Chapter 8

Chapter VIII.


1. But Jesus went etc. Having set forth the refutation of those rising up through power, here is set forth the refutation of those plotting through malice. Because they could not kill him, they sought to find an occasion to catch him in his speech. And therefore they proposed a question to catch the Lord: but they themselves were on the contrary caught and confounded. And their refutation is described in this order. For first is set forth Christ's instruction; second, the malicious question of the Pharisees: third, Christ's prudent response: fourth, the confusion of the Pharisees: fifth, the liberation of the woman.

2. (Verse 1.). Therefore first is introduced Christ's instruction, which was diligent, public, and authoritative. Diligent, whence he says: But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives: because he was lodging in Bethany in the house of Mary and Martha; Luke twenty-one:

"During the days he was teaching in the temple, but going out at night he stayed on the mount called Olivet."

3. (Verse 2.). And at dawn he came again to the temple. Diligence is noted in this, that he came at dawn; Wisdom six: "She anticipates those who desire her, so that she may show herself to them first," and Proverbs eight: "Those who watch for me in the morning shall find me." It was also public: whence he says: And all the people came to him: Luke twenty-one: "All the people came early in the morning," that is, went in the morning, "to him in the temple to hear him." It was also authoritative: therefore he says: And sitting down he taught them: sitting, because it belongs to the master to sit: Matthew twenty-three: "Upon the chair of Moses the scribes and Pharisees have sat;" they sat, namely to teach, and so also did he.

4. (Verse 3.). They bring to him etc. Here is touched upon the second point, namely the malicious question. The question was about a woman caught in adultery, whether she was to be stoned according to the command of the Law: on account of which he says: The scribes and Pharisees bring to him a woman caught in adultery: therefore the scribes and Pharisees, because they were more cunning and more envious: the scribes envied his wisdom, but the Pharisees his goodness; Luke eleven: "The Pharisees and lawyers began to press him vehemently," etc. And they set her in the midst, because they wished to inquire about her.

5. (Verse 4.). And they said to him: Master, they say this by way of flattery, so that they might deceive and conceal themselves: Chrysostom: "They call him Master, whose disciples they do not wish to be." They said something similar in Matthew twenty-two: "Master, we know that you are truthful and teach the way of God in truth." This woman was just now caught in adultery, by the evidence of the deed, or by witnesses.

6. (Verse 5.). But in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women: Deuteronomy twenty-two: "If a man has lain with his neighbor's wife, both shall die," that is, the adulterer and the adulteress. What therefore do you say? They asked this not from zeal for inquiry, but from guile to deceive: and this the Evangelist expresses:

7. (Vers. 6.). But this they said, testing him, that they might be able to accuse him. Whence to those questioning in a similar manner the Lord responded, Matthew twenty-two: "Why do you test me, hypocrites?" That they might accuse him, as in the Passion; Matthew twenty-seven: "And when he was accused by the elders and chief priests, he answered nothing."

But Jesus, bending down. Here the third point is touched upon, namely Christ's prudent response. For he responded prudently, because with great moderation. For he was moderate, not hastening his judgment. Whence he says: Jesus, bending down, wrote with his finger on the ground, namely waiting, if perchance they might come to their senses from their deceitful question: he wrote with his finger, to indicate that he had written the Law with his finger, Deuteronomy nine and Exodus thirty-one. He was also moderate in passing judgment, because he neither inclined to the rigor of the Law, so as to say she should be killed, nor did he contradict the Law, so as to give them occasion to accuse him: whence he says:

8. (Vers. 7.). But when they persisted in questioning him, and would not desist from their folly: he raised himself up and said to them: Let him who is without sin among you cast the first stone at her. Having bent down through mercy, he raised himself up, through justice: and said to them, pronouncing the sentence: He who is without etc., inflicting the punishment. In which moderate response he confuted them as hypocrites, according to that passage of Matthew seven: "Why do you see the speck in your brother's eye, but do not see the beam in your own eye? Cast out first the beam from your own eye, and then you will see to cast out the speck from your brother's eye."

He was also moderate after the pronouncement of the sentence, whence he says:

9. (Vers. 8.). And again bending down, he wrote on the ground, so that he might give those who were confounded a place to depart without shame. Whence Bede: "He wished to bend down before his tempters and write on the ground, so that, turning his face to something else, he might give them free departure, since he foresaw that those struck by his response would depart sooner than ask further questions"; Jeremiah seventeen: "All who forsake you shall be confounded: those who depart from you shall be written in the earth"; Jeremiah twenty-two: "O earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord: Write this man as barren."

10. (Vers. 9.). Now when they heard this, etc. Here the fourth point is noted, namely the confusion of the Pharisees, which was made manifest in their dispersal; therefore he says: Now when they heard this, namely, so prudent and just a response, they went out one by one, beginning from the elders. Those who had come gathered together departed scattered, and the elders went out first, because they themselves had been first in guilt, and therefore also first in flight: Daniel 13, "Iniquity went forth from the elder judges, who seemed to govern the people"; and all departed, because all were confounded. Whence he says: And Jesus remained alone, and the woman standing in the midst. He remained alone, who seeks a place of solitude: Hosea 2: "I will lead her into the wilderness and there I will speak to her heart"; or because he alone was the one offended; the Psalm: "Against you alone have I sinned and done evil before you." Augustine: "Two remained: misery and mercy"; and because mercy looks upon misery, therefore he adds:

11. (Vers. 10.). But Jesus, raising himself up, in which the fifth point is noted, namely the merciful liberation of the accused woman. And because mercy runs together with justice and is not against justice, the Lord asks her about condemnation and accusation. Therefore he says: Woman, where are those who accused you? Has no one condemned you ? He asks two things, and because the one is evident from the departure of the accusers, the woman answers the question about condemnation.

12. (Vers. 11.). She said: No one, Lord, supply: has condemned me; it is not for man to condemn; Matthew 7: "Do not condemn," etc.; and therefore I am left to you. And there follows the merciful liberation of the woman; whence he says: But Jesus said: Neither will I condemn you: behold, mercy: Romans 8: "God who justifies, who is it that shall condemn?" Go and sin no more: behold, justice, which so absolves from guilt that it nevertheless does not give liberty to return to guilt; Sirach 5: "Mercy and wrath quickly draw near from him, and his wrath looks upon sinners." Whence Augustine: "Let those who love gentleness in the Lord take heed, and let them fear his truth; for indeed the Lord is sweet and upright. Do you love that he is sweet? Fear that he is upright. As one who is gentle he says: I was silent; but as one who is upright he says: I will speak as a woman in labor," Isaiah 42. Therefore he adds: Sin no more.

Questions.


13. Question I. But a doubt arises here: since this question could easily have been determined from the Law, and one who tests ought to ask doubtful things, whence is it that the deceitful Pharisees proposed such a question to the Lord?

Some respond that the whole thing seems to have been done by human contrivance; whence they said that this was inserted into the Gospel of John, just as the story of Susanna into Daniel. As testimony for this matter they adduced that Chrysostom makes no mention of this; whence he leaps to that passage: Again Jesus spoke, etc.

But Augustine and our expositors explain it as part of the sequence of the Gospel.

As for the fact that Chrysostom says nothing about it, I do not know the reason. Some say that it was not found in the ancient Greek books, because John added it after the Gospel was completed.

