Chapter Ten

¹ Truly, truly, I say to you, He that enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter opens; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out. And when he puts forth his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. Since He reproached them with unbelief, saying, “You are truly blind in soul,” for this very passion of unbelief, that they might not be able to say, “Not because we are blind, but as fleeing a deceiver, do we turn away,” for this henceforth He makes much discourse; and what does He? He sets down the marks of the true shepherd, and of the wolf and destroyer, and thus shows Himself to be of the good portion, making the witness from the deeds; and first He sets down the characteristics of the destroyer. For he, He says, enters not by the door—that is, by the Scriptures; for he uses not the Scriptures nor the prophets as witnesses. For in truth the Scriptures are a door; for through them we are brought to God. These suffer not the wolves to enter; for they shut out the heretics, setting us in security, and giving us judgments concerning all things we would. A thief, then, is he that enters not by the Scriptures into the fold of the sheep, so as to care for them, but climbs up some other way—that is, cutting for himself another and unwonted road, as Theudas and Judas, who before Christ deceived the people, and both corrupted and were corrupted; such also shall be the foul Antichrist. For to these the witness is not from the Scriptures. But also He hints at the scribes, who made no account of the legal commandments, but taught the commandments of men and traditions. And fitly He said the “climbing up,” which is of a thief that leaps over a fence, and does all things in a perilous way. Saw you the marks of the robber? Behold also those of the shepherd. For the shepherd enters by the Scriptures, and to him the porter opens. And by “porter” understand me either Moses (for to him were entrusted the oracles of God; and Moses opened to the Lord, having altogether spoken concerning Him, as the Lord Himself also says, that “Had you believed Moses, you would have believed me”); or the Holy Spirit is the porter. For since the Scriptures, understood and opened in the Holy Spirit, show us Christ, fitly the porter is the Holy Spirit, in whom, as the Spirit of wisdom and knowledge, the Scriptures are opened, through which the Lord enters to our guardianship, and through which He is shown to be shepherd. For Moses altogether spoke concerning Him: “A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up to you, like to me; him shall you hear in all things”; which the Lord also confirms. And the sheep hear the voice of the shepherd. For since they up and down called Him a deceiver, and confirmed this from their own unbelief, saying, “Has any of the rulers believed on him?” the Lord shows that one must not think Him a destroyer because they disbelieve, but rather that they are cast out of the rank of the sheep. For I, He says, entering by the door, am manifestly a true shepherd; but you, that followed not, are likely not to be sheep. And whence does He lead out His own sheep, but from the midst of the unbelievers, as also the blind man from the midst of the Jews, who both heard Him and recognised Him? And He goes before the sheep, though with the bodily shepherds the contrary takes place; for they go behind. But here He shows that He will guide all to the truth, since He also sends the disciples as sheep in the midst of wolves; so much newer is the shepherding of Christ. And a stranger they will not follow, for they know not the voice of strangers. And here also He altogether hints at those about Theudas and Judas, whom the sheep followed not. For a few, being stolen away, even these after their death revolted from them; but to Christ, both living and especially having died, the whole world went after Him. And He hints also at Antichrist; for he too, having deceived for a little while, shall not have those that follow him after his destruction. For the “They will not follow” shows this, that after the death of the deceivers there shall be no one attending or following them. The door, then, is the Scriptures; and the Lord leads out the sheep to pasture through this door. And what is the pasture? The luxury and rest to come, into which the Lord leads us. And if elsewhere He names Himself also a door, one need not be troubled; for the same is both shepherd and door, according to the aspect. For when He would speak of the care concerning us, He names Himself shepherd; and when of the entrance, He names Himself door. Then, if the words of the divine Scriptures are a door, fitly might He be called a door.

² This parable spoke Jesus to them: but they understood not what things they were which he spoke to them. Then said Jesus to them again, Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. “This parable,” he says—that is, this similitude—“Jesus spoke to them,” speaking obscurely to them, that He might make them more attentive. Since, then, He had so prepared them, He henceforth looses the obscurity, saying thus: “I am the door.” And the “All that came” He says not concerning the prophets, as the Manichaeans misconstrue. For they, wishing to show the Old Testament alien from God, and the prophets not sent from God, use this saying. For lo, they say, the Lord said that “All that came are thieves and robbers.” But He says this not concerning the prophets, but concerning Theudas and Judas, and the other seditious men. And that He speaks concerning these is plain: “For the sheep,” He says, “did not hear them.” For the sheep heard not these seditious men, but the prophets they both heard, and through them believed, as many as believed in Christ. And besides, the “The sheep heard them not” He said in praise; but nowhere does He appear praising those that disobeyed the prophets, but on the contrary reproaching and vehemently blaming them. Then attend also to the exactness of the expression. “All that came,” He says, but not, “All that were sent.” For the prophets, being sent, came; but the false prophets, such as the aforesaid seditious men, no one having sent them, came of themselves; as also God says: “I sent them not.”

