Chapter Twelve

¹ Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. On the tenth of the month they take the lamb that is to be sacrificed at the feast of the Passover, and from that time they begin to prepare the things needful for the feast. Accordingly, on the day six before it, which is the ninth of the month, they feast more sumptuously, and make this day a prelude of the feast. Wherefore Jesus also is entertained, having come to Bethany. And the evangelist, wishing to show a token of the true resurrection of Lazarus, says, “But Lazarus was one of them that sat at table.” For he did not, having once appeared, straightway die again, but remained a long time eating and drinking and going through the other accustomed things. And by saying that Martha served, he signified that the entertainment was in her house. And observe to me the faith of the woman, how she does not commit the service to maidservants, but performs it herself by her own hand. Paul also speaks concerning a widow woman, “if she have washed the saints’ feet.” She, then, ministers in common to all; but Mary bestows the honour upon Christ alone, since she attends to Him not as to a man, but as to God. For this cause she poured out the ointment, and wiped it with the hairs of her head, not holding such a supposition concerning Him as the many, as concerning a mere man, but as concerning a Master and Lord. And Mary might be taken, by ways of anagogy, for the divinity of the Father and Lord of all; for Mary is interpreted “lady.” The Godhead of the Father, then, which is Lady of all, anointed the feet of Jesus—that is, the flesh of the Lord assumed in the last times, or rather, I mean, of the Word—with the power of the Spirit; even as David also says, “Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness”; and the great Peter, “Let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this same Jesus, whom you have crucified.” For the flesh, taken beforehand by the Word and anointed by the divine Spirit which came upon the womb of the Virgin, and having become what the Word is—that is, God—filled the world with fragrance, even as the ointment of Mary perfumed all the house. And who are the hairs that wiped the feet? Surely those that adorn the head of God and His sovereign authority—the saints. For these, being for the glory of God, would be called His adornment, who have also become partakers of the anointing of the Lord’s flesh, whom David also calls “partakers.” And Paul too says to the Corinthians, “He which establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, is God.” And everywhere we know that they who have lived according to Christ are called “christs” (anointed ones). The Christians, then, would be understood as the hairs that wiped the feet of Jesus and partook of the divine gift. The hairs are a thing dead, and they that are Christ’s are dead also; for they crucified the flesh, and mortified their members which are upon the earth, and died to the world. The hairs adorn the head and are its glory; and the glory of God is the saints, whose light shines before men, and through whom the Father is glorified, to whom even the eating and the drinking are done to the glory of God, who glorify Him also in their members. And you too, since Jesus has raised up your mind as a kind of Lazarus, and you receive Him into the house of your soul, and the risen one also feasts together with Him—anoint the feet of the Lord six days before the Passover, before the Passover of the age to come is come, while yet you pass your time in this world that was completed in six days. The feet of Christ are the Apostle, and the Gospel, and, simply to say, the commandments; for through them He walks about in us. To these commandments, then, bring ointment—the disposition compounded of diverse virtues, whereof the better is faith warm as spikenard. For unless you show a warm and earnest and virtuous relation toward the commandments, and with your mortified members, as with hairs, wipe these and take Him up to yourself, you shall not be able to make your house fragrant. The feet of the Lord are also the least brethren, through whom Christ walks to the door of each, seeking the things needful, whom do you anoint with the ointment of almsgiving. Many indeed show mercy, but for display; wherefore neither do they receive the benefit to themselves, for they have their reward here. But do you wipe with the hairs of your head, and receive the benefit into your soul, in the ruling part; and if you have anything dead and lifeless, like hairs—“for your sins,” He says, “shall you wipe away with almsgiving.”

