Mercurial > hg > Aquinas
comparison john/english/John6.html @ 31:25a799388159
originals from http://www.josephkenny.joyeurs.com/CDtexts/SSJohn.htm
| author | ht |
|---|---|
| date | Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:16:17 +0000 |
| parents | |
| children | 178aed5d2c3c |
comparison
equal
deleted
inserted
replaced
| 30:b56c501d878e | 31:25a799388159 |
|---|---|
| 1 <html> | |
| 2 <head> | |
| 3 </head> | |
| 4 <body style=text-align:justify><blockquote> | |
| 5 <CENTER><p><span style="font-size: 60pt">6</span></p> | |
| 6 <p><span style="font-weight: bold">LECTURE 1</span></p></CENTER> | |
| 7 <BLOCKQUOTE><p>1 After this Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee, which is that of Tiberias. 2 And a great | |
| 8 multitude followed him because they saw the miracles he worked on those who were sick. 3 | |
| 9 Jesus therefore went up a mountain, and there sat down with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover | |
| 10 was near, a festival day of the Jews. 5 Then, when Jesus lifted his eyes and saw that a great | |
| 11 multitude had come to him, he said to Philip, | |
| 12 <DD>“Where shall we buy bread that these may eat?”<BR> | |
| 13 6 He said this, however, to test him, for he knew what he would do. 7 Philip replied, “Two | |
| 14 hundred denarii worth of bread would not suffice for each to have a little bit.” 8 One of his | |
| 15 disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five | |
| 16 barley loaves and two fishes, but what are these for so many?” 10 Jesus then said, | |
| 17 <DD>“Make the people recline.”<BR> | |
| 18 There was much grass in the place. Therefore the men reclined, in number about five thousand. | |
| 19 11 Jesus then took the bread, and when he had given thanks, he distributed it to those reclining; | |
| 20 he did likewise with the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 When they had their fill, he said to his | |
| 21 disciples, | |
| 22 <DD>“Gather up the fragments that are left over, | |
| 23 <DD>lest they be wasted.”<BR> | |
| 24 13 They therefore gathered and filled twelve baskets with the leftovers, from the five barley | |
| 25 loaves and the two fishes, that remained after all had eaten.</p></BLOCKQUOTE> | |
| 26 <p>838 The Evangelist has presented the teaching of Christ on the spiritual life, by which he gives | |
| 27 life to those who are born again. He now tells us of the spiritual food by which Christ sustains | |
| 28 those to whom he has given life. First, he describes a visible miracle, in which Christ furnished | |
| 29 bodily food. Secondly, he considers spiritual food (6:26). He does two things about the first. | |
| 30 First, he describes the visible miracle. Secondly, he shows the effect this miracle had (6:14). He | |
| 31 tells us two things about this miracle. First, its circumstances, secondly, about its actual | |
| 32 accomplishment (v 5). As to the first he does three things. First he describes the crowd that Jesus | |
| 33 fed, secondly, the place; thirdly, the time (v 4). As to the first he does three things. First, he | |
| 34 identifies the place where the crowd followed Jesus; secondly, the people who followed him; and | |
| 35 thirdly, he tells why they followed him.</p> | |
| 36 <p>839 The Evangelist describes the place to which the crowd followed our Lord when he says, | |
| 37 <span style="font-weight: bold">After this Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee, </span>i.e., after the mysterious words Jesus had | |
| 38 spoken concerning his power. This Sea of Galilee is mentioned frequently in various places in | |
| 39 Scripture. Luke calls it a lake (Lk 5:1) because its water is not salty, but was formed from the | |
| 40 waters flowing in from the Jordan. Yet it is still called a “Sea,” because in Hebrew all bodies of | |
| 41 water are called “seas”: “God called the waters ‘seas’” (Gn 1:10). It is also called Gennesaret | |
| 42 because of the character of its location: for this water is tossed about a great deal, being buffeted | |
| 43 by the winds that come from the vapors rising from its surface. Thus in Greek the word | |
| 44 “Gennesaret” means “wind forming.” It is called the Sea of Galilee from the province of Galilee | |
| 45 in which it is located. Again, it is called the Sea of Tiberias from the city of Tiberias: this city | |
| 46 was situated on one side of the sea, facing Capernaum on the opposite side. The city of Tiberias | |
| 47 was formerly called Chinnereth, but later, when it was rebuilt by Herod the Tetrarch, it was | |
| 48 renamed as Tiberias in honor of Tiberius Caesar.</p> | |
| 49 <p>840 The literal reason why Jesus crossed the sea is given by Chrysostom: to give ground to the | |
| 50 anger and agitation which the Jews felt against Christ because of the things he had said about | |
| 51 them. As Chrysostom says: just as darts strike a hard object with great force if they meet it, but | |
| 52 pass on and soon come to rest if nothing is in their way, so also the anger of defiant men | |
| 53 increases when they are resisted, but if we yield a little, it is easy to keep their fury within | |
| 54 bounds. So Christ, by going to the other side of the sea, was able to soften the anger of the Jews, | |
| 55 caused by what he had said. He thus gives us an example to act in the same way: “Do not be | |
| 56 provoked by one who speaks evil of you” (Sir 8:14).</p> | |
| 57 <p>841 In the mystical sense, the sea signifies this present troubled world: “This great sea, stretching | |
| 58 wide” (Ps 103:25). Our Lord crossed over this sea when he assumed the sea of punishment and | |
| 59 death by being born, trod it under foot by dying, and then crossing over it by his rising, arrived | |
| 60 at the glory of his resurrection. We read of this crossing: “Jesus knew that his time had come to | |
| 61 leave this world for the Father” (below 13:1). A great crowd, composed of both peoples, has | |
| 62 followed him in this crossing, by believing in him and imitating him: “Your heart will be full of | |
| 63 wonder and joy, when the riches of the sea will be given to you” (Is 60:5); “Rise up, O Lord, you | |
| 64 who demand that justice be done; and the people will gather round you” (Ps 7:7).</p> | |
| 65 <p>842 The crowd that followed him is described as large, <span style="font-weight: bold">And a great multitude followed him.</span></p> | |
| 66 <p>843 The reason why they followed him is because he was performing miracles, hence he says, | |
| 67 <span style="font-weight: bold">because they saw the miracles he worked on those who were sick. </span>We should point out that | |
| 68 some followed Christ because of his teachings, that is, those who were better disposed. But there | |
| 69 were others, i.e., those who were less perfect and less perceptive, who followed him because they | |
| 70 were attracted by visible miracles; “Signs were given to unbelievers, not to believers” (1 Cor | |
| 71 14:22). Still others followed him out of devotion and faith, those, namely, whom he had cured | |
| 72 of some bodily defect: for our Lord had so healed their body that they were also completely | |
| 73 healed in soul: “The works of God are perfect” (Dt 32:4). This is clear, because he expressly said | |
| 74 to the paralytic, “Do not sin again” (above 5:14), and in Matthew (9:2) he says, “Son, your sins | |
| 75 are forgiven”; and these remarks concern the health of the soul rather than that of the body.</p> | |
| 76 <p>844 We might remark that although the Evangelist had mentioned only three miracles (the one | |
| 77 at the marriage reception, the son of the official, and the paralytic), he says here in a general way, | |
| 78 <span style="font-weight: bold">the miracles he worked. </span>He does this to indicate that Christ worked many other miracles that | |
| 79 are not mentioned in this book, as he will say below (21:25). For his main object was to present | |
| 80 the teaching of Christ.</p> | |
| 81 <p>845 Then he gives the location of the miracle, on a mountain; hence he says: <span style="font-weight: bold">Jesus therefore | |
| 82 went up a mountain, </span>i.e., privately, <span style="font-weight: bold">and there sat down with his disciples. </span>Now a mountain | |
| 83 is a place well suited for refreshment, for according to the Psalm a mountain signifies the | |
| 84 perfection of justice: “Your justice is like the mountains of God” (Ps 35:7). And so, because we | |
| 85 cannot be satisfied by earthly things—indeed, “Whoever drinks this water will be thirsty again” | |
| 86 (above 4:13)—but spiritual things will satisfy us, our Lord leads his disciples to a higher place | |
| 87 to show that full satisfaction and the perfection of justice are found in spiritual realities. We read | |
| 88 of this mountain: “The mountain of God is a rich mountain” (Ps 67:16). Thus he also exercised | |
| 89 his office of teacher there, sitting with his disciples; for he is the one who teaches every man.</p> | |
| 90 <p>846 The time is mentioned when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">Now the Passover was near. </span>This time was also well | |
| 91 suited for their refreshment, for “Passover” means “passage”: “It is the Passover of the Lord, that | |
| 92 is, his passage” (Ex 12:11). We understand from this that anyone who desires to be refreshed by | |
| 93 the bread of the divine Word and by the body and blood of’ the Lord, must pass from vices to | |
| 94 virtues: “Our Passover, Christ, has been sacrificed, and so let us feast with the unleavened bread | |
| 95 of sincerity and truth” (1 Cor 5:7). And again, divine Wisdom says: “Pass over to me, all who | |
| 96 desire me” (Sir 24-26).</p> | |
| 97 <p>This is the second Passover the Evangelist has mentioned. However, our Lord did not go to | |
| 98 Jerusalem this time, as the law commanded. The reason for this being that Christ was both God | |
| 99 and man: as man he was subject to the law, but as God he was above the law. So, he observed | |
| 100 the law on certain occasions to show that he was a man, but he also disregarded the law at other | |
| 101 times to show that he was God. Further, by not going he indicated that the ceremonies of the law | |
| 102 would end gradually and in a short time.</p> | |
| 103 <p>847 Then he considers the miracle itself (v 5). First, why it was needed. Secondly, its | |
| 104 accomplishment. We can see the need for this miracle from our Lord’s question to his disciple, | |
| 105 and the disciple’s answer. First, our Lord’s question is given; and then the answer of his disciple | |
| 106 (v 7). He does three things about the first. First, the occasion for the question is given; secondly, | |
| 107 we have the-question itself (v 5b); thirdly, we are told why Christ asked this question (v 6).</p> | |
| 108 <p>848 The occasion for Christ’s question was his sight of the crowd coming to him. Hence he says, | |
| 109 <span style="font-weight: bold">Then, when Jesus, </span>on the mountain with his disciples, i.e., with those who were more perfect, | |
| 110 <span style="font-weight: bold">lifted his eyes and saw that a great multitude had come to him. </span>Here we should note two | |
| 111 things about Christ. First, his maturity: for he is not distracted by what does not concern him, but | |
| 112 is appropriately concerned with his disciples. He is not like those spoken of in Proverbs (30:13): | |
| 113 “A generation whose eyes are proud.” And, “A man’s dress, and laughter, and his walk, show | |
| 114 what he is” (Sir 19:27). Secondly, we should note that Christ did not sit there with his disciples | |
| 115 out of laziness; he was looking right at them, teaching them carefully and attracting their hearts | |
| 116 to himself: “Then he lifted his eyes to his disciples” (Lk 6:20). Thus we read: <span style="font-weight: bold">Then, when Jesus | |
| 117 lifted his </span>eyes. In the mystical sense, our Lord’s eyes are his spiritual gifts; and he lifts his eyes | |
| 118 on the elect, i.e., looks at them with compassion, when he mercifully grants these gifts to them: | |
| 119 This is what the Psalm asks for: “Look upon me, O Lord, and have mercy on me” (Ps 85:16).</p> | |
| 120 <p>849 Our Lord’s question concerns the feeding of the crowd; so he said to Philip: <span style="font-weight: bold">Where shall | |
| 121 we buy bread that these may eat? </span>He assumes one thing and asks about another. He assumes | |
| 122 their poverty, because they did not have food to offer this great crowd; and he asks how they | |
| 123 might obtain it, saying, <span style="font-weight: bold">Where shall we buy bread that these may eat?</span></p> | |
| 124 <p>Here we should note that every teacher is obliged to possess the means of feeding spiritually the | |
| 125 people who come to him. And since no man possesses of himself the resources to feed them, he | |
| 126 must acquire them elsewhere by his labor, study, and persistent p rayer: “Hurry, you who have | |
| 127 no money, and acquire without cost wine and milk” (Is 55:1). And there follows: “Why do you | |
| 128 spend your money,” i.e., your eloquence, “for what is not bread,” i.e., not the true wisdom which | |
| 129 refreshes—“Wisdom will feed him with the bread of life and understanding” (Si 15:5)—“and | |
| 130 why do you work for what does not satisfy you,” i.e., by learning things that drain you instead | |
| 131 of filling you?</p> | |
| 132 <p>850 Our Lord’s intention is given when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">He said this, however, to test him. </span>Here the | |
| 133 Evangelist raises one difficutly in answering another. For we could wonder,why our Lord asked | |
| 134 Philip what to do, as though our Lord himself did not know. The Evangelist settles this when he | |
| 135 says, <span style="font-weight: bold">for he knew what he would do. </span>But it seems that the Evangelist raises another difficulty | |
| 136 when he says, to test him. For to test is to try out; and this seems to imply ignorance.</p> | |
| 137 <p>I answer that one can test another in various ways in order to try him out. One man tests another | |
| 138 in order to learn; the devil tests a man in order to ensnare him: “Your enemy, the devil, as a | |
| 139 roaring lion, goes about seeking whom he can devour” (1 Pt 5:8). But Christ (and God) does not | |
| 140 test us in order to learn, because he sees into our hearts; nor in order to ensnare us, for as we read | |
| 141 in James (1:13): “God does not test [i.e., tempt] anyone.” But he does test us that others might | |
| 142 learn something from the one tested. This is the way God tested Abraham: “God tested Abraham” | |
| 143 (Gn 22:1); and then it says (v 12): “Now I know that you fear God,” i.e., I have made it known | |
| 144 that you fear the Lord. He tests Philip in the same way: so that those who hear his answer might | |
| 145 be very certain about the miracle to come.</p> | |
| 146 <p>851 Now we have the answer of the disciples. First, the answer of Philip; then that of Andrew | |
| 147 (v 8).</p> | |
| 148 <p>852 With respect to the first, note that Philip was slower in learning than the others, and so he | |
| 149 asks our Lord more questions: “Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us” (below | |
| 150 14:8). Here, according to the literal sense, Andrew is better disposed than Philip, for Philip does | |
| 151 not seem to have any understanding or anticipation of the corning miracle. And so he suggests | |
| 152 that money is the way by which they could feed all the people, saying: <span style="font-weight: bold">Two hundred denarii | |
| 153 worth of bread would not suffice for each to have a little bit. </span>And since we do not have that | |
| 154 much, we cannot feed them. Here we see the poverty of Christ, for he did not even have two | |
| 155 hundred denarii.</p> | |
| 156 <p>853 Andrew, however, seems to sense that a miracle is going to take place. Perhaps he recalled | |
| 157 the miracle performed by Elisha with the barley loaves, when he fed a hundred men with twenty | |
| 158 loaves (2 Kgs 4:42). And so he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">There is a boy here who has five barley loaves. </span>Still, he | |
| 159 did not suspect that Christ was going to perform a greater miracle than Elisha: for he thought that | |
| 160 fewer loaves would be miraculously produced from fewer, and more from a larger number. But | |
| 161 in truth, he who does not need any material to work with could feed a crowd as easily with few | |
| 162 or many loaves. So Andrew continues: <span style="font-weight: bold">but what are these for so many? </span>As if to say: Even if | |
| 163 you increased them in the measure that Elisha did, it still would not be enough.</p> | |
| 164 <p>854 In the mystical sense, widsom is a symbol for spiritual refreshment. One kind of wisdom was | |
| 165 taught by Christ, the true wisdom: “Christ is the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor | |
| 166 1:24). Before Christ came, there were two other teachings or doctrines: one was the human | |
| 167 teachings of the philosophers; the other was the teachings found in the written law. Philip | |
| 168 mentions the first of these when he speaks of buying: <span style="font-weight: bold">Two hundred denarii worth of bread | |
| 169 would not suffice, </span>for human wisdom must be acquired. Now the number one hundred implies | |
| 170 perfection. Thus two hundred suggests the twofold perfection necessary for this wisdom: for | |
| 171 there Ire two ways one arrives at the perfection of human wisdom, by experience and by | |
| 172 contemplation. So he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not suffice, </span>because | |
| 173 no matter what human reason can experience and contemplate of the truth, it is not enough to | |
| 174 completely satisfy our desire for wisdom: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, nor the | |
| 175 strong man in his strength, nor the rich man in his riches. But let him who glories glory in this: | |
| 176 that he knows and understands me” (Jer 9:23). For the wisdom of no philosopher has been so | |
| 177 great that it could keep men from error; rather, the philosophers have led many into error.</p> | |
| 178 <p>It is Andrew who mentions the second kind of teaching [thai of the law] . He does not want to | |
| 179 buy other bread, but to feed the crowd with the loaves of bread they had, that is, those contained | |
| 180 in the law. And so he was better disposed than Philip. So he says: <span style="font-weight: bold">There is a boy here who has | |
| 181 five barley loaves. </span>This boy can symbolize Moses, because of the imperfection found in the state | |
| 182 of the law: “The law brought nothing to perfection” (Heb 7:19); or the Jewish people, who were | |
| 183 serving under the elements of this world (Gal 4:3).</p> | |
| 184 <p>This boy had five loaves, that is, the teaching of the law: either because this teaching was | |
| 185 contained in the five books of Moses, “The law was given through Moses” (above 1:17); or | |
| 186 because it was given to men absorbed in sensible things, which are made known through the five | |
| 187 senses. These loaves were of barley because the law was given in such a way that what was life-giving in it was concealed under physical signs: for the kernel in barley is covered with a very | |
| 188 firm husk. Or, the loaves were of barley because the Jewish people had not yet been rubbed free | |
| 189 of carnal desire, but it still covered their hearts like a husk: for in the Old Testament they | |
| 190 outwardly experienced hardships because of their ceremonial observances: “A yoke, which | |
| 191 neither our fathers nor we were able to bear” (Acts 15:10). Further, the Jews were engrossed in | |
| 192 material things and did not understand the spiritual meaning of the law: “A veil is over their | |
| 193 hearts” (2 Cor 3:15).</p> | |
| 194 <p>The two fishes, which gave a pleasant flavor to the bread, indicate the teachings of the Psalms | |
| 195 and the prophets. Thus the old law not only had five loaves, i.e., the five books of Moses, but also | |
| 196 two fishes, that is, the Psalms and the prophets. So the Old Testament writings are divided into | |
| 197 these three: “The things written about me in the law of Moses, and in the prophets and in the | |
| 198 Psalms” (Lk 24:44). Or, according to Augustine, the two fishes signify the priests and kings who | |
| 199 ruled the Jews; and they prefigured Christ, who was the true king and priest.</p> | |
| 200 <p><span style="font-weight: bold">But what are these for so many? </span>for they could not bring man to a complete knowledge of the | |
| 201 truth: for although God was known in Judea, the Gentiles did not know him.</p> | |
| 202 <p>855 Next (v 10), the miracle is presented. First, we see the people arranged; secondly, the miracle | |
| 203 itself; and thirdly, the gathering of the leftovers. He does two things about the first. First, he | |
| 204 shows Christ directing the disciples to have the people recline; secondly, why this was | |
| 205 appropriate; and thirdly, he tells us the number of people present.</p> | |
| 206 <p>856 Our Lord told his disciples to arrange the people so that they could eat; thus Jesus says, | |
| 207 <span style="font-weight: bold">Make the people recline, </span>i.e, to eat. For as mentioned before, in former times people took their | |
| 208 meals lying on couches; consequently, it was the custom to say of those who sat down to eat that | |
| 209 they were reclining. In the mystical sense, this indicates that rest which is necessary for the | |
| 210 perfection of wisdom. Again, the people are prepared by the disciples because it is through the | |
| 211 disciples that the knowledge of the truth has come to us: “Let the mountains receive peace for | |
| 212 the people” (Ps 71:3).</p> | |
| 213 <p>857 The character of the place shows why it was convenient that they recline, for <span style="font-weight: bold">There was | |
| 214 much grass in the place. </span>This is the literal meaning. In the mystical sense, grass indicates the | |
| 215 flesh: “All flesh is grass” (Is 40:6). In this sense it can refer to two things. First, to the teachings | |
| 216 of the Old Testament, which were given to a people resting in things of the flesh and wise | |
| 217 according to the flesh: “If you are willing, and listen to me, you will eat the good things of the | |
| 218 land” (Is 1:19); “The posterity of Jacob dwells in a land of grain, wine and oil” (Dt 33:28). Or, | |
| 219 it can refer to one who perceives true wisdom, which cannot be attained without first abandoning | |
| 220 the things of the flesh: “Do not imitate this world” (Rom 12:2).</p> | |
| 221 <p>858 There was a. great number of people; thus he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">the men reclined, in number about five | |
| 222 thousand. </span>The Evangelist counted only the men, according to the custom in the law, for as | |
| 223 mentioned in Numbers (1:3), Moses counted the people who were twenty years and older, | |
| 224 without including the women. The Evangelist does the same, because only men can be | |
| 225 completely instructed: “We speak wisdom to those who are mature” (1 Cor 2:6); “Solid food is | |
| 226 for the mature” (Heb 5:14).</p> | |
| 227 <p>859 Then (v 11), the Evangelist presents the feeding of the crowd. First, we see the attitude of | |
| 228 Christ; secondly, the food used; thirldy, that the people were satisfied. As to the attitude of Jesus, | |
| 229 both his humility and his giving of thanks are mentioned.</p> | |
| 230 <p>860 We see his humility because he took the bread and gave it to the people. Now although in | |
| 231 this miracle Christ could have fed the people with bread created from nothing, he chose to do so | |
| 232 by multiplying bread that already existed. He did this, first, to show that sensible things do not | |
| 233 come from the devil, as the Manichean error maintains. For if this were so, our Lord would not | |
