; secundo ponit doctrinae Christi virtutem, ibi iterum ergo locutus est eis Iesus. Ad officium autem doctoris duo pertinent. Primo ut devotos instruat; secundo ut adversarios repellat. Primo ergo Christus instruit populum devotum; secundo repellit adversarios, ibi adducunt autem Scribae et cetera. Circa primum tria facit. Primo describitur locus doctrinae; secundo auditor; tertio doctor. Locus autem doctrinae est templum. Unde primo ponit recessum ab eo; secundo reditum. Recessus quidem, cum dicit Iesus autem perrexit in montem oliveti. Nam dominus hanc sibi consuetudinem fecerat ut per diem quando erat Ierosolymis in diebus festis, praedicaret in templo, signa et miracula faceret, et in sero revertebatur in Bethaniam, et apud sorores Lazari Mariam et Martham hospitabatur, quae erat in monte oliveti. Secundum igitur hunc morem dicit, quod cum in novissimo magnae festivitatis die Iesus stetisset in templo, et praedicasset, de sero perrexit in montem oliveti, ubi erat Bethania. Et hoc convenit mysterio: nam, ut dicit Augustinus, ubi decebat Christum docere et suam misericordiam manifestare nisi in monte oliveti, in monte unctionis et chrismatis? Oliva autem misericordiam signat: unde et in Graeco oleos idem est quod misericordia. Lc. X, 34, dicitur de Samaritano, quod infudit oleum et vinum, secundum misericordiam et severitatem iudicii. Item oleum sanativum est; Is. I, 6: vulnus et livor et plaga tumens non est circumligata medicamine, neque fota oleo. Signatur etiam medicina spiritualis gratiae, quae ad nos derivata est. Ps. XLIV, 8: unxit te Deus, Deus tuus, oleo laetitiae prae consortibus tuis. Et alibi: sicut unguentum in capite quod descendit in barbam. Reditus autem ad locum ponitur tempestivus; unde dicit et iterum diluculo venit in templum. Per quod signatur quod cognitionem et manifestationem gratiae suae in templo suo, scilicet fidelibus suis, manifestaturus erat, Ps. XLVII, 10: suscepimus, Deus, misericordiam tuam in medio templi tui. Quod autem diluculo rediit, exortum lumen novae gratiae designat; Os. VI, 3: quasi diluculum praeparatus est egressus eius.
8:2
Auditor autem doctrinae est populus devotus; et ideo dicit et omnis populus venit ad eum; Ps. VII, 8: synagoga populorum circumdabit te. Doctor autem introducitur sedens, unde dicit et sedens, idest condescendens, ut eius doctrina facilius caperetur. Sessio enim humilitatem incarnationis significat; Ps. CXXXVIII, 1: tu cognovisti sessionem meam et resurrectionem meam. Quia per susceptam humanitatem visibilis apparens, coeperunt de divinis facilius edoceri; et ideo dicit, quod sedens docebat eos, idest simplices, et sermonem eius admirantes; Ps. XXIV, 9: docebit mites vias suas, et diriget mansuetos in iudicio; Is. II, 3: docebit nos vias suas.
8:3
Consequenter cum dicit adducunt autem Scribae et Pharisaei mulierem in adulterio deprehensam, repellit adversarios, et primo ponitur calumniae tentatio; secundo calumniantium repulsio, ibi Iesus autem inclinans se deorsum, digito scribebat in terra. Circa primum tria facit. Primo ponitur tentationis occasio; secundo describitur ipsa tentatio, ibi dixerunt ei: magister, haec mulier modo deprehensa est in adulterio; tertio tentatorum intentio, ibi haec autem dicebant tentantes eum. Occasio autem tentationis ponitur adulterium a muliere perpetratum: et ideo primo aggravant culpam; secundo praesentant personam peccantem. Dicit ergo quantum ad primum adducunt autem Scribae et Pharisaei mulierem in adulterio deprehensam. Ut enim Augustinus dicit, tria in Christo praeeminebant: scilicet veritas, mansuetudo et iustitia. De ipso quippe fuerat praedictum: procede, et regna, propter veritatem et mansuetudinem et iustitiam. Nam veritatem attulit ut doctor, et hanc perceperant Pharisaei et Scribae dum doceret. Infra eodem: si veritatem dico vobis, quare non creditis mihi? Nullum enim falsum in verbis et doctrina eius deprehendere poterant; et ideo calumniari de hoc cessaverant. Mansuetudinem vero attulit ut liberator; et hanc cognoverunt dum adversus inimicos et persecutores non commoveretur; I Petr. II, v. 23: cum malediceretur, non maledicebat. Unde dicebat, Mt. XI, 29: discite a me, quia mitis sum, et humilis corde. Et ideo de hoc etiam non calumniabantur. Iustitiam autem attulit ut cognitor, et hoc quia nondum nota erat Iudaeis, maxime in iudiciis: ideo in ea scandalum posuerunt, volentes scire utrum a iustitia propter misericordiam recederet. Et ideo proponunt ei crimen notum et confusione dignum, scilicet adulterium; Eccli. IX, 10: omnis mulier fornicaria quasi stercus in via conculcabitur. Consequenter personam peccantem repraesentant, ut magis commoveant. Unde et statuerunt eam in medio; Eccli. XXIII, 34: hic in medio adducetur, et inter filios Dei et cetera.
8:4
Consequenter cum dicit et dixerunt ei: magister, haec mulier modo deprehensa est in adulterio, prosequuntur ipsam tentationem, et primo manifestant culpam; secundo allegant legis iustitiam; tertio exquirunt sententiam. Culpam quidem manifestant cum dicunt haec mulier modo deprehensa est in adulterio: quam quidem culpam exaggerant ex tribus, quae Christum commovere deberent a sua mansuetudine. Et primo ex culpae novitate; unde dicunt modo: nam quando est antiqua, non tantum movet, quia forte praecessit correctio. Secundo ex eius evidentia; unde dicunt deprehensa est, ita quod non possit se excusare, quod est consuetudinis mulierum, secundum illud Prov. XXX, 20: tergit os suum, dicens: non sum operata malum. Tertio ex culpae enormitate; unde dicunt in adulterio, quod est grave facinus et malorum multorum causa; Eccli. IX: omnis mulier quae adulteratur peccabit, primo quidem in lege Dei sui. Legis iustitiam allegant cum dicunt: in lege autem, scilicet Lev. et Deut. XXII, Moyses mandavit huiusmodi lapidare.
8:5
Sententiam autem exquirunt cum subdunt: tu ergo quid dicis? Calumniosa est interrogatio; quasi dicant: si eam dimitti censuerit iustitiam non tenebit. Sed, absit ut qui venerat quaerere et salvum facere quod perierat, eam condemnaret; supra III, 17: non enim misit Deus filium suum in mundum ut iudicet mundum, sed ut salvetur mundus per ipsum. Lex etiam quod iniustum erat iubere non poterat. Et ideo non dicit absolvatur ne contra legem facere videretur. Et ideo consequenter subditur perversa tentantium intentio, cum dicit haec autem dicebant tentantes eum. Credebant enim, quod Christus ne mansuetudinem perderet, eam dimitti debere dicturus esset; et sic accusarent eum tamquam legis praevaricatorem. I Cor. X, 9: neque tentaveritis Christum, sicut illi tentaverunt.
8:6
Consequenter cum dicit Iesus autem inclinans se deorsum, digito scribebat in terra, repellit adversarios sua sapientia. Nam Pharisaei de duobus eum tentabant: scilicet de iustitia et de misericordia. Et utrumque in respondendo servavit, et ideo primo ostendit quomodo servavit; secundo quod non recessit a misericordia, ibi erigens autem se Iesus dixit ei et cetera. Circa primum duo facit. Primo proponit sententiam iustitiae; secundo subditur effectus sententiae, ibi audientes autem haec, unus post unum exibant. Circa primum tria facit. Primo describit sententiam; secundo pronuntiat eam; tertio perseverat iterum in scribendo sententiam. Sententiam autem describit in terra digito; unde dicit Iesus autem inclinans se deorsum, digito scribebat in terra. Scribebat autem secundum quosdam illud quod dicitur Ier. XXII, 29: terra terra, audi (...) scribe iustum virum sterilem. Secundum alios vero, et melius, dicitur quod scripsit eadem quae protulit, scilicet: qui sine peccato est vestrum, primus in illam lapidem mittat. Neutrum tamen certum est. Sed in terra quidem scribebat triplici ratione. Una quidem, secundum Augustinum, ut ostendat eos qui eum tentabant in terra describendos esse; Ier. XVII, 13: domine, recedentes a te in terra scribuntur. Iusti autem, et discipuli qui eum sequuntur, in caelo scribuntur; Lc. X, 20: gaudete et exultate, quia nomina vestra scripta sunt in caelo. Item ut ostendat se quod signa faceret in terra: qui enim scribit, signa facit. Scribere ergo in terra, est signa facere: et ideo dicit quod inclinavit se, scilicet per incarnationis mysterium, ex quo in carne assumpta miracula fecit. Tertio, quia lex vetus in tabulis lapideis scripta erat, ut habetur Ex. XXXI, et II Cor. III. Per quod signatur eius duritia: quia irritam quis faciens legem Moysi, absque ulla miseratione occidebatur, ut dicitur Hebr. c. X, 28. Terra autem mollis est. Ut ergo signaret dulcedinem et mollitiem novae legis per eum traditae, in terra scribebat. Ex quo tria in sententiis debemus attendere. Primo benignitatem in condescendendo puniendis: unde dicit inclinans se; Iac. II, 13: iudicium sine misericordia ei qui non fecit misericordiam; Gal. ult., 1: si praeoccupatus fuerit aliquis in aliquo delicto, vos, qui spirituales estis, huiusmodi instruite in spiritu lenitatis. Secundo discretionem in discernendo; unde dicit digito scribebat, qui propter flexibilitatem discretionem significat; Dan. c. V, 5: apparuerunt digiti quasi manus hominis scribentis contra candelabrum. Tertio certitudinem in pronuntiando: unde dicit scribebat.
8:7
Sententiam autem profert ad eorum instantiam; unde dicit cum autem perseverarent interrogantes eum, erexit se, et dixit eis: qui sine peccato est vestrum, primus in illam lapidem mittat. Pharisaei enim transgressores legis erant, tamen nitebantur Christum de transgressione legis accusare, et mulierem condemnare: et ideo Christus sententiam proponit iustitiae, dicens qui sine peccato est vestrum, quasi dicat: puniatur peccatrix, sed non a peccatoribus: impleatur lex, sed non a praevaricatoribus legis, quia, ut dicitur Rom. II, 1: in quo enim alium iudicas, teipsum condemnas. Aut ergo istam dimittite, aut cum illa poenam legis excipite. Hic incidit quaestio utrum iudex in peccato existens, peccet ferendo contra alium sententiam qui in eodem peccato existit. Et licet manifestum sit, quod iudex si publice in peccato existens sententiam ferat, peccat scandalizando; nihilominus tamen hoc idem videtur, si sit in peccato occulto. Nam Rom. II, 1: in quo alium iudicas, teipsum condemnas. Constat autem, quod nullus condemnat se nisi peccando: ergo videtur quod iudicando alium peccet. Respondeo dicendum, quod in hoc uti oportet duplici distinctione. Aut enim iudex perseverat in proposito peccandi, aut poenitet se peccasse. Item aut punit ut legis minister, aut motu proprio. Et si quidem poenitet se peccasse, iam peccatum non est in eo; et sic absque peccato sententiam posset ferre. Si autem est in proposito peccandi: aut profert sententiam ut legis minister, et sic non peccat ex hoc quod sententiam profert, quamvis peccet ex hoc quod talia facit, quibus dignus est contra se similem sententiam recipere; si autem proprio motu, dico, quod proferendo sententiam peccat, cum non moveatur ad hoc amore iustitiae, sed ex aliqua mala radice; alias primo in se puniret quod animadvertit in alio; quia hoc dicitur in Prov. c. XVIII, 17: iustus prior accusator est sui.
8:8
Perseverat autem in scribendo, quia iterum se inclinans scribebat: primo quidem ut ostendat suae scientiae firmitatem; Num. XXIII, 19: non est Deus ut homo, ut mentiatur, et ut filius hominis, ut mutetur. Secundo ut ostendat eos sua visione indignos. Unde cum eos zelo iustitiae percussisset, non dignatus est eos attendere, sed avertit ab eis obtutum. Tertio ut eorum verecundiae consulens, daret eis exeundi liberam facultatem.
8:9
Effectus autem iustitiae est eorum confusio; unde dicit audientes autem haec, unus post unum exibant: tum quia gravioribus peccatis erant impliciti, et magis eos conscientia remordebat; Dan. XIII, 5: egressa est iniquitas a senioribus iudicibus, qui videbantur regere populum; tum etiam quia melius cognoscebant aequitatem prolatae sententiae; Ier. V, 5: ibo ergo ad optimates, et loquar eis: ipsi enim cognoverunt viam domini, et iudicium Dei sui. Et remansit solus Iesus, et mulier stans, scilicet misericordia et miseria. Ideo autem solus remansit, quia ipse solus sine peccato erat. Nam, ut dicitur in Ps. XIII, 1: non est qui faciat bonum, non est usque ad unum, scilicet Christum. Et ideo forte mulier territa est, et ab illo se puniendam credebat. Sed si remansit solus, quomodo dicit in medio stans? Et dicendum, quod mulier stabat in medio discipulorum, et sic ly solus excludit extraneos, non discipulos. Vel in medio, idest in dubio, utrum absolvenda esset, vel condemnanda. Sic ergo patet quod dominus in respondendo iustitiam servavit.
8:10
Consequenter cum dicit erigens autem se Iesus, dixit ei etc. ostendit quod a misericordia non recessit, dando sententiam misericordiae, et primo examinat; secundo absolvit; tertio admonet; examinat autem eam de accusatoribus; unde dicit, quod erigens se Iesus, scilicet faciem suam a terra, in qua scribebat, ad mulierem convertens, dixit ei: mulier, ubi sunt qui te accusabant? Item de condemnatione; unde quaerit nemo te condemnavit? Et illa respondit: nemo, domine.
8:11
Absolvit autem eam; unde dicit dixit ei Iesus: nec ego te condemnabo, a quo te forte damnari timuisti, quia in me peccatum non invenisti. Nec mirum, quia non misit Deus filium suum in mundum, ut iudicet mundum, sed ut salvetur mundus per ipsum; supra III, 17; Ez. XVIII, 32: nolo mortem peccatoris. Absolvit autem eam a culpa, non imponendo ei aliquam poenam: quia cum absolvendo exterius iustificaret interius, bene potuit eam adeo immutare interius per sufficientem contritionem de peccatis, ut ab omni poena immunis efficeretur. Nec tamen trahendum est in consuetudinem ut aliquis exemplo domini absque confessione et poenae inflictione quemquam absolvat; quia Christus excellentiam habuit in sacramentis, et potuit conferre effectum sine sacramento, quod nullus purus homo potest. Admonet vero eam cum dicit vade, et iam noli peccare. Duo enim erant in muliere ista: scilicet natura et culpa. Et utrumque poterat dominus condemnare. Puta naturam, si iussisset eam lapidare; et culpam, si non absolvisset. Poterat etiam utrumque absolvere, puta si dedisset licentiam peccandi, dicens vade, vive ut vis, esto de mea liberatione secura; ego, quantumcumque peccaveris, etiam a Gehenna et ab Inferni tortoribus liberabo. Sed dominus culpam non amans, peccatis non favens, ipsam damnavit culpam, non naturam, dicens amplius noli peccare: ut sic appareat quam dulcis est dominus per mansuetudinem, et rectus per veritatem.
8:12
Postquam Evangelista introduxit Christum docentem, hic consequenter primo ostendit doctrinae ipsius illuminativam virtutem; secundo manifestat quae de ea dicit, ibi dixerunt ergo ei Pharisaei: tu de te ipso testimonium perhibes. Circa primum tria facit. Primo ponit spiritualis lucis privilegium; secundo eius effectum, ibi qui sequitur me, non ambulat in tenebris; tertio eius fructum, ibi sed habebit lumen vitae. Privilegium autem spiritualis lucis ponitur quantum ad Christum, qui est lux; et quantum ad hoc dicit iterum locutus est eis Iesus dicens: ego sum lux mundi. Quod potest uno modo continuari ad immediate dictum. Quia enim dixit: nec ego condemnabo te etc., absolvens eam a crimine, ideo ne aliqui dubitarent utrum ipse absolvere posset, et peccata dimittere, dignatur apertius divinitatis suae potentiam demonstrare, dicens se esse lucem, qui peccati tenebras pellit. Alio modo potest continuari ad illud quod supra VII, 52 dixit: scrutare Scripturas, et vide quia propheta a Galilaea non surgit. Quia enim eum aestimabant Galilaeum, et quasi ex loco determinato dependentem, doctrinam eius repudiabant; ideo dominus ostendit se totius mundi esse lucem universalem, dicens ego sum lux mundi, non Galilaeae, neque Palaestinae, neque Iudaeae. Manichaei autem, ut Augustinus dicit, hoc falso intelligebant. Quia enim imaginatio eorum erat solum de sensibilibus, ideo non valebant se ad intellectualia et spiritualia extendere, credebant enim supra corporalia nihil esse in rerum natura, unde dicebant Deum esse corpus et lucem quamdam infinitam, et solem istum oculis carnis visibilem, Christum dominum esse putaverunt: et propter hoc ipsum dixisse ego sum lux mundi. Sed hoc stare non potest et Ecclesia Catholica improbat tale figmentum. Sol enim iste corporalis est lux quam sensus attingere potest: et ideo non est suprema lux, quam intellectus solus attingit, quae est lux intelligibilis propria rationalis creaturae. Hic de ea dicit Christus ego sum lux mundi. De ista dicitur supra I, 9: erat lux vera quae illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum. Lux autem ista sensibilis, imago quaedam est illius lucis intelligibilis: nam omne sensibile est quasi quoddam particulare, intellectualia autem sunt quasi totalia quaedam. Sicut autem lux ista particularis habet effectum in re visa, inquantum colores facit actu visibiles, et etiam in vidente, quia per eam oculus confortatur ad videndum, sic lux illa intelligibilis intellectum facit cognoscentem. Quia quidquid luminis est in rationali creatura, totum derivatur ab ipsa suprema luce; supra I, 9: illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum. Item facit res omnes actu intelligibiles, inquantum ab ipsa derivantur omnes formae, per quas res habent quod cognoscantur, sicut omnes formae artificiatorum derivantur ab arte et ratione artificis; Ps. CIII, 24: quam magnificata sunt opera tua, domine. Omnia in sapientia fecisti. Et ideo recte dicit ego sum lux mundi: non sol factus, sed per quem sol factus est. Tamen, ut Augustinus dicit, lumen quod solem fecit, sub sole factum est, et carnis nube tegitur, non ut obscuretur, sed ut temperetur. Excluditur etiam per hoc haeresis Nestorii dicentis, quod filius Dei erat unitus homini per inhabitationem tantum. Constat enim quod qui haec verba proferebat, scilicet ego sum lux mundi, homo erat. Nisi ergo ipse qui loquebatur et videbatur homo, personaliter esset filius Dei, non dixisset ego sum lux mundi, sed in me habitat lux mundi. Effectus autem huius lucis est expellere tenebras; unde dicit qui sequitur me, non ambulat in tenebris. Et quia lux ista est universalis, ideo universaliter tenebras omnes expellit. Sunt autem triplices tenebrae, scilicet ignorantiae; Ps. LXXXI, 5: nescierunt neque intellexerunt: in tenebris ambulant. Et hae sunt rationis secundum seipsam, inquantum per seipsam obnubilatur. Item culpae; Eph. V, 8: eratis aliquando tenebrae, nunc autem lux in domino. Et istae sunt rationis humanae non ex se, sed ex appetitu, inquantum male dispositus per passiones vel habitum, appetit aliquid ut bonum, quod tamen non est vere bonum. Item tenebrae damnationis aeternae; Matth. c. XXV, 30: inutilem servum eiicite in tenebras exteriores. Sed duae primae sunt in vita ista; tertiae vero sunt in termino viae. Qui ergo sequitur me, non ambulat in tenebris, ignorantiae, quia ego sum veritas, nec culpae, quia ego sum via, neque damnationis aeternae, quia ego sum vita. Et ideo consequenter subdit fructum doctrinae, scilicet sed habebit lumen vitae: nam qui hoc lumen habet, est extra tenebras damnationis. Dicit autem qui sequitur, quia sicut quicumque non vult errare in tenebris, oportet ut sequatur eum qui lumen portat; ita quicumque vult salvari, oportet quod sequatur Christum, qui est lux, credendo et amando; et sic apostoli secuti sunt eum, Matth. IV, 20. Quia vero lux corporalis deficere potest per occasum, contingit quia qui sequitur eam, tenebras incurrit. Lux vero ista, quae nescit occasum, numquam deficit: et ideo qui sequitur eam, habet lumen indeficiens, scilicet vitae. Lumen enim visibile non dat vitam, sed coadiuvat exterius operationes vitae corporalis; lumen vero istud vitam dat, quia vivimus inquantum intellectum habemus, qui est quaedam participatio illius lucis. Quando autem lux illa perfecte irradiabit, tunc habebimus vitam perfectam; Ps. XXXV, 10: apud te est fons vitae, et in lumine tuo videbimus lumen; quasi dicat: tunc ipsam vitam perfecte habebimus quando ipsum lumen per speciem videbimus. Unde dicitur Io. XVII, 3: haec est vita aeterna, ut cognoscant te solum verum Deum, et quem misisti Iesum Christum. Sed attendendum, quod hoc quod dicit qui sequitur me, pertinet ad meritum; quod vero dicit habebit lumen vitae, ad praemium.
8:13
Consequenter cum dicit dixerunt ergo ei Pharisaei etc., manifestat haec tria quae de se dicit, et primo primum; secundo secundum, ibi dicit ergo iterum, eis Iesus; tertio tertium, ibi amen, amen dico vobis, si quis sermonem meum servaverit, mortem non videbit in aeternum. Primum autem quod dixit, est ego sum lux mundi, quod Iudaeos turbabat, et ideo primo ponit Iudaeorum contradictionem; secundo eorum confutationem, manifestando veritatem sui dicti, ibi respondit Iesus, et dixit eis et cetera. Manifestum est autem circa primum, quod illa quae dixit in templo, dixit in conspectu turbarum, hic autem coram Pharisaeis. Et ideo dixerunt ei ipsi Pharisaei: tu de teipso testimonium perhibes, testimonium tuum non est verum; quasi dicant: ex hoc ipso quod tu de teipso testificaris, testimonium tuum non est verum. In hominibus enim nec acceptum nec congruum est quod homo se laudet; Prov. XXVII, v. 2: laudet te alienus, et non os tuum: quia non ex hoc commendabilis redditur, sed si a Deo commendatur; II Cor. X, 18: non enim qui seipsum commendat, ille probatus est, sed quem Deus commendat: quia solus Deus perfecte eum cognoscit. Deum autem nullus potest sufficienter commendare, nisi ipse seipsum, et ideo oportet quod ipse de seipso testificetur, et etiam de hominibus; Iob XVI, 20: ecce in caelo testis meus. Et ideo Iudaei decipiebantur. Consequenter cum dicit respondit Iesus, et dixit eis etc., dominus repellit eorum contradictionem, et primo auctoritate patris; secundo removet contradictionem exortam de patre, ibi dicebant ergo ei: ubi est pater tuus? Contradictio autem Iudaeorum erat per quamdam consequentiam, et ideo primo ostendit eorum consequentiam non tenere; secundo probat suum testimonium verum esse, ibi ego non iudico quemquam et cetera. Circa primum duo facit. Primo ostendit consequentiae falsitatem; secundo subdit deceptionis ipsorum causam, ibi vos autem nescitis unde venio, aut quo vado. Consequentia autem istorum erat quod ex hoc ipso quod Christus de se testimonium perhibebat, testimonium eius non erat verum. Sed dominus dicit contrarium, scilicet quod ex hoc verum est. Unde respondit, et dixit eis: si ego testimonium perhibeo de meipso, testimonium meum verum est: et hoc ideo, quia ego scio unde veni, et quo vado; quasi dicat, secundum Chrysostomum, quia ex Deo sum, et Deus, et Dei filius. Est autem Deus verax: Rom. III, 4. Dicit autem scio unde veni, idest cognosco meum principium, et quo vado, scilicet ad patrem, quem nullus perfecte scire potest nisi filius Dei; Matth. XI, 27: nec patrem quis novit nisi filius, et cui voluerit filius revelare. Non autem quicumque scit affectu et intellectu, unde veniat et quo vadat, non potest nisi verum dicere, nam a Deo venit, et ad Deum vadit; Deus autem veritas est: quanto ergo magis filius Dei, qui perfecte scit unde venit et quo vadit, verum dicit?
8:14
Consequenter cum dicit vos autem nescitis unde venio aut quo vado, ostendit causam erroris, quae est ignorantia divinitatis Christi; quia enim ipsam ignorabant, iudicabant de eo secundum humanitatem. Sic ergo duplex causa erroris erat in eis. Una, quia eius divinitatem ignorabant; alia, quia de eo secundum humanitatem tantum iudicabant. Et ideo quantum ad primum dicit vos nescitis unde venio, idest aeternum meum processum a patre, aut quo vado. Supra: est verax qui misit me, et ego quae audivi ab eo, haec loquor in mundo; Iob XXVIII, 20: unde ergo venit sapientia? Is. LIII, 8: generationem eius quis enarrabit?
8:15
Quantum ad secundum dicit vos secundum carnem iudicatis, scilicet de me, solum carnem esse putantes, non autem Deum. Vel secundum carnem, idest male et iniuste. Sicut enim secundum carnem vivere est male vivere, ita et secundum carnem iudicare, est male iudicare. Consequenter cum dicit ego non iudico quemquam, ostendit testimonium suum esse verum, et falsum esse quod ipse solus de se testimonium perhibeat. Et quia de iudicio mentio facta est, ostendit primo se non esse solum in iudicando; secundo se non esse solum in testificando, ibi et in lege vestra scriptum est et cetera. Circa primum tria facit. Primo ponit iudicii dilationem; secundo iudicii veritatem; et tertio veritatis rationem. Dilationem quidem iudicii ponit cum dicit ego non iudico quemquam; quasi dicat: vos iudicatis male, sed ego non iudico quemquam; supra III, 17: non enim misit Deus filium suum in mundum ut iudicet mundum, sed ut salvetur mundus per ipsum. Vel non iudico quemquam, scilicet secundum carnem, sicut vos iudicatis; Is. XI, 3: non secundum visionem oculorum iudicabit, neque secundum auditum aurium arguet. Sed tamen quandoque iudicabo; quia pater omne iudicium dedit filio; supra c. V, 22.
8:16
Et tunc iudicium meum verum est, idest iustum; Ps. XCV: iudicabit orbem terrae in aequitate; Rom. II, 2: scimus quia iudicium Dei est secundum veritatem in eos qui talia agunt. In quo ostenditur iudicii veritas. Rationem veritatis ostendit, cum dicit quia non sum solus. Quod autem dicit supra V, 22, pater non iudicat quemquam, intelligendum est seorsum a filio, vel quia non visibiliter pater apparebit omnibus in iudicio; et ideo dicit non sum solus, quia non derelictus ab ipso, sed simul cum ipso; infra XIV, v. 10: ego in patre, et pater in me est. Hoc autem verbum excludit errorem Sabellii dicentis unam esse personam patris et filii, nec differre nisi secundum nomina. Si enim hoc esset, non dixisset non sum solus, sed ego, et qui misit me, sed dixisset: ego sum pater, et ego ipse sum filius. Distingue ergo personas, et cognosce filium esse alium a patre.
8:17
Consequenter cum dicit et in lege vestra scriptum est etc., ostendit quod non est solus in testificando; nec tamen differt testimonium, sicut iudicium: unde non dicit, testimonium non perhibeo. Primo ergo introducit legem; secundo concludit propositum, ibi ego sum qui testimonium perhibeo de meipso. Dicit ergo in lege vestra, et vobis data, Eccli. XXIV, 23: legem mandavit Moyses: scriptum est, Deut. XIX, quia duorum hominum testimonium verum est: sic enim est ibi: in ore duorum aut trium stabit omne verbum. Sed, secundum Augustinum, habet magnam quaestionem quod dicit duorum hominum testimonium verum est. Fieri enim potest quod duo mentiantur. Nam Susanna casta duobus falsis testibus urgebatur, ut habetur Dan. XIII, 5 ss. Universus etiam populus mentitus est contra Christum. Responsio. Hoc quod dicit duorum hominum testimonium verum est, intelligendum est quod pro vero in iudicio est habendum. Cuius ratio est, quia in actibus humanis vera certitudo haberi non potest; et ideo accipitur inde id quod certius haberi potest, quod est per multitudinem testium: magis enim est probabile quod unus mentiatur, quam quod multi; Eccle. IV, 12: funiculus triplex difficile solvitur. Nihilominus tamen per hoc quod dicit: in ore duorum aut trium testium stabit omne verbum, reducit nos, secundum Augustinum, in considerationem Trinitatis, in qua est perpetua stabilitas veritatis, a qua omnes veritates derivantur. Dicit autem duorum vel trium, quia in Scriptura sacra quandoque nominantur tres, quandoque duae personae, cum quibus etiam intelligitur spiritus sanctus, qui est nexus duorum.
8:18
Si ergo duorum hominum testimonium verum est vel trium, testimonium meum verum est, quia et ego testimonium perhibeo de meipso, et testimonium perhibet de me qui misit me pater; supra V, 36: ego testimonium habeo maius Ioanne. Sed hoc non videtur ad propositum pertinere. Primo quidem, quia pater filii Dei non est homo; cum ipse dicat duorum hominum testimonium verum est. Secundo vero, quia tunc sunt duo testes alicuius quando testificantur de aliquo tertio; sed si unus testificatur de uno, non sunt duo testes. Cum ergo Christus testificetur de se, et similiter pater de Christo, videtur quod non sunt duo testes. Sed dicendum, quod Christus hic arguit per locum a minori. Manifestum est enim quod veritas Dei maior est quam veritas hominis. Si ergo credunt testimonio hominum, multo magis credendum est testimonio Dei. I Io. V, 9: si testimonium hominum accipitis, testimonium Dei maius est. Item hoc dicit, ut ostendat se consubstantialem patri, et non indigentem alieno testimonio, ut dicit Chrysostomus.
8:19
Consequenter cum dicit dicebant ergo ei: ubi est pater tuus? Removet exortam quaestionem de patre, et primo ponit quaestionem Iudaeorum; secundo ponit responsionem Christi; tertio innuit securitatem respondentis. Quaestio autem Iudaeorum proposita Christo est de patre, ubi esset: unde dicebant ei ubi est pater tuus? Intelligebant enim Christum habere patrem hominem sicut ipsi habent; et ideo, quia audierunt eum dicere: solus non sum, sed ego et qui misit me pater, et hic viderant eum solum, dicunt ubi est pater tuus? Vel dicendum, quod loquuntur hic cum quadam ironia et contumelia; quasi dicant: quid frequenter patrem tuum nobis inducis? Numquid est tantae virtutis, ut eius testimonio credatur? Ignotus enim est, et ignobilis. Intelligebant hoc de Ioseph; nihilominus tamen patrem ignorabant. Ps. CXIII, 2: ne quando dicant gentes: ubi est Deus eorum? Responsio autem Christi est occulta, ibi: respondit Iesus: neque me scitis, neque patrem meum. Quia enim non studio addiscendi, sed malignandi quaerebant, ideo Christus non aperit eis veritatem; sed ostendit primo quidem ipsorum ignorantiam; secundo quomodo possint ad veritatis cognitionem pervenire. Ignorantiam quidem ipsorum ostendit cum dicit neque me scitis; quasi dicat: non quaeratis de patre, quia me nescitis. Quia enim me hominem putatis, ideo patrem meum hominem quaeritis; sed quia me non noscitis, neque patrem cognoscere potestis. Sed contra. Supra VII, 28, dixit: et me scitis, et unde sim scitis. Est dicendum quod sciebant eum secundum humanitatem, sed non secundum divinitatem. Sciendum autem, secundum Origenem, quod ex hoc verbo aliqui sumentes occasionem erroris, dixerunt patrem Christi non fuisse Deum veteris testamenti; nam ipsum Iudaei cognoscebant, secundum illud Ps. LXXV, 1: notus in Iudaea Deus. Sed ad hoc est quadruplex responsio. Prima, quia ideo dicit dominus Iudaeos patrem ignorare, quia ad modum ignorantium se habent, inquantum mandatum eius non servant. Et haec responsio pertinet ad actum. Secundo dicuntur Deum ignorare, quia non adhaerent ei spiritualiter per amorem: qui enim aliquid cognoscit, ei adhaeret. Tertio, quia etsi cognoscerent eum per fidem, non tamen habebant de eo plenam scientiam. Supra I, v. 18: Deum nemo vidit unquam. Unigenitus filius, qui est in sinu patris, ipse enarravit. Quarto, quia in veteri testamento innotuit pater sub ratione Dei omnipotentis, Ex. VI, 3: ego apparui eis in Deo omnipotente, et nomen meum Adonai non indicavi eis, non autem sub ratione patris; unde licet scirent eum ut Deum, non tamen ut patrem filii consubstantialis. Viam autem perveniendi ad cognitionem patris dicit se esse: unde dicit si me sciretis, quasi dicat: quia patrem meum loquor occultum, opus prius est ut me noveritis, et tunc patrem meum forsitan scietis. Nam filius est via cognitionis paternae. Infra XIV, 7: si cognovissetis me, et patrem meum utique cognovissetis. Nam, secundum Augustinum, quid est si me sciretis, nisi ego et pater unum sumus? Quotidiana locutio est, quando vides aliquem alicuius similem, ut dicas: si hunc vidisti, illum vidisti, non tamen quod pater sit filius, sed quia sit patri similis. Dicit autem forsitan, non dubitative, sed increpative, velut si indigneris servo tuo, et dicas: contemnis me? Considera quod forsitan dominus tuus sum.
8:20
Securitatem autem Christi respondentis ostendit Evangelista, cum dicit haec verba locutus est Iesus in gazophylacio. Et primo quidem ex loco ubi docebat, quia in gazophylacio et in templo. Gaza enim, Persica lingua, dicuntur divitiae, phylaxe vero servare: unde gazophylacium ponitur in Scriptura pro arca, ubi divitiae conservantur; et hoc modo accipitur IV Reg. XII, 9, quod tulit Ioiada sacerdos gazophylacium unum, aperuitque foramen desuper, et posuit illud iuxta altare ad dexteram ingredientium domum domini, mittebantque in eo sacerdotes qui custodiebant ostia, omnem pecuniam quae deferebatur ad templum domini. Aliquando autem pro domo ubi divitiae conservantur; et hoc modo accipitur hic. Secundo, ex hoc quod illi qui missi fuerant ad eum apprehendendum, hoc facere non potuerunt, quia ipse nolebat: unde dicit et nemo apprehendit eum, quia nondum venit hora eius, in qua pateretur; non fatalis, sed sua voluntate ab aeterno praedestinata. Unde dicit Augustinus nondum venerat hora eius, non qua cogeretur mori, sed qua dignaretur occidi. Sed nota, secundum Origenem, quod quandocumque designatur locus in quo dominus aliquid fecit, hoc fit propter mysterium. In gazophylacio ergo, qui est locus divitiarum, Christus docuit, ut daret intelligi, quod numismata, id est verba suae doctrinae, imaginem regis magni impressam habent. Nota etiam, quod quando docebat, nemo apprehendit eum, quia sermones eius fortiores erant his qui eum capere volebant: quando vero voluit crucifigi, tacuit.
Postquam dominus manifestavit de se privilegium lucis, hic consequenter manifestat lucis effectum, scilicet quod liberat a tenebris, et primo ostendit quod ipsi in tenebris detinentur; secundo docet remedium quo ab eis liberentur, ibi dicebant ergo Iudaei: numquid interficiet semetipsum et cetera. Circa primum tria facit. Primo denuntiat dominus suum recessum; secundo ostendit Iudaeorum studium perversum; tertio ipsorum defectum. Recessum autem suum dicit dominus esse per mortem; et ideo dicit ego vado: in quo duo dat intelligere. Primo, quod voluntarie moritur, scilicet vadens, et non ab alio ductus. Infra XVI, 5: vado ad eum qui me misit; infra X, 18: nemo tollit a me animam meam: sed ego pono eam a meipso. Et secundum hoc recte continuatur ad praecedentia. Dixit enim: nemo apprehendit eum et cetera. Et quare? Quia per se vadit sponte. Secundo ostendit quod mors Christi erat quaedam profectio illuc unde venerat et unde non discesserat: sicut enim qui vadit in anteriora proficit, ita Christus per mortem pervenit ad gloriam exaltationis. Phil. II, 8: factus est obediens usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis; propter quod et Deus exaltavit illum; infra XIII, 3: sciens quia a Deo exivit, et ad Deum vadit. Perversum eorum studium ostendit in dolosa inquisitione Christi: et quantum ad hoc dicit quaeretis me. Quidam autem quaerunt Christum pie ex caritate; et hanc inquisitionem sequitur vita; Ps. LXVIII, v. 33: quaerite dominum, et vivet anima vestra. Sed isti impie quaerunt, et odio ad persequendum; Ps. XXXVII, 13: vim faciebant qui quaerebant animam meam. Et sic dicit quaeretis me, scilicet persequentes post mortem quidem infamia; Matth. XXVII, 63: recordati sumus quod seductor ille dixit adhuc vivens: post tres dies resurgam. Item in membris meis; Act. IX, 4: Saule, Saule, quid me persequeris? Et hanc sequelam sequitur mors; et ideo subdit ipsorum defectum, quem eis praenuntiat dicens et in peccato vestro moriemini, et primo praenuntiat defectum qui consistit in mortis damnatione; secundo defectum qui consistit in eorum a gloria exclusione, ibi quo ego vado, vos non potestis venire. Dicit ergo: quia inique me quaeritis, ideo in peccato vestro, scilicet permanentes, moriemini. Quod potest intelligi uno modo de morte corporali: et sic in peccatis suis moritur qui usque ad mortem perseverat in eis. Et sic per hoc quod dicit in peccato vestro moriemini, exaggerat eorum obstinatam pertinaciam. Ier. VIII, 6: non est qui poenitentiam agat de peccato suo dicens, quid feci? Ez. XXXII, 27: descenderunt cum armis ad Inferna. Alio modo de morte peccati, de qua dicitur in Ps. XXXIII, 21: mors peccatorum pessima. Et sicut mortem corporalem praecedit infirmitas corporis, ita et hanc mortem infirmitas quaedam praecedit. Quamdiu enim peccatum remediabile est, tunc est quasi quaedam infirmitas quae praecedit Ps. VI, 3: miserere mei, domine, quoniam infirmus sum. Sed quando est irremediabile, vel simpliciter, sicut post hanc vitam, vel quod ad ipsum, sicut est peccatum in spiritum sanctum; tunc causat mortem; I Io. V, 16: est peccatum ad mortem, non pro illo dico, ut roget quis. Et secundum hoc praenuntiat eis dominus infirmitatem peccatorum esse ad mortem.
8:21
Defectum qui consistit in eorum exclusione a gloria ostendit cum dicit quo ego vado, vos non potestis venire. Quo vadit dominus, vadunt et isti per mortem; sed dominus sine peccato, isti vero cum peccatis, quia in peccato suo moriuntur, et ideo non perveniunt ad gloriam paternae visionis. Et ideo dicit quo ego vado, scilicet sponte per passionem meam, scilicet ad patrem et ad suam gloriam, vos non potestis venire, quia non vultis. Si enim voluissent, et non potuissent, non rationabiliter diceretur eis in peccato vestro moriemini. Sed notandum quod aliqui impediuntur ne possint ire quo Christus vadit, dupliciter.
8:22
Uno modo ratione contrarietatis, et sic impediuntur peccatores: et de hoc loquitur hic; et ideo simpliciter perseverantibus in peccato dicit quo ego vado, vos non potestis venire. Ps. c, 7: non habitabit in medio domus meae qui facit superbiam; Is. XXXV, 8: via sancta vocabitur, et pollutus non transibit per eam; Ps. XIV, 1: quis habitabit in tabernaculo tuo? Innocens manibus et mundo corde. Alio modo ratione imperfectionis, seu indispositionis: et hoc modo impediuntur iusti quamdiu sunt in corpore; II Cor. V, 6: quamdiu sumus in corpore, peregrinamur a domino. Et talibus non dicit dominus simpliciter quo ego vado, non potestis venire, sed addit determinationem temporis: infra XIII, 37: quo ego vado, non potes me modo sequi. Consequenter cum dicit dicebant ergo Iudaei etc., agit de remedio per quod a tenebris liberentur, et primo proponit remedium tenebras evadendi; secundo inducit rationes ad hoc remedium impetrandum, ibi dicebant ergo eis: tu quis es? Tertio praenuntiat modum ad hoc perveniendi, ibi dixit ergo eis Iesus: cum exaltaveritis filium hominis, tunc cognoscetis. Circa primum duo facit. Primo ponitur verborum Christi occasio; secundo ponuntur ea quibus causatur remedii insinuatio, ibi vos de deorsum estis. Occasio autem verborum Christi sumitur ex persona, vel intellectu Iudaeorum. Cum enim carnales essent, verba domini quae dixerat quo ego vado, vos non potestis venire, carnaliter intelligebant; I Cor. II, 14: animalis homo non percipit ea quae sunt spiritus Dei. Unde dicunt Iudaei numquid interficiet semetipsum? Quae quidem, secundum Augustinum, stulta opinio est. Numquid enim non poterant venire quo Christus perrexit, si interficeret semetipsum? Poterant quidem et ipsi seipsos interficere. Sic ergo mors non erat terminus quo iturus erat Christus, sed via qua ibat ad patrem. Unde non dixit quod non possent ire ad mortem, sed quod per mortem non poterant ire ad locum quo per eam Christus exaltabatur, ad dexteram scilicet Dei. Secundum Origenem autem, forte non sine causa Iudaei hoc dicunt. Habebant enim ex traditionibus quod Christus voluntarie esset moriturus, sicut ipse dixit, infra X, 18: nemo tollit animam meam, sed ego pono eam a meipso. Quod specialiter videntur habuisse ex Is. LIII, 12: pro eo quod tradidit animam suam in mortem, ideo dispertiam ei plurimos, et fortium dividet spolia. Quia ergo aliqualem suspicionem habebant de Iesu quod esset Christus, ideo, cum dixit ego vado etc., introduxerunt hanc opinionem, quod ipse semetipsum voluntarie morti traderet. Sed contumeliose hoc proferunt, dicentes numquid interficiet se? Alias dixissent: numquid anima eius, cum ipsi placuerit, egredietur relicto corpore? Quod nos non possumus facere. Et propter hoc ait quo ego vado, vos non potestis venire.
8:23
Consequenter cum dicit vos de deorsum estis etc., proponit remedium tenebras evadendi, et primo praemittit suam et illorum originem; secundo ex hoc concludit propositum, ibi dixi ergo vobis et cetera. Circa primum autem diversificat originem suam ab illorum origine dupliciter. Primo, quia ipse est de supernis, et isti deorsum. Secundo, quia isti sunt de hoc mundo, de quo non est Christus. Sed, sicut Origenes dicit, aliud est esse deorsum, et aliud de hoc mundo; nam sursum et deorsum sunt differentiae situs. Ne ergo per hoc quod dixit se esse de supernis intelligant eum esse de superiori parte mundi huius, ideo hoc excludens, dicit se non esse de hoc mundo. Quasi dicat: ita de supernis sum, quod tamen totaliter sum supra totum mundum istum. Et quidem eos esse de hoc mundo et de deorsum manifestum est; sed Christum esse de supernis, et non de hoc mundo, sane indiget intellectu. Nam quidam ponentes omnia visibilia creata esse a Diabolo, sicut Manichaei, dixerunt Christum etiam quantum ad corpus non esse de hoc mundo visibili, sed de mundo alterius creationis, scilicet invisibili. Valentinus etiam hoc male suscipiens, dixit, Christum attulisse corpus caeleste. Quod autem hic non sit verus intellectus apparet, quia ipsis apostolis dominus dicit, infra XV, 19: vos non estis de hoc mundo. Dicendum est ergo, quod potest intelligi de Christo filio Dei, et de Christo homine. Nam Christus secundum quod filius Dei, est de supernis; infra XVI, 28: exivi a patre, et veni in mundum. Et similiter non est de hoc mundo sensibili, scilicet, qui consistit in rebus sensibilibus, sed de mundo intelligibili, qui est in mente Dei, quia est ipsum verbum Dei, prout est summa sapientia. Omnia enim in sapientia facta sunt. Unde de eo dicitur supra, I, 10: mundus per ipsum factus est. Secundum autem quod homo, Christus est de supernis, quia non habuit affectum ad mundana et infima, sed ad superiora, in quibus anima Christi conversabatur, secundum illud Phil. III, 20: nostra conversatio in caelis; Matth. VI, 21: ubi est thesaurus tuus, ibi est et cor tuum. Et e converso isti qui deorsum sunt, originem infimam habent, et de hoc mundo, quia habent affectum circa terrena; I ad Cor. XV, 47: primus homo de terra terrenus. Consequenter cum dicit dixi ergo vobis, quia moriemini in peccatis vestris, concludit propositum, et primo manifestat ea quae dixit de eorum defectu; secundo ostendit eis remedium, ibi si enim non credideritis et cetera. Sciendum autem circa primum, quod unumquodque in suo progressu sequitur conditionem suae originis; unde ea quae habent originem infimam, si sibi relinquantur, naturaliter deorsum tendunt. Et nihil naturaliter tendit sursum nisi quod superiorem originem habet; Sup. III, 13: nemo ascendit in caelum nisi de caelo descendit. Dicit ergo dominus: haec est causa quare non potestis venire quo ego vado, quia cum sitis de deorsum, quantum in vobis est, non potestis nisi cadere; et ideo quod dixi, quia moriemini in peccatis vestris, verum est, nisi mihi adhaereatis.
8:24
Et ideo ut non totaliter excludat spem salutis, ponit remedium, dicens si enim non credideritis quia ego sum, moriemini in peccato vestro; quasi dicat: nati estis in originali peccato, a quo non potestis absolvi nisi per fidem meam, quia si non credideritis quia ego sum, moriemini in peccato vestro. Et dicit ego sum, non autem quid sim, ut rememoret quod dictum est Moysi, Ex. III, v. 14: ego sum qui sum: nam ipsum esse est proprium Dei. In qualibet enim alia natura a divina differt esse et quod est, cum quaelibet natura creata participet suum esse ab eo quod est ens per essentiam, scilicet ipso Deo, qui est ipsum suum esse, ita quod suum esse sit sua essentia. Unde ipse solus denominatur ab eo. Et ideo dicit nisi credideritis quia ego sum, idest quia sum vere Deus, qui habet esse per essentiam, moriemini in peccato vestro. Dicit enim quia ego sum, ut ostendat suam aeternitatem. In omnibus enim quae incipiunt est mutabilitas quaedam, et aliqua potentia ad non esse, unde est invenire in eis quoddam praeteritum et futurum: et ideo non est ibi verum esse per se. Sed in Deo nulla est potentia ad non esse, nec esse incepit; et ideo est ipsum esse, quod proprie per tempus praesens designatur.
8:25
Consequenter cum dicit dicebant ergo ei: tu quis es? Ponit rationes inducentes ad fidem, et primo ponitur Iudaeorum interrogatio; secundo Christi responsio, ibi dixit eis Iesus: principium, qui et loquor vobis; tertio intellectus eorum excaecatio, ibi et non cognoverunt et cetera. Quia enim dominus dixerat nisi credideritis quia ego sum, restabat adhuc quaerere quis esset; et ideo dicebant ei tu quis es? Quasi dicant: unde es, ut tibi credere debeamus? Et ideo consequenter cum dicit principium, qui et loquor vobis, respondet, inducens eos ad credendum, et primo ex suae naturae sublimitate; secundo ex iudiciaria sua potestate, ibi multa habeo de vobis loqui et iudicare; tertio ex paterna veritate, ibi sed qui misit me, verax est. Inducit quidem eos ad credendum Christo, naturae eius sublimitas, quia ipse est principium. Unde dixit eis Iesus: principium, qui et loquor vobis. Principium in Latino est neutri generis: unde dubium est, utrum sit hic nominativi, vel accusativi casus. In Graeco autem est feminini generis, et in hoc loco est accusativi casus. Unde, secundum Augustinum, non est legendum: ego sum principium, sed, principium me credite, ne moriamini in peccatis vestris. Dicitur etiam pater principium. Et uno quidem modo nomen principii commune est patri et filio, inquantum scilicet sunt unum principium spiritus sancti per communem spirationem; et tres personae simul sunt principium creaturae per creationem. Alio modo est proprium patris, inquantum scilicet pater est principium filii per aeternam generationem. Non tamen plura dicimus principia, sicut nec plures deos; Ps. CIX, 3: tecum principium in die virtutis tuae et cetera. Hic autem dicit dominus se principium respectu totius creaturae: nam quod est per essentiam tale, est principium et causa eorum quae sunt per participationem. Esse autem per essentiam, ut dictum est, est esse suum. Sed quia Christus non solum habet in se divinam naturam, sed etiam humanam, ideo subdit qui et loquor vobis: nam vocem Dei immediate homo ferre non potest, quia, secundum Augustinum, infirma corda intelligibile verbum sine voce sensibili audire non possunt. Ex. c. XX: quid est homo, ut audiat vocem domini Dei sui? Ad hoc ergo quod immediate ipsum divinum verbum audiremus, carnem assumpsit, cuius organo locutus est nobis: unde dicit qui et loquor vobis; idest, humilis propter vos factus, ad ista verba descendi. Ad Hebr. I, 1: multifarie multisque modis olim Deus loquens patribus in prophetis, novissime locutus est nobis in filio; supra I, 18: unigenitus, qui est in sinu patris, ipse enarrabit vobis. Vel aliter, secundum Chrysostomum, ut per hoc quod dicit principium, qui et loquor vobis, reprehendat tarditatem intellectus Iudaeorum. Nam post multa signa quae ab eo viderant fieri, adhuc indurati, quaerunt a domino tu quis es? et cetera. Et ideo Iesus respondit ego sum principium, idest qui locutus sum vobis a principio; quasi dicat: non habetis opus adhuc quaerere quis ego sum, cum iam deberet esse manifestum. Hebr. V, 12: cum deberetis esse magistri propter tempus, rursum indigetis ut vos doceamini, quae sint elementa exordii sermonum Dei. Secundo inducit eos ad credendum Christo iudiciaria eius auctoritas; et ideo subdit multa habeo de vobis loqui et iudicare; quasi dicat: habeo auctoritatem vos iudicandi. Sed sciendum, quod aliud est loqui nobis, et aliud loqui de nobis. Nobis enim loquitur Christus ad nostram utilitatem, scilicet ut ad se trahat; et sic loquitur nobis, dum vivimus, praedicando, inspirando et huiusmodi faciendo. Loquitur autem de nobis non ad nostram utilitatem, sed ad suam iustitiam ostendendam; et hoc modo loquetur de nobis in iudicio futuro. Sed contra. Supra III, 17: non enim misit Deus filium suum in mundum ut iudicet mundum, sed ut salvetur mundus per ipsum. Responsio. Dicendum, quod aliud est iudicare, et aliud habere iudicare. Iudicare dicit actum iudicii; et hoc non pertinet ad primum adventum domini, ut supra dixit: ego non iudico quemquam, scilicet ad praesens. Sed habere iudicare dicit iudicii potestatem; et hanc habet Christus; supra V, 22: pater omne iudicium dedit filio; Act. X, 42: ipse est qui constitutus est a Deo iudex vivorum et mortuorum.