² Then says one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him, Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying has she kept this. For the poor always you have with you; but me you have not always. Being a lover of money, Judas finds fault with the manner of the honour. “Why,” says he, “did you not bring money, that I might have it to steal, but ointment?” How then does another evangelist say that all the disciples said this? It must be answered that all indeed said it, but the others not with such a purpose as this man. Yet the Lord does not reprove him, although He knew that he said this with a thievish mind; for He did not wish to put him to shame, teaching us also to be long-suffering toward such men. Nevertheless He covertly upbraids him with the betrayal, and that for love of money he was about to deliver Him up to death. Wherefore He also makes mention of the burial, smiting his senseless heart, if perchance he might be set right. And that which is added bears some such meaning. “For the poor,” He says, “you have always with you; but me you have not always.” “In a little while,” He says, “I shall depart, when you have contrived My death. If, then, I am burdensome to you, and the honour done to Me grievous, wait a little, and you shall be rid of Me; and then it shall be known whether for the poor’s sake you have need of the selling of the ointment.” And why, if indeed he was a lover of money and a thief, did the Lord entrust to him the stewardship of the money? For this very reason, that he was a thief—that He might cut off every pretext of his. For he could not say that for love of money he betrayed Him, since he had sufficient solace from the bag; yet not even having the bag was he faithful. For he “bare,” that is, he stole, the things put therein, and was a robber of sacred things, purloining what was given for the divine need (let robbers of sacred things hear of what portion they are), and—the very head of his wickedness—afterward he betrayed the Lord. Do you see where love of money leads? To betrayal. Well, then, did Paul call it the root of all evils, as having betrayed the Lord, and as doing this same thing day by day. And some say that Judas was put in charge of the ministry of the money as being lesser than the others; for to minister about money is less than to minister about teaching, as also in the Acts the apostles say, “It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.”

³ Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead. But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death; because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus. Well-disposed were these who came to the Lord, and not, like the rest, ill-disposed and raging. “For they came,” he says, “not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also.” For the miracle being indeed a very great one, many wished to become beholders of the risen man, perhaps expecting also to hear something from Lazarus concerning the things in Hades. But the Pharisees were so inhuman that they wished not only to slay Jesus but Lazarus also, because he had become to many a cause of salvation, drawing the more guileless to the faith by the miracle wrought upon him; so much was even to suffer good a charge in their eyes. And most of all it stung them that, the feast being at hand, all ran to Bethany, and became hearers of the miracle and eye-witnesses of the risen one.

⁴ On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that comes in the name of the Lord. Having withdrawn for a little into the wilderness in order to quench the wrath of the murderous men, the Lord again enters with boldness, and is made manifest to all. For the time of the Passion was now at hand, and it behoved Him no longer to hide Himself, but to give Himself for the salvation of the world. For observe the sequence of the Passion: He raised Lazarus, keeping this last miracle, the greatest of all; from this many ran together and believed; from many believing, the envy grew greater; and from this came the plot and the cross. “For when the multitudes heard,” he says, “that Jesus was coming,” they met Him with glory, rendering Him, on account of the miracle of Lazarus, an honour greater than is due to a mere man. For they held Him no longer as a prophet; for what prophet did their fathers ever so honour? Whence also they said, “Hosanna: Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord.” And from these words we reason, first, that He is God; for “Hosanna” is interpreted “Save now,” as it lies, rendered into Greek by the Seventy, in the hundred and seventeenth Psalm: for where the Hebrew has “Hosanna,” the Greek has “O Lord, save now.” And to save belongs to God alone, and to Him it is said, “Save us, O Lord our God.” And from every side one might reason that the Scripture ascribes salvation to God alone. First, then, this they show who say the words of David concerning Christ—that He is God; then, that He is also properly God. For “he that comes,” he says, not “he that is brought”; for the one is somewhat servile, but to come is a thing of authority. And by saying “in the name of the Lord,” they show this same thing, that He is true God; for they say He comes not in the name of a servant, but of the Lord. And further they set forth that He is not a rival of God, but came in the name of the Father, even as the Lord Himself also says, “I am come in my Father’s name, and another shall come in his own name.” And they called Him King of Israel, perhaps imagining a sensible kingdom. For they expected one about to arise who should save them from the dominion of the Romans.