| 234 have used sensible things to praise God, especially since “The Son of God appeared to destroy | |
| 235 the works of the devil” (1 Jn 3:8). He did it, secondly, to show that they are also wrong in | |
| 236 claiming that the teachings of the Old Testament are not from God but from the devil. Thus, to | |
| 237 show that the doctrine of the New Testament is none other than that which was prefigured and | |
| 238 contained in the teachings of the Old Testament, he multiplied bread that already existed, | |
| 239 implying by this that he is the one who fulfills the law and brings it to perfection: “I have not | |
| 240 come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it,” as we read in Matthew (5:17).</p> | |
| 241 <p>861 We see that he gave <span style="font-weight: bold">thanks, when he had given thanks. </span>He did this to show that whatever | |
| 242 he had, he had from another, that is, from his Father. This is an example for us to do the same. | |
| 243 More particularly, he gave thanks to teach us that we should thank God when we begin a meal: | |
| 244 “Nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving” (1 Tim 4:4); “The poor will eat and | |
| 245 be satisfied; and they will praise the Lord” (Ps 21:27). Again, he gave thanks to teach us that he | |
| 246 was not praying for himself, but for the people who were there, for he had to convince them that | |
| 247 he had come from God. Accordingly, he prays before he works this miracle before them, in order | |
| 248 to show them that he is not acting against God, but according to God’s will.</p> | |
| 249 <p>We read in Mark (6:41) that Christ had the apostles distribute the bread to the people. It says here | |
| 250 that he distributed it because in a way he himself does what he does by means of others. In the | |
| 251 mystical sense, both statements are true: for Christ alone refreshes from within, and others, as | |
| 252 his ministers, refresh from without.</p> | |
| 253 <p>862 Their food was bread and fish, about which enough has been said above.</p> | |
| 254 <p>Finally, those who ate were completely satisfied, because they took <span style="font-weight: bold">as much as they wanted. | |
| 255 </span>For Christ is the only one who feeds an empty soul and fills a hungry soul with good things: “I | |
| 256 will be satisfied when your glory appears” (Ps 16:15). Others perform miracles through having | |
| 257 grace in a partial manner; Christ, on the other hand, does so with unlimited power, since he does | |
| 258 all things superabundantly. Hence it says that the people <span style="font-weight: bold">had their fill.</span></p> | |
| 259 <p>863 Now we see the leftovers collected (v 12). First, Christ gives the order; secondly, his | |
| 260 disciples obey.</p> | |
| 261 <p>864 The Evangelist says that after the people had eaten their fill, Christ said to his disciples: | |
| 262 <span style="font-weight: bold">Gather up the fragments that are left over. </span>This was not pretentious display on our Lord’s | |
| 263 part; he did it to show that the miracle he accomplished was not imaginary, since the collected | |
| 264 leftovers kept for some time and provided food for others. Again, he wanted to impress this | |
| 265 miracle more firmly on the hearts of his disciples, whom he had carry the leftovers: for most of | |
| 266 all he wanted to teach his disciples, who were destined to be the teachers of the entire world.</p> | |
| 267 <p>865 His disciples obeyed him faithfully; hence he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">They therefore gathered and filled | |
| 268 twelve baskets with the leftovers. </span>Here we should note that the amount of food that remained | |
| 269 was not left to chance, but was according to plan: for as much as Christ willed was left over, no | |
| 270 more and no less. This is shown by the fact that the basket of each apostle was filled. Now a | |
| 271 basket is reserved for the work of peasants. Therefore, the twelve baskets signify the twelve | |
| 272 apostles and those who imitate them, who, although they are looked down upon in this present | |
| 273 life, are nevertheless filled with the riches of spiritual sacraments. There are twelve because they | |
| 274 were to preach the faith of the Holy Trinity to the four parts of the world.</p> | |
| 275 <p style="margin-bottom: 0.125in; margin-bottom: 0.125in"> </p> | |
| 276 <p style="text-align: center"><span style="font-weight: bold">LECTURE 2</span></p> | |
| 277 <BLOCKQUOTE><p>14 Now when these people saw that Jesus had worked a miracle, they said: “This is truly the | |
| 278 Prophet who is to come into the world.” 15 So Jesus, knowing that they would come to seize him | |
| 279 and make him king, fled again into the mountains, alone. 16 When evening came, his disciples | |
| 280 went down to the sea. 17 After they got into the boat, they set out across the sea to Capernaum. | |
| 281 It was already dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea became rough, agitated by | |
| 282 a great wind. 19 After they had rowed twenty-five or thirty stadia [three or four miles] , they saw | |
| 283 Jesus walking on the water, coming toward the boat, and they were afraid. 20 But he said to | |
| 284 them: | |
| 285 <DD>“It is I. Do not be afraid.”<BR> | |
| 286 21 They then wanted to take him into the boat; and suddenly the boat was on the land toward | |
| 287 which they were going.</p></BLOCKQUOTE> | |
| 288 <p>866 Above, the Evangelist told us of the miracle of the loaves and fishes. Now he shows the | |
| 289 threefold effect this miracle had on the people. First, its effect on their faith; secondly, on their | |
| 290 plans to honor Jesus; thirdly, how it led them (and the disciples) to search for Jesus.</p> | |
| 291 <p>867 With respect to the first, we should note that the Jews said in the Psalm: “We have not seen | |
| 292 our signs; there is now no prophet” (Ps 73:9). For it was customary in earlier days for the | |
| 293 prophets to work omany signs; so, when these signs were absent, prophecy se emed to have | |
| 294 ended. But when the Jews.see such signs, they believe that prophecy is returning. Accordingly, | |
| 295 the people were so impressed by this miracle they just saw that they called our Lord a prophet. | |
| 296 Thus we read, <span style="font-weight: bold">Now when these people, </span>who had been filled with the five <span style="font-weight: bold">loaves, saw that Jesus | |
| 297 had worked a miracle, they said: This is truly the Prophet. </span>However, they did not yet have | |
| 298 perfect faith, for they believed that Jesus was only a prophet, while he was also the Lord of the | |
| 299 prophets. Yet, they were not entirely wrong, because our Lord called himself a prophet.</p> | |
| 300 <p>868 Here we should remark that a prophet is called a seer: “He who is now called a prophet was | |
| 301 formerly called a seer” (I Sm 9:9). Further, seeing pertains to the cognitive power. Now in Christ | |
| 302 there were three kinds of knowledge. First of all, there was sense knowledge. And in this respect | |
| 303 he had some similarity to the prophets, insofar as sensible species could be formed in the | |
| 304 imagination of Christ to present future or hidden events. This was especially due to his | |
| 305 passibility, which was appropriate to his state as a “wayfarer.” Secondly, Christ had intellectual | |
| 306 knowledge; and in this he was not like the prophets, but was even superior to all the angels: for | |
| 307 he was a “comprehensor” in a more excellent way than any creature. Again, Christ had divine | |
| 308 knowledge, and in this way he was the one who inspired the prophets and the angels, since all | |
| 309 knowledge is caused by a participation in the divine Word.</p> | |
| 310 <p>Still, these people seemed to realize that Christ was a superior prophet, for they said: <span style="font-weight: bold">This is | |
| 311 truly the Prophet. </span>For although there had been many prophets among the Jews, they were | |
| 312 waiting for a particular one, according to: “The Lord your God will raise up a prophet for you” | |
| 313 (Dt 18:15). This is the one they are speaking of here; thus it continues: <span style="font-weight: bold">who is to come into the | |
| 314 world.</span></p> | |
| 315 <p>869 Next, we see the second effect of Christ’s miracle: the honor the people planned for Christ, | |
| 316 which he refused. First, we have the attempt by the people; secondly, Christ’s flight from them.</p> | |
| 317 <p>870 The attempt of the people is mentioned when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">they would come to seize him and | |
| 318 make him king. </span>A person or thing is seized if it is taken in a way that one does not will or is not | |
| 319 opportune. Now it is true that God’s plan from all eternity had been to establish the kingdom of | |
| 320 Christ; but the time for this was not then opportune. Christ had come then, but not to reign in the | |
| 321 way we ask for his reign when we say, “Your kingdom come” (Mt 6:10); at that time he will | |
| 322 reign even as man. Another time was reserved for this: after the judgment of Christ, when the | |
| 323 saints will appear in glory. It was about this kingdom the disciples asked when they said: “Lord, | |
| 324 will you restore the kingdom to Israel at this time?” (Acts 1:6).</p> | |
| 325 <p>So the people, thinking he had come to reign, wanted to make hirn their king. The reason for this | |
| 326 is that men often want as their ruler someone who will provide them with temporal things. Thus, | |
| 327 because our Lord had fed them, they were willing to make him their king: “You have a mantle, | |
| 328 be our ruler” (Is 3:6). Chrysostom says: “See the power of gluttony. They are no longer | |
| 329 concerned about his breaking the Sabbath; they are no longer zealous for God. All these things | |
| 330 are set in the background now that their bellies are full. Now he is regarded as a prophet among | |
| 331 them, and they want to set him on the royal throne as their king.”</p> | |
| 332 <p>87 1 We see Christ’s flight when he says that he <span style="font-weight: bold">fled again into the mountains, alone. </span>We can | |
| 333 see frorn this that when our Lord had first seen the crowd of people he came down from the | |
| 334 mountain and fed them in the valley, for we would not read that he went again into the mountains | |
| 335 if he had not come down from them.</p> | |
| 336 <p>Why did Christ flee from the people, since he really is a king? There are three reasons for this. | |
| 337 First, because it would have detracted from his dignity to have accepted a kingdom from men: | |
| 338 for he is so great a king that all other kings are kings by participating in his kingship: “It is by me | |
| 339 that kings rule” (Prv 8:15). Another reason is that it would have been hanuful to his teaching if | |
| 340 he had accepted this dignity and support from men; for he had worked and taught in such a way | |
| 341 that everything was attributed to divine power and not to the influence of men: “Praise from men | |
| 342 I do not need” (above 5:41). The third reason was to teach us to despise the dignities of this | |
| 343 world: “I have given you an example that as I have done to you, so you should do also” (below | |
| 344 13:15); “Do not seek dignity from men” (Sir 7:4). And so, he refused the glory of this world, but | |
| 345 still endured its punishment of his own will: “Jesus endured the cross, despising the shame, for | |
| 346 the joy set before him” (Heb 12:2).</p> | |
| 347 <p>872 Matthew seems to conflict with this, for he says that “Jesus went up the mountain alone, to | |
| 348 pray” (Mt 14:23). However, in the opinion of Augustine, there is no conflict here, because he had | |
| 349 reason both to flee and to pray. For our Lord is teaching us that when a reason for flight draws | |
| 350 near, there is great reason to pray.</p> | |
| 351 <p>In the mystical sense, Christ went up into the mountain when the people he had fed were ready | |
| 352 to subject themselves to him, because he went up into heaven when the people were ready to | |
| 353 subject themselves to the truth of the faith, according to: “A congregation of people will surround | |
| 354 you. Return above for their sakes,” i.e., return on high so a congregatation of people may | |
| 355 surround you (Ps 7:8). </p> | |
| 356 <p>He says that Christ <span style="font-weight: bold">fled</span>, to indicate that the people could not understand his grandeur: for if we | |
| 357 do not understand something, we say that it flees or eludes us.</p> | |
| 358 <p>873 Now he considers the third effect of Christ’s miracle, the search for Christ. First, by his | |
| 359 disciples; secondly, by the people. As to the first, he does two things. First, he tells of the | |
| 360 eagerness of the disciples; and secondly, enlarges upon this (v l7b). He does two things about the | |
| 361 first. First, he tells that they went down to the shore. Secondly, he tells of their journey across the | |
| 362 sea (v 17).</p> | |
| 363 <p>874 Note, about the first, that Christ went up into the mountain without the knowledge of his | |
| 364 disciples. So, they waited there until evening came, for they expected that he would come back | |
| 365 to them. But their love was so great that when evening came they just had to go looking for him. | |
| 366 Thus he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, </span>looking for Jesus.</p> | |
| 367 <p>In the mystical sense, “evening” signifies our Lord’s passion or his ascension. For as long as the | |
| 368 disciples enjoyed Christ’s physical presence, no trouble disturbed them and no bitterness vexed | |
| 369 them: “Can the friends of the groom mourn as long as the groom is with them?” (Mt 9:15). But | |
| 370 when Christ was away, then they “went down to the sea,” to the troubles of this world: “This | |
| 371 great sea, stretching wide” (Ps 103:25).</p> | |
| 372 <p>875 He adds that they crossed, saying, <span style="font-weight: bold">After they got into the boat, they set out across the sea | |
| 373 to Capernaum, </span>for the love that burned within them could not endure our Lord’s absence for | |
| 374 very long.</p> | |
| 375 <p>876 Now (17b), he enlarges upon what he had already said in summary fashion. First, on their | |
| 376 going down to the sea; secondly, on their crossing (v 18).</p> | |
| 377 <p>877 As to the first, he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">It was already dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. </span>The | |
| 378 Evangelist does not tell us this without a reason, for it shows the intensity of their love, since not | |
| 379 even night or evening could stop them.</p> | |
| 380 <p>In the mystical sense, the “dark” signifies the absence of love; for light is love, according to: “He | |
| 381 who loves his brother dwells in the light” (1 Jn 2:10). Accordingly, there is darkness in us when | |
| 382 Jesus, “the true light” (above 1:9) does not come to us, because his presence repells all darkness.</p> | |
| 383 <p>Jesus left his disciples alone for this length of time so that they might experience his absence; and | |
| 384 they did indeed experience it during the storm at sea: “Know and realize, that it is evil and bitter | |
| 385 for you to have left the Lord” (Jer 2:19). He left them, in the second place, so that they might | |
| 386 look for him more earnestly: “Where has your beloved gone, most beautiful of women? We will | |
| 387 search for him with you” (Sg 5:17).</p> | |
| 388 <p>878 As for their crossing, first we see the storm at sea; then Christ coming to them, and the time; | |
| 389 and thirdly, the effect this had.</p> | |
| 390 <p>879 The storm was caused by a rising wind; thus he says: <span style="font-weight: bold">The sea became rough, agitated by | |
| 391 a great wind. </span>This wind is a symbol for the trials and persecutions which would afflict the | |
| 392 Church due to a lack of love. For as Augustine says, when love grows cold, the waves of the sea | |
| 393 begin to swell and danger threatens the boat. Still, these winds and the storm, with its waves and | |
| 394 darkness, did not stop (lie progress of’ the boat or so batter it that it broke apart: “He who | |
| 395 perseveres to the end will be saved” (Mt 24:13); and again: “And the rains fell. and the floods | |
| 396 came, and the house did not collapse,” as we read in Mattliew (7:25).</p> | |
| 397 <p>880 Christ did not appear to them when the storm first began, but only some time later; thus he | |
| 398 says, <span style="font-weight: bold">After they had rowed twentyfive or thirty stadia, they saw Jesus. </span>We see from this that | |
| 399 our Lord allows us to be troubled for a while so our virtue may be tested; but he does not desert | |
| 400 us in the end, but comes very close to us: “God is faithful, and will not allow you to be tested | |
| 401 beyond your strength” (1 Cor 10:13).</p> | |
| 402 <p>According to Augustine, the twenty-five stadia they rowed are the five books of Moses. For | |
| 403 twenty-five is the square of five, since five times five is twenty-five. But a number that is | |
| 404 multiplied in this way keeps the meaning of its root. Thus, just as five signifies the old law, so | |
| 405 twenty-five signifies the perfection of the New Testament. Thirty, however, signifies that | |
| 406 perfection of the New Testament which was lacking in the law: for thirty is the result of | |
| 407 multiplying five by six, which is a perfect number. So, Jesus comes to those who row twenty-five | |
| 408 or thirty stadia, i.e., to those who fulfill the law or the perfection taught by the Gospel; and he | |
| 409 comes treading under foot all the waves of pride and the dignities of this present world: “You | |
| 410 rule the might of the sea and calm its waves” (Ps 88:10). And then we will see Christ near our | |
| 411 boat, because divine help is close: “The Lord is near to all who fear him” (Ps 144:18). Thus it | |
| 412 is clear that Christ is near to all those who seek him rightly. Now the Apostles loved Christ very | |
| 413 keenly: this is obvious because they tried to go to him despite the darkness, the stormy sea, and | |
| 414 the distance to shore. Consequently, Christ was with them.</p> | |
| 415 <p>881 Now we see the effect of Christ’s appearance. First, the interior effect; secondly, the exterior | |
| 416 effect (v 2 1 b).</p> | |
| 417 <p>882 The interior effect of Christ’s appearance was fear; and he mentions the fear of the disciples | |
| 418 at the sudden appearance of Christ when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">and they were afraid. </span>This was a good fear, | |
| 419 because it was the effect of humility: “Do not be proud; rather fear” (Rom 11:20); or it was an | |
| 420 evil fear, because “they thought it was a ghost” (Mk 6:49); “They trembled with fear” (Ps 13:5): | |
| 421 for fear is especially appropriate to the carnal, because they are afraid of spiritual things.</p> | |
| 422 <p>Secondly, we see Christ encouraging them against two dangers. First, they are encouraged against | |
| 423 the danger to the faith in their intellect when he says, It is 1, to eliminate their doubts: “Look at | |
| 424 my hands and my feet! It is really me” (Lk 24:39). Secondly, Christ encourages them against the | |
| 425 danger of fear in their emotions, saying, <span style="font-weight: bold">Do not be afraid: </span>“Do not be afraid when they are | |
| 426 present” (Jer 1:8); “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom sliall I fear” (Ps 26:1 ).</p> | |
| 427 <p>Thirdly, we see the reaction of the disciples, for <span style="font-weight: bold">They then wanted to take him into the boat. | |
| 428 </span>This signifies that we receive Christ by love and contemplation after servile fear has been taken | |
| 429 out of our hearts: “I stand at the door and knock. If any one opens it for me, I will enter” (Rv | |
| 430 3:20).</p> | |
| 431 <p>883 There were two exterior effects: the storm abated, and their boat suddenly landed, although | |
| 432 it had just been at a distance from the shore, for our Lord gave them a calm journey, without | |
| 433 danger. He himself did not enter the boat because he wished to accomplish a greater miracle. So | |
| 434 here we have three miracles: the walking on the sea, the quick calming of the storm, and the | |
| 435 sudden arrival of the boat on the land although it had been far away. We learn from this that the | |
| 436 faithful, in whom Christ is present, put down the swelling pride of this world, tread under their | |
| 437 feet its waves of tribulation, and cross quickly to the land of the living: “Your good spirit will | |
| 438 lead me to land” (Ps 142:10).</p> | |
| 439 <p>884 There are a number of difficulties here. The first concerns the literal sense: Matthew (14:22) | |
| 440 seems to conflict with our present account for he says that the disciples were told by Christ to go | |
| 441 the shore, while here it says the disciples went there to search for him. Another difficulty is that | |
| 442 Matthew (14:34) says that the disciples crossed over to Gennesaret, while we read here that they | |
| 443 came to Capernaum. The third difficulty is that Matthew (14:32) says that Christ got into the | |
| 444 boat, but here he did not.</p> | |
| 445 <p>Chrysostom settles these difficulties quite briefly by saying that the two accounts do not deal with | |
| 446 the same miracle. For, as he says, Christ frequently miraculously walked upon the sea in front | |
| 447 of his disciples, but not for the people, lest they think he did not have a real body. But, according | |
| 448 to Augustine, and this is the better opinion, John and Matthew are describing the same miracle. | |
| 449 Augustine answers the first difficulty by saying it makes no difference that Matthew says the | |
| 450 disciples went down to the shore because our Lord told them to. For it is possible that our Lord | |
| 451 did so, and they went believing that he would sail with them. And that is why they waited until | |
| 452 night, and when Christ did not come, they crossed by themselves.</p> | |
| 453 <p>There are two answers to the second difficulty. One is that Capernaum and Gennesaret are | |
| 454 neighboring towns on the same shore. And perhaps the disciples landed at a place near both, so | |
| 455 that Matthew mentions one and John the other. Or, it might be said that Matthew does not say | |
| 456 that they came to Gennesaret immediately, they could have come first to Capernaurn and then | |
| 457 to Gennesaret. [The answer to the third difficulty is not given.]</p> | |
| 458 <p style="margin-bottom: 0.125in; margin-bottom: 0.125in"> </p> | |
| 459 <p style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.125in"><span style="font-weight: bold">LECTURE 3</span></p> | |
| 460 <BLOCKQUOTE><p>22 On the next day, the crowd that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no second | |
| 461 boat there, but only one, and that Jesus had not gone into the boat, but only his disciples had | |
| 462 gone. 23 But other boats arrived from Tiberias, near the place where they had eaten the bread, | |
| 463 after having given thanks to God. 24 When therefore the people saw that Jesus was not there, nor | |
| 464 his disciples, they got into the boats and set off for Capernaum, looking for Jesus. 25 When they | |
| 465 found him on the other side of the sea, they said: “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus | |
| 466 replied and said: | |
| 467 <DD>“Amen, amen, I say to you: | |
| 468 <DD>you seek me not because you have seen miracles, | |
| 469 <DD>but because you have eaten of the bread | |
| 470 <DD>and have been filled. | |
| 471 <DD>27 Do not work for the food that perishes, | |
| 472 <DD>but for that which endures to eternal life, | |
| 473 <DD>which the Son of Man will give you, | |
