Mercurial > hg > Aquinas
annotate john/english/John3.html @ 89:ca573ccfc3e7
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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">3</span></p> | |
| 13 <p style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.125in"><span style= | |
| 14 "font-weight: bold">LECTURE 1</span></p> | |
| 15 <blockquote> | |
| 16 <p>1 There was a certain Pharisee named Nicodemus, a member of the | |
| 17 Sanhedrin. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said to him, | |
| 18 “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no | |
| 19 one could perform the signs you perform, unless he had God with | |
| 20 him.” 3 Jesus responded and said to him,</p> | |
| 21 <p style="margin-left: 0.5in">“Amen, amen, I say to | |
| 22 you,<br /> | |
| 23 unless one is born again,<br /> | |
| 24 he cannot see the kingdom of God.”</p> | |
| 25 <p>4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born again when | |
| 26 he is already an old man? Is it possible for him to return to his | |
| 27 mother’s womb and be born all over again?” 5 Jesus | |
| 28 replied,</p> | |
| 29 <p style="margin-left: 0.5in">“Amen, amen, I say to | |
| 30 you,<br /> | |
| 31 unless one is born again of water and the Holy Spirit,<br /> | |
| 32 he cannot enter the kingdom of God.<br /> | |
| 33 6 What is born of flesh is itself flesh;<br /> | |
| 34 and what is born of Spirit is itself spirit.”</p> | |
| 35 </blockquote> | |
| 36 <p>423 Above, the Evangelist showed Christ’s power in | |
| 37 relation to changes affecting nature; here he shows it in relation | |
| 38 to our reformation by grace, which is his principal subject. | |
| 39 Reformation by grace comes about through spiritual generation and | |
| 40 by the conferring of benefits on those regenerated. First, then, he | |
| 41 treats of spiritual generation. Secondly, of the spiritual benefits | |
| 42 divinely conferred on the regenerated, and this in chapter | |
| 43 five.</p> | |
| 44 <p>As to the first he does two things. First, he treats of | |
| 45 spiritual regeneration in relation to the Jews. Secondly, of the | |
| 46 spreading of the fruits of this regeneration even to foreign | |
| 47 peoples, and this in chapter four. Concerning the first he does two | |
| 48 things. First, he explains spiritual regeneration with words. | |
| 49 Secondly, he completes it with deeds (3:22).</p> | |
| 50 <p>As to the first he does three things. First, he shows the need | |
| 51 for a spiritual regeneration. Secondly, its quality (3:4). Thirdly, | |
| 52 its mode and nature (3:9). As to the first he does two things. | |
| 53 First, he mentions the occasion for showing this need. Secondly, | |
| 54 the need itself for this regeneration (3:3).</p> | |
| 55 <p>The occasion was presented by Nicodemus; hence he says, | |
| 56 <span style="font-weight: bold">There was a certain Pharisee named | |
| 57 Nicodemus.</span> And he describes him as to his person, from the | |
| 58 time, and from his statements.</p> | |
| 59 <p>424 he describes his person in three ways. First, as to his | |
| 60 religion, because he was a Pharisee, hence he says, <span style= | |
| 61 "font-weight: bold">There was a certain Pharisee.</span> For there | |
| 62 were two sects aniong the Jews: the Pharisees and the Sadducees. | |
| 63 The Pharisees were closer to us in their beliefs, for they believed | |
| 64 in the resurrection, and admitted the existence of spiritual | |
| 65 creatures. The Sadducees, on the other hand, disagree more with us, | |
| 66 for they believed neither in the resurrection to come nor in the | |
| 67 existence of spirits. The former were called Pharisees, as being | |
| 68 separated from the others. And because their opinion was the more | |
| 69 credible and nearer to the truth, it was easier for Nicodemus to be | |
| 70 converted to Christ. “I lived as a Pharisee, according to the | |
| 71 strictest sect of our religion” (Acts 26:5).</p> | |
| 72 <p>425 As to his name he says, <span style= | |
| 73 "font-weight: bold">named Nicodemus,</span> which means | |
| 74 “victor,” or “the victory of the people.” | |
| 75 This signifies those who overcame the world through faith by being | |
| 76 converted to Christ from Judaism. “This is the victory that | |
| 77 overcomes the world, our faith” (1 Jn 5:4).</p> | |
| 78 <p>426 Thirdly, as to his rank he says, a <span style= | |
| 79 "font-weight: bold">member of the Sanhedrin.</span> For although | |
| 80 our Lord did not choose the wise or powerful or those of high birth | |
| 81 at the beginning, lest the power of the faith be attributed to | |
| 82 human widsom and power—“Not many of you are learned in | |
| 83 the worldly sense, not many powerful, not many of high birth. But | |
| 84 God chose the simple ones of the world” (1 Cor | |
| 85 1:26)—still he willed to convert some of the wise and | |
| 86 powerful to himself at the very beginning. And he did this so that | |
| 87 his doctrine would not be held in contempt, as being accepted | |
| 88 exclusively by the lowly and uneducated, and so that the number of | |
| 89 believers would not be attributed to the rusticity and ignorance of | |
| 90 the converts rather than to the power of the faith. However, he did | |
| 91 not will that a large number of those converted to him be powerful | |
| 92 and of high birth, lest, as has been said, it should be ascribed to | |
| 93 human power and wisdom. And so it says, “many of those in | |
| 94 authority believed in him” (below 12:42), among whom was this | |
| 95 Nicodemus. “The rulers of the people have come | |
| 96 together” (Ps 46:10).</p> | |
| 97 <p>427 Then he describes him as to the time, saying, <span style= | |
| 98 "font-weight: bold">he came to Jesus at night.</span> In regard to | |
| 99 this, it might be noted that in Scripture the quality of the time | |
| 100 is mentioned as to certain persons in order to indicate their | |
| 101 knowledge or the condition of their actions. Here an obscure time | |
| 102 is mentioned, <span style="font-weight: bold">at night.</span> For | |
| 103 the night is obscure and suited to the state of mind of Nicodemus, | |
| 104 who did not come to Jesus free of care and anxiety, but in fear; | |
| 105 for he was one of those of whom it is said that they | |
| 106 “believed in him; but they did not admit it because of the | |
| 107 Pharisees, so that they would not be expelled from the | |
| 108 synagogue” (below 12:42). For their love was not perfect, so | |
| 109 it continues, “For they loved the glory of men more than the | |
| 110 glory of’ God.”</p> | |
| 111 <p>Further, night was appropriate to his ignorance and the | |
| 112 imperfect understanding he had of Christ: “The night has | |
| 113 passed, and day is at hand. So let us cast-off the works of | |
| 114 darkness” (Rom 13:12); “They have not known or | |
| 115 understood; they are walking in darkness” (Ps 81:5).</p> | |
| 116 <p>428 Then he is described from his statements, when he says that | |
| 117 Nicodemus said to Jesus: <span style="font-weight: bold">Rabbi, we | |
| 118 know that you are a teacher come from God.</span> Here he affirms | |
| 119 Christ’s office as teacher when he says, <span style= | |
| 120 "font-weight: bold">Rabbi,</span> and his power of acting, saying, | |
| 121 <span style="font-weight: bold">for no one could perform the signs | |
| 122 you perform, unles he had God with him.</span> And in both remarks | |
| 123 he says what is true, but he does not affirm enough.</p> | |
| 124 <p>He is right is calling Jesus <span style= | |
| 125 "font-weight: bold">Rabbi,</span> i.e., Teacher, because, | |
| 126 “You call me Teacher and Lord; and you do well, for so I | |
| 127 am,” as we read below (13:13). For Nicodemus had read what | |
| 128 was written in Joel (2:23): “Children of Sion, rejoice, and | |
| 129 be joyful in the Lord your God, because he has given you a teacher | |
| 130 of justice.” But he says too little, because he says that | |
| 131 Jesus came as a teacher from God, but is silent on whether he is | |
| 132 God. For to come as a teacher from God is common to all good | |
| 133 prelates: “I will give you shepherds after my own heart, and | |
| 134 they will feed you with knowledge and doctrine,” as it says | |
| 135 in Jeremiah (3:15). Therefore, this is not unique to Christ even | |
| 136 though Christ taught in a manner unlike other men. For some | |
| 137 teachers teach only from without, but Christ also instructs within, | |
| 138 because “He was the true light, which enlightens every | |
| 139 man” (above 1:9); thus he alone gives wisdom: “I will | |
| 140 give you an eloquence and a wisdom” (Lk 21:15), and this is | |
| 141 something that no mere man can say.</p> | |
| 142 <p>429 He affirms his power because of the signs he saw. As if to | |
| 143 say: I believe that you have come as a teacher from God, | |
| 144 <span style="font-weight: bold">for no one could perform the signs | |
| 145 you perform.</span> And he is speaking the truth, because the signs | |
| 146 which Christ did cannot be worked except by God, and because God | |
| 147 was with him: “He who sent me is with me” (below 8:29). | |
| 148 But he says too little, because he believed that Christ did not | |
| 149 perform these signs through his own power, but as relying on the | |
| 150 power of another; as though God were not with him by a unity of | |
| 151 essence but merely by an infusion of grace. But this is false, | |
| 152 because Christ performed these signs not by an exterior power but | |
| 153 by his own; for the power of God and of Christ is one and the same. | |
| 154 It is similar to what the woman says to Elijah: “Because of | |
| 155 this I know that you are a man of God” (1 Kgs 17:24).</p> | |
| 156 <p>430 Then when he says that Jesus answered, <span style= | |
| 157 "font-weight: bold">Amen, amen, I say to you</span>, he sets down | |
| 158 the necessity for spiritual regeneration, because of the ignorance | |
| 159 of Nicodemus. And so he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">Amen, | |
| 160 amen</span>. Here we should note that this word, <span style= | |
| 161 "font-weight: bold">amen</span>, is a Hebrew word frequently | |
| 162 employed by Christ; hence out of reverence for him no Greek or | |
| 163 Latin translator wanted to translate it. Sometimes it means the | |
| 164 same as “true” or “truly”; and sometimes | |
| 165 the same as “so be it.” Thus is the Psalms 71 (v 19), | |
| 166 88 (v 53), and 106, where we have, “So be it, so be | |
| 167 it,” the Hebrew has “Amen, amen.” But John is the | |
| 168 only Evangelist who duplicates or makes a twin use of this word. | |
| 169 The reason for this is that the other Evangelists are concerned | |
| 170 mainly with matters pertaining to the humanity of Christ, which, | |
| 171 since they are easier to believe, need less reinforcement; but John | |
| 172 deals chiefly with things pertaining to the divinity of Christ, and | |
| 173 these, since they are hidden and remote from men’s knowledge | |
| 174 and experience, require greater formal declaration.</p> | |
| 175 <p>431 Next we should point out that at first glance this answer of | |
| 176 Christ seems to be entirely foreign to Nicodemus’ statement. | |
| 177 For what connection is there between Nicodemus’ statement, | |
| 178 <span style="font-weight: bold">Rabbi, we know that you are a | |
| 179 teacher come from God,</span> and the Lord’s reply, | |
| 180 <span style="font-weight: bold">unless one is born again, he cannot | |
| 181 see the kingdom of God.</span></p> | |
| 182 <p>But we should note, as has already been stated, that Nicodemus, | |
| 183 having an imperfect opinion about Christ, affirmed that he was a | |
| 184 teacher and performed these signs as a mere man. And so the Lord | |
| 185 wishes to show Nicodemus how he might arrive at a deeper | |
| 186 understanding of him. And as a matter of fact, the Lord might have | |
| 187 done so with an argument, but because this might have resulted in a | |
| 188 quarrel—the opposite of which was prophesied about him: | |
| 189 “He will not quarrel” (Is 42:2)—he wished to lead | |
| 190 him to a true understanding with gentleness. As if to say: It is | |
| 191 not strange that you regard me as a mere man, because one cannot | |
| 192 know these secrets of the divinity unless he has achieved a | |
| 193 spiritual regeneration. And this is what he says: <span style= | |
| 194 "font-weight: bold">unless one is born again, he cannot see the | |
| 195 kingdom of God.</span></p> | |
| 196 <p>432 Here we should point out that since vision is an act of | |
| 197 life, then according to the diverse kinds of life there will be | |
| 198 diversity of vision. For there is a sentient life which some living | |
| 199 things share in common, and this life has a sentient vision or | |
| 200 knowledge. And there is also a spiritual life, by which man is made | |
| 201 like God and other holy spirits; and this life enjoys a spiritual | |
| 202 vision. Now spiritual things cannot be seen by the sentient: | |
| 203 “The sensual man does not perceive those things that pertain | |
| 204 to the Spirit of God” (1 Cor 2:14), but they are perceived by | |
| 205 the spiritual vision: “No one knows the things of God but the | |
| 206 Spirit of God” (1 Cor 2:11). So the apostle says: “You | |
| 207 did not receive the spirit of slavery, putting you in fear again, | |
| 208 but the spirit of adoption” (Rom 8:15). And we receive this | |
| 209 spirit through a spiritual regenaration: “He saved us by the | |
| 210 cleansing of regeneration in the Holy Spirit” (Ti 3:3). | |
| 211 Therefore, if spiritual vision comes only through the Holy Spirit, | |
| 212 and if the Holy Spirit is given through a cleansing of spiritual | |
| 213 regeneration, then it is only by a cleansing of regeneration that | |
| 214 we can see the kingdom of God. Thus he says, <span style= | |
| 215 "font-weight: bold">unless one is born again of water and the Holy | |
| 216 Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.</span> As if to say: It | |
| 217 is not surprising if you do not see the kingdom of God, because no | |
| 218 one can see it unless he receives the Holy Spirit, through whom one | |
| 219 is reborn a son of God.</p> | |
| 220 <p>433 It is not only the royal throne that pertains to a kingdom, | |
| 221 but also the things needed for governing the kingdom, such as the | |
| 222 royal dignity, royal favors, and the way of justice by which the | |
| 223 kingdom is consolidated. Hence he says, <span style= | |
| 224 "font-weight: bold">he cannot see the kingdom of God,</span> i.e., | |
| 225 the glory and dignity of God, i.e., the mysteries of eternal | |
| 226 salvation which are seen through the justice of faith: “The | |
| 227 kingdom of God is not food and drink” (Rom 14:17).</p> | |
| 228 <p>Now in the Old Law there was a spiritual regeneration; but it | |
| 229 was imperfect and symbolic: “All were baptized into Moses, in | |
| 230 the cloud and in the sea” (1 Cor 10:2), i.e., they received | |
| 231 baptism in symbol. Accordingly, they did see the mysteries of the | |
| 232 kingdom of God, but only symbolically: “seeing from | |
| 233 afar” (Heb 11:13). But in the New Law there is an evident | |
| 234 spiritual regeneration, although imperfect, because we are renewed | |
| 235 only inwardly by grace, but not outwardly by incorruption: | |
| 236 “Although our outward nature is wasting away, yet our inward | |
| 237 nature is being renewed day by day” (2 Cor 4:16). And so we | |
| 238 do see the kingdom of God and the mysteries of eternal salvation, | |
| 239 but imperfectly, for as it says, “Now we see in a mirror, in | |
| 240 an obscure manner” (1 Cor 13:12). But there is perfect | |
| 241 regeneration in heaven, because we will be renewed both inwardly | |
| 242 and outwardly. And therefore we shall see the kingdom of God in a | |
| 243 most perfect way: “But then we will see face to face,” | |
| 244 as is said in 1 Corinthians (13:12); and “When he appears we | |
| 245 will be like him, because we will see him as he is” (1 Jn | |
| 246 3:2).</p> | |
| 247 <p>434 It is clear, therefore, that just as one does not have | |
| 248 bodily vision unless he is born, so one cannot have spiritual | |
| 249 vision unless he is reborn. And according to the threefold | |
| 250 regeneration, there is a threefold kind of vision.</p> | |
| 251 <p>435 Note that the Greek reading is not “again,” but | |
| 252 <i>anothe,</i> i.e., “from above,” which Jerome | |
| 253 translated as “again,” in order to suggest addition. | |
| 254 And this is the way Jerome understood the saying, <span style= | |
| 255 "font-weight: bold">unless one is born again.</span> It is as if he | |
| 256 were saying: Unless one is reborn once more through a fraternal | |
| 257 generation.</p> | |
| 258 <p>Chrysostoin, however, says that to be “born from | |
| 259 above” is peculiar to the Son of God, because he alone is | |
| 260 born from above: “The one who came from above is above all | |
| 261 things” (below 3:31). And Christ is said to be born from | |
| 262 above both as to time (if we may speak thus), because he was | |
| 263 begotten from eternity: “Before the daystar I begot | |
| 264 you” (Ps 109:3), and as to the principle of his generation, | |
| 265 because he proceeds from the heavenly Father: “I came down | |
| 266 from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent | |
| 267 me” (below 6:38). Therefore, because our regeneration is in | |
| 268 the likeness of the Son of God, inasmuch as “Those whom he | |
| 269 foreknew he predestined to become conformed to the image of his | |
| 270 Son” (Rom 8:29), and because that generation is from above, | |
| 271 our generation also is from above: both as to the time, because of | |
| 272 our eternal predestination, “He chose us in him before the | |
| 273 foundation of the world” (Eph 1:4), and as to its being a | |
| 274 gift of God, as we read below (6:44), “No one can come to me | |
| 275 unless the Father, who sent me, draws him”; and “You | |
| 276 have been saved by the grace of God” (Eph 2:5).</p> | |
| 277 <p>436 Then when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">Nicodemus | |
| 278 said to him,</span> he gives the manner of and the reason for this | |
| 279 spiritual regeneration. First, the doubt of Nicodemus is set forth. | |
| 280 Secondly, Christ’s response (v 5).</p> | |
| 281 <p>437 As to the first we should note that as stated in 1 | |
| 282 Corinthians (2:14): “The sensual man does not perceive those | |
| 283 things that pertain to the Spirit of God.” And so because | |
| 284 Nicodemus was yet carnal and sensual, he was unable to grasp, | |
| 285 except in a carnal manner, the things that were said to him. | |
| 286 Consequently, what the Lord said ,to him about spiritual | |