³ I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. He that entered, He says, by me the door, and was brought to the Father, and became His sheep, shall be saved; and not only shall be saved, but, as a lord and master, shall have much fearlessness; for this He signifies by saying, “And shall go in and out”; as the apostles also went in and out, speaking with boldness before tyrants, and going out rejoicing and unconquered. “And shall find pasture,” He says—that is, much nourishment. And otherwise: since man is twofold with us, called by Paul both inner and outer, the going in would be said of him that takes care of the inner man; and the going out again, of him that mortifies the members upon the earth, and puts to death in Christ the deeds of the body. Such a one, then, shall also find pasture in the age to come, according to the, “The Lord is my shepherd, and I shall lack nothing,” and what follows.

⁴ The thief comes not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and flees: and the wolf catches them, and scatters the sheep. The hireling flees, because he is an hireling, and cares not for the sheep. Since they that were led away with Theudas and Judas, and the other apostates, were slaughtered and perished, for this cause He added, saying, “The thief comes not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy,” calling them and those like them thieves. “But I,” He says, “am come, that they might have life.” Those slaughtered and destroyed them that followed them; I am come, that they might live, and have something also more abundantly—the partaking of the Holy Spirit, which one must understand also as the kingdom of heaven. All, then, have life in Christ. For all shall rise and live; but the righteous have also something more abundantly, the kingdom of heaven. Then He discourses also concerning the passion, and says, that “I lay down my life for the sheep”; showing that not unwillingly, but willingly, He comes to the passion. For the “I lay down” shows this, that “No one snatches it from me, but I myself lay it down.” And He hints also at the often-mentioned seditious men. For they, He says, laid not down their life for the sheep, but abandoned those that followed them; for they were hirelings. But the Lord, contrariwise. When He was taken, He says, “If therefore you seek me, let these go their way: that the saying might be fulfilled, Of them which you gave me have I lost none”; and that too, the Jews so assailing them, as wolves sheep; “for with swords,” he says, “and staves they came to seize him.” And it is possible here to understand by “wolf” the spiritual enemy, whom the Scripture also names a lion, and a scorpion, and a serpent, who is said to snatch a sheep, when he makes one his prey through wicked action; and to scatter, when through evil reasonings he confounds the soul; who might also fitly be called a thief, stealing through evil reasonings, killing through assent, destroying through the deed. For the reasoning of wickedness perchance assaults one—this is theft; and if the man also assent to the evil thought, then he is said to be killed by the devil; and when he also does the evil, then he is destroyed. And this perhaps is the, “The thief comes not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” To this thief, then, the Lord, working the contrary, both gives the divine life, sanctifying both our reasonings, through the presence of good thoughts, and our bodies, through good actions. And He gives something also more abundantly—the being able, namely, to profit others also through the gift of teaching. This, then, is a shepherd; but they that neglect the people, and look only to the gain from the people, and not to the people’s benefit, are hirelings.

⁵ I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knows me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. And from hence too you might recognise the difference of the shepherd and the hireling. For the hireling knows not the sheep; which comes of not visiting them often; for if he often visited them, he would know them. But the shepherd, such as is the Lord, knows His own sheep, as caring for them, and in turn is known by them, as being deemed worthy of His oversight, and through the familiarity recognising their guardian. And observe, that first He knows us, then so we Him; and it is not otherwise possible to know God, except we be known by Him. For first He was made akin to us in flesh, becoming man; then so we were made akin to Him, having received the gift of deification. And wishing to show that the unbelievers are unworthy to be known by God, and are not even sheep, He said, “And I know mine, and am known of mine,” according to the, “The Lord knows them that are his.” And lest any should suppose that He knew as man, He added, saying, “As the Father knows me, even so know I the Father.” For so, He says, I know Him exactly, as He me. And continually He sets down the “I lay down my life for the sheep,” showing that He is not a deceiver. For to say that “I am light and life” seemed to the senseless to be of arrogance; but to say “I wish to die” has no envy, but rather shows much guardianship, if indeed He wished to give Himself for those that stoned Him. And in saying, “And other sheep I have,” He speaks concerning the Gentiles. And they are not of this fold, which is under the law; for the Gentiles were not shut in by the law. “Them also I must bring”; for they are scattered, both these and those, having no shepherds. For even the right-minded of the Jews, and the more apt for believing, were without a shepherd, and much more the Gentiles. He must, then, gather together those of the Gentiles also, as also those of the Jews. And the “must” here is not of necessity, but signifies what shall altogether come to pass. “And there shall be one fold, one shepherd.” For in Christ Jesus there is neither Greek nor Jew, nor any difference; for one is the character to all, one the seal of baptism, one the shepherd, the Word of God and God. And let the Manichaeans be ashamed, that reject the Old Testament; for the same is God of both Old and New.