⁵ And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, your King comes, sitting on an ass’s colt. These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things to him. How is it that the other evangelists say the Lord told the disciples, “Loose them and bring them to me,” but John here says nothing of the kind, but simply thus, “Jesus, having found a young ass”? And what of this? Surely they do not disagree; but those having spoken more fully, this one spoke more concisely, “Jesus, having found a young ass.” For being loosed by the disciples and brought, He found and sat thereon. And by this He both fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah, who said, “Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, your King comes, sitting upon an ass’s colt.” For since for the most part they that reigned in Jerusalem were unjust and grasping, the prophet says, “Fear not, Sion; for the king prophesied to you from me is not such, but meek and lowly-minded, and showing nothing boastful; and he is shown to come sitting upon an ass.” For He entered not dragging an army after Him, but borne upon an ass. And His sitting upon an ass was also a symbol of the future. For this is an unclean animal according to the law, and a symbol of the unclean people of the Gentiles, upon which sits the Word of God, Jesus, subduing this unsubdued and untaught people, as a colt, I mean the new people, whom also He leads up to the true Jerusalem, when it has become subject and bowed under Him. For did not the Lord gather together them of the Gentiles to heaven, who became His people and obeyed the preaching? And the palms perhaps signified both that He should become the conqueror of death, having raised Lazarus—for the palm was given in the games to the victors; and perhaps they showed also that He who was acclaimed was heavenly and come from on high. For alone of the other trees the palm stretches up, so to say, toward heaven itself, and flourishes on high, bearing white shoots upon its crown; but in its trunk and middle parts up to the top it is rough and hard to climb, casting forth thorns upon its branches. So then also he that presses on toward the knowledge of the Son and Word of God will find it rough and steep, journeying through the toils of virtue; but having come to the height of the knowledge, he will meet with the most radiant light of the knowledge of God and the revelation of things unspeakable, even as with the whitest shoots of the palm. And marvel to me at the evangelist, how he is not ashamed, but parades the former ignorance of the apostles. “For these things,” he says, “understood not his disciples at the first, but when Jesus was glorified.” And by glory he means the taking up after the cross and the Passion. Then indeed, then, they understood, by the [grace] of the Spirit. For perhaps they knew that these things were written; but that they were [fulfilled] upon Him they understood not, since they were offended at Him when He was crucified.

⁶ The people therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of his grave, and raised him from the dead, bare record. For this cause the people also met him, for that they heard that he had done this miracle. The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive you how you prevail nothing? behold, the world is gone after him. “The world is gone after him.” The multitude, he says, that saw the miracle upon Lazarus, was witness and herald of His power; wherefore also they that heard this sign had been wrought met Him with glory, that is, believing. For they would not, unless they had believed, have been so suddenly changed over. And the Pharisees who say, “Perceive you that you prevail nothing?” speak these things not out of wickedness; for they were not of those that plotted against the Saviour, but seem to be well-disposed, yet timid; wherefore, not daring openly to withstand those that raged against the Lord, they try from the outcome of the matter to restrain them, all but saying such things as these: “What profit is there to you from the many plots against this man? However much you plot, so much does he increase, and his glory grows. For the world, that is, the whole multitude, is gone after him. So then, since you accomplish nothing, cease from the plots, lest you transgress in vain.”

⁷ And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast: the same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. Philip comes and tells Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone: but if it die, it brings forth much fruit. On account of the beauty of the temple, and the wonders told of among the Jews, many of the Greeks also went up to worship. And these were near to becoming proselytes also, that is, to coming over to Judaism. The report concerning Jesus, then, being spread abroad, they come to Philip and asked him, that they might see Jesus—that is, they made request. But he (and observe the modesty and good order) speaks to Andrew, as being before him. And Andrew does not snatch at the announcement, nor act on his own authority, but taking Philip also along with him, he thus is bold to make the announcement; so great was the good order and mutual love that prevailed among them. What then does the Lord? Since He had charged the disciples not to go into the way of the Gentiles, but now saw the Gentiles already coming to Him (for the Greeks who wished to see Him were assuredly heathen), and knew that the Jews were plotting against Him, He says, “It is time now to come to the Passion. For the hour of the cross is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. For what profit is it that the Gentiles, coming, we should not receive, but should run to the Jews who hate and persecute? Since, then, they of the Gentiles run to us, now at length is the hour of the crucifixion. Therefore I will permit the Jews to bring their counsels to an end, and will yield to them so as to crucify Me, that they may be without excuse for the time to come, when with reason I leave them as crucifiers and murderers together, and go over to the Gentiles who have already begun to come to My teaching. For it is exceedingly unjust to give nothing to the Gentiles who thirst for the word and salvation, but to wait still upon the Jews who spit out the things given and plot against their benefactor.” Then, that the disciples might not be offended that, when the Gentiles also began to come, then also He dies, He says, “This very thing, My dying, will the more increase the faith of the Gentiles. For even as the corn of wheat, when, being sown, it dies, then bears much fruit, so also My death shall bring much fruit in the faith of the Gentiles. So let no man be offended, as though the bringing in of the Gentiles were cut short by the death; but let him be persuaded by the example of the corn, that my fall in death shall become the increase of them that believe. For if this comes to pass in the corn, much more in Me. For having died and risen again, I shall the more show My power.”

