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1. In the four Gospels, or rather in the four books of the one
Gospel, Saint John the apostle, not undeservedly in respect of his
spiritual understanding compared to the eagle, has elevated his
preaching higher and far more sublimely than the other three; and in
this elevating of it he would have our hearts likewise lifted up. For
the other three evangelists walked with the Lord on earth as with a
man; concerning His divinity they have said but little; but this
evangelist, as if he disdained to walk on earth, just as in the very
opening of his discourse he thundered on us, soared not only above the
earth and above the whole compass of air and sky, but even above the
whole army of angels and the whole order of invisible powers, and
reached to Him by whom all things were made; saying, "In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. This was in the beginning with God. All things were made
by Him, and without Him was nothing made." To this so great
sublimity of his beginning all the rest of his preaching well agrees;
and he has spoken concerning the divinity of the Lord as none other has
spoken. What he had drank in, the same he gave forth. For it is not
without reason that it is recorded of him in this very Gospel, that at
supper he reclined on the Lord's bosom. From that breast then he
drank in secret; but what he drank in secret he gave forth openly,
that there may come to all nations not only the incarnation of the Son
of God, and His passion and resurrection, but also what He was
before His incarnation, the only Son of the Father, the Word of
the Father, coeternal with Him that begat, equal with Him by whom
He was sent; but yet in that very sending made less, that the Father
might be greater.
2. Whatever, then, you have heard stated in lowly manner concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ, think of that economy by which He assumed
flesh; but whatever you hear, or read, stated in the Gospel
concerning Him that is sublime and high above all creatures, and
divine, and equal and coeternal with the Father, be sure that this
which you read appertains to the form of God, not to the form of the
servant. For if you hold this rule, you who can understand it
(inasmuch as you are not all able to understand it, but you are all
bound to trust it), if, I say, you hold this rule, as men walking
in the light, you will fight against the calumnies of heretical
darkness without fear. For there have not been wanting those who, in
reading the Gospel, followed only those testimonies that concern the
humility of Christ, and have been deaf to those which have declared
His divinity; deaf for this reason, that they may be full of evil
words. There have likewise been some, who, giving heed only to those
which speak of the excellency of the Lord, even though they have read
of His mercy in becoming man for our sakes, have not believed the
testimonies, but accounted them false and invented by men; contending
that our Lord Jesus Christ was only God, not also man Some in this
way, some in that: both in error. But the catholic faith, holding
from both the truths which each holds and preaching the truth which each
believes, has both understood that Christ is God and also believed
Him to be man: for each is written and each is true. Shouldst thou
assert that Christ is only God, thou deniest the medicine whereby
thou wast healed: shouldst thou assert that Christ is only man, thou
deniest the power whereby thou wast created. Hold therefore both. O
faithful soul and catholic heart, hold both, believe both, faithfully
confess both. Christ is both God and also man. How is Christ
God? Equal with the Father, one with the Father. How is Christ
man? Born of a virgin, taking upon Himself mortality from man, but
not taking iniquity.
3. These Jews then saw the man; they neither perceived nor believed
Him to be God: and you have already heard how, among all the rest,
they said to Him, "Thou bearest witness of thyself; thy witness is
not true." You have also heard what He said in reply, as it was
read to you yesterday, and according to our ability discussed. Today
have been read these words of His, "Ye judge after the flesh."
Therefore it is, saith He, that you say to me, "Thou bearest
witness of thyself; thy witness is not true," because you judge after
the flesh, because you perceive not God; the man you see, and by
persecuting the man, you offend God hidden in Him. "Ye," then,
"judge after the flesh."
Because I bear witness of myself, I therefore appear to you
arrogant. For every man, when he wishes to bear commendatory witness
of himself, seems arrogant and proud. Hence it is written, "Let
not thy own mouth praise thee, but let thy neighbor's" mouth praise
thee. But this was said to man. For we are weak, and we speak to
the weak. We can speak the truth, but we can also lie; although we
are bound to speak the truth, still we have it in our power to lie when
we will. But far be it from us to think that the darkness of falsehood
could be found in the splendor of the divine light. He spoke as the
light, spoke as the truth; but the light was shining in the darkness,
and the darkness comprehended it not: therefore they judged after the
flesh. "Ye," saith He, "judge after the flesh."