Therefore it must be said that the Pharisees envied the Lord because He was praised for meekness and justice together, according to that verse of the Psalm: For truth and meekness and justice. Therefore they propose a question in which He would necessarily have to incline toward the rigor of justice against meekness, so that He would be considered harsh, or contradict the justice of the Law. And they had contrived it as though insoluble, so that whichever side He took, they would obtain their purpose; but the Lord wisely responded to the person, not to the argument.

14. Question II. Likewise it is asked about the fact that the Lord was writing on the ground during the delivery of His sentence.

1. For it seemed a childish act, because it was not lasting, nor could anyone read it. 2. Likewise, why did He write with His finger? 3. Likewise, what was He writing? I respond: The moral reason why He wrote before the sentence and after on the ground is to teach us, as Bede says, that "before we rebuke a sinning neighbor, and after we have rendered the ministry of correction, we should examine ourselves with a worthy investigation of humility, lest perchance we be entangled either in the same sins that we rebuke, or in others." Another reason is to show that a sentence is to be delivered with deliberation and first written down, and that words are to be measured according to the order of law.

The third reason is to show that He condemns unwillingly, and that a man ought to deliver a sentence of condemnation unwillingly and with sorrow.

The fourth reason is to give them opportunity to desist from their malicious case; and this indeed pertains to judges.

3. As to what is asked: what was He writing? Augustine responds that He wrote what He spoke. But Ambrose says that He wrote: Earth, earth, write down the rejected men, and this is drawn from Jeremiah chapter twenty-two. The Interlinear Gloss says that He was writing "their sins." Others say that He was writing letters in which each one could read his own sins.

2. As to what is asked: why did He write with His finger? The reason is literal, because I believe He did not have another pen. There is also a moral and allegorical reason: moral, because by the finger is understood discernment; He wished each person to examine himself with discernment; allegorical, to signify that He was the one who had written the Law with His finger, Exodus chapter thirty-one.

15. Question III. Likewise it is asked about the Lord's response: He who is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her.

From this response it seems that no one could accuse anyone, because no one is clean from filth and no one is without sin; and if this is so, crimes will remain unpunished.

If you say that the Lord understood this concerning mortal sin, then it is objected: because it is commanded to correct a brother and to accuse him; therefore, if no one sins by doing what he is bound to do, then if a sinner is bound to accuse, because he is not absolved on account of his fault, therefore he does not sin by accusing.

If you say that he sins not in this, that he does it, but in this, that he does not do it worthily, it is objected: because this is not a privileged work.

I respond: It must be said that a sinner existing in mortal sin who accuses another is either a notorious sinner in the same kind of sin, and then he scandalizes, as far as lies in him, and sins with a twofold sin, namely of scandal and contempt. But a hidden sinner, whether in the same kind of sin or in another: if he knows that he has sin, and considers his brother's sin and judges it, and neglects himself, he sins with the sin of contempt — not in this, that he accuses, but in this, that when he ought to purge and examine himself, he neglects and despises this. Hence the word of the Lord is to be understood in this way; and thus the response to that objection is clear.

16. Question IV. Likewise, it is asked concerning the absolution of the woman.

1. It seems that the Lord directly acted against the Law, because he absolved the one whom the Law condemned, and the time of the Law and its observance still endured.

2. Likewise, it seems that he acted unjustly, because he imposed no punishment; it seems that he gave license to sin.

I respond: The Lord did not act against the Law, because he himself was above the Law and could dispense from the precept of the Law. Nor however did he act against it, because the accusers did not persist in accusing, and the woman was alone and without an accuser, and such a one the Law did not condemn. Hence he first repelled the adversaries with the tongue of justice, and afterward, when she was left to him, he raised the eyes of mercy. Nor however would he have condemned her, even if the adversaries had persisted, as Augustine says: "Far be it that he should condemn, who came to save."

3. To the other point it must be said that he was the Lord, and therefore could pardon all; nor however did he favor sins by pardoning, because he forbade her to sin any further; and this because, as Augustine says, "God condemned not the person but the sin."

17. Again therefore Jesus spoke to them: I am the light of the world. Having confuted the perversity of the Jews, in this second part the Lord manifests the dignity and nobility of his doctrine. Now the nobility of his doctrine consists in this, that it liberates from the blindness of error, from the servitude of sin, from the condemnation of death. First therefore it is shown how it liberates from the blindness of error and of unbelief. Second, how it liberates from the servitude of sin, at: Therefore Jesus said to them again, etc. Third, how it liberates from the condemnation of death, at: Amen, amen I say to you: If anyone keeps my word, he shall not taste death forever.

First, therefore, he commends his doctrine in this, that it liberates from the darkness of error, and this indeed he does in the following manner: first is introduced the commendation of the doctrine; second, on account of the Jews' reproach, the approbation of the commendation; third, the manifestation of Jewish ignorance; fourth, the evasion of perfidy.

18. (Vers. 12.). First, therefore, is introduced the commendation of the doctrine in this, that the Lord says those who accompany him and adhere to his doctrine are freed from darkness; on account of which he says: Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, because he had confuted their perversity, he again resumed his discourse, that he might show the nobility of his doctrine.

He commends therefore his doctrine, saying: I am the light of the world, that is, of men existing in the world: above in chapter one: "He enlightens every man," etc. I am the light of the world, through instruction: Sirach twenty-four: "I illuminate doctrine like the dawn for all." He who follows me, through the captivity of the intellect; Second Corinthians ten: "Bringing every intellect into captivity to the obedience of Christ"; such a one follows: below in chapter twelve: "He who serves me, let him follow me." Does not walk in darkness, through the blinding of error: Ephesians four: "Do not walk as the Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind"; below in chapter twelve: "Walk while you have the light, lest the darkness overtake you." But shall have the light of life, through the vision of divine brightness: but shall have, because in the future there will be the light of life, which cannot be extinguished; but now it can be; whence in the Psalm: "With you is the fountain of life, and in your light we shall see light." Or he says shall have for this reason, because now we walk by faith, but then we shall have it through the comprehension of sight; in the present, however, it is not comprehended unless it is overshadowed by flesh. Whence Bernard: "No gaze could bear the splendor of that eternal light, unless it were overshadowed by the light cloud of flesh"; therefore, he says, it was said in Luke one: "The power of the Most High shall overshadow you."

19. (Vers. 13.). The Pharisees therefore said to him. Here is touched upon the second point, namely the approbation of the commendation on account of the Jews' reproach. For they reproached him because he commended himself. Therefore they say: You bear witness concerning yourself; your testimony is not true, that is, it is not to be accepted as true, because it is said in Proverbs twenty-seven: "Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips." To this reproach the Lord adds his response; therefore he says:

20. (Vers. 14.). Jesus answered and said to them, and he defends his testimony as true, because it is certain, because it is legitimate: therefore he says: Even if I bear witness of myself, my testimony is true, because I am God: Numbers twenty-three: "God is not a man, that he should lie." Therefore it is true and acceptable, because certain: whence he says: Because I know whence I come and whither I go: Proverbs twelve: "He who speaks what he knows is a judge of justice, but he who lies is a fraudulent witness"; below, chapter thirteen: "Knowing that he came forth from God and goes to God." But you argue wrongly: whence he adds: But you do not know whence I come or whither I go: Psalm: "They knew not, neither did they understand; they walk in darkness." And he shows that they do not know this: whence he says:

21. (Vers. 15.). You judge according to the flesh; First Corinthians three: "Since there is among you jealousy and contention, are you not carnal and walking according to man?" — that is, you judge, because they believed him to be a mere man and to seek his glory as a man; and therefore they challenged his testimony. But I judge no one, in the present, that is: above, chapter three: "God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world." I do not judge, by condemning, as you now condemn me: and this not because I cannot or do not know how — indeed I know and I can: therefore he says:

22. (Vers. 16.). And if I judge, my judgment is true, not carnal, not uncertain, nor according to appearance; Isaiah eleven: "He shall not judge according to the sight of the eyes, nor reprove according to the hearing of the ears"; and therefore I cannot err in judgment: Because I am not alone, but I and the Father who sent me. Whence, because in judging I do not depart from him, therefore I do not err: above, chapter five: "I can do nothing of myself, but as I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just."

