De quibusdam verbis Domini, pro quibus volebant eum Judcei lapidare
The Light of the World
Jesus reveals Himself as the light of the world, calling all to follow Him in faith and love to escape the darkness of sin.
John 1. Christ. He is the light of the world—because, as Alcuin says, Jesus had absolved the woman from her sin, so that no one... ...would doubt whether the one they saw as a true man could forgive sins, He deigns to demonstrate the power of His divinity more openly. Hence it is said: 'Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying: I am the light of the world,' that is, of the whole world... ...not... ...specifically of one nation. And so, anyone approaching Him through faith and devotion is enlightened by Him for salvation; but anyone turning away from Him is darkened toward hell. Christ is called the light according to both his natures, because according to his divinity he illuminates the soul from within, and according to his humanity he instructs the life from without; and this happens in three ways: through miracles, through preaching, and through examples—the first being of power, the second of wisdom, and the third of goodness. He is truly the light that illuminates everyone coming into this world, for he illuminates all universally. He is the only light by his very essence, as all knowledge is derived from him. Others are called light only by participating in him, because they are illuminated by this light, but they are not light by essence as he is; he is the Word proceeding from the Father, just as... 8. Light from light. Therefore, according to Augustine: The light of the world, proceeding from the Father, is covered by the cloud of the flesh. Being tempered in this way, it is made tolerable to humans, so that through the human, one may come to the divinity. We are illuminated by that light, therefore, by the salve of faith, since we were born blind from Adam; and it follows by obeying both in words and in examples, so that, with the darkness of ignorance or sin cast out, we may be illuminated in the future by the manifest vision of the Godhead. Therefore he adds: 'Whoever follows me'—that is, by believing, loving, and imitating—'does not walk in darkness,' namely of ignorance, because I am the truth; nor of guilt, because I am the way; and consequently, he does not come to the darkness of hell, because I am the life. The fruit of this light is mentioned, but will it have the light of life? It will have it now and in the future, because it will possess Christ, the wisdom of God, who is the light that never fails and cannot be extinguished—here through faith, and there through direct vision. So, what he says about following him relates to merit; but what he says about having the light of life... ...relates to the reward. Augustine says: "Therefore, my brothers, since the Lord says briefly: 'I am the light of the world; whoever follows me does not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life,' these words contain both what he commanded and what he promised. Let us do what he commanded, so that we don't shamelessly desire what he promised; let us not have him say to us in his judgment: 'Did you do what I commanded, that you now ask for what I promised?'" What, then, did you command, Lord our God? I said to you: follow me. Therefore, let us act now, let us follow the Lord, and let us break the chains that hold us back. Let us follow Christ, the light of the world, so that we don't walk in darkness. The darkness to be feared is not of the eyes, but of our character—or if it is of the eyes, it is not the exterior ones, but the interior ones, by which we discern not between white and black, but between just and unjust." This is from Augustine. Regarding the supreme excellence of this light promised to us, Augustine says: "The joy of eternal light is so great that, even if we were only allowed to remain in it for a single day, for that reason alone, countless years of this life—filled with pleasures and an overflowing abundance of worldly goods—would rightly and deservedly be held in contempt."1
True Freedom and Sonship
Christ challenges the Jews to recognize their slavery to sin and find true freedom by remaining in His word.
Then, after some time, as He began to move the Jews toward the struggle of His Passion, He said to them: "When you have lifted up the Son of Man"—that is, the Son of the Virgin, in whose flesh He was to suffer and be lifted up on the cross, where He was stretched out and raised into the air, and for which reason He was also exalted by God the Father—"then you will know" (meaning some of you will know through faith) "that I am He," that is, truly Christ; "I am He," God hidden beneath the flesh. Here He predicts that some of them would recognize who He was and believe in Him after His Passion, foretelling the means by which they must come to faith: namely, through His Passion. Hence Augustine says: "I delay your recognition, so that I may fulfill My Passion; this is for those who want to stone Me." It had to be fulfilled by the hands of those who would later believe. Why this? So that no one, however conscious of their own wickedness in any sin, might despair when they see that the murder was forgiven to those who had killed Christ: this is Augustine. We offend God and humble Him in three ways: through evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds. But when we are contrite, confess, and make satisfaction, then we exalt Him in our soul by loving Him above all things; and consequently, we know Him by revering Him above all things. If, therefore, you wish to know God, exalt Him in the three ways mentioned: through the contrition of the heart against evil thoughts, the confession of the mouth against evil speech, and the satisfaction of the body against evil actions. Then he said to certain Jews who were beginning to believe in him: "If you remain in my word—that is, if you persevere to the end in the faith that has begun in you through my word, by not turning away from my teaching and discipline and by not yielding to any temptations—then you will truly be my disciples." He said this because some of them believed only superficially and were not true disciples; and "you will know the truth," which now speaks to you hidden in flesh and is concealed from you—or rather, the truth of the doctrine I teach and the faith you now believe. "And the truth will set you free," that is, it will make you free, because in the present it frees you from the slavery of sin and gives you the freedom of grace, and then true freedom begins; and in the future it will free you from the slavery of misery and give you the freedom of glory, and then true freedom will be perfected. Others who did not believe answered and boasted, saying that they were Abraham’s descendants and had never been slaves to anyone, as if they were free and had no need of liberation. But it's clearly evident that their statement is false, because they were first in great slavery in Egypt, and again in Babylon. Even in their own land they served the king of the Assyrians and other nations; and again the Romans, paying them tribute. But the Lord proposed to them a slavery more difficult than that of men, saying: "Amen, I say to you, everyone who commits sin"—whatever his condition may be, whether noble or ignoble, Jew or Greek, rich or poor, emperor or beggar—"is a slave to sin." Hence Chrysostom says: "Everyone who follows the will of the devil is a slave, even if he is free." But whoever obeys God is truly free, even if he is a slave. For bodily slavery does not defile spiritual freedom, nor does bodily freedom honor spiritual corruption. God didn't plan for slavery; it was introduced by human violence. For every human being was created free, and God placed us in the freedom of our own will, unless we ourselves chose to become slaves. As Augustine says: 'A good person, even if they serve, is free; but a wicked person, even if they reign, is a slave—and not just to one master, but, what is worse, to as many masters as they have vices.' If only I were a slave to a human being, rather than to sin! And again: 'Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.' O miserable slavery! Usually, when people suffer under bad masters, they look to sell themselves—not seeking to have no master, but at least to change the one they have. What is a slave of sin to do? Whom should he call upon? To whom should he turn to sell himself? A servant of a human master, when worn out by his master's harsh commands, can at least find rest by running away. But where can a servant of sin run? He drags himself along with him, wherever he flees. A bad conscience can't run away from itself; there's nowhere for it to go. It follows him; in fact, it never leaves him. For the sin that a person commits is within him; he committed the sin to gain some bodily pleasure, but the pleasure passes away while the sin remains; what gave delight has vanished, but what stings remains. What a miserable slavery! Let’s all flee to Christ; let’s call upon God, our deliverer, against sin. Let’s offer ourselves as those for sale, so that we may be redeemed by his blood. The Lord alone delivers us from this slavery; he who never had it himself is the one who delivers us from it. As Augustine says, he alone came into this flesh without sin. Therefore, as has been said, the sinner is a slave to as many masters as he has vices. Hence, we read of the philosopher Diogenes that when Alexander claimed to be the master of the world, Diogenes replied: 'You are by no means a master, but a slave to my own slaves.' For pride—your mistress and my servant—leads you around, yet I have mastered it. Carnal desire and gluttony are your mistresses and my servants; they lead you and rule over you, yet I have mastered and conquered them. And that is why you are a slave to my servants. Then he shows the penalty of this slavery, saying: 'The slave—that is, the slave of guilt—does not remain in the house, meaning the Church, forever. He may remain for a time, insofar as he is counted among the faithful, because for now the wicked are mixed in with the good, but in the future they will be separated from one another, just as sheep are from goats. The Son, however—that is, the natural Son of God—remains in the...' ...forever, because he alone is without sin, and thus he has the power to free others from sin by making them children of God through the grace of adoption, so that they may remain with him in the house of freedom. And this is his conclusion: If the Son, who is truly free and powerful in the house of freedom, has set you free from the slavery of sin, you’ll be truly free—not from barbarians, but from the devil; not from physical captivity, but from the wickedness of the soul, so that sin may no longer rule over you, because true freedom consists in this. Hence Gregory says: "The person whom conscience defends is free, even among accusers." And Boethius adds: "He is free who has a free conscience." It’s clear, then, that the worldly freedom they boasted of isn’t true freedom; nor is nobility of the flesh true nobility. But today, alas! there are many who seek to be exalted because of their worldly nobility and freedom, not feeling any shame for the slavery of sin. According to Augustine, whoever sins out of love, rather than out of the weakness of nature or simple ignorance, is a slave to sin; for there are sins of weakness, sins of ignorance, and sins of malice. Weakness and ignorance are contrary to virtue and wisdom; malice is contrary to goodness.
