Chapter Five

¹ After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of them that were sick, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatever disease he had. The feast of the Jews was, I think, that of Pentecost. And the Lord goes up at it: partly that He might not seem opposed to the Law, but might appear to keep the feast together with the multitude; and partly that He might draw the more to the teaching through signs, and especially the guileless multitude. For at the feasts there were wont to gather together both husbandmen and townsfolk and craftsmen, who on the other days are taken up with their labors. And the pool was called the Sheep Pool because the sheep for sacrifice were gathered there, and their entrails were washed there. Now the multitude held the opinion that, from the mere washing of the inwards of the victims, the water received a certain more divine power, and that for this cause the angel visited this water as a chosen one, and wrought wonders. It seems, then, that the divine Providence, making a way from afar for the Jews toward faith in Christ, ordained beforehand the marvel of this pool. For since a baptism was to be given having much power and a most mighty gift — as cleansing sins and quickening souls — God sketches the baptism beforehand among the Jews, and gives them water that cleanses defilements which are not such in strict truth but only in seeming — such as those from touching a dead body, or a leper, and other such things; and He gives also the marvel of this pool, leading them on to the reception of baptism. For an angel, going down at a certain season, troubled the water, and put a healing power into it. For surely it was not the nature of the water of itself that healed (else this would have happened continually), but the whole lay in the working of the angel. So then with us also the water of baptism is simply water, but having received the grace of the Spirit through the divine invocations, it looses the diseases of the soul; and though a man be blind, maimed in the eyes of the soul and unable to distinguish the better from the worse, though halt and unmoved toward the working of good and toward advancement to the better, though wholly withered and given up for lost and having no share of any good thing — this water heals them all. And then indeed the sickness hindered some from the healing, but now we have no hindrance to being baptized. For it is not of one only; even if all the world should come together, the grace is not lessened.

² And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he says to him, Will you be made whole? The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steps down before me. Astonishing is the endurance of the paralytic. Eight and thirty years he had, and each year looking to be rid of his disease, he was waylaid, being hindered by the stronger. And yet he did not withdraw, nor despair; wherefore the Lord asks him, wishing to show us the man’s endurance — for surely He does not ask as one who is to learn. For this were not only superfluous, but even foolish, to ask whether the sick man wishes to be healed. But, as I said, that He might show us the man’s endurance, for this cause He asks. What then does that man do? With much forbearance he answers: Yea, he says, Lord, I will indeed, but I have no man able to put me into the water. He answered nothing blasphemous, he did not send Christ away as one who had asked an absurd question, he did not curse the day of his birth, as we faint-hearted do, and that when we fall into lighter diseases; but meekly and persuasively he makes his answer, and that though he did not know who it was that questioned him — but perhaps he supposed only this, that Christ might somehow help him so as to cast him into the water, and through these words he wishes to draw Him on and to move Him. Now Christ did not say, Will you? I will heal you — that He might not seem to boast.

³ Jesus says to him, Rise, take up your bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath. The Jews therefore said to him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for you to take up your bed. He bids him take up his couch, wishing to confirm the marvel that had been wrought, so that none might think it a phantasm. For he could not have borne the bed, unless his limbs had been firmly and exceedingly knit together. And He does not require faith of him before the healing, as in the case of certain others, because the sick man had not yet seen Him work a sign. For even those of whom the Lord requires faith, He requires it not before the wonders, but after working the wonders in their sight. But mark me how at one and the same time he both heard and believed. For he did not reason within himself and say: Is not this man trifling, who bids me rise that very hour? Thirty-eight years I have had, and have not obtained healing, and shall I thus suddenly rise up? Nothing of the kind, but believing he rose. And on the sabbath He heals, teaching men to understand the observances of the Law otherwise, and not to think to honor the sabbath by an idleness conceived in a bodily sense, but by abstinence from evils. Since to do good on the sabbath the Law would not have hindered, being the Law of God who does good.