4. "I judge not any man." Does not the Lord Jesus Christ,
then, judge any man? Is He not the same of whom we confess that He
rose again on the third day, ascended into heaven, there sits at the
right hand of the Father, and thence shall come to judge the quick and
the dead? Is not this our faith of which the apostle says, "With
the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation?" When, therefore, we confess
these things, do we contradict the Lord? We say that He shall come
a judge of the quick and the dead, whilst He says Himself, "I
judge not any man." This question maybe solved in two ways: Either
that we may understand this expression, "I judge not any man," to
mean, I judge not any man now; in accordance with what He says in
another place, "I am not come to judge the world, But to save the
world;" not denying His judgment here, but deferring it. Or,
otherwise, surely that when He said, "Ye judge after the flesh,"
He subjoined, "I judge not any man," in such manner that thou
shouldst understand "after the flesh" to complete the sense.
Therefore let no scruple of doubt remain in our heart against the faith
which we hold and declare concerning Christ as judge. Christ is
come, but first to save, then to judge: to adjudge to punishment
those who would not be saved; to bring them to life who, by
believing, did not reject salvation. Accordingly, the first
dispensation of our Lord Jesus Christ is medicinal, not judicial;
for if He had come to judge first, He would have found none on whom
He might bestow the rewards of righteousness. Because, therefore,
He saw that all were sinners, and that none was exempt from the death
of sin, His mercy had first to be craved, and afterwards His
judgment must be executed; for of Him the psalm had sung, "Mercy
and judgment will I sin to Thee, O Lord." Now, He says not
judgment and mercy," for if judgment had been first, there would be
no mercy; but it is mercy first, then judgment. What is the mercy
first? The Creator of man deigned to become man; was made what He
had made, that the creature He had made might not perish. What can
be added to this mercy? And yet He has added thereto. It was not
enough for Him to be made man, He added to this that He was rejected
of men; it was not enough to be rejected, He was dishonored; it was
not enough to be dishonored, He was put to death; but even this was
not enough, it was by the death of the cross. For when the apostle
was commending to us His obedience even unto death, it was not enough
for him to say, "He became obedient unto death;" for it was not
unto death of any kind whatever: but he added, "even the death of the
cross." Among all kinds of death, there was nothing worse than that
death. In short, that wherein one is racked by the most intense pains
is called cruciatus, which takes its name from crux, a cross. For
the crucified, hanging on the tree, nailed to the wood, were killed
by a slow lingering death. To be crucified was not merely to be put to
death; for the victim lived long on the cross, not because longer life
was chosen, but because death itself was stretched out that the pain
might not be too quickly ended. He willed to die for us, yet it is
not enough to say this; He deigned to be crucified, became obedient
even to the death of the cross. He who was about to take away all
death, chose the lowest and worst kind of death: He slew death by the
worst of deaths. To the Jews who understood not, it was indeed the
worst of deaths, but it was chosen by the Lord. For He was to have
that very cross as His sign; that very cross, a trophy, as it were,
over the vanquished devil, He was to put on the brow of believers, so
that the apostle said, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to
me, and I to the world." Nothing was then more intolerable in the
flesh, nothing is now more glorious on the brow. What does He
reserve for His faithful one, when He has put such honor on the
instrument of His own torture? Now is the cross no longer used among
the Romans in the punishment of criminals, for where the cross of the
Lord came to be honored, it was thought that even a guilty man would
be honored if he should be crucified. Hence, He who came for this
cause judged no man: He suffered also the wicked. He suffered unjust
judgment, that He might execute righteous judgment. But it was of
His mercy that He endured unjust judgment. In short, He became so
low as to come to the cross; yea, laid aside His power, but
published His mercy. Wherein did He lay aside His power? In that
He would not come down from the cross, though He had the power to
rise again from the sepulchre. Wherein did He publish His mercy?
In that, when hanging on the cross, He said, "Father, forgive
them; for they know not what they do." Whether, then, it be that
He said, "I judge not any man," because He had come not to judge
the world, out to save the world; or, that, as I have mentioned,
when He had said, "Ye judge after the flesh," He added, "I
judge not any man," for us to understand that Christ judgeth not
after the flesh, like as He was judged by men.
5. But that you may know that Christ is judge even now, hear what
follows: "And if I judge, my judgment is true." Behold, thou
hast Him as thy judge, but acknowledge Him as thy Saviour, lest
thou feel the judge. But why has He said that His judgment is true?