| 474 <DD>for on him has God the Father set his seal.”<BR> | |
| 475 28 Then they said to him: “What must we do that we may perform the works of God?” 29 Jesus | |
| 476 replied and said to them: | |
| 477 <DD>“This is the work of God, | |
| 478 <DD>that you believe in him whom he sent.”<BR> | |
| 479 30 They then said to him: “What sign then are you going to give that we may see and believe | |
| 480 you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate ffianna in the desert, as it is written: ‘He | |
| 481 gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”</p></BLOCKQUOTE> | |
| 482 <p>885 After having described how the disciples searched for Christ, the Evangelist now shows the | |
| 483 people looking for him. First, he states their motive; secondly, the occasion; and thirdly, the | |
| 484 search itself (v 24).</p> | |
| 485 <p>886 The crowd of people was looking for Christ because of the miracle mentioned above, that | |
| 486 is, because he had crossed the sea without using any boat. They realized this because the other | |
| 487 evening he had not been on the shore near where he had performed the miracle of the bread, and | |
| 488 where there had been only one boat which had left for the opposite shore with the disciples, but | |
| 489 without Christ. So that morning, when they could not find Christ on this side, since he was | |
| 490 already on the other side although there was no other boat he could have used, they suspected that | |
| 491 he had crossed by walking upon the sea. And this is what he says: <span style="font-weight: bold">On the next day, </span>following | |
| 492 the one on which he had worked the miracle of the bread, <span style="font-weight: bold">the crowd that stood on the other | |
| 493 side of the sea</span>, where he had performed this miracle, <span style="font-weight: bold">saw that there was no second boat there, | |
| 494 but only one, </span>because the day before that was the only one there, and they had seen <span style="font-weight: bold">that Jesus | |
| 495 had not gone into the boat, but only his disciples had gone. </span>This one ship signifies the | |
| 496 Church, which is one by its unity of faith and sacraments: “One faith, one baptism” (Eph 4:5). | |
| 497 Again, our Lord’s absence from his disciples signifies his physical absence from them at the | |
| 498 ascension: “After the Lord Jesus spoke to them, he was taken up into heaven” (Mk 16:19).</p> | |
| 499 <p>887 It was the arrival of other boats from the opposite side of the sea that gave the people the | |
| 500 opportunity to look for Christ; they could cross on these and search for him. He says: <span style="font-weight: bold">But other | |
| 501 boats arrived, </span>from the other side, that is, <span style="font-weight: bold">from Tiberias, near the place where they had eaten | |
| 502 the bread, after having given thanks to God.</span></p> | |
| 503 <p>These other boats signify the various sects of heretics and of those who seek their own profit, and | |
| 504 not the good of Jesus Christ: “You seek me ... because you have eaten of the bread and have been | |
| 505 filled” (v 26). These groups are either separated in faith, as are the heretics, or in the love of | |
| 506 charity, as are the carnal, who are not properly in the Church, but next to it, insofar as they have | |
| 507 a feigned faith and the appearance of holiness: “They have the appearance of devotion, but deny | |
| 508 its power” (2 Tim 3:5); “Do not be surprised if the ministers of Satan disguise themselves” (2 | |
| 509 Cor 11:14).</p> | |
| 510 <p>888 The people were eager to find Christ. First, he shows how they looked for him; secondly, | |
| 511 how they questioned him after they found him (v 25).</p> | |
| 512 <p>889 He says, <span style="font-weight: bold">When the people saw that Jesus was not there, </span>nor <span style="font-weight: bold">his disciples, they got into | |
| 513 the boats, </span>which had come from Tiberias, <span style="font-weight: bold">looking for Jesus; </span>and this is praiseworthy: “Search | |
| 514 for the Lord while he can be found” (Is 55:6); “Seek the Lord, and your soul will have life” (Ps | |
| 515 68:33).</p> | |
| 516 <p>890 Once they found him, they questioned him. <span style="font-weight: bold">When they, </span>the people, <span style="font-weight: bold">found him, </span>Christ, <span style="font-weight: bold">on | |
| 517 the other side of the sea, </span>they asked him: <span style="font-weight: bold">Rabbi, when did you come here? </span>This can be | |
| 518 understood in two ways. In the first way, they were asking about the time only. And then, | |
| 519 Chrysostom says, they should be rebuked for their rudeness, because, after such a miracle, they | |
| 520 did not ask how he crossed without a boat, but only when he did so. Or, it can be said that by | |
| 521 asking <span style="font-weight: bold">when, </span>they wanted to know not just the time, but the other circumstances connected with | |
| 522 this miraculous crossing.</p> | |
| 523 <p>891 Note that now, after they have found Christ, they do not wish do make him their king, while | |
| 524 before, after he had fed them, they did. They wanted to make him their king then because they | |
| 525 were emotionally excited with the joy of their meal; but such emotions quickly pass. So it is that | |
| 526 things that we plan according to our emotions do not last; but matters that we arrange by our | |
| 527 reason last longer: “A wise man continues on in his wisdom like the sun; a fool changes like the | |
| 528 moon” (Sir 27:12); “The work of the wicked will not last” (Prv 11:18)</p> | |
| 529 <p>892 Then (v 26), our Lord begins to mention a food that is spiritual. First, he states a truth about | |
| 530 this spiritual food. In the second place, he clears up a misunderstanding (6:41). As to the first he | |
| 531 does three things. First, he presents a truth about this spiritual food; secondly, he mentions its | |
| 532 origin; and thirdly, he tells 4hem how this spiritual food is to be acquired (6:34). He does two | |
| 533 things about the first. First, he explains this spiritual food and its power; in the second place, he | |
| 534 tells what this food is (v 28). As to the first, he does two things. First, he rebukes them for their | |
| 535 disordered desires; in the second place, he urges them to accept the truth (v 27).</p> | |
| 536 <p>893 He says, Amen, amen, I say to you, that although you seem to be devout, <span style="font-weight: bold">you seek me not | |
| 537 because you have seen miracles, but because you have eaten of the bread and have been | |
| 538 filled. </span>As if to say: You seek me, not for the sake of the spirit, but for the sake of the flesh, | |
| 539 because you hope for more food. As Augustine says, these people represent those who seek Jesus | |
| 540 not for himself, but in order to gain certain worldly advantages: as those engaged in some | |
| 541 business call on clerics and prelates, not for the sake of Christ, but so that through their | |
| 542 intervention they might be advanced into the ranks of those who are important; and like those | |
| 543 who hurry to the churches, not for Christ, but because they have been urged to do so by those | |
| 544 who are more powerful; and like those who approach our Lord for sacred orders not because they | |
| 545 desire the merits of the virtues, but because they are looking for the satisfactions of this present | |
| 546 life, as wealth and praise, as Gregory says in his <i>Moralia</i>. This is obvious: for to perform | |
| 547 miracles is a work of divine power, but to eat loaves of bread which have been multiplied is | |
| 548 temporal. Accordingly, those who do not come to Christ because of the power they see in him, | |
| 549 but because they eat his bread, are not serving Christ but their own stomachs, as we see from | |
| 550 Philippians (3:19); and again, “He will praise you when you are good to him,” as we read in the | |
| 551 Psalm (48:19).</p> | |
| 552 <p>894 He leads them back to the truth by calling their attention to spiritual food, saying, <span style="font-weight: bold">Do not | |
| 553 work for the food that perishes, but for that which endures to eternal life. </span>First, he mentions | |
| 554 its power; secondly, that it comes from him, <span style="font-weight: bold">which the Son of Man will give you.</span></p> | |
| 555 <p>895 The power of this food is seen in the fact that it does not perish. In this respect we should | |
| 556 point out that material things are likenesses of spiritual things, since they are caused and | |
| 557 produced by them; and consequently they resemble spiritual things in some way. Now just as the | |
| 558 body is sustained by food, so that which sustains the spirit is called its food, whatever it might | |
| 559 be. The food that sustains the body is perishable, since it is converted into the nature of the body; | |
| 560 but the food that sustains the spirit is not perishable, because it is not converted into the spirit; | |
| 561 rather, the spirit is converted into its food. Hence Augustine says in his <i>Confessions</i>: “I am the | |
| 562 food of the great; grow and you will eat me. But you will not change me into yourself, as you do | |
| 563 bodily food, but you will be changed into me.”</p> | |
| 564 <p>So our Lord says: work, i.e., seek by your work, or merit by your works, <span style="font-weight: bold">not for the food that | |
| 565 perishes, </span>i.e., bodily food: “Food is for the stomach, and the stomach for food, but God will | |
| 566 destroy both” (1 Cor 6:13), because we will not always need food; but <span style="font-weight: bold">work for that which, </span>that | |
| 567 is, the spiritual food, <span style="font-weight: bold">endures to eternal life. </span>This food is God himself, insofar as he is the Truth | |
| 568 which is to be contemplated and the Goodness which is to be loved, which nourish the spirit: | |
| 569 “Eat my bread” (Prv 9:5); “Wisdom will feed him with the bread of life and understanding” (Sir | |
| 570 15:5). Again, this food is the obedience to the divine commands: “My food is to do the will of | |
| 571 him who sent me” (above 4:34). Also, it is Christ himself: “I am the bread of life” (6:35); “My | |
| 572 flesh truly is food and my blood truly is drink” (6:56): and this is so insofar as the flesh of Christ | |
| 573 is joined to the Word of God, which is the food by which the angels live. The difference between | |
| 574 bodily and spiritual food which he gives here, is like the one he gave before between bodily and | |
| 575 spiritual drink: “Whoever drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water | |
| 576 that I give, will never be thirsty again” (4:13). The reason for this is that bodily things are | |
| 577 perishable, while spiritual things, and especially God, are eternal.</p> | |
| 578 <p>896 We should note that according to Augustine, in his work, <i>On the Labor of Monks, </i>that | |
| 579 certain monks misunderstood our Lord’s saying, <span style="font-weight: bold">Do not work for the food that perishes, </span>and | |
| 580 claimed that spiritual men should not perform physical work. But this interpretation is false | |
| 581 because Paul, who was most spiritual, worked with his hands: as we read in Ephesians, there he | |
| 582 says (4:28): “Let him who stole, steal no longer, rather let him work with his hands.” The correct | |
| 583 interpretation, therefore, is that we should direct our work, i.e., our main interest and intention, | |
| 584 to seeking the food that leads to eternal life, that is, spiritual goods. In regard to temporal goods, | |
| 585 they should not be our principal aim but a subordinate one, that is, they are to be acquired only | |
| 586 because of our mortal body, which has to be nourished as long as we are living this present life. | |
| 587 So the Apostle speaks against this opinion, saying: “If any one will not work, neither let him eat” | |
| 588 (2 Thes 3:10); as if to say: those who maintain that physical work is not to be done should not | |
| 589 eat, since eating is physical.</p> | |
| 590 <p>897 Next (v 27), he mentions the one who gives this spiritual food. First, we see the author of | |
| 591 this food; secondly, the source of his authority to give us this food. Christ is the author of this | |
| 592 spiritual food, and the one who gives it to us. Thus he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">which, </span>that is, the food that does not | |
| 593 perish, <span style="font-weight: bold">the Son of Man will give you. </span>If he had said, “the Son of God,” it would not have been | |
| 594 unexpected; but he captures their attention by saying that <span style="font-weight: bold">the Son of Man </span>gives this food. Yet | |
| 595 the Son of Man gives this food in a spiritual way, because human nature, weakened by sin, found | |
| 596 spiritual food distasteful, and was not able to take it in its spirituality. Thus it was necessary for | |
| 597 the Son of Man to assume flesh and nourish us with it: “You have prepared a table before me” | |
| 598 (Ps 22:5).</p> | |
| 599 <p>898 He adds the source of his authority to give us this food when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">for on him has God | |
| 600 the Father set his seal. </span>As if to say: the Son of Man will give us this food because he surpasses | |
| 601 all the sons of men by his unique and preeminent fulness of grace. Thus he says, on him, i.e., on | |
| 602 the Son of Man, <span style="font-weight: bold">has God the Father set his seal, </span>i.e., he has significantly distinguished him | |
| 603 from others: “God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows” (Ps | |
| 604 44:8).</p> | |
| 605 <p>Hilary explains it this way. <span style="font-weight: bold">God set his seal, </span>i.e., impressed with a seal. For when a seal is | |
| 606 impressed on wax, the wax retains the entire figure of the seal, just as the Son has received the | |
| 607 entire figure of the Father. Now the Son receives from the Father in two ways. One of these ways | |
| 608 is eternal, and <span style="font-weight: bold">set his seal </span>does not refey to this way, because when something is sealed the | |
| 609 nature receiving the seal is not the same as the nature impressing the seal. Rather, these words | |
| 610 should be understood as referring to the mystery of the incarnation, because God the Father has | |
| 611 impressed his Word on human nature; this Word who is “the brightness of his glory, and the | |
| 612 figure of his substance” (Heb 1:3).</p> | |
| 613 <p>Chrysostom explains it this way. God the Father has <span style="font-weight: bold">set his seal, </span>i.e., God the Father specifically | |
| 614 chose Christ to give eternal life to the world: “I came that they may have life” (below 10:10). For | |
| 615 when someone is chosen to perform some great task, he is said to be sealed for that task: “After | |
| 616 this, the Lord appointed (<i>designo, </i>appoint; <i>signo, </i>seal, mark) seventy other disciples” (Lk 10:1).</p> | |
| 617 <p>Or, it could be said that God the Father <span style="font-weight: bold">set his seal, </span>i.e., Christ was made known by the Father, | |
| 618 by his voice at Christ’s baptism, and by his works, as we saw in the fifth chapter.</p> | |
| 619 <p>899 Next (v 28), we see the nature of spiritual food. First, the Jews pose their question; in the | |
| 620 second place, we have the answer of Jesus Christ (v 29).</p> | |
| 621 <p>900 Concerning the first, we should note that the Jews, since they had been taught by the law, | |
| 622 believed that only God was eternal. So when Christ said that his food would endure to eternal | |
| 623 life, they understood that it would be a divine food. Thus when they question Christ, they do not | |
| 624 mention this food, but rather the work of God, saying: <span style="font-weight: bold">What must we do that we may perform | |
| 625 the works of God? </span>Indeed, they were not far from the truth, since spiritual food is nothing else | |
| 626 than performing and accomplishing the works of God: “What shall I do to gain eternal life?” (Lk | |
| 627 18:18).</p> | |
| 628 <p>901 The Lord’s answer is given when he says: <span style="font-weight: bold">This is the work of God, that you believe in him | |
| 629 whom he sent. </span>Here we should reflect that in Romans (4:2), the Apostle distinguished faith from | |
| 630 works, saying that Abraham was justified by his faith, not by his works. If this is so, why does | |
| 631 our Lord say here that to have faith, i.e., to believe, is a work of God? There are two answers to | |
| 632 this. One is that the Apostle is not distinguishing faith from absolutely all works, but only from | |
| 633 external works. External works, being performed by our body, are more noticeable, and so the | |
| 634 word “works” ordinarily refers to them. But there are other works, interior works, performed | |
| 635 within the soul, and these are known only to the wise and those converted in heart.</p> | |
| 636 <p>From another point of view, we can say that to believe can be regarded as included in our | |
| 637 external works, not in the sense that it is an external work, but because it is the source of these | |
| 638 works.</p> | |
| 639 <p>Thus he significantly says: <span style="font-weight: bold">that you believe in him </span>(<i>in illum</i>)<i>. </i>Now it is one thing to say: “I | |
| 640 believe in God,” (<i>credere Deum</i>),<i> </i>for this indicates the object. It is another thing to say: “I believe | |
| 641 God,” (<i>credere Deo</i>),<i> </i>for this indicates the one who testifies. And it is still another thing to say: | |
| 642 “I believe in God,” (<i>in Deum</i>), for this indicates the end. Thus God can be regarded as the object | |
| 643 of faith, as the one who testifies, and as the end, but in different ways. For the object of faith can | |
| 644 be a creature, as when I believe in the creation of the heavens. Again, a creature can he one who | |
| 645 testifies, for I believe Paul (<i>credo Paulo</i>) or any of the saints. But only God can be the end of | |
| 646 faith, for our mind is directed to God alone as its end. Now the end, since it has the character of | |
| 647 a good, is the object of love. Thus, to believe in God (<i>in Deum</i>)<i> </i>as in an end is proper to faith | |
| 648 living through the love of charity. Faith, living in this way, is the principle of all our good works; | |
| 649 and in this sense to believe is said to be a work of God.</p> | |
| 650 <p>902 But if faith is a work of God, how do men do the works of God? Isaiah (26:12) gives us the | |
| 651 answer when he says: “You have accomplished all our works for us.” For the fact that we believe, | |
| 652 and any good we do, is from God: “It is God who is working in us, both to will and to | |
| 653 accomplish” (Phil 2:13). Thus he explicitly says that to believe is a work of God in order to show | |
| 654 us that faith is a gift of God, as Ephesians (2:8) maintains.</p> | |
| 655 <p>903 Next, we see the origin of this food. First, we have the question asked by the Jews; secondly, | |
| 656 the answer of Christ (v 32). Three things are done about the first: first, the Jews look for a sign; | |
| 657 secondly, they decide what it should be; and thirdly, they bring in what is narrated in Scripture.</p> | |
| 658 <p>904 They look for a sign by asking Christ: <span style="font-weight: bold">What sign then are you going to give that we may | |
| 659 see and believe you? </span>This question is explained differently by Augustine and by Chrysostom. | |
| 660 Chrysostom says that our Lord was leading them to the faith. But the evidence that leads one to | |
| 661 the faith are miracles: “Signs were given to unbelievers” (1 Cor 14:22). And so the Jews were | |
| 662 looking for a sign in order to believe, Afor it is their custom to seek such signs: “For Jews | |
| 663 demand signs” (1 Cor 14:22). So they say: <span style="font-weight: bold">What sign then are you going to </span>give?</p> | |
| 664 <p>But it seems foolish to ask for a miracle for this reason, for Christ had just performed some in | |
| 665 their presence which could lead them to believe, as multiplying the bread and walking on the | |
| 666 water. What they were asking was that our Lord always provide them with food. This is clear | |
| 667 because the only sign they mention is the one given by Moses to their ancestors for forty years, | |
| 668 and they ask in this way that Christ always provide food for them. Thus they say: <span style="font-weight: bold">Our fathers | |
| 669 ate manna in the desert. </span>They did not say that God provided their ancestors with the manna, so | |
| 670 that they would not seem to be making Christ equal to God. Again, they did not say that Moses | |
| 671 fed their ancestors, so they would not seem to be preferring Moses to Christ, trying in this way | |
| 672 to influence our Lord. We read of this food: “Man ate the bread of angels” (Ps 77:25).</p> | |
| 673 <p>905 According to Augustine, however, our Lord had said that he would give thein food that | |
| 674 would endure to eternal life. Thus, he seemed to put himself above Moses. The Jews, on the other | |
| 675 hand, considered Moses greater than Christ; so they said: “We know that God spoke to Moses, | |
| 676 but we do not know where this man is from” (below 9:29). Accordingly, they required Christ to | |
| 677 accomplish greater things than Moses; and so they recall what Moses did, saying: <span style="font-weight: bold">Our Fathers | |
| 678 ate manna in the desert. </span>As if to say: What you say about yourself is greater than what Moses | |
| 679 did, for you are promising a food that does not perish, while the manna that Moses gave became | |
| 680 wormy if saved for the next day. Therefore, if we are to believe you, do something greater than | |
| 681 Moses did. Although you have fed five thousand men once with five barley loaves, this is not | |
| 682 greater than what Moses did, for he fed all the people with manna from heaven for forty years, | |
| 683 and in the desert too: “He gave them the bread of heaven” (Ps 77:24).</p> | |
| 684 <p style="margin-bottom: 0.125in; margin-bottom: 0.125in"> </p> | |
| 685 <p style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.125in"><span style="font-weight: bold">LECTURE 4</span></p> | |
| 686 <BLOCKQUOTE><p>32 Jesus therefore said to them: | |
| 687 <DD>“Amen, amen, I say to you: | |
| 688 <DD>Moses did not give you bread from heaven, | |
| 689 <DD>but my Father gives you true bread from heaven. | |
| 690 <DD>33 For the true bread is that which descends | |
| 691 <DD>from heaven, and gives life to the world.” | |
| 692 <BR>34 They then said to him: “Lord, give us this bread always.” 35 But Jesus said to them: | |
| 693 <DD>“I am the bread of life. | |
| 694 <DD>Whoever comes to me shall not hunger; | |
| 695 <DD>and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. | |
| 696 <DD>36 But I have told you that you have both seen me | |
| 697 <DD>and do not believe. | |
| 698 <DD>37 All that the Father gives me shall come to me; | |
| 699 <DD>and the one who comes to me I will not cast out, | |
| 700 <DD>38 because I have come down from heaven, | |
| 701 <DD>not to do my own will, | |
| 702 <DD>but the will of him who sent me. | |
| 703 <DD>39 Now it is the will of him who sent me, the Father, | |
| 704 <DD>that of all that he has given me I should lose nothing, | |
| 705 <DD>but raise it up on the last day. | |
| 706 <DD>40 For this is the will of my Father, who sent me, | |
| 707 <DD>that every one who sees the Son and believes in him, | |
| 708 <DD>should have eternal life. | |
| 709 <DD>And I will raise him up on the last day.”</p></BLOCKQUOTE> | |
| 710 <p>906 Having told us the question the Jews had asked Christ, the Evangelist now gives his answer. | |
| 711 First, Christ tells us of the origin of this spiritual food; secondly, he proves what he has just said | |