| 287 regeneration, he understood of carnal generation. And this is what | |
| 288 he says: <span style="font-weight: bold">How can a man be born | |
| 289 again when he is already an old man?</span></p> | |
| 290 <p>We should note here, according to Chrysostom, that Nicodemus | |
| 291 wanted to object to what was said by the Savior. But his objection | |
| 292 is foolish, because Christ was speaking of spiritual regeneration, | |
| 293 and he is objecting in terms of carnal regeneration. In like | |
| 294 manner, all the reasons brought forth to attack the things of faith | |
| 295 are foolish, since they are not according to the meaning of Sacred | |
| 296 Scripture.</p> | |
| 297 <p>438 Nicodemus objected to the Lord’s statement that a man | |
| 298 must be born again according to the two ways in which this seemed | |
| 299 impossible. In one way, on account of the irreversibility of human | |
| 300 life; for a man cannot return to infancy from old age. Hence we | |
| 301 read, “I am walking on a path,” namely, this present | |
| 302 life, “by which I will not return” (Jb 16:23). And it | |
| 303 is from this point of view that he says, <span style= | |
| 304 "font-weight: bold">How can a man be born again when he is already | |
| 305 an old man?</span> As if to say: Shall he become a child once more | |
| 306 so that he can be reborn? “He will not return again to his | |
| 307 home, and his place will not know him any more” (Jb 7:10). In | |
| 308 the second way, regeneration seemed impossible because of the mode | |
| 309 of carnal generation. Forin the beginning, when a man is generated, | |
| 310 he is small in size, so that his mother’s womb can contain | |
| 311 him; but later, after he is born, he continues to grow and reaches | |
| 312 such a size that he cannot be contained within his mother’s | |
| 313 womb. And so Nicodemus says, <span style="font-weight: bold">Is it | |
| 314 possible for him to return to his mother’s womb and be born | |
| 315 all over again?</span> As if to say: He cannot, because the womb | |
| 316 cannot contain him.</p> | |
| 317 <p>439 But this does not apply to spiritual generation. For no | |
| 318 matter how spiritually old a man might become through sin, accordto | |
| 319 the Psalm (31:3): “Because I kept silent, all my bones grew | |
| 320 old,” he can, with the help of divine grace, become new, | |
| 321 according to the Psalm (102:5): “Your youth will be renewed | |
| 322 like the eagle’s.” And no matter how enormous he is, he | |
| 323 can enter the spiritual womb of the Church by the sacrament of | |
| 324 baptism. And it is clear what that spiritual womb is; otherwise it | |
| 325 would never have been said: “From the womb, before the | |
| 326 daystar, I begot you” (Ps 109:3). Yet there is a sense in | |
| 327 which his objection applies. For just as a man, once he is born | |
| 328 according to nature, cannot be reborn, so once he is born in a | |
| 329 spiritual way through baptism, he cannot be reborn, because he | |
| 330 cannot be baptized again: “One Lord, one faith, one | |
| 331 baptism,” as we read in Ephesians (4:5).</p> | |
| 332 <p>440 Then we have the answer of Christ. Concerning this he does | |
| 333 three things. First, he answers the arguments of Nicodemus by | |
| 334 showing the nature of regeneration. Secondly, he explains this | |
| 335 answer with a reason (v 6). Thirdly, he explains it with an | |
| 336 example.</p> | |
| 337 <p>441 He answers the objections by showing that he is speaking of | |
| 338 a spiritual regeneration, not a carnal one. And this is what he | |
| 339 says: <span style="font-weight: bold">unless one is born again of | |
| 340 water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of | |
| 341 God.</span> As if to say: You are thinking of a carnal generation, | |
| 342 but I am speaking of a spiritual generation.</p> | |
| 343 <p>Note that above he had said, <span style="font-weight: bold">he | |
| 344 cannot see the kingdom of God,</span> while here he says, | |
| 345 <span style="font-weight: bold">he cannot enter the kingdom of | |
| 346 God,</span> which is the same thing. For no one can see the things | |
| 347 of the kingdom of God unless he enters it; and to the extent that | |
| 348 he enters, he sees. “I will give him a white stone upon which | |
| 349 is written a new name, which no one knows but he who receives | |
| 350 it” (Rv 5:5).</p> | |
| 351 <p>442 Now there is a reason why spiritual generation comes from | |
| 352 the Spirit. It is necessary that the one generated be generated in | |
| 353 the likeness of the one generating; but we are regenerated as sons | |
| 354 of God, in the likeness of his true Son. Therefore, it is necessary | |
| 355 that our spiritual regeneration come about through that by which we | |
| 356 are made like the true Son. and this conies about by Our having his | |
| 357 Spirit: “If any one does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is | |
| 358 not his” (Rom 8:9); “By this we know that we abide in | |
| 359 him, and he in us: because he has given us of his Spirit” (1 | |
| 360 Jn 4:13). Thus spiritual regeneration must come from the Holy | |
| 361 Spirit. “You did not receive the spirit of slavery, putting | |
| 362 you in fear again, but the spirit of adoption” (Rom 8:15); | |
| 363 “It is the Spirit that gives life” (below 6:63).</p> | |
| 364 <p>443 Water, too, is necessary for this regeneration, and for | |
| 365 three reasons. First, because of the condition of human nature. For | |
| 366 man consists of soul and body, and if the Spirit alone were | |
| 367 involved in his regeneration, this would indicate that only the | |
| 368 spiritual part of man is regenerated. Hence in order that the flesh | |
| 369 also be regenerated, it is necessary that, in addition to the | |
| 370 Spirit through whom the soul is regenerated, something bodily be | |
| 371 involved, through which the body is regenerated; and this,is | |
| 372 water.</p> | |
| 373 <p>Secondly, water is necessary for the sake of human knowledge. | |
| 374 For, as Dionysius says, divine wisdom so disposes all things that | |
| 375 it provides for each thing according to its nature. Now it is | |
| 376 natural for man to know; and so it is fitting that spiritual things | |
| 377 be conferred on men in such a way that he may know them: “so | |
| 378 that we may know what God has given us” (1 Cor 2:12). But the | |
| 379 natural manner of this knowledge is that man know spiritual things | |
| 380 by means of sensible things, since all our knowledge begins in | |
| 381 sense knowledge. Therefore, in order that we might understand what | |
| 382 is spiritual in our regeneration, it was fitting that there be in | |
| 383 it something sensible and material, that is, water, through which | |
| 384 we understand that just as water washes and cleanses the exterior | |
| 385 in a bodily way, so through baptism a man is washed and cleansed | |
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386 inwardly in a spiritual way.</p> |
| 35 | 387 <p>Thirdly, water was necessary so that there might be a |
| 388 correspondence of causes. For the cause of our regeneration is the | |
| 389 incarnate Word: “He gave them power to become the sons of | |
| 390 God,” as we saw above (1:12). Therefore it was fitting that | |
| 391 in the sacraments, which have their efficacy from the power of the | |
| 392 incarnate Word, there be something corresponding to the Word, and | |
| 393 something corresponding to the flesh, or body. And spiritually | |
| 394 speaking, this is water when the sacrament is baptism, so that | |
| 395 through it we may be conformed to the death of Christ, since we are | |
| 396 submerged in it during baptism as Christ was in the womb of the | |
| 397 earth for three days: “We are buried with him by | |
| 398 baptism” (Rom 6:4).</p> | |
| 399 <p>Further, this mystery was suggested in the first production of | |
| 400 things, when the Spirit of God hovered over the waters (Gn 1:2). | |
| 401 But a greater power was conferred on water by contact with the most | |
| 402 pure flesh of Christ; because in the beginning water brought forth | |
| 403 crawling creatures with living souls, but since Christ was baptized | |
| 404 in the Jordan, water has yielded spiritual souls.</p> | |
| 405 <p>444 It is clear that the Holy Spirit is God, since he says, | |
| 406 <span style="font-weight: bold">unless one is born again of water | |
| 407 and the Holy Spirit</span> (<i>ex aqua et Spiritu Sancto</i>). For | |
| 408 above (1:13) he says: “who are born not from blood, nor from | |
| 409 the desires of the flesh, nor from man’s willing it, but from | |
| 410 God (<i>ex Deo</i>).” From this we can form the following | |
| 411 argument: He from whom men are spiritually reborn is God; but men | |
| 412 are spiritually reborn through the Holy Spirit, as it is stated | |
| 413 here; therefore, the Holy Spirit is God.</p> | |
| 414 <p>445 Two questions arise here. First, if no one enters the | |
| 415 kingdom of God unless he is born again of water, and if the fathers | |
| 416 of old were not born again of water (for they were not baptized), | |
| 417 then they have not entered the kingdom of God. Secondly, since | |
| 418 baptism is of three kinds, that is, of water, of desire, and of | |
| 419 blood, and many have been baptized in the latter two ways (who we | |
| 420 say have entered the kingdom of God immediately, even though they | |
| 421 were not born again of water), it does not seem to be true to say | |
| 422 that <span style="font-weight: bold">unless one is born again of | |
| 423 water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of | |
| 424 God.</span></p> | |
| 425 <p>The answer to the first is that rebirth or regeneration from | |
| 426 water and the Holy Spirit takes place in two ways: in truth and in | |
| 427 symbol. Now the fathers of old, although they were not reborn with | |
| 428 a true rebirth, were nevertheless reborn with a symbolic rebirth, | |
| 429 because they always had a sense perceptible sign in which true | |
| 430 rebirth was prefigured. So according to this, thus reborn, they did | |
| 431 enter the kingdom of God, after the ransom was paid.</p> | |
| 432 <p>The answer to the second is that those who are reborn by a | |
| 433 baptism of blood and fire, although they do not have regeneration | |
| 434 in deed, they do have it in desire. Otherwise neither would the | |
| 435 baptism of blood mean anything nor could there be a baptism of the | |
| 436 Spirit. Consequently, in order that man may enter the kingdom of | |
| 437 heaven, it is necessary that there be a baptism of water in deed, | |
| 438 as in the case of all baptized persons, or in desire, as in the | |
| 439 case of the martyrs and catechumens, who are prevented by death | |
| 440 from fulfilling their desire, or in symbol, as in the case of the | |
| 441 fathers of old.</p> | |
| 442 <p>446 It might be remarked that it was from this statement, | |
| 443 <span style="font-weight: bold">unless one is born again of water | |
| 444 and the Holy Spirit,</span> that the Pelagians derived their error | |
| 445 that children are baptized not in order to be cleansed from sin, | |
| 446 since they have none, but in order to be able to enter the kingdom | |
| 447 of God. But this is false, because as Augustine says in his book, | |
| 448 <i>The Baptism of Children,</i> it is not fitting for an image of | |
| 449 God, namely, man, to be excluded from the kingdom of God except for | |
| 450 some obstacle, which can be nothing but sin. Therefore, there must | |
| 451 be some sin, namely, original sin, in children who are excluded | |
| 452 from the kingdom.</p> | |
| 453 <p>447 Then when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">What is | |
| 454 born of flesh is itself flesh,</span> he proves by reason that it | |
| 455 is necessary to be born of water and the Holy Spirit. And the | |
| 456 reasoning is this: No one can reach the kingdom unless he is made | |
| 457 spiritual; but no one is made spiritual except by the Holy Spirit; | |
| 458 therefore, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born | |
| 459 again of the Holy Spirit.</p> | |
| 460 <p>So he says, what is born of flesh (<i>ex carne</i>) is itself | |
| 461 flesh, i.e., birth according to the flesh makes one be born into | |
| 462 the life of the flesh: “The first man was from the earth, | |
| 463 earthly” (1 Cor 15:47); <span style="font-weight: bold">and | |
| 464 what is born of Spirit</span> (<i>ex Spiritu</i>) , i.e., from the | |
| 465 power of the Holy Spirit, <span style="font-weight: bold">is itself | |
| 466 spirit,</span> i.e., spiritual.</p> | |
| 467 <p>448 Note, however, that this preposition <i>ex</i> (from, of, | |
| 468 by) sometines designates a material cause, as when I say: “A | |
| 469 knife is made of (<i>ex</i>) iron”; sometimes it designates | |
| 470 an efficient cause, as when I say: “The house was built by | |
| 471 (<i>ex</i>) a carpenter.” Accordingly, the phrase, | |
| 472 <span style="font-weight: bold">what is born of</span> (<i>ex</i>) | |
| 473 flesh is itself flesh, can be understood according to either | |
| 474 efficient or material causality. As efficient cause, indeed, | |
| 475 because a power existing in flesh is productive of generation; and | |
| 476 as material cause, because some camal element in animals makes up | |
| 477 the animal generated. But nothing is said to be made out of spirit | |
| 478 (<i>ex spiritu</i>) in a material sense, since spirit is | |
| 479 unchangeable, whereas matter is the subject of change; but it is | |
| 480 said in the sense of efficient causality.</p> | |
| 481 <p>According to this, we can discern a threefold generation. One is | |
| 482 materially and effectively from (<i>ex</i>) the flesh, and is | |
| 483 common to all who exist according to the flesh. Another is | |
| 484 according to the Spirit effectively, and according to it we are | |
| 485 reborn as sons of God through the grace of the Holy Spirit, and are | |
| 486 made spiritual. The third is midway, that is, only materially from | |
| 487 the flesh but effectively from the Holy Spirit. And this is true in | |
| 488 the singular case of Christ: because he was born deriving his flesh | |
| 489 materially from the flesh of his mother, but effectively from the | |
| 490 Holy Spirit: “What she has conceived is of the Holy | |
| 491 Spirit” (Mt 1:20). Therefore, he was born holy: “The | |
| 492 Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will | |
| 493 overshadow you. And so the Holy One who will be born from you, will | |
| 494 be called the Son of God” (Lk 1:35).</p> | |
| 495 <p style="margin-bottom: 0.125in; margin-bottom: 0.125in"> | |
| 496 </p> | |
| 497 <center> | |
| 498 <p><b>LECTURE 2</b></p> | |
| 499 </center> | |
| 500 <blockquote> | |
| 501 <p style="margin-left: 0.5in">7 “Do not be surprised that I | |
| 502 said to you,<br /> | |
| 503 you must be born again.<br /> | |
| 504 8 The wind blows where it wills,<br /> | |
| 505 and you hear its sound, but you do not know<br /> | |
| 506 where it comes from or where it goes.<br /> | |
| 507 So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”</p> | |
| 508 <p>9 “How can all this happen?” asked Nicodemus. 10 | |
| 509 Jesus replied: “You are a teacher in Israel and you do not | |
| 510 know these things?</p> | |
| 511 <p style="margin-left: 0.5in">11 “Amen, amen I say to | |
| 512 you,<br /> | |
| 513 that we know of what we speak,<br /> | |
| 514 and we bear witness of what we see;<br /> | |
| 515 but you do not accept our testimony.<br /> | |
| 516 12 If I spoke of earthly things,<br /> | |
| 517 and you did not believe me,<br /> | |
| 518 how will you believe if I tell you of heavenly things?<br /> | |
| 519 13 No one has gone up to heaven<br /> | |
| 520 except the One who came down from heaven,<br /> | |
| 521 the Son of Man, who lives in heaven.<br /> | |
| 522 14 Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,<br /> | |
| 523 so must the Son of Man be lifted up,<br /> | |
| 524 15 so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost,<br /> | |
| 525 but have eternal life.”</p> | |
| 526 </blockquote> | |
| 527 <p>449 Above, in his instruction on spiritual generation, the Lord | |
| 528 presented a reason; here he gives an example. For we are led to see | |
| 529 that Nicodemus was troubled when he heard that <span style= | |
| 530 "font-weight: bold">what is born of Spirit is itself spirit.</span> | |
| 531 And so the Lord says to him, <span style="font-weight: bold">Do not | |
| 532 be surprised that I said to you, you must be born again.</span></p> | |
| 533 <p>Here we should note that there are two kinds of surprise or | |
| 534 astonishment. One is the astonishment of devotion in the sense that | |
| 535 someone, considering the great things of God, sees that they are | |
| 536 incomprehensible to him; and so he is full of astonishment: | |
| 537 “The Lord on high is wonderful” (Ps 92:4), “Your | |
| 538 testimonies are wonderful” (Ps 118:129). Men are to be | |
| 539 encouraged, not discouraged, to this kind of astonishment The other | |
| 540 is the astonishment of disbelief, when someone does not believe | |
| 541 what is said. So Matthew (13:54) says: “They were | |
| 542 astonished,” and further on adds that “They did not | |
| 543 accept him.” It is from this kind of astonishment that the | |
| 544 Lord diverts Nicodeintis wheii he proposes an example and says: | |
| 545 <span style="font-weight: bold">The wind</span> (<i>spiritus</i>, | |
| 546 wind, spirit) <span style="font-weight: bold">blows where it | |
| 547 wills.</span> In the literal sense, the same words can he explained | |
| 548 in two ways.</p> | |
| 549 <p>450 In the first way, according to Chrysostom, spiritus is taken | |
| 550 for the wind, as in Psalm 148 (v 8): “The winds of the storm | |
| 551 that fulfill his word.” According to this interpretation, he | |
| 552 says four things about the wind. First, the power of the wind, when | |
| 553 he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">the wind blows where it | |
| 554 wills.</span> And if you say that the wind has no will, one may | |
| 555 answer that “will” is taken for a natural appetite, | |
| 556 which is nothing more than a natural inclination, about which it is | |
| 557 said: “He created the weight of the wind” (Jb 28:25). | |
| 558 Secondly, he tells the evidence for the wind, when he says, | |
| 559 <span style="font-weight: bold">and you hear its sound,</span> | |
| 560 where “sound” (<i>vox</i>, voice, sound) refers to the | |
| 561 sound the wind makes when it strikes a body. Of this we read: | |
| 562 “The sound (<i>vox</i>) of your thunder was in the | |
| 563 whirlwind” (Ps 76:19).</p> | |
| 564 <p>Thirdly, he mentions the origin of the wind, which is unknown; | |