⁴ He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said to me, Take up your bed, and walk. Then asked they him, What man is that which said to you, Take up your bed, and walk? And he that was healed knew not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place. One must marvel at the man’s boldness toward the Jews — how, when they pressed upon him and said, It is not lawful for you to take up your bed because of the sabbath, he himself with boldness proclaimed his benefactor: He that made me whole, He said to me — as if saying such things as these: You trifle and are beside yourselves, bidding me not to obey Him who freed me from so long and grievous a disease. But the Jews do not ask him, Who is He that made you whole? but, Who is He that said to you, Take up your bed? Thus then toward the good they willfully feigned blindness, but the seeming transgression of the sabbath they brought forward up and down. Now Jesus conveyed Himself away: first, that in His absence the testimony concerning the healing might be free of suspicion, and the man might not seem to be currying favor with Him, but to bear witness to the truth; and then, that He might not kindle the wrath of the Jews the more. For He knew that even the mere sight of the envied one casts no small spark of envy into the envious; therefore He lets the deed be examined by itself. For the accusing Jews, bringing the thing that was done to examination and to words, make it the more widely heard.

⁵ Afterward Jesus finds him in the temple, and said to him, Behold, you are made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come to you. The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole. And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day. From the Lord’s saying to the paralytic, Behold, you are made whole, sin no more, we learn first that the disease had been born to the man out of his sins; and second, that the word concerning Gehenna is true, and that the punishment is eternal. For where now are they that say, In one hour I committed fornication, and how shall I be punished without end? For behold, this man too sinned not for so many years as those in which he was being punished, but well-near a whole human lifetime he spent in the duration of the punishment. For sins are not judged by time, but by the very nature of the things wrongly done. Together with these things we learn this also: that even if we pay a grievous penalty for our former sins, yet if we again wallow in the same sins, we shall suffer things still more grievous, and that with good reason. For he who has not been bettered even by the former punishment is led to greater chastisements, as one insensible and contemptuous. And for what cause, one says, are not all thus punished? For we see many of the wicked in good bodily health, and flourishing, and faring well. But the fact that they suffer nothing here becomes for them a provision for a greater punishment there; and showing this, Paul said: When we are judged of the Lord, here, that is, we are chastened, that we should not be condemned with the world — there, plainly; for the things here are admonitions, but the things there are punishments. What then? Are all diseases from sins? Not all, but the most. For some are because of sins, as also was that of this paralytic; and in the Books of Kings too we see one falling into gout because of sin; but others are for approval and proclamation, as in the case of Job, that his virtue might be displayed; and some come also from slothfulness, such as gluttony and drunkenness. Now some, from the Lord’s saying, Sin no more, conjecture and declare that the Lord knew this paralytic would point Him out and inform against Him to the Jews, after He found him in the temple, and that for this cause He says, Sin no more. But it is not so. For the man appears to be reverent. For Jesus finds him, he says, in the temple. And yet, had he not been reverent, he would have given himself over to ease and luxury, running off home, and escaped the madness of the Jews and their cavilings; but none of these things made him depart from the temple; nay, even after recognizing Jesus, see how thankfully he proclaims Him to the Jews. For he does not say that it was Jesus who told him to take up his bed — which they wished to hear — but He that made him whole, which they could not endure to hear, making the loosing of the sabbath their charge. And if the Jews persecuted the Lord, wherein did the man sin thereby, in pointing Him out to them? For he, from a thankful mind, that he might draw others also to faith, proclaimed his healer; but if they persecuted their benefactor, theirs is the blame. And understand me the Sheep Pool to be the grace of baptism, in which the Sheep that was slain for us, Jesus the Lord, was washed, being baptized for us. And this pool has five porches. For the four virtues, and the contemplative and the active, are shown forth together in baptism. Human nature, then, like some paralytic, having all the powers of the soul relaxed, lay sick thirty and eight years. For neither was it sound in the faith in the Trinity, nor did it firmly believe that an eighth age would come — the resurrection, I mean, and the judgment of things lived. Wherefore it found no healing; for it had no man to cast it into the pool — that is, the Son of God had not yet become man, who through baptism was to heal it. But when He became man, then He healed our nature, and bade it also take up the couch — that is, to make the body light and nimble, and to raise it from the earth, not weighed down by flesh and earthly cares, but to rouse it from slothfulness toward the good, and to walk, which is to be moved toward the working of the good. And the troubling of the water of the pool signifies this, that in it the spirits of wickedness are confounded, being crushed and choked by the grace of the Holy Spirit. May it be that we too obtain the health — that is, that we be no more defiled by unhallowed reasonings.

