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1. Whilst our Lord Jesus Christ was speaking among the Jews, and
giving so many miraculous signs, some believed who were foreordained to
eternal life, and whom He also called His sheep; but some did not
believe, and could not believe, because that, by the mysterious yet
not unrighteous judgment of God, they had been blinded and hardened,
because forsaken of Him who resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto
the humble. But of those who believed, there were some whose
confession went so far, that they took branches of palm trees, and met
Him as He approached, turning in their joy that very confession into
a service of praise: while there were others, belonging to the chief
rulers, who had not the boldness to confess their faith, lest they
should be put out of the synagogue; 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: " but there were some who would remain
in the same unbelief, and be imitated by the Jewish nation of the
present day, which, being shortly afterwards crushed in war,
according to the prophetic testimony which was written concerning
Christ, has since been scattered almost through the whole world.
2. While matters were in this state, and His own passion was now at
hand, " Jesus cried, and said," as our lesson today commences,
"He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on Him that sent
me; and he that seeth me, seeth Him that sent me." He had already
said in a certain place, "My doctrine is not mine, but His that
sent me." Where we understood that He called His doctrine just what
He is Himself, the Word of the Father; and in saying, "My
doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me," implied this, that He
was not of Himself, but had His being from another. For He was
God of God, the Son of the Father: but the Father is not God of
God, but God, the Father of the Son. And now when He says,
"He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on Him that sent
me," how else are we to understand it, but that He appeared as man
to men, while He remained invisible as God? And that none might
think that He was no more than what they saw of Him, He indicated
His wish to be believed on, as equal in character and rank with the
Father, when He said, "He that believeth on me, believeth not on
me," that is, merely on what he seeth of me, "but on Him that sent
me," that is, on the Father. But he that believeth on the
Father, must believe that He is the Father; and he that believeth
on Him as the Father, must believe that He has a Son; and in this
way, he that believeth on the Father, must believe on the Son. But
let no one believe about the only-begotten Son just what they believe
about those who are called the sons of God by grace and not by nature,
as the evangelist says, "He gave them power to become the sons of
God," and according to what the Lord Himself also mentioned, as
declared in the law, "I said, Ye are gods; and all of you children
of the Most High: " because He said, "He that believeth on me,
believeth not on me," to show that the whole extent of our faith in
Christ should not be limited by His manhood. He therefore, He
saith, believeth on me, who doth not believe on me merely according to
what he seeth of me, but on Him that sent me: so that, believing
thus on the Father, he may believe that He has a Son co-equal with
Himself, and then attain to a true faith in me. For if one should
think that He has sons only according to grace, who are certainly no
more than His creatures, and not the Word, but those made by the
Word, and that He has no Son co-equal and co-eternal with
Himself, ever born, alike incommutable, in nothing dissimilar and
inferior, then he believes not on the Father who sent Him, for the
Father who sent Him is no such conception as this.
3. And, accordingly, after saying, "He that believeth on me,
believeth not on me, but on Him that sent me," that it might not be
thought that He would have the Father so understood, as if He were
the Father only of many sons regenerated by grace, and not of the
only-begotten Word, His own co-equal, He immediately added,
"And he that seeth me, seeth Him that sent me." Does He say
here, He that seeth me, seeth not me, but Him that sent me, as He
had said, "He that believeth me, believeth not on me, but on Him
that sent me"? For He uttered the former of these words, that He
might not be believed on merely as He then appeared, that is, as the
Son of man; and the latter, that He might be believed on as the
equal of the Father. He that believeth on me, believeth not merely
on what He sees of me, but believeth on Him that sent me. Or, when
he believeth on the Father, who begat me, His own co-equal, let
him believe on me, not as he seeth me, but as [he believeth] on Him
that sent me; for so far does the truth, that there is no distance
between Him and me, reach, that He who seeth me, seeth Him that
sent me. Certainly, Christ the Lord Himself sent His apostles,
as their name implies: for as those who in Greek are called angeli are
in Latin called nuntii [messengers], so the Greek apostoli
[apostles] becomes the Latin missi [persons sent]. But never
would any of the apostles have dared to say, "He that believeth on
me, believeth not on me, but on Him that sent me;" for in no sense
whatever would he say, "He that believeth on me." We believe an
apostle, but we do not believe on him; for it is not an apostle that
justifieth the ungodly. But to him that believeth on Him that
justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
An apostle might say, He that receiveth me, receiveth Him that sent
me; or, He that heareth me, heareth Him that sent me; for the
Lord tells them so Himself:
"He that receiveth you, receiveth me; and he that receiveth me,
receiveth Him that sent me." For the master is honored in the
servant, and the father in the son: but then the father is as it were
in the son, and the master as it were in the servant. But the
only-begotten Son could rightly say, "Believe on God, and believe
on me;" as also what He saith here, "He that believeth on me,
believeth not on me, but on Him that sent me." He did not turn away
the faith of the believer from Himself, but only would not have the
believer continue in the form of a servant: because every one who
believeth in the Father that sent Him, straightway believeth on the
Son, without whom he knoweth that the Father hath no existence as
such, and thus reacheth in his faith to the belief of His equality
with the Father, in conformity with the words that follow, "And he
that seeth me, seeth Him that sent me."