| 565 so he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">but you do not know | |
| 566 where it comes from,</span> i.e., from where it starts: “He | |
| 567 brings forth the winds out of his storehouse” (Ps 134:7). | |
| 568 Fourthly, he mentions the wind’s destination, which is also | |
| 569 unknown; so he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">or where it | |
| 570 goes</span> you do not know, i.e., where it remains.</p> | |
| 571 <p>And he applies this similarity to the subject under discussion, | |
| 572 saying, <span style="font-weight: bold">So it is with everyone who | |
| 573 is born of the Spirit.</span> As if to say: If the wind, which is | |
| 574 corporeal, has an origin which is hidden and a course that is | |
| 575 unknown, why are you surprised if you cannot understand the course | |
| 576 of spiritual regeneration.</p> | |
| 577 <p>451 Augustine objects to this explanation and says that the Lord | |
| 578 was not speaking here about the wind, for we know where each of the | |
| 579 winds comes from and where it goes. For “Auster” comes | |
| 580 from the south and goes to the north; “Boreas” comes | |
| 581 from the north and goes to the south. Why, then, does the Lord say | |
| 582 of this wind, you do not know where it comes from or where it | |
| 583 goes?</p> | |
| 584 <p>One may answer that there are two ways in which the source of | |
| 585 the wind might be unknown. In one way, in general: and in this way | |
| 586 it is possible to know where it comes from, i.e., from which | |
| 587 direction of the world, for example, that Auster comes from the | |
| 588 south, and where it goes, that is, to the north. In another way, in | |
| 589 particular: and in this sense it is not known where the wind comes | |
| 590 from, i.e., at which precise place it originated, or where it goes, | |
| 591 i.e., exactly where it stops. And almost all the Greek doctors | |
| 592 agree with this exposition of Chrysostom.</p> | |
| 593 <p>452 In another way, <i>spiritus</i> is taken for the Holy | |
| 594 Spirit. And according to this, he mentions four things about the | |
| 595 Holy Spirit. First, his power, saying, <span style= | |
| 596 "font-weight: bold">The Spirit blows where it wills,</span> because | |
| 597 it is by the free use of his power that he breathes where he wills | |
| 598 and when he wills, by instructing hearts: “One and the same | |
| 599 Spirit does all these things, distributing to each as he | |
| 600 wills” (1 Cor 12:11). This refutes the error of Macedonius | |
| 601 who thought that the Holy Spirit was the minister of the Father and | |
| 602 the Son. But then he would not be breathing where he willed, but | |
| 603 where he was commanded.</p> | |
| 604 <p>453 Secondly, he mentions the evidence for the Holy Spirit, when | |
| 605 he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">and you hear its | |
| 606 voice:</span> “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden | |
| 607 your hearts” (Ps 94:8).</p> | |
| 608 <p>Chrysostom objects to this and says that this cannot pertain to | |
| 609 the Holy Spirit. For the Lord was speaking to Nicodemus, who was | |
| 610 still an unbeliever, and thus not fit to hear the voice of the Holy | |
| 611 Spirit. We may answer to this, with Augustine, that there is a | |
| 612 twofold voice of the Holy Spirit. One is that by which he speaks | |
| 613 inwardly in man’s heart; and only believers and the saints | |
| 614 hear this voice, about which the Psalm (84:9) says: “I will | |
| 615 hear what the Lord God says within me.” The other voice is | |
| 616 that by which the Holy Spirit speaks in the Scriptures or through | |
| 617 those who preach, according to Matthew (10:20): “For it is | |
| 618 not you who speak, but the Holy Splirit who is speaking through | |
| 619 you.” And this voice is heard by unbelievers and sinners.</p> | |
| 620 <p>454 Thirdly, he refers to the origin of the Holy Spirit, which | |
| 621 is hidden; thus he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">but you do | |
| 622 not know where it comes from,</span> although you may hear its | |
| 623 voice. And this is because the Holy Spirit comes from the Father | |
| 624 and the Son: “When the Paraclete comes, whom I will send you | |
| 625 from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the | |
| 626 Father” (below 15:26). But the Father and the Son | |
| 627 “dwell in inaccessible light, whom no man has seen or is able | |
| 628 to see” (1 Tim 6:16).</p> | |
| 629 <p>455 Fourthly, he gives the destination of the Holy Spirit, which | |
| 630 is also hidden; and so he says, you do not know where it goes, | |
| 631 because the Spirit leads one to a hidden end, that is, eternal | |
| 632 happiness. Thus it says in Ephesians (1:14) that the Holy Spirit is | |
| 633 “the pledge of our inheritance.” And again, “The | |
| 634 eye has not seen, nor has the ear heard, nor has the heart of man | |
| 635 conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 | |
| 636 Cor 2:9).</p> | |
| 637 <p>Or, <span style="font-weight: bold">you do not know where it | |
| 638 comes from,</span> i.e., how the Spirit enters into a person, | |
| 639 <span style="font-weight: bold">or where it goes,</span> i.e., to | |
| 640 what perfection he may lead him: “If he comes toward me, I | |
| 641 will not see him” (Jb 9:11).</p> | |
| 642 <p>456 <span style="font-weight: bold">So it is with everyone who | |
| 643 is born of the Spirit,</span> i.e., they are like the Holy Spirit. | |
| 644 And no wonder: for as he had said before, “What is born of | |
| 645 Spirit is itself spirit,” because the qualities of the Holy | |
| 646 Spirit are present in the spiritual man, just as the qualities of | |
| 647 fire are present in burning coal.</p> | |
| 648 <p>Therefore, the above four qualities of the Holy Spirit are found | |
| 649 in one who has been born of the Holy Spirit. First of all, he has | |
| 650 freedom: “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is | |
| 651 freedom” (2 Cor 3:17), for the Holy Spirit leads us to what | |
| 652 is right: “Your good Spirit will lead me to the right | |
| 653 path” (Ps 142:10); and he frees us from the slavery of sin | |
| 654 and of the law: “The law of the Spirit, of life in Christ, | |
| 655 has set me free” (Rom 8:2). Secondly, we get an indication of | |
| 656 him through the sound of his words; and when we hear them we know | |
| 657 his spirituality, for it is out of the abundance of the heart that | |
| 658 the mouth speaks.</p> | |
| 659 <p>Thirdly, he has an origin and an end that are hidden, because no | |
| 660 one can judge one who is spiritual: “The spiritual man judges | |
| 661 all things, and he himself is judged by no one” (1 Cor 2:15). | |
| 662 Or, we do not know where such a person comes from, i.e., the source | |
| 663 of his spiritual birth, which is baptismal grace; or where he goes, | |
| 664 i.e., of what he is made worthy, that is, of eternal life, which | |
| 665 remains concealed from us.</p> | |
| 666 <p>457 Then the cause and reason for spiritual regeneration are set | |
| 667 forth. First, a question is asked by Nicodemus; secondly, the | |
| 668 Lord’s answer is given (v 10).</p> | |
| 669 <p>458 It is apparent from the first that Nicodemus, as yet dull, | |
| 670 and remaining a Jew on the level of sense, was unable to understand | |
| 671 the mysteries of Christ in spite of the examples and explanations | |
| 672 that were given. And so he says, <span style= | |
| 673 "font-weight: bold">How can all this happen?</span></p> | |
| 674 <p>There are two reasons why one may question about something. Some | |
| 675 question because of disbelief, as did Zechariah, saying: “How | |
| 676 will I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in | |
| 677 age” (Lk 1:18); “He confounds those who search into | |
| 678 mysteries” (Is 40:23). Others, on the other hand, question | |
| 679 because of a desire to know, as the Blessed Virgin did when she | |
| 680 said to the angel: “How shall this be, since I do not know | |
| 681 man?” (Lk 1:34). It is the latter who are instructed. And so, | |
| 682 because Nicodemus asked from a desire to learn, he deserved to be | |
| 683 instructed.</p> | |
| 684 <p>459 And this is what follows: <span style= | |
| 685 "font-weight: bold">Jesus replied.</span> First the Lord chides him | |
| 686 for his slowness. Secondly, he answers his question (v 13).</p> | |
| 687 <p>460 He chides him for his slowness, basing himself on three | |
| 688 things. First, the condition of the person to whom he is speaking, | |
| 689 when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">You are a teacher in | |
| 690 Israel.</span> And here the Lord did not chide him to insult him. | |
| 691 Rather, because Nicodemus, presuming on his own knowledge, was | |
| 692 still relying on his status as a teacher, the Lord wished to make | |
| 693 him a temple of the Holy Spirit by humbling him: “For whom | |
| 694 will I have regard? For he who is humble and of contrite | |
| 695 spirit” (Is 66:2). And he says, <span style= | |
| 696 "font-weight: bold">You are a teacher,</span> because it is | |
| 697 tolerable if a simple person cannot grasp profound truths, but in a | |
| 698 teacher, it deserves rebuke. And so he says, You are a teacher, | |
| 699 i.e., of the letter that kills (2 Cor 3:6), <span style= | |
| 700 "font-weight: bold">and you do not know these things?</span> i.e., | |
| 701 spiritual things. “For although you ought to be teachers by | |
| 702 now, you yourselves need to be taught again” (Heb 5:12).</p> | |
| 703 <p>461 You might say that the Lord would have rebuked Nicodemus | |
| 704 justly if he had spoken to him about matters of the Old Law and he | |
| 705 did not understand them; but he spoke to him about the New Law. I | |
| 706 answer that the things which the Lord says of spiritual generation | |
| 707 are contained in the Old Law, although under a figure, as is said | |
| 708 in 1 Corinthians (10:2): “All were baptized into Moses, in | |
| 709 the cloud and in the sea.” And the prophets also said this: | |
| 710 “I will pour clean water upon you, and you will be cleansed | |
| 711 from all your uncleanness” (Ez 36:25).</p> | |
| 712 <p>462 Secondly, he rebukes him for his slowness on account of the | |
| 713 character of the person who is speaking. For it is tolerable if one | |
| 714 does not acquiesce to the statements of an ignorant person; but it | |
| 715 is reprehensible to reject the statements of a man who is wise and | |
| 716 who possesses great authority. And so he says, Amen, amen I say to | |
| 717 you, that we <span style="font-weight: bold">know of what we speak, | |
| 718 and we bear witness of what we see.</span> For a qualified witness | |
| 719 must base his testimony on hearing or sight: “What we have | |
| 720 seen and heard” (1 Jn 1:3). And so the Lord mentions both: | |
| 721 <span style="font-weight: bold">we know of what we speak, and we | |
| 722 bear witness of what</span> we see. Indeed, the Lord as man knows | |
| 723 all things: “Lord, you know all things” (below 21:17); | |
| 724 “The Lord, whose knowledge is holy, knows clearly” (2 | |
| 725 Mc 6:30). Further, he sees all things by his divine knowledge: | |
| 726 “I speak of what I have seen with my Father,” as we | |
| 727 read below (8:38).</p> | |
| 728 <p>He speaks in the plural, we know, we see, in order to suggest | |
| 729 the mystery of the Trinity: “The Father, who dwells in me, he | |
| 730 does the works” (below 14:10). Or, we know, i.e., I, and | |
| 731 others who have been made spiritual, because “No one knows | |
| 732 the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son wishes to reveal | |
| 733 him” (Mt 11:27).</p> | |
| 734 <p><span style="font-weight: bold">But you do not accept our | |
| 735 testimony,</span> so approved, so solid. “And his testimony | |
| 736 no one accepts (below 3:32).</p> | |
| 737 <p>463 Thirdly, he rebukes him for his slowness because of the | |
| 738 quality of the things under discussion. For it is not unusual when | |
| 739 someone does not grasp difficult matters, but it is inexcusable not | |
| 740 to grasp easy things. So he says, <span style= | |
| 741 "font-weight: bold">If I spoke of earthly things, and you did not | |
| 742 believe, how will you believe if I tell you of heavenly | |
| 743 things?</span> As if to say: If you do not grasp these easy things, | |
| 744 how will you be able to understand the progress of the Holy Spirit? | |
| 745 “What is on earth we find difficult, and who will search Out | |
| 746 the things in heaven,” as is said in Wisdom (9:10).</p> | |
| 747 <p>464 But one might object that the above does not show that the | |
| 748 Lord spoke of earthly things to Nicodemus. I answer, according to | |
| 749 Chrysostom, that the Lord’s statement, <span style= | |
| 750 "font-weight: bold">If I spoke of earthly things,</span> refers to | |
| 751 the example of the wind. For the wind, being something which is | |
| 752 generable and corruptible, is regarded as an earthly thing. Or one | |
| 753 might say, again according to Chrysostom, that the spiritual | |
| 754 generation which is given in baptism is heavenly as to its source, | |
| 755 which sanctifies and regenerates; but it is earthly as to its | |
| 756 subject, for the one regenerated, man, is of the earth.</p> | |
| 757 <p>Or one might answer, according to Augustine, that we must | |
| 758 understand this in reference to what Christ said earlier: | |
| 759 “Destroy this temple,” which is earthly, because he | |
| 760 said this about the temple of his body, which he had taken from the | |
| 761 earth.</p> | |
| 762 <p><span style="font-weight: bold">If I spoke of earthly things, | |
| 763 and you did not believe, how will you believe if I tell you of | |
| 764 heavenly things?</span> As if to say: If you do not believe in a | |
| 765 spiritual generation occurring in time, how will you believe in the | |
| 766 eternal generation of the Son? Or, if you do not believe what I | |
| 767 tell you about the power of my body, how will you believe what I | |
| 768 tell you about the power of my divinity and about the power of the | |
| 769 Holy Spirit?</p> | |
| 770 <p>465 <span style="font-weight: bold">Jesus replied.</span> Here | |
| 771 he answers the question. First, he lays down the causes of | |
| 772 spiritual regeneration. Secondly, he explains what he says (3:16). | |
| 773 Now there are two causes of spiritual regeneration, namely, the | |
| 774 mystery of the incarnation of Christ, and his passion. So first, he | |
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775 treats of the incarnation; secondly, of the passion (3:14).</p> |
| 35 | 776 <p>466 Here we should consider, first of all, how this answer of |
| 777 Christ is an adequa~,e reply to the question of Nicodemus. For | |
| 778 above, when the Lord was speaking of the Spirit, he said: | |
| 779 <span style="font-weight: bold">you do not know where it comes from | |
| 780 or where it</span> goes. We understand by this that spiritual | |
| 781 regeneration has a hidden source and a hidden end. Now the things | |
| 782 in heaven are hidden from us: “Who will search out the things | |
| 783 in heaven?” (Wis 9:16). Therefore, the sense of | |
| 784 Nicodemus’ question, <span style="font-weight: bold">How can | |
| 785 all this happen?</span> is this: How can something come from the | |
| 786 secret things of heaven or go to the secret things of heaven? So | |
| 787 before answering, the Lord expressed this interpretation of the | |
| 788 question, saying, <span style="font-weight: bold">how will you | |
| 789 believe if I tell you of heavenly things?</span></p> | |
| 790 <p>And immediately he begins to show whose prerogative it is to | |
| 791 ascend into heaven, namely, anyone who came down from heaven, | |
| 792 according to the statement of Ephesians (4:10): “He who | |
| 793 descended is he who ascended.” This is verified even in | |
| 794 natural things, namely, that each body tends to a place according | |
| 795 to its origin or nature. And so in this way it can come about that | |
| 796 someone, through the Spirit, may go to a place which carnal persons | |
| 797 do not know, i.e., by ascending into heaven, if this is done | |
| 798 through the power of one who descended from heaven: because he | |
| 799 descended in order that, in ascending, he might open a way for us: | |
| 800 “He ascends, opening the way before them” (Mi | |
| 801 2:13).</p> | |
| 802 <p>467 Some have fallen into error because of his saying, | |
| 803 <span style="font-weight: bold">the One who came down from heaven, | |
| 804 the Son of Man.</span> For since Son of Man designates human | |
| 805 nature, which is composed of soul and body, then because he says | |
| 806 that the Son descended from heaven, Valentinus wanted to maintain | |
| 807 that he even took his body from heaven and thus passed through the | |
| 808 Virgin without receiving anything from her, as water passes through | |
| 809 a pipe; so that his body was neither of an earthly substance nor | |
| 810 taken from the Virgin. But this is contrary to the statement of the | |
| 811 Apostle, writing to the Romans (1:3): “who was made from the | |
| 812 seed of David according to the flesh.”</p> | |
| 813 <p>On the other hand, Origen said that he descended from heaven as | |
| 814 to his soul, which, he says, had been created along with the angels | |
| 815 from the very beginning, and that later this soul descended from | |
| 816 heaven and took flesh from the Virgin. But this also conflicts with | |
| 817 the Catholic faith, which teaches that souls do not exist before | |
| 818 their bodies.</p> | |
| 819 <p>468 Therefore, we should not understand that the Son of Man | |
| 820 descended from heaven according to his human nature, but only | |
| 821 according to his divine nature. For since in Christ there is one | |
| 822 <i>suppositum</i>, or hypostasis, or person of the two natures, the | |
| 823 divine and human natures, then no matter from which of these two | |
| 824 natures this <i>suppositum</i> is named, divine and human things | |
| 825 can be attributed to him. For we can say that the Son of Man | |
| 826 created the stars and that the Son of God was crucified. But the | |
| 827 Son of God was crucified, not according to his divine nature, but | |
| 828 according to his human nature; and the Son of Man created the stars | |
| 829 according to his divine nature. And so in things that are said of | |
| 830 Christ, the distinction is not to be taken with respect to that | |
| 831 about which they are said, because divine and human things are said | |
| 832 of God and man indifferently; but a distinction must be made with | |
| 833 respect to that according to which they are said, because divine | |
