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1. You remember, beloved, in the former discourses, for it was
both read in the Gospel and also discussed by us according to our
ability, how that the Lord Jesus went up to the feast-day, as it
were in secret, not because He feared lest He should be laid hold
of, He who had the power not to be laid hold of, but to signify that
even in that very feast which was celebrated by the Jews He Himself
was hidden, and that the mystery of the feast was His own. In the
passage read today then, that which was supposed to be timidity
appeared as power; for He spoke openly on the feast-day, so that the
crowds marvelled, and said that which we have heard when the passage
was read: "Is not this he whom they sought to kill? And, lo, he
speaketh openly, and they say nothing. Do the rulers know indeed that
this is the Christ?" They who knew with what fierceness He was
sought after, wondered by what power He was kept from being taken.
Then, not fully understanding His power, they fancied it was the
knowledge of the rulers, that these rulers knew Him to be the very
Christ, and that for this reason they spared Him whom they had with
so much eagerness sought out to be put to death.
2. Then those same persons who had said, "Did the rulers know that
this is the Christ?" proposed a question among themselves, by which
it appeared to them that He was not the Christ; for they said in
addition, "But we know this man whence he is: but when Christ
cometh, no man knoweth whence he is." As to how this opinion among
the Jews arose, that "when Christ comes, no man knoweth whence He
is" (for it did not arise without reason), if we consider the
Scriptures, we find, brethren, that the Holy Scriptures have
declared of Christ that "He shall be called a Nazarene."
Therefore they foretold whence He is. Again, if we seek the place
of His nativity, as that whence He is by birth, neither was this
hidden from the Jews, because of the Scriptures which had foretold
these things. For when the Magi, on the appearing of a star, sought
Him out to worship Him, they came to Herod and told him what they
sought and what they meant: and he, having called together those who
had knowledge of the law, inquired of them where Christ should be
born: they told him, "In Bethlehem of Judah," and also brought
forward the prophetic testimony. If, therefore, the prophets had
foretold both the place where the origin of His flesh was, and the
place where His mother would bring Him forth, whence did spring that
opinion among the Jews which we have just heard, but from this, that
the Scriptures had proclaimed beforehand, and had foretold both? In
respect of His being man, the Scriptures foretold whence He should
be; in respect of His being God, this was hidden from the ungodly,
and it required godly men to discover it. Moreover, they said this,
"When Christ comes, no man knoweth whence He is," because that
which was spoken by Isaiah produced this opinion in them, viz. "And
His generation, who shall tell?" In short, the Lord Himself made
answer to both, that they both did, and also did not know whence He
was; that He might testify to the holy prophecy which before was
predicted of Him, both as to the humanity of infirmity and also as to
the divinity of majesty.
3. Hear, therefore, the word of the Lord, brethren; see how He
confirmed to them both what they said, "We know this man whence he
is," and also what they said, "When Christ cometh, no man knoweth
whence He is. Then cried Christ in the temple, saying, Ye both
know me, and ye know whence I am: and I am not come of myself, but
He that sent me is true, whom ye know not." That is to say, ye
both know me, and ye know me not; ye both know whence I am, and ye
know not whence I am. Ye know whence I am: Jesus of Nazareth,
whose parents also ye knew. For in this case, the birth of the
Virgin alone was hidden, to whom, however, her husband was witness;
for the same was able faithfully to declare this, who was also able as
a husband to be jealous. Therefore, this birth of the Virgin
excepted, they knew all that in Jesus pertains to man: His face was
known, His country was known, His family was known; where He was
born was to be known by inquiry. Rightly then did He say, "Ye both
know me, and ye know whence I am," according to the flesh and form
of man which He bore; but according to His divinity, "And I am
not come of myself, but He that sent me is true, whom ye know not;"
but yet that ye may know Him, believe on Him whom He has sent, and
ye will know Him. For, "No man has seen God at any time, except
the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath
declared Him:" and, "None knoweth the Father but the Son, and
he to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."