Not only is my testimony certain, but also legitimate, because according to the Law it was sufficient: whence he says:

23. (Vers. 17.). And in your Law it is written that the testimony of two men is true, that is, acceptable; Deuteronomy nineteen: "In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall stand."

24. (Vers. 18.). I am he who bears witness of myself, and he who sent me, the Father, bears witness of me, therefore my testimony is not to be rejected; First John five: "There are three who give testimony in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit."

25. (Vers. 19.). They said therefore to him. Here the third point is touched upon, namely the manifestation of Jewish ignorance:

first in their interrogation. For since they did not understand what he was saying, namely that the Father bore witness concerning Christ himself, therefore they ask: Where is your Father? They do not ask who he is, but where he is; and they inquire unfittingly, because he is everywhere: Jeremiah twenty-three: "I fill heaven and earth"; therefore they deserve reproof rather than a satisfactory answer; and therefore it is added: Jesus answered them. Their ignorance is made manifest in Christ's response, by which he reproves them and shows that they foolishly inquire about the Father, because, being ignorant of the Son himself, they cannot know the Father. Therefore he says: You know neither me nor my Father. And the reason for this is that I am the way of knowing the Father; whence he says: If you knew me, perhaps you would know my Father also: for in Matthew eleven: "No one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and him to whom the Son wills to reveal him"; whence First John two: "Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father; but he who confesses the Son has the Father also".

26. (Verse 20.). These words Jesus spoke. Here is touched upon the marvelous escape from Jewish unbelief, because he thus reproved them and was in their hands, and they did not seize him; therefore he says: These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, teaching in the temple: for the treasury was on the right side of the temple; and no one seized him, and this by divine miracle, not by human counsel; because his hour had not yet come: the Evangelist often repeats that word, to show that Christ was seized and suffered by his own will, as is said below in chapter ten.

It should be noted that the treasury was the name given to the place where offerings were made; and there was a threefold place appointed for this: one was called the treasury,

where offerings were brought in for the upkeep of the temple; and it is called gazophylacium from gaza, which means riches, and from phylaxe, which means to guard. Concerning this, Luke twenty-one: "Looking up, Jesus saw those who were casting their gifts into the treasury." Another place or repository was called corban or corbona, which was appointed for the offerings that pertained to the priests; concerning which, Matthew twenty-seven: "It is not lawful to put them into the corbona, because it is the price of blood." The third repository was called musach, where the tributes of kings were stored; Fourth Kings sixteen: "The musach of the Sabbath." Or alternatively: musach for the offerings of solemnities, corban for votive offerings, the treasury for spontaneous offerings.

Questions.


27. Question I. But it is asked here first concerning what the Lord says: If I bear witness concerning myself, my testimony is true.

On the contrary: Proverbs twenty-seven: Let another praise you, not your own mouth; a stranger, not your own lips.

Likewise, no one's testimony is accepted on his own behalf, and the Lord said above in the fifth chapter: If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true: therefore he contradicts himself.

Likewise, there is a question about the fact that the Lord endeavors to confirm his testimony through the Law: because the witness of two is true.

But 1. this argument seems to have no force, because in the Law, when someone testifies about himself and another testifies about him, they are not reckoned as more than one testimony: therefore the Son according to this had only a single testimony.

2. Likewise, his Father was a most closely related person; and such a person according to the laws is not admitted to testimony.

3. Likewise, below in the tenth chapter: I and the Father are one, therefore they were one: therefore not two witnesses: or if two witnesses, the Father and the Son are not one.

I respond: It must be said that the Son of God himself is light, but every creature is darkness and can, as far as lies in itself, be obscured. Because therefore it belongs to light to manifest itself and other things, the light itself can bear witness of itself; but a creature, because it is darkness, needs another to manifest it. Likewise, because he is light, he cannot be obscured nor bent aside, and therefore he can simultaneously judge and testify, and simultaneously both praise and be praised. But because a creature can be bent aside, it neither can nor ought to hold these two simultaneously.

That passage from Proverbs, therefore, is spoken to frail men who are prone to vain praise.

That which was said above in the fifth chapter is understood of Christ according to his human nature.

To that objection, however, which is raised about testimony according to the laws, the response is similar: because no one can testify on his own behalf; but if it were the case that someone could testify on his own behalf, then one other testimony would suffice. But Christ was able to bear witness of himself: and given this supposition, his argument is valid.

2. Similarly concerning a closely related person: because such a person can incline toward falsehood, the testimony is not accepted: but the heavenly Father, who is truthful, cannot incline toward falsehood.

3. But as to the objection that the Father and the Son are one: it must be said that they are one in essence and are distinguished in persons. Because therefore in true witnesses there is a distinction of persons and an agreement of testimony, and this is found there, the testimony is therefore most authoritative.

28. Question II. There is a question about what he says: Neither do you know me etc.: because above in the seventh chapter: You both know me, and you know whence I am.

And the response is that the former was said according to his humanity: but this was said according to his Divinity: because he who sees the Son sees the Father also.

29. Question III. But concerning this there is a question: If you knew me, you would perhaps know my Father also; because if in God no opinion has place, then neither does doubt; what then is the meaning of his saying perhaps?

I respond: It must be said that by this adverb perhaps "unbelief is here reproved, not that the Divinity holds an opinion"; there is also intimated to us the freedom of human choice.

30. Jesus therefore said to them again. It was shown above that the doctrine of Christ liberates from the blindness of error; here it is shown and commended that it liberates from the servitude of sin. And this part is divided: because first it is shown that without knowledge of Christ servitude is perpetuated: second, that through the doctrine and word of Christ man is liberated from servitude, at the passage: Jesus therefore said to those who believed.

The first, therefore, is shown in this order: first is set forth the threat of perpetual servitude: second, on account of the Jews' doubt, the exposition of the threat: third, the explanation of the things to be believed: fourth, the multiplication of believers.

(Verse 21). First, therefore, is set forth the threat of perpetual servitude; and this is when a man dies in sin: and He threatens them with final impenitence. Therefore He says:

31. Jesus therefore said to them again: I go, namely, to the Father through the Passion; and you shall seek me, namely, to persecute me: and you shall die in your sin, and I shall be delivered from your hands. And the reason is added: Where I go, you cannot come, because they could not enter into glory. Hence He threatened them with the death of guilt and the loss of glory. This the Lord said to the Jews; He said something similar to the disciples: "Where I go, you cannot come," below in the thirteenth chapter. But to the Jews He said it by way of threat, to the disciples He foretold it by way of deferral: whence afterwards He said to Peter: "Where I go, you cannot follow me now, but you shall follow afterwards."