| 834 things are said of Christ according to his divine nature, but human | |
| 835 things according to his human nature. Thus, to descend from heaven | |
| 836 is said of the Son of Man, not according to his human nature, but | |
| 837 according to his divine nature, according to which it was | |
| 838 appropriate to him to have been from heaven before the incarnation, | |
| 839 as is said, “Heaven belongs to the Lord” (Ps | |
| 840 113:16).</p> | |
| 841 <p>469 he is said to have come down, but not by local motion, | |
| 842 becatise then he Would not have remained in heaven; for nothing | |
| 843 which moves locally remains in the place from which it comes down. | |
| 844 And so to exclude local motion, he adds, <span style= | |
| 845 "font-weight: bold">who lives in heaven.</span> As if to say: He | |
| 846 descended from heaven in such a way as yet to be in heaven. For he | |
| 847 came down from heaven without ceasing to be above, yet assuming a | |
| 848 nature which is from below. And because he is not enclosed or held | |
| 849 fast by his body which exists on earth, he was, according to his | |
| 850 divinity, in heaven and everywhere. And therefore to indicate that | |
| 851 he is said to have come down in this way, because he assumed a | |
| 852 [human] nature, he said, <span style="font-weight: bold">the Son of | |
| 853 Man</span> came down, i.e., insofar as he became Son of Man.</p> | |
| 854 <p>470 Or it can be said, as Hilary does, that he came down from | |
| 855 heaven as to his body: not that the material of Christ’s body | |
| 856 came down from heaven, but that the power which formed it was from | |
| 857 heaven.</p> | |
| 858 <p>471 But why does he say, <span style="font-weight: bold">No one | |
| 859 has gone up to heaven except the Son of Man, who lives in | |
| 860 heaven?</span> For have not Paul and Peter and the other saints | |
| 861 gone up, according to 2 Corinthians (5:1): “We have a house | |
| 862 in the heavens.” I answer that no one goes up into heaven | |
| 863 except Christ and his members, i.e., those believers who are just. | |
| 864 Accordingly, the Son of God came down from heaven in order that, by | |
| 865 making us his members, he might prepare us to ascend into heaven: | |
| 866 now, indeed, in hope, but later in reality. “He has raised us | |
| 867 up, and has given us a place in heaven in Christ Jesus” (Eph | |
| 868 2:6).</p> | |
| 869 <p>472 Here he mentions the mystery of the passion, in virtue of | |
| 870 which baptism has its efficacy: “We who have been baptized | |
| 871 into Christ Jesus, have been baptized into his death” (Rom | |
| 872 6:3). And with regard to this he does three things. First, he gives | |
| 873 a symbol for the passion. Secondly, the manner of the passion. | |
| 874 Thirdly, the fruit of the passion.</p> | |
| 875 <p>473 He takes the symbol from the old law, in order to adapt to | |
| 876 the understanding of Nicodemus; so he says, <span style= | |
| 877 "font-weight: bold">Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the | |
| 878 desert.</span> This refers to Numbers (21:5) when the Lord, faced | |
| 879 with the Jewish people saying, “We are sick of this useless | |
| 880 food,” sent serpents to punish them; and when the people came | |
| 881 to Moses and he interceded with the Lord, the Lord commanded that | |
| 882 for a remedy they make a serpent of bronze; and this was to serve | |
| 883 both as a remedy against those serpents and as a symbol of the | |
| 884 Lord’s passion. Hence it says that this bronze serpent was | |
| 885 lifted up as a sign (Nm 21:9).</p> | |
| 886 <p>Now it is characteristic of serpents that they are poisonous, | |
| 887 but not so the serpent of bronze, although it was a symbol of a | |
| 888 poisonous serpent. So, too, Christ did not have sin, which is also | |
| 889 a poison: “Sin, when it is fully developed, brings forth | |
| 890 death” (Jas 1:15); but he had the likeness of sin: “God | |
| 891 sent his own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh” (Rom 8:3). | |
| 892 And thus Christ had the effect of the serpent against the | |
| 893 insurgence of inflamed concupiscences.</p> | |
| 894 <p>474 He shows the manner of the passion when he says, | |
| 895 <span style="font-weight: bold">so must the Son of Man be lifted | |
| 896 up:</span> and this refers to the lifting up of the cross. So below | |
| 897 (12:34) when it says, “The Son of Man must be lifted | |
| 898 up,” it also has, “He said this to indicate the manner | |
| 899 of his death.”</p> | |
| 900 <p>He willed to die lifted up, first of all, to cleanse the | |
| 901 heavens: for since he had cleansed the things on earth by the | |
| 902 sanctity of his life, the things of the air were left to be | |
| 903 cleansed by his death: “through him he should reconcile all | |
| 904 things to himself, whether on earth or in the heavens, making peace | |
| 905 through his blood” (Col 1:20). Secondly, to triumph over the | |
| 906 demons who prepare for war in the air: “the prince of the | |
| 907 power of the air” (Eph 2:2). Thirdly, he wished to die lifted | |
| 908 up to draw our hearts to himself: “I, if I am lifted up from | |
| 909 the earth, will draw all to myself” (below 12:32). And | |
| 910 fourthly, because in the death of the cross he was lifted up in the | |
| 911 sense that there he triumphed over his enemies; so it is not called | |
| 912 a death, but a lifting up: “He will drink from the stream on | |
| 913 the way, therefore he will lift up his head” (Ps 109:7). | |
| 914 Fifthly, he willed to die lifted up because the cross was the | |
| 915 reason for his being lifted up, i.e., exalted: “He became | |
| 916 obedient to the Father even to death, the death of the cross; on | |
| 917 account of which God has exalted him” (Phil 2:8).</p> | |
| 918 <p>475 Now the fruit of Christ’s passion is eternal life; | |
| 919 hence he says, so <span style="font-weight: bold">that everyone who | |
| 920 believes in him,</span> performing good works, <span style= | |
| 921 "font-weight: bold">may not be lost, but have eternal life.</span> | |
| 922 And this fruit corresponds to the fruit of the symbolic serpent. | |
| 923 For whoever looked upon the serpent of bronze was freed from poison | |
| 924 and his life was preserved. But he who looks upon the lifted up Son | |
| 925 of Man, and believes in the crucified Christ, he is freed from | |
| 926 poison and sin: “Whoever believes in me will never die” | |
| 927 (below 11:26), and is preserved for eternal life. “These | |
| 928 things are written that you may believe ... and that believing you | |
| 929 may have life in his name” (below 20:3 1).</p> | |
| 930 <p style="margin-bottom: 0.125in; margin-bottom: 0.125in"> | |
| 931 </p> | |
| 932 <p style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.125in"><span style= | |
| 933 "font-weight: bold">LECTURE 3</span></p> | |
| 934 <blockquote> | |
| 935 <p style="margin-left: 0.5in">16 “For God so loved the | |
| 936 world<br /> | |
| 937 that he gave his Only Begotten Son,<br /> | |
| 938 so that whoever believes in him should not perish,<br /> | |
| 939 but have eternal life.<br /> | |
| 940 17 God did not send his Son into the world<br /> | |
| 941 to judge the world,<br /> | |
| 942 but that the world might he saved through him.<br /> | |
| 943 18 Whoever believes in him is not judged;<br /> | |
| 944 but whoever does not believe is already judged,<br /> | |
| 945 since he does not believe in the name of the<br /> | |
| 946 Only Begotten Son of God.<br /> | |
| 947 19 The judgment of condemnation is this:<br /> | |
| 948 the light came into the world,<br /> | |
| 949 and men loved darkness more than the light,<br /> | |
| 950 because their deeds were evil.<br /> | |
| 951 20 Everyone who practices evil hates the light,<br /> | |
| 952 and does not approach the light<br /> | |
| 953 for fear that his deeds might be exposed.<br /> | |
| 954 21 But everyone who practices the truth<br /> | |
| 955 comes to the light,<br /> | |
| 956 to make clear that his deeds are done in God.”</p> | |
| 957 </blockquote> | |
| 958 <p>476 Above, the Lord assigned as the cause of spiritual | |
| 959 regeneration the coming down of the Son and the lifting up of the | |
| 960 Son of Man; and he set forth its fruit, which is eternal life. But | |
| 961 this fruit seemed unbelievable to men laboring under the necessity | |
| 962 of dying. And so now the Lord explains this. First, he proves the | |
| 963 greatness of the fruit from the greatness of God’s love. | |
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964 Secondly, he rejects a certain reply (v 17).</p> |
| 35 | 965 <p>477 Here we should note that the cause of all our good is the |
| 966 Lord and divine love. For to love is, properly speaking, to will | |
| 967 good to someone. Therefore, since the will of God is the cause of | |
| 968 things, good comes to us because God loves us. And God’s love | |
| 969 is the cause of the good of nature: “You love everything | |
| 970 which exists” (Wis 11:2 5). It is also the cause of the good | |
| 971 which is grace: “I have loved you with an. everlasting love, | |
| 972 and so I have drawn you” i.e., through grace (Jer 3 1:3). But | |
| 973 it is because of his great love that he gives us the good of glory. | |
| 974 So he shows us here, from four standpoints, that this love of God | |
| 975 is the greatest.</p> | |
| 976 <p>First, from the person of the one loving, because it is God who | |
| 977 loves, and immeasurably. So he says, <span style= | |
| 978 "font-weight: bold">For God so loved:</span> “He has loved | |
| 979 the people; all the holy ones are in his hand” (Dt 33:3). | |
| 980 Secondly, from the condition of the one who is loved, because it is | |
| 981 man, a bodily creature of the world, i.e., existing in sin: | |
| 982 “God shows his love for us, because while we were still his | |
| 983 enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son” | |
| 984 (Rom 5:8). Thus he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">the | |
| 985 world.</span> Thirdly, from the greatness of his gifts, for love is | |
| 986 shown by a gift; as Gregory says: “The proof of love is given | |
| 987 by action.” But God has given us the greatest of gifts, his | |
| 988 Only Begotten Son, and so he says, <span style= | |
| 989 "font-weight: bold">that he gave his Only Begotten Son.</span> | |
| 990 “God did not spare his own Soil, but delivered him up for all | |
| 991 of us” (Rom 8:32).</p> | |
| 992 <p>He says his Son, i.e., his natural Son, consubstantial, not an | |
| 993 adopted son, i.e., not those sons of which the Psalmist says: | |
| 994 “I said: You are gods” (Ps 81:6). This shows that the | |
| 995 opinion of Arius is false: for if the Son of God were a creature, | |
| 996 as he said, the immensity of God’s love through the taking on | |
| 997 of infinite goodness, which no creature can receive, could not have | |
| 998 been revealed in him. He further says <span style= | |
| 999 "font-weight: bold">Only Begotten,</span> to show that God does not | |
| 1000 have a love divided among many sons, but all of it is for that Son | |
| 1001 whom he gave to prove the immensity of his love: “For the | |
| 1002 Father loves the Son, and shows him everything that he does” | |
| 1003 (below 5:20).</p> | |
| 1004 <p>Fourthly, from the greatness of its fruit, because through him | |
| 1005 we have eternal life. Hence he says, <span style= | |
| 1006 "font-weight: bold">so that whoever believes in him should not | |
| 1007 perish, but have eternal life,</span> which he obtained for us | |
| 1008 through the death of the cross.</p> | |
| 1009 <p>478 But did God give his Son with the intention that he should | |
| 1010 die on the cross? He did indeed give him for the death of the cross | |
| 1011 inasmuch as he gave him the will to suffer on it. And he did this | |
| 1012 in two ways. First, because as the Son of God he willed from | |
| 1013 eternity to assume flesh and to suffer for us; and this will he had | |
| 1014 from the Father. Secondly, because the will to suffer was infused | |
| 1015 into the soul of Christ by God.</p> | |
| 1016 <p>479 Note that above, when the Lord was speaking about the coming | |
| 1017 down which belongs to Christ according to his divinity, he called | |
| 1018 him the Son of God; and this because of the one <i>suppositum</i> | |
| 1019 of the two natures, as was explained above. And so divine things | |
| 1020 can be said about the <i>suppositum</i> of the human nature, and | |
| 1021 human things can be said about the <i>suppositum</i> of the divine | |
| 1022 nature, but not with reference to the same nature. Rather, divine | |
| 1023 things are said with reference to the divine nature, and human | |
| 1024 things with reference to the human nature. Now the specific reason | |
| 1025 why he here calls him the Son of God is that he set forth that gift | |
| 1026 as a sign of the divine love, through which the fruit of eternal | |
| 1027 life comes to us. And so, he should have been called by that name | |
| 1028 which indicates the power that produces eternal life; and this | |
| 1029 power is not in Christ as Son of Man but as Son of God: “This | |
| 1030 is the true God and eternal life,” as we read in 1 John | |
| 1031 (5:20); “In him was life” (above 1:4).</p> | |
| 1032 <p>480 Note also that he says, <span style= | |
| 1033 "font-weight: bold">should not perish.</span> Someone is said to be | |
| 1034 perishing when he is hindered from arriving at the end to which he | |
| 1035 is ordained. But the end to which man is ordained is eternal life, | |
| 1036 and as long as he sins, he turns himself from that end. And | |
| 1037 although while he is living he cannot entirely perish in the sense | |
| 1038 that he cannot be restored, yet when he dies in sin, then he | |
| 1039 entirely perishes: “The way of the wicked will perish” | |
| 1040 (Ps 1:7).</p> | |
| 1041 <p>He indicates the immensity of God’s love in saying, | |
| 1042 <span style="font-weight: bold">have eternal life:</span> for by | |
| 1043 giving eternal life, he gives himself. For eternal life is nothing | |
| 1044 else than enjoying God. But to give oneself is a sign of great | |
| 1045 love: “But God, who is rich in mercy, has brought us to life | |
| 1046 in Christ” (Eph 2:5), i.e., he gave us eternal life.</p> | |
| 1047 <p>481 Here the Lord excludes an objection that might be made. For | |
| 1048 in the old law it was promised that the Lord would come to judge: | |
| 1049 “The Lord will come to judge” (Is 3:14). So someone | |
| 1050 might say that the Son of God had not come to give eternal life but | |
| 1051 in order to judge the world. The Lord rejects this. First, he shows | |
| 1052 that he has not come to judge. Secondly, he proves it (v 18).</p> | |
| 1053 <p>482 So he says: The Son of God has not come to judge, because | |
| 1054 <span style="font-weight: bold">God did not send his Son,</span> | |
| 1055 referring to his first coming, <span style="font-weight: bold">into | |
| 1056 the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved | |
| 1057 through him.</span> The same thing is found below (12:47): “I | |
| 1058 did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.”</p> | |
| 1059 <p>Now man’s salvation is to attain to God: “My | |
| 1060 salvation is in God” (Ps 61:8). And to attain to God is to | |
| 1061 obtain eternal life; hence to be saved is the same as to have | |
| 1062 eternal life. However, because the Lord says, “I did not come | |
| 1063 to judge the world,” men should not be lazy or abuse | |
| 1064 God’s mercy, or give themselves over to sin: because although | |
| 1065 in his first coming he did not come to judge but to forgive, yet in | |
| 1066 his second coming, as Chrysostom says, he will come to judge but | |
| 1067 not to forgive. “At the appointed time I will judge with | |
| 1068 rigor” (Ps 74:3).</p> | |
| 1069 <p>483 However, this seems to conflict with what is said below | |
| 1070 (9:39): “1 came into this world to judge.” I answer | |
| 1071 that there are two kinds of judgment. One is the judgment of | |
| 1072 distinction, and the Son has come for this in his first coming; | |
| 1073 because with his coming men are distinguished, some by blindness | |
| 1074 and some by the light of grace. The other is the judgment of | |
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1075 condemnation; and he did not come for this as such.</p> |
| 35 | 1076 <p>484 Now he proves what he had said, as though by a process of |
| 1077 elimination, in the following way: Whoever will be judged will be | |
| 1078 either a believer or an unbeliever. But I have not come to judge | |
| 1079 unbelievers, because they are already judged. Therefore, from the | |
| 1080 outset, God did not send his Son to judge the world. So first he | |
| 1081 shows that believers are not judged. Secondly, that unbelievers are | |
| 1082 notjudged (v 18).</p> | |
| 1083 <p>485 He says therefore: I have not come to judge the world: | |
| 1084 because he did not come to judge believers, for <span style= | |
| 1085 "font-weight: bold">Whoever believes in him is not judged,</span> | |
| 1086 with the judgment of condemnation, with which no one who believes | |
| 1087 in him with faith informed by love is judged: “Whoever | |
| 1088 believes ... will not encounter judgment, but will pass from death | |
| 1089 to life” (below 5:24). But he is judged with the judgment of | |
| 1090 reward and approval, of which the Apostle says: “It is the | |
| 1091 Lord who judges me” (1 Cor 4:4).</p> | |
| 1092 <p>486 But will there be many believing sinners who will not be | |
| 1093 damned? I reply that some heretics [e.g., Origen] have said that no | |
| 1094 believer, however great a sinner he may be, will be damned, but he | |
| 1095 will be saved by reason of his foundation of salvation, namely, his | |
| 1096 faith, although he may suffer some [temporary] punishment. They | |
| 1097 take as the basis of their error the statement of the Apostle: | |
| 1098 “No one can lay a foundation other that the one that has been | |
| 1099 laid, that is, Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 3:11); and further on: | |
| 1100 “If a man’s building burns ... he himself will be saved | |
| 1101 as one fleeing through fire” (3:15).</p> | |
| 1102 <p>But this view is clearly contrary to what the Apostle says in | |
| 1103 Galatians (5:1): “It is obvious what proceeds from the flesh: | |
| 1104 lewd conduct, impurity, licentiousness ... Those who do such things | |
| 1105 will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Therefore we must say | |
| 1106 that the foundation of salvation is not faith without charity | |
| 1107 (unformed faith), but faith informed by charity. Significantly | |
| 1108 therefore the Lord did not say, “whoever believes him,” | |
