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| date | Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:05:42 +0000 |
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| 35 | 9 <body style="text-align:justify"> |
| 10 <blockquote> | |
| 11 <p style="text-align: center"><span style= | |
| 12 "font-size: 60pt">10</span></p> | |
| 13 <p align="center"><b>LECTURE I</b></p> | |
| 14 <blockquote> | |
| 15 <p>1 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the | |
| 16 sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a | |
| 17 thief and a robber; 2 but he who enters by the door is the shepherd | |
| 18 of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens; the sheep hear his | |
| 19 voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 | |
| 20 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the | |
| 21 sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will | |
| 22 not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the | |
| 23 voice of strangers.</p> | |
| 24 </blockquote> | |
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25 <p>1364 After our Lord showed that his teaching had power to |
| 35 | 26 enlighten, he here shows that he has power to give life. First, he |
| 27 shows this by word; secondly, by a miracle (chap 11). Concerning | |
| 28 the first he does three things. First, he shows that he has | |
| 29 life-giving power; secondly, his manner of giving life (v 11); | |
| 30 thirdly, he explains his power to give life (v 19). The first part | |
| 31 is divided into three parts. First, our Lord relates a parable; | |
| 32 secondly, the Evangelist mentions the necessity for explaining it | |
| 33 (v 6); thirdly, our Lord explains the parable (v 7).</p> | |
| 34 <p>He relates the parable to them, saying, <b>Truly, truly, I say | |
| 35 to you</b>. It concerns two things, a thief and the shepherd of the | |
| 36 sheep. Thus he does three things. First, he mentions the mark of a | |
| 37 thief and robber; secondly, a characteristic of the shepherd (v 2); | |
| 38 thirdly, the effect each of these has (v 4).</p> | |
| 39 <p>1365 To understand this parable we must consider who the sheep | |
| 40 are, namely, that they are the faithful of Christ and those in the | |
| 41 grace of God: "We are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of | |
| 42 his hand" (Ps 95:7); "You, the people, are the sheep of my pasture" | |
| 43 [Ez 34:31]. And so the sheepfold is the multitude of the faithful: | |
| 44 "I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob, I will gather the | |
| 45 remnant of Israel; I will set them together like sheep in a fold" | |
| 46 (Mic 2:12). The door of the sheepfold is explained in different | |
| 47 ways by Chrysostom and by Augustine.</p> | |
| 48 <p>1366 According to Chrysostom, Christ calls Sacred Scripture the | |
| 49 door, according to "Pray for us also that God may open to us a door | |
| 50 for the word" (Col 4:3). Sacred Scripture is called a door, as | |
| 51 Chrysostom says, first of all, because through it we have access to | |
| 52 the knowledge of God: "which he promised beforehand through his | |
| 53 prophets in the holy scriptures" (Rom 1:2). Secondly, for just as | |
| 54 the door guards the sheep, so Sacred Scripture preserves the life | |
| 55 of the faithful: "You search the scriptures, because you think that | |
| 56 in them you have eternal life" (5:39). Thirdly, because the door | |
| 57 keeps the wolf from entering; so Sacred Scripture keeps heretics | |
| 58 from harming the faithful: "Every scripture inspired by God is also | |
| 59 profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction" (2 Tim 3:16). | |
| 60 So, the one who does not enter by the door is the one who does not | |
| 61 enter by Sacred Scripture to teach the people. Our Lord says of | |
| 62 such: "In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the | |
| 63 precepts of men" (Matt 15:9); "You have made void the word of God" | |
| 64 (Matt 15:6). This, then, is the mark of the thief: he does not | |
| 65 enter by the door, but in some other way. <a href="#_ftn1" name= | |
| 66 "_ftnref1" id="_ftnref1">[1]</a></p> | |
| 67 <p>He adds that the thief <b>climbs</b>, and this is appropriate to | |
| 68 this parable because thieves climb the walls, instead of entering | |
| 69 by the door, and drop into the sheepfold. It also corresponds to | |
| 70 the truth, because the reason why some teach what conflicts with | |
| 71 Sacred Scripture is due to pride: "If any one teaches otherwise and | |
| 72 does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and | |
| 73 the teaching which accords with godliness, he is puffed up with | |
| 74 conceit, he knows nothing" (1 Tim 6:3). Referring to this he says | |
| 75 that such a person <b>climbs</b>, that is, through pride. The one | |
| 76 who <b>climbs in by another way, that man is a thief</b>, because | |
| 77 he snatches what is not his, <b>and a robber</b>, because he kills | |
| 78 what he snatches: "If thieves came to you, if plunderers by night - | |
| 79 how you have been destroyed" (Obad v 5).</p> | |
| 80 <p>According to this explanation, the relation with what preceded | |
| 81 is made in this way: Since our Lord had said, "If you were blind, | |
| 82 you would have no guilt," the Jews might have answered: "We do not | |
| 83 believe you, but this is not due to our blindness. It is because of | |
| 84 your own error that we have turned away from you." And so our Lord | |
| 85 rejects this, and wishes to show that he is not in error because he | |
| 86 enters by the door, by Sacred Scripture, that is, he teaches what | |
| 87 is contained in Sacred Scripture.</p> | |
| 88 <p>1367 Against this interpretation is the fact that when our Lord | |
| 89 explains this further on, he says, <b>I am the door</b>. So it | |
| 90 seems that we should understand the door to be Christ. In answer to | |
| 91 this, Chrysostom says that in this parable our Lord refers to | |
| 92 himself both as the door and the shepherd; but this is from | |
| 93 different points of view, because a door and a shepherd are | |
| 94 different.<a href="#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" id="_ftnref2">[2]</a> | |
| 95 Now aside from Christ nothing is more fittingly called a door than | |
| 96 Sacred Scripture, for the reasons given above. Therefore, Sacred | |
| 97 Scripture is fittingly called a door.</p> | |
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98 <p>1368 According to Augustine, the door is Christ, because one |
| 35 | 99 enters through him: "After this I looked, and lo, in heaven an open |
| 100 door!" (Rev 4:1). Therefore, any one who enters the sheepfold | |
| 101 should enter by the door, that is, by Christ, and not by another | |
| 102 way.<a href="#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" id="_ftnref3">[3]</a></p> | |
| 103 <p>Note that both the sheep and their shepherd enter into the | |
| 104 sheepfold: the sheep in order to be secure there, and the shepherd | |
| 105 in order to guard the sheep. And so, if you wish to enter as a | |
| 106 sheep to be kept safe there, or as a shepherd to keep the people | |
| 107 safe, you must enter the sheepfold through Christ. You must not | |
| 108 enter by any other way, as did the philosophers who treated the | |
| 109 principle virtues, and the Pharisees who established the ceremonial | |
| 110 traditions. These are neither sheep nor shepherds because, as our | |
| 111 Lord says, <b>he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door</b>, | |
| 112 i.e., does not enter by Christ, <b>but climbs in by another way, | |
| 113 that man is a thief and a robber</b>, because he destroys both | |
| 114 himself and others. For Christ and no one else is the door into the | |
| 115 sheepfold, that is, the multitude of the faithful: "We have peace | |
| 116 with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom 5:1); "there is no | |
| 117 other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" | |
| 118 (Acts 4:12).</p> | |
| 119 <p>According to this exposition, the connection with what went | |
| 120 before is made in this way: Because they said that they could see | |
| 121 without Christ - "now that you say, 'We see'" - our Lord shows that | |
| 122 this is not true, because they do not enter by the door. Thus he | |
| 123 says, <b>Truly, truly, I say to you…</b></p> | |
| 124 <p>It should be noted that just as one who does not enter by the | |
| 125 door as a sheep cannot be kept safe, so one who enters as a | |
| 126 shepherd cannot guard the sheep unless he enters by the door, | |
| 127 namely, by Christ. This is the door through which the true | |
| 128 shepherds have entered: "And one does not take the honor upon | |
| 129 himself, but he is called by God, just as Aaron was" (Heb 5:4). | |
| 130 Evil shepherds do not enter by the door, but by ambition and | |
| 131 secular power and simony; and these are thieves and robbers: "They | |
| 132 set up princes, but without my knowledge," that is, without my | |
| 133 approval (Hos 8:5). Further, he says such a person <b>climbs in by | |
| 134 another way</b>, because the door, namely, Christ, since it is | |
| 135 small through humility - "Learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly | |
| 136 in heart" (Matt 11:29) - can be entered only by those who imitate | |
| 137 the humility of Christ. Therefore, those who do not enter by the | |
| 138 door but climb in by another way are the proud. They do not imitate | |
| 139 him who, although he was God, became man; and they do not recognize | |
| 140 his lowering of himself.</p> | |
| 141 <p>1369 Now he considers the shepherd. First, he mentions the mark | |
| 142 of the shepherd; secondly, he shows through signs that he is the | |
| 143 shepherd (v 3).</p> | |
| 144 <p>1370 The mark of the true shepherd is to enter by the door, that | |
| 145 is, by the testimony of Sacred Scripture. Thus Christ said: | |
| 146 "Everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the prophets | |
| 147 and the psalms must be fulfilled" (Lk 24:44). He is called a | |
| 148 shepherd: "I am not troubled when I follow you as my shepherd" [Jer | |
| 149 17:16]; "He rebukes and trains and teaches them, and turns them | |
| 150 back, as a shepherd his flock" (Sir 18:13).</p> | |
| 151 <p>But if the door is Christ, as Augustine explains it, then in | |
| 152 entering by the door, he enters by himself.<a href="#_ftn4" name= | |
| 153 "_ftnref4" id="_ftnref4">[4]</a> And this is special to Christ: for | |
| 154 no one can enter the door, i.e., to beatitude, except by the truth, | |
| 155 because beatitude is nothing else than joy in the truth. But | |
| 156 Christ, as God, is the truth; therefore, as man, he enters by | |
| 157 himself, that is, by the truth, which he is as God. We, however, | |
| 158 are not the truth, but children of the light, by participating in | |
| 159 the true and uncreated light. Consequently, we have to enter by the | |
| 160 truth which is Christ: "Sanctify them in the truth" (17:17); "If | |
| 161 any one enters by me, he will be saved" (10:9). If one wishes to | |
| 162 enter even as a shepherd, he must enter by the door, that is, | |
| 163 Christ, according to his truth, will and consent. Thus we read in | |
| 164 Ezekiel (24:23): "And I will set up over them one shepherd, my | |
| 165 servant David, and he shall feed them." This is like saying: They | |
| 166 must be given by me, and not by others or themselves.</p> | |
| 167 <p>1371 Now he mentions the signs of a good shepherd; and there are | |
| 168 three. The first relates to the gatekeeper, and is that the good | |
| 169 shepherd is let in by him. As to this he says, <b>to him the | |
| 170 gatekeeper opens</b>. This gatekeeper, according to Chrysostom, is | |
| 171 the one who opens the way to a knowledge of Sacred | |
| 172 Scripture.<a href="#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" id="_ftnref5">[5]</a> | |
| 173 The first one to do this was Moses, who first received and | |
| 174 established Sacred Scripture. And Moses opened to Christ, because | |
| 175 as was said above: "If you believed Moses, you would believe me, | |
| 176 for he wrote of me" (5:46).</p> | |
| 177 <p>Or, according to Augustine, the gatekeeper is Christ himself, | |
| 178 because he brings us himself.<a href="#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" id= | |
| 179 "_ftnref6">[6]</a> He says, "He opens himself who reveals himself, | |
| 180 and we enter only by his grace." "For by grace you have been saved" | |
| 181 (Eph 2:8). It does not matter if Christ, who is the door, is also | |
| 182 the gatekeeper; for certain things are compatible in spiritual | |
| 183 matters that cannot occur in physical reality. Now there seems to | |
| 184 be a greater difference between a shepherd and a door than between | |
| 185 a door and a gatekeeper. Therefore, since Christ can be called both | |
| 186 a shepherd and a door, as was said, much more so can he be called a | |
| 187 door and a gatekeeper. But if you prefer that someone other than | |
| 188 Moses or Christ be the gatekeeper, then consider the Holy Spirit | |
| 189 the gatekeeper, as Augustine says.<a href="#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" | |
| 190 id="_ftnref7">[7]</a> For it is the office of a gatekeeper to open | |
| 191 the door, and it says below of the Holy Spirit that "He will guide | |
| 192 you into all the truth" (16:13). And Christ is the door insofar as | |
| 193 he is the Truth.</p> | |
| 194 <p>1372 The second sign relates to the sheep, and it is that they | |
| 195 obey the shepherd. This is what he says, <b>the sheep hear his | |
| 196 voice</b>. This is reasonable if the resemblance to a natural | |
| 197 shepherd is considered: because just as sheep recognize the voice | |
| 198 of their shepherd due to familiar experience, so righteous | |
| 199 believers hear the voice of Christ: "O that today you would harken | |
| 200 to his voice" (Ps 95:7).</p> | |
| 201 <p>1373 But what of the fact that many who are Christ's sheep did | |
| 202 not hear his voice, as Paul; or that some who were not his sheep | |
| 203 did here it, as Judas? One might reply that Judas was Christ's | |
| 204 sheep for that time as to his present righteousness. And Paul, when | |
| 205 he did not hear the voice of Christ, was not a sheep but a wolf; | |
| 206 but when the voice of Christ came it changed the wolf into a sheep. | |
| 207 This reply could be accepted if it were not contrary to a statement | |
| 208 in Ezekiel (34:4): "The crippled you have not bound up, the strayed | |
| 209 you have not brought back." It seems from this that even when they | |
| 210 were crippled and strayed they were sheep. Therefore, one must say | |
| 211 that here our Lord is speaking of his sheep not only according to | |
| 212 their present righteousness but even according to their eternal | |
| 213 predestination. For there is a certain voice of Christ that only | |
| 214 the predestined can hear, i.e., "He who endures to the end" (Matt | |
| 215 10:22).</p> | |
| 216 <p>Again, he says, <b>the sheep hear his voice</b>, because they | |
| 217 might offer as an excuse for their unbelief the fact that not only | |
| 218 they, but none of the leaders believed in him. So he says in answer | |
| 219 to this, <b>the sheep hear his voice</b>, as if saying: They do not | |
| 220 believe because they are not my sheep.</p> | |
| 221 <p>1374 The third sign is taken from the actions of the shepherd. | |
| 222 Here he mentions four actions of a good shepherd: the first being | |
| 223 that he knows his sheep. He says, <b>he calls his own sheep by | |
| 224 name</b>, which shows his knowledge of and familiarity with his | |
| 225 sheep, for we call by name those whom we know familiarly: "I know | |
| 226 you by name" (Ex 33:17). This is part of the office of a shepherd | |
| 227 according to: "Be diligent to know the countenance of your flock" | |
| 228 [Prv 27:23]. This applies to Christ according to his present | |
| 229 knowledge, but even more so considering eternal predestination, by | |
| 230 which he knew them by name from eternity: "He determined the number | |
| 231 of the stars, he gives to all of them their names" (Ps 147:4); "The | |
| 232 Lord knows those who are his" (2 Tim 2:19).</p> | |
| 233 <p>The second action of a good shepherd is that he <b>leads them | |
| 234 out</b>, i.e., he separates them from the society of those who are | |
| 235 evil: "He brought them out of darkness and gloom" (Ps 107:14).</p> | |
| 236 <p>The third is that having separated them from evil and having | |
| 237 brought them into the sheepfold, <b>he has brought out all his | |