| 712 (v 33).</p> | |
| 713 <p>907 Concerning the first, we should note that the Jews had mentioned two things to Christ | |
| 714 concerning the bodily food which had been given to their ancestors: the one who gave this food, | |
| 715 Moses, and the place, that is, from heaven. Accordingly, when our Lord tells them about the | |
| 716 origin of spiritual food, he does not mention these two, for he says that there is another who gives | |
| 717 this food and another place. He says: <span style="font-weight: bold">Amen, amen, I say to you: Moses did not give you bread | |
| 718 from heaven. </span>There is another who gives to you, that is, <span style="font-weight: bold">my Father; </span>and he gives, not, just | |
| 719 bodily bread, but <span style="font-weight: bold">the true bread from heaven.</span></p> | |
| 720 <p>908 But was it not true bread that their ancestors had in the desert? I answer that if you | |
| 721 understand “true” as contrasted with “false,” then they had true bread, for the miracle of the | |
| 722 manna was a true miracle. But if “true” is contrasted with “symbolic,” then that bread was not | |
| 723 true, but was a symbol of spiritual bread, that is, of our Lord Jesus Christ, whom that manna | |
| 724 signified, as the Apostle says: “All ate the same spiritual food” (1 Cor 10:3).</p> | |
| 725 <p>909 When the Psalm (77:24) says, “He gave them the bread of heaven,” this seems to conflict | |
| 726 with, <span style="font-weight: bold">Moses did not give you bread from heaven. </span>I answer that the word “heaven” can be | |
| 727 understood in three ways. Sometimes it can mean the air, as in “The birds of heaven ate them” | |
| 728 (Mt 13:4); and also in, “The Lord thundered from heaven” (Ps 14:14). Sometimes “heaven” | |
| 729 means the starry sky; as in, “The highest heaven is the Lord’s” (Ps 113:16), and in, “The stars | |
| 730 will fall from heaven” (Mt 24:19). Thirdly, it can signify goods of a spiritual nature, as in | |
| 731 “Rejoice and be glad, because your reward is great in heaven” (Mt 5:12). So the manna was from | |
| 732 heaven, not the heaven of the stars or of spiritual food, but from the air. Or, the manna was said | |
| 733 to be from heaven insofar as it was a symbol of the true bread from heaven, our Lord Jesus | |
| 734 Christ.</p> | |
| 735 <p>910 When he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">For the true bread is that which descends from heaven, and gives life to | |
| 736 the world, </span>he proves that it is from heaven by its effect. For the true heaven is spiritual in nature, | |
| 737 and has life by its own essence; therefore, of itself, it gives life: “It is the spirit that gives life” | |
| 738 (below 6:64). Now God himself is the author of life. Therefore, we know that this spiritual bread | |
| 739 is from heaven when it produces its proper effect, if it gives life. That bodily bread used by the | |
| 740 Jews did not give life, since all who ate the nianna died. But this [spiritual]<i> </i>bread does give life, | |
| 741 so he says: <span style="font-weight: bold">the true bread, </span>not that symbolic bread, <span style="font-weight: bold">is that which descends from heaven. </span>This | |
| 742 is clear, because it <span style="font-weight: bold">gives life to the world: </span>for Christ, who is the true bread, gives life to whom | |
| 743 he wills: “I came that they may have life” (below 10:10). He also descended from heaven: “No | |
| 744 one has gone up to heaven except the One who came down from heaven” (above 3:13). Thus | |
| 745 Christ, the true bread, gives life to the world by reason of his divinity; and he descends from | |
| 746 heaven by reason of his human nature, for as we said on the prior text, he came down from | |
| 747 heaven by assuming human nature: “He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant” (Phil 2:7).</p> | |
| 748 <p>911 Now he considers the acquisition of this spiritual food. First, we see the Jews asking for it; | |
| 749 secondly, he shows the way it is acquired (v 3 5).</p> | |
| 750 <p>912 We should note with respect to the first, that the Jews understood what Christ said in a | |
| 751 material way; and so, because they desired material things, they were looking for material bread | |
| 752 from Christ. Hence they said to him, <span style="font-weight: bold">Lord, give us this bread always, </span>which physically | |
| 753 nourishes us. The Samaritan woman also understood what our Lord said about spiritual water in | |
| 754 a material way, and wishing to slake her thirst, said, “Give me this water” (above 4:15). And | |
| 755 although these people understood what our Lord said about food in a material way, and asked for | |
| 756 it this way, we are expected to ask for it as understood in a spiritual way: “Give us this day our | |
| 757 daily bread” (Mt 6:11), because we cannot live without this bread.</p> | |
| 758 <p>913 Then, he shows how this bread is acquired. First, he shows what this bread is; secondly, how | |
| 759 to obtain it (v 37). Concerning the first, he does three things. First, he explains what this bread | |
| 760 is, <span style="font-weight: bold">I am the bread of life; </span>secondly, he gives the reason for this, <span style="font-weight: bold">Whoever comes to me shall | |
| 761 not hunger; </span>thirdly, he shows why this had to be explained (v 36).</p> | |
| 762 <p>914 Jesus said to them: <span style="font-weight: bold">I am the bread of life, </span>for as we saw above, the word of wisdom is the | |
| 763 proper food of the mind, because the mind is sustained by it: “He fed him with the bread of life | |
| 764 and understanding” (Sir 15:3). Now the bread of wisdom is called the bread of life to distinguish | |
| 765 it from material bread, which is the bread of death, and which serves only to restore what has | |
| 766 been lost by a mortal organism; hence material bread is necessary only during this mortal life. | |
| 767 But the bread of divine wisdom is life-giving of itself, and no death can affect it. Again, material | |
| 768 bread does not give life, but only sustains for a time a life that already exists. But spiritual bread | |
| 769 actually gives life: for the soul begins to live because it adheres to the word of God: “For with | |
| 770 you is the fountain of life,” as we see in the Psalm (35:10). Therefore, since every word of | |
| 771 wisdom is derived from the Only Begotten Word of God—The fountain of wisdom is the Only | |
| 772 Begotten of God” (Sir 1:5)—this Word of God is especially called the bread of life. Thus Christ | |
| 773 says, <span style="font-weight: bold">I am the bread of life. </span>And because the flesh of Christ is united to the Word of God, it also | |
| 774 is life-giving. Thus, too, his body, sacramentally received, is life-giving: for Christ gives life to | |
| 775 the world through the mysteries which he accomplished in his flesh. Consequently, the flesh of | |
| 776 Christ, because of the Word of the Lord, is not the bread of ordinary life, but of that life which | |
| 777 does not die. And so the flesh of Christ is called bread: “The bread of Asher is rich” (Gn 49:20).</p> | |
| 778 <p>His flesh was also signified by the manna. “Manna” means “What is this?” because when the | |
| 779 Jews saw it they wondered, and asked each other what it was. But nothing is more a source of | |
| 780 wonder than the Son of God made man, so that everyone can fittingly ask, “What is this?” That | |
| 781 is, how can the Son of God be the Son of Man? How can Christ be one person with two natures? | |
| 782 “His name will be called Wonderful” (Is 9:6). It is also a cause for wonder how Christ can be | |
| 783 present in the sacrament.</p> | |
| 784 <p>915 Next (v 35), he gives the reason for this from the effect of this [spiritual] bread. When | |
| 785 material bread is eaten, it does not permanently take away our hunger, since it must be destroyed | |
| 786 in order to build us up; and this is necessary if we are to be nourished. But spiritual bread, which | |
| 787 gives life of itself, is never destroyed; consequently, a person who eats it once never hungers | |
| 788 again. Thus he says: <span style="font-weight: bold">Whoever comes to me shall not hunger; and whoever believes in me | |
| 789 shall never thirst.</span></p> | |
| 790 <p>According to Augustine, it is the same thing to say, <span style="font-weight: bold">whoever comes</span>, as to say, <span style="font-weight: bold">whoever believes</span>: | |
| 791 since it is the same to come to Christ and to believe in him , for we do not come to God with | |
| 792 bodily steps, but with those of the mind, the first of which is faith. To eat and to drink are also | |
| 793 the same: for each signifies that eternal fulness where there is no want: “Blessed are they who | |
| 794 hunger and thirst for what is right, for they will be filled” (Mt 5:6); so that food which sustains | |
| 795 and that drink which refreshes are one and the same.</p> | |
| 796 <p>One reason why temporal things do not take away our thirst permanently is that they are not | |
| 797 consumed altogether, but only bit by bit, and with motion, so that there is always still more to be | |
| 798 consumed. For this reason, just as there is enjoyment and satisfaction from what has been | |
| 799 consumed, so there is a desire for what is still to come. Another reason is that they are destroyed; | |
| 800 hence the recollection of them remains and generates a repeated longing for those things. | |
| 801 Spiritual things, on the other hand, are taken all at once, and they are not destroyed, nor do they | |
| 802 run out; and consequently the fulness they produce remains forever: “They will neither hunger | |
| 803 nor thirst” (Rv 7:16); “Your face will fill me with joy; the delights in your right hand (i.e., in | |
| 804 spiritual goods) will last forever,” as the Psalm (16:11) says.</p> | |
| 805 <p>916 Then (v 36), we see why Christ had to explain these things. For someone could say: We | |
| 806 asked for bread; but you did not answer, “I will give it to you,” or “I will not.” Rather, you say, | |
| 807 I am the bread of life; and so your answer does not seem to be appropriate. But our Lord shows | |
| 808 that it is a good answer, saying, <span style="font-weight: bold">I have told you that you have both seen me and do not | |
| 809 believe. </span>This is the same as a person having bread right in front of him without his knowing it, | |
| 810 and then being told: Look! The bread is right before you. And so Christ says: <span style="font-weight: bold">I have told you (I | |
| 811 am the bread of life) that you have both seen me and do not believe, </span>i.e., you want bread, and | |
| 812 it is right before you; and yet you do not take it because you do not believe. In saying this he is | |
| 813 censuring them for their unbelief: “They have seen and hated both me and my Father” (below | |
| 814 15:24).</p> | |
| 815 <p>917 Then (v 37), he shows how this bread is acquired. First, he mentions the way to acquire it; | |
| 816 secondly, the end attained by those who come to him (v 37b); thirdly, he enlarges on this (v 38).</p> | |
| 817 <p>918 Concerning the first, we should note that the very fact that we believe is a gift of God to us: | |
| 818 “You are saved by grace, through faith; and this is not due to yourself, for it is the gift of God” | |
| 819 (Eph 2:8); “It has been granted to you not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him” (Phil | |
| 820 1:29). Sometimes, God the Father is said to give those who believe to the Son, as here: <span style="font-weight: bold">All that | |
| 821 the Father gives me shall come to me. </span>At other times, the Son is said to give them to the Father, | |
| 822 as in 1 Corinthians (15~24): “He will hand over the kingdom to God and the Father.” We can see | |
| 823 from this that just as the Father does not deprive himself of the kingdom in giving to the Son, | |
| 824 neither does the Son in giving to the Father. The Father gives to the Son insofar as the Father | |
| 825 makes a person adhere to his Word: “Through whom (that is, the Father) you have been called | |
| 826 into the fellowship of his Son” (1 Cor 1:9). The Son, on the other hand, gives to the Father | |
| 827 insofar as the Word makes the Father known: “I have made known your name to those you have | |
| 828 given ine” (below 17:6). Thus Christ says: <span style="font-weight: bold">All that the Father gives me shall come to me, </span>i.e., | |
| 829 those who believe in me, whom the Father makes adhere to me by his gift.</p> | |
| 830 <p>9 19 Perhaps some might say that it is not necessary for one to use God’s gift: for many receive | |
| 831 God’s gift and do not use it. So how can he say: <span style="font-weight: bold">All that the Father gives me shall come to me? | |
| 832 </span>We must say to this that in this giving we have to include not only the habit, which is faith, but | |
| 833 also the interior impulse to believe. So, everything which contributes to salvation is a gift of God.</p> | |
| 834 <p>920 There is another question. If everything which the Father gives to Christ comes to him, as | |
| 835 he says, then only those come to God whom the Father gives him. Thus, those who do not come | |
| 836 are not responsible, since they are not given to him. I answer that they are not responsible if they | |
| 837 cannot come to the faith without the help of God. But those who do not come are responsible, | |
| 838 because they create an obstacle to their own coming by turning away from salvation, the way to | |
| 839 which is of itself open to all.</p> | |
| 840 <p>921 Then (v 37b), the end attained by those who come is mentioned. For some might say, “We | |
| 841 will come to you, but you will not receive us.” To exclude this he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">the one who comes to | |
| 842 me, </span>by steps of faith and by good works, <span style="font-weight: bold">I will not cast out. </span>By this he lets us understand that | |
| 843 he is already within, for one must be within before one can be sent out. Let us consider, therefore, | |
| 844 what is interior, and how one is cast out from it.</p> | |
| 845 <p>We should point out that since all visible things are said to be exterior with respect to spiritual | |
| 846 things, then the more spiritual something is the more interior it is. What is interior is twofold. | |
| 847 The first is the most profound, and is the joy of eternal life. According to Augustine, this is a | |
| 848 sweet and most interior retreat, without any weariness, without the bitterness of evil thoughts, | |
| 849 and uninterrupted by temptations and sorrows. We read of this: “Share the joy of your Lord” (Mt | |
| 850 25:21); and, “You will hide them in the secret of your face,” that is, in the full vision of your | |
| 851 essence (Ps 30:2 1). From this interior no one is cast out: “He who conquers, I will make him a | |
| 852 pillar in the temple of the living God; and he will no longer leave it” (Rv 3:12), because “the just | |
| 853 will go to everlasting life,” as we see from Matthew (25:46). The other interior is that of an | |
| 854 upright conscience; and this is a spiritual joy. We read of this: “When I enter into my house I will | |
| 855 enjoy repose” (Wis 8:16); and “The king has brought me into his storerooms” (Sg 1:3). It is from | |
| 856 this interior, that some are cast out.</p> | |
| 857 <p>So, when our Lord says, <span style="font-weight: bold">the one who comes to me I will not cast out, </span>we can understand this | |
| 858 in two ways. In one way, those who come to him are those who have been given to him by the | |
| 859 Father through eternal predestination. Of these he says: <span style="font-weight: bold">the one who comes to me, </span>predestined | |
| 860 by the Father, <span style="font-weight: bold">I will not cast out: </span>“God has not rejected his people, the people he chose” (Rom | |
| 861 11:2). In a second way, those who do go out are not cast out by Christ, rather, they cast | |
| 862 themselves out, because through their unbelief and sins they abandon the sanctuary of an upright | |
| 863 conscience. Thus we read: <span style="font-weight: bold">I will not cast out </span>such; but they do cast themselves out: “You are | |
| 864 the burden, and I will cast you aside, says the Lord” (Jer 23:33). It was in this way that the man | |
| 865 who came to the wedding feast without wedding clothes was cast out (Mt 22:13).</p> | |
| 866 <p>922 Next (v 3 8), he gives the reason for what he just said. First, he mentions his intention to | |
| 867 accomplish the will of the Father; secondly, he states what the will of the Father is (v 39); and | |
| 868 thirdly, he shows the final accomplishment of this will (v 40b).</p> | |
| 869 <p>923 Concerning the first, we should note that this passage can be read in two ways: either as | |
| 870 Augustine does, or following the interpretation of Chrysostom. Augustine understands it this | |
| 871 way: <span style="font-weight: bold">the one who comes to me I will not cast out; </span>and this is because the one who comes to | |
| 872 me imitates my humility. In Matthew (11:29), after our Lord said, “Come to me, all you who | |
| 873 labor,” he added, “Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart.” Now the true gentleness | |
| 874 of the Son of God consists in the fact that he submitted his will to the will of the Father. Thus he | |
| 875 says, <span style="font-weight: bold">the one who comes to me I will not cast out, because I have come down from heaven, | |
| 876 not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. </span>Since a soul abandons God because | |
| 877 of its pride, it must return in humility, coming to Christ by imitating his humility; and this | |
| 878 humility of Christ was in not doing his own will, but the will of God the Father.</p> | |
| 879 <p>Here we should note that there were two wills in Christ. One pertains to his human nature, and | |
| 880 this will is proper to him, both by nature and by the will of the Father. His other will pertains to | |
| 881 his divine nature, and this will is the same as the will of the Father. Christ subordinated his own | |
| 882 will, that is, his human will, to the divine will, because, wishing to accomplish the will of the | |
| 883 Father, he was obedient to the Father’s will: “My God, I desired to do your will” (Ps 39:9). We | |
| 884 ask that this will be accomplished in our regard when we say, “Your will be done” (Mt 6:10). | |
| 885 Thus, those who do the will of God, not their own will, are not cast out. The devil, who wanted | |
| 886 to do his own will out of pride, was cast from heaven; and so too the first man was expelled from | |
| 887 paradise.</p> | |
| 888 <p>Chrysostom explains the passage this way. The reason I do not cast out one who comes to me is | |
| 889 because I have come to accomplish the will of the Father concerning the salvation of men. So, | |
| 890 if I have become incarnate for the salvation of men, how can I cast them out? And this is what | |
| 891 he says: I will not cast out one who comes, <span style="font-weight: bold">because I have come down from heaven, not to do | |
| 892 my own will, my </span>human will, so as to obtain my own benefit, <span style="font-weight: bold">but the will of him who sent me</span>, | |
| 893 that is, the Father, “He desires the salvation of all men” (1 Tim 2:4). And therefore, so far as I | |
| 894 am concerned, I do not cast out any person: “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled | |
| 895 to God by the death of his Son, now much more, having been reconciled, we will be saved by his | |
| 896 life” (Rom 5:10).</p> | |
| 897 <p>924 Then (v 39), he shows what the Father wills; and next, why he wills it (v 40).</p> | |
| 898 <p>925 He says: I will not cast out those who come to me, because I have taken flesh in order to do | |
| 899 the will of the Father: <span style="font-weight: bold">Now it is the will of him who sent me, the Father, </span>that those who come | |
| 900 to me <span style="font-weight: bold">I will not cast out; </span>and so I will not cast them out. “This is the will of God, your | |
| 901 sanctification” (1 Thes 4:3). Therefore he says that it is the will of the Father <span style="font-weight: bold">that of all that he, | |
| 902 </span>the Father, <span style="font-weight: bold">has given me I should lose nothing, </span>i.e., that I should lose nothing until the time of | |
| 903 the resurrection. At this time some will be lost, the wicked; but none of those given to Christ | |
| 904 through eternal predestination will be among them: “The way of the wicked will perish” (Ps 1:7). | |
| 905 Those, on the other hand, who are preserved until then, will not be lost.</p> | |
| 906 <p>Now when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">lose</span>, we should not understand this as implying that he needs such people | |
| 907 or that he is damaged if they perish. Rather, he says this because he desires their salvation and | |
| 908 what is good for them, which he regards as his own good.</p> | |
| 909 <p>926 What John later reports Christ as saying seems to conflict with this: “None of them,” that | |
| 910 is, of those you have given me, “have been lost except the son of perdition” (below 17:12). Thus, | |
| 911 some of those given to Christ through eternal predestination are lost. Accordingly, what he says | |
| 912 here, <span style="font-weight: bold">that of all that he has given me I should lose nothing, </span>is not true. We must say to this that | |
| 913 some are lost from among those given to Christ through a present justification; but none are lost | |
| 914 from among those given to him through eternal predestination.</p> | |
| 915 <p>927 Now he gives the reason for the divine will (v 40). The reason why the Father wills that I | |
| 916 lose nothing of all that he has given me is that the Father wills to bring men to life spiritually, | |
| 917 because he is the fountain of life. And since the Father is eternal, he wills, absolutely speaking, | |
| 918 that every one who comes to me should have eternal life. And this is what he says: <span style="font-weight: bold">For this is | |
| 919 the will of my Father, who sent me, that every one who sees the Son and believes in him, | |
| 920 should have eternal life. </span>Note that he said above: “Whoever hears my voice and believes in him | |
| 921 who sent me, possesses eternal life” (above 5:24), while here he says: <span style="font-weight: bold">every one who sees the | |
| 922 Son and believes in him. </span>We can understand from this that the Father and the Son have the same | |
| 923 divine nature; and it is the vision of this, through its essence, that is our ultimate end and the | |
| 924 object of our faith. When he says here, <span style="font-weight: bold">sees the Son, </span>he is referring to the physical sight of Christ | |
| 925 which leads to faith, and not to this vision through essence which faith precedes. Thus he | |
| 926 expressly says, <span style="font-weight: bold">every one who sees the Son and believes in him: </span>“Whoever believes in him ... | |
| 927 will not encounter judgment, but has passed from death to life” (above 5:24); “These things are | |
| 928 written that you may believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that believing you may have | |
| 929 life in his name” (below 20:3 1).</p> | |
| 930 <p>928 This will of the Father will also be accomplished. So he adds: <span style="font-weight: bold">And I will raise him up on | |
| 931 the last day, </span>for he wills that we have eternal life not just in our soul alone, but also in our body, | |
| 932 as Christ did at his resurrection: “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: | |
| 933 some to an everlasting life, and others to everlasting shame” (Dn 12:2); “Christ, having risen | |