| 1109 but <span style="font-weight: bold">whoever believes in him,</span> | |
| 1110 that is, whoever by believing tends toward him through love | |
| 1111 <span style="font-weight: bold">is not judged,</span> because he | |
| 1112 does not sin mortally, thereby removing the foundation.</p> | |
| 1113 <p>Or one could say, following Chrysostom, that everyone who acts | |
| 1114 sinfully is not a believer: “They profess to know God, but | |
| 1115 they deny him by their actions” (Ti 1:16); but only one who | |
| 1116 acts worthily: “Show me your faith by your works” (Jas | |
| 1117 2:18). It is only such a one who is not judged and not condemned | |
| 1118 for unbelief.</p> | |
| 1119 <p>487 Here [the Lord] shows that unbelievers are not judged. First | |
| 1120 he makes the statement; secondly, he explains it (v 19).</p> | |
| 1121 <p>488 Concerning the first we should note, according to Augustine, | |
| 1122 that Christ does not say, “whoever does not believe is | |
| 1123 judged,” but rather <span style="font-weight: bold">is not | |
| 1124 judged.</span> This can be explained in three ways. For, according | |
| 1125 to Augustine, whoever does not believe is not judged, because he is | |
| 1126 already judged, not in fact, but in God’s foreknowledge, that | |
| 1127 is, it is already known to God that he will be condemned: | |
| 1128 “The Lord knows who are his” (2 Tim 2:19). In another | |
| 1129 way: according to Chrysostom, <span style= | |
| 1130 "font-weight: bold">whoever does not believe is already | |
| 1131 judged,</span> that is, the very fact that he does not believe is | |
| 1132 for him a condemnation: for not to believe is not to adhere to the | |
| 1133 light—which is to live in darkness, and this is a momentous | |
| 1134 condemnation: “All were bound with one chain of | |
| 1135 darkness” (Wis 17:17). “What kind ofjoy can I have, I | |
| 1136 who sit in darkness and do not see the light of heaven?” (Tb | |
| 1137 5:12). In a third way: also according to Chrysostom, <span style= | |
| 1138 "font-weight: bold">whoever does not believe is not judged,</span> | |
| 1139 that is, being already condemned, he displays the obvious reason | |
| 1140 for his condemnation. This is like saying that a person who is | |
| 1141 proven guilty of death is already dead, even before the sentence of | |
| 1142 death has been passed on him, because he is as good as dead.</p> | |
| 1143 <p>Hence Gregory says that in passing judgments there is a twofold | |
| 1144 order. Some will be sentenced by a trial; such are the ones who | |
| 1145 have something not deserving of condemnation, namely, the good of | |
| 1146 faith, that is, sinners who believe. But unbelievers, Whose reason | |
| 1147 for condemnation is manifest, are sentenced without trial; and of | |
| 1148 these it is said, <span style="font-weight: bold">whoever does not | |
| 1149 believe is already judged.</span> “In judgment the wicked | |
| 1150 will not stand” (Ps 1:6), that is, stand in trial.</p> | |
| 1151 <p>489 It should be noted that to be judged is the same as to be | |
| 1152 condemned; and to be condemned is to be shut out from salvation, to | |
| 1153 which only one road leads, that is, the name of the Son of God: | |
| 1154 “There is no other name under heaven given to men, by which | |
| 1155 we are saved” (Acts 4:12); “O’God, save me by | |
| 1156 your name” (Ps 53:3). Therefore, those who do not believe in | |
| 1157 the Son of God are cut off from salvation, and the cause of their | |
| 1158 damnation is evident.</p> | |
| 1159 <p>490 Here the Lord explains his statement that unbelievers have | |
| 1160 an evident cause for their condemnation. First, he sets forth the | |
| 1161 sign which shows this. Secondly, the fittingness of this sign (v | |
| 1162 20).</p> | |
| 1163 <p>491 In the sign he sets forth he does three things. First, he | |
| 1164 mentions the gift of God. Secondly, the perversity of mind in | |
| 1165 unbelievers. Thirdly, the cause of this perversity.</p> | |
| 1166 <p>So he says: It is abundantly clear that <span style= | |
| 1167 "font-weight: bold">whoever does not believe is already | |
| 1168 judged,</span> because <span style="font-weight: bold">the light | |
| 1169 came into the world.</span> For men were in the darkness of | |
| 1170 ignorance, and God destroyed this darkness by sending a light into | |
| 1171 the world so that men might know the truth: “I am the light | |
| 1172 of the world. He who follows me does not walk in darkness, but will | |
| 1173 have the light of life” (below 8:12); “To enlighten | |
| 1174 those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death” (Lk | |
| 1175 1:78). Now the light came into the world because men could not come | |
| 1176 to it: for “He dwells in inaccessible light, whom no man has | |
| 1177 seen or is able to see” (1 Tim 6:16).</p> | |
| 1178 <p>It is also clear from the perversity of mind in unbelievers who | |
| 1179 <span style="font-weight: bold">loved darkness more than the | |
| 1180 light,</span> i.e., they preferred to remain in the darkness of | |
| 1181 ignorance rather than be instructed by Christ: “They have | |
| 1182 rebelled against the light” (Jb 24:13); “Woe to you who | |
| 1183 substitute darkness for light, and light for darkness” (Is | |
| 1184 5:20).</p> | |
| 1185 <p>And the cause of this perversity is that <span style= | |
| 1186 "font-weight: bold">their deeds were evil:</span> and such deeds do | |
| 1187 not conform to the light but seek the darkness: “Let us cast | |
| 1188 off the works of darkness” (Rom 13:12), i.e., sins, which | |
| 1189 seek the darkness; “Those who sleep, sleep at night” (1 | |
| 1190 Thes 5:7); “The eye of the adulterer watches for the | |
| 1191 darkness,” as we read in Job (24:15). Now it is by | |
| 1192 withdrawing from the light,which is unpleasant to him, that one | |
| 1193 does not believe the light.</p> | |
| 1194 <p>492 But do all unbelievers produce evil works? It seems not: for | |
| 1195 many Gentiles have acted with virtue; for example, Cato, and many | |
| 1196 others. I answer, with Chrysostom, that is it one thing to work by | |
| 1197 reason of virtue, and another by reason of a natural aptitude or | |
| 1198 disposition. For some act well because of their natural | |
| 1199 disposition, because their temperament is not inclined in a | |
| 1200 contrary way. And even unbelievers can act well in this way. For | |
| 1201 example, one may live chastely because he is not assailed by | |
| 1202 concupiscence; and the same for the other virtues. But those who | |
| 1203 act well by reason of virtue do not depart from virute, in spite of | |
| 1204 inclinations to the contrary vice, because of the rightness of | |
| 1205 their reason and the goodness of their will; and this is proper to | |
| 1206 believers.</p> | |
| 1207 <p>Or, one might answer that although unbelievers may have done | |
| 1208 good things, they do not do them for love of virute but out of | |
| 1209 vainglory. Further, they did not do all things well; for they | |
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1210 failed to render to God the worship due him.</p> |
| 35 | 1211 <p>493 Then when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">Everyone |
| 1212 who practices evil hates the light,</span> he shows the | |
| 1213 appropriateness of the sign he used. First, with respect to those | |
| 1214 who are evil. Secondly, with respect to the good.</p> | |
| 1215 <p>494 So he says: The reason why they did not love the light is | |
| 1216 that their works were evil. And this is plain because <span style= | |
| 1217 "font-weight: bold">Everyone who practices evil hates the | |
| 1218 light.</span> He does not say, “practiced,” but rather | |
| 1219 practices: because if someone has acted in an evil way, but has | |
| 1220 repented and is sorry,seeing that he has done wrong, such a person | |
| 1221 does not hate the light but comes to the light. But Everyone who | |
| 1222 practices evil, i.e., persists in evil, is not sorry, nor does he | |
| 1223 come to the light, but he hates it; not because it reveals truth, | |
| 1224 but because it reveals a person’s sins. For an evil person | |
| 1225 still wants to know the light and the truth; but he hates to be | |
| 1226 unmasked by it. “If the dawn suddenly appears, they regard it | |
| 1227 as the shadow of death” Qb 24:17). And so he <span style= | |
| 1228 "font-weight: bold">does not approach the light;</span> and this | |
| 1229 <span style="font-weight: bold">for fear that his deeds might be | |
| 1230 exposed.</span> For no one who is unwilling to desert evil wants to | |
| 1231 be rebuked; this is fled from and hated. “They hate the one | |
| 1232 who rebukes at the city gate” (Am 5:10); “A corrupt man | |
| 1233 does not love the one who rebukes him” (Prv 15:12).</p> | |
| 1234 <p>495 Now he shows the same things with respect to the good, who | |
| 1235 practice the truth, i.e., perform good works. For truth is found | |
| 1236 not only in thought and words. but also in deeds. Everyone of these | |
| 1237 <span style="font-weight: bold">comes to the light.</span></p> | |
| 1238 <p>But did anyone practice the truth before Christ? It seems not, | |
| 1239 for to practice the truth is not to sin; and “before Christ | |
| 1240 all have sinned” (Rom 3:23). I answer, according to | |
| 1241 Augustine, that he practices the truth in himself who is displeased | |
| 1242 at the evil he has done; and after leaving the darkness, keeps | |
| 1243 himself from sin, and repenting of the past, <span style= | |
| 1244 "font-weight: bold">comes to the light,</span> with the special | |
| 1245 intention of making his actions known.</p> | |
| 1246 <p>496 But this conflicts with the teaching that no one should make | |
| 1247 public the good he has done; and this was a reason why the Lord | |
| 1248 rebuked the Pharisees. I answer that it is lawful to want | |
| 1249 one’s works to be seen by God so that they may be approved: | |
| 1250 “It is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but | |
| 1251 the one whom God commends” (2 Cor 10:18); “My witness | |
| 1252 is in heaven,” as is said in Job (16:20). It is also lawful | |
| 1253 to want them to be seen by one’s own conscience, so that one | |
| 1254 may rejoice: “Our glory is this: the testimony of our | |
| 1255 conscience” (2 Cor 1:12). But it is reprehensible to want | |
| 1256 them to be seen by men in order to be praised or for one’s | |
| 1257 own glory. Yet, holy persons desire that their good works be known | |
| 1258 to men for the sake of God’s glory and for the good of the | |
| 1259 faith: “Let your light so shine before men that they may see | |
| 1260 your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven” (Mt | |
| 1261 5:16). Such a person <span style="font-weight: bold">comes to the | |
| 1262 light to make clear that his deeds are done in God,</span> that is, | |
| 1263 according to God’s commandment or through the grace of God. | |
| 1264 For whatever good we do, whether it be avoiding sin, repenting of | |
| 1265 what has been done, or doing good works, it is all from God: | |
| 1266 “You have accomplished all our works” (Is 26:12).</p> | |
| 1267 <p style="margin-bottom: 0.125in; margin-bottom: 0.125in"> | |
| 1268 </p> | |
| 1269 <p style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.125in"><span style= | |
| 1270 "font-weight: bold">LECTURE 4</span></p> | |
| 1271 <blockquote> | |
| 1272 <p>22 After this Jesus and his disciples came to Judean territory; | |
| 1273 he stayed there with his disciples and was baptizing. 23 But John | |
| 1274 also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, where the water was | |
| 1275 plentiful, and people kept coming and were baptized. 24 John, of | |
| 1276 course, had not yet been thrown into prison. 25 A controversy arose | |
| 1277 between the disciples of John and the Jews concerning purification. | |
| 1278 26 They went to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the man who was | |
| 1279 with you across the Jordan, the one of whom you have given | |
| 1280 testimony, he is here baptizing, and all the people are flocking to | |
| 1281 him.”</p> | |
| 1282 </blockquote> | |
| 1283 <p>497 Above, the Lord gave us his teaching on spiritual | |
| 1284 regeneration in words, here he completes his teaching through | |
| 1285 action, by baptizing. First, two kinds of baptism are mentioned. | |
| 1286 Secondly, a question about their relationship is raised (v 25). As | |
| 1287 to the first, two things are done. Mention is first made of the | |
| 1288 baptism of Christ. Secondly, of the baptism of John.</p> | |
| 1289 <p>498 He says first, <span style="font-weight: bold">After | |
| 1290 this,</span> i.e., the teaching on spiritual regeneration, | |
| 1291 <span style="font-weight: bold">Jesus and his disciples came to | |
| 1292 Judean territory.</span> There is a question here about the literal | |
| 1293 meaning. For above, the Evangelist had said that the Lord had come | |
| 1294 from Galilee to Jerusalem, which is in Judean territory, where he | |
| 1295 taught Nicodemus. So how, after teaching Nicodemus, can he come | |
| 1296 into Judea, since he was already there?</p> | |
| 1297 <p>Two answers are given to this. According to Bede, after his | |
| 1298 discussion with Nicodemus, Christ went to Galilee, and after | |
| 1299 remaining there for a time, returned to Judea. And so <span style= | |
| 1300 "font-weight: bold">After this Jesus and his disciples came to | |
| 1301 Judean territory,</span> should not be understood to mean that he | |
| 1302 came into Judea immediately after his talk with Nicodemus. Another | |
| 1303 explanation, given by Chrysostom, is that he did come into the | |
| 1304 territory of Judea immediately after this discussion: for Christ | |
| 1305 wanted to preach where the people gathered, so that many might be | |
| 1306 converted: “I have declared your justice in the great | |
| 1307 assembly” (Ps 3 9:10); “1 have spoken openly to the | |
| 1308 world” (below 18:20). Now there were two places in Judea | |
| 1309 where the Jewish people gathered: Jerusalem, where they went for | |
| 1310 their feasts, and the Jordan, where they gathered on account of | |
| 1311 John’s preaching and his baptism. And so the Lord used to | |
| 1312 visit both places; and after the feast days were over in Jerusalem, | |
| 1313 which is in one part of Judea, he went to another part, to the | |
| 1314 Jordan, where John was baptizing.</p> | |
| 1315 <p>499 As for the moral sense, Judea means | |
| 1316 “confession,” to which Jesus came, for Christ visits | |
| 1317 those who confess their sins or speak in praise of God: | |
| 1318 “Judea became his sanctuary” (Ps 113:2). He stayed | |
| 1319 there, because he did not make a merely temporary visit: “We | |
| 1320 will come to him, and make our abode with him,” as it says | |
| 1321 below (14:23). <span style="font-weight: bold">And was | |
| 1322 baptizing,</span> i.e., cleansing from sin; because unless one | |
| 1323 confesses his sins he does not obtain forgiveness: “He who | |
| 1324 hides his sins will not prosper” (Prv 28:13).</p> | |
| 1325 <p>500 Then when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">But John | |
| 1326 also was baptizing,</span> the Evangelist presents the baptism of | |
| 1327 John. And in regard to this he does four things. First, he presents | |
| 1328 the person who is baptizing. Secondly, the place of the baptism. | |
| 1329 Thirdly, its fruit. Fourthly, the time.</p> | |
| 1330 <p>501 John is the person who is baptizing-, so he says, | |
| 1331 <span style="font-weight: bold">John also was baptizing.</span> | |
| 1332 There is a question about this: Since John’s baptism was | |
| 1333 ordained to the baptism of Christ, it seems that John should have | |
| 1334 stopped baptizing when Christ started to baptize, just as the | |
| 1335 symbol does not continue when the truth comes. Three reasons are | |
| 1336 given for this. The first is in relation to Christ, for John | |
| 1337 baptized in order that Christ might be baptized by him. But it was | |
| 1338 not fitting that John baptize just Christ; otherwise, on this point | |
| 1339 alone, it might seem that John’s baptism was superior to | |
| 1340 Christ’s. Accordingly, it was expedient that John baptize | |
| 1341 others before Christ, because before Christ’s teaching was to | |
| 1342 be made public it was necessary that men be prepared for Christ by | |
| 1343 John’s baptism. In this way, the baptism of John is related | |
| 1344 to the baptism of Christ as the catechesis or religious instruction | |
| 1345 given to prospects to teach and prepare them for baptism is related | |
| 1346 to the true baptism. It was likewise important that John baptize | |
| 1347 others after he had baptized Christ, so that John’s baptism | |
| 1348 would not seem to be worthless. For the same reason, the practice | |
| 1349 of the ceremonies of the old law was not abolished as soon as the | |
| 1350 truth came, but as Augustine says, the Jews could lawfully observe | |
| 1351 them for a time.</p> | |
| 1352 <p>The second reason relates to John. For if John had stopped | |
| 1353 baptizing at once after Christ began baptizing, it might have been | |
| 1354 thought that he stopped out of envy or anger. And because, as the | |
| 1355 Apostle says, “We ought to look after what is good, not only | |
| 1356 before God, but also before all men” (Rom 12:17), this is the | |
| 1357 reason why John did not stop at once.</p> | |
| 1358 <p>The third reason relates to John’s disciples, who were | |
| 1359 already beginning to act like zealots toward Christ and his | |
| 1360 disciples, because they were baptizing. So if John had entirely | |
| 1361 stopped from baptizing, it would have provoked his disciples to an | |
| 1362 even greater zeal and opposition to Christ and his disciples. For | |
| 1363 even while John continued baptizing, they were hostile to | |
| 1364 Christ’s baptism, as later events showed. And so John did not | |
| 1365 stop at once: “Take care that your freedom does not become a | |
| 1366 hindrance to those who are weak,” as is said in 1 Corinthians | |
| 1367 (8:9).</p> | |
| 1368 <p>502 The place of his baptism was <span style= | |
| 1369 "font-weight: bold">at Aenon near Salim, where the water was | |
| 1370 plentiful.</span> Another name for Salim is Salem, which is the | |
| 1371 village from which the king Melchizedek came. It is called Salim | |
| 1372 here because among the Jews a reader may use any vowel he chooses | |
| 1373 in the middle of his words; hence it made no difference to the Jews | |
| 1374 whether it was pronounced Salim or Salem. He added, <span style= | |
| 1375 "font-weight: bold">where the water was plentiful,</span> to | |
| 1376 explain the name of this place, i.e., <span style= | |
