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1. Upon the discourses delivered yesterday and the day before,
follows the Gospel lesson of today, which we must endeavor to expound
in due course, not indeed proportionably to its importance, but
according to our ability: both because you take in, not according to
the bountifulness of the gushing fountain, but according to your
moderate capacity; and we too speak into your ears, not so much as the
fountain gives forth, but so much as we are able to take in we convey
into your minds, the matter itself working more fruitfully in your
hearts than we in your ears. For a great matter is treated of, not by
great masters, nay, rather by very small; but He who, being great,
for our sakes became small, gives us hope and confidence. For if we
were not encouraged by Him, and invited to understand Him; if He
abandoned us as contemptible, since we were not able to partake His
divinity if He did not partake our mortality and come to us to speak
His gospel to us; if He had not willed to partake with us what in us
is abject and most small, then we might think that He who took on
Himself our smallness, had not been willing to bestow on us His own
greatness. This I have said test any should blame us as over-bold in
handling these matters, or despair of himself that he should be able to
understand, by God's gift, what the Son of God has deigned to
speak to him Therefore what He has deigned to speak to us, we ought
to believe that He meant us to understand. But if we do not
understand He, being asked, gives understanding, who gave His Word
unasked.
2. Lo, what these secrets of His words are, consider well.
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whoso heareth my word, and
believeth on Him that sent me, hath eternal life." Surely we are
all striving after eternal life: and He saith, "Whoso heareth my
word, and believeth Him that sent me, hath eternal life." Then,
would He have us hear His word, and yet would He not have us
understand it? Since, if in hearing and believing is eternal life,
much more in understanding. But the action of piety is faith, the
fruit of faith understanding, that we may come to eternal life, when
there will be no reading of Gospel to us; but after all pages of
reading and the voice of reader and preacher have been removed out of
the way, He, who has at this time dispensed to us the gospel, will
Himself appear to all that are His, now present with Him with purged
heart and in an immortal body never more to die, cleansing and
enlightening them, now living and seeing how that "in the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God." Therefore let us
consider at this time who we are, and ponder whom we hear. Christ is
God, and He is speaking with men. He would have them to apprehend
Him, let Him make them capable; He would have them see Him, let
Him open their eyes. It is not, however, without cause that He
speaks to us, but because that is true which He promises to us.
3. "Whoso heareth my words," saith He, "and believeth Him that
sent me, hath eternal life, and shall not come into judgment, but is
passed from death unto life." Where, when do we come from death to
life, that we come not into judgment? In this life there is a passing
from death to life; in this life, which is not yet life, there is a
passing hence from death unto life. What is that passing? "Whoso
heareth my words," He said, "and believeth Him that sent me."
Observing these, thou believest and passest. And does a man pass
while standing? Evidently; for in body he stands in mind he passes.
Where was he, whence he should pass, and whither does he pass? He
passes from death to life. Look at a man standing, in whom all that
is here said may happen. He stands, he hears, perhaps he did not
believe, by hearing he believes: a little before he did not believe,
just now he believes; he has made a passage, as it were, from the
region of unbelief to the region of faith, by motion of the heart, not
of the body, by a motion into the better; because they who again
abandon faith move into the worse. Behold, in this life, which,
just as I have said, is not yet life, there is a passing from death
to life, so that there may not be a coming into judgment. But why did
I say that it is not yet life? If this were life, the Lord would
not have said to a certain man, "If thou wilt come into life, keep
the commandments." For He saith not to him, If thou wilt come into
eternal life; He did not add eternal, but said only life. Therefore
this life is not to be named life, because it is not a true life.
What is true life, but that which is eternal life? Hear the apostle
speaking to Timothy, when he says, "Charge them that are rich in
this world, not to be high-minded, nor to trust in uncertain riches,
but in the living God, who giveth us all things richly to enjoy; let
them do good, be rich in good works, ready to distribute, to
communicate." Why does he say this? Hear what follows: "Let them
lay up in store for themselves a good foundation for the time to come,
that they may lay hold of the true life." If they ought to lay up for
themselves a good foundation for the time to come, in order to lay hold
of the true life, surely this in which they were is a false life. For
why shouldest thou desire to lay hold of the true, if thou hast the
true already? Is the true to be laid hold of? There must then be a
departing from the false. And by what way must be the departing?