8:26
Et ideo signanter dicit multa habeo de vobis loqui et iudicare, sed in futuro iudicio. Inducit etiam ad credendum Christo veritas paterna; et quantum ad hoc dicit sed qui misit me, verax est; quasi dicat: pater est verus; ego autem loquor consona ei: ergo loquor vera, ergo debetis mihi credere. Dicit ergo qui misit me, scilicet pater, verax est, non participative, sed ipsa essentia veritatis; alias, cum filius sit ipsa veritas, esset maior patre; Rom. III, 4: est autem Deus verax. Et ego quae audivi ab eo: non auditu humano, sed per generationem aeternam accepi, haec loquor. Is. XXI, 10: quae audivi a domino exercituum Deo Israel, annuntiavi vobis; supra V, 19: non potest filius a se facere quidquam. Hoc autem quod dixit qui misit me, verax est, dupliciter continuatur ad praecedentia. Uno modo sic. Dico quod habeo de vobis iudicare. Sed iudicium meum verum erit, quia qui misit me, verax est. Rom. c. II, 2: iudicium Dei est secundum veritatem. Alio modo, secundum Chrysostomum, dico quod habeo de vobis iudicare; sed hoc differo, non ex impotentia, sed ut obediam voluntati paternae: nam qui misit me, verax est. Unde cum promiserit salvatorem et propugnatorem, misit me nunc ad salvandum; et ego quia non loquor nisi quae audivi ab eo, ideo loquor vobis salutaria.
8:27
Consequenter cum dicit et non cognoverunt quia patrem eius dicebat Deum, reprehendit tarditatem intellectus ipsorum: nondum enim oculos cordis apertos habebant, quibus patri et filii aequalitatem intelligerent, et hoc quia carnales erant; I Cor. II, 14: animalis homo non percepit ea quae sunt spiritus Dei. Hic primo praenuntiat Christus per quod pervenire debeant ad fidem, quod est remedium contra mortem; et circa hoc duo facit. Primo ostendit per quid venturi sunt ad fidem; secundo docet quid sit de se ipso credendum, ibi quia ego sum. Dicit ergo primo quod ad fidem pervenire debebant per passionem eius. Unde dixit eis Iesus: cum exaltaveritis filium hominis, tunc cognoscetis; quasi dicat: modo non cognoscitis patrem meum esse Deum; sed cum exaltaveritis filium hominis, idest cum me ligno crucis affixeritis, tunc cognoscetis, scilicet aliqui ex vobis per fidem; infra c. XII, 32: ego, si exaltatus fuero a terra, omnia traham ad me ipsum. Ideo autem, secundum Augustinum, crucis commemorat passionem, ut det spem peccatoribus, ut scilicet nullus desperet a quocumque scelere, et male sibi conscius, quando ipsi crucifigentes Christum per sanguinem Christi liberantur a peccatis. Nullus est enim adeo peccator qui per sanguinem Christi liberari non possit. Vel, secundum Chrysostomum, cum exaltaveritis filium hominis, scilicet in cruce, tunc cognoscetis, idest cognoscere poteritis, qualis sim, non solum per gloriam resurrectionis meae, sed etiam per poenam captivitatis et destructionis vestrae. Quantum autem ad secundum, tria docet de se credenda. Primo divinitatis maiestatem; secundo suam originem a patre; tertio sui a patre inseparabilitatem. Maiestatem quidem divinitatis, cum dicit quia ego sum; idest, habeo in me naturam Dei, et sum ille qui locutus est Moysi, dicens: ego sum qui sum. Sed quia ad ipsum esse pertinet tota Trinitas, ideo ne excludatur personarum distinctio, consequenter docet credere originem a patre, cum dicit et a me ipso facio nihil: sed sicut docuit me pater, haec loquor.
8:28
Sed quia coepit Iesus facere et docere, ideo in duobus originem suam a patre designat: scilicet in his quae facit, unde dicit et a me ipso facio nihil, supra V, 19: non potest filius a se facere quidquam, et in his quae docet: unde dicit sed sicut docuit me pater; idest, tradidit scientiam generando me scientem. Quia cum sit simplex natura veritatis, hoc est filio esse, quod nosse; et sic quemadmodum pater dedit filio gignendo ut esset, sic gignendo dedit ei ut nosset; supra VII, 16: mea doctrina non est mea. Et ne intelligatur quod sit missus a patre quasi ab eo distinctus, ideo tertio docet credere eius a patre inseparabilitatem, cum dicit et qui misit me, scilicet pater, mecum est, per essentiae unitatem; infra XIV, 10: ego in patre, et pater in me est. Item per amoris coniunctionem; supra V, 20: pater diligit filium, et omnia demonstrat ei quae ipse facit. Et sic ita pater misit filium quod non recessit ab eo.
8:29
Unde sequitur et non reliquit me solum, quia affectus eius est circa me. Sed cum ambo simul sint, unus tamen est missus, et alter misit: quia missio incarnatio est, quae quidem filii tantum est, et non patris. Quod autem non reliquit me, patet ex signo, quia quae placita sunt ei, facio semper: quod quidem non ponitur pro causa meritoria, sed pro signo; quasi dicat: hoc ipsum quod ego facio semper, sine initio, sine fine, quae placita sunt ei, est signum quod semper mecum est, et non reliquit me; Prov. VIII, v. 30: cum eo eram cuncta componens. Vel aliter: non reliquit me, scilicet hominem, protegendo, quia quae placita sunt ei facio semper. Et secundum hoc dicit causam meritoriam.
8:30
Consequenter cum dicit haec illo loquente, multi crediderunt in eum, ponitur effectus doctrinae, qui est conversio multorum ad fidem ex auditu doctrinae Christi; Rom. X, 17: fides ex auditu; auditus autem per verbum Christi.
8:31
Posito remedio evadendi tenebras, hic consequenter ostendit ipsius remedii efficaciam, et primo ponitur remedii efficacia; secundo introducitur remedii indigentia, ibi responderunt ei Iudaei. Circa primum duo facit: primo ostendit quid exigitur ab eis quibus remedium confertur, quod pertinet ad meritum; secundo quid eis pro eo redditur, quod pertinet ad praemium, ibi vere discipuli mei eritis. Dicit ergo primo: dictum est quod multi crediderunt in eum; et ideo dicit eis, scilicet qui crediderunt in eum, Iudaeis, quid ab eis requiratur, hoc scilicet quod maneant in sermone eius: unde dicit si vos manseritis in sermone meo, vere discipuli mei eritis. Quasi dicat: non propter hoc quod creditis superficie tenus, eritis discipuli mei, sed si manseritis in sermone meo. Exiguntur autem a nobis tria circa verbum Dei: scilicet sollicitudo ad audiendum, Iac. I, v. 19: sit autem omnis homo velox ad audiendum etc., fides ad credendum, Rom. X, v. 17: fides ex auditu, constantia ad permanendum, Eccli. VI, 21: quam aspera est nimium indoctis hominibus sapientia. Et non permanebit in illa excors. Et ideo dicit si manseritis, scilicet per fidei stabilitatem, per continuam meditationem, Ps. I, 2: in lege eius meditabitur die ac nocte; et ferventem affectionem: in lege domini fuit voluntas eius. Unde dicit Augustinus quod illi in verbis domini permanent qui nullis tentationibus cedunt. Primum autem quod persistentibus redditur, ostendit cum dicit vere discipuli mei eritis, et hoc quantum ad tria: scilicet quantum ad discipulatus Christi sublimationem, quantum ad veritatis cognitionem, et quantum ad libertatis adeptionem. Et quidem magnae dignitatis est privilegium, esse discipulum Christi; Ioel. II, v. 23: filii Sion, exultate, et laetamini in domino Deo vestro, quia dedit vobis doctorem iustitiae. Et quantum ad hoc dicit vere discipuli mei eritis: quanto enim magister est maior, tanto discipuli eius sublimiores sunt; Christus autem excellentissimus et summus magister est: discipuli ergo eius excellentissimi sunt. Tria autem requiruntur ex parte discipulorum. Primum est intellectus ad capiendum verba magistri; Matth. XV, 16: adhuc et vos sine intellectu estis? Solus autem Christus potest aperire aurem intelligentiae; Lc. ult., 45: aperuit illis sensum, ut intelligerent Scripturas. Et ideo dicebat Is. l, 5: dominus aperuit mihi aurem. Secundum est assensus ad credendum sententiae magistri: nam, ut dicitur Lc. VI, 40, non est discipulus super magistrum, et ideo non debet ei contradicere. Unde dicitur Eccli. IV, 30: non contradicas verbo veritatis ullo modo. Et ideo subdit Isaias: ego autem non contradico. Tertio stabilitas ad permanendum; supra VI, 67, dicitur, quod multi discipuli abierunt retro, et iam non cum illo ambulabant. Et ideo subdit Isaias: retrorsum non abii. Sed maius est veritatem cognoscere, cum sit finis discipuli. Et hoc etiam dominus credentibus reddit; unde dicit cognoscetis veritatem, scilicet doctrinae, quam ego doceo; infra XVIII, 37: in hoc natus sum, et ad hoc veni, ut testimonium perhibeam veritati. Item gratiae quam facio; supra, VIII, v. 17: gratia et veritas per Iesum Christum facta est. Et dicitur gratia veritatis per comparationem ad figuras veteris legis. Item aeternitatis in qua permaneo; Ps. CXVIII, 89: in aeternum, domine, permanet verbum tuum, in generatione et generatione veritas sua.
8:32
Sed maximum est libertatis adeptio, quam efficit cognitio veritatis in credentibus; unde dicit et veritas liberabit vos. Liberare autem, in hoc loco, non importat exceptionem a quacumque angustia, prout in Latino sonat, sed proprie dicit liberum facere. Et hoc a tribus: quia veritas doctrinae liberabit ab errore falsitatis; Prov. VIII, 7: veritatem meditabitur guttur meum, et labia mea detestabuntur impium; veritas gratiae, liberabit a servitute peccati; Rom. VIII, 2: lex autem spiritus vitae in Christo Iesu, liberabit me a lege peccati et mortis; sed veritas aeternitatis, in Christo Iesu, liberabit nos a corruptione; Rom. VIII, 21: ipsa creatura liberabitur a servitute corruptionis.
8:33
Consequenter cum dicit responderunt ei: semen Abrahae etc., ostendit remedii necessitatem Iudaeis inesse, et primo exaggeratur Iudaeorum praesumptio, se tali remedio indigere negantium; secundo ostenditur quomodo remedio indigent, ibi respondit eis Iesus: amen, amen dico vobis. Praesumptio autem Iudaeorum ostenditur in quadam praesumptuosa interrogatione; unde responderunt ei Iudaei: semen Abrahae sumus, et nemini servivimus unquam. Quomodo tu dicis, liberi eritis? In qua quidem primo aliquid affirmant; secundo aliquid negant; et tertio interrogant. Affirmant quidem se esse semen Abrahae, unde dicunt semen Abrahae sumus: in quo ostenditur eorum inanis gloria, quia de sola carnis origine gloriantur; Matth. III, 9: ne coeperitis dicere: patrem habemus Abraham. Simile faciunt qui de carnali nobilitate extolli quaerunt; Oseae IX, 11: omnis gloria eorum a partu, ab utero et conceptu. Negant autem servitutem, unde dicunt nemini servivimus unquam: in quo se hebetes ostendunt, et mendaces. Hebetes quidem, quia quod dominus de spirituali libertate loquitur, ipsi intelligunt de corporali; I Cor. II, 14: animalis homo non percipit ea quae sunt spiritus Dei. Mendaces autem, quia si hoc quod dicunt nemini servivimus unquam, intelligunt de servitute carnali, aut loquuntur universaliter quantum ad totum genus Iudaeorum, aut specialiter quantum ad seipsos. Si quidem universaliter, manifeste mentiuntur: nam Ioseph venumdatus est, et patres eorum servierunt in Aegypto, ut patet Gen. XL et Ex. I. Unde Augustinus dicit: o ingrati, quid est quod assidue vobis imputat Deus quod vos de domo servitutis liberavit, si nemini servistis? Dicitur enim Deut. VI, 13: eduxi vos de Aegypto, de domo servitutis et cetera. Si autem de seipsis loquuntur, non possunt etiam a mendacio excusari: nam et ipsi tunc temporis Romanis tributa solvebant; unde dicebant, Matth. c. XXII, 17: si licet tributum dari Caesari, an non? Interrogant autem libertatis modum; unde dicunt quomodo tu dicis, liberi eritis? Dominus eis duo promiserat: scilicet libertatem et veritatis cognitionem, cum dixit: cognoscetis veritatem, et veritas liberabit vos. Per quod Iudaei intelligebant, se servos et ignaros a domino reputari. Et licet magis iniuriosum sit deficere a cognitione quam a libertate; quia tamen carnales erant, neglecta veritate, modum libertatis inquirunt; Ps. XVI, 12: oculos suos statuerunt declinare in terram. Hic dominus eorum praesumptionem excludens, eos remedio praedicto indigere convincit, et primo agit de eorum servitute; secundo de eorum liberatione, ibi servus autem non manet in domo in aeternum; tertio de eorum origine, ibi scio quia filii Abrahae estis. Convincit autem eos de servitute, non carnali, qualem illi intelligebant, sed spirituali, scilicet peccati, ad quam exaggerandam duo praemittit: scilicet ingeminatum iuramentum; unde dicit amen, amen dico vobis. Amen est nomen Hebraeum, quod interpretatur vere, vel fiat. Quod, secundum Augustinum, nec Graecus interpres, nec Latinus ausus est interpretari, ut honorem haberet velamento secreti, non ut esset ligatum, sed ne vilesceret nudatum; et specialiter propter reverentiam domini, qui frequenter ipso usus est. Ponit ergo hic dominus quasi quoddam iuramentum: quod ideo geminatur, ut suam sententiam magis firmam ostendat; ad Hebr. c. VI, 17: interposuit iusiurandum, ut per duas res immobiles, quibus impossibile est mentiri Deum, fortissimum solatium habeamus. Secundo universalem locutionem, cum dicit omnis, sive Iudaeus sive Graecus, dives aut pauper, imperator vel mendicus; Rom. III, 23: non est distinctio Iudaei et Graeci; omnes enim peccaverunt, et egent gloria Dei.
8:34
Servitutem etiam proponit dicens qui facit peccatum, servus est peccati. Sed contra. Servus non movetur proprio arbitrio suo, sed domini; qui autem facit peccatum, movetur proprio arbitrio suo: ergo non est servus. Responsio. Dicendum, quod unumquodque est illud quod convenit ei secundum suam naturam: quando ergo movetur ab aliquo extraneo, non operatur secundum se, sed ab impressione alterius; quod est servile. Homo autem secundum suam naturam est rationalis. Quando ergo movetur secundum rationem, proprio motu movetur, et secundum se operatur, quod est libertatis; quando vero peccat, operatur praeter rationem, et tunc movetur quasi ab alio, retentis terminis alienis: et ideo qui facit peccatum, servus est peccati; II Petr. II, 19: a quo quis superatus est, eius servus addictus est. Sed quanto quis movetur ab extraneo, tanto magis in servitutem redigitur; et tanto magis vincitur a peccato, quanto minus habet de proprio motu, scilicet rationis, et magis efficitur servus. Unde quanto aliqui liberius peragunt perversa quae volunt, et minori difficultate, tanto peccati servitio obnoxius obligantur, ut Gregorius dicit. Quae quidem servitus gravissima est, quia vitari non potest: nam quocumque homo vadat, peccatum intra se habet, licet actus et delectatio eius transeat; Is. XIV, 3: cum requiem dederit tibi Deus (...) a servitute tua dura, scilicet peccati, qua antea servisti. Servitus autem corporalis, saltem fugiendo, evadi potest; unde dicit Augustinus: o miserabilis servitus (scilicet peccati). Servus hominum, aliquando sui domini duris imperiis fatigatus, fugiendo requiescit; servus peccati secum trahit peccatum, quocumque fugerit: peccatum enim quod fecit, intus est, voluptas transit; peccatum (idest actus) transit: praeteriit quod delectabat, remansit quod pungat.
8:35
Consequenter cum dicit servus autem non manet in domo in aeternum, agit de liberatione a servitute: quia enim omnes peccaverunt, omnes erant servi peccati. Sed imminet vobis liberationis spes ab eo qui liber est a peccato; et hic est filius. Unde circa hoc tria facit. Primo praemittit servi conditionem, ut distinguatur liber a servo; secundo ostendit conditionem filii a servo diversam; tertio concludit potestatem filii in liberando. Est ergo conditio servi transitoria et instabilis; unde dicit servus non manet in domo in aeternum. Domus ista est Ecclesia; I Tim. III, 15: ut scias quomodo oporteat te conversari in domo Dei, quae est Ecclesia Dei vivi. In qua quidem domo aliqui spiritualiter servi ad horam tantum permanent, sicut in domo patrisfamilias corporaliter servi manent ad tempus; non tamen in aeternum: quia licet modo mali non sint separati numero a fidelibus, sed merito tantum, in futuro tamen separabuntur utroque modo; Gal. IV, 30: eiice ancillam et filium eius: non enim erit heres filius ancillae cum filio liberae. Conditio vero filii est aeterna et stabilis; unde dicit filius autem, idest Christus, permanet in aeternum, scilicet in Ecclesia, tamquam in domo sua; Heb. III, 6, dicitur quod Christus, tamquam filius in domo sua et cetera. Et quidem ipse per seipsum in domo manet in aeternum, quia ipse immunis est a peccato; nos autem sicut per ipsum a peccato liberamur, ita et per ipsum in domo manemus.
8:36
Liberationis autem potestatem habet filius; unde subdit si igitur filius vos liberaverit, vere liberi eritis; Gal. IV, 31: non sumus ancillae filii, sed liberae, qua libertate Christus nos liberavit. Nam, ut apostolus dicit, ipse pretium dedit non argentum, sed sanguinem suum: venit enim in similitudinem carnis peccati, nullum omnino habens peccatum; et ideo factum est verum sacrificium pro peccato: unde per eum liberamur non a barbaris, sed a Diabolo. Et nota, quod est multiplex libertas. Scilicet perversa, quando quis abutitur ea ad peccandum; et haec est libertas a iustitia, quam nullus cogitur servare; I Petr. c. II, 16: quasi liberi, et non quasi velamen habentes malitiae libertatem. Vana, quae est temporalis, seu carnalis, Iob III, 19: servus liber a domino suo. Vera et spiritualis, quae est libertas gratiae, quae est scilicet carere criminibus; quae est imperfecta, quia caro concupiscit adversus spiritum, ut non ea quae volumus faciamus, Gal. V, 17. Gloriae, et perfecta atque plena, quae erit in patria; Rom. VIII, 21: ipsa creatura liberabitur a servitute: et hoc erit, quia nihil erit ibi inclinans ad malum, nihil opprimens, quia ibi erit libertas a culpa et a poena. Chrysostomus autem hoc aliter introducit. Quia enim dixerat: qui facit peccatum, servus est peccati, ne praecurrant Iudaei, et dicant: licet simus servi peccati, tamen possumus liberari per sacrificia et caeremonias legis, propterea dominus ostendit, quod per ea liberari non possunt, sed solum per filium. Unde dicit servus, idest Moyses et pontifices veteris testamenti, non manet in domo in aeternum; Hebr. III, 5: Moyses sicut famulus in omni domo sua. Et caeremoniae etiam aeternae non sunt; et ideo non possunt conferre libertatem aeternam. Consequenter cum dicit scio quia filii Abrahae estis, agit de eorum origine: et primo confitetur eorum originem carnis; secundo inquirit originem spiritus, ibi sed quaeritis me interficere et cetera. Originem autem carnis ipsorum dicit esse Abraham. Scio inquit quia filii Abrahae estis, origine carnis tantum, non similitudine fidei; Is. LI, 2: attendite ad Abraham patrem vestrum, et ad Saram, quae peperit vos. Spiritualem originem inquirit dicens sed quaeritis me interficere, et primo ostendit eos originem spiritualem habere; secundo excludit originem praesumptam, ibi responderunt, et dixerunt ei: pater noster Abraham est; tertio ostendit originem eorum veram, ibi vos ex patre Diabolo estis. Circa primum duo facit. Primo ponit eorum culpam; secundo concludit eorum spiritualem originem, ibi vos quae vidistis apud patrem vestrum, facitis. Circa primum tria facit. Primo imponit eis culpam homicidii; secundo crimen infidelitatis; tertio aufert eis excusationis viam. Ostendit ergo eos dominus spiritualiter ex mala radice procedere, et ideo signanter arguit eos de peccato; et dimissis omnibus aliis, quibus Iudaei multipliciter irretiti erant, hoc illis tantum commemorat quod iugiter in mente habebant, scilicet peccatum homicidii, quia, ut dictum est supra, volebant eum occidere. Et ideo dicit sed quaeritis me interficere; quod est contra legem vestram; Ex. XX, 13: non occides; infra XI, 53: ab illo ergo die cogitabant interficere eum. Sed possent dicere quia occidere aliquem ex culpa non est peccatum, et ideo dominus dicit causam homicidii esse non quidem culpam Christi, nec eorum iustitiam, sed ipsorum infidelitatem; quasi dicat: quaeritis me interficere, non propter iustitiam, sed propter vestram infidelitatem, quia sermo meus non capit in vobis; Matth. XIX, 11: non omnes capiunt verbum istud, sed quibus datum est. Utitur autem dominus hoc modo loquendi primo quidem ad ostendendum sui sermonis excellentiam; quasi dicat: sermo meus superexcedit capacitatem vestram, nam ipse de spiritualibus est, vos autem intellectum carnalem habetis; et ideo ipsum non capitis; I Cor. II, 14: animalis homo non percipit ea quae sunt spiritus Dei. Secundo vero propter similitudinem quamdam. Nam, ut Augustinus dicit, sic est sermo Dei infidelibus, tamquam piscibus hamus, qui non capit nisi capiatur.
8:37
Et ideo dicit sermo meus non capit in vobis, idest in cor vestrum, quia non recipitur in vobis eo modo quo Petrus captus erat; supra VI, 69: domine, ad quem ibimus? Verba vitae aeternae habes. Nec tamen fit iniuria eis qui capiuntur: ad salutem quippe, non ad perniciem capit. Nam dicitur Deut. XVIII, 20 quod propheta qui loquitur ex ore domini ea quae dominus non dixit, debet interfici. Unde, ne Iudaei dicerent eum interficiendum fore, eo quod a seipso et non ex ore domini loquebatur, inducit subdens ego quae vidi apud patrem meum, loquor; quasi dicat: non potest imponi mihi quod loquor quae non audivi, quia non solum audita, sed, quod plus est, visa loquor. Alii enim prophetae locuti sunt ea quae audierunt, sed ego quae vidi haec loquor; supra c. I, 18: Deum nemo vidit unquam unigenitus filius qui est in sinu patris, ipse enarravit; I Io. I: quod vidimus et audivimus, annuntiamus vobis. Est autem hoc intelligendum de visione certissimae cognitionis, quia filius patrem cognoscit sicut ipse seipsum novit: de quo dicitur Matth. II, 27: nemo novit patrem nisi filius.
8:38
Spiritualem autem eorum originem concludit, dicens et vos quae vidistis apud patrem vestrum, facitis; quasi dicat: ego ea loquor quae meae origini conveniunt; vos autem illa facitis quae sunt apud patrem vestrum, scilicet Diabolum, cuius filii erant, secundum Augustinum, non inquantum homines, sed inquantum mali erant. Ea, inquam, quae vidistis, Diabolo suggerente; Sap. c. II, 24: invidia Diaboli mors introivit in orbem terrarum. Secundum Chrysostomum, est alia littera vos quae vidistis apud patrem vestrum, facite; quasi dicat: sicut ego verbis in veritate patrem meum ostendo, ita vos ostendite operibus patrem vestrum origine, scilicet Abraham; unde dicit: facite quae apud patrem vestrum vidistis, docti per legem et prophetas.
Postquam dominus ostendit Iudaeos aliquam spiritualem originem habere, hic excludit ab eis origines quas sibi praesumptuose attribuebant, et primo excludit originem, quam se traxisse dicebant ab Abraham; secundo originem, quam se putabant habere a Deo, ibi dixerunt itaque ei: nos ex fornicatione non sumus nati. Circa primum duo facit. Primo ponit opinionem Iudaeorum de eorum origine; secundo excludit eam, ibi si filii Abrahae estis opera Abrahae facite. Sciendum est autem circa primum, quia dominus dixerat eis quae vidistis apud patrem vestrum, facitis, ideo gloriantes se de carnali generatione, transferunt se ad Abraham. Unde dicunt pater noster Abraham est, quasi dicant: si spiritualem originem habemus, boni sumus, quia Abraham pater noster bonus est; Ps. CIV, 6: semen Abraham servi eius. Et, ut dicit Augustinus, nitebantur eum provocare, ut aliquid male diceret de Abraham, et esset eis occasio facere quod cogitabant, scilicet occidendi Christum.
8:39
Sed dominus, consequenter cum dicit si filii Abrahae estis, opera Abrahae facite, excludit hanc ipsorum opinionem tamquam falso prolatam, et proponit primo signum debitum filiationis Abrahae; secundo ostendit, hoc signum in Iudaeis non esse, ibi nunc autem quaeritis me interficere; tertio concludit propositum, ibi vos facitis opera patris vestri. Signum quidem filiationis alicuius est quod assimiletur ei cuius filius est: sicut enim filii carnales ut plurimum parentibus carnalibus assimilantur, ita et filii spirituales (si sint vere filii) debent spirituales parentes imitari; Eph. V, 1: estote imitatores Dei, sicut filii carissimi. Et quantum ad hoc dicit si filii Abrahae estis, opera Abrahae facite; quasi dicat: hoc signum esset quod essetis filii Abrahae, si eum imitaremini; Is. LI, 2: attendite ad Abraham patrem vestrum, et ad Saram quae peperit vos. Sed dubitatur hic, quod videtur quidem eos negare esse filios Abrahae, dubitative loquens si filii Abrahae estis, quod tamen affirmavit superius, dicens: scio quod filii Abrahae estis. Ad quod dupliciter respondetur. Uno modo, secundum Augustinum, quod supra affirmavit eos esse filios Abrahae secundum carnem; hic autem negat eos filios secundum imitationem operum, et praecipue fidei. Caro ergo illorum ex ipso erat, sed vita non erat; Gal. III: qui ex fide sunt, hi reputantur in semine. Alio modo, secundum Origenem, quod utrumque referatur ad spiritualem originem. Sed ubi nos habemus: scio quod filii Abrahae estis, in Graeco habetur: scio quod semen Abrahae estis; hic vero dicit si filii Abrahae estis, opera Abrahae facite; quia Iudaei quidem, spiritualiter loquendo, semen Abrahae erant, sed non eius filii. Differentia est inter semen et filium: nam semen est quid informe, et tamen habet in seipso rationes eius cuius est semen; filius autem, transmutato semine per virtutem informativam ab agente in appositam sibi materiam a muliere, superinducto nutrimento, similitudinem generantis habet. Eodem modo et Iudaei semen quidem Abrahae erant inquantum in eis aliqua ratio eorum quae Deus in Abraham infuderat apparebat; sed quia non ad perfectionem Abrahae pervenerant, ideo filii eius non erant: et propter hoc dicit eis si filii Abrahae estis, opera Abrahae facite; idest, ad perfectam imitationem operum eius satagite. Ex hoc autem quod dicit opera Abrahae facite, videtur quod quaecumque ipse fecit, et nos facere debemus. Ergo debemus plures uxores accipere, et ad ancillam accedere, sicut Abraham fecit. Respondeo. Dicendum quod praecipuum opus Abrahae est fides, per quam iustificatus est apud Deum; Gen. XV, 6: credidit Abraham Deo, et reputatum est illi ad iustitiam. Et ideo intelligendum est opera Abrahae facite, idest, ad similitudinem Abrahae credite. Sed contra hoc est, quia fides non videtur posse dici opus, cum contra opera distinguatur; Iac. II, 26: fides sine operibus mortua est. Respondeo. Dicendum, quod fides opus dici potest, secundum illud supra VI, 29: hoc est opus Dei, ut credatis in eum quem misit ille. Verum opus interius non est manifestum hominibus, sed soli Deo, secundum illud I Reg. c. XVI, 7: homines vident ea quae apparent; Deus autem intuetur cor. Inde est quod communius ea quae exterius sunt, consuevimus opera nominare. Fides ergo distinguitur non ab omnibus operibus, sed ab exterioribus tantum. Sed numquid omnia opera Abrahae debemus facere? Ad hoc dicendum, quod opus potest considerari dupliciter: vel secundum speciem operis eius, et sic omnia opera eius non sunt imitanda; vel secundum radicem eorum, et sic opera Abrahae imitanda sunt: quia quidquid fecit, ex caritate fecit. Unde dicit Augustinus, quod caelibatus Ioannis non praefertur coniugio Abrahae, cum eadem fuerit radix utriusque. Vel dicendum, quod omnia opera Abrahae imitanda sunt quantum ad signationem, quia omnia in figura contingebant illis, ut dicitur I Cor. X, 11.
8:40
Consequenter cum dicit nunc autem quaeritis me interficere, ostendit, praedictum filiationis signum in eis non esse, et primo ponuntur Iudaeorum opera; secundo ostendit ea esse Abrahae operibus dissimilia, ibi hoc Abraham non fecit. Ostenduntur autem Iudaeorum prava opera esse et perversa, quia homicidae erant; unde dicit nunc autem quaeritis me interficere; Is. I, 21: quomodo facta est meretrix civitas fidelis, plena iudicii? Iustitia habitavit in ea, nunc autem homicidae. Sed hoc homicidium inaestimabile peccatum erat contra personam filii Dei. Unde quia, ut dicitur I Cor. II, 8, si cognovissent, numquam dominum gloriae crucifixissent, ideo dominus non dicit eos filium Dei quaerere interficere, sed hominem: quia etsi filius Dei dicatur passus et mortuus propter unitatem suppositi, hoc non est inquantum filius Dei, sed propter infirmitatem humanam, quia, ut dicitur II Cor. ult., 4, si crucifixus est ex infirmitate nostra, sed vivit ex virtute Dei. Et ut magis eorum homicidium exaggeret, ostendit, eos nullam mortis causam adversus eum habere; unde subdit qui veritatem locutus sum vobis, quam audivi a Deo. Ista veritas est quod dicebat se aequalem Deo; supra V, 18: quaerebant eum Iudaei interficere, quia non solum sabbatum solvebat, sed patrem suum dicebat Deum, aequalem se faciens Deo. Hanc veritatem audivit a Deo inquantum ab aeterno per generationem aeternam accepit a patre eamdem naturam quam ipse habet; supra V, 26: sicut pater habet vitam in semetipso, sic dedit et filio habere vitam in semetipso. Excludit autem duas causas propter quas prophetae mandabantur occidi in lege. Primo quidem propter mendacium, Deut. XIII, 5 ubi praecipitur, quod si aliquis propheta surrexerit loquens mendacium, aut fictor somniorum, interficiatur: et hoc a se dominus excludit, dicens qui veritatem locutus sum vobis; Prov. c. VIII, 7: veritatem meditabitur guttur meum. Secundo vero si aliquis propheta locutus fuerit ex nomine falsorum deorum, vel ex nomine Dei quod ipse non praecepit, occidi debebat, ut habetur Deut. XIII, 5. Et hoc dominus excludit a se, cum dicit quam audivi a Deo. Consequenter cum dicit hoc Abraham non fecit, ostendit eorum opera dissimilia esse operibus Abrahae, quasi dicat: in hoc probatis vos non esse filios Abrahae, quia facitis opera contraria operibus eius: nam de eo legitur Eccli. XLIV, 20, quod servavit legem altissimi, et fuit in testimonio cum illo. Sed aliqui superflue obiiciunt, quod Christus ante Abraham nondum erat, et ideo Abraham hoc non fecit: non enim occidi potuisset qui non erat. Sed dicendum, quod Abraham non commendatur ex hoc quod non fecit in Christo, sed ex eo quod non fecit in simili persona, idest in his qui tunc veritatem dicebant. Vel dicendum, quod si Christus non venerat tempore Abraham in carnem, venerat tamen in mentem, secundum illud Sap. VII, 27: in animas sanctas per nationem se transfert, quem tamen Abraham non interfecit mortaliter peccando: de quo dicitur ad Hebr. VI, 6: rursum crucifigentes filium Dei, et ostentui habentes. Consequenter cum dicit vos facitis opera patris vestri, concludit propositum; quasi dicat: ex quo non facitis opera Abrahae, ergo habetis aliquem alium patrem, cuius opera facitis. Simile habetur Matth. XXIII, v. 32: vos implete mensuram patrum vestrorum.
8:41
Consequenter cum dicit dixerunt itaque ei: nos ex fornicatione non sumus nati, ostendit eos non habere originem a Deo: quia enim iam ex verbis domini cognoscebant eum non de carnali generatione loqui, ideo ad spiritualem generationem se transferunt, dicentes nos ex fornicatione non sumus nati et cetera. Ubi primo eorum opinionem proponunt; secundo eam dominus excludit, ibi dixit ergo eis Iesus et cetera. In eorum autem opinione Iudaei unum negant et aliud asserunt. Negant se ex fornicatione natos: quod quidem, secundum Origenem, quasi improperando, Christo proponunt, latenter designantes, ipsum ex adulterio productum fore; quasi dicant nos ex fornicatione non sumus nati, sicut tu. Sed melius potest dici, quod sponsus animae spiritualiter Deus est, Oseae II, 19: sponsabo te mihi. Sicut autem fornicatur sponsa cum praeter sponsum suum carnalem, alium virum admittit; ita, in Scripturis, Iudaea fornicari dicebatur quando Deum verum deserens, idolis adhaerebat; Oseae I, 2: fornicans fornicabitur terra a domino. Dicunt ergo Iudaei nos ex fornicatione non sumus nati; quasi dicant: si aliquando mater nostra synagoga a Deo recedens fornicata est cum idolis, nos tamen non recessimus, nec cum idolis fornicati sumus; Ps. XLIII, 18: nec obliti sumus te, et inique non egimus in testamento tuo, et non recessit retro cor nostrum; Is. LVII, 3: ascendite huc, filii fornicatricis, semen adulteri et fornicariae. Affirmant autem se esse filios Dei: quod videbatur sequi ex quo non credebant se natos ex fornicatione; unde dicunt unum patrem habemus Deum; Mal. II, 10: nonne unus est pater omnium nostrum? Ier. III: patrem vocabis me. Consequenter cum dicit dixit ergo eis Iesus etc., confutatur eorum opinio a domino, et primo proponit divinae filiationis signum; secundo assignat rationem signi, ibi ego enim a Deo veni etc.; tertio ostendit eos a praedicto signo deficere, ibi quare loquelam meam non cognoscitis? Sciendum est autem circa primum, quod supra signum carnalis filiationis dixit esse opera exteriora, quae homines exterius operantur; hic autem signum filiationis divinae ponit interiorem affectionem. Nam filii Dei efficimur per communicationem spiritus sancti; Rom. VIII, 15: non accepistis spiritum servitutis iterum in timore, sed spiritum adoptionis. Spiritus autem sanctus causa est amoris Dei, quia caritas Dei diffusa est in cordibus nostris per spiritum sanctum, qui datus est nobis: Rom. V, 5. Signum ergo speciale divinae filiationis est dilectio; Eph. V, 1: estote imitatores Dei sicut filii carissimi, et ambulate in dilectione. Et ideo dicit si Deus pater vester esset, diligeretis utique me; Ps. c. XXIV, 21: innocentes et recti, qui sunt filii Dei, adhaeserunt mihi. Rationem autem signi assignat, dicens ego enim ex Deo processi et veni, et primo ponit veritatem; secundo excludit errorem, ibi neque enim a meipso veni. Veritas autem, quam proponit, est quod a Deo processit et venit. Sed sciendum est, quod omnis amicitia in coniunctione fundatur; unde et fratres se diligunt inquantum ex eisdem parentibus principium sumunt. Dicit ergo dominus: vos dicitis quod filii Dei estis; sed si hoc esset, diligeretis me, quia a Deo processi et veni. Qui ergo non me diligit, non est filius Dei. Processi, inquam, a Deo, ut unigenitus ab aeterno, de substantia patris; Ps. CIX, 3: ante Luciferum genui te; supra I: in principio erat verbum. Veni autem, ut verbum caro factum et missus a Deo per incarnationem; infra XVI, 28: exivi a patre, ut verbum ab aeterno, et veni in mundum, ut caro, factum in tempore. Errorem autem excludit cum dicit neque enim a meipso veni: et primo excludit errorem Sabellii, qui Christum non ab alio originem habuisse dicit, sed idem esse patrem et filium in persona finxit. Et quantum ad hoc dicit neque enim a meipso veni; idest, secundum Hilarium, ego veni non a meipso existens, sed quasi ab alio missus, scilicet a patre, unde subdit sed ille me misit; Gal. IV, 4: misit Deus filium suum natum ex muliere, factum sub lege. Secundo vero errorem Iudaeorum, qui dicebant Christum non esse missum a Deo, sed falsum prophetam: de quibus dicitur: non mittebam eos, sed ipsi currebant.
8:42
Et quantum ad hoc dicit, secundum Origenem, neque enim a meipso veni, sed ille me misit. Hunc petebat Moyses: obsecro, domine, mitte quem missurus es.
8:43
Ostendit autem eos ab hoc signo deficere, cum dicit quare loquelam meam non cognoscitis? Nam, sicut dictum est supra dilectio Christi est signum filiationis divinae: isti autem Christum non diligebant: unde manifestum est eos ab hoc signo deficere. Quod autem non diligunt, manifestant per effectum: nam effectus dilectionis alicuius est quod diligens libenter audit verba dilecti. Unde Cant. II, 14: sonet vox tua in auribus meis; vox enim tua dulcis. Et Cant. ult., 13: fac me audire vocem tuam: amici auscultant te. Quia ergo isti Christum non diligebant, durum videbatur eis etiam vocem eius audire; supra VI, 61: durus est hic sermo: quis potest eum audire? Sap. II, 15: gravis est nobis etiam ad videndum. Contingit autem quod aliquis non libenter audit verba alicuius, quia ea examinare non potest nec per consequens cognoscere, et ideo eis contradicunt; Iob VI, 29: respondete, obsecro, absque contentione (...) et non invenietis in lingua mea iniquitatem. Et ideo dicit quare loquelam meam non cognoscitis? Dicentes et interrogantes: quid est hoc quod dixit: quo ego vado vos non potestis venire? Et hoc ideo, inquam, non cognoscitis, quia non potestis audire sermonem meum; idest, ita durum cor habetis ad me, quod nec sermonem meum audire vultis.
8:44
Postquam dominus Iudaeos ostendit originem aliquam spiritualem habere et exclusit ab eis originem praesumptam, hic astruit veram, ascribens eis paternitatem Diaboli, et primo proponit intentum; secundo rationem eis assignat, ibi et desideria patris vestri vultis facere; tertio positam rationem manifestat, ibi ille homicida erat ab initio. Dicit ergo vos facitis opera Diaboli, ergo vos ex patre Diabolo estis, scilicet per imitationem; Ez. XVI, 3: pater tuus Amorrhaeus, et mater tua Cethaea. Cavenda est hic haeresis Manichaeorum, qui dicunt esse quamdam naturam mali, et gentem quamdam tenebrarum cum principibus suis, a qua corruptibilia omnia originem trahunt; et secundum hoc omnes homines secundum carnem ex Diabolo processisse. Ponebant autem quasdam animas ad bonam creationem pertinere, et quasdam ad malam; unde dicebant hoc dictum a domino vos ex patre Diabolo estis, quia ab eo secundum carnem processistis, et animae vestrae sunt de mala creatione. Sed, ut Origenes dicit, introducere duas naturas propter differentiam boni et mali, simile videtur ei qui diceret alteram esse oculi videntis substantiam, alteram caligantis vel se avertentis. Quemadmodum enim oculi sani et lippi non differunt substantia, sed quaedam contingit causa deficiens, scilicet quae facit eum caligare; ita eadem est substantia et natura rei, sive sit bona, seu habeat in se defectum, quod est peccatum voluntatis. Non ergo Iudaei ut mali, dicuntur filii Diaboli natura, sed imitatione. Consequenter cum dicit et desideria patris vestri vultis facere, rationem assignatam exponit; quasi dicat: non estis filii Diaboli tamquam ab eo creati, et in esse producti sed quia eum imitantes, desideria patris vestri vultis facere, quae quidem mala sunt: nam sicut ille invidit homini, et occidit, Sap. II, 24: invidia Diaboli mors intravit in orbem terrarum, ita et vos mihi invidentes, quaeritis me interficere hominem, qui veritatem locutus sum vobis. Consequenter cum dicit ille homicida erat ab initio, positam rationem manifestat, et primo ponit Diaboli quam imitantur conditionem; secundo ostendit eos esse imitatores conditionis illius, ibi ego autem si veritatem dico, non creditis mihi. Sciendum est circa primum, quod in Diabolo duplex peccatum maxime pollet: scilicet peccatum superbiae ad Deum, et invidiae ad hominem, quem occidit. Sed ex peccato invidiae ad hominem quo infert nocumenta hominibus, cognoscitur a nobis peccatum superbiae et ideo primo ponit peccatum Daemonis contra hominem; secundo peccatum eius contra Deum, ibi et in veritate non stetit. Peccatum autem invidiae contra hominem est quod occidit eum; unde dicit: ille, scilicet Diabolus, homicida erat ab initio. Ubi sciendum est quod non ferro accinctus Diabolus occidit hominem, sed mala persuasione; Sap. II, 24: invidia Diaboli mors introivit in orbem terrarum. Et primo quidem introivit mors peccati, Ps. XXXIII, 22: mors peccatorum pessima, deinde vero mors corporalis, Rom. V, 12: per unum hominem peccatum intravit, et per peccatum mors. Et, ut dicit Augustinus, noli putare te non esse homicidam, quando fratri tuo mala persuades. Attendendum est autem, secundum Origenem, quod ille homicida dicitur non propter aliquem singulariter tantum, sed pro toto genere, quod peremit in Adam, in quo cuncti moriuntur, ut dicitur I ad Cor. XV, 22. Unde antonomastice homicida dicitur; et hoc ab initio, ex quo scilicet fuit homo, qui occidi poterat, ex quo potuit fieri homicidium: non enim posset occidi homo, nisi prius homo fieret. Consequenter cum dicit et in veritate non stetit, ponit peccatum Daemonis contra Deum, quod consistit in hoc quod avertit se a veritate, quae Deus est, et primo ostendit eum a veritate aversum; secundo ostendit eum veritati contrarium, ibi dum loquitur mendacium, ex propriis loquitur. Circa primum duo facit. Primo ostendit eum a veritate aversum; secundo manifestat quod dixit, ibi quia veritas in eo non est. Dicit ergo et in veritate non stetit. Unde sciendum est, quod duplex est veritas: scilicet vocis et operis. Veritas quidem vocis est qua quis profert ore quod gerit corde, et est in rerum natura; Eph. IV, 25: deponentes mendacium, loquimini veritatem unusquisque cum proximo suo; Ps. XIV, 3: qui loquitur veritatem cum proximo suo, qui non egit dolum in lingua sua. Veritas iustitiae, quando scilicet quis agit quod convenit sibi secundum ordinem suae naturae: de qua supra III, 21, dicit: qui fecerit veritatem, veniet ad lucem, ut manifestentur opera eius, quia in Deo sunt facta. De hac ergo veritate dominus loquens dicit et in veritate, scilicet iustitiae, non stetit, quia deseruit ordinem suae naturae, qui erat ut Deo subiiceretur, et per eumdem beatitudinem suam et naturalis desiderii complementum consequeretur. Unde dum hoc per se consequi voluit, a veritate cecidit. Hoc autem quod dicit in veritate non stetit, potest dupliciter intelligi: vel quod numquam in veritate steterit; vel quod aliquando steterit, sed in ea non permansit. Sed hoc quod numquam fuerit in veritate iustitiae, potest habere duplicem sensum. Unum quidem secundum Manichaeos, qui dicunt Diabolum naturaliter malum esse: ex quo sequitur quod semper malus fuerit. Nam quod inest naturaliter, semper inest. Sed hoc est haereticum, quia in Ps. CXLV, 6, dicitur, quod Deus fecit caelum et terram, mare et omnia quae in eis sunt. Ergo omne ens est a Deo; omne autem quod est a Deo, inquantum est, bonum est. Et ideo alii dixerunt, quod Daemon ex sui natura bonus est a Deo creatus, sed in primo instanti factus est malus per liberum arbitrium. Et differunt isti a Manichaeis: quia illi dicunt Daemones semper fuisse malos, et naturaliter; isti vero semper malos, sed per liberum arbitrium. Sed posset alicui videri quod quia Angelus non est malus per naturam, sed per peccatum propriae voluntatis, peccatum autem est actus quidam, potuit fieri ut Angelus in principio actus fuerit bonus, sed in termino actus mali fuerit malus effectus. Manifestum est autem quod actus peccati in Daemone est creatione posterior, terminus autem creationis est ipsum esse Angeli: terminus vero operationis peccati est quod sint mali. Et sic ex hac ratione volunt quod impossibile sit quod in primo instanti quo Angelus esse coepit, fuerit malus. Sed haec ratio non videtur sufficiens, habet enim locum in motibus temporalibus tantum, qui successive aguntur, non autem in motibus instantaneis. Nam in motibus successivis aliud est instans in quo incipit actio, et aliud in quo terminatur: sicut si motus localis sequitur ad alterationem, non potest in eodem instanti terminari motus localis et alteratio. Sed in mutationibus instantaneis, simul et in eodem instanti potest esse terminus primae et secundae mutationis; sicut in eodem instanti quo illuminatur luna a sole, illuminatur aer a luna. Manifestum est autem quod creatio est instantanea, et similiter motus liberi arbitrii in Angelis, cum non indigerent collatione et discursu rationis; unde nihil prohibet simul et in eodem instanti esse terminum creationis, in quo fuit bonus, et iterum terminum liberi arbitrii, in quo fuit malus. Et hoc aliqui concedunt; sed dicunt hoc non fuisse, licet esse potuerit: et hoc propter auctoritatem Scripturae. Dicitur enim sub figura regis Babylonis de Diabolo, Is. XIV, 12: quomodo cecidisti, Lucifer, qui mane oriebaris? Ez. XXVIII, 13, dicitur sub persona regis Tyri: in deliciis Paradisi Dei fuisti. Et ideo dicunt, quod non fuit in principio suae creationis malus, sed quandoque bonus fuit, et per liberum arbitrium cecidit. Sed dicendum est, quod in primo instanti suae creationis non potuit esse malus. Cuius ratio est, quia nullus actus habet rationem peccati, nisi inquantum est praeter rationem naturae agentis voluntarii. In quolibet autem ordine actuum prius est actus naturalis; sicut in intelligendo, primo intelliguntur prima principia, et per ipsa intelliguntur alia, et, in volendo similiter, primo volumus ultimam perfectionem et ultimum finem, cuius appetitus naturaliter nobis inest, et propter ipsum appetimus alia. Quod autem secundum naturam fit, non est peccatum. Impossibile est ergo quod primus actus Diaboli fuerit malus. Fuit ergo Diabolus in aliquo instanti bonus, sed in veritate non stetit, idest, non permansit. Ad illud autem quod dicitur I Io. III, 8: Diabolus ab initio peccavit, dicendum, quod ab initio quidem peccavit; quia ex quo incepit peccare, numquam desiit. Consequenter cum dicit quia non est veritas in eo, manifestat quod dixit. Quae quidem manifestatio intelligitur dupliciter. Uno quidem modo, secundum Origenem, ut sit manifestatio communis per specialem, sicut si vellem manifestare quod Socrates est animal per hoc quod est homo. Quasi dicat in veritate non stetit, sed cecidit; et hoc quia non est veritas in eo. Est autem duplex gradus non stantium in veritate. Aliqui enim in veritate non stant, quia non firmantur in ea, sed dubitant Ps. LXXII, 2: mei autem pene moti sunt pedes, pene effusi gressus mei. Aliqui autem quia totaliter a veritate resiliunt. Et sic Diabolus in veritate non stetit, sed ab ea recessit per aversionem. Sed numquid nulla veritas est in eo? Et quidem si nulla veritas sit, neque semetipsum intelliget, neque aliquid, cum intellectus non sit nisi verorum: quod est inconveniens. Dicendum est ergo, in Daemonibus esse aliquam veritatem, sicut aliquod verum. Nullum enim malum totaliter corrumpit bonum, cum ad minus, subiectum in quo malum est, sit bonum. Ideo Dyonisius dicit, quod in Daemonibus manent integra naturalia bona. Sic igitur aliqua veritas est in eis, sed non completiva, a qua aversi sunt, scilicet a Deo, qui est veritas et sapientia completiva. Secundo vero modo manifestatio ista est per signum, ut Augustinus dicit. Quia videtur quod potius debuisset contrarium dici. Ideo scilicet veritas non est in eo, quia in veritate non stetit. Sed sicut causa aliquando manifestatur per effectum, ita dominus voluit ostendere quod in veritate non stetit per hoc quod veritas non est in eo: esset enim in eo, si in veritate stetisset. Similis modus loquendi habetur in Ps. XVI, 6: ego clamavi quoniam exaudisti; quasi, ex hoc apparet quod clamavit, quia fuit exauditus. Consequenter cum dicit cum loquitur mendacium, ex propriis loquitur, ostendit quod Diabolus est contrarius veritati, et primo ponit intentum; secundo manifestat propositum, ibi quia mendax est, et pater eius. Veritati autem contrarium est falsum et mendacium; Diabolus autem est veritati contrarius, quia loquitur mendacium: et ideo dicit dum loquitur, mendacium loquitur. Ubi sciendum est, quod quicumque praeter Deum loquitur ex propriis, mendacium loquitur quamvis non quicumque mendacium loquitur, ex propriis loquatur. Solus autem Deus loquendo ex propriis, loquitur veritatem. Veritas enim est illuminatio intellectus; Deus autem est ipsum lumen, et ab ipso omnes illuminantur, supra I, 9: erat lux vera, quae illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum: unde et est ipsa veritas, et alii non loquuntur veritatem nisi inquantum ab ipso illuminantur. Unde, sicut Ambrosius dicit, omne verum a quocumque dicatur, a spiritu sancto est. Sic ergo Diabolus cum loquitur ex propriis, loquitur mendacium; homo etiam, cum ex propriis loquitur, mendacium loquitur; sed cum a Deo loquitur, tunc loquitur veritatem; Rom. III, 4: est autem Deus verax, omnis autem homo mendax, quantum est in se. Sed non omnis homo qui loquitur mendacium, loquitur ex propriis, quia quandoque hoc ab alio accipit: non quidem a Deo, qui est verax, sed ab eo qui in veritate non stetit et primo mendacium adinvenit. Et ideo ipse singulariter cum loquitur mendacium, ex propriis loquitur; III Reg. ult., 22: egrediar, et ero spiritus mendax in ore omnium prophetarum eius; Is. XIX, 14: dominus immiscuit, idest miscere permisit in medio eius spiritum erroris. Propositum autem manifestat cum dicit quia mendax est, et pater eius. Quod quidem Manichaei male intelligentes, ponebant Daemonum generationes, putantes Diabolum patrem habere. Unde dicebant, quod Diabolus mendax est, et pater eius, idest Diabolus. Quod quidem non sic est intelligendum. Nam dominus dixit, quod Diabolus est mendax, et pater eius, idest mendacii: non enim omnis qui mentitur, pater est sui mendacii. Nam, ut Augustinus dicit, si ab alio mendacium accepisti, et dixisti; tu quidem mentitus es, sed pater mendacii non es. Diabolus vero, quia aliunde non accepit mendacium, quo tamquam veneno hominem occideret, pater mendacii est, sicut Deus pater est veritatis. Diabolus enim primo mendacium invenit, cum scilicet mulieri mentitus est: nequaquam moriemini, Gen. III, 4. Quod qualiter verum fuerit, rei eventus postmodum comprobavit. Sciendum est autem, quod haec verba ab illo loco vos ex patre Diabolo estis, in libro de quaestionibus novi et veteris testamenti exponuntur de Cain, hoc modo: secundum quod ille dicitur Diabolus qui facit opera Diaboli, et vos eum imitamini. Cain homicida erat ab initio, ex quo scilicet Abel fratrem suum occidit, et in veritate non stetit, quia veritas non est in eo. Et hoc apparet, quia cum dominus quaereret ab eo (Gen. IV, 9): ubi est Abel frater tuus? Respondit dicens: nescio, domine; numquid custos fratris mei sum ego? Unde ipse mendax est et pater eius, scilicet Diabolus, qui est pater eius impressione. Prima tamen expositio melior est.