⁶ Therefore does my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings. And many of them said, He has a devil, and is mad; why hear you him? Others said, These are not the words of him that has a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind? Since they called Him alien from the Father, and a deceiver, and a destroyer, not a Saviour of souls, He shows by what He says that “I am not your destroyer, but ready to receive all things for you; and if for no other reason, yet because God so loves you, that I too for this cause am loved by Him, since I die for you. How then should I deceive you, whom I know to be beloved of God, but should I not rather be earnest to die for you, as being, if for no other reason, yet for this loved the more by my Father?” And these so lowly things He says, condescending, because the hearers received Him not when He spoke the lofty things concerning Himself; since otherwise, considered, the saying will seem strange. For what? in the former time was He not loved, but now did the Father begin His love, and is the death for us the cause of it to Him? It is not so, but, as I said, condescending He says these things. And one might also say this, that since the love of God and the Father toward us was confessed, and God the Father saw also His Son showing the same kindness toward us, so as to be willing even to die for us, and preserving exactly the characters of the Father’s goodness, He loved Him fitly, not bestowing on the Son the love as a kind of reward for the death for us, but beholding in the Son the genuineness of His own essence, and as it were called to this by certain necessary and inexorable bonds of nature. For did not the Son show a work of great love toward us, dying ingloriously for us, and not only dying, but also taking His life again, that He might put death to death, and work for us immortality through the resurrection? This, then, He shows, when He says that “The Father loves me, because I die for you”—the, as it were, gladdening and rejoicing of the Father, that the Son is like Him, and preserves the characters of His love toward men. And the “No man takes my life from me” He says because of those that thirsted for murder against Him. For “you,” He says, “thirst for my blood; but know well, that against my will no one shall prevail.” And further, lest any should suppose that He dies as a servant and minister, commanded by another and yielding to him, He says: “The authority over my death I myself have, as master of death.” For this cause, then, He says, “I have power to lay down my life,” even if each of you also has power to lay down his life. For each, willing, can kill himself; but the Lord speaks not concerning such a manner, but that “Against my will no one could do this”; which in the case of men comes not to pass. For we are slain even unwilling by others; but Christ would never have suffered unwilling; wherefore, as being not otherwise subject to death, except only willingly, He has also the greater thing, the taking His life again. And this commandment He says He received from the Father, the dying for the world. “For so far,” He says, “am I not an adversary of God, that this very thing, the dying, I have been commanded by the Father.” And having first said also the lofty thing, “I have power to take my life again” (for this shows Him master of death, and again author of life), He sets down the lowly thing, “This commandment I received of my Father.” Thus wondrously He weaves both, both the not being thought less, and a servant of the Father, and the not being an adversary of God, but of equal power and at once of one counsel. So then He so profited many of the hearers by such words, that a division also arose. For some, since the words seemed to them enigmatic, thought Him possessed, as uttering senseless things; but they that understood moderately said, “These words are not of one possessed.” Then, since from the words they could not stop their mouths (for neither would the right-minded themselves have followed exactly the things spoken by the Lord, nor would they have persuaded those others), from the deeds they try to advocate for Christ, and say that “These words are not of one possessed.” And whence is this plain? From the works. “Can a devil open the eyes of the blind?” Since, then, the deed is divine, the words also are such. And why does Christ answer nothing to them that say He is possessed? Because they were sufficient to stop their mouths, and the more worthy of belief were they that opposed them, and pleaded in His behalf.