Whither? Hear, believe; and thou makest the passage from death into
life, and comest not into judgment.
4. What is this, "and thou comest not into judgment"? And who
will be better than the Apostle Paul, who saith, "We must all
appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may there
receive what he has done in the body, whether it he good or evil"?
Paul saith, "We must all appear before the judgment-seat of
Christ;" and darest thou promise to thyself that thou shall not come
into judgment? Be it far from me, sayest thou, that I should dare
promise this to myself. But I believe Him that doth promise. The
Saviour speaks, the Truth promises, Himself said to me, "Whoso
heareth my words, and believeth Him that sent me, hath eternal life,
and makes a passage from death unto life, and shall not come into
judgment." I then have heard the words of my Lord, and I have
believed; so now, when I was an unbeliever, I became a believer
even as He warned me, I passed from death to life, I come not into
judgment; not by my presumption, but by His promise. Does Paul,
however, speak contrary to Christ, the servant against his Lord,
the disciple against his Master, the man against God; so that, when
the Lord saith, "Whoso heareth and believeth, passeth from death to
life," the apostle should say, "We must all appear before the
judgment-seat of Christ"? Otherwise, if he comes not into judgment
who appears before the judgment-seat, I know not how to understand
it.
5. The Lord our God then reveals it, and by His Scriptures puts
us in mind how it may be understood when judgment is spoken of. I
exhort you, therefore, to give attention. Sometimes judgment means
punishment, sometimes it means discrimination. According to that mode
of speech in which judgment means discrimination, "we must all appear
before the judgment-seat of Christ that" a man "may there receive
what things he has done in the body, whether it be good or ill." For
this same is a discrimination, to distribute good things to the good,
evil things to the evil. For if judgment were always to be taken in a
bad sense, the psalm would not say, "Judge me, O God." Perhaps
some one is surprised when he hears one say, "Judge me, O God."
For man is wont to say, "Forgive me, O God;" "Spare me, O
God." Who is it that says, "Judge me, O God"? Sometimes in
the psalm this very verse even is placed in the pause, to be given out
by the reader and responded by the people. Does it not perhaps strike
some man's heart so much that he is afraid to sing and to say to God,
"Judge me, O God"? And yet the people sing it with confidence,
and do not imagine that they wish an evil thing in that which they have
learned from the divine word; even if they do not well understand it,
they believe that what they sing is something good. And yet even the
psalm itself has not left a man without an insight into the meaning of
it. For, going on, it shows in the words that follow what kind of
judgment it spoke of; that it is not one of condemnation, but of
discrimination. For saith it, "Judge me, O God." What means
"Judge me, O God, and discern my cause from an unholy nation"?
According to this judgment of discerning, then, "we must all appear
before the judgment-seat of Christ." But again, according to the
judgment of condemnation, "Whoso heareth my words," saith He,
"and believeth Him that sent me, hath eternal life, and shall not
come into judgment, but makes a passage from death to life." What is
"shall not come into judgment?" Shall not come into condemnation.
Let us prove from the Scriptures that judgment is put where punishment
is understood; although also in this very passage, a little further
on, you will hear the same term judgment put for nothing else than for
condemnation and punishment. Yet the apostle says in a certain place,
writing to those who abused the body, what the faithful among you
know; and because they abused it, they were chastised by the scourge
of the Lord. For he says to them, "Many among you are weak and
sickly, and deeply sleep." For many therefore even died. And he
went on: "For if we judged ourselves, we should not be judged by the
Lord;" that is, if we reproved ourselves, we should not be reproved
by the Lord. "But when we are judged, we are chastened by the
Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world." There are
therefore those who are judged here according to punishment, that they
may be spared there; there are those who are spared here, that they
may be the more abundantly tormented there; and there are those to whom
the very punishments are meted out without the scourge of punishment,
if they be not corrected by the scourge of God; that, since here they
have despised the Father that scourgeth, they may there feel the
Judge that punisheth. Therefore there is a judgment into which God,
that is, the Son of God, will in the end send the devil and his
angels, and all the unbelieving and ungodly with him. To this
judgment, he who, now believing, passes from death unto life, shall
not come.