Postquam posuit diabolicam conditionem, hic consequenter ostendit Iudaeos esse diabolicae conditionis imitatores. Duas autem malitiae conditiones dominus Diabolo ascripsit, homicidium scilicet et mendacium. Sed de homicidio quidem, in quo isti Diabolum imitabantur, reprehendit eos; supra eodem: nunc autem quaeritis me interficere, hominem, qui veritatem vobis locutus sum, quam audivi a Deo. Et ideo, hoc praetermisso, redarguit eos de aversione eorum a veritate, et primo ostendit eos esse aversos a veritate; secundo causam quam allegare poterant, excludit, ibi quis ex vobis arguet me de peccato? Tertio veram causam aversionis concludit, ibi si veritatem dico, quare non creditis mihi? Dicit ergo primo: dictum est, quod Diabolus mendax est, et pater eius, quem quidem vos imitamini, quia veritati non vultis adhaerere.
8:45
Unde dicit ego autem si veritatem dico vobis, non creditis mihi. Lc. XXII, 67: si autem dixero, non credetis mihi; supra III, 12: quomodo si dixero vobis caelestia, credetis? Unde et Is. LIII, 1, conqueritur dicens: domine, quis credidit auditui nostro? Causa autem suae infidelitatis, quam poterant Iudaei allegare est peccatum in Christo; nam peccatori etiam in veritate non de facili creditur. Unde Ps. XLIX, 16: peccatori autem dixit Deus: quare tu enarras iustitias meas? Poterant ergo dicere: non credimus, quia peccator es. Et ideo hanc causam excludit, dicens quis ex vobis arguit me de peccato? Quasi dicat: non habetis iustam causam quare mihi veritatem dicenti non creditis, cum in me nullum peccatum inveniri possit; I Petr. II, 22: qui peccatum non fecit, nec inventus est dolus in ore eius. Secundum Gregorium, pensanda est Dei mansuetudo, qui non dedignatur ex ratione ostendere se peccatorem non esse, qui ex virtute divinitatis poterat peccatores iustificare; Iob XXXI, 13: si contempsi subire iudicium meum cum servo meo et ancilla mea, cum disceptarent adversum me. Admiranda est etiam Christi singularis puritatis excellentia, quia, ut Chrysostomus dicit, hoc nullus hominum fiducialiter potuit dicere quis ex vobis arguet me de peccato? Nisi solus Deus noster, qui peccatum non fecit; Prov. XX, 9: quis potest dicere: mundum est cor meum, purus sum a peccato? Quasi dicat, nullus nisi solus Deus. Et in Ps. XIII, v. 3: omnes declinaverunt, simul inutiles facti sunt: non est qui faciat bonum, non est usque ad unum, idest Christum.
8:46
Veram autem causam aversionis concludit, dicens si veritatem dico, quare non creditis mihi? Et primo ponit eam; secundo Iudaeorum contradictionem excludit, ibi responderunt ergo Iudaei et cetera. Circa primum tria facit. Primo ponit quaestionem; secundo assumit rationabilem propositionem; tertio infert intentam conclusionem. Dicit ergo primo: ex quo ergo non potestis dicere, quod ideo non creditis mihi quia peccator sum, nunc restat quaerere quare si veritatem dico, non creditis mihi, ex quo non sum peccator; quasi dicat: si me, quem exosum habetis, non potestis arguere de peccato, manifestum est quoniam propter veritatem me odio habetis, quoniam dico me filium Dei; Prov. XVIII, 2: non recipit stultus verba prudentiae, nisi ea dixerit quae versantur in corde eius. Rationabilem autem propositionem et veram assumit, dicens qui ex Deo est, verba Dei audit. Ut enim dicitur Eccli. c. XIII, 19, omne animal diligit sibi simile, quicumque ergo est ex Deo, inquantum huiusmodi, similitudinem habet horum quae sunt Dei, et eis inhaeret. Unde qui ex Deo est, verba Dei libenter audit; infra XVIII, 37: omnis qui est ex veritate, audit meam vocem. Praecipue autem verbum Dei libenter audiri debet ab his qui ex Deo sunt, cum ipsum sit semen per quod in filios Dei generamur; infra X, 35: illos dixit deos ad quos sermo Dei factus est.
8:47
Et ideo ex hoc intentam conclusionem infert, dicens propterea vos non auditis, quia ex Deo non estis; quasi dicat: non ergo peccatum meum est causa incredulitatis vestrae, sed malitia vestra; Eccli. VI, v. 21: quam aspera est nimium indoctis hominibus sapientia. Et, ut dicit Augustinus, ex Deo quidem sunt secundum naturam, sed ex Deo non sunt vitio et prava affectione: nam eis hoc verbum dictum est qui non solum peccato vitiosi erant, hoc enim commune omnibus erat, sed etiam praecogniti quod non fuerant credituri ea fide qua possent a peccatorum obligatione liberari. Notandum est autem, quod triplex est gradus male affectorum, ut dicit Gregorius. Nam quidam sunt qui praecepta Dei nec aure corporis, idest exteriori auditu, dignantur audire: de quibus dicitur in Ps. LVII, 5: sicut aspidis surdae, obturantis aures suas. Quidam vero sunt qui haec quidem corporis aure percipiunt, sed nullo ea mentis desiderio complectuntur, non habentes voluntatem implendi: Ez. XXXIII, 31: audiunt sermones, et non faciunt eos. Quidam autem sunt qui libenter verba Dei suscipiunt, ita ut etiam in fletibus compungantur; sed post lacrymarum tempus, vel tribulationibus oppressi, aut allecti deliciis, ad iniquitatem redeunt; cuius exemplum habetur Matth. XIII, 18 ss., et Lc. VIII, 11 ss., de verbo a sollicitudinibus suffocato. Ez. III, 7: domus Israel nolunt audire te, quia nolunt audire me. Est ergo signum quod homo sit a Deo, si libenter audit verba Dei, sed qui recusant audire affectu vel effectu, ex Deo non sunt. Hic excludit Iudaicam contradictionem, et primo ponit Evangelista Iudaeorum contradictionem; secundo domini exclusionem, ibi respondit Iesus: ego Daemonium non habeo. Duo autem imponunt Iudaei Christo in eorum contradictione. Primo quidem quod sit Samaritanus, cum dicunt nonne bene dicimus nos, quia Samaritanus es? Secundo vero quod Daemonium habeat; unde subdunt et Daemonium habes.
8:48
In hoc autem quod dicunt nonne bene dicimus nos? Datur intelligi quod hoc verbum frequenter domino improperabant. Et quidem de secundo quod sit daemoniacus, legimus Matth. IX, 34; et XII, 24, cum dicebant: in Beelzebub principe Daemoniorum eiicit Daemones. Sed quod dixerunt eum Samaritanum, nusquam nisi hic in Evangelio invenitur, licet forte hoc multoties dixerunt: multa enim dicta et facta sunt erga Iesum et a Iesu quae non sunt scripta in Evangeliis, ut dicitur infra XX, 25. Duplex autem causa assignari potest quare Iudaei hoc Christo dicebant. Una quidem, quia Samaritani gens odiosa erat pro populo Israelitico, eo quod decem tribubus in captivitatem ductis, terram eorum possidebant; supra IV, 9: non enim coutuntur Iudaei Samaritanis. Quia ergo Christus Iudaeos arguens, credebatur a Iudaeis quod hoc ex odio faceret, ideo eum Samaritanum et quasi adversarium reputabant et cetera. Alia ratio, quia Samaritani partim quidem servabant ritus Iudaicos, partim vero non. Videntes ergo Iudaei Christum in aliquo legem servantem, et in aliquo dissolventem, utpote sabbatum, vocabant eum Samaritanum. Similiter autem duplici de causa dicebant eum Daemonium habere. Una quidem, quia miracula quae faciebat, et cogitationes eorum quas revelabat, non attribuebant virtuti divinae in Christo; sed arte Daemonum ipsum ea facere suspicabantur. Unde dicebant: in Beelzebub principe Daemoniorum eiicit Daemones. Alia vero ratio est propter eius sermones transcendentes capacitatem humanam, dicens, Deum patrem suum esse, et descendisse de caelo et cetera. Consuetudo autem rudium est, quod cum talia audiunt, diabolica reputant: et sic isti credebant quod Christus quasi Daemonio plenus loqueretur; infra X, 20: alii dicebant: Daemonium habet, et insanit; quid eum auditis? Dicunt autem haec verba, ut arguant de peccato, contra illud quod dixerat: quis ex vobis arguet me de peccato? Consequenter cum dicit respondit Iesus: ego Daemonium non habeo, repellit dominus Iudaeorum contradictionem. Duo autem imposuerant Christo: scilicet quod Samaritanus esset, et quod Daemonium haberet. Et de primo quidem dominus non se excusat; et hoc duplici de causa. Una quidem, secundum Origenem, quia Iudaei semper volebant se a gentilibus separare. Iam autem venerat tempus quo removenda erat distinctio gentilium et Iudaeorum, et omnes ad viam salutis revocandi: et ideo dominus, ut ostendat se venisse pro salute omnium ut, magis quam Paulus, omnia factus, omnes nanciscatur, I Cor. IX, ideo non negavit se esse Samaritanum. Alia ratio est, quia Samaritanus interpretatur custos: et quia ipse praecipue custos noster est, secundum illud Ps. CXX, 4: ecce non dormitabit neque dormiet qui custodit Israel: ideo se Samaritanum esse non negavit. Negat autem se Daemonium habere, dicens ego Daemonium non habeo, et primo quidem repellit illatam iniuriam; secundo arguit iniuriantium pertinaciam, ibi et vos inhonorastis me. Circa primum duo facit. Primo repellit illatam iniuriam; secundo manifestat hoc per oppositum, ibi sed honorifico patrem meum. Notandum est autem circa primum, quod dominus Iudaeos corrigendo, frequenter eis dure locutus est: vae vobis, Scribae et Pharisaei hypocritae: et multa quae leguntur in Evangeliis. Sed non invenitur, quod dominus Iudaeis sibi dura verba vel facta inferentibus, iniuriose vel dure locutus fuerit; sed, ut dicit Gregorius, iniuriam suscipiens Deus, non contumeliosa verba respondet, sed simpliciter dicit ego Daemonium non habeo. Ex qua re quid nobis innuitur, nisi ut eo tempore quo a proximis ex falsitate contumelias accipimus, etiam eorum verba mala taceamus, ne ministerium iustae correctionis in arma vertatur furoris? Et quod quae ad Deum pertinent, vindicare debemus; quae vero ad nos, despicere. Hoc autem verbum, scilicet ego Daemonium non habeo, solus Christus dicere potest, ut Origenes dicit: nam ille nihil quod Daemonis est, leve videlicet, aut grave, in se habet; unde infra XIV, 30: venit princeps huius mundi, et in me non habet quidquam; II Cor. VI, 15: quae conventio Christi ad Belial? Manifestat autem hoc quod dixit, per oppositum dicens sed honorifico patrem meum. Diabolus enim honori Dei resistit: qui ergo quaerit Dei honorem, alienus est a Diabolo. Christus ergo qui honorificat patrem suum, scilicet Deum, Daemonium non habet. Est autem proprium Christo et singulare quod honorificet patrem suum, ut dicitur Mal. I, 6: filius honorificat patrem. Christus autem singulariter est Dei filius. Consequenter cum dicit et vos inhonorastis me, arguit iniuriantium pertinaciam, et primo arguit iniuriantes; secundo excludit causam inopinatam arguitionis; tertio praedicit eis debitam damnationem.
8:49
Dicit ergo primo: ego honorifico patrem meum, et vos inhonorastis me; quasi dicat: ego facio quod debeo; vos facitis quod non debetis; immo in hoc quod inhonorastis me, inhonoratis patrem meum; supra V, 23: qui non honorificat filium, non honorificat patrem, qui misit illum. Sed quia possent dicere: nimis durus es, nimis de gloria tua curas, sic nos arguens; ideo hoc excludens, subdit loquens inquantum est homo, ego gloriam meam non quaero. Solus enim Deus est qui potest gloriam suam absque culpa quaerere; alii autem non nisi in Deo; II Cor. X, 17: qui gloriatur, in domino glorietur; infra (hoc cap.): si ego glorifico meipsum, gloria mea nihil est. Sed numquid Christus inquantum homo non habet gloriam? Immo magnam per omnem modum: quia licet ipse eam non quaerat, est tamen qui quaerat, scilicet pater. Nam dicitur in Ps. VIII, 7: gloria et honore coronasti eum, scilicet Christum hominem. Et alibi, XX, 6: gloriam et magnum decorem imposuisti super eum.
8:50
Et non solum gloriam meam quaeret in operantibus vivas veritatis causas, sed et puniet et condemnabit contradicentes gloriae meae; unde subdit et iudicet. Sed contra; supra V, 22, dicitur: pater non iudicat quemquam; sed omne iudicium dedit filio. Respondeo. Pater non iudicat quemquam seorsum a filio: quia etiam hoc iudicium quod faciet de eo quod iniuriamini mihi per filium faciet. Vel dicendum, quod iudicium quandoque pro condemnatione accipitur; et hoc iudicium pater dedit filio, quia ipse solus apparebit in forma visibili in iudicium, ut dictum est supra. Quandoque accipitur pro discretione; et de hoc loquitur hic. Unde dicit in Ps. XLII, 1: iudica me, Deus, et discerne causam meam; quasi dicat: est pater qui gloriam meam a vestra discernet. Vos enim, pro saeculo gloriari, discernit, et gloriam filii sui, quem unxit prae participibus suis, et qui sine peccato est; vos vero homines cum peccato.
8:51
Supra dominus duo promiserat eum sequentibus: scilicet liberationem a tenebris, et adeptionem vitae, dicens: qui sequitur me, non ambulat in tenebris, sed habebit lumen vitae. Et de primo quidem dictum est supra; nunc autem agitur de secundo, scilicet de adeptione vitae per Christum, et primo proponit veritatem; secundo repellit Iudaeorum contradictionem, ibi dixerunt ergo Iudaei: nunc cognovimus et cetera. Sciendum est autem, quod quamvis Christus lacessitus esset iniuriis et opprobriis, non tamen destitit a doctrina; sed postquam habere Daemonium dictus est, praedicationis suae beneficia largius impendit, dicens amen, amen dico vobis et cetera. In quo datur nobis exemplum, quod cum malorum perversitas crescit, et per opprobria hominum conculcantur qui convertuntur, non solum praedicatio frangi non debet, sed etiam augeri; Ez. II, 6: tu ergo, fili hominis, ne timeas eos, neque sermones eorum metuas; II Tim. IX: laboro usque ad vincula quasi male operans; sed verbum Dei non est alligatum. Duo autem facit dominus in his verbis. Unum quidem est quod requirit, aliud quod promittit.
8:52
Requirit quidem sermonis sui observationem; unde dicit si quis sermonem meum servaverit. Nam sermo Christi veritas est; ideo debemus ipsum servare, primo quidem per fidem, et iugem meditationem; Prov. IV, 6: serva eam et servabit te; secundo vero per operis impletionem; infra XIV, 21: qui habet mandata mea, et servat ea, ille est qui diligit me. Promittit autem mortis liberationem; unde dicit mortem non videbit in aeternum, idest non experietur; Eccli. XXIV, 30: qui operantur in me, scilicet in divina sapientia, non peccabunt; et qui elucidant me, vitam aeternam habebunt. Et congrue tali merito debetur tale praemium. Nam vita aeterna praecipue in divina visione consistit; infra XVII, 3: haec est vita aeterna ut cognoscant te solum verum Deum, et quem misisti Iesum Christum. Huius autem visionis quoddam seminarium et principium in nobis fit per verbum Christi; Lc. VIII, 11: semen est verbum Dei. Sicut ergo ille qui servat semen alicuius plantae vel arboris ne corrumpatur, pervenit ad perceptionem fructus; ita qui servat verbum Dei; pervenit ad vitam aeternam; Lev. XVIII, v. 5: quae fecerit homo, vivet in eis. Consequenter cum dicit dixerunt ergo Iudaei etc., ponitur contradictionis Iudaeorum confutatio. Contradicunt autem Christo tripliciter. Primo quidem falsitatis arguendo; secundo irridendo, ibi dixerunt ergo Iudaei ad eum: quinquaginta annos nondum habes, et Abraham vidisti? Tertio persequendo, ibi tulerunt ergo lapides, ut iacerent in eum. Circa primum duo faciunt. Primo conantur eum redarguere praesumptionis; secundo ad quaedam eorum quae dicta sunt Christus respondet, ibi si ego glorifico meipsum, gloria mea nihil est. Circa primum tria faciunt. Primo irrogant improperium; secundo proponunt factum, ibi Abraham mortuus est etc.; tertio interrogant, ibi numquid tu maior es patre nostro Abraham? Irrogaverunt autem improperium mendacii, cum dicunt nunc cognovimus quia Daemonium habes. Et hoc ideo dixerunt, quia notum est apud Iudaeos quod adinventor peccatorum est Diabolus, et praecipue mendacii, secundum illud Reg. ult., 22, egrediar, et ero spiritus mendax in ore omnium prophetarum eius. Quia autem videbatur eis hoc quod dominus dixit, scilicet si quis sermonem meum servaverit, mortem non videbit in aeternum, apertum mendacium esse, nam ipsi tamquam carnales intelligebant de morte corporali, quod de spirituali et aeterna morte dixerat, et praecipue, quia contrariatur auctoritati sacrae Scripturae, Ps. LXXXVIII, 49: quis est homo qui vivit, et non videbit mortem, eruet animam suam de manu Inferi? Ideo dicunt ei Daemonium habes, quasi dicant: ex instinctu Daemonis mendacium loqueris. Et ut convincant eum de mendacio, duo faciunt. Primo quidem proponunt mortem antiquorum; secundo vero repetunt verba Christi, ibi et tu dicis et cetera. Dicunt ergo: vere falsum est quod loqueris: si quis sermonem tuum etc., nam Abraham, homo, mortuus est, ut patet Gen. c. XXV. Similiter et prophetae mortui sunt; II Reg. XIV, 14: omnes morimur, et quasi aquae dilabimur in terram, quae non revertuntur. Et quidem licet mortui sint corporaliter, non tamen mortui sunt spiritualiter; Matth. XXII, 32, dicit dominus: ego sum Deus Abraham, et Deus Isaac, et Deus Iacob. Postea sequitur: non est Deus mortuorum, sed vivorum. Mortui ergo sunt corpore, sed vivunt spiritu, quia sermonem Dei servaverunt, et vixerunt ex fide. Et de ea morte dominus intelligebat, non de corporali. Verbum autem Christi repetunt cum subdunt et tu dicis: si quis sermonem meum servaverit, non gustabit mortem in aeternum. Velut incauti et maligni auditores, dominicum sermonem confundentes, non repetunt eadem verba. Nam dominus dixit mortem non videbit ipsi vero protulerunt mortem non gustabit. Sed quantum ad eorum intentionem idem est: quia per utrumque ipsi intelligunt, quod mortem, scilicet corporalem, non experietur in aeternum. Sed quantum ad verum intellectum differt, ut Origenes dicit, inter mortem gustare et videre: nam videre mortem est eam perfecte experiri; gustare autem est aliquem mortis gustum seu participationem habere. Sicut autem est plus ad poenam videre mortem quam gustare, ita plus est ad gloriam non gustare mortem quam non videre. Illi enim non gustant qui in alto sunt cum Christo, scilicet in intellectuali loco statum observant: de quibus dicitur Matth. XVI, 28: sunt de hic stantibus, qui non gustabunt mortem, donec videant filium hominis venientem in regno suo. Aliqui tamen sunt qui si non videant mortem mortaliter peccando, tamen aliquid gustant per aliquam levem terrenorum affectionem. Et ideo dominus, ut habetur in Graeco, et Origenes etiam exponit, dixit, mortem non videbit in aeternum: quia qui sermonem Christi acceperit et custodierit, etsi gustet aliquid, non tamen videbit mortem.
8:53
Interrogant autem cum dicunt numquid tu maior es patre nostro Abraham, qui mortuus est? Et primo quidem quaerunt de comparatione ipsius ad antiquos patres: numquid inquiunt tu maior es patre nostro Abraham? Poterant, ut Chrysostomus dicit, secundum carnalem eorum intellectum, altius quaerere: numquid scilicet tu maior es Deo? Nam Abraham et prophetae mandata Dei servaverunt, et tamen corporaliter mortui sunt. Sic ergo si quis sermonem tuum servaverit non morietur, videtur quod sis maior Deo. Sed contenti sunt hac redargutione, quia putabant eum minorem quam Abraham; cum tamen sit scriptum in Ps. LXXXV, 8: non est similis tui in diis, domine; et Ex. XV, 11: quis similis tui in fortibus, domine? Quasi dicat nullus. Secundo quaerunt de sua aestimatione, quem scilicet seipsum facit; quasi dicant: si tu es maior istis, scilicet Abraham et prophetis, videtur per hoc intelligi quod sis altioris naturae, puta Angelus, vel Deus. Sed hoc non aestimamus de te. Et ideo non dicunt, tu quis es; sed quem te ipsum facis? Quia quidquid dicitur supra istis, non recognoscentes de te, reputabimus, quod tu illud fingas. Similiter dicebant infra X, 33: de bono opere non lapidamus te, sed de blasphemia: quia tu homo cum sis, facis teipsum Deum. Consequenter cum dicit respondit Iesus etc., ponitur responsio domini, et primo respondet secundae quaestioni; secundo vero primae, ibi Abraham pater vester exultavit ut videret diem meum. Circa primum tria facit dominus. Primo excludit falsitatem quam intendebant; secundo docet veritatem, quam ignorabant, ibi est pater meus qui glorificat me; tertio manifestat utrumque quod proponebant, ibi et non cognovistis eum. Dicit ergo: quaeritis me dicentes: quem teipsum facis? Ac si gloriam quam non habeo, mihi usurpem. Sed supervacua fuit haec prolatio, quoniam non me facio id quod sum, sed ex patre recepi: nam si ego glorifico meipsum, gloria mea nihil est. Quod secundum hunc modum posset intelligi de Christo secundum quod est filius Dei, ut dicatur cum praecisione si ego, scilicet solus, glorifico meipsum, idest attribuam mihi gloriam, quam pater mihi non attribuat, gloria mea nihil est: nam gloria Christi secundum quod est Deus, est gloria verbi et filii Dei; filius autem nihil habet nisi natus, idest quod nascendo ab aliquo recepit: si ergo detur per impossibile quod gloria sua non esset ab alio, non esset gloria filii. Melius tamen videtur quod dicatur de Christo secundum quod homo. Nam quicumque attribuit sibi gloriam quam non habet a Deo, gloria illa est falsa: nam quidquid veritatis est, a Deo est; quod autem est veritati contrarium, falsum est, et per consequens, nihil. Gloria ergo quae a Deo non est, nihil est; Hebr. V, 5, dicitur de Christo, quod non seipsum clarificavit ut pontifex fieret; II Cor. X, 18: non enim qui seipsum commendat, ille probatus est, sed quem Deus commendat. Sic ergo patet Iudaeorum falsitas. Veritatem autem, quam intendit docere, ponit dicens est pater meus qui glorificat me, quasi dicat: non ego meipsum glorifico, sicut vos fingitis; sed alius est qui me glorificat, scilicet pater meus: quem quidem describit ex proprietate, et ex natura. Ex proprietate quidem paternitatis; unde dicit est pater meus, et non ego. Ex quo quidem verbo, ut Augustinus dicit, calumniantur Ariani fidei nostrae, dicentes maiorem esse patrem filio: nam maior est, qui glorificat, eo qui glorificatur ab ipso. Si ergo pater glorificat filium, pater maior est filio. Sed dicendum quod apparentiam quidem haberet argumentum, nisi inveniretur e converso quod filius glorificet patrem: dicit enim filius, infra XVII, 1: pater, venit hora, clarifica filium tuum, ut filius tuus clarificet te. Et in eodem ego te clarificavi super terram. In Graeco autem idem est glorifica et clarifica; et, secundum Ambrosium, gloria est clara cum laude notitia. Hoc autem quod dicit est pater meus qui glorificat me, potest referri ad Christum, et secundum quod est filius Dei, et secundum quod est filius hominis. Secundum quidem quod est filius Dei, pater glorificat eum gloria divinitatis, ab aeterno eum sibi aequalem generando; Hebr. I, 3: qui cum sit splendor gloriae et figura substantiae eius (...) sedet ad dexteram maiestatis in excelsis; Phil. II, 11: omnis lingua confiteatur quia dominus Iesus Christus in gloria est Dei patris. Secundum vero quod homo, habuit gloriam per redundantiam divinitatis in ipsum, et gratiae et gloriae singularis; supra I, 14: videbimus gloriam eius, gloriam quasi unigeniti a patre, plenum gratiae et veritatis.
8:54
Ex natura vero divinitatis describit eum, cum dicit quem vos dicitis quia Deus vester est. Ne autem alium patrem putes quam Deum, dicit se glorificari a Deo; infra XIII, 31: nunc clarificatus est filius hominis, et Deus clarificatus est in eo. Si Deus clarificatus est in eo, et Deus clarificabit eum in semetipso. Sed, secundum Augustinum, hoc verbum est contra Manichaeos, qui dicunt annuntiatum non esse in veteri testamento patrem Christi, sed esse aliquem ex principibus malorum Angelorum. Constat autem quod Iudaei non dicunt alium Deum suum esse quam Deum veteris testamenti. Ergo Deus veteris testamenti est pater Christi glorificans eum. Manifestat autem utrumque, scilicet Iudaeorum falsitatem, et suam veritatem, cum dicit et non cognovistis eum. Manifestat autem dupliciter. Primo quidem ostendendo Iudaeorum ignorantiam; secundo suam notitiam, ibi ego autem cognovi eum. Circa primum sciendum, quod possent Iudaei dicere: tu dicis quod glorificaris a Deo; sed nobis nota sunt iudicia eius, secundum illud Ps. CXLVII, 20: non fecit taliter omni nationi, et iudicia sua non manifestavit eis. Ergo si verum est quod dicis, nos utique sciremus hoc: cum ergo nos lateat, constat quod non est verum. Et ideo concludens, dicit et non cognovistis eum; quasi dicat: non mirum est si non cognoscitis gloriam qua me glorificat pater meus, quem dicitis Deum vestrum, quia nec ipsum Deum cognoscitis. Sed contra Ps. LXXV: notus in Iudaea Deus. Respondeo: ut Deus, sed non ut pater, notus est ab eis; unde supra dixit: est pater meus qui glorificat me. Vel dicendum, quod non cognovistis eum affectu: quia carnaliter colitis qui spiritualiter colendus est; supra IV, 24: spiritus est Deus, et eos qui adorant eum, in spiritu et veritate oportet adorare. Item effectu, quia mandata eius adimplere contempsistis; ad Tit. I, 16: confitentur se nosse Deum; factis autem negant. Sed quia possent dicere: esto quod nos non cognoscamus gloriam tuam, quomodo cognoscis tu gloriam te a Deo patre habere? Ideo subiungit notitiam suam, dicens ego autem novi eum, et primo ponit suam notitiam; secundo ostendit necessitatem huius notitiae proferendae, ibi et si dixero quia non scio eum, ero similis vobis mendax; tertio exponit quod dicit, ibi sed scio eum. Dicit ergo: ideo scio me habere gloriam a Deo patre, quia ego novi eum, ea scilicet notitia qua ipse novit seipsum, et nullus alius nisi filius; Matth. XI, 27: nemo novit filium nisi pater, nec patrem quis novit nisi filius, scilicet cognitione perfecta comprehensionis. Et quia omne imperfectum a perfecto initium sumit, inde est quod omnis nostra cognitio a verbo derivatur: unde sequitur: et cui voluerit filius revelare.
8:55
Sed quia, secundum carnem iudicantibus, posset Christo ad arrogantiam ascribi dicenti se nosse Deum, ideo subdit necessitatem dicti sui, cum subiungit et si dixero quia non scio eum, ero similis vobis mendax. Nam, secundum Augustinum, non est sic arrogantia vitanda ut relinquatur veritas et incurratur mendacium. Ideo dicit si dixero; quasi diceret: sicut vos dicentes scire eum, mentimini; ita ego si dixero me nescire, cum sciam eum, ero similis vobis mendax. Unde haec similitudo sequitur a contrario, ut sit similitudo in mendacio; quia sicut isti mentiuntur dicentes se scire eum quem nesciunt; ita Christus esset mendax, si diceret se nescire quem novit. Sed dissimilitudo est in cognitione: quia isti non cognoscunt, Christus vero scit eum. Sed numquid potuisset Christus hoc dicere? Potuisset quidem verba proferre materialiter, sed non intendere exprimere falsitatem: quia hoc non potuisset fieri nisi per inclinationem voluntatis Christi ad falsum, quod erat impossibile, sicut impossibile erat eum peccare. Nihilominus tamen conditionalis est vera, licet antecedens et consequens sit impossibile. Quod autem patrem cognoscat, manifestat subdens sed scio eum: et cognitione speculativa, cum dicit scio, intellectualiter per dictam cognitionem, eum, scilicet patrem; item cognitione affectiva, scilicet per consensum voluntatis ad ipsum: unde dicit et sermonem eius servo; supra VI, 38: descendi de caelo, non ut faciam voluntatem meam, sed voluntatem eius qui misit me.
8:56
Consequenter cum dicit Abraham pater vester exultavit ut videret diem meum, respondet primae quaestioni quam fecerunt ei Iudaei, dicentes numquid tu maior es patre nostro Abraham? Ostendens se maiorem, tali ratione. Quicumque enim expectat bonum ab aliquo, et perfectionem suam, est minor eo a quo expectat, sed Abraham totam spem suae perfectionis et sui boni habuit in me: ergo est me minor. Et quantum ad hoc dicit Abraham pater vester, de quo scilicet gloriamini, exultavit ut videret diem meum. Ubi ponit duplicem visionem et duplex gaudium, sed alio et alio ordine. Nam primo praemittit gaudium exultationis, dicens exultavit, et subdit visionem, dicens ut videret. Deinde praemittit visionem, dicens vidit, et subdit gaudium, dicens et gavisus est. Et sic gaudium consistit inter duas visiones, procedens ab una, et tendens in aliam: quasi dicat vidit, et gavisus est ut videret diem meum. Primo ergo videndum quid sit iste dies quem vidit, et exultavit ut videret. Est autem duplex dies Christi: scilicet aeternitatis, de quo in Ps. II, 7: ego hodie genui te. Item dies incarnationis et humanitatis, de quo infra IX, 4: me oportet operari (...) donec dies est; Rom. XIII, 12: nox praecessit, dies autem appropinquavit. Utroque ergo modo dicimus, quod Abraham vidit primo diem Christi, scilicet aeternitatis, et incarnationis per fidem; Gen. XV, 6: credidit Abraham Deo, et reputatum est illi ad iustitiam. Et quod vidit diem aeternitatis, manifestum est: alias enim non fuisset iustificatus a Deo, quia, ut dicitur Hebr. II, 6, accedentem ad Deum oportet credere quia est, et inquirentibus se remunerator sit. Quod autem viderit diem incarnationis, manifestatur ex tribus: scilicet ex iuramento quod exegit a servo, nam Gen. XXIV, 2, ait servo suo quem mittebat: pone manum subter femore meo, et iura mihi per Deum caeli. Ex quo, ut dicit Augustinus, signabatur, quod de femore eius processurus esset Deus caeli. Secundo, ut Gregorius dicit, cum in figura summae Trinitatis tres Angelos hospitio suscepit. Tertio quando cognovit praefiguratam passionem Christi in oblatione arietis et Isaac; Gen. XXII. Sic ergo ex hac visione gavisus est; sed non quievit in ea, immo ex hac exultavit in aliam visionem, scilicet apertam et per speciem, quasi totum gaudium suum in ea ponens. Unde dicit exultavit ut videret aperta visione, diem meum, scilicet divinitatis et humanitatis meae; Lc. X, 24: multi reges et prophetae voluerunt videre quae vos videtis, et non viderunt.
8:57
Consequenter cum dicit dixerunt ergo Iudaei ad eum etc., ostendit quomodo Iudaei irrident verba Christi, et primo ponitur irrisio verborum Christi a Iudaeis ad confutandum; secundo subditur manifestatio ipsorum verborum a Christo, ad irrisionem vitandam, ibi dixit ergo Iesus: amen, amen dico vobis et cetera. Quia ergo Christus dixerat quod Abraham exultavit ut videret diem suum, Iudaei carnalem mentem habentes, et in eo solum carnis aetatem pensantes, irrident dictum, et dicunt quinquaginta annos nondum habes. Vere quinquaginta annos non habebat, nec etiam quadraginta, sed circa trigesimum annum erat; Lc. III, 23: erat Iesus incipiens quasi annorum triginta. Quod autem dicunt quinquaginta annos nondum habes, ideo forte est, quia apud Iudaeos annus iubilaeus in maxima reverentia habebatur, quasi per eum omnia computantes, in quo et captivos manumittebant, et emptitiis cedebant possessionibus. Quasi dicant: tu nondum excessisti spatium unius iubilaei, et Abraham vidisti? Quamvis dominus non dixerit quod viderit Abraham, sed quod Abraham diem eius vidit.
8:58
Et ideo dominus ut irrisionem vitet, respondens Iudaeis, verba sua exponit, dicens amen, amen dico vobis, antequam Abraham fieret, ego sum: in quibus verbis dominus duo de se notabilia et efficacia contra Arianos dicit. Unum est, quia, ut dicit Gregorius, coniungit simul verbum praesentis temporis et praeteriti. Ante enim significat praeteritum; sum temporis praesentis est. Ut ergo ostenderet se esse aeternum, et esse suum esse aeternitatis insinuet, non ait ante Abraham ego fui sed ante Abraham ego sum nam esse aeternum non novit tempus praeteritum et futurum, sed in uno indivisibili includit omne tempus. Unde dici potest illud Ex. III, 14: qui est misit me ad vos; et ego sum qui sum. Ante ergo vel post Abraham habuit esse, qui et accedere potuit per exhibitionem praesentis, et recedere per cursum vitae. Aliud est, secundum Augustinum, quia cum loqueretur de Abraham, qui creatura est, non dixit antequam Abraham esset sed antequam fieret. Sed loquens de se, ut ostendat quod non est factus ut creatura, sed ab aeterno de essentia patris genitus, non dicit, ego fio, sed ego sum, qui in principio erat verbum; supra I Prov. VIII, 25: ante omnes colles generavit me dominus.
8:59
Consequenter cum dicit tulerunt ergo lapides ut iacerent in eum, ponitur intentio Iudaeorum contra Christum: et primo ponitur Iudaeorum persecutio; secundo Christi evasio. Sed persecutio Iudaeorum procedit ex infidelitate. Nam mentes infidelium aeternitatis verba sustinere non valentes, nec intelligere ea, reputabant blasphemiam; et ideo, secundum legis mandatum, eum tamquam blasphemum lapidare volentes, tulerunt lapides, ut iacerent in eum et cetera. Et, ut dicit Augustinus, tanta duritia lapidum, quo curreret nisi ad lapides? Inf. X, 33: de bono opere non lapidamus te. Simile faciunt qui ex duritia cordis non intelligentes veritatem aperte prolatam, blasphemant proferentem, unde dicitur in canonica Iudae: quaecumque non noverunt, blasphemant. Evasio autem Christi est ex eius potestate: unde sequitur Iesus autem abscondit se, qui scilicet si divinitatis suae potentiam exercere voluisset in suis actibus, eos ligaret, aut in poenas subitae mortis obrueret. Abscondit autem se, specialiter propter duo. Primo ut daret fidelibus suis exemplum declinandi persecutores suos; Matth. X, 23: si vos persecuti fuerint in una civitate, fugite in aliam. Secundo, quia non elegerat hoc genus mortis, sed potius in ara crucis voluit immolari; et quia nondum impletum erat tempus, adhuc fugit. Sic ergo tamquam homo a lapidibus fugit. Non autem abscondit se sub lapide vel in angulo, sed potestate suae divinitatis, invisibilem se eis exhibens, exivit, et recessit de templo. Simile fecit, Lc. IV, 29, quando voluerunt eum praecipitare de supercilio montis. Per quod, ut Gregorius dicit, datur intelligi quod illis ipsa veritas absconditur, qui eius verba sequi contemnunt. Eam quippe quam non invenit humile veritas fugit mentem; Is. VIII, 17: qui abscondit faciem suam a domo Iacob. Et similiter etiam quia debebat eos, correctionem et veritatem non suscipientes, relinquere, et ire ad gentes; Matth. XXIII, 38: ecce relinquetur vobis domus vestra deserta.
8:1
v. 1 Jesus autem perrexit in montem oliveti, ut illi domum ibant, ita Iesus in eum se contulit locum, ubi postea quoque noctem íransigere saepius solebat (Luc. 21,37); censet Euth. id eum fecisse, ut nocturnas insidias declinaret. Mons ob frequentes in eo plantatas olivas ita vocabatur; ab urbe situs erat orientem versus, Sabbati habens iter Act. 1.12. 1. e. duo milha cubitorum, i. e. leucae fere quadrante distans. Corl. : inter urbem et mentem erat vallis Cedron; τ.
8:2
2 e: diluculo iterum renit tn. templum τὸ a25,qua voce totus templi circuitus, totus aedifiGorum . portieuum, atriorum ad templum pertinentium complexus designatur. dum 2 »zz; aedem sacram, duabus e partibus constantem significat 'ef. (rinm , Lex.j; et omnis populus i. e. magna multitudo, renit a4 eum; sollemnitate illa et Iudaeorum insidiis omnium in eum oculi eenveriebantur ; ipsa quoque opinionum de eo diversitate alii alliciebantur ad eam audiendum, et sedens docebat eos , scil. in atrio, vel ín aliqua porticu (cf. 10,23); doctoris proprium erat sedendo docere (Corl.). Ultimus festivitatis dies magna laetitia celebrabatur. Facile autem laetitia in lasciviam vertitur;
8:3
v. 3 adducunt autem scribae et pharisaei mulierem in adulterio deprehensam εἰ statuerunt eam tin medio v. ἃ et dixerunt ei : magister, rabbi, honorifico verbo eum appellant, ut Íraudem contegant, neque enim esse vero simile malo rogare animo qui eum magistrum vocant seque quasi discipulos confitentur , Ma/4.;, haec mulier modo deprehensa est in adulterio ἐπ᾿ αὐτοφώρῳ 1. €. αὐτελέ-- Xt; , αὐτοφανῶς, προδήλως (Euth.); proprie in ipso furto deprehensa, dein generatim in ipso actu scelesto ; hoc addunt, ne ulterior probatio requiratur; rem esse certam et compertam , quam ne ipsa quidem rea negare possit (Maid. Tol.);
8:4
ad evangelium Ioannis concinnatis nullam interpretationem afferunt ad pericopam hanc de adultera. Sed bene notat Cramer, qui catenas edidit in evangelia, tomo II p. VI : « cum autem omnes, uti mihi videtur, catenae, ad S. Chrysostomi interpretationem &ccommodatae sunt ut earum basin, id argumentum (contra authentiam illius pericopae) non ultra illius Patris silentium, licet hoc grave sit, extendere aequum esse videtur. Magis ex re foret scholiastarum anonymorum, qui notata exscripserunt in marginibus plurimorum exemplarium ev. Etiam in genere dicendi narratio haec de adultera satis accedit ad modum quem in usu vocabulorum apud evangelistam deprehendimus; ita v. 5 λιθάζειν (quae est lectio magis codicibus commendata), uti Ioan. 10,31.32.33; 11,8; et μηχέτι ἁμάρτανε, uti 5,14; apud Ioan. ἐρωτᾶν in notione interrogandi valde frequens est (c. 17 vicibus), et etiam hic in v. 7 ea notione reperitur. Si textum narrationis, uti in D habetur, accuratius inspexeris etiam alia invenies quae cum modo scribendi evangelistae congruunt; ibi enim habentur οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι, uti saepe apud Ioan. ; ibi in v. 4 χατηγορία, uti 18,29, quae vox apud synopticos non legitur; ibi v. 4 οἵ ἱερεῖς uti 1,19. Invenitur eadem narratio in antiqua illa didascalia quae solum syriaca in versione ad nos pervenit sed quae est basis constitutionum apostolicarum. Verum qui eam pericopam evangelistae negant, statuunt eam ex evangelio apocrypho Petri in didascaliam et inde in constitutiones apostolicas esse depromptam. Sed de isto evangelio apocrypho paucissima reperta sunt ex historia passionis et resurrectionis; etsi in uno loco levis quaedam allusio deprehendatur ad evangelium Petri, certe non sequitur etiam illam narrationem, ut vult Harnack , inde esse desumptam ; nam ipso Harnack fatente plura occurrunt in illa didascalia quae non possunt esse derivata ex illo evangelio, utpote ei plane opposita (cf. Harnack, Bruchstücke des Evangeliums Petri etc. 2 ed. p. Á1 seq.). Cur itaque illa didascalia (oriunda ex priore parte 8860. 3) non sit adnumeranda testibus istius pericopes in evangelio, non est ratio solida (cf. Funk, Die apostolischen Constitutionen, p. 64; in quo opere praeclare agitur de illa didascalía p. 28 seq.). . Narrationem hanc minime a contextu evangelii esse alienam , iam aliqui veterum adverterunt. Ita Bon. : quia non poterant occidere, quaerebant invenire occasionem, ut eum caperent in sermone; et Rup. : quia Nicodemus iniquitati eorum secundum legem fecerat obstaculum , nune summo studio nituntur illum constituere legis adversarium, ut nemo deinceps contra ipsorum audeat mutire consilium ; ex recentioribus autem narratione hac et sequentia praeparari et indolem Iudaeorum designari Keppler, I. Grimm ostendunt. Quare e contextu quoque authentia comprobatur
8:5
v. 5 in lege autem Moyses mandacit uobis eiusmodi lapidare ; lapidatio praescribitur pro puella desponsata quae peccavit (Deut. 22,23. 2$); pro adultera uxore solum poena mortis statuitur (Lev. 20,10) ; quare illa non uxor, sed desponsata fuisse videtur (Calm. Schz. Weiss); alii coniiciunt ex Ez. 16,10 mortem illam etiam uxori adulterae postea lapidatione esse illatam. Sed cum illi non usum qui forte aliquo tempore vigebat, sed legem appellent, priori sententiae erit assentiendum ; tu ergo quid dicis?
8:6
v. 6 hoc autem dicebant Lentantes eum, ut possent accusare eum; putabant enim Iesum pro sua in peccatores benignitate et miseratione tali poenae eam non esse addicturum et ita aliquid legi contrarium pronuntiaturum (Euh. Aug. Rup. Thom. Tol. Ians. Mald. Corl. Schz. Fil.). lam enim eum traducebant ut amicum publicanorum et peccatorum. Accusatione illa violati sabbati ob sanationem factam profecto non multum profecerant apud populum; sed multo maior spes illis affulgebat fore ut populum ei redderent infestum, si ea in re aperle contra legem sententiam ferret. Quare ex hac quoque parte haec narratio contextui bene congruit. Norunt enim pharisaei partem populi bene sentire de Iesu, immo eum considerare ut Messiam (7,19. 31. &0. 41), unde illis grata erat opportunitas quaevis famae eius detrahendi. Quam opportunitatem secundum alios ex duplici capite capere volebant; si enim diceret esse lapidandam, fore ut apud populum traduceretur ut rigidus et immitis οἱ apud magistratum romanum ut is qui ius gladii sibi arrogaret (cf. Bed. Cai. Lap. Calm. Schg.). Verum qui capere volebant, ipsi capti sunt. Et primo quidem Iesus eis significat rem ad se non pertinere neque se opus habere aut velle iis respondere ; Jesus autem inclinans se deorsum digito scribebat in terra « quod frequenter faciunt qui respondere nolunt importuna indignaque rogantibus; cognita enim illorum machinatione fingebat se (προσεποιεῖτο) in terram scribere nec his attendere quae dicebant » (Euth.). Significat ad se non pertinere, ut illorum quaestioni satisfaceret (lans. Calm.); nam ad scelera eiusmodi punienda adsunt iudices publici; etsi enim lege certa quaedam poena criminibus proponitur, tamen non uniuscuiusque est istam poenam statim alteri infligere; verum ad legem applicandam forum legitimum est institutum. Illi qui Iesum adiit petens : magister dic fratri meo, ut dividat mecum hereditatem, respondit Iesus : homo, quis me constituit iudicem super vos (Luc. 12,13. 14). Homini illi qui non animo tentantis eum rogavit , Iesus explicuit eiusmodi negotia forensia non ad se spectare ; scribis autem tentantibus qui ipsi forum legitimum minime ignorabant responsum dare non dignatur, sed. sese avertendo illos contemnit nec responsione aut attentione dignos ostendit. Quaerunt quandoque quomodo potuerit scribere in pavimento. Si pulvere erat oppletum potuit characteres efformare; ceterum suffecit ductu digiti quasi efformare litteras, ut quis digito etiam in aere efformare litteras et lineamenta potest (cf. Mald.). Nolunt intelligere quid Iesus significatum velit incensi studio tentandi;
8:7
v. 7 cum ergo perseverarent imterrogantes eum, erezit se et dizit : qui sine peccato est vestrum , primus tn illam lapidem mittat ; sagaciter illorum decepit machinationes, simul et servando legem et parcendo mulieri; siquidem ei qui ex ipsis a peccato immunis est permisit ut eam lapidare incipiat, sciens omnes esse peccatis obnoxios (Euth.). Responsi sapientiam mirantur omnes; « prudentissima responsio nec legi contraria nec a clementia aliena, sed via ad clementiam sine offensione legis cum confutatione malignantium » (Cai.). Illi Iesum non adeunt tamquam iudicem vi muneris constitutum ; ipsi homines privati dicunt : mandavit Moyses noó:s eiusmodi lapidare, cum tamen Moyses non obvio cuique id iniunctum voluerit. Urgent importune ut respondeat; accipiunt merito responsum , quo non solum ab exspectatione sua capiendi Iesum in sermone subito deturbantur, sed etiam magna sui confusione obruuntur palam et publice coram populo (v. 2) ;
8:8
v. 8 et iterum se inclinans scribebat in terra; infixo in eorum conscientia responsionis aculeo voluit illis spatium dare clam discedendi (Ma/d.). Nemo ausus est se profiteri ἃ peccato immunem et prudenter quidem, nam noverant Iesum etiam secreta animorum habere perspecta. Unde
8:9
v. 9. audientes autem unus post unum exibant, incipientes a senioribus, i. e. ab aetate provectioribus, scribis scil. et pharisaeis (v. 3) ; hi enim utpote prudentiores perspexerunt unum quod relinqueretur esse discedere; plerumque hos graviorum noxarum sibi conscios priores recessisse addunt (cf. Tol. Ians. Mald. Corl.); abeunt unus post unum, « non simul ne victi atque confüsi fugere videantur, sed sensim ac singillatim, quasi suo quisque consilio discederet » (Mald.). Quaerunt quid Christus scripserit. Variorum sententias referunt Mald. Bar.; aliqui putant eum eadem scripsisse quae dixit scil. qui sine peccato est etc. (Thom. Bon. Bar.); alii verba Ier. 17,13, vel ea verba tamquam causam considerant, cur scripserit (Aug. Bon. 701.) : recedentes a te in terra scribentur, quia dereliquerunt venam aquarum viventium Dominum, qua actione simul Christus perditionem eorum et interitum significaverit (cf. 7. Grimm). Alii ea scriptione Christum indicare voluisse opinantur ab ipso esse legem scriptam (cf. up. Bon. Cai.). Merito autem scribit Mald. : « mihi valde placet quod quidam dicunt nihil scripsisse quod legi possit, nullos enim certos formasse characteres , sed incertas nihilque significantes figuras delineasse, quales homines meditabundi facere solent; adde quod si aliquid significans scripsisset, nunquam id evangelista praeteriisset. Sobrii est ingenii hac sententia esse contentum ». Illis itaque abeuntibus remansit solus Iesus et mulier in medio stans; « relicti sunt duo : misera et misericordia » (Aug.); solus non per exclusionem discipulorum , sed tentantium (Ὁ αἱ.) ; insuper neque concio quae frequens aderat et ad quam responsio Christi non pertinebat, sed soli scribae et pharisaei dicuntur alius post alium exiisse (Maid.);
8:10
v. 10 erigens autem se Iesus dixit ei : mulier ubi sunt qui te accusabant? nemo te condemnavit?