| 238 own</b>, from the sheepfold. He does this, first, for the salvation | |
| 239 of others: "I will send survivors to the nations" (Is 66:19); | |
| 240 "Behold, I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves" (Matt 10:16), | |
| 241 so that they can make sheep out of the wolves. Secondly, they are | |
| 242 to show the direction and way to eternal life: "To guide our feet | |
| 243 into the way of peace" (Lk 1:79).</p> | |
| 244 <p>Fourthly, the good shepherd goes before his sleep by the example | |
| 245 of a good life; so he says, <b>he goes before them</b>, although | |
| 246 this is not what the literal shepherd does, for he follows, as in | |
| 247 "I took him from following the ewes" [Ps 78:70]. But the good | |
| 248 shepherd goes before them by example, "not as domineering over | |
| 249 those in your charge but being examples to the flock" (1 Pet 5:3). | |
| 250 And Christ does go before them: for he was the first to die for the | |
| 251 teaching of the truth - "If any man would come after me, let him | |
| 252 deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" (Matt 16:24); and | |
| 253 he went before all into everlasting life - "He who opens the breach | |
| 254 will go up before them" (Mic 2:13).</p> | |
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255 <p>1375 Now he considers the effect that both the thief and the |
| 35 | 256 shepherd have upon the sheep. First, he mentions the effect of the |
| 257 good shepherd; secondly, the effect of the wolf and the thief | |
| 258 (v5).</p> | |
| 259 <p>1376 He says, first, that <b>the sheep follow him</b> who goes | |
| 260 before them. This is easy to see, because subjects follow in the | |
| 261 steps of their leaders, as is stated: "Christ also suffered for | |
| 262 you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps" | |
| 263 (1 Pet 2:21); "My foot has held fast to his steps" (Job 23:11). The | |
| 264 sheep follow <b>for they know his voice</b>, i.e., they know it and | |
| 265 take delight in it: "Let me hear your voice, for your voice is | |
| 266 sweet" (Song 2:14).</p> | |
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267 <p>1377 The effect that the thief has is that the sheep do not |
| 35 | 268 follow him for very long, but only for a time; so he says, <b>a |
| 269 stranger they will not follow</b>, i.e., they do not follow a false | |
| 270 and heretical teacher: "The children who are strangers have lied to | |
| 271 me" [Ps 17:46]. Thus Paul did not follow false teachers for long. | |
| 272 But <b>they will flee from him</b>, because "Bad company ruins good | |
| 273 morals" (1 Cor 15:33). They flee <b>for they do not know</b>, that | |
| 274 is, do not approve of, <b>the voice of strangers</b>, meaning their | |
| 275 teaching, which spreads stealthily like a cancer.<br /> | |
| 276 <br /> | |
| 277 <br /></p> | |
| 278 <p align="center"><b>LECTURE 2</b></p> | |
| 279 <blockquote> | |
| 280 <p>6 This figure Jesus used with them, but they did not understand | |
| 281 what he was saying to them. 7 So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, | |
| 282 truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came | |
| 283 before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not heed them. | |
| 284 9 I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved, and | |
| 285 will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to | |
| 286 steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and | |
| 287 have it abundantly."<a href="#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" id= | |
| 288 "_ftnref8"><b>[8]</b></a></p> | |
| 289 </blockquote> | |
| 290 <p>1378 Here the Evangelist tells why it was necessary to explain | |
| 291 the above similitude; and this necessity was caused by the failure | |
| 292 of his listeners to understand. First, he mentions the reason why | |
| 293 they failed to understand; secondly, he says they failed to | |
| 294 understand.</p> | |
| 295 <p>1379 The cause of their failure to understand was that Christ | |
| 296 was speaking in figures. The Evangelist says, <b>This figure</b> | |
| 297 [<i>proverbium</i>] <b>Jesus used with them.</b> A figure | |
| 298 [<i>proverbium</i>], properly speaking, is the use of one word in | |
| 299 place of another, when it is intended that one word be understood | |
| 300 from its likeness to the other. This is also called a parable | |
| 301 [<i>parabola</i>]. Our Lord spoke in figures, first of all, because | |
| 302 of the wicked, in order to conceal from them the mysteries of the | |
| 303 kingdom of heaven: "To you it has been given to know the secrets of | |
| 304 the kingdom of God; but for others they are in parables" (Lk 8:10). | |
| 305 Secondly, because of the good, so that his figures might stir them | |
| 306 up to make further inquiry. So, after our Lord spoke his figures or | |
| 307 parables to the crowds, his disciples questioned him in private, as | |
| 308 mentioned in Matthew (13:10) and Mark (4:10). This is the reason | |
| 309 why Augustine says: "Our Lord feeds" the believing crowds "with | |
| 310 clear words, and stirs up" his disciples "with things that are | |
| 311 obscure."<a href="#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" id="_ftnref9">[9]</a></p> | |
| 312 <p>1380 The Evangelist discloses their failure to understand when | |
| 313 he says, <b>but they did not understand what he was saying to | |
| 314 them</b>. The ignorance which resulted from Christ's figures was | |
| 315 both useful and harmful. For the good and the just [who tried to | |
| 316 understand them] it was useful for giving praise to God; for | |
| 317 although they did not understand, they believed and praised the | |
| 318 Lord and his wisdom which was so far above them: "It is the glory | |
| 319 of God to conceal the word" [Prv 25:2]. But for the wicked, it was | |
| 320 a source of harm, because, failing to understand, they blasphemed: | |
| 321 "But these men revile whatever they do not understand" (Jude 10). | |
| 322 As Augustine observes, when both the good and the wicked hear the | |
| 323 words of the Gospel, and neither of them understands, the good | |
| 324 person says that what was said was true and good, but that he does | |
| 325 not understand it. Such a person is knocking and deserves to have | |
| 326 the door opened, provided he perseveres. But the wicked person says | |
| 327 that what was said had no meaning or was evil.<a href="#_ftn10" | |
| 328 name="_ftnref10" id="_ftnref10">[10]</a></p> | |
| 329 <p>1381 Now our Lord explains the similitude. If the above | |
| 330 similitude is examined correctly, it contains two principal | |
| 331 clauses, followed by others. The first is: "He who does not enter | |
| 332 the sheepfold by the door…is a thief and a robber." The | |
| 333 second is: "He who enters by the door is the shepherd of the | |
| 334 sheep." Accordingly, this section is divided into two parts. First, | |
| 335 he explains the first clause; then the second clause (v 11). | |
| 336 Concerning the first he does two things: first, he explains the | |
| 337 first clause; secondly, he proves it (v 7). The first clause | |
| 338 mentions a door, a thief and a robber; so first he explains the | |
| 339 door, then the thief and then the robber (v 8).</p> | |
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340 <p>1382 Concerning the first he says, <b>So Jesus again said to |
| 35 | 341 them</b>, to gain their attention and have them understand the |
| 342 similitude: "The man of understanding may acquire skill to | |
| 343 understand a proverb and a figure" (Prv 1:6). Jesus said, <b>Truly, | |
| 344 truly, I say to you, I am the door</b>. Now the purpose of a door | |
| 345 is to conduct one into the inner rooms of a house; and this is | |
| 346 fitting to Christ, for one must enter into the secrets of God | |
| 347 through him: "This is the gate of the Lord," that is, Christ, "the | |
| 348 righteous shall enter through it" (Ps 118:20). He says, <b>I am the | |
| 349 door of the sheep</b>, because through Christ not only the | |
| 350 shepherds are brought into the present Church or enter into | |
| 351 everlasting happiness, but the sheep also. Thus he says below: "My | |
| 352 sheep hear my voice…and they follow me; and I give them | |
| 353 eternal life" (10:27).</p> | |
| 354 <p>1383 Then when he says, <b>All who came before me are thieves | |
| 355 and robbers</b>, he explains what he had said about thieves and | |
| 356 robbers. First, he shows who the thieves and robbers are; secondly, | |
| 357 their sign.</p> | |
| 358 <p>1384 In regard to the first, we should avoid the error of the | |
| 359 Manicheans, who rejected the Old Testament on the ground that it | |
| 360 says here <b>that all who came before me are thieves</b>. They | |
| 361 maintained that the fathers of the Old Testament, who came before | |
| 362 Christ, were evil and have been damned.</p> | |
| 363 <p>The falsity of this view is clear from three things. First, from | |
| 364 what this parable says. For the statement, <b>all who came before | |
| 365 me</b>, is intended as a description of the previous statement, | |
| 366 which mentioned those who do not enter by the door. Therefore, | |
| 367 <b>all who came before me</b>, but not through me, that is, not | |
| 368 entering by the door, <b>are thieves and robbers</b>. It is clear | |
| 369 that all the patriarchs and prophets, whom the Christ-to-come had | |
| 370 sent forerunners, entered by the door, i.e., Christ. For although | |
| 371 he took flesh and became man in time, he was the Word of God from | |
| 372 all eternity: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for | |
| 373 ever" (Heb 13:8). Indeed, the prophets were sent by the Word and | |
| 374 Wisdom of God: "In every generation she," the Wisdom of God, | |
| 375 "passes into holy souls and makes them friends of God, and | |
| 376 prophets" (Wis 7:27). Accordingly, we expressly read in the | |
| 377 prophets that the word of God came to this or that prophet, who | |
| 378 prophesied by participating in the Word of God.</p> | |
| 379 <p>Secondly, the falsity of the teaching of the Manicheans is seen | |
| 380 when our Lord says, <b>all who came before me</b>, implying that | |
| 381 they were thrusting themselves forward on their own authority and | |
| 382 were not sent by God: "I did not send the prophets, yet they ran" | |
| 383 (Jer 23:21). Indeed, such prophets have not come from the Word of | |
| 384 God: "Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and | |
| 385 have seen nothing" (Ez 13:3). But the fathers of the Old Testament | |
| 386 were not of this type, as has been said.</p> | |
| 387 <p>Thirdly, this falsity is seen from the fact that he shows what | |
| 388 effect their words had, for we read, <b>but the sheep did not heed | |
| 389 them</b>. Therefore, those whom the sheep did heed were not thieves | |
| 390 and robbers. Now the people of Israel did listen to the prophets, | |
| 391 and those who did not heed them were rebuked in Sacred Scripture: | |
| 392 "Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute?" (Acts | |
| 393 7:52); "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning | |
| 394 those who are sent to you!" (Matt 23:37).</p> | |
| 395 <p>1385 Having excluded this error, it must be said that <b>all who | |
| 396 came before me</b>, that is, independently of me, without divine | |
| 397 inspiration and authority, and not with the intention of seeking | |
| 398 the glory of God but acquiring their own, <b>are thieves</b>, | |
| 399 insofar as they take for themselves what is not theirs, that is, | |
| 400 the authority to teach - "Your princes are rebels and companions of | |
| 401 thieves" (Is 1:23) - <b>and robbers</b>, because they kill with | |
| 402 their corrupt doctrine - "You make it a den of robbers" (Matt | |
| 403 21:13); "As robbers lie in wait for a man…they murder on the | |
| 404 way" (Hos 6:9). <b>But the sheep</b>, that is, the predestined, | |
| 405 <b>did not heed them</b>, the thieves and robbers, otherwise they | |
| 406 would not have been Christ's sheep, because, as was said before, "A | |
| 407 stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him." | |
| 408 Furthermore, this is commanded in Deuteronomy: "You shall not | |
| 409 listen to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer of dreams" | |
| 410 (13:3).</p> | |
| 411 <p><br /> | |
| 412 1386 <b>I am the door</b>. Here he clarifies his explanation: | |
| 413 first, of the door; secondly, of the thief (v 10). Concerning the | |
| 414 first, he does two things: first, he repeats what he intends to | |
| 415 explain; and secondly, he gives the explanation (v 9).</p> | |
| 416 <p>1387 He repeats what he had already said, namely, <b>I am the | |
| 417 door</b>: "If she is a door, we will enclose her with boards of | |
| 418 cedar" (Song 8:9), that is, let us grant her an incorruptible | |
| 419 power.</p> | |
| 420 <p>1388 He explains this when he says, <b>if any one enters by me, | |
| 421 he will be saved</b>. First, he shows that the purpose of a door, | |
| 422 which is to keep the sheep safe, applies to himself; secondly, he | |
| 423 mentions the manner in which they are kept safe (v 9b).</p> | |
| 424 <p>1389 The door safeguards the sheep by keeping those within from | |
| 425 going out, and by protecting them from strangers who want to come | |
| 426 in. And this applies to Christ, for he is our safeguard and | |
| 427 protection. And this is what he says: <b>if any one</b>, not with | |
| 428 insincerity, <b>enters</b>, into the fellowship of the Church and | |
| 429 of the faithful, <b>by me, the door, he will be saved</b>, i.e., if | |
| 430 he perseveres: "For there is no other name under heaven given among | |
| 431 men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12); "We shall be saved by | |
| 432 his life" (Rom 5:10).</p> | |
| 433 <p>1390 The way the sheep are safeguarded is set forth when he says | |
| 434 that <b>he will go in and out and find pasture</b>. This statement | |
| 435 can be explained in four ways. First of all, according to | |
| 436 Chrysostom, it simply affirms the security and freedom of those who | |
| 437 cling to Christ.<a href="#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" id= | |
| 438 "_ftnref11">[11]</a> For one who enters some other way than by the | |
| 439 door does not have free entry and exit; but one who does enter by | |
| 440 the door has free exit, because he can leave freely. Therefore, | |
| 441 when he says, <b>he will go in and out</b>, the meaning is that the | |
| 442 Apostles adhering to Christ enter with security by living with the | |
| 443 faithful, who are within the Church, and with unbelievers who are | |
| 444 outside, when they became masters of the whole world and no one | |
| 445 wished to cast them out: "Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of | |
| 446 all flesh appoint a man over the congregation, who shall go out | |
| 447 before them and come in before them…that the congregation of | |
| 448 the Lord may not be as sheep which have no shepherd" (Num 27:16). | |
| 449 <b>And find pasture</b>, find delight in converting others, and | |
| 450 find joy even when persecuted by unbelievers for the name of | |
| 451 Christ: "Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that | |
| 452 they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name," as we | |
| 453 read in Acts (5:41).</p> | |
| 454 <p>1391 Secondly, this can be explained as Augustine does in his | |
| 455 <i>Commentary on John</i>.<a href="#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12" id= | |
| 456 "_ftnref12">[12]</a> Two things are incumbent upon anyone who acts | |
| 457 well, namely to be well-ordered to the things that are within him, | |
| 458 and to those that are without. Within a person is the spirit, and | |
| 459 without is the body: "Though our outer nature is wasting away, our | |
| 460 inner nature is being renewed every day" (2 Cor 4:16). Therefore, a | |
| 461 person who clings to Christ <b>will go in</b> through | |
| 462 contemplation, to protect his conscience - "When I enter my house," | |
| 463 i.e., my conscience, "I shall find rest with her," i.e., with | |
| 464 wisdom (Wis 8:16) - <b>and out</b>, namely, by good actions, to | |
| 465 tame the body - "Man goes forth to his work and to his labor until | |
| 466 the evening" (Ps 104:23) - <b>and find pasture</b>, in a clean and | |
| 467 sincere conscience - "I will appear before your sight: I will be | |
| 468 satisfied when your glory appears" [Ps 16:15]. Again, by his | |
| 469 actions he will <b>find pasture</b>, i.e., fruit - "He shall come | |