6. For, lest thou shouldest think that by believing thou art not to
die according to the flesh, or lest, understanding it carnally, thou
shouldest say to thyself, "My Lord has said to me, Whoso heareth
my words, and believeth Him that sent me, is passed from death to
life: I then have believed, I am not to die;" be assured that thou
shall pay that penalty, death, which thou owest by the punishment of
Adam. For he, in whom we all then were, received this sentence,
"Thou shall surely die;" nor can the divine sentence be made void.
But after thou hast paid the death of the old man, thou shall be
received into the eternal life of the new man, and shall pass from
death to life. Meanwhile, make the transition of life now. What is
thy life? Faith: "The just doth live by faith." The
unbelievers, what of them? They are dead. Among such dead was he,
in the body, of whom the Lord says, "Let the dead bury their
dead." So, then, even in this life there are dead, and there are
living; all live in a sense. Who are dead? They who have not
believed. Who are living? They who have believed. What is said to
the dead by the apostle? "Arise, thou that sleepest." But, quoth
an objector, he said sleep, not death. Hear what follows:
"Arise, thou that sleepest, and come forth from the dead." And as
if the sleeper said, Whither shall I go? "And Christ shall give
thee light." Christ having enlightened thee, now believing,
immediately thou makest a passage from death to life: abide in that to
which thou hast passed, and thou shall not come into judgment.
7. Himself explains that already, and goes on, "Verily, verily,
I say unto you." In case, because He said "is passed from death
to life," we should understand this of the future resurrection, and
willing to show that he who believes is passed, and that to pass from
death to life is to pass from unbelief to faith, from injustice to
justice, from pride to humility, from hatred to charity, He saith
now, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour cometh, and now
is." What more evident? "And now is, when the dead shall hear the
voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live." We have
already spoken of these dead. What think we, my brethren? Are there
no dead in this crowd that hear me? They who believe and act according
to the true faith do live, and are not dead. But they who either do
not believe, or believe as the devils believe, trembling, and living
wickedly, confessing the Son of God, and without charity, must
rather be esteemed dead. This hour, however, is still passing. For
the hour of which the Lord spoke will not be an hour of the twelve
hours of a day. From the time when He spoke even to the present, and
even to the end of the world, the same one hour is passing; of which
hour John saith in his epistle, "Little children, it is the last
hour." Therefore, is now. Whoso is alive, let him live; whoso
was dead, let him live; let him hear the voice of the Son of God,
who lay dead; let him arise and live. The Lord cried out at the
sepulchre of Lazarus, and he that was four days dead arose.
He who stank in the grave came forth into the air. He was buried, a
stone was laid over him: the voice of the Saviour burst asunder the
hardness of the stone; and thy heart is so hard, that Divine Voice
does not yet break it! Rise in thy heart; go forth from thy tomb.
For thou wast lying dead in thy heart as in a tomb, and pressed down
by the weight of evil habit as by a stone. Rise, and go forth. What
is Rise, and go forth? Believe and confess. For he that has
believed has risen; he that confesses is gone forth. Why said we that
he who confesses is gone forth? Because he was hid before confessing;
but when he does confess, he goes forth from darkness to light. And
after he has confessed, what is said to the servants? What was said
beside the corpse of Lazarus? "Loose him, and let him go." How?
As it was said to His servants the apostles, "What things ye shall
loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven."
8. "The hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the
voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live." From what
source shall they live?