⁸ He that loves his life shall lose it; and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: and if any man serve me, him will my Father honour. Since the Lord was near the Passion, and the disciples were about to be full of dejection, for this cause He says, “So far ought you not to be dejected at My death, that, unless you also yourselves die, neither shall there be any gain to you; but every man simply, whoever loves the present life, and loves his soul—that is, does its unseemly desires, and gratifies it beyond what is fitting, and despises not death—loses it. But he that hates it—that is, that yields not to it, nor bows beneath it—shall keep it to life eternal.” And wishing to show the intense aversion which one must feel toward the desires of the soul, He said, “He that hates.” For of things hated we endure neither to see the face nor to hear the voice. So, then, must one be disposed toward the irrational longings of the soul, hating them with a perfect hatred. And by saying, “He that hates his life in this world,” He shows the temporary nature of the thing. For since the command seemed murderous and harsh, He softens it by adding, “in this world.” “For I command you not,” He says, “to hate the soul to endless time; in this transitory world turn away from it when it enjoins upon you things unfitting.” And He adds the gain: “To life eternal,” He says, “shall he keep it.” “You hate a thing temporary, but to ages you keep alive the divine life.” And urging them yet more to the contempt of the present life, and emboldening them against death, He says, “He that serves me, let him follow me”; let him be so ready for death, as I. For He means here the following that is through works. Then also the consolation: “Where I am, there shall also my servant be.” And where is Christ? In the heavens. So then he that follows Him through death, and is not nailed to this world, shall be there in the heavens. For the above and the below are opposed to one another. He that loves to be below shall not be above; but he that flees the things below and the world shall be above and in the heavens. “For if any man serve me,” He says, “him will my Father honour.” He said not, “Will I honour him,” but “the Father,” showing thereby the genuineness; for as the servant of a genuine Son the true Father will deem worthy of honour; and at the same time He shows hereby that He is not a rival of God; for God and Father would not honour one who was a servant set against Him. Let us not, then, love our soul by preserving it from the dangers that are for the truth’s sake, and being unwilling to suffer hardship for the good; but if indeed we are servants of Christ, let us give it up to the dangers that are for the truth’s sake, and we shall be assuredly where Christ now is, in such a state and grace as it is given to human [nature to attain].

⁹ Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I to this hour. Father, glorify your name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. What is this that He says? For He seems to contradict Himself. For He who above seemed to be urging men toward death, and exhorting them to hate the soul, now, He says, is troubled, being about to die; which is the part not of one urging toward death, but of one shrinking from it. But if you consider well, you will find that even His being troubled is an exhortation to despise death. For lest any should be able to say that He, being outside human passions, easily plays the philosopher concerning death, and as one beyond dangers exhorts others, He shows that He too has had experience of the human properties, and partook of our nature, although without sin. Wherefore, though disheartened and troubled as a man because of the natural love of life, yet He shrinks not from death, as being for the salvation of the world. “For for this cause,” He says, “came I to this hour, that I might take upon Me the death that is for all.” And He plainly teaches us by this, that not even we, though we be troubled, though we be in anguish, should flee the death that is for the truth’s sake. “Since I also,” He says, “am troubled (for in truth I am a man, and I allow the nature to show its own things); yet I say not to the Father, that He save Me from this hour; but what do I say? Father, glorify your name”—that is, “Be well pleased that I take upon Me the cross and the danger that is for the salvation of all.” And observe that He called dying for the truth’s sake the glory of God; wherefore also the Father says, “I have both glorified, and will glorify again.” “For both by the miracles before the cross, which you did accomplish in My name, I glorified; and again, working miracles through you in the cross itself, I will glorify; and after the burial, raising you up and sending the Spirit, I will establish yet more gloriously both My name and you.” But some have understood the “Now is my soul troubled” not as spoken of Jesus fearing death after the human manner, but, foreseeing, they say, the falling away of the embittering generation of the Jews, and grieving exceedingly over them, and sparing and caring for them, the Lover of mankind is troubled for their sake, and is smitten with sorrow. For not, they say, fearing death, since neither was He ignorant for what cause He had made His coming to us, as He Himself also says, “For this cause came I”... He exhorted, saying, “Fear not them...”