32. (Verse 22). The Jews therefore said. Here the second point is touched upon, namely, on account of the Jews' doubt, the exposition of the threat. For they doubted concerning what He had said: Where I go, you cannot come: therefore they say: Will He kill Himself, because He says: Where I go, you cannot come? Augustine: "Foolish words, altogether full of senselessness. For if He were to kill Himself, could they not do likewise? If He spoke of death, were not all of them going to die?" On account of this doubt, the Lord sets forth the explanation of His threat; and He had said two things, therefore He explains two things: first, that which He had said: Where I go, you cannot come. For because He had said this concerning going to the Father through glory, to which sinners could not ascend, therefore He says:

33. (Vers. 23.). And he said to them: You are from below: above in chapter three: "He who is of the earth speaks of the earth"; but I am from above, and therefore I go upward: and for this reason where I go, you cannot come: because, as is said above in chapter three, "no one ascends into heaven except he who descended from heaven"; therefore you descend, but I ascend. Again: You are of this world, because you cling to this world through love: but I am not of this world, therefore I leave you in the world, and "where I go, you cannot come"; below in chapter sixteen: "I came forth from the Father and came into the world; again I leave the world and go to the Father." Thus he explains what he had said: Where I go: this is to be understood through power, not through weakness. He also expounds what he said: You will die in your sin: whence he repeats this, in order to explain it:

34. (Vers. 24.). I said therefore to you that you will die in your sins, and I explain how I mean it. For if you do not believe that I am, you will die in your sin. But if you believe, you will not die — this is to be understood from the opposites; whence Augustine says: "Hope has been restored to those in despair, an awakening has been made for those who sleep"; above in chapter three: "He who is unbelieving toward the Son does not have life, but the wrath of God remains upon him; but he who believes in the Son of God has eternal life." This he had promised.

35. (Vers. 25.). They said therefore, etc. Here the third point is touched upon, namely the explanation of the things to be believed. For because he had set forth his threat, that without faith in him no one could be freed from death, saying that they would die in sin unless they believed that I am — this indeed he had said implicitly — therefore the Jews seek to have it explained and to be taught in the faith. For this reason they said to him: Who are you? since we cannot be saved unless we believe in you. Similarly they asked of John above in chapter one: "Who are you?" And there follows the response of Christ, by which he instructs the Jews to believe in him: first regarding what pertains to creation made through him; second, what pertains to the person of the Father, at the place: And they did not know. For first he is creator: on account of which he says: Jesus said to them: The Beginning, that is, I am the Beginning who creates: because all things through him received being, as was said above in chapter one: "In the beginning was the Word," and again: "All things were made through him." He is also teacher: who also speak to you; Hebrews chapter one: "In these last days he has spoken to us in the Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also made the ages." Similarly the Lord responded to the Samaritan woman who asked: "I am he, who speaks to you"; and to the blind man, below in chapter nine.

He is also judge, although now he does not speak words of condemnation, but of instruction and calling. For this reason he says:

36. (Vers. 26.). I have many things to speak about you — about, that is, against you — and to judge, which will not remain unexamined, not out of malice, but out of justice. But he who sent me is truthful, and the things I have heard from him, these I speak in the world: and therefore I judge truthfully; above in the fifth chapter: "As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just; because I do not seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me." And because he manifested himself in comparison to the creature, he manifests himself in comparison to the person of the Father, which the Jews could not understand: therefore he says:

37. (Vers. 27.). And they did not know that he called God his Father: and because they were unable to understand the loftiness of the generation, he directs them to the weakness of the passion, when he says:

38. (Vers. 28.). Jesus therefore said to them: When you shall have lifted up the Son of man, namely on the cross: below in the twelfth chapter: "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself"; then you will know that I am, namely a distinct person in the Trinity; behold, the personal distinction; Exodus 3: "I am who am." And I do nothing of myself, namely this you will know; but as the Father has taught me, these things I speak, that is, as I have received from the Father, because the Father gives all things to the Son. And in this is shown the emanation of generation from the Father; above in the fifth chapter: "The Son cannot do anything of himself, except what he has seen the Father doing." Not only will you know the personal distinction, but also the indivision of essence: therefore he says:

39. (Vers. 29.). And he who sent me is with me, on account of the unity of essence, in which there is no division; below in the fourteenth chapter: "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me?" And he has not left me alone, through a discordant will: because I always do the things that are pleasing to him. Whence the Son cannot be left by the Father, because he can neither disagree with him nor displease him; Matthew 3: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." On the contrary, sinners are left by the Lord, because they displease him through sins: 2 Chronicles 12: "You have left me, and I have left you."

40. (Vers. 30.). As he was speaking these things. Here is touched upon the fourth point, namely the multiplication of believers in Christ, which came about through this instruction; therefore he says: As he was speaking these things, namely the things said above, many believed in him; because his word had efficacy; above in the fourth chapter: "Many more believed because of his word."

Questions.


41. Question I. But here the first question concerns what he says: You shall die in your sins.

It seems that he revealed to them their damnation, and therefore he was compelling them to despair: and according to this it seems that someone could have foreknowledge of his own damnation.

But this does not seem right; because knowledge and revelation are a gift of piety: therefore it does not compel despair.

To this the response is threefold: that the Lord did not say this by way of revelation, but by way of threat; hence He adds below the condition: unless you believe. Otherwise it must be said that the Lord did not say this to people who would place faith in Him; therefore it did not compel them to despair; hence He said this not to believers, but to unbelievers. In a third way it is said that the Lord was speaking to the multitude; therefore the word was received generally, and no one took it specifically for himself.

42. Question II. Furthermore, since principle denotes the notion of emanation, which first and principally belongs to the Father: whence is it that the Son appropriates it to Himself?

I respond: It must be said that this name principle is sometimes taken essentially, insofar as it denotes a relation to the creature, and thus the whole Trinity is called principle; sometimes notionally, and thus the Father and the Son are one principle of the Holy Spirit; sometimes personally, and thus principle denotes the fontal emanation itself, which is found in the Father. And thus Augustine says that "the Father is the principle of the Divinity."

It must be said therefore that this name principle, insofar as it is essential, is drawn to the person of the Son in two ways: in one way through the property of generation, and thus the Son is called principle from a principle, that is, the begotten one; in another way through the property of the Word, because the Son is the Word, and thus it is drawn here: I am the principle, who also speak to you.

43. Question III. Furthermore it is asked: since truth is appropriated to the Son, whence is it that the Son, speaking of the Father, attributes it to Him?

It must be said that He is called truthful because He speaks true words. Because therefore the Father speaks the Son, who is the true Word, to whom truth is appropriated, truthful by reason of the connoted origin can rightly be appropriated to the Father.

44. Question IV. Furthermore it is asked concerning what He says, that He has not left me alone, because I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.

On the contrary: In Matthew twenty-seven the Son said in His passion: God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

I respond: It must be said that there is an abandonment of dispensation, of testing, of permission, and of eternal damnation. The first, of dispensation, was to expose the Son to suffering for the salvation of the human race. The second, of testing, is in the just, as the Lord left Job in the hand of Satan. The third is in those sinning in the present life. The fourth is in those eternally damned, which is abandonment without any visitation. The word of the Lord here is therefore understood concerning the abandonment of wrath, not concerning the dispensation of divine wisdom.