8:11
v. 11 quae dizit : nemo, Domine. Dixit autem Iesus : nec ego te condemnabo, qui solus scil. sum sine peccato ; « quid est, Domine? faves ergo peccatis? non plane ita; attende quod sequitur : vade et tam amplius noli peccare; ergo et Dominus damnavit, sed peccatum , non hominem » (Aug.); idcirco iudicium suspendit, ut vacet peccatori cum fructu poenitentiae recedere a peccatis; vade misericordiae est, nol? peccare veritatis et iustitiae (Rup.) , ut sic appareat quam dulcis est Dominus per mansuetudinem et rectus per veritatem (Thom.). Neque enim ipse officium iudicis publici | exercere tenebatur neque id ad eum spectabat, ut poenam per sententiam iudicis legitima inquisitione facta infligendam indiceret. « Nam non venit ut esset iudex externus scelerum, sed praeco misericordiae paternae. Sicut autem reliquis suis exemplis aut evangelicae suae doctrinae praeceptis nullum voluit Dominus facere praeiudicium ες a eorum quae cuique ex officio pro salute reipublicae conveniunt, ita ^ nec hoc suo facto; quod autem pharisaeis dixit, non voluit docere nex8 1 minem alium punire debere qui ipse sit peccator; sic enim omnia E mala impunita manerent; sed dolosos et arrogantes ita ut digni erant ἊΜ pudore afficere voluit » ([1απ5.). Et merito notat Bar. potuisse Christum respondere quod alias dixit : quis me constituit iudicem inter | vos? neque enim missus erat, ut more iudicis sententiam ferret (cf. ἘΠ Rup. Cai. Lap. Calm. Corl. Schz.). SY codd pler vulg ambulabit; hub for car ox tol har! c1 ambulat. In v. 13 sin dicunt ei Iudaei. In v. 14 xa: xou NR EFGHL al sat mu abcde ff*r ger for st tol sin. In v. 16 om πατὴρ N' D sin. In v. 19 aq utique et patrem meum (sciretis) nossetis. In v. 20 sin et in templo, om docens. In v. 21 codd longe pler quaeritis; item it. In v. 22 dub rush dicebant inter se. In v. 25 principium quía am ben cav dun ept' fuld hub ing for ox ken rush st corp harl Aug Wordsw; principium quod dub eg ger theod med fff*1q gat; initium quod a c; principium qui car mt val wil lind e; imprimís quia b. In v. 27 quia patrem eis dicebat Wordsw; de patre wil; de deo patre diceret eis b; eius for steph sixt; add deum car fuld cav mt tol ace ff*1, deum dicebat eis dub; esse deum dicebat eg gat; add rov θεὸν N' D; sin de patre loquebatur eis. In v. 28 add πάλιν x D sim syr; B ort otav. Docens in gazoph ylacio Iesus se lucem mundi dicit et contra pharisaeorum exceptionem vindicat veritatem sui de se testimonii (v. 12- 20). Dein illis minatur fore ut moriantur in suis peccatis, nisi in se utpote Messiam crediderint; indolem eorum terrenam et mundanam reprehendit, qua verba ipsius ludibrio habeant; originem suam supernam, et unionem cum Patre et opem quam habeat a Patre affirmat simul praedicens illos aliquando haec ita esse cognituros. In tractatu mischnico de tabernaculis narratur nocte prima festi ta- bernaculorum in atrio mulierum poni candelabra aurea cum quattuor pelvibus aureis in capitibus et immitti in quamlibet pelvim cantharos olei centum et triginta logorum et'tantam excitari lucem , ut non esset atrium in urbe quod non luceret luce illa ; praeterea saltare ibi homines cum facibus lucentibus et canere et levitas ludere variis . instrumentis musicis stantes in quindecim gradibus descendentibus &b atrio Israel ad atrium mulierum (tract. de tabern. 5,2. 3; cf. Surenhusius II. p. 977). Uti Iesus 7,37 ex ritu libaminum occasionem cepit docendi, ita hunc ritum quoque respexisse videtur, qui etsi solum semel in festo peragebatur tamen propter magnam sollemnitatem et laetitiam animis omnium alte mansit repositus (cf. Schg. Schz.); immo in locis talmudicis etiam statuitur singulis noctibus illius festi eam illuminationem habitam esse (cf. Edersheim ll p. 165). Haec caerimonia vocabatur gaudium festivitatis;
8:12
v. 19 iterum ergo locutus est ets Iesus; non immediate post. v. 11; nam, uti ex v. 90 patet, Christus haec dixit in gazophylacio, proinde alio in loco ab eo qui 8,2 indicatur; dicens : ego sum luz mundi; qui sequitur menon ambulat (ambulabit) in tenebris sed habebit lumen vitae; iterum se clarissime et apertissime declarat Messiam ; cf. Is. 9,2 et praesertim 42, 6; 49,6: ecce dedi te in lucem gentium, ut 518 salus mea usque ad extremum terrae. Apud rabbinos quoque Messias nomine lucis, illuminatoris appellabatur et Dan. 2,92 lux cum eo est, explicabant de eo (cf. Edersheim 1l. c. p. 166, Wünsche p. 530). Eodem modo dixit Simeon : lumen ad revelationem gentium (Luc. 2,32); cf. Matth. &,15 et supra 1,& et vita erat lux hominum ; v. 9 erat lux vera etc. 3,19 seq. Lucem se vocat totius mundi i. e. omnium hominum, uti apud prophetas salus messiana omnibus gentibus annuntiatur. Est autem lux secundum naturam divinam et humanam. Ut Deus mentes hominum gratis illustrationum perstringit suggerens quae sunt salutaria; ut homo in assumpta natura verbo et exemplo fugatis tenebris ignorantiae et peccatorum docuit quae sunt iustitiae et per evangelium i. e. nuntium salutiferum mentes afflictas exhilaravit. Est quippe in Scripturis lux metaphorice quoque dicta pro laetitia et recreatione, uti tenebrae pro afflictione et angustiis. Cum emphasi ego sum i. e. praeler me nemo alius, et si quis est, per ipsum est participatione luminis : vos estis lux mundi (Matth. 5,14; Ians.). Christus itaque est doctor qui efficaciter mentes illuminat et solus veram largitur beatitatem. Et bene notat Rup. : « ego, inquit, sum lux mundi, ac si diceret : quid vos impii noctis et tenebrarum filii, claritati meae suffragia mortalium tollere laboratis? numquid non deridendi essetis, si solem istum visibilem toti mundo lucentem exsuf- flando exstinguere, vel aerem pugnis verberando de magno candelabro coeli deiicere et sub modio recondere conemini? Nempe huic simile est hoc quod nomen meum delere vel famam meam exstinguere contenditis ». Ea enim enuntiatione praeclare dicit omnes conatus adversarios ad Christum opprimendum fore vanos, irritos. At quia est lux : qui sequitur me, non amóulat (lege ambulabit) in tenebris; « solemus per obscura praeeuntem sequi facem, ne aberremus aut offendamus, et loquebatur Christus de hominibus per hanc vitam tamquam per viam quandam plenam tenebrarum et errorum in coelum tendentibus; sequi Christum est ei credere, obedire; ambulare est vivere, non ambulare in tenebris est vivere sine errore et peccato » (Mald.). Sol etsi est lux mundi non praebet lumen caecis et oculos suos claudentibus, ita spiritualis illa lux non praebet lumen illis qui eam nolunt amplecti (Jans.). Placuit aliquibus Christum alludere ad nubem illam in deserto quae praeivit Israelitis (Cyr.); qui Christo credit et obedit, ille per magisterii eius viam graditur, vestigia eius sectatur, exemplum eius imitatur (To/.). Expulsis tenebris subditur fructus doctrinae (Thom.), sed habebit lumen vitae, ἕξει tempus futurum, quod post οὐ μή cum coni. aor. saepius sequitur (5,15; Luc. 10,19; 99,34 ; Schz.); ponitur autem futurum, non quasi iste fructus solum haberetur in futuro vel in altera vita, sed quia quisquis secutus fuerit Christum, eo fructu potietur; proin ponitur, uti saepius, de actione repetita, quae impleta conditione semper adest (cf. Krüger 53,10,5) vel si malueris, de effectu qui debet consequi et qui certissime consequitur (cf. Wzner &0,6); habet itaque vel possidet in se lumen quod eum ducit ad vitam. Christo credens, eius obediens doctrinae continuo ita interna gratia illustrationis iuvabitur, ut a via verae vitae non aberret; habet lumen indeficiens et lumen istud dat vitam (Thom.). Ob latinum textum (qui nunc legitur). ambulat, habebit , nonnulli alterum ad futurum vel alteram vitam referunt; id quod ex textu graeco non consistere potest. Talia dicit Iesus de se quae nullus homo sine summa absurditate enuntiare de se posset; « quis unquam sanctorum prophetarum in talem vocem prorumpere ausus est? cui id convenit dicere nisi ei uni tantum qui nátura. sua Deus est » (Cyr. sim. Thom.)? Verum pharisaei quo magis Iesus se ipsum manifestat, eo magis impotenti furore insaniunt. Quare magna importunitate eum interrumpunt et audacissima assertione impedire conantur quominus populus ei fidem adhibeat
8:13
v. 13 dixerunt ergo ei pharisaei : tu de teipso testimonium perhibes ; testtimonium tuum non est verum; cf. 5,31; id eo maiore malitia oggerunt, quamvis scirent Iesum iam antea provocasse ad testimonium Ioannis et Patris (cf. 5,33. 36); neque continuo verum est, si quis de se testimonium perhibeat, hoc esse falsum (Rup.). Multa enim sunt de quibus homo testari solus potest et quae ab aliis ut vera recipi debent. Quare falso etiam obiiciunt, etsi solum dicere vellent : testimonium tuum non est idoneum ad fidem faciendam secundum normam legis (Corl.);
8:14
v. 18& respondit Iesus et dizit eis : etsi ego testimonium — perhibeo de meipso , verum est testimonium meum quta scio unde veni et quo vado; exponit Christus, cur affirmare queat rem ita esse : scio Deum ἃ quo sum et ad quem vado et me quippe qui ex Deo sim non posse mentiri (Patr.); « ex Deo sum et Deus et Filius Dei; Deus sibi fide dignus testis est » (CÀr.). Nam lumen et alia demonstrat et seipsum (Aug.). Hisce verbis enuntiat Christus principium et finem adventus sui (To/l.) et omnia complectitur quae de se testificari potest : mysterium Incarnationis et eius fructum (cf. Corl.); vos autem nescitis unde venio aut quo vado vos ignoratis meam missionem , ignoratis unde sim et quo vadam opere in terra completo ; ignorant utique culpa sua, quia apertissimis signis nolunt credere; ideoque testimonium Iesu de se ineptum esse clamant ad fidem faciendam. : Eius ignorantiae ratio indicatur
8:15
v. 15 vos secundum carnem tudi- CGl1s χατὰ τὴν σάρχα non est iniuste (Chr.) sed « vos idcirco me non cognovistis quia nihil praeterquam quod apparet intelligere vultis » (Ammon. Euth.), propter carnem quia homo conspicior me contemnitis (Cyr. Aug. Bed.) , secundum paupertatem et exiguitatem paren-. tum meorum et propinquorum personam meam attenditis et supra id quod visibile est nihil audire vel intelligere vultis (Rup. Thom. Mald. et plerique). Tacite quoque hoc pharisaeorum iudicium falsum et carnale et malignum perstringit dicens : ego non iudico quemquam; cf. 3,17 non enim misit Deus Filium suum in mundum ut iudicet mundum, sed ut salvetur mundus per ipsum; arrogantiae pharisaeorum suam opponit modestiam et benevolentiam suam eorum perversitati. Non esse supplendum secundum carnem (quod aliqui supplent, Aug.), patet ex sequenti (Ma/d. Schz.). Aliis placet nexum ita adstruere: «cur non redarguis? quia non ad hoc veni; nam si iudicare vellem, ex damnatorum numero essetis » (CÀr. Cyr.). Nexum etiam faciliorem indicat Jans. * secunda ratio qua etiam Dominus inter se et pharisaeos discretionem facit est : vos iudicatis de rebus et personis carnali et humano iudicio, ideoque vestrum iudicium frequenter non est verum. Ego vero etsi pro meo officio nunc neminem iudicem (non enim veni ut iudicem mundum sed ut salvificem) , tamen si velim modo iudicare et si quando de me aut aliis iudicem, iudicium meum verum est;
8:16
v. 16 et si 1udico ego , iudicium meum verum est, quia solus non sum, sed ego et qui misit me, Pater; meum iudicium est simul iudicium Patris, ergo divinum, ergo verum; cf. 5,19; Filius enim illa facit quae Patrem videt facientem, quae Pater ei communicans demonstrat. lam si iudicium eius verum est, testimonium elus quoque verum est. Inde vero enascitur tertia ratio qua interpellationem pharisaeorum refutat
8:17
v. 17 et in lege vestra scriptum est : quia duorum hominum testimonium verum est; cum emphasi dicit pharisaeis , aemulatoribus (quos se iactant) legis zin lege vestra; quare eo magis sunt arguendi, si suae legis statuta non attendunt. lam igitur secundum legem illis impositam (Rup.) Iesu testimonium debent accipere
8:18
v. 18 ego sum qui testimonium perhibeo de meipso et testimonium perhibet de me qui misit me, Pater ; quomodo Pater perhibeat testimonium vide 5,36 seq. ; « nam si Filium Dei sese profitendo mentiretur, profecto non gloria miraculorum clarificaretur » (Rup.). Obiiciet aliquis illud Deut. 17,6 et 19,15 intelligi de duobus testibus non computato eo de quo redditur testimonium. Verum est hoc. Quare explica cum To/. lans. Maid. Corl. : Christus erat ho mo et Deus; ratione divinitatis per opera divinitatis propria reddebat testimonium de se homine probando sub illa humanitate latere Deum. Unde testimonium duarum personarum divinarum habetur. Pro Iudaeis qui eius naturam divinam non agnoscunt vis probationis in eo est quod Iesus suo agendi loquendique modo de se testatur et quod hoc eius testimonium a Patre per opera illa miraculosa tamquam verum comprobatur. Christi enim vita ipsa, qua non suam gloriam quaerit sed unice Patris, non suam voluntatem, sed unice Patris (5,30,41), optima est testis pro eo; unde revera Iesus ipse sibi est testis et Pater est testis; ergo habetur duorum testium testimonium (cf. Ca. Schz.), neque pharisaei argumentum ex eo op- Cum irrisione et malitia opponunt
8:19
v. 19 dicebant ergo ei : ubi est Pater tuus? alter scil. testis; optime sciebant quem suum diceret Patrem; cf. 5,18. 36; cavillantur : ubiest, ut eius exquiramus testimonium; nusquam videmus eum, nullibi audimus eum! Fortasse etiam quaerunt, ut denuo eum blasphemiae accusare et mortis reum declarare possint. Christus primo redarguit illorum ignorantiam, dein ostendit quomodo possint ad veritatis cognitionem pervenire (TÀom.); respondit Iesus : neque me scitis neque Patrem meum; si me sciretis, forsitan et Patrem meum sciretis ; illud ἄν alias melius redditur utique (15,7. 28), neque enim sententia cum dubio enuntiatur. Interpretes latini forsitan explicant increpative (Aug. Rup. Thom. Bon.) vel tamquam particulam affirmantis i. e. utique (Ca. Ians. Tol. Mald.). Pharisaeis qui legis scientia et observatione se iactant iam negatur BEER do 03 35 rie LIESS SEA ' SUE eH ASA AM SCA d xi dens Vcve RIT DAY ULIS lasts Voies tini eve i dH cognitio Dei vera; cf. 5,&0. &4. Indicatur illis cognitionem non haberi posse nisi per Iesum. Si enim Iesum agnoscerent eique vera fide se committerent, ipse iis scientiam Dei Patris largiretur gratia et illuminatione sua; nam neque Pa trem quis novit nisi Filius et cui voluerit Filius revelare (Matth. 11,27); et 15,9 : qui videt me, videt et Patrem; nam per Christum et in Christo se Deus plenius ac perfectius cognoscendum praebuit operans et loquens per eum. Deus a nobis in terris in se ipso cognosci non potest, sed tantum in suis operibus et verbis; proinde qui opera et verba divina non agnoscit neque approbat pro divinis, Deum certe qui per illa cognosci debet declarat se non vere cognoscere, cuius scil. iustitiam, bonitatem, potentiam, sapientiam in operibus verbisque eius relucentem non agnoscit nec recipit (Jans.). Quantis tenebris pharisaei i iam sint obvoluti, qui se iactant duces caecorum , lumeri eorum qui in tenebris sunt, eruditores insipientium (Rom. 2,19), Christus declarat, dum dicit eos nescire Deum neque uno illo uti remedio ad Deum cognoscendum;
8:20
v. 20 Àaec verba locutus est Iesus n gazophylacio docens in templo; gazophylacium (ex voce persica gaza thesaurus, φυλάχειον) appellatio est cellarum in atrio templi quae erant et in quibus res sacrae, aerarium sacrum asservabantur (cf. & Reg. 12,10. Neh. 3,10 etc.) ; Josephus etiam loquitur de gazophylaciis (Bell. iud. 5,5,2), ante quae porticus extendebantur; ea simul cum templo esse combusta, in quibus infinita pecuniae vis, infinitae etiam vestes et alia ornamenta et omnis quasi opulentia Iudaeorum erat congesta (l. c. 6,5,2); narrat Agrippam catenam auream intra conseptum templi ὑπὲρ τὸ γαζοφ υλάχιον suspendisse (Antiq. 19, 6,1). Nostro loco, uti Marc. 12,41 et Luc. 21,1, designari dicunt locum in atrio mulierum, in quo secundum rabbinos tredecim arulae positae eranf ad nummos qui offerrentur suscipiendos (vide quae dixi ad Marc. l. c.; cf. Edersheim [1 p. 165); at verum est quod Patr. monet apud Iosephum (Bell. iud. 5,5,2) nullatenus dici in atrio mulierum gazophylacia esse posita. Sed eiusmodi ibi fuisse planum est quia mulieres quoque offerebant, quibus ultra illud atrium non licebat progredi; verum solum ibi fuisse, utique nequit affirmari; unde dubium esse videtur, ubi gazophylacium fuerit, prope quod Christus docuit; et nemo apprehendit eum, quia necdum venerat hora eius; cf. 1,30; quibus verbis indicatur inter eos qui eum audiebant fuisse qui eum capere volebant. Ad eos itaque malevolos persecutores verba dirigit
8:21
v. 91 dizit ergo iterum eis Iesus : refertur iterum quia eadem iam antea dixit 7,34 (Rup. Cai. Tol. Ians. Mald. Schz.). Cum in antecedentibüs accurate et dici aliquo intervallo interposito probabile est, dici autem in templo, ex v. 59 certum est, proin dici in atrio templi vel in aliqua porticu : ego vado et quaeretis me; significat se libere moriturum , quando ipse voluerit; eorum insidias nihil efficere posse, nisi ipse permiserit; . quaerent eum, scil. talem opitulatorem in angustiis, in obsidione romana (cf. 7,34; lans. Corl. Schz. Fil. Weiss); quaeretis me odio, ᾿ς persequendo fideles meos, mea membra (Aug. Bed. Cai. )s quae explicatio subtilior est, e£ in peccato vestro moriemint i. e. in statu et conditione peccati, in incredulitate, non per peccatum (Jans.); haec dicere Christum comminando (Bon.) et conditione subintellecta, ex re ipsa et v. 2& manifestum evadit; et pariter quoque : quo ego vado, vos non potestis venire; vult eos perterrefacere (CAr.); morientur in peccato, proin exclusi erunt a regno Dei (Cyr.); vadit enim Christus &d eum qui misit eum 7,33; ad Deum igitur, i. e. ad Deum possidendum in regno gloriae illi non pervenient; cf. 7,34 et Matth. 8,19; 12, Etiam maiore quam antea 7,35 perversitate, odio, contumelia respondent Iudaei
8:22
v. 22 dicebant ergo Iudaei : numquid interficiet semetipsum , quia dizit : quo ego vado, vos non potestis venire? αἱ huius contumeliae enormitas perspiciatur, recolenda sunt quae Iudaei « quorum manus in se ipsos insanierunt, horum animas orcus tenebricosior (ἄδης σχοτιώτερος) suscipiet », esse crimen hoc contra omnium animantium naturam, impietatem in Deum et iuris divini im- 3,8,5). Unde Iesum dicentem faciunt, ac si vellet ire in infernum teuebricosiorem, imum, quo ludaei utpote gens electa nunquam detrudentur, quia eiusmodi criminis suicidii plane sint incapaces. Non respondet Iesus contumeliae quam ludaei inter se proferebant, sed pergit in sermone incepto rationem reddens pro v. 21, qua utique simul aliqua assignatur causa cur de verbis eius cavillentur irridentes
8:23
v. 93 et dicebat eis : vos de deorsum estis , ego de supernis sum ; vos de mundo hoc estis, ego non sum de hoc mundo; duo haec non sunt synonyma; priore membro : vos estis terreni, et terrena sapitis et qua tales in coelum ascendere non potestis; Christus est de supernis propter personam et divinam naturam. Eo in membro natura exprimitur; in altero vero qualitas (To/.); in priore declaratur origo, terrena illorum, Christi coelestis; in altero indoles: vos quae mundi huius, a regno Dei scil. alieni eique inimici, sunt sapitis, quaeritis, ambitis; vos estis de mundo improbo ac perverso; proinde animos geritis Deo rebusque Dei adversarios. Mundus enim, cuius princeps diabolus dicitur (14,30), regno Dei ubique adversatur; unde qui eius in se gerunt indolem, in coelum nequeunt ascendere, et si non desinunt esse de mundo, morientur in peccatis suis. Vires naturae humanae de se non valent assequi regnum Dei, coelum; multo minus apti sunt coelo qui de mundo perverso sunt; unde consequitur
8:24
v. 9& dizi ergo vobis, quia moriemini in peccatis vestris ; unica salus habetur in Messia qui coram illis adstat : s$ enim non credideritis quia ego sum, moriemtni tin peccato vestro ; sum scil. Messias, - Filius Dei ; scil. : quia ego ille sum quem me profiteor ; et Iudaei bene intellexerunt quem se diceret; cf. 5,18. Subtilius est quod placuit Aug. Thom. Cai. Patr. : ego sum explicandum esse ex Ex. 3,13. 14 : ego sum qui sum. Proinde Christus idem enuntiat quod postea Petrus : non est in alio aliquo salus; nec enim aliud nomen est sub coelo datum hominibus in quo oporteat nos salvos fieri (Act. &,19). Ipsi ergo sibi sunt causa interitus; verum hac ipsa comminatione eis aperit viam modumque se salvandi. Enuntiat Christus de se quod olim de infante Simeon dixerat : positus est hic in ruinam et in resurrectionem multorum in Israel (Luc. 2,34). Et quantopere idem positus sit in signum cui contradicetur, hac iam disputatione adumbratur. Pro sua enim malignitate et contradicendi contentione Iudaei, quamvis sciant quem se dicat, tamen eum interrumpunt iterum
8:25
v. 25 dicebant ergo ei : tu quis es? modus interrogandi contemptum et irrisionem prae se fert; insuper impudenter quaerunt ac si nunquam Iesus dixisset quis esset aut illi nunquam id audissent; dixit eis Iesus : principium qui et loquor vobis τὴν ἀρχὴν ὃ τι xai λαλῶ ὑμῖν; lectionem hodiernam vulg. paucorum codicum suffragio niti, vide lect. var.; lectiones quia, quod sat multos habent testes. Sensus , uti patet, non ex versione latina, sed ex graeco eruendus est. Explicatio probabilissima est : omnino (id sum) quod et loquor vobis, et cum in seriore graecitate ὅστις etc. etiam pro interrogativo τίς etc. ponatur in directis interrogationibus, verti quoque eodem iure potest : omnino cur etiam loquor vobis? et hoc sensu! videntur graeci verba intellexisse. Nam Cr. ita scribit : indigni estis qui verba mea audiatis, nedum discatis quis ego sim; item TAÀeopA. ; Euth. sermonem esse defectivum ait; sensum autem esse : ὅλως ὅτι xal λαλῶ ὑμῖν περιττόν ἐστιν; Cyr. hunc in. modum : oportebat omnino non vos alloqui ab initio (ὅλως κατὰ τὴν ἀρχήν). Quae paraphrases interrogationem illam referunt: omnino cur etiam loquor vobis? Cum illi non studio di»cond| quaerant, «ed cum contemptu exclament : tu quis es? certe mirum non est si Iesus post tot de se enuntiationes verbis et rebus kostin [ποίαν oot repudiat nec δὰ quaestionem ullo modo respondet. Variae oxplicationos praeterea propositae, sunt. Dubium non est quin 4ὴν ἀρχήν adverbiall modo ponatur, uti apud profanos quoque usuvenit, quo wensu wignificat ab initio, omnino ὅλως. Porro quaeritur sitne legendum 6 τι an ὅτι, KL al prius, sitne legendum perinterrogationem necne.-Inde variae enaueuntur acceptionos. Ipsa quoque interrogatio concipi potest vel directa vel indirecta : quod ab inilio vobis etiam loquar,choc quaeritis a me? id lam diu scire debebatis! Sententiam legunt affirmatione sat multi : id sum quod ab initio etiam loquor vobis; ita Nonnus : ὅ τι περ 6yiv ἐξ ἀρχῆς δάριζον, quem. aenasum. Mald. vorissimum et simplicissimum dicit « quem Nonnus expreuit et multi ante me docti et catholici interpretes approbavere »; ab initio «um quod etiam loquor vobis (cf. 7ol. Lap.), sed fum sane exspectaremus ἀπ᾿ ἀρχῆς potius, si aotornum suum esse voluisset exprimere. Aliis placet τὴν ἀρχὴν acciporo notione : primum dico quia et loquor vobis (Cai.), vel imprimis, omnino sic est ut et loquor vobis (Jans.), omnino id sum quod etiam loquor vobis (quam interpretationem, quia facilis est et expedita, amplexati sunt multi, ut Mald. ait); eam quoque probabilissimam eenaet NeÀs,, eam. adoptant. ScÀz. Fil. aliique (cf. Studien und Kritiken (814 p. δά}; interrogationem praefert Corl. : omnino, quid est quod adhuc etiam alloquoe. vos ? qui me scil. nec audire nec intelligere vultis. Constat τὴν dpydv MAdhibitum esse hic loco adverbii (Patr.); quare explicatio ex versiene latina frustra. petitur. Bt 4ug. quidem exponit : principium me eredite, quia et loquor vobis; supplendum esse ait credite ob graecum; et « riucipium mutari non potest, in se manet, innovat omnia; principium est eui dictum eat ; tu autem idem ipse es et anni tui non deficiunt ». Quam iterjtelationenm saepius proponit, uti Zur. latius prosequitur; eadem est Ambawsii, ut. f, ostendit et Nalmeron ,tom. 8 tract. 40', eandem sequuntut Jw. Kup. (una exdemque responsione simul et intemporalem incom- Wwwtabilenque exseatiam suae divinitatis et temporalem designans condi- Uva atuaptae humanitatis A4. σαι. Bon. Salneron, Vat. ; ad quam weawtewtiam d queque aveduat qui vertunt : ab initio sum 'i. e. ab ae Ure; ef. Pod. Ea. Veram recte monet. Patr. ; « ceterum Christus satis de x: divert e quibas. quiaam dpse esset. quisque intelligere posset, WA CaMWA Aper NM CRNURHADEAEA exce Buc wsque pataverat: quare WM QUSS. τὰ Ua Iudaeorum intererat wnyreretur, ita respondit. WA UR quae Abas de se duverat wil adderet ». Alia quoque CcnBexie ben- Κακὰ vei. τὰ quNNQR. wt baec senteatia amie cwpaletur cum sequent : ΘΑ ΘΛ. qussE ἀδζῶνς XN, aee muta ἑὰς vel aste oma. quia θοὸς WNER. Ae SER dv ves ur et ra NA IY ᾿ ΕΣ QNESXEXANNAIS DRERDIDe- UNUM aA aseo dV NS qiue Nobis
8:26
habeo de vobis loqui et iudicare, multa scil. quae reprehendam et condemnem, qua voce confirmat quae minatus est in v. 2& et indicat simul tandem. aliquando se iudicem fore (Cyr.). Atque ut omnem eorum obiectionem praeoccupet , reiiciat et declaret se non loqui et affirmare a se solo, addit : sed qut misit me veraz est et ego quae audivi ab eo, haec loquor in mundo; proin explica : multa habeo quae condemnem, non a me, sed ea loquor quae audivi ab eo qui me misit qui verax est. Proinde etiam pro iis comminationibus quas in v. 24 protulit ad veritatem eius qui misit provocat; verum ad quem provocaret et cuius nuntium se mundo perferre affirmaret , illi non agnoverunt
8:27
v. 97 et non cognoverunt quia Patrem eius (lege eis; vide lect. var.) dicebat Deum, explica ex graeco : non intellexerunt quod eis patrem dicebat i. e. quod de Patre illis loquebatur; malitia sua et contemptu et irrisione obcaecati sunt, ita ut prae vehementioribus animi perturbationibus, prout fieri solet, verba satis plana iam non capiant, quamvis Iesus haud raro de Patre sit locutus. Hac itaque ratione evangelista mentem eorum, qui v. 22. 95 suam perversitatem et impudentiam et odium aperte professi erant, hisce vitiis plane obnubilatam et praeoccupatam ad summam quandam percipiendi tarditatem depingit et nobis exhibet. Illud ἀλλά, sed in v. 26 ingenia interpretum multum exercuit. Si usum illius particulae spectas, varia dici possunt. Nam praeter vim adversativam aliae quoque notiones el insunt; immo vim quoque habet copulativam, ita ut solum significetur alíam rem esse, quam nunc dicturi sumus, et sic sententias inter se componit et coniungit (cf. Klotz, Dev. II p. 2). Et Krüger statuit medio in sermone ἀλλὰ significare tamen, certe (69,4,5). Porro etiam ellipsin indicat (Klotz 1. c. I p. 7; 11, p. 18). Particulae usum iam nostro loco eiusque explicationem perpendamus. Et Patr. quidem ea animos Iudaeorum praeoccupari ait ne negarent vera esse quae de ipsis loqui habebat; qua acceptione vis particulae adversativae omnino retinetur. Abrumpi sermonem, ita ut significet se non dicere multa illa, sed eos remittere ad veracem qui se miserit et à quo cuncta audierit, explicant sat multi. Quare varias sententias post ἀλλὰ supplendas esse dicunt; ita Chr. : sed Pater hoc non vult, scil. ut nunc vos iudicem; Theoph. sed non ad hoc misit me; Euth. : sed nunc nolo; Cyr. sed si videor importunus, verax est etc. ; Aug. : sed ideo verum iudico, quia verax est etc. ; Ians. sed omissis aliis unum dicam : verax est; Mald. sed nemo poterit me reprehendere; Cai. scd quoniam hoc servatur in futurum, dico praesens officium meum : verax est; Tol. sed nunc non iudico, quía qui verax est me misit prius ut salvem; Bar. sed illa relinquo in iudicium futurum; nunc illud solum dico de quo quaestio orta est : qui mc misit, verax est; Schg. sed non possum tacere; nam etc.: Fil. particulam ita accipit, ut Iesus graviter opponat incredulitati Iudaeorum testimonium verax Dei; proin videtur suppleri debere : vos non creditis, sed verax est; — en quomodo haec particula sat multas pepererit sententias! Uti ex v. 30 elucet, aderant non solum adversarii Iesu contumaces et obstinati, verum alii quoque eum loquentem audiunt qui nondum animos gerebant ab eo plane aversos. Pro iis praecipue pergit Iesus docens,
8:28
v. 28 diztt ergo eis Iesus : cum ezaltaveritis Filium hominis, tunc cognoscetis quia ego sum, scil. Christus , Filius Dei (CÀr.); cf. v. τ 9$; morte Christi et iis quae post eius mortem fient manifestum evadet 3 ] plurimis Iesum esse Messiam; exaltationem intelligi a Christo de sua morte in cruce, vide 3,15 et 12,32. 33; et quod ἢ. l. dicit impleri coeptum est in eius morte; lege Luc. 23,48, Act. 2,37 etc.; tunc cognita quoque eius divinitate simul perspicient Iesum nihil fecisse nec locutum esse nisi quod sit a Patre : et a meipso facio nihil, sed sicut docuit me Pater haec loguor ; si ἃ seipso nihil facit, eandem cum Patre natu-- , ram profitetur (CÀr.); omnia ipsius naturae communicatione accipit a Patre; quare sicut docutt, vel sicut audivi v. 26; ceterum vide 5,19. 20. 30. 36. Porro rationem missionis explicat; neque enim ita mittitur, ut a mittente discedat
8:29
v. 29 et qut me misit mecum est et non re- B liquit me solum; intime mihi coniunctus est et manet et mecum ope- ᾿ - | ratur; « non solum ut Deus communem mecum habens naturam , sed TM etiam ut Deus cum homine mecum cooperans, me in omnibus rebus dirigens; itaque quidquid facio, eius auspicio, eius auxilio, eius opera et auctoritate facio, uti dicit 5,17 » (Mald.). Sententia haec non dependet a cognoscetis quia v. 28, quae coniunctio est impeditior ac magis languida, sed est effatum ab antecedente independens et illam sententiam illustrans; ita plerique; quia ego quae placita sunt ei facio semper ; cum Iesus loquatur etiam de se ut homine, his verbis potest intelligi causa meritoria continuae gubernationis divinae in omnibus quae facit; « etsi enim iure personae divinae Christus habuit continuitatem divinae praesentiae et gubernationis, eandem tamen etiam habuit ratione merit »; ita Jans. et monent Chr. Cyr. Ians. Iesum demissius de se loqui. Verbis hisce assignari causam seu rationem explicant Aug. (quare non me reliquit? quia ego, inquit, etc.) Bed. Bon. Alb. Salm. Cai. Bar. Patr. Corl.; bene notat Rup. nullum hominem de se profiteri posse se semper facere quae Deo sint placita. Etiam TAom. de Christo homine accipi posse verba iisque causam designari meritoriam concedit secundo loco; priore enim dicit illud quia... non poni pro causa meritoria, sed pro signo : hoc ipsum quod ego facio semper, quae placita sunt ei, est signum quod semper mecum est. Quam explicationem sequuntur To/. Maid. : probat ex effectu se solum non esse relictum ; hoc igitur esse signum eius quod dixit : mecum est (cf. Jans. et idem innuit Aup. dum scribit : maximum autem et firmissimum ar- 'gumentum de seipso dedit, unde non derelictum illum perspicuum sit, dicendo : quia quae placita sunt ei, semper facio. 36. Si ergo vos filius liberaverit, vere liberi eritis. deus noster Í g codd vulg longe pler go sah cop syr (utr) arm aeth; υμων NB'DFX Multi incipiunt credere. At cum Iesus dixisset sua doctrina cognosci τὸ veritatem « et veritas liberabit vos », qui ex Iudaeis crediderant offenduntur se iactantes semen Abrahae et nemini esse servitute subiectos. Iesus ostendit se loqui de servitute peccati, qua ex domo Dei eiiciendi sint et a qua per solum Filium sint redimendi. Mente sua operibusque nullo modo indolem Abrahae prae se ferunt, quem itaque falso patrem suum appellant; neque Deum patrem suum ullo modo nominare possunt; nam si Dei spiritu agerentur, eum diligerent quem ipse misit. perfectam et mox plane defecisse sequentibus docemur
8:31
v. 31 dicebat ergo Iesus ad eos qui crediderunt ei, ludaeos : sí vos manseritis in sermone meo, vere discipuli mei eritis; constantem itaque et firmum animum requirit, ut doctrinae a se acceptae obediant (cf. Cyr.) ; ea conditione sola poterunt esse vere discipuli; notat CAr. ad ἐὰν μείνητε Iesum indicare quid in eorum corde esset eumque scivisse illos quidem credidisse, at non perseveraturos. Non sine emphasi dicit : si vos, innuens quid in iis bono hoc initio facto praesertim requiratur et quam imperfectum sit illorum fidei initium. Dein ulteriorem fructum exponit quem capturi sunt ex constanti illa obedientia qua doctrinam perceptam in vita expriment
8:32
v. 32 et cognoscetis veritatem, scil. cuius doctorem Iesus se profitetur et quam manentes in sermone eius i. e. con- Sstanter quoque Iesu docenti aures fideli mente praebentes addiscent, et veritas liberabit vos, haec doctrina quam a Iesu haurire debent eos reddet liberos. Duo dicit quae superbiam pharisaeorum , Iudaeorum, haud mediocriter laedunt; doctores legis et aemulatores se iactant et Iesus asserit a se tandem veritatem , veram de Deo et salute assequenda doctrinam esse discendam ettum tandem, si eam didicerint eos iri vindicatum 1n libertatem. Et quam aegre id ferant, verum etiam quam labili fundamento fidem suam superstruxerint, statim produnt
8:33
v. 33 responderunt ei : semen Abrahae sumus et nemini servivimus unquam : quomodo tu dicis - liberi eritis? satis arroganter respondent : « talis Iudaeorum fastus est » (Chr.); « o pellis inflata! non est ista magnitudo, sed tumor, et hoc ipsum secundum huius temporis libertatem quomodo verum dixistis » (Aug.)? Et veteres revocant in memoriam quoties Deus dicat populum a se liberatum esse e domo servitutis, quoties tempore iudicum alienigenis servierint, postea Assyriis, Babyloniis, tunc Romanis. Verum pharisaei fastu nationali inflati nullam dominationem, qua subiiciantur alienigenis, iure consistere posse arbitrati libertatem suam nationalem vindicant! et id valere continuo iactant quod Deus dixerat : non poteris alterius gentis hominem regem facere qui non sit frater tuus (Deut. 17,15). Insuper etiam sub imperio Romanorum quaedam iura propria iis erant concessa intuitu religionis; unde speciem quandam libertatis retinebant, quam pro sua superbia exaggerabant. Qualem libertatem Romani iis concesserint, Josephus Titum facit loquentem (Bell. iud. 6,6,2). Iam Ioannes baptista eos monuerat, ne vane provocarent ad Abraham patrem (Matth. 3,9); at frustra. Iesus autem de alia plane libertate et servitute loqui se manifestat et qua funesta teneantur servitute haud obscure eos coarguit
8:34
v. 3& respondit. eis Iesus : amen, amen dico vobis; modus narrandi in v. 33 omnino exigit, ut qui Iesu obiiciant sint ex illis ipsis Iudaeis qui crediderant, uti Or. Chr. Rup. Cai. Mald. Schz. Fil. merito censent, dum alii arbitrantur eos respondisse qui increduli manserunt (Aug. Bed. Tol. lans. Bar. Lap. Schg.) ; putant scil. eos qui dicuntur credidisse non potuisse tam cito iterum exsistere Christi adversarios. Sed evangelista non sine certo consilio addit sermonem fieri ad Judaeos et modus quo Christus eos alloquitur qui crediderunt Judaeos iam satis ostendit, eos pertinere ad illos quibus ipse Iesus se non credit (2,24) et eorum responsio nimium manifestat quanto tumore eorum animi sint impleti, eam scil. indolem produnt quam Iesus 5,45 reprehendit. Qua servitute teneantur (quam utique agnoscere nolunt) Iesus explicat : quia omnis qui facit peccatum , servus est peccati; ei est subiectus ἃ quo victus est et dum homo se subdit dominio peccati eiusque evadit servus, eo ipso cessat esse filius Dei. Bene notat Aug. quanto pondere Iesus loquatur : amen , amen dico vobis, « veritas dicit; iam quantum hoc commendatum sit, ex ipsa geminatione cognoscite; commendat, inculcat, dormientes quodammodo excitat, intentos facit, contemni non vult ». Et dicit omnis, ut nemo excipiatur, cuiusvis tandem sit dignitatis; inculcat ergo Iudaeis illis frustra eos gloriari de origine ab Abraham ducta. Et qualis futura sit eorum sors, parabola vel exemplo declarat :
8:35
v. 35 servus autem non manet in domo in aeternum; potest a domino vendi alteri, ablegari; non habet ius manendi, nullo modo particeps est hereditatis nequein plenam possessionem bonorum heri ingreditur; proin servi peccati a regno Dei et bonis divinis i. e. a familia Dei et hereditate coelesti excluduntur; filius autem manet in aeternum; ius habet perpetuum manendiin domo, ius bonorum et hereditatis. Parem itaque cum patre honorem et servi a libero differentiam significat (Chr.); hac posita similitudine animadvertere promptum est quam terribiliter denuntiet Iudaeis quod ipsos exire oportet (Rup.). lam omnes homines natura sunt servi, servi peccati, unus est natura Filius qui est in sinu Patris, qui est in coelo (1,18; 3,13); unde applicatio similitudinis facile patet; immo in altero membro iam transitus ab exemplo ad rem agnosci potest; ita ὁ υἱός de Filio Dei intelligitur a Chr. Cyr. Thom. Schz., dum alii sermonem parabolicum in utroque membro retinent (cf. Theod. M. Bed. Rup. Cai. Tol. Ians. Patr. Corl.). Filius vero dominus est et domini est servos liberare, manumittere; filius autem dominus eo quoque perhibetur, quia manet in domo in perpetuum iure nativo et proprio; unde consequitur
8:36
v. 36 si ergo vos Filius liberaverit , vere liberi eritis; libertatem a servitute peccati non obtineri posse indicat Iesus nisi a se Filio Dei in domo Dei; supra dixerat : veritas liberabit vos; hic : Filius; nam gratia et veritas per Christum facta est (1,17) et ipse est veritas (15,6). Falsae notioni libertatis quam illi affectant opponit veram libertatem, qua a servitute peccati erepti filii Dei adoptione constituuntur et in hac adoptionis dignitate servantur; it& vere sunt liberi; quam libertatem nemo nisi Filius largitur. A qua libertate quantopere absint' e& quam miseram ac pudendam subeant servitutem , sequentibus acerbe illis exprobrat :
8:37
v. 81 scio quia filii Abrahae estis; minime opus erat, ut vos sententiae meae opponeretis : semen Abrahae sumus; scio vos originem ducere ab Abraham; verum indole et moribus longissime abestis ab ' Abraham; sed quaeritis me interficere, quia sermo meus non capit in vobis; « quomodo ergo ait in ipsum credidisse? verum , ut dixi, iterum mutati fuerant » (CÀr.). Iam enim illa responsione v. 33 imperfectam illam fidem abiecerant; unde merito Christus eis pristinam indolem exprobrat, ad quam vel iam reversi sunt vel mox plene revertentur (vide v. 59). Eam autem indolem non expellunt, quia doetrina quam a Iesu audiunt ob χωρεῖ iv ὑμῖν non capit incrementa in animis vestris, non eum quem debebat nanciscitur successum (cf. Schz. Fil. Grimm, Lex. s. v.); quod alii explicant : non invenit locum apud vos (Corl.), non capitur vestris mentibus (Patr.), minus apte dicitur de iis qui inceperunt fide eam doctrinam suscipere (v. 30. 31); assimilantur potius iis, apud quos semen verbi cecidit super petrosa; continuo exoritur, sed natum mox arescit quia non habet radicem (Matth. 13,5. 20; Luc. 8,6. 13). Ita hi prima statim veritate qua eorum laeditur superbia scandalizantur et recedunt, uti l. c. ipse Christus illam explicat parabolam. Iesus praestantiam suae doctrinae praeclare exponit et simul rationem affert, cur talis doctrina apud illos nequeat incrementa capere
8:38
v. 38 ego quod vidi apud Patrem meum loquor ἑώρακα quod vidi et visum habeo (cf. Krüger, 53,3,2; Winer, &0,& b); unde sublimissimam doctrinae suae originem et auctoritatem declarat; cf. 5,20. 30; 8,56; iterum intimam suam cum Patre declarat unionem a quo cuncta accepta habet. Sed simul aperit, quantis tenebris haec lucis divinae doctrina sit obiecta : et vos quae vidistis apud patrem vestrum facitis, ἠχούσατε : eos plane alium patrem habere magistrum quem audiant et sedulo imitentur, clare edicit. Sentiunt stimulum et reprehensionem ; quare perfracte
8:39
v. 39 responderunt et dixerunt ei : pater noster Abraham est; repudiant insinuationem sibi alium patrem a Iesu adscribi et cum indignatione reponunt quod iam v. 33 protulerant. Sed inaniter id ab eis proferri contra accusationem Iesu , patet ex v. 37, quia Christus originem ab Abraham eis omnino concedit neque ea de re agitur. Unde Christus iam sine ullis ambagibus manifestat, qualem cognationem intelligat : dicit eis Iesus : si filii Abraham estis, opera Aóraham facite; filii enim indolem patris in se exprimere debent et paternum referre characterem (TAÀeop.); opera Abraham sunt τὸ ἥμερον, τὸ ἐπιειχὲς, τὸ πειθήνιον (Chr.) , sunt obedientia Dei voci praeluit nuntios Dei, innocentes defendit, omnem humanitatem excoluit Quantum autem eorum mores et indoles distent ab Abraham , proin quam inaniter iactent Abraham patrem suum, uno eorum peccato et consilio luce clarius apparet
8:40
v. 80 nunc autem quaeritis me interficere , hominem qui veritatem vobis locutus sum quam audivi a Deo; nuntium se a Deo iis missum qui eos docuerit veritatem a Deo acceptam se profitetur et talem occidere quaerunt; Aoc Abraham non fecit, Abraham non erat homicida (Aug.), Dei mandata summa reverentia et obedientia suscepit et exsecutus est (Gen. 12,5; 15,6; 18,19; 29,2 seq.). Proin in oppositione ad Abraham aperte exprobrat illis Iesus
8:41
v. 1 vos facitis opera patris vestri; unde declarat eos non esse filios Abraham vita et moribus. Ex hisce intelligunt Iesum loqui non de patre secundum carnalem generationem , sed de patre spirituali, et de filiatione quae consistit in imitatione et morum similitudine et de eo cuius lege et institutione vita regitur; dizerunt itaque ei : nos ez fornicatione non. sumus nati, unum patrem habemus Deum; pvovocant quasi ad verba prophetae : numquid.non pater unus omnium nostrum , numquid non Deus unus creavit nos (Mal. 2,10)? et Deut. 39,6; fornicatio dicitur de idololatria; consideratur enim natio theocratica tamquam sponsa Domini, quae fornicari vel adulterium committere dicitur, si deum alienum colit (Ex. 3&,16 ; 17,7; 20,5. [ud. 2,17; 8,33. Ier. 2,20. Ez. 16 etc.); unde negant se a Deo unquam recessisse vel mores et vitae rationem, opera idololatrarum expressisse ; « si aliquando mater nostra synagoga a Deo recedens fornicata est cum idolis, nos tamen non recessimus nec cum idolis fornicati sumus » (Thom.); fornicationem de idololatria intelligunt Alb. Bon. Ca:. Mald. Ians. Tol. Bar. Lap. Schg. Patr. Corl. Fil. in oppositione scil. ad reliquas gentes (ScAz.), quae deos habent vitae morumque magistros. Ad Iesu verba : vos facitis opera patris vestri, respondentes se unum habere patrem Deum, aperte indicare volunt se facere opera Dei, se exprimere in se indolem illam quae deceat eos qui Deum agnoscant et venerentur patrem, se proin regi spiritu Dei et in vitae institutione hanc cum Deo spiritualem quasi cognationem profiteri. Unde in membro opposito, i. e. in .fornicatione, ex qua negant se esse natos, sensus solum potest esse : non habemus nos alium deum patrem. Nam aperte inter se respondent verba : patrem habere et natos esse. Quare admitti nequit quod placuit aliis : nos non sumus filii Agar, vel Cethurae (Zup.), neque filii Sarae ex altero patre (Erasmus , Weiss, alii); neque dici potest eos velle tacite Iesum accusare quasi ex fornicatione natum, dicentes nos non nati sumus ex fornicatione (cf. Or. Cyr. Euth. Thom.); haec enim calumnia Iesu non est impacta nisi postmodum. Ceterum nullo modo congruum est dicere : nos non sumus nati ex Agar, vel non ex Ismael vel non ex altero viro, sed Deum habemus patrem. Necessario debet in utroque membro talis intelligi pater, cuius opera faciant, pater itaque non carnalis, sed spiritualis, cuius lege et institutione vita dirigatur. | | Quam falso contendant se duci spiritu Dei, Iesus demonstrat
8:42
v. &2. dizit ergo eis Iesus : si Deus pater vester esset, diligeretis utique me; ego enim ez Deo processi et veni ; neque enim a me ipso veni, sed ille me misit; nam quos Pater trahit, hi veniunt ad Iesum; qui a Patre audiunt et discunt, hi veniunt ad Iesum (6,44. 45); unde patet conclusio : si& vobis Deus revera haberetur et coleretur pater; i. e. si eius lege, institutione, spiritu mores vestri regerentur, me diligeretis; « omnes enim filii Dei invicem diligunt, utpote unum habentes adoptionis spiritum, siquidem nec aliter filii Der esse possent, nisi habendo dilectionem ad invicem » (Rup.). Et si Deum colerent patrem , ergo ei obedientiam et amorem exhiberent, non possent non diligere eum qui ex Deo processit et venit i. e. adest hic et nunc ; ἐξῆλθον intelligunt de aeterna a Patre processione et generatione Cyr. Aug. Bed. Alb. Thom. Bon. Ammont:us, Tol. Bar. Patr. Fil.; alii de Incarnatione Or. Theoph. Rup. (processi, inquam, ex Deo factus visibilis, qui eram invisibilis) Jans. Maid. Lap. Schg. Schz. atque ipsa forma ἐξ- ἦλθον qua de re olim facta instituitur narratio, magis congruit huic acceplioni; aeterna quippe generatione semper procedit a Patre. Nihilominus ex ipsa de Incarnatione explicatione recte omnino et necessario colligitur eius divinitas; nec enim ex Deo processisse diceretur ad eum finem ut humanam assumeret naturam, nisi ante assumptam humanitatem fuisset apud Deum, nec fuisset apud Deum antea, si Deus non esset (cf. Mald. Ians.) «ai ἥχω : effectus eius a Deo processionis est, ut nunc adsit coram illis ; neque sua propria voluntate , arbitratu suo, ad illos docendos se contulit, sed :ile me mistt; unde novus exsistit titulus : si Deum venerantur patrem et eius se spiritu duci sinunt, nuntium ab eodem Patre sibi missum non possunt non cum amore et gaudio suscipere. Unde ex eo quod hunc nuntium non suscipiunt, immo iam non ferre et audire possunt, prorsus consequitur illos regi a spiritu qui Deo plane est adversarius;
8:43
v. &3 quare loguelam meam non cognoscitis? ut loquelam legati Dei et Filii Dei; quare ex mea loquela et doctrina non me cognoscitis legatum, Filium Dei? et respondet rationem afferens : quia non potestis audire sermonem meum , οὐ δύνασθε non est solum illos noluisse (CAr. Theoph. Euth. Thom. Tol. Lap.) , verum adeo a me estis alieno.animo, ut aures vestrae meum sermonem ferre non possint (Mald.); « praeoccupati igitur vestris ad malum propensionibus et vestris affectibus obnoxii meos sermones audire non potestis » (Cyr.); non possunt scil. prae odii magnitudine (Rup.); malae eorum affectiones animi aures et sensus quasi occludunt, ut non possint audire et intelligere; non posse est itaque effectus causae quam causam utique removere possent, si vellent; sed quamdiu libere illam causam retinent, merito dicuntur non posse audire. Et cur non possint, ratio affertur (Theod. M.) v. && vos ez patre diabolo estis et desideria patris vestri vultis facere, θέλειν in animo esse , decrevisse, constituisse; proin apud vos, in consiliis vestris constitutum est facere, explere desideria illa quae diabolus fovet et vobis inspirat; eius ductu et spiritu vos regimini; εἰ homicida erat ab initio i. e. fraude, mendacio, seductione invexit generi humano mortem corporis et animae ; nam invidia diaboli mors introivit in orbem terrarum (Sap. 2,94; cf. Or. Chr. Aug. Bon. Thom. etc.) et in veritate non stetit οὐχ ἕστηκεν non stat; in veritate non versatur actibus suis (Cor/. Schz.) , uti explicat Euth. οὐχ iypfvei. e. in vecta vita non acquiescit, sed odit eiusmodi conversationem (sim. Or. Theoph.); ἐν τῇ ἀληθεία in veritate eius vitae ratio et agendi modus non versatur; veritas ab eo aliena est, neque secundum veritatem agit nec agere potest, quia non est veritas in eo; Deus est veritas; diabolus apostata factus a Deo, eo ipso a veritate defecit, unde omnis vitae eius ratio vagatur extra veritatem ; idque necessario, quia in se non habet veritatem, corrupta eius natura abhorret a veritate et consequenter a veracitate. Quamvis itaque ex significatione ἕστηκεν nequeamus dicere cum plerisque (Aug. Bed. Rup. Thom. Bon. Cai. etc.) diaboli lapsum immediate et signate enuntiari, tamen lapsus ille et peccatum necessario supponitur; nam ex lapsu solum consequitur quod in veritate non stat et quod veritas et veracitas in eo iam non exsistit; nam cum loguitur mendacium, ex propriis loquitur, quia mendaz est et pater eius, pater scil. mendacis (Or. Corl. Schz.) i. e. qui mentitur, diabolum imitatur et diabolus homines reddere tentat mendaces, quia mendacium ei quam maxime proprium est. Plerique tamen ad eius supplent mendacii , τοῦ ψεύδους pater mendacii (Tat. Theod. M. Theoph. Euth. Aug. Rup. Thom. Bon. Barh. Cai. Ians. Tol. Maid. Schg. Fil.) i. e. primus inventor et auctor mendacii. Notat Aug. : « non omnis qui mentitur, pater mendacii sui est; si enim ab alio mendacium accepisti et dixisti, tu quidem mentitus es proferendo mendacium; sed pater ipsius mendacii non es, quia ab altero accepisti mendacium. Diabolus autem a se ipso mendax fuit ,. mendacium suum ipse genuit, a nemine audivit »; et Theoph. mendacium nominat prolem diaboli (γέννημα). Iam veteres, Or. Cyr. Aug. advertunt ex hoc loco aliquos testabilis error Manichaeorum invenit adhuc qua deciperet imperitos » (Aug.). Uti Cyr. concedit et res grammatice plana est, verba uti iacent possent hanc habere notionem : ipse diabolus est ψεύστης et pater diaboli est etiam ψεύστης. At eam sententiam esse absurdam neque ullo modo de patre diaboli in s. litteris esse sermonem evidens est. Inter recentiores eam explicationem de patre diaboli (vos ex patre diaboli estis, et pater eius scil. diaboli) recoxit Zfilgenfeld, Einl. p. 725 et inde probare audet auctorem evangelii fuisse erroribus gnosticis implicitum. Gnostici enim Ophitae demiurgum et deum ludaeorum faciebant patrem serpentis (/renaeus, haer. 1,30,8; Epiphanius, haer. 38,4). Valentiniani quoque diabolum dicunt esse χτίσμα τοῦ δημιουργοῦ. Eandem explicationem adoptavit Volkmar, ut evangelio inferret calumniam. Verum ipsi acatholici eam ut ἃ S. litteris alienissimam (cf. Weiss) et contextui ac sensui plane repugnantem (Keil) repudiant. Eam Corl. quoque pluribus explodit. Duobus indoles diaboli est descripta : homicidio et mendacio. Duo háec Iudaei quoque in se imitatione exprimunt i. e. desideria diaboli, patris sui faciunt. Illud iam v. 37 expositum est; hoc eis exprobrat Iesus in
8:45
v. 45 ego autem st veritatem dico, non creditis mihi ὅτι quia ego τὴν ἀλήθειαν loquor, vos non creditis; ita enim indolem diabolicam in se referunt cum ideo non credant ei, quia veritatem dicit; tanto scil. amore mendacii capti sunt : « nihil enim aliud in me potestis arguere nisi solam veritatem, et hinc est illa vestra contra me rabies, quia filii patris mendacii estis » (Theoph.) ; « nam si mendacium dicerem, crederetis utique mihi tamquam id dicenti quod proprium est patris vestri » (Euth.); Aug. quoque et codices vulg. praebent quia veritatem dico, uti etiam legunt Rup. Bon. lans. Mald. et ita legiin antiquis latinis etiam notant Salmeron, Lucas brug. Tol. aliique. Et ad sensum huius quia advertit Rup. : « quid isto perversius... quid magis obliquum aut transversum quam non credere cuiquam eo quod veritatem dicat »? Et magis eos urget, quaerens ex eis audeantne affirmare ullum a se unquam mendacium esse dictum v. [6 quis ex vobis arguet (lege arguit) me de peccato? si autem nemo eum ullius peccati arguere potest, ergo fateri eo ipso coguntur Iesum semper verum de se dixisse et testatum esse; proinde s? veritatem dico vobis, quare non creditis mihi? homo tamen natura duce verum desiderat, quaerit, amplectitur! Si itaque Iesum nullius peccati accusare possunt, eo ipso profiteutur eum verum dicere; cur ergo non credunt? en indoles diabolica : odium veritatis. Merito notat Or. : « magnam habet fiduciam Servatoris oratio, nullo homine cum ea confidentia quae nascitur ex non peccasse (μετὰ πεποιθήσεως τῆς ἐπὶ τῷ μὴ ἡμαρτηχέναι) dicere valente : quis ex vobis me arguit de peccato? sed'solo Domino nostro haec valente ad omnes qui illum cognoverunt ».