⁶ But Jesus answered them, My Father works hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. The Jews accuse Christ as one who had wrought the healing on the sabbath; but He, as being of equal honor with the Father and of the same authority, says: As God and My Father works even on the sabbath, and you accuse Him not, so neither Me. But how does the Father work hitherto, when Moses says that God rested from all His works? Will you learn how God still works? Behold the world, and consider the works of Providence — the sun rising and setting, the sea, the springs, the rivers, all the living things simply that have been created — and you may see the creation working its own works, or rather being worked and moved by the ineffable word of Providence. And assuredly Providence works its own things even on the sabbath. So then, since the Father works and even on the sabbath governs the creation, with good reason I also, He says, His Son, work. But they, wasting away with envy, sought to kill Him, not only because He loosed the sabbath, but because He also called God His Father, making Himself equal with God. For since He called Himself Son, He necessarily made Himself of equal honor with God; for every son is of the same nature with the father. Where is Arius here? Truly he is blinded concerning the light. For naming Christ the Son of the Father, he did not grant Him to have also the same nature with the Father, but confessed the Son of the uncreated Father to be a creature. And yet one ought to have taken even the Jews for teachers, who for this cause persecuted the Lord, because He called Himself the Son of God. For it was necessarily gathered that He is also equal to God; since, if the dignity of the Son were not great, and did not bring Him to equality with God, for what cause did they persecute Him?

⁷ Then answered Jesus and said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do: for what things soever he does, these also does the Son likewise. For the Father loves the Son, and shows him all things that himself does: and he will show him greater works than these, that you may marvel. For as the Father raises up the dead, and quickens them; even so the Son quickens whom he will. The Son can do nothing of Himself — inasmuch as He has nothing foreign to or estranged from the Father, but is in all things like the Father; and He has not another essence, that He should have also another power, and consequently another working; but since He has the same essence, He has also the same power. And for this cause He also works the same things, and cannot do any other thing than what the Father does. For He has not another power, either inferior or superior to the Father’s; but one essence, one power, one working belong to Father and Son. Yea, says the heretic, but the Father is as it were a teacher of the Son, showing Him how He ought to work. For unless the Son see the Father doing, He does nothing. I ask, then, Arius and Eunomius, who babble these things: how does the Father teach the Son? In wisdom, or not? Assuredly in wisdom. And what is the wisdom of God? Is it not the Son? Yea, assuredly. The Son, then, teaches Himself. Alas for your folly, who deliver up the Son to the Father as some child to be taught! But I, with the wisdom of God, declare that whatever the Father knows, He knows not without the Son; for He Himself is His wisdom. And whatever the Father is able to do, He is able to do not without the Son; for He Himself is His power. And that these things are true, hear: What things soever the Father does, these also does the Son likewise. If the Father with authority and power, then the Son likewise. The Son, then, is not inferior to the Father. And if it be spoken lowlily, He shows Him all things, and, He will show Him greater things, one need not marvel. For He converses with men crying out against Him and cut asunder with envy. And if He did not everywhere interweave the lowly with the lofty, what would they not have done — when, even thus, with Him uttering for the most part lowly things, they rage? For when He says, He will show Him greater things than these — since He had braced the paralytic, and is about also to raise a dead man — for this cause He says: If you marvel that I have made a paralytic whole, you shall see greater things than these. And that the word show, being lowly, was spoken by way of dispensation, that He might soothe their folly, hear what follows. For as the Father, He says, raises the dead, so also the Son quickens whom He will. The Son, then, raises even as the Father, and by this shows the unvarying sameness of the power; and by the words, Whom He will, the equality of the authority. And all these things the Arians take up against the glory of the Son, but we the Orthodox understand on behalf of it.