The Children of the Devil
Jesus exposes the hypocrisy of those who claim God as their Father while imitating the devil through lies and malice.
Then the Lord showed that those Jews were not Abraham’s children, as they boasted, but rather degenerates, because they did not imitate him in the works of faith. True sonship is proven by imitating a father’s character; yet the Jews did not imitate Abraham’s deeds, because they sought to kill Him—something Abraham never did. From this, the Savior concludes that they were not truly his children, even though they were physically descended from him. Thus, they were children of Abraham only in the flesh, not in the imitation of his works and faith; their flesh indeed came from him, but their life did not. From this it’s clear that it’s useless for anyone to boast that they are a child of Augustine, Benedict, or some other saint by habit alone, unless they strive to imitate that saint’s works to the best of their ability. But the Jews, seeing that He was challenging their sonship based on their works, claimed they were children of God, whose Law and ceremonies they kept, unlike others given over to idolatry. So they said to Him: 'We are not born of fornication'—that is, the spiritual fornication of the Gentiles, who commit adultery with many gods and worship idols—'but we are born in the faith of one God.' They call idolatry 'fornication,' as it is frequently named in Holy Scripture, because the soul is separated from God through it. 'We have one spiritual Father, God, whom we worship,' because they did not worship a plurality of gods like the Gentiles. But the Savior rejects this claim to fatherhood and shows that God is not their Father, because they don't love or know His Son—that is, Christ Himself, whom He sent. For the love and knowledge of Christ is the sign of being a child of God; for the love of those things that proceed from one source is mutual in the One from whom they proceed. Then He shows whose children they are, and says they are from their father the devil—not by creation, but by imitation—because they want to carry out the desires of their father, the devil, and kill the innocent; He proves this by explaining the devil’s nature and then applying it to them. He first touches on a characteristic of the devil, saying: "He was a murderer from the beginning of the world and of man’s creation," killing the first humans with his wicked suggestions and taking away their immortality. A human is defined as human by the soul; therefore, someone who kills the soul through mortal sin is more properly a murderer than one who kills the body, through which a human is like the beasts. As Augustine says: "Do not think, then, that you aren't a murderer when you give your brother bad advice." If you give your brother bad advice, you're killing him; and so that you know you're killing him, listen to the Psalmist: "The sons of men, their teeth are weapons and arrows, and their tongue is a sharp sword." Another characteristic of the devil is touched upon when it's added: "And he did not stand in the truth of work and justice," that is, in his due obedience to God; because there is no truth in him. Things are called true in as much as they conform to the primary truth, from which truth the devil deviated through the sin of pride; he abandoned the order of his own nature, which was to be subject to God continually. Nor did he stand in the truth of word and speech, because he is a liar and the father—that is, the inventor—of it, namely, of the lie, just as God the Father is the truth. Before him, there was no lie; from him and through him it came about that every human is a liar. He is indeed called a liar, not just the father of lies because he brings lies from others into the mind; rather, he is a liar and the father of lies because he not only reports them, but also commits them. And for this reason, the devil is called the father of lies, because he invented the first lie, saying to the woman: "You will not die." The devil has passed this trait, this wicked inheritance, on to his children, so that they might lie and, by lying, follow their father, the devil. For when they lie, they are accepted by the devil and imitate him. Let liars pay attention to the words of Christ, who says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life"; for by turning away from the truth, they turn away from the way and the life. Such people, therefore, deserve to be considered illegitimate in the Christian religious life; because by turning away from God the Father, they have become children of the devil. Oh, how many such children of the devil there are, even among the religious, and how full the world is of them! I wish all such people wore the mark of their father, the devil, on their foreheads so that they could be recognized and others wouldn't be deceived by their lies. But, alas! Some have the brazen face of a prostitute, and they feel little shame for their lies. Why do such poisonous deceivers occupy the earth—people who wander themselves and lead others into error, and in doing so, imitate their father, who deceives the whole world? A liar, therefore, by speaking and inventing lies, takes on the character of the devil by living that way. Hence Augustine says that 'devil' isn't a specific name, but a common one; and wherever the works of the devil are found, he is to be called a devil, for 'devil' is the name of the work. Not of nature. Blush, therefore, O Christian—and you, religious, blush most of all—at this name, and abstain from every lie, because in every Christian there ought to be such truth that there is no difference between an oath and a simple statement.
The Trial of Innocence
Christ defends His innocence and calls His hearers to examine their own hearts to see if they truly belong to God.
And because it is the custom of the innocent to seek a trial of examination before they undergo the trial of their passion, our Lord, knowing that the Jews had conspired to put Him to death, sought a trial of examination from them to show His own innocence and the malice of the Jews, and to more openly convict them of their judicial injustice. For although He was willing to suffer death of His own accord, Christ still wanted His innocence to be manifest to everyone. Hence He says: "Which of you, before whom I have taught openly and performed miracles, can argue against Me or rebuke Me for sin?" It's as if He were saying: "You want to kill Me; show Me the sin for which I deserve death. If you can't, it will be clear that you are killing Me innocently." According to Gregory, we must consider the gentleness of God, who came to forgive sins, because He doesn't disdain to show by reason that He isn't a sinner, even though He could have justified sinners by the power of His divinity. And so, since you can't argue against Me for sin—if, that is, I am telling you the truth, because I am saying that I am the Son of God—why don't you believe Me and in Me, since I am not a sinner like the rest? And He adds the reason, saying: "Whoever is of God—not by nature, but by faith; not by outward appearance, but by love, and through the conformity of the will—listens to the words of God; and he listens to them with the ear of the heart, not just the body, and listens to them gladly and loves them; for everyone..." ...gladly listens to the teaching for which he has an affection, because it is, as it were, connatural to him." For anyone who truly believes in God, and truly fears and loves God, listens gladly to the words of God; but those who lack faith and love, as the Jews did, cannot hear the words of God. In these words of the Lord, everyone can test their own conscience to see whether they are from God or not: for whoever gladly hears the words of God and the desire for the heavenly homeland, and who gladly hears the command to despise the desires of the flesh and the glory of the world, to not covet what belongs to others, to give freely of their own, and to hear other such things, and who more gladly puts them into action—let them not doubt in any way that they are from God. But whoever is foolish and hard-hearted and refuses to hear the words of God, or if they hear them with the ear of the body but still make no effort or labor to put them into practice, they surely show that they are not from God. And such were those to whom the Lord, in concluding, says here: 'That is why you do not hear'—that is, you do not receive—'the words of God from my mouth, and you do not believe me, because you are not from God,' due to a vice that is not from God, but is suggested by the devil and perfected by an evil will. And because you are not from God, having neither faith nor love, it follows that you are from the devil, not by creation, but by imitation. Hence Augustine says: 'When He says, "You are not from God," do not look at nature, but at vice; from God...' '...they are indeed such by nature, but they are not from God by vice and disordered affection.' A threefold degree of those who are ill-affected. It is, however, according to Gregory... There is a three-fold level of those who are poorly disposed: some do not even deign to receive the commandments of God with the ear of the body—that is, by external hearing; others do receive them, but are not pierced by any desire of the mind, having no will to fulfill what they hear; others, however, are pierced by hearing them willingly, but after their tears, pressed by tribulations or enticed by pleasures, they return to iniquity; these truly do not hear the words of God, because they disdain to put them into practice. Although all are children of God by nature, those who do not love the words of God are nevertheless children of the devil through their own vice. Those, however, who are reborn of God through the adoption of generation hear the words of God and keep them. When earth is kept under a roof and receives no rain, it's impossible to tell what fruit it might bear; but when it's under the open sky and rained upon, it becomes clear what it produces. Therefore, if the divine word is a burden to you and weighs on your ears like a heavy load, fear that you might be among the reprobate—like the Jews upon whom the rain of the word fell, yet they produced only thorns and thistles. This made it clear that the curse of the earth was near, which fire was destined to consume.