| 934 from the dead, will not die again” (Rom 6:9).</p> | |
| 935 <p style="margin-bottom: 0.125in; margin-bottom: 0.125in"> </p> | |
| 936 <p style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.125in"><span style="font-weight: bold">LECTURE5</span></p> | |
| 937 <BLOCKQUOTE><p>41 The Jews therefore grumbled about him because he had said, “I amthe living bread that has | |
| 938 come down from heaven.” 42 And they said: “Is he not the son of Joseph? Do we not know his | |
| 939 father and mother? How then can he say that he has come down from heaven?” 43 Jesus | |
| 940 responded and said to them: | |
| 941 <DD>“Stop grumbling among yourselves. | |
| 942 <DD>44 No one can come to me | |
| 943 <DD>unless the Father, who sent me, draws him. | |
| 944 <DD>And I will raise him up on the last day. | |
| 945 <DD>45 It is written in the prophets; | |
| 946 <DD>‘They shall all be taught by God.’ | |
| 947 <DD>Every one who has heard the Father and has learned, | |
| 948 <DD>comes to me. | |
| 949 <DD>46 Not that any one has seen the Father, | |
| 950 <DD>except the one who is from God— | |
| 951 <DD>he has seen the Father.”</p></BLOCKQUOTE> | |
| 952 <p>929 Those opinions that conflict with the above teaching of Christ are now rejected. First, those | |
| 953 of’ the people, who were discontented; secondly, those of the disciples, who were in a state of | |
| 954 doubt (v 61). He does two things about the first. First, we see the people grumble about the origin | |
| 955 of this spiritual food; secondly, we see Christ check the dispute which arose over the eating of | |
| 956 this spiritual food (v 53). As to the first he does two things. First, he mentions the grumbling of | |
| 957 the people; secondly, how it was checked (v 43). As to the first he does two things. First, he | |
| 958 shows the occasion for this complaining; secondly, what those complaining said (v 42).</p> | |
| 959 <p>930 He continues that some of the people were grumbling over what Christ had said, that is, | |
| 960 because Christ had said, <span style="font-weight: bold">I am the living bread that has come down from heaven, </span>a spiritual | |
| 961 bread they did not understand or desire. And so they grumbled because their minds were not | |
| 962 fixed on spiritual things. They were following in this case the custom of their ancestors: “They | |
| 963 grumbled in their tents” (Ps 105:25); “Do not grumble, as some of them did” (1 Cor 10:10). As | |
| 964 Chrysostom says, they had not complained till now because they still hoped to obtain material | |
| 965 food; but as soon as they lost that hope, they began to grumble, although they pretended that it | |
| 966 was for a different reason. Yet they did not contradict him openly due to the respect they had for | |
| 967 him arising from his previous miracle.</p> | |
| 968 <p>931 He says those who complained said: <span style="font-weight: bold">Is he not the son of Joseph? </span>For since they were | |
| 969 earthly minded, they only considered Christ’s physical generation, which hindered them from | |
| 970 recognizing his spiritual and eternal generation. And so we see them speaking only of earthly | |
| 971 things, “He who is of earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things” (above 3:3 1), and not | |
| 972 understanding what is spiritual. Thus they said: <span style="font-weight: bold">How then can he say that he has come down | |
| 973 from heaven? </span>They called him the son of Joseph as this was the general opinion, for Joseph was | |
| 974 his foster father: “the son of Joseph (as was supposed)” (Lk 3:23).</p> | |
| 975 <p>932 Next (v 43), the grumbling of the people is checked. First, Christ stops this complaining; | |
| 976 secondly, he clears up their difficulty (v 47). As to the first he does two things. First, he checks | |
| 977 their complaining, secondly, he tells why they were doing it (v 44).</p> | |
| 978 <p>933 Jesus noticed that they were grumbling and checked them, saying, <span style="font-weight: bold">Stop grumbling among | |
| 979 yourselves. </span>This was good advice, for those who complain show that their minds are not firmly | |
| 980 fixed on God; and so we read in Wisdom (1:11): “Keep yourselves from grumbling, for it does | |
| 981 no good.”</p> | |
| 982 <p>934 The reason for their grumbling was their unbelief, and he shows this when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">No one | |
| 983 can come to me </span>.... First, he shows that if one is to come to Christ, he has to be drawn by the | |
| 984 Father. Secondly, he shows the way one is drawn (v 45). As to the first he does three things. First, | |
| 985 he mentions that coming to Christ surpasses human ability; secondly, the divine help we receive | |
| 986 for this; and thirdly, the end or fruit of this help.</p> | |
| 987 <p>That we should come to Christ through faith surpasses our human ability; thus he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">No one | |
| 988 can come to me. </span>Secondly, divine help is effective in helping us to this; thus he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">unless the | |
| 989 Father, who sent me, draws him. </span>The end or fruit of this help is the very best, so he adds, <span style="font-weight: bold">And | |
| 990 I will raise him up on the last day.</span></p> | |
| 991 <p>935 He says first: It is not unexpected that you are grumbling, because my Father had not yet | |
| 992 drawn you to me, for <span style="font-weight: bold">No one can come to me, </span>by believing in me, <span style="font-weight: bold">unless the Father, who sent | |
| 993 me, draws him.</span></p> | |
| 994 <p>There are three questions here. The first is about his saying: <span style="font-weight: bold">unless the Father draws him. </span>For | |
| 995 since we come to Christ by believing, then, as we said above, to come to Christ is to believe in | |
| 996 him. But no one can believe unless he wills to. Therefore, since to be drawn implies some kind | |
| 997 of compulsion, one who comes to Christ by being drawn is compelled.</p> | |
| 998 <p>I answer that what we read here about the Father drawing us does not imply coercion, because | |
| 999 there are some ways of being drawn that do not involve compulsion. Consequently, the Father | |
| 1000 draws men to the Son in many ways, using the different ways in which we can be drawn without | |
| 1001 compulsion. One person may draw another by persuading him with a reason. The Father draws | |
| 1002 us to his Son in this way by showing us that he is his Son. He does this in two ways. First, by an | |
| 1003 interior revelation, as in: “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood has not revealed | |
| 1004 this to you (that is, that Christ is the Son of the living God), but it was done so by my Father” (Mt | |
| 1005 16:17). Secondly, it can be done through miracles, which the Son has the power to do from the | |
| 1006 Father: “The very works which my Father has given me to perform ... they bear witness to me” | |
| 1007 (above 5:36).</p> | |
| 1008 <p>Again, one person draws another by attracting or captivating him: “She captivated him with her | |
| 1009 flattery” (Prv 7:21). This is the way the Father draws those who are devoted to Jesus on account | |
| 1010 of the authority of the paternal greatness. For the Father, i.e., the paternal greatness, draws those | |
| 1011 who believe in Christ because they believe that he is the Son of God. Arius—who did not believe | |
| 1012 that Christ was the true Son of God, nor begotten of the substance of the Father—was not drawn | |
| 1013 in this way. Neither was Photinus—who dogniatized that Christ was a mere man. So, this is the | |
| 1014 way those who are captivated by his greatness are drawn by the Father. But they are also drawn | |
| 1015 by the Son, through a wonderful joy and love of the truth, which is the very Son of God himself. | |
| 1016 For if, as Augustine says, each of us is drawn by his own pleasure, how much more strongly | |
| 1017 ought we to be drawn to Christ if we find our pleasure in truth, happiness, justice, eternal life: | |
| 1018 all of which Christ is! Therefore, if we would be drawn by him, let us be drawn through love for | |
| 1019 the truth, according to: “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” | |
| 1020 (Ps 36:4). And so in the Song of Solomon, the bride says: “Draw me after you, and we will run | |
| 1021 to the fragrance of your perfume” (1:4).</p> | |
| 1022 <p>An external revelation or an object are not the only things that draw us. There is also an interior | |
| 1023 impulse that incites and moves us to believe. And so the Father draws many to the Son by the | |
| 1024 impulse of a divine action, moving a person’s heart from within to believe: “It is God who is | |
| 1025 working in us, both to will and to accomplish” (Phil 2:13); “1 will draw them with the cords of | |
| 1026 Adam, with bands of love” (Hos 11:4); “The heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord; he turns | |
| 1027 it wherever he wills” (Prv 2 1:1).</p> | |
| 1028 <p>936 The second problem is this. We read that it is the Son who draws us to the Father: “No one | |
| 1029 knows the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son wishes to reveal him” (Mt 11:26); “1 have | |
| 1030 made your name known to those you have given me” (below 17:6). So how can it say here that | |
| 1031 it is the Father who draws us to the Son? This can be answered in two ways: for we can speak | |
| 1032 of Christ either as a man, or as God. As man, Christ is the way: “I am the way” (below 14:6); and | |
| 1033 as the Christ, he leads us to the Father, as a way or road leads to its end. The Father draws us to | |
| 1034 Christ as man insofar as he gives us his own power so that we may believe in Christ: “You are | |
| 1035 saved by grace, through faith; and this is not due to yourself, for it is the gift of God”’ (Eph 2:8). | |
| 1036 Insofar as he is Christ, he is the Word of God and manifests the Father. It is in this way that the | |
| 1037 Son draws us to the Father. But the Father draws us to the Son insofar as he manifests the Son.</p> | |
| 1038 <p>937 The third problem concerns his saying that no one can come to Christ unless the Father | |
| 1039 draws him. For according to this, if one does not come to Christ, it is not because of himself, but | |
| 1040 is due to the one who does not draw him. I answer and say that, in truth, no one can come unless | |
| 1041 drawn by the Father. For just as a heavy object by its nature cannot rise up, but has to be lifted | |
| 1042 by someone else, so the human heart, which tends of itself to lower things, cannot rise to what | |
| 1043 is above unless it is drawn or lifted. And if it does not rise up, this is not due to the failure of the | |
| 1044 one lifting it, who, so far as lies in him, fails no one; rather, it is due to an obstacle in the one who | |
| 1045 is not drawn or lifted up.</p> | |
| 1046 <p>In this matter we can distinguish between those in the state of integral nature, and those in the | |
| 1047 state of fallen nature. In the state of integral nature, there was no obstacle to being drawn up, and | |
| 1048 thus all could share in it. But in the state of fallen nature, all are equally held back from this | |
| 1049 drawing by the obstacle of sin; and so, all need to be drawn. God, in so far as it depends on him, | |
| 1050 extends his hand to every one, to draw every one; and what is more, he not only draws those who | |
| 1051 receive him by the hand, but even converts those who are turned away from him, according to: | |
| 1052 “Convert us, O Lord, to yourself, and we will be converted” (Lam 5:21); and “You will turn, O | |
| 1053 God, and bring us to life,” as one version of the Psalm (84:7) puts it. Therefore, since God is | |
| 1054 ready to give grace to all, and draw them to himself, it is not due to him if someone does not | |
| 1055 accept; rather, it is due to the person who does not accept.</p> | |
| 1056 <p>938 A general reason can be given why God does not draw all who are turned away from him, | |
| 1057 but certain ones, even though all are equally turned away. The reason is so that the order of divine | |
| 1058 justice may appear and shine forth in those who are not drawn, while the immensity of the divine | |
| 1059 mercy may appear and shine in those who are drawn. But as to why in particular he draws this | |
| 1060 person and does not draw that person, there is no reason except the pleasure of the divine will. | |
| 1061 So Augustine says: “Whom he draws and whom he does not draw, why he draws one and does | |
| 1062 not draw another, do not desire to judge if you do not wish to err. But accept and understand: If | |
| 1063 you are not yet drawn, then pray that you may be drawn.” We can illustrate this by an example. | |
| 1064 One can give as the reason why a builder puts some stones at the bottom, and others at the top | |
| 1065 and sides, that it is the arrangement of the house, whose completion requires this. But why he | |
| 1066 puts these particular stones here, and those over there, this depends on his mere will. Thus it is | |
| 1067 that the prime reason for the arrangement is referred to the will of the builder. So God, for the | |
| 1068 completion of the universe, draws certain ones in order that his mercy may appear in them; and | |
| 1069 others he does not draw in order that his justice may be shown in them. But that he draws these | |
| 1070 and does not draw those, depends on the pleasure of his will. In the same way, the reason why | |
| 1071 in his Church he made some apostles, some confessors, and others martyrs, is for the beauty and | |
| 1072 completion of the Church. But why he made Peter an apostle, and Stepehen a martyr, and | |
| 1073 Nicholas a confessor, the only reason is his will. We are now clear on the limitations of our | |
| 1074 human ability, and the assistance given to us by divine help.</p> | |
| 1075 <p>939 He follows with the end and fruit of this help when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">And I will raise him </span>tip <span style="font-weight: bold">on the | |
| 1076 last day, </span>even as man; for we obtain the fruit of the resurrection through those things which | |
| 1077 Christ did in his flesh: “For as death came through a man, so the resurrection of the dead has | |
| 1078 come through a man” (1 Cor 15:21). So <span style="font-weight: bold">I</span>, as man, <span style="font-weight: bold">will raise him up, </span>not only to a natural life, | |
| 1079 but even too the life of glory; and this on the last day. For the Catholic Faith teaches that the | |
| 1080 world will be made new: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth” (Rv 2 1:1), and that among | |
| 1081 the changes accompanying this renewal we believe that the motion of the heavens will stop, and | |
| 1082 consequently, time. “And the angel I saw standing on the sea and on the land, raised his hand to | |
| 1083 heaven” (Rv 10:5), and then it says that he swore that “time will be no more” (v 6). Since at the | |
| 1084 resurrection time will stop, so also will night and day, according to “There will be one day, | |
| 1085 known to the Lord, not day and night” (Zec 14:7). This is the reason he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">And I will raise | |
| 1086 him up on the last day.</span></p> | |
| 1087 <p>940 As to the question why the motion of the heavens and time itself will continue until then, and | |
| 1088 not end before or after, we should note that whatever exists for something else is differently | |
| 1089 disposed according to the different states of that for which it exists. But all physical things have | |
| 1090 been made for man; consequently, they should be disposed according to the different states of | |
| 1091 man. So, because the state of incorruptibility will begin in men when they arise—according to | |
| 1092 “What is mortal will put on incorruption,” as it says in 1 Corinthians (15:54)—the corruption of | |
| 1093 things will also stop then. Consequently, the motion of the heavens, which is the cause of the | |
| 1094 generation and corruption of material things, will stop. “Creation itself will be set free from its | |
| 1095 slavery to corruption into the freedom of the children of God” (Rom 8:21).</p> | |
| 1096 <p>So, it is clear that the Father must draw us if we are to have faith.</p> | |
| 1097 <p>941 Then (v 45), he considers the way we are drawn. First, he states the way; secondly, its | |
| 1098 effectiveness (v 45b); and thirdly, he excludes a certain way of being drawn (v 46).</p> | |
| 1099 <p>942 The manner in which we are drawn is appropriate, for God draws us by revealing and | |
| 1100 teaching; and this is what he says: <span style="font-weight: bold">It is written in the prophets: They shall all be taught by | |
| 1101 God. </span>Bede says that this comes from Joel. But it does not seem to be there explicitly, although | |
| 1102 there is something like it in: “O children oi Zion, rejoice and be joyful in the Lord your God, | |
| 1103 because he will give you a teacher of justice” (JI 2:23). Again, according to Bede, he says, in the | |
| 1104 prophets, so that we might understand that the same meaning can be gathered from various | |
| 1105 statements of the prophets. But it is Isaiah who seems to state this more explicitly: “All your | |
| 1106 children will be taught by the Lord” (is 54:13). We also read: “I will give you shepherds after my | |
| 1107 own heart, and they will feed you with knowledge and doctrine” (Jer 3:15).</p> | |
| 1108 <p>943 <span style="font-weight: bold">They shall all be taught by God, </span>can be understood in three ways. In one way, so that all | |
| 1109 stands for all the people in the world; in another way, so that it stands for all who are in the | |
| 1110 Church of Christ, and in a third way, so it means all who will be in the kingdom of heaven.</p> | |
| 1111 <p>If we understand it in the first way, it does not seem to be true, for he immediately adds, <span style="font-weight: bold">Every | |
| 1112 one who has heard the Father and has learned, comes to me. </span>Therefore, if every one in the | |
| 1113 world is taught [by God], then every one will come to Christ. But this is false, for not every one | |
| 1114 has faith. There are three answers to this. First, one could say, as Chrysostorn does, that he is | |
| 1115 speaking of the majority: all, i.e., very many shall be taught, just as we find in Matthew: “Many | |
| 1116 will come from the East and the West” (Mt 8:11). Secondly, it could mean, all, so far as God is | |
| 1117 concerned, shall be taught, but if some are not taught, that is due to themselves. For the sun, on | |
| 1118 its part, shines on all, but some are unable to see it if they close their eyes, or are blind. From this | |
| 1119 point of view, the Apostle says: “He desires the salvation of all men, and that all come to the | |
| 1120 knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:4). Thirdly, we could say, with Augustine, that we must make | |
| 1121 a restricted application, so that <span style="font-weight: bold">They shall all be taught by God, </span>means that all who are taught, | |
| 1122 are taught by God. It is just as we might speak of a teacher of the liberal arts who is working in | |
| 1123 a city: he alone teaches all the boys of the city, because no one there is taught by anyone else. It | |
| 1124 is in this sense that it was said above: “He was the true light, which enlightens every man coming | |
| 1125 into this world” ( 1:9).</p> | |
| 1126 <p>944 If we explain these words as referring to those who are gathered into the Church, it says: | |
| 1127 They shall all, all who are in the Church, be taught by God. For we read: “All your children will | |
| 1128 be taught by the Lord” (Is 54:13). This shows the sublimity of the Christian faith, which does not | |
| 1129 depend on human teachings, but on the teaching of God. For the teaching of the Old Testament | |
| 1130 was given through the prophets; but the teaching of the New Testament is given through the Son | |
| 1131 of God himself. “In many and various ways (i.e., in the Old Testament) God spoke to our fathers | |
| 1132 through the prophets; in these days he has spoken to us in his Son” (Heb 1:1); and again in (2:3): | |
| 1133 “It was first announced by the Lord, and was confirined to us by those who heard him.” Thus, | |
| 1134 all who are in the Church are taught, not by the apostles nor by the prophets, but by God himself. | |
| 1135 Further, according to Augustine, what we are taught by men is from God, who teaches from | |
| 1136 within: “You have one teacher, the Christ” (Mt 23:10). For understanding, which we especially | |
| 1137 need for such teaching, is from God.</p> | |
| 1138 <p>945 If we explain these words as applying to those who are in the kingdom of heaven, then <span style="font-weight: bold">They | |
| 1139 shall all be taught by God, </span>because they will see his essence without any intermediary: “We | |
| 1140 shall see him as he is” (1 Jn 3:2).</p> | |
| 1141 <p>946 This drawing by the Father is most effective, because, <span style="font-weight: bold">Every one who has heard the Father | |
| 1142 and has learned, comes to me. </span>Here he mentions two things: first, what relates to a gift of God, | |
| 1143 when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">has heard, </span>that is, through God, who reveals; the other relates to a free judgment, | |
| 1144 when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">and has learned, </span>that is, by an assent. These two are necessary for every teaching | |
| 1145 of faith. <span style="font-weight: bold">Every one who has heard the Father, </span>teaching and making known, <span style="font-weight: bold">and has learned, | |
| 1146 </span>by giving assent, comes to me.</p> | |
| 1147 <p>He comes in three ways: through a knowledge of the truth; through the affection of love; and | |
| 1148 through imitative action. And in each way it is necessary that one hear and learn. The one who | |
| 1149 comes through a knowledge of the truth must hear, when God speaks within: “I will hear what | |
| 1150 the Lord God will speak within me” (Ps 84:9); and he must learn, through affection, as was said. | |
| 1151 The one who comes through love and desire—“If any one thirsts, let him come to me and drink” | |
| 1152 (below 7:37)—must hear the word of the Father and grasp it, in order to learn and be moved in | |
| 1153 his affections. For that person learns the word who grasps it according to the meaning of the | |
| 1154 speaker. But the Word of the Father breathes forth love. Therefore, the one who grasps it with | |
| 1155 eager love, learns. “Wisdom goes into holy souls, and makes them prophets and friends of God” | |
| 1156 (Wis 7:27). One comes to Christ through imitative action, according to: “Come to me, all you | |
| 1157 who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you” (Mt 11:28). And whoever learns even in this | |
| 1158 way comes to Christ: for as the conclusion is to things knowable, so is action to things | |
| 1159 performable. Now whoever learns perfectly in the sciences arrives at the conclusion; therefore, | |
| 1160 as regards things that are performable, whoever learns the words perfectly arrives at the right | |
| 1161 action: “The Lord has opened my ear; and I do not resist” (Is 50:5).</p> | |
| 1162 <p>947 To correct the thought that some might have that every one will hear and learn from the | |
| 1163 Father through a vision, he adds: <span style="font-weight: bold">Not that any one has seen the Father, </span>that is, a person living | |
| 1164 in this life does not see the Father in his essence, according to: “Man will not see me and live” | |
| 1165 (Ex 33:20), <span style="font-weight: bold">except the one, </span>that is the Son, <span style="font-weight: bold">who is from God—he has seen the Father, </span>through | |