4. Attend to what follows: "I am come a light into the world,
that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness." He said
in a certain place to His disciples, "Ye are the light of the
world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men
light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; that
it may give light to all that are in the house: so let your light shine
before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your
Father who is in heaven:" but He did not say to them, Ye are come
a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on you should not
abide in darkness. Such a statement, I maintain, can nowhere be met
with. All the saints, therefore, are lights, but they are
illuminated by Him through faith; and every one that becomes separated
from Him will be enveloped in darkness. But that Light, which
enlightens them, cannot become separated from itself; for it is
altogether beyond the reach of change. We believe, then, the light
that has thus been lit, as the prophet or apostle: but we believe him
for this end, that we may not believe on that which is itself
enlightened, but, with him, on that Light which has given him
light; so that we, too, may be enlightened, not by him, but, along
with him, by the same Light as he. And when He saith, "That
whosoever believeth on me may not abide in darkness," He makes it
sufficiently manifest that all have been found by Him in a state of
darkness: but that they may not abide in the darkness wherein they have
been found, they ought to believe on that Light which hath come into
the world, for thereby was the world created.
5. "And if any man," He says, "hear my words, and keep them
not, I judge him not." Remember what I know you have heard in
former lessons; and if any of you have forgotten, recall it: and
those of you who were absent then, but are present now, hear how it is
that the Son saith, "I judge him not," while in another place He
says, "The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment
unto the Son;" namely, that thereby we are to understand, It is
not now that I judge him. And why not now? Listen to the sequel:
"For I am not come," He says, "to judge the world, but to save
the world;" that is, to bring the world into a state of salvation.
Now, therefore, is the season of mercy, afterwards will be the time
for judgment: for He says, "I will sing to Thee, O Lord, of
mercy and judgment."
6. But see also what He says of that future judgment in the end:
"He that despiseth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that
judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in
the last day." He says not, He that despiseth me, and receiveth
not my words, I judge him not at the last day; for had He said so,
I do not see how it could have been else than contradictory of that
other statement, when He says, "The Father judgeth no man, but
hath committed all judgment unto the Son." But when He said, "He
that despiseth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one to judge
him," and, for the information of those who were waiting to hear who
that one was, went on to add, "The word that I have spoken, the
same shall judge him in the last day,"
He made it sufficiently manifest that He Himself would then be the
judge. For it was of Himself He spoke, Himself He announced, and
Himself He set forth as the gate whereby He entered as the Shepherd
to His sheep. In one way, therefore, will those be judged who have
never heard that word, in another way those who have heard and
despised. "For as many as have sinned without law," says the
apostle, "shall also perish without law; and as many as have sinned
in the law, shall be judged by the law."
7. "For I have not," He says, "spoken of myself." He says
that He has not spoken of Himself, because He is not of Himself.