⁸ For the Father judges no man, but has committed all judgment to the Son: that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honours not the Son honours not the Father which has sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, He that hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death to life. He had shown Himself able to do good through the many signs which He wrought. But since He did not shame them, nor draw them on to honor Him as was meet, He says that the Father has given all judgment to the Son, that the fear of the judgment also might persuade them to show honor toward Him. For we men, and especially the more unreasoning, are wont to be brought to our duty rather by fear than by benefits. Now the saying, The Father has given judgment to the Son, understand thus: that He begot Him a judge — even as you hear also the saying, He has given Him life, and understand that He begot Him living. For since the Father is cause to the Son of His being, all things whatever the Son has are said to be received from the Father, as having them naturally from Him. And the judgment, then, He has from the Father in such wise as the Father has it. For lest, hearing that the Father is cause of the Son, we should think that He is cause of Him as also of the creatures, and thereby bring in a diminution of the honor, He says that there is no difference at all to the Son with respect to the Father. For He that has authority to punish and to honor as He wills can do the same things as the Father; wherefore He must be honored even as the Father. For that, He says, all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. They, then, that are of Arius, since they honor the Son as a creature, are convicted of honoring the Father also as a creature. For either they honor not the Son at all, and let them be ranked with the Jews; or, if they say they honor Him indeed, but as a creature — whereas one ought to honor Him even as the Father — they are altogether convicted of honoring the Father also as a creature. And in another way too, according to what follows: how do they honor the Father, who honor not the Son? For He adds: He that honors not the Son honors not the Father. He that honors Him not, He says, in such wise as I said — even as the Father; since if one say that the Son is indeed a creature, but surpassing all creatures, and seem to bestow upon the Son this false and vain honor, he altogether dishonors also the Father who sent Him. And the word sent He spoke, that they might not be made savage, as we said before. For He weaves His teaching wondrously, now bearing witness to lofty things of Himself, as was meet, now, because of the madness of the hostile Jews, to lowly things. For if, even after He had risen from the dead and ascended into the heavens and shown His own power through the apostles, Arius and Eunomius rose up against His glory and brought Him down to a creature — then the Jews, seeing Him walking in the flesh among publicans and harlots, and eating and drinking as one of the many, what would they not have done, if He had spoken all lofty things concerning Himself, and had not mingled also the lowly? Therefore He adds: He that hears My word, and believes on Him that sent Me, has everlasting life. And by these words too He lightens their minds as they hear; for they are likely to believe in God when they hear His words. For He said not, He that believes on Me, but, On Him that sent Me. He, then, that believes on Him comes not into judgment, that is, into punishment, but lives his own life, not undergoing the death of the soul and the eternal death, even though he undergo the natural and temporary one.

⁹ Truly, truly, I say to you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father has life in himself; so has he given to the Son to have life in himself; and has given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, to the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, to the resurrection of damnation. Having said above, He that honors not the Son honors not the Father, and having uttered certain lofty things concerning Himself, that what He says might not seem to be boasting and empty noise, He gives also the demonstration through works, saying, The hour is coming; and then, that we might not suspect the time to be long, He says, And now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son — that is, now, while I am tarrying with you. And these things He says concerning those whom He was about to raise from the dead, such as the widow’s son, the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue, and Lazarus. Then He adds also a reasoning demonstrative of the things said. For as the Father, He says, has life in Himself, so He gave also to the Son to have life in Himself, that He might quicken those who hear His voice. And not only has He given Him authority to quicken, but also to execute judgment, so as to punish and to take vengeance. And He continually brings the words concerning judgment into the midst, that He may bring the hearers to fear; for he that is persuaded that he shall both rise again and render to Him an account of his trespasses, will assuredly run to Him, propitiating Him, as one who is to be his judge. Marvel not, He says, that He is the Son of man. For though He is the Son of man, yet He is also God; so that He fittingly has the judgment, as the Son of God. And if He appear also as a man, marvel not. But one must know that Paul of Samosata, dogmatizing the Lord to be a mere man, thus read this passage: And He has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of man; but here, putting a stop, he read from another beginning the words, Marvel not at this. But it is utterly foolish so to read; for the Father gave judgment to the Son, not because He is the Son of man, but because He is God. That man, then, not admitting to call Christ God, but Son of man, thus understood Him to be judge — not as God, but as Son of man; but we so understand as has been said. And having spoken concerning the partial resurrection — of Lazarus, I mean, and the others, who, plainly, had died of old — now He speaks concerning the universal: that the hour is coming, in which those in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God; for concerning the universal resurrection He here speaks. And since He had said above, He that believes comes not into judgment, that we might not think that faith alone suffices to salvation, He says that they shall rise — they that have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment, and they that have done good, to the resurrection of life. Faith alone, then, without works does not justify, but works also must be present; for then is there faith in the proper sense. And mark the teaching becoming twofold, through fear and through cheerfulness. For the condemnation of them that have done evil terrifies; but the resurrection of life of them that have done good exhorts through cheerfulness.