| 1166 his essence. Or, <span style="font-weight: bold">Not that any one has seen the Father, </span>with a comprehensive vision: neither | |
| 1167 man nor angel has ever seen or can see in this way; <span style="font-weight: bold">except the one who is from God, </span>i.e., the | |
| 1168 Son: “No one knows the Father except the Son” (Mt 11:27).</p> | |
| 1169 <p>The reason for this, of course, is that all vision or knowledge comes about through a likeness: | |
| 1170 creatures have a knowledge of God according to the way they have a likeness to him. Thus the | |
| 1171 philosophers say that the intelligences know the First Cause according to this likeness which they | |
| 1172 have to it. Now every creature possesses some likeness to God, but it is infinitely distant from | |
| 1173 a likeness to his nature, and so no creature can know him perfectly and totally, as he is in his own | |
| 1174 nature. The Son, however, because he has received the entire nature of the Father perfectly, | |
| 1175 through an eternal generation, sees and comprehends totally.</p> | |
| 1176 <p>948 Note how the words used are appropriate: for above, when he was speaking of the | |
| 1177 knowledge others have, he used the word “heard”; but now, in speaking of the Son’s knowledge, | |
| 1178 he uses the word “seen,” for knowledge which comes through seeing is direct and open, while | |
| 1179 that which comes through hearing comes through one who has seen. And so we have received | |
| 1180 the knowledge we have about the Father from the Son, who saw him. Thus, no one can know the | |
| 1181 Father except through Christ, who makes him known; and no one can come to the Son unless he | |
| 1182 has heard from the Father, who makes the Son known.</p> | |
| 1183 <p style="margin-bottom: 0.125in; margin-bottom: 0.125in"> </p> | |
| 1184 <p style="text-align: center"><span style="font-weight: bold">LECTURE 6</span></p> | |
| 1185 <BLOCKQUOTE><DD>47 “Amen, amen, I say to you: | |
| 1186 <DD>Whoever believes in me has eternal life. | |
| 1187 <DD>48 1 am the bread of life. | |
| 1188 <DD>49 Your fathers ate manna in the desert, | |
| 1189 <DD>and they are dead. | |
| 1190 <DD>50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, | |
| 1191 <DD>so that if anyone eats of this [bread] | |
| 1192 <DD>he will not die. | |
| 1193 <DD>51 I am the living bread | |
| 1194 <DD>that has come down from heaven. | |
| 1195 <DD>52 If anyone eats of this bread, | |
| 1196 <DD>he will live forever. | |
| 1197 <DD>And the bread which I will give is my flesh, | |
| 1198 <DD>for the life of the world.”</p></BLOCKQUOTE> | |
| 1199 <p>949 After our Lord quieted the grumbling of the Jews, he now clears up the doubt they had | |
| 1200 because of his saying, “I am the bread that has come down from heaven.” he intends to show here | |
| 1201 that this is true. This is the way he reasons: The bread which gives life to the world descended | |
| 1202 from heaven; but I am the bread that gives life to the world: therefore, I am the bread which | |
| 1203 descended from heaven. He does three things concerning this. First, he presents the minor | |
| 1204 premise of his reasoning, that is, <span style="font-weight: bold">I am the bread of life. </span>In the second place, he gives the major | |
| 1205 premise, that is, that the bread that descended from heaven ought to give life (v 49). Thirdly, we | |
| 1206 have the conclusion (v 5 1). As to the first he does two things. First, he states his point; secondly, | |
| 1207 he expresses it as practically proved (v 48).</p> | |
| 1208 <p>950 His intention is to show that he is the bread of life. Bread is life-giving insofar as it is taken. | |
| 1209 Now one who believes in Christ takes him within himself, according to: “Christ dwells,in our | |
| 1210 hearts through faith” (Eph 3:17). Therefore, if he who believes in Christ has life, it is clear that | |
| 1211 he is brought to life by eating this bread. Thus, this bread is the bread of life. And this is what he | |
| 1212 says: Amen, amen, I say to you: <span style="font-weight: bold">Whoever believes in me, </span>with a faith made living by love, | |
| 1213 which not only perfects the intellect but the affections as well (for we do not tend to the things | |
| 1214 we believe in unless we love them), <span style="font-weight: bold">has eternal life.</span></p> | |
| 1215 <p>Now Christ is within us in two ways: in our intellect through faith, so far as it is faith; and in our | |
| 1216 affections through love, which informs or gives life to our faith: “He who abides in love, abides | |
| 1217 in God, and God in him” (1 Jn 4:16). So he who believes in Christ so that he tends to him, | |
| 1218 possesses Christ in his affections and in his intellect. And if we add that Christ is eternal life, as | |
| 1219 stated in “that we may be in his true Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life” (1 | |
| 1220 Jn 5:20), and in “In him was life” (above 1:4), we can infer that whoever believes in Christ has | |
| 1221 eternal life. He has it, I say, in its Ciause and in hope, and he will have it at some time in reality.</p> | |
| 1222 <p>951 Having stated his position, he expresses it as, <span style="font-weight: bold">I am the bread of life, </span>which gives life, as | |
| 1223 clearly follows from the above. We read of this bread: “The bread of Asher will be rich, he will | |
| 1224 furnish choice morsels,” of eternal life, “to kings” (Gn 49:20).</p> | |
| 1225 <p>952 Then when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">Your fathers ate manna in the desert, and they are dead, </span>he gives | |
| 1226 the major premise, namely, the bread that descended from heaven ought to have the effect of | |
| 1227 giving life. First, he explains this; secondly, he draws his point (v 50).</p> | |
| 1228 <p>953 He explains his meaning through a contrasting situation. It was said above (909) that Moses | |
| 1229 gave the Jews bread from heaven, in the sense of from the air. But bread that does not come from | |
| 1230 the true heaven cannot give adequate life. Therefore, it is proper to the heavenly bread to give | |
| 1231 life. So, the bread given by Moses, in which you take pride, does not give life. And he proves this | |
| 1232 when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">Your fathers ate manna in the desert, and they are dead.</span></p> | |
| 1233 <p>In this statement he first reproaches them for their faults, when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">Your fathers, </span>whose | |
| 1234 sons you are, not only according to the flesh, but also by imitating their actions, because you are | |
| 1235 grumblers just as “they grumbled in their tents” (Ps 105:25); this was why he said to them: “Fill | |
| 1236 up, then, the measure of your fathers,” as we read in Matthew (23:32). As Augustine says, this | |
| 1237 people is said to have offended God in no matter more than by grumbling against God.</p> | |
| 1238 <p>Secondly, he mentions for how short a time this was done, saying, <span style="font-weight: bold">in the desert: </span>for they were | |
| 1239 not given manna for a long period of time; and they had it only while in the desert, and not when | |
| 1240 they entered the promised land (Jos 5). But the other bread [from the true heaven] preserves and | |
| 1241 nourishes one forever. Thirdly, he states an inadequacy in that bread, that is, it did not preserve | |
| 1242 life without end; so he says, and they are dead. For we read in Joshua (c 5) that all who grumbled, | |
| 1243 except Joshua and Caleb, died in the desert. This was the reason for the second circumcision, as | |
| 1244 we see here, because all who had left Egypt died in the desert.</p> | |
| 1245 <p>954 One might wonder what kind of death God is speaking of here. If he is speaking of physical | |
| 1246 death, there will be no difference between the bread the Jews had in the desert and our bread, | |
| 1247 which came down from heaven, because even Christians who share the latter bread die | |
| 1248 physically. But if he is speaking of spiritual death, it is clear that both then among the Jews and | |
| 1249 now among the Christians, some die spiritually and others do not. For Moses and many others | |
| 1250 who were pleasing to God did not die, while others did. Also, those who eat this bread [of the | |
| 1251 Christians] unworthily, die spiritually: “He who eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks | |
| 1252 judginent upon himself” (1 Cor 11:29).</p> | |
| 1253 <p>We may answer this by saying that the food of the Jews has some features in common with our | |
| 1254 spiritual food. They are alike in the fact that each signifies the same thing: for both signify Christ. | |
| 1255 Thus they are called the same food: “All ate the same spiritual food” ( 1 Cor 10:3). He calls them | |
| 1256 the same because each is a symbol of the spiritual food. But they are different because one [the | |
| 1257 manna] was only a symbol; while the other [the bread of the Christians] contains that of which | |
| 1258 it is the symbol, that is, Christ himself. Thus we should say that each of these foods can be taken | |
| 1259 in two ways. First, as a sign only, i.e., so that each is taken as food only, and without | |
| 1260 understanding what is signified; and taken in this way, they do not take away either physical or | |
| 1261 spiritual death. Secondly, they may be taken in both ways, i.e., the visible food is taken in such | |
| 1262 a way that spiritual food is understood and spiritually tasted, in order that it may satisfy | |
| 1263 spiritually. In this way, those who ate the manna spiritually did not die spiritually. But those who | |
| 1264 eat the Eucharist spiritually, both live spiritually now without sin, and will live physically | |
| 1265 forever. Thus, our food is greater than their food, because it contains in itself that of which it is | |
| 1266 the symbol.</p> | |
| 1267 <p>955 Having presented the argument, he draws the conclusion: <span style="font-weight: bold">This is the bread that comes, | |
| 1268 down from heaven. </span>He says, <span style="font-weight: bold">This, </span>the Gloss says, to indicate himself. But our Lord does not | |
| 1269 understand it this way as it would be superfluous, since he immediately adds, <span style="font-weight: bold">I am the living | |
| 1270 bread that has come down from heaven. </span>So we should say that our Lord wants to say that the | |
| 1271 bread which can do this, i.e., give life, comes from heaven; but I am that bread: thus, I am that | |
| 1272 bread that comes down from heaven. Now the reason why that bread which comes down from | |
| 1273 heaven gives a life which never ends is that all food nourishes according to the properties of its | |
| 1274 nature; but heavenly things are incorruptible: consequently, since this food is heavenly, it is not | |
| 1275 corrupted, and as long as it lasts, it gives life. So, he who eats it, will not die. Just as if there were | |
| 1276 some bodily food which never corrupted, then in nourishing it would always be life-giving. This | |
| 1277 bread was signified by the tree of life in the midst of Paradise, which somehow gave life without | |
| 1278 end: “He must not be allowed to stretch out his hand and take from the tree of life and eat, and | |
| 1279 live forever” (Gn 3:22). So if the effect of this bread is that anyone who eats it will not die, and | |
| 1280 I am such, then [anyone who eats of me will not die].</p> | |
| 1281 <p>956 He does two things concerning this. First, he speaks of himself in general; secondly, in | |
| 1282 particular, <span style="font-weight: bold">And the bread which I will give is my flesh. </span>In regard to the first, he does two | |
| 1283 things: first, he mentions his origin; secondly his power (v 52).</p> | |
| 1284 <p>957 He said, <span style="font-weight: bold">I am the living bread; </span>consequently, I can give life. Material bread does not give | |
| 1285 life forever, because it does not have life in itself; but it gives life by being changed and | |
| 1286 converted into nourishment by the energy of a living organism. <span style="font-weight: bold">That has come down from | |
| 1287 heaven: </span>it was explained before [4671 how the Word came down. This refuted those heresies | |
| 1288 which taught that Christ was a mere man, because according to them, he would not have come | |
| 1289 down from heaven.</p> | |
| 1290 <p>958 He has the power to give eternal life; thus he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">If anyone eats of this bread, </span>i.e., | |
| 1291 spiritually, <span style="font-weight: bold">he will live, </span>not only in the present through faith and justice, but <span style="font-weight: bold">forever. </span>“Everyone | |
| 1292 who lives and believes in me, will never die” (below 11:26).</p> | |
| 1293 <p>959 He then speaks of his body when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">And the bread which I will give is my flesh.</span> For | |
| 1294 he had said that he was the living bread; and so that we do not think that he is such so far as he | |
| 1295 is the Word or in his soul alone, he shows that even his flesh is life-giving, for it is an instrument | |
| 1296 of his divinity. Thus, since an instrument acts by virtue of the agent, then just as the divinity of | |
| 1297 Christ is lifegiving, so too his flesh gives life (as Damascene says) because of the Word to which | |
| 1298 it is united. Thus Christ healed the sick by his touch. So what he said above, <span style="font-weight: bold">I am the living | |
| 1299 bread, </span>pertained to the power of the Word; but what he is saying here pertains to the sharing in | |
| 1300 his body, that is, to the sacrament of the Eucharist.</p> | |
| 1301 <p>960 We can consider four things about this sacrament: its species, the authority of the one who | |
| 1302 instituted it, the truth of this sacrament, and its usefulness.</p> | |
| 1303 <p>As to the species of this sacrament: <span style="font-weight: bold">This is the bread; </span>“Come, and eat my bread” (Prv 9:5). The | |
| 1304 reason for this is that this is the sacrament of the body of Christ; but the body of Christ is the | |
| 1305 Church, which arises out of many believers forming a bodily unity: “We are one body” (Rom | |
| 1306 12:5). And so because bread is formed from many grains, it is a fitting species for this sacrament. | |
| 1307 Hence he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">And the bread which I will give is my flesh.</span></p> | |
| 1308 <p>961 The author of this sacrament is Christ: for although the priest confers it, it is Christ himself | |
| 1309 who gives the power to this sacrament, because the priest consecrates in the person of Christ. | |
| 1310 Thus in the other sacraments the priest uses his own words or those of the Church, but in this | |
| 1311 sacrament he uses the words of Christ: because just as Christ gave his body to death by his own | |
| 1312 will, so it is by his own power that he gives himself as food: “Jesus took bread, he blessed it and | |
| 1313 broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: ‘Take and eat it, this is my body’ “ (Mt 26:26). Thus | |
| 1314 he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">which I will </span>give; and he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">will give, </span>because this sacrament had not yet been | |
| 1315 instituted.</p> | |
| 1316 <p>962 The truth of this sacrament is indicated when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">is my flesh</span>. He does not say, “This | |
| 1317 signifies my flesh,” but it <span style="font-weight: bold">is my flesh, </span>for in reality that which is taken is truly the body of Christ: | |
| 1318 “Who will give us his flesh so that we may be satisfied?” as we read in Job (31:3 1).</p> | |
| 1319 <p>Since the whole Christ is contained in this sacrament, why did he just say, this <span style="font-weight: bold">is my flesh</span>? To | |
| 1320 answer this, we should note that in this mystical sacrament the whole Christ is really contained: | |
| 1321 but his body is there by virtue of the conversion; while his soul and divinity are present by natural | |
| 1322 concomitance. For if we were to suppose whal is really inipossible, that is, that the divinity of | |
| 1323 Christ is separated from his body, then his divinity would not be present in this sacrament. | |
| 1324 Similarly, if someone had consecrated during the three days Christ was dead, his soul would not | |
| 1325 have been present there [in the sacrament], but his body would have been, as it was on the cross | |
| 1326 or in the tomb. Since this sacrament is the commemoration of our Lord’s passion—according to | |
| 1327 “As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord” (1 Cor | |
| 1328 11:26)—and the passion of Christ depended on his weakness—according to “He was crucified | |
| 1329 through weakness” (2 Cor 13:4)—he rather says, <span style="font-weight: bold">is my flesh, </span>to suggest the weakness through | |
| 1330 which he died, for “flesh” signifies weakness.</p> | |
| 1331 <p>963 The usefulness of this sacrament is great and universal. It is great, indeed, because it | |
| 1332 produces spiritual life within us now, and will later produce eternal life, as was said. For as is | |
| 1333 clear from what was said, since this is the sacrament of our Lord’s passion, it contains in itself | |
| 1334 the Christ who suffered. Thus, whatever is an effect of our Lord’s passion is also an effect of this | |
| 1335 sacrament. For this sacrament is nothing other than the application of our Lord’s passion to us. | |
| 1336 For it was not fitting for Christ to be always with us in his own presence; and so he wanted to | |
| 1337 make up for this absence through this sacrament. Hence it is clear that the destruction of death, | |
| 1338 which Christ accomplished by his death, and the restoration of life, which he accomplished by | |
| 1339 his resurrection, are effects of this sacrament.</p> | |
| 1340 <p>964 The usefulness of this sacrament is universal because the life it gives is not only the life of | |
| 1341 one person, but, so far as concerns itself, the life of the entire world: and for this the death of | |
| 1342 Christ is fully sufficient. “He is the offering for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those | |
| 1343 of the entire world” (1 Jn 2:2).</p> | |
| 1344 <p>We should note that this sacrament is different from the others: for the other sacraments have | |
| 1345 individual effects: as in baptism, only the one baptized receives grace. But in the immolation of | |
| 1346 this sacrament, the effect is universal: because it affects not just the priest, but also those for | |
| 1347 whom he prays, as well as the entire Church, of the living and of the dead. The reason for this | |
| 1348 is that it contains the universal cause of all the sacraments, Christ. Nevertheless, when a lay | |
| 1349 person receives this sacrament it does not benefit others <i>ex opere operato </i>[by its own power] | |
| 1350 considered as a receiving. However, due to the intention of the person who is acting and | |
| 1351 receiving, it can be communicated to all those to whom he directs his intention. It is clear from | |
| 1352 this that lay persons are mistaken when they receive the Eucharist for those in purgatory.</p> | |
| 1353 <p style="margin-bottom: 0.125in; margin-bottom: 0.125in"> </p> | |
| 1354 <p style="text-align: center"><span style="font-weight: bold">LECTURE 7</span></p> | |
| 1355 <BLOCKQUOTE><p>53 The Jews therefore disputed among themselves, saying: “How can this man give us his flesh | |
| 1356 to eat?” 54 Jesus then said to them: | |
| 1357 <DD>“Amen, amen, I say to you, | |
| 1358 <DD>unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, | |
| 1359 <DD>you will not have life in you. | |
| 1360 <DD>55 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life; | |
| 1361 <DD>and I will raise him up on the last day. | |
| 1362 <DD>56 For my flesh truly is food, | |
| 1363 <DD>and my blood truly is drink. | |
| 1364 <DD>57 He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood | |
| 1365 <DD>abides in me, and I in him. | |
| 1366 <DD>58 Just as the living Father has sent me, and I live because of the Father, | |
| 1367 <DD>so whoever eats me, | |
| 1368 <DD>he also will live because of me. | |
| 1369 <DD>59 This is the bread that has come down from heaven. | |
| 1370 <DD>Unlike your fathers who ate manna and are dead, | |
| 1371 <DD>whoever eats this bread shall live forever.” | |
| 1372 <BR>60 These things he said teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.</p></BLOCKQUOTE> | |
| 1373 <p>965 Above, our Lord checked the grumbling of the Jews over the origin of this spiritual food; | |
| 1374 here, he stops their dispute over the ealing of this same food. First, we see their dispute; | |
| 1375 secondly, our Lord stops it (v 54); thirdly, the Evangelist mentions the place where all this | |
| 1376 happened (v 60).</p> | |
| 1377 <p>906 As to the first, note that the Evangelist brings in the dispute among the Jews in the form of | |
| 1378 a conclusion, <span style="font-weight: bold">saying, The Jews therefore disputed among themselves. </span>And this is fitting: for | |
| 1379 according to Augustine, our Lord had just spoken to them about the food of unity, which makes | |
| 1380 into one those who are nourished on it, according to, “Let those who are just feast and rejoice | |
| 1381 before God,” and then it continues, according to one reading, “God makes those who agree to | |
| 1382 live in one house” (Ps 67:4). And so, because the Jews had not eaten the food of harmony, they | |
| 1383 argued with each other:<span style="font-weight: bold"> </span>“When you fast, you argue and fight” (Is 58:4). Further, their quarreling | |
| 1384 with others shows that they were carnal: “For while you are envious and quarreling, are you not | |
| 1385 carnal?” (1 Cor 3:3). Therefore, they understood these words of our Lord in a carnal way, i.e., | |
| 1386 as meaning that our Lord’s flesh would be eaten as material food. Thus they say, <span style="font-weight: bold">How can this | |
| 1387 man give us his flesh to eat? </span>As if to say: This is impossible. Here they were speaking against | |
| 1388 God just as their fathers did: “We are sick of this useless food” (Nm 21:5).</p> | |
| 1389 <p>967 Our Lord stops this argument. First, he states the power that comes from taking this food; | |
| 1390 secondly, he amplifies on it (v 55). As to the first he does three things. First, he states why it is | |
| 1391 necessary to eat this flesh; secondly, its usefulness; and thirdly, he adds something about its truth | |
| 1392 (v 56).</p> | |
| 1393 <p>968 Jesus said: <span style="font-weight: bold">Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and | |
| 1394 drink his blood, you will not have life in you. </span>As if to say: You think it is impossible and | |
| 1395 unbecoming to eat my flesh. But it is not only possible, but very necessary, so much so that | |
| 1396 <span style="font-weight: bold">unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have, </span>i.e., you | |
| 1397 will not be able to have, <span style="font-weight: bold">life in you, </span>that is, spiritual life. For just as material food is so necessary | |
| 1398 for bodily life that without it you cannot exist—“They exchanged their precious belongings for | |
| 1399 food” (Lam 1:11); “Bread strengthens the heart of man” (Ps 103:15)—so spiritual food is | |
| 1400 necessary for the spiritual life to such an extent that without it the spiritual life cannot be | |
| 1401 sustained: “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word which comes from the mouth | |
| 1402 of God” (Dt 8:3).</p> | |
| 1403 <p>969 We should note that this statement can refer either to eating in a spiritual way or in a | |