| 470 home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him" (Ps | |
| 471 126:6).</p> | |
| 472 <p class="MsoHeader"> </p> | |
| 473 <p>1392 The third explanation is also Augustine's as well as that | |
| 474 given by Gregory in his <i>Commentary on Ezekiel</i>.<a href= | |
| 475 "#_ftn13" name="_ftnref13" id="_ftnref13">[13]</a> The meaning, | |
| 476 then, is this. Such a one <b>will go in</b>, i.e., into the Church, | |
| 477 by believing - "I shall go over into the place of the wonderful | |
| 478 tabernacle" [Ps 41:5], and this is to enter the Church Militant; | |
| 479 <b>and out</b>, from the Church Militant into the Church Triumphant | |
| 480 - "Go forth, O daughters of Zion, and behold King Solomon, with the | |
| 481 crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of the wedding" | |
| 482 (Song 3:11); <b>and find pasture</b>, that is, the pastures of | |
| 483 doctrine and grace in the Church Militant - "He makes me lie down | |
| 484 in green pastures"; and the pastures of glory in the Church | |
| 485 Triumphant: "I will feed them with good pasture" (Ez 34:14).</p> | |
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486 <p>1393 Fourthly, there is an explanation found in the work, <i>On |
| 35 | 487 the Spirit and the Soul</i>, which has been incorrectly attributed |
| 488 to Augustine.<a href="#_ftn14" name="_ftnref14" id= | |
| 489 "_ftnref14">[14]</a> Here it is said that such a one <b>will go | |
| 490 in</b>, that is, the saints will go in to contemplate the divinity | |
| 491 of Christ, <b>and out</b>, to consider his humanity; and they will | |
| 492 <b>find pasture</b> in both, because in both they will taste the | |
| 493 joys of contemplation: "Your eyes shall see the king in his beauty" | |
| 494 (Is 33:17).</p> | |
| 495 <p>1394 Now he considers the thief. First, he mentions the mark of | |
| 496 the thief; secondly, he says that he himself has the opposite | |
| 497 characteristic, <b>I came that they may have life</b>.</p> | |
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498 <p>1395 He says that those who do not enter by the door, i.e., |
| 35 | 499 those who have come independently of me, are thieves and robbers; |
| 500 and they are evil. For in the first place, <b>the thief comes only | |
| 501 to steal</b>, i.e., to usurp what is not his; these are the | |
| 502 agitators and heretics, who fasten on to those who belong to | |
| 503 Christ: "He lies in ambush to catch the ones who are poor" [Ps | |
| 504 9:4]. Secondly, the thief comes to kill, and he kills by bringing | |
| 505 in perverse teachings and evil practices: "As robbers lie in wait | |
| 506 for a man…they murder on the way" (Hos 6:9). Thirdly, the | |
| 507 thief comes to <b>destroy</b>, by casting into everlasting | |
| 508 destruction: "My people have been lost sheep" (Jer 50:6). But these | |
| 509 traits are not in me.</p> | |
| 510 <p>1396 <b>I came that they may have life.</b> This is like saying: | |
| 511 The above have not come in by me, otherwise they would do as I do. | |
| 512 But they do the contrary, because they steal, and kill and destroy. | |
| 513 <b>I came that they may have life</b>, that is, the life of | |
| 514 righteousness, by entering into the Church Militant through faith: | |
| 515 "My righteous one shall live by faith" (Heb 10:38). We read of this | |
| 516 life in 1 John (3:14) that "We know that we have passed out of | |
| 517 death into life, because we love the brethren." <b>And have it | |
| 518 abundantly</b>, that is, have eternal life, when they leave the | |
| 519 body. We read below of this life: "This is eternal life, that they | |
| 520 know thee the only true God" (17:3).<br /> | |
| 521 <br /> | |
| 522 <br /></p> | |
| 523 <p align="center"><b>LECTURE 3</b></p> | |
| 524 <blockquote> | |
| 525 <p>11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life | |
| 526 for the sheep. 12 He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, whose | |
| 527 own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep | |
| 528 and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He | |
| 529 flees because he is a hireling and cares nothing for the | |
| 530 sheep."<a href="#_ftn15" name="_ftnref15" id= | |
| 531 "_ftnref15"><b>[15]</b></a></p> | |
| 532 </blockquote> | |
| 533 <p>1397 Here he explains the second clause of the parable, "he who | |
| 534 enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep" (10:2). First, he | |
| 535 gives the explanation; secondly, he makes it clear (v 14). First, | |
| 536 he explains that he is the good shepherd; secondly, he states the | |
| 537 office of a good shepherd (v 11b); thirdly, he shows that the | |
| 538 opposite is found in an evil shepherd (v 12).</p> | |
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539 <p>1398 He says, in regard to the first, <b>I am the good |
| 35 | 540 shepherd</b>. That Christ is a shepherd is clear enough, for as a |
| 541 flock is led and fed by the shepherd, so the faithful are nourished | |
| 542 by Christ with spiritual food, and even with his own body and | |
| 543 blood: "For you were straying like sheep, but now have returned to | |
| 544 the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls" (1 Pet 2:25); "He will | |
| 545 feed his flock like a shepherd" (Is 40:11). To distinguish himself | |
| 546 from an evil shepherd and thief, he adds, <b>good</b>. Good, I say, | |
| 547 because he fulfills the office of a shepherd, just as a soldier is | |
| 548 called good who fulfills the office of a soldier. But since Christ | |
| 549 had said above that the shepherd enters by the door, and here he | |
| 550 says that he is the shepherd, and before he said he was the door (v | |
| 551 9), then he must enter through himself. And he does enter through | |
| 552 himself, because he manifests himself and through himself knows the | |
| 553 Father. We, however, enter through him, because it is by him that | |
| 554 we are led to happiness.</p> | |
| 555 <p>Note that only he is the door, because no one else is the true | |
| 556 light, but only shares in the light: "He," John the Baptizer, "was | |
| 557 not the light, but came to bear witness to the light" (1:8). But we | |
| 558 read of Christ that "He was the true light, which enlightens every | |
| 559 man" [1:9]. Therefore, no one else refers to himself as a door; | |
| 560 Christ reserved this for himself. But being a shepherd he did share | |
| 561 with others, and conferred it on his members: for Peter was a | |
| 562 shepherd, and the other apostles were shepherds, as well as all | |
| 563 good bishops: "I will give you shepherds after my own heart" (Jer | |
| 564 3:15). Now, although the Church's rulers, who are her children, are | |
| 565 all shepherds, as Augustine says, yet he expressly says, <b>I am | |
| 566 the good shepherd</b>, in order to emphasize the virtue of | |
| 567 charity.<a href="#_ftn16" name="_ftnref16" id="_ftnref16">[16]</a> | |
| 568 For no one is a good shepherd unless he has become one with Christ | |
| 569 by love, and has become a member of the true shepherd.</p> | |
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570 <p>1399 The office of a good shepherd is charity; thus he says, |
| 35 | 571 <b>the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep</b>. It |
| 572 should be noted that there is a difference between a good shepherd | |
| 573 and an evil one: the good shepherd is intent upon the welfare of | |
| 574 the flock, but the evil one is intent upon his own. This difference | |
| 575 is touched upon by Ezekiel (34:2): "Ho, shepherds of Israel who | |
| 576 have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep?" | |
| 577 Therefore, one who uses the flock only to feed himself is not a | |
| 578 good shepherd. From this it follows that an evil shepherd, even | |
| 579 over animals, is not willing to sustain any loss for the flock, | |
| 580 since he does not intend the welfare of the flock, but his own. But | |
| 581 a good shepherd, even over animals, endures many things for the | |
| 582 flock whose welfare he has at heart. Thus Jacob said in Genesis | |
| 583 (31:40): "By day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night." | |
| 584 However, when dealing with mere animals it is not necessary that a | |
| 585 good shepherd expose himself to death for the safety of the flock. | |
| 586 But because the spiritual safety of the human flock outweighs the | |
| 587 bodily life of the shepherd, when danger threatens the safety of | |
| 588 the flock the spiritual shepherd ought to suffer the loss of his | |
| 589 bodily life for the safety of the flock. This is what our Lord | |
| 590 says, <b>the good shepherd lays down his life</b>, i.e., his bodily | |
| 591 life, <b>for the sheep</b>, the sheep who are his by authority and | |
| 592 charity. Both are required, for they must belong to him and he must | |
| 593 love them; the first without the second is not enough. Furthermore, | |
| 594 Christ has given us an example of this teaching: "He laid down his | |
| 595 life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren" | |
| 596 (1 Jn 3:16).</p> | |
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597 <p>1400 Now he considers the evil shepherd, showing that he |
| 35 | 598 possesses characteristics contrary to those of the good shepherd. |
| 599 First, he mentions the marks of an evil shepherd; secondly, he | |
| 600 shows how these marks follow one another (v 12). Concerning the | |
| 601 first he does two things: first, he gives the marks of an evil | |
| 602 shepherd; secondly, he mentions the danger which threatens the | |
| 603 flock because of an evil shepherd: <b>the wolf snatches them and | |
| 604 scatters them.</b></p> | |
| 605 <p>1401 Note that from what has been said about the good and evil | |
| 606 shepherd, there are three differences in their traits: first in | |
| 607 their intentions; secondly, in their solicitude; and thirdly in | |
| 608 their affections.</p> | |
| 609 <p>1402 First, they differ in their intentions, and this is implied | |
| 610 by their very names. For the first is called a good shepherd, and | |
| 611 this implies that he intends to feed the flock: "Should not | |
| 612 shepherds feed the sheep?" (Ez 34:2). But the other one, the evil | |
| 613 shepherd, is called a hireling, as though he were intent on his | |
| 614 wages. Thus they differ in this: the good shepherd looks to the | |
| 615 benefit of the flock, while the hireling seeks mainly his own | |
| 616 advantage. This is also the difference between a king and a tyrant, | |
| 617 as the Philosopher says, because when a king rules he intends to | |
| 618 benefit his subjects, while a tyrant seeks his own | |
| 619 interest.<a href="#_ftn17" name="_ftnref17" id="_ftnref17">[17]</a> | |
| 620 So a tyrant is like a hireling: "If it seems right to you, give me | |
| 621 my wages" (Zech 11:12).</p> | |
| 622 <p>1403 But may not even good shepherds seek a wage? It seems so, | |
| 623 for "Reward those who wait for thee" (Si 36:16); "The Lord God | |
| 624 comes…his reward is with him" (Is 40:10); "How many of my | |
| 625 father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare!" (Lk | |
| 626 15:17).</p> | |
| 627 <p>I answer that wages can be taken in a general sense and in a | |
| 628 proper sense. In a general sense, a wage is anything conferred by | |
| 629 reason of merits. And because everlasting life, which is God - | |
| 630 "This is true God and eternal life" (1 Jn 5:20) - is conferred by | |
| 631 reason of merits, everlasting life is said to be a wage. And this | |
| 632 is a wage that every good shepherd can and should seek. In the | |
| 633 strict sense, however, a wage is different from an inheritance, and | |
| 634 a wage is not sought after by a true child, who is entitled to the | |
| 635 inheritance. A wage is sought after by servants and hirelings. | |
| 636 Thus, since everlasting life is our inheritance, any one who works | |
| 637 with an eye towards it is working as a child; but any one who aims | |
| 638 at something different (for example, one who longs for worldly | |
| 639 gain, or takes delight in the honor of being a prelate) is a | |
| 640 hireling.</p> | |
| 641 <p>1404 Secondly, they differ in their solicitude. We read of the | |
| 642 good shepherd that the sheep are his own, not only as a trust, but | |
| 643 also by love and solicitude: "I hold you in my heart" (Phil 1:7). | |
| 644 On the other hand, it is said of the hireling, <b>whose own the | |
| 645 sheep are not</b>, i.e., the hireling has no care for them: "My | |
| 646 shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have | |
| 647 fed themselves" (Ez 34:8).</p> | |
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648 <p>1405 Thirdly, they differ in their affections. For the good |
| 35 | 649 shepherd, who loves his flock, <b>lays down his life</b> for it, |
| 650 i.e., he exposes himself to dangers that affect his bodily life. | |
| 651 But the evil shepherd, because he has no love for the flock, flees | |
| 652 when he sees the wolf. Thus he says, <b>he sees the wolf coming and | |
| 653 leaves the sheep and flees</b>. Here, the wolf is understood in | |
| 654 three ways. First, for the devil as tempting: "What fellowship has | |
| 655 a wolf with a lamb? No more has a sinner with a godly man" (Si | |
| 656 13:17). Secondly, it stands for the heretic who destroys: "beware | |
| 657 of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but | |
| 658 inwardly are ravenous wolves" (Matt 7:15); "I know that after my | |
| 659 departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the | |
| 660 flock" (Acts 20:29). Thirdly, it stands for the raging tyrant: "Her | |
| 661 princes in the midst of her are like wolves" (Ez 22:27). Therefore, | |
| 662 the good shepherd must guard the flock against these three wolves, | |
| 663 so that when he sees the wolf, i.e., the devil tempting, the | |
| 664 deceiving heretic and the raging tyrant, he can oppose him. Against | |
| 665 those who do not, we read, "You have not gone up into the breaches, | |
| 666 or built up a wall for the house of Israel" (Ez 13:5).</p> | |
| 667 <p>Accordingly, we read of the evil shepherd that he <b>leaves the | |
| 668 sheep and flees</b>: "Woe to my worthless shepherd, who deserts the | |
| 669 flock" (Zech 11:17). As if to say: You are not a shepherd, but only | |
| 670 appear to be one: "Even her hired soldiers in her midst are like | |
| 671 fatted calves; yea, they have turned and fled together, they do not | |
| 672 stand" (Jer 46:21).</p> | |
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673 <p>1406 But in Matthew (10:23) we find the contrary: "When they |
| 35 | 674 persecute you in one town, flee to the next." Therefore, it seems |
| 675 to be lawful for a shepherd to flee. I reply that there are two | |
| 676 answers to this. One is that given by Augustine in his | |
| 677 <i>Commentary on John</i>.<a href="#_ftn18" name="_ftnref18" id= | |
| 678 "_ftnref18">[18]</a> There are two kinds of flight: that of the | |
| 679 soul and that of the body. When we read here, he <b>leaves the | |
| 680 sheep and flees</b>, we can understand it to mean the flight of the | |
| 681 soul: for when an evil shepherd fears personal danger from a wolf, | |
| 682 he does not dare to resist his injustices but flees, not by running | |
| 683 away, but by withdrawing his encouragement, refusing to care for | |
| 684 his flock.</p> | |
| 685 <p>This should be the explanation when considering the first kind | |
| 686 of wolf [the tempting devil], because it is not necessary to | |
| 687 physically flee from the devil.</p> | |
| 688 <p>But since sometimes a shepherd does flee physically because of | |
| 689 certain wolves, such as powerful heretics and tyrants, another | |
| 690 answer must be given, as found in Augustine's <i>Letter to | |
| 691 Honoratus</i>.<a href="#_ftn19" name="_ftnref19" id= | |
| 692 "_ftnref19">[19]</a> As he says, it seems lawful to flee, even | |
| 693 physically, from the wolves, not only because of the authority of | |
| 694 our Lord, as cited above, but because of the example of certain | |
| 695 saints, as Athanasius and others, who fled from their persecutors. | |
| 696 For what is censured is not the flight itself, but the neglect of | |
| 697 the flock; so, if the shepherd could flee without abandoning his | |
| 698 flock, it would not be blameworthy. Sometimes it is the prelate | |
| 699 himself who is the one sought, and at other times, it is the entire | |
| 700 flock. It is obvious that if the prelate alone is sought, others | |
| 701 can be assigned to guard the flock in his territory, and console | |