8:46
Quaestioni : quare non creditis mihi? ipse respondet v. M7 qui er Deo est, verba Dei audit, propterea vos non auditis, quia ex Deo non estis ; audire vide v. 43; « ex Deo esse ait eum qui per virtutem et vitae probitatem Deo conciliatus sit dignusque habitus aliqua velut cum illo affinitate (τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν συγγενείας) » (Cyr.). Illi ex Deo sunt, qui spiritu Dei se ducere sinunt; nam qui spiritu Dei aguntur, ii sunt filii Dei (Rom. 8,14). Fideles ex Deo esse ait quia ab ipso normam accipiant pietatis eiusque proprii sint, cum propter virtutem, tum propter sanctam vivendi rationem (Ammonius , cat. Cord.). Quos antea dixerat patrem habere diabolum, ex diabolo esse eiusque desideria facere, eosdem nunc ex Deo non esse affirmat ideoque verba Dei non audire, non admittere. Illi ex Deo sunt qui ἃ Deo trahuntur et huic Dei invitationi et gratiae obsequuntur. Ex Deo non sunt qui gratiam oblatam respuunt et quamdiu eam repudiant. Notat Aug. : « iterum nolite attendere naturam , sed vitium; sic sunt isti ex Deo et non sunt ex Deo : natura ex Deo, vitio non ex Deo ». Ergo uti Dei gratia quae nulli mortalium negatur vitium sanari et auferri potest, ita qui nunc sunt non ex Deo, eadem gratia ut sint ex Deo sanari poterunt. Atque multi qui Iesu praedicanti non crediderunt, crediderunt postmodum apostolis in nomine Iesu praedicantibus, uti ipse Iesus indicat v. 98 et 19,32 : et ego 51 exaltatus fuero a terra, omnia treham ad meipsum. Solet eonvicta impietas, dum non habet quod respondeat veritati, converti ad convicia (Jans.)
8:48
v. &8 responderunt ergo Iudaei et dixerunt ei; notat Cai. cum simpliciter Iudaei dicantur, alios designari ab iis qui antea crediderint; atque talia Christo obiiciunt quae ex odio in eum diabolico enata sint oportet; nonne bene dicimus nos quia Samaritanus es tu et daemonium habes; iam igitur ea convicia saepius Christo impingebant, dicimus, dicere solemus, affirmamus; χαλῶς praeclare, egregie; nos cum emphasi, in oppositione ad Iesum, qui eos coarguit. Samaritanum, i. e. inimicum populi electi eum vocant; nam solum talis qui moribus et indole ad stultum illum populum (Ecfurore; iis itaque plane furere et insanire daemone impellente videtur (CÀr.); cf. fico Patrem meum; maxima emphasi dicit ego... seipsum ab eis distinanimis infirmorum ex auctoritate nobilium scrupulus ingeratur; repellit eo quod Deum honorat, id quod daemonium nunquam neque facit neque suadet. Quaerere solent, cur Samaritanum se esse non repudiet. Varia afferuntur (ex notione custodis, ex parabola de misericorde Samaritano); TÀom. ex Or. , quia iam advenisset tempus omnes gentes vocandi ad fidem, ideo Iesum non negare se esse Samaritanum, ut omnibus omnia fieret. Sed duo oportet attendi. Non obiiciunt eum esse genere vel nativitate Samaritanum ; dein, ut bene notat To/., eum esse indole et moribus Samaritanum, luculenter refutatum est responsione Christi. Honore enim quo Deum prosequitur et confirmatur eumnon habere daemonium neque esse studiis ac moribusSamaritanum. Verum simul graviter monet quem culpae reatum incurrant e/ vos inhonorastis me,
8:50
v. 50 ego autem non quaero gloriam meam; est qui quaerat et iudicet; de iniuria mihi illata ego quidem non capiam vindictam, quia non quaero gloriam meam tamquam homo; veni quippe ministrare, animam meam ponere, contumelias et iniurias pati, non repellere aut vindicare; haec dicit ne illi imbecillitati vel infirmitati tribuant, quod tantae iniuriae vindictam non faciat (To/.). At minime impunes abibunt : est, exsistit, adest qui meam gloriam quaerat , qui scil. vult ut omnes me honorent, qui etiam me glorificabit coram cunctis gentibus et qui iudicet, qui scil. verbum olim iam editum de iis qui prophetas ἃ Deo missos spreverint etiam opere complebit : qui autem verba eius quae loquetur in nomine meo audire noluerit, ego ultor exsistam (Deut. 18,19; 7o/.); atque eo magis iudex et ultor exsistet de tam horrendo opprobrio Filio impacto. Hoc iudicium non asseritur contra id quod 5,22 dicitur; nam nunc agitur non de iudicio universali omnium, sed de privato et quasi quotidiano quo solet Pater ignominiam et iniurias Filio et sanctis illatas vindicare (Mald.) et mox post Christi ascensionem improbi ludaei hanc in se vindictam variis modis experti sunt (To/.). Terruit eos docens opprobrium illud punitum iri. At qua est cordis mansuetudine et misericordia, ad cohortationem vertitur et illis ostendit qua ratione non solum supplicium effugere, verum etiam vitam consequi possint aeternam (CAr. Theoph. Tol. Schz.)
8:51
v. 51 amen, amen dico vobis, si quis sermonem meum servaverit, mortem non videbit in aeternum; vide ad 5,94 et 4,13. 1& et 3,16. Nexum tamen alii aliter adstruunt : cum malorum perversitas crescit, non solum praedicatio frangi non debet, sed etiam augeri (Thom. Rup.); ita ostendit Christus, cum lacessitus non desistat a praedicalione, se non quaerere gloriam propriam sed ea quae sint salutis humani generis (Cai.); Iudaei calumniantur sermonem eius esse insanum, a daemone profectum ; Dominus e contra proclamat quam sit salutaris (/ans.); neque enim propter eorum contumeliam de sententia deiectus est, immo doctrinam suam etiam magis vult asserere eiusque fructum demonstrare; unde magna quoque asseveratione incipit (Ma/d.). Sed quanto magis lux se illis manifestat, eo magis sese tenebris obvolvunt
eum non nostis, quia testimonium eius non suscipitis neque ei obedientiam praestatis neque eius spiritu et ductu vos regi sinitis. Immerito eos loqui de Deo suo illis exprobrat
8:52
v. 52 dizerunt ergo Iudaei : nunc cognovimus, re ipsa videmus, quod antea opinando enuntiavimus, quia daemonium habes ; Abraham mortuus est et prophetae; viri maximis Dei donis insignes, sanctitate eximii mortem obire debebant, sorte communi omnium minime exempti sunt; e£ tu dicis : si quis sermonem meum servaverit, non gustabit mortem in aeternum; en Abraham et prophetae sermonem Dei quam maxime omnium servarunt neque tamen mortem a se depellere poterant! pro Iudaeorum malitia verba Iesu ita detorquent ad mortem corporalem, ut eum absurda dicere et blasphema plebi evadat manifestum. Et uti est indignantium et insultantium, verba multiplicant, eadem repetunt
8:53
v. 53 numquid tu maior es patre nostro Abraham, qui mortuus est et prophetae mortui sunt; quem te ipsum facis? Respondet Christus incipiens ab ultimo quo eum iactantiae et superbiae intolerabilis accusarunt; atque mansuetudine maxima reponit praemittens per modum concessionis quae apta est animis vel conciliandis vel ad pacatam rei considerationem invitandis
8:54
v. 54 respondit Iesus : si ego glorifico me ipsum, gloria mea nihil est, loquitur ut 5,31 (CAr.); ergo ut eos moneat rem serio perpendendam esse, dicit : si nihil aliud vobis proponeretur, nisi nudum meum hominis quem putatis verbum, utique possetis excusari; at quanta videtis et quot signa quibus Deus meam coram vobis gloriam apertissime demonstrat : est Pater meus qui glorificat me quem vos dicitis quia Deus vester est; proin vestra ipsorum assertione, Dei vestri quem ut talem profitemini , de quo gloriamini, testimonium saltem debuistis cum reverentia accipere! Verbis dicitis eum Deum vestrum; re vera autem
8:55
v. 55 et non cognovistis eum; proin non est Deus vester, cum sitis ab eo animis moribusque alieni (Mald.), affectu et voluntate non in eum ferimini (To/.); ego autem novi eum, ideoque de eo et eius de me testimonio testari possum secundum rei veritatem, e si dizero quia non scio eum ero similis vobis, mendaz; vide ad v. &^. &5 eo sensu eos vocat mendaces, quam indolem diabolicam statim prae se ferebant v. 48; insuper : qui dicit se nosse eum et mandata eius non custodit, mendax est (1 Ioan. 2,5). Hac sententia Iesus maximo pondere asseverat quod dixerat : ego novi eum; idque tertio affirmat : sed scio eum et sermonem eius servo, simul explicat, quomodo notio et scientia Dei necessario in vita manifestetur, dummodo vera cognitio eius animo inhaereat; cf. v. 46; illa. quaestione demonstrat omnium suffragio et modo ad eorum captum idoneo se sermonem Dei, praecepta Dei et voluntatem servare. Dein respondet ad id quod illi priore loco dixerant : numquid tu maior es patre nostro Abraham?
8:56
v. 56 Abraham pater vester, quem ita appellantes imitari debetis ne vana sit et mendax haec appellatio et gloriatio vestra, exsultavit ut videret diem meum ; ergo si filii Abraham, facite opera eius v. 37; gaudio ille exsultavit ; dies Christi est dies quo apparetin terris: et Verbum caro factum est ; per vaticinia sibi facta cognovit Abraham mysterium hoc, cognovit Messiam ex suis posteris oriturum; unde summa laetitia exsultavit, ἵνα ἴδῃ, in id exsultatio eius dirigebatur quasi in finem et terminum, ut hunc diem adventus Messiae (vel ut alii addunt, ut tempus Messiae, cf. Mald. Patr. Fil., uti Cyr. quoque τὸν τῆς ἐπιδημίας καιρὸν καθ᾿ ὃν ἡμῖν τὸ φῶς ἔλαμψεν) aliquando videret. Quantopere igitur alieni sint ab indole patris quem iactant hisce iam manifestatur; non modo non gaudent de die Messiae; sed ipsum persequuntur, summo odio habent, interimere gestiunt. Sed quid Abraham? vidit, quod summo desiderio optaverat ei contigit, vidit adventum meum, vidit, ubi nunc est, in limbo; « vidit tempus adventus mei in limbo ubi est et gavisus est gaudio novo novaque exsultatione ; prior exsultatio fuit spei, haec est rei; en duplex Abraham exsultatio » (Bar.) et similiter Jans. : quod desideravit assecutus est; vidit enim diem meum oculis spiritualibus, quia iam agnovit mein mundum venisse, ob id gavisus est quod per me sciat se et genus humanum redimendum et in coelos subvehendum ; et eodem modo Salmeron : vidit ex limbo patrum, similiter Maid. Lap. (tertio et genuine), Menochius, Tirinus, Patr. Corl. Schg. Schz. Weiss; eius sententiae etiam mentionem faciunt Sa, Estius, Calm. Iudaei itaque longissime distant ab Abraham qui dum esset inter vivos summe desideravit adventum Messiae, et qui mortuus corpore, sed vivus anima dum cognovit et vidit adventum Messiae novo gaudio est perfusus. Diem Messiae explicat Chr. de die crucis; alii de die aeternitatis (Aug.); utrumque diem aeternitatis et incarnationis eum vidisse per fidem 7'om. censet. Abraham inter vivos constitutum per fidem et revelationem vidisse diem Christi, non solum exsultasse, ut videret, constans est veterum sententia. Verum quando viderit alii aliter censent atque Cyr. putat tum vidisse quando viros tres hospitio excepit et promissionem a Deo accepit se fore patrem multarum gentium (Gen. 18,1 seq.), in quam sententiam etiam Bed. ἤωρ. concedunt; Bon. ad Gen. 15 remittit, Aug. autem ad Gen. 24,2, Thom. eum vidisse diem Incarnationis probat ex Gen. 18 et 24 et ex oblatione arietis et Isaac, qua praefigurata sit passio Christi. Cai. intelligit Abraham vidisse visione certae notitiae claritatem divinitatis Christi; idque consequi dicit quia Iudaei dicunt : et Abraham vidisti? unde concludit verba quibus usus sit Christus significare praesentiam suam Abrahae, et Christum respondere de sua divinitate. At ex hoc non sequitur diem meum esse diem aeternitatis; neque ex Iudaeorum quaestione id efficitur quod Cai. vult. — Plura de hoc loco aliorum interpretamenta vide, si libuerit, apud Bar. Iudaei pro sua malitia volunt verba Iesu quam maxime absurda demonstrare (Ians.) neque enim Christus dixit a se homine Abraham esse visum, sed Abraham vidisse diem suum; sed multa possunt certa notione cognosci antequam fiant et Iudaei bene norunt prophetas vidisse eventus futuros et de viris quoque vaticinatos esse qui postea in lucem erant edendi, proinde vidisse diem illorum (cf. Ios. 6,26. 3 Reg. 15, 15. Is. 42,1; 55,1 etc. Ier. 23,5. Ez. 35,23 etc.); verum ad ca- Jumniandum, utipsi putabant, accommodatius erat ita rem proponere ac si Christus diceret a se homine esse Abraham conspectum (cf. To/.)
8:57
v. 91 dixerunt ergo ludaei : quinquaginta annos nondum habes et Abraham vidisti? cur 50 annos eum nondum habere dicant, cum tamen Iesus eo tempore solum triginta tres annos natus esset, ratio a plerisque ex eo petitur, quia ab anno quinquagesimo aetas virilis in senilem aetatem deflectere videatur; unde sensus esse potest : nondum senescere incipis et iam Abraham vidisti? vel adhuc es in aetate qua ministeria obeunda sunt (cf. Num. 4,3. 35. 39. 43. 47; 8,24); numerum itaque rotundum ponunt, ut significent etsi haberet aetatem multo maiorem quam agerettamen non potuisse Abraham conspexisse (To/.) ; spectasse ad morem sui saeculi, id est, iubilaei, censet Jans. : nondum saeculum implesti et audes dicere? de iubilaeo etiam Severus multa habet in cat. Cord. ; ex hoc loco natus est error Irenaei de Christi aetate (cf. Patr. de evang. dissert. 19 n. 40); Euh. censet Iesum ob gravitatem et iudicii maturitatem , doctrinam et experientiam habitum esse plus quam quadragenarium (Cr. legit quadraginta annos); sed certo Iudaei nolebant eum laudare. Aliis placet Christum ob labores et molestias ita corpore affectum fuisse ut merito quadragenario maior videretur. Verum quod illi calumniando et rem ad risum trahendo dixerunt et dictum esse volebant, eo utitur Christus ut praeclarissimum suae divinitatis testimonium ac documentum edat eosque convincat eos verum dixisse, utique inscios, ad modum asinae Balaam;
8:58
v. 58 dizit eis Iesus : amen, amen dico vobis, antequam Abraham fieret, ego sum; voce ego sum significatur ipsum esse perpetuum, ab omni liberum (CÀr.) et bene ait Euth. τὸ μὲν γενέσθαι χτιστοῦ, τὸ δὲ εἰμ ἰἀχτίστου ; esse suum aeternum , nulli mutationi aut interitui obnoxium sollemni formula quasi iuramenti loco ad confirmationem dictorum asseverat (cf. Cyr.). Proinde clarissime docet se quamvis ut homo certam haberet ac definitam aetatem , esse tamen praet»rea Deum qui ante omne tempus exstiterit (Maid. et simili modo omnes, etiam Weiss, qui agit contra eos protestantes qui explicare volunt de esse ideali, de eo quod in Dei consilio exstiterit; quo sensu omnes et omnia essent ab aeterno, quia Deus aeterna. sua scientia omnia complectitur quasi praesentia). - Sediterum quo magis lux divina eorum oculos perstringit, eo densioribus tenebris se committere student; Iesum ut blasphemum lapidare tentat (cf. Lev. 25,16)
8:59
v. 59 tulerunt ergo lapides ut tacerent in eum ; Iesus autem. abscondit se et exivit de templo, ἐκρύβη, id quod probabilissime explicandum erit cum Cyr. : « occultat autem se Christus non parietes subiens, non aliud quidquam proprio corpori obtendens, sed vi deitatis se minime conspicabilem quaerentibus reddens » ; ita quoque Theod. heracl. in cat. Cord. et Cr. Theoph. Euth. Thom. Cai. Tol. lans. Mald. Lap. Calm. Nat. Schz.; aliis tamen id videtur minus probabile, sed magis convenire, ut Iesus se subtraxerit sese turbis immiscendo vel in aliquam templi domum ingrediendo vel in locum aliquem absconditum divertendo; ita videntur intellexisse CA. Aug. : tamquam homo a lapidibus fugit; ita Bar. Corl. Schg. Fil. Weiss, Edersheim ; id utique in aedificio templi quod plurimis cubiculis, porticibus erat distinctum facile fieri poterat; praesertim si, ut Ed. vult, Iudaei in atrium gentilium se proripiebant ad lapides tollendos; cf. 2 Par. 25,91 miserunt lapides iuxta regis imperium in atrio domus Domini et Matth. 23,35 quem occidisti inter templum et « Postquam Dominus doctrinae suae illuminativam virtutem ostendit verbo, hic conseqüenter confirmat eam facto caecum corporaliter illuminando » (TAhom.). In qua narratione merito laudatur nativa plane simplicitas ac pelluciditas (Patr.). In ea quam maxime depingitur pharisaeorum malitia, contumacia , obeaecatio plane voluntaria, immo omnibus viribus accita. Ostenditur non solum odium quo Iesum prosequuntur, sed etiam quanto conatu impedire studeant ne quis in eum credat (9,92). Eorum tyrannide plebs a fide retinetur. Astuta eorum malignitas nativa simplicitate et sano iudicio mendici illius egregie confunditur. « Observandum in pharisaeis, quam indefesso vincuntur, contra veritatis assertores exagitentur, quamque impotenti superbia non sinantii qui se aliquid esse credunt meliora sibi suggeri ab iis quos prae se contemnunt; in caeco observandum, quanta sit veritatis vis, quamque haec fortes et intrepidos faciat etiam eos qui alioquin quosvis metuebant » (lans.). Haec narratio adeo arcte ad antecedentia adnectitur, ut vix dubium esse possit quin eventus hic-Christo e templo egresso contigerit. Nam postquam evangelista narravit : et exivit de templo , immediate pergit et adiungit
8:2
εδιδασχεν (HV) et non εδιδαξεν (5).
D ἃ maoxçaveru et om. καὶ καθίσας ἐδίδασκεν αὐτούς. Au lieu de ὁ λαός, dar.s G SU et 20 cursifs ὁ ὄχλος, sûrement pour 80 rapprocher du style de Jean plus ou moins consciemment; car Jo. ne dit λαός que dans x1, 50 répété xviri, 44, où c'est le mot propre et nécessaire. Au contraire πᾶς ὁ λαύς dans LC. vir, 29: xvur, 43. Dans Jo. ὄχλος une vingtaine de fois. — ὄρθρου cf. Le. xxiv, 1, Act. v, 91; Jo. dit πρωΐ; χνῖπ, 28; xx, 1. — Pour la tournure cf. Mc. 11, 43 : καὶ αὐτόν, καὶ ἐδίδασχεν αὐτούς. — pour καθίσας cf. Le. v, 3. Le πᾶς ὃ ὄχλος ἤρχετο πρὸς Christ de Jo. n’enseigne pas assis.
8:3
Les mss. 1.25 904. ont οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς au lieu de οἱ γραμματεῖς, leçon mal soutenue et empruntée à vu, 32; mais si elle est vraisembable dans un complot où le Sanhédrin agit sans se montrer, on ne concevrait pas qu'il ait pu, ἧς χατειλήπται (HV) ct non εὐληπται (8). 5. sverecharo (HV) et non διαχελενει (5). même pour tendre un piège à Jésus, le charger de juger à sa place. La lecon οἱ γραμματεῖς est donc certaine; avec οἱ φαρισαῖοι elle est fréquente dans les synoptiques (cf. Mt. v, 20; Σιι, 38; xv, 4 Axxur, ἃ. 43. 44; Me. vu, 5; Le. v, 21, etc.) tandis que Jo. ne nomme même pas les γραμματεῖς. — Au lieu de ἐν μοιχείᾳ, D lit ἐπὶ ἅμαρτείᾳ, qui se rapproche plus du texte d'Eusèbe (LE, II, 39, 47), et qui ménage l'intérêt; mais précisément D aura voulu éviter une répétition. Pour le texte admis, cf. Épict. II, 4, 4 : κατείληπτό ποτε μοιχὸς ἐν τῇ
8:4
- Placer quelqu'un en évidence, pour poser une question de principe; cf. Le. vi, 8; 1x, 47 = Mt. xviu, 2 et Mec. 1x, 36. — ἐπ᾽ αὐτοφώρῳ, très usité pour un flagrant délit quelconque, quoique l’étymologie n'indique que le vol (op voleur). — διδάσχαλε au vocatif, fréquent dans les trois synoptiques; dans Jo. comme explication de ‘Paééi (1, 38) et de Ῥαδόουνί (xx, 16). — D écrit : λέγουσιν αὐτῷ ἐχπειράζοντες αὐτὸν οἱ ἱερεῖς ἵνα ἔχωσιν χατηγορίαν αὐτοῦ, avant διδάσχαλε, — ἱερεῖς n'est soutenu par personne (sauf d), et n'a aucune raison d'être; mais peut-être le dessein tentateur était-il énoncé avant comme dans E G, etc.
8:5
Dans D ἐχέλευσεν τ. τ, λιθάζειν, ἐκέλευσεν n’est pas soutenu et est invraisemblable, d'autant que dans le N. T. χελεύω 50 dit d'un ordre positif dans une circonstance donnée, mais cf. ἐνετείλατο de Moïse Me. x, 3; Mt. xx, 7 — λιθάζειν (deux fois dans les LXX, et λιθοδολεῖν près de 30 fois) est bien soutenu et peut être préféré comme plus rare. — D σὺ δὲ νῦν (au lieu de ob οὖν) avec ς ff2r; tu autem. Ambr. fu vero. Les deux sont dans le contexte; si on lit οὖν ce n’est pas ici un cas de la manière large de Jo. — La Loi prononçait la peine de mort en cas d’adultère (Lev. xx, 10), et la lapidation était nommée à propos d’une fiancée (Dt. xx, 23 s.). Ce cas n'étant pas le plus grave, il est probable que la peine pour l’adultère n'était pas moindre que la lapidation. Lorsque les Rabbins s'efforcèrent d’adoueir les pénalités en faveur d'Israël, n'osant toucher au cas de la fiancée réglé expressément, ils admirent la strangulation pour la femme mariée (Sarhedrin. #1»). Mais cette distinction plus que bizarre n'était sans doute pas encore reçue (Ez. x, 38.40) et ne dut jamais être mise en pratique dans les exécutions sommaires ; quand le peuple intervient, il lapide (Act. γα, 58). 62), Cf. Jo. vi, 6 τοῦτο δὲ ἔλεγεν πειράζων αὐτόν et Le. vi, 7 ἵνα εὕρωσιν (ici dans lems. À etc.) κατηγορεῖν αὐτοῦ, Le caractère composite de ce v. 62 inctine à préférer ta leçon de D placée au v. #. 6b) Jésus qui était assis pour enseigner, non point sur une chaire comme aujourd’hui, mais tout au plus sur un escabeau ou un coussin placé sur la terre, se penche pour dessiner quelque chose (plutôt χατέγραφεν D, etc. que ἔγραφεν). Ce pouvait être l'acte d'un désœuvré comme dans Aristophane (Acharn. 34) où γράφω est glosé χαταγράφω À ζωγραφῷ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ξύων τῷ δακτύλῳ ἢ τινι τοιούτῳ παιδίας τινας, ou au contraire le geste d'un homme très absorbé qui fixe sa pensée en écrivant, la terre servant de tablette provisoire. Jérôme (ἃν. Pelag. τι, 17) imagine, probablement d'après une opinion commune, que Jésus écrivait : corum videlicet qui accusabant, et omnia peccata mortalium, secundum quod seriptum est in Propheta : Relinquentes aulem te, in terra scribentur (Jer. xvu, 13), ce qui ἃ même pénétré dans une vingtaine de mss. évès ἑκάστου αὐτῶν τὰς ἁμαρτίας. — Tout récemment le texte de Jérémie a été cité comme une décauverie par M. Eisier de Feldafing (Zn F W, 1923, p. 305) : Jésus aurait écrit sur la terre précisément : ἀφεστηκότες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς γραφήτωσαν, ὅτι ἐγκατέλιπον πηγὴν ζωῆς τὸν Ἰζύριον (Jér. xvirs, 13). Le peuple, et surtout ses chefs, s'étant rendus coupables envers Dieu de Fadultère spirituel, si souvent repris par les prophètes, personne n'était qualifié pour dénoncer l'adultère en question. — Ce n’est qu'une conjecture ingénieuse.
8:6
ἐεχωσιν (HV) et non σχωσι (8).
8:7
ἐπέμενον οἵ. Act. x, 16. ἀναμάρτητος par opposition à ἁμαρτωλός (Le. vrr, 37), « irréprochable » dans Fespèce. IL n'est pas question d'une innocence absolue, et Jésus n'aurait pas sans doute empéché un magistrat coupable d'une faute grave de prononcer une sentence, mais ici ce sont des dénonciateurs qui affectent le zèle; on peut raisonner comme Cicéron (Verr. m1, 4) non modo accusator sed ne obiurgator ferendus est is, qui, quod in aitero vilium reprehendit, in eo ipse deprehenditur (Bauer).
8:8
χατακυψας (HV) plutôt que xarw κυψας (8).
En reprenant son attitude, Jésus marque son dessein arrêté de s'en tenir là, et de ne pas se mêler autrement de cette affaire. À eux de s'arranger avec leur conscience et peut-être aussi avec leur réputation. 9. OM. εὡς τῶν ἐσχατων p. πρεσόντερων (HV) et non add. (S).
8:9
Après ἀκούσαντες, quelques mss. ont ajouté : καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς συνειδήσεως ἐλεγχόμενοι qu'il faut omettre avec D etc. ὁ 6 ff? vg, et on omettra aussi ἕως τῶν ἐσχάτων après πρεσθυτέρων, qui ne s'accorde guère avec ἀρξάμενοι. — εἷς ἔχαστος (de 1) semble une correction de εἷς καθ᾽ εἷς, plus sémitique que grec, cf. Me. xiv, 19 et Mt. xxvi, 22, qui ne peut guère s'appuyer sur le grec moderne χαθείς καθένας (Deb. ὃ 305). Autexte de H s'oppose D ἕκαστος δὲ τῶν touδαίων ἐξήρχετο, do. ἀπὸ t. πρεσ,, ὥστε πάντας ἐξελθεῖν, cf. ὁ d ff? unusquisque autem tudaeorum exiebant incipientes a presbyteris uti omnes exire, qui dépendent servilement de D (uti — ὥστε). On a noté ces Juifs pour rapprocher le morceau du style de Jo., mais ἕχαστος τῶν Ἰουδαίων doit êlre une autre manière d'éviter εἷς καθ᾽ εἷς, qui a obligé D à reprendre gauchement ὥστε πάντας ἐξελθεῖν, — Les plus âgés sortent les premiers parce qu'ils voient plus tôt que 165 choses prennent une tournure fâcheuse, sans doute aussi parce que dans le cours d'une carrière plus longue ils ont plus à se reprocher. D'ailleurs il semble être dans la nature des choses que les accusateurs seuls se soient retirés; même dans D « tous » ne doit s'entendre que des Juifs, c’est-à-dire des adversaires de Jésus. Ses disciples ont pu demeurer, ainsi que des témoins curieux; d'autant que la femme est toujours ἐν μέσῳ,
8:10
Aussi y a-t-il lieu d'omettre καὶ μηδένα θεασάμενος πλὴν τῆς γυναιχός avec D, etc. c e ff? g vg. — γύναι est de la manière de Jo. (π, #3 1v, 21; xix, 26; xx, 43. 15), mais cf. Mt. xv, 28 ὦ γύναι et Le. xt, 12; xxur, 37. D'ailleurs cette leçon a peut-être prévalu précisément à cause de la manière de Jo., car γύναι est om. parDE Ρ ἃ HK, et environ 60 minusc. 6, Jér., et remplacé par ἣ γυνή dans le texte recu. — omettre éxeïvor of κατήγοροί σου avec D etc. et la Vg. de WW.
8:11
εἰπεν Ge o ἴησους (HV) et non o δε εἰπεν (5).
Les latins ont le plus souvent compris χαταχρινῶ au futur (Amb. Jer, Va.) avec quelques mss. grecs accentués, mais le sens le plus naturel est le présent {e : iudico, mais précédemment iudicavit.) — ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν omis par le texte reçu doit être admis d'après D etc. ὁ 773 et vg., mais serait mieux rendu par amodo (Jér.) ou deinceps ium (Aug) que par amplius am (WW) ou iam amplius (Vg.- Clém.). — La femme n'a donné aucun signe de repentir; elle est demeurée stupide, muette ou ne disant que le nécessaire, élant sans doute dans le saisissement de l'effroi. Aussi Jésus ne lui dit-il pas d'aller en paix, mais seulement un : «Je ne te condamne pas non plus », tout imprégné de miséricorde. Lui, aurait pu condamner; il ne le fait pas, se réservant de pardonner : Relict; sunt duo, misera et misericordia (Aug.). S'il dit à cette femme de ne plus pécher, c'est pour montrer qu'il réprouve le péché, mais n'est-ce pas aussi un signe qu'il a quelque confiance dans l'ordre qu'il lui donne et dans sa bonne volonté? — μηχέτι ἁμάρτανε comme v, 14.
8:12
ἐμοι (TSV) plutôt que μοι (H).
La foule nommée huit fois dans le chapitre précédent ne reparait pas avant xt, 42, en parlant de la foule restreinte des spectateurs. Il semble donc qu'elle ἃ disparu, c'est-à-dire que, la fête terminée, ceux qui étaient venus de loin sont rentrés chez eux. Mais Jésus continue à enseigner dans le Temple, n'ayant plus guère en face de lui que les adversaires (sauf aux v. 30 et 34). Les Pharisiens ne prennent la parole qu'au v. suivant, mais ce sont bien eux qui ont entendu Le v. 42. Ce sont donc ceux de vu, 47, dont l'entretien avait été privé, mais qui sont assez présents dans la perspective pour que Jo. puisse écrire αὐτοῖς. Ce mot ne saurait au contraire convenir aux scribes et Pharisiens de vin, 4-11, qui se sont éclipsés. — πάλιν ne prouve pas que la circonstance soit la même. — On ἃ pensé que Jésus avait emprunté l'image de Ia lumière à un rite de circonstance. ἃ la fête des Tabernacles, dans la nuit du 1° au 2e jour on illuminait brillamment le parvis intérieur (Soucca v, 2-4). Mais rien ne prouve que cette illumination ait été renouvelée le dernier jour, et, si brillante qu'elle fût, cette clarté, sans doute fort exagérée dans les descriptions juives, ne dépassait pas l'horizon de Jérusalem. La lumière du monde répond plutôt dans l'ordre matériel au soleil (Mal. τν, 2). Le Messie devait être une lumière; M. (iv, 44 5.) avait déjà appliqué à Jésus l'oracle d'Isaïe (1x, 1) sur la Galilée, comme le vieillard Siméon (Le. n, 32) ce qu’isaie avait dit (x, 6; xLix, 6) de la lumière des nations. Le messianisme devait être une marche dans la lumière pour les Israélites (Baruch v, 9); Jésus est la Lumière pour le monde entier. — J1 semble que l'image du soleil qui éclaire le monde se transforme et s'atténue ensuite, comme s’il s'agissait d'un homme qui porte un flambeau pour éclairer celui qui marche après lui; mais il faudrait à la fin recourir à une troisième image. Donc ὃ ἀκολουθῶν ne doit pas être pris à la lettre; c'est simplement le disciple qui s'attache à une lumière spirituelle, et qui par conséquent peut l'avoir en lui par la transmission de la pensée. Si grandiose que soit cette affrmation, elle ne dépasse pas Mt. v, 14 : « Vous êtes la lumière du monde car les disciples ne pouvaient l'être que comme un reflet de leur Maitre. — Jésus indique en plus que cette lumière est une participation de vie, ee que Jo. avait déjà annoncé dans 1. 4. La vie se communique aux hommes à l'état de lumière, mais de lumière vivante, δὲ qui conduit à là vie. — Les indications bibliques ci-dessus, que l'on pourrait multiplier en y; joignant les apocryphes et les rabbins sur Le τό! Hluminateur du Messie comme docteur {Le Messianisme.… p. + et passim) nous dispensent de supposer (avec Bauer) que Jo. ἃ voulu mettre le Christ au-dessus de Mithra, auquel Loisy joint Atbs, qui shrement n'était pas encore un dieu de lumière. Cf. AWis ef le chrisékmmisme, RB., 1919, p. #19 ss. La tradition chrétienne (mr, 49. 20. 24, Act. xt, 47; Epb. v, ὃ. Col. 3, 42; E Pet. n, 9) se rattache à VA. T. et à l'enseignement de Jésus (ici et τσ, 5: XH, 35. 46). 43 Les Pharisiens tournent contre Jésus le dicton qu'il ἃ reconnu comme exprimant le bon sens commun (r, 34). I me suflit pas qu'on s'aitribue une qualité pour que les autres y rendent hommage. Mais, comme l'a bien vu Augustin, ἢ faut faire ume exception pour la lumière : lucerna quinpe arderns idonea est et alia quae lenebris operichantur nudare, et seipsam huis oeulis demonstrare. Les aftirmatiuns du Christ dans Jo. ne doivent pas être isolées de ses manifestations ielies qu'elles sont connues d'après les synoptiques. Même dans Jo. Jésus avail fait appel au témoignage de ses œuvres {τι 56). Elles établissaient qu'il venait de Dieu. La métaphore de la lumière n'était qu'en aspect de son rôle, celui du docteur qui enseigne une foi vivifiante. Celui qui avait prononcé tant de paroles sdmirables, telles qu'elles sont contenues par exemple dans le sermon sur ls montagne, était vraiment la Lumière attendue. Lersque l'autorité d'un prophèle s'impose par ses acies, le mieux n'est-il pas de l'interroger lui-mème sur ce qu'il est? C'est bien ce que les Juifs avaient fait avec Jean-Baptiste, τί λέγεις πεοὶ σεαυτοῦ; (1, 22).
8:13
Jésus, qui n'avait pas d'abord voulu paraître se glorifier τ, 91: τὴς 8), nwhésite pas à se rendre témoignage à lui-mème. Aujourd'hui entere, c'est ce qui nous importe le plus. Cependant il n'ajoute rien de précis à ce qu'il a dit, se contentant d'établir le droit de sa connaissance personnelle, en contraste avec leur ignorance. Il sait qu'il vient de Dieu et qu'il retourne à Dieu comment? Il est le seul à le savoir. Ses paroles insinuent cela clairement, mais je ne vois pas qu’elles signifient : « Je suis de Dieu et Dieu, et le Fils de Dieu : Dieu est le seul qui puisse se rendre témoignage » (Chrys.), ou comme dit Cajetan que ces mots embrassent le mystère de l'incarnation et son résultat. On peut, d'après ce que nous avons déjà lu (cf. ur, 13 ss.; vi, 338 ss. vu, 29. 33) entendre ces mots au sens propre de son origine divine comme Fils de Dieu, mais en eux-mêmes ils affirmaient simplement aux Juifs la claire perception de celui qui est venu de la part de Dieu; πόθεν ἦλθον est moins nét que παρ’ αὐτοῦ εἶμι (vu, 29). En d’autres termes Jésus ne déclare pas qui il est, d'après son origine et sa destinée future, mais que sa connaissance de ces points l'autorise à dire qui il est. C'est une réponse précise à l’objection des Pharisiens. Dans les cas ordinaires, l'entourage est mieux informé que celui qui prétendrait parler de son origine d'après une connaissance personnelle. Il n'en est pas ainsi de Jésus qui vient de Dieu. Tandis que les Juifs ne savent rien et ne peuvent rien savoir par eux-mêmes.
8:17
Ne sachant rien de plus, ou ne voulant rien savoir de plus sur Jésus que ce qu'indique sa nature humaine, les Pharisiens ne peuvent juger que d'après les apparences. κατὰ τὴν σάρχα (le seul cas dans Jo.) parait presque équivalent de κατ᾽ ὄψιν (VE, 24). Mais dans la pensée de Jo., ce doit être aussi une allusion à la chair qu'a prise le logos (1, 44), allusion qui ἃ un caractère mystérieux, comme il arrive si souvent. Au lieu de scruter ce que Jésus ἃ dit de son origine divine, on déclare sans riea entendre qu'il n'est qu'un homme 45b 5.) Jésus reprendra au v. 47 le thème du témoignage, done 15bet 46 sont comme une parenthèse, ou plutôt un de ces cas d'enchainement sémitique où les mots s’acerochent aux mots sans répondre à une structure logique (ef. Me. 1x, 42, 43, ete.). Ici le verbe xpivo, en parlant du jugement que les Juifs portent sur Jésus, amène l'opposition avec Jésus qui, lui, ne juge personne. Le verbe n’est pas pris dans deux sens différents, car les Pharisiens prétendent bien porter un jugement défavorable, une condamnation morale sur Jésus qui s'arroge fallacieusement un droit qu'il ma pas, mais il évoque l'idée d’un jugement formel, d’où Jésus reviendra à la question du lémoignage, exactement comme de v, 30 à 31. L’affirmation quil ne juge personne est déjà connue d'après ur, 47, et reviendra xt, 47; dans ces deux cas elle est expliquée parce que Jésus est venu pour sauver le monde. Ici sa modération condamne l'outrecuidance des Pharisiens. Il ne faut donc pas sous-entendre : je ne juge personne selon la chair, mais entendre simplement qu'au cours de sa vie mortelle sa fonction n'est pas de juger. Il est évident qu'il pouvait le dire sans une allusion à la femme adultère, à laquelle Augustin lui-même n’a pas songé, quoique peut-être on ait choisi d'insérer cet épisode avant le v. 15, avec beaucoup d'ingéniosité. Cependant le point de vue de v, 22. 30 ne pouvait être oublié. Le jour viendra où Jésus devra exercer la fonction de juge. Au v. 10 χαὶ ἐὰν κρίνω δὲ ἐγώ pourrait signifier : « mais s'il m'arrivait de juger pourtant il peut aussi se traduire : « mais s'il m'arrive de juger, comme ce sera le cas », etc. et ce dernier sens est suggéré par v, 30. L'absiention actuelle du Christ n’en marque que plus d’indulgence, car il a tout ce qu'il faut pour bien juger. A la différence de v, 30, il ne marque pas sa dépendance du Père, et prouve que son jugement est ἀληθινός, digne de ce nom, un véritable jugement selon les règles de la justice, parce qu'il agit conjointement avec son Père, auquel il rend cependant hommage comme à celui qui l'a envoyé. 17 5.) Après cette vue sur le jugement, Jésus revient au témoignage (cf, v, 34). Son propre témoignage suflit. Mais enfin, s’il fallait se mettre en règle avec la loi de Moïse, ils n'auraient rien à dire, puisque la loi se contente de deux témoins dans le cas fort grave d'une condamnation (Dt. x1x, 45), et que dans le cas de Jésus il y ἃ lui et son Père. Un chicaneur pourrait objecter que l'intéressé ne peut être témoin dans sa propre cause. Aussi l'argument ne vise-t-il pas une preuve juridique rigoureuse selon le cours normal. En fait, aucun homme ne peut par lui-même expliquer qui est Jésus. Il est le seul qui puisse parler de lui-même; il faut donc l'en croire, et ses œuvres l’autorisent; mais si l'on exige absolument un second témoignage, il ne fait pas défaut, et à lui seul aussi il serait suffisant; c'est celui du Père. L'argument étant ad hominem, Jésus dit « votre » loi, mais puisqu'il se préoccupe de lui donner satisfaction, il n’en rejette donc pas l'autorité. Cependant si désormais il dit votre loi (x, 3%) ce n’est pas sans ironie, parce que les Pharisiens affectent d'en faire leur chose. — « deux hommes » suffisent d'après la Loi; combien plus le Fils et le Père qui l’a envoyé! Comment le Père rend témoignage par les œuvres qu'il dorine au Fils et par les prophètes, c'est ce que nous savons déjà (v, 36. 37-39)
8:19
D'après Loisy « les pharisiens demandent platement que Jésus fasse venir Joseph, si c'est de ce père-là qu'il allègue le témoignage » (p. 289). Mais ils ne sont pas si obtus, Il était évident que Jésus se disait dès le début envoyé par Dieu, qu'il nomme son Père. Les Juifs n’en croient rien, et comme il a prétendu n'être pas seul et a avancé que le Père rendait actuellement témoignage en sa faveur, ils demandent ironiquement : Où donc est-il? On ne l'entend guère. — Jésus répond qu'ils ne le connaissent pas el ne se rendent pas compte de son action, précisément parce qu'ils ne connaissent pas le Fils lui-même, ce qui avait étéindiqué déjà (v, 38, 45 s.); puis il ajoute d'une façon positive, que si on connaissait le Fils on connaïîtrait Ie Père (cf. xiv, 7). Le forsitan de la Vg. sur lequel Aug. a tant insisté, ne répond pas au texte, car &v n'est pas dubitatif.
8:20
Indication du lieu, comme vt, 59. Sur 16 γαζοφυλάκιον, cf. Comm. Mc. χιι, 41. Cet enseignement, plus clair que les précédents, ne calma pas les Pharisiens. Jo. suggère qu'ils persévéraient dans leurs intentions homicides, sans être à même de les réaliser encore (cf. vir, 30). La préposition ἐν étonne, car le Trésor n’était naturellement pas un lieu public; elle doit probablement s'entendre dans le sens de « auprès de ». Sur l'emplacement du Trésor dans le Hiéron, cf. Vixcent et ADEL, Jérusalem.
8:21
L'indication du lieu au v. précédent suggère qu'il y a une interruption entre les deux discours. Les auditeurs sont pratiquement les mêmes (αὐτοῖς), et πάλιν indique bien que do. a conscience d'insister sur des choses déjà indiquées (vu, 34), comme οὖν est amené par 1" « heure » qui sera celle de la séparation. Jésus l'annonce, et dit de nouveau que plus tard les Juifs le chercheront, sans doute comme Sauveur, et au lieu d'ajouter simplement : « vous ne me trouverez pas », sa monilion se fait plus claire : ils mourront dans le péché dont ils se rendent coupables dès maintenant, en refusant de croire à l'envoyé de Dieu. Pour eux en effet il ne peut être question de le suivre dans le royaume de Dieu où il va. La même vue de la séparation dans un mode adouci en faveur des disciples se trouve plus tard, x, 33. — Dt. xxiv, 46 ἕκαστος ἐν τῇ ἑαυτοῦ ἁμαρτίᾳ ἀποθανεῖται (οἵ, Ez. 111, 19; XVI, 24. 26) accentue la responsabilité personnelle.
8:22
Supposition plus malveillante que dans vi, 35, d'autant que le suicide est un crime très grave. Mais il est assez vraisemblable que ce sont les mêmes auditeurs : Voilà qu'il répèle encore que nous ne pourrons le suivre : serait-ce donc à la fin qu'il va sc tuer? Assurément nous n'avons aucun désir de le retrouver dans la Géhenne : cf. Jos. Bell. I}, vin, 5 : ἀλλὰ μὴν à αὐτοχειρία xat τῆς χοινῆς ἁπάντων ζῴων φύσεως ἀλλότριον χαὶ πρὸς τὸν χτίσαντα θεὸν ἡμᾶς ἐστιν ἀσέδεια... ὅσοις δὲ καθ᾽ ἑαυτῶν ἐμάνησαν αἱ χεῖρες, τούτων ᾷδης μὲν δέχεται τὰς ψυχὰς σχοτεινότερος. Si Jésus parlait du ciel, les Juifs ne seraient pas embarrassés de le suivre; c’est donc qu'il veut aller à l’abîme, le seul lieu qui ne soit pas fait pour eux. À un avertissement sévère, mais qui les invite au repentir, ils répondent en retournant les termes au gré de leur orgueil.