Patience Under Insult
When reviled by the Jews, Jesus demonstrates perfect patience and humility, refusing to seek His own glory.
Because the Jews were proven not to be children of Abraham or of God, but of the devil, they didn't know how to argue against the truth; so they resorted to insults and hurled abuse, since they couldn't resist with any truth. It's the way of people who don't know how to respond reasonably to turn to insults; and so the Jews, having nothing reasonable to say to Christ, turned to insults. So, in their opposition, they called him a Samaritan and said he had a demon; for although Christ was a Jew by birth and not a Samaritan, still... ...they called him a Samaritan for several reasons. The Samaritans, who were Gentiles, were hostile and hateful to the Jews because they occupied their land. It was common among the Jews to call people they considered evil and hateful 'Samaritans,' even if they were Jews themselves. In their opinion, Christ was such a person, and they believed he was rebuking them out of hatred; therefore, they called him a Samaritan and a kind of adversary. Alternatively, because the Samaritans kept the Law only in part, the Jews—seeing Christ keep the Law in some things and relax it in others—called him a Samaritan, as if he were a stranger to the divine Law. Or, they called him a Samaritan as if he were a sinner because of the Samaritans he associated with; they considered those people sinners and didn't want to have any dealings with them. They also said he had a demon because of the miracles he performed, which they attributed to magic arts. Or perhaps it was because he revealed their thoughts and secrets, and spoke of them often, that they attributed it to a demon—even though the hidden things of the heart are hidden from a demon. Or perhaps because he sometimes spoke of things so high and subtle that they couldn't understand them, they believed he was speaking as if filled with a demon, and they considered him possessed. Yet the Lord here, as everywhere else, calls us to an example of patience and gentleness, because he gently turns away from the insult. When insulted, he doesn't get angry, nor does he return insult for insult; rather, as Peter says: 'When he was reviled, he did not revile in return.' Notice that although the Lord often rebuked the Jews harshly and sharply when teaching or correcting them, he never—either here or elsewhere—responded harshly or sharply to those who brought insults or evil deeds against him. He teaches us, according to Chrysostom, to defend what belongs to God, but to overlook what concerns ourselves. So, even though he could have truthfully answered them, 'You have a demon,' he refused to do so. Instead, he patiently kept silent about the evil he knew was in them, showing us a patience we can imitate, so that whenever we suffer insults from our neighbors, we might patiently keep silent even about their true faults, lest such a rebuke seem to spring not from love, but from hatred. In these things, therefore, according to Gregory, our pride is confounded; for if it is stirred up even slightly, it returns more atrocious insults than it received, doing all the evil it can, and threatening to do what it cannot. Two things, indeed, had been brought against him: one he denied, and the other he accepted by remaining silent. He remained silent about what He knew, and patiently brushed aside what He heard spoken in bad faith. He answered that He didn't have a demon, yet He didn't deny being a Samaritan. For 'Samaritan' means 'guardian,' and He is our guardian above all; as it is written, 'He who guards Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.' That is why He didn't deny being a Samaritan. He did, however, deny having a demon, for the devil opposes the honor of God. Therefore, whoever seeks the honor of God is a stranger to the devil, and for this reason, Christ—who honors His Father, that is, God—does not have a demon. That is why He says: "But I honor My Father by declaring His power in miracles and by attributing everything to Him—for whose honor you have dishonored Me with false insults, and by ascribing to a demon what ought to be attributed to divine power." In fact, by dishonoring Me, you have dishonored My Father as well; for whoever doesn't honor the Son doesn't honor the Father who sent Him. Furthermore, anyone who has a demon—the king over all the children of pride—is proud and exalts himself by seeking his own glory. I, however, am not like that; for I do not seek My own glory, as hypocrites do, who show themselves off and want to appear to be what they are not. And truly, He doesn't seek it, for He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant. He didn't seek glory in this world, nor any magnificence; for He came to teach that all the world's glory is to be despised. Insofar as He is speaking as a man, He says: "I do not seek My own glory." For only God is able to seek His own glory without fault or sin; others, however, can only do so in God. But there is One who seeks My true and rightful glory and judges—that is, by the judgment of discernment—separating it from your human glory and discerning it according to the world. That is My Father, who rewards Me and those who glorify Me, and condemns you and all who do not glorify Me. Therefore, when the Son of God performed many signs and showed many virtues, He didn't seek His own glory, so that we, instructed by His example, might learn not to boast of the good we do. And when all judgment had been given to Him by the Father, He left the injuries inflicted upon Him to the Father's judgment, so as to show us how patient we ought to be, since He who is the Judge Himself doesn't wish to take revenge.
The Eternal Word and the Stones of Malice
Jesus asserts His eternal divinity before Abraham and withdraws from the fury of the Jews, leaving us an example of how to handle persecution.
Having received this insult, let us meditate in our own lives on that word of the Lord: "I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks and judges." And because, as Gregory says, when the perversity of the wicked grows, preaching should not only not be broken off but should even be increased, the Lord, after being called demon-possessed, bestowed the benefits of his preaching all the more generously. In this, Christ’s great kindness is shown, because he did not deny the benefit of his teaching to those from whom he had received such insults; hence he says: "Amen, amen"—that is, I tell you faithfully—"if anyone keeps my word, not only by faith but also by life and work, he will not see death," that is, he will not experience it forever, meaning the bitterness of eternal death, but he will have eternal life. Abraham saw Christ’s day and rejoiced. They, however, wanting to show from these words of the Lord that he had a demon, said: "Abraham is dead, and the prophets," but they based their reasoning on a falsehood, namely that Christ had spoken of temporal death, whereas he had understood it only of eternal death. And after a few words he adds: "If I," that is, alone, without my Father, "glorify myself," that is, in vain, "and seek my own glory" outside the rule of divine truth, as you impose upon me, "my glory, which you say is mine, is nothing and false," because a falsehood is non-being and nothing. The glory of the world is nothing, because it is passing smoke and a swelling wind, leading to the nothingness of guilt and to hell. But my glory is from God the Father, from whom no falsehood can come. For my Father is substantial, who glorifies me by his voice and through the working of miracles, and later will glorify me through the glory of the resurrection and ascension, whom you say: "Because he is our God," through the imitation of works; but this is false, which he proves by saying: "And you have not known him," that is, through formed faith, in which consists the sonship of God by adoption. And because they said: "Are you greater than our father Abraham?" they were considering the Lord to be lesser than him; therefore, he shows himself to be greater than Abraham, because Abraham expected from him, as from a greater one, the good of the redemption promised to him. Hence he says: "Abraham, your father, according to the flesh, of whom you boast, believing, rejoiced in spirit, hoping that he might see my day by understanding and knowing such a mystery, because he desired to know the time of Christ’s coming, which is to see Christ in spirit." And he saw in figures and faith the day of eternity and the day of my future temporal birth, when in the figure of the three angels appearing to him, he knew the mystery of the Trinity; and when it was said to him: "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed"; and in the offering of Isaac, in the place which was therefore called "The Lord sees," because the Lord made Abraham see the hidden mystery of Christ; and he rejoiced, because of the benefit promised to him by me, as by a greater one. For he could rejoice with ineffable joy when he perceived the Word remaining with the Father, and that the same Word would one day come into the flesh without departing from the Father’s bosom; when he foresaw that he would be born from his own lineage, through whom not only he himself would be saved, but the whole world would be redeemed, and the promise made to him about Christ would be fulfilled. And because the Jews were considering only the age of his flesh, not his divine nature, and were amazed at his words, they said to him, "You aren't even fifty years old, and you've seen Abraham?" —meaning, of course, that he had died a thousand years before—as if they were saying, "This is impossible." Wishing to turn their focus away from his flesh and toward his divinity, he answered, "Before Abraham came to be"—that is, in his temporal generation—"I am," remaining eternally. He doesn't say "before Abraham was," but "before he came to be," because Abraham was a creature; nor