| 702 and govern the flock in his place. So if he flees under these | |
| 703 circumstances, he is not said to leave the sheep. In this way, it | |
| 704 is lawful to flee in certain cases. But if the whole flock is | |
| 705 sought, then either all the shepherds should be with the people, or | |
| 706 some should remain while the others leave. But if all desert the | |
| 707 flock, then these words apply, <b>he sees the wolf coming and | |
| 708 leaves the sheep and flees</b>.</p> | |
| 709 <p>1407 Here he mentions the twofold danger that threatens. One is | |
| 710 the ravaging of the sheep; so he says, <b>and the wolf snatches | |
| 711 them</b>, i.e., takes for himself what belongs to another, for the | |
| 712 faithful are Christ's sheep. Therefore, leaders of sects and wolves | |
| 713 snatch the sheep when they entice Christ's faithful to their own | |
| 714 teachings: "My sheep have become food for all the wild beasts" (Ez | |
| 715 34:8). The other danger is that the sheep be scattered; so he says, | |
| 716 <b>and scatters them</b>, insofar as some are led astray and others | |
| 717 persevere: "My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, | |
| 718 with none to search or seek for them" (Ez 34:6).</p> | |
| 719 <p>1408 Now he shows how the above-mentioned marks are related, for | |
| 720 the third follows from the first two. Since the evil shepherd seeks | |
| 721 his own advantage and has no love or solicitude for the flock, it | |
| 722 follows that he is not willing to endure any inconvenience for | |
| 723 them. Thus he says of the hireling, <b>he flees</b>, for this | |
| 724 reason, <b>because he is a hireling</b>, that is, he seeks his own | |
| 725 advantage, which is the first mark; <b>and cares nothing for the | |
| 726 sheep</b>, i.e., he does not love them, and is not solicitous for | |
| 727 them, which is the second mark. So we read in Job (39:16) about the | |
| 728 evil shepherd: "She deals cruelly with her young, as if they were | |
| 729 not hers." The opposite is true of the good shepherd, for he seeks | |
| 730 the welfare of his flock, and not his own: "Not that I seek the | |
| 731 gift; but I seek the fruit which increases to your credit" (Phil | |
| 732 4:17). Furthermore, he is concerned for his sheep, that is, he | |
| 733 loves them and is solicitous for them: "I hold you in my heart" | |
| 734 (Phil 1:7).<br /> | |
| 735 <br /> | |
| 736 <br /></p> | |
| 737 <p align="center"><b>LECTURE 4</b></p> | |
| 738 <blockquote> | |
| 739 <p>14 "I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, 15 | |
| 740 as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my | |
| 741 life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep, that are not of this | |
| 742 fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there | |
| 743 shall be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father | |
| 744 loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. 18 | |
| 745 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have | |
| 746 power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again; this | |
| 747 charge I have received from my Father."<a href="#_ftn20" name= | |
| 748 "_ftnref20" id="_ftnref20"><b>[20]</b></a></p> | |
| 749 </blockquote> | |
| 750 <p>1409 Here our Lord proves his explanation. First, he restates | |
| 751 what he intends to prove; secondly, he gives the proof, <b>I know | |
| 752 my own</b>…(v 14b); and thirdly, he amplifies on it (v | |
| 753 17).</p> | |
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754 <p>1410 He says, <b>I am the good shepherd</b>, which has been |
| 35 | 755 explained above: "As a shepherd seeks out his flock…so will |
| 756 I seek out my sheep" (Ez 34:12).</p> | |
| 757 <p>1411 Then he says, <b>I know my own</b>, he proves what he says. | |
| 758 Now he says two things about himself, that he is a shepherd, and | |
| 759 that he is good. First, he proves that he is a shepherd; secondly, | |
| 760 that he is a good shepherd.</p> | |
| 761 <p>1412 He proves he is a shepherd by the two signs of a shepherd | |
| 762 already mentioned. The first of these is that he calls his own | |
| 763 sheep by name. Concerning this he says, <b>I know my own</b>: "The | |
| 764 Lord knows those who are his" (2 Tim 2:19). <b>I know</b>, I say, | |
| 765 not just with mere knowledge only, but with a knowledge joined with | |
| 766 approval and love: "To him who loves us and has freed us from our | |
| 767 sins" (Rev 1:5). The second sign is that the sheep hear his voice | |
| 768 and know him. And concerning this he says, <b>and my own know me. | |
| 769 My own</b>, I say, by predestination, by vocation and by grace. | |
| 770 This is like saying: They love me and obey me. Thus, we must | |
| 771 understand that they have a loving knowledge about which we read: | |
| 772 "They shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest" | |
| 773 (Jer 31:34).</p> | |
| 774 <p>1413 He shows that he is a good shepherd by mentioning that he | |
| 775 has the office of a good shepherd, which is to lay down his life | |
| 776 for his sheep. First, he shows the reason for this; secondly, he | |
| 777 gives a sign of it; and thirdly, he shows the fruit of his | |
| 778 sign.</p> | |
| 779 <p>1414 The reason for this sign, that is, of his laying down his | |
| 780 life for his sheep, is the knowledge he has of the Father. | |
| 781 Concerning this he says, <b>as the Father knows me and I know the | |
| 782 Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep</b>. This statement | |
| 783 can be explained in two ways. In one way, so that "as" indicates | |
| 784 just a similarity in knowledge; and taken this way, such knowledge | |
| 785 can be given to a creature: "I shall know even as I am known" [1 | |
| 786 Cor 13:12], i.e., <i>as</i> I am known without obscurity, so I will | |
| 787 know without obscurity. In another way, the "as" implies an | |
| 788 equality of knowledge. And then to know the Father as he is known | |
| 789 by him is proper to the Son alone, because only the Son knows the | |
| 790 Father comprehensively, just as the Father knows the Son | |
| 791 comprehensively: "No one knows the Son except the Father, and no | |
| 792 one knows the Father except the Son" (Matt 11:27), that is, with a | |
| 793 comprehensive knowledge. Our Lord says this because in knowing the | |
| 794 Father, he knows the will of the Father that the Son should die for | |
| 795 the salvation of the human race. He is also saying here that he is | |
| 796 the mediator between God and man. For as he is related to the sheep | |
| 797 as known by them and as knowing them, so also he is related to the | |
| 798 Father, because as the Father knows him, so he knows the | |
| 799 Father.</p> | |
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800 <p>1415 Then when he says, <b>and I lay down my life for the |
| 35 | 801 sheep</b>, he gives the sign: "By this we know love, that he laid |
| 802 down his life for us" (1 Jn 3:16). But since there are three | |
| 803 substances in Christ, namely the substance of the Word, of the | |
| 804 soul, and of the body, one might ask who is speaking when he says, | |
| 805 <b>I lay down my life</b> ["my life" can also be literally | |
| 806 translated as "my soul"]. If you say that the Word is speaking | |
| 807 here, it is not true, because the Word never laid down his soul, | |
| 808 since He was never separated from his soul. If you say that the | |
| 809 soul is speaking, this too seems impossible, because nothing is | |
| 810 separated from itself. And if you say that Christ says this | |
| 811 referring to his body, it does not seem to be so, because his body | |
| 812 does not have the power to take up its soul. Therefore, one must | |
| 813 say that when Christ died, his soul was separated from his flesh, | |
| 814 otherwise Christ would not have been truly dead. But in Christ, his | |
| 815 divinity was never separated from his soul or his flesh; but was | |
| 816 united to his soul, as it descended to the lower world, and to his | |
| 817 body, as it lay in the tomb. And therefore, his body, by the power | |
| 818 of his divinity, laid down his soul [or life] by the power of his | |
| 819 divinity, and took it up again.<a href="#_ftn21" name="_ftnref21" | |
| 820 id="_ftnref21">[21]</a></p> | |
| 821 <p>1416 Then when he says, <b>and I have other sheep</b>, he sets | |
| 822 down the fruit of Christ's death, which is the salvation not only | |
| 823 of the Jews but of the Gentiles as well. For since he had said, "I | |
| 824 lay down my life for the sheep," the Jews, who regarded themselves | |
| 825 as God's sheep - "We thy people, the flock of thy pasture" (Ps | |
| 826 79:13) - could have said that he laid down his life for them alone. | |
| 827 But our Lord adds that it is not only for them, but for others too: | |
| 828 "He prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation, and not for | |
| 829 the nation only, but to gather into one the children of God who are | |
| 830 scattered abroad" (11:51).</p> | |
| 831 <p>1417 In regard to this fruit our Lord does three things. First, | |
| 832 he mentions the predestination of the Gentiles; secondly, their | |
| 833 vocation through grace; and thirdly their justification.</p> | |
| 834 <p>As to the first he says, <b>and I have other sheep</b>, that is, | |
| 835 the Gentiles, <b>that are not of this fold,</b> i.e., of the family | |
| 836 of the flesh of Israel, which was in a way a flock: "I will surely | |
| 837 gather all of you, O Jacob" (Mic 2:12). For as sheep are enclosed | |
| 838 in a fold, so the Jews were kept enclosed within the precepts of | |
| 839 the Law, as we read in Galatians (c 3). These other sheep, I say, | |
| 840 that is, the Gentiles, I have from my Father through an eternal | |
| 841 predestination: "Ask of me, and I will make the nations your | |
| 842 heritage" (Ps 2:8); "I will give you as a light to the nations, | |
| 843 that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth" (Is 49:6).</p> | |
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844 <p>1418 As to the second he says, <b>I must bring them also</b>, |
| 35 | 845 i.e., according to the plans of divine predestination it is time to |
| 846 call them to grace.</p> | |
| 847 <p>This seems to conflict with what our Lord says in Matthew | |
| 848 (15:24): "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of | |
| 849 Israel." I answer that Jesus was sent only to the sheep of the | |
| 850 house of Israel in the sense of preaching to them personally, as we | |
| 851 read in Romans (15:8): "Christ became a servant to the circumcised | |
| 852 to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given | |
| 853 to the patriarchs." It was through the apostles that he brought in | |
| 854 the Gentiles: "From them I will send survivors to the nations" (Is | |
| 855 66:19).</p> | |
| 856 <p>1419 In regard to the third he says, <b>and they will heed my | |
| 857 voice</b>. Here he mentions three things necessary for | |
| 858 righteousness in the Christian religion. The first is obedience to | |
| 859 the commandments of God. Concerning this he says, <b>and they will | |
| 860 heed my voice</b>, i.e., they will observe my commandments: | |
| 861 "Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" (Matt | |
| 862 28:20); "People whom I had not known," i.e., whom I did not | |
| 863 approve, served me. As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me" (Ps | |
| 864 18:43).</p> | |
| 865 <p>The second is the unity of charity, and concerning this he says, | |
| 866 <b>so there shall be one flock</b>, i.e., one Church of the | |
| 867 faithful from the two peoples, the Jews and the Gentiles: "One | |
| 868 faith" (Eph 4:5); "For he is our peace, who has made us both one" | |
| 869 (Eph 2:14).</p> | |
| 870 <p>The third is the unity of faith, and in regard to this he says, | |
| 871 <b>one shepherd</b>: "They shall all have one shepherd," that is, | |
| 872 the Jews and the Gentiles (Ez 37:24).</p> | |
| 873 <p>1420 Now our Lord explains his proof: first, he amplifies on the | |
| 874 reason for the sign [his death for his sheep]; secondly, he | |
| 875 explains the sign, or the effect (v 18); thirdly, he shows that the | |
| 876 reason is appropriate (v 18b).</p> | |
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877 <p>1421 Our Lord says that the reason for his death is the |
| 35 | 878 knowledge he has of the Father, saying, "as the Father knows me and |
| 879 I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep." In | |
| 880 explaining this he says, <b>for this reason the Father loves | |
| 881 me</b>. From this it is clear that the Father knows him with a | |
| 882 knowledge joined with approval, <b>for this reason</b>, I say, | |
| 883 <b>because I lay down my life, that I may take it again</b>.</p> | |
| 884 <p>1422 But is it true that his death is the cause of the Father's | |
| 885 love? It seems not, because something temporal is not the cause of | |
| 886 something eternal. But Christ's death is in the temporal order, | |
| 887 while the love of God for Christ is eternal. I answer that Christ | |
| 888 is speaking here of the Father's love for him as having a human | |
| 889 nature. Accordingly, this passage can be understood in three ways. | |
| 890 In one way, so that <b>because</b> indicates a cause, while in the | |
| 891 other way it indicates the term or sign of love.</p> | |
| 892 <p>If it is taken casually, then the meaning is: <b>because I lay | |
| 893 down my life</b>, i.e., endure death, <b>for this reason the Father | |
| 894 loves me</b>, that is, he grants me the effect of his love, which | |
| 895 is the glory and exaltation of my body: "He humbled himself and | |
| 896 became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God | |
| 897 has highly exalted him and bestowed on him a name which is above | |
| 898 every name" (Phil 2:8).</p> | |
| 899 <p>But one might object to this that good works cannot merit the | |
| 900 divine love. For since our works are meritorious to the extent that | |
| 901 they are given life by charity - "If I give away all I | |
| 902 have…but have not love, I gain nothing" (1 Cor 13:3) - and | |
| 903 since God is the first to love - "In this is love, not that we love | |
| 904 God but that he first loved us" [1 Jn 4:10] - it is clear that his | |
| 905 love precedes all our merit. This can be answered by saying that no | |
| 906 one can merit God's love; nevertheless, we can merit by our good | |
| 907 works the effect of God's love, that is, an increase of grace and | |
| 908 the reception of the good of glory, both of which God bestows on us | |
| 909 because of his love. Thus we can say that for this reason God loves | |
| 910 this or that person, that is, bestows on him the effect of his | |
| 911 love, because he obeys his commandments. And so we can say about | |
| 912 Christ as man, that for this reason the Father loves him, that is, | |
| 913 has exalted him and given him the brightness of glory, because he | |
| 914 laid down his life in death.</p> | |
| 915 <p>But if <b>because</b> indicates a sign of love, then he meaning | |
| 916 is this: <b>for this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down | |
| 917 my life</b>, as if to say: This is a sign that the Father loves me, | |
| 918 <b>because I lay down my life, that I may take it again</b>, that | |
| 919 is, I fulfill his commands and will and endure death. For an | |
| 920 obvious sign of love is that a person, out of charity, fulfills the | |
| 921 commands of God.<a href="#_ftn22" name="_ftnref22" id= | |
| 922 "_ftnref22">[22]</a></p> | |
| 923 <p>1423 Now he explains the effect of the sign. And since the sign | |
| 924 was "I lay down my life for the sheep," he explains how he lays it | |
| 925 down. First, he excludes violence; secondly, he speaks of his | |
| 926 power.</p> | |
| 927 <p>1424 The violence he excludes is that which could be employed in | |
| 928 taking a life: such violence was not accomplished in Christ. | |
| 929 Concerning this he says, <b>no one takes it from me</b>, that is, | |
| 930 my life, by violence, <b>but I lay it down</b>, by my own power, | |
| 931 that is, <b>of my own accord</b>: "Can the prey be taken from the | |
| 932 mighty?" (Is 49:24).</p> | |
| 933 <p>But did not the Jews use violence against Christ? They did | |
| 934 insofar as it was in them; but this violence was not in Christ | |
| 935 because he laid down his life voluntarily, when he willed. Thus we | |
| 936 read above (7:30) that the Jews wanted to arrest him but were | |
| 937 unable "because his hour had not yet come." It was voluntary "not | |