8:23
Les Juifs ont parlé sans s'adresser directement à Jésus : il ne leur répond pas, et continue plutôt ce qu'il avait à leur dire (καὶ ἔλεγεν et non pas ἔλεγεν οὖν), Pourquoi ne peuvent-ils pas aller où ira le Christ? Parce qu'étant d'en haut il remo ntera en haut, tandis qu'ils sont d'en bas; cf. πὶ, 31. Ils sont d'en bas pär leurs idées, leurs aspirations, leurs pratiques, et non pas seulement par leur nature humaine (contre Zahn); ce qui est expliqué d'une autre manière : appartenir à ce monde, y être comme engagé sans tendre en haut (vu, 7); de cette façon Jésus n'est pas de ce monde, quoiqu'il y soit venu pour le sauver Qu, 117; vi, 54).
8:24
Ayant ainsi montré comment les Juifs étaient sur le chemin dela mort, il répète donc (οὖν) sa menace, mais en y insérant l'espérance du salnt, à savoir s’ils croient en lui, qui seul peut les préserver de leur perte (nt, 46}. Hs doivent croire ὅτι ἐγὼ εἶμι (οἵ, 28; x, 49), c’est-à-dire celui qu'on attendait (Mc. x, 6) qui est en situation, ici de préserver de la mort, de sauver. Ce n'est pas sans raison que Jésus ne dit pas : « que je suis le Messie». ἢ évite, dans Jo. comme dans les synoptiques, un titre qui avait des inconvénients dans Ja disposition des esprits, trop attirés en bas, et vers ce monde. Mais peut-être at-il voulu faire allusion à : « Je suis celui qui suis » (Ex. ru, 414).
8:25
La première partie est claire. Jésus n'ayant pas dit qui it était, les Juifs pouvaient assez naturellement lui poser la question: cf. Épiet. τὰ, 4, 29 σὺ οὖν τίς εἴ; ce qui ne va pas sans une certaine impatience, surlout avec σύ en vedette, Au contraire La réponse de Jésus offre une difficulté célèbre et a donné lieu à bien des interprétations. Les versions ne sont d'aucun secours; l'ancienne latine, syrsin., boh. sah. ont traduit littéralement sans suggérer un sens clair. La pes. a bloqué avec ce qui suit: « quoique j'aie commencé à parler avec vous », etc. ce qui est un contresens. La Vulgate-Clémentine: principium, qui et loquor vobis offre un sens très clair; la réponse est positive : « je suis le principe, moi qui vous parle ». Mais qui n'a pas de répondant en grec, et la vraie lecon de la Vg. hiéron. est quia (WW), ce qui n’a rien d'intelligible. Parmi les Pères, on ne trouve rien chez les plus anciens; Origène devient lacuneux à ce verset même. Les Latins ont tablé sur la traduction latine. Si Augustin s'est aperçu que principium représentait un accusatif, ne voulant pas renoncer à la réponse positive : « je suis le principe », il a eu recours à une tournure forcée : (je déclare être) le principe. Au contraire les Grecs sont assez unanimes sur la traduction à laquelle nous donnerons la préférence. Si l'on élimine la réponse positive : « je suis Le principe », il reste à discuter plusieurs points. Les premiers mots, τὴν ἀρχήν, peuvent signifier : au commencement, et même depuis le commencement, ou bien « absolument ». On peut lire ὅτι conjonction ou ὅ τι (46. ὅστις), soit comme régime, soit même adverbialement. Enfin λαλῶ « parler » peut être employé comme λέγω « dire » dans le style de Jo. οἱ spécialement dans cette péricope. En partant de cette dernière supposition, plusieurs combinaisons sont possibles. a) Je suis absolument ce que je vous ai toujours dit (Schanz). Ὁ) Je vous le dis depuis le commencement (Mald., Field). Entre ces deux modes il n'y a guère de différence pour le sens, si ce n’est que le premier est plus affirmatif. De toute façon Jésus se réfère à ce qu'il ἃ déjà dit; s’il refuse de le répéter expressément, il le maintient cependant. On a cité l'analogie de Plaute, Captiv. IF, 4, 91 : « Quis igüur lle est »? « Quem dudum d'ici a principio tibi. » Ce sens est plus satisfaisant sous le mode δ), car cette mauière voilée de parler s'entend mieux d'un refus de s'expliquer davantage que d'une réponse qui réitère ce qui ἃ élé dit. Mais on ne voit pas que dès le début Jésus se soit exprimé clairement. Le R. P. Condamin (RB. 1899, p. 409 ss.) propose de traduire : « Et d’abord, qu'est-ce que je vous dis? » — Vous demandez qui je suis? Il faut avant tout me demander quelle est ma doctrine, car ce sont mes paroles qui rendent témoignage pour moi, etc. — Ce serait une autre manière, plus subtile, de renvoyer les auditeurs à ce que Jésus leur ἃ dit; mais pour aboutir à ce sens il suffirait de τί, sans ὅ et surtout sans χαί qui est gênant. Nous passons aux systèmes qui entendent λάλω dans son sens plus normal de ὅτι χαὶ λαλῶ ὑμῖν; ὃ πολλὰ ἔχω περὶ ὑμῶν λαλεῖν καὶ χρίνειν᾽ ἀλλ δ᾽ “αν Ἢ δὰ ε- do ve ἃ ἔχο: “πα αὐτοῦ ταῦτα λαλῶ εἰς τὸν πέρας μὲ ἀληθές ἐστιν, χάγω ἃ ἤἄχουσα πὰρ αὐτοῦ τ CHE nouer. Tebx ἔγνωσαν ὅτι τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῖς ACTE. ὃ εἶπεν οὖν ὁ Ἰησοῦς Ὅταν ὑφώσητε τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, τὸτε γνώσεσθε ὅτι ἐγὼ s auf ἃ δ ὦ ἐλ λα +. din δὺ "ἡ εἶμι, καὶ ἀπ΄ ἐμαυτοῦ ποιῶ οὐδέν, ἀλλὰ χαθὼς ἐξίδαξέν μεὲ ὁ πατὴρ ταῦτα parler, s'entretenir. On pourrait entendre : « Depuis si longtemps que je parle avec vous! » ou en interrozeant : « Depuis si longtemps que je parle avec vous? » c'est-à-dire : Avez-vous sujet de m'interroger encore? Cela paraît étre Île sens de Nonnus : ὅττιπερ ϑαῖν ἐξ ἀργῆς ὀάριζον; « alors que je converse avec vous depuis le commencement? » (et non pas quod vobis ab initio ἀϊ ἢ. Mais si τὰν ἀρχήν peut eu effet siguifier « au commencement » {Gen. zum, 48; Dan. ταὶ, 1 {Théod.]; 1x, 21 (LXN]), où même « depuis le commencement », avec ce sens τὴν ἀργήν serait mieux placé à la fin, outre que καὶ devrait signifier « pourtant » et ὅ τι pris adverbialement devrait signifier « alors que », deux significations peu naturelles avec cet arrangement des mois. ὁ) Le mieux est donc de s'en tenir à l'opinion des Grecs. Non seulement Jésus ne répondra pas, mais il s'étonne même qu'il ait pu parler peu où prou avec de pareils gens, τὴν ἀρχήν signifiant ὅλως. Chrys. τοῦ ὅλως ἀχούειν τῶν λόνων τῶν παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ ἀνάξιοί ἐστε, uriseye χαὶ μαθεῖν ὅστις ἐγώ εἰσι, Théod. de Mops., en syriaque (et cela après que le texte a été donné d'après la pesckitio) : « il est juste que je ne daigne même pas parler avec vous Cyr: ἔδει γάρ με, φησίν, οὐχ ὑμῖν ὅλως προσλαλῖσαι χατὰ τὴν ἀρχήν. De mème les disciples de Chrys. Le sens d' ὅλως pour τὴν ἀρχήν remonte à Xénophon (Thes.) et il suffit de citer Hom. Clém. VI, 44 : τὸν λόγον ἐγκόψας ἔφη wo εἰ μὴ παραχολουθεῖς οἷς λέγω, τί καὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν διαλέγομαι, tellement semblable que c'est peut-être une imitation. Pour l'idée, ef. Épict. τ, 3, 7: ἔτι τούτῳ διαλέγομαι; « Vais-je encore m'entretenir avec un pareil homme », et Ach. Fat. vi, 20 : οὐχ ἀγαπᾶς ὅτι το: καὶ λαλῶ; « n'es-tu pas ravie que je veuille bien parler avec toi »? où le καί répond très bien ἃ celui de Jo. C'est le sens de Zahn, Bauer, Calmes, la marge de la version anglaise révisée : How is it that I'even speak to you at
8:26
Jésus en était à regretter d’être engagé dans des entretiens si mal écoutés; c'est tout à fait la pensée de Le. 1x, ἘΠ. Il devait cependant enseigner selon les intentions de celui qui l'avait envoyé. Aussi, quoiqu'il ait largement à parler sur les Juifs, paroles qui aboutiraient à un jugement, c'est-à-dire à une condamnation, il s'abstient cependant de suivre cette voie, pour s'en tenir aux instruetions de son Père. C'est le sens des Grecs (Chrys. Cyr.), qui tient compte de l'opposition, ἀλλά, portant sur ce que Jésus dit de la part de son Père, lequel est véridique : puisqu'il enseigne la vérité, c’est cela qu'il faut dire. Cette idée dun enseignement qu'il y a lieu de tenir en réserve est bien de Jo. (ef. τοι, 15:1 I Jo. 13: ΠῚ Jo. 13°. La seule difficulté est que l’épithète ἀλεθής est un peu vague: que Jésus juge ou qu'il parle d’autre chose, il dirait toujours Ia vérité, parceque son inspirateur est véridique. Il faut donc entendre ici véridique de l'intelligence de la situation, perçue dans la lumière de La vérité (ef. vu, 48). Et en somme la véracité du discours tenu en réserve n'avait pas à être affirmée aussi nettement que la véracité du discours que Jésus refuse d'interrompre. On pourrait aussi entendre ἀληθής « fidèle à ses promesses » (Rom. τι, 4j : quel que soit le résultat de 14 prédication, Dieu veut que Jésus poursuive son thème (Bauer). On s'étonne que Loisy ait approuvé Ia correction de Wellhausen : « J'ai beaucoup à parler de mot », sous prétexte qu'il ne s'agissait pas des Juifs, mais de Jésus. En effet, c'est bien des Juifs qu'il s’agit dès le début; is ont essayé de détourner la conversation sur lui-même. Mais lui ne veut ni satisfaire leur curiosité, ni se laisser aller à des représailles; il continue de dire ce qui leur est utile, puisqu'il n’est pas venu pour juger, mais pour sauver; Cyr : τὸν εἰς σωτηρίαν καλοῦντα πάλιν ἀναμηρυσάμενος (reprendre le SI) λόγον, ἐπιτείνει τὴν παραίνεσιν, 25) La Υε.-ΟἸότῃ, a bien rendu le sens : ef non cognoverunt quia Patrem eius dicebat Deum, en ajoutant eius (pour eis) et Deum (om. WW). ἔλεγεν comme dans vi, 71, « désigner»; οἵ, αὶ, 45; Mec. x1v, 71. Donc ils n’ont pas compris que celui qui avait envoyé Jésus était son Père, c’est-à-dire que lui était proprement Je Fils de Dieu. Plus haut (18) Jésus avait ajouté ὁ... πατήρ, aussi semble-t-i} qu'alors on avait compris. Nous devons donc supposer que l'auditoire n'est pas le même, et que Jésus n'a pas voulu jusqu'à présent s'expliquer avec lui aussi clairement à cause de l'insolence de ses interlocuteurs (22). Il va le faire, et alors il obtiendra du moins partiellement un bon résultat. IL est impossible d'attribuer de pareilles modalités à un parti pris de composition didactique. Ce sont des {raits de la physionomie variée de ces entretiens.
8:28
εχ toutou τοῦ χοσμου 15 (H) ou ex του x. toutou (TSV).
Plus baut {vir, 34) Jésus ἃ dit aux Juifs : « Vous me chercherez et vous ne me trouverez pas ». I1 serait assez étonnant qu'il ait annoncé ici leur conversion, sans parler du sentiment de Jo. qui regarde le judaïsme comme l'ennemi iavétéré des chrétiens. Je croirais donc favec Cyrille, contre Aug., Chrys., Schanz) que γνώσεσθε ne s'entend guère que de l'expérience douloureuse des Juifs, Après qu'ils auront élevé le Christ sur la Croix, ce qui sera pour lui une élévation glorieuse et le signal de son retour en haut (mr, 14), ils comprendront qu'il est celui qui est, non pas absolument et par essence, mais Gelui que Dieu avait envoyé pour les sauver (cf. 24). 1 faudra bien qu'ils le comprennent lorsqu'ils se verront anéantis comme peuple, dispersés parmi des gentils empressés à croire ea Jésus (Cyr.). — On a raison de faire dépendre aussi de ὅτι les mots καὶ ἀπ᾽ ἐμαυτοῦ ποιῶ ». +. À; cependant il faut bien reconnaître qu’au v. 29 commence une phrase qui ne dépend pas de 28", et elle fait suite immédiatement à 28b. Il y a donc une transition insensible de l'expérience future des Juifs à leur situation actuelle. Ils reconnaltront que Jésus ne fait rien de luimême (v, 19. 30). Même lorsqu'il remonte en haut, ce n’est pas comme ils l'ont insinué odieusement (22) en disposant de sa vie, puisqu'eux-mêmes en le crucifiant l'exalterent, et déjà maïîntenant, lorsqu'il énonce ces choses (ταῦτα) c'està-dire toute cette allusion à ses destinées et à celles d'Israël, il dit la leçon du Père.
8:29
À la dépendance du Fils répond l'assistance du Père qui l’a envoyé; elle consiste en ce que le Père est toujours avec lui. Et en fait, à regarder sa carrière parmi les hommes, il ne l’a jamais laissé seul (16). Nous savons déjà pourquoi mais Jésus nous dit encore que son action consiste ἃ faire et toujours ce qui plaît au Père. Tout ce verset est construit selon un parallélisme déductif : l’attitude du Père, ὁ πέμψας... οὐχ ἀφῆκεν... est expliquée par eelle du Fils : ἐγώ... ποιῶ, Faire ce qui plaisait au Seigneur τὸ ἀρεστόν {ou au pluriel) était déjà l'idéal d'un juste de l'A, T. : καὶ τὰ ἀρεστὰ ἐνώπιόν σου ἐποίησα (15. xxxvin, 3 ef. Dan. 1v, 34 [LAX] etc.); c’est un idéal plus large que la simple observation de la Loi, mais irréprochable aux yeux des Juifs, puisque 16 Père de Jésus est leur Dieu, si mal qu’ils le connaissent. Assurément, même dans ce miracle qu’on lui a tant reproché, le point de départ de tant de haîne, Jésus n'a voulu que plaire ἃ Dieu : il est clair que le Fils de Dieu parle ici comme envoyé, c'est-à-dire de sa volonté humaine. — Bauer (οἴ. Loisy) voit dans cette déclaration de Jésus une protestation sinon contre l’abandon sur la Croix (Me. xv, 34; Mt. xxvur, 46), du moins contre lexploitation de ces textes par les ennemis du christianisme. Π faudrait alors que oùx ἀφῆχεν pût s'entendra de ee moment, c’est-à-dire qu'il devrait étre au futur, non à l’aoriste.
8:30
C'est peut-être surtout cette déclaration rassurante qui a conduit quelques personnes à la foi : elles constatent que les tentatives des chefs ont été vaines, et ce ne peut être que par une protection de Dieu. C’est à cette protection que: Jésus ἃ fait allusion, et ne serait-elle pas la preuve qu'it cherche en tout son bon plaisir? Encore est-il que cette foi ne fut pas très solide; comme dit Schanz : « des Juifs croyants sont dans notre évangile une sorte de contradictio in adiecto ». Il était naturel que les discours de Jésus, comme ses miracles (u, 41. 28; τι, 2; 1v, 53; vi, 26), fissent une grande impression (vn, 46) qui pouvait aller jusqu'à la foi (γι, 81); mais on n'était pas pour cela de vrais disciples. C’est le thème de Je., et il serait malavisé de conclure à des retouches contradictoires parce que les nouveaux convertis vont se confondre parmi les Juifs incrédules.
8:33
Sans attendre, ni demander une explication, les interlocuteurs se buttent à ce mot. Si Jo. composait avec une régularité parfaite, il faudrait dire que ce sont les nouveaux convertis, mais on devrait expliquer non seulement leur volte-face, mais leurs désirs meurtriers (37). Mieux vaut dire avec Aug. : non ἐπ qui iam crediderant, sed ἐπὶ qui in turba erant nondum credentes. Les Pères se sont complu à relever la sottise, le mensonge impudent des Juifs (encore Schanz, etc.) qui se méprendraient lourdement et oublieraient tous les démentis que l'histoire donne à leur prétention (Égypte, Babylone, Perses, Lagides, Séleucides), aussi bien que leur situation actuelle qu'ils avoueront très bien (x, 45). Loisy concède tout cela pour conclure que c’est là « une de ces méprisesgrossières qui constituent presque tout l'artifice des dialogues dans notre évangile » (p. 394). — Mais d'abord 11] est évident que les Juifs ne peuvent donner un démenti aussi effronté à toute leur histoire. À Masada, Éléazar, le plus ardent des zélotes, dit seulement que ses braves compagnons 56 sont résolus depuis longtemps à ne servir personne, ni les Romains ni d’autres, mais Dieu seulement (Jos. Bell. VII, var, 6). Encore, ce n'était pas l'esprit du parti pharisien au temps de Jésus. Quand ils disent : « Nous sommes la race d'Abraham », ils ne font pas nécessairement allusion aux promesses de domination universelle (Gen. xvn, 16; xxu, 17). Dans Le. 1, 8 (Mt. τη, 9), quand: le Baptiste leur interdit de se réclamer de leur père Abraham, ils entendaient seulement se croire à l'abri du châtiment, étant meilleurs que les autres. Dans Isaïe (cr, 2) les Juifs sont renvoyés à leur père Abraham comme à un modèle de justice. Assurément les Israélites n'avaient pas toujours été fidèles à Dieu, mais il y avait toujours eu une élite croyante que les Juifs contemporains prétendaient bien représenter. Ils ne peuvent pas nier qu'ils ont été conquis et assujettis, mais sans cesser d'être attachés au Dieu d'Abraham qui ne les a pas abandonnés non plus. Lorsque la souveraineté étrangère a tenté de leur imposer l'apostasie avec Antiochus Épiphane, ils ont secoué le joug politique pour sauvegarder l'indépendance religieuse. Le sens est qu’ils n'ont jamais été esclaves de personne : au point de perdre leur liberté spirituelle. Leur réponse n'est point le mensonge historique évident que leur ont reproché les Pères, mais une exaspération de leur nationalisme religieux, comme fils d'Abraham, chef religieux, avec une formule paradoxale (cf. Zahn, Tillmann, Bauer). Le stoïcien disait de l'individu : le sage est toujours libre; le simple nationaliste dit : Britons are no slaves (Tillmann); chez les Juifs il faut sousentendre de plus l'idée religieuse, toujours présente à leur esprit, et suggérée par le principe de la liberté promise, résultat de la vérité. Il est clair que la vérité ne brise pas le joug étranger à elle seule. Sur la servitude spirituelle, ef. Épict. τι, 4, 24; 2, 42; 1, 24, 67; τν, 4, 33.
8:34
L'entretien se poursuit, non pas comme dans un dialogue étudié, mais en relevant dans le dernier mot ce qui paraîl répréhensible. Les Juifs ont été choqués qu'on leur promette une liberté qu'ils croyaient avoir toujours possédée. C'est cette prétention que Jésus conteste pour les ramener au sens profond de sa parole. Ils commettent sûrement le péché; ils sont donc des esclaves. C'est tout ce qu'exige le raisonnement. Aussi nous doutons de τῆς ἁμαρτίας {avec Bauer, Loisy} om. par Dé syrsin (eur manque) Clém.-Al. (Sérom. I, v, 22; cf. Sérom. I, 1, 30). L'omission est peu soutenue, mais le sens est beaucoup plus fin, et l'addition s'explique par Rom. vi, 17. 20. De toute façon c'est aussi une maxime du sloïcisme ou plutôt de la sagesse populaire, car Horace même se laisse chapitrer par un esclave (II Sat. vi, 81 s.) : Tu mihi qui imperitas, ali servis miser atque Duceris ut nervis alienis mobile lignum. I] y ἃ être cette nuance que les stoiciens craignaient surtout la contrainte des peut- passions; ici le péché consommé est regardé comme un maitre {surtout avec τῆς ἁμαρτίας), tandis que même Épictète (11, 4, 23; 1v, 4, 3) y voit surtout un obstacle à la liberté. Toute l'ancienne histoire d'Israël oscillait entre ces deux servir Dieu ou les faux dieux souvent représentés par les idoles; termes que Dieu; mais s'ils commeltent le péché, désormais ils prétendent ne servir ils sont esclaves, et ce n'est pas de Dieu.
8:35
On a trouvé ici un peu d'incohérence. Le verset est au contraire essentiel à l'argumentation, qui, avec des Juifs, ne pouvait s'en tenir à un propos de morale courante. Leur fidélité à leur Loi était d’après eux une raison qui leur assurait le pardon. Les fils d'Abraham étaient aimés de Dicu dans ce monde 38. om. vuov p. πατρὸς (TH) plutôt que add. (SV). 39, ποιεῖτε (H) plutôt que ἐποιεῖτε (1) où ἐποιεῖτε αν (SV). 2 et dans l'autre; cf. Le Messianisme.…., p. 169. Aussi le Christ leur remontre-t-il que l'esclave n'est jamais sûr de demeurer dans la maison de son Maitre; il peut toujours en être chassé. Le fils, lui, demeure toujours dans la maison, et il est sous-entendu qu'il l'administre.
8:36
Ils n’ont maintenant qu’à faire l'application. Étant esclaves, il faut qu'ils soient délivrés : ils ne peuvent l'être que par le Fils; alors seulement ils seront vraiment libres. Ge qui est exigé (vur, 24), c’est la loi au Fils de Dieu, qui seul peut effacer les conséquences du péché. Cela est dit clairement; c'était la mission de Jésus de le dire. On doit certes en conclure que la Loi élait impuissante à donner cette liberté. C’est ce que Paul déduira explicitement, même en retournant la Loi, entendue au sens spirituel, contre les fausses assurances des Juifs (Gal. iv, 22. 23. 26. 30. 31). Loisy : « On est bien tenté d'admettre que, pour ce développement, notre évangile dépend, quant au fond, de l'épitre aux Galales (iv, 21-31), et quant à la forme, de l'épitre aux Hébreux (ur, 1-46) » (p. 296). Il suffit de jeter les yeux sur ces textes pour voir où est le principe qui jaillit de la dispute, et où sont les développements. Jo. aurait pu serrer ces développements dans une phrase, maïs la sienne répond si naturellement à la prétention bien connue des fils d'Abraham! Que l’on compare l'opposition érudite entre Moïse, le serviteur, et le Christ, fils de la maison, dans Héb. ur, 2-5! D'ailleurs la conclusion n’envisage que le côté lumineux des choses; Jésus ne réitère pas sa menace du v. 24; il se contente d'avoir donné l'explication du v. 32 : il est cette vérité qui les délivrera, 5115 le veulent.
8:37
Il revient maintenant à ce dont les Juifs sont si fiers. Ils sont fils d'Abraham, soit! mais ils n'ont pas sa valeur morale, et ne sont donc pas ses vrais enfants. Pourquoi? Parce qu'ils veulent tuer Jésus. Ce reproche a déjà été formulé par Jésus (vi, 19); il semble donc qu’il ne s'adresse pas spécialement à de nouveaux convertis qui auraient bien vite passé à un autre extrême pour une parole désagréable! Du moins les autres alléguaient une - violation du sabbat. Au fond d’ailleurs, la vraie raison, c'est que la doctrine de Jésus ne pénètre pas en eux. Pour qui ne croyait pas en lui, il devait paraitre un novateur, sinon un blasphémateur. — χωρεῖ a été expliqué « faire des progrès », ce qui est possible en grec, et qu’on juge plus approprié aux nouveaux convertis : ils avaient accueilli sa parole, mais elle ne fait pas de progrès en eux, et ils veulent le tuer pour cela : conséquence qui suffit à prouver l’invraisemblance du point de départ. Si ce sont simplement de vieux adversaires, y ρεῖν conserve son sens naturel de pénétrer, avoir accès (Orig. Aug. Cyr.); il faudra seulement entendre ἐν au sens de εἰς (Orig. εἰς αὐτοῦς,., χωρεῖν); ou encore entendre « avoir place » « être contenu » (Field, citant ALCIPHRON, Æp. 1, 7).
8:38
Zabn lit ποιεῖτε, à l'impératif, à cause de οὖν, qui s'explique mieux de la sorte. Mais les Juifs ont très bien compris que Jésus leur parle d’un père qui n'est ni Dieu, ni Abraham, et qu'il nommera le diable (Schanz, Bauer, Loisy, Calmes, ete.). Le contraste est parfait : Jésus écoute sans doute ce que dit son Père (26), mais il voit aussi, dans une vision continue (ἑώρακα); les Juifs entendent (ἠκούσατε, l'aor. comme au v. 26) de temps à autre; l’audition est subordonnée à la parole, qui n'a pas le caractère permanent des objets exposés à la vue. — Ils font donc (c’est-à-dire puisqu'ils veulent le iuer), ce qui leur est suggéré par leur père. πατρί οἱ πατρός n'ont pas besoin du pronom possessif pour signifier en grec le père respectif; et cependant μου est ajouté au premier par ND, ete. et ὑμῶν par NCD, etc.
8:39
Loin de piétiner sur place (Loisy), la discussion rebondit : les Juifs sentent où Jésus les mène; ils ne répètent pas ce qu'ils ont dit (33) qu'ils sont la race d'Abraham, car Jésus le leur a concédé au sens populaire, mais ils répliquent séchement et l'on peut dire rageusement, qu'ils n'ont d'autre père qu'Abraham, c’est-à-dire, dans le cas, que c'est lui dont ils suivent les lecons. — La riposte ne se fait pas attendre : elle est topique, quel que soit 16 texte, ποιεῖτε (H), ou ἐποιεῖτε (T) qui est possible grammaticalement sans ἄν (que 5, et Υ. n’ont pas le droit d'ajouter, à s'en tenir aux mss.) οἱ ἐποιεῖτε n'exige pas abso- Jument ἦτε au lieu de ἐστε, — ἐποιεῖτε, avec NDC, etc. ou ποιεῖτε avec B Or. Chrys. Aug. og. #2 r? syrsin, qui nous paraît préférable, surtout si l'on accepte ἐστε (H TS) au lieu de ἦτε (V). On dirait que le texte ἃ été retouché trois fois, d'abord par ἐποιεῖτε, auquel quelques-uns onf ajoulé ἄν, puis en changeant ἐστε en ἦτε. Le dernier état est le plus coulant, mais le plus banal; il faudrait d'emblée prendre τέκνα au sens spirituel (Rom. 1x, 8; Gal. 1v, 28.31), tandis que Jésus prend le fait réel de la filiation pour mettre en demeure les Juifs d’être aussi les fils d'Abraham dans la vie morale : on comprendrait très bien « si vous imitez Abraham, vous serez vraiment ses enfants » : cf. Sénèque, Epist. xuv; omnes hi maiores lui sunt, si le illis geris dignum, mais la déduction est moins nécessaire en disant : « si vous étiez fils, vous imiteriez At. ἐγεννηθημεν (Η) ou γεγεννημεθα (TV). — Soden γεγενηθημεν (Ὁ). l'avertissement est péremptoire : « si vous êtes ses fils, imitez-le » (avec Belser, Tillmann, contre Schanz, Zahn, Bauer, Loisy, Calmes).
8:40
Il faut reconnaître que νῦν dé s'accommoderait très bien d'une condition dans la phrase antécédente, et c’est probablement pour cela qu’on lui ἃ fait prendre ce pli. Mais on peut tout de même l’enlendre avec un impératif précédent : Faites... Mais on réalité vous ne faites pas, vous faites ce qu'Abraham n'eût pas fait : vous cherchez à me tuer (37), moi qui vous ai dit cette vérité qui délivre, que j'ai entendue auprès de Dieu (26), et cela est bien étranger à Fesprit du père des croyants. L'accent est sur l'humanité, comme il convenait à propos du meurtre (Cyr.).
8:41
Ge père n’est pas Dicu, évidemment, ni Abraham... le sombre pressentiment du v. 38 n'est pas éclairci. Néanmoins 108. Juifs comprennent bien qu'il n'est plus besoin d’affirmer une descendance naturelle légitime d'Abraham, gu'on ne leur conteste pas. Si Bauer le prétend (Loisy 2° éd.), c'est pour accuser d’incohérence un texte qui se suit bien. Les Juifs n’écoutent pas ce qui vient de Dicu parce qu'ils sont attachés aux œuvres de leur père. Leur père est donc à tout le moins une puissance spirituelle autre que Dieu. Dans le style des prophètes, la prostitution d'Israël c'était l'idolâtrie. Il en résultait, quand des Fils servaient un dicu étranger, qu'ils étaient des fils de prostitution, τέκνα πορνείας, c'est le terme des Septante dans Osée (1, 2; πὶ, 4). C'est ce qu'ils déclarent ne pas être, parce que leurs hommages ne sont pas partagés : ils n’ont donc qu’un (ἕνα très en relief) père qui est Dieu. — ἡμεῖς est fortement opposé à ὑμεῖς, mais non pas à Jésus lui-même, comme s'ils entendaicnt lui reprocher sournoisement une origine illégitime. C'est ce qu'a pensé Origène qui connaissait sans doute les basses suggestions des Juifs (6. Cels. 1, 28); mais rien ne prouve qu'elles aient pris jour durant la vie du Sauveur et que Jo. y ait fait allusion. — Elles se sont reproduites de nos jours dans la presse sioniste de Jérusalem!
8:42
La proposition est nettement conditionnelle, mais aussi Jo. a-{-il employé ἦν et ἄν, ce qui ἃ servi à « corriger » le texte primitif au v. 39, et celte fois en effet la conditionnelle conclut très logiquement : si vous aviez Dieu pour père (dans l'ordre de l'esprit, comme il est nécessaire de le prendre ici), vous aimeriez celui qu'il a envoyé, car cet envoi ne peut être qu'une faveur de ce Père, etson envoyé doit être digne de lui; or telest bien lecas. — ἐξῆλθον, non pas de la génération éternelle; mais le Fils qui était auprès de Dieu en est sorti en quelque sorte par l'incarnation, sans le quitter (vi, 29); ἥχω au sens du parfait, « je suis venu »; cf. 1, ἀ; 1v, 47; Le. xv, 27. — On admet que οὐδὲ γάρ équivaut à οὐ γάρ, dont s'est contenté D. Cependant il y a sans doute une nuance (cf. Rom. vin, 7) : vous ne pouvez méme pas dire que je suis venu de moi-même : tout ce que je suis et fais vient de Dieu. C’est toujours cette subordination du Verbe incarné à Dieu qui devait convaincre les plus obstinés que Jésus n’entendait pas rompre avec la religion révélée ancienne. il ἃ fourni les preuves de son pouvoir; ce qu'il affirme surtout ici comme plus haut (v, 19. ss.), c'est sa dépendance vis-à-vis de Dieu, en tant qu'il est son envoyé et devenu homme.
8:43
Et cependant les Juifs affectent de ne pas l'entendre mieux que s'il employait une langue étrangère. Il leur parle de Dieu, qu'ils disent être leur Dieu; il leur parle donc leur langue. Pourquoi ne la comprennent-ils pas ? Parce qu'ils ne peuvent se résoudre à écouter sa doctrine, faire l'effort nécessaire pour la pénétrer, à cause de leurs mauvaises dispositions. Quand on entend exposer même dans sa langue des idées auxquelles on est absolument réfractaire; on dit volontiers : c'est comme si vous parliez en chinois! Ge sens nous parait résulter : a) de la distinction voulue entre λαλιά (non pas comme dans 1v, 42) dialecte (cf. Mt. xxvi, 73), et λύγος la parole proposée, l'ensemble de la doctrine; δ) du verbe γινώσχειν, comprendre un dialecte ou une langue (Act. xxr, 37; cf. Neh. ΧΠΙ, 24); 6) de la comparaison avec vi, 60 τίς δύναται αὐτοῦ (τοῦ λόγου) ἀκούειν ; qui peut prendre sur lui d'entendre dire une pareille chose? Quoique δύνασθε indique bien une non-receptivité, la comparaison avec vi, 60 montre bien qu’elle tient à des dispositions volontaires. Même Aug. : Sed unde audire non poterant, nisi quia corriqgi credendo nolebant? — Nous entendons donc ὅτε comme répondant à la question, non comme une explication du fait dela question : je vous le demande puisque, par le fait, vous ne pouvez écouter, ce qui est tout naturel quand on entend une langue étrangère (Zuhn). .
8:44
Les modernes (même Bauer, Loisy) sont d'accord pour ne pas voir ici le père du diable, mais le diable lui-même. On doit reconnailre qu'il eût été plus grammatical de ne pas mettre l’article (τοῦ) διαδόλου ni (ὁ) πατήρ, puisque διαβόλου ét πατήρ sont des prédicats par rapport à ce qui précède. Mais si l’on traduisait : « du père du diable », et « menteur comme aussi son père », on aboutirait à une construction absurde. L'objet de tout le discours serait le père du diable, et il se trouverait à la fin qu’il n’était autre que le diable. D'ailleurs la conception d’un père du diable, qui serait comme un second dieu, est complètement étrangère à l'A. T. et au quatrième évangile. Ce sont les gnostiques qui ont déduit leur démiurge de ce texte ou qui l'y ont trouvé après coup; cf. Hrrr. Ref. v, 11 (les Pérates); Εριρῃ. Haer. xr,, ὃ 5.1; Aug. : In his verbis quidam patrem diabolum habere putaverunt, et quaesierunt quis esset diaboli pater. Hic vero detestabilis error Manichaeorum invenit adhuc, qua deciperet imperitos. Nous entendons donc le verset du diable. C'est le mot de la Gn. N'étant pas des fils spirituels de Dieu, qui obéiraient comme Jésus à sa volonté (ιν, 34 etc.), il reste qu'ils soient les fils du diable, au sens métaphorique, cela s'entend. Le raisonnement se rattache donc au v. 42, mais il tient compte de la raison donnée au v. 43; le caractère volontaire non exprimé dans δύνασθε apparaît ici clairement dans θέλετε. — Le diable ἃ des désirs, ce qui est d'un ordre inférieur, et en les réalisant l’homme suit aussi sa propre convoitise (cf. I Jo. 1 46.17). — ἀνθρωποχτόνος (+ N. T. I Jo. nr, 15) n'indique pas nécessairement un homicide sanglant tel que le meurtre d’Abel, qui ne serait pas ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς : le commencement indique plutôt la chute du premier homme à l'instigation du serpent; cf. Sap. 11, 24 : φθόνῳ δὲ διαδόλου θάνατος εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον. Ce sont deux paroles assez mystérieuses, celle de Jésus surtout, tandis que le développement de Paul (Rom. v, 42 ss.) insiste sur la causalité du premier homme. — La forme οὐκ, dans les meilleurs mss. (H T S V) prouve bien qu’il faut lire ἔστηχεν et non ἕστηχεν, ce qui suppose un verbe στήχω. Dès lors au lieu de supposer un parfait de ce verbe, puisque Jo. emploie très bien ἕστηχεν, il faut s’en tenir à un imparfait, d'ailleurs parallèle à ἦν. Dès le commencement, aussitôt qu'il apparaît dans l’histoire religieuse, le diable ne se tenait pas dans la vérité. Les Pères ont vu là une allusion à la chute du diable; mais il y faudrait un plus-que-parfait, et la raison qui suit s’appliquerait mal : si le diable est tombé, ce n’est pas parce que la vérité n’était pas en lui, ce serait plutôt parce qu'il n'y est pas resté fidèle (Zahn). Nous entendons done qu'il n'éfait pas au début de l'histoire dans la vérité, parce qu'elle n’est pas en lui d'une +aanière normale. Pourquoi? Jésus ne parle ici ni de l'origine du diable, ni de sa chute, mais de ce qu’il est dans son action et dans sa situation morale et religieuse, car la vérité ἃ ici son plein sens johannique. Le mensonge plutôt est son fond : quand il ment, il n'a besoin d'emprunter à personne : x τῶν ἰδίων, « avec ses propres ressources », dans plusieurs inscriptions de Syrie, etc. πατὴρ αὐτοῦ, construction ad sensumn, d'autant moins étrange que ψεῦδος n'est pas très éloigné. Plusieurs ont pensé que Caïn était l'homicide : Aphreate (Patrol. or. 1, 785) « Et le Sauveur leur dit : vous êtes fils de Caïn, non pas fils d'Abraham cf. Ambrosiaster (P. L. XXXV, ὁ. 2897, parmi les œuvres d'Aug.) et Cyrille ici, probablement en songeant aussi à 1 Jo. m1, 12; mais ce n’est pas une raison pour substituer Caïn au diable dans un prétendu texte primitif comme l’a fait Wellhausen, réfuté par Bauer et Loisy. τ ἢ πη saurait être question de nier l'importance attribuée ici au rôle du diable, mais c'est une méprise d'y voir avec Bauer « un véritable dualisme venu de Perse. Le diable ne dispute pas l'empire du monde à Dieu quasi sur le pied de l'égalité, à la façon d'Ahriman. Il n’est pas divinisé et ne peut exercer son action que parle mensonge, grâce à la complicité des hommes qui se font les serviteurs de ses désirs, misérable en somme et méprisable, tant il est facile de se soustraire à son empire en passant par la foi dans le camp de la vérité. 45 s.)I1y ἃ une double difficulté sur laquelle passent les commentateurs. a) dans le v. 45, Jésus dit netiement aux Juifs que s'ils ne croient pas en lui, c'est précisément (ὅτι) parce qu'il dit la vérité, lui (ἐγὼ δέ), ce qui ne leur va pas, habitués qu'ils sont à s'attacher au mensonge comme le diable. Mais dans 46v, il suppose que les Juifs sont d'accord avec lui qu'on doit suivre la vérité. b) De plus, le v. 46% transporte la question du terrain de la vérité dans celui de la perfection morale. — IL faut donc admettre, comme nous l'avons déjà dit x, 7), une protestation sous-entendue des Juifs, qui s'est manifestée au moins par des gestes. Nous, refuser de croire à la vérité parce que c’est la vérité? c'est trop fort! Et cependant, répond Jésus : jusqu’à présent personne de vous ne me convainc de péché. Cette perfection morale, dont la nature humaine n’est guère capable, est en tout Cas une preuve que je ne mens pas. Alors je dis la vérité, et si vous prétendez croire à la vérité, pourquoi ne croÿez-vous pas? — ἐλέγχει au présent (arguit, et non arguet) : les Juifs l'ont bien accusé, mais non convaincu ; le verbe a les deux sens, mais très souvent le second; cf. 111, 20; XVI, 8; classiques et papyrus. — On notera ce double où πιστεύετε qui prouve bien que le discours sauf la première phrase (31 s.), ne s'adresse pas spécialement aux nouveaux convertis. ιν implicitement un syllogisme, dont la mineure serait
8:47
L'argument contien Qui est de Dieu écoute. or, vous n'écoutez niée en ce qui regarde les Juifs pas... donc vous n'êtes pas. Mais la phrase est construite pour donner la raison dernière de leur refus d'écouter (cf. 43) comme il faudrait pour croire, — être Ex τοῦ θεοῦ, cf. 1, 43; Ε1 Jo. 1v, 4.6. Il va de soi dans le dogme du judaïsme que ceux qui ne sont pas de Dieu n'ont à accuser que leur résistance aux appels de Dieu. — Toutes ces paroles de Jésus sont assurément très graves, et peuvent paraitre dures. Elles ne 16 sont pas plus que celles où il nomme les Pharisiens zélés pour la propagande des fils de la géhenne (Mt. xx, 15). Les chefs spirituels du judaïsme étaient en train de rompre par leur obstination orgueilleuse tous les desseins miséricordieux de Dieu sur son peuple, d'entraîner <e peuple au meurtre du Fils envoyé par le Père (Me. x, 6 et parall.). Ne fallait-il pas les avertir?
8:48
Jésus avait contesté aux Juifs la parenté spirituelle avec Abraham et avec - Dieu. Ils retournent le reproche à la manière des personnes qui n'ont pas la réplique spirituelle. Parmi les peuples étrangers à la communauté juive, nul ne Jeur était plus odieux que les Samaritains (ef. sur Le. x, 33). C'est à peine 51} était plus triste d’être possédé du démon; cela avait déjà été dit, mais un peu en l'air (vn, 20); maintenant ils le confirment. καλῶς ἃ très souvent le sens de ὀρθῶς, r'ecte, mais beaucoup plus avec ποιεῖν qu'avec λέγειν, comme 1v, 17; x11,13 cependant cf. Pouyse, Hist. χχι, 3, 10 (Bauer). — Comme précédemment Jo. ἃ fait allusion à la haine nationale bien connue des Juifs pour les Samaritains (ιν, 9), il faut beaucoup de parti pris pour voir ici une allusion aux faux prophètes et fils de Dieu venus plus tard de Samarie (Loisy, p. 302); tout le sel de cette conjecture est de prendre Samaritain dans le sens où des chrétiens ont pu employer ce mot.
8:49
Jésus ne relève pas le reproche de Samaritain, peul-être pour ne pas faire un affront à ce peuple, peut-être pour ne pas 56 targuer de sa descendance d'Abraham. fl se contente de protesier qu'il n'est pas possédé. Ce qu'ils prennent pour des blasphèmes suggérés par le démon lui est inspiré au contraire par le désir d'honorer son Père, auteur de sa mission (42). — ἐγώ est opposé à leur grief; ὑμεῖς coniraste avec ἐγώ.
8:50
D'ailleurs Jésus n’ajoutera rien à cette protestation qu'il devait à la vérité, car il ne cherche pas sa gloire (cf. v, 41). Τὶ semble à Bauer (contre Schanz, Zahn, Bélser, Loisy, Tillmann) qu'il ÿ ἃ ici une nuance très délicate entre les deux ζητεῖν : avec le second il ny ἃ pas à sous-entendre : « ma gloire »; mais, étant avec κρίνων, il aurait 16 sens d’enquêter : « Il y ἃ quelqu'un qui fait une enquête et qui juge. » Ce scrait presque un jeu de mots. Pour l'alliance de l'enquête et du jugement, d’ailleurs très naturelle, on pourrait comparer Is. xvr, ὃ χρίνων χαὶ ἐχζητῶν χρίμα, — Cependant, à tout prendre, l'opinion commune est plus probable, car dans les LXX ζητεῖν n'est guère pris dans le sens de ἐχζητεῖν. — χρίνων n'en a pas moins le sens de juger; précisément parce qu'il poursuit la gloire de Jésus, Dieu jugera en Sa faveur. Il va sans dire que ce n'est point en opposition avec v, 22 : l'acte de conférer le pouvoir de juger au Fils équivaut à chercher sa gloire et à la proclamer.
8:51
Le contexte n'est pas très clair. On dirait que Jésus reprend la pensée du y. 31, car observer ou pratiquer sa parole, c'est y demeurer (34). On peut estimer aussi que le jugement du v. précédent, quoiqu'il soit avant tout à l'honneur de fésus, est par là même une condamnation de ses adversaires qui l'ont voulu déshonorer. L'idée du jugement amènerait celle de la vie éternelle, comme dans v, 24, où l'on trouve la même association avec l'ordre inverse. Dans les deux cas, l'affirmation est solennelle, et Jésus insiste souvent sur la nécessité de pratiquer sa parole (σιν, 23; xV, 20; xvur, 6) et ses commandements (σιν, 45. 21), Il profite 55. xav (TH) où #2: euv (SV). — ὑμῖν (H) ou υμων (TSV). d'un moment de répit pour l'inculquer. Avec lui on avait la liberté dès ce monde, de plus on ne verra pas la mort (Le. 1, 26); à jamais, ce qui dirigeait les esprits vers l'éternité (v, 24; vi, 50).
8:52
Assurément ce perpétuel malentendu avec les Juifs est étrange. Mais avant ΑὟ voir un pur artifice littéraire, il faut se de mander s'il n'était pas dans la nature des choses. Ici on touche du doigt leu r parti pris à la fois obstiné et précipité, qui brouille tout. Les Juifs ne relèvent le mot de non-mourir qu'après avoir laissé libre cours à leur joie de tenir leur adversaire, étant sûrs de mettre son affirmation en contradiction avec le fait d'Abraham, qu’il leur avait donné comme modèle. — « goûter » la mort est une autre métaphore que voir la mort, avec une nuance légèrement plus accusée, comme si l’on pouvait échapper à cette amertume! — γεύεσθαι peut indiquer un contact agréable {Heb. vi, 4; 1 Pet. π΄. 3), mais avec la mort (Mt. xvr, 38; Me. 1x, 1; Le. IX, 27; Heb. πὶ, 9) il est âcre (I Regn. xv, 32).
8:53
Jésus se met-il donc au-dessus des anciens? C'est surtout par rapport à Abraham que cette prétention serait étr ange. Les Juifs raisonnent comme si Jésus s'était flatlé d'échapper à la mort; il fait bien plus en promettant ce privilège à ses disciples, seulement dans un sens spirituel. Abraham était cependant Pami et le confident de Dieu : Et it evisti eum, et demonstrasti ei temporum finem solo secrete noctu (IV Esd. 1, 44), τ σεαυτόν, « {à propre personnalité », plus accentué que σε.
8:54
ἡμῶν (TV) ou ὑμῶν (ITS).
L'idée du témoignage rendu et de la glor ification alternent dans les. paroles de Jésus. Il a revendiqué le droit de se r endre témoignage (14), mais, parlant comme Fils de Dieu incarné, il la isse plus exclusivement à son Père le soin de le glorifier. II Υ ἃ quelque chose de plus choquant à se rendre gloire à soi-même qu'à se rendre témoignage; la gloire n’est pas tout à fait synonyme de l'honneur auquel chacun a droit; de plus, quand il s’agit de Jésus, il faut tenir compte du dessein formé dès à présent (δοξάζων) par son Père de le glorifier. Cette gloire future entrevue remplace peu à peu le témoignage qui convenait à la carrière mortelle de Jésus. μαρτυρεῖν en parlant du témoignage surnaturel rendu à Jésus, si fréquent dans les premiers chapitres, se retrouvera x, 25; xv, 26, mais δοξάζειν, réservé à l'avenir dans vu, 39, reviendra très souvent χι, ἀ; xt, 16. 23. 28 (ter); xu, 34. 32: xvi, 143 xvur, 4. 5. 40. On voit donc bien nettement ici un progrès sur v, 32 36. 37, où il s'agit seulement du témoignage. — ὃν bete λέγετε, non pas par erreur, Comme le prétendaient les Marcionites et les Manichéens (Aug.), mais pour bien marquer qu'en parlant de son Père il désigne celui que les Juifs reconnaissent pour leur Dieu. Comment Jésus est glorifié, Jo. l’a déjà dit (u, 41), et l'avenir le montrera bien autrement. — Après Θεός nous préférons ἡμῶν (malgré l'autorité de n BD etc.) qui ἃ l'accent primitif du style direct, à ὑμῶν, plus naturel et plus élégant, mais que personne n'aurait été tenté de changer. #5) À vrai dire, les Juifs ne connaissent pas Dieu (cf. v, 37; vn, 28; vi, 19), quoiqu'ils se fassent une gloire de le connaître eux seuls. La connaissance que Jésus ἃ de son Père äutorise sa mission, et nous devons lui être reconnaissants de l'avoir dit si clairement. D'ailleurs pourrait-il dire qu'il ne connaît pas son Père? Ce serait nier ce qui est sa joie, et l'on peut dire, sa raison d'être, ce serait une atteinte à l'honneur de Dieu. Aussi bien ce qu'il en dit est moins pour ur glorifier le Père, puisqu'il met son honneur à observer 88 glorifier que po fait entendre comme un ordre. Aug. conclut par rapport Ja parole que Dieu lui à nous: Ergo arrogantia non ita caveatur, ut veritas relinquatur. _— Le verset est mal coupé : καὶ οὐκ ἐγνώκατε αὐτόν doit se joindre très étroitement à ce qui précède; cf. TERT. adv. Praxeam 22, éd. Kroymann : quem vos dicitis deum esse vestrum nec nostis illum; et ego, etc. rat ayant presque le sens de « alors que » (Cyr. Aug.); contre quelques modernes Schanz, Bauer, Tillmann, qui mettent un point après le v. 54. Celte coupure admise, ψευστής pourrait encore se rapporter au v. ἀξ : « menteurs comme le diable votre père » : (Mald. Schanz), mais il se rapporte plutôt à ce qui précède (Chrys. Cyr. Thom. Loisy) Jes Juifs mentent en nommant « notre » Dieu celui qu’ils ne connaissent pas. D'ailleurs le mensonge des Juifs dans ce cas peut être plus ou moins inconscient.