| 1377 "font-weight: bold">Aenon,</span> which is the same as | |
| 1378 “water.”</p> | |
| 1379 <p>503 The fruit of his baptism is the remission of sins; thus he | |
| 1380 says, <span style="font-weight: bold">people kept coming and were | |
| 1381 baptized,</span> i.e., cleansed: for as is stated in Matthew (3:5) | |
| 1382 and in Luke (3:7), great crowds came to John.</p> | |
| 1383 <p>504 The time is indicated when he says, <span style= | |
| 1384 "font-weight: bold">John had not yet been thrown into | |
| 1385 prison.</span> He says this so that we may know that he began his | |
| 1386 narrative of Christ’s life before the other Evangelists. For | |
| 1387 the others began their account only from the time of John’s | |
| 1388 imprisonment. So Matthew (4:12) says: “When Jesus heard that | |
| 1389 John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee.” And so, | |
| 1390 because they had passed over the things that Christ did before | |
| 1391 John’s imprisonment, John, who was the last to write a | |
| 1392 Gospel, supplied these omissions. He suggests this when he says: | |
| 1393 <span style="font-weight: bold">John had not yet been thrown into | |
| 1394 prison.</span></p> | |
| 1395 <p>505 Note that by divine arrangement it came about that when | |
| 1396 Christ began to baptize, John did not continue his own baptizing | |
| 1397 and preaching for very long, in order not to create disunion among | |
| 1398 the people. But he was granted a little time so that it would not | |
| 1399 seem that he deserved to be repudiated, as was mentioned before. | |
| 1400 Again, by God’s arrangement, it came about that after the | |
| 1401 faith had been preached and the faithful converted, the temple was | |
| 1402 utterly destroyed, in order that all the devotion and hope of the | |
| 1403 faithful could be directed to Christ.</p> | |
| 1404 <p>506 Then when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">A | |
| 1405 controversy arose</span>, he brings in the issue of the two | |
| 1406 baptisms. First, the issue is mentioned. Secondly, it is brought to | |
| 1407 John’s attention (v 26). Thirdly, the issue is resolved.</p> | |
| 1408 <p>507 Because both John and Christ were baptizing, the disciples | |
| 1409 of John, out of zeal for their teacher, started a controversy over | |
| 1410 this. And this is what he says, A controversy arose, i.e., a | |
| 1411 dispute, <span style="font-weight: bold">between the disciples of | |
| 1412 John,</span> who were the first to raise the issue, <span style= | |
| 1413 "font-weight: bold">and the Jews,</span> whom the disciples of John | |
| 1414 had rebuked for preferring Christ, because of the miracles he did, | |
| 1415 to John, who did not do any miracles. The issue was <span style= | |
| 1416 "font-weight: bold">concerning purification,</span> i.e., | |
| 1417 baptizing. The cause of their envy and the reason why they started | |
| 1418 the controversy was the fact that John sent those he baptized to | |
| 1419 Christ, but Christ did not send those he baptized to John. It | |
| 1420 seemed from this, and perhaps the Jews even said so, that Christ | |
| 1421 was greater than John. Thus, the disciples of John, having not yet | |
| 1422 become spiritual, quarreled with the Jews over the baptisms. | |
| 1423 “While there is envy and fighting among you, are you not | |
| 1424 carnal?” (1 Cor 3:3).</p> | |
| 1425 <p>508 They referred this issue to John; hence he says, | |
| 1426 <span style="font-weight: bold">They went to John.</span> If we | |
| 1427 examine this closely, we see that they were trying to incite John | |
| 1428 against Christ. Indeed, they are like the gossip and the | |
| 1429 double-tongued: “Those who gossip and are double-tongued are | |
| 1430 accursed, for they disturb many who are at peace” (Sir | |
| 1431 28:15).</p> | |
| 1432 <p>So they bring up four things calculated to set John against | |
| 1433 Christ. First, they recall the previous unimportant status of | |
| 1434 Christ. Secondly, the good John did for him. Thirdly, the role | |
| 1435 which Christ took on. Fourthly, the loss to John because of | |
| 1436 Christ’s new role.</p> | |
| 1437 <p>509 They recall Christ’s unimportance when they say, | |
| 1438 <span style="font-weight: bold">the man who was with you,</span> as | |
| 1439 one of your disciples; and not the one you were with as your | |
| 1440 teacher. For there is no good reason for envy if honor is shown to | |
| 1441 one who is greater; rather, envy is aroused when honor is given to | |
| 1442 an inferior: “I have seen slaves on horses, and princes | |
| 1443 walking like slaves” (Ecc 10:7); “I called my servant, | |
| 1444 and he did not answer me” (Jb 19:16). For a master is more | |
| 1445 disturbed at the rebellion of a servant and a subject than of | |
| 1446 anyone else.</p> | |
| 1447 <p>510 Secondly, they remind John of the good he did Christ. Thus | |
| 1448 they do not say, “the one whom you baptized,” because | |
| 1449 they would then be admitting the greatness of Christ which was | |
| 1450 shown during his baptism when the Holy Spirit came upon him in the | |
| 1451 form of a dove and in the voice of the Father speaking to him. So | |
| 1452 they say, <span style="font-weight: bold">the one of whom you have | |
| 1453 given testimony,</span> i.e., we are very angry that the one you | |
| 1454 made famous and admired dares to repay you in this way: “The | |
| 1455 one who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me” (Ps | |
| 1456 40:10). They said this because those who seek their own glory and | |
| 1457 personal profit from their office become dejected if their office | |
| 1458 is taken over by someone else</p> | |
| 1459 <p>511 And so thirdly, they even add that Christ took over | |
| 1460 John’s office for himself, when they say, <span style= | |
| 1461 "font-weight: bold">he is here baptizing,</span> i.e., he is | |
| 1462 exercising your office; and this also distrubed them very much. For | |
| 1463 we generally see that men of the same craft are envious and | |
| 1464 underhanded with respect to one another; a potter envies another | |
| 1465 potter, but does not envy a carpenter. So, even teachers, who are | |
| 1466 seeking their own honor, become sad if another teaches the truth. | |
| 1467 In opposition to them, Gregory says: “The mind of a holy | |
| 1468 pastor wishes that others teach the truth which he cannot teach all | |
| 1469 by himself.” So also Moses: “Would that all the people | |
| 1470 might prophesy,” as we read in Numbers (11:29).</p> | |
| 1471 <p>512 Yet they were not satisfied with merely disturbing John, | |
| 1472 rather they report something that should really excite him, that | |
| 1473 is, the loss that John seemed to be having because of the office | |
| 1474 Christ took over. They give this when they say: <span style= | |
| 1475 "font-weight: bold">and all the people are flocking to him,</span> | |
| 1476 i.e., the ones who used to come to you. In other words, they have | |
| 1477 rejected and disowned you, and now are all going to his baptism. It | |
| 1478 is clear from Matthew (11:7) that they used to go to John: | |
| 1479 “What did you go into the desert to see?” The same envy | |
| 1480 affected the Pharisees against Christ; so they said: “Look, | |
| 1481 the whole world has gone after him” (below 12:19). However, | |
| 1482 all this did not set John againt Christ, for he was not a reed | |
| 1483 swaying in the wind, and this is clear from John’s answer to | |
| 1484 their question.</p> | |
| 1485 <p style="margin-bottom: 0.125in; margin-bottom: 0.125in"> | |
| 1486 </p> | |
| 1487 <p style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.125in"><span style= | |
| 1488 "font-weight: bold">LECTURE 5</span></p> | |
| 1489 <blockquote> | |
| 1490 <p>27 John replied and said:</p> | |
| 1491 <p style="margin-left: 0.5in">“No one can lay hold of | |
| 1492 anything<br /> | |
| 1493 unless it is given to him from heaven.</p> | |
| 1494 <p>28 “You yourselves are witnesses to the fact that I said: | |
| 1495 I am not the Christ, but the one sent before him.</p> | |
| 1496 <p style="margin-left: 0.5in">>29 “It is the groom who has | |
| 1497 the bride.<br /> | |
| 1498 The groom’s friend waits there and listens to him,<br /> | |
| 1499 rejoicing at hearing his voice.<br /> | |
| 1500 Therefore in this case my joy is complete.<br /> | |
| 1501 30 He must increase,<br /> | |
| 1502 and I must decrease.<br /> | |
| 1503 31 The One who came from above<br /> | |
| 1504 is above all things.<br /> | |
| 1505 He who is of earth is earthly,<br /> | |
| 1506 and speaks of earthly things.<br /> | |
| 1507 32a The One who comes from heaven<br /> | |
| 1508 is above all things,<br /> | |
| 1509 and he testifies to what he sees,<br /> | |
| 1510 and to what he hears.</p> | |
| 1511 </blockquote> | |
| 1512 <p>513 Here we have John’s answer to the question presented | |
| 1513 to him by his disciples. Their question contained two points: a | |
| 1514 complaint about the office Christ took on, and so they said, | |
| 1515 <span style="font-weight: bold">he is here baptizing;</span> and | |
| 1516 about Christ’s increasing fame and reputation among the | |
| 1517 people, and so they said, <span style="font-weight: bold">all the | |
| 1518 people are flocking to him.</span> Accordingly, John directs his | |
| 1519 answer to these two complaints. First he answers the complaint | |
| 1520 about the office Christ took on. Secondly, the complaint about | |
| 1521 Christ’s increasing reputation (v 30). As to the first he | |
| 1522 does two things. First, he shows the source of Christ’s | |
| 1523 office and of his own. Secondly, their difference (v 28). Thirdly, | |
| 1524 how Christ and he are related to these offices.</p> | |
| 1525 <p>514 As to the first, note that although John’s disciples | |
| 1526 broach their question maliciously, and so deserve to be rebuked, | |
| 1527 John nevertheless does not sharply reprove them; and this because | |
| 1528 of their imperfection. For he feared that they might be provoked by | |
| 1529 a rebuke, leave him, and, joining forces with the Pharisees, | |
| 1530 publicly harass Christ. In acting this way he was putting into | |
| 1531 practice what is said of the Lord: “The burised reed he will | |
| 1532 not break” (Is 42:3). Again, we should also note that he | |
| 1533 begins his answer not by telling them what is great and wonderful | |
| 1534 about Christ, but what is common and obvious; and he did this on | |
| 1535 account oftheir envy. For since the excellence of a person provokes | |
| 1536 others to envy, if John had stressed Christ’s excellence at | |
| 1537 once, he would have fed the fire of their envy.</p> | |
| 1538 <p>515 Thus he states something unpretentious, and says, | |
| 1539 <span style="font-weight: bold">No one can lay hold of anything | |
| 1540 unless it is given to him from heaven;</span> and he said this to | |
| 1541 them in order to inspire them with reverence. As if to say: If all | |
| 1542 men are going to him, it is God’s doing, because <span style= | |
| 1543 "font-weight: bold">no one can lay hold of anything,</span> in the | |
| 1544 order of perfection and goodness, unless it is given to him from | |
| 1545 heaven. Therefore, if you oppose him, you oppose God. “If | |
| 1546 this plan or work is from men, it will fail,” as is said in | |
| 1547 Acts (5:38). This is the way Chrysostom explains it, applying these | |
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1548 words to Christ.</p> |
| 35 | 1549 <p>Augustine, on the other hand, does much better when he refers |
| 1550 them to John. <span style="font-weight: bold">No one can lay hold | |
| 1551 of anything unless it is given to him from heaven:</span> as if to | |
| 1552 say: You are zealous on my behalf and you want me to be greater | |
| 1553 than Christ; but that has not been given to me, and I do not wish | |
| 1554 to usurp it: “No one takes this honor on himself” (Heb | |
| 1555 5:4). This is the origin of their offices.</p> | |
| 1556 <p>516 Then follows the difference of their offices, when he says, | |
| 1557 You yourselves are witnesses. As if to say: From the testimony | |
| 1558 which I bore to him, you can know the office committed to me by | |
| 1559 Christ: for You yourselves are witnesses, i.e., you can testify, | |
| 1560 <span style="font-weight: bold">to the fact that I said: I am not | |
| 1561 the Christ</span>—“He declared openly and did not | |
| 1562 deny” (above 1:20)—<span style="font-weight: bold">but | |
| 1563 the one sent before him,</span> as a herald before a judge. And so | |
| 1564 from my own testimony you can know my office, which is to go before | |
| 1565 Christ and prepare the way for him: “There was a man sent by | |
| 1566 God, whose name was John” (above 1:6). But the office of | |
| 1567 Christ is to judge and to preside. If we look at this closely we | |
| 1568 can see that John, like a skilful disputant, answers them with | |
| 1569 their own arguments: “I judge you out of your own | |
| 1570 mouth,” as said in Luke (19:22).</p> | |
| 1571 <p>517 He shows how John is related to his own office when he says: | |
| 1572 <span style="font-weight: bold">It is the groom who has the | |
| 1573 bride.</span> First, he gives a simile. Secondly, he applies it to | |
| 1574 his own situation. With respect to the first he does two things. | |
| 1575 First, he gives a simile which applies to Christ; and secondly, to | |
| 1576 himself.</p> | |
| 1577 <p>518 As to the first, we should note that on the human level it | |
| 1578 is the groom who regulates, governs and has the bride. Hence he | |
| 1579 says, <span style="font-weight: bold">It is the groom who has the | |
| 1580 bride.</span> Now the groom is Christ: “Like a bridegroom | |
| 1581 coming out of his bridal chamber” (Ps 18:6). His bride is the | |
| 1582 Church, which is joined to him by faith: “I will espouse you | |
| 1583 to myself in faith” Mos 2:20). In keeping with this figure, | |
| 1584 Zipporah said to Moses: “You are a spouse of blood to | |
| 1585 me” (Ex 4:25). We read of the marriage: “The marriage | |
| 1586 of the Lamb has come” (Rv 19:7). So, because Christ is the | |
| 1587 groom, he has the bride, that is, the Church; but my part is only | |
| 1588 to rejoice in the fact that he has the bride.</p> | |
| 1589 <p>519 Consequently he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">The | |
| 1590 groom’s friend waits there and listens to him, rejoicing at | |
| 1591 hearing his voice.</span> Although John had said earlier that he | |
| 1592 was not worthy to unfasten the strap of Jesus’ sandal, he | |
| 1593 here calls himself the friend of Jesus in order to bring out the | |
| 1594 faithfulness of his love for Christ. For a servant does not act in | |
| 1595 the spirit of love in regard to the things that pertain to his | |
| 1596 master, but in a spirit of servitude; while a friend, on the other | |
| 1597 hand, seeks his friend’s interests out of love and | |
| 1598 faithfulness. Hence a faithful servant is like a friend to his | |
| 1599 master: “If you have a faithful servant, treat him like | |
| 1600 yourself” (Sir 33:31). Indeed, it is proof of a | |
| 1601 servant’s faithfulness when he rejoices in the prosperity of | |
| 1602 his master, and when he obtains various goods, not for himself, but | |
| 1603 for his master. And so because John did not keep the bride | |
| 1604 entrusted to his care for himself, but for the groom, we can see | |
| 1605 that he was a faithful servant and a friend of the groom. It is to | |
| 1606 suggest this that he calls himself <span style= | |
| 1607 "font-weight: bold">the groom’s friend.</span></p> | |
| 1608 <p>Those who are friends of the truth should act in the same way, | |
| 1609 not turning the bride entrusted to their care to their own | |
| 1610 advantage and glory, but treating her honorably for the honor and | |
| 1611 glory of the groom; otherwise they would not be friends of the | |
| 1612 groom but adulterers. This is why Gregory says that a servant who | |
| 1613 is sent by the groom with gifts for the bride is guilty of | |
| 1614 adulterous thoughts if he himself desires to please the bride. This | |
| 1615 is not what the Apostle did: “I espoused you to one husband | |
| 1616 in order to present you to Christ as a chaste virgin” (2 Cor | |
| 1617 11:2). And John did the same, because he did not keep the bride, | |
| 1618 i.e., the faithful, for himself, but brought them to the groom, | |
| 1619 that is, to Christ.</p> | |
| 1620 <p>520 And so by saying, <span style="font-weight: bold">the | |
| 1621 groom’s friend,</span> he suggests the faithfulness of his | |
| 1622 love. Further, he suggests his constancy when he says, <span style= | |
| 1623 "font-weight: bold">waits,</span> firm in friendship and | |
| 1624 faithfulness, not extolling himself above what he really is: | |
| 1625 “I will stand my watch” (Hb 2:1); “Be steadfast | |
| 1626 and unchanging” (1 Cor 15:58); “A faithful friend, if | |
| 1627 he is constant, is like another self” (Sir 6:11).</p> | |
| 1628 <p>He suggests his attention when he says, <span style= | |
| 1629 "font-weight: bold">and listens to him,</span> i.e., attentively | |
| 1630 considers the way in which the groom is united to the bride. For | |
| 1631 according to Chrysostom, these words explain the manner of this | |
| 1632 marriage, for it is accomplished through faith, and “faith | |
| 1633 comes through hearing” (Rom 10:17). Or, he <span style= | |
| 1634 "font-weight: bold">listens to him,</span> i.e., reverently obeys | |
| 1635 him, by caring for the bride according to the commands of the | |
| 1636 groom: “I will listen to him as my master,” as is said | |
| 1637 in Isaiah (50:4). This is in opposition to those evil prelates who | |
| 1638 do not follow Christ’s command in governing the Church.</p> | |
| 1639 <p>Likewise, he hints at his spiritual joy when he says, | |
| 1640 <span style="font-weight: bold">rejoicing at hearing his | |
| 1641 voice,</span> that is, when the groom talks to his bride. And he | |
| 1642 says, <span style="font-weight: bold">rejoicing</span> (literally, | |
| 1643 “rejoicing with joy”), to show the truth and perfection | |
| 1644 of his joy. For one whose rejoicing is not over the good, does not | |
| 1645 rejoice with true joy. And so, if it made me sad that Christ, who | |
| 1646 is the true groom, preaches to the bride, i.e., the Church, I would | |
| 1647 not be a friend of the groom; but I am not sad.</p> | |
| 1648 <p>521 Therefore in this case my joy is complete, namely, in seeing | |
| 1649 what I have so long desired, that is, the groom speaking to his | |
| 1650 bride. Or, my joy is complete, i.e., brought to its perfect and due | |
| 1651 measure, when the bride. is united to the groom, because I now have | |