does he say "I am becoming," but "I am," which is a substantive verb, because he is not a creature, but the Creator of all things. Here his eternity is shown by joining a present-tense verb, "I am," with a past-tense verb, "before he came to be," because eternity stands alongside all time. God alone has perfect being, because that is perfect to which nothing is lacking outside itself; and therefore divine being, since it is all at once and nothing of it has passed away or is yet to come, is most perfect. Our being, however, is imperfect because it has something outside itself; for we lack something that has already passed away from our being, or that is yet to come. As far as the substance of his divinity is concerned, therefore, Christ is before Abraham; but according to the nature he assumed, he was after Abraham. Thus, Christ saw Abraham with the eye of his divinity, and Abraham saw Christ with the eye of his heart, enlightened, as it were, by faith. But the faithless, senseless Jews, considering that eternity belongs only to God, and that He was claiming to be God through eternity and showing it, were unable to understand or endure these words of eternity. They considered them blasphemy, and that for such blasphemy He deserved to be stoned; and so, according to the command of the Law, wanting to stone Him as a blasphemer, they picked up stones to throw at Him, as if at a blasphemer and one guilty of death. For they were unable to resist the wisdom with which He spoke, nor did they know His words. Since they couldn't reasonably contradict Him in speech, they turned to stones, contradicting Him through physical persecution; they sought to crush with stones the One whose speech they could neither understand nor resist. The stones of their hearts were set against the truth, hard and inflexible toward believing, and their spirit was in harmony with the nature of those stones. The Lord wrote the Law on stone tablets to signify this. Augustine says: 'To what such hardness would they run, if not to stones like themselves?' What does Christ's flight and hiding teach us? The Lord, who could have overcome them with a single word, didn't want to vindicate Himself because He had come to suffer and to conquer His enemies not by power, but by humility. He hid Himself as a man and as one humble, and left the temple, because patience was to be commended, not power exercised. He hid Himself, not out of fear of death or an inability to resist them, but by yielding to their fury until the hour of His Passion arrived, teaching us to sometimes avoid the fury of enemies for a time. He left the temple and moved away from them, signifying the abandonment of the Jews and the transition to the Gentiles. It should be noted that the Lord sometimes fled, sometimes met his enemies, and sometimes hid himself. He fled from honors, as when they were about to come and make him king; he met his crucifiers when they wanted to seize him; and he hid himself, as is clear here, from the raging Jews, so that he might take away their opportunity for fury. Through these three examples, he gives us three life-giving lessons: namely, that we should flee from the world's prosperity, that we should desire to suffer adversity for Christ, and that we should avoid quarrels. We, however, do the opposite, because we seek honors. We crave and pursue them; we flee and avoid adversity, and we don't involve ourselves in disputes. Consider here, as Gregory says, the gentleness and humility of our Savior. Although he could have suddenly overwhelmed his persecutors with the power of his divinity by the mere nod of his silent mind, he humbly hid himself like a fearful man. He did this for three reasons: first, because the time of his death had not yet come; second, because he had not chosen that kind of death; third, so that he might give us to understand that it is permissible to avoid persecutors, and this is when the persecution is personal, according to what he said to his disciples: 'If they persecute you in one city, flee to another.' But when the persecution is not personal, then it is not permissible for prelates to flee, as is clear from the example of the hireling and the shepherd. Therefore, he also hid himself from them in body, because they did not deserve to see him in mind. Hence the same Gregory says: 'The Truth itself is hidden from those who disdain to follow his words, because the Truth flees from a mind that it does not find humble.' And Augustine says: "He flees from stones like a man; but woe to those from whose stony hearts God flees." According to that same Augustine, He didn't hide in a corner of the temple as if He were afraid, nor did He flee into a small house or turn away behind a wall or a pillar. Instead, by His divine power, He made Himself invisible to those lying in wait and passed through their midst—yet He was still seen by His disciples because they were following Him. By this example, the Lord instructs us to give place to anger and to flee from the cruelty of persecutors and wicked people as much as we can without endangering our faith. So what is Gregory saying to us through this example? It is simply that we should humbly avoid the anger of the arrogant, even when we have the power to resist. A person should consider with what humility he ought to flee from the anger of his neighbor, if God Himself avoided the fury of those who were angry by hiding. No one, therefore, should raise himself up against insults he receives; no one should return insult for insult. For in imitation of God, it is more glorious to flee from an injury by keeping silent than to overcome it by answering back: this is from the eighty-fifth chapter of the first part of Gregory. Gregory. There are many, however, who criticize the hardness of the Jews but pay no attention to their own. As Gregory says: "How many people today look down on the stubbornness of the Jews for refusing to hear the Lord's preaching, yet they are just as stubborn in their own actions as they claim the Jews were in their faith!" They hear God's commands and know of His miracles, but they refuse to turn away from their own wickedness," says Gregory. Look closely at the Lord Jesus here, and with deep sorrow, at how He hides Himself because He wishes to yield to the fury of the Jews; watch Him and His disciples as they withdraw, looking weak, sad, and with heads bowed; and sympathize with them from your heart. PRAYER: Lord Jesus Christ, who invite us to hear the word of God, teach us to endure insults and injuries, not to seek our own glory, not to omit the truth of life, justice, and doctrine to avoid scandal, and not to stop preaching because of repeated insults and injuries. Jesu Christe, supreme truth, goodness, justice, mercy, generosity, purity, sobriety, humility, and love, who are stoned and hidden from the deceitful, the malicious, the unjust, the godless, the greedy, the impure, the lustful, the proud, and the hateful: do not depart from the temple of my soul; make me ready to be corrected and in all things in harmony with You. Amen.
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Joannis i. Christus. lux est mundu — Quia vero , secundum Alcuinum , Jesus mulierem absolverat a cximine, ne aliqui. dubitarent , an ille quem videbant verum hominem, posset peccata dimittere, dignatur ipse apertius divinitatis suae potentiam demonstrare. Unde diciiur : Iterum ergo locutus est eis Jesus* dicens : Ego sum lux muttdi , scilicet totius. , non. particulariter gentis unius. Et ideo accedens ad eum per fidem et devotionem, ab eo illuminatur ad salutem ; ab eo vero recedens, obtenebratur ad gehennam.
Christus secundum utramque naturam dicitur lux, quia secundum divinitatem Uluminat intus animam, et secundum humanitatem informat exterius vitam, et hoc tripliciter, scilicet : miraculis, praedicationibus et exemplis ; et primum est potentiae, secundum sapientiae, tertium bonitatis. Ipse quippe est lux quce illuminat omnem hominem venientem in Trnnc mundum, quia ipse universaliter omnes illuminat, et est solus lux per essentiam, quia ab ipso omnis notitia derivatur, cujus participatione alii ab hac luce illuminati dicuntur lux, sed non per essentiam ut ipse, quia ipse est Verbum a Patre progrediens, sicut cap. 8. lux a luce. Unde, secundum Augu. stinum, lux mundi a Patre egrediens nube carnis tegitur ; et sic cantemperata tolerando hominibus efficitur, ut per hominem veniatur ad divinitatem*. Illa ergo luce illumi^ nante,, illuminamur modo collyrio fidei, qui de Adam caeci nati sumus; et sequitur tam verbis quaoi e»em>» plis obediendo, ut, exclusis ignoran^ tiae vel peccatorum tenebris, in futuro manifesta visione deitatts illuminemur. Itaque subjungit : Qui sequitur me, scilicet credendo, amando et imitando, non ambulat in tenebriSy scilicet ignorantiae, quia ego sum veritas; nec culpae, quia ego sum via ; et per consequens non venit ad tenebras gehennae, quia ego sum vita.
Fructus autem hujus lucis subditur, sed habebit lumen vita? , nunc et in futuro, quia habebit Christum Dei sapientiam, qui est lumen indeficiens et inexstinguibile, hic per fidem, et ibi per speciem. Unde hoc quod dicit, qui sequitur me, pertinet ad meritum; quod vero dicit, habebit lumen vita? , pertinet ad praemium. Ubi Augustinus : <c Ergo, fratres mei, quoniam Dominus breviter ait : Ego sum lux mundi; qui me sequitur, non ambulat in tenebris; sed habebit lumen vitce, quibus verbis aliud est quod jussit, aliud quod promisit; faciamus quod jussit, ne impudenti fronte desideremus quod promisit; ne dicat nobis in judicio suo : Fecistine quod jussi, ut expetas quod promisi? Quid igitur jussisti, Domine Deus noster > Dixi tibi ut sequaris me. Ergo modo faciamus, sequamur Dominum, solvamus compedes quibus impedimur. Sequamur Christum lumen mundi , ne ambulemus in tenebris; tenebrae metuendae sunt, sed morum non oculorum , et si oculorum , non exteriorum, sed interiorum, unde discernitur non album et nigrum, sed justum et injustum : » haec Augustinus.