"Because," saith He, "I am not alone, but I and the Father
that sent me." I have said to you, brethren, that this holy
Evangelist John soars exceedingly high: it is with difficulty that he
is comprehended. But we need to remind you, beloved, of the deeper
mystery of this soaring. Both in the prophet Ezekiel, and in the
Apocalypse of this very John whose Gospel this is, there is
mentioned a fourfold living creature, having four characteristic
faces; that of a man, of an ox, of a lion, and of an eagle. Those
who have handled the mysteries of Holy Scripture before us have, for
the most part, understood by this living creature, or rather, these
four living creatures, the four evangelists. They have understood the
lion as put for king, because he appears to be, in a manner, the king
of beasts on account of his strength and terrible valor. This
character is assigned to Matthew, because in the generations of the
Lord he followed the royal line, showing how the Lord was, along the
royal line, of the seed of David. But Luke, because he begins with
the priesthood of Zacharias, mentioning the father of John the
Baptist, is designated the ox; for the ox was an important victim in
the sacrifice of the priests. To Mark is deservedly assigned the man
Christ, because neither has he said anything of the royal authority,
nor did he begin with the priestly function, but only set out with the
man Christ. All these have departed but little from the things of
earth, that is, from those things which our Lord Jesus Christ
performed on earth; of His divinity they have said very little, like
men walking with Him on the earth. There remains the eagle; this is
John, the preacher of sublime truths, and a contemplator with steady
gaze of the inner and eternal light. It is said, indeed, that the
young eagles are tested by the parent birds in this way: the young one
is suspended from the talons of the male parent and directly exposed to
the rays of the sun; if it looks steadily at the sun, it is recognized
as a true brood; if its eye quivers, it is allowed to drop off, as a
spurious brood. Now, therefore, consider how sublime are the things
he ought to speak who is compared to the eagle; and yet even we, who
creep on the earth, weak and hardly of any account among men, venture
to handle and to expound these things; and imagine that we can either
apprehend when we meditate them, or be apprehended when we speak.
6. Why have I said this? For perhaps after these words one may
justly say to me: Lay aside the book then. Why dost thou take in
hand what exceeds thy measure? Why trust thy tongue to it? To this
I reply: Many heretics abound; and God has permitted them to abound
to this end, that we may not be always nourished with milk and remain
in senseless infancy. For inasmuch as they have not understood how the
divinity of Christ is set forth to our acceptance, they have concluded
according to their will: and by not discerning aright, they have
brought in most troublesome questions upon catholic believers; and the
hearts of believers began to be disturbed and to waver. Then
immediately it became a necessity for spiritual men, who had not only
read in the Gospel anything respecting the divinity of our Lord Jesus
Christ, but had also understood it, to bring forth the armor of
Christ against the armor of the devil, and with all their might to
fight in most open conflict for the divinity of Christ against false
and deceitful teachers; lest, while they were silent, others might
perish. For whoever have thought either that our Lord Jesus Christ
is of another substance than the Father is, or that there is only
Christ, so that the same is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit;
whoever also have chosen to think that He was only man, not God made
man, or God in such wise as to be mutable in His Godhead, or God
in such wise as not to be man; these have made shipwreck from the
faith, and have been cast forth from the harbor of the Church, lest
by their inquietude they might wreck the ships in their company. Which
thing obliged that even we, though least and as regards ourselves
wholly unworthy, but in regard of His mercy set in some account among
His stewards, should speak to you what either you may understand and
rejoice with me, or, if you cannot yet understand, by believing it
you may remain secure in the harbor.
7. I will accordingly speak; let him who can, understand; and let
him who cannot understand, believe: yet will I speak what the Lord
saith, "Ye judge after the flesh; I judge not any man," either
now, or after the flesh. "But even, if I judge, my judgment is
true." Why is Thy judgment true? "Because I am not alone,"
saith He, "but I and the Father that sent me." What then, O
Lord Jesus? If Thou wert alone would Thy judgment be false: and
is it because Thou art not alone, but Thou and the Father that sent
Thee, that Thou judgest truly? How shall I answer? Let Himself
answer: He saith, "My judgment is true." Why? "Because I am
not alone, but I and the Father that sent me." If He is with
These, how has He sent Thee? And has He sent Thee, and yet is
He also with Thee? Is it so that having been sent, Thou hast not
departed from Him? And didst Thou come to us, and yet abode there?