| 1652 my grace and I have completed my work: “I will rejoice in the | |
| 1653 Lord, and I will take joy in God, my Jesus” (Hb 3:18).</p> | |
| 1654 <p>522 Then when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">He must | |
| 1655 increase, and I must decrease,</span> he answers their question as | |
| 1656 to their complaint about the increasing esteem given to Christ. | |
| 1657 First, he notes that such an increase is fitting. Secondly, he | |
| 1658 gives the reason for it (v 31).</p> | |
| 1659 <p>523 So he says: You say that all the people are flocking to him, | |
| 1660 i.e., to Christ, and therefore that he is growing in honor and | |
| 1661 esteem among the people. But I say that this is not unbecoming, | |
| 1662 because He must increase, not in himself, but in relation to | |
| 1663 others, in the sense that his power becoipe more and more known. | |
| 1664 <span style="font-weight: bold">And I must decrease,</span> in the | |
| 1665 reverence and esteem of the people: for esteem and reverence are | |
| 1666 not due to me as if I were a principal; but they are due to Christ. | |
| 1667 And therefore since he has come, the signs of honor are diminishing | |
| 1668 in my regard, but increasing in regard to Christ, just as with the | |
| 1669 coming of the prince, the office of the ambassador ceases: | |
| 1670 “When the perfect comes, what is imperfect will pass | |
| 1671 away” (1 Cor 13:10). And just as in the heavens the morning | |
| 1672 star appears and gives light before the sun, only to cease giving | |
| 1673 light when the sun appears, so John went before Christ and is | |
| 1674 compared to the morning star: “Can you bring out the morning | |
| 1675 star?” (Jb 38:32).</p> | |
| 1676 <p>This is also signified in John’s birth and in his death. | |
| 1677 In his birth, because John was born at a time when the days are | |
| 1678 getting shorter; Christ, however, was born when the days are | |
| 1679 growing longer, on the twenty-fifth of December. In his death, | |
| 1680 because John dies shortened by decapitation; but Christ died raised | |
| 1681 up by the lifting up of the cross.</p> | |
| 1682 <p>524 In the moral sense, this should take place in each one of | |
| 1683 us. Christ must increase in you, i.e., you should grow in the | |
| 1684 knowledge and love of Christ, because the more you are able to | |
| 1685 grasp him by knowledge and love, the more Christ increases in you; | |
| 1686 just as the more one improves in seeing one and the same light, the | |
| 1687 more that light seems to increase. Consequently, as men advance in | |
| 1688 this way, their self-esteem decreases; because the more one knows | |
| 1689 of the divine greatness, the less he thinks of his human smallness. | |
| 1690 As we read in Proverbs (30:1): “The revelation spoken by the | |
| 1691 man close to God”; and then there follows: “I am the | |
| 1692 most foolish of men, and the wisdom of men is not in me.” | |
| 1693 “I have heard you, but now I see you, and so I reprove | |
| 1694 myself, and do penance in dust and ashes,” as we read in Job | |
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1695 (42:5).</p> |
| 35 | 1696 <p>525 Then when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">The One |
| 1697 who came from above is above all things,</span> he gives the reason | |
| 1698 for what he has just said. And he does this in two ways. First, on | |
| 1699 the basis of Christ’s origin. And secondly, by considering | |
| 1700 Christ’s teaching.</p> | |
| 1701 <p>526 Regarding the first, we should note that in order for a | |
| 1702 thing to be perfect, it must reach the goal fixed for it by its | |
| 1703 origin; for example, if one is born from a king, he should continue | |
| 1704 to progress until he becomes a king. Now Christ has an origin that | |
| 1705 is most excellent and eternal; therefore he must increase by the | |
| 1706 manifestation of his power, in relation to others, until it is | |
| 1707 recognized that he is above all things. Thus he says, <span style= | |
| 1708 "font-weight: bold">The One who came from above,</span> that is, | |
| 1709 Christ, according to his divinity. “No one has gone up to | |
| 1710 heaven except the One who came down from heaven” (above | |
| 1711 3:13); “You are from below, I am from above” (below | |
| 1712 8:23).</p> | |
| 1713 <p>527 Or, he <span style="font-weight: bold">came from | |
| 1714 above,</span> as to his human nature, i.e., from the | |
| 1715 “highest” condition of human nature, by assuming it | |
| 1716 according to what was predominant in it in each of its states. For | |
| 1717 human nature is considered in three states. First, is the state of | |
| 1718 human nature before sin; and from this state he took his purity by | |
| 1719 assuming a flesh unmarked by the stain of original sin: “A | |
| 1720 lamb without blemish” (Ex 12:5). The second state is after | |
| 1721 sin; and from this he took his capability to suffer and die by | |
| 1722 assuming the likeness of sinful flesh as regards its punishment, | |
| 1723 but not in its guilt: “God sent his own Son in the likeness | |
| 1724 of sinful flesh” (Rom 8:3). The third state is that of | |
| 1725 resurrection and glory; and from this he took his impossibility of | |
| 1726 sinning and his joy of soul.</p> | |
| 1727 <p>528 Here we must be on guard against the error of those who say | |
| 1728 that there was left in Adam something materially unmarked by the | |
| 1729 original stain, and this was passed on to his descendants; for | |
| 1730 example, to the Blessed Virgin, and that Christ’s body was | |
| 1731 formed from this. This is heretical, because whatever existed in | |
| 1732 Adam in a material way was marked by the stain of original sin. | |
| 1733 Further, the matter from which the body of Christ was formed was | |
| 1734 purified by the power of the Holy Spirit when he sanctified the | |
| 1735 Blessed Virgin.</p> | |
| 1736 <p>529 <span style="font-weight: bold">The One who came from | |
| 1737 above,</span> according to his divinity as well as his human | |
| 1738 nature, <span style="font-weight: bold">is above all things,</span> | |
| 1739 both by eminence of rank: “The Lord is high above all | |
| 1740 nations” (Ps 112:4), and by his authority and power: | |
| 1741 “He has made him the head of the Church,” as is said in | |
| 1742 Ephesians (1:22).</p> | |
| 1743 <p style="margin-bottom: 0.125in; margin-bottom: 0.125in"> | |
| 1744 </p> | |
| 1745 <p>530 Now he gives the reason for what he had said above (v 30), | |
| 1746 by considering the teaching of Christ. First, he describes the | |
| 1747 doctrine of Christ and its grandeur. Secondly, the difference in | |
| 1748 those who receive or reject this doctrine (v 32b). He does two | |
| 1749 things with respect to the first. First, he describes John’s | |
| 1750 doctrine. Secondly, he describes the doctrine of Christ (v 32).</p> | |
| 1751 <p>531 As to the first we should note that a man is known mainly by | |
| 1752 what he says: “Your accent gives you away” (Mt 26:73); | |
| 1753 “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” | |
| 1754 (Mt 12:34). This is why the quality of a teaching or doctrine is | |
| 1755 considered according to the quality of its origin. Accordingly, in | |
| 1756 order to understand the quality of John’s doctrine, we should | |
| 1757 first consider his origin. So he says, <span style= | |
| 1758 "font-weight: bold">He who is of earth,</span> that is John, not | |
| 1759 only as to the matter from. which he was made, but also in his | |
| 1760 efficient cause: because the body of John was formed by a created | |
| 1761 power: “They dwell in houses of clay, and have a foundation | |
| 1762 of earth” (Jb 4:19). Secondly, we should consider the quality | |
| 1763 of John himself, which is earthly; and so he says, is earthly. | |
| 1764 Thirdly, the quality of his teaching is described: he <span style= | |
| 1765 "font-weight: bold">speaks of earthly things.</span> “You | |
| 1766 will speak of the earth” (Is 29:4).</p> | |
| 1767 <p>532 But since John was full of the Holy Spirit while still in | |
| 1768 his mother’s womb, how can he be said to speak of earthly | |
| 1769 things? I answer that, according to Chrysostom, John says he speaks | |
| 1770 of earthly things by comparison with the teaching of Christ. As if | |
| 1771 to say: The things I speak of are slight and inferior as becomes | |
| 1772 one of an earthly nature, in comparison to him “in whom are | |
| 1773 hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2:3); | |
| 1774 “As the heavens are high above the earth, so my ways are high | |
| 1775 above your ways” (Is 55:9).</p> | |
| 1776 <p>Or we could say according to Augustine, and this is a better | |
| 1777 explanation, that we can consider what any person has of himself | |
| 1778 and what he has received from another. Now John and every mere | |
| 1779 human of himself is of the earth. Therefore, from this standpoint, | |
| 1780 he has nothing to speak of except earthly things. And it’ he | |
| 1781 does speak of divine things, it is due to a divine enlightenment: | |
| 1782 “Your heart has visions, but unless they come from the | |
| 1783 Almighty, ignore them” (Sir 34:6). So the Apostle says, | |
| 1784 “It is not 1, but the grace of God which is with me” (1 | |
| 1785 Cor 15:10); “For it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit | |
| 1786 who is speaking through you” (Mt 10:20). Accordingly, as | |
| 1787 regards John, he <span style="font-weight: bold">is earthly and | |
| 1788 speaks of earthly things.</span> And if there was anything divine | |
| 1789 in him, it did not come from him, as he was the recipient, but from | |
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1790 the one enlightening him.</p> |
| 35 | 1791 <p>533 Now he describes the doctrine of Christ. And he does three |
| 1792 things. First, he shows its origin, which is heavenly; hence he | |
| 1793 says, <span style="font-weight: bold">The One who comes from heaven | |
| 1794 is above all things.</span> For although the body of Christ was of | |
| 1795 the earth as regards the matter of which it was made, yet it came | |
| 1796 from heaven as to its efficient cause, inasmuch as his body was | |
| 1797 formed by divine power. It also came from heaven because the | |
| 1798 eternal and uncreated person of the Son came from heaven by | |
| 1799 assuming a body. “No one has gone up to heaven except the One | |
| 1800 who came down from heaven, the Son of Man, who lives in | |
| 1801 heaven” (above 3:13).</p> | |
| 1802 <p>Secondly, he shows the dignity of Christ, which is very great; | |
| 1803 so he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">is above all | |
| 1804 things.</span> This was explained above.</p> | |
| 1805 <p>Thirdly, he infers the dignity of Christ’s doctrine, which | |
| 1806 is most certain, because <span style="font-weight: bold">he | |
| 1807 testifies to what he sees and to what he hears.</span> For Christ, | |
| 1808 as God, is truth itself; but as man, he is its witness: “For | |
| 1809 this was I born, and for this I came into the world: to testify to | |
| 1810 the truth” (below 18:37). Therefore, he gives testimony to | |
| 1811 himself: “You testify to yourself” (below 8:13). And he | |
| 1812 testifies to what is certain, because his testimony is about what | |
| 1813 he has heard with the Father: “I speak to the world what I | |
| 1814 have heard from my Father” (below 8:26); “What we have | |
| 1815 seen and heard” (1 Jn 1:3).</p> | |
| 1816 <p>534 Note that knowledge of a thing is acquired in through sight | |
| 1817 and in one way another way through hearing. For by sight, a | |
| 1818 knowledge of a thing in acquired by means of the very thing seen; | |
| 1819 but by hearing, a thing is not made known by the very voice that is | |
| 1820 heard, but by means of the understanding of the one speaking. And | |
| 1821 so, because the Lord has knowledge which he has received from the | |
| 1822 Father, he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">to what he | |
| 1823 sees,</span> insofar as he proceeds from the essence of the Father; | |
| 1824 <span style="font-weight: bold">and to what he hears, | |
| 1825 insofar</span> as he proceeds as the Word of the Father’s | |
| 1826 intellect. Now because among intellectual beings, their act of | |
| 1827 being is other than their act of understanding, their knowledge | |
| 1828 through sight is other than their knowledge through hearing. But in | |
| 1829 God the Father, the act of being (<i>esse</i>) and the act of | |
| 1830 understanding (<i>intelligere</i>) are the same. Thus in the Son, | |
| 1831 to see and hear are the same thing. Moreover, since even in one who | |
| 1832 sees there is not the essence of the thing seen in itself but only | |
| 1833 its similitude, as also in the hearer there is not the actual | |
| 1834 thought of the speaker but only an indication of it, so the one who | |
| 1835 sees is not the essence of the thing in itself, nor is the listener | |
| 1836 the very thought expressed. In the Son, however, the very essence | |
| 1837 of the Father is received by generation, and he himself is the | |
| 1838 Word; and so in him to see and to hear are the same.</p> | |
| 1839 <p>And so John concludes that since the doctrine of Christ has more | |
| 1840 grandeur and is more certain than his, one must listen to Christ | |
| 1841 rather than to him.</p> | |
| 1842 <p style="margin-bottom: 0.125in; margin-bottom: 0.125in"> | |
| 1843 </p> | |
| 1844 <p style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.125in"><span style= | |
| 1845 "font-weight: bold">LECTURE 6</span></p> | |
| 1846 <blockquote> | |
| 1847 <p style="margin-left: 0.5in">32b “And his testimony no one | |
| 1848 accepts.<br /> | |
| 1849 33 But whoever accepts his testimony<br /> | |
| 1850 has given a sign [or certifies] that God is true.<br /> | |
| 1851 34 For the One whom God sends<br /> | |
| 1852 speaks the words of God,<br /> | |
| 1853 for God does not bestow the Spirit in fractions.<br /> | |
| 1854 35 The Father loves the Son,<br /> | |
| 1855 and has put everything into his hands.<br /> | |
| 1856 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.<br /> | |
| 1857 But whoever is unbelieving in the Son<br /> | |
| 1858 will not see life;<br /> | |
| 1859 rather, the anger of God rests on him.”</p> | |
| 1860 </blockquote> | |
| 1861 <p>535 Above, John the Baptist commended the teaching of Christ; | |
| 1862 here, however, he considers the difference in those who receive it. | |
| 1863 Thus, he treats of the faith that must be given to this teaching. | |
| 1864 And he does three things. First, he shows the scarcity of those who | |
| 1865 believe. Secondly, the obligation to believe (v 33). Lastly, the | |
| 1866 reward for belief (v 36).</p> | |
| 1867 <p>536 He says therefore: I say that Christ has certain knowledge | |
| 1868 and that he speaks the truth. Yet although few accept his | |
| 1869 testimony, that is no reflection on his teaching, because it is not | |
| 1870 the fault of the teaching but of those who do not accept it: | |
| 1871 namely, the disciples of John, who did not yet believe, and the | |
| 1872 Pharisees, who slandered his teaching. Thus he says, <span style= | |
| 1873 "font-weight: bold">And his testimony no one accepts.</span></p> | |
| 1874 <p>537 <span style="font-weight: bold">No one</span> can be | |
| 1875 explained in two ways. First, so that it implies a few; and so some | |
| 1876 did accept his testimony. He shows that some did accept it when he | |
| 1877 adds, “But whoever accepts his testimony.” The | |
| 1878 Evangelist used this way of speaking before when he said: “He | |
| 1879 came unto his own, and his own did not receive him” (above | |
| 1880 1:11): because a few did receive him.</p> | |
| 1881 <p>In another way, to accept his testimony is understood as to | |
| 1882 believe in God. But no one can believe of himself, but only due to | |
| 1883 God: “You are saved by grace” (Eph 2:8). And so he | |
| 1884 says, his testimony no one accepts, i.e., of himself, but it is | |
| 1885 given to him by God.</p> | |
| 1886 <p>This can be explained in another way by realizing that Scripture | |
| 1887 refers to people in two ways. As long as we are in this world the | |
| 1888 wicked are mingled with the good; and so Scripture sometimes speaks | |
| 1889 of “the people,” or “they,” meaning those | |
| 1890 who are good; while at other times, the same words can refer to the | |
| 1891 wicked. We can see this in Jeremiah (26): for first it says that | |
| 1892 all the people and the priests sought to kill Jeremiah, and this | |
| 1893 referred to those who were evil; then at once it says that all the | |
| 1894 people sought to free him, and this referred to those who were | |
| 1895 good. In the same way, John the Baptist says, looking to the left, | |
| 1896 i.e., toward those who are evil, <span style= | |
| 1897 "font-weight: bold">And his testimony no one accepts;</span> and | |
| 1898 later, referring to those on the right, i.e., to the good, he says, | |
| 1899 <span style="font-weight: bold">But whoever accepts his | |
| 1900 testimony.</span></p> | |
| 1901 <p>538 <span style="font-weight: bold">But whoever accepts his | |
| 1902 testimony.</span> Here he speaks of the obligation to believe, | |
| 1903 i.e., to submit oneself to divine truth. As to this he does four | |
| 1904 things. First, he presents the divine truth. Secondly, he speaks of | |
| 1905 the proclamation of the divine truth (v 34). Thirdly, of the | |
| 1906 ability to proclaim it ( v 34b). Fourthly, he gives the reason for | |
| 1907 this ability (v 35).</p> | |
| 1908 <p>539 Man’s obligation to the faith is to submit himself to | |
| 1909 divine truth, and so he says that if few accept his testimony that | |
| 1910 means that some do. Hence he says, <span style= | |
| 1911 "font-weight: bold">whoever accepts his testimony,</span> i.e., | |
| 1912 whoever he may be, <span style="font-weight: bold">has given a | |
| 1913 sign,</span> i.e., he ought to affix a certain sign or has in fact | |
| 1914 placed a seal in his own heart, that Christ is God. And he [Christ] | |
| 1915 is true, because he said that he is God. If he were not, he would | |
| 1916 not be true, but it is written: “God is true” (Rom | |
| 1917 3:4). Concerning this seal it is said: “Set me as a seal on | |
| 1918 your heart” (Sg 8:6), and “The foundation of God stands | |
| 1919 firm, bearing a seal, etc.” as we read in 2 Timothy | |
| 1920 (2:19).</p> | |
| 1921 <p>Or, following Chrysostom, he has given a sign, i.e., he has | |
| 1922 shown <span style="font-weight: bold">that God,</span> that is, the | |
| 1923 Father, <span style="font-weight: bold">is true,</span> because he | |