De superexcellentia autem istius luminis nobis promissi dicit idem Augustinus : a Tanta est jucunditas lucis aeteroae, ut etiamsi non liceret in ea amplius manere quam unius diei mora, propter hoc solum innumerabiles anni hujus vitae pleni deliciis, et circumfluentia bonorum temporalium recte meritoque contemnerentur.
Deinde _post aliqua, jam incipiens ad certamen Passionis Judaeos provocare, dixit eis : Cum exaltaveritis, scilicet in cruce, Filium hominis, id est Filium Virginis, secundum cujus carnem debebat pati et exaltari in cruce, in qua fuit extensus et exaltatus in aere, propter quod et exaltatus est a Deo Patre; tunc cognoscetis, scilicet aliqui ex vobis per fidem, quia ego sum , scilicet vere Christus, ego sum, sub carae Deus absconditus; ubi praedicit quosdam d^ eis post Passionem suam cognituros quis esset et credituros in eum, praenuntians eis per quae debeant pervenire ad fidem, quia per suam Passionem. Unde Augustinus : « Differo cognitionem vestram, ut impleam Passionem meam; hoc LAPIDARE VOLENTIBUS. 7 53 oportebat impleri per manus eorum , qui postea fuerant, credituri. Quare hoc '( Nisi ut nemo desperaret in quocunque scelere male sibi conscius, quando videt eis donari homicidium qui occiderant Christum : » haec Augustinus. Tribus modis nos offendimus Deum, et ipsum humiliamus , scilicet : malis cogitationibus, malis verbis et malis operibus. Quando vero conterimur, confitemur et satisfacimus ; tunc ipsum exaltamus in anima, ipsum super omnia diligendo; et per consequens cognoscimus, ipsum super omnia venerando. Si ergo vis cognoscere Deum, exalta eum tribus modis praedictis, scilicet : cordis contritione, contra malas cogitationes; oris confessione, contra malas locutiones ; et corporis satisfectione, contra malas operationes.
Deinde quibusdam Judaeis, tunc in se credentibus , dicebat : Si vos manseritis in sermone meo, id est si perseveraveritis usque in finem in fide, quae in vobis ccepit esse per sermonem, a doctrina et disciplina mea non recedendo, nullisque tentationibus cedendo ; tunc , vere discipuli mei eritis. Hoc dixit quia aliqui eorum ficte credebant, et isti veri discipuli non erant; et vos cognoscetis veritatem, quae modo carne tecta loquitur vobis, et latet vos, vel, veritatem doctrinae quam ego doceo , et fidei quam modo creditis; et veritas cognita, liberabit vos, id est liberos feciet, quia in praesenti liberat a servitute culpae, et dat libertatem gratiae, et tunc vera libertas inchoatur ; et in futuro liberabit a servitute miseriae, et dabit libertatem gloriae, et tunc vera libertas perficietur. Responderunt alii non credentes, et jactando dixerunt se esse semen Abraha», et nemini unquam servisse, quasi liberi essent, et liberatione non indigerent. Sed manifeste patet dictum eorum falsum esse, quia primo in jEgypto fuerunt in magna servitute, et iterum in Babylone. In terra etiam sua servierunt regi Assyriorum et nationibus aliis ; et iterum Romanis, solventes tributa eis. Dominus autem proposuit eis servitutem difficiliorem quam hominum, dicens : Amen dico vobis , quod omnis qui facit peccatum , cujuscunque conditionis ille sit, sive nobilis , sive ignobilis , Judaeus vel Graecus, dives vel pauper, Imperator vel mendicus, servus est peccatu Unde Chrysostomus : « Omnis qui diaboli sequitur voluntatem, servus est, etsi sit liber. Qui autem Deo obedit, ille verus ingenuus est, etsi fuerit servus. Ingenuitatem enim spiritalem non sordidat servitus corporalis , nec turpitudinem spiritalem honestat corporalis libertas.
Servitutem enim, non Dei dispositio, sed humana violentia introduxit. Qmnis enim homo liber creatus est, quem Deus in libero arbitrio posuit, nisi ipse se fecisset servum. » Unde et Augustinus : a Bomis, etiamsi serviat, liber est; malus autem, etiamsi regnet, servus est, nec unius' hominis, sed, quod est gravius, tot dominorum, quot vitiorum. Servus essem utinam hominis, non peccati! » Et iterum : « Omnis qui facit peccatum, servus estpeccati. O miserabilis servitus! Plerumque homines, cum dominos malos patiuntur, venales se petunt , non quaerentes dominum habere, sed saltem mutare. Servus peccati quid faciat?
Quem interpellet.' Apud quemvenalem se petat? Deinde servus hominis aliquando sui domini duris imperiis fatigatus fugiendo requiescit. Servus peccati quo fugit? Secum se trahit quocunque fugerit. Non fugit seipsam mala conscientia, non est quo eat; seCAPUT LXXXIV. quitur se, imo non recedit a se. Peccatum enim quod facit , intus est; fecit peccatum ut aliquam corporalem caperet voluptatem ; voluptas transit , peccatum manet; praeteriit quod delectabat, remansit quod pungat.
Mala servitus! Ad Christum omnes fugiamus, contra peccatum Deum liberatorem interpellemus ; venales nos petamus, ut ejus sanguine redimamur. Liberat ergo ab hac servitute solus Dominus; qui illam non habuit, ipse de illa liberat; solus enim in hac carne venit sine peccato : » haec Augustinus. Peccator ergo, ut dictum est, servus est tot dominorum, quot vitiorum. Unde legitur de Diogene Philosopho, quod cum Alexander diceret se dominatorem orbis, ille ait : Nequaquam es dominus, sed servorum meorum servus. Superbia enim , domina tua et ancilla mea, te circumducit, ego autem eam suppeditavi; carnalis concupiscentia et gula sunt dominae tuae, et ancillae meae, quae te ducunt et tibi dominantur, ego autem eas suppeditavi et vici ; et ideo tu es servorum meorum servus. Deinde ostendit poenam hujus servitutis, dicens : Servus autem, scilicet culpae, non manet in domo, id est in Ecclesia, in asternum, licet modo ad tempus, in quantum est de numero fidelium ; quia modo sunt admixti mali cum bonis, et in futuro ab invicem separabuntur, sicut oves ab hoedis; Filius autem, scilicet Dei naturalis, manet in a? ternum, quia solus est sine peccato, et sic habet potestatem alios liberandi a peccato, faciendo eos fllios Dei per gratiam adoptionis, ut secum maneant in domo libertatis.
Et hoc est quod concludit, dicens : Si ergo Filius, qui vere liber est et potens in domo libertatis , vos liberavit a servitute culpae, vere liberi eritis, non a barbaris, sed a diabolo; non 7 55 a corporis captivitate, sed ab animae iniquitate, ut peccatum non dominetur in vobis, quia in hoc consistit vera libertas. Unde dicit Gregorius : « Quem conscientia defendit, etiam inter accusatores liber est. » Unde et Boetius : « Liber est qui habet liberam conscientiam. » Patet ergo quod mundana libertas, de qua gloriabantur, non est vera libertas ; nec carnis nobilitas est vera nobilitas. Sed hodie, heu! sunt multi qui de carnali nobilitate et libertate quaerunt extolli; non verecundantes de servitute peccati. Secundum Augustinum , qui ex amore peccat, non ex languore naturae, nec ex ignorantia levi , servus est peccati; alia enim sunt peccata infirmitatis, alia imperitiae, alia malitiae. Infirmitas et imperitia contraria sunt virtuti et sapientiae; malitia contraria est bonitati.