How is this to be believed? how apprehended? To these two questions
I answer: Thou sayest rightly, how is it to be apprehended; how
believed, thou sayest not rightly. Rather, for that reason is it
right to believe it, because it is not immediately to be apprehended;
for if it were a thing to be immediately apprehended, there would be no
need to believe it, because it would be seen. It is because thou dost
not apprehend that thou believest; but by believing thou art made
capable of apprehending. For if thou dost not believe, thou wilt
never apprehend, since thou wilt remain less capable. Let faith then
purify thee, that understanding may fill thee. "My judgment is
true," saith He, "because I am not alone, but I and the Father
that sent me." Therefore, O Lord our God, Jesus Christ, Thy
sending is Thy incarnation. So I see, so I understand: in short,
so I believe, in case it may smack of arrogance to say, so I
understand. Doubtless the Lord Jesus Christ is even here; rather,
was here as to His flesh, is here now as to His Godhead: He was
both with the Father and had not left the Father. Hence, in that,
He is said to have been sent and to have come to us, His incarnation
is set forth to us, for the Father did not take flesh.
8. For there are certain heretics called Sabellians, who are also
called Patripassians, who affirm that it was the Father Himself that
had suffered. Do not thou so affirm, O Catholic; for if thou wilt
be a Patripassian, thou wilt not be sane. Understand, then, that
the incarnation of the Son is termed the sending of the Son; and do
not believe that the Father was incarnate, but do not yet believe that
He departed from the incarnate Son. The Son carried flesh, the
Father was with the Son. If the Father was in heaven, the Son on
earth, how was the Father with the Son? Because both Father and
Son were everywhere: for God is not in such manner in heaven as not
to be on earth. Hear him who would flee from the judgment of God,
and found not a way to flee by: "Whither shall I go," saith he,
"from Thy Spirit; and whither shall I flee from Thy face? If I
ascend up into heaven, Thou art there." The question was about the
earth; hear what follows: "If I descend unto hell, Thou art
there." If, then, He is said to be present even in hell, what in
the universe remains where He is not present? For the voice of God
with the prophet is, "I fill heaven and earth." Hence He is
everywhere, who is confined by no place. Turn not thou away from
Him, and He is with thee. If thou wouldst come to Him, be not
slow to love; for it is not with feet but with affections thou
runnest. Thou comest while remaining in one place, if thou believest
and lovest. Wherefore He is everywhere; and if everywhere, how not
also with the Son? Is it so that He is not with the Son, while,
if thou believest, He is even with thee?
9. How, then, is His judgment true, but because the Son is
true? For this He said: "And if I judge, my judgment is true;
because I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me." Just
as if He had said, "My judgment is true," because I am the Son
of God. How dost Thou prove that Thou art the Son of God?
"Because I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me."
Blush, Sabellian; thou hearest the Salt, thou hearest the
Father. Father is Father, Son is Son. He said not, I am the
Father. and I the same am the Son; but He saith, "I am not
alone." Why art Thou not alone? Because the Father is with me.
"I am, and the Father that sent me;" thou hearest, "I am, and
He that sent me." Lest thou lose sight of the person, distinguish
the persons. Distinguish by understanding, do not separate by
faithlessness; lest again, fleeing as it were Charybdis, thou rush
Upon Scylla. For the whirlpool of the impiety of the Sabellians was
swallowing thee, to say that the Father is the same who is Son: just
now thou hast learned, "I am not alone, but I and the Father that
sent me." Thou dost acknowledge that the Father is Father, and
that the Son is Son thou dost rightly acknowledge: but do not say the
Father is greater, the Son is less; do not say, the Father is
gold, the Son is silver. There is one substance, one Godhead, one
co-eternity, perfect equality, no unlikeness. For if thou only
believe that Christ is another, not the same person that the Father
is, but yet imagine that in respect of His nature He is somewhat
different from the Father, thou hast indeed escaped Charybdis, but
thou hast been wrecked on the rocks of Scylla. Steer the middle
course, avoid each of the two perilous sides. Father is Father,
Son is Son. Thou sayest now, Father is Father, Son is Son:
thou hast fortunately escaped the danger of the absorbing whirl; why
wouldst thou go unto the other side to say, the Father is this, the
Son that? The Son is another person than the Father is, this thou
sayest rightly; but that He is different in nature, thou sayest not
rightly. Certainly the Son is another person, because He is not the
same who is Father and the Father is another person, because He is
not the same who is Son: nevertheless, they are not different in
nature, but the selfsame is both Father and Son. What means the
self-same? God is one. Thou hast heard, "Because I am not
alone, but I and the Father that sent me:" hear how thou mayest
believe Father and Son; hear the Son Himself, "I and the Father
are one." He said not, I am the Father; or, I and the Father
is one person; but when He says, "I and the Father are one,"
hear both, both the one, unum, and the are, sumus, and thou shalt
be delivered both from Charybdis and from Scylla. In these two
words, in that He said one, He delivers thee from Arius; in that
He said are, He delivers thee from Sabellius. If one, therefore
not diverse; if are, therefore both Father and Son. For He would
not say are of one person; but, on the other hand, He would not say
one of diverse. Hence the reason why He says, "my judgment is
true," is, that thou mayest hear it briefly, because I am the Son
of God. But I would have thee in such wise believe that I am the
Son of God, that thou mayest understand that the Father is with me:
I am not Son in such manner as to have left Him; I am not in such
manner here that I should not be with Him; nor is He in such manner
there as not to be with me: I have taken to me the form of a servant,
yet have I not lost the form of God; therefore He saith, "I am
not alone, but I and the Father that sent me."