Of this we have frequently discoursed already; so that now, without
any more instruction, we have simply to remind you of it as a truth
with which you are familiar. "But the Father who sent me, He gave
me a commandment what I should say, and what I should speak." We
would not stay to elaborate this, did we know that we were now speaking
with those with whom we have spoken on former occasions, and of these,
not with all, but such only whose memories have retained what they
heard: but because there are perhaps some now present who did not
hear, and some in a similar condition who have forgotten what they
heard, on their account let those who remember what they have heard
bear with our delay. How giveth the Father a commandment to His only
Son? With what words doth He speak to the Word, seeing that the
Son Himself is the only-begotten Word? Could it be by an angel,
seeing that by Him the angels were created? Was it by means of a
cloud, which, when it gave forth its sound to the Son, gave it not
on His account, as He Himself also tells us elsewhere, but for the
sake of others who were needing to hear it (ver. 29)? Could it be
by any sound issuing from the lips, where bodily form was wanting, and
where there is no such local distance separating the Son from the
Father as to admit of any intervening air, to give effect, by its
percussion, to the voice, and render it audible? Let us put away all
such unworthy notions of that incorporeal and ineffable subsistence.
The only Son is the Word and the Wisdom of the Father, and therein
are all the commandments of the Father. For there was no time that
the Son knew not the Father's commandment, so as to make it
necessary for Him to possess in course of time what He possessed not
before. For what He has received from the Father, He received in
being born, and was given it in being begotten. For the life He is,
and life He certainly received in being born, while yet there was no
antecedent time when life was wanting to His personal existence.
For, on the one hand, the Father has life, and is what He has:
and yet He received it not, because He is not of any one. But the
Son received life as the Father's gift, of whom He is: and so He
Himself is what He has; for He has life, and is the life. Listen
to Himself when He says, "As the Father hath life in Himself, so
hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself." Could He give
it to one who was in being, and yet hitherto was destitute thereof?
On the contrary, in the very begetting it. was given by Him who
begat the life, and so life begat the life. And to show that He
begat the life equal, and not inferior to Himself, it was said,
"As He hath life in Himself, so hath He also given to the Son to
have life in Himself." He gave life; for in begetting the life,
what was it He gave Him, save to be the life? And as His nativity
is itself eternal, there never was a time without that Son who is the
life, and never was there a time when the Son Himself was without the
life; and as His nativity is eternal, so He, who was thus born, is
eternal life. And so the Father gave not to the Son a commandment
which He had not already; but, as I said, in the Wisdom of the
Father, that is, in the word of the Father, are laid up all the
Father's commandments. And yet the commandment is said to have been
given Him, because He, to whom it is thus given, is not of
Himself: and to give that to the Son which He never was without, is
the same in meaning as to beget that Son who never was without
existence.
8. There follow the words: "And I know that His commandment is
life everlasting." If, then, the Son Himself is eternal life,
and the Father's commandment the same, what else is expressed than
this, I am the Father's commandment? And in like manner, in what
He proceeds to say, "Whatsoever I speak, even as the Father said
unto me, so I speak," let us not be taking the "said unto me" as
if the Father used words in speaking to the only Word, or that the
Word of God needed words from God. The Father spoke to the Son in
the same way as He gave life to the Son; not that He knew not the
one, or had not the other, but just because He was the Son. What,
then, do the words mean, "Even as He said unto me, so I speak;"
but just, I speak the truth? So the former said as the Truthful
One what the latter thus spoke as the Truth. The Truthful begat the
Truth. What, then, could He now say to the Truth? For the
Truth had no imperfection to be supplied by additional truth. He
spoke, therefore, to the Truth, because He begat the Truth. And
in like manner the Truth Himself speaks what has been said to Him;
but only to those who have understanding, and who are taught by Him as
the God-begotten Truth. But that men might believe what they had
not yet capacity to understand, words that were audible issued from
His human lips; sounds passing rapidly away broke on the ear, and
speedily completed the little term of their duration: but the truths
themselves, of which the sounds are but signs, passed, as it were,
into the memory of those who heard them, and have come down to us also
by means of written characters as signs addressed to the eye. But it
is not thus that the Truth speaks; He speaks inwardly to the souls of
the intelligent; He needs no sound to instruct, but floods the mind
with the light of understanding. And he, then, who in that light is
able to behold the eternity of His birth, himself hears in the same
way the Truth speaking, as He heard the Father telling Him what He
should speak. He has awakened in us a great longing for that sweet
experience of His presence within; but it is by daily growth that we
acquire it; it is by walking that we grow, and it is by forward
efforts we walk, so as to be able at last to attain it.
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