¹⁰ I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which has sent me. As has been said in the foregoing, these words show forth the unvarying sameness of the Son with respect to the Father — the saying, I can of mine own self do nothing, and whatever is of like sort. For nothing strange and foreign to the Father can I do; for neither have I a will other than the Father’s, nor a power. And as I hear from the Father, so I judge — that is, as the Father Himself judges, so also I. And these things He says in order to show, as we have often said, the unvarying sameness both in works, and words, and judgments. For lest some, seeing Him a man, should be offended, how He that appears a man could execute just judgment, since David said, Every man is a liar — He first said, Marvel not, because I am the Son of man; and now He says also, My judgment is just, in that I judge as I hear My Father judging. For I seek not Mine own will, but the Father’s. He that wills to ratify his own purpose might perhaps be suspected as corrupting justice; but he that looks not to his own things, what pretext could he have for not voting the just things? I, then, seek not Mine own will; for neither have I an own will; but what the Father wills, that also I.

¹¹ If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. There is another that bears witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesses of me is true. You sent to John, and he bare witness to the truth. But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that you might be saved. He was a burning and a shining light: and you were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. Here the Lord seems to say things contrary. For in many places He appears to have borne witness to Himself, as to the Samaritan woman He said, I am the Christ; and to the blind man, and elsewhere in many places. If, then, these be false, what hope of salvation is there for us? And not this only seems a contradiction, but another no less. For going on He says, Though I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true. How, then, shall these things be reconciled, that seem to fight one with another? When He says, If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true, He speaks with respect to the opinion of the Jews. For since they were likely perhaps to say to Him, You bear witness of Yourself, and no man bearing witness of himself is worthy of credit — He says, by way of objection, I bear not witness of Myself; for according to your judgment I should not be worthy to be believed. There is another that bears witness of Me — John. But when He says, Though I bear witness, My witness is true, He speaks by way of concession, running along with the reasoning of the Jews; He says, Be it that I bear witness of Myself. Though I, then, bear witness, My witness is true; for being God, I am worthy of credit. So that the first He said by way of objection — Not I bear witness, but the Forerunner; and the second by way of counter-statement, or concession — Though I bear witness, My witness is true. Three witnesses, then, He says, I have: John, My works, My Father. And first He sets John, that none might say to Him, What then, if he bore witness to You for favor? He says, You yourselves sent to John. And assuredly you would not have sent to ask, unless you had thought him worthy of credit. So that you yourselves also bear witness that John was true. And yet I, as being God, need not human testimony — the Master that of the servant. But since you hold him more worthy of credit, and give heed to him rather than to Me, and ran to him, yet believe not even Me working wonders — for this cause I remind you of John’s testimony, and do all things, and take upon Me even what is unworthy of My Godhead, that you might be saved. A burning lamp He calls John, inasmuch as he too had his fashioning from earth, and had the light not from himself, but from the grace of the Spirit, and that for a season. For so soon as the day of the Lord appeared, that is, His teaching, the lamp was hidden. And you for a season received the things spoken by him, and rejoiced in him; then, forgetting what he said concerning Me, you remained in your former unbelief. For had you once firmly believed him, he would quickly have led you by the hand to the faith in Me.

¹² But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father has given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father has sent me. And the Father himself, which has sent me, has borne witness of me. You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. And you have not his word abiding in you. John bore witness of Me, He says — John, who seems to you the most worthy of credit of all. But since it was likely that some slanderers would be found, who perchance would say, And what is John to us? he was currying favor with you, and for this cause bore the kindlier witness — You, He says, sent to John, and asked him, assuredly thinking him true. But I have also another witness, greater than John’s. The works which the Father has given Me — that is, has committed to Me, that I should finish them — these bear witness of Me. And He calls works the wonders, doubtless — such as the raising up of the paralytic, and the rest. But since they accused Him of doing these things on the sabbath, saying that He is not of God because He keeps not the sabbath, He shows them that He does the things approved by the Father, and that He is rather of God, in that He accomplishes the works given Him by God. For the works, He says, which the Father has given Me to finish. Since, then, the Father has given these, you are fighters against God who oppose such works. And the Father which has sent Me, He has borne witness of Me. But where has the Father borne witness of Him? Some say, as at the baptism, when He said, This is My beloved Son. But it is better, I think, to understand that through all the Scripture God bore witness of Him, both through the Law and the prophets. But you, He says, have neither heard His voice — the Father’s, I mean — nor seen His shape, but He is altogether unknown to you; because you have not His word abiding in you — that is, you know not the Scriptures that bear witness of Me, though you think you know, and boast as having been entrusted with the Oracles of God. And whence is it plain that you know not the Scriptures?