From life. From what life? From Christ, How do we prove that the
source is Christ the life? "I am," saith He, "the way, the
truth, and the life." Dost thou wish to walk? "I am the way."
Dost thou wish not to be deceived? "I am the truth" Wouldest thou
not die? "I am the life." This saith thy Saviour to thee: There
is not whither thou mayest go but to me; there is not whereby thou
mayest go but by me. Therefore this hour is going on now, this act is
clearly taking place, and does not at all cease. Men who were dead,
rise; they pass over to life; at the voice of the Son of God they
live; from Him they live, while persevering in the faith of Him.
For the Son hath life, whence He has it that they that believe shall
live.
9. And how hath He? Even as the Father hath. Hear Himself
saying, "For as the Father hath life in Himself, so also hath He
given to the Son to have life in Himself." Brethren, I shall
speak as I shall be able. For these are those words that perplex the
puny understanding. Why has He added, "in Himself"? It would
suffice to say, "For as the Father hath life, so also hath He
given to the Son to have life." He added, "in Himself:" for the
Father "hath life in Himself," and the Son hath life in Himself.
He meant us to understand something in that which He saith, "in
Himself." And here a secret matter is shut up in this word; let
there be knocking, that there may be an opening. O Lord, what is
this that Thou hast said? Wherefore hast Thou added, "in
Himself"? For did not Paul the apostle, whom Thou madest to
live, have life? He had, said He. As for men that were dead to be
made alive, and at Thy word to pass unto life by believing; when they
shall have passed, will they not have life in Thee? They shall have
life; for I said also a little before, "Whoso heareth my words,
and believeth Him that sent me, hath eternal life." Therefore those
that believe in Thee have life; and Thou hast not said, "in
themselves," But when Thou speakest of the Father, "even as the
Father hath life in Himself;" again, when Thou speakest of
Thyself, Thou saidst, "So also hath He given to the Son to have
life in Himself." Even as He hath, so gave He to have. Where
hath He? "In Himself." Where gave He to have? "In
Himself." Where hath Paul life? Not in himself, but in Christ.
Where hast thou, believer? Not in thyself, but in Christ. Let us
see whether the apostle says this: "Now I live; but not I, but
Christ liveth in me." Our life, as ours, that is, of our own
personal will,will be only evil, sinful, unrighteous; but the life
in us that is good is from God, not from ourselves; it is given to us
by God, not by ourselves. But Christ hath life in Himself, as the
Father hath, because He is the Word of God. With Him, it is not
the case that He liveth now ill, now well; but as for man, he liveth
now ill, now well. He who was living ill, was in his own life; he
who is living well, is passed to the life of Christ. Thou art made a
partaker of life; thou wast not that which thou hast received, but
wast one who received: but it is not so with the Son of God as if at
first He was without life, and then received life. For if thus He
received life, He would not have it in Himself. For, indeed, what
is in Himself? That He should Himself be the very life.
10. I may perhaps declare that matter more plainly still. One
lights a candle: that candle, for example, so far as regards the
little flame which shines there that fire has light in itself; but
thine eyes, which lay idle and saw nothing, in the absence of the
candle, now have light also, but not in themselves. Further, if
they turn away from the candle, they are made dark; if they turn to
it, they are illumined. But certainly that fire shines so long as it
exists: if thou wouldst take the light from it, thou dost also at the
same time extinguish it; for without the light it cannot remain. But
Christ is light inextinguishable and co-eternal with the Father,
always bright, always shining, always burning: for if He were not
burning, would it be said in the psalm, "Nor is there any that can
hide himself from his heat?" But thou wast cold in thy sin; thou
turnest that thou mayest become warm; if thou wilt turn away, thou
wilt become cold. In thy sin thou wast. dark; thou turnest in order
to be enlightened; if thou turnest away, thou wilt become dark.
Therefore, because in thyself thou wast darkness, when thou shalt be
enlightened, thou wilt be light, though in the light. For saith the
apostle, "Ye were once darkness, but now light in the Lord."