4. Lastly, when He had said, "But He that sent me is true,
whom ye know not," in order to show them whence they might know that
which they did not know, He subjoined, "I know Him." Therefore
seek from me to know Him. But why is it that I know Him?
"Because I am from Him, and He sent me." Gloriously has He
shown both. "I am from Him," said He; because the Son is from
the Father, and whatever the Son is, He is of Him whose Son He
is. Hence we say that the Lord Jesus is God of God: we do not say
that the Father is God of God, but simply God: and we say that the
Lord Jesus is Light of Light; we do not say that the Father is
Light of Light, but simply Light. Accordingly, to this belongs
that which He said "I am from Him." But as to my being seen of
you in the flesh, "He sent me." When thou hearest "He sent
me," do not understand a difference of nature to be meant, but the
authority of Him that begets.
5. "Then they sought to take Him: but no man laid hands on Him,
because His hour was not yet come;" that is, because He was not
willing. For what is this. "His hour was not yet come"? The
Lord was not born under fate. This is not to be believed concerning
thee, much less concerning Him by whom thou wast made. If thy hour
is His good will, what is His hour but His good will? He meant not
therefore an hour in which He should be forced to die, but that in
which He would deign to be put to death. But He was awaiting the
time in which He should die, for He awaited also the time in which
He should be born. The apostle, speaking of this time, says,
"But when the fullness of time came, God sent His Son." For
this cause many say, Why did not Christ come before? To whom we
must make answer, Because the fullness of time had not yet come,
while He by whom the times were made sets their bounds; for He knew
when He ought to come. In the first place, it was necessary that He
should be foretold through a long series of times and years; for it was
not something insignificant that was to come: He who was to be ever
held, had to be for a long time foretold. The greater the judge that
was coming, the longer the train of heralds that preceded him. In
short, when the fullness of time came, He also came who was to
deliver us from time. For being delivered from time, we shall come to
that eternity where there is no time: there it is not said, When
shall the hour come? for the day is everlasting, a day which is
neither preceded by a yesterday, nor cut off by a morrow. But in this
world days roll on, some are passing away, others come; none abides;
and the moments in which we are speaking drive out one another in turn,
nor stands the first syllable for the second to sound. Since we began
to speak we are somewhat older, and without doubt I am just now older
than I was in the morning; thus, nothing stands, nothing remains
fixed in time. Therefore ought we to love Him by whom the times were
made, that we may be delivered from time and be fixed in eternity,
where there is no more changeableness of times. Great, therefore, is
the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, in that for our sakes He was
made in time, by whom the times were made; that He was made among all
things, by whom all things were made; that He became what He made.
For He was made what He had made; for He was made man who had made
man, lest what He had made should perish. According to this
dispensation, the hour of His birth had now come, and He was born;
but not yet had come the hour of His suffering, therefore not yet had
He suffered.
6. In short, that ye may know that the words refer, not to the
necessity of His dying, but to His power, I speak this for the sake
of some who, when they hear "His hour was not yet come," are
determined on believing in fate, and their hearts become infatuated;
that ye may know, then, that it was His power of dying, recollect
the passion, look at Him crucified. While hanging on the tree, He
said, "I thirst." They, having heard this, offered to Him on
the cross vinegar by a sponge on a reed. He received it, and said,
"It is finished;" and, bowing His head, gave up the ghost. You
see His power of dying, that He waited for this until all things
should be fulfilled that had been foretold concerning Him to take place
before His death. For the prophet had said, "They gave me gall for
my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." He waited
for all these things to be fulfilled: after they were completed, He
said, "It is finished;" and He departed by power, because He
came not by necessity. Hence some wondered more at this His power to
die than at His ability to work miracles. For they came to the cross
to take the bodies down from the tree, for the Sabbath was drawing
near, and the thieves were found still living. The punishment of the
cross was so much the harder because it tortured men so long, and all
that were crucified were killed by a lingering death. But the
thieves, that they might not remain on the tree, were forced to die by
having their legs broken, that they might be taken down thence. The
Lord, however, was found to be already dead, and the men marvelled;
and they who despised Him when living, so wondered at Him when dead,
that some of them said, "Truly this was the Son of God." Whence
also that, brethren, where He says to those that seek Him, "I am
He;" and they, going backward, all fell to the ground?