| 938 as though he was forced to die, but he condescended to be killed," | |
| 939 <a href="#_ftn23" name="_ftnref23" id="_ftnref23">[23]</a> as | |
| 940 Augustine says.</p> | |
| 941 <p>1425 He adds something about his power when he says, <b>I have | |
| 942 power to lay it down</b>. Apropos of this it should be noted that | |
| 943 since the union of the soul and body is natural, their separation | |
| 944 is natural. And although the cause of this separation and death can | |
| 945 be voluntary, yet among human beings death is always natural. Now | |
| 946 nature is not subject to the will of any mere human, since nature, | |
| 947 as well as the will, are from God. Therefore, the death of any mere | |
| 948 human person must be natural. But in Christ, his own nature and | |
| 949 every other nature are subject to his will, just like artifacts are | |
| 950 subject to the will of the artisan. Thus, according to the pleasure | |
| 951 of his will, he could lay down his life when he willed, and he | |
| 952 could take it up again; no mere human being can do this, although | |
| 953 he could voluntarily use some instrument to kill himself. This | |
| 954 explains why the centurion, seeing that Christ did not die by a | |
| 955 natural necessity, but by his own [will] - since "Jesus cried again | |
| 956 with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit" (Matt 27:50) - | |
| 957 recognized a divine power in him, and said: "Truly, this was the | |
| 958 Son of God" (Matt 27:54). Again, the Apostle says in 1 Corinthians | |
| 959 (1:18): "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are | |
| 960 perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God," | |
| 961 that is, his great power was revealed in the very death of | |
| 962 Christ.<a href="#_ftn24" name="_ftnref24" id= | |
| 963 "_ftnref24">[24]</a></p> | |
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964 <p>1426 Here he shows that the above-mentioned reason is |
| 35 | 965 appropriate, for to fulfill a command shows love for the one |
| 966 commanding. Thus he says, <b>this charge I have received from my | |
| 967 Father</b>, that is, to lay down my life and take it up again: "If | |
| 968 a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him" | |
| 969 (14:23).<br /> | |
| 970 <br /> | |
| 971 <br /></p> | |
| 972 <p align="center"><b>LECTURE 5</b></p> | |
| 973 <blockquote> | |
| 974 <p>19 There was again a division among the Jews because of these | |
| 975 words. 20 Many of them said, "He has a demon, and he is mad; why | |
| 976 listen to him?" 21 Others said, "These are not the sayings of one | |
| 977 who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?" 22 It was | |
| 978 the feast of the Dedication at Jerusalem; 23 it was winter, and | |
| 979 Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. 24 So | |
| 980 the Jews gathered round him and said to him, "How long will you | |
| 981 keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." 25 | |
| 982 Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works | |
| 983 that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness to me; 26 but you | |
| 984 do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. 27 My sheep | |
| 985 hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; 28 and I give | |
| 986 them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall | |
| 987 snatch them out of my hand. 29 What my Father has given to me is | |
| 988 greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the | |
| 989 Father's hand. 30 I and the Father are one."<a href="#_ftn25" name= | |
| 990 "_ftnref25" id="_ftnref25"><b>[25]</b></a></p> | |
| 991 </blockquote> | |
| 992 <p>1427 After showing that he has power to give life and showing | |
| 993 his manner of doing so, our Lord here shows how this power to give | |
| 994 life belongs to him. First, the Evangelist mentions the dispute | |
| 995 which arose among the crowd on his point; secondly, he gives the | |
| 996 discussion between the Jewish leaders and Christ (v 22). Concerning | |
| 997 the first he does three things. First, he mentions the dispute | |
| 998 within the crowd; secondly, he gives the opinion of one side; and | |
| 999 then states the reasonable position of the other side.</p> | |
| 1000 <p>1428 The dispute arose within the crowd which was listening to | |
| 1001 Christ because of what he said. The Evangelist says, <b>There was | |
| 1002 again a division among the Jews because of these words</b>. Since | |
| 1003 some of them understood his words correctly, and others did not, | |
| 1004 they argued among themselves: "I have not come to bring peace, but | |
| 1005 a sword," that is, the sword of gospel teaching, which some | |
| 1006 believed and others deny (Matt 10:34). "He pours contempt upon | |
| 1007 princes" (Ps 107:40).</p> | |
| 1008 <p>1429 The opinion of one party to the argument was false. About | |
| 1009 this he says, <b>Many of them said</b>…He says, <b>Many</b>, | |
| 1010 because as we read in Ecclesiastes [1:15]: "The number of fools is | |
| 1011 infinite." They said, <b>He has a demon, and he is mad</b>, for it | |
| 1012 is the habit of the foolish to always give an evil interpretation | |
| 1013 to matters about which they are in doubt; whereas the opposite | |
| 1014 should be done. Thus they revile whatever they do not know, as we | |
| 1015 read in the letter of Jude. And so because they were incapable of | |
| 1016 understanding our Lord's words - for "the light shines in the | |
| 1017 darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it" [1:5] -they | |
| 1018 blasphemed, saying, <b>he has a demon, and he is mad</b>. And they | |
| 1019 try to turn others away from him, saying <b>Why listen to | |
| 1020 him?</b></p> | |
| 1021 <p>These blasphemers accuse Christ of two things. First, that he | |
| 1022 has a demon. As if to say: He is not speaking due to the Holy | |
| 1023 Spirit, but from a wicked spirit. Something similar is found in | |
| 1024 Acts about Paul: "He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities | |
| 1025 [demons]" (17:18). Now the fact is that a person who has his own | |
| 1026 and familiar demon is always spiritually mad, but not always mad in | |
| 1027 a bodily way. But some can be possessed by a demon, and these are | |
| 1028 always mad even in a bodily way. Thus it was said of Christ "He has | |
| 1029 become mad" (Mk 3:21). Secondly, to show that Christ has a demon in | |
| 1030 this way, they say, <b>and he is mad</b>. "Your great learning is | |
| 1031 turning you mad" (Acts 26:24). Yet their blasphemy is not | |
| 1032 surprising, because they are sensual and, as we read in 1 | |
| 1033 Corinthians [2:14]: "The sensual person does not perceive those | |
| 1034 things that pertain to the Spirit of God."</p> | |
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1035 <p>1430 This opinion is refuted by the statements of the other |
| 35 | 1036 side, and this is in two ways. First, by the profundity of Christ's |
| 1037 words. Thus he says, <b>Others</b>, that is, those who rightly | |
| 1038 understood, <b>said, These are not the sayings of one who has a | |
| 1039 demon</b>. This was like saying: It is clear from what he is saying | |
| 1040 that he is not mad, because his words are orderly and profound: | |
| 1041 "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" | |
| 1042 (6:69). And Paul says, "I am not mad, most excellent Festus, but I | |
| 1043 am speaking the sober truth" (Acts 26:25). Secondly, this opinion | |
| 1044 is refuted by the greatness of the miracle worked by Christ. Thus | |
| 1045 they say, <b>Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?</b> This | |
| 1046 means: Was not this one of the greatest of miracles? They were | |
| 1047 correct in believing that it could be performed only by the power | |
| 1048 of God: "If this man were not from God, he could do nothing" | |
| 1049 (9:33).</p> | |
| 1050 <p>1431 It should be noted that there are certain "miracles" which | |
| 1051 can be performed by the power of demons and angels, and there are | |
| 1052 others which in no way can be accomplished by their power. Those | |
| 1053 things which are above the order of nature no creature whatever can | |
| 1054 perform by its own power, since the creature itself is subject to | |
| 1055 the laws of nature. God alone, who is above nature, can act above | |
| 1056 the order of nature. Therefore, whatever any creature performs must | |
| 1057 remain within the order of nature, an angel, either good or wicked, | |
| 1058 is able to do, when it is permitted. Thus, by using the seeds which | |
| 1059 in natural things are ordered to the generation of certain animals, | |
| 1060 they are able to effect the generation of these animals, as | |
| 1061 Pharaoh's magicians did (Ex 7:11). Again, they can produce changes | |
| 1062 affecting the nature of a thing; thus, they can heal the sick who | |
| 1063 could be helped by the power of nature.</p> | |
| 1064 <p>But things that absolutely transcend the order of nature can be | |
| 1065 performed by God alone, or by good angels and saintly men through | |
| 1066 God's power, which they obtain through prayer. Such would be the | |
| 1067 conferring of sight on the blind and the raising of the dead; for | |
| 1068 the power of nature cannot extend to the restoring of sight or to | |
| 1069 the raising of the dead. Consequently, a demon cannot open the eyes | |
| 1070 of a blind man or raise the dead, because this is done by God | |
| 1071 alone, and by the saints through the power of God.</p> | |
| 1072 <p>1432 Here we see the dispute which the Jewish leaders initiated | |
| 1073 with Christ. First, the Evangelist gives the question asked by the | |
| 1074 Jews; secondly, Christ's answer (v 25); and thirdly, the effect of | |
| 1075 this answer (v 31). Concerning the first he does two things: first, | |
| 1076 he describes the circumstances of the questioning; secondly, he | |
| 1077 gives the question itself (v 24). The circumstances of the | |
| 1078 questioning are described with respect to three things: the time, | |
| 1079 the place, and the persons who ask the question.</p> | |
| 1080 <p>1433 He mentions the specific time first, saying, <b>it was</b> | |
| 1081 (<i>encaenia</i>) <b>the feast of the Dedication at Jerusalem</b>. | |
| 1082 To understand this we have to know, as Augustine says, that an | |
| 1083 "encaenia" was the feast of the dedication of a church.<a href= | |
| 1084 "#_ftn26" name="_ftnref26" id="_ftnref26">[26]</a> The Greek word, | |
| 1085 <i>caenos</i>, is the same as the Latin word for "new." Thus an | |
| 1086 <i>encaenia</i> is the same as a renewal; and even in everyday | |
| 1087 speech, when something is dedicated to some use, it is said to be | |
| 1088 "encaeniated," which is the same thing as being renewed. Thus the | |
| 1089 <i>encaenia</i>, the feast of the Dedication, was the feast and | |
| 1090 commemoration of the dedication of the temple, for when we newly | |
| 1091 dedicate some church to the divine worship, we celebrate its being | |
| 1092 set aside for a sacred purpose; and in memory of this we celebrate | |
| 1093 it every year on the same day. Thus every year the Jews celebrated | |
| 1094 the <i>encaenia</i>, the remembrance of the dedication of the | |
| 1095 temple.</p> | |
| 1096 <p>1434 To understand why there is a feast for the consecration of | |
| 1097 a church, we should note that all the feasts in the Church are | |
| 1098 celebrated in remembrance of God's blessings: "I will recount the | |
| 1099 steadfast love of the Lord" (Is 63:7). Again in Psalm 117 [v 1], | |
| 1100 after David called to mind God's many blessings, saying, "Give | |
| 1101 praise to the Lord, for he is good," he adds, "Solemnize this day, | |
| 1102 with shady boughs, even to the horn of the altar" [v 26].</p> | |
| 1103 <p>We recall God's benefits to us as being of three kinds. | |
| 1104 Sometimes, as they are found in our head, the Lord Jesus Christ. | |
| 1105 Thus we celebrate the feast of his birth, and of his resurrection, | |
| 1106 and so on. Sometimes we recall them as found in our fellow members, | |
| 1107 that is, in the saints, who are members of the Church. This is | |
| 1108 fitting, for as the Apostle says: "If one member is honored, all | |
| 1109 rejoice together" (1 Cor 12:26). Thus we celebrate the feasts of | |
| 1110 Saints Peter and Paul, and the other saints. But at times we recall | |
| 1111 God's benefits as found in the entire Church: for example, the | |
| 1112 benefits of the sacraments and other things granted to the Church | |
| 1113 in general. Now a material church building is like a sign of the | |
| 1114 gathering of the faithful of the Church, and in this building all | |
| 1115 the sacraments of grace are dispensed. So it is in memory of these | |
| 1116 benefits that we celebrate the feast of the dedication of a church. | |
| 1117 Indeed, such a feast is greater than the feast of any saint, just | |
| 1118 as the benefits conferred upon the whole Church, which benefits we | |
| 1119 celebrate, exceed the benefits conferred on some saint and recalled | |
| 1120 during his feast.</p> | |
| 1121 <p>1435 Recall that the temple at Jerusalem had been consecrated | |
| 1122 three times: first by Solomon (1 Kgs c 8); secondly, during the | |
| 1123 time of Ezra by Zerubbabel and Jesus, the high priest (Ezra c 6); | |
| 1124 thirdly, by the Maccabees, for it says in 1 Maccabees (c 4) that | |
| 1125 they went up to Jerusalem to cleanse the holy places. Now this | |
| 1126 feast was not celebrated in memory of the dedication by Solomon, | |
| 1127 because that took place in the fall, i.e., in the seventh month; | |
| 1128 nor was it in memory of the dedication made at the time of Ezra, | |
| 1129 for this took place during the spring, i.e., the ninth day of | |
| 1130 March. But it was in memory of the dedication made by the | |
| 1131 Maccabees, which took place during the winter. And so to show this | |
| 1132 he mentions the specific time, saying, <b>it was winter.</b></p> | |
| 1133 <p>There is also a mystical reason for mentioning the time. As | |
| 1134 Gregory says (<i>Morals</i> 2), the Evangelist took care to mention | |
| 1135 the season as winter in order to indicate the chill of evil in the | |
| 1136 hearts of those listening, that is, the Jews: "As a well keeps its | |
| 1137 water cold, so she keeps cold her wickedness" [Jer 6:7]; and we | |
| 1138 read of this winter: "The winter is past, the rain is over and | |
| 1139 gone" (Song 2:11).<a href="#_ftn27" name="_ftnref27" id= | |
| 1140 "_ftnref27">[27]</a></p> | |
| 1141 <p>1436 Then he describes the place, <b>and Jesus was walking in | |
| 1142 the temple, in the portico of Solomon</b>. He describes it first in | |
| 1143 a general way, <b>in the temple</b>: "The Lord is in his holy | |
| 1144 temple" (Ps 11:4); secondly, in more detail, saying, <b>in the | |
| 1145 portico of Solomon</b>. We have to know that the temple included | |
| 1146 not just its main building, but the surrounding porticos as well; | |
| 1147 it was on these porticos that the people stood and prayed, for only | |
| 1148 the priests prayed in the temple. It was called the portico of | |
| 1149 Solomon because it was the place where Solomon stood and prayed | |
| 1150 when the temple was being dedicated: "Then Solomon stood before the | |
| 1151 altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel" (1 | |
| 1152 Kgs 8:22).</p> | |
| 1153 <p>1437 One might object that the temple which Solomon built was | |
| 1154 destroyed, and so was his portico. I answer that the temple was | |
| 1155 rebuilt according to the specifications of the previous one; and so | |
| 1156 just as that portico was called the portico of Solomon in the first | |
| 1157 instance, it was called the same later out of respect for him.</p> | |
| 1158 <p>1438 The persons who question Christ are described as to their | |
| 1159 malice; thus he says, <b>so the Jews gathered round him</b>, | |
| 1160 unwarmed by loving charity, but burning with the desire to harm | |
| 1161 him. They came to attack him, surrounding and pressing him in on | |
| 1162 all sides: "Many bulls encompass me" (Ps 22:12); "Ephraim has | |
| 1163 encompassed me" (Hos 11:12).</p> | |
| 1164 <p>1439 Then when he says, <b>and said to him</b>…we see the | |
| 1165 Jews questioning him. First, he mentions the pretended reason for | |
| 1166 their questions when he says, <b>How long will you keep us in | |
| 1167 suspense?</b> Their manner is flattering because they want it to | |
| 1168 appear that they desire to know the truth about him. It is like | |