¹⁰ The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spoke to him. Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to me. This he said, signifying what death he should die. Being grosser and more unlearned, the greater part supposed the voice to be thunder, although it was clear and articulate. For quickly they forgot the words of the voice, retaining only the sound of it. But others retained even the very words of the voice—I mean the “I have glorified, and will glorify again”—yet, not understanding what was the meaning of these words, they supposed that an angel had spoken to Him, wherefore also these things were hard for them to understand, as spoken by an angel. But Jesus says, “This voice came not for my sake, but for yours. For I had no need to learn that the Father glorified, and will again glorify His name; but you had need to learn that I am not a rival of God, but to the glory of the name of God. For if through me the name of God is to be glorified, how am I a rival of God? For your sakes, then, the voice came, that you might know that I am to the glory of God; and if you cannot know it, yet, asking, learn what you are ignorant of.” And the “Now is the judgment of this world” seems indeed to be unconnected with what went before. For what connection has this with “I have glorified, and will glorify again”? Yet it follows altogether. For since the Father said above, “I will glorify,” the Lord shows us the manner of the glory. And what is this? That the world-ruler should be cast out and conquered, and the world judged—that is, avenged. And what He says is of this kind: “Now is the judgment and avenging of this world. For since the devil subjected the world to death, having made all men liable to sin—coming to Me, and finding no sin in Me, yet bringing Me also under death like the rest, he shall be condemned by Me, and thus shall I avenge the world. For grant that upon the others he brought death because of sin: what such thing did he see in Me as in the rest, that he should put Me also to death? Therefore the judgment, or avenging, of the world is now wrought by Me. For having put to death him that put all to death, and then assailed Me also, the guiltless, I shall be the avenger of all that were put to death by him; and the tyrant shall be cast out, condemned through My death.” For the “shall be cast out” is spoken by a metaphor from those condemned in the law-courts and thrust out of the court. And thus too shall you understand the “shall be cast out,” as meaning into the outer darkness. But he shall also be outside the dominion over men, and no longer reign over them, and over their souls and mortal bodies, as before; “but all men will I draw to myself, if I be lifted up” upon the cross. For all, even they of the Gentiles, shall be drawn to the faith in Me. For since they cannot of themselves come to Me, being held by the tyrant, I, having conquered him and cast him out, and cut the sinews of his dominion over men, will draw them even against his will. Which elsewhere He also called a plundering. “For no man,” He says, “can spoil the goods of the strong man, except he first bind the strong man.” And He said the “If I be lifted up,” meaning that He was to be crucified; for this [signifies the manner of His death].