When he had said, "but now light," he added, "in the Lord."
Therefore in thyself darkness, "light in the Lord." In what way
"light"? Because by participation of that light thou art light.
But if thou wilt depart from the light by which thou art enlightened,
thou returnest to thy darkness. Not so Christ, not so the Word of
God. But how not? "As the Father hath life in Himself, so hath
He given also to the Son to have life in Himself;" so that He
lives, not by participation, but unchangeably, and is altogether
Himself life. "So hath He given also to the Son to have life."
Even as He hath, so has He given. What is the difference? For
the one gave, the other received. Was He already in being when He
received? Are we to understand that Christ was at any time in being
without light, when Himself is the wisdom of the Father, of which it
is said, "It is the brightness of the eternal light?" Therefore
what is said, "gave to the Son," is such as if it were said,
"begat the Son;" for by begetting He gave. As He gave Him to
be, so He gave Him to be life, so also gave Him to be life in
Himself. What is that, to be life in Himself? Not to need life
from elsewhere, but to be Himself the plenitude of life, out of which
others believing should have life while they lived. "Hath given
Him," then. "to have life in Himself." Hath given as to whom?
As to His own Word, as to Him who "in the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God."
11. Afterwards, because He was made man, what gave He to Him?
"And hath given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is
the Son of man." In that He is the Son of God, "As the Father
hath life in Himself, so also hath He given to the Son to have life
in Himself;" in that He is the Son of man, "He hath given Him
authority of executing judgment." This is what I explained to you
yesterday, my beloved, that in the judgment man will be seen, but
God will not be seen; but after the judgment, God will be seen by
those who have prevailed in the judgment, but by the wicked He will
not be seen. Since, therefore, the man will be seen in the judgment
in that form in which He will so come as He ascended, for that reason
He had said above, "The Father judgeth not any man, but hath given
all judgment to the Son." He repeats the same thing also in this
place, when He says, "And hath given Him authority of executing
judgment, because He is the Son of man." As if thou wert to say,
"hath given Him authority of executing judgment." In what way?
When He had not that authority of executing judgment? Since "in the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God;" since "all things were made by Him," did He not
already have authority of executing judgment? Yes, but according to
this, I say, "He gave Him authority of executing judgment,
because He is the Son of man:" according to this, He received
authority of judging "because He is the Son of man." For in that
He is the Son of God, He always had this authority. He that was
crucified, received; He who was in death, is in life: the Word of
God never was in death, but is always in life.
12. Now, therefore, as to a resurrection, perhaps some one of us
was saying: Behold, we have risen; be who hears Christ, and
believes, and is passed from death to life, also will not come into
judgment. The hour cometh, and now is, that whoso heareth the voice
of the Son of God shall live: he was dead, he has heard; behold,
he doth rise. What is this that is said, that there is to be a
resurrection afterwards? Spare thyself, do not hasten the sentence,
lest thou hurry after it. There is, indeed, this resurrection which
comes to pass now; unbelievers were dead, the unrighteous were dead;
the righteous live, they pass from the death of unbelief to the life of
faith. But do not thence believe that there will not be a resurrection
afterwards of the body; believe that there will be a resurrection of
the body also. For hear what follows after the declaration of this
resurrection which is by faith, lest any should think this to be the
only resurrection, or fall into that desperation and error of men who
perverted the thoughts of others, "saying that the resurrection is
past already," of whom the apostle saith, "and they overthrow the
faith of some." For I believe that they were saying to them such
words as these: "Behold, when the Lord saith, And he that
believeth in me is passed from death unto life;" the resurrection has
already taken place in believing men, who were before unbelievers: how
can a second resurrection be meant?" Thanks to our Lord God, He
supports the wavering, directs the perplexed, confirms the doubting.
Hear what follows, now that thou hast not whereof to make to thyself
the darkness of death. If thou hast believed, believe the whole.