⁷ And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch. Then came the Jews round about him, and said to him, How long do you make us to doubt? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, and you believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me. But you believe not, because you are not of my sheep, as I said to you. What dedication was kept at Jerusalem? Some say that on the day on which the temple was built by Solomon, on that they kept the dedication. But others say not this, but that the evangelist now means the dedication of the building of the temple after the captivity. And they kept the feast bright and public. For as though the city had recovered its proper adornment after that long captivity, they made the day of the dedication a day of joy. At this feast, then, Jesus also was present; for henceforth He frequented Judaea continually, since the passion was at the doors. For it was winter, after which winter, in the first month of spring, the Lord suffered. Wherefore also the evangelist noted the season, showing that the time of the passion was near, and for this cause the Lord frequented Jerusalem. The Jews, then, encompassed Him; and in seeming, out of some longing and love of learning, they ask Him to tell them whether He is the Christ; but in truth the question is of a meddlesome and corrupt mind. For though the works proclaimed Him to be the Christ, they sought to learn from words; which is rather of men mocking and deriding. Yet the question, full of much thanklessness and being false, shows their wickedness. “Tell us,” they say, “plainly.” And yet in many places He spoke plainly, both frequenting the feasts, and speaking nothing in secret, and naming Himself Son of God, and light, and way, and door, and bringing Moses forward as witness. Wherefore, reproving them as speaking out of an evil mind, “I told you,” He says, “often, and you believe not.” And besides, “Why do you feign to be persuaded from a bare word? The works which I do, not as an adversary of God, but in the name of my Father, you receive not; and how will you believe a bare word? For altogether the works have a greater power to persuade than words.” Which also the more right-minded of them said: “Can a man that is a sinner do such signs?” “And for this cause,” He says, “you believe not me, because you are not of my sheep. For I, as a good shepherd, did the things which it behoved me to do; but if you follow not, it is not I unworthy of the shepherd’s, but you unworthy of the sheep’s name.” And be you also earnest, while it is winter—the present life, I mean, that ever has tumults from the spirits of wickedness—to keep the dedication of your spiritual temple, ever becoming new, and disposing ascents in your heart. For then shall Jesus also be present with you, working together in the feast of this dedication in Solomon’s porch, in His shelter guarding you about, and making you to be at peace from the passions. For He Himself shall be the Solomon, which is interpreted “peaceable.” Whoever, then, is in His shelter, has the Lord Himself keeping feast with him. For spring is the age to come, in which no one can renew the soul.

⁸ My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give to them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one. Since He said to them, “You are not of my sheep,” now He exhorts them to become sheep. Wherefore also He adds, saying, “My sheep hear my voice, and follow me.” Then, urging them on, He says also what they shall obtain that follow Him. For “eternal life,” He says, “I give to them, and they shall never perish,” and what follows. And altogether by these words He stirs them up, and casts them into zeal and longing to follow Him also, as bestowing such things. And why does He say, “They shall never perish”? Because “no man is able to pluck them out of my hand,” because “my Father, who gave me these, is greater than all,” and from His hand no one can pluck them, so that neither from my hand. For my hand and the Father’s are one. “For I and my Father are one,” according to the authority, namely, and the power; for by “hand” He means the authority and the power. I, then, and the Father are one according to the nature, and the essence, and the might. Which the Jews also perceiving, that He makes Himself consubstantial with God by these words, cast stones at Him, as making Himself the Son of God. But one might ask: How said the Lord that “No man shall pluck them out of my Father’s hand,” and yet we see many perishing? It is to be said, then, that to pluck out of the Father’s hand no one can, but to deceive many can. For by force and tyranny none has strength to drag away from God; but by deceit we are tripped up daily. And how says He, “My sheep follow me, and shall never perish”? for we see that Judas perished. But for this cause he perished, because he followed not, nor remained a sheep to the end. But Christ speaks concerning those that followed Him and are sheep, that “They shall never perish”; since, if one fall away from the rank of the sheep, and from following the shepherd, straightway he perishes, as befell Judas. For he too, being holy, namely, and having fallen away of his own choice, shows that men are not evil by nature, but are constituted and dissolved by their own will.