Deinde ostendit Dominus Judaeos istos non esse filios Abrahae, de quo gloriabantur; sed potius degeneres, quia eum operibus fidei non imitantur. Vera enim filiatio declaratur per imitationem paternx conditionis; Judaei autem non imitabantur facta Abrahae, quia quaerebant eum interficere, quod Abraham non fecit, ex quo Salvator concludit quod ejus vere filii non erant, quamvis ab eo carnaliter descendissent. Unde erant filii Abrahae tantummodo carne, sed non operum et fidei imitatione; caro quidem illorum ex ipso erat, sed vita non erat. Ex hoc patct quod frustra quis gloriatur, quia secundum habitum est filius Augustini, vel Benedicti, seu alterius Sancti, nisi opera ipsius, secundum suam possibilitatem, studeat imitari. Videntes autem Judaei quod ex operibus filiationem arguebat, ideo dixerunt se filios Dei, cujus Legem et caeremonias servabant, non sicut alii idololatriae dediti ; unde dicunt ei : Nos, unius Dei cultores, ex fornicatione, scilicet spirituali Gentilitatis, quae fornicatur cum multis diis, non nati sumus, idola colentes sicut ipsi, sed in fide unius Dei; fornicationem enim vocant idololatriam, sicut et frequenter nominatur in sacra Scriptura, quia anima separatur a Deo per eam; unum patrem spiritualem habemus Deum, quem colimus, quia non colebant pluralitatem deorum, sicut Gentiles. Sed hanc paternitatem Salvator excludit, et Deum non esse eis patrem ostendit, quia non diligunt, nec cognoscunt ejus Filium, scilicet ipsum Ghristum ab eo missum; nam dilectio et notitia Christi est signum filiationis Dei ; eorum enim quae ab uno procedunt mutua est dilectio in illo a quo procedunt.
Deinde ostendit cujus sint filii et dicit eos ex patre diabolo esse, non creatione, sed imitatione, qui desideria patris sui, scilicet diaboli, volunt perficere, et innocentem occidere; quod probat consequenter, conditiones diaboli explicans, et postea ad ipsos applicans. Unam autem conditionem diaboli primo tangit, dicens : Ille homicida erat ab initio mundi et conditi hominis, primos homines malis suasionibus occidendo, et eis immortalitatem auferendo. Homo enim in specie humana reponitur £er animam ; et ideo magis proprie est homicida qui animam per peccatum mortale occidit, quam ille qui occidit corpus, per quod homo cum brutis convenit. Ubi Augustinus ; « Noli te ergo putare non esse homicidam, quando fratri tuo male persuades. Si fratri tuo male persuades, occidis ; et ut scias quod occidis, audi Psalmistam : Filii hominum, dentes eorum arma et sagittae, et lingua torum machasra acuta. ■» Alia conditio diaboli tangitur, cum subditur : Et in veritate operis et justitiae non stetit, id est in debita obedientia ad Deum ; quia non est veritas in eo. Res enim dicuntur verae, in quantum conformantur veritati primae, a qua veritate deviavit diabolus per peccatum superbiae ; et deseruit ordinationem naturae suae, quae erat utDeo subjiceretur continue; nec stetit in veritate vocis et loquelae, quia mendax est, et pater, id est inventor ejus, scilicet mendacii, sicut Deus pater est veritatis. Ante ipsum non rerat mendacium; ab ipso, et per ipsum est factum, utsit omnis homo mendax.
Ille quidem dicitur raendax, non tantum pater mendacii, qui mendaciuin ab aliis in mentem refert ; sed mendax est et pater mendacii, qui non solum refert illud, sed et facit ; et propter haec diaboius dicitur pater mcudacii, quia primum mendacium adinvenit, dicens mulieri : Nequaquam moriemini. Hanc ergo proprietatem, iianc nefariam hereditatem flliis suis diabolus dereliquit, ut mentiantur et patrem suum diabolum mentiendo sequantur. Cum enim mentiuntur, a diabolo accipiuntur et eum irnitantur. Attendant mendaces Ulud verbum Christi dicentis : Ego sum via, veritas et vita; quia recedendo a veritate, recedunt a via et vita. Tales ergo, tanquatn illegitimi, in religione Christiana merito sunt habendi ; quia a Deo Patre xlege^nerantes facti sunt filii diaholi. O i quam multi sunt hujusmodi filii diaboli, etiam religiosi, et quam plenus est de eis mundus ! Et utijiam omnes tales characterem patris sui diaboli in rronte gestareat ut cognoscerentur, ne alii per eorum mendacia deciperentur l Sed, heu! aliqui habent frontejn meretricb, et parum erubescunt de mendaciis.
Utquid terram occupant tales pestiferi seductores, errantes et in errorem mittentes, ac sic patrem suum, qui universum orbem seducit, imitantes? Mendax ergo,,ia loquendo et mendacia fingendo, proprietatem diaboli assumit raale vivendo. Unde dicit Augustinus , quod diabolus non speciale nomen est, sed commune; et in quocunque opera diaboli fuerint inventa, diabolus est appellandus, operts enim nomen est, n. on naturae. Eruhesce ergo, o Christiane, et maximc tu religiose, de hoc nominej et ah omni mendacio abstine, quia in quolibet Christiano debet esse veritas tanta, ut inter juramentum et simplicem affirmmtionem ;nuila sit differentia.
Et quia solent innocentes, antequaxn subeant judicium pas3ionis, expetere judicium examinationis ; ideo Dominus noster sciens Judaeos in mortem auarn conspirasse, judicium examinationis ab eis expetiit, ad ostendendam suam innocenttam et Judaeorum malitiam, et ad con~ vincendam apertius eorum judiciariam injustitiam. Quamvis enim ultro mortem pati voluerit, ipse tamen Christus suam innocentiam omnibus manifestam esse voluit. Unde dicit : Quis ex vobis, coram quibus palam docui et miracuk feci, arguet et reprehendere potest me de peccaio? Quasi diceret : *Vos vultis me interficere, ostendite peccatum quo meruerim mortem; quod si non poteritis, manifestum eri^, quod me innocenter occiditis. Secundum Gregorium, pensanda est maneuetudo Dei qui venerat peccata relaxare, quia non dedignatur ex rauone ostendere se peccatorcm non esse, qui etiam ex yirtute dilinitatis ppterat peccatores justificare. Et ideo cum non possitis me de peccato arguere, si, id est quia, veritatem dico vobis, quoniam scilicet dico me Filium Dei , quare vos non creditis mihi et in me, ex quo non sum peccator sicut ceteri ? Et subdit causam, dicens : Qui ex Deo est f non natura, sed fide, non oxe, sed amore, et per conformitatem voluntatis, verba Dei audit; et hoc aure cordis, non solum corporis, audit ea libenter et amat; quilibet enim. libenter audit doctrinam ad quam affectum habet, quia quast connaturalis est.
Ille enim qui veraciier in Deum credit, ac veraciter Deum timet et diligit, Dei verba libenter audit; qui vero non habent fidem nec amorem, sicut Judaei eraat, verba Dei audire non possunt. In his verbis Domini unusquisque conscientiam suam probare potest, utrum ex Deo sit an non : qui enim verba Dei et ccelestem patriam desiderare, carnis desideria et mundi gloriaxn contemnere, aliena non appetere et propria largiri, et alia hujusmodi jubentis libenter audit, et libentius opere complet; nullo modo se ex Deo esse dubitet, Qui vero vecors et durus verba Dei audire contemnit, vel si hoc aure corporis audierit, et tamen nullo studio vel labore in opus mittere conatus fuexit; profecto se ex Deo non esse ostendit. Et tales erant isti quibus concludendo a Domino hic dicitux : Propterea vos non auditis, id est non recipitis verba Dei ex ore meo, et mihi non creditis, quia ex Deo non estis, propter vitium quod a Deo non est, sed a diabolo suggeritur, et a mala voluntate perficitur. Et quia non estis ex Deo, aon habentes fidwa nec amorem; sequitur quod sitis ex diabolo, non per creationem, sed per imitationem. Unde Augustinus : <t Cum di«t : Ex Deo non estis, noli attendere naturam, sed vitium ; ex Deo . quidem sunt secundum naturam^ sed ex Deo non sunt vitio et prava affectione. » 7 Male affectorum gradus triplex. — Est autem, secundum Gre?
gorium, triplex gradus male affectorum : nam sunt nonnulli qoi praecepta Dei nec aure corporis, id est exteriori auditu, percipere dignantur; quidam vero percipiunt, sed nullo mentis desiderio compkctuntur, non habentes voluntatem implendi quae audiunt; quidam autem libenter audiendo compunguntur, sed post lacrymas, tribulationibus pressi aut deliciis allecfi, ad iniquitatem revertuntur; hi profecto verba Dei non audiunt, quia exercere in opere contemnunt. Licet ergo omn$s sint filii Dei per naturam, illi tamen ex diabolo per vitium sunt, qui verba Dei non diligunt. Qui vero ex Deo generationis adoptione renati sunt, audiunt verba Dei et custodiunt. Dum terra est sub tecto et non com^pluta, latet quos fructus sit ferre apta; sed si est sub aere nudo et compluta, patet quis fructus veniat ex ea, Igitur si divinus sermo sit tibi gravis, et quasi sarcinat aures, time ne sis praescitus cum Judaeis quos imber verbi compluit, et ipsi spinas et tribulos exercuerunt; quo patuit quod terrae maledictio proxima erat, quam ignis devastare debuit.