10. He had spoken of judgment; He means to speak of testimony.
"In your law," saith He, "it is written that the testimony of two
men is true. I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father
that sent me beareth witness of me." He expounded the law to them
also, if they were not unthankful. For it is a great question, my
brethren, and to me it certainly appears to have been ordained in a
mystery, where God said, "In the mouth of two or three witnesses
every word shall stand." Is truth sought by two witnesses? Clearly
it is; so is the custom of mankind: but yet it may be that even two
witnesses lie. The chaste Susanna was pressed by two false
witnesses: were they not therefore false because they were two? Do we
speak of two or of three? A whole people lied against Christ. If,
then, a people, consisting of a great multitude of men, was found a
false witness, how is it to be understood that "in the mouth of two or
three witnesses every word shall stand," unless it be that in this
manner the Trinity is mysteriously set forth to us, in which is
perpetual stability of truth? Dost thou wish to have a good cause?
Have two or three witnesses, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
In short, when Susanna, the chaste woman and faithful wife, was
pressed by two false witnesses, the Trinity supported her in her
conscience and in secret: that Trinity raised up from secrecy one
witness, Daniel, and convicted the two? Therefore, because it is
written in your law that the witness of two men is true, receive our
witness, test ye feel our judgment. "For I," saith He, "judge
not any man; but I bear witness of myself:" I defer judgment, I
defer not the witness.
11. Let us, brethren, choose for ourselves God as our judge,
God as our witness, against the tongues of men, against the weak
suspicions of mankind. For He who is the judge disdains not to be
witness, nor is He advanced in honor when He becomes judge; since
He who is witness will also Himself be judge. In what way is He
witness? Because He asks not another to learn from Him who thou
art. In what way is He judge? Because He has the power of killing
and making alive, of condemning and acquitting, of casting down into
hell and of raising up into heaven, of joining to the devil and of
crowning with the angels. Since, therefore, He has this power, He
is judge. Now, because He requires not another witness that He may
know thee; and that He who will hereafter judge thee is now seeing
thee, there is no means whereby thou canst deceive Him when He begins
to judge. For there is no furnishing thyself with false witnesses who
can circumvent that judge when He shall begin to judge thee. This is
what God says to thee: When thou despisedst, I did see it; and
when thou believedst not, I did not frustrate my sentence. I delayed
it, not removed it. Thou wouldst not hear what I enjoined, thou
shall feel what I foretold. But if thou hearest what I enjoined,
thou shall not feel the evils which I have foretold, but thou shall
enjoy the good things which I have promised.
12. Let it not by any means surprise any one that He says, "My
judgment is true; because I am not alone, but I and the Father that
sent me;" whilst He has said in another place, "The Father
judgeth not any man, but all judgment hath He given to the Son."
We have already discoursed on these same words of the evangelist, and
we remind you now that this was not said because the Father will not be
with the Son when He comes to judge, but because the Son alone will
be apparent to the good and the bad in the judgment, in that form in
which He suffered, and rose again, and ascended into heaven. For at
that moment, indeed, as they were beholding Him ascending, the
angelic voice sounded in the ears of His disciples, "So shah He
come in like manner as ye have seen Him going into heaven;" that is,
in the form of man in which He was judged, will He judge, in order
that also that prophetic utterance may be fulfilled, "They shall look
upon Him whom they pierced." But when the righteous go into eternal
life, we shall see Him as He is; that will not be the judgment of
the living and the dead, but only the reward of the living.
13. Likewise, let it not surprise you that He says, "In your
law it is written that the testimony of two men is true," that any man
should hence suppose that this was not also the law of God, because it
is not said, In the law of God: let him know that, when it is said
thus, In your law, it is just as if He said, "In the law which
was given to you;" given by whom, except by God? Just as we say,
"Our daily bread;" and yet we say, "Give us this day."
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