⁹ Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I showed you from my Father; for which of those works do you stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone you not; but for blasphemy; and because that you, being a man, make yourself God. Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, You are gods? If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; say you of him, whom the Father has sanctified, and sent into the world, You blaspheme; because I said, I am the Son of God? Since He said, “I and my Father are one,” according altogether to the authority and the power, and showed that the hand of the Father and His own is one, the Jews thought the matter blasphemy, and cast stones, as though He made Himself equal to God. The Lord, then, abashing them, and showing that they have no reasonable cause for their madness against Him, but rave in vain, reminds them of the wonders wrought by Him, and “Many good works,” He says, “I have showed you; for which of these do you stone me?” But they, “For blasphemy,” they say, “we stone you, because you make yourself God.” He, then, denies not this, nor says, “I make not myself God, I am not equal to the Father,” but rather confirms their opinion, and establishes that He is God, from the things written in the law. And by “law” He means also the book of David, as also simply all the Scripture; and what He says is of this kind: “If they that received deification by grace are gods, and are not blamed, how am I justly rebuked by you, who am God by nature, whom the Father sanctified—that is, set apart to be sacrificed for the world (for the things set apart are called holy to God). For it is plain, that since the Father sanctified and set me apart to the salvation of the world, I am not equal to other gods, but the true God. For of God in truth is the work of saving, and not of a man deified by grace. If, then, those to whom the word of God came—that is, I, for I am the Word of God, and, dwelling in them, bestowed on them the adoption; if, then, those are gods, much more I should be free from all blame, calling myself God, who both am God by nature, and bestow this on others.” Let the Arians and Nestorians be ashamed from hence. For both Son of God, and God in essence and nature, is Christ, and not a creature, and to others bestows the Godhead, to whom He might come, being the Word of God, but is not Himself deified by grace. For He plainly separates Himself from those deified by grace, by the things here said, and shows that to those also He is the author of deification, being the Word of God and dwelling in them. For this He signifies by saying, “to whom the word of God came”—that is, with whom it came, in whom it dwelt. “How then do I blaspheme, saying myself Son of God? For though I bear flesh, and am of the seed of David, yet you are ignorant of the mystery, and that the carnal nature of men could not otherwise receive the converse of God, except He conversed with it through flesh, as in a veil.”

¹⁰ If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though you believe not me, believe the works: that you may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him. “You wish,” He says, “to know the equality with the Father? From the essence you cannot know it; for it is impossible to know the essence of God; from the equality, then, and identity of the works, take the demonstration of the identity according to power; for from these shall be to you the witness of my Godhead, and you shall know and believe that I am nothing else than what the Father is. For I have the same essence, remaining Son, and differing in hypostasis. Likewise also the Father, remaining Father, and differing in hypostasis, is nothing else than the Son according to the essence, namely, and the nature. And if we differ also in the hypostases, yet the hypostases are not separated and parted, but the Father and the Son are in one another without confusion. For not as with us the father is separated from the son, and yet in nature is one; so then also with the divine hypostases; but they are in one another without confusion. Wherefore we also are called three men, as being parted in the hypostases, and not properly one; but in the case of the holy Trinity there is one God, and not three, because of the unconfused mutual indwelling of the hypostases in one another; add also the identity of counsel and the identity of will.”

¹¹ Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand, and went away again beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized; and there he abode. And many resorted to him, and said, John did no miracle: but all things that John spoke of this man were true. And many believed on him there. They seek to take the Lord, not enduring Him making the lofty witness concerning Himself; for they bore not with His theologizing the higher things. But He withdraws, yielding to their wrath, and through His absence preparing the passion of their wrath to cease, and withdraws even against their will, showing, what we have often said, that He would not even have been taken on the cross, had He not willingly given Himself. And where does He withdraw? Beyond Jordan, where John baptized, not without reason having withdrawn there, but reminding the many of the things that there took place, and of the things spoken by John concerning Him. And that the sojourn about the place profited many, the evangelist added, saying, “And many came to him,” and, being reminded of the place, said, he says, that “John indeed did no miracle.” And what he says is of this kind: “If we believed him that did no miracle, much more this man that wrought so many wonders.” And since John bore witness concerning Christ, but did no miracle, and for this cause perhaps was not thought worthy of belief, he added, saying, “But all things that John spoke of this man were true,” no longer showing this man worthy of belief from John, but John from the things which Christ did. Wherefore, “Many,” he says, “believed there.” And the “there” shows that that place greatly profited them, since for this cause also Jesus continually leads the multitudes out into desert places, freeing them from the company of wicked men, that they may reap something great, as also in the Old Testament He appears to have done, leading them out of Egypt, and in the wilderness forming and ordering the people through giving them the law. And consider also the withdrawal of Christ as accomplished spiritually. For He withdraws from Jerusalem—that is, from the Jewish people; and removes to a place having fountains—the Church from the Gentiles, namely, which has the fountains of baptism. And lo, many come to Him, crossing the Jordan, and passing through baptism. For the “beyond Jordan” signifies this, the coming through baptism to Jesus; and one truly becomes faithful.