Et quia Judaei convicti sunt non esse filii Abrahae vel Dei, sed dtaboii; ideo nescientes contradicere veris, contradicunt injuriis, et ingerunt convicia, quia resistere non possunt ex verkate aliqua. Modus enim hominum qui * nesciunt rationabiliter respondere, est ad convicia se convertere; et ideo Judaei non habentes quid rar» 7 tionabiliter Christo responderent , ad convicia se convertunt. Unde contradicentes dicunt eum Samaritanum esse et daemonium habere; licet enim Christus esset genere Judaeus et non Samaritanus, tamen. vocant eum Samaritanum ex causis pluribus. Samaritani enim, qui erant Gentiles, Judaeis infesti et odibiles erant, eo quod terram eorum possidebant; et ideo vulgare erat apud Judaeos, quod homines malos et eis odibiles, etiamsi Judaei essent, vocabant Samaritanos; talis' autem erat Christus secundum opinionem eorum, quem credebant arguere eos propter odfum ; ideo vocabant eum Samaritanum et quasi adversarium. Vel, quia Samaritani partim Legem servabant et partim non servabant, videntes Judaei Chriftum in aliquo Legem servantem et in aliquo dissolventem, vocabant eum Samaritanum, quasi a Lege divina alienum. Vel, a Samaritanis cum quibus conversatus erat, eum Samaritanum quasi peccatorem vocabant; quia peccatores illos reputabant, nec eis couti volebant. Dicebant etiam eum dcemonium habere, propter mirabilia quae faciebat, quae magicis artibus imputabant.
Vel, quia cogitationes et secreta eorum revelabat et frequenter dicebat; quod daemoni attribuebant, cui tamen cordium occulta sunt abscondita. Vel, quia aliquando quaedam alta et subtilia loquebatur, quae non intelligebant, credebant quod quasi daemonio plenus loqueretur, et eum arrepticium reputabant. Dominus autem hic, sicut et ubique, ad patientiae et mansuetudinis exemplum nos provocat, quia mansuete, injuriam declinat. Accepta injuria, non irascitur, neque conviciis convicia ' reddit, et, ut dicit Petrus : Cum malediceretur non maledicebat. Et attende quod, licet Dominus Judaeos saepe docendo vel corrigendo dure et aspere reprehenderit tamen dura verba vel facta inferentibus, nunquam, vel hic vel alibi, dure aut aspere respondit, erudiens nos, secundum Chrysostomum, quae ad Deum pertinent, vindicare ; quae vero ad nos, despicere. Unde cum in veritate eis respondere posset : Vos daemonium habetis; tamen noluit, sed malum, quod in eis esse cognovit, patienter tacuit, imitabilem nobis patientiam ostendens, ut quoties a proximis injurias patimur, eorum ctiam vera mala patienter taceamus, ne forte talis correptio, non ex dilectione, sed ex odio, nata videatur. In his ergo, secundum Gregorium, superbia nostra confunditur, quae si exagitata vel leviter fuerit, atrociores injurias reddit quam acceperat; facit mala quae potest, et minatur facere quae non potest. Duo quippe ei illata fuerant : unum negavit, et aliud tacendo consensit.
Tacuit quod recognovit, et patienter repulit quod dictum fallaciter audivit. Daemonium se non habere respondit, sed tamen Samaritanum non esse negavit. Quia enim Samaritanus interpreiatur custos, et ipse praecipue custos noster est ; Non enim dormitat qui custodit Israel; ideo se Samaritanum esse non negavit. Negavit autem daemonium se habere, diabolus enim honori Dei resistit; qui ergo honorem Dei qnaerit, alienus a diabolo est, et ideo Christus qui honorificat Patrem suum, scilicet Deum, daemonium non habet.
Unde ait : Sed honorifico Deum Patrem meum, declarando ejus virtutem in miraculis, et omnia ei attribuendo, pro cujus honore vos me inhonorastis, per falsa opprobria, et quod virtuti divinae attribui debet, daemoni ascribendo. Imo, in hoc quod inhonorastis me, inhonorastis et Patrem meum ; qui enim non honorificat Filium, non honorificat Patrem qui misit illum. Item habens daemonium, qui est rex super omnes tilios superbix, superbus est et se extollit quaerendo gloriam suam : Ego autem non sic, non enim quaero gloriam meam, sicut simulatorcs, qui se ostendunt et quaerunt videri quod non sunt. Et vere non quaerit, qui semetipsum exinanivit formam servi accipiens. Non quaesivit in isto mundo gloriam, nec ullam magnificentiam ; venit enim ut doceret omnem mundi gloriam contemnendam. In quantum homo est loquens, dicit : Ego non quatro gloriam meam, solus enim Deus est, qui potest gloriam suam quaerere absque culpa et peccato ; alii autem non nisi in Deo. Sed est qui quatrat veram et debitam gloriam meam et judicet, scilicet judicio discretionis, id est a gloria vestra humana, et sccundum seculum discernat et separet, scilicet Pater meus, qui me et glorificantes me remunerat et vos et omnes qui me non glorificant damnat. Cum itaque Filius Dei multa signa faceret, et virtutes multas ostenderet, gloriam suam non quaesivit, ut nos ejus exemplo instructi discamus de bono quod agimus non gloriari ; et cum a Patre omne judicium sibi datum esset, illatas injurias Patris judicio servavit, ut nobis insinuaret quantum nos esse patientes debemus, dum se ulcisci non vult et ipse qui judicat.
Accepta ergo contumelia, meditemur in opere vocem Domini illam : Ego non quaero gloriam meam; est qui quaerat et judicet, Et quia , secundum Gregorium , cum malorum perversitas crescit, non solum praedicatio frangi non debet, sed etiam augeri; ideo Dominus, postquam habere daemonium dictus est, praedicationis sua beneficia largius impendit. In quo ostenditur magna Christi benignitas, quia illis a quibus tantum receperat convitium, non negavit suae doctrinae beneficium ; unde dicit : Amen, amen, id est fideliter dico vobis, si quis sermonem ineum servaverit, non solum fide, sed etiam vita et opere, mortem non videbit, id est non experietur, in aeternum, hoc est aeternae mortis amaritudinem, sed vitam hab&it aeternanu 10 Christi diem vidit Abrahak et gavisus est. — Illi autem ex his verbis Domini volentes ostendere eum habere daemonium, dixerunt : Abraham mortuus est et Prophetae, sed fundabant rationem suam super falsum, scilicet quod Christas dixisset de morte temporali, qui tantum intellexerat de morte aeterna* Et post pauca subjungit : Si ego, scilicet solus, sine Patre meo, glorifico meipsum, scilicet inaniter, et quaero gloriam meam praeter regulam divinae veritatis, ut vos mihi imponitis; gloria mea, quam dicitis meam, nihil est et falsa, quia falsum est non ens, et nihil; Gloria mundi nihil est, quia est fumus transiens, et ventus tumens, et ad nihil culpae et ad infernum deducens. Sed gloria mea est a Deo Patre a quo nullum falsum potest esse : Est enim Pater meus substantialis, qui glorificat me voce et per miraculorum operationem , et postea glorificabit per resurrectionis et ascensionis gloriam, quem vos dicitis : Quia Deus noster est, per operum imitationem; sed hoc est falsum, quod probat, dicens : Et non cognovistis eum, scilicet per fidem formatam, in qua consistit Dei filiatio per adoptionem. Et quia dicentes : Numquid tu major es patre nostro Abraham? reputabant Dominum eo jninorem, ideo ostendit se esse majorem quam Abraham, quia Abraham ab eo, y6o tanquam a majore, bonum redemptionis exspectat sibi promissae. Unde dicit : Abraham, pater vester, secundum carnem, de quo scilicet gloriamini, credens exsultavit in spiritu sperando, vt videret diem meum intelligendo et cognoscendo tantum mysterium, quia desideravit cognoscere tempus adventus Christi, quod est videre Christum in spiritu; et vidit in figuris et fide diem aeternitatis et diem futurae temporalis meae nativitatis, quando in figura trium Angelorum, sibi apparentium , cognovit Trinitatis mysterium; et quando dictum est ci : In semine tuo benedicentur omnes gentes terras; et in oblatione Isaac, in loco qui ideo dictus est Dominus videt, quia Dominus fecit^ Abraham videre occultum Christi mysterium; et gavisus est, propter beneficium a me, ut a majore, sibi promissum. Ineflabili namque gaudio exsultare potuit , quando et Verbum apud Patrem manens, et idem aliquando in carnem venturum, non de Patris gremio recessurum perspexit; quando eum de stirpe sua nascrturum praevidit, per quem non solum ipse salvaretur, sed etiam totus mundus redimeretur, et facta ejus de Christo repromissio impleretur.