Consequently there was in Him supreme power. Nor was He forced to
die at an hour; but He waited the hour on which His will might
fittingly be done, not that on which necessity might be fulfilled
against His will.
7. "But many of the people believed on Him." The Lord made
whole the humble and the poor. The rulers were mad, and therefore
they not only did not acknowledge the Physician, but even were eager
to slay Him. There was a certain crowd of people which quickly saw
its own sickness, and without delay recognized His remedy. See what
that very crowd, moved by His miracles, said: "When Christ cometh
will He do more signs than these?" Surely, unless there will be two
Christs, this is the Christ. Consequently, in saying these
things, they believed on Him.
8. But those rulers, having heard the assurance of the multitude,
and that murmuring noise of the people in which Christ was being
glorified, "sent officers to take Him." To take whom? Him not
yet willing to be taken. Because then they could not take Him while
He would not, they were sent to hear Him. teaching. Teaching
what? "Then said Jesus, Yet a little while I am with you."
What ye wish to do now ye will do, but not just now; because I am
not just now willing. Why am I now as yet unwilling? Because "yet
a little while I am with you; and then I go unto Him that sent
me." I must complete my dispensation, and in this manner come to my
suffering.
9. "Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am,
thither ye cannot come." Here He has already foretold His
resurrection; for they would not acknowledge Him when present, and
afterwards they sought Him when they saw the multitude already
believing on Him For great signs were wrought, even when the Lord
was risen again and ascended into heaven. Then mighty deeds were done
by His disciples, but He wrought by them as He wrought by Himself:
since, indeed, He had said to them, "Without me ye can do
nothing." When that lame man who sat at the gate rose up at Peter's
voice, and walked on his feet, so that men marvelled, Peter spoke to
them to this effect, that it was not by his own power that he did
this, but in the virtue of Him whom they slew. Many pricked in the
heart said, "What shall we do?" For they saw themselves bound by
an immense crime of impiety, since they slew Him whom they ought to
have revered and worshipped; and this crime they thought inexpiable.
A great wickedness indeed it was, the thought of which might make them
despair; yet it did not behove them to despair, for whom the Lord,
as He hung on the cross, deigned to pray. For He had said,
"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. He saw some
who were His own among many who were aliens; for these He sought
pardon, from whom at the time He was still receiving injury. He
regarded not that He was being put to death by them, but only that He
was dying for them. It was a great thing that was forgiven them, it
was a great thing that was done by them and for them, so that no man
should despair of the forgiveness of his sin when they who slew Christ
obtained pardon. Christ died for us, but surely He was not put to
death by us? But those men indeed saw Christ dying by their own
villany; and yet they believed on Christ pardoning their villanies.
Until they drank the blood they had shed, they despaired of their own
salvation. Therefore said He this: "Ye shall seek me, and shall
not find me: and where I am, ye cannot come;" because they were to
seek Him after the resurrection, being pricked in their heart with
remorse. Nor did He say "where I will be," but "where I am."
For Christ was always in that place whither He was about to return;
for He came in such manner that He did not depart from that place.
Hence He says in another place, "No man has ascended into heaven,
but He who came down from heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven."
He said not, who was in heaven. He spoke on the earth, and declared
that He was at the same time in heaven. He came in such wise that He
departed not thence; and He so returned as not to abandon us. What
do ye marvel at? This is God's doing. For man, as regards his
body, is in a place, and departs from a place; and when he comes to
another place, he will not be in that place whence he came: but God
fills all things, and is all everywhere; He is not held in places
according to space. Nevertheless the Lord Christ was, as regards
His visible flesh, on the earth: as regards His invisible majesty,
He was in heaven and on earth; and therefore He says, "Where I
am, thither ye cannot come." Nor did He say, "Ye shall not be
able." but "ye are not able to come;" for at that time they were
such as were not able. And that ye may know that this was not said to
cause despair, He said something of the same kind also to His
disciples: "Whither I go ye cannot come." Yet while praying in
their behalf, He said, "Father, I will that where I am they also
may be with me." And, finally, this He expounded to Peter, and
says to him, "Whither I go thou canst not follow me now, but thou
shalt follow me hereafter."