¹¹ The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abides for ever: and how do you say, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man? Then Jesus said to them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walks in darkness knows not where he goes. While you have light, believe in the light, that you may be the children of light. Thinking to confute the Lord and to stop His mouth, as though He were not the true Christ, they say, “If the Christ is immortal, but you say concerning yourself that you are about to die, how then shall we believe you to be the Christ?” But this they said maliciously. For the Scripture, which they call the law, makes mention not only of the resurrection, but also of the Passion. For Isaiah sets down both: the Passion and the death, thus saying, “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter”; and the resurrection, in saying, “The Lord wills to cleanse him from his stroke, and to show him light.” And David too makes mention of the death together with the resurrection: “For you will not leave my soul in hell.” And the patriarch, blessing Judah, prophesies concerning Christ, “He lay down and slept as a lion, and as a lion’s whelp; who shall raise him up?” So that, denying the Passion and witnessing immortality to Christ, they did this with a malicious mind. “We have learned out of the law”—that is, the Scripture (for, as we have often said, all Scripture is called law)—“that Christ abides for ever.” Reasonably have you learned this; for He abides for ever, and as God abides even after the resurrection; but His Passion you have not learned—and how, when the same Scriptures, as we have shown, teach both together? “How then,” they say, “do you say that the Son of man must be lifted up?” Do you see that of the things spoken enigmatically by the Lord they understood many, even as here they understood that by “lifted up” He spoke of the cross? So then they understood many things, but, being wilfully evil, they put forward ignorance as a pretext. And consider also what they say: “How do you say that the Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man?” For their word is full of malice, as though they said this: “We know not of whom you speak, and who is the Son of man; and yet we declare the truth, that he who is to be lifted up, whoever he may be, is not the Christ; for how should he be, when the Scriptures say that the Christ is immortal?” What then the Lord? Stopping their mouths, and showing that the Passion in no way hinders His abiding for ever, He says, “Yet a little while is the light with you”; for He called Himself light. “As, then, the sun’s light is not wholly destroyed, but setting rises again, so also My death is no corruption, but a setting and removal, and again I shall rise through the resurrection. So that, since the Passion in no way hinders Me from being eternal, and the Scriptures bear witness concerning the Christ that He is eternal, I therefore am the Christ, though I undergo the Passion; for I am light, and though I set, I shall rise again. Walk you, then, while you have the light”—that is, “Believe in Me.” And what time does He here mean? The time before the cross, or that after the cross, or both? “For walk,” He says, “and believe in Me, both before I am crucified, and after the cross.” For this He shows in saying, “While you have the light”—that is, “While you are able to believe in Me”; and you are able both before the cross and after these things to believe in Me, who am light. But he that walks in unbelief knows not where he goes. For how many things do the Jews now do, and know not what they do? As though He said this: “Suppose not that I speak concerning you, and say that out of hatred we oppose; for, behold, neither do we know of whom you speak”... but, as walking in darkness, they think they journey the straight road, yet suffer all the contrary, keeping Sabbath and circumcision. But not so they that have believed. They walk in light, doing all the things that hold to salvation. For they fled the shadow of the law and the darkness of the riddles, and came to the hidden light that shone forth, and became children of light—that is, of Christ. “For that you may be,” He says, “children of light”; which is, “My children.” And yet in the prologue the evangelist says that some are born of God; but here he names them children of light—that is, of Christ. Let Arius then be ashamed, and Eunomius. For there is one energy of the Father and of the Son, and from hence it is shown.