| 1404 sacramental way. If we understand it as referring to a spiritual eating, it does not cause any | |
| 1405 difficulty. For that person eats the flesh of Christ and drinks his blood in a spiritual way who | |
| 1406 shares in the unity of the Church; and this is accomplished by the love of charity: “You are one | |
| 1407 body, in Christ” (Rom 12:5). Thus, one who does not eat in this way is outside the Church, and | |
| 1408 consequently, without the love of charity. Accordingly, such a one does not have life in himself: | |
| 1409 “He who does not love, remains in death” (1 Jn 3:14).</p> | |
| 1410 <p>But if we refer this statement to eating in a sacramental way, a difficulty appears. For we read | |
| 1411 above: “Unless one is born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of | |
| 1412 God” (3:5). Now this statement was given in the same form as the present one: <span style="font-weight: bold">Unless you eat | |
| 1413 the flesh of the Son of Man. </span>Therefore, since baptism is a necessary sacrament, it seems that the | |
| 1414 Eucharist is also. In fact, the Greeks think it is; and so they give the Eucharist to newly baptized | |
| 1415 infants. For this opinion they have in their favor the rite of Denis, who says that the reception of | |
| 1416 each sacrament should culminate in the sharing of the Eucharist, which is the culmination of all | |
| 1417 the sacraments. This is true in the case of adults, but it is not so for infants, because receiving the | |
| 1418 Eucharist should be done with reverence and devotion, and those who do not have the use of | |
| 1419 reason, as infants and the insane, cannot have this. Consequently, it should not be given to them | |
| 1420 at all.</p> | |
| 1421 <p>We should say, therefore, that the sacrament of baptism is necessary for everyone, and it must | |
| 1422 be really received, because without it no one is born again into life. And so it is necessary that | |
| 1423 it be received in reality, or by desire in the case of those who are prevented from the former. For | |
| 1424 if the contempt within a person excludes a baptism by water, then neither a baptism of desire nor | |
| 1425 of blood will benefit him for eternal life. However, the sacrament of the Eucharist is necessary | |
| 1426 for adults only, so that it may be received in reality, or by desire, according to the practices of the | |
| 1427 Church.</p> | |
| 1428 <p>970 But even this causes difficulty: because by these words of Our Lord, it is necessary for | |
| 1429 salvation not only to eat his body, but also to drink his blood, especially since a repast of food | |
| 1430 is not complete without drink. Therefore, since it is the custom in certain Churches for only the | |
| 1431 priest to receive Christ’s blood, while the rest receive only his body, they would seem to be | |
| 1432 acting against this.</p> | |
| 1433 <p>I answer that it was the custom of the early Church for all to receive both the body and blood of | |
| 1434 Christ; and certain Churches have still retained this practice, where even those assisting at the | |
| 1435 altar always receive the body and blood. But in some Churches, due to the danger of spilling the | |
| 1436 blood, the custom is for it to be received only by the priest, while the rest receive Christ’s body. | |
| 1437 Even so, this is not acting against our Lord’s command, because whoever receives Christ’s body | |
| 1438 receives his blood also, since the entire Christ is present under each species, even his body and | |
| 1439 blood. But under the species of bread, Christ’s body is present in virtue of the conversion, and | |
| 1440 his blood is present by natural concomitance; while under the species of wine, his blood is | |
| 1441 present in virtue of the conversion, and his body by natural concomitance.</p> | |
| 1442 <p>It is now clear why it is necessary to receive this spiritual food.</p> | |
| 1443 <p>971 Next, the usefulness of this food is shown: first, for the spirit or sou; secondly, for the body, | |
| 1444 <span style="font-weight: bold">and I will raise him up on the last day.</span></p> | |
| 1445 <p>972 There is great usefulness in eating this sacrament, for it gives eternal life; thus he says, | |
| 1446 <span style="font-weight: bold">Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. </span>For this spiritual food is similar | |
| 1447 to material food in the fact that without it there can be no spiritual life, just as there cannot be | |
| 1448 bodily life without bodily food, as was said above. But this food has more than the other, because | |
| 1449 it produces in the one who receives it an unending life, which material food does not do: for not | |
| 1450 all who eat material food continue to live. For, as Augustine says, it can happen that many who | |
| 1451 do take it die because of old age or sickness, or some other reason. But one who takes this food | |
| 1452 and drink of the body and blood of our Lord <span style="font-weight: bold">has eternal life. </span>For this reason it is compared to | |
| 1453 the tree of life: “She is the tree of life for those who take her” (Prv 3:18); and so it is called the | |
| 1454 bread of life: “He fed him with the bread of life and understanding” (Sir 15:3). Accordingly, he | |
| 1455 says, <span style="font-weight: bold">eternal life, </span>because one who eats this bread has within himself Christ, who is “the true | |
| 1456 God and eternal life,” as John says (1 Jn 5:20).</p> | |
| 1457 <p>Now one has eternal life who eats and drinks, as it is said, not only in a sacramental way, but also | |
| 1458 in a spiritual way. One eats and drinks sacramentally or in a sacramental way, if he receives the | |
| 1459 sacrament; and one eats and drinks spiritually or in a spiritual way, if he attains to the reality of | |
| 1460 the sacrament. This reality of the sacrament is twofold: one is contained and signified, and this | |
| 1461 is the whole Christ, who is contained under the species of bread and wine. The other reality is | |
| 1462 signified but not contained, and this is the mystical body of Christ, which is in the predestined, | |
| 1463 the called, and the justified. Thus, in reference to Christ as contained and signified, one eats his | |
| 1464 flesh and drinks his blood in a spiritual way if he is united to him through faith and love, so that | |
| 1465 one is transformed into him and becomes his member: for this food is not changed into the one | |
| 1466 who eats it, but it turns the one who takes it into itself, as we see in Augustine, when he says: “I | |
| 1467 am the food of the robust. Grow and you will eat me. Yet you will not change me into yourself, | |
| 1468 but you will be transformed into me.” And so this is a food capable of making man divine and | |
| 1469 inebriating him with divinity. The same is true in reference to the mystical body of Christ, which | |
| 1470 is only signified [and not contained], if one shares in the unity of the Church. Therefore, one who | |
| 1471 eats in these ways <span style="font-weight: bold">has eternal life. </span>That this is true of the first way, in reference to Christ, is clear | |
| 1472 enough. In the same way, in reference to the mystical body of Christ, one will necessarily have | |
| 1473 eternal life if he perseveres: for the unity of the Church is brought about by the Holy Spirit: “One | |
| 1474 body, one Spirit ... the pledge of our eternal inheritance” (Eph 4:4; 1:14). So this bread is very | |
| 1475 profitable, because it gives eternal life to the soul; but it is so also because it gives eternal life to | |
| 1476 the body.</p> | |
| 1477 <p>973 And therefore he adds, <span style="font-weight: bold">and I will raise him up on the last day. </span>For as was said, one who | |
| 1478 eats and drinks in a spiritual way shares in the Holy Spirit, through whom we are united to Christ | |
| 1479 by a union of faith and love, and through him we become members of the Church. But the Holy | |
| 1480 Spirit also merits the resurrection: “He who raised Jesus Christ our Lord form the dead, will raise | |
| 1481 our mortal bodies because of his Spirit, who dwells in us” (Rom 8:11). And so our Lord says that | |
| 1482 he will raise up to glory whoever eats and drinks; to glory, and not to condemnation, as this | |
| 1483 would not be for their benefit. Such an effect is fittingly attributed to this sacrament of the | |
| 1484 Eucharist because, as Augustine says and as was said above, it is the Word who raises up souls, | |
| 1485 and it is the Word made flesh who gives life to bodies. Now in this sacrament the Word is present | |
| 1486 not only in his divinity, but also in the reality of his flesh; and so he is the cause of the | |
| 1487 resurrection not just of souls, but of bodies as well: “For as death came through a man, so the | |
| 1488 resurrection of the dead has come through a man” (1 Cor 15:21). It is now clear how profitable | |
| 1489 it is to take this sacrament.</p> | |
| 1490 <p>974 We see its truth when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">For my flesh truly is food. </span>I some might think that what he | |
| 1491 was saying about his flesh and blood was just an enigma and a parable. So our Lord rejects this, | |
| 1492 and says, <span style="font-weight: bold">my flesh truly is food. </span>As if to say: Do not think that I am speaking metaphorically, | |
| 1493 for my flesh is truly contained in this food of the faithful, and my blood is truly contained in this | |
| 1494 sacrament of the altar: “This is my body ... this is my blood of the new covenant,” as we read in | |
| 1495 Matthew (26:26).</p> | |
| 1496 <p>Chrysostom explains this statement in the following way. Food and drink are taken for man’s | |
| 1497 refreshment. Now there are two parts in man: the chief part is the soul, and the second is the | |
| 1498 body. It is the soul which makes man to be man, and not the body; and so that truly is the food | |
| 1499 of man which is the food of the soul. And this is what our Lord says: <span style="font-weight: bold">my flesh truly is food, | |
| 1500 </span>because it is the food of the soul, not just of the body. The same is true of the blood of Christ. | |
| 1501 “He has led me to the waters that refresh” (Ps 22:2). As if to say: This refreshment is especially | |
| 1502 for the soul.</p> | |
| 1503 <p>Augustine explains these words this way. A thing is truly said to be such and such a thing if it | |
| 1504 produces the effect of that thing. Now the effect of food is to fill or satisfy. Therefore, that which | |
| 1505 truly produces fulness is truly food and drink. But this is produced by the flesh and blood of | |
| 1506 Christ, who leads us to the state of glory, where there is neither hunger nor thirst: “They will | |
| 1507 neither hunger nor thirst” (Rv 7:16). And so he says: <span style="font-weight: bold">For my flesh truly is food, and my blood | |
| 1508 truly is drink.</span></p> | |
| 1509 <p>975 Now our Lord proves that this spiritual food has such power, that is, to give eternal life. And | |
| 1510 he reasons this way: Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood is united to me, but whoever | |
| 1511 is united to me has eternal life: therefore, whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal | |
| 1512 life. Here he does three things: first, he gives his major premise; secondly, the minor premise, | |
| 1513 which he proves (v 58); and thirdly, he draws his conclusion: <span style="font-weight: bold">This is the bread that has come | |
| 1514 down from heaven.</span></p> | |
| 1515 <p>976 We should note, with respect to the first, that if his statement, <span style="font-weight: bold">He who eats my flesh and | |
| 1516 drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him, </span>is referred to his flesh and blood in a mystical | |
| 1517 way, there is no difficulty. For, as was said, that person eats in a spiritual way, in reference to | |
| 1518 what is signified only, who is incorporated into the mystical body through a union of faith and | |
| 1519 love. Through love, God is in man, and man is in God: “He who abides in love, abides in God, | |
| 1520 and God in him” (1 Jn 4:16). And this is what the Holy Spirit does; so it is also said, “We know | |
| 1521 that we abide in God and God in us, because he has given us his Spirit” (1 Jn 4:13).</p> | |
| 1522 <p>If these words are referred to a sacramental reception, then whoever eats this flesh and drinks this | |
| 1523 blood abides in God. For, as Augustine says, there is one way of eating this flesh and drinking | |
| 1524 this blood such that he who eats and drinks abides in Christ and Christ in him. This is the way | |
| 1525 of those who eat the body of Christ and drink his blood not just sacramentally, but really. And | |
| 1526 there is another way by which those who eat do not abide in Christ nor Christ in them. This is | |
| 1527 the way of those who approach [the sacrament] with an insincere heart: for this sacrament has | |
| 1528 no effect in one who is insincere. There is insincerity when the interior state does not agree with | |
| 1529 what is outwardly signified. In the sacrament of the Eucharist, what is outwardly signified is that | |
| 1530 Christ is united to the one who receives it, and such a one to Christ. Thus, one who does not | |
| 1531 desire this union in his heart, or does not try to remove every obstacle to it, is insincere. | |
| 1532 Consequently, Christ does not abide in him nor he in Christ.</p> | |
| 1533 <p>977 Now he presents his minor premise, that is, whoever is united to Christ has life. He mentions | |
| 1534 this to show the following similarity: the Son, because of the unity he has with the Father, | |
| 1535 receives life from the Father; therefore one who is united to Christ receives life from Christ. And | |
| 1536 this is what he says: <span style="font-weight: bold">Just as the living Father has sent me, and I live because of the Father. | |
| 1537 </span>These words can be explained in two ways about Christ: either in reference to his human nature, | |
| 1538 or in reference to his divine nature.</p> | |
| 1539 <p>If they are explained as referring to Christ the Son of God, then the “as” implies a similarity of | |
| 1540 Christ to creatures in some respect, though not in all respects, which is, that he exists from | |
| 1541 another. For to be from another is common to Christ the Son of God and to creatures. But they | |
| 1542 are unlike in another way: the Son has something proper to himself, because he is from the Father | |
| 1543 in such a way that he receives the entire fulness of the divine nature, so that whatever is natural | |
| 1544 to the Father is also natural to the Son. Creatures, on the other hand, receive a certain particular | |
| 1545 perfection and nature. “Just as the Father possesses life in himself, so he has given it to the Son | |
| 1546 to have life in himself” (above 5:26). He shows this because, when speaking of his procession | |
| 1547 from the Father, he does not say: “As I eat the Father and I live because of the Father, “ as he | |
| 1548 said, when speaking of sharing in his body and blood, whoever eats me, he also will live because | |
| 1549 of me. This eating makes us better, for eating implies a certain sharing. Rather, Christ says that | |
| 1550 he lives because of the Father, not as eaten, but as generating, without detriment to his equality.</p> | |
| 1551 <p>If we explain this statement as applying to Christ as man, then in some respect the “as” implies | |
| 1552 a similarity between Christ as man and us: that is, in the fact that as Christ the man receives | |
| 1553 spiritual life through union with God, so we too receive spiritual life in the communion or | |
| 1554 sharing in this Sacrament. Still, there is a difference: for Christ as man received life through | |
| 1555 union with the Word, to whom he is united in person; while we are united to Christ t through the | |
| 1556 sacrament of faith. And so he says two things: <span style="font-weight: bold">sent me</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold">Father</span>. If we refer these words to | |
| 1557 the Son of God, then he is saying, <span style="font-weight: bold">I live because of the Father, </span>because the Father himself is | |
| 1558 living. But if they are referred to the Son of Man, then he is saying, <span style="font-weight: bold">I live because of the Father, | |
| 1559 </span>because the Father has sent me, i.e., made me incarnate. For the sending of the Son is his | |
| 1560 incarnation: “God sent his Son, made from a woman” (Gal 4:4).</p> | |
| 1561 <p>978 According to Hilary, this is a rejection of the error made by Arius. For if we live because of | |
| 1562 Christ, because we have something of his nature (as he says, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks | |
| 1563 my blood has eternal life”), then Christ too lives because of the Father, because he has in himself | |
| 1564 the nature of the Father (not a part of it, for it is simple and indivisible). Therefore, Christ has the | |
| 1565 entire nature of the Father. It is because of the Father, therefore, that the Son lives, because the | |
| 1566 Son’s birth did not involve another and different nature [from that of the Father].</p> | |
| 1567 <p>979 Next (v 59), he presents his two conclusions. For they were arguing about two things: the | |
| 1568 origin of this spiritual food and its power. The first conclusion is about its origin; the second is | |
| 1569 about its power: <span style="font-weight: bold">whoever eats this bread shall live forever.</span></p> | |
| 1570 <p>980 With respect to the first, we should note that the Jews had been troubled because he had said, | |
| 1571 “I am the living bread that has come down from heaven” (v 51 ). Therefore, in opposition to | |
| 1572 them, he arrives at this same conclusion again, from his statement, “I live because of the Father,” | |
| 1573 when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">This is the bread that has come down from heaven. </span>For to come down from | |
| 1574 heaven is to have an origin from heaven; but the Son has his origin from heaven, since he lives | |
| 1575 because of the Father: therefore, Christ is the one who has come down from heaven. And so he | |
| 1576 says, <span style="font-weight: bold">This is the bread that has come down from heaven, </span>i.e., from the life of the Father. | |
| 1577 <span style="font-weight: bold">Come down</span>, in relation to his divinity; or <span style="font-weight: bold">come down</span>, even in his body, so far as the power that | |
| 1578 formed it, the Holy Spirit, was from heaven, a heavenly power. Thus, those who eat this bread | |
| 1579 do not die; as our fathers died, who ate the manna that was neither from heaven, nor was living | |
| 1580 bread, as was said above. How those who ate the manna died is clear from what has been | |
| 1581 mentioned before.</p> | |
| 1582 <p>981 The second conclusion, concerning the power of this bread, is given when he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">whoever | |
| 1583 eats this bread shall live forever. </span>This follows from his statement, “He who eats my flesh and | |
| 1584 drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him” (v 57). For whoever eats this bread abides in me, and | |
| 1585 I in him. But I am eternal life. Therefore, <span style="font-weight: bold">whoever eats this bread, </span>as he ought, <span style="font-weight: bold">shall live | |
| 1586 forever.</span></p> | |
| 1587 <p>982 Jesus said this in the synagogue, in which he was teaching at Capernaum. He used to teach | |
| 1588 in the temple and in the synagogues in order to attract many, so that at least some might benefit: | |
| 1589 “I have proclaimed your justice in the great assembly” (Ps 39:10).</p> | |
| 1590 <p style="margin-bottom: 0.125in; margin-bottom: 0.125in"> </p> | |
| 1591 <p style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.125in"><span style="font-weight: bold">LECTURE 8</span></p> | |
| 1592 <BLOCKQUOTE><p>61 On hearing this, many of his disciples said: “This is a hard saying! Who can accept it?” 62 But | |
| 1593 Jesus, knowing fully that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them: | |
| 1594 <DD>“Does this scandalize you? | |
| 1595 <DD>63 What if you should see the Son of Man | |
| 1596 <DD>ascending to where he was before? | |
| 1597 <DD>64 It is the spirit that gives life; | |
| 1598 <DD>flesh profits nothing. | |
| 1599 <DD>The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. | |
| 1600 <DD>65 But there are some of you who do not believe.” | |
| 1601 <BR>For Jesus knew from the beginning those who would believe in him and who it was that would | |
| 1602 betray him. 66 And he said: | |
| 1603 <DD>“This is why I said to you, | |
| 1604 <DD>that no one call come to me, | |
| 1605 <DD>unless it be given him by my Father.” | |
| 1606 <BR>67 From this time on, many of his disciples turned back, and no longer walked with him. 68 | |
| 1607 Jesus then said to the Twelve: | |
| 1608 <DD>“Do you too wish to leave?” | |
| 1609 <BR>69 Simon Peter replied: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 70 We | |
| 1610 have come to believe and to know that you are the Christ, the Son of God.” 71 Jesus answered | |
| 1611 him: | |
| 1612 <DD>“Did I not choose you Twelve? | |
| 1613 <DD>And one of you is a devil.” | |
| 1614 <BR>72 Now he was talking about Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, who would betray him, since he was | |
| 1615 one of the Twelve.</p></BLOCKQUOTE> | |
| 1616 <p>983 After our Lord put an end to the complaining and arguing among the Jews, he now removes | |
| 1617 the scandal given to his disciples. First, we see the scandal of those disciples who left him; | |
| 1618 secondly, the devotion of those who remained with him (v 68). Concerning the first, he does | |
| 1619 three things: first, we see the scandal given to his disciples; secondly, the kindly way Christ takes | |
| 1620 it away (v 62); and thirdly, the stubbornness and unbelief of those who leave him (v 67).</p> | |
| 1621 <p>984 We should note, with respect to the first, that there were many Jews who adhered to Christ, | |
| 1622 believed him and followed him. And although they had not left all things as the Twelve did, they | |
| 1623 were still all called his disciples. It is of these that he says, many, that is, many of the people who | |
| 1624 believed him, <span style="font-weight: bold">on hearing this, </span>what he had said above, said, <span style="font-weight: bold">This is a hard saying! </span>We read of | |
| 1625 these: “They believe for a while, and in the time of testing fall away” (Lk 8:13). He says, <span style="font-weight: bold">many</span>, | |
| 1626 because “The number of fools is infinite” (Ecc 1:15); and, “Many are called but few are chosen” | |
| 1627 (Mt 20:16).</p> | |
| 1628 <p>They said: <span style="font-weight: bold">This is a hard saying! </span>Now that is said to be hard which is difficult to divide, and | |
| 1629 which offers resistance. Accordingly, a saying is hard either because it resists the intellect or | |
| 1630 because it resists the will, that is, when we cannot understand it with our mind, or when it does | |
| 1631 not please our will. And this saying was hard for them in both ways. It was hard for their | |
| 1632 intellects because it exceeded the weakness of their intellects: for since they were earthly minded, | |
| 1633 they were incapable of understanding what he said, namely, that he would give them his flesh to | |
| 1634 eat. And it was hard for their wills, because he said many things about the power of his divinity: | |
| 1635 and although they believed him as a prophet, they did not believe that he was God. Consequently, | |
| 1636 it seemed to them that he was making himself greater than he was. “His letters are strong” (2 Cor | |