| 1169 they were saying: We are hanging in anticipation. How long will you | |
| 1170 keep us unsatisfied? "Hope deferred makes the heart sick" (Prv | |
| 1171 13:12).</p> | |
| 1172 <p>Secondly, they state their question, <b>If you are the Christ, | |
| 1173 tell us plainly</b>. Note their perversity; for since they resent | |
| 1174 Christ's calling himself the Son of God (5:18), they do not ask him | |
| 1175 if he is the Son of God, but <b>If you are the Christ, tell us | |
| 1176 plainly</b>. They hoped by this to obtain grounds for accusing him | |
| 1177 before Pilate for inciting sedition and making himself king - which | |
| 1178 was in opposition to Caesar and offensive to the Romans. Thus it | |
| 1179 was that when the Jews accused Christ of making himself the Son of | |
| 1180 God, Pilate was not very impressed; but when they said: "Every one | |
| 1181 who makes himself a king sets himself against Caesar" (19:12), he | |
| 1182 was swayed against Christ. This is why they say, <b>If you are the | |
| 1183 Christ</b>, or a king, or anointed, <b>tell us plainly.</b></p> | |
| 1184 <p>Secondly, notice their wickedness, because they say, | |
| 1185 <b>plainly</b>. It was like saying: Up to now you have not taught | |
| 1186 in public, but more or less in secret; but in reality, Christ said | |
| 1187 everything openly and was present for the festival days, and said | |
| 1188 nothing in secret: "I have spoken openly to the world…I have | |
| 1189 said nothing secretly" (18:20).</p> | |
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1190 <p>1440 Now we have the answer of Christ, where he shows their |
| 35 | 1191 unbelief, proving they were deceitful in saying they wished to know |
| 1192 the truth when they said, "How long will you keep us in suspense?" | |
| 1193 He shows this in two ways. First, because they did not believe his | |
| 1194 words; and about this he says, <b>I told you, and you do not | |
| 1195 believe</b>. As if to say: You say to me, "If you are the Christ," | |
| 1196 the king, "tell us." But <b>I told you</b>, that is, I told you the | |
| 1197 truth, <b>and you do not believe</b>. "If I tell you, you will not | |
| 1198 believe" (Lk 22:67).</p> | |
| 1199 <p>He shows this in a second way because they do not believe his | |
| 1200 works. And about this he says: <b>the works that I do in my | |
| 1201 Father's name, they bear witness to me</b>. He first shows their | |
| 1202 unbelief in his works; secondly, the reason for their unbelief (v | |
| 1203 26).</p> | |
| 1204 <p>1441 As to the first he says, <b>the works that I | |
| 1205 do</b>…. This was like saying: You cannot be persuaded and | |
| 1206 satisfied by my words, nor even by those great works which I do | |
| 1207 <b>in my Father's name</b>, i.e., for his glory. <b>They bear | |
| 1208 witness to me</b>, because they can be performed by God alone. Thus | |
| 1209 they clearly show that I have come from God: "The tree is known by | |
| 1210 its fruit" (Matt 12:33); "These very works which I am doing, bear | |
| 1211 witness" (5:36). <b>But you do not believe</b>: "Though he had done | |
| 1212 so many signs before them, yet they did not believe in him" | |
| 1213 (12:37). For this reason they are inexcusable: "If I had not done | |
| 1214 among them the works which no one else did, they would not have | |
| 1215 sin; but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father | |
| 1216 (15:24).</p> | |
| 1217 <p>1442 The reason for their unbelief is that they are separated | |
| 1218 from Christ's sheep. So he says, <b>but you do not believe, because | |
| 1219 you do not belong to my sheep</b>. He does three things concerning | |
| 1220 this. First, he says that they are excluded from membership in the | |
| 1221 sheep of Christ; secondly, he shows the dignity of his sheep (v | |
| 1222 27); thirdly, he proves that no one will snatch his sheep out of | |
| 1223 his hands (v 29).</p> | |
| 1224 <p>1443 He mentions that they are not among his sheep when he says, | |
| 1225 <b>you do not belong to my sheep</b>, i.e., you are not predestined | |
| 1226 to believe, but foreknown to eternal destruction. For the very fact | |
| 1227 that we believe is due to God: "For it has been granted to you that | |
| 1228 for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also | |
| 1229 suffer for his sake" (Phil 1:29); "For by grace you have been saved | |
| 1230 thorough faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of | |
| 1231 God" (Eph 2:8). And this is given only to those for whom it was | |
| 1232 prepared from eternity; thus, only those believe in him who have | |
| 1233 been ordained to this by God through an eternal predestination: "As | |
| 1234 many as were ordained to eternal life believed" (Acts 13:48); "We | |
| 1235 believe that we shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus" | |
| 1236 (Acts 15:11).</p> | |
| 1237 <p>1444 But should anyone be told that he is not predestined? It | |
| 1238 seems that he should not be told: for since no one can be saved | |
| 1239 unless he is predestined, if one is told that he is not | |
| 1240 predestined, he would be driven to despair. And so our Lord was | |
| 1241 driving the Jews to despair when he said to them, <b>you do not | |
| 1242 believe, because you do not belong to my sheep</b>. My answer to | |
| 1243 this is that in this group there was something common to all, that | |
| 1244 is, they were not preordained by God to believe at that time; and | |
| 1245 there was also something special, that is, some of them were | |
| 1246 preordained to believe later. Thus, some of them did believe later, | |
| 1247 for we read in Acts (c 2) that three thousand of them believed in | |
| 1248 one day. But some were not preordained to do this. Therefore, it | |
| 1249 did not militate against hope to say to a group, some of whom were | |
| 1250 preordained to believe later, that they did not belong to his | |
| 1251 sheep, because no one of them could apply this definitely to | |
| 1252 himself. But it would militate against hope if Christ had said this | |
| 1253 to some definite person.<a href="#_ftn28" name="_ftnref28" id= | |
| 1254 "_ftnref28">[28]</a></p> | |
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1255 <p>1445 Now he reveals the dignity of his sheep when he says, <b>my |
| 35 | 1256 sheep hear my voice</b>. He here mentions four things: two of them |
| 1257 are what we do in reference to Christ; the other two, which | |
| 1258 correspond to the first two are what Christ does in us.</p> | |
| 1259 <p>1446 The first thing we do is to obey Christ. Concerning this he | |
| 1260 says, <b>my sheep</b>, through predestination, <b>hear my | |
| 1261 voice</b>, by believing and obeying my precepts: "O that today you | |
| 1262 would harken to his voice! Harden not your hearts" (Ps 95:7).</p> | |
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1263 <p>1447 The second thing, corresponding to this, is what Christ |
| 35 | 1264 does, which is to give his love and approval. Concerning this he |
| 1265 says, <b>and I know them</b>, that is, I love and approve of them: | |
| 1266 "The Lord knows those who are his" (2 Tim 2:19). This is like | |
| 1267 saying: The very fact that they hear me is due to the fact that | |
| 1268 <b>I know them</b> by an eternal election.</p> | |
| 1269 <p>But if a person cannot believe unless God gives this to him, it | |
| 1270 seems that unbelief should not be imputed to anyone. I answer that | |
| 1271 it is imputed to them because they are the cause why it is not | |
| 1272 given to them. Thus, I cannot see the light unless I am enlightened | |
| 1273 by the sun. Yet if I were to close my eyes, I would not see the | |
| 1274 light; but this is not due to the sun but to me, because by closing | |
| 1275 my eyes I am the cause of my not being enlightened. Now sin, for | |
| 1276 example, original sin, and in some persons actual sin, is the cause | |
| 1277 why we are not enlightened by God through faith. This cause is in | |
| 1278 everyone. Thus, all who are left by God are left by reason of the | |
| 1279 just judgment of God, and those who are chosen are lifted up by | |
| 1280 God's mercy.</p> | |
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1281 <p>1448 The third thing, which is what we do, concerns our |
| 35 | 1282 imitation of Christ. So he says, <b>and they follow me</b>: "My |
| 1283 foot has held fast his steps" (Job 23:11); "Christ also suffered | |
| 1284 for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his | |
| 1285 steps" (1 Pet 2:21).</p> | |
| 1286 <p>1449 The corresponding fourth part, which is what Christ does, | |
| 1287 is the bestowing of a reward. Concerning this he says, <b>and I | |
| 1288 give them eternal life</b>. This is like saying: They follow me by | |
| 1289 walking the path of gentleness and innocence in this life, and I | |
| 1290 will see that afterwards they will follow me by entering into the | |
| 1291 joys of eternal life.</p> | |
| 1292 <p>Our Lord shows in three ways that this reward will never end. | |
| 1293 Something can end in three ways. First of all, by its very nature, | |
| 1294 for example, if it is corruptible. But this reward is incorruptible | |
| 1295 of its very nature. Thus He says, <b>I give them eternal life</b>, | |
| 1296 which is incorruptible and ever-living enjoyment of God: "This is | |
| 1297 eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus | |
| 1298 Christ whom thou hast sent" (17:3). As Augustine says, this is the | |
| 1299 pasture which he spoke before (v 9).<a href="#_ftn29" name= | |
| 1300 "_ftnref29" id="_ftnref29">[29]</a> Indeed, eternal life is called | |
| 1301 a good pasture because it is entirely verdant and nothing withers | |
| 1302 away. Secondly, a thing can end because the one receiving it ends, | |
| 1303 or does not guard it well. But this will not happen to that reward; | |
| 1304 so he says, <b>and they shall never perish</b>, that is, the sheep | |
| 1305 will never perish. This conflicts with Origen, for he said that the | |
| 1306 saints in glory are able to sin.<a href="#_ftn30" name="_ftnref30" | |
| 1307 id="_ftnref30">[30]</a> Yet our Lord says, <b>they shall never | |
| 1308 perish</b>, because they will be preserved forever: "He who | |
| 1309 conquers I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God; never | |
| 1310 shall he go out of it" (Rev 3:12). Thirdly, a thing can end by | |
| 1311 being snatched by force: for perhaps Adam would not have been cast | |
| 1312 out if the Deceiver had not been there. But this will not happen in | |
| 1313 eternal life, and so he says, <b>and no one shall snatch them</b>, | |
| 1314 that is, the sheep, <b>out of my hand</b>, that is, from my | |
| 1315 protection and loyalty: "The souls of the righteous are in the hand | |
| 1316 of God" (Wis 3:1). As Augustine says: "There the wolf does not | |
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1317 snatch, nor the thief steal, nor the robber kill."<a href="#_ftn31" |
| 35 | 1318 name="_ftnref31" id="_ftnref31">[31]</a></p> |
| 1319 <p>1450 He now proves what he had said above about the dignity of | |
| 1320 his sheep, namely, that no one can snatch them from his hand. His | |
| 1321 reason is this: No one can snatch what is in the hand of my Father; | |
| 1322 but the Father's hand and mine are the same; therefore, no one can | |
| 1323 snatch what is in my hand. Concerning this he does three things: | |
| 1324 first, he gives the minor premise by showing that the Father had | |
| 1325 communicated divinity to him, saying, <b>what my Father has given | |
| 1326 to me</b>, through an eternal generation, <b>is greater than | |
| 1327 all</b>. "For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted | |
| 1328 the Son also to have life in himself" (5:26). It is <b>greater</b> | |
| 1329 than any power: "He has given him authority to execute judgment, | |
| 1330 because he is the Son of man" (5:27); it is <b>greater</b> than any | |
| 1331 reverence and honor: "God had bestowed on him the name which is | |
| 1332 above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow" | |
| 1333 (Phil 2:9). Therefore, <b>what my Father has given to me</b>, that | |
| 1334 is, that I am his Word, his only begotten, and the splendor of his | |
| 1335 light, <b>is greater than all</b>.</p> | |
| 1336 <p>Secondly, he mentions the greatness of the Father's power, which | |
| 1337 concerns the major premise, when he says, <b>and no one is able to | |
| 1338 snatch</b>, take by violence or secretly pilfer, <b>out of my | |
| 1339 Father's hand</b>, from the power of my Father, or from me, who am | |
| 1340 the might of the Father - although as Augustine says, it is better | |
| 1341 to say "from the power of the Father" than "from me." <a href= | |
| 1342 "#_ftn32" name="_ftnref32" id="_ftnref32">[32]</a> Now <b>no one is | |
| 1343 able to snatch out of my Father's hand</b>, because he is the | |
| 1344 almighty One who is not subject to violence, and he is all-wise | |
| 1345 from whom nothing is hidden: "He is wise in heart, and mighty in | |
| 1346 strength" (Job 9:4).</p> | |
| 1347 <p>Thirdly, he affirms his unity with the Father, and from this the | |
| 1348 conclusion follows. Thus he says, <b>I and the Father are one</b>. | |
| 1349 As if to say: <b>no one shall snatch them out of my hand</b>, | |
| 1350 because <b>I and the Father are one</b>, by a unity of essence, for | |
| 1351 the Father and the Son are the same in nature.</p> | |
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1352 <p>1451 This statement rejects two errors: that of Arius, who |
| 35 | 1353 distinguished the essence [of the Father from that of the Son], and |
| 1354 that of Sabellius, who did not distinguish the person [of the | |
| 1355 Father from the person of the Son]. We escape both Charybdis and | |
| 1356 Scylla, for by the fact that Christ says, <b>one</b>, he saves us | |
| 1357 from Arius, because if one, then they are not different [in | |
| 1358 nature]. And by the fact that he says, <b>we are</b>, he saves us | |
| 1359 from Sabellius, for if we are, then the Father and the Son are not | |
| 1360 the same [person].</p> | |
| 1361 <p>Yet the Arians, deceived by their wickedness, try to deny this, | |
| 1362 and say that a creature can in some sense be one with God, and in | |
| 1363 this sense the Son can be one with the Father. The falsity of this | |
| 1364 can be shown in three ways. First, from our very manner of | |
| 1365 speaking. For it is clear that "one" is asserted as "being"; thus, | |
| 1366 just as something is not said to be a being absolutely except | |
| 1367 according to its substance, so it is not said to be one except | |
| 1368 according to its substance or nature. Now something is asserted | |
| 1369 absolutely when it is asserted with no added qualification. | |
| 1370 Therefore, because <b>I and the Father are one</b>, is asserted | |
| 1371 absolutely, without any qualifications added, it is plain that they | |
| 1372 are one according to substance and nature. But we never find that | |
| 1373 God and a creature are one without some added qualification, as in | |
| 1374 1 Corinthians (6:17): "He who is united to the Lord becomes one | |
| 1375 spirit with him." Therefore, it is clear that the Son of God is not | |
| 1376 one with the Father as a creature can be.<a href="#_ftn33" name= | |
| 1377 "_ftnref33" id="_ftnref33">[33]</a></p> | |
| 1378 <p>Secondly, we can see this from his previous statement, <b>what | |
| 1379 my Father has given me is greater than all</b>. He draws the | |
| 1380 conclusion from this: <b>I and the Father are one</b>. This is like | |
| 1381 saying: We are one to the extent that the Father has given me that | |
| 1382 which is greater than all.</p> | |
| 1383 <p>Thirdly, it is clear from his intention. For our Lord proves | |
| 1384 that no one will snatch the sheep from his hand precisely because | |
| 1385 no one can snatch from the hand of his Father. But this would not | |
| 1386 follow if his power were less than the power of the Father. | |
| 1387 Therefore, the Father and Son are one in nature, honor and | |
| 1388 power.<br /> | |
| 1389 <br /> | |
| 1390 <br /></p> | |
| 1391 <p align="center"><b>LECTURE 6</b></p> | |
| 1392 <p>31 The Jews took up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered | |
| 1393 them, "I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which | |
| 1394 of these do you stone me?" 33 The Jews answered him, "We stone you | |
| 1395 for no good work but for blasphemy; because you, being a man, make | |
| 1396 yourself God." 34 Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your | |
| 1397 law, 'I said, you are gods'? 35 If he called them gods to whom the | |