Et cum Judaei solam in eo aetatem carnis, non divinam naturam pensantes, et de verbis suis mirantes, dicerent ad eum : Quinquaginta annos nondum habes, et Abraham vidisti? qui scilicet ante mille annos est mortuus; quasi dicerent : Hoc est impossibile. Volens eos ab intuitu carnis ad deitatem trahere, respondit eis : Antequam Abraham fieret, scilicet temporali generatione, ego sum, aeternaliter manens; non dicit Abraham esset, sed fieret, quia Abraham creatura fuit; nec dicit ego fio, sed ego sum, quod est verbum substantivum , quia non creatura, sed Creator est omniumu Ubi ostenditur ejus aeternitas conjungendo verbum praesentis, scilicet ego sum, cum verbo praeteriti r sciHcet antequam fieret; quia aeternitas omm* tempori assistit. Unde Deus sohis habet esse perfectum^ quia illud perfectum est, cui nihil deest extra ipsum; et ideo divinum esse cum totum simul sit, nec quidquam de illo praeterierit aut futurum sit , perfectissimum est ; nostrum autem esse, quia habet aliquid extra se, imperfectum est; deest enim nobis aliquid quod de nostro esse jam prseteriit, vel quod futurum est. Quantum ergo ad substantiam divinitatis Christus est ante Abraham; sed secundum naturam assumptam fuit post Abraham. Unde Christus vidit Abrahana oculo divinitatis, et Abraham vidit Christum oculo cordis, fide videHcet illuminatus.
At infideles insensati Judaei considerantes quod acternitas non nisi Deo convenit, et quod se per aeternitatem Deum esse profiteretur et ostenderet, istaque aeternitatis verba intelligere et sustinere non valentes, reputabant ea blasphemiam, quodque pro tali blasphenria esset lapidandus, et ideo, secundum Legis mandatum, eum tanquam blasphemum lapidare volentes, tulerunt lapides ut jacerent in eum, sicut in blasphemum et mortis reum. Quia enim non valebant sapientiae quae loquebatur resistere, nec sciebant verbis ejus. rationabiliter coiitradicere loquendo ; ideo convertentes se ad lapides contradixerunt corporaiiter persequendo, et quem kitelligere cirjusque sermoni resistere non poterant, eum lapidibus obruere quaerebant. Lapides enim cordis contra verhatem, ac duri et inflexibiles ad credcarfum erant, et earum animus faeto eorumdem consonabau Unde ad Itoc significandum Lex scripta est ia tabuiis iapideia per Dominum. Dbi Augustinus : <* Tanta duritia <roo curreret, nisi ad lapides aibi similes ? » 12 QUID NOS DOeBAT FtlGA BT aescoNsio Christi ? — Sed Dominus, qui sqIo verbo eos superare poterat, vindicare se noluit, quia pati venerat, et hostes suos, non potestate, sed humilitate vincere ; et ideo abscondit se ut homo et ut fcumilis, et exhit de templo, quia commendanda erat patientia, non exercenda potentia. Abscondit se, aon timore mortis, neque impotentia resistendi eis, sed cedens furorl eorum usquedum venirer hora Pasaionis r et docens nos furorem hostium quandoque et pro tempore declinare; et exivit de templo ab eis, designans derelictionem Judaeorum , et transitum ad Gentes.
Notandum autem quod Dominus aliquando fugiebat, aliquando occurrebat, aliquando se occultabaL Fugiebat quidem honores, ut quando venturi erant ut facerent eum regem; occurrebat suis crucifixoribus, quando volebant capere eum; abscondebat se, sicut hic patet, a Judaeis furentibus, ut occasionem furendi subtraheret ab eis. Per ista tria exempla dat nobis tria salutaria documenta, scilicet ut fugiamus mundi prospera; desideremus pro Christo pati adversa, et vitemus jurgia. Nos autem contrarium facimus, quia honores. appetimus ct puocuramus; adversa fugimus et vitamus , et litigiis noa immiscemu6. Considera hic, ut ait Gregorius, Salvatoris nostri mansuetudinem et humilitatem,. qui cum potentia divinitatis nutu tacitae mentis ,suos persecutores posset subito in poenas mortis obruere, tanquam pavidus humiliter se abscondit Hoc autem fiscU propter tria: primo, quia tempus mortis suse nondunv advenerat; secundo, quia tale genusi morti» noa elegerat; tertio, ut daret nobis- inJtelligere quod liceat persecutores declinare, et hoc quando est persecutio personaHs, secundum illud quod dixit discipulis : Si vos persecuti fuerint in una civitate^ fugite in alianu Sed quando non est persecutio personalis, tunc praelatis non licet fugere, ut patet de mercenario et pastore. ldeo etiam abscondit se ab eis corpore, quia non merebantur eum videre mente. Unde idem Gre~ gorius : « Illis ipsa ^eritas absconditur, qui ejus verba sequi contemnunt, quia eam quam non invenit humilem veritas fugit mentem.
» Et Augustinus : a Tanquam homo a lapidibus fugit; sed vae illis a quorum lapideis cordibus Deus fugit. » Secundum eumdem Augustinum, non abscondit se in angulo templi quasi timens, aut in domunculam fugiens, vel post murum aut columnam divertens ; sed coelica potestate se invisibilem insidiantibus constituens, per medium illorum exivit; a sui&tamen discipulis videbatur, quia illi eum sequebantur. Hoc ergo exemplo suo Dominus nos instruit ut locum irae ^ demus; et ut persecutorum ac maIorum saevitiam, quantum sine fidei periculo fieri potest, fugiamus. Unde Gregorius : « Quid autem nobis hoc exemplo loquitur? nisi ut etiam cum resistere possumus, iram superbientium humiliter declinemus, Quanta humiiitate iram proximi fugere debeat, perpendat homo, si furores irascentium abscondendo se declinavit Deusl Nemo ergo se contra acceptas contumelias erigat; nerao conviciis convicium reddat. Imitatione etenim Dei gloriosius est injuriam tacendo fugere, quam re» spondendo superare : » haec GrePRIMjE partis caput lxxxv. gorius. Sunt autem multi qui Judaeorum duritiam reprehendunt, sed suam minime attendunt.
Unde idem Gregorius : a Quam multi sunt hodie, qui Judaeorum duritiam detestantur, quia praedicationem Domini audire noluerunt, et tamen quales illos arguunt fuisse ad fidem, tales ipsi sunt ad operationem ! Praecepta Dei audiunt, miracula cognoscunt, sed converti a suis pravitatibus renuunt : » haec Gregorius. Conspice hic Dominum Jesum bene, et cum vehementi dolore, quomodo volens Judaeorum furori cedere abscondit se; et intuere ipsum ac discipulos, tanquam imbecilles, moeste et inclinato capite recedere; et eis ex corde compatere. ORATrO Domine Jesu Christe, qui ad audiendum verbum Dei nos invitas , doce nos contumelias et injurias sufferre, propriam gloriam non quaerere, veritatem vitae, justitiae et doctrinae propter scandalum vitandum non omittere , propter iteratam contumeliam et injuriam a praedicatione non desistere. Jesu Christe, summa veritas, bonitas, justitia, misericordia, largitas, munditia, sobrietas, humilitas, caritas, qui lapidaris et absconderis a mendacibus et malitiosis, injustis, impiis, cupidis, immundis, luxuriosis, superbis et odiosis, ne exeas a templo animae meae; redde me corrigibilem et tecum per omnia concordantem. Amen.
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin 'aeteroae' is a clear scribal error for 'aeternae'.
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