¹³ Because whom he has sent, him you believe not. As, then, neither have you heard the voice of God (for God has no sensible voice), nor seen His shape (for He is without form and without figure), so neither have you His word — I mean the Scriptures that bear witness of Me — in yourselves.

¹⁴ Search the scriptures; for in them you think you have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And you will not come to me, that you might have life. I receive not honour from men. But I know you, that you have not the love of God in you. He had said to them that the word of God — that is, the Scriptures that bear witness of Me — is not in you. Teaching, then, how they might be able to have the word of God, He says: Search the Scriptures; for in them you think you have life. And mark how He said not, You have life, but, You think; and they did think — showing that they reaped nothing thence according to truth, expecting to be saved from the mere reading, faith not being present. For those are they that bear witness of Me; but you will not come to Me, that you might have life. So that hence too we learn that they were evil of set purpose. For He said not, You cannot come, but, You will not come. Let the Manichaeans hear, that evil is not by nature, but consists in the purpose. And since He had reminded them of John’s testimony, and of the Father’s, and of that through His works, doing all these things only for their salvation — and it was likely that many would suspect that He spoke these things out of love of glory — for this cause He says, I receive not honor from men; that is, I have no need of glory; for neither have I such a nature as to need the glory from men. But you persecute Me, making the pretext that you do this for love of God. But it is not so, it is not. For I know you, that you have not the love of God in you, though up and down you put forward this pretext for persecuting Me. With good reason, then, the Jews had not the love of God, since they persecuted Love itself, the Son of God. With good reason too they had not His word abiding in them; for they refused the Word and God.

¹⁵ I am come in my Father’s name, and you receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him you will receive. How can you believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that comes from God only? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuses you, even Moses, in whom you trust. For had you believed Moses, you would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if you believe not his writings, how shall you believe my words? I, He says, am come in the name of My Father (for everywhere He hymns the Father, and says that He is sent from Him, and can do nothing of Himself, and altogether utters many lowly things, wishing to cut off every pretext of impiety); but another shall come — the Antichrist, plainly — who is to declare that he himself alone is God. Me, then, who am come in the name of the Father — that is, who say that I am sent from the Father — you receive not, but him you will receive. And this befalls you because he will promise you the glory of this life, which you seek, wishing to receive the glory that is one of another, and spitting upon that which is from God only; whereas I promise you nothing in this life to be admired, but you see much difficulty in the things spoken by Me. For this cause, then, He says, you believe not Me; expecting to have nothing delightful and worldly from Me. And in another way too: You believe not Me, as desiring the glory that is one of another. For the rulers and teachers, themselves alone wishing to seem something among the multitude, receive me not, lest their glory be lessened; and the peoples, seeking the love of the rulers, are unwilling to run to Me, lest because of Me they fall from the honor that comes from the rulers. And since they brought forward Moses up and down, He says that he himself shall accuse you; for he wrote of Me. But where did he write of Him? In many other places (for the saying, A Prophet shall the Lord raise up to you, was concerning Christ, and many other things, some in words, some in signs and symbols — such as the wonder of the bush; for the fire is the Godhead, and the thorny bush the sinful nature, which the fire of the Godhead laying hold of, kept unconsumed, brightening it with light, and imparting to it of its own splendors, but partaking nothing of its defects); and not least this also did Moses say, contributing to the faith in Christ. For if, he says, a prophet arise working signs, and drawing away from God, believe him not — such as is the Antichrist. But if a prophet arise working signs, and leading toward God and the Father, or rather not drawing away from Him, him believe. Christ, then, who came in the name of the Father, and worked signs, but drew them not away from the worship of God, was He that was prophesied of by Moses. If, then, you believe not the writings of Moses, how shall you believe My words? He, He says, wrote, and the books are ever present before your eyes, so that, even if you forget, you may again have ready remembrance; and yet you believe not the things written; and how shall you believe My unwritten words? Why then do You say these things, O Lord, since You know that they will not believe? Though I know, He says, that they will disobey, yet I speak, that afterward they may not make the pretext, that, Had You spoken, we would have believed. And besides, those of that time, as being thankless, believed not; but for the sake of those who afterward were to profit from the words of Christ.