8:56
Deux questions : a) Abraham a-t-il vu de son vivant ou après sa mort? b) que signifie « mon jour »? a) Sur le premier point il y avait unanimité avant Maldonat. Du moins il dit Omnes auctores, quos legere memini, etiam qui diem Christi tempus incarnationis eius vocari putant, existimant αὐ sola fide, el figura, aut prophetica revelatione vidisse; donc du vivant d'Abraham, et ces auleurs sont Irénée (IV, vu, 1), Aug. Chrys. Cyr. Thom. etc.; Mald. prend la liberté de dire qu'Abraham a vu depuis sa mort, et cette opinion est devenue dominante parmi les catholiques (Schanz, Kn., Calmes, Tül., Belser, etc.) de même Bauer. La raison qu'ils donnent, c’est que ce sens est plus liltéral, C'est ce qui ne paraït pas exact, car Abraham, dans les limbes ou dans un paradis quelconque, a pu entendre parler du Christ: il ne l'a pas vu, et l'audition elle-même ne saurait être littérale à propos des âmes. S’i faut recourir à une métaphore, autant vaut-il admettre une vue par révélation. Raisonnant avec les Juifs, s’appropriant l'hommage à lui rendu par leur Abraham qu'ils viennent de relever si fort, Jésus argumentait naturellement de ce qu'enseignait l'Écriture. La joie d'Abraham dans le paradis eût été impossible à contrôler. Quand Jésus s'appuie sur le témoignage du Père, il renvoie à ses œuvres et à l'Écriture (v, 36. 39. 46). Enfin, ce qui paraît décisif, c’est l’analogie de ce passage avecla vue d’Isaïe (cf. x, #1), qui était bien vivant (ef. HolËz., Zakhn, Loisy). On peut donc très bien admettre qu'après un acte de foi Abraham a désiré une lumière plus complète qui lui a été accordée par révélation. Quand ? C'est la difficulté, qu'on ἃ cru éviter en recourant aux limbes. La réponse dépend peut-être du second point, δ) Le jour du Christ d’après Chrys. et Ammonius (Catena) est le jour de la Passion; d’après Cyr., l'Incarnation mais aussi la Passion; d'après Aug., l'Incarnation et la Trinité. Rien n’autorise à le restreindre à un seul moment donné ce qu’Abraham a désiré voir, c’est sans doute ce qu'ont désiré voir les rois et les prophètes et que les disciples ont vu (Le. x, 24), à savoir l’action du Messie: Cyr. οὐχ᾽ ἕτερόν τί pot παρὰ τὸν τῆς ἐπιδημίας χαιρόν, Le singulier ἡμέρα peut indiquer une époque; cf. Le. xvir, 22. Si l'objet est aussi général, on ne doit pas non plus chercher dans la vie d'Abraham une circonstance particulière. Jésus n'argumente pas le livre à main et ne cite ici aueun texte. Ce que tout le monde savait, c’est que la révélation avait été faite à Abraham d'un descendant en qui toutes les nations de la terre seraient bénies. Il allait de soi qu'Abraham devait tressaillir de joie à cette pensée. De là Le désir de contempler d'avance cet heureux avènement, désir qui fut en partie comblé par les autres révélations prophétiques diverses racontées par la Genèse. C’est la raison géntrale donnée par Cyrille ὅ τι χαθάπερ ἑνὶ τῶν ἁγίων προφητῶν ἀπεκάλυψεν 6 θεὸς τὸ ἑαυτοῦ μυστήριον. Que si cependant il fallait avec certains Pères indiquer une révélation particulière, comme dit Cyrille dans l'intérêt des φιλομαθέστεροι, ce ne serait pas le jour du sacrifice d'Isaac qui figurait le Christ, car la joie n’y paraît ni dans le texte ni dans la tradilion. 11 en est autrement de la naissance d'Isaac, dont le nom signifiait rire, Nous voyons par le livre des Jubilés que ce rire fut interprété d’une grande joie, qu'Abraham Parlagea avec Sara (Jub. xvi, 19). De même dans Philon, où ce rire devient même un équivalent du fils intime de Dieu. Sur ce passage : « Je te donnerai un enfant » (Gen. xvu, 16), Philon. commente : « Celui qui est par excellence le donateur, donne assurément quelque chose de spécial qui vienne de lui. Si cela est incontestable, Isaac ne sera pas un homme, mais le rire, synonyme de la meilleure des bonnes passions, de la joie, lui, le fils intime de Dieu qui le donne comme un adoucissement et un confort aux âmes les plus pacifiques » (De mutalione nominum, 8 430 s.; 1, 598). Selon une exégèse moins philosophique et plus messianique, le jour d’Isaac, celui de sa naissance, figurait donc le jour du fils de Dieu, c'est-à-dire que dans la figure d'Isaac Abraham a vu le Messie, sa joie à la naissance d'saac devenant ainsi une joie pour la naissance du Messie. En d'autres termes, Jésus fixerait ici le sens spirituel de la Bible, déjà entrevu, mais qu’il appliquerait à sa personne. Quoi qu'il en soit, ἵνα n’est pas final, mais « de », « dans l'espérance de cf. ἐχάρην ἵνα σὲ ἀσπάζομαι (BU 1v 1081 1. 3, cité par Deb. 8. 392). εἶδεν et ἐχάρη, s'entendent plus naturellement d'une circonstance passée que de la vision actuelle dans les limbes. — Il va sans dire que « Abraham désire » serait plus naturel que « Abraham se réjouit ». Torrey (cf. Intr., p. cu) aboutit à ce sens en supposant que l'araméen Nÿ2 ἃ été lu va (912) « il a jubilé Mais si la forme 53 a existé, il faudrait toujours s'étonner qu'elle ait supplanté dans l'esprit du traducteur une forme très commune et en situation.
8:57
Les Juifs ne comprennent pas que Jésus parle d'une vue prophétique en figure; Jésus prétend-il donc avoir déjà vécu au temps d'Abraham? Si Jésus avait voulu leur dire qu'Abraham voyait en ce moment son jour, le malentendu serait encore plus lourd, et il n'est pas nécessaire de leur prêter la. méprise la plus grossière. De plus, le moyen de la dissiper eût été de dire Abraham vit encore. — Plutôt que de supposer tout d’abord que Jésus s’attribue une préexistence surnaturelle, les Juifs, suivant leur pensée, imaginent. qu'élant possédé il n’est pas dans son bon sens, et dit une chose absurde. — Le chiffre de cinquante a créé une difficullé célèbre. frénée (πι, 22, 5 5.) ἃ conclu de ce passage que Jésus avait alors plus de quarante ans, mais ce qui est plus grave, il assure tenir ce point des anciens, qui eux-mêmes ‘'auraient appris de Jean de vive voix; mais ces anciens sont sûrement ceux de Papias (cf. Introduction, p. XxxvI). D'autre part il ne discute pas l'âge de trente ans au baptême, et sans faire naître Jésus plus tôt que Le., il prolonge stence jusque sous le règne de Claude, dont Ponce Pilate aurait été le son exi procurateur : Nam Herodes rex ludaeorum et Pontius Pilatus Claudii Caesaris procuraior uniti damnaverunt eum (Demonstratio ap. praed. trad. Weber, p. 100). En quoi il est logique, mais contraire à l'histoire. Il n'y a donc pas à tenir compte de son opinion. D'autre part il serait bien étonnant que Jésus. ait eu l'apparence d'avoir passé la quarantaine. Mais, quand on parle d'Abraham, on compte par siècles, ce qui, dans le cas présent devait se réduire à un demi-siècle. Les Juifs, raisonnant avec un homme qui n'a pas sa tête, ne veulent pas s'exposer à une discussion sur son âge; îls font bonne mesure. — « Et Abraham l’a vu » eût été plus logique, mais moins coulamt.
8:58
Ils ne sont pas pour cela à l'abri d'une réplique. Au lieu de répondre Abraham est encore existant dans les limbes, Jésus affirme qu'Abraham a pu le voir durant sa vie, parce que lui existait déjà, puisqu'il existe : ἐγώ el me marque pas seulement la préexistence, pour laquelle ἦν eût suff; c'est l'existence sans modalité de temps, de celui qui dès le commencement est (1, 1 248 30), opposée à l'existence acquise de celui qui est devenu; c'est la mème opposition qu'entre le Logos οὗτος ἦν el Jean : ἐγένετο ἄνθρωπος (1, 2.6), γένεσθαι pourrait très bien signifier « naître », mais il semble que l'opposition est voulue entre « être » et « devenir L'idée que Dieu « est » était familière aux Juifs (ef. Ex. πὶ, 14: Ps. xc, ὃ: Jer. τ, 6; Prov. vin, 25). — Cette déclaration répondait bien à la diffeulté. Existant avant Abraham, sinon dans la chair, du moins en Dieu, le Fils avait pu se montrer à Abraham assez pour éclairer les figures: mais de plus l'afürmation dépassait singulièrement l'horizon où les Juifs s'étaient cantonnés, ἢ leur faut bien reconnaitre que Jésus s'aitribue les attributs divins plus clairement qu'il n'avait fait jusqu'alors. 39° Si ce n'était une vérité, c'était un blasphème, qu'il fallait punir par la lapidation (Lev. xx1v, 16). En pareil cas le peuple prenait le parti de Dieu et se déchargeait de la responsabilité collective de l'offense, ce qui l'autorisait à agir par zèle, sans suivre les voies de droit. Les pierres ne manquaient pas dans lenceinte du Temple, et le peuple savait s'en servir (Jos. Ant. ΧΥ͂Π, 1, 3 — Bell. 11, x, 1) même contre des soldats romains. — Jésus échappe à leurs coups, sinon par un miracle, du moins par un effet très signalé de la Providence qui s'est déjà exercée (vu, 30.44; vin, 20); parce que son heure n'était pes encore venue. Le conflit est entré dans sa phase la plus aiguë : de la part de Jésus, la lumière ; l'aveuglement en vient aux voïes de fait. Chapitre IX. La cuérrsox pe L'aveveLe-xé. — Tout le chapitre τς est rempli par la guérison de l'aveugle-né et ses suites. &) Circonstance du temps. On s'étonne qu'après que Jésus a dû se cacher pour échapper à la lapidation, il semble circuler librement, et se trouver méme à ἴα θη avec des Pharisiens. Pour échapper à la fois à cette difficulté et à celle que présente vi, 21, si loin du miracle de la piscine de Bezatha, Tillmann ἃ imaginé que l'épisode de l'aveugle-né devait se placer avant vn, 21 : mais ce dernier miracle n'a pas, comme le premier, mis au premier plan la question du sabbat. 11 est possible en effet qu'il ait eu lieu avant l'explosion de haine de vin, 89; mais peut-être aussi bien après un peu de temps : une tentative vio- Tente et spontanée ne se recommence pas aisément : ce qui est étrange, c'est que le mandat d'amener (vx, 32) n'ait pas en plus de conséquences; mais Jo. nous en a avertis (vrr, 45 ss). Tout ce qu'on peut dire c'est que Jo. ne s'est pas soucié de dissiper la difficulté du rapprochement Littéraire entre vue, 59 et 1x, 1, ce qui n'est cerlainement pas une objection sérieuse contre la réalité du fait. D'ailleurs on voit très bien pourquoi il a placé ici ce miracle, ou plutôt comment cet épisode est parfaitement en situation dans la suite de l’histoire. On l’a comparé avec la guérison du malade de la piscine de Bezatha, mais les analogies sont purement extérieures : un miracle offert par Jésus, une piscine, un entretien avec le miraculé, l'irritation des Juifs. Ce qui est caractéristique, c'est que dans le premier cas les Juifs ne voient dans le miracle que la transgression du sabbat qu'ils poursuivent avec acharnement. Dans le cas de l'aveugle-né, c'est tout au plus si les Juifs concluent de la circonstance du sabbat que Jésus est un pécheur : ils sont tout autrement et uniquement préoccupés de nier le miracle lui-même. La cause de Jésus ἃ fait des progrès, et les Pharisiens sentent que, si le miracle est prouvé, il en résultera seulement que Jésus comprend le sabbat mieux qu'eux, étant l'envoyé de Dieu, Ainsi Jo. insiste sur les circonstances, moins pour prouver le miracle à ses contemporains que pour mettre dans tout son jour l'aveuglement des Pharisiens. Si l’on avait été tenté de trouver durs les reproches du ch. vi, et la menace que les Juifs mourraient dans leur péché, on comprend maintenant l'obstination diabolique de ce péché qui demeure (41). δ) Caractère symbolique. Mais si les Pharisiens s’obstinent, le miraculé croit. 11 est impossible de ne pas voir en lui le type de ceux qui seront guéris du péché et sauvés par la foi en Jésus, en fait par le baptème. Ce miracle est un fait symbolique, comme d’autres signes : opera, quia facta sunt; verba, quia signa sunt… genus humanum est iste caecus… si enim caecilas est infidelitas, et illuminatio fides… lavit ergo oculos in ea piscina quae interpretatur Missus, baptizatus est in Christo (Aug.). Ces traits s'appuient sur le texte (5. 7. 39). Il n'y a pas lieu de les nier par crainte du système des allégoristes. Ceux-ci prétendent que le récit a été composé de toutes pièces par Jo. en vue d’un enseignement allégorique. Rien de plus contraire à l'intention de l’auteur, qui insiste si fortement sur la réalité des faits. On a même regardé la précision des détails comme une preuve directe de cette réalité. Il doit être permis de rappeler que dès l'antiquité on excellait à composer des récits fictifs avec toutes les circonstances les plus menues. Tout dépend de l'intention de l'auteur, qui n'est pas douteuse ici, où il n'y a pas seulement précision des détails, mais contrôle, d'autant que l'enquête des Pharisiens ne saurait avoir aucun sens aliégorique. Il reste donc que Jo. a raconté un fait dont il était aisé d'extraire un sens symbolique qu'il n'a pas hésilé à mettre en lumière. Et pourquoi Jésus lui-même n'aurait-il pas fait un miracle pour montrer qu'il est la lumière spirituelle des âmes, qu'il est venu la donner dans la foi aux hommes de bonne volonté, conditionnant le résultat de son action à un acte où était symbolisé le baptême? Le morceau ἃ une unité parfaite. Nous distinguerons cependant CHAPITRE ΙΧ
8:1
ỷ. 1. JESUS AUTEM PERREXIT IN MONTEM OLIVETI. Pour Jesus il s’en alla sur la montagne des Oliviers. Le dernier jour de la Fête des Tabernacles (1), le Sauveur ayant parlé long-tems dans le Temple, se retira sur le soir hors de la ville, sur la montagne des Oliviers, où il avoit accoûtumé de passer la nuit avec ses Apôtres, peut-être pour ne pas s’exposer au danger d’être arrêté pat les Pharisiens ses ennemis. Ce ỷ. & les onze suivans ne se lisoient pas dans plusieurs Exemplaires Grecs, & Latins dès le tems de saint Jérôme ; la plûpart des anciens Peres Grecs ne les ont point lûs. De tous les Commentateurs qui sont dans la chaîne Grecque, au nombre de vingt-trois, il n’y en a aucun qui les ait expliquez. Ni Origénes, ni saint Chrysostome, ni Nonnus, niles autres n’en ont point parlé. Maldonat affure que de tous les Exemplaires Grecs qu’il a consulté, il n’en a trouvé aucun qui ait lû cette histoire, à l’exception d’un seul qui contenoit les Commentaires de Léontius ; & encore Léontius n’en dit-il pas un mot dans son Commentaire, & le Texte Grec qui lui est joint, est marqué par des obélés, ou broches, pour désigner que ce récit n’est pas autentique. M. Mille a rapporté plusieurs autres Manuscrits où il n’est point. Les Arméniens l’ont entierement retranché de leur Bible; le Syriaque imprimé dans les Polyglottes de Paris, & de Londres, ne le lit point, ni l’ancienne Version Gotique d’Ulphilas. Dans quelques anciens Manuscrits Grecs, on ne la lit pas en cet endroit; mais dans les uns, à la fin du Chapitre xxi. de saint Luc; dans d’autres, à la fin de l’Evangile de saint Jean. Dans plusieurs Exemplaires elle est distinguée du Texte par des notes particulieres. Dans d’autres elle est écrite à la marge, ou en plus petits caractères. Euthyme qui vivoit encore au commencement du douzième siécle, l’explique dans son Commentaire: mais il déclare qu’elle n’est point dans les meilleurs Manuscrits, ou qu’elle y est marquée d’une obèle; ce qui fait juger, dit-il qu’elle a été ici fourée, ou ajoutée. Saint Chrysostome que l’on cite, dans son Homelie soixantième sur saint Jean, parle en effet dans le Latin de la femme adultère: mais le Grec n’en dit rien. Il y rapporte seulement ce que les Pharisiens avoient demandé au Sauveur, s’il étoit permis de faire divorce avec une femme pour quelque cause que ce fût. Voyez S. Matt. xix. 3. Eusèbe raconte que Papias Disciple de saint Jean l’Evangéliste, avoit récueilli de la bouche des Apôtres plusieurs paroles, & plusieurs discours, qui ne se trouvoient point dans les saints Evangiles; entre autres l’histoire de cette femme qui fut accusée de plusieurs crimes devant le Seigneur. Cette histoire, ajoute Eusèbe, se trouve aussi dans l’Evangile selon les Hébreux. Ce récit a fait douter à quelques Savans si l’histoire que nous lisons ici, étoit de la main de saint Jean, & si elle n’est pas plutot venue de Papias, qui étoit un homme d’un fort petit génie; ou de l’Evangile selon les Hébreux, qui comme on fait, renfermoit plusieurs choses peu certaines, & apocryphes. Les variétez de Leçons qui se rencontrent dans les douze premiers versets de ce Chapitre bien plus fréquentes qu’aux autres endroits du Texte des Evangélistes, forment encore une preuve contre son authenticité. Ajoutez le consentement des Eglifes Grecques, & Orientales, qui ne la lisent pas dans plusieurs de leurs Manuscrits. Voilà ce qu’on dit de plus fort, pour combattre l’authenticité de cette histoire. Mais on peut répondre à tout cela, en opposant Exemplaires à Exemplaires; les Grecs aux Grecs, les Latins, & les Orientaux aux Latins, & aux Orientaux. De dix-sept Manuscrits qu’avoit Théodore de Bèze, il n’en a trouvé qu’un seul où cette histoire ne se trouvât point. Il avoit en main celui de Cambrige, ce fameux & ancien Manuscrit, où elle se lisoit autrefois. Tous les Exemplaires dont Robert Etienne s’est servi, & qui sont au nombre de seize; tous les Imprimez & une infinité de Manuscrits; la plûpart de ceux qui sont passez par les mains de M. Mille, la lisent de même. On ne connoit plus aucun Exemplaire Latin, où elle ne se trouve. Et quant aux Livres Syriaques, Arabes, & Coptes, il s’en rencontre peut-être en plus grand nombre qui lisent cette histoire, qu’il n’y en a où elle manque. Les Peres Grecs qui ont donné des Commentaires sur saint Jean, ont pû omettre cette histoire, Ou à cause de sa clarté, qui n’avoit pas besoin d’explication, ou parce qu’elle n’étoit point dans leurs Exemplaires. Tatien qui vivoit vers l’an 160. de JESUS-CHRIST, & environ soixante ans après S. Jean, & Ammonius qui vivoit vers l’an 220. de JESUS-CHRIST, environ cent vingt ans après la mort de l’Evangéliste, l’ont reconnuë pour Canonique, & l’ont rangée dans leur Harmonie évangélique, d’où Eusèbe l’a prise, pour l’inferer dans ses Tables, ou Canons. Saint Jérôme la reconnoit visiblement, puisqu’il la cite contre les Pélagiens. Saint Augustin s’en sert en plusieurs endroits de ses Ouvrages. L’Auteur des Constitutions Apostoliques qui est ancien, cite la méme histoire. La Synopse attribuée à saint Athanase, en parle, aussi bien que saint Ambroise, & les autres Pères Latins qui ont eu occasion d’en parler. Enfin le Concile de Trente en déclarant Canonique tout ce qui est dans les Exemplaires de la Vulgate, a reçu ce passage dans le Canon, comme tout le reste : Et la plûpart des plus habiles Critiques, mêmes Protestans, la reçoivent pour authentique. Mais d’où vient qu’on voit tant de Manuscrits anciens, sur tout parmi les Grecs, où elle ne se trouve point? Saint Augustin croit que quelques Chrétiens peu éclairés, ou même mal-intentionnez, l’ont retranchée de leurs Exemplaires, parce qu’elle sembloit autoriser les femmes à pécher, par l’espérance de l’impunité. D’autres ont cru qu’elle étoit passée de l’Evangile selon les Hébreux, dans celui de saint Jean ; ou même que Papias l’avoit placée d’abord à la marge de son Exemplaire de saint Jean, d’où ensuite elle est passée dans le Texte. Eusèbe a donné lieu à ces conjectures par les paroles que nous avons rapportées plus haut. Mais on doute qu’Eusèbe ait voulu parler en cet endroit de la femme adultère. Il dit simplement que Papias racontoit l’histoire d’une femme accusée de plusieurs crimes, devant le Seigneur; laquelle histoire se lisoit aussi dans l’Evangile selon les Hébreux. Il ne parle pas d’une femme accusée simplement d’adultère; & nous n’avons d’ailleurs aucune preuve, que celle-ci ait été écrite dans l’Evangile selon les Hébreux. Grotius qui ne croit pas qu’elle ait été originellement dans l’Exemplaire de saint Jean, veut que les Apôtres se soient contentez de la publier de vive voix parmi leurs Disciples, ne voulant pas la mettre dans leurs Ecrits, de peur qu’on ne les accusât comme s’ils vouloient donner atteinte à l’autorité des Jugemens, & des Loix, qui condamnent les crimes publics à des supplices rigoureux. M. Mille au contraire soutient que l’auteur de l’Evangile selon les Hébreux, ayant raconté cette même histoire sur le récit de ceux qui l’avoient apprise des Apôtres, & y ayant mêlé diverses circonstances pour l’embellir, comme il arrive d’ordinaire dans ces fortes de choses ; saint Jean qui n’avoit nulle connoissance de cet Evangile selon les Hébreux, mais qui savoit parfaitements cette histoire, comme en ayant été témoin, la raconta suivant l’exaste verité dans son Evangile. Dans la suite quelque démi Savant s’étant imaginé que ce récit étoit fourré dans saint Jean, & qu’on l’avoit tiré de l’Evangile des Hébreux, le marqua d’une obèle, comme une pièce douteuse. Quelqu’autre plus hardi le retrancha entièrement. Ainsi insensiblement il a disparu de la plûpart des Exemplaires Grecs. Et comme on commença à ne le plus considerer que comme un morceau apocryphe, on se donna la liberté d’y faire quelques altérations, & de le décrire avec moins de respect, & de diligence que le reste de l’Evangile. De-là est venu ce grand nombre de variétés de Leçons que l’on y remarque.
8:3
ỷ. 3. ADDUCUNT EI MULIEREM IN ADULTERIO DEPREHENSAM. Ils lui amenèrent une femme qui avoit été surprise en adultère. Quelques-uns ont avancé que cette femme s’appelloit Sufanne; qu’elle étoit épouse d’un vieillard décrépit, nommé Manassé; qu’elle mourut saintement en Espagne, où elle avoit suivi saint Jaques. Fables.
8:5
ỷ. 5. IN LEGE MOYSES MANDAVIT NOBIS HUJUSMODI LAPIDARE. Moyse dans la Loi nous a ordonné de lapider les adultéres. Il n’est pas vrai que Moyse condamne toute forte d’adultére à être lapidé. En général l’adultére se punissoit de mort dans l’homme, & dans la femme. Mais de quel genre de mort? On les étrangloit, disent les Rabbins. C’est la manière ordinaire de faire mourir les coupables, quand le genre du supplice n’étoit pas specifié. Si c’étoit une fille fiancée, & non mariée, qui tombât dans une faute contre son honneur, elle étoit lapidée. Mais si elle étoit fille d’un Prêtre, elle étoit brûlée vive. Toutefois cela ne s’observoit pas toujours si exactement. Ezéchiel montre que de son tems on lapidoit quelquefois les adultéres. On croit qu’on lapida aussi les deux Anciens qui avoient voulu corrompre Susanne. On les punit suivant la peine du Talion. Les Rabbins conviennent que dans certains cas on lapidoit les adultéres. Selden, & Fagius croyent que la femme dont il est parlé ici, étoit du nombre de celles qui sont marquées en ces termes dans le Deutéronome: Si une homme a fiancé une fille, & qu’un autre l’ayant trouvée dans la ville, lui ravisse son honneur, vous ferez sortir de la ville l’homme, & la fille adultére, & ils seront lapidez: La fille, parce qu’elle n’a pas crié, quoiqu’elle fût dans la ville; & l’homme, parce qu’il a humilié la femme de son prochain. La peine de la lapidation exprimée dans la Loi, dont se prévalent les accusateurs de cette personne, est assez favorable à ce sentiment; & l’indulgence dont le Sauveur use envers elle, insinue qu’elle avoit souffert quelque violence, quoiqu’elle ne fut pas entiérement innocente, puisqu’il lui dit: Allez; ne péchez plus.
8:6
ỷ. 6. UT POSSENT ACCUSARE EUM. Afin d’avoir de quoi l’accuser. On demande quel pouvoit être le motif de ces Juifs d’amener à JESUS-CHRIST cette femme surprise en adultére? On répond qu’alors les Hébreux ayant perdu le droit de vie, & de mort, avoient dessein de commettre JESUS-CHRIST avec Pilate, & les Romains, s’il eût dit qu’il falloit lapider cette femme; car les Loix Romaines ne les condamnoient pas à la mort: ou avec le peuple attaché à la Loi, s’il eût dit le contraire; ou avec les Pharisiens, & les autres Savans attachés à la tradition, s’il eût dit simplement qu’il falloit la lapider; car la tradition vouloit que la femme eut été avertie auparavant, afin qu’on pût proceder contre elle suivant toute la rigueur des Loix. Les Peres croyent qu’ils lui tendoient un autre piége. Ils vouloient favor s’il prononceroit quelque chose contre la Loi de Moyse; afin d’en prendre occasion de le lapider lui-même, comme un séducteur, qui détruisoit la Loi.
DIGITO SCRIBEBAT IN TERRA. JESUS écrivoit avec son doigt sur la terre; comme n’écoutant pas même leurs accusations, & ayant l’esprit ailleurs. Quelques Manuscrits Grecs ajoutent: Il écrivoit avec son doigt sur la terre, faisant semblant, ou dissimulant: faisant semblant de ne pas entendre ce qu’ils disoient, dit Grotius. D’autres croyent qu’il faisoit semblant d’écrire, traçant simplement des lignes, comme par manière de passe-tems. Saint Ambroise semble croire qu’il y écrivit quelque sentence capable de charger de confusion ces accusateurs; comme seroit celle-cité de Jérémie: Terre, terre, écris que ces hommes sont abandonnez ; ou cette autre qu’il leur dit dans S. Matthieu: Vous voyez un fétu dans l’œil de vôtre frere, & vous ne voyez pas une poutre qui est dans le vôtre. Saint Jérôme conjecture qu’il traçoit dans la poussière leurs pechez, & ceux de tous les hommes. Béde, & saint Thomas sur cet endroit, coniecturent qu’il y écrivoit la même chose qu’il leur dit lorsqu’il fut relevé : Que celui de vous qui est sans péché, lui jette le premier la pierre. Grotius ne doute pas qu’il n’ait écrit quelque chose, quelque sentence mémorable : mais il ne dit point ce que ce fut. Je ne vois guére de sentence dans l’Ecriture, qui convienne mieux à la circonstance présente, que celle-ci tirée des Psaumes : Le Seigneur a dit au pécheur : Pourquoy publies-tu mes justices, & pourquoy prononces-tu les paroles de mon alliance ; toi qui n’as que de l’horreur pour ma Loi, & qui rejettes loin de toi mes paroles ? Si tu voyois un voleur, tu conrois avec lui, & tu mettois ton partage avec les adultéres.
8:7
ỷ. 7. QUI SINE PECCATO EST VESTRUM, PRIMUS IN ILLAM LAPIDEM MITTAT. Que celui d’entre vous qui est sans péché, lui jette le premier la pierre. Les Hébreux enseignent que quand un homme, ou une femme étoient juridiquement convaincus d’adultére, on les conduisoit sur une butte élevée d’environ deux fois la hauteur d’un homme ordinaire ; & que là étant à demi nuds, & ayant les mains derrière le dos, les témoins les pouffoient rudement, & les précipitoient à bas. S’ils mouroient de leur chute, on n’y touchoit pas davantage ; sinon, les mêmes témoins rouloient sur eux une grosse pierre, pour les faire mourir. Que si cela ne suffisoit pas encore, les assistans prenoient des pierres, & les en accabloient. Voilà quel étoit le supplice de la lapidation selon les Rabbins. Mais Moyse ne dit rien de pareil. Dans tous les endroits où il parle de la lapidation, & dans toutes les rencontres où l’on a exercé ce supplice contre quelqu’un, nous voyons que l’on conduit le coupable hors de la ville, & que les témoins commencent à lui jetter la première pierre; après quoi tous les assistans à l’envie l’assomment à coups de pierres. Dans les cas où la condamnation n’étoit pas juridique, & où le peuple, sans suivre les formalitez de justice, failloit mourir le coupable par le Jugement de Zèle, ainsi qu’ils l’appelloient, on n’observoit pas toujours de conduire le coupable hors de la ville. Ils le lapidoient sur le lieu où ils le trouvoient. Ainsi Ananus fut lapidé au milieu de Jérusalem; Zacharie le fut entre le Temple, & l’Autel. Les Juifs avoient pris des pierres pour lapider JESUS-CHRIST dans le Temple même. Et il y a assez d’apparence que ceux qui amenèrent à JESUS-CHRIST cette femme surprise en adultère, n’avoient pas dessein d’observer envers elle les formalitez de la justice, ni de la traduire devant le tribunal de Pilate, où elle n’auroit pas été condamnée à la mort, suivant les Loix Romaines. Ils l’auroient fait mourir sur le champ, par le privilége du Jugement de Zèle, qui les dispensoit de recourir aux Juges. C’est ainsi qu’ils en usèrent à l’égard de saint Etienne. Mais l’envie de faire de la peine à JESUS-CHRIST, & de le surprendre, leur fit suspendre pour quelque tems leur mauvaise volonté pour cette femme, que la sagesse, & la clémence du Sauveur garantirent de la mort, & tirèrent du péché. JESUS-CHRIST pour déformer leur fureur contre elle, & pour déconcerter leur mauvaise volonté envers lui-même, leur dit : Que celui d’entre-vous qui est sans péché, lui jette le premier la pierre. Puisque Moyse vous ordonne de lapider les adulteres, je ne m’y oppose pas : mais craignez de vous condamner vous-mêmes, en condamnant vôtre prochain; faites un sérieux retour sur vous-mêmes, & examinez si vous voudriez qu’on exercât contre vous la vengeance, que vous poursuivez contre un autre. Le Sauveur ne veut pas dire qu’il faut queles témoins soyent entiérement exemts de faute. Si cela étoit, la Loi qui veut que les témoins mettent les premiers la main sur le coupable, ne pourroit se prati-quer. Mais elle veut au moins qu’ils ne soient pas coupables du même crime. De quel front poursuivez-vous la ven-geance du crime, dont vous êtes vous-mêmes coupables? Non modò accusator, sed ne objurgator quidem ferendus est is, dit Cicéron; qui quod in alio reprehendit, in eo ipse repre-benditur.
8:8
ỷ. 8. ITERUM SCRIBEBAT. Se baissant de nouveau, il continua d’écrire, de même qu’auparavant ; ou pour montrer qu’il ne vouloit pas entrer dansla connoissance de cette affaire; ou pour leur faire un réproche de leur injustice, en traçant quelque sentence morale sur la poussière ; ou enfin en écri-vant leurs péchez sur la terre, comme le portent quelques Manuscrits, & comme semble l’avoir crû saint Jérôme: Scribebat in terra, eorum videlicet qui accusabant, & omnium peccata mortalium.
8:9
ỷ. 9. AUDIENTES AUTEM, UNUS POST UNUM EXI-BANT. L’ayant entendu parler, ils se retirèrent les uns après les les autres. Le Grec dans les Imprimez, ajoute : Ils se re-tirèrent, touchez du remords de leur conscience : Mais ces paro-les ne se lisent point dans un très-grand nombre d’Exemplai-res. Il est fort croyable qu’ils craignirent que JESUS CHRIST ne révélât enfin leur turpitude, & ne leur fit voir qu’ils étoient plus coupables que la femme qu’ils accusoient. Ils avoient expérimenté plus d’une fois, qu’il pénéтроit le secret des pensées, & des sentimens du cœur.
REMANSIT SOLUS JESUS, ET MULIER. JESUS demeura seul avec la femme, qui étoit au milieu de la place, ou au milieu des Disciples, & du peuple qui étoit assemblé : Car quand on dit que JESUS-CHRIST demeura seul, il faut l’entendre non d’une solitude entiére, & absoluë; mais seul de ces Pharisiens, qui étoient venus pour le surprendre, & pour accuser cette femme.
8:11
ỷ. 11. NEC EGO TE CONDEMNABO Je ne vous condamnerai pas non plus. Allez-vous-en, & ne péchez plus. JESUS-CHRIST n’excuse pas la faute de cette femme ; il la désapprouve ; il lui ordonne de n’y plus tomber. Mais comme il n’étoit pas venu pour juger, ni pour prononcer d’une manière juridique sur les fautes d’autrui ; que la connoissance de ces fortes de choses n’étoit pas du ressort de son ministère, il la renvoye, & dit qu’il ne veut pas la condamner. Il se peut faire, comme on l’a déjà remarqué, que les circonstances du crime de cette personne, en diminuënt beaucoup la griéveté & l’horreur. JESUS-CHRIST qui les connoissoit, & qui voyoit la disposition du cœur de cette pécherelle, y eut égard dans la conduite qu’il tint envers ses accusateurs.
8:12
ỷ. 12. ITERUM LOCUTUS EST EIS JESUS. JESUS parlant de nouveau au peuple, leur dit. Il avoit été interrompu, lorsqu’il commençoit à enseigner les troupes, par les Pharisiens qui lui amenèrent la femme adultère. Voyez ci-devant versets 1. 2. Après donc que ces hommes se furent retirés confus, & qu’il eut congédié la femme, il recommença à haranguer le peuple.
EGO SUM LUX MUNDI. Je suis la lumière du monde. C’est moi qui éclaire tous les hommes du monde. Hors de moi tout n’est que ténèbres. Celui qui me suit, ne marche pas dans les ténèbres de l’ignorance, de l’infidélité, & du péché; mais il aura la lumière de vie; il aura la foi, qui lui servira de flambeau pour éclairer ses pas, & pour le garantir de la mort. Ma mission n’est pas bornée aux Juifs seuls; je suis venu apporter la lumière à toutes les nations. Le Messie est désigné sous le nom de lumière dans les Prophéties: Levez-vous, Jérusalem; car votre lumière est venue. Et ailleurs: Je vous ay établi pour être la lumière des nations, pour porter le salut de ma part jusqu’aux extrémités du monde. Et encore: Le peuple qui étoit dans les ténèbres, a vu une grande lumière. Ceux qui étoient dans l’ombre de la mort, ont vu s’élever sur eux un soleil lumineux. Le Sauveur s’est souvent comparé à la lumière.
8:13
ỷ. 13. TU DE TEIPSO TESTIMONIUM PERHIBES. Vous vous rendez témoignage à vous-même; vôtre témoignage n’est point véritable. Il y avoit encore des Pharisiens dans l’assemblée, qui observoient tout ce que JESUS-CHRIST disoit. Ils commencent par le contredire sur le témoignage qu’il se rendoit à lui-même, en disant: Je suis la lumière du monde. Si vous voulez qu’on vous croye, donnez des preuves de ce que vous avancez. Nous ne sommes pas obligés de vous en croire sur vôtre parole. Un homme sage, & modeste ne dira point de bien de lui-même; il attendra que d’autres le louënt. C’est une basse vanité de se louër soi-même. Nous nous flattons toûjours, parce que nous nous aimons trop. Ce raisonnement avoit quelque chose de plausible. Ce qu’ils ajoutent : Votre témoignage n’est point véritable, parce que vous vous le rendez à vous même, n’est pas vrai en rigueur. Un homme doit se connoître mieux qu’un autre, & il peut avoir assez de fincerité pour dire le bien, ou le mal qui est en lui.
8:14
ỷ. 14. ETSI EGO TESTIMONIUM PERHIBE0 DE MEIPSO. Quoyque je me rende témoignage à moi-même, mon témoignage est véritable. Et pourquoi mon témoignage est-il véritable? C’est que je sai d’où je viens, & où je vas. Si j’étois un homme sans avue, un inconnu, un avanturier, qui vînt vous dire sans aucune preuve, qu’il est la lumière du monde, & que quiconque le suit, ne marche pas dans les ténèbres; qu’il est envoyé de Dieu pour instruire, & corriger tous les peuples, vous auriez raison de le rejeter, & de lui dire que son témoignage ne venant que de lui-même, ne peut être d’aucun poids. Mais je sai d’où je viens, & où je vas. Je suis en état de donner des preuves de ma mission. Je ne viens point comme un de ces faux Prophétes, qui vous disent: Voici ce que dit le Seigneur, quoique le Seigneur n’ait pas parlé. Pour moi je viens de mon Pere, & je retourne à lui. Tout ce que j’ai fait jusqu’ici, est une preuve de ce que j’avance. Si vous étiez capables d’une plus grande intelligence, je vous en dirois davantage : mais vous ne sçavez ni où je vas, ni d’où je viens. Vous ne comprenedrez rien à mes discours, quand je vous déclarerai que je suis Dieu de Dieu, Lumière de Lumière, la Sagesse, & le Verbe du Pere; & qu’étant venu sur la terre pour sauver le monde, je dois retourner dans le Ciel, pour y regner éternellement. Tout cela est trop relevé pour vous.
8:15
ỷ. 15. VOS SECUNDUM CARNEM JUDICATIS. Vous jugez selon la chair. Vous ne pouvez vous imaginer que je sois d’une condition supérieure à ce que je parois. La fausse idée que vous vous êtes faite du Messie qui doit vous délivrer, fait que la bassesse de ma naissance temporelle, & l’obscurité de ma vie sont pour vous un sujet de scandale. Que je vous dise que je suis Dieu, & Fils de Dieu, vous recevez cela comme un blasphème; vous ne jugez que selon la chair, selon les apparences, selon vos préjugés.
EGO NON JUDICO QUEMQUAM. Pour moi je ne juge personne. Vous portez contre moi un jugement injuste, & précipité. Vous ne voyez dans mon extérieur que la figure de l’homme, & d’un homme de condition obscure selon le monde; vous en inferez que je ne suis pas celui que vous attendez pour vous délivrer. Pour moi je n’imite pas vôtre précipitation, ni vôtre hardiesse à juger. Je ne vous condamne pas sans connoissance. Je n’exerce pas contre vous la rigueur du jugement que je pourrois exercer. Ce tems-ci est le tems d’indulgence, & de miséricorde; celui de rigueur, & de sévérité viendra.
8:16
ỷ. 16. ET SI JUDICO, JUDICIUM MEUM VERUM EST. Et si je juge, mon jugement est véritable, ou recevable; parce que je ne suis pas seul. Si je jugeois sans connoissance, sans témoignage, sans autorité, sans caractère, vous pourriez recuser mon jugement : mais j’ai tout ce qu’il faut pour rendre mon jugement authentique ; j’ai le témoignage de mon Pere, dont la lumière est infaillible, & l’équité incorruptible. Il est le Juge naturel de toutes les créatures ; nul ne peut se soustraire à sa puissance. Si donc je suis inséparable de mon Pere, mon jugement a toutes les qualitez requises pour être reconnu authentique ; & toutefois je ne vous juge, & ne vous condamne point ; parce que je ne suis pas venu pour juger, mais pour sauver le monde.
8:17
ỷ. 17. IN LEGE VESTRA SCRIPTUM EST, QUIA DUORUM HOMINUM. Il est écrit dans vôtre Loi que le jugement de deux hommes est véritable, ou recevable. Si la Loi permet de décider toute forte d’affaires, même capitales, sur le témoignage de deux hommes, quoiqu’on n’ait que trop de témoignages de la malice, & de l’erreur de plusieurs personnes, qui ont souvent conspiré à appuyer l’injustice ; à combien plus forte raison le Pere, & moi, qui ne sommes qu’un Dieu, pourrions-nous rendre témoignage contre vous, vous juger, & vous condamner, si le tems de la colère étoit venu.
8:18
ỷ. 18. EGO SUM QUI TESTIMONIUM. Je me rends témoignage à moi-même : Mais je ne suis pas le seul témoin qui dépose en ma faveur ; mon Pere appuye ma déposition par son témoignage. Voilà deux personnes bien distinctes, qui me rendent témoignage, à moi comme homme.
8:19
ỷ. 19. UBI EST PATER TUUS ? Où est vôtre Pere ? Quelques-uns ont crû que ces Pharisiens faisoient cette demande à JESUS-CHRIST pour l’outrager, comme voulant dire qu’il étoit né d’un adultère. Mais il est plus probable qu’ils entendoient assez ce qu’il vouloit dire. Ils avoient bien compris une autre fois qu’il vouloit faire croire que Dieu étoit son Pere, quoiqu’il ne le dit pas d’une manière plus claire. Mais ils vouloient tirer de sa bouche quelque chose, qu’ils pûssent faire passer dans l’esprit du peuple pour un blasphème ; afin d’en prendre occasion de le faire lapider, ou du moins de détacher de lui les troupes, qui étoient charmées de ses discours.
NEQUE ME SCITIS, NEQUE PATREM MEUM. Vous ne connoissez ni moi, ni mon Pere. Si vous le connoissiez, vous sauriez qu’il est dans le Ciel, qu’il est invisible, & qu’un homme mortel ne le peut voir des yeux du corps ; & si vous me reconnoissiez pour ce que je suis, pour Dieu, & Fils de Dieu, vous n’auriez garde de me faire cette question. Apprenez donc à me connoître, avant de me demander qui est mon Pere : Car qui me connoît, connoît aussi mon Pere. Et : Si vous me connoissiez, vous connoitriez aussi mon Pere, puisque je ne suis qu’une éssence avec lui.
8:20
ỷ. 20. GAZOPHYLACIO. Au lieu où étoit le trésor du Temple. Ligfoot remarque que c’étoit dans le parvis des femmes, où il y avoit treize coffres pour recevoir les offrandes. C’étoit dans ce parvis où on lui amena la femme surprise en adultère. Les coffres étoient près de la porte. Voyez ce qu’on a dit sur S. Marc, xii. 41. Il y avoit un portique qui donnoit sur ce parvis, où JESUS-CHRIST s’asseyoit quelquefois pour enseigner le peuple.
8:21
ỷ. 21. DIXIT EIS ITERUM JESUS: EGO VADO, ET QUÆRETIS ME. JESUS leur dit encore: Je m’en vais, & vous me chercherez, & vous mourrez dans vôtre péché. Il leur avoit dit la même chose le jour précédent: Je ne suis plus avec vous que pour un peu de tems; je m’en vais à celui qui m’a envoyé. Vous me chercherez, & vous ne me trouverez point: parce que vous ne pouvez venir là où je vais. Ici ils menace outre cela de les laisser mourir dans leur péché: In peccato vestro moriemini: Vous mourrez dans vôtre infidélité, & dans vôtre endurcissement. On peut voir ce qu’on a dit sur S. Jean, Chap. VII. ỷ. 33. 34.
8:23
ỷ. 23. VOS DE DEORSUM ESTIS. Vous êtes d’ici bas; mais pour moi je suis d’en haut. Quand je vous dis que je vais dans un lieu où vous ne pourrez me suivre, vous prenez cela grossièrement, comme si je voulois dire que pour me garantir de vos poursuites, je me tuërai moi-même; ỷ. 22. C’est une preuve que vous êtes tout terrestres, & que vous n’entendez les choses que d’une manière charnelle. Pour moi je vous parle de toute autre chose, & je l’entens tout autrement. Je dois mourir lorsque mon heure fera venue; je monterai au Ciel, d’où je suis descendu; vous me chercherez alors inutilement, soit pour me persécuter, ou pour implorer ma clémence; vous ne pourrez venir jusqu’à moi, ni me faire la moindre peine, & je ferai sourd à vos prières, comme vous l’avez été à ma voix, & à mes invitations! Je vous tourneraile dos, comme vous me l’avez tourné: In peccato vestro moriemini.
8:25
ỷ. 25. TU QUIS ES? Qui êtes-vous-donc? JESUS leur répondit: Je suis le principe de toutes choses, moi qui vous parle (a). Les Pharisiens indignez de la liberté avec laquelle JESUS-CHRIST parloit, & des ménaces qu’il leur faisoit, lui demandent avec émotion: Qui êtes-vous, pour nous parler ainsi, & pour nous dire que nous mourrons dans nôtre péché? JESUS leur dit qu’il est le principe, l’auteur, le créateur de toutes choses (b); par lequel tout a été fait, & sans lequel rien n’a été créé (c). Celui qui est nommé dans l’Apocalypse le commencement, & la fin, l’alpha, & l’omega, le premier, & le dernier (d). Ce sens est fort beau, & très-orthodoxe : mais la construction du Grec (e) ne le souffre point; car le Grec est à l’accusatif, & les plus habiles Interprètes le prennent comme s’c’étoit un adverbe: Qui êtes-vous? J: suis premièrement ce que je vous dis; ou, ce que je vous ai dit dès le commencement de ce discours (f), ỷ. 12. Je suis la lumiere du monde. Celui qui me suit, ne marche pas dans les ténèbres; mais il aura la lumière de vie: Ou enfin ce que je vous ai toujours dit, & ce que je n’ai cessé de vous dire dès le commencement, que je suis le Fils de Dieu, son Verbe, son Messie, &c. (g) On peut aussi l’entendre ainsi: Qui êtes-vous? Ecoutez premièrement ce que je vous dis. Ne faites point ici de questions hors de saison. Appliquez-vous seulement à ce que j’ai à vous dire: ỷ. 26. J’aurois bien des choses à reprendre dans vous, &c. Louïs de Dieu : Est-ce d’aujourd’huy que je vous parle ? Etes-vous encore à me demander qui je suis, comme si vous ne me connoissiez pas ? Je voudrois le joindre à ce qui précède, de cette forte : ( ỷ. 24.) Si vous ne croyez point en moi, vous mourrez dans vôtre péché. ( ỷ. 25.) Les Juifs lui dirent : Et qui êtes-vous, pour nous parler de cette forte ? Jesus leur répondit : Je vous répète ce que je vous ai dit au commencement : Vous mourrez dans vôtre péché. ( ỷ. 26.) J’aurai bien des choses à dire contre vous, & à vôtre condamnation ; je fais que vous méprisez mes ménaces : mais celui qui m’a envoyé est infallible ; & je ne vous dis rien que ce que j’ai appris de lui. Ainsi ne regardez point mes discours comme des paroles dans l’air. Ils auront un effet sûr, & plus promt que vous ne croyez.
8:26
ỷ. 26. MULTA HABEO DE VOBIS LOQUI, ET JUDICARE. J’ai bien des choses à dire de vous, & à condamner en vous. Je pourrois relever ici toutes vos iniquitez, tous vos désordres, vôtre orgüeil, vôtre ambition, vôtre hypocrisie, vos fausses traditions ; je pourrois vous dire les raisons que j’ai d’avancer que vous mourrez dans vôtre péché ; je fais que dans l’endurcissement où vous êtes, vous ne tiendrez compte de mes discours : mais celui qui m’a envoyé est véritable ; & je ne dis dans le monde que ce que j’ai appris de lui.
8:28
ỷ. 28. CUM EXALTAVERTIS FILIUM HOMINIS. Lorsque vous aurez élevé en haut le Fils de l’Homme, & que vous l’aurez fait attacher à une croix, alors vous connoîtrez qui je suis. Les merveilles qui arriveront à ma mort, vous feront comprendre que je suis vraiment Fils de Dieu. En effet l’Evangile raconte que plusieurs de ceux qui furent prefens à ce qui se passa alors, s’en retournoiens à Jérusalem frappant leur poitrine ; & le Centenier voyant comme Jésus avoit crié en expirant, dit qu’assurément cet homme étoit Fils de Dieu. Après la descente du Saint-Esprit, plusieurs milliers de Juifs furent convertis à la prédication des Apôtres. Enfin le nombre des miracles de JESUS-CHRIST furent si grands, que les plus endurcis ne purent y faire quelque réflexion sérieuse, sans reconnoître qu’il étoit plus qu’un simple homme. Mais pour joindre ce verset à ce qui précede, suivant l’explication que nous lui avons donnée, il faut l’entendre ainsi : Je vous prédis que vous mourrez dans vôtre endurcissement, & dans vôtre péché ; & assurez-vous que mes menaces ne font ni vaines, ni sans fondement : car je ne dis que ce que mon Pere m’a enseigné. Et quand vous m’aurez élevé en croix, & que par ce crime vous aurez mis le comble à vos iniquitez, alors vous connoîtrez ce que je suis, & que je ne suis rien de moi-même, & que je ne dis que ce que mon Pere m’a appris. La colère de mon Pere éclattera d’une manière terrible contre vous, & vous apprendrez à ne mépriser pas mes menaces. Vous ferez une funeste expérience de leur vérité, & de leur certitude.
8:29
ỷ. 29. QUI ME MISIT MECUM EST. Celui qui m’a envoyé, est avec moi. Vous apprendrez que mon Pere ne m’abandonne jamais, que je ne suis qu’une même essence avec lui, & que je ne vous ai rien dit que ce que j’avois appris de lui. Il parle de foi-même selon la nature humaine : car comme Dieu il n’apprend rien de son Pere.
QUIA EGO QUÆ PLACITA SUNT EI, FACIO SEMPER. Parce que je fais toujours ce qui lui est agréable. Vous reconnoîtrez alors que je ne fais rien, & que je ne dis rien que ce que mon Pere a pour agréable. Je n’agis jamais sans lui; je ne parle jamais que par son Esprit. Il parle toujours comme homme. On peut aussi le joindre à ce qui précède, en ce sens : Mon Pere est toujours avec moi ; il ne m’a point laissé seul ; c’est pourquoi je fais toujours ce qui lui est agréable. Nous traduisons quia, par, c’est pourquoi. On fait qu’en plusieurs endroits quia, a cette signification.
8:30
ỷ. 30. MULTI CREDERUNT IN EUM. Lorsqu’il disoit ces choses, plusieurs crurent en lui. Ce discours qui ne fit que scandaliser les Pharisiens, & les affermir dans la résolution de le faire périr à quelque prix que ce fût, produisit un effet tout différent dans le cœur de plusieurs autres Juifs, qui crurent qu’il étoit véritablement le Messie, & le Fils de Dieu.
8:31
ỷ. 31. DICEBAT AD EOS QUI CREDIDERUNT EI. Il dit aux Juifs qui croyoient en lui. Il adressa sa parole à ceux qui avoient cru en lui. Apparemment que les Pharisiens s’étoient retirés, & qu’il ne demeura autour de lui que ceux qui étoient persuadés par ses discours. On verra par la suite que leur foi n’étoit pas fort bien affermie ; ou du moins que parmi ce nombre de croyans, il y en avoit beaucoup qui n’étoient pas sincèrement convertis. Voyez les versets 40. 44. 48. 52. 59.
SI MANSERITIS IN SERMONE MEO. Si vous demeurez, si vous persévérez dans la créance, & dans l’observation de ma parole, vous ferez véritablement mes Disciples. Il ne suffit pas de croire ; il faut pratiquer ma parole. Ce n’est point assez de la croire pour un tems; il faut persévérer dans cette créance jusqu’à la fin. La suite fera voir que plusieurs de l’assemblée avoient besoin de cet avis.