| 1637 10:10), “Wisdom is exceedingly unpleasant to the unlearned” (Sir (, 21 ). And so it reads on. | |
| 1638 <span style="font-weight: bold">Who can accept it? </span>They said this as an excuse: for since they had given themselves to him, they | |
| 1639 should have accepted what he said. But because he was not teaching them things that were | |
| 1640 pleasing to them, they were waiting for an occasion to leave him: “A fool does not accept words | |
| 1641 of wisdom unless You tell him what he desires” (Prv 18:2).</p> | |
| 1642 <p>985 Next (v 62), we see the kindly way Christ dispelled their difficulty. First, he takes notice of | |
| 1643 it; secondly, he removes its cause (v 63); and thirdly, he mentions what the cause was (v 65).</p> | |
| 1644 <p>986 He had noticed that they were scandalized because they had said, although privately, so he | |
| 1645 could not hear, <span style="font-weight: bold">This is a hard saying! </span>But Christ, who in virtue of his divinity knew that they | |
| 1646 had said this, mentions it. And this is what he says: <span style="font-weight: bold">But Jesus, knowing in himself, </span>what they | |
| 1647 said within themselves, that is, <span style="font-weight: bold">that his disciples were grumbling about this</span>—“He did not need | |
| 1648 anyone to give him testimony about men. He was well aware of what was in man’s heart” (above | |
| 1649 2:25); “God searches into the hearts and loins of men” (Ps 7:10)—said to them, <span style="font-weight: bold">Does this | |
| 1650 scandalize you? </span>As if to say: You should not be scandalized at this. Or, it can be understood less | |
| 1651 strongly, as meaning: I know that you are scandalized at this. “He will be our sanctification,” i.e., | |
| 1652 those who believe in Christ, but “a stumbling-stone to the two houses of Israel,” to the grumbling | |
| 1653 disciples and the crowds (Is 8:4).</p> | |
| 1654 <p>987 But since teachers should avoid creating difficulties for those who are listening to them, why | |
| 1655 did our Lord mention those things that would upset the people and have them leave? I answer | |
| 1656 that Christ had to mention such things because his teaching required it. For they had pleaded with | |
| 1657 him for material food, when he had come to strengthen their desire for spiritual food; and so he | |
| 1658 had to make known to them his teaching on spiritual food.</p> | |
| 1659 <p>Nevertheless, their difficulty was not caused by any defect in what Christ was teaching, but by | |
| 1660 their own unbelief. For if they had not understood what our Lord was saying, because of their | |
| 1661 own earthly mindedness, they could have questioned him, as the apostles had done in similar | |
| 1662 circumstances. According to Augustine, however, our Lord purposely permitted this situation, | |
| 1663 to give teachers a reason for consolation and patience with those who belittle what they say, since | |
| 1664 even the disciples presumed to disparage what Christ said.</p> | |
| 1665 <p>988 Then (v 63), he takes away the occasion of their scandal so far as concerns the person | |
| 1666 speaking and what he said, as Chrysostom says. First, he deals with the person who was | |
| 1667 speaking; secondly, with what he said (v 64).</p> | |
| 1668 <p>989 The occasion for their scandal was when they heard our Lord say divine things about | |
| 1669 himself. And so, because they believed that he was the son of Joseph, they were upset at what | |
| 1670 he said<span style="font-weight: bold"> </span>about<span style="font-weight: bold"> </span>himself. God takes away this reason by showing them his divinity more openly, and | |
| 1671 says: You are upset over the things I have said about myself; <span style="font-weight: bold">What if you should see the Son | |
| 1672 of Man ascending to where he was before? </span>What would you say then? As if to say: You can | |
| 1673 never deny that I came down from heaven, or that I am the one who gives and teaches eternal life. | |
| 1674 He did the same thing before with Nathanael. When Nathanael said to him, “You are the King | |
| 1675 of Israel” our Lord, wanting to lead him to more perfect knowledge, answered him: “You will | |
| 1676 see greater things than this” (above 1:5 0). And here too, our Lord reveals to them something | |
| 1677 greater about himself which would happen in the future, saying, <span style="font-weight: bold">What if you should see the Son | |
| 1678 of Man ascending to where he was before? </span>Indeed, he did ascend into heaven in the sight of | |
| 1679 his disciples (Acts 1:9). If, therefore, he does ascend to where he was before, then he was in | |
| 1680 heaven before: “No one has gone up to heaven except the one who came down from heaven” | |
| 1681 (above 3:13).</p> | |
| 1682 <p>990 Let us note that Christ is one person: the person of the Son of God and the person of the Son | |
| 1683 of Man being the same person. Still, because of his different natures, something belongs to Christ | |
| 1684 by reason of his human nature, that is, to ascend, which does not belong to him by reason of his | |
| 1685 divine nature, according to which he does not ascend, since he is eternally at the highest summit | |
| 1686 of things, that is, in the Father. It is according to his human nature that it belongs to him to ascend | |
| 1687 to <span style="font-weight: bold">where he was before, </span>that is, to heaven, where he had not been in his human nature. (This is | |
| 1688 in opposition to the teaching of Valentinus, who claimed that Christ had assumed a heavenly | |
| 1689 body). Thus, Christ ascended in the sight of his apostles to where he was before according to his | |
| 1690 divinity; and he ascended, by his own power, according to his humanity: “I came forth from the | |
| 1691 Father, and I have come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and am going to the Father” | |
| 1692 (below 16:28).</p> | |
| 1693 <p>991 Augustine understands this passage differently. He said that the disciples were scandalized | |
| 1694 when our Lord said that he would give him them his flesh to eat because they understood this in | |
| 1695 a material minded way, as if they were literally to eat this flesh, just like the flesh of an animal. | |
| 1696 Our Lord rejected this interpretation and said. <span style="font-weight: bold">What if you should see the Son of Man | |
| 1697 ascending, </span>with his entire body, <span style="font-weight: bold">to where he was before? </span>Would you say that I intended to give | |
| 1698 you my flesh to eat like you do the flesh of an animal?</p> | |
| 1699 <p style="margin-bottom: 0.125in; margin-bottom: 0.125in"> </p> | |
| 1700 <p>992 Then (v 64), he settles the offense they took at what he said. And, as Chrysostom says, he | |
| 1701 distinguished two ways in which his words could be understood. And secondly, he showed which | |
| 1702 way was appropriate here (v 64b).</p> | |
| 1703 <p>With respect to the first, we should note that Christ’s words can be understood in two senses: in | |
| 1704 a spiritual way, and in a material way. Thus he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">It is the spirit that gives life, </span>that is, if you | |
| 1705 understand these words according to the spirit, i.e., according to their spiritual meaning, they will | |
| 1706 give life. <span style="font-weight: bold">Flesh profits nothing, </span>that is, if you understand them in a material way, they will be | |
| 1707 of no benefit to you, they will, rather, be harmful, for “If you live according to the flesh you will | |
| 1708 die” (Rom 8:13).</p> | |
| 1709 <p>What our Lord said about eating his flesh is interpreted in a material way when it is understood | |
| 1710 in its superficial meaning, and as pertaining to the nature of flesh. And it was in this way that the | |
| 1711 Jews understood them. But our Lord said that he would give himself to them as spiritual food, | |
| 1712 not as though the true flesh of Christ is not present in this sacrament of the altar, but because it | |
| 1713 is eaten in a certain spiritual and divine way. Thus, the correct meaning of these words is | |
| 1714 spiritual, not material. So he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">The words that I have spoken to you</span>, about eating my flesh, | |
| 1715 <span style="font-weight: bold">are spirit and life</span>, that is, they have a spiritual meaning, and understood in this way they give | |
| 1716 life. And it is not surprising that they have a spiritual meaning, because they are from the Holy | |
| 1717 Spirit: “It is the Spirit who tells mysteries” (1 Cor 14:2). And therefore, the mysteries of Christ | |
| 1718 give life: “I will never forget your justifications, because through them you have brought me to | |
| 1719 life” (Ps 118:93).</p> | |
| 1720 <p>993 Augustine explains this passage in a different way, for he understands the statement, flesh | |
| 1721 profits nothing, as referring to the flesh of Christ. It is obvious that the flesh of Christ, as united | |
| 1722 to the Word and to the Spirit, does profit very much and in every way; otherwise, the Word | |
| 1723 would have been made flesh in vain, and the Father would have made him known in the flesh in | |
| 1724 vain, as we see from 1 Timothy (c 4). And so we should say that it is the flesh of Christ, | |
| 1725 considered in itself, that profits nothing and does not have any more beneficial effect than other | |
| 1726 flesh. For if his flesh is considered as separated from the divinity and the Holy Spirit, it does not | |
| 1727 have different power than other flesh. But if it is united to the Spirit and the divinity, it profits | |
| 1728 many, because it makes those who receive it abide in Christ, for man abides in God through the | |
| 1729 Spirit of love: “We know that we abide in God and God in us, because he has given us his Spirit” | |
| 1730 (1 Jn 4:13). And this is what our Lord says: the effect I promise you, that is, eternal life, should | |
| 1731 not be attributed to my flesh as such, because understood in this way, <span style="font-weight: bold">flesh profits nothing. </span>But | |
| 1732 my flesh does offer eternal life as united to the Spirit and to the divinity. “If we live by the Spirit, | |
| 1733 let us also walk by the Spirit” “Gal 5:25). And so he adds, <span style="font-weight: bold">The words that I have spoken to you | |
| 1734 are spirit and life, </span>i.e., they must be understood of the Spirit united to my flesh; and so | |
| 1735 understood they are life, that is, the life of the soul. For as the body lives its bodily life through | |
| 1736 a bodily spirit, so the soul lives a spiritual life through the Holy Spirit: “Send forth your Spirit, | |
| 1737 and they will be created” (Ps 103:30).</p> | |
| 1738 <p>994 Then (v 65), he indicates the reason why they were upset, that is, their unbelief. As if to say: | |
| 1739 the cause of your difficulty is not the hardness of what I have just said, but your own unbelief. | |
| 1740 And so first, he mentions their unbelief; secondly, he excludes an incorrect interpretation; and | |
| 1741 thirdly, he gives the reason for their unbelief.</p> | |
| 1742 <p>995 Our Lord indicated their unbelief when he said, <span style="font-weight: bold">But there are some of you who do not | |
| 1743 believe</span>. He did not say, “who do not understand.” He did more than this, for he gave the reason | |
| 1744 why they did not understand: they did not understand because they did not believe. “If you do not | |
| 1745 believe, you will not understand,” as we read in another version of Isaiah (7:9). He said, <span style="font-weight: bold">some</span>, | |
| 1746 in order to exclude his disciples: “All do not have faith” (2 Thes 3:2); “All do not obey the | |
| 1747 Gospel” (Rom 10:16); “They did not believe what he said” (Ps 105:24).</p> | |
| 1748 <p>996 The Evangelist then rejects an incorrect interpretation when he adds, For Jesus knew. As if | |
| 1749 to say: Jesus did not say, there are some of you who do not believe, because he just recently | |
| 1750 learned it, but because <span style="font-weight: bold">Jesus knew from the beginning</span>, i.e., of the world, <span style="font-weight: bold">those who would | |
| 1751 believe in him, and who it was that would betray him. </span>“All things are naked and open to his | |
| 1752 eyes” (Heb 4:13); “All things were known to the Lord God before they were created,” as we read | |
| 1753 in Sirach (23:29).</p> | |
| 1754 <p>997 Our Lord next mentioned the cause of their unbelief, which was the withdrawal of attracting | |
| 1755 grace. Thus he said: This is why I said to you. As if to say: Thus it was necessary to tell you what | |
| 1756 I told you before: <span style="font-weight: bold">that no one can come to me, </span>i.e., through faith, <span style="font-weight: bold">unless it be given him by my | |
| 1757 Father. </span>It follows from this, according to Augustine, that the act of believing itself is given to | |
| 1758 us by God. Why it is not given to everyone we discussed above, where our Lord used almost the | |
| 1759 same words (6:44). They are repeated here for two reasons. First, to show that Christ received | |
| 1760 them in the faith more for their advantage and benefit than for his own: “It has been granted to | |
| 1761 you to believe in him” (Phil 1:29). As if to say: It is good for you to believe. Thus Augustine | |
| 1762 says: “It is a great thing to believe: rejoice, because you have believed.” Secondly, to show that | |
| 1763 Christ was not the son of Joseph, as they thought, but of God, for it is God the Father who draws | |
| 1764 men to the Son, as is clear from what has been said.</p> | |
| 1765 <p>998 Then (v 67), we see the stubbornness of the disciples: for although our Lord had rebuked | |
| 1766 them and had taken away the cause of their difficulty so far as it concerned himself, they still | |
| 1767 would not believe. Thus he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">From this time on, many of his disciples turned back. </span>He did | |
| 1768 not say, “they left,” but that they <span style="font-weight: bold">turned back, </span>i.e., from the faith, which they had in a virtuous | |
| 1769 way; and cut off from the body of Christ, they lost life, because perhaps they were not in the | |
| 1770 body, as Augustine says. There are some who turn back in an absolute way, that is, those who | |
| 1771 follow the devil, to whom our Lord said, “Go back, Satan” (Mt 4:10). We also read of certain | |
| 1772 women that “Some turned back after Satan” (1 Tim 5:15). But Peter did not turn back in this | |
| 1773 way; he rather turned after Christ: “Follow after me, Satan” (Mt 16:23). But the others followed | |
| 1774 after Satan.</p> | |
| 1775 <p>Then follows: they <span style="font-weight: bold">no longer walked with him, </span>that is, even though we are required to walk | |
| 1776 with Jesus: “I will show you man what is good,” and then it continues on, “to walk attentively | |
| 1777 with your God” (Mi 6:8).</p> | |
| 1778 <p>999 Then (v 68), our Lord examined those disciples who remained with him. First, we see this | |
| 1779 in the question he asked them; secondly, Peter’s answer shows the devotion of those who | |
| 1780 remained; and thirdly, our Lord corrects Peter’s answer (v 71).</p> | |
| 1781 <p>1000 Our Lord examined the Twelve who remained as to their willingness to stay on; and so he | |
| 1782 said to the Twelve, that is, to the Apostles, Do you too wish to leave? He asked them this for two | |
| 1783 reasons. First, so that they would not take pride, thinking it was due to their own goodness, in the | |
| 1784 fact that they stayed on while the others left, and think that they were doing Christ a favor. And | |
| 1785 so he showed that he did not need them by holding them off, but still giving them strength: “If | |
| 1786 you live rightly, what do you give him, or what does he receive from your hand?” (Jb 35:7). | |
| 1787 Secondly, it sometimes happens that a person would really prefer to leave another but is kept | |
| 1788 from doing so by shame or embarrassment. Our Lord did not want them to stay with him because | |
| 1789 they were forced to do so out of embarrassment (because to serve unwillingly is not to serve at | |
| 1790 all), and so he took away any embarrassment in their leaving or necessity for their staying, and | |
| 1791 left it to their own judgment whether they wanted to stay with him or leave, because “God loves | |
| 1792 a cheerful giver” (2 Cor 9:7).</p> | |
| 1793 <p>1001 Then, from Peter’s answer, we see the devotion of those who did not leave. For Peter—who | |
| 1794 loved the brethren, who guarded his friendships, and had it special affection for | |
| 1795 Christ—answered for the whole group, and said, <span style="font-weight: bold">Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the | |
| 1796 words of eternal life. </span>Here he did three things. First, he extolled the greatness of Christ; | |
| 1797 secondly, he praised his teaching; and thirdly, he professed his faith.</p> | |
| 1798 <p>1002 He extolled the greatness of Christ when he said, <span style="font-weight: bold">Lord, to whom shall we go?</span> As if to say: | |
| 1799 Are you telling us to leave you? Give us someone better to whom we can go. But then, “There | |
| 1800 is no one like you among the strong, O Lord” (Ex 15:11); “Who is like God” (Ps 88:7). And so | |
| 1801 you will not tell us to go. “Where can I go that is away from your spirit?” (Ps 138:7). Further, | |
| 1802 according to Chrysostom, Peter’s words show great friendship; for to him, Christ was more | |
| 1803 worthy of honor than father or mother.</p> | |
| 1804 <p>1003 He praised his teaching when he said, <span style="font-weight: bold">You have the words </span>of <span style="font-weight: bold">eternal life. </span>Now Moses, | |
| 1805 and the prophets, also spoke the words of God; but they rarely had the words of eternal life. But | |
| 1806 you are promising eternal life. What more can we ask? “Whoever believes in me has eternal life” | |
| 1807 (above 6:47); “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life” (above 3:36).</p> | |
| 1808 <p>1004 He professed his faith when he said, <span style="font-weight: bold">We have come to believe and to know that you are | |
| 1809 the Christ, the Son of God.</span> For in our faith there are two things above all that must be believed: | |
| 1810 the mystery of the Trinity, and the Incarnation. And these two Peter professed here. He professed | |
| 1811 the mystery of the Trinity when he said, you are the Son of God: for in calling Christ the Son of | |
| 1812 God he mentioned the person of the Father and that of the Son, along with the person of the Holy | |
| 1813 Spirit, who is the love of the Father and of the Son, and the bond or nexus of both. He professed | |
| 1814 the mystery of the Incarnation when he said, you are the Christ: for in Greek, the word “Christ” | |
| 1815 means “anointed”; anointed, that is, with the invisible oil of the Holy Spirit. He was not anointed | |
| 1816 according to his divine nature, because one who is anointed by the Holy Spirit is Made better by | |
| 1817 that anointing. But Christ, so far as he is God, is not made better. Thus, Christ was anointed as | |
| 1818 man.</p> | |
| 1819 <p>He said, <span style="font-weight: bold">We have come to believe and to know</span>, because believing comes before knowing. And | |
| 1820 therefore, if we wanted to know before believing, we would neither know nor be able to believe, | |
| 1821 as Augustine says, and as in that other version of Isaiah: “If you do not believe, you will not | |
| 1822 understand” (Is 7:9).</p> | |
| 1823 <p>1005 Our Lord corrected Peter’s answer when he said, <span style="font-weight: bold">Did I not choose you Twelve? And one | |
| 1824 of you is a devil. </span>First, we have the Lord’s reply: secondly, the Evangelist’s explanation of it (v | |
| 1825 72).</p> | |
| 1826 <p>1006 Because Peter was great-hearted and included all in his answer, <span style="font-weight: bold">We have come to believe | |
| 1827 and to know that you are the Christ, the Son of God, </span>it seemed that all of them would arrive | |
| 1828 at eternal life. And so our Lord excluded Judas from this community of believers. This trust was | |
| 1829 commendable in Peter, who did not suspect any evil in his companions; but we must also admire | |
| 1830 the wisdom of our Lord, who saw what was hidden. Thus he says, <span style="font-weight: bold">Did I not choose you | |
| 1831 Twelve? And one of you is a devil; </span>not by nature, but by imitating the devil’s malice: “Death | |
| 1832 came into the world -by the envy of the devil; his disciples imitate him” (Wis 2:24); “After the | |
| 1833 morsel, Satan entered into him” (below 13:27), because Judas became like him in malice.</p> | |
| 1834 <p style="margin-bottom: 0.125in; margin-bottom: 0.125in"> </p> | |
| 1835 <p>1007 But if Christ chose Judas, who was later to become evil, it seems that our Lord made a | |
| 1836 mistake in choosing him. First, we might answer this as Chrysostom does, and say that this | |
| 1837 choice was not for predestination, but for some task, and in reference to a condition of present | |
| 1838 justice. Sometimes a person is chosen this way, not in relation to the future, but according to | |
| 1839 present realities; for being chosen in this way does not destroy one’s free choice or the possibility | |
| 1840 of sinning: hence we read, “Let him who thinks that he stands, take heed so he will not fall” (1 | |
| 1841 Cor 10:12). And so our Lord did choose Judas, but not as evil at that time; and being so chosen | |
| 1842 did not take away his possibility of sinning. Secondly, we could answer with Augustine, who said | |
| 1843 that our Lord did chose Judas as evil. And although he knew that he was evil, because it is | |
| 1844 characteristic of a good person to use evil for good, God made good use of this evil in allowing | |
| 1845 himself to be betrayed in order to redeem us. Or, we could say that the choice of the Twelve does | |
| 1846 not refer here to the persons, but rather to the number; as if to say: I have chosen Twelve. For this | |
| 1847 number is fittingly set apart for those who would preach the faith of the Holy Trinity to the four | |
| 1848 corners of the world. And indeed, this number did not pass away, because Matthias was | |
| 1849 substituted for the traitor. Or, according to Ambrose, Jesus chose Judas as evil so that when we | |
| 1850 read that our Lord and Master was betrayed by his disciple, we might be consoled if sometimes | |
| 1851 our friends betray us.</p> | |
| 1852 <p>1008 We could ask here why the disciples did not say anything after our Lord said, <span style="font-weight: bold">one of you | |
| 1853 is a devil; </span>for later on, when he says, “One of you will betray me” (below 13:21), they reply, “Is | |
| 1854 it I, Lord?” (Mt 26:22). 1 answer that the reason for this is that our Lord was speaking here in a | |
| 1855 general way when he said that one of them was a devil; for this could mean any kind of malice, | |
| 1856 and so they were not disturbed. But later on, when they heard of such a great crime, that their | |
| 1857 Master would be betrayed, they could not keep quiet. Or, we could say that when our Lord said | |
| 1858 this, each of them had confidence in his own virtue, and so none feared for himself; but after he | |
| 1859 said to Peter, “Follow after me, Satan” (Mt 16:23), they were afraid, and realized their own | |
| 1860 weakness. That is why they asked in that indecisive way, “Is it I, Lord?”</p> | |
| 1861 <p>1009 Finally, what our Lord had just said privately is explained by the Evangelist when he says, | |
| 1862 <span style="font-weight: bold">he was talking about Judas, </span>as events proved and which will be clear below (c 13).</p> | |
| 1863 </body> | |
| 1864 | |
| 1865 </html> |