45. Jesus therefore said etc. It has been shown that without the teaching and faith of Christ there is perpetuation in sin; here it is shown secondly that through the teaching of Christ there is liberation from the servitude of sin. And this part is divided into three parts: because first, liberation from the servitude of sin through the teaching of Christ is promised: second, the boasting of the Jews is emptied, at the passage: I know that you are sons of Abraham; third, the consequent indignation of the Jews is shown, at the passage: The Jews answered and said to him: Do we not say rightly?

First, therefore, through the teaching of Christ, liberation is promised and shown to come about in this order: first, liberation is promised: second, the promise is belittled by the Jews: third, it is shown to be necessary for them.

46. (Vers. 31.). Liberation is therefore promised to those who remain in the teaching of Christ; therefore he says: Jesus therefore said to those who believed in him; and because, frightened by the threat, they believed, they are enticed by the promise to persevere: whence he says: If you remain in my word: below in the fifteenth chapter: "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me"; not like those of whom it is said in Luke chapter eight: "They believe for a time and in the time of temptation fall away"; these do not bring forth fruit: but you, if you remain, will truly be my disciples.

47. (Vers. 32.). And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. He states three things that make a person upright. The first is rectitude of affection, and this is indicated in the discipleship of Christ: the second, rectitude of intellect, and this in the knowledge of truth: the third, rectitude of effect, through liberation from guilt, and this is indicated in the liberation by truth. Or: you will be disciples on the way through imitation: you will know the truth in the beatification of the soul: and by the truth you will be freed from all corruption in the happy union of soul and body: Romans chapter eight: "Creation itself will be freed from the servitude of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God".

48. (Vers. 33.). They answered him. Here the second point is touched upon, namely how the promised liberation is belittled by the Jews, because they considered themselves free; whence they boast of their freedom and do not care about liberation. Therefore they say to him: We are the seed of Abraham and have never served anyone: and thus we are free by nature: how do you say: You shall be made free, as if we were not now free? They called themselves free because they were born from Abraham through Isaac, who was the son of the free woman, according to what is said in Galatians chapter four: "Cast out the handmaid and her son"; this was said concerning Hagar: "for the son of the handmaid shall not be heir with the son of the free woman," and it is drawn from Genesis chapter twenty-one.

49. (Verse 34.). Jesus answered them. Here the third point is touched upon, because the necessity of liberation is shown: and he shows that they are slaves, and that they have need of liberation and how they are liberated.

Therefore, that they are slaves spiritually, he shows by this reasoning: He who commits sin is a slave of sin: but you commit sin: therefore you are slaves of sin. The minor premise of this reasoning he leaves unspoken, because he expresses it below, and the conclusion he leaves unspoken; but he proposes the major premise saying: Amen, amen I say to you: He who commits sin is a slave of sin. This the blessed Peter proves in the second chapter of his second Canonical letter: "By whom a man is overcome, of the same also he is the slave." This is the worst servitude: whence Augustine says: "O miserable servitude! A slave of a man, sometimes wearied by the harsh commands of his master, finds rest by fleeing: but the slave of sin, where does he flee? He drags with him his evil conscience, wherever he goes; because, wherever he goes, he does not depart from himself." Thus it is clear that they are slaves: and from this he proves that they need liberation, by this reasoning: he who does not remain in the house forever needs to be freed by him who remains, and through him can be freed: but the slave does not remain, while the Son remains: therefore the slave needs and can be freed through the Son. But you are slaves, as was said above: "if therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed." Of the first reasoning he sets forth the minor proposition, when he says:

50. (Verse 35.). The slave does not remain in the house forever; the Son remains forever. Augustine explains: He who is a slave of sin does not remain in the house forever, that is, finally, although he may belong to the present Church as regards number. Such slaves, even if they are in the house with the good, nevertheless do not have the wedding garment: therefore they are cast out, according to that passage in Matthew twenty-two: "Friend, how did you come in here, not having a wedding garment?" And afterward it is added: "Cast him into the outer darkness."

51. (Verse 36.). If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed, that Son, I say, alone is free, because he alone is without sin: whence in the Psalm: "I have become as a man without help, free among the dead." And the reason is given below in the fourteenth chapter: "The prince of this world comes and has nothing in me." This free Son, in order to free us, was made as it were a slave for us: Philippians two: "He humbled himself, taking the form of a slave," etc. He therefore freed us by redeeming us; Isaiah fifty-two: "You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money"; because, as is said in First Peter one, "you were redeemed not with corruptible gold or silver, but with the precious blood of Christ Jesus, as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled." Not, I say, that we should again be slaves, but free; whence Galatians five: "You, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not make liberty an occasion for the flesh, but by the charity of the spirit serve one another."

Questions.


52. Question I. But here one inquires about what they say: We are the seed of Abraham, and we have never served anyone.

On the contrary: 1. They served the Egyptians; whence Deuteronomy six: The Lord led you out of the house of servitude.

2. Likewise, they served Nebuchadnezzar in the Babylonian captivity for seventy years.

If you say that they were speaking of themselves, not of their fathers, it is objected: because even then they were paying tribute to the Romans; whence they asked in Matthew twenty-two: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?

To this there is one response, that they lied, as they often used to do, and they had forgotten the benefits of God; whence Augustine: "O inflated skin! This is not greatness, but swelling. How did you speak the truth? Joseph was sold, the prophets were led into captivity, the people served in Egypt in mud and brick, you yourselves were also paying tributes."

It is answered otherwise, that they understood this with respect to the custom which they had among themselves by precept of the Law: Leviticus twenty-five: Let your male and female slaves be from the nations that are around you.

Or it should be said otherwise, that there is servitude of condition by origin, just as the son of a slave is a slave, and thus they understood, and these are called slaves by body; and there is servitude of oppression through dominion, and they did not understand concerning this.

53. Question II. But it is asked: since the sinner does everything he wants, but the just man does not, how is the sinner called a slave?

It must be said that the sinner is rightly called a slave of sin, because it is a great servitude to follow an evil will; and on account of the servile conditions which are found in the sinner, on account of which he is rightly called a slave.

For a slave is base, and so is a sinner:

3 Kings one: I and my son Solomon shall be offenders, that is, base.

He feeds on base things, and so does the sinner; Luke fifteen, the prodigal son desired to fill his belly with the husks of the swine. He does base work, and so does the sinner: Exodus one: They were oppressed with the hard labors of mud and brick and with every manner of service.

He is treated basely, and so is the sinner: Jeremiah sixteen: You shall serve foreign gods, who will not give you rest.

He is estranged from profit: Hosea eight: The standing stalk is not in it; the bud shall yield no flour, and if it should yield, strangers shall eat it.

He is estranged from his Lord's secret, and so is the sinner: below, chapter fifteen: I will no longer call you servants, but friends, because all things whatsoever I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. He does not reveal to sinners, because they are in darkness.

He is estranged from the intimacy of honor: Romans eight: You have not received the spirit of servitude again in fear.

A stranger from the inheritance, so is the sinner: Job 27: The rich man, when he shall sleep, shall carry nothing with him: Galatians 4: The son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman .

54. I know that you are children of Abraham. After the liberation through the teaching of Christ has been shown, the boasting of the Jews is here emptied, because they boasted that they were free by nature: and indeed the Lord does this in this order. First he indicates a twofold kind of sonship: according to nature and imitation: second he shows that by imitation they are not children of Abraham; third, that they are not children of God: fourth, that they are children of the devil.

(Vers. 37.). First therefore a twofold kind of sonship is indicated: by nature and by imitation: by natural generation, when he says: I know that you are children of Abraham, namely begotten according to the flesh: Isaiah 51: "Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you"; and this father you have by generation, but another you have by imitation: whence he says: But you seek to kill me, because my word does not take hold in you: Ecclesiasticus 21: "The heart of a fool is like a broken vessel, it will hold no wisdom"; Proverbs 9. And this indeed is a work of iniquity, and according to this you have another father, whom you imitate: whence:

55. (Vers. 38.). I speak what I have seen with my Father, imitating him: Ephesians 5: "Be imitators of God as most beloved children." And you do what you have seen with your father; whence you have a father by imitation. Just as these had a twofold father: according to the flesh and imitation: so Abraham had two kinds of children; Romans 9: "Not all who are the seed of Abraham are children, but those who are the children of the promise."

56. (Vers. 39.). They answered and said to him. Here the second point is touched upon: for it is shown that they are not children of Abraham by imitation, as they themselves boasted; on account of which they said to him: Abraham is our father. They repeat this because he had said that they were doing the works of their father: and the Lord shows that he did not mean that father: therefore Jesus says to them: If you are children of Abraham, do the works of Abraham, that is, if you wish to be children by imitation, as you are according to the flesh: do the works of Abraham, otherwise you will boast in vain; Matthew 3: "And do not presume to say: We have Abraham for our father; for I say to you, that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham." And because you do not do the works of Abraham, by destruction of the consequent, neither are you to be called his children. Therefore he says:

57. (Vers. 40.). But now you seek to kill me, a man who has spoken the truth to you, which I heard from God, and thus a just and innocent man; this however Abraham did not do, because it is unjust and is prohibited by the Law; Exodus twenty-three: "The innocent and the just you shall not put to death." Therefore the father whom you imitate is another; on account of which he adds:

58. (Vers. 41.). But you do the works of your father. Chrysostom: "The works of Abraham were faith, obedience, meekness: yours, unfaithfulness, impiety, and cruelty."

They therefore said to him. Here the third point is touched upon; for it is shown that they are not children of God. For since they had already understood that he was speaking of a spiritual father, therefore they commend themselves as being children of God, as worshipers of him, not given over to idolatry, which is called fornication in Scripture; whence he says: They therefore said to him: We are not born of fornication, fornicating with idols, according to that passage of Jeremiah two: "Under every leafy tree you have played the harlot"; and: "You have polluted the land with your fornications"; not so we, but we have one father, God, whom we worship according to his command; Exodus twenty: "You shall not have strange gods before me." Him they did not have; Malachi one: "If I am a Father, where is my honor? And if I am a Lord, where is my fear?" And because they gloried in vain, he shows that they are not children of God; whence he adds:

59. (Vers. 42.). Jesus said to them: If God were your father, you would surely love me, as your brother, because the spirit of adoption is the spirit of love; Romans eight: "You have received the spirit of adoption of sons, in which we cry: Abba, Father." For I proceeded from God, namely as Son by generation; and I came, into the world through the incarnation, and just as I was begotten by him, so also I was sent; whence: neither did I come of myself, but he sent me. I did not come by my own authority; Hebrews five: "Christ did not glorify himself to be made high priest"; on the contrary, Jeremiah twenty-three: "They ran, and I was not sending them"; likewise Exodus four: "I beseech you, Lord, send whom you are about to send." And yet you do not love me; and this he proves by asking them:

60. (Vers. 43.). Why, he says, do you not recognize my speech? namely by believing in me. The reason for this was hatred, because you cannot hear my word, on account of hatred and envy; Wisdom two: "He is grievous to us to behold."

61. (Vers. 44.). You are of your father the devil. Here the fourth point is touched upon; for having shown that they are not children of God, he shows that they are children of the devil, so that all their glory may be emptied. And he proposes, when he says: You are of your father the devil: the word of does not indicate generation there, but imitation of example; Ezekiel sixteen: "Your father was an Amorite, and your mother a Hittite"; and First John three: "He who commits sin is of the devil."

He proves this, because they imitate him; whence: you want to do the desires of your father. These are the desires about which First Timothy, last chapter, says: "Many useless and harmful desires, which plunge men into ruin and perdition." He shows that they imitate him in two things, namely in murder and lying: in lying there is the crookedness of the intellect, in murder of the affection. Therefore he says: He was a murderer from the beginning, that is, after the beginning of the human race; because he led the first man to death by promising life and denying death: "You shall not die at all, he said," Genesis three, and Wisdom two: "God created man imperishable, but by the envy of the devil death entered the world," etc. And in this you imitate him; as was said above, you want to kill me. You also imitate him in lying: whence he says: And he did not stand in the truth: rather, he fell into falsehood and vanity; Isaiah fourteen: "How have you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, who rose in the morning"? Because truth is not in him. For on account of the sin of pride he did not recover: Ezekiel twenty-eight: "You have been brought to nothing and shall not be forever." When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own, because he has it from himself, with no other suggesting it. But he is a liar and his father, that is, of lying: Job, second to last chapter: "He is king over all the children of pride." Augustine says: "The father of lying is the devil, the father of truth is God. Depart from the father of lying and run to the father of truth; embrace the truth, that you may receive freedom." The children of this father are all liars, who hate the truth. And such were the Jews; and the Lord proves this, that they hate the truth: whence he says:

62. (Verse 45.). But because I speak the truth, you do not believe me, and thus you hate the truth: the Psalm: "O sons of men, how long will you be heavy of heart?" And because they could say: we do not disbelieve on account of hatred of truth, but of iniquity: therefore he adds:

63. (Verse 46.). Which of you convicts me of sin? As if to say: no one can. On this account it is said in reproof in Job fifteen: "You reprove with words him who is not equal to you." Why then do you not believe me? If I speak the truth, why do you not believe me? This is certainly not on account of my fault, but your malice; and this he proves:

64. (Verse 47.). He who is of God hears the words of God, First John four: "He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us"; but you do not hear, and why? Therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God, but rather of the devil: Sirach three: "A good ear will hear wisdom with all desire"; on the contrary, the Jews did not hear: Acts seven: "Stiff-necked and uncircumcised in hearts and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit."

65. The Jews therefore answered and said. After the liberation has been shown and the boasting of the Jews has been emptied out, here is expressed their indignation at the Lord's rebuke. And the sign of indignation is the hurling of insult. First is set forth the hurling of insult; second, the patient response; third, the reason for the patient response.

(Verse 48). First they hurl insults: Do we not say well that you are a Samaritan and have a demon? Because the Lord had said that they were not children of Abraham but of the devil, they therefore return a twofold insult: the first against the first: You are a Samaritan, not a son of Abraham; the second against the second: You have a demon, you do not imitate God but the devil, by whose instruction you teach and by whose aid you perform signs; whence Matthew 12: "By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he casts out demons."