| 1398 word of God came (and scripture cannot be broken), 36 do you say of | |
| 1399 him whom the Father consecrated [sanctified] and sent into the | |
| 1400 world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of | |
| 1401 God'? 37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not | |
| 1402 believe me; 38 but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, | |
| 1403 believe the works, that you may know and understand [believe] that | |
| 1404 the Father is in me and I am in the Father." 39 Again they tried to | |
| 1405 arrest him, but he escaped from their hands. 40 He went away again | |
| 1406 across the Jordan to the place where John at first baptized, and | |
| 1407 there he remained. 41 And many came to him; and they said, "John | |
| 1408 did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was | |
| 1409 true." 42 And many believed in him there.<a href="#_ftn34" name= | |
| 1410 "_ftnref34" id="_ftnref34"><b>[34]</b></a></p> | |
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1411 <p>1452 We have seen the teaching of Christ; and now we see the |
| 35 | 1412 effect this teaching has on the Jews. First, Jesus reproves their |
| 1413 fierceness; secondly, he defends himself against the charge of | |
| 1414 blasphemy; and thirdly, he escapes from their violence (v 39).</p> | |
| 1415 <p>1453 Concerning the first, two things are done. First, we see | |
| 1416 the violence of the Jews inciting them to stone Christ. The | |
| 1417 Evangelist says, <b>The Jews took up stones again to stone him</b>. | |
| 1418 They were hard of heart and unable to understand his profound | |
| 1419 message; and so, being like stones, they resort to stones: "When I | |
| 1420 spoke to them they fought against me without cause" [Ps 119:7].</p> | |
| 1421 <p>1454 Secondly, we see our Lord reprove their violence, saying, | |
| 1422 <b>I have shown you many good works</b>. First, he reminds them of | |
| 1423 the benefits given to them; secondly, he reproves their violence. | |
| 1424 He recalls the benefits he granted in healing the sick, in teaching | |
| 1425 them and performing his miracles. So he answered them saying, <b>I | |
| 1426 have shown you many good works</b>, by healing, teaching and | |
| 1427 working miracles - "He has done all things well" (Mk 7:37) - | |
| 1428 <b>from the Father</b>, whose glory I have sought in all these | |
| 1429 things - "Yet I do not seek my own glory" (8:50). And he reproves | |
| 1430 their violence when he says, <b>for which of these do you stone | |
| 1431 me?</b> This was like saying: You should honor one who does good to | |
| 1432 you, not stone him: "Is evil a recompense for good?" (Jer | |
| 1433 18:20).</p> | |
| 1434 <p>1455 Now our Lord defends himself from the charge of blasphemy. | |
| 1435 First, we see him accused of blasphemy by the Jews; and secondly, | |
| 1436 Christ proves his innocence (v 34).</p> | |
| 1437 <p>1456 With respect to the first, the Evangelist says, <b>The Jews | |
| 1438 answered him, We stone you for no good work but for blasphemy</b>. | |
| 1439 There are five things to be considered here. First, what seems to | |
| 1440 be the motive for their stoning him, namely, his blasphemy. For | |
| 1441 Leviticus commands that blasphemers be stoned: "Bring out of the | |
| 1442 camp him who has blasphemed; and let all who heard him lay their | |
| 1443 hands upon his head, and let the congregation stone him" [24:14]. | |
| 1444 Mentioning this motive, they say, <b>We stone you for no good work | |
| 1445 but for blasphemy</b>.</p> | |
| 1446 <p>Secondly, they specify his blasphemy. It is blasphemy not only | |
| 1447 to attribute to God what is not appropriate to him, but also to | |
| 1448 attribute to another what belongs to God alone. So, it is blasphemy | |
| 1449 not only to say that God is a body, but also to say that a creature | |
| 1450 can create: "It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" | |
| 1451 (Mk 2:7). Thus the Jews were saying that our Lord was a blasphemer | |
| 1452 not in the first way, but for usurping for himself what is proper | |
| 1453 to God: <b>because you, being a man, make yourself God.</b></p> | |
| 1454 <p>The third thing to be considered is that the Jews understood the | |
| 1455 words of Christ, <b>I and the Father are one</b>, better than the | |
| 1456 Arians did. Thus they were incensed because they understood that | |
| 1457 <b>I and the Father are one</b> could only be said if the Father | |
| 1458 and Son are equal. This is what they say, <b>you make yourself | |
| 1459 God</b>, claiming by your words that you are God, which is not | |
| 1460 true, you, <b>being a man</b>.</p> | |
| 1461 <p>The fourth point to consider is that the distance between God | |
| 1462 and man is so great that it was unbelievable to them that someone | |
| 1463 with a human nature could be God. So they significantly say, | |
| 1464 <b>because you, being a man, make yourself God</b>. Yet this | |
| 1465 unbelief could have been dispelled by what is read in the Psalm, | |
| 1466 "What is man that you are mindful of him? Or the son of man that | |
| 1467 you visit him?" [Ps 8:5]; and in Habakkuk (1:5): "For I am doing a | |
| 1468 work in your days that you would not believe if told," this is, the | |
| 1469 work of the incarnation, which surpasses every mind.</p> | |
| 1470 <p>The fifth thing to consider is that they do not agree with | |
| 1471 themselves: for on the one hand, they say that Christ does good | |
| 1472 works, saying, <b>we stone you for no good work</b>; and on the | |
| 1473 other hand, they accuse him of blasphemy, usurping for himself the | |
| 1474 honor of God. Now these conflict with each other, for he could not | |
| 1475 accomplish miracles from God if he blasphemed God, because "A sound | |
| 1476 tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit" | |
| 1477 (Mt 7:18). And this applied especially to Christ.</p> | |
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1478 <p>1457 Here our Lord defends himself against the charge of |
| 35 | 1479 blasphemy. First, he gives his defense; secondly, he shows them the |
| 1480 truth (v 37). He defends himself by divine authority, and so first, | |
| 1481 he mentions the authority of Scripture; secondly, he explains its | |
| 1482 meaning; and thirdly, he draws his conclusion.</p> | |
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1483 <p>1458 The Evangelist says, <b>Jesus answered them: Is it not |
| 35 | 1484 written in your law</b> (in Psalm 82:6): <b>I said, you are |
| 1485 gods?</b> Here we should note that "law" is understood in three | |
| 1486 ways in Scripture. Some times it is taken in a general sense for | |
| 1487 the entire Old Testament, containing the five books of Moses, the | |
| 1488 prophets and the hagiographies. This is the way <b>in your law</b> | |
| 1489 is understood here, meaning in the Old Testament. For this | |
| 1490 quotation is from the psalms which are referred to as the law | |
| 1491 because the entire Old Testament is considered to have the | |
| 1492 authority of law. Sometimes "law" is understood as distinct from | |
| 1493 the prophets, psalms, and the hagiographies; this is the way Luke | |
| 1494 uses it in "Everything written about me in the law of Moses and the | |
| 1495 prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled" (Lk 24:44). Again, at | |
| 1496 other times it is distinguished from the prophets. In this sense | |
| 1497 the psalms and the other books of the Old Testament, other than the | |
| 1498 Pentateuch, are included within the prophets, on the ground that | |
| 1499 the Old Testament was produced by a prophetic spirit. This is the | |
| 1500 way it is understood in Matthew: "On these two commandments depend | |
| 1501 all the law and the prophets" (Mt 23:40).</p> | |
| 1502 <p>1459 The word "God" is also used in three senses. Sometimes it | |
| 1503 signifies the divine nature itself, and then it is used only in the | |
| 1504 singular: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord" (Deut | |
| 1505 6:4). At other times it is taken in a denominative sense: in this | |
| 1506 way idols are called gods: "All the gods of the peoples are idols" | |
| 1507 (Ps 96:5). And sometimes someone is called a god because of a | |
| 1508 certain participation in divinity, or in some sublime power | |
| 1509 divinely infused. In this way, even judges are called gods in | |
| 1510 Scripture: "If the thief is not known, the owner of the house shall | |
| 1511 be brought to the gods," that is, to the judges [Ex 22:8]; "You | |
| 1512 shall not speak ill of the gods," that is, of the rulers [Ex | |
| 1513 22:28]. This is the way the word "god" is taken here, when he says, | |
| 1514 <b>I said, you are gods</b>, i.e., you share in some divine power | |
| 1515 superior to the human.</p> | |
| 1516 <p>1460 Then when he says, <b>If he called them gods to whom the | |
| 1517 word of God came</b>, he shows the meaning of the authority he | |
| 1518 cited. This was like saying: He called them gods because they | |
| 1519 participated in something divine insofar as they participated in | |
| 1520 God's word, which was spoken to them. For due to God's word a | |
| 1521 person obtains some participation in the divine power and purity: | |
| 1522 "You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you" | |
| 1523 (15:3); and in Exodus (c 34) we read that the face of Moses shone | |
| 1524 when he heard the words of the Lord.</p> | |
| 1525 <p>From what has been said above, one might argue in this way: It | |
| 1526 is clear that a person by participating in the word of God becomes | |
| 1527 god by participation. But a thing does not become this or that by | |
| 1528 participation unless it participates in what is this or that by its | |
| 1529 essence: for example, a thing does not become fire by participation | |
| 1530 unless it participates in what is fire by its essence. Therefore, | |
| 1531 one does not become god by participation unless he participates in | |
| 1532 what is God by essence. Therefore, the Word of God, that is the | |
| 1533 Son, by participation in whom we become gods, is God by essence. | |
| 1534 But our Lord, rather than argue so profoundly against the Jews, | |
| 1535 preferred to argue in a more human way. He says, <b>and scripture | |
| 1536 cannot be broken</b>, in order to show the irrefutable truth of | |
| 1537 Scripture: "O Lord, your word endures forever" [Ps 118:89].<a href= | |
| 1538 "#_ftn35" name="_ftnref35" id="_ftnref35">[35]</a></p> | |
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1539 <p>1461 Then when he says, <b>do you say of him whom the Father |
| 35 | 1540 sanctified and sent into the world, You are blaspheming</b>, he |
| 1541 draws his conclusion. If, with Hilary, we refer this to Christ | |
| 1542 insofar as he has a human nature, the meaning is this: Some people | |
| 1543 are called gods only because they participate in God's word. How | |
| 1544 then can you say, <b>you are blaspheming</b>, that is, how can you | |
| 1545 consider it blasphemy, if that man who is united in person to the | |
| 1546 Word of God is called God? <a href="#_ftn36" name="_ftnref36" id= | |
| 1547 "_ftnref36">[36]</a> This is why he says, <b>whom the Father | |
| 1548 sanctified</b>. For although God sanctifies all who are sanctified | |
| 1549 - "Sanctify them in truth" (17:17) - he sanctified Christ in a | |
| 1550 special way. He sanctifies others to be adopted children - "You | |
| 1551 have received the spirit of adoption" (Rom 8:15) - but he | |
| 1552 sanctified Christ to be the Son of God by nature, united in person | |
| 1553 to the Word of God. These words, <b>whom the Father sanctified</b>, | |
| 1554 show this in two ways. For if God sanctifies as Father, it is clear | |
| 1555 that he sanctifies Christ as his Son: "He was predestined to be the | |
| 1556 Son of God by the Spirit of sanctification" [Rom 1:4]. We can also | |
| 1557 see this by his saying, <b>and sent into the world</b>. For it is | |
| 1558 not fitting for a thing to be sent some place unless it existed | |
| 1559 before it was sent there. Therefore, he whom the Father sent into | |
| 1560 the world in a visible way, is the Son of God, who existed before | |
| 1561 he was visible: for as we saw above, "He was in the world, and the | |
| 1562 world was made through him" (1:10); and "God sent the Son into the | |
| 1563 world" (3:17). <b>Do you say of him whom the Father sent into the | |
| 1564 world, you are blaspheming, because I said, I am the Son of | |
| 1565 God?</b> This was like saying: I, who am united in person to the | |
| 1566 Word, have much more reason to say this than those <b>to whom the | |
| 1567 word of God came</b>.</p> | |
| 1568 <p>1462 But how did the Jews realize that he was claiming to be the | |
| 1569 Son of God? Our Lord did not say this expressly. I answer that | |
| 1570 although our Lord did not say this expressly, yet from what he did | |
| 1571 say - <b>I and the Father are one and what my Father has given to | |
| 1572 me is greater than all</b> - they understood that he received his | |
| 1573 nature from the Father and was one in nature with him. But to | |
| 1574 receive the same nature from another, and to be it, is to be a | |
| 1575 son.</p> | |
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1576 <p>1463 But if, with Augustine, we refer <b>him whom the Father |
| 35 | 1577 sanctified</b> to Christ as God, then the meaning is this: <b>him |
| 1578 whom the Father sanctified</b> is he whom he has begotten holy, or | |
| 1579 sanctified, from eternity.<a href="#_ftn37" name="_ftnref37" id= | |
| 1580 "_ftnref37">[37]</a> The other things which follow should be | |
| 1581 explained in the same way as Hilary does. Yet the better | |
| 1582 explanation is to refer everything to Christ as man.</p> | |
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1583 <p>1464 Then when he says, <b>If I am not doing the works of my |
| 35 | 1584 Father, then do not believe me</b>, he proves the truth of the |
| 1585 foregoing. This is like saying: Although in your opinion I am only | |
| 1586 human, yet I am not blaspheming when I say that I am truly God, | |
| 1587 because I truly am. He does two things concerning this: first, he | |
| 1588 presents the argument of his works; secondly, he draws his | |
| 1589 conclusion (v 38b).</p> | |
| 1590 <p>1465 He does two things concerning the first. In the first place | |
| 1591 he says that in the absence of his works they would have an excuse. | |
| 1592 He says, <b>If I am not doing the works of my Father</b>, i.e., the | |
| 1593 same ones that he does, and with the same might and power, <b>then | |
| 1594 do not believe me</b>. "Whatever he [the Father] does, that the Son | |
| 1595 does likewise" (5:19).</p> | |
| 1596 <p>Secondly, he says that they are convicted by his very works: | |
| 1597 <b>but if I do them</b>, the same works the Father does, then | |
| 1598 <b>even though you do not believe me</b>, who appears as a son of | |
| 1599 man, <b>believe the works</b>, i.e., these works show that I am the | |
| 1600 Son of God: "If I had not done among them the works which no one | |
| 1601 else did, they would not have sin" (15:24).</p> | |
| 1602 <p>1466 Now he draws his conclusion, saying, <b>that you may know | |
| 1603 and believe that the Father is in me and I am in the Father</b>. | |
| 1604 For the clearest indication of the nature of a thing is taken from | |
| 1605 its works. Therefore, from the fact that he does the works of God | |
| 1606 it can be clearly known and believed that Christ is God. | |
| 1607 Accordingly he says: I will argue from my works themselves, <b>that | |
| 1608 you may know and believe</b> what you cannot see with your own | |
| 1609 eyes, that is, <b>that the Father is in me and I am in the | |
| 1610 Father</b>: "I am in the Father and the Father in me," by a unity | |
| 1611 of essence (14:10). <b>The Father is in me and I am in the | |
| 1612 Father</b> and "I and the Father are one," have the same | |
| 1613 meaning.</p> | |
| 1614 <p>Hilary explains this well by saying that there is this | |
| 1615 difference between God and man: man being a composite, is not his | |
| 1616 own nature; but God, being entirely simple, is his own existence | |
| 1617 and his own nature. Therefore, in whomever the nature of God is, | |
| 1618 there is God.<a href="#_ftn38" name="_ftnref38" id= | |
| 1619 "_ftnref38">[38]</a> And so, since the Father is God and the Son is | |
| 1620 God, where the nature of the Father is, there is the Father, and | |
| 1621 where the nature of the Son is, there is the Son. Therefore, since | |