10. "Then said the Jews," not to Him, but "to themselves,
Whither will this man go, that we shall not find him? will he go unto
the dispersion among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles?" For
they knew not what they said; but, it being His will, they
prophesied. The Lord was indeed about to go to the Gentiles, not by
His bodily presence, but still with His feet. What were His feet?
Those which Saul desired to trample upon by persecution, when the
Head cried out to him, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?"
What is this saying that He said, "Ye shall seek me, and shall not
find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come?" Wherefore the
Lord said this they knew not, and yet they did predict something that
was to be without knowing it. For this is what the Lord said that
they knew not the place, if place however it must be called, which is
the bosom of the Father, from which Christ never departed; nor were
they competent to conceive where Christ was, whence Christ never
withdrew, whither He was to return, where He was all the while
dwelling. How was it possible for the human heart to conceive this,
least of all to explain it with the tongue? This, then, they in no
wise understood; and yet by occasion of this they foretold our
salvation, that the Lord would go to the dispersion of the Gentiles,
and would fulfill that which they read but did not understand. "A
people whom I have not known served me, and by the hearing of the ear
obeyed me," They before whose eyes He was, heard Him not; those
heard Him in whose ears He was sounded.
11. For of that Church of the Gentiles which was to come, the
woman that had the issue of blood was a type: she touched and was not
seen; she was not known and yet was healed. It was in reality a
figure what the Lord asked: "Who touched me?" As if not knowing,
He healed her as unknown: so has He done also to the Gentiles. We
did not get to know Him in the flesh, yet we have been made worthy to
eat His flesh, and to be members in His flesh. In what way?
Because He sent to us. Whom? His heralds, His disciples, His
servants, His redeemed whom He created, but whom He redeemed, His
brethren also. I have said but little of all that they are: His own
members, Himself; for He sent to us His own members, and He made
us His members. Nevertheless, Christ has not been among us with the
bodily form which the Jews saw and despised; because this also was
said concerning Him, even as the apostle says: "Now I say that
Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to
confirm the promises made unto the fathers. He owed it to have come to
those by whose fathers and to whose fathers He was promised. For this
reason He says also Himself: "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep
of the house of Israel."' But what says the apostle in the
following words? "And that the Gentiles might glorify God for His
mercy." What, moreover, saith the Lord Himself? "Other sheep
I have which are not of this fold. He who had said, "I am not sent
but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel," how has He other
sheep to which He was not sent, except that He intimated that He was
not sent to show His bodily presence but to the Jews only, who saw
and killed Him? And yet many of them, both before and afterwards,
believed. The first harvest was winnowed from the cross, that there
might be a seed whence another harvest might spring up. But at this
present time, when roused by the fame of the gospel, and by its goodly
odor, His faithful ones among all nations believe, He shall be the
expectation of the Gentiles, when He shall come who has already
come; when He shall be seen by all, He who was then not seen by
some, by some was seen; when He shall come to judge who came to be
judged; when He shall come to distinguish who came not to be
distinguished. For Christ was not discerned by the ungodly, but was
condemned with the ungodly; for it was said concerning Him, "He was
accounted among the wicked." The robber escaped, Christ was
condemned. He who was loaded with criminal accusations received
pardon; He who has released from their crimes all who confess Him,
was condemned. Nevertheless even the cross itself, if thou
considerest it well, was a judgment-seat; for the Judge being set up
in the middle, one thief who believed was delivered, the other who
reviled was condemned. Already He signified what He is to do with
the quick and the dead: some He will set on His right hand and others
on His left. That thief was like those that shall be on the left
hand, the other like those that shall be on the right. He was
undergoing judgment, and He threatened judgment.
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