What whole, sayest thou, am I to believe? Hear what He saith:
"Marvel not at this," namely, that He gave to the Son authority
of making judgment. I say, in the end of the world, saith He. How
in the end? "Do not marvel at this; for the hour cometh." Here
He has not said, "and now is." In reference to that resurrection
of faith, what did He say? "The hour cometh, and now is." In
reference to that resurrection which He intimates there will be of dead
bodies, He said, "The hour cometh;" He has not said, "and now
is," because it is to come in the end of the world.
13. And whence, sayest thou, dost thou prove to me that He spoke
about the resurrection itself? If thou hear patiently, thou wilt
presently prove it to thyself. Let us go on then: "Marvel not at
this; for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the graves."
What more evident than this resurrection? A while ago, He had not
said, "they that are in the graves," but, "The dead shall hear
the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live." He
has not said, some shall live, others shall be damned; because all
who believe shall live.
But what does He say concerning the graves? "All that are in the
graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth." He said not,
"shall hear and live." For if they have lived wickedly, and lay in
the graves, they shall rise to death, not to life. Let us see,
then, who shall come forth. Although, a little before, the dead by
hearing and believing did live, there was no distinction there made:
it was not said, The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God;
and when they shall have heard, some shall live, and some shall be
damned; but, "all that hear shall live:" because they that believe
shall live, they that have charity shall live, and none of them shall
die. But concerning the graves, "They shall hear His voice, and
come forth: they that have done well, to the resurrection of life;
they that have done ill, to the resurrection of judgment." This is
the judgment, that punishment of which He had said a while before,
"Whoso believeth in me is passed from death to life," and shall not
come into judgment.
14. "I cannot of myself do anything; as I hear I judge, and my
judgment is just." If as Thou hearest Thou judgest, of whom dost
Thou hear? If of the Father, yet surely "the Father judgeth not
any man, but hath given all judgment to the Son.' When dost Thou,
being in a manner the Father's herald, declare what Thou hearest?
I speak what I hear, because what the Father is, that I am: for,
indeed, speaking is my function; because I am the Father's Word.
For this Christ says to thee. Thereupon, of thine. What is "As
I hear I judge," but "As I am"? For in what manner does
Christ hear? Let us inquire, brethren, I beg of you. Does
Christ hear of the Father? How doth the Father speak to Him?
Undoubtedly, if He speaks to Him, He uses words to Him; for
every one who says something to any one, says it by a word. How doth
the Father speak to the Son, seeing that the Son is the Father's
Word? Whatever the Father says to us, He says it by His Word:
the Word of the Father is the Son; by what other word, then, doth
He speak to the Word Himself? God is one, has one Word, contains
all things in one Word. What does that mean, then, "As I hear,
I judge?" Just as I am of the Father, so I judge. Therefore
"my judgment is just." If Thou doest nothing of Thyself, O Lord
Jesus, as carnal men think; if Thou doest nothing of Thyself, how
didst Thou say a while before, "So also the Son quickeneth whom He
will"? Just now Thou sayest, Of myself I do nothing. But what
does the Son declare, but that He is of the Father? He that is of
the Father is not of Himself. If the Son were of Himself, He
would not be the Son: He is of the Father. That the Father is,
is not of the Son; that the Son is, is of the Father. Equal to
the Father; but yet the Son of the Father, not the Father of the
Son.
15. "Because I seek not my own will, but the will of Him that
sent me." The Only Son saith, "I seek not my own will," and
yet men desire to do their own will! To such a degree does He who is
equal to the Father humble Himself; and to such a degree does He
extol Himself, who lies in the lowest depth, and cannot rise except a
hand is reached to Him! Let us then do the will of the Father, the
will of the Son, the will of the Holy Ghost; because of this
Trinity there is one will, one power, one majesty. Yet for that
reason saith the Son, "I came not to do mine own will, but the will
of Him that sent me;" because Christ is not of Himself, but of the
Father. But what He had that He might appear as a man, He assumed
of the creature which He himself formed.
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