66. (Verse 49). Jesus answered. Here the second point is touched upon, namely the patient response, because he does not respond to the whole insult but to a part. Whence he says: I do not have a demon, by whose power I would perform works for my own glory; but I honor my Father, who is in heaven, because he did all things for the glory of the Father, according to that word of the Apostle in First Corinthians 10: "Do all things for the glory of God." And you have dishonored me, by inflicting insult, and consequently you have also dishonored the Father; above in chapter 5: "He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him."

67. (Verse 50). I do not seek my own glory. Here the third point is touched upon, namely the reason for the patient response. For he was not responding in order to glorify himself; but he endured their insult, not because it was true, but because he did not care about glory; on account of which he says: I do not seek my own glory, and therefore I do not respond to your insult; Jerome: "He who does not seek glory does not feel insult." Therefore I do not care about the insult inflicted, but nevertheless do not think yourselves free from fault and from fitting retribution; whence he says: There is one who seeks and judges, namely the Father, who seeks the glory of the Son; below in chapter 12: "And I have glorified and will glorify again"; and judges: as if to say: I reserve it to his judgment. Gregory: "The Son reserves the insults inflicted upon him to the judgment of the Father, so that he may surely teach us how patient we ought to be, since he who judges does not yet wish to avenge himself."

Questions.


68. Question I. But here first a question is raised about what is said in the text: You do what you have seen with your father. For they had never seen the devil. And moreover, could they not also sin by themselves?

Response: It must be said that although man can have knowledge of sin by himself, there are nevertheless few or no sins in which the devil does not interpose his part by suggesting. And they are said to see the works of their father the devil when they see his suggestions in their heart and fulfill them in deed.

69. Question II. Likewise, it is asked concerning what he says: You are of your father the devil. From this the Manichaean argues that the Lord is not the maker and creator of evil men.

To this Augustine responds that father here is used not of one who begets by origin, but by imitation. Similarly, the preposition from does not here denote origin in first being, but in second being. Hence Augustine: "Here they are called sons not by being born, but by imitating." Adam did not wish to imitate God by obeying, and he imitated the devil by consenting to sin.

70. Likewise, an objection is raised concerning what he says: He was a murderer from the beginning.

From this the Manichaean objects that the malice of the devil has no beginning, and thus it seems that there are two principles: one of good and another of evil.

I respond: It must be said that this passage is explained in five ways.

In one way thus: he was a murderer from the beginning, because just as the Word was in the beginning, because he had no beginning.

But this is heretical and is refuted by the text: for it does not say in the beginning, but from the beginning.

Another exposition is that from his very beginning he was made evil, as the Psalm seems to say: This dragon which you formed to sport with him.

And this is heretical, because just as it is impossible that the supremely hot should make cold, so too that the supremely good should make evil; and that verse of the Psalm and similar passages are to be understood after the fact.

The third exposition is this: he was a murderer from the beginning, that is, immediately after the beginning, because the interval between creation and the fall was brief; and therefore it is added: He did not stand in the truth, because he did not persevere.

The fourth exposition is this: a murderer from the beginning not his own, but of the human race; hence Augustine: "Man could not have been killed unless man had been made."

The fifth is this, that a murderer from the beginning, because in the same instant he began to exist from God and to be evil from himself, just as our soul, which is infused into the body.

The first two are heretical; the next two are catholic; the last is doubtful and tending toward the heretical, although it is not heretical; and therefore it is not commonly held.

71. Question IV. Likewise, an objection is raised concerning what he says, that the devil is the father of lies.

Therefore, since every sin is a lie, it seems that there is one principle of sin.

I respond: It must be said that one should not posit a first evil that is first in the genus of being, as though it were not from another; but one should posit a first evil before which no other evil preceded; and this is indeed the origin of subsequent evils, not always by efficient causation, but by occasion and by suggestion. Therefore he says: He is a liar and the father of it, namely of lying.

72. Question V. Likewise, it is asked concerning what he says: He who is of God.

Some have drawn strength for the error that good spirits are from God materially.

It is answered to them that it is erroneous to say that God is the matter of anything, since he is most simple.

But then an objection is raised: because if from denotes there an origin and efficient cause, and we are all from God, then we all hear the word of God.

Likewise, did not they themselves hear?

I respond: As has been said above, from denotes origin not with respect to primary being, but with respect to secondary being, which is the being of grace and of guilt, and this indeed according to conformity and imitation. Whence the meaning is: he who is from God, through conformity of will, hears the words of God, with the ear of the heart, not of the body, because in that way even the wicked hear.

73. Question VI. Likewise it is asked concerning this, why the Jews hurled these two reproaches at Christ rather than others. They had some reason why they would speak these insults in particular.

It must be said that it seemed to them that Christ in the observance of the Law did certain things and passed over others, such as the Sabbath and things of this kind. And because the Samaritans did this, since they partly observed and partly did not, therefore they called him a Samaritan.

Likewise, the Lord in his teaching said certain things that were very wise and sometimes certain things that seemed to them very improbable, because they did not understand him; therefore it seemed to them that he spoke as a man out of his mind. And therefore, because a demon induces alienation of mind, they said that he had a demon.

74. Question VII. Likewise it is asked: since two things had been objected against him, why did the Lord respond only to one?

Gregory responds that "he denied the one and by his silence consented to the other. For Samaritan is interpreted as guardian, and he himself was the guardian, of whom the Psalm says: Unless the Lord guard the city," etc.

It is answered in another way that it was certain that he was born of the Jews; therefore it was not necessary for him to respond, because it was evidently false.

In a third way it is answered that the charge of being a Samaritan touched upon his own dishonor, but the charge about a demon touched upon divine dishonor and was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, about which Matthew twelve speaks, and it detracted from the glory of the Father. Therefore the Lord taught us to endure our own reproaches, but not divine ones. And this is clear from his response: I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father.

75. Amen, amen I say to you. The Lord has shown that through his teaching there is liberation from the blindness of error and the servitude of sin; here now in a third place he shows that through it there is liberation from the damnation of death. And this indeed is shown as follows. First, against those reviling, he shows the efficacy of his word; second, against those arguing, he shows his excellence; third, to those marveling, his eternity; fourth, to those persecuting, his patient humility.

(Vers. 51.). There is set forth, then, first the commendation of the doctrine of Christ in this, that those who keep it are snatched from death, and this without any doubt: therefore he says: Amen, amen, I say to you, that is, I Jesus assert this in truth: If anyone keeps my word, he shall never taste death. This observance is through the keeping of the commandments; Ecclesiastes 8: "He who keeps the commandment shall experience no evil"; and Wisdom 6: "The keeping of the laws is the consummation of incorruption. And incorruption makes one to be near to God." And such a one does not taste death through experience, namely eternal death, although he may see it, according to that saying of Isaiah last chapter: "They shall go out and see the corpses of men who have transgressed against me"; Matthew 16: "There are some standing here who shall not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