| 1622 the nature of the Father is in the Son, and conversely, the Father | |
| 1623 is in the Son, and conversely. But as Augustine remarks, although | |
| 1624 God is in man and man is in God - "He who abides in love abides in | |
| 1625 God, and God abides in him" (1 Jn 4:16) - this does not mean that | |
| 1626 they are one in essence. Rather, man is in God, that is, under the | |
| 1627 divine care and protection, and God is in man, by the likeness of | |
| 1628 his grace.<a href="#_ftn39" name="_ftnref39" id= | |
| 1629 "_ftnref39">[39]</a> However, the only Son is in the Father and the | |
| 1630 Father is in him as equals.</p> | |
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1631 <p>1467 Now our Lord turns away from the obstinacy of the Jews. |
| 35 | 1632 First, the Evangelist shows they were obstinate; secondly, we see |
| 1633 that Christ turns away from this; thirdly, we see what effect this | |
| 1634 had.</p> | |
| 1635 <p>1468 The Evangelist shows their inflexibility by the fact that | |
| 1636 after so many confirmations of the truth, after the evidence of so | |
| 1637 many miracles and wonders, they still persist in their evil. So | |
| 1638 <b>again they tried to arrest him</b>, to apprehend him, not in | |
| 1639 order to believe and understand, but in their rage to do him harm; | |
| 1640 they were even the more enraged because he had more clearly | |
| 1641 expressed his equality with the Father: "They hold fast to deceit, | |
| 1642 they refuse to return" (Jer 8:5).</p> | |
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1643 <p>1469 But our Lord turns away from their rage, and so the |
| 35 | 1644 Evangelist says, <b>but he escaped from their hands</b>. Here we |
| 1645 see, first, that he left them by escaping from their hands. He did | |
| 1646 this for two reasons. To show that he could not be restrained | |
| 1647 unless he willed: "Passing through the midst of them he went away" | |
| 1648 (Lk 4:30); "No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own | |
| 1649 accord" (10:18). Secondly, to give us the example of turning away | |
| 1650 from persecution when this can be done without endangering the | |
| 1651 faith: "Do not make your stand against one who can injure you" [Sir | |
| 1652 8:14].</p> | |
| 1653 <p>We see, secondly, where he went when the Evangelist says, <b>he | |
| 1654 went away again across the Jordan to the place where John at first | |
| 1655 baptized</b>. The mystical reason for this is that at some time, | |
| 1656 through the apostles, Jesus would go to convert the Gentiles. The | |
| 1657 literal reason is twofold. First, this place was near Jerusalem, | |
| 1658 and since his passion was near, he did not wish to be too far away. | |
| 1659 Secondly, he wanted to recall the witness which John had given | |
| 1660 there, when he said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the | |
| 1661 sin of the world" (1:29), as well as the Father's testimony to his | |
| 1662 Son, Christ, at the time of his baptism.</p> | |
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1663 <p>1470 The effect of this turning away was that many were |
| 35 | 1664 converted to the faith. Three points are made about this |
| 1665 conversion. First, many imitated his works; so he says, <b>and many | |
| 1666 came to him</b>, namely, by imitating his works: "Come to me, all | |
| 1667 who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt | |
| 1668 11:28). Secondly, many professed him in word, <b>and they said, | |
| 1669 John did no sign</b>. By this they profess Christ's superiority to | |
| 1670 John. The reason for this was that John was sent as a witness to | |
| 1671 Christ; thus he should show that he was worthy to be believed and | |
| 1672 his testimony would be shown to be true. Now this is fittingly done | |
| 1673 by holiness of life. On the other hand, Christ came as God; | |
| 1674 consequently, it was fitting that he show the signs of divine | |
| 1675 power. And so John stood out by the sanctity of his life; Christ, | |
| 1676 however, in addition to this, performed works which manifested his | |
| 1677 divine power. This was in accord with the practice of the rulers of | |
| 1678 antiquity that when in the presence of a higher power a lesser | |
| 1679 power did not display the insignia of its power. Thus, in the | |
| 1680 presence of the Dictator, the Consuls took down their insignia. So | |
| 1681 it was not fitting that John, who possessed less power, because he | |
| 1682 was a precursor and witness, should employ the insignia of divine | |
| 1683 power; only Christ should have done this. They profess the truth of | |
| 1684 John's witness to Christ, saying, <b>but everything that John said | |
| 1685 about this man</b>, Christ, <b>was true</b>. They were saying: | |
| 1686 Although John did no sign, he nevertheless said all things | |
| 1687 truthfully about Christ. Thirdly, he reveals the faith in their | |
| 1688 hearts, saying, <b>and many believed in him there</b>. As Augustine | |
| 1689 remarks, they grasped Christ remaining, whom the Jews wanted to | |
| 1690 seize waning, because through the lamp they had come to the day. | |
| 1691 For John was that lamp and gave testimony to the day.<a href= | |
| 1692 "#_ftn40" name="_ftnref40" id="_ftnref40">[40]</a></p> | |
| 1693 <div><br clear="all" /> | |
| 1694 <br /> | |
| 1695 <br /> | |
| 1696 <br /> | |
| 1697 <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /> | |
| 1698 <div id="ftn1"> | |
| 1699 <p><a href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" id="_ftn1">[1]</a> <i>In | |
| 1700 Ioannem hom</i>., 59, ch. 2; PG 59, col. 324; cf. <i>Catena | |
| 1701 Aurea,</i> 10:1-5.</p> | |
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1702 </div> |
| 35 | 1703 <div id="ftn2"> |
| 1704 <p><a href="#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" id="_ftn2">[2]</a> Ibid.; cf. | |
| 1705 <i>Catena Aurea,</i> 10:1-5.</p> | |
| 1706 </div> | |
| 1707 <div id="ftn3"> | |
| 1708 <p><a href="#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" id="_ftn3">[3]</a> <i>Tract. in | |
| 1709 Io</i>., 45, ch. 2, col. 1720; cf. <i>Catena Aurea,</i> 10:1-5.</p> | |
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1710 </div> |
| 35 | 1711 <div id="ftn4"> |
| 1712 <p><a href="#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" id="_ftn4">[4]</a> loc. cit; | |
| 1713 also <i>Tract. in Io</i>., 47, ch. 1, col. 1733; cf. <i>Catena | |
| 1714 Aurea,</i> 10:11-13.</p> | |
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1715 </div> |
| 35 | 1716 <div id="ftn5"> |
| 1717 <p><a href="#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" id="_ftn5">[5]</a> <i>In | |
| 1718 Ioannem hom</i>., 59, ch. 2; PG 59, col. 324; cf. <i>Catena | |
| 1719 Aurea,</i> 10:1-5.</p> | |
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1720 </div> |
| 35 | 1721 <div id="ftn6"> |
| 1722 <p><a href="#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" id="_ftn6">[6]</a> <i>Tract. in | |
| 1723 Io</i>., 46, ch. 2, col. 1728; cf. <i>Catena Aurea,</i> 10:1-5.</p> | |
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1724 </div> |
| 35 | 1725 <div id="ftn7"> |
| 1726 <p><a href="#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" id="_ftn7">[7]</a> Ibid.; cf. | |
| 1727 <i>Catena Aurea,</i> 10:1-5.</p> | |
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1728 </div> |
| 35 | 1729 <div id="ftn8"> |
| 1730 <p><a href="#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" id="_ftn8">[8]</a> St. Thomas | |
| 1731 refers to Jn 10:10 in the <i>Summa Theologiae</i>: III, q. 50, a. | |
| 1732 1, obj. 3; q. 55, a. 5, obj. 3.</p> | |
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1733 </div> |
| 35 | 1734 <div id="ftn9"> |
| 1735 <p><a href="#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" id="_ftn9">[9]</a> <i>Tract. in | |
| 1736 Io</i>., 45, ch. 6, col. 1721; cf. <i>Catena Aurea,</i> 10:6.</p> | |
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1737 </div> |
| 35 | 1738 <div id="ftn10"> |
| 1739 <p><a href="#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" id="_ftn10">[10]</a> | |
| 1740 <i>Tract. in Io</i>., 45, ch. 7, col. 1722.</p> | |
| 1741 </div> | |
| 1742 <div id="ftn11"> | |
| 1743 <p><a href="#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11" id="_ftn11">[11]</a> <i>In | |
| 1744 Ioannem hom</i>., 59, ch. 3; PG 59, col. 325; cf. <i>Catena | |
| 1745 Aurea</i>, 10:7-10.</p> | |
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1746 </div> |
| 35 | 1747 <div id="ftn12"> |
| 1748 <p><a href="#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12" id="_ftn12">[12]</a> | |
| 1749 <i>Tract. in Io</i>., 45, ch. 15, col. 1726-27; cf. <i>Catena | |
| 1750 Aurea,</i> 10:7-10.</p> | |
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1751 </div> |
| 35 | 1752 <div id="ftn13"> |
| 1753 <p><a href="#_ftnref13" name="_ftn13" id="_ftn13">[13]</a> Gregory, | |
| 1754 <i>Super Ezek. Hom,</i> 13; cf. <i>Catena Aurea</i>, 10:7-10.</p> | |
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1755 </div> |
| 35 | 1756 <div id="ftn14"> |
| 1757 <p><a href="#_ftnref14" name="_ftn14" id="_ftn14">[14]</a> <i>De | |
| 1758 Spiritu et Anima</i>, ch. IX; PL 40, col. 785.</p> | |
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1759 </div> |
| 35 | 1760 <div id="ftn15"> |
| 1761 <p><a href="#_ftnref15" name="_ftn15" id="_ftn15">[15]</a> St. | |
| 1762 Thomas refers to Jn 10:11 in the <i>Summa Theologiae</i>: II-II, q. | |
| 1763 184, a. 5; q. 185, a. 4; Jn 12: <i>ST</i> II-II, q. 185, a. 5, obj. | |
| 1764 1.</p> | |
| 1765 </div> | |
| 1766 <div id="ftn16"> | |
| 1767 <p><a href="#_ftnref16" name="_ftn16" id="_ftn16">[16]</a><i>Tract. | |
| 1768 in Io</i>., 46, ch. 1, col. 1727-28; cf. <i>Catena Aurea,</i> | |
| 1769 10:11-13.</p> | |
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1770 </div> |
| 35 | 1771 <div id="ftn17"> |
| 1772 <p><a href="#_ftnref17" name="_ftn17" id="_ftn17">[17]</a> | |
| 1773 Aristotle.</p> | |
| 1774 </div> | |
| 1775 <div id="ftn18"> | |
| 1776 <p><a href="#_ftnref18" name="_ftn18" id="_ftn18">[18]</a> | |
| 1777 Augustine, <i>Tract. in Io.,</i> 46, ch. 8, col. 1732; cf. | |
| 1778 <i>Catena Aurea,</i> 10:11-13.</p> | |
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1779 </div> |
| 35 | 1780 <div id="ftn19"> |
| 1781 <p><a href="#_ftnref19" name="_ftn19" id="_ftn19">[19]</a> | |
| 1782 Augustine, <i>Epistola CCXXVII,</i> ch. 2; PL 33, col. 1014. cf. | |
| 1783 <i>Catena Aurea,</i> 10:11-13.</p> | |
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1784 </div> |
| 35 | 1785 <div id="ftn20"> |
| 1786 <p><a href="#_ftnref20" name="_ftn20" id="_ftn20">[20]</a> St. | |
| 1787 Thomas refers to Jn 10:16 in the <i>Summa Theologiae</i>: III, q. | |
| 1788 35, a. 8, ad 1; Jn 10:17: <i>ST</i> III, q. 5, a. 4, s. c.; Jn | |
| 1789 10:18: <i>ST</i> III, q. 5, a. 3; q. 47, a. 1, obj. 1; q. 47, a. 2, | |
| 1790 ad 1; q. 50, a. 3, obj. 1; q. 53, a. 4, s. c.</p> | |
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1791 </div> |
| 35 | 1792 <div id="ftn21"> |
| 1793 <p><a href="#_ftnref21" name="_ftn21" id="_ftn21">[21]</a> | |
| 1794 summa-three substances in Christ; his body and soul were separated | |
| 1795 at death but his divinity remained united to both.</p> | |
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1796 </div> |
| 35 | 1797 <div id="ftn22"> |
| 1798 <p><a href="#_ftnref22" name="_ftn22" id="_ftn22">[22]</a> Summa-- | |
| 1799 God's love is the cause of human love, but works done in charity | |
| 1800 merit the increase of the effects of God's love.</p> | |
| 1801 </div> | |
| 1802 <div id="ftn23"> | |
| 1803 <p><a href="#_ftnref23" name="_ftn23" id="_ftn23">[23]</a> | |
| 1804 <i>Tract., in Io.</i>, 31, ch. 5, col. 1638.</p> | |
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1805 </div> |
| 35 | 1806 <div id="ftn24"> |
| 1807 <p><a href="#_ftnref24" name="_ftn24" id="_ftn24">[24]</a> | |
| 1808 summa-Christ's entire nature was subject to His will.</p> | |
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1809 </div> |
| 35 | 1810 <div id="ftn25"> |
| 1811 <p><a href="#_ftnref25" name="_ftn25" id="_ftn25">[25]</a> St. | |
| 1812 Thomas refers to Jn 10:27in the <i>Summa Theologiae</i>: I-II, q. | |
| 1813 108, a. 4, ad 3; Jn 30: <i>ST</i> III, q. 17, a. 1, obj. 5.</p> | |
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1814 </div> |
| 35 | 1815 <div id="ftn26"> |
| 1816 <p><a href="#_ftnref26" name="_ftn26" id="_ftn26">[26]</a><i>Tract. | |
| 1817 in Io</i>., 48, ch. 2, col. 1741; cf. <i>Catena Aurea,</i> | |
| 1818 10:22-30.</p> | |
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1819 </div> |
| 35 | 1820 <div id="ftn27"> |
| 1821 <p><a href="#_ftnref27" name="_ftn27" id="_ftn27">[27]</a> | |
| 1822 <i>Moralia</i>, II, ch. 2, no. 2; PL 75, col. 555C; cf. <i>Catena | |
| 1823 Aurea,</i> 10:22-30.</p> | |
| 1824 </div> | |
| 1825 <div id="ftn28"> | |
| 1826 <p><a href="#_ftnref28" name="_ftn28" id="_ftn28">[28]</a> 1443, | |
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1827 1444, Summa-predestination and preordination. He begins to mention |
| 35 | 1828 predestination in 1373, but says more about it here, also 1447, why |
| 1829 it is the fault of some why it is not given to them to believe.</p> | |
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1830 </div> |
| 35 | 1831 <div id="ftn29"> |
| 1832 <p><a href="#_ftnref29" name="_ftn29" id="_ftn29">[29]</a><i>Tract. | |
| 1833 in Io</i>., 48, ch. 5, col. 1742; cf. <i>Catena Aurea,</i> | |
| 1834 10:22-30.</p> | |
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1835 </div> |
| 35 | 1836 <div id="ftn30"> |
| 1837 <p><a href="#_ftnref30" name="_ftn30" id="_ftn30">[30]</a> | |
| 1838 Origen</p> | |
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1839 </div> |
| 35 | 1840 <div id="ftn31"> |
| 1841 <p><a href="#_ftnref31" name="_ftn31" id="_ftn31">[31]</a> | |
| 1842 <i>Tract. in Io</i>., 48, ch. 6, col. 1743; cf. <i>Catena | |
| 1843 Aurea,</i> 10:22-30.</p> | |
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1844 </div> |
| 35 | 1845 <div id="ftn32"> |
| 1846 <p><a href="#_ftnref32" name="_ftn32" id="_ftn32">[32]</a> | |
| 1847 <i>Ibid</i>, 48, ch. 6, col. 1743; cf. <i>Catena Aurea,</i> | |
| 1848 10:22-30.</p> | |
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1849 </div> |
| 35 | 1850 <div id="ftn33"> |
| 1851 <p><a href="#_ftnref33" name="_ftn33" id="_ftn33">[33]</a> Summa, | |
| 1852 Christ is one with the Father absolutely, creatures can only become | |
| 1853 one with God in a qualified sense.</p> | |
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1854 </div> |
| 35 | 1855 <div id="ftn34"> |
| 1856 <p><a href="#_ftnref34" name="_ftn34" id="_ftn34">[34]</a> St. | |
| 1857 Thomas refers to Jn 10:36 in the <i>Summa Theologiae</i>: III, q. | |
| 1858 34, a. 1, s. c.; Jn 10:38: <i>ST</i> III, q. 43, a. 1; Jn 10:41: | |
| 1859 <i>ST</i> III, q. 27, a. 5, ad 3; q. 38, a. 2, obj. 2.</p> | |
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1860 </div> |
| 35 | 1861 <div id="ftn35"> |
| 1862 <p><a href="#_ftnref35" name="_ftn35" id="_ftn35">[35]</a> | |
| 1863 Summa-because we become gods by participating in the Word of God, | |
| 1864 the Word must be divine.</p> | |
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1865 </div> |
| 35 | 1866 <div id="ftn36"> |
| 1867 <p><a href="#_ftnref36" name="_ftn36" id="_ftn36">[36]</a> <i>De | |
| 1868 Trin</i>., 7, ch. 24; PL 10; cf. <i>Catena Aurea,</i> 10:31-38.</p> | |
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1869 </div> |
| 35 | 1870 <div id="ftn37"> |
| 1871 <p><a href="#_ftnref37" name="_ftn37" id="_ftn37">[37]</a> | |
| 1872 <i>Tract. in Io</i>., 48, ch. 10, col. 1745; cf. <i>Catena | |
| 1873 Aurea,</i> 10:31-38.</p> | |
| 1874 </div> | |
| 1875 <div id="ftn38"> | |
| 1876 <p><a href="#_ftnref38" name="_ftn38" id="_ftn38">[38]</a> Hilary, | |
| 1877 <i>De Trin</i>., 9, ch. 61; PL 10, col. 330B.</p> | |
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1878 </div> |
| 35 | 1879 <div id="ftn39"> |
| 1880 <p><a href="#_ftnref39" name="_ftn39" id="_ftn39">[39]</a> | |
| 1881 <i>Tract. in Io</i>., 48, ch. 10, col. 1745; cf. <i>Catena | |
| 1882 Aurea,</i> 10:31-38.</p> | |
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1883 </div> |
| 35 | 1884 <div id="ftn40"> |
| 1885 <p><a href="#_ftnref40" name="_ftn40" id="_ftn40">[40]</a> | |
| 1886 <i>Tract. in Io</i>., 48, ch. 12, col. 1746; cf. <i>Catena | |
| 1887 Aurea,</i> 10:39-42.</p> | |
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1888 </div> |
| 35 | 1889 </div> |
| 1890 </blockquote> | |
| 1891 </body> | |
| 1892 </html> |