8:32
ỷ. 32. COGNOSCETIS VERITATEM, ET VERITAS LIBERABIT VOS. Vous connoîtrez la verité, & la vérité vous rendra libres. Vous attendez que le Messie vous affranchisse du joug des étrangers ; vous gémissiez depuis tant de siècles après vôtre Liberateur. Le jour de vôtre affranchissement est enfin arrivé. Croyez, embrassez la vérité ; la foi, la vérité vous mettront dans une parfaite liberté. Mais ne vous figurez pas une liberté purement temporelle, qui ne se termine qu’à vous délivrer du joug des Romains, & de la vexation des étrangers. La liberté que je vous annonce, est celle de l’ame dégagée du péché : Car ỷ. 34. quiconque commet le péché, est esclave du péché. Et quelle est cette vérité qui doit vous mettre en liberté ? C’est moi-même, c’est ma parole, c’est la foi que vous avez en ce que je vous dis.
8:33
ỷ. 33. SEMEN ABRAHÆ SUMUS. Nous sommes de la race d’Abraham, & nous n’avons jamais été esclaves de personne. Ridicule vanité des Juifs ! Ils se vantent de n’avoir jamais été esclaves, de n’avoir jamais été assujettis à personne; & toute leur histoire est pleine du récit de leur servitude en Egypte, dans la Caldée, sous les Perses, sous les Macédoniens, sous les Romains : Dum Asyrios penes, Medosque, & Persas oriens fuit, (Judai) despetissima pars servientium. Mais on peut donner un autre sens à leurs paroles, en prenant la servitude, & l’esclavage, comme un état permanent, une qualité intrinseque, qui change la condition d’un homme, & est un caračtere en quelque forte inessaçable, qui le rend incapable des dignitez, des prérogatives, & des priviléges attachez à la condition des personnes libres. En ce sens, les Juifs pouvoient dire qu’ils n’avoient point été esclaves. Leur nation étoit une nation libre, & qui ne reconnoissoit que le Seigneur pour Maître; ce qui n’excluoit pas la dépendance où ils pouvoient être à l’égard de leurs Rois, ou des Souverains étrangers. Et c’est apparemment ce qu’ils veulent dire en cet endroit (1): Comment dites-vous que nous serons affranchis? Est-ce que nous sommes des esclaves, qui ne peuvent disposer ni de leurs biens, ni de leurs personnes, ni de leurs enfans?
8:34
ỷ. 34. QUI FACIT PECCATUM, SERVUS EST PECCATI. Quiconque fait le péché, est esclave du péché. Voilà l’esclavage dont je voulois vous parler, & la liberté que je voulois vous procurer. Les iniquitez sont comme autant de liens qui enchainent l’impie, dit Salomon. Il est manifeste que chacun est esclave de celui par qui il s’est laissé vaincre, dit l’Apôtre saint Pierre; & celui qui commet le crime, n’est-il pas vaincu par sa concupiscence, & par le péché? Quelle plus grande servitude que celle-là? Encore un esclave peut-il demander de changer de Maître; il peut esperer que la mort de son Maître, ou la sienne mettront fin à ses maux; il peut se sauver par la fuite: Mais l’esclave du péché n’a aucun de ces moyens, pour se mettre en liberté; il ne lui reste que de se convertir, de recourir à Dieu, d’embrasser la foi, & la vérité: Veritas liberabit vos.
8:35
ỷ. 35. SERVUS NON MANET IN DOMO IN ÆTERNUM. NUM. L’esclave ne demeure pas toujours en la maison ; mais le fils y demeure toujours. Une différence essentielle entre l’esclave, & l’enfant de la maison, est que l’esclave n’est pas tellement attaché à la famille de son Maître, qu’il n’en puisse sortir. On peut le vendre, & l’échanger, le chasser, ou le donner. Mais le fils a toujours droit aux biens, & à la maison de son pere (&); & il ne peut en être exclus, qu’il ne soit déshérité; & on ne peut le déshériter sans raison. Dans le moral, l’esclave du péché ne demeure pas toujours dans la maison du pere. Le Juif incrédule, & infidèle peut être exclus de l’alliance des Patriarches, & chassé de la maison du Seigneur; pendant que le Gentil fidèle, & obéissant fera reçu au nombre des enfans, & adopté dans la maison du Seigneur. Ne vous flattez donc pas, comme si vous ne pouviez jamais déchoir de vôtre liberté. Si vous demeurez dans le péché, & que vous n’ayez pas la foi, vous ferez traités comme des esclaves. C’est une prédiction de la réprobation des Juifs, & de la vocation des Gentils. On peut aussi en faire l’application aux Chrétiens. Celui qui perd le don de la grace, & la liberté des enfans de Dieu, pour se rendre esclave du Démon, & du péché, ne doit pas espérer de demeurer éternellement dans le Ciel, qui est la maison des enfans de Dieu. Cette sainte demeure n’est que pour ceux qui font vraiment fidèles, & enfans du Pere Céleste.
8:36
ỷ. 36. SI VOS FILIUS LIBERAVERRIT. Si le Fils vous met en liberté, vous serez véritablement libres. Ce verset est corrélatif à celui où il a dit que la verité les délivrera; le Fils, sa vérité, sa parole, la foi que vous aurez en lui, fera le seul, & vrai moyen qui vous affranchira, & qui vous donnera la liberté dont je vous ai parlé; la justice, la charité, l’innocence.
8:37
ỷ. 37. FILII ABRAHÆ ESTIS : SED QUÆRITIS ME INTERFICERE. Je sai que vous êtes fils d’Abraham : mais vous voulez me faire mourir. Ces paroles ne peuvent naturellement s’adresser à ceux qui croyoient en JESUS-CHRIST, ỷ. 30. mais à d’autres Juifs qui étoient mêlez parmi eux. Vous me dites que vous êtes fils d’Abraham ; je ne le nie pas. Vous en concluez que vous n’êtes point esclaves. S’il s’agit de l’esclavage réel, & de l’assujettissement à un Maître temporel, je ne m’y opposerai pas : Mais je soutiens que vous êtes véritablement esclaves du péché ; parce que vous n’avez ni le Fils, ni la foi, ni la vérité, & que ma parole ne trouve point d’entrée en vous. Vous la rejetez, vous la méprisez, & vous cherchez à me faire mourir sans justice, sans raison, & par une pure jalousie, par une haine injuste : N’est-ce pas là être esclaves du péché ?
8:38
ỷ. 38. QUOD VIDI APUD PATREM MEUM LOQUOR. Je dis ce que j’ai vu dans mon Pere. Je ne parle pas en l’air ; je fais certainement la vérité de ce que je vous dis ; je vois le fond de vos ames ; je connois la mauvaise disposition de vos cœurs envers moi. Je ne vous dis rien que je n’aye vu dans le sein de mon Pere, moi qui suis la vérité éternelle, & un même Dieu avec lui.
VOS QUÆ VIDISTIS APUD PATREM VESTRUM FACITIS. Pour vous, vous faites ce que vous avez vu dans vôtre pere. La résolution que vous avez prise de me faire périr, n’est point une chose qui vous ait été inspirée par le bon Esprit. Ce n’est pas l’esprit de charité, de foi, & de vérité, qui vous y porte; c’est un dessein qui vient de vôtre pere, du Démon, de l’esprit de ténèbres, de l’auteur du péché (1) ; dont vous vous êtes rendus les esclaves : (ỷ. 44.) Vos ex patre Diabolo estis.
8:39
ỷ. 39. SI FILII ABRAHE ESTIS, OPERA ABRAHE FACITE. Si vous êtes les enfans d’Abraham, faites donc ce qu’a fait Abraham. Il ne vouloit pas d’abord leur dire qu’ils avoient tort de se vanter d’être les enfans d’Abraham, puisqu’ils dégénéroient de la vertu, & de la foi de ce grand Patriarche. Mais puisqu’ils insistoient sur leur origine, & qu’ils vantoient leur pere Abraham, le Sauveur leur dit : Si vous êtes enfans d’Abraham, quen’imitez vous la foi, l’obéïssance, la justice de vôtre pere ? ỷ. 40. Vous cherchez à me faire mourir, moi qui vous ai enseigné la vérité ; est-ce là ce qu’à fait Abraham ?
8:41
ỷ. 41. VOS FACITIS OPERA PATRIS VESTRI. Vous faites les œuvres de vôtre pere. Vous avez certainement un autre pere qu’Abraham, pour vous faire suivre une telle conduite. Ce pere n’est autre que le Démon, comme on l’a déja dit, & comme JESUS-CHRIST le marque expressement au ỷ. 44.
NOS EX FORNICATIONE NON SUMUS. Nous ne sommes pas des enfans bâtar ds ; nous n’avons qu’un pere, qui est Dieu. Nous femmes de vrais enfans d’Abraham ; nous ne dégénérons point de sa justice, & de sa Religion ; nous n’adorons point les Idoles, comme les autres nations ; & si vous prenez le nom du pere dans un sens moral, & spirituel, nous n’avons point d’autre pere que Dieu, qui déclare dans ses Ecritures que Jacob est son premier né, & que nous sommes son peuple choisi. C’est lui que nous appellons nôtre pere, nôtre Roi, nôtre Dieu.
8:42
ỷ. 42. SI DEUS PATER VESTER ESSET. Si Dieu étoit vôtre pere, vous m’aimeriez, parce que je suis sorti de Dieu, & que je suis venu en ce monde. Le Sauveur prouve que les Juifs ne sont pas enfans de Dieu, par ce raisonnement : Si vous étiez enfans de Dieu, vous l’aimeriez, & tout ce qui lui appartient, ce qui vient de lui, ce qui porte son caractère ; vous m’aimeriez par conséquent, moi qui suis sorti de Dieu, qui suis son Verbe, sa Vérité, son Fils, Dieu comme lui, & de même nature que lui ; qui suis sorti de lui par ma génération éternelle, & d’une manière plus sensible par ma génération temporelle.
8:43
ỷ. 43. QUARE LOQUELAM MEAM NON COGNOSCITIS ? Pourquoi ne connoissez-vous pas mon langage ? Si vous étiez les enfans de Dieu, vous entendriez son langage, vous feriez charmez qu’on vous parlât de lui, & de sa part. Mes discours ne font-ils pas manifestement des discours divins ? Parlai-je comme un homme ordinaire ? Les Prophètes vous parloient-ils un autre langage ? Leurs paroles étoient elles accompagnées de plus de prodiges, de plus de vertu, & de force, que les miennes ? Et toutefois vous ne reconnoissez point dans ma voix, celle de Dieu ; vous ne pouvez oüir ma parole, vous vous y opposez, vous la contredites; elle vous irrite, elle vous blesse, vous ne voulez point l’entendre : Undè audire non poterant, nisi quia corrigi credendo nolebant ?
8:44
ỷ. 44. VOS EX PATRE DIABOLO ESTIS. Vous êtes les enfans du Diable ; vous voulez accomplir les désirs de vôtre pere, en me donnant la mort. Comme il a été homicide, & menteur dès le commencement, en trompant la première femme, & en lui donnant à elle, à son mari, & à toute sa postérité, le coup de la mort ; ainsi vous haïssez la vérité, & vous cherchez à me faire mourir. Voilà des caractères certains que le Démon, le pere du mensonge, & l’auteur de la mort, est vôtre pere ; c’est-à-dire, vôtre modèle, celui dont vous portez le caractère, & dont vous suivez l’esprit, & les impressions. Les Manichéens concluoient de ce passage, qu’il y avoit deux principes ; l’un bon, l’autre mauvais ; l’un de Dieu, l’autre du Démon.
IN VERITATE NON STETIT. Il n’est point demeuré dans la vérité ; parce que la vérité n’est point en lui. Comme le Démon est un menteur, & qu’il a séduit la première femme par un mensonge ; ainsi vous êtes les ennemis de la vérité que je vous prêche ; vous ne pouvez la souffrir ; vous la persécutez. D’autres l’expliquent ainsi : Le Démon ayant été créé dans la droiture, dans la justice, dans la vérité, dans l’innocence; n’y a pas perfévré. Il s’est élevé d’orgüeil; il a prétendu devenir semble au Très-Haut; c’est pourquoi il est déchu de son bonheur, & de sa gloire: Dien réserve pour le jugemens du grandjour les Anges qui n’ont pas conservé leur première dignité; mais qui ont quitté leur propre demeure. La première explication est plus litterale.
CUM LOQUITUR MENDACIUM, EX PROPRIIS LO- QUITUR, QUIA MENDAX EST, ET PATER EIUS. Lorsqu’il dit l: mensonge, il dit ce qu’il trouve dans lui-même; car il est menteur, & pere du mensonge. C’est-là le caractère du Démon; ne demeurer pas dans la vérité, dire le mensonge, & le faire dire aux autres, être menteur, & pere du mensonge. Lorsque les hommes font le mensonge, ils le sont à l’instigation du Démon: mais quand le Démon le fait, il le fait de son propre mouvement: Ex propriis loquitur. Il n’a point d’autre Maître que lui-même; c’est par lui qu’est venu le mensonge; il l’a apporté dans le monde: & s’il dit quelquefois la vérité, il ne la dit que par contrainte, ou pour tromper. Il est toujours menteur, & pere du mensonge; il n’aime ni la vérité, ni la justice. Saint Epiphane sur ce qui est dit ci-devant que Judas étoit Diable: Unus ex vobis Diabolus est, a crû que c’étoit lui dont le Sauveur vouloit parler en cet endroit. Il dit que les Juifs sont appellez ses enfans: Vos ex patre Diabolo estis; parce qu’ils ont mieux aimé imiter l’incrédulité, & le crime de Judas leur pere, que de s’attacher à JESUS-CHRIST, qui leur prêchoit la vérité, & qui la confirmoit par tant de prodiges. Judas étoit un homicide, & un traître; il n’a pas demeuré dans la vérité; il a abandonné son Maître, & s’est livré à l’avarice, & au crime. Les Caïanites, & les Archontiques dans le même saint Epiphane lisoient ainsi le Texte du ỷ. 44. Vous êtes les enfins de vôtre pere le Démon; parce qu’il est menteur, & que son pere est menteur. Il étoit homicide, & il n’est point demeuré dans la vérité. Quand il parle, il prosère le mensonge de son propre fond; parce que son pere est menteur. Caffien lit de même. Voici les les conséquences que les Caïanites tiroient de ce passage. Ils disoient que le pere des Juifs étoit un Diable ; que celui-ci avoit pour pere un autre Démon, & celui-ci encore un autre; enforte que le pere de celui qui donna la Loi à Moyse, étoit aussi lui-même un mauvais Démon. Les Archontiques soutenoient que Caïn étoit né d’un Démon, & d’Eve; qu’il étoit cet homicide dès le commencement, dont il est parlé ici; que les Juifs étoient fortis de la race de Caïn; que le Démon pere de Caïn, & auteur de la nation des Hébreux, étoit né de Sabaoth Dieu des Juifs. Ce sont-là des rêveries indignes d’une sérieuse réfutation. Il est certain que plusieurs anciens Peres lisoient dans le Grec: Il est menteur, aussi-bien que son pere: Ce qui conduit à dire que le Démon a été produit par un mauvais principe, & par un autre Démon. Grotius supposant que le Diable qui tenta Eve, n’étoit pas le Prince des Démons; mais quelque Ange de Satan, semblable à celui qui affligeoit saint Paul, dit que ce mauvais Ange est menteur aussi-bien que son pere, que son Chef, & son Prince Lucifer. Le nom de pere se prend quelquefois dans l’Ecriture au sens de Prince, & de Maître. Satan a entraîné les autres Démons dans sa révolte, & dans son crime. Il est appellé le Prince des Démons, le Prince des Puifances de l’air, le Prince de ce monde. Il est menteur, & homicide dès le commencement, puisque c’est par ses ordres, & par son organe que le tentateur a séduit la première femme, & lui a causé la mort. Il ne manque à cela qu’une bonne preuve, que ce ne soit pas le Prince des Démons qui ait tenté Eve.
8:45
ỷ. 45. EGO AUTEM, SI VERITATEM DICO. Mais pour moi, quoique je vous dise la vérité, vous ne me croyez point. Vous croyez au pere du mensonge, qui vous anime contre moi, & vous ne me croyez pas, moi qui vous dis la vérité. Il étoit aisé aux Juifs, s’ils avoient voulu examiner les choses de sang froid, & sans prévention, de reconnoître que JESUS-CHRIST ne leur disoit que la vérité, & que ce n’étoit que la passion, l’envie, la haine, le mauvais esprit qui les portoient à lui dresser des piéges, & à chercher à le perdre.
8:46
ỷ. 46. QUI EX VOBIS ARGUET ME DE PECCATO? Qui d’vous me peut convaincre d’aucun péché? Si disant la vérité comme je vous la dis, je ne mérite point vôtre créance, c’est peut-être que je décrédié par ma conduite, les véritez que j’annonce; c’est que ma vie ne répond pas à mes paroles. Mais vous ne pouvez former contre moi cette objection ; car qui de vous peut m’accuser d’aucun péché ? Vôtre passion attentive à observer toutes mes démarches, y a-t’elle trouvé la moindre chose à reprendre ? Si donc je vous dis la vérité, pourquoi ne me croyez-vous pas ?
8:47
ỷ. 47. QUI EX DEO EST, VERBA DEI AUDIT. Ce-lui qui est Dieu, entend les paroles de Dieu. C’est la même chose que qu’il leur a déjà dit ci-devant, versets 42. 43. Si Dieu étoit vôtre pere, vous m’aimeriez ; parce que je suis fort de lui… Pourquoi n’entendez-vous pas mon langage, & pourquoi ne pouvez-vous pas oüir ma parole ? Vous êtes les enfans du Diable. Si vous étiez les enfans, & les serviteurs de Dieu, vous écouteriez la parole que je vous dis de sa part; & ce qui fait que vous ne l’entendez pas, c’est que vous n’êtes point à Dieu, vous ne l’aimez point, vous ne goûtez point les choses de Dieu. Vôtre esprit rempli de nuages, vôtre cœur plein d’amertume, & de haine, ne peut voir, ne peut sentir la vérité que je vous annonce.
8:48
ỷ. 48. NONNE BENE DICIMUS NOS, QUIA SAMARITANUS ES? N’avons-nous pas raison de dire que vous êtes un Samaritain, & que vous êtes posédé du Démon? Nous ne voyons pas dans l’Evangile de saint Jean, ni ailleurs, que les Juifs ayent jamais appellé JESUS-CHRIST Samaritain, hors cette seule occasion. Quand donc ils avoient ici qu’ils lui ont donné cette injure, il faut croire qu’ils la lui ont véritablement donnée; mais seulement en secret, & non en sa présence; d’où vient que les Evangélistes n’en ont rien dit. Appeller un homme Samaritain, ou Chutéen, étoit l’appeller profane, schismatique, hérétique, ennemi juré de la nation des Hébreux. Dans le Talmud le nom de Chutéen se donne aux hommes profanes, & impies, à peu près de même que dans les Prophètes, celui de Cananéen, & de Héthéen: Semen Canaan, & non Juda: Race de Canaan, & non de Juda. Et: Vôtre pere étoit Amorrhéen, & vôtre mere Hébéenne. Et encore: Ecoutez la parole du Seigneur, Princes de Sodome; prêtez l’oreille, peuple de Gommorrhe. Ils prenoient pretexte de lui donner le nom de Samaritain, de ce qu’il n’avoit pas le même éloignement de ce peuple, que les Juifs en témoignoient; qu’il logeoit quelquefois dans leurs villes, qu’il avoit demeuré quelques jours à Sichem, qu’il leur prêchoit la parole de Dieu, & ne les excluoit point du salut, pourvu qu’ils se convertissent; peut-être aussi parce qu’il ne témoignoit pas un aussi grand respect qu’ils l’auroient voulu, pour leurs cérémonies, & leurs traditions. Ils disent aussi qu’il est possédé du Démon; injure qu’ils lui avoient déjà dit le jour précédent, Chap. VII. 20. Ils vouloient marquer qu’il ne savoit ce qu’il disoit, qu’il étoit en fureur, & hors de lui-même.
8:49
ỷ. 49. EGO DÆMONIUM NON HABEO. Je ne suis point possédé du Démon ; mais j’honore mon Pere. Il ne répond point à la première injure : Vous êtes un Samaritain ; parce qu’elle étoit frivole, & qu’on ne pouvoit raisonnablement douter qu’il ne fut Juif de naissance, & de Religion. Mais il répond à la seconde : Vous êtes possédé du Démon, avec une douceur, & une mansuétude toute divine : Je ne suis point possédé du Démon, dit-il ; mes discours ne sont pas les discours d’un insensé, & d’un furieux. S’il y a quelque chose qui vous y paroisse extraordinaire, & si je vous annonce des véritez nouvelles, c’est que je rends gloire à mon Pere, & que je ne retiens pas ses véritez cachées dans un silence criminel. Je préfère la gloire de mon Pere à votre satisfaction, à mon propre repos. J’exécute au péril de ma vie l’emploi qu’il m’a confié.
8:50
ỷ. 50. EGO NON QUÆRO GLORIAM MEAM. Je ne recherche point ma gloire dans tout ce que je dis, & ce que je fais. Ce n’est ni la vanité, ni l’ambition, ni l’intérêt qui me font agir. Je n’aid’autre vûë que de procurer la gloire de celui qui m’a envoyé, & le salut de ceux à qui je suis envoyé. Quant à ma gloire, c’est à mon Pere à la procurer par les voix qu’il jugera les plus convenables. Autrement : Lorsque je me défens de l’accusation que vous formez contre moi, en disant que je suis possédé du Démon, je ne cherche ni ma gloire, ni ma vengeance ; je défens seulement l’honneur de celui qui m’a envoyé. Quant à moi, je lui remets le soin de mes interêts ; il saura procurer ma gloire, & venger l’injustice qui m’est faite.
8:51
ỷ. 51. SI QUI SERMONEM MEUM SERVAVERT, MORTEM NON VIDEBIT IN ÆTERNUM. Si quelqu’un garde ma parole, il ne mourra jamais. Vous m’accusez d’être possédé du Démon, parce que je vous enseigne une doctrine à laquelle vous n’êtes pas accoûtumé: mais je ne dis que la vérité, je rends l’honneur à mon Pere, j’exécute ses ordres, & les paroles que je vous dis, sont des paroles de vie (1), Qui-conque les observe, ne mourra point. Moye promet une longue vie, à ceux qui observent les Loix qu’il a données; il leur promet des biens, & des prospérités temporelles: & moi je vous promets une vie, & un bonheur éternel. Croyez en mes paroles, gardez-les, observez mes ordonnances, & vous ne mourrez point de la mort de l’ame, de la seconde mort..
8:52
ỷ. 52. ABRAHAM MORTUUS EST. Abraham est mort, & vous nous dites que celui qui gardera vos paroles, ne mourra point? Prétendez-vous être plus privilégié que ni Abraham, ni les Prophètes qui sont morts? Ces grands Hommes n’ont-ils pas observé les ordonnances du Seigneur? & toutefois la mort ne les a pas épargnez. Nous donnerez-vous des commandemens plus grands que ceux de Dieu même? Etes-vous au-dessus de Dieu? Vos Disciples auront-ils un privilége de ne pas mourir, que n’ont pas eu les plus grands Saints, & les plus fidèles serviteurs de Dieu? Tout ce raisonnement roule sur un faux principe; ils supposent que JESUS-CHRIST parle d’une vie temporelle, & il l’entend de la vie de l’ame, & de la vie éternelle.
8:54
ỷ. 54. SI EGO GLORIFICIO MEIPSUM. Si jeme glorifie moi-même, ma gloire n’est rien. Si ce que je vous dis, je le dis de moi-même, & si je me vante de vous le donner par ma propre vertu, & indépendamment du Pere; si dans tout ceci je cherche à me mettre en crédit, & à me procurer de la gloire, & de l’estime de la part des hommes, comme sont les faux Prophètes, & les séducteurs, qui promettent tout, & ne tiennent rien; si cela est, ne me croyez point, & méprisez mes discours. Personne n’est crû dans sa propre cause. C’est mon Pere qui me glorifie, c’est lui qui fait éclatter dans moi sa puissance par les prodiges que je fais à vos yeux, & par la vérité que je vous annonce. Et ne dites pas que ce Pere vous est inconnu, & que je vous parle énigme; ce Pere est le Dieu que vous adorez. Si vous le connoissiez, vous me connoitriez aussi, & vous remarqueriez dans ma personne tous les caractères de son Fils & de son Messie.
8:55
ỷ. 55. SI DIXERO QUIA NON SCIO EUM. Si je disois que je ne le connois point, je ferois un menteur comme vous. Vous ne connoissiez point vôtre Dieu, ni celui qui est envoyé en son nom: pour moi je connois Dieu mon Pere, & si je disois que je ne le connois pas, je ferois aussi menteur que vous l’êtes en disant que vous le connoissez. Si vous le connoissiez véritablement, vous observeriez les préceptes; & moi je le connois, & je pratique fidèlement ce qu’il ordonne. JESUS-CHRIST parle ici comme homme.
8:56
ỷ. 56. ABRAHAM PATER VESTER EXULTAVIT UT VIDERET DIEM MEUM. Abraham vôtre pere a désiré avec ardeur de voir mon jour, ma venue dans le monde, mon incarnation, ma naissance, ma manifestation dans Israël, ou même ma mort, & ma passion; il a attendu avec empressement le tems de la délivrance de tout le monde; il l’a vû, & il s’en est réjoui; il l’a vû en esprit, Dieu le lui a révélé, il a trouvé dans la naissance de son fils Isaac, & dans la délivrance miraculeuse de ce cher fils, lorsqu’il étoit sur le bucher prêt à être immolé, il a trouvé dans ces figures des preuves qui l’assuroient de l’accomplissement des anciennes promesses faites aux Patriarches. La vivacité de sa foi lui a rendu présent un événement qui étoit si éloigné. Quelques-uns croyent que ce Patriarche, & les autres qui étoient détenus dans les Limbes, eurent dans ces lieux connoissance de l’incarnation, & de la venue du Messie; ils l’apprirent avec une effusion de joie infinie, ils la virent, & s’en réjouirent tous. JESUS CHRIST prouve ici deux choses : La premiere, qu’il est plus grand qu’Abraham, contre ce que lui avoient dit les Juifs, ỷ. 52. 53. Et la seconde, que les Juifs ne sont pas vrais fils d’Abraham, puisqu’ils taitent avec mépris, & reçoivent avec indifférence celui que leur pere Abraham a désiré avec tant d’ardeur, & dont il a appris la venue avec tant de joie.
8:57
ỷ. 57. QUINQUAGINTA ANNOS NONDUM HABES. Vous n’avez pas encore cinquante ans, & vous avez vû Abraham. Quelques-uns ont lû quarante ans, au lieu de cinquante : mais la leçon de cinquante est la seule véritable, suivie par toute l’Antiquité, à l’exception de saint Chrysostome, de l’Auteur du Dialogue sur la Trinité parmi les Oeuvres de saint Athanase, & d’un petit nombre d’Exemplaires Grecs, dont parle Euthyme. JESUS-CHRIST avoit alors trente-cinq ans moins deux mois, ou trente-quatre ans, & huit mois à peu près. Ceci arriva le 17. Octobre de la trente-cinquième année, laquelle finit au 25. Decembre. Ainsi il s’en falloit deux mois, & huit jours qu’il n’eût trente-cinq ans accomplis. Nous suivons en cela la supputation des plus habiles Chronologistes, qui supposent que le Sauveur est mort au milieu de la trente-sixième année, trente-troisième de l’Ere Vulgaire, dans laquelle on met sa naissance trois ans plus tard qu’il ne faut. Nous n’entrepreñons point d’entrer sur cela dans une grande discussion. On peut consulter ceux qui ont traité cette matière exprès. Nous nous contenterons ici de faire voir que les anciens Peres n’ont point été uniformes sur l’âge de notre Sauveur. L’opinion qui ne lui donne que trente-trois ans & demie de vie, n’est reçûe dans l’Eglise Latine que depuis le sixième siécle ; & quoique depuis ce tems-là, ce sistème ait été assez suivi, on n’a pas laissé de s’en éloigner fort souvent ; & l’Eglise n’a jamais fait de Loi sur cette matière ; elle l’a laissée à l’examen, & aux disputes des Savans, & des Chronologistes. Saint Irénée dit que le Sauveur a-voit plus de quarante ans, lorsqu’il parloit aux Juifs, qui lui dirent : Vous n’avez pas encore cinquante ans, &c. Hoc dicitur ei qui quadraginta annos excessit ; quinquaginta autem nondum at-sigit : Non tamen multùm à quinquaginta abstitit. Saint Clément d’Alexandrie ne reconnoît que trente ans d’âge à JESUS-CHRIST, & une seule année de prédication. Tertullien ne lui donne aussi qu’environ trente ans au tems de la Passion : Passus est Christus, annos habens quasi triginta cùm pateretur. Ce que saint Jérôme a rapporté, écrivant sur le Chap. ix. de Daniel. Origènes dit que l’on donna à Judas la somme de trente sicles, qui égaloit le nombre des années que le Sauveur avoit vécu dans le monde. Il ne lui compte qu’une année de prédication, non plus que saint Clément d’Alexandrie. Jules Africain, contemporain d’Origènes,, & qui commença parmi les Chrétiens de s’appliquer à la Chronologie, met la mort de JESUS-CHRIST en l’an quinzième de Tibère, & environ le trentième du Sauveur. Hyppolite Evêque de Porto, étoit dans la même opinion, comme on le voit par la supputation de son Cycle. L’Auteur de l’ancienne Chronique dressée sous Sévère, & publiée dans Canisius, ne met que trente ans entre la naissance, & la mort de JESUS-CHRIST. L’âstance étoit dans la même opinion. Eusèbe de Césarée ne lui donne que trente un ans, & quelques mois, ou au plus trente-deux ans de vie, Philastre Evêque de Brefle, trente un ans; saint Epiphane, trente deux, & soixante-quatorze jours; Apollinaire de Laodicée, trente-deux ans. Saint Chrysostome, & Euthyme, sans fixer son âge, croyent qu’il avoit près de quarante ans, lorsqu’il souffrit; Sulpice Sévère, trente-deux ans; l’ancien Auteur de l’hymne, Eusfris sex qui jam peractis, que les uns attribuent à saint Ambroise, & les autres à Sedulius, trente ans passez. Saint Jérôme, & saint Augustin, qui placent la mort du Sauveur sous le Consulat des deux Geminus, à l’imitation de Tertullien, & sous la quinzième année de Tibère, lui donnent environ trente ans de vie; Paul Orofe, trente-un, ou au plus trente-deux ans; saint Prosper, ou l’Auteur du Livre de Predictionibus, Viétorius d’Aquitaine, & Idacius, trente ans; Cassiodore, trente-trois; Jornandes, Isidore de Séville, Réginon Abbé de Prum, Lambert de Schafnaburg, trente-deux ans; la Chronique d’Alexandrie, trente-trois ans, & trois mois; saint Maxime Martyr, trente-trois, & quatrevingt-neuf jours. Saint Bernard porte trente ans en deux endroits, & trente-trois en deux autres endroits; Pierre Lombard, & Pierre Comestor, trente-deux ans, & trois mois, On peut consulter les Remarques qui font jointes à la Chronologie, qui est imprimée à la fin de la Grande Bible Latine de Vitré. De tout cela il s’enfuit que l’année de la mort de JESUS-CHRIST, & la durée de sa vie n’ont jamais été fixées dans l’Eglise. Mais si le Sauveur n’avoit que trente-cinq ans, lorsqu’il parloit aux Juifs, comment lui dirent-ils qu’il n’avoit pas encore cinquante ans? De trente-cinq à cinquante il y a une grande distance. On répond que les travaux du Sauveur, & la vie mortifiée lui donnoient un air de vieillard, & le faisoient plus âgé qu’il n’étoit en effet. Ou ils lui donnent plus d’âge qu’il n’en a, afin d’en conclure plus sûrement, & plus efficacement contre lui qu’il ne pouvoit avoir vû Abraham, car s’il ne l’avoit pû voir âgé de cent, ou de cinquante ans, à plus forte raison, s’il n’étoit âgé que de trente-cinq ans.
8:58
ỷ. 58. ANTEQUAM FIERET ABRAHAM EGO SUM. J’suis avant qu’Abraham fût au monde. Je suis de toute éternité; j’ai existé avant tous les siecles. Vous ne considérez dans moi que l’homme qui vous parle, & qui paroît à vos yeux depuis un certain tems. Mais outre cette nature humaine que vous croyez connoître, il y a dans moi une nature divine, & éternelle. Les deux réunies subsistent ensemble dans ma personne. Abraham a sù les distinguer. Il m’a adoré comme son Dieu; il m’a désiré comme son Sauveur. Il m’a vû dans mon éternité; il m’a prédit dans ma venue au monde.
8:59
ỷ. 59. TULERUNT LAPIDES. Ils prirent des pierres pour le lapider ; suivant la Loi qui ordonne de lapider les blasphémateurs. JESUS-CHRIST, qui se faisoit égal à Dieu, étoit blasphémateur dans leur idée.
JESUS AUTEM ABSCONDIT SE. Mais Jesus se cacha; & sortit du Temple. Il se retira un peu à l’écart, & se rendit invisible à leurs yeux; après quoi, il sortit tranquillement, & s’en alla hors du Temple : Car comment auroit-il pû se cacher dans le Temple, en se sauvant dans quelque endroit secret, & inconnu, étant environné comme il l’étoit de ses ennemis? Mais d’où ces gens prirent-ils des pierres? Quelques-uns croyent que comme on bâtissoit en cet endroit, il y avoit là des pierres en quantité. D’autres veulent qu’ils en ayent rencontré dans le parvis même du Temple : D’autres enfin, qu’ils coururent aux pierres hors du parvis; & que pendant ce tems, le Sauveur eut le loisir de se retirer, & de se mettre à couvert de leur violence. Le Texte Grec porte qu’il sortit du Temple, passant au milieu d’eux, & se retira ainsi : Ce qui favorise beaucoup le sentiment qui reconnoît ici un miracle pareil à celui qui arriva, lorsque les habitans de Nazareth voulurent précipiter le Sauveur à bas de leur montagne. Il se rendit invisible, & passa au milieu d’eux, sans qu’ils pussent l’arrêter. D’autres veulent qu’il ait passé au milieu de la troupe de ses Disciples, & du peuple qui croyoit en lui, & qu’à la faveur de cette multitude, qui se ferra autour de lui, il échappa à la fureur de ses ennemis. Mais ces mots : Passant au milieu d’eux, il se retira ainsi, ne se lisent ni dans la Vulgate, ni dans saint Chrysostome, ni dans saint Cyrille, ni dans saint Augustin, ni dans un bon nombre de Manuscrits ; & il y a d’habiles Interprètes qui les croyent fourrez en cet endroit.
8:1
… Against this conjecture cf. B. H. Streeter, The Four Gospels, London 1936, p. 344 ff. Th. Zahn attributes to A., besides Mc. 16, 14-16, the pericope of the adulteress in Io. 8, 1-11, while J. Chapman, basing himself on analogies with Mc. 16, 9-20, makes A. the author also of the epistle to the Hebrews.
… The pericope of the adulteress would have passed from the Gospel of the Nazarenes into Jn. 8:1-11.
… disciples, is welcomed at Bethany by Martha and Mary (Lk. 10:1-42), teaches the Pater noster (ibid. 11:1-13); on arriving in Jerusalem he teaches in the Temple and manifests himself solemnly on the last day of the feast (Jn. 7:2-53), frees the adulteress (ibid. 8:1-11). The events that follow in John fit well between the feast of Tabernacles and the feast of Dedication and are the dispute in the Temple (Jn. 8:12-59), the healing of the man born …
8:3
Adultery (from Latin adulterium, i.e., according to a probable etymology, ad alterum torum accessus)
… religious foundations the institution of marriage elevated to the dignity of a sacrament, were bound to influence profoundly the primitive conception of adultery, not only in the sense of a milder repression in view of a possible efficacious repentance (John 8:3-11), but also and above all in the sense of an absolute equalization of mutual rights and duties between man and woman (I Cor. 7:4). The adultery of the husband was therefore held by …
8:5
… To prescriptions of the Pentateuch as of Moses the contemporaries of Christ likewise appeal: the Pharisees (Matt. 19:7; John 8:5; Acts 6:14), the Sadducees (Matt. 22:24), the disciples (John 1:45). The conviction passes to the Apostles (Acts 3:22; Rom. 10:5, 19; 1 Cor. 9:9 etc.) and to the first believers (Acts 7:37; 28:23).
8:12
… I have more understanding than the elders, because I observe your commandments »; Prov. 9:10: « The beginning of wisdom is the fear of Yahweh; and understanding is the knowledge of the Holy One »; in Jn. 8:12, Jesus says: « He who follows me does not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life ».
… Temple and manifests himself solemnly on the last day of the feast (Jn. 7:2-53), frees the adulteress (ibid. 8:1-11). The events that follow in John fit well between the feast of Tabernacles and the feast of Dedication and are the dispute in the Temple (Jn. 8:12-59), the healing of the man born blind (ibid. 9:1-41); the parable of the Good Shepherd (ibid. 10:1-21). Between Oct., the feast of Tabernacles, and Dec., the feast of Dedication (ibid. …
John, Apostle, Evangelist, Saint
… 18:37); ἐκ τοῦ διαβόλου εἶναι (I Jn. 3:8 = Jn. 8:44); ἐκ θεοῦ εἶναι (I Jn. 3:4, 1 = Jn. 7:17; 8:47); ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου εἶναι (I Jn. 4:5 = Jn. 3:23); ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου λαλεῖν (I Jn. 4:5 = Jn. 3:31); τῆς γῆς, ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ, ἐν τῷ σκότει περιπατεῖν (I Jn. 2:11 = Jn. 8:12; 12:35). Likewise "life" (α) is Christ (Jn. 1:4; [6:48]; 11:25; 14:6 = I Jn. 1:1 f.; 5:11, 20); the "light" φῶς is God and Christ (Jn. 1:4, 5, 7; 3:19 = I Jn. 1:5, 7; 2:8).
Primacy of Saint Peter and of the Roman Pontiff
To this it cannot be objected that the New Testament knows only one foundation of the Church (Jn. 2:19; I Cor. 3:11), since Jesus, who had declared himself the light of the world (Jn. 8:12; 9:5; 12:46), designated the Apostles as the light of the world (Mt. 5:14), nor can the rebuke of Christ to the Apostles who were disputing about primacy in the Kingdom of heaven be …
8:20
Jesus taught in the g., that is, in its vicinity (Jn. 8:20). He praised the widow who threw into the g. two small coins (leptā), "all that she possessed," unlike the vain rich who threw in much but "out of their surplus" (Mk. 12:41-44; Lk. 21:1-4).
8:23
… (that fly) in the lower atmosphere (ἐν τοῖς ἐσονρανίοις)" (Eph. 6:12; cf. Rom. 8:38; I Cor. 15:24), who govern all those who do not belong to God (Io. 15:19; 17:14; I Io. 4:4-5). As ruler of this world, S. has nothing in Jesus, who is not of the world (Io. 8:23; 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; 17:14-16); S. cannot harm the children of God (I Io. 5:18). S. confesses that his power is derived (Lc. 4:6). He is a tempter who knows how to exploit even Scripture …
8:24
… will not die eternally» (Jn 11:26; 5:24; 6 passim); in the eyes of Christ the sin par excellence is the voluntary rejection of faith (Jn 16:9) and men therefore become righteous and remain sinners according as they believe or do not believe (Jn 3:18; 8:24; cf. 1:34; 3:31).
… 1ᵃ-2ᵃᵒ, q. 113, a. 3; De Veritate, q. 28, a. 3-4). Scripture is explicit: God invites man to awake, to rise up (Eph. 5:14), to repent, to be converted (Is. 45:28), to believe (Mk. 1:15), without which there is no justification but death (Lk. 13:3-5; Jn. 8:24; 20:31). It is the sinner himself who must perform these acts, urged and aided by actual Grace, which is a divine call and impulse. …
8:25
… If it is proved that a reading of the V. (cf. Jn. 8, 25; 1 Jn. 5, 7) has no counterpart in the original, the text cannot be presented as a scriptural argument, while still preserving its doctrinal value because it is the expression of …
8:28
… already fixed in the ground, where he was attached by the piercing of the feet (v. CROCE, IV. La Crocifissione di G.); cf. the words of J. himself about six months earlier, at the feast of Tabernacles of the year 28: "when you lift up the Son of Man" (Io. 8, 28), and at the beginning of the public life to Nicodemus, with reference to the royal prophecy (type) of the serpent (ibid. 3, 14); for the piercing of the feet and hands cf. Ps. 21 …
8:31
Religions, Comparative Study of
… St. Augustine in particular strove to make this understood (cf. E. Portalié, Augustin, in DThC, I, coll. 2332-34). The evidences of faith, to the extent that this term can be used, are the sure reward of a life strictly regulated by faith (Jn. 7:17; 8:31; 14:21), the experimental proof of its transcendence.
8:33
… to a sick woman and to Zacchaeus this title "son of A.," of which the Jews were particularly proud (Lk. 13, 16; 10, 9; Mt. 3, 9; Lk. 3, 8; Jn. 8, 39), but he declares that it is not carnal descent, but rather the imitation of A.'s works, that counts (Jn. 8, 33-44). A. is in heaven (Lk. 13, 28) and Jews and gentiles will rest in his "bosom" (Lk. 13, 28; 16, 22-30).
8:34
… He describes the messianic age, in which persecutions and tribulations give occasion for faithful "testimony" after the example of Jesus (1:5), until the judgment of God takes the place of human tribunals (cf. John 3:14-21; 5:20-29; 8:34-36; 15:18-27; 16:16-33; 17:9-23).
… Sin holds them beneath itself as slaves (Rom. 6:17, 20; John 8:34; 2 Pet. 2:19); they are subject to the devil as subjects to their head (John 12:31; 14:30). The devil is the god (θεός) "of this world" (2 Cor. 4:4; 1 Cor. 2:6; Gal. 2:15).
S., who sinned from the beginning (I Io. 3:8), is the agent of sin (Rom. 6:12-14; Io. 8:34), by which he makes man a slave (Io. 8:34) and assimilates him to himself (Io. 6:70; Judas). …
8:39
… (Lk. 1, 55-73), which are fulfilled in Jesus, "son" of the patriarch (Mt. 1, 1; Lk. 3, 34). Jesus himself gives to a sick woman and to Zacchaeus this title "son of A.," of which the Jews were particularly proud (Lk. 13, 16; 10, 9; Mt. 3, 9; Lk. 3, 8; Jn. 8, 39), but he declares that it is not carnal descent, but rather the imitation of A.'s works, that counts (Jn. 8, 33-44). A. is in heaven (Lk. 13, 28) and Jews and gentiles will rest in …
8:44
… Death was threatened to the first parents as the penalty for the transgression of a divine precept, and since the transgression occurred, the threat had its effect (Gen. 2:17; 3:3). Thus death entered the world because of sin (Wis. 2:23-24; Jn. 8:44; Rom. 5:12; I Cor. 15:21-22; Heb. 9:27). Not that death is not natural to man, a creature complex in his bodily organism, naturally subject to corruption; but he would have been preserved …
… Jesus said to his disciples: "I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning" (Lk. 10:18). The devil fell because he "did not persevere in the truth" (Jn. 8:44). St. Peter speaks expressly of "angels who have sinned and whom God cast down into hell" (2 Pt. 2:4). And St. Jude (v. 6) alludes to the "angels who did not keep their principality, …
… adversary in court" (1 Pt. 5:8). Meanwhile he tempts men and deceives them to prevent their union with God; he frustrates God's ways for the salvation of men (Mt. 13:19, 30). Hence the opposition between "the children of the d." and "the children of God" (Jn. 8:44, 47 [Judas is a d.: 6:71]; 1 Jn. 3:8, 10), the former performing the "works of the d." (Acts 13:10) which are summed up in imposture or seduction (Jn. 8:44; 1 Tim. 4:2; Rev. 12:9; 20:9; …
The whole teaching of the Old and New Testaments echoes it (Apoc. 2:7; Prov. 3:18; 11:30; etc.; Wis. 2:23 ff.; Io. 8:44; Rom. 5:12, 14; I Cor. 15:21 ff., etc.). …
John, Apostle, Evangelist, Saint
… γεννηθῆναι ἄνωθεν ἐκ θεοῦ, εἶναι ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου, περιπατεῖν ἐν σκοτίᾳ (νυκτί), παράκλητος, ἁμαρτία, τεκνίον (and Gal. 4:19), τιθέναι ψυχὴν ἑαυτοῦ (I Jn. 3:16; Jn. 10:11, 17 f., 15:13). Other terms and phrases occur commonly: ποιεῖν τὴν ἀλήθειαν (I Jn. 1:6 = Jn. 8:44); οὐκ ἔστιν ἡ ἀλήθεια ἐν τινι (I Jn. 1:8; 2:4 = Jn. 8:44); ἐκ τῆς ἀληθείας εἶναι (I Jn. 2:21 = Jn. 18:37); ἐκ τοῦ διαβόλου εἶναι (I Jn. 3:8 = Jn. 8:44); ἐκ θεοῦ εἶναι (I Jn. 3:4, 1 …
… Christ" (II Cor. 4:41), by means of the captious "wisdom of this world" (I Cor. 2:6) and the "depths of S." (Apoc. 2:24). "The tempter" (ὁ παρᾶς ἄννε: I Thess. 3:5; I Cor. 7:5; cf. Mt. 4:1-3) induces men to lie to God (Act. 5:3); his method is falsehood (Io. 8:44) and to seduce he "transfigures himself into an angel of light" (II Cor. 11:14). Against his seductions (II Cor. 2:11) and violence, against the "synagogues" of the followers of S. …
… order (Jn. 19:11), Jesus and his own are in struggle with the world of power and wealth, which hates and persecutes them (Jn. 15:18-25); despite the infinite love of God who has sent his Only-begotten to it, the world remains a son of Satan (Jn. 3:16-18; 8:44, 48) who is darkness and death, while God is light and life (Is. 9:2; Lk. 1:79; Jn. 1:4-10; Eph. 5:8, 14).
"the sons of the kingdom," that is, those who accept the evangelical word announcing the Kingdom of God, the zizania are "the sons of the evil one," who have the devil for their father (Jn. 8:44); the enemy who sowed it is "the devil," the harvest is "the end of the world," the reapers are "the angels" who will be sent by the Son of Man to punish the wicked with the fire of …
8:45
… the Samaritan woman [Jn. 4:1-42], led little by little to admit her guilty conduct); 5) authoritative; he spoke in so persuasive a manner, so firm and resolute and sure, that even his enemies were obliged to confess "Never has a man spoken like this" (Jn. 8:45-46). The qualities of this method will produce the same beneficial effects even in the most varied circumstances of time and place, because they are founded on the clearest and most lucid …
8:46
Holiness of Christ and of Mary
… Jesus firmly asserted that he is without sin (Jn. 8:46; 14:30); an assertion expressed abstractly in II Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15; I Jn. 3:5 and I Pt. 2:22. He is the one in whom all others are, and are called, holy (I Cor. 1:2; Phil. 1:1).
8:47
John, Apostle, Evangelist, Saint
… occur commonly: ποιεῖν τὴν ἀλήθειαν (I Jn. 1:6 = Jn. 8:44); οὐκ ἔστιν ἡ ἀλήθεια ἐν τινι (I Jn. 1:8; 2:4 = Jn. 8:44); ἐκ τῆς ἀληθείας εἶναι (I Jn. 2:21 = Jn. 18:37); ἐκ τοῦ διαβόλου εἶναι (I Jn. 3:8 = Jn. 8:44); ἐκ θεοῦ εἶναι (I Jn. 3:4, 1 = Jn. 7:17; 8:47); ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου εἶναι (I Jn. 4:5 = Jn. 3:23); ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου λαλεῖν (I Jn. 4:5 = Jn. 3:31); τῆς γῆς, ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ, ἐν τῷ σκότει περιπατεῖν (I Jn. 2:11 = Jn. 8:12; 12:35). Likewise "life" …
8:48
Holiness of Christ and of Mary
… and Pharisees (who accused him of gluttony [Mt. 11:19], of lawlessness, particularly of violating the sabbath [Jn. 5:18; 9:16] and of blasphemy [Mk. 2:7; Mt. 26:27; Jn. 5:18]; indeed they even went so far as to call him possessed by a demon [Jn. 7:20; 8:48-49; 10:20; cf. Mt. 12:24]) and among certain liberal neo-Protestants (DThC, VIII, coll. 1381-82).
8:49
pointed out as possessed by a demon and a Samaritan (Jn. 8:49); he rectified, qualifying it as blasphemy, the Pharisees' statement that had defined as a demonic work the miracle of the possessed man whom he himself had freed (Mt. 12:21 ff.); …
8:54
… In this sense is to be interpreted the Lord's exhortation to offer the other cheek, when one is struck on the right (Mt. 5:39), and other similar exhortations (Jn. 5:41; 8:54). Thus one has the serenity of him who has placed his own honor in God's hands, and esteems him immeasurably more than any human glory (ibid., 12:43), drawing closer to the example …
8:56
Jewish tradition — perhaps also presupposed in Jn. 8:56 — spoke of a revelation to Abraham during his sacrifice (Gen. 15:9 ff.). …
… In J. the "promise" made to the patriarchs is fulfilled (John 8, 56; Mk. 1, 15); the Kingdom of God, the government of God in the world announced by the prophets and ever anew restored in the unfaithful people, now has its full fulfillment: J. proclaims …
8:58
… or counsel, have an unequivocal meaning (Mt. 10, 17-23). Not to mention then the very example of Jesus, who several times withdrew by f., and that of the apostle Paul, who at Damascus was let down from the walls to escape his persecutors (Mt. 14, 13; Io. 8, 58-59; 11, 53-54; Act. 8, 4; 9, 23-26). The greatest admirer of Tertullian himself, St. Cyprian, during the persecution of Decius (250) kept himself hidden in the vicinity of the city of …
… knows him, his Son (ibid. 11:27). In St. John and in St. Paul the divinity of Jesus Christ is more than evident: Jesus is the Word, who is God from all eternity (Jn. 1:1 ff.); he is the Only-begotten of the Father (ibid. 1:18), existing before Abraham (ibid. 8:58), indeed before the world was made (ibid. 17:5). The Father has sent the Son to save the world (ibid. 3:16; Gal. 4:4); Jesus is God's own Son (Rom. 8:32; 18; ibid. 9:5), the image …
(ibid. 8:58). His personal distinction from the Father (ibid. 1:1) is proclaimed in the passages of the Fourth Gospel that present Jesus as God's own Son. This, indeed, is the explicit purpose …
8:59
… Popular fury readily resorted to such a torture (Io. 8, 59; 10, 31, 33; 11, 8; Act. 7, 57 f.; 14, 5, 18; I Cor. 11, 25).
… In Io. 8, 59 and 10, 31 there is mention of the stones for stoning Jesus.
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Rheims 1582), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.