¹² These things spoke Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them. But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him: that the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke, Lord, who has believed our report? and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, He has blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. For what cause did He hide Himself from them? For they took up no stone now against Him, neither blasphemed any such thing as before. For what cause did He hide Himself? Searching their hearts, He knew their wrath raging, even though they uttered nothing. He hides Himself, then, assuaging their envy. And that they believed not, but envied, the evangelist hinted, saying, “But though he had done so many miracles, they believed not on him.” For assuredly it is the work of no small wickedness, not to believe at so many signs. “So many signs,” he says, which the evangelist passed over. Jesus, then, hid Himself, assuaging their envy, and at the same time giving them time and leisure, that at their ease they might consider His words and deeds. For thus, if they had been willing, they might have come to the perception of the dignity of His Godhead. For though He foreknew their unbelief, yet nevertheless He did all that pertained to Himself, and withdrew, as has been said, giving them time for consideration. And the “They believed not on him, that the saying of Esaias might be fulfilled,” is not of cause but of outcome, as we have often said. For those men were not about to disbelieve Christ because Isaiah foretold it to them, but because they themselves were about to disbelieve, for this cause the prophet foretold it to them. And the “They could not believe, because Esaias said again concerning them,” holds the same sense. For through all these things this is what he wishes to set forth, that the Scripture is unlying, and that what Isaiah prophesied came to pass no otherwise than as he said. For lest any should be able to say, and to be perplexed, for what cause Christ came, if He knew that the Jews were not about to believe on Him, he brings in the prophets also as having announced this beforehand; and that not even Christ was ignorant of their unbelief, but nevertheless came, that they might have no pretext concerning their sin, nor be able to say, “Had he come, we should have believed.” And the “They could not believe,” understand you as meaning “they would not.” For the evil and wicked man cannot believe so long as he is such, choosing, that is to say, the evil things. And when you hear that “God has blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart,” think not that He simply makes some good and some wicked—away with the thought!—but understand the abandonment by God to be the complete blinding. I mean some such thing as this: let there be one moderately wicked; God still seems to be present with him, for he is hoped to be converted. But when the man is glutted to satiety with wickedness, then God forsakes him because of his evil choice; and the man is said to live as one blind, deprived of the divine light, and walking in the darkness of sin; and henceforth the absence of the divine light seems to him a blinding, and the hardening of the heart is the deprivation of the divine word that softens the hearts of those who receive it. He, then, is blinded who in no way admits the ray of the divine word, and he is hardened who is unwilling to give ear to the word that softens the hearts; and altogether the absence of God blinds and darkens. When, then, you hear that God blinds, understand it thus, that by not being present He blinds. For if God were present, the man would not have been blinded. If the sun were [present], there would be no darkness; but now the sun makes the night. But how? By setting. So also God makes men blind by not being present with them. And He is not present because of their wickedness; and thenceforth, as blind, they sin without turning back, and stumble incurably. And let us look also at the words of Isaiah: “Lord, who has believed our report?”—instead of, “no one believed.” For the “who” in many places of Scripture stands instead of “no one.” And the prophet said this as from the person of Christ, Christ, that is, saying to the Father, “Lord, who has believed our report?”—instead of, “No one believed our word and my preaching”; which preaching he called “report” (hearing). For, “What things I have heard of my Father,” He says, “those I speak.” And “to whom has the arm been revealed?”—by “arm” he names [the power of God]: to none of the thankless [was it revealed] who slander.

¹³ These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spoke of him. Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. “These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory.” Whose? The Son’s—although, so far as the context goes, the prophet seems to see the glory of the Father. “And spoke of him.” Here the evangelist says that Isaiah saw the glory of the Son; but Paul, that of the Spirit. One, then, is the glory of the Holy Trinity—that of the Father and of the Son and that of the Holy Spirit. And he says Isaiah saw this glory—that smoke which he beheld in vision, the Seraphim, the coals, the altar, the throne. Isaiah, then, saw this glory, and spoke of Him, that is, of the Son. And what spoke he of Him? The things said above: “That he has blinded their eyes, and hardened their hearts.” And the evangelist notes that “Among the chief rulers also many believed on him,” showing that in this too the Pharisees lied when they said, “Have any of the rulers believed on him?” For, behold, many even of the rulers believed, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him. “For they loved the praise of men.” And this also Christ foretold to them, that “How can you believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that comes from God only?” The evangelist, then, shows them suffering this which Christ foretold to them. So then they were not rulers, but slaves, serving the uttermost slavery. From this, therefore, we learn that he is a slave and dishonoured who is a lover of glory.

¹⁴ Jesus cried and said, He that believes on me, believes not on me, but on him that sent me. And he that sees me sees him that sent me. Jesus hid Himself for a season, giving place to the wrath of the Jews; but again He is made manifest, and cries with boldness. And showing Himself both equal to the Father and no rival of God, He says, “He that believes on me, believes not on me, but on him that sent me”—as though He said this: “Why fear you to believe on me? The faith in me passes over to my Father.” And observe also the exactness of the saying. He said not, “He that believes me,” but “he that believes on me,” which signifies the faith in God. For it is one thing to believe someone, and another to believe on someone. For he that believes someone may be understood to believe him as speaking truth; but he that believes on someone believes on him altogether as on God. Wherefore one might say that he believes the apostles; but to believe on the apostles, no longer. For this cause, then, the Lord said not, “He that believes me” (for this Paul too perhaps, and Peter, might have said, that “he that believes me”; but also the Hebrews are upbraided for not believing Moses), but He said the greater thing, “He that believes on me”; whereby He shows Himself to be God; even as also to the disciples He says, “You believe in God, believe also in me.” So then, since he that believes on Him passes the faith over to the Father, he also that disbelieves Him disbelieves the Father Himself. “And he that sees me sees him that sent me.” Is it, then, he that sees the bodily form? No. For the Father is not a body, that he who sees Christ bodily should be said to see the Father also; but understand to me here the seeing that is according to the mind; as though He said thus: “He that has comprehended my essence, so far as is possible to man, through the contemplation of the mind, has comprehended also that of the Father. He that has known me, that I am God, [has known] the Father also altogether; for I am the image of the Father.” And through all these things the consubstantiality of the Father and of the Son is shown. Let them hear who are sick with the doctrine of Arius, that he who believes on the Son believes not on Him, but on the Father; so that either the Father also is a creature, or neither is the Son. As one might say that he who draws the water of the river draws not that of the river, but that of the spring; so also he that believes on the Son believes not on the Son as on a river (for neither is the Son of another essence, nor has He anything beside the Father), but believes on the spring of the good—I mean the Father.