| 1924 sent his Son whom he promised to send. The Fvangelist says this to | |
| 1925 show that those who do not believe Christ deny the truthfulness of | |
| 1926 the Father.</p> | |
| 1927 <p>540 Then immediately he adds a commendation of divine truth, | |
| 1928 saying, <span style="font-weight: bold">For the One whom God sends | |
| 1929 speaks the words of God.</span> As if to say: He has given this as | |
| 1930 a sign, namely, that Christ, whose testimony he accepts, | |
| 1931 <span style="font-weight: bold">the One whom God sends speaks the | |
| 1932 words of God.</span> Consequently, one who believes Christ believes | |
| 1933 the Father: “I speak to the world what I have heard from the | |
| 1934 Father” (below 8:26). So he expressed verbally nothing but | |
| 1935 the Father and the words of the Father, because he has been sent by | |
| 1936 the Father, and because he is the Word of the Father. Hence, he | |
| 1937 says that he even bespeaks the Father.</p> | |
| 1938 <p>Or, if the statement <span style="font-weight: bold">God is | |
| 1939 true</span> refers to Christ, we understand the distinction of | |
| 1940 persons; for since the Father is true God, and Christ is true God, | |
| 1941 it follows that the true God sent the true God, who is distinct | |
| 1942 from him in person, but not in nature.</p> | |
| 1943 <p>541 The ability to proclaim divine truth is present in Christ in | |
| 1944 the highest degree, because he does not receive the Spirit in a | |
| 1945 partial way; and so he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">for | |
| 1946 God does not bestow the Spirit in fractions.</span></p> | |
| 1947 <p>You might say that although God sent Christ, yet not all that | |
| 1948 Christ says is from God, but only some of the things; for even the | |
| 1949 prophets spoke at times from their own spirit, and at other times | |
| 1950 from the Spirit of God. For example, we read that the prophet | |
| 1951 Nathan (2 Sm 7:3), speaking out of his own spirit, advised David to | |
| 1952 build a temple, but that later, under the influence of the Spirit | |
| 1953 of God, he retracted this. However, the Baptist shows that such is | |
| 1954 not the case with Christ. For the prophets receive the Spirit of | |
| 1955 God only fractionally, i.e., in reference to some things, but not | |
| 1956 as to all things. Consequently, not all they say are the words of | |
| 1957 God. But Christ, who received the Spirit fully and in regards to | |
| 1958 all things, speaks the words of God as to all things.</p> | |
| 1959 <p>542 But how can the Holy Spirit be given in fractions, since he | |
| 1960 is immense or infinite, according to the Creed of Athanasius: | |
| 1961 “Immense is the Father, immense the Son, immense the Holy | |
| 1962 Spirit”? I answer that the Holy Spirit is given in fractions, | |
| 1963 not in respect to his essence or power, according to which he is | |
| 1964 infinite, but as to his gifts, which are given fractionally: | |
| 1965 “Grace has been given to each of us according to | |
| 1966 degree” (Eph 4:7).</p> | |
| 1967 <p>543 We should note that we can understand in two ways what is | |
| 1968 said here, namely, that God the Father did not give the Spirit to | |
| 1969 Christ in a partial way. We can understand it as applying to Christ | |
| 1970 as God, and, in another way, as applying to Christ as man. | |
| 1971 Something is given to someone in order that he may have it: and it | |
| 1972 is appropriate to Christ to have the Spirit, both as God and as | |
| 1973 man. And so he has the Holy Spirit with respect to both. As man, | |
| 1974 Christ has the Holy Spirit as Sanctifier: “The Spirit of the | |
| 1975 Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me” (Is 6 | |
| 1976 1:1), namely, as man. But as God, he has the Holy Spirit only as | |
| 1977 manifesting himself, inasmuch as the Spirit proceeds from him: | |
| 1978 “He will give glory to me,” that is, make known, | |
| 1979 “because he will have received from me,” as is said | |
| 1980 below (16:14).</p> | |
| 1981 <p>Therefore, both as God and as man, Christ has the Holy Spirit | |
| 1982 beyond measure. For God the Father is said to give the Holy Spirit | |
| 1983 without measure to Christ as God, because he gives to Christ the | |
| 1984 power and might to bring forth (<i>spirandi</i>) the Holy Spirit, | |
| 1985 who, since he is infinite, was infinitely given to him by the | |
| 1986 Father: for the Father gives it just as he himself has it, so that | |
| 1987 the Holy Spirit proceeds from him as much as from the Son. And he | |
| 1988 gave him this by an everlasting generation. Similarly, Christ as | |
| 1989 man has the Holy Spirit without measure, for the Holy Spirit is | |
| 1990 given to different men in differing degrees, because grace is given | |
| 1991 to each “by measure” [cf., e.g., Mk 4:24; Mt 7:2]. But | |
| 1992 Christ as man did not receive a certain amount of grace; and so he | |
| 1993 did not receive the Holy Spirit in any limited degree.</p> | |
| 1994 <p>544 It should be noted, however, that there are three kinds of | |
| 1995 grace in Christ: the grace of [the hypostatic] union, the grace of | |
| 1996 a singular person, which is habitual, and the grace of headship, | |
| 1997 which animates all the members. And Christ received each of these | |
| 1998 graces without measure.</p> | |
| 1999 <p>The grace of union, which is not habitual grace, but a certain | |
| 2000 gratuitous gift, is given to Christ in order that in his human | |
| 2001 nature he be the true Son of God, not by participation, but by | |
| 2002 nature, insofar as the human nature of Christ is united to the Son | |
| 2003 of God in person. This union is called a grace because he had it | |
| 2004 without any preceding merits. Now the divine nature is infinite; | |
| 2005 hence from that union he received an infinite gift. Thus it was not | |
| 2006 by degree or measure that he received the Holy Spirit, i.e., the | |
| 2007 gift and grace of union which, as gratuitous, is attributed to the | |
| 2008 Holy Spirit.</p> | |
| 2009 <p>His grace is termed habitual insofar as the soul of Christ was | |
| 2010 full of grace and wisdom: “the Only Begotten of the Father, | |
| 2011 full of grace and truth” (above 1:14). We might wonder if | |
| 2012 Christ did receive this grace without measure. For since such grace | |
| 2013 is a created gift, we must admit that it has a finite essence. | |
| 2014 Therefore, as far as its essence is concerned, since it is | |
| 2015 something created, this habitual grace was finite. Yet Christ is | |
| 2016 not said to have received this in a limited degree for three | |
| 2017 reasons.</p> | |
| 2018 <p>First, becatise of the one who is receiving the grace. For it is | |
| 2019 plain that each thing’s nature has a finite capacity, because | |
| 2020 even though one might receive an infinite good by knowing, loving | |
| 2021 and enjoying it, nevertheless one receives it by enjoying it in a | |
| 2022 finite way. Further, each creature has, according to its species | |
| 2023 and nature, a finite amount of capacity. But this does not make it | |
| 2024 impossible for the divine power to make another creature possessing | |
| 2025 a greater capacity; but then such a creature would not be of a | |
| 2026 nature which is specifically the same, just as when one is added to | |
| 2027 three, there is another species of number. Therefore, when some | |
| 2028 nature is not given as much of the divine goodness as its natural | |
| 2029 capacity is able to contain, then it is seen to be given to it by | |
| 2030 measure; but when its total natural capacity is filled, it is not | |
| 2031 given to it by measure, because even though there is a measure on | |
| 2032 the part of the one receiving, there is none on the part of the one | |
| 2033 giving, who is prepared to give all. Thus, if someone takes a pail | |
| 2034 to a river, he sees water present without measure, although he | |
| 2035 takes the water by measure on account of the limited dimensions of | |
| 2036 the pail. Thus, the habitual grace of Christ is indeed finite | |
| 2037 according to its essence, but it is said to be given in an infinite | |
| 2038 way and not by measure or partially, because as much was given to | |
| 2039 him as created nature was able to hold.</p> | |
| 2040 <p>Secondly, Christ did not receive habitual grace in a limited way | |
| 2041 by considering the gift which is received. For every form or act, | |
| 2042 considered in its very nature, is not finite in the way in which it | |
| 2043 is made finite by the subject in which it is received. | |
| 2044 Nevertheless, there is nothing to prevent it from being finite in | |
| 2045 its essence, insofar as its existence (<i>esse</i>) is received in | |
| 2046 some subject. For that is infinite according to its essence which | |
| 2047 has the entire fulness of being (<i>essendi</i>): and this is true | |
| 2048 of God alone, who is the supreme <i>esse.</i> But if we consider | |
| 2049 some “spiritual” form as not existing in a subject, for | |
| 2050 example, whiteness or color, it would not be infinite in essence, | |
| 2051 because its essence would be confined to some genus or species; | |
| 2052 nevertheless it would still possess the entire fulness of that | |
| 2053 species. Thus, considering the nature of the species, it would be | |
| 2054 without limit or measure, since it would have everything that can | |
| 2055 pertain to that species. But if whiteness or color should be | |
| 2056 received into some subject, it does not always have everything that | |
| 2057 pertains necessarily and always to the nature of this form, but | |
| 2058 only when the subject has it as perfectly as it is capable of being | |
| 2059 possessed, i.e., when the way the subject possesses it is | |
| 2060 equivalent to the power of the thing possessed. Thus, | |
| 2061 Christ’s habitual grace was finite according to its essence; | |
| 2062 yet it is said to have been in him without a limit or measure | |
| 2063 because he received everything that could pertain to the nature of | |
| 2064 grace. Others, however, do not receive all this, but one receives | |
| 2065 in one way, and another in another way: “There are different | |
| 2066 graces”</p> | |
| 2067 <p>The third reason for saying that the habitual grace of Christ | |
| 2068 was not received in a limited way is based on its cause. For an | |
| 2069 effect is in some way present in its cause. Therefore, if someone | |
| 2070 has an infinite power to produce something, he is said to have what | |
| 2071 can be produced without measure and, in a way, infinitely. For | |
| 2072 example, if someone has a fountain which could produce an infinite | |
| 2073 amount of water, he would be said to have water in an infinite way | |
| 2074 and without measure. Thus, the soul of Christ has infinite grace | |
| 2075 and grace without measure from the fact that he has united to | |
| 2076 himself the Word, which is the infinite and unfailing source of the | |
| 2077 entire emanation of all created things.</p> | |
| 2078 <p>From what has been said, it is clear that the grace of Christ | |
| 2079 which is called capital grace, insofar as he is head of the Church, | |
| 2080 is infinite in its influence. For from the fact that he possessed | |
| 2081 that from which the gifts of the Spirit could flow out without | |
| 2082 measure, he received the power to pour them out without measure, so | |
| 2083 that the grace of Christ is sufficient not merely for the salvation | |
| 2084 of some men, but for all the people of the entire world: “He | |
| 2085 is the offering for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for | |
| 2086 those of the entire world” ( 1 Jn 2:2), and even for many | |
| 2087 worlds, if they exsited.</p> | |
| 2088 <p style="margin-bottom: 0.125in; margin-bottom: 0.125in"> | |
| 2089 </p> | |
| 2090 <p>545 Christ also had the ability appropriate for declaring divine | |
| 2091 truth, because all things are in his power; hence he says, | |
| 2092 <span style="font-weight: bold">The Father loves the Son, and has | |
| 2093 put everything into his hands.</span> This can refer to Christ both | |
| 2094 as man and as God, but in different ways. If it refers to Christ | |
| 2095 according to his divine nature, then <span style= | |
| 2096 "font-weight: bold">loves</span> does not indicate a principle but | |
| 2097 a sign: for we cannot say that the Father gives all things to the | |
| 2098 Son because he loves him. There are two reasons for this. First, | |
| 2099 because to love is an act of the will; but to give a nature to the | |
| 2100 Son is to generate him. Therefore, if the Father gave a nature to | |
| 2101 the Son by his will, the will of the Father would be the principle | |
| 2102 of the generation of the Son; and then it would follow that the | |
| 2103 Father generated the Son by will, and not by nature; and this is | |
| 2104 the Arian heresy.</p> | |
| 2105 <p>Secondly, because the love of the Father for the Son is the Holy | |
| 2106 Spirit. So, if the love of the Father for the Son were the reason | |
| 2107 why the Father put everything into his hands, it would follow that | |
| 2108 the Holy Spirit would be the principle of the generation of the | |
| 2109 Son; and this is not acceptable. Therefore, we should say that | |
| 2110 <span style="font-weight: bold">loves</span> implies only a sign. | |
| 2111 As if to say: The perfect love with which <span style= | |
| 2112 "font-weight: bold">the Father loves the Son,</span> is a sign that | |
| 2113 the Father <span style="font-weight: bold">has put everything into | |
| 2114 his hands,</span> i.e., everything which the Father has: “All | |
| 2115 things have been given to me by my Father- (Mt 11:27); | |
| 2116 “Jesus, knowing that the Fallier had given all things into | |
| 2117 his hands” (below 13:3).</p> | |
| 2118 <p>But if loves refers to Christ as man, then it implies the notion | |
| 2119 of a principle, so that the Father is said to have put everything | |
| 2120 into the hands of the Son, everything, that is, that is in heaven | |
| 2121 and on earth: “All authority has been given to me, in heaven | |
| 2122 and on earth,” as he says in Matthew (28:18); “He has | |
| 2123 appointed him [the Son] the heir of all things” (Heb 1:2). | |
| 2124 And the reason why the Father gives to the Son is because he loves | |
| 2125 the Son; hence he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">The Father | |
| 2126 loves the Son,</span> for the Father’s love is the reason for | |
| 2127 creating each creature: “You love everything which exists, | |
| 2128 and hate nothing which you have made” (Wis 11:25). Concerning | |
| 2129 his love for the Son we read in Matthew (3:17): “This is my | |
| 2130 beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”; “He has | |
| 2131 brought us into the kingdom of the Son of his love,” that is, | |
| 2132 i.e., of his beloved Son (Col 1:13).</p> | |
| 2133 <p>546 Then when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">Whoever | |
| 2134 believes in the Son has eternal life,</span> he shows the fruit of | |
| 2135 faith. First, he sets forth the reward for faith. Secondly, the | |
| 2136 penalty for unbelief (v 36b).</p> | |
| 2137 <p>547 The reward for faith is beyond our comprehension, because it | |
| 2138 is eternal life. Hence he says, <span style= | |
| 2139 "font-weight: bold">Whoever believes in the Son has eternal | |
| 2140 life.</span> And this is shown from what has already been said. For | |
| 2141 if the Father has given everything he has to the Son, and the | |
| 2142 Father has eternal life, then he has given to the Son to be eternal | |
| 2143 life: “Just as the Father possesses life in himself, so he | |
| 2144 has given it to the Son to have life in himself” (below | |
| 2145 5:26): and this belongs to Christ insofar as he is the true and | |
| 2146 natural Son of God. “That you may be in his true Son, Christ. | |
| 2147 This is the true God and eternal life” (1 Jn 5:20). | |
| 2148 <span style="font-weight: bold">Whoever believes in the Son</span> | |
| 2149 has that toward which he tends, that is, the Son, in whom he | |
| 2150 believes. But the Son is eternal life; therefore, whoever believes | |
| 2151 in him has eternal life. As it says below (10:27): “My sheep | |
| 2152 hear my voice ... and I give them eternal life.”</p> | |
| 2153 <p>548 The penalty for unbelief is unendurable, both as to the | |
| 2154 punishment of loss and as to the punishment of sense. As to the | |
| 2155 punishment of loss, because it deprives one of life; hence he says, | |
| 2156 <span style="font-weight: bold">whoever is unbelieving in the Son | |
| 2157 will not see life.</span> He does not say, “will not | |
| 2158 have,” but will not see, because eternal life consists in the | |
| 2159 vision of the true life: “This is eternal life: that they may | |
| 2160 know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have | |
| 2161 sent” (below 17:3): and unbelievers will not have this vision | |
| 2162 and this knowledge: “Let him not see the brooks of | |
| 2163 honey” (Jb 4:19), that is, the sweetness of eternal life. And | |
| 2164 he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">will not see,</span> | |
| 2165 because to see life itself is the proper reward for faith united | |
| 2166 with love.</p> | |
| 2167 <p>The punishment of sense is unendurable because one is severely | |
| 2168 punished; so he says: <span style="font-weight: bold">the anger of | |
| 2169 God rests on him.</span> For in the Scriptures anger indicates the | |
| 2170 pain with which God punishes those who are evil. So when he says, | |
| 2171 the anger of God, the Father, rests on him, it is the same as | |
| 2172 saying: They will feel punishment from God the Father.</p> | |
| 2173 <p>Although the Father “has given all judgment to the | |
| 2174 Son,” as we read below (5:22), the Baptist refers this to the | |
| 2175 Father in order to lead the Jews to believe in the Son. It is | |
| 2176 written about this judgment: “It is a terrible thing to fall | |
| 2177 into the hands of the living God” (Heb 10:31). He says, | |
| 2178 <span style="font-weight: bold">rests on him</span>, because this | |
| 2179 punishment will never be absent from the unbelieving, and because | |
| 2180 all who are born into this mortal life are the objects of | |
| 2181 God’s anger, which was first felt by Adam: “We were by | |
| 2182 nature,” that is, through birth, “children of | |
| 2183 anger” (Eph 2:3). And we are freed from this anger only by | |
| 2184 faith in Christ; and so the anger of God rests on those who do not | |
| 2185 believe in Christ, the Son of God.</p> | |
| 2186 </blockquote> | |
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