76. (Vers. 52.). The Jews therefore said. Here secondly, as the Jews attack, he shows his excellence, which they assail as he teaches: whence they say: Now we know that you have a demon: they could not recognize the good, but were ready for evil: Jeremiah 4: "They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge." And indeed they wish to show this by disproving the Lord's saying, both because it is false and because it is proud. That it is false, they show by this reasoning: Abraham is dead and the Prophets; and these kept the word of God: therefore what you say is false: If anyone keeps my word, etc. And that argument is from the greater: for if those who kept the word of God are dead, and those of whom it would seem more likely did not have immortality, therefore etc. For this reason they say: Abraham is dead, who namely kept the word of the Lord: whence in Genesis 22 it was said to Abraham: "In your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice." And the Prophets are dead, to whom the Lord spoke: Ecclesiasticus 46: "The bones of the Prophets sprout from their place." And you say: If anyone keeps my word, he shall never taste death; as if they were saying: you openly speak what is false: nor do you speak only what is false, but proudly: whence they say:

77. (Vers. 53.). Are you greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? As if they were saying: you are not greater, and he himself is dead: Genesis 25: "Failing in age, he died old and full of days"; and also the Prophets are dead: thus neither Abraham nor the Prophets were able to escape death: much less can you. Whom do you make yourself? As if they were saying: why do you praise and exalt yourself? And thus they accuse him that he was praising himself and speaking falsely, because he was setting himself before Abraham, since no one escapes death: 2 Kings 14: "We all die and like waters slip away into the earth, which do not return."

To this attack the Lord responds, showing his excellence in relation to Abraham. Before, however, he declares his excellence, he avoids arrogance, lest he seem to say this through boasting: therefore in responding he asserts that he does not seek his own glory: and for this reason he says:

78. (Verse 54.). Jesus answered: If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing, that is, it will be regarded by you as vain, just as the glory by which someone praises and commends himself is regarded as vain: whence they said to him above in the same chapter: "You bear witness about yourself; your witness is not true." That is, if I alone: I is taken distributively: Second Corinthians 10: "Not he who commends himself is approved, but he whom God commends." But not I alone glorify myself; rather, another with me; for this reason he says: It is my Father who glorifies me; whence above in chapter one: "We saw his glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten from the Father"; Second Peter 1: "Being made spectators of his greatness; for receiving from God the Father honor and glory," etc. Whom you say is your God, that is, whom you say as Father is your God: and thus you ought to believe him: for he is the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, Exodus 3: but you do not believe: whence:

79. (Verse 55.). And you have not known him: for they were among those of whom it is said in Titus 1: "They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny him." But I know him, and this indeed not out of boasting, but for the sake of speaking the truth. Whence: And if I say that I do not know him, I will be like you, a liar: and therefore it is necessary to say that I know him. Augustine: "Let arrogance be avoided in such a way that truth is not abandoned." And therefore he asserts this again: I do not say that I do not know him, but I know him and I keep his word: and this is truly to know God, because it is said in First John 2: "He who says that he knows God and does not keep his commandments is a liar." Thus therefore, having avoided arrogance, the Lord manifests his excellence: because they did not believe that he was greater than Abraham: therefore he shows that he is greater: therefore he says:

80. (Verse 56.). Abraham, your father, rejoiced to see my day: he saw it and was glad, as at one greater than himself. Gregory says that he then rejoiced when he saw three men and worshipped one, Genesis 18: whence Luke 10: "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see," etc.

Or it can be said otherwise, that Abraham rejoiced to see at the Lord's calling, Genesis 12.

But he saw and was glad in the Lord's firm promise, Genesis 15, where the Lord promised, and "Abraham believed, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness"; and again in the confirmation of the covenant, in the giving of circumcision it is said that Abraham laughed, whence also he was glad, Genesis 17.

81. (Vers. 57.). The Jews therefore said to him. Here, thirdly, as the Jews marveled, he showed his eternity. They marveled at what he said, that Abraham had seen his day; whence they say: You are not yet fifty years old, and you have seen Abraham? As if to say: this is altogether impossible. And it should be noted that they do not say: Abraham saw you, but you Abraham, as though always esteeming Abraham as greater. Chrysostom puts forty, because according to their estimation the Lord was approaching his fortieth year. To this astonishment, therefore, the Lord adds his response, in which he showed his eternity. And therefore it is not surprising if he gives immortality to others, because he also preceded Abraham, as the Creator precedes the creature; whence:

82. (Vers. 58.). Jesus therefore said to them: Amen, amen, I say to you, that is, I assert in truth: before Abraham was made, as a creature is brought into being, I am. He does not say: I was made, because his being did not begin; he does not say: I was, because his being does not pass into the past. Therefore it is said in Exodus three: "I am who I am," because his being is uncreated and intransible; whence Gregory: "The Divinity has no past tense, but always has being; therefore he rightly says: I am, not I was "; Ecclesiasticus twenty-four: "I came forth from the mouth of the Most High, the firstborn before every creature."

83. (Vers. 59.). They therefore took up stones, etc. Here, fourthly, as the Jews persecuted him, the Lord showed his humility: for they wished to stone him; therefore he says: The Jews therefore took up stones to cast at him. Gregory: "Unable to bear these words of eternity, the minds of the unbelieving ran to stones; and him whom they could not understand, they sought to crush." Therefore they wished to kill him, because he seemed to have blasphemed; whence Leviticus twenty-four: "He who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely die; the whole multitude shall stone him with stones." The Lord therefore humbly fled this unjust persecution, though he could have overcome it by power; whence he says: But Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple, according to that of Romans twelve: "Not defending yourselves, but give place to wrath"; and First Peter two: "When he was reviled, he did not revile in return."

Questions.


84. Question I. But it is asked here: since the Jews were scandalized and did not understand the Lord, because they understood only in a carnal manner, why is it that the Lord did not cease from preaching?

I respond: It must be said that the Lord spoke in such a way that they could have understood spiritually, but by the just judgment of God they were blinded; nor did he cease from preaching, because, as Gregory says, "when the perversity of the wicked increases, preaching ought not to be diminished, but increased."

85. Question II. It is asked concerning what he says: If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing.

On the contrary: 1. He who can testify can also praise: but above in the same chapter he said that he could testify concerning himself: therefore he could also glorify himself.

2. Likewise, the heretic objects: The Father glorifies the Son; the Son cannot glorify himself: therefore he is less than the Father.

I respond: This is solved in two ways: either such that what has now been said is understood according to his human nature: or such that glory is understood to be nothing not according to truth, but according to the estimation of the Jews.

86. Question III. Likewise, there is a question about what he says, that they did not know the Father, since it is said in the Law: Your God is one God: and this they believed.

I respond: It must be said that Father is said in two ways: in one way essentially, and thus the Jews knew God the Father, because in this way it belongs to the whole Trinity in relation to creation. In another way it is said personally in relation to the Son, and thus they did not know him, as Augustine says, just as they did not know the Son.

87. Question IV. Likewise, there is a question about the fact that the Lord hid himself. It seems that he feared and was imperfect, because it belongs to the imperfect to fear and to flee.

I respond: He hid himself as a sign that "truth, when it does not find a humble mind, flees," as Gregory says. As an example, "so that, even when we can resist, we may avoid the wrath of the proud," as Gregory also says. To preserve the opportune time, he hid himself who later offered himself to persecutions, in order to show that he was a true man: whence Augustine says: "As a man he fled from stones, but woe to those from whose stony hearts God flees."

88. Question V. Likewise, there is a question about what he says: There is one who seeks and judges.

On the contrary: Above in chapter five: The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son.

I respond: There is a judgment of condemnation and of discernment: the first is treated above, the second is found here.