¹⁵ I am come a light into the world, that whoever believes on me should not abide in darkness. And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. And again through this He sets forth the consubstantiality. For since the Father also throughout the Scripture is called light, for this cause He says concerning Himself also, “I am come a light into the world.” Whence Paul too names Him a radiance, showing thereby that there is nothing between the Father and the Son, but at once the Father, at once the Son, even as together with the light is the radiance. The Son, then, is light, both because He delivers from error and dissolves the spiritual darkness; and because, as the light, having appeared, makes both itself manifest and the other things visible, so also the Son, having come and appeared to us, made Himself known and the Father, and enlightened to all knowledge the hearts of those who received Him. “If any man hear me,” He says, “and believe not, I judge him not. For I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.” And what He says is of this kind: “To the unbelieving man I am not the cause of his condemnation; for not for this came I primarily, but it came to pass as a result. For I came that I might save, and for this cause I taught. But if any disbelieve, I am not to him the cause of his condemnation, but he himself drew it upon himself.” And by what follows the saying shall be made yet clearer; and hear what comes next.

¹⁶ He that rejects me, and receives not my words, has one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatever I speak therefore, even as the Father said to me, so I speak. “I,” He says, “judge no man, but he that believes not has one that judges him”; even as we too are wont often to say, when we are about to beat an unruly child, that it is not we that beat it, but its own carelessness and disorder; and that we do not condemn him, but our admonitions, which he obeyed not—these accuse him as disobedient. So then also the Lord: “Not I judge, but the word which I have spoken, the same shall condemn.” For why did they disbelieve? Was it as to a rival of God, and one seeking his own glory? And yet of myself I spoke not, but having said all from my Father, nowhere did I proclaim myself as minded otherwise. “For the Father which sent me gave me a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak.” Oh, the humility of the words! Was it then, O Lord, that before the Father sent you and gave you the commandment, you knew not what you should say, but were unlearned in this commandment, which is life eternal, and knew not this life eternal—and how said you, “I am the life”? Do you see what absurdity arises, if we do not give ear well-disposed to the things spoken? Know, then, why He speaks thus humbly: it is because of the hearers, who were weak. And what does He wish to signify by these things? That He says or thinks nothing other than the Father. For as ambassadors say nothing beyond what is enjoined them, so also I myself say nothing other, nor think, nor have I taught anything beside the things that seemed good to the Father. This, then, wishing to set forth—the like-mindedness, I mean, toward the Father—He made mention of this example, of the commandment, I say. Wherefore also He adds, “What I speak therefore, even as the Father said to me, so I speak.” So that, since I said nothing from myself, what pretext will they put forward who have been disobedient? For unquestionably they shall be condemned, as having disbelieved the Father. Let the orthodox, then, conceive nothing lowly from the lowly words—namely the “I received a commandment,” and such like—but receive these in a well-disposed manner; as also this, the “I received a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak.” For being the Word of the Son, and revealing all the things in the mind of the Father, He says that He received from Him a commandment, what He should say and what He should speak. Even as our word also, if indeed we are to speak truth, says those things which the mind suggests to it, and is surely not of another essence than the mind, but altogether consubstantial. [Headings of what follows:] Concerning the basin; concerning Judas who went out to betray Christ; concerning the commandment to love one another; concerning Peter asking where the Lord goes.